#tempest literally the only event ever<3

[starpros-sunshine]

Literally you get me fr

#I've made that same post like thrice because it can not be said enough #they're sooooo #tempest literally the only event ever<3 #i love them so much all of fine I adore them #the tempest cgs are also the only cards that matter in this entire game I mean have you Seen them????? #they're wonderful an absolute delight just the epitome of thrill and enchantment #they're so good they're soooooo good #lomve lomve lomve adore adore adore even #k I'll shush and sleep now #night :))

[sunspearesque]

The Bereaved Dunes

Summary:

In the Bereaved Dunes, where shadows weep, A tale of love and sorrow, bound to keep. Elia, my sun, in your memory I tread, Through sands of despair, where tears are shed. I should've taken you far away, my dear, To Dorne's warm embrace, where skies are clear. But fate had other plans, a cruel twist of hand, In the Bereaved Dunes, where sorrows expand.

A/N: I've often wondered, 'How did Oberyn receive the news of Elia's death? How did his mind grapple with such a profound tragedy?' This curiosity served as my inspiration for writing this piece. It is crucial to delve into the pivotal event that laid the foundation for all of his subsequent actions. This prologue marks the genesis of my upcoming series, 'Whispers of Vendetta,' wherein Elia's death remains canon (and I made use of some famous lines from ASOIAF books), though I've allowed myself creative freedom in depicting Oberyn's reaction and the events that follow. Big thanks to my sweet, sweet friend @palioom for her unwavering support <3 I hope this piece meets your liking xoxo

Rating: M

CW: angst; canon character death (Elia Martell); grief/mourning; sibling loss; brief description of death/injury

WC: 1.6K

Read on AO3 • moodboard

283 AC

"We cannot simply remain still… spineless, awaiting news of her safety and that of her children!" Oberyn's voice rang out, filled with fervor, as he directed his words at his elder brother.

Doran, vexed by his brother's persistence, hissed back in retort, "I've entrusted four of our most skilled soldiers with her protection, Oberyn! They will ensure her safety. Cease your incessant hovering!"

Oberyn's eyes bore into Doran's, smoldering with anger and worry, "They had better return with her unharmed, or I shall part their heads from their bodies myself!"

Twelve agonizing hours passed without any word of Elia. Silence hung heavy in the air, and Oberyn's unease deepened. He understood that the Dornish princess was not their highest priority, knowing that no one would make her safety their concern—not even her husband, the father of her children.

Her husband, that fucking bastard.

I should have spirited her and her two children away to Dorne the moment she sent for me. The instant he crowned that Stark girl as the queen of love and beauty, forsaking his own wife. I should have sensed the despair in her ever-saddened eyes. She sat there, abased and broken, her belly swollen with his child. Those smudged words in her letter, likely stained by her tears, should have served as reason enough to bring her back to Dorne, where she truly belonged among her people and her land.

Elia was no viper; she was more akin to a dove—gentle, serene, fragile yet resplendent, graceful, and generous to a fault. She was too generous for the rapacious beasts that surrounded her. Here in Dorne, she walked among vipers, none of them would ever harm her. In King's Landing, she had found herself surrounded by dragons and lions… who had torn her asunder, both figuratively and literally.

Every hour drifted by like a languid stream, sowing a tempest of dread deep within Oberyn's core. Why does no one share in my fear? Neither her kin, nor our people dwelling here. Why does the world remain unperturbed? Am I truly the only one who understands the depth of their malice? Their hatred for us? For her?

Oberyn paced his brother's solar ceaselessly, a restless specter, his sword ever-present at his side, primed for any declaration. Doran, seated nearby, muttered words beneath his breath, prayers? curses? who knows; their nature concealed in the shroud of his quiet contemplation.

Suddenly, the reverberation of frantic footfalls pierced the air, accompanied by the panting of a disheveled soldier. "My... My Princes, Your Highness," the soldier stammered, his voice trembling as tears welled up in his eyes. Words eluded him, his courage shattered. "They have… they've killed the King... they've taken the Princess's life... and her children's." Oberyn lunged forward, seizing the young man by the throat, his rage ignited like wildfire, "I will sever your vile tongue if such words pass your lips again!" he hissed, fury coursing through every fiber of his being. How dare he utter such blasphemy?

Doran shouted at him, a frantic plea to prevent his brother from inflicting harm. Oberyn's grip on the soldier's neck tightened, threatening to snap it in half, "how dare you speak her name with such lies!" Oberyn's face was but a hair's breadth away from the man's.

"Oberyn!" Doran's voice boomed louder now, snapping his brother from the abyss of his wrath.

Reluctantly, Oberyn released the man, who fell to his knees, coughing and gasping, muttering apologies amidst his tears, "I apologize, my prince... I apologize... I apologize," he babbled frantically, his form trembling.

Oberyn stood frozen in place, the world around him becoming a cacophony of muffled sounds. Blood surged in his ears and pounded in his head, rendering his limbs feeble and numb. The frantic movements of those around him and his older brother's inquiries and orders blurred into obscurity, leaving only the sensation of his own scalding skin, burning him alive. He longed to rip his garments from his body, to tear his flesh asunder, as the air grew oppressively thick and sweltering, suffocating him as if he were submerged beneath water. The tingling sensation in his fingertips and the throbbing pain in his right eye pierced his consciousness. It was as though he were aflame from within, feeling the molten flow of his blood beneath his searing skin.

Their shared life flashed before his eyes in an instant. He remembered her fragility, how he cradled her in his arms and heart. Those days when he pushed her wheelchair with gusto, eliciting laughter from her. She was a year his senior, yet her fragility and ailment demanded his physical protection. In turn, she fortified his spirit, offering solace in a world that sought to alter him. He visited her chamber daily, sharing tales of their parents and elder sibling, and she listened, offering comfort and understanding. He was her bastion, and she was his serenity. He was her army, and she was his peace. They were inseparable, and the notion of existence without one another seemed unfathomable.

The sun no longer bathed Dorne in its usual warmth on the day her remains returned to their homeland. That Dornish sun, once radiant, now dawned upon a lifetime burdened by sorrow. She had been his sun, his compass… and he, the unwavering sunflower, had turned to follow her every step. But now, he stood alone, adrift in a sea of grief and rage.

The maesters had begged him to avert his gaze, especially from her visage—or what remained of it, to be precise. They wished to preserve her memory, to shield the image of her serenity from the abhorrent tragedy she had endured. Oberyn, however, bore the weight of her demise squarely upon his own shoulders. He harbored the belief that it was his heedlessness, his momentary acquiescence to his brother’s commands, that had led to her tragic end. And as penance, he needed to engrave the gruesome sight of her shattered skull and broken mandible to his brain, so that the searing memory might forever scar his psyche.

He craved the pain, the unrelenting thirst for vengeance, for it was this anguish that would serve as a relentless reminder. He needed her tragic fate etched into the very fiber of his being, so that if ever a trace of empathy for these monsters dared to creep into his thoughts, the vivid memory of what they had stolen from him—the essence of his sweet Elia—would rip through his soul, leaving him wounded, but resolute in his pursuit of justice.

The absence of a sibling is an ineffable experience… alexithymic; one that defies the boundaries of expression. You see, a person's existence in this world is akin to that of a tree; the parents, the grandparents, and all the ancestors serve as the unwavering stem, the robust trunk that grounds and anchors one's very being. Your children, they are the intricate roots, extensions of your essence that traverse the world, existing as a continuation of you, and you, in turn, live life through them. But siblings... they are the branches.

To lose a sibling is to lose a part of yourself, a limb perhaps, one that may not kill you but certainly inflicts the agony of phantom pain. It lingers, this spectral ache, an ever-present reminder that punctuates your happiest moments, like a persistent thorn in your side, incessantly prodding you to remember what you have forfeited. It leaves behind a lingering melancholy, not potent enough to suffocate you to death, yet substantial enough to hinder the prospect of living life to its fullest.

But how does one even go about living life in the semblance of normalcy?

For a sibling is more than a mere bearer of shared genes; they are witnesses to your enduring connection with stubborn parents, companions in the labyrinthine maze of childhood, fellow travelers through the terrain of trauma. They are the ones who have beheld every facet of your being, every iteration of your existence.

In the years that followed, he embarked on a ceaseless flight, fleeing from her shadow, from the haunting memory of their love. Her name, once a melody on his tongue, now tasted acrid, too laden with pain to be cherished or recollected. His heart, once a sanctuary of devotion, was now filled with a venomous brew of hatred, anger, and an insatiable thirst for retribution. He yearned to hunt down every man across the Seven Kingdoms, to rend their flesh from bone with his own bare hands. Yet, deep within, he nurtured a more profound loathing—for himself, for his own frailty and cowardice.

Her death had sapped his strength, of that he was certain. He could no longer gaze upon the sun without wincing, nor could he behold the graceful palm trees that adorned every corner of Dorne without feeling his gut wrenching, as though it were on the verge of rupture. Even the taste of figs, her favored fruit, had become an agony to bear. And when he cast his eyes upon his own brother, he could not help but wish it had been he who suffered such a wretched fate, rather than his sweet Elia.

On bended knee, he knelt beside her sandstone tomb, on the eve of his departure from Dorne, where he would spend the impending years in solitude, far removed from the land they had once shared. Whispering amidst tears that welled in his eyes and his aching heart, And unbowed, unbent, and unbroken, you must rest, my Sun.

#oberyn martell #elia martell #pedrostories #asoiaf #dorne #game of thrones #oberyn nymeros martell #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #angst #whispers of vendetta #wov #fan fic #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fiction #my writing #aura’s fics

[ambersky0319]

My Babies I love to hurt-

@whatschooldoesntteachyou you wanted info on my OCs so I shall provide! But in exchange of you have any OCs please tell me about them!! I'd really love to hear about them! Also @tacochippy this applies to you as well! And anyone else interested- I just really wanna hear about y'alls characters!

Kay! Onto my kiddos! This is also really unorganized and probably just the tip of the iceberg-

Evanna

She was the first OC I ever made and lemme just say,,,, she's come a long way. I'm really attached to her and I just love my royal gal. She's Aro/Ace and had a pretty shitty mom but she's making due. Her best friend is her guard and she had actually encouraged him to ask out his (not at the time) wife!

Also like, she fights on the front lines bc she knows her abilities are stronger than some of her own soldiers, and ends up reducing the death rate among her people(not by much, but it does slowly go down). Evanna has a problem with her own safety- great for angst with her relationships!!

Nezu

Nezu is a brand new character I made at the last moment, but I absolutely love them. They're pretty young, about 14-15 years old, and identify as agender(it's a miracle they even knew about the term since Dali don't really have vocab for this stuff, they just kinda accept different things). Nezu is a really strong healer despite their age and lack of training, and they really adore history

Oh also Nezu can't fly like most Dali, their wings being too small to support their weight. No one dares mention it though cause you do NOT disrespect a healer in Tongyi, especially if they're a quiet child healer that will ruin your entire reputation cause they just became the queen's favorite being in the entire kingdom

Erin

Evanna's guard and best friend, Erin has known Evanna for y e a r s. He's probably the most loyal Dali in Tongyi and thinks of Evanna as a sister. He loves his wife so much and she's probably the only person he'd prioritize over Evanna. Her name's Azzy and he will bring her up in any conversation that he can

He loves kids and it breaks his heart most of the soldiers are teenagers-young adults cause anyone older has already died. So he fights on the front lines with Evanna, even though he's really only average with his abilities. He does have outstanding strategy though, and sometimes the plans become so complicated that he and a select few can actually follow through

Marie

Onto the humans! Marie has a pretty chill childhood, it's not as dark as some of my other kids. She's a waitress at a restaurant called Silver Dream Café, a restaurant that doubles as a safe place for the employees. And that's no joke. You can be any age above 14 to work there, and they hire those that haven't had the very best life. Something happens to Marie that's really fucked up and so someone suggested she applies there, and Marie's found a new family there pretty much Her brother gets married and has a baby, and then Marie adopts a Nigerian teenage girl.

Marie's pretty stubborn, and very persuasive. If she really wanted to, she could have become a lawyer, but she really distrusts the judicial system and thinks it's unfair, especially after the thing that happens to her. She's compassionate and can oftentimes see through people's lies. The reason? Marie's outstandingly observational, and has an ability to imitate anyone she sees and hears. It's easy for her to pick up on surface-level habits.

Oh yeah and she's really Bi, her brother doesn't approve for awhile but he eventually comes around

Leona

A trained assassin, Leona's very deceiving, having multiple other identities(Abyss - Assassin name, Mariah Peters - news reporter). She does this to protect her actual identity, as well as maybe repress some past events. Her parents are very homophobic and kicked her out around 16 after someone outed Leona as a lesbian.

She turned to a life of crime to sustain herself and somehow got roped into a government organization(experiment) called Tempest. It wasn't long until she was being forced to kill, and she became very apathetic to do her job more efficiently. After all, Tempest payed her well. So she wasn't keen on betraying them anytime soon.

Not until she's given a target by the name Marie Sydney.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah is a ftm assassin, but instead of working on the field like most in Tempest, he was placed in the engineer sector, creating weapons and occasionally leaving the compound to help on missions. He's only known as "Pup" among the other Tempest Members because he's really young and small.

He's very intelligent and cunning, and suffers from constant guilt. He's... Working on it.

Oh and he has part of a soul of another one of my OCs in him(1/3 of the soul)

Taylor

Taylor, often called "Aunty Tay" by her cousin(Neva said it once and it just kinda stuck) and most small children, is the girl that Marie adopted. She's strong and really closed off, often not trusting anyone right away. She really loves her family that Marie brought her into, and will protect them at any cost. Much like Evanna, she's really selfless and is perfectly fine with sacrificing her safety in exchange for the safety of others.

She also has part of the soul within her(2/3) and seems to have the strongest spiritual connection to Cinomeds in general.

Dani

Introduced first as a spoiled and then orphaned prince, he's adopted by Evanna much later in the series once he's older and helps support the Tongyian kingdom. He's adaptable in many situations, but deals with emotion very poorly(especially very strong negative emotions). Despite making a lot of mistakes he eventually learns and tries to fix the mistakes.

He's the third part of the soul.

Oh and did I mention Dani, Taylor, and Jeremiah all start dating? Yeah, they're in a healthy poly relationship and care for one another deeply(after a rough introduction at least)

Aki

CINOMED KIDS! We're nearing the end. Aki is pretty much a mad scientist, with a disregard for the actual life of creatures. He sees a lot of things as test subjects, and loves to play with the biology of said creatures. He's Aro/Ace and the other Cinomeds are like his family. Although he's introduced as a villain he has a sorta redemption arc thing? Idk I know I just love him-

Is the first and only Cinomed to really be redeemed(ish)

Angel

Also a Cinoned, their personality varies greatly because their soul was split into parts(originally two- trio earlier are the first to have Angel's soul split into thirds) and the same goes for their appearance. Before the soul splitting though, Angel was rebellious and often didn't see eye-to-eye with the other Cinomeds

*cough*partofaplottwistihaveinmind*cough*

Serranidae

Goes by Serra by the other Cinomeds, she takes rejection horribly. Her and Angel were a thing at one point, before there was a huge fallout and then Angel was torn apart. Serra was crushed, and vowed to protect Aki at all costs cause she was not gonna lose another part of her family

She fails in the end but it's not really her fault?

Oh Serra is also extremely brutal in fights

Rikki

He's not really that fleshed out... He's the main baddie of my kiddos. Think Aaravos from TDP. Except as a shadow thing. He's the creator of Fahndali and literally every creature there, as well as the other Cinomeds. He split Angel's soul apart before being sucked to the core of the planet where he remained trapped for over a millennia. He's also an asshole, confident in his abilities and not afraid to manipulate those until he feels no need for them.

If people wanna know more just dm me or send an ask and I can probably guarantee more ramblings

#ambersky #ambersky ocs #ambersky oc #original character #original characters #ocs #oc #cinomed chronicles #rambling #i have way more ocs but these are the ones i talk about/use the most #this is just like #completely original ocs too #i didnt include ocs like res or any of my other fandom ocs #anYWHO

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man v3 2099 #23-25 Thoughts

Some mixed feelings.

 There was a lot of stuff I liked, and a fair amount I was disappointed by.

There was some art and dialogue production issues, which I think might’ve occurred because the series was wrapping up and whoever was in charge didn’t catch as they were prepping for whatever the next project was.

But more significantly, I honestly felt that there were several unanswered questions:

·         What was the big bad thing Miguel and Liz did that was talked about back in volume 2 #1?

·         What actually caused the Maestro’s version of 2099 to happen?

·         What caused that future to alter into the Sinister Six’s future?

·         What was up with those purple Mohawk mutant people from volume 3 #1 who obviously had something to do with Tempest but it’s never explained

·         How was Tempest’s mother involved with the Fist

·         Shit there wasn’t any resolution for Tempest’s mother at all was there!

·         What exactly did Tyler Stone plan to use Tempest for? Was he really just tempting her to take his treatment so she’d stab Miguel on sight?

·         Why should Sonny Frisco be left in the present day? He’s from the future and has some future tech leftover from his Iron Man armour

·         What happened to the Sinister Six 2099? Electro is presumably shut down for good but what happened to Venom, Vulture, Doc Ock and Sandwoman? Yeah presumably they’re all going to team up in 2019, but Sandwoman was nowhere to be found and IIRC she wasn’t dead. Moreover they were still around in 2019 under the employ of the Fist.

·         How did Tyler Stone travel to the past?

·         How did Tyler Stone join up with the Fist?

·         How did Tyler Stone rise to what seemed like the leadership of the Fist

·         What happened to Venture and Glorianna?

·         What happened with Miguel’s fellow time traveller who created the new version of X-Factor? Was that really just very loose and light set up for Secret Wars 2099?

·         The payoff for the Alchemax prison facility which was then turned into a terrorist internment facility was...just the place for the final showdown to occur? Really?

Why DID the cure for Tempest’s cancer turn her into an insect monster back in Vol. 2?

Also, not really an unanswered question but the emotional investment into Miguel and Tempest’s relationship is still rather hollow as I talked about back in issue #20. It just kind of feels significant because Tempest has been around since waaaaay back in the backup story from ASM volume 3 #1. Not to mention Miguel’s survival is definitely a dues ex machina.

The harsh truth is the more I think about the resolution of this the more I come to the sad realizing it at best left an awful lot to be desired.

Objectively it’s very problem riddled.

Now that being said...on a pure enjoyment level I did LIKE it.

I don’t think I ever expressed this before, but the reason I started calling posts like this ‘Thoughts’ rather than ‘Review(s)’ like I used to is because, whilst I firmly believe a story can be objectively evaluated, I found it stressful and well...not fun doing it.

Plus I do this blog for me and realized posts like this one are more for me, so I have a record of my thoughts and feelings for these stories.

I’m not saying me liking something or disliking it makes it good or bad objectively. But what I am saying is...well I enjoyed this.

I was disheartened by the lack of pay off to a lot of stuff, but I did enjoy the ride while I was on it.

Let me talk about a few minor things that annoyed me before I end more positively.

So a Pokemon Go parody is intrinsic to the battle to save the future. I dunno, that just feels both on the nose and unearned since Pokemon Go! wasn’t even a thing when this series began. Also Tyler Stone’s motivations were rather underwhelming and Miguel didn’t get enough of a showdown with him. Granted, I guess you could argue said showdown already happened in Secret Wars 2099. He same applies to the Sinister Six 2099, especially Venom given that he is Miguel’s brother from another mother. Furthermore the explanation for who Aisa is, was a tad underwhelming but not illogical as I’ll address later.

Now for positives.

For starters it’s funny that whilst this issue came out in like September 2017, it’s depiction of 2019 wasn’t that far off. The only things it a little wrong was that people aren’t as much into Pokemon Go! as they were in 2017 and Silk to my knowledge doesn’t operate in New York city anymore. But all of those are easily No. Prized so in theory this comic’s depiction of 2019 is actually canon. I think it basically HAS to be or else the Fist’s plan could still happen and Miguel would’ve prevented nothing. Although the Marvel.wiki says otherwise. But they aren’t always right.

My biggest point of praise is in regarding Gabri.

Maybe I was being dense, but I honestly didn’t figure out who he was until he stabbed Tyler Stone with a stinger like Tempest’s.

See, when these issues were coming out I obviously saw the covers of Miguel in his new suit alongside another Spider-Man 2099, one wearing the original red and blue 2099 costume. But I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice the red and blue costume was similar, yet clearly different to the original. I was thinking that it was simply Miguel from another universe, another timeline or another point in time, possibly playing off of the Edge of Spider-Verse issue with the alternate Miguels back in volume 2 issue #5.

But no...this is the son of Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of...well we don’t actually know what year he is from. He’s a time traveller and whilst he’s partnered up with his mother in 2019, he looks to be about Miguel’s age. Giving him a suit similar yet unique to his father’s, with his ‘cape’ evoking his mother’s wings and such was a nice touch. I think PAD in making him a time traveller adds just enough credibility to his powers too as some kind of future technology. I doubt we’ll see much more of this character, but damn I’d like to, even out of his outfit he seems pretty cool.

And if nothing else, I just like that Miguel has a legacy and got to KNOW that.

Another thing I really liked about the structure of the story essentially allowed for there to be two climaxes, one in the future of 2019 where Aisa was the final boss and one in the present of 2017 where Miguel got to settle his business.

Let’s talk briefly about Aisa. So she’s literally one of the Greek Fates. I found this underwhelming, but I can’t say it wasn’t a logical reveal. In fact it justifies the Medea story arc with Elektra as that in hindsight was putting Greek myth on the chessboard for PAD to use later.

In fact these last three issues can be looked at as PAD essentially treating elements across his 2010s Spidey 2099 run (or at least the issues that weren’t mandated events) as chess pieces that came into play here.

·         Back in volume 3 issue #1, Miguel referenced Peter, Silk and Miles being around to pick up his slack. Those 3 saved the civilians under mind control.

·         The Sinister Six and Tyler Stone obviously all showed up in the Sinister Six arc beginning in issue #10, and in particular Tyler was popping up sporadically since the Secret Wars mini

·         Strange 2099 with the help of Cap 2099 ultimately save Miguel’s life and they were showing up before and during Secret Wars

·         Tempest’s insect form was introduced back in v2 #11-12 and was critical to the climax of this story. In fact I love the poetry of Miguel and his father Tyler both dying via stingers, stingers passed down from mother to son no less

·         Sonny obviously was showing up on and off since Secret Wars

·         The Alchemax Prison is something that’s been lingering (and unfortunately was often ignored) since way back in v2 #5

·         I already explained the Greek myth angle

·         Man Mountain Marko has been building a grudge with Spidey since before issue v3 #10

In a sense it was rewarding seeing all this stuff come back into play for the climax, but it definitely could’ve been done better, in a more satisfying way. Frankly, if the Medea story had been cut to 2 issues tops we might’ve had an extra issue to fix some of this stuff.

The final thing I want to talk about is issue #25 specifically. I don’t know if this was intentional, but to me issue #25 read as PAD delivering a microcosm of Miguel.

In various scenes, organically strung together, we see different facets of his personality. The dives are not necessarily deep, but this one issue, for any faults you might find in it’s plot, speaks a lot to who Miguel O’Hara is as a person.

It’s light, it’s subtle but it tells you the cliffnotes.

He’s sarcastic.

He’s sardonic.

He’s not a murderer, but is willing to be violent, willing to kill.

He is on the side of the angels, but is absolutely not one of them.

He values family but they frustrate him.

He’s far from wholesome.

He’s willing to make the sacrifice play for what’s right, for what has to be done.

He faces his own destruction head on.

He has a cynical streak in him.

He’s got anger in him and acknowledges it can compromise him.

He’s smart, both in terms of scientific brilliance and tactical thinking.

Hell even the use of his powers and gadgets (we could include Lyla in that) get one last ride in this issue.

And it’s all capped off with him saving everyone at the cost of his lover, his child and his own life. Only for him to come back to the world he’s saved, his home and ring in the new yea, the new century in factr. 2099 is OVER at last!

But he doesn’t celebrate. But he also isn’t Peter Parker, so he doesn’t somberely mope. He just gets on with it acknowledging what he’s lost, what it was for and rolling his eyes at the fact that the good times aren’t going to last.

And yet...it’s not depressing.

THAT’S Miguel O’Hara to me.

Over all, this arc 100% could’ve been better. But as a fond farewell to the character, possibly even being the last time his creator will ever write him, it was a Hell of a ride.

And for that ride, I thank Peter David and Will Sliney.

#Spider-Man #Spider-Man 2099 #Miguel O'Hara #Marvel 2099 #Iron Man #Iron Man 2099 #Lyla #Honey Bee #Peter David #will sliney

[thegeneralsnotebook]

May Feature: Manes That Scale

The recent change to the Block structure is a meaningful change in a whole bunch of ways. Most immediately, it adds a whole set, and a very good set at that, to the developing metagame of the new Block. Defenders rightly contains some of the most powerful cards in the game today, and it shakes up what was Beyond Block in a big way.

But for me, the change has instead brought up thoughts of what you might call “New Core”. Officially, it’s unknown where exactly the next set boundary is going to be defined at. It could be between Set 10 and Set 11, and that would make some sense given the current structure of 4-3-3. Or it could come a bit later, if circumstances dictate otherwise. We simply don’t know at the moment. But it seems safe to say that it’s probably coming a lot sooner as a result of this change. The new Block would cause only the second set rotation that this game has ever had, as Equestrian Odysseys, High Magic, and Marks in Time would no longer be legal in the Core Format. It will be a brave new day, rife with experimentation and ready to be conquered anew by whichever deck fights its way to the top.

The most natural thing to do might be to prognosticate about what decks or cards those might be, but instead I want to use this opportunity to talk about a concept that the rotation could demonstrate well: some Manes scale, while some do not. In this case, when I say scaling, what I mean is that the value and viability of some Manes depend on having a diverse set of cards that they can synergize with. The more cards that they have to work with, the better those Manes tend to be. Thus, as sets get added to a format, the Manes get more and more viable over time. With a set rotation coming up, knowing which Manes scale and which ones are static becomes very important.

Scaling is Something All Cards Can Do

All cards can be placed on a continuum between those with values that are mostly static to those with a value that mostly scales based on the size of a certain card pool. The classic example of a scaling card, one that I keep coming back to over and over in this blog, was Eff Stop. Infamously, that card got better and better every set as the pool of Events grew larger and larger. Another great example is Interdimensional Portal, which was just fine when it first came out, but also scaled with Enters the Board triggers, and went on to be the poster child for a whole family of decks in what is now likely its final form.

But I don’t want you to come away with the impression that scaling is something that every good card needs to have built into it. The history of the game is filled with static cards that were just as great. Getting back to the topic of Manes, two of the most prolific ones in the game’s history were both static cards: DJ and Ambassador AJ. While Applejack certainly scaled in a rather literal sense, the fact that she didn’t scale with a larger card pool can be concluded from the observation that her deck didn’t really change as new sets came out. Similarly, while DJ has been used in almost every kind of deck under the sun, we can’t point to a card pool that made her better as it grew. Every deck that’s included her has done it for the same reason: exhaust to draw is really good.

So, with the set rotation probably just around the corner, identifying which Manes in the new Defenders Block mostly scale and which are mostly static carries with it some interesting information. This is because the scaling ones will probably be hurt when they lose access to three sets worth of card pool, while the static ones have the potential to keep on doing fine. Over the course of the new releases, though, it will be the scaling Manes to watch out for, as each new set offers them another chance to climb the ladder. So, let’s see what the Defenders Block Manes have to offer.

Blue

Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt -- Static

For the most part I’m not going to say all that much about the static cards, because it’s pretty self-evident why that’s the case. It always comes down to one question: is there a certain type of card that, should we have more of it, this Mane would get better? And with Rainbow here the answer is no. That’s not to say, by the way, that the Mane itself won’t fluctuate in popularity and viability as things change. New cards will impact the kind of decks that Wonderbolt will find itself in, but the card itself will not be seeing its value change.

Captain Celaeno, Swashbuckler -- Scaling

Remember what I said above, that static versus scaling goes on a continuum? To some extent almost all cards scale at least a little bit, in that you can usually name a card type that will help them out. For example, even Rainbow up above will scale based on Starting Problems that are easy to confront because that will make her early game easier. But I don’t find that particularly worth mentioning because it’s not a huge part of what makes the card tick. Celaeno is mostly the same, except for the fact that her whole viability right now rests on ways to flip her back to Start, and the existence of that pool will impact her a lot.

Gallus, Full of Surprises -- Scaling

Triggers are a fine place to start if you’re looking for cards that scale. A trigger necessarily scales with cards that can trigger it, and Gallus is no different. The size of the pool of Hasty Friends and Immediate-speed Events that he can draw on directly impact the value that this Mane can bring to the table.

Orange

Applejack, Tooled Up -- Static

While here we have an activated ability that can only come up in certain circumstances, I wouldn’t really say that Applejack scales based on the number of cards that can create those circumstances. The ability to start lots of faceoffs might make sure that you can use AJ’s ability every turn, but unless those faceoffs are important they probably won’t get you much.

Grubber, Royal Announcer -- Static

I can save some time here by saying that the Seaquestria Manes are by and large static purely by design. Each of them is predicated on the idea of getting a big effect once, and maybe once or twice more over the course of the game. There aren’t usually that many conditions or interactions necessary to get there. It’s true that this Mane recently got a big boost thanks to Fume, but a one-card interaction is a combo, not a scaling effect. We would literally need more Fumes for this card to scale on anything.

Smolder, Culture Shock -- Scaling

Smolder I’m willing to throw into the scaling category because hand attack is a real thing, and the fewer cards your opponent has in hand, the more her ability is going to hurt. Thus, like all scaling Manes, in New Core Smolder is going to care a lot about whether her hand attack cards from the old Block get replaced.

Pink

Pinkie Pie, Cruise Director -- Static Princess Skystar, Out of Her Shell -- Static Silverstream, Everything’s New! -- Static

We can actually make some interesting points by considering all of these cards together. Firstly that, as I mentioned above, being static versus being scaling isn’t a judgement about whether a card is good or bad. Within this list we have one Mane that’s great, one that’s terrible, and one that’s merely on the good side of average. And neither of those stands to change much as new cards get added, which is unfortunate for Pinkie, I suppose. Silverstream’s decks could stand to benefit a lot though, which goes to show that just because a Mane doesn’t scale doesn’t mean that it’s consigned to its initial spot in history. But even so, expect that if Silverstream does break into the really big time, she’ll still be doing the same thing that she is now. Because her value to her deck is not going to change.

Purple

Princess Twilight Sparkle, Professor Sparkle -- Scaling

Twilight lives and dies by her AT supply, so I couldn’t honestly say that she isn’t going to scale up and down as time goes on. If more sources of AT keep getting added to the game, then naturally Twilight is going to benefit from them.

Tempest Shadow, Storm Commander -- Scaling

Tempest is in a really strange position on here, because while purely based on design we can say that Tempest absolutely should scale, I can also say with a lot of confidence that she’s not going to scale. Tempest’s early game is almost certain to always look the same, and she scales based on how much value she can get out of her Troublemaker. Yet as we probably all suspect, Tempest and Grubber are going to be joined together at the hip until they both rotate out together. And honestly I think that’s a bit of a shame, because this card could have been really cool if the choice of which Troublemaker to pair with it had ever been a difficult one.

White

Rarity, Fashion Mogul -- Static

For some of these cards there isn’t all that much to say, and unfortunately for Rarity she’s one of them. To some extent, it’s possible that some of these static cards actually do scale, and it’s just that no one’s figured out how yet. But from a straightforward analysis it’s tough to see what sort of interaction this card is going to leverage if it’s going to get ahead. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, after all, it’s that there’s no accounting for what the opponent is going to do.

Capper Dapperpaws, Charmer -- Scaling

Capper better hope that there’s some scaling up in his future. For this Mane the math is pretty simple. As things currently stand about 58% of the cards in Core have even Power, and if that ratio keeps up this Mane’s absolute power is going to be related to the number of cards available on a fairly linear relationship. Yet there’s plenty of room above his current position, so I guess there’s gotta be hope, right?

Ocellus, Knowledge is Power -- Scaling

Ocellus is actually the Mane which inspired me to write this article in the first place, because while she’s not in a particularly great spot in the current Core metagame, this card scales hard. All it needs is cards that have higher Power than Cost, and nearly every set has some of that. It’s one of the reasons why I’ll always have this card in the back of my mind for New Core. It’s likely to get shellacked a bit on the rotation, but something tells me that a few Sets on Ocellus will certainly have her day.

Yellow

Fluttershy, Nurturing Nature -- Scaling

The fact that Fluttershy scales is actually kind of scary. You wouldn’t necessarily know it by lookingat what she’s been up to lately in constructed Core play. To some extent that’s because her pool of scaling cards is huge: there are Problems that are easy to confront and also cards that work to make her more powerful. Both of them are Yellow mainstays, so it seems safe to say that even if Fluttershy gets whacked a little by the rotation, she’ll be back with a vengeance soon enough, and it won’t be long before she’s all of the way back on the top.

Thorax, The Changed Changeling -- Scaling

Unlike Ambassador Applejack, Thorax is a great example of a card that scales both literally and figuratively. Like Fluttershy above, Thorax has a really large pool of cards to work with, just any card with printed Power of two or less will do. That pool is unavoidably going to grow larger as new sets get released, and isn’t likely to get reduced too far even after the rotation. Interestingly enough, Thorax doesn’t have a particularly high static value. His power comes almost entirely from synergizing with his scaling cards. But the vastness of that pool seems likely to turn him into a formidable force in New Core.

Queen Novo, Sea Sovereign -- Static

And unfortunately, we end off this list with something of an anticlimax. Novo really is more of the same Seaquestria territory trodden over again. It’s true that to some extent she’ll scale based on ‘on-move’ triggers, as those will make her flipping over into a much more impactful event. Already we’ve seen based on Beyond Block that flipping her early wasn’t a necessary course for a good game strategy. Yet I wouldn’t say that this modification will be enough to fundamentally change her value to the decks that might want to use her.

Conclusion

As I said at the top of the article, it’s still a mystery as to when exactly New Core is going to arrive. It could come as early as Set 11, or at the latest probably after Set 12. I can’t imagine it possibly lasting longer than that. Once that comes around, everything that we thought we knew about Core is going to change. Hopefully, by looking at this list and by how things develop with the new set, it will be easier for you to identify the dark horses, the Manes that might not stand out right away, but will surely gain in power and viability as the new rotation moves on.

#mlpccg #mlp:ccg

[perditism]

CHARACTERS QUESTION TAG

@teacup-universes​ tagged me in this game! Thank you <3 [THIS WILL BE ABOUT MY WIP A TEMPEST’S CALLING]

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

For Darya, the first element I remember considering is that she was Russian. For Logan, I was deadset on his snarky, talkative characterization a long long time ago. Laurel I initially had her with a buzzcut with dyed orange hair. 

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

nope

3) How did you choose their name?

I honestly don’t remember how the name Darya came to me but now I love it very much. Logan was based off on Wolverine’s name (I AM NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT THAT). Laurel’s was kinda inspired by Black Canary from Arrow - it’s just a really pretty name! I also don’t remember how I came up with Valentin’s name, I think it was supposed to be temporary and it accidentally stuck.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

I’m gonna do Valentin’s backstory - it is influenced the most by the existence of the Tempest Program. It is the program that separated him with his family and used him as lab rat until he managed to escape by faking his own death.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair color?

not that I can think of, no

6) Is there any significance behind their eye color?

Darya’s eyes are dark blue because I love the color! 

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

nope

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

I think I relate with Logan because we both somehow manage to embarrass ourselves in EVERY conversation we ever have. So that’s fun.

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

nope!

10) Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Ooh yes, I knew Darya was going to be bisexual and Logan was straight. I wasn’t sure about Laurel being gay for a while until I had an idea about a spin-off for her and her gf! Still unsure about Valentin’s sexuality, but we are getting there.

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

writing in different characters’ voices.

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

I’ve planned a spin-off after tempest but nothing is concrete yet.

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

I’ll do Logan’s only.

Logan: the reason why he wants to stop the tempest program and his inner turmoil about his brother’s betrayal

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

That Logan is way too clumsy and will trip on literally anything

15) What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

The fact that Logan keeps trying to find redemption for Bruce but Bruce doesn’t want it :(

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

not that I can think of

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

that Laurel is gay!

18) What is your favorite fact about your OC?

My favorite fact about Logan is that he is an artist because I get to use a bunch of color similes! 

[I’m going to tag @the-writers-blocks, @gaslightwestern and @crazybunchwriter. Don’t feel obliged to do it if you don’t want to!]

#tag game #thanks for the tag!!

[jadedbirch]

ARTIST CLAIMS ARE NOW OPEN!

If you have questions about some of these fics before signing up and want us to follow up with the authors, please shoot El an email.  Otherwise, read all 24 of these, and email in your top 4 picks!

SUBMIT CLAIMS BY APRIL 23rd

1. Good ships scuttled on the deep

His fingers follow flecks of blood down to the point of his captain’s cheekbone. A thin pink scar, no wider than John’s fingernail, marks Flint’s pale skin. Flint’s eyes close completely. “I thought it was a welcome,” John says. Silver and Flint become lovers following the battle on Maroon Island. S4 AU with established silverflint relationship and some canon divergences.

2. Pray For The Wicked On The Weekend    John Silver spends his days in a faded green pickup truck filled with salt-loaded shotguns and silver and holy water on the back roads of the United Stated hunting monsters and demons and things that go bump in the night, and he’s fine with it, because it’s the easiest way to forget what he’s lost. But there’s something coming, something that he can’t face alone. So where else would he turn but the best Hunter the US has ever seen. Even if no one has heard from James Flint since Thomas and Miranda Hamilton went missing.

3. patron saint of lost causes

It takes two weeks to get Flint off Skeleton Island. Or rather--it takes two weeks for the island to let them go. In which Skeleton Island is a living character and brings a host of nightmares through the mist which force Silver and Flint to confront the dangers of their minds. Featuring surreal dreamscape horror as Silver literally battles figures from his murky, unnamed past and Flint moving through a river of blood and ghosts until he and Silver finally meet in the middle. Influences include Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone and Maria Luisa Bombal's work.

4. Let It All Unbreak You Post season four. Alone in taverns, at different points in time, Flint and Silver ponder what went wrong with their different relationships. They drink, remember and regret. They reflect upon the little they had together, and regret not making it work after the war with Madi or Thomas, while knowing very well that the very reason it all went wrong is that they had changed too much, had given each other too much, yet were not brave enough to admit it to each other when it was still time.

(Ships: Silverflint, flint x miranda x thomas, flint x thomas, silver x madi) (Angst, definitely not fix-it, no happy ending)

5. Pirate Sex is In Vogue

My fic is a modern AU primarily through email correspondence between Silver and Flint, although other mediums (such as texting and phoning) will be introduced as the story evolves. Silver is a crack erotica writer and Flint is the librarian who just wouldn't showcase his books at the Nassau Public Library, despite the insistence of the latter. They become unexpected virtual pen pals after Flint sends a heated rejection letter and grow closer through their correspondence, helping each other confront the inner demons of their personal lives. There will be polyamory, since Flint is involved with Thomas and Miranda by the time he and Silver fall in love.

6. Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more

In the year 1725, or thereabouts, John Silver finds himself driven by a winter storm into an inconsequential little port town, barely a speck on any civilised map. Returned to the life of a drifter, tired and rough around the edges, he is resigned to waiting for the weather to pass before he can sail on again to the next town, and the next, and the next. That is until he overhears a conversation in the inn about a local fisherman, one Captain Barlow, and his tall tales of tempests and becalmings, devils and sharks, and Silver finds a new future opening up to him, haunted by the spectres of his past. Whether landed in this place by fortune, or fate, or even divine intervention, he finds he cannot leave again without following this trail that leads from an old and half-forgotten tether knotted deep between his ribs to somewhere that feels familiar and safe, like home. The way won’t be easy; it’s paved with notable absences and painful unspoken truths, and there’s as good a chance as any that he’ll find a knife to his throat before he can so much as say ‘Long time no see, Captain’. Still, all roads do seem to lead to them baring their souls to one another in the dark, and Silver would be lying if he said he hadn’t missed it.

7.  An Epilogue

After the events of Treasure Island, John finds James and Thomas. There’s a gradual awkward descent to domesticity when pirates retire. Madi brings Jim Hawkins with her from London. This is the ultimate fix it where there are no unanswered questions and everyone lives happily ever after. SilverFlint, SilverHamilton, SilverFlintHamilton, SilverMadi

8. Stealing Hearts

A 1920s AU with Flint as a mob boss, fighting a corrupt police force/police system, and Silver as a thief who gets caught up in all of it.  

9. Space Raiders of Nassau

The space station Nassau is in open rebellion against the interplanetary Imperial Alliance.  Captain James Flint is in deep shit for rearranging the face of a fellow raider captain.  As punishment, Nassau's leaders assign an inside man to his crew, with a very convincing cover story (that they're married). Complicating things further is the fact that Flint's shifty new husband, John Silver, knows a lot more than he's telling about their secret mission. Their own survival as well as Nassau’s future depend on how successfully they can navigate the dangerous skies… and each other.  

10. The Pirate Captain's Wedding Once he has his hands on the thief Flint is willing to do whatever it takes to get the page from him. And then Billy & Gates say marriage is the only solution left on the table. Or rather matelotage – the time honored pirate form of matrimony. Billy says it’s the only way to regain the crew’s trust, by marrying one of them, and Gates agrees. For once Flint’s desperate enough to agree to it. He never expects to actually fall in love with the little shit. Canon-Era Season1/Season2 AU– with angsty developing feelings, public consummation, & There Is Only One Bed night after hot sticky sweaty night. 11. The devil's gotta' earn

Supernatural AU. James Flint has been a hunter for over a decade now and he knows people join this profession for plenty of reasons and few of those are happy ones. Some people just seek the thrill, some want to protect the so called innocent, some - like him - are out for revenge and John Bloody Silver apparently is just trying to get rich. [Borrows mostly from first seasons of Supernatural, little to no prior knowledge of this show required. Miranda lives, Thomas tragically does not. Lots of angst, few monsters of the week and a demon or two.]

12. touch me James is a widow, bartender and owner of the gay-bar “The Rainbow“. After Thomas' death it had been John who had lift him up. One day one of his usual dancers - because what is a gay bar without your occasional striptease - can't perform. John offers to fill the space and James has to face that John is more than just a friend. Slow burn and StripperJohn!AU

13. Adamantine Flame Flint is a forest god called The Flame and Silver is part of the cult that worships him that resides on the fringes of the underworld. 14. [Title TBD] Silver never met another werewolf before. Well, realistically, he knew he must have because he wasn't born a werewolf so someone had to have done this to him. But that didn't count since his memory of the whole incident was lackluster at best. He knew others had to be out there somewhere though and he wanted to find at least one, just to know he wasn't all alone. Flint was surrounded by werewolves all his life. Always part of a family, always knowing someone cared for him. Knowing he had someone to care for. The memories were as vivid as ever, of a time when he cared for someone. But they were gone and he knew he was meant to be all alone. 15. set my soul on fire

Nothing quite like getting out of prison to make a man feel like pulling off the biggest heist you’ve ever heard of. But he can’t do it alone - he’s going to need some money, a plan, a crew, and of course, his partner. His incorrigible, oral fixation-having, blue-eyed devil of a partner. Who is this smooth, seasoned con man with his eyes on the prize? James fucking Flint, naturally. And his partner? John Silver.Viva Las Vegas, baby.

16. cat dad

Modern au. Flint's life is fine. It's quiet and it's fine and he's fine. Well, except that his upstairs neighbor is a dick and his relationship with Miranda is strained and maybe quiet isn't all it's cracked up to be. But then a one-eyed cat enters his life and with it one John Silver. Flint's not sure how he feels about that, but he's working on it. Plot includes cat shenanigans, cooking, fluff, and feelings. 

17. [Title TBD]

A post-canon rendition of the Silver and Flint reunion wherein rather than seeking each other out the two are brought back together by outside forces. There’s a wedge of sour history and new lives built between them but love and desire become hard to deny when every path you set out on to leave someone behind sends you hurdling straight back to them. Treasure Island divergent/ignorant, though I pull some things from TI including the bird. (Includes SilverMadi and FlintHamilton as side-pairings, warning for canon Black Sails side-character death.) 18. The Spark

it's a Girl Genius AU

That's it, that's the whole shtick. It's basically the plot of the show, but clockwork-punk with mad geniuses (of course Flint is one), Urca being chock full of Aztec tech a'la Mysterious Cities of Gold, and dr. Howell and colleagues taking medicine to some quite Frankenstein levels - convenient with so many characters who should know better than to fucking die.

Also John Silver might be a construct.  The prosthetics are not nearly as complicated as in treasure planet, but at least one person has a gun arm? dirigibles are "Supposed Not To Be Invented Yet", but not for the lack of trying. Silverflint revolves around having "The Spark" and personhood and is shaping up heavier than i intended... luckily they will have plenty of people to set them to rights - i'm aiming for a happy polyfamily forming in the background.

19. he’s funny that way

1920s Atlantic City. Everybody knows the only way to leave crime boss Eleanor Guthrie's business is through a funeral - either delivering the sermon or laid out in the casket. Still, Flint leaves anyway, because he likes to make his life as difficult as possible. Case in point: his new partner, the scruffy, irate, one-legged racketeer with a pretty mouth, a quick tongue, and a rye recipe even Pussyfoot Johnson wouldn't spit out. His new partner's making sure he's not joining the church and taking a celibacy vow anytime soon - but will anyone be able to save Flint from his early - or long overdue - grave?

20. Ship to Wreck 

"I don't know if you've noticed, Doctor," Silver snaps, incredulous, "But every moment the Captain is unconscious in that bed is another step away from five million fucking dollars. As if that weren't enough, we're locked in a ridiculous show of force with a madman who seems keen on blowing us sky high unless we concede to his demands; we've got a crowd of men up top losing their Goddamned minds because they've been promised a fight that we cannot presently even hope to deliver; and--" Silver pauses, exhaling hard. "Actually, you know what? There is no and.  I’d say that’s about enough shit to make us all a little tense, wouldn’t you agree?" "Hm," Howell says, mildly. A post 204 fic in which: Flint gets a fever, Silver has a panic attack, and Howell gets a migraine. Includes, among other things--Silver trying and failing at playing nurse; Silver trying and failing at controlling his feelings; Flint being dazed and delirious and soft; some singing, some yelling, and heavy doses of mutual pining. Love, obviously, turns out to be the best medicine. 21. More Than One Odysseus

Reunion fic, about two years after 4.10. Quite a lot of talking and a little of the following: fishing, sex, hunting, bathtubs, Jewish surnames, books, stories and Terra Australis. Canon-compliant, not TI-compliant. A few animals killed (for food, not sport).

22. Seedlings

"If there's anything I can help you with-- Or if you'd like to order flowers for an upcoming occasion--"

"All right, honestly?" Handsomely disgruntled customer looked Silver dead in the eye and said, "I'm looking for a gift that says, 'You are making a dreadful mistake, and you will regret these actions for the rest of your days. Call me when you've figured out what a fucking hash of things you've made.'" He spoke the way some people chewed tinfoil.

Silver felt two things: lust like a plague of locusts, and the words 'uh-oh' waft through his brain.

On the second anniversary of the worst day of his adult life, John Silver─temporary florist, burgeoning gardner, and former thief─meets James Flint. It is only love at first sight for one of them. (Or is it?)

23. The Curse of Aeaea

Inspired by the connection between Flint and Odysseus: Silver and Flint find themselves dealing with a very Circe-like situation. Once the curse affects Silver, they have to figure out a way to end it or be trapped on an island that’s not on any map.

(Animal Transformation, Body Horror, Poor Coping Mechanisms, Circe’s Curse, Odysseus, Post-Season 2, Pre-Season 3)

24. With Strange Aeons Months after the disappearance and presumed death of Captain Flint and Long John Silver, Max smuggles Jack and Anne to Oglethorpe’s plantation. Thomas learns that not only do the three of them have a friend in common, but he is not the only one whose dreams are haunted by a strange city and a terrifying name. Meanwhile, Flint and Silver try to escape an island trapped in time, impossibly built and impossibly old. Along the way they’re forced question reality, each other, and themselves.

And in his house in R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. (Prior knowledge of Lovecraft is fun, but not required.)

#sfbb2018 #silverflint #art claims

[sophygurl]

WisCon 42 panel MCU’s Black Superheroes

The full title of this panel was Show Me My Respect: A Critical Look At The MCU’s Black Superheroes

The panel description:

Has the MCU done its black characters justice over the last 10 years? Did Disney allow Ryan Coogler to give Black Panther the respect and nuance it deserves? Did the Russo Brothers f*ck up everything in Avengers: Infinity War that the black and NBPOC writers and directors established in building complex characters and storylines? Let's explore this decade-long journey into Phase IV to see how the MCU has and will continue to treat us.

The moderator was Jennifer Cross, with panelists Aunterria Bollinger and K. Tempest Bradford.

Reminder that these panel notes are only my own recollections and the things I managed to write down - my notes are incomplete and likely faulty in places. Corrections and additions are always welcome. Especially please do correct me if I get names or pronouns wrong!

Also I name panelists as that’s publicly available information but not audience members unless requested by that person to have their named added.

[I came into the panel a little bit late, so missed intros and probably some other stuff.]

Tempest was talking about the black best friend trope and that DCTV does this a lot. Rhodey is very underused, and Civil War turned him into the disabled black best friend. 

Jennifer said Don Cheadle deserves better! Iron Man 2 gave complexity to Rhodey and Tony’s relationship and Civil War messed a lot of that up. It also made Rhodey disabled in a super questionable way [I missed some of this statement]. It was a literal cheap shot and felt like Joss Whedon saw him as an expendable character to use to elevate white man pain. Also the fact that Rhodey just automatically sides with Tony - what happened to the tension between them and Rhodey holding Tony accountable for his actions?

Jennifer made an aside to let the audience know that the panelists were going to be using a lot of code switching and AAVE references. She then went on to say “Fuck Infinity War - Russo brothers, take your white man pain to Ralph Lauren and buy some more polo shirts.” (lol)

Jennifer brought up that two black American men go to Wakanda for the first time and said nothing about it. Also they made Wakanda look “dank as shit.” 

Tempest said the amount of Cumberbatch she had to stare at in Infinity War was too much - she skipped a whole movie to avoid him! (me too) One problem with IW was that there were just too many people in it, so they couldn’t properly focus on anyone. 

Tempest added - why didn’t they just ask Shuri to fix things from the start? She was finally going to fix it, but she got interrupted by more man pain! Jennifer added that she loved the “you tried” moment with Shuri. 

Aunterria talked about IW’s short shifting of Wakanda as if they were saying “well we gave you a whole movie - what else do you want?” But also how much worse it might have been if that had been the first introduction to Wakanda instead of coming out after Black Panther. 

Jennifer brought up Winter Soldier and how Sam got to have a whole back story about his PTSD. In IW, we see him helping other people with their trauma but they never address how events are affecting him. She talked about how PTSD varies from person to person, and about how it can affect black people differently, especially.

Tempest brought up the gaybaiting of the series. Jennifer adds that she hates shipping, but she loves Sam and Bucky. 

Tempest said that Sam has more back story than Rhodey in terms of story that isn’t tied to a main white character. She will also never forgive Tony for shooting him in the face in Civil War. Marvel tries with regards to race, but their attempts are inadequate. 

She went on to talk about the character of M’Baku in Black Panther. She has a friend who was initially very upset about the inclusion of this character because in the comics the portrayal is very racist. Then he saw the movie and saw how great the character was. This is what happens when you give black people agency. Ryan Coogler had a lot of freedom in how he made BP.

Tempest added that white directors may try, but when trying to fix race in one area, they often make it racist in a whole other way. She brought up the Mandarin, for example. Why don’t you just ask an Asian person?

Jennifer said she wanted the panel to primarily focus on black people. The MCU fucks up all people of color, but the panel is specifically about black characters. 

She added that she loved watching Rhodey kick Tony’s ass. When he said “you don’t deserve to wear this suit” - it was a calling out of his privilege. She also found it suspect that Rhodey didn’t notice Tony’s PTSD in Iron Man 3. He’s a veteran and a general and would be trained to look for those signs. She said “we’re 10% of the population in LA - find one of us and pay us to fix this stuff.” Especially important to find a black veteran officer to inform Rhodey and Sam’s characters. She no longer trusts white people to write black people. 

Jennifer moved on to Valkyrie. She said she does love Thor because Chris Hemsworth. Also Taiki Watiti did surprisingly well. She loves Tessa Thompson. 

Aunterria talked about her love for Danai Gurira as both Michonne in The Walking Dead and Okoye in the MCU. However, she still falls under the trope of the exceptional black woman giving it all up for a man. 

Tempest countered that saying that Okoye fights for Wakanda over a man. She and T’Challa fight alongside one another and it’s clear that she would do the same for Shuri if she was queen. BP is not just about awesome black men, but black women too. There isn’t enough complexity in the other black characters in the MCU with the exceptions of Heimdall and Valkyrie. Asgard also had random Asian and black characters walking around that are never addressed or explained.

Jennifer loved Valkyrie drunkenly stepping off the ramp. Also the quietness of Heimdall’s character even when had more to do than just standing there. She talked about being a big Norse Scandanavian folklore nerd and said Asgard looks the way it’s supposed to look - it was actually diverse as shit. It took a man of color to finally make it look almost accurate representation-wise. She references the show The Almighty Johnsons as a show about Norse gods living in New Zealand. 

Jennifer wonders if it’s going to take only poc behind the scenes to give us proper treatment. Way down in her soul is an optimist that “no amount of beating with Lucille can shut up” that wants to know if it can happen any other way. 

Aunterria said she’s not optimistic about this. She can’t think of a poc character written by a white person that’s done anything meaningful or purposeful or accurate. 

There is much collective groaning about Iron Fist.

Aunterria talked about making Luke Cage bulletproof but not talking about police violence. Giving black characters powers without engaging in the social issues around them. 

Jennifer said she is mixed about Luke Cage. It’s the embodiment of respectability politics. But there is an effort to show Harlem and the gentrification of it. There’s this idea that poc don’t have any room to make mistakes. BP did so well that Kevin Feige is begging Coogler to come back. 

Jennifer said that she loves the women in LC - especially Misty. There are lots of women who are all different people, all unapologetically black but in different ways. She’s watching it for the women. Praises Alfre Woodard. 

Tempest uses headcanons to make movies better.

Jennifer addressed how Tessa Thompson was the one out of the women in the MCU cast to ask Kevin Feige about them wanting their own movie. Why did the black woman have to be the one to ask for what all these white women have been wanting? Why couldn’t ScarJo take her white appropriating ass up there and ask about it?

Tempest talked about the TV part of the MCU technically being in the same universe. TV shows have to include the big events of the movies but not the other way around. She said she stopped watching Shield when Daisy’s transformation killed the black male character (Trip) for one episode of white pain. Jennifer also stopped watching it in season one.

Aunterria is still watching Shield. She wondered if Trip had been killed because of the possibility of his entering into an interracial relationship. She said there is a new black male character (Mack), but his arc is all about suffering. Last season had a storyline about aliens enslaving white people, which was interesting. But the people of color come to save the white people. Jennifer interjects “Killmonger wasn’t wrong...”

Tempest adds “Joss is the most fuckassed fuckass to ever fuckass.” Jennifer asks what about Stephen Moffat? Tempest said - he’s second.

Aunterria said Shield did make the black man the team leader at the end of this season. Jennifer said - so he has to suffer for his reward now and his reward is to parent a group of white people? That’s even more fucked up!

Tempest said that BP gave her hope. Jennifer said - see, she’s not the only one with optimism. Tempest said that Coogler has some power right now - maybe he can bring in some friends and fix some more stuff.

Aunterria said that being a black writer right now is also hard because there is so much to fix. There is so much shit to work on before you can even focus on your craft - so it’s more work for them.

Tempest said her hopes are with the movies over the TV shows.

Jennifer said - “especially fuck babyvampJessica” (Karen from Daredevil). It’s like the paler you are, the more people will die for you. 

Tempest said - as far as cleaning up, BP didn’t have to do that work because they were starting from scratch. There must be other characters that can be brought into the MCU movies that can be written by black writers.

Aunterria said those do exist, but the funding isn’t there. Tempest - but Gods of Egypt somehow got funding!

An audience member asked about Heimdall and if he would come back. Jennifer said that Idris Elba has said no on that. 

Tempest talked about actors being semi-responsible to the narrative of their characters. RDJ even saying - maybe it’s time for me to go? Jennifer added - and then they throw more millions at him and I can’t be mad about that. Tempest said that we know all those people who were turned to dust are coming back. It was a bold decision to kill some of them - but we need to sunset one story in order to have a sunrise on another. Also - “fuck Thanos.” 

Tempest said that something that ruins a narrative almost as much as white supremacy is the irresponsible choices of actors going on and on - except for all of the cast of BP - they can stay as long as they want.

Jennifer said that with Disney owning Marvel, Deadpool is now officially a Disney Princess (lol).

Tempest said she sat through all of Wolverine Origins just to see Hugh Jackman naked and she is done with Deadpool now.

An audience member asked about the character Cottonmouth on LC. Jennifer talked about him as a complex character bridging socio-economic status’s. She added that if you put trauma in a black character’s history, you need to do it in a way that is not just for show. She said the opposite of the example would be Zoe Walsh.

A member of the audience asked about Lash’s purpose on Shield. Aunterria said he filled in May’s backstory and explains things to us about her that we weren’t getting just from her side. But he was mostly there for gratuitous pain and suffering of a black man and Asian woman. 

Jennifer said the MCU is allergic to black love. “Tweet that.” She wants to see a black male character saving a black female character - not just everyone else.

An audience member asked about Miles Morales. Jennifer said - we’ve had four Peter Parkers in fifteen years! Tempest said Tom Holland is at least finally a good one. Kevin Feige has said there is space for Miles, but she wonders who is going to write him? 

Jennifer closed the panel with a firm statement for the white members of the audience, especially. She said - you will take everything good from our culture and appropriate it, but not our pain. You’ve taken our stuff for fun value and for show, but you don’t address our pain. 

This panel was also livetweeted pretty extensively with #blackmcu if you want more/other perspectives from it. 

[For context, I’m white.]

#wiscon #wiscon 42 #mcu's black superheroes #black mcu #mcu #black superheroes

[imaginedsoldier]

I keep seeing posts and stuff about how Robert E. Lee was a kind gentleman and an abolitionist. This isn’t just historical illiteracy, its patently false revisionism.

Lee was not an abolitionist- he clarified his thoughts on the matter in a letter where he enumerated his feelings on the institution of slavery:

“There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil. It is idle to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it is a greater evil to the white than to the colored race. While my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more deeply engaged for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things. How long their servitude may be necessary is known and ordered by a merciful Providence. Their emancipation will sooner result from the mild and melting influences of Christianity than from the storm and tempest of fiery controversy. This influence, though slow, is sure. The doctrines and miracles of our Saviour have required nearly two thousand years to convert but a small portion of the human race, and even among Christian nations what gross errors still exist! While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is still onward, and give it the aid of our prayers, let us leave the progress as well as the results in the hands of Him who, chooses to work by slow influences, and with whom a thousand years are but as a single day. Although the abolitionist must know this, must know that he has neither the right not the power of operating, except by moral means; that to benefit the slave he must not excite angry feelings in the master; that, although he may not approve the mode by which Providence accomplishes its purpose, the results will be the same; and that the reason he gives for interference in matters he has no concern with, holds good for every kind of interference with our neighbor, -still, I fear he will persevere in his evil course. . . . ” [1] 

To sum that up- slavery is bad for white people since they have to bear the weight of responsibility (read: The White Man’s Burden, Rudyard Kipling), good for Black people, the violent punishments inflicted on the slaves were for their own betterment as a people, and the only way they should be emancipated is by literal divine intervention. He suggested that abolitionists run the risk of angering the slave master and indirectly harming the slaves as the result of their attempts at abolition, which reads like a backhanded threat. His perspective was at best Christian lip service as an excuse for continued slavery and at worst the ramblings of a racist religious fundamentalist. He considered abolition in the manner that it was being carried out to be evil.

He wasn’t some kind man bearing the weight of an unfortunate institution; its a matter of historical fact that he was a violent, sadistic master with his contemporaries writing of him in no uncertain terms- his slaves regarded him as “the worst man I ever see. [sic]” He intentionally separated slave families, something even his slave-owning contemporaries viewed as inhuman, and would carry out intensely violent punishment on runaways and resistant slaves. In a letter to the editor, published in the NY Tribune, 24 June, 1859 regarding Lee’s treatment of slaves:

“Some three or four weeks ago, three, more courageous than the rest, thinking their five years would never come to an end, came to the conclusion to leave for the North. They were most valuable servants, but they were never advertised, and there was no effort made to regain them which looks exceedingly as though Mr. Lee, the present proprietor, knew he had no lawful claim to them. They had not proceeded far before their progress was intercepted by some brute in human form, who suspected them to be fugitives, and probably wished a reward. They were lodged in jail, and frightened into telling where they had started from. Mr. Lee was forthwith acquainted with their whereabouts, when they were transported back, taken into a barn, stripped, and the men received thirty and nine lashes each, from the hands of the slave-whipper, when he refused to whip the girl, and Mr. Lee himself administered the thirty and nine lashes to her. They were then sent to Richmond jail, where they are now lodged.” [3]

I will spare you detail upon detail, but the interested don’t have to look very hard or very far to find records and testimony of Lee’s horrific treatment of slaves, firsthand. 

The narrative of Lee as an abolitionist is somewhat harmed by the fact as well that his father-in-law’s will dictated that his slaves be set free immediately upon the event of his death, yet Lee, as the executor, maintained ownership of his slaves, looking to use their labor to save his dying estate through legal manipulation and a generous interpretation of his father-in-law’s will, attempted to maintain ownership of them.

As executor of the Custis estate, General Lee was, in fact, bound by principles of equity to carry out the wishes of the testator under circumstances in which he believed the testator's wishes were in conflict. Custis apparently wished that the slaves be emancipated immediately, yet the only way payment of his legacies to General Lee's daughters could be funded was through the cash received from the labor of the slaves. To resolve this conflict, General Lee applied to the circuit court of Arlington for an interpretation of the will provisions, and for an order specifying the point in time when the will’s provision regarding emancipation must be executed. Eventually, the Court ruled that Lee was legally empowered to hold the slaves in service to the estate until the legacies were satisfied, but that, notwithstanding this, the slaves had to be freed no later than five years from the date of Custis's death, October 10, 1857. [4]

"The will of the late George W.P. Custis directs that all his slaves, some 200 or 300, shall be set free within the next five years, leaving it to his executors to provide the necessary funds from his estate to remove them from the Commonwealth."

According to contemporary sources, the slaves at Arlington had thought they were being freed immediately; some newspaper stories said Custis had told them as much on his deathbed.

But the executor of the estate -- Lee -- had something else in mind.

Lee, then a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, "determined that the slave labor was necessary to improve Arlington's financial status," according to a story about slavery at Arlington on the National Park Service website. And so he freed no one.

The controversy over the will and the slaves' future was addressed in a letter to the editor of The New York Times in January 1858, in response to a story published Dec. 30 that speculated that Custis' wishes were not being followed.

"It is there charged that the emancipation of the slaves will be much retarded, if not wholly prevented, by his heirs; that all attempts to see the will of Mr. Custis have proved abortive; that it is whispered about Washington that foul play is in progress in regard to the negroes on his plantations in Virginia; that they are now being sold South; that all of them will be consigned to hopeless slavery unless something is done; and that nothing can be done unless the will is produced, etc.," the letter says. 

Lee did not just keep the slaves, he relished in their abuse, whipping and beating them himself despite the work of their management being delegated to others. Not just that, but he exceeded even his broadly interpreted will’s terms:

The terms of the will stipulated that the slaves had to be free within five years of Custis' death. But Lee kept them beyond even that, eventually freeing them in early 1863.  [5] 

This post is kind of losing form and speed, and its already pretty long so I will terminate with this- historical revisionism is what permits neo-Nazis, boneheads, white supremacists, and even soft conservatives to push a narrative that paints them as reasonable. They are anything but. They are liars, they are cowards, and they are aggressors. The narrative currently being painted by Trump about “both sides being in the wrong” at Charlottesville is a perpetuation of their proud legacy of pretending they were good guys all along and silently cowering until they can be brazen again. Don’t let them.

#text #robert e lee #history

[dgcatanisiri]

Were we as an audience too harsh on Mass Effect Andromeda?

If your answer to this question is anything other than ‘yes,’ you’re wrong.

Look, I won’t deny that there are issues on multiple levels in this game, things that the game failed at, or made a mistake while doing. And I’m not even saying that it’s above criticism – Hell, BioWare DEFINITELY deserves to be taken to task for its handling of M/M romances. I’m not saying that it’s perfect, or that if you didn’t like it, that you’re inherently wrong. But ‘too harsh’? Absolutely. This fandom tore the game to pieces, was doing so even before the game came out.

You want to know something? Mass Effect 1 wasn’t a whole lot to write home about either. Oh, it’s a fun game, sure, but a lot of Mass Effect’s success as a franchise? Came because of the successive games. We look back on it fondly now because we can see where many of the plot threads and storylines introduced there are tied up in the course of the rest of the games, and saw progress on each step along the way, where these ongoing plot threads were woven through the ongoing story.

Mass Effect Andromeda is a beginning, with several plot threads left dangling precisely because these are stories to go forward on – since successive games are going to be set in this universe, in this galaxy, of course they’re not only setting them up here and now, but they’re also not going to wrap them all up in a neat little bow because they’re platforms to launch off of in later games.

Mass Effect Andromeda was ALWAYS going to end up being a soft reboot of the franchise. This was inevitable. Not just with the new setting, but with the new protagonist, Mass Effect’s first ever protagonist and major cast change – ME2 and ME3 introduced new characters, but they were always supplemented by familiar faces, and especially a familiar protagonist. That’s a luxury that was denied to Andromeda.

Frankly, I half think that the reason that ME3 ended as it did was that the original plan WAS to end the franchise there. Whether you want to take that in a positive direction of ‘that was where they envisioned its conclusion’ or the negative of ‘torch the franchise and run from our EAverlords,’ ME3 was an ending… And then, not just on a business level, but on a fan level, came the call for more. For the next stage of the franchise.

And when your previous stage broke off into three different and mutually exclusive directions, well, you’ve written yourself into a corner.

So since they had none of the familiar characters to fall back on, because that would have been defining that corner that they had to now studiously avoid, saying that there’s an explicit canon version of events, they had to start new. And everyone immediately starts comparing these characters, characters who only have this one game, to the characters who grew and developed over three.

Like… Disconnect Garrus from his characterization in ME2 and ME3, is he REALLY any better in ME1 than any of the Tempest crew? Because I’m thinking not so much. Like… He really didn’t have much character in ME1, certainly no more than anyone on Ryder’s crew. But he’s remembered fondly because he returned in successive games, and became written as Shepard’s best friend. That was only due to him appearing in multiple games. The Andromeda cast obviously do not have that, because this is their first game (and, if BioWare goes to a rotating protagonist for the series, like in Dragon Age, probably only game).

I also sometimes think people get ridiculously overblown on the subject of graphics, and maybe this is an age thing – I have distinct memories of not just playing 8-bit and 16-bit games, featuring sprites with limited mobility against static backgrounds, but even the early days of 3-D gaming, where the characters were made up of blocks of varying sizes, and we ooh’ed and ahh’ed at how ‘realistic’ they were because you could vaguely make out humanoid features. So when I see facial animation glitches, I remember that the protagonists of KOTOR and Jade Empire were barely capable of facial expressions beyond blank stares. Having video game characters capable of emoting has come a long way, but it’s an ever evolving art process. That people declared the game ruined forever on this basis honestly says they’re shallow to me, to care so much about glitches that were going to be patched that they’d drop the game entirely over them.

Mass Effect Andromeda’s biggest sin, for all that I can tell, is that it wasn’t the trilogy – which, I might point out, seems to have been THE POINT. The trilogy was its own thing, it was, despite having been broken as three separate games, one ongoing story. The trilogy was Shepard’s story.

Shepard’s story ENDED.

Say what you will about the how, it ended, and the next step was always going to be taken as a new start. And instead of judging this ‘new start’ on its own merits, people lined up to judge it on the basis of how well it did (or, rather, DIDN’T) hold up against the original games.

So it borrows from the same well as the original game – exploring the ruins of unknown precursors while a galaxy-spanning threat looms. News flash, people, this is pretty much the core of all the BioWare games. KOTOR? Search Rakatan ruins to discover the origin of the Star Forge, while Darth Malak threatens the Galactic Republic. Mass Effect? An ancient prothean beacon warns of the imminent arrival of the Reapers, intent on harvesting organic life throughout the galaxy. Hell, despite the setting, given the ancient elven ruins and the primeval thaig, plus the darkspawn threat, Dragon Age fits this same mold. BioWare’s actually been running on this same concept for much of their history, if you’re condemning Andromeda for it, it’s not the fault of this game, it’s the fact that BioWare has been able to tap this well enough times to almost literally build careers out of it.

Mass Effect Andromeda was always going to have to walk a delicate balance, on a razor thin wire. It’s not surprising that it stumbled, and honestly, I don’t think it should be blamed for it, because it DID make the effort to be its own story apart from Commander Shepard’s tale. And, as I’ve stated before, ultimately, this game WAS about giving a positive message. Ryder is there to help the Initiative build a new home, a goal that they manage to accomplish, despite the adversity. A story with a message of hope? Hell yes I’ll take that these days.

Again, there are certainly things to criticize. There’s room for improvement. But judge this game on its own merits first and foremost, not how much it does or doesn’t skew to the original trilogy. The line of people who want this game’s proverbial head on a pike because it is both too much like and not enough like the trilogy really need to get a goddamn grip.

Speaking of getting a goddamn grip, all this talk of ‘shelving’ Mass Effect came from a single unsourced Kotaku article that had to be walked back almost immediately that people are STILL, months later, taking as gospel. Mass Effect would always go on the backburner after Andromeda’s release – even calling Andromeda being BioWare Montreal biting off more than it could chew, BioWare had two games on their docket already, Anthem and Dragon Age 4. Putting a third game into active development? That much anyone would always have said was biting off more than they could chew, not just something that came from hindsight. Maybe it wasn’t a runaway success, but it’s highly unlikely NOT to get a follow-up game greenlit. Maybe – MAYBE – with a reduced budget or something, but Mass Effect getting ‘shelved’ for the foreseeable future? Nothing more than the anticipated result of BioWare’s project list already being full.

#dg gets pissed #dg rants #mass effect andromeda positivity

[minrd]

Get to know me-tag 

tagged by one of my kardemomme babes @minjard thank you <3

1. Are you named after someone? yes actually, when i was in the womb (good times amrite) my parents were watching an animated movie called resan till melonia (translation: the journey to melonia) which is based on shakespeare’s the tempest, so anyway miranda in resan till melonia had really big ears which my mom thought was cute, and so i got the name (didn’t get the big ears tho, mom was disappointed)

2. When is the last time you cried?
 a few days ago 

3. Do you like your handwriting? hah not really, when i was in middle school i used to change it all the time, until i couldn’t, so now i’m just kinda stuck with what i thought looked cool then

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? no meat is my favorite lunch meat 

5. Do you have kids?
 no, and i probably never will


6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
 hahahahahahahahahahah no

7. Do you use sarcasm?
 me? never (tbh tho not that often cause people don’t tend to get it)

8. Do you still have your tonsils?
 yep

9. Would you bungee jump?
 not really, i don’t think i could convince myself to trust the wires

10. What is your favorite kind of cereal?
 i haven’t eaten cereal in like a decade so i don’t really even know what kinds there are :(

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
 yes


12. Do you think you’re a strong person?  physically? no mentally? also no

13. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
 ben & jerry’s chocolate fudge brownie, the reason i can’t stay vegan rip (that and cheese)

14. What is the first thing you notice about people?
 their eyes

15. Red or pink?
 pink


16. What is the least favorite physical thing you like about yourself? okay i, like zilver, can’t make sense of this question and i’m not even that tired :(

17. What color pants and shoes are you wearing now?
 grey sweatpants, no shoes

18. What was the last thing you ate?
 fries, that had previously been on the floor (don’t judge me they were really good fries and also i had no other food at home)

19. What are you listening to right now? private eyes by lenachka (so good)

20. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
 burgundy

21. Favorite smell?
 lilies of the valley, coconut, coffee, roses, marshmallows, citrusy scents, scandinavian forests

22. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? my big sis


23. Favorite sport to watch?
 gymnastics and figure skating

24. Hair color?
 black

25. Eye color?
 kinda dark green with some brown at the center


26. Do you wear contacts?
 not anymore, i like my glasses too much


27. Favorite food to eat?
 pizza, sushi and my dad’s vegetarian csirkepaprikás

28. Scary movies or comedy?
 scary movies, i don’t really watch comedy movies, only tv shows

29. Last movie you watched? fantastic beasts and where to find them

30. What color shirt are you wearing?
 grey sweater

31. Summer or winter?
 summer

32. Hugs or kisses?
 hugs

33. What book are you currently reading?
 i just finished the last book of a series of unfortunate events and i’m gonna try and get into a secret history again

34. Who do you miss right now? @chimtae

35. What is on your mouse pad?
 i don’t have one

36. What is the last TV program you watched?
 i’m marathoning the mentalist atm but other than that s4 of please like me

37. What is the best sound?
 right now i’d say the soundtrack of westworld, i just feel like whenever i listen to it i get transported to somewhere far far away


38. Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
 the beatles

39. What is the furthest you have ever traveled?
 hungary, i’ve never been outside of europe (which i hope to change some day)

40. Do you have a special talent? yes i am exceptionally good at procrastinating literally everything that stresses me out the least bit

41. Where were you born? oulu, finland

42. People you expect to participate in this survey? i don’t expect anyone to do it, but you can if you want <3 @everythingthatmatters @asteriea @remuslupi @poeets @softgansey @vanesssaives @metahemeralist @softplum @coffeebisexual @cuipid @gansaey @neils-josten @oydssey @vildes

#also everyone who has ever tagged me in something like this #im not ignoring you i promise!! #i put everything in my drafts and plan to do them one day but then randomly i feel like doing one and here we are #tag game

[lostsummerdayz]

Combo Breaker 2018: A Retrospect

Original Date: 06/02/18 Author’s Note: This was done a full week after Combo Breaker because I caught the illest post-con/post-tournament sickness and it was terrible. So worth it, but terrible. In any case, I had so much fun at Combo Breaker and even more fun recalling everything that happened. Not much to really say, I’ll let the article do the talking. This is a VERY long read. Over 2500 words to be exact.

The Combo Breaker weekend passed just as quickly as it had arrived, like a tornado hitting the Windy City. Rather, the outskirts of the Windy City, in a small suburb known as St. Charles. Regardless where it had taken place, Combo Breaker was, without a doubt, the best tournament I have ever attended. Before I go into my thoughts and retrospect, as well as my teammates thoughts, I want to give a huge shout-out to Rick for hosting such an event. I’d also like to give a shout out to the bracket runners, game leads, vendors, artists, and anyone else in charge of making sure the event ran as smoothly as possible.

That Friday morning, I woke up at 1, filled with energy uncommon for one who awakens at 1 in the morning. I would have several more hours to go until I’d leave my apartment to catch my flight at LaGuardia so I could have caught up on more sleep if I wanted to. Adrenaline said otherwise. Combo Breaker would have been my first major in which I went out of state for. As I’ve said in a previous article, my first ever major was Defend the North, but it was literally an hour away from me as far as commute goes. I didn’t stay at a hotel, I simply went back and forth from my apartment to the Crowne Plaza over there. This was a much bigger deal for me, however, as I would meet so many people I would never have had the chance to. As this would be my first Combo Breaker, I didn’t know what to expect, yet the stories I’ve heard about Combo Breaker made me excited to experience such a thing within a few hours.

Unfortunately, everything came to a halt when I arrived at O’Hare. See, I planned my original flight to arrive at 10:30 so I could catch the shuttle bus to Combo Breaker. What happened instead, was I arrived at 9:30 because I didn’t consider Central time. Central Time and Eastern Time are an hour apart, so I was a full hour ahead of the bus. Better early than late, sure, but it left me more anxious to see what Combo Breaker had to offer.

When I finally arrived at the resort, it was one of the most beautiful venues I’ve been to, just looking at it from the outside. There was as much road as far as the eyes could see, the air was humid and the temperature was warm. Entering the venue, it lived up to the name of it being a resort. Indoor pools, window-side seating to have a better view of the golf course resort, various food courts and even a mini bar. The place was very huge. Huger than I initially imagined. I eventually, after some walking, found where Combo Breaker took place and after I picked up my badge, I took in the scenery.

The quietness of the resort clashed with the absolute noisy atmosphere of the main event area. People from all over walked about, conversated with others and played games on various setups whether it was tournament matches or casuals. To the right of me was the stage where people played on the stream station. It was there I saw the Tekken area and how massive the Tekken area was. With over 488 competitors, I’d expect a large mass of people, but it almost felt overwhelming. The event space was so huge, there were crowds just as big as the Tekken crowd, in other corners of the event stage, from the anime fighters to King of Fighters to Street Fighter V. There were also vendors right by the entrance who sold arcade parts, offered arcade stick mods, merch tables, and various beta build stations for games such as Fighting Layer EX, Soul Calibur 6, and BlazBlue Cross Tag.

Across the Megacenter area, there was a small yet almost as big gaming area where there were even more casual setups, a BYOC [Bring your own console] setup, where people played all types of games, and arcade cabinets from old school games such as Tempest, to pinball machines. Smaller games like Smash and Vampire Savior were also ran here for tournaments.

It was at this moment I knew that Combo Breaker was far from just a fighting game tournament, it was a video game convention as well. This realization didn’t hit me until the final day of Combo Breaker when I met this man, Demero, from Milwaukee. He was talking to me about one of the top Street Fighter V players, Smug, who I know of due to us both being from New York. He was telling me how respectful Smug was to his kids and how kind everyone was to each other, spectators and players alike.

On a grander scope, Demero also mentioned an interest on wanting to run events like these on a smaller scale back home, so he could potentially get the troubled youth of Milwaukee off the streets. Being I’m also from New York, the same as Smug, I take for granted just how many tournaments and locals there are here. But in a place like Milwaukee, grassroots events that could be started by a man with an ambition, may very well give troubled youth an outlet to stay off the streets, out of trouble, and hold a controller instead of a weapon.

A sentiment was also shared with Markman and Tasty Steve who I had the pleasure to talk to that Friday evening. They stressed the importance of tournaments where anyone can enter, play, and overall link up with other players who share the same passion as them. It isn’t about the winning or the losing, it’s all about learning and personal growth. It’s all about finding that connection with others to not only help you get better as a player but also as a person.

Steve was more passionate in the notion of locals being a cornerstone in the FGC, as he feels without people showing up to tournaments and their local tournaments, it won’t thrive as much within the upper echelon.

Markman was also a firm believer in encouraging players who believe that they cannot keep up with the top players due to their insecurities, to come out to the event anyway. No one can get better or level up if they limit themselves from doing so. Between talking to these two gentlemen on Friday and talking to Demero on Sunday, as well as others who only attended as a spectator to soak up the atmosphere and good vibes, it made me realize that the FGC extends far beyond simply competing. It exists for the love of the community whether you play the game competitively or not.

With that outlook in mind, winning wasn’t a goal in mind anymore. It was simply a question on how much I could learn and how far can what I already know take me. When I finally met Ando that Friday, he had a similar sentiment. As in the previous article, this was our first time in entering Combo Breaker and he was just as amazed at the venue and excited to play against others as I was, including how well run it was. We took pictures with the Tekken developer, Katsuhiro Harada, and saw some of the matches of Friday’s pools, before we briefly went our separate ways. Coincidentally, later on that night, we ran into each other again as we both had the same idea to get some last-minute casuals in before our matches.

That was another beautiful thing about the venue. Since it was 24 hours, and with over two thousand entrants, there were always people who were down to play games, no matter what time it was. Ando and I stayed until a quarter to 1, playing whoever we could, but the next night I stayed up well until 3 AM. It didn’t matter the time. The event halls were just as packed as it was if you arrived at 3 PM and for good reason. Playing offline against others is a luxury, as anyone who had dealt with the dreadfulness of online could tell you.

Saturday was the big day for the both of us, as our pools began two hours from each other, with Ando’s pool starting before mine. He was relatively nervous. The shark in the pool he was most concerned with was Victim of Ritual, a well-known Nina player known for his “pitbull-like” offense. The sharks in the water for my pool, in my opinion, was Swagmaster, who was known for her Miguel, and Ace Unlimited, a known Mishima player known for his explosive playstyle. For the former, I’ve had almost no experience with Miguel, so I wouldn’t have known what to do or what to expect. Mishima characters were always characters I’ve struggled with, so the fact that a high-level player was also swimming in the waters didn’t help me much.

The main conflict for Ando was whether to choose between using Paul or Geese. Both characters he felt comfortable with, but it boiled down to which character he felt ready to use in a tournament setting. While Geese has been used more and he has had more success with him, Paul was far easier to play for him. However, since his Paul shown signs of rust due to using Geese more, it was all about weighing pros and cons.

What I felt was nervousness all around because much like he has Geese, I had Kazumi who I wasn’t confident enough to use in the tournament. But she was always an option for me. I made the mistake of second guessing myself so I stuck with who I already know. The irony in that statement, was that if I could do one thing differently, I would have played Kazumi when I was down 1.

Ando plowed through his bracket, with the most notable adversary, Fred Distance, standing in his way. A clutch rage driver from his Paul clinched a tight victory and earned him the right to grant his wish. To play Victim of Ritual. On stream.

Naturally whatever nervousness he felt only amplified, with him only telling me that he’s not going to pay attention to the crowd behind him, and only focus on the game ahead of him. With his music playing through his earphones, he fought a hard-fought battle but ultimately fell 2-0 against him. Since this was winner’s finals, he still performed well enough to make it out of first phase of pools which meant he played later on that evening.

As far as my performance, I immediately lost to a Nina who I didn’t know even existed, M A D W A K. I was disoriented, because not only was I mentally prepared even though I played more than enough casuals, but the first lost took a lot out of me to the point where I gave up the second game freely. My biggest fear was going 0-2 in the tournament altogether, and going 0-2 in the very first match and getting sent to losers was not a good outlook for me. I had to snap out of it for my first game in losers, who I defeated soundly and was enough for a confidence boost. The second and third matches, a Katarina and a King respectively, was claimed without much difficulty although both players were good.

My biggest win of the pool was a rematch against M A D W A K, in which not only I was high off adrenaline for playing three straight, but after suffering a loss on stream against Swagmaster, I was more than ready for my revenge. And revenge I got. I switched my playstyle greatly to the point where it was too overwhelming for him and defeated him soundly, 2-0, just as he had defeated me 0-2, only this time I eliminated him from the tournament altogether. My momentum was cut short as I lost my loser’s semi’s match against Cade, effectively eliminating me. I was one win away from making it out of pools. Still, I had a damn good run in losers and I couldn’t be prouder of myself in how I did being it was my first Combo Breaker. Again, my only regret was not giving Kazumi a chance. I finished 97th which out of 488 people is nothing to cry about. I know I can do better next time, however.

Ando’s first match for the second pool was against Shirdel, an Alisa player from the UK, who quickly eliminated Ando from the tournament. At first, we both did not know who Shirdel was, but after researching him, he’s a pretty dominant force in London. Ando mentioned to me that Shirdel’s Alisa was unlike any he had ever played before, so he handled the matchup in a way which he tried to adapt to his playstyle, but he couldn’t no matter how hard he fought. Later on that night, when a friend and I were at the bar talking to another UK Tekken player, we both admitted that we did not know many of UK’s players, but UK and other European Tekken players were definitely of the silent killer majority. Europe in the FGC in general is an often-overlooked continent filled with so many hidden talents that takes so many by surprise. However, Ando couldn’t be too upset in how he performed. He felt like he could have done better, but he was more focused for the future regarding CEO and learning from the other players at Combo Breaker. Still, placing 65th, just shy of top 50, despite dealing with nerves, wasn’t a bad outing for the big guy. This is a reoccurring theme, but much like how I felt I should have gone Kazumi, his regret was not going Geese and instead sticking with Paul.

Decisions like these matter more than one would think. In a massive tournament like this, all it takes is two losses for it to be all over. I didn’t want to make any risky decisions that I would regret later, so I felt choosing Kazumi in my situation vs Cade would have been too risky as I wasn’t confident in her as I was in my main, Eddy. Ando had a similar sentiment when he insisted on sticking with Paul than going to Geese.

After several nights of reflection and playing casuals against people from all over the world including GoAttack, the Korean Master Raven player who made top 8, Ando feels ready for CEO. Combo Breaker humbled him as a player in regard to not only seeing his flaws, but also not caring whether a person is younger, older, or from another country. Each player should be taken as a threat whether you know them or not and that mentality shaped him into training and preparing for CEO.

One of the things I expect Ando will do differently, aside from soaking in character knowledge, is alter his mental psyche of playing against people in tournaments. I always felt as a competitor, 90% of the gameplay comes from your mind. Your mental cognition is what makes or breaks you. Limits or excels past your limitations. While he wasn’t upset with how he performed, knowing that he could do better is what prepares him for his hopeful comeback in CEO. I honestly cannot wait for that to take place and I will be cheering him on as well as Tunk.

P.S: Jeondding we gonna cross paths again at Summer Jam guaranteed (I hope)

Original article: https://www.teamunbroken.com/combo-breaker-article

#gaming journalism #esports #fgcu #combo breaker #tekken

[allspark]

It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like Lost Light, Bumblebee Movie Prequel, Transformers: Unicron, My Little Pony, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and much more! All coming your way for July 25th!

TRANSFORMERS BUMBLEBEE MOVIE PREQUEL #2

John Barber (A/CVR A) Andrew Griffith (CVR B) Fico Ossio

THE LIVING HEADLIGHTS! In swinging 1960s London, Bumblebee teams with a pair of bickering master spies to unravel a Decepticon conspiracy-but is one of Bee’s friends a double agent?

TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #21

James Roberts (A/CVR A) Jack Lawrence (CVR B) Geoff Senior

Something is coming. It cannot be stalled. It cannot be avoided. It cannot be reasoned with. As the end of everything draws near, a simple instruction rings out across the universe: prepare, confront, repel. Some people are ready for the fight of their lives. Rodimus and the increasingly shambolic crew of the Lost Light…yeah, they’re really not. Like, at all.

TRANSFORMERS UNICRON #2

James Roberts (A/CVR A) Alex Milne (CVR B) James Raiz

Bumblebee investigates a dark corner of Cybertron’s past, searching for answers: what is Unicron, and why does it want to destroy Cybertron? Meanwhile, Windblade scrambles to figure out a plan as Chromia makes her return-with a Decepticon fleet in pursuit! Every oversized issue packed with bonus content!

TRANSFORMERS VS VISIONARIES TP

Magdalene Visaggio (A/CVR) Fico Ossio

Cybertron has been invaded. The Transformers encounter unwelcome guests at the heart of their planet-and they may not have their hosts’ best interests at heart.

Refugees from another world, the Visionaries’ startling magical abilities could make them powerful allies… or dangerous enemies. It turns out there are some of each. When Virulina, leader of the Darkling Lords, discovers that the Transformers are vulnerable to magic, she uses that weakness to try and gain control of Cybertron! Leoric of the Spectral Knights teams up with Ironhide to stop her, but they quickly find themselves facing not just the Lords, but all of New Prysmos itself.

MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #68

Jeremy Whitley (A/CVR A) Andy Price (CVR B) Sara Richard

“Tempest’s Tale,” Part 2 of 2. Tempest’s journey to the Crystal Empire becomes unexpectedly personal and dangerous as she confronts her past!

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS EVIL AT BALDURS GATE #3

Jim Zub (A/CVR B) Harvey Tolibao (CVR A) Max Dunbar

Delina-The Wild Way. The Baldur’s Gate heroes return to the city at last, but their time adventuring in Ravenloft and the frozen northern reaches of the Realms have changed them. Each of them must face great trials ahead before they’ll be ready to embrace their destiny.

Delina searches for something to cure her wild magic, but the solution she seeks plunges her into danger unlike anything she’s faced before.

JACK KIRBY MARVEL HEROES & MONSTERS ARTIST ED HC

Stan Lee, Various (A/CVR) Jack Kirby

A collection of beautiful stories featuring some of Jack “King” Kirby’s most iconic and enduring heroes: Captain America, the X-Men, Ant-Man, and Sgt. Fury! Included in this glorious Artist’s Edition are complete stories of each, and all drawn in the old Twice-Up format (meaning this is a BIG book!). Additionally, several of Kirby’s best monster stories are also included. Rounding off in true Artist’s Edition style is an extra-long gallery section, filled with great and rare covers, pin-ups, and exceptional pages. Another Kirby winner from IDW Publishing!

JUDGE DREDD UNDER SIEGE #3

Mark Russell (A/CVR A) Max Dunbar (CVR B) Alan Quah

Trapped in the Patrick Swayze Block with no outside contact, Dredd and Judge Beeny have been forced into an uneasy alliance with a local gang to stop a threat to Mega-City One that must be contained at all costs…

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #7

Ian Flynn (A/CVR B) Adam Bryce Thomas (CVR A) Kieran Gates

Secrets revealed! After the dramatic events of the last two issues and the secret of Dr. Eggman, Sonic races off to shut down the organized Badniks at the source. Unfortunately, there’s more at play than Sonic has realized, and more powerful players… •   One of the first major villains of the new series revealed! •   A special foil cover to celebrate entering the second half of Sonic’s first year at IDW! •   Don’t miss the new Sonic the Hedgehog: Crash Course Board game in our games section!

STAR TREK NEW VISIONS TP VOL 07

John Byrne (A/CVR) John Byrne

Three all new adventures! First, pulled down to a world made entirely of water, the Enterprise is in danger of literally flooding. Spock and McCoy discover a sinister purpose behind this bizarre planet in “What Pain It Is To Drown.” Then, in “The Hunger,” a mysterious entity has drifted above the outer rim of the Galaxy for thousands of years, draining life from all the worlds it found there. Now, it has learned of the banquet of populous planets near the heart of the Milky Way, and is heading there at terrifying speed-with only the Enterprise standing in its way. Then, Captain Kirk has found himself all alone on the Enterprise before-but what happens when each individual member of the crew finds themselves in a similar state? And who is behind this… “Isolation?” •   The Byrne series is as close as fans will ever come to getting new episodes featuring the original cast.

TMNT ONGOING #84

Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman (A/CVR A) Dave Wachter (CVR B) Kevin Eastman

“Kingdom of Rats” Part 4. The TMNT come face to face with possibly their most powerful adversary yet– The Rat King! Will they be able to defeat him before he makes all of NYC his twisted domain?

UNCLE SCROOGE #37

Jerry Siegel, Joe Torcivia (A) Giorgio Cavazzano (CVR B) Roberta Migheli

“Few and Pharoah Between!” In a new-to-USA duck tale by Jerry Siegel (Superman), Scrooge McDuck travels through time to find riches in ancient Egypt-only to wind up stranded in a dystopian future!

WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE #4

Augusto Macchetto, Giorgio Salati (A) Massimo De Vita, Stefano Intini (CVR A) Andrea Freccero (CVR B) Corrado Mastantuono

“A Pocket in Time!” Goofy’s daredevil cousin Arizona Goof is back-but can he crack the secret of future-man Eega Beeva’s technology? Plus: another outrageous installment of Goofy Online!

  Join the IDW Hasbro Shared Universe related conversation here in our Comics Discussion and Reviews section and here for all other franchises, superheroes, or general comic book discussions! Not a member? Join our community by creating your own free account here! Or jump right into the live chat on our Discord server or our Facebook Group!

IDW Comics Shipping List for July 25th! It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like 

#Bumblebee #Comic Book #Comics #Diamond Shipping List #IDW Publishing #Judge Dredd #Lost Light #MLP #My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Star Trek #Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #Transformers vs The Visionaries #Transformers: Bumblebee #Transformers: Lost Light #Transformers: Unicron #Uncle Scrooge #Unicron #Walt Disney Comics

[the-jade-goblin]

Commander Shepard Question Meme

Since this is a long post, most of it is under the cut. 

I’m tagging @vorchagirl, @kadarakings, @gharrus, @masseffectish and @femsheparding 

 1.       Introduce your Shepard. How do they look? What do they think about themselves? What kind of person is your Shepard, what are their ambitions and goals? Are they Renegade or Paragon?

 My Shepard is Danica Shepard. She has shoulder-length bright orange hair and dark green eyes. She wears black lipstick and black eyeshadow, and has a scar from her left temple down her face to her right cheek.

 Dani thinks of herself mostly, as a protector.  She’s always determined to take care of her crew and look after her friends. Dani has never lost a single soldier under her command until Virmire, and since then she’s felt like a failure, vowing to get better and stronger so she wouldn’t lose anyone again.

 Dani has never been very ambitious. She’s never cared about getting medals or promotions or whatever. Her only goals are to get stronger and do her job as well as she can. In the beginning, she’s the picture of a perfect Paragon, when she is rebuilt by Cerberus a lot of her care cup becomes empty and she has a shorter temper; she’s more of a Paragade. And in 3 she literally has zero fucks to give anymore to the people who get in her way, but she’s still a Paragon to those in need and will try to make peace where she can.

 2.       Tell us about your Shepard’s family background - parents, siblings? How was their relationship with them? Are any of them alive? Are they still in contact with them? Were they a Spacer, a Colonist or Earthborn?

 Dani was Earthborn, which has made her tough and unlikely to show weakness. She never knew her family, but after ME3 a woman claiming to be her mother gets in contact with her, and there she meets a half-sister and step-father she never knew she had. At first she had trouble getting along with her mother, the woman who had abandoned her, but over time Dani forgave her and she gets along very well with her family members, especially her little sister Ellie.

 3.       What is your Shepard’s psychological profile? War Hero? Sole Survivor? Ruthless? How do they feel about this past?

 Dani is a War Hero, but she feels burdened from that past. She is so compelled to save people that she earned her reputation, and whenever she loses a team mate in battle it’s a significant blow to the role she feels she’s supposed to play.

4.       Is there an event from your Shepard’s past (before they joined the Alliance) that they regret? What is it?

 Dani’s entire childhood could classify as that I suppose, but specifically there is one memory that Dani has never looked on with anything but deep guilt and regret. Dani joined a merc band when she was young, around 12, as a drug mule, and when she was older the leader of the gang had her dance at his nightclub when she wasn’t running smuggling missions for him. Dani met another young girl down on her luck that had joined the band as a dancer at that nightclub, but Dani discovered the young girl was being horribly abused by the gang leader, one night she saw her getting dragged into his room kicking and screaming. She walked away, afraid, and never spoke of it. The girl was dead the next day, and Dani forever regrets not trying to save her.

 5.       Is there an event from your Shepard’s past (before they joined the Alliance) that they look fondly on? What is it?

 The moment in Dani’s life that triggered her desire to help people has always been a fond memory for her. It was no big deal really; a little boy was getting bullied by these bigger kids and they were throwing around this stuffed bear the kid was trying to get back and taunting him for sleeping with a toy at his age. Dani sucker-punched the biggest boy and told him to pick on someone his own size, and of course he went home crying. The little kid looked so happy when Dani gave him his bear back, he hugged her and started crying as he thanked her. And Dani decided that she wanted to keep helping people and see those smiles on other’s faces.

 6.       How is your Shepard with weapons and technology? Can they handle the new challenges or are they dependent on help? Do they fight primarily with guns or do they have biotics? Tech skills?

 Dani has always prided herself on being top in her field of literally any field she attempts. Every challenge is a new obstacle for her to jump, every new weapon and piece of tech is hers to conquer to be that much better than before. Dani’s a lone wolf and has always been that way, but she can work surprisingly well with a group in combat too (especially if it’s Garrus watching her six). She’s a soldier and only ever used heavy guns and pistols until Cerberus gave her biotic implants. She never developed her biotics until the end of ME2 with the help of Jack, Samara and Miranda, and uses them fully with her weapons in ME3. She’s hopeless at tech skills though, that’s all up to Tali when it needs to be done.

 7.       What is their usual setup? What armor and weapons do they usually carry into a fight?

 Dani favours the M-76 Revenant as her usual gun, the M-98 Widow for her sniper, and the M-9 Tempest for her backup gun. Dani wears purple and blue N7 armour manufactured from Hahne-Kedar.

 8.       Does your Shepard have any tattoos or piercings? If so, what are they and why did they get them?

 Growing up Dani had a lip and nose piercing, but she took them out when joined the Alliance. On a trip Omega she and Joker get a Normandy tattoo, Dani on her hip, Joker on his chest. During the Reaper war, she puts back on her nose piercing, gets an N7 tattoo on her back to match James’, and she and Kaidan get the Alliance symbol tattooed on their shoulders.

 9.       Time for Favorites: Song? Color? Food? Ice Cream? Scent? Movie? Book? Is there a specific drink they like to have? Is there a type of comfort food they like?

 Song? Hold Me Down by Halsey. It’s an old Earth song but Dani loves Halsey’s voice and the melody of the song, it’s a very calming song for her and she always plays it when she’s upset.

Colour? Purple. Her N7 armour is purple and most of her civilian clothes are too. But she’s quite partial to Vakarian blue as well.

Food? Mashed potatoes. Simple, tastes good, and easy to make.

Ice-cream? Sweet potato ice-cream. Kasumi introduced it to her when they went on a trip to Japan together and she’s loved it ever since.

Scent? Whatever it is that Garrus smells like all the time. Maybe it’s the metallic smell of the ship. Movie? Zootopia. Dani adores the old vid, she says she feels like Judy is her and Garrus is Nick. They both love watching it together.

Book? Dani has never gotten her hands on a real book, but Kasumi has a beautiful collection and one of her favourites from that collection is The Catcher in the Rye. It’s such an old book but it’s so good.  

Drink? Dani loves to drink hot water and honey, sometimes with a bit of lemon. It was one of the only drinks she could get when she was growing up on the streets of New York.

 10.   How do they feel about being in command of the Normandy? About their SPECTRE status?

 Dani was slightly nervous about her command of the Normandy; she hadn’t been in a position of command since the Skyllian Blitz, she’d always served under Anderson after that so having her own command again was a bit nerve wracking at first. Dani was honoured upon being appointed a Spectre, and as the months rolled by she began to almost take it for granted. She’d roll her eyes and mutter ‘I’m a Spectre I can do what I like’ under her breath when someone was being difficult and wouldn’t help her, but she never abused her power.

 11.   Any skills outside of fighting that your Shepard has: Do they know how to cook? Do they have any hobbies that they like to do? Do they collect anything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it?

 Shepard has the unique ability to pole dance, from her gang days as a teenager. She can play and win any gambling game you’ll find in a casino. She loves to sketch and to paint, and sing when no one’s around. She collects crystals as well as her model ships, her favourite crystals are the ones collected from Tali’s homeworld, they glow vibrant colours in the dark.

 12.   What are your Shepard’s fears? Are they afraid of anything in particular?

 Dani has a profound fear of spiders. And bees, since she’s allergic, but working in space you don’t run into bees very often.

 13.   Does your Shepard have a home away from the Normandy? If so, where is it and how do they keep it? If not, then what does your Shepard do to make their cabin feel more homely?

 Dani has no home, only the Normandy.  After the war she makes herself a home; or rather two. She and Garrus buy a beautiful cottage by a lake in southern Canada, and a penthouse in Palavan’s capital city.

Before that however, she makes her cabin her own by displaying her model ships everywhere, and putting up many photos of her crew throughout the years, as well decorating her fish tank with exciting fish and plants.

 14.   Squad: Who is your Shepard’s best friend? Do they like to do anything specific together?

 Apart from Garrus, Shepard has always been closest to Liara and Tali. The three of them were part of the original team on the Normandy SR-1 so she holds them very dear to her heart. Liara and Dani on the SR-1 would spend hours talking about the Protheans, she and Tali would go shopping for cheap salvage and create new things out of the pieces, and she and Garrus always love to have shooting competitions in their spare time.

 15.   Squad: Who does your Shepard like the least? Why?

 Dani doesn’t particularly dislike any of her crew; if she disliked them they wouldn’t be part of her crew. Having said that, there are squad members Dani isn’t as close to as others. On the SR-1, though she was fond of Ash, Dani disagreed with her anti-alien views and couldn’t relate to her Alliance family history. On the SR-2 Dani never warmed up to Jacob very much, which is surprising since Miranda’s the more untrustworthy one of the two Cerberus agents. There’s no particular reason, Dani was just much closer to others in her team.

 16.   Squad: Who is your Shepard’s go to squad for missions? Why do they choose that particular squad?

 On the SR-1 it was always about who was best suited for each mission, aboard the SR-2 Dani stuck with the crew she knew and trusted. Garrus and Tali are her go-to team, and Garrus and Liara in ME3. She trusts these three with her life and wouldn’t want any other having her back in battle. For certain missions she’ll bring along other team members if they ask or if she thinks they’re better suited for it.

 17.   Romance: Are they romantically involved with anyone? If yes, what is their relationship like?

 Dani and Kaidan used to be an item; their relationship was on the outside one of those ‘perfect’ ones you see in vids, on the inside Dani was always trying hard to be the woman Kaidan thought she was; perfect, military, uncomplicated. After Horizon Dani couldn’t think of Kaidan like that anymore, and eventually found her happiness in Garrus.

With Garrus, Dani can be herself; a sarcastic and sassy rogue that is sometimes ruthless and breaks the rules if need be. She’s more emotional with Garrus and she smiles a lot more. She and Garrus have a strong relationship, best friends as well as lovers who would do anything for each other.

 18.   Romance: If Shepard and their partner could spend a romantic moment together, what would it be like?

 Shooting competition on the Presidium. One of Dani’s favourite ways to spend time with Garrus. Dani also loves watching old Earth vids with Garrus on the Normandy. After they’re married, Garrus loves to paint the Vakarian markings on Dani’s face, and Dani loves to return the gesture. The two also love cooking together, Dani loves to try out new turian foods to cook for her turian, and Garrus likes to make cupcakes for Dani when she’s feeling upset.

 19.   What is your Shepard’s favorite place to go in the galaxy? Why?

 Dani loves many places in the galaxy. She loves visiting Tuchunka to see Wrex, and spending time with Liara on Illium. Dani loves going to Palaven and partying on Omega. She adores the Citadel the most though, it’s one of the only places in the galaxy that she feels at home, it’s a familiar save haven to go to for her.  

 20.   What is your Shepard’s least favorite place to go in the galaxy? Why?

 Ugh, Noveria. Dani can’t stand the cold and that planet is frozen to the core. She also hates Haestrom and Earth, believe it or not, she feels more at home in space.

 21.   What is your Shepard’s relationship to the Council? To Udina? To Anderson? Do they deal with authority well or do they struggle against them?

 Dani at first respects the Council, but quickly gets fed up with their bullshit. She stays on their good side and does as she’s told by them, but after they’re done talking she usually just rolls her eyes and ignores their orders. Or she just hangs up on them.

She can’t stand Udina. At all. That goes for most politicians, but Udina is just insufferable.

Anderson is like a father to Dani; when she joined the Alliance he became her mentor and she went to him with almost everything as she grew up.

Dani can play by the rules of authority, she respects those in power but she’s never afraid to speak up when she disagrees with their policies.

 22.   What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had?

 She admires honesty, integrity, kindness and determination. Alliance types, but not those that follow orders blindly. She picks her crew with care, as every member of her team exhibits at least one of these traits.

Dani wishes she had the talent that Garrus does with a sniper (but she’ll NEVER admit that to the turian himself)  

 23.   What is your Shepard’s biggest pet peeve?

 People reading over her shoulder. And people judging her alien crew on that fact that they’re non-human alone.

 24.   How does your Shepard deal with their enemies? Do they resort to violence or do they try to be diplomatic?

 Dani always tries to resolve conflict peacefully. If an enemy can be talked down she will do it, but if they can’t be reasoned with than her priority is taking them down quickly. If an enemy threatens any of her teammates, without question she will shoot them down before they can finish their sentence. No one threatens her friends.  

 25.   How does your Shepard deal with death? Not just the deaths of civilians, but of friends (such as Mordin or Thane).

 Dani is used to death; she saw a lot of it in her childhood and she learned to not be affected by it. People die, and that’s just how it is. When she gets her own command however, her attitude changes. When she loses a teammate, she considers it a personal failure. A loss, but nothing to cry personally over, just another mistake. Loss of civilians is tragic, but it doesn’t keep her up at night, it’s just another failure of her position. Through her command of the Normandy, her outlook changes, and each death of innocents wrenches at her empathy, but she vows to get better to save more lives.

 Death of her friends troubles her deeply. Living her whole life alone, fending for herself, she learnt young that the weak die and the strong survive, depend on only yourself, and trust no one. But after taking command of the Normandy, she makes life-long friends, she lets people in and finds a family, people she loves and who love her. Their deaths affect her greatly. She views them as a personal failure to protect those she cares about, and their loss puts a hole in her heart.

 26.   What was your Shepard’s first reaction to seeing a Reaper?

 Dani was struck cold, not only by the sight of a Reaper, but of its voice. When she first heard Sovereign speak she’d never felt so afraid in her life. Dani’s not frightened by many things, but the cold, calculating Reapers chill her to the bone.

 27.   What does your Shepard think about Cerberus? What do they think about the mercenaries that they run into on a regular basis? Is there a specific one they dislike the most? Why?

 In a way, she understands Cerberus’ goal, but she would never agree with the means. As for the mercenaries well, she doesn’t have any opinion other than they make good target practise. The Blue Suns are a particular annoyance because turians are tough sons of bitches, and the Blood Pack often employ krogan and vorcha mercenaries which is irritating as those guys heal very fast and are a nuisance to take down.

 28.   What ending did your Shepard choose? Destroy, Synthesis or Control? Why did they choose this?

 Destroy.  Synthesis may sound ideal, but Dani could never force the entire galaxy to merge with synthetics without permission. She chose Destroy because she knew the only way to keep the galaxy safe was to destroy the Reapers, if she controlled them she too could one day bring them back, and she wouldn’t risk that fate. She didn’t believe the Catalyst when it said the Geth and the Mass Relays would also be destroyed, because even though they were synthetics, they were all different life forms, and she was correct.

 29.   Is there a song that describes your Shepard? If yes, why did you choose that song? Does your Shepard have a playlist?

 It’s My Life by Bon Jovi. I think it fits Dani pretty well since the beginning of her life she’s been forging her own path and choosing the way she lives her life, no matter what anyone tries to do to control her; Alliance, Council or family.

Dani’s playlist would consist of heavy rock or metal songs, preferably in languages she doesn’t understand, or from other species with her translator turned off, so she can focus on the beat. Heavy songs like that help her get through work and battle – yes, she listens to metal while she fights.  

 30.   Share your favorite piece of art or your favorite screenshot of your Shepard. What about it makes it your favorite?

 Sadly I don’t have either

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