#but a fair bit of the writing goes hard and theres quite a lot of writing

[welcometoteyvat]

personally idm that if we're in a patch w 2 story quests + 1 archon quest, then the version events are less story-heavy/more filler but at the same time, in 2.5 genshin released: yae miko sq + raiden sq 2 + 3 realms gateway offering which had both additional exploration and a decent lore heavy storyline, so idk maybe they're just busy lol

[wastelandlovingscenarios]

I want this to be a short request but how would crushing!companions react to sole who holds their hand whenever they get scared and it slowly turns into a habit for them to always hold onto his hand?

omg this is literally so cute, bye. 🥺💗 i hope you enjoy, anon.

to keep it short, i’ll just write their reactions to when sole holds their hand and i will put ‘companions react to sole holding their hand as a habit’ in a separate post! <3

-

Danse:

it’s nothing new in his life— he’s experienced his fair share of people holding onto him during stressful and terrifying situations, so it’s something he’s used to. however, sole is an exception in this case. it’s been quite a while since he’s caught feelings for his companion, so it’s different in certain situations with them.

when they first get startled and hold his hand, he tenses up, his mind going completely blank as they wrap their fingers around his palm. though millions of people have done the same action to him in the past, this one feels different and he swears it makes him feel emotions he’s never truly felt before. before he can question what their intentions were, he noticed how they drew closer to him, eyes frantically scanning their surroundings and he realizes that there may have been an uncomfortable presence around.

so danse slowly takes a breath and squeezes their hand in return, looking down at them with red cheeks and a nervous expression. “you’re safe, don’t worry. if there appears to be any threat within our vacinity, i will neutralize it as best as i can.” when they look at him with a relieved smile, he feels his heart swell with emotions he’s never felt in his lifetime. he doesn’t dare to let go until sole feels safe enough to do so and even when they do, he fights the urge to take their hand in his once more.

instead, he impatiently waits for the next time he has the chance to hold their hand in his again, already excited though he refuses to admit it.

Deacon:

deacons not a very affection man nor has he received any affection from any other individual besides his late other half. To say this situation was terrifying for him was an understatement. he’s probably already dreading the fact that he has an unavoidable crush for his companion, not wanting to deal with that type of stress no longer.

the first time his crush rushes to hold his hand out of fear of their surroundings, he immediately pulls away out of habit and stares at them with a lump in his throat, words scrambled and refusing to leave his mouth for a moment. “i-, uh-“

with a mortified expression, sole waves it off with a flush on their face and an embarrassed tone, “shit i’m sorry. it’s just a habit, please don’t mind me.” they slowly distance themselves away from him and deacon quickly gets his act together, inwardly panicking that he may have hurt their feelings unintentionally. “no, it’s fine. i just- uh.” they tilt their head with a confused expression and instead of explaining himself, he lets out a soft apology and awkwardly goes on his way to save him the embarrassment. when he thinks about it later, he feels a pang of guilt hit him and realizes he may have been too harsh, so he tries to make an exception.

next time around, when sole does accidentally jump to grab his hand, it takes him a moment to calm himself down but does gather the courage to return the gesture. he would notice the surprised expression on soles face, and even though he’s internally losing it, he musters up the same shit eating smile he always has and cracks a joke; “charmer, i know it’s hard to stay away from me, but you could at least try.” when sole doesn’t respond and sends him a confused expression, he gives them a small smile and tugs their hand, “that’s okay though, i don’t mind. good ol’ deeks will scare the monsters away.”

when sole lets out a small chuckle, he feels himself grow agitated and immediately whips around to hide the blush on his face as he drags sole along with him. “we better get going if we wanna get outta this scary place. yknow, before you jump out of your shoes.”

Maccready:

he’s very to himself in most situations and values his personal space just as much as most people do in the commonwealth. he believes in a personal bubble and really enforces that idea, respecting his own personal space as well as others. however in this case, mac is probably just as scared as sole is, though he may be a lot better at hiding it.

when sole does grab his hand, he doesn’t give attention to it at first due to him being scared as well but when he does notice them showing signs of fear, he tries to reassure them, even though he’s flustered at the sudden contact. with a deep breath, he sucks in his negative emotions and decides to step up to bring comfort to them.

“hey, you okay?” when sole doesn’t respond, he just pulls them closer and squeezes their hand gently to grab their attention. when they do look at him, he smiles awkwardly, a inevitable blush dusting his cheeks. “earth to sole?”

when they explain their habit of doing so, he tries to lighten the mood by telling stories about his life in the capital wasteland and how he felt during his time at little lamplight, letting them know that he had similar fears and still continues to have them despite him experiencing the wasteland for years.

soon enough, their hands naturally find home in each other as they both continue exchanging similar experiences they’ve had, laughter filling the silence that sole feared just moments back.

Hancock:

hancocks a very touchy man and people do show him quite a lot of affection, so just like danse, he’s used to the constant attention others show him, only this time, the perspective is a little different. he enjoys it far more than other companions and doesn’t mind when they rush to hold his hand, though it catches him off guard.

for a moment, he processes the events occurring but once he does, he lets out a soft smile and a chuckles under his breath. he wants to let out a flirtatious comment or two, but fights the urge and instead, soothes their fear instead of embarrassing them.

“don’t worry, sunshine. you know i wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.” he’d rub his thumb against their knuckles and smiles when he sees the tenseness in their body melt away. “in fact..”

when he lets go of their hand, he sees the panic grow on their face and lets out a small chuckle. with a swift movement, he gently throws his arm over their shoulder and pulls them closer, rubbing their arm reassuringly.

“.. this might be a little more comforting. no matter what happens, i’ll always be ready to protect you this way. don’t you agree?” when they chuckle and nod at his suggestion, he pulls them closer to his body, whispering loud enough for them to hear.

“ ‘m always here for you, sunshine. you don’t ever have to be scared, especially with me around. don’t ever feel like you have to hide it from me.” sole lets out a small hum before leaning into his touch, trusting every word that left his mouth.

Nick Valentine:

nick is very understanding with a situation like this and doesn’t mind it one bit. though he does get a bit flustered, he tries to play out the scenario in a way where they won’t feel embarrassed about the events occurring. he’s aware that everyone has their fair share of fears, no matter how tough you play out to be.

“things can get pretty scary around here, i know.” when he smiles down at them, they feel a sense of ease and relax into his touch instead of having the urge to pull away. “waking up 200 years later in a completely different life will do that to you.”

sole would sigh and hold his hand tighter, their voice barely a whisper as their cheeks flush with embarrassment. “i wonder how you do it sometimes.”

nick lets out a small laugh at their reaction. “it wasn’t always like this, sweetheart. i was just as scared as you, maybe even worse.” sole looks at him with curiosity as he continues on, “theres always something new everyday but soon you’ll learn how to adapt to it.”

“you think so?”

“i know so.” his words are full of reassurance and comfort, allowing sole to let go of any negative feelings that filled their chest.

“good thing i have the best companion in the wasteland to guide me around this hellhole.” sole puts it out as a joke, but knows a part of it was the truth that she was wholeheartedly grateful for.

he proceeded to rub his thumb on their knuckles, feeling a sense of happiness in their comment, “i’ll do my best to meet your expectations, partner.”

Preston:

poor boy. he’d be a blushing mess if sole were to ever do something as simple as this. if they were to dart to grab his hand, even out of fear, he’d stutter in confusion, obviously flustered at the idea of them latching onto him. “w-what are you d-doing?”

his body would immediately freeze upon contact, stopping in his tracks despite the possibility of getting attacked at any given moment. when he catches the terror in their expression, he’s reminded that the general has their weak points too. so instead of questioning their actions any further, he tries to reassure them despite his pounding heart.

“did you wanna turn around? we can always find another route. we could even send a team of minutemen to do this for us.” when sole shakes their hand and swallows the lump in their throat, preston lets out a soft sigh and smiles at them softly.

“just leaving the suggestion out there, general. say the word and we’ll turn right back around.” sole would shake their head, their stubbornness peeking through the look of fear twisting on their face. “it’s fine. i can’t be selfish and let it get to me.”

preston would feel his heart swell at their sacrifice and the determination that they held, despite the odds going against them. gently, he squeezed their hand and looked down at them, seeing the curious expression on their face. “if that’s the case, just know i’m confident that nothing will tear you down. i have your back every step of the way,” he pauses for a moment, rubbing the nape of his neck nervously with a dorky smile, “even if it mean- uh -holding my hand. i’d be more than happy to.”

after a few moments of silence, sole processed his words and smiled at him in response, returning the squeeze. “thank you, preston.”

Sturges:

sturges is aware he isn’t the strongest man in the commonwealth nor does he have the ability to protect sole in most situations. however, if he had a choice, he would do the best he could and he knows that sole is aware of his intentions. yet, when they yelp with fear and lunge to him, taking his hand in theirs, he realizes that maybe he isn’t as weak as he sought out to be.

“you holding up ‘lright, sweetheart?” when they notice their actions, their expression slowly twists into a terrified one and they attempt to retrieve their hand as quickly as they can. sturges doesn’t stop them from doing so and instead just laughs heartily and offers his hand to them despite their reaction.

“i’m fine with it, yknow. i wasn’t complainin’ or anything, just wanted to check if you’re okay.” sole hesitates for a moment, eyes flickering from his hand to his face before replying. “are you sure it’s okay? it just gave me a little scare, you don’t have to-“

before they could continue, he moves closer, taking their hand in his with a light blush on his cheeks and a reassuring smile plastered on his face. “it’s the least i can do for you.” his actions are more than enough to reassure sole and they nod, accepting his offer. “thank you, sturges.”

Gage:

he doesn’t like crushes— gage is so used to the habit of a one night stand and constant hook ups that he absolutely forgets how loving someone feels like. as sole grips his hand in fear, he chokes up for a good second and immediately gets himself together, retreating his hand and glaring at them.

“the fuck you think you’re doing?” despite his tough demeanor, his voice becomes slightly shaky and a small tinge of pink dusts his cheek. this doesn’t go unnoticed at first, but sole knows they’re too distracted to point it out.

they would apologize with an embarrassed expression and he’d avert his eyes elsewhere before continuing on; “yer the damn overboss, some stupid shit like this shouldn’t scare you. you gotta be tougher than that if yer gonna survive in this world.”

he doesn’t realize the words that leave his mouth until his eyes fall on sole, who’s clearly embarrassed and overwhelmed with the situation and immediately feels a tinge of guilt. with a quiet groan, he slows down and averts his eyes elsewhere, waiting for them to pick up the pace. when sole lets out a confused hum, he forces the words to leave his mouth.

“hurry up and get in front of me, why don’t ya’? yer acting like i’d let the overboss get hurt on my watch.”

they would pause for a moment at his words but feel a sense of reassurance knowing that gage had their back, despite his attitude towards them. “okay.” sole would smile at him softly and he’d scoff, fighting the blush threatening to creep up on his face. this stupid love bullshit was doing nothing but holding him back.

“yeah, yeah. lets get a move on before i leave ya out here to get eaten.”

[anxiousgaypanicking]

okay so i recently watched the metal family (the english dub) on youtube and i sent my friend a ton of information on it - my thoughts, my theories, etc, and then i thought of a sanders sides related universe for it 

technically some things differ, as in the part i wrote glam and chive (who ive assigned to logan and remus) eventually end up together, but whatever 

and, because im a whore for attention im going to post here exactly what i rambled about because i was spilling out thoughts that just made my heart beat faster. so basically, the metal family: sanders sides edition 

spoilers for the metal family. 

basically i was thinking of logan and remus basically as these two characters, with logan as glam/sebastian and remus as chive, and logans parents putting a lot of pressure on him as their only child, and his dad is suffering abuse to so he cant even stick up for logan, and when he does bad he has to put out his arm and roll his sleeve up and his moms hits it repeatedly, and in the show glam doesnt react until he showers bc thats when it stings (until a certain scene where glams dad slaps it so hard he fucking bleeds a lot and starts sobbing and its like part of when he snapped) but thats probably what he does, and obviously the butler also gets mad and snaps on him a lot too, but when he goes to that music exam and gets second place to remus (who he met briefly on the way to the music exam - youll understand this more if you end up watching the series), hes shocked, and as remus walks him home he explains what he did on the guitar, and gives him the bach vinyl and logan squints but takes it anyway, and when he announces he got second he gets scolded, they mock him for who he lost too, and the back vinyl is taken by his mother, hes scolded for thinking he could ever be on par (logan plays the violen btw - he entered the music exam with a violen and its what his mouther abuses him for when he plays wrong or doesnt answer right/right away to note related questions) with bach, and then hes hit with the ruler and sent back to his room, where he plays the bach vinyl thinking it will be bach but then its metal and it sort of awakens something in logan and he sort of snaps

when he runs into remus again remus offers to teach him, steals an amp and guitar from the observatory, and then when he goes home then this is where hes hit until his forearm is literally dripping with blood and hes sobbing, but sort of that unhinged sort of sobbing where hes like :) while sobbing and bleeding, and his mom is saying hes no longer allowed to take walks because he was late, went through the park, ran in a suit, etc, and how logan will be studying with her daily from now on, and through gritted teeth, a sob, and a smile, as he clutches his bloody wrist hes like "yes mother, ill study under you every day. every day. every day." and he and remus had luckily agreed already to meet by the dumpster at midnight, and thats what they start doing

remus teaches him how to play, and logan literally gets no fucking sleep and becomes more and more sleep deprived as hes taught more and more and it makes him more and more manic and unhinged, and he has periods where he fucking snaps and can play the bass super well because hes fueling his anger and his trauma into how aggressively he plays and is actually super good, and eventually he and remus get a gig with these two other bandmates 

and that happens to be the day that the way he hides his diary (where he gets out his murderous thoughts over his father, writes about lying to him, and writes down notes for music he wants to make) and his model of the city (which hed spent a lot of time on and cared about a lot and made out of every day things like lightbulbs and pencil shavers and had to keep hidden) were revealed and his mother found them, and she threw it into the trash where logan saw it crumbled as he walked home in the rain, and while his mother is aggressively shouting at him she says something along the lines of "who are you going to choose. your family, or some vagrants!?" and logan sort of snaps, goes wide eyed, and walks the other way, despite the fact its rianing and his mother demands him to come back, and then starst screaming about how if he ever comes back to the door hell never be allowed back inside, and thats where that episode ends

and basically i was thinking that logan leaves, and sort of walks around in his suit with his violen for a while, before he goes back to the alley where he hides his guitar that remus stole for him and his punk clothes, and he grabs them both and sort of mindlessly wanders until he ends up back in front of remuss trailer

when logan shows up remus doesnt realize until he opens the door of his trailer and prepares to leave and logans just standing there staring, utterly soaked, and he craves his neck up when remus walks out and remus is like "holy shit dude, you scared me. its not even midnight here. how long have you been here?" and logan doesnt answer, and hess not used to tocuhing people or being touched gently, but he sort of falls into remus, and collapses against him, and he starts sobbing because he just lost his family, and he left his dad all alone, but ehs finally free from the abuse, and hes so tired and so confused and hes never felt so unsure of his next move but remus just pulls him inside, brings his stuff inside, they step over his sleeping and drunk parent, and remus takes logan to his room (possibly the one he shares with roman ?) and basically just hugs logan as he sobs and cries and eventually passes out against him because hes literally so fucking sleep deprived, and remus takes liberty to change logan out of his sopping wet clothes, but then both of logans arms are covered in scars, some of them still scabbed, and remus is immediately concerned but he decides hell ask about it when logan wakes up, and basically ust goes out and shoplifts some food or steals from his parent to buy shit, and when logan wakes up hes given low quality food that he accepts gratefully, apologizes for showing up unceremoniously and being so informal, but remus just hesitantly wraps an arm around him, and logan accepts it, and remus says its fine while cuddling with him and then again hesitantly asks what happened

and logan sort of goes silent and doesnt talk about it, but clears his throat and asks if its okay he stays here, and theres already three people living in this trailer so he feels bad for asking, but remus just pulls him closer and is like "yeah man! of course you can stay!" because obviously hes not going to tell logan no after what he just pulled, so he lets logan stay, and remus and roman bicker for it a bit when logan uses their small ass bathroom to shower, and by the end remus has basically bribed roman into going along with it

and logan has to adjust to not being a wealthy - althought not spoiled - person anymore, and sometimes he reacts to things on instinct. he breaks something and remus comes up behind him and asks what happened and logan just sort of stares straight ahead, rolls up his sleeve, and sticks out his arm, and remus is like  logan?? and it takes logan a few seconds to snap out of it and he sort of gazes at remus, goes wide eyed, and then apologizes as he brings his arm back in and rolls down his sleeve, and he seems really awkward but also quite relieved, and remus has never hurt him before, but it was just sort of that reactive thing, and that happens to be the day where remus decides to ask what those scars are, and asks to finally treat them properly because he hears logans whimpers and hisses in the shower

he and roman have their fair share of scars from their own shitty drunk parent, so they know pretty damn well how to take care of them, and how to steal bandages and shit, so remus helps clean them out and up while logan sort of quietly tells remus all about his life, why the music exam was such a big deal, and how remus basically changed his life, and how hes still confused and doesnt know if he made the right decision, and remus doesnt respond until the end where he bandages up logans arms and then gently grabs his hand and tells logan that hes safe now, and that being surronded by people who only put you down and more so hurt you isnt good, and that he believes logan made the right decision because hes safe here with them (the twins make sure to keep him guarded from the drunk parent) and roman seconds that from his spot on the bed, and so logan tries to put his past behind him and instead focus on playing music with remus, and playing shows at bars and stuff where they slowly gain a larger and larger fan base, and they make more and more money from the awesome music they play, and eventually use that money to buy their own house

i know its a lot, but just imagine. imagine

[aprilwritesabook]

I appolgize in advance for this long ass post haha.

Alright, so here's the deal. This post is gonna be part rant, part confessional, and part inspirational speech. So if your following this blog purely for the updates on my books you can skip it haha.

I know a currently published author. I used to kinda be friends with them in highschool, but it was more like a friend of a friend type deal. But I digress. Point is. They recently released there second book on Amazon. And I really wanna be happy and proud of them, and to see it as an inspirational thing, buuuuut I'm almost 100 sure they are actually a fraud?

And that's not me being bitter. I really really really wish this wasn't the case. But I have the evidence to back this theory up.

1- they claimed that there first book sold out multiple times. And to be fair this one might be at least partially true. Its rated pretty high on amazon, But then again they only have 4 people rate it and three of those people are the editor formattor and artist for the book. Soooo. Yeah I sure hope they rated it well.

2- they are constantly posting stories to there social media that are far fetched at best. They work in a bookstore. And almost every other week its a slightly diffrent story about a customer who "didn't even know" he was the author who would "burst into tears" the second he told them what the book was about because they were just Soooo touched by the message that they wept to a total stranger??? If that had happened even once it would have been an odd occurance. And this is something that apparently happens alllll the time to them. (I hate to drudge up old memes like this, but)

3- this person has recently made a tick tock and a youtube channel. And like, the content isssss questionable? And that's not necessarily a crime or anything. But they give updates about it on social media as if they are speaking to a mass of adoring fans and like...you can see how many subs and views a person has. We know he dosn't have a big fan base. And I know that sounds harsh. But like, some more gullible people have asked him for advise on how to be "successful" and "gain a following", and he answers them with authority. Like he has the answers even though he clearly dosn't? And that feels really... disingenuous at best?

4- along the same vein as 3. They recently made a post on twitter about how they are "overwhelmed by the amount of love and support they have found on the site" and how they get "some many heartfelt messages." Annnd again. I clicked the account. They literally have 5 followers. And not a SINGLE person has EVER liked, retweeted, or commented on a SINGLE tweet of theirs. Not one. Soooo like not only are you pretending to have a huge fan base that dosn't exist your also making up there engagement with you? Which this alone I feel brings validate to my doubts about the other things. Clearly they arn't above blatant lying and extreme over exaggeration. And also they either don't realize we can all seeeee these facts. Or they don't think anyone will actually check and call them on it ?????

Now there's a lot of other examples I could give. But my point isn't to put this ONE person on blast. I'm not trying to start beef or cause damage to their reputation or anything. Which is why I won't say their name or what there books are. The only way you'd know who I'm talking is if you also knew them in real life. In which case you either already know all this, or you should, so you don't fall victim to their lies.

The reason I'm saying any of this at all is because I think I know why they are doing it. And why so many indie authors or would be media mogels feel the need to do this.

The issue with trying to "build an audience" and "self market" yourself, is that you really only have 2 ways of guaranteed sucess.

You either need to have a pre established audience based on success you've already had in the past. (IE youtubers and movie stars writing successful books cause there fans will buy anything of there's reguardless.)

Or you need to buy your way in. Be it by quitting your day job to make social media your full time job, buying ads, hiring a social media person,or hiring a team of people with their own audiences (audio book narrators, cover artists, managers, ect)

And if you don't ALREADY have an audience, and you don't have the funds to BUY your way in, then your just gonna have to get real lucky.

You can be lucky for knowing somebody with an "in". They work in publishing, or advertising, or they're your rich uncle. Just someone who you can go to to get that boost one way or another to get one of the first two methods going for you.

You can get lucky by commenting the right thing on the right post and gaining followers that way. Or by being in the right place at the right time to meet somebody important.

You can be lucky by having lots of supportive friends and family who will promote you and your work FOR you.

Or lastly (and this is in the realm of being a one in a million case here. So it basically never happens without one of the other things I mentioned also being true.)

You can be lucky by working REALLY hard, and being REALLY talented, and having the world actually NOTICE YOU somehow? Just one person with influence who can find you in your dark hole of insignificance and shine a light on you so now the world can actually seee you.

And that sucks.

You could write the greatest book in the whole world. Truly a masterpiece. But if nobody buys it or reads it because they don't know who you are??? Then it dosen't matter does it?

It sucks Soooo hard.

Because untill you get those people with influence to shine a light on you, theres nothing you can do. And the market is soooooo drenched in new indie authors that the odds of the right people finding and liking your book are slim to none.

Its super unfair.

The people who have the influence arn't gonna buy a book with 0 reviews and no social media following.

Why? Because THEIR brand depends on only recommending the good shit. And they need to find that good shit NOW. If they read every book written by nobody's online, they'd have to wade through ALOT of garbage. wasting all their valuable time and money till they found something worthy. And honestly, from a business stand point, you cant really fault them for that

This is where the lies come from.

So basically no matter how you look at it, or what your strategy is, In order to get fans, you need to ALREADY HAVE THEM.

When your just starting out. And I mean truly at square one. It really feels like the only way to "make it" is to "fake it"

If you PRETEND to have a big following. And you PRETEND your books are selling really well already. And you PRETEND that people care deeply about you and your work... Then there is a chance that nobody will do the homework to find out its all a lie.

And if they think your successful already, then it sends a message to the consumers brains of "well they must be good. Everybody loves it/them".

It sucks that so many people who have found real success did so with lies, cash, and being already well connected.

And then they buy it, and they follow you, and the confirmation bias sets in, and eventually you'll dupe enough people into liking you that you don't HAVE to lie anymore.

Those of us with no cash and too high a conscious to lie our way to the top are left with virtually no chance of succeeding no matter how hard we work or how good our content is.

And I'm not claiming to be "better than" or "more worthy" than anyone else. I wanna make it clear that of your in the portion of having it fake it so you can follow your dreams then more power to you. Its a valid strategy. I hate that it works and I hate that its the only option sometimes. But I don't hate the people as creators for "doing what it takes." I get it. Really I do.

And it suckks major ass that so many people feel like this is the only way.

My whole point here. Is that we have slowly built a system where this is our reality. And honestly? End of the day? There's not a damn thing we can do to change it at this point.

In a perfect world made of unicorns and puppies. I could say "hey lets all go ready books by completely unknown authors. Be the change you wanna see in the world." But at the end of the day, especially in the unfiltered world of self publishing, It would be a complete shot in the dark to spend your resources on something completely unknown. We rely on word of mouth, and "best sellers" and high following to do the work of filtering out the bad stuff for us and it would be unrealistic if not impossible to go back on it now. Even if we wanted to there algorithms and shit built into the code. You'll never find the books that Amazon dosnt want you to find unless you search for it directly.

Now comes the confession/inspirational bit

I know all of the above to be true...But I'm choosing not to care

I'm not gonna lie my way to the top. I'm not gonna hide my struggles out of fear of seeming inferior. So here goes

I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I've been working on it, and I've gotten so much better in recent years. But there are always gonna be times when I slip up and my mental illnesses take over

When I was writing my first book I felt really empowered and good about myself for finally getting past all my own barriers and following my dreams.

And then once I was done writting and editing and I was ready to show the world and get feedback. I flopped.

I couldn't find anyone willing to beta read. Those who said they would do it (even people who claimed they "couldn't wait") ghosted me after I actually sent it to them

I was hoping to get 20 people. I really wanted it to be the best it could be. Only 11 actully signed up. Of that 11, 5 people actually read it: My spouse, my brother, my best friend, and 2 others. Those two others read the first bit I sent them, took a few weeks to get back to me, said they loved it, but then Neeeeeeeeever got back to me when I sent them the next chunk.

Now you can look at all that and come to the conclusion that it sucks. I know I sure did.

The struggles at each step made me doubt myself more and more to the point that I almost gave up writing all together.

And I didn't want to take about it or how it was making me feel, even though it was having a serious impact on me. I wanted to bottle it all up and let it consume me. Allllll because I didn't want people online to write me off as a failure before even giving me the chance.

I wasn't lying about being successful. I was just trying to hide the fact that I wasn't.

And that's almost as bad. Because then all the new authors just feel worse about themselves and their journey because they think they are the only ones.

Your not alone.

Everyone is struggling.

We just aren't talking about it.

I haven't written a word in over a week because I've been so afraid my second book will be dead on arrival like my first.

And I KNOW somewhere out there is someone just like me whose thinking of giving up.

Don't.

Just keep going.

Do your best. And then come find another struggling writer and share with each other. The world outside might not understand your struggle. But another author might.

We can't change the market. We can't change the way social media works, or how people decide if they will buy things

But what we CAN change, is whether those of us within the community want to be honest about our struggles and frustrations. Or if we want to hide them away and lie about them for the sake of making more sales

I think by being honest with one another we can create a better network.

That way the next time you feel like garbage for not being an "instant celebrity" like everyone else. you can look at the community and realize that you were never the problem

If we just keep making new writing friends our collective reach will eventually take hold in the outside world. Don't wait for a random influencer to notice you. Just make one friend at a time. Be known amongst your peers and maybe the rest will follow

And if your a writer desperate for feedback, or just a friend to share your troubles with. Hit me up. My inbox is always open.

[shsldepressedlesbian]

Few questions to help both us n you get to know the passengers on this cruise to hell better! 1,upon first glance what something someone would immediately notice abt your ocs appearance? 2,does your ocs Like their talent? This says a lot about them as people and feel free to go into detail why or why not they do. 3,do any of the cast have any character quirks? Be it in speech or otherwise

hey this looks fun :0

1:

Yuuki: i think its safe to say the many assortments of flowers she wears in her hair. while she isnt a gardener or anything, one of her siblings is, and they often send flowers to her. yuuki, in turn, usually mends them all into a flower crown, or even plain just puts a single flower into her hair.

Emica: when it comes to it, i suppose her traditional japanese arm band, symbolising her stance on the student council. her many different necklaces is a close competitor.

Arata: he dresses like he just walked out of a time loop from england 1930s. i think thats pretty noticeable-

Mitsuo: the unhealthily dark bags under his eyes, and the very pale skin which does not go well with his very bright, red hair.

Asuka: her very rich, haughty aura. and even though anyone would hate to admit it, shes borderline very attractive.

Manabu: he looks like he came from a very formal ball, not to mention it would be hard to miss the variety of shiny crystals he wears as bracelets.

Seiichi: at first glance, people might say he looks like he just had a ruffle with someone- but if you pay attention, he actually really is neat and tidy- aside from his tie.

Tamotsu: at first glance, people would probably compare him to indiana jones when it comes to his outfit choice. he doesnt deny these comparsions.

Kamiko: her sunhat, for sure. theyre usually wide brimmed, though fashionable. the second thing is probably the many ‘luck charms’ she wears as accesories.

Kenta: how he looks much stronger than he actually is. also his sneakers. everyone notices the sneakers. even if you arent a fan of footwear, you WILL notice his sneakers.

Chieko: chieko is very… ordinary looking. in fact, her normalness compared to any other ultimate is probably the first thing youll ever notice. it actually makes her stand out.

Masa: the first youll notice about masa is her sheer size of accesories. bracelets, rings, hair pins, and necklaces galore. if you pay enough attention, youll actually notice she and tamotsu have matching necklaces.

Fumiko: a notable thing about fumikos appearance is how… scandalous her outfit is. fumiko isnt shameful at all about how much skin shes exposing; though it never gets too crazy. usually. hopefully.

Kohaku: there is nothing really abnormal about kohaku, other then their very bright mint color scheme. the reading glasses hanging from a small chain on the front of their suit is also something noteworthy.

Aika: the first thing youll notice about aika is the fact that her coat is almost completely made out of buttons- each one she sewed onto it herself. for someone who youd expect look to have come out of the 1990s, she has a reasonable modern feel to her clothes.

Satoru: at first glance, you could see satoru as, to be frank, a vsco boy. his casual outfit, sunglasses, and jacket with many pins relating to saving the ocean can give off that feel. however, he resents the stereotypes of ‘vsco’. also, its hard to tell if his murky hair is either white or grey.

Usagi: the first thing youll notice about usagi is the fact she always looks like shes prepared for a hike. her backpack, casual but warm outfit wear, and always pulled up hair can give that impression.

2:

Yuuki: yuuki has a soft spot for her talent, considering how it dates back to her grandmother, and its always been something shes been experienced with. its fair to say yuuki likes her talent.

Emica: emica really doesnt consider herself worthy of her talent. the only reason she got it, afterall, is because of her dad, not to mention this fact has caused her a fair amount of nasty envy with her fellow classmates. still, she tries to honor her responsibility of being student council president. emica doesnt particularly like her talent.

Arata: if theres one thing arata is proud of, its his talent. hes been into history since he was a small child- and to have his research celebrated is his dream come true. he can, however, be a little cocky about it. he really does consider himself the best historian in history. arata likes, and is very proud of, his talent.

Mitsuo: he wont even tell anyone what his talent is. i wonder why…

Asuka: whether or not asuka enjoys her talent is left to debate. it is, however, for sure something she uses to her advantage. shes part of the main student council! of course everyone has to respect her, right? she also considers being the treasurer ‘finally’ a way to use her social skills and knowledge with mathematics to use. asuka likes her talent.

Manabu: manabu was always expected to be helpful in the study of outer space. his whole family line consisted of astronomers, astronauts, astrophysicists, and more. manabu had to choose his career at a young age, and he decided on astrogeology. this didnt mean manabu was stuck in the career. or, at least, he was, until an opportunity arrived. yet even when he got it, he decided not to take it. manabu always had a soft spot for astrogeology, though perhaps if he didnt have his current family line, he would have become the ultimate of a different talent. manabu likes his talent, though that may only be because of his history.

Seiichi: seiichis history of slam poetry goes all the way back to elementary. its his form of venting, if you will, as even though he comes across as nervous, his head is filled with anger at the world. but also hope, of making a new one. a better one. he considers being invited to attend sailing integrity was just a plus to his journey. seiichi likes his talent.

Tamotsu: tamotsu has been interested in tombs and the history of egypt for a long time. the closest thing he could find to fulfilling his interests was becoming a tour guide to show people around said tombs, and he found himself having fun, rehearsing facts and making the otherwise gloomy places bright. making tourists days a little more fun was good enough for him. tamotsu quite likes his talent.

Kamiko: kamikos talent was always something that she did as a fun hobby. sewing tapestries that told fascinating tales was always something she was invested in. and the many tales she sewed was really the only things that kept her company while she kept herself locked in her room. however, even if she likes her talent, she was not a fan of being recognized for it, and being coaxed by her parents to attend the academy. kamiko likes her talent, but isnt a fan of being the ‘ultimate’ of it.

Kenta: if we were being real here, kenta is very… neutral on his talent, which is weird for him. the way he learnt it is connected with bad memories, but doing it has always been refreshing to him. a way to run around, blow off steam. he supposes being called deemed the ‘ultimate’ of it isnt that bad. kenta likes his talent, for the majority.

Chieko: being the ultimate chemist wasnt chiekos first choice, but she takes it with dignity. chieko is neutral on her talent.

Masa: masas talent was born out of curiosity, and it grew from it. masas history of interpreting dreams is affiliated with many different emotions and memories. but for the most part, its been positive. she is very into the persona of it, and considers it a chance for her to act all mythical and wise. but, shes just really happy that she got to be a ultimate along with tamotsu. masa likes her talent, especially the attention she gets from it.

Fumiko: fumiko, probably, resents her talent the most out of the cast. its a very constant, confusing, love-hate relationship. she dislikes the title of ultimate lucky student, as she finds it cheesy, which is the whole reason why she calls herself a blackjack player. after talking to her for a bit, it becomes clear she doesnt want her talent to define her, and that she honestly couldnt care less about ultimates and the academies. her whole reason for applying to the lottery seems to stem from family reasons. while she dislikes the academy, she also takes any chance she can to pump her ego around her talent. its confusing, honestly. fumiko is not a fan of her talent.

Kohaku: kohakus murder mystery career started out as a coping method. however, they get very attached to every story and characters they make, putting love into every book, which is the whole reason they got recognized as the ultimate murder mystery novelist. kohaku has pride in becoming the ultimate murder mystery novelist, though they dont consider it a big deal. whether or not they became an ultimate wouldnt have any effect on the future of their career. theyll always write murder mysteries. kohaku likes their talent.

Aika: aika considers her becoming an ultimate a complete ‘accident’. aika isnt especially invested in vintage collecting- she just had a lot of old stuff she posted online, not even realising how old and valuable they really were, and the next thing she knew, the email and letter came. actually, the invitation to sailing integrity is what really made her consider making collecting old items a hobby. secretly, aika is a little insecure of her talent, finding it boring compared to others talents. aika likes her talent, but only to a certain point.

Satoru: satorus want to study the oceans animals has been active for a long time, especially since he was always close to water, considering his parents were fishermen. he finds the thought of the ocean being 95% explored to be highly interesting, and his goal is to crack down another 5% before he dies. becoming the ultimate of what he loved to do was very much a welcomed moment, especially with the promise that the academy would supply him with items that would help reinforce his talent. satoru has always been especially passionate about marine biology. satoru likes his talent.

Usagi: usagi is also very neutral when considering her talent. in fact, her talent is always at the back of her mind when introducing herself. usagi, truthfully, isnt a fan of most of the school referring to her as the ‘ultimate runaway’, considering how many of them paint it as a form of rebelling and thus delinquency. shes just a girl who likes taking sharing nature with the world whilst traveling, and wants others to see that as well. usagi is iffy on her talent.

3:

(hmmm im not sure what your definition of ‘quirks’ are, but here, have this:)

Yuuki: taps her foot an awful lot.

Emica: none visible.

Arate: can you consider writing almost everything down a quirk?

Mitsuo: taps surfaces whenever hes thinking.

Asuka: none visible.

Manabu: none visible.

Seiichi: as noted before, he tugs on his tie when hes nervous. also has a habit of rising his voice when he doesnt mean to.

Tamotsu: has more of an american dialect.

Kamiko: has the iconic danganronpa stutter, hides her face behind her hat.

Kenta: none visible.

Chieko: also has an american dialect, though hers is less apparent then tamotsus.

Masa: has a very cryptic way of speaking, except when she lets normal sentences slip through.

Fumiko: has a bit of a drawl to her voice.

Kohaku: none visible, surprisingly.

Aika: almost always moving, cannot stand completely still.

Satoru: rarely uses h’s if they are at the front of the word.

Usagi: has an unidentifiable accent.

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

The Chats That Only Happened Cause /Someone/ Was Bored And Wanted To Do Chats

Set all after the last chat from https://fightevilandthengetblownup.tumblr.com/post/187458138693

Also all set post ‘mindwipe’ and post-Whispering being removed.

#1 - Anna decides she wants to Learn How To Hunt Again... Yeaaah... Also yeah, seemingly Anna just took it upon herself to /always/ show up once she knew where to find Jo >_>

<Anna> *Anna walks over to Jo’s house, there’s snow on the ground and she’s bundled up, walking as fast as she can because the wind coming of the lake is biting. She’s breathing hard by the time she gets to that end of town her, leg with the brace aches in the cold more than the other and she realizes just how out of shape she is as she stands on the door step, knocking loudly.*

<Jo> *Jo’d been moving in and out of the house frequently, not quite sure what to do or how to take the strange actions of the returned monster, so continuing to work on her own things in a day. Its while she’s inside warming up from the cold again that she hears the knocking, going to check the door and smiling at Anna when she sees her* “Hey, what are you doin’ here? I… come inside. Through to the kitchen?”

<Anna> *Anna smiles stepping inside glad that it’s warm and she wipes her feet at the front door before moving in the direction of the kitchen.* “Hello. I was wondering if you are busy right now?” *Anna holds up a case folder that she had tucked under her arm*

<Jo> *Jo looks between the file and Anna curiously as she shuts the door behind them, double checking that she couldn’t see Grey in the lounge or kitchen before shutting the door to the hall behind them as well* “I’m free if you’ve got something for me. Coffee?”

<Anna> *Anna nods at the offer of coffee.* “Well it’s more for you.” *She pauses as she moves to sit at the kitchen table, opening the file up and spreading the papers out.* “And me to work.”

<Jo> *Jo almost drops a coffee cup as Anna adds that she was looking to be part of it too. Turning the pot on and letting a new round start, she leans back against the counter raising an eyebrow at the redhead* “You want to work a case? Together?” *Letting out a laugh, Jo rubs the back of her neck before nodding* “Okay, hit me, what is it?”

<Anna> *Anna suddenly feels like she’s back presenting papers in college and she wonders if that’s an actual memory or a fake one but she clears her throat and she pushes the clippings of a fatal wreck a state over to Jo.*  "Early this summer, some kids went off a back roads, down a fairly steep hill. One was killed the others lived, ever since then around the same time of the month people have started to have wrecks on the same road and the people say that it’s a teenage boy that runs them off the road.“

<Jo> *The choice of case makes Jo raise an eyebrow, smiling to herself when she can’t help but think Anna’s picked something up much the same way she picked her own first case - though not sure how much the other remembered of her own crash* "So, you think its a haunting? I’ve heard cases like that before, sounds likely. …so what’d you want to do about it?”

<Anna> “Well here is where this one gets muddy. The boy was cremated after a close casket funeral, he was pretty torn up. And the car was towed off to a scrap yard. So either something is still on that hill or in the car.” *Anna shows Jo the obit from the paper and then the police report with the tow company listed.*

<Jo> “Definitely would be. Unless Mommy’s keeping baby hair and teeth.” *Jo nods her head, looking over the pages as she pours out their coffees and moves over to the table with the other, sliding a mug over* “Shouldn’t be too hard - find the car and torch it, sow some salt and start a controlled little fire. Should work to get it done.”

<Anna> “It’s snowing, not sure how well burning the hill is going to work and what if the car has already been scrapped out?” *Anna takes her coffee thanking Jo and pouring a healthy amount of sugar and creamer into it.*

<Jo> “Shovelling snow is a fair bit easier than digging a grave, lemme tell you that - though you’ve got a point.” *Jo sighs, scrubbing a hand over her face* “Then you figure out where the scrap bits went and cleanse them too. Talk to Mommy about if she has any of little Johnny’s things that he was really attached to..”

<Anna> “So when are we going to leave then?” *Anna nods and smiles at Jo, pleased that it seems she was right that it sounds like this wreck spawned a ghost and Jo had agreed with most of what she thought.*

<Jo> “Uh.. when did you want to? There haven’t been any deaths yet, but I’d put money on that just being from luck.” *Jo smiles back slightly as she takes a mouthful of her drink, mentally tallying up how much salt, kerosene and salt rounds she had on her already. She’d figure she had enough on hand if need be*

<Anna> “It’s not like I have anything pressing to do, so when you’re ready.  The next wreck should happen sometime tomorrow also.” *Anna is feeling more confident as she drinks the rest of her coffee, glad for the warm liquid.*

<Jo> “I’d just need to let Grey know, write a note or somethin’, then we can if you want.” *Shrugging a shoulder, Jo continues to look over the pages as though she might have missed something before jumping up to grab her own journal out of her bag near the back door to confer with it*

<Anna> “You and Grey are back together?” *She’s surprised and she smiles as leans back looking at Jo, as if expecting to get all the dirt.* “I guess we have a subject to talk about in the drive up.”

<Jo> “I… yeah, we’ll talk about it in the car.” *Jo flushes slightly, standing up as she spins her journal and one of her entries from an unusual ghost case around for Anna to look over before heading over to the fridge and the small note pad there* “Just need to grab the guns and some rounds from upstairs and we can go if you want to now. Drive isn’t very far, is it?”

<Anna> “Next state over, about six hours by the looks of the maps.” *Taking the journal she looks at the entry Jo hands her and she then starts flipping through the rest of it.* “Hopefully won’t take make than a day, it seems fairly simple.”

<Jo> “Yeah it shouldn’t be too long, home in the early hours of tomorrow at the latest.” *Jo tips her head back, finishing off the rest of her drink even as it burns, as she scribbles out a note saying where she’s gone and when she expects to be back before slapping it on the front of the fridge* “If you want to pack that stuff up and head outside, I’ll run up and get things, meet you out there, limpy?” *Jo teases slightly, washing out her mug*

<Anna> *Anna gives her a look as she calls her a name.* “Sure, wouldn’t want to strain the blond brain to make sure all the research is packed.” *She says as she folds up the journal and then starts to gathering up the papers, putting them all back in neat order into the folder.*

<Jo> *Letting out a laugh, Jo grabs a few cool soda cans out of the fridge and drops them into a small bag before opening the hall door and heading upstairs to get the few other items needed, actually thinking this could be a fun case - if only to see how the new Anna deals with things*

<Anna> *Standing up she goes the hall looking around, finding an empty pack and she puts the folder and the journal in it. She didn’t think there wouldn’t be any need for much other than salt and fire she zips it up and heads outside to wait at the car.*

<Jo> *It takes a few minutes for Jo to grab her shotgun and a spare for Anna, as well as the rounds she still had made up. Pausing, she grabs two knives as well fitted with iron blades before taking her coat off the back of her bedroom door and heading outside, unlocking the car and trunk to put the things away, settling into the drivers seat* “Ready for your second first hunt, Anna?”

<Anna> “If I wasn’t I wouldn’t have decided to do this again.” *Anna gets in the car and stretches out as much as she can, she’s more ready to just get out of the city for a while and this is a good distraction from everything.* “You aren’t trying to talk me out of this, why?”

<Jo> *Jo lets out a laugh at Anna asking why she isn’t trying to stop her as she turns out towards the right roads out of town, slowly creeping up the speed as they get out further* “Why would I? If you’re sure, its your choice and I guess it’s better you’re asking for help or for me to come along with you than go by yourself. That, and enough people have tried to talk me out of it in my life I don't want to do the same to you.”

<Anna> “Wow, that’s really logical and makes a lot of sense. I thought I would hear some thing about my past or whatever.” *Smiling she relaxes and reaches for the car radio.* “I used to be good at this so I hear, so why not.”

<Jo> “Nah, you’re just talking to someone who got repeatedly asked if I was sure this is what I wanted - theres other things out there for you Jo, you could do something different, go back to school, you’re better than this, and getting yourself killed on some dusty back road, that’s where you belong..” *Jo mimicks several voices, still smiling as Anna fiddles with the radio and they get past the outskirts of town* “You were good, Anna, and not just cause of what you were. Much more logical and calm headed than I was.”

<Anna> *Anna laughs listening to Jo.* “You are going to have so much fun when you have your own kids and get that paid back to you.” *Watching the scenery go by she’s not really caring about how good she was before because she wasn’t good enough to avoid being some demons toy.*

<Jo> “Oh god, please don’t talk about kids. I think Mom’d have kittens if she knew she was getting grandbabies.” *Shaking her head, Jo frowns slightly at Anna’s choice of music but not really caring as she finally gets to build up some speed*

<Anna> *Finding a clasical station she leaves it there and she smirks at Jo* “I don’t know, maybe it’s because the idea of having a bunch of small copies of you running around might be making her have kittens.”

<Jo> “Ha ha. I didn’t run her /that/ raggard.” *Letting out a sigh, the blonde shoots the other a look before laughing* “She can keep her kittens to herself though.”

<Anna> *Anna chuckles as she watches Jo squirm.* “Why don’t you and Grey hunt together? I would think that him being a monster would be an advantage in killing other monsters.”

<Jo> “He’s… weird. About how he, uh, hunts.” *Jo flushes slightly, having considered the idea a few times - especially since the months when the shadow was reluctant to go out himself - but knew it made the other much more uncomfortable than her* “He doesn’t like me watching when he feeds, even if he does have the advantage of being able to find them easier than me.”

<Anna> “He eats them? I thought they ate people? So he doesn’t eat you?” *Anna thought they were all the same and it’s interesting to hear that they can eat other creatures.*

<Jo> “The monster equivalent of tofu, I’m guessing.” *Jo smiles slightly to herself, almost amused by Anna’s reaction before shrugging a shoulder* “Grey doesn’t want to be a monster, doesn’t want to act like one. He..doesn’t want to hurt people; so he doesn’t feed on human energy as a choice. All the others I’ve met do, though if they want a body, then they feed on demons occasionally too. And, uh, he..” *Flushing slightly, Jo presses harder on the gas before continuing to speak, almost certain she was getting as red as Anna’s hair* “He doesn’t feed off of me usually. There’s… I’ve made him a few times, and he has some control issues when there’s a lot of emotions, so there's been some slips.”

<Anna> *Feeling the car getting faster and watching Jo blush she realizes how it sounds and she blushes some too clearing her throat.* “So, not all shadows can take a human? Grey and Gray fed from a demon? What do angels have to do to take a person?”

<Jo> *Jo nods, letting out a breath before glancing out the side of her eyes at the other* “If you’re worried about you, that’s your body - one hundred per cent Anna. As for other angels.. they have to get a person to say yes to letting them. Completely by their own free choice.”

<Anna> “I’ve already had that freak out, thanks. Have you ever seen what Gray or Grey look like outside of their body?” *She snorts, conversations now are so strange sounding if she ever stops to think about them.*

<Jo> “Haven’t actually seen Gray that way, but I was on speaking terms with Grey before the split and before he ever took on a human form. And I’ve seen it a few times since then.” *Jo smiles slightly, thinking back the the fuzzy memories she has of that time, though there were times she wasn’t sure if something was a dream or real given how blurry her time in Heaven even was*

<Anna> “Before the split?” *Anna tilts her head looking at Jo curiously. She knew they shared a name but she thought hearing them spoke of like they are twins or brother that maybe they came from the same litter or hatching or however they are born.*

<Jo> “Long story short, they were originally part of one another, a deal went haywire and Grey had a part of..well they call it a Vice, but it’s kind of like angel’s have their Grace and humans have their souls.. well part of that was broken and split off and that sort of made Gray. Out of all the bits of himself that was being denied by the changes in lifestyle Grey had.” *Jo’s a little fuzzy on how it all went down herself, but she knows how much of a struggle that was to begin with for Grey, and can recall just how dreadful both were before and after the split occured* “It’s confusing to think about, honestly, but their more like good and evil twins but..less good and evil divide.”

<Anna> *Leaning back she puts a hand over her eyes and she rubs them, feeling a headache starting.* “I’m going to learn to stop asking questions one day, really I am. So they are the same person, different aspects of personality, then why does both of them like you and only one likes me? Shouldn’t..you know what, never mind. I can live with knowing this and just dealing with it.”

<Jo> “Personality clashes, Anna. That’s all. I’d say its cause Gray doesn’t hold grudges, least not when he thinks he’s earnt what he’s got.” *Jo laughs loudly at Anna saying she’d learn to stop some day from asking questions, and figures that thats the easiest, least complicated answer she could give her.* “I’d just quit while you’re ahead on the question front, Anna.”

<Anna> “I’m going to eventually run out of things that I don’t know right?” *Hitting her head on the seat rest she realizes that she just asked another question. “Have I been shot yet? Because, shoot me, we can add that to the list of things that’s happened.”

<Jo> *Jo can’t stop giggling as Anna keeps asking questions, nodding her head* “I don’t think you got shot, that’s more my department and its not often we’re on the other end of something which handles a weapon like a gun.”

<Anna> *Sighing she closes her eyes* “Wake me when we get there? I think sleeping is safer than talking right now.” *Anna slouches down in the seat further once she’s scooted it back as far as it will go so she can spread her legs out.*

<Jo> *Jo bites back a joke about Anna’s comment from earlier to speak in the car, figuring letting the other sleep a while longer was better over all before turning the music down a little. The trip is a little shorter than Anna had estimated, if only because of Jo’s speeding through some more well known areas from her own travels and as they turn off the free-way into the back road towards the township  Jo leans over to hit the other awake* “Hey, wake up sleeping beauty, you’ve got a ghost to hunt.”

<Anna> *Waking up startled she looks around and then at the clock in the car, rubbing her eyes* “You drive too fast, about as smooth as Dean.” *She says barely awake as she sits up and stretches, running a hand through her hair to get the tangles out.*

<Jo> *Chuckling, the blonde shrugs her shoulder with a grin on her face* “Remember how bumpy his rides are, then? I’ve got faith in my love that she’ll stay on the road - got a mechanic in town who helps me keep her in tip-top shape.” *Watching Anna try to wake up, Jo slows down as they get near the edges of town* “Be glad you got to sleep through most of it then.”

<Anna> *Looking at Jo likes she’s talking about a conversation she’s not been a part of she just shakes her head and she looks around and then reaches for the file folder.* “The wreck happened on the other side of town by article of the  wreck the news reported on, it was a popular local cut through between towns.”

<Jo> *Jo blinks blankly back at Anna’s confusion, before taking a right when she sees the road sign for the junk yard* “Figure we go to the junk yard first then? Just to be sure?” *She’s fairly certain, given that the haunting is at the location, that the road is going to be the spot, but sometimes things aren’t that straight forward*

<Anna> *Anna nods and she gets the photo of the car out.* “It’s a blue Honda Accord, lil street racer. Are we going to ask to go look at cars like that because we need a part?”

<Jo> *Parking, Jo takes a quick glance at the photo before letting out a disgusted noise* “Yeah, that’s probably best, though if you can keep whoever runs the places attention if I gesture for you to..” *She’s actually thinking Anna might have been on to something about the car being taken apart for bits and figured finding details on where they might have gone might be impossible if that did happen*

<Anna> “Just keep them distracted? Okay I think I can do that, maybe.” *Anna climbs out, she’s stiff and she leans against the car stretching out for a moment, so she doesn’t move like an old woman.* “Are you going to go check the car?”

<Jo> “Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard to find. Bobby’s got a yard like this and something like that’d probably be in the newer vehicles..” *Locking the car and moving around to the trunk, she slips her lighter into her pocket and fills a small bag with some lighter fluid and salt* “See if you can’t find out if they sold any bits too.”

<Anna> “Alright.” *Walking into the office Anna smiles at the guy there behind the desk, asking him about cars that match the one they are looking for by making up a story about looking for a part to fix her boyfriends car that she might have wrecked and she wants to get it done before he gets into town and finds out since that car is his baby and she’s sure the car is in higher rank than her in her boy friend’s life, rambling and smiling and looking as dumb as she possibly can when describing the part she needs.“

<Jo> *Jo was glad most yards worked the same, newer stock to the front, older to the back and that it wasn’t too hard to recognise the make and model for the (in her view) dreadful car they were after. Looking around to see if there was anyone else looking around or working, she sighs happily when they aren’t before climbing up and into the car to look for any blood or parts left behind. The covers of the backseat where the boy had been were missing, and she’d assume they’d been too coated in blood to bleach out - probably been burnt which worked well enough in her book. There was a section of carpet and a small bit of the roof which looked bloody, and cutting them out, Jo pockets both pieces before triple checking for any more.*

<Anna> *Anna looks out over the yard nervously as the worker there is clearly not amused by her questions and her lack of knowledge but she keeps on asking questions and then distracting him when he starts to walk out to the car to check by describing something that’s totally not the original part that she asked for.*

<Jo> *So far no ghost, and moving behind an empty shell of a car a few feet from the Accord, Jo sets the pieces on the ground and douses them in fluid and salt before lighting them. When nothing seems to happen, she stomps out the flames with her boot before heading towards the small window of the office and waving for Anna to get out as she heads back towards her car*

<Anna> *Anna watches Jo get in the car and as the yard worker goes to get his coat because she finally shut up for two seconds she ducks out of the office, walking quickly back to Jo’s car, sliding in and shutting the door.* "Did you find anything?”

<Jo> “Some blood stains but no ghosts popped up to knock me out for setting them alight, so I’d hazard a guess that’s not the case. Wasn’t even the boy’s car so he probably doesn’t have that big a connection other than dying in it.” *Jo starts the engine and pulls away just as she notices the yard worker stepping outside to look for Anna. Turning towards the road of the crash, she shoots Anna a look* “Just how painful were you for him?”

<Anna> “Well let’s just say, if you ever need parts from this place, never send me to get them.” *Anna grins as she sticks her hands infront of the heating vents.* “So are we going to try and talk to the mother now or just go investigate the road?”

<Anna> “Well let’s just say, if you ever need parts from this place, never send me to get them.” *Anna grins as she sticks her hands infront of the heating vents.* “So are we going to try and talk to the mother now or just go investigate the road?"

<Jo> "Noted, Anna and cars don’t mix.” *Chuckling, Jo considers for a moment before turning the car towards the road* “I want to check out what this thing is. And maybe if we head out to the road the boy might show up and try to scare us off if we get near the crash site?”

<Anna> “And it’s safe because you know it’s a ghost and you aren’t going to drive off the road startled right?” *Anna tightens her seat belt and looks up to see if the car has an ‘ohshitbar’ to hold onto.* “What if we can’t find anything to burn, how do we get rid of it then?”

<Jo> “Well depends on how the other crashes say he shows up, if he messes with the wheels and controls.. that won’t be pretty. But yeah, I don’t scare easy.” *Jo slows her speed down as she approaches the area* “Or we can pull over a little before and go hunting. If we can’t find anything, then it might be a specific type of ghost, which..could be more annoying but they’re rare”

<Anna> “Alright, it would be safer than driving in and risking a wreck.” *Anna can’t help but find this fun, it’s different to the things she’s been doing at it’s keeping her mind active.* “It was about half way down the slope on the steepest part before the car came to a stop according the police report.”

<Jo> *Jo nods, driving in silence until she reaches the top of the hill and pulling off to the side of the road at Anna’s suggestion that it would be safer* “Well, lets see how we go heading down there to look for something.” *Getting out of the car and grabbing two bags with kereosene and salt, as well as the knives, shot guns and ammo as discretely as possible, Jo hands one of the bags over as she slips one of the knives in her belt loop before offering out a gun and knife to Anna* “Mind you, getting shot with these is going to hurt like a bitch, but it’s easier than a normal gunshot wound, okay?”

<Anna> *Anna takes the bag but then she looks at the gun and Jo.* “I don’t know how to use those, you really want me to walk around with a gun?” *She was looking at the snow covered leaves and just hoping that she wasn’t going to bust her ass in front of Jo.*

<Jo> “You slash with the knife if Mr. Blair Witch shows up, and the guns loaded..safety is off, so just point and trigger if he gets too close. I’ve got faith even if your mind doesn’t remember your hands will.” *Jo shrugs a shoulder, having gotten a salt round to the back a fair few years ago and not too worried about getting the same if it happens even if it did end up bruised and sore for a long while. Heading down the slope, Jo’s glad the road seems less populated - probably due to the number of crashes recently, towards where Anna suggested the crash had been, keeping her eyes out for the boy*

<Anna> *Looking at the gun she turns it on the side, trying to find where the saftey is on it, she’s not comfortable at all with it and the knife and she wonders if she can just point and let Jo shoot things as she follows behind Jo. She’s struggling to carry the bag, teh gun and hold to the trees because it’s hard to tell if she’s got solid footing with her bad leg.* “If he’s just running cars off the road do you think he’s going to come after us walking?”

<Jo> “Because, we’re coming to get rid of him and in my experience they don’t like tha- get down.” *Jo’d just crossed towards where she could see the recent skid marks of several car crashes when she notices a figure roughly ten feet back from Anna. Drawing her gun, Jo fires off a round and smiles when the boy seems to disappear* “Okay.. obviously something is here then. Did you want to look while I..?” *She waves her gun before firing another shot around the same place, cursing when the boy vanishes before hand and the round explodes against a tree*

<Anna> *Anna only ducks after the round explodes on the tree near her, her ears ringing as she looks around wildly not having seen anything.* “I..that was ..you don’t have to shoot at me!” *Scrambling to get back up she’s mostly sliding down the hill now on her ass towards the tree that was clearly scarred by the wreck, her jeans and hands soaking wet from the snow.* “Jo, near the road!” *Looking past Jo she can see the outline of a person.*

<Jo> *Jo lets out a laugh watching Anna, though the direction gets a quick response, lining up the boy in her sights as she keeps an eye on him. He’s young, that much is obvious, and seemingly not sure which of them to go after* “Anna, try looking for something, I’ll keep him off you.” *Firing another round, she’s glad to see it hits and scares him off only to end up flying backwards at an unseen push*

<Anna> *Anna watches Jo get shoved and she’s scrambling trying to get the saftey off, her hands are cold and she’s more than a little freaked but finally she gets it off and she raises the gun trying to shoot but nothing happens and she looks at it, realizing she has to cock it. When the ghost appears again she shoots in it’s general direction.* “Are you okay?”

<Jo> “Just look for something!” *Jo shouts back as she sits up with a groan, fingers going for her ammunition to refill her shot gun as the boy vanishes and reappears again towards the road* “I’ve got this.”

<Anna> *Anna gets to her feet, wincing as she rushes through the underbrush, looking around and then she spots a piece of red material. Scrambing to get it she’s shouting at Jo that she found it, a baseball cap with blood on it when she feels something shove her the moment she grabs it.*

<Jo> *She was looking around for where the boy’d vanished to when Anna shouts, spinning around to catch sight of her going down from the ghost on her back. Swearing, Jo aims another shot at the ghost’s back, firing quickly and mentally crossing her fingers that Anna wouldn’t get hit as she approaches* “C'mon Anna, hurry up and torch the fucker.”

<Anna> *The shot explodes close to her and she curls up covering her head, hearing Jo screaming at her and she fumbles for the pack, trying to get it open and she’s got the salt out, dumping it over the hat but as she’s reaching for the lighter fluid the pack is thrown away and she screams as she looks up at the bloody boy standing there, his face crushed in.*

<Jo> *Seeing Anna get pulled away, Jo slips and slides her way across to the hat Anna’d lost hold of before flicking her lighter and dumping it ontop of the frabric, hoping it’d catch alight without the lighter fluid - smiling as the tag at the back catches fire and the rest follows suit, turning to see if the ghost would burn up*

<Anna> *The ghost makes an awful sound as it goes up in flames and she turns looking at Jo with wide eyes, she’s sweating like she’s just ran a marathon in summer and fact Jo is smiling is bewildering.* “He’s gone?”

<Jo> “Dead gone.” *Jo grins widely as she moves over to help Anna up, bag back on her back and knife back in her pocket* “Not too hard for your first hunt, was it?”

<Anna> “It’s not as hard I guess as having to dig the grave up.” *Anna takes the hand up and she makes her way to her pack, she’s going to be so sore from this but she feels like she did something at least this time.* “Hardest thing now is getting back up this hill I guess.”

<Jo> “Nah, you stay here. I’ll go get the car and we’ll head home.” *Jo sets down her gun and bag with Anna before heading back up the hill, tossing the knife into the backseat when she gets there before driving slowly down the hill to where the other was standing, more than ready to head back home now that the dusk was falling and getting cooler again* “I’ll drop you home, okay?”

<Anna> *Throwing the stuff in the trunk she happily climbs in and she nods* “Sure, home sounds good. I’m sure you and Grey have a lot of making up to do and I think I have a date with a hot bath.” *Now that the adrenaline is wearing off she’s feeling exactly how cold she is and every little scratch and bruise. Closing her eyes she drifts off again on the way back.*

#2 - Another where Anna was bothering Jo about wanting to hunt. And at the end Anna yet again asks about Grey vs Gray... (Jo was always going to answer the same way as she does, but also embarrassed about answering correctly)

<Jo> *Jo’d startted to make three different lists of hunts, some for herself, the list on the fridge for Grey and a smaller list of hunts she thinks that Anna might possibly be interested and capable of coming along on. The struggles of her leg damage hadn’t escaped the blonde’s notice, but she figured that that wouldn’t stop her from going on any if she was actually interested. Heading to the other’s

<Jo> apartment, Jo knocks once sharply, waiting outside rather than heading straight in like she used to as she is glad to be out of the cold outdoors as she waits*

<Anna> *Anna is napping when she hears the knock, the trash can is full of tissues and she’s down to using a roll of toilet paper now as everyhing that’s been backed up has starting to come out with teh cold breaking up. Getting up she shivers not sure if the apartment is cold or if she still has chills, with the blanket wrapped up around her she makes her way to the door and opens it up.* “Hey Jo.”

<Jo> “Hey… you alright?” *Jo’s eyebrow shoots up when Anna answers the door wrapped up in blankets even as the warmth of the apartment basically hits her in the face. Moving inside and shutting the door behind her, the hunter smirks to herself seeing the piles of tissues* “I’m going to guess not too good?”

<Anna> *Blowing her nose she goes back to the bed and sits down on it and curls up on it.* “I’m fine, it’s better now, should be over it in a couple of days. How have you been?”

<Jo> “Mostly alright. Better than you at least.” *Jo smiles to herself, grabbing the back of one of the chairs at the kitchen table and dragging it across to the bed before flopping down in it. Resting her ankles on the edge of the bed, she smirks slightly at the other* “Well then, I should come back in a couple of days then. I have some things you might like.”

<Anna> “You have cupcakes?” *Anna grins and as she pulls the blankets up around ehr more and she looks at Jo expectingly.* “Or is this about the hunt? Going to tell me what I need to do better?”

<Jo> “Not on me I don’t. I’ll remember to bring some next time I’m over if Grey doesn’t steal them all..” *Laughing, Jo shakes her head and digs in the pocket of her winter coat before tossing a small notepad towards Anna* “I actually started keeping a list of hunts I thought you might be interested in joining me on. Mostly ghosts  at present..”

<Anna> *Anna comes out of the mound of blankets enough to pick up the notebook looking over it before looking at Jo with a stupid grin on her face.* “Really? So you’re willing to go with me again? Or take me hunting with you again?”

<Jo> “Yeah, I am. For the things I think you’d like or be up to, definitely.” *Jo smiles back at Anna, leaning back on her chair legs, stretching* “If you want to work with me, yeah.”

<Anna> *Anna nods and she looks over the notebook.* “I do, I had fun, in a weird, this could kill me sort of way. I did something though and it felt good to not just be the one on the sidelines or needing to be saved.”

<Jo> “I know exactly what you mean.” *She nods her head, finding her balance easily.* “Well, I’m happy to work with you, Anna.”

<Anna> “Was it like before? When we worked together?” *Anna watches Jo balance and she looks to see if Jo falls back she’s clear of busting her head on the table. She doesn’t say anything but there’s a vague memory from a nightmare she had a couple of nights ago about a rawhead.*

<Jo> “Sorta?” *Shrugging, Jo runs a hand through her hair as she tries to think about the differences between the past hunts and the most recent* “Never were that good with a gun, actually. So I figure we might need to work on that on and off hunts; but yeah it was near. We used to work well together when we weren’t fighting over who was doing what..”

<Anna> *Anna nods and she puts teh note book down and she blows her nose, throwing the tissue at the can.* “Can we find a hunt some place warm?” *She looks sheepish about the gun suggestion, not really liking this part of hunting, she’s just not comfortable with them and they’re loud.*

<Jo> *Rocking back with her heels, Jo watches Anna with a laugh as she blows her nose* “We could, yeah. I’ve got a few friends down south as is so I’ll see if they know anything. That, or we’ll try not to be out of houses instead.” *Snickering, she pushes back a little far as she imagines Anna trying to relearn shooting and lets out a shriek as she falls back*

<Anna> *Anna’s head jerks up as Jo shrieks and she watches the blond woman’s arms pinwheel as she tries to stop the backwards decent but it doesn’t help and Jo lands on her back.* “Graceful. Are you alright?” *She’s trying to not laugh but she’s failing.*

<Jo> *Jo blinks in silence for a few seconds before laughing loudly* “I’m good, I’m good.” *Pushing herself back up, she sets the chair back up again, leaning against it as she rubs her lower back* “Grace is your department, not mine.”

<Anna> “Then we both fail in it.” *Anna laughs, coughing as she does and she sniffs wiping her nose.* “At least you can can get Grey to kiss your booboos. Tell him the chair was possesed and tried to eat you.”

<Jo> “Yeah, I don’t know about that.” *Jo shakes her head, flushing slightly as she continues to rub at her back before standing up straight* “Did you need another toilet roll?”

<Anna> “I’m good, I think. Did you want me to research these hunts you have wrote down?” *Anna grins at Jo’s blushing, enjoying being on the otherside of it for once.* “You might want to get Grey to ice that down for you, a bruise there isn’t going to feel good later.”

<Jo> “If you could, that’d probably be good. I’ve only just been able to pick a pattern for some hauntings so I’m not sure who yet..” *Noticing the other’s grin, Jo ducks her head and shakes it again* “It’ll be alright, I wouldn’t want to bother him with it, Anna.”

<Anna> *Anna just nods and she puts the notepad on the table beside her, getting up to get her laptop so she can research while under her blanket mound.* “When do you want to go on the hunt Jo? Soon as I have the research done?”

<Jo> “Whenever you’re better or the researchs been done, yeah.” *Jo smiles slightly, sitting down gingerly*

<Anna> “Need a pillow?” *Anna teases as she watches Jo ease herself down in the chair. She was still sore from the hunt and it showed but at least it was from a hunt and not a falling chair.*

<Jo> *She waves off the offer, shaking her head* “Nah, I’m good.” *Rubbing the back of her neck, Jo squints at the look on Anna’s face, trying not to smile at the teasing*

<Anna> *Anna laughs at Jo’s look and she opens up her laptop booting it up.* “So, are you wanting something harder than last time? And possibly easier than the chair?”

<Jo> “I’d think something harder than the chair might be far out of my level..” *Jo jokes along, shaking her head* “Take your time though, like I say - we’ll go when you’re healthy again, nothing worse than hunting with a cold honestly. But yeah, most seem to be more active ghosts; figure we’ll work our way into some of the things which require more tangling..”

<Anna> “More active? Like haunted house?” *Anna has started files for each case on her laptop and she tosses Jo her notebook back after copying all of the information.* “Do they all like to do the whole grab and toss like the last one?”

<Jo> *Tucking the list back away, Jo shakes her head* “Yes and no on the haunted house. Most ghosts /do/ haunt houses; but that ghost was relatively new. Most ghosts have decades to learn all the tricks. And yeah, the tossing is a regular thing. Some have a lot worse habits though; some can even jump you.”

<Anna> *Anna looks up, confused look on her face.* “Jump you? Like demons or the monsters? Why would a ghost want to do that?”

<Jo> “Well… you know what ghosts /are/, right? Like, how some people end up as ghosts while others pass on and either go to Hell and become demons or go to Heaven, right?” *Jo leans forward, resting her arms across her knees as she looks back at the other*

<Anna> “People that don’t move on, I know that much Jo.” *Anna nods but she never thought about them doing more than just throwing you around or killing people.* “I know some have a goal or some are sort of stuck.”

<Jo> *Jo shakes her head, smiling slightly* “Most aren’t staying because they’re stuck or have a goal. They just don’t pass on, and then they become angry. Or they’re already angry and that’s why they don’t move on..” *Shifting slightly, she begins toying with the end of her hair as she watches Anna* “But some when they become mad, they want to do more than toss and shove and kill through normal ways. Sometimes they latch onto people like them, kindred spirits almost, and take over them and control like a demon or monster. Other times they just want to get out or get control of something too.”

<Anna> *Anna nods listening, taking it in* “I wonder what happens to them since they missed their chance to go upstairs or downstairs. They are just souls at that point.”

<Jo> “Well, what would you do if you couldn’t communicate with anyone you loved; watched them mourn and miss you; maybe one day forget you? Eventually leave where you were trapped for eternity, or worse, watch them die there too..” *Jo shrugs a shoulder as she speaks, pulling at a split end* “Eventually you get depressed, then angry, and then you want to make other’s hurt like you too..”

<Anna> “I was just wondering if we destroy them totally since they don’t move on and we burn them is all.” *Anna yawns closing her laptop as she looks at Jo.* “You were dead, what was it like?”

<Jo> “I don’t know what happens to them…they disappear? Most wouldn’t go to Heaven if they had the option of passing on..” *She looks surprised when Anna asks her what dying was like, dropping her hands between her knees as she thinks what to say* “I..what do you mean? It hurt, I died, I don’t remember the between time from here to Heaven. Most of that’s a fuzz now, but it was pretty… standard life, memories.. stuff.”

<Anna> “So you know you were dead but you don’t remember it? It’s like you just woke up alive again?” *Anna tilts her head looking at Jo curious now.* “What made you go back to hunting if that’s what killed you?”

<Jo> “Remember bits, I remember how I died but not chosing to pass on or stay around; guess cause I got cremated fully, salt and all, I didn’t really have anything to tie me anyway. And I remember what Heaven /is/ but not much of my time there..” *Jo pulls a face slightly, flushing as she tries to remember most of it and comes up with a lot of blanks* “I’m a hunter…”

<Anna> *Anna just lays back and thinks about it.* “I know we knew each other, hunted before but how did we meet?” *She knew how her and Gray met but she wasn’t sure other than she and Jo knew each other on how they met and what made them hunt together.*

<Jo> *Rubbing at her neck, the blonde woman stares at the other even as she flops backwards, thinking about it* “I think we met when I was still dead. One of the perks of being an angel, I guess, is being able to travese both Heaven and Earth.. Its the only answer I can think of, because I knew we were hunting together when I came back to life. You… you used up a fair bit of what Grace you had left to help me back then..” *Jo keeps back what she remembers about the first while back on Earth, that the whole original problems with Crowley so far as Anna was concerned came from her entanglement with the demon..*

<Anna> *Anna watches Jo thinking back, getting lost in thought. The idea of knowing her in heaven and not here first is a strange idea but she’s slowly understand that  strange is her normal now. Looking back Jo’s still lost in though and she smirks asking casually wondering if Jo will answer.* “Who’s better in bed, Grey or Gray?”

<Jo> *Jo’s not paying attention when Anna speaks, the question not really registering until she’s answered* “Dunno, Gr-. …I…wait, what? Why are you asking that?!” *She flushes as brightly as Anna’s hair, blinking at her in shock, glad she cut herself off quickly enough*

<Anna> *Laughing she lays there watching Jo turn red, she’s not sure why she’s asking but at the time it sounded like a good idea and she raises a brow.* “What was that Jo? You sort of stopped midsentence?”

<Jo> “I… I don’t even know what you’d count as better!” *Jo bites down on her lip, feeling her blush get slightly deeper as she tries not to laugh alng too*

<Anna> “Better, you know, who you liked more.” *Anna yawns as she laughs before blowing her nose and she pulls the covers up more, she felt wiped out but seeing Jo’s expression is worth it.*

<Jo> *Shaking her head, Jo leans back before hissing slightly and sitting upright instead* “Given I wasn’t bleeding or tied to anything and get very well taken care of; I’d say Grey…” *Pulling her hair back from her face, she stands up to go check on Anna’s radiator*

<Anna> *Anna laughs watching Jo lean back on her sore tailbone and then confess to Grey. She takes pity on her and she just yawns again as Jo gets up to mess with something. She’s going to say something but she’s forgotten what it was and she just blinks slowly before falling asleep*

<Jo> *Jo was half expecting a further inquisition, not sure she wanted to give any more explanations of things given the awkwardness around at the moment; but when she can’t make the room any warmer, she turns around to see the other asleep on the bed. Shaking her head, Jo goes to set a glass of water and some flu tablets on the bedside before heading home*

#3 - More of the Same

<Jo> *Jo figured Anna’d had enough time to recover, at least enough for some practice outside of town. Rocking up at the redhead’s door, she tucks her scarf into her jacket as she knocks on the door, leaving the rest of her things in the car*

<Anna> *Anna looks up from her laptop hearing the knock. She’s dressed in sweat pants and a few different layers of shirts, she’s starting to understand why the rent is cheap, the heating barely works so she’s been infront of her oven with the door down all morning. Opening up she smiles seeing Jo.* “Hey.”

<Jo> “You up for some target practice?” *Jo asks happily, looking a little too interested in the idea of going out to shoot things*

<Anna> “Sure, let me get my coat.” *Anna grins seeing Jo looking like a kid that’s about to go to the toy store and she grabs her coat and keys off the back of the chair.* “So, by shooting you mean guns right?”

<Jo> “Yep, I figured we’d get some practice in before the next hunt.” *Jo heads out to the car, starting the heater as she guns the engine waiting for Anna to lock up and get in* “Theres some out of the way fields outside of town we can use”

<Anna> *Locking up she gets inside the car, holding her hands up to the heater.* “You know, I could just be in charge of throwing the lighter. You could do all the shooting. It’s loud.”

<Jo> “What happens if I get knocked out? Or pinned down? Or we get seperated?” *Jo teases back, pulling out and heading towards the edge of the city* “You get used to it, and you need to learn how to do it.”

<Anna> “Just don’t get knocked out, pinned or seperated.” *Anna smirks making it sound so simple and she sits back relaxing as Jo drives. “It’s mostly just shotguns right?”

<Jo> *Letting out a laugh, Jo shakes her head as the car builds up speed and they angle towards one of the less used routes out of the city limits* “I guess you can get away with just shotguns, but one day I’ll get you good with handguns and stuff too”

<Anna> “You’re just asking to get shot aren’t you? It’s not like I’m ever going to hunt anythign that needs silver rounds, I doubt I could move well enough for that kind of hunt.” *Anna sits up and grabs the ohshitbar as Jo speeds up turning off the main road.*

<Jo> “That… well, at least you know you wouldn’t. Guess we’ll just stick with the shotguns.” *Jo smirks to herself watching the other’s grip on the handle and steps down harder for a few seconds before slowing down again*

<Anna> *Reaching out she grabs the dash and she cringes* “You know to teach me to use a gun I have to live to make it to the shooting range!”

<Jo> *Laughing again, she slows down further until she’s going much slower than she normally would but probably closer to what Anna would be comfortable with* “Yeah, okay, okay. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

<Anna> “Who taught you to drive?” *Anna grins relaxing as they go further out into a snow covered area that is away from the city.* “And did your driving instructer survive?”

<Jo> “Well, the main ones survived past my learning how to do it at least.” *Jo jokes slightly, though her mirth is slightly lessened before shaking it off* “They were better than yours at least.” *They reach the turn off for Jo’s chosen spot, mostly just the land far from the popular road areas and far enough away from any houses that no one would get there and interupt*

<Anna> “I can drive, safely, without breaking the laws and sanely thank you very much.” *Anna smirks as she feels the road get rougher, clearly having left the paved part and she reaches down zipping up her coat as the snow starts to fall again.*

<Jo> *Pulling over and parking behind a row of trees, Jo warms her hands over the heater for a few moments before shutting off the engine and leaning into the backseat to grab her bag* “Yeah yeah, you ready to learn something today?”

<Anna> “First aid for a gun shot wound?” *Anna teases as she gets out, pulling the hood of her coat up over her hair and she grins to Jo as she looks around the area Jo’s found.*

<Jo> “You’ll only have to learn that if you hit my sweetheart.” *Jo pats the roof of the car in explanation before shifting the bag up on her shoulder and reaching out to grab the other woman’s wrist as she steers them to walk along the tree line until their further away from the car and towards a rundown old stone wall.*

<Anna> *Anna raises a brow as Jo implies that she might accidently shoot the car, she doesn’t tell Jo the car is safer than the person because no way is she walking out of this place.* “So why Duluth? What was it about this place that we decided on?”

<Jo> *Shrugging, Jo sets down the bag, reaching in and pulling out two pairs of worn, fingerless wool gloves - holding a pair out as she pulls on the other* “The bar. I used to work there before my old home burnt down and my mom came and found me. I figured you wanted somewhere stable, I wanted somewhere hunters knew to go..it worked out.”

<Anna> *Taking the gloves she puts them on nodding, it made sense and she rubs her hands together as a wind blows across the open area.* “They didn’t have hunter bars in say, Hawaii?”

<Jo> “I wouldn’t know, haven’t left the mainland before.” *Jo lets out a laugh as she fumbles about in the bag before pulling out a few brightly coloured pieces of fabric and plastic of different sizes and visibility* “It was somewhere I knew would be safe.”

<Anna> “Safe, doesn’t really sound like any place is safe from monsters or demons really, I guess there are places less dangerous than others.” *Anna watches Jo and looks around in the bag, noting the different kinds of ammo and the two shot guns.*

<Jo> *Shrugging, not really having any defense to that, Jo grabs the pieces and goes and sets them at varying levels and patterns along the wall. She used to go target practicing with Ash where they’d use his leftover beer cans each time he finished one, but she doubted Anna could fire straight or she could drive straight if they went that way. Coming back, she offers one of the shot guns to Anna as well as a handful of salt rounds* “First things first - the ones you’re going to be after most. Try the yellow targets..”

<Anna> *Anna takes the rounds and the shotgun and sort of looks at Jo and then between the items. Hitting the targets didn’t sound that hard but first she had to figure out how to get the ammo in the gun. Pocketing the rounds she shifts her weight onto her good leg as she starts looking the gun over, trying to figure it out.* “So, maybe you should show me how to load the gun first?”

<Jo> *Jo tries not to snicker as she watches the other, nodding when Anna finally asks for the guidance, amused that it didn’t come straight away. Using the other gun, she checks the safety on the side before leaning the barrel against her thigh as she gently slips one round against the loading flap and pressing until the click of the shells rim moving past the magazine catch. Doing the same with another two rounds, Jo then pumps once to load and points the end of the barrel towards the ground away from the both of them, much slower than she normally would and then looks at the other* “And /then/ try the yellow targets..”

<Anna> *Anna watches Jo and she then takes her own gun pointing it away and she attempts to do what Jo did by checking the saftey and fumbling with it till she finally cracks it open so she can load it. Once the ammo is in she snaps it back and she holds it away from her before turning to the targets. * “Yellow targets..” *Looking down the barrel at the sights she cringes as she squeezes teh trigger.*

<Jo> *It takes biting down on her lip to not react to Anna’s fumbling through the steps, though she didn’t have to help before Anna had it loaded which surprised her a little. When Anna cringes and fires, Jo tilts her head when she sees the round explode a few inches away from the largest yellow target.* “Good first try..” *Setting her own gun down carefully, Jo moves over to reach around and reposition the other’s stance, pointing the gun again* “Try to put your feet in the way you want to shoot, to start at least. Now…try like this, and don’t flinch.” *She presses against Anna’s finger, as the gun’s lined up, waiting for the other to pull the trigger*

<Anna> *The sound is loud and that’s what Anna doesn’t like, she jumps and looks to see where she hit as she hears Jo say good try. Jo helps her and she bites her lip as Jo stands beside her, pulling her arms up, pushing her legs out to a more steady position. The not cringing part might be hard as she squeezes the trigger again, feeling the kick not as bad this time.*

<Jo> *This time it hits the edge of the plastic, cracking one side of it.* “Hey, you got a hit. Try again.” *Jo steps back, crossing her arms as she stands back to watch* “And /don’t/ flinch!”

<Anna> *Anna fumbles with the gun again, struggling to open it without grabbing the hot part of the barrel to reload it as Jo steps back and she mouths quietly “And don’t flinch” as Jo says it.* “Easy for you to say.”

<Jo> “Hey, stop.” *Jo steps back towards her pre-loaded gun, checking the safety again before offering it to Anna* “I’ll do the loading on the hot ones; you just work on getting your shots.” *She takes the half packed one off of Anna as she steps back* “It’s not hard to do either. Try breathing out as you take the shot”

<Anna> *Taking the fresh gun Anna looks down at her feet, getting back in the position Jo showed her and she raises her arms up, pushing her shoulders back as she aims. Breathing out slowly Anna tries to not flinch as she shoots again.*

<Jo> *The shot is closer to the centre, enough that if it werfe a ghost they would have vanished for a time. Smiling, Jo nods her head as she reloads the gun in her hands* “Good work, Anna. …try the red cloth on the end next.”

<Anna> *Anna looks down the wall, the cloth is moving and she frowns as she moves to get a better angel on it. She takes her time aiming again, carefully lining up and as she breathes out again firing the second cartridge but the wind picks up and she totally misses the red cloth*

<Jo> *Jo’s got her eye on the cloth, watching it flutter and as it falls down slightly she can tell the winds about to gust when she hears the gun fire. Letting out a laugh, the blonde offers the newly filled gun as she watches Anna’s reaction* “At least you didn’t flinch that time?”

<Anna> *Anna huffs at Jo and takes the other gun, her fingers that are exposed feel cold and she aims again, thinking she’ll have it when the wind moves the cloth again making her miss.* “Oh for fu..” *She stops mid swear as she looks at Jo like she’s supposed to make the wind stop.*

<Jo> *Laughing again, Jo reloads quickly before letting out a sigh* “Okay, watch me.” *She twists her body and feet towards the target, raising and lining up her sights as she focusses. Breathing slowly, she stands stock still for a long moment watching the changes of the wind and how the fabric waves; until suddenly firing and catching the end of it* “Just…take your time, okay?”

<Anna> *Watching Jo, she can’t help but huff at how easy Jo makes this all look and she wonders how good she was before with this stuff. Anna takes the gun and she waits, trying to time the wind so it’s not working against her as she squeezes off another shot, barely catching the end of teh cloth.* “I kinda got it.”

<Jo> *Jo smiles watching the other woman, before nodding and smiling wider when it catches as well* “Kinda is good enough sometimes, just a bit of salt’ll stop a ghost.” *She waves her hand for the other woman’s gun* “C'mon, into the car to warm up a bit and we’ll start again in a few minutes..”

<Anna> *Anna hands over the gun and she rubs her arms, feeling them ache from firing the gun. The idea of getting warm sounds good, going for a second round doesn’t sound so good and she looks at Jo.* “I can shoot, we don’t have to do a round two do we?”

<Jo> *Laughing, Jo tosses the keys to the other, resting the guns down gently before following into the car and rubbing her fingers together in front of the heater* “A few more, yeah.”

<Anna> *Anna grumbles as she cranks the car and turns the heater up to high* “So how like accurate do I have to be on hunts?”

<Jo> “The times you’ve hit each you’d be pretty alright. ..Advantage if you decide to stick to spirits is it doesn’t require quite so much accuracy.” *Jo continues to smile at the others grumbling, cheeks flushing bright red as the change from cold to heated air hits her face*

<Anna> “My arms hurt, I just got over being sore from the hunt.” *She knows she sounds whiney but Jo’s clearly enjoying this more than her even though she’s having some fun, mostly annoying Jo.*

<Jo> “Uh huh. Well, you want to do this - constant soreness is something you’ll get used to.” *She can’t stop the smirk at Anna’s almost whinging tone as Jo continues to move her fingers - the cold weather getting to the breaks from not long ago in a small ache she hopes will be this winter only*

<Anna> “No wonder you move like an old person sometimes.” *Anna slouches down in the chair turning the heat onto the feet setting and she stretches.* “Speaking of old, how long do like monsters live?”

<Jo> “Ha, ha. ..Depends on the monster..” *Jo continues to rub at her few recent injuries, twisting her ankle and glad that none of the areas that hurt last year hurt this year* “Though I get the feeling you didn’t mean in /general/.”

<Anna> *Anna shrugs, just wondering as she turns the engine off.* “The wind isn’t blowing as much, maybe now I can hit the damn red one.* *Climbing out of the car she can feel the cold make her legs ache that had just been under the heater.*

<Jo> "Try to reload straight off this time.” *Jo stays in the cab for a few moments, hoping out and traipsing along after the other once she sees her standing ready to shoot. Seeing the red fabric not moving at all and hanging limply, she can’t stop the small smirk before she chimes out as Anna goes to fire* “I think the boys are around two hundred and fifty..”

<Anna> “Talk about robbing the cradle..” *Anna tries to not think to hard about the age difference and she takes aim with the reloaded shotgun, breathing out she fires and without the wind she hits one side of the red cloth*

<Jo> “The other Anna was older, so she was sort of robbing the nest. Though glad someone else is, mentally, younger with me.” *Jo snickers, watching and grinning widely when Anna hits the cloth without the movement* “Try for the blue plastic this time.”

<Anna> “What do you mean mentally younger?” *Anna looks back glaring at Jo some and she grumbles about bossy old hunters as she reloads the shotgun before looking at the blue targets, they are the furthest away and her first shot is wide, missing totally*

<Jo> *Smiling as she watches the other miss, Jo offers the other gun like before as she shrugs* “I mean that someone doesn’t have over the number of years they look a memories too finally.”

<Anna> *Not sure if Jo is insulting her or not she just ignores her and fires, barely hitting the blue target.* “So, moving and far away, means basically I’m not hitting it.”

<Jo> “Yeah, pretty much.” *Jo watches on, absent mindedly reloads the other gun as she waits* “It just takes practice..”

<Anna> “Practice..well, I can hit the wall at least. I could be missing that totally and the targets.” *Anna grins some looking back at Jo pointing out the bright side of her being a bad shot.*

<Jo> “True, but you could also be hitting the targets.” *Jo teases back, smirking slightly before shifting her weight as she rolls her ankle* “Least you’re still not jumping.”

<Anna> “Maybe I need a bigger target, go take a jog down the field.” *Anna jokes as she sets the gun down rubbing her hands back and forth trying to get some feeling back in fingers.*

<Jo> *Jo frowns slightly before shrugging and setting the gun she has next to Anna’s feet* “That’s a good idea.” *Stealing herself, she runs back to the car and grabs one of the blankets from the car and wraps it around herself before jogging out* “Go ahead, give it a whirl!” *As she shouts, Jo spins herself, letting out a laugh as her blanket, jacket, scarf and hair fly out around her*

<Anna> *Anna just stares at Jo and she shakes her head.* “I am not going to attempt to shoot you! My luck something would happen and I would kill you even though it’s just salt and then not only would I be going to jail I would have a pissed off monster at me that already doesn’t like me!”

<Jo> *Laughing, Jo waves at Anna as she gets near the wall, hopping up on it and grinning like a child as she starts to move along the top* “Oh c'mon, I only brought salt with me, I’m not going to die, and if I do you can tell Grey I was askin’ for it! Just shoot, Anna”

<Anna> “No! I am not shooting you!” *Anna stares at Jo and she fights with the gun to get it back open to take the shells out, forgetting to put the saftey back on.* “I think the cold has shrunk your brain if you think this is a good idea!” *Anna is yelling down at Jo when the gun goes off and she screams in surprise when the sound of glass is heard breaking when the salt rounds hit the car*

<Jo> *Jo’s opening her mouth to shout back when she hears the sound of the gun followed by the glass shattering, spinning around too fast to look and falls over the back of the wall. Without a seconds hesitance, she pops back up looking across the distance towards the shocked other woman and then on to her ‘sweetheart’ and lets out an inhuman noise as she flings herself over the wall towards the car*

<Anna> *Anna carefully places the gun on the ground and she backs away as Jo makes a scream that doesn’t sound like anything a human should be able to make. She wants to ask if Jo’s okay from falling but the way Jo is running she’s guessing she is and wonders if she should use Jo’s distraction to put distance between them.* “I..well..it’s just a car right? A little paint, new window, good as new.”

<Jo> *She’s not even aware that she’s basically growling as she sprints past the other to the car to look over the damage, fingers shaking as she looked over the car and getting louder at Anna’s comment* “YOU SHOT MY FUCKING CAR!”

<Anna> “I didn’t mean too, it just happened. Calm down Jo, you were fine with me shooting you and it’s not like you can’t fix the car.” *Anna holds her hands up in a calming manner like when you’re trying to pacify an angry child.*

<Jo> “You shot my fucking car!” *Jo screams again, staring at the broken window before spinning around on the other woman* “I told you to shoot me! Not the car!”

<Anna> “I didn’t mean too! And look at this way, now you have a good reason to repaint it and get rid of that ugly blue color!” *Anna’s trying really hard to not laugh as she watches Jo come apart over the car.* “At least I didn’t hit the engine?”

<Jo> *Letting out a strangled noise, Jo tugs at her hair before stalking over to pick up the guns, leaving the targets behind as she shoves them and the blanket into her backseat* “Get in, we’re done for today.” *Settling into the front seat, she pulls her scarf up over her nose and mouth, fumbling in the glove box for some sunglasses*

<Anna> “Um the one side is still loaded Jo and I don’t know if the safety is on, not sure you want it going off in the car.” *Anna points out Jo is clearly pissed at her and she goes over, opening her door, raking the glass out of her seat onto the ground.* “I didn’t mean too, you know.”

<Jo> *Hissing, Jo reaches into the back and shoves the door open, standing half in and half out of the car she turns towards the wall and fires the gun towards one of the targets now further away and hitting straight through the still floating red target. Shoving the gun into the back again, Jo starts the car as she slams the door, waiting for Anna*

<Anna> *Biting her lip hard she meekly shuts the door, not saying anything else to Jo as she slouches down feeling a few pieces of glass she missed under her legs and ass. It’s going to be a cold ride back but she isn’t going to dare complain.*

<Jo> *The slight slush under the wheels sprays up behind them as Jo pulls back onto the roads and puts her foot down, feeling the wind sting against her cheeks and hair despite the protections she’d put on. After a few miles, she turns towards Anna and nods her head to the glove compartment* “Theres more glasses in there, you could use the fuckin’ blanket too.”

<Anna> *Anna is holding on for dear life  wondering about her chances of making it by walking back to town as Jo drives like she has a demon after her and she’s just nods as Jo screams above the sound of the wind coming into the car.* “I’ll be okay till we get back to my place.”

<Jo> *Nodding, Jo continues to grumble under her breath quietly as they finally get back into town, her fingers feeling like ice on the steering wheel as she slows down as she gets closer to Anna’s apartment. Pulling over out front, Jo lets out a sigh as she reaches out to touch the broken glass before looking across at the other woman* “We won’t be able to go until I’ve got this fixed, but I’ll let you know when we go.”

<Anna> *Anna’s teeth are chattering and her face feels raw as she nods, getting out and walking stiffly to her apartment. She’s got a date with the shower and then her bed and blankets.* “Sorry..really didn’t mean too ya know, shoot the car.”

<Jo> *Jo nods, leaning through the front window as Anna gets out and heads inside* “I know. I’ll see you later, Anna..” *Shivering, she turns away and heads back towards home - already planning to thaw out in the shower and in front of the tv*

#4 - Might have put this one up already, Grey won’t be happy cause Jo bakes for others...

<Jo> *missed that LOL*

<Anna> Soooooo

<Jo> ooooooo..?

<Anna> “Can I drive the car?”

<Jo> “No!”

<Anna> *Sigh*

<Jo> LOL

<Anna> =P

<Anna> “Jo”

<Jo> “…It rhymes with my name, and starts with an ‘n’.”

<Anna> “nacho?”

<Jo> “…You suck. You suck so so bad.”

<Anna> *Anna grins*

<Jo> “Not gonna happen.”

<Anna> “So we don’t ever go out for Mexican?”

<Jo> “God, can you just… Just go make friends with Grey or call up your guy or something. Annoy someone else too!”

<Anna> *Anna looks innocently at Jo.* “What am I doing to annoy you? I’m just asking questions, how am I supposed to know that we don’t go out for Mexican.”

<Jo> “Fuckin’ God and Mother help me.” *Jo rubs the bridge of her nose* “What were you going to ask /other/ than that you can drive then?”

<Anna> “If you wanted to go out for coffee.”

<Anna> “And not Mexican it seems.”

<Jo> “So long as theres some cake included..”

<Anna> *Anna laughs quietly*

<Jo> “I like sweets, alright. Shut up.”

<Anna> *Anna ticks off on her fingers* “Sweets, no nachos, no driving for me..”

<Jo> “Sounds about right”

<Anna> “I can see how you and Gray are alike, he says I’m also annoying.”

<Jo> “Yeah, but I’m sure he means it much more affectionately than I do.”

<Anna> “No not really, he sounded about as annoyed as you do.”

<Jo> “Yeah, but he /always/ sounds annoyed. …Mostly.”

<Anna> “Not always but when I’m teasing him like I am you right now, he does.”

<Jo> “That’s because you suck.”

<Anna> *Anna smiles* “I don’t remember, do I?”

<Jo> “Oh no, I think you know pretty well right now.” *Jo shakes her head, rubbing the back of her neck with a laugh*

<Anna> *Anna just smiles staring at Jo*

<Jo> “Coffee, cake. No car.”

<Anna> “I can drive while you eat your cake.”

<Jo> “/No!/”

<Anna> *Giggles*

<Jo> “You touch my sweetheart, I’ll touch yours.” *Jo teases back, sticking out her tongue*

<Anna> “But I don’t have a sweetheart.”

<Jo> “Gah! I will go, buy you something, make you enjoy it and it become important to you and /then/ touch it!”

<Anna> “That sounds dirty.”

<Jo> *Jo raises an eyebrow* “That’s really not dirty by my standards, angelcake.”

<Anna> “Clearly I have higher standards than you.”

<Jo> “/Clearly/.”

<Anna> “Jo.”

<Jo> “…What?”

<Anna> “Are we going for cake and coffee or are we going to stand about talking about touching things.”

<Jo> “…Fine, we’ll go for coffee and cake. You’re going to have to walk though.” *Jo shrugs a shoulder, fiddling with her jacket buttons*

<Anna> “Why do I have to walk?”

<Jo> “Well, someone blasted a shot gun round through my car window and they’re not being exactly quick at getting it fixed.”

<Anna> “Oh well, I have coffee here, I’ll just stay in where it’s warm.”

<Jo> “…You don’t have cake do you?”

<Anna> “Yes, I make pancakes sometimes.”

<Jo> “Fine, I’ll just bring some stuff around 'nd make my own.”

<Anna> “Alright but I don’t have fire insurance.”

<Jo> “Ah ha, I’m good in a kitchen. You can ask anyone. Except my mom.  I’ll be around soonish then.”

<Anna> “The door will be unlocked.”

<Jo> *Jo hangs up and stuffs a few things into a plastic bag before heading out, glad to have already thrown on her jacket and scarf thinking they were going somewhere else. It takes a while to walk, but when she gets there she just heads in and straight towards the fridge* “Please tell me you have better than my coffee at least. I ran out of filters yesterday.”

<Anna> *Anna has the heat up for Jo as she comes in and makes a bit of a face as Jo tracks snow across the floor.* “I have some stuff from the local coffee shop down the road and I have some of that necter sweetner instead of sugar.”

<Jo> “Anything better than instant is good with me. Though that’s awesome.” *Jo kicks her shoes back towards the door as she pulls her coat and scarf off, throwing them over the back of one of the small chairs after digging out Anna’s milk, eggs and butter* “You got any particular allergies to anythin’, Anna?”

<Anna> “No, not that I know off. Do you? Is there anything I should not buy when we are out together?” *Anna takes a mop and quickly cleans up the floor before throwing a towel infront of the door to block the draft coming under it.*

<Jo> *Jo bites down a smirk at Anna’s cleaning as she unpacks her own mmixing bowls, meausring jugs and other utensils, before starting to measure out from eggs and butter before pausing* “Where’s the flour? And no I don’t, I’ll eat basically anything. The more meat the better. Or sugar. One or other.”

<Anna> *Anna chokes as is Jo makes a comment about eating meat and sort of blushes.* “I’m sure, you do and flour is to your left, top of the cabinet in the white container.”

<Jo> “…What? What the heck were you just thinking?” *Jo gives Anna’s flush a curious glance, though her lips quirk up in the hint of a smirk as she’s certain she could guess. Turning to grab the container, struggling for a second to grab it out before spinning back around to continue adding vanilla essence and a mixing up some buttermilk before mixing together, feeling about in her bag for something*

<Anna> “I wasn’t thinking anything..” *Anna leans back against the counter not being used as she watches Jo with a bit of a raised brow.* “You are far more domestic than I would have pictured you.”

<Jo> “Uh huh, then what was the blush about, Anna dear?” *Smirking still, Jo gets the limes she was after out, quickly grating the rinds into the mix* “In pretty much this one and only way.” *Finishing the batter, she grabs four spoons out of the cutlery drawer before offering two out to Anna as she gets the baking tray and cupcake liners ready* “Help me with this?”

<Anna> *Anna shakes her head* “I’m not blushing about anything!” *Taking the cupcake liners she turns around starting to seperate them out and lay them out in rows.* “So did you learn this from your mom? Did she bake for all the other hunters?”

<Jo> “Mhmm, you sure Anna? You /sure/?” *Chuckling, Jo quickly squeezes and mixes in one of the limes’ juice to the batter before begining to spoon in to the liners, leaving two of the spoons for Anna to join in* “Mom cooked for them all, but I’m not the greatest chef about the place. I always had a sweet tooth so she showed me the ropes as a kid and I’d bake while she made more substantial things.”

<Anna> “I’m totally sure. You’re the one talking about how you like your meat.” *Anna smirks as she dips a finger in the bowl quickly, tasting the batter as Jo measures it out in the cups.* “I’ve never met your mother right?” Did d she know about us?“

<Jo> "Oh that’s what that was about? Well, I am a fan of a nice piece'a meat..” *Smiling, Jo whacks the others fingers when she goes for another taste, topping up each of the cupcakes until the batter was gone other than the remainder around the edges of the bowl. Pushing it and the spoons across to Anna, Jo sprinkles a tiny bit of salt on top of each cupcake before slipping them into the oven, and sucks her fingers off* “You have actually, though she’s spending most of her time down with Bobby these days. She knew, she didn’t really approve but she doesn’t approve of a lot of things.”

<Anna> *Anna yelps as Jo whacks her fingers but then takes the bowl, licking the spoon as she shakes her head.* “Well as long as you keep your meat out of the cupcakes we are good.” *Putting the spoon the sink she runs a finger around teh bowl.* “So your mother and Bobby are a couple?”

<Jo> *Snickering, Jo turns to Anna’s cupboards and grabs another bowl for her to start the frosting* “I don’t think I would ever try to mix my two favourite things like that. …I..don’t know? Sure? They’re my mom and Bobby. They’ll let me know if anything turns serious; so I’m expecting a call any day now.” *She laughs, smiling as she mixes some butter with the icing sugar before grabbing out the bottle of tequilla from her bag*

<Anna> *Anna raises a brow as Jo get the tequilla out of the bag obviously intending it to go into the icing.* “So then your totally cool with the idea of your mom and Bobby..ya know..doing it.” *Turning around she turns on the water and begins washing the bowls so that there isn’t anything piline up.* “I guess that’s cool that you would like your step dad if they ever get married.”

<Jo> *Measuring out a little more than she thinks the reciepe quite calls for, Jo continues to beat and mix the mix as she turns to watch the other, pulling a slightly face and pausing for a sip of the drink for herself* “I’d rather not /think/ about it, but.. Bobby’s a good guy. He’s always treated me and Mom well and its not like I couldn’t have seen it comin’ eventually.”

<Anna> *Anna laughs watching Jo take a drink as she talks about marriage and step dads.* “Well still it’s good that she’s happy. How would Bobby feel about having Grey as a step son-in-law with him being a monster and all?”

<Jo> *Jo almost drops the bowl, her grip slipping for a second and catching it only at the last second as she spins back around to face the other way as she starts whisking again at double the speed* “I just want Mom to be happy, she deserves it these days…” *She studiously avoids commenting on the other’s question, flushing brightly*

<Anna> *Anna raises a brow as she dries her hands off from washing the dishes, Jo’s usually not clumsy and she sort of smirks.* “Everyone should be, I’m sore Bobby and Grey will get a long well.”

<Jo> *Setting the bowl down, Jo takes another mouthful from the tequilla bottle, hissing slightly at the taste more than the burn* “First time they met Bobby shot Grey. Course, first time my Mom met Grey she also shot /at/ him. ….Mom’d have the same issue as Bobby, probably more, about what Grey was - Bobby…was..well, he’d be a bit of a hypocrite to be angry about me bein’ with one.” *Shrugging, Jo starts to mix up the icing again, getting the mix slowly but surely more light and fluffy* “Though I don’t think they’d be ending up with any son-in-law’s at any point.”

<Anna> “Too bad, I was just thinking that with all the shootings as first meetings we could do a double shotgun themed wedding. It would be cute and I’ve helped with other weddings at my parent’s church so I could organize it.” *Anna reaches over trying to get a taste of the icing as she watches Jo.*

<Jo> “I.. …Last time this ever got mentioned, it was well known I’d be the one with a shotgun on them, and I don’t think that’s the greatest…idea. Things are just..” *Jo sighs, not stopping Anna from stealing a taste before squeezing in some of the lime juice and sprinkling in a fair two pinches of salt* “Things aren’t exactly normal, right now.”

<Anna> “Things not being normal is an understatement but as long as things have a chance to become normal then there is hope.” *Anna smiles at Jo as she takes a glass and pours herself a shot of the alcohol.* “I think it would be worth it just to see you all dressed up like a girl for once anyway.”

<Jo> “Well, I have plans. Hopefully..” *Jo pulls a face at Anna, taking the bottle back and swigging a mouthful before setting it back down again* “Next time, I’m going to wear a dress over here. Get your girly fantasies of seeing me all pretty for you out of the way.”

<Anna> *Anna snorts* “You don’t have too make a special effort on my part.” *She wonders if Jo’s going to be sober by the time the cupcakes get done.* “So besides baking and shooting things what else do you do?”

<Jo> *Measuring out a small cup of the liqiud, Jo sets it to the side as she starts to mix up the icing again carefully folding in some of the lime rind but keeps a quarter of it untouched* “Oh no no, much easier for me to wow you with my feminine charms without going through all the trouble of organising a wedding.  …I mostly do research, help out other hunters, keep tabs on the bar. Work on making new weapons and such if I’m bored, build some things sometimes, work on my car and watch tv or movies mostly.”

<Anna> “Wow, you really are a tomboy.” *Anna chuckles as she steals another taste of the icing, licking it off her fingers.* “We could go out shopping at some point, there are a couple of malls it looks like or maybe catch a movie. I’m not sure how good I would be at building weapons.”

<Jo> “At least you’re not callin’ me butch.” *Jo laughs, watching Anna before just holding the whisk out to the other woman instead as the timer on her phone goes off and she checks the cupcakes, smiling when they’re the right amount of springy to the touch* “Neither of those sound like a bad idea. Except for the weapon work, I’m not letting you near my workspace. But a movie or shopping could be fun.”

<Anna> *Taking the whisk she happily takes care of the icing as she smirks at Jo, watching the blond woman happily cook away.* “Just don’t park the car next to it and I’m sure everything would be fine.” *Steping out of Jo’s reach she turns to wash the whisk once the icing is gone.*

<Jo> *Jo makes a sharp noise at the joke, shooting the other a dirty look as she begins to brush a small amount of the alcohol over the top of each of the cupcakes until the cup she’d set to the side was empty* “Like I say, shopping or a movie. Probably much less dangerous for /everyone/.” *Smirking back at the other, Jo leans against the counter setting another alarm for when she can start icing*

<Anna> “It was just one shot and I didn’t even hurt the car that bad, it was a flesh wound.” *Anna teases her more and she grabs another drink, the tequila burning going down.* “Let me guess if we go shopping, we have to go to the gun store after the shoe store right?”

<Jo> “I guess I’m going to go ahead and paint it black with just a /hint/ of red next time then?” *Jo snickers back, continuously pressing at the top of one of the cupcakes before going to start making up her typical DIY piping bags* “Nah, I have a guy I go to for most of mine, or at least the ones I care about. Make most of my own salt rounds and order the silver and iron from him; so no gun stores necessary. …Might need to go to the comic shop or game store though, I’m trying to understand what the hell Harry goes on about more.”

<Anna> “Oh! I found the gun I want, I bet you could modify it. I was looking online and there’s one that’s pink with Hello Kitty on it and another that’s purple with a unicorn.” *Anna is saying this with a totally straight face as she watches Jo make her own piping bags, remembering her mother doing the same.* “Harry once spent a whole afternoon explaining the mechanics of a game, not sure what it was.*

<Jo> *Jo blinks back at Anna, face twisting into a horrified and disgusted look as she tries to invision that such a thing exists before shaking her head* "Ah ha, no.  But yeah, Harry’s strange. And Grey used to play a lot of video games though..I don’t know, I haven’t spotted him doing it recently but I figure its easier to learn in advance.” *Setting down the bag, she starts to cut the lime with rind into little wedges for decorating*

<Anna> *Anna bursts out into laughter at Jo’s expression as she describes the guns she saw online and she spares Jo the girly looking protection gear she saw as well.* “Those two seem like they would get a long really well, Harry really likes his games and comic books, he once spent a whole shift giving me a lecture of Marvel vs DC.”

<Jo> “Trust me, they do. Swear its like watching two teenagers, except they have very stupid thoughts that Spiderman and Iron Man are better than Batman.” *She can’t help but snicker to herself, knowing exactly what that lecture sounds like after several rounds of it with the geeky researcher. Feeling the top of the cupcakes again, she decides to just ignore her timer and start piping out icing*

<Anna> “Oh lord you are one of them too.” *Anna grins as she tries to make a grab for the first cupcake Jo finishes.* “How did Harry get into this life, he seems so far removed from someone who would be a hunter.” *Pausing she looks at Jo.* “He is human right?”

<Jo> “You thought any differently?” *Jo lets out a laugh, giggling to herself as she smacks Anna’s hand before studding the top of the icing swirl with a small slice of lime and then handing it over* “Harry’s definitely human. He and his friends were always into ghosts and they…did, you know those reality ghost hunting tv shows? They were doing one. But..online and not really popular.”

<Anna> “And just when I thought he couldn’t get any more of a geek.” *Anna takes the lime off that Jo put on there and sets it aside as she peels the paper off the cupcake and takes a bit. It’s really good even though she’s surpised how much it tastes like the drink.* “This is good Jo!”

<Jo> “Yeah well, he didn’t really appreciate my calling him and his friends hackjobs the first time we talked, but he’s actually pretty good at this stuff. Guess it sort of appeals to the geeky side, right?” *Smiling at the other’s reaction, Jo continues to make up the rest, putting a sliver of lime rind on some while wedges on others and sprinkling a small bit of salt ontop each* “Yeah? Well, I have had a lot of practice. Should have asked what you like first but..I had the stuff for these ones.”

<Anna> *Anna doesn’t say anything else till the cupcake is gone and she’s licking her fingers.* “Next time strawberry maybe?” *She’s relaxed and she’s really enjoyed just hanging out with Jo lately, it’s nice to have a friend again.* “Oh maybe chocolate with cherries and rum.”

<Jo> *Scrunching up the baking paper piping bag as she finishes, Jo smiles back at Anna as she tosses the sheet in the trash before picking up a cupcake herself* “I could do that. I’ve been trying to make a cherry cola rum one but haven’t quite got the right amount of cherry to cola yet. Though chocolate would probably be easier, actually.”

<Anna> “Oh chocolate and strawberries, that would be so good.” *Anna thinks the colo and cherries sounds good too.* “I’ll help you test out any thing you want to try, you can use my kitchen anytime. If you ever get out of hunting, you should open a bakery.”

<Jo> “I think you and Grey are going to be fighting over my baking now.” *Laughing, Jo makes her way through her cupcake, holding the wedge of lime in one hand as she licks up the icing before squeezing the juice over the top of the cake and eating the rest* “We’ll if we do go shopping, can always come back and try out some things after. …A bakery? That’s..a funny mental image, Anna, gotta admit.”

<Anna> “I think you could do an amazing business, do it after hours, serve these with the drink they match. And Grey can bite me, I call dibs on anything you bake.” *Anna takes the lime wedge and squeezes it onto the cake part before biting into it.*

<Jo> “Next thing you know, Harry’ll hustle in and try to get me to make themed cupcakes for things like new movies or DnD stuff.” *She chokes on a laugh at Anna saying Grey can bite her, coughing as she takes a mouthful of her own cake as she has the mental image* “I think he might have already, but you’re welcome to battle it out. Or I’ll just make seperate batches for each of you!”

<Anna> *Anna’s head snaps up as Jo says Grey already has and she has a look of panic on ehr face.* “Wait, please tell me that we haven’t he..Grey, your Grey and I ..oh my God I am the town bicycle. Did Harry and I? I thought it was just you and Gray, my Gray..” *Anna reaches for whats left in the bottle.*

<Jo> *Jo stares back at Anna before collapsing into laughing again, holding out a hand* “No! No no no! I meant he already called dibs! You’ve only been with me and your monster, and Dean but I didn’t know back then.” *She shakes her head, trying not to flush as she tries to think about any of what Anna suggested*

<Anna> “Oh thank heavens..I..just I am not like that!” *Anna blushes as Jo is laughing at her and she thinks this is karma for the car.* “You could have just said that he called dibs..”

<Jo> *Jo shrugs, still laughing to herself before her phone goes off. Looking at it confusedly and realising it was a call from a different hunter, she steals another cupcake and packs up her things - still joking with Anna and promising they’ll work out another day to hang out soon - Jo heads off towards the bar to make sure the book needed was ready for the other before heading home again*

[eggoreviews]

12 ‘Unpopular’ Viddy Game Opinions

I’ve seen this topic floating around a lot, but didn’t think I had enough ‘unpopular but maybe not’ opinions about games to make a post. Turns out I do! So if you see this and I say something blasphemous, remember it’s just my opinion and my personal experiences with the games I list. Hope you enjoy or hey, maybe even agree with some of this!

Note: Can’t stress enough. This is just me. Also, spoilers under the cut!

12. The opening of Kingdom Hearts II isn’t as terrible as everyone says

Okay, so it’s not brilliant, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s the worst. For those not in the know, KH2′s opening is a basically a massive slog where you play as a character you don’t know or care about with seemingly no real link to the events of the previous game. The general consensus is that there’s some interesting stuff in here, but it’s buried among endless dialogue that really doesn’t mean much. And they’re right, but I really think there’s some great stuff here that people tend to gloss over. The music and the motif of Twilight Town is atmospheric, there’s some genuinely intriguing plot elements that are woven into Roxas’ story and believe it or not, the stuff that happens here is intrinsic to the rest of the game. So yeah, it drags on a little, but I don’t think KH2 would be miles better without this opening.

11. I loved Breath of the Wild’s final boss

One of the problems I see talked about with Breath of the Wild is that the boss fights are fairly mediocre, especially the very last one, Dark Beast Ganon. And I couldn’t disagree more. I think every boss in the game is wonderfully crafted, intense, challenging and great for testing you on what you’ve learned throughout the game by encouraging you to make creative use of your slate powers and the flurry rush technique. And while Mr. Pig Man at the end here is sort of easy and short, it serves as a brilliantly epic finale to damn near perfect game. While the difficulty is mostly gone after the mammoth fight with Calamity Ganon, it’s still just as intense as you frantically fire off arrows into the massive beast in front of you. Plus, the design of this thing is one of the best looking monsters in the game, so I really don’t understand the dislike for this ending.

10. I really like Crash of the Titans

Okay, so maybe childhood nostalgia has something to do with this pick, but every Crash fan I’m aware of seems to hate this game. But I don’t really know where the hate comes from! I played the PS2 version of this and I thought it was a genuinely fun 3D platformer with a variety of locations, good visuals, well-designed boss battles and even a vague story you can sort of follow! The game’s main gameplay feature is also brilliantly integrated, as using Aku Aku to possess various monsters throughout the game keeps everything interesting. One thing I will say though, that tiger dude you have to fight about halfway through is the most annoying thing I’ve ever had to endure in a game.

9. Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is BAD

I loved Life Is Strange when it first dropped, so I was beyond excited when they announced a prequel from Chloe’s perspective. But I really think they dropped the ball and they dropped it hard. But everyone else seems to adore this game! For me, this wasn’t a touch on the original. For a start, they dropped out one of the main mechanics of the first game, the time travel, which they then replaced with a much less interesting ‘Backtalk’ feature, which was then only used about twice throughout the game. Instead of interesting, developed characters reacting to genuinely dangerous or heartfelt situations, it felt to me like a bunch of one-dimensional teenagers who are edgy for the sake of being edgy. Chloe spends the majority of the game being a dick to her mother and bunking off class to spend time with Rachel, who she has literally known for like a day and their sudden relationship drops out of nowhere. Not that I didn’t enjoy the emotional moments of their relationship, it just didn’t feel like it stemmed from anywhere, unlike Max and Chloe from the first game. And the game’s attempts at villains were also rubbish compared to the first, with Damien (random scary knife guy who doesn’t really tie into the plot that much) and Eliot (who doesn’t appear for the whole game and suddenly goes full incel on Chloe when she breaks into Rachel’s house). Yeah I think you can tell I had some problems with this one.

8. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider was also a hot mess

I LOVE the Dishonored series. The first game and its DLCs are amazing, the second game was arguably even better. And then this happened. In this one, you play as Billie Lurk, a character I love, and Daud comes back, a character I also love. But both of them are incredibly badly written and it doesn’t feel like there’s any development to them or even much reason for them to do what they’re doing. This entry took the mystery surrounding the Outsider and basically did a big poo on it, giving us the revelation that he was apparently HUMAN this whole time. I think that was the nail in the coffin that made me sort of think this was a bit rubbish. While the combat and side missions were as brilliant as ever, the level designs felt less creative than other entries in the series and lacked variety or colour, all the side characters were entirely forgettable and to wrap it all up, they killed Daud offscreen. Out of nowhere, they just killed him, mentioned it offhand in a cutscene and that was that. If you like this game, fair enough, but it kind of baffles me that more people don’t see this in the game.

7. Mario Galaxy 2 is good. It’s just sort of good

Some people cite this as being one of the best 3D platformers of all time, and that’s fair enough, but I just kind of see this one as ‘good’. Sure, it has a good, satisfying control scheme for the most part, the level design is creative and the bosses and puzzles are pretty standard for a Mario title, but still enjoyable. However, sometimes, the floaty physics and weird knockback effect from jumping into walls led to quite a lot of unfair deaths, especially if I’d been punished for messing up already by losing a life, only to then immediately be punished again by falling into the void. Plus, I found Yoshi near impossible to control at some points with the motion controls. So yeah, this one is genuinely enjoyable, but I don’t think I’d personally put it with the best of all time.

6. I LOVE Dragon Quest IX TO DEATH

This is a game in a legendary franchise that consistently almost always see ranked at the very bottom of the pile in the series. But I really don’t understand how or why. Okay so your protagonist and party are basically silent and don’t have a lot of character, but I don’t see this as a reason to totally write off the game! The side characters, villains and story are all amazing and well-developed, the world is huge, colourful and interesting, the monsters are brilliantly creative and Dragon Quest’s signature lame sense of humour is gratefully carried through the whole game. The music is always brilliant and atmospheric and the bosses are just as memorable as each character you meet. What was everyone’s problem?? This is genuinely one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played and if you haven’t had a chance to pick it up, it is so, so worth it.

5. Sonic Adventure is a broken mess

So before I kick this one off, I’m not someone who hates Sonic and I’m not here to slate the whole franchise, but considering this game is often considered to be one of the best in the series, I thought it was definitely worth addressing. When I first played this, I literally couldn’t believe this was made in 1998, AFTER Mario 64 and yet it’s so broken! The physics and control scheme are totally wonky and hard to control, the unending amount of glitches make a fair amount of the stages almost unplayable, the voice acting and facial animation is cringey and oddly broken and yet, this was all on the Dreamcast. The most powerful console of the time. And I don’t think I even need to mention how boring some of the later stages get, with Big the Cat’s fishing section being the main offender. I can’t vouch for Adventure 2 as I haven’t had a chance to play yet, but I really hope it isn’t like this.

4. Dragon Age Origins is the best Dragon Age

Dragon Age has always been a popular RPG series, but I think it properly shot to fame once Inquisition dropped in 2014. And don’t get me wrong, I liked Inquisition! The world was colourful and expansive and the characters were fairly memorable, but I still think the best experience you can get is in the series’ first entry, Origins. While it’s pretty easy to see that it’s slightly dated considering it’s ten years old now, the best characters and story in the series I think is here. Each companion you recruit is varied and developed and the story wraps up brilliantly in the end with each companion and army you meet playing a different role in the final battle. Plus, I kind of can’t forgive Inquisition for making Leliana lose her sense of humour and making her kinda boring.

3. Oblivion is better than Skyrim

Okay so I’m not sure exactly how unpopular this is, but I just thought Oblivion was miles better than Skyrim ended up being. Just to clear it up, I still love Skyrim and I thought it built on the series’ combat system and variety of enemies really well and still provided an enjoyable experience. But Oblivion feels like more of an adventure you feel at home in. The story is dense and full of twists and turns. The soundtrack has some of the most atmospheric music I’ve ever heard, the world is full of bright colours, each city is vastly different and has its own lore and I found some of this to be absent from Skyrim. I’d go into more detail, but I think the simple fact is that Oblivion had so much more I liked than Skyrim.

2. I don’t think The Witcher III is all that amazing (in some regards)

This by no means says that I don’t like the game, because I do, but I think it has more flaws than people let on. Now, don’t get me wrong, a lot of the stuff people praise about this game is true, the quests are in-depth and masterfully crafted, the characters, especially Geralt, are extremely memorable. In fact, Geralt is one of my favourite game protagonists. But most of the problems I had were in terms of the gameplay. The combat, while fast-paced and satisfying, can sometimes feel a little finicky, so a lot of precision is needed. However, I felt that the world itself didn’t particularly interest me and the music is often ambient but outside of combat, isn’t anything special. Mostly though, the leveling system I found to be a bit wonky. I did absolutely everything I could in the first area of the game; all the side quests, treasure hunts, killed a whole bunch of monsters etc. And then I arrive in the second area and find I’m too underleveled to do literally anything. The majority of the quests have too high a level cap, a lot of the monsters kill me very quickly. And because the bulk of EXP farming is in the quests, I’m sort of stuck in an endless loop of constantly not being strong enough to do anything. On top of that, all my equipment keeps breaking and I’m finding that repair kits are extremely few and far between and that makes me even WEAKER. It’s something I’m gonna need to persevere with I think, but hey, this is just my experience with it.

1. Ocarina of Time, as amazing as it is, may have overstayed its welcome as best game of all time

I reckon this might be the most controversial, so it’s number 1. Let me preface this by saying I really like Ocarina and I agree that it was innovative for the RPG genre at the time. There’s a hell of a lot in this game that we have to thank for the games we have today. But considering how far the gaming industry has come since then and the sheer amount of high quality games we’ve been getting year after year, is still fair to call this the best game ever? When more recent games have taken what Ocarina started and built upon it? Games like Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption II, God of War all gave us expansive, beautiful worlds and a story you can really get stuck into. And all the time, more and more games of this caliber are coming out. So yes, of course Ocarina of Time deserves a place in the hall of fame, it was revolutionary and still holds up really well today! I just can’t help but think there have been plenty of games since then, as flawed as some of them may be, that have improved upon the formula tenfold since Ocarina’s release.

Thanks for reading if you got this far! Just to reiterate, these are all just my opinions and my experiences with the games I mentioned, so pls don’t attack me. Got any viddy game opinions you think are sort of not popular? Drop them down below if you feel like it!

[citrinecoven]

I need to get some things off my chest...

For the last 2 months I have been in school taking a web dev course, i came from working in retail for 8 years straight and was hoping to change my “career path”. But all kinda sorts of weirdness are going on in my school... Before i start writing about the weird stuff that goes on in school, i want to say that I have realised on my own that web dev is not for me. I need something a bit more creative, a bit less technical... maybe web design? who knows... that’s not the point. I’m just saying this to preface that school didnt make me “give up”, it just helped. Right so... I go to a school for adults that teaches lots of techie stuff like web dev, app dev, ui/ux design, etc... They use a lot of more modern teaching styles, one of them being that they heavily rely on self-learning. They also focus a lot on the job market, meaning school work is done the way it actually should be done if you were a web dev in a company. 

The school also requires a 90% attendance rate in order for you to receive your certificate at the end of the course. The catch is tho if you are 30 mins+ late, you get written down as having missed a half day of class. if you are 1hr+ late, on paper, ��you have missed a whole day of class. So if you have really bad luck with traffic/trains/busses a few times, you could essentially be f*cked... So first day we all agree that we should text our group chat when you’re running late, just a sign of respect towards your teachers and other student.  ✔️ -Cool, i definitely agree with that. This works wonderfully for the first 2 weeks, everyone is texting when they’re running a bit late and so is the teacher. Then one morning, my comrade students and i are waiting for our teacher but he’s already 10 mins late... no text... and he ended up being 2 hours late.  And the next day again... This keeps going on for a while... people pay a minimum of 10k for these courses and after i got a bit fed up i did the math and turns out for every hour we don’t have a teacher in, we each lose aprox. 50£. But hey, i have a friend who works at the school so i decide to talk to her about this issue. she’s very understanding of the issue and tells me she’ll bring it up during their next staff meeting. but she says she’s sure all they will answer is that “well this is a course that is heavy on self-learning, this is what they signed up for”. 🤷‍♀️ -Fair enough lads, but hey a text like we agreed upon couldnt hurt then maybe... Then things get a bit weirder, we are in a building that houses many different companies and there is common areas with a kitchen and seating, meeting rooms etc... suddenly all the admin staff, including my friend, are sitting in the common areas all the time and my friend lets me know the school will be moving theyre renting a new building. the admin staff will already be moving there in a week so they didnt renew the rent for their offices. The next week comes around and admin are still sitting in the common area, my friend complains because they promised theyd have the keys to the new building by now and could start moving their offices. - We’ll come back to this later it’s a few days after this or a week maybe? and we all receive an email where we get asked to rate our experience at the school so far. We get all the students togheter and we get told by one of our instructors “fill out the score email, oh btw you need to rate atleast a 9 if you’re having a good time, anything below that is not acceptable“ Another student and i look at each other and make a weird face, because why are you telling us how to rate our experience? Anyways i get petty, ask them if it’s anonymous (it was) and rate them a 5 and tell them i’m not impressed with (at this point) teachers being late everyday without letting us know and using self-learning as an excuse.💁‍♀️ From the next day on, i follow class from home via video call for about a week because my lumbago+sciatica had gotten rly bad. near the end of the week my friend texts me “hey, has someone come in and talked to the class yet?” and i’m like “oh hey, i havent been in this week bcause of health issues so i dunno?” and she tells me she doesnt work there anymore and my brain is just like “??!🤯?!?” She goes on to explain to me that she had been working so hard, hitting all her targets, so when the big bosses came in and called her into a meeting room she thought they were going to praise her but instead what she got was “you’re no longer needed” together with almost all of the other staff...🙃 So i get back to school, my back is a bit better, i ask students about those ppl that came and talked to them and so basically the school is calling it quits. Now i only have a front-end web dev course, one of my friends in school has a full-stack course and now they won’t be receiving the back-end (or second half) of their course and finding a back-end web dev course is not going to be easy and will be very expensive. And throughout the day i hear so many other students talking about this and freaking out over what theyre gonna do... so we’re the next week, monday was a bank holiday, tuesday morning i go in and i’m there all alone... so i text the group and apparently theres no class today because there’s no teachers available... so i text my usual teacher to see what the plan for the week is and basically he can’t find any guest teachers and we’re essentially off all week unless anything changes (it didnt) so at this point we haven’t had class for a week, this is a short course, a week of missing information is critical...  However in that week i’ve realised that this just isn’t for me, i don’t have the right way of thinking and problem-solving, it’s a bit sad but it’s fine. if it’s not for you, it just isnt.

and guess what... it’s monday and i’m in my bed writing this petty review of my school experience because there’s no class again... I have so much more to say but this is already so long...

[oakvale-obliteration]

Ravana Art | NEWEST —> OLDEST

HERE SHE IS MY DUDES

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Ravana

Last Name: Bitch?? I don’t know?? I wish I did??

Nickname: R, The Queen.

Gender: Female

Age at the start of Fable III: 22

At the end: 23

In the fan fiction: 24

Species: Human?? Hero?? Both??

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Birthday: August first.

Born at: 3:00am inside castle Fairfax

Eye Color(s): A bright raspberry-ish color with a ring of grey around the inside that seems to be bleeding into the rest of the eye.

Hair Color: It starts as a bright red that you could easily see in the dark and transfers to a dark maroon over time.

Highlights: N/A

Hair Style(s): 1.) Down. Her hair is extremely long and EXTREMELY wavy/curly. This style has her hair without any actual styling. It goes down to her ankles and her bangs swoop to the right, nearly covering her right eye. 2.) Ponytail. This one is quite simple but you’d need a strong hair tie for it. Just a high or a low ponytail to hold everything together. 3.) Fishtail braid. This is Reavers favorite but it’s a lot of work. First you have to soak her hair, brush it out, make sure it’s not dry or it’ll curl and braid ALL OF IT. Her bangs are still the same but now her hair is held in a braid that goes down to her upper calf. 4.) Cut Short. Ravana’s least favorite. Cut her hair into a pixie cut, keeping the bangs and middle section long. She did this when she was about ten. Never again. It grew down to the small of her back the next day anyway. What’s the point of trying?

Skin tone: Starts off with a fair-ish skin tone but by the end of her story it will be close to a cream or ivory color.

Body type: Ravana is naturally toned. She has about a medium C cupsize, thick legs. Due to her unfortunate forced corset training she has a bit of a hour glass but not too much of one.

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 156lbs

About her

Personality: Ravana has almost no self worth despite her upbringing. She thinks very little of herself and tends to blame herself a lot. She has a very soft spot for animals and would die for her collie Piper. Ravana seems to have a kind heart and does truly. However she’s always making sure people see her doing good things. She craves attention and recognition 24/7 and she knows it. She takes every insult to heart and tends to be very emotional.

Good Habit(s): Shes pretty polite. Getting the door for people, “...please?”, “Thank you very much!”, pretty humble. That’s about it.

Bad habit(s): Apologizes too much, clingy, doesn’t know how to filter swearing, scratches her scars when stressed (they break a lot), cries at the drop of a penny, has to close doors completely or else she feels unsafe, has to snap four times every time she fucks up.

Like(s): Sweets, teddy bears, elegant people, masks, fire, the fire place, summer, spring, peace, Reaver, stories, fantasy novels, Reaver^2, folk tales, the water, the sea, mermaids, pirates, adventure, freedom, coffee, the stars, clouds.

Dislike(s): The cold, HOBBES, hot sauce, bracelets, the war room, war, fighting, screaming, blaming people other than herself, hats on her. (They look great on everyone else.)

Hobbies: Reading, writing, drawing, dancing alone in her room, sleeping(if you can call that a hobby), playing with Piper, daydreaming about abandoning all responsibility.

Allergies: Slight allergy to dust.

Fear(s): THE DARK, being alone, the public, the crawler.

Weapon(s): Her Rapier, her pistol, the Reaver Industries Revolver.

Talents and Dreams

Ambition/dream: TO JUST ABANDON ALBION.

Occupation/Job: Queen of Albion

Family and Friends

Parent(s): Sparrow + ?????

Sibling(s): Logan

Relative(s):  Theresa

Best Friend(s): Reaver

Friend(s): Reaver, Ben Finn, Jasper

Crush(es): Reaver??? Maybe?? One sided defiantly. For now.

Pet(s): Piper (Black and white border collie)

Rival(s): Page, although she doesn’t want to be.

Enemy: The Crawler.

Extra

Scent: Freshly lit matches

Blood type: AB

Her sleepwear: Underwear, sometimes just in whatever she wore that day.

Accessories: Necklace with a wolf tooth on it. She doesn’t wear it often. Elise gave it to her.

Makeup: Dark red lipstick, black mascara, black winged eye liner.

Scars: THERES A LOT SO UH. They encompass her chest, stomach, back, legs, arms and shoulders. None of them are magical burns, fire burns, or anything of that sort.

Tattoo(es): N/A

Piercing(s): N/A

Favorites

Quote: “Being Queen is hard. Sometimes I wish I was just a bandit or something...”

Favorite Food(s): Lobster, clams, oysters and baked salmon.

Favorite Drink(s): OJ, strawberry smoothies, any fruity drinks really.

Favorite Color(s): Dark red, black, white, pastel blue and pink (ironic considering her AESTHETIC)

Favorite Animal(s): HORSES, dogs, squids, WORMS.

Favorite Number: 69 ;)

Favorite Season(s): Spring/Summer

Favorite Holiday(s): She loves valentines!!!

Favorite Time of Day: Sunrise

Theme: Cry Fourm - Mother Mother

[fatigued-knight]

Quill

I'm just gonna write info I've got down for him since he's my most fleshed out OC at the moment. However he's got many versions in different places, he just started in ds3 so I'll start with that. He does vary a bit between said versions (however what stays consistent is that he is very gay, is close friends with Neo and is 5ft 3in).

Dark Souls (1-3)

Probably was from Catarina, but raised somewhere else (probably raised at Carim if we are basing things off of fighting style, since carim knights for the most part are said to not use shields) he refuses to use shields and would rather have an off-hand weapon instead. Typically a shotel. His main hand weapon is most commonly an ultra great sword or a great sword, not as commonly used as the other types of swords but he occasionally uses a rapier. Armor wise, he normally goes for the clean and shiny look, and refuses to wear more than one piece of armor from the same set for fashion. Personality wise is kind to most people, soft spoken and fair. Determined to be victorious in battle, and will be very hard on himself if he fails to do so. Would rather have few very close friends than many acquaintances. Would die for his friends, specifically his closest friend Neo. (ill probably make a seperate post on more about dark souls Quill since theres... quite a lot left out.)

Bloodborne

(this is under the assumption that Bloodborne and Dark Souls are in the same universe, but wildly different times n such.) But in between Dark souls and Bloodborne, Quill goes hollow (in a more... DS1 sense rather than ds3), but is found somehow still alive by the healing church. He is experimented on and had lots of old blood of some sort used on him, which led to him being unhollowed somehow, he however has lost all memory of being Quill. He has the same personality for the most part but... he just doesn't remember being Quill and doesnt remember Neo. When being brought back from his hollowed state he starts off with a lot of insight, and attacked the doctors who were working on him, which resulted in the deaths of a lot of doctors. Like i said, for the most part his personality is the same but there are some differences. He is way more depressed in this world, more reserved, more defensive, less trusting of strangers. Another thing very prominent about him in this AU is the fact that he’s very masochistic.

For Honor

Quill is a Conqueror in this universe, and its not tied in with any of the previous universes. Quill starts off as a normal civilian, but eventually becomes a criminal (not sure the details of what leads him to start in the first place or what exactly he did but for sure it had to do with money.) Eventually he is caught and thrown into jail, but then is forced to be a foot soldier for Neo, who is a lawbringer. Quill was skilled enough in combat which helped him survive as a foot soldier for quite a while, during this time he stole armor from fallen heroes until he was well equipped and made into a captain. His skills in combat grew more and more and eventually he was given his own equipment (that isnt just scavenged from the battle field) His custom armor was made from black iron and decorated with a lot of skulls and spikes.

[comicteaparty]

March 21st, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on March 21st, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Asteroid 8082 by Will Quinn.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Asteroid 8082 by Will Quinn~! (https://asteroid8082.com/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

my favorite scene is probably at the beginning when corrina is getting a tour of the colony. i really love the design for the colony and how theres just like this conveyor belt that goes through the whole place. for the life of me i never wouldve thought of a design like that but it works so well in making it feel familiar, foreign, and futuristic

but i also like the door designs you see as they pass by because it still has that mark of needing to be kind of a sterile and effecient environment

but all around i really enjoyed how quickly and simply it built up the world in the background and really kind of drove home how corrina is in an entirely new situation

Knytt

Hmm, that's good to hear. I was worried about the sterility being too much

i mean, I'm used to drawing outdoor environments, so it was a challenge

Oh! I'm Will Quinn, by the way!

...

sorry, I forgot that wasn't clear on Discord.

RebelVampire

thank you for coming~! its nice to see a creator come by.

Knytt

well, I usually lurk around here

...but rarely comment

thank you for having me!

RebelVampire

another scene that i really enjoyed was the one where theyre kind of bantering over the hoverbike and corrina accepts the challenge and is like "nah i can drive." that was the moment where i truly felt that corrina was indeed a kid since she was trying so hard to look cool. but it was also a nice moment of vulnerability too in that way. like showing that you can be as mature as you want, but that doesnt mean peer pressure isnt there

Knytt

Yeah. Corrina really does try to act cool

And before that scene I guess she succeeded

RebelVampire

idk if she succeeded so much as a lot of scenes her uncoolness felt like it came from a different place of insecurity. like not so much peer pressure, but more from being alien to a new place and being insecure in her own adjustment

Knytt

Hmm, that actually reminds me of something.

When my spouse was reading the comic, she saw Corrina as the main character.

But my original idea was that Iris was (my spouse is an immigrant)

So I've always been curious about how people saw that

RebelVampire

i personally saw corrina more as the protagonist myself. not that iris wasnt a main character. but corrina felt more like the main of the main characters. but this is inherent bias that between the two, corrina was introduced first.

Knytt

I see!

Thank you

I should mention that chapter 3 was originally supposed to be the first chapter

RebelVampire

hmm, interesting. that def would have changed things then cause itd have been a lot more even.

but it is pretty even between the two as is. i just connected a bit more with corrina. i think it also has a lot to do that corrina feels like the more grounded character between the two. Iris as been on the asteroid for years upon years so none of the culture stuff feels weird to her or anything. Whereas Corrina is like "yup this is weird." and as an earthling who doesnt live on an asteroid, that is basically how you feel seeing everything. so corrina provides a really needed grounding influence for that reason. its a lot easier to understand how she feels in regards to the world and shes easier to sympathize with from the immediate start cause its kind of a fish out of water intro.

mathtans

Made it here. I rather liked the "no use of ozzes", just as one-off comedy.

Also the conversation near the start of "you live in one building?" "oh no, no... three".

Checking the backlog now. Yeah, the conveyer belt was a neat idea too. There's a lot of interesting science happening behind the scenes that comes out every so often, which is pretty neat.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. The comic’s setting is quite futuristic and different from Earth, causing a number of culture clashes for the characters. What ways of life on the asteroid interested you the most? What sorts of details did you notice in general in how the colony was culturally and physically structured? Of the culture clashes that occurred between the characters, which one did you find the most compelling and why? Which culture similarities did you notice remained between Earth and the asteroid colony? Why do you think those cultural elements and traditions stood the test of time? Last but not least, how similar or different do you feel other colonies would be?

hey math~!

i did enjoy that joke as well about the nah we live in three buildings

like that was supposed to be marketably better XD

mathtans

I think I see Corrina as the main, in large part because we see her arrive as the outsider. Outsiders are generally mains in stories, because stuff needs to get explained to them the way it needs to get explained to readers.

Also, she's from Earth, and so are we.

Hi Rebel & creator!

Knytt

Hi!

mathtans

One of the things that I found kind of interesting was the whole planet/asteroid loophole issue. Hadn't thought about how governing would work in that sense.

But there were also subtle details, like the colour of the sky on Earth.

RebelVampire

yeah i was really interested in the politics. especially cause they briefly mentioned a war and like...man. space wars already. thats a pretty heavy thing to admit in passing.

but it was interesting to see that there is some complicated governance stuff going on cause i feel thats reflective of how itd probably be in life

mathtans

I'm not sure I even picked up on the war aspect. It was more the trying to get rights and using ships as bargaining points.

It makes sense but I doubt I'd have thought of something like that.

Knytt

I'm glad someone liked these science/future bits, because I definitely spent a lot of time planning them! (compared to how often they come up, of course.)

And Math, there was a war mentioned briefly

mathtans

Yeah, that's always the lament of worldbuilding, you do all this stuff and then it never really comes up. The short strip about the gravity thing in between parts was a good way to do it though.

Oh, I don't doubt it, just mean it kinda sailed over my head.

Knytt

Actually, Iris's father was closely involved in the war, btw

RebelVampire

thats fair cause when i said it was mentioned in passing, i really mean it was mentioned in passing. but it was bad enough to cause some long lasting political effects for even their asteroid. and considering their asteroid is kind of out there, you can only imagine the effects it had on bigger colonies.

that is an interesting factoid

mathtans

Iris' father does seem the type

Knytt

I made an upcoming short comic where Corrina talks more about it

The war, I mean...

But it'll be in a printed anthology

mathtans

I wonder if the spacers know about trees and plants and stuff.

Though that reminds me of another interesting aspect, that whole idea of "wearing the clothes of another culture". And Iris is like, wear whatever.

RebelVampire

yeah i really liked how thinking of things like "oh that person is japanese" is considered archaic by iris

cause it opens up the question of at what point in someones heritage do they stop being one nationality and become another

and i liked seeing how that question had evolved in regards to space travel in the comic

cause space travel comes with a lot of huge punches in that arena

mathtans

Yeah, it's sort of a planet culture rather than a country culture.

But an asteroid isn't even big enough for a planet culture, so it's more of a mixed bag.

RebelVampire

yeah, but still i think the point stands. in that the comic really makes you think about what constitutes a culture and how a countries culture may no longer matter in the future. it may come to be entirely about each particular communities culture.

speaking of culture, i really liked the bit with corrina and iris arguing about child labor laws. i thought that was such an interesting piece of culture. but also sensible because generally a colony would need everyone pitching in to survive so it makes sense iris would help. not to mention i cant imagine theres much for a kid to do on an asteroid. yet, i also understand corrina's point. so it was just an interesting argument where both sides had some fantastic points even though nothing was solved.

mathtans

Community, that's a good way of putting it. And yeah, nice to have those grey debates where neither side is necessarily right.

Also, the way Iris summed it up later as "she concluded she was smarter than me" (or whatever it was) felt true to the age (whether it really is I dunno, but it felt that way).

Knytt

When I was writing a lot of these scenes, I was worried people would take it the wrong way, politically. I was trying to have sort of "grey" debates like you said, and I'm glad that came through

RebelVampire

yeah i think the comic did a great job of being more thought provoking than anything when it came to these sorts of areas. cause theres a lot to dissect.

like another moment i really enjoyed was how even though the asteroid is seemingly very disconnected from a lot of earth culture, everyone was still super stoked to watch some sports. so it was interesting to see how even when separated, older cultural phenomenons still kind of continue to be present. not to mention theres lots of one culture affecting another, even though its earth culture affecting colony culture in this case.

mathtans

That reminds me, the asteroid was always seemingly having internet troubles, yet the door to the food station room said "free wifi". I found that funny.

Knytt

Oh, that's right!

mathtans

It was also a bit amusing that when they finally got to watching the sports game, there was almost more interest in the field and the spectators.

RebelVampire

tbf wifi and internet are separate entities. you can have wifi without the internet. so not false advertising, just a useless service.

mathtans

Indeed!

I figure they bought the door surplus. One of those items they were paid money to take off someone's hands.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Though filled with lots to say about culture, the story also has a strong focus on character. For what reasons do you feel Corrina and Iris struggled with their relationship initially? Between the two, which one did you identify with more in regards to their feelings? By the end, did you feel the two characters truly overcame their issues with one another? Or, did you feel that there would still be many moments of strife between the two? Equally so, between all three children characters, how do you think their perceptions of each other changed over the course of the story? Finally, which character did you enjoy the most overall and why?

mathtans

I will say that as soon as Corrina confused Iris for a boy, I was shipping them. Or a future them in a few years, at any rate. Gotta get my ships in there.

Though I think wondering if Iris was a "fanboy" was almost the greater faux pas. With the implication of Corrina's popularity in there.

As to which character I enjoyed more... that's tough. It really kind of depends. I think maybe overall I prefer Iris, but she does go a bit too far sometimes - or in the case of giving up on fruitcake, maybe not far enough - and in those cases I'm more for Corrina.

Knytt

Heh, if I ship them too, is that canon?? I definitely identify with Iris more, but I like Corrina better I think

RebelVampire

i think i overall identified more with corrina more just because i felt corrina was trying hard at least to make friends while looking cool. whereas iris was just a grumpy bear of insecurity. so between the two corrina felt more sympathetic. not to say corrina was perfect cause that whole "fanboy" thing made me think "girl turn it down a notch we get it youre very cool"

Knytt

Yea, both of them need to take it down a notch...

RebelVampire

but tbf, i think the reason that they struggled with their relationship is that theyre super similar. cause they both seem to be insecure and have a desperate need to appear cool to each other. but because theyre trying to achieve the same thing, they both come off kind of pompous and butt heads. cause even though they have the same goal, they each handle it super differently. cause corrina is focused on kind of raising herself up to appear cool whereas iris feels like she wants to just not be looked down on.

Knytt

I worked as a teacher before doing this, so I tried to make them seem like the kids I taught

in terms of their insecurities

mathtans

Heh, canon ship is now in. Yeah, Corrina's more sympathetic, but I kind of like how Iris is outspoken at times, like even speaking up about politics and things.

I teach high school, so I kind of know the feeling.

Meanwhile the guy is just basically clueless to all that.

Superjustinbros

Hello!

I hope I'm not too kate~

RebelVampire

hey super~!

yeah i agree, between the two i felt iris was perhaps more worldly and that while she might know all the tech stuff corrina does, shes way more versed in like social and political situations than corrina

Superjustinbros

...Wow I'm amazed at how much progress this comic made in only about almost a year of production.

And it finds a way to work in monochrome as well

mathtans

I'm with the commenter on that one strip by the way, where Joe was saying to Iris "Corinna's the only cute girl out here", I'd have kicked him.

RebelVampire

i really do think the black and white suits the world too. makes it feel more space like.

i was super surprised joe got away with that XD

mathtans

Yeah, that's a good point, what with space being black.

RebelVampire

not that i dont understand where joe is coming from. not that iris isnt cute, but iris is also his bestie so automatically not available or even on the consideration block.

Superjustinbros

“i really do think the black and white suits the world too. makes it feel more space like.”

I second that- makes me wonder what will happen if the main cast ever lands on a regular planet- will the story suddenly shift to color?

mathtans

Oh yeah, I get it, guy be clueless because he grew up around her. I suppose I shouldn't complain, he'd spoil the Iris/Corinna ship.

Knytt

I'm not sure I'd be good at drawing Luna or Mars...

There's a short comic about Corrina on Earth though

(also black and white)

Superjustinbros

oh lol I didn't realize the creators were here, heh.

Knytt

Hiya!

Superjustinbros

Well I think the black and white works regardless

Hiya!

There's a good usage of clever shading to show depth

mathtans

I kinda wonder what it is they study out there. Aside from each other.

Superjustinbros

(also I'm in love with the simple character designs and the bead eyes, they fit the style of the comic)

RebelVampire

yeah i was wondering that too. especially in regards to what corrina did to get labeled a genius and made an intern despite her age.

Knytt

Corrina's main area of study is physics

specifically "gravity manipulation", a relatively new field that Iris's father helped develop

Superjustinbros

Sorry if I'm not focusing on the questions atm, I'm kind of stuck in conversations in other chats.

mathtans

So she understands the gravity of the situation.

Superjustinbros

"gravity", heh.

Knytt

slow claps

RebelVampire

yes, so im sure shell stay grounded in her studies

mathtans

I suppose gravity's lighter on an asteroid, must make things easier to monitor for fluctuations.

RebelVampire

this reminds me that one moment i found really funny was when they were fixing the tower and then the thing they used to fix it was a fraction of the size of the original

Knytt

Yep. That's how technology!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. As a slice-of-life, sci-fi, there is a lot to be said about the comic’s approach to life. In what ways did you see our present day lives represented in the comic? Additionally, how did the comic affect how you think about the way we live life right at this moment? Given this comic is also set in the future, what scenarios from the story do you think are the most plausible that we’ll see in real life once we reach that level of space travel? Alternatively, what scenarios do you feel might change due to the length of time it’s going to take for us to get to that future? Overall, what is your ultimate take away from the comic’s message about life, people, or anything related?

yeah. that was a moment i indetified with iris tho. cause it made sense cause that is how technology do, but i was equally confused how it was meant to be replaced at first when they didnt have a giant thing with them

mathtans

That remark reminds me of the fear of heights. It's nice to have little things like that which characters have to overcome, or otherwise delegate.

Superjustinbros

If the future happens I don't want it to be on nothing but meteorites and other extraterrestrial masses of land.

Feels... lonely too in a way

mathtans

I like how they still do stuff we do, like try to watch sports, or bake fruitcakes. Even if they don't necessarily do it often.

(Resulting in ghosts speaking to you, eerie.)

RebelVampire

i enjoyed that fruitcake was still considered mostly awful

except by joe who has nostalgia glasses for it

mathtans

Heh, yeah. Also, Christmas, still a thing.

(Who won the 'war on Christmas' then?)

Knytt

I thought "of course they'll still have Christmas"! We don't sacrifice a goat anymore, do we??

Superjustinbros

lol

Space Christmas: The holiday of the Future

mathtans

Well, in Sweden they kind of do. (Google 'straw goat'.)

Knytt

I've seen those! they're cool

RebelVampire

speaking of xmas i found it kind of humorous that iris kind of assumed joe was just in some sort of cult

Knytt

Oh yeah, the Pilgrims

I imagine any religion would seem a bit cultish to Iris.

RebelVampire

tbf tho there is kind of a fine line between a cult and religion in some respects. so it makes sense for any child to not really necessarily understand the difference.

Knytt

yea

mathtans

As to character bonding, the ship is maybe starting at the end there with the having something to drink together while watching the fruitcake.

RebelVampire

of the scenarios we see, i actually think the lack of attachment to nationality is the most plausible for a real life future for us. cause its hard to be attached to that when the world is spread out.

you mean your corrina iris ship?

mathtans

yis. must have yuri ships.

Superjustinbros

I second that, Rebel.

RebelVampire

https://asteroid8082.com/comic/chapter-2-page-11/

cause personally i thought that ship started there

cause knowing iris' personality she tots thinks that looks cute but wont say so

mathtans

Heh. I'd forgotten about that moment. It was nice too.

Iris probably kept the clothes in case Corrina changed her mind.

RebelVampire

tbf where would the clothes go otherwise?

its a 3 building colony that doesnt sell anything according to iris XD

mathtans

Maybe someone will offload some dept store dummies.

Superjustinbros

oh boy we got ships in this comic? owo

mathtans

We can ship Joe with one of the dummies.

Knytt

Iris think she's cute. pay attention to the phrasing: https://asteroid8082.com/comic/chapter-3-page-7/

mathtans

Finally a cute girl.

Good point there.

Incidentally, I wonder if 8082 has any particular significance.

RebelVampire

look at that ship sail

Knytt

the number 8082? hmm, not a lot

Superjustinbros

space ships

ba da ching

Knytt

I wanted it to be like "there are a lot of other asteroids; it's not important enough to have a name"

RebelVampire

that is the impression i got. that it was just a no name number cause heck there be a lot of colonies and asteroids and stuff

mathtans

I wondered if there was some kind of filing system, like it was system 80 and they were on the 82nd rock or something.

Knytt

There is a system! Asteroid 8082 isn't the 8082nd asteroid.

RebelVampire

the 82nd rock from the sun

Knytt

the 8 at the beginning is the number designation for that charter

so that's right!

There are 8 charters. think I mentioned that... so there are no asteroids in the 9000's

RebelVampire

interesting

https://asteroid8082.com/comic/chapter-4-bonus-2/ off topic but before i forget, i really liked this bonus comic. it was nice to see that there was kind of no reasonable expectation for the kids to fix it. and it more seems like adults being adults and just wanting the kids out of their hair so they can work.

Superjustinbros

Yeah.

mathtans

Ahh, that makes sense.

Yeah, that extra comic was fun, but I think in part because they were keen on the outcome too. Happy ending all around.

(Until they learn of the crash.)

RebelVampire

yeah i was kind of sad we didnt get to see them react to that

the adults

cause i bet that was a scolding about hovercraft safety

Knytt

I thought of making a bonus comic where Joe gets his hat back...

mathtans

Other ship: Joe and his hat.

It was nice that Iris cared about getting it back, when he couldn't seem to vocalize it.

Before the end, also want to mention that some of the science behind the scenes is cool. Like what happened when that hatch opened, I hadn't thought about that stuff.

RebelVampire

yeah i was a little surprised corrina was so cold hearted seeming about it. not that i didnt understand her point, just was surprised. especially considering corrina was the one who was like "lets make fruit cake for joe"

mathtans

Also the initial visual of walking away from the ship itself is interesting, what with wondering about being able to breathe.

I don't think Corrina was cold hearted, it was more, I'm busy trying to fly this thing, let's deal with that another time.

Superjustinbros

Anyways since the CTP is ending soon, I'd like to wish the authors luck on the rest of the comic- it's coming along great so far and the artstyle is amazing and well-drawn.

mathtans

Woohoo for bonus content.

Knytt

Thanks everyone for coming and talking!

mathtans

Thanks for creating!

Knytt

Oh, and if anyone's interested in that prequel story on Earth, it'll be in this kickstarter anthology (we just went live today!) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/386994989/planetside-anthology?ref=cbco55

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Will Quinn, as well, for making Asteroid 8082. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Will Quinn’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: https://asteroid8082.com/

Will Quinn’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/willquinnart

Will Quinn’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/willquinnart

[hatsuneniko]

1, 2, 9, 16, 17, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30. did i go overboard haha? sorry if they're not the ones you wanted.

thank you! sorry for taking so long to respond, i wanted to make sure i had time to do them all

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

read Mystery Train by Greil Marcus, listen to Imperial Bedroom by Elvis Costello, and uhhh i dont really watch a lot of like, movies so maybe just set up like, a 24 hour stream of espn 30 for 30 documentaries because i have huge amounts of uselessly specific sports knowledge

2. have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?

i dont really think i have. i think john darnielle does a good job of writing his narrator’s voice in a way that kind of has a similar tone to the way my internal monologue goes, which i think is pretty close, but other than that i dont think so.

9. are you an artist?

sure. i guess you could say that. especially if youre into post-modernism

16. if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same?

oh almost definitely not. sometimes when i think about like, major pivotal moments in my life or like, people who changed me i realize how like, by chance a lot of those circumstances were, so i think had i been in a different environment i wouldnt have followed like, the same path thats led me to who i am now.

17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?

no? im not entirely sure how to answer this question. i think my tumblr reflects a lot of my interests and aesthetics and probably quite a few of my beliefs but i dunno if you get the whole picture from a blog tbh, i think a big part of the “real me” or w/e probably would be more than just like, the stuff i choose to share with other people?

20. would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?

alright ive straight-up read none of those series, so uh, from what i know about them, i think hogwarts because having magic would be cool. but id rather live in like, the naruto universe because a) cool ninja powers and b) tenten

24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?

i guess? im not entirely sure if it was a “mind-meld” but ive met a handful of people where i feel like we click so well that i manage to bypass my inherent awkwardness and insecurities and just like, talk really easily without worrying as much cuz we just “get” each other. so if thats what a “mind-meld” is then yes.

25. could you live as a hermit?

oh no way. social anxiety aside i kinda need to be able to interact with people once in a while or i get pretty bored of myself. plus i dont think hermits have internet. or soda. really just a negative experience tbh.

26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality?

probably genderfluid and then uhhh, my friend said theres a term for being attracted to conventionally feminine traits, so i guess that? i dont really care about gender in terms of attraction/sexuality but i guess i people who are “girly” for lack of a better term. its all a bit of kerfuffle yknow.

28. on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin?

hmm. im gonna say like 5? i think im capable of being pretty patient with certain things, or at least i think a lot of things that irritate people sort of just make me like, mildly frustrated but also amused. at the same time theres like, certain things that are like, immediately gonna make me annoyed with someone? like offensive/bigoted things escalate past getting under my skin real fast, but i dont even know if that counts tbh cuz thats not so much irritating as it is just being a bad person? so lets go with 5.

29. three songs that you connect with right now.

“Girl of the North Country” by Howard Tate

“Nobody But You” by Asie Payton

“Theme From Electric Surfboard” by Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers

30. pick one of your favorite quotes.

“yer kawaii as heck niko” - nami “the” windycastle

[monsterloveday]

Dyslexic Brain Says No.

Being Dyslexic is shit- I cant even fooking spell it. You don't understand your brain. Your brain doesn't understand you. But you have to put up with each other for life, like a married couple that hate each other but will never get divorced. You don't know how to make your dyslexia more manageable. Other Dyslexics don't understand your type of dyslexia. You don't know how to help teachers / trainers to help you learn better. Places of education can label you with the title but also don't know how to actually help you with it - nor do they care. (*Throws free books at you and runs*... erm, I cant read it?)

Don't even get me started on pretty much every work place Ive been in. (Oh whats that your dyslexic?, whatever attention seeker! excuses!, excuses!, now go and learn the job in two seconds flat as we teach things in one way only and if you don't get it straight away you're a dumbass and we may consider getting rid of you!). Its become such a fear that no work place will tolerate how slow I am at learning, I am becoming slower and they are becoming less patient, but I need money to live so this is quite daunting and I have no idea where I will end up because of it (perhaps cleaning up poo or something that requires nothing that is remotely challenging). It plays on your mind in every job you have and starting a new job is no doubt one of the scariest experiences for me because of the D word. I wish people actually knew what its like having this unreliable type of brain. I forget everything...no - EVERYTHING. I would love SO much to try and teach the ‘Normal world folk’ how to do creative shit in the same methods they do and then have lots of things to say about them when they cant do it.  Put simply - its just not fair and it's annoying as shit.

It's the attitude ‘It's no one else’s problem’, so not much patience, tolerance or effort to research it / understand it takes place, and this in itself makes the problem bigger because its like there is a division, the ‘normal people’ and the rest of us, and we don't understand each other - yet we still have to fit into their moulds and methods and we’d better be good at it!. (eeek). But our Dyslexic brains just cant work like that. It's a lot of pressure and anxiety I tell you! It just annoys me that we are made to feel like we are stupid, when this is an actual learning difficulty and is REAL. It's not just something we make up, it is an actual issue with our brains and its hard. We have to begrudgingly accept that things are just much harder and slower for us and we have to always carry that burden and hope some good soul out there will also have the same out look and are kind enough to put up with us when learning something new. Doesn't really seem a fair situation. You have to have humour about it though... I am currently learning how to drive. My instructor - the poor sod. XP I am taking fifty million years and ill probably be about 50 when I pass but this is the ways of a Dyslexic unfortunately. Instructor “Go Right at the round about” *Jay approaches roundabout and literally two seconds have passed*... “Where are we going again?” Instructor “Right” *Jay turns Left* *Jay learns something and by the next minute has forgotten it all* Instructor “Lets do some more Show Me Tell Me questions that I asked you last week” *Jays face is blank...”Ummm ...What?” Instructor “Get in the middle lane” Jay “THERES TOO MANY LINES THAT CROSS EACH OTHER!?!?! *Panics and leans closer to the windscreen asking which lane he means and ends up crossing three of them and most definitely goes in the wrong one* ...whoops. My Dyslexia (I have literally had to put a spelling check each and every time I have written that friking word) reminds me of that bit from the Simpsons where it shows the inside of Homers brain and its just some kind of cow and bird singing and dancing - this is exactly what its like if someone is trying to explain something to me but there is no visual to put it too, or perhaps are giving me directions, you may as well talk to the wall and I may as well keep dancing to the tune in my head. The information just wont go in and I will look brain dead!. However!, put a tune to it or a colour / visual - it will be locked in there. Cant everything be colour coded or said in rhymes? “Follow the purple lane and take the green exit to “Toads Road” - sorted! “Could you give me those directions said in rhyme to the tune of Bar Bar Black sheep please?” “These written instructions are all very nice but can you draw a picture or make a video of it instead?” “I know you given me literally three instructions but can you write them down for me please?....say it again?” “But which way is right if Im standing on the left??? *turns left to try and understand directions from every perspective*....what?. “Can you stop talking for just one second...just give me the information in the SMALLEST SHORTEST WAY OR MY BRAIN WILL CRY AND I WILL NEED TO CRY!!!!!” Its these types of things that are the reason we are not catered for in most work places! I guess if I don't even understand it how can I expect others too! XP I cant type anymore - I’ll draw you a picture or make an immature song up about it? Be back soon Jay Dyslexic Brained Monster.  

[comicteaparty]

August 9th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on August 9th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Himawari Share by Harmony Becker.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Himawari Share by Harmony Becker~! (https://tapas.io/series/Himawari-Share) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

It's really hard to pick, but I'd say the Hyejung-focused parts (chapters 5 & 6) were my favorites. Focusing on her studies, not knowing what she wants to be, tearing out her roots to move to Japan, getting homesick and feeling guilty for it.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello!

snuffysam

like, emotions and stuff

also hello justin!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey~!

yeah heyjung's backstory is a lot more tense than i was expecting. but i loved how everything was visually framed

although my favorite moment had to be when she went to that counselor and she just flat out couldnt say what she wanted to do with her life

cause man have i been there and that moment so purely relateable

snuffysam

yeah that was a big turning point, and my favorite moment in her backstory

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Thanks for the greeting~

I have to run a quick errand but I'll be back!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i also loved the aftermath though of all the others bringing her stuff for her hangover. like that was just sweet and heartwarming.

snuffysam

sweet and heartwarming seems to be the general theme

for example, the scene where tina brings nao a soda

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. also a great scene. but also that scene made me like tina a whole lot. it had that element of goofiness (since she just picked her favorite) but had that immense kind-hearted underbelly. because i mean really, i dont know anyone who would bring me a soda to congratulate me on my first day of school.

i think my personal fave scene is actually when nao and masaki are walking together and each just having these thoughts about how they should interact and the various scenarios. especially nao imagining the music would bond them as friends while masaki is like "oh no i will be looked down upon for liking lady gaga."

snuffysam

and then they both end up too afraid to talk to each other lol

relatable scene, and i love how it helps build the characters of nao and masaki

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i also love that it shows a good side to masaki in that hes basically just an average, socially awkward dork who is probably having some language and cultural gap problems. since ya know, our first impression of him was just rudeness otherwise.

i want to say in general i really love this comic's pacing though. like i always feel like the emotions are given time to be showcased but dont drag on too overly much.

snuffysam

the pacing is a real strong suit of the comic, agreed

were we ever told what masaki and shinichi's nationality/native language was?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

no albeit i assume for shinichi its japanese since he doesnt seem able to really do english and speaks quickly. which generally if youre a native, the quicker you speak. at the very least theyve gotta be fluent.

snuffysam

wait, i guess they aren't international students, because the comic description only says there are three

so they're just two japanese brothers who happen to live in the same house as three international students

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. for reasons O_O. although i am curious if anyone else lives there. cause nao asks tina who the curly haired guy was and tina was like "hmm maybe masaki" and then nao had to say rude for tina to be sure

so either this is just a writing goof or its implied more ppl live there?

snuffysam

yeah you'd think if it was only the five of them, "curly haired boy" would narrow it down quite a bit

also i think we ignored @Sa💅

hello Sa!

not really a scene per se, but i really like the way the comic scratches out words that aren't understood

like this page: https://tapas.io/episode/756155

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah i just thought it was a reply to the hellos. welcome @Sa💅 if you felt ignored O_O;;;

of all the things that is my fave part

cause i was skeptical on the language thing when i read the description

but man do i think it actually captures the language gap well

since it is what happens

you know lots of words but then theres always those difficult ones where youre like "omg wtf was that"

snuffysam

hamini really delivered in terms of showing how second languages work

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i also selfishly enjoyed that nao and i are decently close in japanese language understanding cause i wound up reading a lot of the japanese she could understand.

but then kanji

always kanji everywhere all the time

snuffysam

i took a semester of japanese four years ago and flunked lol. i can get through "はい " and that's about it.

i'm a bit better with spoken, but not much

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey its something.

this reminds me, i really liked that scene where tina applied language knowledge to figure out vacuum

snuffysam

that was a really cool moment!

as were the rest of the parts where tina had to figure out the instructions given to her

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. like man do i give tina all around props for that. i would have left crying cause new jobs are stressful enough without adding a language deficiency to the mix

QUESTION 2. Of those staying in Himawari Share, Shinichi and Masaki are the two we know least about in the current story. Do you think there’s any particular reason the two are staying at Himawari Share, or does it just happen to have a convenient location for them? Like the other characters, do you think they have personal histories or pasts that will come to light? Do you think that it is significant in some way that Shinichi and Masaki are mentioned to be brothers? As time goes on, do you think the others will bond with Masaki, or will the language and culture gap keep interfering? What about Shinichi? Will Nao, at least, become able to understand him better, or will his fast talking still prove too much?

i want to go out on a limb and just say theyre there cause convenient location. but i do think they got some sort of hidden past history. cause at the very least shinichi and masaki dont really look like theyre related. so it makes me wonder if this is maybe a half-sibling relationship going on

snuffysam

oh theory time?

i think they are actually brothers, they just happened to look different. that's how it goes somethimes

i think himawari share is a convenient location for them, but i have no idea what it would be convenient too. like, what are their jobs?

also, my guess - nao is going to start understanding what shinichi is saying, but at first it'll only be, like, she catches every other word.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah im confused at what the share is. cause the girls make it look like its like a special house dorm house for international students who are coming to work and learn in japan. but shinichi and masaki definitely dont appear to be international, so what are they doing there? now its possible they are also going to college in some fashion. but im not entirely sure since it still seems weird to have potentially two natives with three international students.

but to be fair, maybe they own himawari share

cause shinichi and masaki are def both first name

s

snuffysam

yeah maybe that's just their family home that they rent out

perhaps there are plenty of other people there, and the girls just don't hang out with them because they don't relate as much

international students sticking together and stuff

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah that could also be. although the house seems in a residential area so there cant be too many

alternatively

theres only one other dude living there and hes a shut in that you see once in a blue moon

and theres gonna be some other festival and suddenly hell come out and nao will be le gasp

snuffysam

that sounds about right, yeah

and it would explain tina not knowing who nao was talking about

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

alternatively alternatively, it is just the 5 of them and tina just happens to know a lot of people who look like masaki and forgets who even lives with her

snuffysam

maybe masaki doesn't live there, he just really likes the bathroom

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

masaki lives never door but his bathroom broke and hes too lazy to fix it. comes over to his brother's place all the time.

i really hope we get to see more of shinichi cause of all the characters he seems the most one note atm. and idk what to make of him. although i do like that hes kind of like their tour guide who take sthem to festivals

snuffysam

i think it's just that the comic isn't particularly long yet and shinichi isn't one of the main characters

the description says romance is in the cards, but it doesn't say between whom

that may be where shinichi gets some development

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it could be. and to be fair, shinichi's mystery kind of suits the fact that theres the language gap cause he clearly doesnt know english well or at all. so its hard to get to know someone well when theres only so many words shared between

like how that convo between nao and hyejung was really formal and stifled before they realized they both spoke english

snuffysam

well, hopefully shinichi is more open to talking about his interests than his brother

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. although backing up the train for a moment, id like to know why both brothers seemingly dont seem to know any english. cause english is generally required learning in japan and while a lot of ppl arent good at it, theyed probably at least know a few basic phrases. so it strikes me as interesting neither has attempted that much. tho tbf has masaki even said anything?

snuffysam

i think masaki corrected the neighbor lady about his name

but that's it

we don't know if they can speak english or not, i think

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i mean they could. but i could also see them choosing not to since the girls are all there to kind of learn japanese

snuffysam

oh no wait, there is a page where it's shown shinichi doesn't understand english

https://tapas.io/episode/839877

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. One of the comic’s themes revolves around finding yourself, and this issue has given many characters quite the obstacle. In the case of Nao, do you think she will come to terms with that missing part of herself by being in Japan, or will there forever be a gap no matter how much time she spends there? As Nao spends more time there, do you think she’ll feel the culture gap grow or shrink, and how might that affect her? In the case of Hyejung, do you think she’ll figure out what she wants to do with her life, or do you think that still might remain elusive? Additionally, do you think she’ll be able to reconcile with her family? Lastly, in the case of Tina, do you think her part time job will work out, or will the language gap make things too much of a struggle? If she does lose her job, what do you think she’ll do and how might this affect her reasons for being in Japan?

snuffysam

do we know why tina is in japan?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think so. and if you dont think so, im gonna feel safe in saying we havent been told

although tina seems like the type to just like adventures

although whereas nao and hyejung give me the impression that they might someday go back to their home countries, tina gives me the impression that this is a permanent thing

at least compared to hyejung, tina seems to care the least about reliving her own culture persay

snuffysam

i think it's not going to turn out how any of the girls' plan. maybe hyuejung finds her purpose is back in korea, maybe it's in japan, etc.

nao is here to reconnect to the missing part of herself and re-learn japanese. while she may end up learning japanese, i don't think reconnecting with her past will happen so much.

she'll see a large culture gap, or get distracted with something else

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm back!

snuffysam

hi justin!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hey Snuffy!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

wb!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Thanks!

Ooh, a Japanese festival?!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

there was one in the comic, yes already, yes.

tbh i do think hyejung isnt going to find exactly what she wants. because i feel her desire to go to japan was driven more by a desire to escape her reality versus thinking "yes this is the place where i can find myself"

and shes the one who seems most homesick as well

not ot say i think the journey will be in vain

and i think shell at least learn things about herself

like how to live independently for herself

away from the parents

in nao's case, i think shell...come to terms that she cant have a different past. im actually thinking whats going to happen is shes going to run into something that makes her go "whoa wait america was way better in this aspect" and then shell realize that if she had stayed in japan, she also wouldnt know the american culture she grew up in.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

snuffysam

at some point nao likened it to having a twin that was separated from her at birth. and i think her journey will involve coming to terms with the fact that she can't recover that lost twin. she's gone forever.

lots of great metaphors in this comic btw

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I thought Nao was from Korea.

snuffysam

no you're thinking of hyejung

nao is the one who was born in japan but grew up in america

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh right, my bad I saw this page and I thought wrong because of it https://tapas.io/episode/1021922

snuffysam

yeah that chapter follows hyejung

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

aye, thanks

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i do think thats the case with nao. shes going to have to realize that she cant have two pasts or that other half. but i do think being in japan will be both good and bad for it. cause on the plus side, she gets to see what she missed out on, but on the otherhand shes also going to feel the sting of that gap cause im sure shes gonna run into a festival where shes plain just like "i dont understand this"

although assuming her mom is still alive(?) then itll be interesting if she can talk to her mom in japanese again or something

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah.

You know, reading this comic made me remember how much I thought it'd be cool to visit Japan back in high school and planned to go there as a graduation present. How wrong I was.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

this comic gives me the should go to japan itch again. especially to eat the food

which im glad food is involved a lot

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Mmm

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause thats a huge facet of the culture

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wish I loved Japanese food.

more than I do now

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

on a side note

i loved that little moment where hyejung bitched that the kimchi wasnt even spicy

and how it was made by a japanese run restaurant

cause i liked that detail that just how america amercanizes certain foods, other countries do the same

or at least japan does for sure XD

their mcdonalds are crazy

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol yeah

This hit home for me, in a way

like it's not "authentic"

snuffysam

I’ve had Korean food in a restaurant owned by Korean people. And yeah, it’s a lot spicier

I don’t blame Hyejung lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah i dont blame her either. cause regardless if you grow up used to one flavor, you probably arent gonna be a fan of change

QUESTION 4. Given the focus of the comic is on international students and cultural gaps, to a degree, there are lots of interesting potential scenarios. Did you find the comic’s unique method of showcasing language gaps interesting? How did it change how you viewed the characters’ experiences? Are there any cultural experiences that you’re looking forward to seeing the characters experience? If so, why? Do you feel our heroines will continue to be able to wing it, or will they commit some sort of cultural blunder? If the latter, how do you expect that to play out and emotionally affect the culprit? On a more character oriented level, what other struggles do you think the characters might have in their everyday, personal lives? Do you think everyone will continue to get along, or might tension in Himawari Share grow for some reason? Lastly, do you think romance might be in bloom with any characters?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It's certainly very interesting and it shows up the potential troubles of going out into a whole new world

snuffysam

Everyone gets along so well, I just know someone’s going to mess up

Call me a pessimist lol

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

snuffy, youre a pessimist

but no i agree

they have been getting along real well

and at some point theyre going to fight

cause at the very least living together isnt easy

cause everyone has different habits

and call me biased, but pretty sure if its a living together thing tina is gonna be the cause of it just cause she has the most unreserved personality

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah.

Eventually all that rage and stress will just need to be all let out.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

one thing i didnt mention about the language thing was that i was glad to see there was a difference between nao and tina. cause tina clearly has a better grasp and that shows, both in how much she understands and how she has learned to learn via context clues.

snuffysam

yeah there's a clear difference between everyone's skill level

even just the "yeah it took me a while to get used to shinichi talking" is an example of that

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It's great seeing everyone talking in all the different languages(edited)

Especially since it's not easy to do Japanese and Korean in comics unless you're overly familiar with the language yourself (or have a translator)(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes thats also true with the shinichi talking part. i really felt for nao in that moment.

cause its an easier said than done thing

im gonna ship nao and masaki. thats where im putting my shipping chips

snuffysam

perhaps a source of conflict comes from romance coming about with an odd number of people in the house?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I made it for the last bit. O.o Though you mentioned a lot of the stuff I liked in the first half hour already, I'm noticing. The bit where Tina brought the soda for Nao and the bit where the two characters were having different music conversations in their minds.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

eey Math

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I enjoyed those two. The Hyejung at the end, I can see how it's very relatable, and it was emotional, but I guess I just like a bit of funzies in my fave scenes. ^.^(edited)

I'm gonna ship Nao and Tina, because you KNOW me.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi math~! was even just thinking "aww i guess math isnt coming after all."

plz math

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

mmm, ships

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

clearly tina and hyejung are the ship

they have more history

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

That's just it, they haven't fallen in love yet. Chips go on the new relationship.

Also, related to what SJ was saying before, the author must be very good with languages or know many herself... I have zero clue if it's right or not, but it's a pretty gutsy venture.

snuffysam

yeah either the author knows three plus languages, or has some really good friends

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the japanese is correct from what i can tell. at least the parts i could read.

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

There's also those little things that can trip one up in translation, like the "Let's Eat" kind of being the Japanese thanks for the food thing. I think the author even pointed it out once, with the part time job, both of them thanking the other for working, not really being an English thing.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah, I wouldn't ever think to do a foreign language in something of mine unless I rely on a translator.

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I didn't totally pick up on the skills of the individual characters either, but since you did, it's cool that it can come across too.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm bilingual for English and French and even I'm not sure I'd want to do it.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

what you mean you dont want to do a strip where all the tans start speaking french? XD

i feel like shinichi would be the one to bring a relationship in from the outside

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Not so much, no.

Yeah, we haven't seen much of the guys (which I notice you mentioned earlier)... honestly, I'm okay with that. I like the focus on the women (and not just because I ship that way) as they all have sort of a bond.

snuffysam

shinichi seems a bit more outgoing, so i wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to already be in a relationship

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, and the speed-talking thing was well portrayed.

I also want to say it was neat having that character who lives across the street come back in a later scene, when they were going to the post office. Helps make things extra real, incidentals like that.

snuffysam

i liked how she didn't know masaki's name lol

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

snuffysam

he might not get out much

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Could be to avoid talking. And just not wanting to talk even to strangers for fear of making a mistake.

Maybe that explains the rudeness too.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair, i dont know a single one of my neighbors. and if you dont interact with your neighbors, you dont know their names

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

If you start with rudeness, people won't talk to you either, and you won't have to interpret. Yeah, I don't know my neighbours either. ^^;;

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I don't even have any neghibors

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Final thought, super impressed by the translation stuff. Including the blurring of just some words, which was also pointed out earlier. I don't think I've seen anything like that.

Also, Nao + Tina.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Harmony Becker, as well, for making Himawari Share and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Harmony Becker’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Raison d'Etre by Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh). As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on August 16th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://raisondetrecomic.tumblr.com/