#its the fact that these are 3 completely different interviews for me

[emmanelson]

CORY MICHAEL SMITH and GILLIAN JACOBS in interviews for Transatlantic (2023) | Stream Wars, the Steve Varley Show, and Starry Constellation Magazine

[chaoticloving]

Made a friend today?

harry styles x reader (SOH)

summary: Y/n asks harry to buy some pads, and of course, he gets spotted.

w/c: 2.1k

warnings: nothing but period stuff ig

a/n: my period is going to be the death of me but this photo is so precious

Harry got into London late. The plan was that Harry would go back to his place since it's three in the morning, then once he has woken up he would text Y/n to let her know he was coming over, ending with them being disgustingly cute together by cuddling on the bed and watching a movie together.

Instead, Harry got a text that caused his heart to beat to extreme levels.

Can you come over?

The text at any other time of day would make this completely different. But its 3 am on a Tuesday--she should be asleep in her large bed.

Obviously, he responded with a yes and sprinted out of the jet, pushing the boys out of the way which caused some swears and threats from the others. Harry continued to make his bandmates even more angered by taking one of the private cars ordered and gave the address to Y/n's flat.

Harry has always been the one to overthink. From conversations with people to punctuation, it's no surprise he started to think the worst. But one of the most troubling things was that he couldn't quite place what could be wrong. It wasn't an emergency and life threatening. And despite the fact that yes, he'll admit, his first thought was infidelity, it was squashed quickly. He was confident in his relationship, there was no need to worry about love in the relationship.

So what could possibly wrong ?

Harry jumped out of the car after throwing a wad of money to the driver--politely, of course, he's still a gentlemen--after saying a quick thank you. He ran right up to the door and started to knock.

He knew the knocking might freak Y/n out a bit but he was a bit too tired to realize, not to mention it was coupled with his anxiety growing in his stomach.

Eventually, the door was swung open. Harry was met with a tired, baggy-clothed Y/n, her eyes were squinted from the bright street lamps along with the skin under her eyes being dark.

"Harry--"

"Oh my god, are you okay? Dying? Bleeding out? Broken bone? I can call an ambulance, right now." Harry asked, hands shaking and tracing over Y/n's face and looking all over her body.

"No, Harry, come in." She smiled softly and guided her ever-so freaked out boyfriend into her home. She sighed heavily as she locked the door behind him and guided them into the kitchen. She had some candles and dim lights on in the kitchen, as well as some warm tea ready made. Marney and Sugar sleeping softly in their beds. "Sorry I didn't mean to freak you out with the whole ominous text."

"But whats wrong? Are you okay?" Harry's voice was laced with concern.

"I just missed you too much. " She sweetly answered, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his nose sweetly. "Plus I have the worse stomach ache ever and I need a cuddle. "

Y/n felt a little guilty for not telling Harry the whole truth. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed that she was on her period, it was the fact that she missed him. She felt a bit silly coming clean and saying that she couldn’t wait to see Harry was because of some hormone changes.

But Harry didn’t seem to mind, in fact, he seemed relived. He hugged her tight, “let’s get you to bed then.”

“After I finish my tea.”

“Right after though.” He kissed her lovingly and wouldn’t remove his arms from her which lead to her awkwardly sipping her tea.

They made small talk. Harry was talking about his concerts and the flight back, mentioning that he’s been writing again and is proud of what’s he got so far.

Y/n spoke on her recent interviews. She was in the interview phase of the movie process and she can’t wait for it to be over. All the questions were either the most basic question that could be asked or one extremely invasive—mostly pertaining to her relationships.

After a few more minutes if swaying and chatting, Y/n took the initiative to move them upstairs after she saw Harry yawn and his eyes drooping.

“Mhm, I’ve missed your bed.” Harry moaned as he collapsed onto the cozy bed.

“Get out of your airport clothes and brush your teeth.” Y/n scolded, making her own way to the bathroom. “I washed some of your stuff and it’s in your drawer.”

Harry groaned but complied. Stripping and leaving the clothes on the bedroom floor. He walked into the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and joining Y/n in the night routine.

As Harry looked at them in the mirror, he paid special attention to Y/n’s face. Her eyebrows scrunched and her hand would rest on her lower stomach. She seems to be in discontent, which spurred back on Harry’s protective mode. He did, though, have half a brain to wait to talk to her when

“Is the fan on?” Y/n asked as she stepped out of the bathroom.

Harry sighed when he saw it was. “Don’t know why you like to be so cold." He shivered.

"You get too sweaty."

They collapse onto her bed, Harry wrapping his arms around her waist. Y/n doesn't seem to like that--she shuffles around every few seconds, with Harry trying to touch her when she stops for a couple of seconds.

Y/n wriggled and crushed Harry's hand for the third time before he said something. "Are you okay? You've been off all night."

"Just my stomach." She sighed, finally resting on her side with her legs spread out. "Got the worse pain."

"Anything I can do?"

"Can you grab my heating pad? It's in the closet." Y/n smiled a big smile, which Harry rolled his eyes and got out of the bed and into the chilly air.

"Think ya ate something funny?" Harry asked from the closet, moving things around to find the device.

"Uhh, no ." Y/n started to think Harry would be grossed out. She mostly knew she was being irrational, but it was late at night so she was anxious (and on her period).

"Then what'cha think it is?"

"My period."

"Huh." Harry turned off the closet light, handing the heating pad that Y/n immediately turned on.

"My period."

"Oh." Harry froze for a quick second, then going back to slipping under the covers. "So you are bleeding out."

"Ugh, shut up." She lightly smacked. "Never should of told you."

"What? I'm being so supportive." Harry acted offended. "Not like I'm grossed out. Never was opposed to having some blood on my sword, anyway."

"Please shut up and cuddle." Y/n choose to ignore the innuendo. Back facing Harry, wanting to be the little spoon tonight.

Harry gently places his arms barely even on her, ghosting over her skin. "If I cuddle ya too hard are you gonna squirt like a ketchup packet."

"If you say one more thing I'm kicking you out."

...

The next morning was a living hell for Y/n. It felt like satan was personally living in her uterus and was trying to claw his way out.

"Do you think you could take Marney out for me? My stomach is still upset." Y/n asked when Harry and her both getting ready for the day. The morning so far consisted of Y/n and Harry cuddling each other in bed, but instead of being in a blissful state like Harry was, Y/n was dying.

"Of course." Harry answered, kissing her nose with his fresh minty breath. "Can you call your doctor or someone to get any help?"

"I just need some meds." Y/n sighs. Harry hugs her then placing a gentle kiss on the skin next to her eye.

Harry goes out of the bedroom door and greets Marmalade with a high pitch noise. She hears the door close and goes to one of her cabinets under her sink to grab a tampon. But, of course, Y/n grabbed the last one. She groaned in frustration, knowing that she needs to go get some more but was too tired to go to the local Tesco to grab some more.

She knew she would have to ask Harry to go out. She sighed and quickly inserted the tampon and washed her hands before leaving to the kitchen to make some coffee and get the pets breakfast out.

She poured the pet food into Marmalade and Sugar's bowl. Sugar came scampering in from the sunny corner of the living room to eat his food, purring a thank you when Y/n scratched behind his ears.

"Morning baby." Y/n smiled, going back to making some coffee to her and Harry's standards--Harry liked about a third of the cup to be coffee, the rest being some sugary creamer with even more sugar into it.

"Sugar, do you think Harry's mad I asked him to come here so late last night" She asked the cat, voicing her concerns only to realize how silly she's being. "Never mind. He loves sleeping over and seeing you cuties."

Sugar meowed in return.

"Think he would get mad if I asked him to go out again?" She questions, getting some ibuprofen for herself and swallowing the tablets with the coffee.

"I did just get him to take Marney out. Might piss him off if I keep ordering him around on our day off together."

The door opened, luckily when Y/n wasn't talking to her kitty, Marmalade's pattering feet came into the room to find Y/n, then rushing right over.

"Morning sweet girl." She gave Marney some scratched behind the ear and a belly rub. "Go eat your breakfast."

"Where are my head scratches?" Harry teased, grabbing his coffee mug and taking a drink of the "coffee". "How's the cramps?"

"Not good, but I took some medicine." She told him, then cleared her throat. "Can you do me a big favor?"

"Anything you need, babe."

"It's just that my stomach hurts too much and I know I keep asking you to do stuff for me and I am sorry. I just don't think I can be too far apart from the bathroom." She took a deep breath. "Could you maybe get me some stuff for me?

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Harry set the cup down and went to his the front door to put his shoes back on. "Period stuff?"

Y/n smiled, nodding. "Yeah. Thank you." Y/n hugged Harry and gave a quick kiss to his lips.

"Don't tear up on me." Harry laughed when he saw her worried expression. "I don't mind, I'm glad I can do stuff like this for you."

"You’re too sweet."

"I'll be back in a bit." Harry grabbed his wallet and waved goodbye to Sugar who was now by Y/n feet.

"I need to make him some pancakes, Sugar."

...

Harry has never been in this section of the store before, or at least he can't remember being here. He grew up with his mum and Gemma, so he's not stupid, he knows what a period is and he never thought of them as unclean or gross--he knew damn well that Gemma would fight him (and win) if he thought otherwise. Harry just never gave much thought to how this stuff works.

As he looked at the selection of period items, he wondered what the different numbers ment and was desperately trying to look it up online with no luck.

But then again, he would much rather be looking at the period products then the little tests just down the aisle.

"Are you okay, boy?" Harry looked up to see a concern older women with a teenage daughter--jaw dropped-- next to him. "You look really confused."

"Uhm, my girlfriend asked me to get her some stuff and I don't know if I should get pads or tampons or what the numbers mean."

"You men are so funny sometimes." The women chuckled to herself. "The higher the size, the heavier the flow it can take. Typically, 4 and 5 are night pads and 1 though 3 are day time ones. But at there is no harm in getting a higher size."

"Tampon sizes work the same way, just it is not recommended you sleep in them." She clarified. "Do you know if she likes tampons."

Harry shook his head.

"Alright. To be safe, get some pads; and if she is completely out, I'd say get a 5 and 3."

Harry nodded, fully listening to the women, paying no mind to her daughter who was typing furiously on her phone.

Harry grabbed the two boxes and nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"Get her something nice too. Just so she knows you care."

Harry nodded and thanked the women, he turned to leave as he heard the conversation between the mother and daughter. "You just helped the Harry Styles with choosing pads."

"Who?"

"He's in the same band as that Louis guy I'm obsessed with."

"Ohh."

Harry grabbed some flowers and gummy bears before checking out. He practically ran out of the store to get back to Y/n, promising himself he would not let Y/n know about the conversation he had with the women.

...

He got back to Y/n, unlocking the door with a key Y/n gave him. He was met with a sweet smell of maple syrup. He took of the shoes and walked into the kitchen.

"Made a friend today?" Y/n laughed.

Harry looked like a dear caught in the headlights. "No." He gasped, going to look at what was on Y/n's phone.

[chibrary]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8Kdaokx/

do you know if this is true? I know Charles and Max drove for the same team, but I thought there wasn’t any documentation saying max/jos recommended Charles for the seat.

First, Max never drove for GP3. He drove in the European Formula 3 Championship, which was combined with GP3 in 2019 to create Formula 3. Charles raced in both series, spending 2015 in European Formula 3 and 2016 in GP3. While they've been merged since, they were two different series back when Charles and Max were driving.

And... it's complicated. When I was trying to verify this for the Chrimer, someone sent me an old Dutch forum post that did imply that Jos suggested Charles to the Van Amersfoort seat but I've found no sources from anyone directly involved confirming this.

Van Amersfoort was asked directly about why he signed Charles in a 2015 interview and said the following:

CLF: When did you discover him and why did you hire him? FvA: "You know, we closely follow several championships including the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS in which he participated last year. He was very good even though he was only in his first season. I have him so invited to come and do some tests with us and we fell in love with each other (laughs). That's when we started talking with Nicolas Todt."

He did speak extensively about Max and Charles in that same interview:

CLF: What are its strengths and weaknesses?FvA: "It's a very good question, especially when we see this weekend's performances! At the start of the season we often compared Charles to Max, but it seems difficult to me because they have different characters and personalities. completely different. That said, they both have a lot of talent and I think Charles, as much as Max, deserves a seat in F1. Coming back to your question, I think Charles is very good at feeling his car . He knows where he gains time and where he loses. It seems simple like that, but in reality it's very complicated, especially when we're talking about tenths of a second. He's also very good at braking and in games. fast but it is less so on the starts." CLF: Do they have any similarities in their work or their driving?FvA: "Not really. For us, working one-on-one with Charles is fantastic. When Max Verstappen was with us, we also had to work with his father, and it was very difficult because Jos put a lot of pressure on us. To summarize we can also say that Max is an extremely talented driver but we must not forget that he was very well prepared by his father, since he was very young. This is the difference with Charles who is very good but whose preparation is perhaps not at the level of Max's."

I think it would have been natural to bring up any referral for Charles from the Verstappens at either point in the interview. The fact that it wasn't mentioned makes me doubt it was a serious factor.

I did include the line in the 2015 Chrimer (identifying it as a rumor) because its 1. so prolific within fandom and 2. not easily disproven.

My theory is its probably true, but not to the extent that fans-- especially creators on Tiktok who just regurgitate other fan content-- would like it to be. I bet Van Amersfoort was looking at Charles, asked the Verstappens and got a positive answer re: his performance... at that time, Max was entering F1 and a former karting rival three or four series below was not a threat. It's not like putting in a good word was any threat to Max's future.

However, to act like any goodwill from the Verstappens aided Charles' career notably discounts Charles' personal success. This is a review of Charles' first year in single-seaters from before the move to Van Amsersfort happened:

After several starring years on the world karting scene, Leclerc’s car debut season was a long awaited one and it lived up to expectations. A non-score at the Imola opener aside, Leclerc delivered a superb rookie season, maturing and improving round after round, which culminated in a spectacular double victory at Monza and saw a further five podium appearances throughout the campaign. A protege of Nicolas Todt’s All Road Management firm, he has also been superb in his guest Eurocup outings and the chief 2.0 series appears to be a logical next step – one he’s more than ready for. In fact, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take a higher jump up the ladder than that. 

Charles had tested with three European F3 teams in the lead up to the 2015 season. There was serious interest. Any referral-- whether or not it existed-- was not the reason why he made it into European F3.

[bambi-kinos]

Why didn't you put Lennon Remembers on your book recommendation list?

Because John lied about everything in Lennon Remembers. Never mind how Jann Wenner edited his words too. It's completely unreliable and it should not be used as an introductory text. It has its place in studying John Lennon but it needs to placed in its proper framing and context.

When I was putting together that list I wanted to focus on material that came directly from each Beatle because I want people to know about what each Beatle thinks of his own life story and how he wants to present that life story. That's also why I noted the same thing about Anthology and Hunter Davies' Beatles biography. When it comes to understanding the Beatles the point is to understand how they are presenting the truth about themselves. That is also why I tried to find third party biographies that portrayed each Beatle fairly.

So my goals with the list were to find: 1) An autobiography where the Beatle presents his side of the story 2) A third party biography where the Beatle is examined by a writer who is trying to present said Beatle in a respectful light where the Beatle in question is weighed for his good and bad points. 3) My juxtaposition of these things is intentional. It is valuable to see how the Beatle perceives himself, what he wants the public to know vs what a third party finds interesting and what they think is important.

The problem with John though is that he's lied about everything and none of his personal words can be trusted. John lied in Lennon Remembers, he lied in Skywriting by Mouth, he's just...a liar and he admitted to being a liar. He deliberately distorted his image or allowed others to distort it for profit. (I'm sympathetic to John being taken in by Wenner but I also think it was sour grapes because John didn't want to think about how many bridges he was burning.)

The difference between Lennon Remembers and Many Years From Now, for example, is that Paul is trying to tell the truth about himself and his life story. He may embroider or shift blame in some places but he's fundamentally trying to set the record straight and just tell the public about himself, about what happened. John meanwhile, can't be trusted! All of his works are biased to try and put himself in the best light, he lies to cover up his mistakes, his truest moments are fits of self loathing during deeply buried interviews. The intent makes all the difference! Paul has his blind spots but John spent his entire adult life trying to pretend to be something he wasn't.

John was preparing an autobiography with his audio tapes but he was murdered before he could complete it. If he had gotten an autobiography down that was like Many Years From Now I would happily include it.

The problem IMO is that George and Paul are braver than Ringo and John. George and Paul were willing to make themselves vulnerable to the public by publishing I Me Mine and Many Years From Now. John was unable to check himself so we can't trust what he says without a million footnotes and years of scrutiny. Ringo doesn't want to be scrutinized so he gives us photographs that we can interpret without his input.

But ultimately it comes down to the fact that John can't be trusted whereas George and Paul were willing to actually talk to their fans and they wanted to tell their stories to the best of their abilities.

[ekza-art]

Why is Mike so dumb? (Not really)

The layered internal conflicts of the characters in Stranger Things are truly admirable. And the fact that people refuse to see that behind the words of the characters may be hiding something completely different from what they mean, only confirms this: people love to deceive, and first of all themselves.

"Friends don't lie" has become more than just the Party's naïve motto as they've grown older, it's become the keynote that, after coming full circle, like so much else on the show, it's back to full circle by Season 5. The Duffer brothers have made the lines of the show's key characters incredibly deep and complex, and what's happening right now between El, Will and Mike is one of the most complex and truly horrifying tragedies of our entire existence.

It always seemed very strange to me how a large number of people cling to Mileven and do not see anything else around. At the same time, I do not feel hatred or rejection towards lovers of the Mike / Eleven couple. But let's be objective: how many couples do you know who have stayed with each other for life, becoming each other's first? I'm not talking about the couples from the series that ended up getting this far, let's talk about reality. Children's first love is something truly pure, tender, almost holy. I was also in love with my 11-12 years old, and when now, at 31, I remember this, I remember only warmth and bright feelings. I remember this boy's name, but I don't even remember his face.

At the same time, the Duffer brothers in an interview frankly told us several key things: they do not believe in love at first sight, they do not consider the relationship between Mike and Eleven to be something serious, they describe this relationship as “Mike found a puppy in the forest and wanted to take care of him". Plus, and I think it's a big deal, when Eleven was first seen, Party had her hair cut so short that other people thought she was a boy -- at 11 years old, boys and girls aren't that different yet. At the same time, I always liked the ease and acceptance with which Mike spoke about El in any of its forms: he really didn't care if she looked like a girl or a boy, he finds her "pretty" in any form. And I think this is also important.

I was a fan of Mileven myself until the end of Season 2. I cried and was touched by the way Mike and El kissed at the Snow Ball. But during Season 3, I began to understand that something was clearly wrong going on between them. And Mike is really starting to act weird. At this time, they are 14 years old, more conscious sexuality begins to wake up. Hormones are raging and all that stuff. And at these moments, I begin to notice in Mike that he is not really want to take next base in relationships with El. Don't you remember yourself at 14? I remember myself very clear. We hung out in groups, and when the boys paid attention to us, we wanted to be as tactile with them as possible. But Mike is limited to very modest hand touches. This is his maximum, while El hugs him, reaches for him, while kissing wants to touch his face and hair. This is weird. I do not take into account Mike's lies in all of this, but for some reason one very important thing comes to my mind: at 11 years old, Mike did not listen to Hopper and went to look for Will with the Party on his own, at 12 years old, Mike, angry, attacked Hopper with his fists. And then suddenly he was horrified by Hopper when he scared Mike a little? Last year a boy literally saw a possessed friend and dead people, for God sake! At the same time, the boy probably understood that Jim would not do anything to him, would not harm him at all. So why did he start to avoid El and come up with all sorts of nonsense? Was he just looking for a reason? And the words of Jim to Joyce are also important: "they kiss all the time." That is, apart from kisses, a couple of Mike and El are not interested in anything else and do not have a connect without any "End of the World" danger? That's really sad.

"Mike tries to be normal as hard as he can" is practically a Finn's quote from Season 4. And in general, the way Finn refers to his character as an "idiot" in other interviews shows us that he understands what's going on with Mike, and it pisses him off. If this isn't a sexual identity crisis, then what could be tormenting Mike so much? I remember my identity crisis, which I lived at the age of 15-18. It almost took me to a psychiatrist and a surgeon because I couldn't figure out why I liked both boys and girls and why I sometimes felt like a guy. It was scary. I lived in Russia in the 2000s and it was very similar to the 1980s in America, trust me. The clash of conservatism and liberalism regarding sexual minorities and their representation on TV was simply crazy. I had no where to get information about what was happening to me. And as I look at Mike's tossing, I remember that I also tried my best to be "normal." I had my first sex at 20, with my close many-years friend, because it was too scary for me. And at the same time I suffered very deeply inside and thought that I was going crazy. Of course, Mike begins to lie to himself and believe his lies in order to stay sane. He really believes what he says at the end of Season 4. But his monologue is the bizarre mixture of lies and half-truths that he is now capable of.

I sincerely believe that Mike loves El. However, he is completely honest when he says that he "cares about her", calls her a "superhero" and cannot say "I love you" when El expects these words from him as her boyfriend. He loves her, but not in the way that El loves him -- not in a romantic way. Mike's monologue at the end of Season 4 is kind of a compromise. He reconciled his two opposing sides inside and brought them to what we have in the final. But while it's true that he might like guys too, he's not ready to dive just yet.

And at the same time, I really like the way El reacts to all of this. I want to ask the Mileven fans why, after the long-awaited “I love you”, El barely talks to Mike and feels lonely? She had been waiting for these words for so long, heard them -- but is she unhappy? Doesn't this seem strange? I would love to hear an explanation of this situation, because if it's not that El sensed the lie in Mike's words (and that he was lying to himself first of all), then I don't understand what is happening. I think El is amazing and she deserves the truth. And a relationship with a guy who is confused in himself is not what she deserves.

I'm truly sorry for Mike. I understand his conflict, I understand his suffering. He really is terribly confused. And I love how the Duffer brothers showed us that from the very beginning of the series. While everyone was wondering if Will was gay (although in the very first developments for the series, the phrase "has difficulties with sexual identity" was literally on the second line of Will's description, that is, it is a key to his personality), they dragged through the growing up Mike's internal conflict, giving us such microscopic clues that it was very easy to miss.

The theme of growing up, changes in oneself and in the world, self-determination, presented by the Duffer brothers in Stranger Things is really brilliant. We are used to the fact that there are shows for children and there are shows for teenagers, and these are completely different age categories and they raise completely different topics. And because of this, the very transition between these categories seems to turn into a perennial abyss. Although in fact the border is very thin, and it is this border that is the most conflicting of the moments of life. We are used to the fact that 15-16 year old teenagers are played by 20+ year old actors, this does not seem strange. And I don’t know how about you, but I still have very strange feelings from the fact that in Season 1 we see 11-13 year old actors who play 12-year-old characters with their childish games, and in 4 season they are already 18-20 years old, their characters have become full-fledged teenagers of 15-16 years old, and they really grew up. But, unlike other shows where we get to know teenage characters already at their 15-16, here we grew up with them. We live together with these complex conflicts of adolescence. And yes, that's why we often feel uncomfortable about it. We want certainty, we want to see that the characters have clear answers to everything, but come on guys! Let's be honest with each other.

[true-blue-sonic]

any random espilver thoughts you could offer to someone struck with empty brain? could be angst or fluff, i'm not picky /lh 🫣

I can think some up! Let's see here ^-^

I wonder if Silver would be surprised by how noisy it is in the Chaotix's household. After all, if he's been mostly on his own before, I figure he'll be quite surprised by the liveliness of the Agency! But what especially intrigues him is the fact that Espio very much prefers his own peace and quiet amidst the chaos, and has trained himself very well to embrace it despite Vector and Charmy being around. I figure Silver might just go sit with him and meditate/relax for some time if things become too annoying around him.

Espio strikes me as the kind of person who knows a lot about foraging: he apparently likes camping and he also seems to like educational things, so I figure he might have read up on what plants are edible and such in the wild. I can imagine him and Silver leaving one early morning to go to the forest and find berries and such <3 And if Silver learns some cooking from Amy, they can make them into tasty jams and jellies.

I don't believe this is really possible with Silver's powers in the games, because we've never seen anything like it and the closest we've gotten is his Psychic Knife that isn't so much a knife at all, but it'd be very impressive if he could form shuriken and kunai with his powers. It'd be a concentrated little energy attack that doesn't cover as much ground as his Psychic Knife, but I figure it'll be able to pierce deeper! And Espio is very flattered Silver is trying to incorporate his ninja fighting style into his psychokinesis. Similarly, I think it'd be funny if Silver just.... hurled Espio at an enemy on occasion, haha. They're in perfect sync!

I also wrote a bit of a fic today at uni when I was actually supposed to be transcribing interviews, but you know, fuck that and all, so you can find that under the cut. I hope you like it! ^-^

~~~~~

“You can see the stars so well here,” Silver muses, contently sprawled out over the blanket. “Did you know they look a bit different in the future?”

“Oh?”

“Not by a lot. But whenever I study them, they aren’t exactly in the same place anymore. Just barely!”

“Which sky do you prefer?” Espio smiles back.

“This one, of course. Because you’re here to watch it with me, Espio.”

Laughing softly the chameleon shakes his head; an answer as expected from his dear beloved. “Then we had best make the most of this night,” he agrees. Tomorrow their trip will be over and they’ll go back home, to their city where the light pollution unfortunately makes it difficult to see the sky in all its glory. But here, in this field of rustling greenery and no civilisation for miles and miles, they are perfectly miniscule and at one with the beauty above them.

“I’m going to find all the constellations,” Silver notes back, one finger tracing the air as if he can draw lines on the dark blue scenery amidst the pinpricks of light. Perhaps in his mind he is, his lips forming words Espio knows even though he says nothing out loud, and the sight is…

Ethereal.

Elysian.

Utterly, completely captivating.

Which isn’t so strange, because to Espio everything Silver is and does is captivating, yet he finds it impossible to tear his eyes away from the other this night. Silver’s fur glows like the two moons above them, the cyan circles on his gloves the only source of light around except for the stars. And every single movement gets drunken up by Espio’s eyes, how he gestures his one hand ever so tenderly as if his finger is the paintbrush and the heavens his canvas, how he lays so unguarded and open on their shared blanket, other arm tucked behind his head and honey-golden eyes merely blinking up to the stars before his lips twitch and form into a smile.

“You’re staring, Es.”

“…Ah.” Jolting awake from his musings the chameleon flicks his tail. “Mayhaps, love.”

“Don’t ‘mayhaps’ me, I can feel it.”

With an amused laugh of his own Espio reaches over, his fingers brushing over the hedgehog’s twitching little nose. “Your powers and their perceptive nature.”

“Hmhm,” his beloved huffs back, a pink tongue peevedly battering at Espio’s finger tormenting his poor snoot. “Why are you? Isn’t the sky much too lovely to not look at it?”

“I just so happen to be around a being that makes it far too easy to get distracted with marvelling at him,” Espio notes, scooting himself a bit closer and smiling as Silver curls into him as by instinct.

“Flatterer.” But Silver’s face tucks itself underneath Espio’s chin so perfectly, a content little sigh breathed out against his chest.

~~~~~

[yesloulou]

If Daniel knows something and is so vocal about it, why would Helmut Marko say he is not close to Checo and Max yet? Like its the opposite reaction to what Horner and Daniel are saying. And from what I read Helmut actually likes Daniel and said they remained in contact the last few years and by his interviews he isnt quit fond of Checo most times, so why say the opposite to Christian about Daniels sim time?

ok interesting point!! i'm gonna say although helmut and christian seem to disagree with each other they don't necessarily contradict. here's why

reason #1: according to the On The Race Australian GP Review Podcast even within Redbull there "seems to be some disagreement as to who’s faster out of DR and Perez between different people/camps". so it's not out of ordinary at all that helmut and christian have disagreements on this subject too. but the fact that there had even been this kind of disagreements in the first place shows that daniel's pace can't have been far off checo's, if not matching. which brings me to my

reason #2: while helmut was talking about the numbers on paper, christian may be talking about trajectory. think about this. daniel has been out of a redbull for FOUR years. and while other drivers (checo) have been training non stop and watching their diet and alcohol intake meticulously etc, daniel has been like, having ALL kinds of fun around the world like the young rich eligible good looking 33 yo that he is. off the top of my head he has been doing talk shows and going to the met gala in ny. clubbing with scotty in vegas for like a week straight. filming with redbull's crew in LA. running around with scotty in uk and australia. attending the wedding in venice. going to race tracks somewhere in the us southwest. so on so forth. and again this is FOUR years after he was last in a red bull. imagine daniel turned up in milton keynes after a wild week with scotty in vegas and then immediately matched checo's pace in the sim. like. that's not realistic? what's realistic is that even if his sim times aren't completely matching checo's right now, he's been on such a positive trajectory that apparently 1. christian is saying "daniel is 10 minutes away from being race ready" 2. daniel wants to come back to this sport 3. it is apparently possible that daniel may be able to race for red bull next year that he's keeping this convo going in the interviews.

to sum up!!! even within rbr ppl from diff camps are having disagreements on who's faster between dr and sp, and even if daniel's sim pace isn't matching checo's (which it might still be bc we all know helmut marko isn't always the best source of info), his sim performances must've been on a strong trajectory

[the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see]

you called me a friend and that has given me the courage to step out of the anon mask lol

YEAH EXACTLY. HE SPENT THE whole day looking for his daughter and then reliving painful memories! i felt so bad for him

cheers to living life as hopeless romantics lol

I KNOW RIGHT, (studying psychiatry just for them if we lived in that universe)

JERSEY. im not kidding, i spent like a week being emotional over the jersey ending, my parents were genuinely concerned 😭

nani has a Father Face!! yes!! and i've spent an embarrassing amount of time watching his interviews, and he's SO GOOD WITH KIDS. it's so cute honestly

yay for intellectual conversations via tumblr asks!! i've been overanalysing this movie almost constantly in my head for the past 4 days so this was really fun, ily <3

fun fact: i wanted to know when you replied to my ask, so i kept having to open your account, right? so after a point i just typed "gay" onto my searchbar to find your account lol

another fun fact, i was scrolling through your desiposting tag bc it was fun and saw "saturday night fever" and. i haven't heard this song in years, okay, i didn't even remember that such a song existed in that movie. but it still instantly played in my head with A Tune, and i googled the song to see if i remembered the tune somehow or if i was just making stuff up, AND IT WAS THE RIGHT TUNE. sure brain. remember all random tunes but not the shit i study for exams.

fellow pjo fan!! hi!! and i love your opinions on taylor swift!! FRIEND!!!!!

i apologise for the oversharing but i have very recently found telugu people on tumblr and i'm Very Excited, if you need me to back off, pls lmk and i will!

welcome to the other side............................!

2. I KNOWWWWWWW they really put nani in The Most situations ever give the man a break !! they need to put every character in counseling immediately after the cameras stop rolling

3. 🥂🥂 its tough but its real

5. NO WAYYY that is so funny but also <33333

6. HE ISSSSSSS when he did krishna gaadi veera prema gaadha and played with the kids all the time...................... where can i find a man like him fr

7. awhh i love you too<33 i always love talking about movies its so so fun

8. LMAOOOOOO honestly this is the end goal and vision. my moniker is gay as it should be and the universe is right

9. RIGHT its such a sleeper agent song i never remember it Until I Do. but yeah at that point i didnt know when i could go back to india and i remembered we would sing it while running and it made me Emotionanal. but i got to go back which was nice!! different problems but it still feels good to go home

10. omg!!!!!!!!!!! we are holding hands and skipping in a circle............ FRIEND!!!

11. no youre COMPLETELY fine i do the exact same thing<333 you dont need to back off at all, its incredibly fun to talk to you !!!

[dontlikeadam]

My Personal First Take On The Songs

If you want to know what runs thru my head on the first day of an album release, here you go. Don't hold it against me please.

A little hard on Matty at times, but the man is very flawed. Still love him, but seems he needs to continue to work on himself.

I only included things that I noticed that are not included in the few main people article.

This is also just some of me working things out in my head. Take it with a grain of salt. I work thru about 100 different interpretations of her songs before I settle on an interpretation.

Track 1: Fortnight

Nothing overly specific or notable. Potential connection to Matty showing up in NYC with Gabbriette in her backyard right after their break up.

Could also just be referencing the fact that he now lives mostly in the US it appears. Between LA and NYC most likely.

"I love you, but its ruining my life" could have also been something Matty said to her

Track 2: The Tortured Poets Dept

Honestly "Like a Tattooed Golden Retriever" is one of my favorite goofy lyrics on this album.

Context for non swifties: Her putting actual peoples names in a song is insanely rare. I can only recall a handful of times and its been years and years ago. Mentioning Lucy and Jack specifically is insane.

Track 3: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

"But you should have seen him when he first got me" All I can think of is Matty at most of the shows from his birthday 2023 till when they went public in Nashville. He was beaming almost every single night on stage. It was so fun to see.

Track 4: Down Bad

"Did you really beam me up. In a cloud of spring dust" Just to do experiments on me?" I am getting a mix of Matty's lab and kind of the Cava interview. Taylor maybe wondering if he she was just an experiment to him.

"I'll build you a fort on some planet. Where they can all understand it. How dare you think it's romantic, leaving me safe and stranded". Reference to Matty's fort. Taylor saying she could figure out a way where they could have their love and his fort and she could make people understand. Him instead leaving her stranded to "save her".

Track 5: So Long, London

Truly a song for London referencing mostly Joe. After multiple English boyfriends that never worked, she is done with the city.

Track 6: But Daddy I Love Him

"They slammed the door on my whole world. The one thing I wanted" She was finally happy and professed that before playing Question?. She was the happiest she had ever been and everything made sense and she made it known. But instead of being happy for her, they slammed the door in her face and ruined it.

"I'm having his baby, No I'm not, but you should see your faces" A very funny line, thats a little unusual for her. Trying to make a funnier album then BFIAFL?

"We came back when the heat died down. Went to my parents and they came around".

Referring to when they tried to date in 2014/2015? And then coming back around in 2023?

Or referencing when we assume they broke up in early July- then the rumors they were still trying to work something out after that.

Track 7: Fresh Out the Slammer

Confirmation that Matty and T were something prior to her and Joe being completely finished.

"Splintered back in winter, silent dinners, bitter". Winter of 2022?

"Camera Flashes, Welcome Bashes. Get the matches, toss the ashes off the ledge" - She was ready to go public and knew it would get negative attention. She was fine with burning it all down. Also a reference to the Lover House being burnt down during the Era's tour.

"Starting Line" reference

Track 8: Florida

Florida was the first Eras tour she did after her breakup with Joe was announced.

"And my friends all smell like weed or little babies" Such a good lyric. Typical late 20s, early 30s.

Track 9: Guilty as Sin

Backing track is almost identical to About You

"Downtown Lights" reference. Sent to her while she was still with Joe and "bored and caged". Around Jan/February 2023?

"I keep these longings locked, in lowercase inside a lock" - clue of some sort?

Track 10: Who's Afraid of Little Ole Me

To the press and the fans?

Track 11: I Can Fix Him

"They shake their heads saying god help her when I tell them he's my man" - funny line

Texas - Roadkill?

"His hands so calloused from his pistol, softly traces hearts on my face" Reference to his callouses from playing the guitar and his pistol being his songs?

Track 12: loml

Chicago secret song and her crying during "did I dodge a bullet or just lose the love of my life"

"Mr. Steal Your Girl" besides the pop culture reference, Matty's MO lately has been winning over taken women.

"You shit talked me under the table" ???? Who would this have been to?

*** addendum: he talked more shit then her. Like he could drink her under the table.... he shit talked her under the table*** THANK YOU

"I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all" - A reference back to Me and You Together Song and About You

Track 13: I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

Chicago shows and beyond.

" I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday". Another funny line.

"I keep finding his things in drawers. Crucial evidence, I didn't imagine the whole thing" The Damn Beatles Shirt

"As the crowd was chanting More!" - as the crowd cheers for an overdose?

"Im so obsesses with him, but he avoids me like the plague" - The damn Beatles shirt.....

I do wonder if this is some sort of a slight to Matty for the fact that he does tend to be more emotional on stage, but especially after their breakup.....

Track 14: The Smallest Man

The sigh........

"They just ghosted you, now you know what it feels like" Oh Matty.....

When not in public with her he was stoned. Once he had her, he wasn't interested.

"Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In fifty years will all this be declassified?" Taylors confusion about if it was real or just a "bit". Flashback to Radio 1 and Matty confidently mentioning the possibility of it being a "bit". In his lab coat. Referencing back to her wondering if it was all an experiment.

"You'll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars" Matty's MO of finding random girls to date.

"You crashed my party and your rental car" Reference to him crashing his rental car in LA after returning from Malaysia. No idea why I find it so funny that she knew about this.

Is she referring to him crashing an actual party? Or just crashing her party of them getting a happy ever after?

"You said normal girls were boring, but you were gone by morning" Referencing that girls like Meredith, Ana and Charlotte were boring?

"You kicked out the stage lights, but you're still performing" - reference to the fact that no one can tell when he is performing or when he is being real. He's not on stage, but he's performing.

Track 15: The Alchemy

"The hospital was a drag" - The perceived psych hospital she was in after Matty?

"I haven't been around in so long, but I am making a comeback to where I below" Referencing dating an American again?

"He said its Heroin, but this time with an "e"" A wordplay used in multiple songs by emo/punk bands. ie: Boys Like Girls. Silverstein.

Track 16: Clara Bow:

Song mostly about Travis but layered with Matty/ 75 items

"Breath of fresh air thru the smoke rings" Travis verse Matty

"Stevie Nicks/ 75" "Half moonshine, a full eclipse" Reference back to Question? and "Half moon eyes/ big surprise"

"Beauty and the Beast"

"You look like Taylor Swift" "You've got edge she never did. The futures bright. Dazzling" Back to "The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now, because she's dead" and lead into Rep. Reference back to Bejeweled and "The Band"

The Black Dog:

The Black Dog - Bar in London

"When someone plays the Starting Line and you jump old. But she's too young to know this song, that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming." "Old habits die screaming" Matty returned to dating girls decently younger than him, who wouldn't know his references. Reminded of him mentioning how hard it finds it to relate to Gen Z anymore.

More references to him "acting" in real life.

"And remember, how my rain-soaked body was shaking" Most likely Referencing after the Nashville rain show or the Gillette rain show.

"Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?" Back to radio 1 and Matty saying is it real or is it all a bit?

"Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes" Burning down the lover house? New part or Era's tour? New outfits?

The other obvious connections of Matty having Mayhem.... A Black dog....

imgonnagetyouback: --- all lowercase

I am going to get you back, and I am going to get you back for hurting me double meaning

Into is almost identical to Looking for Somebody to Love

Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus:

"Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness, Named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus and I just watched it happen". The fact Matty was out with all sorts of other people and she just watched

"And you saw my bones out with somebody new, who seemed like they would've bullied you in school and you just watched it happen" - The fact she was with Travis and he didn't do anything or say anything.

"I changed into goddesses, villains and fools. Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules all to outrun my desertion of you. And you just watched it" - Taylor re-arranged her life for him. Broke all her own "rules" for him and he let her (all to ghost her in the end)

"If you want to tear my world apart, just say you've always wondered". When Matty and her re-connected he must have said he always wondered what they could be if they tried again, or something along those lines. Then he tore her world apart.

"And if you have some kids with an internet starlet, will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon" A throwback to Maroon being about Matty. A song she play over and over as her "secret song" for Era's.

"Will I always wonder" Because he ghosted and she never got closure.

Peter:

Throwback to Cardigan and the line "Peter losing Wendy"

"Lost to the Lost Boys chapter of your life. Forgive me, Peter, please know that I tried". He never did grow up. She was tired of waiting.

[forevercloudnine]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you some recs for Superman, just general reading and watching list if possible, I absolutely know about nothing of the character outside of some Mr. Mxyzptlk conflicts and some homoerotic stuff with Lex Luthor. Also I would be the most grateful if you could list some DC stuff with Clex(Superman x Lex Luthor)

💗💗💗 Sure! Here are a handful of my faves:

Legion of Super-Heroes (2006): Animated adaptation of a common plotpoint in Superman media, which is that a 31st century alliance of alien superheroes decide to take advantage of the invention of time travel and hang out with their favorite historical celebrity (guess who). If you were to watch one episode as a taste-test, I'd recommend S1:E3, "Legacy," where Alexis Luthor falls into the family habit of becoming obsessed with Superman. Lex also appears in-person during issue #13 of the tie-in comic, The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century (short run, loooong title).

All-Star Superman: Maybe the most iconic Superman comic. An alternate universe story where Superman discovers he's dying and has to figure out what he wants to do with his limited remaining time. Deceptively heartwarming and a huge love letter to the Superman mythos. If you were to read one issue as a taste-test, I'd recommend #5, where reporter Clark Kent interviews death row inmate Lex Luthor. There’s also a pretty decent animated movie adaptation.

Superman Red & Blue: One of DC’s many attempts to cash in on the iconic and unexpected success of Batman Black & White, but this cash grab has been nominated for like three Eisner awards, which is pretty decent. Each issue is an anthology of short stories-- my favorite, “For The Man Who Has Nothing,” is in #4 (which also happens to have a Mr. Mxyzptlk focused story, if that appeals to you).

If you’re interested in a story about Conner (the Superboy Lex made from his and Superman’s DNA) and his relationship with his “fathers,” I’d recommend “The Boy of Steel” in Adventure Comics #1-3, #5 (second half), and #6.

Also, Reign of the Supermen (2019) is a fairly popular animated movie condensing the comics where Lex created Conner in reaction to Superman’s death. Superman’s death itself was adapted in the imaginatively named The Death of Superman (2018). The pair were created as an endeavor to create a more comics-accurate adaptation to replace Superman: Doomsday (2007), which tried to cram everything into one movie and ended up just excluding Conner entirely. On the other hand, Superman: Doomsday has a scene where Lex gets shirtless and beats up a clone he made from Superman’s corpse while screaming “WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?” before climbing on top of its unconscious body and calling himself its daddy. So sometimes comic accuracy isn’t everything.

“Superman: Brainiac”: Action Comics #866-870. Maybe this should have been my first recommendation, since it’s a pretty good baseline for the typical Superman status quo, plus an explanation of the destruction of Krypton and one of the most prominent Superman baddies (the titular Brainiac, who pops up in a lot of these stories). But also the only reason I REALLY like this story is because of a few scenes centered around the difference between Clark being an orphan who never got to experience his birth culture, and his cousin Kara being an orphan who witnessed their birth culture being exterminated. There’s a scene where Clark says “Kara made me realize I know a lot of facts about Krypton, but I still don’t know what I’m missing,” which always makes me sad. He’s memorized everything he can about his birth culture, but that will never recreate Kara’s experience of actually living in it-- which is emotionally complicated because obviously he had a great childhood and never had to experience his home being destroyed, but also he’s completely disconnected from his heritage and never even got to meet the loved ones that Kara is mourning.

New 52/Rebirth: I mostly read Superman comics for Lex, and I stand by my belief that the most fun portrayal of Lex is his doomed attempt at a redemption arc and the subsequent cosmic fallout in the current continuity. I’m going to reduce it to like three flagship stories-- if you enjoy them and want to read more of the context surrounding them I can give you a more detailed reading list, but I think these get the point across.

REDEMPTION ARC, KIND OF: Action Comics feat. Lex Luthor #23.3 and Forever Evil #1-7. Superman and the Justice League disappear after being defeated by their evil mirrorverse counterparts, leaving it up to Lex to save the world. After he does, he realizes he enjoys playing the hero and attempts to become one full-time by joining the Justice League. Justice League (2011) #30-50 are just Lex being rejected, blackmailing his way in, and getting rejected again for twenty issues or so.

BREAKUP ARC: After a long series of shenanigans, Lex has started wearing the Superman symbol on his chest and Superman has been reluctantly working with him in Metropolis. But all the rejection eventually comes to a head in “Imperius Lex,” Superman (2016) #33-36, when Superman’s continued inability to trust Lex causes Lex to get frustrated and breaks off their alliance, giving up on the idea that Superman will ever accept him as a hero.

COSMIC MELTDOWN: Okay so the shenanigans surrounding this plot are complicated, but to make a long story short, Lex finds the secrets of the universe while trying to cheer himself up by destroying his abusive father’s favorite bar in Justice League (2018) #2. By Lex Luthor: Year of the Villain #1 this knowledge has led him into becoming a higher being, but he’s still an insecure mess so he just uses his new abilities to travel between dimensions and screw over other versions of himself that seem happier than him (including a Lex who seems to have successfully married his Superman??? I’m not joking). Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #1-4 is the story of how Lex ended up rejecting the new source of his power, but honestly you could just read #3, which is an interesting interaction between Lex and Joker where Joker gives Lex a very narratively-aware dressing down.

Obviously this is a narrow selection of Superman media, but I think it covers a lot of bases? This isn’t official content, but I’d also recommend Ookla The Monk’s song “Suprema Lex” (which is on Spotify, though I personally found it through this Clex edit on Youtube).

[guardian5tiger3]

Basically I just made a post explaining how I remembered my past life I explained it to where its hard to deny but I'll re establish the facts

1 I was guided to look into the band Korn, saw an interview , had a moment that hit me where I was thought without thinking this is me ! And remembered seeing the interview on TV when I was alive

2 I'll get it out of the way that the band was cloned in 97' , Brian was cloned in '96 at some point. Do research and you'll see exactly what I mean. Also check out my YouTube posted somewhere below this . They cloned a living healthy sheep in the 70's . Of course anyone who publicly goes against the agenda is going to be offed but it would be too suspicious I'm sure if every person that did that either died suddenly or appears to go insane.

3 I know Brian in this life once I saw a video of him alive as if I just saw a video of my friend I said hey that's this person! We've been friends since I was 14 . They look the exact same and act the exact same that is unique to just them. Though there are some differences so I didn't initially recognize it in photos.

4 if you pay attention in videos it's obvious we were being attacked and we knew we were probably all going down.

5 if you pay attention to life is peachy and all the lyrics it also adds up

6 the song blind shoots and ladders and mr Rogers have a deeper meaning -

More important than anything is my message then, and still , now . which is that children are being systematically abused. We are in an apocalypse of pedophilia and sadism against children and it's known in this massive cult like situation that children are easily manipulated and forget trauma very easily. Almost everyone is unknowingly or maybe knowingly a victim of severe trauma that in turn controls you mentally . Ive been on this for years now in this life. I also have been very interested in underground nu metal for years . Do not be scared but I also have videos on YouTube for victims and one that can assist you in determining the likelihood of yourself having been or being a victim. If you don't feel completely right about life, suffer from mental illness, have a family you haven't been content with, etc , that is not normal and is a sign.

And I'm not one to just believe anything , I tested this over and over again as a skeptic until the universe made it clear and I have proven myself right a million times over doing research that my memories are accurate and real . And it only adds up and I haven't been able to substantially disprove this.

I want justice for all the people cloned and also then humiliated and their reputations ruined. Do you really think if you know what we were really like that we'd end up looking how we looked and acting how we did shortly after? This is all on my YouTube what I'm talking about so look and see for yourself.

My community tab in YouTube I say alot about stuff like this but we all know that the system is wrong everyone should have food and water and shelter no child or animal should be being abused in 2024 and wouldn't be if our communities were strong enough we could all end all of the unnecessary stuff going on if we figured this out and I think it takes people realizing the severity of this all and remembering and healing their trauma in order to stop dissociating from reality and to come together in the name of love and everything that is right.

[kyogre-blue]

CF, let's go!

Immediately more amusing than SS by virtue of the fact that I care about the enemy units. Yes, Rhea looks so cool, Flayn is so cool, Catherine yeeeeeah. Very nice, I'm very happy.

Jokes aside, CF is looking very interesting from the perspective of speculating about 3H's production process.

From what I recall of the interviews, it seems they added CF comparatively late, due to simping reasons. That's interesting in itself, because Edelgard was given a lot of focus in development, given stuff like the early drafts of her also being able to Divine Pulse. But I guess it was only later in that they realized that, yeah, giving her a route would be cool and probably the most unique thing they could do.

Anyway, given its weird development, CF has a lot of strangeness about it. It's the shortest route by a good margin (VW and AM have 10 chapter each, SS has 9 due to Gronder being cut, but CF has only 6). There is only one actually unique map, I believe (Tailtean), but the chapters are reshuffled in completely different order from VW-SS-AM having basically the exact same progression. At the same time, is a very obvious lack of pre-rendered cutscenes and even in-engine scenes to some extent.

So the impression I get is that it was added late, so they couldn't produce certain assets like cutscenes or more than six chapters, but at the same time, they had a lot more passion for it, since they created a unique progression and honestly Edelgard has been emoting more in one scene than the entire Academy phase.

My dudes.... perhaps you should have started from the villain route and just gone full in, instead of the limp-wristed SS stuff, which supposedly was written first out of everything.

Live blogging notes:

I like how Edelgard is in her school uniform during the pre-battle scene in the Holy Tomb, but is then in the Flame Emperor outfit post-battle. Girl took the time to change, I see. It's not really a huge deal, but it's so lacking in attention to detail, sigh.

Man, furious antagonist Rhea is so cool. Very nice.

The Immaculate One is just a still here, where it was always a cinematic in the other routes.

"The monsters that have controlled Fodlan in secret for far too long" Edelgard again attributing things the Agarthans have done to the Nabateans.

We book it. Only respect for Rhea.

Hum... all the BE students escape with us to one of the Imperial army's provisional camps. Except Flayn, obviously. The students give a mix of reasons why they're siding with Edelgard, and they're fine. Kinda mild, but whatever. The music really gets me. Cute bubbly track while everyone is like "well, I wasn't thinking and just ran" or "I have political reasons" and then it switches to Edelgard's imperial march theme, and man. It's really something.

Yeah, Edelgard's anti-Church pitch is kinda... lol. Given that her own henchmen was like "steal all the bones! desecrate those graves! kill everyone!"

"[The Church's] control over the lords of the Kingdom and the Alliance is nearly absolute" L M A O

This is hilarious. Admittedly already more fun than SS.

Edelgard admits to being well aware of how much chaos and destruction she is bringing about based on just her own will. She knows she is the cause of countless deaths. But she still says she wants to bring down the church.

Except, of course, the Church hasn't done anything to her lol Edelgard's manifesto will expose "the foul practices of the nobles from the Kingdom and Alliance" like what tho

Byleth is going to lead a special "Black Eagle Strike Force"

oh ho.... we're exploring a non-monastery area! very nice

Quickly noting: We skip the entire last month of Academy Phase, going from 2/29 for the Holy Tomb directly to 3/30 for the pre-assault camp.

Edelgard B: takes place in her monastery bedroom, which is funny at this juncture. She talks about how she'd like a day to just idle away and eat sweets, and also how without Byleth she would have become a harsh leader with a heart of ice (ok, sure) and how everyone else always treated her as an untouchable princess or emperor, didn't look her in the eye, etc. Ferdinand does not exist, I guess. It's very staple as a concept, but the details aren't really in place for this. At best, you can say this hinges more on her own perceptions -- she never respected anyone else until Byleth enough to let them approach her as anything except pawns and vassals. Self-imposed trials and all that.

Roundup of the kids: Ingrid wants to try to persuade her father to join Edelgard but thinks he probably won't, Caspar's father is leading the "western units" and he'd have had to fight him if he stayed at the monastery, Linhardt calls out that the biggest nobles in the empire stripped Edie's dad of his powers but are now supporting her to smoothly take the throne (weird!), Ferdie acknowledges that his father is greedy and arrogant but feels that he did a lot of work for the empire only to now be disgraced (stripped of his rank and under house arrest), Bernie has less thoughts in her head than Caspar, Felix has like two lines lol, Leonie is just directly with Byleth and no one else, Ashe emphasizes that he can't trust the Church after Lonato and Christophe, Sylvain is kind of mess, thinking of his father, Dimitri, how he might die in the fighting, etc.

Hubert says it's not up to Edelgard to bring the students to our cause, which is... kinda wild. Why is it not up to her. Based on the rest of the dialogue, he means the recruited students from other houses, but uuuh given 3H quality, I expect he says this even if you haven't recruited, and also the phrasing is very vague to begin with.

Garreg Mach has never been attacked, so no one really knows how well it can stand against assault. Edelgard is confident in our power "from a mathematical standpoint."

Ladislava leads Edelgard's personal guard. There's also Randolph von Bergliez. His mother married into Caspar's family but this was after his birth. Unclear if this means he's from a previous relationship of hers, or if he wasn't legitimized despite being from a Bergliez fling. That explains one random battle line I got from him when attacking as Caspar on SS.

There's a couple stray comments from NPCs about Rhea turning into a beast (which happened down in the Holy Tomb where only a few people were, so... curious an NPC knows) and about not entirely believing Edelgard but supporting her for now.

Overall battle plan for the assault: Edelgard (+Byleth) leads an elite force that strikes as close to the monastery as possible, planning to draw attention of the elite Knights and Rhea's ire. Meanwhile, the main forces that marched in from the capital will surround and "annihilate" the remaining areas.

Another still of the Immaculate One after the battle, no CG. The entire scene is just one still, headshots of models talking and some filter to show that "the castle" is "crumbling." And that's it, wow.

Without Rhea fighting Thales and trying to save Byleth, she's well enough to flee to Faerghus. Nice!

Dimitri is King <3

Claude "strategically stirs up conflict between Leicester lords in an effort to maintain neutrality" lmao

Sothis is cool with you even after the Edelgard simping shenanigans, I guess.

The Imperial Army is holding the monastery, which is different from the other routes.

Edelgard emotes?? At the reunion with Byleth. WOW

Another still, no cutscene.

Edelgard's dialogue here... has almost the exact same beats as Claude's which is a bit funny.

Recap again that Dimitri is King and supporting the Church, Claude is being neutral, though Edelgard makes it clear this is a negative. His leadership "has thrown the Alliance into chaos."

OK, so Edelgard directly says we're going to eliminate the Church, the Kingdom and the Allaince. We're out to get them all, and the first target is Claude because Riegan has been standing against the Empire. To secure a route for imperial troops into the Alliance, we'll take out the big bridge first. At the same time, we'll take out Judith and since her territory is on the border with the Kingdom, getting her out of the way will be useful too.

[anragaire]

So I saw the first two episodes of The Rings of Power last night and here are my thoughts and opinions (potentially lightly spoilery depending on how many trailers/interviews/reviews you've watched/read). I'll add more as I think about it throughout the day/ watch it a million more times tomorrow.

Overall it is jaw-dropping in its achievement

The visuals are truly a remarkable feat - from the word go they stun you with their beauty and epic quality.

The sets, the costumes, the VFX - just *chef's kiss*

Gods bless Bear McCreary. The music brings SO much to the show.

Due to the fact they don't have the rights to the Silmarillion, they have to skirt around some First Age lore (they don't necessarily change it overtly, but more brush over a lot of stepping stones they simply can't access due to rights issues). I think, given their circumstances, they summarise the Silmarillion events really well. There were one or two other lore moments where I was like huh? but to be honest, they're so minor in comparison to everything else and they narratively worked.

Morfyyd and Robert somehow manage to both make Galadriel and Elrond their own whilst from the get-go making it clear that these characters are deeply linked to the ones we will see in The Lord of the Rings. (I particularly loved Robert's adoption of a lot of Hugo Weaving's mannerisms). They are truly wonderful, as are the rest of the cast. There was such overt glee in my audience as well for the dwarves. Disa and Durin IV are nothing short of spectacular. It is a crime that we have not had female dwarves onscreen before.

Being Irish, I was incredibly skeptical about the harfoots being these travelling pseudo-Irish folk. Nevertheless, they completely won me over. They're both different enough from the hobbits that they don't feel like a copy and paste job, but you can see some of the hobbit mannerisms there. Nori and her family are a delight. I would protect Nori with my life. Sir Lenny Henry is brilliant.

I was so confident as to who I thought the Stranger was, now I'm back to the drawing board with multiple theories.

They've already said this in a number of interviews, but I LOVE that they lean into the arrogance of the elves. The politics between all the various races is super interesting on screen.

There's one scene with Elrond in particular that just shows that the writers are invested in the lore and ethics of Tolkien's work.

The design of the orcs is so cool - I love how you can tell they began as corrupted and tortured elves from looking at them alone.

Still not entirely here for the 80s haircuts on the elves, and some of the background ones sometimes border on the hair options for Dragon Age 3 *shivers* but some do work to be fair. The real glory is Gil-Galad's luscious locks.

Finrod. My love. My life. That's all.

I love how they're setting up the Southlands.

I can understand why some of the reviewers were wondering about the plot, but if you know your lore, you can see the mechanisms falling into place pretty quickly. These two episodes are doing a lot of set-up which I'm fine with. There are a lot of characters and I want to care about them all so I'm glad we're getting to know them. The second episode moved with a lot more gusto.

The things in the trees - I won't say anymore, but we need to discuss them.

[bikwin5]

pikmin 4 thouts

i haven't actually posted that much about pikmin 4 now that i think about it but i finished it a while ago. as close to 100% as i think it can be. i don't have the drive to make a complete review so i just wrote down a list of things i liked and didn't like. there are no huge spoilers in this until the very end

THINGS I LIKED -adding a marketable dog is usually a sign of getting desperate. the simpsons did a whole episode about it. even in the ask the devs interview they were like yeah we added a dog to create appeal. but despite all that i ended up warming up to oatchi not just as a character but his gameplay as well. letting him swim, carry, attack, and act as a second leader all works very natural in pikmin's world and he basically acts like a very big and powerful pikmin. it takes a bit of getting used to learning the new mechanics but i think it was a good idea overall. still kind of wish they went with the playable bulborb idea instead. -the biodiversity is kind of ridiculous in this one. pikmin 4 has 100+ different creatures and a piklopedia to interact with them all, making for endless hours of fun without even playing the game. in fact there are so many creatures it felt like some had a pikmin 3 problem where they weren't used enough even though this is a big ass game!! i also like the return of pikmin 2 styled bosses in contrast to 3's where most of them felt very scripted. -the selection of things to collect is no doubt the best in this one. i like that completing a set of treasures lets you look at everything at once. -i like the hub area. its nice to walk around a bit. -having 8 pikmin types is a bold move but they pulled it off pretty well. the 3 types limit on the surface actually works well. i like that each area has "recommended" types but allows you to swap out others regardless. it makes it so advanced players can do more tag barrel switching if they want to. -the level design feels a bit of a departure from past games with how expansive each area is but i do like it, it keeps things fresh. there's still a lot of depth to clearing out each area and cave efficiently. -it was at least harder than pikmin 3!!!! yippee!!!!!! -the gwafics are goregous in this one. pikmin is one of those series that only looks better with visual fidelity. -i like the equipment upgrading system. i enjoy how it allows certain equipment to be optional even after you already make it. this lets me get rid of the power whistle because i don't like it.

THINGS I DIDNT LIKE -my #1 complaint is the auto-lockon feature. i desperately wish i could turn it off. i think they intend you to have motion controls on for more precise aiming but i don't want that. i just want to aim with the stick. the lockon makes some things trivial and some unnecessarily frustrating. there's a FUN to be had in trying to get perfect aim with pikmin! it's a BALANCE!!!!!!!!! but maybe nintendo doesn't realize that… nintendo if you patch this game to give me an option to turn off auto lockon i'll be a good kid and buy your new mario. -pikmin 4 has the best pikmin AI in the series but there some small changes are so frustrating. in particular they REALLY hate the idea of using more than the minimum number of pikmin to carry something. they physically stop you from throwing for a bit and then pikmin that are already idle don't even bother. it's a small thing but it's persistent and it drives me insane. -balancing 8 types of pikmin is not easy. that being said i think pikmin 3's types in particular got shafted a bit. rock pikmin have a weird nerf where they can die from crushing but only on hard surfaces? i guess it's to prevent trivializing certain bosses. winged pikmin don't act much different but they feel like what blue pikmin were to 3 in that they barely get a chance to shine. it's fucked because all the earlier areas probably have winged pikmin paths programmed in that most people will never see… it breaks my heart just thinking about it -ALSO the white pikmin damage nerf was totally unneccessary. as a result all the poison themed enemies are so weak and oatchi can dispatch them easily with the poison upgrade so its like why are these guys still candypop bud exclusive -the controls might be almost TOO tight. particularly the oatchi bunchup is really OP when it comes to fights. i think this game throws a lot of tough situations at you but jumping on oatchi trivializes them a lot of the time. -enemies not respawning is really weird. particularly on the surface where they NEVER respawn. it kind of strips the organic feeling of pikmin away. -everyone says this but too much tutorial. please stop making the characters talk to me every time a pikmin dies on screen. i'd say it feels like nintendo is regressing to the skyward sword era but not quite, if they did then then there would be a cutscene every time you break down a wall.

looking back at this section i sure did CAPITALIZE a bunch of arbitrary words. i think shepherd was right when she said bernard's speaking style rubs off on you.

VERY MINOR NITPICKS -i wish my man hajime wakai was still doing the soundtrack cause you can tell he didnt. pikmin 4's soundtrack isn't bad it's still pretty "pikminlike" but i think you can tell its not the same as it was -for having a "dandori" theme pikmin 4 doesn't feel nearly as incentivized to be efficient as much as 3 or even 1. the fact that night expeditions take up full days bothers me and i can't help but wonder how much replays will be affected with how much stuff they crammed in the main game.

BIG SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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-i think olimar and louie got a lot of fun exposition but the new characters not so much. it feels like they got disregarded later in the story. -final boss was the easiest in the whole series. yes even more than hey! to me. i lost like maybe 5 pikmin total. i think what makes it so easy is that there is very little risk in engaging, you throw 2 purple pikmin on the tail and when it falls over you rush with oatchi and that's it. the one scary thing about it is the final phase where it can do the roar that scatters pikmin into death pits but i didn't get hit by it because i'm epic and awesome like that. even then having one difficult thing at the end of an otherwise easy final boss just feels kind of cheap. -i wish the lineup trumpet wasn't a secret late game upgrade because i would have liked to play the rest of the game with it.

[sucha-killjoy]

let me just establish that i am new to f1 (as many people since DTS are) and i am a fan of max and lewis. max gets shit done, hes an aggressive and fast driver and doesnt bullshit, dude is fucking blunt in interviews (i too speak my mind without caring about sugarcoating it), i love it. i mean seriously he came from P14 to P1 and P10 to P1, theres no denying hes talented. and i have a great amount of respect for sir lewis, hes an all round amazing driver and person. he stands up and speaks out for people, using his platform to try and make a difference in the world supporting BLM, pride and gender equality. the guy is a 7 time world champion ffs, hes an amazing driver.

but seeing all of these posts about how max doesnt deserve the 21WDC or this years, its upsetting. i do completely agree that the decision by the FIA in Abu Dhabi was utter bullshit, they fucked around with the race 100%. BUT that doesnt mean max was UNDERSERVING of the WDC. the fact that the championship was DECIDED by that race means they were both DESERVING of it, they worked and fought and clawed all season for the points to get them to that race and in the running for the win. so yes m, lewis deserved to win that race without the FIA fucking around, but in the end they did fuck around, max still had the skill and points to be up there in the running to take out the win.

and this years WDC? max 100% deserves the win hes dominated all season, they were counting the points he needed to win like 3 fucking races ago.

not really sure if i can accurately comment on the whole RB budget thing but the whole situation seems is weird on all fronts. christian denying it and all this “its the catering and sick pay” (which if thats true is fucking amazingly hilarious, the memes are already great), toto having insider info, just a weird situation all round.

anyway in summary, lewis is amazing and should have been 8x world champ, max is a beast and IS a 2x world champ and the FIA can fuck off (and get drivers off the track BEFORE YOU BRING OUT THE TRACTORS FFS)

also 2 weeks is too long to wait for the next race

if you read this far thanks for listening to my rant