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aprillikesthings · 1 year ago

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oh god oh god

HEY GUESS WHAT I'm down to the last two episodes of She-Ra in my rewatch

On a related note, should you desire to read them all starting from s1ep1 for some godforsaken reason, here's the link. Please be amused at my claims that I would not do this for every episode and my repeated attempts to cut back on how much I copy/paste dialogue and/or explain the entire plot instead of just making jokes and commentary

If, somehow, you are New Here, I've been rewatching all of the 2018 She-Ra, ostensibly for fic-writing reasons as I had forgotten huge quantities of the plot. I have since become deeply obsessed, as one does.

I make a lot of adult jokes, random asides, references to other things, commentary, and a lot of cursing and crying. I love Catradora and I love Catra especially and have a tendency to add a screenshot every time they so much as look at each other. It seems silly to warn for spoilers at this point, but yeah, this is a RE-watch. It's just that I forgot a lot of it because I watched it the first time as it was coming out (pun intended). The shit I did remember is so fucking random tho lol

The last time I tried to do a two-parter in one post the number of times I had to reblog it because tumblr only allows 30 images per post got real stupid, so while I do still assume I will have to reblog multiple times per episode, I'm doing each episode separately.

HERE WE GOOOOO

s5 ep12 Heart (pt 1)

jfc i'm full of adrenaline lol

Also I have a beer, it's a citrus IPA because I live in Portland and it's required by law

(not really I just genuinely like them. that and IPA's that taste like gnawing on a douglas fir. also fruit sours.)

LOL I was so anxious I looked away from this post and consumed most of my beer this is gonna be hilarious

ALSO my goal is to finish these two episodes before the Easter Vigil service tomorrow night at 8pm

Theoretically I should be able to watch two episodes of TV in a day and a half, right? AHAHA

Bow should play Wonderwall

she always looks so soft with her hair down

but also having that thing just floating in front of your chest like that has gotta feel weird

ON A RELATED NOTE I know I made the joke in the last episode about how many people have the failsafe as a tattoo but the PROBLEM is that now I literally LIVE with a tattoo artist whose work I like--I already have two tattoos they've done, here and here, and the temptation is extremely high?? but I don't have any other obvious fandom-related tattoos (unless you count the title of a Björk song) so it feels weird to start with this one???? Like I don't have any LoTR or BBC Sherlock or SU or K/DA tattoos (to list off a bunch of fandoms I was devastatingly obsessed with at the time) so getting one for THIS fandom feels kinda weird. But like, also, if I got it kinda small on one wrist it would look kinda cool and be a nice loud DID U KNOW I'M GAY kinda thing. Gyahhh.

She's struggling to do She-Ra, and I'm sitting here YELLING because IT'S BECAUSE CATRA LEFT and UGH I want to murder Shadow Weaver

(eyyyy I won't have to, ha ha oh god)

Oh she manages to transform anyway. Without making any noise or glowing lights, just pop, She-Ra

awwww but also lol

related aside but like, every culture that figured out bows and arrows invented at least one kind of string instrument. Literally archers just fidgeting with their bows and going "oh this makes a nice sound, what if I put more strings on this thing." So many different places and cultures invented things like a guitar or like a harp or like a violin. But also I want to know who the FUCK figured out the hurdy-gurdy??? oh my god I just looked up the hurdy-gurdy and I'm cracking up because one of the earliest depictions of it is from the 1100's, in the Santiago de Compostela cathedral. A place I have been. Because I did the Camino last year.

oh right plot

I would like to take a moment and be grateful for the people who put together the transcripts on the fandom wiki for saving me typing up long bits of lore-heavy dialogue

She-Ra: "Prime is getting closer every day to figuring out how to access the Heart of Etheria. If he succeeds, he can use it to destroy worlds, galaxies, maybe even the entire universe. The Failsafe is our only chance at stopping him."

"His hold over them grows stronger every day they're chipped. If we don't free them now, we might lose them forever. Prime holds every advantage in this fight. He'll be ready for us. But we have a plan. Entrapta?" Entrapta: "I finally succeeded in cracking Prime's signal pattern. If I get access to his Spire network, I can use it to broadcast a jamming frequency that will disable all of the chips on Etheria, freeing everyone at once!" She-Ra: I need you all to get Entrapta to the Spire and keep Prime's forces distracted while she jams the signal."

"We're going to make sure that Prime can never hurt anyone ever again. We're ending this today. For good."

oh lord so Shadow Weaver is still there, sulking and looking away, and she looks over at her and starts almost losing She-Ra and being Adora again

have I mentioned how much I hate Shadow Weaver >:(

Adora goes outside...and looks around. I know who she's looking for. *sobs into a pillow*

NO. she's LOOKING for her GIRLFRIEND

I made that joke and then Glimmer literally says "Any sign of Catra?" I have to remember that at this point in the story literally everyone knows how in love they both are. Except them. Of course.

Adora: "She's not coming back." ;_;

Adora: I mean you don't have to come with me this could be dangerous Bow: the fuck are you talking about of course we're going

And she turns into She-Ra again, roll intro

Okay so they go to the Crystal Castle thing where Light Hope was

it doesn't look so good

but also that's creepy

anyway they tell the hologram (not Light Hope, the other one) that they're looking for the Heart of Etheria and that they're Friends of Mara. She-Ra gets scanned and then a door opens into a passageway. Bow and Glimmer take her hands and they walk into the hall but:

she's still looking for someone

I have to deal with another episode and change of her looking for Catra ghghggh this hurts meeeee

OH SO OF COURSE they literally switch to showing us Catra

bahaha okay so she sits up and looks behind her kind of sadly, and Melog just skids to a stop so hard they throw Catra off

And Melog looks at Catra like she's fucking nuts. Catra's like, wtf is wrong with you??? and Melog looks back like BITCH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??? Catra what did you think was going to happen when you got a therapy animal that can literally read your moods. Melog knows you're being a dumbass and has NO reason to pretend to believe your surface "I don't give a shit" act!!

Melog does airplane ears at that. And then just pounces Catra.

Time for pressure! Just like a real therapy animal. Big weighted blanket!

oh shit I forgot about this bit

Catra just immediately starts crying.

Catra: "You saw what happened! Adora chose Shadow Weaver, okay? Not me!"

*sobs into hands* you useless fucking dumbass that is your abysmally low self-esteem talking literally every living semi-sentient thing in the galaxy knows Adora's in love with you EXCEPT YOU

I can get frustrated with AU fics where these two both pull this "but what if she doesn't like me back" thing for ages while everyone around them is face-palming in frustration, but like. You have to admit. It's accurate to canon.

(It's also accurate to lesbians in general, lbh. Either fucking on the first date or doing the "but what if she's not into me" thing for months-to-years. Sometimes both, including in some of the fics I've written, heyooooo.)

Melog purrs and licks her face. A clone approaches and they both go invisible and then follow it.

MEANWHILE

the rest of the rebellion is attacking Horde Prime's ship thing

Wrong Hordak helps Entrapta get into the spire. The whole point of this fight (which I didn't bother screenshotting lol) is to give Entrapta time to disconnect everyone's chips from Horde Prime.

Lol once inside Entrapta does another one of those "holy shit this stuff looks so cool...OMG FOCUS" things

Back at the Crystal Castle Glimmers like "omg are you scared" and She-Ra says "No, I just hope this works." Liar.

Bow: "It'll be okay. And when we get back, it'll be a whole new world."

this poor girl. she's so heartbroken.

(meanwhile the plot of my fic-in-progress is literally them breaking up. (not forever.) but it's hilarious of me to get SO UPSET over this scene when I'm going to force them to repeat it. like it's a mutual decision in my fic but it doesn't make it hurt any less.)

PFFT I unpaused it, and IMMEDIATELY:

I just said OH SHIT out loud lol

oh god I saw someone talking about this in a youtube video right around when I started my rewatch

It's a hologram, she's not actually there. And Catra goes through multiple other ages, including her kid self, being chipped on Horde Prime's ship, when they were Horde cadets, etc; before going back to looking like she does now.

Adora's sharp little gasp of shock here

Adora goes to touch Catra's hand and the hologram disappears

(good lord she's beautiful here)

And I think I agree with the youtube video: Adora knew she was upset about Catra running off, but this is the moment she specifically realizes she's in love, and it breaks her heart into tiny pieces.

(Hah, I actually say a very similar thing in part of my fic that they mention in the video--that previous to this, she refused to let herself want this or even think about it. "I didn't even realize this was something I could want.")

BUT ALSO so like is this a remnant of Light Hope's programming that tortured them with childhood flashbacks in season one (in order to drive them apart) or what

LOL NO

I know I made this joke before but I'm suing Nate for emotional damages

She-Ra: "We need to be careful. It looks like this place can still project memories."

oof

A still-invisible Catra follows the clone to where Horde Prime's ship is and is visibly terrified and shaking. A clone who might be Hordak turns around with that white in his eyes that means Prime is using him to see, and Catra just tries to be quiet and not move but she's obviously triggered, and I mean that in the literal PTSD sense.

Horde Prime (via Hordak?): "My brothers. The time has come at last. No longer shall She-Ra stand in my way."

oh okay so Horde Prime's actual ship is still in space (just orbiting Etheria I assume) and the planet-side thing is him speaking through one of the clones via the hive mind.

"Begin the acquisition process!"

are they just gonna straight-up drill into it?

apparently yes

the whole area lights up with that sickening green light, including all the lines that characters kept noticing on the ground that looked like some combo of circuit boards and First Ones' writing.

meanwhile, Adora keeps slipping out of being She-Ra for split seconds and is clearly stressing The Fuck Out and possibly walking in the wrong direction in her distress, only to walk into another memory/hologram.

And I've predictably hit the image limit, but 13:30 to go which is better than last night pfft okay gonna reblog

#april rewatches spop #heart pt 1

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lutiaslayton · 1 year ago

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Hi all, I’m very sorry for the late notice (I was trying to push through until the end against the odds), but I won’t be able to get today’s update for Layton’s Book Club done in time 😔 I tried my best, but with the Christmas family gatherings (and eating ten times more than I am used to), the moving around multiple places (I get carsick so I can’t work during travels), the running some more simulations for my lab (I know my PhD is done but we just might be on the brink of a breakthrough), my favourite laptop needing repairs (it is now finally back home and I can finally draw again!), and the flu I got for two days (I’m better now), I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it.

When past me said that I had the entire first chapter as buffer and that it would amount to at least six weeks worth of updates… Well, that is technically true, but also that is only true if you want to consider the primary DeepL-only translation with the bare minimum of editing. What I realised upon giving it a closer look was that a lot of sentences are a bit hard to analyse and interpret correctly, at the very least during the scene which was supposed to be posted today. This first scene in particular is already extremely fast-paced and confusing as it is due to the sheer amount of action happening in it, so for this update more than for any other, translation accuracy really needs to be top notch. and the issue is that since I still do not speak Japanese, top notch 9/10 accurate translations take forever to make because I have to verify every word one by one.

The entire point of this second translation I am making is to have one that is better than the currently-existing Google Docs one on all aspects, mainly reliability and reading enjoyment (as much as I can make it since my own writing style is miles away from the Layton’s Book Club narration style). It would be hypocritical if my translation were just as half-baked as this first one from years ago, even if it would be of just barely higher quality thanks solely to DeepL being superior to how Google Translate was ten years ago.

So… If you want, you can read the first DeepL-with-minimalistic-editing translation directly on my transcription website in the meantime. And if you are even more impatient/curious, you can read here the Google Docs translation which was made by someone else years ago, and… really is lacking in a lot of important moments. But for Layton’s Book Club, in the end I decided to go for quality over quantity. And also this extra week will hopefully allow me to breathe a bit :')

---

PS: The translation you can read in black text on my transcription website is not actually meant to be enjoyable to read, it is rather meant to be as accurate and close to the original as possible (including the order of words, which is notably why they are so weird to read). Green text shows the sentences that DeepL spat out when I copy-pasted the Japanese version and which past me barely edited in order to make them sound like actual English, but their accuracy is not ascertained.

#lutiastalks #layton's book club

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xtrablak674 · 2 years ago

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I am a Low Key Nerd and Naturalist

Nerd is so passé, I prefer 'complex human being'. But what I do know is, I am not apologizing to anyone for anything I wish to post. I ain't got no kids, and my parents is long dead. Last I checked ain't a single person paying one bill up in this house except me, I have no one to be beholden to regarding my activities.

Generally speaking I like to stay away from including nudes on this particular blog since I have posted more than enough of that other places on the internet. But, I feel no need to pretend that if I am going to get the opportunity I am going to celebrate my work before anything else.

Meaning I am mildly excited about iPad iOs 17, which in all actuality only has like really five cool updates, but one of them that I am not sure if its been on the phone for a minute or not, is the changing lock screens.

On my early 2008 Macbook Pro I had my desktop changing like every ten seconds with a bunch of photos from my porn archive which I had on an external drive. I always love to have an electronic device with some changing element. Traditionally on my tablets, and this is my third, I utilize my abstract work as lock and home screens. Usually two different images that will be unique to that specific device.

This Os update now allows me to indulge myself and my body dysmorphia, or put a more public face on my tablet. Albeit I plan on never leaving the house after that damn flu I caught on my daily walks, I think the public face for my tablet will be rarely used.

Another feature which is solely a personal fav is the ability to run more than one timer at a time. Sometimes I am washing something and want it to soak for four hours and during this time I may order some food and need to set a ten minute timer so I can perfectly time getting dressed for the delivery person. Now I can do that!

I also love how they show the countdown on the lock screen. I am going to be honest since I don't have a phone the lock screen was never a big thing to be, but with the tweaks to the clock and the widgets Apple is making it a more welcome place for a bit more creativity and self expression.

I love how they took into consideration the vertical and horizontal orientation that tablet user utilize and made sure the screens could be formatted to the orientation of the device, it took me playing on my second tablet to find the fully tweaks, but I enjoyed the intuitiveness in the design.

Eighteen page PDF, I read the whole thing about all the new features, so many things I don't use like the health app, air pods, Safari, FaceTime or rarely use if at all. I did try out the new iMessage tricks and tried out the new tool bar they have changed out the old one for.

I love how we can do voice notes that are sent with transcriptions. It makes the audio a bit more permanent, since I am sure the transcript can be copied and pasted. But I enjoy sharing my voice with folks so they can get all the nuance of exactly what I am saying and most importantly HOW I am saying it.

Technology and me have always been friends but I think it wise to use it smartly and don't overdo it. My twenty-seven year old nephew has a Macbook Air, AirPods, Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. I told the nigga straight up he needs to buy some stock in Apple with him putting so much money in their pocket! #ForRealThough

I have only had like five computers and three tablets:

Mac SE (91 - 97 | returned to Campi)

Apple Powerbook 5300 (96 - 97 | recalled by Apple)

Apple Powerbook 1400c (97 - 01 | still have)

iMac G3 (02 - 09 | lent to Techu, never returned)

Macbook Pro (08 to present)

Tablets

iPad - 16 GB (2008 to present)

iPad Pro - 256 GB (2019 to present)

iPad Pro - 1 TB (2022 to present)

Currently I still use two of my tablets, and now that I have deleted a lot of data I can use my Macbook Pro to take trips down memory lane in the form of old photos, designs, videos and memories. I am a bougie bitch and primarily only deal with Apple. I could have bought a new laptop but my iPad Pro especially with the Apple Magic Keyboard really has all the computing power I need for my current needs.

I did win a FreePC through that advertising scheme years ago, where they gave away "free" Windows computers that had very heavy advertising on them. Anyway my yoga was shot today because I spent the morning on my laptop then got caught up in iOs 17 and that was all she wrote.

Today is supposed to be my regularly scheduled program day and I only got through two episodes of Killing Eve. Anyhow let me attempt to watch my shows, albeit I am excited I have a new distraction that is creating great content for my mini-blog and allowing me to reconnect with some folks who I am sharing what I find.

[Screenshots by Brown Estate]

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gaddaboutgriffon · 1 year ago

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ok so the intervention for Clone Roy happens 2 episodes before Impulse shows up. (also, in season Three Clone Roy changes his name to Will. not relevant now but may be helpful to keep things straight latter.) though frankly since Danny is immune to timeline changes since the whole Dan thing Impulse may recognize him and freak out anyway. I'm always down to add some comedy into the angst. Also this is the Season that has the Alien invaders called the Reach.

now back to continuing what @kizzer55555 started.

"Wait, you thought no one else could see me? Shesh, I know I am half ghost but that is a little ridiculous. ... and a bit insulting."

"Why wouldn't i think you were a halucination or something. the wall you crashed through was fixed the next morning. the bandages I used on you were always back in the box with no stains. Everything always was like you were never there the next morning." The clone replied.

Behind him his friends all reacted at the same time, and it blended a bit together. "Hallucinations? oh Roy please come back home!" "Half ghost? how is that a thing?" "Roy if you are having hallucinations, you really need to start seeing someone." "What kinds of injuries did the kid have?!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and fully ignored the concerned things his friends and mentors said. Then the next thought came. "Wait if you are real, then was everything you told me about your life true too?!"

Danny had a moment of surprise mixed with panic cross his face before he tried to hide it with a grin and replied, "well, ah, look at that your friends look like they are going to take care of you now so looks like my work is done and I can stop haunting you now! Have a better life!"

The clone tried to grab Danny as he started turning invisible, but the young half ghost was able to phase out of his grasp. "No! get back here you little - It's not Safe if everything is true! Come back!"

He castes about for a bit before turning on the other heroes. "Thanks a lot, Guys! Now I have to rescue that kid from his terrible home life on top of Finding the Real Roy. Oh, and Dick you better get foster family lined up who can handle a kid with more powers than half the justice league combined."

With that he jumped off the roof and ran into the night. He spent a while going random directions and laying false trails before returning to his safe house. only to realize it wasn't so safe as he found Cheshire already inside.

Cheshire tilted her head a bit before speaking. "Well, that was quite a dramatic get together."

The clone lowered his bow as she took of her mask. a signal this was a non-combative visit. "What are you doing here, Jade? You're not the type for a casual visit, and I have had enough of people telling me to 'get help' today."

(From her I am just going to copy and paste a transcript of the episode dialoge.

Cheshire/Jade: You lost the right to backseat drive when you left me to return to a life of crime.

Clone Roy: That's not why I left. Cheshire/Jade: It was just a side benefit. Besides I'm still your wife. Legally. Grants me certain privileges to knock sense into you. Roy. I left because your obsession with finding Speedy was all consuming. There wasn't room in your life for anything else, or anyone. Not me, and not our daughter. Clone Roy: We We have a daughter?

Cheshire/Jade : Lian Nguyen-Harper. She needs her father, Roy. You have to get your head on straight. For her. And that means you need to exorcise Speedy's ghost, once and for all. So while I was away I called in every chip I had. I got us a lead, Red. One last chance to find the original Roy Harper.

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=young-justice&episode=s02e04 )

Back to my additions. Chechire gave him a moment to digest the information. Then continued, "And after that then we will see about the other little ghost you adopted."

“… so basically just about everyone in my life has tried to kill me at least once, it’s kinda become my go-to way of making friends, just striking up a conversation with anyone who shoots me. It’s worked with just about all of the rogues in my hometown, including my clone-turned-sister who I had brunch with just last week. Even my parents used to shoot at me, but that was only for like a year or so and in their defense they didn’t actually know it was me, haha. It’s kinda funny, the only person who ever managed to actually kill me was a friend of mine who didn’t technically kill me the first time, and then only did it a second time to fix some rewritten timeline stuff, and I still dated her for a while after that. Oh, speaking of dating, my first girlfriend tried to kill me WHILE we were dating, but again, in her defense, she didn’t know it was me haha. But yeah, that’s kinda why I kept talking to that guy while he was pummeling me, just a bit of a pattern I’ve wound up developing. Anyway, what was the question again?��

“… How did you get in my safe house, and do you need medical attention.”

“Oh! I crashed through the window, and probably. Also, I’m gonna pass out.”

And then Danny passed out.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dc x dp #dcxdp #story prompt #danny phantom #batfam #danny fenton #phanfic

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dragons-and-yellow-roses · 4 years ago

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I'm gonna talk through my project for a second because I love it and it's consuming my life, and also it's gonna take a lot of effort and time and I'm incredibly nervous about it and it's so important to me and I can't stand the thought of it not working, but also maybe it won't work and that would break my little heart. So if you have it in you, maybe send some encouragement.

At the camp I work at, there's a legend of the origins of camp called the Bear Story. It's told at every closing campfire, it's a huge part of camp culture, and it's super important to camp and most of the staff.

It's really fucking important to me because I absolutely fell in love with it, and the woman that told it before me passed it on to me to continue telling. I am so passionate about this fucking story you have no idea.

It is oral tradition, it's never been copied or memorized. Some of the magic of it is that it changes with every new storyteller. I completely respect oral tradition and that's why I was hesitant at first.

But the woman that told it before me gave me a transcript, as well as hints and tips and parts that were important to her. It wasn't so that I could memorize it or anything, it was so to preserve it and keep her little changes recorded, and so that she could officially pass it on to me.

So I thought "Huh. Maybe it would be cool if I could have a bunch of versions from different tellers written down. Then the story could be better preserved, and passed on to the new tellers, like the transcript that was given to me."

I was nervous because this project could be seen as kind of an attack on the oral tradition, and I fully understand and respect that opposing point of view. But as I said, it's for preservation and camp history, and it'll kind of be to start a new tradition. New traditions are difficult to start and to welcome though, and I recognize that.

So on the camp FB page I wrote a little blurb about my project and asked for people to come forward and to help me.

One gentleman, a very nice father, said he'd look through his photos and videos for any documentation of it, which was super spicy and I love him.

But the next comment... shook me a bit?

Apparently, five years ago a different staff member tried a similar project. He wanted to make a CD with a bunch of different tellings. Cool, right? But he did receive a lot of criticism because again, it would go against the oral tradition. Therefore, he didn't continue pursuing the project.

However, I checked the comments on the FB post that the old staff member made for his project. Many of the first comments were criticism, yes, but once you got past that there was a lot of support. There were a lot of people saying they thought it's a cool idea, and they recommended people to reach out to. Older people that had told the Bear Story.

So now I have a list of people I can reach out to.

There's one man, and old teller that's very well known for his telling, that doesn't have an FB account, but my gf happens to be spending the weekend up at camp with him! She told him about my project and asked him to please help me? He said he thinks it's interesting and he'll try to type it up and send it to me.

Now, I know that man. I know he's obsessed with camp and he'll almost definitely send me a copy of his. So I'll have my version, the version that was told before me, and then his. Not a lot, but it's getting somewhere.

I'm not one to give up easily, and that's a threat. Especially on something as important as this.

There was an older story about camp, one that used to be well known. The Mist Story. However, it was oral tradition, and once it stopped being told (because it's a fucking scary story), it disappeared. Luckily, an older staff member had written it down so that it wasn't lost forever. And in the comments section of an old post, I read that there was another story, the Hermit Story, that had gone missing because the oral tradition had died out. That's what I don't want to happen to this story. I don't want it to be lost to time, I don't want it to fade out of camp culture, I don't want to come back to camp in ten or twenty years and realize that these new staff members don't know the story. That's why, while I respect the sanctity of oral tradition, I also believe that it needs to be preserved in a more permanent way than solely through memories.

That's why I'm fighting for this. I'm going to reach out to every person I know to try and gain more information. I have a list of people I know told the story, I have a list of old staff members that may be able to help. I'm not going to give up because the original idea received some backlash. I'm going to push and make sure that this story remains an important part of camp culture. It will not be lost, not if I have anything to say about it. It's tragic that old camp stories have already been lost, but I will not allow that to happen to this one.

Sorry I got so aggressive in that last paragraph, but I kind of have to keep myself heavily motivated through this entire project. I know it's going to be difficult, I've known that since the idea originally crossed my mind. But I can't stand the idea of giving up on this, even though I know that at some point I'll be tempted. But I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I gave up.

So I have my idea, I have my list of people to reach out to, I have an open Google Doc ready to be filled with this tasty tidbit of camp culture.

I can already tell that it's going to be hard on me. Reaching out to this many unfamiliar people is going to take its toll on me, mentally and emotionally, as well as dealing with the very likely backlash from people that believe in preserving the story solely through memories.

But even if it kills me, I swear to god I'm going to do this.

I'm just gonna need a lot of help along the way.

And I know that all of this anxiety and toil and trouble is going to be worth it when I have a document full of history that I get to pass on to someone when I leave camp. When I decide that my time of telling the story is over and I get to pass the story on to someone that I choose, someone that will love it like I did. When I get to see one more story added to the document and know that in the future there will be countless more. Little changes, little bits of personality added to it, and now it can all be tracked.

Christ on a cracker, I'm getting lightheaded just from thinking about it.

I need to keep up this energy, that's why I'm going at it so enthusiastically now. I know it might be hard to keep up this enthusiasm In the future.

Anywho I just wanted to talk this out to an audience, thank you for your time, have a beautiful day and I love you all.

#I'm terrified as all hell that this project will flop #that not enough people will remember the story or be willing to share it #I know this could be such a beautiful thing #but it relies on other people wanting that too #oof #with me all the luck that you can muster #either tonight or tomorrow night I'm going to start reaching out to the people on my list #and I'm going to hope and pray that something good comes out of it #because my original fb post didn't get much attention #and no one has reached out to me #i know it hasn't even been 24 hours but still #holy shit this is anxiety inducing #have a nice night everyone #im going to go back to obsessively checking my FB and email now in hopes that someone will have contacted me

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striveattemptfail · 5 years ago

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Football Vs. Husband: Which Do You Know Better? | Zimbits ft. Tater, G, 1.8k

Summary: Bitty gets quizzed on two of his favourite things: Jack and...... football?

Based on the Buzzfeed video of the same name. Takes place sometime in Sept-Oct 2019. Minor spoilers for 4.25 Faber and 4.26 Check, Please! (If you can call em spoilers LOL.)

Read on Ao3

A/N: Fun fact: At the time I wrote this (2017), it was set in the “future” (2019), but now that year is literally the past for us hahahahahahskfjasldfjasldfjklaskdfj. In the fic summary I say “minor spoilers” because what I originally wrote as wish fulfillment in 2017 became canon in 2020.

Anyway, this is a near verbatim copy of Ned Fulmer getting quizzed on his wife vs football—like fr some of the dialogue is exactly the same LOL. Thanks to @smol0ctopus for the beta and the omg stream! please server for advice!<3 Any other mistakes are mine.

YouTube transcript of Football Vs. Husband (Check, Please! #151: A Falconers Special!) [Descriptive captions by biittyyreciipees, airhockeycanbeviolent, and f4lcsboy: Check, Please! Captioning Team]

Eric Hey, y’all! Didja miss me? Because I sure did miss you! Now, today’s video is a lil special. Y’all’ll see that I’ve got myself some lovely guests here from Providence’s own Falconers team. (gestures towards Jack and Tater) Say hi guys!

Tater (waves) Hi!

Jack (single nod, smiles) Hello.

Eric I’ve got here regular guest and my husband, Jack Zimermann, and his teammate, Alexei Mashkov—

Tater But you call me Tater!

Eric (laughs) But we call him Tater! Tater, why don’t you explain what’ll happen here today?

Tater Is collaboration with Falcs TV! We had special tournament to see if players knows their SOAPs more than favorite thing.

ONSCREEN CAPTION SOAPs = Significant Others And Partners, for all y’all non-hockey fans out there! Click here (highlighted annotation inserted) to watch the tournament on the Falconer’s official website or check this video’s description!

Eric I had me such a great time over on Falcs TV with Jack that I wanted to share the fun with y’all here!

Tater (nods) Zimmboni crush everyone in tournament!

ONSCREEN CAPTION “Zimmboni” is Jack’s hockey nickname, like “Tater” is for Alexei. Everyone on the team has one! In fact, I have one too: Bitty! But Alexei likes to call me “B”.

Jack (shrugs, gives small smile) I know history. I know my husband.

Eric (laughs, blushes)

Tater Now, is time to see if B know Zimmboni just as much!

Eric I’m feelin’ pretty confident that I do. What do you think, sweetpea?

Jack I think Bits knows me better than myself, to be honest.

Eric Jack! (blushing again)

Tater Yes, yes, is very cute! But I’m want to ask questions now, yes?

Eric (turns to camera) Now, I tried to get ‘em to quiz me on baking—because y’all and your mama know that I love it—but Jack here insisted that I get asked about football instead.

Jack Baking’s too easy. I figured you’d appreciate the challenge. You know a lot about American football, eh?

Eric (rolls eyes) “American football”—I know y’all in Canada just call it football too! Now, I’d argue, but that’ll take up the rest of this video, so I guess it’s time to get to the quiz!

Tater Yes!

(video transition with dramatic music)

Tater (holds up stack of cards in hands) Here, I’m hold questions about NFL and college football, plus questions about Zimmboni for B to answer. Like during Falcs’ tournament, I’m ask SOAP about their favorite subject first, then ask about their partner. B, is ready?

Eric As I’ll ever be!

Jack Gonna crush it, Bits.

Eric Let’s hope so, sweetheart.

Tater Will be good, B, I’m sure! Question one, name five offensive positions in the NFL.

Eric Lord, how easy—quarterback, running back, wide receiver, offensive tackle, tight end.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater See, B! You be fine! Name five of Zimmboni’s favourite foods.

Eric Ooh, alright. So PB&J sandwiches, chicken tenders... scrambled eggs, uh, cassoulet... (Caption Note: French food pronunciation is not butchered, because food)

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 4/5

Tater One more, B.

Eric Hm, let’s see—

Tater (snickers) Remember this easiest question in stack.

Eric Oh, hush, you.

Jack Bits? Maybe a dessert?

Eric (hits head with base of palm) Oh, goodness me, right! Maple sugar crusted apple pie.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater (nods) Yes. Okay, how many minutes in football quarter?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Quarters in the NFL and NCAA football are 15 minutes.

Eric 15 minutes.

Tater How long is Zimmboni’s pre-game ritual?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 15 minutes max. Like all athletes, hockey players have specific rituals before their games.

Eric About thirty minutes?

Tater (whooping laughter) 15 minutes, max.

Jack (laughs)

Eric (gasps, shakes head) That is not true, that can not be true! Honey, I’ve seen you take 15 minutes making your pre-game PBJ sandwiches. (scoffs)

Jack (makes a face)

Tater Sorry, B. Must give big zero for that question.

Eric (rolls eyes) Hmph!

Tater B, you get 20 seconds—name as many starting quarterbacks in the NFL as possible. Ready, set, go!

Eric Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady—ugh—Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Carson Palmer.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 8

Tater Have 10 seconds, name as many as Zimmboni’s lineys when he finally move to first line.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Lineys = Hockey linemates. Fun fact: Jack moved from third to first line during his first season in the Falcs back in 2015!

Eric (opens mouth)

Tater But! Must name them by nickname!

Eric (single nod, determined expression)

Tater Okay? Ready, set, go!

Eric Alright so excluding Jack, that’ll be you, Tater, then we got Marty, Thirdy, Guy, and Snowy if you count the goalies!

Tater (solemnly nods) Always count goalies!

Eric Then that’s five for five. Gettin’ a lil easy there!

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater Haha! Okay, who are on cover of Sports Illustrated for this season’s NFL and college previews?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. were on the cover for the NFL preview. Trevor Lawrence was on the cover for the college preview.

Eric Oh, Coach and I were just talkin’ about this! I know the NFL preview was Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, but the college preview... (brief pause, placing chin on fist contemplatively) I think it’s Trevor Lawrence?

Tater Correct! What magazine cover did Zimmboni appear on first?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Trick question! Jack’s first ever appearance on a magazine cover was not as a hockey player. He first appeared on People Magazine as a baby with his parents, Robert “Bad bob” Zimmermann and Alicia Zimmermann.

Eric Can I ask a question?

Tater ...no.

Eric Well, shoot, alright. If you mean his first cover as an athlete, I’ll say Sports Illustrated, but if you mean his first one ever I think it’s People Magazine when he was a baby.

Tater (censored beep) Wow!

Jack (raises eyebrows) You remember that?

Eric Well, you told me! And Alicia did show me when we visited for Christmas one year. (smug smirk)

Jack (covers face in hand, exasperated sigh) Of course she did.

Tater Next question! How many Super Bowl rings does Tom Brady have?

Eric Oh goodness. I think it’s five?

Tater Six!

Eric What?

Tater Is six!

Eric (groans) Of course it’s six. Whatever, it’s fine, I try not to think about Tom Brady anyway. I don’t mind getting this one wrong. In fact, I’m kinda glad because I certainly don’t care for the man. Like, who—

Jack Bits. We’re in the middle of a game right now?

Eric (blushes) Oh, right.

Tater It’s alright, B, haha. But we move on with game now, yes? (single nod) Now, how many rings Zimmboni normally wear?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1.

Eric One! He usually just wears his wedding ring, but today he’s got his 2016 Stanley ring! Wanna show it off, honey?

Jack (sheepishly holds up hands to show the two rings)

ONSCREEN CAPTION Fun fact: The team who wins the Stanley Cup get matching rings. Jack got his first one when the Falcs won the Cup in 2016!

Tater Is tough one now: How many times have the Atlanta Falcons made the playoffs?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 14.

Eric (sighs) Oh Lordy, that's hard. Alright, so by the time I was born they were at five so— (voice continues in fast forward) —they did in ‘98, then... ‘02? After was 2004, not 2005, or ‘06... so the next one was 2008. Then there was that streak from 2010 to 2012. Then the next one was 2016, and then ‘17. Not ‘18 and ‘19. So that’s... (begins to count on fingers)

Tater (back to regular speed, looking impressed) You have answer, B?

Eric I'm gonna go with fourteen as of this year.

Tater (censored beep)!!!

Eric (laughs)

Jack (censored beep), Bittle.

Tater Is amazing! You have both number and years!

Eric I’m Southern, and my daddy’s a football coach. (shrugs) Can’t help it!

Jack (chuckles) This is why I wanted you to answer stuff about the football instead of baking.

Eric (rolls eyes, swats Jack’s arm) Oh, this boy.

Tater Next question! What is most number of times Zimmboni fight in one season?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 3 fights.

Eric Ooh, shoot. I should know this one too, huh? Okay, so his first season he only got in one fight— (voice continues in fast forward) —and second season was also one, I think. After that, uhh, I think he finally got in two. Last year was three maybe? And this season hasn’t even started. But last year? Was it three? I don’t quite—hm.

Tater (back to regular speed) Your answer, B?

Eric I’m gonna go with three fights for last season.

Tater (shaking his head)

Jack What did I say?

Tater (censored beep) Is correct. (huffs) What year did Falcons join the NFL?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1965.

Eric Uhhh, oh goodness, I know Coach told me this at some point... (pause) I think it was 1965?

Tater Correct! What year Zimmboni first try skating?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1992. Fun fact: Bad Bob had Jack skating as soon as Jack could walk!

Eric Skating, huh? ‘Cause I’ll bet the son of Bad Bob tried on his first skates before he even turned one, huh? (smiles cheekily)

Jack (nudges with elbow, gives Eric a small smile) Not the question.

Eric Oh alright, not the question. Hmm, I know it was before you turned three so, I’ll say... (drawling out answer) nineteen-ninety... two?

Tater (throws cards out of hand, shaking his head) Is correct again!

Eric Oh my god!

(high pitched sound as Eric fist pumps the air)

Jack (laughs, bringing an arm around Eric before kissing his cheek)

Tater B, I'm frustrate to say you know Zimmboni as much as you know football.

ONSCREEN CAPTION FINAL SCORE: Football = 6, Husband = 6. T I E ! ! !

Jack Knew it. Told you so, Bits.

Eric That sounds like a chirp, and I will not have that on my vlog, Mr. Zimmermann. So with that, I guess we’re done! (looks towards camera, claps once) Well, that about does it for today’s video! Thank you so much to my special guests, Providence Falconers’ Jack Zimermann and Alexei Mashkov, for joining me today. (gestures towards Jack and Tater)

Tater (nods with a wide smile) Thanks for having us, B!

Jack (smiles and nods) Always great to be here.

Eric Be sure to check out the Falcs TV videos too! Link in the description or right over here! (points to space, highlighted annotation inserted) And thanks for tuning in! Next week, I’ll have a new video for y’all on the best ways to add protein to your favourite sandwiches.

(Eric, Jack, and Tater wave at the camera)

Eric Bye, y’all! See ya next time!

(More notes on Ao3.)

#omgcp #omgcheckplease #check please #checkpleaselastslice #zimbits #alexei mashkov #tater #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #bitty blast #jercy attempts words #fanfiction #fanfic

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signor-signor · 5 years ago

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Transcript for Cold Open Idea (AKA The Incomplete Story)

In the past few years, I’ve done what I could to change the Disney executives’ minds and convince them to give Wander Over Yonder one more season once @crackmccraigen finishes Kid Cosmic for Netflix - letters, emails, fan art, pieces of philosophy, etcetera - because it’s been my belief that if I show just how much I care about the show, I might get to take a peek at some S3-related content. Alas, it still wasn’t enough. Should I give up? NO! It’s the 7th anniversary of Wander Over Yonder’s first episode, The Greatest, and I have something truly special to share with you all.

Long ago, I came up with an idea involving Ms. Myrtle the Eternal Turtle and a titanic tome that has only 2/3 of the contents it can hold. Imagine, if you will, that S3 would have taken place between November 2016 and September 2017, and since there are references to the more recent DTVA shows, also imagine this whole portion takes place after S3 and sometime during 2020. Think of it as something similar to the opening of Aladdin (the 1992 animated feature), but long enough to be broken down into two parts. In the event that my other idea, The Eye on the Galaxy, doesn’t happen, maybe the folks who worked on WOY might take this into consideration - those who worked on/have seen The Party Poopers and The Sick Day are sure to get a kick out of it, especially @owner-of-wendys and @benbalistreri, the directors of both episodes. If you’re a true fan of the show, I can guarantee you’ll relate to Ms. Myrtle.

All right, here it goes.

MS. MYRTLE: (reading a big book) “...“Nothing ever changes,” an annoyed Peepers and a content Sylvia stated before joining in the chase. Without Dominator around to cause any more trouble, it didn’t matter to Hater if he chased Wander around, because he had proven himself to be the greatest if not the most powerful villain in the entire galaxy.”

(Looks at the viewer)

MS. MYRTLE: Oh, good day to you, my dears. I, Ms. Myrtle, was just finishing up the second act of this spine-tingling, knee-slapping, heart-warming story of Wander and his adventures in the galaxy. Thrax's renovated bookstore had one large copy available, but I was fortunate enough to get it as a gift from Wander himself before he moved on to a different galaxy. (shows the front of the book with the Wander Over Yonder show logo on it) Have you ever heard of Wander? No? Well, I say it’s time you got to know a bit more about him.

(Flashes her eyes, causing the entire screen to turn bright purplish pink. As Ms. Myrtle talks, colored silhouettes of characters appear and move around in accordance to the actions being said.)

MS. MYRTLE: (narrating) Once upon a time, in a galaxy weaved by yours truly, there was a benevolent vagabond called Wander. Accompanied by his loyal, headstrong zbornak friend, Sylvia, he loved to explore the planets, see the sights, and help everyone in need. When the pair crossed paths with the evil Lord Hater and his army of Watchdogs, Wander would set out to have some fun with him in an effort to make him his new friend. Of course, Sylvia would always get her furry friend out of a scrape when necessary. One day, an even greater evil, an immensely powerful villain with a masculine-sounding name, Lord Dominator, showed up to take over the galaxy. Hater was furiously jealous at first, but the electric skeleton man became love struck when Wander saw Dominator’s true form and tried to get the two together. Soon, everyone learned that Dominator was solely interested in destroying the galaxy, so they did whatever they could to stop her, and Hater was eventually no longer in love with her. There was but one planet remaining, one that Wander and Sylvia had found hidden in the shadows. The people they befriended in the galaxy were gathered there, and when Wander unintentionally lured Dominator to the planet, Hater, having learned of the planet’s whereabouts, intervened so he could claim it for his own. With all the encouragement from his army and newfound followers, Hater saw his power through and stopped Dominator once and for all. Wander did save her from her ship’s destruction, but his token of friendship was wasted on her, for she had no interest in him or anyone else and stormed off. Life on the destroyed planets began anew, and Wander still believed he would one day find a new friend in Lord Hater.

(The screen goes back to normal.)

MS. MYRTLE: So what do you think? Does it not make for one of the most fascinating stories ever written? Would you like to hear more? Well, you’re in luck, there’s just one more act beyond this page and I can’t wait to-- (turns the page that reads “Act III” and has a picture of a downed space pod with flashing lightning, only to find 1/3 of the book is all blank) Wait a moment... Where’s the rest? What form of skulduggery is this? The contents say there are three acts, but the third one is missing! I’d better go see the publisher about this.

(Ms. Myrtle tucks into her shell, spins, and disappears.)

(Cut to a view of a planet with an archive building on it. Ms. Myrtle’s shell appears, stops spinning, and lands on the planet with a loud, thunderous thud, causing the building to shake. A tall man with large bag over his head, startled by the noise, steps outside.)

DIZZ: H-hello? Who’s there? (gasps and walks up to the shell, out of which Ms. Myrtle emerges) A giant turtle! Did you make that noise just now?

MS. MYRTLE: Yes, my good sir, it was I who made that noise. My apologies. So tell me, are you the universally renowned Dizz Gnee?

DIZZ: Why, yes. My legal name is Phan Gnee, but everyone calls me Dizz because I’m all about diverse business. Div biz. Dizz.

MS. MYRTLE: Yes, that’s grand. Now then, if I may come to the point, what’s the idea of leaving out one chunk of this book you published? It’s incomplete! (shows Dizz the front cover, the image of the downed space pod, and the blank pages)

DIZZ: Well, if you must know, our target group wasn’t that interested in Wander Over Yonder on the day of its release date announcement, so I figured two acts were enough and I had one copy made. Apparently, people are way more partial to our other properties. (pulls out posters of various properties) The ever popular Mystery Kids Mysteries cartoon, the Storm vs. the Demons of Doom anime and manga, the QuackTales reboot comics, and the new Phunnie Phinster shorts. We’ve also got Gigopolis Greys, Swampia, Witchcraft Witches, this new Phernius and Fibb movie--

MS. MYRTLE: (moves her head closer to Dizz) Enough blathering, why did you cut Wander’s story short?

DIZZ: I would tell you, but it’s highly classified. I’m the publisher and only I get to call the shots. As for the blank pages, they make good sketch paper.

MS. MYRTLE: (moves her head back) But you don’t understand, there’s so much more the book was supposed to reveal, including Lord Hater’s origin story, as you can see right here in the table of contents. (points to a section on the contents page marked “Act III” with various never-before-seen episode (chapter) titles)

DIZZ: Oh, I knew I should’ve whited out that part.

MS. MYRTLE: (shows a picture of a bearded man resembling Craig McCracken on the book’s sleeve) Also, do you not realize the author of this book has had many, many years of experience? Why, he must have worked harder on it than anybody else did on the projects you’ve been more inclined to promote.

DIZZ: Well, the author doesn’t work for me anymore - he’s making an action series for Galacticflix now.

MS. MYRTLE: Oh, yes, Space Boy Laddie, I heard about it a few weeks ago, and I’ll be sure to watch it when it comes out.

DIZZ: You must. It’s one of his most ambitious projects yet. I should know, because I almost owned the rights to it.

MS. MYRTLE: Still, it doesn’t hide the fact that the author wants to share what might just be the best part of this very book. That being said, I must ask you, (tenderly) would you please give me the remainder of the pages so those who read the book will have absolute satisfaction and become more inspired to help others and spread kindness?

DIZZ: Um... no. No thank you, ma’am. I’m in charge of all that I publish and produce, and what I say goes. Two acts are enough.

MS. MYRTLE: (stares flatly at the viewer) I’ve tried to be nice. (menacingly to Dizz) Now see here, Dizz, I did not warp halfway across the galaxy to let you deny all readers the REAL conclusion to Wander’s story! If you don’t bring me the missing pages this instant, I’ll destroy everything in the universe, starting with that paper bag on your head!

(Ms. Myrtle flashes her eyes and the paper bag starts to disintegrate from the brim, prompting Dizz to panic.)

DIZZ: Aaaah! AAAAAH! Okay-okay! Okay! I’ll bring you the pages! I’ll bring you the p-p-p-pages!

(The bag stops disintegrating as Dizz rushes back inside the archive building to retrieve the missing pages.)

MS. MYRTLE: (normal voice) Finally! I thought I’d never get through to that cheeky chap. He’s about as stubborn as my cousin, Mr. Portis, the Infinite Tortoise.

DIZZ: (steps outside with the pages) I’m back! Here are your pages, Ms...

MS. MYRTLE: Myrtle. Ms. Myrtle.

DIZZ: ...Myrtle, g-go ahead and take them.

MS. MYRTLE: Thank you, Dizz. You’ve done the right thing. (takes the pages and telekinetically merges them with the blank pages in the book so that the book no longer has any blank pages ) You know, as long as I’m here, why don’t I read the rest of Wander’s story to you?

DIZZ: Well, I am in the first stage of finalizing The Phantom and Millie McPhee, but I suppose I have time.

MS. MYRTLE: Lovely. Here we go then. “Act 3. Chapter 80. Deprived of her ship, bots, and powers, Dominator had been striding in the orbble across the reborn galaxy for at least...”

(End)

This may be verbose, but I think this would make for a comic book idea to promote the show’s return and launch of S3 on Disney+. To give you an idea of what Dizz looks like, here’s my drawing of him.

You can be sure Piotr Michael would be more than happy to reprise his role as Ms. Myrtle for this part - it would showcase his impression of Maggie Smith more than The Sick Day did. You can also guess what DTVA shows Dizz is referencing (here are some extra properties not mentioned above that “have/had it easy”: Quinn Conceivable, Aquarium High, Flapunzel: the Series, and Super 6 Supreme: the Series). Maybe James Adomian could pull off a businessman voice for him, what with the additional voices he provided for The Party Poopers. As a bonus, he could emphasize the F sounds with a flatulent sound when he says words like “Phan,” “enough,” “classified,” and “Galacticflix.”

Side notes: Phunnie Phinster is the name I made up for the mascot of Phunulon, the theme park planet from The Bounty. I came up with Mr. Portis as one of my fan-made characters - I imagine him having a voice similar to that of Billy Connolly.

Take it as you will. This just might be one of the finest pieces of partially canon fan fiction I’ve ever written. Like I said before, it’s a fun way to summarize the overall story so far, acknowledge the executives’ incompetence (like Futurama once did), and get S3 started. There no denying it - the plans for S3 exist. If Craig felt there was no way we could get through to the executives, he would’ve told us all about S3 by now. He still hasn’t told us, so we can’t give up. If Ms. Myrtle can convince Dizz Gnee to give the book real closure, we can convince Disney to give the show real closure. Of course, unless you’re a giant turtle who controls the universe, threatening the executives would be ill-advised.

On a final note, I found yesterday that Wander made a cameo in Big City Greens as a prize toy (along with Rufus from Kim Possible, Perry the Platypus, Bill Cipher, Star Butterfly, Sprig Plantar, and King from The Owl House) in a claw machine game. I once expected him to appear on the show at some point, so thank you, @chrishoughton and Shane Houghton, for making it possible. Our fight to see more than just the space ape and the Star Nomad continues.

#Wander Over Yonder #Save Wander Over Yonder #SaveWOY #Long Reads #Fan Fiction #Fan Character #Sketch #My Art #Ms. Myrtle the Eternal Turtle

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bonaintan · 5 years ago

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A Journey to KGSP/GKS: Application Forms

I decided to write A Journey to KGSP/GKS series based on my experience as KGSP awardee in 2016. Just like other awardees, I also received a lot of chats and DMs from people asking about KGSP/GKS applications. It’s not that I’m tired and annoyed by answering the same questions over and over again, that I decided to post it online, really. That is practically what I’ve been doing in the past four years which, at some points during my student life in Korea, turned out to help me cope with the situation and keep me on track as I was reminded how far I had come.

Just recently I changed my mind to write and post it online so anyone can read it and I myself can re-read it (for whatever reasons), after joining in a mentorship program (supported by the Indonesian Student Association in South Korea aka Perpika) as a mentor for the Indonesian students and graduates who are interested in studying in Korea and preparing for the scholarship application. I mentored a similar program from MITI Klaster Mahasiswa back in 2017 called Youth Connection but I guess at the time I wasn’t feeling okay enough to share it. Now that I graduated safe and sound, I guess posting it online won’t hurt. So, this is the second post of my ‘A Journey to KGSP/GKS’ series, and I’ll try to post the next ones as soon as possible.

---

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post about my journey to KGSP/GKS, I decided to go for this scholarship application the second I learned about this program. One of my thoughts at the time is how simple the application looks. And it is indeed simple, at least for me who had never applied for such a program and dealing with forms in English. The guideline also states everything clearly. Of course, I got a lot of help from KGSP/GKS awardees I met online who were very kind to share their experience. But, I tried to do my share as much as possible by doing my research on the Internet in advance, making sure I didn’t irritate them by asking trivial questions I can easily access on the Internet or even the application guideline, and avoiding the questions which are more on self-preference, such as “Is it okay if my recommendation letter is folded?”

KGSP/GKS-G (for graduate) and KGSP/GKS-U (for undergraduate) Application Forms are all over the Internet. It can be downloaded from various sites, such as Study in Korea, Korean Embassy sites, some Korean university sites, and Topik Guide. Along with the application guideline is a separate file of the application forms (although the complete guideline includes the forms as well), University Information, and FAQs files. These are the first reference and ammunition that no single applicant should ever miss. You might have your sister as a KGSP/GKS awardee and you can easily ask every single detail, but really, that kind of mentality will get in your way someday. So, go get the guideline and read it! (Sorry, I’m being too enthusiast here.)

Thankfully, the application forms stay pretty the same over the years. Minor changes might have been done as well as the regulation changes. But, it does not affect that much to the application procedures, thus making it easy for the applicants to prepare the applications way way way earlier even before the opening period. And that’s what I did back then. I downloaded the application guidelines from the previous years and noticed that the forms stayed the same, so I started to practice filling in the forms and prepare for the required documents.

The first part of the application forms includes the application checklist. Depending on the program you apply to, either Undergraduate or Graduate Degrees, the required documents are slightly different. The application checklist for the Graduate Degree Programs consists of all required documents for three different degree programs (i.e., Master’s, Doctoral, and Research Programs) so the list is a little bit longer. As for the Undergraduate application, three types of documents are required for certain documents (graduation certificate, transcripts, certificate of citizenship, and awards). I might be wrong on this since I had no experience in preparing for the undergraduate application, but here is what I understand about the difference between the original, official notarized translation, and copied documents.

2021 GKS Application checklist (above: Undergraduate; below: Graduate)

The original document, like its name, is the original version of a document that can be written in many different languages depending on the country where it is issued. For Indonesian applicants, the original document of the graduation certificate is the one written in Bahasa Indonesia. In case an applicant only has one copy of the original document, they can submit the certified copy version which is the copy of the original document certified/stamped by the issuing institution (e.g., school). In Bahasa Indonesia, it’s called dokumen legalisir.

Since all documents have to be written in either Korean or English, here comes the second type of the documents to accompany the original document, official notarized translation. As for the graduation/degree certificate and transcripts, some schools might provide the English translation. Otherwise, an applicant needs to have it translated into Korean or English by a sworn translator. From here, the document has to be legalized again by the notary. In the end, the official notarized translation should be a document written in Korean or English and should have 2-3 different stamps: issuing institution, (translating institution), and notary stamps. The last is the copied document which is the photocopied version (black-and-white document).

The number of copies submitted depends on the application track. For those applying via University Track, they should send only the original/certified copy of the documents to the university of their choice. As the screening process is taken place in Korea, the documents should be the very best legalized version. For countries that require apostille version of the document such as Indonesia, some documents (degree certificate, transcripts, proof of citizenship) have to be apostilled or receive the consular confirmation from the Korean Embassy in the country where the document is issued.

Notes for my Indonesian fellows, here is the procedure to get the documents apostilled: legalized by the notary >> Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) >> Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu) >> (Korean) Embassy.

If applying via the Korean Embassy, one original/certified copy document, one official notarized translation, and three photocopied documents have to be prepared. Apparently, some Korean Embassies, including the Korean Embassy in Indonesia, may apply different regulations. Korean Embassy in Indonesia requires the applicants to send only one copy of the original document and the copies will be made by the Embassy.

The next part of the application forms is the applicant’s personal information, which is considerably easy to be filled in. As for the applicant’s name, some who do not have a separate family name may find it confusing at first, like in most cases of Indonesians. In such cases, simply write the same as your passport name: first name and middle name (if any) as the given name and last name as surname. For the university and major choices for graduate degrees, some confusions come from the differences between Division, Department, and Major. The best way to solve this is by referring to the University Information file, on the list of majors offered. As for the grades/GPA, use the CGPA conversion table on the guideline to convert various grading systems. If the CGPA conversion table does not apply for the grading system of the applicant’s school, the information on how to do the conversion should be attached.

Applicant’s Personal Information (above: Undergraduate; below: Graduate)

For awards and published papers, I believe there is no limit number but I personally mentioned the best two. You may want to mention the rest, if they are quite significant for you, in the Personal Statement. For published papers written in language other than Korean or English, the original title and other details (e.g., journal name) can be mentioned first, followed by the English title in parentheses.

The next forms to be filled are Personal Statement and Statement of Purpose/Study Plan. Instructions have been provided clearly on each part, so I believe it comes back to the applicant’s writing ability to come up with the best way of storytelling which hopefully will impress the reviewers. I have made a post for some tips to write Personal Statement and Statement of Purpose/Study Plan based on my experience.

Recommendation letters are another important required document for KGSP/GKS applications. An applicant should receive two recommendation letters from two recommenders. The letter template has been prepared in the application, but the recommenders may attach their own template. Just make sure that they understand what points should be included and that everything should be written in either Korean or English. This letter is confidential, so you may want to clarify beforehand as to who will translate the document if your recommender writes it in other languages.

The last is self-medical assessment/personal medical assessment which is a brief medical history of the applicant. It can be filled in independently by the applicant without going to the hospital or any healthcare center and should be filled in all honesty because you shouldn’t let any wrong information stated in the application forms get in your way in the later selection process of the medical check-up where pretty much everything will be revealed.

---

That is the end of the KGSP/GKS application forms. This is crazily long I know, but I hope you will somehow find this post helpful.

This post has been updated following the 2021 Application Guidelines. Please do let me know if you find incorrect information that I stated here. And I strongly encourage all applicants to read the guidelines by heart as it has much more detailed information.

#korean government scholarship program #KGSP #global korea scholarship #gks #studyinkorea #korean scholarship #scholarship for graduate programs #scholarship for undergraduate programs #student life #university life in korea #SouthKorea

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mittensmorgul · 6 years ago

Text

15.01 Back And To The Future rewatch notes

Note to anyone reading: I’ve already written a mishmosh of other posts addressing stuff in this episode, so this post is not a comprehensive list of every important or interesting thing in 15.01. This post is “things I haven’t otherwise talked about elsewhere yet” or “things I’ve been meaning to talk about in more detail but haven’t yet,” or “things I’d otherwise be compelled to write into the transcript doc in the other tab and really really shouldn’t.” Because that’s actually the purpose of this particular rewatch-- writing up the transcript. Which is happening in the other tab. :P

(i’m gonna go post the transcript now, so it should be up as soon as I get all the html un-screw-ified... >.>)

That said, let’s gooooo!

well, under a cut because long-ish >.>

I already talked about the song choice, and the fact it was the opening montage music in 9.10 (rip Lamp-- yes, this song has forever been the imaginary background music to Lamp/Other Lamp, sorry, the brain wants what the brain wants). It also reminded me of 11.04, the Night Moves scene, combined with Dean’s joke about how Piper brushed Sam off without giving him her number, and Dean replied “We got tonight, who needs tomorrow,” where Sam asks Dean if everything is a Bob Seger song to him. Because, heh, here have another Bob Seger song summing up the end of the road here.

But I love how the lyrics MATCH UP with the action in this opening scene.

♪It's been a long time since you smiled♪ [zombies circle around TFW cutting off their chance of escape] Chuck: Story's over. Welcome to the End. [Cas kneels over Jack's body] ♪Seems like oh, so long ago♪ --NOW-- [in the graveyard, the scene picks up where 14.20 left off, and the music continues uninterrupted from the Road So Far montage. TFW battle a zombie horde, as we zoom out from Jack's burned out eyes and the fighting rages on] ♪And now the stage has all been set♪ ♪And the nights are growing cold♪ ♪Soon the winter will be here♪ ♪And there's no one warm to hold♪ ♪Now the lines have all been read♪ Cas: Sam! Dean! ♪And you knew them all by heart♪ ♪Now you move toward the door♪ [Cas picks up Jack's body and runs, leading the way out of the zombie fight. Sam and Dean follow, dodging monsters and graves] ♪Here it comes the hardest part♪ ♪Try the handle of the road♪ Sam [spotting potential refuge]: Dean, this way! ♪Feeling different, feeling strange♪ ♪This can never be arranged♪ ♪From the famous final scene♪

Then there’s the DRAMATIC ZOOM in on Dean that literally cuts Cas out of the shot as Dean reacts to his line that “Well, I wouldn’t starve.” Like that was the moment Dean began to literally shut Cas out, because he feels that line was Cas shutting HIM out. So instead of trying to deal with any of that because ZOMBIES TRYING TO BREAK DOWN THE DOOR is a more immediate concern, he turns his back and goes on his little tirade about Chuck. Like he was reliving that moment he got to smash Chuck’s guitar and wishes he could do it again.

And then we meet Belphegor, who already has a rather hopping tag on my blog, so I’m gonna… just move on a bit from here…

I am in pain over this callback to Bloody Mary, with the teenage girls who seem far younger than the girls from the original. These girls are far more innocent. They didn’t call up bloody Mary, they have no guilt of having killed anyone on their souls. Bloody Mary just… showed up. And tortured and killed them.

But this parallel was twisted. In the original, the girls’ father apparently gave their mother an overdose of sleeping pills that led to her death. in the new version, one of the girls’ parents just got divorced and was compensating by going on a shopping spree and buying everything her daughter wanted. These girls were laughing, loving what that divorce brought them.

It’s sort of a more cheerful parallel to Dean and Cas’s fracturing relationship over their dead son’s body…Well, more cheerful until Bloody Mary kills them, anyway.

Sam learns there’s no sudden worldwide zombie outbreak, so the incident seems localized to that one graveyard.

And at this point I started a THIRD thing I’m working on at the same time, because two was apparently not enough. I think I’m gonna copy/paste that stuff here, instead. It’s about the Three Ghosts of this episode-- each parallelled directly to one of TFW. Bloody Mary was one, and in this episode she was Cas’s parallel. It’s her victims Cas will find-- two little girls who never deserved the fate Bloody Mary dished out to them. But Mary Worthington had been murdered herself, and her killer never caught. So she originally killed people who kept secrets about others’ deaths as a form of revenge against her own killer. In trying to protect others, she became a killer herself. And heck if that’s not painfully Cas… or something he feels he’s painfully failed to do, to protect the Winchesters from having to do horrific things. And he DID sell his own potential future happiness in exchange for Jack’s life, only to have just watched Jack die horrifically. His sacrifice, again, has amounted to nothing.

In this episode, she follows Cas from the house, through mirrors, and reappears in a dark pond to grab at the mother and child Sam had already saved from John Wayne Gacy (yeah, I’ll type that one up next, but let’s finish this first...). So there’s a being now watching Cas from the depths of a dark pool, waiting to reach up and grab him when he finally feels safe. Sounds like… the Shadow.

So on to Sam vs Clowns. Sam’s direct parallel is the ghost of John Wayne Gacy, in clown costume, that he formerly burned in 14.13. In an episode where he was about to come face to face with his own past in the form of John Winchester suddenly appearing in the bunker, torn from the past. It’s an episode where Sam and Dean find peace with who they’ve become, and lay a ghost of their past to rest.

With the Equalizer wound humming along, affecting Sam in mysterious ways we’ve only begun to glimpse, and Sam’s brief flash of himself with black eyes apparently hurting Dean, it’s hard NOT to think of the parallel that Clowns have always held for Sam-- Lucifer. Heck I’ve written about that recently, or at least it feels like I have… but at the end of this episode, Sam stops and looks Gacy in the face and tells him to shut up. Which is something Sam has ALSO said to Lucifer (or at least a hallucination of Lucifer). The infamous “HE SAID SHUT UP TO ME!” of Hallucifer in 7.15, which ended Sam’s ability to shut out the hallucination by squeezing the cut on his hand.

Now on to Dean’s parallel ghost: Constance Welch, aka the Woman in White from 1.01. A woman who was the first ghost of the entire series, who Sam literally drove into her house to “take her home,” where she had to face what she’d done to her own children. She’d killed her own children in a moment of grief after her husband cheated on her, and then killed herself.

Dean had been moments from killing Jack in 14.20, in a moment of grief, but didn’t. Yet he’s now having some serious issues with Cas throughout this episode and by the end, they’re “frosty.”

Belphegor, with Dean, looks for a human heart to use in their spell, and stumble across one of Constance’s victims. Belphegor rips out his heart and holds it up to Dean, when Constance appears. She recognizes Dean from 1.01, who made her go home, and attacks him. Then tries to attack Belphegor, and actually injures his hand.

But this is the ghost Dean is paired with. He drives her off, and Belphegor does the spell to contain the ghosts by putting the heart in a pile of salt.

Okay, now where was I in these notes… right… Town, where Sam and Dean play FBI, trying to stop a benzene pipeline leak. And wow, what a weird story, right? Sheriff was confused, but helped evacuate the townspeople to safety.

I think it’s interesting that this was intended to be another stopgap measure, like putting Jack in the box in 14.19, because they know this spell won’t hold forever, and they know they have no other reasonable way to fix the problem. But they can try to buy some time, and hope they’ll come up with a better solution before things go sideways.

Dean asks Cas to help Belphegor do the spell thing, but Cas refuses, and goes to work with Sam instead, leaving Dean to deal with the demon possessing Jack. Which leads to all sorts of interesting conversations between them… I think I’ve written and/or reblogged enough posts on the queer subtext… er… text even… of these scenes to just point out here that it exists, and is heavy.

Meanwhile Cas and Sam go house to house looking for people they need to evacuate, and encounter the above ^^ ghosts.

So Dean’s stuck with the demon fanboy who admires what Dean did in Hell, and Dean seems pretty uncomfortable about this, but it’s not like he has a choice, you know? Who else is gonna do this? Cas couldn’t, Sam’s already on the other gig, and that leaves Dean. So… instead of denying what he’d done, he brushed it off as “a long time ago.” And then actually asked what the situation in Hell was like. The answer Belphegor gave is… interesting.

Belphegor: You ever seen an ant hill when it's, like, set on fire? [lol no, according to Dean’s wtf face] Okay, well, there we were, minding our own business, you know, flaying people for eternity, like you do, right? And then every door in Hell just sprang open all at once. You know? Souls got out. Sky cracked. And, uh, boom, ta-da, you know?

So all the gates are open, including the Cage, but Michael’s apparently still just sitting there. Which is worrisome. But my question is, if all the gates are open, yet the entire planet isn’t flooding with demons and souls, ONLY through the direct portal into that graveyard, how can what Belphegor said be true? At least, theoretically… But that’s a question for another day, when we have more canon to understand.

So… Dean has to face Constance, who flings him into a dumpster. Which makes me lol think about 1.01 and Dean flinging himself off a bridge to get away from her, and ended up covered in mud.

Cas’s “It’s one ghost,” *two more ghosts appear* “It’s three.” reminded me of “I got this,” “I don’t got this.”

Sam accidentally shooting Cas because the ghost got between the two of them horrifyingly reminds me of 12.17 and Eileen accidentally shooting Mr. Top of his Class at Kendricks when Dagon deliberately came between the two of them. At least Cas is salt-proof, you know?

Belphegor calling out Bad Ghost! kinda reminds me of Dean’s “Here ghostie ghostie ghostie” from 4.13. But REALLY. A demon, who tortures souls for fun and profit, yet can’t do anything more than weakly scold a ghost like a misbehaving puppy? INTERESTING. Because it’s Dean that has to whack her with a metal rod, while Belphegor ends up with deep gouges in his hand that are clearly causing him pain.

Dean hurls the name Casper at Constance before he whacks her, which is also a callback to 1.01. It was Sam who called him out for shooting at her with regular bullets: “What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?” Lol that he remembered that.

Sam pulled a “I’ll hold them off, I’ll hold them all off” hopeless move when he sent Cas away, like Cas once did in 4.22 when he sent Dean away to stop Sam… but Sam actually got out in one piece, even though his gun was empty.

Sam picks up the little girl and runs as fast as he can and only looks back once he’s outside and safe. Like “take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back”

I already wrote about the callback of Dean distracting Sam from tending to his wound with the cut-off joke, reminding me of the scene in 4.09 of Sam doing something similar while fixing Dean’s dislocated shoulder.

And then we have the realization that they’ve never really had free will, just limited choices because of the circumstances Chuck put them in. Sam is unrealistically optimistic that it means that Chuck’s actually gone, now. But that’s the hope he’s holding on to in order to get through this horror.

So this… is what they’re setting up as the guidemap to the series finale. Specifically, Sam and Dean must finally earn their way free. The ghostpocalypse is just step one, and not the true end. There’s still Heaven and Hell to deal with (though Heaven is mostly empty of angels and Hell seems to be actively crumbling now). And Michael, whenever he gets around to walking out of the cage. I’m sure that will go great! Unhinged archangel on the loose! But those are all minor distractions compared with Chuck, because he hasn’t really gone anywhere.

And we still don’t know what Actual Jack, Billie, and the Shadow are up to in the Empty, in their secret meeting in a realm that Chuck has no power. And what about Amara? How does she feel about this now that she’s grown fond of creation? I think there’s a much bigger game afoot than just a ghostpocalypse.

Meanwhile, Sam’s quote here is still setting up the final scene of the series: When we win this, God's gone. Hm. There's no one to screw with us. There's no more maze. It's just us. And we're free.

That’s the goal.

#spn s15 spoilers #spn 15.01

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fate-hates-faraday · 5 years ago

Photo

So uh I remembered my vague ideas for a GF AU still existed and dug up the coversation I had with @honeygemtrashbag

Though, currently, pondering the idea of Deceit, instead of being a brother to Patton, would be the Shapeshifter (albeit with a far different and less evil moral compass).

(Transcript below Read More)

Levi Dinn10/03/2019

Me: .....at last, I've calmed down my brain enough and got some focus. I really want to get back to the PMMM AU - I think I've got some plans to refine the timeline, as well as a stable of witches to help fill out those timelines-

Rewrite of Gravity Falls 'Not What He Seems' Starring 'Grampa Patton', his grandkids 'Roman and Remus', his handyman 'Virgil', and cashier 'Logan', a folding chair in hand: BITCH YOU THOUGHT-

BigNutzMcgee10/03/2019

[image of a woman looking surprised as she’s holding a glass and a straw]

Levi Dinn10/03/2019

You watch Gravity Falls? Remind me? Because this was a fucking turning point in the series

BigNutzMcgee10/03/2019

I do!! And you’re right

Levi Dinn10/03/2019

So Grampa Patton's been taking care of the twins since his son Thomas sent them up (he kinda realized he's gay, missus didn't react well, it's just to give the two a break while they settle things). Remus found the journal, but he and Roman share it pretty evenly and don't show their grandpa right away because he's swell and all but also a bit of a worrywart and somehow oblivious to all of the dangers of Gravity Falls? (until, you know. He reveals he isn't). Working for Grampa Patton is Logan, nearly ready to graduate high school, and Virgil, first year at community college (the twins are a bit older than 12, though their crushes still aren't reciprocated/acted on.....sue me, Prinxiety and Intrulogical still cute).

And so of course one day Roman, Remus, and Patton are all hanging out and having fun when Patton gets arrested. You know why. Logan upon seeing the police presence actually goes to the station to try to meet up with Patton (guy's silly, but Logan won't argue that he's done so much for him) but keeps getting blocked by the feds. Patton's one call, instead of to a lawyer, is to Virgil to ask him to get the twins and keep them safe (And good thing because Remus' plan was to upset a tractor trailer driver to run the agent's car off the road -coughMabel-)

BigNutzMcgee10/03/2019

Levi Dinn10/03/2019

By the time Virgil, Roman, and Remus all get back to the shack, well, Thomas usually does a weekly call, and he's panicking because it's been a few hours and no one's picked up. Roman and Remus try to fill him in, in their own way, and Thomas is disbelieving. It's Patton, his dad's not a criminal. Sure, he does some strange things, but a criminal? Nah. Thomas promises to call back in an hour while he tries to find out what's up. The twins, of course, plan to do so as well.

And when they find the security footage (holy crap, Patton can SWEAR?!), the multiple fake IDs, questionable bank records, none of them know what to make of it. Weirdest yet are the floorplans, indicating a level below ground level, but the door should be in the gift shop - but they've never seen a door there, right? Thomas calls back, asks Virgil to take the twins to somewhere safe. While trying to get info, he stumbled across an obituary - some guy who got into a car crash, left way too much blood and his wallet behind. ID said Patton Sanders. Thomas has NO IDEA who he sent his kids to, but he needs them safe, dammit.

Virgil rounds up Roman, but Remus is poking around the gift shop trying to find the door. It's Roman who figures out it's behind the vending machine, Virgil who gets it open. Indeed, there are stairs going down, an elevator - and at the bottom, a machine room. Two journals laying out, copies from the third journal nearby. Roman had been carrying around the journal this week, they notice the diagram split between books, and of course - the warnings in invisible ink: "The device if fully operational could tear the universe apart!"

Back to station - Logan's arguing with an agent to little avail, despite the fact the agents could've gotten arrested weeks ago if he hadn't filled them in on proper procedures regarding wiretapping and spying in Gravity Falls. Patton stalls the agents until a good gravitational anomaly, escapes, grabs Logan as he passes, then of course sends the distraction taxi cab. Logan is confused as heck because Patton is silly and weird, but right now he's super-focused and almost harsh as he tells Logan they can't be late. For what? The source of the fluctuations. Logan keeps pressing, but Patton's being weirdly evasive.

And so, just as Virgil, Roman, and Remus are about to deactivate the portal, Patton returns, Logan in tow, Please don't shut it off. Roman calls him out about the obituary, Virgil throws the fake IDs at him, Logan is even more suspicious now, and so of course now in the last minute is a good time for a gravitational anomaly. Yes taking beats from the episode, so sue me, it's hard to improve on perfection.

After a fair bit of struggle, where Patton holds up surprisingly well getting past Logan and Virgil but is ultimately knocked off-course by Roman, Remus is the only one who's in range to shut off the machine. He wants to trust Grampa Patton but... he's probably not Grampa Patton. He lied about the monsters in Gravity Falls, he lied about who he is and how he knows them, he lied about owning the place, he lied about why he wanted the journal - there are just so many lies, and what it comes down to is that this thing is a doomsday device. And despite all his morbid jokes, Remus doesn't want to die.

Patton's pleading - he can explain afterwards, promise, it's a long story but- there won't be an afterwards! - There WILL be, he swears. He wouldn't try this unless he was sure he wasn't going to lose any more family, just, he pleads through tears, just let it go. Remus hesitates. Grampa Patton's a liar. Grampa Patton's never cried. Grampa Patton could be lying right now. Grampa Patton....He lets go.

World goes white. The basement is wrecked (Roman kept safe by Virgil, Grampa Patton just barely catching Remus before gravity kicked back in) and a figure emerges from the portal. Who's that? The builder of the house, of course. The author of the journals, naturally. A man who vanished over 30 years ago. Patton Sanders, the twin brother of one ostracized Ernest Sanders.

So yes, here Patton and Deceit are also brothers. Because fuckin' fight me why not?

BigNutzMcgee10/03/2019

needs more

Levi Dinn10/03/2019

There's sadly not enough to fill out a total AU. But I will say this:

BigNutzMcgee10/03/2019

Levi Dinn10/03/2019

Bill Cipher goes unchanged because no one ruins everything he touches quite like Bill does. Just, yeah, Sanders sides a little small to match the cast of Gravity Falls, but they'd work excellently for this episode......and certainly wouldn't claim exclusive ownership

BigNutzMcgee10/03/2019

:0!!!!!

Levi Dinn11/25/2019

[Not related personal stuff]

Speaking of, in the GF AU, Bill instead of manipulating Roman and Remus with deals just befriends Remus to slowly get his trust so Remus willingly offers Bill himself the rift. Doesn't hurt that Bill thinks Remus' ideas are fun and great while most everyone else... doesn't.

So Sock Opera would be more rooted in jealousy between Roman and Remus - Remus' ideas getting shot down, Roman getting praised - with subplot about Bill "mending" bridges with Remus for invading his grandpa's mind and sorry about that, can we start over? Personally I think your idea about the a nuclear bomb dropping near the characters' home and fallout creating hideous mutations is really cool, Mace-y's Day Parade! Bill doesn't even have to hijack anyone to persuade Remus to give him the rift, just promise him that with it, he cam make sure Roman won't leave him behind

Levi Dinn11/25/2019

I also stan the theory that, much like how Virgil represents and suffers from anxiety, Remus represents and suffers from intrusive thoughts

BigNutzMcgee11/25/2019

Yeeessss

Levi Dinn11/25/2019

So while everyone in the GF AU at least somewhat likes Roman? Virgil is incredibly disgusted by him, Logan seems dismissive (doesn't hurt our duke's crush though; and while he may come across coldly, still finds him harmless), Patton's severely unnerved (since admittedly I mean, Bill likes his ideas, enough said). Only Roman and Dee vocally support and defend Remus

BigNutzMcgee11/25/2019

^yeyeyeye

Levi Dinn11/25/2019

Patton at least has the courtesy to feel awful when he realizes his fear helps push Remus right into Bill's arms

#sanders sides au #deceit sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #thomas sanders #prinxiety mention #intrulogical mention #gravity falls #bill cipher #tag anyone unsympathetic and you'll be catching unsympathetic!FHF #except Bill I guess but you get my meaning #janus sanders

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hippychick006 · 6 years ago

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4.18 - Monster at the End of this book

This episode is what Supernatural used to do best, funny, angsty and heartbreaking all in a single episode. And similar to Monster Movie, I’d have to paste the entire transcript for this episode to do it any justice. I will gamely try (and fail) to summarise as best I can, but it’s still a long post, It’s really not my fault they used to pack so much good stuff into a single episode, instead of the filler crap we get now that I wouldn’t be remotely interested in recapping. I might do an early season 14 one soon and see the difference.

I think this is also the first episode Supernatural goes meta, and it is fantastic, due in large part to Rob Benedict being a fantastic choice as Chuck and Jared and Jensen knocking it out of the park in all of their scenes together. Interestingly, this one wasn’t written by Ben, but Julie Siege and looking at her other episodes, this is by far the best one.

Scene with comic book guy was great. Right from when he recognises the FBI aliases they use: De Young and Shaw - which I admit I had to look up who these were. Styx, which doesn’t help me any, so currently listening to Styx while I watch the episode - through to their weird line of questions, he believes them to be LARPing.

Best part of this scene:

Comic Book Guy: You're asking questions like the building's haunted. Like those guys from the books. What are they called? Uh... "Supernatural." Two guys, use fake IDs with rock aliases, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. What are their names? Uh... Steve and Dirk? Uh, Sal and Dane?

Sam (hesitantly): Sam and Dean? Comic Book Guy: That's it!

I love how the show pokes fun at itself all through the episode. We find out that the books “didn’t sell a lot of copies...kind of had more of an underground cult following.” and they are being sold in the “bargain bin” section. Oh show.

We get a montage of the book covers and the props department really had fun with this one. Here’s Fabio!Sam and a jacked up Dean ... enjoy! Source

The next scene is also great, Dean’s reading the books and has discovered he’s full frontal in Route 666. Show pokes more fun at itself when Dean asks Sam how come they hadn’t heard of the books before. Sam: “They’re pretty obscure. I mean almost zero circulation.” Oh show. They discover fandom, there’s not many of us, but we sure do complain a lot. Oh Dean, I actually liked Season 4 for the most part, wait till later seasons! Best part of this scene:

Dean: There are Sam girls and Dean girls and... what’s a slash fan?

Sam: As in...Sam slash Dean...Together

Dean: Like, together, together?

Sam: Yeah

Dean: They do know we’re brothers, right?

Sam: Doesn’t seem to matter.

Heh.

Next on to the publisher - who I think was also Karen in The Usual Suspects episode. They tell her they are big fans and want to write an article on the books. Best parts of this interaction is when she says that a positive article could mean they start publishing again and Dean responds: No, no, no, no. God, no! She gets suspicious - as she doesn’t want anyone making fun of “her boys” - so tests them on their knowledge of the books. They get them all right obviously, but Sam struggles to remember his LSAT score.

On to Carver Edlund - who we find out is a pen name for Chuck Shurley. We saw him at the start of the episode dreaming about Sam and Dean and he’s shown here, editing his most recent chapter, so it’s obvious he’s still writing. This whole scene is genius. You can’t even attempt to summarise it, but it does have this line, “Sam and Dean traded soulful looks.” Also Chuck comes to the conclusion he’s a god.

We next see Sam and Dean in the laundrette (or laundromat if you are US). Dean’s reading from the pages while Sam is loading the laundry and the pages match what they are doing. Right down to Sam’s brooding and pensive shoulders and thinking Dean is a dick.

Sam and Dean go back to Chuck’s house and he tells him of his latest dream, which Dean in particular isn’t going to like. Apparently Sam is going to unable to “deny his desire”, and “will succumb to Lilith as they sink into the throes of fiery demonic passion.” Sam rightfully laughs at this

Sam: You’re kidding me, right?

Dean: You think this is funny?

Sam: You don’t? I mean, come on, “Fiery demonic passion”?

Chuck (defensively): It’s just a first draft

This is a very funny scene, but heartbreaking as Dean doesn’t believe that Sam would never actually do this. It makes me even sadder that in Season 14, Sam’s still begging Dean to believe in them.

Sam: You can’t seriously believe...

Dean: Humour me

In the car, Sam sarcastically reads from the recent pages Chuck wrote, which includes the line, “The minivan accident wasn’t that bad, but Dean was still seeing stars. He scratched absently at the pink flower Band-aids on his face.” which Sam thinks would never happen, that Dean would “use duct tape and bar rags, before he’d put on a pink flower band-aid.”

Dean thinks Chuck might be wrong about the details, but not the end result (Sam sleeping with Lilith) so they are hightailing it out of town. Except the bridge is down (apparently the only one in town which is a bit poor thinking on the town’s part) so they have to stay.

They go to a diner and decide to try to do the opposite of what has been written. So where it says they get into a fight, they won’t fight, no research for Sam, no bacon cheeseburger for Dean, which leads to this:

Dean (to the waitress): Hi, uh, what's good? WAITRESS: Well, if you like burgers, Oprah's girlfriend said we have the best bacon cheeseburgers in the country. Sam laughs and looks at Dean in challenge. Dean orders the veggie tofu burger.

Next follows couples therapy tactics as they try to avoid the fight that happens in Chuck’s draft (all sourced from wiki as usual):

SAM: This whole thing's ridiculous. DEAN:Lilith is ridiculous? SAM: The idea of me hooking up with her is. DEAN: Right. 'Cause something like that can never happen. SAM: (starts to scowl, then controls himself.) Dean, for the first time, we have warning that Lilith is close. DEAN: So? SAM: So... we've got the jump on her. If we know when she's coming, we know where she's – this is an opportunity. DEAN Are you – (trying very hard not to get angry) It frustrates me when you say such reckless things. SAM: Well, it frustrates me when you'd rather hide that fight.

I love that whole interaction. They couldn’t look more like a couple if they tried.

They get their food and after the waitress leaves, Dean continues their “discussion”: It's not hiding. It's being smart. It's picking your battles. This is a battle that we are not ready to fight. (He takes a huge bite of his burger and his eyes widen in surprise.) Oh, my god. This is delicious. Tofu is amazing! WAITRESS: (approaching, flustered). I am so sorry. I gave you the bacon cheeseburger by mistake. (she takes his plate away) SAM bitchfaces.

The next bit, they spend fruitlessly trying to do the opposite of what’s on the pages. They pull into the skeevy Toreador Hotel (which Sam says looks like it rents rooms by the hour) to avoid staying at the Red Hotel. Dean dumps Sam in the motel room while he takes Sam’s laptop so he can’t do research. He leaves to go park up the car instead of driving it around (as per the pages). As he drives away, the motel neon sign breaks, leaving only the letters Red remaining.

Dean parks up the impala and walks away, but turns around to see two kids trying to break into her. He starts across to them and gets run over by a mini van.

Chuck arrives at the motel room, Sam’s called him over and I just want to say that in this scene, Rob is absolutely tiny against Jared! I mean seriously, he’s like a leprechaun, and he shouldn’t look that small as he’s listed as 5′ 8″. I’ve seen Jared in the flesh and yes he’s tall, but not how it shows here. Anyway, Sam asks Chuck if he’s seen visions of Sam when he’s not with Dean.

Chuck: Oh, you want to know if I know about the demon blood.

Chuck does know, but he hasn’t told Dean or written it into the books, because he’s afraid it will make Sam look “unsympathetic”. After the joking of the rest of the episode, this is a beautiful scene between Jared and Rob, where Sam reveals once again that he believes he’s got to stop the apocalypse because he doesn’t think Dean’s strong enough. He wants to do it because Dean’s looked out for him his whole life, and he wants to be the one that helps Dean this time. Chuck questions whether that’s really Sam’s motives and not that he feels strong and in control when he’s drinking the demon blood. Sam says that isn’t true (but I think its Sam wanting to believe that isn’t true).

Chuck: I’m sorry Sam. I know it’s a terrible burden, feeling that it all rests on your shoulders

Sam: Does it? All rest on my shoulders?

Chuck: That seems to be where the story is headed.

Dean wakes up and sees stars (which turns out to be the huge earrings of the woman who ran him over). Seriously, those could rip your ear open. He sees the impala’s back window has been broken (which was also written in the pages Sam was reading from earlier). He sees his reflection in baby and the woman’s daughter has plastered his face with pink band aids while he was unconscious. Umm, next time, maybe call an ambulance?

Dean slides behind the wheel of his beloved Impala and drives off, the plastic tarp on the rear window flapping like the wings of a crow. (Chuck’s words, not mine).

Back to Chuck who arrives home with a six pack of beer to find Dean waiting for him (which he knew was going to happen). Dean attacks him to get him to explain how he’s doing what he’s doing, and... oh great, Castiel’s turned up, once again far too late, to “helpfully” explain that Chuck is to be protected as he is a “prophet of the Lord” who is writing the Winchester gospel.

Castiel says he’s a fan of Chuck’s work and picks up a copy of Scarecrow (and I just thank Chuck it wasn’t route 666 or we’d never hear the end of it).

Dean asks Chuck if he knew (about being a prophet). Chuck says he might have dreamed about it and adds: “ It was too preposterous. Not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night-level douchiness.”

Another Dean and Cass scene and yet again, I really don’t see what the hellers are seeing at all. Upshot is, Dean asks Castiel how they stop Lilith and Sam getting their jiggy on. Castiel responds “What the prophet has written can’t be unwritten. As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass.” Well, thanks for that Cass, really helpful as always.

Dean leaves and returns to the hotel and sees the sign has now changed to the Red Motel. And even though I don’t love what they say to each other in this next scene, I do absolutely love this scene. Give me all the angsty brothers. Jared and Jensen both do an outstanding job. This show should get all the cookies. Dean wants them to hightail out of town, even if they have to swim out. As he’s starting to pack up, he realises the hex bags he placed earlier to hide Sam are not there. It turns out that Sam’s burnt them because he wants to confront Lilith. Best part of the scene:

SAM: You think I'll do it, don't you? You think I'll go dark side. DEAN: Yes! Okay? Yes. The way you've been acting lately? The things you've been doing? (Sam looks worried at this news, thinking Dean might know about the blood drinking) and Dean continues, Oh, I know. How you ripped Alastair apart like it was nothing, like you were swatting a fly. Cas told me, okay? (so Dean and Cass have been having secret conversations about Sam).

SAM: What else did he tell you? DEAN: Nothing I don't already know. That you've been using your psychic crap, and you've been getting stronger. We just don't know why, and we don't know how.

Sam: It’s not what you think

Dean: Then what is it, Sam. ‘Cause I’m at a total loss.

Sam doesn’t answer, Dean finishes packing and asks Sam if he’s coming or not. Sam says no. Dean closes his eyes and throws his bag down on the chair and angrily leaves the room.

Dean goes to get a soda, and prays to the angels for help as he is completely out of options. Castiel turns up, and in the same way I liked Jared and Rob scene, I like Jensen and Misha scene. However, in the same way I see nothing shippy between Sam and Chuck, there is also nothing shippy between Dean and Castiel. Dean is 100% only concerned about his brother and his interest in Castiel is in how he can help him save Sam. Otherwise, he seems permanently angry at the angels, which includes Castiel. I think Dean just prefers to deal with him out of all the angels because Castiel is the least douchy and for the most part, answers his questions. Dean begs Castiel to drag Sam out of the town. Castiel apologises and says he cannot interfere in a prophesy.

Dean: Screw you. You and your mission. Your God. If you don’t help me now, then when the time comes and you need me...don’t bother knocking.

He goes to leave and Castiel calls him back, and this is one of the few times that I actually like Castiel and that he does actually help, though in Castiel’s usual cryptic way. Misha does a good job in this scene and just posting the dialogue doesn’t do justice to his performance here as Castiel tries to give a hint to Dean:

CASTIEL: You must understand why I can't intercede. Prophets are very special. They're protected. DEAN (angrily): I get that. CASTIEL: If anything threatens a prophet, anything at all, an archangel will appear to destroy that threat. Archangels are fierce. They're absolute. They're heaven's most terrifying weapon. DEAN: And these archangels, they're tied to prophets? CASTIEL: Yes. DEAN: So if a prophet was in the same room as a demon – CASTIEL: Then the most fearsome wrath of heaven would rain down on that demon. Just so you understand (looks up towards the skies)... why I can't help.

Oh Cass, you are all right. [Until you let Sam out of the panic room in a later episode and then I’m back to not liking you]

Dean goes to get Chuck:

Chuck: What are you doing here? I didn’t write this!

Unsurprisingly, Chuck is reluctant to go with Dean. Dean gives him a pep talk:

DEAN: This isn't a story anymore, man. This is real! And you're in it! Now, I need you to get off your ass and fight. Come on, Chuck.

Dramatic, inspiring music plays as Chuck starts walking forward... then turns around and...

CHUCK: No friggin' way.

Dean goes with plan B:

DEAN: Okay, well, then, how about this – I've got a gun in my pocket, and if you don't come with me, I'll blow your brains out. CHUCK (smugly): I thought you said I was protected by an archangel. DEAN (considers that): Well, interesting exercise. Let's see who the quicker draw is.

Back to Sam. The motel room door knocks and he opens it to... nothing there. He closes the door and turns around and Lilith is inside the room. Neat trick. Lilith helpfully rolls her eyes to white, just so we know it’s her. She asks where the demon killing knife is and Sam tells her it’s on the nightstand. She goes to get it and stops at a rug, pulling it back she sees Sam’s drawn a trap. She breaks it easily then tells Sam he needs to try a lot harder than that.

Sam tries to exorcise her, but does nothing more than make her hair blow prettily in the wind he’s creating. It appears that Sam and Lilith are now evenly matched with their powers, she can’t TK him, he can’t TK her.

Sam asks what she wants, and she offers to stand down and stop breaking the seals, because she’s found out she doesn’t survive (I think she’s only just found out she’s the last seal, which obviously Sam - and we - still doesn’t know). All she wants in return is Sam and Dean dead. Sam says he doesn’t believe her, but Lilith says if they make a deal, she has to follow through and Sam knows that. She accuses him of being like her.

Sam: You think I’m like you? I’m nothing like you!

Sam agrees to the deal, and Lilith says it’ll take a lot more than just a kiss. She pats the bed and Sam joins her, looking as if he’s going to agree, but he grabs the knife at the last second. Lilith is better at fighting on beds than Sam is (heh) and she easily overpowers him.

Dean and Chuck burst into the room. Lilith gets off the bed to confront them and the room starts shaking. Dean says an archangel is coming and if she doesn’t get out, she’s dead. Lilith glares at Sam and smokes out.

Dean and Sam have a broment in the car as they drive away. Sam still wants Lilith dead.

Last scene is Chuck. We don’t see his dream this time, but he wakes up and Zachariah is there. Chuck has now seen how everything ends and wants to warn Sam and Dean, but Zachariah says he’ll stop him.

Me at the time: What did Chuck dream?!

Up next, Supernatural jumps the shark.

#supernatural #season 4 #rewatch #4.18 #the monster at the end of this book

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scrollofthoth · 6 years ago

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Preview

Big announcement coming soon. Here’s a transcript of an interview I did for Welcome to Tarotdise that will be posted soon. Wanted to share it with my folks here first.

How long have you been a practicing magician?

I’ve had in interest in mythology and the occult for as long as I can remember. It didn’t seem unusual then, but the public library where I grew up as a kid had a copy of Crowley’s Magick in Theory and Practice. I checked it out several times before it got stolen. Didn’t understand a word of it then. I remember making a magick-square talisman when I was in middle-school and doing a candle-magick love spell. A friend of mine brought a copy of Anton LaVey’s, The Satanic Rituals to school once. We tried to summon a demon out a drain in the boy’s locker room and ask it for magical power. Stupid kid stuff, but who knows, maybe it actually worked.

I did some magick in my twenties when I explored neo-paganism. But I didn’t become a serious practicing magician until 2010. I came to it after an existential crisis with the realization that I wasn’t the person I thought I was. I learned the self was a construct and I could be anything I wanted, so why not a magician?

What first interested you in magick/the occult?

Dungeons & Dragons was definitely the gateway drug for me. Looking back, it’s hysterical how we all tried to argue in the 80s that D&D had nothing to do with the occult. Mythology, demons from the goetia, the concept of planer travel, it’s all in there. Gygax did his research well. It’s also interesting to note that RPGs give you many skills useful to a magician. Invoking other personalities, understanding how to structure a story for group participation, all the reading involved. I’ve met many magicians that still play one RPG or another. I still play regularly.

How would you describe your practice?

I call what I do, Emergent Animism. The Emergent part, I just wrote an entire book on that, but I’ll try my best to sum it up here. In Emergent Magick, the magus builds their own paradigm based on the results of their magical work. It’s not quite shifting paradigms, like Chaos Magick, but continuously adding to your core beliefs through magical experimentation. You then share that paradigm with a group of magi and develop a group paradigm. The goal is to create “tribes” of magi who use magick as their bond. We seek a future where people once again create their own culture, instead of having it sold to us, and have a means to create more open and equal societies.

The Animism part refers to my personal paradigm, which involves ancestor veneration, communicating with spirits of place, such as spirits of the land or physical objects, and alien spirits, such as demons and gods.

What would you say your current big magickal goal is?

The big goal, something I think a lot of magicians share, is to immanentize the eschaton. To bring about that change in human consciousness and create a world based on acceptance, love, and freedom. But that’s a long term goal. I don’t know if we can actually achieve that goal. Maybe the eschaton is something that is just constantly unfolding before us. It takes lifetimes.

My current magical motto is, “Ego Sum Legio.” Which means, “I am Legion.” It expresses my will to build what I call a “Spirit Court.” A group of spirit allies that I can trust and turn to when I need to get shit done. Also, on some level, bringing upon the eschaton will require making peace not only with ourselves but with the spirits.

What do you feel is your strongest magickal skill?

Everything comes down to writing for me. Through the word I create. I consider all writing to be a magical act. The universe was created with the word. When we name things, we have power over them. To me, it’s the most human ability. Other animals dance, make music, you can even teach an elephant to paint. But writing, as far as we know, remains unique to us talking apes. It’s the power of our ideas that shape our world, which we express in words. Money, nation-states, religions, all these things have no objective reality. We just made them up with words.

Your weakest?

I’ve never had innate psychic ability. I don’t feel energy or a magical presence without putting some effort into it. While I have always been magically inclined, magick never came easy to me. I had to work for it. Even now, when I do tarot, I can’t just slap some cards on a table and read them. It always requires ritual. I need to deliberately shift my consciousness first before I can perceive anything beyond the physical. I’m fine with that. I’m willing to do the work. In some ways, it makes my magick more precise. While I have had plenty of strong synchronicities and a few straight up paranormal experiences, they only come after doing magick.

What do you consider to be your most effective working/s?

Writing the novel, My Babylon, opened a lot of doors for me. I’ve gone back and re-read it recently. It’s not a great book, but it’s not horrible. I had written a lot of short stories and other things before that, but it was the first novel I completed. It proved to me personally what I was capable of. It was the first story I wrote that was really about me digging up my own emotions and trying to deal with them. It’s also a personal devotion to the Red Goddess, and earned me quite a bit of attention from Her. That has been both wonderful and terrifying, but never boring.

Your most powerful?

For the past two years I have been given the honor of co-writing the main ritual for the Babalon Rising Festival. This last year, I also played a major role in the ritual. If you’ve never done ritual with 250+ thelemic pagans out in the middle of the woods at night, I highly recommend it. Numbers do matter. Most magicians only do ritual for themselves or maybe for a small group of people. Doing it with that many people raises it to a whole other level. I consider myself blessed for having the opportunity and look forward to doing it again in the future. This is why my own magical philosophy focuses so much on group ritual. There’s really nothing else like it.

What paradigm or philosophy do you most align yourself with?

You can probably tell by now that I operate firmly in the Spirit Model. I believe that people can change things directly through magick, but that requires brute force. Spirits innately do things that living humans cannot. Spirits have a perspective beyond space and linear time. That insight often brings about results that are closer to your True Will instead of just delivering what you think you want.

Of course, Emergent Magick is my overriding magical philosophy. As Blake said, “I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.”

Is there one that particularly interests you that you would like to learn more about?

Shintoism, being a currently operating major religion with strong animist roots and principles, holds great interest for me. Not that I want to become a practicing Shinto priest. I want to take what that tradition has learned and apply it to my own Western heritage.

Where do you find inspiration and motivation for your practice?

Like a lot of people, I just want to make the world a better place. I want to see and experience less suffering. I express this in all of my magick and even in my day job.

Inspiration has never been an issue for me. The myriad expressions of human culture have always fascinated me. That well springs eternal. Some scientists try to convince us of our insignificance in the universe. Nothing could be further from the truth. We hairless apes built pyramids. The mere fact that we contemplate the nature of our universe makes us special in a lot of ways.

The nature of our species fascinates me as well. What are we made to do? What makes us truly happy? I read a lot on pre-history, anthropology, primatology, and related subjects to try and grasp what it truly means to be human.

Where do you find inspiration and motivation for your artwork?

When my decisions and actions run contrary to what I believe, it forces me to reexamine those beliefs. I need to know why I do the things I do. The best way to do that for me is art. Art never turns out exactly how you intended it. It’s always a journey. Things you see as mistakes at first turn out to be the parts you appreciate the most. Oftentimes, the big point you were trying to make is subsumed by the process, and you learn that maybe that wasn’t the important part to begin with. Art is Will made manifest.

What do you find is the biggest challenge to your creations?

Writing is a lonely process. It’s an exercise in delayed gratification. Performing artists have it easy in that respect, although they have to practice like anyone else and are constantly subject to the approval of others. Graphic artists put in their time, but it’s generally a much shorter process. Writing a book means putting yourself in a chair alone, for days, months, and sometimes years before you have anything that even looks like a finished product. It leaves lots of room for self-doubt. The process is sometimes so long you immediately go back and look at it and think to yourself, “I know better now.” You never write a beautiful sentence and get applause. It always comes later. Often much later.

What is your favorite medium, and what draws you to work with it?

With writing you can show the process much better than other mediums. Just like it takes a long time to create, it takes a long time to consume. You get to explain why you did what you did. The reader gets to learn along with you.

Stephen King once called writing genuine telepathy. I think that’s true. I can put a thought in someone’s head across time and space. It’s an amazing ability. You can do anything with writing. You can put a picture in someone’s head, a sound, or even a smell. That feeling will never be exactly what you intended as a writer, but that’s the beauty of it. It always gets filtered through the reader’s perspective. They get to participate in the creation of the story long after the words have been put on a page.

What do you feel like you could improve on?

Any writer that cares about the art form is always trying to improve on their use of the language. It’s the beauty of the language that inspires just as much as the content. There’s always a way to make language more dynamic and interesting. Strunk & White’s first rule in the Elements of Style is, “Omit needless words.” That’s the battle. Which words do I truly need? What best illustrates the thoughts and feelings I want to inspire? How do I make something personal and conversational, but also with precision? You have to make people feel something before they will listen to you.

Which item that we're carrying are you most proud of?

I love doing the year-long tarot readings. I treasure the moments when the same themes keep popping up and each time provide more clarity. Everyone I have done it for has become a personal friend of mine. You don’t go through something like that without bonding. I’ve gotten to know some amazing people that way.

Is there anything you would like to branch out into either magickally or artistically?

The problem is I have too many branches already! RPGs, magick, and cooking already take up a lot of time. Writing novels and writing books about magick are really two separate things with much different approaches. I would like to learn some basic musical skills. I’m almost completely talentless in that department. I know I’ll never be great, but I just want to know enough to make a pleasing noise every once in a while. I do occasionally practice drawing and other graphic arts, but they are not my forte.

Is there any advice you would like to offer from your own personal experience?

Do the work.

Research. Do magick. Contemplate. Repeat. There is no other way. You have to be doing magick. I would be happy if all of my customers learn to do their own tarot. I occasionally get readings from other magicians because another perspective can be useful. But nothing replaces being able to do it for yourself. The most powerful magick is always the magick you do for yourself. Know your limitations. If you know you don’t have the skills to build a magical tool, don’t be afraid to buy it. But if you have any inkling that you can do the work yourself, do that first.

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gorderos-blog · 7 years ago

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Pay to Not Go to College!

Yes, you read that title right! For a small combined fee of roughly $12,900, you can receive a PhD in your desired field of study with supporting documentation, a thesis you didn't have to write yourself, traditional graduation attire, legal notarization, and a half dozen lies regarding your accomplishments within your university! You even get to pick your own grade! Who knew the answer to our higher education needs was a website that only charges a nominal fee for you to not have to waste those precious years of your life AND not land your dream job afterward? I've been putting this coverage off for way too long. One day at work, out of curiosity, I decided to search around the ol' interwebs and see if I could find a service dedicated to providing individuals with college degrees. It wasn't a hard search. There are several of these services as it turns out, but I'm going to be focusing on one today for the sake of this not dragging on any longer than necessary. I'm still learning about the dos and do nots when it comes to journalism of this nature, so in an effort not to get sued, I'm going to refrain from giving out the name of the website. Obviously I don't want to advertise this service and be responsible for innocent or curious people losing their money. I also don't want to land myself in any sort of legal trouble for name dropping and getting slapped with some sort of law suit. I will, however, be sharing screenshots where applicable, so don't you worry! The biggest surprise without even looking at the degree ordering process is that the website is designed fairly well. It's inviting and pleasing to the eye with its mixture of blues and grays. Then we look at the text and realize that someone's trying to sucker us out of a lot of money.

From what I hear, though, programming a website is hard and spaces between the end of a word and a comma are pretty easy mistakes to let slip through the cracks , so let's give them the benefit of the doubt. The website has a bunch of sections on it and I intend to share the fun bits of it later, but I know what you're here for. You want your PhD in Chemistry or Biology, or maybe you need a Master's in Engineering or Dance. Don't worry, fam, I'm going to hook you up at least with a price point so you can start saving up. I'm going for the PhD in Creative Writing myself. Unsurprisingly, the first few things it asks you for is boring information like your name, birth date, and title. Then it goes ahead and boldly asks for a scanned copy of either your government I.D./Driver's License or Passport. Then email address, blah blah blah, phone number, alright, onto the next section, and this is where the fun begins.

As you can see, my PhD in Creative Writing will be issued to me, Mr. Blogger Dude for the year of 2018, graduated in the season of summer. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who got me to this point. Good job, me. And look at that, only $490, how convenient! You also have the option to select if you were studying full time, part time, at a distance, online, or in a combination of those! It's going past this point that you realize this ordering process has zero chill. Before you've even completely decided on all the additional things you want to pay for that you're probably never going to be able to use, this section comes careening up at you:

Why yes, strange website, I would love to give you my credit card information and my billing address. I can't possibly see how this could go wrong in any way, shape, or form. I don't actually have a credit card, at least not with the kind of limit we're going to be seeing, so I suppose this is the end of my college degree journey. If only I had thousands of dollars just laying around in the bank. Darn, oh well.

Following that is the section entitled

Transcripts & Degree Related Items

, a series of boxes you can put a check next to if you decide the item in question is something you'll want, and this is how it goes:

Academic Transcripts - $200 (Can select quantity)

Sealed Transcripts - $200 (Can select quantity)

Student Records - $200

Acceptance Letter - $120

Graduation Letter - $120

Reference Letter (Up to three) - $200/reference letter

Letter of Appreciation - $120 (Have the university lie about things you did for them)

Internship Letter from Company - $250 (Nobody follows up with these anyway, right?)

Internship Letter from University - $250

Write Your Own Thesis - $1,500 (At least you tried)

Have Someone Else Write Your Thesis - $4,500 (You did not try)

University Diploma Folder - $135

Graduation Hood - $150

Graduation Cap - $150

Graduation Gown/Robe - $550

Certified Copies of University Degree - $200 (Can select quantity)

Lawyer Certification and Legalization - $450

Government Apostille - $800 (I had to look up what that meant, this is what I found: "Apostilles authenticate the seals and signatures of officials on public documents such as birth certificates, court orders, or any other document issued by a public authority so that they can be recognized in foreign countries that are members of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty.")

Embassy Legalization - $2050 (Looked this one up as well: "Embassy / Consulate Legalization. ... Documents certified by the State and destined for countries who are not members of the Hague Apostille Convention require State certification, U.S. Department of State certification, and Embassy or Consulate legalization.")

Student I.D. Card - $250 (I had to look... just kidding)

University Alumni Card - $250

University Library Card - $250

Student Union Card/Student Association Card

After we've picked out all of the things we need, the last thing we have to do is pick our shipping options. Standard shipping is free and usually ships within five business days, but I'm impatient and can't afford to wait that long. I mean, I am buying a fake degree online rather than earning a real one... online. Or on a campus, but who does that anymore? Express shipping it is! It's only an additional $135 on top of the ten grand, nothing too outrageous. As for our shipping method, we have two choices: Express Air Mail, or DHL/FedEx for ground. Planes can crash and burn and lose all of my documentation, so I think I'll play it safe and go FedEx for only $130. Express Air Mail is a little cheaper at $95, but an extra $35 for peace of mind never hurt anybody.

The website then proceeds to ask how we heard about them. It was pretty easy for me: Google. I assume it'll be the same for you. As an aside, there's also an option for Yahoo for the one person out there still using it. Next we input any special instructions we may have.

I probably should have added please, but this is a business transaction after all. Then we subsequently fuck ourselves over by not reading the terms of service before accepting them, make sure our total is correct, and submit our order!

Looks right to me.

I love that you can adjust the amount with the small arrows beside the total amount. I left them a tip. It's at this point that I would submit the order, wait about a week, and show the finished product. Shocking as it may seem, though, I do not have $12,905 to give them. Such a tease, I know. Now I could save myself $3,000 by writing my own thesis, but we mustn't forget that I'm a busy adult man who cannot spare the time to college, so I definitely wouldn't have the time to write a brilliant thesis. One day I'll have a money. One day. Something that should be noted is that there is no indication on the website as to which university will be giving you your degree, but their section on Full Privacy and Satisfaction serves to definitively quell those voices in your mind that want to call BS. "When you choose a bachelor degree from us and you make the payment, you will receive an accredited degree from a reputable university. The degrees are legal and verifiable; nobody will know our little secret that you obtained your degree online. We do not disclose information about yourself to third parties and we keep private the name of the universities from which we confer degrees. You will not know the name of the university until you receive the degree. We believe confidentiality is essential in our business and we encourage you to keep it secret that you obtained the degree online in exchange of a fee. When you choose degree online course we accept payments and shipment from all over the world, because we are affiliated with universities in every country. We have bachelor degree online course waiting for you to attend them. You will be enrolled in the online program and you will get the degree in a week from the moment you made the order. We are strict with deadlines and we fulfill all your requirements. We believe that the satisfaction of the clients is essential in our business and this is why we want to offer you joy so you will come back for more. If you choose a degree course from us you will get many job offers and promotions, so you will be happy you have chosen us." Peace of mind and assurance are wonderful things. There are a few other interesting tidbits on the website such as generic images of individuals of Asian descent posing in awkward ways, a live chat functionality that I may play with in my own spare time, degree options from multiple contents such as North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and my personal favorite, the Middle East. There's a coaching section of how to find a job after you've received your degree that is a rehash of every search you've ever done on how to do well in an interview. "You have to tell the interviewer about your degrees, knowledge, skills, and vast experience in the field. You should convince the employer that your knowledge and experience will benefit the company and that you have solutions for the existing problems of the company in order to help the company achieve its goals. Choose the domains of activity at which you are the best and to impress the employers with your expertise, skills and knowledge in their field of activity. Companies have job openings because they have a hole in the functioning of their business and you have to fill the hole. You should be the perfect solution to their needs and you should be able to sell your skills during the interview in order to persuade them you will find solutions to the problems of the company. The best way to find a job is to prove that you have a degree from an accredited university because employers look for persons with plenty of knowledge in their field of activity. Use nonverbal communication during interviews. Use your emotional intelligence in order to pass over emotions and use your body language to show you are attentive, confident and competent for the job. You should maintain eye contact and smile often. A sincere smile makes the interviewer believe that you are comfortable and that you are a sociable and friendly person. Be communicative during interviews if you want to get the attention of the interviewers and persuade him or her to offer you the job. Create a good CV and resume speaking about the experience, education, skills and certifications you have. You should write a resume in which to write about what recommends you for the job. You should write a story about yourself that proves your skills and knowledge in the field of activity of the company. Prove passion for the field of activity in which you want to work. Prove that you have a specific interest in the company and a passion in what you do. . Consider an interview as a sales presentation in which you have to present your strengths, hide your weaknesses in order to attract the interviewer and get the job." It's actually so nice they had to say it twice in another area of the website, and there's this little gem that DEFINITELY puts any apprehensions, hesitations, or mental protestations to rest!

I, for one, am very glad that no one shall be able to see my payment information, as they will face consequences under provision of law. What law? Law. THE law. You can learn all about it once you obtain your own law degree from the website. I suppose I should throw in a quick disclaimer here for the two people who may be willing to go out and try this for themselves: Don't. College degrees are serious business, and I'm pretty sure this is illegal in some way, shape, or form. Don't go around giving shady websites your credit card information, and look into legitimate options when it comes to pursuing a higher education. All of that being said, thank you for taking this journey with me. It had its ups and downs, but I am definitely excited to be Dr. Mr. Blogger Dude, Creative Writing expert. Thank you.

#college #fake college diploma #fake college #humor #writing

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littleroma · 7 years ago

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Exasperation is thy name - Chapter Ten

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten

“So, I was watching through some of the details of that interview, and while we were not able to find a lot of new information, it doesn’t seem like he knows a lot,” Jyn remarked, fiddling with her hands.

“If he did know anything he certainly played it very close to his chest, Designation (Former): Captain America I mean.” Dacia sighed.

“It’s possible that he didn’t want to let anyone in on what he found. Certainly not someone that he didn’t feel as if he could trust.” Cassian dryly remarked.

“He was only helping the guy try to find his murderous best friend. So what reason is there for the guy not to share everything he knew for definite?” Jyn snorted.

“No, but if you think about it this way. Designation: Falcon only helped the guy trash part of the Potomac River, he didn’t help him in New York or go on any S.H.I.E.L.D missions together. It wouldn’t lead to a lot of trust built up between the two. But Cassian did you see any indication that the guy may have known more than he was letting on?” Dacia asked the man frowning.

“No, it does confirm a sneaking suspicion we had that the guy had gotten himself involved in something a lot bigger than he suspected at first. If Designation: Falcon recognised this, he possibly wasn’t able to back out. I’m not even sure if he knew what he was getting himself in for, Jyn you are the only one of us with a background in psychology what do you think?” Cassian deflected.

“No, watching the video while you guys were in there. I didn’t see any of the standard telltale signs that the man might be trying to hide something. It’s like you said Cassian it’s likely that the man didn’t have the whole picture. Why should he, after all, be told everything that his friend knew?” Jyn frowned.

“So, it looks as if the guy knew that he was going in for the long haul so to speak. If he spotted something going on that was wrong, he might have felt as if he was too far gone to raise questions or sound the alarm.” Dacia tried to sum up.

“Exactly, I don’t imagine that he was ready to step back. What I’m struggling with understanding though is that the guy persisted in following the guy. Surely, you would have to know at some point that you weren’t being told everything.” Cassian interjected.

“Never the less he persisted right?” Jyn whispered.

“You have mangled the phrase but yes. It might have been a kind of sense of pride that kept the man from stubbornly accepting that he had stepped into something that he couldn’t quite believe or understand.” Dacia allowed, nodding her acquiescence.

“Thank you. Jyn were you able to get any further work down while we were in there?” Cassian randomly thanked the woman before pressing Jyn for more reports on what she had done while the others were engaged in the interview of Designation: Falcon.

“Yeah, I was able to reach out to some of the people in MI6 to see if they had anything we could follow on where Designation: Black Widow might be hiding. Unfortunately, though the intelligence apparatus was gutted when Blofeld and C managed to get their claws in. A lot of the previous intelligence agency had to be gutted to check for moles, double, sometimes even triple agents. So I would be slow to trust anything just yet, I was only able to find this out by digging around. We don’t want to point out that it’s possible to get so close to their base of operations. Might spook them!” Jyn ended with a laugh.

“But they are aware that we have made contact with them now, yeah?”

“Yes, I have a bit of connection with them, mainly with a young guy who goes by the moniker Q, I’m not sure why they seem so fond of calling each other by letters rather names, but to each their own I assume!” Jyn laughed.

“Okay, but we need to get back to the most important part, have they found any trace of Designation: Black Widow, you know we have to find her right?” Cassian reminded Jyn.

“Thank you, Cassian, always proving to be the most straightforward guy. He was able to tip me off that they knew where she was certainly some months ago. But he was able to tell me that they, of course, have some feelers out on where the woman could be. So, for right now? It’s been a bit of a bust being able to talk to the people. I’m hopeful that we may be able to find something more if we continue to work with them?” Jyn retorted smartly at the man.

“Do they want anything from us though?” Dacia asked quietly, not sure that she would like the answer she was about to get.

“That’s one of the benefits of being small players in this hideous game, at least in this Universe, nobody knows who we are. Not yet, anyway. For now though? I’m playing it cool and making sure that they get no idea of what we can do. At least not until Ms Potts or Ms Hill can get back to us on some of what they want us to extract from this. Until we know, all balls are up in the air so to speak.” Jyn reflected.

“That’s good; we need to keep hidden until it’s time for us to come out into the open once again. Did you write any emails to Potts or Hill while we were in there?” Dacia nodded, her strategic mind working in overtime as she thought through some of the things that she was likely to have to do.

“Yes, I’ve forwarded a copy of the email to you guys, it should be on your tablets about now.” Jyn flicked the screen of her tablet.

Leaning back and looking over at the two others as they reached for their tablets, intent on getting answers, for questions that had long since plagued them. Jyn bit her lip as she thought through some of the things that she felt nervous about her friends reading. Recognising that she shouldn’t feel nervous about even a little bit nervous, it wasn’t her diary that they were reading.

Dacia glanced up briefly at Jyn before switching all of her attention back to the tablet screen in front of.

TO: Ms Hill and Ms Potts and Vision, The

FROM: Jyn Erso

CC: Lewis. D, Andor. C

Hello, my name is Jyn Erso, and I am one of Lewis’ associates. We have performed the interviews of Designation: Ant-Man, Designation: Hawkeye, Designation: Scarlet Witch and now Designation: Falcon. As you can see I have included the transcripts and video files in the attachments to this email. For your consideration I would like to draw your attention to the lack of guilt felt by Designation: Scarlet Witch, she still likes to labour under the mistaken belief that Dr Stark is completely evil.

It’s my experience that people are rarely completely evil or good. As I’m sure many will share this belief with you, everybody has a streak of evil in them, just as everybody also has a small amount of good. Even if the good is buried deep inside under a whole mess of shit.

I’ve been going through some of the files that were leaked by Designation: Black Widow and they indicated that Designation: Hawkeye may have a family. Could I inquire if this is true and if the said family has been moved to protect them? I cannot believe that children inherit the sins of their parents, in this case, father, and I could not rest easy if the man’s family were hurt in the crossfire of this whole mess.

I have been able to read some of the emails and memos that indicate the behind-the-scenes affairs of the State Department. It seems as if Secretary Ross may have gotten to his current position by blackmail. The Previous Secretary of State was Dr Elizabeth McCord; she has been hounded out of the State Department by General Ross and his flunkies. Some of her previous decisions while still in the job hint that how the Sokovian Accords might have been presented to the Avengers would have been drastically different, relatively peaceful. Ross, by contrast, was one for shock and awe tactics, perhaps not having become accustomed to his new position.

I have also been able to make contact with some of those at MI6, for the time being, the agency or ministry is undergoing a significant amount of changes, especially after Blofeld and Spectre. Have you noticed that the logo for Spectre and everyone’s favourite squid-based terrorist organisation is remarkably similar? Can we confirm whether there is a link there beyond the typical ‘The Enemy Of Enemy Is My Friend’? Do we need to keep an eye out for their attacks on us? I feel I do not have to remind you that thus far we have been able to skate by unnoticed and I would like it to remain that way.

Certainly, it should come as no surprise to you, that we may be able to get more of our objectives attained that if we have to worry about people being ready for us. I hate to press the question, but no one will find out about us until we are ready right? Dacia has informed of some of our early demands for working with you, and while thus far it is working out, I would hate for us to have to wash our hands of our association with you.

Allow me to get back to the MI6 thing, but it seems as if the agency has a good idea on the whereabouts of Designation: Black Widow. Or at least they have seen the type of place that the woman seems to enjoy haunting. If I can even use the adjective haunting because we seem to have been able to narrow down the woman’s general location. Even if that general location at the moment is disturbingly large. I hope that we will be able to find the woman shortly.

I am writing to you primarily because we are about to head into the interrogations interviews with Designation: Winter Soldier and Designation (Former): Captain America and would like to know if you want any particular questions asked and (hopefully) answered? Let us know if we have missed anything, as always!

Signed

Jyn Erso

“That’s a good email, and hopefully it gets our point across,” Dacia told the woman when she had read the email in full.

“Yeah, it’s good, can we expect to get any answers from this email. You know that they have been slow to respond in the past.” Cassian warned.

Jyn nodded, having expected this type of resistance from the pair. Thinking about what she wanted to say next, not wanting to speak out of turn, she opened her mouth;

“At this point, they should answer, in any case, I attached the videos and transcripts from our previous interviews. So while I do not anticipate a response right away, I do hope that we will get one. But that wasn’t all I notice while you guys were busy.” Jyn replied crossing in fingers in imitation of one of this bizarre Universe’s good symbols.

As far as Jyn was concerned the whole thing was slightly bizarre, she was firm of the opinion that a person could make their luck. Glancing at her friends, she felt comfortable in being able to guess that they felt similarly. Jyn could acknowledge that a small amount of luck had maybe been involved in her successes escaping some of the traps that the Empire had set for her. She had concluded that her father had possibly missed so much that her father had missed her so much that Tarkin would taunt her father with the knowledge that his daughter had been captured. It stood to reason that Tarkin might want to complete his set of the Erso family, after all, he had had the matriarch of the family executed and the patriarch firmly under his thumb. Why he wouldn’t want to exterminate the daughter (at the very least for being a thorn in his side for so long) or at a minimum to ensure that he had something to keep that idiot Galen in line?

Trying to make sense of the man’s motivations could only serve to keep her awake at nights, while her mind churned through some of the possible motivations that Tarkin had once held. It didn’t matter to her that the guy was now dead, or that they were no longer in the same Universe (maybe it was Galaxy, Jyn could get confused at times) but Jyn would confess that she felt as if she wanted to understand what happened. Had her life thus far served any purpose? Or was she simply running because some guys felt as if they were bored and wanted nothing more than to stir up hardship, trouble and strife? Jyn wasn’t completely sure what thought had terrified her more, kept her up at night when she tried to parse some meaning to the motivations of unmet met.

“Okay, so are have we got any questions to ask Designation: Winter Soldier before we head in?” Cassian calmly asked.

“Well they haven’t replied yet to the email, but I still feel as if we should be careful with the possibility of shaking the man up a bit too much. We already know that we will need to tread carefully, we can’t be sure what the man knows. Or even what state his mind will be in, so I would like to be the one interviewing him.” Jyn told the two, not requesting that she was allowed.

“Yeah I thought would be better if you interviewed the man Jyn, who do you want to provide the security and loom in the background of the room?” Dacia thoughtfully replied.

“For now, I think it’s best if Dacia comes in with me. Cassian’s general bulk and body language might freak the man too much. If you watch us closely over the VT monitors, but I imagine that if the guy begins to freak out too much then at least between Dacia and myself, we should be within the hope of being able to contain the guy.” Jyn apologised to Cassian with a bit of a shrug.

“That’s fine, just keep an eye on his body language, we don’t want to run into trouble before we are ready to handle anything.” Cassian shrugged off the woman’s apology.

“Okay, while we are over here can you make sure that everything goes according to plan?” Dacia told the man before asking “Jyn do you have anything that you need Cassian to do while we are otherwise engaged?”

“Yeah, can you keep an eye on the worms that I have out, I’m hoping that at some point something might bite? Or at the very least I want to know as quickly as possible if the MI6 ones can tell us anything.” Jyn told the man, incredibly matter of factly.

“Yeah, I will keep an eye on that while I keep an eye on the VT equipment of course. If I keep doing it soon, I won’t have any eyes to spare!” Cassian laughed as he waved the two women off with a smile.

WHOOSH

Dacia made her way from the room, awkwardly rubbing her arms, momentarily waiting for Jyn to catch up with her. Jyn took in a deep breath and cast an inquisitive glance over at the woman. Allowing her steps to slow down so the two of them could walk side by side, Jyn wanted to make her way through the silver coloured corridors at an even pace.

“I am not even sure how much good we will be able to obtain any usable intel from the guy.” Jyn sighed to her friend.

“Right, but of course as always it is worth asking questions. At the very least we will be able to find out how much the guy’s mind is present.” Dacia tried to speak chirpily.

“Always willing to try anything huh? Typical Jedi!” Jyn laughed shortly.

“That’s me, Jedi scum!” Dacia laughed before her tone hardening “That doesn’t bother you that I always feel the need to learn as much as I can? I mean you know why I learn as much as I can?”

“No, it’s got us out of sticky situations in the past. It can get slightly irritating; when you freeze up we are about to do anything, especially when a thought a thought suddenly occurs to you! But no I don’t mind it, I know what you can get like when you are faced with a new problem that hadn’t occurred to you yet!” Jyn waved the woman off, laughing.

The two women abruptly silenced themselves when they reached the door to the prison cells. Stopping in their path, they both turned to face one another and nodded aware of what they would both have to do. As one they both pulled up their hoods, not sure if there was any reason beyond nostalgia that was forcing them both to keep their hoods up. Whether or not they choose to keep their hoods down, they were both aware that it was too much of a habit for them to keep said hoods up.

Swiping their hand over the large button that would allow them into the cells beyond, the two nodded at one another and made their way into the room. Jyn made her way to the central computer and busied herself pressing the buttons, while Dacia got herself into position. Peering across the room at her Jedi friend, Jyn found herself wondering not for the first time how exactly she had gotten herself into this mess. In any case, it wouldn’t be the last time she pondered the question and the motive behind the decisions that led to her being in this mess.

Waiting patiently for the nod telling her that it was time for her to begin swinging into action. When she received her nod, Jyn refocused her attention on the keyboard in front of her and typed in the few commands to make sure that the doors should remain tightly locked. There was no point in them having to deal with any other distractions when they were removing Designation: Winter Soldier from his cell.

Allowing the sound of the click to echo around the room, Jyn briefly glanced in the other cells, wondering in any of them were about to react. Feeling a small amount of disappointment when it simply looked as if Designation: Designation: Ant-Man rolled onto his side away from the door. Watching the reaction of Designation: Scarlet Witch was interesting, checking the feed from her cell it looked as if she was attempting to snarl and call upon the powers which had been ripped away from her. Casting her eyes over the woman’s vital signs, Jyn sucked in her bottom lip with disappointment and resignation flooding through her when she realised that it looked as if the woman was attempting to call on her powers again. She would have to remember to tell Cassian that his security measures were working.

Dacia meanwhile was focused on the task that she was intent on carrying out. Sidestepping to the tablet affixed to the wall beside the entrance to Designation: Winter Soldier’s cell. When she heard the click of the doors that led to the other doors, she pressed the feature on the screen in front of her that she knew would allow her into the room ahead. It was time for her to collect Designation: Winter Soldier and bring him out to his interview. There were some questions that the man may be able to answer.

When she had made her way into the cell, Dacia tentatively smiles at the guy who looks back at her with curiosity and resignation mingling clear in his gaze. Knowing the drill clearly by now, through watching the other prisoners and knowing what he was likely to go through the same motions he quietly turned for Dacia to lock his wrist to Dacia’s left wrist.

Taking the man from the cell, Dacia placed a hand on his remaining elbow and guided the man towards leaving the cell block. Ignoring the rest of the prisoners beginning to shout, or more rather it was Designation (Former): Captain America who choose to make his disapproval of the situation known. Glancing over at Jyn, Dacia realised that if she needed to know anything, no doubt Jyn would give her the cliff notes later. He was probably shouting some nonsense along the lines of how they could treat them like this and that they were innocent. Suppressing a snort, she had to wonder if the man had any comprehension of what innocence meant. The fact that he didn’t realise that tearing up an airport wasn’t usually a hallmark of innocence.

Hearing Jyn follows behind them, Dacia carefully led the man to the interrogation interview room. She was under no illusions that the guy hadn’t suddenly become safer and less of a threat simply because he was missing his metal arm. It would be the height of stupidity to assume that the Super Soldier Serum than ran through the man wouldn’t also work on the rest of his body.

When she had put the man in his seat, she carefully cuffed his remaining wrist to the metal pole affixed to the table and stepped back. It was time to allow Jyn to do her business. Dacia was under no illusions that Jyn would be able to get some answers from the man.

Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear!

Jyn quietly made her way into the interrogation interview room and shared a look with Dacia before taking her seat opposite Designation: Winter Soldier. Taking the chance to peer at the man and carefully choosing her next words, before she opened her mouth to speak.

“Hello, Sergeant Barnes, my name is Jyn Erso. I am here to interview about your part in the clusterfuck that was the Avengers Civil War? Do you understand this?” Jyn gently asked not wanting to put the man on his defensive.

“Yes, I understand that, but I don’t understand why I am here. I wasn’t an Avenger; I shouldn’t be here.” Designation: Winter Soldier replied looking confused about where he was.

“We understand that we know that you didn’t mean to get involved, after all as you said you weren’t an Avenger. We just need some help in clearing up your motivations in joining with that mess. Do you mind if we begin now?” Jyn began, fidgeting slightly underneath the man’s steady gaze.

Dacia gazed at the man; she was able to see a little of the man’s alter ego shining through. She could sometimes see Cassian adopting the same patterns of behaviour, at least when he chose to tap into his assassin side as a leftover of the time he had spent in the Resistance.

“Okay, well that’s fair enough. For not though I am not interested in your time spent as a HYDRA assassin. When it comes to the chance to prosecute you for that, you could no doubt be tied up in courts while people argue about which jurisdiction would be the correct one to try you in. We want to try to understand what pushed you to get involved if you would mind explaining your actions the best you can.” Jyn tried to remain calm.

“I was happy staying far away from this whole thing. I was in Romania to remain as far away from the Avengers. I didn’t and still don’t recognise Stevie, at least not completely. I knew he was looking for me, but I wasn’t ready to be found. I still needed to clear my head, to gain control of some of the demons that I had accumulated after a long time being used as HYDRAs slave.” Designation: Winter Soldier spoke.

“Okay, that explains why you were found in Romania, but that doesn’t explain why you were there, to begin with? Had you been living under the radar there since DC?”

“After DC I was able to travel the world, hunting down my previous handlers. I was going to work towards burning down HYDRA worldwide, but I was better looking for me, the Winter Soldier’s handlers. If I was able to liberate some prisoners and make life difficult for those scum. I had to take it.”

“Alright, and do you feel as if you were successful in getting rid of many of you uh former handlers?”

“Not entirely. I couldn’t get my hands on one guy who had set me on the friend of a friend. Vasily Karpov. He was the one that arranged for me to kill Howard Stark and Maria Stark. He was paranoid, but there was some disappointment. The guy that made the order for that assassination, Obadiah Stane, I learned that he had been killed by Stark just a few years ago.”

“Alright, well you know now that was one reason. But what we want to know is why you decided to throw your lot in with Rogers? Was it a long friendship that motivated you?”

“I don’t; I can’t remember Steve. My memories of my life before the War are shaky; I can’t remember the guy. Some days are better than others, but I never felt comfortable enough to trust those memories. To trust whether or not those memories are real. I was only interested in retaining some distance from the people who would try and force in one way or another. I don’t want to be forced to be someone who I am not, just to make things easy for someone else. I want to feel like my person again, does that make any sense?”

“It makes more sense that you imagine. While we might not have your exact experiences, we do have some experience with brainwashing and manipulation. Do you anything of the people who you fought with, alongside whatever you want to say in the Civil War?”

“All I know is that they had fought alongside Stevie, that he could call on them to fight with him at any time. Is that wrong?”

“Not quite, but you see those people who you fought alongside were more designed to be pawns on the part of Rogers. To him, it didn’t matter that they should get into any more trouble as long as he got you out of trouble, hell he didn’t care who he had to send up the river as long as you were okay, everything was going to work out in his head. But the woman that you were fighting alongside? Something tells me that you would have objected to fighting alongside her if you knew.”

“I thought I could recognise her, I thought her bearing was similar to some of the things I have seen, but who is she?”

“Do you want to know? I only warn you because if you only knew, then I suspect that you wouldn’t know what to do with it!” Jyn’s shrugged, warning the man.

“Tell me, who is she? I deserve to know who was fighting alongside me! Who was so ready to lay down their life for me!” Designation: Winter Soldier narrowly stopped himself from begging.

“Why Soldier don’t you know who it was? That was Scarlet Witch; she is or was HYDRA, I’m a little confused I confessed, can you ever leave HYDRA behind? Are any of the ones taken in and twisted beyond recognition by the various Squid factions every truly innocent? That’s what you can bet your sweet ass Designation (Former): Captain America will say.”

Jyn peered at the man in front of her, with questions dancing in her eyes. Behind the two of them, Dacia quietly surveyed the man, wondering what route he was going to take with his answers next. She could see the man hurriedly going the various scenarios in his head and discarding each as being inconsequential, he clearly couldn’t see what the two were shooting for, so maybe it would be better for him to play along.

“None of the people in HYRDA were innocent, not even the janitors and handymen. All were willing to die for their cause, all were willing to kill for their cause, and you say that Stevie was willing to forgive and forget THAT woman? Why would he do that? Did she bat her eyes at him? Or did she spread her legs for him? I don’t know who this Stevie is, but the guy from Brooklyn? The one that I grew up with? He would have understood that it was a bad idea to put her on the team.” Designation: Winter Soldier protested.

Dacia cocked her head to the side and considered the man in the seat. She could sense no outward signs of dishonesty from the guy. Dacia acknowledged that it was likely to be one of the first things that HYDRA taught their asset (whether or not he already knew) how to lie convincingly. Dacia wondered whether or not it was likely that most intelligence agencies taught their operatives how to lie, goodness knows she had watched enough tapes of Designation: Black Widow to see that it would be difficult to catch the woman in a lie. Dacia however with the help of Cassian was able to detect some of the more obvious tells, the woman wouldn’t be able to lie all the time.

“At the moment? We think that she batted her eyes at the man and spun him a story about how she and her brother could now acknowledge that they were wrong. We do wonder if it was possible that the guy took advantage of the situation by getting them on the team, thereby softening the way for when you came in from the cold. Don’t mistake me for a minute Sergeant but we suspect that since DC at least the Captain has been playing the long game. It was brilliant luck on his part that a genocidal robot had been created; how else could be expected to kick Dr Stark off the team?”

“Look he has changed since I knew him when he was on a one-man mission to take down all of the bullies on the backstreets of Brooklyn. The guy that I knew back then? He wouldn’t have had the patience to wait while things started to take shape ahead of him. He would have simply charged in and changed things around to suit him. Why are you saying this? It can’t be true.”

“And yet it is, Designation (Former): Captain America knew from DC what had happened to Dr Starks’ parents. He knew that they had been assassinated, but instead of allowing the man to get closure, he didn’t tell Dr Stark what had happened the guy he so professed to be friends with, the guy’s son wasn’t allowed to grieve properly. In fact, did you know that he was still taking Dr Stark’s money, lodgings and time while not telling the guy what he either knew or suspected? The sad part is that a guy who had never met the two of them was able to use that against the guy, he was able to manipulate a situation and turn Dr Stark’s rage into a positive force for his own benefit. I mean that wasn’t that different from all that the Avengers used Dr Stark for, they simply took benefit of the guy’s knowledge, generosity and expertise while at the same time not thanking him.”

“This isn’t a team is it?” Designation Winter Soldier sadly asked.

“No, you could say that it’s a chemical compound waiting to explode.” Jyn finished looking at the man sadly.

Jyn stared at the man for a while, looking at him until he felt uncomfortable enough to look away before sighing and getting to her feet. Crossing the table to Designation: Winter Soldier’s side and taking the cuff from the pole in the centre of the table and attaching it to her wrist. Glancing over at a worried looking Dacia, she shrugged and made her way from the room guiding the quiet man as did so.

Trying to shake the worry from her mind about what happened to make Dacia lag behind them, it had to be something big. Either way, Jyn felt like she had to know more about what was troubling Dacia, it couldn’t be anything good. Moving through the corridors with the man waling slightly ahead of her, Jyn’s mind whirling through some of the thoughts running through her head.

Guiding the man back into the cell block, Jyn crossed the silver room and momentarily stood the man in front of the glass that separated his cell from the large cell block. Sidestepping the man, she began to tap at the monitor, listening carefully for the clicking sound that indicated that Dacia had reached the central computer. Smiling briefly when she realised that it didn’t seem as if the man knew that she was there. Waiting until the rest of the doors were securely locked, she tapped a few of the features, tapping her foot up down, her eyes darting the large glass door.

When the door opened for her, she gently pushed the man into through the door and followed him in. Working the cuff off the man’s wrist, Jyn smiled briefly at the man before settling the man on the bed. Making her way from the cell, she stopped briefly at the screen beside the door.

Nodding over at Dacia, Jyn followed the woman from the cell block, casting her a nervous look at the woman. She found herself wondering if everything was about to change or become insurmountably difficult. Catching up with a worried Dacia outside the cell, she reached out to stop the woman.

“Things just became that much more difficult for us, c’mon I need to talk to Cassian before everything goes pear-shaped.” Dacia hissed before hurrying off to the central computer nodule.

WHOOSH

James’ head hung, he found a patch on the floor between his feet to be supremely interesting to him. Or maybe that small patch of floor wasn’t as interesting as he thought it was, maybe he was subliminally trying to distract himself as much as possible. His mind was running through some of the things he had learned, and he was questioning himself and how well he knew his friend. He was beginning to suspect that he didn’t know the guy at all. It was like he had said that interviewer lady, his captor, whoever she was, he didn’t recognise the person that had shown up in Romania.

Standing up from his bed, still slightly unbalanced from the loss of one of his arms, he glared into the cell containing the Witch. He wondered to himself why Stevie and his friends had been so quick to trust the HYDRA bint. Trying to go through his memories looking for some clue, anything to even hint at the fact that he might have come into contact with the woman. He was under no false pretences that his memories of his time with HYDRA were perfect because they were distorted and muddled up and oh so very cold. There were still some things from that time that he hadn’t told Stevie yet.

Things that he didn’t think the guy could ever hope to understand. Some things that he knew would be difficult to explain, especially to a guy like Stevie who still saw things in black and white. Or at least James thought that they guy saw things in black and white because some of the things that he had been told in that interview implied that the guy was very comfortable operating in a morally grey area. Why had he decided that it was a perfect idea to work alongside a woman with definite and concrete ties to HYDRA?

“Punk, I’m going to give you one chance to tell me why YOU WERE FIGHTING WITH A WOMAN FROM HYDRA? AND DON’T GIVE ME ANY OF THIS BULLSHIT THAT SHE IS INNOCENT, OR A CHILD, SHE IS A COLD BLOODED KILLER. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US WAS THAT SHE LEPT AT THE CHANCE TO FIGHT FOR HYDRA, SHE REVELLED IN KILLING FOR THOSE ANIMALS. YOU WANT TO TELL ME WHY YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A BRILLIANT IDEA TO HAVE ME NEAR ONE OF THOSE LUNATICS WITH A HARD ON FOR MURDER?!” James screamed.

James might not have noticed, but the weird one, the guy that didn’t seem to fit in with any of this, jumped in his cell.

“Don’t be like that Bucky, everything I did, I did for you, for us. She is an innocent child!” Steve protested, not being used to having his friend angry with him.

“INNOCENT, YOU CAN SPARE ME YOUR BULLSHIT, EVERYONE IN HYDRA IS READY TO DIE, EVERYONE IS READY TO KILL FOR THAT MESSED UP SHIT THEY BELIEVE IN. SHE IS NO SHRINKING VIOLET BELIEVE ME!” James roared at the man, his voice cracking in his rage.

“Never should have met my hero.” Wanda was heard to mutter from his cell.

“YOUR HERO SWEETCHEEKS?! ALL YOU WOULD HAVE KNOWN ME FOR WAS AS BEING THE FIST OF HYDRA, DON’T EVEN LOOK AT ME!!!” James exclaimed, his voice going up in pitch as he sprayed his spittle everywhere.

“Yes my hero, Pietro’s too, Strucker used to talk about me marrying you, after all, who better to keep you under HYDRA’s thumb than the great Scarlet Witch?” Wanda muttered.

“Excuse me?” James’ voice quietly asked, his voice haven gone completely quiet as he began to wonder who the hell these people were.

“Well, you know I can manipulate minds, right? Who else to keep you a tight leash that an operative adept at mental manipulation.” Wanda shrugged before turning away from the door of her cell.

James shot both the cell containing Wanda and Stevie’s cell a look of disbelief before he lay down on the bed, his mind racing with all that he had been told.

#Exasperation is thy name #Darcy Lewis #Cassian Andor #Jyn Erso #fanfiction

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