#at the breakneck pace they're going!!!!!!

[dazais-guardian-angel]

we are never getting off of Bones’ Wild Ride, lads

[sizzleitupwithmaria]

current favorite hobby is terrorizing maura with this gif while they listen to the magnus protocol

[avelera]

Some Viktor (Arcane) Musings:

The thing is, I think Viktor must have told Jayce about his illness at some point in S1 before Viktor collapsed and ended up in the hospital

The reason being that it's literally impossible to ignore how much Viktor's health deteriorates in the 6-7 years between 1.03 and 1.04. There's no way he could not give Jayce some clue of what's going on with him.

But, for my own purpose and that of the fics I write, my thought was that Viktor maybe... downplayed the severity.

For example, my take is that if you have this fissure illness, you generally don't live past 30 in the undercity and Viktor knows this. He must have had some sense of a timeline, because his headlong rush to secure a legacy indicates the he knew he probably wasn't going to die of old age.

This, I think, he would be upfront with Jayce about. That they have to advance Hextech to the point where it's making breakthroughs in disciplines other than weightlessness and teleportation if Viktor has any chance of living a long life. Jayce would be on board with this fully, I think. Magic can do anything so if they're fast, and dedicated, chances are they can find something that will also improve biology too.

But, I think Viktor lied or played down how short of a time he actually had. Like, he told Jayce he probably wouldn't die of old age without Hextech intervention, and Jayce took that and like any sheltered, naive Piltie from a good family he thought, "This is awful, Viktor might never see 80!" Thinking that Viktor might, without intervention, only live to see, like... 60.

I also headcanon that once you start coughing up blood, it's a bit like TB, you don't have much time after that. So in 1.02/1.03, Viktor is driven to make a legacy for himself knowing he doesn't have a lot of time, but he might even still be fooling himself to think he's got more time than he does because of his move to Piltover. He has cleaner air here, better nutrition, better sun exposure, an easier life, etc. If the life expectancy in the underground for this disease is 25-30 or less, why should he maybe see 40 in Piltover?

But then... tragedy strikes. He starts coughing blood sometime during the time skip. His health rapidly deteriorates, and he doesn't tell Jayce that this means he's probably only got a few months to a few years left. He basically allows Jayce to keep living with the illusion that Viktor has limited time, because that would be unavoidable to realize just by looking at him, but still maybe decades remaining.

What compounds the problem here is that Viktor also tends to obfuscate his need for rapid intervention by posing them as the needs of the undercity which goes straight over Jayce's head. He tells Jayce they need to focus on new uses for Hextech to help people in the undercity now, it can't wait, they're running out of time, and goddammit Viktor, stop hiding your needs behind altruism, just be selfish, just tell Jayce that you're not talking about the undercity, you're talking about yourself and he would have dropped everything to help you!

Because this is Viktor's biggest flaw: he lies to himself and he lies to Jayce about why he's pursuing science at such a breakneck pace, and I don't even think he knows he's doing it. He's become so accustomed to the idea that he's not allowed to be selfish, not allowed to pose his own desperate desire to live as a priority, that he keeps fucking couching it in the needs of others so Jayce has no way to know just how desperate Viktor really is because Viktor doesn't admit it even to himself.

And this becomes a bigger problem writ large when Viktor creates his cult to "cure" other people because he can't fucking function if he's not posing his self-serving desires as things that also help the group. Babygirl, what is wrong with you?

So now instead of just perfecting himself in very scientifically troubling ways, he feels the need to spread around the cure that he made for himself to others to justify it, even if it doesn't fit them and in fact is horrifying to give the same solution to a bunch of people and fix things they never asked to be fixed.

[lullabyes22-blog]

hi <3

i am once again asking your thoughts on the latest act of arcane?

Honestly, my feelings on S2 so far are pretty mixed.

:')

On the one hand, visually, it's absolutely heartstopping. The cinematography is incredible, and it's the first time in a while where every episode felt like an experience I had to endure in a good way. Plus the score, the voice-acting, and the sound design is, as usual, top notch.

Buuuut when you have all these stellar spheres working on this show, it makes the areas where they drop the ball stand out.

For me, that's the plot.

Alot of folks have criticized the pacing and how there's too much piled into one season. Personally, at this point I've made peace with the breakneck speed and sort of taken it as a given in a series where 'War' is the overarching theme. I can even let go of the fact that certain plot beats don't feel earned, as there's so much subtlety and foreshadowing that you can easily make the case for them via long-drawn out analyses of every frame.

But the writing, ohhhh boy. The writing. It feels like there's a disconnect between the overall plot and the individual character moments.

It's really hard to articulate, but I'll do my best.

I love that we're getting so much characterization for the main cast. Every episode, it feels like there's a new layer peeled back, and each of our leads has an opportunity to shine.

And that's exactly the problem. They're all shining.

Separately.

When I think about it, the reason why S1 worked so well was because every episode gave us a glimpse into the mind of someone different. We got a taste of what it was like to be in the head of every major player in the cast, and through this, we grew to understand their motivations, their fears, their hopes. I've used the 'gem' analogy in previous reviews, and the way the show handled that concept was amazing. Every character was a facet of the gem that was Arcane, and each shift of PoV allowed us to see them from a new angle.

There was coherence. There was cohesion. And there was a sense of complexity told in a concise and well-planned format.

S2, for me, doesn't quite work the same way.

It's not that I don't understand the characters, or that I don't appreciate the way they're handled. It's just that their individual journeys are so self-contained. I'm not getting a sense of their interpersonal connections. More as if they're crashing into and out of each other's lives, without ever stopping to have a proper conversation.

It's a common complaint with ensemble casts, and I don't mind it for the most part, but the problem here is that Arcane has been very careful about establishing its characters as part of a cohesive whole. They're not just random individuals who happen to share a stage. They're siblings, lovers, colleagues, friends, enemies, etc. And the reason why we can relate to them is because, on some level, they mirror our own relationships. We've seen how they treat each other, and we've come to care about them.

But in this season, I feel like there's been a failure to communicate.

Scenes between characters feel like a series of disconnected vignettes, some of which are great and some of which are not so great. It's as if the writers are trying to force the characters to react to the plot rather than the other way around.

I don't want to be overly critical. So much love and effort has gone into making this show, and I'd never want to disparage the efforts of so many talented artists.

But, yeah. Coherence is a bit of an issue.

I will say, however, that re: the subject of grief, especially in Jinx's journey, this season has delivered some beautiful moments. It's a surprisingly nuanced treatment of a complicated and ugly emotion, and it's something I wish more shows would tackle. The problem with a lot of modern storytelling is that, because it's trying so hard to be edgy, complex and subversive, it doesn't really leave any room for just letting characters exist. And Jinx's arc in particular is a perfect example of this.

I was worried, going into the season, that they'd take the easy route and paint her as a pure monster, utterly deranged from her loss. That's what the fandom seems to want, anyway, and it's what you'd probably expect given the general climate.

But instead, the show has chosen for Jinx to be vulnerable, and to let her arc be honest. Granted, Isha, though she's adorable, still doesn't quite feel like a full-fleshed out person, but Jinx's bond with her has been written with such heartbreaking realism that I'm inclined to forgive the former for the sake of the latter. It's just refreshing to see the series not to take that insulting and reductive 'but Jinx is crazy' route, and instead allow her to grapple with the pain of losing her family and the horror of what she's done, but to also heal old wounds with brand-new connections.

'Crazy' does not mean 'irredeemable.'

And it's about time more mainstream media got this memo.

The series also continues to be stellar at showcasing so much with such restraint. A lot of the scenes don't last longer than a few minutes, and yet you can feel so much conveyed in that brief window. And the framing and composition is consistently masterful.

Overall, though, I'm a bit underwhelmed by this season so far. It feels like an incomplete masterpiece, and the sense that the narrative has lost control is starting to get overwhelming. We've still got Act 3 left, and I'm hoping the final stretch is able to tie things together a little more neatly.

Anyway, thank you for reading this mess! And feel free to share your thoughts as well. I'm curious to hear how other people are finding the series.

<3

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Margaret Killjoy’s “The Sapling Cage”

TODAY (Sept 24), I'll be speaking IN PERSON at the BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY!

The Sapling Cage is the first book in Margaret Killjoy's new "Daughters of the Empty Throne" trilogy: it's a queer coming-of-age tale in the mode of epic fantasy, and it's very good:

https://firestorm.coop/products/21646-the-sapling-cage.html

Lorel wants to be a witch, but that's the very last of the adventurous trades to be strictly gender-segregated. Boys and girls alike run away to be knights, brigands and sailors, but only girls can become a witch. Indeed, Lorel's best friend, Lane, is promised to the witches, having been born to a witch herself.

Lane doesn't want to be a witch. She wants to be a knight. So she and Lorel swap places, so when the crones come to their little hamlet to collect the girl who was promised to her, it's Lorel who steps forward, wearing the black dress Lane's mother left behind. None of the townsfolk rate Lorel out to the witches, and just like that, she is on the march with the coven, a whelp – the lowest ranking inductee, aspiring to "apprentice" and then, "witch."

What follows is, in some ways, a very expertly executed coming-of-age story. Lane is getting trained up with the coven, among a new cohort of whelps of varying degrees of friendliness and hostility. The world is a richly realized fantasy landscape of monsters and giants, magic and political intrigue.

Lorel has signed up for witching just as the land is turning against witches, thanks to a political plot by a scheming duchess who has scapegoated the witches as part of a plan to annex all the surrounding duchies, re-establishing the long-disintegrated kingdom with herself on the throne. To make things worse (for the witches, if not the duchess), there's a plague of monsters on the land, and the forests are blighted with a magical curse that turns trees to unmelting ice. This all softens up the peasantfolk for anti-witch pogroms.

So Lorel has to learn witching, even as her coven is fighting both monsters and the duchess's knights and the vigilante yokels who've been stirred up with anti-witch xenophobia.

This is a good, sturdy, serviceable plot, and in Killjoy's hands, it is expertly handled. There are lots of reversals and double-crosses, brilliant fight scenes, all the things you could want in an epic fantasy. And of course, it's a coming of age, with Lorel seeing the world and discovering who she is and brushing away the comforting half-truths and lies her elders have cocooned her in.

That's where the fact that Lorel is trans comes in. Lorel is figuring out what that means, but she's also very worried about discovery. After all, she's entered the company of witches, the last all-female cohort in the land, and these are powerful women – what's more, they're anarchists, leaderless and fractious. Who knows what happens if Lorel gets discovered.

So you've got this incredibly well-turned fantasy/coming-of-age story going on, and Killjoy figures out how to work in this gender stuff not just as a way of doing "representation" or "queer joy" or any other value that's orthogonal to the literary merits of this as an adventure tale. Nor does she simply integrate trans-ness as an unremarkable fact of life, another kind of statement (indeed, there's plenty of queer characters in this story who are matter-of-fact in this manner).

No, Killjoy uses the special complications of coming-of-age while transitioning to heighten the stakes and thus fuel the suspense of the novel. In addition to all the normal merits of diverse characters, Killjoy is using gender issues to crank up the story, winding it up to a breakneck pace that makes the pages practically fly past.

Thematically, there's a bunch of chewy stuff Killjoy does with the way that magic transforms bodies, making monsters out of witches who push their powers too hard. The story has all these changing bodies – children coming of age, Lorel coming out as transfemme, the transformation of magic-users into monsters. It's just another layer of depth that supports a zippy, run-and-gun quest tale.

I've followed Killjoy's work for more than a decade, ever since her days publishing the seminal zine Steampunk (motto: "Love the machine, hate the factory"):

https://firestorm.coop/products/2624-steampunk-magazine.html

Years later, I had the pleasure of instructing her at the Clarion West workshop. She's published regularly all that time, and this is by far her most commercial – and, I think her best! – novel (to date).

Today, Tor Books publishes SPILL, a new, free LITTLE BROTHER novella about oil pipelines and indigenous landback!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/24/daughters-of-the-empty-throne/#witchy/a>

[syndrossi]

Ahhh, so long as you're thinking about Rescue AU, can you give us a breakdown of how that initial 'Thoren rescues the twins' scenario goes? How does he convince them to come with him? Does he write a letter to Daemon ASAP, or does he travel with the kids in secret to avoid bad guys? Did he travel toward King's Landing or Dragonstone? If Dragonstone, did the boys meet Rhaenyra before Daemon? If KL, did they meet Viserys first? How did them being known as trueborns come about in this verse?

Aaaaaand how was Daemon and the kid's first meeting in this AU, since it wouldn't have been as, uh, people-lighting-themselves-on-fire! and dragons-disobeying-because-of-evil-candle-powers! charged as Resonant was.

Ah, this AU reminds me of how much I want somebody to stab Crayne. Preferably Rhaegar, honestly, or Jon, but Daemon or Thoren would do! 😂

I don't think there's much convincing to be done. It's effectively "listen here, I am taking you to your--uh, safety." With two adults (or one adult and one teen) carrying a child apiece on their horse, there's not a lot the twins can do. Two people can keep watch over the twins much more effectively than one (Crayne) to make sure they don't try to run off or steal the horses (which is difficult anyway, given that they'd need nature's equivalent of a mounting block due to their height).

From there, I think Thoren is in "trust no one" mode. Lady Arryn could very well be in on it, he might be pursued for taking the boys, etc. His advantage is that Allard has no clue what happened; he'll have to split his men between search parties of the woods, checking whether hill tribemen have taken them, and the various roads in the Vale of Arryn they might otherwise have been taken on.

So I think it basically goes: Thoren makes for the nearest harbor town he can get to in order to book passage to Dragonstone, willing to offer a hefty reward that he knows the royal family will be good for in order to ensure he can find a captain + ship ASAP, as he fears pursuit. Allard and Rhea are scouring the Vale as best they can, slowly bringing in what allies they can to the search. Rhea eventually sends a raven to Rhaenyra in KL in desperation, who then sends a raven to the Stepstones, and takes off with Laenor to assist Rhea in searching.

Before they arrive, Rhea has her riding accident searching for the boys and is taken back to Runestone. Rhaenyra and Laenor continue their search. Ser Thoren reaches Dragonstone but no one's home, so a raven is sent to Runestone and Rhaenyra races to fetch the boys and bring them to see Rhea before she dies.

Daemon arrives perhaps a day later, and pulls off his trueborn confession scene, which Rhea is amenable to after seeing how he rushed to their aid, and that the crown princess and her consort themselves came to join the search.

Which all points to a pretty emotional whirlwind for Jon and Rhaegar. They're going at a breakneck pace, not unlike when Crayne kidnapped them, arrive at Dragonstone to find it empty, then get picked up by Rhaenyra who tells them that their aunt is dying. And as they see her, Daemon storms in, nat20s his persuasion roll and the twins + Rhaenyra + Laenor are all present as she declares them her own sons.

Rhaenyra is watching in stunned silence because she understands the political implications/fallout, and also because she's thinking about the breathtaking cruelty of denying Daemon his children. Laenor is swept up in the emotion of it all. The twins are grappling with seeing the woman who just confessed she was their mother dying in front of them. And that's how they meet Daemon.

I do wonder if Rhaenyra convinces Rhea to officially pass Runestone to Jon, as at least some token of remorse from House Royce, because she knows it's gonna get ugly for both them and the Redforts.

So we might even get Jon being officially passed the title and then the procession of dragons returns to King's Landing, after picking up Ser Thoren who was left behind on Dragonstone.

(I suspect the twins are both wary/skeptical of Daemon, because they don't know him or what he wants with them, and may assume based on the histories that all he wants is Runestone. So there are probably several days of Daemon making overtures and growing increasingly heartbroken at their wariness. His hugs are tolerated rather than sought, their conversations polite but stilted, and he spends weeks slowly breaking down their barriers with lots of playtime with Rhaenyra's children, and going on trips with Laenor and Rhaenyra and the kiddos, letting them see him as human, in a parental capacity. The first time they hug him back, he has to choke back tears.)

(Ser Thoren stays on as a personal shield and is rewarded handsomely by Viserys. The twins had grown somewhat fond of him--maybe he protected them from bandits at some point?--and feel comfortable around him.)

Who gets to ultimately stab Crayne is the real payoff of Rescue AU, truly.

[everythingelvispresley]

I stumbled upon this on Everything Elvis from Shake Rag to Memphis Facebook group. Lovely and funny story from Joe Esposito

We were in Vegas and one day Elvis was bored. So, he went over to this big telescope that we had in the living room. He was checking out the women that were sunbathing at the hotel's pool. Well, after a while he got, you know, bored with that. A while later, he walked back over to the telescope and was checking out the Strip. All of a sudden, he stood up straight, rubbed his eyes and shot me a devilish grin and said, "Hey, Joe. Get over here. I've got a job for you!". I knew he was up to something. Anyway, he had me look through the telescope at this car dealership that was WAY out on the edge of town. Elvis instructed me to get his checkbook and call the dealership. I was to tell them who I was and that I worked for Elvis. That Elvis wanted six Cadillacs delivered to the front entrance of the Hilton. Now, here's the catch: They had a half hour to type up the paperwork and deliver the cars or the deal was off. Not even one minute late! Elvis was watching the dealership'windows with the telescope and started laughing hysterically. He said, "Joe! C'mon over here and look at this. Man, they're going nuts down there!". He wasn't kidding. A full-blown crew of people were scurrying about trying to get the paperwork around at a breakneck pace. Another group was washing the cars. Meanwhile, Elvis was peering through his telescope and giving everybody a play-by-play. Well, the dealership managed to pull it off and delivered the Cadillacs on time. I went downstairs and filled out the check. It was a crazy time. Back when Vegas was fun and Elvis had fun. I'll never forget that. You never knew what to expect when you were with Elvis Presley. No two days were the same.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.223 thoughts

[Well...That Could Mean Anything...]

(Contents: immediate reactions - cancelation scare/renewed hope; speculation - story progression)

Please Say "Sike"

...I guess I should've seen that coming

If they can skip the three months leading up to the Quests, why not skip the month of the Quests?

Granted, my assumption was that the Master Rules wanted to fight and defeat the Union, that they were willing to interfere with their training but not to actually cheat at the Quests themselves, which seems to have been an accurate assumption to make

The fact that even Soul objected, demanding an explanation and even going so far as to attack Luna in retaliation, explicitly tells us that nobody involved wanted this outcome

The question this begs, though, is if Tozuka wanted this outcome

The overwhelming response to this chapter was definitely an anxious one. Folks were already super nervous because UU's been in the back of the magazine for the last few weeks while also being notably absent from a recent list of profitable manga that Shueisha put out recently, so seeing this chapter explicitly skip a bunch of content that had been built up for the last year or so was troubling to say the least

However! It also didn't take long for the fanbase to reevaluate the purpose of this direction

Hold the Line!

As Luna notes, Andy held off all ten Master Rules for eons. Of course she lost faith in them! Hell, Andy bodied Sick in less than a minute, and what few members of the Union that Language took out came back - it's pretty easy to see how the remaining fights were going to go, both from Luna's perspective and ours

And that's boring

While we all wanted to see the cast fight their natural enemies and learn more about themselves, awakening their souls and developing new ways to use their Rules, the truth is that was going to become formulaic sooner or later. Language's ambush on Nico and Ichico was a great way to keep us on our toes, but unless all of the Master Rules dropped in on the Roundtable Room at once, there wasn't really a good way to keep things fresh without it feeling like they were on a conveyer belt

There's also the fact that Ragnarok needs to be triggered by failure, so much like with the Four Seasons, the Union was either inevitably going to fail at beating one of the Master Rules or beating them was going to trigger Ragnarok anyway - both of which are outcomes to Quests that we've already seen. The Quests getting autoskipped though? That's a fun twist on the established pass option while also raising the stakes and giving both the cast and audience a scare

If UU weren't having such a rough go in the real world, we'd all be seeing this scene as a super cool twist, and I think that's what Tozuka intended it to be, but because we have reason to fear for its future, we can't help but take it as a bad sign

While Sun basically eating the Master Rules and beginning his assault on the Union certainly looks like a sign of the end, though, I think that this is meant to be the Master Rules all storming the Union at once like I suggested

Two Cakes

Many of you likely noticed that the rings that surround Sun have orbs with Roman numerals engraved on them, corresponding to the ranks of the Master Rules. This implies that the Master Rules haven't been absorbed, but rather sealed

If the Master Rules are still alive, they can still be battled, and likely will need to be defeated to weaken Sun. Using what was learned from the battle against Seal, the Union will likely use their souls to enter the orbs, giving us all of the match-ups and character development that we wanted to see while also moving at the breakneck pace that Tozuka seems to be so fond of

I imagine that someone may need to stay outside to hold off Sun while everyone's souls are separated from their bodies (if that's even an issue), so that will likely be Andy and Fuuko's job since they're ostensibly at their peak already and don't need any further development aside from the finale to their stories, though I could also see this being Chikara's big moment, holding off Sun all by himself while everyone else fights

All that said, this doesn't necessarily mean that we'll have the year and a half run that I projected last week; if Tozuka really is being forced to speedrun the story, it's possible that each Master Rule fight will only be one chapter and serve as a capstone for a different character/set of characters' arcs, but even then, it's extremely likely that the intention is to at least last until the next round of new manga, which will coincide with UU's fifth anniversary

Skipping the off weeks for Christmas and New Years, this gives us, at a conservative estimate, 16 more chapters to work with

To-Do List

Considering the number of events that still need to happen, I think 16 chapters could feasibly work if it looks a little something like this:

Establishing the formula - Chikara's capstone

Sick - capstone for Rip/Latla

Time - capstone for Shen/Mui and likely Feng

Justice - awakening of Unjustice/capstone for Julia?

War - capstone for Billy/Tatiana

Luck - likely a moment for Fuuko, though not her capstone

Change - capstone for Gina(+Sean?)

Death - likely a moment for Andy, not his capstone

Soul - group effort?

Sun - group effort, Ruin returns

Sun pt. 2 - capstone for Ruin

Sun pt. 3 - capstone for the Union

Final boss - Luna

The Heart

Luna defeated - capstone for Andy and Fuuko

Epilogue

This definitely would be a bit rushed, and I'd much rather each fight get a lot more time to breathe, but the main point I'm trying to make here is that it isn't impossible to tell a complete and satisfying story with the time remaining so long as the focus is on completing the character arcs of the cast members that have been established to be the most salient this entire time rather than trying to give everyone a slice of the pie

Tozuka's already made it clear that not every cast member is created equal, which is an unfortunate necessity in an ensemble cast that's under the constant threat of axe-ecution by Jump's editorial staff, so if things need to be pared down, this seems like a reasonable way to do it in my opinion, though again this could easily be doubled or even tripled depending on how badly Shueisha wants the series to still be producing content to coincide with the Winter special episode or possible season 2

Don't take this list at face value, though - remember, I'm just a reader, and while I've been right every now and again, I've also been wrong much more often, so my projected timeline is almost certainly off-base. I just hope it's wrong in the right direction!

Hell, my entire premise of needing to fight the Master Rules in the first place might be wrong! Not in the sense that they won't be present in the story anymore, but more in the sense that they won't be antagonists anymore

The Enemy of My Enemy

If you'll recall, the way that Andy escaped from Seal wasn't by taking down all of the Rules that Seal captured - it was by convincing them to fight back. With Luna having betrayed her creations and manipulated her counterpart, it really doesn't take much stretching of the imagination to see how the Master Rules might have a bit of a bone to pick with her

Therefore, instead of having a dedicated battle against each Master Rule, it's equally likely that there'll be a dedicated battle with each of them. This would let each of them show off their powers and personalities while also letting us build up the tension against Sun without simply rehashing the previous Ragnarok

More importantly, though, this would solidify one of the most major themes of the story: union. Every human enemy save for Ruin has become an ally, and we've had plenty of situations where UMAs have gone against God's orders and allied themselves with humanity, so having the most human UMAs do the same would be the perfect way to wrap up that narrative throughline

However, that again is still pretty predictable, almost rote with how the story has progressed so far, so I still expect one more wrinkle to come out of left field, regardless of how many chapters we have left:

The Union will lose

Failstate

The biggest question mark hanging over this entire series, at least for me, is what Sun and Luna's goals are

What is the world supposed to look like after the game ends? If Luna loses the bet and humanity can't reach the Gods, what's meant to happen? Will humanity be wiped out, will the Rules become harsher on them, what?

To truly understand the weight of the threat, of what the Union is trying to prevent, we need to be shown at least a glimpse of it, so even if Time or Soul or the Heart or whoever will immediately undo the damage, the Union needs to see what they're fighting for

Bonus points if that's the moment that reforms Ruin - that he sees how much worse everything is with humanity's loss, how ruined the world will be, and he decides then and there that he needs to ensure it remains unruined

Again, though, Tozuka has always proven to be a few steps ahead of me, so even if I have the basic ideas, the final product surely won't look much of anything like what I'm suggesting, and will surely be better than anything I can imagine

Looking Forward

In a perfect world, Tozuka would be able to take as much time as he wants to flesh out every single character and backstory and battle to his heart's content, but that's just wishful thinking. The undeniable truth is that Tozuka is working in the most cutthroat company in an already cutthroat industry, so naturally not everything can or will go to plan

However, even under those conditions, Tozuka has managed to tell a consistently engaging and beautiful story that has served as an inspiration to many of us for the past nearly five years. As I've said a thousand times now, we need to have faith that Tozuka is going to continue to do his best to deliver a story that we'll love, even if we don't agree with every choice he makes for it

He certainly doesn't want us to read each chapter filled with fear and trepidation; he wants us to read them with joy and wonder, like we always have! Whether Tozuka decided that this was the best time to end it or Jump forced it on him, whether UU will last for four more months or four more years, the single most important thing that we can do is enjoy what Tozuka has to offer. That's all he's ever wanted from us, and it's what this series has taught me to do

So come on, you do it too:

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[mellkellyismyhero]

i think that maybe d+ is just not great at actually telling stories in tv form

the two big things i've watched on d+ recently are agatha all along and the new percy jackson series, and both of those shows had two big problems: short episodes, and characters/the storyline rushing on to the Next Big Thing before the Current Big Thing was over.

(spoilers for agatha all along and pjo ahead)

aaa suffered from that second problem less than pjo, because aaa had the trials that forced the characters to stop and concentrate on one thing, but as soon as the trial portion of the show is over?

OH MAN. suddenly we're not in agatha's show, we're in billy's show, and we can't take the time to properly wrap up agatha's show when we have to get billy going on his journey. don't get me wrong- i liked seeing more billy, but he should not have been a main character on a show called AGATHA all along!

and then in pjo, they had the trio solving problems that tripped them up in the book without breaking a sweat.

oh, in the books they got stuck in the lotus hotel because they're exhausted twelve year olds who need a place to sleep? well in the show they're Just Too Smart to fall into that trap. in the books, they're tricked into procrustes' waterbeds? well in the show, they know who he is so he's literally just there for a minute so the showrunners can play at being book accurate.

(and that's not even getting into the whole "annabeth tells percy about luke's mom YEARS too early" or the whole "luke casually drops the fact that annabeth's afraid of spiders instead of just including the best scene in the lightning thief, aka the scene that actually humanized her to the reader and made her a fan favorite".)

anyway. i think that d+ shows are... fine. but they SUFFER from their short episodes, which forces them to go at a breakneck pace that kills their quality

[tzilatza]

NATLA Review - spoilers

Woke up today still feeling annoyed after finished the Netflix ATLA remake last night, and I think I've figured out the core reason.

It's the fact that: If they had held truer to the original source material, we could have had a truly great show. I disagree with those calling it a complete disaster. The acting was good, great in some cases. The effects were very well done, the bending looked about as good as it can in a live action media. The scenery was lovely.

But what happened in the writer's room?! The way they just reveal all the back stories up front EVERY TIME is honestly insulting to the audience. It's like they're so terrified that smartphone culture has made the public so accustomed to instant gratification that they have no faith we will stick around and keep watching if they make us wait for anything.

They're also clearly terrified of complexity. One of my biggest gripes with this remake is Jet's story. They completely took out his plans to murder a whole town of innocents in order to get a few enemy soldiers. Now, Jet isn't my favorite character, but his story is so important. Because it is real. The world is full of people who have been so brought down by injustice that they lose their sense of right and wrong, and we need to see that on screen. If Jet is too complex for them, how will they handle Ba Sing Se in the second season.

This goes along the same lines as removing Sokka's sexist moments. They felt they had to do it to make him more 'likable.' Yet the writers themselves went full sexist on Katara's character. They've taken out so much of her spark, her righteous and justified anger, and they've done it because even in 2024, people expect women to be more passive to be palatable. Enough people have already commented on them removing Aang's choice to run away. Heaven forbid the main character not be an absolute paragon. Did y'all notice that they even made Hahn likable? Hahn?! What reason do you have for making Hahn likable Netflix?! His role in the narrative is to be an example of toxic masculinity that is clearly the bad choice compared to Sokka who has learned and grown out of his own.

Don't even get me started with what they're doing with the fire nation family, I'm not ready to tackle that. In general, I have no problem with Azula getting a little more backstory and humanizing, but why season 1? Throwing in all these extra scenes just sacrifices screen-time where they could've actually fleshed out the real season one plots instead of rushing through things at breakneck pace. (ex: Aang escaping Zuko's ship in about 2 minutes flat)

At the end of the day, the scenes I most enjoyed were those that held true to the original like the Blue Spirit sequences. They could've easily done more of this, held onto the important plot points and even more important character complexity, while maturing it for an adult audience. I'm not disagreeing with every change they made. Go ahead and take out the silly Nickelodeon gags, add cussing and more realistic violence to get your mainstream viewers. Go ahead. They could've easily made a darker more mature version of the show and still held onto all the old fans in my opinion. But claiming that you're making a 'more mature' version and then removing the complexity and subtlety because they didn't think viewers could handle it...

What makes me most sad is that there are a lot of people who will experience ATLA for the first time through this show. There are a lot of adults who are not willing to watch original ATLA because they refuse to acknowledge an animated series can be anything other than a kid's show. Those people will watch this and think it's the real deal, and that just makes me sad.

If you've read this far, a very sincere thank you for listening to my rant. If you're an OG fan who enjoyed it, I have no problem with you. It was a fun watch, I was just hoping for more. If you are a new viewer who has never seen ATLA before, I sincerely want to hear your opinions. Is it a great show to someone who isn't holding it against the context of the original? And do you plan to watch the original now?

[signalterminated]

teeth of god comic spoilers below, just getting out my thoughts. do NOT click this readmore if you haven't read it yet.

pacing wise, this comic is an absolute mess. i see each intended story beat but the art style itself makes the pages hard to follow, which is not a knock against the artists themselves. they're very, very talented, and i'm unsure what directions they were given for the layouts here and how much freedom they had in that regard.

it's also entirely devoid of text beyond incredibly hard to read notes from the director. if this was a creative decision, it was a bad choice, because it's the only context we're given for anything that's happening. handwritten notes are fine but i was struggling to squint to make out anything legible. if this is vessel's handwriting, then dude. ask a friend to write these for you please lol

there was also a surprising integration here with alex tillbrook's creatures from TMBTE but they have taken some massive artistic liberties with their designs. i don't know why, if this was on purpose or due to a licensing issue (which would be odd because it's all under the Sleep Token IP?), but it was something i noticed and found a bit odd. that being said, the chokehold creature looks fucking adorable in this comic with his smiley sun face lol, i appreciated that change

the problem i'm finding with it as a whole is that the action happens at a frantic breakneck pace and doesn't leave much space for a reader to actually take in what's happening. i'm having to go back and doublecheck that i'm reading the panels in the right order. there were a couple of pages that actually did this, setting up environment to let you see the before and after the lunar anomaly broke through, which i appreciated.

and again. the actual quality of the writing and the art here is great. that isn't the issue at all. it's more of an organizational thing and a coherency thing, which makes sense if anyone working on this project has less experience in composing an entire graphic novel.

though despite that pacing problem, i was able to mostly understand the primary story beats and they more or less confirmed my suspicions: this new life on earth isn't innately hostile all the time, and in fact one of the soldiers pats a mutated doggie on the head for being a good boy. these new life forms are embroiled in their own scuffles, their own wars, and are struggling to define their identities with the life they've been gifted.

i had an inkling from the getgo that this is the direction vessel wanted to take with the comic -- fear not of just death, but of a life past death that leaves you unrecognizable, and alone, and confused. permanently altered by what horrors you've seen. it's on the nose in that regard but it's a concept that i'm also fascinated by and enamored with in cosmic horror.

and in that way i feel even more attached to vessel as a creator because i feel like mentally we're teasing at the same spheres of the genre. there's a panel near the end of the director literally embracing the reaper figure (that i've been calling eden), accepting union with the very entity that has wiped away humanity as we knew it.

the final notes from the not!director are almost painfully hard to read but they give the largest clues of all towards how vessel views sleep as a god in this fictional narrative he's cooked up and i very much enjoy how he's chosen to approach it. the writing itself veers into this stream of consciousness back and forth, a mental pingpong between the director and the entity that's merged itself with him, which is just chef's kiss to me.

also, this is speculation at best, but i think it might be hinting that vessel WAS the director before sleep joined with him? i'm not entirely sure. there were cultists wearing face masks which i think is the most confusing part of this whole thing. why are they not transformed and instead helping the lunar anomaly? they have superhuman senses and can fight armed men in blindfolds like something out of daredevil. the whole thing feels VERY 90's in terms of its presentation, which isn't a bad thing. it's just funny to see how retro its whole look is lol

all in all, i really like this comic, despite being as flawed as it is. i think the concepts sleep token is exploring here are a nice, refreshing take on the invasion of eldritch forces: there's a desperation and loneliness in the unknown, and it toes the line between romantic and horrific in that regard. it's the epitome of transcendental horror.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

knew the perfect pacing in the PM arc was too good to be true 🫠 they ruined Dazai’s arrest scene too....... things are not looking good for the rest of the season; I’m so mad ugh

[foundtherightwords]

🛒 🐀 🥁 "Hoard" thoughts 🛒 🐀 🥁

OK, so I've finally finished watching "Hoard" (after having to put it on hold because I got sensory overload from the damned Interview Magazine photoshoot!) and sufficiently recovered to gather my thoughts. Here they are (placed below the photo/cut to avoid spoilers, obvs):

First impression: It's a lot less gross than I was led to believe. Even the scene everybody claims to be the grossest (with the pop rocks) is not that gross to me. But maybe I'm just desensitized from watching too much Taskmaster lol (when you've watched a man eat hot toothpaste, dog food, burned porn, and a regurgitated donut all in the name of comedy, and whatever the hell this task is, nothing is gross anymore.)

In fact, I'm pleasantly surprised by how whimsical the movie is, especially the earlier scenes of Maria's childhood. Luna did a great job treading that fine line between magical (especially when seen from young Maria's POV) and grim (when seen from the audience's POV). Hayley Squires is amazing as Cynthia; there's so much strength and vulnerability in her character. Hers is the stand-out performance for me after Joe's.

Michael: I'm going to be biased here (of course I am, it's Joe) and say I don't find Michael as despicable as Luna and Joe himself made him out to be in interviews. Yes, a lot of this sympathy is thanks to Joe's performance (though I have to say he's excellent at adding a sinister undercurrent to everything Michael does, especially in the early scenes with Maria). But I think Michael is struggling just as much as Maria, and he doesn't have the support system like Maria does (with her foster mum or her friend) to pull him out of it. His fiancee seems sweet, but she's clueless (and honestly, I was screaming at her to just leave his smelly ass at the end! You don't need him!) I can see how his actions can be interpreted as manipulative and predatory because he's so much older than Maria and already in a relationship. Still, when you think about how both Michael and Maria don't have a normal childhood and they're trying to recapture that sense of childhood with each other, then you can say Maria is in control of the action much more than he is (he freaks out when she goes off on her own and insists that "We do this together", like a little kid). @ceriseheaven has an excellent interpretation that Michael is the personification of grief for Maria, which I heartily agree with and want to add that, if Michael is grief to Maria, then Maria is childhood for him, the childhood he never had (and the fact that he's about to be a dad himself is driving this home for him, making him even more desperate for that taste of joy before he has to be a real grown-up.) This is why the sex sours it for both of them, I believe. It makes everything too real. Everybody keeps talking about Joe's improv of the line "Please love me," but for me, it's the line before that - "Is it that hard [to love me]?" - that really breaks my heart and epitomizes Michael's character.

My quibble: pacing. I find the first half of the movie kind of slow, and the second half almost breakneck in pace, so much so that I was surprised when Michelle claims it's been 5 months since Maria left school (it felt like 5 days to me!) Maybe it's intentional on Luna's part, but I wish it could have been more evenly paced so we could really get into Maria's downward spiral and see how her hoard builds up gradually. The last 15 minutes or so, starting with the confrontation with Michael in her room (the "Please love me" scene), is the most powerful to me, but because of the pacing, the ending feels kind of rushed. I guess the catalyst that shocks Maria out of her hoarding is the encounter with the hit-and-run victim, but it feels a little out of nowhere. After all that dysfunction, I wasn't expecting it to be wrapped up so neatly (yes, there is the hint that Maria may be pregnant, but she seems to have made peace with everything.) I'm going to watch it again to see if this impression changes.

Finally: why doesn't Sky Store have subtitles for their films? I'm at that age now where I can't hear without subtitles, and half of the time I have no idea what the characters are saying (their thick East London accent doesn't help.)

So, all in all, a very interesting film, not my type at all (my taste in film is very conventional haha), but it's a testament to Luna's talent that she manages to deliver such a personal story in a way that resonates with the audience regardless of our experiences, and I'm glad it's been brought to our attention thanks to Joe. I'm definitely going to rewatch it (several times!) to pick apart the story and the characters more carefully.

[sophieinwonderland]

If it seems like I'm being more political lately, I am.

I have a relatively small platform focused mostly on syscourse and plurality, but what's happening with this election is too important to be silent on.

I'm terrified about how progress might be set back from another Trump Presidency. Especially with full control over the Supreme Court enabling corruption.

If we lose, then I at least want to be able to sleep soundly at night knowing that I did everything I possibly could with my limited reach to try to change the outcome. With a modicum of power and influence comes a modicum of responsibility. I don't want to feel like I didn't do enough. Win or lose, I want to have no regrets.

But one other thing I need to say... Syscourse, to me, is politics.

Conservatism and the ideology it presents is always going to be the final boss towards plural acceptance. The constant fighting between pro-endo and anti-endo systems, and even r/systemscringe singlets... that's the warm up to the main event.

Plural awareness is coming.

Progress is happening at a breakneck pace even if people outside of the plural community don't know it yet.

And when more people are aware of us, more people on the Left come out in support of plurality, and we gain influence in media, make no mistake that the conservatives WILL see us as a threat. (Like Rod Dreher already does.)

And what they can do about it is going to depend a lot on how much power they have when they start noticing us.

Even before they actually notice us though, they're going to be supporting policies that will setback progress for groups closely tied to plurality. Given that the majority of systems fall somewhere on the genderfluid spectrum, having headmates of multiple genders, the trans rights that conservatives are attacking are also plural rights. A future that's plural is also inherently a future that's trans and queer.

And Trump's fearmongering lies about people from asylums crossing the border and his promise to open more mental institutions presents a threat to neurodivergent people across the country.

Syscourse is politics. And politics is syscourse. We can't afford to pretend like our system communities exist in a bubble unaffected by what's happening in the real world as we speak.

[greentrickster]

Adjusting to the pacing difference between Saturation and Got a Light? is messing with my head.

Like, I've been writing Saturation for five years, and notable events only happen once or twice a month or so in-universe, because it's Ace Attorney and Edgeworth is the POV and main character, so it's mainly just his life and the parts of his friends' lives that he's involved in that get shown. It has a very slow, comfortable pace, partially from how long the in-universe timeline is (from partway through the second game through the entire seven-year time gap), partially because of my own languid stroll through Edgeworth's joys and sorrows of daily life. Plus, it's a more real-world setting, where the cases shown in the games are canonically pretty spaced out for the most part.

In contrast, Got a Light? takes place in RWBY's action/comedy/low fantasy setting, has an ensemble cast of nine primary characters (Torchwick, Neo, Qrow, Ozpin, Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Nora, and Ren (with Pyrrha being the special DLC secondary character who also gets a reasonable amount of screen time)). They're all going through different things and interacting with each other, Torchwick's a ghost, Cinder's trying to basically end the world because she's just that petty and spiteful, and everyone else is trying to stop/kill Cinder because she accidentally set off a chain of events in stealing the Autumn Maiden's powers that make her literally ending the world extremely likely if she isn't. The timeline has space for everyone to train and have some breathing room, because I'm factoring in that Cinder started preparing her move before the school year started but didn't actually make it until what I'm choosing to believe was near the middle/end of second semester, so she's more methodical in this setting but also more dangerous for it, but everything's still happening in a wildly condensed timeline compared to Saturation's over seven years and to me it feels like everything is happening at a breakneck speed as a result.

Like, the RWBY characters really do have quite a bit of time to get their stuff organized, relatively speaking, the space of multiple months, and if you try to be on-edge and battle-ready for that long, you will be a limp rag by the time the battle finally gets there (which Cinder is actually counting on, as her message in this setting was less 'the hunter academies are a secret shadow government' more 'yeah, I did this, lol, Haven's next,' and she has since fucked off to go get her shit ready for her next attack and to let everyone stew about when that will be in the meantime).

And different things are happening to different characters at the same time, all of which need to be shown. But it also means so much is happening at once, and I'm constantly having to remind myself that this is a wildly different setting and situation than Ace Attorney, and it's not that I'm rushing things, it's just a different setting, it's fine.

It doesn't help that I've spent the better part of the past month writing a bunch of load-bearing scenes from various points in the timeline that, while necessary and good, are also fairly serious in overall tone, and kind of a downer when encountered all at once, instead of spaced out like they're going to be when everything's in order.

[star-junk]

Only Bones

Chapter 4

Rating: Mature

Pairings: In this chapter Vox x ReaderOC, mentions of Alastor x ReaderOC

Second Person POV, Slow burn (or fast burn - really moving through the plot quickly), please forgive the typos, fem!reader

Warnings: Dark Themes, Altered state of consciousness, alcohol abuse, possessive behavior, mention of dv, non-con elements in the future, cannibalism and just things not being nice--it's Hell.

General Notes: Still not sure if Alastor will remain ace within the confines of my story. Also, operating under many assumptions for Season 2 so walk with me on this one.

Author Notes: I know nothing about TV production so I'm just winging most of this. Continuing with the breakneck pace bc otherwise I'd spend endless chapters setting shit up.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

You spend some time going through your limited wardrobe, choosing to go for something more traditional to really sell the “homemade” part of your business. A thrifted A-line skirt and button up blouse did the trick, they made a nice combo as you sat in front of your old vanity dresser humming along to the tune of the small radio in the corner of your room.

You complete the ensemble with a neat high ponytail and bow, right on time for—something brushes against your wings… for the second time today. You whip around catching sight of movement at the corner of your vision but when you turn to that specific spot, nothing’s there.

That has been happening often lately; things you set in one place appeared in another, a formless brush or touch here and there - you chalked it all up to stress. Because what else could it be?

Your phone rings, it’s Jo: 

[ They're here. ] 

--------------

This second trip to the Tower is quiet, unlike the first—filled with Jo’s chatter and your own laughter. The only similarity is the knot forming at the base of your stomach, and well - the fact that a limo was sent for you. Jo must feel just as nervous (which is funny because this was his suggestion to begin with). His knee bounces up and down until you place a hand over it.

“Just this one thing, Jo, and then we’ll be set.” He searches your eyes for further reassurance which apparently you’re good at faking because he nods and sits up straighter. 

Much of your arrival was a blur. Somehow your first impromptu TV appearance was much easier, probably because your identity was hidden by a costume. Now though, you’re very much the face of your business, of something directly connected to you. Everyone was unexpectedly much more pleasant this time around too, so there’s that (maybe this production was just managed differently?). The couple of pies you brought, the most popular - as requested, were taken for set up, so you didn’t even have to worry about that either. Instead you were sat in a beautifully decorated lounge, where one of the producers came in for a short debrief. You were instructed where to stand, what to expect and did you want something to drink or perhaps a snack while you waited, hon? 

Yeah, much nicer. 

Regardless, you declined all offerings - unable to eat with how worked up your were but soon came the call came: “Apothecary Pies?” Both Jo and you look up. “You’re up.” 

…

“And I am telling you, babe, these had us scrambling to find their origins!” High pitched laughter can be heard even from the backset. “But wonder no longer, Yaz, we finally got a hold of them. Please welcome this week's Rising Entrepreneur; Nuria from Apothecary Pies!” 

Both of you walk into the brightly lit set. The audience, composed of sinners of all kinds and sizes enthusiastically clapping as prompted. You wave, vision adjusting to the light as you greet them, then come to stand in between the four hosts as instructed. Your pies have already been plated before for them. 

“My, aren’t you a pretty one?” The host with green flame for hair teases.

You smile, “Thank you. I love the hair too." You return the compliment. "And thank you for the invitation as well. Jo, my assistant," A hand on his shoulder, "and I were really looking forward to this.”

“Oh, but of course! It’s always exciting to see new talent in Pentagram CIty, you never know when someone will surprise you next!” One of the hosts, this one with bug-like antennae, chirps in. 

“So! Mysterious pie baker, tell us a little about yourself and how you set up such a thriving business so quickly, not an easy feat!” The one with triple stacked eyes asks. “As I understand, you’re a fairly recent arrival.”

Okay, so they did their research. “Ah, about myself… well let’s see, I can tell you that owning a business is a complete 1st to me!” You keep it cute and simple. “As to how I made my business grow, I suppose it’s a bit of everything; luck, hard work and careful planning. Though luck was a big factor for sure, at least it was in my case, I can’t lie.” 

“We do love the honestyyy,” one of them pipes up. “And that totally makes sense too, considering rumor has it that you used to perform in one of the… less reputable establishments downtown. What was the name? The Feisty Minx?” 

Wait, did these fuckers run an entire background check on you? Their shit-eating grins confirm it, they're needling for a reaction. This was at its core a gossip show, after all.

“You guys are well informed as expected!” A smile to play off your slowly-building annoyance. “Yes, I certainly did in the beginning,” you nod without missing a beat, “for a short time. And you know I'm actually kind of happy to have done that—it helped build character as you would not believe the kinds of people frequenting the place, We had several from VoxTek in fact!” That was a bluff but by the shifty glances from the crew you weren’t too far off.

An intrigued ‘Ohh’ comes from the audience.

“But I mean, everyone has a past, right? Otherwise we wouldn’t be down here in the first place.” You shrug and even chuckle a bit.

“That’s right, sister, he who is without sin and all that.” The fiery-hair demon comments. “But why don’t you perform for us, girl! We’d love to see your more exotic talents!”

They're really not taking you seriously. Another good-natured laugh, don't let them get under your skin...

“I’m afraid I’m not here for that today. I’d have to charge y’all and I’m not cheap~!” You wink at them, “But do let me tell you about my other talent— Baking!” then turn to the camera to start your usual pie spiel before they can get a word in; going on about how the pies are made, the ingredients, how they're carefully selected and wouldn’t you all like to have a taste of Earth? A taste of home? Jo chimes in to give the location, hours, and prices finishing right before one of the hosts announces a commercial break, signaling the end of the segment. You both wave goodbye, bright friendly smiles and all still in place.

“And cut!” The Producer announces.

The entire room goes silent.

“Kitten has a bite.” Fiery hair purrs. 

Your smile remains. “Thank you for the opportunity. Enjoy the pies.” Is your only reply tapping Jo’s shoulder, “C’mon let’s go.” 

Bug-girl encircles Jo’s arm. “Not so fast, babe. What’s the hurry?” 

What.

“Miss Nuria?” A corpulent figure emerges from a dark corner of the set, it's the same shark demon who visited you at the shop with the invitation. The unnatural smile gone from his sharp maw. “Accompany me please.”

To think he had been there this entire time.

“It never is just the one thing with you people, is it?” You glare, internally cursing at yourself for being so easily led. “Let Jo go first. Whatever you want, it's clearly only from me.”

“Relax, nothing will happen to you or your imp.” The suit says, “He just has to stay put while you and I go for a little walk. He’ll be in good company. RIght, girls?”

The hags giggle in unison encircling him with their arms.

Surrounded by a fully staffed studio, no one moves or dares make a sound. You might as well be alone in a seedy alley about to meet an ugly gory end. You sniff, feigning s nonchalant gesture, eyes never leaving the other's. This entire situation is almost a repeat of last time with Myrna, only now something more sinister lurks underneath.

“Jo, I’ll be back.” You murmur softly.

He nods, still wrapped in long spidery arms. Neither him nor you having much of a choice.

-------------------------

Nothing is said between you, walking through winding sleek halls, passing here and there a handful of employees. All glance at you and the suit before quickly averting their curious gaze away. 

“So who’s your weirdo of a boss?” You ask, might as well get in a few licks too. "Some perv big wig?"

“Oh he’s no weirdo.” He chuckles, “And you’ve met him before. He's the biggest wig of them all around here.” As he says that, an employee in a red jacket steps outside one of the hallway doors. Red square glasses frame a set of mismatched eyes.

“Here she is.” The suit says, and then to you, "Good luck."

You flip him off, he looks pissed but the other demon clears his throat interrupting whatever he was about to say. “Please, this way.” He says directing himself to you. 

You take an elevator, going up, up, several floors. Awkward silence fills the air - you almost wish for the sarcastic friendless banter of the suit even if this new lackey looked far less intimidating. “Is this thing taking us to heaven or what?” You attempt a poor joke to break the uncomfortable silence.

“N-no. I don't believe that's possible, Miss.” He answers, he's not much for jokes it seems.

Soon you reach one of the upper floors - a soft ding announcing your arrival. Your footsteps echo in the nearly deserted floor, hues of blue and red light emanate from several screens guiding your way to the end of a long hall where two metal doors adorned with sharp crimson ‘V’ open and you’re motioned inside.

—-------------------

Several screens hang from thick wiring connected to the ceiling, all display different angles of the building, other parts of town and - look, the show you were just on. Behind them, a wall-to-wall aquarium houses predatory eel-like creatures you weren’t even sure existed in hell. However, you didn't dwell much on them as the cool light drew your attention to the awaiting form at the back of the room. The shape of his head is like the rest of the screens overhead. And your heart sinks.

“But if it isn't my beautiful Nuria!”  The VoxTek CEO greets. His long legs sway like pendulums as he uncrosses them to stand at the end of the large conference room you were ushered into.

“¡Otra vez este wey— !” You quickly cover your mouth to keep the expletive from spilling forth.

He merely chuckles at that. “You look lovely too, doll. But please, come… come and have a drink with me.” He says pouring two glasses of wine over the large conference table. You’re too upset to notice the unsteadiness of his movements, or the many bottles already littering the table's surface.

“It was you… ” You breathe, pointing an accusatory finger at him, good manners be damned.

“Why so surprised? Of course it was me! You did great by the way!” He compliments coming closer to offer you one of the glasses. “Handled them like a champ!”

Should you thank him then? Is that why you’re here now? He wants you to thank him? But you didn’t ask him to do all of this. 

“Don’t be so tense, Nuria. I only wanted to have a little chat.” He insists with the wine, you take it without intending to drink from it. The chair closest to you pulls away from the table controlled by an automatic gesture of his hospitality. “Please, have a seat.”

You do not.

“Pardon my rudeness, sir, but what could we possibly talk about?” You're doing an excellent job at keeping your tone even.

He looks at you for a brief moment before he sighs in defeat. “Look, I admit sending out a big scary goon for you might not have been the best course of action, but be honest, doll—would you have come if I had personally asked?” He concedes, and the source of your apprehension when the invitation to appear on TV was extended to you finally reveals itself.

“No.” Is your dry reply.

“See?” He shrugs, downing the glass in one go, it’s only then that you take note of the bottles and wonder how long he's been at it and should you be more worried?

“But, sir,” You insist still, setting your wine down. “We have nothing in common, I have nothing you could possibly want or be interested in, while you… well, you have everything.”

“That’s where you’d be wrong, doll.” He sighs again, shoulders slumping.  

Oh please… 

He goes for another glass, but this time he pours himself something that looks far stronger.

Your eyes survey the room then, looking for other exits only to be disappointed when you find none. You bite inside of your lip reflecting on your current predicament until the glowing creatures inside aquarium draw your gaze once more. They move in hypnotizing patterns, careless of the misery around them - it wouldn’t surprise you to find they’re actually artificial. Fakes.

“You see… Alastor... " Alastor? "and I… we used to be good friends... once upon a time. Or at least I thought we were.”

You do recall people making a big fuss about the Radio Demon’s reemergence and his consequent public feud with the CEO a few months back. But as far as you were concerned, Overlord rivalries and alliances came and went, all that mattered to you was that your business wasn’t affected. So you paid it no mind.

“But he W̵͖̺̕R̸̫̰̝̀̐͌O̶͍͖͕̒͆N̷͓͈̪̆̒G̶̹͖͍̀͂̔͌E̷͉̲͐̓̕D̵̹̗͂̉̆ ̸̱̪͇̘̑̊M̵̛̭͕̀͒̈Ĕ̶̡̻̆ͅ!̴̢̙̻̿” 

A fist slams over the table's surface, electric sparks fly as the pixels on his screen glitch out of focus. Your heartrate spikes as you step back falling over the offered chair from before. 

“And I saw you with him.” He accuses with the tone of man betrayed.

He’s very drunk, it's obvious to you now. So you must navigate this carefully, you swallow before answering carefully. “Yes… I’ve spoken to him but only for business. I don’t know him personally.” you wet your lips to continue, softening your voice further. “Regardless… I’m sorry that happened to you. Losing a dear friend can be just as tough as losing a partner.“ 

He stills for a second, leaning against the table for support. “Finally!! Some sympathy for this poor sinner!“ He exclaims lumbering closer to you, his imposing form makes for a terrifyingly familiar sight. You fight the urge not to flinch when the claws of his fingers brush the scarf around your neck. “Oh Nuria, you have no idea how much grief he’s caused me.” His expression pained as he places both of his hands over the armrests of your chair, caging you inside. “That’s all I ask for - understanding… ” The iris in his left eye spins outward; reaching the electric neon framing the bright red sclera of his vision. “Some comfort… ”

The implied meaning behind his words is not lost on you, on instinct your eyes avert to avoid the intensity of his stare, your nerves already on high alert. “I'm afraid I'm not the right person for that, sir... I’m only a baker.” 

He watches you closely, the crisp image of his eyes searching before a disarming smile plays over the screen of his face. “Oh Nuria, no. I merely seek to warn you… ” He straightens, and air returns to your lungs once again.

“Warn... me? Of what. Alastor, sir?” You ask since this whole thing seems to have been all about him. “I'm sorry, but he’s nothing but a gentleman to me."

“That’s how he tricks you!” The grasp on your chin takes you by surprise. “His wicked tongue rivals Lucifer’s very own!! He fooled me, lulling me into a sense of security— ” His voice breaks for a split second before taking on a more sinister tone. “... until his true nature spilled forth! Listen to me, Nuria, you could end up nothing but a pawn in one of his sadistic games, it almost happened to me. A little thing like you? Doesn’t even stand a chance… ” 

“But aren’t you the same?” You ask without thinking, because aren’t all Overlords the same for that matter?

He lets go. 

The pressure of his presence dissipates as he stumbles away, barely supporting himself over the table’s surface. “̵̗͆T̵̞͌ḧ̴̳́ë̶̞́ ̵̩̒s̵̼̕a̷̧̎m̵̳̈ę̷̔?̴̧̔” His voice indignant, “He and I are not the same! I care about people. I bring joy to the millions of condemned souls in this pathetic existence! I offer an escape to suffering! He and I are not the same!!” He takes one the bottles from the table - flings to the wall - shattering it into countless pieces upon impact. “What else has he done but worsened it?! TELL ME” 

Now you’ve stepped in it. You stand, palms up, voice docile and shaky—that part, at least, was genuine.

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry, I apologize and... th-thank you for the warning, that was very kind of you, Mr. Vox." You dare not move as you watch him collect himself which takes some time, after which, and against all better judgement - you approach. "Now, please sit down. I don’t want you falling and hurting yourself” Because you don't want to think of the consequences that will have for you, so you return the favor of pulling a chair from behind him. “Here, sir, sit.” Surprisingly, he goes down without a fight when you pull him to it. The chair creaks bearing his full weight. “Jeez, how much did you drink?”

“Don't... know," He slurs. "You’re so caring, Nuria… ” His unsteady hand manages to grasp your wrist and you pause all movement. “Stay. No one in this godforsaken place cares or appreciates me.” He mumbles, eyes finally closing.

“I’m afraid I can’t.” Your voice barely above a whisper, “Got my shop to take care of, remember?” 

“Oh… Right, right… ” His replies, screen entering rest mode per the loading spinning icon. You would find this funny - cute even in other circumstances - but now you must take this chance to gently free yourself from him.

Quietly, you walk backwards as he snoozes over the conference chair, his head tilted against the headrest. The short distance to the only exit seems eternal, but are thankful to find the sliding doors hadn’t been locked. They make no sound opening and shutting as soon as you step out. 

...

“Not bad for a former bar whore, ‘suppose you had a lot of experience dealing with drunks.” 

Behind you, opposite from the conference room, stands a woman.

She's petite and doesn't even bother meeting your eyes after the casually flung insult. Instead she chews gum tapping away at her phone - the latest VoxTek model (Jo wouldn't shut up about it). Her bright tri-colored hair is tied into two spacebuns: Velvette, she's Velvette - the woman the suit mentioned last week.

“I was a performer, not a sex worker.” You correct.

She shrugs, popping a gum bubble. “Same thing.”

You bite your inner lip, measuring your reply. “He passed out in there. Maybe someone should check on him?” Her eyes meet yours then. “Am I free to go?”

“You know when he came to me babbling about some hidden-talent with a nice ass he discovered, I thought ‘Oh good, finally some distraction from his insufferable hissy fit with Val. I wonder who it is.’ And then he said, it was a baker and I laughed because I thought he was joking but then he said ‘she’s friends with Al,’ and I thought ‘Well that makes more sense, I want to meet the broad myself now.’” She looks you up and down. “Have to say, those homely clothes? You’re not fooling anyone.” 

Oh you did not like her. At all. Your hands flop to your sides.  “Well now you’ve met me. And don’t worry I have no interest in meeting with Mr. Vox again. Can I go now?” 

“Funny because I don’t think what you want matters here.” Your brows furrow. What is she saying? “So I just came to clear up the air. In case you get any funny ideas between those pretty horns of yours.” She’s too quick for you to dodge her reach, grabbing a fistful of your hair to yank you closer to her. Your neck twists in a painful angle in a fight to keep yourself from hitting the floor. “Vox, in his lonely lunacy, believes you could be useful but I have no qualms about making sure you roast nice and crispy inside your little shop’s oven if you do anything to undermine the Vees. So act stupid and I will immediately know about it. Understand?” 

“Let go, you— “ 

She pulls harder. “Careful now.”

You want nothing more than to claw her eyes out but self-preservation wins over. “I have more important things to do with my time.”

“Good, keep it that way.” 

But you can’t keep a bitter chuckle from rising up your chest.

“Care to share the joke, doll?” She asks.

“I just… " You snort between grit teeth, "I just find it funny that you— people care so much about a meager sinner like myself, because what? Because I made friends with the Radio Demon? I mean, he must have done a really nasty number on your friend if you're this invested.” 

Her eyes narrow, “What would you know, stupid thot. But laugh it up, we’ll wipe that smirk off your face soon enough.” You spot the entrance through which you came but before you can think to free yourself from her, she squishes herself face against yours. Her phone already on selfie mode, it displays a friendly smile you wouldn’t believe she was capable of. “Be cute now.” She warns between grinning teeth, her hold on you tightens hidden in the fullness of your hair. 

You oblige with a sweet smile; anything to get yourself out of here. Fast. Thankfully, she releases you as soon as the image is captured, her attention returning to the phone like nothing happened.

“Now you can go.” 

……….

A small package is delivered to the shop two days later. The beautifully wrapped box contains a rose gold plaque reading:

[ VELVETTE’S #1 PICK IN EAST PENTAGRAM CITY ]

You toss the entire thing to the trash, Jo looks on worried but asks no questions.

Have some Nuria art!

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