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poisonousquinzel · 8 months

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Batman: The Animated Series: Death In The Family arc & Harley Quinn's involvement.

Hiiiiiii, I've been working on remaking a post and I wanted to briefly discuss this arc itself beforehand because of a panel that's being used in the other post. <3

So Ig to begin, in case you weren't unaware, the btas universe isn't technically over.

While the animated show has long since wrapped, Paul Dini has participated heavily in a continuation comic series that take place somewhere in the New Batman Adventures seasons.

(Side note: Batman: The Animated Series / The New Batman Adventures are the essentially the same show.

Wiki: Three years after the second season of Batman: The Animated Series ended production, the show was moved from Fox to The WB network, which was airing and producing Superman: The Animated Series. These shows were merged as part of an hour-long segment called The New Batman/Superman Adventures. The WB wanted more episodes of Batman, so 24 new episodes were produced, which featured a different format and more focus on Batman's supporting cast.

In addition to the network's demands, the producers decided to make the show match the graphic style of Superman, so all the characters and objects were redesigned with fewer lines, usually referred to by the fans and creative staff as the "revamp" (or alternately, the "new look"). A similar graphic style was used in the rest of the DCAU later on.

The entire series was released on DVD as Batman: The Animated Series Volume Four (From The New Batman Adventures), most likely to establish the connection with the original series.

Ex: Catwoman is shown in the first arc of these comics and she's based off TNBA's redesign.

So, the Death in The Family storyline. It starts off right from the bat in Season 1 of the comic.

This story is being told multiple years after it happened, all from what Alfred knows of the event. He's telling the current Robin what happened after it's been discovered that Jason Todd is alive.

The first appearance Harley has in this series is this moment.

"Well, well! Looks like the bat-brood is in serious need of family therapy."

"I happen ta know a good shrink..."

He explains that Jason ran away and quickly remade his public image, from Boy Wonder to Boy Barbarian.

This change was noted by the Gotham Rogues.

Batman gets Intel that Jason's next target is rumored to be The Joker. Cut back to Harley & that creep.

Now, even though they'd commented on him needing a shrink, that's not what they were doing that night.

Knowing Harley, this was a very special night for her. Their anniversary.

They were out for a romantic night on the town, or so Harley had hoped...

"Ya call this romance?! I get more affection dewormin' th' hyenas!"

"Oh, don't be such a party pooper, Pooh. Look! Something for you to snuggle when I'm out with the bat-boys."

Of course, The Joker being the stupid little bitch he is, the night doesn't scream romance or anything close and she's frustrated. She tells him off and storms off, Joker giving a loving "Yeah, you'll come crawling back. You always do!". what a charmer 🔪💀

"An' now I'm out! Sayonara, smiley! We're done!"

"Yeah, you'll come crawling back. You always do! Now where's that pesky whack-a-mole..."

"Who's crawling now, Puddin'?!"

"Give my regards to th' laffin' fish!"

That was just the start of their very public breakup. Ms. Quinn appeared intent on destroying every place they had gone as a couple.

Let's make it clear that Harley did not have some elaborate "Let's pretend to fight and break up and I'll go pretend to be mad and destroy shit until the Boy Barbarian shows up." Plan with Joker.

She was destroying stuff that reminded her of him and their time together because she was mad and hurt. That's it. This wasn't a ploy to get Jason out of hiding.

He just happened to show up.

"I'm single an' celebratin'! Whoopee cushions fer all!"

Of course, these shenanigans would bring her out into the open. As they did that evening when she decided to close down their favorite restaurant.

"Red hots! Get 'em while they're hot! Umphh!"

"And here I thought you only dated weiners."

"Back off, boy scout!!"

"Boy scout? You haven't been watchin' the news."

"Agh!"

"I'm a bad boy now. More your type. In fact, we got something else totally in common."

And The Joker just happened to feel like stopping him.

Though it's Very Very doubtful he did this out of a "oh no, my love, Harley, is getting hurt." It was an opportunity and he took it.

That's it.

It had nothing to do with Harley being in danger.

It also likely had to do with the fact that he heard Jason ask her about his location and he didn't want to risk losing whatever hideout they'd acquired this time.

So he shocks him, asking Harley if she's playing the field already.

"We both want to get rid of The Joker. Tell me where he is and you'll only wind up in the emergency room."

"How could a girl say no ta that?"

[Jason gets shocked by Joker.]

"Playing the field already, punkin-pie?"

"Oh, Mista J., You really do care!"

"Smucks, Harley-Mae, I cain't stay mad at you. I even brung ya some flowers from ma's garden. Ah-hyuck!"

"It was a...trick....uuhh..."

"On second thought, they're more fittin' on this here young fella. Now don't that look purdy?"

While Jason passes out believing it was a trick, it wasn't.

It was just bad timing.

Harley wanted a romantic night on the town, and when that didn't happen, she wanted to instead destroy all the places she'd been with Joker that reminded her of that relationship. That's the Only thing she wanted.

Maybe Joker had a plan, but it wasn't one she was privy to.

This isn't what's stated by Alfred, but frankly, that's understandable. He does have bias in this situation.

But what we're shown does not align with "So Harley lured Jason in and Joker sprang the trap."

I said it once and I'll say it again, as great as Alfred and Bruce are, sometimes, they aren't reliable narrators. It was the same thing in the Mad Love episode and, especially, comic. As the comic is the only one that's got their conversation about Harleen. In the episode itself, it cuts straight from the Dentist's office to Harley trying to be seductive.

I've talked about that comic and the themes here and here.

Anyway.

"I wanted a cheerful environment for our playdate. You've been a busy bird lately. And an unhappy one too, it seems."

"I'll feel better when my hands are around your neck!"

"There! You see? All that pent up hostility! The boy is obviously in need of help."

"Oh, if only there was a trusted professional we could call!"

"A-hem. The doctor is in!

In...sane, that is! And ca-raaazy t' help ya!"

"You're dead, Quinn."

"Oh my! Such violent psychotic tendencies."

"What do you make of him, doctor?"

"The patient has a history of acting out destructive power fantasies. No doubt the effect of a very toxic home environment."

"Knowing the father, I concur."

"It's clear that Batman's obsession with building a vigilante dynasty has driven him to make anyone a so-called Robin. Even an unhinged maniac like this."

"Yes, yes! I'm in complete agreement with your diagnosis. With an emphasis on the "Die"!

What we're faced with is a case of self-preservation.

Penguin nearly splattered into street pizza, Clock King almost losing his second hand...and poor Crocky! He'd be a matching set of luggage now if our rabid Robin's aim had been better.

Junior here has become a real plague on our kind.

[Hits Jason with the crowbar.]

Fortunately, I've got the cure!"

[Hit]

"Yowzie! That's gonna hurt in the morning!"

[Hit]

I think something else to note is that if Harley was in on this elaborate plan, she would have been aware of what The Joker planned to do. She wouldn't have clearly thought this was a typical "let's rough up the punk cause he's being a pain in the ass for all of us rogues."

She's here to mockingly diagnosis him and watch him get roughed up a bit for all the trouble he's caused to the criminals in Gotham.

That's it.

"Indeed it would! If he weren't going to that big birdbath in the sky tonight!"

[Hit]

"Laugh it up, bird boy! These are the jokes! Ha, Ha, Ha!"

[Hit]

"Wait!"

"How selfish of me! Have a whack at him, Pooh."

"Roughin' th' punk up is one thing, but killing him?!"

Because that Is what she thought it was. She makes that apparent in her reaction.

Joker doesn't appreciate her hesitation, or interruptions while he's beating him. So he has her thrown out by his henchmen.

"Did you think we were just going to give him a love tap and let him go?!"

Harley cowers as he physically leaned towards her, the crowbar still gripped in his hand.

"He won't stop until he's killed every one of us! You've seen what he's done! He begged for this!"

"But..."

"Get her out of here!"

"Don't touch me! Slimy creeps! I'll knock yer heads off!"

Harley's restrained and lifted out of the warehouse by two goons.

Batman is perched outside, presumably already searching for Jason.

"Batman later admitted that Quinn volunteered to help him stop Joker, though he wisely left her cuffed outside."

Batman: The Adventures Continue Chapters 10, 11 & 12

Written By: Paul Dini, Alan Burnett

Artist: Ty Templeton

Colorist: Monica Kubina | Letterer: Josh Reed

#here <3 have a post <3 skdjsks #also #felt the need to clarify the btas & tnba thing cause when i was first really in the fandom i was very taken aback #by the difference and was like ??????? has the internet lied is mad love Not a btas episode???#no it is essentially KSJDKSKS #its all the dcau #harley quinn #harleen quinzel #dc comics #tw blood #♧ comic thoughts ♧#♢ meta & analysis ♢#tw clown boy

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meirimerens · 1 year

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Your post about Prewalski horses resonated with me so deeply. Something about species so far removed from us that still exist vicariously through selective breeding. Like splicing branches together with nature's genealogy tree to replace what's gone missing. I feel the same way about aurochs like when I play Pathos I just. want. TO PET-

przewalski drive me craaaazy (asylum_pov_tiktok.mp4) dude their history forever fucks me up. almost driven to extinction survived exclusively in zoos. they exist less through selective breeding than just... breeding, because afaik to conserve is as a breed (technically a subspecies), they were not purposefully bred with other breeds/subspecies than the przewalski, from a tiny, TINY amount of captive animals. (they can reproduce with "normal" horses despite the different number of chromosomes and the offspring can also have foals, which is some kind of scientific anomaly). for them, it's less about splicing branches with nature's genealogy tree than fighting tooth and nail to save as many as were left, and have these few left have more, and more...

there's this other horse we believe was an ancestor of either most european breeds or the ancestory of horses altogether as we know today, the Tarpan. the Tarpan, as it was, went fully extinct, just like the aurochs did. And the Tarpan, just like the aurochs, has been "reconstructed". the Heck brothers have reconstituted what is (wrongly) called a Tarpan, or the "Heck horse". these same men have also "reconstituted" the auroch, known as reconstitued auroch, or Heck auroch. the Konik Polski, a polish breed that is recognized to be a close descendant of the Tarpan, but no Tarpan. But that "auroch" is no auroch, and that "Tarpan" is no Tarpan. they're attempts to approach the phenotypes of the Tarpan and the aurochs. they were, in fact, attempts to splice together branches of nature's genealogy tree, trying to pick up which breeds, or which individuals were thought to be the closest to the original thing, to try to approach ot again, once more. the Tarpan is no more, the Auroch is no more. (but yknow, i've written about the auroch specifically. teehee giggle etc). the przewalski horse, whose story is still muddied and hazy and both fantastic to study and hair-pulling, appears as it can be seen today as ancient. less lost-and-remade, more... god if i now. god if i know.

i know they've cloned one recently, but i'm not sure how i feel about it (if i even have to feel about it, because i'm not a scientist). the przewalski exists in very small numbers, and the risk of genetic bottlenecking is very real, so cloning, which is the replication of genetic material in a new animal, and not "new" material at all is... well, i don't know. it brings one more head into the world, but i'm not sure how it will help with bottlenecking, with inbreeding... all of that i don't know.

there are herds, like Now, right now, which live freely, if monitored, because of the efforts of decades worth of conservation work and the reintroduction of that horse in its original habitat. there are currently herds in a reservation in Lozère, who work with Mongolian NGOs to be able to reintroduce the horses and care for + monitor the herds, as well as help care for the people living in the area of reintroduction. There are populations of przewalski horses in the Chornobyl exclusion zone as well as the Ascania-Nova natural reserve, and the safety of both of these zones is jeopardized by the ongoing war. there are herds in Hungary, on the Puszta. (there are also reconstructed aurochs on the Puszta). i forgot where i was going with it. you know what i mean.

anyways prehistoric horses and aurochs hanging out together to the tune of Me Sobbing hysterically

one of the reasons in my mind i'm putting some damn horses in pathologic is because on top of it taking place like. Where They Lived is because. ^^^they're hanging out (violently starts convulsing etc)

#horseposting #ring ring (answers)#ilovehugemen

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nzbricks · 1 year

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Minifigure Showcase: LEGO Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Remade

LEGO set 10316 graciously bestowed upon us new minifigures of the Fellowship of the Ring. Consisting of Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, Meriadok Brandybuck, Gandalf the Grey, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Legolas son of Thranduil, Gimli son of Gloin, and Boromir son of Denethor. While the fellowship was certainly complete, there was also room for improvement. So here I have chosen to catalogue the minute changes I made to my Fellowship minifigures to make them more closely resemble their film counterparts.

1. Gandalf, Frodo, and Sam

Frodo, first and foremost, remained primarily unchanged from his out-of-box self. Sam, on the other hand, has received a couple of new accessories. Firstly, he is now equipped with a short sword, to fight in tandem with his trusty frying pan. However perhaps most notably, I have also added a backpack over his cloak, a mainstay of Sam’s on-screen character that to date has not yet been completely captured. I was going to give him the larger pack from minifigure series 19 explorer, but because he is a hobbit I decided to stick with the more size-compatible part. Gandalf has received perhaps the second-most extensive upgrade. Firstly, I replaced his strange one-hole cape from the set with a smoother gray two-hole cape. Secondly, I exchanged his face, which was originally a recycle from a harry potter set, with the far more endearing face from the 2013 Hobbit sets, also used in the LEGO dimensions lineup (where I also got his cape). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I gave him a much, MUCH needed new staff. SERIOUSLY... does it bother nobody else that Gandlaf, since his introduction in 2012, has been using the same 6L bar piece, even though his staff in the film is far more elaborate? Anyway, I created a custom build, consisting of an antenna piece, a 1x1 hollow stud, and an extra-small branch piece, all in reddish brown. This more faithfully replicates the tree-branch like staff from the film, which in case you didn’t know, he actually used to store his pipe. Also worth mentioning is that I equipped him with the newer sword mold to replicate Glamdring, otherwise known as the Foe-Hammer.

2. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (a.k.a the Orc Hunters)

Following the breaking of the Fellowship, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas give pursuit to a band of Uruk-Hai, notably cloaked in the enchanted cloaks of Lothlorian. These accessories in particular are distinctly absent from any and all previous iterations of the characters, but using some olive-green specialized capes, I have equipped each of the hunters in their cloaks. Aragorn uses a cape previosuly used on Elrond, of all people, in the Witch King Battle set. Legolas uses a narrower cape that fits neatly under his longer hair. He also has his rather abysmal recycled head print from the Rivendell set replaced with his far more fitting and accurate face print used in the Hobbit and Dimensions sets, just like Gandalf. And Gimli, taking a page of Aragorn’s book, uses a cape from another Hobbit set (particularly an Unexpected Gathering, courtesy of Dwalin). Aragorn has the most extensive upgrade of the fellowship as I have created an entire new set of legs and torso to replicate his ranger attire seen in the majority of the films. But I made a separate post on that project so I won’t elaborate here.

3. Boromir, Merry, and Pippin

Last of the Fellowship, Boromir, Pippin, and Merry see the least amount of alteration, with their minifigures remaining practically unchanged. Boromir in particular proves to be one of my favorite characters in the Rivendell set. I never much cared for his character in the books and films and felt pretty much the same way with his appearance in the original LEGO Lord of the Rings lineup. The way he was so accurately captured in the Rivendell set, like how his outfit perfectly matches his on-screen attire, and how his sword is a brand new mold made specifically to replicate the Sword of Gondor. Overall, his minifigure was practically perfect in my eyes and there wasn’t anything I could think of adding to strengthen the connection to his film counterpart (apart from a few arrows, maybe). The same can be said for Merry and Pippin, who, despite having their minifigures pretty much the same as in the set, are given brand new accessories. Each receive a short sword, and Pippin in particular receives an apple, to enjoy for his second breakfast of course.

#lego #LegoMiniFigures #legophotography #legocommunity #lego lotr #lego lord of the rings #lego fellowship of the ring #lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring #the fellowship of the ring #the two towers #the return of the king #The Lord of the Rings #the lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring #frodo #gandalf the grey #aragorn

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synergysilhouette · 1 year

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Remaking X-Men: Evolution (Season 1)

I’m a big XME fan, so much that I remade the roster (check out my other posts) and made an episode for episode remake. Here’s season 1, and make sure you check my previous post about who's on the team and what costumes they'd wear, as well as my remakes of season 2-4 and my original creation of season 5. Lemme know what your favorite episode(s) is!

Strategy X--Has short flashbacks to Xavier recruiting the other members of the X-Men (which at this point are Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Iceman), and drops subtle hints that Mystique is Kurt’s mother. This is because even if you don’t know they’re related, most people assume they must be anyway because they’re both blue. We’d also get some flashbacks into Todd and Kurt’s childhoods and see how they compare.

2. The X-Impulse--In my version, Kitty is now a part of the New Mutants, who join in season 2. Instead the episode focuses on Prodigy, who Jean saves after Graydon Creed almost discovers his secret at Bayville High. He then joins the X-Men, and we even get a glimpse into Jean’s background.

3. Rogue Recruit--Mostly the same, except Rogue and Cody kiss–not just to be comic-accurate, but also done in the emotional and traumatic way it’s done in the live-action X-Men film. It's also mentioned that Irene is a friend of Rogue's adoptive mother, and thus looks after her when her mother is away. Hints about Asteroid M are dropped at the end.

4. Mutant Crush--Vastly different, since I’ve replaced Blob with Gambit. This episode will focus on Gambit, who has been in the Brotherhood for a short time, showing Rogue how to feel comfortable with herself, and after a brief kiss, she notices that she develops a slightly flirty personality.

5. Speed and Spyke--Is also different as I’ve replaced Spyke with Iceman. Calling it Fire and Ice instead, it would be about Iceman’s budding rivalry with Pyro, eventually ending with Pyro being inducted into Magneto’s Acolytes. I also think it’d be neat to have a B-story where Bobby has a brief relationship with Simon Lasker, who can’t join the X-Men due to looking after his sick mother and “moves” (more on that later on). Bobby laments that fire and ice can never mix. Part of me wonders if this could alternatively work as a recruitment episode for Bobby.

6. Middleverse--Essentially plays out the same, though Nightcrawler takes responsibility and apologizes for his goofiness (growing wiser in the series), while Gambit consoles Rogue over her mistake. Having been trapped in the 70s for 50 years, Forge finds that a lot has changed, and he has very little family left. He goes to the institute, but doesn’t formally join the X-Men–yet. This also begins his romance with Storm.

7. Turn of the Rogue--So awesome, though I’d change it so Gambit joins the field trip (being a high schooler in my version), and while he doesn’t fight Rogue, he provides a distraction for Mystique to escape, and Rogue notes that somehow Mystique feels familiar, recalling a memory with Destiny and a mystery woman. At this point, Destiny joins the Brotherhood, living close by (or sometimes at the house when Mystique is gone).

8. Spykecam--is changed drastically, considering Spyke is nonexistant here. I'd call it Insider, and the episode has Graydon Creed become friends with Nightcrawler, though when he suspects the institute of housing mutants (peaking his curiosity), he secretly records them. Prodigy realizes that Grayson knows something about mutants, but can’t remember what it is after he’s out of range. On his way home, he loses the tape and Sabertooth discovers it in order to track down Wolverine.

9. Survival of the Fittest---Has Mojo kidnap some members of the X-Men and Brotherhood (Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Storm, and Toad) for his TV program, while the rest of the groups must battle Juggernaut. A young mutant is kidnapped as well, and is brainwashed to become “Psylocke." I'd probably combine Kwannon and Betsy's characters, inspired by Olivia Munn's (a half-white, half-Asian woman) portrayal of Psylocke. I'd probably keep her name as Betsy Braddock, possibly with the implication that this isn't her real name; her brother (in cameos) calls her Kwannon. The Mojoverse team eventually escapes with the help of Longshot, with Psylocke joining the Brotherhood. Longshot stays behind, with Mojo threatening to harm his son, a teenage Shatterstar (because their comic-accurate relationship is too complicated).

10. Shadowed Past--Includes Graydon Creed, who Mystique invited along with Nightcrawler to learn of his heritage. Learning that he’s the son of Mystique and Sabertooth, Graydon’s aversion/curiosity concerning mutants turns to hatred. While Mystique is trying to tell Kurt who his father is, Graydon lashes out at her while Magneto separates the group and Mystique decides it’s better Kurt doesn’t know who his father is. It’s also revealed in the flashback that Magneto sought out Mystique in Germany after she gave birth to Kurt, and when she refused to join him, he ousted her as a mutant and made throw Kurt over the ravine. Her spirit broken, she decides to join him. The reason Magneto scares her off in this version is because he fears her allegiance is faltering and that she may give away important information about Asteroid M. While Rogue and Kurt have a bonding moment, it’s hinted that Storm and Nightcrawler have feelings for each other. (Note: This contrasts to head writer Greg Johnson explaining that Magneto experimented on Kurt until his X-Gene was brought out. That felt more like a move from Mr. Sinister.)

11. Grim Reminder--Happens mostly the same, but features a cameo of Daken who intends to defeat Wolverine until he sees Nightcrawler, Storm, Prodigy, and Shadowcat, noting it’s not the right time.

12. The Cauldron (Part 1)--Forgoes the whole X-Man vs Brotherhood concept, mostly. Instead, Magneto simply brings Avalanche, Psylocke, Gambit, and Quicksilver to Asteroid M while he kidnaps Rogue, Prodigy, and Jean for their potential as well as Professor X for their friendship. Toad is left behind because Magneto sees him as useless, and his confidence in Mystique has faltered following Shadowed Past, and he leaves her behind as well to hunt down the X-Men, though she turns against him, teaming up with Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman, and Forge. Toad follows her, and joins the group. (Note: when Cyclops joins Magneto, he wears his “Mutant Revolution” uniform while Alex wears a simple black uniform).

13. The Cauldron (Part 2)--Has Alex being a bit more cautious of Magneto and supportive of Scott and his suspicion. Prodigy and Forge use their powers to help take down the Asteroid faster, Iceman and Pyro have a face-off, Gambit and Rogue have an unspoken understanding, Magneto laments Sabertooth’s failures to kill Wolverine and states that Daken will be taking the lead against him (which works out because from here on Sabertooth has limited appearances), and Havok officially joins the X-Men.

#x men #xmen #xmen evolution #x men evolution #Marvel #Storm #Rogue #Nightcrawler #Cyclops #Iceman #Jean grey #Havok #Prodigy #marvel comics #psylocke #mystique #magneto #brotherhood of mutants #quicksilver

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fandomfluffandfuck · 2 years

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"You feel better if you look better"

It's time for some 1940s Bucky (and stucky) insecurity theorizing(?)...

"You feel better if you look better," is a quote I've heard my entire life. The meaning is essentially, if you take pride in your appearance and put effort into making yourself look how to want to look you are way more likely to feel better about yourself. As opposed to not caring or thinking about what you look like and then throwing on whatever you have or maybe not showering, not brushing your teeth, or not getting haircuts, etc. (whatever hygiene/self care thing that comes to mind) then because of not doing those things, you think you don't like yourself, as opposed to realizing you're just not enjoying yourself as much as you could.

It crosses over heavily with the "dress for the job you want, not the job you have" idea in my head. All about self confidence and projection of who you are/who you want to be.

Anyway, I heard that quote again recently and instantly in my head I saw pre-war Bucky. I don’t know why. I just know I instantly saw Bucky, brown hair and pale gold skin, standing at the rusty, worn vanity in that tiny, original Brooklyn apartment they had together. Whistling a tune to himself, looking through a cracked mirror with flaking gold leaf edges (a hand-me-down from his Aunt) at his own reflection as he got ready to go out dancing on a Friday night. His heart thumping in his chest and his mouth practicing lazy, easy smiles with youth-plumped lips, soft from the vaseline he put on before bed last night.

And you know what I thought? What else I thought, other than Bucky combing his hair, practicing his lines, getting ready...

I thought about how we sometimes say in this fandom that Bucky accepted Steve post-serum so fast because now his outsides just match his insides and that he was happy (or he told himself he was happy) that now dames could see what he'd seen all along. Now that Steve's appearance matched his mind... maybe he'd get a gal to settle down with after the war (ignoring the strange heart break that Bucky felt even thinking that) and everything would be good. Him and his lady would have some blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies with cute crooked teeth and endearing lisps. Steve would paint in vivid, full color now they they fixed his eyes. He wouldn't instantly cough with the smell of paint thinner and sealant and have to crack the windows or face an asthma attack. His lady would cook mean dinners and would invite Bucky 'round for dinner, knowing Steve needs some companion other than his art and knowing that the kids love him so. Yeah. He'd get a gal... Life would be good. Steve would get what he deserved, not what other's handed off to him, bent and beat up from their own use. Second hand.

Steve would get what he deserved.

But do you ever think maybe Bucky dressed himself so nice, swaggering around and doing his hair just so with pomade, so, so charming all the time, mouth dripping in honey, because, yes, of course, it was part of social life/social performance at the time but also because he felt he couldn't ever be as golden as Steve was inside? He's gilded instead. Steve is a precious metal hidden in gritty dust, just needing a little shine. Bucky feels like he is dipped in gold and all dust and rock inside. The opposite. The moon to the sun. Lackluster once you have seen them both; the cold, shy moon always pales in comparison to the glorious flames and warmth of the sun.

Steve is so good and Bucky felt he wasn't so good, nowhere close, but, hey, he can dress well and talk well and distract himself from those feelings. He can distract everyone else from his short-comings with extra performance too.

And those feelings that get, oh, only about a million times worse after he returns from the shackles of death itself, from HYDRA, from being locked inside his own head, imprisoned and remade from the ashes of himself... only the same in vague outline. He returns quickly to the routine of grooming. Self-soothing in a way. And Steve sees Bucky being Bucky in these reforming patterns. So he is overjoyed with the new hair products cluttering their bathroom and the time Bucky spends in front of the mirror (nevermind the fact that when Bucky looks in the mirror he's seeing dark circles and pale skin and scars and the fragile amalgamation of a shattered, splintered man)...

Bucky eventually is able to indirectly admit these feelings and habits to his therapist. It is slowly and painfully dragged out of him, like wisdom teeth, broken into little peices and then still pried out with pliers because those feelings are stubborn, stuck in your jaw and aching. Part of your skeleton. You do not want to let them go.

After admittance, Bucky tries a new method of doing good for yourself to feel good about yourself that includes very similar routines but excludes the mirror. He doesn't often look at himself and he practices watching the way Steve looks at him rather than comparing himself to Steve's, well, everything. Because he is so... everything. So good at everything. Bucky can, maybe, be good at somethings too. He can learn.

(Psst, like this)

#fandomfluffandfuck #bucky barnes #steve rogers #stucky #the winter solider #stevebucky #angst #self image issues #insecurity #a lil hurt/comfort #therapist mention #theres the comfort

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hamartia-grander · 8 months

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Hi, so, thanks to your posting, I started thinking about getting into Resident Evil. I'd like to see your faves and unfaves for myself, but... There's a whole lot of RE games. Do I have to play them all? Is it all one closely connected storyline, or can some of the games be understood without knowing the previous ones?

I did look it up, but well... It's not that clear to me, and I thought that maybe asking the person because of whom I'm considering even getting into the games in the first place, and see whether they have some good advice, which of course, you're not obliged to give me, if you don't feel like writing stuff out, that's fine, I'm good with a short answer or none at all. But nonetheless, I just kinda felt like like you'd be the best person to ask here.

Which of games are important and/or good? Also, there are some remakes, are the changes worth the likely way higher price? I usually buy/play original versions of remade games because of the price and/or because it takes up less space on the PC, and takes less time to download. Should I change that here?

Also, in the games themselves, how many jumpscares should I expect? I'm not really good with horror, and while your advice about imagining all the monstrous villains or whatever just want to fuck Leon is amazing and I would utilize it, maybe I should just watch a playthough. Because I'm not good with jumpscares.

Thanks for any answer, bye!👋🙏

You. You want answers from ME? From little old ME? Okayg. Uhm. I will do my best:

You don't have to play all RE games to be a fan of RE. You also don't have to play all the games to understand the general story. It really depends what you're interested in. I personally got into resident evil 7 and 8 first, because they have a separate story; but because I loved it so much, it got me into the other games. I wanted to know every last character and piece of lore I could get my hands on, but that's just me. I'd recommend at least watching a playthrough of all of the games and see from there which ones you'd like to personally play, but you don't have to know all of the games to follow the story.

As for what games are the most connected story wise, I'd say it is probably about every other game that's connected. For example, while Re2 and re3 both occur on the same day during the same outbreak, their stories are vastly different and follow different characters. Re1, re3, and re5 are the most directly connected to each other. Re2, Re4, and Re6 are the most directly connected to each other. (re6 also connects to re5 through Chris Redfield, but not drastically enough that you would absolutely have to know the other games to understand Chris's story in 6). Re7 and Re8 are almost solely connected to each other. However, over all, all of the games connect in SOME way, even if it's small. I'd say the most important games if you're only looking for the overarching storyline would be RE1, Re2 and 3, and Re6. Re7 and Re8 are both great games, but they are more separated from the main storyline that you could almost solely watch them, and never need other RE content. They reference other games, but it's never to such a degree that you wouldn't understand what's going on if you haven't seen the other games.

If you plan on playing the games, I would say yes, the remakes are different enough that I would highly recommend playing them over the originals. I mean I'd definitely still recommend watching a playthrough of the originals, because they do have some good content and you'll appreciate the remakes more, but the remakes are just better quality, better playability, better story, and better characters. For example, I severely dislike the original RE4 for many reasons, but the Re4 remake is my favourite RE game by far. The remakes keep the essences of the originals so it's not like you're getting a completely different story, but they're different enough that unfortunately you'd be missing out by only playing the originals. But I understand the prices thing. They have some good deals throughout the year, and g2a is a secure site to find better deals on video games

As for which games are good... Honestly, you'll be hard pressed to find many RE games that are really good. They're mostly just fun and have great characters that you'll love (eg. I love Code Veronica because it has Redfield siblings content, but it's really just bad😭). However again I will say the Re4 remake is hands down the best Resident Evil game when it comes to all of the factors that make up a video game, plus the story. It's beautiful. I love it. The better RE games in my opinion are Re1, re2 and 3 remakes, RE4 remake, re6, and re8. Re7 is the scariest game which is the only reason I didn't include it, because you mentioned not being good with horror and it definitely has the worst jump scares and the most anxiety inducing gameplay; but it is a great game. The rest you could honestly do without if you're picky, or just by watching playthroughs. But again, re1-6 are the more main story, and re7-8 are the more separate, singular story.

The games in order of most scary to least scary (factoring in jump scares, environmental horror, and also graphics quality lol) are:

- Re7 (by far the scariest RE game)

- Re8 (specifically the Benneviento section)

- Re2 remake

- Re3 remake

- Re4 remake

- Re6

- Re5

- og Re4

- Revelations 1 and 2

- Re1

- Re0

- Code Veronica

- og Re2 and 3

(I've kinda been desensitised to all of it so the only one that actually scares me is 7. But this is hopefully an accurate list)

I think that's it! Lemme know if you have more questions, I'm happy to answer them <3

#resident evil #Thank you anon #Asks

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firebuug · 1 year

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dont mind me 73662516284 julie oc thoughts at (checks watch) 1 am again

im very tired but i thout about julian earlier and i think itd be really fun to explore the fact that ingame julian is really just a clone of the original dead julie. like inmy game my employee julian died but i couldnt mem rep him back so i just remade him exactly the same but slightly different except nobody (not even i) will ever know what the original looks like bc hes been lost to time and poor record keeping

and i think itd be a fucking horrifying realization for anyone in-universe to learn that they used to be close with and work alingside a julian slightly different from the one they know today but that julian is dead and forever lost in time. how the hell would julian react finding out he isnt the real him and hes just a hurried copy made after the memory of the original julian had faded. like this isnt 100% canon but it is fun to think about

i feel like post-lobcorp he’d want to dive deeper into his origins and resurrection since it was kinda glossed over How the manager brought him back, so while tackling amaller projects and finishing his lcorp project he’d start working on unearthing that as a private personal project. i think through enough poking and prodding in that area hed eventually be bound to find records of him being a copy of his own corpse or of there being different timelines and the dead julie is from one slightly different than theirs

i think hed become even more intensely invested after recovering from the shock of That and get back to obsessing over uncovering more and more with each new report and article and paper until his husbands have to yank him back by the scruff and go UR DONE PLEASE WORK ON YOUR OTHER PROJECTS AND TAKE A BREAK THE HUMAN MIND IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TAKING THIS MUCH WHITE DAMAGE ‼️‼️‼️ and after listening to them and taking a fat break hes like oh jesus fuck yeah thats nightmarish. i think ill go outside and walk in the park and pet dogs and regain my sense of humanity again before i start writing my own case study. and once he gets unhusked he’ll put together the most bizarre most passionate self-case study the local paper will ever see

i love post lcorp julie because he gets super invested into the shit he cares about and will write pages upon pages of the most fucked up shit. he gets his nose in business he shouldnt be sticking it in and comes out with a new article to submit to the local Fuck The Wings zine. hes sticking it to the man by revealing all the darkest secrets of the man but only a few people will ever know bc he never puts it in mainstream papers lest he be assassinated by the government or something

tl;dr - if julie ever finds out hes a mandela effect bernstein vs bernstain alternate julian hes not gonna be normal about it but then will proceed to be weirdly normal about it in a julie style way by ripping into internal documents and scientific conspiracy papers and writing an essay about it. and i dont know how anyone else would react but eva can mourn and have the worlds worst reality check and go back to shoving that aside with all the other woes and lay with his weird dimensional time and space boyfriend for 292783949567 hours until he forgets about it

#txt #ocs #slamming this here bc . uh. sweats. recordkeeping. idk. julie lore #julian #ask to tag #unreality tw #just in case? i do know that thinking about alternate timelines and universes even when in fiction can be uhhh. umm. Bad #i tried putting myself in their shoes and force ejected myself because it was too mind breaky #rambles #eva

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kunosoura · 2 years

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what musicals do you like

Hi anon sorry I just saw this I'm only now getting around to going through my inbox. Here's an incomplete list with no particular order or organization.

Falsettos is heartrending, I love the music, and it manages to actually be kinda good with its politics (a musical theatre miracle, believe me)

Ragtime is a problematic fav because its ostensibly progressive politics are actually worse than that of your average "apolitical" show when you look at them too long but it's got some of my favorite music in the whole genre. New Music still makes me cry every time I hear it.

The Sound of Music is also one with very bad politics when you look at it closely, but I love the movie too much and have done so for too long to abandon it now.

A Chorus Line is just an incredibly great musical by all measures. Usually shows about showbusiness don't rank highly in my regard (they tend to be SO self involved) but ACL manages to get you to care about its characters on a very fundamental level. It's also full of great music.

If I wasn't restraining myself, I'd list just about every Sondheim musical, but I don't want this post to be pages long so I'll do two. Into the Woods is, in my opinion, his most absolutely perfect; no wasted songs or dialogue, thematically rich, but not inaccessible or pretentious.

Company is the other Sondheim musical I'll recommend; it's a little higher concept, strung together less by a narrative than by characters and themes, but a lot of Sondheim's works are meditations on relationships, heteronormative ones especially, and this is maybe the biggest example of that.

Honestly, I still like Heathers. Even with the west end rework it's still lowbrow, but it's a lot of fun and has a compelling edge to it. Amelie is in a similar book where a not so good original work (terrible in Amelie's case) got redeemed by a west end rework that completely remade it.

Do you have the patience for a three hour musical? Watch Fiddler on the Roof. Gorgeous, melancholy music, and my favorite love song from any musical in Do You Love Me.

Cabaret is one of the most thematically dense works ever to hit the big stages in regards to how it uses (and abuses) the medium of theater. Definitely not a first watch, but there's so much to unpack there. It's so uncomfortably aware of the emotional voyeurism inherent in theater.

Obligatory modern musical reference - Hadestown is GREAT. It deserved every drop of its success. I also group Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 with Hadestown in my head as two recent musicals that got very experimental with their instrumentation and storytelling, even though Great Comet wasn't as successful.

Carrie the Musical's original run was such a notorious flop that it became synonymous with flop in the theater world. The revival with Marin Mazzie and Christie Altomare a decade or so ago is stunning with how much good they managed to carve out of the original's rotten husk

Okay, that isn't all, but I'm stopping myself there.

#I listened to A Strange Loop recently and really enjoyed what it was putting down #but I want to give it a few more listens and maybe try to find a bootleg before I give a full opinion

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jeongyunhoed · 2 years

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Past-Present-Future Black Dahlia RED: Rogue, Extremely Dangerous

The fourth and final installment to the superpowers AU. San’s past comes catching up to him as he is targeted by an old colleague turned foe. With everyone else caught in the crossfire, San is forced to reveal what happened to him in the years before going on the search for his sister.

group: ATEEZ member: San pairing: yunho/oc, san/oc (in flashbacks) t/w (in this chapter): fear of heights, mentions of death, funerals, just ominous themes all around.

things to note: And this, marks the end of our superpowers au. This has been a years-long AU that I've been writing, both the original canon and the remade one. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have for the past...nine years or so because I started the first story back in 2013. I'm excited for the other WIPs I've got to write and finish. Also, the final sequence is like a post-credits scene, haha.

word count: 2648

tagging: @kflixnet

Masterlist

Chapter 10 - Final

San got out of bed later that night. He heard the weird rumbling coming from the middle of the city and it didn’t help his efforts in trying to sleep. It was especially loud, and he figured that it was probably some construction mishap, or a demolition that was taking place at this hour, when there were the least cars on the roads and people in the streets.

Stepping out of his room, he glanced at the one other room in the apartment. Yunho was sleeping in his own apartment for the night. San would have to deal with being the only one living there for a while. For a while, he reminded himself, refusing to accept the only other scenario.

The apartment felt unusually bigger without her, and everything remained the same. As San walked through the apartment, he stopped whenever he saw something of hers. The pairs of shoes that were lined by the door, the bag hanging on the coat rack, along with the khaki green jacket that she wore whenever the weather got a little chilly.

San stopped at the pictures that were hanging on the wall, and the certificates that were hanging above them. The pictures grew in number since then, from being mostly of her and Jihoon, to the two of them, to her and Yunho, to the three of them, pictures with Hyuk and Chanyeol, with Junhong, and then all of them together, including their first Christmas. There were even pictures with Ino that even Mirae didn’t want to take down after what happened the previous year.

His eyes scanned through the pictures and he stopped again when he saw the staff leaning against the wall. San sniffled, blinking back the tears that were poised to fall, as his mind kept replaying the last moments he had. Jungwoo wanting to keep torturing her until he caved, all the while torturing everyone else all because he wanted more power, more mutant power.

The doorbell suddenly rang and San approached the monitor to see who it was. There was no one there, and it only meant one thing. San went down to the door and opened it, seeing Yeosang standing behind. “A little late for you to be here, isn’t it?” He said, stifling a look of surprise at how Yeosang looked now.

“Where is Yunho?” He said, sidestepping San to enter the apartment. San closed the door behind them only to step back when Yunho suddenly appeared, looking a little frazzled.

“I’m right here,” He said, San following him back into the apartment. “I had an insane dream, something about statues.”

“Then you have received the vision,” Yeosang stared at the taller male.

San looked confused. “Okay, what the hell is going on? Why are both of you here?” He asked. “No, why are you here, Yeosang?”

“I am here because I will need Yunho’s help. I spoke with Mark not too long ago-”

“Mark? Mark Lee?” San and Yunho looked surprised, and Yeosang nodded. “What does that guy want now? We beat him last year, remember?”

“That may be so, but alas, what Mark and I have found out and what Yunho has dreamt about, is something much bigger than us,” Yeosang’s expression remained stern. “If you two keep staring at me like that, it is because I haven’t fed.”

“Okay, so what was that about?” Yunho said.

Yeosang studied their expressions for a moment. “The statues have broken, they have woken up, and mutantkind, humanity, is at risk. Those statues have traveled all across the world over the centuries, the last time I saw them was in Tokyo in 1935. There’s also a chance those could be in eastern Europe, at least that is what Mark thinks.”

“Statues? Like mutant statues?” San asked.

Yeosang shook his head. “Something else entirely. If you ever wonder what the very first of our kind was like, this might give you an idea. Mark and his entire cabal of bastards are aware, as does the very man who betrayed Mirae.”

Yunho and San exchanged looks. “Ino…” They said at the same time.

“Yes. Ino is looking for those statues as well. We must get to those statues before Ino does, especially as Ino may still bear a grudge,” Yeosang said. “But we will need to be sure so we must go to Japan tonight.”

Yunho nodded. “Okay then, I’ll wake Seonghwa up-”

“That is also something I must point out. Just because I told the two of you doesn’t mean you two will bring the rest of them along, only the two of you can go, the rest cannot follow,” Yeosang gave them a look. “At least for now, but I doubt their…services are needed as much as yours,” He pointed to the taller male.

“Alright, alright, I won’t tell them, but they will wonder where we’ve gone so I have to at least tell Seonghwa this,” Yunho pointed out, and Yeosang nodded in defeat.

“I shall inform you of where to meet as we will take my jet to go there. You two must pack some belongings immediately,” Yeosang told them before rushing out of the door, closing it behind him.

San turned to Yunho, trying to process what Yeosang told them. “So, we’re going?” He asked.

“I don’t think we have a choice if what Yeosang’s saying is true, and if what I dreamt of was true…” Yunho shrugged. “It’s going to be hard, doing this all without her, but we’ll have to do it. No one else can.”

“If Yeosang turns out to be a liar, I can’t promise you I won’t try to kill him,” San said.

“Hey, you’re talking to me, I’d gladly kill him,” Yunho assured him.

As soon as Yunho disappeared in the hallway, San looked over to the pictures, his eyes traveling towards the staff that was leaning against the wall. He picked up the silver object, retracting it to its shorter form. Somehow he felt he might need it, and he brought it with him to his room.

Seonghwa felt his legs shake from nervousness and fright as he was standing on the ledge of the roof of the record store. It was four stories high and Seonghwa felt himself freezing, unable to look down. Mirae was standing next to him, and Yunho was standing by the fire escape ladders, his appearance obscured enough for him to be able to teleport. Hongjoong was standing by as well, as was San, both of them looking up at them from the ground.

Wooyoung, Mingi, and Jongho were standing behind Mirae and Seonghwa, watching what they were about to do. Junhong was also standing by, clipboard in hand and ready to take notes.

“Why are we up here?” He asked nervously.

“Because, if you want to better learn about your powers, what better way to use it in a situation like this?” Mirae said. “Hyuk would’ve taught you this, but he isn’t, so it’ll be me. Who knows, you might actually be a stronger telekinetic than you thought.”

Seonghwa swallowed hard. “This is insane,” He said, trying his hardest not to look down.

“You’ll be fine. You have five seconds to break our fall and keep us afloat, if you hesitate, Yunho will pop in and out to get us down safely. If not Yunho, Hongjoong will. Think of it as another way to train how fast you can be,” Mirae glanced at the speedster, who nodded.

“Worst case scenario, Wooyoung will get us out,” Junhong chimed in.

“Hey!” Wooyoung gave them a look. Mingi and Jongho laughed.

“How about, to make even more challenging, Jongho’s standing down here with his spikes out?” San yelled.

“Good idea,” Mirae grinned, and Jongho ran down the stairs. “You’ll be fine,” She assured Seonghwa, who nodded. “There will come a time that you can’t use the bow and arrows, or you have nothing at all. Not even what we know might help, so your powers can come in.”

“I really hope you’re right,” Seonghwa said.

Mirae patted his shoulder then held his hand. “You ready? Five seconds,” She said, and grabbed onto him as they jumped down the ledge.

Seonghwa let out a yelp as he held onto Mirae, his eyes and fingertips immediately emitting a green glow. Mirae was under him and she was inches above Jongho’s spiked form, barely touching the ends of the spikes that were coming from his arm. “Not bad!” Hongjoong called out to them, San cheering as well.

Seonghwa sighed in relief, only for the two of them to collapse on the ground just when Jongho put his arm down. “Couldn’t hold it that long?” San chuckled as they stood up.

Junhong pulled the van up to the airport later that night. “I still don’t understand why Yeosang only needed the two of you, but okay, if he says so,” He said.

“Worried?” Yunho asked.

“Well, I haven’t been on this kind of mission, you’ll need my help,” Junhong pointed out, making the two of them chuckle. “But, I guess I’ll tell the others what’s going on. I’ve already outfitted your bags with things you might need anyway.”

San stared at the taller male. “Heol…you could seriously make it as a pickpocketer, you know,” He said.

Junhong grinned. “Hey, before Professor Jang found me, I might’ve done a few things as a kid,” He said. “If the fighting spills over here, we’ll be at the ready.”

“Good, from the looks of this, it might be,” San said.

Junhong nodded, and the two of them got out of the van, giving the taller male an assuring wave. Junhong drove away, and Yunho and San turned to enter the airport. “I would’ve thought we’d be at a private airport hangar if we’re taking Yeosang’s jet over there,” Yunho muttered.

The two of them walked in the direction of what looked like the first-class lounge, but was actually the lounge for clients and associates of the Kang Organization to wait for the jet to be ready.

“The last time I was in this kind of lounge was when Mirae and I flew to the south of France for a vacation,” San recalled as they were served drinks upon sitting down on the plush couches. “We went on a cruise afterwards. Yeosang invited us. Then again, he found out we were on the same flight as him so he upgraded our seats.”

“That was the one thing I wasn’t able to do with her,” Yunho said, looking down at the glass of gin and tonic that he was given. “Thinking about it now, we weren’t able to do a lot of things together.”

San sipped his drink, staring at the bubbles as they waited. He was relieved they didn’t have to go through those security checkpoints or else they would really need Yeosang’s help in getting out of the endless hours of questioning, even more so when they arrived. Both of them were heavily armed.

Yunho’s eyes widened as he took another drink, a familiar feeling coming over him. It was the same kind of feeling he got when he sensed Mirae for the first time, only it wasn’t just because he sensed her. He put his glass down and stood up, his expression hopeful yet surprised when he saw the woman who entered the lounge, only she looked different with her blonde, almost-white hair.

He took a few steps, seeing her stop at the sight of him as well. Yunho noticed how calm she looked, even as she was wearing what seemed like incredibly expensive clothes. “Mirae?” He said softly.

“Hello,” She said.

Yunho took another step closer, while she stayed put. “Is it-is it really you?” He said.

“I guess so,” She replied.

“But-but how? How are you alive?” Yunho was still trying to process seeing her. “You-you even look different too.”

“I feel different,” Mirae said. “I was wondering the same thing, actually. How I’m alive…”

Yunho took another step forward until he was right in front of her. “Did-did Yeosang bring you back to life?” He asked, trying to fight the urge to pull her in his arms until he was sure.

“He couldn’t understand why either,” She said. “He found me where I died.”

Yunho kept trying to read her mind. He wanted to be sure it was her. Mirae looked up at him, then noticed her brother having the exact same expression as him. “Mirae?” He said, his eyes almost welling with tears.

“Hello Sanie,” She said.

San moved past Yunho and hugged her tightly, sniffling as he tried to keep himself from breaking down. “Mirae…” He sniffled as he pulled away.

“Yeah, it’s me,” She said, looking back at Yunho, who moved to hug her as well.

San blinked back his tears. “Looks like we were right, we should’ve waited for you to come back somehow.”

“I heard about the funeral,” She said.

“So, I guess you’re here for the same reason we are?” San looked hopeful, and she nodded. He hugged her again, a little longer than before.

They heard someone’s throat clear, and Yeosang was standing by the entrance, with some of his assistants already lugging what looked like two suitcases. “I trust this little reunion is satisfactory? We won’t have time once we land in Japan, we won’t have time for this at all seeing as it’s quite a short flight,” He said.

Mirae pulled away. “Yes it is,” She said.

“My dear, our bags are to be loaded onto the plane at any moment, shall we?” Yeosang said. “Don’t worry, Yunho, I did nothing of what you are speculating to your beloved, but we must go.”

San and Yunho picked up their bags, as they followed Mirae out of the lounge, the three of them following Yeosang down the hall that led to the doors of his plane.

The End.

From the place where the graves of Hyuk and Chanyeol were located, a bright beam of light shot down from the sky near the tree. A figure was falling down from the sky, followed by another, and three more. They were young men, dressed in blue, wearing black tactical vests, jackets, and boots.

One of them had red hair, his left eye was black but had a white pupil in the shape of a star.

“Where are we?” He said.

The tallest one from the five of them, whose ear pieces were pointed, shrugged. “From the looks of this place, we must be on Earth,” He said.

“Earth? We’re on Earth?” asked the male with brown curly hair and had mechanical wings sticking out of his back. “…Wait a minute, we’re in this solar system?”

“I believe we are,” said the male with small horns sticking out of his helmet. He took out a device from his pocket to scan the area. “Yes, we are on Earth.”

“Then we went in the wrong galaxy, there’s no stars here,” said the male whose tactical jacket had metal spikes. “There’s nothing of value here, Taehyun, didn’t you check the coordinates?”

“I did, but I must have miscalculated,” Said the male with the black eye. “We should probably get back to our ship.”

“Maybe this is a blessing in disguise,” the male with the horned helmet chimed in. “There’s probably a star here somewhere. I bet we can fetch ourselves a pretty penny, bringing back something from Earth. No one’s going to be able to know we got something from here anyway.”

“I hope you’re right about that Yeonjun,” the tall male with pointed earpieces said.

They took another step, and found something glinting in the ground. Yeonjun bent down to take a look at what was glinting. It was a diamond. He picked it up and showed it to them. “You were saying, Soobin?”

Satisfied smiles played across their faces.

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colossal-idiot · 2 years

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I finished replaying Pokemon Alpha Sapphire recently and I just have to say that I wholeheartedly believe that this is one of if not the best Pokemon game. Period. The only one I feel comes close is Pokemon Legends Arceus, but if you discount it because it's not in line with the gameplay of other Pokemon games, then ORAS is definitely the best. The Hoenn Pokemon are some of the best designs in my opinion, they have just the right mix of animal and fantasy creature to the point where it feels like a functional ecosystem while also being interesting and fantastical. The idea of different versions having different antagonists is a very underutilized idea in Pokemon that hasn't been utilized in any other region. The Hoenn games are very thematically sound, always keeping an emphasis on the ecosystem and making Pokemon feel like animals. In comparison to other remakes which tend to be the previous games remade, ORAS reimagines Hoenn by adding so much extra to it in a very refreshing way, playing RSE versus playing ORAS is notably different. I appreciate how they included Mega Evolution in a way that sat soundly in the lore rather than locking it behind the post game like a lot of other remakes would. I also really appreciate the way that they redesigned a lot of the characters, which in my opinion does well to modernize the games and does better to keep them fresh. It also does well to connect the world of Pokemon together in a very organic way, with to mentions to Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos. Then there's the Delta Episode. Game Freak did not have to add a fleshed out post game to the Hoenn remakes, they had no need to flesh out the lore so well both to tie the new and old aspects together and to expand on the lore of Hoenn as a region and it's legendaries. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are stellar pokemon games that go above and beyond to not only retell, but reinvent the story of the originals, and have much more content, much more lore, and much more interesting events than more recent games.

#pokemon #pokemon oras #long post

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doortotomorrow · 1 month

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(In response to your recent post) You know, in fairness, Square Enix seems to pretty much treat any Final Fantasy game that's NOT FF7 like dirt. I do like FF7, but personally, my favorite game in the franchise is FF9 (although I'm currently still replaying FF8), and FF9 gets ignored more often than FF8 in some ways. Mainly: Rinoa finally got added to the DLC of Dissidia NT along with Locke Cole, but neither Garnet (Zidane's girlfriend) nor anyone else from FF9 got added to any of the spin-off games until Opera Omnia 🤷🏻‍♀️

I mean, Rinoa has fared slightly better than Garnet because at least Rinoa got to appear in a few spin-off games that aren't Opera Omnia or Record Keeper (where pretty much every single Final Fantasy character appeared in chibi form... man, I really miss DFFOO), but even then, Rinoa and Yuna didn't even get to reunite with Squall and Tidus, their goddamn boyfriends, in Dissidia NT... (sigh) 🤦🏻‍♀️

But back to my original point: I think it's more that Square just focuses on FF7 way too much, to the detriment of the other 15 main games and their fans (especially since, based on Reddit and Tumblr and YouTube, many fans want to see a Remake of FF6, FF8, and FF9, and are starting to get tired of the over-exposure that FF7 keeps receiving). I mean, Opera Omnia happened to close down its services literally the same day Rebirth was released. That is no coincidence. 😒

I agree with most of what you're saying here, but I think FF9 is getting more attention from Square-Enix (the collabs with War of the Visions, Ever Crisis, and now the FF9 collectibles being included with the collector's edition of the FF14 Dawntrail expansion) than FF8 these days, because based on all the countless rumors floating around all over the place, it's the next game on the docket to get remade. There's nothing like that being said about FF8, just absolute radio silence in regards to it.

I think Square-Enix has made it perfectly clear that FF8 fans come last on their list of priorities. They simply have written us all off.

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maximumphilosopheranchor · 2 months

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"In the 2010s, Ilyin’s ideas served post-Soviet billionaires, and post-Soviet billionaires served them. Putin and his friends and allies accumulated vast wealth beyond the law, and then remade the state to preserve their own gains. Having achieved this, Russian leaders had to define politics as being rather than doing. An ideology such as Ilyin’s purports to explain why certain men have wealth and power in terms other than greed and ambition. What robber would not prefer to be called a redeemer?

To men raised in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, Ilyin’s ideas were comfortable for a second reason. To the Russian kleptocrats of that generation, the men in power in the 2010s, his entire style of thinking was familiar. Although Ilyin opposed Soviet power, the shape of his argument was eerily similar to that of the Marxism, Leninism and Stalinism in which all Soviet citizens were educated. Although Russian kleptocrats are by no means philosophers, the instruction of their youth led them surprisingly close to the justifications they would need in their maturity. Ilyin and the Marxism he opposed shared a philosophical origin and language: that of Hegelianism.

G. W. F. Hegel’s ambition was to resolve the difference between what is and what should be. His claim was that something called Spirit, a unity of all thoughts and minds, was emerging over time, through the conflicts that defined epochs. Hegel’s was an appealing way of seeing our fractious world, since it suggested that catastrophe was an indication of progress. History was a “slaughter bench”, but the bloodshed had a purpose. This idea allowed philosophers to pose as prophets, seers of hidden patterns that would resolve themselves into a better world, judges of who had to suffer now so that all would benefit later. If Spirit was the only good, than any means that History chose for its realization was also good.

Karl Marx was critical of Hegel’s idea of Spirit. He and other Left Hegelians claimed that Hegel had smuggled God into his system under the heading of Spirit. The absolute good, suggested Marx, was not God but humanity’s lost essence. History was a struggle, but its sense was man’s overcoming of circumstance to regain his own nature. The emergence of technology, argued Marx, allowed some men to dominate others, forming social classes. Under capitalism, the bourgeoisie controlled the means of production, oppressing the mass of workers. This very oppression instructed workers about the character of history and made them revolutionaries. The proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie, seize the means of production, and thereby restore man to himself. Once there was no property, thought Marx, human beings would live in happy cooperation.

Ilyin was a Right Hegelian. In a typically sharp phrase, he wrote that Marx never got out of the “waiting room” of Hegelian philosophy. Ilyin nevertheless agreed that by “Spirit” Hegel meant God. Like Marx, Ilyin thought that history had begun with an original sin that doomed humanity to suffering. It was perpetrated not by man upon man through property, as the Marxists thought, but by God upon man through the creation of the world. Rather than killing God, as the Left Hegelians had done, Ilyin left him wounded and lonely. Life was poor and chaotic, as the Marxists thought, but not because of technology and class conflict. People suffered because God’s creation was irresolvably conflictual. Facts and passions could not be aligned through revolution, only through redemption. The only totality was God’s, which a chosen nation would restore thanks to a miracle performed by a redeemer.

Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) was the most important Marxist, since he led a revolution in the name of philosophy. As an activist of a small and illegal party in the Russian Empire, Lenin believed that a disciplined elite had the right to push history forward. If the only good in the world was the restoration of man to his essence, then it was reasonable for those who understood the process to hasten it. This reasoning enabled the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The Soviet Union was ruled by a small group of people who claimed legitimacy from this specific politics of inevitability. Lenin and Ilyin did not know each other, but were uncannily close: Lenin’s patronymic was “Ilyich” and he used “Ilyin” as a pen name; the real Ilyin read and reviewed some of that work. When Ilyin was arrested by the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, Lenin intervened on his behalf in order to express his admiration of Ilyin’s philosophy.

Ilyin despised Lenin’s revolution, but endorsed its violence and its voluntarism. Like Lenin, he thought that Russia needed a philosophical elite (himself) to define ends and means. Like the Marxist socialist utopia, Ilyin’s “divine totality” required violent revolution – or rather violent counterrevolution. Other Russian philosophers saw the resemblance. Nikolai Berdyaev found in Ilyin’s work “the nightmare of evil good”. Reviewing a book that Ilyin published in 1925, Berdyaev wrote that “a Cheka in the name of God is more horrifying than a Cheka in the name of the devil”. His judgment was prophetic: “The Bolsheviks would have no fundamental problem accepting Ivan Ilyin’s book. They consider themselves the bearers of absolute good and oppose those whom they regard as evil with force.”

As Ilyin aged in Germany and Switzerland, his positions tracked those of Lenin’s successors. After Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin consolidated power. Ilyin shared Stalinist judgments about the contagious perversity of Western culture down to the smallest detail. He believed, for instance, that jazz was a deliberate plot to reduce European listeners to mindless dancers incapable of normal sexual intercourse. The communist party newspaper Pravda offered a strikingly similar description of the experience of listening to African American music: “some centaur must be conducting with his gigantic phallus.” Though Ilyin wrote books chronicling terror under Stalin, his attitude to the law was essentially similar to that of its perpetrators. Andrei Vyshynskii, the notorious prosecutor at the show trials, believed that “formal law is subordinate to the law of the revolution.” This was precisely Ilyin’s attitude to his planned counterrevolution."

Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America

#Timothy Snyder #non-fiction #Russia #Ivan Ilyin #fascism #communism #USSR #philosophy

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