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theresattrpgforthat · 1 year

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I'm curious, is there any TTRPGs based around music? Either music making, or with music as a central theme.

THEME: Musical Games

Hello friend, I have a mix for you - games about musicians, games that use music, and games that leave you with a playlist at the end!

Spicepunk 1977, by Nick Kornek.

THE YEAR IS 1997 AND POP MUSIC RULES THE WORLD.

From their secret headquarters inside Big Ben groups of Spice Girls in tour busses are dispatched to solve all of the world’s most dangerous problems with girl power and music.

It is a better world, a brighter world, a SPICE WORLD.

SPICEPUNK 1997 is a rule-light tabletop roleplaying game set in the fantastical world of the Spice Girls. Play as a Spice Girl of your own creation and prepare yourself for the unexpected as your SPICE UP YOUR LIFE!

SPICEPUNK 1997 was created by Nick Kornek & Jeanne Elizabeth Vachon. It is based on Lasers & Feelings by John Harper

If you’ve ever wanted to be Car Mechanic Spice, Space Spice, or any other kind of Spice Girl, this is the game for you. You’ll decide on a Spicealty, create a tour bus, and get ready to save the world! Using Lasers and Feelings, Spicepunk 1977 calls the roll where you hit your chosen number “Spice Up Your Life”, which recommends using Story Cubes. If you don’t have Story Cubes, using something like Tarot Cards, a Codenames Deck, or anything with randomized, general images might work as a good substitute.

Sing as One, by Naomi Norbez.

Sing As One! is a TTRPG about being a singer in an up-and-coming group of young superstars. All of you came from different paths of life, and have varied ambitions & goals, but are coming together in your quest to make music!

This game is inspired by franchises like Uta No Prince Sama, B-Project, Tsukipro/Tsukiuta, and aoppella. Idol franchises are about fantasy fulfillment, and this TTRPG reflects that. This game is centered on creating cool characters, quick sessions, and simple but fun gameplay.

Create your very own pop group using this 2-page game! This game uses d4s, d6s and d10s. There are two modes of play: inside and outside battles called Faceoffs. In Faceoffs, your characters will attempt to overcome obstacles or opponents, such as rival bands, rabid fans, or your own self-doubt. You’ll roll against your opponent��s skills. In contrast, outside Faceoffs, you’ll be rolling against a pre-determined level to do things like convincing another actor to participate in your music video, breaking into your manager’s car, or smuggling as much fast food as you can into your dormitory without security finding out.

This game is still in its beta stage, so you’re working with just the rules and a hint towards the kind of setting the game is designed for. If you want to use this game for more than a simple one-shot, I’d recommend using some of your session 0 time to talk about the world these pop stars inhabit - is it in the past? The future? On another planet? It’s up to you!

RoadTrip: The Musical RPG, by AgentDolly.

You are a few friends are going on a road trip, where are you going to go, who are you going to meet, and what music will you listen to along the way? These and many other questions will be answered in Road Trip: The Musical.

Road Trip: The Musical is a game designed for 1-5 players, and while it's recommended that you be actively on a road trip while playing, it is not required. To play, all you need is a way to make a playlist, this could be Spotify, an iPod touch, a CD, or just a piece of paper and a pen. All that matters is that you can keep track of the soundtrack for your road trip.

Each player will have a different role, such as The Driver, the Navigator, or the Snack Captain. Each role comes with a special ability, such as “I’ll turn this car around”, or “Pit Stop”. This allows you to affect song choices as long as they fit certain criteria! At the end of the game, you’ll have a playlist for the group to listen to when you actually hit the road, and you can remember the game you used to create it whenever you’re on the move.

Jukebox, by jarofeyes.

Jukebox is a musical roleplaying game, played over 4 hours, with 3-4 friends and a karaoke setup. You’ll play a cast of characters who are all struggling in their own way against an overwhelming challenge. During three acts, hidden longings will be revealed, grievances will be aired, and songs will be sung. Will old wounds and personal drama doom you all to failure? Or will you change and grow just in time to save the day?

Jukebox requires no preparation and is GM-less. This is a chance for you and your friends to write your very own musical, using your favourite songs. You will design an opening setting, and create characters with their own personal challenges, while using a deck of cards as your randomization tool. This might be worth looking into if you have a group of friends that needs to stretch their legs a bit, or need their roleplaying sessions broken up into chunks.

Super Holo Bards, by anniedisaster09.

Super Holo Bards is A Transformational, Totally Sensational Bardic Adventure game borrowing a few game creation elements from Lasers and Feelings. This game can be played with 1-5 players and has optional rules for a GM also known as the Band Manager if one is wanted/desired.

This is a game about heroes with magical instruments - your characters are secretly super-musicians, using your powers for good. The game has a built-in setting that feels renaissance-fantasy in nature, but changing the options on the GM guide tables and the player backgrounds is all you should need to put your characters in whatever setting you desire. Each player has the ability to cast magical spells, as well as the ability to transform into your heroic self! Be warned though, the transformation doesn’t last - and you need time to recharge after using a spell. If you like Lasers & Feelings but you want a little bit more to the game, Super Holo Bards might be worth checking out!

Damn the Man, Save the Music, by Turtlebun.

In Damn the Man, you’ll juggle the responsibilities of a day that will determine the future of your record store, all while trying to accomplish a big personal goal. Can you confess your love to your crush and find the money that went missing from the cash box? Can you pay off your debt to your parents while promoting tonight’s big show? The clock is ticking and you’ve got until midnight to try.

Damn the Man is inspired by movies like Empire Records, Dazed and Confused, and a love for the ’90s. It’s silly and tender and no familiarity with the source material is necessary to enjoy the game.

This game is built with a lot of support tools for nervous GMs. It plays over the course of three acts, and uses playing cards to help determine what kinds of troubles the players encounter. It includes examples of play and a great outline of safety tools. By the end of the game, you'll know whether or not the store is saved or not. The game uses playbooks making character creation a little bit quicker and easier - all in all, a great option if you want to introduce roleplaying to someone new.

VOID 1680AM, by Bannerless Games.

Night after night, you sit alone with your thoughts, your music, and a microphone. Whether you come to your radio show with somber attitude or joyful spirit, you use the music that moves you to etch something fleeting and beautiful into the big empty.

There are other voices in the darkness. With a deck of cards, a six-sided die and a stack of music, you will build a playlist, invent and interact with Callers to your show, and evolve their stories over as many broadcasts as you like. No matter their motivations, they simply must be heard. In that way, you are very alike.

VOID 1680 AM includes rules for single-session and ongoing play, instructions to have your show broadcast on the airwaves as an Affiliate, and even a way to add your voice to a library of Callers that other DJs can use in their own games.

This game is inspired by Anamnesis, the 1988 film Talk Radio and Long Haul 1983.It aims to replicate the feeling of attempting to make connections with people who can only talk to you over the phone. You’ll create a cast of callers and craft a playlist based on their hopes, needs, and desires. If you want to run through a one-and-done game, you can do that, but this game also includes ways to create a series of connected stories. If you’re interested, you can check out the Press Kit before buying the whole thing!

#game recommendations #indie ttrpgs #asks #musical games #dnd #tabletop games

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lemonyinks · 3 months

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All the ways Bart Allen is loved.

Bart Allen oneshot accompanied by art from the wonderful @bamboozled-and-alone for the @flashfambigbang

6,565 words

or read here instead

Bart trudged inside after Helen, bag dragging along the floor and shoulders slumped.

It had just been one of those days; the ones where even friendly contact made your skin buzz in a not so pleasant way and simply getting out from under your thick blankets felt like medieval torture. He tried to make it through the day, he really had, but even Carol and Preston could tell that he wasn’t his usual self, being more easily frustrated, shying away from touch, and quick to snapping at the smallest of things. It was a surprise to no one when he inevitably caved part way through the day. He told his teacher he wasn’t feeling well and then called Max using the phone in the nurse's office.

It was Helen that answered, and she had told him that Max was out but she would gladly come get him. He knew she was a busy person and that this was probably the only free time to herself that she was going to get this week, and he felt bad for taking that away from her, but he was so tired that he all but begged her to come get him. As much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn’t just run home. The school wouldn’t release him without a guardian present and just up and leaving would cause more problems than it was worth. Stupid school and its stupid rules.

It felt like hours before her familiar car rolled up to the school and she came inside to sign him out and collect him. Even though Helen was the type of person to blast music when she drove, the ride home had been blissfully silent. Bart was so thankful for it.

He flopped onto the sofa after carelessly throwing his bag down near the hallway entrance. He buried his face in the corner of the cushions and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt wrung out and tense. Maybe he just needed a nap and he would feel better. At least, that is what he was hoping.

“Are you hungry, hun?” Helen asked from the doorway of the kitchen. Bart felt vaguely nauseous but he had to admit that he was a little bit hungry, so he muttered a tired “sure” and listened to the sound of Helen's retreating steps. He closed his eyes and tried to stave off the headache that threatened to expand behind his eyes. Yeah, that nap sounded good right about now.

He unknowingly drifted into a restless sleep and woke to the pink and orange hues of a setting sun in the open window. He rolled over onto his back and admired the pastel clouds as they drifted by. A breeze cooled his skin and caused the curtains to flutter gently. The beauty of the sky was one of the only things VR had never been able to replicate perfectly. He inhaled deeply, taking in the delicious smell of something cooking in the room over. He leaped to his feet and dashed into the kitchen as he recognized the smell as Helen’s Beef Stew.

“You, like, never make this, Helen. What’s the occasion?” He asked, mouth water at the sight and smell as she stirred the large pot on the stove. It was something that was tedious to make in quantities large enough to satisfy the speedster metabolism, making it a rarity in the Mercury household.

“I just felt like it.” Helen said, ruffling his hair as she headed towards the cupboard to grab one of Max’s big bowls, the ones that looked like oversized mugs with the handles that got too hot to hold. She scooped him several large spoonfuls before handing the bowl off to him and pointing him over to the table. She handed him a bread roll from a bag sitting on the counter that Bart knew hadn’t been there that morning.

“Thank you, Helen.” He said, excitedly dipping his spoon into the heavenly meal and digging in, humming at the as the unbeatable tastes exploded across his taste buds.

“No problem, kiddo.” She said, taking a seat beside him with her own bowl.

I love you

Bart was tired, which wasn’t something that happened to him very often. He was known to have an infuriating inability to grow tired, actually. It was something that drove Max crazy in the beginning, and left Bart feeling restless and agitated. But today, he was well and truly tired.

His shoulders had an exhausted slump to them and he had to shuffle to keep himself awake as he stood behind Max. He gave a tired blink, eyes absently staring up at the starry night sky while he tuned out the boring run down the old man was giving the police officers who had come to collect the small-time villain they had just taken out.

“You look pretty tired there, Bart.” Max said as they finally, finally walked away from the police officer. It felt like they had been standing there for hours! How did Max even find the words to have a conversation so slow?

“Yeah, a little bit, I guess.” Bart said with a yawn. No use in lying about it, really. He was tired, after all.

“Why don’t you go ahead and hop up onto my back then? I'll give you a lift home.” Max suggested, halting their walk. Bart perked up slightly, his eyebrows raising nearly to his hairline,

“Really?” He asked, maybe a touch too excited. He loved piggyback rides, you see.

“Why not?” Max asked rhetorically as he moved to crouched in front of Bart, arms extended back in preparation to hold Bart’s legs.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He moved at the speed of light, practically throwing himself onto the older man’s back with a newfound energy and wrapping his arms around his neck in an near choke hold. Max choked and teetered forward, almost being thrown off balance before righting himself and standing up straight. He hoisted Bart further up his back, grip firm and secure on the underside of his knees.

“Are you sure I’m not too heavy for your brittle old man bones?” Bart asked, swinging his feet back and forth in an excited manner. He knew his weight was nothing for Max, but he couldn’t resist the urge to rib him whenever he could.

“Don’t make me regret this, Bart.” Max grumbled with a sigh, though there was a smile on his lips.

Bart just laughed and hugged him tighter, resting his head against Max's and letting his eyes slip shut as he started back up their journey home for the night.

I love you

“Bart!” Preston’s voice called out to him from somewhere to his left.

Bart turned towards the sound and found Preston rushing towards where he was sitting on the bleachers watching Carol run through her cheer routine. His steps were loud and thunderous on the rickety structure. He threw himself down onto the heated metal of the bench beside him, side pressing into Bart’s and elbow digging into his ribs.

“Where’s the fire?” Bart joked, unconsciously leaning into the weight of Preston.

“That is not a funny joke to make when it is well over 102 degrees outside.” Preston said, giving Bart a disapproving look, his face already blotchy and red from the heat.

And he made a fair point, to be honest. It was so hot outside that Bart was convinced he’d managed to sweat off more than two times his body weight by now. He would have surely passed out if not for the constant water breaks the teachers had been begrudgingly allowing them. Even the shorts he’d borrowed from Cissie and the light tank top he stole from Wally weren’t doing very much to help him from overheating in the sweltering August heat.

“My bad,” He laughed, “But seriously, what's the rush?”

If it was even possible, Bart could have sworn that he saw Preston’s face flush even deeper. The heat must really be getting to him, huh?

“I-um-well, I wanted to give you something.” Preston said. He pulled his backpack up into his lap and then rooted around in it before producing a small cassette tape case. It was see-through and without any indication that it was by a specific band so Bart deduced that it must be homemade.

“What’s this?” Bart asked, reaching out to pull it from Preston’s slightly shaky grasp. Upon closer inspection he realized there was a piece of scrap paper with his name written in red pen taped to the cassette itself.

" It's a cassette tape. I recorded some stuff I thought you might like onto it.” Preston said. His voice was uncharacteristically soft, a small tremble noticeable to it.

“Oh, wow, thank you.” Bart said. He reached into his own bag, digging around for the walkman that Max and Helen got him for his birthday.

“Are you going to listen to it now?!” Preston asked, sounding almost panicked. Bart turned back to him and raised an eyebrow.

“Am I not supposed to..?” He asked.

“I mean, I’m not stopping you. It’s just- well um, I though that- No, nevermind. Go ahead and listen to it.” Preston stuttered out, turning his bright red face away from Bart, who shrugged in response before finally pulling his walkman out from where it was crushed between several trashed spiral notebooks and borrowed textbooks. He rooted around some more until he found the headphones that went with it, half-heartedly untangling the wire before plugging them in and then poking Preston in the shoulder.

“Listen together?” He questioned, holding the headphones out between them.

Preston pursed his lips and looked between Bart and the device several times before his expression softened into a smile and he said, “Why not.”

Bart twisted the headphones a bit until he was able to press one of the speakers to his ear, cupping his hand over it to keep it in place. Preston did the same. This position forced them to lean into each other, their sweaty shoulder’s stuck together, knuckles brushing against each other, and knees knocking together. Preston leaned back, forcing Bart to follow until they were both leaning against the bleacher bench behind them, heads leaning back against the hot metal and faces upturned to the shimmering sun. Bart closed his eyes and let the lyrics to Some Kind Of Wonderful fill one ear, the sounds of the activity on the field and Preston’s steady breathing in the other.

I love you

The rest of Young Justice dispersed throughout the base as the meeting and debrief came to an end. Bart shoved his chair back and flew to his feet, ready to go tearing back home to Manchester. Those meetings were always soooo boring, and he was more than ready to go running with Max or hang out with Preston and Carol. It was the weekend, so he didn't even have homework to worry about. Well, no homework that he was going to worry about anyway.

He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He paused and turned to make eye contact with Tim. Oh no, what had Bart done? Was he in trouble or-

“Hey, here's a list of all the rogues - active or otherwise - in your area. Let me know if anything is missing, kay?” Tim said before handing him a laminated piece of paper that he confirmed with a glance was indeed a list of rouges, with both names he recognized and a few he didn't.

What?

“Thank you?” Bart questioned, raising an eyebrow. Tim patted him on the shoulder one more time before walking away without another word.

He didn’t know why Tim felt the need to give this to him, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. For now, he decided to hand it off to Max and hope to forget about the weird experience.

Execpt Tim did it again. And again. And again. Every weekend like clockwork Tim would bring him a new updated list with more and more information on it each time, and again and again Bart would give him a confused look before going home and handing it off to Max. It was like Tim didn’t think he could do his own job! The nerve of this guy!

...But that wasn’t it, was it? The more he paid attention, the more he began to realize that it wasn’t just him that Tim did this to. No, he did it with everyone. He even did it with Cassie, who Bart knew Tim had absolute faith in. So it wasn’t done out of a lack of faith in his ability. It was done out of…concern? Or at least something similar to it.

Tim wanted them, wanted Bart, to be prepared for anything. He wanted him to be safe. And honestly, it had been helpful, he wouldn't lie. More than once it had clued him and Max in on some suspicious activity that they would have been otherwise too busy to notice. It was nice, Bart thought, to have someone on the outside help out every once in a while, even if it was from someone weird enough to alphabetize and colour code the information.

Bart smiled widely at Tim the next time he came to hand him an updated list. Tim smiled back, the lenses of his domino scrunching up and his dimples appearing at the corners of his mouth. He patted Bart on the shoulder like always and left to carry on with his tasks.

I love you

Cassie Sandsmark was an extremely tactile person. This was a well known and inescapable truth that the entirety of Young Justice have come to know over the course of their time together. Whether it be a casual arm around your shoulders or a spine cracking hug lifting you from the ground, Cassie couldn’t go longer than a few minutes without being in contact with one of her friends.

And Bart loved this fact.

He was just as touchy as Cassie, if not more so. Hugs, high fives, pats on the back or shoulder, and even holding hands, you name it and Bart Allen loved it. This simple fact made the two of them the perfect victims to the others' affection.

“Hey, Bart.” Cassie’s voice called from the sitting space as he made his way to the kitchen for a quick snack.

He paused and peaked his head into the doorway. “Yeah?” He called back.

“I’m going to watch Wendy. Want to join?” She called back, unnecessarily loud considering he was only a few feet away from her. He considered her offer and then shrugged. He didn’t have anything else to do, he was just going to go back to his room and play video games.

“Sure, why not. Let me grab a snack real quick.” He said, ducking back into the kitchen.

“Grab me a pop while you’re in there, would you?” She yelled from the other room. He didn’t answer, and instead got to work poking around for something to eat.

He returned to the sitting room a few minutes later with a family sized bag of crisps in one hand and a soda for Cassie in the other. She was laying across the sofa when he got there, one leg lazily hanging over the edge and the other bent at the knee and leaning against the back. Her head was cushioned by the armrest.

He didn’t even consider the other furniture in the room before immediately going to lay himself directly on top of her, setting the drink and the snack on the floor in front of them. He laid his head on her muscular chest and she wrapped her arms around his waist, locking her hands together and setting them on the small of his back. He tucked his hands underneath her, warming them with the heat of her back.

He listened to her heartbeat as they watched the show, his head rising and falling in time with her breath. Eventually she began to run her fingers through his thick hair, and even he had to admit it made him just a little bit sleepy. He felt content to lay there forever.

I love you

Bart leaned back against Anita’s legs behind him, shifting impatiently as she ran a brush through his unruly, static-y locks.

It was getting longer, annoyingly so. It would not stop fall in front of his face unless he was constantly pushing it behind his ear or blowing it out of the way. It drove him crazy. It also seemed to drive Anita crazy, because she had wasted no time in coming up to him after the day's mission was over with a wrist full of hairties and a brush in her hands. He didn’t think twice before following as she wordlessly led him to one of the long couches, allowing himself to be sat on the floor in front of her.

“How is school going?” Anita asked, setting aside the brush to run her skilled fingers through his thick hair.

Bart couldn’t help but snort at the ice breaker. It was something Wally or Barry would awkwardly ask him when they didn’t know how to start a conversation. However, whereas they would say it with this weird, stilted energy, Anita said it casually.

“It’s been good. I joined my school's conservation club recently. It’s really easy to clean up all the waste around the city with my speed, but something about working as a team and slowly making somewhere look nice and clean is really…rewarding I guess.” He replied. Anita hummed.

“Any friends in that club?” She asked, fingers deftly dividing his hair into sections.

“I joined with Rolly and Carol. Preston was going to join too, but then the school started up this film club that runs at the same time, and he couldn’t miss the opportunity.” Bart said, rolling his eyes at the reminder of Preston’s betrayal.

“How are Max and Helen?” Anita asked.

“They’re doing great actually. They’ve both had more free time than usual recently so we’ve been spending more time together. It is honestly a little painful playing board games with them, though. It feels like it takes them both an eternity to take their turns.” He admitted, frowning at the memory. Behind him, Anita giggled as she tugged the strands of hair into place.

“I understand that. It’s a nightmare when my family plays card games. They’re way too strategic about it, especially with Uno. I swear it takes hours before even a single card is played!” She exclaimed, pulling a laugh from Bart in turn.

“We tried to play Uno once, but Max got so angry he refused to talk to me and Helen for the rest of the night. Poor Matt, he got the cold shoulder for nearly a whole week! All because he hit Max with a draw six.” Bart lamented. Anita gently, but firmly, righted his head when he went to shake it in mock disappointment at his guardian's petty grudge.

“That sounds about right,” She said, “We had to remove those cards from our deck to get uncle Maad to play.”

“No way!” He laughed incredulously.

“Yes way!” She laughed along, fingers pausing in Bart’s hair for a moment so she wouldn’t pull at it while she tried to calm her giggles.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence a few moments later, cheeks hurting from all the smiling and laughter. Not too long later, Anita slid a yellow hairtie with a star charm on it down her wrist and pulled the end of the braid into it. She gently patted him on the head to let him know she was done and he took it as an invitation to give her a big hug, which she returned.

He thanked her and they went their separate ways, both in a hurry now to get home after the long day. On his way out, Bart caught sight of the beautiful French braid Anita had done for him in the reflection of one of the big glass windows. He stopped to turn his head from side to side, admiring her work with a wide grin. It looked beautiful.

I love you

One of the Ken’ts cows was due to give birth soon, which meant that Ma Kent was stressed, which meant she was stress baking, which meant lots and lots of baked goods to go around. When she inevitably made too much for the family to finish on their own, it was only natural that she would load up a foil pan to the brim with fresh Brownies and hand them off to Kon on his way to a Young Justice meetup. Being the perpetually hungry teenagers they were, the team swarmed the baked goods like a shiver of hungry sharks that got a whiff of blood in the water. The previously full pan only had a handful of squares remaining in a matter of seconds.

“Kon these are heavenly.” Bart moaned around a mouthful of warm, fudgy brownie. “You’re Ma needs a reward for these or something, I could eat them every day for the rest of my life.”

A bit dramatic, yes; but, hey, they were really good brownies. Kon looked thoughtful at that, a tilt to his head as he studied Bart like a specimen under a microscope. Bart smiled at the attention, uncaring of the mess of brownie that was probably clinging to his teeth as he did so. Kon raised his eyebrow in amusement and slid the rest of the brownies over to him.

Bart didn’t need to be told twice before he was polishing the rest of them off in one go, the foil pan empty in the blink of an eye; literally. Kon laughed at the display while the others all whined in unison, chastising him for not saving any for the rest of them.

Somehow, the stream of sweets didn’t stop, even after the calf had been born (it came out healthy and adorable, for the record). Different sweets and baked goods, all courtesy of Ma Kent, would show up to their meetings and hangouts without fail. Which was awesome. What teenager wouldn't love being brought homemade desserts all the time? However, Bart began to notice something was up. Sometimes the sweets would taste different, too different to be a mishap in the kitchen, and Bart knew Ma Kent was too skilled a baker to make mistakes on a recipe at all. They would also be a little more sloppy, a little misshapen or varying widely in size. Not that he cared. Sweets are sweets, after all. It was just something he had taken notice of.

He came to the conclusion that Kon had started baking them himself, and so he did the only thing natural in this situation. He brought it up.

“Hey, did you make this one?” Bart asked around a mouthful of blueberry pie. Kon seemed to flush a bright red. Bart had to stop himself from laughing at the mental image of Kon with the head of a tomato.

“Is it that bad?” Kon asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Bart tilted his head to the side questioningly.

“No? It tastes awesome.” He said incredulously. What a stupid thing for Kon to say.

“How could you tell then?” He questioned.

“Well, it just looks a little less…” He thought of his words carefully, “neat? I guess?”

At that, Kon laughed.

“I can’t deny that. I’m still new to all of this. I still haven’t gotten the presentation down to a T just yet. Ma is still worlds better at it than I am.” He admitted. He cut another slice of the pie and put it on Bart’s plate. Bart kept eating as if he didn’t notice.

“How come you started baking? New hobby?” He asked, taking another large bite, licking the blueberry syrup from the fork, something he couldn’t get away with doing around Max, lest he spend the next hour or two getting lectured on table manners.

“Ma is a busy woman and I know you like sweets, so I thought, hey why not give it a shot? I get practice in the kitchen and my best bud gets an endless supply of sweets. Win, win.” Kon explained. He refused to meet Bart’s eyes and his cheeks were still red. For some reason, Bart felt his own face grow warm. Weird.

“Hhm. . . Well, I’m not going to complain. You’re the best!” Bart said before returning his attention to destroying the pie as fast as he could.

I love you

Bart hated shopping. He could usually do a full sweep of a store four times over and find everything he needed by the time the others were done looking at one rack of clothes. It was so slow and incredibly boring, so he rarely ever tagged along when his friends went to the mall. They understood his reasons and didn’t push him to join, though he could tell that they were sad every time he said no when they still asked to make sure he hadn’t changed his mind. That alone was enough to make him feel warm inside, to be honest, that his presence was missed. It made him feel like he belonged.

He was currently playing his Gameboy on Cassie’s bed, waiting for the others to return from one such shopping spree. He was technically early - Cassie had invited him to a movie marathon that was planned for when they got home - but her mom had let him in when he knocked so he figured there wasn’t a problem. Cassie probably wouldn’t care anyway.

He didn’t look up as the door opened and his friends all piled into the cramped room, only raising his hand to give a short wave before returning to his game. His high score on Tetris wasn’t going to beat itself.

“Bart! Why are you in my room?” Cassie said, her annoyance all fake and played up.

“Your mom let me in like an hour ago or something.” He answered. He cursed under his breath and set the handheld down as his stack got too high, the Game Over screen flashing mockingly at him only a few clears away from beating his score. He glared at it. Stupid thing.

Kon and Tim were dropping a bunch of bags on the floor as Greta impatiently waited to go through them off to the side. Bart thinks the mall trip might have been for her since she needed new clothes, but he didn’t quite remember.

“Oh, Bart, hi. I’m glad you’re here.” Cissie said, appearing in the doorway and shouldering past Tim, who halfheartedly grumbled in annoyance as he gave her a playful glare. She stuck her tongue out at him before rooting around in one of the bags hanging off of her arms.

She gave a triumphant yell as she pulled out something small from one of the bags. She made her way over to him and held the object out with a closed fist, hiding it from his view.

“A present? For moi?” Bart asked, batting his eyelashes at her. He sat up properly in Cassie’s bed and held his hand out to receive the gift. Cissie rolled her eyes and dropped it into his ready palm.

“I saw it while we were in line and thought of you.” She explained before going over to where Greta was happily digging through her new clothes and dropping down beside the younger girl with the other bags.

Bart looked down at his open hand and examined the gift. It was a small keychain no bigger than his thumb in the shape of Cherub from After-Life Avenger. Cissie must have seen him reading the comic during one of their hangouts. The sidekick was in his iconic fighting pose. The paint was poorly applied and his smile was wonky, likely from some kind of factory error. It was hideous, and it was perfect.

A wide grin spread across his face, a warmth in his chest. He pocketed the keychain and jumped off the bed to join his friends on the floor, ready to help Greta organize some outfits.

I love you

“So, do you think you’ll be able to make it?” Carol pestered, shoving the flyer into his hands. “It would really mean a lot to me if you came to this.”

Bart stared down at the poster, the font bond and in his face. “New Hampshire Cheer Competition!! Finals this Saturday 11/15 Don’t miss it! Be there, or be square!” He blinked at it and then looked back up at Carol’s anticipatory face, her eyes shining behind her glasses.

“Sure, I’ll be there.” He promised.

And that was how Bart found himself pressed in between Preston and Rolly on a set of tiny bleacher benches in the gym of a school two towns over. He had wanted to run here when he heard the distance, but Preston had insisted on carpooling with his dad, so Bart was pressured into sitting through the agonizing hour and a half long drive over here.

He grumbled and elbowed Rolly in the ribs when the other scooted way too close to him in order to make room for an elderly man who was very intent on sitting on the same bench as them. He regretted his choice to wear a thick flannel today. Despite it being cold outside, it was way too hot in this cramped gym. Why did they choose this school to do their competition at? Their gym was way bigger than this one! Stupid…

His sour mood quickly dissipated when Carol and her team walked into the gym, however. He watched his best friend scan the crowd with squinted eyes, a hand shielding her face from the fluorescent lights up above. He decided to make it easier for her to spot them, raising his hand high as it would go and giving a big, dramatic wave. He definitely got way too into Rolly and Preston’s personal space as he did so, but honestly? It was revenge for making him sit in the middle. Take that.

Carol spotted him immediately, a grin stretching across her face as she waved back just as dramatically, hitting one of her teammates in the head with her elbow in the process. She immediately withdrew her attention from her friends to apologize to the laughing girl, who waved her off before gesturing towards their team, who were leaving both of them behind. Carol gave one more small before moving to join back up with her team.

Bart had to admit, the competition was impressive. He didn’t even know many heroes who could do some of the flips that Carol and her team were doing, and even less who had the communication skills to work so in sync without even uttering a word.

Carol’s team didn’t win, but they came in third place, which wasn’t too bad. Bart would admit that he did start to zone out at this point, bored to pieces by the long winded award ceremony. He cheered when everyone else did, but counted ceiling tiles with his chin resting on his closed fist in the meantime.

Eventually the competition was over and the crowd began emptying out of the double doors at the back of the gym. Bart followed his group out and to Preston’s dad’s car with his hands in his pockets, idly chatting with Preston and Wade as he went. Suddenly there was one arm thrown around Bart’s shoulder, another around Preston’s, forcing them both to bend over slightly.

“Hey, boys!” Carol’s excited voice shouted into their ears. Her hair was disheveled and frizzy, her face flushed from both the past hours of physical activity and the biting cold weather. Her smile was as bright as the sun, happiness radiating off of her in waves despite the fact that she hadn’t won.

“Carol! Hey! You did amazing out there!” Preston exclaimed, throwing his arm around her waist and giving her a sort of side hug.

“Aw, thanks. You’re sweet. My team did most of the work though.” She said, leaning away from Bart to return the semi-hug.

��Sorry you guys didn’t win,” Bart said, “You really did do awesome.”

“Psh, who cares about winning. I’m just really glad you guys are here.” She said, giving him a similar side hug as Preston. And Bart could tell that she really meant it.

I love you

10 .

Bart felt a little silly if he was being entirely honest. He had been in louder, more crowded situations than this before. Hell, he had been to concerts in the past, performed in them even! This shouldn't be affecting him in the slightest. And yet, for some reason, as he stood in the mosh pit of some concert Cissie had convinced them all to go to with her, he felt more overwhelmed than he had in probably his whole life. Or, at least that is what it felt like.

The pulsing lights, the roaring cheers, the incomprehensible lyrics screamed into a crackling mic, the pressure of a million sweaty bodies crowding up against his own; it was all too much.

In the blink of an eye, he was zipping through the crowd and out of the door of the concert hall. He doesn’t know where he went or how he got there, but he found himself pressed up against a cold, concrete wall, shivering slightly in the chilly air. There was a cold sweat breaking out across his overly warm body, leaving him feeling even more uncomfortable. His breath came out in short pants as it crystalized in front of him. He tried to get control of his rapidly beating heart, pressing a fist firmly into the underside of his ribs and feeling it pound against his sternum like it was trying to burst free.

He took deep breaths through his nose and exhaled out of his mouth, just like Max had taught him. It didn’t seem to be doing much, though. He squeezed his eyes closed and leaned his head against the concrete, uncaring of the way the action pulled on his hair.

He let out a gasp when a frigid hand suddenly slipped into his own. He opened his eyes and found Greta sitting right beside him, her legs pulled up to her chest. One arm was resting on her knees so as to cushion her chin, and the other was pressed between the two of them where she was holding his hand. She was making a point to not look at him.

He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t have to. Her actions and presence alone were enough to say I'm here for you. She just sat there with him in silence until Bart finally got his breathing under control. Then, she leaned her head against his shoulder and her thumb rubbed circles into his knuckles. Bart took one more deep breath, now comforted by the presence of his friend, and he never felt lighter. He leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes a second time.

I love you

11.

Bart lay on the hood of Cissie’s car with his hands folded over his stomach, Greta on one side of him and Cassie on the other. Greta was fast asleep under a pink and yellow star print blanket, head cushioned by her arms, while Cassie was chatting up a storm with Cissie, who was sitting on the roof above them. Tim was next to her, pointing a camera up at the sky and meticulously taking pictures of the stars. Kon and Slobo were playing with Krypto somewhere off to the side. Anita was watching them from where she sat in one of the car's open doors, her laughter quiet but still loud enough to be heard.

They had come out to watch the stars, but most of them had lost interest in that a long time ago. Now they were just enjoying each other's company.

Bart lazily blinked up at the cosmos as the drone of his friends talking and laughter filled his ears. He wasn’t tired, really; it was more of a content drowsiness that was washing over him, brought on by a feeling of utter safety and comfort. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to get lost in it.

He didn’t even notice he had begun to shiver a little until something warm and heavy was tossed over his body. He cracked his eyes open just enough to see Slobo standing on the bumper of Cissie’s car, hands planted on his boney hips and a disapproving look on his face as he glared down at Bart's half asleep body. Bart further saw that it was the other teen’s insulated leather jacket that was now draped over Bart like a blanket.

“Idiot, I told him to bring a fraggin’ coat of his own.” Slobo said to no one in particular, shaking his head in what was clearly meant to be disappointment.

“You know, we had spare blankets in the trunk, Slobo. You could have given him one of those.” Cissie said, amused.

“That’s too much fraggin’ work, scrounging up one of those. Nah, this is just fine. He can use that for now.” Slobo said before hopping off the bumper to go back to where Kon and Krypto were waiting for him. Bart slipped his eyes shut once more, snuggling into the warmth of the jacket.

I love you

Bart had been thinking a lot lately; about love and what it meant.

He couldn’t claim to know exactly what it meant to love or be loved, but, really, who did? There were a million different ways to say I love you. It was near impossible to even try to comprehend the true extent of the word.

Love was the heavy weight of a warm meal sitting in your stomach after a hard day. It was fingers weaving beautiful patterns into your hair while you talked and talked about anything and everything. It’s the sticky residue of homemade blueberry pie on your fingers, staining the corner of your mouth as you clean your plate and go in for more. It was a lovingly crafted cassette with wearing tape that you listen to almost everyday, a flush on your cheeks as you absorbed the true intentions behind each carefully selected song.

Love was a small gift to say “I’m thinking of you”. It was a detailed report looking out for your safety. An invitation to watch someone do what they enjoy so that you may share in their happiness. A cold hand holding your own when your heart won’t seem to slow down. It’s a jacket draped over you like a blanket as you drift off to sleep to the sounds of laughter.

Love was all of this and so, so much more.

So, while he may never know just what that four letter word meant by definition, he didn’t need to. He was already certain of one thing; he is beyond loved and he is full of it. That simple knowledge was more than enough for him.

#bart allen #konbart #bartpres #bartpreston #preston lindsay #carol bucklen #helen claiborne #max mercury #not tagging everyone here sorry #inkywriting #i had more planned out but as many of you here on tumblr know i was sick a LOT last year #so i had to scrap a few scenes (meloni i'm sorry I love you) in order to make it in time #i still like the way it turned out though and I had a lot of fun writing it #so I hope that you enjoy it <3333 #flash family #long post

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unofficialadamtaurus · 2 years

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Why Is Everyone So Weird About Adam?

If you’re asking this question, you’re probably new to the fandom and/or the show. In that case, welcome! There’s a lot of fun to be had with RWBY, both Ice Queendom and the original show.

If you’re not new, consider this a chance to get up to speed. If there’s something you feel I missed, feel free to add it in a reblog or reply.

To answer the main question in brief: the tension around Adam is tied to his controversial* portrayal in the 3D source material.

We’ll go through the context of original show bit by bit so you can understand why people get so weird about Adam in ways they don’t for other villain characters. Keep an open mind, take in the facts, form your own opinion, and then engage with Adam however you see fit.

And, of course, Adam-related-stuff spoiler alert for the main show and the first episode of Ice Queendom. Additionally, content warning for high-level discussions of misogyny, grooming, pedophilia, abuse, and homophobia.

The Trailer

If you weren’t aware, RWBY began with four separate trailers, one for each main girl and letter in the acronym. These trailers started coming out in Winter of 2012 and the last was released on June 1, 2013 - just over a month before the first episode premiered. Within these trailers, Adam had the noteworthy role of being the first male character seen on screen and the first character to speak in the whole show.

In the Black trailer, Adam finds Blake in a clearing and tells her “It’s time.” They run through the forest and jump onto a massive train passing through. Once inside, Adam quips, “Looks like we’re going to be doing this the hard way,” to which Blake replies, “Don’t be so dramatic” with a little smile. As they fight a lot of robots, they leave opportunities for the other to finish off certain enemies. Their teamwork is tight and they clearly trust that the other will have their back.

At the midpoint, Adam checks a crate and tells Blake to move up to the next car while he sets the charges. Blake asks him about the crew members and Adam, with a very sinister edge to his voice, says, “What about them?”

There’s another big fight before Blake can answer, during which Adam gets a now iconic glory shot:

The trailer ends with Blake cutting apart the coupling between hers and Adam’s train cars; she fades into the distance, out of Adam’s reach.

So, the aspects of Adam that hooked people immediately: his design (black and red is a very good aesthetic), his superpower (disintegrating a massive robot with a single swing), and his weapons (gun sheath that can fire the sword it holds).

Adam’s fighting style in the Black trailer is cool. It’s entertaining. It’s fun to watch. People makes gifs of it for a reason.

How much mileage a person gets out of these aspects varies, of course, but on the face of it Adam has a very solid design and is entertaining on the screen. Combined with his obvious history with Blake, people were invested. Theories about his future role in the story, a confrontation with Blake, and so on circulated as the show entered its first season.

Many of those theories found traction by using the trailer’s background music - “From Shadows.” The lyrics are not subtle:

Born with, no life Into subjugation Treated like a, worthless animal Stripped of all rights Just a lesser being Crushed by cruel, ruthless human rule

We can infer right off the bat that Blake and Adam are fighting against oppression. Moreover, they are not themselves human. The fight aspect comes across clearly in the chorus:

From shadows we'll descend upon the world Take back what you stole From shadows we'll reclaim our destiny Set our future free

Rather than a straight evil villain that Blake had to run away from to save herself, Adam comes off as a morally ambiguous counterpart to Blake with the way he was doing the right thing (resisting oppression) the wrong way (murdering innocent crewmembers). Working only with what’s in the trailer, Blake left because she no longer agreed with his methodology.

Also, for context: here’s a link to an official video explaining what a faunus (what Blake and Adam are) is. Tl;dr they’re humans with one animal trait, like cat ears, added on.

The Show

So we have him featured as a deuteragonist to Blake in the trailer...and then Adam isn’t mentioned again in the show until he’s mentioned by Blake in episode 10 of Volume 2, "Mountain Glenn."

Side note number one: there’s actually a point earlier at which Blake explains the history of the White Fang to Sun (another Faunus), and she notes that a new, more violent leader took charge after the old pacifist one steps down. She doesn’t name names, but we learn later that the pacifist leader is actually Blake’s father, Ghira Belladonna, and the new leader is Sienna Khan, both of whom won’t show up until later volumes.

Back to episode 10: Blake describes Adam as a partner and then clarifies that he was “more of a mentor, actually.” At this point, roughly a year and a half has passed since we last heard anything about Adam. This brief mentor description fits with what we went over in the trailer section and confirmed a lot of theories at the time. Hype grew for what people saw as the inevitable confrontation between Blake and Adam, especially now that Blake was actively fighting against the White Fang and was on a team with the Schnee Dust Company heiress.

Adam does physically appear in Breach, the twelfth and final episode of Volume 2, to reassure Cinder’s faction that the White Fang will continue to listen to their faction despite heavy losses. With full confidence in his influence over his men, Adam says, “they’ll listen to me.”

Cue a wild storm of speculation trying to figure out how Adam fits into the White Fang alliance with Cinder. It started with the White Fang allying with Torchwick (a human) earlier in the show, but having Adam show that their alliance was apparently a willing one changed things. This scene cemented Adam’s role as an outright villain, though some still held out hope that he had a better reason for allying with Cinder than the joy of murdering humans.

It should be noted at this point that Tauradonna (Blake x Adam) was a very popular ship at this time.

The Show: Volume 3

The next time we see Adam is Volume 3 Episode 7, "Beginning of the End." In this episode, we are shown a scene of Cinder approaching Adam in his camp in Forever Fall presumably for the first time. She asks for his help attacking Vale; Adam rejects her, saying, "The White Fang is not an organization for hire! We're a force of revolution!"

When Cinder tries again to appeal to him, he shuts her down by explaining, "You're asking my men to die for your cause. A human cause. That is not an idea I am willing to entertain." He finishes this statement by lifting his weapon in an implied threat. Cinder gets the message and leaves. Shortly after, Blake approaches Adam and asks who Cinder was, but Adam tells her not to worry about it.

Later in the same episode and after the events of the Black trailer have occurred, Adam and his lieutenant are having a discussion in a camp tent. The lieutenant swears he will find Blake; Adam tells him to let her go. Cinder then returns to the camp with some of the maiden powers and wreaks havoc. When the chaos pulls Adam and his lieutenant from his tent, Cinder again asks for Adam's help, this time with the threat of violence somewhat softened by the same cases of money and Dust she brought the first time.

Note the smoke and bodies in the background.

Important fandom split here: at the time this episode aired, it appears that there was a general consensus that Adam was genuinely threatened into doing what he did. After character revelations to be discussed in a bit, that consensus fractured with a notable subset of people interpreting this scene as Adam willingly submitting to Cinder in a 4D chess move to gain powerful allies and that he never cared about the lives of his men at all. That line of thinking also postulates that his initial rejection was nothing but an act to maintain his reputation with his men.

Moving on: Beacon, the huntsman training academy Blake is attending, comes under siege by hacked robots and hordes of Grimm. White Fang piloting ships are delivering Grimm where they otherwise could not reach, presumably with Adam's blessing. The man himself doesn't appear until Volume 3 episode 10, "Battle of Beacon." Adam has a defenseless student at his mercy when Blake sees him. Before she can run, he notices her and says, "Hello, my darling."

We get into the meat of their confrontation in episode 11, "Heroes and Monsters." Blake rushes Adam to save the aforementioned student, who promptly vanishes from the scene, but Adam is unimpressed. In response to her claiming that she's not running, he pushes her weapon down one-handed and says, "You will."

Adam dominates Blake in a one-sided fight. Yang shows up looking for Blake as Adam is promising to destroy everything Blake loves. Adam stabs Blake through her abdomen to get her to cry out, grabbing Yang’s attention. Yang launches herself at Adam in a protective rage; Adam cuts off her arm.

Blake throws herself in front of a now unconscious Yang and Adam, after a brief irritated pause, cuts off Blake’s head - only he doesn’t, because that was just a shadow clone Blake left behind so she could grab Yang and escape. Adam doesn’t give chase, just walks menacingly in that direction while casually killing a Grimm that lunges at him...and then he is gone for the rest of the volume.

So, during this confrontation, Adam kicks Blake in the stomach, backhands her across the face, and stabs her through the abdomen. Given that the entire encounter is soaked in Adam's "my love" and "darling" forms of address to Blake, many fans interpreted this violence as abuse, and specifically romantic partner abuse. Other fans interpreted it as violence against Blake as a combatant standing in Adam's way to whom he wants to prove a point.

To be blunt, this encounter shattered expectations, and not necessarily in a good way. To see Adam so vindictively pleased to attack Beacon, see Blake, and wear her down went against the buildup earlier in the volume with the Cinder scenes and particularly the scene in which Adam tells his lieutenant not to go after Blake.

After this episode aired, Tauradonna shippers vanished in droves as they were hit with accusations of supporting an abusive ship despite there being no indication that this physical violence was present before this point; Adam fans likewise retreated.

Although some of the dialogue - mostly Blake's - still made overtures at the revolution and justice angles to her and Adam's theorized philosophies, the romantic dialogue and violence from Adam distracted from those grander themes with petty revenge against Blake for her "betrayal" of him in the Black trailer.

Side note number two: one person found the jilted ex boyfriend characterization to be so egregious that they made an edit of the scene to remove it entirely. I recommend giving it a look after watching the original version.

Beyond the abuse angle, this episode also surfaced two other accusations now often leveled at Adam: pedophilia/grooming and misogyny. I can't speak to their frequency at the time the episode aired, but they are plenty common now.

On the pedophilia and grooming front, these headcanons mainly derive from Barbara and Arryn, the voices of Yang and Blake, respectively, stating during an interview their personal headcanon of Adam's age. They viewed him as in his twenties. Based on other vaguely established pseudo-canon not depicted in the show surrounding Blake and Adam's first meeting, this would mean that Adam met Blake when he was well into his teens and she was around 12 or 13.

Adam's age was never confirmed in the show. Grooming or pedophilia was also never depicted. These accusations are extrapolations from cast members' headcanons coupled with pseudo-canon material.

The misogyny accusations stem from Adam's attacks against Blake. Physical abuse against Blake, a woman, was grounds enough for the claim. There’s no delicate way to say this, but put bluntly, abuse against a woman is not inherently misogynistic. Abuse against a woman because she is a woman is inherently misogynistic.

Although the claim that misogyny doesn’t exist on Remnant has been floating around for years, I wasn’t able to track down a source for it.

Because of this misogynist label on Adam, fans of his were swiftly condemned as misogynists as well. This has led to many fans of his being interpreted as “dude bros” getting overly hyped about a "nothing” character just because they like how “cool” he is while they misogynistically ignore the main protagonists. If you want an example of this dismissive attitude, check out this video from Twiins iink. Also note that the title has been changed since posting from “Get Over Adam” to what you see now after there was significant backlash from parts of the fandom for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond the scope of this post.

Despite all of the troublesome implications and interpretations of Blake and Adam's confrontation at Beacon, there were some positives that Adam fans latched onto: Adam's intimidation factor as a villain (effortlessly besting Blake in a fight, taking down Yang in one shot), his indisputable personal connection to Blake, and his role in the central conflict of the story. He also, at this point, still could fulfill the role of the foil to Blake's more pacifist views going forward.

Side note number three: there are conflicting opinions on Adam's actual power level. I did a breakdown in this post.

So here we have another split in the fandom in addition to the ones before it: those who enjoyed his character now for the cool factor of how powerful he seemed - given that he took down Blake and Yang without apparent difficulty - and others who viewed that first group as endorsing the things Adam did and ostensibly stood for.

There is also another group of people existing even now who are genuinely supportive of more of less everything that Adam did and is accused of doing, but I honestly don’t know much about them. There are only a couple that I’ve seen and interacted with, but it’s not at all a common position these days. However, nearly all Adam fans are at some point lumped into this group.

I want to emphasize that Volume 3, and particularly the Adam and Blake confrontation, is the linchpin moment for Adam fans. I’ll run through the rest of the show just so you have context, but by the time one particular detail about Adam’s past came to light in Volume 6, most fans of his had already jumped ship.

Volumes 4 and 5

In these volumes we get an abrupt reframing of the White Fang's structure with the introduction of the cult-like Menagerie branch and, in the Mistral-based headquarters, high leader Sienna Khan. Although the show communicated that there was more to the organization than Adam in earlier volumes, those other branches and power structures had never been explored.

Sienna's introduction complicated people's relationship with Adam because she occupied the same niche he had originally been interpreted as filling: that of a violent activist.

For an in depth comparison of Sienna, Adam, and Ghira's methods, look at this post.

We are also introduced to Ilia Amitola, another White Fang member who subscribes to Adam and Sienna's view. Here's a post comparing and contrasting Ilia and Adam, since another common point brought up with Adam fans is how Ilia is Adam but "better."

Anyway, Adam features in one of Yang's PTSD nightmares in Volume 4. He then kicks off Volume 5 by giving a speech in support of reverse racism to Sienna, whom he promptly murders. His actual words: "[T]he Faunus are the dominant species of this planet. We're better than humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the Faunus, they should serve the Faunus."

Suffice to say he was hemorrhaging fans at this point. At the same time, critique of the entire White Fang plot, which had been present since its inception, lit up with Adam's latest characterization as the catalyst.

Adam succeeds in his coup and becomes the high leader of the White Fang. He's bad at it, he fails to bring down Haven, and is generally just pathetic. He ends the volume in disgrace, having narrowly escaped capture.

The Adam Character Short

Before Volume 6 aired, the show put out an Adam character short - think of it as a mini-episode dedicated to Adam.

The short showed that Adam was influenced and encouraged by Sienna, was the first to introduce Grimm masks to the White Fang, and emotionally manipulated Blake into staying with the White Fang when she no longer agreed with his methods. It also - years later - put in a scene of Adam apparently desiring Sienna's position of high leader despite his characterization in the first three volumes not hinting at that desire. This inclusion led to new analyses of early content with confirmation bias in full effect to show how Adam was actually terrible and one-dimensional all along.

I can't say for sure, but I suspect the 4D chess go-along-with-Cinder headcanon gained traction around this time.

Volume 6

In the first episode, "Argus Limited," we see Adam on his throne in the Mistral headquarters looking over the bodies of faunus he killed while soundbytes of those men questioning his competency play. Adam mutters, "the Belladonna girl" in reference to an accusation by one of the soldiers and then cuts the chair in half while yelling at the ceiling.

Later in the episode, we see Adam, wearing a new hooded outfit and blindfolded instead of masked, watching Blake from a separated train car. Yang also hallucinates him in his old outfit while the protagonists take shelter from a storm in an abandoned farm. He doesn't appear again until episode 10, "Stealing from the Elderly," cornering Blake alone at the Argus radio tower after killing all of the employees.

Adam's characterization in the volume's final episodes doesn't change much from his characterization in v4 onward. He's still obsessed with Blake and blames her for his problems. Unlike their confrontations at Beacon and at Haven, however, Blake is now terrified of Adam. She tries to run and talk him out of the fight on multiple occasions to no avail.

What we do finally get, though, is a face reveal fans had been curious about for years.

Adam removes his blindfold to reveal the letters SDC branded over his bloodied left eye. The Schnee Dust Company is a company known for “controversial labor forces” (as said by Blake in Volume 1), a description usually interpreted in fandom as either outright slavery or dangerously exploitative working conditions.

There are a lot of reasons why this reveal made things so much worse in the fandom. For more on why it was a very bad writing choice, check out this post. There’s also this Reddit post in the same vein as what you’re reading now that goes into even more detail on why Adam is so controversial.

In terms of the story, this reveal occurred because Adam was in the process of manipulating Blake again - showing his scar while he talked about Blake leaving him when he’s been hurt by “all sorts of people in all sorts of ways.” This scene further divided people because it emphasized his known manipulative and abusive relationship with Blake (unsympathetic) over the new fact that he was branded over one eye with the logo of a racist company (extremely sympathetic).

Later, well after the episode aired and people had come up with theories for the brand’s existence, the showrunners declared outside of the show that the racist company’s brand appearing on an oppressed minority character’s face wasn’t due to the racism in the setting but rather Adam getting into an argument with someone at an SDC site and that person “let[ting] him have it.”

This revelation created further division among people who heard and accepted that belated explanation, people who heard it and didn’t accept it, and people who didn’t hear it.

With this finale also comes the final big accusation thrown at Adam: homophobia. In broad strokes, this is sourced from the (to date) unconfirmed ship bumbleby (Blake x Yang). At Beacon, Yang leapt to Blake's defense and Adam cut off her arm. At Argus, Yang again comes to Blake's defense and, working together, they overpower Adam after holding hands and declaring that they're protecting each other rather than one of them protecting the other.

The confrontation plays out and Adam dies to the broken pieces of his ex's weapon, stabbed in the front by his former partner and in the back by a human he saw once before for about thirty seconds. Blake breaks down crying and Yang comforts her. Shippers interpret this scene (in addition to this one leading up to it) as a key moment in their relationship. Yang also hits Adam with her bike called Bumblebee when she enters the scene. Because Blake and Yang were fighting Adam in the lead up to this bonding moment, some view Adam as a representation of homophobia standing in the way of the wlw couple.

Many also frequently make jokes about Adam being homophobic even though, in the show, it's seeing his former partner hold hands with someone else that sends Adam over the edge - arguably because he sees that relationship as viable, not because he doesn't believe women can love each other. He even yells at Yang, "What does [Blake] even see in you?"

Now that Adam is dead, let’s get into the genuinely thorny part. Neither the homophobia and misogyny accusations nor the canonical abuse or even the pedophilia/grooming angle can be considered the most controversial part of his character.

The Faunus Controversy

It is, fortunately or unfortunately, disingenuous to bring up Adam without bringing up RWBY’s entire faunus plot. Adam was a leader of the White Fang faunus group, for a time the leader, and his prominent role in the Black trailer and Volume 3, as well as the way Blake talked about and reacted to him, made him a significant face for the group.

With that in mind, the crew explicitly compared (clip download link) the faunus to the American civil rights movement. Adam as a horned faunus is allegorical to a black person in America - he’s a discriminated-against minority fighting back against an oppressive majority. Not only that, but he’s a minority whose face was branded with the logo of a company he worked for.

If you want more detail about the White Fang controversy, I recommend watching these videos on it.

So, to recap: Adam is an oppressed, traumatized, and branded individual leading an extremist faction of a minority group fighting for a revolution against racism...and he’s a violent murderer who doesn’t care about his kin or cause and stalks the ex he abused across continents only to die at her hand.

A bit complicated, yeah? Depending on which aspects of his character resonate and which you can overlook, as well as which parts of his contradictory characterization you want to believe are the true core of his character, he can either be very sympathetic or the scum of the earth.

Framed another way, Adam arguably falls into the archetype of “oppressed character becomes a villain to lash out against the society that oppressed them but is stopped by the protagonists without the circumstances that led to their villainy being addressed.” Basically, this.

Side note number four: if you want to look into how Adam’s characterization ties into (and hurts) Blake’s arc, check out this video.

Let’s also briefly look at how CRWBY talk about Adam. The cast and crew often interact with the community and their attitudes towards events and characters often impacts how the fandom treats those characters. Adam is a prime example. We already covered the creators headcanoning Adam's age off the cuff and creating controversy that way.

More examples: Volume 6's sound designer tweeted about how the sound of the river Adam falls into after being fatally stabbed included a recording of a flushing toilet. Adam's English voice actor tweeted that Adam's only allergy was to Blake and Yang's love for each other (of note: that tweet was made in 2019. Blake and Yang's relationship is not canon as of 2022).

Those points, combined with the Word of God explanation of how Adam got his scar, point towards a dismissive attitude on the part of the creators towards Adam. This attitude bled into the fandom; if the creators don't care about this character or treat him with nuance, why should the fans?

So there you have it: the most complete in-one-spot picture of Adam in the original show and why people are weird about him. Which brings us to...

Ice Queendom

Before we even get into the show, let’s get into the promotional material from the official Ice Queendom website. Specifically, Adam’s character description:

“Adam was Blake’s companion during her White Fang era as well as her combat mentor. He expanded his faction with immense ruthlessness to achieve his goals, and replaces the old leader of the organization.” [source]

The romance aspects from the original are absent and it seems more in line with the Volume 2 mentor characterization than what came later. Also absent are indications of his faunus supremacist mindset that debuted in Volume 5.

Two important changes were made in IQ’s spin on the Black trailer:

As opposed to the “What about them?” line, we get Adam stating clearly that he doesn’t care about the crew members because they’re human. This bolsters his characterization of prioritizing Faunus over humans to the point that he sees innocent human lives as not even worth considering when making plans. It’s similar to the original, yes, but that sliver of nuance matters when establishing a character.

We hear immediately after Blake leaves that Adam chooses not to pursue Blake when he could if he wanted. In the original show, this detail was not revealed until the third season. Moreover, we hear from IQ!Adam that he is choosing not to give chase specifically because he believes the world is so hostile to Faunus that Blake will see things his way soon enough.

Nothing in Adam and Blake's interactions in Ice Queendom indicate abuse, misogyny, pedophilia/grooming, or homophobia - just like the original trailer. However, the biggest point in IQ!Adam's favor is simply that he is not the main show's Adam. His character has been tweaked just like many other RWBY characters to better fit IQ's story. Not only that, but for all that the original Adam did in his RWBY run, he has done none of that in IQ. To judge a character based on things that have not happened in their story is to do a disservice to that character, and to judge people for liking the new iteration of that character is to be needlessly weird about it.

It is at this point that this post finally comes to a close. As I said at the start: use this information to engage with Adam however you see fit.

While you're ruminating on that, enjoy this picture of my cat as a reward for enduring this post.

#adam taurus #rwby #rwby: ice queendom #ice queendom #ice queendom spoilers #unofficial adam analysis #*if you don't think it's controversial then you are still on one side of the controversy #4.5 thousand words and several hours of drafting and research that i will never get back 🫡#there's a typo in here somewhere but damned if i'll find it before posting rip

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smaptain-smerica · 1 year

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Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary: {Y/n} Was at the top of her class at the Red Room Academy. Sought after for her expertise in the field by Dr. Zola, who purchased the widow for his Hydra Program. {y/n} Excelled quickly, and began teaching the new recruits using her previously taught skills. All was well until a James Barnes entered the program. His presence turned the entirety of the Hydra program on its head. Rules, hearts and trust broken time and time again.

Maturity: This book is rated mature for graphic descriptions of violence, foul language, and sexual content that may be sensitive to readers under the age of 18.

a/n: This story was originally posted on wattpad and will be updated there first. Follow there for quicker updates! https://www.wattpad.com/user/smaptin-smerica

Master List

Chapter 31

I didn't think my brain could absorb any more information after learning about everything I had missed in the world since I was 12. Sam and Bucky answered every single question that I had and even argued about the timeline of events at times.

It was now hour 19 into our journey back to New York and we were almost there. Once I finally ran out of questions, I let myself sink into the back seat to think. Bucky never took his eyes off me from the passenger seat. "You okay? I know that was a lot." He tried to reassure me.

"Holy shit." I grumbled, looking up from my lap and at Bucky's face. "I can't believe that you're in the Smithsonian."

Both men let out deep belly laughs. "We will start there whenever we get back to New York."

I gave Bucky a smile as he turned back around to give Sam instructions back to his apartment. I let my face drop. The world was so big, and I was free. Where would I go? I've only seen parts of Europe, I don't remember parts of America. Would I just follow Bucky wherever he went?

It was easy to spot New York as we approached from a distance. It wasn't until I looked up from my lap that I realized we had entered the city. My face dropped in shock and I scooted over to the window to try and get a glimpse of all the lights and buildings. Even with the setting sun the city looked alive. I thought I might actually see the buildings breath if I looked close enough.

The window I was staring out rolled down and I stuck my head out into the cool evening air. The wind whipped my hair in all different directions but I didn't care. I was too mesmerized by the colors of all the lights.

"Welcome to the city that never sleeps, y/n." I heard Sam say through the wind. I watched as I passed huge TV's hanging from buildings displaying advertisements and different things like that.

I finally brought my head back into the car. My hair was a mess from the wind and I locked eyes with Bucky. "It gets easier, but there's nothing like seeing it for the first time." He smiled at me, which I gratefully returned with an excited smile of my own.

~~~

Bucky's POV

Watching the way that y/n's face lit up as she took in the sights of New York lifted my heart. I was scared that she would be terrified. But she handled us catching her up and seeing the city surprisingly well. It gave me hope.

Sam pulled up to my apartment building and dropped us off. He explained that he had some family here that he was going to stay with. I was glad, honestly. My studio apartment was rather small for three people. Plus I didn't want him to know I still slept on the floor.

The modern day elevator was an interesting first experience with y/n. She jumped a little once it started moving, grabbing my arm for support. I laughed a little, though I don't blame her. This building was old and the elevators were sketchy at times.

I opened the door for her and let her in. I watched her walk around my small space and suddenly felt embarrassed. I wasn't expecting guests. There were pillows and blankets strung out on the floor in front of the tv. There were hardly any decorations on the walls. Luckily the bed was made, mostly because I hardly ever touched it.

"Um," I spoke to cut through the awkwardness I was feeling. "Do you want something to eat? Are you hungry?" I offered, silently praying I had left something edible in the fridge.

She just looked at me, her face displaying nothing but I could see the gears turning inside of her head. I stopped beside her, waiting for her answer.

"When's the next time I'm going to get to eat?" Her answer broke my heart a little. I know exactly where she was coming from. Although, I was overcome with joy that I was the one to get to tell her she didn't have to live like that anymore.

"Whenever you want." I put my hands on either side of her face as she looked up at me. How easily I could get lost in her eyes. "You're free to do whatever you want now."

A wide and bright smile spread across her lips as her eyes flipped back and forth between mine. "Then no, I'm not hungry. I will eat later."

I returned her smile with one of my own. "Atta girl." I praised jokingly as I let go of her face. She kept staring at me, the distance between us close. Dangerously close. I wanted to kiss her. A feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. I didn't even know I still had these feelings for her until she was here. Standing in front of me was the lost love that haunted my dreams. I woke up wishing I could have seen her one last time. Now? I prayed to whoever was listening that I would never wake up from this dream.

"Do you sleep on the floor?" She asked, drawing me out of the depths of my mind. I grimaced at the question. To no fault of her own, I was just still embarrassed by it.

"Yes, I can't seem to get to sleep in a bed."

She looked up at me with a sympathetic smile before immediately moving on to exploring my home. I didn't realize that it was something I missed about her, but she didn't push me further. Going to therapy and being swarmed with people constantly asking me questions was exhausting. Y/n never pushed for more, never asked me to explain beyond. She was content with what I told her, and that was a relief.

"Well, I'll get you a shirt to sleep in and you can take the bed." I suggested, walking into the space where my bed and closet were.

"And if it's too comfy you'll save me a spot on the floor?" She asked with a mischievous hint to her voice.

I let out a laugh while pulling out an old T-shirt of mine. "I'll save you a spot right next to me." I joked back.

I made sure she was settled. I gave her a toothbrush to let her brush her teeth, a hairbrush, and a cup of water to keep by her bed. She crawled under the covers, settling herself into the king bed. "I see what you mean about the beds." She commented as I walked back to where the light switch was.

"Well, the floors still open if you're too comfortable." I replied, leaning on the wall frame.

Y/n smiled once more at me, making my heart nearly flutter out of my chest. "I'll be okay, Buck. Let's get some sleep."

I smiled gently at her trying to reassure me. She knew I was worried. "I know you will. Goodnight," I paused before turning the light off. "Diamond." I slipped around the corner just in time to see a pillow roll on the floor at my feet.

"Goodnight, asshole." She snapped at me from the dark.

I chuckled, shaking my head as I also got myself ready for bed. I debated staying up to watch her, make sure she didn't have any nightmares, but sleep got the better of me.

~~~

A creak in the floorboards caused me to jolt awake. I listened with my ears first before sitting up and looking in the direction of the kitchen. The city lights cast a faint yellow glow through the window in the kitchen. I saw a silhouetted figure standing by the kitchen sink.

"Y/n?" I asked with no answer from the unmoving shadow. I looked at the time on the microwave. It was nearing 3 am.

"Did you need more water?" I asked, standing up to approach her. It was weird that she wasn't answering me. Maybe she was sleep walking?

I stopped in my tracks when I noticed a shining metal object clutched in her hand. I put my hands up in surrender. "Y/n, put the knife down." I instructed.

Finally, she turned around to walk my way. She walked around the kitchen island and was now fully facing me. She stepped into the light, the same dark look in her eyes as the first day she showed up.

"Shit." I hissed.

Y/n advanced, throwing herself and the knife in my direction. I dodged her swings quickly as she backed me towards the wall. I slipped around the corner and into my bedroom area. I used dodges and sometimes my metal arm to block her blows.

I needed to get that knife out of her hands. She was too lethal wielding it. "Come on y/n, we can talk about this."

She responded by lunging for me with an angered yell. I moved at the last second, the knife plunging into the wall. I took this opportunity to kick her in the chest and send her flying backwards. I must have used more force than I thought because she whacked her head on the floor pretty hard, knocking her out.

I took the knife out of the wall, grumbling to myself about it while I approached her slowly. Her body lay completely still on the floor, limbs sprawled out wildly. I knelt down at her side and looked at her chest. She was still breathing.

I reached my metal hand tenderly down and put it on her chest. I could feel her heart beating. "Y/n." I spoke gently, shaking her to try and wake her up.

When that didn't work I moved my hand to touch her face. When the metal made contact with the side of her cheek she jumped awake, frantically sitting up and scooting back.

"You're okay, you're okay!" I tried to calm her frantic state. Her eyes looked at me, panicked and confused.

"How... what happened?" She finally asked. I was afraid to tell her, I knew how it felt to come out of it and not remember what you did or who you hurt.

"It's nothing, you're okay now." I reached my hands out to her in a comforting manner and she took them. I slowly rose us to a standing position.

"How did I get out of bed, I don't remember..." she paused, looking around the room before finally laying eyes on me. "Did I attack you again?" She asked quietly.

I nodded in response. "It's okay. You're here now."

"Shit, Bucky I'm so sorry."

"This is why we're going to Wakanda tomorrow." I put my hands on either side of her face and forced her to look at me. I could see the desperation and sadness in her eyes. Tears lined the bottoms of them and I could tell she felt guilty. I brought her into my chest, wrapping her in a reassuring hug.

"Come on, let's go back to bed." I whispered encouragingly to her. She allowed me to guide her back to the bedroom where she laid down on the bed.

For the first time since I moved in, I crawled into the bed beside her. It felt like I was sinking into the mattress. But the look of relief on her face when she saw me get in bed was more than enough to make me want to stay.

"Was it like this for you?" Her soft voice asked in the dark room. I sighed, not knowing how to answer. Part of me didn't want to answer. As much as I avoided reliving my past as possible, she was a walking ghost of it. I could suffer though a few bad memories for the sake of comforting her.

"Sometimes, yes. I wouldn't remember in the moment what I was doing. I would come out of the trance not remember how I got there." I hesitated finishing that sentence. When I really started remembering again is when I'd have nightmares. I thought they were just dreams until I started to have them over and over again. I wanted her to be able to sleep, so I opted out of telling her that much.

"And you got better?" Y/n asked.

I nodded. "I got better."

This seemed to comfort her. Her body let out a large sigh and she closed her eyes. I watched her for a while. I watched her breathing as it slowly fell into a steady, rhythmic pattern. I didn't need to go back to sleep. I needed to make sure that I was there for her in case she needed me.

That's what I wished I had, and I know that she would have done it for me had she been able.

I don't know what happened to her or who did this to her, but I was going to find them. I would hunt them down for the rest of my days if I had to. My therapist wouldn't be happy, but for Y/n, I was going to throw rule number 2 out the window.

Next Chapter in Progress

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angelcactus · 2 years

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Pool Party

Ive had this idea in my head for a bit so here it is! The ending is kinda up to you! I just wanted to write about Angel being nervous about everything going right.

---

Angel had a mission. It was a very important and big mission. The mission? Successfully pull a pool party for the pack. They had been planning this party for 3 weeks now, it was a party for the pack; meant to take place 2 days before the sun solstice. They managed to convince David to rent out an indoor pool for an entire day, and he said yes!

The closer the day came the more nervous Angel became. They paced, watching their phone, biting their nails. The entire pack was going to be there, plus Sam and two of Sam's other vampire friends. There was a lot riding on their shoulders.

“Angel, you are putting too much on your shoulders.” David said, sliding into the bed and opening his arms. Angel whined and fell into his arms, mumbling an ‘M not Davey.’ David rolled his eyes and held them close. “Yeah sure, tomorrow is gonna go great and we are gonna have fun before we feel like shit.” He kissed their forehead.

“I know I ju-”

“Nope. You worked hard getting this done for us. Asher and Milo’s mates have things covered in case shit hits the fan. And you will look good in your new swimsuit. Wasn't that why you wanted this party?” David rubbed their arms. Angel rested their head on his chest, nodded.

“Yeah..” They whispered, snuggling into him. “I bought it to really see if you had self control, like you can see everything.” They laughed. David rolled his eyes and smiled, “I have self control, Asher doesn't.” He kissed their temple. “Now sleep, you have a party tomorrow.”

David was right. He was always right about logical things, he would be there in case something happened.

Angel and David went to the pool early to help set everything up. They met the lifeguards and went over rules, they were more lenient about them as everyone coming was an adult, besides the few pups. Babe and Sweetheart did show up to help out, setting food up and occasionally squirting Angel with a water gun to cool off their rising anxiety.

The water was cold too.

5 o’clock struck and they felt a layer of sweat engulf their body. Everyone should be arriving soon and the truck for the vamps would be on its way back. Angel paced, biting their nails. David reached an arm out, stopping them from walking a path into the flooring.

“It's only 5, they'll be here Angel.” David said, turning them to look at him. “It's like the moon solstice party, remember? We are gonna have fun baby.” he said softly, holding their face and kissing it gently. Angel nodded, holding David's hands on their warm cheeks.

“Hey guys party is starting, Amanda’s car just pulled up and so did Christians.” Babe peaked their head out of the entrance doors. Angel took another breath and held David's hand, “let's party Alpha.”

More people packed (pun very much intended) into the indoor pool, the only ones left were Milo, Sam and the two Sam were bringing. Surprisingly Asher was decently on time. Angel’s hand never left Davids, squeezing it every time a person showed up. They swallowed the lump in their throat and patted the side of their thigh nervously. David greeted everyone and rubbed his thumb on the top of their hand reassuringly.

The moment the truck pulled up Angel knew that the party was officially going to start. They took another breath as they listened to Sam and Tank’s playful bickering. Everyone was talking to each other like it was a moonbound solstice party, comfortable.

Angel looked at David who nodded and helped them stand on a chair. He whistled and they practically laughed at how almost everyone perked up like dogs. All eyes were on them.

“U-Uhm hi,” Angel waved nervously “Most of you know me I’m-I’m Davids mate. I made this party for all of you guys because you work so hard and the whole… thing with the games… this-this is for you!” They smiled. “A few thanks I must give out is to Mr. Vincent Solaire and his partner for coming with Sam and to Elise, Janna and Grayson our water elemental lifeguards.” They pointed out the two groups.

“Another big thanks to David for renting this pool out so the vampires of our pack can swim without worry” They smiled, nodding to Sam who nodded back in return. “We have this pool until 11 so it's kinda free for all. Note the lifeguards will spray you with water periodically; it's definitely not the 12 water guns I bought.” Angel grinned, they got a few laughs out of that one.

“Other than that, have fun! There's snacks and a small pool for the little ones- Asher I know what you're gonna say, Milo is an adult he can use the big boy pool.” They laughed, setting a hand on David's shoulder. David knelt down and lifted them up, arms wrapped around their thighs to keep them up high.

“To the pack!”

#redacted asmr #redacted fanfic #redacted angel #redacted david #redacted asher #redacted babe #redacted milo #redacted sweetheart #redacted darlin #redacted sam #redacted vincent #redacted lovely

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rphelperblog · 2 years

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Mean Girls Quote Rp Meme

inspired by the wonderful and talented @worldburnt

“On wednesday, we wear pink.”

"Whatever, I'm getting cheese fries."

"Get in loser, we're going shopping!"

"You wanna do something fun? Wanna go to Taco Bell?"

“The limit does not exist.”

“You can’t sit with us.”

"You could try Sears."

“She doesn’t even go here.”

“I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom!"

"I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me. But I can't help it that I'm popular."

"One time, she punched me in the face. It was awesome."

"It’s like I have ESPN or something!"

"I can't go out tonight. I'm sick."

"Your face smells like peppermint!"

"You smell like a baby prostitute."

“There’s a 30% chance that it’s already raining…

"Damn Africa, what happened?"

“Can I get you guys anything? Some snacks? A condom? Let me know! Oh, God love ya.”

"Grool. I meant to say great but then I started to say cool."

"It's not my fault you're, like, in love with me or something!"

"Is butter a carb?"

“Oh, I love seeing teachers outside of school. It’s like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs.”

I don’t hate you cuz yo’ fat… yo’ fat cuz I hate you!”

“Did you have an awesome time? Did you drink awesome shooters, listen to awesome music, and then just sit around and soak up each other’s awesomeness?”

"Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?"

"So, you've actually never been to a real school before? Shut up! Shut up!"

“You can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week. So I guess you chose today.”

"Ex-boyfriends are off-limits to friends. That's just, like, the rules of feminism."

"I want my pink shirt back!"

"There are two kinds of evil people in this world. Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don't try to stop it."

"Oh my God, Danny DeVito, I love your work!"

"But you're, like, really pretty… So you agree? You think you're really pretty?"

I love her; she’s like a martian!”

“I will keep you here all night.”

"That's why her hair is so big. It's full of secrets."

“Make sure you check out her mom’s boob job. They’re hard as rocks!”

“I can’t go to Taco Bell. I’m on an all-carb diet. “

“I don’t know why. It’s probably because I have a big, fat LESBIAN crush on you. Suck on that! Aye aye aye!”

"Made out with a hot dog? Oh my god that was one time!"

"In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up and beg for candy. But in girl world, Halloween is the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girl can say anything about it."

"Don't have sex. Because you will get pregnant, and die. Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just...don't do it. Promise?"

“Somebody wrote in that book that I’m lying about being a virgin, ’cause I use super-jumbo tampons, but I can’t help it if I’ve got a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina!”

"Did you see a nipple? It only counts if you saw a nipple."

"I don't know, I mean, she's so weird, she just, you know, came up to me and started talking to me about crack."

"That is the ugliest effing skirt I've ever seen."

"I know I may seem like I was being a bitch, but that's only because I was acting like a bitch."

"Boo, you whore."

“I have really bad breath in the morning.”

"Damn. I'd rather see you out there shakin' that thang."

"I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school. I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy."

“I used to think there was just fat and skinny. But apparently there’s lots of things that can be wrong on your body.”

“I hear she does car commercials…in Japan.”

“I know she’s kind of socially retarded and weird, but she’s my friend… so, just promise me you won’t make fun of her!”

“At your age, you’re going to have a lot of urges. You’re going to want to take off your clothes and touch each other. But if you do touch each other, you will get chlamydia… and die.”

“So that’s against the rules, and you can’t sit with us.”

“I’m sorry I called you a gap-toothed bitch. It’s not your fault you’re so gap-toothed.”

Because that vest was disgusting!”

Then it’s settled, so you can go shave your back now.”

“And on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could fight the dinosaurs. And the homosexuals.”

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kyndaris · 9 months

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Pocketful of Neon Rain

As a person who likes to play video games than span a variety of genres, one of the things I like to do after playing a lengthy and intensive game is play something short and sharp. So, from a tactical role-playing game set in ye olde medieval fantasy times, I decided to travel to the near future and become a simple delivery driver in a neon-heavy world. Enter: Cloudpunk with its flying hover cars and cyberpunk aesthetic that did a much better job at exploring the themes of the genre than Cyberpunk 2077.

I know that that’s a bold statement to make but Cyberpunk 2077 was all about the bombastic blockbuster set pieces. It was about rebellion and sticking it to the man. But the character felt like they were outside of the system. A stranger looking in and tangentially touching upon the lives of those living in the world. Yes, it dealt with big megacorporations and the corruption within, but the themes of exploitation and the impact of the megacorporations was missing.

In short, Cyberpunk 2077 was all about the razzle dazzle. Cloudpunk on the other hand focused the perspective smaller. It wasn’t about the big picture so much as it was about the little guy and the daily choices they could make with regards to their life. In Cloudpunk, players are thrust into the shoes of Raina. Fresh from the Eastern Peninsula, chased by deb corps, she’s simply trying to make a new life for herself in the city of Novalis.

During her night shift in the city, Raina is able to meet a whole series of different characters. Some are earnest dreamers. Others are much more nefarious. Yet, through it all, we get a better understanding of the dynamics that underscore the world we’re in.

Just like Cyberpunk 2077, megacorporations rule the city. The wealth gap is astronomical and yet there are still some people that are able to survive. Yes, there’s a seedy underbelly but beyond a brief arc that is explored, it’s not the major plot thread that the game revolves around.

Rather, it’s focus was on the exploration of class dynamics and the moral dilemmas that come with living in such a world. Androids and hover cars sound cool but the reality of Novalis is of a crumbling city with a rotten core. Preferential treatment is given to the rich. And while androids have managed to fight for their freedom, there is still an undercurrent that they are less than human and face discrimination.

The concept of memories, the inability to feel a particular emotion, and the consequences of sapient AI all take centre stage in Cloudpunk. And these are all fascinating aspects that I wish could have been addressed in more depth. Especially when it came to things such as automata and being able to insert particular AI personalities into different types of electronic devices.

And what about that brain ghost reveal in the end with Control? Now that was certainly a frightful concept. How terrifying would it be to have our consciousness hijacked and enslaved for an ulterior purpose without the ability to step away? I certainly don’t think I could thrive in such an existence.

It helped that all the side quests encountered in the game further served to reveal more of the world. True, it was still the same-old gameplay of picking up a package and delivering it to another part of the city but it helped colour in the dystopia-esque world of Novalis.

What stood out for me beyond the themes that were running through the game was the fact that there was no combat in Cloudpunk. The gameplay involved driving around in the HOVA car and occasionally being able to exit it to chat with denizens of the city or purchase food or clothing. Cloudpunk also featured a few collectibles but these were all marked clearly on the map. There was no need to scramble around, checking every nook and cranny in the odd chance of missing something.

Admittedly, the one thing I disliked about the game was the fact that some of the items you found were needed to fix broken lifts, or granted you access through particular thoroughfares. This was a poorly explained part of the game but thankfully there was plenty of resources throughout the game that I could find so I was locked out of any critical paths.The only other thing that annoyed me was how floaty the stearing for the HOVA was. Although I suppose that could be chalked up to the fact that I was playing with mouse and keyboard. Regardless, I would have preferred a smoother way to to drive around.

All in all, Cloudpunk was a great palate cleanser I needed after playing through Tactics Ogre Reborn. Unfortunately, I followed it up with another huge open world: Diablo IV because my friends were all playing Activision-Blizzard’s latest game and I didn’t want to miss out (the jury is still out regarding the merger with Microsoft but the trial has revealed a little more about the gaming industry as a whole). Otherwise, I’d have probably played through Hi-Fi Rush and gotten through Marvels: Midnight Suns.

But, as with everything in life, plans can go awry and it’s all about adapting to change. New games are always coming out but I’ll take my time. After all, the games will still be waiting for me and there’s no rush.

#video games #cloudpunk #cyberpunk #flashing neon lights #camus is a good dog

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spaceradars · 1 year

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i was tagged by @reignoerme ;)

Rules

post the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you, and i'll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it.

okay, let's go:

-"My Novel": (That Shall Remain Nameless)

-"script now turned to novel": that's literally the name of a screenplay i started writing and then realized i wanted to expand much more, so i turned into a novel (sorts of. i truly need to finish writing it but it's almost done, just lacks more stuff before the ending)

-"medieval story": my next big thing. i wrote a lot of it these past few weeks. i guess the title says enough.

-"musician in crisis": my beloved writing about a bassplayer that one day will get its proper ending (i'm also getting there but i need it to be perfect)

-"cars": my f1 project that has been on my mind ever since 2018 yet only last july i decided to write. it's going great tbh

-"that idea about detectives": i tried to write a mystery story. idk how well it went.

-"full island story": a story about a bunch of kids living on an island. stuff happens. need to write the twist tho

-"story about the cool family": again, a bunch of kids. it's been on my drafts ever since i was seventeen

-"cool story with cool characters with cool names": i wrote this in high school. every character was named after a musician i liked (i was in my patd phase so the main guy was named ryan after ryan ross. there's no way this will ever be completed anyway).

-"full island story part 2": never finished part 1. never finished part 2 either.

-"cool story set in the same world as My Novel": it has like one chapter and zero plot.

-"boxing": a story about a boxer. literally. i've never watched a boxing match that wasn't from the rocky movies in my life.

-"f1": my f1 story but an early draft. i changed basically everything about it when it became "cars".

-"italian project 1": i wanted to write a novel set in italy and write stuff in italian because i wasn't using any of the italian i had learned for over twelve years. needless to say it didn't progress so i'm still not using the italian.

-"new music story": again, a story about a musician. the most y/n thing i've ever written. i was fifteen.

-"new story about kids with special powers blah blah": it's like if you mixed xmen and fantasy stuff. i wrote like six chapters and got lazy.

-"weird futuristic story": my first draft for my novel. it got up to a point i ran out of ideas and just left it there

here you go! i'm tagging anyone who wants to do this <3

#this was fun ajsdklskdjfgfkdls #all of my wips are novel attempts even if they say “story” lmao #sofi answers #tagged in

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f1 · 1 year

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Alfa Romeo reveal major change on new C43 as they target next level of performance in 2023

Alfa Romeo’s 2023 Formula 1 car, the C43, features several key modifications at the rear compared to its predecessor, the team’s Technical Director, Jan Monchaux, has explained. On Tuesday, Alfa Romeo presented their new challenger and new livery for the upcoming F1 season, as the Sauber-run operation look to build on a P6 finish in last year’s constructors’ standings. FIRST LOOK: Alfa Romeo show off 2023 C43 F1 car with striking new livery Although the car is described as an “evolution” over the C42, Monchaux oversaw “a major change of architecture” at the rear-end during the winter period, covering the suspension, gearbox, cooling layout, bodywork and more – all while taking into account ride height and diffuser rule tweaks. Speaking at Alfa Romeo’s car launch, Monchaux commented: “We identified areas where we thought there was still potential for us to unleash, potential we wouldn’t be able to unleash in the 2022 season. “We concentrated mainly on the rear part of the car, where we just wanted to be brave enough to do the next step in terms of pure development on the rear end, which opened the door to a lot of other solutions we couldn’t implement last year.” Offering up more details, he continued: “In effect, we decided to change the rear axis, redoing the rear suspension, and therefore the gearbox casing, which then opens the door to new layouts, especially on the [cooling] side, which once in place allowed us to develop the bodywork. “Last year – during the season – it was not possible, and the concept we had followed last year, we were of the opinion that [it] had come to a sort of plateau, and to unleash the next level of performance, we had to do all those changes that have been quite a journey for us, because it’s a big, big, complex part we had to re-do. GALLERY: Take a closer look at Alfa Romeo’s new car and new livery for the 2023 season “Then, evidently, all the rear-end work we see with the floor, alongside the new regs… so we’ve really been putting a lot of effort on the second part of the car, while the front will be successively developed during the season. “[It is] quite a change for us in terms of the bodywork and how we handle the hot air coming from the radiators, compared to last year’s car. It’s not a revolution, [as] similar solutions were on the grid already last year, but it’s something we couldn’t implement without a major change of the architecture.” Alfa Romeo’s 2023 F1 car sports a new red and black livery Alongside Alfa Romeo’s quest for performance, Monchaux added that reliability has also been a focus for the squad ahead of the new campaign, having seen points go begging on several occasions in 2022 due to component failures. “Throughout the course of the season, it also became relatively clear that we had reliability issues, so there [are] a lot of things we changed on the car, but also internally in terms of processes to address that topic,” said Monchaux. TEAM GUIDE: Alfa Romeo’s unique place in the F1 history books – and how they’re set for 2023 “Historically, we were always very strong with reliability, but last year somehow we lost a little bit what used to be one of our biggest strengths, so it was clearly one of the focuses, or one of the areas of major focus for us last winter.” He signed off: “The [new] car hasn’t run yet, so reliability is perfect! I assume it will stay as this. Touch wood, but I’m fairly confident we have left these issues behind us.” Alfa Romeo will shake down the C43 in Barcelona later this week, before all 10 F1 teams head to Bahrain for pre-season testing from February 23-25. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #Alfa Romeo reveal ‘major change’ on new C43 as they target ‘next level of performance’ in 2023 #Formula 1

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year

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Hey, did I ever tell you people about that time my friend died, and for the next few weeks, for some reason the only music I could listen to was Nirvana, The Clash, and Lucinda Williams? I’m really not sure why it was those three, but they were the only things I could listen to that didn’t immediately make me want to cry. Specifically, the albums Nevermind (obviously), London Calling, and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

I think The Clash and Nirvana may have occurred because I was just finishing Never Mind the Buzzcocks at the time, and those were featured at some point, reminding me that those bands existed so I decided to start listening to them again. Not sure why Lucinda Williams came into it. She was just there.

I saw her live for the first time ever last summer, which is a bit surprising given all the time I’ve spent at folk festivals throughout my life. But I’d never been at a festival when Lucinda Williams was also there. She came to town last June, and I saw her with my father, and it was awesome.

I know it was June because it was the weekend after they overturned Roe v Wade, and I was so depressed about everything that I almost didn’t bother going. I often don’t like how much American politics affect the general mindset in Canada. How something big can happen in the States and the next day everyone here is talking about it, while big things happen in Canadian politics and people barely notice. I don’t want my mental state to be tied to American things, I try not to be.

But this was marked out because it was so monumental. A massive, incredibly difficult to overturn shift that will touch everything and everyone there. I don’t like the way Canadians tend to care more about what happens in America than what happens here, but that doesn’t mean I have no empathy. I have friends and family in the States, not to mention the ability to care about people even if I don’t know them. Also, all the toxic stuff that happens in America makes its way up here. When I saw Russell Howard live and he discussed the trucker protests, he asked us if it was a “wave of stupidity” that blew north from America, and he was joking, but yes. Yes that is what happened, if by “wave of stupidity” you mean “lots of American money and disinformation campaigns to spread their dangerous rhetoric here”. Canada tends to pretty consistently five or six years behind the States that way, though that one was accelerated. So yeah, even selfishly, Canadians have reason to be worried about the Roe v Wade thing.

Lucinda Williams acknowledged it a bit in her set, as it had just happened, and was on everyone’s minds. She declared “This song is for the U.S. Supreme Court” before playing You Can’t Rule Me, which was a nice sentiment even if it’s demonstrably untrue; she’s an American citizen and they 100% rule her.

At the end, she left the stage, and then came back amid giant cheers. I went through which of her best songs she hadn’t played, trying to guess at her encore. She didn’t play of her own songs, she played Neil Young’s Keep on Rocking in the Free World. Something that fairly clearly made a point, given its verse about the young woman who gives birth to a baby she can’t care for.

The crowd, up to that point, had been fairly subdued. This is because while we weren’t technically at a folk festival, it was a folk festival crowd. My dad, at age 64, was one of the youngest people there. Folk festivals are populated almost entirely by people older than my father, who were hippies in the 60s and 70s and now they sit in fields and listen to the sort of music that used to represent this. They don’t tend to do a lot of physically demonstrating their enjoyment, because they’re tired.

But something genuinely cool happened during that last Lucinda Williams song. The whole crowd got really into it. All around me, people stood up. Men and women with long grey hair – nothing says “folk festival” like a man with a tie-dye shirt and a grey ponytail, the aging hippie – started dancing. People were raising fists in the air like that probably meant something once. And I’m pretty sure every single person in the field was singing along.

I did not stand up, because I can talk a lot on here about loving things like that, but have difficult actually expressing these things in in-person situations. Also, I was next to my father, to whom what I just said applies tenfold. He is not the stereotypical “emotionless father”, because he’s quite liberal in his political views. He was, in fact, a hippie in the 70s. He has stories about seeing both Neil Young individually, and Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young, in their heyday, and it sounds awesome. But he doesn’t have long grey hair now. He grew up to be a pragmatic government worker.

I think he did sing along a bit to Keep on Rocking in the Free World, but only at a reasonable volume, from his lawn chair. So I followed his lead. To be honest, I had a lump in my throat from the outpouring of expression around me, all these people with hands in the air and yelling along to this song and just looking for something good, after everything. I think I saw tears in the eyes of a few people around me. I had to make sure I did not follow suit, what with being in public and my father and everything.

At the end of the song, Lucinda Williams yelled, “The people have the power!” before leaving the stage for good. The crowd erupted in renewed cheers at that, and my father just muttered, “No they don’t.” He didn’t mean the people shouldn’t have the power. He just meant, you know, they don’t. Like how the U.S. Supreme Court can, in fact, rule its citizens. Of course it can. Grow up.

I told my dad that maybe these people just want to feel some power for a few moments, in this field where it doesn’t mean anything. And wasn’t he one of those people out there, “rocking in the free world” to Neil Young songs back in the day? “Exactly,” he said. “Back in the day. Come on, what are these people doing? They haven’t rocked in years.” My dad has one hell of an ability to ruin a moment.

Anyway, whether or not we agree that the people have the power, my dad and I did agree that it was a fantastic concert. For me, the encore was the highlight, but I was disappointed that she didn’t play Metal Firecracker, which was the main song I played over and over for three weeks, two years ago, when my friend had died and there were only a few things I could stand to hear.

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Someday, I am going to get my life together enough so I can afford to fly to the UK and see things. In person. When that happens, I am going to play that last song on repeat for the entire flight, even though I am aware that taking a tourist trip to London to see comedy and comedy-related locations was not exactly what The Clash were writing about when they crafted this song.

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smallerplaces · 5 months

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My Rules of Acquisition

Tomorrow I'm leaving on a business trip to a place that's really difficult to get around without a car -- I love mass transit, but the local system tends to close stops without updating its app, and stops are far apart -- so my first concern is that I'm going to recklessly buy a doll there as a form of stress relief. This is not a habit I want to nurture, as I like keeping my collection small.

Therefore, I'm reviewing what my rules are for acquisition. Not everyone has rules, and that's cool: it's your budget and your shelving space! You should do what you enjoy! I know that there's a ceiling in collection bulk where I personally stop enjoying having it, and that ceiling is designed for hobbits.

I must spontaneously, intensely, and without hesitation love the doll. "But Dollar Tree Beauties!" you say. My lone DT Beauty fit the criterion! I've been fascinated with dollar-store offerings forever, and having jointed knees is huge. A corollary to this rule is I do not have to justify why I like some things or why I'm not crazy about owning other, very popular things! (I can admire photos of your RH, SH, or MH collection all day long and have read bajillions of detailed reviews with great enjoyment.)

All dolls must be the same scale. So no exaggeratedly big heads and no dolls where "adult" size is shorter than Petite Barbie or taller than Tall Barbie. [Arvin Lebec is a dollhouse doll for me, so his rule is that any companions must be the same type and same level of articulation.] I did a mixed-scale collection in the 2010s, and that doesn't vibe for me.

If the appeal of the doll is its outfit and presentation, that doll is not for me. I know lots of people love highly outfit-centric doll lines, and that's great! They never integrate well into my personal doll community. It's best that I buy for the face-up, as my brief "let's repaint faces" phase in 2012 demonstrated that I don't really want to invest time and effort in developing that skill set.

Be wary of duplicates. I currently have five Katies, including two Dancing Brooks, so I'm not super-ultra-strict on this. What I've trying to avoid is buying dupes where I don't like the second one as much, going hog-wild with the 4.5" dolls at Five Below the way I did when those were Sparkle Girlz Minis at Walmart, or feeling that because I have one Teresa, I need to have representation of every Teresa head mold.

Prioritize diversity but don't be herded by it. At the low end of the market where I hang out, I often find that brown dolls look healthier and prettier, plus it's nice to have a doll community with some level of real-world diversity. However, I don't need to buy a doll just because I "ought to" have an ethnicity or body type or other characteristic represented. One that I absolutely love with that characteristic will eventually come along, and waiting allows me to grow my collection at a slow, sustainable rate.

These are my rules, and the only thing special about them is that I apply them to myself. They don't make my doll collection objectively better than anyone else's -- they make it subjectively best suited to me.

What are your rules of acquisition?

#dollblr #dollblogging #fashion dolls #doll collecting

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tetley1173-igb220-blog · 6 months

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Wasteland Wayland Development

By Shannon Tetley

The Wastelanders team and myself have been busy working on our game. As you can see I was able to put in a cool intro to the game that I hope will get people excited to play and introduce them to the story. Liam's done a great job programming the enemy traffic, modifying Sam's work for their sprites, and adding sound affects to the action.

To top it all off I've added the upgrades store and death screen, and Sam has made an epic boss battle to conclude our game.

I'm pretty happy with the game my teams been able to make. We were able to meet all of your development goals including some of our stretch goals like adding different vehicles for the player to use. Merging the teams work together went very smoothly, I have to shout out to Liam and Sam for doing a great job with commenting their events and designing their work in a way that made copying it into the skeleton game really easy.

Sticking to our strict rule of no magic numbers has worked out well. It definitely sped up the process of merging and balancing the game. Because of this we've had the time to do two or three balance adjustments to the game. Take the example below:

Here you can see that liberal use of variables has occurred. The vehicle_selection variable controls what version of the upgrades shop is loaded for the player. This has tidied up the events so that they can be separated into sections relevant to each car the player can select, they can be identified as the blue, teal and red event groups. Then in the speed upgrades section you can see that all the numbers are pulled from global variables also. This meant that when Sam modified my work to balance the game and make it compatible with his work elsewhere, he was able to do so very quickly.

As the game started getting closer to play testing the teams focus shifted to making it balanced. The reason so much thought had been put into making the game so modifiable was because of the lessons we learnt while reading chapter 10 of Game Design Workshop. In this chapter it mentions how game variables and system dynamics affect whether the game is balanced or not (Fullerton). We weren't sure exactly how we would inevitably mess up the game balance but we had some suspicions. We were correct in understanding that the upgrade shop would have a big impact on balance but one thing that surprised us was how the car would work in comparison to the jeep and tank player vehicles. With this in mind we were able to set up the shop so that it was easy to tweak the impact each upgrade had on vehicles. We were also able to adjust the unexpected disparity of each vehicle by modifying the cost of upgrades, making them cheaper for the car, which tends to kill less enemies for example.

When performing internal playtesting, we noticed that the interaction of game dynamics was causing the car to underperform, and that increasing the speed of player vehicles would just make the game harder, this prompted us to rethink the speed upgrade. We converted the speed upgrade into a manoeuvrability upgrade instead which also allowed us to make the car more viable by making it the most manoeuvrable by default. Making these changes is a good example of applying the theories of T.Fullerton as it shows both the affects of game variables and system dynamics on the balance of the game (Fullerton).

Chapter 10 of Game Design Workshop concludes by mentioning that much of the technique that game developers use to balance a game comes from gut instinct (Fullerton). I'm inclined to believe this statement as my team was making balance decisions about our game long before we read chapter 10. Its my theory that as gamers we realised that things like the upgrade shop would be important to balance based on our experience playing other peoples games. We by far are not done with the balancing process, at present we have gotten the game to a state were it is playable but not necessarily fair in all situations. The next move for this project will be to formally test it with the help of some naïve play testers. In my next post I hope to be able to share some insights gained from testing the game with real players.

References:

Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed., A K Peters/CRC Press, 2014.

#development post #wasteland wayland #wastelanders

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beardedmrbean · 11 months

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Helsingin Sanomat reported on the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) publishing letters of recommendation attached to Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko's citizenship application.

After previous hesitation about handing the documents to the press, Migri did not redact any parts of the recommendation letters.

The recommendation letters appear to have helped to fast-track Timchenko's citizenship application. One, from May 1999, was written by Keijo Kajander, vice president of International Petroleum Products Finland, a company that Timchenko was CEO of at the time. He cited the oligarch's investments and business dealings in Finland as a reason to give him citizenship.

"In this case, constantly applying for visas and renewing a Russian passport slows down and even prevents the CEO from fulfilling his obligations. Last year, CEO Timchenko had to renew his passport four times. Obtaining Finnish citizenship would greatly benefit the company by making travel substantially easier," Kajander wrote in the letter.

A second recommendation letter was written by Matti Harkko, a lawyer from Lappeenranta in Eastern Finland. In his letter, Harkko pointed out that not only has he known Timchenko for some time, but that the Russian had helped fund Finland's girls' national basketball team.

Timchenko and members of his family were granted Finnish citizenship in the autumn of 1999 following an unusually brief processing period.

Migri did not submit the expedited application to the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) for review, despite the security agency's explicit request to do so.

In April of this year, an interior ministry report about a review of the application process found that no regulations in force in 1999 had been violated.

Cool weather not deterring strawberries

Tampere-based paper Aamulehti wrote that despite cooler weather in June, the strawberry harvest appears to be right on track.

According to the Finnish Association of Fruit and Berry Growers there is no need to worry about having enough strawberries on the table at Midsummer, as strawberries are ripening at a normal pace in open fields.

The association's president, Tarja Matomäki, told Aamulehti that the situation is also good in Pirkanmaa.

"As a rule, we have been able to fight off the mould and some of the strawberries had to be covered by tents. Everything has not been picked from the open land yet, but we will pick it before Midsummer," she said.

Although the situation of Finnish strawberries on farms is good, the unusually cold June has made additional work for the farmers.

"It's more work when you have to fight off night frosts with tarps and watering," Matomäki noted.

Finnish reboot

Tabloid Iltalehti reported that the BBC licensed its popular hit series Top Gear for a Finnish reboot on TV channel Nelonen with some surprising names.

Former NHL star Teemu Selänne, popular comedian Ismo Leikola and actor Christoffer Strandberg will serve as the presenting trio of motorheads in a Finnish adaptation of the British show, which features the hosts competing in a litany of car challenges.

Since retiring from the NHL, Selänne has made headlines in Finland with posts on social media about things like politics which have generated controversy.

According to a representative from the BCC, there has been a desire to create a Finnish version for some time.

Top Gear Suomi is set to premiere in the spring of 2024.

11:51: Updated Matomäki's first quote to be easier to understand in English.

#nunyas news #updates from up north

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helicoptersandcrocodilesfmp · 1 year

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Researching time and how it merged

What is time?

Time was originally used as a way to keep track of the day night cycle but more recent research shows that not only can time be used to measure reactions but to also predict when they will end. We use time today in activities such as cooking, traveling etc. Despite its universal use it isn't always accurate which is why we have a leap year every fourth year to add an extra day.

How is it measured and what is an atomic clock?

Time can be measured in many different ways from the position of the sun, to the timing of a pendulum and finally the calculation of in a digital clock as technology progressed how we measured time also progressed.

As things in the modern day get faster the need for accuracy becomes greater as when the first computers came out being a millisecond slow was not a big deal, but now with our new advancements in technology a millisecond could make a gigantic difference, such as making a computer run out of sync. One place this has the biggest impact is with satellites: thanks to Einstein's rule of relativity, the speed and momentum at which satellites go round the earth have them experience a phenomena known as time dilation.

Is time travel possible?

Einstein's theory of relativity stated that time travel is possible, as time is relative to speed. This was proven by scientists when in 1971 they got two atomic clocks set to the same time. They kept one on the ground and put one in a jet flying round the earth. They found that the time was behind on the plane's clock by the the exact time that Einstein’s theory predicted.

Although time travel is possible it wouldn’t be like in the movies and other media where they travel years or decades into the future or past it would only be hours or minutes.

Salvidor Dali - Melting Clocks painting.

Dali’s painting titled Melting Clock was meant to represent the omnipresence of time and identify its mastery over people and their lives. He got inspiration for this piece of art when he saw a piece of camembert cheese melting in the sun.

Prince of Persia: Sands of time.

This movie is based on the premise of a dagger that possesses sand that manipulates time. I find the idea of this dagger interesting but I am planning to change this slightly as instead of a dagger I was going to have an artefact at the end of each level.

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Back to the future.

In this movie the time machine is a car which uses a flux compositor which is a fictional component used to travel in time. In the movie the idea of a machine being able to travel through time is a nice concept . They chose 88 mph because it was an easy number to remember and it looked cool on the speedometer. This shows how creators use their imagination to make things more creative.

The Terminator.

This movie is a sci-fi thriller about an android that is sent back in time to eliminate the leader of the resistance before he was born by killing his mother. I am inspired by the idea of going back in time but not knowing what happened the previous time you went back in time.

Aeon Flux - Story

This is a 2005 American sci-fi action movie based on the animated TV series of the same name, its plot is based on a deadly pathogenic virus that killed 99% of the population making the remaining population regroup in Bregma. Aeon Flux is a member of the Monicans which is a rebel organisation, after her sister is killed when she is mistaken as a member of the group she is sent to kill the governments leader where she finds out that she and the Monicans have been manipulated by a cabal of council members working towards a coup d'état . From this I have been inspired by the concept of manipulation and just because someone says they are good it doesn't mean they are. I am hoping that by adding a hidden conflict to my game that I can make my game more engaging.

Metric Time: what is it?

Metric time is the measure of time intervals using the metric system eg

1day = 10 hours

=1000 minuets

=1000,000 seconds

It is a way of measuring how long a period of time is. It uses the second as the main unit of time making more precise timing possible. the reason why it is not used universally is because teaching this new form of time telling would be very complicated and time consuming.

Sundials.

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joeonmusic · 1 year

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Ten highlights of my musical journey in 2022

Jan 26th Tom Robinson quoting my lyrics back to me

Remember party gate? We’ve changed PMs a couple of times since then, so it feels inconceivable that it was only in January this year that the stories about the Tories breaking lockdown rules and partying like there was no pandemic were all revealed. Anyway, Mintball (Sean Buckley) and I collaborated on a funky song satirising the government and rushed it out hoping we’d release it before Boris Johnson was forced to resign (in fact he clung on for months afterwards, but it felt like he had only days left).

Anyway, we got a good reaction to the song, even if it wasn’t as big as I may have hoped, and my favourite thing was when Tom Robinson tweeted this to me:

"We thought nobody would dob us in - we are the ones that call the tune"...

For such a legend of the music and broadcasting world to acknowledge your work and quote your lyrics back to you is a massive compliment and something I will always treasure.

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19th March Solo gig Artefact - audience reaction

I’ve done three gigs supporting Grant Sharkey in total and this one at Artefact in the Spring was my last. We played in the back room with its perfect acoustics and got a full room of people - even running out of chairs, so some had to sit on a rather cold floor! Anyway, Grant had been talking about involving the audience, and I took this onboard, by not writing a set list, but putting the songs on cards and letting them choose which ones I sang and in what order.

I haven’t done it again since, but for that one, it really worked and did indeed break down the barriers between performer and audience. I also had a really powerful moment when performing one of my saddest songs as someone in the front row had tears streaming down her face! She loved the song and it touched something deep inside her, which was an amazing feeling. This was me before heading to the gig:

28th April Trace remix

Not long after the war in Ukraine started, things were looking bleak in the world, I was worried about my friends in eastern Europe and the possibility of Putin using nukes. I was also trying to find ways to help, so was about to drive to see some Ukrainian refugees when a message pinged to me from the Invisible Squirrel that he’d finished the remix of my track Trace.

I listened to it in the car on the way to transport clothes and support to some desperate people and was blown away by what he’d done. For a while, I felt the buzz and excitement of music in amongst all the gloom. It was special.

Watch the video for the song here:

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30th April Reaching number one in the Cool Top 20

It’s lovely to be written, or talked about and I’ve had some great coverage this year, from being interviewed on Adrian Goldberg’s Brum Radio show and by Kirk on Duggystone Radio, a YouTube interview with Martin Holley and a great feature with Sam Lambeth in Louder Than War. To actually feature in a chart at number one is really amazing for me, though. I have great respect for anyone who gives up their time for free to do radio shows, podcasts or blogs for free in the name of promoting independent artists, and Cool Top 20, run by the wonderful Lean, is one of my favourite blogs, with a weekly chart that you can listen to as a playlist. I have discovered loads of brilliant artists through this blog, so to have been number one in their chart twice is pretty mind-blowing for me.

CoolTop20 has been updated! And here are our suggestions for the #festivalseason 2022! Give them a listen here: https://t.co/WEuEyimuxk The talented Shayan Regan is in our spotlight: https://t.co/n4ecaYi9Ux#cooltop20 #musicblog #NewMusicAlert #indiemusic Enjoy the weekend! pic.twitter.com/LSbrNzsBiT

May onwards Rehearsing with Louisa and shaping our sound

Up until this year, I had been doing all my original music as a solo musician, which is great in many ways, because you can do exactly what you want with no compromising with band members and waiting for them to do stuff. I really wanted to add another element to my music, though and had missed that feeling of playing with someone else and bouncing ideas off them, so for a while I’d been trying to get Louisa to play fiddle and sing with me.

She finally agreed to start rehearsing with me in the spring and I have absolutely loved working with her on creating our sound as a duo. I have listened back to some of our rehearsal recordings in wonder - absolutely loving the combination of our two voices, or just her voice and my songs. It gives me such pleasure to play with her and we’ve had such lovely comments about how well we compliment each other at gigs that it feels to me like this was meant to be and I can’t wait to release some recordings next year. I really hope people will be as blown away by our songs as I am.

12th June Two artists doing covers of my songs

As I mentioned earlier, I love doing recordings of other people’s songs, so I have done covers of songs by independent, unsigned artists, such as Penfriend, The Heavy North and Sam Lambeth, as well as more established and famous ones. I also did a cover of a song by 3 Little Wolves of the single Fractured (a bit) and then was blown away when Paul reciprocated with a cover of 100 Doors. Check it out here:

After our mate @joe_peacock ‘s rendition of ‘Fractured (a bit), thought it was only fair we return the favour… here’s a little electric piano version of ‘100 Doors’ 🚪 If you don’t follow Joe already, check him out… he’s a great guy and the biggest genre-hopper we know 🐺🐺🐺 pic.twitter.com/t7F4AV1rqn

However, that wasn’t the only one. My first big single ‘Is not Everything Morbid?’ would not have sounded like it did without producer Joe Adhemar, but for him to then decide to record a cover, too, was incredibly humbling and flattering. As you can see from this, the single was largely his work in terms of the piano playing, anyway:

So...apart from getting the song title wrong (Is Not Everything Morbid), I had a go at performing @joe_peacock's track today. Warts n all, #murderedsongoftheday - Hope you like it https://t.co/rWwketqTOQ

19th July Releasing Mirror Neuron Generator - listening party

I guess you could say that this album was a bit of a risk. Having made some kind of name for largely guitar-based songs, I did an album with almost no guitars on it at all. The influences were more Prince and Prodigy than Pixies this time. Also, I went from having a talented producer (Joe Adhemar) making sure everything sounded right on the previous album to doing it all myself, apart from the final mixing and mastering. How would people react? Well, in terms of Bandcamp sales it was a complete flop. I hardly sold anything. This might be because I didn’t stagger the releases - it went onto streaming platforms on the same day and the incentive of a free lyric book and 3 extra tracks wasn’t enough to tempt people into paying for it. However, lots of people said nice things about the album and I did a pre-release listening party hosted in In Your Ears Radio to introduce all the songs, which was really fun to share the album for the first time and chat to people directly about the different themes in the album. You can read about that in this blog post here: https://at.tumblr.com/joeonmusic/mirror-neuron-generator-out-tomorrow/2w5uj7vg1nf8

6th August #MurderedSongOfTheDay meet up

I have no idea how many songs I’ve posted on this hashtag over the year, but it’s a lot. I love trying out different songs and I’ve done everything from Bernard Cribbins to Bjork, Buddy Holly to Bob Marley etc. In August, Stevie T arranged for the people who love sharing music on Twitter in this way to meet up at his house and all play together in person. It was a fantastic occasion and meeting Stevie and his family, Scott, Ady, Cathers, Ian and Rich was such a joy.

The only slight downer was those who couldn’t make it, especially James who was one of the original instigators of the hashtag and has such a fantastic voice, which I was looking forward to hearing live. We sang through the night and had a great time - lots of laughter and a real feeling of shared love for music.

Love version of Is Not Everything Morbid by the awesome @joe_peacock 👌 #MurderedSongOfTheDay #MurderedSongOfTheDayLive pic.twitter.com/R4TUcCmjb1

5th November Review of RHTP

I’m not sure if there is a right way to release singles. Most people put them out on Fridays to catch #NewMusicFriday fever on Twitter and some people go for long periods to promote them and get a buzz going, plus as many pre-saves as possible. I did neither of those - released it on Halloween, two weeks after uploading it and had a really long tricky name for this song, which I thought DJs would probably hate having to say! Nevertheless, it got a really good reaction. I was especially pleased with this Tweet from Top of the Radar, which totally made my day:

https://t.co/lCh9srx3so@joe_peacock is an artist with a unique style & twist on combining music with storytelling! Radioactive Hybrid Terror Pigs catches you from the second you read the title (I hear you nod) & I guarantee you'll be singing that line all the way through! #TOTR

November 17th Missed Trees playing to a sold out Kitchen Garden Cafe

Every gig I have played with Louisa has been special. Our first one at Artefact was small, but a lovely, intimate way to get started with playing our songs to people. The Warehouse Cafe is a special place for me, due to my connections to that building and the people there. We played to a good-sized crowd and there was a wonderful atmosphere. Our third gig was the most magical and introduced our music to a whole new audience of people who’d never heard us before.

Supporting Ellie Gowers was a brilliant experience and getting to see her perform afterwards was a treat in itself. We played a short set of our seven strongest songs and the reaction was fantastic. Kitchen Garden Cafe is an absolutely lovely venue for a gig (especially acoustic ones) and I hope we’ll be back there again very soon.

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It’s been a great year full of highs and I feel very lucky to have found such a great community of new music enthusiasts to share this journey with. I’ll be doing plenty more in 2023, with the first releases from The Missed Trees and new solo single being finished for release as we speak and at least one album to come out. I hope you enjoy listening to it all as much as I enjoy making this music. Cheers - here’s to another year of fantastic musical adventures!

#singersongwriter #diy music #indie #new music #altfolk #acoustic #birmingham

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