#and chickens and execute my world domination

[waitmyturtles]

hello! I hope you are having a good day :) I just read your blog piece about tharntype, thank you for writing it! I want to offer a few complicating thoughts, as a queer person myself:

-in the twittersphere, I actually know a lot of other queer people (and, specifically, queer men) who like tharntype in a kink way. as in, the parts that make it "problematic" are the parts that are hot. so this "reading" of TT (lol) sees it as erotic art intended to arouse, rather than offer "representation" or change the public's mind in some way. so from this perspective, the target audience is anyone who finds the erotic story enjoyable, rather than say, random 14 year olds who need to be convinced gay people are human.

-more on the above: gay people aren't unproblematic. like, we do engage in all the things that you said were problematic stereotypes included in tharntype. many gay men are homophobic in the exact way type is, before they admit it to themselves. that's a whole genre of gay porn, because it's such a common part of the gay experience that it enters sexual fantasy frequently! gay people call each other slurs all the time, too (not saying it's right for anyone to be spoken to like type did, I'm just saying, for a lot of us there's a lot of humor and love there when it's spoken kindly). many gay men ARE promiscuous (not all, obviously, but many) and the way in which they are is shaped by their gayness, and while straight world might think that's bad, other gay people might not see it as such. and I very much get how that's very inconvenient when one is trying to argue that gay people aren't sex perverts (so we can have rights) but sometimes what ends up happening is that people who ARE sex perverts (I mean this in a positive way) get told that their lives don't matter, or that even depicting them in fiction "makes you all look bad." it's the usual assimilation problem :/

-I really really really recommend diary of tootsies for a show by gay people for gay and straight people. it's one of my all-time favorite gay dramas, and it might elaborate more on what I'm saying above. it's a gay comedy that's actually executed well.

-it's actually not true that yaoi has only ever been dominated by cishet women! I love this website for more info on how men and nonbinary people have been involved in yaoi historically https://www.fujoshi.info/ . totally true that treating real people like dolls is gross to do in real life, but I don't think women writing yaoi have done that, on the whole, and I certainly don't think the existence of yaoi does that automatically. and I think it's a case of unfair maligning of asian women to say that it does.

-I don't think tharntype is a "good" show. nothing like, say, moonlight chicken (as an example of a show that I think is very good). it's very poorly executed in places. it's trashy. the way it's been marketed, with tharn and type as like, political gay rep, is bizarre. but it's a cheap, trashy snack, a gay bodice ripper type of story, and so I don't think that's a hate crime, or a failing of lgbt people, on the whole.

I know as an ally it is always difficult when there is disagreement in the group you are trying to be an ally to regarding what is acceptable/offensive, but I feel the best thing to do is always to come to a personal opinion oneself that aligns with one's own moral values, after hearing from differing perspectives within that group. So I've provided my own perspective here, which may be totally different than other people you've heard from or your own, and that's okay too! again, hope you have a great day and thanks for your time :)

ANONYMOUS, COME 'ERE FOR A HUG, YOU! THANK YOU for sharing your perspective.

Yes, this show and the related topics are unbelievably difficult for me to write on as an ally. I really appreciate your understanding of the gray areas all around this, and with the help of a number of Tumblr friends, I tried to dive into and balance as much of the gray areas of the topic of TT as much as possible.

I really appreciate the further history on yaoi's origins, and would like to tag some folks to take a look and offer their thoughts -- and, I do not take corrections personally AT ALL, I LOVE LOVE the learning and constructive criticism (that's a major point of the OGMMTVC!), so I WILL be happy to edit any corrections into my posts if need be (cc @nieves-de-sugui, @miscellar, @lurkingshan and anyone else who knows more about yaoi than I do).

I'm getting one or two nasty comments here and there, but by and large, the feedback today on the post has been thought-provoking and eye-opening. I love hearing and reading all of it.

#thanks for the ask! #tharntype

[mejomonster]

Some of my favorite (recent-ish) Thai bl were:

Bad Buddy: if I'm going to recommend any coming of age romcom college set bl it's this one. The way it uses so many staple tropes in a fresh way, Ohm and Nanon are great actors and really bring a whole other level of energy, the actual conflict in the story is very realistic and heavy and a real topic I think a lot of young adults deal with regarding their families and expectations. So it's mostly romantic comedy, but the heavy moments resonate so that it doesn't really feel unrealistic. It's very high brightness overly kind of fantastical rather than real in presentation and tropes used (quite common in fluff bl like 2gether and My School President and Theory of Love etc), but the chemistry of the leads feels executed very realistically and again the actual delivery of tropes and conflicts feels very grounded in a way. Highly recommended to most peoples tastes tbh (and special mention to My School President, while it was a little Too fluffy for my tastes, it also did a balance of romcom and a grounded heart to the conflicts which I think is part of why it had such big appeal, along with really solid leads that are going to be bringing a lot to any project they work on in the future)

Never Let Me Go: THE action bl as of recently. Gave me everything I could ask, from the leads in The Gifted Graduation bringing their acting game with roles that let them truly show off what they can do, to a high body count of murders and action scenes, mafia sons falling in love with people oh so different from them, a batman esque lead, rich boy falls for poor bodyguard whipping boy trope but also Not quite because the show Really wants to comment on class issues and inequality and makes sure the audience gets the point (a core issue in the relationship is how to be equals given who they are), and a reference to the quote about soulmates that Xena Warrior Princess also uses. It also has Chimon. It's also aesthetically pleasing af. Idk what to tell you, I love when Jojo directs something and this Gave me WAY more than I thought I could get. I'm happy to say that in the post Not Me world we are seeing more action romance bls, not just romcom/fluff ones (though there's always plenty of those too). I personally am eagerly hoping this trend continues and we keep getting at least a few action romance bls a year like this one, Kinnporshe, Manner of Death, Not Me. I've started Laws of Attraction and that's looking similarly promising. (And while I highly recommend Not Me the series, one of my top shows PERIOD... I'm only listing newer shows than that right now).

The Eclipse: this show was exactly what I'd hope it would deliver, and more frankly (because I was hoping for at minimum the Blacklist quality and at max dream hopes The Gifted quality). Well it delivered closer to The Gifted. Politically heavy, really well done in that regard from the overt to the subtle, amazing entire ensemble cast (even the side actors are strong actors that have been in other things), Khaotung and First are both particularly amazing (Khaotung impresses me no matter what role he's given frankly). Aesthetically it's exactly what you'd hope if your hopes like mine were The Gifted but only real evil people no mutants, and explicitly gayer. If you perhaps are willing to have a high school setting, but very much do Not want fluff dominant story and instead a tense mystery with at least half the characters already out and proud queer people (but still some of the cute romance tropes executed a bit less fluffily) then this may be your jam.

Moonlight Chicken: if you'd like multigenerational queer stories, centering on a family slice of life realism piece, this show is <3. The second main pairing is the same actors from My School President and I think they really shine here where the romance relies less on tropes and the dialogue is more realistic so the intensity of scenes really leans on actors. I love their characters in this and they stole the show for me. The first main pairing is messy and adult, with adult problems (like actual ones not just romantic drama: like raising a nephew, running a store, working for a company that's destroying your lovers neighborhood). But also not actually that messy, I'd say in terms of messy it's for the most part wholesome and soft. If you liked 1000 Stars (I did) then this shows realistic slice of life feel will be comfortable and homey, and the amount of skinship in this show is less conservative for even more of a cozy natural feeling.

And the one I'm most anticipating coming out: Only Friends. Khaotung and First lead it, so I'm basically certain the main story will be absolute gold (since I eat up every role they play their acting is just <3 like dude I watched the Shipper for First okay and 5555 Never too Late for Khaotung which was an Amazing show btw). Now.. Only Friends is directed by Jojo (yay for me) and in theory it IS going to be as messy as it looks (and it looks at least as messy as Friendzone). So if Moonlight Chicken is too fluffy and tame for you, then you might want this show on your radar. I think it is slated for August but I'm not sure as I try not to get too hype for things until theyre out so I avoid most news.

#the eclipse the series #never let me go #moonlight chicken #bad buddy #rant #rec list

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #64

I made one of my favorite meals today! It is baked chicken leg quarters with crispy asparagus and macaroni and cheese (shortened henceforth to mac-n-chz)! In service to your wish to know an ordinary life, I am going to write about it.

Given my upbringing, neurobiology, general genetic defectiveness, and pattern and flow of my relationships and day-to-day activities, my life is not "ordinary" by ANY stretch of the imagination because my existence is VERY non-standard. But this is my "normal", and I've decided that it's good enough. Only I get to decide that I am worthy of a "normal" that works for me, and if someone else doesn't like it, they can go take a long hike somewhere very far away from me. Your existence is also non-standard, but you can also decide to build a wholesome and good "normal" that works for you, and it can be good enough, and you can be worthy of it, regardless of what anyone else says.

So get on that, willya?? The whole "world domination and destruction" thing is getting kinda old and tiring, doncha think? Why would anyone even want that kind of responsibility, anyhow? Isn't that sort of the thing the exact opposite of the peace you wished for? You don't gotta do all that weird stuff in order to build a world where you and your friends won't get hurt; all you gotta do is develop those boundary skills (which, historically, you have very much lacked, which is understandable, given your upbringing, but as an adult, it's still YOUR job to fix that, as unfair as that is) so that you can spread kindness and defend the meek without depleting yourself in the process.

...And maybe also find non-violent ways to use your phenomenal power to get those smarmy-ass Shinra executives to stop acting like such insufferably selfish dipshits, because just like in my world, it's the corporate overlords who are the real problem, not the people exploited by them.

Anyway! In preparation for making the chicken, asparagus, and mac-n-chz, I scrubbed and bleached the sink:

...you'll see why later!

This recipe is an adaptation of one of my favorite things that my mother used to make. In those days, she would make chicken thighs and drumsticks, pan-fried frozen brussels sprouts, and boxed macaroni and cheese - the kind with the cheese powder in a little packet. My mother HATES cooking (which is fair; it's not for everybody), and normally wanted to rage at people by the time she was done with doing it (this is less fair; even if she didn't have the skills to make a better choice at the time, it's still not okay for a person to take their emotional dysregulation out on the people around them, and it's still their responsibility to develop better ways of coping), but nonetheless, this particular meal is very nostalgic for me, even though I've since made some changes to make it mine.

In place of chicken thighs, I use leg quarters:

People usually prefer the white meat parts of the chicken where I live, and leg quarters are dark meat, (which is what I prefer), so these are not only very delicious (at least to my sensory hardware), but also generally very inexpensive, which is a huge bonus!

It's important, though, to look them over for leftover feather shafts and dirt and such, and rinse them appropriately and pull out any particularly noticeable feather shafts out before using them; they're not always cleaned well before they're packaged, you see.

Then you take a cookie sheet, sprinkle a few drops of water on it (I'll explain why in a sec), and then cover it in some parchment paper. Basically nothing sticks to parchment paper, but cooked meat absolutely WILL stick to metal, and it's a pain in the butt to scrub it off.

My cookie sheets are old, but they're still good!

A very thin sheen of water between a cookie sheet and an applied thin thing, like tinfoil or parchment paper, will do a physics thing that makes the thin thing stick firmly to the cookie sheet. If you managed to follow that word salad of a sentence, good on ya, hahaha! The short answer is, "because physics, water stops the parchment paper from moving around on the cookie sheet while you're trying to put things on it". Like so:

The next step is to WASH YOUR HANDS. Of course, washing your hands is always the first step to any cooking endeavor, but it's ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT to wash your hands ANYTIME you touch any raw chicken, beef, pork, eggs, or seafood; otherwise, the surface bacteria on these things can contaminate other surfaces, and end up giving people weird diseases. Don't give people weird diseases; it's bad news! Wash your hands!

Instead of frozen brussels sprouts (which are really good, pan-fried with some butter, garlic, and parmesan cheese... 🤤), I use asparagus because M and J aren't especially fond of brussels sprouts. Like the chicken, these will go into the oven, so line another cookie sheet with parchment paper so it doesn't stick to the metal as it cooks. Then you gotta snap off the stringy, gross ends off the asparagus (for me it's an unbearable texture, but really this is an optional step if you don't mind it); start from the bottom and work your way up - the first place where it snaps with minimal effort is where the stringy part ends. Then you put the stringy ends in your handy-dandy broth bag for later use to make broth, and you arrange the rest on the cookie sheet:

I do it in this alternating pattern to try to be efficient with space; my oven can only fit two cookie sheets, so I gotta make it work.

Then it's time to season everything. For the asparagus, I like to drizzle it with olive oil so that the seasoning actually sticks to it:

...Yes, the olive oil is in an former dish soap bottle. It's a trick that I picked up my father. He gets olive oil in huge cans, because it's more cost-effective to get it in bulk. But the big cans are very unwieldy. Even the nozzles for smaller bottles of olive oil don't allow for very much precision. So my father rinsed all the soap residue out of an empty bottle of dish detergent until it was super-mega-ultra-clean, and used a funnel to fill it with olive oil. I have done the same thing, and the type of nozzle on it allows even a dyspraxic like me to have excellent control over the flow of the oil, because you can hold it upside down, and none of it is gonna come out unless you squeeze it. 17/10 stars, absolutely would recommend.

I like to season the asparagus with pepper, pink salt (pink salt is pink because there's iron in it!), paprika, and garlic powder, in that order. You start with the coarser seasonings so that there is still oil for it to stick to; finer seasonings will completely cover the oil, and salt and pepper won't stick to fine powder. Then you apply the paprika before the garlic powder, so that the paprika is protected from scorching in the oven by a layer of garlic powder; in my experience, paprika scorches easily and tastes kinda weird when it does. But garlic powder toasts nicely and tastes better for it.

My mother used garlic powder, onion powder, and parmesan cheese on the chicken. But I like the spice combination on the asparagus so much that by this point, I use it for the chicken, too. Here's how it looks:

You'll want to pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (or around 190, if Celsius is more your speed!). You'll wanna put the asparagus below the chicken in the oven so that the asparagus can get all nice and crispy instead of getting steamed by the water evaporating off the chicken. Leave it in the oven for at least an hour, or maybe a little more, if you have extra big chicken legs.

Around 20 minutes after putting the chicken and asparagus in the oven, you'll want to begin prepping the pasta. Fill a pot a little over halfway with water, and put a lid on it:

I have an electric stove, and I set the burner to the highest heat and leave the lid on to get it to boil quickly.

Put your pasta strainer into the sink to get it ready. This is why we scrubbed out the sink; we don't wanna drain our pasta in some weirdly bacteria-laden place. I'm by no means a germophobe, but even I know enough to be wary of any splotchy-looking patches of bacterial growth in the sink; they can make you very sick!

Here is the boxed mac-n-chz that M, J, and I like to use:

We use this kind, because a long time ago, M, J, and I did a science by preparing all of the most popular boxes of macaroni and cheese (both with cheese powder and with cheese sauce), and then comparing the flavors to see which one we liked best. We all thought it was going to be Velveeta - that's a very popular brand here. We were all shocked when we realized that this one tastes even better, at least for all of our sensory hardware; maybe other people will have a different favorite, and that's okay too. The yellow cheddar and the white cheddar taste a little different, and they're both very good on their own, but we've found that they're even better when you mix them together!

Once the water in the pot is boiling, you pour the noodles into the pot, and stir continuously for 12 minutes. The continuous stirring prevents the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pot and to each other.

After it's done boiling, you turn off the stove and carefully pour the contents of the pot into the pasta strainer:

While the bottom of the pot is still warm, squish the contents of the cheese packets into it:

As you can see, the two different kinds of cheeses have a different consistency.

Here's what it looks like once you add in the noodles and mix it all up:

By now, the chicken and asparagus should be either done or close to done. Here's how the asparagus turned out:

It is crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside! VERY yummy!

Here is the chicken:

When you get whole chicken legs like these, the moisture content within them makes it so they essentially steam themselves. The result is dark meat that's tender enough to be pulled apart easily with a fork.

And... here is the awesomely delicious plate of wholesome goodness that I very much wish I could give to you:

...Alas and alack; it is not possible. I don't think this will ever stop being a source of sadness for me. Oh well. It is what it is.

After we eat and everything is put away, we are left with a lot of fat and juices rendered from the chicken:

We can pour all this flavorful goodness into a mason jar. Later, we can use it to make super flavorful rice in the rice cooker!

And as the chicken gets eaten, of course the bones will be saved in the freezer so I can make broth out of them later!

...And I think with that, that's mostly it for today's letter.

Hey, thanks for coming on this very ordinary adventure with me! Hopefully with this you can see that something even as mundane as making a simple dinner can be joyful and beautiful if you look at it through the right lens! My world is filled with so many wholesome, delicious, and amazing things in between all the suffering and pain scattered around. This life of mine is still awesome and good, despite all the trauma and pain that it's salted and peppered with.

When we're not born into beauty, wholesomeness, and safety, we have a responsibility to build it with our own two hands, to whatever extent we are able, and decide that it's good enough as a "normal". We can have a pocket of wholesome goodness amongst all the chaos and strife, and we can use the strength of our love to keep it from collapsing under the pressure of everything around us as we share it with others who are willing to respect it - just like we have our little pocket of SOMETHING that exists in stark defiance of the vast NOTHING that comprises most of the rest of the universe; the mechanics are exactly the same.

Stay safe out there, and remember that you are loved - I love you, and so do lots and lots of other people. From us, please learn to see yourself with loving eyes. See everything else that surrounds you with loving eyes, too. Love yourself and the others enough to keep it all safe from anything that would dare threaten it. Do no harm, but take no shit either, okay? Especially not from yourself.

I'll write again tomorrow, too. So don't disappear. Please.

Your friend, Lumine

#sephiroth #ThankYouFFVIIDevs #ThankYouFF7Devs #ThankYouSephiroth #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii crisis core #final fantasy 7 crisis core #final fantasy crisis core #ffvii crisis core #ff7 crisis core #crisis core #ff7r #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy 7 remake #ffvii remake #ff7 remake #final fantasy vii rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ffvii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #ff7 ever crisis #ffvii first soldier #baked chicken leg quarters #nostalgic recipes #wholesome

[tsuki-sennin]

Welcome back to Kamen Rider Tycoon! Boy, I'm sure proud of my friend Keiwa-kun, he's doing such an epic and cool job~! Neon's so cute and cool~! Mean ol' Azuma's a big ol softie deep down~! And Mister Punkjack, he's so wild and funny! Now that is epic~!

Enter Password: Spoilers, I guess...

Glare, log in!

Install. Dominate a System.

Booting... VisionOS

Warning! The publisher of VULPE-DEI.exe is unable to be identified by VisionOS, therefore was prevented from starting. Executing functions of this file can put your system at risk.

>Run anyway.

-Yep! We were kicking ass!

-The Game Master fucking cheated! Thank you for staying on our side, Tsumuri.

-Heyoooo, Ace!

-"What you doin' today, son? :)" FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

-I guess Ace got to keep everything then. ...and yet, nothing of what he was really fighting for.

-Fuck you Dad.

-Yeah good game you got here old man.

-Right, I think we've got the whole picture.

-The Jyamato are completely engineered and the DGP is just an elaborate excuse to get Giroli and the executives to jack off on their power fantasy.

-Wonder how long it'll take for Archimedel to decide to rebel?

-Ah, final boss already?

-Oooooh, Battleship! I love that game!

-True love!

-World peace!

-And winning!

-Let's move out.

-Just another round in the game, nothing to see here, folks~!

-Oh sure, go straight for the boss

-Oooooooh, there he is!

-Gotokuji-san! Ice Bear does not approve of your recklessness.

-Jya-Jya-Jya-Strike!

-Ohhhh shiiiit!

-Jyamato Green! Is! People!

-Yeah well Ace, God of Desire, is having himself a grand day out.

-He's probably had sex like 20 times off screen, and that's not even the main thing he remembered from that morning.

-What a swell guy, that Ace :)

-"This world... this world sucks!"

-"SHUT THE FUCK UP I'M WAY COOLER THAN ACE >:(" Azuma shouted, smashing his shoulder against an opponent who no doubt thought the exact opposite.

-Time for Zombie Pants!

-Ah, Buffa's gonna become God.

-It's all he ever really wanted!

-Propeller~! I see even with how much you despise Ace, you still take proper homework for his victories.

-Flyyyyy!

-Oh, there he is! Speak of he devil!

-"What the FUCK is a Geats?" Everyone when the trademark was revealed.

-Ace is just that kinda guy!

-Are those guys even still allowed in the game, Azuma?

-"SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'M GONNA WIN!"

-Good job there, Leeroy. At least you got your chicken, eh?

-You really bet the farm on that one horse, huh Giroli? ...or, buffalo in this case.

-Ohhhhhhh

-Ohhh nooooo, Buffa

-Is he

-Buffa NOOOOOOO

-NOOOOO

-YOU SON OF A BITCH, COME BACK

-TAKAHASHIIIIII

-Buffa has been eliminated.

-Gotta know when to fold 'em.

-So touching any Core gives you your memories back, huh?

-No more time for Geats.

-Fuck the game, we're just saving all those people.

-We're just not strong enough.

-Oh?

-Ah, you can just...

-Hand over a Boost, huh?

-God has a duty to look after His world.

-And His disciples are sent...

-Tsumuri-neesama :)

-OH YOU CAN JUST

-DO THAT

-LET'S GOOOO

-This is some Joseph Joestar shit right here.

-"DID YOU PLAN THIS TOO, GEATS!? TELL ME!"

-"WHY'RE YOU EVEN ASKING!? I SET THE TRAP AND YOU WALKED RIGHT INTO IT! ALL OF THIS WENT DOWN LIKE CLOCKWORK!"

-Lots of affirmations, huh Geats man?

-Oh, by the way, if you see golden feathers you should punch behind you.

-He's just playing the game, Giroli <3

-TRUST LAST LET'S GOOO

-I sure hope the full version comes out soon.

-Zombie and Boost! :D

-Hot damn, Fox Man going through it all!

-Good job, Game Master. Now everybody distrusts you.

-Storm the castle. Inside and out.

-Fireworks~!

-Get rubbled, idiot!

-Sasuga, Geats!

-Real?

-Ohhh?

-Ohhhh shiiiit, one last game, huh?

-Desire Grand Prix Desire God Torunament!

-He calls it a tournament, but in reality Mr. Game Master's making us do a fox hunt.

-Well, looks like Neon and Keiwa get one last shot at becoming God.

-...just gotta wait tiil Sunday.

#the world's next round: trick shot of desire for the grand victory #kamen rider #kamen rider geats #geats spoilers #kr geats

[wtfcraigslistnyc]

I’m back motherfuckers!! YES!!! To the roots of where this whole sorted mess began.. CRAIGSLIST… Life has handed me some of the sweetest cherries via CRAISGSLIST. I can’t ever quit you….

This first foray back to the OG art form comes to us from some DOUCHE in VIRGINA… It’s not just for LOVERS apparently. Having spent a fair amount of time in the mid-atlantic region I feel connected to this world this strange query springs from… ENJOI 12.6.23

CHRISTMAS ELF…

It’s really profound what the human mind is capable of. Curing cancer, overcoming tremendous adversity, dragging what’s left of your body after a bear mauls you… But other times the mind wanders in the cold, bleak, dark of winter. The walls close in and everyone begins to look like a bucket of KFC that complains too much. So the wheels spin and land on a very intuitive and obvious solution as you drift across the sewage treatment plant liquid surface of the modern popular cultural zeitgeist.

One can only try to imagine the wretched and pitiful mind that would solicit another human for their sick holiday fun….

WILL FARRELL!!! OF COURSE!!! ELF!!!

My cheating wife and asshole children will be so goddam stoked on this utter tidal wave of yuletide inspiration. Nothing will prepare them for the TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET-esque reveal I have on deck for them all…

The whole concept actually appeared in a fever dream as I took a stroll down memory lane to revisit my old childhood haunts of the web… EBAUM'S BABY!!! All the most vile stuff really. It brought me back to the time of dial up and TUB GIRL. Of lesser and greater evils I may or may not have been privy to.

The issue is that I know my dog is gonna rape the ELF… It’s the ELEPHANT in the room really.

BUSTER has been really not adjusting well to any of the many hurdles we’ve presented him with. First, we switched him from a VEGAN, non protein based diet. This caused our beloved pup to really take a turn for the worse almost instantly. His poor canine rectum became a fire hydrant of angry, hateful excrement. He seemed to charge at passing cars with what little life force remained, chasing his own death like a ball sadly…

Thankfully we found a DOGGIE LIFE COACH who really set us straight on the path of nothing but freshly butchered chicken and raw veg. His stools are now like baseballs, one saves in a bin and are carefully burned over the winter months to warm the family at our cabin in the stix…

The unfortunate byproduct of this new vigor BUSTER’s meat infused doggie heart is that he basically tries to penetrate ANY creature that he perceives as a possible for him to mount and dominate.

We found out the hard way… The kids had just come back from school. I was busy cutting brush out back with our gardener… Lord knows his idle hands won’t execute my desires if I’m not there to micro-manage each and every gesture of his hands.

The sound made JUAN and myself quite concerned. The state has advised me not to really provide any other details as the investigation is still pending. I think that in the end everyone will come out on the other side of this unfortunate misunderstanding far more cognisant of BUSTER’s potential for solo doggie breeding supremacy.

We take him to a place now. JUAN introduced us to the guy. He refuses to tell me his name because he says I have a big mouth and will make problems if I know it. He’s got a system where two times a week I drop off BUSTER and he lets him just pound all these dogs making more of his ilk to populate the gene pool. The guy is giving me a really good deal on this dog therapy. BUSTER is much more manageable now that his balls are drained of the hateful poison that bubbles like molten lava…

I’ve already hired a gregarious fella named AL to be the ELF. I actually held “AUDITIONS” in my minivan at the mall. AL was the only one to swallow and that goes a very long way in my book. He didn’t even complain about the ether fumes that engulfed the cabin of the van as I let my drippy rag make me forget why I had a little person blowing me at WALMART, nibbling on a churro….

AL says he has a lot of mascott experience which is going to be very important…. The guy who helps keep BUSTER chill, is on holiday for the next month and as such he left him with a rubber dog we chained up next to his kennel… The poor thing is barely intact and it’s only been a couple of days.

I see this whole holiday ELF reveal meets my psycho dog extravaganza going one of two ways… AL will be smiling counting his money driving home… AL spends the holidays chilling as BUSTER’s bitch in the kennel waiting for the “BONUS” I keep telling him is gonna be life changing and super sweet… It’s yet another YULETIDE MIRACLE.

#uziego #nyc #savagesneversleep #wtfcraigslistnyc #comdey #craigslist #uziegoart

[bethestaryouareradio]

Love Versus Bullying

Love Not Bullying

CYNTHIA BRIAN

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

0EMPOWERMENT

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EMPOWERMENT

Love Versus Bullying:Share Your Heart!

Cynthia Brian

18 hr ago

Miracle Moment®

“Do not waste time bothering whether you

“love” your neighbor; act as if you did. . .

When you are behaving as if you loved someone

you will presently come to love him.” ~ C.S Lewis

A Message from Founder/Executive Director, Cynthia Brian

February…the month that Cupid shoots an arrow of love and acceptance and everyone becomes kind to one another. Except, that is not the case. As much as we talk about love and being loving, fear, hate, and bullying persist, often with deadly consequences.

A couple of months ago, my newest children’s book, No Barnyard Bullies, was published with proceeds benefitting Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3 charity. It is a true story that revolves around three main animals: a pampered piglet, a three-legged goat, and a tiny lopped-eared rabbit. The pampered piglet was adopted into my barnyard and immediately stared terrorizing the little goat who was born with only three legs.  The additional barnyard inhabitants of chickens, ducks, geese, goats, and rabbits feared this new addition and didn’t help Tripod, the goat, or intervene to stop the bullying. One day the tiniest bunny of the bunch decided he was going to stand up to the bully in the barnyard. I had never seen a rabbit fight, but Monet, the bunny, was fearsome. Every time that Cookie, the piglet, attempted to harm Tripod, the goat, Monet flew into action to stop him. Monet began guarding Tripod day and night until the other barnyard critters stood up to the mean piglet as well. Cookie learned that if she wanted to assimilate into this new world, she would have to be kind and loving. It took time, but today, Cookie is a humungous hog and the sweetest animal in the barnyard, even giving piggyback rides to all of her new friends.

Bullies are made, they are not born mean and spiteful. Bullying doesn’t just appear, it emerges. When children grow up in an environment where criticism, insults, mockery, physical abuse, or a lack of empathy are present, instead of being loving individuals, they may grow up to be bullies, bystanders, or in some cases, the victims of bullying. Children respond to the dominant parenting style they experience.

As parents, caregivers, educators, coaches, and others who interact with children, it is our responsibility to model behavior that is loving, kind, inclusive, and respectful. We have the power to intercede before bullying occurs to help our children learn healthy ways of interacting with others. No person needs to be a bully, a bystander, or a victim.

We must all stand up for love.

I have learned numerous lessons from being observant of the animal kingdom. When love is the principal ingredient, everyone prospers. Life is sweeter and peaceful.

This week I was interviewed by Florida’s most popular garden expert, Teresa Watkins, on the issue of bullying. Tune in at https://audioboom.com/posts/8245921-better-lawns-and-gardens-hour-2-cynthia-brian-no-barnyard-bullies-february-11-2023.

Let’s stop bullying, be empathetic, and share the love.

Remember: Love yourself first.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day.

With gratitude,

Cynthia Brian

Founder/Executive Director

Be the Star You Are!®

PO Box 376

Moraga, California 94556

[email protected]

https://www.BetheStarYouAre.org

http://www.BTSYA.org

DONATE: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

Sponsor Books to Prevent Bullying

Would you like to do your part to stop bullying behavior? Be the Star You Are!® is seeking sponsors to buy the book, No Barnyard Bullies, in bulk at a discount to be distributed to schools and organizations. Our Kindness Coordinator, Karen Kitchel, bought books for every child in a kindergarten class and the teacher created a lesson around the theme. The result was kids cared more for one another. If you would like to scatter kindness and sponsor books for a school or organization of your choice, please email Cynthia Brian at [email protected] for more information. Let’s spread love not hate.

Moraga Faire is Returning on April 29th

The last Morage Faire was held in 2019 as the pandemic stopped all in-person events. But, it will again be a day of celebration on Saturday, April 29th, and Be the Star You Are!® charity is excited to participate. If you want to participate in our booth by volunteering or sponsoring, contact us! We welcome you! Mark your calendars as this is a very fun, family faire!

When Quiet is not Peace

By Natalie Hsu

I grew up as a quiet child. And yet, I would never have described myself as quiet.

I didn’t speak often, but I lived in my head and was always lost in my thoughts. Had you asked me back then for the reason, I would have said that the world in my brain was simply a more interesting place. The only issue was, the people around me mistook my silence for a stubborn peacefulness and assumed me to be impenetrably calm. They didn’t know that everything in my head was always loud and confusing, swarming with thoughts that I never felt I could express.

From that period of my life, I learned that quietness does not always signify peace. As we face the world today, we must remember: peace is not the absence of violence or sound, but the presence of kindness and love; peace is not living without tumult, but living despite it and helping others to do the same.

It starts with one. One heart, one smile, one kind word, one book, that might spread the peace a little further.

Natalie Hsu is a teenage writer who volunteers with BTSYA from the San Francisco Bay Area whose goal is to spread kindness, one word at a time. When she’s not writing, she loves playing the piano, reading classic literature, and painting.

Amazon Smile Terminating

Along with other numerous grassroots nonprofits, Be the Star You Are!® was saddened to learn that the Amazon Smile program is ending on February 20th. Although Amazon gave a tiny percentage of each Amazon Smile purchase to the designated charity, pennies added to dollars. You have a few more days to shop through Amazon Smile while donating. Going forward, another great option for your purchases is to use IGIVEwhere over 2000 stores are featured with extra savings coupons for you. They are currently offering a $5.00 bonus donation through March 1. https://www.iGive.com/BTYSA

Reading in Community

by Julia Howe

Google “book communities,”  and over 2,020,000,000 results appear.

You’re just one *click* away from reading “alone” to reading “together.”

Welcome to the online bookworm community, where millions of avid readers swap insights about everything from The Great Gatsby to the newest Percy Jackson! Places like Litsy are brimming with book clubs built by book lovers scattered across the globe, all embarking on a shared journey through the pages.

Stop by a site for burnt-out bookworms challenging each other to a Bronte-A-Day book challenge. Skim Goodreads reviews, each gushing bibliophile inviting you into new reading adventures.

Recently, I discovered the user who had completely changed the way I saw Dune was from Amsterdam. 5000+ miles bridged by a discussion between two voracious readers.

Bookhounds thrive in these communities, diverse in background but connected by a shared love of good books. Make 2023 your mission to enter this new world of reading!

Julia Howe is a teen reader, BTSYA Book Reviewer, and writer, passionate about youth mental health and literacy. She loves exploring innovative education methods and running long distances.

Be the Star You Are!® Honored as TOP NONPROFIT for 2023

For numerous consecutive years,Be the Star You Are!® has earned the honor of being a TOP NON PROFIT. Read what the public, donors, and volunteers are saying about their experiences in collaborating with Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3. Join our Community of Stars! Congratulations to all! Small and mighty!

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Please join our Galaxy of Stars and support BE THE STAR YOU ARE!® with your contributions and/or ask your company to be on our team. Visit our creative community at http://www.BTSYA.org for book reviews, news items, newsletters, and press pass clips.

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Spreading love, kindness, and inclusivity. Happy Heartfelt February!

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#love bullying nobarnyardbulliesvalentinesbethestaryouarecynthiabrianstarstyleradio https://www.stopbullying.gov

[chaelinsbitch]

Everytime I say smtn in a meeting my manager is basically like "Maleeha oh my god. Next person" no one understands me

#the question today was 'would u rather speak every human language perfectly or speak to all animal species in the world' #and i said animals bc 1) humans are animals therefore loophole i can speak all languages and 2) i want to amass an army of emus goats llamas #and chickens and execute my world domination #everyone else here is so boring 😑😑😑 #except for this dude who just said animals and started detailing his plans on how he and animals would team up to rob a bank #literally the only reason id ever go back into the office would be to befriend this guy he is like me if i were a dude and more coherent #potential best friend alert...

[autistic-singer515]

What I would like to see in future episodes and some for the finale of the Animaniacs reboot.

1. Yakko, Wakko and Dot having a fight with an overly realistic tv executives who wants their show to be more realistic and boring and also wants the Pinky and the Brain finale with Julia in it to have a cautionary downer ending.

2. Yakko singing the updated version of Yakko’s World. ✔️

3. Chicken Boo and Otto Scratchensniff and the Warners apologize to each other for their actions.

4. Maybe more cameo appearances of the other Animaniacs characters that weren’t fully in the reboot.

5. Yakko, Wakko and Dot tackling Donald Trump, the Kardashians and many more celebrities.

6. The Warners parodying the new Disney films like Tangled, Frozen and Moana. Heck! Maybe even Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro. That would be awesome!

7. Have Yakko’s fear of not being funny be explored more and than recover from it.

8. The Warners annoying the crap out of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen from the Twilight Saga because of how terrible and boring their chemistries are and sides with Jacob Black, thinking he was the better boyfriend for Bella until they found out what he did to Bella’s vampire child at the end of Breaking Dawn. Then the episode would end with the Warners dismissing the Twilight Saga as a crazy, sexist and insane wet dream.

9. Have a Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain episode with Elmyra trying to give Pinky and the Brain surgery after force feeding them mini plastic cake and giving them indigestion. Knowing the surgery would end in a gruesome death, Pinky and the Brain would have tried their hardest to get away from Elmyra. This frightening event would happen until the end when the Brain wakes up in bed with a fright. That is when he and the audience realize that all of the events from the ill-fated spin off show was nothing but the Brain’s 13 episode plus one more long dream. It’s very similar to the Pinky and the Brain episode, You’ll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again. The episode would take place before the reboot episode Of Mice and Memes.

10. Julia coming back for revenge on the Brain. ✔️

11. Fix the Brain’s characterization for the reboot and have him show genuine love for Pinky just like in the 90’s. ✔️

12. The Brain having second thoughts about what his future self said about Pinky after more and more failures. The Brain would say hurtful things to Pinky and then the Brain kicks the crying Pinky out. It would lead to Pinky staying with Julia out of loneliness. Pinky would be oblivious to know that Julia was not only keeping him safe but also using him to lure the Brain to kill him until he finds out about her plan before the Brain comes to rescue him.

13. The Brain regretting his recent mistakes. Including being a lot more mean and aggressive to Pinky than before and controlling Julia forcefully with his defective obedience chip. And have second thoughts about his desire for world domination.

14. The Brain arguing with himself and singing a song about his complicated relationship with Pinky while going on a journey to save him from Julia. And that would jump to Julia’s treehouse where Pinky was singing about his relationship with the Brain and about his worrisome change of behaviour. It would turn into a separate duet between the two mice at the end of the song.

15. Exploring more of Pinky and the Brain’s relationship. ✔️

16. Pinky calling the Brain out for being a lot more evil and mean to everyone, including himself recently.

17. Have the Brain realize that losing Pinky is his biggest fear.

18. Pinky sacrificing himself to save the Brain when he accidentally gets hit by Julia. That would lead to the Brain confessing his secret love to the apparently dead Pinky and crying even harder than he ever had before, letting go of his trauma and letting out his true feelings before his tears woke Pinky up. Then the Brain finally hugs Pinky, overjoyed his funny friend is alive.

19. Pinky and the Brain finally kissing.

20. The Brain and Julia apologizing to each other after his teardrop snapped her out of her monsterous instincts and changed her back to her normal mouse size. Have the Brain think Julia’s dead and then after she wakes up, have her not forgive Brain completely, but let’s him go and move on and have them realize that nobody is that truly good or evil, but they are normal mice who has flaws. Then have Julia get surgery to remove her obedience chip and become senate again with Pinky and the Brain’s help to make it up to her. Have Julia realize that the Brain has feelings and does care for Pinky.

21. The Brain seeing the world through Pinky’s eyes and finally listening to him before proposing their marriage to him, like watching America’s Stupidest Pets, dancing some stupid dances with him, singing karaoke together with the aliens, apologizing to Romy for treating him like an object and play with Snowball as a happy and mindless normal gerbil like he used to as a kid.

22. Pinky and the Brain finally getting married with Yakko being the officiant with snarky and witty one liners. Wakko holding the two wedding rings with his tongue and then Yakko sanitizing them before he could hand them to the two mice. Dot being the flower girl. Other old and new Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain characters joining in as the audiences, including Romy, the Brain’s parents and Pinky’s parents and maybe even the much happier and nicer Snowball as a normal gerbil.

23. Make a Christmas episode. A heartwarming one.

24. Make a full of episode starring Pinky and the Brain since the Warner siblings had their solo episodes twice.

25. Have the Brain want to take over the world with making the world a better place again without being hostile and controlling. But with newfound experiences he learned along the way.

#pinky and the brain #animaniacs #animaniacs reboot #animanics 2020 #brinky #animaniacs brain #patb #animaniacs julia #animaniacs pinky #pinky and the brain 2020 #pinky and the brain reboot #patb brain #patb pinky #patb julia #yakko wakko and dot #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #animaniacs yakko #animaniacs wakko #animaniacs dot #patb 2020 #patb reboot #animaniacs fandom #gay mice #patb snowball #patb romy #pinky and the brain snowball #pinky and the brain romy #Maybe Brain should go back to Megalomaniacs Anonymous if his unhealthy obsession with world domination gets worse

[chibi-pix]

Hey guys!  I felt it was a good idea. I want to share photos and a bit about the cats I have. Some are at home (Mama’s place), some at my Grandpa’s place.  So, how about it?  Time to introduce the cats!

Name: Soot Age: assumed 6 or 7 years (adopted three or four years ago) Location: Home Skills: Pissing people and cats off while being adorable. Occupation: professional asshole Likes: Yogurt, Pop Tarts, hiding under my dresses, chasing the ladies, and horror video games. Dislikes: Kisses, vacuum cleaners, my singing Extra: Soot has no understanding of my personal space. Under my skirt, across my chest, trying to get into my yogurt, you name it. He loves snacks, especially smoothies made with milk, yogurt, and frozen strawberries. He does not show signs of lactose intolerance. When we adopted him, he was so scrawny. Now he’s a chonk. He may be a smidgen overweight, but he’s happy. 

Name: Christmas Age: maybe 17? (Adopted three or four years ago) Location: Home Skills: healing purrs Occupation: Polite old lady Likes: Snuggles, giving her own cat scans, making my leg go numb Dislikes: someone trying to clean her butt, someone getting the mats out of her fur, me not paying attention to her Extra: She’s an older lady. She’s a bit sore with her age and maybe weight; she struggles to move, but she always comes to sit on my lap or shoulder for love. Her purrs are comforting and helps with my headaches. With her age, she doesn’t groom herself like she used to, so she gets mats. Mama and I have to team up to get them out.

Name: Bandit Age: possibly 17? (She’s Christmas’ sister and adopted with her) Location: Home Skills: telling time without a clock Occupation: Judging others

Likes: treats, catnip, the laser pointer, calling for the manager Dislikes: being picked up, being pet too much, me being one minute late giving her her treats Extra: She’s always silently judging others. Me singing? Judgment. Another cat licking a bag? Judgment. The videos I watch? Judgment. My sneeze? She’s damning me to hell, I’m sure. However, she is kind and caring, If I’m not feeling well, she’ll let me rest longer. 

Name: Baby Boo (Baby) Age: maybe 14 or 15? (Adopted three or four years ago) Location: Home Skills: Summoning demons from the dark pits of hell and turning invisible in the shadows Occupation: witch’s familiar Likes: lurking in the shadows, being pet, sitting on her tower and watching over the peasants, yogurt (but she is lactose intolerant, so I don’t let her have any) Dislikes: demons not obeying her, when the Hellgate suddenly opens up while she’s enjoying a snack and it interrupts her, dancing, and Soot. Poor Soot.  Extra: This is the cat of a witch and I’m pretty sure while she appears to be in her teens, she’s actually the ancient spirit of a scorned witched, cursed to live out her eternal life in the form of a cat, watching over witchlings and commanding legions of demons. She is also the one most likely to kill me in my sleep, but she doesn’t because I’m her person. Thank you, Baby. You make me a proud witch.

Name: Cimmaron (Cim) Age: 11 or 12 (adopted on a farm when he was a year old) Location: Grandpa’s Skills: being cute Occupation: executive art supervisor Likes: sitting with me while writing or drawing, trying to wake up Grandpa, milk from cereal, gravy from beef stew Dislikes: showers (not that I force him) Extra: Cim is a wholesome lad. He likes to chill and see what’s up. He tends to follow me around when he’s not spending hours sleeping on mine or Grandpa’s bed. He accompanies me for my showers, keeping an eye on me.  He was most likely reincarnated and therefore has the soul of a gentle old man.

Name: Buffy Age: seven (adopted when he was about a year old) Location: Grandpa’s Skills: sleeping Occupation: horny freeloader Likes: reminding the dogs who are about fifty pounds each that he was there first, boiled chicken, yelling for attention and then snubbing those who are willing to pet him, Voltron: Legendary Defender Dislikes: being picked up Extra: This freeloader doesn’t contribute. He caught one mouse when he was a year and a half old and that was it. He tends to jump up on my bed to cuddle one of the dogs and watch cartoons with me. He knocked up another cat that my grandparents adopted.

Name: Horatio (H) Age: about 6 (born at the house; Buffy is the father) Location: Grandpa’s Skills: sleeping, eating, and screaming Occupation: screaming freeloader Likes: food. Cat food, chicken, bacon, apple pie, toast, anything he can get to. Dislikes: being picked up, my sister Extra: This guy. He is an absolute chonk. We know he is. But he won’t exercise for anything and when we try to feed the other cats, he shows up wanting food, too. He’ll scream whenever he sees fit and when someone would check on him, he just walks away. He also likes to lay across an entire step on the stairway. Asshole. But cute. His three sisters were adopted by a nurse who took care of my grandma. He’s now an only child pretty much and he sure tries to remind us of that and tries to get us to spoil him. Also, while he loves toast, we do not give him toast. We have birds who have plain wheat toast with their breakfast; one of them dropped a piece and before one of the dogs could get it, Horatio laid down with it and started eating it.

Bonus of Buffy and Horatio.

Name: Foreigner Age: Unknown (stray) Location: Grandpa’s Skills: existing Occupation: supervisor Likes: Walks with grandpa, keeping an eye on Grandpa when he’s working in the yard, sleeping in my chair, chasing after my feet Dislikes: Other cats and dogs invading his space, Ink (another cat) Extra: He just showed up out of nowhere, as cats tend to do out in the country. He was skittish at first, but he warmed up to Grandpa very quickly. Now he’s just part of the family. He is not allowed in the house because he doesn’t get along with the indoor lads and Grandpa’s got a bird. Foreigner also supervises when the horses get out, making sure we’re all okay and can get them back.

Name: Ink Age: unknown (stray) Location: Grandpa’s Skills: Hunting Occupation: Wanderer, professional barn protector Likes: catching mice and other pests on the farm, being admired, keeping his plans for world domination a secret, sunbathing, making cars stop on the road because he’s an idiot who plays in the street and thankfully cars don’t go through often Dislikes: Feriegner Extra: This is a cat with a plan. He was probably sent here from another planet or is a warlock in cat form, slowly observing others and planning to dominate the planet. He wanders off for days at a time, perhaps looking for weaknesses in the planet’s defenses. He’s done with everyone’s shit, but love and affection restores his faith in humanity.

And that is it. These are the lovely cats of my life.  I hope you all enjoyed meeting them.  Until next time. 

Editing to add Myst. She’s fictional, but she’s still a cat.

Name: Myst Age: eternal (created three years ago) Location: going back and forth between the spirit realm and the mortal plane Skills: can go through walls Occupation: existing Likes: sleeping on shoulders, chasing ghosts, people, sleeping on the computer Dislikes: holy water Extra: Myst is a spectral cat from an unknown location. She’s rather recognizable for her fairly transparent body and skull-like face. She floats, shifts size, can be a blob, is very expressive, and doesn’t shed fur. Of course, she sheds a sort of ecto-plasm and it’s hard to wash out. She’s a wholesome cat who likes attention. 

#chibi writes #cats #chibi has a bunch of cats #most are adopted #myst the cat #myst the spectral cat

[etheshadowlord]

Sorry but I need to vent about Alien Worlds on Netflix.

Okay so let me preface that I love speculative biology and even speculative xenobiology but I’m no means an expert in the subject. I’m just someone who writes things.

So Alien Worlds is a documentary series kinda showing how life “MIGHT” evolve on other worlds. One of my first problems with it is that it spends a lot of time comparing it to life on earth which is fair since it’s the only planet we know that’s teeming with life but seriously it felt like it was talking more about life on earth than out there in the stars at some points. Nor do we need a 

Not just that, there’s also the problem I have with their specificality of the evolutions which I will go into in order. Putting the rest into read more so as not to spoil it for anyone who....might be interested in watching it.

Personally I would put it as a skip.

ATLAS: So first world they show is a planet that has twice the gravity as earth and thus has a much denser atmosphere as the gravity pulls the air together so you get essentially these creatures that live aloft.

So one thing that annoyed me for this episode was the limited view of ATLAS’S biosphere. We were shown “SKYGRAZERS”.....the flying cows I’ll call them, Balloon falcons which have the wrong type of mouth and wrong size for their prey and pack size. And then we got the......meat tumbleweeds.

So first thing I’m going to rant about is the flying cows method of reproduction.

Essentially they land to give birth and the wee ones crawl their way to a cliff to jump off and start life anew while momma dies like a beached whale. What’s stopping the mother from giving birth to a flying cow calf in the air similar to a whale at sea? Or why couldn’t they just carpet bomb an area with reproductive materials? It’s probably gross as fuck but hey, life is gross.

Secondly we got the balloon falcons which like they’re name implies drop out of the sky to attack their prey....in a pack. So my first problem I have with this is the means by which they raise up to attack prey....with bacteria producing gas and expelling that gas to begin hunting. But I’ll forgive that to focus on their mouth parts.

From what I saw it looked like they latch on trying to bring prey down but what we see of their mouths it looks more specialized towards leeching onto prey. Like if you’re going to have hunters hunt prey they need the mouths to actually eat their prey and by extension the teeth for getting they’re nutrients.

Finally we have the meat tumbleweed which tumbles around eating anything it can get which....from we see looks to be pretty much flying cow offspring.

Now they tried to say that they were generalists and by being generalists they would survive say....a mass extinction event that would destroy both the specialized flying cow or the balloon falcons.

One problem, even this eldritch horror katamari needs food and if their food sources go extinct....so do they. The crocodiles and alligators didn’t survive on sheer spite they had to have something they could eat and that thing had to be able to eat as well and what we’ve seen of the atlas biosphere, I’m not confident in their survival.

JANUS: So this is a planet that’s gravitationally locked facing it’s star.... so one side is always day and the other always night and on this planet we have the pentapod....a super adaptable dominant species that’s like an alien roomba. Except a few issues i have with them from what the documentary was showing.

1) Them having venom ala scorpions.

2) Them eating small prey via the pick up and put into mouth method while having venom.

Look, scorpions are cool but here’s the thing regarding venom, the point of it is to immobilize prey to make it easier to eat. Picking up prey and shoving it into your mouth is inefficient especially if you’re eating prey the size of chicken nugget compared to you that can swarm and kill you.

It’s like watching a crab eat ants and then the turns have tabled. A more efficient show of eating is like a pangolin. 

It has defenses against stinging prey in its scales and just slurps up prey with a sticky tongue. No need for venom when you can just be protected and slurp up your prey.

EDEN: Gods, so beautiful looking planet but spend the whole episode focusing on the relationship of these predator, their prey, and the fungus that binds them all together....

The biosphere focus is so on these three that I just want to scream. We can tell there are birds on that planet you have bird sounds. There has to be other creatures for the predator to hunt, plus and this is an important thing....if the grazers are spawning numerous of these....embryo pods that all seem to carry one of their babies in them, the forest should be littered with them...to make up for the whole....everyone wants to eat us...plight. And the sac being....some sort of.....tree climbing....whatever is....unrealistic.

Ugh...

TERRA: The final episode of the documentary and it’s talking about hyper advanced species....that have “Evolved” beyond the need of a bod-

OKAY! Let’s start with something basic. There’s no such thing as evolving beyond the need for a physical body. There’s no way I can think of to naturally adapt to being a mass of neural tissue in a box being taken care of by robots with advanced artificial intelligence.

The only paths leading to this...scenario involve either being the last of your kind trying to cheat death by just....cloning your own neural tissue. Or by essentially sentencing the entirety of your species to be brains in cases. Which could only work if there was no viable means to prevent extinction otherwise...or your a cruel dictator and all detractors were forced to be brains in cases.

Like....that’s the only thing I have to complain about is the fact the Terrans are just brains in glass boxes being taken care of by advanced AI robots that are preparing to transport them to a new planet.

If this AI is so advanced that they can self replicate and make their own decisions, they could logically just....leave the Terrans to their own demise. The robots are getting nothing from helping these masses of neural tissue. They’re even losing numbers to solar flares caused by the dying star the planet orbits.

Like this is what I noticed from the entire series is a vast misunderstanding of the intricacies of evolution and adapting to one's environment and how many species it takes to support a rich biosphere.

Cool concept.....poorly executed in my opinion.

#alien worlds #ranting #this isn't getting into the fact we're only focusing on life as we recognize it

[wrestlingisfake]

Hard to Kill preview

Kenny Omega & Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Rich Swann & Chris Sabin & Moose - When Kenny Omega won the AEW men’s world title on December 2, he completed a long-simmering heel turn by forming an alliance with Impact Wrestling executive Don Callis.  Omega and Callis began showing up on both Impact and AEW programming acting like Omega is “the real world champion,” which irritated Impact world champion Rich Swann.  Omega also reunited with Impact’s men’s tag team champions, Gallows and Anderson, who had already been having issues with former champs Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley.

This match was originally booked as Omega/Gallows/Anderson vs. Swann/Sabin/Shelley, but the day before the show Impact announced that “unavoidable circumstances” prevented Shelley from traveling to the show in Nashville.  Shelley’s last-minute replacement is Moose, who has recently been feuding with Swann.  For over eight months, Moose has been calling himself the “TNA world champion,” presumably to set up a “who’s the real champion?” match with the Impact world champion.  But that seems kind of silly now that Omega and Swann are kind of doing the same thing, but with more credibility.  So I was hoping they’d get Swann vs. Moose wrapped up before Swann vs. Omega got going.  I certainly wasn’t expecting Moose to be involved in this match.

Because of Omega and the AEW interpromotional angle, this may well be the biggest show Impact has run in years.  So Impact is motivated to deliver the best they can for whatever new audience this match will attract.  The big question is whether AEW is invested enough to send a few of their guys to appear on this show for a hot angle.  Any unadvertised AEW wrestler causing any kind of ruckus on this show will get people talking.  But AEW and Impact seem to be taking their time with this storyline, and they may not think now is the time to drop the next bombshell plot point.

To me, the likeliest finishes are a) Omega’s team dominates and wins to get more heat, or b) Swann scores the winning fall to set up an Omega vs. Swann singles match.  The best setup for that match would be Swann pinning Omega, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.  But if they sell it like Omega’s team are the heavy favorites, and that Omega’s ego is bruised by an upset even if he didn’t lose the fall, then that can still work.  But then again, that was my gut feeling before Moose was added to the match.  Now it feels far more likely that Moose will turn on his partners or walk out on them, which could change the entire complexion of the match.  That uncertainty has me pretty interested in how things unfold.

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan - This is billed as a “barbed wire massacre” match, so the ring ropes will be replaced with barbed wire, and objects wrapped in barbed wire will be provided at ringside to use as weapons.  Obviously, in this sort of match nobody is going to be disqualified or counted out. 

I can’t say I understand the storyline leading up to this.  Edwards and Callihan had a vicous feud following a 2018 incident where Callihan botched a spot and hit Edwards in the face with a baseball bat.  Then they seemed to go down separate paths, and then recently Sami and Ken Shamrock started picking on Edwards and his wife for some reason.  The idea now appears to be that these two will never be able to settle it, except that they both clearly put it all aside for the better part of a year.  In any case, they’ve run out of hardcore stips to use in their matches, so here we are.

I believe this is the fourth “barbed wire massacre” match Impact has booked.  The first two were on pay-per-view in 2005 and 2008.  The third was taped for television in 2018, but was only streamed on Twitch because it was “too violent for TV.”  I remember watching the first one (Abyss vs. Sabu) in 2005 and being too squeamish to enjoy the performance.  In matches like this you have to hope the wrestlers know what they’re doing and don’t go too far just to create a “moment.”  But with Callihan and Edwards, that doesn’t apply, so I just have to hope the match was taped in advance, so that if one of them was gravely injured we’d have seen reports about it by now.

Both of these guys are pushed as top acts in Impact, but Callihan always seems to come up short in big matches like this.  I can’t see either guy accepting defeat and letting the feud end.  But if this is really the final chapter, then I think Edwards needs the last laugh more than Sami does.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie - Purrazzo is defending the Impact women’s championship. Valkyrie held the title from January 2019 to January 2020--the longest single reign in the title’s history--but after losing the belt she spent 2020 preoccupied in comedy stuff with Rosemary and John E. Bravo.  So Taya’s doing the whole “you’ve only done so well as champion because I haven’t gotten around to facing you” bit.

I haven’t been able to get into Impact’s women’s division.  I suppose it’s because so many of the characters seem superficial and unserious.  Like, Purrazzo is presented as a solid in-ring performer, but outside the ring she’s the kind of self-absorbed chicken heel who plots with her sidekick to devise ways to duck upcoming challengers.  Impact is full of characters like that, but the women’s division in particular has almost nothing else.  Hell, Taya was playing that role when she was the heel champion.  So I can’t say I’m very motivated to see these two fight.  I also don’t really believe we’re going to get a title change at this point.

Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju - This is a three-way match for the X division championship, so whoever scores the first fall over any opponent will win Manik’s title.  This story started with Bey as champion and Raju as his crony, but Raju was the one henchman in wrestling history who managed to manipulate his boss to his advantage, so Raju won the title from Bey in a three-way with TJP.  Raju was so worried about losing his belt to TJP that he arranged a stipulation where TJP could no longer challenge him.  Then Raju issued an open challenge answered by Manik...the masked man character originally played by TJP.  So now Manik is the champion and definitely not TJP, but Raju and Bey aren’t buying it.

I don’t really care who wins this.  Every time they do a multi-man match for the X title, they demonstrate that multi-man matches don’t settle anything, because there’s always somebody who’s like “Well I wasn’t pinned, so I should get another match!”  So if, for example, Bey pins Raju, you know it’s just going to lead to Bey vs. TJP and/or Manik later.  Except Raju is going to weasel his way into the situation, for another three-way.  (Unless Crazzy Steve is free that weekend, and it’ll be a four-way.)  There’s no direction here. The best thing that could happen to the X title (aside from retiring it as an obsolete relic) is if some AEW guys came in to fight for it.  And I don’t expect that to happen soon.

Havok & Neveah vs. Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan - This match is the tournament final to decide which team will be awarded the Impact women’s tag team championship.  The title was originally introduced in 2009, but a lack of interest in booking it properly led to ODB teaming with Eric Young to win the belts in March 2012.  The last title defense I can find was in May 2012, although it took over a year for Impact to officially abandon the championship.

I can see why Impact was motivated to bring the title back, since throughout 2020 most of their women’s roster was paired off in various alliances: Taya Valkyrie & Rosemary, Deonna Purrazzo & Kimber Lee, Kylie Rae & Susie, etc. But just because most of the women on the roster have a natural partner doesn’t mean there are enough women to fill out a tag team division.  I suspect these two teams are going to end up rematching a lot for the tag belts, while the teams they eliminated in the tournament go back to focusing on singles action.  If just having women’s tag titles automatically meant expanding the women’s roster and pushing more women, then that would be great.  But we’ve seen that it doesn’t work that way, not only in WWE, but also the last time Impact tried it.

My gut feeling is that Steelz and Hogan have more future potential, so I’d probably prefer to put the title on them.  But Havok and Neveah have the edge in size and meanness, and I could easily see Impact wanting them to dominate as the champions a la the Road Warriors.

Eric Young & Cody Deaner & Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake & Rhino & Tommy Dreamer - This is being called an “old school rules” match, which is Impact’s way of saying “ex-ECW guys are in this so we want to say ‘extreme rules’ but WWE trademarked that.” Basically there are no count-outs or disqualifications.  Cody and Jake were a tag team until Deaner became obsessed with proving himself against Young; when he failed, he turned on Jake and joined Young’s group.  Rhino tried to help Jake out, but it wasn’t until Tommy Dreamer got involved that they were able to even the odds.  I’m pretty sure Young’s faction is just getting started and they are going to destroy the babyfaces here.

Ethan Page vs. The Karate Man - Page is one half of The North, which spent most of 2019-2020 dominating the men’s tag team division.  Karate Man is the alter ego of...Ethan Page.  So he’s fighting himself.  That’s always fun.

The backstory here is that the North struggled to recover from losing the tag title earlier this year, and Page grew increasingly desperate to convince Josh Alexander that they could regroup. The tipping point was when Alexander was wrestling Brian Myers and Karate Man interfered, causing Josh to get disqualified.  Page did a skit where he tried to get therapy from Karate Man, before they decided to fight instead.

The bigger story behind all this is that Page’s contract with Impact Wrestling reportedly expired at the end of 2020, so he’s technically not even with the promotion anymore.  Reportedly, this “match” was taped weeks ago.  Just because Page is a free agent doesn’t mean he won’t simply re-sign with Impact at any moment.  But this looks to be his swan song before he moves on...or the pivotal angle that sets up how he’s staying.

Obviously this is going to have to be pre-taped with Patty Duke Show special effects.  I’m not sure if that means it’ll be a ~*~cinematic match~*~ though.  They could do a weird brawl in a weird location like the Boneyard Match or Stadium Stampede, or they could just do it on the normal set in a normal ring and not do anything weird except the split screen effects.  I honestly don’t know what to expect.

Rosemary & Crazzy Steve vs. Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb with a K - Rosemary and Steve used to be in The Decay together years ago, and occasionally Impact remembers that and has them interact.  Tenille is formerly Emma from WWE, playing a stuck-up Instagram influencer gimmick with Kaleb as her personal assistant.  Rosemary already beat Dashwood in the setup to this match, and I don’t think Kaleb is going to last long against Steve, so I guess the weirdo babyfaces will triumph.

Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers - This is scheduled for the pre-show.  As noted above, Alexander and Ethan Page had some issues that came to a head when Page caused Alexander to lose a match to Myers.  So Josh wants to avenge that loss.  It’s kinda funny to me that the serious match about wins and losses and professionalism is on the pre-show while the “Ethan Page beats himself up” comedy is on the main show.  But anyway, it seems like Alexander is headed for a singles push, so he might as well get that started with a win.

#impact wrestling #aew #hard to kill #kenny omega #luke gallows #karl anderson #rich swann #moose #chris sabin

[nad-zeta]

Match up 😉

I am the bubbly cuddly kind of girl in the group who has a really good sense of humor and try to show sass tho filled with adorableness (YEA IM ADORABLE WAT WILL U DO BOUT IT)-w- your partner in crime. riding horse? FULL SPEEDDD pulling pranks? Ayee lemme in fam. sing a song?? MAMAAAAA OHOHOHHoHoH~~~~ everyones perverted straightforward darling, got a problem u cant solve? no sweetened words babe I will throw the facts o yo face I AM KAWAII thats wat everyone says tho #youdontgettojudgeme my teachers says I will be successful in life due to my out of the box thinking, leadership skills and academic performance YOAAAIIIIIII MO DAO ZU SHI BUNNNIIIIIESSSSSSSSSSSS(give me nobu not kenshin plz) HUUUUUGGGGSSSSS CUDDLESSSSSSS ANIME BOYS?? *SHHHHRRRIIIEEEEEKKKKK SO PERVERT EVEN SATAN BE BLESSING ME(welp mah parents are concerned) so single even my lips are virgin turns to glance at boys ass grabs my besties boobs quotes vines(LoOK At ThiS GrAPh~~~~~~~) overconfident, narcissistic , intelligent[?] (at least I’m a top student) but also insecured the student who reads for a week before exam and mange to get 90% marks thehehe LETS DO THE FORK IN THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL DINGDINGDINGDINH emails my English teacher ‘u’ instead of you still remain her prized student

Hi there, love! Thank you so much for the request 😃<3 I hope you are safe and well! ^0^ I hope you enjoy it, dear ^_^.  Your match just came to me, as if it were written in this very title hehe. ❤❤🔥

So obviously match you with…………… Nobunaga lol

OOOOh girl, when you first arrived in Azuchi, you entered with a bang. You walked straight into that audience hall with your head held high, ready to fight. You now stood in the center of the hall, staring Nobunaga down. The two of you were basically fighting for dominance with your glares. Nobunaga was the first to crack under the intense staring contest, giving you the smuggest grin. He proclaimed you to be their new lucky princess. You thought for a moment, shrug, and said: “Nah, I’m good, but thanx.” Everyone in the room had to do a double-take. Nobunaga’s ruby eyes gleamed in amusement. “then tell me what it is you want as a reward for saving me.” You thought for a few minutes and then responded: “Nah, no thanks needed, you seem like a chilled dude.” Nobunaga just smiles, you certainly were an outspoken, entertaining woman. He then named you as castle chatelaine. You were super happy with that, so you just beamed up at him. You went to take a seat next to Masamune, who was waving you over to him.

Once war council was over; it was only you, Nobunaga, and Masamune left in the room. You were by no means a shy gal, so you chatted freely with them like old friends. They were so surprised and amused at all your perverted jokes and couldn’t help but howl in laughter. You were truly a hilarious woman. The three of you made jokes until Mamayoshi came to remind Nobunaga and Masamune of their duties for the day; they left to do their duties, leaving you all alone now with Hideyoshi. This boi thought from the moment he saw you, that you were going to be trouble. 

However, you pleasantly surprised at him. You worked incredibly hard, and you performed your duties diligently, often exceeding all expectations of you.

Nobunaga wasted no time in spending every possible moment with you. You were such a strange woman, and he couldn’t help but feel incredibly attracted to you. It didn’t even bother him that you had now dubbed him as Nobie. Much to Hideyoshi’s disapproval. But Nobunaga loved how outspoken you were, and low key kinda liked the nickname. He loved that you were always up for any and all adventures, and often the two of you would sneak out the castle and go horse riding. You loved to ride fast and feel the wind in your hair. He really enjoyed these little horse-riding trips with you as it was always filled with laughter and jokes. He loved the fact that you laughed at all his jokes and would always have a comeback leaving the devil king howling in laughter. The two of you would always race back to the castle, to see who the better horse rider was, you always seemed to lose much to your frustration. 

You and Nobunaga truly became super good friends really fast. He would often refer to you as his partner in crime. This was due to the fact that most nights, the two of you would be huddled around a makeshift drawing of the castle planning your candy heist. The two of you would plan everything to perfection, and then after executing a perfect heist, go back to Nobunaga’s room to chomp down on your precious candy loot.

Hehe and you truly fell in love with Nobunaga. You loved how even though he was the ruler and leader of a big clan, he just had this playful fun boyish energy about him. You two goofball are also known for pulling pranks on everyone in the castle in your free time. These pranks will range from putting whoopie cushions on Hideyoshi’s chair and then making a bunch of fart jokes, to messing with the silver kitsune. Although in saying that, you only pranked the silver kitsune once and never again cause that boi is the pranking master and will get you back x2 as bad. Like one time, the two of you just replaced his shampoo with honey, a harmless prank. But boy oh boy, did this kitsune get you back. This boy placed blue dye in all the bathrooms water supply, so when you and Nobunaga went to bath that night, both your bodies were turned blue from the waist down. You honestly thought that it was Nobu’s doing so you marched your way up to his room and slammed his door open only to run into him, storming his way to your room to blame you for the same crime. That is when Mitsuhide appeared and warned both of you against pranking him again.

Even though Nobunaga really loved you, he greatly underestimated your intelligence, which is a mistake he only made one. One day while the two of you were goofing off together, you spotted the latest war map and asked him about it. He explained the war strategies and plans for the upcoming battle in great detail. You looked over the board and map, something seemed off to you. The two of you continued on your day chatting and laughing, while something tugged at the back of your mind. That night you thought about the battle plans and strategies and realized they were slightly off and that they had too little men spread across the plain to successfully win the battle. You went up to Nobunaga to explain this when he basically just rejected your whole explanation. You legit told the facts to him straight, the two of you continued to bicker until you left the room in frustration slamming the door behind you.

You hadn’t spoken to Nobunaga in 2 days, and both of you were now off to war. You helped out around the camp, cooking and patching up injured soldiers. You and Nobunaga low key were avoiding each other, and EVERYONE noticed. It was the night before the final battle, and things weren’t looking too good for the Oda forces, you made your way to Nobunaga’s tent to give him the facts once again, and again he just ignored you. The next day shit was hitting the fan big time. Sweet angel Mitsunari arrived back in the camp being super injured, and that’s when you decided it was now or never. If Nobunaga continued the stupid ass battle strategy, he was gonna get himself killed, and it was no fun being mad at a dead man. You led Mitsunari into the medical tent and handed off your duties as the head doctor to one of the helpers. You then mounted Mitsunari’s horse and rounded up his troops. The lot was honestly running around like headless chickens without leadership. 

You rode out onto the field, remembering the battle plan you wanted to implement to strengthen the Oda’s defenses, they were weakest at the point that Nobunaga took control of. You rode like the speed of light, praying that you weren’t too late. You sent a silent thanks to Sasuke as you still had his smoke bombs, he had gifted you the first night. You rode to support Nobunaga and threw down the smoke bombs, giving you the perfect cover to command your troops to file a flurry of arrows at the enemies and thus giving everyone enough time to retreat and regroup. You saw Nobunaga fighting on foot, and you rode you him, tugging him to get onto your horse.

The two of you rode back to camp. You led him to your tent and patched him up as quick as you could, while patching you up he asked about your strategy, this time listening open-mindedly. After being patched up, he left your tent and was off to the battlefield was more. That night the Oda arrived back victorious, thanks to your and Mitsunari’s improvised battle plan. Nobunaga led you to his tent and apologized for underestimating you and thanked you for your bravery and leadership. After what he had seen, he was determined to make you his queen. He cradled your head in his hands and kissed you for the first time.

The two of you, goofballs make the cutest couple. You had discovered that the devil king is a secret cuddle lover. He loves to hug and cuddle you at all times, whether you are in public or private this boi wants you in his arms. He will devote his life to keeping you happy and will shower you with love and cuddles from sunset to sunrise. He loves laying his head in your lap while you sing to him at night. It’s one of those rare moments that he feels truly at peace and can let his guard down. Well, that is until you start tickling him, then you better be in for a long night cause this boi will get revenge for this playful declaration of war. (^_-)

All and all, this softi boi love you so much from your crazy good sense of humor to your sweet soft cuddles. You are truly the yin to his yang. And the only woman worthy enough in the whole world to rule the world by his side

 Other potential matches……………..Masamune 

I hope you liked it, dear!🔥❤ 

#ikesen nobunaga #oda nobunaga #ikemen sengoku nobunaga #nobunaga oda #matchups #match ups #ikesen matchup #nobunaga matchup #submission

[perfectirishgifts]

Best And Worst Brands Of 2020: From TikTok, The NBA, The Home Depot And Chick-fil-A...To Quibi, Facebook And The CDC

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/best-and-worst-brands-of-2020-from-tiktok-the-nba-the-home-depot-and-chick-fil-a-to-quibi-facebook-and-the-cdc/

Best And Worst Brands Of 2020: From TikTok, The NBA, The Home Depot And Chick-fil-A...To Quibi, Facebook And The CDC

This year was unprecedented for so many reasons. For most of us, our heads haven’t stopped spinning since March. For brands, this was a year when many discovered if they really had a purpose that anchored their place in the world and if their actions and experiences backed up their words and promises.

Deciding on brand winners and losers is always a challenge, but this year, I had some of the fiercest debates yet with my 450 Prophet colleagues, as brand performance took on so many more dimensions in 2020.

A number of brands were debated. We discussed the impact that Kobe and LeBron had on the world, while also talking about the Tiger King as the first COVID-19 bingeable show. The team gave a lot of love to the early COVID-19 responders, including Unilever, 3M, P&G, KFC, Chipotle and Ford, while giving equal props to those that took an authentic, purpose-based stand on social justice, such as Nike, The North Face, REI, Ben & Jerry’s, Glossier and J&J. The brands that helped us get through lockdown and changed the way we think of delivered meals and goods, including DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats, Instacart and, “newcomers” Target and Walmart all received a lot of votes. Similarly, the streamers got a lot of mentions, from Netflix to Hulu to Peacock and Apple TV, as did the connectors in Zoom, WebEx, Teams and the slowly dying Skype. 

Our team engaged in some serious conversations about the differences in responses that Uncle Ben’s (now Ben’s Original) versus Aunt Jemima (we are still waiting) took or about how we will collectively sustain the incredible Black Lives Matter momentum. Finally, others wondered what shape Brand USA will take in 2021 and how we will be talking about Pfizer and Moderna a year from now.

So, while dozens stood out, these seven received our highest marks:

Chick-fil-A

Florida, Brooksville, Chick-fil-A, fast food chicken restaurant, drive thru line due to Pandemic.

While COVID-19 crushed the restaurant industry, Chick-fil-A’s immediate response and quick innovations explain why it’s become the world’s third largest and most beloved quick-service restaurant. It endeared itself to its growing number of fans by doubling down on drive-thru speed, including expanded lanes, “face-to-face ordering” and “order ahead pick up.” It is crushing it with their Chick-fil-A One app and enhanced delivery options, accelerating new innovations such as meal kits and their famous sauces in grocery stores…all while still bringing “my pleasure” southern hospitality to life every day to millions.

Clorox

Hand sanitizer and Clorox sanitizing wipes sit on a table at a polling station in Miami, Florida, … [] U.S., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Photographer: Jayme Gershen/Bloomberg

While this brand has long soared in our Prophet Brand Relevance Index® it took on an entirely new meaning in the virus-dominated universe of 2020. As consumers clamored for reliable ways to protect their families, the brand gracefully acknowledged supply-chain problems and shortages while becoming indispensable in our lives. With smart partnerships, like United Airlines and the Cleveland Clinic, it’s using its trustworthiness to increase sales and market share.

The Home Depot

TORONTO, April 3, 2020 — People line up with a social distance to enter a Home Depot store in … [] Toronto, Canada, April 3, 2020. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Zou Zheng via Getty Images)

This year’s WFH trends helped propel the Home Depot’s business as “Doers Got More Done.” What helped drive and accelerate this is its investment, commitment and leadership. The Home Depot continues to lead the industry in inter-connected digital experiences and e-commerce, customer service, products and pricing. Its commitment to customer and employee safety (and giving back to the community) has been second to none in the retail industry, as has its commitment to professional customers.

TikTok 

Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

While TikTok was in the news for various reasons in 2020, its incredible timing met a moment when many needed ten seconds of relief from the real world. With over 100 million users in the U.S., TikTok has rapidly become part of our cultural lexicon. TikTok’s short-form viral videos, including its dance challenges and Ocean Spray “Dreams” video, took our minds off all things serious. From a niche player to mainstream media, this renegade has become so relevant that other platforms, like Instagram with its “Reels,” are racing to catch up.

The National Basketball Association

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 27: The Black Lives Matter logo is seen on an empty court as all … [] NBA playoff games. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

In a year of so many sports disappointments, the league, individual teams and countless players have demonstrated the best reactions to both COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter. With its bubble, the NBA showed a thoughtful, empathic balance between athletic safety and happy fans. With its unapologetic embrace of racial-justice efforts, as expressed on each player’s jersey, it’s using its stage to change the hearts and minds of its strong fanbase.

Zoom

President Barack Obama “crashes” Zoom board meeting for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Love it. Hate it. It doesn’t matter. Triple-digit gains prove Zoom found new relevance in wildly diverse audiences, from COVID-19 stranded senior citizens to energetic preschoolers. If you didn’t know what a virtual background was or used the words “you’re on mute, Scott,” you certainly do now. With a ridiculous stock price and valuation, continuous new features and updates through Zapps (a suite of apps integrated into Zoom), as well as fun innovations like video filters, Zoom will continue to be an integral part of our lives for years to come.

Peloton

This workout-from-home brand started the year by offending an entire gender with its tone-deaf holiday ad. (Note to husbands: It’s inadvisable to tell your wife to work out more.) But as gyms around the world shut down, it understood that it had a unique opportunity to make family-room workouts an integral part of people’s health and wellness. With bikes, treadmills and increasingly appealing subscription offers (90 days free for all), Peloton hit on all cylinders in 2020.

And the brands that disappointed us the most:

Uncle Ben’s, Aunt Jemima and Land O’Lakes

LONDON: A customer’s hand taking a packet of Uncle Ben’s rice. The brand is to change the image of a … [] black farmer and could also be forced to change its name, as a reaction to a backlash over racial injustice.

While all of these storied brands announced they were making changes, it took a full-on social uprising for Mars Foods, PepsiCo and Land O’Lakes to address their decades-old history of racist brand imagery. All have done the right things in starting to address the issue. Uncle Ben has given way to Ben’s Original Rice, for example, and Land O’ Lakes has removed the Native American woman from its logo. But none have explained why it took them so long.

Boeing

The Boeing 737 MAX will take another key step in its comeback to commercial travel on December 2, … [] 2020 by attempting to reassure the public with a test flight by American Airlines conducted for the news media.

Even as the nearly two-year grounding of Boeing 737 Max comes to an end and the company moves to again sells its planes, we saw plenty to disappoint us. Not only did the safety oversights and mismanagement result in tragedies in 2018 and 2019, but it also cost as much as $25 billion. And now, it has to sell the canceled planes to airlines at steep discounts, a blow to shareholders and what was once one of the most admired names in U.S. manufacturing. COVID-19 is continuing Boeing’s misery, with global air travel falling 66 percent.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control

CDC Logo

In what should have been the least controversial voice in American public health, CDC leadership allowed politics to drag it away from its central aim. It bumbled COVID-19 testing. Early on, it offered vague and contradictory guidance on masks. And while it certainly isn’t entirely to blame for the epidemic of misinformation sweeping the U.S., it didn’t do enough to stop it.

Facebook

(Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Even in an industry rife with possible villains, Facebook still manages to wind up on the wrong side of history in just about everything. As a repeat offender from our 2018 list, Facebook’s role in misinformation regarding the pandemic, vaccinations and elections continued to make it harder and harder to trust the brand. Adding insult to injury, after dealing with a much deserved summer boycott, Facebook now faces a major lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission (and 40 states) arguing it’s time to break this company up.

Quibi

People wearing masks walk past an advertisement for Quibi in a subway Station on October 22, 2020 in … [] New York City. On October 21st, Quibi’s founders announced it was shutting down its service after only six months of operation.

It could have sparked a content revolution. But Quibi, specializing in short-form content “chapters” of less than 10 minutes, failed spectacularly. In a world with fewer commuters, the idea just wasn’t compelling. Of the $1.75 billion it raised, it is returning just $350 million to investors. But we do think chief executive Meg Whitman deserves praise for pulling the plug at six months, instead of torturing both investors and the few viewers leveraging its platform.

What do you think of our list? Who would you add? Add your thoughts to the comments below.

Keep your eye out for Prophet‘s Brand Relevance Index – launching early 2021.

From CMO Network in Perfectirishgifts

[follyhodger]

Hunger & Mastery

Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island is my favorite One Piece movie, but the ending confused and unsettled me. The terrifying loss of Luffy’s crew was wiped away -- it was all just a bad dream! -- but in such a way that I couldn’t help but wonder if the awakening itself was a delusion, with Luffy replicating the Baron’s illusory preservation of lost friends. The morbid ambiguity resembled the final top-spin of Inception (which came 5 years later), and it seemed very out of place in my merry little pirate show. But the dream turned out to be standard fare.

In the first chapter, Luffy’s personal demon (vanity) surfaced in the form of a bandit and a sea-serpent. A competing virtue (love for others) is illustrated as a willingness to allow one’s own self-image to be sundered. Thus in the second chapter, Koby’s own fear of death is manifest in Alvida, who obsesses over the maintenance of appearances: vanity is understood as a force for keeping oneself intact, in a general sense. The breaking of the body is analogous to the shattering of the self-image.

But the more general takeaway is that Luffy washing up on the shore of Koby’s island is akin to Cobb washing up on the shore of Saito’s fortress in Inception: Luffy has invaded a dream. The very real conflicts our heroes navigate therefore double as a map for the internal conflict(s) plaguing some dreamer(s).

Moving forward, the question becomes What Is Zoro Dreaming About? If Luffy and Koby were metaphorically bound to their islands by an inner conflict with vanity, what psychic turmoil ensnares Zoro? The villain of each arc has thus far been the embodiment of the dreamer’s key vice, but does the same hold for Captain Morgan?

The last question is the easiest starting line (Answer: Yes!), as the groundwork for it is laid out in the story of Gaimon. The gang stumbles on an island full of chimera: chicken-fox, rabbit-snake, and pig-lion. In each case, the creature is a fusion of prey and predator, an unconventional union between a hunger and the target of that hunger. The parade culminates in appearance of Gaimon, whose body has merged with a treasure chest, an irony upon his obsessive interest in treasure. The comparison of the chimera and Gaimon indicates that hunger is analogous to desire in general. This offer some rationale for why characters aiming for pirate king (Luffy, Blackbeard, Kidd) eat the most: their appetites match the scale of their ambitions. What’s more, we can infer that the satisfaction of hunger (fullness) is generally analogous to the attainment of (and unification with!) the desired thing.

If you look at Zoro’s story such an object, the immediate answer is swords. At Captain Morgan’s base, at Arlong Park, and throughout the story, Zoro falters in battle when he lacks a full set of blades, and he re-assumes the strength of his art when the set is again complete. The VIZ translation is a bit more on the nose: having acquired a sword-count of 3 in Loguetown, Zoro remarks that he feels “whole” again. By way of Gaimon’s fable, we can infer that Axehand Morgan (and later, the sword-bodied Mr. 1) express the fusion with one’s weapons implicit in Zoro’s recurring quest to reunite with his swords.

The idea that Zoro’s antagonists function as shadowy dream-mirrors of himself (as doppelgangers) allows some nice jokes to fall in to place: when Luffy and Koby arrive at the marine base, the townspeople react with identical shock to the mention of Zoro and Morgan not only because both are feared, but because on a dream level, the swordsman and the axe-hand are the same person.

So having established that Captain Morgan indeed continues the trend of villains being manifested from (or closely analogous to) the mental configurations of the hero(es), we can return to the previous question: what psychic turmoil ensnares Zoro, exactly? What traps him in his solipsistic island, spiritually?

The answer lies in the maxim Morgan espouses as he firmly regards his axe-hand: “Strength is Everything!” The view is shared by Zoro, who aims for the title of World’s Greatest Swordsman. But in the same way that Luffy was apprehended by two competing notions of manhood, Zoro attempts to reconcile two competing notions of strength.

The notion embodied by Morgan is that of domination and mastery. Just as the axe embedded in his arm obeys his mind, Morgan regards all those beneath him (which is everyone, for he is strongest upon his island) as subordinate to his will. The townspeople exist to give him taxes, the sailors exist to kill those he wishes to kill, as though the men themselves are mere axes within his hand.

The moment that Luffy (himself very arrogant) claims Zoro could not defeat him, Zoro is faced with an insult on par with the toppling of Morgan’s self-aggrandizing statue: his supreme greatness has been challenged. Accordingly, Luffy’s challenge results in the emergence of the embodiment of Zoro’s competing image of strength: Rika, the little girl with the riceballs.

If Morgan represents a strength oriented towards vanity (that is, a strength that offers a self/image that cannot be ruptured or killed), Rika is a strength willing to face its own death -- or rather, a strength willing to submit itself to the possibility of its own dissolution? Calling to mind the progress Zoro displays in laying his arm bare to a twirling blade at Loguetown, daring fate to end him. Koby (who already had his confrontation with immortal vanity) echoes Rika’s selflessness when he attempts to untie Zoro (and again still when he shows his willingness to die before Helmeppo).

As Morgan calls for the execution, Zoro is forced to confront that he will not be permitted to nobly endure upon his cross, that he will simply die -- and suddenly he recalls the swiftness with which his undefeated rival had her life taken away. Untouchable strength united with the image of ultimate human frailty... or perhaps, fate itself replaced Kuina as the unbeatable force to be overcome...? For her sake, as well as his...

Another confusing guesture: why does Luffy assume a stance akin to the form of Zoro’s cross when he blocks the bullets? It’s not an effective pose for shielding those behind you, but symbolically it suggests that either Luffy has assumed the role of Zoro’s cross (that to which he is bound, upon which he endures?) or that Luffy is kind of enacting a poetic rendition of Zoro’s execution, at once acting as both the hanged man and the gallows? A more morbid sort of unity... but is the master the man or the cross?

Zoro assumes the position again (arms spread, as though again unified with the cross) as he submits himself to the overwhelming might of Mihawk’s blade. (And again, when baring his arm to the might of chance at Loguetown!) Mihawk himself weilds not one, but two blades in the shape of a crucifix... Is fate the wielder of the cross, or is the cross itself a symbol of fate...?

And pointedly, Mihawk easily block Zoro’s Onigiri with his little crucifix knife. Why does Zoro name his technique after Rika’s gift of riceballs? Is every strike a confrontation with his own mortality, marching up to the cross to offer his blades, fully aware that he may die? And if the hunger analogy still stands, this is itself would then be the gesture towards become full, complete, whole?

I went into this essay hoping to lay everything out, but it’s clear that I’m still struggling to understand how the meaning is being woven in One Piece. Ideally as I move forward, further evidence will let me take some of the question marks off of these impressions.

#reading one piece

[erictmason]

THEY’RE GONNA WRECK IT: A “Ralph Breaks The Internet” Review

I don’t know that I ever would have told you that the original “Wreck-it Ralph”, one of the more pleasant surprises of post-Pixar-merger Disney, “needed” a sequel; the original’s story was compelling and complete enough on its own.  But the characters were so much fun to spend time with and the world felt so intrinsically interesting that it also seemed like a prime candidate to give a sequel to anyway.  And to its credit “Ralph Breaks The Internet” starts from a premise clearly designed to keep it from simply being a needless retread of the original, trading the halls of an old Arcade for the world wide web.  Unfortunately, the resulting film, while not exactly a TOTAL wash, also feels like it’s learned all the wrong lessons from its predecessor, taking an anted-up version of the first movie’s playful Video Game in-jokes that were there a mere garnish and here turning them into an inescapable aspect of the entire story that severely compromises its narrative integrity.

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Said narrative picks up six years after the events of the original, with Ralph happy as can be with his lot in life nowadays: thanks to his friendship with “Sugar Rush” superstar Vanellope Von Schweetz, he’s more than content to just do his job and hang out with her goofing off all night.  Vanellope, however, feels increasingly constrained by the repetitive limits of her closed-off racing world, leading Ralph to try and give her a new surprise or two to cheer her up; unfortunately that just leads to "Sugar Rush” getting broken.  Ralph and Vanellope thus decide to venture into the arcade’s newly connected Wi-Fi system to reach The Internet in hopes of finding the part necessary to fix the game before it’s permanently unplugged.  

Which kind of sounds like a bit of an overcooked premise, and indeed the number of contrivances the movie throws at you more or less right out the gate to get to where it wants to go speaks to the problem at the heart of the whole thing, but to start things out on a relatively positive note: Ralph and Vanellope remain a great pair of characters, and if nothing else the opening few minutes of the movie honestly do make for a pleasant little coda to the first movie.  More to the point, there actually IS something admirable about how this movie chooses to dig into how their characters have changed and where they stand:  now that he has an anchor of affirmation in Vanellope, Ralph is able to find acceptance and fulfillment in the same places he once felt rejected by...but once that anchor is threatened (as it is when Vanellope finds herself increasingly attracted to the idea of staying online in the wild and unpredictable world of an online racer called “Slaughter Race”), all of his old insecurities begin to surface.  Meanwhile the same drive to strive for something greater that drove Vanellope in the first movie has now begun to slowly but surely push her out of “Sugar Rush”; this one’s a bit shakier (and the movie fumbles it pretty much completely in the execution but we’ll get to that) but you really can see the emotional logic it works on in a way that adds up, especially because the movie genuinely has the courage of its convictions and chooses to pursue it to its most logical conclusion rather than try to hedge its bets or chicken out at the last minute.  

As well, basically all of the new characters work.  The obvious highlight is Gal Gadot as Shank, the Boss Character of “Slaughter Race”; even as her presence in the movie overall is surprisingly limited given her importance to the main emotional arc that (eventually) reveals itself as the heart of the story, she is nonetheless an immediately enjoyable presence, at once tough as nails and On The Edge (one of the movie’s better sight gags is how the world of “Slaughter Race” is bathed in the reds and browns that dominated Video Games for most of the mid-00′s and Shank feels right at home in that tone) but also a caring figure who looks at her job with a genuine sense of Duty and Honor.  Likewise Taraji P. Henson’s Yesss is delightful, a beaming bouncing presence whose constantly-changing look is a consistent delight (and who may have the most enjoyably subtle details of animation of any character in the movie with the way her coat lights up whenever she gets excited being a personal favorite).  But even minor characters like the Search Engine curator Knowsmore (our now-traditional Alan Tudyk role) and Bill Hader’s J.P. Spamley are genuinely fun new additions to the overall cast.  You do find yourself wishing they could maybe get a bit more screen time or else be better integrated into the overall story, but even so I really liked just about all of them and they do a lot to buoy the whole thing.

Unfortunately none of them, nor the movie’s clever-if-not-especially-original conception of what “The Internet” would mean to this kind of world (my personal favorite touch might be portraying pop-up ads as old-school Newsies), can really add up to much in the face of the larger problem here.  See, even though they’re a relatively minor presence in the overall movie, the original “Wreck-it Ralph” hyped up the presence of its various Video Game character cameos (many of whom return here), and the attendant in-jokes that came with them.  “Ralph Breaks The Internet” apparently seems to have the mistaken belief that it was this wink-wink nudge-nudge meta-humor at the original’s margins that was in fact the key to its success and thus, using The Internet as a launching pad to broaden its range of targets, has made that element much, much more prominent this time around.  Sometimes that does make for amusing gags; the extended (and heavily-touted) scene where Vanellope meets the other Disney Princesses is indeed a particular highlight, and the one sequence where the movie comes even remotely close with reconciling its desire to indulge in fairly tired meta-textual snark with actually trying to tell any sort of real story.  Far more often we have to deal with things like how a joke about Ralph making the age-old mistake of reading the comments stands in for any kind of actual attempt to show how his old anxieties are resurfacing (in a moment that fails to land almost completely; it is honestly impossible to tell while watching it how seriously the movie expects us to take it), or even more frustrating how Vanellope’s realization that she wants to stay in “Slaughter Race” is told to us through an incredibly ineffectual and far too self-aware parody of the old Disney-style “I Want” song.  That Vanellope would in fact choose to leave Sugar Rush behind is already the biggest buy-in the movie asks us to make of its characters, so that failed short-cut proves especially harmful to the overall arc here.  It all leads to a finale that feels like it could, indeed even should, work for how frankly it chooses to tackle the underlying emotional problems at the heart of the story, but it ultimately can’t because the movie just flat-out has not done the work to really earn it.

There are other smaller problems as well; Fix-it Felix and Calhoun, the primary side-characters from the first film, are here given what feels like it should be the lead-in to an enjoyable and inspired B-story of their own but instead wind up being nothing more than glorified cameos.  I’m also not super fond of how the movie actively begs the audience to question the logical nature of its world and characters as often (and seemingly without much thought) as it does.  But the real fundamental issue here is that “Ralph Breaks The Internet” just plain cannot square its two competing impulses; the desire to actually try and tell a story that meaningfully expands on the original’s characters in some genuinely-daring ways is ultimately undone by the far-stronger drive to weigh it all down beneath a lot of knowing referential humor that feels far less relevant and insightful than the writers think it is.  There really is something good deep in the heart of all of this, but, sad as it is to say, it basically gets wrecked this time around.

#disney #wreck it ralph #ralph breaks the internet #review #spoilers #disney spoilers #My writing

[hellotimemachineofdetectives]

Three Times Part 1:  Kenna x Dom

So I know that TCATF ended ages ago, but my app glitched out recently and deleted all my books. This got me re-reading TCATF, and finally got me to write the Kenna x Dom fic I’ve wanted to do since my first read. This is my first fanfic, and I’m super nervous about it so hopefully it’s not too embarasssing. Shout out to @mrswalkerwrites whose amazing Kenna x Dom and other Choices fics were what pushed me to finally start writing fics. 

Anyways, this is pretty much based on one of my favourite TCATF scenes where Kenna comes to Dom’s rescue, because even today we don’t get that many books or films where the girl is the one doing the saving, for lack of a batter way to put it. Anyways, this is three times that Kenna saves Dom, based on the “Get away from him.” scene, and one time that he, kind of, saves her. It ended up being super long, so I’m just posting the first two for now, and will put the last two up later. If there’s anyone around still reading Kenna x Dom fics, hope you enjoy it and that I haven’t completely forgotten how to write now I spend my life doing maths. Also, just a warning, there are some non-explicit descriptions of violence and intended sexual violence/

3,100 words

10 year old Dominic Hunter looked around, searching for his best friend Kenna Rys. Like almost every morning, the two of them had planned to meet in the meadow after breakfast. Their activities varied each day but their routine hardly did. Despite the obvious disapproval of Kenna’s mother Queen Adriana, he and Kenna had been practically inseparable since they met 4 years ago. Dom had never really stopped to consider what might happen to them when they were older: as the future Queen of Stormholt, Kenna’s destiny had been laid out for her since the moment she was born, and both Adriana and Kenna’s guardian Gabriel had made it clear that neither envisaged this destiny involving him. Still, despite being fairly perceptive for his age, Dom had never really given it much thought.

Still, it was odd that Kenna wasn’t here yet. Whilst she might be late for most events and functions at which her Mother requested her presence, she was almost always down at the meadow before him, eager to escape the already crushing pressures that came with being the princess of one of the Five Kingdoms. Probably her mother or Gabriel had needed her for something. Sighing, Dom collapsed down under one of the many trees by the riverside, skipping a few stones to occupy himself. Lost deep in his thoughts, he started thinking of things he and Kenna could do today, ranging from their usual games and mock fights to the far more unrealistic but far more tempting dream of sneaking away into the mountains and hiding far away from here, where she would no longer be a princess, and he would no longer be the burden child with no family.

“I thought I’d find you here.”

The deep, masculine tone of the voice instantly told him that the figure behind him wasn’t Kenna. Spinning around, Dom’s eyes fell on Caleb, one of the other boys from the castle, a few years older than him. His father was one of the royal grooms, a tall menacing man with a dark glint in his eye not dissimilar to the one Dom often saw in Caleb’s during the many times they’d argued. Dom had quickly learned to avoid Caleb where possible, he had seen the boy be cruel not only to the horses in the stables but also to the other children around the palace, and on the times Dom had stood up to him, Caleb had always made him feel as if he would soon regret it.

As Caleb loomed over him, Dom instinctively took a step back. For his age, he wasn’t bad with the wooden swords with which he and Kenna sparred. But Caleb was older than him, taller than him and right now, was currently backing him towards the river with a threatening smile on his face.

“You’ve been pissing me off for weeks now Hunter.” Caleb smirked, as he continued to push Dom closer to the river. Panicking, Dom searched for an escape route or a means of defending himself, and came up blank.

“Look, Caleb I-“

The blow came out of nowhere, sending him reeling to the edge of the river. Before he could even think about pulling himself to his feet, Caleb descended upon him in a blaze of fury. Throwing up his arms to defend himself, Dom felt blow after blow rain down on him, helpless to fight back against the older boy. Desperately, he tried to push himself out of the way of Caleb’s blows, but found himself to be trapped underneath Caleb’s weight. Panic began to set in to Dom’s mind as his vision became hazy.

“Get away from him.”

The voice was low with fury, yet Caleb took no notice.

“I said GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

With that Kenna strode towards Caleb, her wooden sword held high, looking for all the world like a warrior queen to Dom’s panicked eyes. With a strength that was not belied by her petite 10 year old form, she shoved Caleb off of him, offering Dom a hand up.

“What the hell?” Caleb roared, turning towards Kenna with a fearsome glare. “This is none of your bloody business!”

Kenna’s eyes narrowed, her face furious.

“I think you’ll find it is my bloody business!” She retorted. Somewhere in Dom’s mind it registered just how furious Kenna was, one of the few bits of royal behaviour that had stuck with Kenna was that she rarely swore, even mildly. “What right do you have to go after anyone, least of all someone younger than you and half the size of you, you great oaf?”

“Yeah, well what right did you have to interfere?” Caleb snapped, his face twisted into a snarl. Kenna stepped close to him, her bearing confident, even as he towered over her.

“You listen Caleb, and you listen well. If I wanted to, I could have you executed for coming after my friend. That wouldn’t be necessary though, because any day of the week I could destroy you myself, with my eyes shut if I wanted to. So you stay away from Dom, and anyone else you might feel like terrorising. Otherwise, I swear I will make you regret it.”

It might have been something in Kenna’s quiet, deadly tone, or her furious expression, or maybe it was the fact that she’d just threated to have him executed, but Caleb glared at them both one last time, before turning and walking away, mumbling disgruntledly.

“Are you alright?”

Gone was the fierce and furious warrior who had just born down on Caleb without fear, and in her place was his best friend, a concerned look on her face as she considered the bruises already forming on his face.

“Would it be lame if I said better now that you’re here?” Dom smiled.

Kenna laughed. “A little, but I’ll let you off since it’s completely true, not sure what you were going to do if I hadn’t show up.”

“I’d have figured something out, I was luring him into a false sense of security.”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that. Come on, let’s get back, Gabriel can have a look at those bruises. None of the cooks will be cooing over your pretty face this week.”

“Aha, I knew you thought my face was pretty!”

“Uh uh, I said they did. You just hear what you want to hear, Dom.”

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It had been, beyond a doubt, the most incredible night of Dominic Hunter’s life. He’d known for some time now that his feelings for his best friend Kenna Rys had progressed far beyond friendship, but he’d been terrified to say anything and lose the most important person in his life. But tonight, he’d kissed her for the first time, and he’d been walking on cloud nine ever since. When he’d seen Kenna at the festival, something had ignited within him. Seeing her there, outside of the castle, dressed as a peasant girl, images had raced through his mind. He’d seen a world where the two of them had been able to be together, where she’d returned his feelings and there was nothing stopping them: she wasn’t a princess, he wasn’t a nobody in the castle, they were both just two people who cared about each other.

When she’d confided in him about how she didn’t want her first kiss to be some component of a political alliance, something they’d never really talked about before, he’d been unable to stop himself. The feeling of her lips on his, the way she’d kissed him back, tentatively at first, and then with growing passion. The way she’d breathed his name as he pulled back, the look in her eyes as she stared at him, surprised but smiling. The feeling of joy as she leant up to kiss him again. It had been the singular best moment of his life, without a doubt. They’d stayed that way for what felt like an eternity, finally only breaking apart when a group of passer-bys whistled.

Kenna’s face flushed a brilliant red, her eyes wide.

“Don’t worry they’re not going to have any idea it’s you.”

“Ah, so they’ll just assume I’m another one in your never-ending string of girls then?” Kenna teased, a soft smile adorning her face.

“And an incredibly beautiful one at that.” Dom grinned.

“Gods, you’re such a flirt Dom.” She laughed, the sound music to his ears.

“Come on, I promised I’d show you around the festival, and since it’s a miracle for you to actually be outside of the castle without Gabriel, we should make the most of it.”

They’d spent most of the next hour wondering around the festival, stopping at various stalls and chatting. Gradually, Dom saw Kenna’s worry over being recognised fade and he could see she was enjoying herself.

“Wait here a second. I’m just going to run to the top of the hill over there, make sure that the lights in our end of the castle are still off and no one’s noticed I’m missing.”

“I’ll come with you, you shouldn’t go alone.”

“Seriously, Dom? You’re not Gabriel, and it’s not like I can’t look after myself. Don’t be all over-protective. You go get in the queue for the chicken and I’ll be back in a second.”

Dom wanted to protest, but he knew that what she was saying was true, and besides, he knew Kenna couldn’t stand it when he tried to suggest that she needed protection from anything.

“I’ll be right back.” She flashed him a rare smile and then, after a second’s hesitation, kissed him lightly on the cheek, before turning and running in the direction of the large hill just outside the festival.

A little while later, just as he was almost at the front of the queue, Dom heard a thud and what sounded like a scream. Glancing around, no one else seemed to have heard a thing. Still, it probably would be a good idea to have a look around, just in case. Quietly, Dom headed around the back of a cluster of tents a way away from the main festival, and immediately saw the source of the noise. A group of boys, probably about his age, maybe a little older, surrounding one of the girls from the kitchen, a blonde girl that Dom vaguely recalled introducing herself as Rose.

It was fairly obvious what the group intended for the girl, and a dark feeling of fury stole over Dom, without stopping to think, he stormed towards the group.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get away from her!”

The group turned towards him, unimpressed with the interruption.

“Get lost mate. This isn’t anything to do with you.”

“I think you’ll find it is. This doesn’t have to end badly for you guys. Just let the lady go and we can all be on our way.” He declared, with a confidence he didn’t feel.

The group laughed, looking at him with scorn.

“I think you’ll find mate, that the only one this will be ending badly for is you.” One of the boys leered, his face threatening.

In a split second, Dom made a decision. Without stopping to think, he threw the first punch, hitting the guy as hard as he could. For an instant, he felt a rush of satisfaction, before the 5 others surrounding the girl launched themselves at him in fury. Outnumbered, Dom could quickly see which way this was going. He wanted to yell at Rose to run, but he could hardly breathe under the onslaught, and she seemed to be frozen in place terrified. He threw all of his strength into fighting back, but it was quickly becoming clear that this wasn’t going to end well for him, as two of the group restrained him, pinning his arms back, whilst the others advanced menacingly.

“Hey! Get away from him.”

Standing there, her silhouette bathed in the moonlight, her appearance almost mythical, was Kenna. Her hair had mostly fallen out of its braids, hanging in gentle waves around her face, and her fingers clutched a gleaming dagger.

“I said, get the hell away from him.”

“Look sweetheart, this really isn’t anything you need to concern yourself with, how about you just head off now, before you end up joining Blondie here.”

At the insinuation that this man would even dare touch Kenna, fury raced through Dom, giving him strength, and he hurled himself at the man. Instantly, Kenna joined him, her dagger whirling dangerously. Whereas previously, Dom had been hopelessly outmatched, with Kenna at his side, he felt stronger and faster than before, more grounded, like she was his source of strength. It wasn’t long before they’d made quick work of the group, sending them running.

“Thanks.” Dom beamed at her. “I mean obviously I was doing fine, but the help’s always appreciated.”

“Obviously.” Kenna laughed, before her face turned serious as she took in Rose, standing there paralysed. “Is she alright?”  

Dom carefully stepped towards her. “Rose, are you alright?” he whispered, unsure what to do in this situation. Wordlessly, Rose shook her head. In an instant, Kenna gently reached out to her, wrapping her cloak over her shoulders in a second.

“What can we do to help? They didn’t touch you did they?” Kenna whispered, her tone sympathetic and gentle.

Again, Rose shook her head. “I need to find Trystan.” She choked the words out, sobs racking her small frame.

“Your brother?” Dom asked, again vaguely remembering meeting the blonde boy. Rose nodded, tears tracking her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“Alright, we’ll find him. Come on.” Kenna whispered, her arm still protectively around Rose as she guided the girl around the back of the tents.

It didn’t take long to find Trystan, although it would perhaps be fairer to say that he found them, running up to them with a panicked look on his face.”

“Rose! Where were you? Are you alright?” He demanded, the worry in his eyes all too clear. Over his shoulder, Dom saw Kenna catch his eye, motioning for him to take Trystan aside and explain. Unsure of himself in such a situation, Dom motioned to Trystan, pulling the younger boy aside and explaining as gently as he could what had happened.

“Oh Gods, I should have been with her. What the hell was I thinking, I shouldn’t have left her, I-“

“Trystan, stop. None of this was your fault. The only people in the wrong here are those bastards, and trust me I’ll see to it that they get what they deserve. But the only thing you need to do now is get Rose back to the castle and look after her. Do not blame yourself when others are the ones at fault.”

“I… I…but” Trystan looked like he wanted to protest, before admitting defeat. “Thank you Dom. I really can’t thank you enough. One day, I will find a way to thank you for this.”

“Don’t worry about it Trystan. Just look after her, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Dom.”

The two of them headed back to Kenna and a slightly calmer Rose.

“Come on Rose, let’s get back. I think tonight’s been scary enough for the both of us.” Trystan smiled weakly, putting his arm protectively around Rose and leading her back towards the castle.

It was only after watching the two of them head back to the castle that Kenna turned to him, a soft smile on her face.

“So that was pretty heroic, throwing yourself at 6 guys to rescue someone. One might almost think you had the ability to handle yourself in a fight.”

“Ah but that would only be the people that don’t know me. You, however, know the truth.” Dom grinned.

“And what would that be?”

“That I have no ability to handle myself in any situation, I simply get by on luck and my dashing good looks.”

Kenna laughed. “Ah, that truth. Yes that I do know. Don’t worry though, your secret’s safe with me.”

Still chuckling, the two of them started to head back to the castle.

It was only as they reached the back entrance to the main wing of the castle, through which Kenna could easily sneak back in, that Dom turned to her, the weight heavy in his chest, but his resolve solid.

“Look, Kenna, about tonight.” He began, forcing him to say the words before his courage left him completely.

“Yeah?” She smiled up at him, her eyes soft and her expression hopeful.

“It can’t happen again. You and me, like that.” Dom felt his heart twist in agony as he saw the smile fall of her face, the confusion apparent.

“Wait, what? But I thought... I mean…”

“It’s not anything to do with you Kenna. Please don’t ever doubt that, this is completely me.”

“That’s bullshit Dom! You can’t just come out with rubbish like that and expect me to buy it. Am I not good enough for you or something? Just some pathetic little girl who’d never even been kissed before tonight? Not all of us are as fortunate to be as experienced as you Dominic Hunter!”

This was not going how he had planned it, not at all.

“What no, Kenna, how can you even think that?”

“Well what else am I supposed to think Dom?” She retorted.

“Kenna, you can’t possibly believe you’re not good enough for me. It’s me that could never be good enough for you! You’re the future Queen of Stormholt, and I’m a nobody with no family and nothing to distinguish myself. Just look at tonight, you spend one evening with me and you end up in the middle of a festival brawl. That’s not supposed to be how things work for a future Queen, Kenna.”

“Don’t say that Dom, that’s not true.” Kenna whispered, the anger leaving her face, making her seem smaller and more vulnerable, very unlike her usual confident demeanour.

“You know it is Kenna, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I really shouldn’t say this, but I need you to know. I love you Kenna. I love you more than anything in the Five Kingdoms. But nothing can ever happen between us, no matter how much we might want it.”

“Dom, stop, I lo-“

“I have to go.” He choked, as he turned on his heel, running away from the situation before he had to see the pain on her face, before he had to see the devastation that he had caused. As fast as he could, he strode away, leaving Kenna standing alone on the steps of the castle.

#the crown and the flame #tcatf #kenna x dom #dom x kenna #choices #playchoices #pixelberry #tc&tf #kenna rys #dominic hunter #choices stories you play