#ss imo

[captainmartinisblog]

First People Step Aside!

Saturday 22nd June 2024 – Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The city of Halifax was founded in 1749 when Lt General Cornwallis arrived with over 1,100 settlers and enough troops to set-up a garrison. This action was in response to the French establishment of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island (where we were yesterday).

Arriving in Halifax today at 8am, Viking Star ‘parked’ opposite the Georges Island Lighthouse, which happens to be an identical twin to the Louisbourg Lighthouse that we never got to see yesterday on our excursion (a) because there wasn’t enough time and (b) because it was shrouded in scaffolding!

Today though, we had booked the ‘free’ Hop-on-Hop-off sightseeing bus.

However, far being the usual ‘Big Red Bus’ type of tour, ours turned out to be on board a fleet of original 1960s London Routemaster buses, all different colours, running at 15-minute intervals all day, exclusively for Viking passengers! We had all been to Halifax before but it was a lovely, almost nostalgic tour with an on-board guide giving the narration.

They make much of the ‘First Peoples’ thing nowadays and about how the land is shared with the local Mi’kmaq peoples, blah, blah, blah – but well they might because that original settlement by Cornwallis back in 1749 was itself in breach of an earlier agreement with the Mi’kmaq actually living here and yet today the population of the city is more than 500,000. I wonder what the Mi’kmaq think about that.

Anyway, after doing a full 90-minute circuit, we headed for a coffee shop and then Sally went shopping while Andrew, Angie & I went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

It was an excellent museum, with some fine ship models, including this one of the first Mauretania in her 1930s cruising white.

There was also a featured section on the massive explosion in 1917 that destroyed a vast section of the city when the SS Imo, a Belgian relief ship, collided with the SS Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship loaded with 4,000 tons of high explosives.

The resulting explosion was the biggest man-made explosion at the time, killing over 2,000 people, injuring over 9,000 and laying waste to a huge area of the city.

It was also by ships from Halifax that, in 1912, the largest number of bodies were recovered and following the sinking of the Titanic. There’s a section in the cemetery here where they are buried.

There were many recovered artefacts on display, including this deck-chair.

A pleasant walk can be had along the Boardwalk from downtown all the way to the Cruise Terminal and there is a wealth of bars, restaurants, shops and ‘playgrounds’ for kids and adults alike.

This private yacht ‘Samsara’ also arrived today and on looking it up, I discovered that the owner is none other than Harry Potter author J.K.Rowling! Available for charter, Samsara sleeps 12 and will cost you $1.1m a week including the crew of 28!

[redraspberryleaf]

Halifax, the 6th of December, 1917.

John Augutus Shedd, “Salt from my Attic.”

[lace-tf]

daily koss #7 … 2025.02.24 … bsky

they’re there for the free energon 🤦

[helenvaughans]

can anyone explain to me how this isn’t just purely antisemitic and misogynistic

[multicolour-ink]

Something I'm very curious about. Disregarding gameplay mechanics etc, does Skyward Sword live up to it's intentions as a prequel to the Zelda franchise?

[sweet-s0rr0w]

How is 2023 almost over?? This fandom year was a mixed bag for me; in good news, I managed to shake the awful writer's block of 2022, but sadly that definitely meant that I spent less time reading. In the first half of the year I kept up with Dronarry fest, and Wireless, but since the summer I've been working on a longfic and have definitely found that it's impaired my ability to read longer stuff. With that in mind, the lovely @drarrymyheart very kindly offered to step in and help out, and so in addition to my own recs, I present a few of her recs that I've heard great things about, but haven't got round to yet myself <3 these are denoted by stars (⭐)! There are some absolute bangers on this list (imho), and it features such a wide range in terms of length and tropes, that I really hope there's something here for everyone. All Drarry unless otherwise specified. Wishing you all a 2024 full of joy!

I Fall On Grass by @tackytigerfic (T, 3.1k)

AITA for being "obsessed" with my childhood nemesis? by @rainstormradish (M, 4.3k)

Under the Table by @xanthippe74 (T, 4.3k)

Team Building for Dummies by InnerLilith (E, 6.9k)

Muscle Memory by @corvuscrowned (E, 7.7k)

Can't Start a Fire Without a Spark by @writcraft (E, 8.9k, Ron/Harry)

A Saviour’s Guide to Manners and Decorum by @wolfpants (E, 13k)

I only want the ones I envy (I envy) by @porcelainheart3 (E, 14k)

The Sun, Shining Above You by @oknowkiss (E, 15k, Dronarry)

What’s Mine is Yours by @fluxweeed (E, 17k)

⭐ if the bees know by @oflights (T, 20k)

O Come, All Ye Faithful by toomuchplor (E, 20k)

HP Kinkuary 2023 Collection by @sorrybutblog (E, 20k, various pairings)

Nothing But You On My Mind by @moonflower-rose (M, 29k)

⭐Half Sick of Shadows by @starquestingfordrarry (E, 40k)

Winner Takes It All by @skeptiquex (E, 41k)

⭐how we were taught to love by @tigerlilycorinne (M, 42k)

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond by @lagerloutfic (E, 42k)

⭐A pulled down shade by fast-brother (M, 43k)

LA, Who Am I To Love You? by @epitomereally (E, 43k)

Our Objective Remains Unchanged by @citrusses (E, 46k)

Polar Night/Midnight Sun by toomuchplor (E, 54k)

along each garden wall by @oflights (E, 61k)

On the First Day of Christmas, a Pureblood gave to me... by @maesterchill (E, 65k)

The Discreet Gentleman's Connection by pluto (E, 80k)

Twenty-Two Cards series (starting with Rookie Moves) by peu_a_peu (E, 109k)

⭐Symptom of Your Touch by @ghostofnoir (E, 116k)

hey, turns out I did read quite a few after all :D

[randomnameless]

didn't heroes say rhea turns fallen when she despairs because she will never see sothis again?

Heroes did!

Just like that weird "call me by name call me immaculate one plz" thing that makes Nopes' Sothis exchange with Flayn completely nonsensical, the "Rhea became berserk because she despaired and felt like Sothis would never return" felt like a quick fix-it made with adhesive tape and the contents of a gummy bear.

Like, this doesn't explain why Rhea doesn't become red in VW.

And you won't make me believe that she wasn't despairing the hell out of it after witnessing Zanado and being its lone survivor, nor after seeing whatever remained of Sothis after Nemesis deboned her.

We can make a point about her being more "angry" than desperate, same as in CF when Seteth'n'Flayn kick the bucket - even if her mental state's pretty low and precarious at this point - but then, VW still stands, as in, Rhea realises after eating missiles and "zumba'ing for 5 years in Enbarr's finest 5 stars resort" that her Mother never gave a flying fuck about the remaining Nabateans, or her role as the Goddess, and yet, she doesn't become red.

(Hell, you can even make a point that it's Billy who wants to save her, and went out of their way to "try to help" her during GM's assault, not Worst Mom!)

Seteth mentions in SS' finale that he already saw her red (but not in her second "red with vines" form!) and she managed to return to normal, so it's just...

As Seiros the Warrior, she despaired - but not too much - a bit and turned Red, but Cichol and the other Saints where here to make her snap out of it? But somehow, they cannot in SS and Seteth straight out says Billy has to kill her, even if, when he says this, she hasn't turned in her second form yet, aka, she's as red as she was during her Seiros the Warrior days?

Frankly IDK, and given how this route was the one that apparently was written first and served as a basis for the rest of the game, well, idk what to tell you anon.

It is frustrating, but as in "welp Tellius' writers wrote something and its contrary in the same game!" but more as in "they had to cook in the microwave a watsonian reason to explain why this final boss exists", and FEH just added 30 seconds.

Sure it's enough to make your gummy bear melt, but honestly, who's going to be satisfied with that?

[carlosoliveiramybeloved]

what’s y’all least fav supa strikas character?? Cuz I can’t dislike any of them or I just don’t have none in mind

[mybrainrotyourproblem]

Growing up is Roman originally being my favorite character cause I'm creative. Then it was Remus because his 1st episode helped me not be so hard on myself for my intrusive thoughts but now it's Logan.

He's the best at helping Thomas with his emotions despite not really liking or understanding emotions himself. He doesn't dismiss the others, namely Remus. When Remus is doing his best to annoy Logan (what seems to be entirely just to fuck with him) he still doesn't ignore or dismiss the side. He sees the merit in him even though everyone else just barely tolerates him at best (except Janus, they're besties and play DDR)

[sieglinde-freud]

i miss him so bad… claude dont leave me with the other two theyre so annoying lets run away together forever

[nebulousjoy]

a redraw for fun because i recently learned bt3 has a counter system and i love super vegito's counter pose (shown below) 💗

fists up and leg up, classic vegito technique

[sonic-shadow-daily]

Sonic is with Tails and Amy not far from Chun-nan, trying to figure out where exactly Big is with the Chaos Emerald. The Tornado landed early this morning just outside of town, the civilians were happily surprised to see Sonic again, and gladly accommodated the three as they slept through most of the day. It’s evening now, thus the search for Big has begun. Clues as to his precise location are completely unavailable— really, Sonic appreciates the guy a lot, but he doesn’t know how to give directions to save his life. So far, all they know is that there’s at least one mountain nearby. There are mountains just about everywhere.

Not to say they haven’t had easy wins like this before, especially when it comes to the emeralds, but something about this particular trip feels off. In a bad way, maybe not. Still distinctly different, he just can’t place it. He let Tails and Amy know as a heads-up, but they’re not getting it, though they trust him to be telling the truth. Whatever it is, Sonic surmises it’s a hurdle he’s well and capable of jumping.

Thanks to a true stroke of luck, it only takes around half an hour to find Big, when it very easily could have taken longer. When they meet him on the shore of a truly stunning) lake, white emerald in hands and Froggy resting atop it, he apologizes bashfully for his poor guiding skills.

“Don’t worry,” Sonic had said, “We needed a good hike anyway.”

“Thanks for holding onto it for us!” Amy chirped in, passing the gem to Sonic. “What a pretty spot you found,”

Big nodded. “It is pretty. But I’ve been fishing up more of random stuff than fish.”

Both Amy and Tails’s eyes lit up in an instant, hardly immune to fascinating treasures. Within seconds they were all over a very startled looking Big, who pulled out his cooler full of trinkets, not fish.

Sonic didn’t have any interest in that sort of thing. At the moment he’s meandering through the trees, fiddling with the emerald, waiting for his friends to finish gawking at whatever it is Big had fished up so they can go home. He might go for a run, who knows?

Though, when something really fast and really hard-hitting collides with him out of absolutely nowhere, he can recognize he may not need to go on a run at all.

After a momentary recovery from having his head gently smashed into a tree trunk, Sonic focuses his eyes to see the Chaos Emerald no longer in his hands, and a familiar black and red hedgehog looming over him. What a surprise! Maybe he was right after all to think something would go wrong today, though if you ask him, he doesn’t see a single thing amiss in this interaction. He wasn’t exactly looking for a fight, but if Shadow chooses to serve one up like this one a silver platter, who is he to refuse?

“Heya, buddy! What ever happened to hello?” Sonic smiles, resting his hands under his chin.

“The emerald,” Shadow says, still forgetting that greetings exist, “I came here for it, and I don’t mind fighting you to leave with it.”

Sonic sighs dramatically. So straight to the point! “Good to see you too. Wanna fill me in as to why?”

A moment of silent hesitance passes before the dark hedgehog begins again, averting his eyes. “There’s a G.U.N. shuttle set to launch not far from now. I planned to take a detour,”

Oh. He gets it.

“Sure then,” he shrugs, quietly counting a win thanks to Shadow not defaulting to the ‘none of your business, hedgehog’ excuse. “Be my guest.”

Shadow blinks. Narrows his eyes.

“Alright. And you weren’t planning to keep it, apparently?”

“Well, keep it, yeah. But it sort of just fell into our hands. Big probably fished it up and thought it was better with us than anyone else, so here we are.”

His rival takes a step back, no longer in a posture that reads as battle-ready, simply standing. Poised and practiced, staring into his soul, sure, but he really just looks like anyone else, now. If he wasn’t the furthest from just ‘anyone’ that a guy could get, anyway. Sonic faces the Ultimate Lifeform. It’s not something you forget.

Sonic stands in turn, deliberately relaxing himself, though he doesn’t need to make himself smile.

“You don’t gotta ask for my permission, dude. Obviously I trust you with one,” he assures, and Shadow’s gaze hardens.

“I’m not asking anything,”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?” (The look in question does in fact come off as a silent request, or maybe a question.)

“I’m not looking at you like anything,” he almost echoes himself, though with an added tone of ‘getting on my nerves’.

Raising his hands in surrender, Sonic makes to walk right past his rival. “If you say so. Gonna be on your way then, I’m guessing?”

From behind him, “Correct.”

Sonic turns around to face him, flashing a genuine grin and a sole finger-gun. “Cool. See you.”

Then he’s gone.

Back by the lake, Amy asks where he was, and where the Chaos Emerald went. Sonic shrugs, tells her he was feeling generous, and that Shadow said hi. He didn’t really, but Sonic gets the feeling he wanted to. They thank Big even without what they were here for, and start heading back to the town. If his friends notice his suddenly, mysteriously distracted behaviour, nobody says anything.

Sonic considers watching a shuttle launch for the first time, even if just for a short minute. Busy schedule, and all.

[skitskatdacat63]

I owe hoyo my life for adding new poses to photo mode oh my god.

[cockayneabsurdity]

retris if he was grounded grounded grounded grounded grounded grounded grounded grounded grounded grounded for [unnecessarily long number] years

[unfortunatelysoggynoodles]

Shitty af sketch of the man I’m 100% sane about

[llycaons]

I used to conflate love and loyalty in my head but it's actually so fascinating when characters show one but not the other like take cql. wen zhuliu vs. jc. loyalty without love vs. love without loyalty