#( so far it jsut seems to be more of a /personal/ thing on the form and what they do. )

[ganondoodle]

I honestly find it impressive how totk managed to fuck up so bad as a sequel. But truth be told, good gameplay aside, botw already was a whole lot of nothing as far as story and lore were concerned. I just feel like amnesiac Link going out into the world to save some voice is not a good premise, even though botw Zelda has an interesting personality. Idk, I guess botw felt like an experiment that was supposed to pay off in totk, but totk being a disappointment makes botw kind of feel like a waste of time as well

yes and no to that (in my opinion .. just gonna add that to be sure)

what hooked me in botw was less the story that was told and more what was implied, bc it seemed to imply so much, there was so much design that felt intentional- like an introduction to a world with subtle hints towards much much more that would be perfect to dive deeply into in an expansion or second part- just like you said

i personally am a sucker for big environments with enviromental storytelling more than direct dialog in your face- it might be a small detail to some but for me the choice of music, or how little and broken there was really spoke to me (in part bc i am very noise sensitive, id gladly spent hours in botws hyrule field, but id want to get out of twilight princesses hyrule field bc it would get unbearable to me after a while)

but mainly .. it was the world, botw made me feel like no other game has before, it felt so real to me, that this is a world with deep history, most of which unknown, so much mystery and things that existed with no explicit explanation (like man do i love botws dragons ...... and i will not forgive what totk did to them lore wise)-- like with the ancient shiekah especially, they were, or seemed, so drenched in lore you can only guess but yet it felt so intentional, or how calamtiy ganon was this strange being like a force of nature and the gerudo having had no king in so long it was basically forgotten it was ever a thing?? so much to speculate and think about, so much you could do with all those things; you probably didnt aim to get this kind of talk from me but when i talk i talk unfortunately, and botw is my second favorite zelda game (grinding my teeth to dust trying to ignore what totk did to its lore)

if you look at just whats told to you, botw isnt that special either (though at least coherent in itself lol) but its the world and design and mystery that got to me, that i care about so much, care that got almost utterly destroyed by totk bc it made me realize that there .. might have been no intention behind anything, it didnt mean anything actually

its a thing that hurts me so much to know, to think about, that totk cannot be separated from botw, they cheapen each other, people think its just botw+extra, when imo its more like .. botw again but worse, or them saying that botw was jsut a tech demo to the grand game that is totk (i couldnt disagree more to that wtf, totk is more of a tech demo for ultrahand tbh)

i cant even decide whats worse to me, the fact that botw isnt gonna get that deep lore dive in a second part that got me so excited like i never was before after the first trailer, that everything i cared about in it isnt gonna have a follow up ever, the knowledge that there might be no intention and no meaning behind anything in their games, that the next games might be like that too, that its inseperable from totk in the worst way, or that they only damage each other, botw functions better on its own than totk does, but together it worsens both

(i basically just said what you said in long form .. sorry- though i do feel more positively about the amnesia thing in botw, theres tragedy and emotional weight in it and helps immensely to let you and link explore the world like for the first time- plus its a drawback to an otherwise pretty overpowered piece of tech/magic- unlike some other things in a certain other game)

[littleeyesofpallas]

So there's this weird thing that Bleach just never really adequately or really directly addresses about the existence of artificial souls... We know Artificial Souls exist, and we know from the same basic tech Mod Souls were made. From some derived or parallel procedure we get Mayuri's Nemuri line of advanced Created Souls, and supposedly also what Urahara did that made Ururu. What's weird is that these don't appear to impact the balance of souls between worlds and that creates this weird blurry line about what does and doesn't get to count as a Real Soul, with weight in the cosmic balance...

So one of my first issues is that we know shinigami get asauchi with uniformly blank tsuba, and the unique patterns manifest with the imprinting of a sword spirit and obtaining shikai. And Nemu, although she never uses it, does in fact have a zanpakutou of her own, and more generally is considered a shinigami in rank and role, so surely she must count as "real" by any practical measure. This does also bring into question, what a zanpakutou spirit even is.... very late in the game we're told that Nimaiya makes zanpakutou by merging many strong souls together.... (which raises a whole lot of questions, but we need to table most of those for now..) So then does a zanpakutou count as a soul as far as the balance of souls is concerned? This is further muddled by the fact that Nimaiya's sword harem just e x i s t as humanoids, rather than swords, and with what appears to be full autonomy of body and personality and will. And then there's also the issue of Yachiru......

But he brings this up while explaining how White serves as a zanpakutou due to the way Aizen made him, or at least his heart. This distinguishes him from other hollows and particularly from menos, who as it happens are also amassed from many strong souls, but specifically from other hollows, and by being consumed. White is in effect a synthetic vastolorde and a bootleg zanpakutou, but vice versa that suggests Vastolorde are a sort of naturally occurring zanpakutou. (i have no idea what that even makes the superchunky from hell)

This actually already lines up with a lot of what we already knew about arrancar, and effectively means the gillians are a wild asauchi, the adjuchas a living shikai, and vastolorde roving bankai; those hollow forms are in turn crammed into swords to create the arrancar zanpakutou and is why resurreccion are just returning to hollow-like form.

There is also the little loophole of whether or not hollows count as one soul per body, or if they carry with them the full weight of all the souls they've consumed. It would actually make for a reasonable justification of the shinigami's self appointed roles as monster slayers if it means preventing uneven accumulation of souls. But it's not directly addressed. Moreover, there are a lot of weird cases of hollows/arrancar themselves being capable of creating lifeforms that achieve a range of autonomy, yet don't appear to attract anyone's attention as a kind of anomaly??

Starrk and Cienz both separate whole other arrancar from themselves, and this seems to very distinctly count as a creation of an entirely new soul, to the point that they have their own zanpakutou. Starrk even has his cero wolves, which don't come across as distinctly autonomous and don't seem to count as their own souls, but do seem to be implicitly derived from the same ability that produced Lilynette in the first place. There's also Ruddborne and the Exequias that dwell in a weird grayzone of new lifeform creation. And also Dondochaka has Bawabawa?? What even that is?? And Szayel has his random monster throne things?

[so i drafted this months ago and jsut let it sit. clearly there's not conclusion here but i have no idea where i was going with this rant... i've sort of ended up covering bits of this in other random posts since, but i dunno seems like a waste of effort to just scrap the whole thing now. so here ya go, have some weird half formed scraps of thought...]

[O, i guess it has like a companion/first draft to go with it? (1)(2)]

[unofficial-sean]

Life kinda, like, passes you by so quickly. Once moment a college student is popping your cherry--you can’t really feel your body, it’ll ass tingly and light headed--and now you’re approaching your mid-twenties and the gravity of everything sets in; the finite nature of life, the warped film of time and memories, and latent nature of firsts.

When I was 17, I dreamed of where I’d be now, but where I am is so far off the mark. I can’t even bottom, i don’t have a place of my own, my career is fragmented, and worse of all, I’m so alone in this struggle.Not only did I fail to achieve my goals, I’ve become a different person; alien to who I was when all I could thin about was getting railed and moving out of my small hometown.

Not that those were good admirations, but I’ve just completely lost sight of who I wanted to be. I’m so lost and there’s no guidance. As loathe as I was to accepting it, I had so many resources in high school. There were people there willing to help if i just had the wisdom to accept it. But now here I am.

in three months, I’ll be 24. Another year passed and I have still not achieved my goals. They’re not even possible, now. And that should be fine, but part of me still wants that. Part of me still wants to get railed and have people over and live a more risky life. But all I can do now is top at best. Maybe I work some job. Gets me enough to survive and pay for my ROV research on the weekends. That’s all I have left.

I recognized that working for the Army was soul sucking,and so I’ve got multiple interviews in the private sectors for electronics work. But I jsut know it won’t give me purpose.

Everyone says “be yourself and you’ll find your people.’ But when I do that, I’m always alone. If I go out to the ocean with my ROV, who will saunter on up and take interest? How to I meet my people when all I do is solitary? I fantasize that someone asks what I’m doing, and I explain that I’m observing sharks, and they get interested, and I show them how to use the ROV controller, and l et them explore and focus on the marine life that catches their eye, and we form a friendship. But in reality, everyone on the shore is focused on their own things.

There is no guide anymore. There are no resources. I can’t figure out which side of me people like, and I can’t even get brief sexual gratification anymore.It seems whoever I am, personally, professionally, romantically, and sexually, is so undesirable. Even though I’m being myself. I fell so stuck.

I can’t stop crying. The life i wanted was robbed from me,and the best i can do with my circumstance is not good enough. I don’t have the personality of a dominant top. I’m a subby bottom that can’t bottom. I like myself shaved and lithe but toned. And that’ fine for a bottom, but not for a top. I can’t fit any space. I’m just this malformed creature,

N one wants to talk with me. N one matches my passion. I don't’ even care if it’s unrelated to my interests. I can spill about all there is to know about sharks, and I’ll never meet someone with that same spark for anything. Am I overwhelming? Am I dry? None of this shit gets spilled when I talk to people; it should come up when I  talk to my therapist, but my therapist is only available for one hour every two weeks. She’s never there when I need her most.

It’s not your responsibility to comfort me. My therapist would likely just tell me to focus on myself or whatever. I’ve been doing that. All the advice there is to give, I’ve heard.

I don’t think I’m inadequate. Inherently, I like myself. If I could clone myself, we’d get alone. But I really struggle to understand why other people don’t seems to like me. Whether it’s at a glace, after an interaction, or after months of friendship. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I never get an answer.,. I get ghosted. I get left to pick up the pieces and form my own conclusions. All that’s ever done is force me to be harsh to myself; to self criticize; to pick myself apart before I can put myself back together.

I’m not perfect. I struggle to understand socialization. I can’t tell wish face people want to see. I’m too afraid to make compliments or advances because I can’t tell if what I’m saying is charming or harassment. When I keep to myself, no one gets in. When I push too far, I’m reprimanded. I long for a space where the words I say are not taken with such dire nature.

I want to be soft. I wanted to be feminine and womanly. And maybe i still can. But how many people really, truly want a feminine person to top them? How many people want to truly put  up with infodumping and the sensitivities of an autistic person? What can I even do to form connections when my messages are never read?

There is no guide. No help. I could have died today, and I’d have died without ever knowing a woman’s touch. Without ever feeling that delicacy. I’ve had men, sure, but that I’ve never felt; not intimately. I could have left this world without ever having touched a shark. Or left being a research paper. The only person who’d really miss me is my dad, And he doesn’t really know who I am.

I make my intent known and I wait. but how much waiting must i do before I recognize the reality and let it go? I am who I am. And I’m going to sleep.

[compassionatereminders]

i hope this doesnt come off as like enabling anything that might be hurting you but lowkey i find it kind of validating that you are open about those bender experiences yet are just you and the you i know is someone who (from a far ofc) is also a kind gentle person who makes a cnsistent effort to make the world a kinder place. And just seeing that is very important to me, some dork still too anxious to not be on anon. I'm a polysubstance user and im pretty sure i will be forever bc i'm not sure i can rawdog the concept of reality daring to continue after some stuff that happened. And until I found your blog that alone jsut made me feel so shitty and dirty. God, I was honestly so ashamed of what I thought i was to such a depth that it should be silly that your blogging uprooted that shame so effortlessly. I really thought there was no possible way for me to not be a daily polysubstance user and not be a stereotypical manipulative, mean, etc etc person. I would legit argue with my friends and spouse who have all shown me nothing but immense nonjudgemental compassion and support that they were wrong - I was a garbage human being because total sobriety is unbearable to me.

But then I saw you existing and creating and maintinging this little corner of the internet to be like a gentle warm safe haven no matter how dark the rest of the world is and I saw you've also had those nights and you have reasons why those nights happen and most importantly i saw that you are also what i consider to be a good person - you seem to live your life consistently with the goal of leaving the world a better place than how you encountered it that day. And the first time I saw you bender posting it literally just shifted my world and self view 15 inches to the left. It's dumb but like, I had never been able to observe someone who was able to hold within themselves such continued compassion and energy to strangers in tandem with the stuff most of the world likes a lot less so it was just something that never occurred to me. And god I'm getting too sappy and being weird over something that's probably silly and small to everyne else but seeing you do it through the highs and lows literally made it possible for me to accept that being a drug user (and by extension a survivor) is something that does not preclude me from being the person the people who love me think i am or make me lesser in any way shape or form. Your drug use does not make you any less valuable as a person or worthy of being loved and cherished (if you aren't or feel like you arent I hope every force in the universe turns to give you that), and thus i can no longer justify believing my drug use makes me less than worthy of all that too.

And I hope this isn't too offputting. I saw some of your posts and am in just squishy enough of a headspace to feel safe letting you know how much you being open about this has made this weirdo stranger's life much more worth living. Like, fuck homie. Ever since you gave me what i needed for that paradigm shift sometimes i just go and hold the love of my life's hand while they sleep because i want to make up for all the time wasted holding their hand and feeling like i was going to ruin them.

nyways, thanks for listening to me and all the other strangers of the internet. I hope your coke crash recedes quickly and smoothly. and may the grocery store never be out of your favrite things.

Addiction doesn't make you a bad person and I'm happy to be a reminder of that. Even while being reliant on drugs, it's entirely possible to be a good and kind person who does their best to treat others right. Obviously addiction isn't a good thing, but it doesn't invalidate your humanity and it doesn't make you a bad person. I'm proud to remind you of that fact!

[musicalsandbrainrot]

So. I decided to watch the 2004 Michael Arden version of Bare and the 2013 LA version to compare what I liked best between the two.

(This is obviously just my personal preferences so if you don't agree that's okay!)

2013 LA:

The staging. I felt like they did a really good job at using as much space on stage at once, while keeping it pretty simplistic. I also enjoyed how they separated the rooms!

I felt like the actors for Jason and Peter here had more chemistry than the 2004 version, I was able to connect more with their relationship because of it which added slightly more impact to the overall thing.

The rave scene. From start to end this scene was nothing but a horny and chaotic masterpiece and no version of Bare will ever be able to replicate that energy

The sibling energy was so strong during this version of plain Jane fatass, I found it more believable that these people were eachothers support systems than I did with 2004. I think this version was able to establish that relationship a bit better and because of that I was more connected with the story.

Jonah platt's version of once upon a time. I just. Its so well done vocally and it really really has a significant emotional impact, and I simply don't think any other production will ever compare to jonah's performance of this song <3

I prefer that Two Households and Bare happen before the play starts, it feels smoother and easier to follow

A detail I noticed throughout the show was how intimate Jason and Peter were and how that intimacy continued on even during periods of hardship in their relationship. In the 2004 version during a fight or after a fight you'd often see one initiate some form of intimacy and the other would resist it. But in this version during fights and or after fights when one would initiate intimacy the other would still usually cling to it, as if a moment of weakness? And I think this plays into why this set of actors seemed to have so much chemistry on stage

THE SMALL SCENE BETWEEN NADIA AND JASON AFTER PROMISE!!! This scene is so important to helping go even further in establishing that these two characters are eachothers support systems, and makes the ending so much more devastating for nadia! She was literally BEGGING him to just talk to her, like this scene is the one that breaks me every fucking time dude. Every fuckin time

2004 version:

Lucas as a whole was everything in this version idk

The arrangements were so good, I was jsut having a blast the whole way through while also being deeply emotionally unwell

I really like that they gave us more insight onto Jason and nadias childhood

Cross. This. Everything about the way they portrayed this song was absolutely phenomenal dude. The staging number 1, I liked how realistic it felt for a confessional booth and how claustrophobic it was as well? And godamn the way John Hill started sobbing after the priest voices his disproval of him being gay is AMAZING! not only that, but then the way he tries to turn away from him and get as far from him as he can but he cant because, again, it's super cramped in that booth, and the way he covers his ears too like. EVERYTHING about this scene was fucking amazing. AMAZING!

THE ROMEO AND JULIDT COSTUMES!!!! THEY WERE SO PRETTY

The slightly different lyrics in this version of bare were really pretty

The fucking scene where everyone slowly catches Jason in silk until he"s trapped in a sort of web like figure. That was. That was so cool and pretty and I replayed it at least 5 times.

[docholligay]

What hobbies or activities would your OW crew each try and pick up during corona quarantine?

Tracer

Lena is going to try and learn a second language. She took French in school, didn’t she? And didn’t she graduate school? Right! So this should be an absolute walk in the park. French it is. Her first choice was Arabic, as it was, in fact, the prospect of Amari drama that made her embrace the wisdom of being a polyglot in the first place, but Mercy’s gentle suggestion that she start with something a bit closer to home base made her try for French. Arabic could be her third language. 

And it isn’t that Tracer is stupid, so much as she has the full confidence that she can try hard and find success. This has been true so many times in her life, that she was simply the one most dedicated to the outcome, and so she managed to wrench it from the hands of fate. She is quick, and clever, and capable! What’s FRENCH got that she can’t handle. 

Lena, five minutes in: Oh, right, I hated school. 

She tries, god love her, but it just doesn’t hold her attention. She’s trying so hard to write verb forms and study and study, but she doesn’t honestly care much to KNOW French. It reminds her of Amelie, for starters, and that always gives her a little bit of a pit in her stomach, and without Amelie, there seems very little reason to know it. Only one in the house who speaks it is Mercy, really. 

So she takes account of the languages her team knows. 

Hana...Korean, of course, and at least some Japanese, mostly for promotional reasons. Lena takes one look at the Japanese rules of politeness and deference and gently sets the language to the side. She thinks about Korean--Korea’s been so much help since the omnic crisis, and it’s a good thing to converse with your allies--but the daunting aspect of having to ask Hana, who seems not even to know herself whether she likes everyone in the house or not, overcomes her. 

Fareeha, well, that’d be Arabic, and that’s it, so far as Lena knows, and Ang’s already warned her off of that one. Fareeha’s feeling a it pricky about the whole Arabic situation since her mother’s come back, anyhow, and all her workout music has turned to English, and Lena’s not certain why she seems to be blaming the entire Arab world for Ana, but then again, Lena doesn’t understand Fareeha in the best of times. 

Winston, he’d of course help her, but a lot of his knowledge is tied up in Latin and Scholarly Greek, and she’s not sure why anyone would take all the effort when you couldn’t even properly go on holiday. He does know a fair amount of German, she figures, but if she’s going to do that, she may as well go to Ang, and besides all that, Winston dos so much for her. No need to throw in another thing. 

Ana: No. 

Jack: No, but a bit softer. 

Angela seems the natural choice, as she knows so many languages, comparatively. Her father was a linguist of sorts, to hear Ang talk around the edge of it, and so German, French, Italian, Latin, Hebrew, at the least, all come to her quickly and easily. It’s English she likes the least, and she’s better at it than she gives herself credit for, near perfect but for a few stange tenses. It really only Ang who notices. But Angela is, well, Ang, and with all the troubles of the world, she’s lost her mind, a bit. 

So there’s no real help to be had, and Lena buys a few Muzzy tapes in French and learns how to say “I am a young girl” and “I like apples” before deciding that her quarantine time is better spent ensuring that she can actually climb the drain to the roof, jump from the roof into the pool, and other extremely valuable information. No one was hiring her for the language department anyhow. 

Winston

WInston is more used to solitude than the rest of them, and as far as he’s concerned, it’s not really loneliness if Tracer is with him. THough he feels bad for her, and how stir crazy she’s getting. It makes him sad to see her so bored and glum, though she is trying to make cheer of it. 

And so Winston has a genius idea. Tracer LOVES gymnastics, and Winston loves a project. So the idea for the super bounce trampoline is born. 

You cannot tell Winston this is a bad idea. You cannot tell Winston this is a bad idea, because, on some level, he already knows. He knows, but he sees Tracer doing her little cartwheels in the yard, running laps, trying to create little games for herself where she creates time trials around the house, trying to improve on each activity lap. At the time where she breaks three plates trying to see if she can beat her time for table service, it even starts to sound like a GOOD idea. 

He’s fine making little picnic lunches together and watching TV and having her ‘help’ in the lab, but she is becoming despondent with the boredom of it all. It has been ten days. 

And so, he looks at the metals he’s engineered for use in his prosthetic limbs. Couldn’t they also be used to create a spring that would double your strength and energy return of a normal spring? Than Lena could do all kinds of maneuvers on the trampoline, and besides, it’s always important to know the limits of engineering. 

Angela tries to remind him hospitals  are full. 

Dva

The first day of quarantine, Hana Song pops a soda in her pj shorts and says, “It’s a pandemic! Why do we have to improve ourselves? God, isn’t it enough to be alive?” She takes a deep sip. “I’ll do some charity streams, okay?” 

As she’s walking away Tracer asks her if she’ll help paint the upstairs den. Tracer is making little physical projects for herself in varying levels of horror, sometimes while watching the Muzzy tapes to convince herself she hasn’t given up on the bilingual dream. Painting seems tame. Hana stops for a moment, then agrees. 

She is the only reasonable person in this house. 

Mercy

Angela is in a panic. The entire world seems to be crumbling at her feet, and though she is no epidemiologist, she knows that none of this is good. She wants to go. Pharah begs her to stay. She is afraid for Angela. To put her in some ICU where she could get the illness, where it could be, as such, that Fareeha would not be able to come to her. She understands Angela’s need to help, but also, she says, what if something happened to you? You are the only doctor with any real knowledge of Tracer. What would be come of her. 

Angela only looks at her for a moment before her face darkens, and Fareeha shakes her head, ashamed. “I was using Tracer to excuse my own fears. I am selfish. You should go.” 

And in that moment, Angela does not leave not because she is the only physician who can properly work with Tracer’s condition, but for the great love of Fareeha Amari, who for the first time since Angela has known her, is truly afraid. 

The days pass with difficulty. She is writing guidelines and ideas to anyone she can, coordinating donations and writing out thank yous and pleas, sitting in the bay window of their bedroom as the sleeting snow and rain fall against the window one bleak afternoon. The sun and storm come in patches, she’s noticed, but the grey seems to speak to her most all. 

Fareeha comes to her one day. She has a mug filled with hot chocolate and whipped cream and brandy and love. She gently places her hand on Angela’s knee. 

“I hear you crying in the night,” she says, though she cannot look to Angela’s face, “You should go. You must go.” 

She loves Fareeha so very much. 

She goes. 

Pharah

Which immediately drives the sort of disconnected and floating morass of ennui that is the Overwatch household into Von Trapp style whistle blowing order. 

Pharah’s project, you see, is everyone else. 

Fareeha is a lovely person in most respects, all of them would say in one way or another, but she has certain control issues, and these never become more pronounced than when her life seems, well, out of control. 

No more laying about. There is a kitchen to be reorganized, there are drills to be done, when was the last time you lifted? There is a color coded schedule posted in the kitchen and we should all take note of the way Fareeha has scheduled our time. Tracer balks, of course, that she’s the leader as well, and Fareeha has a terrible habit of assuming that it’s her who’s the leader entire and complete, and you know what else--

Winston pulls them apart. Neither of them, he tries to say, are actually angry with each other. He shakes when he says it. 

And so Pharah tries. God love her, she tries SO HARD. She improves herself, and tries to let others be. She reorganizes the entire kitchen. She labels every bulk container, She scrubs every floor in the house to a gleaming shine. Her clothes, and Angela’s all washed and organized by sshade and season. 

One night Lena comes downstairs and sees her looking out the window, drinking a Labatt, rubbing at her wedding ring. Lena wouldn’t embarrass her by asking, but her eyes seem to beglistening, jsut a bit. 

The next morning, all three of the rest of the OVerwatch team are lined up, at the bottom of the stairs, at 6 am sharp. 

It’s true that Fareeha takes herself on three hour runs across the prairie in all weathers to give everyone some down time where they don’t have to be doing anything, but they broker a sort of peace wherein they spend a certain amount of time doing Fareeha Amari’s Twelve Point Improvement Plan every day, and time doing their own thing, and Fareeha seems genuinely cheered to be plotting out their workout and meal plans, their online seminars to listen to. She and Lena even watch a few Muzzy tapes together. 

She even forgives Tracer when the first test of Winston’s trampoline finds Lena sailing through Pharah’s (Thankfully open) bedroom window. 

Ana and Jack:

 They spend all of quarantine watching 90 Day Fiancee and eating TV dinners.

[minecraftoworymode]

God-denial, devil-death Great leader Prophesied reformer

We pray for your triumphant soul's return

wip... i’ve thought way too much about star shield jesse

for full context: this post, (the first half of) this post, and also- light grey eyes indicate that an npc has been “adjusted” (so like, everyone in the keep and the ‘burg). freds’ friends’ genuine love for their leader mixed with romeo’s programmed-in veneration of the admins = cultish trivia contest that also serves to keep up the image of fred romeo wants to remember. kent exists for a) keeping an eye on the keep b) eternal self-flagellation by constantly reminding romeo that he killed his best friend and c) despite that remembering them as someone who would forgive him in a heartbeat and love him anyway (which might not necessarily be true, but).

so, star shield is kind of like a kick in the head to romeo ahgldhfglkhGLHDF

when it comes to the trivia thing they go around and talk to everyone but instead of asking for infromation about fred they accidentally just. chat like normal people, like old friends even some might say. the rest of the gang is too busy worrying about things and trying to get information themselves to however, when the time comes for the trivia contest jesse miraculously "guesses" all the right answers. the first time kent brushes it off as beginner’s luck, the second time he looks at them a little funny, the third time binta makes a joke about how jesse must be REALLY lucky, the fourth through seventh are met with increasing bewilderment, and it’s only the eighth question where they stumble

but the thing is... all the answers have been supplied by you-know-who to binta n theyre kind of flat take type answers bc he was intent on crafting a very specific image of fred. beyond perfect, but also kind of. stereotypical? one-dimensional? and when that question comes up kent waits to answer bc so far they've been terrifyingly on-the-nose with these answers and he's honestly a little afraid but instead of the “correct” answer, which is lapis blue, they go "red?" and everyones like . huh?? n they sort of shrug and go "that's the colour of roses! i've always liked roses, and look, there's one in their windowsill * points*" and when everyone looks at them they grin sheepishly and admit that fred mustve had really good taste because this entire time they’ve just been giving their own favourites haha

they dont win the point but thats when kent becomes convinced that theyre deadass some kind of reincarnated fred or something

anyway later jesse’s trying to undo the brainwashing which obviously won’t fly with kent and like... they obviously dont know what the funk he’s going on about but he’s CONVINCED that this is fred’s version of revenge- that letting him think they were dead this entire time, and now pretending not to even recognize him, is all some sick joke. and he’s going on this long-winded one-sided rant about how he can’t BELIEVE this and this is SO- how could they do this to him- and theyre like Dude I Legit Have No Clue What You’re Talking About. Do You Want Me To Make You Some Tea Or Something

and it SUCKS because this all seems to only be making him angrier? the genuinely (or apparently genuinely) confused reaction and like overall trying to de-escalate the situation- the more they try to calm ‘kent’ down the more hes convinced that theyre just fred playing a game, and he always knew fred was a good actor too its just that romeo nowadays uses being a good actor to basically jsut dick around and hurt people but fred would never do that- and yet here is fred, seemingly doing that

(also people who remind him of fred, who are diplomatic and try to avoid fighting where they think they can talk things out instead, rly set him off)

eventually star shield manages to defeat kent’s boss form with the help of everyone else in the keep n before they go back to the oasis binta stops them and asks if they dont maybe recognize this place-? she knows it sounds silly but it just, it feels like she's known them for way longer than just a few days and she sounds kind of... hopeful, and yes she knows its impossible yes she knows now that fred is dead for good and not just gone but... but if there were ever anyone to be able to do something impossible itd be an admin, right?

of course jesse doesnt get at All what shes talking about and probably just says they wish they'd known her sooner bc she seems like a rly cool person n she does get kind of bummed but like

right before leaving they say a very freddish sentence (might even be something fred actually said often?) n they didnt think it was all that cool a one-liner but as they leave the keep bintas staring at them like theyve just invented sliced cake

[archiefm]

         ... claws my way up from hell once more and vomits onto the dash.... hello. its nora. i used to write rory bergstrom, but if u were here before that u might remember me as greta or alma putnam or..... som1 else.... an endless carousel of trash children..... this is finn, who i actually wrote for an early version of this rp abt 5yrs back now...... grits teeth..... so forgive me if im rusty i havent written him in a long time but seein honey boy gave me a lotta finn muse n im keen to get Back On The Horse yeehaww...

DYLAN O’BRIEN / CIS-MALE — don’t look now, but is that finn o’callaghan i see? the 25 year old criminology and forensic studies student is in their graduate year of study year and he is a rochester alum. i hear they can be judicious, adroit, morose and cynical, so maybe keep that in mind. i bet he will make a name for themselves living off-campus. ( nora. 24. gmt. she/her )

shakes my tin can a humble pinterest, ma’am....

finn has a bio pasted at the bottom (n written in like.... 2015.... gross) but it’s long  so if u don’t wanna read it here’s the sparknotes summary..... anyway this was written years ago n a lot of it seems really cliche and lame now but..... we accept the trash we think we deserve

grumpy, ugly sweater wearing, tech-savvy grandpa

very dry sense of humour and embraces nihilism. 

if ron swanson and april ludgate had a baby it would be finn

he was raised in derry, just south of dublin.

from a big family. elder sister called sinead. he also has a younger sister (aoife), a younger brother (colm), and a collie named lassie because his father lovs cliches (finn hates cliches but loves his dog). 

his father was a pub landlord and his mother worked at the market sellin fruit n veg when they met but got a job as a medical receptionist when she had kids cos it meant she cld be there with them in the day and work nights.

his parents met when they were p young and fiesty and rushed into marriage cos they were catholic n just wanted to have sex. his family were literally dirt-poor, but they had a lot of love i guess

hmmmmm his relationship w his father wasn’t the best cos i can’t write character who have healthy relationships w their parents throws up a peace sign. yh, had a pretty emotionally distant, alcoholic violent father n so gets a lot of his bad habits i.e. drinking as a coping mechanism and poor anger management from him BUT anyway

as a kid he was never very motivated in class, he always had a nervous itch to be off somewhere doing something else. struggled under government austerity bcso there just wasn’t the resources to support low income families where the kids had learning difficulties n needed support. fuck the tories am i right 

his mum suggested he try sports to help w his restless energy but he was never any good at football so he took up boxing and tap dance instead. he took to tap dancing like a fish to fuckin water. as adhd n found this as a really good way to use his excess energy in a creative way

had a few run ins with the police in his early teens for spray painting and graffiti, but he straightened himself out n now actually considering becoming a detective inspector??? cops are pigs.

he had a youtube channel where he posted videos of him tapdancing and breakdancing as a kid, basically would be a tiktok boy nowadays, n had like... a small fanbase in his early teens. attended several open auditions unsuccessfully, until he was finally cast in billy eliot when he was fifteen.

during billy eliot he began dating an italian dancer called nina. they became dance partners soon after and toured across the republic with various different shows (inc riverdance lol the classic irish stereotype). their relationship was p toxic tbh, they were both very hot tempered people and just used to argue and fight all the time.

he went semi-pro at tap dancing, and nina couldn’t stand being second best so she moved back to italy with her family. ignored his texts, phone calls, etc, eventually he was driven to the point where he used his savings to buy a plane ticket, showed up at her house and she was like wtf?? freaked out and filed a restraining order accusing him of stalking.

he was fined for harassment and then returned home to derry, but after the incident with nina he quit dancing for good and finished his leaving cert before heading to university in the US to get as far away from nina and his past life as poss. and basically since he quit dancing to study forensics (death kink. finn cant get enough of that morgue. just walks around sayin beat u) he’s become a massive grump and jsut doesn’t see the good in people any more.

u’ll find finn in an old man bar drinking whiskey bc he is in fact an old man at heart or sat on his roof smoking a joint, drawing wolves and lions and skeletons and shit, playing call of duty or getting blazed or at the corner of the room in a house party ignoring everyone and scrolling through twitter. is a massive e-boy. always up-to-date on memes and internet slang. has reddit as an app on his phone

not very good at communication. rather than solve his issues by talking, he’d prefer to just solve them through fighting or running away from his problems hence why he has come halfway across the world to get away from an issue which probs cld have been solved w a few apology emails.

takes a lot to phase him, but when his beserk button gets pressed he can become a bit pugnacious like an angry lil rottweiler. in his undergrad he was in a few fist fights but doesn’t really do tht any more as he doesn’t condone violence.

 in the previous version of this rp he was hospitalised like 5 times. pls, give my son a break. stop tryin to kill him. he literaly got a bottle smashed over his head and bled out all over his favourite angora rug that was the only light of his life

works at the campus coffee shop n always whines about how he’s a slave to capitalism. always smells of coffee

lives off campus with an elderly woman named Marianne, and basically gets reduced rent bcos he makes her dinner / keeps her company. they have a great bond

fan of karl marx. v big on socialism

insomniac with chronic nosebleeds

cynical about everything. too much of a fight club character 4 his own good n has his head up tyler durden’s sphincter

always confused or annoyed

statistics

basic information

full name: finnegan seamus o'callaghan nickname(s): finn age: 25 astrological sign: aries hometown: derry, ireland occupation: phd student / former street entertainer fatal flaw: cynicism positives: self-reliant, street smart, relaxed, intelligent, spontaneous, brave, independent, reliable, trustworthy, loyal. negatives: hostile, impulsive, stubborn, brooding, pugnacious, untrusting, cynical, enigmatic, reserved.

physical

colouring: medium hair colour: dark brown, almost black eye colour: brown height: 5’9” weight: 69kg build: tall, athletic voice: subtle irish accent, low, smooth. dominant hand: left scar(s): one on the left side of his ribs from a knife wound that he doesn’t remember getting cos he was drunk distinguishing marks: freckles, tattoo of a wolf howling at a moon allergies: pollen and the full spectrum of human emotion alcohol tolerance: high drunken behaviour: he becomes friendlier, far more conversational than when sober, flirtier, and generally more self-confident.

psychological

dreams/goals: self-fulfilment, travel the globe, experience life in its most alive and technicoloured version, make documentary films, help the vulnerable in society, grow as a human being.

skills: jack-of-all-trades, very fast runner, good at thieving things, talented tap dancer, good in crisis situations, dab-hand at mechanics, musically-intelligent, can throw a mean right hook and very capable of defending himself, can roll a cigarette, memorises quotes and passages of literature with ease, can light a match with his teeth.

likes: the smell of the earth after rain, poetry, cigarettes, shakespeare, whiskey, tattoos, travelling, ac/dc, deep conversations, leather jackets, open spaces, the smell of petrol, early noughties ‘emo phase’ anthems.

dislikes:  the government, parties, rules, donald trump, children, apple products, weddings, people in general, small talk, dependency, loneliness, pop music, public transport, justin timberlake, uncertainty.fears: fear itself, drowning alignment: true neutral mbti: istp – “while their mechanical tendencies can make them appear simple at a glance, istps are actually quite enigmatic. friendly but very private, calm but suddenly spontaneous, extremely curious but unable to stay focused on formal studies, istp personalities can be a challenge to predict, even by their friends and loved ones. istps can seem very loyal and steady for a while, but they tend to build up a store of impulsive energy that explodes without warning, taking their interests in bold new directions.” (via 16personalities.com)

full bio (lame as fuck written years ago..... pleathe...)

tw homophobia

born in quigley’s pub on the backstreets of sunny dublin, young finnegan o'callaghan was thrown kicking and screaming into the rowdy suburbs of irish drinking culture. the son of a landlord and a fishwife, he never had much in the way of earnings, but there was never a dull moment in his lively estate, where asbo’s thrived, but community spirit conquered. at school, finn was pegged as lazy and unmotivated, though truly his dyslexia made it hard for the boy to learn in the same environment of his peers and only made him more closed-off in class. struggling with anger management, finn moved from school to school, unable to fit the cookie-cutter mould that school enforced on him, though whilst academic studies were of little interest to the boy, he soon found his true passions lay in recreational activities. immersed into the joys of sport from as young as four, finn was an ardent munster fan and anticipated nothing more than the day he could finally fit into his brother’s old pair of rugby boots.

his calling finally came unexpectedly, not in the form of rugger, but through dance. to learn to express himself in a non-academic way, he began tap dancing, finding therapy in the beat of his soles against the cracked kitchen tiles (much to his mother’s disgrace). it wasn’t a conscious choice, finn just realised one day that dance was something that made him feel. a king of the streets, finn made his fortune on those cobbled pavements – dancing and drawing to earn his keep. by default, finn became a street artist, each penny he earned from his chalk drawings saved in a jam jar towards buying his first pair of tap shoes. though many of his less-than-amiable neighbours called him a nancy and a gaybo, finn refused to quit at his somewhat ‘unconventional’ hobby, for the young scrapper found energy, life, and released anger through the rhythm of tap. soon he branched out into street dance, hip hop, break dancing, lyrical, his days spent smacking his scuffed feet against the broken patio into the night.

when he was thirteen he took up boxing, and as expected, his newfound ‘macho’ pastime conflicted with his dancing. the boxers called him ‘soft’; the dancers called him ‘inelegant’. he felt like two different people; having to choose between interests was like being handed a knife and asked to which half of himself he wished to cut away. he couldn’t afford professional training in dance, with most schools based in england and limited scholarships available. instead, he made the street his studio, racking up a small fanbase on youtube. when he was fifteen he made his debut in billy eliot at the olympia theatre in dublin. enter nina de souza, talented, beautiful and italian; ballet dancer, operatic singer, genius whiz kid, and spoiled brat. she was selfish, conceited, hell bent on getting her own way, and every director’s nightmare. finn fell for her like a house of cards. he’d always had a soft spot for girls who meant trouble. and so their hellish courtship began.

by the time they were seventeen, the two young swans had danced in every playhouse across the republic. they were known in theatres across the country for their tempestuous personalities, their raging arguments with one another, their tendency to drop out of shows altogether without any notice, yet the money kept rolling in and the audiences continued to grow. for three years, their families continued to put up with their hysterical fights followed by passionate reconciliations. he was too possessive, and she was too wild. their carcrash of a relationship finally came to a catastrophic halt when nina broke off the whole affair and returned to italy with her family. for months finn tried to contact her, yet his phone calls, texts, facebook messages were always ignored, until finally he was driven to drastic measures and used his savings to get a plane to her home town. when finn turned up uninvited at nina’s house she freaked out – and rightly so – she contacted her agent, accused him of stalking her, and had a restraining order placed against him. finn was arrested, held in a station overnight, and charged with harassment before he was allowed to return to dublin.

after the incident with nina, finn lost the fight in his eyes. he became far more hostile, far less likely to retaliate with his own fists, and picked fights not for the thrill of feeling his own fists pummel another into a wall, but for the sensation of his own brittle bones cracking. he dropped his tap shoes in a dumpster, stopped talking to his friends, followed his father’s advice and went back to school to complete his leaving certificate. a few short months later, and finn was packing his bags, saying his bittersweet goodbyes, and travelling half-way across the globe to be as far away as possible from his past self, his mess of a life, and most of all nina. it seemed somehow ironic that the boy who had been cautioned by the garda so much during his youth for spray painting, busking without a liscence, and raucous parties would become the grumpy, aloof overseas student studying a degree in criminology; that his once reckless spirit could be crushed so easily. 

of all things that finn could be called, straightforward would never be one of them. ever since his first days in atticus, the boy was pegged as hostile, hot-headed, cynical, rude. he seemed to spend more time in his thoughts than engaging in conversation. like a ticking time-bomb, finn’s anger was of the calm kind, liable to explode without a moment’s noticed. his unpredictable personality make him something of an enigma to those who aren’t amiable with the lad, though hostile as he may appear, he harvests a good heart. loyalty lies at the centre of his affections, and whilst his friends are few in number, he makes a lifelong partner. somewhere within finn, there’s still some fight left, but mostly he has recognised that his hedonistic lifestyle did little to leave him fulfilled – mostly, it just emptied him out – and over his three years at university has resigned himself to a nihilistic predicament.

        if u wanna plot with me pls pls pls im me or like this post!! i am always game for plots i love em so excited to write with you all here r some ideas

study buddies. finn is now a phd student so has to start takin shit seriously. he gon be in the library every day doing that independent study. if he had ppl who were also regular library goers n they get each other coffees to save time.... tht wld be sweet

ppl who love techno dj sets and going super hard on the weekends!!! fuck yea

friends with benefits. exes on bad terms. ppl he tried to date but couldnt because he’s always emotionally hung up on someone else. spicy hook up plots

ppl he met touring?? maybe ppl who were also in the entertainment industry..... anyone got a character who is ex circus hit me up

does anyone else study criminology / forensics / criminal psych / law? phd students sometimes lecture so he cld be an assistant lecturer / tutor if ur character is in a younger year

gamers !!! social recluses !!! hermits !!

finn goes to the skatepark and all the young boys there think he’s a gradnpa which he is! 

[sensitive-rejects]

i have a mighty need

for roleplay that is

i would like to roleplay as rohan from jojo’s bizarre adventure with

an   y  o n  e

i was late to the party guys but im still here and dying

i’ve watched up to p3 (still watching it but god is it hard to watch when ik my favorite part is next) and finished p4 so ik what happens, have not started p5

i dont care if its nsfw or a group rp or w/e, i just want to roleplay as this dumb bitch

so please, i beg,, gibb,,, gibb me,,

(i also have ocs and want to make more but im a stupid bitch and im nervous to share them publicly so like as you do)

also i dont. roleplay like how im typing rn. if y’all are curious on how i actually rp, ill put it below the cut

so,, bls,,, if u are interested,, dm me,, i wnat,, roleplay,,

this is doomfist / genji shit so like be aware, its jsut like a starter

It had been a long time since he had been fixed up. Not a lot of people knew how to properly fix a cyborg-- a omnic and a human, yes, but not both at once. This led for a struggle for Genji-- to have to strive to never be really too harshly damaged before going in for repairs. Dreading the time for coming, he was pretty roughed up. He had heard about a shady doctor in the town he and his master had visited, and dreading being shunned from both humans and omnics alike, he took this risk.

If only he had realized how awful it was going to be. He had entered this shady area, only to have realized too late that it was a trap-- last thing he heard as a familiar hum of a voice followed by white noise, weightlessness, and then nothing. Nothing but darkness.

When he awoke, he knew something was wrong. He could feel no weight on his limbs, but still felt heavy. No additional cuffs or ties around him, so he was not bound. Why would he not be bound? Another notion was that he could not see. His arms were restricted, unable to reach up high enough to remove his obscured visor.  He then noticed the restrictions as he tried to stand, wobbling to the side and falling onto his knees. He attempted again, realizing he couldn't run or even walk for very long without falling to his knees. He was weak, right now. Unable to get his shuriken to load, and unable to even reach back far enough to check for his sword.

This was awful. He had to find a way to get out. Quickly. He must be being watched, clearly, but by who? And where were they? He heard nothing but the sound of his own steps. He began to crawl on his hands and knees instead of walking, finding it much more manageable. He continued to crawl around before he hit something. He gripped it, the frame of it, before slowly raising to rest on his knees.

Tracing up the form of the object-- metalic.. engraved. Then ridged.. It seemed to extend outwards- then, cloth? Cloth.. what kind of opening had cloth? A banner? He continued to trace upwards before stopping his tracing hands right at a frayed sash, hearing a echoed sound of a throat being cleared, just above him, but not by much.

Right. A person. How awkward it must have been  to have your captive feeling you up. The cyborg save a nervous laugh, "Ah, I was not meaning for this-- or. Anything else. I was just. Getting a feel of my surroundings." He lowered his hands to the ground, crawling backwards from the possible threat to get some distance. Patience. Pretend.

"Is this place this dark or is it just you?" He tensed. "I mean. Did you make it dark? Is it dark? I can't tell."

[lokiarsene]

like yesterday, here's a bullet list of my thoughts for episodes 18~21

thoughts on episode 18:

oh no, it's the beach episode.

-- i really like how they show the way the PT take care of futaba. ren patiently cleaning up her room in between hours at the florist, them playing vidya with her, or just having lunch together in montage moments is very sweet. it makes me wish the anime had much slower pacing, more slice of life-y kind of drama.

-- watching yusuke, ryuji, and futaba lose their freakin minds over good curry is VERY relatable.

-- i still don't understand why ann and makoto thought that a two piece frilly bathing suit was the way to go with futaba. a one piece that she could wear under a long wrap or a hoodie would've made so much more sense... but >male gaze

-- have i told y'all how fucking tired i am of the sexualization of the teenage girls in p5 yet, and how it is one of the several things that fuckin ruined this game for me

have i?

well here it is again

none of the previous games were as bad as this b t w and p4 had one of the dungeons be a STRIP CLUB.

-- yusuke and his lobsters are wonderful.

-- oh god i forgot COMPLETELY about the whole 'mental shutdowns' thing in this game's plot. i think because it's all so pointlessly convoluted. p3 had something similar but even there it was just people turned catatonic for weeks on end when the monthly boss-shadows drew near.

i think the reason i find this so hard to understand is because from p3 to p4 the rules of shadows didn't really change so much. p3 had the persona users go up against shadow bosses; p4 had people confront the shadows within themselves, either accepting them completely (which then turned into persona), or the shadow 'absorbed' the person and ran rampant as a monster. neither of those rules really contradict each other, but in p5 personal shadows for persona users are gone completely, and how you deal with other people's personal shadows doesn't even involve them being present to complete the merge.

mona says that persona users can't have palaces, but persona users in 4 could and DID have 'dungeons' within the shadows' worlds. these dungeons dealt specifically with what was at the core of the shadows' emergence--a deep secret and a hidden truth that caused the shadow to grow, a place that was a replica and a distortion of reality based upon that suppressed truth. so that sure sounds like a fucking palace to me.

so....................... unless there's like, multiple realities folded into our own, and persona users can only access certain ones.................. i'm just super confused.

like, i know it's because the rules change game to game, but p3 to p4 didn't have any contradictions, and p2 didn't contradict anything in p3, either. it just went from a full party of wild card users to a singular one.

-- i'm glad ann's getting a little screentime here. i was just thinking about how other characters' development was lacking after makoto and futaba got so much focus.

-- mona's so sweet to ann ;-; now that he has a human form in p5r, i hope they become really good friends. she needs a kind guy friend that'll be reliable~ plus he makes her laugh.

-- sojiro talking about the anniversary of wakaba's death is......... really interesting........ considering that screenshot of futaba sitting next to a woman with the exact same haircut as her "deceased" mother.

-- ren reassuring mona that he absolutely has to be human, that he will return to who he used to be once they figure out what's happening in the metaverse is jsut jdfklasd

AND HIS LIL ROUND OF APPLAUSE WHEN MONA TALKS ABOUT ALL THE THINGS HE'S GOING TO DO TO KEEP THE WORLD SAFE ;-;

AND THAT SHOT OF HIM SLEEPING CURLED UP ON REN'S STOMACH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-- listen i know mona isn't rly a cat but he's the BEST cat

thoughts on episode 19:

oh it's the hawaii episode.

-- man what the hell kinda budget do these school's got that they can just go overseas with dozens of students on a yearly basis? that's impressive.

-- ryuji: "whoa, awesome! ..... i don't really get it, but awesome!" fjdsafds okay that got a laugh outta me. good one, ryuji.

-- ren: "i'm excited, too." (said in a monotone) fjklsadsl BLESS THIS BOY

-- ren's FACE when he learns that futaba installed a spying app on his phone and can hear him/see pictures he takes is...... kind of hilarious. especially if you have the headcanon that he and akechi send dumbass snapchats to each other a lot--which i do. and which you do now, too.

-- mona's depression is ten times more sad because he's a cat okay :c why they gotta make the cat so cute

-- ren, ryuji, and ann's lil sleepover is adorable. especially since ann chastises ryuji for not knowing one of the basic rules of a sleepover: if you start talkin' about your crushes, you gotta start with your own~ thems the rules lads

-- rip principal bloatneck.

-- honestly that truck shoulda at least TRIED to stop.

-- "A LO HA." goddammit that's adorable

AND HE GIVES THE LEI NECKLACE TO MONA FJDSKFJDSKL ren you're so SWEET.

-- I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT MONA CALLS SAE "ONEE-NO-NIIJIMA" FJADSKLFJDSKL ahhhh it's so cute.

-- the PT targeting okumura, who is essentially the dave thomas with political ambitions of the persona 5 world, is far funnier now that i phrase it like that.

-- ANN, OF ALL FUCKING PEOPLE, SAYING THAT THEY PROBABLY BROUGHT THIS RECENT TROUBLE ON THEMSELVES, IS A FUCKING STUPID WRITING DECISION. I CAN'T BELIEVE SOMEONE DIDN'T LOOK AT THAT AND GO, "ANN WOULDN'T SAY THIS. ANN HAS NO REASON TO SAY IT." god. lmao PLEASe let p5r be a goddamn second draft.

-- mona's totally right that ryuji's just concerned with getting popular and his dick wet. like,,, that's why this argument only made me hate ryuji more than i already did. he gets pissy when mona points out the truth.

god he sucks lmao

I'M SORRY I'M SO SALTY YOU GUYS

LOOK I'LL SAY SOMETHING NICE: SAE AND AKECHI ARE COOL

-- i really like how guarded akechi's face looks in his conversation with sae, and how off his guard he looks when she tells him that she's not going to hold back, especially since the culprit is doing such dire, awful things. he's not exactly surprised, but he's definitely uneasy and shaken by what he hears. which makes me wonder who he’s really concerned for--himself, or for ren (and the PT by extension, but akechi only really seems to care about ren, so).

the reason i like that is because the okumura arc in p5 is really where akechi's mind starts its downward spiral. principal kobayakawa's death obviously rattled him, especially since the only reason the principal died was because shido saw him as useless and disposable, something akechi is desperate NEVER TO BE. and it's that + what happens with okumura that really kicks him over the edge.

i hope p5r will give us the chance to pull him back from it. he deserves a better chance than the game's subpar writing gave to him.

thoughts on episode 20:

-- ren wakes up in a panic because he thinks he sees mona on his bed ;___________;

-- goro snoopin' on the PT's LOUD, TOTALLY CONSPICUOUS conversation in front of okumura foods' HQ is kind of adorable if you remember he clearly loves star wars (HE HAS A LIGHT SABER), and the camera cuts to his face right as they're talking about big bang and outer space lingo.

-- oh, haru. i really wish you were the black mask. that would've been so much cooler--and an actual twist. her total hopeless panic about being a beauty thief could still be a thing (because it is actually endearing), it'd just be an act. but that's me talkin' fix-its again.

-- i really like the scene of haru defending mona to the PT on the rooftop, then cutting to show just how strained her relationship is with her father. she exists to be useful to her father's ambitions and nothing else, and that scene really drove home just how painful that is for her.

-- REN TWIRLS HIS HAIR BETWEEN TWO FINGERS WHEN HE'S DEEP IN THOUGHT. AHHHHHHH I FORGOT HE DID THAT

-- oh hey remember how the game went through the trouble of showing how haru's fiance is a sexist, violent, animal-hurting piece of shit and then promptly failed to actually separate her from him in game (i think you only can do that in her s-link?? the s-link you can barely finish in your first run of the game??), and in t hEN SHOWED HER IN THE CAR WITH HIM LATER, LOOKING HORRIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE?

god this story makes me so fucking mad lmfao STOP PUTTING GIRLS IN PHYSICALLY OR SEXUALLY VIOLENT PERIL AND NEVER ACTUALLY ENSURING THAT THEY'RE SAFE, YOU DAVID CAGE LEVEL OF HACK BULLSHIT WRITERS.

-- ryuji running into the attic, all worried about mona, with a first aid kit, is..... very good. very good and endearing. good on you, ryuji.

-- haru gently encouraging mona to tell the truth is also really good. idk if i just missed it in the game or what, but i really like how she's presented in the anime. she's like a counterpart to ren--soft, sincere, observant, patient, yet she's made of pure steel beneath all that.

thoughts on episode 21:

-- WHY WAS HARU'S GRANDFATHER GIVING COFFEE TO A FIVE YEAR OLD

-- haru, the reason your father's heart grew twisted is thanks to capitalism. you gotta change the heart of capitalism.

-- not to be all poochie here but whenever akechi isn't on screen, all i can ask myself is whERE'S AKECHI?

-- HOW CAN I TAKE THE EVIL DAVE THOMAS SERIOUSLY WHEN HE'S DRESSED LIKE FUCKIN MEGAMIND?

-- okay see this is where i'm thrown completely out of the story or even really liking haru. haru just listened to her dad's shadow saying he would PIMP HER OUT TO HER FIANCE WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT. and she still is just like ~no i want him to go back to being kind~

bitch are you nuts

are you NUTS

youR DAd SHOULD DIE AND YOU'D BE BETTER OFF

CONSIDERING HOW THE GAME GOES, YOU ARe BETTER OFF

god. i'm getting so mad again lmao

-- ren approaching haru to point out that if the truth of her father's crimes comes to light, she'll forever be associated with him (and with all the harm and ruined reputation that brings) is, once again, further reminder of just how... damn good ren is. he doesn't hesitate to speak from the heart nor does he ever fail to listen to someone else speak from theirs.

-- also not for nothing but uh

how did the cops not like

figure out how the PT phan-site was set up within the first few months and track it down to mishima? was that ever addressed at all?

-- honestly another reason why i get so fucking mad about this okumura stuff is the game goes SO FAR OUT OF ITS WAY to make you feel BAD that he died, when he was by all rights a fucking shitheel monster, yet when akechi dies it's like 'oh well. that sucked.' fuck off, atlus. the death of a greedy, heartless CEO isn't more sad just because his gaslit daughter is conditioned to be sad about it.

i understand that a large part of the shock after okumura's death is because the PT don't know if they did anything wrong. but okumura was in no way a good person. he was in no way a person whose redemption overruled all the hurt and harm he did. that has been the case for EVERY PT target before this, so why the fuck is okumura suddenly so different? why SHOULD he be?

the difference between him and, say, akechi is that okumura et. al. all made those choices on their own to do terrible things. they delighted in it, they enjoyed it. but akechi, much like futaba, was forced into a cycle of self-destruction--it’s just that in futaba’s case, her self-destruction targeted herself, and akechi’s was quite literally weaponized and used against others. he approached shido as a young teenager and was then used by him for years.

a teenage boy being used as a magical hitman by his shitlord father is far more deserving of sympathy and redemption than grown adults who willingly make the decision to harm, abuse, and prey on others. but no, the game didn’t want to do that.

this is another big problem i have with p5's second and third acts: it's so tonally dissonant and sloppy. it's like they didn't try to actually be as rebellious and hellraiser-y as the first act WANTED to be, and it all ends up being such a limp-dick shriveled mess of "let's fight against this rotten society!! ......... as long as it in no way actually upsets anyone or does any REAL change." fuck off lmao

that's not me even commenting on the "twist" and how it needed to be explained MULTIPLE TIMES to the player for it to make any sense.

and it still doesn't make sense to me btw.

so that's another thing i hope p5r fixes.

-- rip evil dave thomas megamind.

-- akechi floating the idea to sae that the phantom thieves had nothing to do with okmura’s death is............................ interesting.

[digikate813]

My Little Pony Re-Watch: Episode 45 Putting Your Hoof Down

*Oh goody. At last we’ve gotten to my least favorite episode of the season. And starring my favorite character. Who could ask for anything more?

*Sometimes i feel like I’m too hard on Angel Bunny. But I have noticed that how much you like Angel depends on how you feel about Fluttershy. The more you like her, the less you tolerate his attitude. But I think even big fans of Angel have trouble defending this appearance. He’s such a little brat and causes Fluttershy such unnecessary grief in the process. He slaps Flutters for crying out loud! Is that supposed to be funny? Because it’s not. It’s mean. And it would take many seasons for Angel to get back in my good graces after this incident.

*But something that is kind of cute is the architecture in Fluttershy’s cottage. This might be a weird time to bring it up but you see here that there’s little holes and staircases all over the place. Even in really high places. Specifically so the animals Fluttershy takes care of can get where they need to. I always love that unique design choice to help make it feel like a specific character’s home.

*You want an episode where Fluttershy learns to stand up for herself? Fine, I get it. And i understand you need a couple of inciting incidents to get her to realize this is something she needs to work on. But y’know, you can illustrate that point without making everypony around her an unreasonable jerk.It might have even gotten across the point better if they were just casually dismissive, which they manage to present once or twice here. But most of the time, it’s ponies being absolutely awful! And it makes this whole section of the episode just uncomfortable to watch.

*Especially the cherry guy. Worst shop pony EVER!!!

*Pinkie’s Looney Tunes antics continue. I personally prefer the elaborate chases, but this is still pretty funny and well performed by the voice actors.

*I also noticed that this is the first episode without Twilight in it since Sisterhooves Social. I always thought having all of the Mane Six write letters to Princess Celestia was done so she wouldn’t have to be in all the episodes. Maybe i was wrong. Because this is the only other episode in the season she’s not in, and you could have easily found a place for her in both of them.

*Our first Minotaur holds his seminar in a hedge maze. Love it! Not sure if the goat henchman are connected to the mythology as well, or if it’s just weird. Probably the latter.

*Iron Will’s not the most charismatic or memorable antagonist in the series, but he’s not bad or anything. He definitely get some good lines and most certainly presents the wrong way to be assertive. This guy’s not assertive. He’s a bully!

*Yeah Fluttershy. Those are usually my idea of options when someone’s blocking my way too.

*So after one seminar, and jsut trying Iron Will’s methods, FLuttershy takes the leap from assertive to aggressive, with little to no sense of concern befoe she gives in and thinks it works? I think that’s my problem with this leap in he character. I’m not going to say it’s out of character, because that’s kind of the point, but the transition from “old Fluttershy” to “new Fluttershy” is kind of jarring. It takes no time at all for her to start taking this too far. The first thing she does with Iron Will’s methods is spray a garden pony in the face with his own hose. And she kind of gets a thrill from that. Never questioning. Never contemplating if this really works. Maybe if there was a moment of reflection where she makes the conscious choice that this is working, I might be able to buy this a bit more. As it stands, it feels almost like whiplash.

*Why Fluttershy didn’t just fly over those carts is anypony’s guess.

*I understand that Fluttershy taking already not great advice too far is kind of the point, but it doesn’t make it any less difficult to watch. I’m sorry but I don’t find Fluttershy beating up a pony to get a cab entertaining in any way. 

*Or Fluttershy straight up insulting her friends life choices and passions. This isn’t her taking bad advice too far. This isn’t her being “too assertive”. This is, I don’t know what this is. This is the most comment complaint against this episode, and i have to agree. Saying that your best friends are throwing their lives away is horrible. Especially in a show called “Friendship is MAGIC”. It’s a really tough moment to watch, and not in a good way. I’m glad Fluttershy came to her senses after this, but I don’t think she had to go that far to realize that.

*Even with that said, I do feel bad for Fluttershy when she locks herself away like the Hulk. Determined never to hurt anyone ever again. But her house looks really abandoned. How long has it been again?

*And i do like how Pinkie and Rarity try ot comfort her. This is what happens when you try to change something this big about someone too quickly. Especially when their head is filled with such awful advice. One good argue they are being way too gracious after what she said to them, but what are friends for? I guess?

*I also like that they try to keep Iron Will away from Fluttershy. Good friends help protect you form unhealthy influences like this jerk.

*Okay there’s a lot about this episode that makes me annoyed and uncomfortable, but it could have all been worth it if the message came across clearly and presented well. And guess what? It’s not. At least I don’t think so. Watching this again, the way Fluttershy deals with Iron Will by standing her ground in a calm and cool way is perfectly fine. Buuuuut we don’t really see how Fluttershy reached this point. And that may have worked in this situation, but who’s to say it will again? For an episode that spends most of it’s time showing the wrong ways for a pony like Fluttershy to stand up for herself, we get 30 seconds of Fluttershy standing up for herself without becoming a monster. Like so many other things in this episode, it just seems like a leap without much to back it up.

As someone who has similar social anxieties to Fluttershy, I didn’t think this episode presented any kind of solution to this problem I personally had. Watching it again after improving on those issues a bit, I can see what they’re going for, but I still don’t think it’s presented well. If the point is to show how to stand up for yourself, even when it’s hard, without going too far, why is the eventual solution given so little time? After 20 minutes of unpleasantness? I may see what they were trying to do, but I still don’t think this episode presents it’s very important middle ground very well.People may hate Mare-Do-Well, but this is still my least favorite episode of the season.Maybe I’m being too harsh, but this should have been an episode someone like me could really learn form, but I took nothing but an uncomfortable vibe away from it. Next Time: It’s About Time!

[notarelationship]

Along For The Rides Ch 11

Blaine and Kurt get their summer romance on. Mostly fluff, awkward flirting, a side of misunderstanding and some hanky panky.

Rating: G (yeah sorry) Words: This chapter ~ 6000 Warnings this chapter: none

Read it on AO3,

Read it on Tumblr

So this is the end. Thanks for reading, and thanks to @honeysucklepink for all her work on this. (This chapter I beta’d myself, so I really hope it’s coherent.)

I’m not entirely sure I’m done in this verse, I have a couple things I might want to go back and add as standalone chapters. Also, I’m always up for prompts in anything I’ve published.

Here we go!

--

Kurt is finishing Mrs. Leahey’s oil change when he feels his phone buzzing in his back pocket. He knows it was Blaine, he had flown out with his parents two days earlier for their summer vacation in the South of France (and Kurt wasn’t at all jealous, no he was not), and he’d only had reliable wifi at the airport. But he is supposed to be arriving at their hotel today and Kurt had been expecting a text for the past couple hours.

B: Have you heard anything yet?

K: I told you you would be the first person I tell. K: So no.

Kurt still hadn’t heard from NYU about his admission, and Blaine was almost as eager as Kurt to get some news.

B: :-(

K: Yes, me too K: Are you having fun?

B: we jsut got here. i’m at the bar with mom

K: that doesn’t really answer my question

B: oh, it definitely does. B: not really, on hte fun B: but I am drinkning nice french wine

K: wow I’m not at all jealous. Please tell me more about this french wine

Blaine doesn’t text right back, so Kurt assumes he got distracted and starts cleaning up his work area. It’s late and he’s ready to go home and shower off the garage. According to Blaine, his mother liked to bond with him when they were on vacation, so that meant spending a lot of mother/son time.

B: what are you wearing?

K: seriously?

B: yeah, are you at the garage? what time is it there?

K: just finishing up, so still in my coveralls

B: send me a picture?

K: Blaine!

B: you look hot in those B: you know i like it

K: omg

B: come on Kurt

Kurt sighs to himself, but he’s going to take the picture. It’s not the first time Blaine has asked, and besides, Kurt has a whole folder of photos that Blaine has sent him over the past few weeks. All of them fully clothed, all of them adorable.

In the time it takes Kurt to get to the locker room, where the light is a little better for selfie-arrangement, Blaine does send a picture. It’s framed around his face, with one side of it resting on his hand. He looks a little worn from travel, and a little rumpled, and — Kurt thinks — completely adorable. He’s even wearing a bow tie.

And that’s another thing. Since Blaine’s stint with the carnival ended Kurt has noticed that Blaine’s appearance has gotten progressively neater with every photo he’s sent. Mostly it’s his hair, which has gone from a mop of curls of varying length to something much more neatly presented. Kurt hasn’t asked him about it, but he can’t say he minds.

K: you look adorable. Exhausted but adorable

B: well I am both

Kurt grins and, after several attempts, sends Blaine a photo he’s happy with

B: oh wow B: I wish I was alone in my room right now

K: omg

B: no I mean it, you look amazing

K: I look sweaty and covered with motor oil

B: and I love it

Kurt bites his lip. Blaine does that a lot — tells Kurt that he loves things about him, his hair, his collection of vintage scarves, his sense of humor. When they were playing 20 questions the day before Blaine left, he spent an excessive amount of time telling Kurt how much he loved his voice, once Blaine had convinced him to sing for him. It’s far, far too early Kurt to think he’s in love, but it’s still nice to hear from a cute boy.

B: oh I gotta run B: mom is trying to get the bartender to do shots with her B: I’ll text you tomorrow. Night

K: night Blaine. Don’t drink too much

--

Kurt is down in his basement sewing room altering some vintage jeans he bought off ebay when he hears his dad come lumbering down the stairs.

“Kurt! Kurt an envelope came! And it’s a big one. That’s a good sign, right?”

Kurt’s pretty sure he knows what’s in the envelope. He’d been notified by email three days earlier that he’d been accepted. He hadn’t said anything to anyone because he was afraid it would wind up as some kind of clerical error and not be true. Yet another cosmic joke in the misadventure that had been his life. He hasn’t even told Blaine.

“Are you gonna open it?” His dad is practically bouncing.

“Calm down,” he mumbles, hoping his dad is too excited to be upset with him for being testy. Kurt swivels around on his seat, closing his eyes and holding out his hand for the envelope. He thinks he might pass out.

Kurt doesn’t realize that he’s shaking until his dad puts a hand on his shoulder and he stops. “Kurt? Do you want me to look first?” Burt asks.

Kurt manages a hoarse, “No, I can do it.”

The envelope holds a few sheets of paper, some glossy brochures, and a printed letter. Kurt puts everything down but the letter, looking at his dad once before reading it out loud.

“Dear Mr. Hummel, Congratulations! We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted as a matriculating freshman at New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts, General Studies program….”

There are some other words, but Kurt doesn’t care about those right now.

“I’m in Dad.” He manages a dry swallow and looks at Burt. He wants to say something else, but his tongue won’t work, and it wouldn’t matter anyway. Burt wraps him so tightly in his arms Kurt is pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to do anything other than squeak.

“I’m so proud of you Kurt,”Burt chokes out, and Kurt can hear the tears in his father’s voice.

--

The rest of the summer is a blur. Since he’s a late admission he has a ton of things to do and not a lot of time. There are forms to fill in, deposits to make, and classes to register for, never mind the formidable task of deciding which clothes to bring with him to New York.

He didn’t get accepted to the Musical Theater program, but there are classes in the program available to him, and when Kurt finally gets someone on the phone in the admissions office they tell him that if his grades are good and he’s willing to audition again, he should be able to transfer in for sophomore year, if not the winter semester. That’s good enough for Kurt.

They only thing that’s less than perfect is Blaine. Blaine had been so ecstatic when Kurt texted to let him know he was moving to New York that he’d called him on the phone from France and they spoke for half an hour. But he’s seven solid hours ahead time-zone wise, and Blaine’s mother seems to think she needs to monopolize all of his time on their vacation in case Blaine decides to never come home or visit or call, just like his brother never does. So they text, but they don’t catch each other as often as either of them would like. The weekend Kurt leaves Lima for New York City they hadn’t had any contact in two days.

—

By the time Blaine’s plane lands in New York he’s worked himself into a worried mess. His mother had been annoyed when he told her he was going to have to leave their vacation early to make his orientation weekend in New York, so she decided that the best way to deal with that was to monopolize every minute of Blaine’s time while they were in France.

That means he and Kurt were almost never texting each other in real time, and by the time his plane lands in NY the Friday he’s supposed to start orientation, it’s been days since he’s actually had contact with Kurt. Blaine has heard stories about how you people live in New York for years without seeing friends who live mere blocks away, and he’s determined for that not to happen to him and Kurt.

So Blaine gets checked in and drops his bags at the holding area -- they aren’t even getting their room assignments until after dinner, then finds a quiet spot. His phone still has some juice, so he shoots off a quick text to Kurt. He doesn’t want it to be too pushy, but he needs to let Kurt know he’s here.

B: I’m here! In New York! B: I don’t know if you’re here yet, but I’d love to see you!

Blaine stares at his texts. I’d love to see you??? That sounds like something he’d send his cousin. Before he can come up with something more in tune with the actual excitement he feels about finally being in the same city as Kurt, his orientation section leader calls for everyone in the group to turn their phones off and pay attention. Blaine does, but only because he wants to send the perfect message, so he needs time to compose something.

--

Kurt’s flight is late. He’s supposed to register at 4:30, get his dorm key, move in, and then attend a snack and non-alcoholic drinks party in the common area starting at 5:30. When he finally frees his luggage from what has to be the most run down looking carousel in any airport in the US, Kurt has already decided that he’s not going to risk taking the bus into Manhattan. It’s worth spending some of his limited cash to get where he needs to be. He stands in the too long line for a taxi, looking around at the people and the cars and the bustle. For a moment nothing else matters. Even the airport is thrilling in New York.

Kurt calls his dad once he gets in a cab, and again when he gets to the dorm. His admission information had told him he was going to be in a triple -- one of the unfortunate side effects of being a late admission, but he didn’t realize exactly what that would mean. The room is small.

His roommates have been there for a week, and both of them have already been through orientation. Jeremy seems nice, and had claimed the single bed and the desk under the window. Kurt doesn’t meet their other roommate right away, but Jeremy tells him his name is Joe. Kurt is silently grateful that Joe took the top bunk by choice, so at least Kurt doesn’t have to worry about falling out of bed in the middle of the night. But Kurt is going to have to do some adjusting.

When he gets back to his room it’s after eleven, but Kurt feels a little more relaxed. Thankfully his roommates are still awake, so he doesn’t disturb them while he makes up his bed and gets ready to sleep. They chat and ask him simple questions about where he’s from and what he’s studying, and they both seem nice and happy to be in New York too, so Kurt is hoping he’ll be able to make the living arrangements work. Kurt takes a quick shower in the communal showers down the hall, and when he finally crawls into bed he’s asleep before he can count to ten.

--

“So, did he text you yet?”

Blaine is having breakfast with two of his suitemates -- David and Wes -- and apparently he’s already talked about Kurt so much they’ve both become invested in his attempts to make contact.

Blaine tries not to let his disappointment show when he answers, but he can tell by the sympathetic looks Wes is giving him that he’s probably not that successful.

“He, uh, texted me when I was in the shower. He’s got orientation all day, but he’s here. In New York.” Blaine doesn’t tell them that Kurt had pre-emptively cut off seeing him at all for at least a week by telling him how full his schedule was. At least that’s how it had felt to Blaine. “We’re trying to set a time to get together.” Kurt’s dad was coming in the next weekend to bring him all his stuff, so it was looking like almost two weeks before they’d be able to see each other.

“Blaine,” Wes starts. “You’re going to be pretty busy too, you know? Between class and group projects and meeting with your advisor, you’re not really going to have a lot of time to yourself for a while.”

Blaine pokes a straw into his milk carton, too aggressively. “I’ve never had any trouble keeping up with my schoolwork.”

“Dude, this isn’t like high school. You’re at Juilliard. You’re going to be practicing Lizst until your fingers bleed.” David watches him poke at his eggs. He doesn’t really want to eat them. “Are you gonna eat those?”

Blaine pushes his plate across the table toward David. “I’ll be fine.”

“Look Blaine, I’m not trying to be harsh, but it’s really common for high school romances to not survive the move to New York - or anywhere, actually. You’ve both gone off to college. You’ll both want to be taking advantage of that freedom, won’t you?”

Blaine blinks and looks at Wes. He’s not -- “Kurt’s not my high school boyfriend.” He doesn’t miss the skeptical way David and Wes look at each other before returning their attention to Blaine. “We met over the summer,” Blaine hurries to explain. “We discovered we were both going to be going to school in New York City and we --” Blaine hesitates. Maybe Kurt doesn’t want this as much as he does? He doesn’t know how to know the answer. Blaine thought he did. Kurt seemed to be worried about whether he would get to New York at all, but maybe he wasn’t sure about Blaine either? “We wanted to connect once we got here.”

“It hasn’t been 24 hours Blaine,” Wes rolls his eyes. “Get settled. You have time to work it out.”

Blaine wants to believe that, so he forces a smile. David starts telling them about a girl he met yesterday in the drama program, and Blaine tries to let himself be distracted.

--

“I don’t know Rachel, it’s been like three weeks and we can’t seem to connect.” Kurt has Thursday mornings open, so Rachel offered to come down and meet him at the diner around the corner from his dorm. “Maybe he doesn’t really want to see me?” He orders pancakes from the waitress and hands her his menu.

“Ooh, are the pancakes vegan?” Rachel asks the waitress, who just glares at her with one eyebrow raised. Rachel closes her menu and pushes it to the edge of the table. “I’ll have the pancakes too.” Once the waitress leaves she turns her attention to Kurt. “Do you really think that? I mean, this is only the second time we’ve managed to get together since we’ve both been here. New York is a busy place. Everyone has obligations.” Kurt considers this. He’s been busy, but he really does want to see Blaine. “I mean, have you just come out and asked him?”

Kurt frowns. “Not really? We just keep not being able to find a time. If it’s so hard to find time for each other now, what does that say for us being able to have some kind of real relationship?”

“Well,” Rachel says, and Kurt can tell it’s her ‘helpful Rachel’ voice, so he braces himself for whatever is coming. “What have you been doing instead of seeing Blaine?”

Kurt had to think about that. “I had orientation -- but so did he, and then Dad brought the rest of my things, and he was here for about five days and we did a bunch of tourist stuff. And there have been a few informal mixers in the dorm that I wanted to go to since I don’t know anyone -- and did I tell you one of my roommates is gay? Jeremy? He seems to know people here, so I went to a party with him.” Kurt stops. The party had been mostly people their age, but it was a first for him. “Honestly Rachel, I’ve never been in a room with so many other gay men. It was kind of intimidating.”

“But kind of great?” She asks. When Kurt nods she gives him a gentle smile. “There’s a lot to discover in New York, Kurt.”

“Yeah. I guess.” The waitress brings their pancakes and Kurt watches Rachel drown hers in syrup before he indulges himself and does the same. “I was just hoping one of the things I would discover would be Blaine. We had such a good connection. I want to see what that could be.”

“So stop deflecting the issue. Text him a time and place and tell him you’ll meet him there. What about brunch? Ooh! Or karaoke tonight! You said he liked to sing. Maybe he’d want to meet us there?” Kurt had agreed to go out that evening with Rachel to the NYADA student bar for karaoke, but that didn’t really seem like where he wanted to finally reconnect with Blaine.

“Too many people,” he says. “And brunch is always so loud. I want something more intimate.”

“Okay, then coffee, late afternoon on Saturday. Just do it.”

“What if he’s not interested anymore Rach?”

Rachel shrugs. “Then at least you know, right?”

Kurt hates to admit the sense of her suggestion, but he really doesn’t want to wait any longer. He has so many things he wants to tell Blaine. Everything that’s happened and everything he’s done. He wants to hear all about Juilliard and Blaine’s weird but cool sounding living arrangements (because they had at least traded that information. Blaine has a single room in a suite and Kurt would kind of like to see what exactly that means).

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Why wait Kurt? Text him now.”

Kurt silently thanks the universe for putting Rachel in his life, even if she’s a pain in his ass. She knows just when to push. Kurt unlocks his phone, taking a minute to compose a text that doesn’t sound weird.

K: Hey are you free on Saturday afternoon? like 4? K: There’s a great coffee place a couple blocks from here K: Can i buy you a coffee?

When Blaine texts back an emphatic yes!! send me the deets not thirty seconds later, Kurt grins to himself and goes back to his pancakes, ignoring the satisfied smile on Rachel’s face.

They spend the rest of breakfast chatting about Rachel’s courses and the people she’s met at NYADA, and all of the opportunities she’s sure to have ahead of her, and Kurt is happy to let her go on for a while. He can use the break from the inside of his head.

--

Kurt double checks the address before they leave the subway, but the neon sign spelling out Callbacks in glowing red script makes it obvious. He’d invited Jeremy to come with him, as a thanks for inviting him to his friend’s party, as well as the dozen other ways he’d been helpful since Kurt arrived. Apparently he is also a karaoke enthusiast, and the more people who are willing to get up and sing, the more fun the night would be.

Inside the bar is more crowded than Kurt expected.

“It’s Thursday,” Jeremy explains, leaning into Kurt. “New Yorkers always go out on Thursday. Friday and Saturday are for the bridge and tunnel crowds.” Kurt nods, filing this away with all of the other information he’s been gathering. He spies Rachel over in one corner with a few people who must be her NYADA friends, and points her out to Jeremy who returns Rachel’s exuberant wave.

They work their way to the bar to get some non-alcoholic drinks, since the bartenders are very obviously checking IDs, and Jeremy provides a running commentary while they wait on the level of hot guys in the room. Kurt has been very grateful to discover Jeremy could be as vicious as he was about the outfits some people wore.

“Oh my god, that is some suit,” Jeremy points out. “At least he’s got an ass to match it, yum.”

Kurt laughs and turns around to check out the target of Jeremy’s judgment.

At the other end of the bar is a group of sorta loud guys, but they’re singing - not causing trouble, so no one seems to care. One of the guys, with his back to Kurt, is wearing a dark magenta suit - just to the right side of pink, but not pink - with a grey windowpane pattern. It’s not exactly loud, but it sure is eye catching, and a little much for a night out at the bar. After a few seconds of staring Kurt thinks he actually recognizes the suit from a Brooks Brothers catalog from a few seasons ago, which explains why it kinda works. As he looks down the backside of the wearer he has to acknowledge that he does indeed have the ass to pull it off.

Reflexively, Kurt glances away. The urge to look away before he gets into trouble is still something he’s trying to shake, but here in a NYADA karaoke bar, filled with drama students and other performing arts folks in an obviously wide assortment of sexual orientations and identifications, he’s finally safe. So he looks back. It is a nice ass.

So he looks, his eyes trailing from Magenta Suit’s ass all the way up to his shoulders. He’s not a tall guy, but the cut of the suit fits this guy so well that Kurt can easily imagine a narrow waist tapering down from those shoulders. When the guy turns his head and Kurt finally catches a glimpse of his profile, all the noise in the bar turns into a distant echo. It’s Blaine. Blaine.

“You alright honey?” Jeremy asks. He’s got their virgin drinks in hand, one eyebrow raised, and almost a look of concern on his face.

Kurt is having a hard time forming words, and it’s loud in the bar anyway, so he leans in close to Jeremy’s ear. “It’s Blaine.”

“Blaine?” Jeremy’s eyes go wide and dart around the room. “Mr. I’ve-met-the-love-of-my-life-at-a-traveling-carnival-in-Ohio Blaine? Here?”

“Over there, with the great ass!” Kurt whisper shouts. Jeremy stomps his feet, squealing in his excitement for Kurt, but Kurt is already turning back to look at Blaine’s profile. Blaine is laughing now, obviously enjoying hanging out with his friends. They’re singing and jumping around and having fun. Blaine is radiant, and Kurt can’t look away.

Other than a few shared photographs it’s been weeks - months - since they’ve seen each other in person, and Kurt can’t get over how different Blaine looks. With his his hair neatly combed and his perfectly fit suit he looks almost like a different person.

And that’s what Kurt is worried about. What if this impeccably well groomed Blaine wasn’t really interested in small-town Ohio Kurt? Not that Kurt couldn’t hold his own in the style department - he definitely could, but maybe Blaine isn’t interested in bringing his midwestern summer fling from Ohio with him into his new life in New York.

Kurt’s imagination is still tormenting him when, without warning at all, Blaine finally turns his head far enough to see him. Kurt is still so overwhelmed by Blaine’s presence in the bar that he doesn’t notice when Jeremy kisses him on the cheek and wishes him luck, but he does notice Blaine’s face going from confusion to excitement in a second before his expression crumples.

He’s too far away for Kurt to hear him speak, but he can see Blaine mouth Kurt? and move in Kurt’s direction, away from his friends. Kut lets his feet take over, and he pushes through the crowd, toward Blaine.

“Blaine!” Blaine practically leaps at Kurt, and Kurt accepts the hug gratefully, so happy just to be touching him again. When they break apart Kurt looks into Blaine’s eyes, but whatever had upset him a moment ago seems to have gone, and his face is lit up by the same smile that had burrowed into Kurt’s heart over the summer. “You look amazing,” Kurt tells him. “That suit fits you like it was made for you.”

Blaine turns away, his head nodding slightly, and Kurt knows that if he wasn’t already red faced from the heat in the bar Blaine would be blushing.

“Well, I actually had it tailored,” Blaine tells him. “I was inspired by your attitude so I found a good tailor as soon as I got to New York.”

Kurt beams at the idea that Blaine had been thinking of him. “Well it was worth whatever you paid,” he says, and because the moment isn’t awkward enough, he continues, “Special night?” Kurt looks over at the group of boys Blaine was with.

“Oh, um we had a recital, earlier. They’re semi formal so everyone has to turn out in their best.” Blaine fusses with his lapels. “This is the best I brought. Though I’m probably going to need to pick up a couple of other suits. I’m going to stand out pretty badly if I show up in this thing every time.”

Kurt thinks he’d stand out spectacularly, but he keeps it to himself. “Oooh, fancy clothes shopping. Sounds fun.”

Blaine’s face brightens a bit. “Maybe you want to come with me? I mean, you’ve got a great eye. If you’re not too busy.” Blaine’s eyes dart over Kurt’s shoulder, and he goes on before Kurt can respond. “Is that Rachel?”

“Yes!” Kurt is grateful for the redirection. “Come say hi. You can meet my roommate too. He’s a pip.”

Blaine follows Kurt to the back table where Rachel is sitting with a few of her NYADA friends, and Jeremy. Kurt hasn’t met any of Rachel’s friends yet, but Jeremy is already ensconced in the middle with an arm around one of them like they’ve known each other since birth.

“Blaine! What are you doing here?” Rachel practically knocks their little table over as she leaps out of her chair and hurls herself at Blaine. “Did you know we were coming? Kurt did you tell Blaine we were coming tonight? Do you sing Blaine? Kurt I remember you told me Blaine sung. Sang. Sings?” She screws her face up in a confused scrunch. “Is a singer.” If Kurt didn’t know better he’d think Rachel is drunk.

“Uh, hi Rachel,” Blaine looks a little stunned, but manages to hug Rachel and keep her from falling down when she looks like she’s teetering.

Kurt tugs her arm, pulling her to the side. “Rachel are you drunk?”

“I might have had some of Leo’s cosmo.” She looks up at him, eyes huge. “And by some I mean I may have drunk the whole thing.”

Kurt rolls his eyes. He doesn’t care if Rachel is having a drink -- so long as she doesn’t get them thrown out -- but she can be a handful to keep track of when she’s tipsy. “Well why don’t you introduce me and Blaine to Leo and the rest of your friends?”

“Great idea!” Rachel giggles and slips an arm through Blaine’s elbow, turning him toward the table. She introduces all of her friends, then says “and the adorably terrible flirt in the middle is Kurt’s roommate, Jeremy.” Jeremy wiggles his fingers in their direction, winking. “Everyone - this is Kurt, my very best friend from high school. And this is his Blaine.”

Kurt stammers. Leave it to Rachel to completely humiliate him.

“I don’t — I don’t know if that’s entirely accurate,” Blaine says, next to him. Kurt turns to look at Blaine, but he’s staring at Jeremy. “I should leave you guys to hang out, and I should get back to my friends,” Blaine adds. “I’ll catch up with you later, Kurt.”

“Oh,” Kurt is sure he’s missing something, but it’s too loud and there are too many people in the room for him to figure out what it is. “You could all join us, if you want? I’m sure we could cram some more chairs in,” he says to Blaine.

“No that’s okay,” Blaine says. He gives Kurt a quick squeeze on his arm and with a wave at everyone goes back to his group.

“Kuuurt!” Rachel pulls him down on the seat next to her. “Blaine is here, isn’t that so amazing!”

“Oh my god Rachel you are such a lightweight,” he answers. “He’s here with his friends.”

Kurt is trying not to read too much into it. Blaine had seemed happy to see him at first, but he was so reluctant to hang out with them. Maybe he felt obliged to spend the time with the friends he came to the bar with. Kurt turns to see where Blaine is now, and finds him smiling and joking with his friends just as he’d been doing earlier. If anything, they whole group of them had got noticeably more physical with each other.

“Is it time to sing?” Kurt turns to see Rachel tugging on his elbow. “Kurt do you want to sing with me?”

“No, you go ahead,” he tells her. When Rachel pouts at him he adds, “Maybe later, after I soak up some alcohol fumes.” Kurt turns her around and gives her a little push toward the stage.

Kurt settles in and watches as Rachel completely captivates everyone in the room with her karaoke version of “Don’t Rain On My Parade.” It’s a Broadway friendly bar, so everyone is into it and Rachel is really on, stolen drinks be damned. Kurt hangs out with her friends, and one of them buys him a drink and slyly slips it in his direction, and Kurt is grateful. He doesn’t want to get drunk at all, but he’s not opposed to something to help him relax.

As the night goes on, people take their turn at the mic, some good, some bad, some drunk, but Kurt can’t help but glancing in Blaine’s direction all night. He’s usually talking to someone else, but every few glances, Blaine is looking at him too.

At some point in the evening Kurt gets up to use the mens room. It’s weirdly crowded, and by the time he gets back to the bar area there’s a group of guys on stage singing. It takes him a minute to catch up with the words and the music, and when he does he realizes it’s Blaine and his friends.

Before you met me I was alright But things were kinda heavy

They are singing Katy Perry. And they are choreographed. If he didn’t already have a devastating crush on this boy this would have put him over the edge. They are singing along to the karaoke track, but Kurt can almost picture them in a coordinated acapella arrangement. There is no way they didn’t rehearse this.

Kurt can’t take his eyes off of Blaine. He’s charming and charismatic and oh so much more talented than Kurt imagined. When by some miracle Blaine finds Kurt in the crowd, he locks eyes on him for the rest of the song.

My, heart, stops When you look at me Just, one, touch Now baby I believe This, is, real So take a chance And don't ever look back Don't ever look back

At some point Rachel appears at his elbow, giving him a squeeze as she jumps up and down.

“He’s so good!” She squeals. “And I think he's singing to you Kurt,” she whisper-shouts in his ear.

By the time the song is over Kurt doesn’t think, he knows. He untangles himself from Rachel and heads to where he can see a couple of Blaine’s taller friends in the crowd. But when he gets there he doesn’t see Blaine with them. He waits for a minute, but Blaine doesn’t appear anywhere. He’s about to head back to Rachel when one of the boys approaches him.

“Kurt?” The boy sticks his hand out politely to shake. “I’m David. If you’re looking for Blaine he went outside to get some air.” He pulls at his shirt and frowns, giving the universal sign of “too sweaty,” and Kurt nods and heads toward the exit.

Kurt hadn’t thought it was too warm inside, but once outside Kurt is relieved to be in the cooler air. He spies a group of people hanging around smoking, and the usual New York foot traffic walking around, but initially sees no sign of Blaine. Kurt takes a walk to the corner with no luck, and worries that Blaine might have just left without saying anything to him, after obviously singing to him. He stops for a moment, staring into the New York night - the whole night has been weird. He just wants to go back to his dorm and get some sleep.

“Kurt?” Kurt spins around and finds Blaine standing ten feet away. He looks hot and a little sweaty. He looks lovely.

“I was looking for you.” Kurt takes a step closer, then leads Blaine around the corner where there are less people.

“Jeremy’s cute,” Blaine says when they stop.

“What?”

“Jeremy. He’s cute.”

“Again, I say what?”

Blaine huffs a little, crossing his arms across his chest. “Congrats. Hot gay roommate.”

“Oh my god. Is that why you’ve been so weird?” Kurt is genuinely taken aback. “Jeremy is my room. mate. Roommate. That’s all.” Kurt retaliates with his own crossed arms. “I thought you were avoiding me.”

Blaine’s eyes go wide, and Kurt has to lean back to keep from falling into them. “I thought you were avoiding me, Kurt.”

It doesn’t take long for either of them to drop their defenses.

“I’m not. Avoiding you, I mean. I want to see you,” Kurt says. “Moving has been a lot -- a lot of things.” Blaine nods in what looks like agreement. “Did you sing that song to me?” Kurt asks. Blaine nods again, only he’s not looking at Kurt, and Kurt can’t really take how awkward it is. “Blaine,” he says, stepping forward. “How did you know I would be here?”

“I didn’t.” Blaine finally looks at him. “my roommates used to do it for their show choir, and when I was trying to think of ways to, I don’t know, impress you, one of them suggested a song, and they taught me oomf -” Kurt stops him with a kiss. When Blaine finally relaxes into it, yeah okay, Kurt wraps his arms around Blaine’s neck, walking him back to the wall of the building. As far as Kurt’s concerned, they can stay out here until the morning.

“Blaine!” Kurt doesn’t recognize that voice.

“Kurt!” That one is Rachel.

They separate slightly, but Kurt doesn’t really want to get that far away. “Hey Wes,” Blaine says, but his arms are tight around Kurt’s waist.

“I guess you finally worked it out,” Wes says.

“Thank god,” Rachel says. “I thought Kurt was going to combust.”

“Yeah we’re good, if that’s all you need,” Kurt waves Rachel off. Blaine leans in to kiss his neck, and Rachel giggles. “You can be on your way. Tell Jeremy I’ll get myself home.”

“You could come home with me,” Blaine murmurs so only Kurt can hear. “I’ve got my own room. With a door and everything.”

“I have class at ten Blaine.” Kurt is tempted anyway.

“You’ve been in New York almost a month. It’s past time for your first walk of shame.” Blaine waves at Wes and Rachel as they walk back into the bar. “We don’t have to do anything.”

“Blaine Anderson, if you think I am going to spend an entire night in your bed and not touch you in sexy ways, you are very mistaken.”

“Okay that’s cool too,” Blaine says, feigning nonchalance. Then he smiles. “So yes?”

Kurt laughs and kisses Blaine again. “Yes.”

[comicteaparty]

September 13th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 13th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Gemini Journey  by Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Gemini Journey by Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero~! (http://geminijourney.com/) Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

Shen

i liked when she was getting ready for interviews and she messed up her makeup and her buttons popped 100% relatable

Tenor | Shinavar

Hi Hi! Q1: TOO MANY. But specifically I really enjoyed Veil's anger he morning after Gemini went missing. I just really appreciated getting to see someone actually care someone just wandered off, and him still having lingering emotions about the whole incident of her returning home.

aliceapproved

Oh gosh, that one was such a BIG MOOD!!!

saetje

whoo-hoo! Thanks @RebelVampire for putting on CTP. And hey all, thanks for coming :)!

Kabocha

Oh, boy, this is a hard one to answer, to be honest! I really liked the first chapter, where Gemini and Veil were going up against the Dragon-Roach... I was like "WAIT HOW CAN YOU HATE DRA--- Oh." Also, this scene: http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=69 Veil. You are the best.

It was fantastic handling of that... Creeper Kappa? Is the flasher a Kappa?

Shen

i just give 100% of my heart to Veil he works so hard hes so tired let him rest

Tenor | Shinavar

Flasher, I'd say

aliceapproved

Gosh, yeah, the dragon cockroach was really creative and I'm SO HAPPY there's a Kappa and they had to do the "bow" move to "defeat him"

Tenor | Shinavar

But yeah I love how 'street smart' he is about like, everything going on.

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

a book nerd with street smarts

Kabocha

Veil has no time for any of these Shenanigans

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

he's amazing

aliceapproved

I really love Gemini's "guilt" expression in one of the interviews

Superjustinbros

Hello!

RebelVampire

yeah i think veil is also a great character balance to gemini. cause when you have someone who is into the shenanigans, you need someone to be a grounding influence

Tenor | Shinavar

I also really like that though because he shows a level of attentiveness and perception to the world around him. <3

saetje

yess! It's a flasher Kappa! Glad you liked that scene.

Shen

yeah sometimes the "straight man" character can come off as a wet blanket but he genuinely cares for Gemini. i'd like to see more of that, like how they mnet or something one day in the future

aliceapproved

Yeah! Veil and Gemini are such a dynamic complimentary duo, from personality, body shapes, and orange and blue colors!

Shen

EXCELLENt design

Superjustinbros

Oh yea, huge props for how polar opposites Gemini and Veil are

aliceapproved

OH!!! One of my favorite scenes is when Gemini firsts visits the creepy circus and the scene transitions to her perfectly waking up in bed. That was such a cool transition!

Kabocha

Yesssss!

mathtans

Yes, I agree, the two play off each other well.

Kabocha

It was!

Superjustinbros

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=198 Also, I like this scene, in part cause it reminds me very well of what happens to me some days

aliceapproved

I'm really eager to see how the circus devolves and how Veil and Gemini will handle it. Also those rad fox twins!

mathtans

(I may have to leave at a moment's notice when the baby awakens, if I suddenly go silent.)

Jess

You guys are so nice. I don’t know if I can add smilies fast enough haha

Kabocha

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=55 Also, the lighting on this page was woooonderful. I wasn't sure how to read Veil's expression though. It was kind of like... "wait. Do you not want her to move out? Or... Are you just... ....caught off guard by dog fire?" ....Then the next panel is like "Back to reality."

Jess

Yeah the scene where it transitions from her as a circus performer to her in the bed was one of my favorites. @saetje really owned that scene

Tenor | Shinavar

I read it as he's a bit hurt at the "You can finally be alone!" more than her moving out

Superjustinbros

wow that is some really good lgithing

Jess

I think that was the first time that I didn’t second guess the panel format

RebelVampire

to repeat something already said, i loved the dragon bug. that was such an immensely creative idea, and i think it was a great way to open the comic. we get a great way to get not only the impression of what the world is like, but we get to get a great feel for the personalities of the characters.

mathtans

I gotta say though, my favourite was apparently Death owning a flower shop that has the slogan "You Don't Gno-me". Gotta love those little details.

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=44

Tenor | Shinavar

GASP I MISSED THAT

OMG I LOVE IT

Jess

Yaaaaay!!

RebelVampire

yeah i give death's appearance an A+. that and gemini's confusion about why death asked about her immortal soul

aliceapproved

I looove all the mythology monsters at play in the background!

saetje

A lot of those details are thanks to @Jess who does final rendering/lettering. Flower-shop Wraith/Death will actually be showing up again I think next update, haha.

RebelVampire

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=45 although i was also distracted by the page right after. this feels so true for getting a job.

mathtans

It's the Wraith of Khan.

Shen

LOL Gemini's entire job ordeal is so relatable. "i workeds hard on this one application im gonna go get a treat" girl, same

Superjustinbros

hehee

Kabocha

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=157 Veil's distress :<

Tenor | Shinavar

Gemini sets off my inner Veil tho bc I know so many friends who do like

1 app a week

Shen

UGH hes so cute when hes sad XD

Tenor | Shinavar

and it's like: HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

mathtans

Back to what Rebel said though, I agree the dragon as a bug was hugely creative, and a good way to see the main characters play off each other.

Tenor | Shinavar

istg I relate to Veil the entire job process lmao

Kabocha

I love the expressiveness of both Veil and Gemini, but yeah, I really really feel for Veil

aliceapproved

I love how much Veil cares! He cares SO MUCH!!!

Tenor | Shinavar

Did anyone else notice in he dragon roach scene Veil has Gemini's shoe the whole time as the weapon?

RebelVampire

i love that page, @Kabocha like the lighting plus that expression made my heart weep

mathtans

I like that Gemini did start to take it more seriously for Veil, or at least seems to have been at interviews.

RebelVampire

weep so dang much

mathtans

Tenor: I don't think I picked up on that.

Kabocha

Although, how much is Gemini caring vs the Circus influence infecting her with confidence?

Tenor | Shinavar

I realized it after I noticed Gemini running around without a shoe and had to go back to see where I missed it lmao

saetje

@Tenor | Shinavar AH! Someone noticed that!

Superjustinbros

(I'm gonna go AFK for a bit, got some things I have to do but I'll hopefully be back later!)(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

IT'S CUTE BUT MAKES ME WONDER HOW WE GOT TO THAT POINT LOL

saetje

Yes, Veil took Gemini's shoe despite having larger feet than her. I could jsut imagine the behind-the-scenes squabbling about it

aliceapproved

OOOH Good point about the influence! I'm really intrigued by the hypnotic circus

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: Caring about what, specifically? Like, about the circus, trying to get a job...?

(Sorry if I'm slow on the draw, got kids here )

Jess

On our world dragons: Yeah. It came from a conversation that dragons are the pests of the magical/mythical world. To the roach/dragon thing just kinda took form from that Ahahaha

RebelVampire

yes i noticed the shoe and thought that was a great art touch of continuity

Jess

Ahaha yeah!!! I mean. My boi got nice shoes. He can’t be using them for that

aliceapproved

I'm really glad dragons have the roach aesthetic, too! As someone who loves all dragons, I draw the lines at cockroaches XD

Shen

yeah that poster at the end threw me for a loop i thought it was a legit magic look-alike so when i saw the poster i was like "whoaaa no way" haha makes me VERY interested to read more

aliceapproved

Veil is so clean haha!

Kabocha

@Tenor | Shinavar -- Just in general honestly. Gemini started putting more effort into things, but it didn't feel like she actually really gave a damn more than she had gained some level of confidence.

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

i really liked gemini's haunted mascara

saetje

I'm glad you all like the Dragon Roach opening/idea too. It's also the idea...trying to imagine how mythical things might have 'evolved' along with our modern world, and yeah. Dragons are pretty much pests you always have to exterminate, yeah?(edited)

Kabocha

Although maybe that's the magic of the circus

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

or maSCAREa

mathtans

I grinned at it being one of the flying types.

Tenor | Shinavar

Ooooh that's fair, and a good point.

mathtans

Made me think of ants. I hate the flying ones.

saetje

@mathtans directly related to past experience with real life 'flying ones'. Nothing makes a roach worse than realizing it's one of those

omg ants too

Tenor | Shinavar

Saetje: So would this modern world have those 'fortune cat' memes but with the dragons instead? Reblog for good fortune?

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

god i related to that line so much bcus of how often i had to deal with flying roaches as a young childe

saetje

hmm, fortune cat memes? Like on tumblr when someone reblogs a picture of a cat with money on its head? XD

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeah~

!*

aliceapproved

OMG

Kabocha

I could do without the flying insects aaaaaaaa

aliceapproved

gEmini and Veil on social media haha!

Shen

i bet Gemini is a memelord

Jess

Yeah!! For the circus - we’re at the point not where we can start unraveling some of the mystery. Throughout the story so far we wanted it to be sorta ambiguous about if that Gemini in the circus was the same one. In the next oncoming scenes you’ll see what’s real and what’s not. But hopefully the way it’s being read is that the readers (y’all) are realizing it might actually be Gem

Tenor | Shinavar

I'd collect flying insects if they were smol dragons justsayin

Oooou~!

Jess

She is definitely a memelord Hahahah I love that

saetje

I doubt about dragons being seen as fortune memes since dragons are seen as pests and they tend to keep you from your money (ala sitting on the horde and breathing fire) or take loose items into their hidey holes-- so they're not seen the same as lucky. But that might just be for Gem and Veil's part of their world

aliceapproved

I'm so excited for the Circus to "unravel"

Shen

i bet she texts memes to Veil from across the room and then just waits for him to look at her in disapproval =3

Tenor | Shinavar

I've been under the impression the circus might not be entirely real and the performers there are stuck against their will - kinda fae-style. <_< So either she's performing against her will and is not yet fully bound or it's been an illusion to GET her there

RebelVampire

is veil thus the type to post all the old timey book quotes then? XD

in regards to the social media thing

mathtans

Yeah, at first I thought maybe Gemini was just seeing herself in place of who was actually up there, but with the poster it seemed likely that they were actually making her do the things.

aliceapproved

Oooh, I think it could go either way with trapped souls and she's not bound yet, or it's all an illusion to trap her.

Also, Veil posts moody aesthetic boards

Shen

XD

aliceapproved

"Juggling is not a garbage job" :V

saetje

yeah we're getting into I guess the third act and I hope it comes together and makes sense. as we unravel some mystery. There's more stories we want to tell after "Barley & Bay-Lily" that all follow continuity, so I want to wrap Barley & Bay-Lily where you all know what's going on but there's more overarching questions than answered in some ways.

I'm loving these thoughts on it!

mathtans

Clever play on Barnum & Bailey, by the way.

Jess

Thanks!!

RebelVampire

i want to say i loved the juggler. that was a great design and gemini's reaction to it made me laugh. although i do wonder now if the juggler is part of the circus conspiracy

mathtans

I wonder if it's significant that they seem to be foxes.

Kabocha

Foxes are tricksters, so I mean

aliceapproved

Kitsunes!

Tenor | Shinavar

My fear about the poster though, and why I hink it's a trap, is it said her "final act"

mathtans

'Tis true.

Jess

Also I don’t know if anyone noticed but the juggler was only juggling 2 balls with 4 arms

aliceapproved

Very fitting to make them foxes! Cute and mischevious and devllish

Tenor | Shinavar

so it's like; HHHHHHHHHHHHH GEMINI BBY NO RUN AWAY

aliceapproved

YEAH!! GEMINI GET OUTTA THERE

Jess

So lots of talent going on in the streets of New Olympia hahaha

mathtans

Jess: I caught the four arms. Guess I didn't count the balls. Seems like less of a challenge there.

Shen

"mysterious circus ive never heard of down a dark alley? sounds like a great time and not at all suspicious!"

Jess

Right!?

saetje

yes, what @Kabocha said. The idea for GJ is this is HER story/myth/hero's journey. Foxes are pretty archetypal to suspect characters in folklore and fairy tale. WHAT they are exactly, well. More to be revealed :' D you guys have some awesome theories.

mathtans

Maybe there was a chainsaw off panel.

saetje

hahahaha

Kabocha

This'll be really cool to see as it approaches the end

(of the chapter, anyway)

Tenor | Shinavar

yeeees

Jess

That’s true! Whether she was a good juggler or not is the true mystery

mathtans

The foxes are actually out of work actors.

saetje

oh god.

Mathtan you figured it out

noooo

Jess

Yesssss

aliceapproved

I misread that as "work out" actors LOL

Tenor | Shinavar

choke

saetje

oh even better

Tenor | Shinavar

Explains why they are trying to start their own circus

aliceapproved

LOL "Get BUFF with JUGGLING"

Shen

LOL

mathtans

Appearing next in the Big Top - Jazzercize.

Tenor | Shinavar

WHEEZE

saetje

Possessed Scary Circus Zumba

Shen

Crossfit but its clowns

Jess

That’s terrifying

Tenor | Shinavar

I h8 u all bc I can't draw this right now

RebelVampire

i would pay to see clowns doing crossfit

saetje

now tHAT'S a million dollar comic idea, Shen

or idea in general, yes

aliceapproved

I know it's probably way off in the future, but I'm curious about plans for Veil-focused arc in the future

Shen

yeah same, im sure its planned but im interested

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. While searching for a job, Gemini clearly has gotten wrapped up in a dangerous situation involving a circus. What do you think the circus’ goal is in general for the people it entraps? Who exactly are the fox ringmasters running the show? Why was Gemini in particular targeted as opposed to other people in the audience? Why did Gemini seemingly come home in a trance, and what do you think it means for whatever is happening to Gemini? How do you feel the performer who represents Gemini’s ideals fits into all of this? Do Gemini’s anxieties have something to do with all this do you think? Lastly, how do you think Gemini will get out of this mess (or is she just doomed)?

Shen

i wanna know why he puts up with her tbh ^^; seems like she can be a bit self interested

aliceapproved

Also that it's confirmed he has friends cuz of that phone call. I'm sorry, I keep assuming he's a Sad Books lonely boy

Shen

no friends its just his mom

saetje

yeah you guys don't know if he's just sadly talking to a dial tone

Kabocha

The circus' goal is to... Basically steal her life energy! Somehow. But we'll see. Or enchant her and spirit her away~ Once she becomes part of the spirit world she won't really be albe to retuuuuuurn~

Shen

SAETJE THATS SO SAD XD

RebelVampire

well now you made it sad. XD

Kabocha

@saetje oh noooooooooooooooooooooo

aliceapproved

LOL! As for Question 2: Like most shifty magic things, steal her soul! Trap her in the circus

Kabocha

What about Gemini's mom? I'm sure he's probably got her on speed dial

RebelVampire

i assume soul stealing. i mean thats pretty standard evil fair. and who doesn't need a good soul

Shen

i dont think they targetted Gemini specifically as much as they laid out a trap and waited to see who stumbled in, and she did so they ensnared her

mathtans

Veil seems too organized to talk to a dial tone. It'd at least be the official time signal.

aliceapproved

I think the Circus targets ppl who are down on their luck or confidence or don't have a quote "real job" atm? Like job hunting is really stressful and feels hopeless a ton of times

so it looks for vulnerable ppl imo

mathtans

Gemini came home in a trance because the cab was too expensive.

Jess

That’s how I do too

saetje

BRB faking trance to get out of cab faire

aliceapproved

To heck with fantasy Uber and Lyft!

Kabocha

It shows them something akin to their best selves, maybe?

saetje

hahaha

RebelVampire

what if this is a known phenomenon in their world so when someone says "they ran away to the circus" they mean that whoops, got that soul life energy sucked out

aliceapproved

Yeah! The play of "UGH I should just run away and join the circus" it's so cool!

Shen

i once saw a video of a woman pretending to be a ghost to get out of paying a toll

Tenor | Shinavar

Q2: The specific part I havenb't already kinda answered is: I feel she is part of Gemini's subconciousness in the sense of having her "act" together. Her life wouldn't be too chaotic, she's able to balance all that is expected of her without being a 'clutz' or anything she seems to think at least minimally negatively on. (seen by her admiring the grace and such)

Kabocha

She's a representation of everything Gemini wants to be?

aliceapproved

^^^^

Tenor | Shinavar

Not exactly but def a bait, in some way

Kabocha

Except moving more toward that ideal means that Gemini gets trapped...

Well, representations don't have to be literal >_>

<_< I figured it was all pretty figurative

Tenor | Shinavar

True true

RebelVampire

the thing i cant figure out is why the trance thing. like gemini was in the circus, just suck out her soul. why give her the chance to escape?

aliceapproved

Since we see Gemini specifically, I'm assuming the audience members are just an illusion

Maybe these foxes like playing with their "prey" and make it a slow burn

mathtans

It could be through the music that the circus gets you. That alley cat seemed real scared of it, while Gemini was drawn in.

Alice: Oh, I like that.

Tenor | Shinavar

Rebel: If i works like fae magic, you gota get them to agree to it

aliceapproved

Yeah, why play if there's no risk involved?

mathtans

Rebel: To recharge?

Tenor | Shinavar

You also can avoid like - all legal repercussions if it's "willing" >_>

aliceapproved

^^^

Jess

Ahahaha consensual death is the best ... death?

aliceapproved

For lawyers, yES!

mathtans

Now waiting for the scene where Veil rules-lawyers the foxes.

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

thats how it be sometimes

aliceapproved

Law & Order with VEIL

Tenor | Shinavar

Also it hurt a lil bit I couldnt resist. Crossfit clown from geminis world lol

Shen

JKRFJGJHMHG LMAO!!!

saetje

omg @tenor hahaha

mathtans

That's a garbage job. ^.-(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE VEIL THROW DOWN VERBAL LOOP HOLES IN CONTRACTS

saetje

IT'S NOT A GARBAGE JOB, VEIL. I mean MATH.

Tenor | Shinavar

Just like, pops on some glasses and busts out a book from no where

Kabocha

That's Veil's magic power -- BOOK LEARNIN'

Tenor | Shinavar

YES

Jess

Yessss

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

magic is a thing, he probably just pulls out outta his pocket dimension- which is in his pocket

Tenor | Shinavar

He has a pocket just for his books

aliceapproved

I love all the art you guys do of Veil with his book beasts! They're the best!

Tenor | Shinavar

all 2k of them

saetje

haha,t hat's actually a joke we've been wanting to use somewhere-- "I love your dress" "Thanks it has pocket dimensions"

Jess

Omg I love it. All pockets are pocket dimensions from now on

Tenor | Shinavar

OMG YES PLZ

DO IT

aliceapproved

OMG PLS DO THAT

Tenor | Shinavar

AS A PARENT IT'S A NECESSITY wheeeeeeeeeze

aliceapproved

pockets are THE BEST

imagine a pocket dimension!

This world gets better and better! Minus the creepy circuses

Jess

Right

Hehehe

mathtans

"My pocket dimension is full of clowns...."

Jess

Nooooo worst dimension

Kabocha

I saw a few other people ask it, but... Why is Veil so tolerant of Gemini's shenanigannery? I mean, I am a far less patient roommate than he is...

saetje

I figure a pocket dimension dress would have to be some kind of plot device though for a future arc. i mean, HAVE to be.

Tenor | Shinavar

New def to clown car

Kabocha

matth whyyy

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: My shipping side if he finds it endearing

Exhausting but endearing

saetje

wellp, clowns ruined it

RebelVampire

i do applaud veil's sheer patience

Kabocha

I WAS LEANING THAT WAY BUT I DON'T KNOW IF HE'S JUST ENTERTAINED OR WHAT

RebelVampire

but i do assume the blushing is more than just blushing

Tenor | Shinavar

CON GRATS REBEL

YOU DID IT

Jess

Ah. Well be answering that soon. I think so far we’ve been focusing on Gem and some of her worst traits - her selfishness, but

Shen

nice~

mathtans

Kabocha: Because I can. As to why Veil's tolerant, maybe he knows someone like Gemini in his family or his past.

Kabocha

I figured Veil was kind of perpetually blushing unless otherwise upset.

Shen

i am absolute ship trash and i am waiting for this to sail but i am patient

Jess

And we’ve focused on veils best - his smarts and his loyalty

Tenor | Shinavar

I keep getting little hints Veil at least Likes her.

Kabocha

Hm. So he knows Gemini could be Amazing if she'd try?

RebelVampire

i think there is some of that yes

Tenor | Shinavar

But doesn't push it

RebelVampire

wait veil has bad traits?

i dont accept this

Tenor | Shinavar

No he doesn't

don't listen to them

shh

Shen

no, veil is perfect

Kabocha

Veil's afraid of bugs....

mathtans

Veil just likes Gemini for her shoes. Much shoe blushing, wants to wear them.

Tenor | Shinavar

Je

aliceapproved

I'm sure Veil totally finds Gemini charming and really.. pr-pretty BLUSH

RebelVampire

being afraid of bugs is a good trait

Jess

It’s true. And he won’t dirty his own shoes

RebelVampire

bugs carry disease

Tenor | Shinavar

But is he afraid of bugs

or the fact they can catch shit on fire

aliceapproved

Veil is very much a neat freak which is a double-edged sword

Tenor | Shinavar

like his books

aliceapproved

and not very impulsive, so Gemini helps liven things up for him

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

tenor raises a good point

Shen

thats more "quirky" than a character flaw lol

like "clumsy" girls XD

Kabocha

They're foils for one another, you say? That's how these sorts of friendships balance each other? NEVAAAAAAR! ....I ship them unless there is a reason I should not.

Shen

these ship goggles dont come off

Kabocha

Several people are typing...

aliceapproved

Yeah, this arc is very Gemini focused and how she needs to grow as a character

I'm excited to see how Veil needs to grow as a character in the future

Kabocha

Yesh!

Shen

aye

aliceapproved

Gotta take turns!

RebelVampire

admittedly i do think veil kind of needs to learn to have fun probably

as a character arc

Tenor | Shinavar

But books are fun

Work is fun

saetje

well but organization is fun

RebelVampire

although i do wanna know now who veil is calling

and what he does with his not gemini friends

Tenor | Shinavar

RESPONSIBILITY

aliceapproved

Yeah, that's definitely something I see with Veil

Tenor | Shinavar

Just what the dr ordered

RebelVampire

i agree with organization and books but i meant more in how he carries himself

Jess

Oh! It’s a dial tone

RebelVampire

gotta learn to tweet those memes back

saetje

hahaha

Tenor | Shinavar

lmaaao

Shen

thats fair he could stand to lighten up lol they both need to learn a bit from each other. hes not got time for fun if he has to always be the "responsible" one because someone else took up all the "fun" XD

aliceapproved

Yeah! Guy needs to party and have an impulsive time for once rather than strictly schedule

They need to work together

Tenor | Shinavar

I do agree tho, with how in the know he seems to be, I'd like to know who all he's got, esp depending how they'll influence stuff in the future.

bc it seems he's from here whereas Gemini isn't soooo <_<;

mathtans

Veil can be fun. Veil can't be impulsive.

RebelVampire

yeah i do hope this circus experience teaches gemini more responsibility. in that maybe she should fill out more than a few apps XD

aliceapproved

Does Veil have a hard time making decisions?

Shen

"look how impulsively i filled out your applications for you isnt that fun?"

mathtans

Alice: Not if blueberries are involved.

aliceapproved

And yeah, Gemini certainly learning more responsibility and also, to trust in herself if she applies herself and focuses

Jess

Ahahaha

Tenor | Shinavar

I think Gemini jus needs to get to the point she doesn't need a child leash

Jess

Well and for me - I think when people are going through hardships, like Gem not being able to land a job, sometimes the worst parts of themselves show up. And while I love the character - (and hopefully) she’s shown to be kinda funny and not overly mean - I thought it was important to show her bad side early on

mathtans

I don't see her as mean, just easily distracted.

Tenor | Shinavar

^Same

She's irresponsible but not in a malicious way

Like if she hurt someone I'd be dead up surprised if it was intentional

aliceapproved

Yeah, that's definitely it ^^

mathtans

Tenor: She killed a dragon.

aliceapproved

I never thought of her as "mean"

Tenor | Shinavar

she is a sweet widdle cinnimon bun who needs protected from circuses and flashers

I said someone

Not thing

Kabocha

Gemini is Dovahkiin now lol

aliceapproved

I'm sorry, Mat, but they're pests in this universe. Cockroaches uugh

Tenor | Shinavar

Difference ;)

RebelVampire

oh yeah gemini is still super likeable. its more shes that adult who hasnt quite grown up yet. and youre kind of hand waving her to make stop being a kid 100% of the time.

mathtans

Fair.

aliceapproved

Yeah! She's like a kid fresh out of college

Jess

Oh good! Was kinda worried. But she’s definite selfish and flighty and I’m happy to see that it’s coming through

Without making her irredeemable

Draco Plato

yeah she's definitely still likeable

aliceapproved

Open to the free adult world, but still needs to learn how to adult cuz lord knows school prepares us for THAT

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeah nah there's not a mean bone in that child's body

Free spirit, I think is a good desc?

mathtans

The foxes are also spirits, but they're not free.

saetje

I'm glad! That's what we're going for- she's not intentionally harmful but has a lot of growing up to do. I don't think she realizes when her actions can hurt someone else.

aliceapproved

She's selfish and irresponsible, but there's still potential to be redeemed. She's a well-rounded character that's set up to evolve from this story and that's what makes sticking with this story so worth it!

saetje

no one's free when they teach Clown Jazzercise

RebelVampire

those poor foxes. gemini is actually doing them a service

mathtans

I wonder if this world has the Zodiac? Is Gemini's name at all related to that?

Kabocha

Pffff

Tenor | Shinavar

Oooh. <.< Good q

aliceapproved

Like, Veil is obviously responsible and an adult, so Gemini doesn't seem to think she has to think about Veil's feelings or words on some matters? He's got it all figured out! Me though? I need help. Veil, veil help me! What applications?! Not boring help ;; That's how I see Gemini

Kabocha

Gemini's the twins, yeah? Does Gemini have a sister, or a hidden second side where she's actually really competent?

mathtans

Maybe she's the good twin, and the evil one is in the circus.

aliceapproved

OOH, I'm curious about that, too, Math. I'm a Scorpio!

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

that means you have a scorpion in the circus

Shen

"the twins" the foxes...

Jess

Ahahaha yesssss

saetje

Can't really reveal the Gemini connection yeeet buuut, duality and twins have some play in the overarching story yes!

aliceapproved

DUN DUN DUUUN

Shen

PS im a Gemini~

Jess

Me tooooo!! Yesssss

Are you also plagued by fox clowns out of work

Kabocha

Gemini probably hasn't really taken time to consider other people's feelings long-term. I don't think she's quite there emotionally, but when she actually like.... really has it sink in that she worried Veil, that'll be interesting. Although she did acknolwedge she scared him, so I mean

aliceapproved

Secret revealed, Gemini is called Gemini cuz Jess is a Gemini

Tenor | Shinavar

Naaaice ~ Also omg the fox twins ffft- Makes me think

Kabo: Yeah, I don't think she fully got how bad the scare was?

Shen

sweet im gonna name my next character Sagittarius

Kabocha

Yeah, it's the depth that I think she lacks

Tenor | Shinavar

Like "I'm sorry for scaring you but not sorry I did the action to cause it :D" levels of immaturity

aliceapproved

@saetje What's your zodiac sign if you don't mind sharing?

mathtans

Plot twist, Gemini sells her soul to the Flower Wraith Shop, and the foxes have to buy it back to keep their shenanigans going.

Tenor | Shinavar

kjdhaskj

Kabocha

When she gets more insight it'll be awesome as she grows

Shen

LOL

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: Yeeeeees

Jess

She’s two fishes

saetje

Pisces

aliceapproved

Yeah, Gemini maturing as an adult is really exciting to wait for

My sister's two fish, too XD

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

twins............. two fish..............................

i see a theme here

Tenor | Shinavar

I really wanna see Gemini work for Death now hhh-

aliceapproved

OMG

Yes haha!

Maybe a temp job that doesn't work out somehow

Kabocha

Twist: Death only claims dead plants

Tenor | Shinavar

Mostly bc I'm stuck with Death having the VA as the Death from Conker's bad fur day and I just. Can't.

mathtans

"You should probably hold the scythe the other way."

Kabocha

"You're going to hurt yourself if you trim the shrubberies this way."

Tenor | Shinavar

"Why are you wearing all black it's hot af out go change, child"

RebelVampire

i hope death only claims dead plants cause otherwise gemini is basically going from one soul threatening adventure to another

saetje

haha so true

XDD

Tenor | Shinavar

WELL I MEAN

she just have to give death her soul

it's never said when

mathtans

Does it have to be her soul, or just a soul? Or maybe soul music?

Tenor | Shinavar

oh god

Just a soul can be how we find out Death accepts plants

RebelVampire

death better be a fan of soul music

saetje

you've split this concept wide open Maths

Shen

the sole of this shoe

Tenor | Shinavar

Shen NO

Shen

=D

saetje

SHEN YES

Jess

Yessss

aliceapproved

Another note about this story, is that I think it's a really good Young Adult story, cuz I feel myself and a bunch of other adults or kids coming out of college can relate to Gemini's story of trying to find work after moving out to live on their own

Tenor | Shinavar

That's Death's brother, Reaper.

mathtans

Veil: "Your spell checker has done you in. Gemini only has to give you her shoe sole."

Jess

Awwww!! Thanks so much

Tenor | Shinavar

Alice: Yeees. Tho I think this first big arc is good for younger children too

RebelVampire

the shoe in the dragon part was foreshadowing

aliceapproved

Yeah!

Tenor | Shinavar

Like my kiddo would love the art and atm if it goes where I suspect it might, it's a great lesson to learn young

saetje

Thanks @aliceapproved !! that makes me happy to hear because that's also what we're going for

Jess

Yeah actually when whenever we show Gem getting rejected I get real sad. Since some of it draws from our experiences

aliceapproved

You guys nailed it

Yeah, it was a big mood for me this year, so this story has been helping

Tenor | Shinavar

Rejeced? D:

Jess

Younger out of college Jess applied to be the new death - and I got turned down

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Though we certainly know Gemini and Veil a bit, much of their past history has yet to have been discussed. Why do you think Gemini has struck out on her own? Do you think it’s just to embrace adulthood, or is there something specific she’s seeking? Was there anything about Gemini’s journey into adulthood that you connected with? What about Veil? What do you think Veil’s backstory is? How do you think Veil and Gemini even know each other? Do you think Veil’s overprotectiveness of Gemini exists for a reason, or do you think it’s just part of Veil’s personality? In regards to their future, do you think that the two will be able to remain friends, or will their differing personalities get in the way of peaceful cohabitation? Do you think Gemini will be able to successfully get a job? Finally, will Gemini move out once she gets a job, or will Veil potentially actively sabotage it?

saetje

I guess now that we're getting more shows like "Aggretsuko" I'd say we'd like to hit around that target. Like, we're sort-of 'mature' only because of some of the (not-NSFW) themes resonates more with older folks. But hopefully there's still more to be enjoyed from a slightly younger YA/teen audience.

mathtans

Interesting last question there - I don't think Veil would actively sabotage, but might passively, without really thinking about it. "You can't move out next week, it's supposed to rain."

Shen

i think Gemini's irresponsibility combined with the double life (???????) shes got going on now is leading to a big fight with Veil. I dread it though

aliceapproved

SAME SHEN!!!

A big confrontation scene!

I can feel it coming

Veil finally calling out Gemini

I can only imagine the emotions!

Kabocha

...Can Veil handle confrontation where he gets pushback?

like, he can handle snark, but, an actual argument?

RebelVampire

yeah. veil might be the type who cant really deal with confrontation like that

Tenor | Shinavar

3: Gemini is homeschooled. If she's trying to branch out there's a chance she might either feel shackled a bit, or she's been encouraged by her parents to stretch her wings. Gemini ran into Veil lost puppy style, trufax. Brought her in from the rain and cold Veil's personality is probably tied to sorta trying to guide Gemini in the sense of law and order. Everything has a place, so you gotta do it- where you going coME BACK OMG I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU. I do believe here is going to be some strife at some point because Gemini has shown a lack of communication and emotional skill and Veil has shown a lack of willingness to bend. BUT I do believe this will clear up after some resolution from some juicy content So yes I believe they'll stay friends.

RebelVampire

although i think the confrontation is coming

saetje

That's a really great question, Kabocha. We haven't shown that yet :)c

Tenor | Shinavar

Maybe at worse a temporary not friends moment to crush our hopes and dreams

aliceapproved

Or maybe "not speaking" terms atm

RebelVampire

actually ya know what i could see as veil's big character arc is addressing change. cause the moving out thing may be more than veil just doesnt want gemini to go. it may be that veil is the sort that completely shuts down when there is change

saetje

y'all you guys have such insight, I'm loving your thoughts here. It's a relief to know you guys are getting a lot of what we're trying to put out and I love hearing your concepts, and concerns, for the characters!

Kabocha

I dunno that Veil realizes how overbearing he can be, to be honest. So.. Gemini's gonna get pushed to the edge and push back against him.

Tenor | Shinavar

Rbeel: Oooooh, that can be true too

aliceapproved

I think Gemini might resolve to move back in with her mom (which is LEAST wanted thing for her cuz I think she loves being out on her own), but Veil offers that she could still say with him, granted now that she has a proper not circus cursed job

Tenor | Shinavar

SOME chaos is good but what is his limit.

aliceapproved

RebelVampire, that's a really good note on Veil!

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: Yeah I get that. He seems so happy to 'help' but because he knows what you NEED to do to get done, he doesn't seem to fully 'get' that it's a lot for Gemini

aliceapproved

Veil's very much overprotective

Tenor | Shinavar

A bit of lack of empathy for the situation in the face of necessity?

aliceapproved

Yeah, like filling out applications is FuN???

Kabocha

He also doesn't understand how to break things down into smaller more completable tasks

mathtans

Gemini needs a source of income, maybe Veil's letting her stay for cheap?

Kabocha

he can handle a long list, but.... honestly, Gemini needs to feel accomplished at each step of the way and realize how much progress she's made

aliceapproved

Yeah, Gemini is a person that needs to be eased and break down steps, not all dumped at once

saetje

@Kabocha exactly- one of the flaws we've hopefully seen in Veil is that he can be pushy (literally physically pushing her around town int he beginning arc) and then tends to put too much on Gemini than what she's ready for at times.

Tenor | Shinavar

I got pushy though I didn' know the physical part was part of it

aliceapproved

Yeah! That page with her smushed with all his word bubbles was a great representation of that!

Tenor | Shinavar

I figured him grabbing her was because it was liTERALLY UNSAFE LOL

mathtans

Veil isn't as observant as Gemini, maybe because she's so distractible. He didn't realize she knew his fave berries and such.

saetje

Well I might've misspoke- it was more of a visual analogy for being emotionally pushy than, like, physically harmful or abusive.

Kabocha

He's basically trying to herd her lol

saetje

yes like a little sheep dog lol

aliceapproved

Yeah!

Tenor | Shinavar

OOOH OKAY

I getcha now lol

aliceapproved

Veil is honestly a toothpick and I bet a small breeze could push him over

Tenor | Shinavar

laskdjKLSDFJ

Jess

Lmao

saetje

omg

Tenor | Shinavar

Don't insult my son like that

just bc he can takje flight with those ears don't mean nuttin

Shen

LOL

aliceapproved

He's a GOOD SON!

saetje

oommg haha

aliceapproved

I love him!

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

veil is a good boi

aliceapproved

Boy ain't gonna win a bar fight is all haha!

Bless this sensitive boy!

Kabocha

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=178 "You are in my personal space"

Tenor | Shinavar

Nah legit tho being the tiny I'm surprised he CAN push her, or at least shows she's willing somewhat to be guided

Jess

Guys. It’s the nose isn’t it

Tenor | Shinavar

omg someone draw me Veil getting carried off by gemini plz

Jess

He can do no wrong with a face so right

mathtans

Veil has a large picture of Spock in his room. Big fan.

Tenor | Shinavar

That's exactly it Jess

saetje

Honestly Gem could just pick him up and swing him around like a baseball bat if she wanted, I think.

Tenor | Shinavar

kaisdjfKHJDSF

I mean he is such a stiff

saetje

@mathtans definitely a huge Spock influence!

aliceapproved

OMG BASEBALL BAT

RebelVampire

veil's number one advice to gemini is to just think of what would spock do

Shen

PFFFFF

RebelVampire

then gemini asks who spock is

aliceapproved

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=186 < a M O O D

mathtans

Gemini to Wraith: "Dammit Bones!"

RebelVampire

oh i loved that page with the giant to-do list

it was a great visual gag

aliceapproved

I definitely "treat myself" for small tasks when there are still more or bigger tasks to do haha!

Jess

Lol me too

saetje

I was REALLY into Star Trek a while back and almost did some 4-panel Star Trek Gemini Journey AU comics...I don't know if I have the sketches anymore though. Kind of psyched myself out of them

I think everyone works differently. You gotta treat yourself once in a while though!

Tenor | Shinavar

^

Jess

But going back to the characters - we hope to focus on their dynamic more and more. We love all y’all insight tho!

Tenor | Shinavar

reating yourself is importaaant

I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC AND AM HYPED FOR MORE

mathtans

Their dynamic is mezzoforte.

saetje

yeah I'm loving hearing all your thoughts and getting some insight into how you all are reading the comic. It can be tough when you're so close to something to really 'see' it anymore

I appreciate your thoughts!

aliceapproved

Yes! They're a great duo!

I'm always excited when there's an update and Veil and Gemini are interacting

And yeah! Ofc dude! Lots of pairs of eyes help

mathtans

Just want to say the style of the comic is really interesting... I don't think I've ever really seen it before, just having the one panel. Most trend to pages or 4-panel or whatever. But one panel can really speak volumes, even if it's just a reaction shot, done in this way.

Jess

That means so much to hear!

Tenor | Shinavar

As someone with a messed up wrist I appreciate it too bc scrolling hurts so this worked great

aliceapproved

I think the webtoons layout for it works really well for scrolling! I love reading updates before bed It fits so well!

saetje

Thanks! Honestly it's how I've always 'seen' it and I'm glad you all like that-- It's been a bit of a point of uncertainty for us. I'm hoping in the future we can get some sort of swiping option for mobile devices to swipe between panels on full-screen instead of always clicking

and yes! Webtoons has done well for us too

Kabocha

Yeah, I'll agree - carpal tunnel makes scrolling format hard, but your website is perfectly suited

thank you for having both options!

Jess

I gotta be honest when we made the decision to do it this way - we were so conflicted. We wanted to do this format becuase we envisioned it with simple panels and @saetje really works hard to make things look cinematic

Tenor | Shinavar

omg if you get swipe in I'd be so happy bc I do like 90% of my reading on my phone ;u;

aliceapproved

Yeah, I would definitely love that as a feature in the future. Clicking is fine, but it can be difficult going back and forth and waiting for a website to load

Oh yeah! This story really reads well as a show or film! The storyboard format

RebelVampire

yeah i was skeptical of the one panel thing at first but once i got used to it i thought it was really nice. especially for how much it allows to be fit on any one "page"

saetje

yeah! Tenor, we always wanted it to be REALLY mobile friendly. Like my ideal is to just let the panels fill a mobile screen and swipe to read. We just....aren't really programmers so we haven't figured that out so much yet XD BUT- I'm really happy to hear the one-panel tapping is easy on wrists! I've heard other people call us 'accessible' for that and that was an uninentional side effect but I'm happy to hear it.

aliceapproved

Yeah! Plus, you get cool scenes like the circus sequence back to Gem waking up in bed in the same pose as the juggler

Tenor | Shinavar

It's muchly appreciated too <33

RebelVampire

on a different note, im really intrigued by the fact that gemini's savings are in the form of like actual treasure. and im really curious if thats literally their hard currency, and if not, where did gemini get all that treasure.

Tenor | Shinavar

I think it is bc she says the coffee was a gold coin + a virgin's tear

Superjustinbros

I'm back!

Shen

"a gold coin AND a virgin tear what a rip off"

mathtans

They're paste gems.

aliceapproved

I think it's Mom's allowance to her before she moved

Superjustinbros

And glad you're aiming for a smooth mobile experience with the comic.

Tenor | Shinavar

So I'm curious, if you two are willing to answer this (and it's cool if not!) But what's inspired you guys to tackle this story? :D

Superjustinbros

I have to admit, sticking to one panel per page helps a lot

mathtans

Yeah, maybe Gemini should store up her tears and sell them on the street?

Tenor | Shinavar

omg math

saetje

omg

Superjustinbros

@mathtans

mathtans

Tear-able idea, I know.

Jess

It’s probably a bit different for both of us: We’re huge myth nerds but we felt like there wasn’t a story that really talked about what ppl just starting their journey was like.(edited)

Superjustinbros

oooo

saetje

@Tenor | Shinavar no problem at all! Honestly GJ has been through many iterations including an animated series pitch in 20...12?? It was my and @Jess 's senior project! It was always very heavily myth-inspired because we're really into that. It's a modern hero's journey

Tenor | Shinavar

Oooh~! <3

saetje

but basically what @Jess said

Superjustinbros

Did someone say, animated series?

Jess

Like the feeling of being unprepared to adult and the lack of jobs. The scariness of being on your own. Finding love, and losing it. And the fear of letting people down.

aliceapproved

That's a really good point, a Journey!

Jess

It’s why Gemini’s full name is Gemini Journey

aliceapproved

Also mythology is SO GOSH DANG GOOD

mathtans

I thought that was a clever play on words.

aliceapproved

I love all the mythical creature references!

Jess

And plus—- all this myth jokes Hahahaha

saetje

Yeah. What can we say--- we were starry-eyed animation students once (well, @Jess was a graphic design major)

Superjustinbros

Seconding mythology

and wow, that's quite impressive!

mathtans

Wouldn't want to myth out.

saetje

yes! I'm REALLY into myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Bookshelves are lined with them, and I still don't know everything. It's a really rich topic.

Jess

I was not a animator hahah but I like them. They are awesome

aliceapproved

World Mythology class was one of my all time favorite classes in college haha!

Jess

Me too!!

aliceapproved

and your animated ad was BEAUTIFUL

saetje

same @aliceapproved !

and thank you!

aliceapproved

Seeing Gem and Veil move is gorgeous and I could see little gifs of them interacting

mathtans

As for the question of the half hour, I'm thinking Gemini answered a "want ad" from Veil, looking for a roommate, and she was the only one willing to take the place. Everyone else thought he was too strict, would get upset if they left the milk out.

RebelVampire

oh thats good to know. i did wonder what the significance was in that her name was gemini journey

aliceapproved

when time allows to work on those kinds of things haha!

Jess

I think myths in general tell important truths about people while still being entertaining. I hope our story gives them justice

aliceapproved

You guys totally do!

RebelVampire

veil does seem like the type whod make horrified faces at the milk being left out XD

Jess

Yeah. It’s a play on the Hero’s Journey

aliceapproved

I wonder if Griffins will make an appearance. I love that Teacup manticores exist haha!

saetje

Definitely lots of fights about how to load the dishwasher correctly (if they even have one)

Superjustinbros

lol

Tenor | Shinavar

I believe you guys give them great justice! I's def creative and fun for sure! :D

mathtans

"You bought the powdered soap again...."

RebelVampire

posting a bit early but i feel we are segueing into the next question already

QUESTION 4. Although the world has present-day elements, there are also a slew of magical things. What aspect of the world intrigued you the most and why? Are there tidbits mentioned that you’d love to know more about in the future? Alternatively, is there any magical related creature or being that you’re hoping to see make an appearance in the comic? In regards to actual story canon, do you feel Gemini is familiar with this magical world or that she still has a lot to learn? In what ways do you think magical elements might come into play and make trouble for Gemini? Regardless of magic, what sorts of other conflicts are you hoping to see/do you think we’ll see, especially in regards to Gemini learning to be an adult?

saetje

@aliceapproved honestly one of our downfalls is @Jess and I want to showcase TOO MANY mythological animals b/c we love so many of them and have a lot of ideas for how they'd work in our world. But, to what cost to plot, ugh.

and yeah griffins are like on that list b/c GRIFFINS

Shen

give me werewolves

ill give you a dollar

Tenor | Shinavar

brb

mathtans

Magical dishwasher.

aliceapproved

VERY GOOD

mathtans

Do they have flying cars?

RebelVampire

have we seen a minotaur yet? need some minotaurs up in this joint.

and unicorns

aliceapproved

What I'm interested is the fact that Gemini is an Antlantean and I wonder how that factors into future story elements if any

And yes, PLEASE griffins, unicorns, and minotaurs

saetje

WELL, here's something I think I can give away that hasn't exactly been pointed out a lot of times in our story yet (we are getting to it): there aren't any humans in the GJ universe (http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=74) so a concept of a werewolf to them would really be a "werehuman", haha. But there are other wolfed-figured beings like Wulvers from Irish myth.(edited)

Superjustinbros

Unicorns, you say?

~~suddenly thinking about centaurs~

aliceapproved

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! I remember giggling at that "HUMAN TALE"

Human tale must be so boring to them XD

It's like OUR world, but NO MAGIC

oh wait, they're horror stories

saetje

^^ yes

mathtans

Is Gemini actually a magical girl?

saetje

I MEAN, there are some strong "Princess Tutu" influences already and even more so coming up

Shen

magical girls are my jaaaaaaaaaaam

RebelVampire

did notice gemini was an antlantean, didnt realize there were no humans

i actually hope the gemini veil fight happens

Superjustinbros

What does the transformation sequence look like

RebelVampire

so we can see gemini's home

that sounds amazing

Superjustinbros

I must know

mathtans

Gemini is a duck?

saetje

how did you know?

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

a WHAT

Jess

Nooooo you figured it out

aliceapproved

I wanna meet Gemini's mom haha!

I've seen the art but gosh

or Veil interacting with them

Honestly, Veil and Gemini meet the other's parent(s)

mathtans

Waiting for the episode where Cupid accidentally shoots Veil with an arrow.

Jess

Yeah admittedly - the character designs for gems mom @saetje has done I’m really digging. I can’t wait for her appearance

mathtans

Veil falls in love with a dial tone. Very embarassing.

Jess

“Accidentally”

I love that

We need to rewrite the next episode stat

mathtans

He meant to shoot Gemini but Veil protected her.

saetje

um YEAH Math is going to be our new head writer

awww

mathtans

aliceapproved

LOL

Superjustinbros

Math, you should re-write all our comics/stories

saetje

omg agree

aliceapproved

I think you guys have a great Valentine's idea strip coming!

Superjustinbros

mind blown from the idea of a Math/SJB production

puns and jokes and visual gags everywhere

RebelVampire

i hope gemini's mom is super awesome. i feel like she must be and gemini wants to be awesome like her

mathtans

Let me try to get to 10 people reading my own comic first, maybe.

Superjustinbros

lol

I read your stuff and it's pretty rad @mathtans

mathtans

Would Gemini's dad still be in the picture, I wonder?

Superjustinbros

Gemini's uncle?

aliceapproved

Gemini's grunkle?

Shen

My dad? your dad?

saetje

hahaha, Uncle Saggitarius, Auntie Pisces...

aliceapproved

OMG

Jess

All dads

Superjustinbros

OMG

aliceapproved

HAHA!!! Great idea!

Superjustinbros

I dunno why but i always caught onto the name Saggitarius

Shen

in a shocking twist, veil isn't Gemini's love interest hes her dad

mathtans

Gemini could have two moms for all we know.

saetje

LORD

Superjustinbros

and it's totally not because I love centaurs

mathtans

(I now ship Gemini's parents, I guess...?)

aliceapproved

For Halloween, there probably should be a "Scary Human Tale" and it's filing taxes

Shen

XD

RebelVampire

well to be fair, dont need to be blood related for him to be her dad in a way. i mean he is basically pushing for her to succeed, teaching her stuff, and generally being the responsible adult

Shen

Veil is her dad confirmed

he loves and supports her and wants the best for her even when shes at her worst

Superjustinbros

daww

Shen

ps saetje and Jess i hope you guys are in DMs with each other just screaming about all the dumb shit we're saying XD

Superjustinbros

lmao

Jess

Are... you here with us

Superjustinbros

I never thought of CTP's featured creators ever doing that

aliceapproved

Repeating what a previous comment mentioned, it'll be fun to see how Veil falls for Gemini, like the spark that ignited his feelings for her and hopefully for Gemini in turn

Shen

LMAO

mathtans

Veil is actually a magic clone of her dad that was sent by the ghost of her grandfather, Thor?

saetje

oh, @Jess is my S/O so we're just chatting in our living room together and loving everything y'all say

Jess

But honestly this has been so inspiring

Shen

oh even better!

Tenor | Shinavar

BACK. #4: THe aspect that inrigues me the most is how diverse the world is and how it just is all one big melting pot. It's colorful and you've no idea what's around the corner. :D I'm curious if something like a Wendigo might get seen! :D

Superjustinbros

Daww, that's cute! (edited)

also WB!

Tenor | Shinavar

THaaaaank

Superjustinbros

np~

brb for a sec

mathtans

Wendigos is scary stuff. O.o

Tenor | Shinavar

Yes they are

saetje

I LOVE the myth of Wendigo! No plans, esp. because they start out as human, but. I enjoy that one a lot

Tenor | Shinavar

But also like, one of my favorites so-

That's fair!

RebelVampire

can never see wendigo in a positive light. 2spooky.

mathtans

Wendigone.

Shen

that eliminates vampires, too....

RebelVampire

i hope there are phoenixes. and i hope gemini doesnt know them offhand and freaks out when one bursts into flames.

aliceapproved

Would aliens fall into the category or is that too sci-fi?

Lol a fantasy world that has stories that are sci-fi

Jess

But what if we made a chain. And it’s a reheaded wendigo that sells burgers with square patties

Tenor | Shinavar

Y R U MEAN TO THAT CHILD REBEl

omg

oMG

plz

Jess

I mean —-

mathtans

Oh, phoenixes are fun.

aliceapproved

Phoenix chicks!!!

Tenor | Shinavar

"We sell Hyumahn meat"

aliceapproved

Little baby Phoenixes pls haha!

Shen

phoenix lady dating a merman

aliceapproved

Fresh from death!

I mean Rebirth!

mathtans

Jess: I got that.

Sassy twitter extra.

saetje

We've been throwing around a phoenix story idea! They're also a personal favorite

again: too many great myth/fairy tale creatures we love, guuh.

aliceapproved

Again as said earlier, I'm really happy that Kappas made an appearance, too! I love it when mythical creatures from all over the world are in one place together

Shen

i just love how he knew how defeat the kappa lol

mathtans

"Why's that bird hanging around the Vietnamese shop?" "It's a Pho Enix."

Shen

BOOO MATH XD

saetje

IE: we thought of Veil and Gem "babysitting" a sphinx and Gem keeps feeding it puns and popsicle riddles (junk food) when it needs, like, existential riddles for nutrients, ha.

RebelVampire

yes i do think theres a great mixture of things from tons of diff cultures. it really makes the world extra super colorful.

Tenor | Shinavar

AWH

Yes plz sphinx bby

RebelVampire

i bet veil has some great existential riddles

mathtans

Aw, those are cute drawings.

aliceapproved

AAAAWW

Shen

GOSH

Tenor | Shinavar

I'll hate it because the puns will hurt so much but UGGGH IT'D BE SO CUTE I'LL DIE FROM IT

Shen

SLEEPY VEIL MELTING MY HEART

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

OMG CUTEEEEEEE

Kabocha

Awww, Veil, that is just way too cute ^_^

aliceapproved

Your sketches are SO GOOD

mathtans

(Speaking of, when do we get the pastries that I saw on Veil's plate for the CTP today?)

aliceapproved

Your guys' ideas are SO GOOD

saetje

older concepts BUT. Again. there are SO MANY potential for fun-myth-animal stories we tend to get lost in them, haha. I don't know how much/if any will make it into the comic

I'll mail them out Math!

Jess

The pastries were there all along. In your heart

aliceapproved

Do you guys plan to do little intermission stories before doing a big arc like this one?

saetje

yes! Just like the roach comic

Jess

Yup!

aliceapproved

Like the dragon cockroach felt like a good mini-story before we got a meaty story

saetje

we plan to do little minis between bigger arcs

aliceapproved

YEAH!

Tenor | Shinavar

Sweet! :D

Jess

We want to alternate between large stories and smaller world building stuff

Tenor | Shinavar

Exciiiiiited

mathtans

Anyway, gtg, baby needs me. Best with the comic!

RebelVampire

good luck math~!

Jess

Best!! And thanks for stopping by!!

saetje

thanks for coming Math! Best wishes

aliceapproved

Bye, Math!!!

Tenor | Shinavar

Oh more queestions~ Due to how your comic is constructed, do you find you have more time to work on it, and/or you got a good healthy buffer?

BYE MATH

saetje

oh that's a really good question Tenor!

Originally, for like the last two years we've had almost a 6 mo queue, because also only update bi-weekly. But we recently ran out of that queue because LIFE and freelance hit us hard XDD so we've been trying to catch up somewhat successfully. As far as page-speed creation, I think it can vary widely but both @Jess and I have gotten a lot faster than we used to be. When we're really able to focus after-work hours (no life and freelance jams getting too much in the way) we can do about 4-6 panels in a single week, about 10-20 hours between us

The thing is though, one of the draw-backs of single panel shots is you DO have to show a lot more, I think, than just a page-layout comic.

Superjustinbros

Oooh!

That's interesting~

also bye Math

saetje

like, if we took those panels and made them into a page layout we would get away with showing less, I think, and possibly saving some time? But it's hard to gauge because also there's panel layout and flow and page composition to consider that we don;t have to worry as much about

Jess

Yeah I was gonna say the same thing. Actually the full panels largest drawback is that you have to draw sooooo much. In a comic with many panels you could cut to a talking head suddenly - in ours, because of the layout we have to be very careful not to take them out of context too quickly and too frequently

saetje

yeah good point Jess

Tenor | Shinavar

That's a good point. It's such an interesting thing o consider because - I guess the easiest way I can describe it is like the illustrations in children's books. They can be just so world building and easter-eggy so it's interesting to consider the differences!

Jess

So it’s a mixed bag. On one hand you are making only one image at a time. Sometimes even usi a lot of the same assets. But on the other - it’s a full color illustration and having to show minute changes in expression to keep the pace from seeming too quick can be a challenge too

Yeah that too!!

RebelVampire

im curious if you took printing into consideration. idk if youve printed the comic before or ever intended too. just wondering how a single panel per page comic would work in that case.

Superjustinbros

Yeah, I see what you're saying, do one-panel updates but fill them with lots and lots of detail?

saetje

or if the pacing reads too slow too- panel comics (or comics made by animators in general) can also be too slow b/c us animators LOVE showing those minute pose/expression changes, which can sometimes read slow. I'm always stressed about the pace, ha.

whitneyandcompany

Hi! Love the comic

Tenor | Shinavar

I could see, in print form, largely remaining single panel per page, or for the more fast paced ones tweak to 2-3 on the page

saetje

@Jess and I always imagined the comic a digital-first production, but if we were to go to print it'd likely be something along the lines of what Ava's Demon did. Just, single panels-per-page. But @Jess being the graphic designer who often works in print too might have some other ideas on that

Hi @whitneyandcompany thank yoouu

Jess

So when creating one of the things we did as a priority is consider the mobile screen first. Which is the opposite of what is the norm. If we were to do a book it would be handled where we put a very limited amount of images on a page. Maybe 1-2 similar to Ava’s demon

aliceapproved

Yeah, the drawback of single-paged stuff is exactly that. Focusing more on some things, like a character going through emotions can read more slowly even tho it's important to the story

Tenor | Shinavar

ugh ilu for the mobile love lol

Superjustinbros

Just thought I'd say before the CTP ends- good luck with the rest of Gemini Journey, @saetje and @Jess. It's really coming along well and you're definitely got a good story here to tell as well.

aliceapproved

But it works so well for mobile scrolling, it's so friendly!

Tenor | Shinavar

Like I can't express how frusrating it is for me bc there's SO many people who own their own sites and it's not mobile friendly

saetje

thanks @Superjustinbros have a good night!

aliceapproved

Maybe you could have 3 panels per page if printed?

Tenor | Shinavar

I live on the go I NEED THAT MOBILITY ;n;

Superjustinbros

You too, and thanks for being here, @saetje!

saetje

@Tenor | Shinavar I got to be honest with you- as a webcomic fan and reader for MANY years I feel that

Kabocha

I really look forward to reading this in the future. It's enjoyable and to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what I was in for at first... BUT it is a pleasure to read!

Superjustinbros

And cya to you as well, @Jess.

Jess

Awwww thanks!!

Kabocha

Thank you for creating an amazing comic. :3

Superjustinbros

Anytime!

RebelVampire

yeah im glad priority was placed on mobile because it is basically the way thing are going, whether ppl want that or not.

Superjustinbros

^

Tenor | Shinavar

YES it was a fun surprise! (And def last minute for me bc I didn't realize it was something I could read lmao OTL)

saetje

Thank you @Kabocha for your wonderful insights and kind comments! Thanks for coming

RebelVampire

and its definitely a beautiful comic. i think the pacing works out great as well~!

whitneyandcompany

You guys are the reason I downloaded the web toon app, I look forward to every update

aliceapproved

Thank you for making such an inspirational and gorgeous comic!

Jess

Awww well it means so much to hear you guys say that

aliceapproved

I always look forward to your updates!

Superjustinbros

In that case, cya everyone!

aliceapproved

And yes, you're the reason I downloaded the web toon app, too!

saetje

oommmg @whitneyandcompany , thank you

Shen

im glad i got to read this story its so good so far and i cant wait to read more~

Jess

It’s been really humbling for us to put our work out there. But I am so incredibly touched right now

Superjustinbros

Glad to hear~

saetje

Thank you @Shen! I look forward to more of your comic as well! I'm glad you like it.

Shen

GOSH <3

saetje

Yeah everyone, thank you for coming and letting us know you thoughts It has meant the WORLD to us

aliceapproved

You guys are amazing and I love your work

Tenor | Shinavar

Thank you for signing up so we could disect it /shot

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero, as well, for making Gemini Journey. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://geminijourney.com/

Donate via Paypal.me: https://www.paypal.me/YeseniaCarrero

Tracy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/saetje

Yesenia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Demongemini6

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about The Hunter of Fenaur by CalimonGraal. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, September 20th, from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: http://hunter.fenauriverse.moe/

Comic’s Tapas Mirror: https://tapas.io/series/the-hunter-of-fenaur

[leafpool18]

tears of  a tenno

this is a  story i have thought of for a while  warning below the cut ther eis spoilers to a  mission   i’m jsut adding mroe to it   and giving how my tenno would of reacted   also  my friend @slushystraw and his brother who i’ll call blue, being idk what to call him so i’ll call him part of his name in warframe ,  are in this story as well or their tenno are so enjoy ^^   also side note forgive me for my spelling   in this  it was slightly rushed

it was quiet in the orbitor today no mission or alerts had come in   so far and no contact from the lotus either . Sarah was occupying herself with her kubrow  snowbell and her  Sentinel’s  carrier,taxon and shade .  she sighed softly before messaging her friend slushy.

Sarah: any luck finding missions on your end? slushy: no not yet lotus has been awfuly quiet today sarah: yeah  .. i’m going to decorate my personal room for a bit i guess..

she sighed closing the   message channel   as she  got up  and headed for her room  on the small ship.  as she entered  the room , in mirage warframe,  she noticed something  a glowing ball of energy right by her window   in the room. she froze and  walked over quietly not saying a word. she opened  the  channel  again  Sarah:  slushy ...

Slushy: whats up  ?  sarah:  theres a glowing orb in my personal room i don’t know what it is   can you and blue come in to check it out ?  slushy:? sure  one second blue:.... sarah waited for the sound of the two coming into her orbitor . it didn;t take to long thankfuly  as slushy and blue both entered  the   ship, of corse being greeted by ordis   “ Hello operators welcome aboard  i hope you have a*zktzz*  bloody* zktzz*  nice day “ the two nodded as they headed down to where sarh was waiting   by the door. quietly she opened it to show them the glowing orb  floating in  the room, “ what is it?” slushy asked   as sarah shruged  “ i’m not sure it sort of jsut appeared in my room .. i think i should touch it  ?” blue looked over and shook his head quietly  as sarah looked at the two  “  but i don’t know what it is and i don’t wnat it on my orbitor what if it messes ordis up or  makes him glitch more ?  i’m touching it “ she said slightly stubborn as she walked over and touched it. as she did  a bright light surrounded  all three   befor eit all went black  .... sarah groaned softly sitting up and looking aroudn  “ am i on lua?” she mummbled softly only to hear a groan  she quickly pulled her sword out only to see slushy and  blue on the floor. she ran over and helepd them up   “  you guys okay ? “ 

slushy and blue nodded  as all three looked around  blue gave sarah a look, or he would if warframes could emote, causing her to sigh ‘ i know i know ... come on lets see if we can find a spot to contact our orbitors” the trio walked quietly down the path as they spotted another orb of energy but much smaller then the first one. sarah walked over only to be grabbed on the shoulder by blue “ i don’t thinky uo should  touch that sarah  ..” slushy said calmly  wiht a tinge of worry in his voice. sarah  looekd at the two before shouldering blue’s grip off her and wlaking to the   orb and touching it flunching... not  nothing happened besides a voice.. a voice they all thought long gone  .. margulis, the mother of the tenno the person who tried to save them. without much thought  sarah rushed after the glowing streak   as it floated alone the old wrecked ruins of lua. behind her slushy calle dout” sarah wait ti might be a trap!” she ignored him and kept going till she reached another orb and touching ti again .. another voice this time one she did not reconize  .. a male one talk to margulis  about her trail.. was this  the day ebfore she was killed. sarah had to know  she  ran off  touching orb after orb  getting mroe and mroe info of that day till she reached the base of a old white tree  . the  light  went down a whole in its roots . sarah leaned over but was grabbed   by blue and slushy   she looekd back “  i’m going to find otu what happened to her you can’t stop me “ she said determind  . slushy sighed softly “ fine  i’ll come wiht you  jsut incase its a trap ..”  blue nodded   in agreement  as the thrio looekd down the hole before jumping.. all went black once mroe  as they landed   they found they were not in their warframes anymore but   as themselves . they looekd around as margulis’s voice rang again but this time it was the day or ehr trail it seemed. the three looekd around as they wlaked forward  hearing the last words of margulis or their mother   before it went quiet.   they wlaked to theexit of the tunnel and the floor rumbled. slushy and blue got their amps ready to attack only to see a pod slowly rise from the ground   the feeling of.. safety  washed over the trio as they watched it open reviling  lotus  in it.  lotus spoke calmly “ how long have we waited for this moment..” sarah couldnt help btu smile as she spoke” lo..” only to be itnerupted by another voice  “ forgive me “ the trio turned slightly to see a  tall figure with a misshapen arm   push past them .the two begain to speak .. “ for what?” I am not who you think i am “ 

“ but of corse you are, imprissioned just as she was” 

with a wave of his normal hand  lotus was disconected from ehr pod sending a way of static and pain through the trio   and yet lotus did not even notice the three tenno   in pain   behind the man   and continued speaking  wiht him as he walked toward her.

“Ballas?”

“ I will not abandon  you again margulis“

with those words he reached out hsi  long and misperportioned   arm  to lotus  no margulis? and much to the three tenno’s horror  lotus begain removing her helmet  slowly.before dropping it  and taking Ballas’s hand  and slwoly walking away with him into the light.    as the two vansihed  the trio found they could move.. and as soon as they could sarah dashed forward shouting “Lotus!”  but ti was to late she was gone.. sarah  got to where hte lotus once was and picke dup the helmet looking atslushy and blue as tears began  to form down ehr cheek, she hand;t cried  since she lsot her  mother on the ship.she fell to ehr knees and cried shaking clutching the helmet . slushyw alked over quietly and put a hand on her back fighting his own tears  blue came over and tocuhed the helmet gently .  after a bit they were back on the ship  ordis  commenting on the lotus being gone .. and making a program to relay missions for them .. it wans;t the same  it wans;t er.. but all three apriciated ordis trying to help. quietly sarah walked ot her personal room and set the hat  on the pedistal  quietly   jsut staring at it ... the lotus was gone..margulis was gone.. with so little awnsers given and so many questions btu one thing remained true to all three of them ... they were going to find lotus  again  or margulis  and get her back some way or another... if they had to fight the whole universe she would be back safe and sound..

the end  

[mischiefruled]

week #1 - organizing & outlining

So, just got through with my first week at uni. Only two lectures so far, both mostly full of introductions and occasional interruptions by a healthinspection team for corona. Honestly, didn’t learn anything I hadnt already in a levels, but thats ok. Introductory classes after all. I’m just hoping my one edge lasts when I’m in a class fullll of kids from families of law firms and politicians. 

Right now I have a few questions I need to answer.

What do I give priority to here at the start?

How should I divide my studies up? What types of notes should I make? How should I go about this?

What resources do I need to pick and look for?

What is the purpose of this blog?

ANSWER #1

I have a lot to improve on. But to look at each thing is so overwhelming that it leaves me in a state of paralyis. So for now, Im listing them out in order of importance to me

> Get my shit in order. Collect my books, get my new laptop, and set up a good study space

> Figure out my routine. I hate routine. But without any good transport methods it becomes necessary. Two issues with this, one that my mom is difficult and doesnt give me a lot of control on my own schedule. Second is that the library has the texts, but my home has the laptop. I suppose I’ll start taking my ext hard drive but it’ll still be a tad inconvenient

> Make friends and connections. I really need to set up a study system, I like stuydying with people. I also need people to fall back on in case I miss lectures and the like. As much as I hate interacting with people who I can’t be myself around, it will be a necessity. Tangentially related, I need to figure out how I want to appear to others + buy some new clothes for God’s sake.

> Learn TOUCH TYPING. This will be essential if our exams will be given online. Even now I’m typing with jsut two fingers. god. Need to get a speed of 80wpm by the end of this year. Please.

ANSWER #2

I’ve got 5 notebooks so far: class notes, personal notes, cases and summaries, general notebook? [not so sure about this one], and I plan on buying a binder with loose paper to organize final notes. Another thing I need to consider is using OneNote, but that’ll be easier when I finally get my own laptop.

I’ll divide by subject, subjects into chapters, then each chapter as a whole into different aspects to study with. 

Primary notes [study guide] + Extra material notes + core concepts and analysis. 

Furthermore, summarize each chapter in my own words in an essay form. A blog post from an old LLB UoL graduate recommedned something similar.

Finally, do the activities and tasks at the end of the module.

Now, further along the road, I should start looking up past papers and examiners reports. I should regularly consult my professors too, ask them on my methods and clear up any confusion I may have in my core concepts. Perhaps I’ll find a purpose for that general notebook after all in this regard lol

ANSWER #3

I dont quite know why I asked myself that on this blog post... I’m already looking through the study guide for stuff to refer to. Must remind myself to consult professors on what material is most necessary as well.

ANSWER #4

A few things come to mind. i want this blog to motivate me, first of all.

Collect tips, advice, and resources

Weekly summaries of what I’ve done and how uni went and general areas I need to improve upon

Perhaps I should upload chapter summary essays on here too. If I type out my notes on cases as well I will post them here.

Links and stuff I find interesting

Organize my reading list and how far I am with them. Include them in my weekly updates. Perhaps my weekly updates should also contain my goals for the week

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WELL now that ive managed to spell all that out for myself, I think ill just talk about other stuff now.

the teachers seem nice. the criminal law prof does sound a bit intimidating but the lsm professor was very lax, and the contract law prof was very helpful in explanations and i had a talk with him about materials.

i met three people in class so far, janita, sofia, and zainab. i will try talking to them more, but theyre all rather shy in my opinion. i met an IR student called nawal, she was very sweet and likes makeup and fashion. we talked enthusiastically within moments of meeting one another, i cant even remember how many topics we bounced back and forth between. very easy to talk to, and she doesnt have an instagram so.. well not to be superficial , but that does my raise my opinion of her.

thats all for the personal section

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WEEKS GOALS

get laptop 

make fee payment to uol

pester SWQ for study guide. i know he has some copies squirelled away i know it..!!!

ask about student gym + again pester SWQ abt the current library system cause.. wtf!

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READING

In order of importance

LSM UoL study guide [5/7]

Criminal Law UoLstudy guide [3/15]

Public Law UoL study guide [0/20]

Contract Law UoL study guide [0/17]

Learning Legal Rules [0/12]

I made it through 5 chapters with notes within a week. Assuming I can up the pace to about 6, I can manage to get halfway through the rest of these study guides within 3 or 4 weeks.

 I only need to get halfway through, because I need to be slightly ahead of the class, not fully. Then I can focus on learning through textbooks, starting with LSM. It’s the most boring, so Id like it out of the way as soon as possible.

[sugarless-suki-writes-movin-blog]

To the Blacksmith

A little short I wrote based on something that happened to my character during the campaign I’m in. Apparently our DM came up with it on the fly and I effing love it???? Ha. Anyway, Astrid is a character I’ve had for several years and I jsut translated her into DnD stuff. She’s a half high elf tiefling (since tieflings are already half demons)

Fandom: Dungeons and Dragons (5e) Rating: Explicit (Current chapter is kinda T+ buuuut, will be E in the future) Word Count: 1,837

Read on Ao3

Summary: After defeating a lycan and having spent the night celebrating their victory, the party is now perusing the town and has split up to cover ground and get things done in a timely manner.

Astrid was mentally preparing herself to face the members of high society once more as she and several others made their way towards the gates that led to that part of town. The only reason they were going there was to speak with the blacksmith, the only one in town. She wasn’t eager to go, but she needed to get her rapier fixed. She was also curious to see what else the blacksmith would have in stock. She was always up for getting new weapons. She had a Drow, his butler, and a Dragonborn in her party, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember their names. She knew the Dragonborn as “The Cleaver” simply for the fact that he had a tendency to cleave things in half in battle. He also didn’t really speak much, so that made things a tad bit harder to remember his name.

As for the Drow and butler… they had only been a part of their party for one day, so she wouldn’t know their names. She also found them a bit annoying. It was bad enough with one Drow that knew next to nothing about their world.. now there was another one? At least he was a cleric and could heal the party if need be. And… he had provided her Sanctuary during their last battle and saved her from dying. She supposed she should be grateful for that.

The rest of their party was at a bookstore, since their leader Newt wanted to look up some things. She was confused as to why Eris wanted to go to the bookstore, but she didn’t question it. Kiirehtt was just…. Kiirehtt. (Honestly, the bard should really get another weapon.. or at least sell the rapier they never use. Astrid was confused why they even had it in the first place.) The new Kenku was difficult to talk to, and their ranger, Sampson, was passed out drunk in the tavern still. So, the party in the library was going to meet them at the blacksmith later, likely once Newt was done.

Before she really realized it, they had reached the gate. She held back the grimace that was itching to spread across her face and show her distaste for the situation, and instead placed a haughty look on her face. That should help her pass as a noble. She pushed past the three members of her party and approached the guards.

“Halt, what business have you here?” he asked, looking down on her with a look of disgust on his face.

Astrid pulled a pendant out of her pocket that held her family crest on it. “My party and I would wish to pass through and see the blacksmith.” she said, her nose held high as she handed the guard the pendant. He looked it over, his brows knitting together in confusion.

“Amsel? Didn’t they all die 10 years ago?” he asked skeptically.

Astrid put a frown on her face, letting her eyes water slightly. “Yes.. what a tragedy it was to lose both my parents in one night… Thankfully I had survived to live another day and continue the family bloodline. I am also forever grateful for the immediate capture and death of the culprit.” She sniffled slightly and looked down, feigning tears.

The guard looked a bit skeptical. “One moment please.” He then turned and went into the gatehouse. A few moments passed and he reemerged, disbelief plain on his face as he returned her pendant. Astrid was pretending to straighten herself and blink back tears as she gave him a small thanks for the return of her crest. “It all clears. You may pass.” He gave a slight bow to her then and then called for the gates to open. Once they were, their party passed through and entered the fray.

The square was brimming with nobility and aristocrats and it took everything in Astrid to not blanch. She hated the aristocracy with a passion. She couldn’t wait until this was over with. As she was busy grumbling to herself, she faintly heard the butler trying to get information out of one of the passing nobles. The man turned up his nose at the man, calling him some derogatory term and it made Astrid’s blood boil.

She turned on her heel then, cape swirling around her, and she got up in the man’s personal space, shoving her crest in his face. “How about you tell me, then?” she ground out, resisting the urge to punch him.

He seemed to be ready to brush her off as well, until he really looked at the crest she held. His eyes widened and he looked at her in disbelief. “I thought the Amsels were killed 10 years ago…” he murmured.

“I’m the sole survivor and heir to the family.” she snipped. The man nodded and gave them the directions to the blacksmith. Astrid snorted in disgust and snarled out an insult, degrading him for degrading her party. She may not know them well, but she respected them and knew they didn’t deserve to be insulted by the likes of these people. With that, they carried on, Astrid not hiding her disgust with high society.

They had almost reached the blacksmith when their path was blocked by a man with a red cloak. It was obvious he was of noble birth, but he seemed to be held in higher regards than the ones they had passed earlier. He looked down on them, and there was something about him that struck a chord in Astrid. A sense of… familiarity. “What business does riffraff like you have here?” he asked.

“We were just on our way to see the blacksmith.” Said the butler. The man laughed heartily then, and there was a menacing glint in his eye.

“I think you’d best turn around and leave.” Astrid felt herself get riled up, a rage lighting up inside of her and fueling her. She whipped out her pendant and showed it to him.

“I suggest you let us pass.” she threatened, not even trying to hide the murderous glint in her eyes now. She was over this. She left this society for a reason. The man took a passing glance at her pendant and tossed it away. Astrid watched as it landed in a small puddle of mud. The rage flared and if she were a full demon, she knew her eyes would have bled red by now and she would’ve ripped his head off.

“State your name.” she growled, voice low and menacing.

He chuckled a bit, and his humor only angered her more. “Alexander Crowwood of the Wülven clan.”

The name plucked something in her and she furrowed her brows slightly in thought. She backed off somewhat, trying to figure out who this man was. Why was his name so familiar? Where had she heard it before? Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear what the Drow behind her said to the man. All she knew was that one moment he was humored, and the next he had called in guards and they were standing before him. She held back a groan and resisted the urge to run a hand down her face in frustration. She couldn’t leave them be for one moment, could she? Dear Freyja, help me… She said in a silent prayer to her goddess. However, she noticed the guards and Alexander begin to quiver a bit. She looked behind her and saw that the Dragonborn had grabbed hold of his sword and was looking at them menacingly. She smirked and turned to face the noble once more. She could use this to her advantage.

“I’m Astrid Amsel and I suggest you get out. Of. My. Way.” she threatened, her voice snarling on the last word. She watched as several emotions flew across his face before he finally decided on confusion.

“Amsel? But they all died 10 years ago.” God! She was sick of hearing that!

“I can assure you that I’m of the family. Why don’t you check my crest that you so kindly threw in the mud earlier.” she replied, sticking her nose in the air. The guards backed off slightly as he went over to the puddle and picked up her pendant. He wiped the mud off of it and really inspected it this time. His brows were knitted together in confusion.

“But.. I thought.. you…” He looked at her then and an unknown expression crossed his features and settled there. “We have some… unfinished business to attend to. If you would.” He gestured for her to follow him then and she bit her lip. She was nervous, but she refused to let it show. She still hadn’t figured out who he was and how they knew each other.. but she figured she was about to find out….

…

They made it to his estate and were seated in his private study. They had been sitting in a tense silence for several minutes, just staring at each other. However, he seemed to break before she did. “What happened? I thought you had died?”

Astrid snorted and crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat. “What does it matter to you? I hope you realize I have no idea who you are.”

“We were arranged to be wed.” he replied curtly, slight pain in his eyes. Astrid lived for it. However, her joy was short lived as it all came flooding back to her. She remembered all the days of planning, her meetings with her groom to be, her utter disgust of the entire charade.

Her lip curled as her nose wrinkled. She looked up at him and spoke her mind. “God…. I guess I do remember now.” His eyes seemed to brighten at that and she held back a smirk, wicked ideas forming in her mind. “Yes, I remember that idiotic arrangement. What was it? A mandatory five children? A happy life living in nobility?” She threw her head back and laughed heartily. Once she calmed, she looked up at him through her lashes and relished in the pain in his eyes. “I did everything I could to avoid that union.”

She rose from her seat and placed her hands on the wooden desk, leaning forward. “I even went so far as to kill my own parents.” His eyes widened at that and he opened his mouth to speak, but she continued before he could interrupt her. “Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. And as I’m sure you know… the ‘killer’ has already been caught and executed. The evidence has been ditched and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.” she whispered threateningly. Satisfied, she let out a small chuckle and went to pull away. However, he reached out and grabbed her, stopping her before she could leave.

“I will have you, Astrid Amsel.” he snarled.

She leaned in then, standing on her toes to properly get in his face. “I’d like to see you try.”