#(at least at first. not Mindblowing; but after he learns what she likes it gets so much better by the end)

[fandomwe1rd0]

How not to and how to write an asshole protagionist

Honestly I know asshole protagonists are sadly more common now, but I think Rick and Morty did it best (Wowwww shocker, I think Rick and Morty did something better than other tv shows?! Wow it's not like I'm constantly singing Rick and Morty's praises or anything…)

Now, first what exactly is an asshole protagonist? Now, I feel like the title itself is kinda self-explanatory. An asshole protagonist is a protagonist that…is an asshole. They don't portray the usual likable trait most protagionist have, and are usually prone to being assholes, hence the name. Now I assume most tv shows add asshole protagonist(s) are either so they can be unique, make the character feel more human, or for comedic purposes. Sometimes it can just be one, multiple, or all of them.

Now, first let's look at a tv show that did this poorly…sorry to everyone, I know everyone is probably glad to have forgotten this, but I'm gonna bring up Velma. Now Velma, is an asshole protagonist. She's mean, snarky, sarcastic, and is all around just an asshole and an insensitive jerk to her friends and girlfriend.

Ok now, a character who has these faults, can still be likable in a way. Now if a character gets called out on these faults and try to work on them, complex, or at least if they are actually funny when showing a character being an asshole, Velma is neither of these things, none of the jokes are funny, and everyone treats her like she's some great person when she's just a horrible person, she isn't even complex, just annoying.

Now, let's look at Rick, another example of an asshole protagionist, he's cynical, sarcastic, rude, manipulative, abusive, and just an overall asshole, but here is how Rick and Morty does it right, Rick is more than just a mean old man, he is incredibly complex, struggling with the trauma he had when he watched his wife and child blow up TWICE. And there's actually a reason as to why he's an asshole, he feels like if he cares about people, they will either die or leave him, that's obviously no excuse, but it adds reason to his actions (Meanwhile Velma was just always an asshole…)

He also gets called a lot for being an asshole, and even insults himself when he does something especially shitty, like in season 4 episode 10 after he cloned Space Beth and Beth and watched the mindblower where he shuffled them and didn't look because he didn't want to answer Beth's question on whether he wants Beth to stay and be apart of her life or if he wants her to leave, he says, and I quote

"Holy shit I'm a terrible father."

And he couldn't even go out and see them, and just sits down in the garage alone and thinks about how big of an asshole he's been in general, this is not only a powerful emotional momebut…butttt a good segueway into his redemption arc!

Now Rick in the later seasons in genuinely trying to be better, he goes to therapy, is nicer to Jerry, gentler to Morty and insults Morty a lot less, really just is nicer to Morty in general, treating him a lot more like an equal partner, treats Summer with more respect, and learns to control his anger a lot better. Now it doesn't make up for all the shitty things he does, and the show acknowledges that, but it's definitely a start, and he is not the same murderous maniac he was in say, season 4, where he just couldn't resist traumatizing Morty every 2 seconds. Meanwhile in season 7, he actually treats Morty like…gasp a person! And is actually acting like a grandpa, even spoiling Morty which is adorable.

Also…he's just funny y'all! He has a sense of humor and it's genuinely really funny, I mean ik humor is subjective but c'monnnnn

Rick is a good example of an asshole protagonist because he's funny, complex, and wants to be better, Velma is just…nothing.

[quadrantadvisor]

From @phantom-dc

I love this actually. Danny realizes that he can pull this and decides he can't miss his chance, but immediately after the title passes he starts feeling guilty. Not guilty enough to take it BACK, though. Maybe he runs off at first, but then starts imagining the Observants trying to contact this random guy and how confusing that would be, and comes back to explain things.

Jason HAS in fact been very confused by the glowing green stationary that shows up no matter how well he burns his safe houses and covers his tracks when he moves. Confused, and totally not scared out of his mind. The file boxes full of fantasy paperwork are the weirdest and most threatening prank anyone has ever pulled on him. He'd like to blame Tim, but he already asked Barbie, and she wouldn't let him get away with that. He keeps reading through the stacks, looking for some sort of code, something to make it make sense, but no, it's just, territory disputes between skeletons and yetis, complaint forms from Satan, something about allocating resources to restore the Greek sector. Jason does not get it at all.

And then there's a knock on his door, and it's that weird guy who laughed when Jason kicked the shit out him a couple weeks ago. He's crouched over, picking up another one of the file boxes from Jason's stoop. The guy straightens up and gives him a wry look. "Sorry about all this," he says.

So Danny starts explaining to Jason what happened, and obviously Jason just gets pissed and doesn't believe him at all at first, but Danny is able to convince him with facts and logic and a few strategic displays of the powers that he super didn't use when he threw that fight (Jason is very embarrassed to realize that).

And Danny helps Jason out. He explains what Jason's new responsibilities are, he sorts through the papers with him, he complains about the Observants and all the other officials in the Ghost Zone, and he drops a lot of mindblowing lore completely casually. Just by letting Danny ramble on, Jason learns what ectoplasm is, that it makes up the Infinite Realms, and that it must be part of his own makeup, or else he wouldn't have been able to inherit the throne.

Danny keeps helping out, Jason keeps not ceding the throne to someone else, and before the two of them know it, Jason is the feared and respected leader of the Realms for his ability to take no shit and get shit done, and Danny is his trusted right hand, advisor, and cultural liason. The Fright Knight title just seems natural, at that point. Danny is still doing a lot of the work that he despised before, but at least it's split between the two of them, and Jason is happy to make the tough and unpopular decisions that paralyzed Danny. And Danny is also deeply invested in keeping Jason safe. No reason. Not like he's deeply in love with him after all the time they've spent together or anything.

Ghost King Jason

Danny gets into a fight with The Red Hood. The Red Hood says the words "I challenge you, You M--F--" Danny looks him square in the eyes and says "Challenge Accepted." before promptly throwing the fight.

Now being the Ghost King is Jason's Problem.

[thevindicativevordan]

On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

[sullustangin]

The Expendables

A brief ditty about three kill options (and I kept it under 1500 words!). 

Post-KotET

“All right. You go get your stuff, and I’ll keep an eye on the ship.”

Arcann nodded, silently, as he opened the shuttle door and jumped out onto the landing pad on top of the palace at the heart of Zakuul.

Annnnd that left Koth, with Senya, waiting.  “You aren’t going with him?”

Senya looked out of the viewport at the traffic that moved below them.  “I took my possessions with me when I left his father.  There’s nothing for me here.”

“Ok.”  Koth drummed his fingers on the dashboard.  It wasn’t out of nerves -- not anymore.  He was impatient.  He didn’t want to be here.  He loved Zakuul.. but his home wasn’t on this planet.  Wasn’t anywhere yet, to be honest.  He was only here because Lana asked him to do her a favor. 

Both Koth and Senya knew what that favor really was. 

“Maybe you can help hurry him along? Grab a bag, make a suggestion...?”  Koth gestured toward the door.

Senya shook her head.  “He needs his privacy.  The Alliance has watched him very closely since he arrived -- which I understand!” Senya said a bit quicker and louder than necessary.  “I just want to give him a few moments alone with his thoughts.”  She cast a look at the door that led down into the residence.  “You know, they’re turning this place into a museum.  And a mall.”

Koth leaned back in his seat.  “Well, finally gives people a chance to see what their taxes paid for over the last few centuries.”

Senya sat on the edge of her seat, constantly looking over at where her son had disappeared.  

Koth sighed, loudly.

“Could you --?”

“You just don’t want to catch him getting his girlie holo collection.”

Senya huffed, then withdrew slightly.  “I-I-I don’t know if he has girlie holos... or boy-ie holos.  I left before he ... went through those changes.”  Senya’s shame was laced through the sentence.  She was never going to forgive herself for leaving, was she.

“Well, he clearly likes girls, at least, since that’s why I’m here.”  Koth looked over at Senya.  “You let Arcann try to ask the Captain out or something, and now I’m here because Lana doesn’t want Spy Guy letting Arcann accidentally, mysteriously fall off a building.”

Senya pressed her lips together before replying.  “War -- conflict makes and breaks relationships.  I didn’t know how permanent --”

“Woman, your son threw his kinda sorta girlfriend into a freezer for five years.  He didn’t get over it. And now you let Arcann make a move?  You’re lucky Theron kept that to himself instead of telling the Wookiee.  You wanna see paternal panic?  Lord.”  Bowdaar was awesome, and Koth would have him serving on the Gravestone if he didn’t know the big guy wouldn’t stand being parted from Eva, his captain. 

Senya closed her eyes, and for a split second, Koth thought he’d made her cry and that was soooo NOT HIS INTENT.  Koth’s internal panic was quelled when she spoke, more tired and frustrated than tearful.  “It was the first time he expressed any positive interest in anyone that wasn’t me or his siblings.  So many years since he... Since he wasn’t trying to get revenge or best a rival in combat or play politics.  Maybe he was too awkward and came on too strong -- but I didn’t want to discourage that the first positive impulse he’d had in over ten years.”  

Koth tipped his forehead forward to rest on the piloting controls of the shuttle. He’d spent years blaming Arcann for the downfall of Zakuul. Knowing that it was the old emperor playing everyone made him hate Arcann less, but... it was honestly mindblowing to watch the guy hit ‘reply all’ to a Odessen holonet announcement to ask about how to do laundry. It proved how disconnected Arcann had been from reality all these years. 

(Lana made Koth help, once she knew via securiy holo that he’d literally been sitting next to Arcann as he’d done it.)

Arcann needed a friend to clean out his old apartment.  Well, the Force, Providence, the Galaxy, Lana -- they all moved in mysterious ways that had led Koth here. 

He unbuckled his seatbelt.

**

Koth found Arcann standing in the remains of a bedroom.  It had been blasted to shreds, the contents of every chest, every drawer scattered everywhere.  A fire had kindled on the bed for awhile before dying out.  Koth let out a low whistle, which caught Arcann’s attention.  “Vaylin redecorated in my absence.”

Koth stifled a laugh.  Arcann had a dry wit that came out when he wasn’t brooding or being clueless about normal people life. “She leave you anything?”

“A few things.”  Arcann held up an old carved box.

Koth recognized it as one of those multi-dimensional chess sets that only the richest people could afford.  “Anything I can do to help?”  Koth offered.

Arcann motioned around the room.  “If you find something not broken, let me know.”  The former ruler turned his scarred side in Koth’s direction.  “That might only be yourself.” 

A dry wit with a heavy dose of self-hate. 

The two men sifted through the remains of the room.  Koth managed to find one or two datapads that escaped Vaylin’s wrath.  Arcann pulled some clothes out of his closet -- all whites and blacks.  Maybe they could get the smoke damage out back at base. 

As Koth straightened up and cracked his back, he heard Arcann say, “She let me live because it infuriated my father.”

“Huh?”

“He told her to kill me.  So many times.  Even as she took the throne -- you know what she said to him?”

Koth hadn’t asked anyone what happened at the time.  He just sat in the ship, gazing down at Zakuul as all the lights blinked back on as people emerged from hiding and the darkness.

“She told him she’d give the throne back to me, just to spite him, if he didn’t shut his mouth.”

Koth smiled openly now.  “That sounds like Eva, all right.”  His grin waned slightly as he saw Arcann standing there, torn between laughing and ... not laughing at all.  “Well, at least you know she hates you less than your old man.”

“I’m alive because of her spite.  It... it hadn’t occurred to me that wasn’t the best basis for... companionship.. until after...” 

Koth read Arcann like a damn holonovel -- captains knew how to do that for the safety of their ship, getting a quick assessment in just a few glances.  “You went back after she gave you the brush off.  And she got meaner about it.  Told you--”

“Agent Shan’s presence in her ship after hours also bolstered the fact she hadn’t spared me out of any affection.” 

Koth cringed. “Arcann, you gotta give up on her or else she will kill you.  Or he will. Or Bowdaar.  Or the rest of her crew, now that they’re back with her.  She’s got a lot of people who aren’t afraid of going to jail for her.” 

And Koth was one of them, if he was honest.  Technically, he’d go to jail for Lana after Lana killed someone for her. 

Arcann exhaled through his nose.  “She didn’t kill me at the ball, so I assumed she --”  His throat bobbed as he stared around his old room one last time, balling up the smoke-infested garments and tucking them under his arm.  “I only knew love and hate.  There was no mercy.  There was never an in-between.  Nobody was permitted to live unless they were a stalwart ...Nothing was neutral or grey.  There was just white and black.”  He looked down at his clothes.  “I have much to learn.”

Arcann dropped the white and black clothes.  As he started to let the chess set slip from his hands, Koth darted over, easily intercepting the small chest before it hit the floor.  “Hey, the wardrobe needs an update.  But... you’ll find someone good to play with on Odessen, someday.”  Koth grasped the chest one-handed and braced it against his chest to make sure he didn’t drop it.  “For now, you’ll have to settle for teaching my impatient self.”

Arcann smiled, slightly. 

[pokesaurio]

I find it hard to believe that New Amsterdam has such little fanfiction. It’s a great show! So I decided to write something for the Leyren ship (which I would usually never do) to fix this! Hope you enjoy :)

Summary: How the Dam Fam finds out about Lauren’s new roommate.

Helen:

“So, naturally, you offered her to live with you” said Helen sarcastically, incredulous at Lauren’s out of character decision.

“Well, yes, she has become my friend after all, and I couldn’t let her alone in the streets”, replied Lauren matter-of-factly.

“Hmm. And how’s it going?” Helen rose an eyebrow suspiciously.

“It’s...” Lauren let out a small sigh, “It’s effortless, really. I feel like she’s always been there”. The “which scares me” was left unsaid.

Helen patiently waited until Lauren disclosed more, knowing her friend usually needed more time to open up.

“Well, except for the massive tree in the middle of the living room. Which I don’t dislike, but...”

“What?!” This got Helen’s attention. Since when was Bloom known to decorate her apartments, let alone let another person do so... with living things?!

“Well, she bought a tree, said it reminded her of home. But apparently it was smaller in the picture, so now I have a full-blown tree in my living room. And I think I like it” that last part she muttered softly.

Helen let out a small, genuine smile, amused but also proud of her friend. “That looks like progress. You haven’t yet snapped her head off for touching your space, so I’d say that’s a point for Lauren’s intimate relationships”.

“Pfft. It’s not very intimate if I still don’t know about her. I have tried to learn what she likes, but she still won’t really tell me about herself. It’s a little frustrating really” Lauren let out an adorable pout.

“Well, give her time. She is living in a stranger’s house after all, in a new country and with probably no other connections or friendships here. I can’t imagine she trusts people easily” said Helen patiently.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mama Bear is at it again. Free advice for all!” Lauren laughed.

Helen snorted. “Well, it’s taken me nowhere with Mina. Still don’t know how this motherly figure thing works, sadly” she stated defeatedly.

“Oh, come on! You’re doing great! She’s slowly respecting her school timetable and your curfews more, right? And she hasn’t put a massive tree in your living room. That has to count for something” said Lauren, pointing her finger at Helen as she walked towards her ED. “You’ve got this!” and she gave Helen her best thumbs up and exaggerated smile.

Casey:

Lauren haphazardly threw her stuff into her backpack and went for the door, ready to call it a day and head back home.

“Lauren, you’re rushing out” Casey said suspiciously as he entered the locker room. “I assume this means you’re gonna continue smuggling your friend here? Cause if it does, you should know you are risking even more than before. If they catch you again...”

“No, Casey, it’s not like that” Lauren stated. “Don’t worry, she won’t be coming back here”.

“So that means... you let her go? Do you know where she is?” said Casey, now concerned about Leyla’s wellbeing.

“She’s actually... living with me?” said Lauren, the last part coming out in a rush and higher pitch.

“What?” asked Casey, wide-eyed. “Lauren, she- what?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t leave her on the streets, and I figured since I’m never home it couldn’t hurt to give her my spare room” justified Lauren to what seemed like Casey and herself.

“Okay, Lauren, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, you are risking a lot for this stranger. Please be careful” said Casey, though not unkindly. He was just worried about his friend.

“But that’s just it, Casey. She’s not a stranger, not anymore, and I would have done the same for any one of you. I protect my people” said Lauren, now sounding much more convinced.

“Well, if you’re happy with your decision, I can only congratulate you. You finally have a friend outside of work!” he added with a smile, teasing Lauren.

Lauren swatted his arm playfully. “I forgot, Mr Popular here knows most of New York. And I might have one friend, but it’s a hard one” she said, giving him the finger.

“Okay, okay!” Casey laughed, raising his arms defensively. “You win. But Lauren” he said softly “I am happy for you. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing”.

“Thanks” said Lauren with a smile, squeezing his arm lightly as she left.

Lauren:

She did know what she was doing. Right. Right? It wasn’t like Leyla was a random stranger, not anymore, and she liked her enough that living together had been smooth sailing so far. So why did she find herself overthinking everything when it came to Leyla?

“Get your shit together, Lauren” she chanted to herself. She was driving home, her palms sweating slightly, but still excited to get there. She had been rushing out a lot lately. The memory of Leyla’s soft smile as she held her hand, fingers interlocking and fitting perfectly as they stared at the tree and Lauren’s want, need to be close, oh so close, a compass searching North. She couldn’t wait to get home to Leyla’s sarcasm, Leyla’s dinners, Leyla’s subtle presence in her apartment and life that made it theirs.

Without noticing, Lauren had been smiling like an idiot for at least half an hour, and she had arrived to her portal. She got out of the car and went for the stairs, taking twice at a time. But as she opened the door, a wave of disappointment washed over her. Leyla wasn’t home, had probably had to take a DriverTime client, and suddenly the apartment felt empty and cold again. Lauren couldn’t understand how she had lived like this for so long before.

But then a thought sprung to mind. Leyla had waited for her every day for the past week, staying up and meeting her with a fabulous home-cooked dinner after work. The least she could do was reciprocate, so Lauren got ready to prepare a mindblowing meal or die trying. Cooking had never been her strong suit, but she figured it couldn’t be too hard.

She remembered Leyla mentioning she deeply missed Pakistani cuisine, and how she had been disgusted by Lauren suggesting she try a Pakistani restaurant around the corner. “You Americans think you can serve a random dish and rebrand an entire culture. That place is not Pakistani”, she had stated. So Lauren had asked, and she had learned, how Nihari reminded her of late night dinners at home and Lassi was her all-time favourite beverage. And so she had a single thought in mind; today she was making the best Pakistani dinner for Leyla.

As she set out to spice the assortion of different meets, she re-entered her previous reverie. She knew Leyla would love this, even if Lauren was probably going to ruin the recipe and tarnish the Pakistani name. But Leyla would smile sweetly, as she did every time Lauren remembered a small detail about her and did her best to make her feel like home, and she would be grateful. Lauren could not wait until she came back, excited to see that look on her face that said “no one’s ever cared for me like this, and I’m glad you’re the first one”.

Slow-cooking the meat into a stew proved difficult, and mixing the yoghurt, water, spices and fruit for the Lassi had Lauren seriously questioning her cooking skills. But all in all, after about an hour she decided she had done a pretty good job. She set out to dress the table, going as far as opening a good red wine and placing a candle. She didn’t want to overdo it, but thought Leyla would decidedly not mind and find her efforts cute. Lauren was struck by the inclusion of “cute” into her vocabulary, could not remember when she had cared about someone’s reaction this much, and decided damn Leyla and her faint smiles had softened her. She couldn’t bring herself to care, though.

And just like clockwork, as soon as Lauren set the last plate with the fine-looking Nihari on the table, Leyla entered the apartment.

“Honey, I’m home!” she shouted jokingly in her beautiful accent.

“Hey! How was work? Any frat boys I should beat up?” said Lauren smiling.

“No frat boys, thankfully. Just an old lady telling me about her grandson. I must have seen like 30 photos of him, and let me tell you, no one can convince me babies are cute. They’re bald!” Leyla proclaimed, dignified.

Lauren snorted. “Of course you would befriend a grandma and have her show you her family. It must be your cranky charm” replied Lauren teasingly.

“You would be surprised. I cause sensation amongst octogenarians” said Leyla amusedly. As she caught the smell of cooked meat, she looked at Lauren, surprised. “You cooked? You? Is MY tree burnt down?” she joked.

“I’ll let you know, OUR tree is intact and very much still alive. And don’t you dare take away my custody, I love him like my own son too!” said Lauren in mock dignification. “I did cook, and I hope you like it” she continued, now softly. She met Leyla’s eye, hope and wonder sparkling bilaterally.

Leyla approached the table, repressing a squeel of excitement at the site of her favourite foods. “Lauren! You shouldn’t have! How did you even-?” and as she turned around to look at Lauren, the intensity in her eyes stunned her. The amount of care and adoration was palpable there, and it was enough to overwhelm her.

“Thank you”, she said in a small voice.

“I thought you deserved something special. You know, for cooking horrible meals every day” Leyla approached her slowly, still with eyes locked in an intense duel. “You would think as a doctor my main threat of illness would come from my patients, but you make a hard run for it” another step closer. “And besides, knowing my cooking skills it’s probably very bad. So we’re even” she continued rambling. Leyla finally took the final step towards Lauren, cupping her cheek and forcing her to shut up.

“You talk too much”, she said, resting on her tiptoes slightly to reach for her cheek and place a soft kiss there. “Thank you, truly”.

Lauren stood there, transfixed and unable to utter words. “Y-Yeah. It’s... nothing, really” she managed to muster.

Leyla tried to fight off a smile at Lauren’s awkwardness. During the course of her stay at Lauren’s- their- apatment, she had been quick to discover that she could turn Lauren, the hard-assed doctor and witty friend, into a rambling mess with well placed silences and touches. And naturally, she had immediately taken a liking to doing so as often as possible.

She turned around and sat at the table, staring down at her food and trying not to show her satisfaction at the amount of time it took Lauren to recompose herself and sit with her. She let Lauren pour some wine for herself, seeing as she didn’t look too enthused with the Lassi, and tried the Nihari. And, oh god, it certainly wasn’t like the one she enjoyed back home, but Lauren had undoubtedly achieved something here. Leyla couldn’t stop a moan from escaping her lips.

Lauren sat across from her, lips parted, staring at her like she was the only thing in the world. Her eyes slowly trailed to her lips, and Leyla thought she might burst if she didn’t break the moment soon. “Lauren, it’s- it’s perfect” said Leyla, and she meant it. It might not be like the one back home, but Lauren had managed to capture a new flavour, to redefine the very meaning home. She could get used to this.

Lauren looked back up at her, smile back in place. “Really? That’s new” she said, satisfied and proud of her achievement.

As they ate in silence, Lauren realised two things. One, she was definitely falling in love with Leyla Shinwari. And two, while Leyla had been her roommate for a few weeks already, it was only now that she felt like they were actually _living_ together... building a home.

Iggy:

“Hey, Iggs! I haven’t caught up with you in a while! How’s everything going?” asked Lauren as she entered Iggy’s office, taking the sofa and sprawling out on it.

Iggy stopped flicking through his charts, immediately knowing something was up. He could tell Lauren was properly glowing, but knew he would have to let this play out if he wanted to get any information out of his friend.

“Lauren! It’s great to see you. I’ve been great. I went to see a nutritionist, and I’ve been trying to join some virtual support groups for people with eating disorders. I still have a long road ahead of me, and I have to put in the work, but thanks for calling me out on my bullshit. Truly” he said sincerely.

Lauren perked up even more, rising to her feet and reaching around Iggy’s desk to hug him. “Iggy! That’s great! I’m so glad to hear it, and I’m so proud of you. And hey, you called me out on my bullshit when I was using, so it was only fair I did the same” she smiled.

Iggy returned her smile, glad to see that both of them were making amends and working to improve their lives.

He rose up to start walking to his next consult, not wanting this conversation to end but really needing to get there on time. After Lauren followed him along, curiosity finally got the best of him. “Okay, I have to ask... What’s gotten into you? You look like you just got to perform one of your supper cool surgeries or something. Anything new?” he asked.

“Well, I’m doing well” she said as they strolled down New Amsterdam’s corridors. Iggy waited patiently, letting Lauren open up at her own speed. “And... and I got a roommate!”

Iggy frowned, perplexed. He knew Lauren, knew how much she valued her space and how closed-off she could be, so he couldn’t fathom why getting a roommate would be something she’d want to do, let alone be the cause of her exuberant joy. “Wha... How?” he asked.

“Well, it’s a long story, really. She came in with a patient, and kind of guessed what was wrong with her, but it turned out it wasn’t a guess, cause she’s really a doctor, but obviously I didn’t know that” she started rambling, with Iggy finding it hard to follow along.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down” he said, though he was glad to see Lauren so excited about something.

“Yeah, sorry. Basically, she pulled off a successful needle decompression in my ED, which I now admit was pretty cool, I called security, she had no place to stay, used the hospital closet for a while... And now she’s living with me” finished Lauren, looking way too satisfied by her explanation.

“She... You... What?!” asked Iggy, dumbfounded.

“Yeah... She’s kind of a lot. In the good way” said Lauren, and it was clear to Iggy by now that she was positively smitten. At this new information, he changed tactics.

“Wow, Lauren, that’s a huge step! I’m happy for you, and so proud. I’d love to meet her sometime” he said.

“Yeah! That’d be great! I’m sure you’d love her, once you get past her cranky façade. You two would totally get along” replied Lauren excitedly.

Iggy knew how possessive Lauren was of her space, knew how much it meant for her to have friends meet even if she may not do it consciously. The fact that she was agreeing to let him meet her meant he was right; Lauren was smitten beyond recognition.

“Great! And what’s it like, living with this...” he trailed off, hoping to get a name out of Lauren for once.

“Leyla! It’s great. Yesterday I cooked her some Pakistani dinner, cause she missed it from back home, and then we watched a comedy and watered our big-ass tree. Don’t ask. It’s like she’s lived with me all along” she finished bashfully.

And Iggy had to assume Lauren knew how this sounded, how many lesbian stereotypes she was ticking off. So he replied, amusedly, “Tell me, Lauren, does this Leyla know you two are dating?” he said, a mischiveous twinkle in his eye.

Lauren stopped abruptly in the corridor, a horrified look on her face. Iggy repressed a laugh, was thrilled by Lauren’s new baby-gay side. He turned around to look at her, saw her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish as she searched for a reply, but continued walking backwards. “Wait... do you?” he asked, now enjoying Lauren’s alarmed look. He turned around a corner, leaving a dumbfounded Lauren behind, and shouted, “Good luck!”

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 21: Playdate (originally posted on August 2, 2021)

AN: After that really long chapter last week, time for something that's hopefully a lot shorter. And as I write this, I finally saw Space Jam: A New Legacy in theaters, which was a lot of stupid fun in my opinion, so I might have a lot to work with in terms of basketball stuff here. But enough about the movies I've seen, let's see how Spinel is doing.

Synopsis: Spinel comes to Earth to have fun the human way.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Sarah Stiles as Spinel

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Jim Conroy as Radio announcer

Jeff Bennett as Fanny pack seller

Tom Kenny as Pepe's Burgers cashier

Daran Norris as Basketball Commentator

Kari Wahlgren, Eden Riegel, Erica Lindbeck & Grey DeLisle as Empire City Vipers cheerleaders

Neil Flynn as The Officer

Featuring Hugh Jackman as Beckham Jordan

James Monroe Iglehart as Coach Matt Monroe

Karen Fukuhara as Makoto Fuji

Jeff Bergman as Ben "Bugs" Avery, Referee

Michelle Creber as Chloe

Kacey Musgraves as Yvonne

And Rhiannon Giddens as Herself

--

One afternoon in Beach City, Steven was once again left alone in the beach house. However, there thankfully was no sociopathic Rutiles wanting to break in and gaslight him into turning against his friends today. Instead, he stood in his room while gazing at a sign that said "Days since Turning Pink" hanging on his wall, with a blank spot that had the number 3 written on it.

"Wow, three days since my last outburst." Steven congratulated himself before patting his shoulder. "Good job Steven, making real progress." However, his pride soon turned into worry as he began contemplating how long it would take before he would explode again. "At least, for now."

Suddenly, Steven heard a loud rumbling sound coming from outside that made everything in his room shake, and he raced outside to find a massive yellow arm descending from the skies and heading straight for him. "Yellow?"

The arm immediately stopped itself before turning over and opening its palm, allowing Yellow Diamond to emerge with her arms folded behind her back and a genial smile on her face. "Good day to you Steven." The Diamond greeted Steven. "I suppose you're probably wondering why I come here today."

"If you're asking for any of the Gems, I don't think they can come today." Steven answered. "They're on the hunt for Black Rutile's current whereabouts, but every time they think they found her, she's always one step ahead of them."

"Everyone on Homeworld is still doing their part to quell her uprising," Yellow responded. "but one of us just wants to see you again." Once Yellow finished speaking, a pink and white blur bounced up from behind her and tackled Steven to the ground.

"Steven!" Spinel cried, wrapping Steven into a tight hug. "It's been so long! How you been buddy?!"

"I'm doing good Spinel." Steven laughed nervously, both at once again hiding everything he's been through recently and at how the last time Spinel's been on Earth, she nearly destroyed it, before disentangling himself from the stretchy Gem's embrace. "So, how have things been going for you on Homeworld? The Diamonds treating you okay?"

"Oh, it's fine Steven, no need to worry!" Spinel assured Steven. "Sure, they do coddle me a bit, but I'm overall livin' the dream there! I get to meet so many new Gems, learn about everything that's happened while I was stuck in the garden, and I also get to use Pink's old room! But I thought it would be nice to get a real taste of Earth without, y'know, trying to destroy it because I was left behind."

"I figured that since I'll be busy all day searching for more Gems allied with Black Rutile, Spinel could use what you humans call a babysitter." Yellow stated. "Would you be willing to watch over her here?"

"Sure, it'd be nice to catch up with Spinel." Steven agreed to the offer before he got an idea. "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't I take you to Empire City?" he asked Spinel. "It's an Earth city not too far from here, and I think you'd really like the sights there."

"Wow, a new place?!" Spinel cheered. "That'd be so much fun!"

"Yes, that would be delightful." Yellow smiled before she retreated into her ship. "Now I'll be back by nightfall, so do come back by then."

"Bye Yellow!" Spinel waved the Diamond goodbye as it flew away from Earth. "So, when can we leave Steven?"

"We can leave right now if you want," Steven answered. "I just gotta get ready first."

"Yay!" Spinel cheered.

--

A few minutes later, Steven led Spinel into the Dondai Supremo and drove away from Beach City to Empire City, and Spinel was super excited to get there.

"Are we there yet?" Spinel asked.

"No." Steven laughed.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"How about I turn on the radio to pass the time?" Steven offered before adjusting the dials on the car radio.

"-nd that was Royalty with My Lord." The radio announcer declared. "And coming up next on 13.2 "The Band", we got Rhiannon Giddens with her hit single Wandering Roads!"

"Wandering roads that carry me home, lead me through both right and wrong." Rhiannon Giddens sang over the radio. "I may love and I may lose, still I know I'll always choose."

"What kinda music is this?" Spinel asked Steven while the song continued.

"This is what humans call country music." Steven answered. "Not a lot of people like it very much."

"Well, I like it." Spinel said before she began to sing along with Rhiannon. "Since the day that you were born, footsteps fall on a path well-worn. Strings that pull, you'll never see. Chains that bind you, set you free. All on your journey home."

"I thought you'd like it." Steven chuckled at the singing Gem as they passed a sign saying "Now entering Jersey", signifying that their long journey to Empire City was almost at an end. "Hey, wanna head to a rest stop?"

"Do I?!" Spinel took a break from singing to answer Steven's question. "Uh, what's a rest stop?"

"That's a rest stop." Steven pointed to a rest area that he pulled the car into before the two got out. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom, be back soon."

"Sounds good to me." Spinel agreed as she leaned against the Supremo while Steven walked away to the restroom. Although the pink Gem obediently stayed behind at the car, her curiosity of the world around her got the better of her and Spinel decided to look around the rest stop.

Touring the oasis around her, Spinel could see many humans milling about the establishment. Some came alone, while others had friends, family, or both to spend time with at the included restaurants, arcades, and gift shops. And there was one item at the gift shop that caught her eye.

"Find something you like little girl?" the burly gift shop owner with a massive blonde pompadour asked Spinel while she gazed at his inventory.

"Yeah, what's that supposed to be?" Spinel inquired, pointing at a white bag with red heart designs in front of her.

"That fanny pack?" the salesman replied. "It can be yours for only $14.99."

"Sorry pal, I don't have any of that." Spinel declared. "What else can I use to get it?"

"You got a credit card?" the seller asked, and Spinel shook her head. "Check?" Spinel shook her head again. "Lotto ticket?" Again. "Any possessions you can trade me?"

"Still no." Spinel admitted. "I barely know what you're talking about, I just want that bag."

Just then, Steven finally emerged from the rest stop bathroom and found Spinel conversing with the gift shop owner, so he walked up to the pair to see what's going on. "Anything the matter here?"

"I want this thing, but I don't got any of what this guy's talking about!" Spinel explained while sticking a thumb out to the seller and the fanny pack.

"She some kinda hobo?" the seller asked Steven.

"No, she's just an alien with barely any knowledge about our Earth currency." Steven said while pulling out his wallet. "How much for the fanny pack?"

"$14.99." the seller answered, and Steven replied by handing him fifteen dollars. "Thank you kid, here's your butt sack."

"Hehe, butt sack!" Spinel giggled at the name of her new fanny pack while she put it on around her waist. "So what do you think Steven," she asked Steven while showing off her new accessory by swinging her hips. "do I make this look good or what?"

"Yeah, it really suits you." Steven answered before the two began walking back to the Dondai Supremo. "But why do you want that?"

"I just thought the butt sack looked cool." Spinel answered. "Plus, that's what I'm calling it from now on, my butt sack."

"Aside from looking cool, the butt sack can also be really useful." Steven said while turning on the car and driving away from the rest stop. "It's basically a bag, but you wear it around your waist so you can carry stuff while keeping your hands free."

"Sounds neat!" Spinel exclaimed. "So, how much longer till Empire City?"

"Not too long." Steven answered while checking the map between Beach and Empire City on his phone. "The trip usually takes around three hours, so we can find ways to spend the time until we get there."

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's have some fun!" Spinel declared before she switched on the radio to a country music channel and began singing along, and Steven soon joined in.

--

A few hours later, Steven and Spinel finally arrived in Empire City. The metropolis itself was utterly mindblowing to Spinel, as she saw seemingly endless skyscrapers outside the window and all sorts of humans wandering the streets. Some looked a little like Steven, and others were completely different.

"So this is Empire City?" Spinel asked Steven while he parked the car.

"You bet it is." Steven declared before the two got out. "We're currently in one of its boroughs, Brooklyn. Here you'll find Coney Island, the House of Yes, DUMBO, and many more." He said while gazing at his phone to look up things to do during their trip. "Where do you want to go first?"

"I wanna go to that Coney Island place." Spinel answered as she gazed over Steven's shoulder at his phone. "Are there actual cones there?"

"No, it's only one of the most famous amusement parks in the world!" Steven declared. "I think you'd like it there. Besides, it's only a forty-minute drive."

"Aw, another drive?! But we just got here!" Spinel complained before the two got back in the Supremo.

"Oh, don't get so down," Steven assured as he started the car again and set off for Coney Island. "The journey will surely be worth it."

--

And indeed, the journey was worth it. As soon as the two reached Coney Island and Steven paid for admission into one of the amusement parks, Spinel raced in to try out as many rides & games as she could and won as many prizes as she could fit into her new fanny bag, and Steven indulged in her excitement all the way.

Unfortunately for Spinel, the fun could only last for so long and the pair had to leave to see some of the other sights of Empire City, but she still found it all worth it for all the fun she had at Coney Island.

Steven and Spinel's tour of Empire City soon took them to the Bowery, where Steven decided that they should take a break to eat at Pepe's Burgers, the same restaurant that used one of Greg's songs in their commercials which made him a millionaire.

"Here you go miss, five triple-decker cheeseburgers and two large fries." The cashier announced while handing Spinel five large burgers & two packs of French fries that she happily took away from the counter and back to the table where Steven was sitting.

"Thank you so much for taking me out Steven," Spinel said gratefully while stuffing her mouth full of burgers and tenderly stroking a stuffed rabbit poking out of her fanny pack. "this is the most fun I've ever had in thousands of years!"

"You're very welcome Spinel." Steven smiled happily. "I'm glad you're having fun here, but me? I'm getting kind of tired. We should probably head back to Beach City soon."

"Geez, no need to be a buzzkill." Spinel complained again while eating another cheeseburger. "But then again, we never did something you wanted to do, this has been all about me today. What do you think we should do next?"

"WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY!" an announcer on a television behind the duo yelled, taking them by surprise. "Hey you, sitting down! You on a trip with a friend and they ask what you want to do?!"

"Why, yes!" Steven answered. "That's a little convenient."

"Well, I know what you're going to do today!" the television continued before cutting to an aerial shot of a massive basketball stadium, the sight of which made Steven excited. "Come on down to Maramba Stadium, home to the Empire City Vipers where they'll be playing their most important game this season! It's ECV versus the Keystone Coyotes! Be there, be there, be there!"

"The Vipers, that's it!" Steven realized happily and burst from his seat. "Come on Spinel, let's go see the Empire City Vipers!"

"YEAH!" Spinel exclaimed as she jumped out after Steven. "Uh, who are the Vipers?"

"The Empire City Vipers are my favorite basketball team ever!" Steven explained while pulling out his wallet to show off a basketball card depicting a middle-aged man with large sideburns dribbling on the court. "Their star player is one of my heroes, Beckham "Muttonchops" Jordan!"

"Nice hair." Spinel commented on Beckham's trademark sideburns.

"Come on, let's go!" Steven said while taking Spinel's hand, but the game would have to wait.

"Hold on a second kid!" the cashier stopped Steven and Spinel in their tracks. "You still need to pay for your meal."

"Sorry sir, got a little excited." Steven apologized as he took some money and left it at the table before getting back to racing out of the restaurant.

--

"Ladies, gentlemen, and everything in-between, welcome to the grand playoffs between Empire City and Keystone!" a basketball commentator announced at Maramba Stadium, where dozens of excited fans gathered to watch the epic basketball game, Steven and Spinel included. "We're bound to have a good day today folks, so without further ado, your starting line-up for the Empire City Vipers!"

First off was a young man in a blue and yellow basketball uniform with a smug grin on his face who strolled into the arena with a stride in his step. "BEN "BUGS" AVERY!"

Next up was an excitable dark-skinned fellow who put up peace signs for his adoring fans. "DANIEL "DAFFY" JONES!"

A stout and meek man was up next, giving a polite wave to the spectators. "PERCY "PORKY" FRELENG!"

A much skinner guy was up next, excitedly jogging in place with his tongue out. "RORY "THE RUNNER" MCKIMSON!"

Finally, a much taller, hairier, and more muscular man emerged from the corner to join his teammates on the court, waving to the fans along the way. "AND FINALLY, THE MAN HIMSELF! HIS ROYAL SLAM-JESTY, BECKHAM "MUTTONCHOPS" JORDAN!"

"MUTTONCHOPS! MUTTONCHOPS! MUTTONCHOPS!" the crowds began cheering for Beckham Jordan as the Empire City Vipers took their places on the court, standing face to face with their rivals from Keystone. Although Steven was joining in on the chanting, Spinel was left completely lost.

"I don't get it. What's so appealing about this?" Spinel asked out loud. "What is it about these guys that makes everyone so excited?"

"It's the intensity of the game that gets everyone on the edge of their seats Spinel." Steven replied as the big game began. "Two teams of five players compete to see who can score the most points by dunking the ball into either team's hoop."

"So that's it, just throwing a ball around?" Spinel muttered. "Puh-lease, I did the exact same thing with Pink, and there weren't thousands of humans to watch me!"

"You'll learn to like it Spinel, I'm sure of it." Steven assured his mom's old best friend while the game continued, and Beckham quickly scored a point for the Vipers. "WOO, GO BECKHAM!"

As the game went on, Steven and Spinel's reactions were as different as night and day. While Steven continued cheering on his favorite player, Spinel just watched with a mild interest in the event while stroking the head of the stuffed bunny in her fanny pack. "Hey, I got a question. What's with all the funny names these players have?"

"Those are all nicknames Spinel." Steven explained once again. "For example, The Runner gets his name because he's so fast on the court, Daffy is absolutely unpredictable, and Bugs really likes getting under his opponents' skins."

Down below in the grand game between the Vipers and the Coyotes, Bugs Avery demonstrated just how annoying he could be to his rivals while snatching the ball out of an enemy player's hands. "Gotcha doc!"

"Hey, that's my ball!" the Charm City Coyotes' power forward bellowed.

"No, it ain't!" Bugs sneered.

"Yes, it is!" the other player yelled.

"No, it ain't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it ain't!"

"No, it ain't!"

"Yes, it is!" Bugs declared.

"No, it ain't!" the enemy player said before he suddenly realized that Bugs had played him for a fool. "Wait, what?!"

"And Bugs employs his classic reverse psychology!" the commentator declared as Bugs made a bank shot, scoring a point for the Vipers. "How despicable!"

"That's Bugs's signature move!" Steven exclaimed. "He doesn't even need to use his hands for that one, just a little way with words!"

Just then, a horn sounded as the score was displayed as 25 for the Vipers and 15 for the Coyotes, and below it was a sign declaring "HALFTIME!"

"I say, I say, time out!" the referee exclaimed while forming his hands into a T.

"Looks like we got halftime, folks!" the announcer boomed while the players stopped what they were doing and returned to their respective locker rooms. "Let's allow our stars to relax for a bit while taking a moment for the ECV cheer squad to take the stage!"

As soon as both basketball teams left the court, a group of young women in midriff-baring tops bearing the colors of the Vipers & blue skirts holding matching-colored pom-poms marched out onto the court and got ready to perform.

"Ready?" the head cheerleader, an olive-skinned Asian woman with spiky red hair in a high ponytail asked her squadmates.

"OKAY!" the other cheerleaders yelled as they began to dance. "Come on Vipers, you can't miss! Show them how you really hiss! Just like a rattlesnake, you know how to make them shake!"

"What are those humans doing?" Spinel gasped in amazement at the cheerleaders as they started stacking themselves into a pyramid.

"That's just the Empire City Vipers' cheerleading team," Steven said. "They're really good at pumping up the crowd."

"Please, I can do better!" Spinel boasted before she took off her fanny pack. "Hold my butt sack." Spinel then started glowing and changed her attire to be an exact copy of the cheerleaders' uniform, though with her heart-shaped gem in place of the ECW on the top, while tying her hair into a heart-shaped ponytail. "How do I look?"

"Uh…." Steven muttered confusedly while Spinel struck a few poses in her makeshift cheerleading costume before she bounced away. "Spinel, wait!" Steven called out to the elastic Gem as Spinel took over the cheer squad's pyramid while turning her hands into pom-poms.

"WOO, GO VIPERS!" Spinel yelled as she stood on top of the head cheerleader at the tip of the pyramid, making everyone go deathly silent. "Hey, come on guys! You all love the Vipers, don'tcha?"

"Who's this chick?" one of the cheerleaders at the bottom of the pyramid whispered to another.

"I think she jumped out of the audience." The other cheerleader replied.

"Okay girls, let me down." The head cheerleader commanded her squadmates to carefully carry her down the pyramid and back onto the floor. "Megaphone." She then asked for a bullhorn to speak into. "Will whoever's watching over this stretchy pink girl please come down to pick her up?"

"Spinel!" Steven facepalmed at Spinel's disruption and got up from his seat. "Excuse me, you guys." He apologized to the spectators he sat between before hopping up in the air and hovering over to the court.

"WITCHCRAFT!" one audience member yelled, inciting mutters of shock and amazement at Steven's abilities as he landed next to Spinel, and some even took out their phones to record.

"Spinel, did you really have to do that?" Steven groaned exasperatedly at the pink Gem, who was looking very apologetic. "You just made a big scene all because you just wanted to show off!"

"I'm sowwy Steven!" Spinel apologized while sounding like a little kid. "I thought we were gonna have fun here!"

"I'm sorry too Spinel," Steven replied. "But-"

"Something the matter here?" the voice of a black man wearing a T-shirt bearing the colors of the Vipers asked as he stepped out into the court with Beckham Jordan.

"Hey Monroe, this girl here just hijacked our routine." The Vipers' head cheerleader said, gesturing to Spinel.

"And I see she's got a friend, Makoto." Beckham Jordan replied as he turned his attention to Steven & Spinel, the former left to gasp and gape in utter shock at his favorite basketball player looking right at him. "Something the matter, sport?"

"Sorry, he's a real big fan." Spinel laughed before slapping Steven in the face, bringing him back to reality.

"Thanks Spinel." Steven said gratefully before his jaw dropped again at the sight of Beckham. "Beckham Jordan is talking to me?!"

"Yes, Beckham Jordan is indeed talking to you." The star player of the Vipers beamed. "This is our coach, Matt Monroe." He then introduced the black man. "And I suppose you're familiar with my good friend here, head Vipers cheerleader Makoto Fuji."

"Nice to meetcha, I'm Spinel!" Spinel introduced herself by shaking Beckham's hand and giving him a big kiss that covered most of his head. "And this is my buddy, Steven! Say hi Steven!"

"Uh, uh, hi." Steven sheepishly greeted his Royal Slam-Jesty.

"Looks like lil' flyboy here's a bit starstruck." The commentator pointed out. "Anyone got anything to say or are we just gonna keep up the silent treatment?"

"Come on boy, say something ya big shnook!" the referee called out to Steven, giving him the courage to properly speak to his basketball idol.

"My name's Steven Universe." Steven introduced himself to Beckham. "I'm a super huge fan of you Mr. Jordan, loved you ever since I watched you with my dad on TV back in 2006, I think."

"Ah yes, the good ol' Jayhawk Pussycats." Beckham declared nostalgically. "Nice place, Jayhawk was. If you're ever in the area, come on down to a little place called Los Pollos Hermanos and tell 'em Beckham sent ya."

"So, are we in trouble?" Spinel nervously asked.

"Naw, it's okay girlie." Matt chuckled deeply. "This ain't the first time it happened this season."

"I still recall when we had to call security on that girl." Makoto added. "Though we did give her a free uniform as compensation."

"Hey, I got an idea." Beckham stated. "Steven, why don't you and Spinel come on over to my place after the game so we can shoot some hoops together?"

"Me, play against you?!" Steven gasped excitedly. "It would be an honor, Mr. Jordan!"

"Pleasure's all mine, little guy." Beckham replied gratefully. "And please, just call me Beck."

"Well, that was certainly the weirdest halftime we've gotten this season!" the announcer boomed over the speakers as Steven and Spinel returned to their seats and Beckham to the locker room. "Not only did we get another cheerleader hijacking, but a flying Beckham fanboy too, and a lucky one at that!"

"You still mad about what just happened?" Spinel asked remorsefully.

"It's alright Spinel." Steven laughed. "Besides, thanks to you, I'm gonna play with Beckham Jordan and see his penthouse!" he added before giving Spinel a big hug. "Thanks so much!"

"No prob Bob." Spinel replied just as happily while wrapping Steven in her extendable arms while the game started back up.

--

Eventually, the big basketball game ended with the Empire City Vipers winning against the Charm City 55-49, to the delight of their fans. As soon as Beckham Jordan, Matt Monroe, and Makoto Fuji left the stadium with Steven & Spinel in tow, a limousine was there to drive the five away from Maramba Stadium to their destination at Beckham's penthouse.

"Well, here we are you two." Beckham, now having switched his uniform for a T-shirt & jeans, announced as they got off the elevator at an opulent apartment building and he turned on the lights, revealing a grand living room before them all. "Welcome to my pad and our favorite hangout spot."

"Like what you see?" Makoto, now clad in a burgundy sports bra underneath a tank top with a picture of a dancing frog holding a top hat & cane and some spandex shorts, asked the pair.

"Like it? I love it!" Steven exclaimed while looking around at the big screen TV, massive couch, refined kitchen, an entrance to what he assumed to be Beck's training court, and many, many posters depicting his accomplishments, including one featuring Dogcopter that caught his eye. "Wait, is that the Vipers vs Dogcopter movie?!"

"Yeah, good ol' basically a commercial for my line of sneakers." Beck answered. "I was young and needed the money, but I still had a fun time nonetheless." He then motioned towards a picture of himself shaking hands with a man in a suit who was pointing at Beck with a cheerful smile. "And this is me with Secretary of Health Benjamin Rouleau. Real talkative fellow, he was."

"Protein shake?" Makoto offered while getting some milk from the fridge.

"I'll take one!" Spinel accepted. "Gems don't need to eat, but I'd sure like to."

"Don't need to eat?" Makoto gasped after pouring the milk in a blender and turning to get some more ingredients for the shake like fruit, yogurt, and peanut butter. "Wow, sometimes I wish I didn't need to eat either so I wouldn't hog all the snacks!"

"So, a Gem, eh?" Matt asked while fishing a diamond ring from his pocket. "You mean like this?"

However, the sight of the ring made Spinel very confused and start questioning everything. "Uh, where did you get that?"

"I think it's best we don't ask any questions Spinel." Steven declared just as nervously as he sat Spinel down on the couch. "But to answer your question, Gems are not entirely like your jewelry. They're immortal light-based beings that come in pretty much every color you can think of. Their powers depend on what kind of Gem they are. Like for example, Spinel can stretch her body and bounce around since she was made to be a playmate for my mom."

"And I'm going to assume your mom was a Gem too?" Matt asked while sitting down next to their two new friends as Makoto served the shakes.

"Yeah, she was one of the rulers of all Gems, the Diamonds." Steven continued explaining to the trio. "However, she got tired of her life, combined with being mistreated by her fellow Diamonds, so she disguised as another Gem, faked her death, and started a war."

"And left me behind in the process." Spinel added sadly, eliciting feelings of sympathy and curiosity. "I was made to be Pink's best friend, but she started getting sick of me after she got her own colony, which was Earth by the way, until one day she left me in this garden we played in for the next six thousand years while she went off fighting wars to protect Earth. Then when Steven made his little message to the universe, it happened to reach me and really set me off, causing me to come down with a massive Injector to try and poison Earth."

"Parent issues, huh?" Beckham said while placing a hand on Spinel's shoulder. "Kinda reminds me of my relationship with my dad. Well, minus the whole wanting to destroy Earth because you were made about being left stranded for thousands of years thing. He was really harsh on me, sometimes even a little too harsh. I turned to basketball to vent my frustrations, and with help from friends I made over the years," Beck then pointed to Makoto & Matt, who grinned happily. "I was able to turn that anger around and make myself a legend. Just goes to show no matter how garbage your life is, you can get back up no matter what."

"Wow, neat story." Steven said while sipping his protein shake.

"Indeed," Matt replied before hugging Beck from the side. "Beck and I have been thick as thieves ever since he was starting out."

"And I first met him when I wasn't even team captain of the Vipers cheer squad." Makoto added. "I was super awkward and unsure I even had a future in cheerleading, but Jordan was there to pick me up and help me become a superstar."

"But enough about us, let's get to why you wanted to be here." Beck emerged from the warm embrace of his two friends to point at Steven. "You still ready to shoot some hoops?"

"You bet I do!" Steven answered, dramatically slamming his almost empty drink on the table in front of them before turning to Spinel. "And you and Makoto can cheer from the sidelines Spinel, without interrupting anything."

"Sounds good to me!" Spinel cheered as she assumed her cheerleader outfit once again and bounced on over to Beck's personal court.

--

"This is going to be so much fun." Makoto said while doing some stretches to limber herself up as Steven and Beck took their places on Beck's training court.

"Let's see if you can bend as much as I can, sweetie." Spinel taunted good-naturedly.

"I got some frequently washed yoga pants that'll prove you wrong." Makoto replied.

"Okay ladies, focus on the real competition here." Matt chuckled while getting between Steven and Beck. "Y'all ready for this, boys?"

"I'm so ready!" Steven answered.

"Just give it your all, Steven." Beck told his young fan.

"Now let's slam!" Matt declared before blowing his whistle, cuing the game to start. Steven gunned for the ball first and dribbled it to the basket on the left side of the court, scoring him a point.

"WOO, GO STEVEN!" Spinel cheered while waving her pom-pom hands around.

"Come on Jordan, you can beat him!" Makoto yelled, raising her pom-poms in the air, causing the two to glare at each other.

"Please, I can cheer better!" Spinel bragged to Makoto.

"Wanna bet?" the cheerleader challenged the Gem and pulled her phone from her gym bag to play some music.

"Go go Steven, you're the man! If you can't do it, who else can?!" Spinel began singing while Steven scored another point. "Beckham is still pretty neat, but my pal Steven can't be beat!"

"Come on Beckham, you can do it! You're so good, there's nothing to it!" Makoto began swaying her toned body to the beat as Beckham scored for the first time. "Steven may be your biggest fan, but to me, you are the man!"

"What makes you think he can win this? You are sadly mistaken, miss!" the two began harmonizing. "We could cheer till the end of the night, hope you're ready for a fight song fight!"

"Nice music girls!" Steven called out to the cheerleaders, allowing Beckham to catch him off guard and steal the ball away to score a point.

"Too slow Steven!" Beckham laughed.

"Two to two, gang!" Matt called out. "We're at a tie here, but let's see who can turn this around!"

"Jordan's been doing this for years, and I've been there to give him cheers!" Makoto continued singing as Beckham scored his third point. "Your friend is pretty good little bud, but he ain't got the sweat, tears, and blood!"

"Well cutie-pie, you're dead wrong! Allow me to end this song," Spinel replied while Steven scored his third point as well. "by telling how much Steven can fight! He can take a hit and get up right!"

"What makes you think he can win this? You are sadly mistaken, miss!" Spinel and Makoto declared. "We could cheer until the end of the night, who's the winner of this fight song fight?!"

"AAAAAND the game goes to Beckham!" Matt yelled as his buddy won the fourth point, winning the game. "Good try Steven, but you can't beat the pros!"

"Good game Steven." Beck complimented his young opponent by shaking his hand.

"Yeah, good game." Steven replied, returning the handshake before looking at his watch. "Oh my, Yellow Diamond could be coming back soon! We gotta go!"

"Already?" Makoto said in mock disappointment. "But we were having so much fun!"

"I agree, but I still have a family of my own to come back to." Spinel said. "Hopefully we can do this again someday!"

"Yeah, maybe I could properly introduce you to the rest of the cheer team." Makoto replied.

"By the way, let me get something to remember us by." Beckham said before walking away and coming back with a dirty white & red jersey. "This is my uniform from back when I played for the Jayhawk Pussycats. Be sure to take good care of it, Spinel."

"I will." Spinel smiled before packing the jersey into her fanny pack. "Well, see y'all real soon!"

"Wait, let's take a selfie first!" Makoto offered, pulling out her phone and bringing Steven, Spinel, Beck, and Monroe in for a picture while making some duck-lips. "My thousands of followers are gonna love this!" With that, the selfie was taken.

--

When Steven and Spinel finally left the apartment building that Beck's penthouse suite stood on top of, night was beginning to fall, yet the city still shined brightly like thousands of lanterns all around them.

"This is so beautiful." Spinel muttered in amazement at the pretty lights around them.

"I know." Steven said, just as astonished. "Now, the Dondai shouldn't be too far. I think it's back at Maramba Stadium, which hopefully shouldn't be too far from-"

"Wait wait wait, you hear that?" Spinel asked, turning her finger into a horn that she put up to her ear as she faintly heard someone crying. "Come on, have a listen!" She then put the horn to Steven's ear, making him hear the crying too.

"I think someone needs help." Steven realized before the two began walking closer to the source of the crying, which turned out to be a little blonde girl playing with a cube while she kept on sniffling.

"Where are you?" the little girl quietly sobbed, not even noticing Steven and Spinel before her.

"I think I can handle this one Steven." Spinel declared before she walked up to the girl and got super close to her face. "Hey kid, can you stop crying and look at me?!" However, the girl yelped in fright and suddenly went quiet. "Oy, eyes up here sport!" Spinel continued with a snap of her fingers, but the girl refused to speak. "Not that much of a talker, are ya?"

"I think it's because you're being a little too direct. Let me try." Steven suggested before he sat down next to the child. "Hello, sorry about my friend. I'm Steven, what's your name?"

"Chloe." The girl said quietly. "Are you here to help me?"

"Of course we are." Steven smiled. "Can you tell me where your mother is?"

"I don't know." Chloe answered. "I only turned around and she was gone, and I have no idea where she is."

"It's alright, just stay calm and let us help you." Steven said before pulling out his phone. "Here, I'll call the police to help us out."

"You rang?" a police officer asked while appearing from seemingly out of nowhere, taking the three by surprise. "Apologies for the scare, I just heard someone say police officer and rushed right on over. What seems to be the matter?"

"This kid lost her mom." Spinel answered the officer. "Can you help us find her?"

"Oh sure," the Officer replied. "Just come with me to the station and we'll get to work!"

"Yay!" Chloe cheered, flapping her hands.

"I didn't know humans could do that!" Spinel said before beginning to flap her hands as well. "Am I doing it right?"

"Doesn't matter." Chloe beamed. "Some people always thought my hand flapping was strange, but my mommy always helped me learn how to be myself."

"Sounds like you got a pretty good mom Chloe." Spinel said before she hoisted Chloe over her shoulders and took her for a piggyback ride. "I know what it's like to be left behind, and I won't let it happen to anyone else."

"Thank you so much!" Chloe said and gave Spinel's head a big hug as the two of them, along with Steven and the Officer, began walking to the police station. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Call me Spinel." Spinel answered.

--

Later at the Empire City police station, Steven was having a talk with the Officer in another room while Spinel played with Chloe's cube outside, and Chloe was drawing something.

"So what's with this thing anyways?" Spinel asked Chloe. "Why did I see you playing with it?"

"That's my fidget cube." Chloe replied. "My mom got a few of them to help me focus because I sometimes have a hard time paying attention to things."

"Where can I get one of these?" Spinel asked again more eagerly.

"Maybe when Mom comes, I can ask her to give you one." Chloe suggested before Steven and the Officer emerged from the other room. "Anything Mr. Steven?"

"I was mostly just telling the Officer here about myself, since he did meet my friends in Los Diego." Steven answered.

"Now, all we need to do is get your mom's phone number and she'll be right on over." The Officer said as he picked up a phone. "Could you tell us to the best of your ability?"

"Of course!" Chloe said eagerly. "It's 1 (723) 201-1995."

"Nine-nine-five." The Officer repeated to himself and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello? Yes, this is the Empire City Police Department. Are you the mother of a little girl named Chloe?" he asked someone on the other end. "Good, cause a couple of tourists found her all alone and helped me bring her to the station. Can you come pick her up?"

"There, your mom should be comin' for ya tout sweet!" Spinel declared before Chloe gave her a big hug. "Aw, you're so nice."

"How are you able to memorize her number?" Steven asked Chloe.

"I just have a knack for those kinds of things." Chloe responded before a blonde woman, presumably her mother, came barging into the station. "Mommy!"

"Chloe!" Chloe's mother cried as her daughter came racing up to hug her. "Oh, I'm so sorry for leaving you behind like that! I didn't even notice I left you until the police called me!"

"You can thank us for that ma'am." Spinel stated, introducing herself and Steven.

"You truly are a lifesaver." The mother thanked the Gem. "My name's Yvonne, and thanks again for helping my daughter."

"Oh, that reminds me, Mom." Chloe said. "Would it be okay if Spinel got one of my fidget cubes as thanks?"

"I don't see why not." Yvonne agreed before fishing through her purse and finding a pink cube. "Here, I think it suits you."

"Aw shucks miss, you're making me blush!" Spinel thanked the mother sheepishly when she got an idea of her own. "Here, you can have this Chloe." She said, pulling the stuffed rabbit from her fanny pack and giving it to her new friend. "The least I can do."

"Thanks Spinel." Chloe said, swapping her drawing for the bunny before she and her mother began to leave the station. "Goodbye!"

"You're very welcome!" Steven called after the mother and daughter while Spinel gazed tenderly at the drawing of her and Chloe in her hands. "So Spinel, ready to go?"

"Of course." Spinel sniffed loudly and put the drawing and the cube in her pack.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Steven, tell those Gems I said hi." The Officer told Steven. "And by the way, don't start cracking up too much, if you get what I'm saying."

"I'm sorry, what?" Steven asked, but instead of a proper answer, the Officer disappeared like he was never there. "Who was that guy?" he muttered as he and Spinel left to go find the Dondai Supremo.

--

Soon, the Dondai Supremo finally returned to Beach City, and Yellow Diamond once again parked her ship in front of the beach house as she waited for Steven and Spinel.

"Now what could be keeping those two?" Yellow asked somewhat impatiently while gazing at the night sky when suddenly, she spotted a little car driving towards her. "Oh, there they are."

"Hi Yellow!" Spinel exclaimed, bursting from the car and racing towards the Diamond. "You'll never guess the fun day I had with Steven today! I got a ton of cool stuff from some people we met along the way and learned about human sports!"

"Oh that's delightful, I'm glad you had a good time today." Yellow grinned before becoming more serious. "Now come along, we still have work to do regarding a certain Rutile."

"Okay!" Spinel answered and then turned to Steven. "Thanks for everything today Steven."

"Pleasure's all mine Spinel. Maybe we can do this again someday." Steven said gratefully before Spinel gave him another big hug and then raced back to Yellow's side. "Don't be a stranger you guys!"

"We won't." Yellow shouted back before she and Spinel entered her arm ship and it finally took off into the night sky.

--

"So, what did you and Steven do today Spinel?" Yellow asked Spinel as the ship cruised back to Homeworld.

Spinel took one look at everything in her butt sack, from the Coney Island prizes to Beckham Jordan's Pussycats jersey, the fidget cube, and Chloe's drawing, before giving her answer with a smile.

"Everything."

--

And that's enough of Spinel, Pink Diamond's playmate turned near-destroyer of Earth turned companion of the Diamonds, country music fangirl, wannabe cheerleader and friend to the neurodivergent! Well, for now at least, she will be making a comeback in Part 4. And speaking of Part 4, that Secretary of Health that met Beckham will be making an appearance there as well and played by Ryan Reynolds. Yes, THAT Ryan Reynolds, so technically Deadpool and Wolverine met without even needing to speak to each other onscreen. But anyways, we've all had our fun with Spinel, but next chapter is when we start getting into what I call the Tearjerking Three, consisting of Pumpkin Patch, Mr. Universe and Fragments. Your bodies better be ready, because I'm bringing the feels!

[katherinewilliams221b]

For A Greater Good Fun Facts and Self Assesment (spoilers)

Long Post

What worked and what didn’t:

I think the overall structure worked pretty well. The most difficult part was, with the plot and subplot already created, scattering all those ideas throughout the text in such a way that at least made some sense. I regret not writing more about Mer Yankelevich, I feel like the crumbs I left on the way were not enough; in my attempt to make it subtle it lacked information about her. The key piece was of course her sister, and I should have introduced her sooner.

MC’s evolution. I feel like Kate’s learnt a lot with this experience (I’m not only referring to the Deathly Hallows or Grindelwald) When it started, she was very discreet and kept a low profile, not knowing what to do really, not taking more risks than necessary. And then she ended poisoned and splinching just to protect a document she thought was important. I hope her evolution is noticeable for the reader.

Worldbuilding. Grabbing HP concepts that were forgotten and full of potential, plus a dash of original ideas from me and blending them with muggle features was my absolute favourite part of the process.

On that note, I dont own these concepts: Durmstrang, Igor Karkarov, Nerida Vulchanova, umbrella flowers, fanged geraniums, billywigs, Appare Vestigium, glow-worms, trick wand, chamaleon ghouls, 

If you’ve read the fic and thought: “everything happened so fast” or got a general odd feeling about the timeline it's because I made a series of  monumental mistakes: setting a chapter limit, telling you about it and then tried to stick to it.  At first the idea sounded nice: this is my first “big” story  with complicated components. I should (and I did) do an outline of what I want to happen in each chapter and stick to it methodically so I don't forget what's happening or lose track of the plot. Well...it kind of backfired. So I wrote the first 3 chapters and at that point I thought “okay everything is going as planned, I’m going to put it out there”, bam, instantly cursed. After that it got ridiculously difficult to make the story that I wanted. Why? I needed chapter space that I convinced myself I couldn’t add. Dumb.

The major consequence of this was the lack of character backgrounds. It started out good, but as I kept writing and publishing I realised that I missed some great opportunities to make amazing ocs. That’s Corentin’s fault in a way: he wasn't going to be a major character, really, just a piece to help Kate a bit. But we all fell in love with him so what was I supposed to do? Also, Sheyi Mawut owns my heart and he got just a bit of spotlight. A shame.

I wish I had written more about them, but I think I wasn’t ready just yet to make it even more complicated.I just wanted to prove I could concoct a mystery plot and now that I know I can manage a fair amount of information I think I can take it a step further and deepen new ocs a little bit more.

I’m thinking about the datura series and I know why I got blocked and tired of writing it; it wasnt going anywhere because I wasnt prepared, and I didn’t do the months of outlines and planning that I did with this one. I’ll come back to the datura story one day, subjecting it to a sever rewrite. The ideas are there, I just need to be organised.

Although the chapter limit was problematic it was also a good exercise of managing space and deciding which things were unnecessary for the story. I dont think there’s any filler chapters, perhaps the last ones, but there is important information there too so... However this sentence  from the blog  wordsandstuff reassured me (and I think I did a good job at that?)

If you set out to write 10 parts and you write a fantastic story in 8, you haven’t failed and it’s not too rushed. Concise writing is an underrated talent. Focus on how effectively you engage the reader, not for how long.

I spent more than year writing this! When I started, I had a lot of ideas, I wrote the last two chapters then the first 3 and I really thought it was going to be that way with the rest of the story... okay... lesson learnt. #humbled

Other thoughts:

I received a couple of comments on ao3 that said that they were pleasantly surprised. Maybe I should change the tags because they are misleading? Clearly this wasnt what people were looking for lol.

One particular comment stood out to me and quoting it said:  “You did not choose the easy way with a fiction with so few characters from the fandom.”  And I’ve been thinking about this since I read it. It didn’t occur to me that there were few mystery fics (maybe I should write more things like that? Maybe throwing some power couple detective work 👀 ) In any case, I’m glad  I contributed with something different to the fandom, and the fact that the Charlie bits are very scarce but people who read it still liked it is really flattering.

I wanted to make sure that all the characters had strengths and flaws, I didnt want to severus-snape them so maybe I overdid it with that bit of introspection kate does at the end...

Also, I did the kiss and fade thing twice to mention sex. I know some people dont like that but since it wasnt the point of the story and I havent done research on how to write sex scenes I didnt include them. I have that on my “to learn” list.

Conclusions:

Writing the whole thing was incredible. It's my first ‘big’ project and its not a great work (there are some things I wish I did better, thats what you get when you are an agatha christie wannabe) and not writing more character backgrounds will haunt me to this day,  but I think it's at least good for a first series and I’m proud of it. I loved spending hours doing research and trying to piece together this puzzle. And of course I’m not an expert and I dont want to sound pretentious (like this is my first story) but if you are planning to write this type of genre I can be another source of tips and tricks for you.

If I read the story after a while and I dont cringe, I would call that a success.

FUN? FACTS!

Bakunawa really belongs to Filippines mythology

Snapdragons have different meanings, one of them being: “grace under pressure or inner strength in trying circumstances”

The entrance to Grindelwald’s room was going to be in the duelling classroom, strangely shaped as a triangle. I had this system where one of the round candle lamps descended and lined up with a line on the floor (serving as separation for duels) it created the Deathly Hallows symbol. I couldn’t make that work because it wouldn't make any sense for Nerida Vulchanova to shape a room like that.  Here are some sketches:

Lucius Malfoy was going to appear as the Ministry employee that goes to Durmstrang, but after revising the events of the OoP I realised it was impossible.

Kent Jorgensen was going to be around Kate’s age and the charms teacher and he would have a small crush on her. After seeing some pics of Pen Medina, I rewrote the character completely.

The series was going to be 6 chapters long (I’m glad I decided not to) one for each month. The chapter names were ridiculous: January of Beginnings, February of reputation, March of Students, April of Discoveries, May I? and June of Endings. #tragic

The Dolohov family was going to be a part of the plot but I had to erase that part because it was unlocking another layer of complexity that I just couldnt handle.

I dont remember exactly the chapter but I got really confused with the names Rhode and Hodges and there’s one chapter where I accidentally mixed them (I corrected it I think), but for a while I could stop calling Rhode, Hodges, and vice versa lmao

Here are some sketches that helped me describe and imagine things

Thank you for accompany me in this journey, especially if you endured the process with me lmao. You’ve been here for over A YEAR! <3 Mindblowing

Also I’d love to know your opinions about the way you read the story, I mean, I know some people read it as I published, and some other readers found the story already finished, what are the differences? Should I stop the updating system and drop a story all at once? I know it is difficult to keep up with a complex story if there’s a lot of weekly or monthly gaps between the chapters, so I wanted to know.

Sending you a virtual hug 💜💜

[rainbowglittr]

Love and Marriage - Chapter 8 (Mature - Minors DNI)

Description:

After a loss in the family uncovers a family secret, Jaleia and her husband Jesse are forced to balance one family crisis after another along with their budding careers and their plans to expand their family. Will the pressure to keep everyone else together ruin their own relationship? Can ruined relationships be fixed before it’s too late?

Chapter 8:

"I cannot believe you!" Jesse's voiced raged.

I jumped up I had been taking a nap on the couch, waiting for Jesse and Diana to come home. Ever since the Trevor J concert they had been going to the studio in NYC together, Diana was "interning" and learning things about the music industry.

It had been two weeks since we saw the doctor. Despite the setback, Jesse and I were still determined to have a baby. Maybe even more so after that. We went to see of genetics had anything to do with the miscarriage but everything and every test they did looked good. So we had hope. I tried not to stress over it and hyper focus on getting pregnant and Jesse was really good at helping me. While disappointed, we weren't giving up yet.

I had already made dinner, I was just waiting for them both to come home. They stayed late today because Jesse was working with SZA and they had a short timeline to get a couple demos done before she flew back to LA. I checked my phone it was 11pm.

"Hey-" I started to say, getting interrupted by Diana. She walked right past me to the stairs.

"I'm sixteen, what do you expect!" She yelled as she stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"I expect you not to be doing THAT! You were supposed to be professional! Professionals don't make out in the studio!" Jesse walked over to where she stood.

"So what? You're not my mom, you're not my dad! Who even cares? The only reason why I even wanted to go to that stupid studio was so I could see Hakeem!"

"So, is that what you've been doing this whole time?"

"Yup. We hung out every single day." She said gloating.

"Oh, I'm so fucking glad, cause that's the last time you'll be seeing him! You're not coming back and I'm telling mom what you've been up to!" He yelled. My heart started pounding along with my head as I watched them scream at each other. I didn't know what to do so I just stood there, frozen, watching the mess unfold.

"Well if you tell mom, than I'll tell mom about the time I walked in on you!"

"Little girl, this is MY house, I can fuck wherever I want. I don't care if you tell, I'm a grown ass man. It's done up for you."

"I hate you, you're the worst brother. Shaun's a way better brother than you."

"Then go fucking live with him and see how great he is!" Jesse yelled. Diana stomped up the stairs and slammed her door.

"I know you are not stomping and slamming doors in my house, Diana! Have you lost your damn mind?" He yelled up the stairs. She slammed the door again.

"MAKE ME!" She screamed from her room.

"CUT THAT SHIT OUT, DIANA! DON'T KEEP FUCKING PUSHING ME GODDAMMIT!!"

I hadn't moved from my spot by the door. It was silent for the moment. Jesse knows that I just have a weird thing about people yelling or arguing. It really freaks me out and makes me uncomfortable. I hate it. But it's only angry yelling. That's what really gets me. I hate when people yell at me when they're mad, I hate when angry people yell. It's just one of the many things that freak me out.

"Did you hear her? Where's the fuck is the Advil?" Jesse yelled, looking around the room, still hyped up. I don't think he ever noticed I was there. Eventually he noticed me still standing in the same spot. I guess I looked freaked out because he came over and hugged me.

I hugged him back, leaning my head on his chest. His heart was racing and he was breathing heavy.

"I'm sorry for yelling. I know you hate it." He said resting his chin on my head.

"What happened? Why are you so upset?"

"So we finish working with SZA, all the writers producers clear the studio, ready to go home. I tell Di to go back there and make sure everything has been backed up and clean, right? So tell me why when I come back her and some other intern are sucking their faces off on the couch in there! I told the boy to get put of my face and that I would talk to him tomorrow, and Di tried to yell at me! Me! I told her not to say another damn word until we got home."

"Wow, well what are you going to do?"

"I'm telling my mom. I'm not covering up for her. She's out of control."

"I think we might've been enabling her a bit."

"I'm done with that. I'm not even mad at her doing it, like I know she's sixteen, I know she's going to like boys, but really at my studio? Anyone could've walked in on them."

"I think you're a little mad that she was kissing a boy. You still think of her as your baby sister."

"Yeah. I just wanted her to love what I love, you know. Music, I thought she was really into it. And it was just for skinny ass boy."

"Aww, your big brother ego is hurt. I'm sorry. But she had to find what her own passion is, even if it's not yours."

He sighed, "I know." I put my arms around his neck.

"I made dinner if you're hungry."

"Not anymore," he muttered, kissing my forehead, "but I'll try some."

"Come on. " I said, leading him to the kitchen.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The next day we had dinner with Jesse's mom.

It could not have been worse.

After explaining the whole situation to Aiesha, watching her lose her shit about it, I was scared for Diana. Jesse tried to explain to Di, that it wasn't about the fact that she liked a boy it was more about her not being professional about. He also tried to explain that he felt used by her. As nice as he tried to be, IT DID NOT GO OVER WELL. Diana, did exactly as she told Jesse she would and told his mom about the time she walked in on us and I have truly never been more mortified. That was one dinner where no one ate their food.

I could literally feel Aiesha's hatred of me increase. The end result was Diana being grounded for a month, no electronics, and she would be volunteering at an animal shelter that one of her mom's friends worked at for the rest of the summer. It wasn't even going to be that bad but she just wouldn't shut up, she had to have the last word. But the final straw for me and for Aiesha was when she cursed Jesse out. What really pissed me off is that I could tell even though he didn't say anything that Di really hurt his feelings. Having known him since elementary school, I knew how close he was to his sister. She didn't want for nothing with him and this whole acting out thing had to stop.

After Diana was sent to her room for the remainder of the "dinner" Jesse and I had to be subjected to a loooonnnnggggg lecture from his mom about "living with a teenager " and her personal tips for having sex with kids in the house. Including some examples from when Jesse was a kid. It was as awful as it sounded. Jesse's mom decided that for at least one night, Diana was going to stay with her. So tonight was our first night alone in a few weeks.

"See you later mom!" Jesse said as they walked out the door. Diana was not currently not speaking to Jesse or apparently me at the moment. Once they left Jesse sat down on the couch closed his eyes. I walked behind him and started rubbing his shoulders.

"That was a lot." I said.

He sighed, "Yeah it was."

"How ya doin?"

"Tired." He said. I slid my hands down his chest. My lips were close to his ear as I said, "Well, come upstairs and I'll show you something that might wake you up."

"Oh really?"He said as I started to suck on his neck.

"Come on. I got something I wanna show you."

>>>>>>>>>>>

"When do you have the time to work out?" I said to Jesse as he put his arm around my waist.

"What?" He said, kissing my shoulder blades. He was the big spoon. Our naked bodies were still cooling down from our previous activities.

"You have a sexy ass six pack and I never see you work out."

"You leave earlier than me in the morning. After you get up, I work out. Since Diana's been here I haven't had much time. But sometime late at night. You never seen me?"

"Nah, at least I've never noticed. Jess?" He paused his gentle kisses.

"Do you think...do you think that, we'll ever have a baby?"

"Turn around, Love." He said. I turned into his chest. One of his hands cupped my face.

"Jaleia, I promise you, we will have a baby. I know it's hard but we gotta be patient. Okay?"

"But what if-"

"Aye! No buts, no what ifs. I'll step it up I promise we're going to have a daughter. Trust me, okay?"

"Kay," I said, he kissed my nose and then my lips. Our lips moved almost in sync until we had to stop to take a breath. I smiled at him.

"You made me sweat out my hair." I said as I cuddled up to him again.

"And you scratched the hell out of my back." He said gently tickling me.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I put my keys down on living room table. Two seconds later Jesse yelled from the kitchen, "Put your keys in right spot before you lose them." I jumped as my heart skipped a beat. I wasn't expecting him to be home yet. I rolled my eyes as I put my keys in the key holder by the door.

"Babe, you tryna give me a heart attack? I didn't know you were home." I said walking to the kitchen.

"I called and left a voicemail, Dr. Michaels."

"You know I don't check those!" He stopped stirring a pot of pasta for a second to give me a kiss.

"You know you should." He said.

"There's a lot of things I should do, but I don't. Anyway why you making such a huge thing of pasta?" I asked, finding some potato chips to munch on. Jesse turned toward me.

"You look radiant today, is that a new highlighter?"

"You look sexy as hell today, is that a new bullshit you're wearing? Why are you making so much pasta?"

"Cause my mother and sister will be here any minute?" His sister hadn't been with us for a couple of days. Did we use that time to shamelessly have mindblowing sex around the house? Hell yeah.

"Jess!" I said stomping my foot. "You have to tell me these things!"

"I'm sorry, it was last minute! But, have you noticed my mom has been nice to you lately? I think she's starting to like you."

"Saying that your mom has been nice to me lately is like saying, 'Isn't nice the shark only ate half your leg instead of both your legs.' She's been preoccupied."

"I love you." Jesse sang.

"Yeah, yeah." I said, still shoving chips in my mouth.

"You're not really mad are you? She's only here for Diana." He said as he grabbed plates from the cabinet.

"No, I'm not mad. I just expected one thing and I'm getting something else. "

"Okay?" Jesse said Sounding confused. The doorbell rang. Jesse looked at me from where he was plating the pasta.

"Could you?" He smiled at me. I glared back at him before walking to the door.

"I'll buy you something sparkly tomorrow!" He yelled as I approached the door.

"You better, you owe me!" I answered back. I opened the door and as usual, before I could say anything Aiesha walked right past me. I motioned for Diana to come in because unlike her mother she had manners. I closed my eyes for a second and prayed that I would have the strength not to slap that woman tonight. After collecting myself I joined everyone in the kitchen. We had a kitchen "table" that we could fold out from the wall, and everyone was seated around it.

I sat down next to Jesse and we said grace. We started eating and the silence soon became awkward.

Aiesha decided to speak first. "Now I know the way we left things wasn't good. But I think Diana would like to use this time to set some things right." She said. Diana hadn't said anything since walking through the door. She stopped staring at the floor and looked at Jesse.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"For what? Don't act like you don't know what to say now." Aiesha nudged her.

"I'm sorry for being awful to you. You didn't deserve that and I'm sorry I got mad at you." She said.

"I get that you're going through a lot right now Di, but don't forget, we're all just trying to help you. Just talk to us." Jesse said.

"Okay."

"Come here." Jesse said, holding his arms out. Diana walked over and hugged Jesse and immediately started crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't hate me!" She cried into his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, I don't hate you Di, I get it. You've been through a lot lately, we wll have. It's okay. I love you. Alright? Hey, I'm serious. I'll always be here for you." He said. She started sniffing and let him go.

"Go ahead and wash your face off." Aiesha said. Diana nodded and walked out the room.

"We've done a lot of talking over the past couple of days with her therapist and we are, we're trying to work through this. It's been really hard for her- for all of us but especially her, and I think that she's finally getting the help she needs. If you don't mind her staying with you again-just until I find a new place. That would be great because she gets really bad night terrors staying at home, she hasn't slept a full night since we she left here." Aiesha said. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"You know our doors are always open. Diana is welcome anytime. " I said. Jesse gave my hand a gentle squeeze under the table.

"Yeah, mom. Anytime. But are you okay? I worry about you." Jesse said, standing up and walking to her. I had to admit his mom looked stressed as hell. She just didn't have the same energy as usual. Her eyes had a tired look to them and she had bags under her eyes, clearly she hadn't been sleeping.

"I'm just tired. It's hard adjusting to this new normal. I miss your father, a lot. He was my world. I keep expecting to see him come home. And-" she started tearing up. I handed Jesse a tissue, and just sat there awkwardly. I didn't want to leave but at the same time I was so uncomfortable and I didn't think Aiesha would want me near her but at the same time, it's hard for me to see someone crying and not comfort them. But Jesse held his mom while she cried on him.

"We had so many plans, we were going to travel, we had so much to do. It's not fair. My baby is all tore up about it and I'm trying to help her and it's a lot. Jess, it's a lot. I wish this was just a horrible nightmare." She cried. Jesse mouthed to me

"Can you check on Diana?" I nodded and quietly slipped out the room.

I felt bad for everyone, I know Jesse was still processing losing his dad, and while the waves of sadness seemed to be gone for now, I know he missed him. I could see how this was tearing Diana apart. Jesse, Ciara, and Shaun were face timing the other day and talking about him. Their dad was the reason why Jesse and Shaun were on good terms again, because during our senior year of high school they stopped speaking to each other-for years.

But his mom shocked me. I was so used to seeing her be demanding, confident, and domineering that this shift to her being confused, and sad, blew my mind. Jesse's dad was such a huge pillar of their family, and that was clear while he was alive, but strikingly clearer in his death. I wanted to help so bad but I didn't know what to do.

When I found Diana she was sniffling on the toliet seat lid. The door was open but I knocked anyway. She looked up at me with her bloodshot, puffy eyes.

"Can we talk for a minute?" I asked.

"Sure." She said. I sat on the counter and faced her.

"You know your brother could never hate you. Never. He just wants the best for you, and I know that sounds stupid but it's true. He may seem like he's trying to be your dad but he is just trying to look out for you and lead you. If that makes sense. And your brother is really good at not showing it but he's hurting too and he talks to me a lot and as much as I want to I can't always relate to how he's feeling. But you being his sister probably feel a lot of what he's feeling right now. So maybe, if you feel up to it, you can talk to him sometimes. Just a suggestion."

"Thank you." She said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Not kicking me out of your house. And I'm sorry for being rude to you too. I really like staying here, I can't sleep at home. And you guys are really nice. It's like having another sister." She said. I aww'd inside my head.

"You're always welcome, and having you here is cool too because I get to be an older sister for once. You ready to go back?" I gave her a hug.

"Yeah." She said.

"Great cause I can't feel my butt!" I said as we walked out the bathroom.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Later that night me and Jesse laid in bed, I had my head in his lap as he sat up against the headboard. His mom had gone home, amd she was doing okay for now. Diana went to bed in her room in our house. It was quiet as I let Jesse twist my hair.

"You're going to have to get up at some point." He said.

"I know, but keep twisting until you get to that point." I said.

"You know my dad used to do my hair?" He said.

"Really?" I said. He nodded.

"Yeah until high school, if it wasn't going to be cut short, all the braids I had were him, well mostly him, my brother and sister sometimes did it and my mom always tried to but she couldn't do it like dad."

"That's cute."

"He's the reason Shaun and I talk. He did so much for us."

"He was an amazing man, Jess. But speaking of Shaun, you never told me that story, you told me bits and pieces but never how you made up."

"Its a long ass story."

"We ain't doing nothing. Tell me." I said. "Ow! that hair your pulling is attached to a head!" I grabbed the strands he had just pulled.

"Sorry, there was a kink."

"Storytime."

"Okay, damn girl. So remember in high school when Shaun used to beat the shit out of me."

"Yeah, but you hid it well."

"I hated going home, he would just get annoyed at some random shit and just beat the fuck out of me." Shaun and Jesse were both in pretty good shape, but Jesse was only 5'11 and Shaun was 6'2. Jesse was about 170 pounds, Shaun was about 220. Even in high school Shaun was bigger and heavier. He was also a weightlifter.

"We that summer I stopped fucking with him, two years later he had a heart attack. The reason he had been so crazy and aggressive was because he had been taking steroids to keep up bodybuilding with his frat boys. He almost ruined his heart. But the steroids had him losing his mind. I didn't go see him in the hospital that's how much I hated him. My dad decided after I refused to see him that our relationship needed to be fixed. Shaun recovered and was fine but he made us sit down and talk. Which being the manly men that we are didn't go well and we almost fought again. My dad stopped us because we were still afraid of him. Not gon lie." I laughed.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"I'm dead ass. He threatened to beat us. I wasn't get my ass beat by my father as a grown man."

"But-"

"No more questions! But the next time my dad made us talk he brought in someone we feared even more than him. My sister."

"Ciara? Are you kidding me?"

"She has a twisted mind, you have never been on the other side of it. She won't get you physically, she gets you mentally. " he said as I laughed.

"Go on Jess."

"Ask her! She's got an evil side! Anyway, they made us talk and Shaun actually apologized for using me as punching bag and all the other shit he did. He was using steroids and doing other drugs and it really fucked him up for a while. But I'll always love my brother, I think I just need to hear him say it. I think I just needed him to give a fuck about me, you know."

"You're such a softie."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are, you're a turtle. You have a hard outer shell but underneath all that is just squishy stuff. And it's one of the reasons I love you. I didn't know your brother was on drugs, though."

"Yeah for a little bit. My dad sent him to rehab. To my understanding he wasn't addicted or on anything hard but it was enough for my dad to send him to rehab. But he won't talk about it so I don't ask."

"You have been through a lot. "

"Yeah, it's been real. But I'm glad. It made me who I am."

"I love you."

"Love you too."

[blaperile]

Homestuck^2 - Chapter 16: “Welcome to my Secret Lair" - Reaction

Oh boy, this chapter title sounds like we might be going back to Dirk.

I'm not sure who else could have a secret lair. :P

Page 394:

Oh snap, nope, we're going back to John!

Aww, it's good that John and Karkat had some time alone together to grieve for Dave, even if it was mostly in silence.

So uh, what's going to happen with John now? Who could possibly find him?

Karkat has just left and I assume his fellow rebels won't be coming right now either. Vrissy and Vriska have been captured. Harry is presumably still at home.

It would be hilarious if somehow Sollux ends up here, but I doubt it.

So... Jane herself?? Is she also going to capture John, or have him captured by her troops?

Page 395:

Hopy shit, it's Roxy! Thank god, we've barely seen anything from Candy Roxy since Homestuck^2 began, I was starting to wonder when we'd finally see her again.

Last time we saw Harry he was at Roxy's home, so perhaps she's finally come home now, heard from Harry what happened, and decided to reach out to John now?

Page 396:

Aha, yup, pretty much what I thought.

I wonder what kind of help Roxy needs?

Page 397:

There she is!

So uh, Roxy's taking John to her room. Is... Roxy going to have some kind of secret lair there? 0_0

What kind of drink she's having? It kind of looks like wine but uh, also like some kind of hot drink.

Hot grape juice? xD

Page 398:

I love how Roxy's acting like all that just happened is totally normal.

Ha, so it's coffee then... in what looks like a wine glass. Oh Roxy. xD

Page 399:

N'aww, I just noticed John and Roxy's wedding picture is still hanging on the wall.

Oh my freaking god John, that's clearly not what Roxy meant.

Either a spit-take or slap incoming in 3... 2... 1...

Page 400:

Haha, okay, just a frowny face.

I have absolutely no clue what the favor could be that Roxy wants to ask of John. Does she need his Windy powers for something?

Page 401:

D'aww, look at these two adorable people.

Poor John. Hopefully the destruction of his house can indeed be a good thing, that he can finally learn to move on properly.

Aha, so Roxy's INDEED got a secret lair!

But wait. She needs John's help to move the bed so she can use the transportalizer... but then how did she go there before if John hasn't always been helping her with the bed?

Wait, John did say it was new bed now. Maybe she could move the old one by herself, but not this one because it's heavier or something?

Page 402:

Ahahahaha, okay so Roxy didn't actually need him to move the bed. That solves that.

Hopy shit though, that tranportalizer is HUGE.

I wonder if it's going to look anything like the Skaianet lab?

Page 403:

Ahhh, how I've missed seeing this Sprite Mode transportalization animation. :3

Pfff, the tranportalizer looks much smaller in Sprite Mode though.

Page 404:

Oh wow, it's Calliope! Been a long time since we last heard from her in the Candy timeline.

And uh, Meat as well until last update, haha.

Waaaaaait a second. Incredibly huge object behind a curtain that remains mysteriously hidden for now... and abundantChewtoys just had a good point that Dirk ALSO had a similar object hidden behind a curtain that he didn't want Terezi to see.

What's the deal with it???

I mean... this reminds me a SUSPICIOUS amount of the portals hidden behind a curtain in Hiveswap to travel between Earth and Alternia.

Are these... similar portals but to travel between Meat and Candy?? :O

That would be hella mindblowing.

Looks like that will remain a mystery for now though. Until then it's 404 - OBJECT BEHIND CURTAIN NOT FOUND. ;)

Hmmm, Calliope's clothes here remind me of what Aradia was wearing last time we saw her with Davebot and the other Calliope, hmmm...

Page 405:

Oh wow, they're in the Troll's meteor! Hopy shit.

What is she keeping here?

Also, yay, Calliope dialogue. :3

Page 406:

Holy shit, this entire page... what a GOLDMINE.

I think this has got to be one of my most favorite Homestuck^2 pages so far.

Wow, where to start.

First of all, I love how Calliope actually enjoyed seeing what John and Roxy got up to and wasn't that bothered by it at all. D'aww.

I don't really understand yet why this place, the Trolls' meteor, corresponds to the black hole's singularity though. Is it because of its link to Calliope and Caliborn, how they grew up there or something?

Ha, it's cool that John had the chance to catch up on some of B2's movies that came out after 2009.

Interstellar was indeed a great, movie, hehe.

Why does Calliope think falling in the black hole would have been a bad thing though? I mean, Vriska and Lord English did survive it, and all those ghosts came through as well.

In any case, Calliope's dialogue seems to imply that whatever is beneath the curtain, it's not linking to Meat? Or at least, not that she knows.

And well, John did communicate with Terezi who was outside of the black hole.

It seems like Calliope's description of the world being on the brink of total cataclysm might imply Candy is somewhat like a doomed timeline then? That's kind of like what those timelines resulted in.

And what would having Vriska do something here in the meteor change anything about it?

Maybe something to do with her Thief of Light powers?

And what are the sounds John hears here? Is it comign from beneath the curtain? Feet? Doors? Stone and digital static??? What the hell could that be?

Page 407:

Ah okay, Rose, Kanaya and Jade are meeting up with them too. That's nice.

Just how much will they tell them? Will they just not tell about this stuff in the meteor, or will they also not tell them about the plan to go get Vriska?

Because uh, I'd think they want to know if they're busting out Vrissy (presumably, along with Vriska).

[atrixfromice]

If isn't one thing, is another!!!

Or “the odyssey of quest for the best microphone!”

I’m going to talk about this, because I promised to some folks I would. But also because I feel the need to talk about this to feel...well, maybe not better...but to feel a bit less dissapointed at least.

I was really excited about going one step further to a higher level regarding my fictional characters, but unfortunately for me, “if isn’t one thing is another” as we say in Mexico. Is an expression for when we have one and another and another misadventure or bad thing happenning succesively.

And that’s precisely what happened to me in general this year. But specially, with this animation project. First my computer started to have trouble, so I told myself “well if that’s so, I might just make the animation in traditional and I could tell my brother to lend me his computer so I can put the drawings together on movie maker”.  And my mom helped me with the traditional animation tools that are the glass desk I use as animation table, and the portable lamp. These ones!

But at the same time with my computer trouble, I had a lot of trouble too with the quality of the audio records when I found my character’s voices, since the peeps who were enthousiastic to work voicing my characters had no microphone to record, and I had no microphone to record either!

They recorded directly with their smartphone, and I with my smartphone and using an earphone as microphone. So in all the cases the voice was overcame by the sound of the street, the neighbords, people talking in the distance, etc.

Plus, one of my friends was so nice to spend an afternoon and night with me until 4 am (via chat online of course, he lives in mexico city and is far away from where I live) talking about my fictional characters and making voices so I could know if he could fit for one of my characters, because he was so excited a bout this animation, and mostly because, as I said before, he always wanted to be a voice actor for animated cartoons.

So I thought it worth the effort to help them and myself a bit, and I had the brilliant, brillant idea ( now I know it wasn’t a good idea XD) of making a tour on my town to see if I could find a good quality micro for a decent price so I could buy at least 2 or 3, and send then 2 to my friends and one for me, or send one to one of  my friends and take one for me.

But what happened I think I wouldn’t have predicted it!

Firs of all, almost all electronic stores were closed due quarantine. Except for one who was a little modest store that had recently oppened. So I bought my micro there because I had no choice.

The first “micro” I bought was actually not a micro (even if the girl who was selling there told me that is was usable to record) but just some headphones that worked via bluetooth with a micro included but they were only to talk, not to record. So yeah that day I learned that you cannot record via bluetooth. Because even if I installed an app so my smartphone could recognize the mic, the sound was horrible!! It sounded like someone who was talking to you from 3 meters away or something like that! Even the records sounded better with my earphone used as micro! And that was so much to say.

So I went to the store and I told the girl I needed to change the product or the return of my money cos this product wasn’t able to make what I needed it for, that was RECORDING AND GIVE ME A GOOD QUALITY SOUND! And then the girl said she couldn’t give me back my money because their enterprise didn’t allowed that, but yes to product changement in case of trouble. So I accepted and she gave me an earphones with microphone included, it was a generic brand but the girl told me it worked well, so I thought everything was going to be ok.

But no, actually that was worse! It got worse and worse.

I arrived home almost at dawn and I spent almost all day walking to go from store to store and come back. So as you can imagine, I was exhausted. I felt like the toothpaste you squeezed and it’s almost to get over. I wasn’t going to record my fictional character’s voice at that moment. I even didn’t ate all day! But I didn’t really cared, I felt too tired so I just I collapsed on the bed like a log.

So the next morning, I woke up and I happily proceeded to test the micro, and for my misfortune, just one of the headphones worked well, and the other didn’t, and the microphone, that was important part I needed, it didn’t worked at all!!! So there you have me, walking 2 hours to go and come back from the same store (since the transports are not doing their service due COVID) to change that micro, and then the girl gave me another brand of headphones with microphone, and I prayed God for this to the good one!  

Again, same stuff, I didn’t ate and I was tired, but this time I didn’t collapsed like a log, I tried to test the micro to know if it worked or not, and then, it happened that the headpones worked both of them, but the micro didn’t work!

So next morning I went to the store for the 3rd time and I was very upset, I told the girl to give me back my money because I didn’t wanted any other product from this store. I'm appreciative she was very understanting with me, because she treated me nicely and with calm even if I was so exasperated, pissed off and cursing in french.

No kidding on this! In retrospective...it was so embarassing because every people at the store turned their gaze at me like if I was a mad woman! LOL But you can deny after the 3rd time receiving a bad product you would probably have felt the same.

so I calmed down as well. And this time she gave me a lapel microphone, because she couldn’t give me back my money. And thanks goodness when I came home, I tested it and it worked. I I felt relieved and could eat finally.

The next morning I prepared myself a sandwich, and took care of my home duties like moping and swepping and dish washing, that stuff. And when the afternoon came and I tried to record on my new, and I realized that while it worked, the sound quality was very bad cos it picked up a lot of the background sounds and it made to some clicking and squeaking like if I was moving it but I wasn’t.

So I took my afternoon to look on google for how to record with a cheap or bad quality microphone (this one was not that cheap, but it was bad!) and I did all what people adived on on youtube and on blog articles. And I tried to record for two afternoons. like 6 and 6 hours, imagine it, I spent 12 hours voice acting!

Even I put covered my windows on aluminium paper, and I recorded on my bathroom and inside of my closet! XD But nothing worked because, while there was a bit les background noise, the recordings still had those annoying squeaking sounds, and when the voice made high notes, it sounded like someone's fingernails on a blackboard!

It was particularly hard to record on the closet, cos I was up for 6 hours and a bit more standing up trying to record something, and I had to start from the beginning because of the so annoying sounds that were made when I made emphasis on the words. So at the end my feet were numb and burining like hell! That not counting that more the time passed, the less my physical strenght to record I had.

And then after I finished, I thought it was really good, and I was so proud and satisfied with the result, then I gave the record to one of my friends, who offered as beta tester to listen my records, and he commented he heard an squeaking sound and that in the pauses when I talked, he could hear my breath! And that he couldn’t understand what was being said. And he’s an native english-speaker, soo, sooo it meant the record was not going to be able to be used!!!

So you can imagine why at the end I was so dissapointed and sad! Because I had a really exhausted body, a wounded pride, and a sore jaw and throat, because when you record voice (specially on a bad quality mic) you must exagerate a bit your voice and pronnounce well, and move your mouth a lot so you can get a good emphasis on your dialogues. And after all this effort I only got a 2 or 3 minutes recording, which was awesome, but the quality wasn’t good enough to be on an animation!!!! *sobs*

It was a dialogue between two characters, the main character from “good team guys” and the main “bad team guys”, from one of my stories. It was an epic battle between these two, and it was so...so awesome and mindblowing!

No kidding! It had all what I wanted it to have, all those delicious emphasis on the right words and phrases. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to record something THIS GOOD ever again in my life! Because I was inspired, and this doesn’t happen very often.

That without counting that I feel like a great jerk now because I feel like I failed to the peeps who were so participative offering their voices to voice my fictional characters, and who were enthusiastic and excited about voicing one of my original characters. But I think I’m smart enough to notice that right now I don’t have the tools to do neither animation nor voice acting.

So.. that’s why I dediced to not record more, not continuating animating, because I’m just I messing up my health and sleep and with this bad quality micro and computer I’ll not have any good results.

I think is better to save money to buy a good microphone for the voice, or a couple of ones, and send one to my friend. And wait until my brother could borrow me his laptop.

I think, while it makes me sad to come back to illustration and comics only...I feel a bit better by talking about my oddysey. So I thanks a lot to y’all who have been here to support my art and listen to what I write about my art projects.

[rootbeergoddess]

Baby Moon

My hand slipped and I made a fanchild of Bow and Glimmer whose going to end up being Finn’s best friend. Also, here is the ao3 link.

________________________________________________________________

This was hell.

Glimmer never thought childbirth would be so unbearable and painful. Even with magic, she felt like she was burning. Every atom in her body was screaming at her, demanding that she get the baby out.

"Glimmer, push!" Castaspella demanded.

"I'm trying!" Glimmer shouted back.

Bow was on one side of Glimmer, squeezing her hand while her father kept wiping sweat away from her brow. Why was the baby so stubborn? Why wouldn't she just come out?

"I can't push anymore!" Glimmer grunted.

"You've got this, Glimmer," Bow told her. "You can do it. Just keep pushing."

Bow kissed her sweaty forehead, and Glimmer closed her eyes, forcing out one more push. Then, she heard the cries. She opened her eyes and watched as her aunt began to clean a squirming, screaming ball. No, that wasn't a ball. Tears ran down Castaspella's face as she brought the swaddled newborn to Glimmer.

"Oh my stars," Micah choked. "She's beautiful."

She was screaming at the top of her lungs. She was goopy and fleshy.

Yes, she was indeed beautiful.

"Hello, sweetie," Glimmer smiled down at the newborn. "I'm your Mama."

The baby blinked before her eyes were fully opened. Her cries became softer as she looked around at the people in the room. Bow caressed her head, smiling down at her. Tears were forming in his eyes.

"I can't believe it," Bow sniffed. "Look at her. She's perfect."

"I still can't believe it myself," Glimmer said. "After months of waiting, she's finally here. Wait until everyone sees her."

"Rest first. Then she can meet the others," Castaspella said. "That was a lot of work. You're probably exhausted."

"I'm a bit tired, but I'm also hungry," Glimmer said. "Does this mean I can stop my mommy diet?"

"Yes. I'll grab you something to eat while you rest." Micah said.

________________________________________________________________ "So, this is the newest royal brat?" Catra asked.

"Catra, be nice," Adora said. "Don't be mean to her when she can't defend herself."

"Alright, alright," Catra said. "She sure is puny."

"She's a newborn, of course, she's small," Adora smiled at the baby. "But, she'll get bigger."

Baby Luna was staring at Adora with grey eyes, silently taking her in. The baby was only a day old, and she was already meeting her extended family. Micah, George, and Lance had spent half the day fawning over her; Glimmer managed to steal her baby away so Adora and Catra could meet her. According to Glimmer, Luna needed to learn who her aunties were. Adora was thrilled about being an aunty. Catra? She wasn't sure what an aunty did, but it could be interesting. Besides, the baby was pretty cute.

"At least she's quieter than her parents," Catra smiled. "That's something."

"Catra, you're mean again!"

"It's a compliment," Catra looked down at the baby. "Right, Baby Moon?"

"Baby Moon. I like it," Glimmer entered the room. "Well? What do you think?"

"She's cute, I'll give her that," Catra said. "Still can't believe Bow, and you made her. You two made life. It's mindblowing."

"Argh, nooooooooo!"

The three women looked up to see Bow entering the room, Finn on his back. The young cat cackled with glee as Bow dramatically fell to the ground.

"Die Horde Prime, die!" Finn pretended to hit Bow.

"Curse your She-raaaaaaaa!" Bow shouted before dying.

Finn frowned and got off Bow. Worriedly, he nudged Bow with their foot.

"Surprise attack!" Bow sat up and grabbed Finn.

"No fair, that's cheating!" Finn said between giggles.

"War isn't fair," Bow put Finn on his shoulders. "Come on; it's time to meet Luna."

Bow walked over to the trio. Adora smiled as Finn looked down at Baby Luna. She was wide awake and looked straight at them. Finn cocked their head; this was the first time seeing a baby. They looked up at their parents.

"How come she can't say nothing?" They asked.

"She's still a baby kiddo," Catra said. "She was just born this week. Here, sit down, and you can hold her."

Bow placed Finn on the floor, and they pulled themselves up onto a nearby couch. Adora walked over and placed Luna in Finn's arms. Finn had been taught how to hold a baby by Glimmer to make sure Luna was secure. They glanced down at the silent baby, cocking their head again.

"Think she'll play with me when she gets big?" They asked.

"Sure thing kiddo," Catra ruffled Finn's hair. "I bet you two will be thick as thieves when she gets older."

Finn looked back at Luna.

"Hi squirt," Finn said. "I'm Finn. Your mama knows both my mommies. So when you're big, we're gonna play together."

"Alright, I have to admit that is cute," Catra grinned.

"Yeah," Glimmer smiled. "It really is."

[ryttu3k]

I want to have them all on Tumblr, so. Here are my reaction posts, in order, for Resolution of the Daleks and season 12, part 1!

Resolution of the Daleks

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Resolution! Spoilers, obviously!

Okay, negative first, just to get it out of the way. Doctor Who, I really appreciate that you consistently have queer minor characters and queer couples. Just super casual and all, as it should be. Now can you please stop killing off half of said couples? Angstrom's wife, Frankie, now this young guy? It's really not cool.

Don't think the voiceover worked. I feel the prologue would have worked better with just visuals.

Again, Yaz didn't have much to do. The Doctor got a ton of action, Ryan and Graham both had significant interactions with Aaron, Yaz was... just kind of there. I'm hoping that when the show comes back in a year, now that Ryan has largely dealt with his issues, Yaz will get more attention?

UNIT was killed by Brexit?! Fuckin' rude!

Okay, on to the positive!

The Dalek was, frankly, fucking scary. Despite knowing that the Doctor would beat it, obviously, it caused huge swathes of damage and racked up a... rather high body count. Like it felt like a proper threat. Also, its ability to stop the TARDIS tracking it and stuff. Lin's terror felt extremely genuine and it was just nice and horrific overall, like - if it wasn't for the Doctor, it would feel like a genuine threat to the entire Earth.

(Also, it shut down the wifi. On New Years Day. What a monster!)

Oh man that Dalek laughter. Creepy as fuck. The Doctor dragging it in via hologram to dare it to laugh in her face? Fucking iconic.

"I've learned to think like a Dalek." Oof.

Doctor vs Dalek. Not just the physical aspect, but the mental part - the Doctor recognising the seriousness of it, but also having that element of cockiness ("Oh, mate") because, frankly, she's dealt with bigger threats. She's right when she points out that the biggest problem will be if regular humans try to engage it!

Elements of Dark!Doctor when she asks the team - almost desperately - if she gave it enough chances, if she was nice enough. Because the Doctor can get fucking scary around Daleks and she knows it. She's nice. She's friendly. But she's also the Doctor, and the Doctor has done some really damn questionable things to stop the Daleks, and she knows that. Fantastically done and I still desperately want some proper Dark!Doctor.

Really liked the parallels between the Doctor using scrap to make her sonic screwdriver, vs the Dalek using scrap to make its armour. The Doctor makes a tool, the Dalek makes items of war. Of course, well, the Doctor is probably more dangerous just with a swiss army sonic than a Dalek blaster...

I love how the whole, "Dads are complicated... so I've heard" bit could refer to either the loom thing or the Doctor having actual parents or the Doctor being a shitty dad themself XD

Graham was so excited to show off the TARDIS! Like he's just going, "How cool is this?!"

There were some legitimately funny moments! Graham's chair, "I suppose... we'll have to have a... conversation?", "Junkyard chic"... UNIT was killed by Brexit like that's so awful but. But in a kind of funny way.

Okay, now the unsure. Ryan, Graham, and Aaron. Ryan and Graham have sorted out their issues - but Aaron is still such a big overshadowing part of it that it's a bit of a shock when he comes back in. As someone with a similarly shit biological father, I was completely empathising with Ryan in the coffee shop conversation. And I do understand why they wanted reconciliation, so they showed Aaron as acknowledging his bullshit and Ryan ultimately choosing to forgive and save him.

But it's just... not that easy. It's not all going to be perfect just because they stopped a Dalek together. Aaron's neglect hurt Ryan really badly, and it just felt... too easy? Like it helped that Aaron was genuinely contrite, and that he had that good stepfather talk with Graham, but just... yeah, not sure how I feel about it, honestly.

The Doctor's first words to him being, "You weren't at Grace's funeral. Ryan waited for you, you let him down" were so, so good. Like the Doctor is just going "fuck you I'm his father now". Like tbh I think she was 100% prepared to yeet him off the TARDIS and be done with it. Like damn don't emotionally hurt one of her crew.

Some wonderfully savage lines, though. The Doctor's, "You're almost making up for your parenting deficit!"; Aaron and Ryan's, "Is that how you talk to your dad?" "I don't know, he's not been around"; Graham's fucking smirk when Ryan pointedly calls him 'Gramps'.

I did see a suggestion that would have made it much better - instead of the Dalek capturing Aaron, it captures Ryan. First, it ups the threat in the mind of the Doctor and Team TARDIS - this isn't some dickhead, this is one of them. And instead, it's Aaron who reaches out to Ryan, Aaron who risks his life, Aaron who has to come through for Ryan, instead of the other way around. Also would have tied in beautifully with, "Family isn't about DNA, or a name. It's about what you do, and you haven't done enough."

Also, 'srs tech skillz'. With a Z. Doctor why.

In conclusion, I am going to fight Nigel Farage for killing UNIT.

-

Spyfall part 1

Current response to Doctor Who: making a near-literal SDKFJHGSDASDKFH sound, grabbing a cushion, nearly throWING THE CUSHION.

More intelligent commentary when my brain comes back online.

-

Okay. Am calm. Am good! We're good.

MAJOR SPOILERS for Doctor Who: Spyfall, part 1!

So yeah I actually literally screamed (kind of... scream-laugh-holy-shit-yes). Like, even before Dhawan finished speaking the, "Or should I say spy... Master?" line because of the way he had said 'spymaster' in full in the line before and there's nothing that grabs my brain like that one word in that one context. It wasn't quite as mindblowing as the Utopia reveal, since, let's face it, it's only been a season since we last saw that magnificant arsehole, but still.

(Actually, since I didn't watch Twelve's run, the last time I saw them was exactly a decade ago in The End of Time, broadcast New Years Day 2010. And I still fucking cry over, "Get out of the way." So. That may have been why I literally screamed lmao)

I mean. It's the Master. I can't not. They're my favourite jerk. This is probably slightly concerning.

Anyway. Comments!

The good

Episode was just flat-out exciting. It reminded me both of the Three and Ten eras, a bit? Fun gadgets, fancy suits, and what ends up being a giant game! Did start wondering when they were talking about spies and codes and stuff. It's basically a puzzle that's been set up for the Doctor to solve. Plus, the way she was pretty much enlisted into it! Thirteen and Dhawan!Master might end up having a more Pertwee-Delgado-esque dynamic, maybe? I would be down for that!

(My introductory episode to the Master was The Mind of Evil. Let's just put it that way XD)

"I'm her best enemy." <3

I mean, in retrospect, isolated house full of high-tech stuff and a wall full of books about the Doctor... oh honey. Long, looong game of playing Spies and Conspiracies just for, apparently, the sheer funsies of it. Oh, honey. They're such a disaster and I love them.

The reveal scene, Jodie's acting. The way she just... freezes and hunches in on herself. She's been hiding her past more than other Doctors have in the past, and suddenly, here is her past!! Right here!! Laughing and joking and right there in front of her! And she's just like, "Ohhh shit, I was not ready to have this conversation again..."

Yasmin and Ryan's dynamic. I do like that they split up the usual combos of Thirteen-Yasmin and Graham-Ryan for once, because I do like seeing the way they play off each other! It makes them feel more cohesive as a group. I liked Ryan trying to comfort Yasmin after her experience.

Post-reveal, I'm now wondering if the weird zappy forest thing is the Master's TARDIS? Something to do with changing and processing DNA into something else? Something based around neurons, with the electric travelling system? Am also wondering what happened to Yasmin while in there, since she seemed to be processed in some way, and I'm wondering if she had part of her DNA rewritten as well - or maybe if she's been replaced entirely, like she's currently piloting an alien version of her own body while her actual self is still in there. They did already do that with Flesh!Amy, though.

Once this arc is over, I think Thirteen is definitely going to have to sit down and tell the Fam who the hell she actually is. Graham is having some serious questions, and the Master was definitely egging that on, pre-reveal.

How much do I love that even in a tux, the Doctor still has the culottes and boots? A lot, that is how much. Also, how much do I love the Doctor in a suit and on a motorbike? A lot, that is how much.

"I've had an upgrade." <3

Thirteen playing Snap. It's okay, Thirteen, you still win my heart <3

"Worst! Uber! Ever!!"

"Kisses!" Yes, we know ;) They've been texting! Someone write me a WhatsApp chat fic with plenty of subtext and double meaning, I require it. Also, memes. You know it's true. The Master isn't a Time Lord, they're a Meme Lord.

"Everything you think you know is a lie." Season hook? :o

The hmm

Main concern is how they're handling the Master's characterisation? Last we saw, they were so ready to jump the Doctor ship. Now it's back to games. Kind of wondering if that means the Master is just at the point of being resigned that they and the Doctor just don't work and so is going back to games because at least it makes them happy, but I'm happy to wait until next week to see how things play out!

Did see a suggestion that this is the Master from one of the alternate universes (or at least that seems to be the general consensus on why there were multiple maps), so not actually necessarily the same version as Missy. Alternatively, this could actually be a pre-Missy version! Maybe between Simm!Master and Missy, since we never actually see that regeneration?

Actually, if this is the one immediately before Missy and this two-parter ends with the Master regenerating and we actually do get Thirteen and Missy together on screen I may cry.

(Like I'm aro-ace and agender but I'm still so gay for both of them. There is no word other for this emotion other than 'I'm gay'.)

I kind of wish someone had double-checked the name of the company because VOR running the world is. Is. "Right now, VOR is more powerful than most nations." Just. *pinches bridge of nose* Like okay you know how we say 'oh yeah just google it' 'yeah I googled it' are they really gonna say 'yeah I just VO

'I'm going to V

I can't say it. I can't.

Apparently the Australia scenes were filmed in South Africa. Kind of assumed it wasn't really Australia as soon as I saw actually greenery in the background h e h.

Highkey wish I could have seen Missy and Thirteen together. Dhawan!Master is very fun so far but. Missy and Thirteen. See comment above about the Master's characterisation!

...ABC are you really going to keep to Thursday night broadcasts even after the UK switches their Sunday nights / our Monday mornings? Well that's a good way to guarantee I'll be watching them online first! I was happy to wait twelve hours or so so I could watch it with Mum, but like hell I'm going to wait three and a half days!

In conclusion, am dead, send help, is it Monday morning yet?

-

Spyfall part 2

Thoughts on Doctor Who: Spyfall, part 2!

GALLIFREY LOOOOORE.

Oh man I'm hyped. We got a teeny teaser to the Timeless Child way back last decade but now we may actually get to see what the fuck is going on. And hell, if nothing else, at least the discovery is being teased to be so devastating it did undo Missy's characterisation. If this incarnation of the Master is after her, at least. Still not necessarily anything to suggest that. The Master will likely be recurring over this season, so we'll find out more, at least!

God, the Master is so fucked up. Like. He's seen something apparently so massively traumatic that he had to destroy his own planet and legitimately does look broken by it? Unless he was acting, but I did not get that impression from the message at the end. And the only way he can think of to get the Doctor's attention is to start his old tricks? Not sure if it's better or worse for him to be pre-Missy tbh.

It's just... such an interesting dynamic. Also I really want to read into the whole... scene where the Master asks the Doctor to kneel and call him 'Master' in front of everyone - then, when she does (defiantly! Stubbornly!), he... kneels to be at the same level as her. Like, "I'm going to play these BDSM-esque power games with you but when it comes down to it, I still consider us equal."

Anyway the Master is def a service top.

This comment from Tumblr user upslapmeal:

"'why would it stop? I mean how else would I get your attention’ what did I say about the Master being like a cat knocking things off shelves"

I mean. Yeah.

"Contact." Old school.

The Companions! They get a capital C because they were rad as hell. I love them all deciding that what they do next is: carry on to save the world. Like they're all heroic af without the Doctor and it's so good.

"Don't make me do a soft-shoe shuffle!"

And questioning at the end, oooh man. There are some Implications there, yeah. They've found out some surface information, yes, but no real hint at the deeper trauma. And given what this coming season is hinting at, I strongly suspect we will indeed be getting that deeper trauma and maybe even Dark!Doctor. Gallifrey does tend to bring it out of them...

The whole on-the-run thing seemed to definitely be a callback to Sound of Drums. Uh, what's that going to do long-term? Send out a worldwide message saying, "Sorry, our bad, they're fine"? I mean, last time that happened... okay, Jack was already with Torchwood and so is used to Not Really Existing, but Martha definitely couldn't go back to fuckin' medical school. She ended up at UNIT and then went independent. They did not return to their normal lives.

Barton: needs a goddamn punch. He killed his mother what the fuck. On the plus side, at least he seems to have thoroughly destroyed his career? Be interesting to see if he reappears later, you don't go from the most powerful person on the planet to massive pariah overnight without Repercussions.

On to our guest characters! I hate to brag but I guessed who Ada was as soon as I heard her first name and saw her outfit. I mean the computers theme was already there, who else would she be? :D And I admittedly didn't know who Noor Inayat Khan was except in passing, but still. Little upset about the erased memories (Donna ;_; ), but I can see why the Doctor did it and like... this way, I'm glad they were able to avoid the implications of, "Ada only developed computing because she had already seen the future." Like people said that with Rosa Parks even though the Doctor said explicitly to only ensure there were enough seats filled and the act itself was all Rosa, so they may have wanted to play it safe.

I... really want to comment on how Ada definitely was crushing on the Doctor (and really, who wouldn't?), but she was a real person so I shall avoid those implications. (But really though!)

Doctor how many times have you been in someone's liver. This is some Magic School Bus Inside The Human Body bullshit and I love it.

Doctor's recording: "First of all, you're not gonna die! Second of all, don't talk back to the screens, obviously I'm a recording and I can't hear ya. Third, don't panic. Especially you, Graham."

Graham, panicking: "I'M NOT PANICKING!"

Doctor's recording: "Yes, you were! And I did just say, don't talk back to the screens!"

Graham: "????!?!!"

I want an entire series of the Master having a really infuriating seventy-seven years on Earth. Please.

Comments on continuity issues regarding that, "It's worse than Jodrell Bank!" "Did I ever apologise for that?" "No." "Good." exchange XD;; Like people are going, "Continuity error!! It was the Pharos Project, not Jodrell Bank!!" and like. Pharos was a project. Jodrell Bank is an observatory. You can do projects at observatories. Also, you can refer to projects by location, too. Am I referring to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Project or Tidbinbilla Station? Both! They refer to the same thing! In the Whoniverse, they likely did the Pharos Project at Jodrell Bank, and just had some lighthearted bantz about that time where the Master killed the Doctor, no biggie.

So, onwards to... an apparently unrelated episode for next week! Also, the Kassavin? Still there. Like. The Master only gave suggestions. They still have all those agents everywhere! They're still ready to act! And yeah, now they have the Master in their hands, so... I wonder if they'll make the Timeless Child a long, ongoing arc, and have the much more immediate threat of the Kassavin as the season finale?

-

Orphan 55

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Orphan 55!

...whew.

First thought: anvilicious, but some anvils need to be dropped, because, uh, have you seen the world lately.

It feels like quite a brittle episode? Even beyond the immediate tension of 'there are large angry creatures trying to kill everyone', there's just this sense of... like, tension. There's the tension between Benni and Vilma, which at first is kind of a sweet tension then becomes a life-threatening and sad tension. There's the tension between Roger Parslow Silas and his dad, with Silas not being taken seriously (although I do think him running out while they're in life-threatening danger is a bit much). The obvious and major tension between Bella and Kane that drives the whole episode, yes.

And there's also the tension amongst Team TARDIS! The episode starts with the Doctor still in Some Kinda Way about last week, and I felt a bit of tension between Yaz and Ryan? She seemed rather unimpressed by Bella, at any rate. I do like how organic the relationship between Ryan and Graham feels, at least. "It ain't the aliens that are gonna kill me, it’s worrying about you!"

Set and costume building, I felt, was kind of... eh? I liked how Tranquility itself looked, but the tunnels looked Very Generic, and some of the looks I felt didn't really work. Silas and his dad's green hair just looked very obviously fake, and I saw a description of Hyph3n-with-a-three looking like a cross between a Jellicle Cat and John Candy in Spaceballs (which... yeah, honestly). And I'm not sure about the Dregs, although I did initially have the thought that whatever the original inhabitants of the planet were, they must have been humanoid was amusingly accurate...

"I just pulled this out of a friend of mine! >:("

"Oh! ...We do not make any judgments on our guests and fully support any way you choose to enjoy yourself here at Tranquility Spa! ^_^;;"

"... ... ...It wasn't recreational! o.O"

God you could feel Hyph3n-with-a-three's embarrassment...

"If I had crayons and half a can of Spam, I could build you from scratch!" Excuse me I am at least Tofurky.

Also a logical issue on the whole journey to find Benni, because frankly, it just wasn't... sensible. Okay, bring a kid. Father of the year right there. Okay, bring an old woman. Granted, she could have insisted because it was her man-friend they were looking for, but surely she would have known she would slow them down? Her 'heroic sacrifice' felt very wasted, because dammit, she could have survived if she had stayed in the Dome where it was at least a bit safer!

"At least three eighths of a plan, right here! ...Two eights. I'll be honest, all I've got is the letter 'P'..."

So the Doctor is almost at the point of passing out from oxygen loss but hang on, let her first indulge her curiosity...

The sheer existence of orphan planets is very depressing. The sheer fact that there's at least fifty-five is very depressing.

There's an interesting comment about how straight after discussion of the reveal, the first shot of the preview is the Statue of Liberty. Very Planet of the Apes! (No apes next time, just Tesla vs Edison!) Also feeling a strong connection to Midnight (stunning resort on dangerous planet with a very personal enemy), and I saw a comment about Thirteen unintentionally The-End-Of-The-World-ing the Fam (and making a connection between 'very angry trees' and the Forests of Cheem). Bit of Ravolox. Bit of... fuck what was it... Curse of Fenric.

Although, we know that the Earth will eventually be consumed by the sun, and it was done in a way that was like... it was its time. This was not its time, was a colossal fuck-up on a planetary scale (and the Doctor continues to be 'eat the rich'), but it's also only one potential future. Which is good, because that got dark. Even more than The End of the World, even more than Utopia, even more than fuckin' Frontios, because this is the near-future. The shots we saw of the destruction were modern day! That was the Dome of the Rock you saw getting bombed!

"Be smarter than what made you." PAGING THE GOVERNMENT...

Going to put it on a solid... maybe 7/10? Some really good elements in there, but also some clunkers, and unfortunately not a patch on the same writer's It Takes You Away, which was one of the strongest of the last season.

-

Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror!

Opinion before episode: man, Tesla's cool. Opinion after episode: man, Tesla is fuckin' cool! :D That was a well-done personality-based historical, absolutely - I think it's my second-favourite personality-based historical only to Rosa (there are other pseudo-historical based ones set in the past that I love, but they're not personality-based; the Human Nature duology is a good example).

But yeah, Tesla just came across as a really, really cool character. Genius and he knew it, yes, and the real Tesla did have some questionable views (sexism, mostly), but otherwise the archetypal Idealistic Genius who wants to change the world for the better. Contrast with Edison, who was... a businessman. With, like, a really punchable face. Still pretty intelligent, but... very, very punchable. I've read about the Tesla-Edison feud before and always sided with Tesla, and let's face it, so did the writer XD

Good mix of character combinations - with a lot of characters, it's easy for someone to get sidelined, but this managed to handle Thirteen and the Fam, and Tesla, Dorothy, and Edison, pretty well. There were some neat combinations, like Ryan and Dorothy bonding over the sense of adventure, and Graham and Edison's confrontation; I also really loved the whole conversation between Thirteen and Tesla on the joy of just... creating. There's actually a very nice overlap between arts and sciences.

Antagonists - not bad? I feel a lot of people were expecting the Racnoss, and there was such a similarity that I would have liked at least a throwaway line about how the Skithra were related or something. Ooh man she definitely brought out Dark!Doctor, though. Teleporting the queen back to the ship, specifically so she can be fried? I mean, she might have survived it. Might. And just that fantastic little change of expression when the queen asks the Doctor if she's ever seen a dead planet before! Whittaker pulled that one off.

There's a very interesting compare and contrast between the Skithra and Edison, I found. Thirteen has her speech about how once the Skithra are gone, they won't be remembered. Caput. Forgotten. They left nothing behind. Compare and contrast to Edison, who was openly accused of using other people's work, but who's able to learn from his mistakes, end on an even(ish) setting with Tesla, and who does get remembered. Which kind of stings, honestly, if you look at Tesla's actual history.

Like. Apparently that, "The man just didn't understand the American sense of humour," line was an actual historical line, according to Tesla's own records. The absolute main reason for the difference in fame and recognition is that Tesla was a genius who didn't know how to market. Edison was a marketer who could invent a bit. So in conclusion Edison is a dick and Tesla needs more respect, the end.

Favourite lines and scenes:

Tesla: "Is - is this your own design?" Thirteen: "I made it! Mainly out of spoons! :D" Tesla: "You're an inventor! :D" Thirteen: "I have my moments." Tesla: "I knew it! So you... so, you can understand how it feels, you know, when you have an idea, and - and to make it real. I don't think there's any greater thrill!" Thirteen: "I couldn't agree more." Tesla: "You... you spoke of aliens. People here laugh at the very idea." Thirteen: "But not you." Tesla: "Well, apparently I'm not like other people. It can be difficult, you know, to feel no one else sees the world the way you do. It's like you're, uh..." Thirteen: "...out of place."

Graham: "Yeah, still. I bet you'd jump at the chance to have him back working for you, wouldn't ya?" Edison: "Yeah?" Graham: "Yeah!" Edison: "How d'you figure that?" Graham: "'Cause I had a supervisor like you at my old depot. And men like you don't pay a bloke that much attention unless you think there's a payout comin'."

Thirteen: "I wouldn't go killing me and Yaz. 'Cause Yaz... can tell you what this is." Yaz: "It's a camera!" Thirteen: "Bingo!" *FLASH!*

Edison: "I couldn't figure it out either." Tesla: "The internal dimensions transcend the external." Thirteen: *GRIN* Edison: ._.

Thirteen: "You do realise, it's killing Edison that they want you and not him? ;D"

Graham: "Don't worry. This ain't our first rodeo!" Ryan: "We've never been to a rodeo." Graham: "...you're not helping, Ryan..."

Thirteen: "And what are you queen of, exactly? A stolen ship and second-hand guns? A queen of shreds and patches. You're not a ruler, you're a parasite." Queen: "And what are you? So clever, stealing onto my ship, taking what I claim as mine. But where has it got you? No weapons. No armour. No escape. Just the desperate hope you might change my mind." Thirteen: "No, we are way past that. I gave you your chance." Queen: "A chance to be like you?" Thirteen: "A chance to evolve. But you were too stupid to take it. When you die, there'll be nothing left behind - just a trail of blood and other people's brilliance. No one will even know you existed."

(Side note: I love that this speech was actually in front of the companions. They're starting to see that things are Not Okay.)

Thirteen: "Don't give up." Yaz: "Whatever anyone says." Tesla: "Well, let them talk. The present is theirs. I work for the future... and the future is mine."

Favourite incorrect lines:

Thirteen and Tesla, firing at the ship: "VIBE CHECK!"

-

Fugitive of the Judoon

I'M GONNA... NEED A HOT MOMENT TO PROCESS THAT...

-

WELL I. UH. OKAY.

lmao I'm serious I don't even know where to begin.

Uh, some very disorganised comments on Doctor Who - Fugitive of the Judoon!

I squealed when I heard Jack's voice then saw him in the flesh. I gasped audibly when 'Ruth' broke the glass. I yelped when we saw the buried TARDIS. I MAY HAVE SCREAMED A LITTLE WHEN 'RUTH' INTRODUCED HERSELF.

(Also can we talk about her outfit. That was on point.)

I'm getting a very... very early vibe? She didn't know what the sonic screwdriver was, and that was introduced with Troughton. Since we saw the Hartnell-Troughton regeneration, she must be pre-Hartnell? Maybe a Doctor whose memories were rewritten to the point that they thought the Hartnell incarnation was the earliest? Not to mention that was a pretty old-school-looking TARDIS!

Alternatively, maybe between Troughton and Pertwee? Either option has some inconsistency - if she's post Troughton, she should have known what the sonic was, although it admittedly did look very different. Plus, her TARDIS is already its police box shape, which was implied to have set in the junkyard. Also, we never actually do see the regeneration between Two and Three, and it could explain why Gallifrey was after her - she escaped after her trial after The War Games!

Definitely early, though.

Alternatively alternatively, Thirteen actually does say 'time is swirling around me'. Maybe an alternate timeline. Something to tie back to the Timeless Child?

"I've lived for thousands of years, so long I've lost count. I've had so many faces. How long have you known me? You don't know me. Not even a little bit."

That wasn't just aimed at the companions. I feel that was aimed at the Doctor themself.

(Related: the response from the fam was flat-out beautiful. Doesn't matter who she was or who she'll be. They know her now, and they love her.)

Just. Wow. Wow.

Really cool note from Twitter - disguised name was Ruth Clayton. Ruth = 'friend, companion'. Clayton = 'of the Earth'. She literally named herself 'friend of the Earth'.

"You're probably a bit confused right now."

I mean. Yeah. Confused and intrigued and what.

"Don't do points! I do points! Points are my thing!"

Jack. Jack. Smooching Graham, hitting on all the companions, getting into Shenanigans! The Lone Cyberman - I wonder if that's a totally different crisis that isn't even related to the current Gallifrey-Timeless Child one? The more important part is Jack's presence - the presence of another time traveller with a... unique relationship with the universe. The actual warning could be a red herring, but Jack showing up anywhere in the first place is a sign that something is happening with time?

Orphan 55 had a timeline that may or may not have been the 'real' one. Being only a potential future kind of doesn't work with what we know of established DW continuity, so I'm liking the 'alternate timeline' theory, maybe?

Ryan: "I liked him. Kind of cheesy."

Yaz: "But good cheesy."

Thirteen, smiling: "That's Jack."

Graham just standing there going, "He kissed me tho? ...Wasn't bad, actually."

"Is she safe?" Jack, honestly, is she ever safe?

"When she needs me... I'll be there." Oh yeah, he's so coming back later this season.

Also, Judoon, chameleon arch, the Master, Jack - getting big season 29 vibes here and that's a big thumbs up for me because that's my favourite season. We just need Martha to make an appearance now!

...hehe honestly, between Jodie's entire existence, and now, in the span of five episodes, introducing Dhawan!Master, Gat, and now Jo Martin as the first black female Doctor, and reintroducing Jack, one of the most overtly and openly queer characters on the series, the 'Doctor Who is too PC!' bunch are going to be so mad XD

"A platoon of Judoon... near the moon." / "Look at you, your platoon of Judoon near the... that lagoon..."

Man. The close-up in the very first shot of the watch. Nice tie-in.

"The Doctor never uses weapons!" "I know! Shut up! >.>"

Where do the Kasaavin come into play? Is this something they've done by integrating themselves throughout time and space? Maybe they're fraying the fabric?

My mind is blown. I can't wait for the rest of this season :D

-

[Part 2 - Praxeus to The Timeless Children]

[aqvarius]

With people comparing Namba and Matsunaga (both older, both have an ex which feels redundant plot wise, and having moments of being laid back but also stern), which of the two do you think is the better?(Though I'm not sure if rmd will go beyond the 2nd epilogue since all the backlash from LC and we'll probably never see any more character development from each guy)

hmmmMMMM okay so i still have thoughts about the future of rmd (which i’m still working on slowly to try and get all my Thoughts in order) pending for another ask BUT i actually still haven’t read namba’s adversaries so i feel like i can maybe make a decent comparison without namba having too much advantage

so matsunaga and namba are REALLY similar. the sad thing is that matsunaga’s history with his ex should tie into the plot but it really doesn’t (or rather the link between ex and the plot comes out of literally nowhere) unless you’ve read all the right heart scenes (i’m just presuming this, it might also come out of nowhere even if you’ve read all the heart scenes and also i don’t know which ones exactly bc i didn’t wanna spend any hearts on this route lol). 

CUT FOR BIG SPOILERS

i do actually think that matsunaga’s route had more potential to weave in some more complex themes but ultimately ended up being a bit more basic(?) in terms of its core message. while yes, it is groundbreaking for voltage for them to write a bi love interest, i felt the way they tackled sexuality in this route wasn’t the most thoughtful. i mean, for the patient to basically go nuts (honestly don’t even remember his name bc this route made so little impact on me and i didn’t enjoy it enough to save screenshots lol) and murder his ex because he chose to preserve his public image as a celebrity and date a woman just felt like (1) not the most thoughtful character construction for a non-straight character and (2) just a way to (dare i say tokenistically) shoehorn in matsunaga’s sexuality without making it a genuinely impactful part of his personality and the development of his relationship with the mc. 

for one, i have to reiterate that it really did come out of nowhere. most of the route focussed on matsunaga’s health issues (frankly unnecessary imo). for me it felt like the health issue thing was a way for matsunaga’s backstory (particularly in relation to kasumi) to be written in, and then the thing with his ex was the way for his character to relate somewhat to a seemingly unrelated case (the actual medical/patient case aspect of the route), but they honestly threw that in so last minute and it was such a passing thing as well? like i feel like matsunaga’s route and his character were developed more from the whole downplaying his health issues thing than his sexuality. however, because the climax of the route was about the patient going berserk, they kind of were like let’s diffuse this situation with a dramatic reveal about matsunaga’s sexuality and that GENUINELY felt like all that was used for. like all of the “getting closer” moments were related to his health issues or hanging out the pomeranian lol. 

also honestly the ways in which both the patient and the female patient dealt with the singer’s death was exactly the same (i.e. wanting to die bc what’s the point in living if he’s no longer there) so i didn’t really see the point of there being two of them aside from setting up for a more dramatic ~gasp the singer was bi~ moment which in itself was just a setup for a more dramatic ~gasp matsunaga is bi~ moment right at the end. i also felt like they could have addressed the idea of fear of social discrimination in a more nuanced and thoughtful way? essentially i wasn’t a fan of the whole “he was afraid of being in a publicly gay relationship with me so i killed him bc he broke up with me to be with a woman” thing. and in my opinion, matsunaga contributed NOTHING to that entire theme aside from just saying “i had a boyfriend and we broke up for the same reasons except i didn’t become a murderer” which like........ you could have used this opportunity to actually explore the pain and difficulty of needing to hide your relationship because of social taboo or being discarded because your partner chose public image over you rather than just write this character off as a vengeful gay ex vs the good bi guy (matsunaga who just accepts injustices like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ que sera sera). i thought it would have been a stronger and more sophisticated story had they either focussed on either one theme or the other in this one route (health/life expectancy issues vs sexuality) instead of kind of having both be treated a little half-heartedly. the feeling i got was that the first step to getting closer (and i say this laughingly bc honestly the distance between them even after 30 chapters is GAPING) was the pomeranian and then the topic that gave their relationship a little more depth than “we’re just hanging out with your dog” was the revelation of his health issues. 

also the idea that people live on through your memories of them felt a little like... overdone/simple? or that it was lacking a more sophisticated engagement with the idea of death, legacy and memories. i’ve read school life shoujo manga that deals with that theme in a more interesting way. so for me, it felt a little ingenuine that it was treated by as a perspective or way of thinking about death that was like a mindblowing new way to look at life ahead, especially since the characters involved are in their 20s, not early teens. 

so anyway i think that matsunaga has potentially a deeper character? namba has more or less ‘healed’ or at least learnt to cope with his issues enough that you wouldn’t know anything is up but it’s clear that matsunaga still has a lot of personal issues to work through, so there was genuine potential to overcome some of that boss-subordinate power imbalance through having genuine connection between just humans or to develop him as a character whose prioritisation of others is maybe a flaw. i just think that they crammed so many things in that none of it really got addressed or developed properly lol.  

i will say that i find matsunaga is way less fun than namba? namba is more of a “my pace” kind of guy - he’s more random/eccentric which i enjoy. matsunaga’s persona is more just like a regular nice guy? you would NEVER find matsunaga just on the street in costume pretending to be a fortune teller for no reason but to give you random love advice? 

but on that same note, i definitely feel less chemistry between matsunaga and his mc compared to namba. maybe this is just bc i only read matsunaga’s normal ending in which she confesses and asks him out and he literally SAYS NO AND IT ENDS WITH HER GETTING REJECTED (and i’m p sure they still aren’t together even in the happy ending or the epilogue), but the whole time i feel like there was only ever a parent-child relationship between them. i never felt like matsunaga treated her any different than how he treats literally anyone else in the EICU. i actually think he treats kasumi the best out of everyone, including his mc. the weird thing is that rmd actually had way more time and potential - i mean they literally SET THE TWO CHARACTERS UP IN AN EXPLICITLY ROMANTIC CONTEXT and there was still NEGATIVE amounts of romantic chemistry??? HOW? namba and his mc literally were in a boss-subordinate dynamic the entire time and they still had more chemistry and genuine interpersonal connection without it feeling like the mc is a small pet vying for her owner’s attention the entire time while also somehow simultaneously trying to mother him? i’m not kidding when i say that namba and his mc are more fun in 10 chapters than matsunaga and his mc are in THIRTY.  

ALSO namba’s (consistent lol) berating of his mc makes sense with his character and the context and is justified every time because his mc is a thoughtless noob (but one with potential that he sees his old self in). on the other hand, matsunaga has one moment when he scolds his mc for... some reason... but because she’s supposed to be this superstar student, she doesn’t really make the mistakes that allow her those learning opportunities. and then matsunaga basically just lets her do whatever she wants re: dealing with patients.  

oh and also the plot of namba’s route is better. 

in short, matsunaga’s route had potential but i feel like the missed potential and the lack of thoughtfulness in cramming in too many themes and not making the most of them are huge negative factors. namba has a more fun character, there is SO much more romantic chemistry between him and his mc, the plot is better and more interesting and has a twist without it feeling forced, namba’s comments about his age/their age gap make more sense for his character, his sprite is more attractive (lmaoooo), the relationship development is more organic, even the moments of rejection feel both more earned and heartbreaking. tl;dr: namba wins

ALSO sorry it took me so long to reply!! i’m still half in and out of tumblr 

[timeagainreviews]

The Great Con-Junction

For a place like the world-famous Elstree Studios in London, history is made on the regular. Movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "Hot Fuzz," and even "Star Wars" have all been captured to celluloid moving at twenty-four frames per second. However, it was a lesser-known, though no less ambitious film that had eager fans lining up around the block on a mild February morning nearly forty years later. The film I speak of is none other than Jim Henson's 1982 cult-classic "The Dark Crystal." Myself and at least 200 other attendees were gathered for the first official Dark Crystal convention, celebrating both the film and the Netflix series. Taking place at the very studio where the movie was filmed, Thames Con's "The Great Con-Junction," was also the biggest reunion of the original cast and crew since the film's release. Once again, history was being made at Elstree Studios.

Upon learning of the convention I was filled with both desire and regret. Desire to go, and regret that I most likely wouldn’t be able. I live in Glasgow which is 6.5 hours away from London by car, and I don’t drive. On top of that, I hadn’t any money saved for such an occasion. But through the generosity of several friends, my mother, and my boyfriend willing to drive me there, the impossible was suddenly very tangible. With only twenty days until the convention, I was one of the lucky few able to attend this momentous affair.

It may seem odd that such a niche convention could draw someone from as far away as Glasgow, and in some cases the US and Australia. But if you’ve ever been to a Star Trek or My Little Pony convention, you may have some idea as to the sort of passion we’re dealing with. For many, Dark Crystal isn’t merely a great creative property, it’s life-changing. As a child, Jim Henson’s work left an indelible mark upon my soul. Projects like "Fraggle Rock," "Storyteller," and "The Flintstones," inspired creativity in me and filled me with the desire to one day work for the Jim Henson Company. Sadly, years of adulting did their best to dull that flame to a mere ember. However, after last year’s premiere of "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," that ember grew into a roiling fire.

For the past month, I’ve been a ball of excited energy leading up to the convention. I’ve immersed myself in all things Jim Henson. Whether it be rewatching the Netflix series for the umpteenth time, revisiting Labyrinth, or reading JM Lee’s YA Dark Crystal novels, it’s been all I could do not to crack up. In the final week leading up to the event, I directed this nervous excitement into creating a cosplay as the Crystal of Truth, wrapped in black chains and metal claws. When the day finally arrived and I found myself waiting in line with other excited fans decked out in purple, or cosplaying as Deet or Rian, I knew I was with my people. The air was abuzz with excitement as we were slowly ushered into the building.

The event hall at Elstree was decorated with posters of scenes from the movie along with mood lighting. Part of the ticket cost afforded each attendee a beautiful signed print by Brian Froud. A bar at the entrance was selling official Dark Crystal merch including the ThinkGeek Fizzgig puppet only available in the states. Right away I had blown most of my budget, but my new furry friend would agree I made the right choice! I’d been there not two minutes, and already my arms were full of swag. I took this opportunity to get my Fizzgig and a book signed by both Brian and Wendy Froud, who were very generously autographing people’s items for free.

Usually, conventions leave a bad taste in my mouth as they seem like supremely capitalist ventures. And while there were plenty of things to buy, the Frouds’ generosity set the real tone of the event. Not only were they generous with their autographs, but they were also incredibly generous with their time. It seemed as though every person that talked to them was given an opportunity to gush and share their personal stories. As I told them both how much their work meant to me, they were treating it as though it were the first time they had heard it that day. Brian even took the time to doodle a little Fizzgig and Skeksis for me alongside his whimsical signature. The impression they left me with is that they were both very genuine and down to earth people, and meeting them is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

One of the things Mr Froud shared with me was that in his experience, people’s reaction to the Dark Crystal is usually always something creative. People go off and make fan art, cosplays, puppets, or even their own artistic endeavours. You could see proof of this all around the room that day. I met a brilliant artist from Seattle named Nori (@noriretherford​​), who in exchange for doodles from attendees was giving beautiful prints of her fan art. I drew my best skekTek from memory and have the cutest depiction of Seladon, Tavra, and Brea playing as children to show for it. There were cosplays with humbling levels of detail and even the occasional puppets of people’s original characters. All around you, creativity was swirling, and people were passionately sharing their enthusiasm with one another.

These initial couple of hours were dedicated to meet and greets with the cast, crew, and fellow attendees. Everyone seemed just as interested to listen as they were to share. One attendee remarked to me how she had never before felt more encouraged to speak to strangers than she had at the convention. Even my boyfriend, who is generally shy, was coming out of his shell and joining in the conversations. I was also pleased that the convention was managed well enough that I didn’t spend my entire day waiting in line to meet someone while he was relegated to watching my things. I was actually able to share this experience with him as opposed to relaying it through dreamfasting later. This made meeting the guests less of a thing to check off a list, and more of an experience.

My only real qualm with the structure of the convention was the Skeksis tea which was offered as part of the ticket price. Since I was unaware that the guests would be available all day, I was a bit late to lunch meaning the banquet was completely picked over by the time we had gotten there. No amount of cute creative table displays or impressively crafted Nebrie cake could obscure the fact that we were forced to find our lunch at the McDonalds across the road. Furthermore, I was unaware that the lunch was buffet style, which meant that if someone wanted to be as gluttonous as skekAyuk, it would leave the rest of us hungry. We were not alone in this, as several others were left to look upon the empty tables with dismay. That being said, for a first-time convention, it’s impressive that so little went awry.

For me, the biggest highlight of the day was getting to actually see the Gelfling puppets along with their respective puppeteers. Both Beccy Henderson and Neil Sterenberg had Deet and Rian with them. I’m not ashamed to admit that I hugged Deet. Being able to see the detail of the puppets and feel the various textures employed by the brilliant fabricators at the Jim Henson Creature Workshop was mindblowing. Not to mention that both Beccy and Neil were just as generous with their time as the Frouds. Though I would have to say the most exciting puppet I met that day has to go to Hup, as Victor Yerrid was actually puppeteering him and speaking directly to attendees in Podling. Hearing Hup say my name and talk to me was overwhelmingly exciting! That man is a brilliant puppeteer.

Throughout the day there were also several panels with guests from both the TV show and the movie. It was fascinating to listen to each of them tell their stories. Whether it be anecdotes about Jim Henson or tales about trying to navigate hot costumes under studio lights, it was a treasure trove of information. Listening to these stories was a constant reminder of the sheer amount of history present in the room. Each one of these guests had their own incredible careers, and here they all were, ready to share their fantastic stories. Yet despite this being an intimate gathering of a small group of creatives reuniting after 38+ years, it never once felt like it was all about them. You didn’t feel like an interloper or an evesdropper. We were all part of this wonderful experience together.

It was puppeteer Louise Gold’s remarks to the crowd about this that really put into words what we were all thinking. Through stifled tears, she remarked that she had initially come to see all of her old friends, but had found herself equally enriched by meeting the fans. Seeing all of us come together and sharing our stories was as inspiring to her as it was for us. Hearing her impassioned words moved quite a few of us to tears, myself included. She was easily one of my favourite people I met yesterday, and not just because she was so wonderfully extra. Her words spoke the same truth as Brian Froud's- what has resulted from this fandom is something creative. The Dark Crystal hasn’t simply entertained, it has changed lives.

Of course, like any good convention, it wasn’t just the guests in the spotlight. The cosplay contest allowed for an opportunity for the fans to strut their stuff. Much like the ticket giveaway the organisers had done, they couldn’t decide on just one winner. There was so much goodwill and positivity flowing that honourable mentions were given prizes as well, and with good reason. There were so many incredible costumes that I doubt I could have picked the best of the lot. There were Gelflings, Skeksis, a Hup, and even an urRu! My favourite of the lot was a mother-daughter duo who went as Brea and Kira respectively. But that may just have to do with the fact that I’m a big Brea fan and her costume was incredible!

Were I to think of any one word to explain how I feel about being able to attend this convention it would be grateful. I left feeling rejuvinated. My boyfriend even commented that I was “glowing.” I wish everyone in the fandom could have the same experience. I’ve seen so many passionate fans online in the last day wishing they could have gone, and I very easily could have been one of them. It’s proof to me that this fandom has more to it than just a few people toiling away in their basements. There is a real desire for these types of events. It’s not hard to imagine people declaring their Gelfling clan like Harry Potter fans might declare themselves Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. (I’m totally a Vapran.) If you look online, you can see people’s OCs of both Gelfling and Skeksis. Even I’ve considered putting together my own Gelfling Gathering here in Glasgow. I’m hopeful that this is a sign of things to come, and that we won’t have to wait a thousand trine for the next Great Con-Junction.

[jeezricksa]

dumps  a  metric   ton  of  morty  headcanons  on  the  dash,

he’s  very  adept  at  quickly  picking  up  other  languages!  morty  knows  how  to  speak  upwards  of  five  extraterrestrial  dialects.  if  he  went  ahead  and  installed  duolingo  or  something  on  his  phone  he’d  be  unstoppable.  additionally,  he  tends  to  stutter  somewhat  less  when  speaking  another  language  because  he  has  to,  well,  take  the  time  to  think  about  what  he’s  going  to  say,  instead  of  just  blurting  out  whatever’s  on  his  mind  and  hoping  some  semblance  of  coherence  kicks  in  along  the  way.

morty  takes  the  time  to  observe  alien  life  forms,  cultures  and  plant  life  whenever  an  adventure  is  somewhat  calm  (read:  has  yet  to  go  to  shit).  he  takes  pictures  with  his  phone  and  takes  misspelled,  idle  notes  down  in  the  relevant  app  and  draws  them  into  a  notebook  with  detailed  accounts  once  he’s  back  home.  nags  rick  to  tell  him  the  correct  names  of  everything  and  fact  checks.  his  spelling  is  all  over  the  place,  it’s  the  dyslexia,  but  he  makes  sure  the  information  is  as  accurate  as  possible  in  every  other  regard.

him  and  rick  have  had  to  move  timelines  twice.  first  time  because  morty  fucked  with  raising  shit  from  the  dead  and  mistakenly  infested  their  world  with  a  horde  of  zombie  cats,  second  time  because  rick  fucked  up  in  a  way  he  can  only  hazily  remember.  (he’s  assuming  that  one’s  locked  up  with  the  mindblowers).  they  moved  into  very  similar  ones  each  time.

yeah,  he’s  aware  that  rick  regularly  blanks  out  his  memory.  but  he’s  opted  to  keep  that  knowledge  to  himself  for  now  instead  of  having  an  outburst  over  it.  whenever  an  opportunity  presents  itself  he  seeks  out  the  chamber  and  plays  a  few  of  the  lost  memories  back.  a  lot  of  them  are  traumatising  and  he  doesn’t  want  to  overwhelm  himself,  hence  why  he  doesn’t  just  binge  them  in  one  go ---  but  he  also  doesn’t  want  to  be  ignorant  and  unable  to  learn  and  grow  from  his  mistakes ;  plus,  how  the  fuck  is  it  fair  he  doesn’t  get  to  recall  the  few  occasions  he  gets  one  up  on  rick??

speaking  of  bastard  grandpa,  he  dropped  in  now  and  again  during  morty’s  childhood.  usually  during  birthdays  or  christmas,  always  at  least  a  little  drunk.  he  was  very  starry-eyed  over  rick  when  he  was  too  young  to  really  know  better,  but  disillusionment  started  creeping  in  from  the  age  of  seven  upwards.  every  visit  always  made  mom  really  happy,  then  really  sad  again.  she’d  start  drinking.  her  and  dad  would  have  horrible  arguments  for  weeks  after  his  grandpa’s  every  visit.  he  observed  the  pattern  with  wide  eyes  each  time  and  grew  more  and  more  distant  and  dismissive  toward  rick  with  age,  contributing  to  his  grumpy  dismissal  and  outright  irritation  with  the  other’s  antics  now  that  he’s  a  teenager.

his  parents  have  been  divorced  since  he  was  ten.  probably  for  the  best.  he  doesn’t  blame  rick  for  that  nor  does  he  resent  either  of  them  for  it ;  morty  doesn’t  really  like  meeting  their  new  partners,  however.  don’t  get  him  wrong,  he’d  love  nothing  more  than  to  see  his  parents  find  happiness  again ...  just,  they  almost  seem  to  naturally  gravitate  towards  people  who  bring  out  the  worst  in  them.  him  and  summer  are  polite  and  civil,  but  exchange  meaningful  looks  and  bitch  about  their  potential  new  stepparents  together  in  private.

he’s  not  really  dated  before,  but  he’s  made  out  with  a  few  girls  (human  and  otherwise)  while  adventuring  and  had  a  pathetically  one-sided  crush  on  a  guy  at  school  before.  at  least,  he’s  pretty  sure  it  was  one-sided?

morty’s  on  friendly  terms  with  his  jessica,  but  keeps  her  at  kind  of  an  arm’s  length  because  his  life  is  a  mess  and  she  doesn’t  really  need  dragging  into  it.  she’s  been  involved  in  a  few  shenanigans  and  he’s  awkwardly  /  shyly  bonded  with  her  over  them.  (i’ve  decided  his  jessica’s  last  name  is  field,  since  the  writers  decided  not  to  give  her  a  canon  one?  smh...)

he  has  a  genuine  interest  in  science  and  it’s  the  one  subject  he  attains  good  grades  in  at  school.  that,  and  art.

as  a  kid,  he  wanted  to  illustrate  and  write  his  own  comic  books.  he  still  has  a  few  exercise  books  full  of  wonky  panels  and  kiddie  scribble  drawings  and  wobbly  crayon  writing.  it  was  aptly  titled  ‘space  boy’  (very  original)  and  depicted  the  explorations  of  a  small  child  in  a  yellow  shirt  and  astronaut  helmet  wandering  astonishingly  creative  and  vibrant  worlds.  five  year  old  morty’s  self  projection  is  very  evident.  the  second  thrilling  installment,  ‘space  boy  gets  a  space  dog,’  is  half  drawn  and  incomplete.  probably  will  be  forever.  they’re  dumb,  but  they  make  him  feel  sort  of  happy.  nostalgic,  y’know?  he  was  happier  then.

he’s  definitely  killed  hostile  aliens,  that’s  sort  of  a  given.  maybe  an  innocent  or  two.  adventures  get  out  of  hand  sometimes,  you  have  to  make  hasty  decisions,  have  an  outburst  and  lash  out,  sometimes  he  has  to  relax  his  morals  for  the  greater  good  or  something ...  he’s  cool,  though!  really!  the  terrible  things  he’s  capable  of  don’t  haunt  him  at  all.

never  sleeps.  sleep  schedule’s  fucked.  perpetually  looks  exhausted.  might  have  fallen  asleep  slumped  up  to  your  muse  once  or  twice.

[adamconnelly]

A timeline of Adam’s love life that nobody but me needed or wanted: a play (selfpara) in 8 acts.

i. 1991 | Ashley & Ben

If anyone asked him who his first crush in school was, he’d start telling a story about a girl named Ashley. Ashley was one of his best friends in second grade. She had brown hair and big green eyes and she played softball. It was one of those schoolyard puppy-love infatuations, and one he eventually grew out of. 

It’s not a lie, either - maybe he did have a crush on Ashley.

He just doesn’t tell anyone about the other first from around the same time - Ben, with the big brown eyes and short-cropped hair, who laughs too loud and always gets into trouble. Adam doesn’t care about what he looks like so much as how much he likes being near him. 

ii. 1998 | Sybil

Sybil is his first kiss. It’s not really supposed to be anything serious. He just knows that she’s cute, and they’re friends, and he’s never kissed a girl before, even though he’s already fourteen. It’s embarrassing. Maybe she just takes pity on him, sitting out back of her parents’ house. 

He’s not a very good kisser, it turns out - at least not with Sybil. She laughs at him a little bit, but he shrugs it off. I just need more practice at it.

iii. 2000 | Carter

Why did his parents have to send him to an all-boys’ high school? Is this some kind of twisted punishment from God? He’s heard enough sermons about what happens to people who have thoughts like this to assume this has to be some kind of test.

One he fails. Spectacularly. 

But he tries to tell himself that it’s not really his fault that Carter is just as curious as he is. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back - and at the end of the day, kissing him is entirely too satisfying.

iv. 2003 | Sam

Sam is tall and handsome and he’s on the school rowing team. They’ve been dancing around it for weeks. Teasing. Flirting, Adam realizes, and he thinks he means it. Which is why he follows Sam up to that frat house bedroom in the middle of that party, thinking god, this is it.

Which, in turn, is why they get caught. He can still hear the uncomfortable laughter and the slurs tinged with disgust.

They’re in the same law class, but Adam doesn’t talk to Sam again except to try and offer excuses. I was drunk. It was stupid. I’m not like that. It never happened.

v. 2004 | Andrea

Immediately after is when he starts dating Andrea. She’s 5′4″, which makes all their friends laugh when they go out together. She’s easy to talk to and likes all the same things he does and she’s got an incredible body. She’s, in a word, the perfect girl. 

It takes a while to for him to gather the courage to get her in bed, but it’s something he can live with. It’s not mindblowing, but it feels good. He gets used to it, really. The relationship doesn’t last, but he assumes even so that it’s a sign that he’s finally grown past whatever he used to be.

vi. 2011 | Julia

Julia is the one. Everyone seems sure of it. He met her not long after coming to DC to start with the Supreme Court, and they hit it off almost immediately. She’s whip smart, a take-charge kind of woman - the perfect compliment to his quieter nature. 

You’ve been together over 2 years. She’d look real good in a white dress, his mother insists when they come to visit for Christmas that year. Lilah’s got Scott. It’s about your turn. Even if he offers a halfhearted protest, he can’t help but agree. He goes so far as to start looking at rings before it occurs to him how uncomfortably the idea settles in the pit of his stomach. 

The breakup is about the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, and Julia just keeps crying. I don’t understand why you’re doing this. 

As much as it pains him to admit, and even though he’ll never say it out loud, he just catches himself thinking neither do I. 

vii. 2014 | ?

He doesn’t date anymore. Not really. He develops the same familiar excuses, and they’re the same ones on his lips for the years that follow.

I don’t have time. 

I’m too busy.

I don’t want to put anyone through trying to date a politician.

I haven’t really met anyone who caught my eye.

He does end up in an underground bar in Richmond, just once, tangled up with a man whose name he never learns. Maybe he doesn’t want to know. Either way, he scares himself back to silence and doesn’t indulge otherwise, keeping it all close to his chest. 

viii. 2017 | Hans

Boy meets boy.

Boy falls in love.

Boy gets what he never let himself acknowledge he was missing.

It’s maybe not as neat and tidy as the fairy tales make it sound, but it’s still good. For the first time in a long time, he’s happy in his own skin. That’s all he can ask for, really.

And the rest is history, isn’t it?