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ask-the-phan-site · 3 years

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Phan Cam: The Unexpected Heist

>The Hub. After taking the heart of Sheriff Johnson and Oracle and Violet starting college, we finally have time to keep our promise to the Scorchers and Battle Force 5 to help them reopen the portal of Highway 35 and bring back the World Race.

>We were all gathered together waiting for Oracle’s fellow hackers to make contact.

Me and Sophia have made the necessary precautions just in case the Silencerz attempt to trace us if we are caught.

Good, Sage. We’ll need it.

I just hope the Silencerz don’t realize that the ones hacking them are the people they had to deal with in the past.

Don’t worry. Something tells me they never had to deal with a hacker like me before.

Really? What makes you any different?

Oracle: Ever heard of Medjed?

The hacktivist group? Yeah. Why do you ask?

Brace yourselves. I was the founder.

Scorchers and Battle Force 5: (in shock) WHAT!!!?

You’re Medjed? I can’t believe it. I actually followed their work. Though, I thought how Medjed was doing these days seemed a bit odd. Now I know why. Other hackers were impersonating you. But now, I’m meeting the real Medjed!

Oracle: I was the real Medjed. That was a long time ago. I’m Alibaba now. But Oracle is good, too.

RING! RING!

Oracle: Speaking of Alibaba...

Incoming call from three unknown callers.

Oracle: Patch them in.

>Three holographic screens pop open.

Oracle: Hey you guys, long time no see!

Hey, Alibaba! Still rockin’ the headphones! I like that!

Still loud as ever, Yu-ichi.

Somethings never change, huh, Six?

Six: Yeah, nice to see you again, too, Lunch.

So you’re Fu- I mean, Alibaba’s fellow hackers.

Lunch: Yeah, nice to meetcha. You can just call me Lunch.

Six: I’m called Six.

Yu-ichi: And I’m Yu-ichi.

Six: Which is not much of a hacker name since it’s your real first name.

Yu-ichi: But it’s clever. No one would ever suspect that my hacker name is my real name.

Oracle: Okay, guys, stay with me.

Yu-ichi: Sorry. Hey, are the others coming, too? Spooky? Hitomi? And... what’s-his-name? (Gee, it’s been a long time, so I forgot his name.)

Lunch: They’ve been through enough already. Best to leave them out of this. So, why did you bring us back together?

Oracle: Nothing much. Just hacking into a secret organization’s databanks.

Yu-ichi: (laughing a bit) That’s all? That’s like the easiest thing there is. Give us a bigger challenge.

Six: (a little anxious) Get serious. We don’t even know anything about this secret organization.

Oracle: I’ll tell you about it.

RING! RING!

Oracle: Soon. Right now, our next hackers are calling in.

>Another screen opens.

Are we fashionably late?

I think that’s suppose to be my line.

Oracle: Nope. You four are right one time.

Alright! Let’s get this party started!

Hold on, comrade. I get there feeling there are more guests coming.

Indeed there are.

RING! RING!

Queen: That should be him.

>Another screen appears.

Here I am. Did I miss anything?

Queen: No, Forge san, you made it right on time.

Hold on! You’re Forge of the X-Men. Peter told me about you.

For real? Harry, Makoto, and Captain America told me about him, too.

Joker: And Adi told me.

Mixer: (in awe) Holy- It’s really Forge! Dude, I’m one of your biggest fans.

Joule: Come sono io.

Forge: Thanks. It good to meet a fan and a colleague. Un piacere di conoscerti. Y tú también.

Makoto, how do you know Forge?

Queen: Do you remember that Inhuman student from the school festival? The one who said her friend is a mutant? I looked into those students. The mutant student was visited by Dr. Hank McCoy. Forge san just happened to have come with him.

Forge: We wanted to talk to her before she and her friends left for Attilan. We wanted to make sure that she’ll be ready to go up us or her parents worrying about her getting M-Pox if she’s exposed to the Terrigen Mist. We also wanted to let her know that she’ll always have place with the X-Men.

Joker: That’s good to hear.

I thought you left the X-Men so you could do your own thing.

Forge: I still help them from time to time. Mostly with mutants who’ve just come into their powers.

Queen: I know what you mean. I had to go through Scott Summers and almost the rest of the X-Men to contact you.

Forge: And I still can’t believe you decided to ask me and had to go through all that just to do it.

It was either you or the other Forge. The one who still maintains his youthful appearance from being stuck in another dimension for many years.

Forge: Yes, I know who you’re talking about. I’ve met my Fellow Forge many times. A little rambunctious, but he’s a good person. I even asked him with help on some projects. Including this one I’ve been working on.

>Forge hold some kind of metallic helmet along with his phone which had an app open with the lets “c” and “p”.

Forge: I call it Cerebro Portable. Me and my Fellow Forge created it to help telepaths find mutants within a hundred mile radius. Especially ones who just got into their powers. But it’s not finished yet.

Yu-ichi: Really? How so?

Forge: We tried to design it based on the original concept for the original Cerebro. There’s just one problem.

Sophie: And what’s that?

Forge: There are only two people I know who know more about Cerebro than any and that would be the original creators. Professor Charles Xavier, but he won’t awaken from his coma for eight more years. The other is... Erik Lehnsherr.

Magneto.

Forge: That’s right. And I’m not about to go all the way to Genosha just to ask him to help me create something that he, himself, could use to find mutant to recruit into the Brotherhood or his mutant army. So it may be a while. Hopefully Professor Xavier will be awake by then. But for now, I’ll just settle with getting help from my Fellow Forges.

RING! RING!

Forge: Speaking of which.

>Another screen opens.

Sorry for the wait. Just finishing up with Kurt and the others.

Forge san! It’s been too long.

Queen: Yes, it has.

Forge: I didn’t want to leave him out of it, so I invited him to help out, too.

Other Forge: I’m willing to do what I can.

Joule: I think we’re going to have some confusion here.

Six: Yeah, how do we address one of you?

Other Forge: Well, my Fellow Forge came here first, so I guess we can call him Forge 1. I’ll be fine with being called Forge 2.

Yeti: If that works, we’ll take it.

How did you two meet Forge 2?

Queen: (unsure) Well...

Noir: (smiling) I can tell you. It all started...

>Flashback.

>The streets of Shibuya in the summer before the pandemic. A fast car was driving up wildly. Queen and Noir were coming back from grocery shopping... and Noir was behind the wheel.

Haru, please be careful! These eggs are for a special meal Sis is making tonight.

It’ll be alright. I think I’ve had a lot of improvement.

>The car was zooming around while people try to back off. Suddenly, someone accidentally fell into the street.

LOOK OUT!!!

>The car was about to hit the young man on the street... But it didn’t. The car suddenly was floating in the air. Queen and Noir looked to see that the young man they nearly hit had some kind of device that was creating some kind of gravity field.

Wow! Good thing I came here to show my new anti-gravity generator for situations like this. Hope you girls have your reentry cushions checked.

>End of flashback.

Mona: (unsurprised) That makes sense.

Noir: We exchanged information and we’ve known each other since.

Forge 2: And your eggs were even safe.

Forge 1: And how did that anti-gravity generator work out?

Forge 2: They said they’ll thank about it.

Translation: You were rejected.

Forge 2: Yeah, I figured.

Noir: Why would they? It’s a great invention. It really helped us.

Forge 2: Good question. Either because their minds are too slow or small to handle how advanced my inventions are, or... Well, you know.

Vert: Because you’re a mutant. Now that’s just unfair.

Forge 2: Sounds like you know the feeling.

Vert: (a small smile) Let’s just say, I have secrets of my own.

>For a moment, a small light formed in Vert’s hand which quickly vanished just as I saw something move on his back behind his uniform... I wonder.

RING! RING!

Oracle: Sounds like another fellow hacker’s here.

>Another screen opens.

I’m here and ready for anything.

Joker: Glad you can join us, Player.

Wayne: Yeah, how are things back up there, eh? I haven’t been back in awhile.

Player: Well, things are still quiet because of the pandemic. Other than that, everything’s great.

Joker: And speaking of of how things are, how’s Red chan doing?

WARNING: Spoilers for Carmen Sandiego ahead.

Yeah, ever since V.I.L.E. went down in flames and Zack and Ivy joined A.C.M.E., she’s been pretty quite.

Player: She’s fine. She finally found her mom, but she hasn’t said anything else. But I’m sure we’ll learn more soon. For now, I’ll see what I can do. Thanks again for inviting me.

Oracle: We’re gonna need all the hackers we can get.

Yu-ichi: I know. Hackers are getting younger and younger these days.

Six: (whisper) And yet you ack like you’re getting younger and younger... Don’t change, man.

Player: (smiling) Hey, the Spookies. Nice to meet you. You’re actually one of the reasons I was inspired to become a hacker.

Lunch: Really. That’s good. Of course, our reason for hacking is probably much different than ours.

Player: Pretty much.

Wolf: (a bit surprised) Hold on! Spookies? I thought you three were familiar. I should have realized that when you said Spooky, real name Masahiro Sakura.

Queen: Now that you mentioned it, I think I remember my father talk about a case from another part of Japan. I didn’t think much of it at the time and completely forgot about it.

Yu-ichi: So you know about that? I wonder what he’s doing now. He disbanded our group after some stuff happened and he left to find himself.

Lunch: I’m sure we’ll see him again soon.

Six: Same here. I sort of miss him and the others.

RING! RING!

Sophie: We have another one.

>Another screen opens.

I just finished my start-of-term homework, now I’m all free.

Joker: So glad you could join us, Adi. I just hope the Future Avengers won’t be called away anytime soon.

Adi: No, things have been relatively slow lately, so I think we’re good. But just in case, Mr. Stark and Cap want us on stand by.

Skull: I’m sure it’s nothing you, Makoto, and the others can’t handle.

Adi: I’m sure, too.

Joker: Thanks for helping us, little-brother-may-become-son.

Adi: You’re welcome, big-brother-may-become-father.

>I can sense I made Adi happy inviting him here.

Rank Up!

Confidant: Codec

Arcana: 3

Ability: Technical Act Type 2

Delivers the same effect as Technical Act but to a much greater extent.

RING! RING!

>Another screen opens.

All set and ready to go!

*Chirp*

Oracle: Welcome to the party, Conor. You, too, Chim-Chim.

Mixer: Is that a robot monkey?

Conor: Yeah, I’m allergic to most furs, so I designed him.

Forge 2: Whoa! Robotic technology sure has changed since 1978.

Conor: What do you mean by that?

Forge 1: It’s a long story.

There are so many hackers here.

Joker: I know, it reminds me of that movie Oracle showed us.

Oracle: Yeah, Angelina san was a treasure in Hackers Jackers.

Yeah. So, is that everyone?

Forge 2: Not quite. I have a feeling... that we have a couple more to go.

RING! RING!

Mona: You bet.

>Another screen opens.

Have you guys been waiting long?

Oracle: Just a little.

Thanks for inviting us. We’ve hadn’t had much to do since what happened on Eternia. I guess now that most of the evil of the universe, particularly Lotor, has been defeated, business for the Voltron Force has been a bit slow.

Really? That’s a shame. I’m sure something will come up soon.

Pidge: Well, it’s not totally slow. We do get the occasional bully or mad conqueror. Though, it’s not really the same.

Forge 2: Don’t give up. You guys will see real action again someday.

Pidge: Thanks, Forge-Of-My-Dreams. But for now, the only real action we’ve seen is in our dreams. Like how I dream that I’m some kid with heel problem fighting monsters from Greek Mythology or a pirate kid with a very pirate family or some kid with magical slugs.

Joker: That’s all?

Pidge: Pretty much. But I haven’t been having more actiony dreams. There were two others, but they’re gone for some reason. Though, one of them I’m glad is gone. But the other one I really miss.

Forge 2: Yeah, I think I know. But, you still have me... and our last hacker.

Vert: (confused) Our last hacker?

Queen: Vince isn’t the last hacker we’re expecting?

Vince: No, but Pidge says he knows about him.

Then he knows that he’s just as smart as I am.

RING! RING!

That should be him now.

>Another screen opens.

Sherman: About time. We were afraid you weren’t coming at all.

Yeah, I kinda forgot until I took a siesta and these two reminded me. (he nods to Forge 2 and Pidge)

Pidge: You’re welcome.

Vert: (a bit suspicious) You seem familiar... You wouldn’t happen to know a teen alien who sounds like I used to when I was his age and is accompanied by a little alien robot that sound like you, would you?

Hi-Tech Young Man: (smiling) Maybe.

Spinner: Everyone, this is our cousin, Roberto Martinez. We call him Berto for short.

Berto: Hola, nice to meet you.

Six: Great, now we’ve got three headphones.

Hey, respect the headphones, man!

Mixer: Yeah, dude, don’t start dissin’ the phones.

Yu-ichi: Besides, you’re the one whose only mode of transportation is a skateboard... BTW, you still use for that?

Six: (blushing a bit) ... Maybe... Okay, so I’m still a long ways from getting that fancy sports car I’ve wanted. Business at our family’s store is rather slow these days. Even more since the pandemic hit. But I’m not giving up.

Berto: Hey, no shame in still skateboarding at your age. Look at me. I’m close to your age and I still do it.

Six: Easy for you to say, you look like you have a car. Most likely a high tech one at that.

Berto: Ture, I have a couple, but nothing beats a deck. Plus, it’s good for the environment.

Six: I guess that’s good to hear.

Wolf: So, is that everybody here, or are we expecting more?

Skull: Let me check. Yo, is anybody expectin’ anybody!?

Panther: Well, I did thought about asking Tecna for help, but I don’t want to get her or the Winx in trouble with the Silencerz, so she’s out. But I’ll call her if anything happens.

Skull: Then yup, that’s everyone!

Vert: Now that our team’s been assembled, let’s get on it. Now, I bet most of you are wondering why you’re here. Well, for that... I turn things over to my dad. Take it away, pops.

Thanks, Vert. You’re here because we might have a way to bring back one of the greatest inter-dimensional races ever. However, the secrets to that are locked away in the Silencerz’ mainframe. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (I’ve always wanted to say that), is to hack into their mainframe. In the mainframe, you must find a file containing the research data of the late Dr. Peter Tezla. But be warned, the Silencerz will try every hacker defense trick in the book: Firewalls, anti-virus software, encrypted passwords, security algorithms, even their own viruses and malware. If you do managed to get in and find the file, you have exactly 15 minutes to copy it before the failsafe kicks in.

Adi: Failsafe?

Jack: 15 minutes after the file’s been hacked, said file will delete itself permanently to prevent further hacking.

Forge 1: But if the Silencerz try everything to stop us, it’s going to be hard to get past all that. I think this is going to be much different than hacking into MRD tech.

Sophie: Luckily, that’s where I come in.

>The hackers on the screens (except for Adi, Player, Conor, and Chim-Chim) where confused until Sophie vanishes and reappears on the main screen.

Vince: (surprised) Holy!!!

Pidge: (smiling) I had a feeling that was no ordinary girl.

Yu-ichi: Amazing. An AI with it’s own ego... I wonder if I should tell my cousin Tokita about this.

Sophie: I am Sophia, humanity’s companion. I am going to help you all with whatever I can. That includes hacking into the Silencerz’ mainframe.

Mixer: You know, we have an AI of our own.

Sophie: You do?

??-??: A! I! S! H! A! We! Are! AISHA! ... Sorry, I couldn’t help it.

Sophie: So you must be M.A.Y.H.E.M.’s AI.

Call me In-Su.

Oracle: Didn’t I see you as part of an opening act for August Gaunt?

In-Su: With my sisters, yes. But that was a long time ago. I’m with M.A.Y.H.E.M. now. I mainly help Friday, Mixer, Gremlin, Joulie, and Safeword with cybernetic things, but I have done on-the-field missions... If the field is in Cyberspace.

Sophie: That’s good to hear. Nice to meet you. I guess we will be working together. I look forward to our mission together.

In-Su: I so will I, sachon*.

*”Sachon” is Korean for “cousin”.

Conor: Hey, if you’re gonna do something like this, me and Chim-Chim want to go into the virtual world.

Chim-Chim: *chirp chirp*

Lunch: You can do that?

>Conor shows he has some VR equipment.

Lunch: I guess that works.

>Conor connects the VR headset to his computer and Chim-Chim connects to it as well. Within moments, they were jacked in and something appears on the main screen with Sophie and In-Su.

Conor: Alright, all buffed up and ready for action! (begins singing) Here they come. Here comes Conor and his monkey, Chim-Chim.

>We all just stare... Which of us will be the first to ask?

Six: Oh, god. And why do they both of mustaches?

Vince: I’m guessing to match.

Yu-ichi: (smiling) I kinda like it. It’s actually quite clever.

Conor: (satisfied) Ha, I knew it! Take that, Lucy.

Pidge: Go with what works for you.

Jack: True. But remember what I said, the Silencerz will do whatever it takes to protect its secrets. I should know, I used to be the leader.

Vert: I wonder who took after you when you left.

Jack: (looking a bit down) Vert... I think you have pretty good idea.

Vert: I... I see. Well, we’ll still be able pull this off we work together.

We will. We can do this.

Vert: Thanks, Ren.

Jack: Again, I have to warn you, the Silencerz don’t play around. This is your last chance to back out. If you do, I won’t blame you.

>The other hackers were showing some doubt. No doubt they were thinking about what Jack said... However, their doubt quickly fades.

Player: Our friends wouldn’t have called us here if they didn’t we could handle the risk. We trust them.

Safeword: He’s right. They even helped M.A.Y.H.E.M. with a little something. Time to repay the favor.

Conor: Same with me, Chim-Chim, and our friends.

Vince: And us, too.

Lunch: I know this is the first time we’re meeting Alibaba’s friends, but we will help them.

Adi: Me and the other Future Avengers trust Ren, Yusuke, and the others.

Forge 1: We also just met, but we trust you.

Forge 2: Yeah.

Berto: (curious) Espeda, M.A.Y.H.E.M.? Racer Academy? And Arus? Aren’t those the places the Phantom Thieves... You know what? Never mind. I don’t wanna know.

Taro: (smiling a bit) Good. I don’t think you could keep your mouth shut.

Six: Look, what we’re trying to say is that we’re in. We’ll help you.

Jack: (with a look of gratitude) Thank you all.

Taro: Good luck, you guys. The fate of the World Race and Highway 35 is in your hands.

No pressure or anything.

Six: Believe me, we’ve seen through demons in a cybernetic world.

Safeword: Fight an evil organization everyday.

Player: What Safeword said.

Adi: Ditto, with a side of other villains.

Conor: I think we can handle it.

Vert: (smiling) Then let’s get to it!

Oracle: I’ve already got a lock on the mainframe. Ready when you are.

Conor: Ready as we’ll ever be.

>With that, Chim-Chim transforms into a motorcycle and Conor gets on.

In-Su: How are we suppose to keep up with that?

Oracle: Leave that to me.

>Oracle programs something into her laptop and something appears on the main screen.

What in the world!?

Oracle: I hope you don’t mind. I just thought we’d go with something more appropriate. This Johanna pretty much has all the things the original has for extra protection. Sophia, you’re driving. In-Su, I’m adding a side car for you.

>Oracle types something on her computer and a side car appears on Cyber Johanna. Sophie switches to her Phantom Thief attire.

Are you ready, In-Su chan?

In-Su: (now wearing a purple helmet with M.A.Y.H.E.M.’s fleur-de-lis which was blue on it) Ready.

Conor: Then let’s get going!

>With that, Sophie and In-Su get on Cyber Johanna and they, along with Conor and Chim-Chim, ride off.

>A little later, we were at the mainframe of the Silencerz. It was shaped like a giant tower with the Silencerz’ logo on it.

Sophie: This must be it.

Yu-ichi: You can already tell that they’re hiding something here.

Forge 2: And we’ll find out those secrets soon enough. Time to get to work.

Lunch: Let’s see what we’ve got here.

>Lunch begins hacking into the first line of protection.

>Meanwhile in the Silencerz’ Headquarters in an unknown location, an alarm goes off in the computer room.

We have a problem. Call #1.

>Almost immediately, another Silencer comes in.

What is it, #2? What happened?

Silencer #2: Someone is trying to hack into our mainframe.

Silencer #1: So what else is new? Have you got a lock on where the source of the hacking is from?

Silencer #37: (don’t ask, we’re using their numbers) Not yet. We are still trying to find it. But we have got a lock on the hacker’s virus.

Silencer #5: I do not know what to make of this.

Silencer #1: A virus based on a ghost? Then I suggest you try busting it.

>Some of the Silencerz began typing something.

>Back in Cyberspace, the Spookies’ virus was phasing open a way when something appears near them. They looked like four men in jumpsuits curing some kind of large device on their backs that had guns attached to them.

In-Su: (confused) Are those... the Ghostbusters?

Jack: I told you, every trick in the book.

>The Cyber Ghostbusters begin firing at the Sppokies’ virus ghosts.

Conor: Time to go to work, Chim-Chim!

Chim-Chim: *chirp*

>Conor and Chim-Chim begin fighting off the Cyber Ghostbusters. In-Su and Sophie join in as well. In-Su’s dance moves already makes her a capable fighter and Sophie was swinging her yo-yos. After a while, Sophie, In-Su, Conor, and Chim-Chim manages to beat the Cyber Ghostbusters, but they had completely destroyed the Spookies’ virus.

Safeword: Our turn now!

>Safeword, Joule, Mixer, and Yeti, begin typing.

>At Silencerz HQ...

Silencer #20: This does not look right. What do we do?

Silencer #12: Try typing “cookie”, you idiot.

Silencer #1: Hey, be nice. And I do not think that would work. I have seen this movie before. Try regular anti-virus software.

Silencer #20: Yes, sir.

>Back in Cyberspace, the first few defenses have been broken though. Suddenly, a bright light flashes and the virus is deleted.

Forge 1: (smiling) You ready for this?

Forge 2: (also smiling) You know it!

>Forge 1 and Forge 2 upload their viruses.

Forge 2: Scott, this is for you, man.

>The two viruses begin attack the Sliencerz’ other defenses. Vert was looking at Forge 2′s virus.

Joker: Is something wrong, Vert?

Vert: Something about Forge 2′s virus that reminds me of someone... But I’ll think more about it later.

>Back at Silencerz HQ...

Silencer #3: Now we have viruses based on mutants?

Silencer #2: Be nice. One of my relatives was a mutant.

Silencer #1: Either way, we cannot let them through.

Silencer #3: I know.

>Silencer #3 begins programming something.

>Back in Cyberspace, Forge 1′s virus and Forge 2′s virus managed to break through more lines of defenses.

In-Su: It looks like we’re making progress.

Conor: Keep it up, you guys!

>Suddenly, something appears... Something big.

Forge 1: That can’t be good.

Sophie: I can help them with this. Time to show you my own power. Persona!

Pidge: (surprised smile) Whoa! I didn’t think she had one, too.

Vince: But there are robots who do.

Six: I think I read something about that... And dreamed about it.

Berto: Like I said, I don’t wanna know.

>Sophie and Pandora fight the Anti-Virus Sentinels along with the Forges’ viruses.

Player: With them busy, looks like I’m going up to the plate.

>With that, Player begins typing something and a new virus comes up. It looked like Carmen Sandiego, but a little blue.

Player: I hope Red doesn’t get too upset for changing her colors.

>Player’s virus begins using an enlarged version of her laser cuter to cut through the defenses.

>Back at Silencerz HQ.

Silencer #7: They are still coming!

Silencer #1: This is getting out of hand. Have you found the source of the attack yet?

Silencer #37: It is hard to tell. They are coming from multiple sources.

Silencer #1: See if you can find the closest source. We will start there.

Silencer #37: Yes, sir.

Silencer #40: I will deal with the current virus.

>Back in Cyberspace, Player’s virus has cut through more of the mainframe’s defenses and the Anti-Virus Sentinels have been deleted.

Oracle: There’s only a few left. Keep going, we’re almost there!

Adi: I think I have something that’ll move us faster.

>Then, a virus that looks like a queen bee appears with a swarm.

Adi: I got the idea from some children’s show. I’ll tell you more about it later.

>The bee viruses begin helping Player’s virus cut get through more of the defenses along with the Forges’ viruses. Suddenly, something flies up.

Adi: These guys don’t quit, do they?

>The virus swarm fights off against the security algorithms with Sophie, Pandora, and the Forges’ viruses while Conor and Chim-Chim break through the last of the walls.

Conor: Just a little more...

>Finally, the last of the security walls were gone. But no sooner they were, a blast of flames came and nearly blew Conor and Chim-Chim away!

Conor: GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!

In-Su: You mean great walls of fire. It’s a firewall. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.

Pidge: Hold on, I have something that could help you.

>Suddenly, some big gun that resembles a lion appears in In-Su’s hands.

Vince: This wind blaster will help blow out the flames. But don’t use it now. Wait until you’re on the other side of the wall to use it, or you might blow the flames at the files and destroy them.

In-Su: Right. Here I go.

>With that, In-Su dances her way through the flames until she finally got to the other side.

In-Su: Stand back!

>Then, with a large blast of wind, the firewall was out. Conor and Chim-Chim go in.

In-Su: Okay, we’re in.

Jack: Well done, kids! Now, the file you’re looking for is labeled “200335″.

Oracle: We’re searching now.

>Outside the mainframe, the security algorithms were still coming.

Sophie: This looks bad, we’re running out of room. If only we had at least one more to help us.

Berto: Leave that to me! I’ve got the perfect thing!

>Berto then uploads his own virus.

>Berto’s virus assists Sophie, Pandora, and the Forges’ viruses as In-Su, Conor, Chim-Chim, and the other hackers search for the file.

>At Silcencerz HQ.

Silencer #20: Damn! They are in the mainframe.

Silencer #1: You still have not found them?

Silencer #3: We might be able trace them if they find they file they are looking for.

Silencer #1: Then do it.

>With that, the Silencerz begin their work.

>Back in Cyberspace, the Silcencerz’ security algorithms were finally defeated.

Sophie: We did it! Thank you all.

>The viruses gestured a “You’re welcome” to Sophie and disappear back to where they came from.

Vince: That virus of your, Forge 2, it makes me wonder.

Forge 2: Wonder what?

Vince: If... If I should have asked my dream brother from New Olympia to help us, too... Oh well, I’ll ask him next time.

Vince: You’ll have to get through his Big Buddy, Hunk’s dream brother. And I don’t think my own DB would be too happy. Especially after everything that’s happened in recent months. But I’m sure I can talk him into it.

Panther: Dream brother?

Queen: You mean...

My gift of connecting people’s minds and hearts with my singing strikes again.

Conor: Hey, I think we found it!

>Conor, Chim-Chim, In-Su, and Sophie who joined them, found a file that looked like a file cabinet. One of the drawers was labeled 200335.

Jack: That’s it!

Sophie: We found the file. Let’s copy it.

>Sophie opens the drawer show many files. No sooner did she open it, it starts flashing and making a siren sound.

Spinner: (covering his ears) Yikes, that loud!

Jack: That’s the alarm for the failsafe. You now have 15 minutes to copy the file before it deletes itself permanently.

Oracle: Leave it to me. I’ll just use the same program I created to copy Makoto’s Sis’s computer.

Queen: Let’s hope it works on the Silencerz’ mainframe than it does Sis’s.

>Oracle enters the program and it begins to copy the file.

>At Silencerz HQ, the computer room was now flashing and alarms were ringing.

Silencer #3: They are copying the file! Now, if I could just... Got it! I got a lock. The source of the copying is coming from... some town nearby.

Silencer #1: You mean... Handler’s Corners.

>Silencer #1 begins to leave.

Silencer #9: Sir, where are you going?

Silencer #1: (turning back) To visit an old amigo.

>With that, Silencer #1 leaves. Suddenly, the alarm gets louder.

Silencer #20: What is happening!?

Silencer #3: This looks bad. Someone else is in the mainframe. They are also copying the file.

>Back in Cyberspace.

Oracle: This doesn’t look good. There’s someone else here. Someone’s also copying this file.

>Sure enough, something comes out of the file cabinet. It was a little blue bad... wearing a pair of glasses and had the most ugliest comb-over ever.

It’s Strega! What the hell do they want?

Vert: Who?

Taro: Some cult.

Oracle: If they’re also copying the file, then us copying it will be difficult.

Lunch: So, we may not be able copy the whole file?

Yu-ichi: Well that sucks.

Player: I’m sure I think I might help with that. I mean, I can’t stop Strega from also copying the file, but I think I have an idea what may happen and how to solve the problem.

Oracle: I hope so.

Jack: Hurry, only 9 minutes left.

>Oracle’s program tries its best to copy the file which is difficult as the program from Strega (most likely made by Jin) is also copying the file.

Jack: Only 6 minutes.

Oracle: We’re almost done.

>Before we knew it, only 4 minutes left. Please copy it.

>3 minutes. Not much time left and the copying is still going.

>2 minutes. There’s still more.

>1 minute. Almost there.

>59 seconds... Come on. Come on! COME ON!

>10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

FILE DELETED. CONNECTION TERMINATED.

>The main screen goes to static. Then, Sophie is re-projected back with us, In-Su returns to M.A.Y.H.E.M.’s computer, and Conor and Chim-Chim are back in their real world forms.

Panther: Conor, Chim-Chim, are you two alright?

Conor: (a little dizzy) We’re fine. We’re used to this sort of thing.

In-Su: I’m fine, too. My source code is a little frizzy, but that can be helped with a quick fix.

Joule: You’ve earned it, In-Su. Enjoy your nap.

>With that, In-Su shots off for now.

Vert: So, did we succeed in copying the file?

Oracle: Let me check.

>Oracle checks the copied file.

Well, I’ve got some bad news, good news, and some stressful news.

Agura: I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy.

Oracle: Bad news: We weren’t able to copy all of the research data. Good news: We did manage to copy most of it. Stressful news: Most of it is encrypted. Until we can decipher the code, you guys are going to have to wait a little longer.

Taro: I figured as much.

Berto: But with all of us, we should be able to crack the code.

Mixer: Afraid you’ll have to count us out. We didn’t tell Persephone that we did this and she’s got a strict policy about messing with organizations other than L.E.G.I.O.N. without her permission.

Yeti: (looking down) ...

Mixer: (panicking) YETI, YOU TOLD HER!? SHE’S GONNA PUT ME ON COFFEE DUTY AGAIN!

Safeword: I see. If that’s the case... I’ll take a double shot expresso.

Joulie: I’ll take a mocha.

Mixer: (shocked) Seriously?

>With that, we bid our M.A.Y.H.E.M. friend fair well for now and they leave.

Conor: Chim-Chim and I have to bow out, too. Speed will be back any minute and I don’t want him to know what we did. I wanna keep it a surprise.

Pidge: Me and Vince have to go, too. I have a few castle defenses to upgrade.

Vince: And I’m on standby. I know business is slow, but Keith says peace time is the best time to prepare for anything.

Joker: Right, see you all later.

>With that, Conor, Chim-Chim, Pidge, and Vince sign off.

Adi: The rest of us will stay and help you decipher the code.

Player: With Red on break, I’ve got time.

Oracle: Thanks, you guys.

Berto: Guess I better let Max, Steel, and Ferrus know I’m gonna be busy for awhile.

Sherman: We’ll back you up.

Berto: Gracias.

Spinner: That’s what primos are for.

>With that, Oracle and our hacker friends begin their work to unlock Dr. Tezla’s research to reopen the portal to Highway 35 and bring back the World Race.

Oracle: But I am curious about one thing: What does Strega want with Tezla’s research?

>Meanwhile in an unknown location...

Crap! Of course the Phantom Thieves would be after this file.

Yeah. Talk about rotten luck.

Uh-huh.

Maybe you should have some kind of alert for them.

Jin: I’ll think about that. Right now, thanks to their hacking into the Silencerz’ mainframe for that file, I only copied most of it, but not all of it. Not to mention it’s encrypted.

I wouldn’t say that. I’d say that you copied plenty. And I’m sure with our new allies’ help, we might be able to unlock all of Dr. Tezla’s secrets.

Jin: Why are we even doing this, anyway? Since when are we interested in a long forgotten and completely no longer popular race?

Takaya: You would be surprised by what one can learn from things like this. After all, there are many ways to achieve your goals. Am I correct?

>Someone comes out of the shadows... in a dance-like manner.

That’s right, ghosty boy. I bet even M.A.Y.H.E.M. couldn’t think of something like this.

Jin: (a bit confused) Even though they were just in the mainframe as well.

Gaunt: A minor mishap. Something we’ll fix soon.

Myles: With a voice like that, it’s hard to say he’s wrong.

Evan: Uh-huh.

Gaunt: (with a small bow) Thank you.

Jin: So, can L.E.G.I.O.N. help with deciphering the code?

Gaunt: Maybe. Even we can’t work miracles that quickly. Just look at me. At first, I was only partially restored. I didn’t even have my-

Jin: (quickly with a frown) Okay, okay, we get the picture!

Takaya: Soon, we’ll gain what we’re after... Soon...

>What will happen next?

NOTE: We apologize if this post is a little long. We thought this would be the end of this heist, but like we said, this post was a little long. The last post for this heist will come soon.

#phantom thieves cam

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erikismybitch · 5 years

Text

Waiting In Vain: Chapter 14

Slow Burn.

Marleys phone was on Do Not Disturb while she was working . She was so tired of this App job , it was easy but rather nothing but an inconvenience. The money was good, but sitting in front of her computer couldn’t be all there was to her life. Where was her million dollar check for doing something extraordinary . Or even better , where was her savior to deliver her from the stress of work . Market didn’t want to do anything . Maybe lay outside by her pool, and have her servant fetch her a cold glass of lemonade and some weed. Only one percent of the world lived like that , so she had to work like everybody else . “Why in the hell wasnt I born rich?”

Growing bored , she picked up her phone . Marley tried not to make it a habit , because it was so destracting. Marley saw that she had four missed calls from Becky . She called her right away . Worried , because something must have happened. The time spaces were back to back . Becky answered right away .

“Girl!” She screamed as soon as the call came through .

“What happened !” Marley just knew it was bad news . That “girl” was too emphasized to be about something light weight.

“Your cousin is in some deep shit”

Marley took a breath , she thought someone had died or Pedro had done something crazy to her .

“Tiana?”

Tiana had made every Instagram blog headline. She and her NBA player boyfriend Terrell James had been involved in a scuffle . Marley read along to the link that Becky had sent her. In the article , sources said that Tiana and the player had been in a physically abusive relationship for months . Marley found humor in the word “sources”. She would bet that those so called friends she hung around were the sources . Last night , neighbors called the cops reporting a disturbance. A woman screaming. They both were arrested for domestic violence and possession of cocaine . The mugshot of Tiana almost made her drop her phone . Her lip was busted, hair was all over the place and she had a black eye . Terrell’s mug shot was there too , only he had minor bruises on his face . He looked more annoyed than anything .

“Even in the mugshot, she still managed to look pretty” Marley said over the phone.

“You can tell she’s high too, look at her eyes” Becky Commented . They were red and dismayed . And she gave a slight smile , like she was unaware of what was happening.

The two had been released on bail late last night . “I figured since Erik took you away from social media , you didn’t know” Becky stressed to her . It was true , the only active apps on Marleys phone were CNN, a few gaming apps, and tumblr . Other than that , she online shopped or watched YouTube. And she had never felt more free .

Marley was such a sweet girl . With all the bad that Tiana had done to her , she actually felt bad for her . Knowing that if the shoe was flipped, Tiana wouldn’t bat an eyelash. So when Becky had to hang up and tend to the bar , Marley gave her a call . Her finger hovered over Tianas number for a while . She didn’t know what the outcome would be, but it was worth a shot . It rang a few times, Marley thought she would get her voicemail before Tiana finally answered .

“Hello?”

Tianas voice didn’t even sound the same , it was low and dry. Marley froze at first . It had been a long time since they had spoken . She didn’t even have a plan of what to say .

“Hey, Tiana I-“

“You really have the fucking nerve to call me?” She interrupted.

“I know what happened with you, if you need somewhere to go, you can come here until you figure things out”

Tiana let out a malicious laugh , it made Marley’s skin crawl . She was being obnoxious now , Marley regretted reaching out to her almost instantly.

“I don’t need help ... I’m not like you” that tone had now become calm, it was eerie almost . Marley rejected the “I’m not you” comment and decided that she should hang up before things got too bad . Before she allowed Tiana to take her to a bad place .

“Searching for a place to live cause your dad hated you and your mom was too broke to afford good health care”

Marley’s heart began to pulsate. She could feel it in her chest and neck . The fury made her ears hot . She couldn’t even see straight or come up with the right words to say . Marley would never say anything so hurtful to anyone . But maybe it was time to start.

“Don’t ever talk about my mother” was all she could muster up right now. Over the phone , in person the result would be so much different. She kept rocking in her seat, her anxiety was flaring out of control.

“You think you can save me like my mom and I saved you ?”

Marley stood up from her kitchen stool . She paced across her kitchen . The distain for this girl made her eyes squint , as if Tiana was standing in front of her “Is that what you think , you and your fucked up mother saved me!?”

“Yeah , we saved you... you know you always need saving!”

“Your boyfriend must have punched you too hard, cause you’re talking crazy”

Marley had struck a nerve because Tiana went off the deep end. Calling her everything but a child of god . Marley took in everything Tiana threw in her face and sent it back even harder . The two were screaming so loud that they couldn’t even hear what the other was saying. If an onlooker saw them both , they couldn’t tell who was the fool. After a few more tired curse words , Tiana said something that made the conversation take a turn for the worst .

“Why are you so worried about my man when Trey had a baby by a white girl when y’all were together”

Marley knew Tiana wasn’t lying . That scene at the grocery store remained close in her mind . Seeing Trey with that woman , walking closely like that. And the precious little curly haired baby she was holding . Marley just knew to expect the worst .

“I knew already , I don’t care about Trey” Marley played pretend.

“He said he didn’t want a baby with you” Tiana made light of something Marley told her in confidence. She knew about the entire conversation between Marley and Trey the day she thought she was pregnant. “But who would you’re fucking trash , Marley” she laughed because she knew for a fact that Marley didn’t know and she would be hurt by the information . Marley was completely over her relationship with Trey, but betrayal hurt no matter the timeline.

“I’m trash , but the news says you’re a coke-head now”

“Watch your back little cousin” she threatened.

“Erik definitely watches that for me”

Tiana let out a high pitched scream followed by the beep of her line disconnecting. Marley was glad she did because she had been holding in a cry for too long. She hadn’t cried in a long time , and Tiana stirred up a lot of unresolved emotions . Especially her feelings about being left alone in this world without the love of her parents. She leaned down onto her counter and rested her face into her crossed arms . She cried for the little girl who had lost her mother at such an impressionable age . She cried for the little girl who just wanted her dad to love and see her for who she was . And that little girl who was neglected and mistreated instead of being protected .

Soon , she stopped . Giving herself the gift of a deep ass breath . Marley felt lighter , that was the only good that came from this . She ran some cold water over a kitchen towel and pressed it into her swollen eyes . Marley hated crying , not that she felt weak... it was just exhausting. It had been a while since she cried . Since she was a teen, her therapist told her that she needed to cry . Dr.Robinson said that if she didn’t releases all that bottled up emotion, she would explode . And he would feel very sorry for anyone who triggered Marley to that point .

“Was that Marley?”

Crystal rested along her black leather couch . It was outlined with gold trim, flashy just like her. She smoked her cigarette , then ashed it in the custom made C-shaped ash tray that someone gifted her for her fiftieth birthday . That was five years ago. Her daughter Tiana sat across from her , unbothered by the smoke . She had been inhaling it since she was born .

“Yes” Tiana replied. Crystal let out a “humph” and took another hit of her ciggarette . Her outfit was almost identical to her daughters . Tight and revealing, meaning she was definitely too old for it . But that never stopped her . Even her mind was just as young and childish .

Tiana grew up with different types of men running through her house . Crystal jumped from relation ship to relationship . Her breaking point was always money related . If you didn’t have the means to support her lifestyle and her daughter, she was done . Crystal was the younger sister of Marley’s father . She was the apple of his eye until he met Jaime, Marley’s mom. He fell in love with her and he changed. He was no longer that money hungry playboy , the man that taught Crystal everything she knew about life . He was now this laid back care free guy .

“You’re gonna’ name your daughter after a weed smoking singer ?” Crystal said on the day her brother told her Jaime was expecting. She feared that after this baby, he would really neglect her . Growing up without a father, he was all she had. And he did, up until Marley started grade school . That’s when Crystal introduced him to his now wife , one of her very good friends . That was the beginning of the down fall.

“She always thought she was better than you, just like her mom thought she was better than me.”

Tiana ran her fingers through her wavy hair . Hair that was the total opposite of her mother. Crystal strategically wanted it that way. She made sure she had gotten pregnant by a man who could deliver those qualities . Light skin, loose hair , societies definition of what was beautiful. Crystal wanted Tiana to have an easy life , and it seemed to be working up until this point.

When she was little Tiana came home with her first boy crush . Marley had just moved in too. Some little boy who lived in the neighborhood, Tiana couldn’t stop raving about him so Crystal let him come over . She was way too young to start dating, but Crystal thought it was cute . The three kids played in the backyard while Crystal smoked her cigarette and watched . The little boy was intrigued with Tiana at first , until he found something in common with Marley. Crystal watched how he drifted away from Tiana and put all his attention on Marley . Crystal didn’t like that , she didn’t like to see her baby sad. That was the first time she put the bug in her daughters ear . Telling her to keep her friends away from Marley , because she would try to steal them all. Just how she had done the little boy .

Then Marley turned fourteen . Crystal had a boyfriend named Marcus . A heavy dope dealer she met from around the way . He was her favorite, because he bought her everything , paid bills and even bought her a car . His light skin was a plus. Sometimes he would show up with gifts for the two girls . Crystal noticed how Marleys gifts were always slightly better than Tianas . Then , he stopped bringing Tiana gifts all together . When Crystal brought it up to him, he cursed her out and said he only did it because she didn’t have anybody . And if she didn’t like it, he would leave and take the car too. Crystal wasn’t missing out on that money train so she shut her mouth .

One night , Marley came home late after an unpleasant visit with her father . Crystal and Marcus were on the living room couch watching T.V. It was dark, but the light from the screen reflected through his eyes. Marcus watched her like prey as she walked past them. The way a dog eyed a piece of meat . The way a man looked at a woman he wanted to fuck. Crystal thought she was being paranoid, she tried to blame it on her wine but something wasn’t right .

Later that night , something had brought her out of her sleep. She felt on her left bed side and found it empty , Marcus was supposed to be there . He wasn’t in her bedroom bathroom because the lights were off and it was silent . So she got up to see if his car was outside . It was still in the drive way .

Crystal could hear the wooden floors creak in her hall way. This was a time when Marley slept in a room next to Tiana, before Crystal moved her down to the basement . So it was normal for one of the girls to walk around .

But that wasn’t the case this time. She found Marcus , standing in front of Marley’s bedroom door . It was cracked slightly . He just stood there , watching her sleep . Grunting slightly, ever so often.

Crystal watched for a long time, not quite sure if she would stop him if he went inside . She kept thinking about how life would be if she actually lost him. So she did nothing but go back to her room and act as if she saw nothing. Thankfully nothing more happened that night . But the very next day, she moved Marley down into the basement . Away from her man. It seemed to displease him. More and more he distanced himself from Crystal . Eventually Marcus left her , and she put the underlying blame on her innocent niece.

“That’s why I put her ass in the basement . So damn jealous and ungrateful ”

“She could never be me, no matter how hard she tried” Tiana said proudly . Her mom let out a laugh and a few loud coughs . And when they seized, she laughed again.

“Shut the hell up , T!” Her mother had the ability to be hot and cold all in one sitting . One second she could be laughing with you about something, then in an instant she’d turn. Her daughter was floored and quiet. “I can’t believe you let her take your man”

Crystal knew all about the situation with Marley and Erik. Some truth, and some lies. Tiana even told her about seeing them together at the fair . How they purposely “flaunted” and “boasted” on the fact that they were together . Nevertheless, Crystal saw it as a problem . Somehow storing up her own distain towards her niece . It was as if she lived it through her daughter.

“She didn’t take him from me !” Her mom was really starting to fuel the fire . Tiana had only been there because her mother bailed her out of jail and she needed a place to go for the night.

“Then what did she do?” Crystal continued to tease and manipulate her . “She was living off of you , and fucking your man at the same time”

“I swear Marley is fucking done!” She pleaded .

“She had the nerve to call and speak to you after what she did. Since when did you let girls like her look down on you . I bet they both laugh at you all the time”

“Mom, I loved him. She took that from me!” Tianas rage made her sob uncontrollably. She was falling right into Crystals bait.

“Don’t let her get away with that. You make her ass pay”

“Mom, I want to hurt her so bad!” Tianas slammed her fist into the coffee table . It cracked slightly, but her adrenaline caused her to feel no pain “Watch when I get my fucking hands on her!”

Crystal began to calm Tiana down, in her version of a motherly way . She shushed her, and wrapped her arms around her . Hot and cold . And when she felt that Tiana had contained herself, she got to the root of another issue.

“Tarell keeps calling me looking for you” Crystal was talking about Tianas boyfriend. Her daughter broke free from her arms and shook her head . Tarell was the last person she wanted to talk about .

“They’re playing the Warriors and he said he’d be flying home tomorrow” she continued.

“I can’t believe they let him play, after what he did to me last night” she pointed to her black eye. Crystal kissed her teeth and rolled her eyes.

“You need to call him” she was absolutely stern with her statement.

“Mommy he hit me” Tiana said in a voice that reminded Crystal of when she was a little girl . But she saw a grown woman, who was about to lose out on a good thing.

“Tarell is a millionaire , and if you stop with the damn drugs, you probably could get knocked up!”

“Look at my face!” Tiana couldn’t even cover these scars and bruises with makeup , like the ones before.

“That man can buy you a new face. And if he does it again make him buy you another one” Tiana pulled out her cellphone and dialed Tarells number with a shaky hand. “You better hurry up before Marley steals him too”

Crystal laughed , then walked to her kitchen to make herself a nice stiff drink.

(Sorry for typos)

180 notes · View notes

ficclique · 4 years

Text

In addition to our own personal top fics (which you can view here), we asked you all to send us your choices for your fics of the decade and why you loved them. We received so many wonderful submissions, and now want to share them with everybody! In an effort to not make this post too long we’ve edited down the comments that people left us, but everyone had some really lovely things to say, so if anything catches your eye here we really encourage you to take a look at the complete list of comments here.

Without further ado, please enjoy the top fics of the decade as chosen by you, our listeners:

Submitted by: Cricket

Fic 1: pilgrimage by wolfsupremacist

Info: EXO RPF, Baekhyun/Sehun

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411497/chapters/43607615

Cricket’s comment: I can't get over all the building in this fic -- the world building, the character building, the relationship building. The main character’s development was like watching a child grow: it's hard to see it happening, but once you reflect on who he became versus who he was, it's so obvious how he changed.

Fic 2: the eye of providence by minhyukwithagun

Info: NCT RPF, Jaehyun/Taeyong

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981330

Cricket’s comment: I have genuinely never laughed so hard while reading a fic.There were so many little details that the author added that were unnecessary to the overall plot but just made the characters so much more real. You get to learn so much about everyone in such a (relatively) short amount of time.

Fic 3: so collect your scars and wear them well by addandsubtract

Info: Hockey RPF, Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5075128

Cricket’s comment: I feel like this fic changed me as a writer. It touches on such a relatable subject: that feeling of being completely unsure of what you should do with your life when Plan A doesn't work out, and discovering who you are without the thing that you previously thought defined you.

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Submitted by: Claire

Fic 1: The Baffled King and The Idiot Hero by Ellarose C

Info: Hetalia, ?

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/5819880/1/

Claire’s comment: This fic launched 3 of my high school friendships that continue to this day. It's cute and Hallmark levels of unrealistic, and I LOVE it. The overwhelming nostalgia and gratefulness I feel towards this fic (and all of Carrie's work, honestly) still blows me away.

Fic 2: Embers by Vathara

Info: Avatar: The Last Airbender, gen

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/

Claire’s comment: The best, wildest, most comprehensively worldbuilt ATLA fic I have ever read. Tea, dragons, realistic motivations, that ending... perfect. *chef kiss*

Fic 3: Of A Linear Circle (series) by flamethrower

Info: HP, various

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/755028

Claire’s comment: I linked the whole series because I simply cannot pick a favorite installment. OaLC focuses on fixing the glaring plot holes in the Wizarding education system, accurately depicting the Founders' Era thanks to copious research, and showing that no one is truly irredeemable (except Voldemort himself, who more than earns it).

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Submitted by: Threepwillow

Fic 1: All the Other Ghosts by rainjoys

Info: Glee, Kurt/Blaine

Link: https://rainjoyswriting.livejournal.com/146587.html

Threepwillow’s comment: All The Other Ghosts and its direct sequel, Grey, are some of the most incredibly original and simultaneously incredibly transformative works of fanfiction I have ever read. The way they masterfully twist elements of canon to fit into the lore of their AU is second only to the profound, revelatory character studies that they've executed. This shit is extraordinary.

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Submitted by: Segs

Fic 1: Hemostuck (series) by roachpatrol and urbanAnchorite

Info: Homestuck, various

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/8470

Seg’s comment: THE WORLDBUILDING. THE ARTWORK. THE NARRATIVE VOICE(S). THE INCREDIBLE GRASP ON CHARACTERIZATION. DID I MENTION THE WORLDBUILDING.

Fic 2: transistor by fishcola

Info: Polygon RPF, Brian/Pat

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18760093/chapters/44503969

Seg’s comment: Rips my heart to shreds piece-by-piece and then gently puts it back together in the end. It's another put-these-characters-in-a-darker-setting sort of thing. It is brilliant and beautiful and I love it dearly.

Fic 3: any sign of spring by bluecarrot

Info: Hamilton, Hamilton/Burr

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7523227/chapters/17100376

Seg’s comment: This fic is so dang atmospheric. It feels very physical -- the temperature, the environment, the drawing. It's bittersweet, but ends on the sweet, and I think the sweetness is all the more emphasized for it. Rereading it feels like coming back to a familiar place.

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Submitted by: Ang

Fic 1: Anarchy In The U.K. by Yahtzee

Info: X-Men First Class, Erik/Charles

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/673552/chapters/1232410

Ang’s comment: the writing of this one made it so easy to get completely lost in the au while still knowing the characters so well from the source material! super engaging, totally consumed my life for a week

Fic 2: blackjacks running down by back by dangerbears

Info: 1D, Harry/Louis

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/499474

Ang’s comment: this is like my comfort blanket fic! every time i reread it (even though i'm not in that fandom anymore), it's still just as funny and cute as it was the very first time i read it - again the au is so easily believable because the characterizations are so familiar.

Fic 3: this city bleeds its aching heart by renne

Info: MCU, Steve/Bucky

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835829

Ang’s comment: unsurprisingly, it's another au that is so easy to fall into! this is another one that i've been consistently rereading since i first read it (in 2015, for this one) because it's my absolute favorite trope with a ship that i'm still very much into!

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Submitted by: Scout

Fic 1: she called it a void by vans88

Info: Star Wars, Finn/Poe/Rey

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5493500

Scout’s comment: Short and powerful and essential to anyone's viewing of the new Star Wars trilogy. Seriously one of the most careful, tender, and graceful queer addendums to a piece of pop culture this decade.

Fic 2: The Love Song of The North American Douchebag by gyzym

Info: Star Trek RPF, Chris/Zach

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852395

Scout’s comment: JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, I HOPE I CAN SWEAR. I'm not even in this fandom. The world building is just THAT good. It's one of my highlights *because* of its power to draw me in as a standalone. So much fucking talent in the transformative work community. The banter, characterization, sardonic-ness of this – international impact baby!

Fic 3: all this learning here is by you by decinq, nighimpossible

Info: Hockey RPF, Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5105441

Scout’s comment: Revolutionized – and I would argue – drove the GROWTH AND SURVIVAL of hockey fandom. One of the best known works in the fandom, and a masterclass in how to build a set of characters that you're genuinely envious you don't get to see or know. Two incredible authors and a plethora of personality. Fun and sexy and lighthearted but poignant. Chef kiss.

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Submitted by: Em

Fic 1: the subtle science and exact art of chess-boxing, by fishcola

Info: Polygon RPF, Brian/Pat

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18931885/chapters/44945971

Em’s comment: fishcola is definitely one of the top reasons i actually started reading/writing polygon rpf. this fic!!!!! i sWEAR its so /so/ good oh my GOSH. yes, full disclosure im fish's beta for chessboxing but also i am enthusiastic simply because it is a very beautiful and powerful narrative on trauma, healing, and how the people we choose to interact with affect our emotions.

Fic 2: the old men call me by my mother’s name by theviolonist

Info: HP, Hermione/Ron

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044467

Em’s comment: as a certified Trans(TM) im always pursuing and consuming trans content. the old men call me by my mother's name is an hp fic that i still cherish years after first reading it. trans!ron is a concept not often explored in hp fic, much less trans /girl/ ron. massive gender feels, folks.

Fic 3: national hot dad alliance is now calling… by dicaeopolis, owlinaminor

Info: Haikyuu! , various

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5663683/chapters/13045579

Em’s comment: national hot dad alliance really is the perfect evolution of a groupchat fic. i laughed, i cried, i fell in love with the characters all over again as these captains from different teams bond over graduating. and also being Dads(TM). in some cases-- pining over their fellow volleyball players-- plus star wars, the x-files, and memes. overall its is very good and i will stan it eternally

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Submitted by: Staci

Fic 1: No Homo, by orphan account

Info: Teen Wolf, Stiles/Derek

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148039/chapters/2326073

Staci’s comment: Literally my favorite AU ever written. The characterization is SO on point and it truly is a super fun read. It’s also a super long which helps with painting such a detailed picture of these two dummies who are-totally-just-bros-with-added-benefits. I’d recommend this to anyone, even if they’re unaware of Teen Wolf, but if you’re a Teen Wolf fan then it’s even better.

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Submitted by: Nadine

Fic 1: Too Long, Too Close (series) by callmejude

Info: MCU RPF, Chris/Sebastian

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/253528

Nadine’s comment: kink exploration and bdsm done well.... and so thoroughly. but there's more! theres FEELINGSSSSSS uhhhhhhh it made me CRY it's so good.

Fic 2: On a Clear Day by Saras_Girl

Info: HP, Harry/Draco

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879841

Nadine’s comment: I could've put a few other fics by this author because they write the best drarry but uhhhhh. I had to choose and it was either gonna be TURN or this one. Idk why but this one makes me so unbelievably emotional bc it was Harry who's Going Through Stuff and I just loved it a lot.

Fic 3: around the world in eighty thousand days, by fallfreely

Info: 1D, Liam/Harry

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856935

Nadine’s comment: It was hard to pick a 1D fave but I think that this fic always had a v special place in my heart & I can't even explain why. I love the dynamic of this pairing (even though it's not even my OTP, wtf. I'm a Gryles and Narry truther... *eye emoji*) and the whole FEEL of this fic and it's slow burn tour fic, soo.

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Submitted by: Frecklebomb

Fic 1: Shalbatana

Info: Mars Trilogy, Gen

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6629

Frecklebomb’s comment: A beautifully-written gen fic (with an incredibly gorgeous podfic by Luzula) in the near-future-scifi Mars Trilogy fandom but very easy to enjoy without canon knowledge. I revisit this story over and over and always marvel at the presence of the landscape and alien planet in it, the way it feels like a character. Bonus Mars rover feelings (I cry every time about the robot).

Fic 2: Through a Glass Darkly, by susiecarter

Info: DCU, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19395793/chapters/46155535

Frecklebomb’s comment: Sprawling post-apocalyptic epic, so rich and cinematic that it feels like a movie I somehow read. The worldbuilding and tension of the focal ship are what sucked me into this fic, but what stayed with me was the richness of the ensemble characters. I find myself just thinking about their character arcs, and imagining what they'd be doing post-story. I want fic of this fic.

Fic 3: Too Far Down The Road, by SoniaVice

Info: Hockey, OMC/OMC

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13208136/chapters/30212907

Frecklebomb’s comment: An amnesia trope origfic set in handwavey hockey fandom (author said they 'set it free' to be OMC/OMC when the dynamic needed to be different from the RPF ship it started out as). It gives me so many good feelings about family (of choice and otherwise) and ageing and self-acceptance and sexuality, and the way you can choose to be changed by the people you spend your life with.

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Submitted by: Em (Springsteen)

Fic 1: Pull Me Under, by zarah5

Info: 1D, Harry/Louis

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/870766

Em’s comment: first of all zarah5 is a fandom legend. second, this is like the pinnacle of fake relationship fics to me it's 140k and so much of it is pining and like truly, who among us doesn't love harry styles with their whole heart. I can't think about the '10s without thinking about one direction and when this fic came out I remember a lot of people fully losing their minds.

Fic 2: Door to Door, by Ferritin4

Info: Hockey RPF, Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3478298

Em’s comment: this is one of the first hockey fics I ever read and I still come back to it so often. The relationship builds so well, Tyler's dogs are in it, it's just so sweet, and plus it's a very readable 10k.

Fic 3: Darling It Is No Joke, by thehoyden

Info: Teen Wolf, Stiles/Derek

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/399194

Em’s comment: look I can't be retrospective about this decade and /not/ include a sterek fic. the first half of this decade for me was all 1d and teen wolf and full disclosure, it's been a while since I've reread this fic, but I remember the banter being really stellar and thehoyden is another one of those authors who I just. Adore.

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Submitted by: Dan

Fic 1: The Heart Rate of a Mouse (series) by Anna (arctic_grey)

Info: Bandom, Ryan Ross/Brendan Urie

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/712953

Dan’s comment: This fic is incredibly iconic. It’s definitely one of my favorites of all time—the way the story is told is just heart wrenching, and it manages to always keep you on edge about what’s going to happen. The portrayal of self discovery, love, jealousy, down to the settings and all the social issues of the time period (the 70s), is amazingly done.

Fic 2: The Cat’s Miaow by Pennyplainknits

Info: Bandom, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930529

Dan’s comment: This fic is unlike anything else I’ve read. First off, I LOVE historical AUs, and the noir setting is everything I could have wanted and more. The author has managed to create such a delicate and profound romance along with an interesting plot that borders on thriller without ever going too far with either side of the story.

Fic 3: Get Real Get Right (Fuckin Right) by sophiahelix

Info: Riveyonce Cuoknowles, Sufjan Stevens/Drake

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9029020

Dan’s comment: Honestly? This is just art.

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Submitted by: Carina

Fic 1: Bite Marks by provocative_envy

Info: HP, Hermione/Draco

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3580953/chapters/7894464

Carina’s comment: i've shied away from aus in harry potter fic for years, especially american college aus but this fic in my opinion kept the best of the characters and modernized them in a way that felt true to who they are.

Fic 2: old jokes from a wild youth, by knightspur

Info: SEVENTEEN RPF, Mingyu/Minghao

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18127073

Carina’s comment: mingyu and minghao are in love, but they're not soulmates. i love the dynamics and the quiet intimacy between them, and also how they work through wanting to be together despite them not having a bond in the way soulmates have.

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Submitted by: Katy

Fic 1: The River and The Deep Green Bend by liquidmeasure

Info: 1D, Harry/Niall

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6005275

Katy’s comment: this fic honestly surpasses the genre of fic. it is a genre all its own. it is the pinnacle in catharsis and heartbreak and having a satisfying end that is completely unsatisfying as well. I will never recover from this fic.

Fic 2: Out of the Dead Land by Orphan Account

Info: MCU, Steve/Bucky

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1871955

Katy’s comment: there is a specific phrase in this fic that has and will continue to stay with me. I will never hear the phrase "up or down" without feeling immense heartbreak. an amazing blend of source material to create something altogether its own - but could still take place in either canon

Fic 3: Up We Go by Oh_Hey_Tae

Info: BTS, Taehyung/Jimin

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12297168

Katy’s comment: this fic is one that I found more recently, but I can already tell that it is one that is going to stick with me for a long long time. it is another fic that I feel transcends the genre of fic entirely

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Submitted by: Corie

Fic 1: Build A Temple In Me by Authoress

Info: Haikyuu!, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3716002

Corie’s comment: A wonderful and moving fanfic with fantasy akin to studio ghibli. If I have to recommend Haikyuu fanfiction this is it.

Fic 2: Close to the Chest by darkmagicalgirl

Info: Haikyuu!, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3898771/chapters/8721568

Corie’s comment: Another haikyuu!! Fic! I remember reccing this to my friend and she said it was more akin to a novel then any fanfiction she has read. High praise IMO

Fic 3: Fake Sugar by minverse

Info: BTS, Jungkook/Seokjin

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707098/chapters/33987549

Corie’s comment: Oh sweet god I love minverse’s writing and this fic has it all. Romance, smut, and a nice dollop of humor.

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Submitted by: Abby

Fic 1: an awful curse by blinkiesays

Info: Teen Wolf, Stiles/Derek

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604092

Abby’s comment: Non-linear timeline, au within the story, "every me loves every you," domesticity but also heavy angst, and it's so beautifully written it makes me want to cry reading it. also it harkens back to the time of when the show was still good.

Fic 2: dance this silence down (the emergency room remix) by Fahye

Info: Les Miserables, Enjorlas/Grantaire

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994140/chapters/1966093

Abby’s comment: It's such a great, understandable ensemble fic for a dense canon, with such a great modern day au setting, but the whole time it really deals with the main character's depression and alcoholism and the complete overwhelming love that he has for the guy he's shipped with. it's so gritty and real but the ending brings so much hope I love it.

Fic 3: comment fic by anon

Info: iCarly, Sam/Spencer

Link: https://author-abz.livejournal.com/35003.html

Abby’s comment: this is an ANONYMOUS comment fic someone wrote me when I was feeling down on LJ and it's so short but so complete, and it says everything it needs to about it being okay to mess up and just be messed up together. also: "glitter emergency" (technically a cheat, it's from 2008; I forgot it was so old)

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Submitted by: Kassie

Fic 1: An Exercise in ‘Worthless’ by beastofthesky

Info: Supernatural, Dean/Castiel

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535676

Kassie’s comment: an exercise in worthless introduced me (indirectly) to my favorite musician and (directly) to the subject i almost minored in during undergrad, so honestly i would put it as a fic of the decade even if it wasn’t one of the best fics i read in the supernatural fandom.

Fic 2: Superstition (series) by Superstition_hockey

Info: Hockey, OMC/OMC

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/413233

Kassie’s comment: superstition started out as a tropey, fun, lighthearted short fic, and grew into a big thing that deals with a lot of serious topics incredibly well while also being still very funny and emotional and having honestly some of my favorite fictional characters i’ve read in years

Fic 3: United States v. Barnes

Info: MCU, Steve/Bucky

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2304905/chapters/5071058

Kassie’s comment: united states v barnes is the multimedia fic of my DREAMS. this is what i want to show people to explain why i love fanfic so much. it does so much with the medium its working in and the presentation of the fic, and fits that perfect fanfic niche of exploring the kind of background that will never appear in canon but that everyone wonders about.

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Submitted by: Kat

Fic 1: I’ve felt and I’ve Been by autotunedd

Info: Big Bang RPF, Seunghyun/Jiyong

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15349758/chapters/35616516

Kat’s comment: Possibly the fic that marked my entire decade. The characters are so human and real, the plot is heavy and winding and the twists sometimes seem life ending. It is heavy, it is painful, it is sad, it is angsty, it is maybe even a smidge too real and dangerous at times, but it makes a solid read, a long, relatable novel about real people with real fears and problems.

Fic 2: Eversion by thespectaclesofthor

Info: Detroit: Become Human, Hank Anderson/Connor

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754140/chapters/36638253

Kat’s comment: Beautiful, long, detailed, well written, hard hitting, serious, sweet, painful, kinky, all in one! The characters have so much depth, their issues and inner workings seem so real and the plot is so carefully crafted and detailed, every chapter keeps you at the edge of your seat. All in all, beautifully crafted, passionate, hard hitting piece that I couldn't help falling in love with.

Fic 3: Eggshell Landscapes and the Burden of Love by NoContractTermination

Info: NCT RPF, Taeil/Johnny

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10446438

Kat’s comment: Short, sweet, angsty and charming! I loved the intimate look into their relationship this fic brings, the trials and tribulations and the struggle to communicate. It all seemed so raw and real and coupled with the author's beautiful writing, it all came together in a perfect read, with bounds of re-read potential.

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Submitted by: Wen

Fic 1: the bellwether by highoctane

Info: Polygon RPF, Brian/Pat

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634426

Wen’s comment: Feelings!!! It's really refreshing to read a character who, as an established adult, is reconfiguring an understanding of himself without it being either a whole crisis or a sudden seamless lightbulb moment. It's very fair to both characters' emotions, letting them both react in a way that feels wonderfully human and real rather than idealistic.

Fic 2: Five Times the Potion Seller Refused to Sell a Potion (and One Time He Didn’t) by misura

Info: Potion Seller (Justin Kuritzkes Short Film), Knight/Potion Seller

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5441447

Wen’s comment: It's based on a 3 minute meme video and if it was just a tweet or post with the title alone it would be a great joke but... someone went and wrote the dang thing! And it could have been ridiculous crackfic, and while it certainly toes that line it's also got a really fun flow of dialogue that leaves a lot to the imagination without it getting confusing.

Fic 3: I Am The Horrible Goose That Lives In The Town by Daniel Lavery

Info: The Untitled Goose Game, gen

Link: https://www.shatnerchatner.com/p/i-am-the-horrible-goose-that-lives

Wen’s comment: the writing is tremendous and sits beautifully in that razor's edge space where english is used just strangely enough to create a fantastic character voice without going too far and falling into some kind of awkward english language uncanny valley. it's so hard to pick out the best line because every line is the best line. "Here I am coming, with the good news of me, and you hate it. You can think only of the bell and how much I have it, and you are never the goose."

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Submitted by: Mage

Fic 1: Fog, Sheets and Thunder by theopteryx

Info: My Chemical Romance RPF, Frank/Gerard

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/351396

Mage’s comment: i have literally thought about this fic at least once a week since i read it in 2012. do not ask me why. i have no answers.

Fic 2: Flowers in Bones by fringecity (indiachick)

Info: BTS, Taehyung/Yoongi

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16256390

Mage’s comment: sometimes i just wanna be a careful selection of small animal bones that yoongi gently unearths and meticulously crafts into an altar of pressed flowers and ink

Fic 3: It Happened Quiet by hobimo

Info: BTS, Taehyung/Yoongi

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15070646/chapters/34939646

Mage’s comment: haunted woods :) cryptids :) that deeply unsettling feeling that there are greater, mysterious forces at work and there's nothing you can do about it :)

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Submitted by: BirdieLeonie

Fic 1: Reprise (series) by Elfpen

Info: Star Wars, various (Obi-Wan centric)

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/454408

BirdieLeonie’s comment: I spent about seven months of my life reading nothing but Star Wars time-travel fix-it fics. (I am not exaggerating; there are enough of them to last that long or longer.) This is my favorite.

Fic 2: Friday Night Arrives Without a Suitcase by marycontraire

Info: Hockey RPF, Danny Briere/Claude Giroux

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/534247

BirdieLeonie’s comment: This is a fic I have kept coming back to again and again in the years since I first read it. It's domestic and sweet and still adult. It's like curtainfic, inverted; the leads live together and parent their kids and go grocery shopping before they have a romantic or sexual relationship.

Fic 3: The Hero’s Journey; or: What Jasper Sitwell Did Last Summer (podfic), by artzbots, blackglass, daroos, girlwithabubblegun, kalakirya, Opalsong, reena_jenkins, RsCreighton, sabinelagrande

Info: MCU & Welcome to Night Vale, Jemma Simmons/Jasper Sitwell

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6462223

BirdieLeonie’s comment: I love podfic, I love crossovers, and I love this fic. Again, I picked this because of all the thousands of MCU fics I've read, this is the one I find myself coming back to repeatedly. This crossover is creative, fun, and plays with one of my favorite tropes: what was happening to a minor character in the background of the story we saw?

#fic clique #fic recs #multifandom #minisode #top fics of the decade #fics of the decade

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aion-rsa · 4 years

Text

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Who is Ivo Shandor?

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A brief shot from the new Ghostbusters trailer ties into a threat that's been looming over the team since the first movie.

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When it comes to Ghostbusters lore, if you were to ask about their biggest villains, the list would begin with the likes of Stay Puft/Gozer, Slimer, and Vigo the Carpathian. Then maybe some of the more memorable monsters from the cartoon or someone might bring up that incel guy from the reboot. But then there’s Ivo Shandor, a footnote of the franchise who has gradually transformed from a deep cut to being the puppet master of everything ecto.

The trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife hit recently and while it’s established as a sequel to the original two movies, they’re fairly light on the actual references so far. There’s a ghost trap, there’s old footage of the original team in the '80s, we see Egon’s old jumpsuit, what appears to be a Gozer dog, and so on. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, characters are shown walking towards a sign saying, “SHANDOR MINING COMPANY.”

Yes, Shandor. As in Ivo Shandor. So who the hell is Ivo Shandor?

The original Ghostbusters movie namedropped Shandor once and only once as part of an exposition dump. When the crew were in their jail cell, Egon started to explain just why Gozer and its kind were targeting that one specific building and why it was so haunted.

“It's not the girl, Peter, it's the building. Something terrible is about to enter our world, and this building is obviously the door. The architect's name was Ivo Shandor. I found it in Tobin's Spirit Guide. He was also a doctor. Performed a lot of unnecessary surgery. And then in 1920, he started a secret society.”

Understanding the situation, Peter added, “Let me guess: Gozer woshippers?”

So all the marshmallow golems and demon dogs and so on were all traced back to one nutjob with a forgettable name. Now, with the minimal amount of stuff we know about Afterlife, part of the backstory appears to be that at some point after Ghostbusters 2, Egon Spenkler moved to Oklahoma for the sake of keeping an eye on something Shandor cooked up with his mining company. He definitely didn’t stop it (at least completely) and it’s up to his family to finish the job.

Ivo Shandor started the ghost uprising in the '80s and his legacy is to bring it back in 2020.

Coincidentally, this lines up with Shandor’s position in the franchise. This man with a throwaway piece of dialogue to his name is constantly being farmed out into being something much bigger for the sake of follow-ups.

To be fair, he was originally going to be a bigger deal in the first movie. In an earlier version of the script, Shandor was supposed to appear as Gozer’s initial form during the climax, juxtaposing this apocalyptic, godly threat with a mundane guy in a suit. They even wanted Paul Reubens to play him, which is...wow, that’s excessively '80s.

He’s a better vampire than a ghost, anyway.

In 2009, a big Ghostbusters video game was released on various platforms – and remastered a decade later – with emphasis on being the “official” version of Ghostbusters 3. It featured all the actors reprising their roles (excluding Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis) and a script that was partially worked on by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It took place in 1991 with the player being a silent rookie getting roped into a “greatest hits” storyline that involved the likes of taking on Slimer and Stay Puft all over again.

read more: The Scariest Episodes of The Real Ghostbusters

While the game set up the return of Gozer, the true mastermind was Ivo Shandor, who was hiding in plain sight by possessing the mayor. What better way to undermine the Ghostbusters from doing their job than screwing with them from the top of the bureaucratic ladder? With Gozer defeated a second time over, Shandor decided to overstep his boundaries by turning the plot into a scheme to turn himself into a god. Initially, that meant sacrificing Peter’s new love interest Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn, who – wouldn’t you know it – was Shandor’s descendant.

In the end, he achieved power and was able to choose his own form as the destructor. The Ghostbusters took him out by going back to the “cross the streams” well and moved on.

The IDW Ghostbusters series, while bringing in concepts from the animated continuity (ie. Kylie from the underrated Extreme Ghostbusters being the team’s researcher), only treated the two movies and the video game as canon. That meant that Shandor wasn’t really on the table as a nemesis, but there were references to him here and there.

The initial storyline revolved around a being named Idunas, who was hellbent on bringing back Gozer and forcing Ray to imagine him as something more threatening than a giant marshmallow man. While he had an otherworldly look to him, one of the original concepts was to have Idunas take Shandor’s form as a reference to the unused idea from the movie.

One of the comic runs ended with a big storyline involving Gozer’s war with his sister Tiamat. Gozer would show up in Ray’s subconscious to taunt him in various forms. One of those forms was presumably Shandor, looking very much like a slightly-off-model Pee Wee Herman. Nice that they finally got to scratch that itch.

Otherwise, outside of being namedropped, Shandor appeared in a short story called “The Origins of Slimer” by Erik Burnham and Rachael Stott, where the Ghostbusters went over their various theories on what Slimer is or who he was. While they suggested that he could have been a chef or a vagrant, Ray seemed pretty sure that Slimer was some kind of failed glutton-based entity conjured by Shandor and his cult.

While Shandor didn’t get too much lip service in the comics, Erik Burnham eventually decided to make Tobin’s Spirit Guide from Egon’s exposition into an actual book. Albeit, a book updated with specific ghosts from Ghostbusters itself. It was there that we got to see the very entry that Egon read many years ago, going into more detail about his horrible experiments, path to Gozer worship, and the suggestion that he died from trying to give himself goat legs.

I mean, if you're going to be demonic, might as well go all the way.

Gavin Jasper writes for Den of Geek and is neither too hot to handle nor too cold to hold. Read more of his articles here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L

Read and download the Den of Geek Lost In Space Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Books

Gavin Jasper

Dec 11, 2019

Ghostbusters

from Books https://ift.tt/2YOeaIN

#aion-rsa #Books

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iloveyoupittsburghpirates-blog · 5 years

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Goodbye, Pittsburgh Pirates

My Dearest Pittsburgh Pirates,

Happy Opening Day! Look, we have to talk. It’s not that I don’t love you. I still do. Very much. But it’s just become difficult for me to invest so much in this relationship when you don’t’ seem to invest the same. It’s not me, it’s you. I didn’t send you a final letter at the end of last season because it coincided with the front office again claiming that the more fans buy tickets, the more they can spend. That’s holding your fan base hostage and I have no tolerance for that nonsense. This isn’t a break up though. I will still watch you religiously and will still root for you unabashedly. I might send you a letter from time to time but that will be it. This offseason was tough to take. Not that I don’t think you could be successful this year. There’s a realistic scenario where you could be. It’s just hard to stomach the payroll dipping to about 75 million and then, on top of that, to see newly signed Lonnie Chisenhall and Jordan Lyles start the season on the IL (injured list). Bang up job with Chisenhall by the way. The guy will miss exactly the amount of time we needed him for. You traded away Ivan Nova away for no reason, other than a salary dump, and for nothing only to have no reliable fifth starter especially now with Lyles injured. It’s hard to stomach seeing free agents like Jose Iglesias and Asdrubal Cabrera get one year, nothing contracts while you make no effort to fill your vacant spot at shortstop. You traded for Erik Gonzalez who could be good defensively, but could also have an OPS of .500. Your division is arguably the toughest in baseball with the Brewers, the Cubs, and the Cardinals adding an MVP candidate like Paul Goldschmidt. Even the Reds will be improved after trading for Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp. It will be an uphill battle but hopefully you will surprise everyone.

Let’s meet the new players. JHay and Jordy Mercer signed with the Tigers this offseason so second base and shortstop were vacant. You made a low risk trade with the Indians to bring in the aforementioned Erik Gonzalez, or EGon. EGon is supposedly strong defensively. In 136 at bats in the majors last year, he had splits of .265/.301/.375 for a measly .676 OPS. He did sport a WAR of 0.6 which was more than JHay and Mercer’s WAR combined. If he’s terrific defensively, I’ll take a shortstop who hits .265 with no power. But that’s yet to be seen. Second base will be handled by Adam Frazier and I’ll discuss that more later. Lonnie Chisenhall and Melky Cabrera were added as outfield depth. Chisenhall had about an .860 OPS over the last two years but he only had 320 at bats in that time due to injury. In the least surprising news of all time, Chisenhall broke his hand and will miss four to six weeks. That means Melky Cabrera will start until Gregory Polanco returns from injury. Cabrera’s a switch hitter whose career splits are fairly even. With Polanco and Dickerson batting lefty, adding another righty bat to the bench will be helpful once Polanco returns. Jordan Lyles was brought in initially to help out of the bullpen. He was excellent in Milwaukee out of the pen last year but it seems like all signs point to him being the fifth starter. He cost seven million less than Nova so maybe that played a part. He’s had a shaky spring and now he’s injured so if he doesn’t perform then that Nova trade will look at the more stupid. With off days, you don’t need a fifth starter for the first week or two, so hopefully he’ll be ready by then Francisco Liriano is back in the Burgh. He will pitch out of the bullpen to give you another lefty arm down there other than Felipe Vasquez. All of these moves are cost efficient. They could work out, but in each scenario it seems like there were viable and better options out there that were ignored.

Let’s take a look at the offense. The opening day lineup seems pretty set to me which is: Frazier 2B, Marte CF, Dickerson LF, Bell 1B, Cervelli C, Kang 3B, Melky RF, EGon SS, Taillon SP. Not exactly a power house. Polanco is progressing well from his surgery so it’s realistic he could be back by the end of April which is a relief. Until then, this lineup could potentially suffer from a power outage. The one wildcard is the return of Jung-ho Kang. He hit 7 homers this spring and sports a 1.113 OPS. Actually, if you want to get excited about spring stats, which no one should, Kang, Marte, and Dickerson all have OPS’ over 1.000 and Adam Frazier’s is currently .998. Don’t sleep on Frazier. My gut tells me he will have a really good year at the plate. The new hitting coach, Rick Eckstein, made a commitment to focus more on launch angles when he was hired so maybe there’s some universe where you hit more homers this year. You need them. The bench should be relatively decent particularly once Polanco is back. With Melky now starting, the other four bench spots will be Stallings for now, but Diaz when he comes back. Then it will be Colin Moran, Pablo Reyes, Kevin Newman, and J.B. Shuck, a free agent signed to a minor league deal, until Polanco or Chisenhall return. You ranked near the bottom of the league in homers last year. You don’t have a legitimate MVP candidate when everyone else in your division does (Cards - Goldschmidt, Cubs - Rizzo/Bryant, Brewers - Yelich, Reds - Votto) so that certainly puts you at a disadvantage. Kang should provide more power. Bell needs to bounce back and hit more homers. Marte, Dickerson, and Polanco need to be one of the best offensive outfields in baseball. If Frazier hits and the catching tandem can match what they did last year, this offense will surprise people. That’s the optimistic perspective. There’s also a potential version where this is one of the weaker offenses in baseball, but I’m trying to remain positive.

Pitching is the name of the game. Always has been and always will be. This part of the team could make serious waves this year. It’s arguably the best staff in the division. Pairing Jameson Taillon, who pitched like an ace from June on last year, with Chris Archer, an ace who tinkered with his pitches and looked terrific in September, could be a beastly one-two punch. Archer’s OPS against went from .926 in August to .678 in September. His ERA went from 6.45 to 2.70 and his WHIP decreased from 1.74 to 1.07. If his September lasted for a whole season, he would be a Cy Young candidate. The three and four spots will be taken by Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove. Williams broke out last year with a 3.11 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. His lack of strikeouts leads people to believe he will regress, but his weak contact numbers give hope that this is sustainable. Even if his ERA rises into the mid to high three’s, he will still be a solid starter. Musgrove recovered from offseason core surgery so here’s hoping there’s no hangover or issues. Musgrove pitched solid last year with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Given he was once a blue-chip prospect who hadn’t got a real chance to start in the majors, there’s reasonable that he could improve. Even if he can duplicate last year’s numbers, you would have a pretty solid starter on your hands. The fifth spot will most likely be filled by Jordan Lyles, once he’s back, and that’s by default. This situation might be the biggest ball drop by the organization. You thought you could get by on the cheap with Lyles, Nick Kingham, or Steven Brault. Brault was horrible this spring and Kingham was inconsistent to say the least. That leaves you with Lyles. If he’s terrible, you could go with an opener/bullpen day as the fifth starter but that’s not ideal. You downgraded your rotation because you wanted to save seven million. Those are the kinds of decisions that I can’t take anymore.

The bullpen should be a strength of the team. Should be. Felipe Vasquez had an absolutely dominant spring and should continue to be one of the best closers in baseball. Your two setup men were not as impressive. Kyle Crick and Keone Kela both struggled this spring, Kela in particular. I’m not about to panic over spring training stats. If they pitch like last year, you will have one of the best back ends of a bullpen in baseball. Add Richard Rodriguez to that mix, one of the surprises of last year, and that’s four solid arms in the pen. The wildcard of this group is Nick Burdi. A rule 5 guy, Burdi has pitched only pitched 9 1/3 innings this spring but he has 13 K’s, a 1.93 ERA, and a 0.75 WHIP. This could be the front office’s next diamond in the rough. Nick Kingham will make the team as a long reliver for the games when Lyles gets crushed. Add in Liriano, who matches up well against lefties, and the lowly Steven Brault until Lyles returns and there’s your seven relievers. The bullpen should be the strength of the team. They could be an elite unit. Time will tell, especially given the volatility of relievers, but if this season turns out to be a success, pitching will most likely be the catalyst.

You finished 82-80 last year and, depending on when Polanco returns, I think this is a better team. I think a full year of Archer and Taillon in ace form makes a big difference. I think getting Kang back to add power to the lineup makes a big difference. Is it possible you end up at .500 or below? Yes. Very. But I think this could be an 85 to 90 win team which might mean a trip to the playoffs. For that to happen, a lot of things will have to go right. I know this letter comes off much more positive than I would have first made you believe. The problem is you did not do everything in your power to put the team in the best position to win. Maybe you think Mitch Keller will be up soon? But you had a solid fifth starter that you traded away as a salary dump. Jose Iglesias signed a minor league deal with the Reds. You could have at least brought him in to challenge EGon and Newman. It’s hard to take you seriously when you say your goal is to win a World Series but then you make decisions like this. I’m not saying you need to fork over 330 million to Bryce Harper. I’m just saying pay Nova nine million for one year to be your fifth starter. Any time I hear Nutting, Coonelly, or even Huntington talk, I don’t believe a word they say. It’s hard to be in a relationship when there is no trust. This offseason was as half assed as they come. You are 27th in payroll, only in front of the Marlins and Orioles (who are both in a total rebuild) and the Rays (who perpetually don’t spend a dime) so that’s nothing to hang your hat on. If you don’t perform well out of the gate, you better do something drastic like extend Taillon because you could quickly lose your fan base. There are reasons to be positive but there are equally as many reasons to be furious. This is why I just can’t do it anymore. I love you. I will always love you. But I need some space. I’ll still write you (mostly whenever you do something infuriating) and I’ll never stop watching. I can’t believe I’ve been writing you these letters for six years. Six! Wow! It all started in 2013. Your greatest season since 1992. It’s amazing where we were then to where we are now. I hope this doesn’t ruin opening day which, regardless of situation, is always a great day. Just remember, even if you aren’t getting letters from me, I’ll be watching. I’ll always be watching. I love you and that will never change. So long, for now. Love Always,

Brad

P.S. stands for Please Spend. Please lock up Jameson Taillon to a long-term deal. With the way free agency went this offseason, everyone and their mother are signing extensions to avoid free agency. It’s the hot thing to do right now so hop on the bandwagon. It’s a no-brainer especially given how long it will take him to hit free agency. He should be here through the Mitch Keller and KeBryan Hayes promotions. Those two, plus maybe Cole Tucker, could prove to be stars. Having Taillon anchor that rotation for the next seven years is the right call. You didn’t spend any legitimate money this offseason. This is the least you could do for the fan base…

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classic-rock-roller · 6 years

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1. QR is on tour over Valentine’s day and you’re stuck back home. You get a knock on your door at a ridiculously early hour and you find Bonham standing there with one of Randy’s acoustic guitars. She strums it without really trying and sings “I love you biiitch.” *strums again* “I ain’t never gonna stop loving you biiiitch.” This is weird even for her. How do you respond?

“Are you ok, Bons?” She stops, “Yeah, I just figured that since the boys are away this valentines day we could celebrate our friendship instead.” I’d smile at her, “That sounds perfect. You want to come in for some coffee? And be careful with that, Randy may kill you if anything happens to it.”

2. Bonham likes a weird flavor of gum that you can only get at a specific store in Colorado, and the last time she had it was when she was 13, but she insists, “you have to try it it’s so good.” Randy and Kevin ended up at that place while on tour and they bring some back. You’re trying it and think it’s good and you turn around and see Bonham lying on the floor with a pack next to her face. “What are you doing?” Kevin asks. She says, “The last time I had this was when I was still dating that kid in middle school and the smell it just…brings back some feels.” How do you, Kevin, and Randy respond?

Me: “Aww, Bons.” I’d lay next to her on the carpet and try to make her feel a little better.

Randy: “Aww, hon. I’m sorry.” And he’d join her as well.

Kevin: “Are we all just laying on the carpet? Ok.” The four of us would just lay there and try to cheer her up.

3. You’re visiting Bonham at her mom’s house with Kevin and Randy and she gets a package in the mail one day. You don’t know what it is, but her brother follows her to open it and says, “What’s this?” Nothing happens for a moment until her brother runs past you giggling. Bonham soon follows, yelling “Get back here you licked Vince Neil you will pay!” You think you know what happened but Randy and Kevin are beyond confused. How do you all respond?

Me, running after the two of them: Vengence will be ours! We’ll get you for licking Vince Neil.

Kevin: Wait! What the fuck is going on?!

Randy: We should have learned by now not to question and just go with it.

4. You’re hanging out with Randy, Kevin, and Bonham one day. When you and Kevin get to their house, she’s in the living room playing Guitar Hero. Randy comes down from upstairs and says, “Maybe if you practiced your clarinet as much as you practiced that stupid game you’d be halfway decent.” She doesn’t even turn away from the game as she shouts, “Piss off!” How do you and Kevin respond?

Me: Bonham is amazing at the clarinet. What are you talking about?

Kevin: Don’t get into the argument. Just let them work it out.

Bonham: Thank you BabyCarrot. (To Randy) See someone thinks I’m good at the clarinet.

5. Your band decided to add a bari sax part to your latest record and have left Bonham to figure out the details. She’s never played one before, but once she gets her hands on one she starts noodling around trying to get a decent sound. After a while, you all come in to see how it’s going, and she’s finishing up a scale. Daryl slow claps and says, “Wow, that almost sounded like music.” How do you, Bonham, and your band respond?

Me: That was music, Daryl.

Bonham: Would you like to try to play it? I would love to just beat on the drums. It’d be better than beating your face.

Erik: Woah, ok we don’t need to start a fight.

Linus: Ten bucks on Bonham!

6. It’s super hot one day and Bonham’s running around in shorts and a bra when Kevin and Randy get to your guys’ house. Kevin says, “Good God Bonham put a shirt on.” She whips around and shouts, “It’s my fucking house I will walk around however I wish!” How do you and Randy respond?

Randy: Yeah it is her house Kevin.

Me: She does have a point, Kevin.

7. You make it to New Mexico on your road trip with Kevin, Randy and that sax player, and you stop at a gas station. Kevin asks the clerk something and the clerk makes a confused face before responding with rapid-fire Spanish. Kevin looks defeated before the sax player says, “I got this, what do you wanna ask him?” and then proceeds to conduct a successful conversation with the worker entirely in Spanish. “There you go, he said we gotta take C-470 to get out of here.” How do the three of you respond?

Me: Boham, I love you more and more with each passing day.

Kevin: Where did you learn that?

Randy: That was amazing. You’ll have to teach me sometime.

8. Randy and Kevin are taking you and Bonham to a super fancy place for dinner, and you’re both trying to figure out what to wear. Bonham helps you pick an outfit that Kevin loves too, so you’re ready fairly quickly. Meanwhile, everything Bonham tries on is being vetoed by Randy. After a few minutes of this, she says, “If you don’t pick one I will go naked.” How do the three of you respond?

Randy: I don’t see a problem with that.

Kevin, gagging: Please wear clothes, Bonham. I just don’t want to see Randy make that face again while I’m in the room.

Me: Well, you keep vetoing Randy so she’ll just pick something and that’s what she’s wearing.

9. You just left a black tie music event, and Kevin is driving you, Randy and Bonham home when Bonham says, “Pull over into that place, I’m starved.” It’s a fast food joint, and when you all go inside, you get stared at by all the staff and all the patrons. “Why’s everybody looking at us?” Kevin asks. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because we’re dressed to the nines and are standing in a fast food joint,” Randy says sarcastically. How do you and Bonham respond?

Me: Remember when we dressed like this and went to Walmart, Bons? We stood in the chip aisle for like fifteen minutes deciding what we wanted.

Bonham: Oh yeah, that was so much fun. We laughed the entire way out to the car.

10. You suggested that your band all get made up like monsters for a your music video, and somehow the guinea pig for your new makeup artist is Bonham. After a couple of hours of makeup, she comes out with half-inch fangs on every tooth, demon eye contact lenses, two-inch claws on every nail and her hair teased to high heaven. She says, “What do you think? Do we wanna keep this guy as our makeup artist?” How do you and your band respond?

Me: It looks great.

Erik and Linus are on board but Daryl says, “I don’t know. I don’t want her to alienate some of my female fans from me.

Bonham and I would roll out eyes.

11. Your band somehow all got piled into a Toyota Highlander to get to your next venue, and Linus and Bonham ended up in the trunk seats with Daryl and Erik in the middle and you riding shotgun. You get to the venue and when Erik and Daryl fold up their seats to let Linus and Bonham out, Bonham says, “Fucking finally! Fresh air!” She tries to jump out the doorway but her foot gets caught between the seat and the car frame, and she falls out of the car, landing facefirst on the pavement. Bonham immediately begins laughing hysterically. How do you and your band respond?

Me: Oh my god, Bonham are you ok?

The boys would just laugh and she’d sit up and go, “You fuckers.”

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1) You and your singer are down at the local bar on karaoke night. No one is volunteering and someone finally says, “Hey, you girls. Why don’t you come up?” Your singer shakes her head and goes, “No, you’ll have to get me super drunk to do that.” The bartender passes two beers your way. “Here on the house.” How do you and your singer respond?

2) You, Kevin, Randy, and your singer are at a bar for karaoke and all night you’ve been trying to get your singer up on stage. You finally get her up there and she’s great. Some asshole in the back screams, “God you fucking suck” when she’s done. She grabs back the mic and says, “Joke’s on you fucker. I’m the lead singer for War Angel. You know one of the hottest bands in LA right now.” How do you, Kevin, and Randy respond?

3) You have just told your singer’s sister to get out of the car and she stares you down with the fuck you look, plants her feet, crosses her arms, and says, “No.” Your singer goes to put the car back in drive because she’s not going to get out of the car. What do you do?

4) You and your singer are driving with her sister in the back. Your singer’s sister has learned from last time and doesn’t complain. She pipes up from the back, “What’s a sugar baby? Is that where you’re turned into a sugar glider?” How do you and your singer respond?

5) Your singer gets up really early one morning and goes and bangs on your door. “Come on! We’re going on an adventure. Let’s get up.” You roll over to see that it’s 5:30 in the morning. You get out of bed and go open the door, “Did you even sleep last night?” “Yes I slept for two hours and then couldn’t go back to sleep so I am surviving on coffee. I’ll be fine.” How do you respond?

6) You and your singer are driving on a road trip and Kevin and Randy are sleeping in the back. It’s late and you’re driving a stretch of road all on your own. All of a sudden she says to you calmly, “Don’t panic, but the breaks just went kaputt. I need you to keep the boys from hurting themselves too much while I pull the emergency brake.” How do you respond and what do the boys say once you guys are stopped?

7) Your singer left her and Kevin’s house one day super angry and drove to clear her head. You don’t hear from her for several hours and you, Randy, and Kevin are starting to get worried. Someone calls the house and when Kevin answers he’s barely on the phone one minute before getting ready to leave. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.” He hangs up and goes, “That was the hospital. She got into a really bad accident and is in intensive care at the moment. We’ve got to get down there.” How do you and Randy respond and what happens once you get to the hospital?

8) You, Kevin, Randy, and your singer are camping. Your singer keeps smacking at mosquitos on her skin even though she has bug spray on. “I swear they think I’m like sweet corn or something.” She smacks another one, “By the time we leave tomorrow I may have well over 100 bug bites.” How do you, Randy, and Kevin respond?

9) Your singer is babysitting her sister and Axl’s kid again. (Kevin and her don’t have any kids yet.) You’re out with her and she’s pushing the buggy. A reporter asks, “Is that your and Kevin DuBrow’s newborn?” She sarcastically answers, “Why yes it is. I secretly carried him for nine months.” You don’t think anything of it until you, Kevin, Randy, and your singer see those exact words splashed on the front cover of a gossip magazine. How do the four of you respond and how do you try to resolve this?

10) Kevin has said how he’s super nervous to become a father. He says how he thinks he’s not ready. One day, your singer pulls you aside and tells you she’s pregnant and wants to tell Kevin when you guys go on your double date tonight. What do you say to her and how do Kevin and Randy respond when she tells him that night?

11) Kevin and Randy have always talked about doing something crazy. One day, you go to one of those amusement parks by the beach and they have a slingshot ride. Kevin tries to get your singer to go on it and she says, “No fucking way. You can go with Randy.” How do you and Randy respond and how does their ride go?

@osbournebemydaddy your move, Bonham, love

#tag game #tag war

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junker-town · 3 years

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Western Illinois, Year 37, 2043-2044

Our Western Illinois dynasty has four seasons left in College Hoops 2K8. We need two titles to tie John Wooden’s record.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 37, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Coming off a heartbreaking loss in the Final Four, Western Illinois started the new season with a young roster featuring zero seniors. We began the year at No. 23 in the preseason polls and had a solid run in the non-conference schedule before uncharacteristically dropping two games against Summit League opponents. We rebounded to win the conference tournament and punch our ticket to the big dance.

We earned a No. 7 seed to the NCAA tournament and beat Colorado State in the first round, and UNLV in the round of 32. We then lost in the Sweet 16 to NC State to end our season.

We had no open scholarships, so didn’t land any new recruits. We did lose center Filipe Hopes early to the NBA draft after the season.

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 37:

Our goal is to tie or surpass John Wooden for the most national championships in college basketball history before the series ends after Year 40. With four seasons left, we have eight national titles to Wooden’s 10. We need to start stacking championships ASAP, and we start the new year with a team that’s good enough to win it all.

Everyone is back from last year’s team aside from center Filipe Hopes, who jumped to the NBA. With an intriguing four-man freshman class coming off their redshirts and set to join the rotation, we should have one of our deepest and most talented teams ever. We start the new year ranked No. 3 in the preseason polls.

Let’s meet the starting lineup:

PG Arvydas Hardy, 93 overall, redshirt senior: Hardy entered the program as our second-highest recruit ever (No. 12 overall), but hasn’t been able to fully live up to the hype yet despite some flashes of brilliance. Hardy is a huge lead guard at 6’4, 238 pounds, and he checks just about every box with his skill set. He’s blessed with a team-best 90 rating in three-point shooting, and he has A grades in passing and ball handling. Hardy’s only major weakness is that he’s often a little too passive offensively. We need to him to tap into his takeover scoring ability if we want to have a deep tournament run. Projected top pick out of Mesa, AZ with C- potential.

SG Augustine Bruthelieus, 92 overall, redshirt junior: Bruuuu is a tough 6’5 guard who can man either backcourt spot. While he’s not exactly a knockdown three-point shooter (75 rating), Bru plays a physical brand of basketball by getting into the paint on offense and forcing turnovers on defense. He has A- ratings in passing and handling for a shooting guard, as well as B+ ratings in both offensive and defensive awareness. Just a solid all-around player even if he doesn’t have outlier size or a signature skill. Former No. 42 overall recruit out of San Diego with C+ potential. Projected lottery pick.

SF Reece Mascoll, 93 overall, redshirt senior: A monstrous 6’9, 260 pound wing, Mascoll can play bully ball at the rim or stretch the defense with a high 70s rating in three-point shooting. We love that he has the versatility to play either forward spot, and can project as a primary scoring option at his best. After a big sophomore year coming off the bench, Mascoll’s tournament run as a junior wasn’t as dominant as we hoped. He decided to return for his senior year despite being a projected first round pick, and now should co-headline the team with Hardy. Former No. 40 overall recruit out of Riverside, CA with C potential. Projected top pick.

PF Al Reece, 89 overall, redshirt senior: Reece has tremendous size at 7’1, 277 pounds for a natural power forward. He has the best shot blocking rating on the team (90 rating) and can slide easily to the five. Reece checks a lot of boxes for a ‘Necks big man, but there’s one thing that holds him back: he’s almost too aggressive offensively. He shouldn’t be taking more shots than Hardy, but that has happened often in stream games. We need him to be a role player rather than think he’s our star. Former No. 138 overall recruit from Glendale, AZ with C- potential.

C D.J. Foster, 82 overall, redshirt sophomore: Foster is our lowest-rated starter in years, but we have no problem with that because he’s already proven to be a solid performer in tournament games. His best attribute is his size: at 7’2, 274 pounds, he’s able to protect the paint and rebound just by standing there. He also has more offensive game than you would expect, showing off a solid mid-range jumper last year. Former No. 173 overall recruit (No. 6 center) out of Chicago with C potential.

For as stacked as our starting lineup is, our depth might be the best asset of this team. We have the potential to go seven deep off the pine with no scholarships last season and four freshmen joining the rotation coming off their redshirts.

Redshirt junior Jerald Elliott (91 overall) is a 6’6 shooting guard with a ridiculous 99 rating in speed who also has A- ratings as a passer and ball handler. Elliott is our second highest rated shooter, but his slow release — similar to that of former guard Brandon “The Musket” Price — limits him some as a shooter. If Elliott is our ‘sixth starter,’ we have a group of freshmen and sophomores behind him who give us quality depth at every position.

Redshirt sophomore Ketshner Evertsen (83 rating) is a 6’8 shooting guard who we’ve moved to small forward. He projects as an elite shooter and proved he can be instant offense when he gets hot on our tournament run last season. Cam Kateley, a 6’6 redshirt sophomore point guard, and Bernie Doyle, a 6’9 redshirt freshman shooting guard, both provide size and floor spacing potential in the backcourt. We also have redshirt freshmen Floyd Keller (6’7 wing), Oscar Frye (7-foot power forward), and Brody Munoz (6’11 center) who could see time in the rotation in March.

Recruiting

We have four open scholarships this season. Since these players will only have three years with us before the series ends, we’re thinking about targeting some JUCO guys throughout the process. After scanning the available options, we decide to offer the following players:

SG Everson Fitch out of Peoria, IL: No. 14 overall player and No. 9 at his position

SF Kory O’Donnell out of Kansas City: No. 57 overall player and 6 at his position

PG Archie Howell out of El Paso: Five-star JUCO freshman

C Daon Whithers out of Cleveland: Five-star JUCO freshman

Fitch would go down as our third highest-rated recruit ever. O’Donnell is already massive at 6’9, 250 pounds for a high school small forward. Howell and Whithers are both five-star JUCOs, with Whithers profiling as a stud and Howell looking more gettable. We’ll see how it goes.

Reminder: WE’RE NO. 3 IN THE POLLS. Let’s do this.

How did the regular season go?

After a breezy season-opening win against Creighton, we faced No. 14 Oklahoma State in our next game and lost, 85-73. There will be no pressure to go undefeated this year. A few weeks later we lost to UConn and NC State, both talented but unranked teams, that dropped us out of the polls entirely.

We rebounded with wins over Kentucky, DePaul, and Lehigh to close out the non-con slate at 8-4. Not how we wanted to start the year.

Did we go undefeated in Summit League play?

No! We lost to Fort Wayne in our very first conference game of the season. An absolute shocker.

Oh my gosh, it happened again. This time to Southern Utah:

Two conference losses in each of the last two seasons, sheesh. This team was preseason No. 3!!! Are we even going to make the tournament at this point?

We won out for the rest of our regular season games and then entered the conference tournament. I am legit terrified we’re going to lay another egg and miss the dance entirely. After winning the first two games, we have a rematch with Southern Utah in the title game. They are rated as an 82 overall, which is about the highest you’ll ever see a team rated in this conference. We streamed the game here.

We won, and headed to the NCAA tournament. Man, this team doesn’t feel as good as I hoped.

Who did recruiting go?

Not well! We landed no one at the early signing deadline, and saw three of our targets commit elsewhere. The only original target we’re looking strong with is Howell, the 6’2 JUCO point guard, but he’ll still need a little more convincing in the offseason.

We’ve pivoted to big man Logan Polk, the No. 185 overall player and No. 11 center, in the front court. We also have offers out to five-star JUCO power forward Erik Stepp and four-star shooting guard Cornell Berry, who is rated No. 33 overall. Polk looks like the most likely to sign out of those three, while Berry is a swing for the fences. I figure we might be due for a little bit of good luck at some point here.

2044 NCAA tournament

We’re a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament, drawing MAC champion No. 9 seed Akron in the first round.

We’re rated as a 100 overall heading into the tournament at 27-6 on the year. The Zips are only rated as an 85 overall.

Before we get to the tournament run, let’s check in on the roster:

I know it hasn’t been the most dominant regular season, but damn, this roster is undeniably loaded. In terms of both top-end talent and depth, I’d put this squad up as one of my best ever. The reality is it won’t be remembered that way unless we run all the way to the national championship.

Hardy and Mascoll were big-time recruits with great tools who have had flashes of greatness, but have never put it together consistently. This is their chance as seniors. Reece and Foster, at 7’1 and 7’2 respectively, give us a major size advantage on any opponent. Bru and Elliott are versatile guards who feel like they could go either way in March. I’m really excited about our bench, with a few big wings who can shoot (sophomore Ketshner Evertsen and freshmen Bernie Doyle and Floyd Keller), some more size (freshman center Brody Munoz) and plenty of lineup versatility.

This team is awesome, but so far they have the underachievers tag. Let’s see if we can shake it. As always, we’re watching a simulated game between the computer. I’m not controlling the Leathernecks.

Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 105-70. We’re rolling into the second round.

That was a straight up blow out — we were able to hit ‘sim to end’ with 13 minutes left in the game as we held at 30 point lead. This one was never in doubt.

A few takeaways: Hardy was awesome, popping off for 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting. What a great start to his final tournament run with us. It was an ideal game for Mascoll, too, hitting a couple threes and dishing out six assists. Bruthelieus was great scoring the ball, and Elliott looked solid as our backup point guard.

We only hit two three-pointers in the first half and were still up 21. That seems like a good sign.

The win sets up a game with No. 1 seed Richmond in the round of 32

There’s nothing worse than getting a No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament, because it means we have to face the top seed in the round of 32. For us, that means a matchup with Richmond. I have to say, I’m shocked to see the Spiders are this good.

Richmond enters the game rated as a 98 overall. We’re a 100 overall.

It’s possible this will be our toughest game on the road to the Final Four. I guess we might as well take it on early. It’s not like we’re playing for Sweet 16 appearances over here. We need titles.

Massive game. The nerves are real. Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 111-99! We’re into the Sweet 16!

This was another ‘sim to end’ game with five minutes left, but in reality it was a lot closer than the final score would indicate. The first half was a dog fight, with Richmond using a zone defense to coax our perimeter players into taking threes. We attempted 27 threes in the first half (making 10), and 45 threes on the night (making 17). That has to be a record. Seeing as we were making them at a 37 percent clip, I was happy to let our guys keep shooting.

Bru was the biggest star, with 17 of his 22 coming in the first half. He finished 6-of-13 from three despite only being rated as a 75 in three-point shooting. That was huge, especially on a night when Arvy Hardy didn’t have it (1-of-7 shooting).

Mascoll (18 points on 6-of-12 shooting) was awesome again, and our sophomore center Foster (11 points, 11 rebounds) looked every bit of 7’2 out there. Major shout-out to Jerald Elliott as well, who helped blow this game open in the second half when we put him at point guard went with a full court press. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and added a couple steals and a bunch of assists. It is an immense luxury to have a versatile guard rated in the 90s like him coming off our bench.

The win sets up a game with No. 4 seed Rhode Island in the Sweet 16

Rhode Island is rated as an 85 overall. They don’t have any super highly rated players, but it looks like they’ll have a formidable team for a stream game with a big small forward who can shoot and a couple veteran guards.

I’m starting to gain confidence in this team. We already knocked out the No. 1 seed, and I think we’ve found something with lineups that have Elliott at point guard. Let’s keep this run going. Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 94-71! We’re rolling into the Elite Eight!

Three games, three ‘sim to end’ blowouts. I had a good feeling about this one when Reece Mascoll ripped a three off the opening tip:

twitch_clip

Those good vibes wouldn’t last long: nine minutes into the game, Rhode Island was up double-figures. We took a timeout, put Elliott in at point guard, turned up the full court pressure, and before you know it we were going into the halftime break ahead by 13 points.

Elliott is really becoming a stud. He’s a great shooter (86 rating from three), but his slow release handicaps him on the wing. That’s why we’ve mostly been playing him at the one, where his size (6’6) and uber-elite speed (99 rating) is a terror. He’s really solid as a passer and decision-maker, and that’s been enough to give us a boost when he put him in for Reece as our first sub.

Look at the speed!

twitch_clip

Hardy was also really good this game with 16 points, four assists, and a couple threes. We’ve been waiting five years for Hardy to carry us, but it seems like he’s just not aggressive enough to be a superstar. Instead, he’s really solid within a team concept, hitting open threes, dropping dimes, and never forcing his own offense.

Mascoll is starting to play like a star. He finished with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals, just an incredible performance. Also: Floyd Keller got his first real minutes and scored nine points during a key stretch. Hell yeah. We are looking good.

The win sets up a game with No. 2 seed Louisville in the Elite Eight

We have our work cut out for us if we’re going to reach the Final Four. Louisville is one of the best teams we’ve ever faced in this simulation. Yes, they’re a 100 overall, and their roster is even stronger than ours. They have five players rated in the 90s, two players rated as 89s, another rated as an 88. We showed off Louisville’s roster at the start of the video below.

I’ve never felt more pressure as a coach. We need national title No. 9 if we want to match or surpass Wooden, and I doubt we’ll have a team as good as this one again before the series ends. We need a title, and Louisville is an enormous test in the Elite Eight.

One time, ‘Necks. Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 113-95. We’re going to the Final Four!

We had some technical difficulties in this one, and by the time I resolved them we were well on our way to a fourth straight ‘sim to end’ game in this tournament. It is absolutely unbelievable that we were able to blow out that Louisville team. Just a great performance by our guys.

Foster was wildly good. The 7’2 sophomore center popped off for 22 points and 12 rebounds. He can score with either hand around the basket, has a decent face-up jumper, and is just so, so big. Louisville had no answer for him:

twitch_clip

Our depth also shined again in a big way. On a night when Mascoll (10 points) wasn’t taking over, we were lucky to have 6’8 sophomore wing Ketshner Evertsen, 6’9 freshman two guard Bernie Doyle, and of course our boy Elliott get hot and help carry us.

Elliott just rules at point guard, going off for 16 points and seven assists on 6-of-7 shooting. I swear the guy never misses, and rarely makes a bad decision. Doyle (nine points) got going attacking the basket, and I really think he can be a future star. Then there’s Shner, who broke out as a freshman in the tournament last year and remains a great weapon for us off the bench:

twitch_clip

Shner finished with 18 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three. I’m telling you, the wing depth is really what makes this team stand out.

There was also a kick ass Mascoll tip-dunk during our technical difficulties that was so good I had to pause the game and figure out the stream so we could make a clip of it as a replay.

We’re feeing it right now. On to the Final Four!

The win sets up a game with No. 1 seed BYU in the Final Four

BYU has had a really solid program throughout this simulation, and this looks like one of their better teams. The Cougars enter the game rated as a 97 overall, and they play a bit better than that because they have a ton of size in the front court.

We are one win away from the chance to play for title No. 9. Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 94-88! We’ll be playing for the national championship!

There was no ‘sim to end’ in this one; instead, it came down to the final minutes. I really thought this was headed for a blowout, but a wild end to the first half set the table for the final 20 minutes. After Ketshner Evertsen hit a three with seconds remaining before halftime, BYU came down and drained a halfcourt shot at the buzzer:

twitch_clip

We were comfortably in control for most of the second half before BYU started to make its run. Up 14 with under five minutes left, BYU started making everything and suddenly we couldn’t buy a bucket. The Cougars made it a two-point game with under a minute left, but some clutch free throw shooting from Hardy iced the win. This was unquestionably the most difficult game we have had on our tournament run, and it has me thinking that a national title game win won’t come easy.

Jerald Elliot, the 6’6 junior shooting guard, was awesome again, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and almost exclusively playing the point for us. Our dude might be making a run at MOP if we can win it all.

twitch_clip

Evertsen — aka Shner — was also killer again, going 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from three to finish with 15 points. It is so nice to have a 6’8 natural shooting guard on the bench we can go to for a jolt of offense. The starters also played well enough, with Hardy and Mascoll each scoring 13 points and Bru putting up 12 points.

The win sets up a game with No. 2 seed UCLA in the national championship game

We beat UCLA for our second ever championship, and we’re going to have to do so again if we want title No. 9. The Bruins have a loaded roster with four players rated in the 90s.

We enter at 32-6, they enter at 31-6. They’re a 99 overall, we’re a 100 overall.

Given that we’ve stated our goal is to tie or surpass John Wooden’s record 10 championships before the series ends after Year 40, there’s a case to be made that this is the biggest game in program history. This would give us title No. 9 with three seasons left. We aren’t catching Wooden if we lose.

Please, ‘Necks. One time. Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 101-81! WESTERN ILLINOIS IS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FOR THE NINTH TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY!

This game was tight for the first 33 minutes or so, but our SECOND HALF TEAM came through when it counted. In fitting fashion, it was a true team effort with five players scoring in a double-figures and bench player being named MOP.

Jerald Elliott finished his amazing tournament by putting up 16 points, seven assists, five steals, and three blocks in the natty on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. He was deservedly named MOP. Elliott came into this season with a nice rating but major question marks about what role he would play. It turns out he was the point guard we needed all along, and that let the rest of the team fall into place.

twitch_clip

It was also great to see Hardy have such a good title game performance. He finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with three assists and just one turnover. It was a quintessential Arvy Hardy effort: he picked his spots and was efficient with every shot attempt. I’m going to say he lived up to the hype as our second highest rated recruit ever.

We needed this one:

twitch_clip

And then there was Bru. We once recruited Bruthelieus and Elliott together as shooting guards in the same class, and that couldn’t have worked out any better. Bru finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting and might have pulled a full DiVincenzo by playing his way into the NBA draft.

This three off a pin-down screen was the dagger.

twitch_clip

Reece Mascoll also went out as a champion in his last game. While he never became a monster scorer like Jitim Dupree, Skip Clemmons, and Nic Cummings before him, he was one of the best players on this team the last three years and an invaluable contributor to this championship. His ability to play either the three or the fourth was an incredible dimension for us that we won’t have next year.

He also had a big dunk, if you’re into big dunks.

twitch_clip

One last shout-out to Hardy for using his final game in a ‘Necks uniform to .... take our first ever charge!?! I honestly can’t remember this happening before.

twitch_clip

From the moment we brought in the Hardy-Mascoll-Reece-Hopes group that was named the fifth best recruiting class in the country, we always thought their senior year would be our moment. While all of those guys were great, I think I’ll instead remember this team for having so much versatility and such great depth.

Pretty much everyone played two different positions for us on our run. We had size, we had shooting, we had size that could shoot. If this wasn’t our best team ever, I really do think it’s damn close.

Let’s see that hometown newspaper. Print lives in 2044!

It feels so good to win national championship No. 9. We’re one behind John Wooden with three seasons to go. All we wanted was a legit chance to match or surpass him, and now we have it.

So: let’s see who’s coming back next year.

Offseason

Western Illinois is your national champion. Feels great to say.

Hardy, Mascoll, and Reece all get drafted. We did lose one other player to the NBA: Augustine Bruthelieus. The man went out on top, having the best game of his career in the national title. Mad respect.

My record stands at 1,075-205.

I get offered jobs by NC State, Arizona, Indiana, and Arkansas, but turn them all down.

We lose an assistant and hire someone new with B- ratings across the board.

Recruiting

So just a reminder: recruiting isn’t going too well. We have four open scholarships and no one who is ready to accept.

The player we’re closest with is five-star JUCO point guard Archie Howel. After the second week of the spring signing period, he becomes our first recruit:

Howel is a 6’2 guard out of El Paso who we identified as gettable early in the process. He won’t redshirt and will be a senior in Year 40 because he’s entering school as a sophomore. The only position we didn’t recruit for two years ago was point guard (remember, we had no open scholarships last year), so filling this position was crucial. We’ve had a couple good JUCO point guards over the years in Damon Hendriks and Diondre Haynes, so hopefully he can be the next one.

We also badly need a center and have been chasing Logan Polk since we lost our initial target. A week later, he becomes our second commit:

Polk is rated as the No. 11 center in his class, and the No. 185 overall player. His AAU numbers are incredible: 17.1 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. He’s ranked a tad bit lower than the guys we usually get at his position, but he should be a solid three-year big for us before the series ends.

We have two more open scholarships, but our two targets — four-star shooting guard Cornell Berry and five-star JUCO Erek Stepp — both sign elsewhere. We need a big guard and wing, but we also just have to take what we can get. We decide to offer the top international player, 6’2 point guard Christano Ngoundu out of Cameroon, because he projects as the top player available. On the last week, he signs with us.

Our last scholarship is offered to 6’8 small forward Ivan Adler out of Bellflower, CA. He’s only rated No. 192 overall, but his AAU stats were awesome — 13.3 points per game on 44 percent three-point shooting — and we love his size. We were his only offer going into the final week, but unfortunately he did not commit. We’re going to have to roll over that scholarship to next year.

Now it’s time to set next year’s schedule:

@ Richmond, Maui Invitational, Vanderbilt, @ Providence, @ Duke, Northwestern, @ Penn State, Saint Louis

Year 38

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 38:

Two thoughts:

This team has a chance to be very good

The lineups we play in the regular season will not be the same ones I’m playing in tournament games as we try to win national championship No. 10

None of the freshmen are redshirting. Here’s what they came in:

Christano Ngoundu, 77 overall, B potential: I was hesitant to offer Ngoundu because oftentimes international recruits take five years to get good, but I’m so glad I did because he’s easily our best get. The 6’2 guard should get backup point guard minutes from the jump.

Logan Polk, 76 overall, C potential: Probably about as good as we could have reasonably hoped for given that he was only ranked No. 11 at the position. He’ll likely earn spot minutes as our second big man off the bench.

Archie Howel, 71 overall, C- potential: This one hurts, but he does he have a 75 rating in three-point shooting, so maybe he can be a depth piece and a weapon in tournament time if nothing else.

We’ll have three scholarships to recruit for this year.

We’re going to be streaming Year 38 on Sunday, May 2 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch channel. We’ll be recruiting and simming through our regular season, and then going into the tournament. If we have a long tournament run and can’t complete the season in one night, we’ll finish out the tournament run on Wednesday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch.

Watch Western Illinois in Year 38

What: Western Illinois Year 38 season

When: Sunday, May 2 at 8 p.m. ET. If necessary: continued on Wednesday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: My Twitch stream

For email updates on this series, subscribe here.

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paint-the-sky12-blog · 7 years

Text

Roblox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roblox

's logo as of January 10, 2017.

[1]

Developer(s)

Roblox Corporation

Publisher(s)

Roblox Corporation

Director(s)David Baszucki

Platform(s)

Microsoft Windows

Mac OS X

iOS

Android

Xbox One

Oculus Rift

[2]

PlayStation 4

(in development)

[3]

ReleaseApril 6, 2006

Genre(s)

Massively multiplayer online game

Mode(s)

Single-player

multiplayer

Roblox is a massively multiplayer online game creation platform that allows users to design their own games and play a wide variety of different types of games created by the developer or other users. Sometimes compared to Minecraft, Roblox is a website and app that hosts social network virtual world games constructed of Lego-like virtual blocks.[4]

Founder and CEO David Baszucki started testing the first demos in 2004 under the name DynaBlocks.[5] In 2005, it was renamed Roblox and became available for PCs.[6] The platform was officially released in 2006 by the Roblox Corporation.[7] As of 2016, Roblox has 30 million active monthly users.[8][9]

Contents

[

hide

]

1Gameplay

2Development

3Legacy

4Toy line

5References

6External links

Gameplay

Editing using

Roblox Studio 2017

Roblox is a sandbox game which allows players to create their very own games using its proprietary engine, Roblox Studio. Games and assets for games are built by using "bricks", similar to those of lego bricks. Players can use the programming language Lua to dynamically change the environment of the game and program their own games.[10] Plugins can also be developed with Lua to be used in Roblox Studio.[11]

Users are able to advertise and sponsor their own game on the website by bidding. Users are also able to create gamepasses, which can be used to give consumers perks for buying the gamepass, etc.; "Developer Products", which can be purchased unlimited times, similar to the likes of microtransactions and badges, to reward players for doing a certain task. A percentage of the revenue from gamepasses and developer products is given to Roblox.

Roblox is played by using a keyboard's WASD and arrow keys or by using a mouse, touchpad, or other input devices. Players can switch between first-person and third-person modes.

A fourth generation (4.0)

Roblox

character (Robloxian), a commonly used package.

Roblox allows players to buy, sell and create virtual items. Shirts, T-shirts, and pants can be bought by anyone but only players with Builders Club membership can sell shirts, T-shirts and pants. Only Roblox admins can sell hats, gear and packages on the platform. Hats with a "Limited" status, or "Limited" hats, can only be sold on the Roblox catalog with Builders' Club.

Players are allowed to wear at the most 3 hats, 1 shirt, 1 T-shirt and 1 pair of pants, to carry 1 gear item. Players buy items with "Robux", which can be obtained by revenue from games made by the user, revenue made from shirts, t-shirts or pants, revenue from selling "Limited" hats or microtransactions. A percentage of the revenue made in "Robux" goes to Roblox.

Roblox allows for the creation of groups. After joining, players can then advertise their group, participate in group relations, and set their primary group. Players that own groups can also manage roles, make shoutouts, post on the group wall, moderate the group wall, etc. Groups can only be owned by Builders' Club members.

Groups can publish their own clothing (Shirts, T-shirts and Pants) and games can also be published as a group game and all revenue from group clothing and games goes towards group funds. Group funds specifically are used to run ads to promote groups and can also be paid out using the "Group Payout" system which could contribute to creating new roles, etc. Clans can also be created. Clans are groups that compete against each other in Player Points Leaderboard rankings. Player Points are points that can be rewarded for achieving a certain goal, etc. and can be given out by developers to players.[12]

Development

Roblox was created by co-founders David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004. Roblox – a portmanteau of the words "robots" and "blocks", launched in beta version that year. The website was officially launched in 2006.[13][14]

In March 2007, Roblox became compliant with COPPA, with the addition of safe chat, a change that limited users under the age of thirteen to communicating by selecting predefined messages from a menu.[15]In August 2007, Roblox added the Builders Club, a premium membership, and applied server improvements.[16]

In December 2011, Roblox also held their first Hack Week, an annual event where Roblox developers work on innovative outside-the-box ideas for new developments to present to the company.[17][18]

On December 11, 2012, Roblox released an iOS version of the game.[19][20] In an interview with Massively, CEO David Baszucki stated he also wanted the game to be available on the digital stores of "Android, Windows, Steam, Mac, Chrome, [and] Amazon..."[21]

On May 31, 2015, a feature named Smooth Terrain was added, increasing the graphical fidelity of the terrain and changing the physics engine from a block-oriented style to a smoother and more realistic style.[22] On November 20, 2015, Roblox was launched on Xbox One, with an initial selection of 15 games chosen by Roblox staff.[23][24] New Roblox games for this console will have to go through an approval process, and are subject to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board standards.[25][26]

In April 2016, Roblox launched Roblox VR for Oculus Rift. At the time of release, more than ten million games were available in 3-D.[27] Also by this time, Roblox had 30 million monthly active users, and a peak of 900,000 concurrent users.[28] Around the same time period, the safe chat feature was removed and replaced by a system based on a whitelist with a set of acceptable words for users under 13 years old and on a "black list" for other users. This new system allows users under the age of 13 to create content on the website, which they were not able to do previously.[29]

In June 2016, the company launched a version compatible with Windows 10. While the game has had a PC presence since 2004 with its web version, this is the first time it was upgraded with a standalone launcher built for Windows.[30] The following month, during an episode of The Next Level, it was announced that Roblox would be ported to the PlayStation 4.[3]

Legacy

During the 2017 Roblox Developers Conference, officials said that creators on Roblox (about 1.7 million)[31] collectively earned at least $30 million USD in 2017.[32] One creator told Business Insider that funds from his creation covered his undergraduate education at Duke University.[6]

Toy line

In January 2017, Jazwares, a toy fabricator, joined with the Roblox Corporation to create 40 toy minifigures based on user generated content created by large developers on the platform.[33] The toys were announced to the player base of Roblox via their blog, on February 1, 2017.[34] The minifigures had limbs and joints similar to that of Lego minifigures, along with the fact that their limbs and accessories are interchangeable. The first series contained 40 minifigures in all, being sold in sets of three or six, or individual minifigures. All of these sets included a code that could be used to redeem virtual items.[34][35]

Later that year in August, Roblox announced the second series of minifigures, introducing 40 more minifigures of characters from popular games on the platform, along with the online avatars of popular developers. There is also a 'blind box', that contains a random minifigure and has a chance to contain a 'Mystery Figure'.[36]

References

Jump up^ Baszucki, David (10 January 2017). "Introducing Our Next-Generation Logo". ROBLOX Corporation. Retrieved 28 June2017.

Jump up^ McCaffrey, Ryan (September 24, 2015). "Roblox Helps You Make Your Own Xbox One Games". IGN. Retrieved March 12, 2016.

^ Jump up to:a b Hendrik, Jack (July 1, 2016). "The Next Level: 150k Celebration". Twitch.tv. Retrieved February 20, 2017. PS4, soon, it's in production, that has been confirmed, we are working on it for PS4.

Jump up^ Needleman, Rafe (June 14, 2011). "Roblox: A virtual world of Lego-like blocks". CNET. Retrieved February 29, 2012.

Jump up^ Neil C., Hughes (July 15, 2016). "How This User-Generated Video Game Is Leading The Way With Innovation and VR". Inc Magazine.

^ Jump up to:a b "A video game you've never heard of has turned three teens into multimillionaires — and it's just getting started". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-10-10.

Jump up^ Fennimore, Jack (12 July 2017). "Roblox: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

Jump up^ Wolverton, Troy (October 20, 2016). "Roblox: Is unusual virtual playground the next Minecraft?". The Mercury News.

Jump up^ Takahashi, Dean (December 20, 2016). "At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement". Venture Beat.

Jump up^ "Roblox as an educational program language". Kids Like. December 9, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2009.

Jump up^ McDowell, Guy (June 29, 2009). "Roblox - A Cool Lego-Based Free Virtual World for Kids". makeuseof.com. Retrieved October 11, 2009.

Jump up^ Sims, Tony (February 7, 2013). "Interview With David Baszucki, Founder & CEO of Roblox". Wired. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

Jump up^ "Roblox Info on BusinessWeek". BusinessWeek. Retrieved September 20, 2009.

Jump up^ "Roblox". Keen Gamer. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

Jump up^ Dickson, Jeremy (June 23, 2015). "SuperAwesome and Roblox join forces on kid-safe advertising". kidscreen.

Jump up^ LaRouche, Brandon (March 31, 2012). Basic ROBLOX Lua Programming. Double Trouble Studio. p. 237. ISBN 9780985451301.

Jump up^ Milian, Mark (December 2, 2012). "Hackathons move beyond Silicon Valley". SFGate. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

Jump up^ Chaykowski, Kathleen (August 31, 2012). "Lua language helps kids create software". SFGate. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

Jump up^ Grubb, Jeffrey (December 12, 2012). "Roblox goes mobile in time for the holidays". VentureBeat.

Jump up^ Clark, Matt (December 12, 2012). "ROBLOX Brings Millions of User Created Games to iOS". Mac|Life.

Jump up^ Bryan, Karen (December 26, 2012). "MMO Family: Roblox CEO David Baszucki talks mobile app, plans for the future". Massively.

Jump up^ "Roblox user-generated world moves from blocky terrain to smooth 3D". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 3, 2015.

Jump up^ Woods, Ben (September 24, 2015). "Roblox's community-made games are coming to Xbox One". The Next Web.

Jump up^ Grubb, Jeff (September 24, 2015). "Roblox comes to Xbox One, joins Minecraft in the growing player-made content space on consoles". VentureBeat.

Jump up^ Grubb, Jeff (January 27, 2016). "Roblox launches on Xbox One with 15 player-created games — watch us play them". VentureBeat.

Jump up^ Parrish, Robin (September 25, 2015). "Roblox Comes to Xbox One In December". Tech Times.

Jump up^ Gaudiosi, John (April 15, 2016). "This Company Just Introduced 20 Million People to Oculus Rift". Fortune. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

Jump up^ Takahasi, Dean (December 20, 2016). "At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement". VentureBeat.

Jump up^ "Roblox". Australian Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

Jump up^ Grubb, Jeff (June 10, 2016). "After Xbox One success, Roblox now has a dedicated Windows 10 app". VentureBeat.

Jump up^ "This game turned players into $50,000-a-month entrepreneurs — now it has a plan to help them make $1.68 million a year". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-10-10.

Jump up^ "Hobbyist developers will make $30 million via 'Roblox' this year". Engadget. Retrieved 2017-10-10.

Jump up^ Takahashi, Dean (January 10, 2017). "Roblox launches toys based on its user-generated games". VentureBeat. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

^ Jump up to:a b Baszucki, David (1 February 2017). "Introducing Roblox Toys". ROBLOX Corp. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

Jump up^ "Matt Dusek". Jazwares. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

Jump up^ Fennimore, Jack (25 August 2017). "Roblox Toys Wave 2 Hits Store Shelves This August". Heavy. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

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This page was last edited on 15 November 2017, at 00:49.

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thesportssoundoff · 7 years

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“Hey Pittsburgh, we uh...we got a thing for ya” Fight Night: Rockhold vs Branch preview

So for the majority of you/us, Gennady Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez is THE fight of the year in boxing and maybe even in MMA if we never get McGregor vs the winner of Ferg/Lee. For the slimmest of you, aka me and other hardcore UFC fans who have compulsion problems, we will be watching the UFC's Fight Night LIVE from Pittsburgh. I almost thought about heading out to this show but the ride would've been too much for a main event involving David Branch. I'll just wait for an inevitable return to Philly I suppose. Sometime before 2025 please? Anyways this show is...it's weird. There's been far worse free TV offerings from the UFC but it's also not great. What's more, it's not great on a night where great programming abounds everywhere (Louisville/Clemson, LSU/Mississippi State, Texas/USC on free TV, GGG vs Canelo) and the entire MMA and boxing community are recovering from the Mayweather/McGregor show. In the end, we're left with a fine show pitting some fine fighters against one another in some fine contests. The headliner is what a boxing trainer I knew would refer to as "mandatory non-destination programming." In other words, it's an important fight that's hard to care for. Beyond that the show has a nice mix of fighters who COULD be major players in the division vs established veteran challengers and intriguing on paper fights which would be hard pressed to not at least be amusing. All in all, this is just a card on a Saturday designed to fill out a predetermined schedule. Proceed accordingly.

Fights: 11

Debuts: 2 (Azunna Anwanyu and Alex Reyes)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Thiago Alves OUT, Alex Reyes IN vs Mike Perry/ Dimitriy Sosnovski OUT, Azunna Anwanyu IN vs Justin Ledet)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 4 (Luke Rockhold, Hector Lombard, Sergio Moraes and Anthony Hamilton)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (Hector Lombard, Felipe Arantes)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 8 (Sergio Moraes, Kamaru Usman, Gregor Gillespie, Anthony Smith, Justin Ledet, Tony Martin, Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Uriah Hall)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 25-23)- Zu Anwanyu, Alex Reyes

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 17-25)- Zu Anwanyu, Alex Reyes

Second Fight (Current number: 22-27)- Daniel Spitz

Cage Corrosion (14-7)- Luke Rockhold

Twelve Precarious Ponderings:

1- I wonder if I didn't give this main card enough credit on paper for being decent enough to get by. It's not going to wow anybody BUT that's neither her nor there; it's just not an awful showcase. The main event is a dull fight on paper BUT Rockhold vs Branch has some serious divisional relevance and you can absolutely appreciate on paper what the point is behind said fight. Mike Perry vs Thiago Alves on paper was a great test for both guys but Alves fell out. It would be easy to just call this a scrub fight BUT Mike Perry himself was like a week notice replacement for somebody once. The same could be said for Justin Ledet vs competent regional HW Zu Anwanyu on short notice. I have little interest in Anthony Smith vs Hector Lombard on paper but Smith is on a finishing roll in the UFC and Hector Lombard COULD be fighting for his job. Gregor Gillespie is coming off a really impressive mowing down of Andrew Holbrook and could be a player at 155 lbs. Lastly you have an intriguing fight between Kamaru Usman and Sergio Moraes primarily because Moraes is the first guy who stylistically people would say has a shot at stifling Usman (a bigger stronger grappler type). It's not as bad as I imagined.

2- Is Luke Rockhold the most hated UFC fighter ever? This Bisping-GSP fiasco is entirely on his shoulders because if he beats Bisping, we're not dealing with any of this mess.

3- It's believed that Branch is getting this fight because a) Anderson Silva said no, b) Romero would take it but only if it was three rounds and c) Jacare doesn't want to fight any time soon. So David Branch draws Luke Rockhold in the main event and lest we forgot, Branch is absolutely Mr. Ratings. Now what can David Branch necessarily do to Luke Rockhold? I mean....I 'unno. Branch has been training for five round fights since he essentially wound up at WSOF. Now counter to that, so has Luke Rockhold. Branch has been successful at LHW but I have little doubt Rockhold's future is at 205 lbs by the end of 2018 at the earliest. Branch is pretty strong in the clinch but Rockhold made Weidman look small in the clinch. Rockhold's grappling is world's better than Branch. The one key caveat is that Rockhold has, at times, looked chinny during his UFC run. Getting finished by Vitor is not the end of the world given Vitor's.....physique but there's simply no way to justify getting flattened by Bisping. No way no how.

4- Without looking it up, guess who is younger between Rockhold and Branch and also by how much.

5- How many finishes would Mike Perry have to get in a row before his detractors acknowledged that he brings excitement to events?

6- Of all the fighters on this main card, no one guy has the ability to challenge for the title and soon the way Kamaru Usman has. Usman's wrestling is above and beyond the call of duty and his striking seems to be improving as well. The downside is that beyond the best wrestler in the UFC is like a big glowing tag that reads BORING on it, even though Usman tends to be a hyperactive ground and pounder who just seems to lack the ability to get that ONE fight finishing shot. If he can finish Kamaru Usman, he might take that BIG step up the rankings that people seem to be waiting for him to take. Sergio Moraes has been successful across a collection of weight classes (185 on TUF, 170 in the actual UFC) and he's a crazy good grappler who AT LEAST has pop in his hands. It's a good test for Usman as the UFC tries to figure out if he's a nuisance or a star on the rise.

7- Is Anthony Hamilton vs Daniel Spitz potentially the worst sanctioned fight (MMA, boxing, kickboxing, shoot wrestling, pillow) in the history of the universe?

8- There are a lot of wrasslers on this card and grappler types matched up; one such fight is Olivier Aubin Mercier taking on Tony Martin. OAM is a grappler first and foremost with a knack for submissions (although getting there is a chore). Tony Martin is a grinder who has suddenly discovered that he can strike over his last few fights. Mercier is hard to hit but doesn't react well when he IS hit while Martin seems to struggle with his cardio and his angles. It's a well matched clash on paper.

9- Felipe Arantes vs Luke Sanders is a really intriguing fight and one of those sleeper bouts you get one of those FS1 cards during a block of FS1 cards where you go "Oh shit that's a freakin' great fight." Sanders is 1-1 in the UFC but he could be 2-0 had he not made a tactical error vs Iuri Alcantara. Felipe Arantes is one of those guys who dropped down in weight and seemed to find himself. After going 3-3-1 at 145 lbs, Arantes moved down in weight to 135 lbs and he's gone 2-1 and could be undefeated in the weight class depending on how you view his split decision loss to a one legged Erik Perez. Both guys are action oriented fighters although Sanders tends to keep things upright and batter dudes while Arantes has become more sub savvy at 135 lbs.

10- Okay so is Hector Lombard the biggest UFC bust ever? Also let's not forget that at 28, Anthony Smith would be among the younger top 15 guys.

11- Justin Ledet came into the UFC and boxed up Chase Sherman at high altitude for three rounds; a win that in hindsight looks a lot better. Then he went into Belfast and submitted Mark Godbeer in relatively easy fashion. Zu Anwanyu is a good veteran HW who hits hard, hits infrequently and is one of those guys who just does stuff just to do it.

12- We still in on this Uriah Hall buzz or nah?

Must Win

1- Luke Rockhold

There's simply no way to describe this; Luke Rockhold cannot lose to Michael Bisping and Davis Branch back to back. You cannot be a top 10 MW and do that. You just can't.

2- Hector Lombard

The argument could be made that Lombard is the biggest flop in UFC history. A win over Anthony Smith doesn't prevent that from being the case BUT a loss might as well solidify it. Aging Hendo to bloated Hendricks to Anthony Smith? Irreplacable.

3- Kamaru Usman

Usman may be the best prospect between 170 and 205 lbs----but he's lacking a really signature win or finish to cement that. As of right now, he's just a really talented wrestler with powerful g-n-p who fight fans do not care to see. A win over Sergio Moraes would absolutely challenge that thought process ESPECIALLY if he gets a finish.

Five Must See Fights

1- Gregor Gillispie vs Jason Gonzales

Simply put, Gregor Gillispie is a very unique talent in a division filled with them. Jason Gonzalez has the ability to challenge Gregor in a few areas but this should be a fun exciting showcase for a good fighter.

2- Mike Perry vs Alex Reyes

I know nothing of Alex Reyes but Mike Perry has finished 3 of his 4 UFC fights, all in relatively violent fashion. He's an all offense, no defense sort of fighter who relies on his chin. He's got some scary Leben-esque tendencies to his game.

3- Kamaru Usman vs Sergio Moraes

This is a total stylistic clash but one where the stylistic advantages of both fighters suggest whomever has improved the most outside of their strengths will dictate who wins. That makes it fun and compelling.

4- Luke Rockhold vs David Branch

The question re: Rockhold's chin make this a compelling fight on paper. Chances are once the bell rings, it'll be a whole lot less compelling.

5- Daniel Spitz vs Anthony Hamilton

This has "must be seen to be believed" written all over it.

#MMA #UFC #Fight Night #Rockhold #Branch #FS1 #Pittsburgh #Usman #Perry

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gadgetsrevv · 5 years

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European Qualifiers: What to watch out for this week – European Qualifiers

Germany-Netherlands IV

“Football in its purest form,” Franz Beckenbauer says of games between these great rivals. Three meetings over the past 12 months have lived up to the billing, delivering 12 goals, seesawing fortunes and thrilling finishes – all featured last-minute goals! The Netherlands had the edge in the UEFA Nations League, relegating their neighbours in the process, but it was first blood Germany in EURO 2020 qualifying. Another win in Hamburg would reassert German ascendancy and, with Northern Ireland yet to drop a point in Group C, dent Oranje hopes.

Friday: Germany v Netherlands, Estonia v Belarus Monday: Northern Ireland v Germany, Estonia v Netherlands

And the qualifying top scorer is …

Zahavi inspires Israel against Austria

Eran Zahavi’s international career looked to be over two years ago after he quit in the wake of a very public row with Israel fans. Andi Herzog made convincing the striker to change his mind top priority when he took the reins last summer and the Austrian’s endeavours have not gone unrewarded. Seven goals in four qualifiers, including back-to-back hat-tricks against Austria and Latvia, is some return even for a player who has managed almost a goal per game in four seasons in China. Israel fans have let bygones be bygones.

Thursday: Israel v North Macedonia Friday: Slovenia v Poland, Austria v Latvia Monday: Poland v Austria, Slovenia v Israel, Latvia v North Macedonia

Portugal running out of room

How Portugal won Nations League

“These matches are decisive,” reckons coach Fernando Santos. “I want to qualify directly, in first place. We’ve reached a point where we have to win the remaining games.” Bearing in mind Portugal have only played two qualifiers, this sounds a bit alarmist, but there’s no room for complacency after a pair of draws. Unbeaten Ukraine have a handsome lead in Group B and if Portugal slip up in Serbia on Saturday they could soon find themselves adrift of the top two.

Saturday: Lithuania v Ukraine, Serbia v Portugal Tuesday: Lithuania v Portugal, Luxembourg v Serbia

Can Iceland do it again?

Highlights: Iceland 2-1 Turkey

Erik Hamrén is into his second year as Iceland boss and, after initially struggling to arrest a slide that saw a run of 15 games without a win, things are beginning to fall in place. June’s victory against Turkey was an important signpost (as it was in UEFA EURO 2016 and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying) and Group H is shaping up to be a three-way battle between the pair and France. Three into two doesn’t go, though, and Iceland cannot afford any missteps this week.

Saturday: Iceland v Moldova, France v Albania, Turkey v Andorra Tuesday: France v Andorra, Albania v Iceland, Moldova v Turkey

Pukki leads Finland charge

Highlights: Finland 2-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Teemu Pukki has hit the ground running in the Premier League, five goals in four games earning him the player of the month award for August. But can he do it on a lukewarm night in Tampere? We already know the answer (just ask Bosnia and Herzegovina), and his form is raising hopes that 2020 will finally be the year Finland make their major finals bow. This week could be pivotal, and a repeat of last year’s 2-0 win against Greece could help establish a six-point cushion over third spot.

Thursday: Armenia v Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina v Liechtenstein, Finland v Greece Sunday: Armenia v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland v Italy, Greece v Liechtenstein

England playing the long game

Highlights: Montenegro 1-5 England

“We only have eight matches before I name the squad for the European Championship,” England manager Gareth Southgate said, giving a nod to Mr Freud as he explained the infusion of youth and new faces in his squad. The approach betrays a new-found confidence for the Three Lions. England haven’t lost a major tournament qualifier for nearly a decade so can afford to take a long-term approach and boost competition for places.

Saturday: Kosovo v Czech Republic, England v Bulgaria Tuesday: England v Kosovo, Montenegro v Czech Republic

Can Slovakia steal a march?

Highlights: Slovakia 2-0 Hungary

Group E is perhaps the most competitive of all ten sections. Four of the five teams graced UEFA EURO 2016 and, not even halfway through 2020 qualifying, all have lost at least once. This week could be defining and Slovakia take centre stage, hosting Croatia before a trip to Hungary. Away form has been their Achilles heel, with a solitary win against European opposition outside of Trnava in two years.

Friday: Slovakia v Croatia, Wales v Azerbaijan Monday: Azerbaijan v Croatia, Hungary v Slovakia

Romania on the rise

Highlights: Norway 3-3 Sweden

Spain are odds on for a 14th successive major finals appearance (second only to Germany in Europe) after four wins out of four, but the race to join them is anyone’s guess. Sweden and Norway have ambitions, and watch out for their rematch after March’s six-goal thriller, but what about Romania? Cosmin Contra’s side have lost just once in 14 games and this summer’s run to the U21 EURO semis showed that talent runs deep. Ianis Hagi, a star in Italy, makes the step up.

Thursday: Romania v Spain, Norway v Malta, Faroe Islands v Sweden Sunday: Romania v Malta, Sweden v Norway, Spain v Faroe Islands

Shaqiri leaves hole in Swiss squad

Highlights: Switzerland 3-3 Denmark

Xherdan Shaqiri’s decision to take a break from international football and focus on his career at Liverpool has dominated the build-up to Switzerland’s matches against the Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar. Swiss coach Vladimir Petković says the talisman has earned some leeway but suddenly his side carry less menace and Ireland sense an opportunity to firmly establish themselves at the top of Group D.

Thursday: Republic of Ireland v Switzerland, Gibraltar v Denmark Sunday: Switzerland v Gibraltar, Georgia v Denmark

No time like present for Scotland

Highlights: Belgium 3-0 Scotland

“The Russia game is a must win and a must not lose,” Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay says of Scotland’s next task. Russia are three points above Scotland after four games and, as well as they performed before going down 3-0 to Belgium in June, Steve Clarke’s side need a result to kick-start their bid to end a 22-year wait to play at a major tournament. Until they do, the spectre of their opening-day loss in Kazakhstan will haunt them.

Friday: San Marino v Belgium, Scotland v Russia, Cyprus v Kazakhstan Monday: Scotland v Belgium, Russia v Kazakhstan, San Marino v Cyprus

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#Uncategorized European Qualifiers: What to watch out for this week – European Qualifiers

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equivvitch · 7 years

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Fassathon: A Summary (Part I)

So, this summer, in the year of Our Lord 2017, I decided to do something stupid and unnecessary, as I do, by watching every single theatrically-released movie Michael Fassbender has been in thus far. Every single one. I dubbed it the Fassathon and didn’t rest until I was finished. (I know a lot of his early career was in television and in television movies (trust me I know the only thing I have to type in my search bar is “im” and his IMDb page pops up automatically) and given more time I’ll probably watch some of those but for the sake of not having to watch like seven more movies I granted myself that leniency.)

All in all, I’d say it took about two months. In total I believe I watched 24 movies, having already watched five beforehand (the new X-Men trilogy, Shame, and Jane Eyre) for a grand total of 29 damn movies (full disclosure, one was a bonus which you’ll see eventually but whatever). Some of them were actually ones I needed/wanted to watch but a lot were….not.

In any case, for the sake of posterity and making myself feel better about being a dumbass, I decided to write up some kind of summary piece about it, so that’s what this is. It got fuckign long so it’s gonna be divided into three parts: two just reviewing the movies and one with some summary thoughts.

This is part one, but first, it wouldn’t be a post by me without eighty disclaimers so let’s get that out of the way first:

This is all subjective obviously. Keep in mind I had to watch all of these so a lot of times I tended to compare them more to themselves than films as a whole. I tried to see the big picture after the fact but when you have 28 films to watch you tend to get hyper-focused on the task at hand. Also I’m not a film critic. I’m just an asshole and a dumbass, a dumb asshole if you will. I am interested in film theory but that means about jack since I have no formal education in it.

It should also be noted that a) Fassbender’s performances in these movies were almost uniformly excellent. The man can carry a movie on his goddamn back and often does if required to do so. This was noted consistently to the point of it being funny in the reviews of each movie. b) A lot of these are British movies. They’re not Hollywood. Just…..pointing it out. And c) I’m 1000% attached to some of these films/franchises outside of this “challenge.” X-Men in particular and also Jane Eyre I’m invested in deeply so that might affect my ideas.

That out of the way, without further ado, some reviews, thoughts, and recommendations:

X-Men: First Class (Erik Lehnsherr)

Rating: 8/10

Quick Summary: At the height of the Cold War, Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr meet under unlikely circumstances and form an even more unlikely bond. They end up with a common goal in defeating a ghost of Erik’s past, Sebastian Shaw, who is determined to cause nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union in hopes of destroying all humans and making way for mutant rule. The two set out and put together a team of mutants to help combat him, but push their relationship in the process to an unfortunate breaking point.

Some Thoughts: I have watched First Class so many times you have no idea. Understand, I once did a full rewatch of this movie for the sole purpose of fact-checking a post that was talking about how many times Charles says “Erik” throughout the movie. I sat there and tallied them by rewatching the entire thing. I love this movie to pieces, so I really have no ability to objective over it. Because of that I do know its flaws pretty well, trust me. It has issues (coughs about the ridiculous awful romantic subplots), but I really do think it’s a strong film and an interesting start to this quasi-reboot. Ultimately it’s a movie about the relationship between Erik and Charles, so that is its strongest point. There are some big shoes to fill, considering Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan had the roles first, but McAvoy and Fassbender do a great job with it. It was stated in interviews that McAvoy was cast first and then they made the guys going out for the role of Erik read with him to cast a chemistry instead of a person and it shows. It really is shot like a love story, especially when the B-plot is an explicit romance between Hank and Raven. In my opinion it’s a fun ride, watching everyone meet and use their powers, train together and learn together. The ending is not that happy and I always shake hands with movies that dare to do that, especially big films like this (see GotG 2). It can be silly and frustrating at times, but after Last Stand I feel like we could only go up. I know some people really don’t like this movie which? I guess I’d like to hear from someone who doesn’t to understand why. That being said, Armando deserved better. Fuck his nonsensical death.

Warnings: Montages? Also some violence. Not a ton but what’s there sticks in your head.

Recommend?: Yeah! If you like superhero movies this is a pretty solid one.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (Erik, but this time in the 70s, and with less turtlenecks and more scarves)

Rating: 9/10

Quick Summary: (This plot is so convoluted I’m going to have to be vague otherwise this could take years.) In an apocalyptic future these robots called Sentinels are murdering everyone, particularly mutants because at one point a guy named Dr. Trask got ahold of Mystique’s DNA and used it to make them indestructible. The always wonderful and patient Logan gets sent back to the past to try and stop this from happening. There he finds Charles in a terrible, drug-induced spiral having lost everything and has to attempt to get him out of it so he can help find Raven who’s gone rogue and wants to kill Trask for his experimentation on mutants. In the process they join up with Erik, courtesy of Peter/Quicksilver, which doesn’t go well, which no one could have ever seen coming. The whole thing comes to a head when Raven has to decide whether to become a murderer and risk an even darker future or let Trask walk free and go against what she believes in.

Some Thoughts: I remember so clearly sitting the theatre and seeing the first preview for this, turning to my family and joking about the really stupid title. Like “Days of Future Past? What kind of title is that?” It’s up there with Back to the Future in terms of dumb titles, but is somehow pretty much acknowledged as the best of the current three, alternate timeline movies?? In spite of its ridiculously convoluted plot, it’s a really solid film and has great character development for two of the big players, Charles and Raven. Wolverine acts as a familiar foundation and point of view for the story and grounds it as he often does. Charles has to learn to stop trying to control those around him and move on with his life despite past losses, and Raven has to make a pivotal choice for her character. The scene at the end where it’s flipping between the future and past and all the original cast and the new cast are fighting at the same time is really cool, and the character arcs are strong and satisfying. The only one who doesn’t change much is Erik, but arguably First Class was his platform for character development or, more accurately, regression. He doesn’t do anything that helpful (which is….true to form) but watching him lift an entire fucking baseball stadium, fly it through the air, and drop it on top of the White House is pretty rad. Also Quicksilver is incredible holy shit the way they do his scenes is iconic. Kind of confusing maybe, but it also retconned almost the entirety of the original timeline in a genius move to destroy Last Stand once and for all. It’s usually called the best for a reason.

Warnings: Wolverine gets stabbed by stuff and shot a lot but that’s par for the course

Recommend?: Yep! But you might want to have watched some of the other movies first. Watching it with no background would probably be….too much.

X-Men: Apocalypse (Still Erik/Polish(?) Lumberjack/Poster child for Man Pain™)

Rating: 5/10

Quick Summary: An ancient mutant named Apocalypse (or En Sabah Nur if we’re going to be technical) awakens in the midst of the 80s (because there must be a 10 year gap between each movie it’s a rule). He used to rule but now he doesn’t and he’s mad so now he wants to destroy the world or some shit and rebuild it in his image. He does this by getting together his four horsemen (get it) including Erik who is inexplicably in Poland with yet another family that gets fridged. The X-Men find this out and get together to take him down.

Some Thoughts: I can (and have) ranted about this movie for literal hours. I have some serious personal gripes with it and it annoys me to the point where I’ve blown it out of proportion so keep that in mind. That rating might be a bit low but this movie is mediocre at best. I guess the core of it is because the X-Men conflict is a lot more interesting when they’re up against some government entity or society as a whole rather than just some random villain, at least to me. This movie also does not have a strong foundation like the first two did, no solid grounding point. In XMFC it was Erik and Charles’s relationship, in DoFP it was Wolverine being the POV character, but in this we really have nothing. The stuff with the kids is probably the most interesting and I hope they do more of that in the upcoming sequel. It has a few good moments (Quicksilver’s scene and Erik dramatically throwing down giant steel beams in the shape of an “X” in front of Apocalypse as he switches sides to save Charles and co stick out in my mind) but it tends to drag otherwise. There are about twenty plots going on and it takes forever for them all to connect. The romantic subplot crap is a pain in the ass and dragging Moira back was particularly idiotic when you realize they once again gave her nothing to do in the final act except overlook Charles completely violating her personhood in the first movie by wiping her mind without consent so she can get back together with him. The shit with Erik’s Poland family is stupid even if it’s done well. Magneto of all fucking people does not need more man pain for god’s sake. Lawrence is so checked out she really might as well be a phone recording as Lindsay Ellis points out in her Loose Canon series on YouTube. The only one who really had any interesting development was Storm and I hope they keep on with her because she’s a really good character. There’s just not much there for me, or what is there isn’t of any value. I really hope the next one is better. (Probably a far-fetched hope but a girl can dream.)

Warnings: Lazy writing (and comic-book-movie-typical violence)

Recommend?: I mean you probably want to watch if you’re watching the series. It’s not the worst X-Men movie. I’m probably a little harsh on it. There are the Wolverine sequels. Still, if you’re not that invested, it’s probably not worth it.

Jane Eyre (Rochester)

Rating: 11/10 10/10

Quick Summary: Jane Eyre has lived a fairly unfortunate life, having been put under watch of her cruel aunt after her parents’ deaths and consequently sent to a boarding school that beats its pupils into submission, but remains strong in spite of this. She finds herself a new job as a governess at Thornfield Hall and soon meets its master, Edward Fairfax Rochester. The two begin to talk and form an interesting relationship in spite of their large age difference. Jane begins to fall for her employer, overlooking his rough exterior to the person underneath. Rochester reciprocates, but all is not well. Jane discovers her lover is hiding a dark secret and must decide whether to be true to her love for him or to herself.

Some Thoughts: I WOULD DIE FOR JANE EYRE TBH THE DAY NETFLIX TOOK IT OFF WAS A TRAVESTY. Really, though it’s such a good movie and very loyal to the book. It’s a period piece, but it’s very different from something like Pride and Prejudice, a lot because Jane is such an interesting character. I love her and Mia Wasikowska does a great job. Rochester is a bitch, but…..he’s a bitch with a good heart. Realistically he’s supposed to be kind of….not good looking? So casting Fassbender might have been counterproductive, but it does mean he has to compensate for his incredibly square jawline which can’t be hidden behind that shit sideburn beard with his acting, which he does very well. His charisma kind of helps to smooth over the fact that Rochester can be standoffish to viewers that aren’t prepared for him. He is no Mr. Darcy. The chemistry between the two is great and the story is really enthralling. The music is gorgeous and the ending is satisfying. Well-shot, well-paced, loyal to the original, just a great adaptation all together. It’s not a happy movie, but it has a happy ending. I really have nothing but good things to say about it. Please give it a chance if you’re even a bit interested.

Warnings: You might cry/a little blood

Recommend?: Yes!

Shame (Brandon)

Rating: 10/10

(Quick note: if you’re like “wow you sure aren’t harsh on these movies” listen this was back when I was actually choosing the ones I wanted to watch….so yeah….these are mostly good ones at first. There are definitely some bads on here….don’t you worry…)

Quick Summary: Without giving away everything: Brandon is a pretty normal man struggling with a sex addiction which he basically refuses to acknowledge at the beginning of the movie. His lifestyle is disrupted when his younger sister Sissy comes to stay at his apartment without asking him first. The rest of the film is about their complicated and mildly toxic relationship and Brandon dealing (and not dealing) with his addiction with mixed results.

Some Thoughts: This is one of those movies like Brokeback Mountain that just kind of….sticks on you. I felt that way about Silence of the Lambs too where you watch it and then you can’t really forget about it. Fassbender has worked with Steve McQueen who directed this film three times, this being the second, and they make a great pair. McQueen loves him some long takes and he does them well. His style of directing is unflinching to the point of it being uncomfortable which works well for the type of stories he likes to tell. It’s a very quiet movie, not much dialogue, but it really hits home. This really is one of Fassbender’s best of performances in my opinion. He can do a lot with just his expressions and it really shows here. The dynamic between him and Carey Mulligan who plays Sissy is really poignant. I probably could never do it justice with words alone. It’s difficult to watch, but worth it. It’s one of those movies where the protagonist doesn’t really grow, pointed out very blatantly here. True development hasn’t taken place, at least not yet. Whether or not you think it actually will after this is left up to how optimistic you are for the characters and the story.

Warnings: This is rated NC-17 for a reason. They do not shy away from anything and they do not cut you a break by easing into it. Translation: if you’re disinterested in becoming familiar with some very particular bits of Fassy’s anatomy I’d steer clear. Also strong warning for themes (and fairly graphic depictions) of self-harm.

Recommend?: I would never tell someone to watch this movie, but I would definitely advocate for it. Read the description (that a professional has written, not just mine fff), check the warnings, see if you’re up for it. This is one you need to choose to watch, not be forced to.

Macbeth (Macbeth)

Rating: 6/10

Quick Summary: Oh god, I still don’t remember the plot of this thing…. I swear I read it once but you’d be better off reading the Spark Notes or something. It’s based on the Shakespeare play (obviously) where this dude named Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth go around killing people to gain power because some weird ladies in the middle of a field told him he’d be king. Everyone fucking dies at the end per usual due to really ridiculous loopholes. A grand old time, as always, with Mr. ‘speare.

Some Thoughts: Listen pal I got food poisoning trying to watch this damn movie THE CURSE OF THE SCOTTISH PLAY IS REAL. But really, it’s kind of what you’d expect? All of this is coming from me, an idiot, who doesn’t remember the play super well and is shit at Shakespeare, so bear that in mind, but?? It stuck to the original pretty well. It’s played dead-ass straight, so know that right now. There is no humor in this movie ever; it’s completely serious. Also impossible to understand because it’s Shakespearean English in Scottish accents. You’d be better off with a background knowledge of the play I think. That said, the visuals in this movie are absolutely gorgeous holy shit. The ending fight scene is incredible. That alone made it worth the watch for me at least. Marion Cotillard who plays Lady Macbeth is amazing as well. What a great performance. It’s a solid film. You need to accept its no-nonsense attitude to get into it, but otherwise it’s fine.

Warnings: It gets pretty bloody, but not overly so.

Recommend?: Not really, unless you really like the play or have a good knowledge of it already. It’s beautiful, but a little too serious for the casual viewer. I assume that’s why its reviews are kind of mixed.

Prometheus (David)

Rating: 6.5/10

Quick Summary: Two scientists discover a series of ancient drawings, all of which are very similar despite appearing hundreds of years and thousands of miles apart. They believe this might be a clue as to how the human race came to be, a path to our creators. They set out on the Prometheus to investigate a planet they believe to be the origin of these so called “engineers.” Things go awry as one might expect when they find the planet is already inhabited, but not by any “engineers.” Moreover, several crewmembers have secret motivations of their own for coming along which doesn’t really turn out well for anyone.

Some Thoughts: I feel like a lot of people don’t like Prometheus because it’s a think-y movie. It’s not really an action-packed thriller like other movies in the Alien franchise. This was the first in the franchise I’d ever seen so I didn’t really go in with those kind of expectations which I think was to my benefit. If you go in looking for answers you’re probably going to not like it, but I just sort of went to have a good time and pretty much did. Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw is really great. I really enjoyed her as the main character. There are some really good actors in this movie and I think they do a good job. I loved Idris Elba’s character a lot for example. It’s a beautiful film as well. Fassbender plays David, the resident android of the ship. It was interesting to watch him play a robot because he is, to me, a very emotive actor and this had to be more restrained. I don’t remember the movie super well which probably speaks to it just being an average sort of film. It’s not great, but it’s not as bad as some people seemed to think it was. Just go along for the ride and it can be a good popcorn flick.

Warnings: There’s one really graphic surgery scene that was hard to watch, but otherwise it’s (compared to the other Alien film on this list) not too bad. It really is more introspective than bloody. Also, maybe obviously, there are aliens in this movie.

Recommend?: If you’re into sci-fi thought-pieces, sure. Just don’t go in expecting a masterpiece.

Alien: Covenant (Walter and David, yes both)

Rating: (completely subjective) 8/10

Quick Summary: A group of forgettable, idiot crewmembers who are all inexplicably married for no reason other than a desperate bid to get you to care about them in any way (you won’t. trust me. they’re so stupid you’ll probably rooting against them eventually) are piloting a ship called the Covenant with 2000-some passengers and a lot of embryos on a colonizing mission. Along the way they intercept a strange transmission coming from another habitable planet they hadn’t noticed before which is much closer and decide to investigate. Once there things take a turn for the worst. After several deaths and the completely avoidable destruction of their ship, they run into David who’s been living alone on the planet for ten years after the Prometheus crashed there. They soon learn that they would have been better off braving the planet and waiting for rescue alone.

Some Thoughts: Listen I went into this movie completely expecting it to be horrible. This really was the one that started it all, where I decided I’d watch all of them. I wasn’t going to watch it because it looked ridiculous, but then it was available to rent and I was curious. In all honesty, I really only went in to see with my own eyes how and why the actual hell Fassbender was playing two characters which at some point kiss, so that was part of it. Ultimately I ended up really liking it. Now mind you, this is not a good movie. It’s not. The cast is forgettable and stupid to the point where you just want them to die already and get it over with. The only person I even slightly cared about was Daniels, the main crewmember character you follow. People die without any pomp and the movie is riddled with clichés. That said, it is a lot more like what I expect an Alien movie usually is. There’s a lot more fighting of aliens and a lot more blood. So what’s with the rating? Really it’s completely subjective, but if you know me and watch this movie you’ll probably understand. Let’s just say I have a very specific type of character I tend to like and this movie delivers.

Fassbender carries this gotdamn movie on his back half the time and somehow pulls off the ridiculous scenario of him being the two different robots. The interactions between Walter and David really were some of the more interesting parts of the film for me, completely ridiculous as they are (“I’ll do the fingering”). If you can just suspend your disbelief and go with it I insist that it can be a good time. My favor of the movie really comes from my opinion of David and I think that’s what will make or break the movie for you. It was a ballsy choice of protagonist, and when you realize that I think the forgettable main crew is a little more justifiable. Big kudos for the ending as well, at least from me. It ended exactly the way I wanted it to, and I ended up being invested in who I needed to be invested in. It’s a stupid movie, but I do think you can have fun watching it if you’re in it for the right stuff (namely the fassbots).

(Also, people are not happy about the fuck-million more Alien movies in the works but hear me out…. I have a great pitch idea….what if with every new movie we just double the number of Fassbenders…… so there’s four and then eight and then sixteen all the way until we just have infinite Fassbenders….. listen this is a great plan Mr. Scott please hire me as script consultant from now on)

Warnings: This is a lot more of a horror movie than Prometheus. It’s bloody and violent, and yes there are more aliens. Also it is really stupid. Also warnings for that sweet, sweet ‘bot-on-‘bot action ;)

Recommend?: I mean….not really. Again my opinion is so subjective here that it’s worth a grain of salt. If you do, you need to watch Prometheus first because you need to form an opinion of David.

Hunger (Bobby Sands)

Rating: 5/10

Quick Summary: Without me sitting here for like a half hour looking up a lot of proper names and dates (which I’ve already done once when I was watching the damn thing), this a movie about a hunger strike led by a man named Bobby Sands. It takes place in a prison in Northern Ireland. A group of people called the Republicans who are fighting against being part of Britain and want one united Ireland are being arrested for political acts and are protesting in any way they can. This begins with bathing and clothing strikes, and eventually leads to a hunger strike when this accomplishes nothing.

Some Thoughts: So this is a critically-acclaimed movie and I know people really like it. I guess I can see why but compared to McQueen’s other films I didn’t think it was super impressive. It’s his first project with Fassbender and in a lot of ways it feels like an early-career film. It has a lot of pacing issues. I read reviews saying it’s two movies in one and it really is. As an American (and therefore a dumbass when it comes to conflicts in other countries because our history classes here are Shit) it was sort of a confusing movie to watch just because I didn’t really have any background knowledge about what was happening. I was doing a lot of googling throughout to catch myself up with the conflict and acronyms etc. It’d definitely strike more of a chord with someone who knew about it beforehand. It is a prison movie and it’s difficult to watch because of that. There’s a lot of mistreatment of prisoners and just kind of gross stuff in general. I was whining at one point about the hunger strike not starting until like…20 minutes before the movie ends but I see now why it didn’t because you’re basically just watching Fassbender starve to death from that point on and it’s Not Fun. There are impressive parts of it. There’s a long take of a conversation between Bobby and a priest where he explains his idea of starting a hunger strikes that is, I shit you know, seventeen fucking minutes long. It’s crazy. There are other long takes in the film but they’re not always used super effectively. This can cause the movie to drag at times. The use of sound in the movie is also really amazing. It’s very quiet usually, but picks its loud moments and picks them well. Overall I didn’t get much out of watching it, but that’s just me. I didn’t think it was worth the difficult watch.

Warnings: It’s unrated but I bet it would be R or even NC-17 if it was. Lots of disturbing shots of violence against prisoners and behaviors of the prisoners themselves tbh. There’s nudity as well, but it’s used as humiliation mostly. As usual, McQueen’s style of filmmaking is unflinching and watching someone starve to death isn’t fun.

Recommend?: Not really. McQueen has better films you could watch. Unless you’re personally interested in the conflict at hand, I’d skip it.

Frank (Frank)

Rating: 10/10

Quick Summary: An untalented aspiring musician named Jon suddenly stumbles across the opportunity of a lifetime to play in actual band when they find themselves out a keyboard player the day before a performance. Jon lends them a hand and is accepted into the group in spite of some friction with most of the members. They invite him back on what ends up being year-long trip into the woods to write a new album. While living with the band, the Soronprfbs, Jon gets to know the members better, as well as their many quirks. Notably, there is Don, the manager who seems level-headed if somewhat depressed, Clara, who doesn’t take Jon’s being there very well, and Frank, the apparent leader of the band. Jon takes a special interest in Frank who appears to be the heart and soul of the group. In spite of wearing a giant fake head at all times, he’s very friendly, encouraging, and strangely inspiring. As they work to write their album, Jon begins to record and post their progress on social media, gaining them a new following of people amused by their bizarre antics. This new popularity ends up landing them a bigger gig than they’ve ever had before, but comes at the cost of risking the band’s identity and solidarity.

Some Thoughts: Frank is an amazing movie. If someone wasn’t interested in Jane Eyre but wanted a Fassbender rec, I would 100% give this one. I love this movie to pieces and I’m so glad I watched it because I was initially on the fence with it. In fact, I liked it so much I watched it twice within my rental period, and have now purchased it. If you’re looking for something close to a comedy on this list, this is it. I kind of describe it as if Wes Anderson directed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, threw in a strong lesson about mental illness, and bumped up the rating a bit. This movie is hilarious and wonderful and poignant. The message is a really good one and one I don’t think we hear a lot. It’s a good commentary on the relationship between art and mental illness, and it’s done respectfully for the most part. Fassbender as Frank is kind of incredible. You don’t see his face for the majority of the film, but he still gives an amazing performance. I think it shows how talented he is as an actor that he pulls this part off so well. You’re intrigued as much as Jon is by him, or at least I was. The humor is a little out there and some of the themes may be off-putting, but I really do think this is one to see. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Clara is fantastic as well. It’s a difficult part but she pulls it off so wonderfully. Domhnall Gleeson as Jon gives a decent grounding point of view character as well. It’s funny and touching and goddammit maybe someday I’ll watch one of these movies without crying but that ending hit me right in the heart.

Warnings: Themes of self-harm and mental illness are present. They’re not played as a joke, but they’re there.

Recommend?: Yes please watch this movie I beg of you it deserves all the praise

Fish Tank (Connor)

Rating: 5/10

Quick Summary: The movie is a coming-of-age story of sorts for the protagonist Mia. Mia has a difficult home life with a neglectful and often abusive mother as well as a penchant for causing trouble. Having been kicked out of school she is directionless which only furthers her spiral downward. Her only true passion is dancing, but she prefers to do this privately. One day she meets her mother’s latest fling, Connor. Unlike the others, however, Connor seems there to stay. Mia begins to interact with Connor and the two form a relationship. Connor is kind to both her and her younger sister, treating them with respect and parental affection they do not receive otherwise. Connor encourages Mia’s hobby and leads her to begin searching for a career in dancing, helping to turn her life around. Things take a turn when Mia and Connor overstep a boundary in their relationship and this leads to Mia discovering that Connor was not what she thought he was.

Some Thoughts: I’m very…ambivalent about this movie, so I don’t probably have a lot interesting to say about it. It seems to me that Fish Tank is a part of a very particular genre of movie about a specific part of the British lower class, making it difficult to relate to for someone who hasn’t experienced that way of life. I watched another movie called Beautiful Thing a long time ago that was part of this genre as well, and that’s what Fish Tank reminded me of more than anything else. It seems to be characterized by poor, crowded living conditions and abusive family dynamics more than anything else. The characters struggle to get by and are generally mean-spirited to everyone they encounter automatically. It can make for a bitter watching experience, even if it is realistic. Mia is a somewhat believable teenager. Since this is a British movie about hip-hop dancing however and the actress playing Mia has…little to no actual dancing skill, any parts of the movie that have to do with this dancing can be embarrassing to watch. You really have to accept that it’s stupid and move past it to watch the thing.

The relationship between Mia and Connor is…troubling which I’m sure it’s supposed to be but it’s never resolved. Some of the scenes in the movie are disturbing as some in Hunger. One of my biggest issues with the movie was there really seemed to be a conversation missing. The end of the film felt like it was lacking a crucial interaction between the two and it made the ending fall pretty flat, at least for me. I know people like this movie and it’s award-winning but I couldn’t relate to it in any meaningful way. It left me feeling conflicted more than anything else. I have no strong or final opinion on this movie. I do respect that it had a female director, but I feel as though I very clearly wasn’t its intended audience, so its impact on me was minor at best and non-existent at worst. There are some nice cheesecake shots in it of Fassbender I guess. I think it still wins for best ass shot afdjks;lj

Warnings: Some disturbing character behavior, especially from Mia. Abusive family dynamics and physical child abuse are also present. Also statutory r*pe. Also some really embarrassing excuses for hip-hop dancing and general cultural appropriation shit that comes from a British movie about hip-hop.

Recommend?: You can try it, but I wouldn’t advocate for it. There are better artsy films to watch unless you’re actually in the target demographic and think you might like this sort of movie.

Inglourious Basterds (Lt. Archie Hicox)

Rating: 7/10

Quick Summary: When she was young, Shosanna’s family was murdered by Nazis hunting down Jewish families who had escaped to France. Now, as a young woman, she finds herself with the opportunity to get revenge. Meanwhile, Lt. Aldo Raine has formed a group of rogue Nazi-hunters called the Basterds, infamous throughout Germany for their lack of restraint and ability to avoid capture. His team is hired by the Allies to help with a plot to hopefully take out all the big political figures in the Nazi party, including Hitler himself, in one fell swoop. It just so happens these two plans are meant to take place in the same place, on the same night.

Some Thoughts: This is the first Tarantino movie I’ve ever seen and I do think it was good for me to at least see one. I was glad to see the movie itself too, actually. It was one on here I just needed to watch outside of this thing. I enjoyed it for all it reveled (as expected) in gore occasionally. I really loved Shosanna. Mélanie Laurent did an excellent job with her and she was easily the best part of the film for me, though I did enjoy Brad Pitt’s shenanigans as Aldo. Fassbender has kind of a bit part in this one which was a little different, since he tends to steal the spotlight otherwise. It really wasn’t my favorite performance of his. It was a little unfocused, though that might be because his character is just a plot device. Kind of a shame but in true X-Men fashion all he did was show-up, fuck things up, and then make his exit. Ah well. It’s well-shot and a good time, if a little long. The blood was there, but not excessive. Maybe a good choice if you, like me, wanted to see one of these movies, but were a little nervous about the violence.

Warnings: Typical Tarantino violence, I presume. Really, it’s just a few focused shots of it, but there is scalping in this movie, as well as some mutilation and gunshot wounds. I whipped my hand up to cover the screen more the once throughout and I’m pretty decent with blood.

Recommend?: Sure. It’s a pretty solid film and last time I checked it’s free on Netflix.

Centurion (Quintus Dias)

Rating: 6.5/10

Quick Summary: In the something-or-other A.D. the Romans are up somewhere near Britain trying to expand the empire, as one does, but are having trouble with the native peoples of those lands called the Picts. The Picts keep decimating their armies, as they do with Quintus Dias’s men. The Picts take him in rather than killing him because he speaks their language, allowing him to escape and meet up with another regiment. Together, they try again to attack the Picts and again are defeated handily. This time the Picts take their general of sorts. Dias and a small group of men are the only ones to survive and attempt to rescue him, but ultimately fail. Afterwards they begin their attempt to escape to safety, all the while being hunted by the Picts.

Some Thoughts: So I fully expected to hate this movie. When I saw this was the other one on Netflix I was Not Happy, but? It kind of surprised me. I think really it did a couple small things well and that turned my favor of it. It really isn’t that great of a movie, with a lot of narration and not a ton to say, but it’s certainly not offensive. It turned into a survival movie rather than a war movie which I greatly preferred. They also weren’t super over the top with the romantic subplot which was….SHOCKING. Usually, in my experience with the Fassathon, if there can be a sex scene there Will Be A Sex Scene, but not here. They meet a cool witch lady along the way who takes to Quintus, but never is it obnoxious, nor does it waste time with it. It was a breath of fresh air tbh…. I’m probably patting this movie on the back for little things too much, but I really do think it could have been a lot worse. It’s fine. I don’t really know who the target audience was supposed to be but it might be good for a night when you’re bored and can’t think of anything else to watch. You get to watch Fassbender run valiantly and stupidly shirtless through the snow if nothing else.

Warnings: It can get bloody, but not overly so. Also mentions of past sexual assault, but nothing shown.

Recommend?: Eh…like I said. Maybe for the night you’re flipping around and there’s nothing on. Decent popcorn flick, probably not worth spending money on.

Trespass Against Us (Chad Cutler)

Rating: 3/10

Quick Summary: Nothing I could write will make this movie’s plot make any damn sense but I’ll try anyway. Basically there’s this family called the Cutlers who are….Irish tent-people and also a weird kind of mob family with a patriarch named Colby. They live in this little trailer park circle and commit crimes to get by. The plot basically revolves around Fassbender’s character Chad Cutler trying to get out from under Colby’s thumb in order to give his wife and two children a better life. Unfortunately, it seems again and again that he’s already dug his grave and there’s nothing to do but lie in it.

Some Thoughts: So this is a weird movie. The whole conceit is weird and another one that you just kind of have to go with to be able to watch it. Its problem is that it doesn’t really have an arc or a narrative that goes anywhere. If it really had wanted to do something it would have needed to allow Chad to make any progress in his attempts to get away. The dialogue is full of slang and really difficult to understand at times. The whole dynamic of the family is sort of confusing and it’s never explained, just thrust upon you immediately. There are some good interactions, notably between Colby and Chad. The parental relationship between Chad and his son is interesting too, but it really just doesn’t go anywhere with itself. I got a little caught up in the emotionality of it watching it, but looking back I can see how flawed it is. I really don’t see what the director was getting at. Also the religious overtones are strange and didn’t do a whole lot. Just kind of unimpressive if still nice to look at sometimes.

Warnings: Animal death. A lot, actually, and often purposeful. Disturbing behavior, especially one scene where a man is stripped and humiliated. It was surprising and difficult to watch.

Recommend?: Hard pass. Skip it.

300 (Stelios)

Rating: 4/10

Quick Summary: Gerard Butler leads a group of 300 dudes against a gigantic, vaguely racist depiction of the Persian army.

Some Thoughts: I have nothing original to say about this movie, I’m sure. I was……not super happy to find it on here honestly, so I did my best to just enjoy it by making fun of it. Most people know what 300 is like. It’s got some interesting visuals, but it’s definitely one that looks pretty and does as little as possible. Mostly it’s a male power fantasy interwoven with quite a bit of racism, particularly in the portrayal of the Persians. It’s saturated with slow-mo shots and rousing speeches that aren’t really that important to anything. It’s a good one to watch on a bad movie night probably if you don’t mind some of the gore. This was Fassbender’s first theatrical appearance if I’m correct and he’s fine. I guess one plus-side of this movie is that everyone’s practically naked the whole time and super buff so that can be fun to ogle if nothing else. It is what it is.

Warnings: Body horror, lots of blood, and war stuff. Tiddies? Racism? Scottish yelling?

Recommend?: It’s your life buddy. It’s probably one to see once so you can rag on it in good conscience.

Steve Jobs (Steve Jobs)

Rating: 9/10

Quick Summary: A movie shot in three parts showing a dramatized version of the events before the release of three of Jobs’s products, focusing in on his relationship with his coworkers as well as past lover and daughter.

Some Thoughts: This is an excellent movie. It’s another one I’d readily recommend to anyone. The scale of the script is unheard of, meaning it’s super dialogue-heavy but you don’t notice at all. It’s completely absorbing. The performances are top-notch all around. This is another one of Fassbender’s best performances. He sinks into the role completely and does a phenomenal job. Kate Winslet is equally wonderful and balances Fassbender’s Jobs well. I really knew nothing about Jobs before watching this movie and I don’t know how much is true and how much is dramatized but I think that shows that even someone who knows nothing can enjoy it and find it interesting. The politics of it all were particularly wild to bear witness to. It’s a great character piece and it deserved the nominations it got in my opinion. I really liked Jobs’s relationship with his daughter as well. I don’t know how they managed to make a movie full of mostly talking so exciting but they did. I also think they did a great job of not idolizing Jobs at all, nor vilifying him. They walked a fine line and wrote him so he seemed truly human rather than a historical figure. That’s hard to do but they nailed it. Once again, I have little bad to say. If you’re not interested in Jane Eyre, Shame, or Frank here’s another good option for you.

Warnings: The IMDb parental advisory page said something about there being some sex/intimacy stuff but I never saw anything which makes me Highly Suspicious

Recommend?: Yes! Give it a chance!

(cont. in pt. 2 / pt. 3)

#fassathon #shut up alice #holy shit an actual post?#that's never happened before #listen i know this is long as shit #and no one's going to actually read this #but i spent a long-ass time on this #and i wanted to actually put it up for posterity #really i'm just proud of how hard i dragged the counselor #i'm sure there are grammatical errors in here but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#i had to wrap this thing up somehow #it's 1000% self-indulgent but....i don't Care #if i had anywhere more appropriate to post this i would but....#where tf else am supposed to put this crap

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warriorgays · 7 years

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sometimes I think about Liebgott and my intense attachment to him and the… discontinuity, I guess (?) that I feel between my understanding of Liebgott and fandom’s understanding of Liebgott.

like, I am 100% not trying to discredit anyone’s headcanon or attachment to him as a character. we all have our own backgrounds and we bring that to our interpretations. that’s legit. someone else’s opinion of him is just as valid as mine. I thought about putting this under a cut b/c I didn’t want to seem like I was pushing my interpretation on anyone, and then I decided not to, and then I decided I had to just because it got so fucking long. okay. here goes.

but like, for one thing, I’ve seen a loooot of posts/fic/etc that seem to imply an attachment to Webster is the default. like of course there’s a connection between them, even people who don’t think of them as OTP have a strong sense of a tie between Liebgott and Webster. and I… do not? I had this conversation with a friend the other day, I flat-out don’t think Webster really respects Liebgott and that kind of bothers me. the scene with the commandant, Webster’s attitude is just so dismissive and hypocritical, it angers me every time I watch it. and The Last Patrol just seems like… it’s politics. it’s Webster playing politics to get back in the group, and Liebgott being a player in it. I’m not knocking that, it’s a dynamic like any other and sure, Webster can want to have friends just like any other person. but The Last Patrol is like the LAST episode that comes to mind if I’m laying out my characterization for Liebgott (okay maybe not literally, but comparatively), whereas, given the percentage of Webgott fics in the fandom, it’s probably one of the defining episodes for him in a lot of peoples’ minds. I just don’t understand it as a ship.

which, hey, again, I don’t need to understand it–Lord knows I have a fair number of ships that make people scratch their heads–but it’s a weird thing to be conscious of, because I know that puts me in the minority of Liebgott fans.

the other thing is that I don’t think I’ve ever thought about Liebgott without his Jewishness being central to my interpretation of him. not once. which isn’t to say that I think of him as “just the Jew” or even that I always think of him in religious terms, because I usually don’t. there’s a lot of different ways to be Jewish and I think Liebgott definitely fits a certain type, for those who are familiar with the types.

but like… for every Liebgott ship I have (and I have many), and every verse, I have an idea of how Liebgott would feel about this kind of interfaith relationship–and because I got real tired of that real quick, I have a few ships where I’ve arbitrarily decided that I want the other person to be Jewish, whether by birth or by choice. (although I’ve never written the latter kind, because tbh I really don’t think most people would be interested in a fic that’s that invested in Jewish themes.) and every fic I’ve written in canon has dealt with his reaction to the Shoah, and honestly, one of the main reasons I haven’t written much post-canon Liebgott fic is because I am really really loathe to take a character who, in canon, expresses a desire to marry a Jewish girl and have lots of children, and decide that I’m not going to give him that, especially since post-war he’ll know that almost a full half of the world’s Jewish population has been wiped out.

and like, it bugs me sometimes when I see people paint him as just The Angry Guy because the war means more for him than for most of the men he’s serving with, it’s intensely personal in a way it’s not for the others. and likewise it bugs me a little too when I see people stress his “Germanness”–it’s the same thing with Erik Lehnsherr, people play up his national identity and often don’t critically examine the way in which his ethnoreligious identity complicates that–and he’s not even German by birth! He speaks German. His family is probably of German or Austrian extraction, but there were a lot of Jews in the first half of the 20th century who would identify with their ethnoreligious group over any European nationalist identity, because the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th were some of the most deeply, violently antisemitic periods of the history of the world.

and–well, okay, it’s a universally accepted fact that fiction, whether original fiction or fanfiction, treats bilingual characters in totally unrealistic ways. so no matter what it’s probably unrealistic for a California-born person to revert to German when saying things like “My god!” or “darling,” but far be it from me to tell people they shouldn’t write it. but anyway, there are indications in canon that German isn’t Liebgott’s primary language or that he’s not totally fluent; he asks people to slow down a few times, isn’t familiar with one or two words, and remarks that Webster (definitely not a primary speaker) knows it as well as he does. but I’ve often wondered if it’s possible that his familiarity with German is at least partially due to familiarity with Yiddish. I mean, they’re different languages, and it’s not obligatory for every Ashkenazi Jew to know Yiddish, but still, it’s something that would be interesting to explore, their relationship to each other and his relationship to them and how that might change during the war.

and that’s just the kind of thing that I don’t think other people think about a whole lot when it comes to Liebgott. the non-Hanukkah related Jewish things. like I have occasionally read Webgott fic when I’m really jonesing for Liebgott content, and I’ve read almost all of the Liebgott fic in general, and… idk.

here’s a short list of questions I’ve asked myself about Liebgott: “has he ever worn tzitzit? is there a mezuzah on his door? does he try and pray after he finds the camp? what does he talk about with the prisoners afterwards? does he help any of them finish the Shema as they are dying? does he ever wrap tefillin? does his family get the Forverts? how did he feel about America First activists? the Soviet Union? the Non Aggression Pact? what religion does he have printed on his dog tags? how does he feel sitting in the convent in The Breaking Point? does he read Hebrew? What song does he prefer, Hinei Ma Tov or Oseh Shalom? has he ever kept kosher, and how does he feel about keeping kosher, because ffs there’s more than bacon? what’s his favorite holiday–Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanuka, Tu BiShvat, Purim, Pesach, Lag B’Omer, Shavuot, or that one that no one ever remembers? How does he feel about the fact that about half of America’s Jews live in New York and he’s on a whole other coast? is his family Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox? labor, socialist, communist, Zionist? how often does he go to shul? what does his family eat on Shabbos? how strictly do they keep Shabbos? sweet or salty gefilte fish? do they live in a Jewish neighborhood? what’s his Hebrew name?”

and I often feel like, if I asked most people any of these questions, they would have no idea whatsoever what I’m talking about. which… hey, that’s life. I had to study a lot to understand what all of these things mean. but now that they’re a part of my life, they’re a part of my life, and the fact that I can ask myself these questions about Liebgott, and come up with answers, are totally wrapped up in the reasons I identify with him and love him so much. and even beyond these simple(ish) questions, I approach him in writing with a whole lot of spiritual, ethical assumptions and references behind me, and I’m often concerned that a lot of those things are missing, and that if I’m not being annoyingly, blatantly obvious, people will miss the flags I put up that say hey! this is a Jewish character! this is important! it strikes me that a lot of people just don’t know very much about Judaism; I’ve read some things in fic that make me go ???? because it’s obvious people are trying but it just… there’s a discord. like we’re operating on different wavelengths, and the sounds we’re hearing aren’t the same. people use Hanukkah things because they know about Hanukkah but they use it in ways that don’t… make sense, even if they’re not technically wrong, or they’ll bring up fun facts about Judaism/Jewish law/the Bible that aren’t consistent with Jewish interpretation.

idk. I thought I would reach some kind of conclusion by the end of this post but I haven’t. I just want to talk about Joseph Liebgott 5ever and I never know if the person I’m talking with knows the same Joseph Liebgott that I do.

#liebgott #jews in fandom

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find-your-rp-partner · 7 years

Text

marvel & fallout & ocs, oh my!

hey there!

my name is m! i’ve recently lost my usual rp partner so i’m searching for another. i’m super down for one on one, modern/slice of life kind of rps, as well as historical ones. i’m 21, i reside in the mountain timezone, and i really adore writing and i’d love to write with you.

interests

i’ve got a few fandoms? i’ll list who i play from each in italics. the more *s, the more i’d be down to write it. if there are no stars, it means you’ll probs have to convince me/have a good plot. not a lot but here they are:

** marvel cinematic universe - steve rogers, tony stark - fave pairings are steve/tony and tony/bruce

*** other marvel - carol danvers/captain marvel, logan howlett/wolverine, erik lensherr/magneto, kitty pryde/shadowcat - i usually pull from both comics & movies for these in order to create our own worlds - random ship i love is carol danvers/sharon carter

* bioshock 1 & 2 - atlas, frank fontaine, tennenbaum; sofia lamb, eleanor lamb - ocs are rad too

*** fallout: new vegas - arcade gannon, the king, ceasar - hella open to ocs

** fallout 4 - paladin danse, elder maxson - also hella open to ocs

red dead redemption - i usually do ocs.

** mafia 2 - vito scaletta

the man in the high castle - ocs, please!

*with fandom rps i am totally open to writing aus together*

i want to craft an interesting story with you. something with twists and turns, that’s actively engaging and exciting!? i like to build worlds around our characters and throw things their way that challenge them and break them. i’m all for drama. pls. break my character’s heart. kick them when they’re down.

i do love a decent bit of romance oh my gosh. when it comes to ocs, i tend to write older males (25-50 years of age tends to be the range i write within) and i love playing against younger males or males of the same age. i will gladly write m/m and m/f, and while i haven't played f/f before, i'm super down.

some plot ideas/genres? honestly, i’d much rather build plots/stories with you, but here’s a handful. *s for the role i’d prefer to play. here we go:

professor x student

*closeted politician x your oc

’*other man’ x your married oc (might be cool if your oc was in a hetero marriage?)

veteran x civilian

*cop x criminal/prostitute

historical setting- preferably, the second world war

this is kinda hella out of left field but something revolving around small town/equestrian life, if anyone out there is still interested in these sorts of rps pleeease get in touch with me.

another out of left field kinda topic; something based around the nhl/the lives of professional hockey players. you don’t have to have an extensive knowledge of hockey for this one as i certainly don’t, but i have a few plot ideas for this one that i’d love to pitch to you!

that’s kind of just the tip of the iceberg though so if any of this is vaguely interesting please get in touch with me. i’m open to a lot of different topics, i’m not too interested in fantasy. i may be interested in very light supernatural elements (ghosts and shit lol) but not fantasy.

writing

i only write fully literate, past tense sorts of roleplays. all-lowercase is kept to ooc. grammar is hugely important to me. spelling mistakes are okay on occasion but please be writing at a college/uni level. please, please please write upward of 3-4 paragraph posts on average! of course different situations call for different post lengths but responses should be fully fleshed out. i want to get inside your character’s head and know what makes them tick!

i am also looking for something long-term. i will mirror your enthusiasm for an rp, so as long as you’re invested and active within it, i will be, too! it does hurt my feelings to have people drop their rps with me but if you need to take a break, i understand that as well. i strongly prefer if we at least post once a day or once every couple of days. i will lose interest if the rp is moving at a slow pace/you disappear on me. i am typically able to post at least once a day. i understand that life happens and if you need a break just let me know.

i don’t really have any limits when it comes to smut or violence. i refuse to do anything regarding toilet play, but that’s about it. no furries/bestiality either. most of my ocs are vaguely kinky though i do have some harder kinks (choking, gagging, facial slapping) that may not fly with some people. just let me know what you’re comfortable with and i’ll stick to that! most of my rps have some sort of smut in them.

ideally, i’d also like to be your friendo outside of the rp. it’d be sweet if we could talk about our characters and get excited about the rp ooc. i find that some of the best plot developments come out of passing conversation, so i’d really like that!

once i’m super invested in an rp i’ll make little playlists and talk for hours about headcanons and one shots with you aaaa. c:

please invest in my character as much as i invest in yours. seriously, this is so important. i want to move you to tears with how amazing our writing is, and i’m hoping you’ll invest in me to the same degree!

contact!?

please shoot me an email at [email protected] . we can talk things over and then we can rp through either email or skype. i may be open to other methods too, if the plot’s good!

i look forward to hearing from you c:

#rp partner search #rp partner ad #rp ad #fandom #original #marvel #mcu #videogame #email #skype #submission

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ramblingthoughtsofayoungadult · 7 years

Text

The Three of Us-Julian Draxler and Erik Durm Love Triangle

Requested: Yes

Warnings: None

A/N: This takes place in 2014 and I am so sorry about the delay @girlinmanyfandoms123. I’ve been slammed with work because of study abroad but I’ll hopefully be more active :)

There were many perks of having one’s father be the coach of a national football team: I met a lot of cool people, I went to so many sports award shows as well as movie award shows, and I got to go to any game I wanted for free, at least, when it took place in Germany. However, I have gone to every World Cup since my father became the German National Team’s for free and it’s been pretty fun, but the next one was going to be great since it was taking place in Rio. The parties were going to be nuts and the music was going to be amazing. Also, I was bringing Y/B/F/N along so I could have someone else to talk to during matches.

“Wow,” Y/B/F/N said as we watched the German national team warm up.

They had about thirty minutes before their first match in the World Cup and Dad was grilling them on how to be stronger, faster, and overall better than the rest of the world. The stadium was packed with fans, all chanting and screaming for their own team in their different languages. Y/B/F/N and I were sitting in the VIP area with the other celebrities and WAGs.

“What?” I teased.

“So many beautiful men in one sport. How have I not noticed this before?”

“Because you were too busy studying for the MCAT.”

Y/B/F/N huffed. “And it paid off, didn’t it?”

“Which is precisely why I brought you here.” I glanced back down at the pitch, admiring the lean, stealthy players running through their warm ups. I couldn’t help but make eye contact with Germany’s favorite blonde, Erik Durm. He winked at me before going through a complicated warm up drill. I smirked at the warm feeling that spread throughout my stomach at his gaze.

“Oh my gosh,” Y/B/F/N said.

“What?” I asked with a blink.

“You’re messing around with Erik aren’t you?” she whispered so no one else would hear us.

“What? No, of course not! You know my father has that rule of no messing around with players.”

“So why did Erik wink at you?”

“I don’t know, because he’s a flirt.”

Y/B/F/N didn’t look convinced and I couldn’t blame her. I was always a terrible liar but the truth was I hadn’t done anything with Erik besides flirt with him ever since we first met. Who could resist those light green eyes and cheeky smile? Plus, he was charming, passionate about football, and incredibly nice. However, Dad would kill us both if he found out about anything so it was better to keep it under wraps.

“Y/N, spill,” Y/B/F/N demanded.

“There’s nothing to spill about, he just flirts with me sometimes and that’s it.” I turned to face the pitch again and began nervously munching on my popcorn.

Of course, Julian went right after Erik for their footwork warm up and he managed to find me in the crowd and wave. My cheeks warmed up as I waved back as discreetly as possible. As much as I hope our exchange went unnoticed, Julian’s megawatt smile tipped off Y/B/F/N quickly.

“Julian, too?” she whisper hissed.

“What do you mean, ‘Julian, too’?”

Y/B/F/N crossed her arms over her Hummels jersey. “This explains so much now. Why would you want to go out with any of those idiot boys from uni when you have two hot football players eating out of the palm of your hand?”

“I wouldn’t say that....”

Y/B/F/N’s e/c eyes widened. “Then what would you say?” “I would say that I like them both and think they’re both great players.”

“And you wouldn’t mind jumping their bones, either?”

“Y/B/F/N!”

“How long has this been going on?” Y/B/F/N asked.

I sighed, deciding that if I had to confide in someone about my complicated love life, I would prefer it to be Y/B/F/N and not some journalist. “About two years now.”

“Two years?”

I nodded. “The team went out for drinks one night and my dad let me go along with them as long as Mats was watching me. Anyway, Erik ended up buying me a beer and we hit it off. We talked for hours and I have never had a conversation so easily with someone. Then, when he left for the toilet, Julian came over and asked me how I liked the practicing. Me being the football fan that I am, I explained in detail just what was wrong with everyone’s technique and then I complimented him on his form. He blushed and we ended up talking some more.” I ran my hand through my y/h/l y/h/c hair. “When Erik came back, things got awkward but the three of us held a good for the rest of the night before Mats took me home. Ever since that night, they’ve been kind of fighting over me.”

When I looked at Y/B/F/N, her eyes were as wide as saucers. She didn’t look as though she was judging me, rather she was just in shock. My heart beat picked up out of nerves and I was anxious to hear what she had to say. She was always extremely blunt and spoke what was on her mind and her opinion mattered a lot to me.

��So, you’re telling me that you’re in a love triangle with two German footballers and you have to keep it a secret from everyone, including your father?” she said slowly.

I nodded. “Awful, huh?”

“It’s equal parts awful and amazing. Awful because you will eventually have to choose between them and amazing because you couldn’t have been any more fortunate than to have two football players pining for your affections.”

I couldn’t help myself but laugh at her words. Then, reality set in: I would have to choose between the mischievous Erik or the sweet, sensitive Julian. Both of them appealed to me in different ways since Erik pushed me out of my comfort zone and would surprise me with little gifts unbeknownst to my father. On the other hand, Julian was always complimenting me on thing outside of my physical appearance and he didn’t mind that I knew so much about football “for a girl”.

“Ugh, what am I gonna do, Y/B/F/N?”

“Ever heard of polyamory?”

I elbowed her jokingly and we both laughed. However, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy the match as much as I usually would. I didn’t want to hurt either of their feelings or have either of them (or myself) get in trouble with Dad. Julian and Erik both knew about the others feelings towards me and the last thing I wanted was for them to blow up at each other and risk losing the World Cup.

For the next month, I dragged Y/B/F/N to all the parties I knew both Julian and Erik would be attending not only to introduce her to some of my favorite German and non-German WAGs but also to relieve some of the attention between the three of us. I stopped attending practices as much as I used to, but I couldn’t avoid either of them all together: Erik would show up at my hotel room and take me on some excursion in Sao Paolo while Julian always made sure to text me something sweet. I liked them both equally but I just didn’t know what to do. However, everything came to a head the night before the last match.

Y/B/F/N and I were stumbling out of the elevator to our hotel room floor, drunk out of our minds, when we ran into Erik. He was wearing a hoodie and a pair of black sweatpants but he still looked so good. I supposed all of those whiskey shots at the bar gave me the courage to say so.

“Look, Y/N, there’s Erik, one of your boyfriends,” Y/B/F/N teased before we both burst into giggles. “He looks good in a pair of sweats. What I wouldn’t give to---”

I slapped my hand over her mouth and shushed her loudly. “He’ll hear us, you idiot!”

But I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. I only stopped when Erik turned around, raising an eyebrow at us.

“Y/N?” he asked.

I swallowed, pulled my hand away from Y/B/F/N, and strolled forward. “Hi, Erik. What are you doing up so late? You know that Coach wouldn’t approve.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” He glanced between me and Y/B/F/N. “I see the two of you went out.”

“It was great,” Y/B/F/N said.

“Would’ve been better if you were there.”

If I had been sober, I wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing, but my inebriated mind thought it would be a good idea. Erik smirked and stepped closer to me.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t have preferred Julian over me?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I wanted you both there.” I stepped closer to Erik and ran my hand over his chest. “There were other men in the bar----total creeps----who kept hitting on me and Y/B/F/N. I just wish one of you could’ve been there to help us out.” I looked up at Erik. “To help me out.”

Erik’s green eyes darkened and his hands gripped my hips, pulling me closer to him. “You have no idea how irresistible you look right now.” I grinned. “I think I have an idea.”

I think Y/B/F/N muttered an excuse before running off into our room, leaving Erik and me alone in the hotel room hallway. Anyone could’ve seen us: another player, a sneaky paparazzo, or my dad. However, I didn’t care as I stared into Erik’s eyes, which were full of lust and longing. It was as though something was pulling us closer together and all I could think of was how his lips----how his body----would feel pressed against mine.

“Y/N?” I jumped and stepped away from Erik. Julian was standing in the doorway of his room, looking exhausted and incredibly gorgeous in only a pair of sweatpants, showing off his sculpted abs.

I gulped. “Oh, uh, hi, Julian. Shouldn’t you be resting up for tomorrow’s match?”

“I got woken up,” Julian said, glaring at Erik.

Erik stepped forward. “Just go back to sleep, man, everything’s fine out here.”

“No, it isn’t.” Julian stalked towards us and for a moment, I was sandwiched between him and Erik. “Things haven’t been fine for a long time.”

“Julian,” I grabbed his face so he would look at me, “this isn’t a big deal.”

“ Zum Teufel ist es nicht!” Erik hissed. “Y/N, we have been playing this game for too long and I for one am tired of fighting over you with Julian.”

“The same goes for me.” Julian looked extremely downcast as he pulled my hands away from his face. “I care for you deeply, Y/N, but I do not want to have the urge to fight my teammate because we are fighting over a girl. You need to choose.”

“Yeah, me or him,” Erik said.

And that was when I began to panic. All the kind things they each did for me as well as the sexual-tension-filled moments we each shared flew through my mind. I wanted to choose between the two of them but I couldn’t, especially not in my state.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

They both looked extremely disappointed in me. As they both began walking to their respective rooms, I realized that I couldn’t risk losing the both of them.

“Wait!” I said.

They both stopped.

“I’ll make a deal: if Germany beats Argentina for the Cup, I will make my decision at the after party. If Germany loses, I will not make a decision.”

“What does that mean?” Erik asked.

“It means none of us wins,” Julian said.

“I think it’s a risk we’ll have to take. What do you say?”

Julian and Erik glanced at each other.

“I have faith in our team, how about you, Draxler?”

“I think we will do well.”

Erik looked at me. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Y/N.”

“Fine.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Julian said.

The gravity of the deal didn’t hit me until I woke up the next morning. The fate of my relationship with two incredible men was hinged on the result of the game. However, Dad had been working with the team extremely hard so we definitely had a good chance of winning. The only problem was I still had no idea who I would pick.

“Did you write up a pros and cons list?” Y/B/F/N asked.

We were sitting in the stadium, the two calmest people in the stadium. We had perfect view of the pitch which meant I could clearly see all members of the team, including Julian and Erik. There seemed to be much less tension between them than there was beforehand.

Y/B/F/N was chomping on nachos when she asked me that question.

“Yes,” I said.

“And?”

“And I still can’t choose.”

“Y/N, you’re twenty-two years-old, you’re a grown woman and grown women have to make decisions. Do not be like every girl in young adult books and TV shows that I hate and refuse to pick between two guys. You’re a smart girl----no, a smart woman and you do not have time for these games.”

“You’re right, I have to make my decision. Thanks, Y/B/F/N.”

“You’re welcome and just to let you know, I will be happy to take one of them off of your hands.”

I laughed and swatted her arm before turning back to the pitch. The game was amazing and stressful, but when Germany won, I think I lost my voice. Everyone played magnificently, especially Erik and Julian, but no one was more ecstatic than Dad. He was one of the first people to run out on to the pitch with the WAGs and other players trailing behind him. I dragged Y/B/F/N with me ,cheering, screaming, and hugging the players. Then, I got to Julian.

“Congratulations, Julian,” I said as I hugged him and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, Y/N.”

I turned to see Erik through the crowd of players and he did not look happy. They deserved equal attention since they both contributed equally to Germany’s win.

“I’ll see you tonight?”

“Of course.”

I grinned at him before running over to Erik. “Congratulations, Erik.”

He managed a small, knowing smile as he hugged me and picked me up, making me squeal. “Couldn’t have done it without my good luck charm.”

“Put me down, Erik!” I yelled through a laugh.

When he did put me down, he stared into my eyes in a way that made my heart drop to my stomach. The only person who has looked at me so intensely was Julian.

“Y/N...”

“Y/N!” Dad grabbed me and kissed my cheek. “We WON!”

I managed a wide smile for Dad and hugged him back. “No, Dad, you won.”

He had wanted a win for Germany for so long and now he got it. I did feel some guilt sneaking behind his back, but after tonight, there wouldn’t be anymore guilt. As Dad got picked up by his players and carried on their shoulders after accepting the trophy, I made my decision.

The party was being held at some bar in Rio, where only German players, their wives or girlfriends, or celebrities had been invited. The sound of the German national anthem nearly drowned out Rihanna’s “Pour It Up”, making the singer jokingly yell in protest. I was nursing my third gin and tonic, working up my courage to talk to Julian and Erik, who were socializing with other teammates.

Y/B/F/N sighed as she plopped down in the seat next to me. “Mario is an insane dancer!” “Yeah.”

“What’s wrong, Y/N? Still having trouble picking?”

“No, I’ve decided who I want, but I’m just having trouble admitting it.” “Y/N, they’re only a few hundred feet away and you shouldn’t be insecure. You’ve made a decision and you look bomb, nothing can stop you.”

“Thanks, Y/B/F/N. I’m still a little nervous.” “Another G and T will solve that. I’ll be right back.” Y/B/F/N bounced over to the bar to order me another drink.

I don’t think anyone is fortunate enough to find a friend like her. However, almost immediately after she left, Julian and Erik came over.

“Y/N, we need to speak with you,” Julian said.

“Yes, of course.”

The moment was here and there was no more running away from it. I sighed as I stood, brushing off any dust from my sequin camoflauge pants and followed the two of them into a private room. There was only a couple of cushioned chairs in the room, but it didn’t matter because I had a feeling that we wouldn’t be sticking around for long.

“So, we won,” Erik said.

“Yes.”

“And now it’s time for you to hold up your end of the deal.”

“Yes.”

“Erik and I talked and we decided that no matter what the decision is, we won’t let it influence the team or our relationship badly,” Julian said.

“That’s good.”

I took a deep breath. The moment I thought was going to be so liberating was terrifying, but the gin and tonic I’d had before was helping. Dad was definitely going to kill me for this. “I choose...”

And the rest is history.

#erik durm #erik durm imagine #julian draxler #julian draxler imagine #football #footballer imagine #requested

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