#and the Prodigy player is absent

[grayscale-blep]

looks like Frisk took a wrong turn

Would it be called ProdigyTale or UnderMath? Eh, who knows, but this was fun- might include some other characters later as well

#digital art #prodigy math game #undertale #puppet master prodigy #frisk undertale #crossover #I imagine Frisk would beat PM within an inch of their life #and the other characters (except for Pippet maybe) just Do Not Care #and the Prodigy player is absent #prolly in the underground w/ noot and trying to get back #fun stuff I thought of just now :D

[da3drat]

I’m curious about the birth sign @ your OCs :Oc

Hey tysm for asking!! :D sorry it's so long ehehe

Meridian: was born under The Lady, and she is basically the antithesis of "kind and tolerant" lmao. I guess you could call her tolerant in that she doesn't care to analyze the actions of others, but she's ruthless, naturally abrasive and bitchy (though she gets really good at hiding it, she has a very charismatic mask.) and most importantly she is willing to look past some seriously heinous things if she likes someone enough. She certainly doesn't go out of her way to be kind to others, but does sometimes find herself doing kind things absently or because they align with her other goals. The one exception to this is children, she has a soft spot for them and if one asks her for help she will drop everything to do it.

Celeste: was born under The Ritual, which has more to say about abilities than personality, but it does have an effect on how she sees herself. Celeste is a prodigy at restoration, and in oblivion the Ritual sign gives the player access to turn undead and a huge daily burst of healing. So she attributes a lot of her skill at healing to her birth sign rather than her own talents (she's wrong). Additionally the healing spell given in oblivion is "Mara's Gift", so I associate the sign pretty heavily with Mara. All my main characters come from the same Paladin Order dedicated to Mara, and Celeste in particular is very devout and does her best to embody Mara on Mundus. So she sees her birth sign as a symbol that she is favored by Mara, which feeds back into her main character/martyr/minor god complex. 

Dusk: I'm gonna be real I'm still figuring Dusk out, she's the one I've dedicated the least time to by far. For a while I had set her up with the Atronach stone, but then I learned that it will sometimes eat your conjuration spells because the target is technically on the player?? Rude. My best guess at the moment is The Mage, and while she is arrogant, she is far from absent minded. She is borderline obsessive about being alert and constantly taking in data on her situation in order to further her learning of magic. 

Daffodil: SURPRISE! I have ocs that aren't main characters! Daffodil's sign is The Lover, and "graceful and passionate" describes her very well. Unfortunately the things she's passionate about are thieving and killing. But she does it very gracefully! And she's also very passionate about her wife and children! All of whom are very into her thieving and killing. (Guess who has the adopt Aventus Aretino mod lmao)

Now you! Same question!! :D

#meri #celeste #dusk #daffodil teeth #asks #meri is still a mother at heart🥺 #weeps

[hiraya-rawr]

He gets tortured (Diluc Whump)

A/N: There aren't enough genshin whump works out there. I love these characters so so much but I absolutely adore works breaking them apart. Also let's pretend videos exist in the genshin world.

Genre: Angst, mature, slight comfort

Navigation

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Imagine Diluc getting caught by the Fatui. He's been gone for weeks. S/O reader and Kaeya are searching and worrying madly. Then a recording is sent to the Knights of Favonius headquarters: it's Diluc and they're breaking him. (Includes the aftermath of torture).

Act 1 ~ The Situation

It's been weeks since Mondstadt's very own wine tycoon disappeared. Certain shreds of evidence pointed towards kidnapping and it took all your willpower not to barge into the Goth Grand Hotel and accuse the Fatui delegation of taking him.

Diplomacy, Jean says. Insufficient evidence, Lisa justifies. They'll target you next, your friends plead.

You knew he wasn't in there, courtesy of Kaeya who took the liberty of using his Cavalry Captain authority to conduct an inspection the other day. The cryo user found himself growing mad with worry — sure this wasn't the first time his redhead brother disappears, but it's been weeks and he's hanging on the thread of what little clues were left for him to pick on — and Kaeya had to keep himself together at least for your sake. Diluc told him to take care of you if ever he finds himself absent, after all. A vulnerable request he promised to uphold from his usually cold brother.

How or why they kidnapped such a great force that is Diluc Ragvindr is a mystery — whether it's because the Fatui found out about his underground information network, his darknight hero identity, or simply because he's an extra wallet for the Tsaritsa doesn't matter — what matters is he's gone and you're breaking down.

What matters is that they recorded his torture and promptly sent it to the Knights of Favonius headquarters. Kaeya was the one to receive it, the tape void of any labels or a sender. He places it on a CD player and the moment he catches sight of a man, inconspicuously hiding his Fatui uniform under a coat, he pauses the video to call the higher-ups and you.

Act 2 ~ The Torture

It was only right for the acting grandmaster, Jean; prodigy librarian, Lisa; and cavalry captain, Kaeya to be present in viewing for potential clues regarding the disappearance of Mondstadt's uncrowned prince.

It was also only right for his brother, Kaeya; and lover, (Y/n) to be present in viewing what they've been searching so hard for.

You didn't know whether you regretted coming or not.

The minute Diluc's face was shown on-screen — face haggard and body slumped forward — you almost cried in joy. He's alive, you think, He's okay.

The next moments of watching the video made you wish they might as well kill him. If only to end his suffering early.

Jean had excused herself twice through the video, and Lisa opted to close her eyes from time to time, choosing to listen to potential clues instead.

You and Kaeya, however, found yourself unable to blink when they manhandled your lover to his knees.

The video began with chatter and rambling: a little something about power, money, information, and all the dark things which Diluc had tried to keep you away from in his line of work.

What mattered to you is the tattered look of your lover: his hair untied and cascading down his shoulders, coat and gloves forgone and left with only his button-down and slacks. His wrists are tied behind his back with chains and he's slumping forward on his chair.

Kaeya took your shoulder and turned you around to his chest, hiding your view of the video. It only then did you notice how you were hyperventilating, tears building up in your eyes.

"Don't look." He says. You almost agreed to stay in the safety on Kaeya's embrace, but the image of Diluc somewhere out there in such a state demanded you to continue watching. It's your lover, you need to know what's happening.

"I-I need to know, Kaeya." He hesitantly pulls away and you stare back on the screen.

You start to notice the injuries on your lover, the red, purple, and yellow bruises on his usually clear skin. The cut on his lip, the blood down his nose, the blood, the blood, oh archons there's so much dried blood. The most prominent and seemingly recent one on the side of his forehead.

What you would give to wipe it away with the softest of towels.

Despite his obvious exhaustion, Diluc stared blankly at the camera. They motioned for him to talk — to cry or beg, or to relay some sort of message to the viewers.

"I'm," He breathed out, throat dry and painful, "I'm unsure of my current location. I'm assuming this is Liyue territory. And these bastards are obviously Fa-" To which he receives a harsh blow to the cheek, his face snapping sideways. There was a pause in the air and grumbling in the background.

Diluc was not one for idle chit-chat after all: always straight to the point.

"Don't worry about me, love." He muttered with a hoarse voice. How much did they make him scream before this? You thought. You knew he was strong that way. He would never give them the pleasure of breaking his mask no matter how much they break his bones.

Even when they were really breaking his bones: smashing a hammer to his hand, the shatter of his fingers echoing in the hideout. Blood pooled underneath the chair. His clothes were soaked in sweat and blood. Diluc would scream, grit his teeth, curse, but never would he beg.

The video lasted for an hour. The torture was hinted to continue for a day.

Act 3 ~ The Preparation

It was nearing the end of the video did Lisa provide hypothetical locations as to where he might be kept. Although Diluc was kept in an inconspicuous-looking warehouse, she expertly observed the ore-sealed in old wooden containers.

Jean was quick to communicate with the Liyue Qixing, who promptly narrowed down both abandoned and functioning mining warehouses — this was a high-profile person of Mondstadt after all.

It took another 24 hours before they were able to locate Diluc Ragvindr in a warehouse, tied and unconscious. It took another 3 days to nurse him in Liyue and ensure he was fit for travel back to Mondstadt, and 2 days of actual travel.

Kaeya chose to escort his brother home midway through the journey, and although you cried at wanting to go along, you ultimately decided to prepare the manor for his upcoming arrival.

His bed was fluffed with the softest pillows, home clothes picked out with the finest silk and a diet of healing foods that he would be sure to enjoy. You stocked your first aid supplies and hired doctors and nurses, just in case his injuries were still healing.

You wondered if you should hire a therapist as well, but figured Diluc would decide if he needed one or not later on.

Act 4 ~ The Aftermath

Diluc's overall torture and arrival was kept under wraps, courtesy of privacy laws. For the rest of Mondstadt, the man simply disappeared and appeared once again.

They will never know what he went through, nor will they ever see how you broke down crying when his carriage — lead by Kaeya — pulls up before the Dawn Winery estate. Diluc, whose shoulders were tense and alert since his kidnapping, finally relaxed when he sees you.

"I'm home, love," He says so sweetly as if he wasn't wrapped in bandages, every muscle and bone aching. You embraced him carefully, thanking the escorts and bringing Diluc inside your shared home. He's trying to hide his limp but it's obvious with how you're supporting too much of his weight.

"Please don't leave me again," You say, hoping he'll live by your side forever rather than act as the overly righteous hero that he is.

To hell with protecting Mondstadt. If only he were selfish enough to care about himself, you would be glad.

The following days were focused on his recovery: you were attentive to his every need and although he was physically getting better — you knew that the mental damage was there.

Diluc would jolt awake in the middle of the night, gasping and shaking. He's quiet as to not disturb you but you would wake up anyway in how he holds you tight with trembling arms.

There were good days where you can almost pretend he wasn't kept and tortured in a warehouse. There were also bad days where he flinches from your embrace, vision glowing brightly as if it's constantly alert.

Diluc would never go into detail beyond the recording you saw. Sometimes you worried if you were left with only a shell of him, but when you see him take up his darknight hero mask — the first time since his kidnapping — you begged him to stay and be selfish.

It comes as a desperate prayer from your lips to him: I love you, I love you, if you love me just as much you'd be selfish for once. If you love me then choose yourself over Mondstadt, justice is not yours to serve when it has never been once kind to you.

But Diluc Ragvindr is not selfish. So instead, he kisses you fervently, collapsing your body in your shared bed, allowing the night to lull you away before picking up his mask and leaving for Mondstadt.

#genshin #genshin angst #genshin fanfic #genshin fluff #genshin imagines #genshin impact #diluc #diluc ragvindr #genshin diluc #genshin headcanons #genshin whump #whump #genshin x reader #genshin x gender neutral reader #kaeya #kaeya x reader #genshin kaeya #genshin x you #fatui

[stfuimprojecting]

i’ve been watching soooo much criminal minds and i can’t help but think of a descendants criminal minds au

mal is hotch- stoic emotionally stunted leaders who at first glance, appear cold (perhaps even heartless) but actually care deeply for their team and would do anything for them. they’re harsh and they know it. they don’t know how else to show that they care. they know they push people away but they don’t know how to stop either.

jay is morgan- the visible muscle and unwittingly second in command. they maintain the facade of a nonchalant player jock but are extremely dedicated, loyal and care so much. they love and protect their team like family but still hold them at a distance. despite everything they still can’t bring themselves to trust the others around them completely.

carlos is spencer- the youngest and the smartest. child prodigies with mentally ill mothers and absent fathers. they spent their childhoods taking care of their moms and advancing their education, to the detriment of their emotional and social development. they never really had a family until their team and now they cling to them. they think they need to earn every bit of love they receive and fail to recognize that it’s already given unconditionally.

and evie is jj- the face, gorgeous but easily approachable. they understand how they’re perceived, know that they’re underestimated at every turn and have learned to use it to their advantage. compassionate and giving, they care because they want to. they care because they have to, because maybe no one else will. they’re always hiding, scared that they’ve already given too much of themselves up.

bonus:

ben is emily- a politician’s child, they learned how to play the game before they even realized there was a game. resent their parents and politics but are so deeply entrenched they don’t know if they escape. they want to do good and hope they can accomplish that goal without needing to play dirty (they already know that’s not possible). desperate for connection they never found with their parents, they desperately want to be a part of the team. new to the group and while they don’t show it, they fear they’ll always be the odd one out.

#this is so so niche #but please enjoy #descendants #descendants fandom #descendants headcanons #criminal minds au #mal bertha #mal descendants #jay descendants #jay son of jafar #carlos de vil #evie grimhilde #ben florian #ben descendants #original

[fellowstrangetownappreciator]

The Strange Case of The Strangetown Metamorphosis

There is a mysterious Sim that appears in Strangetown.

That's like saying "there is a fish that appears in the ocean", I know, so I'll be a little more specific.

They are an adult whose memories show inconsistencies with those of their family members. Something is missing!

Alright. That's also not saying much, that's like half of the premades in vanilla, non-clean hoods.

They are immediately recognizable by their appearance and, dare I say it, have distinguishing features unique to them.

Well, that also kinda fits everyone...

They feature in more than one installment of the series.

Again, not that helpful. I mean, almost everybody from the base game hoods is (for better or worse) represented in TS3 or TS4.

They appear in TS2 for PSP!

Hmm...

They are a member of a wealthy family connected to science and paranormal.

And...

They are somehow connected to (possible) cloning.

I imagine that now you’re probably rolling your eyes and asking: Why didn’t I just simply say I was going to talk about Bella Goth?

Because... I’m not!

It’s Loki Beaker. In this mini-essay I’m going to speak about Loki, what is the mystery around him, what hints are there and what are some of the theories and which one do I fancy.

It’s basically a routine round of the popular game “connect EAxis’ oversights and glue them together into a headcanon”.

So without further ado, let me introduce you to:

The Mystery of Loki Beaker!

0: Preface: Loki who?

“As soon as he perfects his latest invention, Loki is sure to get the recognition he knows he deserves. In the meantime, he keeps himself busy by trying to assemble a nuclear reactor out of common household items.”

On the first glance, Loki as a Sim seems quite straightforward. He is a Knowledge Sim with a very eccentric personality. All his trait points are in the extremes, as you can see:

He is a scientist, a competent one at that, as proven by his high career level and the fun fact that some of the game’s horrible machinery you can buy for Aspiration points is attributed to his creation.

(It explains why are the Beakers the only ones who have the stuff lying around by default. It is normal for a Strangetown family to own a non-buyable reward object or two but those are career rewards, the Beakers are the only one who canonically own Aspiration points rewards.)

Even though he knows his stuff when it comes to his profession, he is very corrupt and tests his questionable projects on his captive, Nervous Subject.

To say that Loki is unpopular would be an understatement. No one but his wife Circe likes Loki, even his own sister is indifferent towards him. Yes, he has a sister. Her name is Erin and she also lives in Strangetown with a colorful collection of roommates.

Nothing mysterious about him so far. (apart from his eyebrows)

1: Characterization fallen apart

And then The Sims 3 happened. It was actually quite late into the game’s life cycle, the early 2013, when a beautiful nordic-themed world was released on TS3 Store. Its name was Aurora Skies and it featured Loki, Erin and their parents.

TS3 Loki is a child and Erin is a toddler.

Now I haven’t actually played Aurora Skies. I own (and love) TS3 but the price range for the Store worlds is too high for me, content-to-money wise. So there might be some hidden clues about the Beakers in their house or relationship panels that I haven’t been able to inspect but... not to sound cynical but I doubt it. I doubt such attention was given to detail of this family in Aurora Skies, as they don’t even have individual bios.

But... that is... fine? I mean, we have Loki’s TS2 bio...

Nope. Sure we do. And it would be fine if hair color and ambitions weren’t the only thing Loki and his younger self (from now on referred to as smol Loki) had in common.

Let’s take a look on smol Loki’s personality.

The first noticeable thing is that there is not a trace of Loki’s trademark villainy. He’s not Mean Spirited, he’s not Evil, he’s not even a No Sense of Humor Sim. His extreme neatness and hyperactivity are nowhere to be seen either. While it is true that TS3′s capabilities of defining personality are very limited as it picks “outstanding points” rather than a position of each trait on a scale, and it only has 5 slots (and tiny teeny 3 for children), it doesn’t make any sense still for the devs not to pick some more loki-esque traits for the precious slots they had.

Unless...

They didn’t care about Loki’s personality and there were no deeper intentions.

Unless the devs were trying to purposefully show us new angles of his character that either got suppressed while he was growing up, or manifest in ways that TS2′s scale system wasn’t able to show.

Could the Lucky trait in particular have had something to do with the change?

(Also, those traits of smol Loki are reason why I usually go for a Family Secondary Loki in TS2 and thus make Strangetown the purgatory of two unstable blonde Knowledge/Family sciency guys.)

We also must not omit that even though smol Loki didn’t display any of them, he still had all of Loki’s signature traits in him, as Loki in TS2 has his actual personality synced with the genetic one, meaning that there was something in there that caused him not to act so mean that got lost as he grew up. In other words, something brought up the worst in him.

And that’s not all. Smol Loki is not a regular TS3 child. You see, in TS3, premade children aren’t particularly known for being highly skilled experts. Neither are in TS2, for that matter, and it’s okay. It’s realistic.

Smol Loki has a skill maxed.

It is very rare for a premade regardless of age to already start with a maxed skill and I personally don’t know of any other premade children that do.

And it’s writing.

What does writing have to do with Loki? Does Loki write? Probably he has to, those academic papers aren’t gonna spawn out of thin air, but that’s not what the writing skill in TS3 (or the hidden writing skill in TS2) are about. They’re about creative writing only.

Ok, ok. How high is Loki’s Creativity skill, then? In TS2, skills are much broader, they more resemble skillsets than individual skills, and writing categorizes under Creativity. Bring out the skill panel!

Two. He has 2 points in Creativity. That is... low. That is actually very low, especially for a Sim that has supposedly been writing for fun since childhood. (and was a prodigy, while we’re at it) It is safe to say, I think, that if the player doesn’t make him do it, Loki doesn’t write anymore and he hasn’t been doing that for a long, long time.

While I would cynically admit that the dissonance in personalities might be just the lack of damns given from EAxis’ side, this seems to me too on the nose to be unintentional.

They would have no reason to bring the Beakers back without the “evil scientists” thing in mind. I mean, that’s what they’re iconic for. That’s what they’re recognizable by. (apart from their eyebrows)

So the person who was in charge of creating smol Loki probably knew they were recreating “Loki the mad scientist”.

So when they were picking the skill they use to demonstrate that this kid is gonna go far, they thought... “evil scientist = writing”...?

I would understand going for Creativity in general. I mean, Loki’s an inventor. That comes with the territory. But creativity as such isn’t really a skill in TS3. It’s divided to different activities.

Wouldn’t it make more sense just in general to pick logic, then? I mean, Loki isn’t that extremely logical by default but it is his second strongest skill and a feature unmistakably connected to being a scientist.

That’s what leads me to believe that writing plays a role in the story and it was chosen on purpose.

So how did a sweet little family-oriented boy talented with words transform into the ruthless catboy inventor we know and love?

And that, my friends, is the mystery of Loki Beaker.

2: A closer look at our environmentalist friends, the Beakers

If we want to get the full picture and come to a satisfying conclusion of some sorts, we need to inspect smol Loki’s surroundings. Maybe there is a clue to the continuous force or a traumatic event that shifted smol Loki’s direction in life?

Loki’s and Erin’s parents are named Gundrun and Bjorn. Even though their age would still allow it, they’re not present at the start of TS2′s Strangetown play, they’re long dead. Bjorn died before Erin became an adult and Gundrun died shortly before her son’s engagement to Circe. Because they died by the time Loki had (presumably) already long enrolled in his current life-path, we can safely rule out any tragic early death of parental figures scenario as a possible answer.

Gundrun is the only Beaker that canonically also writes. She has 5 points in the writing skill. She also shares some traits with Loki, namely the smarts and ambition.

But she has little to do with science and is way more business-oriented which is a trait she shares with Circe’s ancestors, for example her father. Maybe the families knew each other from business ventures even before they moved to Strangetown? It is stated in their memories that Loki and Circe first met when they were children. But I digress!

Anyway, I don’t see anything in Gundrun that would suggest any abusive behavior towards her son that might have triggered his drastic change. Possibly but not necessarily she might’ve been a bit absent but nothing out of ordinary.

And now the father, Bjorn.

Bjorn is the sciency half of the couple and works as an Aquatic Ecosystem Tweaker. Again, he has zero traits that would raise any red flags and he shares 4 out of 5 traits with either smol Loki or Loki. (I don’t know if Loki is a “natural cook” but he cooks quite well, so I think that counts.)

What’s interesting about Bjorn, though, is his speech that serves as a flavor text for the Aurora Skies store page.

(Image transcript: “Do it for science! Science is everywhere around us, but at Aurora Skies it’s not just something you learn; it’s something you do!  We need bright young minds to make the dreams of the future a reality. Even now we’re finding more uses for garbage to help the planet. Charging batteries, powering machines - the sky is the limit. Just this last year we created a modified Hot Air Baloon using garbage as fuel and turning it into pure air with a pine breeze scent.  Now you can have efficient travel and an amazing romantic adventure with no cost to the ozone (or your nose)! Every year we’re creating more and more exciting things in the world of science. Garbage-powered hearts, heart-powered cars, solar-powered cats; what will you think of next!  It’s all up to you. Do it for Science! Did you know? Hot Air Balloons are an epic form of travel based around the simple principle that hot air is lighter than cold air.  They lift in the air based on the heat system in the balloon. Increasing the temperature of the air inside the balloon makes it lighter than the air outside and the balloon begins to float.  More air is required to lift heavier things; that’s why the balloons have to be so huge! How cool (or hot!) is that?”)

From this piece of text we can see Bjorn’s passion and dedication to “green” science. Nothing in his traits suggests he fakes it, so I think it’s safe to believe that this peppy idealist is a glimpse into Loki’s father’s genuine self.

He might have encouraged his children to follow in his footsteps (”We need bright young minds to make the dreams of the future a reality.“) and smol Loki, who later in life seemed to have similar levels of enthusiasm (science is his One True Hobby), might have been receptive to that.

Now just close your eyes for a second and imagine an alternate reality in which Loki picked up where Bjorn left and instead of a energy-refilling machine that electrocutes you if you’re not happy enough, he invented “solar-powered cats”.

Still no hints on what could’ve messed Loki up, though.

Let’s take a look at the parents in TS2. Even though they’re not present and aren’t even resurrectable, they’re still coded in the game for purposes of genetics, memories and family trees, so some of their characteristics are salvageable.

And by the Watcher, they were both Romance Sims.

They were workaholic Romance Sims who cared about the environment and liked recycling (and Hot Baloons).

And they were both extremely Nice and very Sloppy, if their personalities on wiki are something to go by. Which they unfortunately aren’t, at least not completely because most ancestors don’t simply have “their own” personalities and use presets instead, so they tend to be quite similar.

The same goes for most of the Beaker clan, unfortunately. Fun fact is that there is no Knowledge Sim in sight (before Loki, of course). Maybe they weren’t a scientist family, but a bunch of Romance Sims who used to spend their free time in between woohoos saving the planet with eco-science. (3 out of 6 of Loki’s and Erin’s ancestors were Romance Sims, 2 were Fortune and 1 was Family)

But! There is one outlier. Her name is Gertrude Beaker. She is Loki’s paternal grandmother.

And similarly to her grandson, she certainly has a personality to remember.

She doesn’t use a preset, this is a personality that someone went and manually assigned (...or generated) for her. And she is Neat, Outgoing and doesn’t have a nice bone in her body. But unlike Loki, she has a sense of humor (which makes her even more dangerous, in my opinion) and is extremely Lazy.

She is a Fortune Sim and the only Beaker who shares the darker sides of Loki’s personality. (to be clear, I don’t mean their taste for cleaning but the round 0 of Nice points)

Because she doesn’t feature in TS3 at all, it is safe to say that she wasn’t in her grandchildren’s lives until the family moved to Strangetown. Could she be the corrupting influence on smol Loki?

As far as personality comparison goes, she seems to be the only possible culprit, the only one who’s personality shares the same unpleasant qualities he became infamous for. But! That’s not saying much. There is no evidence she actually did anything.

There’s not even any evidence that she ever met her grandson, given he has no memory of her dying which means she might have died before he was even born. That would be a solid evidence on the contrary and would rule her out. But I’m leaving some maneuvering space for theories here because she is the only Beaker ancestor with custom personality, after all, and that is suspicious.

That’s all the Beakers we know of if not counting Atom and Ceres, who came after Loki, so they’re not relevant to the question of his childhood. Or... are they?

3: And that’s when the trouble began

Another part of this question that might help us discern what happened to Loki is the when. All we know so far is that there is a big void of unknown between smol Loki and regular Loki and the point of transformation happened in there somewhere.

Thankfully, we have something to give us an idea. It’s this snapshot in storytelling pictures for the Beakers:

It shows smol Loki destroying a dollhouse. It seems to be in an impersonal environment of some sorts. The cheapest bed in the game is against a bare white wall, the window is hid behind blue curtains and there doesn’t really seem to be anything else but the dollhouse, a teddy bear in the background and that... very unpleasant bed.

It clearly tells us that Loki’s shift started in his pre-teen years.

And seeing that room which is definitely not in the Beaker Castle at 1 Tesla Court, it makes me think of a hotel or a cheap apartment the family was staying in while moving from Aurora Skies to Strangetown. Maybe the castle-like something the household inhabits at the start of the game wasn’t a property of the Beakers at all, maybe that was where the Salamises used to live and now it belongs to Circe?

Anyway, could it had been leaving Aurora Skies that sent smol Loki down an existential crisis and settling in the not exactly welcoming environment of Strangetown, enrolling in a local school, that sealed it?

But why all the stuff with writing? This would work with any other hobby but somehow it had to be writing and it’s our task to find out why.

4: Not your average tragedy

Now in our search we already have some ideas but it wouldn’t be thorough if we didn’t take into account smol Loki’s actual personality. I mean, we went into what traits he doesn’t have but what about those he has?

Namely Lucky and Family-Oriented.

I think Lucky is a very interesting choice. There’s nothing inherent about Loki Beaker that would make you go “that’s one lucky guy!” (if you don’t count his relationship with Circe as a stroke of luck, that is) and the same goes for smol Loki.

But... it could be a clue. His metamorphosis either couldn’t be triggered by trauma because he’s lucky and it would avoid him, or it must’ve been something tremendously horrid so he’s lucky he’s still alive.

Now we know we are searching for something that happened in his late childhood, verging on the start of his teenage years. His family was going through the turmoil of moving to a desert and he has already known his future partner Circe. Meanwhile Erin-

Oh, wait. Erin.

Smol Loki was Family-Oriented which implies he would probably have a good relationship with his little sister, as he would’ve naturally inclined to protect her and help his parents take care of her. But!

Not only do they have an amicable but distant relationship as adults but Erin seems to forget that Loki even existed in her childhood.

He has the usual set of memories of a sibling growing up well but she doesn’t, she has no Loki-related memories at all, not even of his marriage, which was a quite recent event.

Could the reason for Loki’s “downfall” be somehow related to his sister? Was there a dramatic event in which she lost a part of her memory?

5: Theories!

Ok, we’re finally here! Now I try to present some theories about what might’ve happened.

1. Burdens of the golden child

In Aurora Skies, Loki used to be the little wonder every relative was gushing about. With his father as an acclaimed scientist and a very liked person in general, there was little to no adversity his son had to face. He followed his passion and having nobody to really compare himself to, nor anybody who would terrorize him, he prospered.

But then the Beakers moved. Strangetown was... different. It was way smaller than Aurora Skies, so everybody inherently knew everybody and everybody had to interact with everybody... because the small space of a desert community didn’t leave them with any choice. And it was bleak and unfriendly. No one except for the Salamises knew the Beakers, so they found themselves under scrutiny from their new neighbors.

So Loki, who used to live thinking he was unique, was now sitting everyday in a much smaller classroom with Pascal and Vidcund Curious, whom he was immediately being compared to. But he wasn’t like the Curiouses. He was a kid of a scientist but wasn’t a science kid. He didn’t have much in common with Pascal who approached him and tried to befriend him at first but he wanted to. In Strangetown, nothing seemed to be cooler than being really, really into science. Pascal’s and Loki’s communication attempts were rather poor, though, and in the end, they never made friends. Loki slowly began to disdain the oldest Curious boy and it culminated a few years later in high school when Pascal made an attempt to woo Circe. It was even worse with Vidcund. Ever since Loki’s first day at the new school, Vidcund had been eyeing him with a disgusted look and Loki became quick to reciprocate.

In Strangetown, nothing seemed to be cooler than being really, really into science. Even Circe was on it! She was the only person his age he has know in Strangetown before his family moved in and he liked her. Not “like” liked her, yuck! But he thought she was cool. Her family used to visit the Beakers in Aurora Skies and they played together. She was a friend! Or so Loki thought. She seemed to like hanging out with the Curiouses much more.

In Strangetown, nothing seemed to be cooler than being really, really into science, yes. But not in the eyes of Buzz Grunt, the son of a general who lived in Strangetown. Their family were the self-proclaimed protectors of the hood but at the same time they weren’t shy to show a strong distaste for all that made Strangetown an important desert settlement in the first place. And little Buzz, although Loki doubted he understood the nuances, was very fond of asserting his dominance over his less sporty and hyper-masculine classmates.

Suddenly jealous of the Curious brothers, under pressure from both the adults and his peers comparing him to them and bullied by Buzz, Loki’s social life fell apart. He started having problems... and he came up with solutions. He has always liked science but from back then on he hyperfixated on it to prove everybody who picked on him for being a worthless parody of a science kid wrong.

Not only his social life and self-confidence were busted, though. Moving away from Aurora Skies to Strangetown that had much higher prices for housing because of the limited space, the living standards for the Beakers lowered. It was chaotic and uncomfortable. Plus, almost everybody in Strangetown was loaded. Why, Circe and her parents lived in a small castle! Loki felt like they’re the only “poor” family around and it played into his new-found insecurities.

And then there was Erin’s accident. She suffered a severe head injury and even though she fortunately survived, she was never... the same. She had issues with her memory. Loki tried to convince himself that he’s big enough not to cry but when they were visiting Erin in the hospital and she didn’t recognize him, he cried. It was his little sister! And... it was all his fault anyway! If he was quicker and pushed her to safety, she would’ve been fine! Or even better, he wished the car would’ve hit him instead.

Loki was becoming more and more snappy, focused on his grades and projects, unavailable. The siblings never mended their relationship, Erin, even though she recovered, never got to make new memories with her brother. Not remembering them growing up together, he was like a stranger to her. A scary mean teenage boy she didn’t know and, even though she was a very friendly child, she was too intimidated to willingly spend time with him. And Loki was always busy and moreover, he felt guilty and inexplicably angry, so he postponed approaching her, until it was too late, he was in college, she was in high school and it was too awkward.

And... there was no time to write anymore.

2. Gertrude the Neat and Mean (and Lazy)

Ok, Loki doesn’t have any memories of his grandma. But hear me out! Erin does not have any of him either and yet they met. This theory doesn't require any additional write up – he simply got under the influence of his 0 Nice points granny and she cultivated him to be just like her.

My personal take: This is maybe my least favorite theory of them all, even though it is quite straightforward. It doesn't take much into consideration and demonizes Gertrude, who as far as we know, might not done anything wrong.

3. The accident

This theory takes advantage of TS3's canon sciency machinery, namely Cerebralizing Brain Enhancing Machine 2.0.

It can, among other things, change a Sim's personality. There is (quite unfortunately, in my opinion) no chance of consequential failure in the actual game, the most it can do is to (non-fatally) electrocute your Sim. But...

Imagine smol Loki sneaking into his dad's laboratory, most probably at his workplace.

He was curious. Ever since his father showed him all the equipment in there, all he could think of was the machine that made people smarter.

Maybe it could make him smarter?

I mean, Loki knew he was already quite smart. At least, he's been told he was and he had no reason not to believe it.

But he could be even smarter.

He could be like his dad. Or his mom. Or Erin. Everyone was talking about how clever young Erin seemed. Loki was proud of her but part of him just wanted that, too.

So what if... he went to dad's laboratory, just for a little while, and made himself smarter?

He made all the necessary preparations. It meant to memorize dad’s schedule, so he knew just the time when he could sneak into the laboratory. It also meant to get a good costume so he won’t be recognizable on the security footage!

And then finally, he was ready. To infiltrate the laboratory was easy enough but it only made Loki more nervous. He was on the edge but determined. He wanted to make it big in the world. He needed to seize the opportunity. And fear... fear was there to be ignored! Hands, stop trembling!

His confidence grew a bit once he got to the machine itself. He knew how to run it thanks to his dad and it made him feel competent and ready.

Little did he know that there was a huge oversight. Although Loki could operate the technology on a very basic level, his knowledge went nowhere near deep enough for him to detect that the machine has yet another set of settings and those currently expect an adult user. It wasn’t configured for a child patient.

But unaware of that, the boy in his patchy dinosaur costume climbed on top of the machine and with his eyes wide open and his heart racing he connected the Brain Enhancer to his system. Then, with his hand sweating, he pushed a button on a remote he was clutching to.

When Bjorn, alerted by Loki’s screams, rushed into the laboratory, it was way too late.

As his terrified father was calling the ambulance, the child was alive and even still awake. He was too weak to cry. He just watched Bjorn, wishing for death and looking for signs of wrath in father’s eyes.

There were none. Only fear.

Physically, Loki Beaker managed to recover just fine. With the power of advanced medicine and plastic surgery, the burns he suffered were reduced to nothing but almost invisible scars.

But inside, he was never the same. Literally. Even though the procedure backfired horribly, it still worked to some extend - but even that extend was warped. Loki succeeded in giving himself the Genius trait but several of his traits were replaced also, including the Lucky trait that probably saved his life.

6: Conclusion!

I like Loki very much. (no sh*t, who would’ve guessed) He’s a very controversial and over-the-top character who tends to be rather unpredictable in the actual gameplay. I started writing this giant thing to find an answer to his backstory that would satisfy me and hopefully also some of you.

With a heavy heart I conclude I’m not successful.

First I have to admit I originally planned to present 5 theories instead of 3 but I scrapped 2 of them.

First was about Atom time traveling and replacing Loki, creating himself again and again in a time loop (would explain the huge personality difference between smol Loki and Loki-Atom) and it was very far-fetched but fun, alas I realized it was out of character for Atom, since he seems to love his sister and his Plumbot so much he would hardly leave them behind to pull that off.

The second was about Nervous and the corrupting power of Death he has inside that would slowly drive Loki and Circe “evil” even though it’s unclear whether they first adopted him with being a lab-rat in mind. But it would not make sense since a change like that would be visible on their personality panels. That’s not that important, though. What made me not include this theory is that it feels uncomfortably victim blame-y. It’s not directly since it wouldn’t be Nervous’ fault anyway but any attempt to shift the blame from Loki and Circe in this situation feels uncomfortable.

(To be clear, I don’t think the Beakers deserve demonization. In my opinion, the best way to treat them narrative-wise is like eccentric people capable of feeling love and doing good things sometimes, yet irredeemably self-centered, morally bankrupt and deserving a lifetime in jail for child abuse they have done on Nervous. Not one-dimensional but still villains and still objectively bad people.)

And those 3 theories above? They could’ve been better.

I think I like the first the most, even though I still feel like something is missing. I just tend to like relatively grounded explanations and this one doesn’t feature the supernatural nor any deus ex machina gadget.

What about you? And do you have any other theories? Sky’s the limit! It’ll make my day to hear them!

Whatever your takes are, they’re all valid.

#loki beaker #strangetown #premades #the sims 2 #the sims #simbrl #headcanon #ts2

[arcanist-archivist]

ok but do yall ever think about how much sokka and zuko really have in common?

like they’re both older brothers. not only that, but their little sisters are prodigies in their respective bending elements, which causes those around them to look over both sokka’s and zuko’s talents. however, both boys seek a master and train in a way that actually makes them feel confident in their own abilities.

neither of them have mothers that are in their lives, and both of their fathers are absent (although in sokka’s case, said absence is physical, while in zuko’s case it’s more emotional).

both of them have mentor figures who are members of the fire nation, yet who disagree with what firelord ozai is doing. both mentors are members of the white lotus.

both are romantically involved with girls who are extremely talented fighters. both girls get angry with them for aspects of their personality that they eventually learn to change (suki with sokka’s sexism in the beginning of the show, mai with zuko’s temper in the beginning of s3).

both have an apparent interest in the arts. sokka’s tale in ba sing se revolves around him reciting poetry and he clearly likes to paint, and zuko mentions the ember island players “butchering” a play he’s seen before, indicating that he likely has an interest in theater.

like regardless of whether or not you ship them i just feel like they’d be super close once they got the chance to talk more. they’d have so much to bond over

#avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #avatar #atla sokka #atla zuko #zuko x sokka #zukka

[dustedmagazine]

Cecil Taylor Quintet – Lift the Bandstand (Fundacja Luchaj)

Performance as ritual is a natural component of improvised music. Cecil Taylor was one of its most potent and preeminent proponents, particularly in the later years of his career. Lift the Bandstand comes from that period, specifically a concert conducted at the annual Tampere Jazz Happening in Finland in 1988. Steve Lacy was in the audience and inadvertently coined both the title of disc and the performance. The former appellation was in direct response to the assembled ensemble’s prodigious powers of musical levitation. The hour-and-a-quarter collective improvisation they left behind is known as “Desperados,” another aptly colorful assignation. Ritual informs it as precursor, but it’s a welcome and relatively anomalous example in Taylor’s discography of extemporaneousness being the exclusive fuel source.

Taylor was at point of musical restlessness where regular ensemble configurations were comparatively infrequent, but repeated associations with individual players were conversely common. Finnish soprano saxophonist Harri Sjöstrom, American cellist Tristan Honsinger and German drummer Paul Lovens had all first collaborated with the pianist through connections established during Taylor’s epochal Berlin residencies at the close of the 1980s. A colleague and countryman of Sjöstrom’s, bassist Teppo Hauta-aho gained introductions through that commonality. Sjöstrom approached Taylor with the idea of using the resulting quintet as a vehicle for free improvisation and the pianist cottoned quickly to the prospect.

That deviation marks the music from its outset. Absent are any of Taylor’s elaborate preparatory charts or schematics. Missing, too, are the crucibles of his exhaustive and demanding rehearsals. Instead, it’s simply five men taking the stage with the semblance of a clean slate between them. Taylor’s vocalizations and the diffused contributions of his colleagues occupy the opening minutes. Ritual must be invoked and observed. Devoid of visual and spatial context, not much of it translates well, but once Taylor plants himself firmly at the piano stool flanked by scraping strings, the music turns into a turbulent, extended series of cloudbursts. Figurative thunder, lightning and torrential rain all leap to mind in the glorious tempest that follows.

Parsing individual contributions is possible throughout thanks to a radio recording that reliably captures the principals, but the pursuit increasingly feels moot in the face of the larger edifice being erected. Sjöstrom’s straight horn wheedles and skids. Lovens’ sticks clatter and clap. Honsinger hatches a hornet’s nest worth of buzzing and strafing arco activity. Hauta-aho is his racing shadow several register rungs lower. Taylor percolates fiercely at the center, his clipped note clusters spinning off on caroming trajectories. Suddenly, an hour elapsed, the density relents and a more porous collectivity replaces it. Dancing about architecture seems an actual equivalent when attaching written description to records like this one. Better to abandon language altogether and just let the music speak.

Derek Taylor

#cecil taylor #lifting the bandstand #fundacja luchaj #quintet #free improvisation #harri sjostrom #paul lovens #dusted magazine #albumreview #derek taylor

[carewyncromwell]

Hey guys! Normally I just jump right into my gameplay posts and then put in additional notes at the end, but for this particular set of gameplay posts I plan to do, I think I’ll need to do the notes first.

This upcoming series will be based on the Quidditch sidequest “Quest for the Quidditch Cup.” (And will be tagged thusly!) Normally the game HPHM sets this in our first year playing Quidditch, circa year 2...but not only am I well past year 2, but I’ve written some lore about Carewyn and her relationship with the Slytherin Quidditch team that goes against this particular side quest’s plot line. Here are bullet points!

Carewyn was introduced to Quidditch Friendlies in third year through Penny, and also received training from Skye. She even played as a substitute Chaser in Slytherin’s match against Hufflepuff in her third year.

After Skye made up rumors about Erika Rath, however, Carewyn and Skye had a pretty substantive falling-out, given Carewyn’s over-sensitivity to bullying. Not wanting to cause further drama for Orion’s team but not wanting to stand by Skye’s behavior, Carewyn quietly withdrew from the Slytherin Quidditch team, allowing the original Chaser to take back their spot for the last two matches of the season.

Carewyn has continued to play in Quidditch friendlies as a Chaser (often against or alongside Ravenclaw Keeper Andre and Gryffindor Seeker Charlie), but has not tried to take back a spot on the Slytherin Quidditch team again.

Orion -- who Carewyn is incredibly fond of, partially because of how much he reminds her of her brother Jacob -- has every-so-often tried to bring Carewyn back into the fold, but Carewyn has been reluctant to commit, partly because of her hyper-focus on the Vaults and partly because of her strained relationship with Skye.

Age-wise, I have written Murphy, Skye, and Orion as all being a year older than Carewyn (hence why we don’t see them in any of her classes). These gameplays will take place toward the end of year 6 well after that certain Redacted event, even though I haven’t reached that point in the game yet, because Carewyn is currently in year 6, but the last game of the Quidditch season would have to take place in the spring. This is also why Orion isn’t two years ahead of Carewyn -- if he were, he’d be graduated already! I do see him being born toward the end of the year, though, so he would still be the eldest of the three Quidditch characters. XD; Because of the timing, Carewyn will have just completed her character arc where she’s learned to open up a bit more to her friends at this point too and is no longer shutting her friends out of what’s going on with R or the Cursed Vaults. I also fortunately don’t have much interest in writing any further Quidditch plotlines with Carewyn, so I won’t have to worry about writing any contradictory season 2 gameplays. (If nothing else, Carewyn would be a GOD-AWFUL Beater.)

With all this out of the way...let the games begin!

~x~x~x~x~

[Carewyn had had to deal with a lot of unexpected things that year, but one thing she certainly had not been expecting was receiving an owl from Orion Amari. The Slytherin Quidditch Captain would reach out to her sometimes when she was playing in Quidditch friendlies or otherwise visiting the Quidditch Pitch, but they almost never collided in the hallways of Hogwarts themselves, partly because Orion was a year older than her, but also because Orion just seemed to operate on his own schedule. Carewyn sometimes wondered if he Broom-Surfed through life, rather than walking like ordinary people did.

Regardless, when Carewyn arrived in the Great Hall to meet Orion, she found him already there, sitting at the end of the Slytherin table with Quidditch commentator Murphy McNully.]

Murphy: “Been a long time! I haven’t seen you since the final Quidditch friendly last year -- reckon your team would’ve had only a 0.5% chance of victory, if you hadn’t been able to hit the Quaffle past the Keeper with your broom just before the opposing Seeker caught the Snitch...1% at the most...”

“(politely) It’s good to see you too, McNully.”

[Carewyn turned to Orion, looking a bit more serious.]

“I heard about Skye’s injury. What happened? I heard some people say Rath hit Skye with a Bludger...but I just can’t see Rath doing something like that on purpose: she could get banned from Quidditch for actively trying to target an opposing team’s player like that.”

[Orion nodded solemnly, his gaze very pensive.]

Orion: “Your thought process has some merit, Carewyn...but I’m afraid we really can’t know for sure. We have only two witnesses to the event -- Rath and Skye -- with two versions of the truth. One says it was an accident, the other purposeful.”

“(frowns) But those two things contradict each other. They can’t both be the truth.”

Orion: “They are both their truths. In any case, the result is the same, and our Chaser was injured.”

[Carewyn couldn’t entirely agree with this -- she would feel a lot better knowing it was an accident rather than Rath getting away scot-free with hurting one of Slytherin’s players...but really, such a sentiment was pretty typical for Orion, and there was a lot more to discuss.

Her gaze drifted down to the table in front of her absently as she leaned her arms against the wood.]

“...Is Skye all right?”

Orion: “Physically, yes -- Madame Pomfrey says she’ll make a full recovery. Emotionally, however, I would not say so, given that Madame Pomfrey also has said she will not be well enough to play in the match.”

[Carewyn’s heart clenched.]

“So she’ll miss the Quidditch final. Your last Quidditch final, ever.”

Murphy: “(grimly) The math would seem to suggest it. At present I’d say there’s only a 23% chance Skye would be able to play, and about 19.9% of that factors in Skye actively ignoring Madame Pomfey’s instructions. And if she did that, I’d say Slytherin would only have a 3% chance of victory.”

[Carewyn felt a wave of empathy wash over her. She may have had her differences with Skye, and she didn’t regret distancing herself from her...but at the same time, she knew how much Quidditch and especially the Quidditch Cup meant to her. Slytherin had been knocked out of the running for the Quidditch Final several times the last few years, largely by Gryffindor, since their team had Quidditch prodigy Charlie as their Seeker. But this year, Charlie had not had his head in the game (for rather obvious reasons), and so Slytherin had finally gotten the opening they needed. But facing Ravenclaw in the Quidditch Final would be no easy task...and, Carewyn thought, Skye had to be absolutely miserable, being stuck on the sidelines at the exact moment when Slytherin finally had a chance to earn the Cup they’d fought so hard for.

Murphy glanced at Orion out the side of his eye critically.]

[Orion gave a single, slow nod.]

[He turned to Carewyn with a wry smile.]

Orion: “...And she is sitting with us at this moment.”

[Carewyn blinked in surprise. Murphy brightened up instantly, looking at Carewyn with a large smile.]

Murphy: “Yes! That’d be brilliant! With your high record of goal scoring and your overall speed, Carewyn, you’d easily improve Slytherin’s odds by a good 31.6%!”

[Despite Murphy’s enthusiasm, Carewyn couldn’t make herself smile back.]

“I don’t know...”

Orion: “(seriously) Carewyn...you have dismissed me several times in the past, but I urge you to hear me out fully before you make your decision. You first left our team because of a personal dispute with Skye, and although I lament it, I also respect that you wanted our team to succeed, and you thought that withdrawing with grace would be the best way to do that. Now, however, we are in dire straits. We need someone who can fill Skye’s role on our team. You trained with Skye. You have consistently played well in every Quidditch friendly you have participated in. And you also more than embody the integrity needed both to lead and to follow -- to place the good of your team over glory for yourself. It’s the reason I asked you to choose our strategy in the match against Hufflepuff three years ago...and it’s the reason both Skye and I believe you should be our third Chaser, in this match against Ravenclaw.”

[This took Carewyn completely aback.]

“Skye said I should?”

[Orion smiled, his dark eyes twinkling with an oddly soft glint.]

Orion: “She urged me to try to convince you. Believe it or not...Skye has lamented the loss of you on our team even more than I have.”

[Carewyn’s narrowed blue eyes drifted off vaguely in the direction of the far wall as she took this in.]

If she felt that way, she should’ve made things right with Rath, then.

[Despite the stubborn irritation lashing at her insides, though, she couldn’t help but feel slightly touched, all the same. To think that Skye would’ve insisted Carewyn fill her spot -- Carewyn knew full well how much Quidditch meant to Skye...so her trusting Carewyn with her spot on the team, right before such an important match...]

I know how hard it is to trust others. It hasn’t been easy for me...even now...it’s not easy, for me. If Skye trusts me that much...if Orion and McNully trust me that much...

[Meeting the Circle of Khanna in the Three Broomsticks and feeling their expectant eyes all on her rippled over Carewyn’s mind. It brought the feeling of responsibility back down onto her shoulders -- that heavy weight that nonetheless made her want to stand even taller, so as to meet that burden.]

I can’t turn my back on them, when they need me.

[There was a new strength in her posture and shoulders as her gaze rose to meet Orion’s.]

“...All right. I’m in.”

[Orion’s dark eyes lit up like stars. His face broke into a large, bright smile and he reached across the table to take hold of Carewyn’s arm, squeezing it affectionately.]

Orion: “It will be a privilege to fly alongside you in my final match at Hogwarts, Carewyn.”

[Carewyn smiled in return, her blue eyes softening visibly. Murphy looked delighted as well.]

Murphy: “Not to mention how exciting it’ll be for my final match as a commentator! Carewyn Cromwell, swooping in just in time to nab Slytherin the Quidditch Cup for the first time in ten years!”

[His expression then turned a lot more business-like.]

Murphy: “We won’t get that great story, though, unless Slytherin wins.”

[Carewyn frowned deeply and nodded. She was well aware -- Gryffindor had opposed Ravenclaw in the Quidditch Cup Final just about every year she was at Hogwarts, and it was largely thanks to Rath smacking Bludgers at Charlie so hard that he was sent to the Hospital Wing that Ravenclaw had won.]

“Rath is not someone to be underestimated. But we have two days before the match -- I’m sure we can come up with a plan by then. In the meantime, I’ll set aside some extra time to practice with the rest of the team.”

[She glanced at Orion for approval. The Slytherin Quidditch Captain inclined his head in a single nod.]

Orion: “This is a time for celebration and hard work. Let us concentrate on coming together as a team and on supporting Skye.”

[Carewyn’s eyes drifted off, landing on the doorway out of the entrance hall.]

“...Maybe I should go see Skye, then...just for a talk.”

Ha! That’s a loaded question...

[She frankly didn’t want to even think about how uncomfortable the reunion between her and Skye would be like, given how they’d ended things and how little they’d subsequently spoken over the years...

Despite those feelings, Carewyn -- true to form -- put on her prettiest, most confident smile.]

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #gameplay #quest for the quidditch cup #skye parkin #orion amari #murphy mcnully #carewyn cromwell #charlie weasley #erika rath #roleplaying

[perfeggso]

Noir (yutae) 

Week I pt. 1

Tokyo – fall of 1983: Nakamoto Yuta is quickly rising in the ranks of one of Japan’s most notorious yakuza families, and he’s poised to climb even further if he can stop himself from being ruined by the pretty Korean boy who’s shown up out of nowhere. 

Chapter 1  |  Chapter 2  |  Chapter 3  |  Chapter 4  |  Chapter 5  |  Chapter 6  |  Chapter 7  |  Chapter 8  | Masterlist 

Glossary of Japanese words 

Characters: Yuta x Taeyong + NCT ensemble, Twice J-line (for funsies) 

Genres: Gang!AU, angst, smut, fluff, 1980s!AU

Warnings: graphic violence, swearing, minor character death, alcohol use, mentions of drugs, period-typical homophobia, xenophobia, BDSM 

Rating: 18+

Length: 1.7k (will progressively get way longer) 

Yuta was easily recognizable.  He was of about average stature, but that was the first and last thing about him that could be described as “average.”  Yuta reckoned that anyone living or working in the areas in and around Ueno Park and Akihabara could describe him to the police if they felt like it, but they all knew better, didn’t they?  He had a striking face, which others often remarked could have landed him in an idol group in another life.  He kept his hair in an undercut which swept over his head suggesting ever so faintly the shape of a mullet, but he would never call it that.  Mullets were for Mötley Crüe, not for men of taste.  Although he kept the bottom of the haircut in its original black, the long part was died white – an aesthetic choice that Yuta not only liked but which also made him feel nearly invincible in its destruction of his anonymity.    

Yuta was freshly 24, a prodigy of sorts in his own world of the Inagawa-kai family, where he had been promoted to Shategashira lieutenant last year and was now the commander of a small gaijin and zainichi unit operating in Shitamachi.  There was gossip that his position was due only to his relationship with Oyabun Hirai Goro’s daughter, but he knew better than that which was all that mattered.

It was late October and a crisp evening as Yuta weaved his way down Chūō Avenue.  He drew plenty of looks: of fearful recognition but also of admiration from certain young women.  Not one for subtlety, he wore a double-breasted dark blue snakeskin suit and a jumble of rings and piercings.  A scar transversing his right eyebrow and the tendrils of tattoos reaching out from his sleeves and collar confirmed his connection to the underworld for anyone who saw him, but that was alright if it gave Yuta some space to walk in the crowd.

He took a right into an arcade where Mark was sitting absently behind a yellow desk and flipping through the pages of the latest Young Magazine installment of Akira .  When he saw Yuta, he immediately straightened to attention.

“Good evening Shategashira!”

“At ease,” Yuta said casually, “how’s business today?”

Mark went back to slouching over his comic and shrugged as Yuta surveyed the room.

“Average,” hazarded Mark, “I’ve been hearing the machines in back pretty consistently my whole shift and Jungwoo’s still somewhere fixing shit and trying to get people to buy computers.”  

Yuta rapped his knuckles against the desk.  “Having any luck?”

Mark shrugged again.  “Why don’t you ask him?”

Yuta withdrew from the desk with a performative huff and straightened his jacket.  Sometimes he wondered if he should be less familiar with his subordinates, but he couldn’t imagine acting strict like some other lieutenants; he liked most of his men too much to be anything but personable.  So as usual, Mark’s cautious sass went unacknowledged.

Yuta made his way to the back of the low-ceilinged white room. The walls were lined with cubbies full of manga, tech and porn magazines, and cassettes; string lights; mirrors; Nintendo arcade games; and in the center of the space, you could peruse tables of PC’s in various states of disuse alongside Mazinger Z figurines.  Jungwoo had stationed himself in the middle of the clutter, fiddling with the hard drive of an ’82 Apple.  

“Jungwoo!”

“Shategashira!”

“At ease.”    

“This just came today!” remarked Jungwoo, referring to the computer.  “The computing power on this thing is off the charts!  A shame I have to fuck with it.”

“A necessary sacrifice,” said Yuta, not giving a damn about the technical side of this business since he couldn’t begin to understand it.  “How many have you sold?”

“Seven today,” said Jungwoo, sinking into a chair with his whole weight and pushing at his cuticles with the end of a screwdriver, “so that’s 225,000 yen, give or take.  I can get the books if you want.”

Yuta smiled, catlike.  “No, that’s alright.  Good work.  Although I’m confident you can do better still.”

Jungwoo stood again sharply.  “I assure you I can, Shategashira !”

“Good.”

In reality this was not a bad amount of revenue for the day so far.  The Inagawa-kai paid the property and business taxes on the building to shore up favor with the local government but didn’t technically own it.  The real owners covered all other expenses and utilities, meaning the Inagawa people ultimately could keep more of their profits than the average business owners, and this setup wouldn’t change because the landlords knew the local precinct had Inagawa’s back and that Yuta – or if not him, someone else – would not hesitate to pull a katana on them if they suddenly took issue with the arrangement.

No, thought Yuta, this is good.  Jungwoo was selling near his quota, and with the viruses he had installed, many of the unsuspecting customers would eventually be bringing their devices back for costly repairs.

Yuta looked at the unassuming door behind Jungwoo.

“Johnny in there?” he asked.

Jungwoo nodded curtly in response and Yuta passed him to open the door, stepping into the windowless back room.  Smoke hit Yuta instantly, warming his lungs along with the stinging scent of hard liquor.  The room may have been devoid of natural light, but it did have plenty of colorful artificial illumination: a wall of well-populated pachinko machines making brassy noises so loud Yuta could have sworn they were coming from inside his skull.  Each machine was a hypnotizing box of glowing neon, flashing lightbulbs, and shiny silver balls clacking in a perverse rhythm with the players’ chorus of disappointed groans and victorious whoops.  The men at the pachinko machines were all around middle age, smoking their heads off and depressing the shit out of Yuta.

Yuta swept his gaze over the rest of the room; the weathered purple booths on the other wall, the checkerboard tile on the floor, the mildewy walls; until he landed on Johnny.  He was in the bar in the back, under a dusty glass chandelier, smoking with a young woman seemingly attached to the front of his mahogany suit.

Johnny didn’t notice Yuta until he was a few paces away, and Yuta sensed a flicker of disappointment on Johnny’s face when he did look up, although Yuta couldn’t reproach him for that and he did well to hide it.

“Ah, Shategashira ,” Johnny greeted languidly, and Yuta acknowledged him back with a nod of his head.  Johnny was a few months older than Yuta, so he could afford to be more casual with his superior.  The only reason Johnny didn’t have Yuta’s position was that he indulged too much in life’s vices and wanted to keep it that way.

“Can we speak somewhere a bit quieter?” Yuta asked, and Johnny nodded, whispering something to his companion before leading Yuta out the back doorway into an alley.  Yuta breathed the crisp autumn air in once outside, a relief from the stuffiness of the pachinko bar.  Yuta reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of cigarettes and a lighter, smoking to match Johnny and giving Johnny time to get situated next to him against the wall.  Yuta had to look up to speak since Johnny was a good bit taller than him and when he did, Johnny’s face was sharper than usual in the shadows of twilight.  Yuta took a long drag of his cigarette.  

“So,” said Johnny, “you know when yet?”

“A month and a half from today,” said Yuta, “gives us enough time to finish preparing, I think.”

Johnny nodded, grinding the burnt-out end of his cigarette into the brick behind him.  “Good.  Can you relay the details?  What do I need to do?”        

“You and I and the other Sokaiya members will be going into the Mitsubishi executive offices with the goal of getting 130,000,000 yen and the right to ship arms and drugs to our Triad allies in Hong Kong disguised alongside the company’s car and electronics exports.”

“Goro’s getting ambitious, huh?” Johnny figured aloud.

“Yes,” Yuta answered, “in return we’re offering our own men as indefinite security details for commerce in the South China Sea and for members of the executive board, personally.”

“Mercenaries and bodyguards, I see.”

“You could call it that.”  Yuta took another drag of his cigarette and let the smoke escape his mouth in a meandering cloud.  Once it dissipated, he said, “but as to your role, you’re in charge of gathering information on Sato Kenichi.  He runs Mitsubishi’s finances and although we’ve found ample evidence to use against the CEO and I’m still working on some leads for the VP – Miyazaki is his name – we need dirt on as many of the higher ups as possible.  They can’t refuse us or we’re dead.”

Johnny nodded, lighting himself another cigarette.  “Sato Kenichi.  Understood.  Any leads on the guy?”

“Yes, I have them here.”  Yuta pulled a small sealed folder out of the interior of his jacket and handed it to Johnny, who slipped it into one of his inner pockets without opening it.

“Thank you, Shategashira .”  

“Just do a good job,” said Yuta, adding, “please.”  Then he dropped his cigarette to the asphalt and ground it out with the heel of his boot.  “We have almost enough stock to make the shareholder’s meeting so that shouldn’t be a problem.  Also, the Triads are sending a group of emissaries to advise us on their priorities and join us at the meeting.  They should be here in a few weeks or so.  That is all.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet the princess for our joint birthday dinner. We decided to combine this year.”

Yuta and Johnny pushed themselves off the wall and exchanged conspiratorial smiles.

“Tell her I said omedetou ,” said Johnny, backing away to return to his post at the dingy Pachinko bar, pulling the packet on Sato Kenichi out of his pocket and passing it between his hands.  “I can’t wait to see what this Sato-san gets up to in his spare time.  These executive types are all extortionists and perverts.  And they call us the criminals.”

Yuta chuckled to himself.  It was ironic, wasn’t it?  He saluted Johnny and turned on his heel with a “work hard, please,” and that was that.  The sun was setting, hot pink.  He’d be late to meet Momo if he didn’t hurry, but this was important business after all.  A month and a half.  What could possibly go wrong in such a short time?  

#my work #my fanfic #yuta #nakamoto yuta #nct #taeyong #lee taeyong #yakuza #gang!au #nakamoto yuta fanfiction #lee taeyong fanfiction #taeyong fanfic #yuta fanfic #nct fanfic #yutae #yuta x taeyong #noir #nct 127 #nct dream #wayv #twice #twice fanfic #twice jline #neothestars #nctnetwrite

[dragonsrainbows]

The Queen’s Gambit: A review via rant

You know what makes me angrier than stories of white/savarna men? Stories of womxn told by white/savarna men. 

All those (that is the three people who read my Tumblr) who want to argue about the right to tell stories however one wants and that there are great examples of stories of womxn told by men (Terry Pratchett, Miyazaki Hayao, yes, yes, I know!), I acknowledge you and your truth, but you are bloody wrong. Besides Pratchett or Miyazaki never told womxn’s stories. They told stories that centered womxn. It’s not the same thing. 

I hate it when men tell womxn’s stories, especially with amazing dialogue and incredible cinematic affects. The product looks so good that you almost miss the subtle misogyny embedded in the very narrative. 

Which brings me to... The Queen’s Gambit... “a fictional story that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy named Beth Harmon from the age of eight to twenty-two during her quest to become the world's greatest chess player while struggling with emotional issues and with drug and alcohol dependency.”

If you haven’t seen the problem in that one-line excerpt itself, let me elaborate. The Netflix mini-series, that I saw 3 episodes of before calling bullshit, is based on a book written by Walter Tevis. You guessed it, a white American MAN. And writer of such fine tales as The Man who fell to Earth and The Colour of Money. It was adapted for Netflix by two Scotts - no really - Scott Frank (the guy who gave us gut-punch that was Logan) and Allan Scott (he adapted Pat Barker’s Regeneration, read it or read about it, quite interesting). Yes, both white men type people. 

Beth Harmon, the protagonist of the story, is a genius. Because why would white men tell the story of a womxn who wasn’t? She is played beautifully atypical by Isla Johnston as a child (quite similar to Dafne Keen who played X-23 in Logan, now that I think of it, because again, that seems to be one of the only TWO ways in which young girls are presented on screen/stage - serious prodigy with problems socializing or cute little air-heads touting their precociousness in sunfrocks) and Anya Taylor-Joy as an adult (or as a 12 to 23 year old, go figure). On the face of it, the story should be a about a smart woman schooling her (mostly male) peers about chess. And winning. 

Instead it ends up, from the very opening scene (where adult Beth is trying to drown herself or sober up real quick via immersion therapy in a metal bathtub) being the tragedy of a poor female soul trapped in a world that will never see the trainwreck behind the carefully-painted facade. Like so many protagonists before her, especially in stories told by men, Beth’s tragic past and her addiction become the central theme, as opposed to her triumphs and desire to excel. I didn’t really calculate, but there are more scenes of overdosing on tranquilizers and reliving her past - basically her being tragically frail and than there are of her winning games. At least in the first 3 episodes. In fact, most of the time, she wasn’t even shown winning. Like I felt so cheated. It was similar to the way they recently told the story of Shakuntala Devi in the recent Bollywood biopic. I mean the woman was a math genius and LGBTQIA+ rights activist and all they focused on was her daughter’s problems with an absent mother, while her success played out in the background in the form of newsreel special effects. 

And there’s the thing, right? Men grossly misunderstand generational trauma. For them, it’s simply a strained mother-daughter relationship. And because, perhaps, they do not understand the motivation, history and legacy of pain behind that strain, they give the mother mental illness and addiction. And showcase the poor daughter, with no agency, crying (silently, because the background score is more important) while the mother tries multiple ways to harm herself and commit suicide. Because that’s the only way out for high IQ people with mental illness, right? Oh no wait, because when a man has mental illness you get A Beautiful Mind or Rainman or Fight Club or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. But when a womxn has mental illness you get Girl, Interrupted or A Dangerous Mind. I mean, even Joker has more triumphant moments than the Queen’s Gambit - a series literally named after a famous move in a GAME! 

Also, all the movies listed above were made by white men, I checked. Written and Directed. When womxn tell stories of womxn, the treatment is different. Nowadays, I can tell from the bloody opening shot, if the story is being told by a womxn or literally anyone else on the gender spectrum who is not white/savarna/cis. 

The problem is, that the story is well-told. It’s compelling. The period-ness, the shots, the acting - it’s all superb. It will probably go on to win awards. But it perpetuates the notion that the female narrative is centered on tragedy. We are so enamored by the package that we will not question its contents. We will not question the right of men to tell our stories, even if they are fiction, because we will not stop being attracted to the notion that Heroines only become Heroines because of trauma and remain so for a short while before the trauma consumes them again. 

The Queen’s Gambit annoys me. It should annoy you. It should be retold by a womxn. We should get less of popping green capsules and more of conversation and strategy. The story is supposed to be about a womxn. It’s time we got what we were promised. 

#the queen's gambit #netflix #when men tell stories #when womxn tell stories #womxn #films #Hollywood #Bollywood #series review

[porthavenhq]

｡✧*  STATS

Name : Claudia Avenarius  Origin : The Dragon Prince Age : Up-to-player Gender : Up-to-player Faceclaim : Up-to-player Availability : Open

｡✧*  BIOGRAPHY

Claudia was taught by her father from a young age that they were born without magic, they could still find a way to do amazing things.

It was obvious from early on that Claudia was a prodigy.

Her parents divorced when she was still a child. Soren wanted to stay with Viren so Claudia stayed as well.

Hasn’t seen her mother in many years.

Claudia’s bright, eccentric personality 

Gets defensive when people look down on her form of witchcraft.

｡✧*  PERSONALITY

✓  excitable, humorous, intelligent ✖  absent-minded, cunning, blindly loyal

｡✧*  SPECIAL ABILITIES

Dark Witch : Uses the life force of other living beings to perform magic.

｡✧*  CONNECTIONS

Soren Avenarius : Older brother. They’re very close, but she doesn’t notice how their father heavily favors her. Viren Avenarius : Her father. Taught her everything she knows. Trusts him completely.

#disney rp #disney rpg #disney roleplay #skeleton rp #animated rp #cartoon rp #multifandom rp #town rp #magic rp #bio rp #the dragon prince #open #witch #new rp #literate rp

[ebonysword0]

Talentswap AU. Most Likely, Least Likely and Why? Part 2

Ok here's part 2 of the list for which talent the students from the second game I think would most likely, or least likely have based on a few things like researching the facts about the character. The actions they make. Or due to their talents being similar to another. Again, I don’t have all the answers because some of the characters have limited information. Also, I decided to add talents from the characters in Danganronpa 3 anime, so I edited Part 1.

Edit: Added Ultimate Bodyguard and Secret Agent. They are from Danganronpa Zero

Sonia Nevermind

Most Likely:

Ultimate Soldier - In Canon, Sonia is very knowledgeable about warfare. Plus in her country, all children receive a course in modern warfare in elementary school

Not Sure:

Ultimate Affluent Progeny - Her upbringing as an heir

Ultimate Yakuza - Same as above, she can be adopted

Ultimate Nurse - In order to become a true dignified princess, she must learn much knowledge including diagnostic medicine.

Ultimate Pharmacist - Same as above

Ultimate Adventurer - Sonia is interested in studying different countries and languages,

Ultimate Anthropologist - same as above

Ultimate Moral Compass - wants to guide her people to the right path

Ultimate Student Council President

Ultimate Detective - Due to her fascination with serial killers

Teruteru Hanamura

Most Likely:

Ultimate Nurse - His mother is ill, so he could've learned in order help her

Ultimate Pharmacist - Sometimes mixed concoctions together with Seiko

Least Likely:

Ultimate Confectioner - Dislikes junk food

Peko Pekoyama

Most Likely:

Ultimate Martial Artist

Ultimate Soldier

Ultimate Aikido Master

Ultimate Bodyguard

Least Likely:

Ultimate Breeder - While she loves animals, they don’t share this feeling in return.

Ultimate Confectioner - Dislikes candy

Nekomaru Nidai

Most Likely:

Ultimate Martial Artist

Ultimate Soldier

Ultimate Aikido Master

Ultimate Baseball Star - It is implied that he used to train Leon

Ultimate Tennis Pro - He trained a tennis player who managed to win a thirty-six-hour long match. (I like to pretend it's Ryoma)

Ultimate Robot - Remember Mechamaru?

Ultimate Wrestler

Ultimate Boxer

Ultimate Bodyguard

Nagito Komaeda

Least Likely:

Ultimate Cook - he's implied to be a terrible cook.

Not Sure:

Ultimate Valet/Footman (What's a male version of a Maid?) - It's stated that he's a skilled cleaner (He even states that cleaning is the one thing he's good at in Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc) but he's also implied to be a terrible cook.

Ultimate Butler (I think it's a male version of a Housekeeper) - Same as above

Ultimate Detective

Ultimate Gambler - Same as Makoto (read part 1)

Ultimate Gamer - For his role in creating a "game balance" in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Mikan Tsumiki

Most Likely:

Ultimate Neurologist

Ultimate Pharmacist

Not Sure:

Ultimate Detective - She's quite skilled with autopsy, like details on injuries, the cause of death, and time of death. But on the other hand, while she's very perspective, she overanalyzes

Mahiru Koizumi

Most Likely:

Ultimate Adventurer - her likes are Traveling alone

Ultimate Moral Compass - Mostly due to her attitude

Ultimate Maid - With her mother's career making Her absent from home most of Mahiru's life and her father leaving the responsibility of the housework entirely to her. I would say she's gotten good at it.

Ultimate Housekeeper - Same as above

Ultimate Student Council President

Kazuichi Soda

Most Likely:

Ultimate Cosplayer - He can sew, plus he likes comic books and action movies. So he can dress up as any character from those tropes

Ultimate Inventor

Least Likely:

Ultimate Writing Prodigy - He dislikes novels

Not Sure:

Ultimate Biker Gang Leader - His family owns a bike shop

Ultimate Programmer

Ultimate Astronaut - Has dream to create a rocket ship

Ultimate Blacksmith

Ultimate Fanfic Creator

Ibuki Mioda

Most Likely:

Ultimate Gamer - One of her likes is Gaming

Ultimate Cosplayer - Makes costume

Not Sure:

Ultimate Pianist

Hiyoko Saionji

Most Likely:

Ultimate Supreme Leader

Ultimate Yakuza - Due to her upbringing as an heiress

Least Likely:

Ultimate Entomologist - She likes to squish ants

Ultimate Anthropologist - She acts insulting towards other cultures

Ultimate Adventurer - Same as above

Ultimate Princess

Not Sure:

Ultimate Affluent Progeny

Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

Ultimate Pop Sensation

Gundham Tanaka

Most Likely:

Ultimate Entomologist

Ultimate Magician

Ultimate Clairvoyant

Ultimate Martial Artist

Not Sure:

Ultimate Swimming Pro - In Island Mode, Gundham states that he isn't very effective against "water-types". I'm not sure if it means he can't swim

Ultimate Farmer

Chiaki Nanami

Most Likely:

Ultimate Robot - Because of AI Chiaki

Least Likely:

Ultimate Breeder - She feels a bit uncomfortable around animals

Ultimate Swimming Pro - She doesn't like the idea of swimming, because she fears she might fall asleep and drown.

Not Sure:

Ultimate Analyst

Ultimate Cosplayer

Ultimate Fanfic Creator

Ultimate Programmer

Imposter

Most Likely:

Ultimate Cosplayer - Because they're good at disguises

Ultimate Student Council President - When they tried to act like a leader at the beginning

Akane Owari

Most Likely:

Ultimate Clairvoyant - She guesses things accurately based on gut feelings

Ultimate Martial Artist

Ultimate Aikido Master

Ultimate Child Caregiver - Since she used to take care of her younger siblings, she is very protective of "hungry small things" and she is sometimes strict about safety.

Ultimate Wrestler

Ultimate Boxer

Ultimate Bodyguard

Not Sure:

Ultimate Swimming Pro - She doesn't like wearing swimsuits while swimming. So I guess it implies that she prefers to swim nude.

Hajime Hinata

Not Sure:

Ultimate Therapist - He has counseling skills

Ultimate Student Council President

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Not Sure:

Ultimate Affluent Progeny - Due to his upbringing as an heir

Ultimate Traditional Dancer - Same as above

Ultimate Biker Gang Leader - On one hand there's his Canon background as a ‘criminal’ (Yakuza), but on the other hand he’s the type who takes honor and moral codes seriously. For example, he is strictly against underage drinking, underage driving and underage sex.

Ultimate Moral Compass - Takes honor and moral codes seriously

Up next V3.

#danganronpa 2 #chiaki nanami #hajime hinata #akane owari #sonia nevermind #fuyuhiko kuzuryuu #souda kazuichi #hiyoko saionji #ultimate imposter #komaeda nagito #teruteru hanamura #gundham tanaka #nekomaru nidai #mahiru koizumi #peko pekoyama #mikan tsumiki #ibuki mioda #talentswap au #talentswap #super dangan ronpa 2 #sdr2 #danganronpa

[burnsopale]

American arc meta part 2

(part 1 here)

This post is also a companion to this post. It might not be entirely fair to compare this team to the Chinese team, since that arc was better than Beyblade has any business being, but no other team comes out of the same comparison as poorly, so it’s not just the Byakko clan that makes the PPB look bad.

Let me give you all a little challenge: after watching their introduction in episode 20, name one difference between Eddie and Steve’s personalities.

In fact, after this entire arc, tell me something about Eddie that isn’t “he plays basketball”, “he likes winning” or “he’s an asshole”.

In contrast, after the introduction of the Byakko clan kids in the back alley in Hong Kong, we knew LOTS about them. Kiki was scheming and agressive, Gaou was a quiet boy who loved food, Mao was a stern big sister, a bit catty, and a great blader, and Rai was their leader, quiet, serious and angry. We also understood their relationships; Kiki was afraid of Gaou, but more afraid of Mao’s bad opinion. Mao respected and admired Rai, Gaou obeyed him. Gaou was the only one who didn’t seem to hate Rei.

To be fair, Emily, Michael and Steve eventually show us some pretty interesting personalities, but ... You know what we need a cut. This is gonna be long.

(open the post to read more. I don’t know why the “keep reading” link doesn’t show)

Emily is the stand-out character of the PPB for two reasons. Firstly because we spend enough time with her that we feel like we get to know her, and secondly because in the exhibition match in episode 22 she shows us her vulnerable side, which makes her sympathetic.

To sum up what we know about her; she is a tennis and beyblading prodigy, intelligent, sharp-tongued and arrogant, but she is also devoted to Judy, and seems to feel some pain over a difficulty she has making friends. She is the one out of the team who notices and comments on Judy actually caring about Max, and she seems to approve of it, smiling when Judy lets slip that she is worried or proud. Emily is both a part of the PPB blading team and its support structure, which gives her some authority over the boys, though it also sets her a little apart from them. She is more interested in knowledge than she is in victory.

Michael is the second most developed of the kids. He is the PPB’s Captain, their strongest blader, a baseball-player with an incredible launch-arm. He’s a self-professed attention-whore who loves being center stage and flirting with his fans. On the other hand he is also diligent and hard-working, not just in training, but in all the aspects of life that the PPB monitor in their bladers (his stats are always perfect). He’s a daredevil (that parachute jump), and he is, like the rest of the team, an arrogant bully.

Steve is an excellent football player, but also pretty posh, with an eloquent speech pattern and a love of science. His refinement does not preclude him from being a real jerk, though. His weakness is his temper problem.

Eddie is, like the others, a genius within his chosen sport, basketball. Like the other two boys he’s not a very nice guy, but he’s not as talkative as them, so he doesn’t stand out as much. He ... wears earrings? ... Poor Eddie really gets the short end of the stick.

The biggest problem with this lack of characterisation is that none of these kids have any kind of character journey to go through. The only thing that changes from the beginning of the arc to the end is that they learn that they’re not invincible. They DON’T learn that passion is better than science, only that there was a particular aspect of passion that they forgot to add to their calculations. Consider this; every other antagonist team changes drastically after meeting the BBA. The Shell Killers fall apart, the Byakko clan are healed of their wounds, the Majestics embrace friendship, The monster squad give up on vengeance, and the Borg boys are saved from a life as child soldiers.

The PPB become a little nicer, I guess.

With Emily this is no big problem because we’ve come to like her the way she is (and because she hasn’t been as big of a jerk as the boys).

But at what point does Steve and Eddie atone for telling Max that his mom doesn’t love him?

They don’t. So why should we like them?

I said in their post that the Byakko clan are Beyblade’s strongest characters because of their well-developed internal relationships, and now I say that the PPB are the show’s weakest characters because they barely have internal relationships. The most important scenes to characterise the antagonist teams are the scenes were they are not with the BBA. Every single scene with the Byakko clan kids on their own furthers and deepens their relationships. We see them argue, support each other, raise Kiki. We see them lose sleep, win Beybattles, hang out in Hong Kong. What are the PPB doing in their scenes together without the BBA? Standing around (though sometimes *gasp* they sit down). Talking about how science is better than passion and how they are better than the BBA. Sure, the Byakko clan talked about Rei a lot (a LOT), but they did so in different configurations, with plot developments changing the tone of their conversation.

A few relationships do get developed within the PPB, with Emily/Judy and Emily/Michael being the notable ones. Emily is Judy’s assistant, and they have all the understanding and affection between them that Judy lacks with Max. Emily’s dual role in the PPB gives her authority over Michael, which sometimes causes friction between them, and Emily disapproves of his “flashy” personality, but they are mostly friendly with each other.

Beyond them, however, it begins to falter. Eddie and Steve seem to be friends, because they usually appear together in scenes (much like Giancarlo and Olivier will later), but when Steve loses his match against Takao, Eddie’s reaction is identical to Michael’s; he doesn’t care, even mocks him. Steve seems to have some reverence for Michael, referring to him as “our leader” several times when he is absent, and he and Eddie comfort and distract Michael when he isn’t chosen for the exhibition match, but there is no great difference between Eddie/Steve, Eddie/Michael and Steve/Michael really. When Emily loses the exhibition match, her teammates just stand there smirking; not only do they not care about her personal loss, they don’t seem concerned at all that the invincible PPB just lost to amateurs.

And that scene illustrates a trend in the third arc; over and over again the writers fail to take advantage of the scene to give personality and life to the characters, and it’s so weird because this is one of the things Beyblade usually does really well. They could for instance have shown the boys busying themselves with popcorn and fair games, until they realise that Emily is actually in trouble up on stage, something they never imagined could happen. Then they could hurry to Judy to ask what is going on. She would try to reassure them, and they would watch with her as Emily had to rely on Max and Mario to win the third round. Steve and Eddie could be shocked, Michael could mumble with bitter satisfaction to Judy that she should have put him on instead, and all of them could be worried and angry about what this meant for the PPB.

But no, they just stand there, the same smirks on their faces as they had when Emily was winning. It frustrates me to no end.

We’ll look at examples as we go through the final three episodes.

Basically, the PPB are all potential with very little fulfillment, which makes me sad because I love what could have been.

#Beyblade #Judin liveblogs #PPB meta #PPB #Beyblade meta

[tinycartridge]

I’m in love with Black Border Flowers ⊟ 

A sports anime but with competitive card games is exactly what I’ve dreamt about my entire life -- though I wanted something less like Yu-Gi-Oh, and more like What If Netrunner Was A Card Anime. Top table competitions just seem to translate so well as comics with exaggerated anime drama.

Patrick Crotty, who you might know for heading Peow (publisher of many fine comics), is fulfilling my dreams with Black Border Flowers, a “a sports-manga styled comic about competitive Magic,” available to read online for free!

“The story follows a cast of three main characters playing at a Modern Grand Prix in Honolulu. A brother and sister, both amateur magic players, and a Magic prodigy who has been inexplicably absent from the MTG scene are all dragged in to (due to some"’stuff’) a very dangerous high-stakes underground Magic tournament. Weird huh.”

There are only two chapters so far, but the artist will continue to the story if enough people show interest and support his efforts on Patreon. Backers will be able to help influence the story (e.g. "which cards and decks to play, sideboard options, which lines of play the characters should take"), access alternative pages, read behind-the-scenes posts, and more.

Even if you have little to no experience playing Magic the Gathering, you can get by fine with the comic and still enjoy the game’s matches. And if you do want to learn more, Patrick also put together one of the best introductions and illustrated guides on how to play the card game.

JOIN CLUB TINY AND OUR DISCORD Support Tiny Cartridge!

#gaming #black border flowers #patrick crotty #peow #comic #magic the gathering #patreon #magic #ec

[purgatoriomedia]

ALL THE WORLD IS A STAGE AND ALL OF US MERELY PLAYERS, BUT YOU—YOU WERE MADE FOR THE SPOTLIGHT. Off-duty, you are a creature of pale reverie, ethereal in your sylphlike grace and absent-mindedness. A bizarre appearance for the Verdamme theatre department’s crowning glory, the most prodigious thespian that has walked its halls since time immemorial. It is on stage where you live and die, drawing each breath as if it is your last and every second you descend from that rostrum is merely cyclorama. Language is your air and lifeblood, the words of a hundred dead poets and playwrights on your tongue spoken into flesh and transcendence. Your commitment to your craft has earned you the wrath and threat of being disinherited by your family but you would abandon everything, give up paradise itself, to be an actor. For you, the theatre is more than merely art, more than simply an expression of form and feeling, it is an aching, senseless grasping for immortality. All that you are is tied to another’s fate—Hamlet’s vengeance, Stanley’s rage, John Proctor’s despair—nothing about you is solely yours or wholly real. It is reality that terrifies you: the thought of your own reflection displaying the hollow nothingness of you. You escape in art, in dream, retreating into a world where beauty and tragedy are nothing but poetry.

#original rp #skeleton rp #mystery rp #dark academia rp #lsrp #lsrpg