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#s7 might be our last at this rate
detectivechen · 30 days
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I’m no longer active for various reasons, but I understand how difficult it is to both write good fic and run a blog consistently. 
So while I can appreciate @chenfordfanficquotes' labor of love, I’m not sure that interpreting anon’s comment in bad faith as “blaming people for spreading love” is promoting the desired “space for everyone.” And everyone else dogpiling on anon’s respectful observation is proving anon’s point exactly.  
It feels unfair for an account to be defensive towards someone pointing out an understandable bias respectfully when, from my cursory review, there’s only been one call for submissions thus far and most of the ideas are admittedly self-generated. That’s how a bubble is created, accidentally or not. But I’m giving everyone involved the benefit of the doubt. 
Constructive criticism might not always be positive in tone, but it’s never a personal knock. After all, how else can you see what you can’t see, and hopefully do better next time, if you never receive feedback?
The quote posts don’t say what the project is about at a quick glance. As an easy fix, it would be nice to see a call for submissions right under the last line in italics. Something similar to, “Help us feature more of your fave fics by submitting quotes here (link to your box)!” would suffice. Hitting shuffle in the queue might boost variety, too. (Diversity is a different topic.)
And for anon or any of our new friends checking in, I’m sorry that you’re noticing this early in your fandom experience. Keep posting your observations and add a call to action at the end to make it easier for others who share your opinion to keep the conversation going. You’d be surprised by what happens when you take that leap and/or reach out to others on your own.
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woodscorneliussen35 · 4 months
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Best Asic Units For Mining Cryptocurrency
BitMinter is totally different because it’s a software program that belongs to a mining pool, so your initial step is to register and fill in the pool sign-up form. With this device you could also get graphical visualisation of your statistics and efficiency which is pretty neat. Going robust for many years, CGminer remains to be one of the well-liked GPU/FPGA/ASIC mining software program out there. It’s also cross platform, meaning you must use it with Windows, Linux and Mac OS. If you’re not looking to mine Bitcoin specifically you have to use a program like HoneyMiner that mines the coin that is most profitable so that you can mine based mostly on your computer’s specification. Wind Tunnel Technology mimics conditions inside a wind tunnel to provide uniform cooling throughout all ASIC miner elements. Develop custom C# scripts for monitoring and performing mining and pool operations. The overclocking can mechanically be utilized at a large scale throughout an entire mining farm based mostly on the present mining algorithm. Below we take a look at the whole historical past of bitcoin mining expertise, and the place innovations could be heading next. If you are in search of a profitable ASIC which does not devour tons of power, AvalonMiner 1246 might be excellent for you as it solely uses 3420W. The Antminer S19 is powered by Bitmain’s newest 7nm ASIC chip and has a most hash fee of up to ninety five TH/s with a power consumption of 3250W. Advantages of this one embody a user-friendly interface, low vitality consumption, and efficient utilization in each house and industrial environments. The MicroBT Whatsminer M30s++ 112T is among the many best ASIC miners for efficient Bitcoin mining. It was launched in 2020 by MicroBT, a quantity one producer of ASIC mining hardware. The Whatsminer M30s++ 112T is powered by MicroBT’s SHA256 ASIC chip and has a most hash rate of 112 TH/s with a power consumption of 3472W. While we have extensively mentioned different ASICs on this article, the question you may face, where to purchase these from. The OCPD prevents components from exceeding current scores and inflicting a possible safety hazard. There is lots of hassle involved within the process, and you may not even succeed ultimately. In my expertise it is higher to buy an ASIC machine and set it up yourself, or use GPU mining rigs instead. ASIC mining machines are fairly costly as they're application-specific and energy-efficient too. They can be very noisy and heavy and have to be maintained accordingly if you would like them to last for a long time. Buyers can purchase ASIC Miners from Compass to ship to their own website, or they can purchase rigs to host at considered one of Compass’ partner facilities.
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The Bitmain Antminer S7 is an ASIC miner designed for cryptocurrencies that use the SHA-256 algorithm. The Antminer S7 is powered by Bitmain’s 28nm ASIC chip and has a most hash price of as a lot as four.seventy three TH/s with an influence consumption of 1293W. It was some of the highly effective ASIC miners out there at its release, making it a well-liked alternative for industrial-scale mining operations. Now its popularity will not be fairly to the extent as most others on this list of prime ASIC miners yet, but it is still one of the environment friendly. The Jasminer X4, one other of the most effective ASIC miners, is an ASIC miner designed for mining cryptocurrencies that use the CryptoNight algorithm, similar to Monero (XMR) and Bytecoin (BCN). For example, a 20A rated breaker will have the quantity '20' clearly printed on the handle of the breaker. Whether you go along with our recommendations or not, the following fast start information will allow you to ensure each component in your electrical setup might be operating inside safe limits. We will walk through examples and level out issues that need to be made alongside the means in which. Any of the above choices may allow you to source an ASIC Miner in 2023, but Luxor’s RFQ is the one one that could offer aggressive, bid-based pricing from a worldwide pool of patrons and sellers. If you’re considering of investing in an ASIC miner or beginning a mining group with your mates, do plenty of analysis beforehand. After all, like many investments, crypto is still a volatile market. Horizon Miners trustworthy traded cryptocurrency mining companies are based mostly in the US and Europe. They embody Riot Blockchain, Hive Blockchain, and Northern Data AG. The former two are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, whereas Northern Data AG is listed on Xetra, a German stock exchange market. Bitcoin mining is the method of solving for the two-digit encrypted number contained in a block's hash called the nonce. The Bitmain AntMiner S19 Pro is a popular alternative for miners due to its good stability of efficiency, effectivity, and worth. While its effectivity is not nearly as good as a few of the dearer decisions on our list, it nonetheless boasts a really respectable efficiency of 30 J/TH. The Bitmain Antminer S19j Pro+ is likely considered one of the most powerful and environment friendly ASIC miners in the marketplace, and one of the best Bitcoin miners generally. This means that it could possibly generate a major amount of hash power while utilizing comparatively little electricity. If you might be contemplating getting into cryptocurrency mining, you will want to select the proper ASIC miner for your needs. If you wish to mine Classic Ethereum,  you have to do so with the Ethash algorithm. For in-home mining settings, it’s crucial to not overload the domestic electrical grid with an extreme energy draw. The grid as a complete and every single-socket are solely rated for a certain most power, and mining units can easily surpass these thresholds. The wiring may fail and overheat, posing an immediate fireplace hazard. Miners For Sale moreover has an in depth inventory of other merchandise, corresponding to new/used GPU Miners. Feel free to contact us for a full inventory listing of kit and a price listing. Mining calculator is a tool that helps you find completely different coins and multi-algo swimming pools options. You can discover answers to completely different questions you may need in our help center. MicroBT, a China-based tech company, is behind the manufacturing and growth of the Whatsminer series. There are several reasons why mining with the Ethash algorithm can be helpful. When purchasing an ASIC, crucial factor to consider is its efficiency - the variety of BTC that can be generated per day minus costs similar to electricity bills and mining pool fees. Bitcoin mining is becoming one of the most lucrative and innovative sectors of the worldwide economy. The miner’s hashrate reaches a maximum of 140 Th/s, enabling swift block puzzle fixing in the face of the rising difficulty of Bitcoin mining. This excessive hashrate and its maximum power capacity ensure optimal mining efficiency for profitability. The Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism ensures that a transaction block will only be added to the chain as soon as validated and verified.
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so i’ve read your entire fanfic recs lists and thank you so much for making it!! it introduced me to some of my fave fics like I Think It’s A Real Waste by Jaded Angel and That’s My Baby by kezztip (not including your works of course because i love them all). but now i’m at a lost of what to read. do you have any current fics or fics you would add to your lists?
p.s. so excited RYLH is gonna be updated soon!!! i am seriously in love with that story that it’s my pick me up fic
I'm glad my fanfic recs post was useful to you!! I spent a lot of time making that and I love ALL the stories I recommended.
[do you have any current fics or fics you would add to your lists?] -- Oh hell yeah, a lot of new fics came out after I made that post, and I've found a few more old ones. I'll list them all below (this is going to be LONG):
Multichapters:
all that glitters by SparklingSoul (canon divergence s3):
After getting into some hot water, Jackie and Hyde find themselves thrust into an unlikely partnership-- a partnership where in the lines of morality quickly become blurred as they lead each other down a questionable path to cope with their less than ideal home lives.
This story is a WIP.
Y'ALL, please trust me and read this one, it's amazing. The first chapter was posted yesterday and I'm already addicted.
Rated T.
6k words, one chapter so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Fez/Kelso, and Eric/Donna.
Baby Blue by crimsinsky (s7 fix-it):
Zenmasters being Godparents.
This story is complete.
Rated T.
4k words, 5 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Kelso/Brooke
Friend of the Devil by glittermila (AU):
An AU where Hyde's a girl, and falls for Jackie anyway.
Btw, everyone's gay in this story and I love it, lol.
This story is a WIP.
Rated T.
65k words, 26 chapters so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Buddy, Eric/Donna, Fez/Kelso.
He Let Her Go by kezztip (canon divergence s7):
Jackie runs away to her wealthy grandmother in New York after the midseason 7 breakup. Will absence make Hyde's heart grow fonder? What happens when Jackie returns for a secret visit?
This story is complete.
Rated T.
17k words, 17 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
I Think I Was Blind Before I Met You by TeaTimeAllOverTown (AU):
He’s 14 and she’s 13 and he finds her crying outside the prison doors and, not that he would ever admit it, hearing her cry makes his skin itch.
This story is complete.
Rated T.
15k words, 2 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Just Ask Santa by heatherlea75 (post s8, Christmas fic):
This is a two part Christmas story featuring JH from Cliches and Things They Say. Sometimes, adults should believe in Santa Claus, too.
This story is complete.
Rated T.
10k words, 3 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Miracle by B_August (AU):
To Pam Burkhart, Jackie is the abnormal child that her husband dragged in during their vacation in Hawaii. To her peers, she's the smart and stuck-up princess that graces the school halls. To the Basement Gang, she's the annoying brat that infiltrated their ranks. To Jackie herself, she is a super powered freak who just wants to do her best. But to Jack Burkhart, Buddy Morgan, a pair of higher life forms, and those who she would later help, she is nothing short of a miracle.
This story is a WIP.
Rated T.
47k words, 33 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Fez/Buddy
My Best Friend's Girl by the bohemian flow (AU):
What if Hyde had a crush on Jackie instead of Donna?
This story is a WIP.
Rated T.
2k words, one chapter so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, temporary Jackie/Kelso
perfect matches burn (and baby, so do we) by deartangerine (AU):
One year after their break-up, Jackie and Hyde have finally pieced themselves back together, on their own. Jackie's in school. Hyde's sober. But one fateful weekend stuck together at their best friends' wedding might be all it takes to tear them down again.
Or maybe, just maybe, to build something new.
Another fic where Hyde's genderbent, and it's great! I highly recommend reading the prequel, our fingers intertwined (just like our hearts).
This story is a WIP.
Rated M.
24k words, 9 chapters so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna
Play With Fire by ShinyBo0ts0fLeather (s8 canon divergence):
After Hyde comes back from Las Vegas, Sam comes into everyone's life and thus ruining the very last chance he had with Jackie. Instead of the moping around, Jackie is now fueled with fire and a sense of determination to move on and make a life for herself as a strong, independent woman. Instead of turning their back on Jackie and siding with Hyde, Eric, Donna, Kelso, Fez and even Laurie remain loyal friends to Jackie. Hyde is completely broken, but isn't a complete asshole to Jackie. The gang doesn't turn their back on Hyde, but instead support him yet hold him responsible for his actions instead of sweeping it all under the rug. While Jackie is set on moving on, Hyde is set on getting Jackie back and changing his ways for both her and his sake. Whatever it takes.
Eric never left to Africa, and Kelso is in Chicago with Brooke, but is still around. Donna sticks to her feminist values like in the early seasons and is a better friend to Jackie. Jackie is close to the Forman's as well, and her relationship with her father will be prominent and better here as well. Overall positive with some angst.
This story is a WIP.
Rated M.
30k words, 15 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna
Something Unexpected by crimsinsky (s1 canon divergence):
What if Jackie wasn’t quite so heartbroken over Kelso kissing Pam Macy?
This story is a WIP.
Rated T.
15k words, 11 chapters so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Red/Kitty
Spirit In The Night by springsteenicious (s4/s5 canon divergence):
Jackie and Hyde are in the midst of a passionate- and secret- fling. When Kelso's sister lends the six of them her cabin by a lake for a few days, they have to be even more secretive. But secrecy proves to be a difficult thing to maintain, especially when they can't seem to get enough of each other's presence. (Inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song).
This story is funny as hell, and it's a WIP.
Rated T.
4k words, 2 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna
Take The Money and Run! by MinaSeraphina (post s7):
This here's a story about Steven Hyde and Jackie Blue. Two young lovers with nothin' better to do...
Complete.
Rated M.
29k words, 12 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
The One That Wasn't Canon by samcaponi (AU):
Basically, this is an AU where Jackie never dated Kelso. It's not set in a specific season but will take different aspects from each season.
This has to be one of the cutest stories I've ever read in my life.
This story is a WIP.
It doesn't have a rating.
11k words, 9 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna
Things Fall Apart by leoasc (s8 canon divergence):
On one night in a motel room in Chicago, Jackie and Hyde learn a valuable lesson about love and life: Things fall apart. People get hurt. Hearts get broken. Over the course of nine months and a series of events no one saw coming, they learn how true that really is.
Prepare yourself because your heart's going to be crushed, but the author guaranteed that they'll fix it so I'm trusting them.
This story is a WIP.
60k words, 9 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Too Late by brokenrussiancrawl (s8 canon divergence):
Hyde was not stalking her. It was just, after months of not seeing or hearing from her, finally spotting her in a bar made him realize how much he truly missed her. The only problem is, the tiny brunette wants nothing to do with the gang...even more so him. But he couldn't stay away.
This is angsty. Very, very angsty. But it's great!
This story is a WIP.
Rated T, but the author said that might change later.
23k words, 5 chapters so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Jackie/OC, background Eric/Donna
We're Not Broken, Just Bent by SparklingSoul (post s8):
When tragedy strikes and Jackie and Hyde are forced to live up to their godparent duties, they need to overcome their differences and work together. Along the way, they realize that maybe their relationship isn’t broken beyond repair after all...
This story is one of my favorites, I love it so much!! Please read it.
This story is complete.
Rated T.
67k words, 24 chapters.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna
When Did This Happen? by QueenBookBuff (post s8):
Hyde is stunned when he finds out Jackie and Eric no longer hate each other, and he finds he hates the idea of her having a soft place to land that is not him. What he hates even more is the idea that Eric is protecting Jackie from him.
Angsty and beautiful story, I'm loving it.
This story is a WIP.
Rated M.
46k words, 13 chapters so far.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
One-shots:
Anything For You, Doll by icanseeformiles (missing moment):
One-shot, takes place during season 5. Jackie is sick while staying overnight with Hyde in the basement, and Hyde has to take care of her. All fluff.
Rated T.
2k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Five Years by johnnycakewasgolden (idk, it wasn't specified):
It's been five years. Fluffy fic. Sappiness. H/J.
Rated T.
1k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
He Cared by johnnycakewasgolden (missing moment):
After Hyde tells Kelso that he's a tool for trying to get out of Brooke's pregnancy. Hyde's thoughts drift to Jackie and everything between them.
Rated T.
1k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Here I Go Again by Tandy (I think it's post s8 but I'm not sure):
Life had not turned out like Jackie had planned. She wasn't rich, she had no maid, no mansion, and no husband. (don't worry this is fluffy).
Rated T.
5k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song by springsteenicious (s5 canon divergence):
"Every time the time was right all the words just came out wrong, so I'll have to say I love you in a song..."
Hyde isn't sure how to tell Jackie he loves her. Then he finds the perfect way, and it's a song sung by Jim Croce.
Rated G.
1k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
I LOVE YOU by PrettyinPink33 (I think it's s5 canon divergence but I'm not sure):
"Why can't you say it? It's three words. Eight letters! Why can't you say it?" Hyde doesn't want to use the L-word. A sweet little fluffy J/H oneshot
Rated T.
839 words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
is this the place that i've been dreaming of? by SparklingSoul (missing moment):
“I’m mostly over it now,” she continues, “but sometimes I can’t help but worry about that same thing with any guy. So tell me, would you break up with me, too?”
Jackie has some leftover relationship insecurities from when she dated Kelso and Hyde is there to remind her that she doesn't have to worry anymore.
Rated T.
1k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
It's a Hyde Thing by not.so.tragically (AU canon divergence):
It became a Hyde thing. She had part in one of his Hyde things, and for some reason, he was okay with it.
Rated T.
2k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Magic Man by ShanghaiLily (missing moment):
Just a sexy little 'missing scene' one-shot that takes place after Donna returns from California and she and Eric catch Jackie & Hyde together on the couch but before Kelso finds out about the affair. After a naughty afternoon together, they admit to themselves & each other they don't want to break up.
Rated M. Very M.
2k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Nice To Meet You by crimsinsky (AU):
What If Jackie and Hyde met without Jackie and Kelso ever dating?
A loudmouth girl meets a troublemaking knight in shining armor.
Rated T.
2k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Now you're looking pretty in a hotel bar by MissRaichyl (post s8):
Hyde and Jackie meet after a long time apart and find comfort in each other that they thought was long gone.
Rated M.
2k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Old and Grey by zpplnchick (post s8):
After a busy day of shopping, Jackie and Hyde make one last purchase: new boots. Post-finale. Told from a 3rd-party perspective.
Rated T.
1k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
One Special Morning by marirable (missing moment):
If anyone caught him at this hour and in this situation, they would be inevitably buried in the Formans' backyard to maintain his burnout image and not lead it towards the worst. Towards the gang thinking that Hyde got himself a heart.
Rated K.
643 words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
She's a Rainbow by trobedisons (AU? idk):
"she comes in colors everywhere, she combs her hair, she's like a rainbow."
as with everything, jackie is the opposite. they're polar opposites. the rich girl; the bad boy. archetypes that should clash, but they attract. it was as if his calloused hands were crafted to mold into the curve of her hips.
hyde notices jackie’s affinity for rainbow sweaters. hyde also notices he likes jackie. so what happens when she needs a date?
Rated T.
1k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
The Big Toy by JoyfulHeartEO (missing moment?):
When Jackie and Hyde get bored at the Drive in with their friends...where will they go? And what will they do? ;D Read and find out what happens.
Rated M because this has a lot of sex, but it's well written and funny.
3k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
Where Did You Sleep Last Night by QueenBookBuff (s8 canon divergence):
Would a married Jackie ever break her vow to be faithful?
I love ALL of QBB's stories, but this one has a special place in my heart, I don't know why.
Rated T.
This work is part of a series, so there's a sequel.
4k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Jackie/Kelso
Why Didn't You Tell Anyone? by zpplnchick (missing moment):
The gang talks about their first kiss, and a surprising revelation is revealed… Set shortly after 4x20.
Rated K+.
6k words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
You Give Me Fever by crimsinsky (missing moment):
Jackie is sick, or is she? She claims she is, but Kelso says he saw her not too long ago. Who is Hyde supposed to believe, and what does he do about it?
Rated G.
5k worrds.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
1983 by antrazi (post s8? idk):
Somebody comes back and watches Hyde's life from the outside.
Rated T.
731 words.
Pairings: Jackie/Hyde
*
I think this is it! I probably forgot some fics because my brain is weird, but yeah. I've read all of these, and they're all amazing. I think you'll love them!
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millennialfangirl · 4 years
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Take My Hand (take my whole life too) - a Daisy/Daniel post S7 oneshot
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Fandom: Agents of Shield
Pairing: Daisy x Daniel
Rating: G
Word Count: 3033
Author’s Note: Here’s a little post season 7 oneshot. Just some ideas I had for how the series could end for our lovely ship. I’m sure the next episode it will get ‘Jossed’. 
Take my hand (Take my whole life too)
Daisy found herself alone, sipping on the last of her champagne. Sounds of laughter fill the backyard where the small reception is taking place. She’s filled with happiness for May and Coulson, but as she stares across the patio, eyes lingering on Sousa as he plays with little Diana Fitz-Simmons, she can’t help but feel a deep well of sadness. May and Coulson have known each other for two decades, and they’ve just now settled down and committed to a life with one another. It makes her hurt for all the missteps and loneliness that her pseudo-parents took to get here. 
 It makes her hurt for herself, and the man she’s just starting to realize means more to her than she’s comfortable with. 
 The sliding of a chair brings her out of her melancholic reverie, and a warm hand settles on her shoulder. Without thinking, she leans her cheek on it as she continues to stare out across the party.
 “Do you want to talk about it?” Coulson prods. 
 Taking in a deep breath, Daisy exhales her sigh. She doesn’t want to dampen his night, but she knows he won’t settle until she’s given him something. 
 “It took so long for you to get your happy ending.” 
 That’s all she says, and she thinks it’s enough to convey all the things she’s feeling. 
 Coulson follows her gaze, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her shoulder. He has easily put two and two together over the past few months as he’s watched Daisy stumble and dance herself around Agent Sousa. 
 “You’re wondering if it’s worth it?”
 She nods, a hand reaching up for his to pull it down with hers as she turns her body to face him. He’s so happy right now, which should be answer enough to her concerns. The burdened weight of years of sacrifice have lifted from his face and posture, replaced with soft laugh lines and warm eyes. A mist settles over her eyes when she remembers that she had lost him once upon a time before traveling to the past, and fixing that one wrong that cut deeper than all the others. He was flesh and bone once again, and he was happily married with a gold band on his finger. He’ll be able to grow old with May instead of having to watch her die one day. 
 “Happiness seems tenuous at best. Our life takes it away so often, why risk it after so many years of not getting to this place?”
 “I get it, I do,” he admits. He takes a swig from his bottled beer and sets it back on the table. His fingers fiddle with the bottle wrapper as he gathers his thoughts. 
 “We took a long time, and yeah, sometimes I wished we hadn’t. I wish we’d figured things out sooner, but I have to believe that it gave us the foundation we need to make it last, that otherwise we would have started something we couldn’t finish.”
 “You know more than anyone what I’ve lost. I know what you’ve lost. I don’t know if I can survive losing someone else.”
 The smallest tear squeezes out as she admits her fears. Coulson wipes it away immediately, and then tucks a few stray hairs behind her ear. 
 “You can survive anything. You’ve always been capable of so much more than you know. It’s the very reason you deserve your own happiness. I know you’ll get it one day, because there’s no one that deserves it more than you...except maybe a displaced WWII veteran,” he pauses with a soft chuckle as he glances back at the dark-haired man shuffling a toddler around on his feet.
 Mirth fills his eyes as he returns his gaze to Daisy, her face burning red while she pointedly stares at the ground. 
 “And when you do, you’ll know. The bones will be good, and the time will be right. Every couple is different. Your happy ending might be a lot closer than you think.”
 Daisy scoffs.
 “Nice. Subtle.” 
 Coulson gives her that dad look. 
 “People arrive, so we celebrate, and people leave us, so we grieve. We do what we can with the time in between,” he pauses and gives her a knowing look. “For a sentient chronicom, Enoch understood the crux of humanity. Life can’t be just the things we lose.”
 “I’ll try to keep an open mind,” she begrudgingly acquiesces. 
 He looks mollified as he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. She’s reminded of how lucky she is to have him back in her life, to have someone who cares enough about her wellbeing to have this conversation. As they sip their drinks under the night sky, she thinks back on their first night of freedom at the rundown motel after Hydra was exposed. Even then, with half of a chocolate bar, he was trying to take care of her. Not for the first time, she wonders what her life would have been like, and what choices she would have made if she had had a father figure like Coulson in her life all along. Would she have chosen people like Myles and Ward?
 She does know that Daniel’s unlike anyone she’s met before, and she doesn’t just think it’s because he’s a man out of time. There’s a goodness and steadfastness that is woven through him like the suits he still insists on wearing. Somewhere in there is a joke about how girls fall in love with men like their fathers. There are a lot of differences between Daniel and Coulson. There are also a few similarities. Apparently Daniel is the original Agent Suit, and apparently he also likes to take care of her. After going through countless time loops that proved over and over the type of man Sousa is, she’s doing her best to accept the help, and maybe let down her defenses a little bit. But accepting help is one thing, and jumping heart first into a relationship is another. They’ve barely been able to catch their breath since defeating the chronicoms, much less have any time to see if their feelings were more than surface level. 
 A small wrapped box is placed in front of her on the table, bringing her out of her conflicting thoughts.
 “I got something for the new Director. Something every Director of a super top-secret spy organization should have,” he finishes with a grin, looking so much like the adorable nerd he is. 
 “Um...this is your wedding day. I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be the one giving you a gift.” 
 Coulson merely shrugs. Daisy starts pulling the string on the wrapping paper.
 “It’s also the first day of my life as a civilian.”
 She can’t help but laugh as the dark blue paper falls revealing a simple wooden box.
 “I don’t think you’ll ever be just a civilian.”
 Her wide grin drops from her face when she sees the familiar keys nestled in the now opened box. She looks up at Coulson with wide eyes, words of refusal already in her mouth.
 “No, I--” but he doesn’t let her finish. 
 “Yes. It’s time to pass the torch. She deserves to keep going on adventures, not sit in my garage,” he insists, closing his hand over hers, folding the keys into her palm. 
 ****
 She watches as Coulson steps in, lifting Diana into his arms, swinging her around in a half waltz. Daniel laughs with his hands on his hips in mock anger. Daisy looks away before she gets caught staring, and instead looks to her phone for a distraction. She flips through her photo album, gazing at candids from the small ceremony. Eventually she lands on the infamous picture of Daniel in an alley from literal decades ago. 
 “Looks like I could use a new dance partner.”
 In an instant her phone is fumbling out of her hands, falling hard on the patio underfoot. Her face burns red with embarrassment as her brain tries to catch up to what he said. She blindly reaches for the phone while looking up at him.
 “Dance partner?”
 And she wants to slap herself in the face for her lack of finesse.
 Daniel leans down a bit, holding his hand out for her to take.
 “Let me try that again. May I have this dance?”
 And Daisy doesn’t think she’s ever felt a rush of butterflies quite like that before. No one has ever asked her to dance with them. There weren’t many school dances she actually went to, and all the boys she’s been with before...well dancing wasn’t their style, at least not the kind with soft music and romantic lighting. She’d had a lot of experience with thumping bass, dark rooms, and wandering hands. 
 She likes to pride herself on the growth she’s made, the woman she’s become. She wears her independence like a badge of honor, but in that moment staring at Sousa’s hand, she feels young and completely smitten. 
 Unprepared. Unprepared is what she is, but it can’t be that different from sparring, right? She’s nothing if not ready for a challenge.
 Sousa takes the hand she places in his, and a large grin spreads across his face. It takes her breath away. 
 “I don’t exactly know how to do this,” she admits, embarrassed. 
 “Do what? Dance? No way.”
 Daisy nervously places her hand on his shoulder like she’d seen in the movies, while their fingers spread and squeeze into a firm hold with each other. He feels solid under her touch.
 “True story.”
 “Well, we’ll just have to fix that. Just follow my feet. When I step back with one foot, follow it with your opposite. When I step to the side, just go with me. When I step forward, you step back.”
 “So it is like fighting,” she mumbles mostly to herself. 
 “Hmm?”
 “Nothing.”
 And it’s not so bad after the first couple of awkward shuffles. Eventually they find a rhythm, and Daisy’s surprised to find she’s enjoying the moment. She stops staring at their feet long enough to relax and watch the people around them, her people. She’s lost in thought while staring at Mack and Yo-Yo swaying to the music, arms wrapped tightly together.
 Sousa clears his throat. “It was a beautiful wedding.” 
 “Long overdue, and exactly what they deserve.”
 “You really love them.”
 “More than anything. They’re my family.”
 “You’re lucky to have them. And they’re lucky to have you.”
 “I’m so sorry, Sousa. You must feel so alone,” she responds guiltily.
 “I don’t feel so alone. Not right now. It’s hard to feel alone when I’m dancing with a real-life superhero.”
 “If I’m a superhero, it’s only because of people like you.”
 “People like me?”
 “People who save people like me, who follow us into the dark, and pull us back out. People who roll with the punches and have good hearts. Solid people.”
 “If I didn’t know any better Director Johnson, I’d say you were still trying to sweet-talk me into the Co-Director position.” 
 “That works too.”
 Sousa looks at her skeptically before Daisy continues.
 “So, what do you say? Ready to accept the position?” 
 With that, he is distracted. He chews on his lip in thought.
 “You know I want nothing more than to help you, help SHIELD...It’s just hard for me to imagine being that useful in the 21st century. I’m so behind on modern technology and culture. I worry that I’ll be more of a burden.”
 Daisy’s hackles raise at his blatant disregard for his worth. 
 “You think you’d be a burden? You’re a brilliant detective and strategist. You’re the guy that figured out Hydra’s involvement in SHIELD before anyone else, and was willing to give his life to stop them. You’re the guy that saved me from Nathaniel Malick. You’re the guy who took every time loop in stride and helped me break that time loop. You’re the guy that I…”
 Daisy stops herself mid-sentence, almost saying something that she can’t take back. Something she’s too afraid to voice. Sousa looks down at her, hanging on her every word as she pauses. She shakes her head as if to clear it of her runaway thoughts. She decides to go with a much more palatable truth.
 “You’re the guy I trust to have my back,” she finishes with a gulp. 
 For a moment she thinks she’s gone too far. He’s staring at her intently like he’s trying to crack a code or needle an interrogation suspect. After what feels like an eternity, he finally speaks up. 
 “Well, Director Johnson, how can I say no to that vote of confidence.”
 She releases a nervous laugh. “You can’t. That’s the point,” she says with a satisfied smile.  
 “No, I suppose not,” he says with a twinkle in his eye that she has become increasingly fond of. 
 They settle into a comfortable silence as a new song comes on. Neither one of them make to leave the makeshift dance floor, so they drift into the opening tunes of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” 
 It’s soft and whimsical, and Daisy can’t help but let her mind wander to the man in front of her. He makes her feel things she doesn’t remember feeling before, not even with Lincoln. She’s hyper aware of how perfectly their hands fit together, and the gentle touch of his fingers on her waist. She has to physically stop herself from leaning forward and resting her head on his shoulder, to seek out the comfort she remembers from the barn. She wonders if he would follow her lips willingly just like he had in the time loop.
 She thinks he might always look like he stepped out of a classic, black and white, Hollywood film. 
 As if he can read her thoughts, he pulls her a little closer, their arms wrapping around each other a bit more than what’s expected of two colleagues or platonic friends, but not quite as intimate as Mack and Yo-yo. She can’t stop the next words out of her mouth, because they’re simply true and pure. 
 “This is nice.”
 Because it is. It’s so nice, and she’s still struggling to accept that she deserves to feel something this good. 
 With a knowing smile, he hums in agreement before gently turning her out, guiding her into a slow spin. When she steps back into his arms, neither one hesitates in drawing in a bit closer. The world is spinning around them, but he’s her only focal point. His kind eyes with slight crinkles, the touch of gray around his temples, the mole just below his Adam’s apple...the softness of his lips.
 “You look beautiful tonight.” 
 And if that doesn’t take her breath away. When was the last time someone called her beautiful? She’s heard plenty of other adjectives: strong, stubborn, leader...destroyer. She wants to be all those things, and beautiful too. 
 “Thank you,” she responds quietly, not quite capable of meeting his eyes.
 Then he says her name softly, prompting her to look up. The way he says, “Daisy,” instead of Agent Johnson, the way he’s asking for the answer to a question he doesn’t even know...she’s sure she knows the question.
 It probably sounds a lot like, “Why does this feel so right? Why do your arms feel like home? Would it be alright if I kissed you?”
 And her answer would be, “Because your favorite people are people like me. Because you’ve held me close before. Please, kiss me again.”
 She never told him about the time loops. She never wanted to take away his free will. But right now she’s ready to tell him everything. She’s ready for a kiss that can never be erased. 
 An alarm starts blaring from her wristwatch, and the two of them jump apart. She can see several other members of their team all stop what they’re doing and look to their phones and smartwatches. 
 Daisy knows the night is over and duty calls. She’s surprised the whole wedding wasn’t interrupted, but she can’t help but feel angry nonetheless. 
 “Want to catch a ride with me?” she asks the suddenly sullen looking man out of time.
 His face lights up with a smile, and he gestures to her to walk in front of him. 
 “After you, Director.”
 She can feel his eyes on her as they make their way to the tables where she picks up the keys to Lola along with her belongings. It doesn’t feel like he’s leering. It feels protective and comforting, just like someone who’s got her back. 
 Coulson hugs her tightly, and May wishes them luck as they head out to chase down their next mission. It should feel sad, leaving them behind, but it somehow feels right. They’re her family. They’ll always be there for her, but now it’s time for her to lead, and she has one hell of a right hand to help her out.
 As they make their way to the parked car, red and shiny in the moonlight, Sousa can’t help but ask, “What’s an 0-8-4?” 
 He must have taken a moment to read the alert sent to his phone.
 “It’s an object of unknown origin. Probably alien. Think you can handle it?” she asks, and she can’t help but feel a thrill of excitement for the unknown.
 “I’ve traveled 70 years into the future, I don’t think much will surprise me now.”
 At that, she laughs out loud as she slides into the car.
 “You might be right. Alright, last chance. Sure you want in?”
 “Positive. I’m where I need to be.”
 The way he looks into her eyes when he says it lets her know he means so much more than just the next mission. 
 “That’s good to hear. Now buckle up, I just might surprise you now.”
 “I’m counting on it,” he says with an excited grin.
  Daisy can feel his stare, even as they rise above the trees, Lola taking flight. Without looking at him, she takes his hand in her own. 
 If her cheeks turn red and her heart beats harder, well at least Coulson’s not there to notice it.
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sometimesrosy · 4 years
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How is it that professional 40-50 year old adults who get paid to do this, could fuck up a show so bad. When teenager fic writers are creating masterful universes and ending things beautifully, how is that they can give up, be petty, and literally not care about the thousands watching? Who are these evil people? Do they even have souls?
okay. you’re taking it a bit too far. yes it sucks, and yes they failed, but please remember it’s a story, it’s fiction, and while they should care about their story, I’m not sure that’s the definition of evil, nor does it mean they don’t have souls.
Turning people who fail, or who do things you hate, into inhuman soulless evil beings worthy of hate is not a good look.
I know you’re mad and you have a right to be. Think he’s an ass, think he’s a bad writer, think he’s irrelevant, whatever. People mess up sometimes. People fail. Never trust him to tell a story again, that’s fine, he’s proved that he’ll go for the grimdark and ruin his story for whatever reason. People ruin things, like stories and marriages and friendships and jobs because they are flawed. That’s part of being human. Not a sign that they aren’t human.
And I love fic, but it’s not at all the same as writing a 7 season long tv show. They can tell good stories, but they are low stakes, they depend upon someone else’s world building and character development, don’t need be as all encompassing, or wrangle all the different elements from characters to backstory to costuming to budget to ratings. Fic is a relatively safe way to write and still find an audience. It’s free, it’s experimental, no one is telling you what to write or what you can’t write, there are no disagreements with other creators. If you want, with fic, you can rewrite the whole thing when you make mistakes or remove it. When you write fic, you’re hiding it in fandom spaces and it doesn’t make a statement about who you are as a professional for the rest of your life. If you get harassed over a fic, you can just leave fandom..
A fic writer gives up by just not finishing a fic... which you’ve seen a thousand times. If they can’t figure out how to bring it home, they just drop it. Maybe JR would have dropped this story if he could have, but he had contracts, IDK. 
A fic writer can also focus on ONE thing, like a ship. And follow that all the way through to its conclusion. Most great fic stories that I’ve read do just that. The side characters are just side characters, they don’t have the weight to carry a story on their own like The 100′s do.  In fact, if you follow only the side characters stories in the 100, then you could TOTALLY have a successful, if tragic story for MANY of them. Murphy and Emori, for one. From s1 to s7. That was a good story. 
I can’t think of one fic writer who would be ready to showrun a tv show. Be a writer on one? Yes. Showrun? No. Because it’s more than just writing.
I think JR had 6 successful seasons and one failure. And for sure he messed up, but I feel like you’re comparing two things that are not really comparable.
Fic writing is fun. Fic writing is FOR fun. For our own individual reasons. That alone makes it different than tv writing. 
I’m not excusing JR, he messed up big time, but no, I don’t think a teen fic writer could do better than him, even if they might have a better idea for a series end than he did, based on the story he told. I don’t think they could have told the whole story he did. I don’t think I could have, and I’m a 40-50 year old professional writer, too. For one, my stories are not as exciting as his. They aren’t as dramatic. They aren’t as tragic. And I believe in happy endings. Now that might make my stories more pleasant than his, but I’m not sure they make them more...absorbing. We were all addicted to his stories. That is a talent. He failed to live up to his talent in the last season.
He did not stick the landing and failed to bring it home and yes it ruined it. But it’s not about us, it’s about him. Even if he did do it to punish the fandom, he doesn’t know us. It’s still not personal. Don’t take it personally. Honestly, life’s too short to give people you don’t like power over your life like that.
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Some Thoughts Inspired by the Kassica Rewatch
This started as a seedling late last night, but while watching Memento Mori (6xO6) Kassie throwing out some Catholic knowledge.
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I don’t think it’s surprising to anyone after 6 years that the 100 has some serious Christian symbolism that is heavy on the Catholicism. A very important Christianity Note: In order to get salvation, we must die to ourselves or our flesh. Philippians 1:21 says “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” 
Now, let’s get down to business. 
4x11 “On the Other Side” is when Raven hallucinates Becca and Sinclair. Sinclair convinces her that even without ALIE’s code, she’s still worth living. She does the tank thing, science-y things are said. She dunks herself in the ice water (baptism) and then crawls out and stops her heart (death). 
Is this death to self? Death to flesh? Perhaps. After this episode, we never see Raven beat herself up over the choices she made in s3&4. We know she’s not perfect, and that has been something that has bugged me since in s6 she acts Holier Than Thou towards Clarke. But maybe that’s because she has come to terms with those decisions and accepts them. 
6x02 “Red Sun Rising” this is where we have Murphy being baptized and quite literally dying. Bellamy dunks him under the water when the hallucinations get to him, and after a last ditch effort by our hero Clarke, Murphy doesn’t wake up. Abby says his heart rate is too weak. Russell says he’s already dead. I also find it interesting that a snake bite is what saved him, when the serpent is considered evil in Genesis (this is also mentioned in 5x13), and he is later called a snake by josephine in 6x06. Later, when he finally wakes up, he claims he’s been to hell/is going to hell. 
Murphy has always been confident in his decisions to survive, and I don’t think we see much change in his personality. If anything, we saw more of an arc for him in s5. But maybe I’ll change my mind once I finish rewatching s6. 
6x05 “Gospel of Josephine” We have Octavia in the weird sinking sand thing. In order to save herself from the anomaly or whatever comes, she dunks herself into it. I think that this is her baptism, and it starts her redemption arc. She starts to want to live, and it begins her journey to go into the anomaly. Later when she comes back from inside it, she seems to have grown, accepted the things she did in the bunker, and had her own mysterious arc. 
We haven’t seen her death, but I think Hope coming from the anomaly and stabbing Octavia might have something to do with this. 
5x01 “Eden” Clarke goes into the river (i think it’s the river in eden) and dunks herself. This is during the time when her friends think she’s dead. I think that is relevant more so than her actually death and the very romantic Bellamy resurrecting her once her heart stopped in s6 because during those six years in Eden, she comes to terms with Wanheda and all the impossible decisions she’s had to make.
Out of the main characters who are alive at the end of s6, the only one who has not had a baptism or death is Bellamy Blake. Now, I know we all had a panic because he wasn’t on the poster. I know that the fandom was upset he had limited time in the trailer. But like many others have stated, I believe that’s because Bellamy’s storyline is CRUCIAL to s7. I believe he WILL die, but in a similar way that Clarke or Raven or Murphy died in the episodes I listed above.
One of the main things I have noticed during this rewatch is the importance of death. 
May We Meet Again
Your Fight Is Over 
Death Isn’t The End 
Death Is Life 
and perhaps even It Doesn’t End Here. 
I don’t know exactly how those tie in, but my gut tells me it’s important. As well as the baptisms and “deaths.”  
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elisaphillips · 3 years
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Macropost 4
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R1. Differentiate the impacts of social determinants of health that contribute to health disparities in rural communities as compared with urban communities
             When we arrived at Burgaw Middle School an hour early, a line of cars already snaked around the adjacent neighborhood. “Oh my gosh, are they already here for the drive-through?” I thought out loud. “I think so,” said one of my group members with a tinge of astonishment in her voice.  Our practicum group had arrived early at Burgaw Middle School to set up vendor booths for our semester event, a free community drive-through event at which community members could drive through to obtain sundry supplies, such as children and adult diapers, feminine hygiene products, blankets, masks, hand sanitizer, children’s books, and a bag of fresh produce harvested earlier that morning. Given that we had switched the location at the last minute and only distributed flyers a few days prior, we were shocked, albeit a bit relieved, to see such an immense turn-out. Yet, the resident community partners who arrived to help with the distribution did not appear to share the same sense of astonishment.
             I turned to the lead volunteer director, an older woman who was herself a volunteer at the event. “Wow, I really thought no one would come on such short notice,” I said. “Oh honey, I knew they would,” she sighed. “There’s a lot of need around these parts. Word spreads fast, especially when there’s food involved.” She was right. Covid-19 has exacerbated the pre-existing need in many rural Eastern North Carolina counties, and it became quickly apparent on this warm October afternoon as over 180 people lined up in hopes of obtaining food and other supplies. About forty-five minutes into the drive-through, we ran out of nearly all of our supplies, many of which had been donated earlier that morning by a handful of concerned community organizations, including a local dentist, a domestic violence shelter, a health center, a non-profit thrift store, and our precepting organization, Feast Down East. Fortunately, some of the other community partners who arrived for distribution had anticipated the turn-out and planned accordingly. Nevertheless, our group was stunned.
             Yet, given the unique social determinants of health which contribute to increased levels of food insecurity in rural areas, we should not have been surprised (Gundersen et al., 2020). A brief dive into the existing literature serves to shed some light on the unique social and environmental factors which act in tandem to contribute to a heightened level of food insecurity in rural regions as compared to urban regions. As mentioned in previous posts, individuals living in rural communities tend to receive lower wages and have less access to job opportunities and transportation (Warren & Smalley, 2014). Due to national shift to large-scale, “export-oriented agriculture,” rural individuals also tend to have less access to fresh, affordable food options within their immediate vicinity (Hossfeld & Mendez, 2018, p S10).
             In addition, research seems to indicate that rural-dwelling individuals have fewer food assistance resources in times of crisis than their urban counterparts, a reality which is especially pertinent during the current pandemic (Waity, 2016; Whitley, 2013). As anyone who has worked in food distribution is aware, it is not cheap to transport and refrigerate mass amounts of food; as such, it is often very difficult for small, rural food pantries with limited funding to sustain the level of productivity needed to support the high amount of food insecure individuals in their region (Whitley, 2013). A study by Waity (2016), which utilized Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, revealed that rural counties, despite their greater need, possessed fewer hunger relief agencies, such as soup kitchens and food pantries, than urban counties. Perhaps even more surprising was the finding that rural counties with higher rates of poverty had fewer hunger relief agencies than wealthier rural counties (Waity, 2013). In other words, those who most need supportive food resources often have the least access.
             As one might expect, implementing a solution to the complex issue of rural food insecurity is a task rife with challenge. After several conversations with various food-pantry directors in Pender County, it became apparent that hunger relief agencies in rural North Carolina are struggling to meet the needs of their residents. One director informed me that their pantry has more users than ever before, with hundreds of families showing up each week. In addition, despite our team’s efforts to help this community with a free community drive-through, a single bag of perishable produce can only last so long, especially when one has a whole family to feed. Therefore, solutions to rural food insecurity must extend beyond reactionary measures, such as food drives, food pantries, and soup kitchens, even though supportive measures for these stop-gap measures are sorely needed in rural regions. Additional steps must also be taken to remedy the current agricultural model which focuses heavily on the large-scale production and export of commodity products rather than meeting the needs of local residents (Hossfeld & Mendez, 2018). This is one of the many reasons why I believe in the importance of programs and initiatives intended to support small-scale farmers and local food systems, such as those provided by Feast Down East.
             I encourage those of you who are reading this to consider the ways in which you might contribute to your local food system. Whether it be through engagement with local growers, purchasing food from local farmers’ markets, donating to local food pantries, or becoming involved in a more political manner, we can alleviate food insecurity in rural areas and help restore the health of the vulnerable among us. If you would like to contribute to the enhancement of community-based food systems in Eastern NC through the work of Feast Down East and their partners, you may click here to learn more. I hope you will join me on a journey towards a future in which no person, rural or urban, must go hungry.  
@drtillman​
 References
Gundersen, C., Dewey, A., Engelhard, E., Strayer, M., & Lapinski, L. (2020). Map the Meal Gap 2020. Feeding America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/Map%20the%20Meal%20Gap%202020%20Combined%20Modules.pdf
Hossfeld, L. H., & Rico Mendez, G. (2018). Looking For Food: Food Access, Food Insecurity, and the Food Environment in Rural Mississippi. Family & Community Health, 41(2), S7-S14. 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000182
Waity, J. F. (2016). Spatial Inequality in Access to Food Assistance in Indiana. Sociological Inquiry, 86(1), 103-126. 10.1111/soin.12098
Warren, J. C., & Smalley, K. B. (2014). What Is Rural? In J. C. Warren, & K. B. Smalley (Eds.), Rural Public Health: Best Practices and Preventive Models (pp. 5-6). Springer Publishing Company.
Whitley, S. (2013). Changing Times in Rural America: Food Assistance and Food Insecurity in Food Deserts. Journal of Family Social Work, 16(1), 36-52. 10.1080/10522158.2012.736080
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dylanobrienisbatman · 5 years
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Chopped: The 100 Fanfic Challenge 
That’s right, we’re back!!! A fan fiction challenge just for writers for The 100 fandom!! If you’re new to our fun little fanfic challenge, or just need a refresher, here’s how it works!
The Challenge!
The Chopped Challenge will have four (4) rounds, three qualifying rounds and a championship round. The structure of each round will be the same. 
The first three rounds will be open to anyone who would like to participate. Each of the first three rounds will have a theme that your fic must comply with, which will be announced in this post. At the start of each round, we will announce a mystery basket of four (4) random tropes pulled from this list, which must be used in your fic, and you will have a one (1) week writing period to complete your fic. 
Once you finish your fic, upload to it our anonymous AO3 challenge for that round (there will be a different anonymous challenge for all four rounds). Once the week writing period is up, the challenge will be closed. We will then take a 24 hour period to compile all of the fics to create the voting poll, after which the two (2) day voting period will begin. 
The voting will contain polls for the use of each individual trope, the use of the rounds theme, and a bonus poll for each round which we will determine. There will be one round that has a bonus poll for ‘best rare pair’, which we will announce at the beginning of the round. Voting will require a URL or email, and only one vote per person will be counted. Each round will also have a poll for the best cumulative use of all four tropes and the theme. The first, second, and third place winners of each poll will be announced at the end of the voting period, and the first, second, and third place winners from the cumulative polls from each of the first three rounds will have the chance to write and have their fic submitted for voting in... 
The 100 Chopped Challenge Championship Round!
The final round will have the same structure as the first three rounds, but will not have a theme, and one of the tropes will be a free choice trope where the writers will use the trope of their choice in their fic. (We will open a non-anonymous challenge for this round as well, if anyone would like to write for it that did not make it in the first three rounds, and fics submitted here will not be submitted to voting.) There will be another 48 hour voting period following the championship round, and the ‘Chopped Champions’ will be announced! 
Timeline
Round 1: Canon Divergence (S1-S6)
Prompt released: 12:00am October 1
Submissions close at 11:59pm October 7
Voting begins 12:00am October 9
Voting ends 11:59pm October 10
Round 2: Canon Spec 
Prompt released: 12:00am October 12
Submissions close at 11:59pm October 18 
Voting begins 12:00am October 20
Voting ends 11:59pm October 21
[Speculate away! Got s7 spec boiling over in your mind? Still hung up on not knowing what happened to spacekru in that 6 year time jump (aren’t we all)? Maybe you’re even hanging out in that three month gap between s2 and s3, or have some precanon ideas floating around that you want to put out there? We want it all!]
Round 3: Modernised Canon
Prompt released: 12:00am October 23
Submissions close at 11:59pm October 29
Voting begins 12:00am October 31
Voting ends 11:59pm November 1 
[For this theme, please choose a scene from canon (s1-s6) and recreate the scene in a modern setting. Feel free to swap around characters or change the mood or feeling of a scene, but please include in your description what scene you are recreating, and try to make it clear to a reader what scene it is you’re playing around with.]
Final Round
Prompt released: 12:00am November 3
Submissions close at 11:59pm November 9
Voting begins 12:00am November 11
Voting ends 11:59pm November 12
Rules
This competition was created to get creative and different fics out into the world, and to create a fun, positive fandom experience for everyone! In order to ensure that we achieve that goal of a positive experience, here are a few rules and guidelines that must be followed! 
The requirements for the fics entered into the competition will be:
Must be The 100
Must fit the theme of the round (for rounds 1-3)
Must use ALL of the tropes selected for each round. If you don’t use the tropes, it will result in disqualification!
All fics must be 10,000 words or less!
All ratings are welcome, G through E, but please be aware that some smut fics may not be everyone’s thing! Write what you like, but it the voting is public so just keep that in mind!
You will be disqualified if you include:
Rape!
Underage! (This means no high school AU with sex, no teacher/student if the student is underage, zero adult/under 18 relationships!)
Incest! (incest includes adopted siblings, parent/child, step siblings, biological siblings, or any familial relationship, blood related or not!).
Negativity towards any character or ship! (This includes any sort of abuse perpetrated by a character intending to paint them in a negative light, negative statements about a character intended purely to express your dislike of a character, or things of that nature.)
This is meant to be a fun and positive experience for everyone. Fluff should be fluffy. Angst should be ‘angsty’ but not traumatic. Please try and write positive and good fics. We reserve the right to disqualify anyone if we are reading and we think it violates the negativity requirement! 
Remember that if you have any questions at all, including whether something would fit our trope requirements, would violate one of the rules, or anything at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me (dylanobrienisbatman) or @thelittlefanpire we are here to help! 
This challenge is open to any and all ships! As of now, we are not going to separate out the more popular ships from the smaller ships, we are going to trust that you guys will vote based on the story you read rather than the ship it comes from, but we understand why some of you are wary. If it becomes clear that the fics for ‘less popular’ ships are not being read as much as the others, we will figure out something. If you choose to vote, please try to read most of the fics, so that its fair to all the writers involved! We had no issues in our first challenge, and we hope we wont have any issues in this run either1 
Please remember this is an anonymous competition!! Please dont post your fics on your own AO3 account or on tumblr until the voting for each round is over!
We are super excited to see what you guys write!!  
This is the trope list we will be sending through a randomiser to get the tropes for each round. It was created via crowdsourcing last time we did this challenge, and im posting it here so people can get an idea of what tropes might be chosen. 
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ladylynse · 5 years
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Endurance: It was proving to be a long journey back to Earth, and Keith had to be sure everyone on the team was ready for whatever happens. Pidge really didn’t think she needed to be singled out, though.
Set mid-S7, between The Ruins and The Journey Within, as they’re en route back to Earth. For @pftones3482. Happy birthday! 
They hadn’t been planetside very long, but it was easy enough to see that this place had been affected by the absence of Voltron. Craters pockmarked the land. Most of the growth was new, much of the blue-green foliage limited to shrubbery, though a few hardier, quickly-establishing trees were reclaiming their places. There was the faint buzz of insects, the occasional flutter of wings, signs that something had survived and allowed this place to reclaim some of its former glory, but—
But a planet like this must have been inhabited once, by more than just insects and animals, and if any of its people had survived, they were too few to spread as far as this.
Keith pursed his lips. At this rate, they weren’t going to come across anywhere that was untouched, and every ruin they encountered was a bitter reminder of what their absence had cost. Keith knew it had been unintentional, but he still felt responsible. This was a failure of Voltron’s, and as its leader, their failure was on his shoulders.
They would make it right, but he wasn’t sure how.
“Pair off,” he called to the others as they exited their Lions. “This is just a quick stop to replenish our supplies, but we can’t get complacent.” Not again.
“Aw, c’mon.” That was Lance. “Why can’t we just—?”
“I don’t want to hear it. We’re here for provisions, not a vacation.” If it wasn’t Hunk wanting to find everything remotely edible that a place had to offer, it was Lance wanting a break from the monotony (and occasional terror) that had become their lives on this trip back to Earth. Or it was Coran nattering on about some story, or— “Pidge, with me.”
Pidge started. “What, really?” Her question was more of shock than anything else, and she quickly closed the distance between them. In a quieter voice, she asked, “What’s wrong? Is there something with your Lion you want me to check out? Nothing came up on the last diagnostic scan I ran, but—”
“The Black Lion is fine,” Keith said. A quick glance showed that the others had paired off as he’d told them to (for once), and he started walking. Pidge kept pace with him, his wolf at their heels.
“Then what? I mean, not that you need a reason to specifically ask for my company, but logically speaking—”
Keith blew out a breath. “I wanted to talk to you.” He just wasn’t sure how to start.
Pidge fiddled with the glasses she didn’t need but still wore. “I figured that,” she said slowly, “but I can’t figure out what you want to talk to me about.”
There wasn’t any easy way to say this. “I’m worried about you.”
Pidge stopped. “I’m sorry?”
Keith turned to face her. “You’ve been pulling away from the team.”
“No, I haven’t!”
“Look, I get it. You’re worried about what we don’t know. We all are. This journey is wearing on all of us, and the lack of communication with Earth—”
“We’re just too away for that right now,” she said quickly. “I keep trying. I’ll know the minute we’re near enough—”
“Pidge.”
She glanced back in the direction they’d come, but though the Lions were still in the sight, the others were not. Her shoulders slumped. “I’m worried about Dad and Matt,” she admitted. “I don’t know if either of them made it back to Earth, or if Matt’s still fighting elsewhere and just can’t hear my transmissions, but with the Blade of Marmora being attacked….”
Keith put a hand on her shoulder. “I know. It’s okay. We—”
“We don’t know and it’s not okay,” she bit out, shrugging off his hand. “We’ve been gone for years. Everybody thinks we’re dead. You’re probably trying to turn that into a tactical advantage, hoping to find a way to use it to defeat the Galra again once we find out where they are, but they’re not stupid. Even if they think the Paladins are gone, they won’t assume Voltron’s been destroyed. We won’t be able to sneak up on them because they won’t stop looking for us. And…and you’re going to tell me that’s why I shouldn’t keep trying to contact Earth before we even see the Milky Way. Because you don’t want me to give away our location. But I can’t, Keith. My family—”
Pidge let out a sob. Keith shifted on his feet, not sure what to do, and then she’d wrapped her arms around him. After a shocked second, he responded in kind. If this was what they were doing now, then okay, he could handle this. Probably. She was like a younger sister to him, and he knew what she was going through. “I know what it feels like to lose your family,” he murmured. “I thought I’d lost both my parents.”
“I haven’t lost them,” Pidge mumbled.
“I know. I’m sure your father’s back on Earth with your mother, maybe Matt too if he’s not still fighting, but you’re worried that they might not be safe. That’s okay, Pidge. It’s hard not to worry about someone like that when you love them. But you can’t let that worry affect your performance as part of our team.”
Pidge pushed him away and wiped at her eyes. Kosmo tracked her movements but didn’t growl; sometimes, he knew better than Keith himself did what was going on, and his instincts were nigh on infallible. Keith wished his own were so good.
Pidge’s hands had balled into fists before she snapped, “This isn’t just about the team!”
“I know, but—”
“I’m trying, okay? Maybe I’m not as talkative as I could be, but this isn’t affecting my performance.” She spat the word at him, and he realized she felt betrayed. “It’s not like I’m debating running off on my own or anything.”
“I’m sorry—”
“You’re not.”
She wouldn’t believe a flat denial, no matter how much truth there was to it. “Look,” he said slowly, “I’m trying my best, too. To be there for the team. To be the leader you deserve, especially with Shiro back and himself again. And as team leader, I’ve noticed that you’ve been isolating yourself, and I’m concerned. Not just for the integrity of the team, but for you.”
Pidge’s shoulders drooped. “This is because I never said anything back when Lance was first assigning passengers, wasn’t it? You’re still thinking of that. Even though I’ve gotten better since then.”
“That’s one example,” he agreed carefully.
Pidge scuffed one boot across the silver-blue grass. “Even if they’re safe,” she said, “they think we’re dead. They think…. They think I’m dead. They’d have to. It’s been too long.”
“Lance and Hunk also have families back on Earth.”
Pidge shot him a glare. “You know what I mean.” Her breath caught. “I’ve put Mom through this. Again. First it was Dad and Matt, and now it’s me, and I never even said…. Before I left, I never….”
Keith caught her by the shoulders. “She knows. She’s your mother. She loves you. Trust me, she knows. Having my mother back taught me that much. It’s good to say it, but even when you can’t, it’s still there, in what you do. You’re a Paladin of Voltron, Pidge. You help protect the universe.”
“And I help doom it,” she whispered, “when I disappear.”
Keith flinched. He hoped Pidge hadn’t noticed, but he knew he hadn’t dropped his hands quickly enough. “We’re back now, and that’s what matters. We’re back, we’re going to go back to Earth, and once we’ve re-established contact, recharged our Lions, and seen the construction of a new Castle underway, we’ll find out what the Galra are up to and stop them.”
“If we make it.”
“We’ll make it.”
“It’s going to take over a year and half, and that’s assuming we can continue at the pace we are now. If we can’t, or if the Galra find us while we’re weakened—”
“We’ll find a way to beat them. We always do. Our Lions will help us, and we’ll show the universe that Voltron is back and stronger than ever. But you can’t doubt that we’re going to do that. You’re the smartest person on the team, Pidge. You don’t need to second-guess yourself.” He smirked. “That’s Lance’s job.”
Pidge snorted. “Lance doesn’t second-guess me. He just doesn’t understand what I do.”
“In all fairness, none of us understand what you do.”
“Hunk does.”
“Only sometimes.”
“Sometimes is enough.” Pidge sucked in a breath. “What are we looking for here/”
Keith blinked at the abrupt subject change. “What?”
“I was mapping the area as we flew in and cross-referencing the plant life I picked up in my scans with my database. I should be able to use that to help pinpoint some of what we need so we’re not doing this blind.” Pidge pointed to the holographic screen she’d called up using the electronics in the arm of her suit.
Keith swallowed. “Do your…. Did you find any signs of the people who were here before? We should…. If they’re here, we should ask for their permission instead of just scavenging.”
Something in Pidge’s expression softened as she let the screen blink out and let her arm drop. He had a feeling she knew exactly what he was really asking. “No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t here. They might’ve gone underground when the attack came. They might’ve evacuated and are rebuilding somewhere out of range. I can try to broaden my range now that we’re in a fixed location. If I adjust the parameters, I might even be able to pick up on vibrations that could be indicative of activity if they were forced underground.”
Or she might find nothing.
Because there was nothing left to find.
The Galra would have attacked this planet, enslaved its people, and mined its resources. That its recovery was as far along as it was spoke of their long absence.
Although….
It was farther along in its recovery than he would expect, given how decimated other attacked planets had been. Some planets had been left as nothing more than barren rock and crumbling buildings; others had been destroyed altogether. Why had this one been allowed to recover? Mercy wasn’t exactly something associated with the Galra Empire, and an oversight like this—
“Pidge, when we were coming in, did you pick up anything unusual? Anything at all?”
She gave him a sidelong glance, not missing the edge in his voice. “No. I would have said something.”
“Are you sure? Check again. Please. Something might be cloaked.”
This time, Pidge could read his expression. “You think this place is a trap,” she said flatly as she keyed in his request.
“It’s still here when so much else isn’t. We have to consider the possibility. The Galra wouldn’t have left any potential resources untapped, and if you haven’t found any advanced inhabitants—”
“I don’t think that’s what this is.” Pidge twisted her arm and called up another hologram to show him. “Look at where we’re situated. Everything around here is a ruin, assuming it still exists at all, but I don’t think this is a trap. I think that’s camouflage, intended to keep anyone from looking to closely in the first place. If anything, this planet is a refuelling station, providing everything except quintessence itself. It’s been stripped down and then allowed to replenish so it could be harvested again.”
“That’s not the way of the Galra. They’d just take, they wouldn’t—”
“It’s not the way of the majority,” corrected Pidge gently. She flipped the hologram back off. “Besides, this wasn’t an act of mercy. If the original inhabitants didn’t run, they’d have been slaughtered or enslaved. This was strategic, a planet on which advancing fleets could stop to replenish their supplies before going deeper and spreading farther.”
“So if the planet is this far along again—”
“It could be brought back as an active site at any time, if it isn’t already.” Pidge hesitated. “Once we’ve collected what we need, we could implement a scorched earth policy to set it back.”
“Destroy it so the Galra can’t use it.” He didn’t need Pidge’s affirmation, but she nodded anyway. If Pidge was right about this planet being used as a strategic point by the Galra Empire—or, now, the chaotic factions that had risen from it—then it would make sense to let fire eat away at this planet’s resources so the Galra couldn’t come in and harvest it again. Weak as they were, they needed to do whatever they could to cripple the Galra.
But if there was any chance that this planet had been forgotten when all the warring had begun, if there was any chance the Galra wouldn’t return to strip it bare, could he risk taking away this resource from those fleeing the terror? From people like them, who had come across it when they’d desperately needed something? It wasn’t so safe a place that the rebels would consider setting up a base here, not when this planet might be known to the Galra, but a few supply runs could make all the difference.
And then there was the fact that if they destroyed it and the Galra returned, they would hunt for whoever had done this. There were numerous groups they might blame, but he couldn’t afford the Galra figuring out that Voltron was not only back but also heading for Earth. It would just make Earth a target.
“No, we leave it.”
Pidge didn’t seem surprised by his decision, and by her smile, he thought she approved. “A space oasis.”
It had the potential to be so much more than that. A safe haven. A fatal clue.
“A real vacation spot,” she added. Her hand dropped to Kosmo’s head, and she scratched him behind the ears. “Right, boy?”
The corners of Keith’s mouth turned up at the teasing lilt in her voice. “Something like that,” he agreed. “Now, while you’ve got your scanner warmed up, see if you can find some grasses and grains for Kaltenecker’s feed.”
“She has been giving less milk recently,” acknowledged Pidge, “which could be a dietary deficiency or a side effect of our travelling through the Quantum Abyss. I’ll see what I can find.”
This journey might be stressful on them, but they were a team. They were going to pull through. He’d find a way to lead them through, anchoring any who wavered just as they had once been an anchor for him. They were the Paladins of Voltron. They would find a way to save the universe, just as they were tasked to.
And as their leader, he would make sure they didn’t lose themselves along the way.
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sol1056 · 5 years
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Something I don't understand. According to those stats you posted, VLD has got more or less similar traffic rates as other shows like Castlevania and The Dragon Prince. So why is its Twitter and Tumblr presence so massively higher? For example the trailer for S8 on Twitter has 12k likes, but the trailer of S2 of Castlevania has only got 3.6k, almost just 1/4 of Voltron. I know you said Fandom can't be used to detect actual traffic, but I thought different Fandoms could be compared to each other.
You can compare fandoms, yes, but what you’re comparing in twitter stats vs the stats I listed is the difference between engagement and viewership.
We can determine engagement by looking at traffic on twitter, tumblr, facebook, instagram, and google searches. As google is the only one of those five that has a reach beyond 20% of the internet-using public, I find it’s the best for a blunt-force measurement of audience engagement, which really boils down to “how much people are talking about it.” 
Wikipedia’s page views are an extrapolation of viewership. That’s a massive segment of the population who don’t get on twitter, use facebook for family stuff, aren’t into instagram, and have never heard of tumblr (yes, lots of those people exist). 
Remember, a controversial show can get people talking but that doesn’t translate automatically to them watching. If you go by twitter stats, S7 should’ve been THE most watched season of VLD ever, ‘cause boy was it blowing up the charts in terms of engagement. Thing is, its viewership stats were just fractionally higher than S6, and still nowhere near S1/S2 levels. It didn’t bring in that many more eyeballs; it just got talked about. A lot. 
The other thing to keep in mind is that you’re comparing one show’s seventh season to another show’s first season and a third show’s second season. VLD has had 2 more years to build up its audience than tDP, and a year more than Castlevania (which also doesn’t come with the massive marketing push that DW puts into even its half-assed-marketed shows). 
On top of that, Castlevania’s audience skews older, and those of us with jobs don’t have the time to spend all day on various platforms, so our engagement may be as strong but it’s rarely as noisy. (in other words, we’ll miss stuff ‘cause we don’t have the time to go back and see everything in our feed that happened while we were busy elsewhere.) Meanwhile, tDP’s audience skews slightly younger, and twitter is much more a 18-30 kind of platform. So tDP’s audience is either slightly too young for twitter, while its other audience (parents) are just a little older than twitter’s core audience. 
So, comparison graphs. Colors for each show in each graph are:
blue: Voltron (VLD)green: She-Ra (SPOP)red: The Dragon Prince (tDP)orange: Castlevaniapurple: Trollhunters (TH)
Viewership stats (via Wiki)
Stats run from 6/1/2016 to 11/17/2018. 
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VLD’s S1 viewership peaked at about 38K; TH’s S1 peaked at about 21K, same as SPOP over on the far right. Castlevania hit about 72K in its first season, so its S2 drop to around 48K is about standard. tDP managed almost 50K in its first season. 
Viewership drops by 30-40% with each subsequent season for the average show; a drop of less than 20% means you have a major hit on your hands. The last season almost always shows a spike, as people come back to see how it ends. If a show ends without that spike, consider it dying a quiet death.
That reality of each subsequent season losing viewers means SPOP is in a really bad place right now, unless it can do a turn-around like TH and have a powerful ending. If SPOP has more than three seasons, by the time it gets to its final season (and that resurgent viewership for the finale), it might barely be a blip on the scale. The longer the show, the higher you want the S1 levels, to offset that expected decline over the seasons. 
Engagement stats (via Google)
Here’s the chatter, of people searching for each show (or related topics like toys, merch, news, fic, art, etc). Same colors as above, for each show, for the same time period. 
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Unfortunately, Castlevania drowns everyone else out by such a degree that we can’t really see much until we get that out of the way. So this second one, I narrowed it down to ‘Castlevania netflix’ to temporarily quiet it, a little.
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Compare this to the viewership, and you can see some interesting behaviors. People talked about TH a lot more than VLD, despite TH having such lower viewership stats. There was a major spike when SPOP released its character designs, and kerfluffles get people talking. For VLD, its S3 viewership dropped as in standard but the chatter went up; S3 and S7 came close to matching S1 levels of engagement (for not always good reasons, natch). 
Notably, tDP may be somewhat quiet (comparatively) over on twitter, but it’s got people talking, too. If you’re wondering, the most common related search terms are for the cast overall, then ‘avatar the last airbender’ and then Ralya, Callum, Amaya, and Claudia. Going by frequency, Rayla is the most popular character by a large margin.  
The dotted line in green, at the far right, is Google’s prediction based on the past few days’ traffic, as we haven’t quite completed the first week. (A query for a year+ gets compressed to a weekly Sun-Sat view.) 
Speaking of which, let’s take it down to just the past 90 days, and remove the narrowing filter on Castlevania. This graph has a bumpier view because it’s back to a daily value for each. 
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tDP and SPOP look very close, and there’s really only a few points difference: tDP maxed out at 43%; SPOP maxed at 37%. (Basically, take Castlevania’s highest-rated day as x, and tDP’s highpoint is 43% of x.) If I narrow Castlevania down again, we can see tDP vs SPOP chatter. 
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People are talking about SPOP but still not quite to the degree of engagement as tDP. Then again, SPOP also hamstrung itself by releasing three days early without a lot of warning, so it’s possible we may see another spike similar to tDP’s once word gets out that the series is actually released. Or, once early adopters create buzz and lure more people into watching. 
bottom line
What people talk about isn’t always what they’re watching. And people will watch and not have the place, time, or energy to chat about it online. All of these shows are on Netflix, too, so no advertising income as a comparison point. That makes engagement a more useful data point, because the income doesn’t change based on viewership. 
By that measure, TH is probably DW’s most successful series of these, followed by VLD, and then SPOP. TH is the only one inside shouting distance of what tDP managed it its first season, and none of them come close to competing with Castlevania’s numbers. 
Hell, if I were DW, right now I might be having serious regrets of making VLD a Y7 property, considering Castlevania’s M rating. By platform and viewership, Netflix might be the best home for adult-oriented series where stories can explore darker themes. Of all the franchises DW has right now, VLD was possibly the best candidate for taking advantage of the platform. That M rating hasn’t hurt Castlevania in the least, and in fact may’ve been part of what propelled it so high. 
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frazzledsoul · 5 years
Text
So since @austennerdita2533 answered here how she ranked the Gilmore seasons along with the revival as well as her top five worst/best episodes I thought I’d rank mine
Seasons rank
5
1
4
3
2
Revival
7
(most cavernous gap in teevee history)
6
The revival is very flawed, of course: thematically it undercuts the entire mission of the series, and many characters do things that make absolutely zero sense. That ending is designed to make almost everyone unhappy. And of course, there are many awkward and flat-out terrible moments. But I think out of the four episodes there is a lot of good to be found in each episode and there’s no one plotline that is excruciating agony to sit through (like the Lorelai/Christopher thread of S7) and no long stretch of the characters hurting each other as much as is humanly possible (aka the long nightmare of S6). I also like that Luke and Lorelai are basically together for the entire length of it and although there are problems between them, they are by no means insurmountable. So it’s somewhere between the first five seasons and the mostly horrible last two.
Worst Five Episodes 
(this got wordy, guys, look under the cut)
5. Take These Deviled Eggs. Lorelai’s behavior is so flat-out terrible at that baby shower that I made it one more week (which was the classic They Don’t Shoot Gilmores Do They!) and then quit watching for over a year. I just didn’t like her anymore and the show’s attempts to make her the victim over the Sherry/Christopher situation were making it one thousand times worse. First of all, you don’t fuck someone else’s boyfriend and then go to their baby shower if you have any decency as a human being or enough self-preservation to realize that this woman is full justified in kicking the ever loving crap out of you. If I were Sherry, the first thing I would have done is to punch Lorelai in the face (OK, I would have dumped Christopher right away and then punched both him and Lorelai in the face immediately. But that’s neither here nor there). Sherry tries to connect with Lorelai, to share a moment of how she felt isolated and alone in her pregnancy and thinks Lorelai can understand because she may have felt the same way and Lorelai’s response is to . . . go into her bathroom and DESTROY HER PROPERTY. Then she emotes all over her teenage daughter (who she is setting a terrible example for which will echo long into her daughter’s adulthood) and then both she and Rory go and trash Jess’s car for no reason.
I’m sorry, Lorelai, but you lost. You interfered in someone else’s relationship and you ended up alone as a result. You got what you deserved. Sherry may have been rubbing her pregnancy in Lorelai’s face or she may have been clueless, but you know what? I’m on her side. She was the innocent party in all of this as well as her child, but Lorelai can’t see outside her own narcissism. And of course Rory never does learn that it is wrong to get involved with someone who’s already in a relationship, because Lorelai made it clear that the other person doesn’t matter. 
4. I Can’t Get Started. It’s obvious from the previous post that I think the Christopher/Lorelai situation at the end of season 2 is massively wrong and upsetting, but I just want to lay it out for a minute. First of all, it’s fucked-up to take someone else’s boyfriend as your date to a wedding (it could be innocent in context, but it’s definitely leaning towards stuff that could cause trouble). Lorelai knows that Christopher and Sherry have not broken up, that they are still living together by the time she fucks him. She does it anyway, gushes to Sookie afterwards about how cute it is that she’s doing Christopher (never mind the stupid girlfriend you’re screwing over, TEE HEE HEE) and then has a conversation with Christopher about the state of his relationship. This is cheating, plain and simple, and we’re supposed to think this is romantic. IT’S SO MESSED UP.
Lorelai parades Christopher around as her date to Sookie’s wedding. She gushes to EVERYONE SHE KNOWS about their newfound relationship. She lets Rory get excited about it. She lets her PARENTS get excited about it. The entire time she knows that Christopher has not broken up with his girlfriend yet. I actually think this is worse than the sex! Even if it weren’t wrong, it’s A HORRIBLE IDEA. We get proof of this when Lorelai goes to find Christopher before the wedding starts and she tells him she understands if he can’t break up with Sherry. Lorelai knew the whole time that this was going on that Christopher was with another woman, and he could always change his mind and decide to stay with her.
Christopher is primarily responsible for this situation, because he was the one in the relationship and he decided to cheat. However, Lorelai enabled him 100% of the way and placed herself in a situation where she allowed Rory and her parents to get hurt as well as herself. I have zero sympathy for her in all of this. I hate that the show made me watch her acting so cruelly and wanted me to root her on. It still disgusts me that this is one of the show’s highest-rated episodes on IMDB.
I might have forgiven all of this if the show had Lorelai acknowledge that she had made a mistake and had sat Rory down and explained to her that this is why it’s a bad idea to sleep with other people’s boyfriends. As we all know, it didn’t happen that way.
(Oh, and yes, this situation kind of ruins the rest of S2 for me, unfortunately. It’s why it’s at the bottom of my rankings).
3. A Vineyard Valentine. I think everyone knows why this episode is horrible. . Luke is a massively uncharacteristic douche throughout all of it. I think forcing Luke to double-date with Rory’s boyfriends brings out the worst in him because he is so protective of her, but this was absolutely overkill. Worst of all, he makes a promise to Lorelai that he’s committed to their engagement, he breaks it, and he doesn’t even know because Lorelai doesn’t tell him. The whole thing is horrible.
OTOH, I do appreciate the revelation that Logan taught Rory to cook.
2. The Big Stink. You really could plop any one of the early S7 episodes here where we have to endure Christopher “courting” Lorelai, Lorelai isolating herself from the town, and having to endure Rory hang around with her lame friends because Logan isn’t around, but I picked this one because I think it’s the only episode where Lorelai is flat-out nasty about Luke and makes statements to the effect of how much she prefers Christopher to him. It flat out hurts. On top of all of that, Luke is in one scene and since he’s our sole connection to the town at this point in the season, Stars Hollow isn’t, either. We end with that scene of Lorelai, Christopher, and Rory in the car and it’s implied to us that Lorelai’s Stars Hollow life is inferior to her happy new existence with Christopher.
S7 features this kind of plotline a lot, but it also has Luke being an adorable dad to balance it out. We didn’t get any of that here.
1. Partings. Look, I don’t care that ASP wrote this long beautiful monologue for Lorelai. I don’t care that she has admitted that she wrote this travesty of an episode as an attempt to whore for awards attention (this is why she does not deserve “make-up” awards for this show. Not after what she did to get them). it’s false, untrue drama, and it’s unfair. Lorelai gave up after her conversation with Anna about April. She avoided Luke for days and refused to speak to him. He was wandering all over Stars Hollow, worried and concerned about her. Lorelai is confused and vulnerable, and she has the world’s most unprofessional therapy session with a therapist that doesn’t know her or any context to what Lorelai tells her, and is advised to give up on her problems if she doesn’t get what she wants. Lorelai then decides to go in for the kill and decides that the best way to resolve her relationship dilemma is to scream at him in the middle of the street and act like an absolute lunatic demanding that they get married now or else in order for him to prove that he really loves her. When Luke does not go along with this insane plan, Lorelai decides to punish him by sleeping with Christopher. She knew he couldn’t forgive her for that. 
ASP said afterwards that all of this was the best course of action for everyone involved so that Lorelai could “do other things” (aka Christopher). It’s bullshit. ASP’s contract negotiations didn’t go her way, and she decided to punish the show for not going along with what she wanted. She also was punishing the shippers for not going along with her narrative and refusing to hate Luke as much as she did.
I bring this up like this because what Lorelai asked for was impossible. Luke could not abandon everything at that moment and elope. It was a horrible idea that would not have solved her problems. Like it or not, Luke had an obligation to consider April’s welfare by this point, and he could not choose Lorelai over his child. The fact that she asked him to and we’re supposed to resent him for saying no is ridiculous. Lorelai of all people should have understood this, but she didn’t. We’re supposed to hate Luke for being a responsible parent who keeps his cool when his fiance is acting like a crazy person. This is BAD WRITING. And it doesn’t work. I refuse to judge him.
You know what would have worked? If Lorelai and Luke had sat down and had a reasonable discussion about how to balance their responsibilities like adults. But ASP had to provoke this situation in order to sell her favorite.
(You may notice a few episodes missing here. I don’t include French Twist because I haven’t seen it. I’ve only seen the Luke/Lane/Zach scenes. I also have not seen Unto The Breach, but I refuse to watch that because it hurts to know that Luke and Lorelai’s make so much progress and then take so many steps backwards and Lorelai is once again interpreting their breakup as Luke not loving her enough to go through with the elopment - their problems were so much more complicated than that! I also hate I Get A Sidekick Out Of You because the entire episode is meant to sell Christopher as this dreamy romantic alternative and we actually have to endure Lorelai taking him on a date to a wedding of someone who is close to Luke but I don’t think it’s fair to include that as one of the worst since I fast-forwarded through most of it).
Best Five Episodes
5. Forgiveness and Stuff. I love this episode so much! We get Luke being the unassuming romantic hero by driving Lorelai to the hospital. There’s emotional Gilmore family bonding that actually doesn’t! The Santa burger! The Blue Baseball Cap Of Love! And lots of bonding and longing looks on the L/L front. I really wish they would have gotten together here. It was the perfect moment for it.
4. Hay Bale Maze. If this episode didn’t exist, I would not have supported Luke and Lorelai getting back together and I would have walked away forever after season six. It’s the episode that ASP never would or could have written, and it was absolutely essential to reconciling me with the show. Those Hay Bale Maze apologies lay the groundwork for everything else that happened in Luke and Lorelai’s future, and it could not have existed without them. In addition to that, I think it’s a really sweet Stars Hollow-centered episode and we see Rory and Logan at their absolute best and it’s clear how well they really worked as a couple.
3. Last Year’s Fights This Year’s Tights. This episode is perfect: lots of townie shenanigans, Luke being a romantic hero and sweeping Lorelai off her feet, and Luke fully reconciling with Jess. That dance around the courtyard: the stuff of dreams, y’all!
2. Written In the Stars. I basically swoon during this entire episode, because Luke is so chvalrous and unexpectedly open and devoted and you can see how utterly smitten and delighted Lorelai is with this new side of him.
1. Raincoats and Recipes. I think this is the pinnacle of the show’s achievement: Lorelai realizes her dream, Luke and Lorelai finally stop dancing around each other and go for it, and Rory falls off her pedastal as Lorelai realizes that guiding her daughter to adulthood is going to be more difficult than she thought. I love that the Christopher/Sherry stuff I went into such detail earlier in this post is at last denounced and Lorelai has to deal with the implications of the example that she set forth and that she doesn’t allow Rory to use it as an excuse.
I think if Lorelai had applied the same attitude towards Rory when learning of similar behavior in the revival Rory could have avoided melting down the way that she did later. Maybe that wasn’t possible after Lorelai had screwed up again, but it’s yet another thing that could have been explained that wasn’t.
(I just want to state after all of this bloviating that I don’t hate Lorelai: she did some really, really fucked up things and not all of the wrong that she did was acknowledged. The plotline of villainizing the “other woman” in a love triangle when she becomes pregnant was actually very popular on TV in 2002 when those earlier episodes aired: however, on this show Lorelai WAS the other woman, and the show tried too hard to make us hate the one truly innocent person in that situation. Obviously, it didn’t work for me).
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kelleychang4-blog · 5 years
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Youtube To MP4 Video Converter And Downloader
Wanna extract lovely music from a video and put them into your music participant? MediaHuman Audio Converter is a freeware utility for Mac OS X and mp4 converter mp3 online free Windows. It could enable you to to transform your music absolutely free to WMA, MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG, AIFF, Apple Lossless format and bunch of others. Unfortunately, the freemium MacBook version doesn't enable audio output customization prefer it does for windows. Nonetheless, http://www.audio-transcoder.com/how-to-rip-audio-cd-to-mp4-files to transform the MP4 information to MP3 click on the profile choice on the highest right corner, select the headphones icon after which choose MP3 audio" from the record. Step three: A window will open. Go to Rip Music Tab. Right here specify the rip music location, Select the Rip output format as MP3 and specify the Audio High quality. I would advise you to pick Finest High quality. Click on Apply and OKAY. We've said listing of files, which suggests CDA to MP3 Converter helps batch conversion as well, with the main window displaying file title, duration, bit fee, pattern rate, channels, volume and output. Not like the predominantly JPEG world of digital pictures, you is perhaps shocked to be taught there is not a single frequent commonplace file format for video. Nonetheless, the one you may most commonly come across is MP4. Why? Because just about every media player in the marketplace - together with VLC, KMPlayer, 5KPlayer and RealPlayer - and every gadget can learn and play can read and play MP4 recordsdata. Within the settings of the convert dialog box, solely change the Profile half. Select the audio format that you simply'd wish to convert to. By default, the formats present within the drop down are Audio - MP3, Vorbig (OGG), MP3 (MP4), FLAC, CD. Select the format you might be converting to. Please observe you could also get an alternative downloader app and desktop converter when you want extra handy method to get your favourite songs in mp3. The guests make use of the video to MP3 converter as a result of they will moreover convert any movies from YouTube. MIDI to MP3 Converter for Mac is a smart software to convert MIDI to MP3 and WAV formats. It provides higher quality and sooner conversion resulting from utilization of SoundFonts. Allows using a number of Soundfonts to supply skilled sound. Built-in ID3 tag editor. Select the tracks that must be converted. A easy software to transcode almost any media file into an MP4 video file. The new Whole Excel Converter now supports Excel 2019 recordsdata. You may quickly invite others to view, download and collaborate on all the information you want, no e mail attachment wanted. when i attempted using real player converter, it hold asking me to improve it to a plus version which value cash and i do not need to, i click on x on it, but it surely hold popping up when ever i click on Start , to convert the files, what is wrong with it ? i uninstall and put in it a number of time, and it still occur. With this software, you will be able to obtain video, audios and pictures from more than 10,000 internet sharing websites akin to Fb, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube and Spotify, to call a number of. Keywords: sites like , different to mp3DirectCut, on-line program similar to Audacity, extract audio from a film. Free APE to MP3 Converter is a free program that converts APE recordsdata (Monkey's Audio) to MP3 or WAV format. In addition, the program means that you can extract audio tracks from audio recordsdata based mostly on the CUE sheet. CUE recordsdata are often connected to the Audio CD images created by packages like EAC (Precise Audio Copy), CDRWin, CUERipper. Operating system: First of all, we should always make certain the converter is totally compatible with our laptop OS. Above mentioned instrument runs well on Home windows 10 or earlier, each 32 bit and 64 bit supported.
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counterpunches · 5 years
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Lotus - a S7 BtVS W/T Genfic (18/?)
Rating: PG Pairing(s): Willow/Tara, Genfic Summary: Three months after ‘Grave’. We encounter our heroes who stumble brokenly, desperate to find a new path and heal. Posted on Ao3 and The Kittenboard
The afternoon light was heavy with gold as the hours slowly matured into early evening, saturating the air. Shadows stretched across the floor, reaching and crawling under furniture and up walls. Twilight was coming, and Spike was tired. The sun was sucking all the energy from his bones, he didn’t remember the last time he’d been awake with the sun and it was exhausting.
He sank deeper into the couch, absentmindedly flipping through a magazine that had been lying out on the table while Tara fussed about in the kitchen making lunch. It had been hours since either of them had eaten. Eventually Tara wiped her eyes dry at the stubborn insistence of their stomachs. Besides, the crying had to stop sooner or later.
For one thing, Spike had had enough emotion to last him for another two hundred years as far as he was concerned. But strangely it hadn't bothered him as much as he thought it would. He felt a strange calm settle upon him like fine silk at the mere recollection. He might not have known where he was—or, for that matter, why he was, but for now, he had a purpose: Hold Tara.
So hold her he did.
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damiencordle · 5 years
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JOSHUA DAMIEN CORDLE
Amazon, Google, AI and us: Are we too close for comfort?
Beyond facial recognition, we're giving smart devices and platforms our intimate biometric details.
BY BRIAN BENNETT
Computers aren't just getting smarter, they're studying us more closely too. Whether it's in the name of public safety, fraud protection or simple convenience, we're feeding AI systems details that identify us and track our comings and goings.
Equipped with electronic ears, eyes and brains, a sea of devices now monitor human activity and characteristics. The list includes everything from smart speakers, laptops and phones, to even doorbells and locks. You may not have noticed this trend, but it's real, and growing.
CNET has spent the last two weeks documenting the current state of facial recognition technology, but that's just one method of gathering data directly from your person. Here are a few examples of how other biometric technologies have seeped into the fabric of daily life, and where things could go next.  
Fingerprint readers everywhere
Devices that can read, capture and match fingerprints to specific individuals have been with us for decades. In 1969, the FBI began looking at ways computers could help facilitate fingerprint identification.
Back then the idea was to free as many FBI staff members as possible from this tedious, labor-intensive task. By 1975 the Bureau's efforts, aided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, led to a functional fingerprint scanner prototypebased on capacitive sensors.
Now fast forward to 2013. That's when biometrics truly became mainstream, designed for consumer convenience, not only serious crime fighting. That year Apple integrated its Touch ID fingerprint reader into the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and 5S. It also placed the security system in its new iPad models.
Since then both Google and Microsoft have launched similar identification solutions. Examples include Pixel Imprint for Google's Pixel phones, and Windows Hello available on Microsoft Surface laptops and tablets. Other device makers have adopted fingerprint reader technology as well. On this list of high-end handsets are the Motorola G7, OnePlus 6T, Samsung Galaxy S10, and Sony's Xperia XZ3.
All these phones, save the OnePlus 6T and Galaxy S10, use capacitive readers. They harness the same principle that the FBI did to build its early fingerprint scanner. Capacitors in the scanner measure fingertips for slight differences in electrical conductivity. The scanner then forms a finger ridge pattern from these differences.
The OnePlus 6T is quite different. Its sensor is optical, essentially a tiny camera that takes photos of fingertips. Since it creates flat, 2D images, this reader is relatively easy to fool. Not so with the Galaxy S10's ultrasonic sensor.
The S10 actively pings your finger with sound waves when it's touched, These waves bounce off skin and back to the reader for analysis. With that data, it constructs a detailed 3D image that's tougher to duplicate or spoof.    
They know your voice
The smart speaker's rise in popularity is undeniable. The number of US smart speaker users is expected to swell to 76.5 million by 2020. According to eMarketer, that's up from 16 million in 2016, a compounded annual growth rate of 47.9%.
Amazon's Echo products with Alexa onboard still represent the lion's share of these gadgets. Google Assistant though is in hot pursuit. And as the companies compete for market share, the capabilities of both voice assistants has steadily increased.
hese speakers don't just listen out for your spoken commands. They can recognize, and distinguish between the voices of individual home members. That enables them to deliver personalized responses and results to match specific people.
It's a neat trick that comes in handy when you want a rundown of your personal schedule, tasks, shopping lists and so on. For this to work, you'll need to train these systems. And that means providing them with numerous voice samples. The audio snippets then find their way to remote servers for comparison, identification, fast retrieval and storage.
The eyes can't lie
Like fingerprint readers and voice recognition, iris-scanning technology has slowly crept into ordinary life. The iris, the pigmented area of the eye outside the pupil, is unique from person to person. Even individuals with the same genetic makeup -- identical twins, for instance -- will exhibit distinct iris patterns dissimilar from each other. That makes the allure of this identity confirmation technique strong.
The potentially high speed and accuracy of iris scans is also compelling. A typical scanning system consists of a digital video camera, a low-energy infrared light emitter, plus hardware and software processing.
The scanner emits an invisible IR light beam that illuminates the iris briefly. The system records the iris colors and other unique features. It then breaks the pattern down into a 256 byte code. An unknown individual's iris code is compared with a database of enrolled codes. The entire scanning, matching and recognizing process takes just a few seconds.
Some consumer devices have included iris-scanning features for years. Samsung chose Qualcomm's 3D Sonic fingerprint reader for the Galaxy S10, but the Samsung Galaxy S7, S8 and S9 phones all shipped with iris-based identification systems.
In 2017, Qualcomm entered a license agreement with iris-based authentication company Eyelock. That could be a sign this access control method will soon find a home on Qualcomm mobile processors and platforms.
Two hearts don't beat as one
Basic heart rate monitors have been a standard feature of fitness trackers and smartwatches for years. A few new devices such as the Apple Watch 4, take things a step further. Instead of merely recording heart rate, they also can take electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) readings. This enhanced data allows the trackers to sense your heart rhythm.
EKG data is useful for many reasons. The first is greater awareness of heart health. Armed with these upgraded sensors, wearable devices can detect and alert you of potentially dangerous situations. That includes abnormal or irregular heart rhythm and even atrial fibrillation.
Another way heart rhythm is useful is its potential for biometric identification. According to company Bionym, each person's heart rhythm and EKG characteristics are unique. Bionym says that's a result of differences in heart size, position, shape, muscle conductivity and so forth. The Nymi band, a watch-sized wearable device, is Bionym's heart rhythm authentication solution.
Bionym envisions the Nymi to serve as an ultra secure biometric key. Each Nymi is linked to only one individual user and their unique EKG identification profile. Worn by its owner, the Nymi is designed to offer authorized access for registered individuals only.
Potential applications include controlling entry to sensitive office and laboratory facilities, along with tools, equipment and digital accounts. At the moment the Nymi appears targeted at enterprise customers, though it's conceivable products like the Apple Watch 4 might one day offer similar features to ordinary consumers.
Following your footsteps
It's easy to see how physical features like fingerprints can identify individuals, but what about the way you walk? Researchers at Shinshu University in Tokida, Japan have examined exactly that.
They paid close attention to the way the foot makes contact with the ground while walking. Specifically they observed the timing of heel-strike, roll to forefoot and the final push off of the toes. They also recorded pressure levels exerted by the foot during the process.
Ultimately the scientists found that these dynamic foot pressure patterns were unique to specific individuals. In fact, they were able to identify particular people using the technique with an accuracy rate of 99.6%.
Wearable technology company Motiv plans to take gait recognition out of the realm of pure research. Its $199 Motiv Ring is packed with numerous sensors to measure physical activity and biometric data. It tracks the steps you take, heart rate, and sleep time. Motiv also touts the Ring as a frictionless security device, one that provides 24/7 authentication for online accounts and transactions.
Most interesting though, is the Ring's WalkID feature. It uses the device's internal accelerometer to figure out your individual gait, and determine whether you're the person actually wearing the Ring. Currently the function remains in experimental beta. That said, it's open to all Motiv Ring owners to give it a spin.  
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Side note: I a black woman who has mixed heritage, I have yet to find a match in lines made for african american women. Fashion Fair, Cover Girl Queen, Nacara, Black Radiance. Nothing. Whoooooooa there. I aware of the voice actors strike and support it 100%. I never suggested that the dude could take the place of Jon H. Sexual assault regardless of gender is and should always be an important issue to talk about. Today it is pubicly understood that sexual assault of women in no laughing matter, its a serious issue. And if you joke about the rape of a woman society would turn on you. Guy had been doing it for years but the owner had no clue untill he ripped something very obvious and well known (like the Vlada images, they have become very iconic). He got away with it for a very long time by using lesser known art and tweaking it. It very common unfortunately.Nikki tutorials you mean? Might be something to do with import tax. Terius Behind Me these kids and thier lack of parenting is driving me nuts. Is it sad I almost more vested in their bickering than with her and So Ji Sub Beauty Inside I once again loving Seo Hyun Jin. She pulling off brashness, fatalism, vulnerabilty, and a certain desire to just live in the moment without being heavy handed. I wouldn use John Wick if I had him: I primarily use female characters unless a male one is really cool. I definitely don use Omega (season 4), I not a huge fan of Ragnarok but use him once in a while (S5), I love Dire (S6) because he a giant wolf, and I like the Ice 금산출장안마 King (S7) because of his cloak and horns. The guys I play with love the John Wick skin because they love John Wick.. I have been using mine for over 2 years. Not gonna lie, I had to go in phases under my arms for a few weeks bc it hurt so bad the first go. But now that my hair grows less and finer it doesn't hurt as bad. It was started by a Facebook post where a guy claims that we refused to fly an american flag at one of our stores because, it was in like TX, and muslims were taking over and the flag was offensive, or something. Idr. It was really stupid and scary to Christian right wing truckers everywhere, and of course every stupid trucker motherfucker on Facebook shared it.. Thanks so much. I was on Prednosone in January which helped loads but I dipped again after coming off them. Had an emergency sigmoidoscopy done last week which confirmed what I already knew. Conflict diamonds are not the only controversy darkening the diamond trade: human and animal rights issues run rampant in India as well as certain countries in Africa. In some African countries, miners use children to dig in tight, underground spaces where men and woman can't fit, even though child labor is illegal. The mining towns in these African countries also have steadily increasing murder and HIV infection rates as a result of trespassing and sex trade. To answer your query: I see this modern world as a tiny fragment of Infinity. Infinity is composed of endless streams of worlds, all equally valid and real. So I suppose I see the ultimate reality as a paradox: We are simultaneously in the ultimate reality and our own little worlds, maybe it helps to consider there is only one Now.. Children tried to hang on behind, and the conductor, with no malice, spat in their faces to make them let go. Then soldiers appeared good looking, undersized 금산출장안마 men wearing each a knapsack covered with mangy fur, and a great coat which had been cut for some larger soldier. Beside them walked officers, looking foolish and fierce, and before them went little boys, turning somersaults in time with the band.
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microkumo · 6 years
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You know I’ve seen a lot of people try to frame Shiro and Keith’s relationship in a bad light. I think it’s about time I put my two cents into this. Season 7 Spoilers included
If you’re just going to ignore everything written here then don’t bother commenting, that goes for people who have the reading comprehension of a walnut as well. If you want to talk about my stance on anything here feel free to DM me I’m happy to discuss this with you regardless of what you ship.
I spend a lot of time reading both sides of the arguments shippers and antis make. I think that’s the best way to really understand the point of view each side is coming from. After all, you can’t argue against something you don’t understand.
I started off on the fence, not really caring too much about ships themselves, but focusing more on the what-ifs and the mystery behind character relationships. Some of these things leaned towards Klance and some of them leaned towards Sheith. Both are valid and had interesting hints at connections yet to unfold. However, the discourse started with not knowing the ages of the characters. Shiro was given a tentative “25″ nothing really cemented and the others were late teens which can mean anything between 17-19. I decided that until we had confirmed ages, I wouldn’t consider Shiro to be in a romantic relationship with any of the paladins but things have changed since then.
Moving on to the series and the misinformation people are spreading.
1) Unless you are ignoring Shiro’s relationship with Adam and shipping pre-Kerberos Shiro and Keith in a sexual manner, Sheith is not pedophilia. 
I’ve seen a lot of this kind of argument against their relationship and it honestly does such a disservice to Shiro’s character. I’m sure there’s some people out there who are into that kind of thing, but to tack it onto the whole fandom and character is over generalizing and pretty awful.
Sure, people can think Keith could have had a crush on Shiro, but its clear that Shiro’s intentions were not there. He was in a committed relationship with someone else that he knew for a long time but that further cements the fact that Shiro was not viewing Keith sexually pre-Kerberos and therefor had zero pedophilic intentions.
2) Cherry-picking scenes where Keith hasn’t hit his growth spurt to frame Shiro as someone significantly older and then further imply that people are shipping them sexually at this age is a huge fallacy people use.
In the Garrison flashbacks from S7, Keith is around fifteen. I base that on the fact that he’s one year older than Lance and Hunk, and yet you have to be at least 14 to be a part of the Garrison. This is backed up by Pidge’s backstory.
However, though Keith is older than some of the other kids, he’s extremely small. Almost half a foot shorter than the other boys in his class. He’s grown up in an orphanage and like it or not, that kind of thing does affect children. Even as an adult and twenty-one years old, Keith is still much shorter than both of his parents. He’s much shorter than Krolia, and his dad was even taller than her. He’s incredibly small, but he’s always been small, and comparing him to someone that has finished all of his growth spurts is unfair and again implying that Shiro (22) saw him sexually at this time which is not true.
3) Highlighting his age gap with Shiro as bad when Keith’s age gap is not that severe.
Keith was (18) at the start of the show with a 7 year difference between him and Shiro (25).
Keith aged faster than the rest of the paladins due to his time in the Quantum Abyss.
After all the events and adding that bit, that puts Keith at (21) and Shiro at (26) which is not a huge age gap at all when you’re both mature adults.
4) Shiro does not have a boyfriend/fiance waiting for him back on Earth.
Saying that really ignores the single scene of them interacting together which was a break-up scene. I’m not saying that the two have zero chance of reconciling their relationship, but to say that there’s no way Shiro would date Keith as an adult because he had an old flame back on Earth is... transparent.
The two ended their relationship on a bad note over two years ago during a crucial moment in Shiro’s life. He knew Kerberos was probably his last chance to make his mark on the world- he’s battled with his illness and now he’s aware that he has very little time left to achieve the things he’s wanted in life. For him, this was an opportunity he didn’t want to sacrifice, and he didn’t in the end.
Adam’s reaction was reasonable- he was tired of Shiro running himself into the ground over living the safer alternative where they could have been together longer. It was implied that they had this conversation often and Shiro did not want to hear it. He offered an ultimatum, and when Shiro didn’t give into it, he left. Officially breaking off the relationship when Shiro didn’t stop him.
I’m not saying their relationship was the worst- but there was definitely some areas that they didn’t agree on which ultimately led to them breaking up. Even if Shiro returns to Earth, he’s in a much different state than he was when they were together. It would take a huge discussion and even then I don’t think it would work between them because they have different priorities in life that result in conflict in their relationship.
5) Shiro being Keith’s support in life is not “grooming” or even supporting it.
Again, this goes back to people trying to make Shiro’s relationship with Keith sexual even if it was never meant to be in pre-kerberos while also horribly abusing terminology again.
Sexual Grooming is what it sounds like. It’s about teaching a child through various techniques that it’s normal to have a sexual relationship with an adult. Pedophiles will often use being a ‘friendly helper’ to the child as a way to do this but to frame Shiro in this light is a huge disservice to his character.
Shiro does not see Keith in any sexual way pre-kerberos. Keith relies on him as someone who he trusts, but in no way is it ever implied that there were sexual intentions behind Shiro’s presence in his life. 
Unless Shiro was making passes at Keith or teaching him questionable things under the guise of being his mentor, this is just not accurate and a horrible way to paint the relationship of a child that has already gone through boy’s homes (which have a high rate for sexual abuse as it is).
6) People need to stop equating Keith’s fourteen year old self with his current twenty-one year old self when bringing up the power imbalance.
A lot of time has passed for Keith. He’s matured a lot, he’s grown passed needing Shiro as his support in his life, a lot of his insecurities in general are behind him especially with his mother in his life.
Yes, Shiro was higher ranking and older than Keith at the Garrison, however Shiro never abused his power to force Keith to do anything. His presence was always supportive and never demanding or threatening.
In the current timeline of the show, saying this especially does not make sense. Keith and Shiro have a mutual trust and respect for each other and never do they ever have a relationship that’s painted as a leader and a lowly subordinate that has no power in any situation. Keith and Shiro have traded leadership positions multiple times and arguably stand on equal grounds compared to each other.
7) Keith and Shiro are not related. Not by blood or by law. It’s not incest and Shiro never adopted Keith into his family.
The staff of Voltron have shot down the two of them being related multiple times but even from outside of that we have a lot to consider.
Shiro was only (21) when he met Keith. That’s not very old, like it or not, and adoption is a very long and difficult process. Now we don’t know how adoption works in the Voltron universe but if its anything like ours, an unmarried and terminally ill man is not going to be able to adopt a child when he himself is young and unrelated to the child.
What Shiro did do is give Keith an opportunity to attend the Galaxy Garrison under his recommendation. This isn’t the same as adoption. He merely got Keith a chance to attend a school he normally wouldn’t have been able to given that he was an orphan and a problem child.
It’s a military school with dorms. Keith definitely wasn’t staying with Shiro, he would have had his own room to share with someone of similar ranking.
8) “Keith only thinks of Shiro as an older brother” ignores his personality and history.
I’m not against Keith only viewing Shiro in a platonic light. However, I think it’s rather naive to think that because you view someone in a certain light that they’re not subject to changing or evolving. I see a lot of people use this to stagnate the relationship they have and to ignore his character.
Keith is a very passionate person. However, he’s a person that hasn’t had many opportunities to love or to be loved. He has grown up not knowing why his mother left him and that not only made him fear getting close to people, but also getting rejected. His biggest fear is Shiro walking out of his life. as expressed in the Blade of Marmora episode.
For someone that’s never loved before, to know that you could be rejected if you voice your true feelings is extremely terrifying. Tack on the fact that you know the person you love might still have feelings for someone else and there is definitely going to be some safety nets involved when expressing your feelings.
This is common for people to do in general but especially so for LGBT+ individuals. There’s a lot of confusion, a lot of hesitation, a lot of trying to convince yourself that this isn’t what you think it is especially when its your first time falling in love with someone who’s romantically unavailable. We hide it behind things like “You’re my best friend of course I love you” or sometimes even “You’re like a brother to me”. Keith has every reason to add these safety nets when he’s worried about damaging his relationship with Shiro. After all, why potentially push away Shiro and make him uncomfortable, when he can play it safe and continue to have him in his life?
9) Shiro’s and Keith’s relationship is far from abusive.
They have one of the longest lasting and uplifting relationships in the series. Shiro provides stability and companionship to Keith, and Keith provides reassurance and companionship. 
They support each other in ways that other people cannot and have not provided to them and are stronger because of it.
Shiro was held on a pedestal of expectations where he’s not usually able to be treated like the average person. He feels he has to hide his weaknesses, but with Keith he doesn’t have to. We’ve seen multiple times that they’re able to rely on each other and to open up about insecurities.
They are loyal to each other and unwilling to leave the other behind no matter the cost, because they’re incredibly important to each other. However, despite this, they’re still protective over other people and not overly reliant on just each other. 
They have a good relationship built on years of trust and support.
10) “I had a bad experience and so this ship is terrible” is extremely biased and not helping your argument.
Shiro and Keith  ≠ Your relationship/Experiences
It’s fine to not like the ship for that, but to spread misinformation because you tie it to your own experience is... not a good way to go about it. To say “I met a person who shipped Sheith and they were awful so now everyone who ships it is awful” is overgeneralizing a huge margin for the one or two bad people, especially when the fandom has a problem with people purposefully posing as “Bad Shippers” for the sake of making the fandom look bad. 
Again, it’s fine to not ship something out of personal experience. But to force your trauma onto a healthy relationship and to spread negativity around something that isn’t even present in the show is unhealthy and prevents you from moving on.
In short, there’s been a lot of biases thrown around and a lot of just completely incorrect statements for the sake of tearing down the ship.
I hope that by reading this people will learn that it’s not what people are framing it to be when it’s actually such a sweet story if it does go down a romantic path.
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