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greed-the-dorkalicious · 11 months

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All the discussion around AI lately got me thinking about an incident recently in which a guy got his ass sorely beat by the vocal synth community

For those of you not familiar, “vocal synths” in the electronic music sense typically refers to programs like Vocaloid, SynthV, UTAU, Alter/Ego, DeepVocal, etc., digital instruments that allow composers to create, as the name implies, synthesized vocal tracks. The way they work is that they draw from libraries (referred to as “voicebanks” or VB for short) of special studio recorded* vocal samples from singers singing different syllables at a consistent pitch. The program then splices these together and adjusts the pitch to match whatever notes you put in- You want to do All Star, it’s gonna string together “[suh][m] [buh][di] [wuh][n][s] [tO][ld] [mi]” or something like that. Basically it’s an extremely complicated sampler.

(*unless you’re using UTAU or another build-your-own-vocal program in which the “studio” is only metaphorical, and is sometimes somebody’s basement with a Rockband mic plugged into a laptop.)

Now, there is no threat of vocal synths putting actual singers out of a job. Even the best vocal synths always have a bit of a robotic sound to them, and the voicebanks take hundreds of hours of recording time from you know, actual singers. Any piece made with vocal synths has to be worked by a human hand in a process called “tuning” in order to sound any good, whether you’re trying to make it sound human or leaning into the robotic sound. This isn’t something that’s being done on a corporate scale to cut costs- This is something pretty much exclusively being done by small scale indie music hobbyists because we fucking love Hatsune Miku and her weird buddies. Most folks are less interested in doing something that sounds 1:1 like a human voice and more in going beyond what humans can do to make shit like this

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One of the leading vocal synths right now is Synthesizer V (SynthV), created by a company called Dreamtonics. SynthV offers fancier versions of some of its voicebanks, which are called “AI” voicebanks. These use machine learning trained on, again, professionally recorded and legally licensed vocal samples to help make songs sound a little bit more smooth, a little bit more in line with whatever singing style you’re aiming for. Everything else previously mentioned still applies: They’re still painstakingly recorded and programmed, you still need to tweak it yourself to get it to sound just right, and it’s still never going to sound 100% like a human. And that’s fine!

For this next bit y’all are gonna have to trust me because the tweets all got deleted, though if anyone wants I’m happy to pull up screencaps of talking shit about it with other vocal synth folks when it happened lmfao

So basically. Since ChatGPT type grifters have convinced people that “AI” means “magic plagiarism button”, back in April some dipshit NFT guy on Twitter started complaining on an official SynthV update post that SynthV (which he apparently believed to be called “Dreamtonics”, the name of the company that makes it) should allow people to make voicebanks from “their own voice”, insisting that it would be easy and PROFITABLE!™ to do so. He also clearly did not actually mean “their own voice” but rather “the voices of celebrity singers shamelessly lifted without their consent”, which was made extra obvious from a tweet on his own page that was like “Teehee people in monitored Twitter spaces don’t realize their voices are being recorded and fed into AI!” which he then deleted after I linked it on the thread about SynthV. lol.

Dude proceeded to get whupped by actual vocal synth people basically saying shit along the lines of “Yeah we can all tell you just want to commit cheap plagiarism, jackass” and “Dude why are you here when you clearly don’t understand the very very basics of what this software even is” and “Go make an UTAU voicebank if it’s so easy then”. (UTAU being a Japanese freeware program that hasn’t been updated since 2013. Creating an UTAU voicebank is complicated and takes a lot of time and technical knowledge.) He still refused to learn the basics of how vocal synths work, and proceeded to ask if “UTAU or Diff is most compatible with Dreamtonics”, a question absolutely no one could make any sense of? Lol.

Anyway, I don’t have anywhere in particular I’m going with this, I just think AI grifters are morons, and it’s obnoxious how the vague and misleading term “AI” has gotten nigh-mythologized by shady tech companies to the point that people can’t tell the difference between perfectly reasonable assistive technology and magic plagiarism.

Btw, fun fact for anyone who’s wondering, there do in fact exist legally/morally questionable UTAU voicebanks spliced from outside vocals. These are called “jinriki” voicebanks and not only do they take the same amount (if not more) of hard work as any other voicebank, they’re far from the insta-Beyoncé this dude was aiming for, and instead they sound um. like this

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m3r1m4r5u333 · 23 days

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Look. I'm fucking done here.

I'm fucking furious. I've had ENOUGH of people shit talking Kristen Reidel for being "antibuddie".

Newsflash you imbecils, it's OBVIOUSLY blatantly untrue!! She's been here for us, from the very start, to lay out the foundation for queer Buck and Eddie. She's written, directed and been the executive producer for some of the most monumental buddie moments!!

Maybe take a moment to understand that these shows are huge and one person does not have all the say for how things work out. These people do not work in isolation, doing whatever they like!

Let's remember that the show used be on Fox, which is arguably one of the most conservative networks there are!!!

The show already had several main queer characters and romances when Eddie's character entered the show in season 2. We also know that the main target audience is fairly tradional, and the show is freaking expensive to make without a huge profit in return. We KNOW it has repeatedly struggled to get renewed due to that.

Let's remember that creating a show like this is not an existence of stress-free creative indulgence - you are actually responsible for HUNDREDS of jobs! The show's survival! People's income! The crew isn't just a couple of known actors, it's also everyone else making the show, and these productions are HUGE. It's so many families income at stake.

So WAKE UP and realise what they've been against, creating this show.

I'm like obnoxiously queer but even I would get nervous at the idea of similtaneously airing several queer ships on a show about emergency responders, on freaking Fox!

Seriously, just stop to think. What if they had gone for blatant buddie early on?

The show would have had to juggle... let's do some math...

Hen, Karen, and Eva being queer and raising a rainbow family,

Michael's coming out storyline, then his and David's romance, Josh being very much gay and dating men... Add to that Buck and Eddie, and that's MANY prominent queer characters, story arcs and romances trying to compete for air time... ON FOX, in a show about firefighters!

The risk of the the largely conservative, homophobic audience on a conservative channel going "it's too much" and abandoning the show was REAL, don't you pretend otherwise.

Sure, there are other less easily intimidated audiences, but how would they know if the leap into the unknown would pay off?

I think in those circumstances they made a very sensible decision to focus on the other queer characters anf storylines first.

Again, it's hundreds of people's incomes at stake!!! There must have been people, funders, bosses voting against adding more blatantly queer storylines to the current situation because it was just not the right time.

So Kristel Reid was CAUTIOUS when she gave interviews. Remember, the future of the show has been uncertain from the start with how expensive it is to make!!

She did not want to give false hope to the viewers hoping for buddie come true. She did not want to be accused of queerbaiting. She very sensibly made sure to appear neutral about buddie, and give the UNTRUE impression that her head canon is that meh, they're just straight friends to her.

Quite frankly folks... NEVER PLAY POKER WITH THIS WOMAN, I think she'd eat you in a minute!!

She LIED. Fucking absorb that information. Breathe it in! You can do it! She's been obviously rooting for Buddie to happen for AGES.

Why do I say this?

Well here's my fucking powerpoiny about it!!! Read this and take a minute to consider her innocent "oh they're the very bestest of friends"-front against her actual work on the show!!

She WROTE 5x18, you know, with Ravi's line to Hen:

"I think it's sweet that Karen was defending you. I mean, isn't that what we all want in a partner, knowing they have your back?"

She's no spring chicken, she wrote this fully knowing the memory we buddie shippers possess!!!

She WROTE the scene in which Eddie comforts Buck at the hospital after Maddie's kidnapping.

She WROTE 3x01, that's the scene in which Eddie bursts into Buck's apartment when Buck's feeling down and has Chris hang out with "his Buck".

She co-wrote Eddie's disgusted reaction to meeting Abby, she co-wrote Buck hearing that Chris is going on a two-week school trip and freaking out like a mother hen,

She WROTE freaking 4x14 - You know, the episode SURVIVORS, in which Eddie is shot by a sniper!! In the queerest way possible!!

She WROTE Desperate measures, you know - the episode in which Eddie breaks up with Ana, freaking oozing repressed queer subtext all over the place!!

Have you even watched the talk Buck and Eddie have before the breakup?!!! It's INSANE.

---

Buck: Ah. I thought you'd be the first one out the door. Christopher know you're coming?

Eddie: Not yet. I haven't figured out what I'm going to say when I get home. To Ana.

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Try telling me that "door" isn't the door of a closet, I challenge you!!

She freaking co-wrote 5x17!!! The META of Taylor, in 5x17 "promising" she won't "run the story", and then breaking that promise.

That same episode has Eddie visiting his home btw, and paints a very illuminative picture of the environment Eddie grew up in - it practically spells toxic masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, catholic guilt. Really, that episode basically screams "This is why Eddie is such a repressed onion."

THAT episode also has THAT insane closet door scene, Eddie opening a closet door as Buck says:

Buck: You know, your parents will understand!

Eddie turns to stare at him.

Buck: ...They should understand. *Plays with a toy dinosaur as he's talking, and pretends it bites his finger.*

... And again, after that episode she wrote 5x18, the one with "Isn't that what we all want in a partner, knowing they have your back?"

An obvious parallel to Buck and Eddie meeting and promising to have each other's backs!!!

....

Seriously, Kristel Reidel has had our back from the very beginning and I'm fed up with people talking shit about her!! I think it's no coincidence that one of the emergencies she wrote was "someone stuck in a freezer", that's fucking meta. I bet she's wanted to fucking hit the pedal but she's been forced to bide her time, and it's been fucking agony at times.

And don't even get me started on Tim fucking Minear, who people have ALSO shit talked because "hE jUst liKes tO QuEerBait".

BE FUCKING GRATEFUL FOR KRISTEN REIDEL, YOU utter... *censored*.

BE GRATEFUL FOR TIM MINEAR. They are our freaking GOATS and they deserve our love!!!

Edit. After reading up some more about the power structures of media networks like these... I would really not be surprised if it turned out that the people running this show (such as Reidel and Minear, the people listed next to the episodes) have had even less say on what sort of stories they get to do than I've thought.

After all, these people we fans focus on and know by name... They're really not nearly as influential as we think. There are still plenty of big chiefs higher up in the food chain. I've heard some vague rumours before that the network has meddled with the show's creative decisions a lot in these past years, and would not be surprised if it was true.

#kristen reidel #tim minear #911 on abc #buddie #911 buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie 911 #evan buck buckley #911 abc #eddie díaz #DONE WITH THIS SHITTALK!!!

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prisonprocess · 10 months

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The Adventure Begins

Brendan M. says:

These days, everything happens online. After I sold my company and took the profit, I lived at the lake house and basically didn’t need to go anyplace or see anybody. After 12 years of corporate meetings, that was fine with me. And there were plenty of online buddies to chat with.

My favorite was Blake. He was into all the hot prison photos, sites, and stories. We’d spend hours late at night, talking about how great it would be to “do prison,” as he put it, actually instead of virtually. “No more role play. Just real steel—the real deal.” Nothing but uniforms, restraints, cellblocks, and being transported in big ugly buses (“diesel therapy”). “Nothin but a number, Jack! And you know what? There’s an outfit that can put you there. Just saw it online.”

That’s when he told me about Your Prison Profile. A hot idea, of course—expensive, but they’d find a place for you in prison, and nobody would know how it happened. When I contacted them, they put me through to Cody, a chill young guy who made everything easy. I didn’t mind that he kept telling me to think about this or that, and we could talk about it tomorrow. I really got off on thinking about my “requirements”: “which level of security is necessary for you,” “are you looking for hard labor,” “single cell, double cell, pod, or dorm,” and so on. We did it all by online video, and I liked the look of Cody sitting at his desk and talking in a calm, level voice about what I wanted to “get out of” my “prison adventure.” Blake and I spent every night imagining our way through the various options. Next day I’d talk it over with Cody and click on the one I wanted.

Then in a couple of weeks Cody came online and told me, “Hey, based on the data you’re giving me, I found you a prison. It’s the same security you wanted, same labor options, the whole nine yards.” I was excited; I wanted to hit Blake up right away and tell him. The problem was—this looked like my last visit with Cody. He needed to know if I’d click on the box that said, yeah, I accept the offer. Which I’d never intended to do. I’d just wanted the fantasy.

I made up an excuse to go offline, and I got back to Blake. “What do you mean?” he said. “You don’t want to go through with it?”

I was ashamed to admit that I didn’t. But I was so excited, I couldn’t let it go. “Maybe for six months,” I said.

“Don’t be a wimp!” he replied. “Besides, you can’t go to a real prison for six months. They won’t let you in. It has to be for at least a year. You know that. And what else are you doing that’s so important?”

“All right,” I said. “I’ll tell him a year.” By that time, I barely knew what I was saying, I was so turned on.

But when I got back to Cody, he said, “I’m sorry. This is a serious facility. They don’t do one-year sentences. Try three.”

“Three?” I answered, like a dumb ass.

“Three years. Or you can sign up for five or ten or fifteen or twenty. But listen, if you’re having trouble making up your mind, you can do two to life. That’s for first offenders who, like, did something pretty bad, but they’re still first offenders. So if you’ve got a good record in the facility, they’ll let you out in two. Otherwise, they can keep you. You understand how that goes?”

“Right. I understand. I’ll get back to you.”

“Thanks. But I gotta tell you, this offer won’t last long.”

“What do you mean?” Blake said. “You’re not gonna turn that down, are you? Two years from now, you’ll still be sittin on your deck, growin your fat ass, wishin you’d had enough stones to click that box.”

I spent a worried, sleepless, and very excited night, and the next day I got with Cody online and clicked the box that said Two Years to Life.

After that it was easy. I sent a check for 50K, and 5K more as a tip for Cody. I made arrangements with my lawyer. I leased my house. I put my stuff in storage. I waited for my order to report to prison. When I got it, there were two weeks to go. I spent them chatting with Blake and alternating between excitement and fear. But I couldn’t deny what he said: “In fourteen days you’ll be livin the dream.” Then it was ten, then five, then one, and I went online to say so long for the next two years. For some reason, Blake wasn’t on.

Next morning I left the hotel where I’d been staying and took a taxi the 50 miles to the Regional Headquarters of the Department of Corrections, where I was supposed to turn myself in. I don’t know what I was expecting, but all I saw was a dumpy little building with a walk-up window and a sign saying REPORT FOR IMPRISONMENT. OK, that was straightforward. I wished I’d seen that sign years before. A twenty-year-old with ear rings was sitting on the other side of the glass. “Driver’s license-Order to Report-cellphone.” I’d never thought about that, but yes, I’d lose my phone. I slid everything through the little slot in the window. The young man tossed my phone to one side of the counter, where I could see it land on a pile of other cell phones. Then he compared my license with my Order, pushed the Order back through the slot, and said, “Give this to the officer at the gate. Next!” I turned and saw that I was part of a line of other men, there to REPORT FOR IMPRISONMENT.

The officer at the gate, a fifty-something with a big gut, took my Order and beckoned me through. “Face to the wall,” he said. There was a brick wall on the left, and I put my face to it. “Hands on your head.” I put my hands on my head. Then I heard the double click of the shackles being attached to my legs. This was the moment I’d been waiting for, and I almost lost it right there. Even more when he turned me around and cuffed my hands together.

“Transport cage over there. Get in and line up.” A younger officer who might have been hot but wasn’t opened the second steel gate and let me in silently. It was a cage, all right—concrete floor, and steel fencing all around. It looked like they’d spent twenty bucks on it. There were about 40 guys in the cage, lined up in their go-to-prison clothes, which must have cost then about ten bucks. So these were my fellow convicts . . . .

Note: All stories by prisonprocess are purely fictional and have no relation to real persons or institutions.

#transformation #new fish

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sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee · 11 months

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Riddlers with a s/o who really likes horror movies, old ones, news one, everything in between long as it's horror? Need to know who's ear I can talk off

"Riddlers and Horror Movies" Riddler party x Reader

Several of these riddlers share direct horror movie quirks with me have fun guessing which. Also listed favorite horror film(s).

TW: horror films, blood and gore descriptions, mentions of emotional self-harm

Gotham

He's the guy who is going to contradict and tell you every medical inaccuracy of the deaths and mechanics in the movies. Yes, of course there's suspension of disbelief but at some point things are just wrong.

Babe, that should be arterial blood but they're portraying venous blood consistency :(

If you don't mind him talking at length about how these things would actually go OR conversely how well the sfx portrayed real injuries, he is your horror movie buddy! None of it bothers him considering how many real life murder, suicide and accident victims he's had to perform autopsies on.

Cuddling with his gangly legs on the couch bundled up in a big blanket with you while the sounds of screams echo from the tv and fill the room. Huge smile. He especially old classics when you're in the mood. Black and white films and transatlantic accents... It sounds like a great night to him.

Favorite Horror Movies: Might be a surprise but he really loves "Freaks" from 1932. He will talk for a long time about how, even though many of the disabled actors were ostracized on set, the fact that they were present at all is significant. The ableist assholes get theirs in the end! He also has a lot of fondness for "Re-animator."

Btas

He's the one interested in the sfx rambles. What, you think he designed a video game and labyrinth for a theme park just because he's intelligent? He likes behind the scenes work. God help everyone if he and Scarecrow decided to get together to make a haunted house.

You ever see those huge animatronics in horror mazes, especially the huge end show pieces? That's where his interest goes.

Depending on how much you watch and express interest in that kind of thing, he genuinely might start making horror animatronics and programs. He has the know-how! His would be the realistic looking ones, especially for animals. Spooky but definitely based in forms you see in real life.

Well, beautiful, you might have helped him find a very profitable side gig. Everyone else might be sore at you for a while, though, given Edward scaring the fuck out of them with holograms and mechanics. Plus more team-ups with Scarecrow.

All this because you wanted to watch horror movies with him. His darling <3

Favorite horror movie: "The Thing" (1982) and while it's not his absolute favorite, he ends up enjoying "Willy's Wonderland" a lot for both the animatronics and video game nods.

60s

The old ones with little to no gore is fine! More modern hack and slashers might be a little too spooky for him :( definitely never show him "Hostel" or anything in that vein.

Truthfully, it's not the violence or the blood, he's seen that. It's the suffering that gets him. It all seems so pointless and needless. At least when he's attempting to cut batman into tiny pieces using a comically giant fan, there's a goal or point. In his mind, anyways.

Before dating you his idea of horror was "Dracula", "Frankenstein"... "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken".... Start with horror that has a more comedic or cheesy element- "Little Shop of Horrors" to "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil." "Creepshow" 1 and 2 from the 80s! If you ease him into it and don't go too extreme, he'll love watching horror movies with you.

Favorite Horror Movie: OKAY THIS IS CHEATING BECAUSE IT'S NOT A MOVIE BUT. He'd be a HUGE fan of the "Tales from the Crypt" show from the early 90s (that is almost impossible to find streaming rip my horror uncle The Cryptkeeper). Horror plus puns. He will always take a funny, morbid pun! Plus... man can appreciate a cackle. He also has several opinions about the original "Suspiria."

Zero Year

It has to have something of a decent story or he's not paying attention. Where is the BACKGROUND? Sidenote: if you get him into something like Bloodborne (I know, not a movie) with lots of lore, expect to not see him for a hot minute as he consumes all the information he can like a sponge.

He tends to favor psychological horror- Although, if it means spending time with you and gaining favor, he would watch most anything. Especially if there's the possibility of close physical affection... ANYWAYS. He's also the one who wants to watch a bunch of foreign language film horror such as "Les yeux sans visage" in original French.

Another thing is that he will watch things over and over and over again with you if you want. Part of it is the undiagnosed neurodivergency. Part of it is because you always catch new details when you watch things again. Him noticing something that you didn't and him getting to tell you and impressing you is a special kind of high. He will talk about movies for hours afterwards. "Jacob's Ladder" has been a several hours long dissection MULTIPLE TIMES.

Favorite Horror Movies: "Angel Heart" is his top all time favorite. If you haven't seen it, he will practically tie you up to watch it together- He also really enjoyed "The Lighthouse" and "Us."

Arkham

Similar to BTAS, he is also interested in the animatronics. His, however, would lean to body horror and sci-fi. Something about biology and machine blending together... it gets him kind of excited.

He will sit and work while watching you play something like Deadspace (sorry, a game again) for HOURS. Then he wants to watch the prequel movie with you. Also if you don't mind subtitles, he has this recommendation for "Tetsuo: The Iron Man" if you haven't seen it already. And if you haven't... You are in for an experience.

In short, this man is about the body horror. He likes other horror too, but that's his bread and butter. Sci-fi horror as well. Bonus when there is overlap. He's seen "Annihilation" at least twenty times and has the books dog-eared and rough from multiple reads somewhere in his belongings. Yes, they are ultimately different, but he's in love with the concept enough that to him he appreciates both.

He is going to scare you with animatronics he makes. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes not. Have fun with that.

Favorite horror movies: Cronenberg period but he has a special fondness for "Videodrome" and "The Fly" (1986).

Telltale

Despite it being an excellent movie, he despises "Jacob's Ladder." It brings up too many unpleasant thoughts. Movies, especially horror, with medical experimentation are a trigger though he'll never say it out loud. You find this out as you discuss watching certain movies and see the connection between all of them.

That being said, the horror movies he likes have two themes: they have meaning/ a message or they involve transformation. The first is because anything too simple bores him. The second is totally absolutely NOT because of projection of his own trauma.

Show him "Get Out" and "Nope" and he gains a deep reverence for Jordan Peele as a writer and director. Intelligent, entertaining, and the perfect amount of horror mixed in. Kind of a fan, only you know, really.

80s version of "The Fly" makes him emotional and you probably only watch it once with him. He likes it a lot! Just... the slow transformation via a science accident is very relatable. Madness overtaking you.

Favorite horror movies: "An American Werewolf In London" it's a classic. Not to mention in his opinion one of the best transformation scenes in a movie.

2022/nashton

Ha... so here's the thing. He likes "Hostel" and movies like that with lots of violence and gore. He's even seen "Wolf Creek" and got some real excitement out of it. HOWEVER. Movies in that vein are a form of emotional self-harm for him. He likes them in the moment but they also usually trigger massive anxiety and depression episodes for him later on in the day/night.

Others like "Se7en" (I know it's a thriller not true horror), "Saw" and the like are usually okay. There's a distinctive difference that may only exist in his own mind, but the more you watch with him, the more you'll find out which movies are "safe" for him. Which is good! He does like horror movies, but as we know from the prequel comics, he's not always good at taking care of himself due to massive amounts of trauma.

He loves films that are gems that aren't super well known in the US when he can find them. Have you seen the Korean horror film "The Silenced"? No? You're in for a treat.

He likes movies that have a logic or puzzle to them. Complex mechanics and traps. A sick sense of justice dispensed.

Favorite horror movies: The "Saw" series. Also "The Collector." He sees the upside down shot with the reflective contacts and the spider allegories and his eyes dilate like a cat seeing it's favorite toy.

#riddler #btas riddler #gotham riddler #zero year riddler #60s riddler #arkham games riddler #telltale games riddler #2022 riddler #riddler x reader #foxwriting

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gxdsfavgal · 1 year

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Puppy Adoption

Pairing: Drew Starkey x Partner!Reader

Warnings: FLUFFFYYYYY little BLURB, I just wrote this very rushed because I thought it was cute lol

A/N: based on this tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRny1sHd/

I am a binge watcher. I love watching celebrity interviews even though I am surrounded by it in my personal life. But I have my own little favorites. It is something I look forward to every time I open YouTube. I hope to see a new upload of Buzzfeeds Puppy Interview.

I obsessed over the Chris Evans one, and even the Tom Holland one. After finding out that Drew was going to be in one for OBX, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I begged for him to let me watch in the behind the scenes, and luckily it didn't take much begging.

So now here we are, the puppies in the crates as the cast talks to the producers on what they are doing and what type of questions are going to be asked.

I was in awe by all the tiny noses poking out through the grates of the cages, the little barks and howls. I am a dog person through and through.

Cats? Birds? Fishes? Never.

Before they filmed, the adoption manager and I had a conversation. We talked about how they are a non-profit organization and how they always have dogs of all ages to be fostered or adopted.

I was fortunate enough to snap a few pics for my Instagram story.

I didn't have pets growing up, but I kept a promise to myself that I would someday be a parent to a dog. I didn't care the breed, I just wanted to have a dog to love.

Drew on the other hand grew up around dogs, his family and his friends. He knows everything about them. He's always told me that we need to get a dog someday.

He promised me that we would get a puppy together on our second date, and I've held that promise to him.

I sat comfortably and excited in a chair behind the crew members of the Buzzfeed production team. The lights of the studio flashed "Filming In Progress", and everyone became silent.

Drew and the rest of the cast just finished up the Buzzfeed puppy interview. I was just in the behind the scenes trying to get some content for Drew's instagram.

"I literally cannot move" Drew whispered out as the film crew started wrapping up.

The puppy in his arms fully asleep, its head lolled back with little snores.

The OBX group was all in awe over Drew and the puppy.

"Come here." Drew asked of me, using his head to nod.

I walked past the camera and sat down on the floor next to Drew and Maddy, the other puppies coming to sniff me. I put out my hand so the pups can smell me, but also so I can lure one to hold.

"They are up for adoption right?" I asked the lady on the side who brought all of the dogs to the interview.

"Yep! Every single one of them." she smiled.

"Oh my god! I want all of them." I whispered as I held up the puppy I was holding.

"Same, I do need a travel buddy" Madelyn giggled as her chin was getting licked.

"Drew, it seems like that one is basically yours." I nodded my head towards the one in his arms.

"I wish I could make him ours." Drew petted the German Shepards head.

"Why not? We've been talking about getting a dog for months."

"I don't know, you think we should?" he asked me with a smile on his face, ready to commit to being a dog dad.

"I think you guys should do it." the lady spoke, trying to convince us to adopt.

"Wow, she's got great marketing skills." Bails said with a giggle as Austin laughed with.

"Ehh I don't know." Drew tilted his head back and forth.

"I think we should." I rested my head on Drew's shoulder, looking at the still sleeping puppy in his arms. "I think he adopted you actually."

"Do it! Do it!" the cast cheered as they made the dogs in their arms do little dances.

Drew and I's heads turned to each other, our eyes making immediate contact. We were both trying to decipher what the other one was saying.

We a little smile on his face and mine, we both did a little nod.

"We'll take him." I told the lady as I lightly booped the sleeping puppy nose.

#gxdsfavgals masterlist #drew starkey #drew starkey fluff #drew starkey obx #obx #obx drew #obx drew starkey #outerbanks #obx3 #drewseph

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episodicnostalgia · 8 months

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 106 (February 7, 1993) - "Q-Less"

The Breakdown

Jadzia returns from a trip to the Gamma Quadrant with a human woman named Vash, who claims to have been there for a couple years. Regularly that wouldn’t make sense (the Gamma quadrant is very far away, and the wormhole was only just discovered a few episodes ago), but fans of TNG will recognize her as Picard’s old flame who became pet-travel-buddy to Q, a guy notable for being able to do literally anything he wants. We find out that Vash has parted ways with Q because she grew tired of dealing with his narcissistic bullshit, and she’s ready to retire on the profits of all the treasures she collected with her omnipotent sponsor. But Q is pretty choked about Vash leaving him, and so he decides to hang around DS9 and see if he can’t change her mind.

While Quark sets up an auction for Vash’s Gamma treasures, Q sets about giving Sisko grief over the station’s latest technical troubles. It turns out one of Vash’s items-for-sale (a fancy glowing orb) is actually some kind of unhatched stingray-space-baby that’s dragging the entire station towards the wormhole (and destruction) in an attempt to return home. Thanks to a few helpful hints from Q, along with a healthy dose of technobabble, Sisko and Co. figure out what's going on in time to beam the Stingray-baby back into space. The Station is safe, and Q agrees to leave Vash alone.

The Verdict

The problem with this episode is that it kind of expects that you to know what Q’s deal is. The writers do their best to bring the audience up to speed on Q and Vash’s backstory, but it feels like we’re getting the sloppy seconds to a TNG story arc. At the end of the day I think Q’s dynamic is just better tailored to Picard’s more rigid demeanour; besides Sisko already has his own nonlinear space-deities to contend with.

2 Stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

(Future) Hetero-Boyfriends: It’s hard to like Julian Bashir in these early episodes. He’s fairly sexist, and trying way too hard to be a Fuck boi, but thankfully his friendship with Miles O’Brien will become a saving grace for the character. That’s still a ways off as O’Brien’s disdain over witnessing Bashir’s conduct on a date is all too apparent, and it’s fun to watch.

Q notes that Sisko is easier to provoke than Picard, but afterward the commander and his entire crew are pretty good at keeping their cool while mostly ignoring him. Maybe that’s why he never came back.

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tobiasdrake · 5 months

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Moving along, let's see what other recorded secrets we can find in the House of Backstory.

Well, if my Makoto theory is correct, he might have been previously bonded to Shinigami. In which case, he may not have a high opinion of the new Shinigami host. Or he could be projecting his own experiences with Shinigami.

Hey, it's Zilch! What's up, buddy? Are you still a bad pupper? Or, no, I suppose you'd be a hungry pupper, right?

What, we don't want to say hi to our old buddy-pal Zilch? I want to see if he still has his pupper hat. It's hard to make out from this distance and I never did get to scritch his ears.

HINT HINT. Yuma learned his lesson from his first altercation with a "zombie" and wasn't about to take the bait, so Makoto had to nudge him.

He DOES. He does have the pupper hat. Hey, buddy. How's it going? Murdered anyone interesting lately? 'Cause I have. I killed my boss earlier today, in fact! It was heartbreaking.

That checks out. So it wasn't just Master Detectives. Anyone trying to enter Homunculus City had to be put down. That was Fake Zilch's job. He was pretty good at it too.

Interesting but not surprising that Yomi specifically was his client. That makes sense. The WDO made arrangements with Amaterasu to bring Detectives in, but Yomi wanted to keep them out. Bet you Makoto was the one who signed off on bringing us here to begin with.

Which would then make sense. Makoto's repeatedly said he has a lot of faith in detectives and believes they're the key to "saving" this city. That. Would follow. As something he believes in, if he previously worked for WDO to begin with.

...

YES. Yes, I am. Let's talk company secrets.

So help me, Yuma, do not correct him.

Goddammit Yuma, your overwhelming honesty and integrity makes me want to throw you down a flight of stairs sometimes!

At least he's too delirious to listen. That's good. Let's see if we can get him talking about things we don't know.

Wow, that lines up with when Huesca began doing corporate espionage. Yomi stepped into his office, took a big whiff, and went, "Mm, smells like corruption dough ready to be baked. And I am a hungry boy!"

Be funny if they sold homunculus secrets to WDO, allowing Makoto to get ahead and then come back and take over Amaterasu. Whole-ass self-made karmic comeuppance for Yomi.

Aww, this guy was one of Yomi's besties until we out-of-nowhere wrenched his soul from his body and fed it to a howling abyss. I hope he and Yomi were having a nice debriefing lunch when he suddenly dropped dead for no explicable reason.

Huh. That's. Fascinating, actually. So he wasn't selling corporate secrets for profit; He was. Like. Doing espionage mercantilism. Info-sharing between companies to build a stronger information base from which to carry out Amaterasu's research.

But still a fucking fascist, just in case anyone starts getting ideas about Yomi being the better alternative to Makoto.

Oh, he's an attack pupper. Suddenly, the dog imagery makes a lot of sense. He's Yomi's hound.

So he was directly involved. Makoto was confident he wouldn't tell us shit when he was setting us up to talk to the crotchety old bastard.

There it is. The three-year point, when Makoto and Forever Rain came to the city.

They'd been doing homunculus research for seven years at that point, but their big new homunculus research project for the ongoing homunculus endeavor was Project: Homunculus? The hell were they calling it before? Project: Immortal Abomination? Project Alchemic Puppetry? Project Fuck Happened To Your Eyes?

Yomi holds that same belief. These two hate Makoto for what he's done to their city and company. Making me buy in more and more into my "Everyone in Kanai Ward is homunculi" theory. I think Makoto did that on purpose because he sees it as some brilliant new wave in human evolution or some shit. Yomi resented him for it.

I said before that Makoto's talking a lot about what he's against but only offers platitudes for what he's for. "Making and maintaining homunculi" is probably what he's for.

Was that when everyone became homunculi? Maybe the entire city was killed in the toxic gas leak from the mine, and Makoto then had homunculi made to replace them? Or something?

Must be easy to seize control of a corporation after everyone dies and gets remade by you. Makoto's sudden takeover seemed sketchy, but now it seems even moreso. The Blank Week is probably a week of time that the entire city collectively blipped out on, because that was the period of time during which the originals were dead and the homunculi were in production.

Having no way to know what happened, they'd have little recourse but to eventually write it off as a collective WTF.

...well, that's a curve ball. So. Maybe Makoto was anti-homunculi from the start after all? Or he already made his masterpiece and didn't want Amaterasu's trash science to intervene. Or something. I don't know. I wasn't prepared for this.

#master detective archives: rain code #drake plays rain code

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arcplaysgames · 1 year

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AWAY WE GOOOOO ROAD TRIP

But not before a check in with our buddy Chaz

OH OKAY SO YOUR BOSS IS AWARE YOU ARE HANGING WITH THE PHANTOM THIEVES. Cozying up to the Thieves was apparently Chaz's explicit mission.

Chaz, please don't betray me. I mean, I would forgive you because you're awesome and frankly betrayal is not even remotely the worst thing to happen to me in any of these games, but still. Would be uncool of you.

Honestly, I'm cool with it.

STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES, THERE IS A COOKING MINIGAME ASPECT TO THIS?

LOOK AT THIS FUCKING MENU, JOKER'S KITCHEN

oh my god. this game is already better than P5V, there is no more room for debate. we are there.

The first stop in the journey is Sendai, because Sophia smells a Jail nearby. So basically, accounting for the fact they stopped by a river to have lunch, this is probably the route they took.

Outside Utsunomiya is the Kinugawa River, which looks like the most likely option for them to stop at.

This was the moment when I dared to ask myself....... did they..... create and design and render multiple Japanese cities for this game? Not just, like, a few huge hub towns on the scale of Tokyo, but a lot of smaller environments to explore?

oh my god they did????? holy shit this is exactly what I wanted.

Okay okay so the team is in Sendai because potential Jail, but also Haru wants to try beef tongue and Yusuke wants to look at the shrine and statues.

The big statue of Date Masamune is covered in posters advertizing some reprint of a book. Not the twentieth anniversary, but the twentieth reissue of a book. Which, wow, that is a lot. That feels like a lot of reissues.

Before we can investigate more of what's up with the posters, the whole gang needs to eat.

Morgana is CRUELLY shoved into the bag so he may not partake in the beef tongue, so he's noisy about it and some Woman In Labcoat overhears and catches us out.

My god, is this lady related to Akechi because she is BEEEEEEIGE. She is like if dishwater blonde hair was a person, it's amazing. Like, no tea no shade, it just stands out.

Ann you are such a dogshit liar, it's kind of a relief you didn't go into acting, holy shit.

In this house we never resist an opportunity to have Reverie Vantas the Fifth meow. Catboy rights.

Alright, one: that's.... actually accurate to my understanding of the use of collagen as a supplement, that ingestion is too harsh of the molecules or whatever so the idea they will make it back into your body as collagen and not just the parts of what was once collagen is true to my knowledge. Most of the studies to the contrary seeeeem a little suspect given the beauty industry's inherent interest in making collagen into a profitable business.

Two, "cognition" huh.

Brown-haired researcher in a labcoat talking about cognition, huh.

anyone looking at Reverie and picking up on an "air of innocence" is, ah, lacking in observational skills. Your vibe check has failed, ma'am.

A BROWN-HAIRED RESEARCHER IN A LABCOAT TALKING ABOUT COGNITION WHO ALSO HANDS OUT TREATS WITHOUT PROVOCATION.

OOOOOOOH BEIGE ALERT. Cannot be trusted!

wtf image limit

#p5s #persona liveblog

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bow-chicka-wow-wow-wow · 1 year

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Worst GTA Characters

1. Melvin “Big Smoke” Harris (San Andreas) - Let me get two number 9s, a number 9 large, and well, you know the rest. Oh, some Ballas. Nah, I can’t let this food go bad, let me just stuff my big fat fucking face. Oh by the way, I’m actually allied with the Ballas, and I’ve betrayed my childhood friends. I meant to have Sweet killed, but I ended up accidentally having his mother killed. Smoke is an opportunist, and was always out for himself. Fun fact, when he says “If you can eat your food, while everybody else is losing theirs, and blaming you, you straight,” he actually meant if you can profit while everyone else is losing everything because of you, then you’re okay,” foreshadowing his own betrayal. Almost hurt me to have to kill him in the end, although his mentality is the surest path to hell. Well, that and 15 microdots and an ounce of mescaline. Also, he had no regrets. He saw an opportunity, and took it, no matter who he ended up hurting.

2. Frank Tenpenny (San Andreas) - When it comes to GTA baddies, Tenpenny is one of the worst. He builds a crack empire in order to extort money from, he convinces opportunist Smoke to be the head of said drug empire and ally himself with the Ballas, he orders a hit on Grove OG Sweet after Smoke fails to convince him to get into the drug trade, he murders Internal Affairs officer Ralph Pendlebury for threatening to leak corruption evidence, and he frames the murder on CJ, blackmailing him into cleaning up his mess. Officer Pulaski may be cruel and sadistic, but Tenpenny is much worse. He even has Officer Hernandez killed for snitching on him. Once CJ’s usefulness has come to an end, he orders Pulaski to kill him and Hernandez, resulting in Pulaski’s death. He even manages to avoid jail time, thanks to the would-be witness he orders CJ to kill, causing a city-wide riot. Thankfully, his erratic behavior in the end cost him his life. Fun fact, it’s actually possible that he left Pulaski to deal with CJ cause he knew CJ would end up killing him.

3. The Celebrinator (TBoGT) - Look, buddy, my boss is struggling to maintain two nightclubs, owes money to some dangerous monsters, and is $2 million in the hole for some diamonds that got stolen from him. I got enough problems without your tabloid journalism fake news bullshit! You know what, I’m just gonna throw you out of a helicopter! Oh, I guess I don’t want ANOTHER murder on my conscience, among literally thousands! Guess I’ll save you! Haha, you shit your pants! Guess you’ll never mess with me again!

4. Auntie Poulet (Vice City) - She only appears in three missions as a mission giver. When Tommy initiated a gang war between the Cubans and the Haitians, Tommy does some missions for Umberto Robina, and eventually gets contacted by Auntie Poulet, who drugs Tommy into taking the Haitians side of the war. Then after her mission thread, you’re no longer useful and the Haitians attack you on sight once you step into their turf, following Poulet’s phone call telling you you’re no longer welcome in Haitian territory. Wow, so you use me against my will only to dispose of me in the end?

5. Kent Paul (Vice City) - It’s always funny to watch him try his luck with the ladies, only to fail so spectacularly. This English man keeps his nose in places it shouldn’t be, but that does make him useful if you want to know something involving Vice City’s criminal underworld. And he’s managed two well known Scottish rock bands, Love Fist and Gurning Chimps. But the thing that breaks it with this particular character, is the fact that he can be as petty as Lance when he calls complaining about your lack of respect for him. I hope he too doesn’t sell me out to a rival Mafia family.

6. Brian Jeremy (TLAD) - Ever heard the phrase “Nobody Likes A Kiss-ass?” Clearly Brian hasn’t. He is constant brown-nosing Billy ever since the latter got out of rehab. The Alderney Chapter President of the Lost M.C. is always making the obviously wrong decisions, causing friction between himself and Johnny. And quite frankly, the rest of the chapter doesn’t seem to agree with his methods either, save for Brian. Even Billy finds his kiss-ass annoying, too! When Billy gets arrested, Brian forms a faction that are dumb enough to follow against Johnny, who has taken over as President. I NEVER let him live the mission “Bad Standing.” I make sure he’s halfway to hell.

7. Ray Bulgarin (GTA IV) - So you say your boss is a pain. If he is the head of a smuggling/traffic ring, and he loses his latest consignment in a ship that sinks, and blames you, and tries everything in his power to have you killed, then you have the wrong boss. Granted, in the original GTA IV, he only shows up twice. He makes a more prominent appearance in TBoGT, when he employs Luis, up until he finds out he and Tony were involved in the Diamonds Arc, which Bulgarin claims are his diamonds, then spends the rest of the game trying to have them killed. Word to the wise, stay away from this guy!

8. Zero (San Andreas) - Did you know that you do NOT have to complete his mission thread in order to complete the story mode? BECAUSE I DIDN’T!!! Fun fact, even his voice actor, David Cross, couldn’t stand hearing his voice in the mission “Supply Lines,” so you know this is an interesting entry! Also prior to the casino heist, he boasts to his rival Berkley about the upcoming robbery, which makes the heist more difficult than it needed to be. I laughed my ass off when CJ punches him in the face, knocking him out for his idiotic mistake! That’s for “Supply Lines,” you prick!

9. Beverly Felton (GTA V) - What’s Vinewood without the annoying paparazzi? Beverly is an overweight, obnoxious paparazzo who tasks Franklin with helping him harass various stars around the Vinewood area. When he tasks Franklin to take some photos on his own, Franklin returns and demands his payment, only to be blown off cause they’re shooting a reality show. Oh God, if only I had a rocket lau- OH WAIT I DO! Yeah I kill that obnoxious prick for being, well, an obnoxious prick!

10. Tonya Wiggins (GTA V) - Good ol’ GTA. You get to steal cars, rob stores, get as many cops to kill you as you can, and… tow cars? I’m sorry, TOW cars? Yep, GTA V adds the ability to do yoga, go to therapy, and the mundane task of towing cars. Thanks to a potentially old flame/crackhead Tonya, whose boyfriend works at a towing company. By “works” I mean sitting on his ass and smoking crack. In order to keep his job, I get guilt-tripped by Tonya to do his job for him for nothing. And what’s worse, her first mission is actually required to progress the story, despite being a Strangers and Freaks mission. Good news is her other missions aren’t required, and spoiler alert, they’re literally the exact same thing.

11. Isiah Friedlander (GTA V) - I got some problems. I’m stealing cars, running over pedestrians, killing cops, causing chaos. I need some professional help. By “help,” I mean someone to complain to while he just takes my money, overcharges more for each subsequent session, just checks his watch, and not even listen to me? What, not even my therapist cares about me? What do I pay you for?? Well, you got a nice car, I’ll just steal it. Asshole. Also, do the world a favor. After your last session with him, and he reveals that he has written all your sessions in a book that has been published, kill that prick!

12. Catalina (San Andreas and GTA III) - Do you have a psycho girlfriend? Why is she psycho? Does she go berserk when you rob the countryside with her? Does she force you to have awkward, BDSM sex with her? Does she dump you for some mute with absolutely no personality? Does she shoot you during a robbery and leave you for dead? Wow, you ARE dating a psycho! Run, while you still can! Catalina is without a doubt the most evil character in the entire 3D universe. She’s that universe’s version of Dimitri Rascalov, screwing people over to benefit herself. It’s likely she’d betray the Cartel too, if Claude hadn’t killed her and taken his revenge. Thank God my girlfriend isn’t like that!

13. Karen “Michelle” Daniels (GTA IV) - What do you do when your girlfriend turns out to be a narc? You put her on a list of GTA characters you hate, obviously! Introduced as “Michelle,” she was there to introduce players to the revamped “dating” mechanic that was previously in San Andreas, and this version is actually part of the “friends” mechanic. You know, the “let’s go bowling” everyone absolutely loves! Other than 4 mission appearances, she does little to nothing to the plot, except in her betrayal, when she reveals she’s an agent for the IAA, and her boss forces you to take down links to terrorism and threats to homeland security, in exchange for not having 100 murders pinned on you, and helping find the man who betrayed your unit. So, in a way, I think I should thank Karen for entrapping me in her honeypot operation.

14. Trey “Playboy X” Stewart (GTA IV) - Scumbag. Just an absolute scumbag. He stopped caring about his former friend/mentor Dwayne, and wanted to kill him after the latter has Niko kill the gangsters managing the Triangle gentleman’s club, a club Dwayne ran before his incarceration. When you get the choice to kill either Dwayne or Playboy, and you kill Dwayne, not only does the game let you know in a sad way you picked the wrong choice, but you’re everything that’s wrong with this world and I wonder how you sleep at night! I kill Playboy because not only do I (and Niko) sympathize with Dwayne, but I get his penthouse apartment and the classic Claude outfit!

15. Lance “Ryder” Wilson (San Andreas) - Could it be possible that Ryder calls you a buster because he himself is a buster? Also, what are your thoughts about the possibility that Ryder wasn’t originally meant to betray you? It still doesn’t detract from the fact that he seems to hold CJ in the most contempt out of everyone in Grove. Sure, Sweet was none too happy to see you again, but Ryder just can’t pass up every chance to call CJ a buster and comment on his “shitty” driving skills, which is obviously a meta joke referencing the chaotic way ALL GTA players drive (except yours truly). The only thing that shocked me when Ryder betrayed Grove was the fact that there was not even a mention of him, just Smoke! Still, I can’t help but feel his death was well earned for the way he’s always treated me!

16. Amanda De Santa (GTA V) - What do you do when you’re trapped in an unhappy marriage and divorce is just not an option? You cheat on your husband with literally EVERY man you come in contact with! In her defense, yes, Michael is by zero means a good husband or father, and she was faithful to him till she caught him cheating on her with a stripper. The thing I hate most about her is forcing me to do yoga in GTA. I play this game to cause chaos, not to seek enlightenment! Honestly, the De Santas’ marriage is like Walter and Skyler White’s marriage on steroids.

17. Devin Weston (GTA V) - Not all rich people are bad, right?! RIGHT?! Devin is the billionaire contact for the corrupt FIB division Michael, Franklin, and Trevor are forced to work for. He has Michael work with movie producer Solomon Richards on his latest film, and has Franklin in charge of an operation to steal five exotic vehicles. Things don’t work out well for our heroes though, as Devin cheats Franklin of his payment for the cars, and plans to cancel Michael’s movie production right before they finish, shut down the studio, tear it down, and redevelop it into condos after he gets a tax payout. Fortunately, the movie still happens, infuriating Devin. I don’t think he cares that Molly gets killed when Michael takes the film back, but he just doesn’t like that Michael made a fool of him. His death at the hands of all three protagonists was cathartic (yes, the “Deathwish” ending IS the canon ending!)

18. Simeon Yetarian (GTA V) - Somehow, Simeon found out that I’m making this list, and I’ve added him to it. You know what he said? He said I was a racist. Simeon runs a shady car dealership, where he gaslights his clients into buying his lucrative vehicles in his showroom, taking advantage of the fact that he’s Armenian and calling them a racist to get them to buy the cars at exorbitant interest rates that are nigh impossible to pay in full. When they inevitably default on their payments, he has his employees Franklin and Lamar repossess them. I’m glad Michael beat the ever-living shit out of him when he targeted his son Jimmy in one of his schemes. Call that karmic retribution. It does get Franklin and Lamar fired though, but maybe it’s for the best.

19. Jeffery “OG Loc” Cross (San Andreas) - You know that one kid in high school you just can’t stand cause he’s an annoying poser? Yep, that’s Jeffery. Oh sorry, “OG Loc!” This wannabe gangsta rapper gets himself thrown in jail just for minor misdemeanors just to help his career, which only skyrocketed because he stole Madd Dogg’s rhyme book, quite simply because he is absolutely awful at rapping. And his voice… I honestly wanna put a cheese grater to my eardrums. And you know you’re perpetrating when you gotta call yourself “OG Loc,” and you just gotta say you’re “gangsta,” just to drive your point. This character is absolutely unlikable in every way imaginable.

20. Manuel Escuela (GTA IV) - “The streets, man!” Manny is one of the most, if not the most, annoying characters IN GTA IV. Literally every sentence he utters the words “the streets,” and “man!” He even claims to have been one of the inventors of hip hop before it went commercial. His crusade is to “help clean the streets,” including busting and killing drug dealers (or hiring Niko to do so and take the credit). I was honestly both shocked and relieved when Elizabeta Torres shot and killed him when he harassed her for dealing drugs. But, he gets his organs harvested in the black market, so I guess he finally gets to help the streets after all!

21. Eddie Pulaski (San Andreas) - The instant I met this prick in the beginning of the game, I already looked forward to the moment you get to kill him. An officer of the corrupt C.R.A.S.H. division, and Tenpenny’s right hand man, Pulaski is cruel, sadistic, and racist. He carries out Tenpenny’s orders with little to no hesitation, and constantly taunts CJ. Right before CJ finally does him in, he smugly requests to have sex with CJ’s sister. Pulaski, you were a scumbag to the end.

22. Vladimir Glebov (GTA IV) - Ever played any game at all, and you come across one certain character, and say to yourself, “Can’t wait till I inevitably kill this prick?” That’s Vlad to a T. He’s rude, obnoxious, and inconsiderate. He always boasts about his “powerful friends,” being a debt collector for the Faustin Bratva. The straw that broke the camel’s back was him boasting about his affair with Roman’s girlfriend, Mallorie. After Niko kills him, Mikhail Faustin, despite not being particularly pleased that Niko killed one of his men, nevertheless despised the idiotic Vlad. He only kept him around because Faustin had sex with Vlad’s sister. So much for your powerful “friends.”

23. Maria Latore (GTA III) - Look up the phrase “gold digger.” Chances are you’ll end up with a picture of her. Maria is the trophy wife of Salvatore Leone, and it’s obvious they do not love each other at all. Maria only married him because he’s a rich and powerful Don of a Mafia Family. She’s also the reason Claude becomes a marked man for the Leone Family. She told a paranoid Salvatore that she and Claude were having an affair just to spite him. Honestly, if I were Claude, the moment she got kidnapped by the Cartel, I’d just let her die instead of paying $500,000 to my ex-girlfriend.

24. Bruce “Brucie” Kibbutz (GTA IV) - Business entrepreneur, “alpha male,” and steroid junkie, Brucie is the one guy you’d see at the gym that’s very obnoxious about his workout. His mission thread involves you killing some people just because he’s suffering from ‘roid rage. He one of the characters that can call you every five minutes outside of missions, a mechanic that most GTA players hate. Honestly, Brucie, I’d much rather be hanging out with Little Jacob. In TBoGT, his brother, Mori, is MUCH worse!

25. Roman Bellic (GTA IV) - “Cousin, let’s go bowling!” The thing that breaks it for most gamers is the infamous phone call seemingly every 5 minutes when you linger too long outside of missions. Roman also has a gambling problem that has constantly gotten himself and his cousin Niko into trouble. In the end of the game, you can be a real asshole and take the deal ending and get Roman killed at his wedding!

#big smoke #san andreas #gta tbogt #vice city #gta tlad #gta iv #zero #gta v #catalina #gta iii #ryder #amanda de santa #devin weston #og loc #maria latore #brucie kibbutz #roman bellic

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golbrocklovely · 1 month

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I find it funny how fans in the same sentence complain about m being fake, being a clout chaser and not having a job and mention that shea and stas were way better. They all 3 had work done, both shea and stas did things to profit of off snc. Like you literally only know about them cause of snc. I never watched shea's streams cause of time difference but from what I heard she literally is airing out colby's private business on there. And what jobs do they have? Stas went multiple times to vegas with snc and did what while the boys were editing?! How is that different than m visiting colby in vegas doing probably nothing? Not to mention that both stas and shea also post a lot of bikini/ half naked pictures on instagram. To me they not that different from each other. Make it make sense.

i agree with pretty much everything you said.

if we're honest, the reason why fans hate m so much is bc she is getting to do what shea and stas didn't - date colby. those two did everything in their power to make it seem like they had something going on, but colby (and even they themselves) would deny it all the time. but m is the one actual girl we can name that is truly dating colby. whether it's serious or not is not up for us to decide on, but it's clear they are together.

and also - let's be brutually honest here - a lot of fans hate her bc she's hot. it's just that simple lol

tbh idc (and don't understand why anyone else for that matter) what any of the girls do for a living. some of them are privileged enough to rely on their parents and not have to get a real job. some have to actually get one. it is what it is. i'm not here to judge on that.

but i do 1000% agree on the "you literally only know about them cause of snc". snc are popular and well known, they have millions of eyes on them at all times. if you're really gonna say m is using colby strictly just bc she has less followers than him, then call out EVERY GIRL he's been friends with. bc they all have less than him.

shea literally buys followers for insta. and before that the only reason anyone knew her was bc of adventure buddies. and stas was known bc of kat. like… why are we even having this discussion lol

and yes, shea is in fact airing out everything to do with colby. her fans say it's bc she's allowed to vent and complain about what went down. sure, if that's all she was doing, i would get it. but that's not what she's doing. she's bragging about how much she helped him, how he went thru multiple life crisis and she was there for him. she's written tons of poetry, basically full on admitting that whole chapters (and her insta captions) are about him. and then on top of all of this, she can't even keep her own story together on what they really were or the timeline of things. she's not a reliable narrator, but none of her fans care bc to them this is just another way they get to hate on colby - which is basically all they live for now.

and the pics and comparing m to them is laughable. again. they're just pissed she's hot and he's dating her. and yeah, he did take that pic of her in the bathtub. it's her fucking back, stop being weird as if yall aren't adults. she could wear a fucking trash bag and be covered head to toe and you guys would still call her a slut.

why don't you just block her and move on now? clearly colby doesn't give a rat's ass what yall think of him or his girlfriend. suck a fuck and grow up :)

(none of this is directed at you, anon.)

#ask #personal #cb ll

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j4m3s-b4k3r · 10 months

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the rude roommate

There’s a presence following us everywhere. Insinuating itself into our lives, as we enjoy movies, TV shows and music. This rude roommate not only lives with us, but follows us to school, to work and everywhere else that we go, constantly blathering to wear us down. Posing as an indulgent pal, it offers tasty treats, with “go on, you’re worth it!” encouragements. Then, morphing into the concerned friend, it chides us “you’re getting some love handles there, buddy!” and pushes snake oil for that too. Yes, I’m talking about the shifting personas of ADVERTISING.

You don’t truly notice the ever-present & manipulative jibber jabber of advertising till it’s not a part of your life. It’s like cigarette smoking in this. I was raised by on-again-off-again smokers, and for many years worked in offices permeated by ever present cigarette smoke. Soaking in it everywhere for my entire life, it was only upon moving to California (where it’d just been banned) that I truly became aware of smoking. After living smoke-free, I couldn’t believe the stench when visiting places that still allowed it in communal spaces. My own hair & clothes reeked of it, even though I didn’t smoke myself. Bleurgh!

Likewise, after soaking in advertising my entire life, I’ve only recently lived in a (relatively) ad-free bubble, enjoying media streaming services at home for the last few years. We just watched a movie in a cinema for the first time since 2019. Tickets were almost 20 dollars each for comfortable reserved seating in a beautiful theatre. Then we had to endure 30 minutes of constant advertising blather before the film. Not movie trailers mind you, but ads for clothes, soft drinks and so on. After living ad-free, this was excruciating, and eye-opening. Absence had not made my heart grow fonder. Quite the opposite.

The deal used to be that we tolerated the buzz of ads - like blowflies at a picnic - in exchange for free movies & music (on radio & TV). Nowadays, I pay extra for the ad-free option with entertainment media. Which is a blackmail shakedown - “Pay us, or you have to watch another incontinence commercial” - but at least I understand the terms of that arrangement. I don’t understand (or accept) any deal where I pay AND get ads too (which is why I didn’t have cable TV for very long). If theatres want us to come back en masse after the stay-at-home-years of covid, then making the experience special is key. For me, paying premium prices to watch Madison Avenue Punch & Judy shows is an absolute no no.

Advertising is RUDE. The constant interruptions are simply annoying, but the purpose of the messages is insidious. In our real lives we are wary of people who constantly broadcast their own PR, because they’re trying to manipulate our perceptions of them. We must be on extra high alert for those who tell us what we are, because they’re trying to manipulate our own perceptions of ourselves.These are the goals of advertising’s trillion dollar industry. It is a nonstop psyop, fanning our hopes and inflaming our insecurities for profit.

“The spectacle of advertising creates images of false beauty so suave and so impossible to attain that you will hurt inside and never even know where the hurt comes from.” - Robert Montgomery

Ever since humans first gathered around fires and hearths, we’ve related to each other via stories. Stories are ‘lies’, in that many of them are 100% made up, but we know that and sharing them is fun. Besides, there may actually be a truth within the story. A parable. However, the human love of stories makes us vulnerable to manipulation by stories too. This is well known on Madison Avenue. Advertising subverts the parable, where the parable’s ‘moral’ has been substituted with a plug for Brand-X.

It used to be that everyone was served the exact same ads at the same time, but we now live in the era of micro-targeted advertising. After sneakily looking through our private data, the rude roommate can now identify & hammer on each of our specific ‘problem areas’. Despite my attempts at internet ad-blocking, the rude roommate has a fairly accurate demographic profile of me, and websites I visit now display ads of male middle aged losers, worried about their dicks, bald spots, love handles & baggy eyes. The rude roommate has custom-curated these parables just for moi. If advertising was indeed your roommate, an actual person, they’d be the worst person you know. A passive aggressive, gaslighting master manipulator, and the last person you’d want constantly whispering in your ear.

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. — They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.” - Banksy

“Narrative” has become a buzz word, and Hollywood folk (including story artists) now give story seminars to big companies. Wall Street, Langley, & Silicon Valley understand the appeal of storytelling, and Washington & Whitehall both use Spin Doctors to “get ahead of the story" and "control the narrative". The NSA & CIA know a little about narrative manipulation too, and even they are wary of internet advertising propaganda, and use ad-blocking software. Takes one to know one, right? Speaking of that, my own growing allergy to advertising is surely punishment for years of participation in the mass hypnosis. Yes, at one time I enabled the rude roommate, by animating parables that enticed kids to eat sugar bombs for breakfast..

Mea culpa!

Given that advertising so often subverts artforms, artists have been known to return the favour. B.U.G.A.U.P. was a collective of Sydney graffiti artists active in the 1970s/80s who specifically targeted advertising, very active when I lived in that city. Their special brandalism defaced advertising billboards to subvert the intended message of the ad, revealing the hidden truth of the unhealthy product itself. These wittily-defaced billboards on commuter routes in Sydney were talking points at office coffee pots & tea urns each morning.

Their movement spread to other cities in Australia and even to other countries (I often wondered whether Banksy knew about them) and B.U.G.A.U.P. activism ultimately led to a ban on cigarette advertising in Australia in 1994. Advertising’s corrupted parables RE-made into truth telling parables again. Utterly brilliant.

PS: Full BANKSY QUOTE on advertising (as illustrated by Gavin Aung Than).

From www.James-Baker.com

#advertising #commercials #brandalism #illustration #cartoons #nerve bomb comics #bugaup

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faroreswinds · 1 year

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Tumblr had originally deleted my answer to this ask here. At the time, I was really pissed and just throw out an answer because I had spent a good hour writing it up thoughtfully.

But now let’s try this again, with proper answers this time. However, these will still be short because I have lost the energy to give a more thorough answer. This isn’t nearly as nicely written as my original answer was.

It's not supposed to be propaganda.

Edelgard’s speech and general rhetoric is propaganda.

Propaganda- information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

This isn’t even really controversial.

Not sure what she means. Deny the people power?

Nobility came from Nemesis, not the Church. Also, the Church was not involved with making the Alliance at all. No idea why she mentioned war here.

This is the only point that may have some truth, but any organization needs money. Governments tax, businesses put costs on goods and services, and non-profit organizations get donations.

And if this is an issue, the leader of the church Edelgard does endorse does actually care about living in wealth, so she’s being pretty hypocritical here.

Now we can’t be sure what she actually tells Claude since the game only tells us she sent a letter and doesn’t tell us the contents of said letter:

But Claude in this route barely ever says anything about the Church or Dimitri up until this point. In fact, he only says these two things:

Even Judith calls him out on suddenly buying into the Empire’s words without so much as questioning it.

And the Empire clearly didn’t elaborate on what their words because Claude is surprised Rhea is a dragon. So he apparently never asked any more questions.

Claude is planning to bring down the Church even before he talks to Edelgard. See: Azure Gleam.

This is never stated. This is only assumed if you believe he always wanted to kill Rhea himself or something. He only ever asks if Dimitri will continue to buddy up with the Church.

Claude cares more about gaining the upper hand against the Empire so that his nation gains influence and power.

And he is also super willing to betray Edelgard too:

In Houses, Claude wanted to depose Rhea as well but only didn't because Houses!Edelgard was a worse threat (Hopes!Edelgard is tolerable to Claude), because (of avatar-worship) Byleth is going to succeed Rhea and because Rhea goes through a bit of development due to her time as Edelgard's prisoner which made her more reasonable.

This is never stated. What happens is you gain support points if you suggest if he hopes Rhea is dead.

This only implies he disliked Rhea, not that he wanted to kill her himself. He even wonders what a world would look like without Rhea.

And Claude's criticisms of the Church never change. There is no moment Verdant says that Claude was wrong about the xenophobia stemming from the Church. He just learns Rhea's backstory, that's it, and in a support with Cyril, he learns that maybe it's possible to talk to Rhea.

He says this before they even talk to Rhea or rescue her. He starts to realize that the school, ran by the Central Church, actually had all sort of people there.

Here he starts to realize that maybe it’s not the teachings. Again, we haven’t even rescued Rhea yet at this point.

And then after rescuing Rhea, he realized his dream was going to take more work than just winning the war.

Not to mention that we get Church NPCs being racist in Three Houses

Everyone side has a racist, not necessarily all the religious ones.

or other NPCs pointing out how the Church lets the nobility do what they want

You mean how the Church is strong-armed by the nobles? Either the Church is too strong, or not strong enough. Which is it?

Do you choose to ignore the criticisms made against the Church? Do you find them all invalid? There are plenty of characters that agree with what Claude says about the Church including Dimitri, Lorenz, Marianne, Hapi. Holst etc.

No. There are some legit criticisms. What I want is proof. Characters can say all they want, but if the game contradicts them or doesn’t support their claims, it means nothing to me.

Like, the Church sent assassins. And we have proof they did. Boom, that’s a legit criticism.

The Church keeping the borders closed? Uuuhhh, I need evidence of that first. Which there isn’t any. At all. In fact, it’s the opposite. The Church is AG was rebuilding a Duscur town without even making the residents convert.

I don’t take characters at their word. Especially if the game contradicts them.

#Three Hopes discourse #Three Houses discourse #Claude discourse #anon asks

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your-dose-of-obidala · 1 year

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Since the point of view of a fellow shipper, I think that by RotS both Padme and Obi Wan are like longing for what could’ve been, but as an outsider I could definitely see that they’re friends because they actually like each other not because they’re forced by their common friend or whatever

Yes, nonny, that's how I see it, too. I think they are friends. With or without Anakin. Maybe even before Anakin. We don't know what happened between TPM and AotC. But I headcanon a few adventures of our favorite duo.

You know, I would pay good money for someone to write about platonic or pre-ship Obidala shenanigans between TPM and AotC. Sadly for all the Jedi Apprentice and Tie-In Novels something we never got. It's sadly lacking, imho.

It is also something that always bothered me about Clone Wars for all it's great storytelling: Even there we don't see much of a Obi/Padmé relationship.

And I think that too goes back to GL not being able to make the An*dala romance strong enough to go against Ewan McGregor being the fan favorite.

I think the Prequels and Anikin especially would have profited from it being in form of a TV show. That is why Clone Wars was so good: They had the time to establish the characters and their motivations. CW did what no movie before managed: I empathized with Anakin and ultimately with Darth Vader's tragic story.

But back to Obiala: Them as a buddy cop duo fighting crime with senatorial cunning and extensive Jedi charm and aggressive negotiations would have been awesome. Why did no one ever think of that???

But even better than this is Obi and Padpad realizing that there was something between them. I think the term Almost Lover applies to none of my ships as much as to Obidala. They are the definition of it. And it's so tragic and sad, isn't it?

#obidala #talk with nonny #meta?

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wytfut · 11 months

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Wedding Car

Another little adventure came up last night, that I participated in...

thru the years, our 1936 Ford, has been involved with a few weddings.

Buddy Mark Hutchins texted and wanted to know if our car was available for a wedding. A friend of his knew Mark was a car guy, and would probably know of someone, who’d have an old cool looking vehicle....

And he did... us.

I like doing weddings.

Many folks have old treasured cars. For good memories, investments, activities, a hobby to keep busy.

Unless you are very rich, the investment sort of reasoning, is usually a loss, or if you are very lucky with your purchases. The vehicles that are in my range will not create any high profits. And most total restorations and/or modified have sunk so much money into the vehicle they will never get their money back. Extremely hi dollar vehicles on the other hand will create profits, but the market has to demand it with each individual vehicle.

For example currently, the early 2000′s Ford GTs are commanding huge profits. And because of that, those very same Ford GT’s are coming out “for sale” by the truck load.... this could eventually flood the market value down.

People who usually do car hobby this way, do not have emotional attachments to their vehicle.

Car show guys are hard to figure, but make sense on the surface. I don’t really want to get into any depth here, Other than an observation.... These owners are to an extent, slaves to their cars, only to show them and particapate in Car Club events (usually more shows).

I’ve done car shows. Usually just because someone asked. I don’t do them regular by any means, and if I do one, I prefer something like a show and shine like “Culvers” every friday night. No hoopla, not huge amounts of folks, or cars. Just show up, look at everyone elses, maybe talk to a few folks about their cars, and leave.

What I like about wedding parties.... it gives another purpose to your collectible. At car shows, my Pop loved folks looking at his car, and talking about the “36″. He’d even go so far and let them sit in it if asked.

Now when I do show, I’ll let them even sit in the rumble seat. Yes, it does indeed create wear and tear, but how many folks can actually say they sat in a rumble seat. I know Pop would just love this attitude I’ve taken. As do all of his grandsons.

Our “36″ is not a museum piece. Or better than new. Sometimes I don’t feel its good enough to show. I call it “crispy”. It has a great look from 10′. Up close you are going to see missing upholstery, deep chips in paint, spider webbing, and daily scratches and rubs. Believe me, I have no idea where they all come from, but between Pops age at the end, myself, and my Pop’s grandsons all drivers.... stuff is going to happen. Maybe someday down the road, we’ll paint the old girl again and fix the issues.

Its been restored twice in the time we’ve had it. Its on its 3rd engine in the same amount of time.

Wedding parties, love this car. It has a “class” look to it. Vintage. Not very common (1936 are orphan a little bit, and I don’t know why... marketing?) And it cleans up nicely.

Ellenore and her new Husband Jax, just adored our ride last nite. We even had a side trip to under the front doors of the State Capital, for some extra photos. I don’t know photography, but the lighting there was beautiful. All and any colors just popped.

Elle actually wanted to ride in the rumble seat, but didn’t .... “my vanity, wont allow my hair to get messed up in the back seat” ..... made me laugh.

We all hopped in the cab. Its a small cab, but it can be done, and has been done many times before.

I had cleaned the cab before the wedding, and was very sure it was good to go. Unfortunately Elle’s dress caught some grease (I didn’t even think about it) off the top of the transmission (bottom of the stick). And somehow got some on her finger. She took it all in stride, and grease on her dress apparently was on a hidden side, as I kept looking for it, although I saw in when she was in the car.

The “36″ can be notorious for giving me fits at the wrong time, but performed flawlessly. The past few years not so much though.

I noted to myself for future reference.... got to get brake lites fixed again (switch issue), clutch is due for adjustment, and so are the mechanical brakes.

The “36″ was far from “wedding ready” when Mark called/texted. I had taken the starter button out of it AGAIN, last August. Since I had converted the “36″ to 12 volt (I had honestly not noticed this) it started eating the starter buttons on the floor. I finally figured it out last summer that the huge amps of 12 volt were basically blasting the starter buttons.

With my back in such poor shape during this time... I never got back to reassembly. Because of that, it was filthy... just nasty (building is far from air tight. Laying on the floor of a 1936 Ford coupe is not pain free.

I put a call out to all of my Pop’s grandsons.... and 2 responded immediately. Brennan said he’d get it back together, and Devin said he’d get her all cleaned up.

As I had envisioned using a solenoid between battery and starter button worked perfectly. Brennen did a wonderful job of installing. Then I sat and watch Devin polish the old girl all up....

This was a couple weeks ago.... I do have a good crew to lean on. These guys got it done....

I’ve been thinking, (I know, I need to quit doing that), about organizing (like I have nothing else to do) a wedding car group. Other folks with same thoughts about being involved with weddings. Elle told me that none of the wedding shops had any sources for wedding cars, and even called a few automotive shops.

I don’t understand why this is so....

well if I get time... maybe I’ll pursue this....

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