#adding fractions

[er-cryptid]

Fraction Rules

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[not-quite-so-intrepid-hero]

Brennan stressing out Lou take #19654

[eight-edges]

is2g y'all were happy for Loena for one whole competition but she kept delivering and now she's enemy number one. fickle ass fandom.

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning~ <333

[jonathanbyersphd]

And so what if I extend Nancy's childhood friends to include Chrissy and Heather? It's a small town and are you REALLY going to debt me the tragedy

[serandipity]

Muses added:

Vishnal - RF4

Iris Noire - RFF (spoilers ahoy)

Iris Blanche - RFF

Sharon - RF1

Karen - HM

Mary - HM

Grey - HM

Male!B.yleth - canon divergent. Made in tandem with @agloryofuniicorns for some type of twin / clone au

Sy.lvain Gautier - FE3.H

Flayn - FE3.H

Lady R.hea - FE3.H

Ignis - FF15

Prompto - FF15

Gentiana - FF15

Aranea - FF15

[importantandunavoidable]

this stuff is about to change the whole game re: my homemade gatorade slurm

[solarpunkani]

Solarpunk Ideals and Aesthetics in Sonic Colors

--according to one Solarpunk Sonic fan specifically but dude trust me on this.

This post is the sequel/follow up to my previous post on Sonic the Hedgehog (the character) and Solarpunk Ideals, feel free to give that a read for some context! But for a basic run-down--Sonic the Hedgehog (the Dude) embodies several core Solarpunk tenants in his personality, Dr. Eggman is the antithesis to Solarpunk both in personality and in resulting actions, and I'm such a big nerd I had to split this post into 2 parts and they're still long as hell.

Special reminder: I am a Sonic nerd, have been for 10+ years now. I also have Write Too Much disease. I am going to talk. A lot. Prepare yourselves.

Special reminder part 2: Sonic the Hedgehog is not a perfect franchise, and it's owned by a corporation in the capitalistic hellscape we call life and I promise you I am aware of that. I'm not saying SEGA is Solarpunk, I am saying that parts of their franchise have Solarpunk elements. If I post this and someone skips this paragraph to instead rant at me about some unrelated shit that SEGA the Corporation Guys did That One Time Months/Years Ago I may snap. You have been warned.

Shout out to @modern-solarpunk for being a beta reader for this! Thank you for making sure I was actually being legible and coherent with this.

Let's dive right in.

Sonic Colors Let's Go Let's Go

Sonic Colors came out on the Nintendo Wii in 2010, with an alternate version made for the Nintendo DS. I’ve only played the Wii version, so we’re going to talk about the Wii version. We later got an 11 minute 2D animated short about the game, to celebrate the release of Sonic Colors: Ultimate (which was basically a remake for the Switch). Basic plot synopsis below.

Dr. Eggman claims that he’s turned over a new leaf and has created the Egg Planet Park to make up for his past deeds. Sonic is inherently suspicious, so he and Tails sneak in and start busting up Eggman’s latest evil plot--tying down planets and kidnapping alien creatures called Wisps and harnessing their powers to charge up a mind control ray and make Earth the star attraction of his space theme park. Sonic and Tails promptly set about stopping him, destroying the Eggman robots on each planet and freeing as many wisps as they can while they do so. Feel free to check out this video to see all the cutscenes.

“Ani, what’s Solarpunk about that? A space theme park made by chaining down planets is already pretty unrealistic--” let me get there.

First off, the storyline has resistance and anti-industrialization baked into it. In a sense, we’ve got anti-colonialism too (though by all means DO NOT take this as me comparing the immeasurable harms done to colonized peoples by their oppressors to little fictional alien dudes getting their juices sucked out. But Eggman literally is colonizing several planets). Since Sonic is fighting a villain who’s trying to turn all of space into his robotic wonderland, we are too--and we see this guy as the villain, since he is, which can make people think about how these themes play into other aspects of life. Or at least I did in the fifth grade. Bear with me here.

If you don’t wanna watch 50+ minutes of cutscenes originating from 2010s-era script writing, let’s look at a quote that I feel boils the solarpunk-adjacent parts of the storyline to its bare essentials.

In the 11 minute animated short, Rise of the Wisps, there’s a bit more. First off, we see the aliens resisting a bit more--in fact, there’s a group of little Wisp freedom fighters working to save other wisps before they’re… harvested, I guess is the word for it.

Do they have names? No. But in Sonic Colors we don’t even really see any Wisps with characterizing traits aside from Yacker, so I think having the next few be a band of freedom fighters is pretty cool.

Asides from admiring the visual style of this short (because man Sonic in 2D animation just feels right to me), there’s a quote that I feel fits the Solarpunk outlook on community and problem solving.

“When the problem seems too big to solve on your own, you do what you can. And maybe ask for a little help from your friends. Right?”

Like if I put that in the middle of any other Solarpunk post no one would bat an eye but I’m literally quoting Sonic the Hedgehog here.

The series as a whole, especially Sonic Colors in my eyes, is imbued with hope and standing strong in the face of difficult challenges--leaning on your friends for help when you need to accomplish bigger and better things than you can do on your own. In Sonic, that means defeating giant mech bots or mutated lizards trying to crash land on Earth or purify the world of an out of control zombot virus. For us? That can be restoring a native landscape, vouching for clean energy, starting a community garden, and fighting for what we believe in.

Now let’s talk aesthetics

The Aesthetics of Sonic Color

So we’ve got 5 planets (Sweet Mountain, Starlight Carnival, Planet Wisp, Aquarium Park, and Asteroid Coaster) and two parts of the main park (Tropical Resort and Terminal Velocity) that are playable zones in Sonic Colors. But what’s the most Solarpunky area to me?

Planet Wisp

Planet Wisp is described in the fandom wiki as “a beautiful natural planet full of vegetation and tall trees. The Area takes place during daytime, though stars can also be seen in the sky.” Another page on Planet Wisp says “when seen from space, it heavily resembles Earth,” but its not very big--described as “tiny” in the game. However, it has a wealth of “untouched, unspoiled and unmatched natural beauty”, full of blue-gray rocky canyons and mountains with valleys and fields, rock pillars, etc. covered by plants. The trees are extremely tall, with platform-tops and no other main branches. There’s also lakes and creeks. There’s a minimal level of urbanized civilization--mostly tree slides made from branches and roots and platforms and such. Overall, simplistic stuff--”its untouched nature being largely preserved by the Wisps’ harmonious way of living in nature.” which sounds great! Except this is before interference by Doctor Eggman. Afterwards, “Planet Wisp has large amounts of factories under construction, tearing apart the original plant life and rock and replacing it with red metal.” Eggman Empire-style structures like towers, half-pipes, and roads are clustered around the landscape, and there’s an unknown purple liquid polluting several bodies of water. So! Not all that great! 

‘Ani why do you find that Solarpunk?’ two reasons

A: We the player are literally here to defy the people building the factories so the planet can continue to be full of vegetation and home to its native creatures.

B: it’s pretty, okay? It’s fukin cool.

This map is so cool it was also featured in Sonic Generations (2011) and Team Sonic Racing (2019), so let’s find some pics!

But most of all, the music, you guys.

And here are some other versions of these tracks from subsequent games (Sonic Generations, Sonic Colors Ultimate) and tracks inspired by the Planet Wisp location (Team Sonic Racing)

These tracks. Especially the original ones, but oh my god these tracks. I cannot emphasize enough I feel like. These tracks feel like you uncorked a bottle labeled ‘hope, positivity, relief’ and put it to your ear. And what is Solarpunk about if not hope.

Speaking of Solarpunk and being about hope, let’s talk about the main theme for the Sonic Colors game--Reach for the Stars. If you couldn’t tell by the title alone, this song is also the embodiment of hope--in more of an upbeat, ‘we’ve got this together!’ kind of vibe, but it’s still important to me and also feels Solarpunky (at least Solarpunk-adjacent) so let’s talk about it!

(I ran out of audios I can add so we're getting Youtube Videos instead)

“I’m gonna reach for the stars, although they look pretty far! I’m gonna find my own way, and take a chance on today!” - as Solarpunks, we are reaching for the stars (the sun in particular I suppose) to find hope in a brighter future and share it with others. We’ve all got our own way of doing it, with solutions varying based on individual situations as well as what community efforts can yield, but even still we are daring to dream of a brighter future than the one most often visualized in popular culture. No matter what, we’re gonna keep striving to make changes and create a brighter world for ourselves and those who come after us.

“Just take a chance, we’ll do it right again (we’re gonna reach for the stars!) Just take my hand, we’ll take a chance tonight, reach for the stars, tonight!”

You know what else Solarpunks go crazy about? Community building! You know what else Sonic Colors covers musically? Community building! Or, more so, being open to other people’s viewpoints and communicating to resolve problems, but still!

Now keep in mind, this song is literally based around Sonic and Tails trying to communicate with an alien via a translator, but my point still stands let’s look at some lyrics.

“I’ve been here before, and I know that we must stand up tall! I’m not scared to ask when I’m not sure; we can overcome it all!” - what is community if not being able to lean on other people? Community support, mutual aid, working together to solve problems big and small, Solarpunks have got it!

“If you could tell me how to lend a hand, I would try to understand! No words could say how much I care! Together we can take a stand!” 

And let us not forget the refrain! “Speaking from nowhere else except your heart, you’ll never know if you don’t try! Listen and see the voice I carry with me: ‘Speak with your heart! Speak with your heart!’” In my humble Solarpunk opinion, this feels pretty solarpunk. One of the main things about being Solarpunk--at least, in my experience--is unabashed enthusiasm about our ideas and the colorful sustainable future we’re envisioning! Encouragement from others is what brought me to this space and what draws others to join and stay in Solarpunk spaces! From our art to our writings to our technological concepts and even our arguments all come from sincerity and passion about what we’re doing and the future we want! 

And keep in mind, these are the opening and ending themes of the game! These are the songs where the writers are trying to bottle up the essential vibes of the game into a few minutes of funky tunes! You open up the game for the first time, you hear Reach for the Stars! And after a wonderful story and the satisfaction of finishing a game, you hear Speak With Your Heart! Even the titles alone wouldn’t feel out of place in a discussion about Solarpunk ideals!

Final Words

The Sonic franchise has its flaws, but it sure does speak on hope and resistance. Is Sonic Solarpunk? Maybe not entirely, but I feel it’s got some core elements that are Solarpunk-aligned, even when it’s not always front and center like it is here. I’m not going to pretend that Sonic the hedgehog as a franchise is the pinnacle of a Solarpunk story/game--but it’s got some nice elements that could inspire other stories, and uses those elements in a way that makes people feel like they can and should take action against darker industrializing forces in their life.

Or at least it did for me, as a fifth grader. Maybe that’s not a lot. But if it can help open the eyes of a handful of kids and teens and make them feel hope? Make them feel like they could maybe find the courage to do something? Maybe that’s all we need from it.

[2leggedshark]

The day Running by Nautics comes out. I will change as a person.

[the-boundless-sea]

book!alicent was such a defiant person. she was so audacious that she sabotaged herself more than once. she bungled her plea to rhaenyra for her sons' lives because she couldn't stop herself from calling jace and luke bastards one more time. she fumbled her attempt at betrothing aegon and rhaenyra by being so brazen in her push for it that viserys saw it as transparent power grab and dismissed it outright. even after rhaenyra's son aegon was crowned king and alicent lost everything she had ever fought for, she got confined to her chambers for telling her eight-year-old granddaughter to slit her husband's throat while he slept. she was cunning and brilliant, but also often more willful than wise. she refused to back down. and i love her for that.

[kiwibirdlafayette]

its like. 2am but I am once again trying to put some kind of structure to whatever the fuck the continuity of the two main mianite timelines is supposed to be, while maintaining what was previously established that Isles is the past version of the S1 World and making whatever post canon shit ive written still work

like bro hwat is this

(Ignore the hermitcraft thing for now im still trying to decide if VH!Jordan is an extracted variant from the memories/essence of S1/S2 c!Jordan or if he’s been from a whole different timeline who experienced the happenings of Mianite but a little to the left)

[gemharvest]

I think if you defend the current state of YouTube's ads you're a complete loser and your opinion means nothing to me. ^_^ YouTube Premium is a joke of an alternative to adblock and I'm gonna be real, them upping the frequency of ads + duration (mind you a lot of my ad experience lately has been via the TV app) I have to sit through does nothing but exhaust me and the shit ways this issue has advanced makes me hope they loose revenue. When I have to sit through an ad duration that is LONGER THAN WHAT I'M EVEN TRYING TO WATCH you lose. My attention is worth more than that shit.

[00midnightrider00]

Who do you ship Kafka with?

I ship her with Blade

[flockrest]

[image ID: an ingame screenshot from the legend of zelda: tears of the kingdom focusing on tulin's ankle, where his newly accepted secret stone rests tied to a braided cord. the cord is coloured dark green, light green, white, and red. /end ID.]

hey so since i've finally said my piece on colours and meanings can i talk about this now. can i talk about what if this is not just the wack magic of a zonai artifact connecting to its new bearer, but this is how dineli chooses to pass on his stone and legacy and promise and Songs and! all the trust and belief he could ever give to someone who will "fulfil their people's role"!

now forget about the stone. forget about the grandiose things. can i just talk about the red. see through all your battles and make it back home, fledgling. can i talk about the greens!! see how the windlines are yours to command! you are a master in the making! CAN I TALK ABOUT THE WHITE?? what colour will you make of this? go and seize all that's worth seizing! ( you do not know me. i do not know you as i think i do. but i do not need more than what i have seen to show how deep my care for you runs )

[l3rking]

New Light Guide to Scout Rifles

I’m posting deranged scout stuff again.  

The loot pool in D2 is so nonsensical rn that it’s impossible to tell what comes from where without someone spelling it out. So I’m gonna do that. These are all the currently accessible best in slot legendary scouts that you can go out and get RIGHT NOW* if you wanted. 

OVERVIEW: 

I will only be going over scouts that CAN STILL BE REALISTICALLY OBTAINED. No Eternal Blazons from a random lost sector. There is a section for world drops at the end but if it doesn’t have an Origin Trait, it didn’t make the list.

Barrel, sight, mag, and masterwork options are all personal preference. Even on MnK I like to go for recoil direction first, followed by stability, handling, and then range and reload. Your mileage may vary based on personal aim skill, preference, control scheme, etc, etc. so just experiment with everything until you find what you’re comfortable with.   

THE LIST:

Night Watch (not pictured): Lightweight Kinetic. Shaw Han gives you a god roll (overflow, explosive rounds) for free just for doing the New Light quest. This is a great scout and will serve new players flawlessly. For most this will be enough. 

Trustee (not pictured): Solar Rapid Fire from the Deep Stone Crypt raid. Probably the strongest energy legendary scout in the game. I have been really unlucky with my drops and don’t have a good roll or crafted version yet. Go for Incandescent and Reconstruction and watch the world burn. 

Randy’s Throwing Knife (not pictured): Kinetic Rapid Fire. Random reward this season (S21) from crucible matches and engrams. Will be focusable next season. A previous pinnacle weapon brought back with random rolls. Look for things like Zen Moment, Rapid Hit, Kill Clip, Box Breathing, Discord, Perpetual Motion, Cascade Point, and Kinetic Tremors. 

Servant Leader: Kinetic Rapid Fire. Found from decrypting Gambit engrams with Drifter. Monstrous 2.6x zoom. Even more monstrous loot pool. Alternative to Randy’s if Gambit is more your speed. Watch for Frenzy, Kill Clip, Adrenaline Junkie, Rapid Hit, One for All, Shoot to Loot, and Subsistence. 

Doom of Chelchis: Void 180 from the King’s Fall raid. Craftable. Perks to look for: One for All, Explosive Rounds, Frenzy, Repulsor Brace. Rare Dragonfly+Firefly combo.  

Hung Jury: Kinetic 180. Nightfall drop. Best in slot Kinetic scout right now. Adept is not mandatory but recommended. Perks to look for: No Distractions, Rapid Hit, Box Breathing, Firefly, Kinetic Tremors.

Long Arm: Arc 120. Legendary version of DMT from the Spire of the Watcher dungeon. 120s aren’t the strongest rn especially with big brother DMT around. Nut it’s farmable on certain weeks and has good perks so I’d say it’s worth it. Recommended perks: Rapid Hit, Hip Fire, Explosive Rounds, Adrenaline Junkie, Opening Shot. 

Nameless Midnight: Kinetic 180. Drops from Vanguard Ops. Will be focusable next season (S23) at Zavala. Reliable workhorse. Monstrous perk pool. Luckily it means you can get pretty much whatever you want on it. Some to watch for would be Kill Clip, Keep Away, Kinetic Tremors, Slideways, Rampage, Zen Moment, Explosive Rounds, and Perpetual Motion. 

Vision of Confluence: Solar 180. Drops from Vault of Glass raid. A personal favorite. This is low on the list due to rumors about the raid getting refreshed i.e. Last Wish style. It’s been a little left behind but is still technically farmable. Small perkpool with good options. I recommend Killing, Wind, Kill Clip, Firefly, Frenzy, and Zen Moment.

Last Rite: Kinetic 120. Ritual weapon for this season. Can be earned at Rank 16 with Zavala, Shaxx, or Drifter. It’s an OK scout. Nothing stellar but it is guaranteed and I’d be lying If I’d say Reconstruction and Focused Fury were’t a ton of fun to play with. You’ll earn this naturally as you play but I wouldn’t seek it out over the other on this list.

Pointed Inquiry: Void High Impact. Found in Savathun’s Throne World. Craftable. Frankly, the sights on this scout are terrible and its stats are mediocre at best. It can get Genesis+Disruption Break but your time is better spent going after something else. 

Transfiguration: Kinetic High Impact. Drops from the Last Wish raid. Newly refreshed. A very strong scout and contender for best in slot next to Hung Jury. Watch out for the stellar Kill Clip + Rampage combo. Can also get Explosive Rounds, Kinetic Tremors, Discord, Keep Away, Demolitionist, Rapid Hit, or Rewind Rounds.   

WORLD DROP SECTION:

World drops are rare nowadays but there’s a handful of useful scouts you can get from the random purple engram you found on patrol. Good luck!

Jararaca SR3: Stasis rapid fire. You will need to get lucky for this one but Banshee and Xur sell it from time to time and it still drops in the world loot pool (i think). Perks to look for: Kill Clip, Rapid Hit, No Distractions, Tunnel Vision, Headstone.

Contingency Plan: Arc Rapid Fire. Same deal as Jararaca. Just lightning flavored. Perks to look for: Kill Clip, Rapid Hit, No Distractions, Tunnel Vision, Elemental Capacitor. 

Perses-D: Stasis High Impact. The only stasis High Impact in the game. Very strong if you’re lucky enough to get one. Stats-For-All or Rapid Hit combined with either One-For-All or Headstone is the play here. (Getting multikills with the headstone crystal can proc Stats-For-All FYI)

Glissando-47: Strand 180. New this season. Is pretty much outclassed by every other scout in this slot. Still has some valuable perks if you’re new and is sold at Banshee VERY frequently. Watch for Hatchling, Reconstruction, Overflow, Box Breathing, and Discord. 

Honorable mention to Vouchsafe which can still be earned in the Dreaming City via Blind Well and Bounties. It’s outpaced by DoC in nearly every category so I’d say go for that if you need a purple flavored scout for whatever reason. 

There are also all the exotic options. Polaris Lance (my baby), Symmetry, MIDA, DMT, Jade Rabbit, Wicked Implement, and Skyburners Oath. Implement is available this season via the Deep Dive quest and the others can be retrieved from the Lost Light Monument in the tower. Touch of Malice is a fascinating but not very useful exotic scout from Kings Fall. It is getting an unknown buff soon so if you’re doing KF for Doom of Chelchis, keep your fingers crossed for that one too. 

Hope this helps! 

*some of these are on weekly rotators so pay attention to what is available at the weekly reset!

Here is my full non-sunset-but-not-necessarily-obtainable legendary collection if you want to compare to your own vaults to see if you have any hidden treasures. I recommend everything here. Complete w/notes. 

[bizarrelittlemew]

wrote over 5k words today 🫠🫠🫠