#I have a rough idea of what to update his b skill too

[katfreaks-hidyhole]

The newest member to the +10 club, Ashnard the Mad King

[ccscocoapuffs]

Castiel NSFW Alphabet

A = Aftercare (what they're like after sex)  Confused. Cas has to lowkey process that he just had sex. He doesn't understand aftercare at all. if you need water or anything you're going to have to explain it to him. He has no idea. 

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner's) He loves his partners eyes. He thinks that someone's eyes can be like a glimpse in their soul, and he finds that sort of romantic.  Cas doesn't really have a favorite body part on himself. If asked he'd probably just blurt something out like his hands.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically) If you cum on Cas, he is going to be SHOOOOK. "Did I-I do that?". He is going to be shocked yet thrilled he made you cum. He gets off on his partner getting off. 

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs) He has a slight corruption Kink. He likes the thought of a "pure" or "innocent" S/O being with the rebellious angel. 

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they're doing?) he has no experience. you're going to have to teach him everything.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying) He's simple. He likes missionary. He isn't prepared just yet for new positions, but he is interested in cowgirl.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

It's Castiel. it's hard to tell if he is being serious or goofy most of the time. You kind of just have to go with it and live in the moment with Cas.

H = Hair (how well-groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.) He just lets that shit grow. he is an angel after all. he isn't really updated on human needs and hygiene processes. Mostly because he doesn't need the things a human would. 

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect) he has tried to be intimate, he isn't very good at expressing the way he feels so you kind of got to work with him.  

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon) Never. he never really has the urge, he has you. he doesn't see the point of it when having an S/O

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks) corruption, slight femdom, and slight power play

L = Location (favorite places to do the do) He likes you two to be in private it makes him feel more connected to you.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going) you. just you. If you're in the mood so is Cas. You want to try something new so is Cas. whatever you want Cas is excited to do with you and is ready to go. 

N = No (something they wouldn't do, turn offs) Knife play. he just doesn't get it. also, if you brought up knife play, he would immediately think you mean torture. 

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.) he has no skills, but he is learning. teach him what you like and don't like, and he will start to get better and better. He is a quick learner. He prefers receiving to giving but isn't against giving. 

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.) Cas is in the middle he doesn't like to be too rough. He usually likes it to be slow and deep. he likes to bury his face in your neck and have one of those intimate moments he trys so hard to execute.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.) He doesn't like quickies. he wants to speed time with you and enjoy each other and sees sex as one of the things that should have more time spent on it. 

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.) he is okay with experiment but take it slow. He can get overwhelmed easily by new things. He is down to take small risks if you ask him. 

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?) (side note: I'm over here like wait a damn minute does he have stamina if he's an angel. Like is that a thing? or is that like non-existent to him. CAS I HAVE QUESTIONS)  Cas will go for as long as you want it. Usually, that's about 2 rounds. He is often curious if he can go more.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?) No Cas doesn't use toys. as previously mentioned he is easily overwhelmed by new things but willing to experiment. He would try toys with you but maybe take it slow and start with like idk a vibrator?

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease) Cas doesn't really tease but if you asked, he would try it for you though it's not going to be very good.  (OKAY BUT LIKE CASIFER TEASING AHHHHHHH)

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.) He mostly just moans in your ear though when he gets closer, he starts to get louder. 

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He lowkey dreams about having a threesome with you and Dean. (Wait a sec is this Cas's dream or is it becoming mine...)

X = X-ray (let's see what's going on under those clothes) Cas is about 6 inches with aa slight upwards curve.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?) he doesn't have a very high sex drive. He doesn't really get the urge but if you ask, he is ready. Occasionally he will ask you if you would "Have human intercourse with him".

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Cas doesn't sleep but he will lay next to you and cuddle you if you're alright with it. 

[squipedmew]

Behold, the updated team OMEN lineup! (click for better quality)

I ended up revamping the designs pretty much completely because, if I'm being honest, I feel like the originals were too boring, especially for the world of RWBY, not to mention my character design skills have improved a lot since I first designed them.

I'm super happy with how all of these have turned out, and I think they're finally starting to look like a semi-cohesive unit (as much as these dysfunctional dorks can anyways)

individual designs/design notes under the cut!

Oscar's obviously undergone the most change in this AU, so it makes sense for his outfit to be the most radically different. However, I still wanted you to be able to tell this was still Oscar, if that makes any sense. As such, I wanted to incorporate some elements of his other outfits into this one.

I leaned WAY more into the steampunky vibes with this design, and I ended up using the shade of red that's on his Atlas jacket.

Since he tends to associate green with Ozpin (he barely had any green on his v4 design, and only started wearing it after he started coming to terms with the merge) I wanted to incorporate the autumn colors of his v4 design in. Lots of dark reds and browns, though with a much more muted color palate than before.

He's still got that pop of green w/ the patch on his leg tho

The goggles are to hide when the grimm starts to show in his eyes.

The gear pin is actually a gear he took from Long Memory as a memento!

The bag on the back of his belt is for carrying Dust rounds.

He tends to have most of his body covered, as to hide the scars he got from the grimm and his time with Salem

The whole team have their emblems slashed for symbolic reasons (and also b/c merc thought it looked cool.) his is on the back of his jacket!

Mercury is arguably the character who's design went through the biggest changes over the years. Truth be told, I had a lot of trouble designing him when I first started, considering his Vale outfit was so bland and didn't give me much to work off of. Thankfully, V8 picked up the slack and gave me a better idea of what to go for.

I designed him to invoke a sort of beat up vigilante kind of feel - someone who's roughing it most of the time, and doesn't really have the time to care about appearances.

His coat is SUPER torn up due to his fighting style, being incredibly close quarters. The rips on the bottom are unintentional, but I imagine that when they got to Vacuo, he just cut the sleeves off it himself.

I wanted to turn the saturation of his colors WAY UP, not only because it looks more interesting this way, but because it's also indicative of the headspace he's in by the time he gets this outfit, which is to say, a lot brighter.

I also wanted to make his face a LITTLE bit more distinct, so I gave him an eyebrow slit and a mole on his cheek, along with a lot of scars from all the fighting he’s done over the years. I imagine Neo helped him with the eyebrow.

The jacket actually has ice Dust woven on the inside, to keep him cool. Nevertheless, he loves to fling it off dramatically during battle, Edward Elric style.

Emerald gifted him the dog tag - it was one of the first pieces of jewelry she ever made.

His emblem is on the back of his coat - he wanted it to stand out from everyone else's, so he slashed it twice.

And on the other hand, Emerald's design is probably the one that's changed the least. I kinda struck gold with the mark 2 outfit, so I didn’t really feel the need to deviate all that much.

I wanted her design to be one that gives the impression of mobility - light, simple enough, with lots of arm and leg room to maneuver around (and yes I know the heels aren't practical for that, let me have this)

I changed the black color to have a hood on her top instead because I thought it fit the character better. Em is a thief after all - hoods are good for stealth.

The biggest change is, of course, the undercut. Out of everyone in the group, Emerald's the most accustomed to the heat, so she'd probably cut it a bit to keep her head a bit cooler.

All the bracelets and earings she's wearing are handmade, probably out of scrap metal she’s found while on the streets. I imagine that Emerald is pretty crafty, and likes making stuff like this in her spare time.

The red accents in her previous outfits were there to match with Cinder (who, noticeably never had any green accents in return) As such, this design lacks any red accents, as she's trying to move on from that toxic relationship.

Her pockets are actually pretty deep, and hold things like bandages and emergency mini smoke grenades.

Her emblem is also on the back of her jacket, matching Oscar's.

And finally, best girl Neo. TBH, I VASTLY prefer her Vale design to her Atlas ones (it's my fave in the whole show) so I drew more from that than the other one.

I was kinda trying to go for a magician's assistant vibe with this outfit, with the bowtie and gloves and all that.

Neo's not very experienced with the heat, being Atlesian, so she didn't really dress properly. As such, she ended up putting her hair in a ponytail.

A fun idea I got right away were slits in her sleeves and pants, but then I one-upped myself, and thought; what if they were lace?

The original design had way too much black and not enough brown, so I tried to incorporate more of that into this design, since, y'know - Neapolitan ice cream and all that.

She's changed the band of her hat to be a more reddish shade, in remembrance of Torchwick, and she's also swapped out the feather to match the rest of her outfit.

And yes, she swapped the sides of her hair each color was on to see if anyone would notice. (No one has said anything yet.)

Her emblem is a pin on the side of her hat. Neo didn't strike me as the type of character to wear an emblem, but I still wanted to incorporate it, so I figured something subtle like a pin would work.

[paleparearchive]

Kuroda's 2nd initial 3★*

Kuroda's 2nd initial 3★ story (1/2) ( 1 - 2 )

Location: city (morning) | Characters: Kuroda, Giotto, Watteau, Mucha, Aoi/MC

*for some technical issues, the title of this card is missing. If I ever get it, I'll update it

Aoi: Sorry to bother you, Giotto-san. Thank you for coming to shop with us. I have a few things that everyone has asked for… I'm so glad you're here.

Giotto: I just wanted to see the art supplies too. Don't worry 'bout it.

Aoi: Watteau, we're going to the grocery store later, what do you want to do?

Watteau: Of course I'm goin' with ya, right? Ya never know, fate might be waitin' for ya!

Giotto: Weren't ya complainin' yesterday that ya asked a girl out for a drink and she rejected ya?

Watteau: Yesterday's yesterday, today's today! It's important to change your mind, right?

Aoi: (As expected from Watteau-kun. He never gives up…)

Kuroda: Hmmm... Did you draw this picture?

Boy: Yep, that's right!

Watteau: … Hm? Ain't that prof. Kuroda over there?

Aoi: It's true. That boy seems to be selling his paintings on the street.

Kuroda: Can I see it for a bit?

Boy: Sure, here. Go ahead and look as long as you like!

Kuroda: ... I can't believe you can paint so well at your age. You're quite skilled, aren't you?

Man: …

Aoi: (He's looking at the painting very intently. That's how good the picture is.)

(The man next to him... He's staring at the painting. Maybe he's an art dealer.)

Watteau: Hey, prof. Kuroda…

Man: ... What's with this painting? It would be too bad to sell.

Aoi: (Huh…?)

Man: How could you sell such a painting? Are you in need of money?

I have no choice. I'll buy it off you as a favor to others. For a third of this price.

Watteau: Wha? The hell's with that guy…

Boy: B-But…

Man: There will be no other buyers anyway. I'm saying this out of kindness. You should be grateful.

Giotto: … He can say what he wants, but that was too much.

Watteau: Right. I'm gonna complain to him for a minute–

Mucha: Watteau-san. I understand your feelings, but please wait.

Aoi: Mucha-san!

Mucha: Hello, Deputy Director-san. And Giotto-san and Watteau-san too.

Watteau: No no, this ain't time for leisurely greetings! I mean, what do ya mean wait?

Giotto: While we're at it, that guy's tryin' to buy his paintings, so what?

Mucha: It will be fine. Just watch and you will understand.

Watteau: ???

Man: What's the matter? Can't you see I'm offering to buy it out?

Boy: U-Uhm…

Man: Here, just take the money.

Kuroda: ... Good grief, you have no idea of the value of this painting.

Man: What? A rough drawing with such a touch, it would be a child's doodle from any perspective.

Kuroda: That's that kind of method. Famous artists use it. Don't you know?

Man: O-Of course I know that. But before that, this painting doesn't even have a motif. It's as if he doesn't know what he's trying to convey.

You must be out of your mind to think that this stuff is worth anything.

Kuroda: You're the one with your head in the sand.

This is called an abstract painting. I can't believe you don't know this basic stuff… You're not an art dealer to begin with, are you? You're too shallow.

Man: What…! How many years do you think I've been doing it this way? I'm an unmistakable painting connoisseur!

Kuroda: Oh? I can't believe you would go so far as to say that, even after it was revealed to be a lie. It is quite rare to find such shallow creatures. It would be better to display them as natural monuments.

Man: Y-You can say whatever you want…!

Kuroda: Jokes aside. If you really are an art dealer, then come with me to my museum. Let's hear your critique and see if your aesthetic is that of a professional.

If not, you'll know it, won't you?

Man: Tch… Stop, stop! Who would buy such a painting!

Kuroda: … God, that's a magnificent howl of a loser.

[gruesomejack]

A Very Self Indulgent Meme (UPDATED)

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Sleepy and smiley! Very bashful too. He's the type to hold your hand and make sure you're all right and also just take time to hold you.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Hands. He has a big things for hands. Put em in his mouth, shove em down his pants, he doesn't care as long as they feel nice.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

He's barren, shooting blanks, party popper without confetti. And it bothers him sometimes? Most of the time it's just convenient he doesn't have to clean up, but there are moments (especially with a partner) that it was something he could do.

He's not a spitting quitter though. The ladies at the saloon said if he wants to impress a guy, you gotta swallow and he took that right to heart dhFNCJXJCJCHC

Theo: don't eat it maybe 😰

Emile, sick: 🥴❤️

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He's gay. BUT ALSO OKAY HERE'S A REAL ONE. When he was 17-ish, he caught a pair of farmhands together. He watched from behind the barn, seeing one plant bearded kisses along the inside of the other's thigh and IT SHAPED HIS ENTIRE IDEA OF INTIMACY

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Oh no. The only experience he has is with himself and his hands. That doesn't mean he won't put in a good try! He's quite bashful about the whole thing and a good kiss could get him flustered at first.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Bare bronc. I MEAN,,, Honestly, serious, any riding position he's very comfortable in. Also after he gets his horns and they're able to be tugged on, he'd probably like it from the back too.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Absolutely the sweetest goofball you've ever seen. To him intimacy is something you share when you're happy and it is definitely reflected in the way he approaches it.

There are exceptions, like when he goes to Will for comfort. But usually he wants it to be something that leaves you uplifted

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

It's the late 1800s, I don't think he's even fathomed there's anything he can do with it other than using soap

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Emile is handsy. He's gay, he's got no outlet other than work, he's nearly convinced he doesn't deserve love-- What is he supposed to do, sit in a corner? No, he whacks it and goes to bed like everyone else chDNCNCNV

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Biting! He loves to bite and hard, he wants to draw blood. And when he does, he leaves bloodied kisses all over. Emile likes to paint his partners with his affection.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

In the pasture under the stars 😔❤️❤️❤️

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Strong arms, square jaws, long, soft necks. A beautiful smile, a pretty laugh-- He's repressed, a cool breeze could probably make him horny.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

As much as a people pleasing workaholic he is, I can 100% assure you he'd happily give it without a single complaint. A sore jaw and drool down his chin and neck are just part of the perks!

Emile has a shitty sticker star that says "cock-sucking queen" that I've stuck to the back of his jacket. Don't tell him.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

He's exploratory and NEEDY. He wants to feel every inch of skin he's allowed to but also consume it all.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He's down, but he can't promise it won't turn into something longer! Like in the previous question, he's very exploratory and careful so you have to plan for him getting a little lost in you.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

It would take a little coaxing, but yes. I can see Emile happily accepting indecent touches in places he shouldn't as long as it was the right time, right place, and with the right person.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Being a vampire, physically more than one. Emotionally? Let him get some rest first or else you'll have a very red and overwhelmed cowboy babbling on top of you.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

There's like a stupid meme "country girls make do" and it's like a girl with a vegetable. That's Emile.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He does tease but most of the time it's accidental! You sometimes have to remind him to get to it because he's too busy kissing and biting every piece of skin in front of him

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Quiet, but not silent. He's more of a whimper and whine type than a full on out loud moan. Lots of whispered curses and softer moans in your ear, but he's not yelling.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He's tried to pick up a prostitute! When he was still trying to convince himself he could get married and start a family for his parents, he figured it'd get easier if he just got it over with. The two ended up talking and drinking together for the night instead and they're still friendly to each other today.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Prolly a good six inches. But that's not important, what's important is that there's FRECKLES. Like the rest of him. His asscheeks. His shaft. FRECKLED.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

High yearning, average libido. He's spent the majority of his life telling himself what he wants isn't good for him, so the want for skin to skin contact is high.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

Lights out! It's more of his emotional stamina than his physical one, but he's cuddled up under the blankets and snoring within minutes.

[forevercloudnine]

new 52 scarebat ship meme

(I had @heroes-etc​ give me more questions, but for scarebat this time, since we talk about it 24/7 but I never post about it. These are from this ship meme.)

4. Their favorite physical feature on each other?

There’s only one feature of Bruce’s appearance that’s scarier when he’s not wearing the batsuit, and that’s his creepy blue eyes. Especially the way Greg Capullo draws them where they’re sickly pale and have ridiculously constricted pupils.

So his eyes would definitely be in the running for Jonathan’s favorite feature, even if seeing them would require Bruce’s mask to be off, which is something New 52 Scarecrow explicitly avoids. Yes, that character trait only exists to justify why Batman’s identity is still secret after Scarecrow mind controls and subsequently institutionalizes him in “Gothtopia,” but I think it’s interesting so I’m going to pretend it’s not shoe-horned in there for meta reasons.

Actually having to see Bruce without the cowl on would definitely permanently break the illusion of Batman as a nightmarish inhuman bat demon, which I’m sure is a large part of the appeal for anyone as obsessed with fear as Jonathan Crane. But Bruce’s creepy eyes would be a serious consolation prize. 

Bruce’s favorite of Jonathan’s physical features is rough, because Jonathan is famously not great re: physical features. I’m going to say his mouth, because a) that’s where the snark comes from, and b) the New 52 establishes that in one of their earlier encounters, Jonathan had sewn his own mouth shut, so it’s one of those things where a bad first impression turned positive later on leads to more fondness than if you’d made a good impression in the first place.

I just looked up the panel where he does it and I DID forget how incredibly gross his lips look here, which makes the fact that I have chosen it as Bruce’s feature seem really funny in retrospect. But I do think that seeing Jonathan’s mouth healed and unmutilated would be a reassuring reminder of how he’s stabilized since their first encounter, at least to the point that he isn’t hurting himself anymore. Also, Bruce buys him a lot of chapstick.

Bonus alternate answer that did not make it into the Google Doc:

9. How open are they with their feelings?

Bruce and Jonathan are both pretty competent deceivers in the New 52; Bruce always, Jonathan depending on how the writer is feeling (though you could argue that Bruce just has a stronger grip on reality, while Jonathan’s skill at obfuscation varies with how lucid he is).

...I was going to use Detective Comics #23.3 as an example of Jonathan being a good liar, but actually upon re-reading I’m realizing that only 1/4 rogues buy his attempt at manipulation. So maybe he’s considerably worse at hiding his intentions than he thinks he is. Regardless, he doesn’t ever attempt to disguise his obsession with Batman.

Whether or not he’d express romantic feelings or try to hide them is debatable. There’s no Masters of Fear equivalent in the New 52 establishing that he was ever mocked or punished for expressing romantic feelings for someone, though there is a flashback panel in his origin emphasizing that he was always lonely in this regard (and coincidentally doesn’t specify that his interest is in women, which is fun).

In Green Lanterns #17 he has some internal monologue about how fear is his romance and he needs Batman to feel it, but it is an INTERNAL monologue, so it’s not clear if this is something he would express to Bruce or keep to himself. Or if he’s even fully processed it himself, given how incredibly out of it he is in this comic. Most of his spoken lines are just kind of screaming incoherently. Bruce gets pretty snippy with a Green Lantern at the end of the issue for suggesting that Jonathan should be punished for his crimes as if he were in control of his actions. 

Bruce is a similarly complicated answer, since for all his deceptions and shadowy mystery he pretty much wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to romance. It’s just that his heart doesn’t express or process emotions the same way as anyone around him, which can create conflict. His (seriously underrated) love interest during Scarecrow’s origin arc, Natalya, spent most of her time dating him thinking that he didn’t care about her for this reason. He was trying to express that he loved her, but he mostly did so through complimenting her skills, which she never took as serious declarations of affection because he wasn’t being straightforward and she was insecure.

Jonathan does not himself seem like someone who would be especially secure in the idea of another person having romantic feelings towards him, so I assume that while Bruce might THINK he’s being open with any romantic feelings he develops, he would in reality just be really confusing.

13. How do they react to being away from each other?

I actually think that in general, Jonathan is one of the few people who would have no issue dealing with Bruce’s tendency to unexpectedly go AWOL for long periods of time, given that he himself has a tendency to fixate on his work to the exclusion of everything else.

But New 52 Jonathan specifically probably has pretty serious abandonment issues due to his father putting him in “the pit” and dying before he could take him out, meaning that Jonathan was waiting for his dad to come back for him for God knows how long, until Jonathan Sr.’s employers finally sent the police to investigate. 

So while in general I think he wouldn’t be very clingy, any impression that Bruce had died or otherwise wasn’t coming back for him would probably be incredibly triggering. If Bruce could assuage this reaction by occasionally sending updates that at least indicated he was still alive, then I doubt Jonathan would have any problems with his absence.

(@heroes-etc​: bruce sending like a checkmark emoji once a day. jonathan hears his phone ping, looks at the screen, and goes hm. good. and doesnt respond.)

Bruce meanwhile has no problem ditching literally any love interest at any time if something crime-related comes up, unless he’s considering quitting the cowl for them (as Joker probably accurately fears will happen with Catwoman in Prelude to the Wedding). But I don’t think he’d stop being Batman for Scarecrow, nor would Jonathan ever want him to — he’s interested in Batman, not necessarily Bruce Wayne.

But even though Bruce wouldn’t have an emotional problem with distance, I think he would get similarly paranoid if they went too long without contact, though for different reasons than Jonathan. Unlike some other villains (*cough* Joker and Riddler), Scarecrow has machinations that don’t require getting Batman’s attention, so if he decided to continue with his less legal experiments, he would not feel compelled to get Bruce involved. While the “World’s Greatest Detective” would probably not have an issue keeping an eye on Jonathan while he’s in Gotham, he’s considerably less capable of that in space. And Jonathan is definitely a rogue he would be obsessed with keeping an eye on, even if he reformed. 

Batman & Robin Eternal established that Dick’s first supervillain conflict AND first mission leaving the country was chasing Scarecrow across the world for an entire summer, which is kind of insane considering how early it was in Batman’s career. Like, he did not have an army of children to watch Gotham for him while he was gone. He had one child, and he took that child WITH him. He left Gotham undefended for months, JUST to catch Scarecrow. Sooo that in of itself implies he wouldn’t be great at keeping his distance.

15. Does their view of themselves differ from their partner’s view?

Well, Jonathan occasionally sees Bruce as a giant bat demon, so yes.

Outside of that very obvious differing view, Jonathan in general sees himself and the rest of the rogue gallery as more vital to Batman’s identity than Bruce considers them; the extent to which he’s right varies depending on your interpretation of Bruce’s character, but it’s definitely not something Bruce would ever consciously think or say. 

This is related to something that’s definitely a misconception of his, though, which is that the majority of Batman’s job revolves around supervillains like him. In Kings of Fear, when Jonathan blackmails Bruce into letting him come on patrol with him (which is a whole thing in of itself), he’s shocked at how boring most of Batman’s work is. Which probably goes along hand in hand with sometimes seeing Bruce as an almost mythologically inhuman figure. 

In his defense, it’s not like he has a lot of context for what the minutiae of Batman’s job is like. He’s either fighting Batman, hiding from Batman, or imprisoned by Batman in Arkham, a place where everyone else also spends all their time fighting or hiding from Batman. Which would really skew your perspective.

Interestingly, Bruce and Jonathan are both people who pride themselves on being extremely self-aware. Both of them probably inaccurately. You can rant about how you have a perfect understanding of your troubled mental state all day long, but if you’re still dressing up like a monster at night to indulge the power fantasies you created as a traumatized child by scaring the hell out of people, there’s probably a level of self-realization you haven’t gotten to yet.

Bruce however is at least self-aware enough to regularly be able to analyze his way out of fear toxin induced hallucinations, which Jonathan is unable to do — when he’s not depicted as having become immune to his fear toxin due to overexposure (as he is in Green Lanterns #17), he can be defeated with the same formulas that Batman regularly manages to resist (like his honestly embarrassing breakdown in Nightwing #50). 

Which ties into the difference between how he sees himself and how Bruce sees him: Jonathan obviously visualizes himself as a “master” of fear. He actually has the same internal monologue about fear and trauma that Bruce does in Batman: The Dark Knight #13: “Make it your own... run to what you fear... stare it in the eye... until it whimpers and backs down.” But Bruce doesn’t see Scarecrow as conquering his fear; he sees him as addicted to it, to the point of his own detriment.

Which is interesting, because Jonathan clearly sees his Scarecrow persona as a way to regain control after being victimized by his father’s fear experiments throughout his childhood. I guess Bruce’s perspective would be that Jonathan’s father instead got him addicted to fear as a child, so his attempts at agency as Scarecrow are just a) reliving his trauma over and over and b) compulsively inflicting his own trauma on others. There’s probably some truth to that, even if overall it’s probably an oversimplification (and coincidentally pretty much EXACTLY what Riddler argues Bruce is doing by “funding” Batman in Batman Annual #4, so there’s that).

20. Did either person change at all, to be with their partner?

The obvious answer here is yes, because Jonathan is a supervillain with no regard for human life while Bruce is a superhero who has dedicated his life to protecting people. So presumably one or both of them would have to make serious compromises to be together. HOWEVER. Scarecrow’s primary motivation is to research, understand and inflict fear, while Batman’s modus operandi is making his enemies afraid of him. So despite their contradiction in morals, they’re uniquely positioned to advance each other’s goals, were they to ever join forces.

Bruce never has a problem using fear toxin on Scarecrow, presumably partially out of an “eye for an eye” sense of poetic justice, but also because Batman is practical and it’s a nonlethal weapon that’s always available to him while fighting Scarecrow. If he could have fear toxin customized for his own use, it’s hard to imagine him being unwilling to use it. In Gothtopia he actually advocates for using what’s leftover from Crane’s new formula on all the inmates at Arkham, which seems about as insanely morally ambiguous as it gets. Arguably, putting fear toxin in his smoke bombs would be considerably less wrong than drugging mental patients out of their mind when they’re supposed to be receiving therapy (this is also the issue where he illegally releases Poison Ivy because she did him a favor, which is both morally questionable and relevant to the current topic).

Jonathan obviously already thinks Batman is the most interesting possible case study in fear; it’s why he keeps coming back to Bruce and Gotham despite being one of the more independent villains in Batman’s rogue gallery in the New 52. So though he would have to give up actively kidnapping people (which would be a huge sacrifice, I’m sure), teaming up with Bruce would give him unrestricted access to his favorite test subject. Unfortunately, it seems very possible that he would fall back to old tricks if he ever felt that he’d gotten everything he could out of a partnership with Bruce. Fortunately, that would probably take a VERY long time.

[hitsuackerman]

What in the World? (Akaashi Keiji x Reader) pt.8

Part 8 of WINTW? :D Enjoy! 

Akaashi’s lineup: @alluring-akaashi @oikawalmart-hq @extrasugafree @bbykiyoomi @apricotjihyo @awings​ @simpformiya @colorseeingchick @something-that-idk (i have no idea why i can’t tag some of you :( huhu )

links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 9

The next match went by smoothly. They had lost to the opponent but they were all light hearted about it. Knowing the consequences, Akaashi gave the signal to begin the lap of diving. With a gym this large, that had to be tiring. They weren't complaining though. You had to remind yourself from time to time that this powerhouse school has reached nationals thrice.

Checking the data you recorded, Yukie, Kaori, and you began to compare notes.

"Bokuto-san has been using his straights a little more than usual." Kaori commented. "Probably wants to polish it or he's just warming up for the day."

"Haruki-san managed to save 80% of the balls for his 4th consecutive game. Better than last time." Yukie added.

"Washio-san managed to block all of the balls or one touched them." You inserted. Amazed at how this silent player was stronger than you'd estimated. Silent people really were deadly.

"Akaashi-san did exceptionally well in the last match." Yukie said. "He's getting used to the other's preferred distances and height now. Analytical skills still as sharp as ever, too."

Feeling proud of that compliment, you silently smiled to yourself. Being in class 6 also meant that your grades had to be maintained in every aspect. Akaashi can do all of those with being a vice captain and Bokuto’s close friend with such ease. Scribbling down a few notes, you stopped and tried to grab the notebook from Yukie.

“Well, well, well~”  She lazily teased. “Are you sure you were jotting down their shots or Akaashi-san’s alone?”

“You scribbled his name in different styles as well~” She added once she was by Yukie’s side. Giggling at the 5 different fonts of ‘Akaashi’. “You’re safe for now, little one. But, later before we sleep, better prepare for a little game of truth or dare with the other managers!”

“No escaping.”

A little scared of how serious Yukie was, you nodded and accepted the notebook. Holding it close to your chest, you held onto it like there was no tomorrow. Following the two of them, you found yourself cutting some watermelons

"You're the new trainee, right?" Shinzen's manager asked as she too sliced some watermelons and placed them on a tray. "I'm Mako, by the way."

"(l/n)." You slightly bowed.

"You handle the men really well!" She complimented you. Her light brown eyes focused on half of the fruit. "When I was new, it took a while to get used to such a diverse pack of personalities. It did help that they're soft idiots underneath the rough appearances."

"I'll have to agree." Taking a small piece of watermelon, you savored the refreshing sweetness. "Especially when Bokuto-san goes emo mode, Akaashi really manages to work and balance things out. With the groups effort too, of course."

"Anyway, I'll be seeing you later in our girl's night~" Grabbing the plate, you followed her and walked with a plate full of heavy fruit.

Along with Yukie, the three of you headed to the gym. Finding the boys playing with Karasuno, you couldn't help but feel happy when all the boys looked extra excited for the small sponsored snack. Few moments later, a small watermelon seed spitting contest had begun.

By the corner, you took out your phone to text o-mother. She wanted updates regarding the training and just didn't want to feel lonely while you were hours away. Just as you sent the text, yet another familiar voice made its presence known.

"Uh, are there still any watermelons left?"

Iida? That voice was Iida's. Turning around, you were met with Karasuno's setter. His face showed surprise at the sudden action. What were you hoping for? Of course that wasn't your close friend. Instead you were met with softer features but the similar shade of blue eyes made it feel a bit less lonely.

"I think there's still some by Nekoma's area." You finally replied.

"KAGEYAMA!" The small player whose name you recalled due to Bokuto's stories in the bus, suddenly appeared with light jumping steps. "Ah! That's why you went missing! You're sneaking out to talk to girls!"

"HINATA! YOU IDIOT!" Kageyama slapped Hinata only to have himself being hit as well. " I was just asking her if there were any more watermelons left!"

"Heee~ You could've just went to Nekoma's area instead of asking Fukurodani's manager!" He stuck his tongue out and the fight continued.

In some strange way, the two of them reminded you of Todoroki and Deku.

"OI! KAGEYAMA! SHOYO!" Another familiar voice came running to break the fight. A bit smaller than Hinata, you felt chills down your spine when you realized whose voice you heard. "THAT'S NOT HOW TO ACT WHEN YOUR TALKING TO LADIES!"

Bakugo?? It was weird. Having to hear such familiar voices with different faces holding them.

"Nishinoya! Libero!" He pointed his thumb towards his chest. An ear to ear grin plastered on his lips. The small tuft of blonde gave him that extra oomph.

"Please excuse them," An unfamiliar voice popped in as well. "They get uneasy when talking to girls. Daichi, captain of Karasuno."

Shaking his outstretched hand, you watched as he began to shoo them back into the gym. Giving an apologetic bow, you shook your head and soon followed them.

The little high of hearing the voices of your friends was now dying down. With the match now starting, you began the task of preparing their water bottles. It wasn't that hard but you did take note which bottle they preferred. Yukie and Kaori had to wonder how in the world you retained such tiny details.

The time you dreaded finally arrived.

The hours had flown by a little too quickly for your taste. Sitting in a circle, the female managers were now munching on some snacks that Yukie brought. Yachi and you began to talk about random stuff. It was interesting to hear her story of how she finally understood the importance of being a Townsperson B.

"If it wasn't for Hinata or Kageyama," She lightly scratched her cheek. "I probably wouldn't have found the confidence to become manager."

"Glad you did. Even the smallest of roles can have such a big impact." Recalling a few of your missions, you could feel how the confidence push made her shine even more.

"Okay, ladies!" Yukie now gathered your attention. "It's now time for the highlight of the night. A game of truth or dare."

Groans and giggles filled the room.

Taking a water bottle, she spun it around. Placing your hands in your jacket pockets, you manipulated the air each time the bottle faced you. The first victim had to be Yachi.

"Truth or dare, Yachi-chan." Kaori asked. When she chose truth, her cheeks flared at the question. "Who would make a great couple among the crows?"

This girl was kind but her questions were not.

"Uh, I thi-think," Hiding her face on her palms, Kiyoko and you patted her shoulders as a form of small encouragement. "D-Daichi-san and Suga-san."

Kiyoko covered her mouth and giggled. She nodded her head and agreed at the chosen 2.

The bottle was spun again. It began to slow down but with a little twitch of a finger, it landed towards Yukie. Mako took over and asked the question.

"If you could kiss any player in any of the schools here, which player would you go for?"

Tapping her index on the tip of her nose, she hummed and snapped her finger.

"Kenma." The other girls were a little shocked at her answer. When asked why, she merely shrugged and took a chip. "He's pretty interesting. And his pudding hair reminds me of food."

"Ahh." Both Kaori and you agreed and nodded. Her answer now made sense knowing that she had a thing for food.

The bottle was spun once again and this time it landed a safe distance away. The next to be questioned was Mako. Her question was who among the players would she take to the locker room and spend 7 minutes of heaven with. Yukie was definitely not lazy when it came to interrogations. Thank goodness you had a quirk.

“Kuroo would probably be fun to take into a closet but I think he’s a little too flirty for me.” She managed her thoughts out loud. Staying silent for a few seconds, she finally stated her answer. “Maybe Akaashi-san would be nice. He’s really respectful and pretty.”

The girls began to ‘ooh’ and giggle at her choice. Your two co-managers stared into your soul. Avoiding any sort of eye contact, you turned to face Yachi and sparked a conversation with her. That had to be the worst decision you made for the night. Being a bit too engrossed at such a random topic, you failed to take note of the bottle.

“Yo~ (y/n)~” Yukie’s lazy voice sent chills down your spine. Eyes widening at the realization that you forgot to focus your quirk on the bottle, you uttered a few curse words. “So, what’s with you and Akaashi?”

Mako gasped and covered her mouth. Telling her it was okay, you tried to wiggle your out.

“That’s not really a truth question.”

“Okay.” She crossed her arms and merely gave a lazy smirk. “If given the chance, would you take him to the rooftop and kiss him, tonight?”

“Why not?” You shrugged.

“Noted.” Kaori mumbled to herself, enough for you to hear. “Now that that’s over with, how ‘bout we do an open forum? Like what do you guys wanna talk about? Anything bothering you?”

Things went smoothly after that. Feeling a bit sleepy, you stifled a yawn and stretched without moving. Not that their problems or thoughts weren’t interesting, it was just the fact that today was a rather long day and the futon was very inviting. Reaching for your phone, you checked your messages and found Asami had replied.

Asami-chan: AAHHHH YOU BIIITSHH!! HOW DARE YOU TAKE A PICTURE WITH MY BOKUTO?! AND HOW DARE YOU DID NOT TAKE A SOLO PIC OF HIM?!

You: Drool. Chill. I’ll take one tomorrow.

Opening your mother’s response, you had to love how she sent a full on paragraph about how you should take care and that she misses you even more and a lot of fluffy words that made you smile. Reading the last part, you simply texted you loved her.

The last of the messages was sent no more than 4 minutes ago.

Akaashi: Good evening. Are you awake?

You: Yeah. We’re having a girl’s night here.

It was a bit of a shocker to see that he was now replying.

Akaashi: If you’re hungry, I have a snack bar.

You: Is it even allowed to go out of the rooms this time of night?

Akaashi: It’s still early. And Bokuto-san is still practicing with Kuroo-san so I have some spare time.

You: Can’t get enough of me?

Akaashi: I’ll meet you by the entrance.

Heart beating faster, you were now in a cinch. With the way the girls night was going, for sure you would be teased no doubt if you would mention his name. More so that the question given to you involved the person you were about to meet. Thinking about a reason, you stood up and went towards your bag. Rummaging aimlessly, you saw a napkin and nodded to yourself.

“I’ll be back.” Waving the item, the girls shooed you till you closed the door. Thus began the small run towards the entrance. When the last flight of stairs came, you slowed down and walked. Gotta catch your breath and not look like a fool.

“Hello to you.” You greeted him when you saw him. God he looked so good even with the dim lighting the area had to offer. In his hand were two snack bars. His drenched towel rested on his shoulder. Taking the bar, you sat beside him. Even with all the sweat, he smelled good. “You tired?”

“A bit.” He rolled his left shoulder. “Bokuto-san and Kuroo-san got into a competition and it so happens that I was the only setter in gym 3.”

“Oh.” Fidgeting with the bar, you inhaled and took a big bite. “I, uhh, can massage your shoulders if you want? I have pretty dandy hands”

“You don’t have to.” He stared at his shoes and wiped some non-existent sweat. The prospect of a shoulder massage would be very nice, he had to admit. But the thought of being seen by those two asses in the nearby gym was not good. Scanning the area, he saw the sprinting hill and waited if you would insist.

“I don’t mind.” Tucking a hair behind your ear, you bit your tongue and tried to calm down. “There’s not much malice in it anyway.”

Malice? Where and why did you even think of that word? Wondering why Akaashi stood up, he motioned for you to follow him. When he extended a hand, you didn’t need it but who could resist? Holding on to it, the both of you began to climb up the small sprinting area. Making sure that both of you were now behind the tree, he sat down and leaned on the trunk.

“So, uh, you can face that way to…” Fighting villains was nothing, but having to massage this sweaty man’s shoulders was a feat itself. When he followed instructions, you were now face to shoulder with Akaashi Keiji. This was even scarier when you had to battle with one of the eight precepts of death. With shaky hands, you warned Akaashi that you were about to start. He merely hummed.

When your palms touched his damp shirt, you activated your quirk to aid in relaxing his muscles. One of the advantages of having a quirk like yours was how you could manipulate the heat of your palms. Whenever you had sore or overworked muscles, a massage with your quirk always made you feel a thousand times better within a few minutes. Akaashi leaned in on your touch and let out an exhale. He could feel the effects of what you were secretly doing.

“You really do have dandy hands.” He praised you. Your small fingers delicately massaging the soreness away was something not even his own mother could do. Not wanting to strain you any further, he held on to your hands to signal you to stop. Peering over his shoulder, he gave a small smile and told you that was more than enough.

Leaning back on the trunk, he was amazed at how his body felt much more energized than last time. With your hand still being held by his, he stared at them for a moment before letting go. At the same time, the both of you missed the warmth and small tug.

“Thanks for the massage, (l/n).”

“No big deal.” Feeling that you used a small chunk of your quirk, you were silently thankful he still held on to your hand for an extended period of time. Though, when he let go, you kinda wished he didn’t. “Thanks for the snack bar, Akaashi.”

“Consider it payment for the massage.”

“Hey, hypothetical question.” Seeing him nod, you continued. “What if you, uhh, wake up one morning and find yourself in a completely different world; Different people, environment, everything. What would you do?”

“Hmm…” Giving him a few minutes, you were curious as to what his answer would be. “I’d probably lose my mind for the first couple of days. But I guess I could get information to see if it’s safe or dangerous. What about you?”

“I’d do the same thing.” The crickets were now chirping in the background. A soft breeze passed the both of you causing the leaves to rustle. “What if you met someone in that world? And they make you feel that there’s more to life than having to protect others constantly? Hypothetically, of course.”

“I don’t know.”

“Honestly, same.”

- - - - -

a/n: hihihi just a sprinkle of drama in this chapter :) hoping ya’ll like this! Akaashi’s lineup still accepting players! Drop a comment or message me if ya’ll wanna be listed :)

[leggomylino]

I saw someone else do one of these about a week ago, and it’s been on my mind to do one as well. It’s a very sweet gesture and I want to let all my mutuals know that not only do I see them and care about them, but I also really appreciate y’all as well! So without further ado, here’s my shoutout to each and every one of you! ->

@lovesickmark​ -> I’m pretty sure you’re like, the first person I really connected with on here? If not THE first then definitely one of the first. I know you’ve been going through a lot and I respect that; I’m cheering for you from the sidelines tho, just remember that! It’s been wonderful having you around so I hope you’re doing well and that you keep moving forward. <3

@jisungx2​ -> JOSIIIIIIIE >A< My INFP sister. I’m sure things have been kind of annoying and rough for you too, what with the holidays here and having to work Black Friday and most the rest of the season (holy cow I salute you and I’m really glad you didn’t die. Ily man.) It makes me so happy when you leave cute asks in my box like “hope you have a great day!” or “[enter cute chain mail here]”. You’re just very cute 😞😞 and I really wish you all the best this holiday season! I hope you’re taking care of yourself and remembering to take breaks when you need it. Remember the storage room excuse. Ily bro man.

@iiasha​ -> We haven’t been talking for very long but like, omgosh I love talking to you oops. 😂😅 Idk sis, I guess because most of my mutuals are a bit younger than me it’s nice to have someone who’s the same age I can relate to? And also someone to guide me through the confusing but quite entertaining world of the Seventeen fandom 💍 (I’m on my laptop and I couldn’t find the giant diamond emoji don’t @ me). ALSO! YOUR WRITING!! IS SO GOOD!!! Ugh I STILL gotta get to that Jimin alt. ending 😫😓 But I’ve been very invested in working and my language studies as of late while procrastinating on my other works rip. ANYWAY! I APPRECIATE YOU!! LET’S TALK MORE!!! YEEHAW!!!!

@joully​ -> You and I are still going to take over the kpop industry with our band, right? Shoot, what was the name of it again?? 😂😂 I don’t remember RIP...anyway, we don’t talk hardly as much but, I still see a lot of your posts and think about you! You’re really talented and I’m totally jelly of your piano skills 🥺🥺 Like dang I wish I could play half as good sis. Also, I’d really like to visit Germany one day! My dad’s best friend lives there, they met while he was travelling Europe in the army. He said we may go there one day and if we do, or if I just have to make my own adventure, I’d love to meet at a coffee shop and say hello. <3 Please continue taking care of yourself and come talk to me sometime! If you don’t, I will!! Lol 💕

@minniewoos​ -> 😎😎 <- SEE I REMEMBERED ❤️ I really hope your anatomy final went well! I bet it did <3 And if you haven’t taken it yet, you’re going to do great, I know! ^^ We haven’t talked for long but, I enjoy talking to you a lot. It’s always nice and appreciated to have another stay to bond with and just chat about how dumb boys can be but wow they sure are cute while doing it. Sigh. Anywho, I’m looking forward to talking with you more, and if you ever get a chance, I’m excited about getting to maybe study Korean together!  천천히 해 💓

@kpoptrashx2​ -> Luisa!!! We don’t really speak as often either 🤔 But I really appreciate that you’re always there to help me with my writing and give me pointers when I need it. Thank you so much for that! It’s truly very helpful because as a writer I have no idea how something is going to sound to others who have no idea what’s going on inside my head. ^^” Not only that but it’s a joy getting to chat with you as well. 💓 I hope you’re doing well and that we’ll get to catch up soon!

@hanniesunshine​ -> Omgosh sis I cannot wait for your story to come out! You know the one I’m talking about so I won’t accidentally spoil anything lol. But anyway! I hope you’re well and that you’re doing alright. We haven’t talked for very long but I had so much fun talking about your story with you, and I’m looking forward to chatting about even more stuff! 🥰

@bopping-to-my-kpop​ -> Sis you betta talk to me more or imma come after you 😤😤 Don’t test me I’ll dang sure hold another court case if I have to! And it’ll be totally rigged because I’ll be in charge of everything! The judge? It’s me. The jury? Also me~ Any outside opinions? I have influence in all of them! 💞 ...Nevertheless, I really hope that you’re well, and please know that you can come to me for anything :c Even if it’s just to take your mind off of something negative and you need a laugh. I’ll see what ridiculous shenanigans I can cook up for you, okay? You’re never a burden, I love helping people (esp. people I care about!) so please stop by anytime!! #westanemmainthishouse 🥀

@xxsanshinexx​ -> I haven’t talked to you in forever but I really hope you’re doing well! I haven’t seen many posts from you recently :(( Idk if you’re just busy or if I’m blind, but if you ever get a chance I’d love to catch up! Whatever you got going on please keep doing your best and remember to take your time as well. <3

@spuds-potato​ -> 🌟🌟🌟 B)) What’s poppin little sis? I hope you’re doing well as well, and I’m still waiting for my story 😤😤 Remember if Celi dies she’s dragging her bf down with her okay?! Okay. Some Romeo and Juliet action going on 😂😂 Aaaaaaanywho, I’ll have to pop in soon on Insta and you can tell me about your day! Remember boys are dumb and drink plenty of water~ 💗💗

@chanscoffee​ -> I know you’re super busy but I totally miss talking to you 😭😭 and I hope you’re well. I rarely use Snap but I need to hop on there sometime and maybe we can chat! Or on Insta. Idk we’ll see. Whatever you have going on just know I’m still supporting you and I’m here if ever you need someone. 💖

@daydream-jwoo​ -> Okay I’m telling you now imma be texting you soon! Seriously sis how have you been?! We have so much to catch up on! 😩😩 The holidays have managed to be both crazy and slow at the same time some how? Like time has been completely nonexistent and a total paradox lately. 🗿🗿 It’s wild. Anyway imma keep this one short bc it’s been so long and I’ll text you soon!! 💝💝

@thevampywarlock​ -> Give me a minute.........okay. *deep breath* AAAAH I THINK YOU’RE REALLY CUTE!?!?! ...Aaaaaanyway uwu” The stories you write are so cute and just, small wholesome things that you manage to extend and expand upon? Does that make sense? I really admire that. It’s like subtle but I definitely see it and eventually I’m going to come around to going on a reblogging spree \o7o/ But until then I hope you’ll consider stopping by and talking with me more? You’re a wonderful author and I think you have a kind heart. ^^ <3

@jisungsjheekies​ -> Oh sis. We gotta chat more too! Your stories are also very cute and well written and idk why but, I feel very compelled to support both you and @backhugsforhyunjin​ and whole squad. It’s very strange and I don’t mean to alarm anyone 😂😅 I just...can’t really explain it other than I feel like y’all are good people and I’d love to get to know you better. Anyway I’ll cut this short to avoid making anything unnecessarily weird, but, I’d really love to talk with you more! And I def support and appreciate you!!

@backhugsforhyunjin​ -> Sis you too, we def gotta chat more 😤 If you ever need anyone to talk to, I understand we aren’t close at all but I’m available to listen or give advice if you need it? 😅 Also, you’re a wonderful author as well. I really wish the best for you and hope to hear from you more in the future. If anything, please remember to take your time and know that there are people cheering for you! You got this, whatever it may be!!

@gaiyofanfiction​ -> Asdfghjkl now that we’re buds ofc I had to make you a part of this too 🤪🥳 I think we could use a team name, what do you think about #TurkeyDragons?  Bc the NCT float?? 😂😂 I like it honestly...but if you hate it lmk lmao. I hope we get to talk more soon and I’m really looking forward to an update of Twisted Karnival! One of the greatest fanfics I’ve ever read on here 😞✊ Of course with the Holiday season here updating isn’t super important, y’all pls take care of yourselves first and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! (p.s. if anyone else is reading I wish this for y’all as well!) ❤️🎄

~~~

. . . That was a lot. If I’ve forgotten anyone I sincerely apologize and I love and appreciate you as well! Please don’t be mad at me 😩😩 At the end of the day I really do love and appreciate all my followers and mutuals, y’all are all fantastic and I’m always rooting and cheering for you like the Mom in every Pokemon rpg ;-;-;-; Keep going and become the Pokemon Champion okay? And I mean really go kick Gary’s ass, because he’s an ass and needs his ass whooped after all the crap he puts you through in Red/Green. I can’t wait for a reboot to come up on Switch so I can kick his butt all over again 😤🤭🥴 Anyway x9,000, thanks for coming to my Appreciation Ted Talks and I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful day and rest of 2019, as well as a happy New Year and an amazing 2020! ...Dear son of a biscuit it’s gonna be 2020. Wow. Letting that sink in. Where’s the rewind button? Actually I’m not sure if I wanna go back maybe it’s best if we bury this year for the most part and start over 👀💧

OKAY THAT BEING SAID EVERYONE GO OUT AND TAKE DOWN GARY!!! ILY ALL WOO 화이팅!! LET’S GET THIS 2020 BREAD after a cup of eggnog and some holiday celebrations uwu Peace out and again I love y’all! 💝

[crystalelemental]

Oh man.  GamePress apparently updated the offensive tier list to be AR exclusive, and boy have there been some changes.  You know I have opinions on this one.

Okay let’s start with the obvious part: how in the hell is any Legendary hero considered above Tier 2?  Like, are we not factoring in score?  Or are we only accounting for if they score well?  Because realistically, half the time, a legendary hero is an active detriment to the scoring.  Also it turns out this isn’t just offense, but both offense AND defense, since Mirabilis is Tier 1.  So that’s gonna be...honestly, a bit confusing.  I’m sure some people can tell which is which, but I’m willing to bet others aren��t clear.

Let’s start with the biggest changes at the top.  Eliwood and Brave Roy are now Tier 1, likely because Galeforce.  Nothing else is different that I can tell.  Maybe some demotion?  But nothing substantial.  Lysithea is finally recognized as Tier 1, and I’m certain it’s because of her power on AR-D.  Girl is obscene.  Otherwise, Fallen Julia is the only other T1 Red Mage, and damn good on her.  Idunn demoted, but honestly, fair.  AR is not for her.  Armor units are not hard to handle, and are pretty bad on offense.  Especially with Thrasir existing, armor dragons just have a rough go.  Spring Idunn and Tibarn alone are T1.  What I do find interesting is that Dancer Micaiah didn’t maintain.  I guess the Hardy Bearing effect isn’t as impressive anymore.  Also Karla stayed T2, that’s...astonishing, actually.  Duo Byleth is also T2, which kinda makes sense.  Defense can’t make use of her Duo skill, and her bulk is pathetic, so any typical ranged defense unit can handle her.  On offense, it’s going to be tough.  Desperation effect is good, but conditional on having a fast team, not to mention Galeforce sets can require the foe to retaliate, like with Eliwood/Brave Roy.  So I can’t say I’m surprised she’s not on top.

Lance seems to just be B!Lucina, Duo Ephraim, and Trio Palla.  Which is fair.  Blue mages, though?  Damn is this crowded.  L!Azura and Peony, because obscene dancers.  Ophelia, because bitch.  Duo Alphonse, because immortality.  Brunnya, because honestly Fimbulvetr is perfect for this game mode, and she’s got the infantry status and abilities to do whatever she wants.  And L!Julia.  I’m willing to bet she’s more AR-D focused.  Rafiel and L!Chrom are also T1, of course.  I think what really surprises me is that Reinhardt is T2.  Is anyone else surprised about this?  I guess he’s not the most threatening thing in the world anymore, but still.  Actually wait, what’s REALLY neat is that Naga is T3.  So clearly scoring considerations are not paramount.

Axes have V!Duo Alm, Annette, L!Edelgard, and B!Ike.  Because of course.  All of them are ridiculous.  Mages have L!Celica, Thrasir, and Fallen Lyon, with beasts/dragons having Reyson.  Which, again, makes sense.  I’m glad Surtr demoted to T2.  I really don’t think of him as the most threatening aspect of AR anymore, even on dedicated stall, so this feels overdue.  Yune’s also T2, which..okay, fair.  While I think she’s great, she’s a ranged flying unit who plays defense, and her debuff game is crippled severely by Eir’s bonuses.  It’s super weird that F!Kana demoted, though.  She was T1 before, and that was entirely based on AR potential, so...okay.  Guess the meta has shifted hard enough against her.  Also, big shoutouts to Julia for maintaining T2 status.  That’s my girl.

Bows have L!Alm, L!Leif, V!Faye, and Duo Marth.  I can’t speak for Duo Marth, I don’t have him, but I feel like the fact I’ve never faced one means he’s at least not good on AR-D.  I can vouch for V!Faye, though, holy shit.  In fact can we establish Tier 0 for the primordial beings that break the world over their knees?  Anyway, Bernadetta and B!Lyn are T2, and I’m betting that’s for hit-and-run offense teams.  Also Norne’s T2 now, which is super correct.  I’ve felt this for a while, and the forum backs me up pretty hard on it: Norne’s the best common archer by a mile.  But of course, you all know what I’m going to say.  There is no way Faye is T3.  I have played her ranged defense game long enough to know that she is really strong at it.  While some threats like Lysithea can blow past her, and Thrasir isn’t always one-shot with my current supports, she is very capable of performing better than T3.  Also, poor Clarisse.  Finally gets a kickass refine that’s just not particularly great for AR, and instead of climbing the ranks of the offensive tier list, they change the conditions on her.  Girl can’t catch a break.

Dagger/Mage combos have, of course, Bramimond, Leila, Eir, and Duo Micaiah.  Absolutely no surprises here.  What is surprising, maybe just to me, is that Winter Cecilia is down to T3.  She was considered T2 for a long while, and I’d guessed that was based on AR potential.  I guess Duo Micaiah is causing substantial problems for armors across the board?  But man, Larum is T2.  LARUM.  Larum sucks, what could she possibly be doing that’s useful?

Dragons/Beasts have Fallen Female Corrin, Leanne, Mila, and Velouria.  I love everything about this.  Leanne makes sense for Defense teams, Velouria is a great Galeforcer, Mila is probably the best Light mythic for supertank strategies, and Fallen Female Corrin makes me happy because Fallen Male Corrin is only T2.  Get fucked, loser.  Your higher BST does nothing for your shit ass.  I do think there’s an argument for Caineghis in T1 for an offensive supertank, but honestly, he struggles.  To a degree I’d say he’s worse than Faye.  We don’t have any beast Mythics, and the only offensive dragon is Mila.  His DC is conditional on transforming, and he’s an armor unit.  He can’t run Null C-Disrupt, or Null Follow-Up like she can, so there are defense teams that can beat him by exploiting this.  I feel like Faye’s a lot better, but hey, what do I know.

And finally, staves.  Bridal Fjorm is the only one in T1.  Brave Veronica actually dropped, which is funny because she was T1 before solely on AR.  She doesn’t place in Arena.  I guess the meta has shifted away from Brave Veronica lately.  I haven’t been scared of one in a long time.  And hey, Maribelle is T2 as well, and Forrest got pushed up to T3!  Unfortunately, Brave Camilla was reduced to T3, so she’s still below B!Veronica.  Which in this game mode I guess is fair.

Now for the opposite end of the spectrum.  There are now 6 tiers, which I like.  I feel the subdivisions are appropriate, we have enough units that categorization was tough.  T4 for lances and swords was like 60 units before, I’m glad it got cleaned up a bit.  For red stuff, Alfonse remains at the bottom, but is no longer alone.  NY!Camilla, Chrom, V!Conrad, Beach Fiora, Hinata, and NY!Hrid are also down there.  Haha, Hrid, get fucked you loser.  That’s for January 2019, you fuck.  Mages here include Canas, Julius (ouch), Leo, Beach Leo, Raigh, and Beach Lorenz.  No surprises.  There are no dragons, daggers, or bows for red down here, the lowest they go is T4.  Hysterically, every form of red Tiki is in T4.  Also, maybe this is me not understanding something, but NY!Anna and NY!Eir in T4 surprises me.  I thought their weapons were considered great team support.  Are their stats just not optimized for it? 

T6 lances are many.  Too many, I’m not listing all of that.  What I will say is, tell my Forma Finn running on the double cav Galeforce defense team that he’s T6.  Considering I only lost two matches at all last season, and only 38 Lift, I’d say he’s doing alright.  But there are probably better options out there, I’m just working with what I have.  Mages are just Oliver and M!Robin.  Man, I hope M!Robin goes up with the resplendent.  Leave Oliver to die.  No dragons, bows, or daggers, they’re all up in T4 where...where...no.  No, there’s no way.  Lilith has warp abilities from anywhere.  NAESALA is considered T4, despite being paired with Tibarn for some of the nastiest offensive AR-D strategies out there.  Mordecai has the Smite thing.  I don’t agree with this at all.  And Ninian is T3?  Even though she’s one of the top picks for Infantry Pulse AR-D dancers?  I know Nils exists and is better in every way pretty much, but that’s a bit much to me.  I think the blue dragon/beast section is the most ridiculous by far.

There are also a lot of axes down in T6, but I agree with all of them.  The green mages make me sad, though.  Picnic Leo, Cecilia, and Female Robin.  I do think F!Robin has a lot of utility within the game, but...honestly they’re super right, she cannot possibly compete in AR.  Defense teams have no use for her, and offensive teams using her as a support are a bad idea with Panic Manor around.  Mostly Cecilia makes my heart hurt.  Come on, IS.  Null C-Disrupt Raven Tome when?  As with the other tiers, all dragons, bows, and daggers of this color are higher ranked.  That said, L!Lyn in T5.  Get fucked.  There’s also...absolutely nothing controversial about their T4 picks.  Green’s pretty well sorted, good job team.

The only colorless option with units in T6 are healers, where we have Azama, Mist, Wrys, Sakura, and Lissa.  Nothing controversial here.  In fact, nothing controversial in T5, either.  What is sad but super true, is that F!Grima’s here.  All the other colorless beasts and dragons are clustered in T1 and T2, but she’s down in T5.  Expiration refine when?  Felicia and Jaffar are the lowest ranked daggers, to no one’s surprise.  None of the bows are shocking either, except I’m kinda surprised Niles isn’t at least a little higher.  I feel like his massive Res must account for something when attempting to tank out the many ranged magic threats on AR-D, right?

Overall, I...actually agree with the majority of this.  It’s a solid tierlist for Aether Raids.  There are some things I don’t entirely agree with, but would have trouble arguing in their favor in the current meta.  Like Micaiah.  As we move entirely away from armor units, Micaiah becomes less and less significant.  I do think the blue dragon/beast section could take some revisiting, given that goddamn Naesala is down in T4, but one area that seems off isn’t bad when you have so much to organize.  I like it.  Definitely a lot better than the previous list, because at least now we’re specialized.  Before, there was always an argument that a certain unit was better or worse based on performance in a specific area.  But here, it’s more stable.  I’m not sure if there’s intent to make an Arena one, or if that’s even necessary since scoring is a lot more specific for Arena, but we’ll see.

[bloody-fists-beating-hearts]

It’s a Fallout76/Bethesda rant

Bethesda just released Fallout 1st, a horseshit pay-to-win subscription system for their absolute cum-bubble of a game, and while it’s getting the flack it deserves there are people already putting on their kneepads so they can gobble down Todd Howards entire turgid cock, and as someone who likes rpg’s way too much this irked me, so have a massive and barely coherent rant i took off the discord because why not.

I want to start off with this:  Every good thing about current fallout comes from the fanbase. The stories people tell, the headcanons, the fanfics, the art, everything fans do for it is made with more love, and more thought, than anything Bethesda’s writing and games design team has done in the last 10 years

Now first of all, I haven’t bought or played 76. People are gonna stop me right there and go ”well you haven’t bought it how would you know its bad!!” yeah, I’ve never eaten dog shit either but I can pretty well guess that I ain’t gonna fucking like it.

I knew the second he said "there are no npcs" with actual enthusiasm that this game was gonna be shit. And if you give me 2 seconds to gloat, I never bought the game and I knew this was gonna happen and I was RIGHT so suck my fat hairy nuts all those fanboys who pre-order things mindlessly just because there's a brand name attached to it. If there is anything you take from this its DO NOT PREORDER. BRAND LOYALTY IS FOR BOOMERS AND BOOTLICKERS. FOR FUCKS SAKE BE SMART WITH YOUR MONEY.

Games like this are fucking 80-90 dollars or more in Australia so I actually have to think about whether this momentary distraction is worth almost an entire days paycheck, and I’m still looking for employment which means I actually haven’t bought shit in a while (side note, anyone wants to commission me for 10 dollars I’ll draw damn near anything. God I need to make rent)

Every executive at Bethesda seems to be playing catch-up to EA's monetisation scheme. Beth has abandoned their model of single-player rpg's in favour of a "games as a service" model. Fallout 76 seems to me like its a weird experiment for just how far they can stretch this and still make money. It actually makes me wonder if they are 

 a) just completely unaware of fanbase response [no idea HOW]

b) are running into financial problems and are doing this out of desperation

 c) todd howard is still mad that obsidian made a better fallout than he ever could and he's doing this out of spite 

  Games as a whole has become much like the movie industry where publishers will throw big buckets of cash around to development teams, and those teams have CEO's and higher ups that throw lavish meet n greets and have nice fancy suits and cars and then treat their development teams like shit, overworking them to the point of exhaustion, because the product has to be on time for release dates that are scheduled to be the most profitable (christmas is a notable one). 

And those products are consistently bland, shitty, shallow experiences. Narrative cum-dumpsters that are purposefully made to toe the line as safely as possible, to be open to as wide as an audience as possible so they can make the most money, and Bethesda is a huge offender. Skyrim was fun, sure, but it was watered down to fuck, it had shitty dialogue, it had bland one-note characters, it had a simplified skill system. It was impossible to lose. Seriously, try and fail a fucking quest in skyrim, other than one or two, it's a hand-holder of an rpg, but it has a huge community of fans that put in monumental effort, for free, because they like the Elder Scrolls, and they like the world bethesda made. 

  Then Bethesda goes "hey, that watered down thing we made got huge! lets release it about 12 more fucking times, with some of the SAME bugs, with the SAME content, with the SAME limitations and Yes, we absolutely expect you to pay for it, again. Then they release the remastered edition which, to their credit, is free to anyone who already bought the legendary edition (on PC), and does actually have updated 64bit capability and some graphical enhancements (that aren't anywhere near what some goober in his basement cooked up in his spare time, but whatever). Then, seeing that Skyrim was so popular, with kids especially, and made money, they turn their sights to fallout 4, a game that was so anticipated that someone made a fake countdown and caused a small meltdown on tumblr/social media when it was revealed to be fake (i was part of that fiasco, i remember the hype, i was there goddamnit)

So Fallout, a franchise that literally has its theme as its FUCKING TAGLINE, an ADULT game that is equal parts crude, gory and humorous. A game that satirises the cold war era of american my-country-tis-of-thee blind loyalty and openly mocks the way war was idealised, and shows that not even the literal end of the world could either stop humanity's lust for blood or its desire for conquest. Games that showed you the growth of the world - from shady sands to the NCR, from the vault dweller to arroyo, shit actually happened in the games, the world didn't just stop turning when the bombs dropped. A game where you you become a porn star for fucks sake, and it's funny. 

So Bethesda sees that, makes something like it (fallout 3) which is good, but a little rough around the edges when you look at it too hard. But the way they suck you into the vault, the way they build a relationship with your dad and your way of life is immersive as fuck, so when you leave the place you actually feel like you're leaving something important, not just finishing the tutorial

then they outsource a Fallout game to obsidian, because hey, we saved your franchise by buying it off you, but if you can make an entire game in one year and get a metacritic score of 85 we'll even throw in a bonus. And fuck me sideways and in the ear, if the obsidian devs didn't work themselves harder than a 4-armed hooker. And they made a game that on release was a clusterfuck of bugs, because they were given an unrealistic time limit and missed the metacritic score by ONE POINT so bethesda goes "nhey heh sucks to suck" and fucks them off the franchise forever. EXCEPT (and I admit I'm biased here) the game is good. The game is actually really good when you remove those bugs, and people start forming attachments to it, and mentioning how bad fallout 3's writing is by extension. 

  So Todd and Co. in his infinite wisdom, decide that the only thing a fallout rpg needs is 50s aesthetic and fuck all else, and he releases a game so watered down it can't even be called an rpg. And its not. There are no skills. There are barely any dialogue checks. Instead of dialogue, Nate/Nora is a flat, samrish individual that is either "yes sir right away sir may i have another", "yes but i'm gonna make an unfunny quip about it" "this option pretends to say no but its gonna give you the quest marker anyway". 

The game drops any pretence of difficulty by giving you a deathclaw, a minigun and some power armour in the first 10 minutes, allowing you to effectively reach late-game power levels with some minor scavenging for ammo or cores. Then the game ropes you into some inter-faction war that realistically you wouldn't give a shit about, because some spud in a cowboy hat fucking deputizes you into a military general because you shot like 4 raiders from a rooftop (with a minigun. in power armour. making you nigh-invulnerable to bullets). You're sad about your son about 3 times the whole game and then you're on your merry way to mowing down humans left right and center without a care in the world. God fallout 4's writing is so stupid it gives me an aneurysm.

 Remember the part about resources wars and america only having the veneer of a strong country while riots, inflation, and resource shortages tore it apart from within? Bethesda doesn't, have an eerily stepford pastel coloured glimpse at a world that was totally fine, nothing wrong here, shame it got nuked oh well moving on

Your spouse? yeah you love them, they're said 2 whole sentences to you then they died, be sad because you totally loved them and it is totally sad that they are dead. Your weird play-dough son shaun, you love him so much, you even tickled him on the chin once, okay he's gone off you go to chase him - woah now, don't chase him too hard we have all these side quests for you to do! What would be the narrative reasoning for a supposedly distraught parent to fuck around boston instead of finding their goddamn child? fuck knows! just go pick up some goddamn wood and get to base building sonny-jim! 

Companions? yeah, they're fun, we gave them a romance questline and it's thus: if you pick enough locks and pass a minor charisma check maccready will be ready and willing to tell you about his sick child, and then he'll ride you like a stallion. Talk to him like, 4 times, and he will be your bosom buddy for life in about 3-5 days if you just pick locks like a fucking madman, because character growth is hard and counting beans is easy.

 Also your son is a part of the faction we were talking about! something about synths, remember that one questline from rivet city that barely anyone actually remembers and was an interesting time waster at best? Well get ready to do that same quest but about! 15! more! times! because we could not think of anything else to write about synthetically produced humans that assume peoples identities other than having them as a hamfisted metaphor for slavery. Why do they take over people's identies? Well because the institute needs them to aasdkfjdh kshshshsh t9oe of course. 

Speaking of hamfisted metaphors, here's the underground railroad, named after the underground railroad that actually mattered, except this time its the same thing but synths. They are so top secret that the only way to find them is to follow the only bright red line in a street that is exclusively green-brown otherwise, and then enter their super secret password, which is "password"

They are then, like every other faction, absolutely willing to trust you, at face value, no questions asked, because have to actually do something or require a skill check might make this hard for people under the age of 12 to play. Then you go do whatever fuckin shit you do, I stopped playing at this point, and then you find out your son is actually 60, you guys have a tearful, 10 sentence reunion, then he diesthe whole reason you were out here in the first place dies, and you react appropriately, which is to say you say his name really sadly, and then go back to mowing down raiders with reckless abandon

And then 76 gets released, bethesda drops all pretense of fallout still being an rpg. You want a story? Fuck you, pay up. Its retro future and thats all that makes falloutSatirizing war mongering? You can nuke things in this game and its totally fine, its actually the goal, because fallout has nukes in it right? Pay us 10 dollars and you get army olive drab spraypaint because hurrgh war is fun and great, wasnt that the tagline from the first game?The more i rant the more angry i am because people put their heart and soul into writing this. The lore and dialogue is actual work that someone researched and loved and felt proud of and now  it's becoming a hilariously meta parody of itself. 

Honestly FUCK bethesda and and fuck todd howard for his pisspoor cash grab. Not even worth calling it a video game anymore

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapters 216 & 217: bear bum humor falls short, the cat came back and more bears!

I am posting another combined chapter meta as work is still quite busy for me - this is just a really bad time of the year for me with so many meetings on top of normal things. 

Chapter 216 starts with the group in a stand off with a white bear.  Throughout the chapter the language describing the bear will shift between a white bear or polar bear, done on purpose by the EHS scans team as to indicate the group isn’t sure about what the bear is.  It likely is not a polar bear and I’m a bit disappointed, but that’s okay.

Shiraishi has already removed his soaking wet clothing and wrapped himself in one of the white cloths/sheets they stole from the ship.  He’s traveled with this group long enough to know what to do.   However, his naked bum is a sign of things to come in the chapter.  . . .

@goldenkamuyhunting​ has already written an excellent summary of this chapter here: https://goldenkamuyhunting.tumblr.com/post/188470521878/ramblings-and-crazy-theory-time-about-gk-chap-216

I agree with many aspects of the summary - the summary reveals a lot of the the mental states of the group as well as how they try to determine their actions towards the bear.

I won’t dwell on 216 a lot.  Asirpa quickly tries to determine if the white bear is one that failed to hibernate . . . Sugimoto of course takes charge and says that he’ll take care of the bear while Asirpa grumbles in the background that she’s out of arrows.  Since she used all of her arrows during their escape (why did she do this?  It seems to be a very poor decision be without any arrows?) she can’t take care of the bear.  I think Asirpa’s lack of arrows demonstrate that Asirpa made an impulsive decision when she escaped and it goes against her normal rational approach to things.

What that she then shifts to what she thinks about the value of the white bear’s fur.  And all of a sudden she shifts to figuring out how to get that expensive fur.  She looks unusual as she says this, her eyes are similar to when she pulled the arrow on Shiraishi and she’s got tons of stress lines under her eyes as she sweats.

The shocked look on Sugimoto’s face indicates to us as a reader that the way she said this and Sugimoto is so shocked that his eyes are white as well!  I really wish we could hear her say this line. . . .

Shiraishi then asks very excitedly how much money is is worth?  Sugimoto tries to calm him down so that he has even a chance of shooting the bear with his poor rifle skills.  Asirpa estimates that the bear pelt would be worth at least 12x more than 4 yen (= 60 kg of rice!).  So, yes, this would ease their obvious cash flow problem upon escaping from Tsurumi who had been bankrolling them via Koito.

Vasily prepares to shoot the bear, but the group has to stop him - of course Sugimoto tries to tell him to shot the bear by speaking to him only in Japanese with a lot of sound effects, sadly and not surprisingly Vasily doesn’t get a damn thing that Sugimoto is saying and he has to physically bully him to stop.

All of this shows that Vasily isn’t going to be a key member of their group - yes, he helped them escape b/c he knows Shiraishi and Asirpa are a key to finding Ogata.  Now that they have separated from Tsukishima and Tsurumi, the only other known Russian speaker is Ogata and that really puts them at a disadvantage when Ogata will re-appear.

This entire situation then becomes this awkward comedy of almost errors on ice as Asirpa and Sugimoto argue with each other how to kill the bear. . . . Shiraishi remains as the voice of reason.  Sugimoto stopped Vasily a known sniper can’t shoot the bear, and then Asirpa negates all of the ideas that Sugimoto thought.  I really think this is just a lot of rambling that takes up too many pages.

Shiraishi is more concerned about them getting out of this dangerous situation as poor Vasily is stuck in the background just watching the argument of Asirpa and Sugimoto.  This then ends in the idea that Sugimoto should just randomly shoot at it (something that Vasily could have already done . . . . likely much better than Sugimoto).

By sheer luck Sugimoto gets tossed over the bear on the unstable ice and gets set up for a very interesting view as Shiraishi, ignores Asirpa and Sugimoto and he tells Vasily to shoot the bear.

This inspires Sugimoto to recall the previous two times that bear bums had been violated, both with Boss, stabbing a bear in the ass as well as Anehata sexually violating a bear (that lead to his death, not the bears).

With this particular aim, Sugimoto luckily hits the heart directly killing the bear and it slumps down on to the ice as Sugimoto now aggravates all of his gunshot wounds.  The bear then drifts away on a piece of ice and all of their waffling has resulted in losing the bear because they were so concerned about how to kill it without damaging it.  Shiraishi looks disappointed as he provides the commentary as the bear is lost.  Vasily luckily notices some Ainu and they meet up with them to get a boat ride to the land. 

The Ainu man then explains that there was a white brown bear club that was going to be sent off by the kotan but that the Japanese government heard about it and then took it from them.  This is a very loaded yet small exchange.

This shows how the government is slowly preventing the members of the kotan from their own cultural practices - the kotan thought that this white bear was a great gift from the kamuy - which the government then steals from them and thus invalidating their own essence.  Thankfully, Asirpa lets go of the bear and realizes they need time to rest and recover - Sugimoto is wounded and Shiraishi almost got hypothermia [again]. . . . it finally ends with Asirpa relieved and excited to be back to Hokkaido!  

She’s happy to be home and she’s back home knowing much more than she knew when she left.

I think that this shows that Asirpa is truly happy to be back and she’s in this moment able to just enjoy the moment - something that neither Shiraishi nor Sugimoto can do in their current states.

The chapter then ends, finally giving us an update on the status of Koito.  He’s alive!  But Koito looks pretty rough as he tells his father that he’s pathetic . . . his father glances around before he looks at him softly and tells him that he’s glad that he’s alive.  It then ends with Tsukishima blankly standing nearby.

Koito looks terrible, he’s feeling sad and pathetic, he’s got lines under his eyes and his down turned mouth indicates that he really is feeling like he has failed.  His father doesn’t want to look too concerned or fatherly - hence he glances around nervously before he lets Koito see his concern. 

Tsukishima is looking blankly out towards the ocean on the ship - is he concerned about what he will say to Tsurumi?  Is he glad to see that Koito’s father has talked to him?  Is he tired of everything?  Has Tsukishima proven that he’s more loyal to Koito than to Tsurumi? Fast chapter 216 summary.

The dynamics of the Sugimoto-Asirpa team are still awkward and Vasily really doesn’t belong with them. . .

I think they got greedy and were hit with karma - on the ice they should have just had Vasily kill the bear and then they could have moved on - but their delay showed how they are still not united as a re-united team.  Shiraishi gets ignored yet tries to make an executive call with Vasily while Asirpa and Sugimoto argue about how to kill the bear. 

Overall, it served them right losing the bear - Sugimoto was already wounded and Shiraishi was also at risk.  They stopped worrying about their own safety and they almost got in a worse situation. 

I know that Asirpa was trying to think strategically by getting the bear but they were already in rough shape. It is showing that Asirpa trying to take a leadership role isn’t ready just yet - I will always argue that she’s a natural leader and she will become a great leader - when she’s an adult.  Right now though, she needs an adult leader to mentor her.  When Shiraishi is the voice of reason it means that their group is in trouble. .  . Chapter 217 - MOAR BEARS!!! But before more bears - let’s talk about the cat.  The cat that came back.  Before the title page we get a real time event of Ogata doing some information gathering.  Due to his positive Grandma vibes, he’s easily able to talk with the inn keeper who was hosting Asirpa and Co with Koito and Tsukishima.

He’s able to easily determine that Asirpa was able to escape from the 27th and Tsurumi AND that she likely made it to Hokkaido.  Ogata is almost beaming as he smiles (since Ogata really isn’t a character who would beam with happiness).  This shows that when he needs to be, he can pretty easily get information and not arouse others.  This is similar to when he was solo in Barato, he went to the barber shop and got the intel on Hijikata that he needed as well as into on the gang situation. So with that information, Ogata sets off to return to Hokkaido.  With a sob story of course!  With his visible injuries and a new uniform he tries to beg his way onto the ferry.  He offers some dried cod to barter for his fare.  Even though we all know Ogata is a TERRIBLE liar (aka back with his meltdown on ice) when it comes to story telling he succeeds.  The officer for the ferry believes him that his elderly parents are in Hokkaido and he needs to go back and see them.

Now a general rule of thumb concept in pop culture (or maybe just in general) is that a more successful lie contains some truth.  Perhaps, he succeeds b/c their is some truth - maybe his grandparents are still alive? 

Thanks to Sei Kobiyama, those of us who are not native Japanese speakers also got some insight into Ogata’s offering of cod.  That in slang, “dried cod” = “terrible actor” so even Noda is admitting that Ogata really shouldn’t dream of a future acting career after the gold hunt.

Whatever it was that gave Ogata the magic touch to get onto the ferry, he manages it and the chapter title page finally appears with him basking in his cat greatness. Any cat owner would immediately recognize this pose - it is the “I am a cat and watch me as I survey my domain from a perch.”

As a cat owner, I get to witness this on a daily basis and it is perfect as he has that subtle smile as he re-enters the quest for the gold. Really, this has proven that the cat has come back and it means he’s going to shake things up.  Now that he’s behind everyone else, I predict he’ll do some intel to gather information before he gets involved - Ogata is never rash or hasty.  Oh, I’m so excited! [understatement] I really hope he and Vasily chat before Vasily pounces er jumps on him for more sniper cat playtime. But back to more bears!  The chapter then shifts to a young man fleeing from a brown bear active in the winter.  He runs into a tree branch and scrapes his forehead before the bear overtakes him and appears to begin to chew on his shoulder/neck area.

The bear is clearly chewing on him as we see some blood on its mouth as well as on the scarf.  The panel then zooms in on a small wooden carved case with a walking bear on it.  Again, thanks to Sei Kobiyama, this item is identified as an inro or a pill case and the image on it is tied to an owner . . .

The chapter then shows that Asirpa and Sugimoto are with the Ainu man they met off of the drift ice, hunting for bears that are still hibernating in their dens.  The Ainu man looks similar to Asirpa’s uncle Makkanakuru . . . I wonder if he is a relation to her?

Interestingly, Asirpa and the yet to be named Ainu man are both wearing the vine snowshoes yet Sugimoto is not.  Sugimoto was thrilled to wear them before when he was out hunting with Asirpa - why is he no longer using them?  The snow is at least mid-calf deep if not more.  Is Sugimoto less inclined to use Ainu practices after what happened on Karafuto?

In direct contrast to the white bear last chapter, they set up the triangle head trap and they easily kill the bear.  Sugimoto doesn’t even need to raise his rifle, the man does the single shot for them.  This entire chapter seems to be showing how to do a bear hunt properly and how to treat the bear.  They make the newsar kamuy stick to keep the bear company before they can retrieve the body the next day.

As Asirpa explains things, she has returned to her role as our resident Ainu expert.  This is a complete contrast with her behavior last chapter wanting the pelt of the white bear, yet trying to hunt it without respect for it as this bear is treated.  Will they be in trouble for the way that they treated the white bear?  It drifted away on the ice and it did not get a newsar kamuy to accompany it.  Is Asirpa back to normal b/c she has an older nispa present to guide her without her realizing it?

As Sugimoto and Asirpa return to the kotan, he remarks on how the cise visually tells them that they are back in Hokkaido.  He’s smiling as he says this - in contrast Asirpa is not.  She looks serious as she walks along and when she finally speaks, her facial expression is not one of happiness or joy.

Asirpa seems less sure to be back in Hokkaido.  She was thrilled when they were on the boat last chapter, but now she looks quiet and contemplative.  I think she realizes that her hasty escape seemed almost unreal and now that they have settling into routine for some time it has become more real again.  She is likely worried about her extended family and the impact of the 27th could be on them.  It also is bringing her back to the place were she lost her father after finding him as well as her mother, whom she now knows what she looked like from the film.  Returning home less naive and more mature shows on her face in this panel. The next page reveals that they are staying with the same man and what appears to be his mother and wife perhaps.  What is striking is the distance between their group and the Ainu family.  Previously, when Asirpa has other Japanese with her in their group as well as Kiro and Inkarmat they were physically much closer to their Ainu guests.  Think at Kiro’s home, or with Kirawus when they were celebrating as well as before Abashiri with the salmon feast.  Now there is a great distance - Sugimoto isn’t being friendly with the Ainu man, Asirpa is working on making more poison arrows and Shiraishi is leering over at the woman breastfeeding the bear.

Furthermore, Vasily is way back in the corner not even interacting with anyone.  They also are not sitting around the hearth with everyone else - they are off in the corner.  This is completely different behavior for both Asirpa and Sugimoto who was always keen to be friendly with Ainu before.

Their conversation then reveals that they are talking about how they will get the gold with zero skins.  This may indicate why they are chatting as a small group versus so openly.  Asirpa confirms that they will have to steal the skins back from both groups and Sugimoto’s plan is to make sure they grab them from both groups.  He doesn’t know how he’ll do it, but he wants the two groups to meet and in the confusion, steal the skins.  A risky idea if I’d say so . . . Sugimoto’s long term plans have a tendency to not actually work out that well.  Shiraishi even highlights that it is a difficult plan.  I know he is the escape king, but I have a new nickname for him - the voice of reason.  When Asirpa and Sugimoto get emotionally wound up by each other, he’s the one to try to point out the obvious issues with their plans.

Shiraishi is then the one to ask the man if there is any way to make some fast cash.  Interestingly, Shiraishi address him as nispa, so I interpret this to mean that he’s saying “mister” in a respectful yet somewhat casual way - really typical Shiraishi.  This is also the first time that I can recall Shiraishi referring to an Ainu man as nispa - this likely is a part of Shiraishi coping and still coming to terms with Kiro’s death and he feels at least some level of connectivity with the Ainu and other native peoples more than he did at the beginning.

The man does not look at Shiraishi as he replies, but it is clear that when Shiraishi used nispa, it got his attention enough that he felt that he owed him a reply to his question.  He immediately mentions that there is a wen kamuy that is a problem in another kotan. 

Shiraishi isn’t too keen on making more money through killing bears, in part this is a method that he doesn’t contribute to so he may be looking for a way for him to contribute to their travel funds.  However, when he was traveling with Asirpa, Ogata and Kiro, he frequently pitched in the post hunting efforts. The man goes on to state that the bear has killed 5 people and all of them were panning for gold dust in a river.  This all of a sudden gets Sugimoto’s attention, his eyes have a slight sparkle in them as he inquires about it with a surprised expression.

The man continues to state that people want to collect gold dust but the wen kamuy is keeping them away from the river - it seems that perhaps this wen kamuy is linked to preventing people from doing more harm to the river . . . Sugimoto then covers his face as he states that he wonders about a river that still has gold dust and that he was never ever to find it.  He’s instinctively covering his face as his remark is connected to Umeko and his quest to get money for her and how he is still uncomfortable with really speaking about this to others.

We don’t get to see the man’s facial expression - he tells them about a rumor that a man made 50 yen in one day and that if they wanted to make money they should do that and avoid the wen kamuy.  . . based on their white colored eyes the boys are shocked at this rumor.

Of course this means they are going to head to were the wen kamuy is.

There is then a man collecting firewood who almost falls off of a small cliff -

The man screams for help and it reveals a group of men panning for gold in the river.  They all appear to be ethnically Japanese and we learn that his name is Heita.  A man who looks like Ogata’s long lost cousin yells his name and runs off to try to help him.

It looks like perhaps his father and a son are near him in the water.  Heita’s relation to these other men is still unclear. The big reveal is that Asirpa and Sugimoto are able to save him - and that he is the man who was attacked by the bear in the beginning.  He still has the scar on his forehead but clearly no bear chomp marks on the neck.

It then focuses on the small wooden case with the bear carrying a fish (not to scale) and walking upright like a human.  The tagline even says “he died, but he’s not dead!!!” What does this even mean? Are these Japanese gold scavengers unaware of the danger of the wen kamuy?  Are they subjected to the wrath of it?  Is that his actual case or was it procured from someone else?  Is it supposed to protect him from bears?

Time for some observations from these two bear themed chapters.

Chapter 216 is pretty much an example of what not to do when in danger of being killed by a white bear.  Don’t argue and try to one up each other on the ice floe when Vasily could have shot the bear and they could have called it a day.  This complete comedy of errors results in them losing the bear as Sugimoto violates the bear to kill it without damaging the pelt.  There needs to be a reminder that Shiraishi was right from the get go.  Deal with the bear and move on.  Instead, Sugimoto hurts himself more and Asirpa seemed to snap out of her desire to have the white bears fur at any cost.

Chapter 217 has Sugimoto and Asirpa accompanying the unnamed Ainu man and they successfully manage to kill a brown bear and give it proper treatment.  I’m really stuck on Sugimoto not wearing snowshoes - is he now less likely to adopt Ainu customs and practices after realizing that Asirpa wants to fight for her people? This Ainu man seems more distant but still helpful.  We don’t know his name either - names are so important in GK.  Noda withholds names on purpose . . . I’d say that Shiraishi and Asirpa have a better chance of becoming closer or more trusting of him but Sugimoto is keeping his distance.  Is this a result of Kiro’s betrayal? There is a wen kamuy on the loose and it is associated with those who pan for gold in the river.  The kotan wants it killed because it is a danger but could it be more than that?  Is it acting out the wrath of the gods on those who pollute the river in the search for gold?  I think there is more to this story, something about how the Ainu man lures them into to going after the gold and the wen kamuy. I’m suspicious of his information . . . I think the Ainu man wants them to leave and go there on purpose. There is Heita the man attacked by a bear who isn’t dead.  My crazy hypothesis is that he had a salmon or something like that on him.  I’m totally being crazy but why not?  The bear on the case has a salmon. Ogata time!  I have to put this famous short cartoon from the NFB first. 

This is sometimes how I feel Ogata is perceived by other members of the GK cast - mainly Sugimoto but also by Tsurumi.

What Ogata’s brief few pages are showing that he’s back in the game, and he’s excited to know that Tsurumi doesn’t have Asirpa and that things will get interesting in Hokkaido.  So he’s slowly following them cautiously determining what has happened.

Chapter 203 had this interesting page with the lynx crossing the path/road through the forest on Karafuto.  It looks like the lynx crossed ahead of them since there are no dogsled trails in the snow.  I could see Ogata eventually getting ahead on them and intercepting them.  The lynx is looking back at the viewer . . .

I am curious to see how this page is shown in the tankoban.  If it is redrawn so the lynx is behind dogsled track marks that would imply he’s now following them. If Ogata manages to get to their group before anyone else - I’m curious to see what happens when Ogata talks to him.  It is more than likely that when Ogata wounded Vasily he may have questioned him .  . . Or if Ogata didn’t let Vasily know he can speak Russian will he use that to his advantage against Sugimoto?  I could see him using that as an advantage against Tsurumi as well.  If the two snipers teamed up and Ogata can communicate with him - that is going to be an interesting combination.  That is as long as Vasily doesn’t want his stupid cat rematch.  Again, Vasya, you lost. Lastly, let’s not forget that Koito is at a low point but he’s alive.  I’m hoping that this will be the start of a turning point for Koito in the quest for the gold and his blind devotion to Tsurumi.  That will get interesting and where is Tsukishima going to fall?  Tsurumi or will he align with Koito?

[fatal-blow]

Hey! We have chatted about ocs in a while, what's fergus and the gang been up to recently? Any updates? Any changes? Or just ramble about them if u feel like it

oh MAN so I recently rewatched ATLA so I’ve actually had this AU on my mind so I just want you to know that you’ve released the FLOODGATES since most DOE stuff is hh spoilery ;u;

so basically Fergus is a Fire Nation prince and his younger brother, Skylar (listen I know they’re not siblings but it works better for this AU) turns out to be the avatar, so he ends up sneaking him away because the Fire Nation is highly xenophobic (i’ve gone off the rails with this au okay it clings pathetically to canon) and doesn’t want anything to do with the other nations, and therefore their parents don’t want Skylar to step into that role and learn the other elements.

Kane’s a waterbender solely because kay and I agree that shirtless, long haired, soaking wet Kane is best Kane, and he’s prolly Skylar’s first waterbending teacher before he gets too rough and Fergus drives him off (BUT he’ll redeem himself later and realize that he was in the wrong and save the day (i say this like I have an actual plot (i do not)))

Jean is an earthbender along with Oann and also prolly a metalbender because the idea of Jean bashing down metal doors or wrapping herself in metal as armour is basically the rawest thing i can imagine.  Roxy is their weird animal but i don’t know WHAT yet

Valerie is a nonbender Fire Nation noble that Fergus left back home who he occasionally sends letters too (tho less and less as he A) gets more involved in Skylar’s training B) gets more involved with other love interests (Kane) and C) starts getting paranoid that she might be how the Fire Nation is tracking them)

I’ve toyed with the idea that Maeve is an airbender but she also works well as a highly skilled nonbender warrior??

Oh and James miiiiiiight be one of the mercenaries/soldiers sent to capture Fergus and Skylar and he’s a master lightning bender :3c

[theincompetentgenius]

Hello 😄 Life generator is totally awesome idea! I already love it and would like to request one for Arcana world. I hope it won’t be too much of a problem, and thank you in advance ❤️

I’m a big science nerd, especially good in math, hungry for knowledge, with unsatiable curiosity. But at the same time, i radiate dumbass energy. Most of the time i’m silent, because i don’t really know what to say, since my mind is tv static. I enjoy creating, my hobbies are singing, drawing, painting, scupting, embroidery and other forms of crafting. But i really don’t have any creativeness on my own. And i lack in artistic skills, but i substitute it with persistence. I’m really patient and can go over one place hundreds times until i’m satisfied, and i’m never giving up on any wips, they just wait for their turn (..same about people, even if have no contact with them anymore i still consider them as friends, i don’t cut ties). Even if they pile up and there’s probably no way to finish it up in one lifetime. Damn, i wish i was immortal. There’s so many knowledge and skills to learn, and art to consume and create in the world. But i don’t really have any passion or hiperfixation, i’m just all over the place, a jade of all trades and master of none. Most of the time is spend resting, on internet, because i run out of energy far too quick, especially physical and social. The problems of being contained in a body that wants to rest at all costs xd Physically i’m really weak, even though i work out regularly, my super low endurance doesn’t improve. I’m so quickly drained and need to recharge that for long so it looks like i’m lazy. Basically i’m never bored, but i can get frustraded when i’m wasting time.

I’m pretty open and honest person and have no brakes, i overshare whenever i have occasion (as you can see xD). I’m not hiding my emotions, except showing that someone hurt me (because i’m too proud to do that if that was meancingly, or i don’t want them to feel bad if it wasn’t). I’m friendly, very empathetic, eager to help if approached. I can easily put myself into other people’s shoes and always try to understand where others come from, their reasoning. And i care about others’ well being. But i’m quite a hermit, i barely have any social needs, and never approach people first. I’m fine on my own. Since i can remember, i only lived inside my own world in my head. Being around people is nice too though, but i’m pretty socially clueless. I don’t really experience loneliness, unless i miss certain people. And that happens super rarely too, i don’t get that attached to even closest people. But it happens, i can get really attached.

I can get anxious and uncertain around people, because i don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, cross boundaries or face any sort of negative consequences. But i don’t care what people think of me n my actions, especially if i don’t know them. Social norms are only chains. There’s no reason to follow them. I prefer my order of doing things. Order is really important to me, i need it for my things, my actions, my plans. My free time is dictated by algorithms i make, that get more and more complicated with each update. Most of the time i’m in neutral state, pretty apathetic. Emotions can be easily triggered, but die as fast and i go back to the state of nirvana. I rarely get stressed and don’t care too much about issues, life always works out in one way or another. That’s why i’m chill, patient and calm.

I love cute and pretty things, sweets, plushies, hugs, cats. When it comes to nature, sure i like it and it is interesting, but i don’t really like being close to it because of bugs. They’re yucky >.> I’m hesistant about a lot of stuff and super cautious about things that could cause physical harm, which i guess makes me a coward. And i don’t enjoy travelling. I mean it is okay, but doesn’t spark any emotion, besides maybe knowledge seeking. Instead, i’m big fan of magic and powers. Not that boring stuff like astrology, but rather like you k'now, superheroes or wizards things. Wish that kind of stuff existed irl, and wish i had it all, just like with irl skills xd Also i’m really, really picky eater.

Thank you for your interest in the world of The Arcana. You will be reborn into your new life shortly. The simulation will begin in 3…….. 2……. 1……..

B A C K G R O U N D

Your mother had left you in front of the doorsteps of a poor orphanage when you were only months old. She felt that she was unfit to take care of you because she was not financially stable, but she could only hope for the best for you. Fortunately, you were left at the hands of caring and understanding individuals who supported you through your childhood. However, your scattered interests in the arts, sciences, and magic had left many people confused. They couldn’t wrap their heads around the concept that a young girl could explore such complex concepts, but that never mattered to you. Your interests were in your newfound magic. While you wouldn’t practice magic in public, you would use it when necessary or convenient. Yet these few moments caused panic within your town. You were becoming too smart, too powerful, and too curious. The townsmen felt threatened by your mere presence, so they banished you from the city under the pretense that you were a “threat to their well-being.” Yet you never saw the bursting potential buried within you.

F R I E N D S  

Julian

Now that you had been kicked out of your hometown, you had absolutely no idea where to go. There weren’t too many cities near your own and you weren’t sure if you had enough supplies to last you through your entire trip. Although you were sure that you could find a small village nearby, you still felt the need to check over your supplies to prevent excessive spending. The fact that you had to travel through the heat didn’t make things any better.

You aimlessly wandered through the leafy forests, hoping that the direction of winds, clouds, and the sun would give you some indication as to where you were. Unfortunately, you had crossed the same dead lizard five times. You were moving in circles. A sigh escaped your lips as you trudged through the forest. Your mind had gone blank and you couldn’t think of a plan to get yourself out of this mess. Your calm demeanor was wearing thin as all your plans had begun to fall apart.  The thought of blasting yourself into the sky with air magic had crossed your mind, but you knew that you were incapable of landing safely.

In the midst of your thoughts, you bumped into a tall, brooding figure. You instinctively elongated the vines from the plants, preparing to attack whatever was in front of you.

“Don’t hurt me with those vine things! I’m just a traveler!” A man with cooper hair and an eyepatch yelled.

You did a quick lookover and dropped the vines from your grasp. The man let out a sigh of relief and scrambled to his feet. He looked back at you and collected his things. Although you did not want to speak to him, he probably knew the jungle better than you and was your possible ticket to getting out of this mess. You mustered the courage in your chest to call out to him.

“Wait! I’m sorry that I shot those vines at you. I thought you were a monster, but that’s beside the point. Do you know where we are?”

He looked around with a suspicious glance. “I have a general idea. Can’t you use your magic to get yourself out of here?”

“If only I could, then I wouldn’t be wandering around with a loaf of bread and a flask of water.”

The stranger let out a chuckle. “I suppose you’re right. How did you get stuck in this place?”

And so you told him your story and your woes as an exile. You looked away, expecting him to make a rude remark but he chuckled and shook his head.

“Maybe we’re not so different, Magician. I happen to be an informally-exiled doctor for murdering a Count.”

You raised your eyebrow. For a murderer, he was rather friendly. Before you could ask any more questions, he told you his story (or whatever he remembered from it). There seemed to be many holes, but you were fairly entertained by them.

“Is Vesuvia close by?” You asked.

“Yeah, just a little down south. I’m going there to get some answers about myself. Are you going to join me?”

Other friends: Nadia, Muriel

R O M A N C E

Asra

Once you arrived at Vesuvia with Julian, the two of you went separate ways.  Not that any altercation had taken place, but Julian was more focused on uncovering his past while you needed a place to stay. So you went about, searching for possible adobes for shelter. They were either too expensive or in terrible quality. But you didn’t give up, there had to be something you could find.

As you passed through the unfamiliar streets, you looked for possible places to sleep for the night. The pillar looked too stiff, the grass was too moist, and sleeping next to a building would hurt your back. Things were looking rough for you.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a tap on your shoulder. You spun around to see a handsome young man with fluffy, white hair and a soft smile. “You look a little lost and I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Are you new here?”

You let out a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I’m just looking for a place to stay. Do you know any place that’s inexpensive but sanitary?”

The man placed his hand on his chin, presumably to think of an answer to your question. After a moment, he responded. “You can stay at my place for the night. It’s not big, but it has a cozy feel to it.”

You shook your head. “You’re too kind, but I can’t infringe on your privacy like that. After all, you must have better things to do than help a random vagabond.”

“Well I used to be a vagabond myself, so I know the pain of wandering around with no place to go.” A snake slithered from his sleeve and cocked its head. “See? Even Faust thinks you should stay over.”

“You’re too kind!” You were about to accept his offer, but a new thought crossed your mind. What if he was trying to lure you to his home for dangerous reasons? There was no way to verify that he wasn’t a kidnapper or someone with ill intentions.

The stranger noticed your sudden discomfort. “If you’re worried about ill intentions, that was probably the furthest thing from my mind. How about you I show you around Vesuvia instead? If you feel more relaxed, you can stay at my place. But I’m not pressuring you if you don’t want to.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“By the way, my name is Asra. Shall we get started on this tour?” The two of you wander through the colorful stalls of the city, examining the golden trinkets and wooden toys. There were racks of fruit neatly organized based on size and color with shelves of pastries next to them. Asra bought you a few desserts despite your protests. Although most products were overpriced, there was a rustic charm to them all.

By the end of the tour, you felt more comfortable around him. The two of you had spent the time exploring and talking about anything and everything. You even told him about your exile from your hometown. As he heard the story, he placed his hand on your shoulder.

“You know, I’m a magician too. If you ever need help with anything, just let me know.” He gave another one of his angelic smiles.

“Thanks. I think I’m mentally okay, but I do need to strengthen my magic.”

“I have an idea to fix that. Would you like to become my apprentice?”

F I N A L    F A T E

Originally posted by autumncozy

You had taken Asra on his offer to become his apprentice and ended up staying at the shop for convenience purposes. It didn’t matter because most of your time was spent with Asra to improve your magic. Although you claimed to not have an affinity towards any type of magic, Asra would say that you were the best at everything you attempted. With each practice session, you grew better and more skilled in your magic. It was only a matter of time before the apprentice had become the master. Asra was amazed at your progress, but you weren’t so confident in your own abilities. There was always room for improvement in your eyes.

Word had spread that another talented magician had entered the Vesuvia, but that never bothered you. If they could accept Asra, there was no reason for them to mistreat you. Not everyone was as biased and prejudiced as the people of your hometown, yet you were cautious when performing your magic in public. When you did, you were surprised when receiving compliments and paid jobs from the public. And to make things better, Asra was always there to help.

Soon, the two of you felt that the shop’s business wasn’t doing too great and decided to close it down. After all, it gave you more living space so it wasn’t the worst feeling in the world. Instead, you came up with the idea to teach other aspiring magicians so they would not be stranded like you were. At first, Asra was unsure since he wanted to live alone together in a cottage further north from the city. But when you made the compromise to teach magic only during the summer in a remote location, he couldn’t refuse. He’d still have you all to himself during the spring, fall, and winter. Well, as long as Faust didn’t steal you away from him.

As time went by, you went on to train some of the most powerful magicians in the following generation. Some had gone to save other countries from treacherous monstrous while others had become the monsters themselves. There was regret harbored in your heart for you could not have the one who turned towards the dark path, but some people could not be saved. Nevertheless, you will be remembered as one of the pioneers of magic; it’s influence spread across the globe

T H E   E N D

[t-baba]

An interview with the author of 'JavaScript: The Definitive Guide'

#490 — May 29, 2020

Unsubscribe  :  Read on the Web

👀 This week we have a fun bit of bonus content at the end of the issue — an interview with David Flanagan, someone who's written more JavaScript books than I've had hot dinners. 😆

JavaScript Weekly

Snowpack 2.0: A Build System for the Modern Web — Say bye-bye to your bundler and let modern browsers’ ES module support do the heavy lifting with Snowpack. Or if you need to target more than just modern browsers, you can always just use it to speed things up in development. This talk by Ryan Lanciaux introduces the idea of escaping using bundlers, if you’re new to this area.

Fred K. Schott

The Process of Making Vue 3 — We know a lot of you are excited about the next major version of Vue.js – the final release is due soon (betas available here) and here Evan talks about the process and how it differs from Vue 2 at a high level.

Evan You / Increment

New Course: Design Systems with Storybook & React — Learn to create a design system from scratch using React, and document the design system to share with your team using Storybook.

Frontend Masters sponsor

A First Look at Records and Tuples — An introductory look at two new compound primitive value types in the ECMAScript spec: Records and Tuples.

Axel Rauschmayer

▶  What's New in TypeScript — You might know Daniel better from all his TypeScript release posts, but here he is in video form with a brief TypeScript introduction followed by essentially a code and example-heavy ‘state of the union’ about where TypeScript is at and where it’s headed.

Daniel Rosenwasser (Microsoft)

htmx: Build Dynamic Pages Using HTML Attributes — Billed as the ‘successor to intercooler.js’, htmx lets you add dynamic Ajax-y elements, Server Sent Events (SSE), WebSockets and more to a site using just HTML attributes.

Big Sky Software

⚡️ Quick bytes:

🎉 Node.js is 11 years old this week.

💰 The company behind the React-based Gatsby framework has raised $28m in series B funding.

🎧 The TC39er podcast has continued to interview TC39 delegates and is at episode 4. Worth listening to if you want more 'inside baseball' of the JavaScript world.

💛 In the latest Stack Overflow survey results, JavaScript remains the most popular language. However, TypeScript is higher on the 'most loved' list.

💻 Jobs

JavaScript Developer at X-Team (Remote) — Join X-Team and work on projects for companies like Riot Games, FOX, Coinbase, and more. Work from anywhere.

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📚 Tutorials and Opinions

Analyzing the Performance of Notion's Electron App — I was going to save this for our React newsletter but it’s too good! A real deep dive into analyzing the performance of a desktop JavaScript app for a popular note taking service and some basic optimizations that can be done.

Ivan Akulov

ECMAScript 4: The Missing Version — If you were around the JavaScript world in the early 2000s, you might recall how long discussion around ES4 rumbled on before it ultimately fizzled out. Some of the ideas were picked up by ActionScript, as used by Flash, but it felt like we lost a lot of potential progress in that decade.

Evert Pot

3 Hacks to Level Up Your Dashboards — Watch this webinar to learn about three elements that will help you build better dashboards for your application.

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Some Causes of Memory Leaks in JavaScript and How to Avoid Them — A primer on the basic ideas.

Ekaterina Vujasinović

How To Create Better Angular Templates with Pug — Pug is a template engine that allows you to write cleaner templates with less repetition.

Zara Cooper

A (Mostly) Complete Guide to React Rendering Behavior — Details on how React rendering behaves, and how use of Context and React-Redux affect rendering. There are a lot of concepts compressed into this article.

Mark Erikson

▶  A 50 Minute Deno Crash Course — A lot of people are cranking out Deno videos right now, but Traversy Media has a solid reputation for getting these things right. In 50 minutes we get a nice, balanced approach to Deno’s plus points, tooling, building an API, etc.

Traversy Media

Today’s JavaScript, From An Outsider’s Perspective — Lea is a JavaScript expert, of course, but she was trying to help a computer scientist friend work with JS and commented on the frustrations along the way.

Lea Verou

10 JavaScript Quiz Questions and Answers to Sharpen Your Skills — Lots of tidbits here to sharpen your skills and understanding, but keep in mind that not all JavaScript interviews will be like this(!)

Nick Scialli

🔧 Code & Tools

RoughNotation: A Small Library to Create and Animate Rough Annotations — Uses Rough.js for the handdrawn look. Lots of nice interactive examples on the page showing the diversity of annotation types.

Preet Shihn

AudioMass: A Full-Featured Web Audio Editing Tool in JavaScript — Runs entirely in the browser with no backend or plugins required. Impressive. Source here.

Pantelis Kalogiros

See Runtime Values Right in Your Editor as You Type — Quokka.js is a rapid prototyping playground for JavaScript & TypeScript. Code runs immediately as you type and results display in your editor. Discounted by 40% for the next few days.

Wallaby.js sponsor

Fluor.js: A High Level Way to Add Interactions and Effects to Pages — Think a modern jQuery-lite. Pretty short and sweet for what it is.

François Vaux

Angelfire: Add Custom Context Menus to Any Page Element — Hands up if the name of this project takes you on a nostalgia trip to the 90s.. 🙋‍♀️

Rishabh Anand

number-precision: Tiny Library for Basic but Precise Arithemetic — For when you don’t want 0.1 + 0.2 to equal 0.30000000000000004 😏

NEFE

Perspective: Streaming Pivot Visualization Via WebAssembly — An interesting use for WebAssembly here. Originally built for J P Morgan, Perspective is for building real-time high performance interactive visualizations, powered by a C++ engine compiled to WASM under the hood.

The Fintech Open Source Foundation

AppSignal Adds Next.js Integration - Automatically Adds Web Vitals Monitoring

AppSignal sponsor

Autopilot: A Cross-Platform Desktop Automation Library for Deno — Another example of where using Rust for dependencies opens up some fun options to Deno. If you’re using Deno, don’t forget our Deno Weekly newsletter where we’ll be focusing on things like this :-)

Divy Srivastava

vue-list-scroller: A Vue Component for Efficiently Rendering Large Lists — Uses the ResizeObserver API to help with creating a Twitter-like feed that has thousands of items, and supports infinite scroll.

Ivan Safonov

Notable Improvements to the Profiler in React DevTools 4.7.0 — This tweet thread from Facebook developer Brian Vaughn distills out the highlights from the changelog.

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💬 A Q&A with… David Flanagan Author of JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

David has been programming since 1981 and getting paid for it since 1985. In 2011, he started working at Mozilla. Since then he's worked as a full-stack engineer on MDN and at Khan Academy. He currently works on cloud software at VMware and is in the process of releasing the seventh edition of JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, a hugely popular JavaScript book published by O'Reilly.

Why a seventh edition now?

I allowed the sixth edition to become badly out of date (sorry!). So the seventh edition is a major, and long-overdue, update. Importantly, it covers ES2020 and even mentions some features expected to be formalized in ES2021. Also new in this edition is a detailed chapter on Node, reflecting the reality that JavaScript isn't just for web browsers anymore.

(Ed: David has written more on what's new in the seventh edition here.)

What was the story behind writing the first edition?

I started on it shortly after I wrote Java in a Nutshell. In those days the buzz around Java was that Java "applets" could add dynamic content to web browsers. JavaScript seemed like a promising alternative and I remember talking to an engineer from Sun Microsystems (the company that created Java) about what I was going to work on next. When I told him I thought JavaScript might become more important in the browser than Java, he scoffed. But seven editions of my book later, I'm starting to think I was right(!)

What's your favorite chapter?

Most interesting JavaScript code is asynchronous, and now that Promises are a core part of the JavaScript language, I dedicate chapter 13 to asynchronous programming with callbacks, events, Promises and async/await.

Promises are a revolutionary addition to JavaScript, but once you move beyond the simplest examples, it becomes very easy to misuse them and you need to understand them deeply in order to use them correctly and with confidence. So I devote more than 20 pages to explaining them in depth. These are some of the most complicated pages in the book, but if they increase the understanding of Promises, I'll feel I've provided an important service to the community.

You've spent so much time writing books about JavaScript, but what other technologies interest you?

I'm intrigued by both Go and Rust and would enjoy documenting those languages. I've thought about writing short books about React and Angular. And I've wondered whether it is possible to write an interesting book about coding for a non-technical audience.

What's the secret to being able to write so many programming books?

No secret, really: from about 1991 to 2011 I was self-employed and for most of that time, writing books was my primary job. This 7th edition of JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is the first book I've written while also working a regular software engineering job.

You can find David on Twitter @__DavidFlanagan or more about JavaScript: The Definitive Guide at O'Reilly Media.

by via JavaScript Weekly https://ift.tt/2BilxR3

[onychaos]

Hypers Quest 2 beta - 9/16/19

Ah, it's time again. There be a new demo of sorts to try out to see what needs to be fixed, what's broken, what's new, and so on. Anything that is not new, I will sum it up and skip. now we are ready to start.

back to good old..

Ecstatic City Zone. This zone got some nice changes here, they are very minor changes but good ones.

The level layout has changed a bit the empty space have been filled with new stuff and some areas have been changed to make the first level a bit easier so players can play the stage with out hassle

Stage is fine for a first level and like the little changes here. it's great stuff. The bee puns though. 

Ok. Skadoosh Zone

This is kinda interesting as this zone has a new changes in the select few areas and a brand new object to carry you from Point A to Point B

In the last update there was a downhill pipe where if you didn't jump off would lead you into a pit, which was kinda unfair for new players since you go so fast but glad it was fixed in the beta

The ending of the stage though is a bit questionable since you would assume that you would be fine but you kinda just die if you don't jump before the thing hits the other one, otherwise you fall and you can't jump or move. But the player has no way of knowing that this can happen. Since there is no real area to use this gimmick in a safe spot.

I feel it would be best to do what Mario does.

1 - Get a new stage object or stage gimmick 2 - Show the player how it works and what it can do where there is no danger of harm 3 - Then allow them to use the stage gimmick where there is a sense of danger if you mess up once they learned it.

The Stage is the same with some minor layout changes but still fun

The other zones and boss are the same from what I went through and those will be skip as there is nothing worth noting there.

Some stages have text boxes where characters will talk about the level or plot but this bring us to the final two areas to talk about which are pretty interesting.

If you find the giant portal when looking for items in the shop, it will take you to a Zero boss fight map screen.

Cyber Network Breakout Demo is the final boss / level of the demo and it's interesting to say. The boss fight has a lot of work to do. So this boss has a simple pattern left to right and right to left.

He can block shots He has a mid air attack that is done after 3 jumps or 4 jumps He has a normal attack he does after a jump

The boss is fine but has some issues and the main one I have is when the boss attacks, the sprite is a hurtbox to the player. Sometimes when he attacks you bounce off his attack just fine.

If you fight him you will need Hyper's Special skill to beat him. I'm not sure if you can beat him any other way beside using a special skill. But once you beat him, the level itself is ok. it's basic and blocky.

Maybe you was going for this, and that's fine but the background animation gives me a headache. It needs to be slowed down cause this is a bit too much for the eyes. it's too busy. Maybe make it more transparent.

The start of the stage is eh. You will need to make a weird low jump or have the Hyper Dash skill to pass the first area.

The Arcade has gotten a update. You can earn prizes so red rings now have a bit more value which is rad to know.

The beta is coming along but for the next demo I think it's best to as much done for a new demo but you know this. This way you can find more bugs to fix later down the line.

The super Sonic in this fan game has a rad theme song and looks nice and plays well.

Speaking of bugs.. I found a few I want to show off

Game bugs

1 - You can overlap the super Sonic theme by turning super again and by pausing after doing as mentioned, all the super themes play at once.  A fix: The game is checking to see if you have 50 rings or more which it should see if you are not super and have 50 rings to fix that issue

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nqyqN6GiWkeou8lkPMhFgkdezjmulsZv/view?usp=sharing Lower your volume before watching

2 - Skadoosh Zone stage gimmick bug. It carries you over to a set path before stopping, as long as you don't get hit. If you get hit, you will fly to the end of the stage and you can't jump free while in your hurt state, the object will not destroy itself cause you to skip the stage. see below.

3 - Title Screen spam. If you mash the start button or enter key you will re-trigger the screen fade animation which will keep you on the title screen till you stop You may need a variable that checks to see if enter or start has not been pressed to keep players from doing this.

4. Going back to Skadoosh Zone. There's a weird pipe bug and the no audio bug was not fixed. Here a video of both bugs as mentioned. The pipe bug is where you have no iframes after getting hit

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dhIicce3iOmHxmcfBhtLbDW2XE7n8nXq/view?usp=sharing

5 - No iframes when knocked into a spring which can lead to a cheap death. This bug seems to happen anywhere when the player is in the hurt state but is set to a different state causing you to get no iframes. This is just a guess. I am assuming. I don't know how Game Maker works in terms of coding https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L5C8HxKlwgDlLeC8ymIYu0voZrcOWBu5/view?usp=sharing

6 - The Zero fight. Sometimes when he attacks you are getting hit or you are getting hit while hitting him. Something worth mentioning

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ECzrcclpoMREwjC1riij6mSo0Cx6tCiU/view?usp=sharing

7 - Ecstatic City Zone heroes blocked by invisible walls and a hidden text trigger off frame. Not sure if this is a bug or meant to be this way. If this is not a bug, you can ignore it

8 - You can still grab a Air Bubble when you have a water shield

9 - Super Sonic is missing some animations. :P

10 - Hyper's Animations work fine when facing right but when facing left they are slowed down or just don't work

11 - Not so much bugs but more like glitches

12 - Cyber Network Breakout Demo level and not boss has lasers that fire when you go past them but they only fire once. This may not be a bug but wanted to bring mention to it

I guess it's time for my final thoughts

This Beta demo is interesting, while there are new things here and there and some great changes, The demo kinda feels underwhelming like 1 stage got a bit of makeover at the end and the first stage is kinda new till you leave the starting area.

But the Arcade is great stuff, super sonic is nice and the stage gimmick in Skadoosh Zone is fine but needs work. What do I mean? Well for Super Sonic, the stages don't have Super Sonic in mind. I think if you add in a super state, make sure the levels are build around that fact.

and for the gimmick in Skadoosh Zone, The zone is too small for it. I'm sure you can do some very fun platforming with it but I like the idea. And the Zero Fight needs work but I know it will be fun.

Rough around a few areas but that's progress and that's great. Overall Not too bad, It needs work as stated but I am very proud of the progress here. you have come a long way and keep up the good work, sir.

[necrotext]

Post-post AC update

“Geewiz Necro on twitter you said you’d talk about stuff like two weeks ago or more! All you’ve done in the mean time is post that weird dragon picture...” “Damn right I did, and I’ve been busy with things like that dragon picture; and I think it’s great, not weird thank you! I also did theeeeeseee... and I had a lot of.... things... to do...“

  The short of it was I had an amazing time, thank you. But if you’re really in it for the news buckle up and click the break and enjoy. Because I’m gonna ramble which is probably my most fostered skill outside of art and I’m happy about it damn’it. (Hey it’s me from half way through this write up, get popcorn, this shits a little.... uh... l o n g. But you should still read it because past-past me worked really hard and you’ll hurt her feelings if you don’t read it.)

  So here I am like LEGIT a month post AC. My vacation actually started back on the 25th of June. But that’s not entirely relevant other than that’s when my pre- and post- furry fandom friend Serpentsaurus flew into Ohio from halfway across the country to visit for two weeks. Specifically to attend AnthroCon with me but also just to vacation, because why not. Which, for the two of us, would be our first furry convention specifically. Having attended GenCon twice myself I wasn’t really rattled too much by the idea; already having gotten used to the head spinning number of people and the floating feeling the sheer number tended to cause me (I’m bad in large groups :B).   We spend a few days chilling out, learn Arms can’t make it this year (sad face duuude) and setup to hit-up that grinding drive. Leaving the morning of the 29th at 8-ish A.M to drive on the highway for about 4 to 5 hours. All things considered pretty spectacular for a road trip to a con. Not many get that kind of ease of arrival so I definitely cherish it lol. Also makes me partly wonder why I never went before? But it’s probably for the best because I needed some time. Regardless we arrive without incident, pay up the rest of our hotel fee for the furthest possible major hotel we could’ve POSSIBLY BEEN BECAUSE WE DIDN’T REGISTER SOON ENOUGH AND YOU ALL SHOULD PRE-REG FURTHER THAN A MONTH OUT BECAUSE THAT WAS A MISTAKE. And put our stuff in the room, which was certainly okay. And then... it was time...   So stumbling and fumbling we use our maps we had gotten to look up where the heck to go and wind up using our stupid phones to GPS walk our stupid butts to the convention center. Because neither of us had ever been in Pittsburgh and of course we’re lost. We got lost finding the parking for the hotel. As if I’d/We’d make it blind to the damn event. We get there and I come to an astounding realization. Its HOT, like... really really hot outside. Like so hot that walking that 15 minute distance drenched my shirt hot. Which would become a major problem AND IS WHY YOU STAY NEXT TO THE CENTER, PAST ME, HOLY, SHIT. Let’s not even get started on the fact that my right foot had a blister from a walk along the bike trail back at home the day prior. Was awful. So we sit. I catch my breath because I’m totally out of shape physically and then explore the whole center. Which frankly was a great place. I liked the layout there far and away better than that of the GenCon center (take that GenCon, I’ll probably never go to you again, jerk).  We get a nice photo on the top of the center with my phone and experience the pretty night lights and humid air of Pittsburgh, catching food just after. I could talk about the food a lot longer than I should so were just gonna say “It was all very very good”. K? K.   Eventually Serpent walks back to the hotel and I suffer my way there behind him in short enough order even if it didn’t feel like it at all. I shower off the sweat of the day (a common theme of the event, mind) and we bullshit before bed for Friday. It was around this point in time a slight feeling of worry looms in the room. See, my biggest hang up with Furry Cons™ is I always think to myself “What would I even do there?” I had never been to a con without a purpose before. This year I went purely because ‘it was time I did’ and part of me wanted to cure my social life issues. But Serpent was firmly in the same boat I had rowed in for a long while before diving into the FurOcean™ head first. And I guess it became my job to flip the boat... violently. (Its a fucking metaphor, okay? Thankyou).   We get to bed and plot our wake up time and course for the opening ceremony. Which we need to get up an hour before hand for. Wasn’t too terribly hard to do outside of my badge I had made breaking and needing repairs and us being frugal losers and making sandwiches for later during lunch hours. So I swallow my hopes and dreams and take the walk of shame to the con center. The worry following like a stink all the while. But as we get closer we see more and more tails; which is about all you need to really see to know you’re going the right way. By the time we were through the doors the number of people ahead of us was staggering, honestly. I knew the con average population due to prior research, but Thursday was such a poor marker from what we were in for. Especially since Serpent had never been. We follow the flow of traffic and wind our way into opening ceremonies and sit down, which is the best part about it for me honestly. It frankly was a bit hype, really getting me motivated to re-explore the (now repopulated and changed) con space. It was a large smattering of looking around the Dealer’s Den and Artist Alley. In which I got to very briefly say hi to and shake hands with SonicFox5000. Who I admire quite a fair bit for his skills at like... everything. Boy’s got a genius or something, I dunno. But after sending EVO related well wishes we parted and gave him back his space to enjoy the con too. Then going further to pick up a commission from art_eric. Which was a great treat to see the next morning and I love and cherish the piece and will forever.   And at his point I can essentially sum up my experience of the con. Not totally, but mostly. We just kinda hung out -- “Okay Necro, I’ve been listening[reading] but that seriously sounds like no fun...” Hush, you see, you’d think that. Anyone would. But Serpent and I didn’t have any friends attending. So we had few people to visit. In return though we got to just kinda... take everything in. And seriously and honestly and truly?.. it was amazing. It was an immensely relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere. Even for someone who doesn’t take being swamped in 7000 people well. Attending the con is easily one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a long time, especially this year.   Re-walk, re-suffer, eat, re-shower, sleep. Aside from the notable hanging around with some absolute furry strangers at dinner; which was not only a loud experience (although not because of them), but also a quite enjoyable one. The next day had arrived. This was around when it really sunk in that flipping the boat like an Orca playing with it’s food was worth it. We did so much, yet... as I lay there dying falling asleep we both could just prattle on about what to do tomorrow. Even going so far as exclaiming “I can’t believe its still Friday”. Call it fate or whatever. But I mean here we are, away from home, and I don’t want to leave it. But swallowing a little dread of it ending (yeah it took a day and a half to get pre-PCD) I get to bed.   Tomorrow rolls in with it’s painful heat and humidity to batter the con and I for one reason or another get up way to damn early. Well before Serpent and cut my way to the con letting him sleep more. I pick up my commission, choke up a little, and relax. I needed it. A bit different than previous since I was alone this time but at this point I just kind of settled into a nice sitting space and enjoyed the con goers. Talking with some people and then catching up with Serpent for the parade. Which, like everything else so far had been wonderful. Beyond just taking in everything and attending the Sketchbook Swap as well as playing some games we cap the night off with the Saturday night rave (its rave right? like it counts? it counts) and turn in.   Really it’s just kinda of an assumed statement that the whole while this is going on I’m at the bottom of the FurOcean™ and loving it. See I can make my bad jokes relevant and still bad~ Sunday is a lot harder than Saturday though. I somehow managed to replace the worry of ‘not having anything to do’ with ‘I don’t want it to end’. But Serpent and I just soak up the last bits of AnthroCon while we can and finally attend the closing ceremony. We didn’t exactly do much Sunday but in a way I, at the very least, was whipped. So it was totally okay just kind of decompressing from the mess that was the past two and half days. Then comes closing ceremony and the two of us migrating all our purchases to the car before grinding our way home.   What can I say other than “Would go again” really? It’s hard to think of the past month because of it. It’s just kind of this whirl of emotions, and frankly I’m okay with that. Its really a huge motivator to put myself in the community rather than the fringes on the net. Also somewhat eye opening what the true shades of it all is really like. You get a hugely different perspective when you’re there. Sure it had its hangups here and there, you see it mostly from social media like twitter where its easier to find. And sure that those hangups suck. But as an attendee it was awesome and I’m sure the staff will smooth out the remaining rough edges they got snagged on. To which I look forward to next year and hope I can attend for sure. Beyond AnthroCon, this month has just been idly working on some art here and there and getting my social media more up to date. And I’ll have more art rolling down the tubes as we move into next month. Things have taken a huge upswing and I’m more capable of keeping up with things as it is. As well as far more motivated to make art. To anyone who made it this far, thank your for reading! I don’t really blog like this often. But I hope you enjoyed and I luv u <3.