#also damn it era 4 Rain

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Rita Moreno (Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story)—She’s an EGOT, an absolute legend for how she navigated her career as a woman of color in the fifties and sixties. Her performance as Anita in West Side Story is why I go back to that movie so many times. She is an icon and she is the moment.

Angela Lansbury (The Harvey Girls, The Court Jester, The Manchurian Candidate)—The babe, the myth, the legend. In her own words her early hollywood roles were "a series of venal bitches" and they were all glorious. Half of them wanted to kill you and you probably would have thanked them. She even goes toe to toe with Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls! That said, she was chronically underused and misused during this era - she was just 36 when she was cast as Elvis Presley's mother in Blue Hawaii and a few years later commented that she'd played so many 'old hags' that most people thought she was in her 60s. She thought she was "all talent, no looks" but she was the full package! Post-1970 I hope we all know what an incredibly talented and compassionate badass she was, but I feel like not enough people know her early roles as a hot (often villainous) young thing.

This is round 4 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Rita Moreno propaganda:

"Amazing showstopping actress in her one big memorable role as Anita in West Side Story. She sings and dances with unmatched joy and energy, and then breaks your heart with her acting. Rita took a role that felt as a stereotype to latina women and made it compelling and multifaceted. Her subsequent career was filled with mostly side roles, but she still managed to excel in whatever Hollywood threw at her."

"It’s Rita!! The EGOT herself! She can act, she can sing, she can dance, a triple threat. Obviously absolutely iconic as Anita in West Side Story (her part of the Tonight Quintet is the sexiest part of the film, fight me). But before that she was the amazing Zelda in Singin’ In the Rain!?! Thanks Zelda, you’re a real pal."

"She continues to be amazing but also she's got legs for days."

"THEE iconic rita moreno, EGOT winner, civil rights activist, theatre legend. watch her documentary "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It". also her rendition of "fever" on the muppet show"

Angela Lansbury:

"Angela Lansbury might not be where your mind goes first when you think of hot leading women, because she had a later career revival. But she began acting in the early 1940s after leaving London due to the Blitz. In the first couple decades of her film career she has an openness about her. She said she never really fit in with the Hollywood crowd and to me she gives off a friendly, untarnished vibe."

64.media.tumblr.com

64.media.tumblr.com

"Most of us know Angela Lansbury as old lady sleuth Jessica Fletcher, but it's important to know that she was smoking hot in her younger days as well as a damned fine actress. Although she didn't get lead roles until her early 40s, at 17 she was a supporting actress in films such as Gaslight (1944), National Velvet (1944), and The Picture of Dorian Grey, for which she won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress and was nominated for the Oscar. Even in her memorable performance as the manipulative mother in The Manchurian Candidate, she is listed as a supporting actress as she does not play the love interest. She was successful both on stage and screen, and won the Tony for her lead role in the musical Mame on Broadway in 1966. TL;DR While Angela Lansbury mostly played supporting roles in films before 1970, she had what it takes to be a leading actress, which we know from her success on stage and tv from the mid 60s onward"

"She looked like a princess but bit like a viper"

"Is there anything this woman couldn't do? Act in comedy and drama, sing, dance, be a wonderful human being - quite simply a true and wonderful lady."

"she is the fairytale princess of my dreams in court jester"

"god she had such an incredible career all throughout her life really but as a young lady she was just as incredible as she was in her later years. enchanting voice, amazing personality, and absolutely GORGEOUS. she lamented not having the looks to play leads in romance but that idea is so batshit because look at her??? she's one of the most terrific women of all time. also she's my grandmother's favorite actress and i truly get it"

[dreamingalto]

I was slightly bored and couldn't decide on what to do... and then I remembered the Hunger Games Simulator existed.

And I have been watching too much Dan and Phil lately...

One thing lead to another and I eventually ended up with the following:

The Phangry Games

Naming logic went something like this: Hunger to Hungry. Gotta insert the infamous Ph at the beginning. Phangry.

Also yes Pastel Phil is accidentally named Punk Phil I didn't notice the mistake until after I began.

And it turned out 1000% more entertaining than I ever thought it could be.

So right off the bat, we have BIG Dan and Craftie Dan planning their fishing trip while Hiatus Dan is staying in character and fucking right off.

Then a couple of them are fighting for bags but the bloodbath is staying pretty safe right now.

In fact, there is only 1 death during the bloodbath.

Thought that meant that Day 1 was going to be a slow start but I SPOKE WAY TOO SOON! First, one of the craftie boys bites the dust to an infection of all things. Apparently HE doesn't provide medical care for infections.

Interactive Introverts Phil also tried to get rid of the current Phil but he managed to escape. So really, no harm no foul.

Then the Acid Rain started and DAMN DAN AND PHIL (spoiler: especially Dan) CAN NOT SURVIVE ACID RAIN VERY WELL AT ALL!

The day ended with only 11 survivors. 7 Phils and 4 Dans. PINOFs, Punks, Crafties, and WAD Era have all been completely eliminated!

At this point, I decide I am rooting for the 2009 boys, Sister Daniel, or COTY and Revival (AKA the Current/2024) Phil. But I was also just immensely amused at how quickly the simulator popped off this time.

The first night was pretty quiet with no deaths or anything occuring. Some of the Phils snuggled up together while Revival Phil snuggled up with 2009 Dan.

Then almost immediately on Day 2, a group with both the 2009 Boys, COTY Phil, and Sister Daniel actually raid Revival Phil's camp. So 10/10 on the betrayal there 2009 Dan.

It stays quiet the rest of day 2. AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH ON NIGHT 2!

Phil STOP TRUSTING 2009 DAN HE LITERALLY HELPED RAID YOUR CAMP EARLIER!

But besides the whole trust and betrayal plot with those two, we have both of the hiatus boys deciding that it was time to start the hiatus for everyone else.

Hiatus Phil going for the more strategic kill as Pastel Phil is only Phil who has a kill up to this point.

Day 3 brings the feast. And just like BIG Dan tripped and died during the acid rain...

Coming out of the closet apparently involved tripping out of the closet.

The feast also included the continuation of the Hiatus Boys kill streak with them getting rid of half of the remaining Dans.

I really apperciate Hiatus Dan's commitment to lore accuracy.

This left only 6 tributes for the rest of Day 3.

Which turned to the final five tributes almost immediately with 2009 Phil finishing off the TATINOF era team.

All that is left in the Final Five is the 2009 Boys, the Hiatus Boys, and Revival Phil.

Night 3 is pretty quiet. But Day 4 ends up leveling the playing field with Hiatus Phil accidentally eating toxic berries.

Nothing in particular happens on Night 4 EXCEPT for the fact that 2009 Dan is now snuggling up with Hiatus Dan.

AND WITH A TASTE OF HIS OWN BETRAYAL MEDICINE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, Hiatus Dan tries but fails to eliminate 2009 Dan in the morning of Day 5.

After the failed attempt to eliminate 2009 Dan, Night 5 is actually pretty quiet. But on Day 6, Hiatus Dan sets his sights on the 2009 team again.

This brought us to the final three. 2009 Dan and Revival Phil, who both have no kills so far. And Hiatus Dan, who has brought a hiatus to at least three other Dans/Phils.

I don't have that much faith in either 2009 Dan or Revival Phil, but anything can happen in this simulator.

And on Night 6:

Revival Phil, in a bit of an ironic twist of following lore accuracy, put an end to Hiatus Dan while 2009 Dan actually ended up on fire.

No I am not sorry for that last sentence.

THIS MAKES PHIL THE WINNER OF THE ENTIRE PHANGRY GAMES!

The simulation turned out a lot more dramatic than I have experienced in the past (with the whole underlying Trust/Betrayal Plotline that ended up emerging with the final three) and was so funny to go through.

Here is a link to the simulator in case this post reminded you this simulator existed and you wanted to try it for yourself.

(The above link should load up the DnP Season as shown in the first image but it might not work after around three months due to the websites saving policy)

[cosmerelists]

The Most Annoying Things about Living on Era 1 Scadrial

[Previously: The Most Annoying Things About Living on Roshar]

Once again, this list is focused on things that are just annoying, rather than straight-up unconscionable and/or horrifying--you know, like all of the violence and abuse and slavery. Putting all of the actual bad bad aside, what sorts of things about living in the world of Era 1 Mistborn would just be bothersome?

1. Ash. Ash everywhere.

It would just be so...dirty. Ash on your skin. Ash in your hair. Ash dusting every surface in your home. Ash in your food. You'd just feel so dirty, all of the time. Like, I'm the sort of person who gets frustrated after a few days in a hotel because everything on the bathroom sink is just inevitably kinda damp after a while and there are never enough little towels to dry everything off. Scadrial would be like that, only way, WAY more annoying.

2. ACAB...only with more body horror

Like, yes--Scadrial is a terrifying police state full of cops who can kill you with their mind. But that's over on the "actually horrifying" side of things. For my purposes, there's also the fact that these monstrous officers of the autocracy have, just, spikes sticking straight out of the back of their head through their eyes. I do not like horror. I do not like body horror. I'd be over there trying not to gag just from how gross they looked as they, well, killed all of my loved ones or whatever.

3. No greenery, no flowers

Like, not only is there ash and body horror everywhere, but everything is also just...brown. The plants are brown. There aren't any flowers. I'm with Mare on this one. It was be sad to not see color anywhere.

4. Depression can be outsourced

Emotional allomancy is a pretty anxiety-inducing concept, so far as I'm concerned. It's like the half-joking fear that one day advertisers will find a way to inject ads directly into our brains, only in this case, people really can make you unavoidably depressed or curious or wanting-to-fetch-Breeze-some-wine. I already can't trust my emotions half the time--this would make it so much worse!

5. Mistwraiths are not as cute as racoons

Yes, they may both be scavengers out there doin' their thing and not really hurting anyone, but please mentally compare a fuzzy raccoon with its little raccoon face and little racoon hands and then imagine that it's a mistwraith digging through your garbage instead. I think we can agree on which one would be worse.

6. No stargazing

Oh, you want to go on a romantic or platonic outing to go gaze up at the wondrous night sky? Hell no! The world is crusted in ash and mist and all is darkness. Sorry.

7. People keep dropping coins on your head

Maybe there aren't tons of people who, like me, have a vague fear that someone will drop a coin off a building above you and brain you in the head. But on Scadrial, that is a real concern. There's Mistborn flying all over the damn place flinging money at each other. Some of that is gonna rain down on innocent people below, is all I'm saying.

I don't think Scadrial is for me.

[its-all-ineffable]

Hello hello! Fellow AMC IWTV fans I need your help. Some of you may know this, but in 2022, after the show came out, I planned fanfiction series' for the show, based on songs from Taylor Swift's album Midnights.

Now, I have completed one series already - Anti-hero, linked here - and I'm 3 fics away from completeing the current series - Mastermind, linked here.

Now, I need your help deciding which series I should do next. A short description of the series is below the poll!

DETAILS BELOW:

The Great War - Loustat, Louis & Lestat centric fics that are mainly angst, set during both seasons and post s2. Also 2 AU/canon divergent fics that take episode 5 in different directions, with one consisting of 4 fics.

Karma - A series exploring 'karma' - how past actions bring about present situations for all the characters, primarily Louis and Lestat. Set during series 1 and 2, with some fics being post series 2.

Bejeweled - Primarily Loustat angst with a couple being more hurt/comfort, set mainly during the course of both seasons, with the last one being an extended version of their season 2 reunion.

Midnight Rain - Armandaniel (Armand x Daniel) centric fics, primarily focusing on their relationship before the series, in the 'Devil's Minion' era, and the last few focusing on them post s2.

Would've, Could've, Should've - Louis centric fics, mainly taking place throughout the seasons 1 and 2 and post s2 finale (canon divergence), heavily self-reflective.

You're On Your Own, Kid - Claudia centric fics, taking place primarily in season 1, but also in season 2 (drawing some parallels); mainly her thoughts on what she sees and feels.

Paris - Loustat & Armandaniel fics mainly focusing on loving and fluffy times between the two couples, both pre & post seasons, with links to Queen Of The Damned (what I imagine it may be like in the show) in most fics; also bookended with the four main characters being in each other's company.

High Infidelity - A series exploring the complex relationships between Lestat, Louis, Armand and Daniel, focusing on the 'infidelity' between all of them (as well as Daniel's wives & Antoinette) and how their relationships have changed and developed with each other over time.

Maroon - A Loustat series set over both seasons, and also post s2; mainly angst and hurt/comfort fics. Focusing on their romance and how it changes and develops overtime.

Lavender Haze - A Loustat series focusing on how others percieve them, judge them and try and keep them apart.

[waytooinvested]

Forgotten, Not Forgiven - Chapter 4

Still reeling from finding out the truth herself, Lena suddenly finds herself in the midst of an odd role reversal in which she knows that Kara is Supergirl, but Kara no longer has any idea she has ever been more than an ordinary human. And what’s more, Lena has no choice but to keep the truth from her for her own protection…

Rift era reconciliation/fix-it fic, starts out kind of on the angsty side but there will be more fluff later and plenty of bonding.

This and previous chapters are also on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back home in her penthouse Lena headed straight for the kitchen, not bothering to pause long enough to remove her jacket or shoes.

It turns out that you were just too incompetent to work it out. You’ve really let me down Lena.

She pulled a glass out of the cupboard, half filled it with chardonnay, then stared down into the pale liquid for a few seconds, as if it might offer her some words of comfort to replace the relentless echo of all that had happened in Lex’s bunker.

She’s just like you – a lesser imitation of the real power in her family.

Lena drained the contents in a single long swallow, shuddering as the chilled wine hit the back of her throat.

I would love to believe you, but that can’t possibly be true.

She looked down at the glass in her hand, twirling the stem between her fingers as she contemplated the last couple of drops at the bottom.

I can think of a Luthor who might think that something like that was fitting revenge, but it’s not Lex.

Then she threw it against the wall.

Hard.

It shattered, raining sharp fragments over the kitchen floor.

Good.

Lena left the glittering pieces where they lay and took out a whiskey tumbler, her movements deliberate and precise as she slammed it onto the worktop almost hard enough to crack the crystal, a counterpoint to the furious tremble that kept trying to assert itself in her hands.

She refused to let so much as a tremor show itself as she poured a triple measure from the dusty bottle she kept at the back of her drinks cabinet. It was rougher than her usual choice of scotch and lacked the subtle complexity of a fine sipping whiskey, but Lena wasn’t in the mood for slow savouring. She wanted to knock it back and feel it all the way down to her stomach.

She wanted it to burn.

Lena had let Lex live the last time they’d met, and to repay her he had taken the one person she least wanted to have to care about and forced her into a position where she had no moral choice but to actively save her; then behaved like he had done her a favour as he left her to be blamed for his crime by someone she had once called a friend.

She had helped Alex and the DEO to track down the missing Supergirl and had been on the point of getting her out safely, and yet had ended up right back where she always did – tarred with the Luthor brush and assumed to be a villain.

And as for Kara: somehow even unconscious Kara had managed to draw to the surface all the vulnerability Lena did not want to admit to herself she possessed and reignite the searing flame of a betrayal that simultaneously overshadowed and was dwarfed by how much she had loved her before all this happened.

Well, let them.

It was over now, and they had got all the amusement they were going to get from her.

She had done her part and got Kara safely home. She had warned the DEO what would happen if they convinced Supergirl of her identity without finding a way to circumvent Lex’s trap, and even shot her own brother (albeit unsuccessfully) in an attempt to stop any further harm being done. Alex and the entire DEO would be working on Kara’s case from now on, and it was clear that they neither needed nor wanted her help with that. She had nothing to feel guilty about, and she didn’t owe them another second of her time.

From now on, they could damn well manage without her, and if they tried to rope her in again-

Lena’s cell phone rang.

Out of habit, she pulled it out her pocket and stared at the name on her screen.

Alex.

Fucking nerve.

She looked at the ringing phone in her hand for a long moment before jabbing the screen to reject the call.

Only it seemed that the half glass of wine and single swallow of whiskey she had managed to consume so far must have gone to her head faster than usual, because somehow she had hit the accept icon instead, and now she was holding the phone to her ear as if she had any intention at all of speaking to Alexandra Danvers, now or ever again.

Which she absolutely did not.

‘What do you want Alex. Did you call to tell me you’ve changed your mind and you’re coming to arrest me after all? Because it’s not a wise move to tip off your criminals in advance like that’.

Well, maybe a nice cathartic argument was exactly what she needed right now.

‘No, of course not... I actually called to thank you for your help getting Supergirl back, and to apologise. I was beyond out of line with how I treated you today, and I’m sorry. No matter how bad it looked I should never have assumed the worst like that – I know you would never hurt Kara the way Lex did. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I tend to get kind of over protective when I think Kara’s in danger and this time you got caught up in that... it’s no excuse, but I wanted you to know. I really am sorry Lena’.

That was… not what she had been expecting. The apparently sincere apology slightly took the wind out of her sails, though it was far from good enough. After all, apologising after the fact was easy. It didn’t mean that if something like this ever happened again, they wouldn’t find themselves right back where they had been, with Alex’s gun aimed squarely between Lena’s eyes as she reduced her to nothing more than another scheming Luthor.

‘Apology noted’.

Her tone crackled with the ice she hadn’t bothered to add to her drink, and Alex must have sensed that she was about to hang up on her, because before Lena could tap the end call icon she called out again, at a volume clearly intended to be heard by someone who had pulled the phone away from their ear.

‘Wait! Lena, I also wanted to check on how you’re doing. Today was a lot, and I can’t imagine how I’d be feeling right now if I’d been put in a position where shooting Kara felt like the only option I had left’.

Lena should have hung up anyway, but it was such a patently ridiculous false comparison that she couldn’t resist getting drawn in long enough to refute it.

‘Yes, well, Lex and Kara are hardly the same, are they?’

‘No, but he’s still your brother, and that can’t have been an easy choice to make. I honestly don’t know if I could have made the same one in your position’.

Of course she couldn’t have, Alex would always put Kara’s life ahead of anyone else’s. It had been one thing they used to agree on.

‘That’s because you’re not a Luthor’.

Not a scorpion. Not like Lena.

‘And you’re not as ruthless as you’re making out. I’m sorry I let myself forget that today, but you shouldn’t. You saved Kara. Even after everything that happened between you, you called me and offered to help get her back, and then you did. I owe you for that. I truly hope that we can find a non-lethal way to deal with Lex once and for all, but if it ever really comes down to it and there is no other choice, I will take the shot myself’.

Lena stared down at the phone in her hand, as if that might somehow help her take in the vehement resolve in Alex’s tone as she promised to shoot Lex Luthor.

Maybe she had a little more sting in her tail than Lena had given her credit for.

‘I thought the DEO didn’t kill these days’.

‘We don’t if we can help it, and I won’t if there’s another way. I don’t want to be a killer. But sometimes there is no other way, and if we reach that point with Lex, you shouldn’t have to be the one to do it’.

There was a lump in Lena’s throat that she couldn’t entirely explain.

It wasn’t gratitude.

It was just that she had never imagined that someone else would offer to do this just to spare her from being the one who had to kill him. Lex was her brother. Her problem. Her responsibility. It was a burden she had borne for years without any expectation of relief.

Not that she intended to lay it down now.

But even so…

She sighed, hearing the whoosh of her breath crackle through the speaker and across the miles that separated them to reach Alex’s ear, a wordless acknowledgement of an offer she couldn’t bring herself to say thank you for right now.

‘I assume this is the part where you ask me to help you find a way to get Supergirl back?’

‘Honestly? Yeah, we could really use your help. You know how Lex operates better than any of us, and you are mind blowingly good at off the cuff inventions for things no one else would even consider possible. I would love to have you on this. But that’s not why I called you, and if you decide that the way you feel about Kara and the rest of the DEO means you can’t or won’t do that I will understand. You have already done more for her than we had any right to expect’.

If Alex had tried to persuade her to help Lena would have been able to dig her heels in and refuse, and wouldn’t even have felt bad about it. It was true. She had already saved Kara, and there was no immediate risk to her life or to anyone else’s. She did not have to do this.

But somehow, when it became a genuine choice that she could say no to without consequence, Lena found herself unable to do so. She wondered fleetingly whether Alex knew that, and was trying to reverse psychology her into helping them with Supergirl, but she didn’t think so. Alex was a good Director and a genius in her own right in her field of bio engineering, but, as demonstrated by what had happened in the bunker, subtlety was not her forte. If she had called Lena with the goal of getting her to help undo Lex’s meddling, she would have asked outright.

Besides, this wasn’t just about Kara and whether or not she would get to be Super again one day. As the increasingly hysterical news articles about the disappearance of Supergirl proved, the entire city had become so reliant on her to save them that they didn’t know how to function without her, and innocent people were eventually going to die because of that.

‘I’ll help’.

‘Seriously? Lena, thank you. It’s really good to have you back on the team’.

‘Let me be clear here Alex. I will help Kara get her memories of Supergirl back, but that’s it. We are not friends, and this doesn’t changed what happened between us before Lex interfered’.

‘Fine, we’re not friends’.

Lena could almost hear the exasperated eye-roll taking place at the other end of the line, but she ignored the tone and took Alex at her word.

‘Good, just so long as we’re clear. Now, fill me in on where you are with Kara’s case and I’ll get started’.

‘That might take a while, and I need to finish the rest of the tests and collate the results first. Meet me at Al’s at 6pm tomorrow and we can go through it then. I feel like we’re going to need a drink for this’.

[nomsfaultau]

Daily ask №16!

A mashup of random questions edition!

I've seen screenshots from a discord server with all of the fault characters in your posts. Is it like a private rp server where you roleplay? Do you roleplay with friends? Am confusion

What is each character's and yours favourite weather?

Headcanoning that Evil english would just be slang. From all centuries combined. So like. "Hii, how goes't doing? We sh0ulda sl@y on dis mew1ng rendezvous cuz YOLO n me fam iz gonna bee there. Omg did ya 1nv1te that anti-skibidi loose woman with negative rizz 2?? Damn, ur a real hater." (Hi, how is it going? We should try our best at this gym session because you only live once and my friends are going to be there. Oh my god, did you invite that childish ugly prostitute too? Wow, you are a real asshole.). Like, can you just imagine Wilbur actually speaking like that? Just.. casually? Sounds great to me. (I dare you to try and write a sentence in that style.)

Which any characters from Fault would you want to have as plushies? What types of plushies would they bee, do you think? (Tommy as a weighted plushie because of that drawing on him sleeping on Phil and them both being in denial about his size?)

Are you going to participate in the artfight this year? If yes, then account link maybe?

1.It’s from a small scp server with irl friends. The plot lines were crazy. It’s been dead for over a year, but I’m the funniest guy alive and wanted to share the highlights.

2. I personally like the wtnv weather, and thunderstorms. Tubbo hates rain and wind and cold for bee reasons. Actually I think all of them hate the rain, Tommy gets worried about contamination, The Blade takes forever to dry and smells awful, Wilbur rarely had a roof over his head. Phil’s probably fine since he can just evaporate it and has nice wings for umbrellas. But he personally likes when it’s scorching, since he likes sunning himself like a lil lizard. The Blade likes the wind, how it ruffles through his fur and allows him to smell really far which is good if Foundation goons are coming. Wilbur goes for overcast days, since too bright can sometimes limit the effectiveness of the void. Also a very slight wind, not too much to move its hair from blocking the void but also enough that movements beneath can be handwaved as a breeze. Tommy prefers colder weather, since he wears sleeves a lot.

3. Oh God. Yes I think Wilbur could deffo speak like that, since I think a component is distinguishing between modern and archaic terms since otherwise it would have a very different speech pattern. Wilbur would know what skibidi means even if I don’t. Let’s see.  

“Okay bit of a red flag but an oomfie of mine was rbing from someone who’s moots with the F*und@t10n. Like do they NOT know they’re my opps w straight up ohio level rizz ifkyk. Kinda sus ngl. I’m going to unal1ve them since I’m in my villain era and quirky like that.”

Poor Phil is completely and utterly lost. Tubbo could keep up a little because they have grandkids.

4.I want a The Blade plush sooo much. So incredibly fluffy. I think he’s one of the reversible plushies where the other form is a blood splattered Blood God. Tommy should be a little chibi head with the weight to it so kids can chuck him at each other and get in trouble with their mom. Tubbo too and they have little charms attached, like some bees and little representations for the Hive. Phil is in dragon form, super long, and has a wire so you can position him in loops and what not. Wilbur is frowning in a cute way and the void is a pocket where you can store snacks and whatnot. 

5. I’m not really sure what art fight is! :D

[forevertrueblue]

Okay after thinking it over and taking everything into account (aka not just my personal preferences) I think this is probably what I would have cut:

- The Archer (I hate this cut but, like, I get it)

- either I Knew You Were Trouble or change All Too Well to the shorter version

- Tis The Damn Season

- The 1 or My Tears Ricochet (I would much prefer the latter but I get the former too)

- Bad Blood

- Mastermind and/or Midnight Rain

- maybe a Reputation song but idk which one tbh? and I think 4 songs for that era is fine

Also with Folkmore if she wanted to cut a costume change I'd have them back-to-back but not mixed. Imagine the warm Folklore visuals changing seasons to the cold, dark Evermore woods. (Willow would start this set in my mind so that transition would be amazing too.)

[turbo-systems]

damn i never noticed that, poor dude is depressed having a breakdown in the rain and then going to church to pray the heartache away will his suffering ever end 💔 he finally went indoors tho

please do yap about it i'm very interested :)

i think when he's not locked in he just doesn't give a shit he'll say anything like in ienomi where he made dirty jokes about his ex wife and his gf at the time

okkie so MAKES REVOLUTION technically doesn't have a theme since its his debut album but it was meant to be just a provocative eyecatcher. Restoration Level 3 was meant to be the 3rd Level TMR has reached, being that MAKES REVOLUTION was first level and the summer tours at the time was the 2nd level. This ties into LEVEL 4 since it was meant to extend the project further down the line. Then there's the Joker tours, okay for clarification, Joker '97 (or Jorker if u wanna go by the official trading card name) Triple Joker, King of Joker and Joker Type 2 are all different things. Joker '97 is the name of the live tours TMR did right after Restoration Level 3. Triple Joker is the name of the album, KING OF JOKER was the main concert for 98 while Joker Type 2 was the tours that were happening right before the FORCE era. Notably, the main theme song for that time, Joker, refers to the theme of the album which was TMR going crazy somehow. KING of JOKER is more complicated because there's like 4 costumes but the main two (both on the left) are the ones used for the concert. From looking at the concert itself, I guess it represents a transformation to a beast I think.

Joker Type 2 is just military themed. The Force on the other hand is more sillier and vibrant. The Force was made to represent both the Force from Star Wars and the force of nature referencing off of the album cover. For this one, I guess the apparent theme is just death and life from what u can see, also this is the first album to show two TMRs interacting with each other, kinda like Seventh Heaven but more older.

Now for TMR-E, this is a doozy because this is the most apparent time in the project where there was a storyline actually in the making. So right after LIVE REVOLUTION '99 THE FORCE, both Takanori and DA sealed up TMR and started to work on TMR-E together which was meant to be like a continuation sort of thing. The storyline for this was that they died and had to find their way back to unseal TMR. Storywise, the MV of Kageroh shows the both of them covered in blood and beaten up, representing the death of them emotionally and physically. Gekkoh was the point where they were ascending up to the moon but started to break free from their emotionless prison, seeing that Takanori at some point starts to visibly show anger towards the viewer. Winter Dust is the last of the MV and shows them attempting to unseal the project within the moon. Despite this being the last TMR-E MV, the project actually didn't get unsealed until the LIVE ARENA '2000 concert (aka my favorite concert). The concert was amazing because it depicts the unsealing in the most awesome and TMR way possible. Not only did TMR and DA change the concert's theme to orchestra to synth rock, they blew up the damn sealings in Winter Dust and started playing bangers. Now, it might be obvious that BLACK or WHITE vers 3 is ofc included in the story but HEAT CAPACITY also plays a part in this. (also to mention that the star motif used in TMR-E is also used in the MV for Heat Capacity) The thing with Heat Capacity was that it was meant to be an angier parody of the already popular TMR songs HIGH PRESSURE and HOT LIMIT with the recording crew being in the background and being about summer. Instead of this song being like 'Im freaky and I wanna be with you!' the song takes a more dreaded approach as the song is about TMR feeling intense anxiety/frustration and dealing with them incorrectly through power. And I guess how Progress fits here is that the album represents a Progress forward for TMR. The main theme of the album is TMR trying to find his way within the subways of London, maybe being an indirect sequel to the Der Freischutz/LOVE SAVER storyline. The album is way more somber compared to the FORCE but switches up as it goes from hopeless to hopeful, sorta like a realization that you can't be in despair all the time. Anyways, thats it for now, I would love to get into coordinate, seventh heaven and esp vertical infinity but those are way more complicated than the first few albums, hope u enjoy this yap session

ALSO PLEASE TELL ME WTF TMR SAYS IN HIS IEMOMI SESSIONS IM BEGGING

[zoeology31]

*emerges from today's game covered in blood* Series win, never a doubt!

Nice to see the team get their hitting mojo back late last night and today after that disaster of an offensive hangover the first two games in Pittsburgh. Across the past two series, the Twins have scored 37 runs, allowed 26, and finished 3-3. Baseball!

Pretty solid turn through the rotation after the guys got knocked around in Houston and New York. Ryan looked great, SWR threw 96+ (!?!?!?), Paddack threw 97+ (feat. velo whisperer Cole Sands), and Louie held his own in the spot start. Bullpen has been solid too, with one uh. notable exception.

Thielbar's comeback was such a great story and he's been a fantastic pitcher for us in this current era, and talking about his season feels like sending a beloved pet to the farm upstate, but man. I think this is it. He just doesn't have it anymore, and these last two days have been absolutely brutal to watch.

The offense really picked him up today though, and almost did so yesterday, which has been a wild swing over the course of the week. Lewis is the franchise, Miranda, Margot, and Santana have all been on a tear lately, even Farmer and Vazquez have put up solid June numbers. Also special shoutout to Correa, who's hitting over .500 since porching one in Yankee Stadium last week, capped off with his first career 5-hit game today! That combined with his characteristic stellar defense (error today notwithstanding) and damn, it's always great to have him on the team. He's playing like he saw that poll from The Athletic and/or the Neal tweet lmao.

Let's go back to the score from today, because. 17-9??? Every Twin in the starting lineup reached at least twice, five had at least three hits, and the team combined for 24 hits, their most since 2017 (team record 28). Ten players had an RBI and the team was 11-for-17 with RISP. The combined score ties last year's Cleveland blowout, a game in which position players pitched five half-innings. Everyone's making football score jokes. And it wasn't even at Coors Field! Absolutely wild times.

(Also the game was under 4 hours with a 37-minute rain delay in the middle, in this house we love the pitch clock.)

Nice long early-summer homestand, with the City Connects on-field debut and the annual Pride Day lined up for this weekend. It's a great time to get out to the ballpark and enjoy some baseball, so let's keep it rolling.

[brb-on-a-quest]

For the writer asks: 4, 15, 27, and 30 <3

HI IGGY!! :) :) :) tysm; i haven't actually looked through most of these yet so I should do that first XD. Numbers are from here

4- (story idea I haven't written yet)

Ok so I have started this one but then decided I hated it so it's mulling on the back burner until I have more energy to rehash it out for better stuff is part of The Doctor and The Butler storyarc(?world?) at this point, but basically the robins all take the Doc on a Proper Road Trip and it All Goes To Chaos(tm) because the Doctor Does Not Do RoadTrips in the slightest because he just pops in and out of time on a whim and doesn't seem to do great in small spaces for more than 15 minutes (basing this on the cube episode in the Matt Smith Era). It'd be good but it needs a certain... vibe yk? haven't gotten there.

15- (favorite weather for writing). Not a weather, but I can only write when it's dark outside bc then I don't feel about about not doing homework/other things. Rain is also good tho.

27- (Favorite part of writing process). The part in Brainstorming where it all starts coming together and you're just squealing like your twelve and some cool people just invited you to hangout with them, and then you start writing and everything goes smoothly.

30- (Share a fic you're proud of)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm I don't have any full-length WIP done for you to look at but I think I have some assignments (checks through old google documents) lmao no what assignments (shoves them all into the fireplace). Let me give you the beginning of one of my current WIPS that im really proud of currently even if I've been writing and rewriting it so many times.

It wasn’t even close to the moonset when hands and voices raised them from sleep. “Misha, Rose. On your feet. It’s your turn now.”  “Ugh, just kill me now,” Rose muttered as she and Misha both sat up blearily. “Be quicker and easier.” “That’s the coward’s way out. Also, way too expensive.” Misha stood up and rubbed her eyes. “How much fest prep do we gotta do still, Dani?” She watched as the freckled elf started climbing to the top bunk.  Daeneryl flopped down on her mattress, clutching a fat feather pillow, with a yawn. “Just drinks, but those are last minute.”  “Oh, and be careful how you tread around the old man today.” Fayley peeled off her slippers from her feet as Misha and Rose got dressed into their outfits for the day. “Got a new run of trash gryphons. Damn pests.” “Thought Sammy took care of all that?” Rose sighed as she pulled a brush from the vanity table to untangle a sea of unruly curly hair. Starting from the bottom, she winced every time she had to pull it through to the end.  “He was supposed to. Says he did his whole ‘pied piper act’ which he did, but apparently these are a different breed.” Dani sighed. “Nick’s looking into wizard enchantments.”  Eventually, Rose gave it up and threw it all up in a slicked-back ponytail, held in place with an assortment of ribbons and pins. “One day, I swear, I’m just going to take a knife to this and hack it off.” “You’ve been saying that for five years,” Dani laughed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” “Watch me.” Rose grimaced. Misha shook her head silently as she braided the front sections of her hair and tied it back with a bright orange ribbon that matched her flowing skirt. It was one of her favorites because it made her stand out in a crowd that mostly wore shades of brown and black for practicality. She slipped into her boots and crouched down, waiting for Rose.

Rose caught sight of her and rolled her eyes. “You’re asking for it. Fayley, your count.”  There was a muffled “Go” and fingers interweaved the laces with their corresponding hooks. They looked up when they were finished, approximately the exact same time. “Call that one a draw, I suppose.” Rose shrugged. “Come on, let’s get some food before we have to deal with life.”

[morporkian-cryptid]

Really quick update without photos because I didn't have time to write yesterday. Or today. I'll write more later!

Day... 5 I think

We went to the region of Hakone yesterday, at the foot of Mount Fuji; gorgeous place, I felt like I stepped right into a Ghibli movie, nature everywhere, pine-covered mountains, water-filled moss, tiny forest trails and everything. It was raining too ❤️

We took the rope train to the Mt Fuji viewpoint but sadly it was too cloudy and we didn't see the mountain.

Next we took a trip on a GODDAMN DUTCH SAILBOAT (it was actually cheating, it used only the motor) that was gifted by the Netherlands to Japan in the Meiji era.

We saw the floating torii at Hakone Jinja

did some easy hiking in the countryside, and even came across a small trail that suddenly got super dark - Aime: "There has to be yokai here." Me: "It's like Spirited Away! Sweet, I can have my own Ghibli adventure!" Aime: "If we see a yokai I'm throwing you at it."

Day 6

We left early in the morning for KYOTO!

It is said that Kyoto is the capital of temples and shrines, and boy people aren't lying. We found a street that was just temple after temple after temple. Basically they have complexes with a bunch of temples or shrines together.

We found a super cute little temple to Jizo (Buddha protecting mothers and children), tucked away between two buildings, where I got my Goshuincho stamped - we even saw the priest do the calligraphy himself!

I bought twin omamori as a gist in another cute little temple, where the priest took a moment to pray over the omamori before giving them out.

There was a shrine where two separate people left senbazuru (one thousand folded paper cranes). And I found my first shrine to Inari-sama!! (my favourite shinto deity.) We're going to visit the world-famous Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine in a few days.

We ate at a seafood restaurant in the middle of a covered gallery with TONS of food stalls, like EVERYWHERE, with mostly fish and seashells, like I cannot even begin to describe the ambiance of this place. Some of them were just fisherman shops with like one or two tables in case someone wanted to eat lunch. I bought a squid skewer 🐙

Then we tried to go to Jijo Castle, lost a lot of time registering for the disabled discount, and rushed the thing in ten minutes because we had to get to Kinkakuji before closing time.

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillon, is just as gorgeous as the photos suggest. The park itself is beautiful too.. and we had to rush through the whole thing again (even run) because the Goshuincho bureau closed at 4:30. We went back into the park after I got my stamp tho. (there was a really nice security guard who showed us the way.) And I bought yet another omamori 😁

Oh and I found my first kimono thrift shop!!!!! I didn't find anything that caught my eye, but DAMN they were cheap as fuck and so pretty. We'll visit more thrift shops in a few days.

Now we're on our way to a ryokan hotel with a luxury dinner and animation with a maiko (a geisha apprentice) and an onsen. It's gonna cost an arm and a leg but it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience ❤

(also I need to go to an onsen so bad, my feet are going on strike)

[raininglamppost]

Hi Tumblr

I've returned to Tumblr after many a year - mostly due to seeing a buncha art I can't show appreciation for without an account here - but also it'd just be nice to have a place that isn't twitter to post my Stuff

I've been working on a horror game called FriendShapes for almost 4 years and it's extremely close to finished (needs 8 songs and more internal testing then it's gold) - as well as fleshing out the universe that almost all my games are set, as after Era 1, (the end of which is where FriendShapes is set) due to Happenings and Goings On from a future planned game, Blessed be the Damned (that I've wanted to make for 11 years) the world ends up with a whole lot of different sentient life, all with their own deals, designs and cultures

It'd be nice to just be able to share them and for it to not feel like a drop of rain in the ocean like with twitter, so yeah I'm here now and I hope I can make n show some stuff of mine that'll be cool 👋✨

Also this is Raddy, he's my music maker mascot and is -also- a character for -another- game, Raddykill which I also wanna make (... after the next 2 games also planned) 💦

[marshmallowsqoosh]

[Ghost (Band) | Overheated (preview)]

I actually write a lot more than I post lmao. idk if people would be interested in the disjointed stuff but here’s what happens when sentient marshmallows have bad days. They write violence with little to not context. Just a matter of whether or not they bully Terzo and Omega or Sodo and Aether. ...Or others, I’m being bribed towards Swiss and Rain and various other combinations. (Read: Sqoosh is a weak ho) also constantly forgetting dewther applies to what i write because i don’t use dew unless i’m specifically writing when he’s bassist or someone requests i use it jfpaslkfasdf

Anyways, here, have some Era 4 Ghouls with Sodo having a Not Great Time

word count. ~750 warnings. headcanon, author uses sodo instead of dew, implied aether/sodo if you squint, minor swearing, ghouls have magicks, super short scribble

♥

Rain grabs him first, trying to cool the overheating, even when contact immediately makes smoke sizzle from both of them, "Sodo, stop, just calm down—"

Holding him at arm's length is the only thing that keeps Sodo from getting his fangs into Rain's arms or neck; he still tries to yank himself free, his entire torso heaving with the unsteady breaths. The veins of fire spread from his face, down to his neck and disappear into his uniform. His claws are heating up, but he either hasn't figured out to turn his hands upwards to claw at Rain or he actually doesn't want to hurt him. It's only then—as the struggling becomes more forceful, even when Rain's claws dig into his arms to try keeping him still—they finally realise the veins spread up to his horns. The right one burns, hot, the same as his claws and the tip of his tail; the left one—the clipped one—burns and begins to bleed a steady trickle, like a thin stream of lava. If it hurts, he doesn't let onto it, clearly more preoccupied with the pain of Rain trying to cool him down and just being overheated to begin with.

Rain's forced to let go—a slur of curses under his breath as he pulls both hands back to his body, tucking them tight against his sides—and he hastily backs up before claws or fang find their way into him, "Fuck—sorry—"

Swiss gets a hold of him before he launches at the bassist, getting both of his arms under Sodo's to pull him back, lift him off the ground, and locks his hands behind his head to keep him from headbutting back like he normally does and keep him from snapping at the arms restraining him. He can't get any purchase with the way he tries to thrash around to get free, snarl still building in his throat. "I got him, Rainy—go find Ifrit or the girls or—fuck, I'd take Mounty at this point, just go find one of the others—Sodo, calm down, I'm trying not to hurt you—"

The multi mix of fire and quintessence seems to be helping; but, it's also pretty clear that Swiss can't handle as much intake as an actual Fire Ghoul could. He's already expelling a substantial amount of smoke, trying to regulate his own fire and take in some of Sodo's just to get him a little less heated.

Aether's… pretty damn sure this is his fault in some capacity. It's hard to focus through the blind anger radiating from the Fire Ghoul and he knows if he gets closer it's going to get worse… but he can force him to cool off, at least. At least a little bit and not get boiled the same way Rain did. At least long enough that Cirrus or Cumulus can suffocate the flames or Ifrit can help Swiss or Mountain can get a hold on him and drag him down to the isolation chambers.

As he expects, the second he's in Sodo's field of view, he starts thrashing even harder, still not really thinking to kick back—but definitely trying to kick Aether or lash out with his tail. He screeches when Swiss mutters a quick apology and manages to trap the tail under his boot, at least able to put the fire out between platform and boot so it doesn't spread to the rest of the room. Aether takes the short distraction—Sodo spitting violent curses and hopefully empty threats at Swiss—to press up to Sodo, motioning for Swiss to let go and back up as he does, and holds him as tight as he can. He expects the tail thrashing and the spade cutting at his arms; Sodo trying to push himself free; and, when he fails to get away, sinking his claws in and biting down in an attempt to get Aether to put him down.

Aether just holds him tight, one arm around his waist and the other pushing against his upper back so his hand is knotted in Sodo's hair—he'll apologise later, he's sure he's pulling at it—and keeping the Ghoul in place as he bites down. "It's okay… get it out of your system, I've got you, Sodo. I've got you."

He's warmer than expected. Aether can feel his own body struggling to keep up with balancing out the awful sensation of overheating, but he just holds tight, still trying to talk him through calming down until Rain gets back.

[its-all-ineffable]

Midnights {IWTV/ T.Swift series}

Midnights - All the fics from all the series. This is the over-all series of all my Interview With The Vampire 2022 fanfics that are inspired by lyrics from songs on Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' album. It will consist of twelve seperate series, each one based on a particular song.

Anti-hero (13/13 parts) - Lestat centric fics taking place pre-series, during series 1, and after series 1 (some canon divergence/speculation), with a lot of self-reflection. Based on the song 'Anti-hero' from Midnights. [Written before s2 came out.]

Mastermind (8/11 parts) - Loustat centric fics, all taking place in canon, about how Lestat manipulated their relationship into being. Mainly taking place at the beginning of the series, chronicling the development of their relationship in series 1. Based on the song 'Mastermind' from Midnights. [Planned before s2 came out.]

Karma (0/12 parts) - A series exploring 'karma' - how past actions bring about present situations for all the characters, primarily Louis and Lestat. Set during series 1 and 2, with some fics being post series 2. Based on the song 'Karma' from Midnights.

Bejeweled (0/8 parts) - Primarily Loustat angst with a couple being more hurt/comfort, set mainly during the course of both seasons, with the last one being an extended version of their season 2 reunion. Based on the song 'Bejeweled' from Midnights.

The Great War (0/16 parts) - Loustat, Louis & Lestat centric fics that are mainly angst, set during both seasons and post s2. Also 2 AU/canon divergent fics that take episode 5 in different directions, with one consisting of 4 fics. Based on the song 'The Great War' from Midnights (3am Edition).

Would've, Could've, Should've (0/18 parts) - Louis centric fics, mainly taking place throughout the seasons 1 and 2 and post s2 finale (canon divergence), heavily self-reflective. Based on the song 'Would've, Could've, Should've' from Midnights (3am Edition).

You're on Your Own, Kid (0/16 parts) - Claudia centric fics, taking place primarily in season 1, but also in season 2 (drawing some parallels); mainly her thoughts on what she sees and feels. Based on the song 'You're on Your Own, Kid' from Midnights.

Midnight Rain (0/12 parts) - Armandaniel (Armand x Daniel) centric fics, primarily focusing on their relationship before the series, in the 'Devil's Minion' era, and the last few focusing on them post s2. Based on the song 'Midnight Rain' from Midnights.

Paris (0/13 parts) - Loustat & Armandaniel fics mainly focusing on loving and fluffy times between the two couples, both pre & post seasons, with links to Queen Of The Damned (what I imagine it may be like in the show) in most fics; also bookended with the four main characters being in each other's company. Based on the song 'Paris' from Midnights (3am Edition).

High Infidelity (0/15 parts) - A series exploring the complex relationships between Lestat, Louis, Armand and Daniel, focusing on the 'infidelity' between all of them (as well as Daniel's wives & Antoinette) and how their relationships have changed and developed with each other over time. Based on the song 'High Infidelity' from Midnights (3am Edition).

Maroon (0/12 parts) - A Loustat series set over both seasons, and also post s2; mainly angst and hurt/comfort fics. Focusing on their romance and how it changes and develops overtime. Based on the song 'Maroon' from Midnights.

Lavender Haze (0/8 parts) - A Loustat series focusing on how others percieve them, judge them and try and keep them apart. Based on the song 'Lavender Haze' from Midnights.

[crystalelemental]

Sync Pair Retrospective - Lodge Pairs

I debated not doing this.  I thought about letting this go.  It’s nine sync pairs, man.  I shouldn’t need to do this to myself.  But, I’m going to.  Apparently.

Trainer Lodge!  The introduction of this mode happened one year ago today, bringing with it nine sync pairs of...mostly high popularity.  Let’s be honest, DeNA has not seemed interested in adding the truly low popularity pairs to Lodge.  It has been a popular kids only place since...ever.   With like one exception.  In any case, the introduction of this mode offered new sync pairs, that set the tempo for what to expect.  So, how did these pairs overall perform?

Blue Blue was an F2P pair outright, thanks to his base form taking Whitney’s place as the early game free pair.  Blue and Exeggutor is a support, that offers crit, attack, and defense buffing.  As well as speed when he’s hit, or on trainer move with grid.  Oh, and healing.  And a 60% flinch rate.  Yeah, lodge Blue does a lot.  He’s one of the more versatile sync pairs that’s come out of this mode.  That said, on introduction, he immediately faced competition from Hop.  And, more critically, Sonia.  You do not compete with Sonia.  Even among what’s generally available, Blue’s buffing kit was just awkward, decoupling crit and attack in exchange for a decent flinch rate.  But getting flinch meant not being able to shift to his buffing with reliability, lest the foe break out of the flinch lock.

Blue is solidly okay overall, and hasn’t really changed.  He’s the kind of support that tops off someone else’s buffing needs, and is mostly here as a sturdy flinch bot with plenty of healing and speed to offset the usual weaknesses of such a pair.  In that role, he does acceptably well.  I consider him good enough to be splashable, but never someone to hard rely on.  The only pair I can think of that really benefits from Blue’s kit is SC Zinnia, who admittedly handles the flinch just fine herself, and has better options.  But there are a plethora of pairs that get +4 Atk/+3 crit, like Oleana, who are good options for him to support.

Silver Silver walked into life outclassed.  He’s a Water tech that relies on defense debuffs, you really think a free pair is going to stand against Dojo Gloria?  On the plus side, he can benefit from her, but why use Silver’s sync at all if you invested in Gloria?  Silver, like Blue, existed more for utility.  Flinch and freeze, specifically.  But unlike Blue, his odds were 40%.  This is unacceptable in the era of 60% flinch rate.  Freeze is not good enough to matter either.  Odds lower than a coin flip are always bad.  To compound his woes, Lodge Rosa is right there, with better DPS and higher sync potential.  Guess what, she’s bad too.  But at least she made friends.  Silver continues to struggle due to his awkward 1MP trainer move.  +4 Atk/+1 crit is insufficient to matter in the grand scheme of things.  +2 crit would’ve at least permitted Team Sharp Entry, but needing +2 crit now demands a lot.  Silver’s just awkward.  Hard to set up for too little payoff.  There are partners, though.  Colress with AoE Screech was a godsend.  NC Calem’s buff profile complements Silver perfectly, and supplies Rain.  NC Bede exists, and also immediately solves Silver’s buffing needs.  Silver works decently well, I just find him kind of annoying.

May So it may surprise you to hear that Silver is still way better than May!  May is the last winner of Lodge.  Wailmer is a Water Striker pair, who has split damage on Surf.  At the time, EX didn’t even exist for her, so there was just no salvaging this.  Even more painful is that all of her focus is on-type.  Double Down, SEUN on trainer move, even Superduper Effective as a passive.  May does not step a toe out of her on-type realm, which is damning in the Gauntlet era.  Now we’re on to High Score, and guess what!  May has like no utility there!  I think maybe one person used her in the higher ranks.  Maybe someone knows stuff I don’t, but May seems to have no utility whatsoever, and it’s only gotten worse as even more ludicrous strikers like SS Lysandre and Eusine have migrated in.

Cynthia Okay, so this a free pair, but off a limited PokeFair.  Clearly we’re dealing with better utility?  ...you’re funny, you know that?  Cynthia comes in with Dire Hit All+, a trainer move that buffs special defense and accuracy for some reason, and...Rock Tomb.  She also has Earthquake, but like...come on.  Her grid really doesn’t offer a ton.  Bit of passive healing and Safety Tether.

In the before times, Cynthia was pretty bad.  Dire Hit All+ hasn’t been enough to salvage anything for a while, if Phoebe is any indication, and low starting stats with lopsided defensive profile is never great.  Accuracy holds some niche value, but not enough to matter.  And Lodge Elesa would soon show up and take the same buffing profile with a generally superior kit.  Cynthia’s main problem was her moves.  Rock Tomb without ripple effect doesn’t help anything.  Earthquake could’ve been Mud Slap for value.  Bulldoze in a pinch.  But she didn’t get that.  So instead, she comes in just...very awkward.  This is what you get for running Gastrodon, you know.  Stop acknowledging Diamond and Pearl, there is only Platinum.

Rosa Silver’s slightly better counterpart.  Rosa succeeds over Silver very slightly in damage, while forsaking any level of decent utility.  In most contexts, Rosa is worse off.  While Silver got the benefits of NC Calem and NC Bede being immediate caps, Rosa...still needs more than one turn with them.  In exchange, she gets H!Caitlin, who is...actually pretty ideal.  Dual Shields can protect Rosa through enemy sync, kicking off Emergency Sync 5 for greater firepower.

But it’s hard to say Rosa’s grown.  Nothing new has really salvaged her outside of Colress, which equally helped Silver.  I think Silver’s made better gains than Rosa, sad to say.

N I’m gonna keep this short: N is a sleep bot.  Yes, he can kinda deal damage, and his sync is mercifully not tied to sleep.  But N is a sleep bot.  I see very little utility outside of it.  A 50/50 debuff to special defense on Psychic is hardly life-changing.  His trainer move and Calm Mind are too slow acting to do much.  N just sort of...exists.  As a sleep bot.  Which is always in style, but is rarely worth writing home about.

Sycamore Sycamore is the odd one out.  I imagine they knew Serena was going to be added in December, and Diantha would’ve skewed too heavily toward female.  But this does imply they felt Sycamore was more popular than Calem.  That’s rough, buddy.  Anyway, Sycamore is a Grass Striker, with secondary Poison-type damage.  Neither is great.  Sycamore can be said to kinda keep up with Gardenia, when operating at max capacity.  Ie, max special defense and speed buffs.  Not exactly easy to do.  His sync multiplier is also Poison.  Which is very hard to set up when spread out.  Even with EX he’s not doing great.  Moreover, he’s kinda just...waiting for Gardenia to get EX to overshadow him.  His self-setup isn’t atrocious but it’s not better than hers.  He lived off BP Janine’s kind of buff spread.

That said, Sycamore has gained some tools.  SS Brendan is a nice buffing partner that gives exactly the buffs he likes to see.  SC Rosa with Roxanne solved for a lot as well, and operates as a decent dual strike comp.  H!Iris works as decent debuffing support for his Poison-based damage.  Oleana can instantly Toxic the opposing field, setting up his sync adequately.  And SS Leaf’s 5/5 expansion gave a better rate of Toxic, and free moves next potential.  But Sycamore hasn’t really...made it far.  He’s similar to Silver in that it’s a lot of setup for fairly limited payoff.

Lillie Maybe Lillie is the favorite child.  Anni alt comes out kinda mid, then boom, Ghost Zone and Renegade Cynthia.  Her Lodge alt follows suit.  On introduction, Lodge Lillie had little to her name.  Slow attack debuffer, inconsistent special attack debuffer, odd trap utility, sync only good on-type and even then missed critical values for OHKOs.  Odd Grass-type physical damage as a secondary option didn’t help much either.

So anyway, let’s go over the laundry list of buffs she received.

EX salvaged sync.  Now it’s far more consistent, if desired.  SS Acerola and SC Steven migrated into existence, and suddenly that odd Grass damage can wipe entire stages with ease.  Adjustments to Champion Stadium parameters brought Stall back in a big way, and Lillie provides Trap, offense debuffing, and Synchro Healing in one neat package.  She’s greatly appreciative of pairs like NC Bede too, who can solve all angles of buffing need.  And SS Mina was actually good for Lillie.  Boosted defenses with debuffed offense?  Fairy Zone?  Turn two capped special attack?  Lillie went from being a fairly niche Gauntlet support pair, to being...legitimately the best of the original run.  And we’re not even talking about Oleana, who is also super fast-acting attack debuffs, and even salvages the gauge problem Mina has thanks to Pep Rally on Move Gauge Boost.  Somehow, against all odds...Lillie won.

Marnie Marnie came in as a Poison tech, a much needed damage type at the time.  Unfortunately, she is plagued by DeNA’s eternal refusal to just make Poison types normal.  Marnie’s sync needed accuracy debuffing, which is just about the most impossible thing to do in CS.  Sludge Wave killed Plumeria, and by god it’ll kill her too.  Even when invested, Marnie seldom did much.  Which is sad because her buffing kit is similar to Lodge Rosa.  It has potential with Roxanne, who can provide a lot.  She just can’t get past the sync issue.  Colress is her best bet, having Ripple Effect on a 60% chance to debuff accuracy, but he can offer nothing else.  Screech is the wrong debuff, and his paralysis conflicts with her desired Poison.  H!Iris kinda helps, but only at 3/5, where she’s pulling more weight.  Marnie can’t even be that happy about Oleana, since the accuracy issue remains.SC Shauna was the closest she came to a lucky break, in a support that can debuff accuracy.  But Shauna only buffs crit with reliability, and Marnie needs everything but.  Marnie’s struggled, and it’s sad, because Koga’s always been right there, just...better than her for less.

General Impressions By and large, Lodge units age terribly, because they start terribly.  Very few of them had relevant niches to begin with, and new pairs have mostly made life harder in terms of direct competition.  Damage dealers can only aspire to be secondary DPS.  Tech nukes will always languish but might dredge up some utility.  Supports tend to have significant flaws that hold them back.  The biggest winner, somehow, was Lillie.  The meta giveth, and the meta taketh away, I suppose.

[kkarmaismygirlfriend]

hii guys i’m a new gaylor blog but a loyal lifelong swiftie. not new to tumblr, i just never made sideblogs lol. with midnights coming out i decided i needed to have a whole swiftie blog, a place to post all of my gaylor truth. i’d love to make friends with my fellow swiftie girlies on here too. 💋 get to know me! i’m maddy and i follow from @wtvmaddy, and i’m a write. i’ve only seen taylor in concert once which was in pittsburgh on the reputation tour, and my all time favorite album/era is Red which holds a special place in my heart, i even have a tattoo of one of her guitars from that tour! here’s a pic & pics of my two cats: cornbread and chowder 🐈

some of my most worthy gaylor opinions:

✨ i love karlie but my favorite girlfriend of her’s was her shortlived romance with dianna agron. i feel like on RED is when she really started to define her talent for writing discreet love songs about women and a lot of the skills that she honed writing about dianna were useful in writing all of the iconic songs we have about karlie. i also feel that she reuses a lot of the same imagery from both of these relationships to create songs that could easily relate to many of taylor’s lovers.

✨ many many many, most even, of taylor’s past relationships with men have been bearding situationships. especially harry styles which i feel was a relationship that benefitted them both. i’m not here to speculate nor try to define taylor’s sexuality, but i also feel that her relationship with joe is much more complex/unconventional than we are led to believe. i think of the boyfriends, the ones that were real are: john mayer, jake gyllynhall, and kind of joe. girl clearly has a thing for men with j names. i totally believe that jake was her last real relationship with a man before joe. 1989 & rep are ALL karlie babes.

✨ folklore & evermore are a testament to just how damn talented & sapphic taylor is! but personally i prefer her campy pop stuff that more allows her personality to shine through. these are the types of songs i find myself listening to most on her discography.

+ my current top 5 from midnights: 💎💫

1. karma

2. bejeweled

3. paris

4. midnight rain

5. lavender haze

(honorable mentions: maroon & glitch) 🍷

and that’s ME! here some of my fav taylor pics that i have saved on my phone :)