There's A Lot Of Love For Computer Science Genius Skye/daisy Johnson, But I Think A Lot About Pattern

In the spirit of the “picnic of hobbits” post—and with the help of the genius mind of @redbootsindoriath—I give you MORE funny group names for the various races in Middle Earth:

A stone of dwarves

A dirt of Rangers

A yeehaw of Rohirrim

A keg of Breelanders

A gumption of Gondorians

A desolation of Laketowners

A murder of elves (Silmarillion)

A song of elves (The Hobbit)

A contemplation of elves (LotR)

A troll of goblins

A gobblin’ of trolls

A staff meeting of wizards

And you might think that a group of ents is called a “moot”, but there’s actually a different term that I would tell you if it wasn’t incredibly long and impossible to pronounce

"Howl Jenkins is swarming in girls falling head over heels for him" factoid is actually a statistical error. Average girl is tired of his existence. Sophie Hatter, who falls head over heels for his stupid overdramatic face at least once a day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

More thoughts on the rest of season one:

Raina keeps talking about what she and Skye will become even way back here.

A guy stabs May and she later uses the same knife on him, just like with Izel later.

The contrast of Quinn hugging Skye to shoot her again more effectively with Coulson cradling her body hurts.

Garrett doesn't realize that all the kerfuffle is because Hydra has revealed themselves until Skye decrypts the signal.

When Coulson locks May up in the cage, you can see Ward trying to figure out if she's Hydra too. He's so confused for a minute, and it's hilarious to me.

Speaking of Ward, Raina tells him how she would manipulate him if that's what she wanted to do and then immediately follows up and does it, but he totally falls for it.

I forgot how intense (and ridiculous) Fitz's one-sided grudge against Tripp is. The Moby Dick bit is great.

Daniels tells Audrey something like, "I'm a monster, but you can save me," which is interestingly similar to how Ward is treating Skye in these episodes.

Speaking of which, the cello continuing to play over Skye discovering Koenig's body is amazing.

Skye says May left because she didn't care at all, but it's the opposite—she cares too much.

While they're talking by the pool, Jemma says Fitz will never have to find out what it would be like if she were Hydra, but thanks to the Framework, she will have to see him that way. Poor babies.

Garrett sarcastically tells Deathlock/Mike that he loves him right before a cut to Fitzsimmons in the pod.

Coulson says Skye was compassionate, not weak, when she chose not to let Ward die, whereas Garrett calls any sign of compassion in Ward weakness. It really hammers home how much of a difference it makes who finds you.

I've recently started rewatching Agents of Shield with my sister who hasn't seen it before, so here are some rewatch-inspired thoughts about the first half of season one:

The Bus Kids are all such babies! Especially Skye.

May gets knocked out in each of the first two episodes. It's definitely taking her a moment to readjust to fieldwork.

So many Shield water bottles.

Even though I know what Ward actually is, he still makes me like the version of himself we see here.

May and Coulson's one-sided conversations are amazing.

I honestly can't remember. Did Ward's younger brother die in the well? The flashes we see aren't super clear.

Interesting that Coulson tells Skye that there was a little girl in Bahrain, but he doesn't mention that she died.

I'd never realized that we get a glimpse of the carvings during Coulson's flashbacks of being revived.

Speaking of which, I thought looking at the carvings was what triggered his instinct to carve, but the drawings on the whiteboard in Eye Spy don't seem to set him off.

I love the way that when Coulson is kidnapped, he doesn't say the "Previously on" or "We'll return in a moment" bits. I remembered that from later seasons, but it's a nice touch to start it now.

I feel like I need to share my favourite Jet Lag outake, that, afaik, was only uploaded on Scotty's twitter. It's so fucking funny. Adam looks like he's having an actual brain aneurism while Ben is just like 😕 I don't like it

Reblog to hug prev

Please

I'll call it The Jedis of March.

Let's face it, we all wish it had ended this well.

The Differences Between Hera and Eowyn

Just thinking about these two shieldmaidens, and the stark differences between them.

I think a big one is that Eowyn is a romantic, whereas Hera has no wish to marry.

Meanwhile Eowyn hungers for battle and glory, and Hera, although willing to fight, does not desire it.

Hera seems to have grown up in a time of peace, or at least her childhood seems to have been peaceful. Although she lost her mother, she was too young to remember her, she had a father, two brothers, a cousin and a motherly figure. She had constant love, affection and security. However, Helm seems to have been protective of her, so freedom was her greatest desire.

Eowyn's mother and father died at an age for her to be devastated at their loss. She then lost her uncle, her father figure, as he succumbed to Grima's enchantments, and her brother and cousin regularly left her behind. Her life was marked with violence and loss.

Meduseld was a cage, but the only people close to her leaving Meduseld were soldiers riding to battle. Freedom meant battle, because battle was what went on beyond the walls of Meduseld. Battle also meant a place in the histories, a chance to be remembered. Battle was where her brother and cousin went when they left her behind. Battle was the opposite of the dry nursing role she was ill suited for, yet had thrust upon her.

Eowyn yearned for battle. She yearned for love. To ride to battle, to be loved, to be remembered, would ease her grief over being left behind, abandoned by those around her. Her infatuation for Aragorn was wrapped up in her admiration a soldier has for a captain. Romantic desire and desire for battle were intertwined.

Both of them were royal shieldmaidens who chafed under the expectations of their sex, and showed great courage in times of crisis, but the similarities begin and end there. Hera, we see, was playful, young, naïve, clever but sheltered, until the events of the film forced her to grow up. Hers was a coming of age story.

Eowyn was cold, despairing, bitter and angry. The events of the movie and the books see her regain the capacity for hope that was taken from her.

You can use any travel method you like, walking, public transport, so on. You can get an uber but their map has failed so you'll have to give directions. You can travel to other countries and count those libraries but you have to be able to completely navigate from your home without assistance. So you can catch a plane but must be able to travel to and from the airport. No limit on how long it takes. If you know which block it's on or which tram line but aren't sure precisely, but you feel sure you'd find it once you got there, count that as a yes (if you're not sure maybe google it now and see if your plan would work). You cannot rely on asking for directions though, this must be all your knowledge

Soresu Negotiations

“Get help,” Palpatine said. “You’re no match for him. He’s a Sith Lord.”

Obi-Wan turned to look at the Chancellor. “...yes?” he said. “But he’s also something else – something I’m surprised you’ve forgotten.”

“What?” Palpatine asked.

“A politician,” Obi-Wan replied, turning back to Dooku.

Anakin groaned, then sat down.

“Here we go,” he said.

Palpatine blinked, looking from Anakin to Obi-Wan.

“...what do you mean, Anakin?” he asked.

“This happens sometimes,” Anakin replied. “How do you think he got his nickname?”

“Count,” Obi-Wan said, at about the same time. “It’s occurred to me that I never actually found out what the Confederacy wants.”

“Isn’t it a little late for this?” Dooku asked. “We have been at war for several years.”

“True,” Obi-Wan conceded, readily. “The war having started on Geonosis, because of tracing back your clone army which we… appear to have appropriated, mostly because you did it in our name. But that’s how the war started – not your objectives.”

Dooku was silent for a moment.

“I assume some semblance of a point will be emerging,” he said, eventually. “If you could be so kind as to provide it?”

“Wars begin for all sorts of reasons,” Obi-Wan replied. “But how they end… they end because a mutual settlement has been reached. And it’s occurred to me that I don’t know what you’d want out of a victory.”

He spread his hand, the one not holding the – unlit – saber. “It’s not the conquest of the Republic, I can tell that much. If the CIS annexed the Republic, what you’d have would still be the Republic, just under a different name… it’s not the Republic without the corruption that’s been causing it problems, because most of the corruption in the Republic was – was – the big industrial concerns like the Techno Union, Commerce Guild, Trade Federation. But you seem to have taken all of those off our hands, and they provide essentially your entire military so I don’t think anyone else could honestly believe that either.”

“I wouldn’t expect a Jedi to understand,” Dooku replied. “The Confederacy’s member systems have concerns relating to over-centralization.”

Obi-Wan stared at him for a long moment.

“...no they don’t,” he said.

“I hardly think you can have earned your reputation as a negotiator, Kenobi, if you are so willing to be insulting,” Dooku said, archly.

“That’s not what I mean,” Obi-Wan replied. “I mean… yes, now the Republic has an army, though really it’s actually the Jedi’s army and we’re simply letting them borrow it, but four years ago the Galactic Republic was proverbially incapable of doing anything. It took emergency powers for the Chancellor to get the Republic to authorize having any kind of military whatsoever – and the only one available was the one you ordered. That’s not over-centralization.”

He drummed his fingers on his ‘saber. “And I note that I overheard Nute Gunray insisting on the head of Senator Amidala – literally, in those words – as his price for signing a treaty. But I still haven’t heard an actual answer. What does the Galaxy look like if the Confederacy wins?”

Dooku frowned, and after about three seconds Obi-Wan glanced at the Chancellor.

“Didn’t you discuss this at any point, your excellency?” he asked. “Count Dooku doesn’t seem to have thought about this.”

Palpatine blinked.

“...he’s a Sith Lord,” he repeated. “Shouldn’t you be fighting him?”

“It’s called diplomacy, Chancellor,” Obi-Wan replied, before returning his attention to Dooku. “Grandmaster, are you seriously telling me that you never thought about what you would do if you won?”

Anakin checked his comlink, for the time, then the ship trembled slightly.

“Artoo?” he asked. “Can you tell those ships outside to stop shooting at us and give us a wide berth? This could take hours and I don’t want to find out if my name’s literal.”

“Hours?” Palpatine repeated.

“He’s rolling,” Anakin replied, rolling his eyes. “Like I say, I’m used to this.”

He rummaged in a pocket of his robes, taking out a miniature toolkit, and began disassembling his lightsaber. “I’m pretty sure I can retune these crystals to give two stable configurations which it’ll snap between, that should give me a length toggle instead of a single adjustable length…”

“Are you taking your lightsaber apart?” Palpatine hissed. “What if you need to fight?”

“It’s okay, Chancellor, I’ll get about five minutes’ warning if the negotiations are going downhill,” Anakin replied. “That should be time to put it back together again…”

Palpatine looked up to Obi-Wan, who – sure enough – was still going.

“...of course, a separate but related issue is what it’s going to be like afterwards,” Obi-Wan said. “In principle the Republic and the Jedi Order could probably accept the existence of Sith so long as we actually knew who they were and they weren’t trying to destroy us. It’s the fact that the first Sith we met in a thousand years tried to run Anakin over and cut Qui-Gon’s head off as an opening move that’s soured us towards them a bit… but are you really going to be content as someone whose whole job is to die for Sidious?”

Dooku stared at Obi-Wan, baffled, then glanced at Palpatine and Anakin.

“What do you mean?” he asked, forcing his gaze back to Obi-Wan.

“Sidious is your Master, we know that much,” Obi-Wan replied. “Partly because you told me yourself. But has he ever put himself in danger? Or has it all been you dealing with Jedi like myself and my apprentice? Putting yourself out there, in danger, while you do exactly what he says?”

He smiled slightly. “A Jedi would accept that, but you’re a Sith – you’ve said so yourself. Sith are self-interested. What do you think your new master is getting out of the situation? Because if you don’t know, it’s got to be something and it’s probably something he doesn’t want to tell you.”

“My master is quite willing to put himself in danger,” Dooku said, then clamped his lips shut at a frantic mouthed shut up from Palpatine.

“Real or feigned?” Obi-Wan asked. “Do you think he wouldn’t manipulate you? He’s been doing it to everyone else – you’ve said it.”

Dooku’s brow furrowed.

“But we’re getting off topic,” Obi-Wan said, turning to look at Palpatine. “Chancellor, what about this as a starting point? Your emergency powers were granted to resolve the crisis, and I’m sure you want to abandon them as soon as possible… so why not take away the whole reason why the individual systems in the Confederacy had problems with the Republic to begin with? Freely allow the departure of any system which wishes to do so, under the emergency powers legislation; enact a progressive tax, one which hits the Core worlds harder owing to their greater ability to pay, to sustain a carrier based navy able to hunt pirates more effectively than conduct occupations or orbital bombardment, and have the navy established on a sector-federal two-level model?”

Palpatine stared at Obi-Wan for at least ten seconds.

“...he’s a Sith Lord,” he said, yet again.

“Oh, shut up,” Dooku replied. “You’re a Sith Lord and I don’t see you doing anything constructive.”

Obi-Wan glanced at Palpatine.

“...you know,” he began. “I’m quite sure you’d need to note that on your financial disclosure forms, your Excellency.”

He turned sideways, so he could see both Dooku and Palpatine at the same time. “What was the point of this whole abduction, anyway?”

“As it happens, I was supposed to kill you,” Dooku said. “It’s the only way to turn Anakin to the Dark Side, if you’re out of the way.”

“Huh?” Anakin asked. “Is something up? I’ve almost got the crystals realigned.”

“This plan looked a lot better this morning,” Palpatine muttered.

obsessed with the fact that howl movingcastle is, like, the ideal portal fantasy protagonist. he's a welsh rugby-playing grad student who enters a magical world where he discovers he's a wildly powerful wizard. there's an evil witch out to get him and the king needs his help and there's a curse catching up with him. he has a magical creature sidekick and an orphan apprentice and a mentor who gets killed by the evil witch halfway through and a love interest under a terrible curse. the story is BEGGING for him to be the main character. and he's just like. no <3.