#agent 4 in the bg lol

[pupsolostthemotivation]

Don't have the game splatoon 3 but I will be posting like I'm playing it lol

[blackbatcass]

hii linden! i kinda needed some help

so, i wanna read some comics based on:

donna troy, cass cain and wally west

but i have literally noo idea where to start 😭 ofc ik the basics but i was hoping you could suggest something?? thank you so much if you do and have a wonderful day!

yeah i gotchu!! those are literally my besties lol i can definitely give you some recs. i'm not sure what you'd consider to be the basics so i'll just include all the big stuff to be thorough

donna troy:

first rec is always new teen titans as you probably would have guessed lol. it is a very long and arduous undertaking though so some more specific recs would be vol. 1 #38, #50, vol. 2 #18-21, #50-55.

i've gone into more detail on her appearances in darkstars, green lantern etc but honestly though they are important to understand the status quo & what was going on with her, i don't think they're very good comics to just read for donna. my next rec would probably be wonder woman (1987) #126-136, which is a VERY important arc for her. it goes into more detail on her origin, reconnects her to the amazons & diana, and i believe is where she officially passes on the wonder girl mantle to cassie. and she appears frequently throughout the rest of that wonder woman run after the arc if you want to continue on!

titans (1999) is another big one, beloved beloved comic. lots of good donna content.

titans/young justice: graduation day #1-3 YIKES! unfortunately pivotal to her story lol

dc special: the return of donna troy look. i know I gush about this comic like it's my full time job. but honest to god i adore it to pieces, it's a love letter to donna and her history and it's one of my favorite comics of all time despite only being 4 issues. begging everyone on the planet to read it rn

cass cain:

cass was famously introduced in batman: no man's land! now that event is very very long so it might seem tempting to skip straight to bg 2000 but i'm here to tell you to not do that. if nothing else it is PIVOTAL that you read her introduction issues (mark of cain pts 1 & 2), batman #567 and detective comics #734. probably the coolest most metal introduction of any comics character in history, it's that good. if you're interested in cass's role in nml but not the whole thing, here's a list of her appearances:

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #57

Batman Chronicles #18

Batman #569

Detective Comics #738

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #124

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #92

Detective Comics #739

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #93

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60-61

Detective Comics #741

i think nml is essential reading for cass and it makes me sad that a lot of people skip it.

next is, of course, batgirl (2000). it's her character bible it's god's (kelley puckett's) gift to mankind it's maybe the best comic ever written. what more can i say

she's also a fixture in gotham knights! cass was a part of most batfamily events in the early 2000s, ex. officer down, joker's last laugh, war games, bruce wayne: murderer? and bruce wayne: fugitive. it's pretty easy to find them since they mostly cross over with her batgirl run.

detective comics #790 is only one issue but it's. ough.

aaaaand then we get into the evil cass arc stuff which just sucks and isn't worth it. she's pretty much written out of the story for a while, other than red robin #17 & #25.

she does show up as black bat in gates of gotham! i really enjoy that story, and it's only 5 issues.

that gets us to new52. i would completely disregard her rebirth and batgirls appearances honestly. she is a part of the current birds of prey ongoing! and while i am not kelly thompson's biggest fan i do think she gets a lot of cool moments and for the most part she's done right.

she is also featured sporadically throughout ram v's gotham nocturne storyline (it started way back in detective comics #1062 if you want to read the whole arc, it's VERY good). i have to give a special shoutout to #1084, which has a backup story that's focused on cass and it legitamately blew my mind. like i couldn't believe my eyes when i was reading it, maybe it's because cass has been done so dirty over the years that anything makes me happy but to get a cass-centric story featuring shiva that cares about her as a character in 2024 was crazy 2 me i will rave about it forever. thank you alex paknadel.

wally west:

the good news is my wally reclist is WAY less complicated. as is predictable for me, pretty much the only wally rec I have is flash volume 2 (1987). it is for all intents and purposes The Story of Wally West tm. it's his character bible it follows him throughout nearly a decade of his life. because it's so long my specific rec would be to read waid's run on it, from #62-142. if you want more context to his life at the time you can start earlier in the comic, i think #31 is a good jumping on point if you want to experience some messner-loebs but not too much messner-loebs lmfao.

he's featured in titans (1999) until about issue #20, iirc. wally is just fated to quit titans teams lol. there is some good stuff with him up until that point though!

that is honestly about all i got until you get to more modern flash comics. after rebirth he's reintroduced in flash vol. 5, and #768-800 is the jeremy adams run.

he's also the main focus in si spurrier's flash vol. 6! aka the current flash ongoing. which... as i have often said, i am a big fan of.

AND THAT’S MY LIST!!! i hope it helped you out at least a little lol!

[captainskyson]

AO3 Q&A

Saw this from @talldecafcappuccino a while back and saved it for later, mucho life happened and I forgot about it, then just found it again in my drafts and thought “hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve done a Tumblr q&a post. Why not.”

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

132

2. What’s your current Ao3 word count?

1,803,382

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On Ao3, 7 - but I can think of 3 more off the top of my head that never saw the light of the Internet. A handful are just one-offs, too. But the full list I can think of, most-prolific to least, is: Agents of SHIELD, Buffy, The Blacklist, Harry Potter, The Man in the High Castle, Longmire, CSI, MCU, Ted Lasso.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

GH-325 (Agents of SHIELD) - my first baby! I hadn’t finished, due to show circumstances and becoming a bit disillusioned to writing for it (the show, not the ship), but I refuse to give it up. It’s still a wip, just in long hiatus. Too many people have supported this one over the years for me to give it up… despite the apologetically loooong hiatus.

I Need A Bad Idea (BtVS) - my true baby; this fic is a beast. It’s ridiculous. When I first surpassed GH-325 word count numbers I wondered what the hell I was doing - now well beyond, I just roll with the chaos. I deeply appreciate the love on this one because I’d still be doing this nonsense even without it - so it’s very encouraging to have it. ❤️

Sweet Nothings (The Blacklist) - to be honest, I’m just now discovering this is my #3 kudos’d fic. A pleasant surprise! This one was pure fun to write, and I’m more than pleased to give Lizzington shippers something positive to indulge in, considering… everything.

A Cover Is Not The Book (BtVS) - one of my earlier BG fics. A fully light-hearted story which I know can be rare for these two haha.

Secrets and Surprises (Agents of SHIELD/MCU) - my indulgent attempt at writing a Tony Stark-Daisy Johnson friendship - FUN. Also, of course, Lola is a main feature. 😍🚘

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not.

I try to! Even if it’s just a thank you - I really do appreciate every single comment on a story and I like to try and show that. Sometimes I accidentally miss some, but yeah usually I do my best to respond.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t do angst very well. I’ve been told otherwise (😅) but I’m just a sucker for my happy (or at least hopeful) endings. Two of my Buffy fics, Shrike and Beloved, are pretty angsty UNTIL the end… lol.

7. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not as a habit. Technically a few of my AoS fics could count as crossovers, even though I’m firmly of the belief that SHIELD *is* just as canon as the rest of the MCU (Or it was??? I lost track of the plot after season 6.) A number of years ago I wrote a Buffy/MCU crossover fic that just makes me laugh now… it’s a little nuts, as it spawned from a weird dream I had haha. It was actually also my first Ao3 posting for my beloved ship…

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Oh yes. The most hateful comments tend to spawn elsewhere, but I’ve had two or three silly-gooses forget that they have a ‘back’ button on their Ao3 browser. 99.9% of the time Ao3 is a lovely community though. But I also tend to live in smaller corners of fandoms, we keep to ourselves. 🤙

9. Do you write smut?

Does one make lemonade out of lemons? 🤣 🍋🍋🍋

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yessss - Lemon Giles! I am deeply proud of this collab. It was one of the most magical writing experiences of my life. Two people, a shared Google doc, opposite time zones and a chaotic level of shippy feels 😂 It was so much fun.

12. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Oof magoof. This is a tough one. My knee-jerk reaction is to go BG, as that’s definitely been the most affecting ship in my life (as far as real-life friendships and relationships made and heroes met and goals inspired etc). But Grissom-Sara from CSI: Las Vegas has been close to my heart for an even longer time. I also deeply adore Longmire-Vic… it’s not often a tv show follows the books (sort of), and/or canonizes your otp. At least, not when it’s any of *my* otps hahaha.

13. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

If my memory serves, I first wrote for CSI, but I first posted online for Harry Potter. On Ao3 specifically, my first posted fic was for Agents of SHIELD.

14. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Oh dang it, I cannot pick one answer here. I have different reasons for favourites: “Shrike”, because a friend and I actually had that one printed and bound (for funsies and a gift to a fellow friend, not for dough) and my copy ended up read and signed by someone I adore. The Infinite, because Coulson-Mace was a ship fandom of like, five (bless you), and I’ve never felt Mama-Bear about a ship before, but those boys are just… so much to me. Plus, working on that story had helped me mourn a sudden real-life death of someone close to me. “I Need A Bad Idea” is my favourite in regards to the amount of work I put into that one. It’s so satisfying when all the research and brainstorms and notes come together into a ready-to-post chapter.

[ink--theory]

how the NSS spends their rare day off

[benevadeca]

OK so on the topic of shekinah I was googling some stuff trying to figure out how her as a face/iteration of YHWH in smt fits into the larger picture of the Law God(TM) smt has

OK so just on like a general understanding of it, shekinah being the manifestation of YHWH that sort of comes down to earth and lives with the life that exists there, a grounded manifestation fits pretty well w/ strange journey's themes of global climate change/the earth itself acting as agent and enemy regardless of how that manifestation formulates itself on a DND alignment chart.

but that's pretty basic and I did some vague digging and found a topic about fire in judaism and to quote:

Again, fire is one of the three elements (water, spirit, and fire), which preceded the creation of the world. The water became pregnant and gave birth to darkness; the fire became pregnant and gave birth to light; the spirit became pregnant and gave birth to wisdom. ... There are six kinds of fire: (1) fire that "eats" but does not "drink," that is, does not consume water—the common fire; (2) fire that "drinks" but does not "eat" (the fever of the sick); (3) fire that both eats and drinks (as that of Elijah, which both consumed the sacrifices and licked up the water; I Kings xviii. 38); (4) fire that eats wet as well as dry things (that arranged by the priests on the altar); (5) fire that quenches fire (that of Gabriel, who, according to tradition, was the angel sent down to the fiery furnace in order to save Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; Dan. ii. 25); (6) fire that consumes fire (that of the Shekinah). ... Fire descended from heaven when God desired to intervene in human affairs. ... Though God promised not to visit earth again with a flood, He did not specify what kind; hence Abraham fears lest a flood of fire may still be sent.

(source)

And OK so on an element level Mem Aleph is already associated with water (which like life springing from a primordial water-goddess is already a big mythological theme, tiamat being an obv ex)

(smt wikia says: In Jewish mysticism, Mem and Aleph are two of the three letters that are called the Mothers. With the three representing the primordial elements of air (Aleph), water (Mem) and fire (Shin). These three elements are said to give birth to creation.)

I'm talking water specifically with her in that she literally looks like this

wet fucking fetus time!! also unshown but in the fight itself the BG is like this yellow foggy atmospheric effect. so yeah that accounts for the 2/3 elements she's named after.

Though if i'm going with the fire associationg with Shekinah I'm kind of IDK bc her species is literally "root" the species thing always confuses me. Tangentially Jimenez's races being "Awake" (which the kanji used can also mean "disillusioned") and "Soil", and Zelenin's being "Judge" and "Pillar, I think it's interesting how both of the first form names have a kanji for "person" of some kind within them but the 2nd form are like, Things, and especially things kind of associated with the earth itself. dust to dust kind of joke maybe? Like humans that have so to speak evolved beyond humanity still maintain to a certain level the inescapability of form and origin?

ANYWAY back to shekinah.

On one hand the there being 6 kinds of fires matches with there being 6 fragments of the cosmic fruit, but on the other she's weak to fire in 2 of her forms lol. In none of her forms does she reflect fire tho, and in 2 of them she drains but lol I think it's just the basic weakness shifting boss OPness more than any attempt to be like, metatextual. she also has 6 eyes is a design choice i noticed. this could mean nothing :)

On a different note regarding fire descending from heaven and fear of a firey flood thing, based on the only other SMT game I've played that does basically happen in Devil Survivor re: the government's final plan to have the angels fry the Yamanote Circle and kill everybody. So yeah very on theme lore happening across the board I suppose.

Also IDK how accurate the fire/water/spirit triad is bc I got this from literally 1 source thru a cursory google search but if the " the spirit became pregnant and gave birth to wisdom." line is accurate then that fits the SMT shoehorning of where humanity fits within this cosmic battle, in that the best and worst thing abt humans is their infinite potential and ability of choice, which in strange journey is reflected by the crew making their alignment choices and specifically the starting-neutral MC making the keystone decision regarding the fate of humanity.

Also another random thing I saw from the source I linked was a line that said "The Torah has two fires, the oral and the written law..." which I donot have qualification to talk about the meaning of on an actual scriptural level, but Shekinah does have her Tora moveset that gives a barrier based on alignment, which I think might be something close to the origin of the naming of that if nothing else.

So yeah! Lots of potential lore I've scrounged up that I am once again unable to piece together more coherently into the larger picture.

EDIT: OH last thing I saw but in this source it said "In particular, the shekhinah is a holy fire that resides within the home of a married couple. The shekhinah is the highest of six types of holy fire. When a married couple is worthy of this manifestation, all other types of fire are consumed by it."

Which, who knows what that means! But IG the fact that you only fight her after basically adopting Alex with your chosen alignment-based bestie (or alone in Neutral route) it means you are now in shared adopted child marriage. Epic win for zelenin shippers and for jimenez shippers just think about god seeing these chaos-aligned humans busting into Her house and going "actually no fuck this you're annoying enough you get the Fire Manifestation smackdown"

[mejomonster]

Wen kexing really said “tough women fear a clingy man - I mean keep at it!” As his advice to Zhang chengling on how to win Zhou zishu over

Like. Yes he’s a flirty mess but also uvu it’s the subtle things lol. That are getting to me

Or on the boat gu Xiang says that beggar isn’t grateful (zzs) and he just goes into a spiel about how he doesn’t need a reason to want to be around him, befriend him, and how he’s already willing to handle the consequences of getting attached... like my dude can you be more in love sounding calm down ur daughters just... being real babe

Also I loved the bg on them this ep 4? So gu Xiang is from ghost valley too, and she likes helping people, and she’s basically learning the same lesson as wen kexing - if she wants to not just save someone but keep them with her she needs to be able to protect them since her life is dangerous. Wen kexing thinks he’s capable of that, and he thinks Gu Xiang needs to consider it. I just loved their scenes alone this ep. also all the scenes with the guys and their son were such good moments ;-; that was a scene I was excited to see - Zhang chengling asking to be a disciple.

And another wen kexing low key moment I liked: gu Xiang questioning his tastes cause he once admired and tried to get with a woman who was pretty from behind but when they saw her face she wasn’t - of which wen kexing insists she was still pretty! Just life had hit her hard! And his daughter roasting his tastes lol. Of course there’s the obvious convo parallel to wen kexing so into Zhou zishu. (Also I’m curious because I didn’t read that much of the novel - is wen kexing in the novel gay or bi? I remember gu Xiang mentioning he went to go sleep with a guy early on, but I can’t recall if in the novel they ever bring up a past woman he had a crush on too? Just curious cause show wise I’m going with bi just based on what gu Xiang said). Also it is so hilarious to me that his daughter knows him so well she’s just suffering through him pursuing Zhou zishu but every time she’s either entertained (fair same lol) or she’s like “why am I Suffering dad?? Why don’t u spoil ME like this?? You made me beg u just to get u to play music!! He didn’t even ask!!” I love it. Fair enough gu Xiang uvu call him out.

Also HOW did no one decide to mention the assassin group!?? With the sexy assassin girls???! Why didn’t anyone bring YHEM UP BECAUSE I AM EXCITED. Ok now someone mentioned recently this Feels wuxia and YES. The fight scenes show characterization! There’s thought put into the choreography! And there’s badass women! (Sorry I Am comparing to the Shaw eleven lang and the Instant I saw these Assassins I thought of the snake clan in the Shaw eleven lang and got So excited, and they and gu Xiang remind me of the heroine in that show). Like yes??! All these different groups and costumes and wildly differing setups? All just already chaotically up to their own shit and it’s Already Messy but it’s about to get worse. And Zhou zishu and wen kexing don’t belong but there’s enough double agents and shady moves going around that they’re not going to look much more suspicious than anyone else!

What I’m curious about is like... when will the palace drama esque political maneuvers of ep 1 start interacting with this sect/glazed armor stuff? Will it come back? (Was qi ye also a wuxia or is that novel more political intrigue centered? Because that might explain a departure from ep 1s palace feel and an unlikeliness to see much of it. I’ve only read 28 chapters so like I have no idea. I’m curious if the drama would include qi yes character cameo?) anyway like. I 100% agree with people saying YES this baby’s got a good Plot winding up with the kind of action I fucking love. I mean yes we’re enjoying the romance and found family, but wow do I love action and mystery and we are!!! Having it!!!

Still can’t believe no one mentioned the assassins

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 9

back at it again, and its time for the shadowplay arc, HELL yeah

oh I'm so excited i love this arc lets DO this

oooh its nightbeat and quark!! way before they become relevant, which is so cool

‘one of those recepticon fanatics’ lmao imagine if they were...the recepticons. just doesn't have the same ring to it 

god i fucking love all the politics of mtmte. i love how they’re talking about the senate here before we really get to See how bad they were (we heard a bit about it from whirl a few issues ago, and now here)

love how nightbeat is pretty much agreeing with the decepticon ideology here, even if its clear that he isn't Actually a decepticon - it just drives home the fact that, in this story, The Decepticons Were Right About A Lot Of That Stuff (or at least, they had a reason other than ‘destruction’ for rebelling). 

AND THEN THERES RUNG!!!!!!! WITH HIS MODEL OF THE LOST LIGHT....god i fuckgin LOVE the continuity in this story bc the first time reading this ur like oh ok rung is old yea makes sense...but then later all the time travel stuff happens and then its like OHHHHH 

damn poor rung nightbeat can rlly tell he's lonely just by looking at him vbhjdkdfhbjsjkdf geez. also nightbeat that's ur mystery stick bf from the future js!!

quarks extreme POV on all of the stuff is so interesting, and makes so much sense bc of Course he would think that as a non-combatant scientist who, due to his functional value in current society, wouldn't really benefit much from a revolution - in fact, he’d probably lose a lot. and that’s the sort of thing where you’re like, ok well think about everyone else dude, have some perspective - but at the same time, quark did suffer a pretty terrible fate, so his fears weren't entirely unfounded...augh, its so fascinating...im sorry I'm not gonna shut up about space robot politics this Entire time

HOW did nobody notice that dead body before now

ratchet spray-painting the hands he stole from pharma to match his own paintjob is like...kinda gruesome if you think about it hvbhsjkdfbkjdf

i love rewind sooo much oh my god 

he rlly stashed rung’s comatose body in a wheelchair behind the bar hbkjdhfbshjkdf rewind 

rewind and chromedome’s tag-team explanation....ough hhhhh THEM 

wait a sec, rewind, you have medical records in your database? that is, at least according to regular medical laws, very illegal lmao. my favorite long-running theme in mtmte: the fact that hipaa and osha laws on cybertron are either basically nonexistent, or just universally disregarded 

what the actual fuck is up w/cybertronian time units. that shit is wack as hell 

ooh i love how chromedome looks different in the flashback - no shoulder tires! - that's a cool detail

how come prowl just said ‘minute,’ rewind was busting it up w/all the wack ass fantasy time units just a second ago. geez

also goddd i love the scenery of pre-war cybertron, its SUCH a cool setting like, visually and aesthetically and politically

like, i adore details like the sign in the bg that says ‘everyone’s shape serves a purpose.’ really adds to the ‘society on the precipice of civil war currently controlled by an increasingly-desperate faction who are doling out propaganda like crazy in an attempt to maintain their image and control over the populace’ vibe

good ole murder mystery setup. love it!

pre-war prowl is such an interesting character. actually prowl in general is such an interesting character...I kinda wrote him off during my first read of mtmte (and even a little during my second readthru) as just this dude who’s an asshole (espec bc my prev tf experience involved watching tfa as a kid, and this prowl is very different from tfa prowl lol)...but prowl is SUCH a multi-faceted and interesting character, even in the relatively little we see of him in mtmte 

plus it was interesting to learn later that prowl was one of the characters that jro wanted for mtmte and didn't get, and MAN i wish he got prowl bc I would've loved to see what jro would've done w/prowl on the lost light, that would've been amazing. like, just imagine the arc he would have...I have no idea what that arc would BE, but I know it would be awesome. plus I’d be really interested to see how prowl would factor in, relationships-wise, amongst the crew of the lost light. so much potential!

anyways. I'm in a very talky mood tonight it seems. its currently 4 am so that kinda explains it. ok, moving on!

chromedome and prowl bantering....in their own morbid forensic-cop way...

skids bvhjdbsfjasf. speaking what we’re all thinking: is prowl gonna keep showing up in mtmte despite not technically being part of the cast??

swerves drawing of prowl lmaoooo

AND THEN REWIND IN SOME OF MY FAVORITE MTMTE PANELS....fuckgin cracks me up every time god. rewind was rlly about to flip their entire ass table just to demonstrate that prowl is a serial table-flipper...and then he cant even make the table budge and he just stares at his hands like ‘how could you betray me like this’ hvbajkhhsfdhksdf PEAK hilarity

drift hvbshfdjbasdfj his forcibly cheery expression even tho he’s being harassed by rodimus, who is a big whiny toddler w/drift lmao 

rodimus is the type of guy who, upon drift not replying to one of his texts, would post a whole twitter thread being all like ‘these days u cant trust any1 to hav ur back...u think u kno someone and then they just ghost you...(1/14)’

again, rewind, HOW and WHY do you just Have medical reports, oh my god, somebody please call a hipaa agent I’m scared, 

ratchet interrupting the story to give a quick medical PSA....that's Such an on-brand thing for Me to do that I feel like jro is assigning me ratchet kin as I read this

also, hey, its sonic and boom, those two decepticons from delphi! nice little continuity there

AND HERES ORION PAX SUPER COP

can’t believe idw made my dad optimus prime into a cop. smh. shouldn't be that shocked tho, I feel like half the idw characters are cops

orion rlly hit them w/the omae wa mo shinderu arrest strat

orion: I cant believe you're beating this guy up. anyways, now I'm gonna beat YOU up,

when ratchet puts his hand over drifts mouth and then gets spray paint on drifts face bhjdfsvsdjhfgbjdskf

pre-war ratchet and drift ;_; ratchet’s little inspirational speech...the fact that he tells drift that he’s special...the fact that drift remembered all of this even after 4 million+ yrs...it gets me bro it GETS me

ALSO the layers in the fact that drift then goes on to become a well-known murderous decepticon...so this little scene of him and ratchet in the past gives a lot of context to ratchet’s general attitude towards drift - ratchet clearly feels at least somewhat responsible for all the blood on drift’s hands, since he saved drift’s life way back in the day

the whole relinquishment clinic thing is such cool worldbuilding, bc of course that's the kind of thing that would develop in a society of robot aliens who are only allowed to work within the rigid confines of their alt mode 

I love the whole matrix thing bc its kinda like being the pope or st but also you have a ton of political sway, so its a super important position, so of Course the corrupt senate would want full control over that power, and would assassinate the current prime to try to get their own guy in 

god vhbhjsdkbgshjdf rodimus is such a dick lmao poor drift

HHHHH I love that the cybertronian version of an autopsy is taking the dudes body apart into the smallest components and laying them all out. that's so fucking cool

hmmmm chromedome maybe you should Not be interested in mnemology, how about that,

oh god. time to start being sad about op and senator shockwave. oh god

senator shockwave more like senator sexy 

also the first time I read this I thought I had just missed his name and like halfway thru the story I went back and scoured the pages looking for it hbvhsjdfbshgfdsbj then I was like oh ok so we’re maybe supposed to just know who this guy is from another comic? but NOPE it was very deliberate and I only realized very close to the end that they were setting up some sort of reveal

its funny bc normally I'm not a huge fan of stories where politics play a huge role but I fuckgin love it here, the politics and worldbuilding is all so interesting and also balanced out with a healthy dose of cool sci-fi hijinks, so

lmao there's chromedome being obsessed w/people making the ‘pfft’ sound 

also wow yet more hindsight, maybe you Shouldn’t be so interested in the Institute, chromedome, 

OHHHH shit I forgot abt the red alert stuff happening at the same time as this :( :( :( 

AUGHHH what a fucked up situation. god 

oooof i gotta continue now!! what a solid issue, I love the shadowplay arc

[dojae-huh]

GCH Re-boot album review.

I know the group, but I forget their songs right away, so I don’t have a sense of their image/concept. Can’t comment on how well the design answers their comeback.

1) The cover

First of all, I question their logo hard. It’s nice on it’s own, but I can’t associate it with a pretty idols bg. The font is about speed, metal, guns. It’s ok for agent 007 or Full Metal Alchimic, maybe groups like Monsta X. 

The 1st cover. I really like the background, those “skyscraper” panels, but I wish it were even more symmetrical. Interestingly, it’s not the fault of the layout designer, but of the photographer. The line up is very boring. Would be better if the boys stood in V shape.

Text placement... not that bad, but it overpowers the group. And if you are called Golden, commit to the colour. 

The 2nd cover. The squire should be higher, not strictly in the middle. The rules are there for a reason. The black cover has a hidden glossy text. That’s a plus.

2) Inside the folder

The logo and the comeback title on opposite sides - nice detail. The font on the fringe of a page - cool.

3) Photobook

The font is too small. Like, don’t be that harsh on the reader.

The print quality looks good, but the photographs are a tad too bright, in my opinion. This “milky” filter was intentional, makes the boys more “angelic, poor”, I’m just not a fan. Overall the poses and photoset is boring. You have to have feelings for the boys to be interested. The boys are bad models, but it’s photographer’s obligation to bring out their character. I’ve seen a Korean famous photographer work with future Twice in “Sixteen”, how she blamed some girls for spoiling groups shots. Well, that’s your job to create poses for them them, lady. I know it’s not done because the fans will consume the product anyway, and working individually with a model takes a lot of time. The composition of the shots is by the book though. 

4) The calendar

As a goodie - good, the font is too small, again.

5) The cards

Heh, the rare case, when I think a photocard is too big. 

6) The CD (the black cover)

I like how it’s displayed together with the red thingie. And the CD design too. 

7) The photobook

I like this one better. Simple, yet nice design idea with alterating black and white pages. There are more interesting photographs as well.

8) The card

The close up portrait and black backside looks better than full body.

9) Small cards

Lol, if only NCTzens got so many, heh. Ah, I see, it’s because it’s a delux version.

Overall, an OK album for the fans of the group.

[knight-of-squid]

I posted 2,262 times in 2021

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My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I was gonna add a bg cause it's a card redraw but eh

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#4

agent 4.5 cause I have too many agent ocs lol

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#3

may 2020

may 2021

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#2

splatoon tumblr how we feeling

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#1

so about that c6 Barbara

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[comicteaparty]

February 18th-February 24th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from February 18th, 2019 to February 24th, 2019.  The chat focused on Patchwork and Lace by Sooz.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Patchwork and Lace by Sooz~! (http://www.patchworkandlace.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until February 24th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. What has been your favorite moment between Sheol and Lilika? What about their relationship dynamic stood out to you? Ultimately, do you believe the two will wind up together romantically, or will the past keep them apart?

QUESTION 4. In regards to Sheol’s PTSD, what moment most stood out to you? Do you believe Sheol will be able to heal, and if so, what will it take? How might Sheol’s continued suffering affect the story or her relationship with Lilika further?

Delphina

I really like the scene with both Sheol and Lilika's flashbacks happening simultaneously. Something like that could have been very confusing, but it was laid out really well with the chain going down the middle. http://www.patchworkandlace.com/?p=451

Lilika's probably my favorite of the two main characters. She's sort of like this adorable dark demon-summoning cultist Card Captor Sakura. Darray is pretty new, but he also cracks me up.

Delphina

Lilika and Sheol's dynamic is interesting and falls a lot on hurt/comfort patterns. The kiss (http://www.patchworkandlace.com/?p=533) was satisfying, both as shipper kerosene and also because it was one of the few times that Sheol expressed something she wanted instead of just protecting Lilika or doing her duties. Even if it's not romantic, I hope there's more situations like that in Sheol's future where she discovers who she is and what she wants in (un)life, but I suspect that there's still going to be a lot of secrets she'll keep from Lilika before she really gets to a place of balance and peace. I suspect Lilika and Sheol will end up together, but only once Sheol is able to let go of the pain in her past and stop protecting Lilika from her secrets.

€heshire777

Sheol looks a lot like Unity from skin horse.

Stefan G

1) There are so many beautiful scenes, but my favourite one so far was this one ... I think the interaction/dynamic between the characters works really well/naturally and the ending made me chuckle. I enjoy humor like that

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Who or what do you think Lilika is a vessel for? Why was Lilika specifically chosen for the role and why do you think they can’t just find a replacement?

RebelVampire

@Stefan G For future record, it's better to link the page by URL rather than post a screenshot. Many creators don't like screenshots of their work taken, and images also aren't included in the archive either. Thus, to readers to the archive, your comment would actually have no context.

Stefan G

Roger that

...this is so difficult

Delphina

It definitely seemed like Lilika was special and advanced in magic for her age. I'm just curious all around about the organization (cult?) she grew up in and what their motives are. It definitely appears that whatever they originally wanted for Lilika, she's a free agent now who's doing pretty much whatever she wants, so I would assume she got too powerful for them to control and ran away. So if they don't even have anybody on her power level because she's over 9000, it makes sense that they want to get her back.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. How exactly do you interpret Sheol’s past so far as it’s been shown? Who do you think her former master was? In the end, how do you think Sheol came to be on her own and will her former master come looking for her?

RebelVampire

1) i really liked the most recent scene where sheol is talking about leaving lilika while you can hear lilika just teaching the kiddo in the bg. before i felt their relationship was just kind of set in stone (romantic or not) in terms of them staying together. but this scene...this scene added doubt. now theyre not just star crossed lovers, but actually have to work at the relationship, whatever their relationship is meant to become. and i really like when stories add a complicated aspect like that, because relationships are work whether theyre friendships or something else. 2) Lilika. I just like this dynamic of Lilika being cutesy but summoning the most horrific looking creatures. Yet, even if the creatures are weird looking, she shows them a lot of kindness in a way. I also like shes more of a hiding her cards type of character. While I like Sheol, her emotional issues are pretty in your face so you can basically see her deck of cards. Lilika though? I don't know how she might be hurt or traumatized and I like that a bit more. Adds more mystery to solve. 3) I liked the scene where Lilika is offering understanding and comfort to Sheol being out of sorts. Just...it was such a positive interaction and really showed the depth of Lilika's care for Sheol beyond just having a bunch of shirts handy. I like in general how the two of them are somewhat opposite in personalities and yet have this subtle way of getting along and showing their care. As for the ship, I'm gonna be optimistic and say yes. And assume they won't go up in flames.

varethane

that answer to 2 is really interesting, because in that respect they're both kinda opposite to the usual tropes that tend to apply (the stoic/stern type vs the bubbly, upbeat type)

you'd expect that Lilika would wear her emotions and background on her sleeve while Sheol would keep everything close to the chest, but it's the reverse, haha

Delphina

Yeah, to get a bit meta about it, the webcomic title is a pretty obvious reference to the two main characters, so I think they gotta stay together.

varethane

I hadn't thought of it that way til I saw your reponse though

RebelVampire

4) The moment where Lilika asks if Sheol is good but Sheol was like, "no but ill manage." That was such a sad slap in the face but so true to trauma. Cause sadly life doesnt care if you are traumatized. Sometimes you have to go live life and just manage. And I liked seeing that in the story cause it made the trauma more relateable to me. As for healing? yes, but years and years and years and years from the current time. For now though, I think Sheol's trauma is actually gonna get in the way and stop her from helping Lilika when Lilika most needs her. Then drama and conflict ensues. 5) Probably this comic's version of cthulu. As for why specifically Lilika, like Delphina I assume magical talent. But I'm skeptical at the time cause if all it took was magical talent, they wouldnt need to chase her down. Just get a new student. So I feel there must be super special about Lilika's talent. Like she has some sort of connection even better students don't have. 6) I assume her master was some lord scientist who just felt like playing god. And that he was using Sheol to both prove his awesome and gather some sort of resource. Hence the whole targets thing. I personally think that Sheol just ran away cause she found some body part had murdered a shiz ton of people and could no longer live with herself of the selves she was made of. It sounded like he was alive, so I do think her former master is gonna come looking for her? Or someone close to him. I mean not everyday you hear about living flesh dolls, so someone is bound to be interested.

huh, you make a good point @varethane . actually had not considered that their types are different from the expected trope

Delphina

On the topic of Sheol's past, it looks like Zerymos assembled her. Nell and Lilika's cult seem to know of him from the recent pages, so I assume the dude is either a cult-adjacent individual practitioner or split off to do his own thing. From the flashbacks, Zerymos pretty much made Sheol go out and murder specific people on the regular. (From this scene http://www.patchworkandlace.com/?p=452 and the one that I can't find where the person recognized her mouth and wanted to "kiss their daughter" one last time - (Really wish this comic had an archive page...)) I first suspected Zerymos wanted corpses for more experiments, but in the first scene, she's not carrying the body back, so maybe he's a leader who just wanted to freak people out and flex his power over them? He certainly didn't seem to be worried about Sheol using discretion since she just walks into a crowded group of screaming people and chokes 'em. If she's been that overt and people have heard of her, then it definitely makes sense that she wants to cover up as many scars as she can, but I've also been curious why she's only covering the mouth because you can still see the stitchwork down the middle?

varethane

she's still gotta see lol

that's why the broad-brimmed hat I guess, it puts shade on the area she can't help but keep exposed (unless she invests in something like this )

Delphina

Maybe the big hat helps, but yeah, I'd get me a ski mask or veil or something if I'd been that murdery.

snuffysam

she could go all invisible man-style with bandages and a pair of sunglasses

and yeah if Zerymos wanted stealthy kills, he probably wouldn't have made her walk around naked

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Do you believe that Nell will succeed and capture Lilika? If so, what will happen to Lilika? What will Sheol do? If not, how will Lilika and Sheol manage to avoid capture? How will it affect their future plans?

RebelVampire

7) Nah. I honestly think Nell is going to vastly overestimate her skills and vastly underestimate Lilika. It's also 2 v 1 right now since her partner was sent off, so nell probably isnt gonna have a good time. Sheol, assuming she's present, will over course protect Lilika. Although this begs the question of how much of Lilika's past does Sheol know? I mean of course she knows of Lilika's demony magic stuff, but did Lilika mention anything else? cause if not, that's the point i feel Sheol is gonna go wtf and want answers. but yeah i think after all is said and done, theyre gonna skip town for a while together.

Delphina

Well, it seems like Nell is going to be forced into seducing Lilika away for reasons I don't quite understand (http://www.patchworkandlace.com/?p=589). So I suspect it's not going to be a physical fight (which I agree, Lilika and Sheol have the advantage with, especially if Lilika is irreplaceably powerful and Sheol has no visible physical weaknesses) but a love-triangly-psychological sort of approach. Drive doubts in both of their heads about whether they really love/trust each other so they're easier to manipulate.

varethane

I don't think Nell is likely to overestimate herself, lol. She admits right off the bat that she's not good at that sort of thing

RebelVampire

hey, someone can say theyre not good at something and still be far off the mark at how not good they are

XD

RebelVampire

(the archive for the chat on Sombulus is up now! https://comicteaparty.com/post/182974467985/february-11th-february-17th-2019-ctp-archive @Delphina )

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. What exactly do you think happened with the Way of the Bright Waters that has Sheol so interested? Is it something Sheol herself was involved in, or something from one of her memories that isn’t hers? Will she actually learn information about it?

RebelVampire

8) well we know there was a murder thing, but somehow the way sheol worded it makes me think she wasnt entirely responsible or something? which that to mean means two likely scenarios. either its the fault of one of her body parts or someone whose life force or whatever she stole and she feels she needs to take responsibility. or sheol might have like a detachment complex. kind of like how some media portrays assassins as guilt free cause they consider themselves like the sword or gun and it was the person who ordered them to kill's doing. so sheol might have some of that going on. not sure. what i am sure of is id hate to be in sheol's head cause if any of this is true it sounds like an identity hellscape

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Do you think Sheol will indeed leave Lilika to pursue her own goals? Is she right that Lilika doesn’t actually need her, or do you believe Lilika has her own trauma regarding her past history that Sheol helps with?

€heshire777

No, or at least not until endgame.

It's a possibility that she will leave and be pursued.

Delphina

Yeah, I think if they do get separated (either because Nell succeeds in finding away to get in Lilika's head or just flat out kidnap her), it won't be permanent because they'll want to be with each other. Lilika hasn't really given much indication that she's having trouble with stuff from her past IMO, but y'know, growing up in a cult has gotta do something to a person in general. I think they're both going to realize eventually that they're happiest together and do whatever they can to stick to each other and continue their life of adventuring together.

snuffysam

I think Sheol doesn't realize how much Lilika likes her. Like she considers herself to be a burden or something.

Delphina

True, I think it's safe to say that the part of Sheol that thinks people like and accept her is severely underutilized.

She also may be worried about snapping and going out of control and hurting Lilika

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

RebelVampire

i second. i def think sheol just has a large disconnect with how much lilika likes her. evend espite the kiss. almost like she thinks its all just some game to lilika and that eventually lilika will get bored. 9) the above being said, i think sheol is going to try at some point or another. i kind of get this impression sheol just thinks lilika is the this strong, carefree person who would be completely fine on her own and doesnt really even think too hard about all the times sheol has had to save her. and i think sheol needs to make the attempt to break this image. but will it be permanent? nah. i believe in them to realize theyre happier together. or be practical and realize safety in numbers. 10) im looking forward to learning more about lilika's magic and seeing what else the full scope of her capabilities are. like, what other creepy monstrosities can she summon. XD mostly just cause thats my favorite aspect right now.

Delphina

I'm looking forward to learning more about Lilika's past and both of them growing as characters. It's hard to say what Lilika might be dealing with beyond conjecture, so I hope more is explained about why she's so cavalier if that's indeed a defense mechanism. Sheol is clearly dealing with a lot and I'd love to see her develop more healthy attitudes toward self-care and growing and healing from her pain. While I suspect a lot of that is going to involve Lilika's affection and that's okay, romantic relationships don't and can't heal everything, so I hope some of it is also just self-reflection.

snuffysam

Oh this is extremely last minute, but - more sappy romance! can't get enough of it!

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Patchwork and Lace this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sooz for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Patchwork and Lace, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://www.patchworkandlace.com/

Sooz’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsasooz

[itwilltoteshappen]

[1/6] I saw theories on my dash that say BG was Simon's revenge for losing 1D and SyCO or that it was Sony's fault. I don't agree. Since Simon and 1D knew for at least a few months that they won't be resigning, I don't think BG was SC's idea. Why would the boys accept SC's ideas when they're parting ways? It doesn't make sense. BG was originally Louis' and SJ's idea, a quick, easy way to get L a name recognition with a paternity scandal. I think L had some solo plans planned around the "birth."

[2/6] BUT, there was never supposed to be a real baby involved. The paternity denial would have happened quickly after F's "birth." But at the beginning of 2016 the boys found out that Jay was seriously ill. That halted all plans. Louis didn't want to place his family under scrutiny with the BG scandal in such sad circumstances. Harry's solo plans were similarly halted. Only Dunkirk, for which he auditioned before finding out about Jay, went on as planned. I think Harry would have announced

[3/6] his solo album in AM photoshoot interview, but because of Jay's illness he was very vague on purpose, because he simply didn't know when his (and Lou's) plans could go ahead. Otherwise AM photoshoot simply doesn't make sense-- a shoot like that is usually accompanied by big news that Harry supposed to have but couldn't announce at the time. That's why Niall's single was rushed out by the boys to benefit from the attention around AM photoshoot. Harry's supposed deal with Sony's Columbia:

[4/6] that's probably true. Simon and his cronies didn't dare badmouth Harry and that's the reason. Harry's reps or Sony didn't confirm the rumors because Harry asked them not to--out of respect to his family situation(Jay WAS Harry's family).When the boys found out Jay was unlikely to make it, Louis went to Sony/Simon, asking for their permission to perform JHO on XF for his mother. If BG were Simon's fault, Louis would've never asked such a thing from him. It also explains why L didn't fire SJ 

 (5/6) It wasn't Jones fault that the mess stretched out for so long. It was no one's fault. SJ's job was to keep BG relevant in the media throughout the year so that it wasn't all in vain, which he did manage. Now that Jay passed away (god, I still can't believe it), the boys will go back to their original plans. I expect BG to end to the boys' benefit: around the announcement or release of Harry's album or Louis' solo project. It may seem cynical, but that's the way things work in the industry.

[6/6] and it's about time the boys benefited from this mess for a change. Anyway, that's my theory. Nothing else explains why Louis and Harry are still involved with Sony and why SJ wasn't fired. I'm sure the boys despise Simon, but Simon and Sony aren't to blame for the BG mess. I expect things to start happening very soon. Good things. 

Ok first of all, I love how much thought you’ve put into this.  You are way ahead of me.  I tired piecing things together last night and even this morning, formulating my thoughts both a little before I had coffee and then again after and I’ll be the first one to admit, I don’t know.  I don’t have super strong opinions.  I’m trying to keep all options open at the moment and just see how things play out.  

That being said, there’s a lot of this I do agree with.  I’ll be honest, I haven’t thought of the Louis/SJ team up for BG and haven’t really given that aspect a lot of thought, but it’s definitely an interesting theory!  I don’t know if I necessarily agree that there wasn’t to be a baby in January if only because of how weird March was.  Plus...I’m not really sold that Louis definitely had solo plans.  I think JHO was special and after seeing the success/recognition/how well it’s been embraced he might change his mind NOW, but I don’t know if I really think he did at first.  

I do agree with a lot of your Harry stuff, though.  He would have auditioned for Dunkirk around January (December at the earliest but i think they were focusing more on drama schools at that point rather than big agent submissions so they could really get the Unknowns in).  I definitely agree with you about AM and putting his career on hold.  I really do think that was supposed to be a launching pad to something big.  I don’t know if it was definitely solo stuff or what, but I do feel there was supposed to be something more that came after.  That’s fascinating about Niall, though.  i never really thought about that aspect.  Interesting!  

I THINK I agree with you about Harry’s deal.  I don’t know if I believe it’s $80M, but I’ve been leaning towards it being true.  And that’s where I can’t fully buy into the whole revenge angle personally.  Especially if Sony had more control than we initially thought, I personally would think that they would do everything in their power to kiss these boys asses, Harry’s in particular, to make sure they stayed with a Sony label.  That’s where I get stuck every time.  

I agree it’s not SJ’s fault, but mostly because PR reps don’t really have much say in these matters anyway.  It’s their job to carry out the plans that the label/management have set in motion.  I’m personally opposed to him for reasons that are completely unrelated to babygate but i’ve already gone on about my feelings regarding that. 

I also agree with you about being cynical af because that’s where I perpetually live lol.  I may have a positive attitude, but i’m still a NYer at heart.  I’ve been leaning towards the end of BG being used for JHO promo, but maybe you’re right too.  Maybe it could potentially be for all of the boys’ benefit.  One thing in particular that i was talking with someone about this morning is that we often get caught up in emotions, not only ours, but what we suspect theirs might be.  And while I’m sure there ARE people involved that they don’t like on a personal level (COUGHsimonCOUGH), sometimes decisions are strictly business, not personal.  

In general, I’m still very much waiting to see what will happen next.  There are still so many unknowns and there probably always will be (WHICH WILL DRIVE ME NUTS I’M SURE).  None of my opinions are set in stone at this point.  But I really do hope you’re right that good things are on their way soon.  

[pupsolostthemotivation]

The hair had me feeling hyped idk