#alas he has no closeups

[mariocki]

Alfred Burke creeps around uncredited, as mysterious chauffeur Heinrich, in 1963 thriller The Man Who Finally Died

#fave spotting #alfred burke #the man who finally died #public eye #frank marker #@thisbluespirit #(i know you like to see his face) #alas he has no closeups #and as mentioned isn't even credited‚ tho his character is called Heinrich in dialogue #actually quite a lot of the cast go uncredited in this‚ even those (like alfie) who have more than one scene and get actual dialogue #just the key players are named in the opening titles #like quite a few other british films of this era this was based on a short tv serial‚ also written by the films writer Lewis Greifer and #produced by ATV in 1959; of that series the only returning cast member was Nigel Green‚ who'd actually played the role Alfie #does here on tv‚ but was promoted to a slightly larger supporting part for the film. according to wiki (ikr‚ but why would they lie..) the #series actually exists in the archives in its entirety! alas.. we'll probably never get to see it‚ particularly now network have gone #speaking of‚ i had actually seen this before some years ago but when the news came thru about network this was one of the things i decided #to try and pick up before the stock is all gone; i was tempted to the blu ray release both for the chance to see Alfie in hd (albeit #briefly) and bc one of the extra features is a fascinating sounding episode of Drama 64 starring Stanley Baker #more on that i suspect when i get round to watching it

[lochiels]

Some things wrong about Emily (2022)

So we watched Emily (2022) recently, and it left us feeling conflicted with a desire to explain why — spoilers below the cut.

Note: we made this list before we read the film's summary saying that it “imagines the transformative, exhilarating, and uplifting journey to womanhood of a rebel and misfit”, along with a statement acknowledging that it mixes known biographical details with imagined situations and relationships.

Anne and Emily’s close relationship is not represented (in childhood they were “like twins”, and they were inseparable companions).

The romanticisation of drug use; there are closeup shots of Emily's pupils constricting and then scenes of her frolicking on the moors with pleasant music, etc. (there is zero evidence of Emily using drugs).

Emily and William have an affair/sexual intercourse multiple times when there is no evidence of Emily ever being romantically in love with anyone (this seems to have been the main part in the “uplifting journey to womanhood”, as if a virgin in their 20s isn't already a woman; Victorian morals were thrown out the window).

William Weightman’s characterisation (on his monument it says he was “greatly respected for his orthodox principles, moral habits...”).

Wuthering Heights is written after Branwell’s death and apparently because of Emily's feelings following the death of William Weightman (her lover). The book is also not initially published under Emily's pen name Ellis Bell (it wasn't until two years after her death that it was published using her name).

The family's pets are omitted, when the siblings were all known to be animal lovers particularly Emily herself (not even one dog was shown).

The Yorkshire accents go in and out (not that this is a big problem, but if you're going to do accents, do them professionally).

The lack of display of all the sister’s writing interest and abilities, along with how they would write to supplement income.

There probably are other points that we didn't address, alas we can't think of anymore. Honestly, it’s disappointing and almost repulsive that this film is receiving positive feedback (particularly because of its female writer and director), when it clearly has many overlooked faults and anachronisms. People can say it has the loveliest cinematography, soundtrack, acting, etc., but those elements alone are not what make a film good. Based on what we know about the Brontës, we much rather recommend the film To Walk Invisible (2016) and the series The Brontës of Haworth (1973) — both are actually authentic and more historically accurate.

#emily 2022 #emily (2022) #frances o'connor #emily bronte #emily brontë #charlotte bronte #anne bronte #william weightman #emma mackey #oliver jackson cohen #to walk invisible #the brontës of haworth #emily movie #twins.txt

[shadowed-dancer]

My Thoughts on the New MHA Opening and Ending

I have thoughts, and I will share them because oh boy if I don’t get this out I’m gonna explode

Vague Spoilers for the manga (up to chapter 258 and vigilantes) because I discuss the upcoming arcs, but I don’t discuss any major plot points in detail. Still, proceed with caution if you’re anime only

Keep in mind, this OP and ED will cover the Endeavour Agency Arc and the MVA Arc, so I will be judging them accordingly.

First, the OP

This is a good OP... in theory (that’s going to become my catchphrase for this post). It’s nice to look at and flows pretty well, but my biggest problem is that it doesn’t do it’s job. An OP is supposed to be a sort of... summary (?) of the Cour it plays for. That means any cool plot points, emotional beats, and important characters should be featured in some way, shape, or form. We’ll talk about that more later, but first let’s discuss the music.

The song is really good. I have a feeling it will continue to grow on me as I listen to it more often, but yeah my first impression is that the song sounds great. My only complaint about the music itself is that it ends kind of abruptly (I noticed this is the JT opening too). The previous openings used to have a bit of instrumental to “play us out” and lead us to the end card, but this one feels like it ends very suddenly and unnaturally.

As for the visuals...

Yeah alright I’ll admit, the visuals are stunning... in theory. I appreciate the variety in backgrounds and colours, it makes the OP really interesting to look at. This was actually one of my biggest problems with the JT Opening, it all took place on the training grounds, so there was no variety (everything was metal tubes with a blue sky, with only 3 shots set somewhere different). I appreciate the style of this OP.

But like I said, that’s only in theory, as in, through screenshots these are all pleasing to look at. The pacing of this OP is wild, and I truly don’t know who to blame for this.

That sunset shot above? It lasts approximately 12 seconds, zooming in every few to make it seem like something is happening (when in reality it’s still the same poses, angles, etc). While there’s nothing wrong with a nice, drawn out shot, it becomes irritating when compared to the pacing of the rest of this op.

At the 41 second mark, we are given the shot above. It has flowed directly from the previous sunset scene. We still have not moved away from the image of the trio (aside from the opening shot and the title card) yet we’re approaching the halfway mark of the OP.

The next shot is the MLA, which lasts about 5 seconds. Ok, perfect. Not too long, but also not short enough to be confusing. It cuts away a little fast once the dude on the far left appears, but does anyone actually know who that is? No, seriously, I’m asking. I don’t remember his name and he’s not on the wiki, so I can only assume he’s not important. Therefore, it’s not all that bad if the shot cuts away shortly after he comes into frame. The audience is able to take in the scene without having to pause...

... And then the problems start

While this shot is fine in theory, it pans up fast and  cuts away quickly. You know how hard it was for me to get this screenshot? Really hard. You want to know why I struggled so much? Because, due to the timing of the cut and the way it pans upwards, it’s almost impossible to pause on Dabi’s face. I literally had to go frame by frame to get it, because he’s in shot for so little time that naturally pausing is guaranteed to miss him.

When watching this in real time (without pausing) the cut away makes you feel as if you missed something because “something was there, I just couldn’t register what because now it’s gone”. Unlike Compress, who wears a very colourful coat you can recognize the entire time, Dabi’s pants are more blended into the background.

It also doesn’t help that this shot is literally composed to draw your attention away from Dabi until the last possible second. Due to framing, your eye is naturally drawn to the brightly coloured Toga in the foreground, making it super easy to miss Dabi in the back (until, of course, his bright face appears and contrasts against the background, drawing your eye just in time for the scene to change, leaving you to wonder who or what you missed).

I know this sounds like nitpicking, but this shot is the only group shot we get of the League, and is also the start of a seriously weird trend for the villains in this OP getting the short end of the stick.

Anyways, then we get what I’ll call “The Carousel Shot” in which every Class 1A kid shows up and poses dramatically, as if they were on a carousel. It’s a lovely sequence and I really enjoy watching it but... why is it in this OP?

Seriously, this is a genuine question. Class 1A barely shows up in the Endeavour Agency Arc, and NONE of the students are in MVA. This sequence (not counting the three boys at the end) lasts 8 seconds. Why is this much time dedicated to characters who are barely in the arc? (Unless Studio Bones extends their work studies into fuller plot lines which oh my gosh please don’t do that, or if they do, do it quick).

We then get what I call the “Oh God I Blinked And Missed Everything” sequence, which lasts 3 seconds (not including the longer, moving shot of Shigaraki at the end) and features NINE INDIVIDUAL IMAGES, none of which are related to each other. Not only is this 3 images per second, but the fact that they are all unrelated means you can’t even use previous information to fill in the blanks.

What do I mean by that? Well, imagine if I show you 9 images of various pro heroes posing. If I play that in 3 seconds you’ll absolutely miss some of them, but as long as you catch some you’ll still get an idea of what I’m trying to show to you. Your brain is able to fill in the gaps that “I recognized 4 pro heroes, therefore the rest must have also been pros” even if you didn’t register every single frame.

That doesn’t work if every frame features a completely different subject. The shots in this sequence vary so widely that it’s impossible to find a through line. Some feature multiple characters, some feature one, some are closeups, some are super far away, some are character’s we know, others are characters we don’t. It’s impossible to get a solid read on what you’re being shown.

Now, again, there’s nothing wrong with these super quick shots... in theory. The problem comes from the fact that these shots are the only indicators for some of the major themes that will be explored during this Cour (like Twice’s growth and young Shigaraki).

That being said, let’s move away from criticism and talk about speculation, because hidden amongst this sequence are two... interesting images.

This All Might one is very reminiscent of the shot in Chapter 257, where Aizawa and All Might have a conversation while staring up at the stars. However, this is technically the start of the “War Arc” (or the “prologue”, if that’s what you want to call it), so this might indicate that we’re going to get farther into the series than a lot of us guessed.

(Many people suspected we’d get to that cliffhanger at the start of the season (if you read the manga you know the one), but after seeing the pacing for JT a lot of us assumed we’d be lucky to even finish Endeavour Agency. It seems we’re back to the cliffhanger now though lol). 

This is another really interesting shot because it’s indicative of Shirakumo, meaning we might get to see Aizawa and Mic confront him some time this Cour (this also makes sense, since this confrontation technically happens before that All Might scene I mentioned in the previous paragraph).

But the cat specifically is a really strange addition. That cat is named Sushi and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Sushi is ever mentioned in the main series. I think he’s only in Vigilantes.

This might just be a little Easter Egg for Vigilante readers, but I’m personally hoping that they’ll add at least a few Vigilante shots in there to really tug at the heart strings. I’d say I want a whole Vigilante episode but I don’t think they have the time (unless they really cram MVA, which I do NOT want).

I don’t have much to say about the last bit of the OP. The action shot between the 3 boys was nice, and it follows the sort of narrative through line they established from the early shot of them sitting at the sunset. I also like the shot of Endeavour fading in to replace All Might, even if it’s very simple.

But I want to talk about an overarching problem I touched upon earlier in that villain shot: the way the villains are handled in this OP.

This is a good OP... in theory. The problem is, it doesn’t represent half the arcs in the cour! Every shot of the League is so rushed that you can barely register that they were on screen before they’re gone.

I have no idea how many Episodes Endeavour Agency will take, but I’d assume 3 (4 if you count the Christmas episode). 12 episodes for this Cour minus 3 for Endeavour Agency = 9 episodes left. If we truly do get the prologue for the War Arc (and if we assume it’s only 1 episode) that leaves us with 8 villains episodes.

8/12 episodes (aka two thirds of the Cour) will likely be about the villains. And yet they’re pushed to the background so hard in this OP.

I want to dream, and I want to believe that this OP is going to magically change when MVA starts. The song fits super well, and I can imagine like an inversion of the OP but from the Villain side! Wouldn’t that be neat? Imagine right after the “it’s alright” part Shigaraki just freaking decays the title card... oh man that would be so cool. But, alas, I highly doubt they’d do that.

Side rant, but you know what was so fun about MVA in the manga? It’s that, for 21 chapters, we leave the kids behind and the villains become our protagonists. Suddenly Shigaraki is the one we’re rooting for, suddenly we’re learning backstories for everyone, and suddenly we find ourselves just as attached to the villains as we are to the kids. It’s an inversion that’s SO RARE to find, and I think many people (myself included) were hoping it would be reflected in the OP.

A big part of being the protagonist means featuring heavily in the OP, and a lot of us just wanted the villains to get that honour, even if only once. As is, the OP still treats them as the antagonists when... really they aren’t. Not right now, at least.

So yeah, final thoughts on the OP are that it’s good, it’s just not very representative of the arcs it’s supposed to cover. If this was just for Endeavour Agency, I’d say it’s actually really cool, but if we assume that this is what will play for the Villain Arc, then it simply doesn’t do it’s job. And it makes me sad to say that because, again, this OP is really well done.

If I had to rate it? Hmmm

If Studio Bones actually grants my wish and creates a different visual for the Villain Arc (while using the same song) and then this version only plays for the Endeavour Agency Arc and the War Prologue? I’d give it an 8/10. It’s really good, but it could use a few more elements that are clearly derived from the Agency Arc (ahem, Todoroki siblings).

But if this is the OP that will play for the entire Cour? a 6.5/10. It’s nice, but it’s not representative of one of the arcs it’s going to cover. And, unlike other arcs like Pro Hero or Summer Exams, the villain Arc is so important and takes up so much time that it honestly feels like a bit of a disservice.

Now for the Ending

I want to say that I appreciate how soft this ending starts. This cour will likely feature a lot of episodes that end on... heavier themes, and I think the sight of peaceful, falling raindrops is the perfect way to let the audience process their emotions before starting the ending in earnest.

The song itself is very nice, and I like that it’s a bit slower than the more recent endings.

(Side note, but the FUNNIEST moment in the entire series is when Sir Nighteye dies because it’s so emotional and everyone is standing around his bed in his heartwrentching silence, only for the ending to come BLARING IN out of no where. If you forgot how jarringly hilarious it was, go listen to the Eri ending and tell me that’s not the funniest thing this series ever did. Anyways yeah I’m glad that’s not gonna happen this Cour).

This ending is a bit all over the place in terms of it’s visuals, but honestly I think it works. Most endings usually have a theme tying them together (all the Class 1A girls, a fantasy AU, old photographs, planning a party, etc) but this ending’s theme is a bit harder to identify.

That being said, I think it’s just supposed to show everyone going about their day. It’s calm, it’s peaceful, and it’s just very sweet to think about

I like this shot. Actually, scratch that, I like this whole sequence. I enjoy anything that allows Class 1A to chill and have fun.

Hawks is featured quite heavily in this ending which, fair. He’s pretty important in this arc.

I really love the shot where Endeavour immediately switches to Hawks, I thought that was a lot of fun, and very good symbolism on how Hawks wants to be like Endeavour. I also love all the shots of Baby Hawks, because it’s adorable.

Something about this shot is just so cute. It’s the little domestic things like waiting for a bus that make this ending feel... idk the word, real? It shows a side of the characters that we’ll never see in the episodes, but we know have to exist.

Like yes, of course the kids have to wait for the bus. We never see it, but of course there are those moments of quiet. Agh, I love it.

The villains also make an appearance and I’m very happy about that (I’d love to see more of the villains just chilling around, I think they deserve it). I kind of wish they weren’t sitting in a dark room for the sake of being edgy, since I think it would be nice to see the villains just... sort of existing, but honestly it’s still a nice shot. I also like how this shot sort of mirrors the first one with Class 1A (someone coming in while everyone else is sitting and waiting for them).

That being said, as much as I love looking at Dabi and his stupid face (affectionate)... why is Dabi the one getting the closeup?

Mind you, endings don’t need to be connected to their Cours (they can be, like the Eri one, but they don’t have to be). But this ending does seem to be connected to the arcs it intends to cover, given all the Hawks appearances, the boys wearing their work study scarves, etc.

So, I ask again, why Dabi? Out of the six League members, we learn the backstory for four of them in this arc (Shigaraki, Toga, Twice, and we very briefly learn about Spinner). The only two left out are Dabi and Compress.

I can only assume they chose Dabi because he’s constantly in contact with Hawks, and therefore that makes him important? If the OP told us anything, it’s that Bones values the Endeavour Agency Arc over the Villain Arc lol...

... Oh my gosh please tell me that’s not actually the reason Dabi is focused on here BONES WAI-

Anyways, the ending comes to a close with Hawks watching over the kids and Endeavour. The relaxing time is done, it’s time for work studies.

Overall impression? It’s great. It’s hard to screw up an ending, so as long as you have something pretty on screen, it’s wonderful.

I’ll give this a 9/10

#bnha #bnha season 5 #dabi #keigo takami #bnha season five #katsuki bakugo #shoto todoroki #mha season 5 #mha season five #bnha op #bnha opinions #izuku midoriya #bnha hawks #ok to reblog #actually yes please do reblog if you found this interesting #I worked hard on it

[sydnam]

Nerve, with Mom

Ok kids here we go. The episode that gave me the glowy alien of my heart AND Scorpy. Can’t wait for Mom to meet them both.

Aeryn is trying so hard to not show weakness and then oops, coughing up blood and collapsing. Then she’s all “whatever I’ll just go die in my ship.” Poor Crichton.

John, meanwhile, refuses to accept this reality. And comes up with an early terrible plan. Don’t worry, he’s got years of terrible plans ahead of him kids! As do all of them. So many terrible plans. That somehow work. Somehow.

I like Chi volunteering to help and calling herself a talented burglar and distraction causer. I love her.

The fact that Crichton bluffs so successfully sometimes is mind-boggling. He’s not good at it but he sells it, somehow.

Chiana is so much better at infiltrating. But she would be.

SCORPY!! HI SCORPY!! The creepy noise on the soundtrack when he appears is suitably creepy.

The ominous music when they ask for genetic verification. And then he has NO idea what just happened but manages not to look surprised. Somehow. So does Chi but she has a better poker face, as she should.

Hey Gilina, what up? I feel like her reappearance must have been a shock the first time but I also think I watched these episodes before I saw a lot of earlier ones in season 1.

D’Argo quietly trying to buy Aeryn more time is so good. I love him.

I also love Gilina who is just such a good person in spite of being a PK. She just wants to do science.

A closeup on Scorpy. Mom: There’s some really weird looking people here. Me: You don’t think Scorpius is charming?

The Aurora Chair remains a scary torture device. Scorpy remains a scary villain.

Zhaan not giving D’Argo credit for the idea to save Aeryn is great. D’Argo not wanting credit is great. I LOVE THIS EPISODE.

What a way to find out a god-like alien stuck something in your head without your knowledge or consent. Poor Crichton. Alas, not the last time something will be stuck in his head without his knowledge or consent.

MY BOOOOOOOOY Hi Stark! I can still do a fine rendition of “my side, your side” My poor broken boy.

Chiana is tiny but somehow looks tall next to Gilina.

My boy in the chair. I JUST LOVE STARK SO MUCH.

Crais makes his, uh, triumphant return. Scorpy makes some nice vaguely threatening remarks.

You’d think Crais would be a more convincing liar. You’d be wrong.

“How will I know it works?” “You won’t get blasted out of the sky.”

Man, Gilina is really good at her job. Or at subterfuge. Both. FROONIUM! :D

And then Chiana literally roasts a guy. As you do.

Aeryn will live. Huzzah. And she and D’Argo have another little bonding moment.

Crichton will continue to be tortured.

Mom: Well, THAT guy’s not very nice. Me: You don’t love Scorpy? Mom: He’s gross Me: He actually will be more gross later. Mom: Oh good. Can’t wait. Me: It’s a 2-parter so, probably you should wait a week in between Mom: *laughs*

#farscape #farscape: nerve #making mom watch stuff for my own amusement #farscape with mom #mandy rewatches farscape

[lesbianholster]

In honor of Toby and Adil’s anniversary being today-ish, I present: a list of their top ten moments as ranked by yours truly

(which would have come with images but apparently tumblr’s being homophobic tonight)

Ten: Adil offering Toby a drink when he literally already has one (episode 5)

It may not be particularly explicit, but by God, it’s a fantastically ridiculous scene. Theresa’s being uncomfortably straight (or at least trying to be straight, but that’s a topic for another post), Toby’s dying in repressed gay, and Adil is over here offering a nice twist on buying your crush a drink. Like, he’s really going “back off, that boy is mine” but in bartender. Truly playing the long game here.

Nine: The end (episode 8)

No doubt extremely painful; I mean, Adil nearly d*ed and we get the most heartbreaking “I love you” in the entire show (already a hard bar to cross!), but still places because of Toby frantically running across London to save his love and because of how thoroughly this smashes the Bury Your Gays trope. Anyways can’t believe they made up and lived long enough to get legally married in 2013!!!

Eight: The entire coffee debacle (episode 4)

This scene isn’t overtly romantic, plus Toby’s too worried about his brother maybe being dead to appreciate Adil shooting his shot, but hey, it’s still nice to have a little confirmation of Adil’s feelings. Tragically Tom being a straight idiot kind of kills the vibe but also somehow improves it? In general, it’s just a nice “being dumb around one’s crush” scene with no uncomfortable implications!

Seven: Turning down Theresa (episode 5)

Even after running away, Toby’s still not throwing himself into heterosexuality, and Adil, clearly freaking out, allows himself a little smile, like maybe things will really be ok. Perhaps this isn’t the start of something beautiful, but it’s certainly paving the way for things to come.

Six: Adil leaving Toby’s room without an ounce of subtlety (episode 6)

Once again, this show manages to tastefully convey that They Fucked without showing them doing the deed, even if it’s in the stupidest way possible (though Adil buttoning up his jacket after leaving Toby’s room is pretty funny). Also that little damn cheek pinch is just so unnecessarily adorable and I could stare at it for hours. But alas, D’Abberville, being D’Abberville, just has to ruin it...

Five: This damn domestic bliss (episode 7)

It’s got it all: a thirst shot of Akshay Kumar showing off his workout routine, Toby lounging around in his little twink-ass dressing gown and being a total pillow princess, Adil checking him out and being all “short top rights,” the flirting,my God! This definitely would have been right at the top of the list had it not been for, uh, Later (see: D’Abberville ruining everything!!!). Let’s just pretend this scene ends early and we’ll be fine

Four: The first kiss (episode 5)

What a delightful scene! They’re all cute and playful while hiding from The Straights but also just blatantly dropping all of their braincells on the floor. Plus, Adil going all “on God I will kiss my crush on the clock” is a nice glimpse into his more impulsive side. Tragically Toby’s still very repressed so he has to run away to Figure Some Things Out once he accidentally realizes he was kissing back, but also points for this being the gay awakening. Congrats, you two!!

Three: “Oh, thank God!” (episode 6)

I mean, just look at it! Toby jumping Adil the first chance he gets! And worrying! And them both realizing just how much they really love each other!! The first appearance of the gay-ass dressing gown!!! “You were that worried about me, huh?” “Oh, shut up. You have no idea.” LIKE I AM EMO DO NOT TOUCH ME

Two: The Glass Scene (episode 3)

Ah, this. The moment the subtext finally became text. A moment so quintessentially gay I had to make it my icon. Flirting + the essential period drama shot of a closeup of two hands meeting + Joe knowing exactly what’s up = a classic. Also, it’s a rare moment of Toby being smooth and gay on main which is absolutely excellent! I only wish he did that consciously...

And, of course, coming in first is:

One: When they actually got together (episode 5)

My God, here we finally have the start of something beautiful! The heart-wrenching yet endearing monologue! The tie-fixing parallels! Adil calling him “Toby” for the first time!! The soft yet hesitant kiss followed by an enthusiastic and passionate one!! The utter relief and giddiness all over their faces!!!! Truly gays stay winning, happy fucking anniversary

#the halcyon #yael.text #this was gonna be prettier but eh. tumblr is a website #anyways i have class tomorrow at 6am so. this is as good as it's gonna be!!!

[rabm]

ranking the mob psycho covers from best to worst

 i love all the covers im just having fun. under a cut because this post is gonna be LONG

1. volume 8

this may be an odd choice but i fucking love the composition okay. as well as the orange details, i love a good orange. i love this cover, i’m not gonna be able to explain my perceived symbolism here but it really fits the tone of volume 8 in characteristic mundane fashion. also, mob presumably using his powers to keep the smoke off of him is pretty charming.

2. Volume 3

another nice mostly black and white cover. i adore the way ONE draws crows. i also adore the bold choice in drawing him taking out the trash as the cover. such a mundane task at front and center fits the tone of mp100 perfectly. also, there’s a cat. what more could you fucking ask for??? huh???

3. volume 1

the classic. the quintessential. #3 finally straying from the mundane. this cover is cool as hell! its exciting! you absolutely should judge this book by its cover because this book fucking rocks. 

4. volume 9

i love the framing in this one. him behind the snowman. ONE has really creative framing and i cant get enough. thats all i have to say.

5. volume 15

i love the color red its my favorite color thats why this ones ranked so high thats it

6. volume 2

the boldest color scheme of all the  manga covers, and this one made it into the season 1  intro!

7. Volume 14

this pics in a bit shittier quality but oh well. this cover feels like he’s staring into my soul even more so than the others. i trust his judgement! i also love rain so i’m biased. this is the volume where dimple fucking dies so it’s just setting the mood. blue pink and white.. that’s trans rights. very dark and muted trans rights, if that’s your thing.

8. volume 16

it’s a closeup of his delightful face. what else is there to say on the matter.

9. volume 7

how blase mob looks snipping away this horrifying tomato is hilarious and perfectly on brand.

10. volume 12

this is the cover that corresponds most obviously with the events that happen in the volume. ( edit: wait a second volume 13 is even more 1:1 what am i talking about ) that’s fine. i also adore the navy blue. but i dont really get mob’s pose, and the color of the title doesnt contrast very well. 

11. volume 10

i want to like this cover. i really do. the slime green is fantastic. but something about it bothers me. and sitting on a street lamp just doesnt seem like something mob would do. sir you are getting hit by lightning.

12. volume 13

i love how colorful and detailed this cover is. however it makes me think of steamed broccoli which smells gross and isnt very tasty.

13. volume 4

beautifully drawn and a very nice blue but i just dont get the fish. okay? why is it fish? why is the fact that it’s fish bothering me?

14. volume 6

the color scheme is VERY transgender, but other than that it’s just kinda boring.

15. volume 5

another cover that i WANT to like, but the colors are icky. also somehow manages to look less cool than other pics of mob with his hair flared out.

16. volume 11

feels bad to put another trans rights color scheme at the bottom but alas. i dont like the shade of pink, the clouds look crusty if that makes any sense, and i dont know what mob is doing. walking in circles. valid! but overall on the boring side

honorable mention: REIGEN

ugly bastard.

#mob psycho 100

[tanadrin]

The Vault

[Attention conservation notice: 6800 words, SF]

The car trundled uneasily over the stony road toward the dig site. Idalrea was a bleak landscape at the best of times: glacier-scoured barrens, lowlands inundated by cold seas, here and there thin expanses of soil in which mosses and bits of grass could occasionally thrive, and, of course, all of this under the unremitting polar sun. It should be hotter, Mazal thought. He always expected Idalrea in the summertime to be warm, and perhaps further inland, away from the moderating effect of the polar currents, it was. But here, even in the sheltered fjords of the northern isles, it was cool and overcast, a perpetual pale gloom. He remembered something vague from a book once, about evolution. They had arisen here, not in the isles, but to the south, in the sheltered place between Idalrea’s mountains and the coast. No wonder most of their species had sailed the world’s oceans in search of new homes in the millennia since. There was little to love in this gray land.

Of course, it could just have been that Mazal was in a bad mood. The car had a roof, but no sides, and he was cold and miserable, and the bouncing up and down was starting to make him feel sick. He looked over at the driver, one of Asala’s students.

“How much longer?” he asked.

“We’re just about there. Over this next rise, you’ll see it.”

Mazal did his best to stay calm. To keep his expectations measured, reasonable. He had dreamed of a day like this since he was a young man, since his earliest days as a botanist. And while he had always tried to couch his theories in the most cautious terms, to present only the narrowest and most thoroughly justified conclusions in the papers he published, he had to admit to himself that he nonetheless still nursed the wild, youthful dreams of those early years. He still hoped for some firsthand evidence of what he knew in his heart to be true--but he could wait.

The car climbed a low hill, a shoulder of a low moraine that abutted a stony outcropping, and turned a corner. Suddenly the view up the beach toward the head of the fjord was laid bare, and Mazal could see at the far end small figures in brightly-colored jackets moving around the beach. The gray rocky sides of the hills swept down almost to the water’s edge here, and where they met up ahead there was an immense pile of rock.

“There, you see it?” his driver said. “That’s the dig site. The door is just there, where the boulders are.”

Mazal leaned forward and peered through the dirty windshield. “I just see some people standing around,” he said.

“You’ll see it when we get closer, then.”

There was a hard bump as they went over some rocks, and Mazal gripped the side of his seat tightly.

“So are you the geologist?” the driver asked.

“What?” 

“The geologist. Professor Asala said we’d be getting someone from the geology department down here in a few weeks. You’re just earlier than we expected, is all.”

“No, I’m not a geologist,” Mazal said, a little irritated. “I’m a botanist. An agronomist, by training.”

“What, like you study farms?”

Mazal sighed. “Yes. Something like that.”

“Oh.”

There was a short, awkward silence.

“What are you doing here, then?”

Mazal laughed a short, low laugh. “I don’t know yet. I expect Professor Asala will tell me soon enough.”

It was true. It was a long, long way to come for something that did not, on its surface, appear to have anything to do with botany. Asala was a biologist herself, originally, and sometimes a friend--sometimes a rival--from long ago. But she had taken a turn toward archeology later in her career, and paleontology, and as far as Mazal knew, was happy enough to leave genetics and her impatient, late-night arguments with Mazal far behind. Then, he got a message from her.

The message had arrived when Mazal was in the Deserts with his students, on the ninth day of a genetic surveying trip that was supposed to last four weeks. It said simply: “Come to Bilaik’s Fall at once,” it said. And, “You were right about everything.” That was all. But it was enough for Mazal to call for an airlift to the coast, at considerable expense to himself, and then to arrange a flight south. It could only be about one thing, one argument, the only real argument he had ever had with her, the one that had contained everything she admired about him and that also infuriated her. It was, really, a question of time.

Every year, Mazal had a new crop of incoming students sit down in one of his classrooms, and every year he would stand up in front of them, and project a series of images on the big white screen in the front of the room. Two, or three, or sometimes four plants--roots, stems, leaves, fruit, flowers--side by side. And he would ask his students, what do these have in common?

This year, it had been an eager young man who had responded at once. “They’re all closely related,” he said. “Different versions of the same tree.”

“Correct,” Mazal said. “You wouldn’t know it to look at it, but each of these plants is in fact part of the same species; they’re just ordinary apple trees. Not hybrids, not genetically modified. The apple tree is very widely distributed, and different farmers in different countries have, over time, developed varieties better-suited to the local climate, or to whatever use they intend to put their apple crop. As you might do with any food crop, or any kind of livestock, or even decorative plants like garden flowers.”

“Which one is the original one?” a student sitting a row or two back asked.

Mazal smiled. The question anticipated the next point he wanted to bring up. “The one on the far right,” he said. “Found only in a single valley on the Gaderun coast. It is very nearly extinct. Alas, the wild plant seems to have evolved for cooler, wetter conditions than now prevail in the region; it is only its more specialized offspring that survive, although they flourish in many different regions.”

He brought up a new image.

“Now look at these,” Mazal said. Closeups of the heads of stalks of wheat. He pointed to the one on the left. “This is a large-kerneled grain, with a slightly shiny outer covering. A tetraploid strain--it has double the amount of chromosomes its ancestor had. This one, here, is single-grain, an ordinary diploid species, with hard outer husks. And this one, one of the most commonly cultivated grains in the world, is hexaploid. Rather uniquely, each of its three sets of chromosomes seems to come from a different ancestor; it is a remarkable example of hybridization.

“This class will be about genetics, so let me ask you a genetics-based question: if I asked you how you might go about figuring out which of these was the original species, how would you do it? Obviously, the hybrid is out.”

“So are the polyploids,” the eager student at the front said.

“Yes, so are the polyploids.” He touched another button; a dozen new species appeared on the screen.

“These are a selection of diploid varieties. There are many more. How would you go about sorting them?”

“The most common one?” someone suggested.

“All that means is that it grows well, or that people like the taste. No, that has nothing to do with it. What else?”

“Compare it to wild varieties?”

“You could do that, if you had any wild wheat to compare it with. As it happens, we don’t. Whatever grass wheat originally derives from is now extinct.”

“Then compare them to each other,” a woman in the back said.

“Go on.”

“Find out what genes are common across all of them. Find out what genes are common to one or two or three. Try to group them together. Create a taxonomy.”

“Yes. Yes, that would work quite nicely,” Mazal said. He flipped to the next slide. A tree-shaped diagram. “This, as it happens, is a reconstruction of the taxonomy of diploid species of wheat. There is some fussing about the margins with the details; plants can hybridize, which can create problems for creating clean family trees. Can you think of any other use for a diagram like this?”

Quiet. It went on long enough a couple of students started shifting in their seats.

“Find out… how old they are?” the woman in the back said tentatively.

“How might you do that?”

“Well… developing new varieties of a plant takes time. You would have to, I don’t know, guess how long. Try to judge how many differences in the genome accumulate over how long. I guess it would be easier in wild plants, since people aren’t constantly trying to breed different strains.”

“Indeed. And genetic chronology is used to great effect in the study of non-domesticated organisms as well. It is not a precise method of measurement; sudden environmental change can drive rapid bursts of diversification in nature just as the intentional creation of new breeds of plants or animals can among domesticated species. But rough approximate bounds can be given. It is those that are my particular area of research.”

The next slide was a map of the world.

“As it happens, genetics and cladistics are not the only line of evidence we have to rely on. Geographical distribution can indeed be of some help, as long as we take care to make sure we are comparing more basal varieties rather than less. It was just such a technique that helped an earlier generation of botanist track down the wild apple, deep in Deserts no one had ever settled.

“A conundrum arises with wheat, however, one I think you will all appreciate. We have no wild variety to study, nor even any good candidates. The most basal strains are all rather similar to one another genetically, and it’s not clear which came first, if, indeed, any did. One or two show startling adaptations that we struggle to explain from an evolutionary standpoint: for instance, a species naturally resistant to certain phosphonic-acid-based herbicides which only entered common use about forty years ago. One strain, found only on a small island in the Garral Sea, and which is otherwise genetically unremarkable, glows in the dark. No convincing explanation for this adaptation has been advanced.

“That leaves us only the technique of genetic chronology, to at least attempt to determine when these species diverged.”

“When did they?” another young woman asked.

Mazal smiled a small half-smile. He reached over and switched off the projector, and walked slowly to the podium. He leaned against it for a second, gathering his thoughts.

“This is where I must be honest with you all,” Mazal said. “I have, as you are no doubt aware, a bit of a reputation both in this college and in my field, as someone with rather… unorthodox ideas. My methods are not the problem. My methods are all strictly by the book, and I go only where they take me. Unfortunately, they have, in the past, led me to conclusions others have regarded as absurd or impossible; and where they have concluded that therefore the methods we rely on must in some way be faulty, I have, instead, preferred to ask: what if they are not?”

Mazal folded his arms and looked at his class intently.

“I will, so long as you are taking one of my classes, endeavor to make sure you learn the skills and information necessary to excel in your chosen area of study. I will, without reservation, present to you scientific consensus and refrain from injecting my own heterodox opinion--unless asked. And I shall most certainly highlight that my own conclusions are not shared by the majority. This is not because I do not have faith in them; it is because I would be doing you all a disservice to pretend that my perspective is the only correct one. With that rather elaborate caveat, I will now answer the question I was just asked.

“The orthodox answer is this: we do not know. Genetic chronology methods are uncertain at best, and due to the fact that some easily hybridized species have convoluted genetic histories, and that among plants more horizontal gene transfer is always a possibility than among animals, some families, like that of wheat, cannot have their genetic histories clearly reconstructed from the evidence we currently have available. If you encounter an exam question on this topic in six months, that is the answer you will be expected to give.

“If, however, you use the formulae and the other lines of evidence normally pursued for this kind of reconstruction, you arrive at a rather remarkable conclusion: that wheat was domesticated about five hundred thousand years ago. You will no doubt object that our species did not exist five hundred thousand years ago; nevermind build cities, conduct agriculture, or domesticate crops. To which my response would be, as it has ever been: yes. The only possible answer, then, is that it is not our species that did the domestication.”

The reaction that year was very subdued. Some students were amused by the provocative argument. More than a few were skeptical. No one, of course, took it at face value. Mazal, they all knew, had crazy ideas. Mazal believed in aliens. If Mazal weren’t a well-respected geneticist, with dozens of solid accomplishments under his belt, they’d have shipped him off to the loony bin ages ago; but his crazy was confined, his crazy could be controlled, and set aside when it had to be. He could be trusted to teach the undergraduates, anyway. And that was the compromise Mazal had always made with himself: he would yield. When confronted, he would back down. But it had taken its toll on him over the years. So when Asala had said, “You were right,” what else could he do? He set a course for Idalrea. As fast as he could possibly go.

The car came to a halt in front of a knot of tents, temporary structures, and big earthmoving machines, all the normal signs of intense paleontological activity. Mazal had seen Asala’s travel pictures before; this was nothing new. What was new, was the soldiers. They were doing their best to be unobtrusive, carrying only pistols, hiding their uniforms under dull windbreakers. But they still stuck out. He looked over at his driver. She motioned to Mazal to wait; as soon as they saw the car, two of the soldiers had started walking nonchalantly over to them.

They greeted the woman with a nod, and one of them asked Mazal for his ID in as friendly a tone as he could manage. Mazal took it out.

“You’re Dr. Asala’s friend?” the man said.

Mazal nodded.

“Very good. She told us you were coming. Right this way, sir.”

Mazal followed them through the camp, to the place where the rubble-covered slope met the beach. Between two great boulders there was a deep, dark cleft; the passage of many feet had worn a path leading into it, and the soldiers stopped just outside. One of them took out a radio and spoke into it.

“Dr. Mazal is here. Can someone come out and meet him?”

There was a scratchy, indistinct response that apparently made sense to him; a few minutes later, the graying head of Asala emerged from the crevasse. When she saw Mazal, she smiled.

“You made it,” she said.

“I did,” Mazal replied. “Now, would you kindly explain what I’m doing here?” He eyed the soldiers on either side of him.

“Oh, don’t mind them,” Asala said hurriedly. She waved him forward, toward the crevasse. “I think someone in the government got spooked when we mentioned what we’d found. They’re just here to keep an eye on things.”

“I thought you dug up bones for a living?” Mazal said.

“Yes. And sometimes, I find other things.”

“Has this happened before?”

“Well… no, not exactly. Come on, come on. You’ll be glad you came, I promise.”

Mazal followed Asala tentatively; as they moved underneath the rocks, he realized that the summer sun outside had made it seem darker than it was. Someone had strung some lights along the floor, illuminating the mouth of a large cave. More light shone from inside, and cables snaked out to a generator humming away by the entrance. Asala strode confidently forward, and Mazal followed.

“The whole coast is dotted with caves like these,” she said. “We’re pretty far south, but we’re not so far from the Basseron Islands, the place where our species probably first evolved. So we were here looking for bones, early tools, anything that would tell us more about our place in the tree of life, about what sort of hominids might be our closest ancestors.” Beyond the entrance was a large chamber that seemed to branch off in several directions. Only one was lit up, though, and that was the way Asala went.

“Yes,” Mazal said. “I’ve read that that’s a rather persistent mystery in your field.”

“Quite. One I’ve always been interested in. But the genetics angle bore no fruit, so I had to get my hands dirty.”

“So you’ve said. Why am I here?”

“Because,” Asala said, “I think we’ve finally found something. Not the answer, maybe, but an answer. An important one. And I think it’s one that backs up something you’ve been saying for years.”

“You don’t mean my work on drought-resistant potatoes, do you?” Mazal said dryly.

Asala laughed. “No. I mean the one we used to fight about.”

“What was you said when we were still students? You’d never heard such a stupid idea in your life before?”

“Something along those lines, anyway. I don’t think I was that harsh.”

“You were pretty harsh, as I recall.”

“And you were always so sensitive.”

If he were a younger man, Mazal might have been offended; instead he rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” Asala said. “We’d been exploring caves along the coast. We found this one six weeks ago, and we were pretty excited. There was some evidence of fire-building near the entrance, something that might have been the remains of cave paintings. We thought we’d do some digging around, to see if we could find any stone tools or animal remains that looked like they’d been butchered. Maybe some bones, if we were lucky. We did find some. Watch your head.”

They ducked through a low passage in the back of the chamber, coming into a small, roughly cylindrical room. It might have been cut by the passage of water, or hewn very patiently by many hands working over many years, but the thing in the middle stopped Mazal short. Dirt from the cave floor had been dug away, and a perfect, rectangular hole revealed beneath it. A hatch.

“The difficult was this,” Asala said. “We carbon-dated the bones. They’re about fifty thousand years old. Definitely some ancient cousins of ours. But they were found in the dirt six inches above that. Which means, that hunk of metal you’re staring at is older than that.”

Mazal wanted to laugh. “And older than any city or any known civilization on the planet.”

Asala nodded. “Unless the historians are really holding out on us.”

Mazal squatted down to peer at the hatch more closely.

“Is this steel?”

“No,” Asala said. “We’re not sure what it is. It looks like metal, but it might not be. We haven’t sampled it yet, but it seems to be some kind of high-strength alloy or advanced metamaterial. I have an engineer acquaintance coming to look at it.”

“So you haven’t opened it?”

“What? Of course we have. There’s a button.”

Asala reached down and pressed something in the dirt; there was a metallic clang, and the hatch swung open. There was more light below; Mazal could see a ladder.

“Come on,” Asala said. “Down you go.”

Mazal began to clamber down rather warily. “You know,” he said as he climbed, “the bones could have been moved. This could be a hundred-year-old bunker from the Polar Wars. Or somebody’s idea of a practical joke.”

“We thought about that,” Asala said, “because we’re not idiots.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean--”

“No, I get it. Don’t worry. You’ve always been cautious, in your own way. You want to exclude all the mundane possibilities. Well, look, nothing in this life is certain. But if it is a hoax, or a secret cult hideout or something, it’s one that’s had every inch of dirt on top of it carefully arranged to look as authentically old as possible. It has had more dirt and bones and even some dessicated ancient plant seeds that corroborate reconstructions of the local climate from tens of thousands of years in the past scattered down the first hundred feet or so of hallway.”

They reached the bottom; Mazal could indeed see that the floor of the corridor here was rather dirty; someone had carefully marked out survey grids all down its length, and a very narrow footpath had been cleared down the middle.

“Watch your step, by the way,” Asala said. “You never know, we might have missed something. This way. So yes, it might be a hoax. A very, very good hoax. One that involves some dedicated conlanging, no less.” She pointed out something on the side of the corridor, barely visible in the rust and the darkness. Definitely letters, letters that Mazal could not read.

“They’re all over the place down here. Other things, too. What might have been books once. Also carbon-dated, by the way.”

There was a feeling in Mazal’s arms and shoulders and chest that he had not felt in a long time. A feeling like electricity, or pure heat. A feeling of ridiculous, childlike excitement. He did his best to ignore it. They continued down the hallway; after only a few dozen meters, the floor became merely rusted, here and there exposing small patches of bare rock. Whatever this place was, most of it was subject to ordinary decay.

“How big is it?” Mazal asked.

“Not sure. Some cave-ins have blocked of some parts. There’s a lower passage that’s flooded. A shaft that was probably an elevator once, but a lot of the ancient machinery is either non-functional or rusted into a single giant lump.”

“Not all of it?”

“Not all of it. To your left.”

They turned, and the corridor began to slope gently downward. Mazal could hear voices ahead; the corridor opened into a large, round room, the size of a lecture theater. Lights had been set up on stands, to illuminate the walls, which were covered in intricate figures and dense markings. People were milling around, taking photographs, making notes. At the far side of the room was a single immense monolith, with a surface that seemed to have been polished to a shine. Mazal inhaled sharply.

“Gods above and below,” he said quietly. “What is all this?”

Asala smiled. “Something intended to last. It’s built out of the same stuff as the hatch.”

Mazal walked over to the wall to get a closer look. The markings were clearly writing of some kind. He had no idea what. He ran his fingers over the surface. They were deeply engraved. Geometrically precise letters. Intended to be read. But by whom?

“Come here,” Asala said. Mazal followed her to a section of the wall that was recessed slightly, with different markings than the rest. She put her hand on one, and pressed; the wall slid slowly to the side, revealing a high, narrow passage behind it. She stepped just inside, and pulled something out, handing it to Mazal.

“Careful,” she said. “It’s very cold.”

She was right; Mazal had to grip it in the ends of his jacket sleeves to hold it. He turned it over in his hand. It was a long, thin metal plate, the length of his forearm and perhaps three fingers wide. On one end, etched into it, was an image of a plant: the head of a stalk of wheat. Beside it, a series of small pictures he didn’t recognize. And in holes, down the length of the plate, small glass vials, deeply set into the metal. Inside them were seeds.

“Seeds of wheat,” Mazal said.

“Not just wheat, if the pictures are anything to go by. Other crops, too. Soy. Rice. Some fruits. And what look like genetic samples from animals. It’s like a library.”

“A library that’s fifty thousand years old?”

“Much older than that, if we’re right. Some of the illustrations on these walls are star charts. Mazal, this place could he hundreds of thousands of years old.”

Mazal leaned against the wall, his mind spinning.

“You probably can’t germinate the seeds after all this time,” he said to himself. “But if they’ve been kept cold enough, dry enough… you could sequence their DNA. You could recover the species. If they’re unknown species. Ancient cultivars. Oh, goodness.”

“Mazal!” Asala said. “Don’t you understand what this means?”

“What?”

“You were right, you idiot! There were people on this planet before… well, before people! Before our kind of people, anyway! They built this place. I don’t know why. Maybe some kind of safeguard against disaster. It didn’t work, if that’s what it was. But you were right!”

Mazal smiled. “Yes, I was, wasn’t I? My wife will be so happy.”

Asala laughed. “You should be gloating right now.”

“I’ll do that later,” Mazal said. “I want to know everything first. Everything you’ve found out.”

“Asala!” someone called from the far end of the room.

“I promise you, Mazal, I will be happy to share. Let me take care of this, and we’ll go up. I can show you the notes and video we’ve taken so far.”

Mazal nodded, still leaning against the wall for support. Asala went to go see what the fuss was about.

After a few minutes, he felt like he could stand again; his limbs still felt weak, like a rush of adrenaline had just worn off, but he couldn’t stay still. He paced back in forth in front of the walls, trying to will some sudden understanding to leap out at him. Finally, he came to the monolith in the middle; he ran his hand over the surface. Smooth and cold, like everything else. He bent down to examine where it met the floor; only the tiniest crack showed. The same near the wall; it seemed to pass back, into whatever lay behind it. He went around to the other side. That was curious; there was a depression there, a little niche he couldn’t see inside of. He looked back over his shoulder; Asala was talking energetically to two young men. He shrugged, and stuck his hand in the hole, feeling around.

The sides were smooth, but the bottom was slightly rough. There was something there, and with his fingertips he could trace out five troughs, radiating from a central depression. Like a handprint. He pressed his hand into the hand-shaped hole, expecting nothing. He nearly fell over with shock when a cool blue light shone from within. He jumped back, and looked up at the monolith.

Nothing happened. Well, that was a relief. He turned and walked quickly over to Asala. She was saying something to her colleagues about work schedules; then when she saw Mazal, she paused.

“Mazal, what’s that? Over your shoulder.”

Mazal turned around. “What’s what?”

“I could swear--is something different with the pillar?”

“The pillar?”

“That’s what we’ve been calling the big metal thing. No idea what it is. I thought for a second it was moving.”

“That’s odd.”

Then there was a noise like an enormous machine stirring to life, and the monolith--the pillar--lurched forward. Mazal yelped; someone dropped something. As they stood there entirely uncertain about what to do, the smooth metal surface opened in a hundred places, unfolding like a flower; inside, surrounded by the same blue glow, was an immense figure.

It was held nearly in the standing position by the cradle it lay in. It was at least twice as tall as Mazal; its body nearly hairless, its limbs long and delicate; but the hair on its head was dark, and shot through with gray like his own, and something in the cast of its features was still recognizable to him. And was it Mazal’s imagination, or was it… breathing? After a moment, everything was still again, and the light faded; and Asala turned to the two men.

“Go get a doctor,” she said. “And find Kolek. Now! Go now!” They scurried off. Mazal and Asala approached the figure slowly; when its eyes opened, they froze. They were brown, and bright; and they looked from Mazal to Asala and back; and then the figure moved--and collapsed, gasping, to the floor. Asala rushed forward to help it stand. It looked up at her and spoke in a deep, rolling voice, words that Mazal could not understand. He approached more cautiously, and laid his hand on the giant’s shoulder.

“Erm… it will be ok. You’re safe,” he said, in what he hoped was a soothing tone. “You are in Idalrea. Underground. But everything is fine. I think.”

The giant spoke again; but all Mazal could do was shrug. It reached up with a hand, and touched him on the back of the neck; Mazal felt a sudden, sharp pain go through his head, and he fell to his knees.

“Mazal! Are you all right?” Asala said.

The pain passed as quickly as it had come; and then the giant spoke to them in their own language.

“Forgive me,” he said. “That is a dangerous technique. But I wanted to tell you--I mean you no harm. You are safe.”

“Funny,” Mazal said. “I was about to say the same. You--you understand us now?”

The giant nodded.

“I am Mazal. This is Asala. Do you know where you are?”

“Yes,” the giant said. “I recognize this place. Though a great deal of time seems to have passed. Tell me, are the glaciers gone? Have the seas swallowed all our cities? Is anyone left besides me?”

Asala looked at Mazal nervously. Mazal felt as though an immense weight of time was suddenly bearing down on him; as though he was staring into the darkness of the deepest sea. You old fool, he thought to himself. Did you ever really think about what it would mean, if we were the second, the inheritors, the after-race? Did you ever think about the ghosts that we left behind?

“You are… perhaps alone. We do not know of any others like you. We did not know of you, until you… appeared before us.”

The giant nodded. “The sarcophagus was not a technology my people had much affection for. My willingness to endure it was considered strange by many. Tell me, how long has it been?”

Asala shifted nervously. “We don’t know,” she said. “We didn’t know this place existed until a few weeks ago. We have only just begun to study it. Perhaps you could tell us what you remember from before?”

The giant nodded. “It was winter. The skies were dark. It was so bitterly cold. We took several days to cross the ice, until we came to land. This continent we called Antarctica. Most of it still covered in ice. A desert, hidden beneath a glacier. We descended until we came to the vault; the others with me, they had some records they wished to add to it, in case our people returned. In case the danger passed, and they could begin to rebuild. I did not have so much faith. I wished to remain behind. So I did. I thought… in truth, I thought I was choosing death. But I was afraid to die; and better, I thought, to lie down with the hope, one day, of resurrection, than simply to throw myself into the sea. I did not really think this day would ever come.”

“Your people built this place?”

“It is one of several. Three in the south, two in the north. A place of records. A place to keep the seeds of life, if we should ever be able to bring back what was lost.”

“The records are intact,” Asala said. “You succeeded.”

Tears formed in the giant’s eyes. “If the records are intact, then we failed.” He shifted to a sitting position, and leaned back against his sarcophagus. “My people never came.”

Mazal did not know what to do; he sat down next to the giant and laid his small, hair-covered hand on the giant’s bare palm.

“What were your people called?”

“We had many tongues. In my own, we were called human.”

“We--in our tongue--we call ourselves the Padirek.”

“Padirek. Yes. I would have known you under another name. How long ago, I wonder.”

“If the glaciers still covered Idalrea,” Asala said, “many hundreds of thousands of years.”

The giant--the human--nodded. “That would make sense.” He sighed. “Even then, I think, we knew that we were doomed.”

“What happened?” Mazal asked.

“Many things. But most of all, the world changed around us. The side effects of our technologies--the exuberance of our collective youth, I suppose--came far more swiftly than we anticipated. By the time we marshaled the determination to confront that change, we could not stop it. Only hope to alleviate the worst of its consequences. The ice was beginning to melt here even then. The glaciers were retreating. They had vanished almost everywhere else; this was one of the last places cold enough to keep the vault, at least for a few hundred years. If the glaciers are gone, then so are the cities of my people.”

“Forgive me, but I thought… I have long speculated, anyway, that there once existed a people on this world with very advances sciences,” Mazal said. “Knowledge of genetics among them. Your people, they must have been. I am surprised that so powerful a people as yours could not adapt.”

“Are you?” the human said. “We tried. Some of us. Some of us preferred to hide away in their arcologies. Others, I heard, sought the stars. We had lost so much by then already. The seas were rising, our farmlands were drying out, so many kinds of bird and beast vanishing around us… many simply preferred to let our people dwindle away. To go quietly.”

“Why would they ever choose that?”

The human smiled. “You did not see the Earth in her younger days, Mazal. You did not see the green plains of Africa, where my people were born. You did not see the shining cities of the east, or the great engines we built to work our will, and you did not see us lose all these things, as the deserts came, and the seas rose, and life became harder, year after year. By the time I lay myself down here, our world had been diminishing for a long, long time. Long before I was born. I suppose… I suppose we all felt like the world had grown old. That our time was done.”

“But… but that can’t be,” Mazal said. “It isn’t. At all. The world is young. The universe is young. There is so much to build, to see, to do…”

The human touched Mazal’s cheek. “You have no idea how much joy it gives me to know that you feel that way. I said I knew your people once. When I was a young man, I visited the colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula. The place that was a refuge for one group of scientists working on their hope for the future. A new hominid. A new kind of mind in the world--one very like us, but, they hoped, perhaps with fewer of our faults, and more of our virtues. None of them expected to see their work bear fruit. Perhaps it never did, while our people still lived. Perhaps it was only thousands of generations later that the work they began bore fruit. Or perhaps it was only nature, and not them, responsible for your birth. But you live! You are here, speaking to me! And you still hope, and you still dream, as we once did. I hope that you do so forever. Ah!”

The human seemed to contort momentarily with pain. After a few seconds the agony passed, and his body slowly relaxed.

“Are you all right?” Asala said. “I sent for a doctor. Perhaps he can help, I don’t know.”

“Perhaps,” the human said. “There is a reason that the others shunned the sarcophagus. I think I was not one of the lucky ones.”

“Don’t worry,” Mazal said. “You’ll be all right. We’ll make sure of it. You have no idea what it means to me, to have wondered for so long if there was another people that was first… and now to meet one of you.”

“What makes you think we were first?”

“Weren’t you?”

“God no. Oh, perhaps we built the first cities. I don’t know. But we weren’t the first users-of-tools. We weren’t the first masters-of-fire. We weren’t the first hunters, or the first speakers-of-words.”

“Who was first?”

“We had cousins. You had cousins. Older kinds of human. The ones of the Neander. The Upright Ones. The Cunning.”

“These are your names for them?”

“Yes. Something like them, anyway. Your tongue… is very different from mine.”

“There is so much we can learn from you,” Asala said. “If you are willing to teach us.”

“I am afraid that will not be possible,” the human said.

“I know your world is gone,” Mazal said. “I know… I know this is a very hard grief for you. I can’t imagine what it’s like, to wake up after all this time and know that everyone you ever loved, everything you ever valued, is so… forgotten. But our people would welcome you, if you wished to live among us. Not just for what you can teach us. Not just for what you represent. We know what loss is like, even if we do not know yours.”

“You are kind, little Padirek,” the human said. “And I would happily share the legacy of my people with one like you, but I am afraid--ah!”

The human cried out this time, louder, and bent over double; when the pain passed, he spoke with ragged breath.

“I am afraid,” he said, “that my time is short. That it was only ever my fate to be a ghost in your world.”

Now Mazal’s eyes began to fill with tears; he took the human’s hand in his, and gripped it tightly.

“Help is coming,” he said. “Very soon. You are not a ghost. You are a man who lives and breathes, who has lost much, but who may yet gain many things. There is no grief above or below the sky so immense, that it precludes joy forever. Not even grief for a whole world. Even if we are the only legacy of your people, your people did not live in vain. I promise you that. I will show you. I will show you what we have done while you have slept. I will show you the great city, which sits above the immense falls, whose streets are filled with rainbows. I will show you the university where I work, where we study the earth and the stars and the secrets of life. I will show you our libraries, our paintings, our poetry. If we are your children, then these are your legacy, too.”

“Don’t cry, Mazal,” the human said. “Not for me. You don’t understand--you don’t know what this means to me. I thought the world would be silent, when we were gone. I thought--ahh! I’m sorry. But it doesn’t matter.” He leaned back, and closed his eyes; his breaths were now short and ragged. Mazal worried he could no longer talk over the pain; but after a moment, he spoke again.

“There may be other testimonies besides this place. Look in the mountains to the south. And on the Moon. And perhaps the planet beyond. More records of who we were--of what we did--than one man. I hope they are still there. I hope you find the answers you are looking for in them.”

“We will seek them out together,” Mazal said quietly.

“Yes,” the human said. He began to breathe more slowly; Mazal reached up and wiped the thin film of sweat from his brow.

It was only a few minutes ents later that they heard voices from further up the corridor; then the sounds of many feet, running their way. But the human was still; and when Mazal released his hand, it fell limply to the floor.

#tanadrin's fiction

[moviestorian]

Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl 1982 concert (Hot Space Tour) LIVEBLOGGGGGGGG

As promised! :) Initially I was supposed to go directly from Montreal to Wembley, but dear @his-majesty-king-mercury convinced me to do Live at the Bowl before, and I’m glad she did!

Background: The concert is dated at June 5, 1982. As I wrote in the title, it was part of the Hot Space tour and was initially supposed to be played at Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. A day before the gig Freddie had a nasty fight with his then-boyfriend who had bitten him between a thumb and forefinger.

Let’s begin! - ugh Hot Space - but hey, it's gonna be fun! It's Queen, and Queen always puts the bestest live shows! - oh wowzie, this is mah first liveblog since April, long time not seen right? - my pizza's ready, my coffee's ready, my dip is ready - I think I can start watching now - Ooo wow, this concert lasts an hour and 43 minutes? I would die if I had to play on stage for that long - I can already feel the enthusiasm!!! The ENERGYYYY - FLASH AAAAAAHHH AHHHH - they're leaving the plane and look so hella cuuute - oh hi Crystal! oh hi Phoebe! Great to see you all! - gotta say... Freddie's outfit is fabulous. - Brian: plays the guitar and jumps the Crowd: HELL YEAH - I'm only 3 minutes in and my current mood is: fuck the critics whoever trashed Queen and disrespected their music skills - WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU - I love the fast version, slaps 100 times harder than the studio version - Deaky looks awesome in blue, I mean I already noticed that when I watched Rock Montreal, but let me reiterate - It's only been 5 minutes but let me tell you...not enough zooms for Roger - Freddie's in a good shape and form... not that I'm surprised - ROGER - cute red little scarf on mah boi's neck - THE FIRST FREDDIE AND ROG INTERACTIONS, I LIVE, I'M HAPPY - "hello everybody" "hey hey hey" good time to miss Freddie - Action This Time... Anyone surprised that it sounds better live than on the album? - ROGER'S VOCALS HOTDAMN - Brian's hair is floofy as usual... why am I acting like it's an unusual thing - I really really miss hearing Freddie and Roger together... POWER DUO - the synths get introduced... I neither love nor hate it tbh - okay not Queen related but the pizza is not bad, for a frozen one - Freddie, you feeling too hot for that jacket? And you Deaky, too? Get undressed, babes, I certainly don't mind - Play the Game! I love this song... Also Freddie playing on a piano is a blessing to us all - He really puts his soul into this one... Bless this man - Brian's backing vocals always sound so soft... My tenor angel - THANK FRICKING GOD THE SYNTHS IN THE BACKGROUND ARE BARELY AUDIBLE - LOL FREDDIE - he put a towel on his head I'm XDDDD what a legend - this and the famous plastic bag is a thrilling saga - AAAAA YOOOO - LMAO at Freddie throwing his...water?beer? at the audience - *Hot Space apologist speech* :P - we're at the funky part, I guess... - Brian and John's synchronized movements :)))) - ah okay it's Staying Power... I forgot what the song sounds like - Roger in black... I'm swooning - Roger has a nice closeup view on Freddie's butt, I mean back :D - This is not bad, but I'm gonna bet that I'll forget what this song sounds like again in less than two hours - John's haircut is cute and adorbs :D - OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - Somebody to Love!!!!!!!!!!!!! - The intro...sounds so sublime, soft, and raw at the same time - I love that it sounds slightly different, depending on the concert - This is really emotional... We shall see how it goes, but so far it surpasses even the god tier Montreal version! - Forgive me for not saying too much now... I'm fully sunk in the sheer beauty of this sincere performance - Love Roger's drumming and the crowd clapping to the beat! - "I like it" ME TOO FREDDIE - I wish we could hear Roger a tiny bit better! I love the crescendo part - That was beautiful :') - Now I'm Here!!!! asjgashasashjgas - I love it when they perform it at higher speed - The jumping crowd fairly represents what my brain cells currently look like - I hella love Roger's drumming in this song - well not just this song but y'know - Freddie...what was that??? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THAT FINGER??? - hehe you can tell that Brian's very into it :D - Brian trying to get Roger's attention... Rog is, however, fully dedicated to his drums :D - Freddie lying down after the song is a post-exercise or post-dinner mood - "Let's play a game" YES SIR - yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah - "Go pretty boy, go" I'm SOFT - hear that bassline? YES ME TOO - (it's Dragon Attack if anyone's wondering) - Freddie Mercury: lead singer AND fitness instructor - wish I could make some screencaps, alas I'm watching this online so it would take too much effort so here we are - Fred, let BRIAN PLAYYYY nooo don't distract him! - out of context those cuts and shots look like John is jealous of Freddie and Roger XDDD this is gif and meme worthy (around 39 minute) - btw probably no one is interested because you came here for the Queen concert liveblog, but I got my period and I'm starting to feel it - IT SUCKS - ooooo Brian speaking! His voice is so soothing, I could listen to him all day and it would probably calm my nerves - acoustic guitar...I'm already in - WHY SO QUIET THOUGH - Love of My Life, I'm cry - Everyone's singing along from the very first line... this is beautiful - Everyone united by this song's pure beauty :))))) I'm not crying you are - Do you sometimes think about Brian playing the acords for this gorgeous track and there is no Freddie sitting beside him? - Yeah, I hate myself for that thought too - I might be a little bit emotional - No wonder it was this particular song was the one that finally convinced Bri's father to FINALLY accept his son's career - Brian's gentle smile I'm :') :') :') - *clap clap clap clap* SAME - We're at Save Me now... Are we doing a crying compilation or what? - This is almost as bad as the Queen Forever album I recently bought.. TOO EMOTIONAL - Don't get me wrong, I ADORE Save Me - But this is too much - Almost 50 minutes in and Freddie's voice is still STRONG AS A BELL - Remember what I said about the "fuck the critics" mood? Yeah the mood is back - Even the cute Roger/Freddie interaction almost makes me cry I'm agsahjhsAAAAAAAAA - I need a more lighthearted now BLEASE - I'm a tough cookie but when I have Queen feels very little can help! - Is this Back Chat? OH GOD - Please bring me back to the crying mode, I DIDN'T MEAN THIS - (I'm sorry Fidan and all the Back Chat fans over there, I'm not a huge fan of this song :-*) - We get a nice view on Roger's back, though *Lenny face* - The synths sound like a main theme for some mystery-drama tv show from the 1980s XDDD - I forgot how long this song is... - Get Down Make Love *insert Lenny face again* - Okay I gotta admit... lyrically this song is a mess and borderline cringey in the first verse, but I really like it musically - I GIVE YOU HEAT - I GIVE YOU MEAT *three Lenny faces* - Okay, let's just listen to the song and pretend we all forgot the English language, maybe? - That mid parts always makes me feel like I'm about to be abducted by aliens - Thank God I don't do drugs, I would start thinking I might be hallucinating - I assume that Brian's guitar solo starts now? - Nice intro! - And Roger gets time to breathe, the boy needs his oxygen - Actually, this may be one my favourite of Brian's guitar solos? - Brighton Rock :))))))))))))))) - Brian's hands are very pretty - oh noooooo - an error? - poor Bri - that disappointed guy who screamed "No" when the guitar stopped playing :D - thankfully he issue quickly got solved! - hi Roger, nice to see you back <3 - It's Roger's time to shine! - YEs, Under Pressure! - The Montreal version is gonna be hard to beat, though - Let's see - uu I like Fred's red jacket! - ...do you have any shirt underneath, though? Naughty boi - he does not LOL - "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH" - let me tell you again...Roger's mic is definitely not turned loud enough - This is great but still, I prefer the Montreal one - That beer always amuses me XD - Freddie, you want us to slap your ass? - Oh no, he's just announcing Fat Bottomed Girls XDDDD - "I was just a skinny lad" the editing team: cuts to the camera angle which shows Brian first and Freddie after him - Roger's "oooh" is funny because he's really into it :D :D :D - Freddie is now a pole dancer, he changed profession - The crowd, always cheering when Freddie gets undressed :P - I sense Crazy Little Thing Called Love incoming! - yes it is Crazy Little Thing! - Freddie's joke about the three guitar cords XDDD - This song always slaps - "she drives me crazYY" - ReAdY fReDdIe - FREDDIE PLS STOP FCKING YOUR GUITAR - this is pretty - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY YEAH - he sounds so soft :)))) - and now so raw - "Momma UwU" - can't unsee this fricking meme now ajsdhjgdhjds - My favourite guitar solo :')))) - they actually played the video??? - I miss spaniel haired Deaky tbh - *instense drumming* *fireworks* - Oh Brian is wearing this cool shirt he also wore in Montreal! - jumpy Deaky...too bad you can onnly see him from the distance - GONG - that was sexy - Roger hitting that gong in the black outfit is sexier than shirtless Rog hitting the gong, change my mind - TIEE YOUR MOTHER DOWN TIEE YOUR MOTHER DOWN - There's only some 15 minutes left... The time always passes so quickly when I'm watching a Queen concert - Another One Bites the Dust! I've been waiting for thiiiis - Deaky: happy jump - He knows it's his time to shine - wait a second, when did Roger change his shirt? - I need a good closeup - Freddie be like *imma slap my thigh now* - ooo I see Roger's Japanese shirt now! It's pretty cool! - Brian looks great too - Those flashing light are kinda migraine-inducing, thankfully I don't have an aura today - SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER heartattack - Looks like Freddie is flirting with Red Special :P - they're going absolutely crazy XD - WE WILL ROCK YOU DRUMLINE INTENSIFIES - LOL the sombrero on Freddie's head :P - ups mr editor dropped a frame - And now we're truly heading towards the end... I'm gonna start associating We Are the Champions with farewells soon - Well done, boys - I know I say it every single time - But you can't stress this enough - :)))) I'm glad I did this liveblog - They look exhausted but very satisfied :))) - Bye bye!

Next time I’ll be doing Wembley 1986, hopefully soon!

Tagging all the people who expressed their wish to read my ramblings. :) Enjoy!

@his-majesty-king-mercury, @x5vale, @radio-ha-ha, @mephisto92, @39-brian, @melisa-may-taylor72, @silapril, @kitty-rushes-in, @lydiannode, @an-abyss-called-life, @litsy-kalyptica, @importantmuggoophero, I hope I didn’t forget anyone! ^^ Comments are nicely welcome! :3

#wera talks queen #liveblog #milton keynes 1982 #queen at the bowl #long post

[uijaejin-blog]

hello! it’s han and yo boiii -- the resident magician -- jaejin! here are jinjin’s pages: profile, bio, powers, plots (will edit a link to his plot pages once i get them finished)

his pages are relatively short so everything you need is there, but alas, do not worry i shall provide a tldr under the cut as well as a few plots! also if u’d like to plot just give this post a heart and i’ll dive into ur dms!!!! i have discord just ask for my user <3

bio//

bb jaejin was orphaned a few weeks after his birth when his powers started manifesting (things exploding when jaejin cried) and news broke out about the miracle babies possibly being dangerous.

birth mother decides to drop him off at an orphanage -- no note, no name, no anything.

the lady who owned the orphanage took him in and gave him the name jaejin. she was nice and the kids were her priority. life in the orphanage was pretty easy for baby jae except for the random exploding things since that shizz put him in a place where he couldn’t hang around as much with the other kids #lonelyboy.

baby jae was quite the eyecatching little baby, adorable with beautiful eyes that had spots of magenta in them. seeking parents were easily endeared by him and being adopted was a piece of cake.

but the thing is yo boi is a literal baby boomer, so when he would cry or be in stress, things would randomly explode and parents dont want that! so they return the poor baby.

this goes on for years on end and broke jinjin’s wittle heart ;n; , at a young age he started to question himself and feel like there’s something wrong with him.

true enough that usan has made quite the rounds on national tv, but the orphanage lady did not have the heart to give away jaejin. she believes that he needs to experience having a family and that there’s a family out there for him -- jaejin thinks otherwise, no one wants him.

that’s what he thought up until he was 6. yo boi finally gets adopted for the last time!!! WHERE ARE THE PARTY POPPERS??? WHERE IS THE CAKE?!?!?!?! a woman in her early 30s adopts jaejin and is perfect and most loving person he has ever met with 2 other adopted kids. turns out she is an advocate for the oct.1st babies and actually works for usan (then). additionally his adopted siblings turn out to be oct.1st babies too! it was the perfect family and jaejin loves them to the moon and back.

usan becomes his home and yo boi finally has a family :(

sidenotes// just a few things i thought are important to mention

so jaejin’s power is molecular speed manipulation. if you’ve watched og charmed it’s the same with piper halliwell’s. so to simplify he’s basically a remote control lmfao he can pause, fastforward, slowmo molecules with a bonus catch on fire or make things explode button. may it be living or non-living as long as they’re made up of molecules. he’s lowkey pretty much inspired by piper halliwell from charmed and gambit from xmen.

is a big baby -- 6ft tall but still a baby.

loves magic so much that this dork got a whole education at an online magic school to be a magician. i--

has a pet he loves very much his name is joe. ITS HIS LONG ASS METAL STAFF. legit talks to it and pets it, sometimes even sleeps with it. he just wants a dog!!!!! SOMEONE GIVE HIM A DOG PLS I BEG U.

he’s a happy little bean but don’t be fooled he’s really sad on the inside he just doesn’t want to show it because he’s learned that there are fewer accidents that way.

H Y P E R -- questioning it really, if the reason being is all his molecules are sped up.

he’s very into skinship and loves hugs and cuddles -- it makes him feel warm.

does magic professionally -- does shows regularly at a bar and occasionally does street magic when he can. also isn’t afraid to randomly approach usan peeps to do closeup magic. i think it’s his way of saying hello. mayhaps have asked someone in support team who specializes in weapon tech to make him smoke bombs just so he can have a grand entrance and exit.

plots// a collection of connections and plots. these are pretty vague and all i can think of at the top of my head! we can always work on it and tweak it!

a bff he can do all sorts of things with! has been there thru the ups and downs and legit fam to jinjin

other orphan/s he might have met at the orphanage. this might need a bit of more plotting since the orphanage lady doesn’t believe in sending the miracle kids at the orphanage away to usan.

someone he annoys the hell out of because he’s a dork that loves magic and constantly bothers u.

u trip holding food/drinks, fortunately, jaejin is there to pause everything and save u from a nasty accident.

jae’s having a bad day, cue explosion. u see it or hear it and u find a little balled up jae crying.

u love jaejin’s magic tricks so jaejin loves u.

someone who legit doesn’t like him? maybe because they’re jealous of his family? he accidentally did something wrong to you? etc.

u find him talking and petting his metal stick staff -- things get awkward.

go out and grab a snack at the cafe or go out partying ayyyyyyyyeeee caution: u will have an extra clingy jinjin sooooooo.

HAN RIVER PICNIC PLS WITH STAR GAZING!!!!!

karaoke time??? mayhaps???

o also! 2 of jaejin’s adopted siblings a free to rp i just didn’t have the time to apply for a connection thing yet. so if ur looking to just let me know!

THIS GOT LONGER THAN EXPECTED I AM SORRY :( THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TLDR LMAO

#cherrybomb.txt #cherrybomb.img #usanintro #I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! #let's give a hand to joe!!!! LMFAO

[livvyplaysfinalfantasy]

After the 4.3 main scenario formally ends, there's one more phenomenal quest that single-handedly changed my faith in the trajectory of XIV's main scenario.

It begins with the Scions taking stock of what they've recently learned. Because Yotsuyu summoned Tsukuyomi through a Kojin relic, Y'shtola has agreed to go to the Far East to learn as much as she can about Doman aetherology and religious artifacts to help prevent summoning. Thancred, meanwhile, has determined from questioning the gravekeepers of Bloodhowe that Zenos' body was "interred under strict supervision," but that his corpse was likely stolen at the time his grave was defaced. Thancred believes that the likeliest conclusion is Ascian involvement, given that an impostor would have had to mislead even devotees like Asahi, but that there's no telling just how many Ascians there are or how deep their "infestation" is.

The story then shifts to Alphinaud in the present, flying with Maxima over the Burn. The Burn is an area that apparently was addressed from very early on in the summoner quests: it's a land on which so many summonings have taken place that the land has been completely stripped of aether and devoid of life.

As Alphinaud and Maxima discuss the history of the Burn in a Garlean context - Solus, the founder of the Empire, was said to have looked upon the Burn and there condemned the summoning of primals - the airship suddenly comes under attack from unmarked magitek vessels and is shot down from the sky. Alphinaud and Maxima and some others survive the crash, but they're stuck out in the Burn alone, and things don't look good.

For the little duty that follows, you get to control Alphinaud with a simplified arcanist spellkit. This is the first and by no means the last time this happens in Stormblood, but it was such a special thing when it happened for the first time.

At first, you as Alphinaud heal what soldiers you can find trapped under rubble. But more soldiers appear, speaking of orders from Zenos. When the soldiers in magitek circle back around to finish off the survivors and it seems all is about to be lost... a mysterious stranger appears at the edge of a cliff to shoot down one of the attackers with a gunblade.

This stranger and his two subordinates lend himself to the fight, and it's clear he's incredibly strong. More importantly, he wields the abilities of a Garlean legatus. That means that from this glance, the possibilities as to who this man could be are very slim.

Once the battle is over, the man declines to provide a name. He says only that he and his fellows are hunting Ascians, and that he can be called Shadowhunter. Yet he recognizes Alphinaud as a Scion of the Seventh Dawn on sight.

Menacing Mercenary: I have some small... history with your order.

Upon my first watching, I knew with that line that he could only be one of two people: Gaius van Baelsar or Regula van Hydrus, both of whom had experience with Ascians, wielded the ability Terminus Est, and are currently believed dead.

And then, as Alphinaud and Maxima make the choice to trust their newfound ally rather than struggle to survive the trek into imperial territory, there's a closeup at 15:45 on the numerous masks of Ascians whom Shadowhunter has so far taken out: three minor Ascian (black) masks, two of the major twelve Ascian (red) masks... and a white mask that once belonged to an old nemesis.

Shadowhunter is Gaius van Baelsar.

Gaius van Baelsar is alive, and hunting Ascians, and helping Alphinaud Leveilleur make it out of the Burn.

And after years of fans wishing that we could retroactively know what Gaius van Baelsar looked like throughout the core story of Final Fantasy XIV, it's here revealed that he has been a brown man all along.

The way in which this scene was laid out - the political intrigue, the dramatic twists, the incredible bombshell knowledge of Gaius being alive - gave me hope that the rest of Stormblood's story wasn't going to be completely horrifying. There's something to be said for XIV's propensity for reviving (mostly male) characters from near-death or even full-death situations... but to be honest, I didn't even care by this point. The idea that our oldest adversary now shares a common goal with the Warrior of Light, and presumably for valid reasons, is still enough to excite me. I'm absolutely not a Gaius apologist; I've made it pretty clear throughout my various playthroughs that Gaius' twenty-year reign as Ala Mhigo's viceroy was full of horrific cruelty despite him supposedly being "not as bad" as other Garleans, and that legacy both before and during the events of 2.0 are emblematic of imperialism. And yet while the skeptical part of me is fairly certain that the story to come will almost certainly conveniently overlook more of Gaius' past actions than is responsible for a story about an empire, I'm still excited for the implications of us possibly working alongside Gaius van fucking Baelsar of all characters. For someone who started at 2.0, it feels like we're going back to the beginning in so, so many ways.

The scene then pans back to the Scions in the Rising Stones at that point, and to be honest I didn't catch anything of what was said when I first wrapped up this quest on Ahtyn because I was too busy screaming at @thecat-inthehat​ on Discord. Thancred acknowledges that he will have to go into the Empire if they will have a chance of aiding Alphinaud from afar, and although Alisaie and/or you insist on accompanying him, he makes it clear that he'll be going alone. And so Alisaie is left to wonder as to her brother's wellbeing with only you to comfort her.

#LPFFXIV:S

[swordmaid]

I’m really a dinosaur who has invested lots of time on Austen adaptations and I’ve seen pretty much all of them, like even really old ones and own the fucking dvd’s. Truth is, most of the heroes are damn ugly in them. Charming, yes, but ugly. They even managed to ugly up young Ewan McGregor and he was a dish in his youth. I’ll go and rock in my ye old rocking chair and do some thinking about young Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Even Snape was an Austen hero once.

omf that is SO unfortunate . i think if they had like , a prettier looking guy to play as the lead ill be more interested but alas i dont like watching closeups of men who’s supposed to be like , hella attractive but he looks like a sims townie to me 

#maybe im just too much of a lesbian for this !!! #if im dissing ur faves sorry !!! i just dont find ANY of them good looking !!! #anonymous

[jacked-kirby]

#JackedKirby - Mister Miracle, Escape Artist Extraordinaire!!! 💥💥💥 Looking back at Jack’s master stroke of the 4th World, Mister Miracle, it is hard to believe that these series got canceled so unceremoniously. They are just chock full of incredible visuals... and excellent stories to boot! 💥💥💥 Take this awesome opening splash from Mister Miracle #Issue12 from February of 1973. Scott Free is strapped to a torpedo, flying through the air over the ocean... his restraints on his neck, chest, arms and legs are just so over the top!!! How else would Jack have done it??? It has to be an IMPOSSIBLE situation... 💥💥💥 As the story continues with Page 2 of the book (pic 2/3) we get an insane visual of the torpedo submerging itself under water as it speeds towards its target... with Mister Miracle strapped on along for the ride towards doom!!! I love Kirby’s use of energy lines to illustrate the torpedo moving through the water as Scott busily tries to free himself from this horrible predicament!!! 💥💥💥 As Oberon and the soldier look on the torpedo meets its mark and explodes... and they begin to morn for the loss of a hero!!! But alas, Mister Miracle has gotten free and is floating in the waters below!!! They fish him out using a hook, and we get an awesome panel of Scott waving triumphantly as he has escaped death once again!!! (Bottom of pic 4, closeup in pic 5). 💥💥💥 #JackKirby #KingKirby #Kirby #MisterMiracle #ScottFree #KirbySplashPage #EscapeArtist #NewGods #4thWorld #DCComics #Comic #Comics #ComicBook #ComicBooks #70sComics #ComicsOfThe70s #IGComics #ComicsOfIG #ComicsOfInstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BuSQyk7BW61/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=elob04icvm6h

#jackedkirby #issue12 #jackkirby #kingkirby #kirby #mistermiracle #scottfree #kirbysplashpage #escapeartist #newgods #4thworld #dccomics #comic #comics #comicbook #comicbooks #70scomics #comicsofthe70s #igcomics #comicsofig #comicsofinstagram

[elementroar]

So, about Strickler’s ‘wings’…

I’m relatively new to the Trollhunters fandom. I actually was kinda disappointed with Strickler’s troll form, and got more disappointed after finding out he had wings in his original concept art, because that really helped his overall design.

But I realised something in the concept art.

It’s not obvious, but there is a bunch of fur on Strickler’s back that is set on-top of his wing joints. You can see a few strands raised up in his side profile, and a bit on the back of his neck in the front shot.

Meaning that here:

That’s not them abandoning the wings design for a cape. His wings were always his cape, ala Gargoyles.

When he wraps his wings around himself like that, the fringe of fur that was on the back of the wings curls into the complete ringed fur collar.

But his wings completely loses any wing-like definition, like any actual bones or cartilage, when as a ‘cape’ in the concept art. And I think it has to do with the metal clasp in the front he has that’s also in his final design.

There’s nothing fully certain in the show about Changeling glamours and form changes, but since we have NotEnrique being small and baby-sized, and overall Strickler and Nomura not being that much bigger from their human forms, then the glamour or transformation they are doing seems to have certain physical limits.

My theory is Strickler’s wings naturally stick too far out from his body for his human glamour to work (like knocking into things with invisible wings situation). The clasp helps to magically force his wings to ‘soften’ and become like a cape that he can keep tight around himself.

But this is just a theory. They went and gave him knife-feathers instead of fur too, which are either his natural ‘feathers’ or he added to his outfit, honestly it could go either way. Also the closeup textures of his cape make it look very much like a regular leather cape.

Plus say he does have wings, then I would expect Angor Rot chasing him to be a good emergency situation to actually use them and fly away from Angor.

Although this does feed into my second theory - that in Strickler’s backstory the Gumm-Gumme deliberately broke the bones in his wings to make sure the human glamour works, and Strickler refashioned the useless membranes into a cape.

Also would like to add this other bit of concept art:

This looks like really early troll designs that don’t follow the kind of design they finally decided on. Notably the top 2 look like proto-troll-Strickler a bit with the matching fur collar, horns and bat-like wings. I actually think they’re proto-Stalkling designs.

And I have a theory that Strickler was spliced with Stalking DNA of a sort, because Stalklings are one of the few trolls with natural immunity to sunlight, and the Stalkling has the same sort of horns and bat-wings like concept art Strickler, plus the solid stone-feathers around its neck like Strickler’s knife-feathers.

Could be the Stalkling’s final design was meant to reference Strickler’s original design, but I think having another troll-type immune to sunlight with the same horn placement and the same ability to fly like concept-art Strickler is too much of a coincidence. But this may be an abandoned plotpoint in the end.

Sorry for the wall-of-text but basically

TL;DR: Strickler wrapping his wings like a cape around him is in the original concept art, not speculation. Only speculation is whether they truly abandoned this design concept, or will we get a surprise ‘he can fly?!’ moment in Season 2.

#trollhunters #stricklander #strickler #walter strickler #dreamworks #concept art #animation

[varaeya]

Reya plays Midnight Cinderella: It’s like that restaurant where you don’t remember much about the meal but at least you didn’t hate it?

Yeah, that’s Albert’s route.

Confused? Check out the masterpost. Previous update? Over here.

I don’t have much time to write this but I really want this up before the weekend AND I honestly don’t remember much about the route anyway SO let’s see what I’ll actually word vomit out.

I think my biggest impression of Albert is that he was designed to be the geek/Spock trope option of the bachelors ‘cause glasses and awkwardness. Except that they failed. Yes, he has glasses. Yes, he’s awkward with his emotions. That’s about it. I don’t know whether or not I should be happy that they failed to fulfill the trope.

{Image: Closeup of a disapproving Albert by the grand staircase that leads to the entrance of the palace. It is nighttime. The narration text reads, “His eyes were cold as he stared down at me.”}

That picture happens when our princess tries to sneak out right after she’s been chosen princess elect ‘cause she wants to explain what happened to her student Matilda (CYBIRD NAMED SOME RANDOM SIDE CHARACTERS IN A SIDE STORY COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO THE MAIN STORY BUT THEY COULDN’T BOTHER TO NAME THE STUDENT THAT’S MENTIONED IN EVERY ROUTE so I named her because names have power). This time around, our protagonist trips into Al’s arms. He knows who she is but she has no idea who he is. He accompanies her on her carriage ride to town because I guess the writer(s) needed an excuse for him to berate Aria in a manner that shows how stoic he is because geeks/nerds don’t know how to effectively express their emotions and empathise with the opposite gender, amirite

{Image: Closeup of a disapproving Albert inside a carriage. He’s saying to Aria, “Taking risks by acting on fleeting emotions is not something a ruler should ever do.”}

They totally tried to model Albert after the “Spock” stereotype. Here’s why I think they failed: there isn’t much to differentiate him from the other bachelors apart from getting embarrassed easily and being awkward with his emotions. He works hard? So does every other bachelor. He knows a lot of stuff? So does every other bachelor. There’s nothing terribly interesting or relateable about Albert. He’s just a more awkward, stern version of the bachelor clones. Therefore, I shall dub him the Wannabe Geek. Al, you could’ve been so much more interesting. Alas.

Anyway, to Aria’s credit, she actually rebuts Albert, saying, “If I know that that [sic] my actions will hurt someone I loved, but I do nothing to prevent that hurt from happening--then I believe that I have failed not just as a princess, but also as a person.” Not a terribly well-crafted argument on why she wants to visit Matilda, but as I’ve mentioned before, that’s okay. She doesn’t have to start off being perfect at debating. Also, @cyikemen do you need a copy editor? I don’t charge much >.>

Wannabe Geek is surprised by Aria’s response because?? Has he never had anyone disagree with him before? Pretty sure Nico disagrees with him all the time, not sure why he’d be surprised by the princess talking back.

The main conflict of this route is that, excuse me while I get myself some alcohol. Yes, that’s it. The main issue is that I wasn’t drunk enough while playing MidCin. I mean, drink responsibly, folks.

The main conflict is that um, I forget. Hang on. Er, there’s, uh, this small but vocal group in Wysteria that’s completely opposed to any relations with Stein and will go to any lengths to make sure the two countries have nothing to do with each other. I think.

So, like, I vaguely remember mildly enjoying the first half of Al’s route and... I’m drawing a blank here. I think I kind of liked the first part of the story because of this:

{Image: One of the special pictures you get in the story. This one is a closeup of a concerned and blushing Albert holding Aria to his chest. The narration text reads, “Albert’s fingers twined in my hair, gently pulling me towards him.”}

I’m not sure why I like this pic. I suspect it’s because it actually looks like the Albert character sprite. I don’t know what it is about the other special photos in the game that make the bachelors look like aliens masquerading as the bachelor they’re trying to imitate (I’m looking at you, Byron the Babyface). This is not just a cybird issue; lots of other VNs have this problem.

*squints* Hey, waitaminute, Al’s usually wearing gloves, where are his gloves in that CG?? Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t remember him taking them off in this scene?

That pic happens during the princess coronation ceremony. Some Wysterian dude is mighty upset that the king of Stein is there and tries to attack. Aria sees him approaching the Steiners and runs over to try to stop him because we’ve very clearly established that our protagonist has no common sense whatsoever. Wannabe easily neutralises the threat and guards take the dude away. Al notices Aria trembling and holds her, then awkwardly lets her go when she calms down. In the meantime, peeps be going bonkers ‘cause of the attack.

{Image: Closeup of Albert in the town square. On the right is a grand church and on the left is a grand building of sorts. There is multicoloured confetti everywhere. Albert is saying to Aria, “You are the only one who can calm this uproar.”}

Now, I keep saying that MidCin should show rather than tell, and here’s one example of them telling instead of showing:

{Image: Text of Aria saying, “Please, everyone! Please calm down. I realize there’s been a small incident, but everything is under control now.”}

{Image: Narration text that reads, “I continued to speak reassuringly until the entire crowd was calm.”}

Apart from her initial words, we don’t actually get to see how our princess calms the crowd. We don’t get to see what she said to reassure everyone. Then not long after, she is praised for how well she calmed the crowd, if I remember correctly. Stuff like this happens all the time, which irks me to no end.

This is why I much prefer Cinderella Phenomenon. The protagonist does things. I won’t spoil the story but I have to say that one of my favourite CGs from an otome is a scene in Cinderella Phenomenon that really showcases protag in action and subsequently her growth as a character. Except for a few instances, we’re only told that Aria’s become a better princess. That’s terrible storytelling.

I gotta wrap this up for today but before I go, have an outfit pic:

Also, also, thanks for putting up with my inconsistent posting! I really do appreciate those of you who’ve stuck around and actually read what I have to say! <3

*UPDATE* Next post is up!

#Reya plays #midnight cinderella #otome #games #visual novel #VN #mobile games #spoilers #albert burckhardt #Wannabe Geek #review #shameless advertising #drink responsibly #oookay there's apparently a drink remove belly fat tag??? #wtf #inconsistent art #surrounded by incompetents #can i just express how much i hate sans-serif fonts #showing vs. telling #bad storytelling #Cinderella Phenomenon #has a far better story #and you should play it instead

[lollipoplollipopoh]

The Amazon's Tech Warriors | | Al Jazeera Close Up by Al Jazeera English While the Amazonian basin is most often touted for its biodiversity, there are also hundreds of indigenous tribes that live in the rainforest. Many of these tribes are under direct threat of displacement by resource extraction and deforestation. To this day, 70 percent of the Ecuadorian Amazon has been leased to oil companies, and plans have been set to auction off more land. One of these areas includes a large swath of Waorani territory, labelled Block 22 by the Ecuadorian government. The territory is home to 18 roadless Waorani communities, including hundreds of medicinal plants, hunting routes, cemeteries, battlegrounds, watering holes, and a huge diversity of flora and fauna. Six years ago, the Waorani decided that they needed to map their territory as a means not only to prove their rightful ownership of the land but also to document the rich biodiversity of their territory and the wisdom of Waorani elders for future generations. Over four years, the Waorani used hi-tech GPS technology, camera traps, and drones to map out 180,000 hectares of their territory. The maps include almost 10,000 GPS points. Oswando Nenquimo, a native to one of the communities in Block 22, has dedicated himself fully to the project. He travels between the 52 Waorani communities, teaching GPS techniques and facilitating the mapping process. Just like most of the population, Oswando is adamant that the story of Waorani land be told by its own people. As the threat of deforestation and potential displacement continues, Oswando and the Waorani people plan to continue mapping as it is an important tool to fight natural resource extraction in their territory. In November 2018, the Ecuadorian government paused their current plans to auction off Block 22, but the fight was far from over. In 2019, The Waorani decided to file a lawsuit against the Ecuadorian government, which they later won on April 26th, protecting half a million acres of land in the Amazon forest, on which the Waorani have lived for centuries, guaranteeing the continued protection of their land from being earmarked for oil drilling. Director: Julia Muldavin Assistant camera: Joel Heim Editor: Andrew Phillips Producer: Ala Alhussan Logistics: Alianza Ceibo Translator: Nemonte Nenquimo Executive producer: Andrew Phillips Additional footage thanks to Amazon Frontlines Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://ift.tt/2VchWLx Check our website: https://ift.tt/2Kamtb7 #AlJazeeraEnglish #CloseUp #TechWarriors

#youtube #video #news #aljazeera

[mrmichaelchadler]

Bullitt County

"Bullitt County" has more talent than sense. This thriller from writer/director David McCracken about four friends getting into a heap of trouble in the Kentucky mountains circa 1977 owes a huge and unabashed debt to the Coen brothers, to the point where the movie's PR material felt emboldened to compare itself to "No Country for Old Men." And there are, in fact, several moments when you can't help but think of the brothers' mordantly funny kidnapping pictures, especially "Fargo" and their debut, "Blood Simple." The problem is the script, which isn't up to the level of the filmmaking—much less the acting, by a crackling ensemble of new and established players who deserve to become better known as a result of their work here. 

At the center are four friends who decide to visit their favorite distilleries on the bluegrass bourbon trail, retracing a course they embarked on ten years earlier. While stopping by a personally significant distillery (one that's since been converted into a beer place, alas) they hear of a stash of bootlegging loot that's supposedly buried in the Bullitt County woods, and decide to go find it. And as you can imagine, things don't go as planned.

Intertwined with their treasure hunt is a personal story about guilt, sin and repression. The film's main character Gordie (Mike C. Nelson), a Vietnam veteran, is afflicted by PTSD—not from his military experience (he got sent home before he saw action), but from something horrible that happened to him stateside a decade ago, in the company of the trio he's traveling with now: Robin (Jenni Milear), a guitar-strumming wiseass; her even bigger wiseass of a boyfriend Keaton (David McCracken), who always seems to say and do the worst thing at the worst time; and Wayne (Napoleon Ryan), a soft-spoken Englishman who mostly hovers on the periphery and interjects commentary on Gordie's choices, and whose look and body language faintly recall a young Art Garfunkel. 

Along the way, the group meets eccentric locals, played by character actors who make their roles pop even when they have a couple of scenes or a handful of lines. The performers go the extra kilometer to make every character's choice feel spontaneous and real, even when they're just doing whatever the movie needs them to do to set up the next big moment. The most impressive are Richard Riehle and Dorothy Lyman as an older married couple who offer hospitality to the foursome. They have John Ford faces.

McCracken is a sharp director of uncomfortable conversations and emotional assaults as well as beatings and killings. He, his cinematographer Sean McDaniel, and his editor Kevin Del Colle always try to present things in a way that's elegant and surprising but not pointlessly showy, in the manner of a classic Hollywood movie from a time when every camera move, even in bad films, was meaningful, or tried to be. My favorite occurs when violence erupts in a small room, and the movie holds on a long closeup of a shocked, blood-spattered character in the foreground while the kitchen window in the background forms a frame-within-a-frame that other major characters gather within.  

Unfortunately, this is a textbook case of an otherwise assured movie outsmarting itself. The details of Gordie's trauma are doled out gradually, by way of flashbacks that don't fill in the whole story until the final scene, at which point we're treated to a twist that would be shocking if we hadn't seen it done over and over during the last couple of decades. The movie takes a story that could have been horrifying and sorrowful—part treasure hunting thriller, part lament for moral cowardice, in the vein of a great Coen brothers thriller, or a backwoods tragedy like "Deliverance" or "A Simple Plan"—and makes it seem shallow and gimmicky, by piling on commercial screenwriting cliches. 

It's a shame, because McCracken has real directorial chops, and his cast does fine-grained detail work—Nelson especially. His dyspeptic, volatile, wounded performance somehow channels both Paul Giamatti and the young Jack Nicholson. Even when the movie defeats itself, he's in there turning a bundle of contrived storytelling cues into a witty, grotesque, self-pitying, scary man. Gordie's story would have held our attention if we'd been privy to the source of his anguish from the start. The deeper we travel into the maze of "Bullitt County," the more you may wish it had settled for being a straightforward character drama with suspense trappings, instead of a puzzle-box movie. The cast and crew have an American classic in them, but this ain't it.

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