#But come on it's sometimes pandering and like the banter is forced

[shxsho]

Voxto shippers need to realize that their banters are sometimes forced. You don't need to be so angry over it. People saying this don't technically mean that their whole relationship is forced, it's just that it becomes insincere or not natural when they pander to shippers.

Someone with two eyes can definitely see that.

[emelkae]

The Rise of Skywalker takeaways

Do not click open if you haven’t seen TROS/don’t want to read TROS spoilers! I'm on mobile so hopefully this has the Keep Reading thingy. This is from the perspective of someone who liked TFA and disliked TLJ.

The Good: I did like it, generally, for nostalgia reasons. I would say I was satisfied with it as an ending to the sequel trilogy, and some of the things that critics ripped apart felt like no big deal to me.

One critic said watching the trio quip and banter with each other was boring and that it seemed like their scenes were supposed to be interesting merely because they were together. They lamented the lack of earth-shattering dialogue between them and said it felt more fanfiction-y than dialogue should be coming from a professional franchise, but honestly, seeing the three together doing literally anything was something I wanted to see more of, and I loved every second of them sharing the screen. And why should dialogue between friends always be earth-shattering? They were just hangin’ out and it was wonderful. There was so much hugging and shoulder pats.

It was visually the best-looking thing to come out of this franchise. You could take any shot from this movie and stick it on a poster and it would fit. It did sometimes come off as them cramming every piece of concept art into the movie, but it was so beautiful I didn’t even care.

Carrie’s Leia scenes were not as clunky as the critics said they were. I think going into it knowing they were deleted scenes made them seem slightly more “off,” but if I didn’t know that I wouldn’t have found anything wrong with them.

The parallels to the original trilogy were numerous and were obvious fan pandering, but I ate it up. I 100% expected that from J.J. Abrams. Same with the cameos. I got all emotional at the last “be with me” scene, I’ll admit that unabashedly, and I liked the scene at the end with Force Ghost Luke and Leia.

Kylo Ren became basically a Vader clone and I was here for it. I was like “you go you absolute edgelord meme I hate that I love this terrible character so much”

Lando gets to fly the Falcon again ahhhhh he’s reunited with L3 :)

The Palpatine stuff was weird, but I thought it was super cool anyway. Probably it was the visuals that got me, but Star Wars has been weirder, so no complaints from me there.

THE SCENE WITH HAN AND BEN OOOOOOOOOOO BEECH I WAS SO HAPPY. And Luke lifting the X-Wing and smiling directly at the camera like a little shit god damn you you are really just like Obi-Wan in your ghost life ain’t cha?

I didn’t see what all the praise was about with Adam Driver’s acting as Kylo Ren until his transformation into Ben Solo. His whole face smoothed out and it seemed like his eyes got bigger and softer? Catch me being thirsty but I did actually want to see more of him as Ben. His fighting mannerisms were just like Anakin’s, too. And he was just so gentle ghjkjhg

The Bad: Okay…Although I liked it, I do have complaints. Some minor, some major.

It was too long and too much was going on at once. Because there was so much packed in there, the pacing was weird and the scene transitions were very awkward and jerky. They could have cut like a quarter of all that and it would have been fine.

Finn never tells Rey that he’s Force sensitive, and I only knew from context clues and actor interviews that that was what he was going to say to her, so of course they never explore Finn’s relationship to the Force or even mention it any point.

There are soooo many parallels to Leia and Han with Finn and Poe (not to mention the chemistry), but of course they don’t end up together. They introduce some random new female characters who, while badass, are completely flat and are obviously only there as love interests and new action figures to sell. Idk, maybe I’m just salty because my ship isn’t canon. Speaking of new toys, the new droid they introduced was another thing they obviously just wanted to stock shelves with. It was cute though.

Most of the major plot points were out of completely nowhere and were not foreshadowed at all. Rey being a Palpatine and Hux being a spy for the Resistance come to mind. Also, there could have been some really interesting character development with Hux being a spy, like Kallus in Rebels, but then he is just unceremoniously killed by a superfluous random character. Leia’s lightsaber and her whole “oh actually she’s been trained in the Force this whole time” was a cool concept that also came out of nowhere.

The scene with Rey and Kylo fighting above the ocean was just awful. It was twice as long as it needed to be, the fighting was clumsy (a critic said it was like they were swinging baseball bats at each other and it absolutely was), and some parts of it were so needlessly dramatic that I was laughing at what was supposed to be a serious scene.

I wish they would've left Threepio's memory wiped. They made the wipe such a huge emotional deal and then were like "nvm Artoo can just stick a thing in his head and it's all good" and I was like "...oh so all that was for no reason then I guess"

The Ugly: I. Do not. Ship. Reylo. I don’t ship it and have never shipped it. I don’t get aggressive toward people who do (ship and let ship, y’know?), but it personally makes me uncomfortable and just feels creepy. So as pretty as I find Ben and as gentle as he was with Rey, I kinda imploded at the kiss and was so upset that I said “Nope nope nope fuck no” out loud in the theater and closed my eyes. Especially since I think the comics established that Palpatine is Anakin’s dad, and he’s also Rey’s grandfather, which I think makes Ben and Rey like…first cousins once removed or something. That was the only thing that made me genuinely really pissed off about the movie, that Reylo is…I guess canon? Even though Ben died right after? It was very very weird and I hated it. And it made NO SENSE. I liked watching Driver as Ben, but I didn't think Kylo deserved a redemption and certainly didn't want it to be that sudden and short. Him dying was also done weirdly.

Overall: Most of my complaints are just me nitpicking, with the exception of the last one. I am actually glad I went to go see it. The good does outweigh the bad for me. While I can definitively say I liked TFA and hated TLJ, I can only say this one made me feel mostly good when I left the theater. It was bad as a movie, but good to just romp nostalgically through the Star Wars universe with.

[kingsofchaos]

I really liked the line 'the dark side of the king' from your question about enforcers. would you maybe be willing to talk some more about Gavin and Ryan being terrible doing Geoff's dirty work??

TheFake’s might joke that Geoff is a pushover, too adoring of hiscrew-mates to really lay down the law as boss, but in reality thereare few men more feared than Ramsey. Few legends with more ruthlessreputations, more stories of heartless brutality; for those outsidehis limited family Ramsey is nothing less than an unmitigated horror.Still,there are certain things Geoff can’t be seen to be involved in,things he must stay above, be diplomatic about. Times when an issueneeds to be taken care of without the blowback, when there must beviolence without inevitable retribution; ferreting out moles,persuading recalcitrant informants, dealing with a problem whobelongs to a gang the FAHC are supposed to be allied with.It’seasy enough to think that in a crew with a reputation as terrible asthe FAHC there is little need for a designated ‘bad guy’. They’re allthe bad guys, just ask the citizens of Los Santos, just look at thebodies in the morgue, track down the ruins of all who have thought tooppose them. There isn’t a single member with clean hands, isn’t onewho didn’t choose this, who isn’t having the time of their life everysinge day morality be damned. And yet there are still jobs Geoffwouldn’t push any of them into, deeds too dark to be forced onto eventhe most loyal. In those cases that call for abhorrent action Geoffcan’t take on himself there is one pair he tends to turn to.Fewwould truly be surprised to hear that Ryan is one of the two who tickthis box, but that his partner in absolute depravity is Gavin wouldcatch some unaware. There are, of course, members of the crew moresuited to being paired with Ryan for all out violence, and those moreapt to accompany Gavin for subtlety, but together the pair of themare unrivalled in their gruesome innovation, their unflinchingdedication.  Thereis being willing to do the dirty work, and then there is enjoying it.Excelling at it. Relishing in the snap of bones and panickedpleading, in the creativity of cruelty, the intricate art of fear.They are violent and terrible, all wrath and retribution like thestories of old, they are a reckoning. Unlike most others there isn’teven a moment when either of them regret. Not a single hesitationbefore doing whatever must be done, no matter how terrible, howbrutally unforgivable. No threatis too dark, no act is too far, no reaction too extreme. In thisthere are no lines to cross, no moral code to offend or gods to obey.And worst of all, they enjoy it. They have fun,entertain each other, safe in the knowledge that out of sight of therest of the crew, with none but Geoff really knowing what exactlythey are up to, there is no judgement. No one who matters will thinkdifferently of them for unapologetic iniquity when they are eachother’s only witness and their ruin matches up oh so well.Gavinis delightfully petty, can whip out flippant comments and passingjokes from months or even years ago in his monologue, twist them intosome pithy one liner on the fly, like a hollywood villain without anycheesy dialogue to detract from the menace. He knows just how toframe their attack, laying out exactly what infraction has brought onRamsey’s ire and building an awful sense of suspense as hedelightedly meanders around what they are going to do about it.It’snot something that should be appealing, it’s awful really, bitterlycruel, but it makes Ryan’s sense of melodrama sing. Ryan who couldhave chosen any mask in the world but went directly for a blackenedskull. Who drops his already deep voice two octaves when he purrs outthreats and has a terrible habit of laying wait in dark corners untilhe spots the perfect moment to loom in sight. Ryan who’s never crumbled in theface of desperate begging, never seen grovelling as anything butundignified, who can’t help but appreciate the way it merely makesGavin turn up his nose, roll his eyes, toss Ryan increasinglyincredulous looks; Christ isn’t this one pathetic?Theyshare enough languages to communicate in privacy no matter thesituation but even without planning they are synchronised enough towork in tandem, playing into each others proclivities, teasingchatter as much for their own genuine amusement as it is for tauntingtheir prey. There are no hard and fast rules to their partnership-sometimes Ryan’s feeling particularly chatty and sometimes Gavin’sitching to pull out his lovely gold knives- but more often than notGavin wheedles his way into the mind of their victim before Ryanquite literally pulls them apart. Just as Gavin strokes Ryan’s egowhen he leans in and pleasantly explains all the horrific things theVagabond has done, Ryan pander’s to Gavin’s ever vicious whim; dragsthings out, slows them down, get’s disgustingly creative.There’salways been something distinctly animalistic in Gavin, the way heslinks like a predator, grins wide enough to bare his teeth, the wayhe can’t help toying with his food, but in this he isn’t Gavin Free,the Fake’s happy-go-lucky wrecking ball of chaos, isn’t the GoldenBoy, Ramsey’s unbelievably persuasive frontman; this is anothercreature all together. On these jobs Gavin is no less the showman,still all insidious cunning and attention-grabbing flash, but foronce he does nothing to disguise his own decay. Doesn’t inject falseemotion where none exists, doesn’t manufacture empathy, won’t evenpretend to give a solitary shit about anything outside his own world,his life, his people. Amusement as chilling as it is cold-blooded,crushing any hope that he might be the tempering force, that thepresence of the glittering Golden Boy will reign in the Vagabond.AndRyan, good grief Ryan. The Vagabond already has so very many torturedtales attached to his name, already inspires so much fear, but peopledo like to hope his reputation is inflated. Like to think the manbehind the mask can’t truly be as terrible as they say, must sufferthe same bouts of  guilt and mercy as anyone else. Think theVagabond’s greatest secret is the fact that at the end of the day heis just a man. The look in their eyes when they realise they arewrong, realise that while the skull may be a mask Ryanhas always been the monster, is the stuff nightmares are made of. TheVagabond isn’t soft on a good day, but in this role he is ruthless.It would, perhaps, be a relief if he were cold, detached. Would be aneasier pill to swallow if he acted with his usual air ofprofessionalism, but this? This is Ryan in his element. This is theVagabond having fun.It’sa tossup who’s better off; the victims who die slow and painful orthe ones who get to live. The ones who spill their secrets, whosuffer their punishments, and in the end are left to crawl free.Those who never really stop thinking about bloodstained teeth andrazor-blade smirks, distressingly fond banter and cold flateyes. None of them come back right, none of them return the same waythey left, have suffered terror beyond words, experienced horrorsthey will never be capable of explaining. Most wind up leaving thecity, even a passing mention of the Fake AH Crew enough to send themshaking, the possibility of another run in utterly intolerable, butthose who stay only serve to further boost the duos reputation.It’sone thing for anyone with half a brain to fear the Vagabond, it’squite another for well-known crooks to literally flee when heappears, spike classic fear-mongering rumours with far more truthfultales of vicious depravity, go to absurd lengths to steer clear ofthe FAHC at any cost. In the same vein the denizens of Los Santos canonly say Gavin’s name with increased reverence after  a mere winktossed at some thug playing muscle in the background of a meeting hasthe man throwing up all over himself. Can only be more impressed whena slow smile and whispered comment has another back-peddling so fastthe Fake’s make off with way more than they were owed.Which,of course, suits Geoff just fine, reaping the boons of the pethorrors he keeps in his pocket for a rainy day; rare, but undeniablymemorable. To see the three of them at work is a sight to behold,Ramsey strolling along flanked by his most wicked miscreants, one thedarkened menace of death incarnate, the other almost alight with hisown glittering hubris, not a scrap of restraint or morality betweenthem. They are apocalypse, are inevitable disaster, the end of allthings good and holy and with an unseen signal they peel off, leavetheir grinning king to walk alone as they melt back into the night,set free once more to hunt.

[shalegas34]

bizarre love triangle chapter 5

“It happens,” Macquarie said with a shrug. “You take risks, sometimes you lose. No risk, no return.”

Jamie Sykes had called after the news with an earbashing, but Macquarie reminded him the portfolio was designed to offer an 18% return on average. At least a couple of the 30% companies were expected to become redundant.

Sundance had folded from poor management, not a falling oil price. The equity issue had been a last-ditch attempt to save 3000 SA jobs in the Bight oilfields, but creditors had gone ahead and forced the administration. ‘Involuntary voluntary administration,’ the press was calling it.

Macquarie was up to his eyeballs in work trying to salvage something for the fund investors from the wreckage. His options were worthless now the stock had been suspended from trade, though he argued against that for all he was worth. Despite all of this, he still took time out to talk to me about the EOFY investor presentation.

“I need you to make Northstar sound good,” he urged me. “Everyone’s spooked. We didn’t even sign Sundance a month ago. I can’t let these people run.”

“I’m not sure I can do this,” I said.

“Yes, you can,” Macquarie replied. “I believe in you. Talk to Rowan, see what she can give you. Morgan Stanley was paid to sell that stock. Talk to Jule, she’s got records of clients. Find out what their interests are, and pander!”

I was sweating. I answered the phones. I couldn’t hold this kind of weight.

“It’s administrative,” Macquarie urged. “I just need you to collate information. Please.” I’d never seen his eyes so void of life. “I was up until 4 last night, video conference with the management in Texas.” He rubbed his forehead, which was starting to wrinkle.

“Things are getting a bit tough, Aurizon,” he said, meeting my eye. “The ’37 crisis hit the Sydney property market harder than anything. We couldn’t get a cent over five hundred for the house.”

My jaw dropped. Macquarie had lived in a million-dollar suburb.

“Barely enough left for a down-payment here. Sydney’s job is covering most of the mortgage. I’m not going to lie – the fund is struggling; nobody wants to touch equity right now. If we lose Jamie Sykes, I have to move the kids into a rental.”

Macquarie was crumbling before my eyes. I wanted to reach out and give him a hug.

“Come on. Let’s walk to the train station,” he said one night the next week. I was still floundering, trying to wade through the impossible quantity of information I’d been sent by Rowan, half of which made no sense with my proletarian vocabulary. I’d only just finished googling what a tranche was by this stage, and Macquarie needed a convincing presentation by the end of the month.

“This presentation is nothing more than a sale,” he said to me, as we took the lift down from the 9th floor. We were squashed together in one corner; I hadn’t seen anybody go home before eight in days. I was feeling hot, but it was probably just the cramped space. I tried not to look at Macquarie in case he misconstrued my blushing for romantic feelings. He smelled really good though, god why.

“It’s just a sale,” he said again. “That’s your goal. You only have to think about how you’re going to get there. It’s like a journey where you’re planning out truck stops.” I suddenly thought of Princess Monster Truck, who was recovering well in hospital. “Use your imagination. You’re rich and you want to get richer. What do you want to hear?”

I realised Macquarie was waiting for an answer.

“Uh…” I looked him in the face. Those eyebrows I used to love. “High returns?” I managed to rasp out, aware of all the highly educated bankers surrounding us and listening in.

“That’s definitely part of it,” Macquarie said. “And don’t be afraid to spit it out; you’d be surprised at how much you know. People want high returns, solid risk management, and legal assurance, and social responsibility is a bonus. Those are your truck stops. Put something together, then make it sound good, because the numbers only do half the job. You can make Northstar sound like a gold chest or a scam using the same numbers.”

We headed out of the building and began ambling towards Flinders Street station. I naturally wanted to walk faster than Macquarie, but I made a conscious effort to slow myself down. That was comfortable.

“You know, I was trying to explain to Sydney the other day, what it's like working with you," Macquarie said suddenly. "They didn't get it."

"Oh. It's been a while, I guess," I offered.

"Nah. They think you're fully straight and narrow... Uh, books-wise, I mean," he added quickly, considering my appearance. "But you're actually a wild card. You could do some really good shit around here."

I wasn't sure what to make of his assessment, not that I'd never been called a wild card before. It was just usually used as an insult.

"Just take some ownership of the project. I'm okay with that. It's not like I have time not to be."

We swiped our myki cards and split up at the top of the escalators. Macquarie headed for the Glen Waverley line, and I watched him disappear into the train, where he looked weirdly vulnerable without his spacious office flanking him. Times might've been hard, but that wasn't a bad direction to be heading in. I wasn't far out of the city, so I just jumped on whatever was leaving next. Frankston, maybe. I didn't even check.

---

We walked to the train together the next two nights too. I had really started labouring on this presentation when the phones were quiet. The structure was hardly a handout, but I tested it a few times on Leila until she could follow what I was trying to say. Macquarie had told me to keep it accessible to "plebs", which I assumed meant non-bankers.

My conversations with him became increasingly circular, but I stopped caring. Work became my excuse to talk with Macquarie, and I spent my days strangely passionate about interest rate hedges, and other things which had nothing to do with my life or my little side project.

"I took Travis to see Princess Monster Truck the other day," Macquarie said on Thursday night. "The nurse remembered me so she let me in. Travis loves cats." He started laughing like that was somehow an entertaining interest. "I thought of him when you yelled at me about Princess."

"You should come round and see the other one," I offered, then immediately regretted it. I realised I didn't want to see Macquarie with his family.

"We still have to catch up," Macquarie agreed. "Our schedules are crazy though. Sydney does weekend shifts, and I get to coach Travis through his debating tournament." The word "coach" was accompanied by an exaggerated wink.

"He always throws it if I'm not there. I just point at people to keep him on track, you know? Otherwise he rambles on and goes over time. It's not even cheating, but they keep threatening to lifetime ban me. Travis would throw a fit."

The corners of Macquarie's mouth lifted lazily.

"It's always the smart ones."

My face burned, but I couldn't deny the quality of that roast. I was crisping up. "Please, I won't have any skin left at this rate."

Although I bantered on the outside, I was really growing to appreciate how Macquarie had let my ridiculous breakdown, of which I was duly embarrassed, slide right off his back. No hard feelings, and he never dished me out an ounce of pity. Maybe he didn't care enough to treat me differently, but I hoped not, because I could really use a friend like that.

The week after that, after I'd knocked my presentation out on her, Leila invited me to an admin staff cocktail/quiz night on Friday.

"Come on, it'll be good. We have a banker table," she said, giggling.

"Oh yeah, who's going?" I asked casually, taking the bait.

"Jule, Macquarie, Kirk... Porter said she might."

"Macquarie..." I said, smirking as I thought of Travis's sacrifice.

"You are way too excited about him," Leila said, turning to Jo so they could laugh at me together.

"Ha," I said, rolling my eyes. So what if I wanted to hang out with him? Macquarie had been in Adelaide for a few days, going through preparations for the Northstar offer, and the office was kinda lonely. Neither Macquarie, Rowan, nor Sally was responding to anything by that point, so I figured things were heating up over there.

Meanwhile, the most action I'd seen was snatching up a pack of Bottlemen tickets that morning. I still wasn't sure how many kids there were, so I went 6 just to be safe. I could always sell one on downstairs if I'd fucked up.

Macquarie called in the evening, sounding like death warmed up. "Everything's almost ready over here," he said. "I want to get us a visit to the mine, to give you a bit of perspective, but I also need to meet with the manager." He took a deep breath. "Sally has been... well, weird. I mean, she was always keen on Northstar, but she's putting words in the directors' mouths now. About the expansion timeline."

He left it at that.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked.

"Thanks Aurizon, but I've got this," he said. "I'll let you know when your stuff's organised."

Ouch, I'd needed that. I didn't remember when I'd started thinking of myself as someone important round here.

"No problem," I replied.

We left it at that.

---

The week dragged on slowly. I wasn't going to lie, I was holding out to see Macquarie again, which was ridiculous. I tried to focus on my work. It wasn't like I had nothing to do; with new deals in the pipeline, I was getting proper business calls at a dozen an hour, pinged over from Macquarie's direct line as he bummed around in Adelaide.

Friday afternoon, I left work early to help Leila and the others set up the cocktail night venue.

The bankers arrived at 6.30, Macquarie fresh off the plane.

"Hey Aurizon," Jule said brightly, like we were best of friends all of a sudden. "How's it going?"

"Good thanks. You?" I said, sneaking a glance at the weirdly reticent Macquarie. He glanced sideways back at me and smirked.

"There was that email I never got back to you about, I'm sorry..." Jule began, before launching into what she'd prepared. She walked me through our five biggest investors and gave me some tips on their values. Jamie Sykes liked to think he was playing it safe, while Victoria Super needed real assurance. Amanda Ling could be impressed with environmental innovation, but the Tate brothers preferred reckless profits.

"We're heading out for pres," Macquarie seized his chance when Jule stopped for a breather. "But I'll introduce you first. This is Aurizon, of course. Aurizon, this is Kirk from prudentials and Porter Cleeson, head of debt."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"I've organised the Northstar site visit for us," Macquarie said. I pretended I didn't hear Porter scoff in response, and did my best to explain to her and Kirk what was I was doing.

"Ah, it's good to get Aurizon riled up sometimes," Macquarie said, with a wink to me.

"It's going to be a long night," I sniped in return, and everybody laughed.

"We'll be back before 7," Macquarie said, as the bankers filed out to hit the bigger bar upstairs.

The quiz night was a riot from the start, even though I spent most of the time on Jo's table staring at Macquarie's back. My teammates got smashed but I didn't feel like drinking.

Turned out, it was a good thing I kept my wits about me. We were placing a respectable sixth out of 14 teams when Sally Zhou turned up in a stunning cocktail dress, and sat herself down without asking at Leila's table.