#genie setup

[zappedbyzabka]

Fellas, is it gay for a genie to call the guy who saved him master and not correct him when he mistakes his name as Jeannie because his main priority is keeping him happy and if calling him the wrong name makes him happy then—

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/776643370692034560/unhinged-confession-time-i-used-to-functionally?source=share

The neat thing about not having written self-inserts and being a man is 1. being accused of being a trans man with internalized misogyny (even though trans men would have regular-ass misogyny due to, y'know, being men) and 2. being posted to r/notlikeotherguys for mockery. A lot of people have noticed the group most likely to admit to not writing self-inserts are AFABs and have punished them for their honesty by making it both a lying women thing and a special snowflake red flag.

But yeah. Dude here. Never fantasized about myself sexually. Don't write self-inserts. Tried once, aaaand ended up writing a very different person anyway because the opportunity to go, "what if someone had the same setup as me in terms of a lot of things, but a few things were tweaked and now his life is in ruins?" was impossible not to give into. I don't project onto main characters. I don't see myself in characters that authors admitted they designed to be projected onto, like Eragon or isekai leads or that gamer dude from Ready Player One. I rarely appear in my own dreams.

I got sent to the counselor's office in middle school for not wanting to write about myself in English class. The prompt was writing yourself getting everything you wanted from a genie. I thought that sounded boring. I wanted to live that, not write it. This was deemed concerning, unwell behavior and I spent an hour a day for one week trying to convince the counselor it was not. Eventually I had my parents meet with the principal, my English teacher, and the counselor where my parents had the very arduous task of explaining I was fine. I had good grades, good friends, career ambitions, I wrote short stories, fanfic, poetry and comics, I was on the swim team, and I was not, in fact, depressed. No one was bullying me. No teacher ever tore up my writing when I was a child, a thing my English teacher insisted would be the "only way" someone would consistently grumble about how boring it was to write themselves in a story.

After an hour-long discussion, it was agreed that fine, okay, I wouldn't have to talk to the counselor anymore, but "concerned people" would be watching me.

So OTNF, prepare yourself. You may one day have to convince people your very happy, social, outgoing child is fine even though they have committed the mental health red flag of not wanting to write self-insert wish fulfillment. And my reaction was only that it was boring. God only knows what they'd have thought if I was actually repulsed by it.

--

*cackling*

[waywardmillennial]

PH 7x06 Reaction

yes, this episode aired on Watcher TV weeks ago but my life got complicated soon after that, then I was in limbo about do I post or not? so I decided to wait until it aired on yt for everyone

WARNING: spoilers for the finale and the whole season under the cut!!

THAT FINALE THOUGH!! What an incredible season!

The reveal that Sprat was behind not only Shane's murder but also Dorothy Ruth's?! T_T

Ryan and the Professor being sent to Purgatory!! OMG!!

shout out to those captions - truly a masterpiece

So who is going to tune in next season for Puppet Mathematics! /j

part of me wonders if Dr. Sprat is wearing a hat to appeal to viewers, after all the discussions we've had around the updated Professor not wearing his hat

I would like it on record I pretty much nailed it with Sprat being Pythagoras, but didn't feel like we had concrete clues to really think it was going to happen and not be a red herring

I was so close on some of the theories and directions I was looking into! I feel a little like Dr. Sprat being Pythagoras was obvious but also not? The only time he's referred to as Hoagy in the 7x02 I thought it was spelled "Hoagie" so didn't put the anagram together

Only found this spelling on a rewatch. Turn on those captions y'all!

At least one other Watcherina found it!

I was close though, mentioning the triangle glasses and trying to find a name anagram, but I digress

There was a lot of Lore in that dumpster with the rat, including the hat from episode 6x02 (Wu Zetian) and the foam finger from episode 6x03 (Nika riots). And of course the genie lamp! Sprat may be a genius but he threw away a genie lamp? Lame!

and of course seeing the generator that the Substitute used is so exciting!!

Seeing the Substitute again would be so cool. And it's such a big tease, it's practically guaranteed now!

So what happens next? I've been asking myself that for weeks and I don't know

Open Questions -We never got confirmation on who was leaving messages on Ryan's board in 7x02 and 7x04 and I'm not sure we ever will

-Also, Shane shared this sketch on March 1st on Instagram (which has since been deleted/archived...hmmm) that shows the Triangle from 7x01 in front several other previous puppets, making some of us think we'd revisit Purgatory this season, but we didn't

-Sprat seems like he'd be a main character next season, which has me wondering how they'd make that work with Sam Reich doing the voice work? Maybe they'd defeat him in an early episode and then carry on as normal

-I'm kinda hoping for a 2025 Christmas-ish episode that wraps up a lot of the s7 Lore (like the Wondrium Arena episode) that's not a regular trivia quiz show and that'll get us a little closer to our normal setup 🤞

-We also got this lore drop in 7x06 about the Professor being an eternal being and someone on yt did the math for it

I have my fingers crossed that this means that HISTORY will never die and that we'll soon see the Professor, Ryan, the dino parents, and past puppets rescued from Purgatory!

💙💙💙

Major kudos to Shane and Garrett's writing, Charlie's editing, and Adam's cinematography!! Season seven was so much fun and very high quality!

hahaha remember when the trailer aired and we were all wondering about Liza Minnelli and nothing else? simpler times

[werothegreat]

Reign of Jafar!

New Lorcana set! No new mechanics, seems to be an extension of the previous set, more dual ink cards, building on the archetypes in Archazia's Island. Biggest news is set rotation, but that doesn't happen until the next set (Fabled), so I won't focus on it here.

This seems... okay? Very good into Steel, very bad against other Ruby decks. Playing against her, you should be able to order things so that your smallest challengers take the most damage.

Not too bad of an effect, though singer 6 isn't really much different from singer 5, unless Amber or Steel get a brand new 6-cost song this set.

Okay this can draw a lot of cards if you set him up right, and he can sing Look At This Family all by himself! I hope he has a good shift target - if he does, he'll slot right into the burgeoning Amber/Amethyst Madrigal songs deck.

Card draw is always good, and he procs on his own death, which is great. He already has a solid shift target from last set, this will be very good in Chernadog.

Speaking of Chernadog, this new Lady also plays very nicely with the old Tramp. 3 lore on a 1 drop is crazy!

A 1-drop Puppy is exactly what the Amber/Sapphire Puppy deck needed, Patch will slot right on in. The Ward is a very nice touch, helping the Puppy deck push for a win against control.

This is a horrendously understatted card. Pure garbage.

This is a delightfully overstatted card, and introduces a nice bit of risk/reward. Honestly this guy practically has Bodyguard - if you have other threats on the board, your opponent has to choose between them and Bolt here.

Getting to sing twice ain't bad at all, and makes sing together more appealing.

Amber gets its own, better Ice Block! This is going to make Amber/Ruby decks better. And it's relevant for...

What a weird card. Donald is stealing his nephews' allowance, and he's still a "hero"? Lmao. This could give you a nice burst of card draw, at the expense of questing/challenging for a turn.

Seems pretty deece, and plays well with the King Candy from last set.

More Illusions! Making that deck more consistent, I think we'll see Amethyst/Steel at the top of the meta.

Okay that's kind of nuts. True, he's expensive, but Abu's existence is going to make high-lore characters less appealing.

Amethyst/Ruby continues to get garbage, cool. (This is not sarcastic.)

Holy hell. She has an on-curve statline, plus upside? If we get a good 4-drop Hades, Megara is going to be everywhere.

Let's get the pack filler vanilla/single-keyword cards out of the way. The only one of these seeing play is maybe Vanellope since she has the Racer tag.

This seems like too much setup for not enough payoff. You can play Genie to draw a card right away... or play Pinocchio to wait two turns to draw that card. Pass.

This one is interesting, and may see actual play. He's real easy to bounce, but then you just have perpetual burn. And your opponent has to bounce him or you get to quest for 3. But if your opponent is playing characters, they're contesting the board and you aren't if you keeping playing a character that doesn't stick. But still, he's burn.

Yep, say hello to the Amethyst/Steel Illusions deck, it will be here for the next two years.

Solid draft card, and might see play in some Amethyst decks.

This will win limited games and otherwise not see play.

Not too shabby. Interesting that RA seem to be pushing Amethyst/Emerald as the discard color pair, when in year 1 they gave Amber discard effects.

This is a lovely bit of meta tech! Helps Blurple compete with Ruby/Sapphire by shutting down Lucky Dime.

[armgaragedoorsanfranciscoca]

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[glowyjellyfish]

I had this idea for a new medieval sims 2 hood to play last night and I am starting to become consumed by it.

It’s basically a transportation fantasy or isekai setup for an MCC. I started setting up one featuring all the premade sims from one college… but now I wanna play one starring all the premade teens, children, and toddlers from an Ubermegahood. Sort of an MCC starting with an orphan challenge lol.

I haven’t decided whether it would be better to make an Ubermegahood and kill off all the adults, or try to extract the various kids to stick in a new hood. The former might be better for like, appropriate memories and family trees, but I am more interested in “the kids all teleported away for reasons” than “the whole city teleported and the adults died” as a plot concept, and I’m not totally sure how I would keep the adults contained if I just moved out the kids without doing something to the adults.

Either way, all these sims will start off as peasants. There will be a local high king, possibly some kind of elf, who permits them to claim a region so long as they pay him tribute (taxes), and demands larger gifts in order to recognize particular sims as higher status (fees for advancing rank). The kids will have to start from scratch, digging up seeds, foraging, and gathering goods to sell in order to survive. I’m planning to lump them together in 1-2 households per subhood, making sure every child and toddler has a teen to watch them. And I’ll have them marry amongst themselves as they grow up, for the most part, letting relationships emerge wherever—nobody’s gonna be higher rank to start, I don’t think I’m even going to let anybody start with their family’s wealth. So no marriage restrictions until sims start climbing the ranks and have to follow local marriage law. I’ll bring in or create eligible townies if necessary, but only if necessary. I’ll create new households in a proper MCC style once the town is a little more established, but until then they’re just a bunch of sad isekai’d teens clinging to the people they know.

I think probably only the premades will be human. And all the locals will be some form of supernatural lifestate, including elves and the modded extra ones I have (fairies, mermaids, and genies). Now I’m tempted to add fauns/satyrs, but I’ll have to think about that.

I’m calling it Narniapocalypse for my own amusement.

[regarding-stories]

Inertia Itself: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

TL; DR: I'm gonna bash the series somewhat. (Sorry, folks.)

After it coming with a lot of praise and kept being recommended, the series itself didn't end up being what I expected, especially given the omission in Crunchyroll's synopsis blurb. I still watched it, and all the fan praise is... a bit over the top. (I'd say the movie deserves it, though.) Depending on your tastes and sensitivities, this can be a decent or good series. It has flaws - but it definitely is not just more of the same when compared to others.

This first part of the series aired in 2006, so you can expect spoilers.

The Setup

Initially we learn about a rather peculiar teenager named Haruhi who makes her entrance to high school by stating she's not interested in anyone who isn't an alien, a time traveler, or someone with PSI powers (also called ESPer after "extra-sensory perception").

Our actual protagonist-narrator, a regular guy we will soon know only by his nickname "Kyon," takes an interest in her and eventually befriends her. Little does he know that by doing so he unleashes a series of events that leads to Haruhi forming a club that does her bidding which she dubs the "SOS Brigade" which will look into the phenomena she's interested in.

The catch in the setup is that Haruhi is a being with god-like powers that is not aware of them. She can alter reality, but this happens unconsciously. It plays out mostly like a genie's wish: Whatever she wishes for has quite a bit of self-sabotage baked in. This is not apparent to her at all, and to some, I guess, the source of show's humor.

This leads to the following cast:

Haruhi Suzumiya: The universe centers around her, and she has the personality to match. She bosses others around to the point of bullying, becomes pouty and stubborn like a five-year-old when she doesn't get her way, and is often quite unreasonable. She's also a big tsundere which has a hidden crush on Kyon which she'd never admit, so she instead she treats him like a doormat. Her inner life is never revealed to us, except when others comment on how regular reality is after all, hinting that Haruhi's eccentricity is mostly on the surface. Beyond being a tsundere she's also a genki girl, being very lively, animated, and has endless motivation and stamina when it comes to put her plans to fruition. She's also kind to kids if not her friends.

Kyon: The everyman. Kyon is cynic and sarcastic, but almost never opposes Haruhi openly, instead playing an inner voice narrator commenting on everything. Most of the time he's a passive character, resenting being pushed around, but if put on the spot, he'd be forced to admit that he would never truly opt out. The show never makes it clear whether Kyon has some romantic attraction to Haruhi, even though at least Koizumi comments about it regularly. If he has, he's so put off by her antics that it never gets to surface throughout the run of the series.

Yuki Nagato: The resident alien, sent out by a near-omnipotent AI-like entity. As such, she's basically a robot, can conjure nano-machines, and whisper formulas that alter reality. Yuki is a "cold" character with no emotional response, and her supposed motivation is "to be an observer" because Haruhi seems to be an original factor that actually originates new things (which also suggests the universe would be kinda boring without her). Yuki is also the story's source of magic solutions to problems Haruhi causes and can be relied on to provide exposition when needed. And... she was recruited to the brigade to get Haruhi the former literature club's room.

Mikuru Asahina: A time traveler, and recruited to the brigade mostly to have a hot member. Investigates why no past exists before Haruhi entered middle school, but frankly, she really does nothing of her own through almost the entire series. Haruhi does whatever she wants to Mikuru, including dressing her in various embarrassing ways as the brigade's mascot, and in general Mikuru mostly sobs and goes along. Kyon also has a crush on her.

Itsuki Koizumi: This one is the PSI guy. He cannot do anything, however, except when a particular sort of crisis ensues: Apparently Haruhi's mood swings create destructive "closed spaces" in which giants start to destroy the world. The organization Koizumi is part of fears that if they are left to grow this would destroy the world, so he is the one pushing the most for keeping Haruhi in the dark about her own effect on the world and her powers, reiterating many times how he likes the world as is. Koizumi gets roped into the brigade because he's an exchange student and there must be something up with that, according to Haruhi, which she promptly forgets afterward. Koizumi's personality is rather manipulative and he can't drop it, and I can readily understand why Kyon is not especially keen on him.

But that's just the cast and their motivations, if any. What really matters is...

The Dynamic

What keeps the show going are the manifestations of Haruhi's powers based on her conscious and unconscious desires and the pushback from the other brigade members to keep those in check and preserve reality.

The roles in this are clear:

Koizumi will provide the rationale and some of the exposition, always arguing for preserving the status quo. (And also manipulate others.)

Mikuru will be comic relief and part of Kyon's motivation to get involved.

Nagato will provide solutions when the group cannot solve problems with regular means. She'll also at times provide information dumps, but mostly say very little.

Kyon will provide a reaction to it all, his narration provides an ironic take on the events, but his involvement will be crucial in driving the plot - where there is a non-magical solution, it will fall on Kyon to derive it and put it in place.

What I personally dislike about the show is this dynamic because it's focused on keeping things in place and preventing change. This is embodied especially in Koizumi, whose manipulations often leave a bitter aftertaste (and then he laughes them off).

But it's also present in Kyon's character. He will disagree internally with Haruhi but go along like a doormat. This then builds until a resolution of sorts or until one of the few instances where Kyon actually loses his shit after things have gone way too far and he's complicit in it for doing nothing and saying nothing. Most of Kyon's interactions with the world are internally, and whenever he's called to action, he often acts very late and when it's clear that nothing else will do.

Taken from another but similar angle, a lot of the story is about denying Haruhi satisfaction, and watching Kyon being basically an unhappy character who cannot enjoy things for what they are by constantly judging people around him. At least Haruhi tries to do things. Koizumi especially wants to prevent things, and Kyon mostly lacks impulses of his own.

Without Haruhi, Kyon would have fewer friends and lead a boring, ordinary life. With Haruhi, Kyon gripes about the hassle of having more than an ordinary life. What is his aspiration in life? Would he ever do anything?

Endless Eight

There's a special punishment hidden in this show, its absolute low point. A series of episodes titled "Endless Eight I - VIII". It reminds me of a quote by Douglas Adams: It is by eating sandwiches in pubs on Saturday lunchtimes that the British seek to atone for whatever their national sins have been. They're not altogether clear what those sins are, and don't want to know either. Sins are not the sort of things one wants to know about. But whatever their sins are they are amply atoned for by the sandwiches they make themselves eat. If there is anything worse than the sandwiches, it is the sausages which sit next to them. [...] The sausages are for the ones who know what their sins are and wish to atone for something specific.

(From "So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish".)

Leaving aside that the British should know what their national sins are, this encapsulates how I feel about having watched these eight episodes. It must have been some sort of atonement. Because they suck worse than the sausages.

"Endless Eight" itself is your garden variety time loop triggered by Haruhi's unconscious wish to have a never-ending summer break that she enjoys to her fullest. So they end up going through Haruhi's list of summer activities, only they end up doing it over and over again. The show suggests that the they do this more than 16,000 times and well over 300 years in total (repeating the same two weeks of August).

The characters react to this situation according to their dynamic:

Nagato actually knows but as an observer, she does nothing.

Mikuru notices the absence of a future beyond the end of August, but only falls apart, triggering a higher level of involvement by Kyon.

Koizumi drops exposition but does nothing to change the situation itself, except dragging Kyon into it and suggesting that if Kyon simply played the part of Haruhi's boyfriend, the situation would resolve (= he manipulates him).

Kyon does nothing with the information given to him and hesitates except for the one time he breaks the loop.

Frankly, seeing the group being dragged through this summer break makes me sorry for Haruhi for a change. She strives hard to make a fun summer in her bossy way, and everybody else looks like they've been run ragged. What would the summer have been like without her? Kyon on his couch, watching boring baseball games?

Endless Eight, ignoring the execution for now, itself exposes some depth in regards how it sees the situation. It plays with the concept of lucidity and a certain kind of probabilistic determinism. The characters will react to similar stimuli within a given range of variation, meaning the situation repeats almost entirely the same in the end. The only thing that can break such a situation is lucidity, and this lucidity is highlighted by slow motion moments in Kyon's awareness. In all other moments, everybody is sleepwalking through the same motions of their lives.

This view of human consciousness may be, depending how you see it, somewhat realistic and/or depressing, but there's nothing wrong with it - and it's one of the most compelling points the show puts forward in its run. However, the how is... horrible.

You see, the show repeats the same episode eight times with no real variation in plot - except for episode I and VIII. (Because August is the 8th month and an 8 laid flat is infinite and... pure lack of imagination.) Given the length of an anime episode this means you sit through about 160 minutes of repetition. The show does no montage of the events, it repeats the same key bits out. It basically makes you live, yourself, through part of the time loop in probably the least imaginative way - or at least the least narratively artful.

Now, while the story is roughly told identically beat by beat eight times, it is animated differently eight times. Camera perspectives change, meaning they each had to be animated individually. Same for the voice acting, lots of minor variation. (So they all did their job, I guess.) The eight realities subtly differ - what clothes everybody wears. Unimportant choices they make. Like what popsicle to get or what mask to buy on a Bon festival. Many people in the comments expressed their appreciation of the love of detail.

There's something wrong with these people. What they're saying is that they don't mind being served up the same story eight times if only the trappings change slightly. I guess this got us Episode VII of Star Wars...

To spoil it further: This run of episodes is a trap. There are no real hints to the resolution. You start seeing patterns where there are none. I even thought for a short while that the iterations might be counting backwards. They are not. And while this might get you to ask some questions, it's a really horrible, in-your-face, unskilled way of doing so. And in that it's the low point of the show.

The resolution is to make summer end by doing homework together. Does this somehow imprint the end of summer on Haruhi's brain? Does this mean she gets to spend more time with her friends on their instigation? Does it mean she was secretly hiding she didn't do her homework after all?

Whatever. The lame ending would have been excusable if they hadn't set the bar so high by walking us through an overlong movie version of this. This is the kind of stuff people walk out of a cinema for.

What makes up for it

Now, the way I describe Haruhi and Koizumi suggests I don't like them very much, but especially in case of Haruhi that's not true - not to the extent it might seem. She has definite character flaws, and they're probably quite intentional - but Haruhi, unlike other characters (looking at you, Koizumi) gets things going. And her inner motivation is relatable. Have we not all looked at the world at some point and thought "What if this place was less mundane and boring?" If not - why watch anime?

Nothing makes this more clear than the follow-up movie "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya"!

This movie does its characters and premise more justice than the series did. Kyon ends up in an alternate reality/timeline where Haruhi isn't in his class, there's no SOS Brigade, and his friends are not his friends. And he doesn't like it one bit!

In a late twist reminiscent of Data from "Star Trek: TNG" we see a reality where Yuki Nagato is not a near-ominiscient robot, but a shy and adorable girl. Kyon fights to get his reality back. Mikuru, even though it's her future self, actually does something effective. Koizumi still is dragging things down, but can be tolerated. And Haruhi isn't actually gone after all.

The story has heart, and it contains some cruel choices. It lets us also sit through some parallel world "nobody shares my memory" shenanigans, but not for so long that you inwardly opt out. It's well-paced, and it's focused on moving things forward - even if forward means "back to the future." But I can't help but feel that Kyon has changed inwardly in response, realizing at long last that what a world without Haruhi actually means.

And that's just brilliant. It has a bit of heartbreak, it has tension and suspense, it has making choices. By taking the dynamic of the original and inverting it in parts, I actually like it a lot. (I still doubt I would rewatch the series, though.)

To be fair, the anime makers may have drawn out the original material - a lot. The movie is essentially one volume of the series, and that works. But the original 24 episode series (plus bonus material) just encompasses 3 and a half volumes, and that seems awfully little. (The manga adaptation apparently sliced the salami quite differently.)

Anyway, you might find something for yourself in this series. It has had a certain staying power and a fanbase, and not many shows would manage to still be talked about ten years after their reissue. The art is... nothing to write home about, but the premise is unique enough to be worth your time once.

Just skip Endless Eight II to VII... Unless you have a yukata/swimsuit fetish.

[cloudnana]

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡

About me

Name : Nana | Hannah

Age : 24

- Regression ages -

4-6 years | 9-12 years

Why I regress and middle regress -

involuntarily regress to cope with my cPTSD, anxiety and autism-related issues

involuntarily middle regress to deal with major depression and isolation that started at ages 9-12

What my blog is

a coping blog + safe space to regress + y2k nostalgia themed middle regression + allow the smol sleepy me to relax

Who I want to follow me

Sfw Age regressors

Sfw Middle regressors

Sfw Kidcore blogs

Sfw Nostalgia blogs 90s and y2k mostly

Sfw caregivers

Who I DO NOT want to follow me or interact

Anti-age regression

Xenophobic or ableist

Kink | Nsfw of any kind

Abdl | Ddlg and its variants

Favorite stuffies names

Dininho the Dinossaur

Petunia the Pink Bear with a ribbon

Favorite snacks

Tuna sandwiches

Buttered popcorn

Banana Milk

Oatmeal + Cinammon

Tea and salt crackers

Favorite movies and shows

Barbie Rapunzel

Barbie and the nutcracker

Barbie of swan lake

Barbie and the magic of Pegasus

Barbie as the princess and the pauper

Bratz fashion pixies

Bratz genie magic

The Princess diaries 1

Enchanted Elle

The parent trap

Freaky friday

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Likes

Vintage tech + fashion + deco + gamer setups

Cats, bats, otters, bunnies, foxes, beagles and border collie

Pastel and muted color tones

Sanrio

Carebears, Strawberry shortcake, Disney 90s cartoons

Fini candy + chocolate + fruits

Anime + manga + kpop & k-drama

Bedtime

[reitheist]

So yeah, here's what I predict will happen next episode: Shindo will trick Arajin into releasing Senya from his body after revealing what Senya's true motivations are (after he tried everything to change the subject) much like how Jafar was able to steal the lamp from Aladdin. Shindo will hold Senya captive in the same bullet that shot into Arajin's head during the premiere. Matakara, completely possessed by Ichiya, will dispose of Ken and take over Minato Kai, then challenge Siguma's leader to incite a gang war. That will be enough to lure Arajin out (since he still only cares about Mahoro) so that we get their battle because everyone believes that Arajin has stopped a gang war before and he can do it again, and it's going to be a brutal one-sided fight that will cause the rest of the cast to turn on Arajin when they all discover that he's been using a genie for that power he displayed back there, not just Matakara. After all, their behavior throughout this series showed how both of them are so ill-suited to become genies because they are neither "strong" nor "pure" to fit that criteria.

Also, believe me. Shindo will clearly take advantage of the fight between Arajin and Matakara as they let out every single frustration they've had towards each other, and steal Ichiya for himself so he can be the top dog once more with both genie bullets in his possession, only for this to completely take over him when he tries to shoot both bullets into his body, turning him into a Honki monstrosity. It feels like everything's falling into place, especially after I know what Jafar did in Aladdin when he stole the lamp. Hell, he even did the whole disguise thing when he slips a paper into Arajin's pocket to meet him another time, revealing then how Senya only wants to control him, perhaps so that he can selfishly fight Ichiya again.

this is a smart prediction! yeah all of this seems fairly likely to me

it occured to me watching ep 9 that shindo is DEFINITELY going to get a role in the battle given how prominent he is even post ara asswhooping. it also occured to me that shindo is certainly going to at least try to take senya, but that jafar parallel totally makes sense for his character.

matakara taking over minato kai to force a match against ara would be a good setup for the 'darkest hour' of arajin's journey.

an extra evil and powerful double-majin shindo would be really fun to see, i really hope this happens. shindo is the perfect character to have suffer from his own hubris. he's at his best when he's doing his most jafar camp or suffering because of it

i wonder maybe when/if senya and ichiya occupy the same body, if they could reconcile whatever it is they went through. shindo would be their 'get along' shirt lmao. then they decide to beat up shindo together and everybody looks on deeply confused as to why he's writhing on the ground in pain

really good explanation, this makes me hope that the battle plays out just like this!

[zponds]

(Credit goes to FB820onDeviantArt on Deviantart)

Noah is Near Pure Good

What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Good?

In General

He always stands up against villains that try to conquer the world.

Whenever fighting Niles, it's to only thwart him and never outright intends to take his life.

He is a very whimsical and lively person who enjoys being the center of attention, impressing others, and making them laugh.

He attempted to save Danny when he was kidnapped by Jafar and despite being unable to save him, he went through many procedures to ensure it would never happen again nor to himself.

He defends Danny whenever he gets bullied.

He's very protective towards his friends and whenever teasing some of them, it's usually in a playful manner.

Unlike his adoptive father, he shows genuine concern for the safety and wellbeing of others.

He has a great ability to forgive those who used to be his enemy, accepting their personalities that contrast or parallel his own.

The Genie Team

He asked The Genie Team to help him reclaim Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

He defeated Darla and Max by turning her into a blueberry and by sending him through the Television Chocolate Setup respectively.

He asked Ellie to turn him into a genie so that Danny wouldn't feel so lonely as the only boy genie.

When he stopped Niles from destroying Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, he asks him why he's doing so instead of trying to kill him.

He helped The Genie Team defeat Cobra, helped Juliet beat Jackson Storm in their race, and helped build Tara and Tom's new house.

The Genie Team: A.I.M.G.P.

He founded the A.I.M.G.P. in order to help people who had or hadn't been turned into genies get revenge on those who wronged them.

He helped his friends escape the Crystal Cavern under the A.I.M.G.P. HQ.

He defeated villains like Headridge and Snide with help from his friends.

He freed many genies from the influence of the Aura of Evil.

Noahsworld: The Zahramazing Adventure

He accepted Shimmer and Shine's request to help them save Zahramay Falls from danger.

He collected the Chaos Emeralds and Genie Gems and didn't abuse their power.

He defeated Zala and saved Danny and Abby when they were kidnapped by Zeta.

He returned the Master Emerald back to Samira.

Noahsworld: Tales from Noah and his Friends

He came to San Diego to share his chocolate making knowledge there and possibly to the world as well.

He accepted the deal with Arthur Slugworth in hopes that Arabella would have a better life, though he quickly broke it when he realized the boat to Hawaii was rigged to blow and he was meant to be killed.

Though he broke the deal, Arthur Slugworth had already made it unfair and broke it himself by letting Mr. Bongo and Ms. Crackett keep Arabella in the laundromat for the rest of her life, so this isn't really bad.

He exposed the Chocolate Cartel's crimes to the police and had them arrested.

Amanda's Mermaid Adventures

He helped the Helpful Mermaids to find and reunite himself with Danny and Abby.

He and Danny helped Amanda and the Helpful Mermaids save Mina and Chibichibi from Burton Plushtoy III.

Molly and the M Gang

He stopped Niles and Amber from plotting against him and his friends by trying to punch him in the face.

He protected Danny from the three merbullies and helped the M Gang stop them from stealing a Golden Hand Bell.

He became an actor for Travis' film without hesitation.

What Prevents Him from Being Pure Good?

He acts like a bit of a jerk at times, as he tends to enjoy taunting much of his enemies, Niles especially.

He can be pretty rude, arrogant, and reckless sometimes, leading him to making extremely poor decisions.

He is a bit mischievous, such as when he once hit Ellie with a pie for a joke.

He has moments where he lets his overly secretive behavior get the best of him.

He is very reckless, which can inadvertently cause harm to others.

He is somewhat lethal, as seen when he and Danny beat the life out of two IO Guards, and while they somewhat deserved it for being part of the IO's scheme, Noah still showed clear sadism in doing so.

[sineala]

How did Carol/Rhodey start/happen? I like the ship and it seems to be sticking more or less (for a comics couple) but was it a, “we need Tony and Carol to fight over someone” thing? And were they interacting often before that point?

And it seems like Rhodey is now a permanent part of both the Iron Man and Captain Marvel supporting cast about 10 years running now, does someone pulling double duty in 2 solo books (when they definitely came from 1) long term happen often in comics? With team books I’m sure it does.

I haven't backread all Carol's appearances, and I actually haven't read all of KSD's run, which is where Carol/Rhodey comes from. As far as I can tell, they got together between KSD's first and second Captain Marvel runs, off-page. In the first issue of the second (2014) run, they're already together.

I skimmed Wiki and I can't find anything in Rhodey's earlier appearances list that looks like it would have had a lot of Carol, or vice versa. I know they must have overlapped a little in Busiek's Iron Man run, but as far as I can remember, Rhodey wasn't a major part of that run and the Carol & Tony friendship absolutely was. So I can't say for sure, but if they interacted a lot before this, I can't find it. I have the impression that KSD put them together because they were both pilots and therefore basically had similar ambitions.

All of this predates the Civil War II "Tony and Carol fight about which of them loved Rhodey more" plotline by several years and I would be very surprised if they'd already had that in mind when the Carol/Rhodey thing started.

Carol is a character who, for better or worse (and, yes, the "worse" has been pretty awful), has a lot of early canonical history in which she is defined by her relationships to men -- I mean, she basically started off as Mar-Vell's girlfriend and, uh, let's not talk about Avengers #200 ever again -- but I think for the most part Marvel seems to have figured out that she has the most popularity when they focus on her as a success of feminism (see: Chris Claremont's work on the original Ms. Marvel run, as well as her massive popularity surge due to KSD's Captain Marvel run) and I think in that light, Carol/Rhodey is a long-term choice that makes a lot of sense because they can clearly support each other as equals and they understand where they're each coming from and it's very nice and you don't have a setup where Carol is obviously "the love interest" or anything like that.

(However, if you read Avengers Annual #10, Chris Claremont's fixit for Avengers #200, you will see that he was clearly where everyone got the Carol/Jess from.)

There have definitely been characters pulling double-duty in multiple solo books. I don't know for sure how much all of this overlapped in terms of simultaneous appearances (I suspect not all that much, because I think Marvel cared a lot more about making sure characters couldn't be two places at once back when they had fewer comics) -- but, I mean, the character I immediately think of is Rick Jones, everyone's favorite perma-sidekick. Seriously, he started off with the Hulk, moved on to Steve, went back to the Hulk, then eventually ended up with Mar-Vell (and then Genis-Vell) -- and if you asked me to pick one and only one hero to say he's associated with, I really don't think I could. That guy gets around.

[everythingheard]

with Oraia ( @dhampiravidi ) ▌from here.

These fuckers are trying to swim in the deep end when they barely know how to tread water.

The thought flickered through Constantine's mind as he peered around the corner, his back pressed against the wall of the stone corridor. As the cultists clustered together for their ceremony, abuzz with eager murmurs of anticipation, he took quick stock of their setup. With no wards in place to keep out trespassers who might interfere and their clumsy choices in implements, the lack of proficiency in such an endeavor gave the impression of baby's first summoning ritual. Were they even aware of what would happen if it worked? Calling Hagarg Ryonis to this plane wasn't akin to rubbing a bottle and receiving three wishes from a genie beholden to their commands; she would annihilate them before they had the chance to exclaim, "And my first wish shall be — !" Idiots, all of them.

Well, not all. The one at the front, the leader, knew enough to cobble this rite together in the first place, and to acquire something strong enough to power it. That was when his gaze landed on what appeared to be a woman splayed on the floor in the middle of an intricate circle crafted out of chalk, blood pooling around her wrists. She wasn't human, Constantine could sense that much; either the director of this sorry affair was capable of discerning that as well, or someone had fed him the necessary information. The latter possibility was one to keep in mind, yet for the moment, ending this held precedent. If he could screw with the sigils entrapping their captive, he could disrupt the ritual, and maybe she would be able to pull herself together enough to help.

With a whispered spell under his breath, he cloaked himself from view and began his approach. The lot of them had their eyes closed, their faces turned upwards to the ceiling as a sort of energy started to emanate from their outstretched hands; between them and their leader lay their ' summoning artifact '. As soon as he was close enough, Constantine murmured a few more words. If anyone heard them, they didn't find a chance to react — a blast of magical energy of his own sent the congregation sprawling in all directions. It had upset his invisibility for the moment, but no matter! With only the leader chanting now while the few followers beside him hurried to provide protection and the way to the woman clear, it had served its purpose.

"I know they say it's the thought that counts, but this is damn pathetic. So, I'm gonna save you from the embarrassment of your master seeing this — you're welcome." A few more well-placed blasts propelled the members attempting to rush forward back against the wall while Constantine dashed towards the front of the room. However, at least one of the cultists already had a better grasp on their newfound power than he had expected, using it to enhance their strength as they collided into his shoulder. Shit! He stumbled before slamming his fist, armed with the gold knuckles, into the side of their jaw. "Fiat iustitia et pereat mundus!" Let justice be done though the world perish, in-fucking-deed.

Finally reaching the circle, Constantine scuffed his heel against the sigil scrawled along the stone floor, marring the sidewalk chalk it had been etched in. Amateurs.

[gear-project]

Fighting Games and Growing Old Part 3

So, I'm fully aware of the fact that some games just do not click with me or mesh well with my sense of taste. I've been aware of this for some time.

I've gotten in to debates with people over exactly "why" I don't like certain games, or just plain why I can't get as involved towards them as other people do.

That's not to say I don't appreciate them by themselves, it's just very difficult for me to break in to a "groove" when it comes to playing certain characters.

It's definitely a dream of mine to master every character in every fighting game I've come across, but it's still a bit of a pipe dream. And I sincerely doubt I'll be anything like the guys on Twitter/X who post their elite combos and mixups that destroy whatever poor kids they happened to come across online.

I've been sincerely feeling somewhat "guilty" (excuse the pun) that I haven't played Strive as often as I play other games lately.

It's not that I don't play Strive, but it's more along the lines of that I haven't found a sincere motive to pick up on just yet.

I see all these players playing high level and it's amazing and all, but to me that's not part of what's fun about the game.

To ME, what's part of what's fun is the interactions I have with the friends I've made, the game features that previous games have let me tinker with and explore. Boss Characters, Unlimited Tension, Roman Cancel shenanigans, Instant Kill setups, Danger Time... the spices and herbs of what made GG so appealing to me when I was younger.

When I see guys like Demonseth999 posting videos of his character mods, I know he's livin' the dream. He's making characters the way they're supposed to be: fun. No limitations on imagination, no limits on rules, certainly no BALANCE, but at the same token, who wants balance when the rules are boring?

And it's not just his character mods that people find appealing about the guy: he posts RPG-maker-esque videos of a game he's working on... he posts streams of unique games and makes the effort to goof around and interact with his fanbase and even sets up rooms for people to come hang out with him on the weekends.

He could do a little less involving drinking alcohol, but that's just MY OPINION.

No, see, when you've played games for as long as I have, you start to see that it isn't the games themselves that are fun... it's the people you're having fun WITH.

I used to spend the better part of 10 years playing Accent Core by myself... do you have ANY IDEA how unfun it was to train alone by myself? Nobody knew GG existed, it was niche... nobody knew I existed... I had nobody to play a multiplayer game with, FOR YEARS.

It would've been simple if no netplay was the only problem, but only a select few amounts of people even LIKE FIGHTING GAMES to begin with... so that struggle has always been in the back of my mind.

Like everyone wants to play sports games or Street Fighter, and they always bash "anime games" like it's some kind of curse.

Nowadays, I take to grinding and forging weapons in Soul Calibur's Libra of Souls mode... it's like a gacha, but at the same time, making good weapons turns me in to an unkillable monster on the battlefield.

I used to mess with Game Genie a lot when I was a kid... Code Breaker, GameShark, Hex Editors, Game Mods in general... Infinite Lives, Infinite Health, Immortality, games with those kind of rules in them were so much more relaxed and FUN when I didn't have to worry about time limits or dying for fast Game Overs.

I wish more game developers thought about what makes a game fun instead of making it all "hard mode" all the time... yeah okay the elitists enjoy their challenges... but what about the rest of us who just want to relax and kill things?

I just want more games that let me make my own characters and make my own rules... is that so difficult a task to achieve?

It also wouldn't hurt to be able to share my experiences of these games with my friends, too.

Even if I currently "suck at some games", if they give me enough of a reason to play them, I'll come back... Strive included.

[geneeste]

Genie's SG-1 Rewatch: Singularity

Season 1, Episode 15. In which I have a VERY unexpected reaction to the setup to this episode, and then cry.

PREVIEW:

6:42 THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T PUT A LITERAL WELCOME SIGN ON A PLANET ANNOUNCING YOUR PRESENCE JFC “Dear Bad Guys, the SGC has an outpost here on this defenseless planet, please come kill everyone in it and send a doomsday device in the chest of a cute, traumatized little girl to destroy the SGC and all the stuff in a several-mile radius, kthxbai”

6:46 And now I’m getting upset that I don’t think they ever deal with the fact that it’s essentially their fault Hanka showed up on the Goa’uld radar at all And not in a “sometimes our presence has unintended, unforeseeable consequences” kind of way but in a “We were homicidally negligent in our treatment of this planet” way

5:10 Yay Singularity A nice palette cleanser after Hathor, ugh Lol Daniel “it’s black and it’s a hole” This man is a PhD

5:11 I love Sam’s spiraling hand gestures describing the matter entering the black hole Very cute, if dangerous

5:12 “Actually, it’s called the accretion disc” That’s my man, Jack Not just a pretty face

5:14 HEH Daniel’s slow on the uptake there Again, this man is a PhD

5:15 HEE Sam backing Jack’s knowledge up I loooooove it And I love them Sassy squared “Not initially” ew jack

5:17 Okay, hold up though — is this the first (and I’m pretty sure the last?) time we get this like road sign for a planet?

5:18 I am very confused by this thing, because I don’t think you’d want to advertise the SGC’s presence on this planet (HI GOAULD, WELCOME TO HANKA, ENJOY YOUR STAY!) And people from the SGC would certainly know who FROM THE SGC would be there

5:19 What is exactly the point of this highway sign aside from memorializing whoever Douglas McLean is (of blessed memory, I’m sure, not trying to be mean to this person)

5:20 What a weird ass thing to put here

5:22 Teal’c spidey sense is tingling Oh no poor guy I’m glad that they’ve put Daniel through at least some basic emergency protocols He springs right into action there

5:24 So one of the things that Mr Genie and I talk a lot about is that the US military would not send just 4 people through through an alien device to unknown territory

5:26 And I also have trouble suspending disbelief a little with remote bases on other planets because it’s veeeeerrrrry unlikely there’d be just a handful of people in these places ever So like SG1 showing up and wondering where everyone is...is just not something I think would actually happen

5:30 (Another random aside: I also sometimes wonder why they picked the Air Force as the managing service for the Stargate and not, say, the Army — I get it’s the most technology-oriented of the services and I am definitely biased toward them, but the USAF doesn’t really do infantry. I would have expected to see them either hand field operations over to the Army or see Joint Operations established waaaaaay earlier)

5:32 PM Oof they’re all dead I knew that was coming, but still, that sucks

5:33 WHY IS JANET’S HAIR DOWN AND WHY IS IT DOWN OFF WORLD The military doesn’t care if you’re pretty! JFC

5:34 Although yes, damn Janet is pretty Don’t distract me, you’re out of uniform!

5:36 Ugh is that a kid? I hate that (I mean I know other kids must have died but of course it upsets me to see it) 5:37 Do we ever find out if Cassie has any siblings? I wish we’d gotten more of her backstory

5:38 I feel like the story of her life before Sam and Janet was pretty thin considering this calamitous thing that happened hahaha Teal’c is making that face!

5:40 (I always thought it was RDA that said this, but apparently it was Michael Shanks who once took Chris Judge aside and was like, “you’re a handsome guy, why are you always doing that thing with your face???”) TEAL’C IS SO GENTLE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH My heeeeeeaaaaaart 5:41 Oh Sam, please stop telling the little girl who’s entire world was basically just murdered that everything’s okay

5:43 I like that Sam gets to be soft in this episode So often characters like hers don’t get to be soft without being punished in some way for it 5:45 Okay, so here’s the thing though I get why Sam would feel that SGC died for nothing if they didn’t study the black hole BUT I don’t understand the argument she’s trying to make about the rest of HANKA At this point there’s no reason to believe their deaths have anything to do with the phenomena so her curiosity comes across as really callous and selfish

5:49 That was a good bit of camera work, seeing the gate room from Cassie’s perspective It came across as pretty daunting

5:50 Oh my god Sam, why in the world would you think leaving a little girl whose WHOLE WORLD HAS JUST DIED in a concrete room on an unfamiliar planet by herself?

5:51 This isn’t even “never been a parent before” stuff, this is BASIC HUMAN DECENCY STUFF

5:52 why is Janet’s hair STILL DOWN It is way past her collar I don’t know why this is bugging me BUT IT IS REALLY BUGGING ME

5:54 Sam drawing herself into Cassie’s picture so she knows she’s not alone kills me every. time.

5:55 Y’all ever think about Cassie was trapped by herself on a planet surrounded by the corpses of everyone she ever knew

5:57 I hate that we didn’t see the real consequences from that in the show

5:57 PM sighs forever at this shows ongoing inability to handle real fallout on screen like 99% of the time

5:58 PM The scene with Jack explaining black holes to Teal’c is very funny but totally pointless Couldn’t we have skipped this and dealt with emotional stakes instead Did we just need to remind everyone that Jack and Teal’c are still on the planet? Lol

6:01 I love that silly grabby hands thing Sam does to Cassie in the infirmary Very much something I might do to make my kids laugh

6:02 Oh Cassie

6:03 “What? What do I do?” Aaaaahhhh Sam I feel ya honey, it’s the worst

6:04 Why are they doing CPR though? Is she not breathing? They didn’t say Cassie wasn’t breathing I’m confused Okay, so now she’s intubated that was fast Not sure what’s actually wrong here but it sucks all around

6:06 There’s...nothing attached to the breathing tube Why is it there Did they mean to place an airway? I AM VERY CONFUSED BY THIS DRAMATIC MEDICAL SCENE 6:13 Okay, not for nothing, but: if the show had chosen to pivot to Janet and Sam: Adoptive Moms/Life Partners Who Solve Mysteries, they would have had at least one viewer That viewer would have been me

6:14 I know this is a serious moment but this shot with that blue lighting is very flattering to Janet, Sam, and Daniel

6:15 Okay, I’m sorry, hold up again How exactly are they visualizing or trying to remove (or whatever it is they’re doing) Cassie’s chest bomb thing? Did they cut her open??? Is it minimally invasive surgery? What exactly is happening here 6:18 Are we saying it’s an intelligent tumor/bomb I never got this part of the story 6:20 This is a really sweet moment between Sam and Daniel Daniel is actually being kind and supportive and I love him for it Good job, Daniel

6:21 I love that Jack is enthusiastic about studying the black hole But I am a little annoyed that they let him enjoy this without making fun of him for it And that he gets to be proud of his knowledge of astronomy While Sam is so often set up and then mocked for her expertise/belittled for enjoying nerdy things  BUT WHATEVER I’M NOT BITTER

6:42 THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T PUT A LITERAL WELCOME SIGN ON A PLANET ANNOUNCING YOUR PRESENCE JFC “Dear Bad Guys, the SGC has an outpost here on this defenseless planet, please come kill everyone in it and send a doomsday device in the chest of a cute, traumatized little girl to destroy the SGC and all the stuff in a several-mile radius, kthxbai”

6:46 And now I’m getting upset that I don’t think they ever deal with the fact that it’s essentially their fault Hanka showed up on the Goa’uld radar at all And not in a “sometimes our presence has unintended, unforeseeable consequences” kind of way but in a “We were homicidally negligent in our treatment of this planet” way Like, I am kind of appalled now because I can’t unsee it Did they never talk to Cassie about this? Jesus Like holy shit this is several levels of terrible that I never thought about before

6:56 That is some amazing resolution on that telescope (not satellite, lol)  (Apologies, I’m pretty salty tonight)

7:00 And now I’m feeling very conflicted about using this little girl’s trauma as drama fodder for Sam Damn, I am looking at this ep in a whole new way (And also. I don’t buy Sam’s ‘military’ excuse for having to be detached. that doesn’t make sense to me at all)

7:02 Stepping back from the hella problematic setup of this storyline (and HOO BOY IS IT A BIG ONE), lots of potential Sam/Daniel shippyness in this ep I see solid friendship here but I totally get why someone would see a ship instead

7:05 Oh, so now you’re okay with sending additional backup to defend against one little girl but a few guys to protect an entire planet and probably a million dollar’s worth of equipment after you’ve broadcast your location to your deadliest enemy is fine Got it (Man. I am genuinely surprised by my reaction to this ep. Oof.) 7:10 I am begrudgingly acknowledging that this is a good shot of SG-1 I want it on the record that I am lodging this note on their attractiveness under protest 7:11 Heh “What about the abandoned nuclear facility at—“ “Right!” I suspect that bit of dialogue was inspired by military PA’s standard response to questions about nuclear weapons facilities: “I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at ____________.” @sharim28, 7:13 Hahaha yes convenient cut off Very smooth @geneeste, 7:14 So smooth Sam holding Cassie while she sleeps in the back of the truck is legit heartbreaking stahp I don’t want to feel things while I’m mad at you, show 7:16 Aahhhh Sam already knows she won’t be coming back up when Jack offers to take Cassie You can see it in her face That is some great acting by AT and MY HEART And I swear Jack has an inkling too It’s why he’s so insistent about the time 7:17 And that eye contact between her and Jack as the elevator doors close GAH Stupid show.

7:18 “Please, go back to sleep.” STOP IT I MEAN IT

7:19 This really is difficult to watch Poor Sam. Poor Cassie. Poor everybody.

7:21 Ahhhh Sam DON’T CRY SAM 7:22 That Jack switches from Captain Carter to Sam is just chefskiss.gif

7:23 So I love both the fact that Jack is desperately ordering Sam to come back up AND that Sam is desperately ignoring him Also perfection 7:24 (Don’t think I’ve forgotten the shitty thing you did show I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN I’M JUST TAKING A BREAK) Jack’s not leaving MY HEART 7:25 And also I love SG1 but of course Jack wouldn’t leave Cassie’s “I love you” really does feel earned here and that’s hard to do in such a short amount of time A testament to AT’s acting chops because I’m not feeling particularly charitable toward the writing right now 7:26 More great camerawork on Daniel and Teal’c I wonder who directed this ep

7:30 Mario Azzopardi — he hasn’t done much I recognize now. Peter Woeste on cinematography. Good work sirs. More good camera work on the guys 7:31 “We could have been wrong about the time.” “We could have been wrong about what would happen.” I love the drama but I’m mad about it 7:32 He switched to Sam again! I can’t wait to listen to this podcast ep of Chevrons Locked 7:34 PM Yes Daniel’s celebratory slap at Teal’c HA I love it 7:35 Why are we insisting on putting Sam in mom clothes Although I’m loving Teal’c's fashion

7:36 “A mother’s instinct, perhaps.” “Subtle, but no.” That is such a great little moment between Teal’c and Sam

7:38 Jack not so subtlety ushering the dog and the guys away

7:38 So sweet Big old softy Pretty sure that dog is walking Jack, but whatever

7:40 Sweet ending

7:41 I will never look at this episode or the whole storyline leading up to Cassie’s appearance the same way again, though Phew. That was an unexpected ride

7:42 Um. I just looked it up. Katie Stuart (Cassie) is a year older than me. Wut. the actress is frozen in my brain at 13 so this is very weird to discover

[tobiasdrake]

I know a lot of people were just chomping at the bit to get to the Sony stars, but my favorite part of this movie is actually the first act. Peter having to face the public fallout of Mysterio revealing his identity is just... It's just such juicy drama and intrigue.

I'm not super fond of secret identities and secret societies and secret worlds buried under our own and stuff. The whole "This is my secret life of plot that nobody knows about" thing just doesn't appeal to me.

But I deal with it for moments like this. For me, the most fun you can have with a secret identity is when the mask comes off. The best thing you can do with a secret society is when their existence is revealed. The coolest part about a secret world buried beneath our own is when something happens that is so catastrophic, that the genie can never be put back into the bottle.

The most fun you can have with a "My secret life of plot" setup is setting it on fire and then indulging in the intense drama and narrative complications and new pressures created by those fireworks. These moments are what secrets are for.

I know a lot of people won't agree with me. But if I could wave a magic wand and turn this movie back into the Kraven film it was originally meant to be, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't, so I'll just have to make do with what I get.

[kidnickgames]

Here's the Doubles team I used on stream last night *cough Thursdays at 9 PM EST cough cough twitch.tv/kid_nick cough cough cough*! Super straight forward, surprisingly effective. Almost always lead Kleavor and either Arcanine or Lando, with Gastro and Sylveon in the back. Turn 1, kill something (usually a Tailwind genie) with Stone Axe from Kleavor (which also sets up Stealth Rock, eliminating the foe's Focus Sash for the rest of the game), and use whatever appropriate move from your Intimidator. As soon as they threaten one of your Water-weak leads with a Water move (typically from Rapid Urshifu), switch in Gastrodon, who redirects, eats, and gets boosted from the move thanks to Storm Drain. Keep up offensive pressure and close out, most likely, with Sylveon and some big Hyper Voices! This team is super strong offensively and has a ton of bulk (everything but Lando has a lot of HP/Def/SpD invenstment). Nothing outside of Lando is very fast, but everyone can easily tank hits, especially with 2 Intimidators and the ability to nullify Surging Strikes. And while X-Scissor and U-Turn can easily Turn 1 kill the opponent's Trick Room setup, between Gastro, Sylveon, and Amoongus, the team does well in Trick Room, too. Tera is super flexible here. Your gameplan isn't built around it, so you can adapt throughout the game- don't rush to commit to it! Because of the team's bulk, the only out-of-the-gate defensive Tera worth considering is if you have Lando facing off against something with Ice moves. The team struggles a bit against Heatran and super duper aggressive teams with a lot of fast sweepers, but if you watch your positioning, I haven't found a match-up that feels impossible. The team is nicely anti-meta without requiring too much out-of-the-box play, and most opponents don't seem to know what to expect from Kleavor.

If you use the team, lemme know how it goes!