#and sharing is caring or smg <3

[vero-niche]

Buddy Daddies Google Drive Link

For anyone who would like to watch my new fave anime, please feel free to go visit this open drive folder I made:

I always get the multisubs version which includes: English, Portugese, Spanish (+ Latin American Spanish), Arabic, French, German, Italian and Russian. I'll try to upload every Friday as soon as I have it (it's usually up after 6pm CET) but pls forgive me if I'll miss it sometimes 🙏

Let me know if there's an issue with it!

[ad0rechuu]

★ MILKY WAY. ━━ (000) ASK THEM ANYTHING part 1

💌 ZERO SAYS. i can’t believe that we passed the 30 chapter mark!! thank you to everyone to participated (& for +500 notes), i’ve always wanted to this and it was a lot of fun! i didn’t get as many questions as i wanted but i’m still grateful regardless <3 you can find part 2 here!

❪ # i ❫ : Do you think water is wet? ━━ to smg & jwy

from @seonghwaddict

MINGI : No it’s not… I don’t think it is— maybe it is… huh? I don’t know, I’m impartial

WOOYOUNG : I can make it wet *winks*

❪ # ii ❫ : miss u stinkaboo love youuuu this is taegyu papa trusttttit how u doing love? ━━ to yn

from @tocupid

YN : Alright who payed you huh??? (in case this is real, I’m great now I’m talking to you haha! i miss you too <3)

fatou’s note : Embarrassingly down bad

❪ # iii ❫ : how would you guys react if you are in date with dearest yn but there is someone following you guys, u thought it would be dispatch but it's the other simps? ━━ to psh, csn & smg

from anon

SEONGHWA : Call Hongjoong and snitch, I know they would end up getting involved in MY date someway somehow!

SAN : A date?! With Yn?! I would be too focused on Yn to notice if i’m being honest

MINGI : Pause the date and beat some ass. I would also be super disappointed in hyung, I expect that from San but from him? I would cry (and also call Hongjoong hyung)

❪ # iv ❫ : who do you ship with YN? A. Taegyu. B. San. C. Seonghwa D. Mingi (will you betray his moral loyalty?) ━━ to jyh

from anon

YUNHO : E. I’ll move to a different country and start a new life under a new identity so that none of them kill me for whatever my choice might be (not taegyu that’s for sure, he seems cool but i ship- )

❪ # v ❫ : when is yours and yn's wedding?? also who do u think u can take out in a fight between the boys that also wants your girl's heart? ━━ to syn

from anon

YUNA : I’m so glad you asked! I’m currently planning it but she doesn’t know about it yet. Also I could easily take all of them and I would but Seulgi would take away my Yn privileges anyway about Yn and me! she’s so cute, did you kno-

authors note : Interview cut off because participant had their yn privileges taken away

❪ # vi ❫ : when u and yn finally have ur moment will u be the perfect gentleman or will u let ur dreams take over and just smooch the heck out of yn? ━━ to smg

from anon

MINGI : Me? Meeting Yn? Smooching her?…

authors note : Interview cut short because participant would not stop giggling

❪ # vii ❫ : How does it feel to be the biggest simps on planet earth?? ━━ to psh, csn & smg

from @meginthebuilding27

SEONGHWA : I’m not a simp, its just that i would do anything for her and i think about her all day and i lov- oh…

SAN : Great! really, really fucking great but also my heart feels like its about to burst anytime i see anything related to her… do you think I should see a doctor??

MINGI : I don’t like the fact that I have to share spot! I wanna be number one!

❪ # viii ❫ : How do you keep them in place and don't make them do anything stupid? ━━ to khj

from @meginthebuilding27

HONGJOONG : Have you seen them do anything? I don’t because somehow they are harder to handle than children! But I guess parenting books help, except for Seonghwa, he’s too powerful. oh! And Yn too, I’m glad I have Seulgi to fall back on, she too much to say no to (read: too cute to say no to)

❪ # ix ❫ : we know u love yn and treat her like a baby sister so this q is perfect for you! out of all the boys which one would you choose for n based off what you know of them (then looks teehee) ━━ to ksg

from anon

SEULGI : Aww you’re right, she is my baby! But I just want whoever can makes her the happiest. Regarding the second question you are aware that you are asking a lesbian this right? I don’t think I can answer…

swan’s note : Seonghwa. She likes Park Seonghwa the most, I don’t know why she’s being difficult but it’s mostly because he’s very pretty

❪ # x ❫ : I know u love and care for yn but why don't you help your mans (the 3 lovers) out? (as far as asking if she wants to hang out over her break :3) I know you want to stay unbiased but I gotta know! ━━ to khj

from anon

HONGJOONG : That’s a good question, I honestly did not think of that. Maybe I should do that in the near future?

❪ # xi ❫ : what made u stan yn and whats ur fave piece of star merch that you own ━━ to psh, csn & smg

from anon

SEONGHWA : I love kpop girlgroups, so when I found a new group was debuting I checked out their music and when I watched the Ponzona mv for the choreo it was love on first sight & The album that I bought immediately after and got me my very first photo card of Yn! (It’s still behind my phone)

SAN : I saw a video of her on twitter which was so cute that I just had to know who it was & my Yn chibi plushy, it’s unofficial fan made merch but it’s adorable

MINGI : It was an accident honestly! I was going to check out my friends performance so I joined the line outside the building, nobody questioned me being there so I didn’t know I was at wrong place until I realized that I was standing in line for a fan sign, I thought just leaving would be rude so I stayed and my breath was taken away when I met Yn! & A t-shirt with their logo, it’s fashionable and comfortable as fuck!

❪ # xii ❫ : from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most, how would you rate how much you enjoy the chaos that is currently happening as of ch. 30 ━━ to kys

from anon

YEOSANG : 9, it would be a 10 but they genuinely seemed hurt. I still do enjoy some good chaos though

❪ # xiii ❫ : i badly need some tips on fighting people it can be on the internet or idk face to face but im scared cause i might lose, i just want to fight some constantly annoying people, teach me your ways teacher! ━━ to psh, csn, smg & cjh

from anon

SEONGHWA : Try to not get mad, stay as logical and calm as possible that just makes your opponents seem crazier

SAN : Find something or someone you would argue for no matter what the outcome might be, it’s all about passion

MINGI : Hit ‘em where it hurts!

JONGHO : It’s not a skill that can be taught, you just need to be a true hater.

yuna’s note : Just say Kang YeoSang-

seulgi’s note : Please ignore Yuna’s note!!

❪ # xiv ❫ : from 1 to 10 how jobless did u think hongjoong was when yn first reached out to him ━━ to ksg

from anon

SEULGI : Hongjoong is great and so, so talented! He’s also a college drop out with way too much time on his hands, so it can’t be less that 7 right?

❪ # xv ❫ : are you guys legitimately in love with yn or is it just a fanboy kind of love? ━━ to psh, csn & smg

from anon

authors note : Participants are not allowed to answer this question (yet)

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[nanjokei]

i wrote some quick oc profiles yesterday in my notes app ill just share them unedited under the cut ^.^

important context is that the characters were in cryostasis for 96 years (were only supposed to be in it for 25 but lol) so its set in 2107

i want to write more later...

1. ALPHA

REAL NAME: Clarine ■■■■■■

AGE: 20

DOB: 05/18/1991

GENDER: F

HEIGHT:

UNIT: Bedrock

WEAPON: Dual-wielding sword and dagger (think Nanami from Utena)

MENTAL: S | PHYSICAL: S | TACTICS: B | HANDLING: A | PERCISION: S

OVERALL RANKING: 2

A young woman carried by the tides of life.

Her motto might as well be "Sure, I'll do it."

Alpha is hardly apathetic, but she is malleable to a fatal degree, as if she has little care for her own well being, as long as the next day comes. This is beneficial, so do not hesitate to make use of her whenever feasible.

There is not much to note about her personality aside from her apparent and distinct lack of any. She also shows disinterest in befriending the other pilots beyond being jovial acquaintances with them, lowering any risk of unnecessary attachments. She is quite friendly, but is quick to excuse herself from any social activity. Really, it is as if this woman could disappear at any moment, but she is also a permanent bedrock for the team. She chose the name of her unit quite aptly.

For this reason, even aside from her high aptitude, she is by far the most reliable pilot and there are no troubles with deploying her whatsoever. She will be ready at any time which is unfortunately rare among the squad.

She works well with others, and is shown to have compatibility with Kappa in particular, as they have similar aggressive tendencies in battle. However, unlike Kappa, her fighting style is incredibly plain and she injects no unnecessary individuality into her work. Overall, she can be paired up with anyone. She adapts to their style and proclivities as needed.

Make no mistake, despite her plainness, she is remarkably talented with no apparent drawbacks.

2. KAPPA

REAL NAME: Daniel ■■■■■

AGE: 23

DOB: 11/11/1988

GENDER: M

HEIGHT:

UNIT: Longinus (later Longinus - JꙨKER.. lmao)

WEAPON: Spear

MENTAL: B | PHYSICAL: S | TACTICS: A | HANDLING: S | PERCISION: B

OVERALL RANKING: 4

How do you solve a problem like Kappa?

He is well mannered and not difficult to deal with, but the biggest issue and his downfall is the delusions of grandeur he has about what kind of job this is.

To put it frankly, he is someone who is much too inundated with video games, movies and TV.

He calls out attack names, shows off and even spent days coming up with names for his unit.

On the flip side, he is enthusiastic and obedient, albeit rather reckless. As long as he is not sent out alone, this can be nipped in the bud easily.

For all these mostly positive qualities, he has a troublesome tendency to busybody and make unnecessary suggestions after every deployment. There's no use listening to his blabbering, so please ignore them, with special note to shut down his constant nagging and questions about the status of other pilots and units. Especially his constant harrassing of us about the status of the pilot Delta and the unit Polydeuces.

Unnecessary questions about such future matters are strictly forbidden.

He is a valuable asset despite everything, so treat him carefully, as he is surprisingly sensitive. His inflated sense of justice is not troublesome as it flaccid and carries a shocking lack of idealism. But still, he is an idealist by choice nonetheless.

It is clear he does not even believe his own bluff, which may explain his impacted MENTAL score.

3. SIGMA

REAL NAME: ■■■■■■■■■■■ (Redacted at request of pilot.)

AGE: 26

DOB: 03/09/1985

GENDER: X

HEIGHT:

UNIT: Trojan, also a possible Gemini system candidate

WEAPON: Double guns (similar to Uzi SMGs..?)

MENTAL: A | PHYSICAL: B | TACTICS: S | HANDLING: B| PERCISION: A~B

OVERALL RANKING: 6

Sigma, while a skilled pilot, is a special case and cannot be deployed freely.

Due to his medical background as a nurse, and our understaffed medical wing, he is to be stationed there for as long as necessary. He is also to monitor the vitals of pilots during deployment until we are able to train others to be able to do so as easily. Not only due to our lack of personnel, but also due to his outdated knowledge of medicine.

After all, the pilots possess risk of disease that have long been wiped out in our time— both figuratively and literally. Given such knowledge was foolishly purged from most medical textbooks, he may be the only one who could deal with diseases such as "influenza", for which we do not even possess vaccines for any longer.

They are logical and unbiased, but not cold in the slightest. Overall, has good relationships with all the other pilots. Perhaps this is to be expected from someone in that profession, but it is a positive trait, so it must be noted upon.

In simulations, Sigma was shown to be alert and adapt to any possible scenario thrown at him. In fact, he is even able to come up with solutions previously not accounted for that are much more efficient than the projected best case scenario. If there ever comes a day he must be deployed, we will witness something great.

However, it is of utmost importance to note that their actual piloting is only above average most of the time, so do not expect miraculous performance either.

4. DELTA

REAL NAME: Alex ■■■■■■

AGE: 24

DOB: 07/01/1987

GENDER: M

HEIGHT:

UNIT: Polydeuces (requires second pilot add-on and other currently unimplemented features)

WEAPON: Sniper rifle (can also be used in melee. somehow.)

MENTAL: S~? | PHYSICAL: F | TACTICS: S | HANDLING: S | PERCISION: S

OVERALL RANKING: 1

Delta is proof that you are not served victory in a silver platter.

To start, there are no two ways about it, he is terminally ill.

It seems that our predecessors were obscenely confident in our ability to find a cure for his still yet to be diagnosed illness. The future had other plans. While we have a combination of medications that keep him functional in our present day, it doesn't mean he is even remotely healthy. He is nowhere near even the suggestion of deployment. His observed medical ailments, as well as his old medical records, are compiled in a different confidential report with a clearance level of 5.

The worst part is that Delta begs to be deployed.

He thinks of doing nothing else.

Due to all this, he is deeply resentful of us and a poison to morale. He is increasingly impatient about the "when", and more and more unwilling to accept any kind of explanation for the perceived delay.

It is not good form to bring up personal ethics in such reports, but no part of this feels like it was handled with any kind of responsibility. Even to us, who would have to deal with the fallout.

It's not difficult to sympathize with his plight, and most pilots thankfully quickly grew numb to it, so there are less problems with them intermingling than expected. In fact he gets along with most pilots normally. It may be due to the fact that Sigma is the main person nursing him, but he is especially fond of them. Still, there are no shortcuts here.

In simulations, his performance is so perfect that the results were thought to have been doctored at first to justify the mistake of recruiting him. He was tested rigorously as a result, but not as much as our predecessors OR we in the present time would have liked, as even mere simulations exacerbated his health problems. So it goes without saying that in practice, at this moment even a stationary position such as sniping is out of the question (he is capable of other roles as well, not that his body would allow it). In recent simulations post-cryofreeze, his MENTAL parameter became unquantifiable. It has shockingly not impacted his other parameters.

It is critical to note that Delta is on the verge of quitting constantly. As we cannot afford to lose such an asset, you may be as lenient with him as needed. Just be careful not to accidentally extend such leniency to the others.

In addition to that, ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■. ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■... ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.

5. RHO

REAL NAME: N■■■ ■■■■■■ (The pilot was very particular about this redaction.)

AGE: 18

DOB: 04/05/1993

GENDER: F

HEIGHT:

UNIT: Amaryllis, also a possible Gemini system candidate

WEAPON: Lasergun (handgun size)

MENTAL: B | PHYSICAL: A | TACTICS: D | HANDLING: B | PERCISION: C

OVERALL RANKING: 8

Rho is the youngest pilot in the roster, barely qualifying, as the program was forbidden from attempting to solicit and recruit minors.

Aside from how young she is, she is also selectively mute. For the most part, this is no issue for us, as she has been cooperative and had given us several alternative means of communicating with her, and she is even able to speak somewhat fluently to a few select pilots. Our concerns mainly lay with her performance related to this that may be a safety concern for both her and whoever may have to work with her, so we are currently reviewing all possibilities and solutions as well as performing more simulations before considering deployment.

As for her disposition, while surprisingly sociable and bubbly, she ultimately prefers to be alone. She is dutiful and attempts to project an air of maturity and responsibility... whether this is to avoid others as much as possible or simply to assuage any worries, no one knows yet. Due to her age, it is my own personal suggestion to keep monitoring her mental state. She is still quite immature.

In simulations, Rho has shown decent performance, hampered by mediocre reflexes and lack of experience. She is good at following instructions and can think for herself to some extent, however she shows little imagination when challenged by the unfamiliar and is thus prone to minor panic and impulsive decisions that make little sense. This flaw tends to bring simulation runs to a premature end, too many times to ensure a high enough rate of success to be of any use, but there is potential.

Simply put, to deploy her right now is to send her to an early grave.

She is quite skilled with bridge work and is happy to do it, and was able to adapt to current technology at a breakneck pace. She is also able to work with pilots in real time for the most part, showing a great amount of focus. Because of this, despite not being ready to be deployed, she makes herself incredibly useful.

[juanabaloo]

Director's commentary on "I Don't Care About the Presents"!!

Thank you so much for the ask! I've been in a bit of writing / posting slump lately so this ask is a great way to remind myself of how good it can be!

This is my top fic if you measure by kudos. I'm happy that people like it! Maybe it's hitting the right "porn with plot" balance. Here's a short description and link for anyone not familiar but curious.

I don’t care about the presents: E-rated long multi-chapter about Christmas in Sunnydale where Buffy brings her girlfriend Faith home to meet her Mom. There’s a lot of feelings and processing and also lots of E-rated fun. (A little in ch. 5 and then a ton in ch. 8 and 10)

I am completely unable to write stories in timeline order. This is part of my all human no slayers no powers AU series "the power of fuffy compels me" where Buffy and Faith meet in grad school and end up together. Each story is fairly stand-alone though. presents is kinda early in their official relationship, they are together but long distance.

This fic is different than most of my others because I incorporated songs into the various E-rated scenes in Ch. 8. More than in other fics, where sometimes there is just a line or two. I tried to write it in such a way that if you don't know the songs (90s R&B) or you don't like song lyrics inserted in your fics - you could still easily read and enjoy the rest of it.

Oh! I also had fun with the section titles in Ch. 8. (It's a very long chapter y'all.) Formatting/posting them was not fun, but I liked the end result. Lower case sections are less explicit, and the numbers indicate drabbles. AND for the capitalized sections, the first sentence indicates who GETS THERE first, or the order of that. Silly but fun for me. There's a note at the top of the chapter that explains it.

And despite the E-rated fun, presents was very much inspired by two non smutty things: (1) that porch scene in canon 3x10 Amends. It's so soft and loving and it gives me all the feels. and (2) another fic I wrote (but haven't posted yet ) Normandale Garden.

The porch scene gets re-worked in presents ch. 2. I kept as much of the canon dialogue the same as I could, but shifting it into my AU - and having it still make sense - was a lot of fun.

As for the other fic Normandale Garden... mild spoiler under the cut!

CW - Joyce death!

I wrote Normandale Garden before presents. BUT they are flipped in the timeline. Normandale is a heavy but hopeful fic about grief, set after presents. It's about how Faith helps Buffy live with her grief about her Mom, for the one year anniversary of her death. (Yes, Joyce still dies. I'm sorry Joyce.)

It's super long right now (too long) and I need to edit it down but - as part of their honoring Joyce for the one year anniversary Faith prepares a little outing. And Faith prints out a bunch of photos of Joyce. Including some of Faith and Joyce from Amends Christmas Eve night. (Like the shot with the snow coming down and Faith holding her hands out.) And from there I realized Faith would want to tell Buffy about an awkward conversation she had with Joyce the night of the photo, while Buffy was gone, and then I realized mildly drunk Joyce would give Faith some insight into Buffy... and then I was like "oh this is a whole separate story!"

So the scene with the photos is taken in Ch. 2 of presents and then the Joyce sharing helpful info while she is mildly drunk is in Ch. 3.

Of course then it got a lot longer and was focused on the Fuffy of it all. And once I realized they would fight (verbally) but then have to make up (AHEM) after I was like oh this will be a ton of fun to write. And it was!

Since I talk a lot and this is the Director's Commentary - I will share that Normandale Garden does not have any dialogue or scenes from canon 5x26 The Body. That episode is so beautiful. (Side rant: OMG where is the Emmy for SMG? and the crew? the sound? the atmosphere? that long steady shot??) I don't want to remix / translate / shift The Body at all.

But if you like grief processing and Faith saying all the loving wonderful things to Buffy, then Normandale Garden is a good fic for you! We will see when I actually get it posted.

Thank you again for the ask! I do plan to start posting again, but no promises on when that will be.

[topcgames]

How to Behave When You Got All This Money On Your Hands

Let’s emphasize once again that CS:GO is a team game. Sure, you can be a pro-tier player who can carry the team to victory with 30 kills per match, but in the end, a team is as good as the weakest link(s). This is why it’s always important to work things out as a team. The scoreboard is there for a reason, it shows how much money everyone on the team has.

There is enough time between the end of one round and the beginning of the next to quickly communicate what is to be done next round, based on the round score between the two teams, and the amount of money you have. You can also see who’s carrying what primary weapon. Of course, most of the utility is not shareable, everyone needs to buy their kevlar and helmet, but rifles and pistols can be passed around, which is a feature that you should be using. Sharing is caring!

Also, we know that it’s near impossible to track how much money the enemies have, but you can have a general idea based on how often they get killed, and sometimes it is possible to predict when they will go eco or at best, force buy. There is no winning formula for this, only long-term experience. When you play hundreds of matches and go through every possible scenario based on the scoreboard flow, you will start recognizing patterns based on what your teams were doing in tough economical situations. And of course, if you see them losing round after round, you know how much money they’ll get after each loss and you can gauge if they’ll be able to buy based on the previous round that they’ve lost. One simple example is that if they force buy on the second round and lose, there are high chances that they’ll go eco in the next because they would be earning just a mere $1900 with the 2nd loss in a row. Add that to the $2400 they’ll get after losing the 3rd in a row and you have $4300, enough for Kevlar, Helmet, AK-47, and a few grenades.

Some general tips:

If you lost the pistol round, there are usually three ways to proceed, depending on how much money you got (based on how many kills, the status of the bomb, etc.).

1.You can go “eco” or “full eco” for 1 or 2 rounds (if you gained nothing from the round and just got wiped out)

2. You can go “eco” or “full eco” for just 1 round (if you have a plant in the first round but didn’t “dent” the opponent’s resources enough to warrant a force buy on the 2nd round)

3. You can force buy immediately (if you killed 3-4 enemies and have a plant done because you have gained money from the plant, 3-4 kills, and there are enough resources to attempt a force buy)

If you’ve won a round, try to find a weapon on the ground that you can upgrade into, for example, ditch an M4 in favor of AWP or AK-47 every time you can (or any lower-tier weapon). If you can’t use AWP well, someone else will volunteer to do it for you, and maybe even buy you something to trade you.

If you see that you are full-geared at the end of a round and have enough money to buy something (SMG or a Rifle) for your teammate who’s low on money but would be able to purchase utility on their own, offer a “drop” through voice chat, to stop them from buying something random. It’s bad when someone makes a random purchase and then there’s an extra weapon on the spawn for no reason. The same goes for you, when you are low on cash and die every round for example, whether your team wins the round or not, you’ll certainly have someone who is capable of sparing a primary weapon for you.

As mentioned above, if you are overwhelmed and see that you cannot win a round for any reason and you feel that the saved weapon will make an impact next round, and the round result is not in your team’s favor and you would need that win next round, hide somewhere with your weapon and run the clock. What you have on you is worth more than the “reward” if you die in most cases.

For CT only: If you need the $350 for a grenade or just don’t have $350 at all, buy a Kevlar and an Assault Rifle. Why?

Because if you take a headshot from a close-medium range from an AK-47 (or even worse, AWP), you’ll die regardless of the presence of a ballistic helmet on your head. So, that investment is more or less redundant if you know that the entire enemy team is brandishing AKs and AWPs (yes, we can nitpick that in a firefight, someone can switch to a pistol and obliterate you, but that doesn’t happen that often).

We hope that this guide will help you get a better understanding of CS:GO economy if you’re a newcomer and that it will improve your money-management skills in CS:GO. We welcome you to browse our other guides for CS:GO (and other cool games) here on Prima Games.

For more game guides, please pay attention to our Facebook, Pinterest, Game Blog, Twitter, Youtube.

[avrelia]

Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born

I finished the book Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born by Evan Ross Katz. A month ago, and I did a twitter thread review of it, since a lot of my Buffy friends are over there and not here, and now I collected it all here for myself and people of DW. :)

It is an easy read that covered a lot of ground fast but not particularly deep. I got in for the new interviews with the cast and crew, and the interviews were delivered. I could do without opinions on quality of the last seasons and continuous sniping at Marty Noxon, but well… The time for the perfect book shall come one day.

1) Best new tidbit of information: Antony Stewart Head played Giles as a mix of Prince Charles and Alan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham. This already is worth the price of the book.

2) Best duh moment – Cynthia Erivo telling her understanding of Anya reflecting an experience of an immigrant. The most surprising part was why didn’t I pick up on it before, as I was watching and connecting with Anya twenty years ago.

3) the best interview was with SMG. The author is her biggest fan, and she comes off really great there. Of course she is also frank, respectful, sweet and supportive of all the people she worked with, and very appreciative and proud of Buffy’s legacy.

4) the weirdest interview was with Nicholas Brendon. It is understandable, given his unhappy trajectory over the years. And I was glad to read his warm words about CC and SMG, but I also didn’t really care about his latest feud with DB. Overall, it was really sad to read, the whole story of NB, but it definitely added to the whole perspective.

5) the most emotional interview turned out to be with Cynthia Bergstorm, the costume designer for seasons 2-6. Reading her account on the atmosphere on set before she left I almost cried. No, not tears of joy. More like tears of anger

6) the most notable interviews we didn’t get were with AH and Michele Trachtenberg, as they were planned then canceled after February 2021, following the newest wave of conversation about Joss. I understand their reluctance to discuss it at the time.

7) Out of the writers we saw Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson and Drew Z. Greenberg. Marty Noxon didn’t answer the requests and for some reason the author was really mean about it several times and it was really annoying to read.

I was quite happy to see also interviews with Amber Benson, Emma Caulfield, CC, Julie Benz, Mark Blucas, Danny Strong, Seth Green, Tom Lenk, JM, ASH, Bianca Lawson, . Am I forgetting anyone of the cast?

There were no any profound revelations, after all I’ve been a fan for twenty years (soon – yay!) and generally had an idea how it came to be, but the picture became clearer and more detailed. From the history, to the process, and the behind the scene stuff

The interviewees rarely got into any details, and never shared anything lurid or scandalous, but I got the following picture: it started with them being very young and mostly inexperienced. JW was a writer, but had no idea how to run a tv show or direct episodes. And if he successfully managed to do later, the former proved to be problematic.

One of the details everybody talks about is their insane working hours: an average workday during the filming season was 18-20 hours, which is genuinely crazy even if you don’t take into account all the makeup, fight rehearsals, and expected precision in delivering dialogue.

The Beloved Buffy-speak is literally Joss speak. Joss speaks more or less like this and all his characters speak like this, and all his writers write like this and if not he changed the lines to be more like this and the actors had to say lines precisely, re-doing the takes until they manage.

They started a one small happy family, then as the show’s popularity grew, as they had more money, fame and pressure, they become “middle school with more money” according to Mark Blucas, then really, really tired group by the end of the series.

The blame for growing toxic atmosphere on set all the interviewee put on being young, overworked and “someone” on top constantly stirring s*** up and pitting the actresses against each other. (some interviews were done before Feb.2021 and the latest round of allegations)

This story, told by Emma Caulfield is very representative. I'll just add it all here

Mark Blucas, btw, gave a very sweet interview, where he several times apologized for having caused problems for cast and crew due to be totally new to acting and having no clue what he was doing and, of course, praised SMG for being very patient and very helpful

I need to finish the write-up, I guess. So, a month after finishing the book I have to say that it was a fun read, fast, not very engaging. It confirmed what I, as an old fan new or guessed, or explained details that made me go “Duh!” - of course, they were young, mostly inexperienced and over-tired.

Of course, JW was messing up. I mean, I wasn’t even very deep into details, but I always knew that the cast was divided into “favorites” and “not favorites”. I didn’t really think that it was an intentional division, that JW created and exploited, but apparently it was. Oh, well. I was happy to know that the actresses mostly reconciled by now.

And the most pleasant part of the book was SMG – both her own interview with an author, and what everyone said about her. I remember, in my early days in the fandom there was a strong anti-SMG streak, where by calling her “professional” people meant she was cold, unfeeling and un-fun.

Whereas it actually meant she cared about cast and crew and doing her job without wasting everyone’s time (remember those crazy hours!) and without creating extra problems for her colleges. She helped her cast-mates, she helped the crew, she worked a lot, she wasn’t always right, but who was?

So, anyway. That was not a definitive book by all means, but an ok one. There are more books to be written, about Buffy, and the fandom, and all the ways it is still changing our lives. I personally want more books on Buffy fandom.

[timothylawrence]

So sorry if you don't wish to do this pairing, if so please feel free to ignore this or flat out just say 'no'.

Might I please request Axton/Zer0 for the drabbles?

Thank you so much for all the amazing drabbles you've already written, and feel no pressure to do this <3

Hey :D never written Axton before but I hope my interpretation is good enough ;;-;;!! it's a bit lengthier and takes place early in bl2 imo :D!

Axton polishes his SMG with the best tools he can find around- which isn’t much more than a rag Salvador had given him. The dust was unforgivable, barren, but it was their home for the next few nights of travel.

The group had set up a temporary camp right beside their shared outrunner. Maya got her own tent, curled up already and possibly sleeping, if not researching the echo-net, while Salvador got his own tarp and promptly passed out without a care, his snores echoing over the silent desert air.

Axton was… normally uncomfortable with the silence that came at night, where he’s left alone with the reminders of what he lost and won’t ever get back.

But it’s fine. He had his weapons. And he had his companions. There was no use in reminiscing on things that didn’t matter. He had an objective now.

And apparently a friend.

Zer0 sits not too far across the dying campfire, their legs crossed and helmet dimmed. Axton can’t really tell if they’re asleep and a part of him, his morbidly curious aspect, is against trying to find out. He knows that asking would probably result in a sea of rhymes and riddles that he can’t always decipher quick enough without Maya sighing and Salvador snickering.

Zer0 seemed to note that too. Axton’s sure if the being could smirk, they would. Perhaps that was a permanent hidden fixture under their mask.

It didn’t really matter, no, Axton appreciated their presence. The silence was tough already but Zer0’s unwavering figure seemed to dispel some of it anyway.

He’s appreciative but awkward.

That was perhaps the oddest thing about Zer0. The fact that Axton’s done his rounds with plenty of people and gotten the signature blushes, heavy lidded eyes, and ego boosts he’d ever need.

But Zer0 had the tendency of looming over Axton and making him, for once, feel out of place and small.

Axton hated it, or at least, it scared him- to be so vulnerable and unsure.

He’s sure his ex would get a kick out of it. He tries not to think too much about her lately.

“There are skags nearby.”

Axton tells himself his instinctive jump of fear from the sudden voice is not the reason he got kicked out of the army.

“Shit, really?” Axton replies, sitting up straight and looking directly into Zer0’s blank mask. Their head is tilted, hands hanging between their knees as they sit on their bottom.

They shake their head. Axton’s shoulders don't relax.

“Your reflexes are quite quick,” They go on, “A true soldier, hmm?”

Axton lets out a chuckle, setting his SMG against his leg as he leans back onto his palms. “That easy to tell, huh?” He replies, “I think I could give Maya a run for her money when it comes to reaction time. You can take the man out of the army but not the army out of the man.”

He probably couldn’t but Maya’s not awake to disprove that.

Zer0’s mask erupts with a wink and Axton’s not quite ready to admit just how warm his neck suddenly feels.

Well, he doesn’t have a moment to dwell on the feeling, not when Zer0 moves quick, their leg twitching and kicking up a rock that quickly hurtles towards Axton’s face.

The soldier catches it in his palm without missing a beat.

He smirks. He’s not proud of himself at all, truly.

“Just as expected,” Zer0 starts once more, this time flashing a smiling emoticon, “Wouldn’t expect less from you, ex-Sergeant Axton.”

Zer0 focuses back out onto the desert and thankfully misses just how red Axton’s face grows to be, his eyes locked on the fire.

“Heh, no pictures,” Axton replies, his voice all too weak for his own liking.

The world grows quiet again but Axton doesn’t mind it so much this time around.

[niqhtlord01]

Welcome back fighting fans for another gore filled day of punching, screaming, and crying in what we call the Rooster Teeth Championship!  Today we have a doubles match from our misfit rag tag group of soldiers that have somehow saved the universe 2-3 times by now.

Let’s give it up for the members of....RED VS BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!! Sarge: *Walks in loading shotgun* Sarge 2: What in tarnation! Sarge: By Jesus’s grapeshot, an imposter! Sarge 2: *Cocks shotgun* There’s only room for one sarge in the red army, and that sarge is me. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tucker: *Walks in and ignites energy sword* Tucker 2: Careful not to cut your dick off with that thing, idiot. Tucker: Why would this be anywhere near my dick? Tucker 2: *Ignites energy sword* I know what you do behind that rock with it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griff: *Walks in scratching balls* Griff 2: Did you wash that hand? Griff: When do we ever wash? Griff 2: *Hefts rocket launcher* Good, was worried for a moment. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wyoming: *Walks in cocking BR* Wyoming 2: It should be a crime to be so devilishly handsome. Wyoming: I would settle for nothing less than the death penalty as punishment. Wyoming 2: *Cocks BR* Well then do I have good news for you! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Church: *Walks in with sniper rifle* Church 2: So what are you now? Clone? Tortured AI? Me from the future? Church: Fuck if I know, I lost track of this back during that whole freelancer bs. Church 2: *Loads sniper rifle* Well than you won’t mind if I kill you to make my life a bit easier then. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doyle: *Walks in with two guards* Doyle 2: Men, I order you to arrest that imposter! Doyle: Steady on soldiers, this fool is trying to deceive you. Doyle 2: *Pulls out pistol* As if I would ever partake in such underhanded schemes! Have at you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Felix: *Walks in twirling knife* Felix 2: I hope you don’t expect me to split the prize money fifty fifty. Felix:  Why would I share my winnings with a dead man? Felix 2: Straight to the murder; my kind of guy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Simmons: *Walks in writing notes* Simmons 2: Is that my notepad! Simmons: Your note pad? This is my notepad! Simmons 2: *Pulls out assault rifle* No touches my office supplies! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Caboose: *Walks in with freckles* Caboose 2: *slowly spins around in villain chair stroking freckles* We finally meet. Caboose: *Shocked gasp* I did not see this coming! Caboose: *Gets up from chair* Well you would have if you had read all those internet letters I sent you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wash: *Walks in rubbing head* Wash 2: You don’t need to do this; we can go back to the way things were. Wash: I don’t remember anything from before; save for how to hurt others. Wash 2: *Sighs sadly* Yeah…maybe that’s all we’re good for. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Santa: *Hologram appears* Santa 2: You have entered a restricted area; leave at once. Santa: It is you who have violated this space. Santa 2: *Hologram flickers* Violence authorized for expulsion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Donut: *Skips into the ring* Donut 2: Looking at you now I know you’re not the original. Donut: We are exactly alike! Donut 2: *Takes out SMG* I beg to differ! I would never be caught with that tacky shade of pink. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doc: *Walks in charging plasma pistol* O’Malley: Miss me? Doc: Like I would miss a rectum rash. O’Malley: *Hefts rocket launcher* Then get ready for your placebo medicine muahahahah! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grey: *Walks in reading data pad but throws it away* Grey 2: You could harm someone like that. Grey: Then they would need to pay me for treatment. Grey 2: *Evil helmet glint* Genius! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaikaina: *walks in with twin smgs* Kaikaina 2: If we made out does that count as incest? Kaikaina: Or masturbation? Kaikaina 2: *Draws dual smgs* Finally, someone who asks the right questions!

[dontwarnthetadpoles]

Best Willow & Buffy romantic and platonic moments season by season : Season 1 Love at first sight

The title says it all, so i’ll make this introduction kind of « short » : Buffy and Willow are two (with Oz they are the holy trio for me) of my favourite characters on the show. They have the most compelling personalities, strongest writing and were played by the best actors on the show. So it wasn’t that hard to start imagine them as a couple, and thankfully the show was very helpful in feeding my fantasy.

That’s the short version, the longer version: I’ve stayed fallen with Buffy from the start to the end of the show, but for Willow it’s more complicated. The transformations that she went through during season 4 were huge: the magik and the big rise of her power, the break up with Oz and her long grief of their love story, her relationship with Tara which developed in parallel of the strain on her friendship with the Scoobies and was at first synonym of secrecy and withdrawal, all that changed her in someone else who i had in some parts a hard time to care about as much as i used to in season 1 to 3.

What kept me involved in her arc after season 4, it’s the fact that Buffy stayed the constant in her life, even during the hardest times, and that the romantic subtext of their relationship blossomed to reach a peak in season 6, before slowly finding a more quiet place in season 7  

However, i don’t believe that the writers had the conscious intention to make them a romantic ship, at least initially. They were just taking advantage of the fantastic chemistry betwen SMG and AH in season 1 to 3.  Though they were hinting at it in a not subtle way, it was mostly done for the fun of playing with the idea of two hot and powerful girls attracted/being in love.

Then at one point (season 4)  they allowed their insconscious thoughts to become conscious, to invade their writing and to start to tell an another story. When Oz left Sunnydale, Willow’s feelings took a new turn. A turn with a such strong « more than sisters » vibe  coming from both of them, that it got me first confused, but yet i was unable to ignore the feelings they gave me. Eventually i stopped wondering if it was right or wrong to interpret their bond as a romance and just went with the flow. Now i ship them hard (my second ship after Willow and Oz) and i needed to share this passion by promoting them. So here’s my personal list of their best moments episode by episode starting by the double episode of the pilot:

Welcome to the Hellmouth (Episode 1)

Their first meeting in the Sunnydale high school’s halls is iconic for me : it was love (platonic at this point) at first sight. Iconic because of the way Buffy was on her way to become again the perfect popular cheerleader, at the top of the social school ladder: she’s just befriended Cordelia and won her over with her impeccable taste (looks and opinions) and suddenly Willow is here and it feels like Buffy hit a wall (a parallel with Xander who fell from his skateboard when he first saw Buffy). 

In front of Willow who looked so innocent, pure, sweet, so authentic because she’s incapable to pretend, all the fakeness of the social promises of integration offered by Cordelia just got revealed. Look at how long they stare at each other before Willow turned away, they are drawn to each other: Buffy driven by the desire to reassure, protect and comfort Willow, and Willow leaving in fear but taking few seconds to decipher Buffy’s expression and see with a lot of anxiety if there’s a possibility for something else than bullying, something that she craved badly.

How much do i love that Buffy is the one who makes the effort to come after Willow and to ask for her help ? Very much. Like really. It’s so satisfying that Buffy was the one to pursue her (just like it will be a blast later in season 2 when Oz will try desperately to reach her and will fall in love the first, but notice how it was immediately easier for Buffy to become close)! Compare this scene to Buffy’s meeting with Xander  that had obviously a romantic set up (the fated meeting, the bag falling and bringing them closer physically leading to a little intimate moment in a crowded place, his revealing slips of tongue) but clearly she was distracted and not into it. 

While with Willow, her mind is clear, among all the best students that she could have asked to tutor her without affecting her popularity (and to keep Cordelia a good friend), she still picked Willow without knowing much about her.

I really loved the little details here:

Look at baby Willow babbling endlessly in the most cute way like a bird chanting, about the things she loves and wants to share with Buffy, now that heir mutual interest/crush has been established: the books, the library, the new librarian etc…  

It’s so adorable how Willow tried to defend Buffy from Cordelia’s possible bullying by pretending that Buffy wasn’t hanging with Xander and her. Her crush and loyalty to Buffy was immediate and strong. 

Something must be said about AH’s acting here, about the way she perfectly conveys Willow’s social anxiety - from the little jump she did when Buffy approached her, to her large eyes when she realized that Buffy wanted to be friends, to the her fast speech and high pitch when she became excited at the revelation that she indeed made a new girl friend. It’s top acting and she stayed incredibly consistent with Willow’s manierism all along the season and largely beyond.        

Their second biggest moment is of course at The Bronze and everything about this conversation makes me shocked in the best possible way. That the writer dared to put them so early on “date”, well an unconventional date since they didn’t know that the other was coming or that they were looking like people who are dating, but still they were at a nightclub, two girls talking how life is short and how they should enjoy more the fun things, sharing their experience about dating, and techniques about flirting while playing innocently (all those hands and mouth moves) with the fruits/candy in their drinks (Buffy was doing it, Willow was just listening and watching her like she was a goddess descending from the sky (so pretty, so cool and comfortable with everything). No wonder she jumped on the first opportunity to follow her advices and look as confident as her, by following a stranger. Something that couldn’t be more unlike her.  

Then Willow did the cutest and the saddest thing as the same time: as someone without the confidence to believe that Buffy sincerely enjoyed her company, she offered her to not come back. I love how it immediately intensified Buffy’s desire to come back and stay with her, to protect her. She was still battling Giles effort to get her back on her slayer mission but the minute Willow was in danger, all resistance and pretense disappeared. Saving her was the priority. Willow was the reason, like she will be 12 episodes later, in Prophecy Girl when Buffy was ready to quit.   

And then, listening only to her panic, Buffy looked desperately everywhere for her future best friend, almost killing Cordelia in the process (call it karma after how she mistreated Willow) before showing up at the crypt like a true super hero to save her life. If it’s not a fairy tale type of plot, i don’t know what it is.

The Harvest (Episode 2)

Buffy started the episode on a big note: by saving Willow’s life again from a very disgusting vampire and by teaming with her to save Xander. I got really a thing for the « couples » who fight together. They say that they end together.

But sadly, there wasn’t any follow up: they were separated by the plot and only reunited in group scenes and so that was all for my ship...

I would like to applaud the faith that Willow showed in Buffy when she went alone in the sewers to save Jesse, but the context: she was trying to convince Xander to not follow Buffy makes me a little bit anxious about the possibility that her feelings for Xander got the best of her and that she overestimated Buffy’s strength by jealousy. Those love triangles (with Angel, Oz and Cordelia too) were the worst: we were lucky that they didn’t kill their friendship.

To finish on a good note: how cute my girls were in orange sweatshirt and blue denim jjumper with a perfect make up for once for Willow and in ponytail, brown leather jacket and white top for Buffy ?. I say they were absolutely adorable and looked very good together and that’s enough to make my shipper heart happy.

To be continued....

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday 12th January

SPIKE: Nice walk, pet? DRUSILLA: I met an old man. Didn't like him. He got stuck in my teeth. But then the Moon started whispering to me... All sorts of dreadful things.

~~Becoming, Part 1~~

The Sunnydale Herald is currently looking for a few good editors! Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Unprepared (Giles, Willow, Buffy, PG) by badly_knitted

Heart-to-Heart (Leon/Xander, Devil May Cry/Resident Evil/Background NCIS Crossover, Teen) by madimpossibledreamer

every night, baby, that's where i go (Willow & Buffy, general audiences) by saffixcherries

Keep Looking (Rona, Crossover with Tin Man(2007), general audiences) by Vashti (tvashti)

Spark Plug (Joyce, Ensemble, not rated) by Vidicon666

Aurora's Lullaby (Angel/Buffy, general audiences) by fatalfae

Sharing is Caring (Buffy/Angel, Mature) by fatalfae

The Test (Angel/Buffy, Teen and Up) by fatalfae

[Chaptered Fiction]

overcome in this war of hearts 1/3 (Spike/Buffy, Mature) by Krewlak

Dark Revelations and a Mention of Scrapbooking (Buffy/Spike, Gen) by Priceless

Encuéntrame a la Medianoche (Spike/Buffy, Mature) Translation into SPANISH of “Meet Me At Midnight” by Dusty by mrj_marlene/Dusty

Boon, Chapter 13 (Spike/Buffy, R) by Soulburnt

Emergent, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Jmfangs

Soul Purpose, Chapter 2 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by B_Red

I Knew You Were Trouble, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by acekoomboom

The Fairytale, Chapter 3 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Dusty

Is All I'll Ever Be, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by acekoomboom

Xander and Tara's Adventures In Movie Making (Xander, Tara, crossover with Charmed, FR-21) by redjacobson

() by

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:BtVS Story Banner (SFW) by thenewbuzwuzz

Artwork:Wizard Giles sketch (SFW) by trash-gobby

Artwork:BtVS Pop Art Could use as icons (SFW) by thatcomesandstaysfire

Video:Faith Lehane – I Bet on Losing Dogs (SFW) by faith-thee-slayer

Icons: Faith Icons (SFW) by gt-icons

Video: Buffy & Spike "you depend on him, he depends on you" (BTVS Season 7) (SFW) by tpEdits

Video: Buffy & Spike "Cold Comfort" (Season 7) (SFW) by tpEdits

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: 7.05 Selfless by Buffering the Vampire Slayer

PODCAST: Buffy Boys 141 - What Is Left Behind (S07E19) – Empty Places by Buffy Boys

[Fandom Discussions]

Harsh Light of Day by july-19th-club

impossible to articulate how little sexual energy riley has by july-19th-club

In Praise of Bangel Fanfic by oveliagirlhaditright

Discussion of 3.21 "Graduation Day Pt. I" - Aired 5/18/1999 (WB-US) by Flannen

Discussion of ‘Buffy The Last Vampire Slayer’ 1 by Angel6

‘Plugging the gap’ scenes by Faded90

The Drug that the Watcher's Council uses in Helpless by American Aurora

In Praise of SMG by scoobydoobydoodle69

Buffy References in Criminal Minds by GardenMarauder

Lindsey is probably [one of] Angel's most interesting and well done characters by kurtney_

Buffy and Giles best moments. by alcoholul8r

Rewatching Buffy and I've really started to notice just how judgemental Xander is! by Lady_Trig

we do all agree early season relationship of Buffy and angel was problematic? by patrickdm1998

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

YOUTUBE: [Some of] Buffy Cast 25th Anniversary Reunion event by Clare Kramer

Fiction Rating Key Here

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[coriandher]

Big thanks to @falloutfandomeventhub and @yesjejunus :D fun to do!

General

Name: Doctor Camille Ng

Aggression: Aggressive

Confidence: Brave

Assistance: Helps nobody

Karma: Evil

Location: Bitter Springs Medical Tent, Callville Bay if camp is massacred

How To Obtain: pass Perception check, spar her, or kill the camp

WARNING, further reading contains mentions of slavery and eugenics. The Vestalis usual

Companion Wheel

I think we should travel together: 

“Remember, natural selection will take out slow walkers.”

“Wacky adventures with the Mailman!”

Use Melee: 

“Promise you’ll cover me”

“(lightly humming Butcher Pete)- chopping that meat”

Use Ranged: 

“If I hit you, discount coupon on treatment”

“Their post mortem will be… ever seen a swiss cheese?”

Open Inventory: 

“Anything new you’ve got?”

“Hoarding is a disorder y’know”

Stay Close: 

“(mumble) -at least dinner first”

“Okie dokie”

Keep Distance: 

“Oh… did I do something wrong?” 

“But :( I thought you liked me…”

Stealth:  

“Lay low. Try to, yeah shh”

“Tiptoe-tiptoe”

Back Up: 

“Sorryyyy”

Be Passive: 

“Yeah yeah, peace, no war, ring around the rosies”

[If Under Attack] “Here?! Now? I’ll PASS on that!”

Be Aggressive: 

(cracks neck)

“Make way, medic coming through”

Use Stimpack: 

“Dosage correct?”

“It’s not spiked with anything right?”

“Where are you injecting?!”

Wait Here: 

“O..kay?”

“Like, stand still here?”

“Can I wander around at least?”

Follow Me: 

“Where did you go?”

“Yay :D It was getting boring”

“Continue adventure!”

Send to the Lucky 38: 

“Oh that fancy place. Take care out there!”

Send Home: 

[Bitter Springs] “Hope the Lt’s more reliable (sigh) Back to volunteer work”

[Callville Bay] “How fast do Cazadores hatch? I should make notes”

Injured: 

“Rookies think this is deep”

“Son of a- fuck”

“Stimpak, stimpak, stimpak!”

Death:

“Fucking kidding me- like this?”

“s’ fine….s’ lright”

Perks

[I’m A Healer, But] Camille gives pointers on where to most effectively strike opponents. Gain +15% critical hit damage bonus when she is in the party.

[Burn Forsooth] Your enemies can hurt you less if they die faster. Once per day, give her a melee weapon and she will upgrade it to have +10 damage per hit.

[Gone To Flowers] In the wasteland, always bring medical supplies with you. Once per day, she can give you 3 stimpaks or 1 Super Stimpak (Luck dependent)

Drops

Encrypted Notes - It has symbols and alphabets combined from different languages. It’s meant for someone. More than one?

Diadem - 10mm SMG with a faster reload time. The receiver is engraved and inlaid with silver.

Doctor’s Bag - A normal doctor’s bag, it drops a collar when used.

Recruitment

She’s treating refugees at Bitter Springs. Pass an [8 PERCEPTION] check pointing out that she doesn’t seem to be from around there. Camille scoffs and introduces herself, saying she’s obviously a Followers volunteer. She can be recruited, as she voluntarily went to the camp, thus she can ‘voluntarily leave as well.’

Failing the Perception check, there is an option to spar with her early every morning. Defeat her or last for a few minutes and then she can be recruited. If she wins, wait for another day.

The Bitter Springs Camp can also be massacred to recruit her. She’ll disappear from the camp if you open fire and once everyone is dead, she can be found chilling by the docks at Callville Bay. She can immediately be recruited.

Camille will not leave regardless of Karma leaning or chosen factions.

Personal Quest

 [Not All In Vein]

Spend enough time with her and new dialogues will unlock. Camille shares her outlook on life. It’s said in a joking tone, but it’s implied that she believes in philosophies such as social darwinism, slavery and eugenics. You can agree or disagree with her. Bring her to Vault 22, Primm, HELIOS One, The Thorn, Cottonwood Cove and the Fort.

Once her dialogue is exhausted, she will openly admit her ideology and share her background.

If the Courier has previously agreed with her, Camille will continue with the prejudiced reasoning. The perk gained is [Burn Forsooth].

If the Courier has disagreed with her, Camille will abandon her old ways and promises to look at life differently. The perk gained is [Gone To Flowers].

However, you can later tell her that you changed your mind, believing the vice versa. Camille will then leave you. If agreed-then disagreed with her, she will be at Legate’s Camp. If disagreed-then agreed with her, she will be at Mormon Fort. Camille can be spoken to, but not recruited.

Other Quests

[Et Tumor Brute?]

She can be asked to operate on Caesar. She will not be available as a companion for a day, but Caesar will survive and things can go as normal.

Alternatively she can be sold to Lucius. This will cause her to approach the Courier, berate them with ‘You could’ve just asked?!’. Camille will flee, shooting the guards. She can be killed at this time, but if she escapes the tent she disappears forever. The quest must be completed using different methods.

[Beyond The Beef]

Camille can be offered to Mortimer. She overhears and refuses, threatening to kill the entire casino. However with 800 caps she can pull some strings to supply the specific type of person Mortimer requires. After three days, speak to Mortimer again and find that the casino has received a man named Fraser for the banquet.

Ending Slides

If her personal quest is not completed, Camille will be known as a bigoted but talented doctor. This caused her to be ostracized by other medics and kicked out of the Followers of the Apocalypse. People still find her for health matters but it’s up to her to decide if they deserve to be treated or not.

If the Courier sides with Legion,

- [Burn Forsooth] is achieved, Camille marries a high ranked Legion officer. Her services as a doctor are only offered to ‘worthy’ Legionnaires. Shockingly, she has a voice in the misogynistic society, giving valuable input to optimize slavery operations. Her first contribution was to direct the military to conquer her old vault, and she personally coordinates the ‘sale and stock’ of her own family.

- [Gone To Flowers] is achieved, she continues to live in Legion controlled land as a travelling doctor. When the Followers were exiled / killed, she figured that the common people would still need medics around. Camille understands how Legion slavers operate, and would occasionally give tips to her patients. She never teams up with anyone anymore, knowing individuals are harder to target.

If the Courier sides with NCR,

- [Burn Forsooth] is achieved, she attempted to run a new slavery ring in the Republic, much underground than the previous Slavers Guild. Camille was successful for a time until a convicted politician exchanges her information for a shorter sentence. Camille was caught, jailed, then executed via hanging.

- [Gone To Flowers] is achieved, Camille starts a clinic in the Mojave. It is very well received with the local community, treating everyone from all walks of life. She wouldn’t charge patients that couldn’t afford it. There are unsettling rumours regarding her past, but nobody’s willing to speak up. Anyone who did open their mouths found that she is as likely to heal you as she is to stab you.

If the Courier sides with House,

- [Burn Forsooth] is achieved, she follows the retreat of the NCR back West, posing as a medic. While the Republic recovers from losing the military campaign, she re-established her old contacts. New Vegas thrives with the old world glory House wanted and Camille finds business in dealing with the Three Families, particularly in the less seemly side of the neon lights. The Omertas is her most loyal client, finding new ‘talents’ in resources she sends over. Camille remains with her old vault’s doctrine, ‘Everything has worth’. 

- [Gone To Flowers] is achieved, Camille negotiates with House’s forces to allow the Followers of the Apocalypse to be left alone. Instead, House decided that the faction can occupy the now abandoned NCR Embassy in exchange for loyalty and an imposed medical tax. Many of the Followers, most prominently Julie Farkas had disagreed, believing it goes against their philosophy. The group left Freeside to find a new base of operations in the Mojave. However, a splinter group lead by Camille emerged, settling with House’s proposition knowing that their facilities and funds will be considerably improved.

If the Courier makes New Vegas independent,

- [Burn Forsooth] is achieved, civilians sometimes go missing without a trace. People who disappeared are usually attractive, well-behaved with no enemies and most of all- healthy. Addicts, drunks and troublemakers are left untouched. The local community banded together to investigate and avoid future abductions, but in the end nobody’s convicted. Without a task force capable enough to uncover her new operations, Camille founded a new Slavers Guild underneath Sin City.

- [Gone To Flowers] is achieved, her presence stabilizes the overrun Mormon Fort. Camille became Julie Farkas’ advisor, helping to organize the Followers better. She has the connections and the resolution to keep the faction afloat. Members are encouraged to take in apprentices to grow their numbers. Working side by side for so long, Camille began a relationship with Julie. The Followers of The Apocalypse gained notoriety and respect with the community, cementing their influence.

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 3x22 Graduation Day Part 2

aka miles to go before Buffy can sleep

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And I take it as a sign of me getting older that this episode gets me almost as emotional as Becoming Part 2 these days. They’ve come so far!!! And they’ll go so much further yet!!!

Like, no one tell s1 Willow that she’s gonna roll into her own graduation 5 minutes late with sex hair. She’d have a heart attack.

It’s true though. The Mayor’s speech actually got to me. As the camera panned to all these characters I loved I not only remembered how they changed since their first appearance on the show, but how they will continue changing throughout the series. It really is a hell of a journey for all.

The nostalgia of Graduation Day Part 2 doesn’t really hit you in the head. I don’t think the characters actually have any lines reminding the audience of where they started, but that’s kinda what I like about it. We, the audience, remember, and that’s what matters.

Another subtle thing that I discovered about the episode was the score. It doesn’t have those super memorable notes as The Gift, but that’s why it managed to surprise me here. It adds extra weight to scenes, like the opening with Buffy, as she stands at the rooftop, contemplating what she’s done to Faith.

I also loved the detail of her leaving the knife there. even though I believe that we could’ve done more with that storyline. For part of the episode, Buffy actually believes that she killed Faith. I love how SMG plays that opening, and I understand that Buffy’s still processing that information by the time it’s revealed that Faith survived, but that’s some heavy shit, man. We could’ve explored that.

Still, the scene that I want to spend more time with is definitely the Buffy/Faith coma dream.

I already talked about this, especially with Surprise, but I love the dream sequences on this show. Partially because I love a good puzzle, and Buffy dreams provide an excellent blend of the prophetic and subconscious kind.

The first thing anyone who starts looking up Buffy foreshadowing will stumble onto, is the line “Miles to go, Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0″. Which is a reference to the 730 days aka two seasons Buffy has left until her death in The Gift.

And that kind of blew my mind when I first read about it (especially with the Restless callback), but this time around, I also took a moment to appreciate how the “Miles to go...” part references Buffy’s “sleep” (”Miles to go before I sleep”) - which now she has to wake up from, as she’s still got those 730 days before she could rest. (To drive it even more home, Buffy keeps repeating at the end of the episode how she’d just like to sleep now, thank you very much.)

There’s also the cat. Which is a she, and mostly symbolizes Faith herself, especially as it fades to her for a moment.

Buffy:  Who's going to look after him? Faith:  It's a she. And aren't these things supposed to take care of themselves? Buffy: A higher power guiding us? Faith: I’m pretty sure that’s not what I meant.

The last part is a bit of an insight into the show’s (and Whedon’s, lbr) stance on religion, and yet the Powers That Be will still be a major player over on Angel the series? The Buffyverse has an intriguing relationship with these ideas, that’s for sure.

But in the context of Faith, it’s a reaffirmation that she always had to look out and take care of herself, because no one’s done that for her. Not her mother, not the Watchers, and not even Buffy in the end. And certainly not some higher power...

A cat will also appear in Restless, but that will be Tara and Willow’s kitty - a different and much younger cat. One that’s much less jaded and is actually taken care of. (Except in season 6 I guess??? I have questions about who’[s feeding that cat during that time.)

Given the foreshadowing we get when we sort of revisit this dream in This Year’s Girl, I guess one could also interpret the cat as a Dawn reference? Maybe a stretch, but one that we could certainly run with as well.

I also wanted to talk a bit about the This Year’s Girl dream in general, because it’s fascinating how this scenario appears in Buffy’s and Faith’s respective minds. I definitely get the sense that there’s a connection and a shared consciousness happening in this dream... But Slayer dreams are still happening inside the head of the person dreaming them. That’s why Buffy’s prophetic dreams in Surprise are full of her own anxieties, and why Drusilla plays Buffy’s role in them as Angel’s doom. It’s how Buffy’s mind interpreted the message received.

Similarly, in Faith’s mind Buffy will be reduced to the role of the villain in those dreams. Even though as we’ll later find out, Faith sees herself as the villain, more than anything, and she’s projecting that onto Buffy in the dream.

That’s not to say that there aren’t more layers still - Buffy did stab and almost killed Faith in the name of saving Angel after all - but I like to think that the Faith Buffy sees in her dream contains some of the essence of the real Faith, despite what we’ll see of Faith’s dreams later on.

The clutter in Faith’s apartment in the dream not so subtly symbolizing Faith’s own mind is an interesting touch to that. Although her line about all the new things in her head feels like something that relates more to Buffy.

Faith:  Sorry, it’s my head. A lot of new stuff.

It’s Buffy who’ll take and learn whatever she needs from Faith as she wakes up. Faith herself will be trapped in her own mind for almost a year.

Buffy: I can’t use all of this! Faith:  Just take what you need.

Probably one of the best dream sequences, ngl.

Graduation Day Part 2 really is a great season finale, and a perfect end to an era in the show’s history. So... I’m not even gonna try and go over all of that.

One thing though... I kept mentioning how Larry will die in this episode, but you know what? He’s not dead. He just got knocked out. He’s fine. He was at Pride with the Scoobies this year, I saw him, it’s true.

They all survived high school. It’s fine.

[bambamramfan]

Even more threads you can read

So I’m not replying to any of the arguments about the Gamergate thread, because I don’t want my tumblr to become an endless toxic landfill of people arguing about videogame ideology, and I do not have SMG’s limitless patience for that. Basically every objection I’ve seen raised, people can answer by reading the linked text anyway.

However this one bit did deserve a tangential response:

@ranma-official reblogged:

you know how a possible definition of a low-status activity is that you are perceived the more of an expert the less you know about it and engage in it?

“This is why Gamergate fascinates me, even though I haven’t played a videogame since around 2008.”

the correct reply after this confession is “nice opinion, fuck off”, not taking him seriously for 400 pages

You can tell your late capitalist consumerist fantasy is incredibly presentist when you think “not having read something in six years” means you have no knowledge of it. I haven’t read Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter in a decade, but I think I can still talk about them (particularly if someone is being very wrong.)

Instead, because every E3 is the biggest ever and promises games that will revolutionize your idea of fun, the angry ideologue gets caught up in believing because you haven’t played Metal Gear Solid 5, and only played Metal Gear Solids 1-3, you can’t really understand gaming. That’s exactly the cycle of hype and memory decay he is describing in the thread.

In that thread, SMG references MGS and ActionButton.net enough to strike me at least as “someone who is familiar with the discourse (and with the opinions an thoughtful person would have.)” However, I give him a lot more credit than that. He wrote a very long review of Duke Nukem that is widely shared across forums because it’s really damn good. Read it.

The gameplay is intrinsically tied up in the storyline. In Duke Nukem 3D, the environments, NPC characters and overall production design are relatively 'realistic', which is contrasted with Duke's superhuman run-and-gun ability and total lack of psychological complexity to emphasize that, yes, this guy is a cartoon like Bugs Bunny - but also a transgressive and rebellious figure because of that cartoonishness. The gameplay in DN3D is a huge component of Duke's characterization. The strippers in DN3D are just women who strip. They didn't shriek innuendos at you at all. They didn't declare themselves stupid in scripted sequences. They did their jobs in exchange for money. Again, the interactive world was 'realistic' (for a 1996 game) and Duke was the cartoon avenging force who flew down to Earth to right the wrongs. Kinda. (People have noted that in Duke II, Duke is a full-fledged celebrity. But that's part of the 80s action parody - Duke is simultaneously an everyman and a celebrity, a blue-collar Joe and a relentless killing machine. But in the grand scheme of things, he's far more populist hero than elitist billionaire. Think of the Ghostbusters - beloved by the public despite being impoverished, uncouth and totally reckless. Duke is a similar underdog. The aliens in Duke II interrupt his TV appearance and steal his moment in the spotlight, because Duke just can't catch a break!) With the 2-weapon thing and the slower movement, Fake-Duke is 'realistic'* while the world is cartoonishly exaggerated.

So yeah. He’s actually an intelligent, educated commentator on videogames. Certainly more so than anyone employed by Polygon or Escapist. However, the objections were not really to his credentials or knowledge, but to what he was saying.

Which gets to my more fundamental point: don’t waste time raising objections you don’t care about. Make arguments that are the basis for what you believe, and if overturned, would actually cause you to rethink your stance. Because if you don’t do that, and you’re just slinging every quip you can against the wall to see what sticks, then you’re wasting your time. And you’re wasting your interlocutors time as they try to convince you but apparently are just fighting shadows of your real reasons. And you’re wasting the time of everyone who read it, thinking real communication was happening, when it was just people making empty quips they don’t believe in.

[dragonbagel]

Bonded - Part 2

what would happen if your beanpole bf was forced to bond with someone else? aka A/B/O rhack with 2 nerds feeling emotions.

read part 1 here  - (thank you all for the positive feedback!)

When Rhys awoke the next morning in his own bed, surrounded by his own scent and his own blankets and his own shitty company-issued posters lining the walls, he felt at peace. At least, as at peace as he could be in the given situation. He’d passed out practically as soon as he’d walked through the door, barely managing to send Jack a goodnight text before falling asleep. He hadn’t even taken his cybernetic arm off in his exhaustion, and his right shoulder felt incredibly sore.

He sighed, stretching his arms above his head with a groan and then moving to grab his phone from where it was charging next on his nightstand. Once he’d turned his alarm off, he noticed a few texts from Jack, two from last night and one from this morning. He quickly read them over before shooting him a reply.

Hey handsome. Sorry I passed out on you last night.

He’d finally worked up the willpower to drag himself out from underneath the covers when his phone dinged with a message from Jack.

You’re like an old lady with how early you go to sleep.

Rhys snorted, in the process of planning out a retort when he received another text.

I’m glad you’re okay.

Rhys smiled, warmth flooding his body as he quickly typed a response.

<3 you’d get fired for your horrible fashion sense if I wasn’t

He knew Jack was furiously working out a response about how of course a ratty sweater was acceptable work attire and how dare Rhys try to tell him that an obnoxious Hyperion yellow suit wasn’t the epitome of style.

Gotta go get ready, this hair doesn’t style itself. See you soon.

With that, he untangled himself from the blankets and padded into the bathroom he shared with his roommate Vaughn. The tiled floor was cold beneath his bare feet, and he shivered as he quickly brushed his teeth, thinking about the warm shower waiting for him the entire time. After spitting out his excess toothpaste and gargling some mouthwash, he shot himself a grin in the mirror, his teeth shiny and thankfully distracting from the dark bags under his eyes.

He sighed, detaching his cybernetic arm before stripping off his boxers and rumpled t-shirt, glad that he’d at least remembered to take off his dress pants so that they weren’t completely rumpled. Then, with a grimace, he slowly peeled the gauze from the back of his neck, his skin stinging. The wound still looked nasty, red and scabbing over, but at least it wasn’t infected. He made a mental note to thank Jack for that.

When he finally stepped into the shower, the hot water felt heavenly, wiping away the sweat and blood speckles that Jack had missed. It also relieved some of his anxiety, although he still felt on edge. How had he let that happen yesterday? He’d been so careful, he always was. He made sure to wash his clothes with ridiculous amounts of detergent the night before he wore them, and went through at least one bottle of cologne a week. He ate a seemingly endless amount of oranges in an attempt to excuse the telltale citrus scent of omegas, and before his heat, during which his scent grew incredibly strong, he made Vaughn wear his clothes beforehand to cover them in a beta smell. His friend never failed to complain, rambling on about how it was humanly impossible for Rhys to be so tall and that he didn’t know they made shirts tailored to fit beanstalks.

Vaughn was the first person he’d trusted with the knowledge that he was an omega, and aside from Jack, a few super judgmental exes whom he preferred not to think about, and his close friend Yvette, he was the only one whom Rhys felt comfortable telling omega-related things to. Rhys had told Vaughn about his endotype before they’d moved in together, because they were best friends and honestly, Rhys’ single-occupancy apartment was way too expensive. Vaughn hadn’t minded though, and if anything was very supportive. Even when Rhys was in heat, which the beta personally refused to help out with because “that would be super gay bro” and “sex toys existed for a reason,” he made sure that Rhys remained fed and hydrated while also fending off would-be visitors. The only time he’d failed to do so was when Yvette had shown up unannounced and spotted Rhys mid-heat, something she claimed still traumatized her.

Rhys smirked at the memory, although his recollection of it was fuzzy due to how heat-scrambled his brain had been at the time. Those weeks of incapacitation still embarrassed him, although with Jack’s help they at least became a bit more enjoyable. Having an alpha to take care of him was much better than having to suffer through it alone, and Vaughn had no shortage of thank-yous for not having to hear Rhys’ moaning for days on end. Jack had laughed at that, and Rhys swore he’d never blushed so hard in his life.

Vaughn wasn’t around as much anymore, having gotten fairly serious with a beta he was dating. Rhys was pretty sure that Vaughn spent more nights at her house than at their shared apartment, but he wasn’t going to complain; while he’d like to have more time to spend with his bro, he also liked being able to take his time getting ready in the morning without Vaughn fighting him for the bathroom.

He always felt better after thoroughly going through his morning beauty routine, because honestly it was inexcusable to act like he was better than everyone if he didn’t look the part as well. After massaging his mail-order shampoo and conditioner into his hair, he vigorously scrubbed his skin until all traces of sweat and blood were wiped away. He paid special attention to his bonding site, trying to get rid of the citrusy scent it emitted. If what Jack had said last night was correct, his smell was even stronger than usual. Combined with the starkly visible bite marring the back of his neck, the whole situation was just waiting to blow up in his face.

Once he felt sufficiently clean, he pulled on a pair of dark pants and a black button-down that he knew made him look pretty badass. Not being a complete higher-up did have its advantages in that he didn’t have to show up dressed to the nines every day, plus it gave him the chance to wash his clothes more regularly. His shirt collar was flipped up to hide his bonding site, and although Jack said it made him look like Dracula, there wasn’t much he could do about it. He looped a thick red tie around his neck and sprayed a few pumps of cologne on himself to complete the ensemble, flashing finger guns at himself in the mirror. Damn he looked good.

One cup of coffee later and he was on his way to the office, his slag-skin shoes reverberating against the metal floor in an all-too-satisfying way. Things felt pretty normal, and for that Rhys was thankful. Yesterday had been absolutely hellish, so an opportunity to simply go about his daily routines was like a vacation. A work-filled, paperwork-loaded vacation.

“Rhys, you have a meeting with Atlas in five minutes,” a female voice chirped later while Rhys was furiously typing at his desk.

“Thanks, Janey,” he replied, digging out the necessary files from his drawer. He had a sinking suspicion that he wasn’t quite caffeinated enough to manage whatever boredom Atlas’ marketing team had prepared for him this morning. Sighing, he grabbed an orange from the bowl he kept on his desk and headed towards the conference room, already seeing that the oval table was practically full. He knew that Atlas wanted to collaborate with Hyperion on some new weapons, but this was the very definition of overkill.

“Mr. Montgomery!” exclaimed a bald man seated at the end of the table, standing to greet Rhys and shake his hand. The omega responded in kind, covertly scanning the other man with his ECHOeye as he told him to “please, just call me Rhys.”

The man’s file revealed the typical corporate crap, like his five-page resume and hefty six-figure salary. He was also (unsurprisingly) an alpha, and although the majority of Rhys’ business meetings were conducted with those of the so-called “dominant” endotype, it made him more uneasy on that day than usual. His attention was soon drawn, however, to the man’s home planet: Pandora. He was surprised that the Atlas representative was comfortable sharing that information, even more so that he’d been able to secure such a high-up position with the negative connotation that Pandora tended to bring with it.

“Mr. Montgom-- Rhys,” the man said, correcting himself with a smile. “I’m Baron Flynt, although I’m sure your ECHOeye told you that.”

Rhys flushed slightly, but the Baron didn’t seem upset. “I’m also sure you know why we’re here this morning.”

“You want in on the new line of SMGs we’re producing,” Rhys replied with his trademark smirk.

“Precisely,” Flynt said, pulling a stack of blueprints from his briefcase and setting them on the table. “Torgue has been kicking both of our asses in the market of SMGs, if you’ll excuse my language.”

Rhys simply chuckled, signaling for him to continue.

“As you can see from our designs, the addition of our newly-developed elemental artifact can give an edge to Hyperion’s plan,” he said, gesturing to the stack of papers.

Rhys slid the pile towards him, slowly flipping through the first few pages of blueprints.

“Impressive,” he said. “I’d like to look this over further, but I think Hyperion will definitely be interested.”

Flynt gave a slight bow. “Thank you, sir. We’ve drawn up a possible contract, were out partnership to come to fruition.”

Rhys felt eyes shifting in his direction as a blonde-haired Atlas businesswoman carried a thick manilla folder toward Rhys. Maybe they were just looking at him because he was the sexy face representing the company whose feet they were practically groveling at. Or maybe it was because they could smell him, could tell that he didn’t belong. He quickly grabbed the orange he’d brought with him to the meeting for this exact purpose and peeled it, neatly placing the rinds on a napkin. The strong, citrus scent soon permeated the room, and some tension left his shoulders.

He thanked the woman as she handed him the folders, wiping his flesh hand on the napkin as to not get juice on the paperwork. The matrix of fine print attacking his eyes caused him to close the file moments after opening it, not wanting to trigger yet another work-induced migraine. He was about to assure the Baron that he’d make sure to give the contract to Hyperion’s lawyers if the company decided to collaborate when he felt his phone buzz at his hip.

Still on for our lunch date?

Rhys smiled as the text flashed across the retina of his ECHOeye, the heartwarming fact that it was from Jack overpowering his embarrassment at the blatant unprofessionalism.

“Well, Mr. Flynt, it has been a pleasure meeting with you and your team this morning,” Rhys said, popping another slice of orange into his mouth. “You’ll receive our response to your proposal by the end of the week.”

The Baron nodded in thanks, gesturing for his co-workers to pack up and exit the room. Rhys gave them each a smile as they passed, assuring them that their offer was going to be seriously considered. One of them must have bumped into him as they walked, because his attention was drawn from covertly sending Jack a response to a stinging in his left shoulder. However, he wasn’t able to make eye contact with the poor sap who’d knocked into to him, who was no doubt completely embarrassed and about to beg for Rhys’ forgiveness, because of an odd rush of emotions that suddenly overtook him.

His skin felt tingly, light and fluttery and sparkly, if that was even possible. He furrowed his brows, because his body felt hot, too hot, yet a cold chill settled over him at the same time. Was he sick? No, he couldn’t be, no way; besides, being ill wasn’t typically a pleasant experience, and despite the temperature fluctuations he was experiencing and the ringing in his ears, something deep inside him felt content.

“Mr. Montgomery?”

Rhys looked up at the sound of his name, snapped out of his trance by Flynt’s concerned voice.

“Are you alright, sir?”

Rhys nodded, regaining his senses as the strange feelings previously enveloping him subsided. His pulse quickened at the sight of the Baron’s nostrils flaring, and he shoved another slice of orange into his mouth to remind the alpha that the citrus scent was most definitely not coming from Rhys’ body, not at all.

“I apologize, I haven’t eaten much this morning,” Rhys said, hoping to let the excuse blanket both his orange-snacking and momentarily zoning out.

“It’s no problem, sir,” Flynt said, his voice still more filled with worry than suspicion. “Please, go get something to eat. I will be back at the end of the week to revisit our proposition.”

“Thanks,” Rhys said, smiling and eating the last piece of the orange. “I look forward to working with you.”

Flynt gave him a salute before turning and exiting the room, leaving Rhys alone to gather the materials they’d provided to him. He realized he hadn’t actually responded to Jack’s message earlier, so he quickly sent him a response, telling him that he’d be at their favorite cafe in the Hub in ten minutes.

“Janey, can you send these over to Hyperion’s legal team for me?” Rhys asked once he’d made it back to his office, files in hand.

“Sure,” Janey said, happily taking the papers.

Rhys nodded his appreciation before placing the packet of prototype designs onto his desk. He’d look at them more thoroughly after getting some much-needed food in his body.

I’ve got our table in the corner.

Rhys smiled at the text from Jack, which came with an accompanying selfie of the man himself seated in front of a flower-surrounded bay window. He wore a grin on his face that he knew charmed the pants off of Rhys, and Rhys would be lying if he said it wasn’t doing all sorts of things to his body.

He grabbed his wallet and jacket before heading out and locking the door behind him.

I’ll be right there, handsome.

[entergamingxp]

6 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Playing Half-Life: Alyx in VR

March 23, 2020 1:15 PM EST

After a long, long wait, Half-Life: Alyx is finally bringing us back to the world of Half-Life. Here are our tips to get the most out of it.

It’s not an understatement to say that it’s been a long, long, long wait for a new Half-Life game, and thankfully Valve has finally delivered with the highly-anticipated Half-Life: Alyx. With the game’s release today, everyone will get the chance to dive back into the world of Half-Life through the eyes of Alyx Vance, and more importantly, utilizing virtual reality to make it all feel that much more real.

With the game releasing today (and our full review out now), Half-Life: Alyx presents a unique experience for both longtime Half-Life fans and VR players. Technically-speaking, it is one of the most impressive and fully-realized VR games that has released to date, and gives Half-Life fans a new experience in the series that is built entirely from the ground up for VR.

Whether you’re new to the series, new to VR, or (like myself) a longtime fan that is eager to see what Valve has in store, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of playing Half-Life: Alyx.

Find the locomotion settings that work best for you

Before you get too deep into the experience of playing Half-Life: Alyx, one of my first recommendations would be to spend some time in the beginning area of the game (the first segment in City 17), pause the game, and just go through the settings. While the game itself will take care of visual and graphical settings automatically based on your hardware configuration, you should spend some time in the game’s locomotion and controller setting menus. Thankfully, the starting area doesn’t have much happening in terms of action, giving you plenty of time to acclimate to playing in VR.

As a VR game, Half-Life: Alyx supports a number of different configurations for both gameplay and what type of locomotion you want to use to move Alyx throughout the world. In terms of play style, you have the options of playing standing up, sitting down, or utilizing room-scale VR to completely immerse you in the experience. Likewise, for locomotion, you are able to use either continuous motion (like a traditional FPS), blink (move your character instantly), or teleport (seamlessly move Alyx to a new area).

If you’re coming to the world of VR relatively new, it’s important to get a feel for what systems work best for you; this depends on your tolerance for motion sickness or disorientation. Personally speaking, I don’t do well most of the time with standing up and playing a VR game where there is a lot of movement. So, the best system for me in Half-Life: Alyx was playing sitting down and using continuous motion with the Oculus Touch controllers. To me, this both helped avert motion sickness and basically felt like playing previous Half-Life games. However, if you have a higher tolerance and have the space for it, going for either standing play or room-scale VR will definitely let you get the full experience Valve has to offer with Half-Life: Alyx.

Take breaks while playing

This is a pretty standard rule of thumb for most VR games, but especially in the case of Half-Life: Alyx. With the game taking about 10-15 hours to complete (I finished it in 12 hours), it’s a lengthy experience compared to the shorter play sessions most VR games typically offer. If it helps to keep track: Half-Life: Alyx has 11 chapters that are each roughly an hour to 1.5 hours.

With the game broken up into this chapter structure, playing for an hour or so (until you get to the next chapter) gives a good opportunity to take a break and give your eyes a rest, as well as warding off any discomfort or motion sickness. While reviewing the game, I was able to play Half-Life: Alyx for roughly 2-3 hours pretty comfortably during a session (since I was played seated), but your mileage may vary depending on how you are playing and what your VR set-up is.

That said, even though it’s easy to get sucked into the story and world of Half-Life: Alyx, be sure to give yourself a chance to take a break for a bit before diving back in for more.

Explore every area thoroughly

The Half-Life series thrives on immersing players in its world and using the environment to tell its story, and Half-Life: Alyx is probably the best example of this yet. Using virtual reality, the storytelling moments and world-building are really given a chance to shine, aside from just being a stellar showcase for what VR can do in a narrative-driven game.

That being said, be sure to give yourself a chance to explore each area in Half-Life: Alyx, as you’ll find a ton of smaller details and moments to flesh out both the environments you are walking through and the greater Half-Life universe. There are some particularly memorable setpieces that you’ll want to spend some time going through and soaking in all the details, though I don’t want to spoil anything.

Most of all, taking time to explore each environment and poke around is crucial to collecting ammo and other supplies that you’ll need along the way. This is especially important for resin, which are small pieces of cylindrical ore hidden in the environments that you can collect and use to upgrade your weapons over the course of the game.

Be observant if you get lost

Thankfully, like its predecessors, Half-Life: Alyx progresses in a linear fashion, so the game funnels you through to new areas pretty clearly and efficiently. There are only a few instances where you’ll get to areas that might be a bit more open or that you may have to backtrack a little. However, if you find yourself lost or unsure where to go, just try looking around and taking a keener eye to things. In particular, look out for objects or items that are yellow — generally, those will help point you in the right direction for either areas that you need to go in or objects that you might need to utilize.

If you’re stuck on a puzzle or some other kind of environmental challenge, make sure to take an extra look around in case there was something you missed; this might be a hidden switch or another item behind another object. Valve makes full use of what VR can do in Half-Life: Alyx, so be sure to poke around and play with objects. Likewise, if you truly get stuck on a puzzle for a longer period of time, occasionally Alyx will ask Russell for a hand to figure things out, giving a helpful clue or hint of what you need to do next.

Try to conserve your ammo and supplies

Half-Life has always had elements of survival-horror to it (look no further than Half-Life 2‘s Ravenholm level), and Half-Life: Alyx continues that tradition with some harrowing segments that will test your stress levels. Even when you’re faced with a barrage of headcrab zombies or Combine soldiers, the most important thing is not to panic, and to try and limit how much ammo you’re using at a time.

Generally, Half-Life: Alyx will give you the ammo and supplies that you need at a given time, but there were definitely a few situations that I ran into while playing where I was running short on ammo, so be conscious of how many shells or cartridges you have for the pistol, shotgun, and Combine SMG. My suggestion: make sure to take advantage of explosive barrels in the environment to take out groups of enemies, or in the second half of the game, make use of grenades, which you’ll be able to find an abundance in some areas.

Likewise, each enemy has their own unique “tell” of when they’re getting ready to attack or when they’ve been eliminated, making it easy to both identify which enemy you’re about to face and when the best time to take them on is. Once you encounter them, you’ll know immediately the best ways to take on enemies like headcrabs, zombies, barnacles, and Combine soldiers and the most effective ways of eliminating them.

Use the game’s physics and VR to your advantage

As a VR game, having the ability to freely move around the environment in Half-Life: Alyx and interact with objects has its advantages that other games wouldn’t normally offer. Coming from its predecessor Half-Life 2, one of those elements, in particular, are the ways that you can use the game’s physics engine to your advantage in combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving.

Alyx’s pair of gravity gloves are especially important in Half-Life: Alyx, as they give the ability to pull in objects from afar, even from some longer distances. This can be used to your advantage in a number of ways, from grabbing hard to reach collectibles, ammo, and supplies, to more combat-heavy purposes like grabbing an explosive to throw at an enemy. You’ll also need to use them for a variety of puzzles that you’ll come across in the game, especially in instances where grabbing crucial items for your next objective might require some tricky physics manipulation to accomplish.

Given that it shares a lot of similarities with Half-Life 2, there are many moments where you’ll be able to utilize the physics engine to help you out in tough situations. With tons of objects around each environment, don’t be afraid to get crafty with how you use objects; this can range from makeshift weapons to tools for puzzles. Also, remember that gravity can work to your benefit, like one situation where I delightfully dropped grenades from above on an unsuspecting group of headcrab zombies. *Chef’s kiss*

Half-Life: Alyx is available now on PC through Steam, and supports Valve Index, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality.

March 23, 2020 1:15 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/6-tips-for-getting-the-most-out-of-playing-half-life-alyx-in-vr/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-tips-for-getting-the-most-out-of-playing-half-life-alyx-in-vr

[fiamh]

SESSION 1: CANCER GENOMICS AND EPIGENOMICS

The 2014 Beyond the Genome meeting has a simple tweet policy: talks are assumed to be sharable unless the speaker says otherwise, hashtag of the conference is #btgcg14. As always, all errors are mine.

First talk by Gad Getz on Cancer genomics and evolution and completing the catalog of cancer genes who also multitasks as session chair. Quick summary of cancer mutations, driver events (which increase the fitness when it occurs), clonality, passenger events and Co. Cancer genes defined as genes that harbor driver events. Recap of the MutSig algorithm to assess mutation frequencies, adjusting for gene length; results in a long tail distribution of cancer genes. Studies with higher power continue to find more genes at lower frequencies, vast majority at <20% in patients.

Look at larger and larger studies and the gene list increases, including hundred of olfactory receptors which indicates false positives. Problem is algorithm assumes constant background mutation background (all patients, all regions of the genome with same rate). Mutation rate across cancers varies up to three orders of magnitude; mutation rate also varies with expression rate due to transcription-coupled repair . Most important factor is location in the genome; rate correlates with DNA replication time. The ‘fishy’ genes mentioned above tend to have low expresison rate and late replication time. New version MutSivCV takes these factors into account.

Use for pan-cancer study testing ~4700 tumor/normal pairs from 21 different tumours checking for genes mutated in more than 2% of patients. Combine evidence to ind cancer genes, e.g., for clustered mutations in conserved regions of a protein; yields 224 cancer genes. Combined all tumor types together identifies 114 significant genes (which may not have reached significance in the individual tumor tests) — combined list of 254 cancer genes. Study found ‘all’ previously known cancer genes, but also identified 33 novel genes at an FDR of 10%.

Tried to assess completeness of the gene list via downsampling; indicates with more data and more tumour types the list increases steadily. Stratifying by frequency it seems the >20% frequency genes are mostly discovered, but at frequency of less than 5% the list is still rising rapdily. Clearly more genes to find. Power calculations indicate (ballpark figure) 50 tumour types with 2000 samples each (ongoig effort to study 15,000 samples). This is just for point mutations in coding regions. More work to do for non-coding regions, amplifications, epigenetic changes, etc. Great introductory talk setting the scene for the rest of the meeting.

Had to skip the second talk from Jan Korbel on Origins and consequences of structural rearrangements due to the inevtibable conference calls but made it back for the third talk of the session by Nuria Lopez-Bigas on Therapeutic landscape of cancer drivers. Nuria gives a quick proof of concept using Vemurafenib for BRAF. ~7000 tumor samples from 28 tumors (ICGC and TCGA), what is the opportunity to identify therapeutic opportunities to target cancer drivers. Iterative approach to identify drivers, find drugs targeting drivers, assign targeted drugs to patients based on driver event (not sure how this then links back to the original cohort).

First step to find driver events identified via somatic mutations, CNVs, fusion gene information, links back to Gad’s talk and described approaches to find positive selection across tumours re-sequenced genomes (MutSigCV, MuSiC-SMG, also measure functional impact of mutations with OncodriveFM and check for clustered mutations. These feed into the Intogen mutations pipeline (pipeline available through the web interface or for local installs).

Idea is to use complementary signals to obtain a comprehensive list of driver genes. Ended up with ~460 candidates (larger number than in Gad’s talk, but also additional tumor types sampled), again with a long tail distribution of mutation frequencies. Other findings are also similar, for example pooled analysis identified additional drivers, but misses drivers specific to a single tumor type. Needs both analysis. Next step is to distinguish loss of function from activation, key to drug development (activators easier to dampen, loss of function requires more thought). Estimate ~90% precision, 83 unclassified, 207 LoF, 170 Act. Further subset to focus on drivers dominating the clonal landscape, finds 73 major drivers. Includes CNA, fusion gene drivers to come up with list of ~480 driver events. Checking back on the original data it seems that ~90% of tumours have at least one of the recognized driver events, 68% have multiple events (median of 3). Differs a lot between different tumour types: most bladder samples have more than 1 (median 7).

Second step to identify and classify drugs targeting drivers (small molecule libraries, text search, etc). Only 96 targeted, most drugs through directed targeting. Classified remaining non-targeted drivers as druggable or not. Generated database with drug target interaction, dependency on specific mutation, recommended tumor types, repurposing suggestions to end up with ‘in silico drug prescriptions’ for 4068 patients as the third step. Estimate that 65% of patients could benefit from drugs already in clinical trials (again with the expected differences across various tumor types). Questions revolve around confidence of driver events, finding additional drivers, what to correct for (ignoring SNPs in CNV regions, cellularity adjustment, etc.).

Fourth full talk is from Michael Taylor on Epigenome alterations drive lethal posterior fossa ependymomas of infancy. Third most common childhood brain tumor, incurable in ~50 of the cases, Occur in almost any given part of the nervous system, treatment by surgery and radiotherapy, no chemo works. Morphological not distinguishable between site, but the transcriptomes differ quite a bit between sites. Extend of resection best indicator for good outcome, but with very negative impact on kids due to potential nerve/brain damage. Tumour transcriptome mimics cells of origin. Two distinct two groups (PF-A and PF-B) based on microarray profiles, replicated in Toronto and Heidelberg. PF-B much better survival rate than -A group, replace the surgery resection prognosis, PF-A vs -B tends to dominate prognosis estimates. Deep exome-seq on PF-A samples along with limited WGS. Zero recurrent SNVs in the samples they studied, lowest mutation rate among all tumours studied (PF-B have recurrent copy number events, in contrast). Cites Holmes on what to do when you eliminated impossible, so started checking for epigenetic changes. Found high rate of promoter CpG methylation along with gene silencing.

Checked methylated/silenced genes in two cohorts followed by pathway analysis. No convergence in PF-B, for PF-A PRC2-related genes, normally used by undifferentiated ES cells to prevent differentiation seem to be enriched. Can be reversed with demethylation agents. Identified good overlap of tri-methylation between PF-As and ES cells, no overlap with PF-B. Seems to be re-capitulatng embryonic program. No recurrent CNVs, indels, SVs, somatic mutations found so far. Lots of potential drugs that could replace highly damaging radiotherapy (e.g., 5-Aza-2’-Deoxycytidine), other drugs selective for EZH2 look promising as well (GSK EZH2 inhibitor). Moving through phase 1 clinical trial.

In the meantime revisiting prognosis estimates. Created PF cohort (with PF-A patients younger than PF-B, PF-B patients doing better than PF-A as expected). Look just at PF-A based on genomic tests it turns out that amount of resection does not matter. No difference between aggressive surgery that might put kids in wheelchairs vs less aggressive surgery. Likewise the effect of tumour grade on prognosis goes away once accounted for the two different tumor types. Huge impact on patient care, radiation plans and subsequently child development. Thinks these are not cancers, but ES-related neuron development disorder (balance of too many vs not enough neurons disturbed).

The session is conclucted by a two selected short talks, the first one from Ingegerd Elvers on Tumor/normal exome sequencing in dogs identifies known and novel lymphoma genes. Breeding resulted in landscape useful for studying somatic mutations in cancer. Live in the same environment as we do, but are more homogenic within breeds (and different across). Treatments dogs receive are similar to human treatment options, wel diagnosed. Picked golden retrievers (13% lymphoma over lifetime), boxers (20%), cocker spaniel (7%) to study disease across 3 unrelated breeds. MuTect/MuSIC to identify variants and significantly mutated genes, 10-50 events founds depending on breed and T/B-cell lymphona source. Little overlap between B-, T-cell lymphoma, usually specific for subtype. In addition, b-cell lymphomas between breeds are similar (share half of the significantly mutated genes), T-cell are not, indicating a genetic background role. A subset of the B-cell genes shared with human B-cell lymphoma or other cancers, reinforcing the concept of dog cancer studies as a useful model system. Expanding to additional breeds now and checking for germ-line predispositions.

The second short talk is given by Chai Bandlamudi on Pan-cancer gene fusion discovery across 7,470 primary tumor transcriptomes using MOJO. Quick intro to typical fusion events, frequently hallmarks of cancer with a minimal number of secondary hits. Interesting since they often can present novel therapeutic targets. Went through COSMIC and identified ~200 events in more than 3 samples based on FiSH and more recently sequencing. As always very different frequency across tumor types, enriched in blood and sarcoma, depleted in solid types. Not a case of event frequency but detection bias. Extended analysis to ~8000 tumor transcriptomes from TCGA, detected by discordant reads (using MOJO, Minimal Overlap Junction Optimizer, to be released soon). Ran it in a ‘high sensitivity mode’ with subsequent false positive filtering. Most fusions found between genes less than 1MB apart, fair amount still inter-chromosomal. Number of fusion events differs, highest in ovarian cancers, least in colorectal cancers. Quick comparison to TCGA indicates a number of noval fusion events they are now following up on.

∞

1.28.2014 GENOME IN A BOTTLE 2014: FIGURES OF MERIT WORKING GROUP NOTES

Love the RTG approach, but general consensus is that we need an Open Source version of the variant comparison framework, and under a suitable license. Nils Homer to explore and make recommendations.

Will require some sort of default settings (given the target audience), at least for phase 1. Balance between getting a useful framework out sooner rather than later, and allowing lots of tweaking. Comparison between variant calls currently unsolved problem, lots of implementations out there (Complete Genomics, GeT-RM, bcbio.variation, RTG). Different truth sets, different regions of interest, different comparisons metrics (variant call vs getting the genotype right, boundaries of SVs, etc.).

Definition of the comparison metrics might have to wait for phase 2. Getting something out early to the community early makes sense, though it might mean we have to throw away the codebase at some point if the underlying framework do not meet the community needs (i.e., limited lifespan).

Long discussion about how to best handle truth sets and discrepancies. How to encourage users to submit evidence that the truth set is wrong in place? Wouldn’t they rather just re-run the analysis until the data converges better, even though that might be biased? Part of this will be submission of raw data as much as possible and iterative re-processing of all data to refine the truth set continuously.

Can we afford to ignore complex variants a little bit longer? Genome centers, tools developers want the more systematic comparisons along with APIs; the clinicians might be okay with just looking for rare variants for a bit. We also need community feedback on how to actually evaluate some of the more complex variants and structural changes.

Command line version obviously required (offline) for groups that cannot upload data, ability to define own truth set (not as a standard, but as a gVCF/BED file combination to re-run). Do we need some sort of meta-analysis (variance between VCFs)? Not required for the first round.

What variant classes are supported? Different layers, region by region, genotype by genotype, summarized top level. Not even getting started on phasing. Software needs to include all variants present and defined in the GiaB truth set; big CNVs/SVs off the table right now.

✳ software ✳ ngs ✳ giab ✳ workshop

∞

1.28.2014 GENOME IN A BOTTLE 2014: USAGE AND RELEASE OF REFERENCE MATERIALS

Several versions of RM released throughout the pilot have been used already:

Part of the FDA approval for Illumina sequencer

Variant caller and workflow assessment at HSPH

Tracing variant call changes over the development of a variant caller (FreeBayes, work with Marth lab)

Personalis categorizing exome regions, titrate coverage to compare different exome capturing methods, target sizes, etc; error rates outside of high-confidence regions can go up by an order of magnitude (poster (PDF))

Clinical pipeline validation at Mt Sinai (with internal validation), tuning of workflow to find better cutoffs (VQSR and Co)

Qiagen used material to identify PCR artifcacts, compare PCR enriched amplicon sequencing to whole exome sequencing, tuned workflows

Claritas Genomics to chase false negatives in assay development (Nils Homer)

Call for pedigree calls as another very valuable resource; better annotation for the non-high confidence calls to be able to have context on why they failed to make the high confident call set. Algorithm callibration (for example for tissue frequency) another use case (NA12878 as a spike in, ContEST and Co as modified downstream tools).

releasing rm and future plans

Quick update towards establishing call sets and DNA as NIST (Certified) Reference Materials. Needs to go through various assessments (homogenous, stability, etc.). Difficult to do — needs lots of sequencing samples to reach statistical significance.

Confidence that the sample tested in a year is the same as the one tested this year. Protect against changes to the ‘physical form’ of the DNA (size distribution stable even under accelerated aging tests, see notes from day 1).

Might have to sequence batches side by side from Coriell each time new samples are released, trace changes over time. Again, need lots of sequencing to detect minor differences with confidence. Could be a repository for non-NIST lots; capture data from labs that run NA12878 routinely anyway. Automated process to upload BAM, run standard workflow, capture variant changes over time. [Could even be used to detect workflow specific signatures…]. Interest / support for this from DNAnexus.