#when someone’s points are PRETTY solid - but you can tell they don’t know about Legitimacy (ENGLAND is going to give that to you?)

[starbuck]

sometimes you read analysis that makes you want to tell the person to go watch Black Sails and then revise.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Echoes of the Past" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most certainly won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

What probably gets debated the most in the fandom is the legitimacy behind King being the King of Demons. Some believe that there's truth to his statement, while others, like me, like to think that he was just some stray Eda picked up off the streets. Either option seemed likely, especially since Season One never gave an answer that leaned one way or the other.

Then here comes the writers finally answering the question of who King is in episode THREE of Season Two! Because, again, they don't waste time on giving fans exactly what they want.

Fans wanted answers behind King, we got 'em, and analyzing what those answers mean requires going deep into spoilers. So if you haven't checked the episode out yet, I highly recommend that you do. Trust me, it's worth seeing.

Now let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Luz Experimenting with Spells: Hey, look! More proof that Luz isn't an idiot like some people flanderize her to be!

But, seriously though, this is a perfect little thread to introduce into the story. Luz collecting knowledge from Lilith's old books and past work she and Eda made adds to Luz's intelligence while also providing a believable explanation for how she gets new spells. It's also nice to see that she has this little notebook (or spellbook) to help see what works and what doesn't. It's a level of experimentation that proves her dedication to becoming a witch while also exemplifying how she isn't stupid. Occasionally reckless, sure, but you can't say that the person who figured out an invisibility spell through showing her work is also an idiot.

Francios with a Knife: How did Francois get a knife? I don't know. But the fact that a random knife plopped out behind him with little to no explanation is funny, and I will not hear otherwise.

I don't make the rules. I just abide by them.

Luz’s Invisibility Spell: I breezed past this, but I honestly love this invisibility spell. More specifically, I love that there's a limiter. It can turn you, objects, and people you're in contact with invisible, but only as long as you can hold your breath. It helps make the spell something the characters can't always rely on, which is appreciated. Because if it works as long as they concentrate, what's stopping them from sneaking into Belos' castle and assassinating him in his sleep? It's a smart way of explaining why they can't always rely on something, despite how insanely useful it is.

Luz: Let's gush about Luz some more, shall we!

"Echoes of the Past" is another episode that has Luz on top form. She is constantly supportive of King, even if Lilith has a point in the dangers of indulging his fantasy as a powerful tyrant. Doing so would cause more harm than good, especially when King finds out Luz doesn't believe him, but her going along with it was all done with the best of intentions. Luz doesn't want to hurt her friend, and even if she did in the long run, she still makes up for it by helping King learn more about his past.

And, as another reminder, Luz isn't stupid. She's the first to say they should leave when it's clear how dangerous the castle is and is quick to figure out there should be more at the top. Luz is a loyal and caring friend who's also guarded and intuitive when the situation calls for it. This episode understood that, so here's hoping other fans will too.

Lilith: Yeah, she's still growing on me.

I feel like this episode shows a better idea of Lilith's place in the group more than the past two. She's a person who's obsessed with knowledge and learning but considers herself above the jovial nature of King, Luz, and definitely Eda. Therefore, she acts as the perfect catalyst for what jumpstarts this week's adventure. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that she almost instantly dismisses King's claims due to considering herself more knowledgeable than everyone else. Still, I like how she's willing to believe King once she finally sees evidence that seemingly proves he really was the King of Demons, to the point of referring to him as "her lord." Hooty does the same thing, but it comes across as him fearing for his own life and choosing to be friends with someone who could maybe kill him in an instant. For Lilith, her newfound respect comes from the desire to learn more, and it's that desire that makes Lilith an enjoyable character to me. It's adorable to see, and it has some comedic flavor in moments like when she dismisses everyone else and their emotional revelations to take pictures of the carvings around her. I'm sure she'll cause some controversy like other characters with rushed reformations, but for me, I'm more than ok with her addition to the main cast.

More of Lilith’s and Hooty’s Friendship: HOW DOES THIS WORK!?

ON PAPER, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE A BAD IDEA, BUT IT F**KING WORKS!

HOW?!

WHAT BLACK MAGIC DID THESE WRITERS USE TO MAKE A RELATIONSHIP SO UNEXPECTED COME ACROSS AS SO ENDEARING AND ADORABLE?!

And where can I get some for my stories...just asking.

But seriously: HOW?!

Hooty Making Himself Portable: Ah, yes. The classic bit where a character does something horrifically grotesque off-screen, and we have nothing but character reactions and sound effects to imagine what happened between shot A and shot B. It's an oldie, but given how hard I was laughing (mostly because of Luz's gagging), it's still a goodie.

Eda’s Portable Bathtub Boat Thing: I mean...I was expecting Eda would use something to catch up with the others, but...that thing...well...I mean, I'm still laughing just by thinking about it. That should tell you how well executed this joke was.

John Luke: ...I'm gonna go ahead and add him to the list because HOLY S**T was this guy disturbing! From his design to his movements to even the sounds he makes when moving, everything about John Luke screams as something that will stay in kids' nightmares for a while. Now, this might seem like a complaint, but to be honest, I'm more than alright with how creepy John Luke is. I highly doubt adult viewers will consider John Luke scary, but I guarantee he'll terrify some of the youngins that this series is aimed for. And that's fine. It's good to creep kids out a little bit with something somewhat scary, as it might introduce them to more good horror stories later in life.

Plus, the reveal that John Luke was only a guard for King is pretty solid narratively speaking. You can see how John never really meant to hurt King aside from one accident when Eda escaped with him. If you want to read into it, I guess it might be questionable to tell kids that something that looks dangerous is secretly nice, but that's really nitpicky, in my opinion. John Luke was a fantastic threat that is designed and animated well, with a solidly executed twist. Some might hate what he presents, most will fear him, but we can all agree on one thing: His theme is awesome (can I get the track for that, please)!

King’s Backstory: Finally, at long last, we know who King is, thus putting an end to a year-long debate. And I fully mean it when I say that the writers gave the best possible answer. Because in a way, everyone was right. Yes, King was just an animal that Eda decided to adopt, like the nature-loving hippie she is inside (She's got the hair for it). However, while he may not be the King of Demons himself, he is still the son of someone who deserves that title. So while he isn't the King, there's a chance he might be the Prince. Once again, there's no direct answer, but given how the writers came up with something that pleases everyone while still providing more questions for debate, it acts as a brilliant move, in my opinion. So whatever answer we get next, I'm sure it will be just as perfect.

Baby King:

My heart was not prepared for that level of cuteness!

King’s Breakdown: NOR WAS IT READY FOR THIS LEVEL OF SADNESS!

But in all seriousness, a HUGE round of applause to Alex Hirsch for his performance in this episode. He expertly captured the raw emotions of shock, anger, betrayal, and sadness that King must have felt when finding out that everything he believed he was is a lie. It's one of those moments where I don't hear a person voicing lines in a booth (or wherever the hell VAs are voicing characters nowadays), but instead hear a living person being emotionally torn apart. It was heartbreaking seeing King so vulnerable as he's so guarded with his emotions. Seeing him like this adds so much more layers to a character that many would mistake him as a cute, comedic animal sidekick. But just like with Luz, there's more to him than people will tell you.

“I don’t even know what’s real or fake anymore!”: I'm just pointing out this line because I believe it's what convinces Luz to help King learn more about who he is. Hell, not knowing what's real or fake is the main reason why Luz got sent away in the first place, so I feel like she can relate to King when he's in a similar predicament.

Hooty and Lilith vs John Luke: This was just a cool scene with some epic moments of dodging John Luke's attacks and some funny ones, like how Hooty said the word "pain." It's a ten out of ten that I would rewind to watch again.

King’s Other Horn: I'd question the logistics of how a horn that got broken off when he was a baby still manages to fit perfectly in the present...but it is neat symbolism of King accepting his past and letting it be a part of him, so who cares?

(The fact that the colors of the broken-off piece don't match the rest of the horn is nice attention to detail as well.)

WHAT I DISLIKED

It's a Little Too Predictable: I pretty much figured almost every little twist the episode offers. But, I'm willing to say that's because I'm in my twenties, and I've seen enough stories similar to this one, so I'm more likely to know what will happen. The little monsters watching this will see it for the first time, so they'll most likely get more surprised than me...And that was my only complaint about the episode...which is more of a personal problem than an actual issue...I guess that means it's perfect.

IN CONCLUSION

"Echoes of the Past" is an easy A+ in my book. It gives lore and backstory that furtherly develops the characters that episodes like this should. It also tells a tragic story about King that still sprinkles in a few good jokes every now and again to lighten up the mood. Sure, there are some nitpicks I could mention (how did King remember his own birth?). But when the good stuff is done so well, what's the point of dwelling on small, insignificant issues? This is still a phenomenal episode that flew past all expectations I had for it, and it continues the winning steak this season is having so far.

(But that's still three home runs in a row. Meaning that a stinker is coming. Ooiee, is it coming!)

[capcarolsdanver]

Faking It (Part 3)

Summary: This was a request for a Carol Danvers fake dating fic that will be a multi-chapter series, likely 4 parts! Who doesn’t love a fake dating fic?

Stories come out about Carol and her.. sexual escapades. This could potentially be PR trouble for the Avengers so Tony and Steve convince Carol that maybe the best way out of this mess is to convince the public she is in a committed relationship.. with the reader, her best friend who has feelings for Carol, but believes her feelings aren’t reciprocated. What could possibly go wrong??

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Reader

A/N: Forever apologising over how long I take to update. I will try to get part 4 out ASAP but by now I know not to make any promises of when, haha! This took longer than I thought because I ended up re-writing a lot of the chapter and making it way longer than I ever intended. This part stands at just over 5.5k words. Hopefully it’s worth the wait! As always, feedback is always appreciated! I also added the series taglist at the bottom, so if anyone would like to be added just let me know! Please do not repost my writing anywhere without my permission. PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 4

“Not the best start,” Tony says as he and Steve join you and Carol in the briefing room. You stare at him, your mouth agape.

“What?!” You and Carol were positive you were heading in the right direction after returning to the compound yesterday, so to say you were surprised by Tony’s words was an understatement. Steve puts his hand up to interrupt.

“Tony, didn’t I just say no more than a minute ago not to lead with that?”

“That’s correct,” Tony nods. “But come on, Cap. Did you really think I’d listen? It makes for a pretty dramatic entrance, don’t you think?” He asks you and Carol, although you both are still sitting in a state of confusion.

“Cap?” Carol says and Steve shakes his head at Tony.

“There’s a lot of positive attention you two have received since you were seen together yesterday. Most of the fans seem to be quite taken with the idea of the two of you together. Although, while Tony is just being Tony,” he says, earning an eye roll from the man beside him. “He does kind of have a point.”

You and Carol glance at each other, the worry obvious in Carol’s expression.

“There are some people online questioning the legitimacy of your relationship,” Steve continues. “Some are pointing out that it might seem odd for Carol to have her first public relationship so soon after that article was published.”

“So now what? We’ve already been caught out?” You ask.

“Not necessarily,” Steve says quickly, his reassuring tone as present as always. “We’re only one day in. People don’t know enough about your relationship yet to make a judgement. Besides, there will always be someone to question the legitimacy of anything. For all they know, you two could very well have been together for months already. Which is kind of what we want them to believe.”

“And how do we do that?”

“For now, nothing too over the top. Keep making some small public appearances, like you did yesterday. We do need to amp this up a little but just not too quickly. We need to be smart about this.” You and Carol nod. “Tony and I will figure out the next few steps and call you back in to walk you through it, okay?”

“You’ve got it,” you say, waving to Steve and Tony before you and Carol take your leave.

You head towards the main living area of the building, on your way towards the main door. You and Carol had already planned beforehand to make another appearance somewhere else today which luckily aligned with Steve and Tony’s plans.

“This may be the most intense mission I’ve ever been apart of,” you joke, earning a chuckle from Carol.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

You walk into the living room where you find Natasha, Bruce, Clint, Bucky and Sam all sitting together. They all look in your and Carol’s direction.

“You two got something to share with the group?” Nat loudly asks, waving her phone in the air. The rest of the group watching you expectantly.

You look at Carol and she nods back at you.

“We do, actually,” you announce.

“I so knew it! You owe me $50, Buck!” Sam exclaims. Bucky turns towards Sam, a fiery expression on his face, clearly ready to argue back.

“Before you children start fighting, how about you let the adults speak?” Carol warns and Bucky sheepishly shrinks back into his seat, muttering an apology as he does so.

Nat chuckles. “Well?”

“This.” You gesture between yourself and Carol. “It isn’t real.”

“It isn’t real?” Nat asks disbelievingly and you nod in confirmation. “You know we’ve seen the photos online, right?”

“Yeah, I figured,” you sigh. “But we aren’t together.”

“You do realise that you’ve told all of us, multiple times, that you aren’t together before. But you still expect us to believe that now?” Clint asks.

“Yeah, we do. Because it’s the truth. It’s all fake,” Carol says impatiently.

“Ask Steve and Tony if you don’t believe us. It was their idea,” you add.

They all sit in silence for a few moments, sharing looks between each other. You notice Nat’s eyes on you, studying you, and you fidget under her intense gaze. She’s always been able to read you so well.

“Why?” Bruce asks, genuine curiosity in his tone.

“These articles about me were starting to come out and-“

“And Captain America didn’t like the bad press?” Nat guesses with a chuckle and a shake of her head, knowing exactly what Steve was like.

“Something like that,” Carol replies. “If everyone could just keep this secret within the building that would be great.”

“Oh, and don’t tell Peter either.”

“Yeah, we love the kid but he documents literally everything. We don’t want him accidentally revealing our secret to the whole world,” Carol explains.

“That’s probably for the best,” you hear one of them say before they all share a laugh.

After you and Carol thank them all, you continue on your way towards the main door, walking through one of the many halls of the compound.

“What’s the plan for today, then?”

“Hmm,” you hum in thought before you both hear footsteps approaching behind you.

“Y/N.” You and Carol turn at Nat’s voice. “Mind if I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course not,” you say. Carol looks from Nat back to you and awkwardly gestures behind her.

“Guess I’ll wait by the door?”

You nod and Carol quickly glances between you and Nat again before she turns and heads on her way.

“What’s up?”

“Don’t ‘what’s up’ me,” Nat scolds, giving you a friendly nudge. “So what’s really going on with you and Captain Sparkles, hmm?” Her eyebrows dance suggestively.

“Nothing,” you say, perhaps a little too quickly. Nat gives you an unimpressed look and you hold up your hands in defence. “I swear. We’re only doing what Steve and Tony tell us to.”

“Okay,” Nat says after a beat. “And how do you feel about that?”

“What do you mean?” You ask, playing dumb and dropping your head to avoid Nat’s eyes at all cost.

“I mean,” she grabs your shoulders, steadying you and ducking her head to meet your gaze. “I know you. I know how into Carol you are. And if you ask me, she’s just as into you as well.”

“She’s not into me,” you scoff. “She’s into all the girls at Tony’s parties that she hooks up with. Have you ever seen her look at me like that?”

“Y/N. We both know that she doesn’t see those girls as any more than a one night stand. Of course she’s not going to look at you like that.”

You stare blankly at Nat for a second, her words catching you off guard. She smiles at you, as always reading you like an open book.

“Are you two trying to figure out where to go for your fake outing?” She asks, moving the subject along to give you space to consider her words that now play on your mind.

“Yeah,” you mumble out distractedly.

“Why don’t you go to that ice cream place you love? Make Danvers buy you a couple scoops.” She shrugs. “She’s the reason you’re in this mess, right?”

She gives you a knowing kind of expression which you can’t quite read before she’s heading back in the direction she came from. You stay there for a solid few seconds, going over the conversation in your head, before finally moving to catch up to Carol.

————————

You end up taking Nat’s advice, heading to the ice cream shop which, admittedly, you love way more than you probably should. Carol is the one to offer to pay for your ice cream, handing her card over before you even get the chance to resist.

You sit down at another outside table, Carol sitting opposite you, each with your own ice cream cup in hand.

“So what did Nat want to talk to you about earlier?” Carol asks.

“Oh, nothing really,” you dismiss. Carol watches you carefully as you eat your ice cream.

“Are you sure? You’ve been pretty quiet since we left.”

“Have I? Sorry, I didn’t notice.” In truth, you hadn’t actually noticed. Nat’s words had been playing on repeat since your conversation and you were too stuck in your own head to think about anything else.

Carol nods at you. She gives you a look as if she doesn’t believe you, though she doesn’t question you any further.

You both continue absentmindedly eating your ice cream in silence before your thoughts eventually get the better of you.

“Can I ask you a question?” You blurt out and Carol looks at you curiously.

“Of course.” She puts her ice cream cup down on the table to give you her full attention.

“The, um,” you look down at the table, entirely embarrassed you’re even about to ask this.

“The girls that you meet at the parties. Do you ever see them more than once?”

Carol seems taken aback by your question, opening and closing her mouth before even forming a solid word.

“No, I don’t think I ever have.”

“Have you ever wanted to?”

“No,” she says without a hint of hesitation.

“Why not?” You ask, your curiosity completely taking over. “You don’t enjoy their company?”

Carol breathes out a short laugh. “Oh, trust me. I enjoy their company just fine in the moment,” she mumbles, lifting her plastic spoon to her mouth to eat some of her ice cream. When she looks back up, she finds your eyes already on her.

She places her spoon back down, clearing her throat. “None of them mean anything to me, you know? I’m sure you know just as well as I do that it’s hard for people like us to find someone that we can really share a connection with. And I’m certainly not looking for that when I talk to those women at Tony’s parties.”

She seems more and more flustered the longer she talks, so you decide to cut her some slack.

“I get it, Carol. I was just curious,” you say and she meets your eyes again before you notice her eyes moving to slowly study the details of your face, the second time in a matter of days that you’ve noticed her doing this.

Nat’s words suddenly play over in your head again and for just a second you allow yourself to buy into her theory.

Though you hadn’t necessarily watched every one of Carol’s interactions with everyone she met at Tony’s events, you’d seen enough to know that she generally gave nothing more than a quick survey of whoever she was interested in from across the room before excusing herself to go talk to them. Their conversations never seemed to last long before she would be taking their hand and leading them out with her.

You don’t need to know much to know that this was different, though.

You feel warm at the sudden possibility, as slight as it may be, of Carol liking you back.

You aren’t sure if you imagine it or not when Carol’s eyes seem to linger on your lips for a moment too long, fixated when you nervously wet them with your tongue. She only lifts her eyes at the sudden sound of your phone beeping in your pocket.

Carol shakes her head slightly, presumably to clear it, and stares at the table to gather her thoughts while you grab your phone out of your pocket to see a new text notification on your screen.

“Who is it?” She says when she notices you texting back.

“It’s just Nat.”

“Oh, right,” Carol says, squinting her eyes in thought for a second. “Is she messaging you about whatever you two talked about earlier?” She tries to ask it casually but you sense something else in her tone and look up.

“No, she’s just wondering when we’ll be back. Sounds like Peter’s organising some games night or something and wants to make sure we’ll be there.”

Your phone beeps again and you read Nat’s newest text teasing you about staying out late with Carol and you can’t stop the light smile that plays at your lips.

“What did she say?” Carol asks with a slight unease still lacing her tone.

“Why? You jealous, Danvers?” You tease, successfully moving the subject away from Nat’s text. You smirk at her as you put your phone back into your pocket.

Carol rolls her eyes at you but she’s quick to drop the eye contact and something in the back of your mind tells you that you’re right on the money.

“No, I’m not jealous, jerk.”

“You sure? Being my fake girlfriend and all, I appreciate your commitment to the role, but jealousy is not necessary.”

Carol tries to hold back a smile but there’s still a glint of amusement in her eyes when she looks up at you, her cheeks a light shade of pink which you are an immediate fan of.

“You’re an ass.”

You laugh, pleased that you seem to have eased whatever tension Carol had been feeling. At least for the moment.

You fall into a comfortable silence while you both finish eating your ice cream and you get lost in a daydream again until Carol’s voice pulls you out of it.

“Y/N, looks like we’ve got company.” She tilts her head slightly in the direction of a lone paparazzo.

Luckily for you and majority of the team, you didn’t really rely on secret identities so much, Tony kind of setting the tone for everyone else when he originally revealed that he was Iron Man. A select few still kept their identities hidden as much as possible, though. Tony was persistent that Peter try to remain anonymous, at least until he was no longer a minor, but almost everyone else either had their identity revealed for them or took Tony’s lead and found it too difficult to keep denying allegations that they were, in fact, their alter egos.

The feeling you get at seeing a stranger taking photos of you like this is something you know you’ll likely never get used to. They often show up in places that you and the others frequent, but it still seems to take you by surprise every time you see them pointing their cameras at you.

In this case, though, as uncomfortable as you felt having a stranger there specifically to take photos of you, you knew this was a good thing for you and Carol.

“Alright, what should we do?” You ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you heard Steve and Tony. We need to start amping things up. Not much, but a little.”

Carol looks at you warily.

“What did you have in mind?”

You bite your lip in thought, Carol’s eyes once again dropping to them. This, of course, has an idea springing to your head. You just aren’t sure how good an idea it is.

“How about a kiss?” You rush out, Carol’s eyes snapping back up to your own.

“Excuse me?” Was all she could get out.

“Why don’t we kiss?” You repeat. “It’s not too much but it’s also enough that I’m sure it will get people talking.”

Carol slowly nods. “You’re right. It’s the perfect progression.”

“Should we do it now?” You ask as your nerves hit an all time high.

“As we leave,” Carol says and you nod in agreement. After a few moments, Carol takes a deep breath and releases it before taking both empty ice cream cups from the table to dispose of them, walking away from the table.

You take the moment alone to try to settle your nerves. Sure, you’ve thought about kissing Carol before, more than once. But never like this. It feels almost cruel of you to be putting yourself in this position. What the hell were you thinking? But you knew there was no way out now, and you just had to suck it up and get on with it.

You feel Carol’s hand on your shoulder to get your attention when she arrives back at the table and she smiles at you when you stand.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” you say, a slight uneasiness to your voice.

“I bet you kinda regret not taking me up on my offer to practise fake kissing now, huh?” She asks, forcing back a smile, and you shoot her a playful glare.

“Watch it, Danvers.”

She lets out a light laugh and lifts one of her hands to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear, your heart just about leaping out of your chest. She leaves her hand resting on your cheek and looks down to your lips before locking her eyes with yours, searching for any hesitation. When she doesn’t find any, she gently pulls your face towards hers, meeting your lips tentatively with her own.

The kiss is slow at first, the two of you completely unsure how to handle this new territory, but the more you move your lips against Carol’s, the more your confidence seems to grow.

You break apart only for the shortest moment as you readjust, your hands resting on Carol’s waist as you press closer to her. Carol’s hand shifts from your cheek to the nape of your neck and you melt further into the kiss when you feel her grip your hair lightly.

You’re about to take the kiss to the next level when you vaguely remember why this kiss is even happening. You force yourself to finally pull away from Carol, perhaps a second or two too late, and rest your forehead against hers.

You both let out heavy breaths while you try to steady your heartbeat, and if Carol’s state is anything to go by, she’s trying to do the same.

“Wow,” you whisper.

“Yeah, guess we didn’t need to practise after all,” Carol says, smirking when you let out a laugh and push her back.

She smiles at you cheekily before grabbing your hand, stepping backwards to pull you along before stepping back into place next to you.

————————

Walking back through the doors of the Avengers compound, you can already hear everyone’s voices and laughter coming from the large games room that Tony had designed upon Peter’s request. He had insisted that it was a necessity, and how was Tony to deny the kid?

Mostly everyone besides a few are sat on the couches towards the back of the room and you spot Nat amongst the group. She meets your eye before her gaze drops down between you and Carol and she smirks.

You look down between you to realise that your hands are still clasped together, fingers tightly interlocked. Carol seems completely oblivious, a soft smile on her face as she looks around the room at all your friends.

You turn your head back to Nat, who winks at you and you can’t help the ridiculous smile that finds its way on your face as you shake your head. She gestures to Peter, who is sat in front of her talking animatedly as usual, a huge grin on his face. You didn’t think it was possible but when he spots you and Carol his grin grows even wider.

“Here they are now!” He exclaims, leaping over the back of the couch he was sitting on and bounding over to you. With no time to react, he already has you and Carol wrapped up in a tight hug.

“I’m so happy for you two!” He says, his voice muffled somewhere in the middle of the hug.

“Uh, what for, Pete?” Carol asks.

He suddenly pulls back from the hug and gives Carol an incredulous look.

“‘What for, Pete!?’ Don’t ‘what for, Pete’ me,” he says and Carol looks at you, clearly stifling a laugh. “I always knew you two would end up together! I told everyone it would happen. Right, guys?” He shouts, looking over his shoulder.

They all either nod or offer some version of “yeah” and Peter swings his head back to look at you, the grin still firmly on his face.

“Thanks, Pete,” you say, trying for your most convincing smile to match his excitement.

“Yeah, thanks, buddy,” Carol adds and Peter nods, pulling you each into another quick hug before excitedly moving on, leaving you and Carol baffled.

“This is the coolest!” You hear him shout back at you, already halfway across the room.

“Oh boy,” you say and Carol chuckles.

“Let’s just hope we made the right decision by not telling him the truth.”

“Yeah, and let’s hope we don’t completely break his heart when he finds out it isn’t real.”

Games night at the compound always end up being a fun time. It usually starts early and finishes late, and it certainly helps that Tony always makes sure there’s plenty of alcohol readily available for the adults.

After the day you’ve already had, you don’t hesitate in the slightest when Bucky offers you your first drink. Carol takes one too, though regular alcohol has practically no effect on her these days. She usually likes to drink for the social side of it, unless Thor is around. In which case, the two of them tend to try to outdrink each other with Thor’s Asgardian alcohol.

It only takes a couple of drinks for you to feel pretty buzzed and you decide to sit out playing the games in favour of watching everyone else play while you sip your next few drinks. This very quickly just turns into you watching Carol as she laughs freely, everyone in the middle of a particularly inappropriate round of Cards Against Humanity.

As hard as you try, you can’t keep your eyes off her, even after the few times she catches you staring at her. She wears that light blush that you’ve become so fond of on her cheeks, as if she’s suddenly shy to receive attention from you.

You’re next to Nat, who of course does nothing but make fun of you for staring at Carol the whole night.

“Could you undress her with your eyes any more?” she teases, laughing when you huff out an annoyed breath. “Thinking about that kiss you two shared?”

You look at her in question and she shrugs at you. “What? It’s already all over the internet.”

“Of course it is,” you blush.

“You both seemed pretty into it.” She bumps your shoulder with hers and raises her eyebrows at you.

“Yeah, well. It was just a fake kiss, so,” you fade off with a shrug. You take another sip of your drink and cast your eyes to the ground with a pout.

“Aw, come on. Don’t be sad. You know what will make you feel better? Cuddling with your boo,” Nat jokes and you glare at her. It only takes another second before your eyes find Carol again and you’re surprised to find her eyes already on you, looking curiously between you and Nat.

“You know what? Maybe it will,” you throw back at Nat as if it was some kind of insult and you glare at her once more before standing and making your way over to Carol, ignoring Nat’s laughter from behind you as you go.

“Hey there,” Carol smiles up at you and in your current state you waste no time dropping down on the couch next to her, pressing into her side.

“Hey,” you say back, your lips still forming the pout that Nat had put there.

“Everything okay?” Carol turns from the game for a moment, her attention solely on you.

“Mhmm,” you nod, though your unchanging expression says otherwise. Carol watches you for a beat before placing her arm around you.

“You sure?” She asks kindly. You take full advantage of your new position and press yourself further into Carol’s side.

“Yeah. I’m just pretty tired,” you mumble, offering her a half-convincing smile.

“Okay. Did you want me to walk you to your room so you can get some sleep?” Carol offers, already moving to get up.

“No,” you say, pulling her back. “I’m good here for a while.”

“Okay.” She’s slightly confused but happy nonetheless, and she continues to play the game from this position. You watch in contentment for a few more minutes before your alcohol induced tiredness gets the better of you and you scoot even closer to Carol, leaning your weight on her and pressing your head into her chest.

Carol wraps her arm around you a little tighter, smiling to herself, and without even thinking she leans down to press a soft kiss to the top of your head.

Of course, she’s too preoccupied to see Peter next to you, grabbing his phone out to take a quick selfie.

————————

You wake up remarkably warm.

You seriously feel like you’ve never felt so comfortable in your entire life. You snuggle closer to the source of warmth, sighing contently before recognising the gentle rise and fall of someone breathing beneath you.

You immediately panic, pushing yourself back and into an upright position on the bed to find Carol lying next to you, startled by your sudden movements.

“You’re awake! I thought I’d never get you off me,” she jokes, a teasing smile on her lips. “Thanks for scaring me half to death in the process.”

“Yeah, uh. What are you doing here, Car?” You rub your eyes, trying to make sense of things. A quick look around confirms that you are definitely in your allocated room.

“You seriously don’t remember?” Carol’s light expression switches to a fond kind of glare which she can’t seem to hold for even a second before she’s smiling at you again.

You shrug, wracking your brain for answers but coming up short. Man, you really were a lightweight these days.

“You don’t remember me forcing you to get up from the couch so I could walk you to your room last night, only to have you drag me in here and refuse to let me leave?”

“Oh. No. Sorry about that,” you reply sheepishly, a blush adorning your cheeks. Carol laughs at you.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” She sits up and like last night, you can’t seem to keep your eyes off her. “I did get a text from Tony that they want us in the briefing room soon, though. So it’s the perfect time for us to both get up, anyway.”

You nod and watch Carol rise from the bed, stretching her arms above her head and causing the hem of her shirt to rise. It’s a struggle for you not to look at the newly exposed skin, her muscles tightening as she stretches, and it takes everything in you to turn your head away.

You look at your bedside table where there is a glass of water and an aspirin which you eagerly take, easily draining the glass of its contents.

You put the glass down beside your phone, smiling when you notice that Carol had obviously plugged the charger in for you the previous night. Your brow furrows and your smile quickly fades, however, when the screen lights up and you see the long list of notifications you have.

You scroll through them to figure out the reason when you see a notification from Instagram that you received late last night, “@spiderman_official tagged you in a post”.

You hesitate before clicking on the notification. You don’t recall taking any photos with Peter last night, so you’re not sure if you’re just curious or a little scared to see what he tagged you in.

The photo loads and you study it, unable to stop the smile that tugs at your lips. It’s a selfie. Peter’s familiar grin is visible but he’s added large heart stickers over his eyes in an effort to keep his identity hidden.

Your eyes immediately land on you and Carol, who are sat beside Peter in the image. Your head is buried into Carol’s chest and Carol has her lips pressed to the top of your head, an unmistakable smile on her face.

Peter’s caption reads “LOVE is LOVE and I LOVE LOVE!!” with several different coloured heart emojis.

Your heart swells at the photo and you roll your eyes affectionately at Peter’s caption. Though, who said anything about love!?

“I’m gonna go to my room and shower. I’ll meet you in the briefing room in, like, half an hour?” Carol asks on her way to the door and you nod in confirmation.

“Okay.” You smile brightly at her and she smiles back, albeit somewhat confused, and you watch her leave.

You stand up from your bed, pleasantly surprised at how well you were fairing considering what you were like last night, and make your way into the bathroom to get ready.

————————

You arrive at the briefing room with a minute or two to spare and find Carol already seated at the table, a mug of hot coffee at her lips. She gestures to another mug in front of the seat next to her and you smile gratefully.

“Oh my god, you’re too good to me,” you say, sitting down and taking a sip of the fresh coffee. Carol watches you for a moment.

“I only treat you how you deserve to be treated,” she says quietly, which is not at all what you were expecting her to say. You aren’t sure how to respond, but thankfully at that moment Steve and Tony walk through the door, bidding you good morning.

“You two did well yesterday!” Tony starts. “I thought the public kiss was good on its own, but then you top it off with Peter’s Instagram post? Bravo,” Tony claps in approval.

“Peter’s post? What post?” Carol speaks up, looking at you with a puzzled face. Tony pauses, immediately stopping his clapping.

“Wait. That wasn’t a set up you organised? Oh, that makes it so much better.” Tony laughs, unable to hide even the slightest bit of amusement.

“It’s not important. It still works in your favour,” Steve reassures, trying to move the conversation on when he notices the deep blush starting to appear on your face. Despite his words, Carol still pulls her phone out, presumably to open Instagram.

Tony’s laughter doesn’t falter in the slightest.

“Anyway,” Steve says at the same time that you notice Carol’s face turn a deep red, turning her phone off and putting it away. Tony laughs even harder, earning himself a harsh glare from Carol.

“Tony?” Steve says with a sense of authority to his voice.

“Yeah?” Tony manages through his laughter. Steve gives him a pointed look and he straightens up a bit. “Oh, right.” It takes a good few moments for him to collect himself and when he does he tries to take the conversation as seriously as Steve again.

“We’ve decided that since we seem to be on the right track now, we can take things to the next level. Conveniently for us, Thor will be returning to Earth in the next couple of days. Since it’s been a while since we’ve seen him, I thought, 'why not throw him a welcome back party?’”

“Usually, reporters are all over this kind of event.” Steve takes over. “We will all be there, and with Y/N and Carol being the hot new topic, everyone will want to get a glimpse of you two at your first official public appearance as a couple.”

“Do the other appearances not count? You ask.

“They do. But they don’t really show anyone how serious you are as a couple. Let’s face it. Tony’s parties have been where Carol has gotten herself into trouble in the past.”

“Hey!” Carol interrupts, but Steve continues.

“If you both show up together, as each other’s dates, it will make everything official. Peter’s post has already been a huge help, too. I think this will sell it for everyone who may still be on the fence about you two as a couple.”

“That is if Danvers can keep it in her pants.” Tony smirks and Carol just about jumps over the table trying to take a swipe at him.

Steve catches your eye in between the two of them and he smiles, rolling his eyes at their antics. You shake your head with your own smile in response.

“So when is this party happening, then?” You ask, pulling Carol back by the arm and giving her a cautionary look which she pouts at.

“Thor will be back by Friday at the latest, so we’ve decided that Saturday is the best option for everyone.” You nod.

“Oh, and I’ve already asked Happy to organise your outfits, so no need to worry about any of that,” Tony adds.

“Happy is organising our outfits!?” You sound unconvinced at best.

“You’d be surprised, he’s actually pretty good.” You laugh. You honestly learn something new here everyday.

“Are we all set here then, ladies?” Steve asks.

“We’re all good. Thanks, guys.”

The meeting ends how they all usually do. Steve and Tony leaving you and Carol on your own to wonder how the hell you got into this position.

***** Series Taglist: @lovelylittlelionx​ @desaulniersbriannes​ @outofcontextavengers​ @mysticpansy (tag didn’t work)

[lordeasriel]

hdm theory: the Thuringia Potash company is owned by the Delamares

I was just ranting on discord but @cozcat convinced me to post here too, so here we are, buckle up for some long ass post. Spoilers for The Secret Commonwealth. Keep in mind this is a theory, which I don't do often, but yes, this one feels unusually solid. This also goes a little further than just the company ownership, I do not know the concept of “direct and precise” lol

So, here's the thing:

We know the men from the mountains were blamed for the attacks on the Tashbulak station (the one Anthony Hassall came from, about the roses) and the attacks on many gardens across all over Central Asia. They are considered fanatics, many dialogues confirm the legitimacy of those claims (albeit there are a few things to consider, such as Magisterium Christians being prejudiced, the fact the men from the mountains are likely an ethnic group and most of the claims come from White Europeans and so on). Despite these, there are enough claims by many different people about how these men truly believe a different Creed and they are harsh about it.

Marcel is after the roses in the name of the Magisterium, the why doesn't really matter at this stage. He knows a lot more about the men from the mountains than he lets on, which we later learn. He already knows about the Tashbulak station being attacked before the merchant tells him about it. He becomes President of the High Council after the Patriarch gets killed by alleged men from the mountains (and I don't believe they truly were men from the mountains, he just made it look that way - keep this in mind).

Godwin learns that a Pharmaceutical company called Thuringia Potash seems to be funding the men from the mountains, which Malcolm later learns from the only survivor of the station, that these men were ridiculously well-armed for tribal folk living in the desert. Godwin's contact points out the benefits of funding this particular group, and as a result of their attack on a research station that harboured scientists from several different countries (many of these, related or absolutely ruled by the Magisterium), could not only give the Magisterium a casus belli to invade Central Asia (the Karamakan being ruled by a minor king, vassal of the Emperor of Cathay, the equivalent of China), but could also incline these countries that lost scientists, to support the Magisterium in the war effort.

He points out how Brytain could be a strong candidate for this request of aid (especially because they are trying hard to keep peace with Geneva), as the Magisterium has made considerable political moves within the country, most likely to prepare it for its future request of men and water canons. He points out that there's talk of minerals and chemicals being abundant in the desert, which is drawing the attention of the Pharmaceutical companies, but the information is not quite reliable.

“There’s talk of a source of valuable chemicals or minerals or something in  a desert in the middle of some howling wildernesss, and it’s a matter of strategic importance for the Magisterium not to let anyone else get at it before they do. There’s a very strong commercial interest as well. Pharmaceuticals, mainly. It’s all a bit blurred, to tell you the truth.” TSC, ch. 29.

Anita Schlesinger then claims that she did a paper on TP, that was never published; they were an old company, very powerful and practically involved with everything economically worthwhile.

"But about twenty years ago TP began to diversify into manufacturing as well [weapons, explosives and chemicals], because that's where the profit was. Arms and pharmaceuticals, mainly. They're enormous, Malcolm, and they used to loathe publicity, but markets don't work like that, and they're having to adapt to new ways of doing things. (...) They're privately owned, no shareholders demanding dividends." The Secret Commonwealth, ch. 29.

“Times change, and understandings must change too.” Marcel Delamare, TSC, ch. 1

Okay, so considering all these points, what if Thuringia Potash is actually owned by the Delamares?

The avid interest by the pharmaceutical companies in the rose oil is a recurring comment throughout the book. Miriam tells Lyra that her father is struggling to find a good source for the roses to make his products and that “apparently the big medical companies are buying everything up before anyone else can--” (TSC, ch. 2).

She doesn’t really specify which company, but she says it in plural, which means that many of them are after the rose oil, any roses and rose oil they can acquire. Roses and rose oil seem to be very popular in Lyra’s world, specially in what I’ll call the posh community lmao like academics, aristocrats, not to mention that people use roses to make perfumes, rose water and so on. Both Marcel (under the Magisterium banner) and TP seem to have an interest in securing the rose oil dominance too, each of them for their own reason. Marcel wants to do something dogmatic with the roses, he talks about changing the truth at its very core, his motives seem to serve the Magisterium more than himself personally, although is difficult to make this claim with 100% certainty because the information we have is very slim.

“First, we could suppress all knowledge of it, by rigorous investigation, by ruthless force. (...) The second possibility is to go to the root of the problem and wipe it out. (...) The amount of rose oil that’s ever come this far is very small; supplies of it would dry up and cease altogether, and the problem would wither away. That solution would take longer and cost more than the first, but we could do it, and it would be final. (...) There is a third option. We could embrace the facts. The roses exist; they show us something we’ve always denied, something that contradicts the deepest truths we know about the Authority and his creation; there is no doubt about that. So we could admit it boldly, contradict the teachings of millennia, proclaim a new truth. (...) I haven’t told you the fourth option. Revealing the truth in the way I described would not work. There are too many habits, ways of thought, institutions, that are committed to the way things are and always have been. The truth would be swept away at once. Instead, we should delicately and subtly undermine the idea that truth and facts are possible in the first place. Once the people have become doubtful about the truth of anything, all kinds of things will be open to us.” Marcel’s adapted speech. TSC, ch. 16. (It’s adapated a bit because it’s too long and too dialogue driven, but it’s quote on quote)

I’ve highlighted the lines I think are more relevant to this particular theory, and it shows that Marcel has already used pretty much all of the methods he suggested, in different ways and order, but all focused on getting hold of the roses. He wants them for a philosophical, dogmatic, even social purpose. He wants to rebuild the truth in a very particular and precise way.

But the rumours around the big pharma is that they want to control the production of attar of roses for profit, which makes no sense if they are working together to seize Karamakan. Their aspirations do not align at all, especially if Marcel wants to seize the roses to reinvent the creed of the Church.

During The Cafe Cosmopolitan chapter, when Simon Talbot is talking to some of the men who attended the Magisterium gathering, he meets an executive of TP who talks good things about Marcel, and somehow even endorses him. Talbot thinks he is responsible for such a thing, but I entirely disagree: I think the executive praises Marcel in a room full of Magisterium leaders, so openly and so ridiculously intentionally, as he says the future is with young men when the Magisterium is essentially made up by very old leaders, because they are executing Marcel's plan.

“It’s the younger men who hold the future,” said a man in a dark suit who was an executive of Thuringia Potash, one of the corporate sponsors [of the Magisterium congress], a powerful pharmaceutical company. “Such as the Secretary General of La Maison Juste.” “(...) An extraordinarily able man.” “(...) He seems very keen to promote this idea of a council,” said the Preceptor. “Well, frankly, so are we,” said the Thuringia Potash executive. “And I think it would do well to include your Monsieur Delamare in its ranks.” TSC, ch. 14.

The sudden addition of Marcel’s name to the conversation of potential council members is absolutely unprompted. Until that moment, they had only spoken about older and more traditionalist members. He is hardly remembered by other men in the room, except for Talbot who is on his payroll and the executive for, well, another set of reasons this theory mentions, such as they are in cahoots.

Being backed by someone outside the Magisterium, someone whom he had no connection to, was beneficial to how Marcel was perceived. Suddenly, he wasn't just a power hungry young leader suggesting an almighty council, he doesn't even allow himself to be elected as president at first (he understand that it would make him seem too eager to get power), but the TP executive praises him and his youth and his work for the council, which creates the idea of "maybe Delamare is the right man for the job”.

They, of course, elect the Patriarch, who is a saint, a modest, and very old and traditionalist man. It's not a surprise, but when he dies, they elect the very opposite of the Patriarch, someone young, new, with more unorthodox ideas, a fresh leadership. All with the backing of a company whose commercial interests seem to conflict with the Magisterium’s (more like Marcel’s, truth be told) desire to get ahold of the roses.

In News from Tashbulak, Godwin is told about how the men from the mountains are funded by Thuringia Potash, although not entirely openly. By giving them weapons, TP enables them to attack the gardens and the research station (an international collaboration, as I pointed out earlier), murdering people while on a crusade against the Church's truth and giving them a reason to strike back, although the Church doesn’t really care about them specifically. While there are claims of men from the mountains attacking the Patriarch, I do not believe this was enticed by their fanaticism. In fact, I think it's even possible these were hired guns, dressed to be identified as men from the mountains, but not really them. And that's because killing the Patriarch doesn't seem to align with their hatred for their roses, but it does align with Delamare's rise to power. (it is essentially canon that he did get the Patriarch killed).

“So he was elected unanimously. With sorrow and reluctance he accepted the great responsibility, proclaiming his unworthiness in phrases so perfectly turned they might almost have been composed in advance of the terrible and utterly unpredictable events in Constantinople.” TSC, ch. 22

It’s all very convenient that TP just seems to be funding a sort of terrorist group, whose every move somehow benefits a rather small Magisterium leader in the middle of Europe. While it makes sense for companies to back political groups and leaders, TP’s ultimate goal for the roses is a commercial kind of goal; they wish to make profit out of this situation, by being sole owner of the rose strain or at least sharing it with as few competitors as possible. The Rose Oil’s properties really can benefit and interest many different people (which I might talk about in another theory post later), but ultimately it’s a matter between the philosophical use of it and the proper, commercial applications of it. Which is why I think that TP’s interest in the rose oil is just a façade to divert the idea that maybe, just maybe, they have some sort of deep involvement with Marcel.

Anita claims that TP got involved in manufacturing weapons and chemicals in the last 20 years (just coincidentally with Lyra’s birth *cough* lmao), and how they hated publicity and now they've changed, and they're openly doing stuff like promoting themselves and backing random Magisterium leaders, huh. Maybe it's just smoke and mirrors, to prevent a connection to be made between the Magisterium and the company.

More importantly though, Marcel being funded by a company that cannot be tied to him, furthering his agenda, is a lot more appealing as a concept, especially if he is the owner of the company. Why would they back him, politically, at the risk of being backstabbed (which would likely happen, because they want different things for the rose business, not to mention Marcel’s bad habit of getting rid of loose ends)? They risk a lot to benefit Marcel by funding the men from the mountains, and having executives praise him and his righteouness and his visionary vibes and all that. It’s a lot for a company that has no proper ties to him, the excuse of simply “Business” does not feel enough to justify their actions.

So, what I propose here is:

Thuringia Potash is a company owned by his family. With his father gone, his mother likely was in charge of the company, but she doesn’t strike me as a CEO type of woman, so she just left people in charge and chose a more hands-off and private approach to the business, hence the dislike for publicity (a very old people mindset of business style tbf). But, during the events of TSC, we learn she’s been very sick, perhaps for an even longer period of time, which could mean Marcel now had to take care of the company himself, despite having his own career in the Church. Marcel, unlike his mother, is a man of many avenues and he sees an opportunity in the company - that has little to no ties to him in a meaningful way. I mean, considering how Marisa just made up names for herself, it’s not far fetched to think they could have a different name in ownership of the company. That’s easily done, in my opinion, and in character for the Delamares. Besides that, Marcel is a man who takes great care of his public persona; it would be reasonable for him to dettach himself from the company in order to preserve a clean image of himself. He is considered to be a modest, uninteresting and dull man, and he seems to go to extreme lengths to preserve that image of harmlessness and disinterest.

With that in mind, owning the company, Marcel now has the means to fund directly an armed militia to suit his goal, which is to arouse unrest in Central Asia, and create a political incident to justify the invasion by the Magisterium. Unlike the previous war, which seems to have been focused on taking control of Brytain, this war is all about the rose garden and the rose oil itself, with a philosophical theme underneath. Invading a desert is no small feat, and from what we gathered from the text, Marcel is still trying to find where is the garden/the red building (and there is also the fact that it’s a 2-way journey, so good luck with that babe).

This is an important thing, because if Marcel changes the perception of the truth, and that could be many things but I’m leaning towards “Dust is not actually Sin but in fact our very nature”, people would perceive the rose oil usage as something to be done by priests and preachers and by the Church alone. The attack on the rose farms show that these men from the mountains are being organised by a higher force (which likely is headed by The Brotherhood of This Holy Purpose), making claims about evil roses and wanting gardens destroyed, but with no actual fundamentals to it. Destroying all the gardens doesn't affect the actual attar of roses thing, because the proper oil hails from the red building and it’s said that the proper “magical” oil hasn’t been widespread, but it does create an atmosphere of hate and fear around the rose oil, or even better, it leads you to think that if extremists and heretics want to destroy it, then it must be a good thing. People would flock towards the Magisterium in search for the truth.

This does align with one of my theories for Marcel: that he wants to make the Rose Oil something to be idolised and those that consumed it, to be considered true prophets. By having the men from the mountains wanting the roses gone, once the Church comes forward and claim the oil is actually good and divine, people will take that answer adamantly and it could even justify why the Church is so protective of it, keeping it from the public. It's a similar process of how they turned Dust into sin: by creating fear and twisted truths around it. If Marcel manages to capture the garden, the Magisterium will hold the rose oil that has a direct correlation to Dust, while TP would have seized all the other rose supplies from the East, allowing them to profit from traditional rose oil business or simply acting as suppliers.

I genuinely do not think Marcel has a money interest in all of this, although money wouldn’t harm him much. This idea also aligns with my second theory for Marcel’s goals (the one I’m more inclined towards, to be honest), which is to democratise the Truth by proving the existence of Dust and then disregarding it, but this is a little tricky so I’m leaving this one out for now. Thanks for coming to this TED talk lmao

[slapmeagain-blog]

COVID-19 LIFE

18 May 2020

How can it be 12 days since I last posted?  It must be the distraction of improving weather, the amount of time I am spending on the garden, and getting ready to enjoy the outdoor season: bringing all the outdoor furniture up from the basement, cleaning the porch, patio and deck, putting covers back on all the cushions, moving all the plants that have been hibernating in the sun room out of doors; ferns for the urns on the front steps, and hanging from hooks above the balustrades on the porch, potted palms next to the wooden furniture facing Pearl street.  There are the big self-watering planters filled with semi-tropicals on the deck off the sun room and the giant urns on the blue-stone patio.  New plantings in the bare spots in the flowers beds, potting a new lime tree, an on-going losing battle with crabgrass and other unworthy competitors to my lawn.  I could have a booth selling dandelion leaves for salad at the Wall Street farmer’s market on Saturday morning if I had the time.  Re-seeding bare patches under the copper beech tree and the corner near the vegetable patch, seeding herbs and greens in tiny compostable pots that have to be misted twice a day.  Cutting away dead leaves and growth from everything and moving the potted plants from beneath the living room windows to their appointed positions out of doors.  Ahh....

The weather had been so cool, damp and dreary, that I had to take matters into my own hands and say enough is enough, that it was about time we moved from bare hints of spring to full on spring mode on May 14th, mainly to keep Marco from packing his bags and moving back to Tuscany, where temperatures are already well into the high seventies and eighties.  Temperatures here rose as ordered.  We hit 80 a couple of days ago which has delayed Marco’s imminent migration.  I even enjoyed a pitcher of iced tea!

Meanwhile, in the wider world, 90,000 Americans are dead, and there have been 1,400,000 confirmed cases of the virus. 36,000,000 Americans have filed unemployment claims (Marco and I are not eligible) and armed civilian militia have overrun the Michigan state  legislature and shut down Oregon’s demanding that the governments re-open the economies. Who are these people?  They are clearly a small but vocal minority of the disparate groups of supremacists, right wing Christians, and hard line second amendment defenders who are being encouraged by the man in the white house (note to my great-grandchildren: many people in these times refuse to even speak the name of the current resident of the White House.  Something we borrowed as a form of protest from the Harry Potter novel series where people were afraid to even mention the name of the antagonist -- Voldemort.)  We’re not ‘afraid’ to mention his name, we just feel that he shouldn’t be given any form of legitimacy, not as a man, and certainly not at as a president.

Closer to home, here in Kingston, NY, a barber in a hipster-retro shop on John Street, has been cutting hair on the sly, in defiance of the shutdown, and has been diagnosed with the virus.  Officials are searching for anyone who might have had their haircut by him (eye roll). On the brighter side, Liberato (Marco’s niece's fiance was finally able to legally open his brand spanking new barber shop in San Querico (Tuscany) this week and is booked solid for two weeks -- 97 appointments.  It’s curious that the Kingston barber made international headlines.  We heard about it from as far afield as Siena (IT) and Geneva (CH, not NY!)  Most people are taking the shutdown seriously, but many are not, and it’s a very divisive topic.  One security guard was shot, in Michigan, for telling a customer to put on a mask or leave the store.  Another liquor store owner in Flint (Michigan clearly has anger management issues) was shot in the ankle for the same reason.  Many people feel that the lock down is a useless exercise, that we should just open up and get it over with.  It’s not killing as many as we thought it might, and cases have started to fall off in the worst hit places.  But the whole point was to ‘flatten the curve’ to prevent the health care system from getting overwhelmed and to protect the vulnerable.  That part has worked.  So where do you begin, and how much is enough, to get the economy started again without creating new spikes and hot-spots of the disease and risk overwhelming the hospitals?  The scientists argue that it can’t be done safely until we have tested most of the population to get a handle on how many people have already had it.  Supposedly, 60% is a magic number for ‘herd immunity,’ above which the virus will slowly die out because it can’t sustain itself in a smaller pool, but that assumes that once you’ve had it, you are immune.  The jury is still out on that.  So much information, so little reliability.  Example: Marco read in the Italian press today that the US had come up with a vaccine and was testing it.  Here, however, the medical professionals are saying we are at least a year, maybe two, away from a vaccine.  It’s no wonder people are acting crazy.  Anyone can  pretty much find someone out there who is saying exactly the thing that appeals to their fears and some of us act on those fears, with the encouragement of the 12-year old in chief, who says he is now taking hydroychloroquine, the efficacy of which is questionable and is said to have potentially harmful side effects.  A couple of months ago, a couple in Arizona took it after he touted it.  The husband died and the wife was hospitalized in serious condition.  Well, let’s hope he manages to kill or incapacitate himself soon.

That’s plenty on that topic.  I don’t know if it is because we are safely ensconced in Kingston in a big house surrounded by lawns and stone walls and flowers that I don’t feel particularly under threat by the virus.  But at the same time, I don’t feel the loss of human contact (other than with Cole, Ashe and Carter and the hugs). My time is my own, and I’m enjoying finding ways to fill it -- cooking, reading, planning for reopening my hospitality locations, gardening, studying, watching movies....  My biggest fears, really, are economic.  When this is over, what will my investments be worth, what will the townhouse in Brooklyn be worth, how will I support myself, help Marco, and leave something to my son and grand kids when I go?  Up until now those were not serious issues for me. 

 I do miss eating out in places where I know people or places where the food is particularly transcendent, but cooking at home and really investing in keeping food interesting, has been a pleasant challenge.  And as I settle in to lock down -- it’s been two months now -- I find I am seeking less amusement in martinis, mushrooms, and space cookies, and more in reading, writing, studying and cooking and actually having a schedule for those activities.  I also love the efficiency of online visual visits, both personal and for study and business.  I’m staying in closer contact with so many of my friends than I did before lockdown.  We have a call tonight at 7 p.m. with Joe and Vicki in LA which I am looking forward to, and we are doing a weekly family call on Sundays with the kids, Roy and CT in Hawaii, Maud in Brooklyn, Hedy and Firth and M and me here in Kingston.  

Hawaii, by the way, is pretty safe.  And here, in Ulster County, we’ve had fewer than 40 deaths and 1500 cases.  And considering how many people like me have fled from the city to Kingston, I’m surprised it’s not higher.  East Hampton, for example, was a hot spot because of all the rich NYC types that have homes there and left the city.  Sorry, sorry.  I promised to stop.  Times article says that wealthier neighborhoods in NYC have lost 40% of their population!  I’m so glad the kids are at our place to keep an eye on things.  And Marco’s finding a rhythm, too.  Check it out.

I finally plodded though to the end of Thomas Campanella’s book, “Brooklyn: The Once and Future City”.  It was very, very informative, even if many parts of it would be far more interesting to civic planners and architects than to casual readers, but it really did put a lot in perspective on Brooklyn’s economic and social trajectory through nearly 300 years with some interesting segues into geological formations that impact the place still today.  Sadly, as interesting and appealing a place as Brooklyn is, very little scholarly work has been done on it’s history.  Until very recently, the focus has always been on Manhattan.  It did correct a number of my own misconceptions.  Importantly, despite the fact that Robert Moses was not thrilled at the design for the proposed Dodger Stadium at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, it doesn’t appear that he, on his own, could have stopped it.  Research suggests that it was the disappearing fan base (fleeing the crime-ridden city in the 50s and 60s) that made the move to LA more an economic decision than has otherwise been speculated.  And I’m no fan of Robert Moses. The study group, in the end, actually wanted to put the stadium complex in Park Slope, bordered by Sterling, Bergen, Vanderbilt and Boerum Place.  What a disaster that would have been on so many levels!!  Not the least of which would have been the United Jet that crashed in that spot in 1960. And the Weisberg’s wouldn’t have been my neighbors for 34 years because their house would have been razed.

Other non-essential slightly amusing details. Deer ‘resistant’ plants are not deer ‘proof’.  And our herd doesn’t seem to be made up of fussy eaters. So, we are frustrated by the number of our plants that are being ravaged.  Apparently, based on an internet search, Marco has discovered that piss and cayenne pepper are good home garden deer deterrents!  Well...  I am putting it to the test with a mixture of BOTH.  I’ll keep you posted on results.  (I won’t go into detail on how the mixture is obtained/prepared, interesting as it may be.)  Hungry?  Peanut butter, honey and banana -- not since I was 10 years old.  Think I’ll write a kids’ Covid cookbook!

[makeste]

BnHA Episode 39: It’s Freestyle

Previously on BnHA: Pretty sure this takes place just after the whole “Deku goes to the shopping mall with his pals! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN -- oh. Oh, no” incident. Deku, Shigaraki is coming. OH MY GOD HE HAS AIRPODS ON. HE CAN’T HEAR US. OH MY GOD.

But of course it all turned out fine and Tomura skipped back home to plot how to destroy All Might by something something kidnapping Bakugou.

Today on BnHA: 

It snowed, and I went home from work early. So I turned on The Pool Episode of the BnHA anime because WHY NOT. 

Just FYI, I’ve only watched this once before, several months back, and don’t remember too much of it except that everyone has a very loose concept of what freestyle swimming is, and that I very much enjoyed it.

This recap will be manga spoiler-free since we want everyone to be able to have a fun time! So as long as you’re all caught up with the anime you should be good to go. I think I made a few references to the forest lodge arc but that’s it.

okay so the episode opens up in the ol’ villain bar (man I miss this place), with some All Might TV special playing, until Kurogiri switches it off

and now he’s turning to Tomura and they’re just like. staring at each other

and now Tomura is grinning and saying “I figured it out”

again, if you recall, he’s just had the epiphany that his purpose in life is to fuck up the Symbol of Peace in whatever way he can. so he’s pretty happy. I think it was Mark Twain who said, “the two most important days of your life are the day you were born, and the day you go to the mall and realize you just want to make All Might really sad”

so he’s recapping that the reason why Stain and the U.A. Wunderkinds piss him off so much is because of All Might, and All Might pisses him off because he’s always smiling “so thoughtlessly”

and now he’s running off somewhere. probably to plan the kidnapping

alone again, huh Kurogiri

he’s so cute lol

he’s looking at the photo of Izuku that Tomura conveniently left sitting on the counter, and mentally summarizing who Izuku is and what his most notable accomplishments are. because this is lowkey a clip show filler episode to ease people into the anime’s third season. but it’s pretty well done though

and now we’re cutting to Deku’s apartment, and he’s narrating about how they’ve finished their first semester at U.A. and have now started their summer vacation!

au contraire, Deku. this episode begs to differ

so he’s continuing his workouts to prepare for the upcoming training camp

I’m sure that camp is going to go great, by the way

and now we’re getting a flashback to that video of All Might rescuing people. the one that baby Deku loved so much

and he’s thinking about how All Might gave him his power. you know. just to remind anyone who’s only just now tuning in, for whatever reason. and they’re like “what is this weird show and who is this green-haired person who gives me weird Tsuna vibes”

and then the doorbell rings, cutting into his reverie!

and LOOK WHO IT IS

how do you guys know where Deku lives. and you do know that Bakugou also lives just like the next block over, yes? I mean. since you’re here and all

no one would ever do this, by the way. wear a long-sleeved black button-down shirt in Tokyo in August, I mean. but also, no one would just randomly visit someone’s house just to ring the doorbell and invite them to go someplace when they could have just texted them instead

but that is indeed what they are doing! they have come to invite Deku to go with them to the school pool! for training. wink

and now we’re cutting to Vlad and Aizawa as they plan the training camp

but before that, Vlad has a favor he’d like to ask Aizawa

“all twenty of them. in detail. but also, like, don’t take too long, though. just maybe kind of summarize it and give me a presentation that’s roughly, let’s say, about two minutes long”

and Aizawa just agrees. just rolls with it with no hesitation at all

and starts rattling off his students in alphabetical order

meanwhile my mind starts wandering and I start to wonder if Horikoshi intentionally planned it so that Izuku would come directly after Katsuki in an alphabetical list of the class 1-A kids. or if that was just a coincidence. he puts so much thought into the names that I wonder if he rejected any last names that started with an H or a P or a B just so he could do this

anyway now Aizawa is done. it actually took two and a half minutes

obviously there’s no time for that, Aizawa!!

lol and he’s interrupted by Deku, Kami, and Mineta barging in and asking if their request to use the pool was approved

you mean to tell me you guys dragged Deku all the way here and you didn’t even know if it was okayed or not

thankfully, Aizawa says that the school did indeed approve them to use the pool until 5pm

[shifty eyes] yep. endurance training. you know us. fuckin’ love to endure. and train. yessirree

there is no way he actually bought that even for a second, right?

but anyways, he’s telling them to do their best

he probably doesn’t actually care. or he just bought it because Deku was there, which of course was Kami and Mineta’s plan the whole time

and now we’re cutting to the pool, and sweet, innocent Deku genuinely believes they’ve really come here to train. “what a great idea, Mineta!”

he’s also excited because since they’re at school they can also use their quirks

which yeah, I forgot that would normally be forbidden at the ocean or at a municipal pool or whatever. for reasons which will later become apparent in this very episode

anyways, so Kami and Mineta are all, “[shifty eyes] [snrrk] that’s right! PLUS ULTRA”

I fucking love how Deku is just the ultimate rube here

meanwhile Kaminari is telepathically communicating to Mineta that inviting “the diligent Midoriya” was a good call. he really does lend legitimacy to the whole operation

Mineta is telepathically communicating back that if it had just been the two of them, they might not have gotten permission

wow they’re actually having a whole damn conversation in this manner

so now Kaminari (still via telepathy) is asking “by the way, there’s no problem with that, is there?” and Mineta is all “nah I overheard all the girls saying they were gonna meet up at the school pool over the summer break”

except he doesn’t get to the point right away, and we actually see a cute flashback scene with the girls all talking about how the school said they were supposed to refrain from taking any long trips over the summer

meaning that poor Momo had to cancel her vacation plans

sorry Momo, instead you’re just going to have to settle for being attacked by a monster with chainsaw hands, and saving Bakugou’s life. when life gives you lemons

and then they go on to plan the meetup at the pool

and there’s a scene of Mineta and Kaminari fantasizing about the girls in their cute swimsuits. but it’s tainted by Mineta’s perverted aura

and now the two of them are running down the hall heading for their paradise

ONLY TO FIND

oh right, this was the episode when I realized that Iida Tenya and Ryuugazaki Rei = maybe the same person?? I don’t know, what do you guys think. it’s just a theory

anyway so all these cuties are also here

hey hey hey indeed

because it’s The Pool Episode, Mineta. listen, we’re going to see Todoroki without a shirt. whether you like it or not

Deku says that since they were doing endurance training, he messaged everyone to see if they wanted to come

doin’ god’s work there, Deku

and like, we already knew this, guys, but Iida Tenya is fucking ripped. like, he is built. he is SOLID

I’m just saying

now Kaminari is clutching a fist woefully and saying that Deku is too diligent

but Mineta is telling him to calm down and that the girls are still here too

and they are!

hey ladies

anyway so Kaminari is annoyed that they’re not wearing bikinis, but it’s still good enough for Mineta

I don’t know why I’m detailing their antics, but I mean they are responsible for getting us here in their own roundabout way, so

anyway, now this towering Muscle God is coming up to them and congratulating them

it’s like his arms are made of Cotati metal fibers

and now he’s cheerfully lugging them off to come exercise with them

oh wow we’re doing the commercial break thing. so we’re already halfway through the episode. how bout that

so the girls are splashing around with a beach ball and having a blast, and it’s very cute

meanwhile the boys are taking a 15-minute break, and Kami and Mineta are lying on the ground already exhausted

and Iida is opening up a cooler full of orange juice

Kami is bitterly asking why Mineta applied to use the pool for endurance training when they could have gotten permission to use it for sunbathing like the girls did

meanwhile poor Aoyama is shivering and clutching his stomach, having apparently overworked himself

so my takeaway from this though is that his navel laser is waterproof. technology is so cool

Iida’s walking over to Deku and handing him a drink, and now Iida is getting all reflective on how far their friendship has come

which is of course a means of segueing to more flashbacks (of the U.A. entrance exam, and their first battle training exercise at Ground Beta)

and then at the end of all that reminiscing, Kacchan decides to make his grand entrance!

and of course since this is a filler, full Flanderization is in effect, and he’s pretty much immediately establishing his personality as Hates Everyone But Especially Deku by stomping over towards Deku like he wants to fight him for basically no reason

but thankfully this guy’s here too

and of course, Kiri’s own Flanderized personality is basically just The Bakugou Whisperer

Bakugou is all “HEY SHITTY DEKU YOU WANNA SETTLE OUR SCORE RIGHT NOW” lmao

and Deku is all “eh heh, no thanks”

BUT!

Iida Tenya has other ideas!

and now he’s raising his hand high into the air and loudly asking if the other guys want to see which one of them can swim 50 meters the fastest

yesssss Iida. somebody realizes he’s in a filler episode! time to get our pointless competition on!!

and now the music is picking up and the other guys are like “YEAH! THAT’S A GOOD IDEA!”

and the girls are volunteering to help as well! because Momo also realizes she’s in a filler!

Ojiro does not realize he’s in a filler, apparently, if he’s asking a stupid question like this

no, Ojiro, you’re just going to spend the rest of the episode swimming like normal people. pssh. as if. who tf would watch a whole anime just about a bunch of hot guys swimming. who would watch three whole seasons of that. who would watch three seasons and four movies of that. god, Ojiro

anyway, Iida is like, yes, duh, quirks

Bakugou is grinning and stomping over to Deku and he’s all “I’LL CRUSH YOU, DEKU.” because you know Bakugou. all day long, he’s just, “gotta crush that Deku!” all day erryday

oh wait, and we can’t forget about that other guy too

“why am I involved in this, I was just sitting here quietly”

so now that we’ve established how Bakugou wants to crush everyone, we’re cutting to our first race!

and it’s Mineta, Tokoyami, Kouda, Bakugou, and Kaminari

Momo’s telling them to take their marks

and of course, as soon as she blows her whistle, Bakugou activates his quirk and just blasts off to the other side

Kiri and Sero are all WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘HOW WAS THAT’, YOU DIDN’T EVEN SWIM

and Bakugou is all

which is honestly the best joke of the entire episode ngl

so then next are Satou, Kirishima, Sero, Aoyama, and Todoroki

and given what we just saw from Bakugou, it’s pretty obvious what’s about to happen here

thank you filler gods

and then Iida, Deku, Ojiro, and Shouji

and by this point you have to figure that Shouji and Ojiro already know they’re screwed

amazingly, even though Iida activates Recipro, Deku still somehow beats him to the other side. we’ll all agree this is blatantly impossible and that Iida for whatever reason just let him win. Iida would have already been at the other side of the pool before Deku could even fucking say the words “full cowl”

and now Todoroki is watching Deku help Iida out of the pool, and he’s flashing back to the sports festival when Deku broke all of his fingers in the name of love and friendship

lol and Iida’s flashing back to all that Hero Killer arc stuff

it’s so dramatic. you’re at the fucking pool guys. calm the fuck down

then for some reason we briefly cut over to the police station where Naomasa is showing All Might a slideshow of stuff that he already knows, and summing up the rest of the League of Villains’ activities up to this point

and now we’re back at the pool where the three main char -- I mean, the winners of the previous three heats, Deku, Bakugou, and Todoroki, are going to race each other for first place

and Bakugou’s telling Todo not to hold back like he did at the sports festival! and Deku too!

and they’re all lining up! and their squads are cheering them on!

baby~ this is what you came for~

and Iida blows the whistle, and they all leap into the air -- !

BUT THEN

oh my god I forgot about this part

I’m laughing so hard

and everyone is all WHAAAA

and Sero is holding up his hands in confusion and he’s all “their quirks were erased?”, as though it’s a complete and utter mystery how something like that could ever possibly happen!

and then this mofo walks in announcing that it’s now 5pm

and he’s telling them all to go home

they’re starting to argue with him that they just got to the good part

but Aizawa is all

and they’re all “LOL NOPE”

so then we cut to Bakugou and Kirishima walking home, and Bakugou is complaining about how Aizawa stopped the race

and he’s thinking that he won’t lose to Todoroki and Deku

and meanwhile Deku is standing on Dagobah beach, and All Might walks up to him

and there are a few more quick flashbacks about One for All being passed down to Deku, blah blah blah

and then All Might is all “Midoriya-shounen, the training camp will be tough,” which may just be the most hilarious understatement of all time

and that’s it! that’s the episode!

I gotta say, even with it basically being just an excuse for flashbacks, I still enjoyed this ep even on the second go-around. this should be a template for all future BnHA anime filler. just have all the class 1-A kids hanging around doing stupid stuff. that’s it. I’m easy to please lol

[madara-fate]

Multishipping

sakura multishipping isn���t a super serious thing, people usually have their main ships that they fully believe in and the rest are just for fun. not to mention the multishipping often includes a lot of femslash like sakukarin, sakuhina, and sakuino. i’d say it’s often easier to ship sakura with characters she hasn’t interacted with much precisely because it’s more open-ended; it lends itself to creativity. 

it’s harder to multiship sasuke because sasuke is explicitly shown to be not attracted to ino and karin, and SNS would be more crack/casually multishipped by SS fans (it already is a bit) if the SNS fandom wasn’t so shitty (SNS content often comes w/ anti-ending bullshit). a lot of people OT3 narusasusaku. SH is aggravating again because it usually comes with anti-sakura bullshit, and other sasuke ships are just crack like a lot of sakura ships. 

those remaining crack ships i guess would be things like nejisasu, sasuten, sasugaa, taka/sasu, akatsuki/sasu etc. which are more palatable for SS fans but generally less interesting than Uchiha/Sakura ships or femslash Sakura ships due to Sakura’s relationship with an Uchiha (Sasuke) and friendships with women. Sasuke just doesn’t have as many relationships as Sakura so there’s legitimacy to people citing Sakura being friends w/ many people as a reason for multishipping. sasosaku holds interest because of Sasori acknowledging Sakura’s strength and his change of heart, but it’s just crack. one could argue that Sakura is shown to be not attracted to Lee, but it was prior to knowing him, unlike w/ sasu/karin, and leesaku developed an actual bond unlike sasu/ino. 

sorry for the novel but i just wanted to make a case for multishippers and why it’s often easier for people to multiship sakura than sasuke. it basically boils down to sasuke not having as many positive relationships and interactions, sasuke being solidly disinterested in specific characters (sakura’s not quite as solidly disinterested), and more creative interest in and legitimacy to sakura crackships.

Thanks for the submission, but I’m gonna have to disagree with a lot of this.

I know that it’s not serious and it’s just for fun, but it just often annoys me that so many people in the fandom are perfectly fine with shipping Sakura with the entire male cast, and yet think it’s a crime against nature to ship Sasuke with any other girl. Furthermore, the reasons I’ve been given serve as no justification at all. I’ve since been given reasons privately that make sense and I can agree with (and I’d like to thank that person again), but the ones below? Not so much.

I’d say it’s often easier to ship Sakura with characters she hasn’t interacted with much precisely because it’s more open-ended; it lends itself to creativity.

So why can’t the same be done with Sasuke? What’s wrong with shipping him with characters that he hasn’t interacted with much? Why do the Sakura crackships lend themselves to creativity but the Sasuke ones don’t?

It’s harder to multiship sasuke because sasuke is explicitly shown to be not attracted to ino and karin

Are you saying that Sakura was shown to be attracted to all of the guys she’s multishipped with? I don’t understand this point at all, and if anything it goes against what you’re trying to say. Out of the two of them, Sakura was the one who demonstrated unwavering romantic attraction and devotion to one person and that was Sasuke; she was never shown to be attracted to anyone else, ever.

SH is aggravating again because it usually comes with anti-sakura bullshit

I can’t agree with this - That has to do with the fans. There’s nothing inherently anti-Sakura about the SH ship itself so I don’t see why that would have any bearing on whether people can ship it or not. Besides, by that logic, I can just as easily ask why no fans find certain Sakura ships aggravating due to plenty of anti-Sasuke bullshit? Like SakuraxLee for example? There are plenty of SakuraxLee fans who hate Sasuke’s guts, and ship her with Lee precisely because he’d apparently treat her like a “Queen”, rather than Sasuke who was just an “asshole” to her, and so on and so forth. There’s yet another discrepancy in treatment.

other sasuke ships are just crack like a lot of sakura ships. those remaining crack ships i guess would be things like nejisasu, sasuten, sasugaa, taka/sasu, akatsuki/sasu etc. which are more palatable for SS fans but generally less interesting than Uchiha/Sakura ships or femslash Sakura ships due to Sakura’s relationship with an Uchiha (Sasuke) and friendships with women

Why does Sakura having a relationship with Sasuke suddenly make it easier for her to be multishipped with people like Indra and Shisui? What makes any of those Sasuke ships “less interesting”? Especially when considering that the entirety of those relationships are made up because they’re crack, so the extent to which people would find them interesting would wholly depend on the creativity of the person who ships them. It would have absolutely nothing to do with the characters themselves.

Sasuke just doesn’t have as many relationships as Sakura so there’s legitimacy to people citing Sakura being friends w/ many people as a reason for multishipping

I’ll repeat the following from my previous ask on this topic because it’s every bit as relevant here as it was back then - What relationships?

Sakura almost broke Sai’s jaw when he badmouthed Sasuke, and she later wanted to do a lot worse when he called her an old hag. The rest of their interactions did nothing to build a relationship.

The deepest conversations she’s had with Shikamaru were again, about Sasuke. Other than those instances, she’s said like 5 words to the guy.

She’s said like 5 words to Kiba.

She’s said like 5 words to Neji

Gaara tried to kill her in what was essentially their only interaction.

She and Sasori tried to kill each other on the battlefield.

The same can be said for Madara.

She’s never said a word to Itachi in canon

She’s never said a word to Indra.

Sasuke has more of a relationship with Karin than Sakura has with all of the above characters combined.

I don’t know what relationships people keep on referencing every time they make this point. Saying 5 words to someone or punching their teeth down their throats don’t make a relationship. Unless people wanna tell me that trying to kill each other on the battlefield or having no interactions at all makes for a great relationship? Because in that case, Sasuke has plenty of relationships.

sasosaku holds interest because of Sasori acknowledging Sakura’s strength and his change of heart, but it’s just crack

Ino, Karin, Temari and Tenten have acknowledged Sasuke’s strength too, so why isn’t he multishipped with any of them? Because he showed no attraction to them? Yeah the same can be said for Sakura towards Sasori, Shikamaru, Sai, Lee, Naruto, Gaara, Itachi, Kiba, Indra, Madara, Neji, Kakashi and all the rest of them. But that apparently never stopped anyone.

Additionally, Temari and Tenten demonstrated actual canonical attraction to Sasuke at one point, with Temari thinking to herself that Sasuke was pretty handsome, and Tenten thinking that he was cute and cool:

That immediately takes SasukexTenten and SasukexTemari out of the crackship category due to the ships at least featuring canonical romantic attraction, and therefore makes these ships more legitimate than the vast majority of the Sakura crackships for that very reason. You’d think this would make it that much easier for the ships to lend themselves to people’s creativity since they’d be able to formulate all sorts of different ways to develop the relationship based on that foundation. But that doesn’t happen.

One could argue that Sakura is shown to be not attracted to Lee, but it was prior to knowing him, unlike w/ sasu/karin, and leesaku developed an actual bond unlike sasu/ino.

Sakura was never shown to be attracted to Lee at all, before or after getting to know him. That’s a fact; there’s absolutely no argument to be had there.

You find that Lee and Sakura developed an actual bond? I find the use of the term “bond” here to be very, very loose when describing their relationship. They are comrades and are on good terms with each other, but to say that they developed a bond with each other? That’s a stretch. But even if we entertain the thought, Sasuke still had a far more prominent bond in the manga with Karin than Sakura had with Lee, for reasons which I mentioned in my last ask regarding this topic, so that’s not a justification.

It basically boils down to sasuke not having as many positive relationships and interactions, sasuke being solidly disinterested in specific characters (sakura’s not quite as solidly disinterested), and more creative interest in and legitimacy to sakura crackships.

But firstly, as demonstrated above, “positive relationships and interactions” cannot be used as a reason here when considering Sakura is multishipped heavily with Itachi, Kiba, Neji, Gaara, Madara, Indra, Shino, Sasori and many others, the vast majority of which are devoid of either positive interactions, or any interactions altogether.

Secondly, Sakura was also solidly disinterested. She was very very clear about where her romantic attraction was. She doesn’t have to tell someone to back off in order to demonstrate solid disinterest in terms of romantic affection.

Lastly, there is no legitimacy with regards to crackships. They’re described as crack precisely because they’re not legit and they have absolutely no solid basis. So Sakura’s crackships aren’t any more “legitimate” than Sasuke’s are.

[periodicreviews]

RWBY Volume 4 Episode 7

After being disappointed with the quality of the fight in episode 6, episode 7 explains why. They put the A-Team on Qrow vs Tyrian in episode 7 and the B-Team on Tyrian vs RNJR in episode 6. I get it, it’s simple allocation of resources, but it’s still disappointing that the shift in quality was that noticeable. Weiss’s scenes continue to be solid and logical. But the Oscar scene exhibits another example of an emotional rollercoaster that been popping up too often during this season.

Oscar’s emotions

After watching this scene with Oscar for the first time, I thought it was pretty average. But after watching it again, I realized how weird Oscar’s drastic emotional changes were. He goes from denial “I’ve decided you’re not real”, to panic “I’m talking to a voice in my head”, back to denial “I’m done listening to you”, to confusion “Why did I know that?”, to more denial “oh yeah, I must’ve seen it in a picture”, to despair “I never agreed to anything”, and finally anger “Get out of my head!”

It’s hard to really describe this progression in words so I would recommend replaying it and just watching how his emotional state changes. The whole idea they seemed to want to get across was that Oscar is very unstable emotionally due to the presence of Ozpin. But I feel that it would’ve been more effective had the scene been reduced to just two emotional states.

I hate to pull in Evangelion, but I feel if any show knows emotional instability, it’s Evangelion.

After a series of defeats, Asuka’s pride as “the best” has been badly damaged. She's based her entire identity around being the best Evangelion pilot and it is slowly slipping away from her. She was previously able to keep her feelings buried but battle after battle has worn her out and she is ready to snap as soon as Rei tries to give her advice that comes off as an insult.

The scene starts with 40 seconds of silence, simulating the real awkwardness that one would experience trapped in an elevator with someone they hate. Then, Rei says “If you don’t open your heart, your Eva won’t move”, implying that Asuka’s inability to control her Eva is her own fault. Asuka explodes in anger and doesn’t stop yelling until the elevator doors close, separating them once again.

The viewer doesn’t need to see Asuka wavering between listening to Rei, to denial, to panic, etc. Just Asuka yelling at Rei for a minute is enough to show just how on edge she is.

I get that these two situations are very different because we’ve seen very little of Oscar, whereas at this point in Evangelion, the viewer is familiar with Asuka.

The basic message of the elevator scene is that Asuka is on the edge and really unstable. The scene begins in one emotional state, has some sort of progression, and ends in a distinct place. Oscar’s scene seems like it is supposed to convey the same thing, but it feels like it just goes in a complete circle to get that across and ends with Oscar in seemingly the same state he started in. Again, maybe that was their whole point to show he’s so confused and can’t escape this cycle of emotions, but it’s hard to tell.

Ozpin’s Proof

The only new thing in this scene besides showing us that Oscar is unstable, is showing Ozpin attempting to prove he is real. Ozpin asks Oscar if he can describe the headmaster’s office in Haven. Oscar hesitates but begins to describe a room and ends the description with a confused “Why did I say that? Why did I know that?”

My question is, why does this part of the scene exist? In the context of the conversation, it appears to be an attempt by Ozpin to convince Oscar of his legitimacy. At the same time, it also operates to convince the audience of Ozpin’s legitimacy.

But wouldn’t it be even better if Oscar was describing an object or location that the audience was already familiar with? Or does that not add anything to the scene at all?

The audience is reasonably sure that Ozpin is who he says he is since we don’t really have any reason to doubt besides the fact that he “died”. The voice actor is the same and he seems to talk in a way that is consistent with the character. Several allusions were made in past Ozpin dialogue that there was more to him than meets the eye. The whole gears/clock design of his office and “I’ve made more mistakes than any other human” line while talking with Ruby are the only two examples I can quickly think of. These two examples seem to line up with this possession ability shown here.

But if we’re being a little more skeptical that maybe this voice is Oscar just hearing things or it’s a plot by the enemy to manipulate Oscar, what else is there to convince us that this is really Ozpin?

I think that if they had Ozpin describe an object the audience was familiar with, such as the statue at the front of Beacon Academy, it would’ve helped reinforce that this voice really is Ozpin. At the very least, it would’ve allowed the audience to visualize the statue in their head and strengthen the idea that Oscar is seeing the same statue in his head. Using the statue still wouldn’t “prove” this isn’t an enemy plot, but neither does the headmaster’s office.

I suspect at some point in the future, we will get to see this room on screen by Oscar or some other character and maybe they’ll make some reference that “Oh yeah this really was the room”.

Weiss

The issues with this season in general continue to confuse me since at the same time scenes with Weiss are generally very strong besides the weirdness in episodes 1 and 2.

Her actions in the previous episode at the Schnee Dinner Party have led to a reaction that makes sense given what we know about her father. The improved facial animation is used quite well here and doesn’t come off as over the top. Her emotional state throughout the scene also feels very natural going from shock, anger, sadness, and finally resolve. The scene begins in one emotional state, has some sort of progression, and ends in a distinct place.  

This scene benefitted from just being between her and her father. The presence of Ironwood or, god forbid, Jaune as a comic relief character, would’ve lessened the emotional impact. Weiss struggles with her family is something that she should resolve on her own, in my opinion.

Even just the simplest thing of her father starting out the scene right next to Weiss and then progressively distancing himself from her so he can exit the room makes me appreciate this scene even more. His movement has a practical purpose in the scene, but one could argue this growing physical distance is a metaphor for the growing emotional rift between Weiss and her father. I could be reading too much into this but given the high level of quality these scenes have maintained, I think it’s more likely.

Qrow+RNJR vs Tyrian

This was a very solid fight in terms of animation and choreography, maybe the best this season. I thought it was better than the Qrow vs Winter fight, but I realize I lot of people like that fight even though it didn’t do much for me personally.

My only problem with this scene is how much it conflicts with the episode 6 fight between RNJR and Tyrian.

In episode 6, right up until Qrow shows up, it appears RNJR has been so badly beaten that all they can do is stand there as Ruby is about to be stabbed or taken. I realize this was done for dramatic effect which I addressed in my episode 6 review. 

But now just a couple minutes later, Nora and Ren jump straight into this battle. You could argue that that couple minutes allowed them to recover a bit or they had some senzu beans saved just for this occasion. You could also argue that they had energy to jump in because they weren’t significantly hurt in episode 6. But if they still had energy, why jump in for Qrow and not Ruby?

Later on, this exchange happens.

Tyrian: "Do you WANT to be taken?"

Ruby: "No! But I can't stand by and watch someone get hurt!"

Except that was literally what happened in episode 6. Right before Ruby is about to be stabbed, we see Nora and Ren on the ground looking on helplessly and we see Jaune standing and looking on until he closes his eyes. I guess technically it’s different because Jaune had his eyes closed so he couldn’t “watch someone get hurt” and Ren/Nora were watching but not “standing.” It just feels like a bad joke when I describe it like that.

In real life, this disconnect between how damaged the fighters are and Ruby’s line that almost seems like a reference to the episode 6 fight is most likely just the result of a communication breakdown. The B-Team went off and animated episode 6 while the A-Team went off and animated episode 7. But now when put side by side, the issues become apparent.

At RTX 2016, I listened to one of the panels on animation discuss how important storyboards were to the process in RWBY. In theory, a fight fully mapped out with storyboards would’ve been shared with both teams and they could tackle each half independently to come up with two pieces that fit together when complete. Maybe it wasn’t fully mapped out, maybe time/budget constraints got in the way, or maybe there was a change halfway through and it unintentionally made the B-Team look worse. Maybe the director isn’t doing a good enough job of overseeing the big picture and making sure everyone is working towards a single goal.

All I have is speculation and hope that the situation improves.

 After episode 7 or maybe just due to the winter holiday, I feel like I lost interest in the show. But now that the soundtrack is out, I kind of just wanted to finish the show so I could buy the soundtrack. I’m interested in moving on to episode 8 with its title “A Much Needed Talk”. Did the crew have a half-time locker room pep talk over the holiday and address some of the lingering issues? I’m hoping so.

[goodra-king]

The Relationship Between the Marketing Hourglass and Maturity Model

The Relationship Between the Marketing Hourglass and Maturity Model written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

The Duct Tape philosophy is that marketing is a system. There are so many moving parts that go into creating a great marketing strategy that, without a guiding framework, it’s easy to get tangled up, twisted around, and lost completely in the weeds.

Over the years, I’ve developed two systems that inform all of the marketing work we do: the marketing hourglass and the marketing maturity model. The marketing hourglass is a way of thinking about the customer journey. These are the steps that a consumer will take in engaging with your brand. It starts with first coming to know you, and goes all the way down to when they’ve become a happy repeat customer, ready to refer friends.

The marketing maturity model is a way for you think about your own marketing activities. What are the assets you need to build, then grow and amplify (or ignite) in order to guide those prospects from the top to the bottom of the marketing hourglass?

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through how the two systems are inextricably linked, and how you can align the way you think about the work you do behind the scenes to create your marketing presence with the experience customers are having on the other side.

The Top of the Hourglass and The Grow Phase

The top of the marketing hourglass is when prospects are first coming to know your brand. We call them the know, like, and trust phases. They’re not ready to make a purchase decision yet, but as they move through these three steps, they’re getting closer.

It starts with them first encountering your brand. Maybe they hear your name from a friend, maybe they discover you in a Google search. Whatever the case may be, you need to greet them with a solid marketing base at this stage to get them to go any further.

Create a Strong Website and Tackle SEO

Don’t you grow wary when a business operating today doesn’t have a website? What are they trying to hide? Or how far behind the times are they? The first step in the marketing maturity model is building a great website because it is the heart of your online presence. A strong website is more than great design; it’s about incorporating a modern promise that shows you understand your customers’ problems and have the best solution out there to fix it.

Behind every great website is a strong SEO strategy. While SEO is an ongoing process and there are dozens of factors to consider if you’re taking a pro-level approach, even a marketing novice can use some SEO quick fixes, like repairing broken links, checking site speed, and designing a mobile-friendly site, to get your website ranking higher.

Build Trust with Content

Once the prospect has discovered your website, you need to provide them with ways to come to know and trust your brand. That’s where the other elements of the build phase—a strong content program, social media presence, and email marketing campaign—come in.

The content on your website (blog posts, explainer videos, product descriptions, your about us page—if it’s on your website, it’s content!), should help prospects get a greater sense of what you do. Your homepage will draw them in with a promise to solve their problem, your other content needs to prove that you’re as good as you say you are. Informative blog posts, glowing reviews from existing customers, and explainer videos that teach viewers something valuable are all great ways for them to come to know and trust your brand.

Get on Social Media

Social media can help in the like and trust phases, too. Simply having a presence on the major social sites gives your business greater legitimacy. Then, creating a strong social presence, with consistent posts that are relevant and helpful, builds on the trust factor.

And take it beyond simply posting—engaging with your followers on social media means building a personal connection. It allows prospects to get to know the individuals behind the brand, and when they get 1:1 responses to their questions and comments on your page, they develop a deep trust in your business: “If they’re paying this much attention to me before I even become a customer, I’m sure I’ll be in good hands once I make a purchase!”

Stay Top-of-Mind with Email Marketing

Finally, email marketing is a great way to continue to show your expertise and remain in prospects’ fields of vision. While they have to seek out your website content or social media profiles, creating an email newsletter filled with helpful tidbits (and the occasional offer) allows you to come to them with your industry knowledge.

The Middle of the Hourglass and the Grow Phase

The middle of the hourglass are the stages we like to call try and buy. By this point, you’ve built a lot of trust around your brand. Your prospects are intrigued and really like what you do. If you can make a compelling offer to get them to give you a try, and the trial goes well, that’s often what seals the deal and helps them convert to full customer.

At this point in the marketing maturity model, you want to continue expanding your essential blocks from the build phase. Your website and content program can grow. Adding things like a regular podcast with a cadre of exciting industry guests is a great way to strengthen your content. Gather all of your relevant content together onto hub pages to give your content program and SEO a boost.

Speaking of expanding SEO efforts, focus on building up backlinks, and get Google Search Console set up so that you can optimize your search ranking for many years to come.

Also, continue to engage and follow up with leads via social media and email marketing. But it doesn’t stop there; now is the time to introduce new tactics to grow your existing relationships and turn prospects into customers.

Undertake Paid Lead Generation

When we say paid lead generation, we’re talking about things like search ads and social media advertising. These can come in many forms. A great place to start is with boosting content on social media, giving posts you’ve shared organically a broader reach for a small fee.

The more advanced tactics take you further into tracking your ads and getting more efficient about driving conversions.

Once you’ve established a series of Google Ads, you can use their offline tracking tool to understand how your ads are impacting business in the real world. By importing your sales information from conversions that happen in your brick-and-mortar store or over the phone, you can better understand the effectiveness of your online ads and refine your approach to win over more prospects.

For all of your ads, you should be creating landing pages that are unique to that particular campaign. In doing that, prospects find the exact deal, offer, or topic that intrigued them in the ad front-and-center on your website, and it makes them all the more likely to convert.

Create a Culture that Integrates Sales and Marketing

Your marketing efforts can take you pretty far, but you need them to be integrated with your sales approach from the start in order to get the greatest result. Make sure that your sales and marketing teams are in communication from day one about prospects.

Set up a clear process for the handoff from the marketing to sales teams, so no one falls through the cracks. And have your marketing team create materials for your sales team, so your brand voice remains consistent in those interactions with prospects as you’re shepherding them from your marketing to sales basket.

Focus on Customer Experience

This is the stage at which your prospects become customers. They’ve liked you enough up to this point to give you a try, so the customer experience must be stellar. That’s the way to take them from one-time customer to repeat buyer.

This starts with a killer onboarding process. No matter what kind of business you’re in, there’s some kind of onboarding for new customers.

If you sell products, your onboarding has to do with getting the product to your customer and ensuring they know how to use it. If you’re shipping your items, make sure that you have a process for your customers to track their packages. Once the item gets to them, include information that will help them get the most out of their new item.

For complicated products, like an electronic device, include clear instructions and maybe even a link to explainer videos to help them get set up. Simpler products, like clothing items, can include care instructions or even just a thoughtful thank you card to show you appreciate your customer’s business.

For services, your onboarding process might be more complex. Establishing a single point of contact within your company for any questions your new client may have, and sending along forms and paperwork that can help you both get on the same page faster, are important elements of your onboarding process.

No matter what kind of business you run, reviews are also very important at the try and buy stage. If you have an unhappy first-time customer, a speedy, sincere response to their complaint can turn things around and save the relationship. Similarly, glowing reviews shouldn’t go ignored. If you take the time to thank new customers for their positive feedback, their happy feelings will only grow!

The Bottom of the Hourglass and the Ignite Phase

By the time you’ve reached the bottom of the marketing hourglass, you’ve already won over that first-time customer. This is your chance to get them to become a life-long customer, and to tell all of their friends and family about your business.

And while it’s statistically easier to hold onto existing customers than to win new ones over, the last thing you want to do is take someone for granted now! You’ve already put in the hard work of converting them; you need to continue to wow them so that they’ll stick around.

Again, you continue to work on the existing tactics you’ve got up and running, from your website through to sales enablement and customer experience. But here, you add three more elements to take your marketing approach to a whole new level and build those lifelong customer bonds.

Invest in a CRM

A customer relationship management tool (or CRM, for short), helps you to better manage all of your customer interactions, both old and new. The tool allows you to track all points of contact with prospects and customers.

This is helpful in better understanding prospects’ path to conversion, and in offering better service to your existing customers.

Let’s say you have an existing customer who’s had an issue with an order. When your team can see that they called last week and emailed a few days later to follow up—and can pull up the transcripts of those communications, plus see notes from the customer service representative who was handling the case—you’re better able to take appropriate action for your customer, without making them explain their problem over and over each time they reach out.

Or maybe you have a customer that’s never had a complaint in their life. The CRM can still help; it can provide information for you to make smarter offers to that customer. If you’re a home improvement store and you notice that a customer recently purchased a dehumidifier, you can target them with ads about replacement filters for their new machine.

Whether you’re troubleshooting, looking for new cross-sell opportunities, or simply trying to better understand your sales pipeline, a CRM is the way to do it.

Use Marketing Automation

Marketing automation and a CRM tool often go hand-in-hand. The CRM gives you all of the customer information you could need or want to enact smart marketing automation techniques.

When you understand your customers’ behaviors, you can segment your buyers into different personas. Each type of customer has their own unique needs that your business meets, and when you understand those needs, you can create marketing materials that most effectively speak to them (and direct that messaging only at the relevant parties).

Take Advantage of AI and Analytics

Also tied in with your customer information is analytics and AI. When you’re gathering information on your customers, you can use analytics to understand what the data all means and, from there, refine your marketing strategy long-term.

Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console for your website are free to use, and can provide you with deep, meaningful information about the behaviors and attributes of your customers and prospects. You can even use more advanced techniques, like call tracking, to understand how your online marketing efforts are affecting customers’ behaviors on the phone.

Armed with this information, you can undertake A/B testing, showing two different marketing messages to two different audiences in order to understand which one works best. This kind of testing allows you to hone in on the best possible messaging for each segment of your audience, helping you to retain existing customers and win new ones who might be referred by your biggest fans.

When it comes to creating an effective marketing strategy, you need to align your marketing tactics with what your prospects and customers want and need. By using the marketing hourglass as a guidepost while you walk through the marketing maturity model, you can build a strong marketing presence that will work for your business from start to finish.

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