#Let's see what the vibes are like after I draw more. I'll do a interest check and if enough people want them...It will be so.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Congratulations to TEAM CHEESE for winning the popular vote on the Charcuterie poll!

[seth-whumps]

I MADE A WHUMP EVENT: get ready for July folks

welcome to the Whumperless Whump Event of July! for your sickfic, situational, and completely apersonal whump needs--comfort included, of course. follow @whumperless-whump-event for more information and details!

Image transcripts, tagging rules, and guidelines under the cut!

RULES

Any and all art types allowed (GIFs, drawings, music, writing, etc.)

No AI generated content allowed

OCs and Fandom works alike are welcome :)

Trigger and content tags required, even if the prompt explicitly requires the content (eg. Vomiting still needs the emetophobia tag)

NSFT and NSFW are allowed, if tagged appropriately. This blog will not reblog them, as minors do follow it. However, you're still free to write as you please :)

If enough interest is shown, I will make an Ao3 collection (edit: ao3 collection is made and can be found here)

Side note: please let me know if there's anything I can do to make this post or event more accessible. Should I put the image transcripts on the ID too? Is the formatting causing issues? What can I do?

This is not a contest, just an event. The only awards will be announcements for people who completed the whole darn thing. My entries will not receive any announcements or awards, because I'm hosting

TAGGING

Tag with, per example: #whumperless whump event day 1; #whumperless whump event; and (optional) #whumperless whump event day 1: alcohol as a sanitizer

Tag @whumperless-whump-event please! If not, I may not see it or be able to reblog it!

If desired, tag the medium you used

Trigger tag and content warn (including nsfw/nsft)

If posting early, tag with #wwe early entry. If posting late, tag with #wwe late entry. If posting just for fun, no need to tag these!

IMPORTANT:

There are NO OTHER RULES. Do one prompt! Do seven! Do 'em all! Repeat the same prompt six days in a row! Switch them around and do them all out of order! Post them eight months after the event is over! Finish the prompt list early! Write one long-ass story that deals with every prompt or do a one-sentence drabble for each one! Recommend your favorite scenes regarding the prompt! Write, draw, sing, play music, make playlists, do fic recs or show recs or episode recs or book recs, fucking crochet or something! FOLLOW THE VIBE. DO WHAT'S FUN.

Prompts (text):

Emergency First Aid: Self-done stitches / Alcohol as sanitizer / “It's just a scratch, I've had worse.”

Does your insurance cover this?: Car accident / Bystander caretaker / “Eyes open, ambulance is almost here.”

Like a record, baby: Vertigo / Struggling to stand / “Is the room spinning, or is it just me?”

It's every day bro: Chronic pain / Massage / “I'm used to it.”

Stealing my breath (give it back): Wheezing / Light-headed / “I'll count, you just breathe.”

Summer is a curse: Heat Stroke / Panting / “Why don't we… find some shade, quick?”

Accidental Cryotherapy: Falling through a frozen lake / Hypothermia / “Hey, c'mon, you gotta stay awake.”

Put your head on my shoulder: Migraine / Light & Sound Sensitivity / “I can close the curtains…”

White and red handkerchief: Coughing up blood / Can't speak / “You just can't shake that cough, can you?”

Your work is never finished: Forced to work while ill / Workplace emergency / “...sit down, I'm calling HR.”

A minor annoyance: Stuffy nose / Hate to be sick / “I'm fine, I can work.”

It's going down (I'm yelling timber): Building collapse / Trapped under rubble / “I can't move my legs.”

It's just a pebble: Avalanche / Stuck in the mountains / “Well, this wasn't how I thought the hiking trip would go.”

Lay down your sword: Fighting back a cold / Cuddling / “Just let yourself be sick so you can get better.”

I'm going down (you're yelling timber): Passing out / Exhaustion / “I've got you, let's sit down, I've got you.”

Say goodbye to filters: Half-conscious / Delirious / “You would never say that in your right mind…”

In hot water: Dangerously high fever / Cool baths / “We have to get that number down somehow.”

I don't see it: Hallucinations / Fever dreams / “It's just a nightmare. You're safe.”

The whump morning after: Tending to injuries / Domestic hurt comfort / “Let's check the bandages, okay?”

It's not fun if you're panicking: Stuck in an elevator / Claustrophobia / “Get me out.”

Where's the exit: Lost / Stuck in the wilderness / “Surely someone will notice we're gone.”

Better out than in: Nervous Stomach / Vomiting / “I got your hair, it's fine.”

Well, that doesn't taste right: Accidentally poisoned / Allergic reaction / “My tongue feels like bees, is that normal?”

Be one with the fish: Drowning / Rescue Breaths / “Why did you think that was a good idea?!”

We didn't start the fire: Severe burns / Running into flames / “I know it hurts. Breathe.”

That's no barn spider: Venomous bite / Arachnophobia / “You'll be okay, we can help.”

What's your name again?: Concussion / Temporary Amnesia / “I don't remember what happened to me.”

Nothing behind the eyes: Fully unconscious / Force feeding / “It's just me, go back to sleep.”

Wrong place, wrong time: Robbery / One of many hostages / “Stay behind me, I can take a hit.”

I don't mean to get emotional: Fear / Breaking point / “I can't stop crying, I'm sorry--”

Only way out is through: Tunnel collapse / Accidental Journey / “We can't just sit here and wait.”

ALTERNATES:

Seizure

Choking

Withdrawal

Mugged

Wild animal attack

Hangover

Strain/sprain

Broken bone

Bloody nose

Panic attack

[nimadjart]

Happy halloweeen. :)

This is the commentary track(?) to my digitober. It's just rambling, so don't expect anything too interesting.

This first picture came out on a whim, I originally didn't intend to do anything for this october. I had just arrived home from helping my mom out with something, and was in a good mood. I think this picture, as sketchy as it looks, reflects that feeling. I'm content with it - and it's halloween themed! All the better.

For the second, I tried to follow the "official inktober" list (something I'd drop quickly in the following days). I'm disastrous at making backgrounds, so I gave it a shot for practice sake. I think it's not a bad result, it almost kinda tells something of a story.

"Boots", hah. It's not terrible, but it's also missing a lot of polish. I think the idea behind it works well for a cute/sexy picture of Angewomon. Maybe some day I'll revisit it? I should put more practice into drawing the human form in the meanwhile lol.

I really dislike the fourth one. I think Lianpunmon deserves better art, so I'll definitely do it again some day. My skills are so undeveloped, it's very obvious seeing this poor hatching.

Speaking of hatching, I bit more than I can chew with this one. The composition isn't interesting enough either, and just like with Lianpunmon there's no story here. At least Angewomon seemed to be interacting with the viewer lol.

The sixth is something I liked better. It's kinda shody, but there's something of an urban fantasy thing going on.

The Vamdemon one I can see the faults: I need better line control, the shapes aren't locked in as well as they should be. Yet, I'm partial to it…

Rapidmon deserves better lol. I still really dig the idea behind this drawing, I just wish I'd have given myself the patience and time needed to render a kickass explosion.

SkullGreymon, I have little to comment. It has zero story, but it's carried by the vibes. It's the first (and arguably last lmao) time I think I was cooking with the halftones.

The tenth is arguably the peak of the entire month. It has some story, a neat composition, and acceptable execution. Strangely enough it was one of the quickest to make: I had an idea, and it came out in a few minutes (compared to some other drawings where I was fighting for my life), and it ultimately was one of the most interacted with drawings in my entire blog. Funny how that goes.

I like a lot the Piemon one, as bland as it is. It's like a design piece, more than a drawing. It helps that the perspective deformation hides my poor linework haha.

I went too hard on the Mephismon X one, to the detriment of the piece. Instead of adding texture, it just looks dirty. Damn.

The thirteenth one was my poor attempt at making a background. Originally, Bakemon was gonna have this devious, whimsical look, but as I finished drawing the stairs I thought "I'd be kinda tired after climbing a few floors", so I changed Bakemon's expression to reflect that. Just a little trivia.

The Jesmon is what I'd argue was my peak. Shapes are locked (as best as my skill lets them), values worked well, it told a story. It's my favourite of the month.

Fiftenth was made, mostly, trying to catch some Adventure buff to the ammount of interactions I'd get. I mean, I had fun drawing the characters, but the reality is that I had petty reasons. I don't dislike it though.

I know exactly what I wanted to do with the sixteenth, and I didn't achieve it. Looking back, I think I should've done it in BW, rather than grayscale, to make it pop more. Fix the composition too. It's too plain. Shame, I really like Lilithmon X's design.

Seventeenth was also one where I just phoned it in. I think the values are all over the place; though I do like the harsh light. Impmon is a lot of fun to draw, all things considered.

Greymon was fun, lots of fun to draw. But this was another piece where I went too crazy trying to use halftones, I ended up making something that lacked impact or presence. I do like, in a self deprecating way, how the background seems okay until you look at it directly and see that it's kinda bad lol.

I made Nefertimon's torso too long! I only realized when I was doing the finishing touches lol. Yet I like the whole thing a lot, I think the texture and lightning kinda sells it as a photo (the white border was an attempt at selling that further). Saw someone refer to it as "the last thing I see before I die", and that comment might stay with me forever lol.

The twentieth is another I had a clear picture in my head as to what I was actually hoping to make, but failed to. Instead of landing some sort of finish, it's on a weird gray (lol) area. Making clouds is hard y'all.

Twenty one is one where I managed to stick the landing to what I had in mind. I think the composition needed a few more minutes of baking, but overall I'm content with the result. Death-X-DORUgoramon is a complex design, so any degree of succesful translation is a win in my book.

I think I needed to draw some more background Kuramon for the twenty second. Y'know, to really sell the swarm thing. It's kinda too clean.

Before twenty three, I had never given myself the time to draw a tree shilouette. It was fun to turn off my brainfor a bit and just draw line, after line, after line, after line. I did the tree first, and then I tried to figure out how to make Shurimon. Originally, I wanted him to be hunched over more dramatically, almost as if he was climbing down the tree, but I was incapable of drawing it in a satisfactory manner. So this is what I got.

Twenty four is so bad! I think Monitamon came out fine, but the background elements are so poorly done! I'm so embarrassed! lol

Kabuterimon was really fun, very dramatic looking. I think it has some serious readability issues with the hands, but I don't dislike the idea I had at all.

Hackmon's drawing was done almost like a sibling piece to the fourteenth, Jesmon's. Like, Huckmon is somehow watching his exhausted future, yet he stands stoic. On it's own, I think it's plain. Like, it has some charm, but it's lacking in impact compared to the fourteenth. But maybe that's for the best of the story?

The Wizarmon sticker came through me realizing I wasn't practicing my lineart! So I did a sticker instead. This was actually version two, but number one was so bad I had to redo it. Despite it being a humble sticker chibi, it's overall the day I spent the most time drawing.

Twenty eight came from me realizing I hadn't done any Alphamon! So I did what I thought would look badass. As much as I like Alphamon, though, his shapes are difficult for me to grasp so it came out shoddy and weak lol.

Twenty nine, Ragna Lordmon vs Ragnamon, was hurt by me recording it. While an exciting thing to do, I felt like I wasn't allowed to do anything but move forward quickly, or to change things (I'd have moved both Ragnamon and the main Ragna Lordmon body closer to the center) that would've made the composition flow better. It's not an abject failure, and the video is fun to watch, but still…

Dorumon is a simple piece that I was a bit surprised to make. My birthday is not information I tell people, but I was just compelled to share a bit of myself. I dunno, it feels weird. I'm weird. It came out cute at least.

And at the last! Noble Pumpmon again. I'd love to tell you that I applied everything I learned throughout the month and it's my best piece and stuff, but that isn't the reality. It's a better show for a similar amount of effort compared to the October 1st drawing, but it's not some crazy good display of betterment. A bit, yes, but less than I had hoped.

If you made it this far into this silly wall of text I wrote, I thank you. I thank everyone who interacted with my drawings, it pleases me a lot to see that someone gave it a like, or a share, or a comment. I learned about myself, and my limits, through this experience. It was tiring, but setting myself the goal of "make a drawing a day" was, paradoxically, liberating. Like, now I had a reason to draw! (despite me having some comission work to do lmfao). It was nice. This was one of the most entertaining octobers in recent years. Thanks again to everyone who participated in some fashion.

[archandshri]

28th June ‘24 - [arch] One Page Limitation??? - My process for Traffic Zine #5

Hello All!

A couple months ago, I got accepted to @trafficzine, a digital anthology of pieces by a large group of artists and writers based on the most recent season of the Life Series. I made this piece back in April, but thankfully I kept some notes of my process. 

Heads up - this contains spoilers for Secret Life :D

We were able to choose our own prompt from a list! For this project, I wanted to push my comic making - especially how to communicate a lot of information in a small space. I went through and watched a few clips from the series to see which prompt would fit a comic and settled on Scott’s death.

As usual, I began by getting some reference images and going ham on some big paper. This gets me excited about the project and helps generate ideas. I go for whatever interests me in terms of medium and subject matter, but I try to use a process that doesn’t let me control too much (in this case brush and ink)

initial sketches for fun and vibes :D

During this, I also took the time to transcribe the scene - I wanted to use the dialogue directly, and see how much I could fit into the single page that I was allowed for the zine.

In these early planning stages I make sure to do warm-up sketches to remind myself of the energy I want to communicate. This also keeps things fun and fresh so I'm not ONLY thinking about page composition and making things 'good'. (the expectation for it to be 'good' kills a project prove me wrong)

Dialogue from the clip + warm up sketches

Next up, I started to plan what panels I have on the page. At this stage, some panels might just be a box with some words, and some may have a sketch if I have a clear composition in mind. This stage is mostly for pacing and plot, so instead of focusing on what the panel and page will look like, I will think about:

what will happen in the panel

it's purpose and

what it will communicate

Sometimes I'll illustrate a string of panels that tell the story and fit them on a page after - but this depends on the project and my confidence with the size of it.

After messing around with these and coming up with a pretty clear direction, I draw a bunch of boxes to see how the panels could sit nicely together. At this stage I might realise I have too many panels, and need to cut a few or come up with a creative solution. Nothing is set in stone at this point.

sketching panel layouts

Now begins the fun! I decide on the layout I prefer and I can start putting planned compositions into the boxes. I often do this digitally, or a digital editing process will be involved.

Once planned, I print these out to do a more refined sketch over. I find that my traditional drawings have a lot more life and character to them than digital ones, so I try to keep the majority of the process traditional, with passes of scanning and digital editing.

I tried a version with her looking out at the distance - ready to face the oncoming battle. But it still felt off. So I turned to my slides to ask myself some questions!!

I tried to think of more things that were working - but I really felt like it was lacking a lot. I was going for this slower emotional feeling because that came more naturally to me, but it just wasn't working for this image. The original clip is quite rushed and chaotic - which would be harder to communicate in a comic format but the challenge interested me. Either way, I knew I wasn't happy with this direction so... i decided to start from scratch! Back to the drawing board!!!

In the previous version, I had cut out a lot of the dialogue, but I decided to go back to the original clip and use AS MUCH as possible. Since passing the bow was my favourite part of that first composition, I really wanted to lean into it as the emotional height and final goodbye before Scott's death. It's a moment to slow down and absorb the vibes :D

I made a list of panels along with their descriptions to refer to when trying to figure out the order of panels. there were SO MANY and it was VERY CONFUSING when they were too small to read.

These thumbnails were super small and would not have made sense without my list, I swear.

I printed this tiny thumbnail out at A4, so I could sketch over it and get a clearer sense of flow. Then began a loooong process of printing out tiny photocopies and rearranging the panels to be legible. It was a difficult balance of communicating busyness while making sure the hierarchy/reading order made sense.

After some tweaking, i printed out an A3 copy to draw my panel borders and text.

Doing this on a separate piece of paper means I don't have to worry so much about messing up the text or borders when drawing the characters. This allows me to be more free and expressive with my illustration.

Woah! Quick trip back in time!! During the thumbnailing process I drew these warm up sketches! I looooved the way the linework came out. I drew this on an A3 piece of paper - and the shocked Gem would, in theory, be one of the smallest panels. So I decided to do a crazy thing.

I touched up the sketch digitally, compiling some of my favourite warm up sketches, some traditional sketches made for the panels, and filling the rest in digitally. Then I printed this image out in QUATERS at A3!! This meant the final sketch layer, printed out was A1!! (aka very large, considering the final file would be at A4, about 8x smaller)

I did this so I could get fairly small detailed lines with my pencil while being quite expressive and firm with my mark-making. Slowly, I dlined all of the panels traditionally and scanned them in. Then I assembled the finished linework on Photoshop, along with the text and panel borders and got to colouring :D

final linework :D

For colouring, I played a little bit with halftone but I found the texture made it feel a bit too busy - the panels are already doing enough. Because of this, I also decided to use a limited colour palette. Here are some images of the colouring process, which I won't go into today.

I'm really happy with how this came out - I think it captures the chaos of the moment, while taking time to linger on the emotion of it. Keeping that bow moment really made it, I think.

I think the last panel is still quite weak. Earlier in the process there was a low-angle shot of Gem about to kill Scott which may have been more powerful, but I think I was struggling with my actual drawing skill when it comes to perspective. A lot of learning how to draw, and in particular with comics, is about knowing where your skills are at, how to utilise them best and how to test and push them.

I'm glad that I started again, instead of finishing that composition I wasn't happy with. It was a tough project but I learnt sooooo much from it, and it's been essential skill-building for.... the current comic I'm working on (stay tuned!!! :0) Thanks for reading this incredibly long post! Go check out @trafficzine and look at all the other cool art Cool vibes and silly men,

Archie :D

[blckbrrybasket]

Falling, Fallen .3

gaz x gn!reader

ᴄᴡ: drinking, smoking

ᴡᴄ: 1.7k

← previous, next →

The moment Kyle was back by your side he felt lighter and there was no denying you felt the same. There was an indisputable vibe between the two of you, but you decided not to dwell on it and go with whatever happened. “Hey!” You called out over the chatter. A sheepish wince crossed your features when it was a little too loud. Kyle chuckled and stepped to the side to lean on the bar, your body turning to see him in your full front view.

“I didn’t think I’d see you for a bit.” Or ever. You were thrilled you ran into him though. “I’m going to guess you haven’t finished the book?” Kyle rolled his eyes, playfully huffing and crossing his arms. “Well actually-“ Your eyebrows raised in surprise and his faux serious expression faltered. The corners of his lips tipped up when he dropped his arms. “No, I haven’t.”

You laughed at his dorky behavior and shook your head. This was only your second time hanging out and he had been able to make you forget everything you were doing both times. Kyle chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he leaned in closer to you ‘to hear you better.’

"You got me there," he admitted with a mischievous grin, the playful banter between you only deepening his desire to stick by your side. "But hey, don't blame me for being distracted by your irresistible charm and wit. That’s why I haven’t been able to read it. If you weren’t here I’d be curled up in that booth with my book.” It was your turn to roll your eyes and you playfully nudged his shin with your foot. “Yeah right.”

Kyle lowered his voice, drawing you in for him to tease you further. “I'll have you know, I'm determined to finish it. I won't rest until I do. I told you, I’m going to be your emotional support buddy." Another flush of heat hit your cheeks. “Oh my emotional support book buddy?” You countered. Kyle sighed and leaned back again, “Didn’t have to one up me with the name.” His tone showed no hint of true resentment though. The smirk plastered on his lips said the exact opposite.

You raised an eyebrow and snickered. “Oh okay Mr. Charm.” You took a sip of your drink, letting your eyes trail behind the bar. Even with your eyes shifting elsewhere you could feel Kyle’s on you. It wasn’t weird at all. It was almost comforting in a way. Reassuring that he was genuinely interested in getting to know you.

After your drink you turned to look back to him only to discover his eyes hadn’t drifted anywhere else. Kyle’s small smile grew wider. Wanting to know more about him, or more so not wanting to let the conversation die, you spoke up again. “So what are you doing here? Not saying that you do or don’t look like you’d fit in here.” You nodded to the pub’s indoor decoration. It was definitely more of a local pub rather than a more flashy one. He seemed like he’d fit in at flashy pubs or anywhere of that caliber. Kyle just had a perfect face that could really fit any level of fancy.

Kyle chuckled at your comment, feeling the nervousness in his veins fade away. You made it so easy to converse and not be worried about messing up the conversation. Taking a moment to observe the pub's interior, he nodded in appreciation. "Well, this place certainly has charm," Kyle replied, a glint in his eyes. "But to answer your question, my friend loves this pub.” He shrugged nonchalantly, resting his arm on the bar, his posture far more relaxed not that he was actually talking to you. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you saying I don’t fit the crowd, Kyle?” Your tone remained light and teasing, making him shake his head and smile again. “Depends, love. Do you want me to be honest?” Your hand swatted at his arm making him fake a worse injury. You lovingly swore you could only roll your eyes so much. “Don’t inflate my ego too much there.”

Kyle grinned and took a step forward, “I’ll keep a note of that.” His eyes flicked back to look at the booth where Price looked awfully smug, Soap wore a mischievous look, and he could guess behind the face mask Ghost was smirking. Your eyes followed him to the booth where the man with mutton chops had waved at you earlier. “Those your friends?” Kyle hummed and looked back at you, nodding and smiling. “Yeah. Take a wild guess of which one loves it here.”

You raised an eyebrow leaning towards Kyle while you squinted at the trio. “Mohawk.” Kyle grinned, “Ding ding ding. How’d you know?” Did you have to list why you thought it was him? “No comment.” He grinned and shook his head trying to hide his smile behind his hand scratching at his chin. Soap still looked smug as ever at the table, not realizing they were talking about him. “Wanna go over there?”

The question surprised you a little bit. You didn’t think Kyle really wanted you to join his friends or cared enough to invite you. Your eyes widened slightly and seemed for a moment that Kyle was going to nervously take the offer back, but you smiled. “Yeah I’d love to.” He subtly exhaled and gave you another dazzling smile, “Good, good. Yeah let’s,” he gestured the way. Kyle politely let you walk ahead to the table. He certainly wasn’t making signals behind you for Soap to shut up.

Once reaching the table Kyle held a hand out to his friends. “This is John,” Price nodded at you with a friendly smile. “This is Simon,” The so-called ‘Simon’ kept a black balaclava on and an indifferent expression. He nodded as well and you decided not to question the fashion choice. The last option left the mohawked man. “And this is also John.” You raised an eyebrow and glanced at them, “Two John’s? Must get confusing.”

The second John leaned forward with a cheeky look. “Aye, I’m th’ handsome John.” You snorted out a laugh and covered your mouth. “Oh yeah?” John nodded proudly, earning a jab to the side from Simon. “Ow, feck. What th’ feck was that for?” Simon simply mumbled an answer that had John scooting to make space, Kyle shooting a glare at John. The seemingly older, and wiser, John gave an apologetic look.

“Sorry ‘bout that, love. Have a seat.” You glanced up at Kyle who looked back to you and smiled again, covering up whatever emotion was previously in his eyes. Smiling back, you sat down and scooted into the booth. “Thank you, seriously. You guys didn’t have to do this.” “Nonsense, any friend of Kyle is a friend of ours, yeah?” Before you could answer the other John raised his glass, “Hear, hear! Cheers to that!”

Kyle seemed a little quieter or preoccupied in his thoughts. He raised his arm and put it on the back of the booth opening his stance up to you. “You just want to drink, Soap.” The statement earned a chuckle from himself and Price. “Soap?” You questioned. Simon jumped in speaking clearly now. “Call ‘im that cause ‘e doesn’t know what the hell soap is.” Soap gasped dramatically and the mask over Simon’s lip shifted indicating his wide smirk.

“Ah dae tae!” Soap protested, accent thickening at the scandal (and alcohol). “Boys.” Price sighed when Simon pressed a hand to Soap’s shoulder to keep him at arm’s length. A minute in and you could tell John was a father figure to them. No time to dwell on the thought though, because a soft pair of lips brushed against the shell of your ear. “Sorry about them. Thought they’d be less rowdy tonight.” You ignored the shiver running down your back and glanced over your shoulder at Kyle. “It’s okay, really.”

He tilted his head, brown eyes studying your face intently before he nodded. “As long as you're okay.” Your small smiles mirrored each other's, his appearing a second after yours. “Definitely am. Dealt with way worse.” “Worse than him?” Kyle nodded to Soap who was still bickering with Simon. Laughter tumbled from your lips again, it was easy to laugh around Kyle. “Yeah, even worse than him.”

Kyle fell silent for a second, but not uncomfortably. His lips parted before you realized the bickering died down. Turning back you were met with Price trying to seem like he hadn’t been paying attention to the two of you, Simon seemingly less interested, and Soap eagerly leaning his chin on the palm of his hand. “Sooo, yer th’ bird he was talkin’ about?” “Okay,” Kyle’s statement was clear this time. He sighed, getting up and offering his hand to you.

“Wanna take a walk?” Not caring that you had basically just sat down, you nodded and grasped his hand. The palm was rough, but yet not calloused. “Sure.” You hoped you didn’t seem too excited. Kyle’s hand left your hand to slide protectively around your waist. Walking away you could hear the muffled chatter that Soap had ‘scared you off’ and if you strained your ears you could hear Simon nonchalantly flicking the back of Soap’s head.

Kyle filtered through the crowd, his hand never fumbling from your waist. After a minute or so the cool breeze hit your face, caused by a person pushing through the open door. His arm raised and Kyle held the door open letting you slip under it. “You smoke?” He asked, a little too loud from the change in the loud atmosphere. “You smoke?” The question slipped out without a second thought and Kyle responded with a lively chuckle.

“Here and there? You?” He asked again with a smirk, digging to grab his pack. “Here and there,” you retorted with your own smug look. Kyle rolled his eyes and flicked his lighter, lighting his cigarette. He grabbed a second one and pressed the tip to his lit one effectively setting yours ablaze. Kyle passed it to you and watched you take it. “Can I walk you home?”

For a moment you wanted to teasingly ask him ‘can you?’ but not wanting to ruin the moment you nodded and slipped the cig between your parted lips. “Yeah. Yeah, you can.”

series masterlist

[thatpersonwhosaidtheywouldnt]

What do you think of these Absolute Flash previews?

Alright I'll got through them one by one.

The first image is gorgeous. I love the way the artist draws the Speed Force (I am assuming it is the Speed Force, admittedly). The typical lightning is not any different but the rectangles are what really make it for me. They drive the perspective of the piece and Wally's motion really well.

Now, getting into the actual pages that were revealed. It is interesting to me that he is in the desert. It makes me wonder if this Wally might not live in the Midwest. The image is giving New Mexico vibes to me but really, could be anywhere from California to Nevada to Utah to New Mexico. Of course this could be a reach. Maybe he ran really far with his new powers, considering the shock on his face, that is just as possible. Something that really interests me is how we keep seeing Wally drawn with the lightning. Not only does he have the lightning around him but also this secondary red image. Perhaps this is just a stylistic choice but to me, it reads as either him being in pain (which would be an interesting choice, hearkening back to the many times Wally has dealt with his powers causing him pain) or as another being grabbing at him. I am wondering if because of the nature of the Absolute Universe, the Speed Force is poisoned in some way. But I am getting into wild speculation territory so lets get to the next page.

The Rogues! Okay, man, do they have a different vibe. Seems pretty likely to me that these Rogues are working with the government. What would make sense to me is that they are perhaps made in particular to go after Wally, a bit of a twist on them developing their weapons in response to him to acts as thieves. Alternatively, they are already an existing government squad that goes after powered individuals. Now the Rogues themselves... it seems clear to me that we have Captain Cold, Golden Glider, and Captain Boomerang. I am unsure who they are going for with the guy in that back. My immediate guess is Trickster, but it could easily be a few people. As to who they are... They could easily be who they are in the main verse, but it is interesting to me that Cold so closely aligns with Rudy West's typical design. I think it isn't much of a stretch to say it could be him (and a number of people have been noting that as well). If he is Rudy, it makes it pretty likely to me that Golden Glider is Iris but that might be a stretch. I am excited to see them, though, and what direction Lemire goes.

Alright, the final page. This one is honestly the one that has me the most pumped. We are getting to see a lot into who Wally is and his family life. I think it is pretty safe to say that he is living with his grandfather, Ira West. His design is basically a one-for-one with his appearances in the mainverse, and he seems too old to be Rudy. Wally living with Ira is honestly a brilliant move, in the least suggesting Wally's parents have remained not the best people in this world. Ira has not been seen in so long, too, so I am excited for the potential. Is he still a scientist here? Maybe he is how Wally gets his powers? Honestly so many cool possibilities. Now as for Wally... Him be a musician is super cool to me. I am really enjoying the vibe we are seeing for him here. Teen Wally in mainverse was written sooo long ago and is obviously very dated and very much obsessed with the Flash. But this is a world without a Flash, so who is Wally without his idol? What is he into? Him playing the guitar with headphones on really reminds me of how teen Wally in the main universe was described as having his head in the clouds. It seems that is the case with this Wally too. I assume the posters and art around him are band posters but I hope we get more of an answer to that when the book comes out.

Overall... I am pumped, honestly. Most looks back at teen Wally we have gotten have been Teen Titans Wally, who fills a specific archetype. I am excited to get a take that is more nuanced. I really hope we have him meeting Linda and Piper and Chunk as a teenager. There is just so much potential for this and I have high hopes.

[dr-futbol-blog]

Conversion, Pt. 11

Back in the cave of horrors, Sheppard's team as led by Major Lorne have reached bug central. While they are all horrified, McKay seems to be the only one who lets his fear show. It is paradoxical that he comes across as the bravest one of them all in feeling the fear, letting his fear show and standing there anyway, where the others are just as frightened and are too afraid to let it show besides.

Dex: They'll defend their young. McKay: Maybe we should make a diversion. Lorne: Are you volunteering? McKay: I'll shut up.

It seems as though here we are looking at Teyla, Lorne and Ronon through McKay's eyes, as he turns his head and we then get the night-vision view of them. And every one of them turns to look back at him even though they are surrounded by lethal critters that they ought to keep their focus on. They seem judgemental as they look at him, although that might just be the vibe McKay gets from them, as he quickly backtracks his suggestion and volunteers to keep quiet. But it is interesting that they all react the same way to a rather innocuous but perfectly valid comment. It is moments like this that make McKay feel like people do not appreciate his company.

As far as plans go, McKay's idea of a diversion is not worse than Beckett's "Let's go get them". They do not have the time to think things through and come up with an actual plan of action. A diversion might well have worked but they have no way of implementing one right in this moment. But this is relevant for later, after Sheppard escapes his nest and they have to hunt him down. Ronon does exactly what McKay proposed here, he uses a diversion to be able to take Sheppard out unawares. It was not a bad plan. And clearly Ronon had heard him.

What is interesting here is that they explicate the strategy used in the episode with regards to the subtextual narrative. By creating a diversion--Sheppard kissing Teyla, Sheppard's scenes with Weir--they managed to slip in some tangible evidence for McKay's relationship with Sheppard. And McKay has been keeping quiet this episode, we have barely seen him around. We feel his absence because as we miss him, so does Sheppard.

Teyla: I do not believe we can get close enough to retrieve the eggs without these creatures attacking. Beckett: I have this... but I need to get under that. Hand me that water canister. If there's one thing we know about these little buggers, it's that they hate salt water.

Note that it is McKay who hands Beckett the canister of salt water that he requests, and he certainly remembers the price they had to pay to get that information. He also takes the bug catching device from Beckett, the two of them working together rather smoothly. And also note that McKay appears to be considerably stronger than Beckett, who does not seem to be able to hold the canister up by himself for very long where McKay heaved it from one of the marines easily. And once more it seems like his left hand is more dominant.

Lorne: How's that gonna help us? Beckett: Just watch. McKay: See? Not so stupid! Beckett: Ah, shut up!

Beckett's advice to just watch is not directed only at the people in the cave but also for the audience, as the show has contained elements from its very inception, from the very first episode, that were never explicated in text but made use of visual storytelling. And it is interesting that it is right in this context that we get shots of both McKay and Teyla, both of their necks covered, as Beckett is drawing up his collar to cover his neck. The fact that McKay feels the need to comment on it at all may be an attempt at diverting attention, of making sure that everyone gathered thinks that drawing up his collar had been about the bugs and only about the bugs. Where McKay and Beckett are bantering, it is clear that McKay cares about him. But this is the second episode in a row where Beckett indicates that he would rather McKay not talk, and this is what McKay has come to expect from people, even people that like him.

We see McKay smile cautiously when it seems like the salt water might actually be working and they might be able to get the eggs after all. He looks to his side where Lorne is, and it could be that some part of him expected to see Sheppard there, where he usually would be, because his smile vanishes just as quickly as it arrived when he sees Lorne. He keeps sneaking glances at Lorne, possibly to make sure that he is on top of things and will see that Beckett is safe doing what he is doing. Being that McKay seems to have developed hypervigilance as the result of childhood trauma, he seems to be expecting the proverbial other shoe to drop and wants to be ready for action when it does. McKay looks to be holding his breath, watching Beckett inch closer to the egg sac.

Lorne: Doc? Beckett: I've come this far. Dex: Heads up! Beckett: Oh God! Teyla: Carson... run!

Ronon notices one of the bugs lowering itself down from the ceiling of the cave in a similar way that the bug which attached itself to Sheppard had lowered down to wrap around his neck, and he takes it out using his blaster. That seems to excite all of the bugs that are now sensing the human threat to their nest.

We see that McKay also has his hand gun out, ready for action. However, he recoils when the others start firing off their P-90s, and recoiling from sudden loud noises is a rather obvious trauma response. It is an involuntary reaction, the startle reflex being an especially common symptom of an abusive childhood environment. Here it is not so much played for comedy as McKay's reaction is almost too quick to even notice, to pay attention to. But it is definitely keeping in with his character. McKay is also the first one to take off at a run out of the cave because this is not where he wants to die. Dying in this cave is not going to help Sheppard in the least. And as the first one to take off, McKay also seems to be the first one out of the cave.

Dex: I think that stopped them. Lorne: We're not sticking around to find out. I'm pulling the plug on this mission.

We see that they have all taken cover from the grenade that Lorne threw into the cave that may have done some damage to the bugs but which seemed mostly designed to make sure that the two marines that were left behind would not suffer unduly before dying. But note that McKay is covering Beckett with his body. He had obviously helped Beckett out of the cave and had shielded him from the debris. Even though McKay had been the first one to leave, it was not because he only cares about himself. He had actually pushed Beckett down and was holding his hand over him because McKay does by now have much more field experience than Beckett does. And McKay does care. He cares a lot.

Lorne: Let's get back to the gate. Beckett: We can't give up! Lorne: We just lost two men in there, Doc, so unless you can find another way to get those eggs out of there, we're done, understand? Let's go.

While Beckett is the one that voices the objection, they are all thinking it. They came here to save Sheppard and it feels wrong to give up. It is because Lorne was forced to terminate two men under his command that he feels the need to withdraw. We do not know what Lorne's standing orders are but jeopardizing the chief scientist and chief medical officer of Atlantis needlessly is probably something that he should avoid at all costs, and so he insists on taking them back.

Lorne takes off and the others remain standing for a moment, not sure what the right thing to do is. McKay looks at both Ronon and Teyla, clearly hoping that either one would say that they are staying, that there is still something they can try, that they are not going back without the thing that could save Sheppard. But since their faces look as hopeless as he feels, McKay is quick to take after Lorne. If there is nothing more to do here then at least he wants to get back as fast as possible.

Note that McKay seems to be carrying a weapon at the end here, either a P-90 or a rifle of some kind, where in the cave he was holding onto his hand gun. We have not seen him with the big gun previously (apart from when he was guarding the control chair platform alone during The Siege (S01E20) and where Sheppard seems to have given him the gun for personal protection), so it must be that he had packed some extra protection for this particular mission. And where Sheppard does not generally seem to want McKay to carry the P-90, it is likely that McKay has still been learning how to use one. And if ever there was need for one, this mission would have been the one, so it is likely that Lorne had put one into his hands.

Just like Beckett is the one to voice what we know McKay is feeling but cannot put into words, afterwards we see Beckett's frustration and regret as he has a private meeting with Weir about the failure of the mission. We get to see these emotions play on his face, and McKay is again vanished somewhere where we do not get to see his reaction, we go not get to see his fear and sorrow but are instead left to imagine them. The situation seems hopeless, and so Weir wants to be the one to break the bad news to Sheppard herself, against explicit instructions from Sheppard for her to get the hell away from him because he is not safe to be around anymore. She seems to think that their friendship is going to protect her from him.

Weir: How is he? Guard: I wouldn't go in there, ma'am. Weir: I'll be fine.

Now, for the guard to say this means that there must have been an incident and the incident must be fairly recent. If the guards had merely been standing outside of Sheppard's door and had no interaction with him, they would have no idea how he is doing or that his condition has gotten worse. Given that we just saw Weir and Beckett having a meeting just by the two of them and we saw McKay in a hurry to leave the planet to get back to Atlantis (and his comment about his doubts that Sheppard is lucid enough to Caldwell momentarily), there certainly is a pocket of time here where McKay could have visited Sheppard. Would even have wanted to do that, given the failure of the mission. We do not know that he had, but something must have happened here.

Weir: John? So this is when I usually ask you a stupid question, like 'How are you feeling?' John? John?

Note that Weir speaks the question "John?" just as the camera pans over the poster of Johnny Cash as the Man in Black, further drawing an association between him and Sheppard. Sheppard is not seated on his bed anymore, and we do not see if the pile of clothes is there anymore either. We see that Sheppard's laptop is open and while it is impossible to see what it is running precisely, they look either to be audio files or some kind of biometric data. Regardless, the laptop is open and Sheppard had not been reading anything, is the thing. He may have been monitoring something.

Weir: Our team got back from the mission. The nest was too well protected.

Sheppard appears behind her suddenly, perhaps having dropped in from the ceiling like the bug in the cave. We learned that the iratus protect their young and protect their nests, and by referring to "our team," asserting partial ownership over what Sheppard very much considers his team even when not ruled by animal instincts, and encroaching into his space, his nest, he finds her presence threatening. And again she seems barely able to conceal her disgust at the sight of him. Also note that the way Weir is filling him in, she is being vague about McKay's current condition. If McKay had tried to visit Sheppard, it isn't a big deal. If Sheppard has no idea whether McKay even survived the mission, it is a huge problem and would put Weir's life in more danger than she realizes.

Weir: We were unable to retrieve the eggs. They tried their best... Sheppard: Best?

Sheppard looks down and to the side as Weir mentions the well-protected nest, looking sad. As a soldier, protecting the nest has basically been Sheppard's life mission. He is a protector, a guardian. He understands the need to protect one's nest, and he wishes that he could keep his own nest safe. Keep Atlantis safe. He returns his attention to Weir as she says the words "we were unable," again seeming to take ownership of his team, his young. If earlier, when the retrovirus was just starting to take effect, Sheppard could appreciate the effort of Weir using platitudes and trying to sugarcoat things for him, he is way beyond that point now.

McKay tells Caldwell that he doubts Sheppard is lucid enough to use a transporter, and it is unclear how much of his cognitive faculties remain, how much of what she is saying he even understands. At the very least, it seems to take him a while to process what she says. When Sheppard repeats her word "best" in a questioning tone, it is not clear whether he is trying to communicate that their best simply is not good enough for him, or that he does not understand what she means by this. His team does not give up, if they had tried their best they would have succeeded. McKay trying his best and failing is something that simply does not compute to him. If they tried their best and failed, McKay has to be dead.

Weir: The bugs attacked-- Sheppard: Try again. Weir: Can't do that. Sheppard: Why?

Sheppard is not interesting in having dialogue, cutting her off without even letting her finish her sentences. He has been reduced to monosyllabic, one-word responses, and it is unclear whether he is even capable of forming complex sentences, complex thoughts. He seems largely to be driven by animal instinct. Need - get. Fear - kill. It is clear that Weir is afraid of him, but she does not fear him enough and it is possible that the reason why she does not know to fear him enough is that she has seen the full scope and depth of his rage once before. She still thinks this is variation of the same. That he would never hurt her.

Weir: John-- Sheppard: No. Weir: I understand-- Sheppard: If you won't, then kill me now. Weir: John...

Given that we had a whole scene of Sheppard telling Teyla to call him John when they are off the clock, Sheppard cutting her off with a "No" here is interesting. The meaning is ambiguous in the context. It may mean that he is done with her excuses: "No, don't give me that". It might be disbelief: "No, I don't believe you". Sheppard asked her the question "Why?" and Weir's "John" was the beginning of some kind of an answer to the question, but he cut her off before she could even start giving him an answer. Perhaps he knew that all that he would get are excuses. Sheppard's "No" may also communicate that he had no intention of taking no for an answer from her.

But because we had the whole "Call me John" episode earlier, it could also simply be a reaction to her using his name. She says it for the fourth time here, and her intention seems to be to use it to establish rapport, to affirm that bond of friendship between them that she thinks will protect her from him, approaching him like a skittish animal. But he is not a skittish animal, he is an ambush predator and she is encroaching on his territory. Only a little while ago McKay had spat his title right back in his face when he had been forced to turn him away from his door, and Sheppard's hurt over this seemed to still be lingering in the background of his scene with Teyla earlier. And it may be lingering here still. His immediate, visceral "No" to her "John" may mean "No, don't say that again" or "No, don't call me that." Every time she says it, he is reminded of how McKay can say it only when they are well and truly alone, always having to look over their shoulders.

Sheppard also tells her to put him out of his misery, and while a part of it is just a negotiation tactic--of trying to impress to her how severe this situation really is and how high the stakes--there is a part of him that thinks that the people he loves might be better off if he was dead. Because he gets everyone he loves killed, perhaps if he was not alive, they would no longer be in danger. He would not endanger them.

Sheppard does not have a death wish. He has hopes and dreams that he can scarcely admit even to himself, he has things he wishes to see through and he has unfinished business to attend to. He has a McKay to protect. He needs her to try again, to try until there is nothing left to try because as long as there is hope, he does not intend to give up. He is telling her to kill him but he very much seems to want to live. It is only in the past hours that he has had to sit alone with his thoughts that he has really come to appreciate how much he really has to live for. How much of love and human companionship he still wishes to experience.

Sheppard: It's better for the both of us. Weir: I can't do that.

Sheppard's choice of words here is again ambiguous. The immediate reading is "You and I, Sheppard and Weir." Only, Sheppard does seem to be thinking about a whole host of other people besides Weir, so it could more accurately be interpreted as "myself and others, Sheppard and all of you". They have a security problem and by eliminating him, Weir eliminates the problem. But let us recall that most of the time when Sheppard references "we" or "us," it is "Sheppard and McKay" in particular. And he is not speaking McKay's name. He has not mentioned McKay's name once, and this is on purpose. This whole episode, his role has been intentionally obscured, attention has been diverted away from him. But from what we have seen, McKay seems to be at the heart of all of his thoughts. McKay is the centre of his world. McKay is who is he most afraid of hurting, and hence asking Weir to kill him so that he won't be able to hurt McKay is a valid reading of this. It is better for the both of them if he is killed because then he will not be placing McKay in danger any more.

Sheppard had made the mistake of believing Weir about whether or not McKay was alive once before, and he will not forget how he felt during those moments that he thought he had lost McKay for good due to the vagueness of Weir's announcement. He would not make that mistake again. He had to see for himself that McKay was still alive, taking Weir's word for it was not good enough. He may be feeling paranoid just through what is happening to him, and suspects that Weir is afraid of telling him the truth. Maybe McKay had not made it out of that nest alive. Would she tell him the truth if he had not? She had been trying to sugarcoat the truth to him all day long, ever since they found out about his little problem. She had been lying to him. He could not trust her to tell him the truth, not with that stench of fear emanating from her. He needed to hear the truth.

Sheppard: Then try again.

Sheppard steps forward, gets into her space, and not one part of this is romantic or erotic. He is intimidating her with purpose, and she is terrified. He tells her "Try again" again, and at least she seems to interpret him as meaning that they need to go on the planet and try to retrieve eggs again, to risk their lives again. He may mean that but it may also be a thought too complex for him to grasp anymore at this point. But there is also the alternative that he means that she needs to try again with telling him the truth. Saying out loud what she seems afraid to say. Then try again.

Sheppard approaching her is also misdirection. We are meant to anticipate that something similar is going to happen here as did with Teyla earlier. His demeanor is predatory, we see arousal in her due to the fear response, so we are meant to wonder if he would try it again with her. If he would try to kiss her. But Sheppard did not try to kiss Teyla because he is attracted to her but because she is part wraith, she is genetically the closest thing to him in the entire city. They were sweating out pheromones and he was confused. He has no desire whatsoever to kiss Weir. He wants to kill her. Unwittingly, she is threatening him on multiple levels, and his animal instinct is to take her out.

Weir: We lost Walker and Stevens. I won't send another team! I won't risk more lives!

Sheppard grabs her by the throat and pushes her against a wall, and this too is an echo of his scene with Teyla. He was pressing the baton against her throat, and while he was not choking her out, they both knew that he could have done it. She had been at his mercy just as Weir is at his mercy. But note that Sheppard is not enraged as he attacks her. He does not feel rage. Rage is not an emotion that insects are capable of. He watches her with cool detachment, curious about her reactions more than anything. It does not seem like there is much of an internal conflict going on in him at this moment, and the only reason he does not kill her out right is that he is not sure if she is of use to him. The iratus do not seem to kill their prey out right, they drain them of life slowly. Given that the wraith use their hand to feed, he may even be trying to drain the life out of her and is confused as to why it is not working.

I have discussed the rule of three previously. Episodic television often employs this structure to storytelling because it is easy and convenient. And it is notable that we find an aborted pattern twice in this episode. In the beginning, we saw Sheppard have off-the-clock alone time with Ronon and Teyla but not with the third member of his team. Now we have seen him choke two women against a wall, and we will not see a third. This is a pattern interrupt, and it is meant to feel jarring. Like something is incomplete. But we did see discolouration on McKay's neck. We did see McKay pull up his collar. To have two of something without the third leaves a wide open negative space to fill in with implied meaning.

Weir manages to tell him that two of his men had died on the mission and that lives had been risked. This is when Sheppard suddenly and without warning decides to take off and leave the confines of his room, and it certainly seems as though he has somewhere to go. He has a mission, he has purpose. He is not escaping just to get out, it seems as though he knows that he has been able to get out for a while now if he wanted. He is leaving to seek something out. Suddenly, Sheppard needs to get to something badly. He needs to see something with his own eyes.

It is possible that even Sheppard does not know what he is going to do once he reaches his target, all he knows is that he needs to find it, needs to get to it. He did not spare Weir's life because the special bond of their friendship protected her, because he was able to tap into some part of his humanity to let her live. She certainly was not saved by the power of his love for her. He drops her because she is not important to him, and she does not pose enough of a threat to even kill. He needed to get to something that was, and he needed to get to it now.

Continued in Pt. 12

[jokerislandgirl32]

Ziolet Songs: Day Eight

Day 8: I’m Good (Blue)

You know I'm down for whatever tonight I don't need the finer things in life No matter where I go, it's a good time, yeah And I, I don't need to sit in VIP Middle of the floor, that's where I'll be Don't got a lot, but that's enough for me, yeah

'Cause I'm good, yeah, I'm feelin' alright Baby, I'ma have the best f*ckin' night of my life And wherever it takes me, I'm down for the ride Baby, don't you know I'm good, yeah, I'm feelin' alright

So this is more of a “vibe” song for Zach and Violet. I imagine them together in their pre relationship phase and this song is playing in the background as they fly down Outer Banks’ oceanfront Highway 12 on a motorcycle. Why? Because in my AU Zach can drive a motorcycle. It’s a very attractive concept to me…And this song, like riding a motorcycle is representative of a feeling of freedom.

Note on my OCs listed here: Todd is Koki’s cousin, Paige is his wife/Violet’s cousin, Nathaniel is Paige and Todd’s little boy, and Amy is Violet’s aunt/Paige’s mom. Also I’ve never drove/ridden a motorcycle so I hope this all seems accurate!

“Whose is this?” Zach asked pointing his thumb toward the motorcycle parked in the driveway at Amy’s house. 

“It’s Todd’s,” I replied cocking my head at Zach in curiosity, “why do you ask?”

“It’s nice is all…” he whispered looking closer at the chrome work. 

“What? Do you like it?” I question, surprised that he was so interested in it. 

“Yeah, I do, oh come on, don’t look so surprised, I’ve had one since college…” Zach grinned, winking at me. 

“I don’t believe it…” I whispered. 

“Why not?” His voice rose in aggravation. 

I sputtered, “I-I-I, ummm, You’re just so….scared of things and unsure of yourself….I thought you would be scared to death to even look at one.” 

He balled his hands into fists, “don’t think I know how to ride it, huh? We’ll see about that. Zachbots bring me my motorcycle gear!“

“What!?!?” I shrieked, and within seconds the robots obeyed his order and he was dressed in full motorcycle gear, all in his signature colors and with his V logo. He pulled the helmet on and flicked the visor up to look at me before he took a seat on the motorcycle.

(I image it would look something like this)

Zach sat on the motorcycle and looked at it to get his bearings, then he grinned mischievously at me, “Do you think he’d let me ride it? Just so I can prove you wrong, you’re welcome to join me.”

“ARE YOU CRAZY!” I screamed. 

“No, I’m dead serious,” Zach replied turning to me, admittedly he did look comfortable on the motorcycle. 

At that moment Todd happened to come out of Amy’s house, he looked at Zach and me suspiciously, “hey, what’s going on you two?”

“He wants to prove he can drive a motorcycle, and he wants me to join him!” I shrieked. 

Todd started laughing, he patted Zach’s shoulder enthusiastically, “oh this I’ll pay to see, it’ll be better than when I took Paige the first time!” He fished the keys out of his pocket and gave them to Zach.

I huffed, digging the toe of my shoe into the dirt, “I can’t, I’m wearing a dress!” 

Todd laughed and spoke up, “I’ll get Paige’s riding stuff for you to borrow, Violet!”

“Todd, Todd! Oh no you won’t, I’m not going on that thing!” I screamed after him, but he soon disappeared into my aunt’s house and reappeared with Paige who starting hollering at me from the doorway, drawing the attention of the neighbors until I caved and followed them inside.

I emerged a few minutes later decked out in Paige’s riding outfit and holding her helmet at my side, I glared at Todd who walked along beside me. Paige, Amy, and Nathanial followed us giggling, “you just had to open your mouth,” I growled.

Todd smirked and patted my head, “go on little cousin, I wanna see this, and you have an audience now…”

I stood hesitantly beside Zach and the motorcycle, looking from Zach to my family, Zach was becoming impatient and he bit out, “are ya coming or not?”

“If you kill me, I expect to have a nice spray on my casket!” I groaned pulling the helmet on. I hesitantly swung my left leg over the back of the bike. 

“I’ll notify my mom, she’ll prepare a stunning arrangement for the occasion. Now put your arms around me, and let’s go,” he flicked the visor to his helmet down and I did the same, then I wrapped my shaky arms around his thin waist, holding on to him for dear life.

Zach grazed his fingers over my arms before returning his hands to the handlebars, “you’ll be fine, I won’t hurt you.” 

“Okay…” I agreed, burying my head against his back and scrunching my eyes shut as Zach turned on the engine and the motorcycle roared to life.

VvvvvvvVvvvvvV

Ten minutes later we are flying down Highway 12, I’d screamed for the first couple minutes of the ride, but I soon became accustomed to the motion and realized Zach truly was a skilled motorcyclist.

I felt comfortable enough to lift my head and look to the ocean to our left, the sea breeze was blowing my hair behind me under the helmet…so this is what freedom feels like, I thought to myself.

[literaryspinster]

Skills

One of the easiest ways to endear me to a character is to give them a skill (another reason Tiana, Mulan, Esmeralda and Rapunzel are a few of my favorite Disney Heroines, they all have/gain skills that are at least somewhat valuable to the plot and their character development). Ariel too but since everyone in the Disneyverse has an amazing voice it's hard for her to stand out in that way. But I'm not sure why I went on a tangent about Disney heroines when this post is actually about Gen V. For fanfic and meta purposes I've been thinking of what skills the characters should have that don't inherently pertain to being superheroes.

Marie: Medicine. This is a popular one and for a reason. I'd love it if in the coming seasons we see her going even beyond the instincts of her powers to understand how bodies work and how to fix them, and the healing properties of certain drugs, herbs and plants. This would make her powers even more efficient and would come in clutch if she was ever unable to use them for whatever reason. She's already expressed interest in learning CPR (in the funniest way possible), and is generally invested in saving lives rather than merely fighting, so let's see where that goes. Jordan: Music. I'll admit that this was mostly spawned by the shot of a guitar in their room and the fact that listening to music is the first thing we see them doing, but having musical abilities is also considered a plus in Vought world. However, I don't think performing at award shows and telethons is going to make them happy. For Jordan I see playing instruments as something they do as a very personal, stress-relieving activity that they just happen to be very good at. They do open mics out of costume and write melodies in a journal and give their friends little concerts. It's what centers them.

Emma: Sewing, costume design. I headcanon that she makes her own tiny outfits (although they are just as likely doll clothes). After embracing her growth abilities she will probably also have to learn to make giant clothes, or garments with a lot of stretch and versatility. She has a fairly quirky and dynamic sense of fashion so I'd imagine she'd get a lot out of this creatively as well.

Cate: Event planning, hospitality. Cate, with all of her many many flaws, has a very warm and friendly demeanor, and a way of making people feel comfortable. She also has that confident popular girl quality and just wants everyone around her to have a good time. I bet she throws a bitching party.

Sam: Painting, drawing. Sam sees the world in an unconventional way to say the least, and he has a lot of troubles that he could use a peaceful outlet for. The idea of him getting inspiration from his comic books and learning to draw and paint is a solid one in my opinion.

Andre/Luke: Athletics. It's difficult to talk about Andre right now, and Luke left before I got to know him better, but they both have athlete vibes to me. I see Andre being really into a rowdier sport like hockey or soccer, and Luke gravitating more toward something preppy like lacrosse or rowing. But if they were on the same team I think their sport would be baseball.

[annawayne]

Hello Anna <3 I hope you are doing well 🌻

Can you answer questions for the artist game 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 29 :)

I like your art and I want to you talk more about your art. 🥐🥐🥐

Oh, hello-hello!

Thank you so much for these kind words and for your interest! And, haha, I see that you've read the previous post, too 🥐🥐🥐

2 most popular piece?

It's ironic how one of the most popular pieces is the one I don't like :D But this is it!

Another popular one, is this one, but in this case, I still love this art (sometimes I wonder if I'll be able to create something like this ever again...)

7 easiest thing for you to draw?

It's a very interesting question! Let's say, on the stage of the rendering, it's, how ironically it wouldn't sound, but backgrounds! I know that usually it's considered like the least thing you would name as "easiest", but somehow, it works for me...

9 whats something you always come back to when drawing?

Hm, very good question. I think, it's this simple thought that everything, in reality, doesn't have an end: drawing, no matter how good you are, is about constant studying, and this is also the beauty in it. I always try to keep it in mind, but when I start drawing, every single time I recall this idea, and, at some point, to be honest, it's also reassuring.

10 how do you deal with artblock?

You know, I must tell you that I have never had an art block. Demotivation and discouragement? Yes, and not because I can't draw what I imagined, but primarily because of the reach since I wish my arts would be seen more, but other than that - even if I had some small moments when I felt like something wasn't going the way I would like to - I felt upset and sometimes disappointed, but never to the point of artblock. So, in my case, the answer will be a bit different: when I have such moments, I just step away from it and let these feelings not interfere into my art process. Drawing or writing with such low emotions which whisper to you how "you're failing to match your imagination" (which, in fact, are nothing but lies) is a huge emotional turmoil and also, some kind of torture, so instead of forcing myself into it, I just let these emotions live and die as quickly as they appear. During this time while I'm away from drawing/writing, I try to distract myself with something usual like reading, for example. So, yes, that's it!

11 do you listen to anything while drawing?

Yes! I usually listen to lectures/discussions, this kind of content, or to the music - when it comes to it, I try to find the matching pieces of songs to the vibe of the drawing, so it also helps me to set the mood :3

For example, for this art, I was listening on repeat Eric Satie, and I hope it gave the mood to this art the one I hoped to achieve

12 describe your process while drawing

Thank you for this question! It all starts with the idea itself, usually it just pops up out of nowhere, or some official art happens, and the image of what to draw strikes me very clearly. Sometimes, I can have some ideas, and they float around, until the moment I realize how I want the art to look like. After that, I gather some pose references, and start sketching. How much the sketching stage takes, it depends on the art itself: sometimes, I can sketch it for 20 minutes, sometimes - for hours. When the sketch is ready, I do the flat colours: just basic shades to understand the palette, and after that - the general colorization of the art (the group with different layers such as Brightness/Contrast, Gradients, Solid Colours, Hue/Saturation etc), which changes through the process. And then, rendering! Now, I have the scheme: firstly, skin rendering + hair, in between - background, step by step; clothes; additional details; the general work with lightning; shades/volumes; final touches, and here we are!

13 talk about a wip you like!

Currently, I'm working on JeanPiku and AruAni double date, and while I think it's quite good piece, there are two WIPs I'll be working on after that, and I must tell you that this solo question made me *wheezing* because I'm both excited and a bit scared to work on them :D One of this WIPs is related to Ancient Greece mythology (sorry for not sharing details, since I want to keep it as a small surprise), and another one based on this official Annie art from brave order with pipa, and, off course, Armin too :3 I really hope I'll do justice to these ideas, and you'll like them!

16 how do you motivate yourself to draw?

AruAni (and JeanPiku) motivate me to draw! :D

But on more serious note (my first answer is still serious), it's as simple as it is - I can't simply not to draw. The drawing itself motivates me because it allows to tell the stories, to live through so many emotions and many scenarios. And, honestly, for me, it's more than enough.

29 do you use a lot of references while drawing?

I use reference for the poses - that's yes, my must have, since I try to make it quite "humanly fluid", and even if I study anatomy, I prefer to have references to always double check. As for composition and colour palette- no, it's always my free flight of imagination :D So, basically, I use references for characters and for some specific details, like furniture or flowers, for example.

Thank you a lot for all these questions! It was really interesting to answer, and it helped me to distract myself from everything, thank you so much, and have a good one :3

[descendant-of-truth]

So I was thinking about what Klug could realistically know about the book demon and its connection to Sig, given that it's so rarely elaborated on, and my conclusion is: more than he wants you to think he does.

Exhibit A: the ending of Fever 2

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the fact that Klug is Right There while Ayashii is monologuing. I guess we don't really know what it's like to be trapped in a book, so there's nothing to suggest either way if he can hear anything... but we do see him look at stuff. Even if he can't hear, he can definitely see, so I think it's reasonable to assume that he'd notice a shift in Aya's demeanor when it sees Sig.

And if he wasn't looking at Aya, then surely he noticed that Sig's hand started glowing and his other eye turned red, right? Hopefully? If he wasn't too busy wallowing in despair, I suppose. Oh, the limits of character portrait-based cutscenes...

He doesn't seem to forget that the possession happened, though. When he's returned to normal, he's not confused about what's going on, he just tries to save face by saying it was all totally according to plan. And while he never brings it up again, I don't think it's ever been strongly implied that he forgot about it - if he did, one would assume that it'd be mentioned in his new Puzzle Pop bio, since it already references the event directly.

So, he likely remembers this, and if he was being observant enough, he could've at least noticed something was up with either Sig or Aya - maybe even both of them.

Exhibit B: Sig's story in 20th Anniversary

So, this part of the theory relies a lot on Klug's line delivery, so I'll include a link to the scene I'm going over. (It's got the timestamp ingrained in the link, but just in case, it starts at 12:49)

Structurally, this scene is... kind of odd, if you take Klug at face value? He's quick to ramble about everything he knows regarding Sig's arm when prompted, no arguments involved, but then he just. says that he doesn't know what any of it means, and demands a Puyo Battle as compensation for wasting his time.

Like. ???

You mean to tell me that Klug, the guy who's obsessed with gathering knowledge, who prides himself on being the know-it-all who can answer any question thrown at him, would be satisfied with saying he doesn't know something? Yeah, I don't buy it.

Let's go over what he says in more detail, and pay special attention to those line deliveries.

Klug speaks very softly during this whole section, as though he's lost in thought. I want to draw special attention to the line, "in comparison to the book I have here..." It's subtle, but his voice actually wavers a little bit on the last syllable. And he all but whispers the last half of "It's as if it's identical in nature," as if he's talking more to himself than Sig at this point.

He keeps up this vaguely ominous, deep-in-thought tone for the rest of his dialogue, until something very interesting happens.

As he's going on about the Weird Vibes he gets whenever he's around Sig, he seems like he's about to go into more detail... and then Sig makes an innocuous "huh" sound.

Which is exactly when Klug pivots to sharply saying that he has no idea what they are. He doesn't sound irritated or panicked, just... I dunno, comfortably back in his usual, uppity tone.

Suspicious.

Amitie proceeds to theorize that the blue thing that sometimes comes out of Sig's back may have a connection with the red thing in Klug's book, and what do you know, Klug actually stutters when he denies the possibility.

Suspicious.

Awfully bold of Klug to say that there's no way the two things could be connected after he just said that Sig's arm and his book feel like they have the same power, by the way.

This whole exchange reads to me like Klug got carried away with the topic of Sig's arm, and ended up saying a lot more than he planned to. He only snapped out of it when Sig's voice alerted him to what he was doing, and then he started hastily covering up his tracks. He had to dismiss Amitie's theory, not because he genuinely thinks she's wrong, but because he knows she's right.

And for some reason, he can't let them know that.

So I gotta ask. Why? What's he trying to accomplish by covering up what he knows? He likely doesn't even know the full story, so what does he think will happen if other people find out?

Maybe he just doesn't want anyone else learning about the book before he can make its power his own. He is rather possessive of it, continuously renewing it from the library with no intention of ever giving it back. Even with his tendency to blab, I could see him wanting to keep something like this a secret. Not just for the eventual power, but as a special something he knows that nobody else does - anything to boost that sense of superiority, even at risk to himself.

...And maybe, in the depths of his tsundere heart, he's trying to protect Sig a little bit, too. He knows that the demon is dangerous, and probably doesn't want to find out what would happen if Sig started pursuing it for answers. Plus, if he did notice Aya gunning for him back in Fever 2, then all the more reason to be wary.

(I'd still posit the idea of him trying protect himself as his primary motivation, and the only one he'd ever acknowledge, but I'm taking my "Klug cares about his friends" crumbs wherever I can, okay)

Of course, if his ears were working in spirit form, then that suggests he knows way more than I've been assuming, but. I'm not sure his behavior really matches up with that idea? He sounds like he's genuinely speculating about Sig and the book here, which would be a little weird if he heard it point and shout "AYO THAT'S MY DESCENDANT AND/OR TRUE FORM. GIMME"

...not that Sig himself seemed to hear that either, but that's besides the point

[crystalkitty1220]

You underestimate me, CK. I only have more questions now.

What was Nevin doing to try to save Drew? Is he okay after some of his branches got crushed in the fight? Will he ever manage to come back or is Nevin just deep in denial?

Overall I really like your au, and I’m happy to see you again too! Your monthly posts are always nice.

I don't know what warnings to do this time so I'm just gonna say that if you couldn't read the fic thing, do not proceed. Also because spoilers ig.

First I'd like to reiterate that the second part of that fic thing was very experimental. So nothing about that is certain whatsoever and I was mostly just going for vibes for it, to test out the potential bad ending that I really want to make work somehow. So I can give you some hypothetical answers, but unless I can successfully make most of the other events in that ending not horribly out-of-character, that ending might not even be real. The entire bad ending is based on this one bit of animation I have in my head and am very slowly drawing out. I'm hoping if I can show how cool it looks I won't have to justify the character actions /hj. I also just do not have any ideas for another ending so I am desperately trying to make 'twist' villain Isaac Beamer somehow work. That's most of the reason that I'm focusing so hard on curses and such right now; getting the essentials done will make writing the story a little easier. Maybe when I finally have a curse for Dez (I'm accepting suggestions; Echos and I have nothing), I'll magically have a whole new ending thought up.

Anyway, hypothetically, Drew's probably fine after the fight. It was painful, yeah, but the branches will grow back.

Now I'll move onto the things centered around the first half, since that one's a little more final.

Drew probably can't come back? I mean, it could be cool if there's some kind of ritual to move his consciousness somewhere else, but his body's irreparable.

You didn't ask but I'll also add that he and the branches can be killed, via burning or something like that, but Nevin's not likely to let that happen.

Nevin is very deep in denial, and for the most part doesn't have any ideas other than praying and such. He refuses to move on from Drew's loss for a few reasons. First of all, of course, Drew's his twin brother. Secondly, ever since the incident, his life has basically entirely centered around it. The incident is what made him turn to religion (and just so he can keep the extra bit of trauma, in place of his step-mom we'll say the first couple churches weren't exactly kind about his curse - or his being gay, for that matter), and religion is obviously why he thinks the branches are a miracle keeping Drew alive. The incident is why he became homeschooled and rarely left his house for so much of his life, and started hyper-focusing on Drew instead of making connections or getting hobbies. Speaking of hobbies, his curse in general also made it difficult to start any of those. Most of his life has just been getting control of his powers, religious stuff, thinking about Drew, repeat (though Grandma Jovel was eventually successful in getting him interested in cooking and spoken poetry). So he can't fathom the idea of letting Drew go.

When he meets Chris, Nevin gets really excited about the possibility that Chris or Charlie could communicate with Drew, and from there they could work something out. So Nevin starts hanging around Chris, invites him over, and you've seen the rest. Info-dumping about Drew was basically Nevin trying to get Chris to see why this is so important. He could just say "he's my baby brother and i love him and you should love him too", but in true writer fashion, he takes the "show, don't tell" route.

So, yeah, that's basically the closest thing Nevin has had to a plan. I mean, now that I brought up the idea of there being some sort of demonic ritual to transfer souls or whatever, it could be cool to have Nevin go against his morals and try demony stuff, but then I'd have to add so many more eggpire fansongs onto my curse!ibvs playlist. I've already got five, I don't think I should go any deeper.

[coldhndss]

──★ ˙ ̟ Blue Lock matchup No.5 @mooncakes-and-peaches

Hello! This is my last current matchup. I’ll be writing more soon as I have 3 shorter bonus ones planned for the few people who sent in after the cut-off. I’ll be opening them up again soon once I find I have more free time! I also have some special types of matchups planned so stay tuned!

So anyways, some of the things you noted in your matchup felt really refined and sort of sophisticated, in a way? So, with that, I decided to match you to Reo Mikage!

I know you’re anime only, and so matching you to Reo might not make much sense now, but his personality really shines through in the manga, and I might write a bit over my intended limit trying to prove that to you, so hear me out!

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I'm a huge homebody. I enjoy watching TV… drawing occasionally.. writing ideas and characters for stories…” 

“…and working out (my goal is to look fit and I’ve actually managed to get some muscle!) I like playing tennis, but I have to be in the mood and the weather has to be right.” 

If you’ve read most of my matchups so far, I’ve said this same thing a few times, but most of your description sort of gave me Reo vibes (if that makes sense). We know that canonically, Reo is/was studious in school, achieved high marks and always performed well in what he did/does. Despite this, I feel as though he’d definitely enjoy staying home after a long day of training (as anyone else probably would). Though, Reo would definitely motivate you to play more tennis; he’d probably see potential in your skills despite you having specific conditions to be in the mood to play right! He’d also bring you along when he has training at the gym, and the two of you would train together, and this way, the both of you can meet your fitness goals together. Though on those off days when the both of you aren’t in the right mood to go to the gym, you’d stay home, and binge watch a TV show together, sharing a bowl of popcorn and different types of chocolates that he picked up from a super-high-end chocolatier earlier that day. I feel like Reo, being the rich kid that he is, is probably used to super refined tastes, like 95%+ dark chocolate. I’m not sure whether you like dark chocolate or not (personally, I absolutely love it) but if you don’t he’d try to convince you to try it, and if you do, the two of you would eat the box of chocolates together.

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I'll let things slide here and there, but I've never been a big risk-taker/have been rebellious. At the same time, and I know this is contradicting, I'm a very lazy individual, but recently I've been doing better doing what needs to be done and more.”

Seeing as Reo is kinda a textbook spoiled rich kid, he also carries a little bit of a ‘look at me, I’m following the rules’ kind of personality, but not necessarily in a bad way. Seeing as you’re someone who seems to avoid trouble, he may see you as a ‘refined’ individual and take interest in that. We know that Reo is a huge business and stocks nerd, (duh) his family says it all. So, I’d imagine that he’d constantly yap to you about those types of things, asking you if you’ve seen the stocks today, and always telling you and about the shifting economic state of whichever country is on his mind today. I may be wrong about this, but in the case that you do know about those types of things (I def do not) I can imagine the two of you talking about it for hours. In the case that you don’t really know much about business-y type things, you’d listen to him talk and talk about something he read in a book he bought earlier that day, only to end his yap session by saying: 

“Well, I don’t really care since I don’t want my dad’s company anyway. I’ve got Nagi, and together, our soccer will…”. Congratulations, yap session number 2 is about to begin! Although, you don’t really mind, because seeing Reo finally have something to call his own brings a special type of warmth to your heart. His newfound motivation towards wanting to be good at something that he grew from nothing himself definitely makes you feel like you can motivate yourself to build your own skill at things that you already enjoy doing. 

I’d imagine that Reo would obviously bring you to meet Nagi. He’d take you along to watch him practice one time and introduce you to his closest friends (literally only Nagi, maybe Chigiri? – but I won’t spoil anything for you). Seeing as you didn’t mention soccer as one of your interests he might suggest that the three of you play a sport together one day, and you’d suggest tennis. With Nagi being the talented freak he is, his general skill in almost anything he does may physically exhaust you, with you opting to watch him and Reo go against each other in a match while you keep the scores. That’s not to say that you’re bad at playing tennis, of course. Nagi is (was) known to make these types of underhanded comments at another person who isn’t up to his skill level (😭). 

―୨୧⋆ ˚  “I don't have an aesthetic, I just like to wear whatever is comfy and don't really stray from my regular stuff (another thing I need to work on).”

Given his riches, Reo would obviously have expensive taste. If I’m not wrong, he wears designer clothes and all that jazz. So, seeing as you also have a super self-improving orientated mindset, (in my opinion) he’d always motivate you to do new things and open your avenues up a little. That’s why I think he’d pamper you with new clothes, or randomly take you ‘shopping’ where in reality he takes you to get one of those colour analyses, where the person would help you figure out what colour ‘looks best’ on you. He’d pay extra attention to it and buy you things based on what the analyst says. Of course, he takes it with a grain of salt, and lets his personal opinion seep through when buying you gifts. As for you, you’d give him a little ‘fashion show’ where you try on the clothes he bought you so as to not disappoint him, even if they’re not really your style. In the end, you’d pick out a couple pieces that you ended up liking a lot and scold him for splurging (just because he has tons of money, doesn’t mean he should spend it all!). He’d also take note of the types of things you ended up keeping and use it as reference for his next shopping haul for you. From personal experience, he knows that money isn’t the only thing that can keep a person happy, so he definitely tries to not overwhelm you with all his gifts and stuff. Seeing you smile and be content is one of the most important things to him, and he’d be absolutely torn if he was the reason for you to feel any sort of sadness.

[scrapyardboyfriends]

I don't really see the similarities between Robert and John that a lot of Robert fans do but I'm really confused about the comments saying that they are repeating the Robron storyline. They can't do that because Robert and John's circumstances are completely different. What do people think is going to be the same? We really don't know much yet.

i suppose right now it's mostly based on vibes and knowing these people are not capable of an original thought in any way. I mean just by virtue of going out of their way to make Aaron's next potential love interest a long lost brother of Robert is too far. I mean...what is the reason. You can have a long lost Sugden, but he doesn't need to be romantically connected to Aaron. You can have Aaron date a struggling closed off army vet without him having to be related to his ex husband. There's just no need for it.

It honestly just amuses me that it feels like they're trying so hard and yet both of Aaron's post Robert on screen love interests are just the absolute worst ideas possible.

I mean you have Ben, the guy who he apparently bullied horribly in school for being gay cause...trauma who decided ah hell, I'll just date the man cause he's "changed" even though I will continually make comments about his temper that are absolutely fair and absolutely reasons you should not be dating him.

And now we have a long lost brother of his ex husband who seems to be getting what we thought would be Robert's post prison ptsd story but with army ptsd.

I mean if they'd just stuck him with Ethan after they slept together and Ethan tried to reach out to him, it would have probably been boring and mediocre but it wouldn't be this embarrassing.

It's like they actually have to put in more effort to be this bad than if they just stuck him with a random and let it be lackluster.

But back to the Robert similarities/the repeating Robron's story thing. I think it also comes from what we know about the upcoming story plus bits of filming knowledge. We know John's car is breaking down. We know Danny was filming out on the road. It's not hard to put two and two together and think they might have Aaron come across John and his breakdown. Hence the drawing earlier. And there's just no way that's coincidental that they would potentially be repeating the lay by scene. They're doing it on purpose. They want people to be reminded of Robron. I just have no idea why because we're obviously going to find it inferior. And not just because we're robron fans but because it's all incredibly random and forced with no build up.

I mean I just went back and watched their first kiss scene again. At least Robert and Aaron had known each other for a couple weeks, had been involved in a story. They were clearly kind of into each other. We saw Robert actively make the decision to fake the breakdown and get Aaron out there. I just feel like all of these character actions had actual basis for happening. They were making active choices.

Now it's just going to be silly and manufactured within an inch of its life.

I just have to look at it as a comedy...cause honestly it is.

[seismic-lawns]

Gladiator Big Talk: Foundations, Blue

So on the gladiator discord, (Gladiator is a competitive singleton format using the Timeless card pool on arena and you should check us out, it's great) I do a series of long, hastily written thoughts on every single new-to-arena card and call them Big Talks. Foundations is a very big set, so I've decided to move them over here! Some notes:

This is comprehensively talking about every single new-to-arena card in the main set of Foundations. If I don't bring up a card, it's probably because it's already in the format or in Jumpstart Foundations, which I'll cover later.

I'm sorting this by collector number, which, for this set is somewhat baffling, so Ctrl+F is your friend if you want to find a specific thought.

Each card is also a link to it on scryfall, so you can follow along without having the full set open.

Without further ado, let's start off with Arcane Epiphany:

Arcane Epiphany: I think we have much better options, and I'd be surpised if you would be going for this option specifically, but I'd be glad to be proven wrong 

Archmage of Runes: 5 mana is just a metric ton for a guy that's not idiotic, protected, or having an immediate impact on the game 

Bigfin Bouncer: Vibes Report: D-, come see me after class, these vibes are rancid, dude looks like he would shove me into a locker in 6th grade and also jesus that nose(?)

Cephalid Inkmage: This creature is super interesting, but ultimately it does a couple different things that are just done so much better by others that it’s not really worth trying a super inefficient creature for it.

Clinquant Skymage: Today I learned what “Clinquant” means - It does not mean “a flying creature that is playable in gladiator” for what it’s worth, but rather glittering and/or tinseled. Neat!

Curator of Destinies: If I had a nickel for every creature that FoF’d or Steam Augury’d, I’d have a decent number of nickels. If I had a nickel for each one that’s good today, I don’t think I’d have any, including this one unfortunately. 6 mana is just a ton when 1 mana more gets you things like Atraxa, and you already have options like Dream Trawler if you do want to hard cast a 6 drop.

Drake Hatcher: 2 drops with vigilance and prowess are legitimately hard to be so bad they can’t find a home, and this one has a pretty good effect too so I think it’s a shoe in for u based blitz and tempo decks. 3 toughness with prowess is also a very exciting statline, as it means someone will dodge bolt by casting any noncreature spell.

Elementalist Adept: I don’t think this is anything, but flash and prowess really pique my interest and make me want to think about playing blitz and flash decks more. Vibes report: C, dude’s outfit is too monochrome to be fun at parties imo

Erudite Wizard: The problem with the “Draw two” archetype is that the bar for how good your payoffs need to be to be gladiator/constructed playable means they essentially will never go at common or uncommon and be playable in gladiator. If it’s any consolation, this one looks like it’ll be bad in limited as well.

Faebloom Trick: I think this card is surprisingly good especially for being an instant, but I don’t think there’s sincerely a home for this in Gladiator. It’s a very good limited uncommon, but it is still mostly just that.

Grappling Kraken: I really love this effect, but I’m allergic to this effect at 6 mana, so I think I’ll pass. If this effect ever comes around at 4 mana I will be very tempted though.

High Fae Trickster: I am a huge fan of cards like Tidal Barracuda and Yeva, that give you flash on things and still contribute to the board, and this does it the best by a good margin. If you’re not concerned about countermagic but you are concerned about interaction otherwise, this is an absolute slam dunk. That said, the fact that it’s a lot worse into countermagic might make it really only worthwhile in a post-Mana Drain world.

Homunculus Horde: This isn’t even good in Ux Draw-twos, mainly because it just always folds to even the thought of a wrath and doesn’t contribute to the board in a way that actually appeals to winning games. It also often takes a turn to get going at least and that’s a tough sell on a 2/2 with no protection or other text.

Icewind Elemental: Vibes report: C+, this could be much higher but I really wish it had another type to show how goofy it is, like Elk.

Inspiration from Beyond: Any more ways to put Time Warp into my hand is going to catch my eye, and one that can do it twice is extra spicy. The 7 mana flashback is a ton, however, even if it is gravy on an already helpful plate.

Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator: This card's kinda not ok when you're even remotely ahead, and when you're close to parity it does a lot of work. Making 2/1s as a pretty cheap - ability and the fact that a couple fliers getting in refunds that loyalty really boosts my standing on the card. This might make me try doing WU skies again

Kiora, the Rising Tide: The good news is that this is flooting on a 3 cost body, so it can be reanimated quite easily and fills up the graveyard well, and that’s the big appeal I see. That said, it also is there so it can make an 8/8 and it’s quite vulnerable if your goal is to use it for that purpose. All this is to say that you shouldn’t be counting on the 8/8 even if threshold is trivial, but the card can be good without the attack trigger if you’re set up for it.

Lunar Insight: I’m a little cynical of this card, but I think there’s a home for this if you can consistently draw 3+ cards with it. If paradox ever becomes a more played deck, then this will be a choice quantity based draw spell.

Mischievous Mystic: I am very glad for this card to simply be the best version of the “draw two, make a dude” cards, and it plays very well as a piker flier and as a token producer. Emrakul’s Messanger was a little nice, but having the resultant bodies actually be able to kill the opponent puts it a step above, truly.

Refute: Jeez, billy, why'd your mom let you have two futes? This card seems aight, this ain't like saruman's trickery but it is a cancel with significant upside

Rune-Sealed Wall: Double the scryfish, 1.5x the cost! That said, scryfish have never been all that, and it continues here. Vibes report: C+, not doing anything special, but quite cool.

Skyship Buccaneer: Very limited-coded. We have 5/5 fliers for 5 these days, y’know?

Sphinx of Forgotten Lore: Tired: This needs to ambush something to be good, and it’s so hard to do that with 3 toughness. Wired: This evasive 3/3 that snapcasters on attack also gets to come in after my opponent commits to a wrath!

Strix Lookout: Better storm crow is still very bad, so Vibes Report: A, the dude’s got lil goggles! omg look at him all cute n happy :3 :V

Uncharted Voyage: Strictly worse than another unplayable limited common, so welcome back to Vibes Report: B-, it’s very cool to have a removal spell that’s not so negatively poised, and instead is still depicting a progression, just, somewhere new. I think that’s neat.

Aetherize: It’s exciting to see this card land here for the first time, but it’s always a bit awkward to actually use. It is useful as a replacement for settle in non-white control decks to still act as a blowout when you can’t have the more well-known option.

Extravagant Replication: It’s cool to see cards like these make their way onto arena and into standard, but it is very bad and you should not play it.

Fleeting Distraction: Cantrips can only get so bad, and while this one does require a target, it also has the benefit of being active on the board while also being a cantrip. I don’t think this beats out the big 2 of Opt and consider, but it’s still quite good if you’re going deep on the slot.

Time Stop: I haven’t seen much of Discontinuity lately, but Time Stop is an incredibly fun card and everyone should play it at least once in their life. Is it good? Probably not, all things considered, but god is it fun.

Starlight Snare: I’m gonna be real: seeing “When this Aura enters,” as a complete phrase on a Magic card makes my eyes hurt for a second right now, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Bad Vibes Report: D for it though.

Arcanis, the Omnipotent: I don’t think we’re gonna see a great resurgence of Paradorks anytime soon, but this is the kind of card that pushes the deck one step further to really shine as a density based combo deck. That said, it hasn’t aged particularly well in the last 2 decades.

Dictate of Kruphix: I really don’t think we need or want to go deep on Howling Mine effects, but this does keep us moving in that direction. I think it’s almost defensible in a flash deck, but until Mana Drain/Dig Through Time are not major players in the meta, more ways to give your opponents cards and by extension flexible options is more bad than usual.

Flashfreeze: There are cards that fall into the camp of “ok if you know exactly what your opponent’s on in the finals of the season,” and then there’s cards like flashfreeze, which are bad even if they’re going into their preferred matchup.

Fog Bank: This falls into a subset of cards that don’t do anything but buy you a bit of time each turn, and while that can add up, you buy the same time better with just a counterspell or removal spell.

Harbinger of the Tides: This card is a classic, and I really love the mechanic of “pay 2 more for flash”. While I don’t think the merfolk typal deck is at its peak, this is a good thing that the mana for casting it represents a lot of things, like a mana drain, aetherize, subtlety, etc.

Mystical Teachings: I like this card’s vibes quite a lot, but it does suffer from costing roughly a million mana in this format. This format is just too fast for this card’s ideal play, where you get a legal target for it, then immediately cast that legal target, but the options of Mana Drain and Tainted Pact cost a ton of mana to get that going for. The card’s still playable, but the game has gotten much faster since it last was in a new constructed format.

Sphinx of the Final Word: I remember when this card was first printed and there was a lot of hope for it, but it just fell flat because it was 7 mana in a format where getting to 7 also meant being able to cast good eldrazi. Here, it’s even worse, where you just have to contend with things like Dream Trawler and give me a reason to play a 7 mana dolt instead of a 6 mana cooler one.

Confiscate: There’s an unfortunate truth that this kind of effect sucks to play below 6 mana without some restriction, but also is just not good enough for a constructed format below 6 mana, and that means cards like Confiscate just ain’t it unless they’re a classic Mind Control, which is to say at 4 mana.

Rite of Replication: I actually like this card a little bit more than I should, but it’s partially because I like cards like Doppelgang so seeing another version of the effect does make me raise an eyebrow for GUx ramp decks.

[bluberimufim]

The Caretos of Podence

Happy Carnaval!! Time for another cultural ramblie because I haven't done this in a while!!

(I just think they're cool)

This was originally gonna be about multiple Carnaval traditions in Portugal, like my Halloween post, because I wanted to talk about a really beautiful festivity in my city but then I realized it was related to an entirely different holiday and I wasn't gonna scrap this idea (I'll do that one in August, I guess??). So I decided to make a post about the Caretos of Podence because I just really vibed with them.

disclaimer! None of this is from lived experience, just online research (although I tried to use sources directly related to it, specifically the Casa do Careto website). I am not from Trás-os-Montes at all and have little contact with this. Just like in my first cultural ramblie, this is just me trying to better connect with my own culture and sharing what I find with anyone who's interested. If you see any errors or want to add anything, feel free!! I'm always happy to learn!

Okay, but before we begin: what exactly is Carnaval?

You might have heard of Brazil's Carnaval. Portugal's is way less hardcore but still culturally important (although some brazillian-style Carnavais are celebrated here).

The actual day of Carnaval is the day before Ash Wednesday, but it usually lasts about a week or 3 days in more urban areas (Carnaval break is a real thing that schools have). The general objective is to have an all-out celebration before Lent starts because, after that, you're not supposed to celebrate until Easter rolls around.

The Caretos

The village of Podence is in the middle of Trás-os-Montes, somewhat between Mirandela and Miranda do Douro. It is mostly known for this celebration, which lasts for about a week.

The name "caretos" means something like "big faces" and comes from their very recognizable masks. They're made of either leather or metal and are meant to completely obscure the identity of the wearer. The costumes are made of rows of coloured wool and are usually made by the community. The red, yellow, and green pattern is not mandatory and it can have many different colours, but it's the most common since it's the colours of the flag. On top of the costume, they wear a lot of bells: smaller ones attached to the straps on their chest and 4 to 8 bigger cowbells tied around their waist.

During the celebration, the caretos dance through the town, accompanied by the jingling of their bells. Traditionally, the caretos were young men who chased after single women, but today anyone can wear the costume and chase after anyone they please. They also go around stealing any easily grabbable chorizos left hanging from smokehouses, and use wooden staffs to propel their jumps higher.

On the last day of Carnaval, the Entrudo (a giant figure of a man) is burnt to draw away the bad things of the old year and let in the next. Like this:

This celebration has pagan roots, although none really know exactly where its origins lie. People seem to point to it being a pre-roman festivity, but we have few sources to go from. The most probable explanation is that it was a fertility ritual connected to the agricultural cycle, since this is generally the time in which farmers can start planting again after the winter.

I hope you enjoyed this little ramble. Because I very much did. Here's some more pictures: