#also honestly ANY plain single colored suit that is literally just a suit

[stevethehairington]

we say this EVERY YEAR but it continues to be relevant: men who wear a plain ass black suit need to be BANNED from the met gala you're not even TRYING

[thattimdrakeguy]

Young Justice #10 review - How not to change a character’s identity.

This is finally the issue were Tim Drake becomes “The Drake” (or maybe just “Drake”), and honestly, it’s just lazy as could be. People were already fearing the issue, and it’s actually kind of worse than expected.

They made every bad choice they could’ve.

It is genuinely horribly done.

Most times when a character changes their identity it means something to that character. It’s a defining moment in their character evolution, and the name actually means something to that character.

Nightwing came from Dick Grayson trying to find himself as he grew up. Gaining the name from a trusted friend who told him a story from his home-world, that helped give Dick Grayson inspiration.

The Red Hood came from Jason Todd literally getting killed by Joker, a person that formerly went by the Red Hood. The name was practically a taunt, but an emotionally charged one that was connected to Jason’s story.

With this name  and costume change, it means NOTHING.

They don’t even explain where the suit comes from. He just shows up in it, and unless I missed it, no one even acts like anythings different, or brings up the costume at all.

Previously I just assumed the costume would spawn from a reasoning that had something to do with this Earth. To actually give a reason for it.

Like how a gang was insulting Tim’s colors.

But that gang that randomly attacked Tim in issue 8 went no where. Making the inclusion of them almost pointless besides world building, but in their defense, world building is important.

I have no idea why Tim thought it was important to change his costume, considering Earth 3 Drake pretty much wears a normal Robin costume.

Making the change in costume even more pointless and meaningless.

Costumes are meant to say something about the character in some shape or form. This costume has no introduction, no one brings it up, and it’s quality alone is shoddy. The colors stand for boring, and dull, in a few panels the red in it comes off almost as clashing, and the lack of any character-based details makes it terrible.

In the most objective way to consider the costume, even ignoring how Tim only wanted to be Robin, this costume was horribly made on the standards set by what costumes are supposed to do.

Costumes are suppose to tell you something about the character.

Tim’s last costume showed he was a boyish, tech based, ninja. Due to character details like short sleeves, built in tech, and ninja toes. Those details showed exactly what his character is, but this new one doesn’t come off like that. The new costume says absolutely nothing.

The logic of Tim choosing the new name is also completely horrible. He has no reason to change his name. Bart just started saying he should change his name to “Drake”. Why? I don’t think he actually says.

Why would Tim want to change his name to match someone who wants to kill him and is evil? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name just because Bart told him to? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name while on an alternate Earth? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name at all considering his character? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Tim Drake’s character always said that if he stopped being Robin, he would stop being a hero. That only changed when he got kicked from the role and felt he still had to save Bruce.

So now that he’s Robin again, why would he leave that role? He finally got back to being Robin like how he wanted, which actually felt good, but they never even explained why he was Robin again. In fact they implied he was still Red Robin, despite all the marketing and character’s saying he was Robin. Causing a massive inconsistency with just that.

It’s just plain out of character for him to change his name, and one of the biggest flaws you can ever make when writing a story of any kind is having one of your characters, especially one of the main characters, act out of character.

The name as well, while using the characters’ own logic, is out of character.

Tim Drake was always told to keep his secret identity hidden from EVERYONE. Even Barbara Gordon didn’t know Tim’s name until Batman told her (although that was mostly because Tim thought it was cool Babs knew Superman’s real name but not his).

In 90s Robin there was an issue were Stephanie Brown as the Spoiler comes close to finding out Tim’s identity. If Tim Drake went by the superhero name “Drake” and she cared enough to search harder, it would only make it that much easier to find out what his real name is.

You could say that the name is so dumb that’s why it’s so great, because anyone trying to figure out their identities wouldn’t expect them to be that dumb, but when the Bat-Family is so protective of their identities, why would they ever take the risk? That’s out of character.

This isn’t the only way this issue was lazy either. This issue constantly uses singular panel pages, as if they’re just trying to fill up space.

There are 4 entire pages dedicated to just one panel. In a 22 page comic, that means there’s only 18 or so pages that don’t go to mostly waste.

When you have a page like that, it’s suppose to be exciting. The first issue of Wonder Comics Young Justice used them excellently, but also, they had 44 pages I believe. So they worked well with the pages they had to tell the story.

In this issue they just overused them, like they were just getting lazy. It feels like a comic that was written during a hangover. Something Bendis might’ve done last minute when he realized he forgot to write the script.

Regardless if that’s not the case, that’s what it feels like.

The dialogue by itself isn’t much either. Mostly feeling rushed as could be, or only generic funny moments.

This is an issue, written of the quality of a comic that knows it’s going to be cancelled. I don’t think that’s the literal case for Young Justice, but that’s the vibe it gives off. It’s written so lazily, like it knows there’s no point, but it’ll use cheap publicity stunts like changing a character’s identity to get any sort of attention it can get.

However one thing the issue does really well, is establish why Jinny sticks out and is important.

It actually makes me want to read a Jinny Hex solo adventure, because Bendis seems much more interested in her than the rest of the team.

Like I love this snarky, queer, magically teched out, cowgirl.

I’ve never been more disappointed by a comic in general in my entire life though.

The first issue of this series capped off like the original series never ended it. It felt right at home, from the art style, the costumes, the writing, the energy, the fast pace. They really captured the magic of Young Justice. That first issue felt so genuine.

In this: the art style was changed due to there being a new and unfitting artist, they’re already changing the costumes to stuff much blander, the writing has become forced and rushed, the energy is zapped, and the pacing is so bizarre because of the constant usage of single pages.

If you want spoilers on the only events in the current day Earth 3 story, here you go: They fight Earth 3 Young Justice (Young $#@%ers? I guess.), Jinny finally uses her magical items, they win, they go back home.

In the flashback story of Jinny: She gets cheated on, we find out she’s a natural hero, we get a sense of her family’s history, and we finally learn more about the mystery of the chest.

There’s so much more character building involved, and she gets to feel like a real fully fleshed out person because of that.

--

If you wanna see the best bit of character usage in the main story, and I’m not being sarcastic when I say I like this part. Is this:

As simple as it is, it uses Tim’s character and the world around him to make a simple moment actually be pretty funny, because it uses the basics of character writing.

Compared to the rest of the Earth 3 story’s over-usage of cheap generic dialogue that anyone could say, and while you could argue anyone could say “Noooo... thank you.” like Tim did in the above panel, it works best with Tim because he’s already been shown as the most awkward, yet moralistic member of the team.

It actually uses his character.

--

I think the above panel is a good showing at the weird choice Bendis has made.

Earth 3 Steph is a more fleshed out character with a purpose than pretty much the entire Young Justice team in this story. When this is only the second story in this run of Young Justice.

Shouldn’t it be more important to keep fleshing out and focusing on the team itself? 

It doesn’t even feel like this is the first time these characters been together in a long time. They act as if they never been separated. Conner being stranded on Gemworld were he helped raise a kid doesn’t feel like it ever happened anymore. It affected nothing. It feels ignored. It makes the comic feel disjointed just from the last story arc.

Young Justice’s dialogue is almost entirely generic. Practically anyone could say what they have, and it would work just as well. There’s no character put into them, besides maybe Bart being immature and mouthy, but the whole team besides possibly Tim when he has his brain cell on is pretty immature and mouthy, and even then, Tim isn’t Captain of maturity, he mostly just forces himself to be because he felt obligated to be leader, he’s still a doofus kid.

--

An issue should never be written as badly as the Earth 3 story in this.

While the Jinny Hex story is actually really well-written as far as character building is concerned, the Earth 3 story is bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes, and that’s the story that actually has the whole team involved.

Bad dialogue, horrible out of character identity change, bad usage of page space, bizarre pacing, lack of story that actually feels worth paying attention too

This issue would personally be given a 3/10, and that 3 only comes from Jinny’s story being quite well written as a character piece.

[dark-strangeson-virgil]

Having Pride

Words: 4.5k

Summary: Remy and Emile take their younger friends to pride for the first time, and the boys get to experience a full day of pride and being unapologetically themselves.

Remy chuckled lightly to himself as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had switched out his usual sunglasses for a pair of multi-chrome aviators. He eventually decided on wearing a white muscle shirt with a rainbow mouth graphic on the front, along with some grey acid wash shorts that reached his knees and simple black converse. On his wrist sat a simple rainbow bracelet, which made him smile at his reflection. He could hear the chaos of his friends in the background, all trying to get ready themselves. Remy was ecstatic. It was June, his favorite month of year solely because it was pride month. He had been out since middle school, and he had gone to his first Pride Parade the previous year with Emile, so he was excited to bring his younger friends to experience the magic along with him. 

He looked around at each of his friends, admiring all of their outfits. 

Patton looked absolutely adorable as usual. He had a pastel rainbow skater skirt swishing around his legs, paired with a simple flowy white tank top with a single sunflower in the center. A rainbow flower crown sat atop his head, as well as a small rainbow striped heart pin on his shirt and simple white sneakers. It was sweet and clearly showed his pride but could also be worn as a more casual outfit in other circumstances (minus the flower crown, that might seem a bit out of the ordinary for everyday attire). The finishing touch to his look was a nice amount of blush scattered across his face and nose. 

Patton was currently having an excited conversation with Roman, both boys sporting huge grins across their faces. As Remy glanced over to the other boy he noticed he was dressed much more extravagantly than usual, which made Remy smile. Roman truly did love being eccentric and bold, but his anxieties and fears of judgement often prevented him from expressing himself how he wanted to. It made Remy happy to see that he was making some progress on his confidence, especially on a day that was focused on having pride in yourself.

Roman had bleached his hair and temporarily dyed it rainbow (he planned on dyeing it back afterwards, but he liked the look of dyed hair and was considering changing his hair color again in the future). His shirt was a tank top which read the word “King” with a crown atop it in rainbow lettering. His shorts were a bit more simplistic, simple white athletic shorts with a small rainbow stripe down the side. On his feet he wore white converse with rainbows and clouds scattered across him, and he had gotten Virgil to do his makeup so that one eye was a circular rainbow that extended to the edge of his face and a red liquid lipstick on his lips.. (When he had finished Virgil had stared at Roman in awe for a moment. Roman assumed it was just Virgil admiring his own work but he actually just thought Roman looked absolutely stunning, causing a bright blush to adorn his cheeks.)

Speaking of Virgil, Remy turned his head slightly to look at the emo boy in question. After finishing Roman’s makeup (and being a flustered dumb gay for a moment) he had moved on to his own, doing a natural look with eye shadow and then creating an intricate rainbow pattern with eyeliner that covered the sides of his face. He wore a pastel rainbow tie-dye-esque t-shirt which read “I Can’t Think Straight”, in cheesy horror movie font. Above the shirt lay a simple necklace with a rainbow line down the center. His shorts were a plain black denim that reached his knees, and he ended up choosing simple black vans with rainbow soles as his finishing touch. It was a nice outfit but one that Virgil felt comfortable in, which was the best of both worlds in Remy’s opinion. He sat on Remy’s couch, scrolling through his phone and occasionally tilting it towards Janus to show him a funny meme. Janus would rarely show any more of a reaction than a smirk, but that was enough to satisfy Virgil.

As for Janus, he had also chosen a more “all-out” approach. He was sporting a truly killer rainbow vertical striped halter jumpsuit, which made him look quite elegant when paired with the solid black sun hat he wore atop his head. He had a casual rainbow eyeliner wing on his eyelids and plain black sandals. He had clearly put effort into his outfit, yet he managed to look effortlessly casual while wearing it. When he had walked in Patton had nearly choked on the pink lemonade he had been drinking, immediately running over and engulfing Janus in a hug while squealing out, “Oh my gosh you look amazing! Where did you get that jumpsuit?” While Janus’s stomach was busy swarming with butterflies the others had complimented him, quickly returning to their previous conversations. After a moment Patton had returned to his drink, making sure to tell Janus one more time that he looked spectacular.

Currently Remus was creeping over to Janus and Virgil, planting himself directly in between the two to show them some video about the “World’s Oldest Octopus” he had found on YouTube. Remus’s laugh had almost gotten an actual laugh out of Remy upon first sight, simply because it fit him so well. He had on a pair of light-was denim overall shorts with frayed edges and a rainbow on the chest, as well as literal PLATFORM rainbow sneakers (Yes, Roman tried to warn him those were impractical for him to wear all day at a parade, No Remus did not care or change). The true gem that clearly said this outfit fit Remus perfectly, however, was his hat. It was a baseball cap which read, “I’m so gay I shit RAINBOWS”. Though it was truly a shock at first, everybody immediately agreed that Remus’s outfit was perfect.

As Remy continued to observe Remus’s attire a scream of “FALSEHOOD!” burst through the room, startling everybody and drawing their attention to the corner where Roman and Patton stood with a now blushing Logan. He swiftly cleared his throat before addressing the room. “My apologies for the sudden outburst. Patton and I had a minor disagreement, seeing as he believes squirrels are ‘adorable’ while they are in fact quite dangerous. Please continue with whatever activities you were engaging in prior to my, uh, surge of enthusiasm.” As he turned back to the pair, Remy took a moment to glance at Logan. He had a rainbow striped button-down tucked into the longer black skirt Patton had convinced him to wear. Initially he had been hesitant, but eventually had agreed as long as the skirt could extend slightly past his knees. He had a pair of converse that seemed to be dripping rainbow paint, giving him a more relaxed look than most had ever seen him in. It suited him, honestly.

Returning to his reflection once more Remy began to adjust his hair in the mirror for a moment before feeling gentle arms wrap around his waist from behind as a soft kiss was pressed to the back of his neck. Smiling, he turned around and found himself face-to-face with Emile, his lovely boyfriend. In Remy’s eyes Emile looked absolutely adorable in his outfit (Actually, Emile always looked like absolute perfection according to Remy, but today was a special day). He had switched his usual frames for his glasses out for rainbow ones, as well as an absolutely precious pair of rainbow suspenders. His shirt had a unicorn on the chest, along with the word “PRIDE”, and he wore a pair of light-wash mom jeans. As Remy reached for his hand he saw the bracelet Emile wore on his wrist, matching the one Remy wore on his own. Suddenly filled to the brim with love for his boyfriend, he pressed a quick kiss to Emile’s lips before engulfing him in a hug. They both took a moment to just breathe, relax before all the inevitable excitement they would experience throughout the day. Being in one another’s presence was always soothing, even if they didn’t say anything.

After a minute of just standing in each other’s arms, they separated. “You look amazing. Ready to go?” Emile whispered softly, looking up at Remy.

“Yeah, I think so. Come on, boys! It’s time we head out, especially since we still have to stop at Starbucks on the way!” Like a wave the young boys all ran out to the minivan Remy would be borrowing from his mom for the day, grabbing a mini pride flag each on the way out. Remy was the last to exit, locking the door as he did so.

--

Roman felt like he was about to burst. This was all so exciting! In school he always felt more like a subdued version of himself, his anxieties pressing down on him. But here with his closest friends at an event where having pride in who you are is encouraged, he felt weightless. Like he could truly be himself. He had dyed his hair rainbow for god’s sake! And he loved it! As he walked through the street with his friends in search of a decent food vendor, he turned to Remy and Emile. The two noticed and turned to look at the younger boy, who was sporting one of the widest grins they’d ever seen.

“Thank you both so much for bringing us here today! It’s absolutely amazing!” Roman gushed, feeling brighter with every word that left his mouth. The two older boys looked at the boy fondly.

“Of course, Ro! Glad you like it!” Emile replied, with more of a soft cheeriness. Remy nodded in agreement, leaving Roman to return to observing around him. Pride flags of many sorts were hung in many windows of nearby apartments, as well as people sporting their own flags along the streets. There were small booths with vendors selling all sorts of pride merchandise. As he continued to admire the sights around him, Roman was caught off-guard by a girl walking past him, stopping him quickly. 

“Oh my god, I love your hair!” The girl had a dark brown pixie cut, as well as a pan flag tied like a cape around her shoulders. Her makeup truly stole the show, however. It was a beautiful design that had clearly taken a lot of time and effort, and was done in the ace colors. It matched her shirt, which also had the ace flag across it. On her shirt sat a small pin, listing that her preferred pronouns were she/her. Roman beamed at the compliment, turning to look at the girl.

“Thank you so much! I adore your makeup!” He gladly responded with a compliment of his own.

“Thanks!” With that the girl walked in the opposite direction with her friends. Roman could feel the newfound confidence bubbling within him. Such a small interaction somehow meant so much to him. Maybe it was because of how genuine and sweet the girl had been with her compliment, or maybe it was just that a stranger had taken the time out of their day to talk to him. Either way, he found himself giggling as he practically bounced over to Logan and Virgil.

“Isn’t this wonderful! Everybody here is so sweet! And the streets are FILLED with rainbows! It’s all so beautiful!” As Roman practically sang with glee he threw his arms around his friends’ shoulders, with Virgil to his left and Logan to his right.

“Yes, it is actually quite a lovely and welcoming environment.” Logan was definitely more relaxed than his friend, but you could clearly hear by his tone that he was genuinely excited to be there.

“Yeah, Princey. It’s pretty chill.” Virgil offered a small smirk, which softened into a more genuine smile when he saw the look of pure glee on Roman’s face. ‘God, how does this boy make me so soft?’ he thought to himself, though he found he didn’t really care as long as he got to see that pure joy on Roman’s face as often as possible.

“Oh, I think I see a hot dog stand in the corner. I can go order food for all of us quickly, what would each of you like?” Logan looked back at his friends.

The two boys each voiced their orders, Roman reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. Logan swiftly put a hand on his wrist, stopping him.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about expenses. I can pay for all of us.” Logan stated plainly. Roman and Virgil both eyed him with something akin to wonder. 

“You sure about that, specs? None of us mind paying for ourselves.” Roman responded in a softer tone than he had spoken in practically all day.

“Of course, I really don’t mind. All I ask is that you all remain here until I return, that way I don’t find myself lost trying to find you.” Logan’s kind offer, though a small gesture, only served to further brighten the mood of the group.

“Thanks, Lo. You’re the best” Virgil piped up, with Roman quickly nodding in agreement. With a small smile of his own in response, Logan took off in the direction of the food stand, skirt swishing with the breeze and leaving Roman and Virgil on the outskirts of their small group of friends.

“Hey, Ro?” Virgil said after a moment of silence.

“Yes, stormcloud?” Roman easily returned, expecting their usual lighthearted banter or possibly a comment about the scenery.

“Now don’t get all super cheesy on me or anything, but it’s, like, nice to see you so happy here.” Virgil had begun mumbling more than actually talking about halfway through his sentence, but Roman heard him clearly.

“What do you mean?” Roman could feel his heart swelling, though he was slightly confused by what Virgil had meant.

“It’s just, you seem so worried about what people are thinking sometimes. And don’t get me wrong, so am I. Anxious thoughts are a bitch.” This got both boys to laugh for a moment before Virgil returned to speaking, his voice a bit firmer and clearer this time. “But  you seem, like, happy here. Like you’re not so worried. And it’s nice to see you like that, or whatever.” he finished his sentence, scratching the back of his neck as he began to wonder if he had been overly emotional. When he met Roman’s eye, however, he found him staring back with gentle, wide eyes and his mouth formed into a small, “o” shape.

Meanwhile, Roman’s heart felt as though it were close to explosion. His friends cared! Virgil cared, and he wanted Roman to be happy! That was so sweet! 

“Thanks, V.” Roman suddenly got the urge to hug the boy in front of him. Before he could talk himself out of it, he reached over and wrapped his arms around Virgil’s shoulders. Virgil froze for a small moment, before wrapping his own arms around Roman. They stood like that for a moment before Roman realized his face had begun to burn, gently pulling away.

“So, where’d you get your shirt? It fits your vibe very well for how bright and colorful it is.” Roman changed the subject easily, though he still felt a warmness within him. 

“Hot topic of course. Would you expect anything else from me?” the two quickly fell into their usual antics, with their playful teasing clearly present. As Logan returned (with Remus in tow, who had offered to help him carry the food) a knowing grin crossed his face, clearly noticing the slight red tint across each of his friends’ cheeks as they continued with their banter.

--

Patton finished off the last bite of his meal, squishing the paper the hot dog came wrapped in up into a ball. He began scanning the area around him, hoping to find a trash can. After a moment of looking he spotted one, next to a booth. The booth itself looked very pastel and cute, easily catching Patton’s attention.

“Hey guys! We should go look at that booth, it seems nice!” He chirped as he began skipping over, skirt flowing around him as he did. Logan was the quickest to follow, ever alert and watching, and soon all of the boys were standing in front of the adorable pastel booth.

As Patton reached the front of the booth, he noticed that most of the items sold there were smaller accessories. They seemed to have pins, patches and stickers of many assortments (all LGBTQ+ related though, of course), as well as a few rainbows and dad caps. He could hear as his friends approached and began looking along with him, continuing to scan through the items. Almost immediately he heard a gasp from Remus, followed by a shout of, “Oh, I HAVE to get this.”

Patton turned to look at Remus and saw him holding up a hat  in a very similar style to what he was currently wearing, only this one was white and had the words “Love whoever the fuck you want” embroidered in rainbow thread. 

“Dear god please no.” Could be heard from Roman, which overlapped with Logan’s comment of,

“That would suit you quite nicely. It is very much your style.” Remus grinned at Logan’s response, quickly turning back to his brother.

“I’m getting it, brother dearest! LOGAN said it looked hot!” Remus cackled. He failed to notice the way Logan’s face immediately resembled a tomato, or his quiet utterance of “Those weren’t my EXACT words.”, as he handed the person running the stand a ten dollar bill. While they counted his change Patton returned his gaze to the patches in front of him, smiling and winking at Logan after noticing his current state.

‘Oh, all of these are so cute!’ Patton observed. He thought of the light-wash denim jacket he had at home, and realized it would look quite nice with a few patches added on. Plus it would allow his jacket to become gayer. As Patton knew well, everything could always be at least a little bit gayer.

The first patch he picked up had two pastel rainbow cherries with adorable smiles, which Patton immediately knew he needed. Directly next to the cherries he noticed a decent-sized rainbow lightning bolt, which immediately made him think of Virgil. ‘If I get one of these I’ll be able to remember my best friend every time I wear my jacket! That’s amazing!’ The lightning bolt joined the cherries in Patton’s hand.

After assessing his options for a moment Patton found himself with five total patches in his hand. He had the lightning bolt and the cherries, as well as an absolutely adorable-looking unicorn with a rainbow mane, a simple rainbow with clouds around it and the word “PRIDE” written in rainbow lettering. It wasn’t a huge amount, but he was happy with what he had. He could always find more patches to iron on online. He grabbed a small pin stating that he used he/him pronouns last minute before approaching the register.

The person running the stand clearly appeared to be older, with their gray hair cut into a bob. They had warm brown eyes that seemed to overflow with kindness and a gentle smile. Their shirt displayed the nonbinary flag across the front, along with the pronouns they/them. ‘It’s nice to see the older generations showing their support and being able to embrace their identities.’ Patton thought as he fished in his wallet, handing his money over to the person. They tried to give Patton his change, but he insisted they keep it as a thank you for showing support and pride and helping give LGBTQ+ people a safe and welcoming space. That was something that the older generations didn’t always understand but was so crucial and helpful in improving the mental health of LGBTQ+ teens especially, and he knew that very well.

The group stayed at the booth for around five more minutes before finally deciding it was time to leave, knowing they needed to head over to the stage that was set up nearby if they wanted to make it to the show being performed by a local drag queen in fifteen minutes. Patton secured his pin onto the front of his shirt, dropping his patches into his skirt pocket before following Remy, who was leading the way.

--

Patton felt exhausted, but in the best way possible. The sun was just beginning to set, signalling that it was time for the boys to start walking back to their van and head home. His feet felt heavy from the weight of walking around all day, and he could feel his eyelids slowly weighing down. Though he was tired, he still felt his happiness from how well the day had gone glowing within him. His first pride had been so lovely! And he had gotten to spend the entire day with his bestest friends in the entire world! And earlier on a group of kids that seemed to be around his age had complimented his outfit and said he looked adorable! All in all it had been one of the best experiences of Patton’s life.

In his daze he felt a hand lightly tap the back of his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. Janus then moved to stand within his view as they continued walking in the direction of the car, looking almost… shy?

 “Hey, Jan. What’s up? Wasn’t today amazing?!” Patton found himself gushing even through his exhaustion, partially because he was just so filled with excitement and partially to calm his friend’s apparent nerves.

“Yeah, I guess it was quite… nice.” Janus seemed to relax for a second, smiling at the memory of the wonderful day he had experienced with his closest friends, before the worry crept back into his face like an infection. Patton opened his mouth to ask if he was alright but found himself stopping short as he noticed Janus reaching into his pockets, eyes cast to the street. Patton watched as Janus pulled three small items from his pockets, grasping them tightly in his hands. Patton’s face quickly morphed into one of puzzlement, confused as to what Janus was doing.

“While we were at that booth earlier I, uhm, noticed a few items that reminded me of you. You didn’t seem to notice them, so after you paid I decided to get them for you. It’s totally no big deal or anything.” Janus tacked on his signature sarcasm at the end, Patton immediately seeing through it and knowing it was a defense mechanism to hide Janus’s nerves but choosing not to mention it.

He opened his palm and Janus dropped the patches into it, with Patton almost immediately bringing them in front of his glasses to expect the items.

The first one had a truly precious shiba inu dog with a pride flag in his mouth, immediately causing Patton to coo out a small, “That’s so cute!” As he looked over to the next one he saw a beautiful blue rose, with the words “Pretty Boy” in rainbow lettering surrounding the flower. That brought a tinge of blood to Patton’s cheeks. ‘He thinks I’m pretty?’

“Oh, this flower is gorgeous!” He tried to cover up how a silly patch managed to fluster him. Janus didn’t seem to notice, so he looked over to the last of the patches in his hand. It was an adorable cartoon frog wearing rainbow overalls and the sweetest smile he had ever seen. Frogs were his favorite animal, and it made Patton happy that Janus had remembered such a small detail. He felt himself tearing up at the kind gesture from his generally more closed-off friend. He looked back up to Janus, finding the shorter boy staring at him with a look of clear false confidence masking his worry.

“I love these! You remembered my favorite animal! These will go perfect with the other patches I got once I iron them onto my denim jacket!” Janus’ eyes brightened at the praise, one of his more rare genuine smiles gracing Patton. “Thank you so much for thinking of me!” Patton reached over to give the other boy a quick hug, with the smaller boy burying his face into Patton’s shoulder for the briefest of seconds before they both pulled away.

“Oh, it was truly such a problem. It’s not like I care about you or anything.” Janus was back with his usual smirk and attitude, drawing a giggle from Patton’s throat that Janus would describe as nothing short of precious.

“Come on boys, we can’t spend all day out here!” Remy chided, prompting Patton to reach for Janus’s hand as he pulled them along the last few steps to the car.

--

Once everybody was situated in the minivan Remy paused to look back at his friends through the rear-view mirror. Patton was eagerly showing Virgil his lightning patch, with Virgil giggling along to something he had said. Roman, Remus and Janus seemed to be sharing stories about their day (it didn’t matter that they had spent practically the entire day together, those three were easily the most dramatic and any remotely special moment they had they wanted to share with each other), and Logan and Emile seemed to be in some sort of discussion about psychology. Of course those two would be able to jump right back into regular conversation, enjoying being able to talk about a shared passion for knowledge in the area of psychology together. One similarity between them all was that each of his friends looked truly happy and content, including Remy himself. 

Despite still being a teenager himself, his status as one of the oldest in the group led him to be more protective and caring over his younger friends. He had really been trying to make sure their first experience with pride was amazing and unforgettable, and from the looks on his friends faces he could clearly tell he succeeded. He felt his heart swell with love for his friends (not that he’d ever mention this, he had a reputation to upkeep for god’s sake).

“Alright everyone! We need one last picture together before we head out. Lean in bitches, all 8 of us need to fit!” Remy shouted in the car, his friends quickly attempting to find a position where they could all be seen. It took a moment (there were 8 teenage boys in a minivan all trying to fit into the frame), but eventually they got a decent picture. Remy sent it off to their group chat before stuffing his phone into his pocket and throwing his keys into the ignition, starting the journey home with a smile across his face. He reached across the enter console and used his right hand to grab a hold of his boyfriend’s, keeping his left hand firmly on the wheel and his eyes on the road. 

(A/N: Hi again! As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and any comments are much appreciated! I had a bit of help from some people explaining their personal experiences but I’ve never actually been to Pride, so if it’s not completely accurate I’m sorry, I tried my best to do as realistic of an interpretation as I could. I’ve been planning this for all of Pride month, and I’m really just thankful I managed to finish it before the month ended lol. Remember, your identity is ALWAYS valid and you deserve to feel proud of who you are. If you ever need to talk, my messages are open. <3 Happy pride everyone!)

Here’s a link to all of their outfits btw! Also I almost forgot but I said I’d tag you once this was finished so @aegis-the-ace !

[kebinwooo]

quarantine time!!

tagged by @theyoungflexer as you all know! LOL thank you again chelle ^^

rules: answer these questions and tag 5 mutuals

1. Flowers or chocolates? chocolates! i like food LOL 

2. Between day and night I prefer: night (i accidentally became a night owl like two years ago and now... well...)

3. My favorite drink: boba hehehehe but i really like tea in general too! 

4. Between sunrise and sunset I prefer: sunsets

5. Between dogs and cats I prefer: oooooof hard question but imma go with cats. a cat lived in my flat last year at school and i miss him deeply T___T 

6. The vegetable i hate the most: idk brussel sprouts? i had a friend keep trying to convince me they’re good and each time just 🤮🤮

7. My favorite sound: uhhhhhhhh i’m blanking LMAO i kinda like how it sounds when it’s raining? but like only when i’m inside AHAHA 

8. The first thing I notice about people: their smile? idk LOL 

9. Would you prefer horror or fantasy? fantasy. i read too much ya fantasy for my own good (i say as if i actually read much anymore) also i’m a scaredy cat and cannot handle horror for my LIFE

10. I’d want to be stuck in a lift with: oh uh idk shownu? he’s such a generally calm person that it would (hopefully) balance out me panicking like crazy. plus it seems like he’ll actually figure out a way to get us out LOL 

11. What city or town you’d like to live in? i want to live in seoul one day (that sounds so kboo of me oh my god) but like not permanently i dont think. it just seems like it’d be a pretty fun experience. i would also love to live in oxford! i was studying there for a summer and it was just SO beautiful and i loved the town so much and AGH definitely want to go back

12. What I value most in life: love, peace and happiness? LMAO THAT SOUNDS SO CHEESY but i just want a peaceful, secure life surrounded with love and what makes me happy and i also want that for my loved ones too. basically i just want there to be good in the world 

13. If I could learn any skill, it’d be: cooking.... i literally can’t cook and that’s something i definitely need to learn at some point

14. Between the beach and the mountains, I prefer: beach but mostly bc i’m afraid of heights and have no stamina to hike LOL aesthetically tho? mountain!  i lived in near perfect view of mt. rainier back at college and i MISS HER SO MUCH

15. I’d love to get married in: i’d like to get married period LOL. but no specific place i have in mind tho? 

16. My hidden talent: ......i have no idea if i even have one?? nothing’s coming to mind so....

17. If I could bring anyone back to life, I’d bring back: jonghyun ;;

18. Why? i just... miss him ;; i want to be able to tell him he did really well and that many people love and miss him. i’m sure he’s in a better place now but i also just want to show him the amount of love he still has even tho he’s gone

19. Rainy or sunny day? SUNNY PLEASE. i have had enough rainy days living in washington to last my lifetime

20. Who’s the real model of your life? i’m assuming this means role model. in which case, honestly speaking, jun of ukiss. he’s super talented (QUADRUPLE THREAT) and capable and works super hard but is such a down-to-earth, humble guy who easily makes friends and loves deeply (nobody is a bigger ukiss fanboy than jun ;;) and i just admire the amount of dedication and passion he has

21. How I relax after a hard day: melting into the couch and staring into space LMAO i’m only half kidding. i also like to watch stupid youtube videos that makes me laugh and like not think

22. I like the way I look: ehhhhhhh.... i’m not exactly confident but i also don’t hate myself either

23. My most favorite facial features of myself is: ............... :) i don’t have an answer to that

24. My most favorite part of my body is: i have nice fingers hehe they’re long and pretty and i’ve gotten quite the few compliments on them so yeah 

25. If I could change anything about my body: MY OILY FACE

26. If yes, what’s it: I��VE HAD A BREAKOUT ON MY CHEEKS SINCE LIKE APRIL AND IT HASN’T CLEARED UP AND I’M ANGRY!!!!!!!!! PEOPLE LIKE JOOHEON WHO ARE BORN WITH NEAR PERFECT SKIN MAKE ME ANGRY!!!!! I WANT THAT FOR ME WHY IS IT SO HARD!!!!!!!

27. If I could change something from my past: i can’t tell? i mean as much as i regret some decisions in the past, i’m fine with where i am now, so i don’t think i would change anything drastic. superficially tho, i wish i could’ve gone to a bap or the rose concert at least once bc i MISS THEM AND I HAD MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES TO GO SEE THEM AND I DIDN’T TAKE THEM!!! WHICH WAS DUMB WHY DID I DO THAT

28. How many piercings I have: none LOL

29. I like makeup? no

30. I wear make up everyday: definitely no

31.My skin type is: def oily (see #25)

32. My skin tone: idk how to describe? i do know i got REALLY pale after i started going to college bc i got barely any sun exposure LMAO

33. My hair color: black and leftover red/auburn(?) from my dye job back in january

34. My height: 5′4″

35. My age: 20... BUT I’M TURNING 21 NEXT WEEK AHHHHHHH

36. My birthday: august 21 :) 

37. My best friend: if you’re reading this melissa, it’s definitely not you >:( i’m kidding LOL i have several best friends and now that i’m listing it out in my head i’m like oh i have at least five if not a few more... idk what that says about me. i’m a loving person alright?

38. I have a pet or more: not anymore :(( warrior fish i miss you T_T

39. If I don’t, I’d like to adopt: no. imma be honest i suck at taking care of pets and i cannot handle the responsibility of another living being so even if i want a pet, i really know i shouldn’t get one

40. Video games or social media: social media 

41. I’ve visited outside my country: yep. i have a major case of wanderlust 

42. I’ve an innocent/dirty mind: depends? i have a dirtier mind than some of my friends but also sometimes dirty things just fly over my head and i’m left blinking innocently at the situation like wut o-o

43. Someone proposed me or asked me out?  LMAO NO. i’ve been single since birth. i got asked to formal once but like.... it was the world’s lamest/dumbest asking and i didn’t end up going bc it was super last minute lmao

44. If yes, then I liked it and accepted or the opposite: read above

45. Do you follow some celebrities’ fashion: no? i have bought like a thing or two bc i thought a celebrity wearing it was cool but i never deliberately followed somebody’s fashion

46. What do you think about your fashion sense: plain, comfy, really generic LOL

47. You found someone copying your fashion: lmao my fashion sense is too generic for anybody to copy/want to follow so nice try

48. Can you do your makeup properly: uhhhhhhhhhh like the very very very basics: foundation, concealer, blush, eyeshadow. that’s about it

49. You go or used to go with makeup to school: still a no

50. What color suits you best? i wear a lot of gray, black, blue, green, turquoise/teal and purple LOL also a lot of stripes. but i think army green suits me best

51. Finally, how is quarantine going? ehhhhhhh about as good as it can go. 

not tagging anyone again but feel free to do this if you want!

[loki-godofmischief-myking]

Love Is For The Foolish (1)

Loki x Asgardian!Reader

The story of Loki, god of mischief, and a dark seamstress. The chapter fic for Love Makes Fools Of Us All

Next Chapter ==>

Chapter 1: First Sight

Almost all of Asgard had come out to greet their princes after Loki and Thor returned from their political trip to Vanaheim. You watched with disgust as noble “ladies” flocked around them. You are all nothing but she-wolves in heat hunting for a mate. Even maids and maidens of lower standing ate the princes alive with their eyes.

Loki charmed the maidens at his feet with a wink from atop his dark stallion. His smile never faltered as he got the attention he always craved. Once he got down the maidens got more persistent in their efforts to gain the favor of a prince. That’s when, through the corner of his eye, Loki caught sight of you.

You were beautifully dressed in a dark gown, your signature look. Your hair was left to flow freely unlike most Asgardian women who plaited theirs. Only one side was pinned back behind your ear as a means to tame and keep it from obstructing your vision.

Thor was no different except he openly flirted with the women. He was the obvious choice with his muscular physique and golden blonde hair. Not to mention he was the eldest prince, king-in-training.

Obviously, the younger brother seemed to have charms of his own. His flock of women was just as grand. Even the dark prince receives his fair share of willing maidens. Personally, you did not care for either but at least he had some taste. you had to commend him on his colors.

Your eyes met his momentarily after checking his attire. Dark colors against alabaster skin… suits him. Pushing off the wall you had been leaning against to take your leave- ultimately uninterested in partaking in the festivities of the princes’ return. “Sigyn I’ll be taking my leave now. There’s plenty for me to do today.”

She couldn’t even protest, you had already begun making your way through the crowds of people. “See you later at the feast!” she shouted knowing you had no desire to go but you had no choice. There were dresses to be delivered at the palace including hers.

A raise of your hand acknowledged her. Of course, you would go and fulfill your duties but you would leave soon after. Social gatherings were never your thing. Until now you had managed to stay away but as your business grew you found yourself getting close to the palace events.

When the crowds dissipated Sigyn was approached by Loki. “Lady Sigyn, who was that you were speaking to? You two seem close.” There was no greeting or small talk just the prince trying to get some information out of her. And of course, she would have to comply.

“That is Lady Y/N, your highness. She is an extraordinary seamstress, as of late she makes most of the gowns worn by the noble ladies. Her taste and knowledge in fabrics are exquisite.” You’ve probably had the pleasure of removing some of her work from the women you bedded. “Why do you ask?”

“No particular reason.” Loki tried to seem indifferent but Sigyn knew better. He would never just ask about a random maiden. There were thoughts behind his actions.

This lead Sigyn to correctly assume he had been stricken by you but like countless other men… he would be disappointed. “I must warn you, Prince Loki. Lady Y/N has no interest in men.” You never wished to attend social events because men tried approaching you. Sigyn didn’t know exactly why but you hated the thought of romance and falling in love.

“Women then?”

“Honestly I couldn’t say. I’ve known her for hundreds of years but she isn’t an open book.” She remembered how defensive you were about forming a simple friendship with her. It took a long time to get a smile and laugh out of you.

Loki was intrigued, to say the least. How had he never seen you before? Were you always hiding in the background from his sight? He loved books and he couldn’t wait to read you. “Lady Sigyn, books don’t open themselves, they require a hand.”

Perhaps he could extend his hand to you.

Loki kept an eye out for you that night during the feast. There was a particularly loud group of women who caught his attention momentarily. Some of them were ladies he had been acquainted with.

When they saw him passing by with a watchful eye, they could only imagine he was looking for a nightly companion. “Prince Loki,” they called out batting their eyelashes.

Not being rude, Loki entertained them for a moment. “Good evening ladies have any of you seen Lady Sigyn and Lady Y/N?” He didn’t want to seem obvious of his pursuit.

“I saw Sigyn dragging Y/N into the hall a moment ago.” The lady who spoke looked around searching for the scene. It wasn’t hard to spot you. Black gown being a dead giveaway in a sea of vibrant hues. Not that your gown wasn’t grand. On the contrary, you were an absolute vision in black lace, silk-like chiffon, and golden embroidery. “There,” she motioned towards you.

Loki turned to see you were indeed reluctant to stay.

Sigyn did not let go of your hand. Momentarily pulling at the long sleeves of your off-shoulder gown. “I only ask you to stay a while.”

Your hand protectively went to your neckline as Sigyn’s efforts threatened to expose your chest. “If it will keep you from exposing me I’ll have one drink with you.” When she let go you straightened out your appearance. Being there made you feel out of place. You weren’t nobility but because of the way you dressed often times you were mistaken as such.

Loki watched as you and Sigyn remained close to the entrance of the hall. Drinking fine Asgardian wine and conversing.

“How about that one,” Sigyn pointed out a gown that looked beautiful enough to be one of yours.

You nodded, “A reconciliation present from her husband.” A perk of your job was hearing unsolicited gossip. Many women found solace in speaking their mind to you as you took their measurements. The shock on Sigyn’s face brought a smile to yours. “Women talk my friend. I’ve heard many rumors including you as well.”

“What have you heard of me?”

“Something concerning the younger prince.”

Sigyn blushed knowing you had heard of her affair with Loki. “That was long ago, an arrangement made by my parents. Thankfully Prince Loki was interested in having multiple dalliances. Our engagement was terminated shortly after its origin.”

“Good, you would have looked horrid in blacks and greens.” Honestly, Sigyn was too bright of a person to stand next to the dark prince. Her positive outlook would have been clouded by his mischievous ways. “Thor suits you better.”

“Thor is with Lady Sif.”

“Truly?” you asked a bit shocked.

“Well, maybe not entirely. They are both strong individuals who wish to keep their independence. Lady Sif is a strong warrior who contradicts what Thor is always chasing after but in the end, they come together again.”

“Ah yes, the women who only roam about worrying about their appearance.” You looked around seeing Thor tending to a few as you speak. “Take it from me Sigyn, men are no good. They speak sweet words, confessions of love- but it only lasts so long… then they leave.”

She saw your empty downcast eyes. It seemed something was on your mind. Then she remembered what Loki had insinuated. “Y/N do you prefer women?”

“I prefer myself.” No one in the world would love you more than yourself. You knew your worth.

“Truly?” she asked, mimicking your previous question.

You nodded, “I admit I feel attracted to men but none of them deserve my attention.” Whenever you turned down a man they asked the same question as Sigyn. They also went to extremes calling you a cold narcissistic woman. They wouldn’t be entirely wrong. “Men are easy to please. All they need is a little visual stimulation and any woman in a flattering dress can give them that. If you ever do get married make sure you look for a man who will chase you to the ends of the earth- not for sexual satisfaction but for emotional support.”

Sigyn was beaming up at you, hanging on your every word. For once she got to hear your inner thoughts. “Lady Y/N did we just have a heartfelt conversation?”

Damn. You downed the rest of your wine hating that she had managed to get you talking. “If this remains empty I’ll be taking my leave.”

Loki saw his opportunity to approach you when she scurried off in search of more wine. “Rare for such beauty to be unaccompanied.”

“Am I to swoon because of a single compliment?”

His lips curved into an amused smirk as he realized you were about to mercilessly dismiss him without even facing him properly. “Most women would.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, your highness.” You curtseyed sarcastically hoping that would be enough to ward him off but to your surprise, Loki remained. “I am only here to accompany a friend.”

“Yes, I have observed you two talking before my approach.”

“You were observing us?”

He shamelessly nodded, ”you in particular.” Before you could ask he answered. “That black crystal around your neck, it is black Hematite from Vanaheim.”

Your eyes widened before looking down to see you had failed to tuck your necklace back inside your dress after its last use. How could I be so careless? It was no use hiding it now so you quickly thought of a way to deny it. “How would I possess such a stone?”

“That is what I would like to know.” In his recent trip to the realm of powerful magic, he discovered that this type of stone was unique to its inhabitants. The stone was priceless. Useless to anyone else but the Vanir who used it as a means of protection and to help balance the seidr within them.

Loki got closer literally backing you into a wall. “Your Highness, you are being tactless. Backing me into a dark corner like this over a piece of jewelry seems like you want more than just answers.”

Indeed, shrouded in shadows out of plain sight, it seemed his intentions were elsewhere. “I have to admit you are a delectable creature.” His hand caressed the softness of your hair pushing it back behind your shoulders to get a clear view of your neck. How he wanted to touch your skin with his lips. “Perhaps another time but now I am more concerned with what you hide Lady Y/N.”

“I hide nothing.” Normally you would show much more dominion over men but Prince Loki held power over you. All you could do was look away and deny.

Being able to detect lies was a practical talent of Loki’s. Right now he could see you weren’t exactly being truthful but you weren’t intentionally deceitful. Perhaps you didn’t know why. “How do you benefit from the stone?”

“Should I be benefitting from it?”

Your question was genuine. Did you possibly know nothing about it? He extended his hand to you, “let’s dance.”

Reluctantly you took his hand with a forced smile. Like I have a choice now. Loki seemed to know something you didn’t and you wanted to know what it was.

There was far too much attention on you as Loki placed his hand on your back. His other hand slipped into yours and you finally looked up at him. You could see it in his eyes, he was enjoying this.

“What do you know about black Hematite?”

“If you follow my lead I’ll tell you everything.” With a slight nod of approval from you, Loki began to lead the dance, taking in all your features in the process. He particularly liked the way you shied away, trying to keep some distance between your chest and his. Your eyes fixed no higher than his shoulder avoiding eye contact.

When the dance was over you released the breathe you had been holding. In his presence, you felt constricted. His arms were a prison. “Now tell me-” Just as you were about to pull away Loki reconnected with you.

Baffled you looked up finally meeting his eyes in silent question. The rapid beating of your heart echoed within you as he kept you for another dance. He held all the cards. You wanted information from him so you had to pay the price.

Silently you held onto him finding it hard to keep up with the faster tune only to let go moments later when you realized what you were doing.

“It’s alright to rely on me, love.”

The pet name caught you by surprise. “I doubt that, Prince Loki.” There was extra emphasis on his title and name. Wishing he wouldn’t stray from yours.

At the end of the song, Loki released you. “Follow me, love” he commanded in a deeper voice than usual.

For a moment you looked around weighing your options. Since you were little you had this forsaken crystal around your neck with no explanation, only a warning to never let it out of your sight. Without question, you wanted to know its secrets but you knew the prince would want something in exchange. Damn! You cursed your curiosity when you found yourself rushing to the prince’s side.

Loki smirked as he heard the shuffling of your dress behind him. The shuffling came to a halt when he opened the door to his rooms.

You stepped in, refusing to show you were in any way affected by the location. “Is there a specific reason why you have led me here?” The snake on the door was a dead giveaway of who these chambers belonged to.

“Relax love, I only wish to show you this.” Loki brought out a book that looked centuries old. “I stole this from Vanaheim. I have yet to finish it but what I read so far is rather intriguing. There’s talk about a particular crystal that is used to control Vanir dark magic.”

“What-” you got closer trying to take a look at the contents. There, in black and white, was a picture of your crystal in many forms. Unfortunately, the language was one unknown to you.

As if he had read your mind Loki pointed to a specific phrase. “This reads dark magic.”

The same set of characters often resurfaced. How you wished to read it and know…

“If you like I could read it to you.”

“Truly?” your right brow rose in question. Suddenly the image you had painted of Prince Loki was being redrawn.

He nodded, letting his fingers feather by your clothed chest as he examined your crystal. “For a price.”

-end-

A/N: I reposted the chapter after making it longer. 

I just wanted to let you all know this is officially going to be a chapter fic by posting the first chapter. (And yes italics are the thoughts of the characters.)

Also, thank you to the wonderful people who asked me to make this ^^ @bookgirlunicorn  @drakesfiance @just-another-loki-fangirl

Tag List: @drakesfiance

[wakraya]

Alright, let me put a few points of stuff I’ve seen on the tags to rest here.

1) Jades Are A Rare Caste.

They are implied to be less plentiful than other castes, yeah, I believe Seadwellers are also rare? But here’s the thing- We have six Jades. When someone says “There’s twice as many Jades as we have Rusts or Bronzes”, it sounds like, shit, yeah weren’t they supposed to be less abundant? Except. They’re still, in total, just Six. Alternia is a planet. Lore-wise, they may be a less plentiful Caste, but they’re not even... In the double digits. This is not even the population of a neighborhood, Xefros’ suburban area likely had more Trolls in total than there are Trolls in this Troll Call, and besides it’s likely all Jades are in the same place for some reason- Jadeblood School is the biggest headcanon right now, for example, so... Why wouldn’t you have a bunch of Jades there?

2) Jades Are All Female.

This is a straight-up misconception, yeah they’re mostly girls, but canon still leaves room for Jadeblood boys. So Male Jadeblood? Yeah, can happen, and there’s nothing going against the canon here.

3) Trolls Have No Concept Of Gender.

This one is honestly baffling to me because I haven’t heard about this until the discourse today. I am assuming this comes from the fact Troll Reproduction doesn’t care who provides the genetic material? Their reproduction is not tied to gender, which has made people assume Troll junk is the same for both guys and gals. Except... That’s about it. Even though it’s silly because they’re bugs and implied to be hermaphroditic, they still show sexual dimorphism. And even if they didn’t, they still have a concept of Gender, merely based on the fact there’s Troll Boys and Troll Girls? He/She divide? With Hiveswap expanding on it and showing us there are, indeed, NB Trolls that prefer They/Them. This Gender Divide is actually talked about by Porrim, who also implies that while Fuchsia-down Alternia seemed a Matriarchy, Purple-down it was actually a Patriarchy, informing us that not ONLY is there sexual dimorphism, but also, a cultural divide. By saying that Lanque can’t be Trans because Trolls have no concept of Gender, you’re either mistaking headcanons for actual canon... Or being transphobic by equating genitalia to gender. In which case, fuck off.

4) Trolls Don’t Care About Fashion.

This is something Karkat says, and I believe Kanaya also implies she cares about it more than it’s usual? But Fashion in Troll Culture, seems to be exactly like Mail. Karkat mentions there’s no Mail they do not get a Mailbox with a Flag, yet we see Xefros get mail! Except it’s not Mail. It’s parachuted delivery straight from a website. There’s no standarized Mail system on Alternia, but that doesn’t mean companies can’t deliver things themselves, directly to their Hives. Similarly, Trolls have no concept of Fashion- They don’t care about things such as trends, variety, being dressed properly. And... Hiveswap doesn’t break this. They have more colorful clothes, and some look pretty good! But. Look at Cirava. They’re an absolute fashion disaster. Diemen is just dressed like a hot dog. The Jades all seem to wear uniforms of some sort. Fozzer and Marsti, Skylla, they are more akin to work clothes. The Soleil Twins and Marvus are more flashy, because they’re likely part of a spectacle. Most of them are either a sort of uniform or outfit that’ll fit whatever they’re doing, or a basic color with their symbol somewhere. And you can go from Bright Pink Bathrobe Stelsa, to Pirate-Clad Remele, and back to Punk Denim Elwurd. Not being Fashionable can be about trends, they may simply dress however they want, because of their interests, or their jobs.

But let’s think about this another way. Let’s say that, yeah, they did retcon Troll Fashion- Would... Would you really be mad if they retconned Troll Fashion. Like... Would you be happier if every Troll shown was wearing a plain black shirt with their Symbol, and pants or a skirt, with slight variations of a jacket or a tank top. I don’t think there’s a single Hiveswap design I dislike, and they’re all visibly varied and easily recognizable, and tell a lot about the character, which is like. Character Design 101? So I honestly don’t know what the complaint here is exactly, except Canon Purity.

5) Hiveswap Ruined Fantroll Variety

How. First of all, the entire previous point. Just, expanding upon basic Troll Clothes, showing us the extent of how Trolls dress. But also like... What did they limit exactly? We’re going to learn more about Trolls and Troll Culture and Biology, of course headcanons are going to clash with canon, but so far, what have they limited? I’ve heard about Horns, but like... These horns have all been so varied, and sure there’s stuff like hooks with Ceruleans and Jades, and Four Horns with Golds but... This pattern is also broken, with Azdaja having three, for example. We’ve seen new Psionic colors, we’ve seen stuff like Horn Piercing, we’ve seen Troll Twins, we have seen horns where the orange part starts at different heights than you’d expect and even some of the parts jutting out having their own red-orange-yellow coloration separate of the main shaft of the horn. If anything, until now, there’s always been headcanons for Horns, like, “Oh this is their symbol so it’ll be like this”, or “this is their caste, so, they’ll have big horns”, but no, we have Purples with small horns, we have Bronzes with curly horns downwards, we have a cerulean with super uneven horns, we have a gold with three horns, we have a teal with flat horns, we have rounded horns, we have hotdog horns. I’ve heard people wonder about some Horn Shapes in the prior weeks, about how they didn’t match their restrictive headcanons, and NOW you tell me they’re restrictive? There’s also been complaints about caste roles and stereotypes, and I feel people really forget that Alternia is a Tyranny that forces the inhabitants in roles they are most likely not happy with, specially for the lower castes. Like... Rusts are disposable, and likely to be bound to a life of servitude. Because they’re the lowest of the low, society treats them as such, and there’s stereotypes like Indigos being strong, but that’s not any more restrictive than Psionics being a Gold-only thing, and much like we see Zebede not having Psionics or Elwurd and Mallek having normal eyes to every other cerulean’s messed-up ones... There’s exceptions to the rule everywhere. There have always been.

I’ve also seen complaints about no mutant bloods or things like Albinism and such? And like... The fact they didn’t include it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We actually got Freckles with Zebede, so it already implies skin conditions are a thing, so Albinism could happen, if anything we have more PROOF that it may be a thing! Complaining about a lack of Limebloods and Violets, too, is just nitpicking, we know there will be Violets eventually, but either we haven’t been shown right now, or they’re just. In the sea. And we’re in the land. And Limes are likely to be a plot point, I’m expecting at least ONE Lime (Fiamet), if not more to show up at some point, and if there’s NO Limebloods I’m sure there will be at least talk OF Limebloods and their whole, you know, extermination, which is a canon thing that happened.

6) The Game’s Representation Is Bad Representation

Listen... Listen. I have friends ecstatic that there’s at LEAST three non-cis characters in Hiveswap (One trans boy, two NBs), without counting the possibility of other characters being Trans (Pretty much anyone could be), or NB (Like, I think about half of the characters don’t have pronouns on their bullet points?), not to mention, further acts with new characters. Hell, even Xefros or Dammek or Joey could be Trans. We. Literally know nothing about these characters, our information is so limited, and yet there’s already people cheering about it and super happy to see representation and I’ve seen one person in the tag encouraged to come out because Lanque is Trans. There’s also at least two Jewish Trolls, plus the possibility of Kanaya being Jewish as well, either her, Rose, or both. And yet, even though they have simply said this, in good faith, respectfully, and trying to add diversity to their roster, and even though we literally know NOTHING of how it’ll be handled yet, you... Bash them for it?

Like, okay. Lanque. The big topic today. He’s not particularly masculine, but as has surely been repeated over and over and over again, not all trans men are masculine, and not all trans people suffer dysphoria. And yeah, it’s true! It would be nice if there was a more masculine trans man! It would be great if there were trans girls! It would be great if there were more diversely coded NB characters! And there may be?? There’s going to be more characters, if not in this Act, in future Acts, and of the ones we’ve seen, many of them could still be NB or Trans. Like... Again. We’ve got three bullet points from each character. Like, I’m sorry you didn’t get a trans character that you could identify better with yet? But that doesn’t mean you have to bash the one we got? When there are people genuinely happy and encouraged about it? You’re not being progressive. You’re being an elitist asshole, if you only accept 100% perfect representation suited to your tastes, and everything else is garbage, or god help me, ‘fetishization’ or ‘disgusting’ (I have heard both on the Tags), like seriously. You’re being the oppressive one. You’re the one making representation harder than it should be.

Oh and if you’re on the OPPOSITE side of the spectrum and simply being Transphobic or saying how all of this is ‘pandering’ to the audience, really I have nothing to say, if you cannot have basic empathy for a group of people finding representation in a game which source material is extremely queer, and have to resort to bashing it down, screw you.

7) WhatPumpkin Are Doing A Bad Job

This is your subjective opinion, and I’d dare to say, a wrong opinion, but let’s not go there for now. WP has suffered a lot of hate for some reason? There have been lies and slander and bashing for absolutely no reason. People hate Cohen for some reason, and have demonized him, when so far what I’ve seen about him is that he’s a pretty chill dude. The writing of Hiveswap wasn’t like, a masterpiece? But it was fun and it got a good bunch of chuckles out of me and made me care for the characters, and even got me a bit scared and sad at some points during the game! It has that Homestuck Spark, and if you say ‘it’s not like Homestuck’, you’re... I’m sorry, you’re just an elitist, or simply don’t like the style anymore? But it carries a very similar charm.

I’ve heard complaints about Hussie not being involved in the project- Which is false, he did write the entire story FIRST THING, and is overseeing the whole project with the rest of the team. There’s also been criticism towards WP ‘failing’ at representation (Before actually seeing the representation apparently, again, we know NOTHING about the game and how it’ll handle stuff so far), and also accusing WP and Cohen specifically of adding representation because of Woke Points and like... WP are Queer as Heck? I don’t know all of them, I don’t even know how many people are working at WP. But they’re not all straight 100% for sure, and I believe they’re not all cis- And even if they ARE all cis, I also doubt a group working on such a Queer game would NOT hear out from Trans friends. What I’m trying to say, is that they haven’t shown at any point disrespect of ignorance regarding the diversity they want to tackle, they’re not doing things out of bad faith, and we haven’t seen how they handle it yet. Even if they didn’t handle it ideally! Does it need to be absolutely perfect, there can be missteps on the way there, god dammit if someone’s trying to better themselves but not quite getting it right you don’t insult them and tear them down! You show them what to do better next time or where they are mistaken, by pessimistically ignoring what they’re trying to do out of spite you’re discouraging good will and being an asshole! Which leads me to my last point for now.

8) They Could Have Told Us We Were Misgendering Lanque

This one is... Really, a bit ridiculous. Okay, let me explain. If someone is Trans and you misgender them accidentally, they’ll tell you quickly and you’ll, hopefully, correct yourself. Obviously. When the Trolls leaked, everyone latched onto Lanque as ‘Butch Lesbian’, and clung to that hope, and now that they were proven wrong, there was salt, at first, and THEN came the talk about Misgendering Lanque. And let me tell you, I think this is very selfish of everyone saying it.

What WP likely thought would happen is that they’d reveal Lanque to be a Trans boy, and people would be like “Oh! Nice, Trans Rep!”. Sure they could’ve told us back then but... Why? Lanque is not. A real person. He’s a fictional character, he’s not going to be offended because you thought he was a butch woman for a few months, in fact the SILHOUETTE alone ALREADY had people clinging to him as a butch woman. If he were a real person? Of course there’d be a quick correction. But he’s. A character. He’s just a god damn character. Who is Trans, out of good faith by a very Queer company, showing us a Trans man, who is a character, and expecting that, like NORMAL PEOPLE, we would not do something like THIS.

When you criticize WP for not telling us Lanque was a Trans Man, all I’m seeing is a shift of blame, not wanting to simply admit you were wrong and jumped to conclusions, and like- Even if there was Fanart or Fanfic of Lanque calling him a woman briefly, shipping him around mistakenly, who cares? You just. Go. “Okay, I’ll change it” or “Whoops haha this was from when we didn’t know he was a Trans boy!” Why the militant hatred? Why the absolute disgust shown today? I can’t understand, I simply cannot understand why your first reaction to “Trans boy Jadeblood” is “WELL I THOUGHT HE WAS A BUTCH LESBIAN!! I WASN’T WRONG BY ASSUMING THIS, WHATPUMPKIN WERE FOR TRYING TO MAKE THEIR GAME MORE DIVERSE”. It’s like... You just. Correct it? You just correct yourself? And yeah you can want more masculine Trans boys, that’s fair! But dismissing what we got, entirely, and insulting it, and getting like THIS, and blaming the team, it just seems.

Narcissistic. It seems narcissistic and extremely self-centered, and perfectionist to the extreme of not wanting anything other than a complete and absolute ideal, that may fit you but may also not fit others.

In conclusion?

People are happy about representation. This isn’t destroying diversity or representation, this is not reducing customization of Fantrolls, this is only building MORE on the already expansive system, and giving us representation and hope for MORE representation in the future, and if you cannot be happy for a genuine, good natured, and honestly, perfectly fine attempt, if you cannot feel empathy for the people who did feel for this representation, if you can only want to find reasons to bash something down and demonize something good and point out how BAD and NOT GOOD things are and how MUCH BETTER they could be, then honestly, you’re a deeply unpleasant person.

Give things time. Give people with good intentions chances. Learn to backpedal and learn from mistakes and simply correct yourself when you’re wrong instead of going down a hateful spiral. Learn to separate fiction and reality. Just like... Think, for a moment, when you’re writing something down- Is it a jaded opinion, or an objective fact? Will it hurt and discourage people who’re genuinely happy or trying to make others happy? Why do more harm than good when there are good intentions paving the way?

I just simply cannot understand the basic lack of critical thought and empathy of some people I have seen today, and hopefully with this I can make my opinion on the whole absurd Discourse that transpired today clear.

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The best water bottle in 2020

It’s no secret that single-use plastic is not only bad for the environment, but can harm your body, too. If you’re looking to cut down on your plastic use, a reusable water bottle is one of the best and easiest ways to start. A good reusable water bottle will last for years and withstand day-to-day stresses, such as being thrown in a bag or accidentally clanking it into a railing. Plus, having a water bottle you love might make it easier to stay hydrated all day long. 

How to pick a reusable water bottle

Water bottles are mainly made from three different materials: plastic, glass and metal (or stainless steel). All three have their own hydration pros and cons.

Plastic is lightweight and durable, but plastic can transfer a taste or odor to your beverage when you drink. Glass bottles are safer to drink from than plastic and don’t hold onto taste but they’re fragile and not ideal for rough outdoor activities like backpacking. Metal water bottles and stainless steel are also usually insulated (there’s insulation around the body) and are the best at keeping the beverages you drink cold or hot (depending on if they start cold or hot, naturally), but they can be heavy and subject to dents and scratches.

After you decide what material you want your reusable drinking water bottle to be made of, consider the lid type. Do you want a straw lid, a flip-top spout lid (like a travel mug) or a screw top? Maybe you need a lid that can attach to a backpack with a carabiner or a lid that won’t unscrew in your work bag.

Read more: 7 ways drinking more water can make you healthier

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Also, consider size and design when picking your perfect water bottle. Most companies make their bottles available in a variety of sizes, ranging from 12 to 40 ounces and beyond. Smaller sizes allow for thinner, sleeker designs with a narrow mouth, while larger sizes usually mean a wide-mouth bottle or a juglike design ideal to drink from at all-day events like beach days.

I scoured the web for the best water bottle options for the most functional and fashionable reusable water bottles from which to drink. I began my search with brands I already knew created good products, like S’well bottles, though I ended up finding a couple that aren’t as evangelized but still create cool products to help you stay hydrated.

All of these brands have received multiple customer reviews on Amazon — the bottles on this list are all in the four-star range with mostly favorable reviews on Amazon (no one can please everyone). From basic bottles to portable pouches to all-day canteens, try replacing your plastic disposable drinking water bottles with one of these reusable models. In the end, it’s up to you to decide which is the best water bottle — and to stay hydrated.

Hydro Flask

Hydro Flask exploded in popularity a few years ago and has stayed at the top of the water bottle totem pole due to its double insulated design, durable stainless steel materials and fun variety of colors. Hydro Flask insulated stainless steel bottles keep liquids cool for up to 24 hours and hot beverages warm up to 12 hours.

They’re tough enough to toss into bags and survive the hustle and bustle of your days (stainless steel, remember?), and Hydro Flask vacuum insulated bottles resist condensation, so the outside of your bottle will stay dry when you drink. The vacuum insulated water bottle comes with a standard lid and spout, but you can always mix and match to make the best water bottle for yourself.

Pressa Bottle

Some people love drinking tap water plain. Some think it’s the most boring liquid to have ever graced this planet, despite it being essential to human survival. I am one of the latter, which is why I love Pressa Bottle, the infuser water bottle with a built-in juicer. It’s a great reusable bottle for on-the-go folks who want fruit-infused water but don’t want to deal with (or forget to make) a whole pitcher full at home. 

All you have to do is put your fruit of choice in the juicer and twist the dial on top. This reusable glass bottle has a silicone sleeve (the silicone sleeve helps your grip) and comes apart for an easy clean. You can also safely clean your Pressa Bottle in the dishwasher.

Tad Martin/CNET

Previously, we listed the Platypus Platy Ultralight Collapsible as the best portable water bottle for backpacking, but since then, Platypus has come out with the Platypus DuoLock Soft Bottle 1.0 L — a sturdier, more stylish version of the Ultralight Collapsible. The DuoLock Soft Bottle has a built-in carabiner, making it perfect for clearing up space in a hiking backpack: Just clip it on outside instead of stuffing it in. You can choose from one liter or two, but in my own hiking experience, I’ve found that one liter is sufficient unless you’re heading out for a full day-long trek. 

Grayl

The Grayl Geopress Purifier filters out 99.99% of bacteria, viruses, protozoa and sediment. It holds a standard amount of water (24 ounces); it’s incredibly durable; and it’s easy to clean — a really big deal as heavy-duty filtered water bottles are notoriously difficult to clean. I tested the Grayl Geopress Purifier along with five other filtered water bottles, and the Geopress struck me as the safest and the best investment for outdoor use. 

Amanda Capritto/CNET

Glass is non-toxic, doesn’t seep chemicals and doesn’t degrade over time, making it a great alternative to plastic. The body of this Contigo bottle is made entirely of glass, while the protective outer layer is silicone and the cap is stainless steel. The outer silicone sleeve makes this bottle extra grippy (no broken glass!), and it’s top-rack dishwasher-safe.

I’ve owned many a Contigo bottle and this Purity glass one stood up to the brand’s reputation of making long-lasting, stylish, functional bottles. It’s also one of the least expensive bottle on this list; quite honestly, I don’t know how Contigo even profits off of such inexpensive bottles, especially when they seem to be high-quality and durable. But hey, I’m not complaining about a great reusable water bottle for just $15.

Amanda Capritto/CNET

All of Klean Kanteen’s water bottles are environmentally friendly thanks to the company’s patented chip-resistant, durable finish called Klean Coat. But the Klean Kanteen 20-ounce Reflect vacuum insulated bottle is especially environmentally friendly, made from just three materials: stainless steel, food-grade silicone and bamboo. It has no paint, ink, coatings or plastic.

It’s easy to carry with a nice loop handle, and the bottle is rather elegant in its simplicity. Despite lacking the insulated coating that most stainless steel bottles have, Insulated Reflect is still double-wall vacuum-insulated and the Klean Kanteen insulated bottle kept my water cold for as long as I needed it to. Hot drinks and hot liquids aren’t recommended because of the steel bamboo cap.

Amanda Capritto/CNET

The insulated, stainless steel Roamer from S’well keeps a whopping 64 ounces of water cold and delicious even when it’s hot out. I took this bottle on a 9-mile hike and it lasted me until the end. It was a hot day, so there were no actual ice pieces left, but the water was still ice-cold.

Made from food-grade stainless steel, S’well insulated bottles are perfect for long, hot beach days and for those who just don’t feel like refilling their bottle several times a day. Because it holds 40 or 64 ounces and is made of stainless steel, this insulated bottle can get pretty heavy when it’s full. Depending on your preferences, you might not want this one for hiking or walking around. It’s definitely not the easiest way to carry water on a hike, but overall, I didn’t mind toting this 64 ounce bottle.  

Paige Thies/CNET

I also tested the Astrea One water bottle for our list of best filtered water bottles for 2020, and while I wouldn’t recommend using this one with natural freshwater, it works wonders on tap water, filtering out lead, benzene, mercury, copper, chlorine and more. It also has a great design that’s sturdy, durable and easy to clean.

Tad Martin/CNET

The Que bottle might be the most adorable water bottle I’ve ever used. Made only of silicone and stainless steel, this bottle collapses down to half its size when empty — perfect for anyone who’s always trying to crunch space in their bag. The Que bottle is also dishwasher safe, BPA-free and 100% plastic-free. Flexible and durable, this bottle can withstand drops and falls, and bounces back to its normal size and shape even after being totally smushed. 

CrazyCap

In another category of reusable water bottles that zap away dirt and pathogens, self-cleaning water bottles use UV-C light to decontaminate water. I tested three self-cleaning UV-C water bottles and the CrazyCap Gen 2 produced the best taste and has the best suite of functions: It has a normal purification mode for tap water and a “Crazy Mode” for freshwater; an autoclean function; and a slender design that makes it great for taking along in the car and slipping into bags. 

Amanda Capritto/CNET

Try as we might, it’s not always possible to avoid a gas station run-in for a bottle of water. Maybe you forgot your reusable water bottle or you did bring it, but you’re in the middle of nowhere and need a clean refill. Enter: Pathwater. 

Pathwater is first 100% reusable, recyclable bottled water in an aluminum bottle. You can find it at gas stations and convenience stores (use the store locator) and it only costs $2 to $3, depending on the location. The water that comes in these bottles is just as good, if not better, than any water you’d get in a plastic bottle, and they are endlessly reusable and recyclable. 

I stocked my fridge with a case of Pathwater in four months ago and have been using the same set since. Even if you don’t reuse a Pathwater bottle, it takes five times less energy to recycle than a plastic bottle of the same size, according to the Pathwater website. 

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Originally published earlier and updated as new products become available.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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