#(though i got a bit further in the period drama)

[fictionadventurer]

Adding Vanity Fair to the list of classic literature that I have avoided for far too long, because everyone talked about the serious parts and neglected to mention that it was hilarious.

Why was everyone telling me about Becky Sharpe, the scandalous and shocking anti-heroine (yuck), and never once mentioning the narrator who goes off on wonderfully absurd meta-tangents about the novel's structure and characters? It would be like talking about Wodehouse as if it were all from the POV of one of the scheming antagonists and failing to mention the wide cast of absurd characters and the quirky narration. Why does this kind of thing always happen with British literature specifically? Please let me know when books are funny, I'm begging you.

[lord-aldhelm]

Writing Interview Tag Game!

Thank you for the tag @bagheerita! This one has taken me a while to do since it is so long. As with the original post I have pasted the template below the "read more" cut so you can copy and paste if you want to do this.

About Me:

When did you start writing? Specifically for The Last Kingdom: it was sometime late in 2022, probably October or November. My original drafts kept getting over-written due to some stupid bug in Word which, when the auto-save was triggered, it would force me to save as a new document. So I have no idea exactly when, unfortunately. Besides this, I used to write a bit when I was a teenager, for my OC, but I never got further than a few chapters.

Are there different genres or themes you enjoy reading other than the ones you write? For fanfics: I mostly read TLK fanfics at the moment, and I suppose that falls under historical fiction/period drama. For genres, I like happy endings with some angst and mutual pining to make it interesting. For books: I am a fantasy nerd for sure.

Is there an author you want to emulate, or are compared to often? For fanfics I cannot think of one specifically, although reading fanfics has influenced the way I write. I have learned to incorporate more sensory descriptions in my writing, and trying to use more metaphors and poetic descriptions rather than the literal way of writing I normally do. For authors, I love JRR Tolkien, Tad Williams, and GRR Martin, so I suppose they influence me as well.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space? I write on my laptop in my home office, using Microsoft Word.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse? Oh I cannot muster up a muse. They sneak up on me and invade my fantasies, highjacking my thoughts and holding me hostage until I write them down. lol! Although sometimes I might be inspired to write something based on a deranged convo with one of my friends, so there is that! Also, having people give me feedback on my writing definitely motivates me to write more.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and/or places you write about? Not particularly. I grew up in a lower middle class family in the suburbs, not really very inspirational. I do however have a very vivid and overactive imagination.

Are there any reoccurring themes in your writing? If so, do they surprise you? I have not written very much so I cannot say for sure. I only have one long fic and a few smaller fics, and they all center around the same character. I do like to take a deep dive into character development and introspection though. I really love thinking about what motivates the characters, and their inner thoughts.

Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? Aldhelm... um... I have literally written whole entire essays about him so I won't go into detail here lmao!

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life? Aldhelm for sure. He would be my bestie. And more...

Which characters would you dislike the most of you met them? Probably Aethelred.. he is such a whiny brat.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters? I am assuming this applies to OC's... which I have a few of in my stories! The first is Beohtric, which is Aldhelm's brother. Aldhelm needed a family and a backstory and I felt, most importantly, he needed an advocate, so I created Beohtric to be that person. Someone who supported Aldhelm and gave him some kind of center for his life. I have other OC's which are more kind of side characters created for a purpose, like Wulfstan in the fic about how Aldhelm became captain of the guard. Then there are other characters which are deceased at the time of writing, but I still came up with personalities and backstories for them because they were relevant to the plot. There is another major OC for a story I am working on, who is based on a few characters from other series/movies, as well as being a sort of alter-ego.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters? Not particularly for my OC's, no? I mean I try to make them more three dimensional, and realistic. Not purely evil or not purely good. Having flaws as well as good characteristics.

How do you picture your characters? In my head? Sometimes I can form an image of them using an existing person as a template (character reference I think this is called?) But most of the time they are kind of generic.

My Writing:

What’s your reason for writing? The reason for writing my fanfics is because of my deep love for Aldhelm and The Last Kingdom, and the overwhelming urge to tell my own story about him. It started out as a series of daydreams that kind of spilled out into a Word document and then it all went downhill from there lol!

Is there any specific comment or type of comment from readers that you find particularly motivating? Anything! Any comments are welcome, even the generic "I love your fic!" types. Although I really love the people that take the time to go into detail about a particular scene or chapter and tell me what exactly they loved about it. That really makes my day!

How do you want to be thought about by your readers? That I am passionate about the characters in the stories that I write.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer? I suppose character development.

Have you been told is your greatest strength as a writer is by others? Writing a story that is easy to read, has good sensory descriptions, and a compelling storyline.

How do you feel about your own writing? I think it could be better, but I am definitely seeing improvements since I first started almost two years ago.

If you were the last person on earth, would you still write? Yeah I would. Because I write for myself. I love seeing my stories work themselves out on the page.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, do you write purely for yourself, or is it a mix of both? A little of both? I mostly write for myself, but I also consider if someone wants to read it. I try to make it enjoyable and interesting.

No pressure tags: @thelettersfromnoone @holy3cake @paula-in-dreamland @errruvande

@sihtricfedaraaahvicius @gemini-mama @foxyanon @grinningkatz @thenameswinter99

@alexagirlie @synintheraven @freddie-foxs @st-eve-barnes and whoever else wants to participate!

This took me FOREVER to do so I am not expecting that any of you will do this soon.

BLANK TEMPLATE:

About me

When did you start writing?

Are there different genres or themes you enjoy reading other than the ones you write?

Is there an author you want to emulate, or are compared to often?

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and/or places you write about?

Are there any reoccurring themes in your writing? If so, do they surprise you?

Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

Which characters would you dislike the most of you met them?

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

How do you picture your characters?

My writing

What’s your reason for writing?

Is there any specific comment or type of comment from readers that you find particularly motivating?

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Have you been told is your greatest strength as a writer is by others?

How do you feel about your own writing?

If you were the last person on earth, would you still write?

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, do you write purely for yourself, or is it a mix of both?

[dailycass-cain]

So a few weeks ago I hit over 5,000 followers on Twitter. As promised, tonight I look into the history Cass has with Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon. By doing so I'll answer the question: is Cass more of a Gordon or a Wayne?

To fully answer this question we've got to start all the way to the beginning with "No Man's Land" the Batman event that introduced Cassandra into the Batman world. Though originally in the comics Cass didn't show up until midway into the event. The novel by Greg Rucka however-

--Cass is shown in the story early on.  The move plants the seeds of the bonds the two will share for quite a long time. Here's the section involving Cass from the audio drama based on the novel.

More so, it has to be understood that the novel is the first time Cass is called by her name, and it is Barbara who gives her it. As the comics only called her Batgirl or an agent of Babs at the time.

This bit is retconned later in Batgirl Vol. 1 with the name business being more associated with Cass making the connection that she and Lady Shiva share a similar first name and--

-- in Batman & Robin Eternal where David Cain is the one to give Cass her name.  

You could theorize the reason this was taken away was to further separate Cass from Babs (and we'll get to that portion) and balance the Shiva as Cass' mother revelation.

It should also be noted, Babs watches through NML and then realizes that someone has taken up the Batgirl mantle (Helena Bertinelli) and Bruce is okay with it. This sets off Babs as it wasn't given her approval.

When Helena makes three mistakes, she's sacked as Batgirl.  This is where Bruce enters our picture with Cass. It's this fallout that causes Two-Face to further try and heighten his power in NML by taking out Jim Gordon.

Leading to him hiring assassin David Cain and Cass being caught in the crosshairs as she saves the father of her guardian (Babs). It's thru foiling these two attempts and her method of ending the contract Two-Face put on Gordon that puts Cass on Bruce's radar.

With Bruce realizing he can't conquer NML problem on his own, decides he'll need the Bat-Family to fully assist him on this. However, comes the sacking of Helena as Batgirl.

The move is later retconned in "Batman knew what Helena would go and do" thus ensuring he didn't have to look out the area she was at. Plus conquer taking a stand against the Joker in the final month of NML.

But back to the Bat-Family gathering, with a new member a title had to be bestowed on her, and with Babs blessing, Cassandra Cain became the new Batgirl.

The next step in the evolution of both came with Batgirl Vol. 1 #1 as both Bruce/Babs were key to Cass's supporting cast in the comic. Bruce more the stern boss, while Babs the motherly figure that watched and helped her.

I think this distinction should be noted as well the fatherly aspect didn't really develop over in Cass's main book. Rather, Batman: Gotham Knights (but more on that soon).  

Instead um... 😶😶😶

Okay, I'm gonna talk about the "bat in the room" aka the thing mostly everyone just buries when it comes to Bruce being a father figure to Cass and that's well the latter having a MAJOR crush on him.

It's something the Kelley Puckett run doesn't focus on thankfully (more going onto boss and later parental). Dylan Horrock's run which followed however um... 

See the key to Horrock's was Cass coming to terms with her teen hormones, sexuality (both her own and seeing others lust after her), and how to properly deal with them.

In the end, she realizes how to deal with two (Kon she just wants to be friends with and Black Wind well-- he kind of dies). 

 Then there's Bruce. Who she feels maybe is jealous of all her suitors (he’s acting more parental at least overbearingly). And it leads to um.. moments like this in #50 which Babs theorizes.

Now it's known by Babs, that Cass does have a crush on Bruce. Something that's brought up also in Gotham Knight at this time period during the whole "Is Bane Bruce's brother subplot".

So this whole period has this um.. sketchy subtextual period.  However, it is also Batman: Gotham Knight that also begins to lay the foundation of Bruce to treat Cass like a daughter.

Likewise, Cass's interactions with Dick/Tim are here in this comic too (which I covered in their evolutionary relationship with Cass) where their bonds became sibling-like.   

 Here for Dick and here for Tim.

Though it's not like Cass just had thoughts for Bruce, as we learn creators in the late '04 to '05 period creators on both Batgirl/Robin thought of the pair as romantic interests (hence why you have A LOT of ship art from that period until '07 when a certain heel turn basically sank it until a little bit or revival in ‘11).

So yeah, Puckett era and most of Horrocks' run? Cass was a Gordon. Literally, she even thinks of Babs not as something more than just a sister in #25, but as a mother.

Likewise, Babs sees the warning signs that something is truly up with Cass throughout the whole Shiva subplot whereas Bruce is more, "She has to confront Shiva and get thru this phase." And Babs is all, "THIS IS GONNA KILL HER!"

ut as we know Cass still goes thru with confronting Shiva, even with Babs' attempts to sway her from doing so.

Regardless, Cass is more Babs' daughter from Puckett to Horrocks.

Where it begins to shift toward fatherly with Bruce and her becoming a Wayne? You can probably begin with "Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive" where four BIG events happen in Cass's life.

David Cain targets both Bruce and Babs. 

Cass learns Bruce is Batman. 

Cain's “motive” for targeting them both (he’s honoring a contract made by Lex Luthor. 

Cain surrenders to confess to the murder of Vesper Fairchild leading to his incarceration.

Why target both? Because David figures both turned their daughter against him. However, it is AFTER this Bruce develops his more um-- bat dickery approach to Cass but also the sketchy stuff. At least for Horrocks. This is where Puckett has Bruce be more parental toward Cass right after this event. 

So it's near the end of Horrock's run that we reach our impasse where it all diverges.  Because at the end of the "War Games" event, Babs was leaving Gotham, taking away her as a mentor/mother role to Cass.

The other being the loss of Stephanie Brown aka Cass's best friend. Two key supporting members of Batgirl Vol. 1 and Horrocks left the book because of it.

Still, he wrote the catalyst which would break Cass/Babs apart in #54. Something that I covered when talking about Cass's Dyslexia disability.

The reasoning is understandable as Cass was neglecting her lessons and well mistakes are made. But this moment is what leads to the two having a fractured relationship.

While later Batgirl writer Andersen Gabrych does lay the seeds to mend that relationship in #67.  Well, he didn't have to time to finish it. Nor did Gail Simone, writer of BoP either. 

Though he did showcase more how much Cass was the mirror to Bruce during this time period. 

Because basically, all this is happening right around...

The period of the end of Batgirl Vol. 1 and the beginning of Cass's "heel" turn. Though we can hate on the turn there is one moment within Robin #148 which has Babs reacting rocked with Cass "dying".

Likewise, we have in BoP when Misfit showed up in her intro arc wanting to be the new Batgirl and Babs snapping at Charlotte when "Cass" is brought up.

The thing is if we're gonna go on and say who truly made Cass fully a Wayne in the conscious mind. It would be Batgirl Vol. 2 #1-6 aka “Redemption Road”.

I get the "why" as it takes Cass FULLY into being a Wayne here. Bruce/Tim are full-on family mode trying to keep Cass afloat while writer Adam Beechen addresses the grand flaws with the main Bat Books and Bat-Family (aka Dick).

I get the "why" this is Beechen trying to cement Cass and giving her the direction the story was going with the character AT THAT  POINT.

That's not to say he disregards Babs' time with Cass though. As in the story, she helps aid Cass in her quest of revenge. Though again, David Cain attempts to take her out (this time more for what she does than for the secondary reason).

But it's clear by stories' end where Cass is going as a character. She's a Wayne.

I get it the "why" as Beechen was undoing the damage he himself accidentally wrought on the character during this time period. This was him correcting the great claws in the infamous period of '06 to '07. 

Aka...

This hot mess:

But as we know this is where Cass's journey with both ended abruptly as minds were made to put Babs' back as Batgirl and for Cass to be ousted from the role.

Except things went another route instead. Let's just say '09 was a rough period because DC was gonna DC.

Though when Cass was brought back. I'd be curious to know what Gail would've done if she was allowed Cass as she originally wanted during her "Brightest Day" run of Birds of Prey.

It's a little "what if" I wonder what would've happened if Grant Morrison and Fabian Nicieza hadn't beaten her to the punch and reinvented the character as Black Bat with a path being the Batman of Hong Kong and further seeding the brother/sister dynamic she had with Tim.

Because sadly that's where the trail ends for Babs/Cass in the Pre-New 52 era. Wayne portion though? “Gates of Gotham” by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins continued to build where Batgirl Vol. 2 left off.

This mini though never fully said aloud basically strengthens the bounds of Cass and her brothers. We get so many good moments in this mini with her, Tim, and Dick while also the first meeting she has with Damian.

I think unknowingly this and the New 52 is why mostly Cass is more associated with the Wayne side than Gordons. Because unfortunately right across the horizon was...

We all know how DC "handled" Cass during this era.

I think this is where the clear distinction was fully cast off here. Because DC thought by having Cass around it would negate Babs' return as Batgirl.

HOWEVER!!

It's never said during the Future's End: Batgirl #1  but it sure as heck implied that Babs went on an adopting spree taking in Cass, Steph, and Tiffany.

I think of it and three other stories as the last beacons of Cass being a Gordon.

Because two years after this Cass was reintroduced into the DCU. However with provisions. One of those was crystal clear: no history with Babs.

Why?

If you know the "age-old" DC rule of this era. To acknowledge or establish Babs back as a mentor/mother figure to Cass it would "age" Babs up. Certain folk at DC wanted Babs as younger not older.

So it's not surprising AT ALL that Cass never appeared in Batgirl Vol. 5 until the very end. Now it's not surprising given Babs was doing her own thing with creators trying to find the character's path in the Rebirth era.

Not to mention for Cass? She was branded more toward Wayne side in her new origin as she appeared during Dick Grayson's "first year" as Robin now and was retconned being the second child Bruce encountered and tried to protect.

Which led us to this glorious moment.

However, DC still didn't want to fully dive into this because again it would "age Bruce up". So "half-measures" were taken and Cass was a "backseat Bat-Family member" than the "inner circle" (Bruce, Alfred, Damian, Babs, Dick, and Jason).

That's not to say writers (Snyder and his student James Tynion IV) wanted that reestablishment with either.

Oh, it was literally throughout the Rebirth Tec era. Just in small doses until the very end. When we got the FULL shot.

Along with this additional nugget of Cass going off to be mentored by Babs. Though those looking in Batgirl Vol. 5 would find this instead:

And again continued to find that until the very last issue for some reason. A part of me always wanted to ask any of the writers of Batgirl Vol. 5 but...  just never felt the need given--

-- we got "an answer" aka the third bone tossed on the side of Gordon with Bryan Edward Hill's Tec run aka #983-986 where we got MANY nods to the past with Babs/Cass.

It's just before we got any more with the two the door kind of closed shut on this side tightly.

Oh sure, we got Batgirls and so much. But never once (sadly) does it feel like Cass is a Gordon or Babs is mother/mentor to her. It's more Babs feels like the out-of-touch older member of the trio who's trying to fit in with the youths.

The Wayne side on the other hand? Oh, Bryan Edward Hill's Batman & the Outsider run was ALL about reestablishing that thanks to a concerned mother (among other elements).

And that whole end reached its crux with the series' end, a certain someone getting fired from DC, James Tynion IV's Batman run, and Batman Wayne Family Adventures.

All of this mish-mashed together gave us Cassandra Cain Wayne. But what of the Gordon side? I feel it's important to understand that there is one graphic novel that realized the importance more of Babs had with Cass more than Bruce did. 

 Of course, I speak of Shadow of the Batgirl. Where Cass gets TWO mother figures in the series. Jackie and Babs.

Writer Sarah Kuhn showcases WHY Babs is so critical to Cass's origin more than Bruce is. Thematically, Kuhn realized elements that are just more poetic between the two and we have the closest thing to what Puckett originally established.

Kind why the work is so highly recommended Kuhn took all the stuff that worked, took out what didn't, and added her own spin to the material.

It really showcases why Babs is more a necessity to Cass than Bruce is. I mean sure Bruce has his positivities too as a parental figure. It just takes what NML was giving. The next Batgirl finding Babs and her giving the teen the life she so craved.

However, Babs/Bruce represents the two sides to what Cass craves so in the end, she is both a Gordon and a Wayne.

It's just that during the "New 52" one side got lost because it would "age" Babs up, while for Bruce it was light on the "Wayne" side.

Why you have more Wayne than Gordon. But even with the bias we have still gotten nods to the past.

That's not to say there is a current DC writer who fully understands BOTH sides to the coin. Just that she's never fully gotten the chance to. *cough* Mariko Tamaki *cough*

So there is my final say as to "Is Cassandra Cain a Wayne or a Gordon"?

[justmeinadaze]

Saying Sorry Part 3 (Steve X You)

A/N: Look at that utterly adorable sleeping boy <3 Ok, this took me awhile but alas my brain give you this.

Warning: Smut, a dash of angst, and all the fluff, friends to lovers

Word Count: 3378

Steve’s eyes kept glancing over to your empty chair in class as the teacher droned on about things he could care less about. Since that night after the game, he found himself being more lethargic than usual. It had been a couple of months since he talked to you but he did pass you in the hall a few times and, of course, still saw you during P.E. Every time you caught him looking, you would give him a soft smile before focusing on whatever else you were doing. 

He hated that you were being so kind to him. Part of him wished you would go back to glaring at him with disdain filled eyes so he could continue acting like he didn’t care. 

Steve had started seeing a girl he barely liked hoping it would take his mind off you. Jessie was nice enough and definitely pretty. She had this slightly vapid personality though that drove him up a wall but she was what the popular kids considered “acceptable.” 

This was the second day you hadn’t show up and he was starting to get worried. As the bell rang signaling the end of the period, he bolted to the lunchroom searching for your friend.

“Hey. You’re Y/N friend, right?”

Carrie looked up at him in utter confusion. “Yes? Why? Are you and Tommy missing her since you have no one else around here to make feel bad?”

He flinched at her comment and she caught it, scrunching her nose even further. “I, um, she just hasn’t been in class and I know…I mean…I just want to know if she’s ok, Carrie.”

Your friend sighs, feeling sympathy for his broken tone. “She’s fine, just sick. She caught a cold so she’s been at home. Y/N said she’ll be back after the weekend.”

Steve thanked her before running down the hall, out the door, and towards the parking lot.

###########

“Steve? What-what are you doing here?”

Loud knocking had startled you awake from your cocoon you had made on the couch. You thought it might be Carrie to bring you your homework from class but were totally throw off guard when you saw your old best friend standing at your front door.

“I talked to your friend and she said you were sick. You haven’t been at school…”

“Yeah, no, come in.”, you quickly usher him in as you close the door. “I just got a bit of a bug but I’m okay. My parents are visiting my aunt this weekend so I thought I could just rest here.”

His worried eyes scanned over your face as he reached out to touch your forehead. “See? No fever.”

“Can I keep you company?”

“Oh, Steve. I don’t want to get you sick.”

“Pfft. You underestimate me and my immune system.” He smiles cockily making you giggle. “What are you watching?”, he glances at the screen. 

“An Affair to Remember. We can watch something else—”

“No, no. I think it’s cute you still like these black and white movies.” He grins as he comes around to sit on the sofa and you follow him bundling back up in your blankets. “What’s it about?”

“It’s about two people who meet on a cruise who lead very different lives on land. They fall in love and give themselves 6 months to get their affairs in order and meet again at the Empire State Building.”

His smile grows as he watches you speak. Movies like this were always a weakness for you especially when you were feeling low. When he was younger, he would always sit with you and watch your eyes light up as you watched the cheesy romances or film noir style dramas unfold. 

Twelve-year-old Steve throws on his father’s suit jacket and hat causing you to chuckle at the sight; everything on him two sizes too big.

“What are you doing?!”, you laugh.

“If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life!” He tugs at your hand, twirling you into his arms as he tilts the hat up so you can see his face. “We'll always have Paris. We didn't have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.”

“I said I would never leave you!”

“And you never will…”

Steve had always loved doing little things like that to make you laugh. Truth be told he had only ever put in that kind of effort with you. None of the girls he dated ever got to see that side of him. 

Without thinking, his hand reaches out to brush some of your hair behind your ear. Your eyes didn’t leave the screen as you scooted your body closer to his and curled up into his side.

A pleasant sigh leaves your chest as his cheek rests on top of your head and his arm pulls you closer to his body. He had told you before he couldn’t be what you needed to him to be but right now all you needed was this. 

##############

You woke up a few hours later, placed flat on the couch with the covers tucked up over your chin. 

“Steve?”

“Yeah. Hey, I’m right here.” He came from the kitchen holding a tray in his hands before placing it on the coffee table in front of you. “How are you feeling?”

“A little better. I can breathe through my nose so…”, you laugh as he smiles. “What’s this?”

“Oh.” He sits on the floor and you slide off the couch to sit near him. “I have here grilled cheese and some tomato soup with some juice and a bottle of water. Your mom used to make this for me when I wasn’t feeling so hot. I still make it at home when I’m sick.”

You reach out and gently caress his cheek. “Steve, baby, why are you here?”

He exhales heavily as his hand comes up to take yours. “I don’t know…You weren’t at school and I just kept thinking…what if something happened to you? What if you were hurt or… I needed to know you were alright.”

“Does Jessica Sampson know you’re here? Or Tommy? Carol?”

“To be fair, I don’t think Jessie even realizes I’m not there. She’s so absorbed with her fucking hair; I swear one day it’s going to absorb HER and she’ll turn into that thing in The Addam’s Family.” You couldn’t help but cackle at his comment and he couldn’t enough. “I’m serious! She already talks in that high pitch voice.”

“I’m not here to make things difficult.”, he continued. “I’m so fucking confused, Y/N. To them I’m somebody. To my parents, I’m a nobody. I hate both options. I hate the somebody I am around them but I hate feeling nothing at home. I feel like I can’t win.”

“How do you feel around me?”

Steve flashes you a playful smile. “Before or after freshman year?”

“Surprise me.”

“You’ve always made me feel seen, like I matter. And how did I repay you? Forgetting your birthday and ditching you. Letting people like Tommy hurt you.” He pauses as he looks down at the floor. “Fucking you…the way I did.”

“What do you mean?”, you asked in a delicate tone. 

“You deserve to have someone make love to you. Y/N, we have yet to even do any kind of foreplay. I feel like I’m…using you.”

His eyes flutter shut when he feels your fingers run through his hair. “Steve, I’m not going to push you. I get it. I really do especially with how things are at your house. I just wish I could make you understand how much it hurt me when I lost you. You made me feel seen to and I loved the way you looked at me. I loved…you.”

You crawl into his lap with your back to his chest and he promptly encases you in his arms. 

“You understand how I feel. How long was it we had, honey?”

You smile softly as he quotes from the only movie he can seem to remember the lines to. Turning your forehead against his cheek you respond as Ilsa did in the film.

“I didn’t count the days.”

“Well, I did. Every one of 'em…”

##############

For the rest of the afternoon, you leaned against him watching tv or sleeping. As nighttime rolled around you felt one hundred times better. 

“Ok, I’m going to go take a shower because I imagine I smell like disease.”

“What does that even mean?”, Steve chuckles.

Grinning at him, you start to climb to stairs, pausing to turn your head in his direction. “Are you coming?”

The boy stumbles as he quickly rises, heading for the stairs and follows you to your bathroom. After turning on the hot water, you two disrobe and he holds your hand as you enter the shower. Steve is incredibly stiff at first, unsure of how proceed or if he even should as his fingers tenderly caress your cheek.

“You said we hadn’t done any kind of foreplay and I thought…since you’ve been making me such delicious meals…maybe I can offer you one of my own.”

“Fuck me.”, he stuttered.

Steve fell forward, kissing your lips before trailing them down you neck to your breasts. His mouth wrapped around your nipple, tongue playing with your erect nub as you gently moan. Descending to his knees, you reached behind his head to tangle your fingers through his damp hair as he kissed along your tummy. 

“I-I feel like I should tell you…no one has ever gone down on me before.”

His eyes squinted up at you playfully. “Are you joking?”

“No!”, you giggle. “You remember, the other guys we double dated with at most fingered me and then the one other guy I was with said he didn’t want eat me out because…because he thought it was gross.” You cringe as you say your last sentence and Steve’s forehead leans against your body as he laughs. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? Like this dude had no problem sticking his dick in something he thought was ‘gross’ but couldn’t fucking…oh my god…what an idiot.” The man lifted your leg and placed your foot on the edge of the tub. “I mean look at this beautiful pussy that belongs to this beautiful woman.”

A small moan falls from your lips as he leans his head between your legs and his nose grazes your clit. “Y/N, you smell so fucking good.” Your palms shoot out to balance on his shoulders as his tongue licks a long stripe through your folds. “Jesus… and you taste so fucking sweet, honey.”

“Please…”, you beg. 

He obliges, enveloping your clit in his mouth as he flicked it with his tongue. You had never felt anything like this before as he devoured you feeling overwhelmed by him with just his tongue alone. As you continued to whimper, he hummed in approval, the vibration hitting your core as your eyes rolled back. 

“Y-yes, Steve, please. It feels so…mmm.”

“Cum for me, honey. I want to feel your cum on my lips.” Two of his fingers breached your entrance, thrusting rapidly into you as he pressed his head as deep between your sex as he could, shaking it from side to side as he sucked on your nub. 

Your fingers clung to his hair as your hips grinded against him, stuttering slightly as you mewled his name and came harder than you ever had before. He quickly removed his digits, replacing them with his tongue as he drank you in. Your thighs trembled around him as you gradually came back down. 

“Steve…Steve, please. I can’t…”

As soon as he rose to his feet, you promptly wrapped your arms around his waist and panted into his chest. 

“Are you okay?”, he whispered.

“Yeah. That was…amazing. I’m just… I’m so tired.”

Steve couldn’t help but giggle. “Too much too soon? Come on. Let’s get you clean and into bed. 

###############

You woke up a little after midnight to the darkness of your room, Steve fast asleep beside you as your head rested on his chest. Before you both had crashed, you suggested he take off his jeans to get more comfortable as a friendly gesture but right now when you looked down you couldn’t ignore the massive bulge outlining his boxers. 

The first time he got a boner in front of you he was so embarrassed.

“Steve…Steve…STEVE!”, you whispered trying to gently shake him awake. 

“Mm, what?”

“You, um, are you having a good dream?”

“What?” He looked down, immediately jumping up from your floor and covering his lower half with his backpack. “Shit. Y/N, I’m so…so fucking sorry!”

“Steve, it’s ok! My parents kind of explained how…some mornings... for boys…” He groaned as he blushed. “It’s ok. I’m not offended or anything. Do you want to use my shower to…cool down?”

“Yes, please.”

“Ok and when you come out, I promise I will never mention this again!”

He flashes you another embarrassed but thankful smile as he runs to your bathroom. 

You grin as you look up at his sleeping face, your palm rubbing his stomach over his shirt. He still had some features of the boy you met all those years ago especially as he slept. He seemed so calm as his face relaxed. Right now, he wasn’t thinking about the kids at school or his parents. Steve wasn’t thinking about how he had hurt you or how much he fucking missed you every day. Right now, it was just you and him. Two best friends that found each other amid all the chaos in this word.  

You watched his face as your hand glided under the fabric and gently caressed his skin. He didn’t move as the pads of your fingers grazed over his happy trail to the hair along his chest. Carefully, you lifted yourself to a seated position as you continued to rub him. The cock in his boxers had gradually began to harden and was threatening to poke out of its confinement. 

Steve heavily sighed, turning his head in the other direction as your hand reached into his underwear to pull out his dick. You had obviously felt him inside of you so you knew he was big but seeing him in your tiny hands had you wondering how he fit himself into your body. No wonder he left you sore afterwards; not that you minded. 

As you slowly pumped him with your hand, you heard a tiny moan emit for his lips. Bending over his waist, you ran your tongue along his length from the bottom of his shaft up to his slit, leaving a tiny kiss before you repeated your actions. 

A small whimper left you as a long line of spit fell from your lips and you twisted your palm around him feeling him throb in your hands. A hand rested on your back and your turned to see Steve’s lust filled eyes meeting yours. 

“Does it feel good?”, you whisper.

“Baby, you have no idea.” Focusing back on your task, you wrap your lips around him and steadily bob your head. “F-fuck. Let-let me help you…” You lean out of his way as he lifts his hip to slide off his boxers and removes his shirt, tossing it to the floor. Grabbing your cheeks, he pulls you to him for a sloppy kiss as his tongue invades your mouth.

“Wait, Y/N.”, he pants as you continue to pump him with your hand. “I-I-I don’t want you to think this why—mmm—I came over. I really was worried.”

“I know, Steve. I know.”

“These past two years, I always thought about you. I—”

“Steve, it’s okay. It’s okay. Please… just fuck me. I need to feel you inside of me.”

He scooped you into his arms, placing your back against the mattress. After you tossed your clothes on the floor next to his, Steve’s hand gripped your thighs, encasing himself between your legs. 

“This is how I should have done it the first time, honey. I should have made love to you instead of fucking you.” His palm reached between your bodies, guiding himself into your entrance as your arms fly up to grip his shoulders. “Fuck, baby. You feel so good.”

Steve’s head fell beside yours, switching between kissing your neck and whispering in your ear as he pumped into you with long, deep strokes that had your eyes rolling.

“You should have been allowed to feel every inch of me, slow and hard. I know I can feel every part of you. Jesus, you’re so fucking tight.”

“Mmm, Steve.”

“Fuck, I love the way you moan my name. Say it again, Y/N.”

Your fingers wind in his hair as you wrap your other arm around his neck, whimpering his name as he thrusts into you a bit faster. He tenderly kisses up your jawline, lifting his head as he looks into your half-lidded eyes. 

“I should have told you how…beautiful you are. How I’m…mmm… never going to be that asshole again.” His own eyes close as his forehead falls on yours. “I’m never going to hurt you like that again, honey. I screwed up, I know. No one has ever cared about…mmm…me the way you did. I…I love you, Y/N…so fucking much. God damn. Can I cum inside you?”

You nod as you bring his head back down to the nook between your neck and shoulder. You couldn’t let him see you cry. He told you he loved you and that he would never hurt you again but you knew the truth. It was all a fantasy. Tomorrow he would wake up and go back to his girlfriend with his popular friends. He would say hello to you but that would be it. He couldn’t give up that life… He had promised you up until freshman year he would always be there for you…then he wasn’t…

Holding him tightly to you, your body shook underneath him as you came. A few moments later, his rhythm faltered and he grunted into your neck as he thrust his seed inside of you. 

You wiped your eyes before he could lift his head, delicately kissing your lips before pulling out of you. 

“Did you want to take a shower or?”

“No, Steve, I’m ok.”

He reached over to your nightstand, grabbing a tissue before cleaning between your legs. Steve laid back down beside you and to his surprise, you didn’t curl up on his chest again. 

“Are you alright, Y/N?” When you didn’t answer he sighed. “It’s because I said I love you, isn’t it? I wasn’t lying about that.”

“Hm. You love me but yet you’re with someone else.”

“Y/N, I haven’t even talked to her in three days. I’m not even really into her—”

“Wow. I’m sure she feels special.”

“God damnit, Y/N. I…”, he cuts himself off as he tries to gather his thoughts. “I don’t want to be this guy anymore. I don’t want to be someone I’m not. I don’t… I don’t want to hurt you.” His eyes emphatically meet yours. “I don’t care what I have to do. I’ll tell Tommy and Carol to fuck off. I’ll set every fucking kid in that school straight about you. I��ll go to school on Monday and remain on my knees all day because that’s where I belong. Forever on my knee, Y/N, begging for your forgiveness.”

You can’t help but chuckle making him smile. “Do you understand why it’s hard for me to trust you?”

“Yeah, I do. I’d like to prove it to you. Prove that I can be a better person than King Steve.”

You lean back on your pillows and roll to your side to face him as he does the same; just like you two used to do when he spent the night those many years ago. His palm brushes some of your hair out of your face before gliding down to the small of your back. You bring your body closer to his, resting your hand on his hip. 

“Ok.”

[icedroplove]

Chapter 3

-------x-------

It was already morning, Gray felt well rested and ready to start the day. The mages were at the lobby waiting for Natsu to join them since he hadn’t left the room yet. 

“Do you guys want me to go check if everything’s okay?”

“Please, Lucy.” Erza answered.

As Lucy went upstairs, Wendy sank on the puffy chair she was sitting on and sighed, petting her friend ecxeed who rested on her lap. Erza kept her firm, yet impatient posture. Gray leaned against the column and watched from the corner of his eye as Juvia played with her necklace. She looked so absorbed by it and he noticed how her lips were curved in a slight smile.

Gray looked away and crossed his arms, trying to hide the little blush on his cheeks from his friends. It was not that any of them were looking at him, though. 

Suddenly, they all heard someone yelling. It was Lucy, raging because Natsu had fallen asleep again after changing his clothes. They looked at each other and chuckled (except Erza who looked even more irritated with the delay). Ten minutes later, everyone was set to go.

First thing to do was visit their client, whose house was by the wealthier part of the village. Octavius, a short old man with a taste for vintage clothing, welcomed them into his place with a big smile. He ushered them to sit and served them hot tea. The team was getting impatient with making small talk about how the trip was and if the inn was amiable, but they waited. After a bit, Octavius calmly put his cup down, cleaned his round glasses which got blurry from the smoke and looked at them. 

“I deeply apologize for holding you so long in this conversation. I just wanted to certify myself that you were a qualified group for my request. Even though I’ve perceived that some of you lack proper manners…” He glanced quickly at Natsu, who was on his third teacup. The fire mage gulped it down at once  without even waiting for it to cool down. ”...I’ve considered that this fine team of Fairy Tail mages has the virtues I was pursuing. Now. allow me to explain what is that I need from you mages. ” Octavius acted like he was a character in a period drama story, which made sense considering the aesthetics of his clothes and house.

“I indulged myself for seven years to the work of a novel which I was convinced would become the newest classic on the market. It was a beautiful and completely original story about royalty, duties, forbidden love and a happy ending. I even ventured myself into including more… passion… on some interactions between the main couple. Of course, only because I consider that a younger audience would further appreciate the narrative with the inclusion of such scenes.”

Gray noticed how Lucy, Erza and Juvia looked at each other. Natsu and Wendy, on the other hand, just continued listening without any further thoughts. The increase of the girls' attention on what Octavius was saying confirmed his hypothesis on what those scenes were. 

“What I’ve been meaning to tell is, I sent the final draft to my editor a few months ago and got no response from her. I concluded she hadn’t received it, but a week ago I heard that this unknown author had just published a book with the exact same premise as my draft and it’s a success. I bought the novel, and Upon reading, I’m certain that it's a full copy of my work. However, I don’t have any concrete proof that Ludovic plagiarized me, that’s what I need from you mages.

”It has come to my knowledge that he’ll be attending a party tonight at his place. I can get tickets for all of you.” Octavius eyed the group, his gaze stopped at Wendy. “I wouldn’t advise the little girl’s entrance, though. It is a more adult party.”

Wendy shrugged, but didn’t look much disappointed. 

“Don’t worry, she can stay at the inn. Speaking of which, it was very kind of you to pay for our accommodation, mister. We appreciate the gesture.”

Lucy spoke, easily adapting to Octavius’ weird kind of speech. This seemed to make him happy, since the man got up and kissed Lucy’s hand. 

“I see that my choice of mages for this mission has been the most fortunate.”

Natsu gulped his fourth cup of tea and threw his fist in the air. 

“Okay, I’m all fired up! Let’s kick some ass!” 

Erza elbowed him. Octavius did not show any reaction besides eye Natsu. Apparently, the gentleman wasn't one to be rude. He reached for his pocket and handed Lucy a paper.

“If you may, please write your names here so I can get you on the guest list for tonight.” He wrote on another paper and gave it to Wendy. “This is the address of my publisher. It is possible that she has some information on what happened, she was the only person who read my draft.”

After talking a bit longer, they returned to the inn. Erza ordered Natsu and Gray to wear their best outfits since they didn’t know how fancy that party would be. The boys got ready in thirty minutes, but the girls were still inside the bedroom. Natsu huffed loudly. 

“I’ll go hurry them up.”

“Don’t.”

“But they’re taking too long!”

Gray rolled his eyes, sure that if any of them walked in they’d definitely get Lucy-kicked. After convincing his friend that it wasn’t worth it, they sat in the lounge ready to wait a good while.

-x-

“I’m lucky I brought an evening dress by precaution.” Lucy looked at herself in the mirror, examining her outfit. What heels do I wear? The red ones or black ones?”

Juvia looked away from her open suitcase to give her opinion. The red shoes were pretty, but too fancy for an event that they didn’t know how the other guests would be dressed at. The black ones were more versatile and matched the maroon dress Lucy was wearing. The girls agreed that the black heels were better. 

Wendy came to Juvia, who was still looking at her suitcase. She asked her what happened.

“Juvia didn’t bring any fancy dresses…” The girls turned to her, confused.

“Why didn’t you say anything? You can wear one of mine!” Erza said. 

“Oh...” Juvia felt embarrassed, she still felt weird asking for things like this. Even though now she had friends she could count on, she’d been used to being alone for so long that keeping things to herself was a normal thing. “Thank you, Erza-san.”

The redhead smiled and gave her a navy blue dress. “Go on, try it!”

Juvia wasn’t used to wearing revealing clothing like this in her day-to-day life. She liked it, though. The color looked good on her. She adjusted the thin straps to better support her breasts and took another look in the mirror.

“Juvia-san, you look so pretty!” Wendy said.

Lucy looked at her from head to toe and winked. “Oh my, you’ll end up killing Gray like this.”

Juvia squealed and covered her head with her hands, blushing hard. Erza made her sit on the bed and started working on her makeup. While she rambled about which winged eyeliner would match best her eyes, she let her mind wonder about what Lucy had said. Would Gray like her look?

“And… done!” Erza took a step back to look at her work and gave Juvia a hand mirror. She liked her look. It was sexy, but not too different from her own style. She put on her heels and gathered her purse.

“Okay, everything’s set?”

Suddenly, Natsu opened the door.

“Yo, you’ve been here for an hour! Let’s go!!!” To no one’s surprise, he got Lucy-kicked in the face.

After assuring that Wendy and Carla would be okay at the inn, they all left the inn.

-x-

They were lost. The instructions Octavius gave them weren’t enough to find the venue. After walking in circles for a while, they stopped at the main square as Erza went to ask for directions.

Gray crossed his arms and stole another glance at Juvia. She looked… different. Her normal attire was so chaste that he was awlays caught by surprise when she wore more revealing clothes. Of course he already knew that she was sexy, but having her wear a dress that flattered her body was… different. 

He looked away before his eyes lingered for too long on the dress' neckline pushing up her breasts. Gray didn’t want to stare at them, nor at the slit on her skirt that showed a bit of her toned thighs. Shit. It was becoming hard for him, even harder when she walked to his side as they waited for Erza’s return.

“Is everything okay, Gray-sama?”

He nodded, crossing his arms. Juvia looked at the square, toying with the necklace he gave her the night before. His chest warmed upon noticing that she enjoyed the gift that much. It assured him that he was off to a good start.

However, Gray was unsure what move he should make next. He was nervous to just ask her out. His plan was taking small steps. He wanted to make Juvia happy, but rushing wouldn’t be of any good. After all, romance was still an unknown matter for Gray Fullbuster. 

“I’ve never seen you wearing this dress.” Was everything he managed to say.

“Erza-san lend me. Juvia’s not used to this…” She gestured to her outfit “But it’s not a problem.”

Gray hummed. He saw Erza walking back to them.

“You look good.” 

He smiled lightly at her. Juvia blushed. While they followed Erza to the venue, Gray walked by her side.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

If we're just gonna talk trans manga for a bit might as well show a little love to two shorter series that hold a special place in my heart. For being good. Just that, no frills they're just good and have something honest to say beyond the normal "be your true self" narrative. Because who gives a shit about trans folk after the fun part right? A big reason I love Kiku's story in One Piece is being a rare subversion...but even then she's only really like, the next steps after that phase.

Today's example, Kanojo ni Naru hi (lit. "The Day He Became She") goes way further. And it does so by using a light sci-fi touch to great effect. In this world, we handwaved the mechanical part of transitioning by just having it be something that can spontaneously happen to any male. The phenomenon is called "Emergence," it's compared to Clownfish, completely perfect and our protagonist Nao is a rarity for it happening as a teenager. Through that lens, we have a world where it's mostly normalized. Weirdly enough, we do also seem to have like, what we think of as "trans" in modern day alongside that. One of our recurring characters you could call an Otokonoko, they do mention "sex change" procedures...Emergence is a layer on top of our world. Which makes this straddle the line between part tale of someone all this comes easier to but also the crux of sci-fi, the world we're headed towards.

And this is a good example of how the sci-fi element works. Emergence still takes a toll on the body so our heroine here like, lags a few years behind as a result of transitioning. She's also a late bloomer as a high schooler. She wasn't asleep she was in a legit cocoon-type thing, so the bigotry is all bug-themed which is a pretty clever inversion of normal butterfly motifs. I always lose it at the friend who calls Nao "Mothra" as a lark. It's a lighter touch than it sounds, nice stand-in for going away for a while or having a rocky, reclusive period. But that was after the actual Emergence; sorta like Senpai is an Otokonoko the author had a one-volume idea that expanded to four. We start with it spontaneously happening and a high school drama with her childhood friend Miyoshi.

But this works so well and really shows the brilliance in the rear view. When you have what the story becomes...it really shows how Nao was originally going through a distinct phase. One a lot of trans women, especially teens today, struggle with. Your ability to look the part isn't everything. And it can cause its own category of troubles when that outstrips your ability to cope with the changes. A theme that continues throughout the series, but it's important here Nao has a chance to go back and you're still living around the environment you grew up in. People are willing to give you a lot of grace and positive reinforcement. Senpai wa Otokonoko sorta tells the opposite story, how it isn't a bad thing to let someone experiment a little. Past that point of no return though? That's where the real game begins.

That's Nao with her Dad. I love this storyline. Well before Emergence, Nao's mother abandoned the family for another lover. This caused him to have a lot of issues with women, and as a high school boy he was pretty shitty about serially dating girls and dumping them the second it got serious. Something that bites her in the ass a few ways as her and Miyoshi navigate being a college couple for most of the series. A big thing for her is that she looks like her mom now. For the record, Dad's just a workaholic that didn't even notice. His response was that Nao always had the same face either way and a totally different everything else.

But this is the magic. How everyone gets caught up in stupid misunderstandings and it's never something grand and dramatic. That's a story that deserves to be told, it already resonated with me a lot as a college student navigating my first relationship with a guy ten years ago. It does so much more now. Like...it's not hard to get why a newly out trans girl might hang around with a male-dominated hobby group she was already a part of for a bit. But this is a series that goes far enough to show you that type of pull coming up way later. How some little spark can trigger an old side of you, or even just...how hard it can be to rectify old traumas as a normal part of growing up when you feel like a completely different person than the one who experienced it.

Or maybe realizing there's more to this than you anticipated. When "Emergence" handwaves bigotry like acting as if HRT does nothing...that would have been useful. As someone who's always been at least kinda athletically inclined, who do you talk to about the sobering reality you got more than you bargained for there? No one wants to accept they're struggling with physical exertion that would have been nothing two years ago. Even the most open-minded girls don't want to hear about getting weaker from you and most guys just plain will not get how you didn't logically sit down and expect all of that from the jump. And you yourself don't even know if you're just being a defiant girl or a disappointed former guy about it.

I wouldn't expect someone fresh out of the closet to get all that subtext beneath a good romance manga, but Kanojo ni Naru hi hits that note in a way I have yet to find anything else that even comes close. What makes it work is that Nao and her sweetie Myoshi are cool people. Like here with a future in-law trying to expose Nao for being a bad wife. She filets a tuna like it's nothing and the house is spotless. It's very much a celebration on how this bizarre concoction of circumstances can create something beautiful.

Your only option for this one is fan translations, Lord knows I'd love an anime adaptation but that ain't happening. There is a sequel series, Kanojo ni Naru hi Another, that focuses on a younger emergee who is more resistant to the change. I can't relate fully because despite transitioning in the same time frame that only happened because I was well aware and accepted it about myself from an early age. If I lived in today's world without an abusive mom I'd be one of those cases that was well past socially transitioning pre-adolescence. But getting to know some teens today I feel like Nao is great representation for the type of trans girl who figures things out as a teen and maybe has to deal more with pressure to move forward outstripping the speed they personally come to terms with that. Especially if like, social transition comes surprisingly easy for you.

Watching one of the best case scenario teens I knew still hit that inflection point and "cocoon" stage on the cusp of adulthood was a real wake-up call to me that even in the best of circumstances this can be a weird journey with very little guidance. It's not wrong to take the easier path of showing someone dealing with baby steps or discrimination, but man did it make this series stand out for traveling the road not taken. And it makes Nao & Miyoshi's romance honestly just one of the best couples in any manga I've read.

[cuttoncandyhair]

thoughts on some (canon) HoN couples

Zoey and Stark: I never really understood what their connection was supposed to be. She thought he was hot and he for some reason decided to be eternally loyal to her for... what reason again? So I guess they will be together forever. Should they be? Probably not. They fight an awful lot. I consider them the kind of couple that'll come to resent each other but won't break up. Fun! Aphrodite and Darius: I think they'll last. I just don't like them together. Their relationship is almost too perfect. It's like the authors brain stormed about what kind of relationship they wanted to give to Aphrodite, picked an idea, but never developed it further. They also didn't really give Darius much of a personality. He is a perfect warrior and a perfect lover for Aphrodite. Period. Considering how big of a role Aphrodite has in these books, her man is considerably underdeveloped as a character. They are just not interesting to me. Stevie Rae and Rephaim: Love them. Love them to death. Definitly an otp of my childhood. Will they last? I don't know, and I hate that. A lot of their relationship is based on novelty, I feel. They have very strong feelings for each other, but how will they work 20 or more years down the line? What do they have when the initial passion mellows out a bit? What do they have in common? What will they talk about? I will never forgive the Casts for not developing them further. Their relationship was such a big part of the middle of the story and then they were practically abandoned for the sake of making room for more Zoey-drama. Too bad. I really wanted to see at least glimpses of their relationship getting long-term-development. Damien and Jack: Cute, but once again drastically underdeveloped. Also, what's with all the gay stereotypes? I could write up a whole wall of text about those, but whatever. They got significantly more development in the Other World series. One of the few, and I really mean FEW, good things about it. They got a little more of an edge and personality and I must say, it suits them. I even started to care about them. Shaunee and Erik: In all honesty, what the fuck? That felt so forced! Why are the Casts so afraid of letting their characters be single pringles? I appreciated them trying to redeem Erik, but that sure as hell wasn't it, fam. In the Other World series they didn't seem like they would last either. I think they are gonna break up on amicable terms soon. All in all, I couldn't care less about them. Shaylin and Nicole: Umm... Where did they come from, again? I never saw that coming? They too just felt forced to me. Also, that thing they did in the sequel? What in the everlasting fuck? Was that supposed to be funny? I found it terrifying. Did anyone else find that funny? Maybe I just didn't get it? Frankly, I found it offensive, but I'm not a lesbian so what do I know... Kalona and Nyx: I'm happy for them. I don't get it, but good for them. As in, good for Kalona. He's got the love of his life back. How did Nyx forgive him again, though? Like, she knows of everything he did. Damn, she probably welcomed the people he abused and killed in her realm and had to calm their souls and reincarnated them. I take her for an empath, so she probably felt their pain with them. I can somewhat understand she loves the good side of Kalona, but how she forgave him for all he's done is beyond me. I wish her reacceptance of him would say something about her as an immortal entity and how she preceives the death and pain of mortals, but there is no way in hell the Casts would have thought that far. In the end Kalona definitly changed but his sacrifice doesn't make up for everything he's done by a long shot. What a mess! Travis and Lenobia: Darling! So cute! The only thing that hurts me is that he will die before her again. It must be so hard for Lenobia to think about losing him again. But all in all I think they were fun to read about.

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — December 18-24

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

12-18 → The Instagram posted four photos. The first is from the same photoshoot from 2021-08-09 that the current pfp is from, the others look to have been promotional shots from the concert that was never formally announced. Aka they were all taken in July 2021.

→ The stolen song got to #2 again on iTunes because whalers have zero critical thinking skills.

12-19 → Gong Jun made a post on his personal Weibo announcing that the rescheduled birthday livestream would be held on 12-21. Caption: “Then it's done, let's chat on the 21st! #Informal New Year's Eve Party#” His studio reposted it with the added caption: “This year’s livestream is late but it’s here! No leave of absense this time, come late on the 21st to have a chat with boss @ Gong Jun Simon. 😎”

→ 361° posted a clip from their livestream with Gong Jun last month to tease an upcoming product.

→ Hsu Fu Chi posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Kangshifu posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ The stolen song continued to rise and fall dramatically on iTunes, definitely not looking articifial at all. /s It stayed consistently lower after the title changed from Chinese to English (a change that would have been made on the part of the uploaders, not iTunes), so whalers / hired goons pushing the song blamed this as the reason. It definitely wasn’t that they had just only hired water armies until that specific hour mark, oh no. /s

12-20 → BEAST posted two photo ads featuring Gong Jun advertising their New Year’s product line. (1129 kadian)

→ Gong Jun posted a photo of gifts he recieved from Louis Vuitton to his personal Weibo and Instagram. Caption: “Starting from polka dots, experience Yayoi Kusama's unique artistic style. Sharing the avant-garde and stylish @展开全部 #LVxYayoiKusama# cooperation series Keepall handbag, full of good mood for holiday trips ☀”

→ The Instagram posted a clip of another stolen song. This song was posted to international streaming services and again showed the same very obviously manipulated statistics, though this time for a shorter period of time. This song was also given an “explicit” marker on iTunes despite not containing anything that would auto-flag as such, indicating that the people who posted it chose to flag it as this, as likely another intended smear.

12-21 → Colgate posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ L’Oreal posted a video spoken by Gong Jun announcing a livestream for the following day. He stated in his livestream later this day that it had originally been planned for 12-16 but had to be rescheduled.

→ Gong Jun held the rescheduled birthday livestream. [Recording] Written summaries [here] and [here]. 

Highlights / Fan Observations:  -  He said that the livestream wasn’t held on 11-29 because he was supposed to go to Chengdu but was unable to, and his staff weren’t able to come to where he was in Yunnan because of pandemic restrictions. He spent the week in Yunnan with his family,* and stayed in Yunnan for twenty days. * “Us fi— My family”  -  He didn’t attend the GQ event the previous week because he had COVID, the poor boy. He said that he was now better and testing negative, but he was still sniffling a bit.  -  He’s already signed the contract for his next drama, but wouldn’t give any information other than that it’s a role that will be making him step out of his comfort zone.  -  He recently filmed a variety show in Hangzhou but couldn’t say more because it hasn’t been announced yet.  -  He ended the stream with “Thank you to my Junweixians [deliberate pause] Thank you everyone.”  -  The person he had helping him offscreen was completely silent, compared to previous years where you could always hear at least some muffled laughter and whispering once in a while from his staff. At one point he called the person “ge”.  -  The sweater he was wearing throughout most of the stream is by Ponder.er, a “genderfluid menswear” brand that aims to redefine expectations of masculinity. Also the cutouts are FULLY cut out, there’s a reason he was wearing a shirt underneath.  -  The plate he was using is from a line that was popular a few years ago as a wedding gift.

→ Gong Jun trended on Twitter, and there were multiple Weibo hotsearches related to the livestream.

→ The Instagram posted three photos of “Zhang Zhehan” and seven pieces of fanart for the stolen songs.

12-22 → Gong Jun’s studio posted four photos from the previous day’s livestream. Caption: “The winter solstice is here! Delivering the handmade dumplings from last night's boss @ Gong Jun Simon, eat a bowl of hot dumplings, and spend this winter safely and warmly 🥟”

→ Gong Jun posted two photo ads for 361° to his Xiao Hong Shu. These were also later posted by 361°. (1129 kadian)

→ Fresh posted a commercial featuring Gong Jun, shortly followed by a photo ad. Gong Jun also posted the commercial to his personal Weibo shortly after.

→ LockNLock posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun advertising the water bottle he had used during the livestream.

→ Hsu Fu Chi posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. Part of their caption included, “I don’t know if our handsome @ Gong Jun Simon eats dumplings or tangyuan on this day~” 🤡

→ Kangshifu posted a clip from Gong Jun’s livestream.

→ Gong Jun appeared in a livestream for L’Oreal. [Recording] [written summary with clips]

→ Gong Jun’s studio posted nine photos from the livestream. Caption: “Boss @ Gong Jun Simon brings a warm winter surprise, enveloping the winter full of warm atmosphere~”

12-23 → Honor posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Gong Jun’s studio posted an announcement that the AI Gong Jun Jifeng will be appearing for a New Year’s event on 12-31. 

→ LockNLock posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun, filmed prior to the 12-21 livestream. This was later reposted by his studio.

→ Yang Yang, the L’Oreal livestream host, posted three photos from it of himself and Gong Jun.

12-24 → One year since Zhang Zhehan’s case was accepted by the Beijing Chaoyang Police.

→ Gong Jun posted fifteen travel photos in Yunnan from earlier in the month, as he mentioned he would during the birthday livestream. The banner he’s standing under in one photo says “Place happiness as the main point to repeatedly recite” Caption: “Let's go, enjoy the ginkgo!” This was later reposted by MUJOSH. He also posted the photos to Xiao Hong Shu, caption: “Let’s go! To enjoy the ginkgo!” and as two posts on Instagram [1] [2], captions: “Doesn’t it look nice” and “The shots look alright!” Fan Observations:  -  People found the hotel in the last photo. The room is for two with only one bed, and the hotel specified that the pool was designed to fit two people.  -  I have a theory about the water marks on the side of the pool.  -  The various photos from this trip have shown Gong Jun with both a film camera and a digital one, yet the sunrise pictures posted last week were taken with a phone? 🤔

→ Charlotte Tilbury posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ The Instagram posted ten photos of “Zhang Zhehan”, the first of which has the figure’s face completely obscured by a Santa emoji and several of which are supposedly “behind the scenes” from the white haired photos.

Additional Reading: → Flora’s daily fan news thread

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DC Cinematic Universe: Superman (Part V)

Chapter Five: A Support System

This section's gonna be a little different. Might seem kinda like filler at first glance, but it sort of is, in a way. After all, we'll need to fill out the normal everyday world of Clark Kent, and what better way to do that than with his supporting cast. Because Clark has quite a bit of supporting cast, and because we've got other things to focus on in this theoretical film, I'm not gonna go too in-depth this time. Buuuuuut, while this'll be light on character analysis, we'll still need to ask why these characters exist, and how they'll be seen in the film itself.

One more thing: we'll divide this section down by location, and I'll go into those locations just a little bit. After all, a city is its own character, so it makes sense to talk about the environments in which Clark normally finds himself. And so, without further ado...

Smallville: Hometown Drama

OK, sing it with me now, SOMEBODY SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Smallville, Kansas is the town that made Clark Kent. It is and should be the most normal town in the United States of America. What I mean by this is that, unlike the TV series, Smallville, and even unlike the original Superboy comics, literally nothing should happen here. This should be an extremely average and boring place to live. I realize that that's probably a little boring, but...yeah. Fuggin' exactly. Smallville's biggest crisis should be that time the Johnson's cows got loose and interrupted the Smallville High homecoming game. And yeah, the official report was that the fence gate was left open, but everybody knows that Carl Draper snuck over and let them out on purpose just to mess with quarterback Kenny Braverman and the team. 'Cause, y'know, Carl blames Kenny for stealing Whitney Fordman from him, even though Whitney isn't even dating Kenny ever more since he started flirting with Lana Lang during-you get it, you get the idea, you get the point.

But, that said, there are a few people in Smallville who are a part of Clark's adolescent and adult life, so let's talk about them, as well as throwing them into this Cinematic Universe I'm making.

Gotta start with Lana Lang, the girl next door. And I'd like to preface this by saying that the most famous version of this character, from Smallville, is the WORST FUCKING THING ABOUT THAT SHOW. Period. Nothing against Kristin Kreuk, she did well with what she was given. To bad what she was given was just a box of new Cap'n Crunch cereal variety called "Oops, All Cringe!" I fucking hate Smallville Lana Lang. Mostly because her overly dramatic life and persona are completely against who Lana Lang is. And who is Lana Lang?

Like I said, Lana is the girl next door. She and Clark are good friends, as well as unrequited love interests. And that's almost entirely on Clark, because Lana's not as timid or shy. And yes, Clark is extremely reserved in high school, mostly because he's nervous about exposing himself and being a freak. He was NOT the popular kid, and Lana absolutely was. But because Lana is genuinely a nice person with good morals, she really likes Clark. Like, she REALLY likes Clark. And yes, she was ABSOLUTELY his first kiss, and she absolutely initiated it. The Clark-Lana relationship should be sweet and cute, and the most stereotypical teenager love story you've ever seen. But, in the end, Clark went to Metropolis and she went else, and they parted ways. Oh, and for the record, Lana knows that Clark is Superman. Didn't figure it out until a bit after Smallville, but she absolutely knows, and she texted him IMMEDIATELY when she figured it out.

OK, who's next? In Smallville, the show creators gave Clark two best friends, so I think that makes sense here as well. In that case...

Pete Ross, the childhood best friend! Ah, Pete, why do people remember and forget you simultaneously? You were a major supporting character in Smallville, but only for 3 seasons, then didn't appear again until season 7, and never after that. Which is super weird, considering the major role Pete had in the comics. The best friend of a young Clark, Pete Ross is also one of the first people to figure out Clark's secret, independently. In the comics, he figures it out and doesn't tell Clark until way later, but nah. Let's just make it a secret that the two of them share as kids; change things up a little.

My version of Pete is still best friends with Clark to this day. I realize that Jimmy Olsen often takes that role, but he'll be a little different in this universe. No, Pete is Clark's best friend, and I'm tired of people forgetting about him! Yeah, he made a small appearance in Man of Steel, but his role as support was shafted, in my opinion. Pete should be Clark's confidant, then and now.

In high school, Pete, Clark, and Lana are a trio of friends. They each roll in slightly different circles, though. Clark is the quiet loner who reads a lot (he's a library kid); Lana is definitely a theatre kid and a cheerleader; and Pete is the socially aware activist kid who always volunteers for various charity and conservation groups. He's one of the town darlings/annoyances. On a side note, why are the socially conscious activist characters in media always women? I dunno, it's a weird trend in media for some reason. Anyway, Pete will one day become a progressive senator for Kansas, with a lot of hard work and dedication. But for now, he's still Clark's best friend.

Now, these two are the major support, but we can throw in some other main ones. How about Kenny Braverman, school bully? In the comics, he actually becomes a Kryptonite-wielding villain named Conduit, but this version of the character is a bully. Don't need much more than that; after all, this is a movie universe, not a TV series. How about Carl Draper? Draper is a weird one in the comics; he's basically a stalker who always hated Superboy/Superman, and made a giant death prison to kill Superman and impress Lana Lang, his high school crush. Yeah. Um...I'm just gonna make him another bully alongside Kenny, and a former friend of Clark's at the same time. 'Nuff said, I think.

And then, other than people like the Kents' neighbor Ben Hubbard...there isn't really anybody else to talk about. The name drop of Whitney Fordman up there was meant to be a reference to Smallville, but nothing more than...oh...oh, shit, Smallville. Right.

Hoo boy, Chloe Sullivan. Again, given the fact that this is a movie and not a TV series, Chloe as a character really doesn't matter. a character created for Smallville, she was the journalism kid, as well as a cousin to Lois Lane, and meant to be the other girl next door love interest character for Clark. And she was played by...Allison Mack. Cult leader Allison Mack. Yeah. Yikes. So, I'll just say this: I like Chloe as a character and character concept, but she carries a LOT of baggage. So instead, we'll bring in character Billie Cramer, who is the same in concept, but named after a male character in the comics who later goes to Metropolis University with Clark. Sorry, Chloe. Allison Mack kinda fucked over your character for me.

From there, Smallville is basically covered. Small town, small stories, and not much happening. But still, the people there molded Clark. And so, by the time he heads out of Smallville, he'll be going into a much bigger world. And with that...

Metropolis: City of Tomorrow

Where in the fuck is Metropolis? DC, you really need to make a decision here. Because the most common location for Metropolis is New York. Which, frankly, is dumb. New York has both New York City AND Metropolis? That's a lot of city for a small area, just saying. Plus, would Clark have wanted to go very far from home? So, where is my Metropolis? Easy: Illinois. "But what about Chicago," you say? Well, one, it's closer to Kansas, and Clark wouldn't want to be too far from home, for his parents' sake. Two, we can place the city along the Mississippi River, which forms the western coast of Illinois and gives us the water that we need for Metropolis. Three, this'll be at the very tip of southern Illinois, far away from Chicago, and in a place where no major city exists. And five, and most importantly for me, that's where the REAL Metropolis actually is. It is, in fact, maybe the real-world place that loves Superman the most. Let's give 'em some love back.

But OK, with that said and done, why Metropolis? Well, Clark wants to go to school for journalism, because he believes in uncovering the truth, and he wants to be in touch with all sides of humanity, both the good and the bad. Basically, journalism allows Clark to stay down-to-Earth in some very literal ways. And Metropolis University in this universe is a pretty big deal, especially considering that the city is the home to major newspaper The Daily Planet. After graduating from Metropolis U, Clark settles in the city and gets a job at the Daily Planet, his dream job. One of his colleagues is, of course, Lois Lane, but the people of the Daily Planet are an extremely important supporting cast. Considering Clark rarely goes anywhere else, we should talk about them a bit. So, we'll start with the most obvious.

Jimmy Olsen, the new best friend! I was SO tempted to give Jimmy his own post, but this series is gonna be long enough; I dunno if I can talk that much about Jimmy. That's a lie, actually, because I can talk a LOT about him. Now, some of you may be wondering why I used this GIF of Olsen from Superman: The Movie, instead of Mehcad Brooks from Supergirl, or Aaron Ashmore from Smallville. And the reason is that NEITHER OF THEM WERE JIMMY. The latter was his older brother named Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen, which YES, is stupid. And the former? That is Jimmy Olsen in name only. And why? Because...ah, shit, I'm getting into Jimmy in detail. OK, then, let's do this.

Jimmy Olsen is a kid. He's a dweeb, he's kinda naive, and he matches Clark for sheer optimism. He's either the most likeable person in the room, or the most annoying, or somehow both simultaneously. He's not suave, like Mehcad Brooks' version of the character. Honestly, that's the least Jimmy Olsen-like character I've ever goddamn seen. You know who actually was a lot more like Jimmy? Winn. Winn was Supergirl's Jimmy Olsen, and I DEFY YOU TO TELL ME OTHERWISE.

Ahem. Anyway, back to Jimmy.

Jimmy is the unpaid intern who gets hired, and is then surprised that there's a paid option for this job, despite that being his career. He's the kid in high school who took pictures of EVERYTHING, and then just never stopped. He's not entirely sure who the mayor of the city is, but knows in excruciating detail through experience and an overly detailed annotated map where the best goddamn hot dog in the city is, and every hot dog vendor in a ten-block radius knows him and his order by heart. Jimmy is a city kid who somehow seems like he came from the country. Jimmy should be a massive nerd, kind of a ditz, and definitely a clutz, but not only is he the best photographer the Planet has to offer, he's also somebody who you want to hang out with. Jimmy Olsen is maybe, maybe about to turn 21, but has not and will not drink. He is the most vanilla human being possible, and I goddamn love him for it. He's also gone through a TON OF INSANE SHIT in the comics, from being turned into a giant turtle Godzilla, to getting becoming a superhero in his own right MULTIPLE TIMES, to becoming the love-interest to a fledgling God for a hot second...a lot, is what I'm saying. Jimmy Olsen is my favorite Superman supporting character, and that is a hill I am glad to die on.

...Jesus. That was a lot of overly specific headcanon to vomit out, even for me. But really, all of that? That's my Jimmy Olsen. Clark's best friend in the city, even if he is a few years younger, as well as a damned good photographer and...well, a pal. There's a reason he's called Superman's Pal, after all.

Perry White, the stern-but-caring boss! Editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet, Perry's a strict traditionalist when it comes to this whole newspaper thing. Perry's actually had quite a lot of history in the comics, and while it is all genuinely interesting, I'm not gonna go into it here. Just know that Perry is a caring boss, but extremely strict when it comes to his job and those who write for him. One of the last great reporters and writers, as well as a genuinely good man with his own problems and troubles, Perry White is an understatedly important character in the Superman mythos. In truth, there doesn't need to be too much to Perry.

In terms of his relationship with Clark, he shouldn't be too involved with his personal life, but should be willing to offer advice if Clark looks like he needs it. He should choose his employees based upon their talent and their moral fiber, as he wants his reporters to find the truth, and nothing but the truth. If you lie, alter facts, or otherwise obscure the truth in your reporting, you're OUT, pal! And honestly, that's my Perry White: a classic reporter who expects only the truth from his employees and from himself.

Speaking of the reporters of the Daily Planet, let's get into Clark's co-workers! Cat Grant is one of the best known, thanks to Power Girl, and as the gossip and fashion columnist, she makes her presence known basically immediately when she enters the office. While she's definitely a bit blunt, in person and in her writing, people actually do enjoy her blogs and writing, and she has a pretty good on-screen presence as well. She's a bit of an acquired taste, but Perry values her honesty. Also, she's a little bit of a rival to Lois in multiple ways, including initially for Clark's affection, but mostly in terms of her reporting and popularity. Cat Grant is considered by many to be the public face of the Daily Planet, and she doesn't shy away from that title, either.

Steve Lombard made a VERY random appearance in Man of Steel, as was a very different version of the character than what we see in the comics. My version of Lombard is a massive blowhard, as well as the Planet's sports reporter, which aligns with the comic-book version of the character. He's hired by Perry because of his absurdly accurate sports reporting, and his sheer knowledge of the sport, as well as for his incredibly accurate predictions. The one downside about the dude is that he's the epitome of a meathead. His intelligence in in sports, and that's basically it. Still, he's VERY good at his job. Also, he THINKS that he's a rival to Clark for Lois' affections, but literally nobody else thinks that.

OK, last major person here is Ron Troupe, whom I can't find a GIF for. Makes sense; he's relatively obscure, and hasn't been in enough media for a lot of exposure. My version of Troupe is the politics and editorials writer for the Planet, as well as being one of the more serious and uptight members of the Planet bullpen staff. He tends not to go out into the field too much, but is well-known on paper. Perry hired him because of his objectivity and practicality, as well as a feverish devotion to the truth. And of everybody, Ron is the reporter most likely to succeed Perry White as editor-in-chief one day in this universe. YES! Not Lois, not Clark, RON. Somebody give Ron his day in court, please, he's way too neglected in comics and media nowadays.

Let's get out of the bullpen, and into the city! Now, some people won't be featured in this first film, since it's a big city with a lot of parts to it. I actually do have some ideas for other films, but let's get through this first one before anything else. No cart before the horse, and all that. But since we're talking about the city, let's talk about Superman's predecessors: the cops.

The Metropolis Police Department, unlike the Gotham cops, are not corrupt and actually do their jobs. After all, Metropolis is a pretty safe city before Superman comes around. Supes definitely shouldn't be the savior from street crime, for should he be trying to replace the cops. Superman is there to stop the accidents, disasters, and large-scale crimes that the police can't handle on their own. This means that while the police are efficient, the villains of this movie are going to be a bit too much for them to handle. But, because Superman isn't a detective or a cop, he'll need to talk to and work with the police to stop these villains. So, who are our cops?

The main liaison for Clark is Maggie Sawyer, a no-nonsense captain and leader of the newly-established Special Crimes Unit. As such, she's got a pretty good relationship with Superman. She prefers police work over relying on a vigilante, but Superman is hard not to trust in a lot of ways. So, she willingly works with him. Oh, and obviously she's happily married to her wife, Toby, who works for the Daily Planet alongside Clark. Maggie's one of the first out-lesbians in comics, and that ain't gonna end with me!

Maggie's the main policeman featured in this universe, but her partner Dan "Terrible" Turpin will also appear alongside her. Another hard-nosed detective, he grew up in the worst parts of Metropolis, and grew up to defend the parts of the city that don't get a lot of attention. Won't get too much of Turpin in this film, but we will use him to get across the idea that not all cops think Superman is necessary. He's not Superman's biggest fan, but he doesn't turn him away, either. Sort of like Harvey Bullock to Batman, if you get my drift.

Finally, I'll just mention that the chief of police is William Henderson, who respects Superman fine enough, and is on his way out, ready for retirement. Not much to say about Henderson, and he could honestly just be a name-drop by Maggie at some point. But with that, we move on to our final citizen of Metropolis...and one of my favorites.

Meet the one and only Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski. You might wonder why I included an image here when I didn't for Ron Troupe. And frankly, it's because Bibbo is too important. Because Bibbo, to me, is a representative of the civilian public that Superman is trying to save. The reporters of the Daily Planet are often putting themselves in danger in order to get the story, and they're supposed to remain objective. The cops are...well, the cops; of course they're in danger. But Bibbo is just...a guy. He was a sailor and former military man, he's a small business owner, and he's a guy on the streets of Metropolis. And, of course, he's Superman's biggest fan.

Now, that's not to say Superman only fights for those people who like him, and I actually want to reflect that through my version of Bibbo. Bibbo'll actually be one of the ways we start the movie, and how we're initially introduced to Metropolis. And because Superman is a fairly new figure in the city, he's not a fan when the movie starts. He's not an active detractor, but he isn't exactly a fan of anybody with power who places themselves above the little guy. And Superman does that literally, so why would he like him? Just another person playing dress-up and pretending to be hero. He listens to local shock jock Leslie Willis, who regularly expresses the same sentiments, but he's not as harsh as she is to Superman. He just doesn't really care for the guy. Over the course of the movie, we'll check in with Bibbo, whose establishment, the Ace o' Clubs, is a regular haunt of Jimmy Olsen and his friend Clark Kent. And so, Clark will get an idea of how Bibbo feels pretty early on, and he'll have to reflect on that.

However, over the course of the movie, Superman will act in ways that begin to change Bibbo's mind. As we check in on him over the course of the movie, the change in his attitude will be noticeable, if somewhat subtle throughout most of the movie. But then, the last time we see Bibbo, he'll be wearing his signature Superman shirt. Because by the end of the movie, Superman will have saved the "little guys" of the city, possibly even saving Bibbo directly. And that makes him considerably different than the other person in Metropolis with power who puts themselves above the city. That person, the real focus of Bibbo's ire...is the topic of the next entry in this series.

Index: Superman

Part I: Why I Love Superman

Part II: On Lois Lane

Part III: The Kents

Part IV: The 'Rents

Part V: The...Frendts?

Part VI: Lex Luthor

Part VII: The Real Villains

Part VIII: Superman's Rogues Gallery

Part IX: The Story - Act One

Part X: The Story (Acts Two and Three)

Part XI: The Story - Climax

Part XII: Epilogue (Part One)

Part XIII: Epilogue (Part Two)

[kopw]

obviously if you stop liking something you're not obligated to engage with it further period. but as someone who's been watching bte for around a year now (ever since i properly got back into wrestling as a hobby last april) i just can't help but tune in every monday! even if i know the episodes will leave me unsatisfied and mildly disappointed

i think balancing a behind the scenes vlog series with, i guess you could call it another weekly television show, where you expand upon the big plot line surrounding your friend group, while also giving opportunities to people who may not get as much screen time or attention on your main programming (even more so now with dark and elevation ceasing)... it's a tricky thing for sure. but not impossible! it's a format that's worked for years, ever since they figured out that there was a market for this sort of storytelling in wrestling. it's unique, and fun, and emotional, and there is obviously a place for these external details to slot into, gaps that in-ring storytelling fails to fill

so why am i suddenly unhappy? did something drastically change?

the simple answer is no. you have the drama, you have the travel montage, you have the ryan nemeth segment that everyone and their mother skips—but, wait. let's go back to that first item

something about the "kayfabe" portions has been bugging me recently and i couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was until today

they are deeply unserious

not that bte has ever been a prestige drama, nor is that what I'm looking for when i click play on an episode. but there's this... emotional distance? between the story and the elite themselves that feels disingenuous

i know that partially this is because the people involved are, above all, looking to have fun. i can't remember if it was swerve's podcast or the sessions, but in one of the recent interviews kenny did, he talks about how he's not looking for that grand story anymore, which i think is respectable. this mentality probably extends to the bucks as well, based on how similar their views are to kenny's when it comes to the subject of wrestling philosophy and storytelling

say what you want about cody and his pretentiousness when it came to his character on bte (which isn't even inherently a bad thing when you're an actor), but my brain keeps rewinding to the monologue he did at the end of episode 106. you know the one. ah, yes. his recital of hurt by nine inch nails. that episode was special, and it is special, because it was genuine and immersive, much like the larger narrative it was a part of at the time

not every story needs the same weight. they don't all need to pull on the same heartstrings. but i think what they all need is care. and there's almost this... flippancy, nowadays, that stands like a wall between me and my investment in the story that is being told to me

but maybe i'm wrong. i'm often wrong about many things. i'm not saying bte became soulless and unenjoyable beyond saving. it's just a bit bland at the moment to me personally

nick is still hot though

[gorbalsvampire]

For the OC ask thingy!

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts? 

(Besides VAMPIRES! I mean 😆)

Fucking hell... ask me the hard ones, Marshie...

OK. Sorcha's original concept was very much Of The Social Media Age. She's an Instagram vampire, an underground party planner, a drug chemist, she's had at least one Vice article written about her. That aspect got played down as she became more #harrowcore over time - actually, that's another thing, the NA necromancy novels that have come out in the last few years have definitely pulled me in a different direction. Sorcha would not be as she is now without Ninth House, Harrow the Ninth, The Library of the Dead... I can drop literary influences for her because she's listened them all as audiobooks and that's part of her goth gril deal.

Alistair's history is inextricable from Glasgow's, in the twentieth century. He's the character I have a full CV worked out for, the spots where he intrudes into and overwrites real historical figures are clear, the incidents which led to his ghouling, jailing and Embrace are all there, he clawed his way out of the Gorbals and their glow up is his as well.

Luciana has an aesthetic influence. Venice is a wonderful city in which to be an old vampire - elegant and decaying, timeless and under siege by modernity, tourist trap yet people still live and work and study there. I will die mad that V:tM closed it off so effectively by saying GIOVANNI TURF and putting the majority of the player base off the place entirely, but it also plays directly into my hands so I'm not going to complain about it too much. But anyway: the rot and romance and fragility and the kind of... authenticity, but also the reality that it is a living city, that the airport is just over there and the cruise ships make the foundations shake, and real death is not pretty and romantic, it's rank and arbitrary and carnal? That's where Luci comes from.

Santino is about the music. Of course he is. He is inextricable from that Eighties-Nineties period of music culture where print journalism was a thing, indie wasn't a genre, and specifically the turning point where goth was deemed Unfashionable and grunge was everywhere. The moment it all crystallised for me was writing the fake Quietus snipped about Driftback: how if they'd come along ten years earlier they'd have been goth rock superstars, ten years later and they'd have been up there with your female-fronted-gothic-metal boom. That sense of being out of time is core to Santino. It comes to all vampires eventually, and he was dealing with it before he was even Embraced.

Penny is a Bond girl gone bad. There's no other way of putting it. She was always rooted in that Cold War spy-versus-spy drama, even though her origins have shifted further back to Bletchley Park and Edwardian England. Her exaggerated Englishness is a bit she can't put down now that the Sabbat has burned out so much of her selfhood, too: she's an alien, she's a legal alien, she's a Camarilla English girl in Sabbat Arizona.

Riley was deliberately engineered around a sort of Tipping the Velvet point: Victorian queerness and gender and sexology vaguely simmering away in the backstory. I'd been reading A Bitter Remedy and Daughters of Night earlier in the year so I think "historical queerness and class barriers" were definitely in the mix.

[darklightsworld]

Hi! I'd like to ask a question about your Fire! post, because I got asked one when I reblogged it :) Can you elaborate a little bit on what you are referring to with the edgy stuff "Friends" did? I'd like check it out. Thank you, and have a nice February.

Hi! I was referring to Weekly Shoujo Friend, the other major weekly shoujo magazines in the 60s next to Weekly Margaret. These rival magazines followed different editorial directives and had different tones overall.

Initially Friends was considered to be the more conservative one. Even though many young female artists debuted in the magazine in the 60s (this was the decade when female artists became the main content providers of shoujo magazines), they weren’t really trusted to write their own stories, and most had to work based on narratives provided by separate writers. Kodansha continued this at least till the early 70s (I have to check further), and many artists hated it, for example, Aoike Yasuko (Eroica yori ai wo komete), who came into her own only after she left Kodansha and this practice. (There are exceptions, of course, Satonaka Machiko, who debuted at the same time as Aoike in 1964 (both were 16※), was mostly doing her own thing—with editorial guidance, of course.)

Conversely, Margaret recognized faster that young female readers would rather read what artists of their age group would create, and at the same time these young artists, many of whom debuted at 15-16, would know better how to approach readers hardly younger than themselves. This does not mean that there was no editorial guidance, and editors often suggested themes, literature, movies and such for young artists to use as a template for their stories, but Margaret was less rigid and reacted to the changes in demand faster. This is one of the reasons Weekly Margaret was the most popular shoujo magazine in the 60s, the first one to break a million copies in 1967, and even overall, the second manga related magazine to reach that number after Weekly Shounen Magazine.

While Friend hung on to family oriented dramas of young girls for quite long, Margaret switched to romantic comedies faster, first Hollywood-esque, then about foreign girls in foreign setting (mostly American), then about school girls in Japanese setting. Eventually Friend shifted too, but overall the magazine seems to be darker and more dramatic to me than Margaret, the art was also plainer, less decorative overall in Friend (huuuuuge exception is Hosokawa Chieko, who had the most amazing, most decorative, most unrestricted art in the 60s). This impression got only stronger in the late 60s/1970 when Friend had several serious coming-of-age dramas, like Mayuko no nikki by Yamato Waki and stories by Machiko＆Kenji (all came with a writer, but it’s not always a bad thing). Especially Machiko＆Kenji’s works have a touch of gekiga (this was the period when gekiga was widely popular, trickled into shounen manga and led to the birth of seinen manga magazines a few years before) and occasionally mixed with shounen manga line work. Mayuko on nikki is interesting too, it has some experimental artwork as well.

All in all, even though Margaret also had dramas, sometimes addressed societal issues, coming-of-age (the latter in foreign settings more in Bessatsu Margaret), and Friend also had its share of school girl love comedies, I feel Friend, that was more serious to begin with, gained an edgier, grittier tone as well by 1970. (Disclaimer: while I have read every issue of Weekly and Bessatsu Margaret from 1963 to 1970, I have only sampled Friend, a few issues per year, so far, so these are my impressions based on that.)

And since this came from the first bed scene, sexual revolution arrived in Japan as well, and by the late 60s it trickled down to manga magazines even for school boys and school girls. The infamous Harenchi Gakuen is a result of that, which caused the quite harmful trend of boys flipping girls' skirts in schools. These topics appeared in shoujo magazines in articles and manga as well, although often from a male perspective. Naughty (harenchi) behavior was kind of encouraged, and even regarding skirt-flipping girls were encouraged to “deal with it” as “boys will be boys” *rolls eyes* (Also never forget that one Friend issue in 1970 where teenage girl nude modeling was basically encouraged—photos included! *urgh*) Gradually articles about physical maturing of teenagers appeared, both about boys and girls, which were more serious, but in comedic shoujo manga “harenchi” elements (peeping toms, skirt-flippers) became frequent, and even more serious works featured shower scenes, underwear scene, nudity. Many of these were also from a male perspective (peeping toms not getting punished, girls being embarrassed, girls showing skin… in a shoujo manga), but many artists were more forward thinking and/or showed boys at the end of the female gaze as well.

Anyway, sexuality was kind of there at the end of the 60s, kissing became more frequent, and coming-of-age narratives featured sexuality, although mostly offscreen. I remember having seen panels of people in bed in at least one story I think in Bessatsu Margaret, but I can’t seem to find it among all my photos now.※※ An there are also the junior manga titles I mentioned, that featured more mature characters and relationship. Characters are obviously sleeping with each other, so at this point, when I haven’t read all the 60s shoujo and junior manga I would neither confirm nor deny that Fire! had the first bed scene ever (depends on the definition anyway.)

※By the way, it is often mentioned how Satonaka Machiko’s debut at 16 was a shock to young mangaka aspirant girls. However, her age is just one reason, several shoujo manga artists debuted that young or younger even before her. However, this was the start of manga awards for people aiming to be a manga artist, and with this (and also manga schools, a tradition started by Bessatsu Margaret not long after and immediately copied by almost every magazine) aspirants finally knew an exact way how they could become a manga artist. Before that it wasn’t clear at all, it involved sending or bringing manuscripts to publishers or older artists and so on.

※※Found it, it was in 1971 so it doesn't matter, Juliano no asa by Nishitani Yoshiko. Well, that was crazy stuff: the boy slept with the mother of his girlfriend thinking she might be his mother o_O

[chronicallyonlinecath]

Monday, January 8th 2023 - Music and... well...

Monday's are the days I am sucked into the abyss of the music department, so I barely see anyone. Senior girls choir in the morning, helping out junior choir at break, and then prefect duties at lunch. Not to mention I actually have music as a lesson in period 5-

According to Harley and Reagan, many interesting things were said at break and lunchtime. Unfortunately, I didn't catch them. So uh, no quotes from that. Harley was talking to Minns (actual name is Moira but we all call her Minns) and they believe if this blog blows up on something like tiktok it'll do really well. So imma start adding hashtags to these blogs in the hope they might get some viewers other than my own friends and sex bots.

Well, the big scandal of the day was apparently a boy who's in the majority of my core classes, such as maths and science, has been arrested on suspicion of selling edibles. Or evidence, we don't know yet. This is a theory one of his friends, one of his tutees, and I came up with in science. And it... kinda blew up around school? It adds up way too much though. There are three main points;

A police car drove into the school gates during period one (and Harvey and I saw one heading towards school when we were on our way home) Said boy was taken out of class during period one by our Head of Year, and no one's seen him since. Others were also taken out for "questioning" His friend openly said that the boy sells edibles to kids in the younger years

Then, in maths, we were conspiring further, along with some... odd quotes.

“Allegedly, Janek was caught shoving his foot up a child’s rectum” - Ben “It’s true I was the toenail” - Andrew

Elliot came up with what said boy would be charged with... and it's quite a lot. It's the fact he is a minor, got the edibles, probably did the edibles himself, and then sold them on to others. That's three crimes, the last one being severe as it was them being sold onto other minors.

This is your reminder people, if you didn't already know, there are people like this out there. He is a grade nine student. Does he put the work or the effort in? No! Not at all. But as much as I know he is an asshole, it's still kinda a shock for me that this has happened. I'd heard rumors, but I didn't think he actually dealt stuff.

I had a pretty sheltered and safe childhood. I'm very grateful for that, especially on days like today.

Bit of a rough ending there, huh?

Have another quote for your troubles

stealing my glue “I need those extra 6 inches” - Elliot “Yes, give to the orphans-” - Bella “At least my parents care about me-” - Elliot “You guys have family?” - Janek

Oh also Harry was off, which is never like Harry. He's okay though, according to him. Just shaking his head at the fact he missed all the drama-

~CM

[empress-of-snark]

I understand not wanting to do a pregnancy storyline. I wasnt really a fan of it in the show, it just seemed like a way to add more drama to the Ross/Rachel saga.

But I do think it'd be interesting to do a pregnancy scare story. It would show different sides to the characters and make them think differently about what they really want.

If seems like something that would most likely happen to Eddie and Chrissy. Because they're way more irresponsible than Nancy and Jonathan. Lmao. 😂

I agree that the whole Emma storyline is a bit weird and probably just an excuse to complicate their relationship further. I enjoy parts of it, but on the whole I’ve always thought the first five or so seasons are the best, anyway.

A pregnancy scare could definitely be an interesting plot for one of the couples, though! Eddie and Chrissy do seem like the obvious choice—I think Nancy is probably way more careful about birth control than Chrissy is lol. Maybe it could even tie in to the possible issue of Eddie being unwilling to grow up? His cutting his hair to be more “mature” is his way of telling her that he’s accepting the responsibility of having a child.

She says “thank you so much, sweetie, but I got my period literally ten minutes ago” and he’s like “oh great, so I just sacrificed my hair for nothing?” 😂

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: The God of the Woods

Author: Liz Moore

Genre/s: historical, mystery

Content/Trigger Warning/s: death, murder, violence, drug use, mental health issues, sexual assault, sexual harassment, period-accurate misogyny and homophobia

Summary (from author's page): When Barbara Van Laar is discovered missing from her summer camp bunk one morning in August 1975, it triggers a panicked, terrified search. Losing a camper is a horrific tragedy under any circumstances, but Barbara isn’t just any camper; she’s the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the camp—as well as the opulent nearby estate and most of the land in sight. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared in this region: Barbara’s older brother also went missing sixteen years ago, never to be found. How could this have happened yet again?

Out of this gripping beginning, Liz Moore weaves a richly textured drama, both emotionally nuanced and propelled by a double-barreled mystery. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded drama brings readers into the hearts of characters whose lives are forever changed by this eventful summer.

Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet, The God of the Woods is a story of love, inheritance, identity, and second chances, a thrillingly layered drama about the tensions between a family and a community, and a history of secrets that will not let any of them go.

Buy Here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-god-of-the-woods-liz-moore/20696242

Spoiler-Free Review: Oh, this was good. Fascinating and good.

A little like The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia, this is a book that’s more about the people involved in the mystery than about the mystery itself. The mystery just highlights all the various angles and nuances of the people involved, as opposed to be really being about solving the mystery itself. It also serves to highlight the REAL point of this novel, which is an indictment of classism and privilege.

Just to be clear though, the mysteries at the heart of the novel are pretty interesting in their own way; it’s just that I think they were the structure around which the author got to tell another kind of story, as opposed to being the whole point of the novel.

I know some readers found the narrative structure difficult to follow, since it meant the story kept jumping from past to present with very little clear indication of when in the timeline the reader is supposed to be, but I didn’t mind it very much. The constant sliding between past and present helps to highlight the characters even further, giving them a bit more life.

Speaking of characters, they are one of the best aspects of this novel. Tracy is easy to sympathize and empathize with, but I wish there had been more of Barbara from her own perspective, rather than as being seen through the eyes of those around her. I think getting a look into her mind, reading about everything happening around her from her perspective, would have been very interesting.

Equally interesting, albeit tragic, are Alice and her sister Delphine. Their relationship is equal parts touching and sad, though I did find myself wishing the reader had been given a chance to see things from Delphine’s perspective, just to add some more nuance to the events that transpired around her and Alice.

Actually, while the characters all shine in their own way, there were moments when I found myself wishing that other characters had been given a chance to narrate things from their perspective. I understand why the author limited the number of narrators but I do wish that some characters had been given a chance to speak up, as it were. They don’t have to be likeable, they just have to provide some more insight into the themes of this novel. In line with that, I think it would have been interesting to read a chapter told from the POV of one of the novel’s villains, mostly because it would make them more interesting, and also throw their villainy into sharper relief by showing that, yes, they are people too - and that we probably know people like them in real life.

As for the themes, this novel is primarily about classism and privilege, and how those two things let the rich get away with murder, literally and figuratively speaking. Over and over again, this book emphasizes this; in fact, the mysteries at the heart of this novel are about that. The whole point of this novel is that the rich will do anything and everything to keep up appearances, and to hang onto their money and their power, even if it destroys everyone and everything around them.

Overall, this was a very intriguing novel, written in very compelling language and populated by fascinating characters whose entangled lives reveal how wealth and privilege can - and very often does - bring out the worst in people. The timeline might not be easy to follow for some readers, and I do wish some characters had been allowed to contribute their voices to the narrative, but despite those minor nitpicks, this was still a fantastic read.

Rating: four and a half pieces of firewood

[faunastanza]

Thread into Althar

Thread into Althar, by Azlyn, Razca, Yurayana, Yevelle, Myandery, observed by Shizukan Despite how insanely overinvested this whole blog is in this comic, I don't actually check on Floraverse that often since it updates so sporadically. Like I said some time ago, sometimes months or even a year can go by before an update happens. Imagine my surprise when I did a periodic check on it as usual and saw that there were TWO updates!! Wow!! I went to check Glip's twitter for further context as Charlie Brown approaches the football every time, and of course, I landed flat on my back. Glip did have a doc they wrote up about how they regretted keeping someone on their discord from committing suicide because they were annoying though. This isn't a new sentiment for Glip at all - they've previously told people they'd be better off dead several times. Their total unawareness of how bad it makes them look is a bit striking though. "You said you don't care about Glip's real life, why do you keep checking their twitter?" It's true that I don't care about Glip's real life, I just want to know what's going on in their insane webcomic because it has some kind of sick hold on me, but the annoying thing is that Glip's real life is constantly bleeding into their comic. Is this character an actual villain, or are they someone Glip was mad at in their discord? Is this a plot development, or a veiled metaphor for a callout about them? Is this a character or is it just Marl or Pengo or Sila again? You constantly have to ask yourself these questions as you read the comic. I suppose it does make for a unique reading experience. For fun, here's the recent info Glip posted that may or may not influence this update or future ones - one of the mods on their discord got outed for being a pedo and a zoophile and was banned. This seems to happen a lot on their discord for some reason, it's so weird!! They're also in a feud with someone who knew the pedo who made a zine about their discord being a cult and claimed Glip was trying to human traffic them. "Who cares, this is unrelated drama" IS IT?? IS IT REALLY??? You can never be sure!! You'll just have to keep it in mind whenever you read a Floraverse update from now on!! They apparently also have a podcast of sorts where they talk about "the truth" of what goes on in the discord and such but the episodes are like three hours long and I feel like listening to them is taking things too far. I already know I'm staring into the abyss, I've got to have limits. Also, three+ hours??? I already spend way too much time thinking about all this crap as it is. Anyway, this is "by" a bunch of people but it's just the characters that are in the RP. We know Glip and Pengo are in the RP but how many other people, I don't know. They have multiple characters running around after all. We're introduced to a dude in a sombrero and a Hot Topic looking critter.

and an unpalatable muffin

Sombrero's name is Myandery and the Hot Topic thing is Shizukan. Myandery notices that Shizukan has a little compact from Teslic Yard and asks if it's supposed to have that. In response Shizukan holds the compact out out to Myandery, who remembers that Shizukan can't speak. It takes the compact while Shizukan whirls its arms around to make threads, just like in the title!!

 buy me on a shirt

Shizukan whipping its arms around serves as a way to scene change via the compact, so we're going to be hopping around a bit. We see Azlyn/Orobas finally! She's asking everyone for help with a ritual to help someone "whose name was injured". If you remember way back when, one of the ways to protect yourself from an angel was to repeat your name and occupation over and over. I'm assuming that's related but it's not explained so, who knows.

She says that his name was very important and that without it, we "lost him" for a while, but if they give him a new one, he'll come back. She says that we can find a new name for him with enough love, since love is about reaching out and inviting in. Azlyn says that Gaap is asking for letters of love, condensed into glyphs (Andre can't read, remember). She says the first part is writing out the letter, not just imagining it in your head but writing it for real. She says that she wrote one, but it's a little unorthodox.

Her letter is clearly about Amdusias, although she doesn't remember her apparently. She says that she knows her voice and her face, but when she thinks about it they disappear, like notes to a song she can't remember (Amdusias taught her a song and told her not to forget it, but she always does). She talks about how important Amdusias is and how she matters to her, and that even if she can't remember/doesn't know who she is, she knows something's missing and she mourns not being with her, whoever she is. She wonders how they'll meet and what binds them together so strongly that she remembers shadows of her even now, without fully knowing her. She gets teary, wondering when she'll meet her and that all she can do is wait. She then says she's a fortune teller, and a side effect of that can be prophetic dreams, so this letter is for someone she hasn't met yet.

Where this is on the timeline is unclear, and we're possibly in another frequency entirely so shrug!! We last saw Amdusias having nightmares or something on Trebol and when she woke up Orobas wasn't there, so who knows. I like this scene though and getting glimpses of Orobas and Amdusias again. Reminders of a simpler time and better characters in this comic's history...

where is my big-handed girlfriend

We cut to a brief glimpse of the Worthworm on the Andre painting, then Shizukan shifts the scene again. We meet a dude who looks like a cross between a snake and a mantis. This is Razca, one of the heads of the other religions. She talks a bit differently and capitalize random nouns. She's heard about Gaap's request for letters and want to address her congregation about it.

beware the heart tail Razca says that it might be hard to think of a good feeling to send out for Gaap's request, so she wants to talk about her own feelings in hopes it'll inspire their congregation to think about theirs and decide if they want to do Gaap's request or not.

Razca talks about loss and deaths in her family and how it feels to grieve and miss them every day. This is also well done and genuine, which makes me suspect someone other than Glip wrote it.

it sounds like she's talking about death but it could just be someone who left but eh, negligible difference Anyway, Razca says that because she wishes she could have that person back so much, the chance to bring someone back is very precious, so she's going to help Gaap as best she can. She says that some believe that people who've died should be allowed to rest, but she sees it as a chance for a new beginning and that if the ritual works, she wants to be part of it.

We get a brief shot of Andre when he burned Beleth to death, although in this shot he's burning an open door. Shizukan then cuts to a white uniqorn somewhere. A dog comes in and says that the Synemetrics are on the move, and asks the uniqorn if he has thoughts about Gaap's call for assistance. Turns out that the uniqorn is in charge of Psia'ago, or Pengo's religion I assume. He says that if people in Pengoism want to help out Gaap then fine, it's their call.

looks kind of like a mouse

The dog asks if Yevelle is also going to help, but he say he's hesitant to talk about love, and he thinks talking about love for a ritual is disrespectful. The dog, whose name is Hilo or Milo but the font is so weird I can't tell, let's go with Milo, asks if it's because Yevelle is afraid of being hurt. This question pisses Yevelle off as he says no one can hurt him. Milo is unimpressed, so Yevelle asks if saying "I am afraid" would please them. Milo says they just want to know what Yevelle is actually feeling.

Yevelle says he's asking his people to help constructively if they do decide to help Gaap. He hopes that the people of Althar will respond with love untainted by malice, as love tainted with malice can be hard to unravel if sweetened enough. Glip's mentioned malice a few times before, in particular saying it was what broke the Mask of the Sun and led to all those insane mspaint VNs a while back. Could be related, could not be related. Just making a note of it.

Milo turns to leave for their nightly rounds, as Yevelle instructed. Yevelle comes over to put their hood up for them, chiding them not to do anything he wouldn't do, and Milo jokes back while calling them Vel, so these two are either friends or an item. My money is on the latter.

We get a brief cut of Nuez looking at Phesund in her ugly fullbody paintbrush tail form. Shizukan tries to move the scene again but something wrong happens and there's static instead. We then get a goofy news report on the whole business from an unknown person. They call Gaap the "high priestident" which I kind of like ngl. The newscaster, a sun looking thing with a goofy face, says that the Payayan temple is near the Synemetric one, saying it's an eyesore, and brings us inside. There's a stripey cat walking around.

seems like they have consistent trouble with the word "president"

The cat tells Belnono (lol) to knock off the fake newscasting. Belnono is this ridiculous looking "dog" made out of leather straps and what appears to be a flat sundial for a head.

what

The cat's name is Yurayana and she is proportioned a bit like a triangle.

tapering up to a point Belnono has a moon counterpart called Belauna because of course. An unknown figure says something to Yurayana but we don't know what. The two dogs bicker about correlation and causation as Yurayana continues down the hallway. Yurayana tells them to knock it off since she's trying to focus. They ask if she's going to send a glyph, with Moondog sure that she will since she's good and kind and loyal, and Sundog expressing skepticism. This makes Yurayana snap at them angrily to be quiet, which scares them. She walks off in silence and the dogs follow her.

We get a brief shot of what looks like the plague doctor from last time approaching Nuez but she has a lot of weird wingy things around her.

no eyes and fire? lame

It looks like she might be protecting Phesund (birdform) from the plague doctor. Shizukan seems to regain control and switches everything back to Azlynobas. She talks about how to turn your letter into a glyph. Basically you think about your letter and then draw whatever shapes come into your mind.

The screen goes dim and Myandery asks if Shizukan came out all this way just to show it this. It tries to move its strings around but nothing happens, so it nods. Myandery says that the faces all looked familiar and asks if Shizukan knew it'd see familiar things. Shizukan shakes its head, then nods.

Myandery says their former teacher was in there, someone who used to be known as Andrealphus before Myandery came here (to Althar I assume). It says it knows that Andre is an important figure in Synemetricism and that its friend said Andre was an Arch Magni. Myandery then says that its friend used to be an angel (you can cure that??) and was responsible for "asking a question" that put us (not sure who the us is here) in Undertown, where angels hang out. It's where Glip and Pengo had that talk but I'm not sure if its where all the mspaint vns happened or not. Who knows.

funkopop coming soon

Myandery says it saw Dr. Curse (the plague doctor? but I thought it was that tv thing) and Nuez, who it says helped it with the ritual that "put intentions" into the collar around Shizukan's neck. It then apologizes if the collar is hurting Shizukan. Shizukan gives it a few looks and then waves goodbye and leaves.

We cut to Mel's house sometime later, and it turns out Mel was the beecat. They're with some kind of bizarre looking bird thing and a big egg. They say a synemetric came by talking about the ritual. The bird is TALwire- what??? Why is TALwire a bird??? WHat???? What???

if i open my mouth too wide my eye hurts When did this happen??? Oh, right, in the RP no one got to see I assume. Great! Great. That's great. Mel shows TALwire a glyph and says that they said stuff that sounded like "what you saw" but the paper has more details. They give a bunch of dates that's just when the RP starts. She refers to Andre as the "to-be-named one" and basically explains what you have to do to fill the RP prompt of writing a letter/glyph to Gaap.

Mel then says the bees were acting different and they got a weird feeling from them. They say the dance the bees did reminds them of when they left a fire on when they didn't mean to for a few hours. The fire didn't hurt anyone but it could have been worse. They say it also reminds them of when a Zweitru came to the door which reminds them of ANOTHER fire that sparked and scared them. They thought a lot about fires and the importance of ponds and water. Deep stuff.

The Zweitru came back later and told them about a Zweitru turning into an angel, but the Zweitru were annoyed everyone was making such a big deal about it, like it didn't matter much to them. They figure that they felt like people were more eager for an excuse to be mad at Zweitruity than worried about the new angel. You'd think the incredibly stupid name would be enough of an excuse to be mad but hey.

Mel then says they've been rambling and asks if they should go to Razca for help. TALwire says sure. They bring the egg. And then that's it! That's the end!!

What about all the Mesund Phesund Phesomme Deca stuff from the last VN? You fool. We'll never know. Glip mentions in the description that this has a glimpse of Teslic Yard (where? where myandery and shizukan were?) and again begs you to join the discord in BOLD. PLEASE JOIN!! PLEASE JOIN!! You can talk about the update too!! You don't have to RP!! PLEASE JOIN!! PLEASE JOIN!!! (don't join)