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crystalelemental · 9 months

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Unit Teambuilding - Olympia

And now we come to Victor, who-what’s that? Oh, he’s the last thing released this month? He’s separated from Galar? Well that’s weird. So who’s on next? Wait, Olympia?! Is it Meowstic?! No? Sigilyph? I mean...it’s fine I guess. I was hoping for the cute cat.

General Overview Did you know Olympia’s DPS outperforms Challenger Gloria’s without the Rebuff? 1,170,045, compared to Gloria’s 1,135,827 on Pyro Ball. I just thought that was interesting.

Olympia comes in with Stored Power + Calm Mind. Her passives allow her to double stat boosts, and on grid she can get Ramp Up 1 and Barricade 1 for Calm Mind, meaning it is a two-turn affair. Trainer move buffs crit by +3. Full offensive benefit for first sync, with a Rising Tide type innate buff. Brute Wits and Smart Cookie are ideal multipliers given her special defense boosting. There’s little else she could ask for, yet they gave it all the same. +6 evasion on entry, Ridicure 2, and Queue Cutter 2. Those are. Hilarious, actually.

Olympia of course has flaws. She is a general pool pair. A big one being the same thing I just bitched out Blue for: she cannot truly offload her self-setup. She is going to spend three turns setting up, otherwise you’re likely missing out on Brute Wits and Smart Cookie. There are options that can ease her setup, like SC Jasmine and SS Brendan. She’s not as completely hosed as Blue. But it’s a notable aspect of her kit. She also has, just, nothing for team support. Which isn’t just boring because Tech pairs should have a technical angle to them, but means that her applications are very cut and dry. She’s going to support the damage effort, and if you need anything else...look to a different pair.

I like Olympia’s kit quite a bit. I think she’s insanely good for what she does. I think the defensive profile and immediate capped evasion with Ridicure and Regen means she’ll have a Gauntlet Solo count. Buuuut she’s not that lifechanging. Lucian, Sonia, and Courtney, by virtue of the absurd team support they provide, have more value. But Olympia feels like a Top 5 for the general pool. Top 10 at worst. She’s here to do one thing and she does it exceptionally well. I just...really wish it was Meowstic, personally. Stoutland got a second chance with SC Steven, where’s the second Meowstic to make up for what they did to base Calem?

EX and Move Level? General pool tech nuke with actual power, full 3/5 EX encouraged for shenanigans. That said, Stored Power is so bonkers as DPS that frankly, she can do fine with just 1/5 non-EX and just contribute through how much she beats things down. But if you want to completely remove support from the equation, 3/5 is necessary. Otherwise, you want a bit of support.

Team 1: Olympia, Caitlin, Lodge Dawn Alright, let’s start by talking about my favorites. Lodge Dawn has special attack and special defense boosts available, with Team Sharp Entry as desired for Caitlin support. Notably, her buffing kit is efficient enough through trainer move that she sets up Stored Power very quickly. Caitlin can take sync for spread damage in CS, while Olympia’s Stored Power is concentrated DPS on whatever survives. As such, this is a 1/5 Olympia solution, functioning as secondary DPS and secondary tank thanks to evasion.

Team 2: Olympia, Skyla/Jasmine, P!Dawn/Lucian/Bianca It’s hard to shop for Olympia. She doesn’t really need much. Skyla provides Defense and Speed to boost stats she doesn’t cover herself, while P!Dawn throws out Fake Tears. I’m avoiding Lucian due to overlapping speed buffs, but you could swap Skyla for like...Jasmine or Dawn, and have Lucian handle the speed angle. Or if you’d like, just throw in Bianca for Terrain. Bianca can be the Tech alternative, or the support alternative, as needed.

Final Thoughts I can’t say much about Olympia because she’s not really teambuilding worthy. She’s self-sufficient, pretty strong, and wants for very little due to low gauge cost. She’s the kind of pair that’s effective at her job, but her job is straight-forward so there’s not much teambuilding to talk about. Just bring something that sustains as a tank, and let her run hog wild.

That said, general pool. For F2P players, you know the drill. Yes, I know, we need to spend on these to get them to happen more often, I recognize this, but let me ask you: is that worth it? Do you really care so much about the possibility of increasing more spotlights? If DeNA wants to play hardball and release characters in spotlight just before anniversary, let them. It’s not your fault if they bomb. And come on, a Psychic type? Like we really needed more of those. She may finally be a Giovanni killer, but such a role was unnecessary. She’s great, but she’s not worth breaking the stash over. Just...don’t expect to see her in the ticket scouts next month. Two years running, anything from July and August didn’t show up. There’s basically no chance she’ll be there.

#unit teambuilding #olympia

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bluebellravenbooks · 3 years

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A Great Distraction Masterpost

January has been gloomy as heck, so I thought it may be a good idea to put together a list of things that I read/watched/played since the beginning of the pandemic that managed to keep my mind off things. (I'm a doctoral student with anxiety and a 5-second attention span, so if this worked for me chances are it's Good Stuff.) Hope this helps!

Steven Universe

Set millennia after a kinda-failed alien invasion, this is a story of a half-human protagonist with a big heart who has to deal with the consequences of this long-ago war and learn what it means to be human.

The trope of a peacekeeper hero, excellently executed. Goes from cute to cute and rather dark, but still hopeful. Nice songs, lovely animation, interesting characters; you can tell that the storytelling goes from the hearts of the people who made this. This is a generally uplifting story; however it does have some discussion of war, mental illness and parental death, so tw for that. Also depending on where you live, this may be a bit difficult to track down across the streaming services... That said, this is undoubtedly one of the best shows I have ever watched.

Hollow Knight

You are a tiny badass with a sword and a mysterious past, travelling across a derelict kingdom and trying to make sense of what happened to it. And the more you learn, the more you suspect that you are here for a reason...

A 2D platformer game, doesn't require anything fancy from your laptop - not even a mouse. Previous gaming experience not necessary either. Beautiful visuals (I mean it!), a huge world to explore; exasperatingly difficult, which makes for a great distraction. I do have to warn that the plot of this game revolves around an infection, although it's not very reminiscent of Covid. As a plus, you get to kick its ass in the end!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Four great nations are at war - have been for some time, actually, and things aren't looking great. The discovery of the Avatar - the peacekeeper with abilities from all the nations - offers a glimmer of hope; however it doesn't help that the Avatar is eleven years old and has spent the last century frozen in an iceberg.

Truly, a classic. I love the trope of the peacekeeper hero - both Avatar and Steven Universe explore it beautifully. Just like with Steven, I have to mention a tw for war, but this being a cartoon it's not explicitly traumatic. A great place to start if you're not into cartoons yet.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Murderbot is a half-organic, half-robotic being, serving as a security unit on interplanetary missions. It's much more sentient and independent than its company believes - but all it wants is for the annoying humans to leave it in peace long enough to watch one more episode of its current show. However when things go south on a mission, Murderbot has to deal with much more reality - and human interaction - than it would like.

Very fun and quick read; the narrator's voice is just excellent. Much less bloodthirsty than the title suggests, but still a tw for injury and death. (Not too much though - I hate gore and I was perfectly fine reading this.)

Folk of the Air by Holly Black

Elfhame is no place for humans - well, normal humans, anyway. Jude Duarte was brought up here with her sisters, and she is hell-bent on proving her worth in the fairy court she has come to call home. Few are happy with that, or believe that she can make it - but even Jude herself wouldn't have guessed where the political turbulence would get her.

Very well-written; politics of the fairy court stand to logic and offer plenty of exciting plot twists. True to the title, some characters can be rather cruel, so tw for violence and parental death; however most of the plot revolves around politics and not explicit physical trauma.

Cartoon Saloon films: Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, WolfWalkers

Some of the best modern animation plus Irish mythology. Each of these films explores a different myth/historical period, but they are similar in the magical atmosphere; I recommend each and every one of them. The plots being different, I won't list all the tw's here; there's nothing particularly gruesome going on, so just have a look at the plot description before watching to check for sensitive topics.

Gravity Falls

Dipper and Mabel are sent to a cabin deep in Oregon forest to spend the summer with their great-uncle. Sounds like a boring holiday - however it turns out that the town has more weird secrets than residents, and even their great-uncle seems to be hiding something...

Very cartooney, so the style might be a little off-putting at first - however I loved the plot, especially when the overstory started to pick up. This is a great exploration of family and what summer should feel like when you're an adventurous kid. Will probably get you into cryptography.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Adora grew up with the bad guys. That is, of course, she thinks they are the good ones - until one day she escapes from the camp and sees much more than she bargained for. Oh yes, and apparently some magical sword wants her to be a hero. Now on the side of the rebellion, she has to protect her new friends, deal with the old ones, and try to figure out what the heck is going on.

This show is fun, very diverse and full of positivity without trying too hard. For me it was a joy to watch something with a lot of strong female characters without having the dark gender issues discussed, not even once. (I mean, it's still important to have shows that explicitly discuss this - but a show where characters are just happy in their identities, no questions asked, is something I didn't know I needed.)

Carmen Sandiego

The young woman who calls herself Carmen Sandiego has a rather unconventional occupation. She was brought up in a school for thieves - but when she glimpsed the outside world, she realised that things weren't as simple as her teachers said. Now she uses her expertise to track her former schoolmates - and steal back their loot.

This is probably the most young-age-oriented item on my list, so there's not a lot of drama going on, and some plotlines are rather simple. That said, this series is good fun, I still found the story and the characters compelling, and the animation was really good as well. Honestly, seeing what modern 2D animation can do is a treat.

These things - and many other - helped me stay sane during this year; I found out that stories can be fun shameless escapism and really deep and satisfying at the same time. Feel free to add to this list - and I will keep it updated as well when more good stuff comes my way.

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themculibrary · 4 years

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Bucky & Steve + The 21st Century Masterlist

5 Times Steve Got Arrested and 1 Time They All Did (ao3) - heartsdesire456 Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: What it says, 5 times Steve Rogers ended up in jail (with and without Bucky) + 1 time all of the Avengers got arrested with him.

A Day Without Rain (Or, How Bucky Barnes Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Mud Mask) (ao3) - hitlikehammers Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: They create structure, between them; they lean on each other, carve out a life together. They have a routine, and Steve revels in it, relishes the way he walks in and there's Bucky: always Bucky, right there. Waiting for him.

So when Steve gets home unexpectedly early and is greeted by an empty apartment and a mysterious StarkCal appointment with a Doctor Spehdahté as the only trace of Bucky's whereabouts, he automatically assumes the worst.

He really needs to stop doing that.

Bucky Barnes is a Goddamn Menace (ao3) - eden22 Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: It was a good thing that the Avengers had some experience with what a little shit Steve Rogers actually was, because adding Bucky Barnes to the mix turned out to just make everything so much worse.

Falling For You (Hook, Line, and Sinker) (ao3) - FestiveFerret Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: Explicit

Summary: After being thawed, Steve's adrift in the 21st century. There's nothing for him here, just the endless cycle of pre-packaged food, pointless training exercises, and long hours at the gym. But when he takes on a new project, it leads him to a new friend - one who might open up all kinds of new doors, new feelings, new experiences. Or might just break his heart.

Fate Will Play Us Out (ao3) - steveandbucky Rating: Mature

Summary: Bucky has landed himself a job with Stark Industries. He doesn't know yet that the job is actually being the PR manager for the Avengers.

Bucky has also started dating Steve Rogers. He also doesn't know yet that Steve is Captain America.

Bucky's life is about to get a whole lot more exciting.

introducing mister and mister united states (ao3) - moonythejedi394 Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: “HE’S BEAUTY HE’S GRACE HE’S MISTER UNITED STATES!” “Bucky, what the [bleeped]…?”

“Following his pardon by the President of the United States, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, former Nazi prisoner of war and brainwashed Hydra agent, took to an unusual method of adapting to the modern world: Twitter. His Twitter handle was tweeted out by Tony Stark, and in the following two days, he gained over ten million followers. Barnes posted only four tweets as well as sharing and retweeting several Vines, but two of his tweets were videos of the famed Steven Rogers, also known as Captain America. The latest of these featured Barnes entering Captain Roger’s bedroom and shouting the line: “He’s beauty, he’s grace, he’s mister United States”, just to cause Captain Rogers to fall out of bed before confusedly saying, “Bucky, what the [bleeped]?” The rest of the world seems to agree with Captain Rogers; Barnes, what the hell?”

Nothing's As Sweet As Super Soldiers In Love (ao3) - heartsdesire456 Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: Informally titled: Bucky Barnes Loves The 21st Century Almost As Much As He Loves Steve Rogers

“Captain America’s mystery lover! That’s what everybody’s talking about.”

Bucky turned around as soon as he heard ‘Captain America’, only to see Tony had on some entertainment news report and his latest photo of sleeping Steve was flashed up on the screen beside the person talking. “Hey, what’s that?” he asked, hopping over the back of the couch to land beside Stark.

“Your Cap lovin’ gone viral, I guess,” Tony said, turning up the volume.

“Rumors spread like wildfire with the first photo of Steve Rogers, Captain America himself, was posted to a comically named Instagram called ‘GodBlessAmerica36’.”

Once Bitten (ao3) - Meatball42 Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: Bucky is happy to have found his second soulmate on Steve's team. Now he just has to figure out why Tony is acting so out of character.

Prescription (ao3) - Toejones

Summary: It was Bucky’s therapist's idea, but it was also kind of Clint’s idea.

The therapist had said that Bucky seemed eager to talk about the friends he’d made, but was still focusing mainly on stories from the past. His recommendation was for Bucky to go out more.

"Not that you’re not great bro, but you’re the only person he ever sees," Clint had added. "Stay home. Let me and Maria take him out, alright? Change of pace or whatever. Introduce him to the future or something."

Feeling left out was temporary, Steve told himself.

sarah castellanos: unofficial super soldier matchmaker (ao3) - Ookami_Hime Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: @unicornweenie: momma was diagnosed with #breastcancer. running 4 her in a marathon but in desperate need of training buddy. :( hey @steverogers u down? ;) @jamesbarnes: time and place and i'll make sure he shows @unicornweenie: wtf omg @jamesbarnes r u for real? @jamesbarnes: @unicornweenie last i checked i'm real. hold up. lemme message you. don't need the paparazzi breathing down our necks ;P

shut up and dance (ao3) - hitlikehammers

Summary: Loose limbed, no rules, moving to the rhythm without much sense to it at all: it was joy and freedom and everything Steve wanted for Bucky. But Steve was also a selfish, maudlin son of a bitch, so yes: there was a sliver of nostalgia left for what was done, and what was lost.

Not that Steve would trade this, though. Not for the world.

Sleeping With Ghosts (ao3) - cobaltmoony, esaael, rohkeutta Rating: Mature

Summary: The first two years after Bucky gets out of the ice are-- surprisingly easy. Serve his country, learn to use his charmed robot hand, make friends, don’t think about the spark of magic in him that’s gone out, see the world, try to live with the grief (try to live with the grief, try to--)

Maybe they’re not that easy, in the end, but he’s settling - until he gets reluctantly pulled out of the Army and has Steve’s shield (Steve’sshield, its magic wary and curious and half-dormant) thrust onto him again, even though he’s already turned it down once before. The world has changed and so has he, but as he tries to immerse himself into a new life, he meets a ghost he could never leave behind.

the broadest stroke of color (ao3) - gossamernotes Rating: General

Summary: Sarah Rogers always loved Steve's hands.

"Your hands will do a lifetime's work," she'd say. "Remember to do the work you can for those you love."

Almost a century later, Steve does just that.

[The story wherein Steve draws comics for Bucky to help him recover his memory. Through a series of events, the issues are leaked, and Steve finds himself reviving the Captain America comics. He still isn't sure how that happened.]

The Embarrassing Truth of Crushes (ao3) - plirio Pairing: Bucky/Tony Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: Tony Stark is absolutely too old for crushes. Certainly too cool for it. He does not need to be this close to half a century spending so much of his brain power thinking about the fact that a beautiful man smiled at him today.

It’s embarrassing, that’s what it is.

Or, in which Bucky Barnes charms Tony, makes friends with robots and eats a lot of cake pops. There's also an attempt at world peace.

the future's so bright (I gotta wear shades) (ao3) - KiaraSayre Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: Things Bucky loves about the future.

The Way to a Man's Heart (ao3) - Niitza, whatthefoucault Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: It started with shawarma.

A story about food, memory, and how Steve Rogers carved out a place for himself in the 21st century.

thick and thin 'til our last days (ao3) - defcontwo Rating: General

Summary: Natasha leans back in her seat again and lets a slow, cat-that-got-the-canary grin cross her face. “Oh,” Natasha says, “he got laid.”

“Huh,” Sam says. He looks over at Steve and then nods. “Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.”

Steve tips his head back against the couch and lets out a groan. “Jesus Christ, Natasha.”

(5 times that Steve & Bucky were nothing like how anyone expected them to be + 1 time that someone was absolutely done with their shit).

Wake Up Someday (ao3) - thepartyresponsible Pairing: Steve/Tony, Bucky/Clint Rating: Teen And Up

Summary: Steve relaxes back against his chair. He takes a quick look – just checking, just making sure – over his shoulder, and he gets an unexpected and vaguely life-changing glimpse of Tony’s ass, as he bends over the pool table to line up his shot.

When he looks back, Bucky’s staring over Steve’s shoulder, a familiar, dumb, dreamy look on his face. Steve feels something catch in his chest.

“Oh,” he says. He clears his throat. God, he’s an idiot. He is an idiot. “Him, huh?”

“Yeah,” Bucky says. He catches the corner of his mouth with his teeth, but it’s not enough to fight off the stupid grin lighting up his whole damn face. “That’s the one,” he says, low and fond.

#themculibrary #steve rogers #bucky barnes #stucky #mcu #marvel #21st century #21st century masterlist #masterlists

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littlefreya · 4 years

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Lines in the Sand - Part 6

Synopsis: She is one of the best snipers serving in Iraq but she is also suffering from an attitude problem and ironically has a hard time following orders. After an incident in her former base, she is sent to join the Special Forces unit led by Captain Syverson who requires a talented sniper.

Unlucky for her, Captain Syverson is a hard man who likes things by the book and according to order. He ain’t got the patience for troublemakers.

Pairing: Captain Syverson x OFC (Jessica Gallagher)

Word count: 3,790

Warnings: Smut in future (it’s coming next part!!), sexual tension, teasing, big dick energy. Captain Syverson is BFD but also kind of a jerk in this one.

A/N: Ok, I promised smut in chapter 6 but I ended up writing 18 pages, so I have to split this in two so it will be readable. The good news is that I am almost done proofing so the sex coming up like later tonight. Please don’t hate me.

Tagging: @sciapod @thiccgeralt @writingaftermidnight @fcgrizi @hows-my-hair @modernscarlett @vania-marie @centaine @ohjules @oddsnendsfanfics @hm-fck @ly--canthrope @peakygroupie @shortstacks-blog @hclovers @intototaloblivion @cataleya12345 @lifeisingrey @mytbel0st @goliveeasy17posts @agniavateira

If you wanna be tagged, let me know!

Part 6 - If I Had a Tail

A single burst of fire ripped through the cold midnight air, sand splattered in rage like a wild desert storm while the thick smoke gyrated upon the barrel. The bullet hit right next to Stevens’ foot, not nearly close enough to cause injury or draw enemies, yet enough to make the entire base light up like a Christmas tree.

Syverson was the first to arrive at the scene. Weapon drawn and a predatory frown that soon turned into white-hot anger as he quickly analysed the scene.

She’ll never forget that face.

She thinks it’s kinda hot.

‘In an alpha male sort of way.’

It’s nearly 4 am. An hour has passed since the Captain barked at her to go and wait in his office. A whimsical vibe thrums through her blood while she raps her fingers on his desk. Perhaps she is yet to grasp the gargantuan amount of trouble she is in.

Syverson bursts into the office with such intensity, it’s a wonder the door remains latched to its hinges. Clenching his jaw, he glares, a glint of a rabid dog sparks his eyes while his breath becomes so heavy, Jess can hear the hiss of air that flows through his nostrils.

No words follow, not even once he shuts the door behind him. Walking heavily, he makes his way toward the other side of the desk with a glower glued to the girl who sits with not a speck of fear nor remorse on her face.

The office chair does its best not to collapse under Syverson’s massive weight. Cheeks sunken in, his lips press so tightly they form a white line. After a moment of excruciating silence, an abrupt thud rumbles through the cabin. She jolts the moment his fist hits the desk.

“Where do I even fucking begin?” Sy asks loudly, taking a long inhale, “do you NOT want to be here, private Jessica Gallagher?”

‘Oh full name, I guess daddy is REALLY angry.’

“It’s the only place I wanna be at, Captain Syverson, sir,” she answers sincerely.

“Don’t. Fucking. Play games with me now, little girl.”

An unbidden grunt cracks at his throat and jumps to his feet with one sudden movement, leaning forward on the desk with menace while his fingers hold onto the edge so tightly his knuckles turn white. However, the pale flesh is bloodied, riddled with tears and fresh red bruises, which makes Gallagher wonder if he punched the wall on his way to the office to avoid taking a swing at her.

Her eyes gingerly lift, daring to meet his face.

If Syverson’s glare was any fiercer, she’d be bleeding by now.

“You have any idea how much shit you just got yourself into?”

Every drop of mischief or sarcasm she had drains within an instant. Empty of words, she keeps her mouth shut. The only answer she would provide is that she is not regretting doing what she did.

Stevens had it coming.

“Give me one, one good fuckin’ reason why I shouldn’t just throw your boney ass straight into military jail, ha?”

Eyes ablaze, Sy takes a short pause and sucks on his bottom lip. “I told you: if anything happens, you come to me, you don’t take matters to your own hands, and you sure as hell don’t fire your weapon in the middle of the night. Have you any idea...”

“Well, what was I supposed to do, Captain?” Finally, she snaps, her voice shuddering, “let him rape her until you arrive on your white horse?!”

No, there was no other way; she reacted hastily to save another woman, and deep in his heart, he knows he would have done the exact same thing, if not worse. The thought that someone would harm any of his girls brings out the savage in him.

It was luck that Harper stopped him when he did.

A sudden throb thrums at his knuckles while images of Stevens’ bloody face float behind his eyes. Clenching his jaw, Sy massages the back of his right hand. If only this act of aggression deterred his fury, yet one look at Gallagher ignites the flame.

“Go ahead, sir, send me home. I am not going to apologise for what I did. And if I find out Stevens stays here after this I…”

“You think I’ll let Stevens stay!?”

Gallagher’s shoulders stiffen at his guttural bark. The Captain’s fury peaks to new levels at the sound of her remark. No man stands before her, but a bull, maddened by the redness tinting her eyes. But she is reminded that she faced death once before and she is not afraid of a man who is wrought by temper.

She will not cry. She won’t.

One look at her and he is already regretting his lapse of control.

‘Great... she’s going to cry…’

A deep sigh spills from him. War is child’s play but crying ladies? He won’t do, he’d rather bathe in fire than watch her sit there with her nose swelling and her mouth clamped so tightly her lips turned white.

He falls quiet, wishing he could tell her that she did good, but his moral code defies him.

“Letting you off without warning just this time,” he murmurs coldly, “but just to make things clear, Gallagher - you’re walking on some mighty thin ice here.”

Unsure if to be thankful or hurt, she nods meekly, her blurry gaze focused on some lewd scribble that decorates his desk.

“Dismissed.”

There is no need to spell it twice. Jumping to her feet, she throws a quick sault and scurries away.

Back in the chamber, Blazko is holding Chase, motioning Gallagher to join onto the bed. She sits behind them, pressing her forehead onto Chase’s back, knowing that tomorrow her friend will be sent back for recovery.

Men break women in the most hurtful ways possible.

A mixture of pain and anger twists her heart. If only she could destroy something right now… unleash the pain that spurs in her bawls, she’d scratch the captain’s face and scream at him for being such an indifferent grunt.

~*~

“Smooth and by the book,” Harper calls out content as the unit rides back home from yet another successful operation.

The Captain smirks with silent pride; his icy blue eyes scan the desert view through dark shades while Blazko drives the armoured vehicle. The thrill of coming back alive is better than... most sex. Though he can’t even remember what that even feels like.

Pushed against the backseat’s door, Gallagher seethes. A request to ride in the other vehicle to avoid sharing the same space with the Captain has been denied. He insisted she’ll ride in the back with Harper and Holt; his excuse being that since Holt is her spotter, they should be together at all time. But Gallagher is smarter than whatever scant credit Sy gives her - this is another plot to suck the joy out of her life.

“Mighty thin ice.”

Syverson’s frigid blues seize her liking at the rearview mirror, and quickly his smile dies. Gallagher, is once again, shitting all over his parade. Shouldn’t she be proud of her achievement today? The mouthy little thing is usually unapologetically arrogant and for a good reason too. He hates to admit it, but watching her in action was pleasing; she may have the attitude of a pubescent child, but her reputation is well deserved. He would have told her she did an excellent job on the field, hadn’t she avoided him at all cost.

‘Freakin’ ungrateful brat’.

When the vehicles finally arrive at the base, Gallagher storms out and head back towards the barracks, never even bothering to salute her Captain or heed any other orders.

“All dismissed,” he commands as the remaining unit, allowing them to disembark before anyone notices the full glory of his rising rage.

“Captain?”

Sergeant Harper appears beside him with a smile though he regrets it the moment he reads the fury on Syverson’s face. Staring at his sulk, he wonders if the Captain is aware of the notion that the boys named this particular expression“Gallagangry”. While Syverson is known for his brooding temper, the worst time to ask for favours is when he is vexed about something Galagher related.

“Leave her be, Captain. She’s just sad... about her friend, you know?” Harper dares to suggest while the Captain peers at her waltzing into the building.

“What do you need, Sarg’?” he asks, not averting his gaze even though she’s no longer in sight.

Harper clears his throat and clasps his hands together. “Umm… I know this is probably not the best time to ask this… and I am pretty sure you’ll refuse, but please, please just hear me out here.”

The Captain tilts his head at Harper, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, he always dreaded conversations that start off that way.

“What’s this about, Harper?”

Harper scratches the back of his head nervously, offering the Captain a sheepish grin. “I was thinking, with the operation being successful and all that happened at the base a few nights ago, maybe it can be a good idea to raid the ‘special occasions’ storage and have ourselves a little party?”

“You ‘outta your goddamn mind?” The captain frowns as if Harper suggested he’ll cut off his own limb. Shaking his head and hugging with dismissal, he paces toward the barracks slowly, not wanting to hear another single word.

Though Harper won’t relent, following him urgently, he steps right in front of the hulking grunt and walks backwards as Sy continues to advance.

“Think about it, we’ve just pulled a smooth one, and morals have been a bit low with the ladies and all and…”

The captain pauses and eyes him, noticing the hint of a smile that dances the Sergeant's gaze.

“Anne said yes, didn’t she?”

Harper confided in him that he means to propose once he gets back on Christmas or thanksgiving. A foolish thing to do, in Syverson’s opinion but he kept his thoughts to himself.

Unable to keep his grin from stretching all over his face, the Sergeant nods. Sy breaks into a small smirk himself and then punches his shoulder playfully.

“Congrats kids, does this means I’m gonna have to wear a tux?”

Harper chuckles and shrugs. He hasn’t even thought about the actual wedding yet.

“I don’t know about a party though, Harper, you know I don’t like this type of things.”

“Things? You mean like fun?” Harper dares is a moment of boldness.

“Hey,” the captain points his finger in the air but Harper knows it’s an empty threat. Syverson always had a soft spot for him, though he’d never admit it.

“C’mon Sy, they’re kids, kids who could get killed any day and who haven’t seen home in ages. Let them have one night to unwind.”

The Captain stares at the barracks thoughtfully; she will probably be there too and though he despises the idea a part of him is curious to find out what Private Jessica Gallagher is like at parties. Maybe she will even loosen up and speak to him? Thank him for covering her ass when he had every reason not to?

‘Wishful thinking…’

“Two drinks per person TOPS and 3 of your men can’t attend. They still need to be on patrol, Harper, so draw straws or somethin’.”

Harper jumps in joy, pressing his palms together and inaudibly mouthing, “thank you.”

‘Fuck, I’m already regrettin’ this…’

*~*

The party takes place at the canteen. Syverson was kind enough to lend some of his private rock CDs, in the condition that no cheesy dance trash will be played tonight.

His second condition is to drink responsibly. The unit raided the storage of some good stuff; vodka, Bourbon, Black Label and a bounty of American beer. The bottles are organized on the cantine’s island where food is usually served, along with glasses of shots and some plastic single times cup.

Syverson's third and final condition is, of course; he ain’t dancing and ain’t nobody buggin’ him about that.

Gallagher arrives at the party an hour after it began, accompanied by Blazko who seems ecstatic to blow off some steam. The redhead begins dancing the moment they walk in while Gallagher appears to be suspicious of her surroundings.

Standing at a strategic location, the captain spots her right away. He takes a quick sip from his beer, scrutinising her appearance; worn-out boots, semi-tight jeans and a black t-shirt. Her hair is strewn across her shoulders and he can’t help but think she looks nice without her uniform.

He wishes to say hello yet still she avoids him which only causes him to roll his eyes. He takes an angry sip from his beer, reminding himself how one of the reasons why he agreed to this dumb idea was her and mutters under his breath.

“Ugh! I want to get a drink but fucking Syverson is standing there guarding…” Gallagher tells Blazko as they stand in the middle of the cantine where the rest of the men dance. Harper is already on his 3rd beer.

Maximum 2 drinks per man? Syverson knew it’s an empty promise.

“Just look at him, being extra BDE tonight, god forbid anyone will see him having fun...” Gallagher points out, her eyes discreetly capturing the large man who is leaning against the counter. His hefty ‘package’ is pushed forward on display, one elbow laid on the surface and the other holds the bottle to his mouth. If a stranger walked into the room, he’d spot the alpha in seconds.

Blazko, who appears quite stunning herself in a red t-shirt that matches her fiery red hair, peers at Syverson, making it look so obvious that they are talking about him it feels sort of like they’re back at high school.

“What should I get ya?”

Gallagher peers at the “bar”, her eyes scanning the collection carefully, wondering how much she wants to get drunk tonight.

“Vodka.”

Blazko salutes mockingly and marches toward the bar. Gallagher is hardly drunk she’s already jumping around dancing with Harper. Seeing her shrouded by bliss, hugging the Sergeant, makes the bile climb up his throat. He chugs it down with another sip from his bottle, hardly noticing the gorgeous redhead that stands next to him with a smile and reaching out for the bottle of Vodka.

“Nice to see you too then, cap’n,” she mumbles amused before walking back toward Jess.

“To Harper and Anne!” The girls cheer and down the shots within seconds, a few moments pass, Rebel Yell plays next which pulls a loud scream from Gallagher, “FUCK! I LOVE THAT SONG!!!”

She turns to Blazko with a playfully seductive look, mimicking Billy Idol's deep raspy voice. Blazko giggles and sings along, pressing her hip against hers sensually.

“In the midnight hour, she cried- more, more, more" Gallagher sings and throw her hair back, her body moves to the rhythm of the electric guitar, her hands run up and down her torso, feeling rejuvenated, relived for the first time in so many nights. Yet, even now, completely liberated, she is still ensnared by his icy blue eyes.

The Captain pressed the edge of the bottle against his lips, unable to stop his staring no matter how much he wants to. He can feel his blood simmering, his heart pumping loudly in his chest and in his gut, he can feel a knot of rage.

This entire time she hasn’t looked at him, not even once.

The song reaches its peak moment, the music slowing down, becoming tense. Brushing her hair back, Galagher breathes in deeply. A thin layer of sweat coats her shoulders and chest from dancing so wildly.

“Wait, wait, wait! I need more booze,” she calls out and hurries to the bar. She knows Sy awaits her there, and as the alcohol dulls her senses, she suddenly wants him to see how little she thinks of him and his stupid book of rules.

“I walked the ward with you, babe

A thousand miles with you

I dried your tears of pain, babe

A million times for you”

Assaulting the bar without saying a word, she grabs the bottle with 3 plastic shots and pours the vodka down. Syverson glares silently as she downs the first shot right in front of him, closing her eyes and swallowing with a loud gulp and a hiss to follow. He can see the liquid as it runs down her stretched throat, how her chest sinks in as the cold, harsh liqueur fills her chest. Her eyes remain shut, lashes dark and long.

This is how she spites him, knowing he can’t have any of the good stuff, knowing he forbade them for having more than 2, but she dares him to stop her now.

“I’d sell my soul for you babe

For money to burn with you

I’d give you all, and have none, babe

Just, just, justa, justa to have you here by me

Because”

Gallagher lets out a heavy sigh and licks her lips, wiping them with the back of her palm until finally, she decides to grace him with half a stare from the corner of her eye.

“Captain,” she utters casually.

Sy response is an icy glare.

She raises the two remaining shots and then turns on her heels, hurrying toward the dancing crowd and downing the 3rd shot with Blazko who then hugs her tightly.

“In the midnight hour she cried more, more, more

With a rebel yell she cried more, more, more

In the midnight hour babe more, more, more

With a rebel yell she cried more, more, more

More, more, more”

The words echo in his head all of a sudden, hellfire courses through his veins. If he didn’t know better, he’d say Gallagher is teasing him, or perhaps trying to abuse him. Snatching another bottle of beer, he uncorks it by knocking the cork against the metal counter and takes a hefty long sip.

This is the shittest night he had in years.

#Captain Syverson #Henry Cavill #sand castle #Netflix Sand Castle #Captain BDE #Captain Syverson x OFC #Henry Cavill x OFC

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crackspinewornpages · 3 years

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V 9/33 -A.C. Crispin

The Visitor wasn’t having a good day, he was originally assigned to the plant in Saudi Arabia, now he’s to go to the one in Los Angeles and change his name to William. He also forgot his sunglasses at first and searches for his assigned area and struggled to remember the little English he knew. (so this is the lovable goofball we’re supposed to care about) Tayler tells him to watch out and William struggles to ask for help but Taylor is annoyed calls him stupid and leaves. (human or not douche move to someone who’s clearly struggling) William is pretty sure he was insulted but continues looking futilely for his area. He's about to try calling the shuttle for help when a woman asks if he’s okay and offers to help him.

She figures he’s lost and he manages to tell her his English isn't good as it was originally Arabic. She introduces herself as Harmony, she works here with food service. Inside the plant William sees Steven who was shouting that the pressure’s not balanced and someone has to go inside. Harmy sees it’s the Cryogenics Transfer Unit and leaves William there, Steven is upset at him and has him work with Taylor.

Juliet looks up at Dr. Metz and guesses they cancelled again, Metz tells her they’re busy setting up and they have to be patient, Juliet is upset since they’re already giving kids special visits if they join their youth organization. (they have a youth organization any other group in history that had a youth organization) Metz says their primary purpose is the chemical, the seminars are a curtesy, Juliet corrects that they said it was an exchange. Ben comes in and says that they have another request for lab animals for the Mothership, didn’t say what for. (hmm)

Maxwell went to Quintin’s office looking for the file but couldn’t find it and tells the police on the phone he can’t find Quintin anywhere. The officer tells him his car was still in the parking lot. Maxwell finds it’s unlocked, key still inside and a noxious smell. “His eyes turned to the door. The handle on the driver’s side hung askew, and an oily black stain marred the red vinyl.”p.57 Maxwell smells it and almost vomits (how does he know immediately what it is) the campus cop, Roberson, walks up to him sand decides they should call LAPD and shaking Maxwell says he doesn’t know what happened to him.

Mike is in Kristine’s apartment checking his equipment, Kristine tells him Diana is pleased with the progress at the plant and Mike asks if she knew Diana postponed the seminars again. Kristine pretty much ignores him to say Kristine is pleased with her, the Visitors feel most comfortable with her, Mike isn't impressed but Kristine tells him they offered her a job as Press Secretary. Mike doesn’t like it or why she even considered it, Kristine thinks he’s jealous, he thinks she compromising her objective by sucking up. She’s gets angry at him, it’s the perfect opportunity, “I’m going to stay objective, Mike. After all, I’m one of us, not them.”p.60 (yeah and there are people outside of groups that still work for said group) Mike tells her to put the steaks back in the freezer, and she remembered the Visitors don’t eat meat misunderstanding him as Mike gets his equipment and leaves.

William looked across the plant to see Harmy with a food tray, he walks over and thanks her and she compliments his improved English. She asks how he’s getting along with Taylor, he doesn’t think Taylor likes them there. As Harmy starts to talk an emergency klaxon sounds in William’s area, he runs there and doesn’t see Taylor or Jennings. White vapor pours out of the hatch, Jennings makes it out but knocking into a pipe shatters his arm off. (Jesus Christ why are they working so close to the liquid nitrogen) William runs up and hears Taylor is still in there, William runs into the liquid nitrogen and Steven is furious. William makes it out supporting Taylor who’s covered in frost and William was covered in blisters unlike Taylor and Jennings. (hmm) The ambulance arrived but Steven says William will go to the shuttle and something in his eyes stops Bill from arguing.

Ben is in the lab and Ruth tells him the cultures aren't back yet from pathology, they’re running behind since two techs didn’t come in. Metz wouldn’t expect such caviler attitude from them. Juliet calls Ben to tell him his dad is in the hospital and Ben leaves to go to the ER. An ambulance tech tells them what happened and Ruth sees some chemical residue on Taylor’s jacket and collects some flakes to examine later. “They almost look like skin,”-”But not quite...”p.65

Abraham’s walking down the street with his neighbor Ruby, he comments there’s more Visitors coming every day, Ruby says he’ll get used to it. Abraham says it’s not the same, they’re from a different world, not human, “All those uniforms. And more every day. I don’t like uniforms.”p.65 Ruby tells him it’s been forty years, his tattoo belongs in the past, let it go, (you did not just fucking say that to a concentration camp survivor) Abraham thinks maybe she’s right. Ruby asks about Daniel, he had a job at the supermarket but quit when they suspected him of theft, he’s quit so many jobs. He doesn’t know if he’s guilty, they tried to raise him right but he never fit in it, he’s been this way for years. (a dose of reality and a good ass beating) He’s not thrilled he’s involved with the Visitor Friend group and Ruby thinks this is what he needs, Abraham isn't assured as another Visitor vehicle flies overhead.

Mike was in the vehicle passenger seat looking down at the houses, one craft is on his mother’s yard, it’s Steven’s. Mike is pretty sure the Visitors, if like humans, gossiped among themselves. He watches the pilot Martin, the ship seems easy to control and he sees something on the floor behind the seat, it looks like a key (how convenient) and Mike almost hands it over but decides to keep it for Sean. Martin asks where he’d like to be dropped off and since he needs a rental for camping tells him a car lot. The vehicle lifts away and the people watch in amazement.

A few minutes later he pulled up to his ex-wife's house and Sean greets him and show him his friend Josh’s new toy, a Visitor shuttle model with Diana and John figures. Sean asks his dad if they can get some toys since his mom says they don’t have the money and Mike tries not to look angry, he’s always paid the agreement and sent extra if Sean wanted something. Mike gives him the key and Sean shows it off to Josh when Marjorie tells them to go eat dinner. She blocks Mike from coming in and he didn’t think it was fair on Sean how she treated him. (it’s fucking not someone slap this bitch) She bitches about competing with him, he asks why she’s competing, why not do something on her own, he could give her money, she tells him not to start. (you’re the one who started it he’s throwing the truth right in your face you’re just a bitter cunt you’re not your son’s favorite parent)

Juliet is at Ruth’s and they can hear a shuttle overhead, she’s excited she’s got a real skin sample. Ruth says she could only look at them for a minutes before Metz gave her the backlog of work. But it didn’t look like human skin. “There didn’t seem to be any cells-it was all smooth. Too smooth,”p.71 (hmm almost like it’s not really skin) Juliet can't wait to see them tomorrow, this will really catch Metz attention and she guesses Ruth has a thing for him, but she thinks she’s like equipment to him. Juliet says tomorrow they’ll work on that as Ruth walks to her home forgetting to tell Juliet where she hid the sample. When she steps inside a man in a Visitor uniform points a weapon at her and fires.

In the apartment Ben asks his dad if he’s okay and sees the place is a mess so his brother’s been there. Then Elias comes home and Ben criticizes his bad grammar calling it shit and he needs to grow up. Ben goes back to cleaning, tired of Elias, work and everything since he’s taken double duty as Ruth disappeared. Metz has been inconsolable, “The police conducted an investigation, but I’ve seen people search for lost dogs with more energy. There have been so many disappearances-what the hell is going on?”p.74 (I know this is supposed to show how the police are compliant with the Visitor orders or something but I have also heard way too many stories of police being given missing person’s reports and just sitting on their asses) He remembers Juliet telling him of the skin sample and he looks at the Mothership they may give a seminar for ten minutes but only stuff Kristine already told them.

Robin was talking to her friend Muffy on the phone and wants to know if she saw the Visitor Youth Leader and gushes so much she didn’t hear said leader approaching behind her in the yard. He introduces himself as Brian and he asks for Daniel’s house and asks her if she wants to walk there with him.

William could see Harmy’s truck and she tells him everyone’s talking about how he saved Taylor. William says he’s now talking to him and shook his hand and Harmy offers him lunch asking if they eat, sometimes. He and Harmy pretty much set up a movie date.

Juliet had the tv on when they announced a special report, Metz recognizes Leopold Jankowski from the Brussels Biomedical Institute, who’s holdings a press conference to announce a conspiracy to harm and possible destroy the Visitors. Jankowski says it was brought to his attention when Metz called him, Metz denies it to Juliet and Jankowski says other collogues have been contacted by scientists and he has a list of friends and conspirators and copies will be given to authorities.

The world’s scientific community was in an uproar, Metz’s office was searched and found a hidden folder with dates and names. Kathleen made a statement that the scientific seminars are postponed. Many implicated scientists have vanished, police are flooded with missing reports. Evidence was found for a violent takeover and John requested the U.N. has said scientists and families register and locations, with mounting evidence they concede. “Finally, by special Act of Congress and the President, the registration commenced.”p.80 (a registration and location of certain groups individuals and their families and no one sees this is suspicious)

Abraham catches Maxwell about to send the forms for registration and finds it weird Russia is also doing it. Abraham is trembling and Ruby comes to comfort him, watch it’ll just blow over. “Watch while they destroy everything I’ve come to hold dear.”p.80 He thought it would pass in 1938 too, Ruby thinks it’s different and they see a Visitor squad vehicle and drop off Daniel. “They shook hands, Abraham’s grandson wore a brownish-orange coverall, similar to design and cut to the visitor uniform,”p.81 Ruby becomes fearful now.

Dennis sees Juliet is forty-five minutes late and watches the news of Senator Burke that revolutionary cancer treatments do exist, but the scientific community keeps quiet about it. Resentment’s been growing around the scientific community; Juliet comes home and he tells her he didn’t get the account and she thinks it’s because of her. She notices he’s being too polite, he takes the wine bottle and shuts himself in the bedroom.

Mike and Tony watch the news, Tony calls it shit, Mike says it’s been bugging him for days and finally figured it out. Last year he taped Jankowski he used his right hand. but now he’s left-handed and so is Duviver. Tony says everything’s gone weird since the Visitors showed up, Mike says they need to see the Mothership, they plan to do it the next day.

At the plant, Tony and Mike see a shuttle with its doors open and they hide behind the pipes, they just have a beta cam. (today you could sneak in your cell phone) When the Visitor and human technicians are finished, Mike says it’s time and they try to jump in the shuttle but only Mike made it. Mike felt the woosh and he was in the air and listened to the announcements wondering why they’re in English. (for audience convenience) He films the Visitor technicians work and complain it’s a waste to haul the stuff up then dump it. Mike finds a service ladder and climbs down to a ventilator shaft and peers through a grille to a room they weren't allowed in during the tour because of radiation. Mike notices the ones in there aren't wearing protective gear. Another grate shows a woman in a skimpy outfit and he continues where he hears voices, Diana was talking to Steven about nearly taking over all the continents. (because the audience needs evil exposition)

Diana walks to a compartment that held lab animals, Steven mentions that the Leader must be pleased and Diana says also impatient but her conversion process isn't the same on every human. They can't believe the humans believe the conspiracy they made, but with all the evidence they planted it reinforces their belief. (hmm one group is sowing dissentients and distrust over the science and medical community to further their own goals in a time of crisis good thing that never happens in real life right) Scientists are being ostracized worldwide, converting all the humans would take forever, she has to refine the process.

Mike watches as they eat the lab animals live and he tries not to puke. He walks back along the walkway and sees the same rooms as before, now a man takes off his contacts to reveal vertical pupils that could see Mike in the grille. It claws through it and grabs Mike pulling him out, as they fight Mike sees it has two sets of teeth and a long, forked tongue, Mike tears at its face revealing it’s reptilian skin. (lizard people control the government) Mike manages to knock it off and runs back to the grille and gets into a craft ready to lift off when the intruder alert sounds, the pilots think it’s another drill and leave. (how convenient)

He waits until the pilots leave the shuttle when he limps out and barely makes it across a parking lot when Tony finds him. When he sees the tape, he can't believe it and they go straight to the network president's office and the director is willing to put up a special bulletin. Tony wonders why they have the chemical cover story, Mike doesn’t know as they view the footage and Mike now pukes. They see the fight and the reptilian skin a few minutes later, the bulletin was ready just as they begin, they get cut out the whole network’s off the air and the screen now has the Visitor symbol. (shit they took over the telecommunications imagine the scale of today with social media he’d be able to get it out to the public quicker in an emergency but with today’s technology it could be easier to claim it as a hoax there’d be conspiracy theorists and forums from the very beginning)

Mike watches Kristine on the air, bemoaning they’re too late as she reports terrorist attacks on some of the plants. John announces the civilian members of governments have requested and been granted protection on the ships and how much they trusted Michael Donovan. He is revealed to be the biggest traitor and engineered today's attacks. (a reporter organized several terrorists attacks really amazed that even worked as an excuse but I know people are also stupid and in want of any scape goat) John warns the public not to talk to him as a scream erupts from the newsroom, Tony shouts that they’re here. Tonty tosses him the tape and blocks the Visitors so Mike can run. He escapes a patrol officer and loses his bearings and starts climbing a wall as he’s shot at.

The Bernstein family watches the report and Stanley wonders if they got the Richland plant, Daniel wants them to be quiet so he can hear, thinking how Mike better not get in his path. (you’re such a little punk he’d land you right on your ass) John announces martial law is now in effect with the help of Visitor Friends and Daniel straightens his uniform. The parents try to assure themselves but Abraham says nothing.

#v mini series #ac crispin #books #book summaries #science fiction #science fiction fantasy #fiction #media tie in #war #mystery

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Oscars 2021 Predictions and Analysis of Frontrunners

https://ift.tt/3s3HJE1

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Oscars 2021 nominations is how unsurprising they were. There were course a handful of snubs, from One Night in Miami and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom being left out of the Best Picture category to LaKeith Stanfield surprising awards watchers with a Best Supporting Actor nod thanks to Judas and the Black Messiah (displacing Chadwick Boseman from Da 5 Bloods). But by and large? Things proceeded the way prognosticators pretty much expected.

With the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences picks in, we can see that David Fincher’s Mank is the technical favorite with below the line voters, pushing the Netflix deconstruction of Golden Age Hollywood to eight nominations. These include major nods for Picture, Director and Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried), but also a lot of technical recognition too in Cinematography, Production Design, Costume, and Makeup and Hairstyling.

Even so, the obvious frontrunner remains Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, a beautiful film that turns the tragedy of the Great Recession into a bittersweet celebration of American Nomad culture. The Searchlight Pictures release garnered six nominations, including Zhao in the Best Director category and another for Best Picture. Zhao’s directing nod, alongside Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman, additionally made history with this being the first time two women were nominated in the Best Director category in the same year.

Meanwhile fans still mourning Chadwick Boseman’s tragic loss, as well as celebrating his tour de force final performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, can take some small comfort in the actor being the heavily favored contender in the Best Actor category.

In the end, things proceeded more or less as how the breathless awards race media class hoped it would. All of which raises an interesting question: Will there be any actual surprises then on Oscar night? Well… below is our best, and entirely too early, guess at what will win Best Picture and the other major categories. Be sure to check back here on Oscar night to remind us how wrong we were.

Just for clarity, nominees we want to win will be italicized while the ones we think will win will be bolded. When they’re one in the same, one contender will be italicized and bolded.

Best Picture

The Father Judas and the Black Messiah Mank Minari Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

I’m not sure I can think of a year with a more clear cut and inevitable frontrunner than Nomadland in 2021. There have been other years with dominant frontrunners—almost every year in fact—including several that go on to win, such as Green Book just two award seasons ago. However, there is almost always a counter-narrative that threatens the perceived frontrunner. Sometimes those whisper campaigns unseat the presumptive winner (see La La Land and 1917), and sometimes they don’t. But in the case of Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland there isn’t even a serious challenger.

This in part because Zhao made an extraordinary film which uncannily mixed documentarian filmmaking and its study of real-life American Nomads with narrative storytelling. It’s a trick Zhao has done several times before, including memorably with the Independent Spirit Award winner, The Rider. But here it is done with Oscar favorite in star Frances McDormand, and it draws attention to a whole culture of forgotten (white) Americans. Additionally, Nomadland is opening in a pandemic year where most of the more traditional awards contenders have vacated. The ones that haven’t are mostly being produced by Netflix, including The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Mank. The former might be a real contender for Best Picture under different circumstances, but the Academy is notoriously recalcitrant toward awarding Best Picture to Netflix originals and other streaming efforts. Just ask Roma for more.

Nomadland braved a small theatrical debut ahead of its premiere on Hulu, supporting the theatrical experience during COVID, while Chicago 7 was snubbed a Best Director nomination, suggesting there is some skepticism toward the film among a large wing of Academy voters. Mank, meanwhile, is an acquired taste that appeals to my personal sensibility. But it’s quite cold and less a love letter to the movie industry than a loving middle finger. That fact will probably hurt it in a number of categories, including Best Original Screenplay where it was snubbed today.

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round David Fincher, Mank Lee Isaac Chung, Minari Chloé Zhao, Nomadland Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

While I would vote another way for Best Picture, I am totally onboard with seeing Zhao pick up the Best Director plaudit. Hers is an entirely unique cinematic voice that has successfully blurred the lines of how narrative filmmaking can be conveyed, and she’s done so while cultivating a great sense of empathy in Nomadland. The picture that finds beauty and resilience in a story that could’ve been a tragedy, memorializing the Americans left behind by the Great Recession.

Her groundbreaking techniques make her stand out in her field. Plus, Academy will be acutely self-conscious this year about the disappointing fact that only one other woman, Kathryn Bigelow, has won a Best Director Oscar. So be prepared for Zhao to make that two.

Best Actress

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman Frances McDormand, Nomadland Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Carey Mulligan is phenomenal in Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. Acerbic but devastating, guarded but vulnerable, and equal parts righteous and occasionally terrifying, she provides a multifaceted turn unlike anything else we’ve seen from the now twice-nominated actor. Previously she was recognized for her ingénue breakout in An Education, but now as an adult thespian, she’s a true revelation. That narrative will appeal to Academy voters, especially as they tend to favor younger actresses in the lead category. Frances McDormand is a famous exception to that rule, but McDormand has two Oscars already, and one is for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri from only three years ago. Also Mulligan is much more keen on playing the awards season campaign game.

Admittedly, Andra Day won for Best Actress in a Drama at the Golden Globes … but the Globes are always going to be their own thing (ask Jodie Foster for more). And while Day is wonderful in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, that movie’s more meager quality is going to be an albatross.

Best Actor

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Anthony Hopkins, The Father Gary Oldman, Mank Steven Yeun, Minari

In his final performance, Chadwick Boseman is heartbreaking and utterly riveting. All strained bravado and barely masked desperation, his Levee is cool to a tragic fault in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The film he occupies, based on the August Wilson play of the same name, enjoys its contrasts about Black artists navigating white dominated industries. But while Viola Davis’ charismatic turn is above the title, the B-side to her story as embodied by Levee is where the film’s ghosts wait. And they stayed with me long after the Netflix film ended.

Movies

How Chadwick Boseman Created His Final Performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

By Don Kaye

Movies

Promising Young Woman: Director Emerald Fennell Breaks Down the Ending

By Rosie Fletcher

Boseman deserves a posthumous Oscar for his turn—which would make him only the third performer to win one after Peter Finch for Network and Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight—and he’ll almost certainly get it on Oscar night.

Best Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova, Borat Glenn Close, Hillbilly Eleg Olivia Colman, The Father Amanda Seyfried, Mank Youn, Yuh-jung, Minari

Conventional wisdom says Olivia Colman will win Best Supporting Actress for The Father. The Academy certainly likes her, having awarded her Best Actress two years ago for The Favourite, and the Academy also has a history of being more lenient on relative back-to-back Oscars in the Supporting category, unlike the historical precedents in the leading actor categories. However, I’m taken by the relative lack of consensus-building around Colman to date. Granted the Golden Globes denied Colman in favor of Jodie Foster, whose performance wasn’t even recognized by the Oscars this year. But the Critics Choice Awards also overlooked Colman while providing Maria Bakalova with a surprise win for Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm.

Precedent should still make me wary of picking Bakalova to win the award. After all, it’s a comedic performance which the Academy usually shies away from. However, this comedic turn was so good, it was able to expose Rudy Giuliani to be a creep with his hand down his pants in front of the world. That will appeal to Academy voters, especially after a year like 2020. Meanwhile my personal choice—Amanda Seyfried’s understated but wholly authentic restoration of Marion Davies’ image after Citizen Kane—may suffer from just a general apathy toward that film’s demeanor, at least from above the line voters. Her snub by her peers at the SAG Awards unfortunately speaks poorly of her chances.

Best Supporting Actor

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami Paul Raci, Sound of Metal LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

Daniel Kaluuya’s performance in Judas and the Black Messiah is a sweltering achievement. With limited screen time—despite being the ostensible messiah of the film’s title—Kaluuya is searing as the Black Panther Party Chairman who created the Rainbow Coalition and was hounded to his death by the FBI through illegal means. I’m also partial to Sacha Baron Cohen’s turn in The Trial of the Chicago 7 where he showed a more sardonic range as a counterculture activist in the Windy City. But even I’ll concede his performance isn’t the one folks will probably be quoting for years to come.

Best Original Screenplay

Judas and the Black Messia Minari Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

Traditionally the Screenplay categories are where Academy voters tend to recognize the more challenging outside-the-mainstream Best Picture nominees they don’t want to give the top prize to. Ergo, it’s a great place for Emerald Fennell to pick up an award for Promising Young Woman. The movie is too candy colored bleak and light hearted in its tragedies to garner enough Academy support in Best Picture, but its originality will be awarded here.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Borat 2 The Father Nomadland One Night in Miami The White Tiger

I suspect the love for Nomadland will continue in the Adapted Screenplay category with Zhao picking up another Oscar. While the screenplay is quite brilliant, I personally feel the movie’s greater achievement is in its visual storytelling and melding of real stories with a broader fictional narrative. Whereas Kemp Powers’ adaptation of his own play is magnificent. There is a fair criticism to be made that Powers couldn’t fully escape the stageniess of his original conceit about spending a night in a motel room with Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. But the acute intelligence of his dialogue, and the way it cuts to the tensions of Black responsibility juxtaposed with soft American power, is as potent as it is finally exciting.

Best Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah Mank News of the World Nomadland The Trial of the Chicago 7

I suppose I’m predicting a sweep for Nomadland, which in some ways will be earned. In others it may not, such as if Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography in Judas and the Black Messiah.

Best Film Editing

The Father Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

Film editing should be the one category Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 has locked up. With a breathless pace executed in nervy style by Alan Baumgarten, The Trial of the Chicago 7 makes dialogue exchanges out to be as exciting as any special effects-heavy set piece.

Best Costume Design

Emma. Mank Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mulan Pinocchio

I suspect Costumes will be one area where Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom receives some technical applause by the Academy. However, I think the pastel and historically accurate designs in Autumn de Wilde’s meticulously designed Emma. shouldn’t go overlooked.

Best Production Design

The Father Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank News of the World Tenet

The amount of painstaking research and effort that went into so minutely recreating 1930s Hollywood in David Fincher’s Mank is undeniable. While I am expecting largely a shutout for my favorite film of last year, this will be one place where Mank will not go ignored.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma Hillbilly Elegy Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank Pinocchio

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom can win for Viola Davis’ immersive transformation into the Mother of the Blues alone.

Best Original Score

Da 5 Bloods Mank Minari News of the World Soul

It stands to reason that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will pick up another Oscar for the score of Soul, which will also mark the first one for co-writer Jon Batiste. This would be a happy outcome, but if I’m honest the Emile Mosseri score of Minari touched me more.

Best Animated Feature Film

Onward Over the Moon A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Soul Wolfwalkers

It’s another open and shut year for Pixar thanks to Soul. There’s of course a case to be made for Wolfwalkers, which was a beautiful work of art that’s actually hand drawn. But it’s an open secret that most Academy voters (sadly) do not watch all the animated nominees, and pick solely from the Pixar/Disney catalog. And Soul really is one of the best Pixar films in quite a while so…

Best Visual Effects

Love and Monsters The Midnight Sky Mulan The One and Only Ivan Tenet

There is precedent for the Academy to award less than deserving films in this category simply because the winner is associated with a more popular movie in above the line categories. However, none of the above the line darlings were visual effects heavy this year, and for whatever you might think about Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, there is no denying its visual wizardry is astounding, from the stunt work that sees men bungie jumping upwards to having in-camera effects happening simultaneously in different time streams. So the movie that wanted to “save cinema” may not be entirely overlooked by the industry on Oscar night.

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The post Oscars 2021 Predictions and Analysis of Frontrunners appeared first on Den of Geek.

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shitty-check-please-aus · 4 years

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2020 Books Read So Far

Note: Most of these are audiobooks (listening to books counts as reading books and if you disagree I’d ask you to consider why you believe that), books I started and didn’t finish will be listed but not reviewed, and all my opinions are extremely subjective. I’m putting this on this blog because I want to and I think it’ll help me keep track of what I’ve read if I write it down in a couple places.

Some notes:

I’m surprised that most of these are nonfiction! I don’t usually think of myself as a nonfiction reader.

Having audiobooks has made me way more productive as a reader, since I can read while I’m doing repetitive tasks at work, when I have to stand on the bus, when I’m running, etc.

Naked, by David Sedaris

3/5, the audiobook was “unabridged selections” which means “we didn’t edit the individual essays but you’re only getting half the book”– it would probably have been a 4/5 if it was a whole book. I liked that Amy Sedaris was reading parts of it, but that’s because I like her more than I like her brother. This is sort of an example of the difference between “comedic” and “humorous,” because it’s definitely the latter.

Read it if: you want to read something pretty fucking weird.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, by Sarah Vowell

4/5, I saw this recommended a lot when Hamilton first came out so it’s been in the back of my mind for a good while. The book had a great cast, and having different people reading the historical quotes was an excellent touch!

However, I think Vowell’s conversational style is a little jarring here sometimes. It’s like “wait, why are you talking about Bruce Springsteen, I’m not that familiar with his work but he definitely isn’t from Revolutionary War times.” I got her book Assassination Vacation at a used bookshop recently as well, and both books suffer from post-2016 hindsight, where she’ll say something about how incompetent and foolish the politicians of her time are, and I just have to snort to myself and say “Sarah, you’re going to lose your goddamn mind soon.” That’s a bit of an unfair reaction, but it’s hard to avoid having it.

I was also, maybe unfairly, expecting to learn more than I did. The problem is that I know a Lot about the Revolutionary War, and from the introduction I thought we’d hear more about Lafayette’s later life (my knowledge drops sharply after about 1810). The book basically ends after the Battle of Yorktown, though.

Read it if: you have not seen/listened to both Hamilton and 1776, or if you want to read a summary of the Revolutionary War with a focus on one French captain.

Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell

3/5, honestly maybe a 2.5/5. Okay, so. Either I know a lot more about American History than I felt like I did or this is again a very surface level thing. Part of it is because she spends 123 pages on Abe Lincoln. There are 255 pages total. 2/3 of the states I’ve lived in are Indiana and Illinois, two states that fight about claiming Lincoln as their own, and I’ve been to D.C. 4 or 5 times, so I feel like I know enough about Lincoln. I know about John Wilkes Booth, and his brother Edwin who saved Lincoln’s son’s life, and the death train that took Lincoln’s body around the country. I did enjoy learning about the doctor who was probably conspiring with Booth and how he ended up saving tons of lives in prison when there was a yellow fever outbreak (also to be briefly unbearably nitpicky: I think she might have mixed up dengue and yellow fever? She calls yellow fever “breakbone” but I can only find instances online of people calling dengue fever that. Maybe they called them all breakbone in the late 1800s. If anyone reading this is an epidemiologist, let me know).

It was interesting to hear that Charles Guiteau, killer of President Garfield, was part of the Oneida cult. I’m trying to think of anything notable she said about Leon Czolgosz, killer of President McKinley. I guess she talks about how people assumed he was a foreigner because of his name, but I already listened to “The Ballad of Czolgosz” in Assassins, so I knew “Czolgosz, angry man, born in the middle of Michigan.”

This one is from 2005 so the politics stuff is a little more interesting, since at the time I was busy learning multiplication and spending one entire baseball season learning about baseball and following my team (they won the world series, I have excellent timing). I will say that in 2005 we did have Google, so I am again annoyed with some of her asides and personal anecdotes. Look, if you go to the Hemingway house and you don’t know there will be cats there, that’s on you if you don’t bring your Claritin. Hemingway is associated with only two good things, six-toed cats and Daiquiris.

She also does not acknowledge that the parties basically switched platforms? Lincoln’s Republican party is not today’s Republican party, in fact kind of the opposite, so it’s weird that she starts the book with a dedication that’s like “to my lifelong Democrat grandpa, he’d be pissed I dedicated a book about 3 Republicans to him.” I guess she does sometimes say stuff like “how did Lincoln’s party become Reagan’s” (paraphrase), but she doesn’t actually get into it.

Speaking of Democrats, she literally spends more time talking about Pablo Picasso than she spends talking about JFK. She doesn’t explain why she didn’t talk about JFK, but it seems bizarre to me to write a book about American assassinations and to leave out John Fucking Kennedy. Literally I’ve talked more about JFK in this section than she did in her assassin book. It’s not until page 253 that JFK gets a full paragraph. There are 255 pages total. Truly, if she’d taken a paragraph to be like “I’m focusing on the presidents who were elected before 1900″ or “the presidents whose immediate families aren’t still alive” or even “I didn’t want to travel to Dallas for research” or SOMETHING to explain why she left out JFK, I would have understood it more instead of flipping through the pages wondering what was going on.

Read it if: You do not listen to too many history podcasts and you didn’t read the Wikipedia page for the musical Assassins. And I guess if you don’t want to acknowledge that JFK did also get assassinated and that was kind of a big deal. Actually just listen to Assassins instead.

And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie

5/5 as a mystery, 0/5 for its original title (not gonna say it here but if you’ve ever googled the name of HP Lovecraft’s cat, it’s along those lines). Less than 6 hours, narrated by Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey, fairly ideal as an audiobook. I am 95% sure I’ve already read this, because I spent the summer before I started high school reading every Agatha Christie book in the library (I do not have a list of all the Agatha Christie books in my library the summer of 2010, so there is some question).

Read if: you want to hear the guy from Downton Abbey deliver the line “I’m not a complete fool!” in a tone that makes it sound like “I’m not a fucking moron!” Sidenote: Can anyone tell me if Brits say “solder” by pronouncing the L that I’ve always heard as a silent L? Or if Dan Stevens just fucked up that one word?

Over The Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, by Jonathan Van Ness

4.5/5

This was a super enjoyable audiobook! It’s a testament to JVN’s considerable charisma that this book is full of him giving people in his past who would rather be anonymous Russian names, and it doesn’t get grating (as a Marina, however, I was shocked to not hear my name at any point; most of the other Marina’s I’ve met in my life are Russian). JVN has had a wild ride in life, and it’s a really raw, honest story of how he became who he is. I will say that if you are interested in reading this, please look up the trigger warnings; there are a lot of things that could be triggering to people.

I feel a little bad at how much more I liked this one compared to Tan France’s memoir, but I also feel like whoever was ghostwriting that one did a bad job at making Tan seem... not extremely defensive, cocky, and prickly (it seems that JVN did not use a ghostwriter; Tan’s on the other hand, let the phrase “I’m proud to be a petty bitch” make it into the final proof several times). Also JVN advocates going to therapy in his book, while Tan kind of says that you should only go to therapy if you have no friends or family or life partner to talk to, which I fundamentally disagree with. I don’t know. I also feel like, if I were to get a makeover from the Fab 5, Jonathan would love my hair (I have great hair) while Tan would say that I’m dressing too old for a 24 year old and then take me to fucking Lane Bryant or Torrid (I wear a size 16 US so IRL options are limited).

Read if: You like Queer Eye or Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Medallion Status, by John Hodgman

4.5/5

I really like John Hodgman’s podcast, and I got to ask him a question at an event he did at the Field Museum and he was very nice, so I went into this inclined to enjoy it.

And I did! I had a good time reading it. I read it the first week of January and now it’s the second week of February so I have already erased much of the book’s content from my mind, but he somehow made the perspective of being a formerly kinda famous person really interesting. I would also recommend Vacationland, particularly if anyone wants to write an au where Nursey, as a New Yorker, has a vacation home in Dex’s town in Maine. That’s right, I brought it back around to the topic of this blog. And that would be a fucking fantastic au.

Read it if: you like memoirs! it’s a good one.

Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie

Gonna give this one a 3/5 for performance, because Dan Stevens (again, because I liked his narration in the other one) does a really annoying American accent for a few characters, and an extremely bad Italian accent for another. I’m starting this review only a few hours in, so if it turns out that the Italian man is not Italian, I’ll revoke my criticism. Still a 5/5 mystery, though. I did have to stop many times when they were talking about Istanbul to go over to Spotify and play “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by They Might Be Giants.

Books abandoned in 2020 (so far) (no real spoilers, I didn’t get more than a few chapters into any of them):

The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren

I got to a point where the main character was telling a lie that would put her newly accepted job into jeopardy, and it stressed me out so much as a relatively new hire that I stopped listening for the day and started another one, and then the week had passed and then the library took it back. I think I’d enjoy it more if I was reading it physically and I could control how fast I got through awkward parts (I am practically allergic to secondhand embarrassment). The performance was good and I did get a hankering for cheese curds.

Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris

I had like three audiobooks checked out at the same time, and even though this was again an abridged version, I just didn’t have time for all of them. My mom has a physical copy, I’ll borrow that at some point.

The Witch Elm, Tana French

This is one I may revisit someday. The main character is kind of an asshole, which is the point of his character I think, but it made it hard to get into the story. It’s also a 22 hour audiobook, which is kind of insanely long. Additionally, the narrator has a very slow way of talking, but if I tried to speed up the rate of playback I had trouble understanding his accent (I think I just have trouble processing really fast speech in general as well, but I would’ve had an easier time understanding someone with the same accent as me). Anyways, someone put a hold on it at the library and then I didn’t check it out again.

#long post #off topic #Marina Reads #edit: put under a readmore bc I forgot to earlier

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iamjjmmma · 5 years

Text

i spent an hour typing up the full storyline to my steven universe fanfic i’ll never make and here goes.

Consider this a chapter from a history book I guess.

This was inspired by a lot of things, but mainly inspired by me researching Ocean City, MD (which is eerily close to Beach City and eerily close to where Sugar grew up) since I went there a few years ago and spent my childhood summers. But here we go.

Steven is now eighteen and ready to marry Connie and move out of his parents’ place, although he swears never to forget his Gem heritage. Just then, Spinel comes back down using the lightpad the Diamonds have.

NOTE: 1 SECOND IN THE DIAMOND WORLD=1 DAY IN THE HUMAN WORLD, meaning Spinel would have only been gone for about 13 minutes.

She claims she wanted to go back to say one last goodbye. She notices how much time would pass in the human world without the Diamonds even giving her a second thought and decides to stay for 6 months, realizing she needs to repair her relationships with the other characters. During that time, she becomes closer with all the characters, but most of all with Pearl, who has now developed a protective instinct over her and considers her just as much of her “child” as Steven is. So she’s accepted as a temporary member of the Universe family as Steven’s “sister” and as Greg’s “daughter” that he’s always wanted.

Meanwhile, in one of the more overlooked suburbian neighborhoods in Beach City, the injector left a trail of its poison on one of the cul-de-sacs...right in the only area where it’s legal for carriers to deliver newspapers. This has caused a man named George Handley, who lives in that street, to not have any current issues of his newspaper. In fact, the last issue of the paper was when Spinel was on Earth and how it basically portrayed her as pure evil. Since George is quite the gem extremist/human supremacist, thinking they’re out to destroy humanity. And he also has a pistil, well… yeah.

Slowly, tensions grow in between the Gems and the humans, culminating one day with Steven getting into a scuffle in one of the town alleyways and coming home very much hurt.

One day, Pearl and Spinel go to the children’s theatre one day to watch one of their plays, with Greg and Steven being gone for a music gig. Unbeknownst to them, George is also coming to see his 9-year-old daughter Delaney and her 11-year-old boyfriend Ken. Once George sees the duo, he pulls you-know-what out of his pocket and fires away. Pearl shields Spinel, but not...quite.

In fact, the poison did more than just destroy organic matter. It cancels it out, yes, but it also replaces it with crystalline matter, aimed to both destroy humans and turn them into half or full Gems. It does the opposite with the Gems, causing them to possess more and more human traits, some of which include dying in human ways and retaining a bodily form after their Gems shatter.

It takes a few seconds for Pearl to even realize Spinel is hurt, and even when she does, with the help of a completely unhelpful human crowd, she doesn’t know anything she can do but calm Spinel down until her gem shatters. *cue sad harmonica music prisoners in movies play*

George is completely devastated and remorseful, having heard Spinel’s crying, which sounds like a child. He tells Pearl about how he’s a father himself, and Pearl says how that “makes him even more sick” before she punches him in the face and knocks him out. Pearl tells everyone what happened. They bury Spinel near Rose’s Fountain. Afterwards, they spend time with the Handley family and with Ken, meeting George’s wife Margaret (iT mEaNs PeArL sEe WhAt I dId ThEre).

One day, the Diamonds start to frantically call Earth every second, which translates into once every 2 or 3 days. Each time, they offer a different explanation, but time’s running out. Eventually, they bring George, who fabricates what happened and makes himself look like the hero. Despite everyone else trying to tell the Diamonds this, they say they’d much rather believe the words of a “humble father” instead of any of the rest of them. (poor greg)

The Gems determine the humans are getting dangerous and that they need to address this. Steven is the representative, but once a mob of humans attack, the Gems attack back. The United States interprets this as a declaration of war.

…

It’s now been 5 years since the war started. It’s been very organized- mostly made up of volunteers, with battles going on in uninhabited places. High tensions still exist between the Gems and the humans, but it dies down to a topic that people talk about when they’re bored. No, nobody important died, although Steven’s grown to be a handsome 23-year-old and looking suspiciously like Steg. We now go back to Rosanna, who is now 14, and Ken, who is now 16. During science class one day, Rosanna discovers traces of the poison (nicknamed “gobbledy goopy goo”) in the schoolyard, and looking under a microscope using a cheek swab, they discover it’s replacing the cells with a mixture of microscopic crystals and alien-looking fluid. A kid volunteers to POUR the rest of the poison on his arm, and it mutates into a Gem-ish arm.

Ken realizes that they’ve discovered a major advantage in the war, and so they spend the next few months teaming up with the Steven Universe gang and trying to find a way to keep the Gems going as a failsafe in case the Gems don’t make it to the planets they want to migrate to. So they purposefully inject themselves with poison until they turn half-Gem. Along the way, they meet new friends, lose new friends, and have a tone of character development. The surviving Gems all leave Earth, and Ken and Rosanna use the light pad once more to go to the most isolated, the smallest, the most remote planet in all the galaxy: the Garden.

They form a network of wires around the planet to deliver a paralyzing electric shock to anyone should they dare to step on the light pad, trapping themselves in the planet for the rest of their lives out of fear the cycle will start all over again if they do. Using a juice extracted from the dead forget-me-nots that turns out to be where the poison originated the whole time, they take out the Gem parts from them and create two Gem creatures that resemble them both in appearance and action. Ken and Rosanna discover how to use the poison to bring back the plants, surprisingly, and grow their own food, living the rest of their days there and dismantling the electric wires when they reach old age.

Meanwhile, all the Steven Universe characters are making a life away from Earth on a nearby planet, without any humans, and build a Homeworld-like planet. Steven and Connie settle down and have children there, and the rest of the Gems live happily and peacefully.

and all of this because a newspaper carrier was late.

Also: the Diamonds built the injector, it being a machine recycled from the first war. They were also the ones who discovered the poison’s use and sent Spinel to Earth as an attempt for them to build a Gem army there, offering Spinel “the perfect revenge.” Ah, well.

here’s what george looks like:

we know he’s a white suburban guy.

but is he your dad?

is he a licensed alien shooter?

the world may never know

#steven universe movie #steven universe #why did i make this

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the-fandom-newsletter · 6 years

Text

Fandom Newsletter #3

Today is Friday, October 12th of 2018 and welcome back to another Fandom Newsletter, you’re provider for all things fandom!

Writers: Atlas, Blackpurrl, Fyne, YoursTruly

Editors: Fyne & YoursTruly

“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality.”

-Tim Burton

Let’s get started-

First to YoursTruly with the: Hannibal, Horror, Tim Burton, Animation, Marvel, Movie fandoms-

Hannibal: The Fannibals are getting excited for the new book by Thomas Harris, even if it won’t include everyone’s favorite cannibal. It’s been released that the book will be a thriller like Harris’s previous novels. The title and cover are still yet to be released.

Horror: Horror fans everywhere are starting to get psyched for the new Halloween movie, which will be released next Friday, the 19th. Many fans are nervous about the movie due to the trailer. The trailer would make it seem that the beloved murderer Michael Myers will be killed in this film. Guess all we can do is wait and see.

Tim Burton: Burtonists are petitioning for The Nightmare Before Christmas to get a Broadway adaptation. The movie is already a musical, but fans want to see it on Broadway.

Animation: Fans if the animated web series Camp Camp from Rooster Teeth are thrilled to see Daniel return for the Halloween special. The beloved cult leader was 'killed off' in season 2, but he has somehow come back from the dead just to seek revenge.

Marvel: Marvel fans are welcoming the Venom movie with open arms! After many of them saw the movie last weekend, many of them can’t stop talking about how incredible it is! One fan even stating, “Going to see Venom is like going to the theater to see The Dark Knight, but seeing Thor:Ragnarok instead.”

Next to Blackpurrl with the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter fandoms and World News-

Harry Potter: COUNTDOWN: 36 days until the new Fantastic Beasts!

Percy Jackson: Rick Riordan has started a new series based on Hindu mythology! It’s called Aru Sha and the End of Time.

World News: Viktoria Marinova: man arrested in Germany over Bulgarian journalist murder.

Now to Fyne with the Supernatural, Sherlock, YouTube, and Sooptober fandoms, as well as your weekly dose of good news-

Supernatural - Before bringing Supernatural to television, creator Eric Kripke had been developing the series for nearly ten years. Having been fascinated with urban legends since he was a child, Kripke got inspiration from some of his favorite urban legends which can be shown by many of the episodes in the first season (the woman in white, wendigo, Bloody Mary, etc.) and when the show expanded from just urban legends to religions and gods outside of not only the norm, but our time period, Kripke became even more excited about the show (even if he did want to end it after the fifth season).

Sherlock - China's ban on the show hasn't stopped it becoming a huge hit on the internet. Despite not appearing on the Chinese Central Television (CCT) network or other major channels, 69 million viewers from China have still seen it on video websites. Initially makers didn't expect it to be quite the hit it has been in the UK, either. Steven Moffat thought it would bring in somewhere in the region of 4 million viewers. It's average is more than double that. Even more than triple that.

YouTube - Fans of YouTube and Halloween have united in a show of many horror games and skits spanning across the youtube platform. Multitudes of youtubers have been playing horror games, participating in inktober, writing horrifying skits and scripts, and overall just getting into the Halloween spirit. As of now there isn’t very much drama going on in the YouTube world (minus that fact that IISuperwomanII just released a diss track on all the men of YouTube and their channels) and it seems that YouTubers have found ways to work around the ad-pocolypse, therefore easing the many worries and anxieties fans had of losing touch with their favorite youtubers.

Spooptober - Did you know that Halloween is more Irish than St. Patrick's Day? Halloween's origins come from a Celtic festival for the dead called Samhain. Celts believed the ghosts of the dead roamed Earth on this holiday, so people would dress in costumes and leave ‘treats’ out on their front doors to appease the roaming spirits. It has since been adapted to our loved and cherished holiday of today.

Positive News - Americans under the age of 45 have found a novel way to rebel against their elders: They’re staying married. New data show younger couples are approaching relationships very differently from baby boomers, who married young, divorced, remarried and so on. Generation X and especially millennials are being pickier about who they marry, tying the knot at older ages when education, careers and finances are on track. The result is a U.S. divorce rate that dropped 18 percent from 2008 to 2016, according to an analysis by University of Maryland sociology professor Philip Cohen. Millennials are causing the US divorce rate to plummet, and it’s not a bad thing.

Lastly to Atlas with the Voltron, British, Musicals, and Bands fandoms-

British: I’m still trying to figure out why Death in Paradise star Sara Martins left the show…*tear*

Musicals: Imagine if Hamilton was modernized…

Voltron: Voltron Season 8 confirmed for DECEMBER 14TH! Fans be sCrEaMiNg. Also, it’s rumored that the Altean that crash landed was sent by Haggar.

Bands: Band All Time Low covered a Harry Styles song… Ha. Ha. hA. Yeah….. what else could go wrong?

Now back to Blackpurrl with the weekly trivia fact and quiz-

Trivia: Uranium is the heaviest element on Earth.

Quiz: What candy are you?

1. Pick your flavor

A. Sweet

B. Salty

C. Fruity

D. Sour

2. Consistency?

A. Solid, but meltable

B. Sticky

C. Solid

D. Chewy

3. How would you be packaged?

A. One per package

B. Wrapped alone in waxy paper

C. Wrapped in decorated paper

D. Packaged in groups

4. Any color?

A. No, plain is fine.

B. A few different light colors would be nice.

C. ALL THE COLORS. RAINBOW SOMETIMES TOO.

D. Like five different colors is fine.

5. Shape?

A. A bar

B. A cube-ish shape. Idk, it’s kind of a blob.

C. All the shapes!

D. Humannnn......

Mostly A’s: Chocolate bars!

Mostly B’s: Saltwater Taffy!

Mostly C’s: Lollipops!

Mostly D’s: Sour Patch Kids!

And now to Fyne with the weekly book review-

Book Review - Serafina and the Black Cloak written by Robert Beatty is a dark thriller that takes place in 1899 North Carolina. Children at the wealthy Biltmore estate are being abducted during the night, and nobody knows what is causing it. The adults are terrified yet clueless and only 12-year-old Serafina, who lives secretly in the basement with her mechanic father, knows that a mysterious man in a black cloak is taking them. She teams up with the owner of the estate’s son, Braeden, to try and solve the mystery and get the children back home. This scary story is not for the faint of heart; the abduction scenes are graphic as children scream out in terror and seemingly vanish into the foul-smelling cloak. Serafina and Braeden are often under attack from the man in the cloak and other supernatural beings, but for those looking for a scare and a book that will grip them from start to finish with many plot twists along the way this book is perfect. Overall for kids a 8/10 and for adults a 6/10 would read.

Lastly, back to Atlas with the weekly movie review-

Movie Review: Truth or Dare is a movie rated PG -13 And was released some time last year. Starring Lucy Hale, this movie centers around a group of teens’ trip to Mexico. During that trip, they get caught in a game of Truth Or Dare. When they learn that the game is cursed, it’s a matter of life and death. Don’t tell the Truth, you die. Don’t do the Dare, you die. So, what would you choose? Truth or Dare?

The comic included at the bottom is once again drawn by our very talented Blackpurrl! YoursTruly’s birthday is coming up on Sunday so wish her a good one! That’s all for this week, we’ll see you next week with another Fandom Newsletter!

Signing off,

Atlas, Blackpurrl, Fyne, and YoursTruly

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neni-has-ascended · 6 years

Note

Any thoughts on the new SU episodes from two weeks ago?

So, in general I was very pleased by how the decided to handle this storyline. In general it wasn’t quite as explosive as I would have hoped, but nevertheless very satisfying. That doesn’t mean it was flawless, of course (what ever ist? I do think there’s quite a few things that could have been executed much better) but it did avoid quite a few terribly annoying tropes while playing into a lot far more pleasant ones.

I’m taking the more detailed view of mine under the cut, to avoid spoiling latecomers!

SPOILERS START HERE

Now we’re only falling apart:

I’m glad the fantheory that Sapphire was gonna betray the CG turned out to be bullshit. It would have been terribly out of character for her to betray her friends and love over something that a person who, for all intents and purposes, is already dead did. Now, running away and crying over it? That I can get.

What needs to be understood about Sapphire as a person is that she doesn’t just hate the Unknown; she is terrified of it. Thanks to her futurevision, there has almost never been a time in Sapphire’s life when she’s felt like she couldn’t guess the correct course of action in any given situation, or when she didn’t have an idea of what was going to happen. Even Steven’s character development throwing off her calculations wasn’t so bad as that she was completely blindsighted. The one other time this has happened before was when she hooked up with Ruby and then she had, well, the fact that at least it led to Ruby and her saving one another to comfort her. Here? She must feel like shes done everything right in a Visual Novel game and yet the script STILL somehow tossed her into the worst possible ending route. I’d ragequit too!

As for the revelations regarding Pink: They were exactly what I already assumed from the moment of the twist. I knew this was probably exactly as it happened. Pink was naive to what it meant to colonize a planet, and when she figured out she got sick in the stomach from realizing what’s going to be lost by the end of it. And of course, her sisters didn’t listen, because they’re Blue and Yellow and Blue and Yellow don’t listen to anything that doesn’t align with “the old order”(TM).That Rose Quarz as such, design and all, was Pearl’s idea, surprised me positively. I really like that detail. It shows that Pearl had so much creative potential right from her creation that was being squandered by her assigned role as a servant and only goes to show how flawed the Diamond’s hierarchy of thinking living minds of any sort could be forced into specific castes is. Pink being a little *too* excited at the prospect of fusing with Pearl (or any gems in general) was pretty cute too. She really just wanted to enjoy life. I am starting to feel like each Diamond represents one aspect of the mind; Yellow is cold logic, Blue is emotion and Pink is passion (which can lead into love). Makes me wonder what White is.

What’s Your Problem

I’ll admit, I was faked out at first. I genuinely thought season 1 Amethyst was suddenly back at it again, just not caring about the consequences of her actions. When I realized this was actually her slightly misguided attempts to keep Steven from destroying himself over the fiasco his mother caused, I was very positively surprised. Steven really said it best: Amethyst and Steven are the two Crystal Gems who have grown the most as people thanks to overcoming the questions regarding their places in the world. Also, Steven being so incredibly insistent about playing therapist for her kinda reminds me of how I can be with my friends as well, ahaha- Actually, my friends are often like Amethyst in this episode too.

The Question

A RUBY EPISODE YES YES YES YES-

Honestly, I hope that now that Ruby and Sapphire are married and have that to validify their bond aside from their fusion, we’ll see more episodes with them acting independently. As much as I like them as a unit in Garnet, I love them as individual characters as well, especially in how they bounce off each other, something usually only see when Garnet struggles with herself briefly. (Still wanna see them play Meat Beat Mania against one another, and see if that’d lead to the same disaster as when they played it as Garnet-)

Ruby was adorable in this episode. Charlene Yi may not be a good singer (sorry-) but she is an amazing actress, who I always love to see in anything, no matter what, when she just nails this flaming little ball of nervous badassery whenever she’s on screen. Hope Sapphire ends up sharing her newfound love for comics. Wouldn’t it be cool to see Garnet argue with herself over ships in the background of an episode sometime?

My only complaint is that the proposal could have been an episode all on its own. I would have loved to see more of Ruby and Sapphire deal with coming to terms with the fact that their fusion can’t always be 100% stable and that’s okay and doesn’t make then any less of an amazing couple and team. Doesn’t change the fact that the proposal was cute as heck. Like, I swear, Ruby is a million times better at proposing than me. When I proposed I just ended up flipping the table over my plans halfway through and throwing the ring at him like a moron-

Made of Honor

Should have been a Two Parter. At least. Like, goddamn, this was way too important a plot point to just throw it out in a single 10 minutes segment, you guys! This just continues to show the problems with the Steven Bomb format. This thing needed to end on a climax after 5 eps, right? Not sure if that’s how it was planned, probably not, but that’s what it felt like. There should have been more of a storyline with Bismuth running of and trying to figure out stuff, kinda like Ruby. Heck, maybe those things should have overlapped somehow, I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything brilliant off the top of my head. However, Steven should have had to invest way more effort into patching things up with Bis’. Bis’ just learned that her entire style of life was built on a lie. I would have been interesting to see her just go into a state where she randomly starts building spires, trying to fulfill her purpose again in utter defeat, until Steven snaps her out of it. That would have conveyed things a bit better.

I have no problem with Bismuth rejoining the team. She saw that her plan of assassinating key figures in the enemy forces only lead to the entire rebel army basically being nuked.That definitely was enough to shock her out of her genocidal intentions. So yes, I do accept that explanation. In the end she was just as naive as Pink, but in a different way.

Reunited

Let me get out of the way that the first half was all kinds of amazing for one single reason:It had a marriage scene that a) Didn’t come at the tailend of the story and b)Didn’t involve pain and disaster for everyone involved! I’m so sick of marriages in media only being used either as elements of an epilogue (”Happily ever after!”) or as a source of drama. As if working relationships were boring or something. They’re so interesting, especially when written right! Totally ignoring the gay aspect of it all (which is a great thing all in of itself), this is one of the best marriages I’ve seen on TV period! No arranged marriages, no annoying love triangles, no jackass suddenly bursting in going “I OBJECT TO THIS UNION” no bride suddenly bursting into tears because everything is horrible, no “And they lived happily ever after SHOW OVER” BS. Just a proper, nice step in the development of two characters. Also, Garnet’s dress is friggin’ gorgeous

The second half is where the special loses me a bit. Not with the script, that one is pretty great. Aside from once again relegating Peridot to comic relief, that is- Seriously, she can’t even get to use a single attack drone? Tch. Cheep. She has actual skills, you guys! Don’t treat her like a Magikarp! User her assets!

What lost me was the art direction and animation. While there was a lot of beautiful animation, especially on Blue Diamond, there was also plenty of derp, slow scenes, awkwardly choreographed battle moves... And the way Stephen using his telepathy to resolve the battle was portrayed visually was just very uninspired. It made the characters’ movements look so awkward. I wish they’d invited Horikoshi back in for this scene, because he managed similar scenes back in “Mindful Education” way better. Oh well... All in all, the art direction of that specific scenes just left me deeply underwhelmed.

All in all, however, this has been a very nice storyline so far. Can’t wait for the pay-off!

#Neni Replies #Steven Universe #Steven Universe Spoilers #alex-multiverse

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crystalelemental · 2 years

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“books-are-my-life-stuff: Oh yeah, Morty is definitely popular, but...I don't think he's top 3 popular, y'know? If he's at 5th or 6th, that makes a lot more sense, he's below Lillie, May, Blue, Cynthia, and possibly Steven and N (if Steven gets lodge alt and N gets an alt in Villain Arc). And yeah, Leaf hasn't gotten an alt for a damn long time. Which is sad because she's my top 3 favorite female protags below Serena and Kris...“

Right? Like there’s a pretty clear heirarchy overall. Though Steven’s also only at four. I do think it’s only a matter of time before Steven and Morty get into the Lodge, though. Also, fantastic taste in female protagonists. I really like Leaf’s design, she’s up there with Dawn and Serena for me, but I do like Kris personality-wise a bit better so I think Leaf’s #4 overall in my book. Still up there, though.

“Oh right, Alola is like how Johto used to be prior Villain Arc, I also didn't realize it until now. Maybe that will change during Villain Arc, but that'll take a while... At least they have two Master Fairs to compensate that somehow...? Either way, it's still pretty sad.”

It’s really sad, but also who would get a PokeFair? People are hoping Gladion for the Alola Pride, so I guess the protagonists in the VA? I’d personal hope for Acerola, maybe Nanu. Kahili if I can be super greedy.

“Uh...wow, even after knowing the formula of the calculation, I still don't understand. So, Gym Leaders and NPCs aren't supposed to get higher treatment, and when they do, they automatically get higher points...is that what they meant? That's kinda baseless to be honest... I'm still confused how they come into that decision...”

Basically, if I have it right, it’s like this. They assigned point values 1-5 for the rarity of an alt, with 1 being F2P, up to 5 as a Master Fair. PokeFair is 4, Seasonal 3, and general pool 5* is 2.

Then they assigned a value for the trainer class, with Champion, Rival, and Protagonist being 5, E4 being 4, Gym Leader/NPC 3. I don’t know if they had anything at a 1 or not, but the idea is the less “significant” a character is, the lower down the list they are on that scale.

To calculate that number, they take the rarity and divide by character type. If the number is 1 or greater, the character is considered favored. If less than 1, they’re being under-valued.

What this results in is Lillie and Morty, at a value of 3 for NPC/Gym Leader respectively, getting absolutely blasted for having a Master Fair and PokeFair respectively. Lillie gets 5/3 = 1.67, and Morty gets 4/3 = 1.33. They’re a bit watered down because other alts exist, but it’s not by much. Comparatively, Red getting a Master Fair is 5/5 = 1. A much, much lower modifier. Meanwhile, Blue is lower than Red because he’s only had at most a 4/5 = 0.8, which is being undervalued. Hilariously, note that Cynthia has two goddamned Master Fairs, two PokeFairs, and is only #5. Because all of those are “deserved” based on her Champion status. But somehow. SOMEHOW. May ranks above Cynthia, despite never having a single Master Fair. Note that Hoenn has about as much representation as Sinnoh, so it sure isn’t overall regional pool to draw from either. And it can’t be because of a free unit from the Lodge, because May’s got that too. I could use that as an explanation of Steven being above her, because nothing he has is below seasonal, but May is apparently higher than Cynthia despite having a general pool and a free alt among her five.

All it is, is a measure of what characters they think deserve stuff. Saying a character’s class is a 5 is equivalent to saying they deserve a Master Fair, and if they don’t have one, they’re being under-appreciated and will be rated lower. Meanwhile, anyone who isn’t a protag, Champ, or Rival has allegedly no business getting a Master Fair, so they rank higher. It’s insane. Especially considering protagonists as part of this, given how many are silent. They don’t fucking talk! Why should they be considered high-tier priority favorites? My favorite bit is how this is naturally going to skew data into “Look at how under-valued the male protagonists are :(” despite the fact that realistically, you’re talking about a character with 0 dialogue outside of this game, and effectively nothing to stand on to achieve popularity, so of course they’re not safe bets. This blows my mind.

#books-are-my-life-stuff

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mermaidsirennikita · 5 years

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November 2018 Book Roundup

I don’t feel like I read that much, in all honesty. But I did read SOMETHING. The Caged Queen by Kristen Ciccarelli, a sequel/companion to The Last Namsara, was fantastic, and one of my favorite books of the year. Arranged marriage tropes + sisters who would die for each other? Yes, please. The best standalone of the month was My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, a biting satire about sisters and beauty set in Nigeria. I may not have read much, but there were certainly standouts.

The Caged Queen by Kristen Ciccarelli. 5/5. Roa has never let go of her sister, Essie--to the point that in the eight years since Essie’s death, her soul as remained trapped in the body of a hawk, psychically linked to Roa. As a part of an alliance that will unite their two nations, Roa has married Dax, the boy--now a king since the overthrow of his father--responsible for Essie’s death. Roa refuses to love Dax; their marriage is a trade. She gave him an army, and he promises to life the oppressive regime dominating her people. But just as it begins to seem that Dax won’t honor his end of the bargain, Roa is presented with a possibility: she can free Essie and return her soul to its proper body. She just has to kill Dax. This book was EVERYTHING. It’s technically the sequel to The Last Namsara, but as it elevates supporting characters into main roles and follows a very different storyline, it could practically stand on its own. And it’s better than The Last Namsara--which is a book I really, really liked. There is less emphasis on dragons (which I didn’t like) and the world’s mythology (which I did, but it was kind of heavy on the story sometimes). It’s more about the process of grief, and a “death-defying love”--and that’s not the love between Dax and Roa. It’s love between sisters, and the bond between Roa and Essie ripped my heart out. Not to say that Ciccarelli doesn’t completely milk the arranged marriage trope for all it’s worth; the tension between Dax and Roa is amazing, and made more so by the fact that they have a deep past with each other. This book was so well-done, and makes me even more excited for the next one than I already was.

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone. 3/5. Jane’s on a mission. She’s left her job as an attorney and taken up data entry, all to be closer to Steven Hepsworth. Steven sees Jane as a naive, vulnerable young woman--exactly his type. he doesn’t know that she’s a sociopath. He’s the man responsible for Meg, Jane’s best friend, committing suicide. And Jane is not going to let him live his life like he did nothing wrong. This is a pretty standard thriller.... I guess. There isn’t much action, not a ton of conspiracy. Jane has a plan; she sets out to accomplish it; nothing really stops her, and there aren’t any twists... anything you would call a twist, I can’t imagine how you wouldn’t see it coming. It was entertaining, but nothing great. I’m not sure why all of the reviews were so glowing--I guess people enjoy books more when they aren’t at all challenging? I don’t know. It was fine.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. 2/5. Teenage Eelyn is a member of the Aska clan, bound to fight against the Riki clan. However, she is stunned when, in the midst of a battle, she recognizes her brother--who she’s thought dead for five years--fighting alongside the enemy. Taken captive by the Riki, she is forced to rely on her brother’s friend--as she focuses on uniting the clans., which may be her only hope of returning home. I have nothing really to say about this except for the fact that I never connected with it once. For a story that seemed naturally angled towards high emotion, it seemed rather bloodless. I have no idea if this would work for others--it just didn’t work for me, even though there was nothing for me to really hate about it.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones. 4/5. When Emily meets Adam, he seems to be a catch--handsome, successful, and quickly in love with her. The only issue is his mother--the manipulative, possessive Pammie. For all that Pammie does to push Emily away from her son, Adam is blinded by his devotion, unable to see the depths of his mother’s intrusions. It isn’t long before Emily and Pammie are in a battle for dominance--and Pammie, it seems, will do anything to win. This is a classic, super readable, cheesy-but-kinda-smart thriller. Pammie is fucking disturbing, but also delightful--and the best thing about Emily is that, though she is way too dickmatized for her own good, she’s not an innocent pawn. She fights back--sometimes going to Pammie’s limits. The twist isn’t too crazy, but it is satisfying; though it’s also definitely a “thriller” twist, and would probably not make much sense if we were looking at this book under a more realistic lens. This book was super fun and I recommend it to anyone who wants to check out of life for a little while.

Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao. 2/5. Jade has grown up in a nunnery, the only surviving child of Emperor Jun. Following her mother’s death, Jun’s new wife, the beautiful and cunning Xifeng, has ruled Feng Lu with an iron fist--but has been incapable of bearing a living child. At eighteen, Jade is summoned back to the palace, meeting her stepmother for the first time--and discovering that there is much more to Xifeng than meets the eye. This is the follow-up to Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, the fantastic tale of Xifeng, who is essentially the Evil Queen to Jade’s Snow White. Dao is a beautiful writer, and I love the world she built. And I love Xifeng. Jade is no Xifeng. She is boring, and therefore her story is boring. She’s so fucking wholesome. And somehow it takes 100+ pages for the story to get going even though Jade immediately realizes that Xifeng is evil. It’s really unfortunate because the previous novel set up so much momentum--and it fell flat here.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. 4/5. Korede is a nurse in Nigeria; and she has spent much of her life in the shadow of her beautiful younger sister, Ayoola. The issue is that Korede’s life has, more recently started to revolve around covering up Ayoola’s murders. Ayoola has a habit of killing her boyfriends, men she claims are abusive. In the wake of her latest slaying--of a sweet, poetic man--Korede isn’t so sure she believes Ayoola’s explanations anymore. And when Ayoola sets her sights of Tade--the coworker Korede longs for--Korede is caught at a crossroads. If she turns Ayoola in, she loses her forever. But if she lets her be, she may be letting the man she has feelings for walk to his death. A sharp, satirical, and dark story, this book examines everything from sisterly relationships to beauty standards. Korede is a compelling protagonist because she isn’t much better than her serial killer sister--but in a different way. Ayoola may murder; but Korede enables her, all the while resenting Ayoola for being everything that she is not. The book is incredibly well-written, and moves very quickly. I read it over space of a morning. It’s so gruesome and funny and sad. The only thing I didn’t love was how the ending petered out somewhat--but I’d still recommend it wholeheartedly.

#books #book recs #book roundup

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youremyonlyhope · 6 years

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Children of Earth: Day Four

AKA Wow, things get even worse. You don’t think it’s possible, but here we are.

OR: This episode is so relevant to this week that it was physically painful to watch and I’m even more mad at Trump than ever before.

I’m not ready for this.

Been super busy the last 2 weeks, gonna watch this episode now. Who knows when I’ll get to Day 5. Maybe over the weekend if I’m lucky. Doubt it.

See, I know how intense Day Three is since I literally just watched it a few weeks ago, but somehow I blocked it out over the last 2 weeks. And the “Previously...” reminded me. Oh god. THIS IS WHY I REFUSED TO REWATCH THIS SEASON. Why is this episode an hour long why do you need to add MORE time to my pain? Oh... Gareth’s name on the opening credits for the last time... I’m sad. “In 1913 the Spanish flu killed something like 5% of the human race.” “I know, I was there.” Ok, taking a second to pull focus from this horrible thing they’re doing to say how much I love Jack’s little “LOL I remember that” “But that was 100s of years ago” “Haha, yeah...” moments throughout Torchwood. They’re my favorite things. Also, I had forgotten that they gave them the 10 kids in return for a cure to save 25 million people... I mean... it’s still horrible... but for all these years I hadn’t remember any type of justification. For some reason I was thinking they were just doing it because the aliens asked and they didn’t want angry aliens coming at them, not that it was because of an actual deal made. It doesn’t make it... that much better... but it’s not as bad? I guess? I don’t know. I guess I’m relieved I remembered it wrong. Also hi Sophie! I remember when Benedict married her I was like “I know her... I KNOW I know her...” and sure enough, Torchwood. Britain has 5 actors, and they’ve all been in the Whoniverse. “Just 12? Sounds like a good deal.” Oh Jack... oh Jack oh Jack oh Jack... I mean he’s in such a tough situation, but also I wonder if his immortality skews his judgement. Not even wonder since we know it does sometimes. More like I wonder if this is one of those times. “They say they’ll live forever” Ohhhhh god they kept their promise. Oh god. “Actually, we need someone who doesn’t care.” OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH. SEE. IMMORTALITY. SKEWING JUDGEMENT. THEY KNOW. THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. JACK. GROUND YOURSELF MORE.

Ugh. My episode’s frozen after Gwen says “You just handed them over and hoped for the best?” but if I go 1 second ahead of that it’s fine. What is wrong with this 1 second that keeps freezes?

I wonder if there was something that drew the kids in? Because even though Jack is super charismatic, and kids are super obedient and trusting, they wouldn’t just walk into a bright light because a guy told them to... or at least I hope they wouldn’t... Well at least Jack’s super mad about it. I mean, they shouldn’t have even attempted to stop Clem from shooting. That’s the good thing about Jack, you can keep shooting him and killing him over and over again until you get all your anger out, and there are no consequences. Especially since Jack already hates himself enough to agree with you for whatever reason you’re shooting him. Wow I hate Torchwood. “Can’t believe you didn’t mention this before.” Ianto, all of your scenes last episode had me going “WHY ARE YOU TWO ONLY JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS STUFF.” so there’s sooooooooo much you don’t know. I can’t tell if Johnson asking about Steven not knowing who Jack really is is her genuinely being interested in the situation, or if she’s mocking them. It could go either way. Part of me feels like I remember her being redeemed, I hope I’m right because I REALLY want to like Johnson. Wait why did the computer sound like it was combined with Bridget’s voice? Does it assume she’s a woman so it adds a woman’s voice over the computer voice? Or were the editors just lazy and altered Bridget’s actress’ lines instead of rerecording them with a computer voice? Oh deep breaths. I can’t handle this. JUST THE STUPID SMOKEY BOX MAKES ME ANXIOUS. I love that Frobisher mentioned the Prime Minister. I know it’s not him outrightly telling everyone that the Prime Minister’s a part of it, but still it’s more recognition than the PM wanted so I’m glad Frobisher brought him up, even in that way. And only mentioned him. He could have said “The Prime Minister, an American General, and a UNIT Colonel are watching.” but no, he said “The Prime Minister of this country is watching.” Yes. I love it. Who is this brave soul walking into the box though? What’s his story? I love Lois getting closer and Bridget giving her a “What is this girl doing?” look. Oh god the child. And the Prime Minister’s like “Oops I’ve been caught” AND I’M LIKE STOP BEING SO SELFISH YOU IDIOT THERE’S A CHILD IN THERE AND YOU’RE CARING THAT IT’S PROOF AGAINST YOU. WHAT ABOUT THE CHILD WHO’S STILL A CHILD 44 YEARS LATER AND HOOKED UP TO STUFF? DON’T YOU WANNA KNOW IF HE’S OK? Oh I don’t think I noticed Ianto’s tears before... baby no... “Do you think he knows? Is he conscious?” Wow Rhys asking a good question. Is it better if he’s not in pain? Oh Lois no don’t cry no this hurts. I FORGOT ABOUT THE 456 JUST BEING LIKE “LOL BUT I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WANTED THIS OFF THE RECORD LOL WELL YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE COME IN LOL” THAT’S BOTH HILARIOUS AND HORRIFYING. “What does it want them for?” “Bit late to ask now.” OOOOh Rhys I love you. Asking good questions, calling out Jack. Love love love the American General. Right now. I think I remember ending up hating everyone in that room debating which kids to take. But right now, love him. And the Prime Minister’s an idiot. But we knew this already. Old news.

OH MY GOD. Oh my god. Watching this season in the midst of the outrage over Trump’s family separation policy... just... it all suddenly hit me really hard. Wow.

“I’ve only just scraped the surface, haven’t I?” Unfortunately, yes.

Jack: I’ve gotta go, I won’t be long. Me: Here we go again. Running away. Ianto: You’re doing it again. Me: GOOD. CALL HIM OUT.

Yes, Jack, it’s ok to call Frobisher. It’s smart to do it far away so it can’t be tracked. Just TELL them you’re going to do it. Once again, even just shouting it as you run off is better than nothing. Wow ok now Jack’s spilling everything. I do love that coat though. Jack’s iconic coat. I know I just ruined an emotional scene, but since losing the original coat I REALLY appreciate the new one, ok? It’s his thing. That picture they pulled up of Jack is from They Keep Killing Suzie when they all arrive all dramatic and we are introduced to my queen, Detective Swanson. Did they just pick that episode for everyone’s pictures? Owen’s official picture’s from that scene too. Also, still super disappointed we never got more Detective Swanson. She was the BEST. Love her. HEY, PRIME MINISTER, FROBISHER NEEDS A NAP. PRIME MINISTER. STOP BRINGING FROBISHER INTO THIS. DEAL WITH STUFF FOR YOURSELF FOR ONCE. STOP SAVING YOURSELF. THINK OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE WORLD. OR AT THE VERY VERY LEAST THINK OF FROBISHER. “Unaccompanied asylum seekers awaiting deportation.” Guys. Guys. This is getting too real. This was too real in 2009 when it aired. This was too real in 2013 when I watched it for the first time. And this is WAY TOO REAL IN 2018. “Orphans in ‘65, asylum seekers today. There’s progress for you.” Uugggghghhhhhhh “And no one would miss them.” Wow all of this is too real why are we here why are we at this point. Calling them units instead of kids to make it easier. THEY’RE ALL SAYING DIFFERENT NUMBERS? THE 456 KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY FROM EACH COUNTRY THEY WANT? OH GOD. 2,340,000 from America oh god. “325,000 is 10% of the childr- the, uh, units in this country.” WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY. WHO IS THIS DUDE SAYING “OH IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING COMPLYING” STOP IT. RICK. STOP IT. Also apparently he’s played by Nicholas Briggs aka the Daleks and Cybermen so hiiiiiiiii nice to see your face! NOW, TELL YOUR CHARACTER TO STOP SUGGESTING GIVING AWAY THE CHILDREN. Also this is Infinity War too. Dwindling resources. Instead of finding a way to make more resources, just kill people so whoever’s left can have more. Perfectly logical. If you’re Thanos. Come on Johnson. Come on girl. Start snooping into your bosses. “We are now facing the worst-case scenario.” Yep. From now on, they can’t call anything else the worst-case scenario. Nothing is worse than this. PM. DUDE. STOP PUTTING ALL OF THIS ON FROBISHER. “Which is out of my hands, over to you, sir.” Subtly fighting back just a little teeny tiny bit. Not letting him put anything else onto him. Good. IF ONLY YOU WOULD JUST QUIT AND WALK AWAY AND SHOUT ON THE STREETS WHAT THE PRIME MINISTER DID TO YOU AND IS PLANNING TO DO TO EVERYONE ELSE. I like the guy who wants it to be random. Dalek-Rick gave the genius suggestion of doing it alphabetically. Wow. Just get him out of here. Convincing the PM to go through with it, suggesting doing it alphabetically. Why is he here? Every second-born child? So I’d be taken since I’m a twin who was born a minute later than my brother by chance. But also I was 13 in 2009 so I wouldn’t have been considered, but STILL. SECOND-BORN IS DUMB. ALL OF THIS IS DUMB. “If this... this lottery takes place, my kids aren’t in it.” Uggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I mean, I get not wanting your kids to be taken from you, but just ughghghhghghghhhghhghghhhhhhhhh YOU’RE NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE. “I’m sure the families of Gold Command will be exempted anyway.” “In fact isn’t that official policy?” Why are we here why are we here “Whatever happens, the children and grandchildren of everyone around this table will be exempt.” Oh, but everyone except Frobisher? Right? Ok but lady, I bet you anything your brother’s kids are not as bright as you assume they are. Not as “valuable.” You just have more investment in them than kids you’re not related to. What if you brother’s kids were evaluated and seen to not be valuable? Denise talking about good schools and failing schools while NYC has a debate over the SHSAT is also too real. Frobisher’s the only one horrified. Oh god oh god Jack and Ianto are going to Thames House oh no oh no no no no no no no. She’s been wearing those contacts for nearly 24 hours now oh god. See, I want to see what kind of outrage there was when someone finally figured out what the number meant and it spread to the general public. Oh Trinity Wells. She’s one of my favorite characters in the Whoniverse honestly. Love her. Just gonna leave a parked car in the middle of gridlocked traffic. Great. “This goes to you people listening in on the wire too.” IANTO YES. This scene where he tells Rhiannon how much he loves her and the kids is so much worse knowing Ianto’s about to die... Oh wow. I went from smiling to my face just dropping as I remembered. Ok Frobisher, I will admit that’s a well thought out plan to get out of this and avoid the blame. I will give you that much. BUT I STILL HATE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING AT ALL. “No one in this room is a willing accomplice.” Ehhhhhhhhhhh you’re the highest on the list since you enjoyed not having your name on this and never intended to take any credit. You had no stakes for a while while you gave Frobisher orders. So shut up PM.

OH GOD JUST POOR LOIS. GIRL SHOWS UP, THINKING SHE HAS A NICE LITTLE SECRETARY JOB FOR A SMALL BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT. GETS PULLED INTO A INTERNATIONAL AND INTERSPECIES CRISIS. AND IS NOW COMMITTING TREASON IN AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE THE WORLD. I LOVE HER. SHE’S BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH. AT LEAST TORCHWOOD AND FROBISHER AND THE PM KNEW ALIENS EXISTED AND WERE READY (to an extent) TO DEAL WITH IT. LOIS WAS JUST THROWN INTO IT ON HER FIRST DAY. And she’s handled it so well. God. Lois deserves all the appreciation.

God. Just watching her, I’m getting that feeling I get when I talk in class. The nerves, feeling all warm like I can feel the blood in all of my veins. Oh god I can’t imagine how she feels. “Oh yeah, you and whose army?” “Torchwood.” LOVE LOVE LOVE LOIS. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEIR SHOCKED REACTIONS. My girl Lois. Blackmailing the entire British Government. Your fave could NEVER. Oh god 13 more minutes in the episode. I wonder if Dekker and Jack ever met in 1965. Wait nooooo is Dekker about to die?!?!??!??!?!?!??!?!?! HE’S IN THE BUILDING. NOOOO DEKKER NO. Also yeah, the “computer lip reading” is just them editing the actors’ voices. Try harder Torchwood, you have Nicholas Briggs right there! The king of robotic alien voices! 10 feet away! Ooooh nooo Dekker why must you be in the building. “Happy now?” PRIME MINISTER. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE SPEAKING. THERE ARE MAYBE A COUPLE HUNDRED PEOPLE IN THAT BUILDING, DYING OF A VIRUS, AND YOU’RE ACTING LIKE IT’S WORSE THAN THE MILLIONS OF CHILDREN YOU ARE HANDPICKING AND PLAN TO GIVE AWAY TO BE USED AS DRUGS!??!?!!?!? GET OFF YOUR IMAGINARY HIGH HORSE. Ugh stupid bulletproof glass. Last time, I didn’t think Ianto was actually dying and barely reacted. It’s because I spoiled myself and saw that the only original Torchwood actors in Miracle Day were John, Eve, and Kai. But I thought Kai was Gareth’s name, and I assumed Ianto would be in Miracle Day, so I didn’t take his death seriously. This time, my eyes are a little wet. I rarely cry. Didn’t cry over either of Owen’s deaths, Tosh’s death made me shed one tear and then her goodbye video made me shed another. So. I’m not shocked I didn’t cry. But I actually felt sad this time instead of going “No, but he’s supposed to be still alive next season?” the whole scene. Frobisher. This is where you quit. This is where you get up, and walk away. Oh god poor Jack, remembering what happened. Ok. Ok. Gwen crying nearly got me. I got very close to crying just then. Gwen. Girl. Why you gotta make me sad?

Yeah so... everything sucks.

And I really did not believe that Ianto was dead. I was like “Ok but he’s gonna be back” and then I watched Day 5 and Jack flew away or whatever he does and then Gwen and Rhys go off with the baby and Ianto was still dead and I was like “...WHAT.” And then I reread the Tardis Wiki page for Torchwood (That’s what spoiled me) and saw it said “Kai Owen” and I clicked on Kai and I was like “...Oh... Kai’s Rhys not Ianto...” SO it was my own stupidity. BUT IN MY DEFENSE: I had been watching Torchwood nonstop for 3 days by this point. I had only taken breaks to sleep and eat (sometimes eating while watching). I did not look into any of the actors until after I finished Children of Earth. I don’t know when I had the time to look at the Tardis Wiki, but I did at some point in season 1, yet Tosh and Owen’s deaths at the end of Season 2 still felt like they came out of no where even though I should have known they’d be gone by Miracle Day.

See, when my brother watched Titanic for the first time, he’d managed to make it 16 years without being spoiled for the movie. Me? I’ve never seen it, but I was spoiled a long time ago and I don’t feel like putting myself through that pain so I kind of refuse to watch it. But he didn’t know what was coming at all. Apparently, halfway through the movie, he was so into the story that he forgot they were even on a boat, let alone the TITANIC, so once everything started flooding it was like he was slapped in the face by reality. That was me with Torchwood. I knew that Stolen Earth and Journey’s End only had Gwen, Jack, and Ianto since I watched Doctor Who first, but I didn’t really comprehend that that meant something had to have happened to keep Tosh and Owen away from that episode. And when they died it was like “Oh yeah. They’re on the Titanic.” except it was “Oh yeah. They weren’t in Journey’s End.” Kind of the same thing happened with End of Time Part 2. I didn’t question why Jack was on his own and would be single and therefore interested in Alonso, but once I watched Day 5 I was like “Oh yeah. Jack’s on his own and single by End of Time part 2.”

Basically, my horrible memory spares me from spoiling myself sometimes. Funnily enough, I saw the ending of Journey’s End when it aired because my mom watched it. I remember asking her why there were 2 Doctors, but didn’t remember until I was watching the scene myself after starting the show from the beginning years later. And when I saw the scene where Donna was forced to forget the Doctor, I remember saying to mom “Wait, what? Why did she just introduce herself?” and mom saying “He took away her memories of him” and once again, I didn’t remember that I’d already seen the scene until it happened.

So yeah. Everything about Day 4 is way too real. Especially because of what’s been happening this week. I’m almost glad I had to wait 2 weeks to watch it because the fact that this is kind of happening right now made everything SO MUCH MORE PAINFUL. BECAUSE IT’S NOT FICTIONAL. WHY IS THE WORLD THIS WAY? WHY DID PEOPLE LET TRUMP WIN?

Ok. So that’s it for Day 4.

Oh my god. 5 years ago this week, I watched Torchwood for the first time. I forgot to commemorate my 5th anniversary... I had planned to, but was too busy. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I missed it. June 15-18th (maybe early morning of the 19th) was when I watched Torchwood for the first time. Over 3 very, very, VERY intense days.

Also, every single shoutout goes to Lois Habiba. She’s the MVP. Love her so much.

AND IS DEKKER OK?

Update: pressed post before watching the preview. Dekker’s ok! Which doesn’t make sense since he should have been exposed long before he put on the suit, but whatever! Also. I’m not emotionally ready for Day 5.

#hope rewatches torchwood #ignore me if you want

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woozletania · 6 years

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There’s a raccoon in my tower, part 5

Over a picnic meal Tony gets a look at what Rocket’s been building in his lab.

Tony had never seen someone so small eat so much in such a short time. Rocket ate with his little clawed hands and fangs, sniffing at then tearing into one dish after another. Most of a roast chicken, a bowl of potato salad, a dish of cherries and a stick of garlic bread disappeared into the little raccoon before he drank half a bottle of water, burped loudly, then went right back to eating.

Occasionally he nosed at something and rather than ripping into it he slid the dish to Nebula. That ended up being the applesauce, a jar of grape jam and a Tupperware dish of tuna salad. Nebula ate sparingly of each, taking no more food than a child and much less than the hungry raccoon. It wasn't hard to guess why. There was so little flesh left among her cybernetics that there couldn't be room for much of a digestive system or need for one.

Thor ate more than Rocket but weighed at least five times as much. He also grinned and belched in reply whenever Rocket did, making sure to outdo his little friend in volume. Tony and Pepper together ate less than the Thunder god. That gave Tony time to peer around the room. Rocket was too busy eating to do more than shoot him the occasional suspicious glance.

In the background of it all was the music. Always the music. No one commented on it but throughout the meal the Zune on the workbench fed sound to hidden speakers. Tony suspected it was Quill's, for the age of the songs smacked of the rogue's retro mindset. Footloose was right in line with Fleetwood Mac, Norman Greenbaum, David Bowie, the Jackson Five, ELO, Cat Stevens and more. It wasn't loud but it was always there.

Almost everything in sight had the handmade look he'd come to associate with Rocket. How one little raccoon could build so much in just a few months escaped him. There was some automation, like the assembly line stamping out parts. Maybe some of the equipment was similarly machine made.

Racks of tools, half-built weapons, stacks of parts all had a look of clutter that he knew was an illusion. A master craftsman leaves each item just where he wants it to be. He imagined the response if someone tidied up. "Don't touch my stuff." The mantra of the technician.

There was something he assumed was a recycling system the little raccoon presumably made so he wouldn't need to connect to the building's water and sewer lines. Much more interesting was the hulking shape looming in the shadows nearby. Thor was interested in it too but wouldn't stop eating to look it over. Tony was not so shy but when he went to stand Thor put his hand on his knee.

"Afterwards," the thunder god murmured. They went back to eating and to pretending not to notice when Nebula reached out to pet Rocket in between bites. Tony never imagined the bitter cyborg and angry raccoon being friends until he saw how they treated each other. Each cared about the other and showed by action what they'd never admit out loud.

Pepper couldn't resist reaching out to pet him as well but held back and when Rocket shot her a glare and bared his fangs. It seemed not everyone got to pet the raccoon.

When Rocket had eaten most of the contents of Thor's picnic basket the raccoon belched again and sat back, his belly noticeably rounder than before. He must have put away a quarter his body weight in one sitting. It didn't escape anyone that only a famished man - or raccoon - ate like that.

"The deal was that you were to eat, Rocket," was the first thing out of Thor's mouth when they were all done feasting. "You don't eat like a well fed person."

"I do eat," the raccoon snapped. "Look!" He pointed at a pile of empty foam food containers in the corner. "They put food in when I send stuff out, I eat it."

Thor looked the raccoon over, unconvinced. "You do look a little better. But when was the last time you sent something out?"

"I dunno," Rocket said. "Haven't had as much stuff lately. Nothing works on Thanos. I sent out everything I know how ta make and he's still alive." He slouched where he sat. "Nothing works on that guy."

Thor opened his mouth but Tony stuck his foot in. "How do you know how to make all this, Rocket?"

Rocket laughed harshly. "The usual way someone like me learns. Head stuffed full of Uplift processors and a helmet clamped on my head feeding in what they want me ta know. They wanted a soldier who could build and repair his own gear. So they built one. Or a prototype of one anyway. Other stuff I picked up after I escaped."

Tony winced. It was as bad as he's expected. "Well, if you want a job, I'm hiring. Or if you'd just meet with me and a few others to do an info exchange."

"Got everything I need right here," Rocket said. "I just gotta figure out something Thanos isn't immune to. I collapsed a planet and took chunks out a two more and he's still alive. Nothing works on the blue bastard."

Thor steered the conversation back on track. "Pepper, do you know how often Rocket has sent things out recently?"

"About every two or three days," she said. "I should have realized that was a problem. I'm sorry Thor, we've been so busy."

"New rule, Rocket," Thor said firmly. "You're going to let them send food in every day. You're not going to get lost in your work and starve again if I have anything to say about it."

"Fine," Rocket said after a jaw-cracking yawn. "Whatever. You gonna go so I can get back ta work?"

"In a minute," Tony interjected. "What's with the power armor?"

They turned to look at the Hulkbuster-sized figure in the shadows. As usual the lighting was dim to favor the nocturnal raccoon but it could be nothing but a power suit, and the Rocket-sized compartment in the front left no doubt who the pilot would be.

"Eh," Rocket shrugged. "If I can't kill him with a bomb maybe I can at least get a few punches in. From that footage Potts sent me he likes a good fight." He yawned again, visibly struggling to stay awake after the heavy meal and who knows how much missed sleep. "He coulda killed you ten different ways with the Stones but he went hand ta hand. Likes to fight." He supported his muzzle on his hands as he stared at the hovering screens with drooping eyelids "I'll get him..."

Tony had been in his place. Sometimes the need to invent kept him up for days. Rocket was running on determination and rage but he didn't have Jarvis or Friday to make sure he ate or slept. Thor was worried Rocket would wither away at his workbench and he was right to do so. Even now, after what Tony knew were several food-laden visits, Rocket was skinnier than he probably should be.

Rocket was so exhausted he only muttered a protest when Thor picked him up and slid him into the padded pet bed. The thunder god gestured with his chin and they filed out lest they wake the little mechanic from his much needed rest. Tony lingered by the power armor but barely had time for a look before Thor chased him out. Each waited until they were past the entry corridor - surely loaded with cameras and microphones - to speak. When the ever-present music was finally cut off by the closing doors Pepper spoke up.

"He's like a little kid," Pepper said sadly. "A hurt little kid trying not to think about what he lost."

"A very dangerous, very angry little kid," Tony agreed.

“There's nothing more dangerous than a man who has nothing left to lose,” Thor said somberly.

Pepper and Thor shared a brief exchange but he missed it. Something was nagging at him. Something about the power armor.

"...only family he ever had," Nebula was saying as he awoke from his thoughts. "And Groot was his son in all but name."

"Nebula," he said, and the blue cyborg fixed him with a look. "Did you see the purple conduits built into that power suit?"

She shrugged. "Yes. Jump drive. Personal teleporters aren't unheard-of but they are rare. Maybe he thinks it'll surprise my father. Why?"

"I don't know," Tony said. "Something about it bugs me. Did you get any scans, Friday?"

"No sir," said the voice from the ceiling. "A damping field was in place, probably for your benefit. I did get some video and snapshots through your chest unit, though."

"All right," Tony said. "Mock up what you can in Lab Two. I'll be by in a bit."

"Is there a problem, Stark?"

"I don't know yet, Thor. Maybe."

Tony was being cautious. In his heart he knew something was very wrong. He just didn't know what it was yet.

#Rocket Raccoon #tony stark #Thor Odinson #pepper Potts #nebula

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proserpine-in-phases · 6 years

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@nachttour tagged me in a writing question thing!

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

uh yeah there’s like, several. some of them are better developed than other but a lot of the reason I’ve been holding off on writing them just comes down to feeling inadequate due to my own limited experience with relationships and feelings of complete inadequacy. it’s hard to write an epic romancu when I’m aromantic as fuck and have a hard time conceptualizing what those feelings might be like to experience, for example, or like, I want the story to be funny but I feel like I’m not actually a very funny person?

also I always feel like I need to do more research. I get stuck on the research phase about 85% of the time haha

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

man I am embarrassed by MYSELF existing, so idk probably all of it when you get right down to it

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

it seems to vary a bit. sometimes I just power through start to finish, but sometimes I need to write the ending first to remind myself of what I’m shooting for. sometimes I just gotta write some random scenes in the middle before I forget what they are and have to figure out where they’ll go later.

considering the longest thing I’ve managed to finish comes in at about 12 k I don’t know if I have enough data to really come up with a firm answer for this one though. from what I can tell, it really does seem like I start at the beginning and go for a bit, write the end, and try to connect the two with occasional random middle bits getting written out of order and a general feeling of “I’ll fix it in post” carrying me through

4) favorite character you’ve written

probably Samantha Traynor. she’s such a fucking nerd and I love her. it was surprisingly easy to write for her once I got started. at least I THINK I did a good job writing her, I have no actual idea haha

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

I’ve written TWO mass effect fics featuring Samara as a main character and I have no idea how this happened or why because she’s about in the middle when it comes to my most to least favorite mass effect characters list

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

there’s a couple of fics I wrote for fic exchanges that I kinda wish I could take back and turn into something else because I love the concept but feel guilty about idk, using as a springboard because the original is a gift, or something. it feels ehhhhhhhhh disingenuous to continue them when the gift is supposed to be a singular and self contained unit

for example, oh man I would love to take that vrisrezi space pirates au someplace, but I don’t know if I should because the fic itself is a gift, complete, and so forth.

plus I hate the way I run out of steam about 4 chapters into everything. I would like to not run out of motivation please

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

considering my output is so low I barely consider myself a writer at all tbh.

but yes, embarrassed. I hope to god the three people I know irl who follow me just like. never see those posts haha

8) favorite genre to write

space adventure! and lately? mysteries even though I have no FUCKING idea why or even how to write them, which is why I have at least three projects stalled out on me haha

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I read a lot, mostly. sometimes I stare at a wall. or play minesweeper.

also when I’m doing something fairly mindless sometimes my mind wanders and I hit something.

oh and music. music is great

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I usually need music, mood music preferable, instrumental so the lyrics don’t distract me. generally I prefer to not be around people when I write, though a public setting is also fun to write in. I’m too distractable to actually get any done though, so I usually end up just looking like a tool with their notebook out if I try to write in a coffee shop or whatever tho, haha

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

I think writing fanfic has really helped me figure out what it means to write in character. also I think I’m starting to get better at balancing dialogue versus narration? at least a little bit

12) your weaknesses as an author

the inability to actually finish shit.

unwillingness to approach emotions that make me feel uncomfortable.

the fact that I often approach writing a character with the thought of what I would do in a situation rather than what the character would do (which is why writing fanfiction is helping me with that haha)

coming up with plots that lend themselves well to longer stuff

13) your strengths as an author

pretty good at dialogue

when it comes to my own shit, pretty good at coming up with interesting fantasy worlds (I think they’re interesting at least)

I’ve got a pretty firm grasp overall just the nuts and bolts of writing: I mean I tutored English in college for fuck’s sake I know how to write a grammatically correct run on sentence when I want to

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

not really

15) why did you start writing?

I wanted to know what happened next

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

not really? I mean, there are specific character TYPES that’ll get me every time, though, like the happy go lucky person who has to learn what pain is but still come out the other side a LOT worse for wear but not completely broken (think Tasslehoff Burrfoot, or perhaps less obscure Vash the Stampede) but I wouldn’t say they haunt me, per say

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

don’t be afraid to be self indulgent. you’ll enjoy it more and who the fuck cares, anyway? people who’ll make fun of you for doing what you love are ass holes

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

If I’m honest I can’t really say what influences my writing style, if I even have one. Mostly all I can do is list off my favorite authors because I’m pretty sure they all have something to do with it.

so let’s just do that I guess. when I was a teenager I tended to find a single author and just read through all their works before moving on, and these are the big ones that stand out:

Connie Willis, Anne McCaffrey, Steven Brust and Ursula K. Le Guin. Connie Willis for the humor she includes in almost all her writing, Anne McCaffrey because I STILL spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about Pern. She had a real skill for coming up with both great characters and great settings, even if what she did with them, and also her inability to keep continuity were less good. Steven Brust introduced me to the idea of relating to morally reprehensible characters at an alarmingly young age. Ursula K. Le Guin, I just love her. No idea if it’s actually done anything GOOD to my writing but she gives me something to aspire to.

I read just. a ridiculous amount of fantasy and science fiction as a kid, the genres as a whole without a doubt influence the type of shit I end up writing. also in seventh grade I mainlined dragonlance, just the whole damn thing

later in college I got really into Margaret Atwood. her focus on female characters and narrative just is really great.

then I went through a depressive phase in my late 20s and just exclusively read Julia Quinn, Joanna Lindsey, Sabrina Jeffreys and Eloisa James, and that was IT. so I’m pretty sure my foray into the romance genre is what makes me honestly prefer povs limited to two or three characters hey, reading romance novels also lead me to the realization that I’m aromantic so \o/ I guess

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I outline and then give up lol

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

little spurts until something grabs me and makes me marathon. usually that’s a deadline, but sometimes it’s also inspiration

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

mostly just holy shit I can’t believe I wrote this! sometimes that’s bad, sometimes it’s good. I can’t really tell if I’m good at divorcing myself from my writing enough to give me perspective on it, to tell the truth, because for a good lot of it, I still think it’s pretty good so ???

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

it’s hard for me to let a character be embarrassed by the dumb shit they do. I don’t want them to do dumb shit because of it, which makes it hard for the character to have shit to grow and learn from.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

I’m pretty sure my own issues with having and experiencing some emotions makes its way into the stuff I choose to write about, especially when it comes to the original stuff (I have. at LEAST three different plot outlines that involve characters literally losing the ability to experience emotions and having to find a way to heal or gain it back haha)

also the fic I wrote about the box ghost is literally just about what it’s like to work in a factory haha

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

listen.

yes.

I fucking. LOVE. research.

honestly this is the stage where I most often get lost in the weeds, distracted by my own need to know more

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

“He was not the knight Casey taught him to be, but he was close enough for government work“ remains the single best pun I’ve ever written

tagging: @anthropwashere @inktail @manicpixiesdreamdragon if you guys are up for it!

#meme #writing meme #questions about writing

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