#all his poetry and letters suggest that he would hate to have his work analyzed and so i just wanna push his psychic energy

[asherlockstudy]

I get that interview was HBO forced but it sounds insane when last season, he was saying Jaime needed to get away from her for good. I mean no nice post about Gwen after the last ep. I dont believe it was about not wanting to stir the hornet's nest if him and B didnt get together as he posted a huge loving one about Lena and that was a very controversial part of the plot. If hed know posted a gwen one saying"sorry JB didnt get a happy ending but here's me and Gwen in happier times" i dont get it

I think it’s very weird too…Imma analyze it. Not that I’m gonna reach any solid conclusion but I will just lay out all my thoughts.

Whatever the reason Nik doesn’t post or reply publicly to Gwen is, it has nothing to do with his personal preference for Braime or Jaime x Cersei. Even if we make the insane assumption that Nik appreciated that Jaime dumped Brienne to return to murderous Cersei and die with her without serving any purpose in the main plot (what lead actor of 8+ years would ever like being unimportant in the ending plot) and saw “pOeTRy” in it, it still doesn’t explain why he should prefer posting about Lena over Gwen. We would be naive to think he made a post about Lena and not Gwen because he prefers Cersei to Brienne. So, we still have no clear evidence of what Nik’s private thoughts and feelings are for his character after the ending. 

Here’s what we have: 

We have two interviews: one with HBO rofl and one with that journalist who collaborates with HBO and was an insider (I’m not gonna search his name) in which he stans Jaime’s choices, his love for Cersei and the tragic poetry in it all. Then we have him promoting the episodes and the documentary in his instagram and twitter, however he is entirely emotionally detached from his character and his fate. I would say he lowkey looks entertained in his weird af episode promo videos and secretly amused while filming the “thank you” video after the last episode where he says “Come on, it was great” and suggests a petition for an Arya (huh?) sequel.

We have two videos uploaded on yt with him: one is a video of a stalker in which Nik looks uncomfortable and passes the question to the random guy next to him who apparently happens to be a GOT fan, have an elaborate opinion on the last season, hate D&D and think they threw away Jaime’s beautiful character arc. What are the odds…The second is a skit in Jimmy Kimmel in which Nik drags his own character by making him stupid and clumsy, a sad little being because of his maiming and, most importantly, an unrepentant sister fucker. All of Jaime’s worst qualities displayed for laughs, plus that he’s actually a likeable but very stupid person. The skit ends with a dragon randomly burning him and his family alive and those credits

So, we have straightforward criticism towards D&D by Kimmel and NCW actually participates in it. This is what this skit means - that this level of writing, this kind of lame character and that ludicrous death is something that only Benioff and Weiss would like to produce. And, well, the Olsen sisters (although I think they’re cleverer than that). 

So, we have two videos where NCW’s intentions are dubious AT BEST. 

Then we have all the promos. When left to speak on his own, Nikolaj would say how the ending was beautiful and made sense and he once mentioned he sent a letter to thank them for this genius plot…Right. But then when asked or caught off guard (1:04): 

Nobody tries to sugarcoat it, look at the title of the video: … NCW is ‘happy’.  Then of course we have our Lady and Saviour Gwen who tries not to laugh as Nik struggles to find what to say and not just stand up and flee.

Also, this one. The best one: 

I could make a thousand gifs for this but just watch again the entire video:

0:07 - Gwen’s face when Nik says he thought the script was fantastic

1:13 - “N-no..NO!!!” when asked if he would change something in the ending and Gwen’s reaction to that. Then, our leader Gwen proceeds to mock him: “So, it’s an immaculate- It’s immaculate?” to which Nik impulsively replies: “NO!” and goes on “do you ever read a book and think you want to rewrite this?” which implies, that yes he would want to rewrite it but knows he can’t. 

(3:03 - 3:06) - VERY IMPORTANT ONE. When Gwen wondered who was closer to predicting the actual ending, Nik says “I was, yeah” and OMG look at Gwen’s face. It’s very subtle but she’s trying to communicate with her eyes a “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT” to him without being seen by the interviewer. It’s kind of a wife done with her husband’s shit look tbh, that level of subtlety. And Nik answers back with his eyes in equal subtlety and it’s like he says a “What? I truly was right lol….”. To me, this seems to mean that Nik always knew or feared that D&D would eventually destroy all his work and was eventually proven right. Unless this all is about Dany being killed by Jon but I doubt at this point Nik and Gwen cared enough to go all cryptic and eye communicating for this. No, it was about them. 

3:09 - Nik is surprised and then clearly amused at the information by the interviewer that Kit was the one who came closer with his prediction. He can’t hide his smile and says an ironic “good for him” while looking knowingly at Gwen who then says this must be a lie. This shows that it is known amongst the actors that most of them are disappointed and Kit was one of them. Both Nik and Gwen apparently knew Kit hated his ending too and would never expect this to be how the show would wrap up. BTW that writing and that backlash really got to Kit, I hope he recovers soon. But think about this, Kit went into rehab for stress and alcohol, Emilia was devastated and gave a somewhat concerning interview and Nik’s public behaviour regarding GOT is inconsistent and unpredictable. I am thus assuming the writing of the final season and the backlash fucked them up way more than they let on. 

This interview is a gem but here’s the most important part, perhaps the core of what baffles us: 

1:32 - After all the miserable no-nos poor Nik mumbles, Gwen tells Nik what we all think: “I think it’s just a question, you know? Maybe you want to answer it?”

Of course he’s in a total loss for words. Literally, he doesn’t make any sense. Some incoherent sounds come out of his mouth and that’s it. This can mean two things: either he truly thinks the ending is perfect or the ending made him such a mess that he can’t even process it verbally two years later. 

Either Gwen is much braver and Nik is extemely paranoid or Nik actually has many more restrictions in what he is allowed to say. I believe Gwen wanted Nikolaj to be as open as her about it and she still tries to make him open up but he doesn’t. In all the promos without exception, Gwen looks as if she knows Nik is full of shit and secretly agrees with her. If Gwen knows that for a fact, then we can’t argue and it’s actually what makes sense anyway. Nikolaj agrees with Gwen but is not eager to discuss it openly yet, or ever. This could be because he is very professional or because he doesn’t want to get a bad name as a “backstabber” of his projects or it might be a situation of a more sensitive nature. 

If those rumours that the S8 script was changed are true, then Nik and Lena might have had a serious breakdown with D&D and a negotiation might have taken place. For instance, Nik and Lena were really unnecessary in E6, Nik’s scene in E1 could have been eliminated as well and Lena does not appear in E3. Yes, they are big actors but paying them 1,2 million for every episode seems a tad excessive when Emilia and Kit are now famous too and have like 300% times more screentime. All this is wild speculation but maybe they stretched their appearance in the episodes as much as possible and gave them a good amount of money to agree on the butchering of their characters and their importance as former lead actors. I mean, especially Lena was downgraded to a secondary character in this season. Lena had to really fight to see her salary rise in the previous seasons. And now it’s a million for every episode? Wow. How many minutes was she staring out of the window in S8? Maybe they were silenced and payed a shitload of money to stop complaining and promote the show and praise the writing as what it was supposed to be. Maybe they payed them in order to promote Peter, Kit and Emilia for the Emmys instead, who knows. When so much money is involved, things can get frustrating in ways we don’t even fathom. This is wild and rough speculation but all I’m saying is there may be reasons Nik avoids talking freely about his character that we can’t know. 

Besides, it’s not just a Gwen problem. It is not a Gwen problem. Gwen revealed she sent a “Jaime is a fuckboi” meme to Nik privately and he answered playfully as ever (but again as if he’s in denial). They posted a story together a couple of weeks ago. Nik did not just ignore Gwen’s instagram post. Daniel Portman posted the photo and tagged Nikolaj too. Nik ignored him as well. Bryan Cogman, who Nik and Gwen owe a lot to, commented under the photo in a very sweet and emotional way. Guess what, Nik ignored him too! It’s ridiculous to think Nikolaj has stopped communicating and caring about Gwen AND Daniel AND Bryan just because his character returned to Cersei. Furthermore, the fact that they all keep tagging him shows they don’t think their relationships with him have become tense. 

That’s not it. It’s not about Gwen. The only way that Gwen is involved in all this is that she wants Nikolaj to open up so that he would give a little acknowledgement to her character and the relationship with Jaime because she feels very much for Brienne. I’m sad to say, however, that it seems to me that Nik did not take that blow more lightly than Gwen. In fact, his behaviour is more inconsistent and troubling whereas Gwen’s openness about it made her confront that sore subject more healthily after all. I start believing Nik was actually way more devastated than Gwen. At least Brienne remained a decent character, ever faithful to her ideals, ever innerly strong. Jaime was entirely trashed, let alone that he was supposed to be a main character. If Nik can’t even handle a photo that reminds him of his destroyed character arc, I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe Gwen wants Nik to open up so much for his benefit as well - he keeps it bottled up and she might know first hand how that affects him.

Long story short, the reasons Nik doesn’t post anything about his feelings for Jaime’s character arc, his relationship with Brienne and his collaboration with Gwen probably are both professional, after begrudging deals and agreements and restrictions from HBO, and very personal, inner and private, as he’s still trying to cope with a disappointment that crushed down on him from what used to be his dream job and a role he hoped would be a (or the) peak of his career. I bet all these years Nik was hopeful Jaime would be extremely important and fully redeemed in the end but also extremely scared and anxious that the writers won’t give him what he hoped for and what made sense. Would I exaggerate if I said this should be the biggest professional disappointment he ever experienced, provided that he didn’t like the character’s ending? 

From everything Gwen has said about him, I have surmised that Nik is very emotional and anxious but with a very blasé and superficially amiable attitude. He avoids expessing emotion in real life which is why he might be dissociating a lot lately. He tries to distance himself from that part of Jaime’s character that involved Bryan and Gwen because this is the part that he loved and lost. Honestly, I can’t think of any other logical reason he ignored Gwen, Dan and Bryan one after the other and never made a post about his own character specifically or his good times with Gwen. It’s obviously not that he suddenly hates all of them to the point of not even replying. Even if HBO restricts him on what he can say in interviews for a while, there is no other explanation for this other than that D&D’s genius writing fucked him up emotionally as much as Emilia and Kit and he does not want to deal with it even though Gwen probably thinks it would be for the best if he did. 

Now after I wrote all this, imagine if Nikolaj actually doesn’t give a shit and is just happy going on with his life while I am here wasting time. But… I don’t think so. I will never not believe Nik didn’t love Jaime to pieces. He had big dreams for this role, I am sure of it. 

#nikolaj coster waldau #jaime lannister #gwendoline christie #nik and gwen #jaime x brienne #braime #got negativity #more

[cartoonfangirl1218]

EoA ships fluff headcanons part 3

Who does the puppy dog face? Eleteo: Elena, Elenaaa of Avaalllooor! She’s a master at it and Mateo is helpless to resist. Though it works both ways. Mateo unintentionally leashes his adorable eager and/or disappointed face and Elena can’t help but fall too. Gababel: Isabel does. It’s a flores family thing. Only she doesn’t use it much because Gabe already falls over himself to serve her anyway😄 Estenaomi: I was going to say Esteban, but I can’t see young Esteban as a puppy dog face type. More like he’d try to smolder his way. It doesn’t always work but sometimes it does. Less because of the sexy but because it amuses Naomi so much. Estoma: Doña, only Esteban calls it her “wide eye doe look” that is totally a “see through ploy.” An hour later he is carrying her bags through the Mercado, wondering how the hell it worked on him.

Imitating their parents?

Eleteo: Elena always urges Mateo to join her in singing Dawn of a Brand New Day during the Sunflower Festival as she always saw that as one of *the* romantic moments between her parents. She also continues the tradition of reading bedtime stories and jumping on the bed with her kids and Mateo. Mateo repeats the story of how Rafa met his father by taking Elena on a date to that fateful spot and telling their story which touches Elena’s romantic heart and they muse on  their own love story. Gababel: Gabe takes Isabel to olaball games as that is where his parents spent most of their time with Blanca cheering Roberto on and going out to eat afterwards. So that’s what they do, Gabe tries to impress Isabel with his moves and she ends up joining him in a fun one against one and then they go out to eat. Isabel brings Gabe to all her parents’ favorite date night spots and even arranges an gigantic dinner spread of food that neither of them can finish because they’re so busy talking to one another. Just like her mom and dad’s first date.

Estenaomi: What else do the do but go sailing just as how both Captains met each other followed by several rancorous jigs at the local bar. Of course, Naomi does spin him around a few times (girl’s got muscle) to dip him for a kiss which Esteban finds endearing. And there is chocolate. Lots of chocolate because that had been what Scarlett was transporting when Daniel rescued her ship. All in all a sweet date. Esteban pulls out all the stops just like his father did when wooing his mother with fun bantering sessions and serenading her under her window. Naomi thinks it’s so over the top but at the same time, she loves it and the attention and Esteban has such a nice voice. Estoma: Same as above, Esteban does some of the wooing that Joseligio was so fond of. Like on one date where  Esteban made a rose petal trail leading to all the most romantic spots in the kingdom (you can see where Esteban inherited the flair for the dramatic from) or drawing pictures a la Jack from Titanic. Doña’s parents didn’t have much of a courtship, it was more like meet cute, write letters to each other for a few weeks, then elope and hide until the parental anger dies down. So not many romantic dates but they do write romantic letters especially when Esteban is away on his trips.

What hobby do they try for each other?

Eleteo: Mateo tries to learn how to play guitar. After all he already has a spectacular voice, now he can accompany himself. Besides Elena has such fond memories of learning from her abuelo and her mom and aunt. Admittedly, it is not that easy for him. He can wield his tamborita with amazing grace, the guitar strings not so much. But he considers it a challenge and he keeps trying. Elena has fallen in love with the traditional dances and new modernizations of it that had come up during her 41 years in the amulet and Mateo happily guides her through it, not that she needs much help.   Gababel: Gabe tries to do some inventing himself to see what Isabel gets so hyped about it, and he finds it...confusing. He tried, he really really did, but high school math did not prepare him for those kind of physics at all. Even her suggestion to see it as battle strategy didn’t work. Oh well, it was the effort that counts. Isabel tried some of that guard training Gabe had to go through and surprisingly, she got into it. It was like her inner thrill seeker got released or something because she wanted to do the course again and again. Seeing Isabel rule that course also made Gabe fall a little harder too. Estenaomi: Naomi decided to try out ballroom dancing without Esteban’s help. I mean yes, he taught her how to waltz but she was determined to learn new styles by herself so she could impress him. And impress him she did. After Naomi nearly upstaged him in ballroom dancing and he learned how much work she put into learning it, Esteban decided to try rope tricks as she does. Unfortunately, he grew frustrated the more he did and the more he entangled himself in it even after he requested her help. Estoma: Doña usually read poetry during long rides to other kingdoms and sometimes with nothing to do, she’d read it aloud to him. It began Esteban’s appreciation for it. Especially during the Shuriki era. The meter and lyricism was the closest he could get to hearing music and he would start to ask to borrow her books. Doña tried to do the exploring the jungle that adventurous!Esteban is so fond of, but couldn’t stand it for more than an hour. What do they sometimes walk into?

Eleteo: Sometimes Elena walks in on Mateo napping after reading his spell books too long, reading, or working on some new potion. She has learned not to sneak up on him because that cause explosions but if it’s the former, she is totally prepared to kiss him or play that “Guess who?” Game. Mateo usually walks in on Elena working or singing. And sometimes he just admires her sing for a moment before making his presence known, because she looks so beautiful and carefree. 

Gababel: Gabe walks in on Isabel talking to herself about her inventions, doing her inventions or sometimes rocking on her guitar-accordion and on the latter, like Mateo, Gabe waits to make his presence known because watching Isabel doing her solo is always entertaining. Isabel sometimes walks in on Gabe doing push-ups or some other workout, always a pleasant sight to see😉 Or going over battle strategies though Isabel always reminds him its time to leave work at the barracks, and their room is for them only. Estenaomi: Sometimes walks into the room where Esteban is primping his hair or deep into his moisturizing routine so she jumps at him from behind to startle him. Esteban sometimes walks into Naomi deep in thought and pacing around making plans for the next trip or whatnot and to take from your hc, he asks “Who has won the argument this time?” 😁 Estoma: Like above,  oftentimes she walks in on him in the middle of his skincare routine. Others, it’s that booby trap dance (got to keep sharp yes lol 😆). He usually walks on her primping herself or leftover work of the day.

Who brags about their wedding? Eleteo: Neither. They’re both just thrilled to be married to one another. Plus it’s hard to brag when you know NO ONE will ever have a wedding like theirs. Royalty and magic...so much magic combined. Though Elena might bring it up a bit....after Val’s bragging gets too much. Gababel: Hmm I think Isabel would. Most likely in response to Val or someone. After all the ceremony is second to getting the chance to declare her love for Gabe in front of her family and friends and being blinded together forever. If anything she doesn’t brag but just loves talking about that wonderful day. Estenaomi: Esteban totally Esteban. Even though he doesn’t remember much of it. It’s more like bragging about how great his wife is, not that Naomi minds at all. Estoma: Doña. Though it was a smaller, more refined affair she embellishes some details when recounting it to the nobles who missed the event. A la Rachel Green. “And my veil was lace, made by blind, Belgium nuns.” “Blind?”“Well, not at first, but it was very intricate work and they said even though they lost their sight, it was all worth it.”

Trait they love/hate in the other? Eleteo: Mateo has a love/hate feeling towards Elena’s impulsivity. He loves it because it is so her to get fired up and passionate about something and try to fix it. But as we have seen, her not thinking things through leads to more trouble and though Elena can handle it, he doesn’t particularly like seeing her risk her life and limb like in To Save the Sunbird. Elena likes/dislikes Mateo’s concentration in magic. Like with her impulsivity. It is so him. She wouldn’t change it in the world. But that intensity and focus often derails him from thinking of other things, so caught up is he in his books. Or that he sometimes sets other things aside for his own goals (ahem Scepter of Night) Gababel: Isabel loves/hates Gabe’s protectiveness. She loves it because it’s Gabe. He cares so much, and it does make her feel safe. But when he goes overboard, he goes overboard and is super smothering and for someone who always feels like being treated as the baby she doesn’t appreciate it coming from her husband too. Gabe loves/hates how Isabel analyzes things. He loves to hear her talk about her information and the way her eyes light up. But she too can go overboard with information he doesn’t particularly understand or need to hear at the moment and sometimes she can be a bit oblivious to other people’s disinterest in it. Estenaomi: Esteban loves/hates Naomi’s sarcastic nature. Loves it because it’s hilarious and how else can they participate in their witty banter but at times he dislikes it because sometimes it can hit too close to his insecurities when he’s down and come off as unnecessarily harsh. Naomi loves/hates Esteban’s perfectionism. She can understand at a level like when she is party planning, but when Esteban branches out and refuses to stop what he is doing and chill because this one flower is out of place in the bouquet. Yeah it can get annoying. Not to mention, with the perfectionism comes the snobbishness.  Estoma: Esteban loves/hates Doña’s honesty. Well a majority of the time it’s hate because he doesn’t *need* to hear about his flaws and her nagging at him and what she thinks of a particularly boneheaded action of his. On the other hand, when she does give compliments, he likes that honesty because he knows it genuine and real and she’s not mincing words to placate him. As if she would ever do that. Doña loves/hates how Esteban knows to push her buttons. She hates it because no matter how hard she tries to maintain a poker face or whatever, he knows just what to do or say to get under nerves. On the other hand, it’s sort of endearing that he knows her so well. Things they taught the other?

Eleteo: This is very short and pretty much canon. Magic studies all the dang time, but they always know how to make it fun with each other. Much more hc like would be Elena teaching Mateo how to play guitar and being ever so patient about it with lots of kisses as encouragement. Mateo taught Elena some small recipes that are Rafa specialities and are amazingly delicious and as we all know cooking lessons are very romantic indeed. Gababel: Just like in The Princess Knight, Gabe teaches Isabel to fence, only much more romantic with bunch of flirtations and some innuendo which surprises Gabe since he is so used to her calm that he forgets that Isabel is from the same line of indiscreet Flores. Isabel teaches Gabe how to map things based on the position of the stars which is always useful for days when he is alone on a stakeout and has to make next plans. Estenaomi: Esteban already knew how to sail but Naomi improved his knowledge tenfold with little tips on knots and parts of the ship and ship building and fixing. Even just generally woodwork like how to make those ships in bottles which is super hard and intricate but he also likes the feel of Naomi trying to fix the delicate mistakes and how concentrated she looks. Esteban teaches Naomi classic treasure hunting techniques he used to do with Victor as well as athletic activities like vine swinging. Estoma: Just like with Naomi, Esteban teaches her to dance. She grew up under Shuriki so dancing was not skill set to be encouraged. And well, *clearly* she needs more lessons. It’s better when it’s a partner dance and the other person can stop the unnecessary shimmying.  Doña showed Esteban how to stay on a wild horse. Mainly because he didn’t want to learn the “boringly simple” rope tricks and he was going to do it anyway if she didn’t stop him. So far he’s stayed on for 2 seconds on a fake one. He’s working on it.

Height difference Eleteo: From what I can tell, Eleteo is almost the same height but at times Elena appears shorter than he. So I will go with the idea that Mateo is taller but not by very much and so the two are utterly connected, eye to eye like a symmetrical heart (damn that was sappy. Do you see what Eleteo does to me!). But Mateo also has the magic advantage so when neither of them can get anything, he just levitates up. Gababel: Even as Isabel grows to her full height, Gabe is taller than her no question. Not that either of them minds, it's perfect for them. Isabel adores being able to easy sit in his lap or be picked up in his strong, muscular arms. It makes her feel safe, and admittedly, his muscles may be hard but they are also cuddly. Plus there is something so intimate about going on her tiptoes to reach his lips or being swooped up in his arms. Gabae also likes it for the same reasons. Her in his arms, and admittedly when she does the tiptoe thing he becomes a blushy mess with her small smirk and the way her arms wrap around his neck like he is the only thing in the world she can hold on to and never let go. Estenaomi: Naomi is the shorter one because even young Esteban, he is taller than others like a freaking string bean so Naomi comes up to his nose, which forces her to look up into his eyes which sometimes gets her all blushy because intense Este-smolder. He is a weapon with that smolder. Not that it is all gazing lovingly into his eyes. Esteban can get pretty cocky about it when he is offering to reach things that she can't and she only has to remind him that the taller people are, the harder they fall which usually leads to him unintentionally tripping because he doesn't look where he is going. Estoma: They are at the same height, mainly because Dona wears heels. The few times she doesn't, she comes to his forehead which gives Esteban plenty of chances for those forehead kisses. But when they fight, Esteban would sometimes bring it up (She has this belief that it is bad to fight at a lower level like having to look up to someone) and teasingly ask her if she would like to pause the fight so she can get her heels and be able to glare at his eye-level which only infuriates her more. Who is the obnoxious winner and whose the sore loser?

Eleteo: Neither. I mean I really can’t see Mateo being sore or obnoxious, but Elena... hmm I wouldn’t say obnoxious winner simply because she refuses to admit defeat like in Nothing but the Blaze. She keeps insisting on another round and another round until she wins something, Gababel: Gabe wouldn’t be either. His lesson with El Guapo taught him that much. However Isabel can get pouty and sore if she loses at something that she is genuinely great at like chess or trivia games. Estenaomi: Esteban is both the sore loser and obnoxious winner and Naomi can be an obnoxious winner mainly because of Esteban’s bragging about how we was going to win, and then she does and so she takes the opportunity to rub it in his face. Estoma: Both are both. It’s the reason they don’t have one on one game nights that often. But it’s useful if they want the loser to do a particular chore or errand or something like that.

Favorite date night activity

Eleteo: Dancing, I know it's very very cliche. But they do love to dance together. It has all the pulse and energy and rhythm that Elena thrives on, the intimacy of slow dances where they are able to talk quietly with each other and also the physical touch. Always moving as one. Estenaomi: They enjoy sailing or hiking, something fast paced to get their adrenaline pumping at first. Plus it's an excellent conversation starter. They enjoy making new memories and though it seems like the same old same old, there is always some new hi jinks they get into while they are together and can laugh about it afterwards. Gababel: They would enjoy a quiet dinner and some cuddling as a way of connecting after a long day and so they could pay attention to each other face to face without any fuss. They enough hectic was already, their dates are more to enjoy the other's company and tell about their days. Maybe an archeological dig if they're feeling restless. Estoma: The theater or theatre if we're gonna be fancy about it. They just seem like the type.

Amusement park/modern AU date

Eleteo: Favorite thing to do is the Farris wheel just sitting watching over the horizon and enjoying each other's company, of course Elena is sitting in Mateo's lap by the end. She can't help herself. They also enjoying walking hand in hand at the boardwalk while eating churros from the vendors. Mateo always enjoys watching the street magicians and telling Elena the secret behind their tricks. Elena often tries to pursuade Mateo to show off too but he declines most of the time. The end the night enjoying a nice front row seat to the fireworks and star gazing. Estenaomi: These two are roller coaster maniacs. They try every thriller ride there is too see who can one up each other. They also enjoy the spinning teacups as they used their combined strength to go as fast as they can. Once they're dizzy enough and a bit reluctant to eat they spend their time at the arcade where Esteban tries his strong man routine but Naomi beats him out in throwing balls and water gun shooting. Gababel: Isabel and Gabe spend most of their time in the arcade and street vendors where Gabe tries to use the hammer to get to the top of the bell and win her stuffed animals and food while Isabel uses her smarts to guess the most jellybeans in a jar and of course, in finding the right angle to throw things. For rides the favorite is the carousal while eating cotton candy they got half off from Gabe's mom. Estoma: They spend the whole day at the arcade competing. Honestly, competition is like their default mode with each other. That doesn't mean they also enjoy some walking and funnel cakes as they try to carry their prizes.

#eleteo #elena of avalor #estenaomi #gababel #estoma #my hcs #my headcanons #headcanons #mateo de alva #elena castillo flores #isabel castillo flores #gabe nuñez #naomi turner #esteban flores #doña paloma

[maedarakat]

✍🏻 please

(Thanks!!! You didn’t include a pairing tho so I hope you’re cool with me just doing my fave boys? XD This is going to be around season 1 and maybe 2, pre-redemption Dagur bc he’s fun.)

—-

Dagur stared at the parchment in his hands, expression extraordinarily dumbfounded. One of the Riders had just … Terror-mailed him a letter?

The Terror was even still hanging around - just out of reach and ridiculously good at avoiding thrown knives. Almost like it was waiting for a response to this drivel.

He’d of course spent a good portion of time over-analyzing it. Was it a distraction? The set-up for a trap? It wasn’t from Hiccup and it didn’t ask him to meet him anywhere though.

Nope, just inane babbling from one member of Hiccup’s little dragon-loving group. There was nothing to really do but tear it up and throw it overboard. Which he almost did, but Savage stopped him.

“If you don’t mind me suggesting, sir, this could be an opportunity? Write back and tell the boy to meet you alone if he really wants an … “ Savage peered over Dagur’s shoulder to re-read the lines that had his leader so flustered. “An arrow-launcher for Snoggletogg.”

“Arrow-launcher! As if I’d actually send anyone else a Berserker crafted arrow-launcher for anything, let alone for -” Dagur paused, mid-tirade. “Wait, is it Snoggletogg today?”

Savage shook his head. “Not for four more months sir.”

Dagur scowled, but made his decision and stormed toward his cabin. “Nobody disturb me and leave that Terrible Terror alone. I’m writing a response.”

——-

Dear Blithering Dragon-Rider Idiot #1,

OF COURSE IM NOT SENDING YOU AN ARROW-LAUNCHER FOR SNOGGLETOGG, YOU COMPLETE MORON! Why in Loki’s name WOULD I?!? I cannot believe you’d even DARE ASK ME for such a thing?! Are you serious?!? 

Can’t you ask your parents?!?! I heard you can get a pretty nice selection at the Northern Market. None as close to the quality on my ship, so I guess you’ve got decent taste, but still - DON’T YOU EVER, EVER ASK ME FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN. 

It seriously weirded me out. 

- DAGUR THE DERANGED

P.S. And I hope your tree catches fire!!!!

—–

“There, I sent it.” Dagur and Savage both watched as the Terror flew off, disappearing soon in the fog that surrounded the Berserker armada.

“What did you write?” asked Savage, nosey as ever.

“What do you think?!” Dagur snapped. “I told that rider where he could shove his stupid request!”

And that was the end of it, until the next letter came.

——

Dear Dagur the Deranged,

Wow, I had no idea you would be so offended? Sorry. You’re always offering Hiccup stuff and he doesn’t appreciate it, so I figured I could use some of that misplaced affection to fulfill both our emotional needs.

And also my need for a totally awesome arrow-launcher. 

You sure you don’t have a spare one? Or a broken one I can fix that’s just taking up space on your ship? I promise I won’t mind if it’s a wreck, just put a festive little bow on it or something. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Ooh, but besides all that, do you worship Loki too? I’m so happy to hear that if it’s so - it fits you! You’re clever and devious, He’s clever and devious … If you ever want to talk trickster gods and their frustrating yet endearing ways of making life interesting - then I, Tuffnut Thorston, am your man.

Also, thanks for the tip about the Northern Markets, but if my parents actually liked me enough to get me one, they’d probably make me share it with my sister. 

Do you KNOW how hard it is for two people to work the same massively destructive weapon at the same time? Trust me, the projectiles do not go where you want them to. Just ask Sven’s sheep. We all had to eat a lot of mutton that night. It was good too; I still don’t get why the Chief was so mad.

Anyway, I hope your tree catches fire too! Ours does every year, as a tribute to that time Astrid decimated almost everybody’s house with exploding dragon eggs.

Have a Happy Snoggletogg! (I’m wishing you one early, in case you manage to kill us all before it gets here. Hopefully with an arrow launcher because that would be ironic and kind of funny.) 

See you on the battlefield!

- Tuffnut Thorston

P.S. What would you like for Snoggletogg, assuming we all live to see it? I probably can’t afford or steal anything fancy, but I can always write you another poem.

——

Dagur was enraged. Livid. Also, more confused than ever. 

This had to be some sort of trick. Why was this crazy Rider still talking to him? It was like having a prisoner you just couldn’t make shut up.

Or resist talking back to. 

What he should do was crumple this stupid parchment up and throw it over the side. But then that Terror would hang around all day and annoy him. 

Dagur growled and ignored the strange look Savage gave him, as he ordered the man to find him better parchment and some more ink. 

He didn’t write letters that much; but he wasn’t about to send something smudged and tattered back to this dumb kid. Maybe if he wrote completely bluntly and in big letters, the Rider would get that they were enemies.

Not friends. Not … quill pals.

—–

Dragon Rider, 

You seem to be confused, so let me help you out here. 

I’m not sending you anything for Snoggletogg, and I don’t want anything from you either. Thanks for the offer, but –

We are enemies. I want to kill you and your buddies and all your little dragon friends, including your stupid Terror that keeps dodging my knives. Actually if you wanted to send me anything, send me more knives. I’ve lost at least three over the side because of that thing. Who knew they could be so fast?!

Seriously, write to me again asking for anything, and I’ll blow up your entire house the next time I attack Berk.

- Dagur the Deranged

—–

Dear Dagur,

Okay, I get it. I won’t ask for anything. Just surprise me. 

Some knives are totally coming your way, though. Nice ones too, with polished antler handles and sharp edges. The merchant almost sold them out from under me, but I distracted him by pointing out a rainbow and snagged you four. 

Also, if you blew up my house, you’d be doing us all a favor. It’s a total mess. I’ve been begging the local dragons to ‘accidentally’ torch it, but Hiccup keeps stopping me. It’s a shame; my mom would get a new house built and new furniture, so she wouldn’t have to clean for a while. She hates cleaning. Gets it from me. 

Oh and I guess Pop would have to drink out in the sunshine. Or the rain. He could use a quick rinse either way, he’s gotten kinda ripe since I last visited.  Pshh, Dads today, am I right?

Anyway, that last letter was so serious. Dare I say formal? You sounded like you could use some cheering up, so I wrote you a poem. 

I know it’s not Snoggletogg yet, but I’m sure we’ve missed your birthday by now, anyway. (Hey when is your birthday? Let me know.)

Here’s the poem:

There once was a rider named Hic, Whose tyranny would make you sickThough love him we will,And we follow him still,Sometimes he can be a real prick

——

Dagur snorted and started laughing out loud, causing a few heads to turn. He quickly caught himself and glared them back to work before turning back to the letter in his hands.

He had meant to get rid of it this time, really. But it had just been so boring today. 

He had to admit, the kid had some nice poetry. Also, the thought that he had an actual belated (or was it early?) birthday gift coming his way honestly thrilled him - especially if it was stolen. 

Because buying things with money and prestige? Boring! As a chieftain’s son,  expensive gifts had always felt like people were sucking up to him, so whatever it was had no meaning really. 

But this do-gooder dragon-rider had actually broken the law (and definitely had gone against Hiccup’s wishes) just to get him a nice gift. 

That was … That was just so … thoughtful?

He bit his lip, a little conflicted, but then shook his head to clear it. If someone was wanting to be nice to him, it didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean he had to be nice in return. 

But maybe it wouldn’t hurt anything to keep writing back.

—–

Rider,

Thanks. That poem was pretty funny. I’ll accept those knives too, since you’re technically just paying me back for the ones I lost. I hope you don’t expect anything big in return, like mercy or extra food rations when I eventually kill and capture you all. 

I’m no good with poetry … maybe you’d like a story or something? I know some pretty scary ones. Ooh, I bet you can make that big kid with the Gronckle scream like a little girl!

My birthday is the 15th of September. 

Regards, Dagur

P.S. When’s yours? Maybe I’ll just try extra hard not to kill you that week.

—–

Well, it wasn’t anything he’d brag about to his men, Dagur thought, watching the Terror fly off. But maybe being quill-pals with the enemy wasn’t such a bad thing.

#rtte #tuffnut #dagur the deranged #httyd

[shorterwayhome]

“ I waken, read, write long letters and wander restlessly when leaves are blowing my dream a crumpled horn in advance of the broken arm she murmurs of signs to her  fingers weeps in the morning to waken so shackled with love Not me. I like to beat people up. My dream a white tree “

“Whatever is going to happen is already happening Some people prefer “the interior monologue” I like to beat people up “

-selected poems of ted berrigan

#might have to write on ted berrigan #he's fascinating #his collected poems start with a reminder that he wrote these poems #not the reader #which is all against so much of poetry's reliance on transference or mutual recognition or whatever you want to call it #but he's constantly stealing from rilke and whitman and pound and basically all the 1st gen school of ny poets #he's just constantly pissed and elated that he's in love with poetry and awed that loveliness exists #it's hard not to love the guy for his lack of a center #he's fiercely aware that he's not adjusted and forceful about trying to embrace his multidimesionality yet he still hates it? #all his poetry and letters suggest that he would hate to have his work analyzed and so i just wanna push his psychic energy #his preoccupation with his persona versus his self is excellent material

[ciathyzareposts]

Island of Dr. Brain – Mathematical Wordplay

Written by Reiko

Last time we went through the first two “rooms” of puzzles, essentially, since the beach just has the polyomino door puzzle, and the jigsaw puzzle is the door puzzle for the second room. The third room presents us with a wooden bridge with several planks missing. A cliff carved like the face of Dr. Brain has a forest for “hair”. The path goes through the forest and up the mountain behind it to a door.

It’s not a code! It’s just scrambled.

The bridge triggers “Dr. Brain’s World Famous Cipher Bridge Puzzle” (what a mouthful!). I usually like ciphers, but these are a little annoying because they aren’t actually ciphers at all; they’re multi-word anagrams. In the puzzle context, I would define a cipher as information written in code which has to be decoded. The usual puzzle ciphers are substitution ciphers, like at the end of Castle of Dr. Brain where the alphabet was shifted by one letter, or sometimes each letter is arbitrarily substituted with another letter or even a different kind of symbol, like the symbolic messages sent by one of the alien races in Alien Legacy. Other ciphers are lookup ciphers, where the code references words from a specific source like a book.

…and now unscrambled.

But this bridge puzzle, at least on Expert level, includes two kinds of anagrammed sentences: one kind where each word is scrambled and then the order of the words is also scrambled; and another kind where the words are in the right order, but the letters are scrambled and also spaces are in the wrong places. Not ciphers! All the information is there; it’s just a matter of reordering it correctly. With a cipher, the code is often necessary to decrypt the message: the substitution arrangement, or the lookup source. Given that additional information, the message can be decrypted even if it isn’t understood, like a message in a foreign language. A simple enough cipher can be broken even without the code, but that requires some linguistic and grammatical analysis. But with anagrams, the only way to reconstruct the original message is to figure out the right order of the pieces by analyzing the content. Some kinds of messages can’t be anagrammed without losing the information, like a phone number.

Each sentence is usually a famous quote, so once part of it is figured out, that gives momentum and the rest is easier by context. For instance, Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” After three quotes, one for each of the three planks that the bridge needs, then the puzzle is complete, and I get a gold plaque for Decoding. For some reason, this is considered a Math puzzle, not a Language puzzle.

How many of the 15 remaining animals can you see in this picture?

Next up is the Botanical Garden puzzle, which I personally find to be the most annoying puzzle in the whole game, because it just involves finding camouflaged animals hidden in the forest scene. The annoying part is that you have to draw a box around the animal with the mouse, and it has to be close enough around the shape of the animal before the game will recognize that you’ve found it. Often it’s extremely difficult to see the extent of the animal’s shape in order to select it properly even if you know where it is.

This praying mantis was well-hidden in the picture, too.

There are sixteen animals in the picture, randomly placed, and often duplicated. For instance, in this case I found two ant lions and two praying mantises, along with twelve other animals from a scorpion to an African leopard to a kiwi (the Australian bird, not the fruit). They are not depicted to scale relative to the forest or each other, either. At least the game will tell you if you’re close, but it can be aggravating to think you’re selecting the animal correctly, only to have it cheerfully tell you that you’re warm, but it’s not good enough.

Finding all sixteen animals nets me a gold plaque in “Visual Skills”. Again, a Math puzzle, not a Science puzzle. What? I don’t get why both the Science and Language areas of the Achievement Board couldn’t have included one additional puzzle (to maintain symmetry) instead of lumping all these other things in with Math when they clearly aren’t mathematical.

It’s as good as telling me I need to look up the periodic table for information.

After I exit the completed puzzle, a “mysterious bag” magically appears in the path, which I’m told contains items for the Volcano Door Analyzer. I can then use that to tackle the door into the mountain. Here I have to identify the constituent elements of three ordinary objects such as baking soda (Sodium, Hydrogen, Carbon, and trace elements), or a plaster cast, or a Vitamin C tablet.

Hydrogen! The clue often includes atomic weight, which is unambiguous.

Each element has a descriptive clue which by common sense and process of elimination makes it relatively straightforward to identify. I used a periodic table, because the game outright suggests that the information is available in the reference materials provided with the game. Completing this puzzle yields a gold plaque for “Material Analysis” (properly Science this time).

Then I get an extra message from Dr. Brain, in which he informs me that he’s completed his invention and would like the battery “at your earliest convenience.” I don’t think there’s actually any time limit, so this seems like just a bit of flavor to remind the player why they’re working through all these puzzles in the first place.

A magic square would have all totals the same, but there are a lot more puzzle solutions available if the totals vary.

The door opens right onto a room built around the top of a volcano, complete with lava. There’s even a lava lamp in the foreground! First I have to solve a number puzzle to access the volcano computer. It’s a sort of uneven magic square puzzle where each row, column, and diagonal has to add up to a specific target number, but not all the same number. It’s solvable by trial and error, mostly, by making some guesses and then swapping numbers around to get the sums closer to the targets until everything matches. The puzzle even has two display modes where it will show either the target totals (“Goal” mode), or the differences remaining from the target totals (“Need” mode). Dr. Brain calls this puzzle “Numeric Planning”.

At this point, flooring slides shut over the top of the volcano so that I can reach the spectral analysis machine on the other side of the room. That floor looks metallic, so I’d assume that it would be awfully hot if it’s sitting right over molten lava. Maybe I can just dash across and then stand on the ledge on the other side to work the next puzzle.

The last element doesn’t match the pattern, so then I can select the ones that did match.

The game informs me, “The door is locked with a Spectrum Analyzer Puzzle”. I found this one to be very easy. It provides a composite pattern formed from the spectral analysis of a specific combination of elements. I just tested each element individually, noted which ones matched part of the pattern, and then tested the combination of those matching elements. Sometimes the patterns overlap a little bit, but not much. On Expert, the combination includes six of eight elements: easier levels would include fewer elements. As you can probably guess, completing the pattern gives me a plaque for “Spectrum Analysis”.

A strange village.

When I unlock the door, suddenly the island experiences an earthquake. What did I do? Am I in danger? I pass quickly through the door into a village area with several small cute grass huts and lots of plants, including cornstalks and apple trees. One hut has an inedible slice of pizza attached to the top. Another has a fish skeleton. Some places have larger bones for decoration. Let’s hope those are all animal bones.

I hate it when people use “threw” instead of “through”.

I try the corn first and find the Hominy Homonym Puzzle, where I have to fill in the correct spelling of words that sound alike in various sentences, where the words on offer are displayed on ears of corn. It’s made easier by the fact that, of a particular homonym pair, one word is used in each of the two sentences. I have little difficulty with homonyms usually, so I make short work of the puzzles. It’s only tricky when the sentence is short enough that it’s hard to tell what it’s actually saying with four words removed. Completing three sets gets me a Homonym plaque (of course), plus a bucket of ground corn. I’m not sure why identifying homonyms would grind the corn, but okay then.

Classic poetry. Who can name the writer?

There’s also a bridge in the background leading to a hut decorated with shiny lights. The bridge has a place for a counterweight, so I put the bucket of corn there. It isn’t enough by itself to raise the bridge, so I look around for something else and find the Synonym Apple puzzle. These sentences contain words that must be replaced by synonyms from a set of words displayed on stretched-out apple graphics. The puzzle is made easier by the fact that the texts are rhyming couplets, and I have to replace the last word of each line, so those words have to rhyme. (Although “prove” and “love” don’t actually rhyme…)

After three sets, I get the Synonym plaque and also a bucket of apples. I place it next to the bucket of corn on the counterweight, but I still need something else.

Dancing robots!

I poke around some more and discover some amusing things: clicking with the hand on most of the huts triggers an animation of a cute little robot (??) dancing or doing something. There’s some laundry hung up to dry in the background which are also described as robot clothes. What? This is a village of robots? What do they need with clothes? Or fish? Or decorations…? How strange.

Antonyms put a very different spin on these quotes…

The third puzzle is the Anthill Antonym, which works similarly to the other two: I have to replace words with their opposites, but this time ants bear the available words on their backs. Plus this time I have twelve available words to replace nine words in three famous quotes. In the other two, I had nine available words for eight slots, so it was much easier to use process of elimination to decide which word wasn’t necessary. This time I have more words available so it’s actually a bit trickier. Being familiar with some of the famous quotes helps, though.

After just two sets, I get the Antonym plaque and also a…watermelon? Where were the ants hiding that thing, and why? Still, the watermelon is enough to counterweight the bridge, with the two buckets. Here I’ll also mention that placing the items on the counterweight is nearly a pixel hunt, because if you aren’t placing them in just the right place, the game boldly tells you that the item should be used elsewhere. That could be a bit misleading, except that this is a self-contained screen and there’s really nowhere else to put them anyway.

The Achievement Board after sixteen puzzles.

Here’s where I’ll stop for now. Next time we’ll check out the crazy hut with all its odd decorations.

Session Time: 2 hours 30 minutes Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please…try not to spoil any part of the game for me…unless I really obviously need the help…or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I’ve not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/island-of-dr-brain-mathematical-wordplay/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost