#but also like. its creating a system image And backing up my files which i feel means it could come out larger

[dullahandyke]

Watching my laptop try n back up on a hard drive I stole from an older laptop like... pls work this time

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Good Omens graphic novel update: June 2024

Welcome to the June update. A lot of behind the scenes work at the moment but we're grabbing the travel sweets, popping in the Bentley and hitting the road. More on that below.

Admin

Ongoing reminder that the project FAQ can be found here. 

I pledged using my Apple ID, or no longer use the address my pledge is attached to, or I cannot work out what email address my pledge is connected to. What should I do? Please contact us via your Kickstarter account where the pledge is connected; we will be able to see on our system which address it is. If it's one you have access to, great! The FAQ has information on how to resend your invite link to access the PledgeManager. If it's one you are not able to access, then you can let us know which email is preferred and we can update this on the system, which will automatically send a new invite.

Events

We've had a lot of queries about when the Good Omens team will be attending events more formally, after some Aziraphale and Crowley spotting at conventions we'd been to previously. Well, we're excited to confirm the first: Good Omens HQ will be at ACME Comic Con in Glasgow, Scotland this September.

We'll be bringing the actual-real-life-home-to-Crowley-and-his-plants Bentley from Season 2 of Good Omens, the first time the car has been made available publicly for fans to come see and get photos with, ahead of its journey back to the set and the start of Season 3 filming.

We also see Quelin Sepulveda, aka Muriel, has been announced for the event for some additional ineffable joy.

You can get your tickets for ACME Comic Con here. We hope to see some of you there.

While we won't be rocking up with the Bentley to this next one, we want to let you know about Ineffable Con which, though sold out in person, is also taking place virtually in July. The fan-run event hosts great panels, auctions and more, with money raised going to Alzheimer’s Research UK, in memory of Sir Terry Pratchett.

Where next? We have - not an exaggeration - a list of about 200 events somewhere from when we asked fans this on Instagram and while we can't promise quite that amount of convention attendance, we're certainly looking to do some more things in future with Good Omens at large. Watch this space.  

Good Omens items...

This month has largely seen prototypes and samples for the wider Good Omens merch store arriving, and while we can't share those yet, we are certainly excited to see more fan product suggestions coming to life. That does, however, leave our public item updates a little slim on the ground.

To make up for that, here's some new panels from Colleen:

Also known as, "What could possibly go wrong?" And:

Also known as, "Well why don't you ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇!@#▇" or words to that effect, we'd imagine.  

Update from Colleen

Following such a positive response to Colleen's piece last month, bringing you behind the scenes into making the Good Omens graphic novel, we are delighted to say that she has agreed to write something for our updates going forward! For June, she's going more in depth into the process of flatting and the technicalities of colouring on screen vs print. Over to you, Colleen.

---

I mentioned the other month that I use a flatter to help me with technical work on GOOD OMENS, and here is a great example.

This is my original, hand drawn line art.

And this is the flatting file which was created using the MultiFill computer program.

It will put your eyes out.

The raw image above demonstrates how the color art lines up solidly under the line art. If it doesn't do that, you get a weird phenomenon in print called ghosting, a tiny little line of white around each segment of color. I had this issue on one major project and ended up redoing every single color file after I got a look at the first printing. Nearly two weeks of work.

The same image with the line art on top.

The layer order looks like this.

Background copy is the clean, line art layer.

I scan the art at 600 dpi, then make the blacks pure black, the whites pure white. Then I convert back to greyscale, then RGB, then duplicate the layer. Then I delete the white on the upper layer so the line art layer is transparent but the blacks on that layer are not.

If you have blacks on a layer that has been multiplied, you can see slight color through those blacks. You want pure black.

The lower layer is where I use the MultiFill program to create the digital flats. First you use MultiFill to drop in the random colors, then the companion plug-in Flatter Pro to make those colors seal under the black lines.

This probably sounds like a silly thing to worry about, but if the flat colors don’t line up perfectly under the black line art, you get the dreaded ghosting I mentioned. You can see it below in this image. It’s a tiny little white line that will appear around the black lines and color areas.

This drives me nuts and is an absolute nightmare to fix.

It’s a very common problem, especially for people who work for web and don’t anticipate the problems going from web to print.

What looks great on your computer can cause big problems in print.

From here, my flatter Jul Mae Kristoffer, who is way over in the Philippines, does flatting that is more in keeping with the areas of color I want to isolate. As you see on Layer 1.

But again, this is still pretty ugly, and not what I would use for final color. Flatting is a technical issue, not a creative one, though in some cases a flatter will make choices you may use. Most of the time they don't.

Here is my final color page.

Sometimes my MultiFill flats are so wonky I have a hard time getting my brain to snap out of what I see before me. If I get stuck, it's a good idea to just pick at it and come back to it later.

If it really, really bothers me, I’ll take the MultiFill flatter layer and desaturate the color so it doesn’t poke my eyes out.

Here’s an example. The digital flat file.

The desaturated flat file that doesn’t make me want to poke my eyes out.

And the final color.

Sometimes I just put in a solid white layer so I don’t see the flats at all. Flatting is there to allow you to easily pick spots to color in, and doesn’t usually appear in the final work.

Sometimes I want to create my colors using transparent color over a white ground, which is more delicate in the final.

Here’s an example from Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. I also selected all black line art here and converted it to sepia to give it a vintage look. Except for the fairies. They’re green.

A colorist must also consider color settings.

Different clients can have different requirements. I find these color settings, which I got from the Hi-Fi Studio, to be pretty solid. I use them as my default for all my projects unless otherwise requested. If your publisher has other settings, they’ll usually send you a csf file which you can upload to Photoshop. The program will save your files and you can just switch between them as you need them.

This tells the printer things about the paper and the spread of the ink you will use. That’s what dot gain means - it makes printed color look darker than intended, so you set up your files to account for it.

When you hover your pointer over each box, it will tell you what each setting is supposed to accomplish.

Another really important thing to consider when coloring comics is color range.

I’m coloring this book in RGB range, but for print you use CMYK.

I’m about to confuse the heck out of some people with this post, I’m afraid. But here we go.

Here is this shot in RGB color setting.

And here is the same page calibrated for print in CMYK.

The biggest shift is in the reds. Print cannot match those reds.

You may not see much difference here, but it’s the sort of thing that drives artists crazy.

A computer should be perfect for conveying exactly what you want, right? It's all just 0's and 1's, binary information, and that information should be the same from one computer to the next?

Nope. Not even close.

First off, computer monitors must be calibrated. You can use a computer program or a tool that measures the color on your computer screen and then adjusts the color to an industry standard.

Have you ever been in an electronics shop where a bunch of TV shows were on display, all of them playing the same show, and have you noticed how different the color was from one TV to the next?

It's like that.

I freely admit I don't pay a whole lot of attention to calibration, but if I were a professional photographer I would. I'd have a little spectrometer attached to my screen and software would adjust my monitor to the best possible standard range. As it is, I just use the default setting on my computer and hope for the best.

If your monitor is properly calibrated and your art is shown on another monitor that is properly calibrated, the art will look almost identical from one monitor to the next.

YAY!

But from one monitor to the next, that's about where the resemblance ends.

Colors are calibrated to something called RGB, or Red, Green, Blue.

All colors come from a mix of red green and blue. At their greatest intensity, all the colors in the spectrum together become pure white light.

This is why RGB is called ADDITIVE color, because you ADD colors from the spectrum to get ALL colors, and all colors create the entirety of the rainbow, and pure white light.

Your computer monitor, your phone, your television, all images are created via light using RGB, a gamut that covers all possible colors that can be created.

That's a lot.

And that's why some of the colors you see on your TV or phone are so deep and intense.

For the widest possible range of color and intensity, you use RGB.

Unfortunately, there is what you can create with light, and then there is what you can create with pigment or ink. And that is why printing what you see on your computer almost never looks exactly like what you see in a book.

For printing, you must use a color setting known as CMYK. This stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key/Black.

In printing, the pure blue is actually Cyan and the pure red is actually Magenta.

CMYK color range is not created by addition, but by SUBTRACTION. In order to get the color you want, you reduce the percentage of one of the four colors for ink mixing. Mixing all colors, instead of giving you white, gives you black.

The gamut of CMYK is limited to what can be created with ink.

You've probably heard the term four color press? This is what that means. Four colors, with each color of ink run over the paper on rollers which, combined in varying layers of opacity, create all the printing colors you see.

But remember, what you see on your computer monitor and what CMYK gamut can handle are two different things.

Now, I’ve been really careful with the color settings on Good Omens, so there haven’t been any big surprises, but let me show you a snippet of a project I did for the French fashion house Balmain.

The RGB version:

And then this shot after it was converted to a CMYK file for print.

That's a pretty big difference.

Now, you see this shift mostly with vibrant colors, such as that pink there. But other colors hardly changed at all, right?

That's because this issue is about range of color. CMYK and RGB occupy a shared range which you can see demonstrated by this graphic I got from Wikipedia.

The graphic shows the RGB ranges supported by various digital formats. SWOP CMYK is the most common range my publishers use. Note that the bounding box line shared by the RGB and SWOP CMYK formats shares about half the range space. So whatever RGB colors you use that are outside that range will be digitally converted to the smaller SWOP CMYK range.

And you may not like what you end up with.

As you can see, some of the most ethereal and intense colors get lost outside of the SWOP CMYK boundary.

A look at the Dark Horse Comics color settings in Photoshop. Theoretically, this information should prevent your art from looking like mud on publication.

Now, after I just told you the dangers of coloring in RGB then converting to CMYK for print, I tell you I am coloring Good Omens in RGB anyway. There’s a couple of reasons for this.

Remember, RGB give you a greater range of color, so it can be to your advantage to preserve your original files using a format that gives you the greatest range.

Again, here is the unaltered file.

You can see what the CMYK result will be simply by clicking the Proof Colors button here. This will show you how the art will convert.

And the Gamut Warning will show you which colors are out of gamut range for print.

The intensity of that magenta and that purple in the top right are not going to print true.

This is how it will look in final.

So even if you do what you think is perfect color on screen, there is no way it can perfectly convert to print. Almost everything will involve a little bit of compromise.

Even though you have to consider the color shift issues, preserving your files in RGB gives you greater wiggle room, especially if you get lucky someday and get to work with a printer who can print in 6 colors. Or maybe some technology you don’t know about will pop up and make printing super glorious. Who knows.

Regardless, you should keep an eye on that gamut and color for CMYK print, while preserving your master files in RGB.

Until next time.

[beesandwasps]

A Confession of Digital Mess

I’m looking for citations to back up a post I made, and I am having just a bit of a problem. This is kind of boring, but since @deepfriedinfant deserves some kind of update, here it is (hidden because it’s long).

Google is rather notoriously starting to get bad at finding things. And the thing I’m looking for is something which… well, unless I already had the specific details which I’m looking for, there are way too many things out there which basically share all the possible search terms.

That’s not the problem; that’s a thing that everyone online encounters these days. If that were all, we’d be done; it would just be a matter of me either admitting defeat or doing a search and examining every single one of hundreds of results.

The problem is searching my own stuff.

I keep files. When I see an image I may want later, I drag it to the desktop. (For those using other OSes/browsers which don’t behave the same way as the Mac: this saves the file to your account’s Desktop folder.) When I see text I like, if it’s just part of a page I select it and drag the selection to the desktop. (A feature Apple created years ago and kind of seems not to like any more — this creates a .textClipping file containing the text in rich text format, unfortunately using an archaic storage mechanism that is otherwise almost completely abandoned for the last 2 decades.) If it’s an entire document, I save the document to the desktop.

Every so often, I go through the huge mass of files on my desktop (right at this moment: 516 items — I’m overdue), get rid of anything which has outlived its usefulness, and throw all the remains into a folder named “To Be Filed”.

Which is all well and good, but:

I very seldom go into the “To Be Filed” folder and actually file things. It contains many, many thousands of items, some of them dating back to the GWB administration. (And many of them now completely lacking context — I’m now, IIRC, two computers on from what I was using back then, and when you copy files from one computer to another, the modification date is changed and some of the filesystem metadata is lost.) And I actually have an even older “To Be Filed” folder which I thought I had lost, causing me to create the current one, which also contains vast numbers of files.

Many years ago, I did do a bunch of filing, at least in the sense of separating text and images out a bit. I have a folder named “Random Text” which really ought to have subfolders already and will absolutely need them if I ever get around to adding more stuff to it, and an “Images” folder containing subfolders with the names of topics and/or sources. So not everything that I might want to search is even in the “To Be Filed” folder(s), some of it is elsewhere.

Much to my delight, a while back Apple added OCR software to the Mac OS. This is very useful, and the last time I used OCR software, which was at least a decade and a half ago, it was ludicrously bad, so the accuracy they have in their freebie version surprises me. But this does mean that any image sitting around which has identifiable text in it is indexed for searching, so now I get huge numbers of results for practically everything by default. (And while you can restrict search results by type, you can’t do a negative restriction — you can’t search for “not images”, and there are multiple types of files which contain text so you can’t do a single search for all text types.)

I have periodically downloaded big collections of things. I have complete runs of comics. I have that archive of game walkthroughs that somebody compiled from GameFAQs a while back. All kinds of stuff. Now that Apple indexes images, all of it can pop up in search results — and none of it is typically what I want. (Okay, yes, every once in a while I end up looking for a walkthrough of an old game or a specific comic strip. But that’s genuinely a rare thing.)

Just to make things even better, it turns out that Apple’s text indexing system does not index .textClipping files. This is something which has been true all along — Google shows that people were complaining about this all the way back in 2008 — but recently it has begun to dawn on me that, given the number of clipping files I have around, many of which are exactly the kind of thing I might want to use as a citation, this is very specifically my problem. These have to be searched manually every time I want to find something, unless I can remember the location of the file and the name (which is automatically created from the first few words of the text). Ouch.

So right now I am taking some steps to ameliorate the problem while I keep looking. First, I’m looking for things which are giving me large numbers of results I don’t want, like the aforementioned GameFAQs archive, and changing them from folders into compressed read-only disk image files, the contents of which are not part of the general search index. (If space was an issue, it would be better to use compressed archives files like 7Zip, which get somewhat better compression levels, but that obviously isn’t a problem if I’m already holding on to the uncompressed files — and a disk image file can be mounted, searched, and used directly without any hassle if I do want to find something in that specific collection, whereas archives can be problematic no matter how much effort is put into making them act like they’re just a special type of folder.) I’m also looking into some kind of scheme to convert all my .textClipping files into an indexable format, but this turns out to be a more convoluted operation than you would assume.

This may take a while. It will speed me up in future searches, but it may take a while.

[extendedrealitykkg]

Week 5

Lecture

This week we learnt about interaction design for VR.

We learnt about navigation and wayfinding in VR environments/using VR systems, and UI/UX design for VR.

We also learnt about design thinking, and how to use an iterative process when designing something instead of going straight from a problem to a solution, ignoring the many factors that need to be considered when designing such as user needs.

We also focused on the users (primary, secondary, and tertiary), and learnt about how design involves almost co-creating with the users, as you need to observe, talk to, and/or put yourself in their shoes to understand their needs, and get feedback at multiple points in your iterative design process while you attempt to solve a problem with design.

We also learnt about prototyping and going from a concept to a demo, and evaluation, usability testing and gathering data about the designs.

Image: Some notes from the lecture

Self-Portrait

This week I decided to finish up my self portrait so I could export it to Sketchfab.

I quite liked the arms I had removed from the design last week, and remembering the feedback I had gotten to add more elements to the box to make the design more balanced, I added them back.

This time, I also drew up cartoony hands and added a fun bracelet in each wrist, to keep in line with the youthful, childlike image of the jack-in-the-box.

I saved the file as .fbx and used Landing Pad to upload it to Sketchfab. After doing so, I realised the thumbs on the hands were not facing the correct way, so I went back to fix it.

Images (above): One thumb facing the wrong way

Image: Corrected thumbs

I also took this time to look closely at the design from different angles and fix some minor mistakes I had missed. and clean up some areas such as this extremely uneven border and pom poms.

I also added a wind-up key to the back of the box so that no matter what angle it was viewed from, there would be some interesting element there. The front shows the full face view on the clown, the sides show the clown side profile and its arms sticking out, and the back shows the wind-up key.

I also brought back the streamers from a previous iteration of the jack-in-the-box, in order to see why they were not working and how they could be changed or improved.

The problem is that the brush strokes used to make them are spiked at the tip, which clashes with the rounded shapes used almost everywhere else in the design. There is no consistency or pattern to how they are place in the 3D space, and some of the sizes are drastically different. It looks very inconsistent and chaotic compared to the jack-in-the-box design.

In the following re-design, I used the same flat ribbon-like brush to draw the streamers that I used for the frills around the clown's neck, so the two elements are similar and there is some more consistency in the design. I also used a looping brush stroke instead of having a straight line, to match the arms and to make the streamers look more like they would in real life if they were falling.

Lastly, I checked over the design to see if it looks alright when viewed from various different angles.

[jimbo-capstone]

Week 9 - 12, November 1 - 29

I wrote this out earlier tonight, left to make food, came back and the site stoped being able to save/recognize my post and so I reloaded and the draft disappeared. This site sucks mega balls.

I was really proactive during November, I just found documenting a lot of my work was tedious and let my lizard brain get the best of me and avoided posting until now. 

I started out at the beginning of the month with creating the landscape the first scene would take place in. After that I started learning SpeedTree to create some 3D trees. SpeedTree is pretty complex but I was able to work through a lot of the basic tutorials and got a good understanding of the basic node based tree generation system. This was good because I wasn’t looking for anything particularly complex.

So here are the trees I created along with the textures I painted for each type. I'm using screencaps from blender because I was having trouble getting my SpeedTree files to run as they might be too big/broken right now, but it is fine as I have everything I need from them.

Birch Tree

Oak Tree

Old Decrepit Oak Tree

I used Blender for this project for a few reasons which I will touch on as later, but one reason was its texture painting work flow, which I found to much friendlier then C4D's. After using the landscape model to generate fallen leaves below the trees I imported everything into blender and painted the ground mesh.

I then went in and found some camera angles for the first few scenes that would take place in this location.

All together my project was looking like the following image and it was about midway through November.

I started working on the 2D character animation portion of the first scene next. I initially did some dirty rough animation but found I was having a lot of trouble so I scrapped it and spent the weekend of the 19th doing it again and came out with some pretty good results. This is the rough animation, done in a shorthand to capture the movement of the character quickly.

After this I did a cleaner version of the line-work, adhering to the character sheet I created for Ichabod, and then colored it. There are still in-betweens missing in this sequence, but seeing as that sort of thing takes more time then might be apparent, I decided to save that for final improvements and focus on getting more of the whole short done before returning to the in-betweens. I still have the in-between charts I drew in the 'final' frames I have here so I will not forget later this year when I return to it. I also added in some camera animation, I thought it would help build a bit of tension with the camera slowly creeping up on the isolated Ichabod, but also as a way of bringing attention to the 3D nature of the scene. This was easy to accomplish as the way the Grease Pencil works is by creating a plane that its in space for 2D drawings to exist on, so when pushing the camera in the scale adjusts accordingly with the scene. Another element of this sequence is the animation on the light, where after fading in it moves with Ichabod to mimic the movement of the lantern.

After this I created a hitching post for the horse to be tied to. I painted the post in Blender and added some detail like an outline and latch with the Grease Pencil. I also reanimated the reigns a bit to actually span the distance from the horse to the post in hopes of helping a bit with any perspective changes from the camera animation.

After this I worked to create the moon and passing clouds animation that would sit behind the character in nearly all the scenes in this location. I used the Grease Pencil to detail a sphere with an emitting texture. I then made a 2 long strips of cloud designs and had them animate slowly, on 2s, across the x axis in front of the moon. After the feedback I received at the crit I am considering remaking the cloud elements of this scene in order to capture more light from the moon. It will be fundamentally the same system, only the clouds will be created through geometry or fog volumes instead of Grease Pencil objects.

I then used the same system, only with a different brush, to create fog moving along the ground at Ichabod's feet.

This I also had some trouble with lighting, and I will be considering using a different method for this element as well.

After that I went and filled in birch forest a bit to help make the scene seem more full. Here I used Grease Pencil objects but to my defense the engine I was initially using, Cycles, lit them in a much more appealing way then which is shown in the video. I will go over why I had to switch over to Eevee shortly.

After this I animated the second scene, which is made up of a leaf being blown from the crooked oak tree in the center of the scene as the moon sits all cold in the background.

This was a fun scene to animate, as working in 3D is different than 2D and getting that change of scenery in what I was dealing with was nice.

However it was at this point that I realizes I needed to switch to Eevee. I learned that Cycles, a physically based render engine, would not render Grease Pencil Objects seen through opacity textures. It was a weird issue that required a lot of trouble shooting but the only solution I found was to abandon Cycles and work in Eevee, Blender's real time engine. Here is the comparison of the leaf with the clouds scene through its opacity. It was too much of a problem to ignore as not only did the leaf I was animating feature an opacity layer in its texture, but all the leaves in the trees made in SpeedTree did as well. (Right is Cycles | Left is Eevee)

After this I began work on a final short sequence to round out what I would be showing for the critique. This sequence follows the moon/leaf shot and is the set up for a close up on the lantern and candle. I decided to change the staging for this shot from what I had initially drawn in the boards to help set up the cut to close up better by showing the lantern bouncing around as Ichabod moved. This sequence is also not in-betweened.

I ended up changing the camera angle a bit, which caused some issues with the parallax from the perspective shift, but nothing too rough. I also spent a bit of time animating the plane the drawings animate on (shown at the end of the clip below) to have it actually move back and forth as he walks, helping to perpetuate the illusion of Ichabod moving within a 3D space.

After this I decided to create some small stone walls to help populate the scene more and take away from the smoothness of the terrain object. I painted these and used that painted texture as a bump map. I also went in with the Grease Pencil and drew in some moss to detail the stones.

All together, along with some rendering adjustments like depth of field and glow, here is the final sequence.

Overall it was a very productive month, and the crit went really well. My main take away was that I need to work more with the lighting of the 3D scene to try and take advantage of it. I have a few changes to this scene, but before I return to it I will be creating the next location's set to try and further practice and perfect the workflow.

[emiewritesthings]

doctor, doctor - jay halstead

jay halstead x fem!reader

summary: in which y/n takes it into her own hands to look after a sick jay 

a/n: i’m not gonna lie i think this is one of my fav things i’ve ever written, i would really appreciate some feedback and p.s the beginning of it is based on that scene from brooklyn 99 :)

masterlist

“okay, it’s 10 o’clock, meaning halstead is officially an hour late to work,” y/n announced as she appeared from the break room with a mug of poorly made coffee. looking around, she had immediately distracted everyone in the room with her playful smile. “okay let’s do this, theories!” she encouraged, taking a sip with excitement, but immediately regretting it as s he spat it back in the mug and abandoned it on adam’s desk as she leant against it.

“uh, he forgot to set his alarm?” antonio suggested, willing to play along with the little game that y/n had created. however clearly his answer didn’t suffice as y/n scrunched up her nose and shook her head in disappointment.

“you are a detective in a unit that just last week rescued 5 people kidnapped and used as chess pieces in a human sized version of the game and the best you could come up with is he forgot to set his alarm? pfft, disappointing, dawson. who’s willing to take this seriously?” she scoffed, brushing his idea off with a simple roll of the eyes as the group laughed at her ridiculousness. 

“maybe he has been murdered by a gang looking for revenge.” adam piped up, earning a sudden and rather forceful slap on the back as y/n cheered. her eyes looking over at antonio as she gestured towards the less experienced detective.

“yes, that’s what i’m talking about. bit dark, ruzek, but better than dawson’s,” y/n hummed, adam clearly pleased with the praise he had received by the pretty detective. “any one else wanna shot?” she offered it out into the room, suddenly the sound of rolling wheels on the chair had everyone turn to face al who was munching on a ham sandwich.

“he walked into the middle of a drug ring, slept with the kingpins daughter and is now having limbs removed, one by the hour.” suddenly an eery silence fell in the bullpen as al suddenly disappeared back to his desk and everyone was left with an image that she was sure was burned on the inside of everyones mind.

“uh, okay, someone might want to arrange a psych check for olinsky asap,” y/n mumbled, pointing in the direction where he had once been and looking around as if checking that she hadn’t been the only one to hear al’s suggestion. “anyways, all of you are wrong. clearly he has joined a motorbike gang and now makes his money on the road striking off names on the government’s hit list.” 

just as the room erupted into discussion about how idiotic this conversation was, as well as their ideas, the sound of footsteps caught y/n’s attention as she arrived at her desk. however as he reached the floor, the reason for his absence was clear.

“woah, you look like death.” adam chuckled, it immediately being silenced as jay sent a deadly glare his way. with his skin paler than normal with undertones of green, a layer of sweat draped over his forehead. jay flashed as smile at y/n as he passed, reaching his desk and collapsing on his chair with a wince. 

as everyone went back to what they were doing, y/n found herself straying her eyes away from her computer screen for longer and longer periods of time until she found herself by his side with a sickly sweet grin, pun intended. 

“i don’t wanna hear it, y/l/n.” jay mumbled, massaging his temples with his fingers hoping it would somehow sooth his pounding skull. whilst usually he had every minute of his day just to hear the woman chat away about whatever crossed her mind, he had found himself in quite the state since last night, leaving him restless and irritable.

“believe it or not, i just wanted to make sure you were alright,” y/n’s entire demeanour crumbled as she melted at the soft features of his face that came with being so vulnerable. but from the look in jay’s eyes, it was clear he didn’t 100% believe her excuse. “and to ask what the hell you think you are doing here? you are sick jay, you need to rest.” 

it was very rare that jay found himself ill. in the years that y/n had been working by the man’s side, she could count on one hand the times she had seen him with so much as a cough. in fact she had called him captain immune system for a period of time when she realised he was pretty much indestructible. y/n couldn’t deny the concern bubbling in her gut seeing him so weak.

“i’m fine,” with her eyes slitted in a look that practically shouted ‘bullshit’, jay continued. “i promise, it’s just a little cold. nothing serious, i think i’ll survive.” he joked dryly, finding it incredibly hard to look away from y/n for her eyes were filled with a warmth that he knew was an expression usually saved for those she cared deeply about. 

“yeah well, you need to take care of yourself, jay, i’m being serious. chicago can cope if you just have one day off, get your energy back.” 

y/n was reminded of the times she had the exact same words spoken to her by the exact person that didn’t seem to want to take them onboard. every time she had so much as a sniffle he would be straight over with some soup that his mother used to swear by and the name of a box set that he would put on for the two of them to watch as he sat stroking her hair in order to try and convince her body to rest. neither of them had anyone else to take care of them, so had taken it upon themselves to be that person for the other. 

“now, i’m gonna go tell voight that i’m taking you home before you infect this whole office.” before he could object, she had already ran (not literally but jay was impressed by her speed walking) to her boss’ office. knocking on the door, with a sweet smile and a sea of words running off her tongue so quickly that voight had to agree just to shut her up, y/n returned by his side. “come on, germ face, your carriage awaits.” 

“you know i love it when you talk dirty to me, y/l/n.” winking at her, y/n giggled as she supported him back down the stairs and out of the station. the two chatted away, y/n explaining how she thought al was secretly a sociopath and jay filing her in on the newest instalment of his apartment block drama until they pulled up in front of jay’s apartment building. 

as they walked through the door, jay’s arm resting around y/n’s shoulders as he struggled to find strength, they managed to reach the sofa before y/n’s body gave up. both of them letting out large breathes before looking at each other and falling into laughter. 

“you hungry, i could try making your mom’s soup?” y/n asked, as she pushed herself up to look down at the man. her hair falling down around her face and tickling jay’s skin. “i’m sure it won’t be as good as her’s but i’m willing to give it a try.” 

the way she was sat with the large window gleaming light behind her, y/n almost looked like an angel. her eyes and smile were wide, with her beauty wrapping its hands around jay’s neck squeezing until his head felt light and he nearly reached up to touch her porcelain skin. but jay had noticed the sensation way before he was blocked up with a cold.

“yeah, uh, that sounds nice.” jay agreed with a minimal amount of sass, but y/n didn’t seem to notice as she moved off the cushions and towards the kitchen. she had pretty much memorised the recipe when jay had finally given it to her on her birthday after offering to pay for it multiple times. whizzing around the kitchen, she was too busy to notice the tired eyes admiring her from afar. 

jay wished his mom was alive to see the woman that she would have loved. all the times he had brought girls back to his family when he was younger didn’t add up to an ounce of the beauty and power that y/n held in her middle finger. the way she bit back at his wit, but also had the ability to spot when he was upset from the other side of the city. she was everything her mother wanted in a daughter in law, everything she wanted for her little boy. 

“okay, give me your honest opinion. i can take it i promise.” y/n sudden appeared with a tray that held a large bowl of the semi-thick orange liquid, a glass of water and a couple pills. approaching jay, she carefully helped him up from where he laid and placed it onto his lap. “actually that was a complete lie, do not tell me the truth. i may just cry.” 

“why thank you, nurse y/l/n.” he teased.

“it’s doctor actually.” she quipped back.

jay chuckled lowly, as he grabbed the spoon and took a large spoonful to his mouth. feeling the slight sting of his tongue at the heat, it was only when the flavours hit that he was suddenly transported to an earlier time in his life. a simpler time. only this time there was y/n by his side. 

“the verdict?” she prompted, taking a seat besides him, pulling her knees up to her chest. 

“not sure whether i want to tell you, don’t think you’ll fit in this room if your ego grows any bigger.” y/n grinned as she leaned over to press a kiss against his shoulder. jay closed his eyes at the contact, feeling the ache in his body freeze for a moment as it registered the tingling sensation. “all jokes aside, it really is good.” 

“i’m glad, your mother was a smart woman.” she nodded, leaning forward to turn tv on. jay continued to spoon the soup into his mouth, as y/n chose a show that they both had started together and had refused to watch another minute without the other. y/n leaned back making herself comfortable, having already texted voight telling him that she would most likely need the entire day off, and getting the go ahead, she had no plans other than being by jay’s side for the next however many hours. 

it was sometime in the early evening and the tv continued to emit light, but neither jay nor y/n was paying any attention to the drama. jay, with his head on y/n lap, was leaning into her touch as her short, thin fingers ran through the dark strands that sprouted from his scalp. his body wrapped in a blanket that y/n had grabbed from his room, he felt completely at peace. 

“you know what, i think you are more bearable when you are at death’s door.” y/n joked quietly, as the forest green eyes were exposed back to her own. jay groaned in annoyance, realising that there was no sweet y/n without the sharped tongue y/n. a trait he adored, but at his own expense. 

“and to think i was starting to think you had gone soft on me, y/l/n.” he hummed, wishing he could forever have her giggle on repeat wherever he went, for the sound made goosebumps run down his neck and down his arms, like some kind of magic that only y/n possessed. 

“as much as i love you, i can’t risk my bad ass reputation for you.” 

although jay was sure it was just part of her banter, the moment the ‘i love you’ fell off her tongue, he found himself wide awake, unable to push past the feeling in his gut as it looped over again and again in his mind. y/n could see the conflict in his face, as he glanced up at her with something she had never noticed before. 

“you mean it?” he asked. 

“mean what?” confused, her fingers fell from his hair, making jay regret ever opening his mouth.

“do you really, you know, love me?” he knew he had committed too far to try and retreat. maybe he could blame it on the fact he couldn’t think straight, although she was like a lie detector that wouldn’t let such a bogus excuse pass. y/n blinked down at him, watching as he sat up to look at her with a hunger that needed to be addressed. swallowing the lump in her throat, y/n nodded.

“of course, you are one of my best friends, jay.” it was true, but it wasn’t the full truth, both of them knew that.

“i didn’t realise we had started lying to one another,” jay’s eyes were soft, as he reached to place his hand against her cheek, smiling as she slowly leaned into it. closing her eyes, she tried to find what direction she was looking for, but didn’t dare take the first step. without even thinking, jay jutted forward and captured her lips before they could form a single syllable. 

gently, but passionately, jay and y/n moved their lips against the others. the feeling was ever-growing as the kiss deepened and deepened until they had no choice to pull back, deprived of their ability to breath. as jay’s eyes came back into view, y/n, for the first time in her life, had lost the ability to form a sentence. 

“we just...” she began but it ran off quickly. jay chuckled.

“we did.”

the two sat in silence, examining the other one’s face until y/n found herself moving forward until she was sat in his lap, legs wrapped around his waist as she pressed her lips against his. just like before their bodies and minds were set ablaze with desire and what had remained unspoken for what felt like forever. jay had nearly completely forgotten about the illness that had put him in the care of the woman that he craved more than anything else the world had to offer. 

as their lips parted ways, suddenly the air had thinned and everything felt... normal. jay’s lips were unable to break out of the large grin mould that y/n had put them in, which was soon mirrored by the young woman. a small giggle escaping her lips.

“if i get whatever it is you have, i expect the exact same treatment.” 

“only for you, doctor y/l/n.”

[goldentournesol]

to be true, to not be true (part 1)

Spencer Reid x Reader

Summary: early in y/n’s and spencer’s relationship, y/n fears the growing distance between them, although what seemed to be possible infidelity, is actually much worse–for spencer.

Length: 2.9k

A/N: i wrote this in collaboration with one of my favorite writers on here, Mia over at @mggpleasedontlookhere​. She is so wonderful and hopefully you can see both of our writing styles here! 

masterlist

The sunlight streaming through the windows made the hairs on my skin dance in glee, although it was the soft breeze invading the space that contrasted the radiant warmth. An equilibrium was achieved–a needed balance. The same can be said about the nerves crawling about my stomach and the naive excitement that made me light-headed whenever I was around Spencer. I glanced up at him from where my head lay in his lap. The reflected glow from the TV danced across his features making my heart jolt. My stare caught his attention and he sent me a small smile, his hand leaving traces in my hair. It was his day off and I had no problem spending it in suffocating proximity with him.

“This is nice,” I breathed, leaning back into his soft touch. He hummed in response, almost in contentment, if not for the moment his eyes seemed far off, entangled in a distant thought. It was so brief, I might have missed it. His job took a lot from him and I knew that, which is why I never pushed him. Instead, I let the subtle aroma of morning coffee and fresh linen confine my senses, leaving me oblivious to reality.

Although not a few moments later, the ping from Spencer’s phone burst the fantastical bubble that surrounded us. My eyes lingered on the cartoon characters plastered on the screen but I couldn’t help noticing the way Spencer’s fingers would thump rhythmically against the floor. Adjacent to his palm, rested his phone, revealing several notifications as it came alive. Albeit I paid no mind to their context given I was enamored by the picture of me on his homescreen. A faint smile graced my lips at the observation, feeling a wave of warmth rush my cheeks.

“I wonder who that is,” I teased, referring to the image. Spencer must have misunderstood my point of reference, hastily explaining that new language that Morgan had introduced him to through text messages.

“Spencer, using emojis does not constitute a new language.”

“Considering its context, I would argue it is–I mean look at hieroglyphics!” I covered my face in amusement, running my hands over my eyes. A sharp exhale left my lungs as my chest filled with contagious giggles. It seems that I was too consumed in my fit of laughter to notice Spencer stealthily concealing the device and turning off his ringer.

“First of all, hieroglyphics is a formal writing system-”

“And does that not ‘constitute’ a portion of language? Also, isn’t texting a writing system in itself?” His lips formed into a sly smirk, thinking he’d gotten the best of me.

“You’re right in the way that hieroglyphics is part of the language, however it’s all but the ‘expression’ of that language.” I debated, gesturing to the air as I explained my point. For a moment our eyes met, and I could feel my playful resolve melt away under his gaze. Despite the pause in my confidence, my stubbornness shone through.

“All I heard was that I was right,” he jested, tickling the side of my waist. I jumped at his mischief, collapsing into pleas and begs as he continued his assault at my skin. My stomach churned in delight as my hands attempted to pry him off of me, the premise of our conversation vanishing into air like wisps of smoke.

-

Spencer’s days off were becoming increasingly rare, I’d barely seen him in the last two weeks, but we’ve managed to salvage enough time between cases for a date. The excitement buzzed through my veins as the clock ticked closer to 7 pm. I was growing restless in the apartment, obsessively checking my phone for the time. Spencer is usually right on time, if not early. Dread and anxiety clogged up my throat as I waited for him. For hours, call after call would be sent straight to voicemail. The weather outside seemed to be in tandem with the way I felt. The rain was as unforgiving as the tears that striped my face.

I was never one to hold a grudge. But it happened once, then it happened twice. Slowly, it became a habit and it was impossible to reach him.

I guess date nights on Thursdays were now obsolete.

He came over to my apartment maybe once whenever he was in town and even then he was nearly unrecognizable. His shy, loving demeanor was replaced by explosive irritability and general unease. I wished he’d just talk to me, but he continued to brush me off. He was being distant and strange, his behavior was so unlike him. Knowing him though, he was probably too stressed or busy to get around to doing simple tasks like eating a balanced meal. Spencer can be quite scatterbrained, and I hadn’t seen him in around a week. So, around lunch time, I made Spencer a healthy meal packed with proteins and veggies and decided to pop into the BAU and drop it off. It felt like a good way to cheer him up. Maybe we’d have lunch together at the park he always liked to visit. It wasn’t that far from headquarters. Hell, I’d even eat lunch with him at his desk at this point.

The walk into the BAU was strangely nerve wracking, I could feel my heart in my throat. I had an uneasy feeling in my gut but I took a deep breath and pushed the heavy glass doors open. My eyes scanned the bullpen for my boyfriend but I couldn’t find him. Standing there in confusion, I was only snapped out of my trance when someone bumped into me from behind.

“I’m so sorry–oh, it’s you! Hey Y/N, what are you doing here?” JJ said, closing the file she held in her hands and wrapping me in a one-armed hug.

“Hey JJ! I was looking for Spence, I got him lunch, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere? Do you know where he is?” I said as I pulled back from the hug, she began to say something but was interrupted.

“Woah hey, sunshine! I was wondering why it suddenly got so bright in here.” The deep voice of none other than Derek Morgan came from beside us and he was, of course, donning his signature cheeky grin. I couldn’t help but grin back, even though my chest was nearly caving in on itself.

“Did Spence come in today?” JJ asked Morgan, whose brows immediately furrowed.

“No, I haven’t seen him today. I think he might be coming in late, I’m not sure. He’s been kind of off, lately.” Morgan said, eyes searching my own for an answer.

“He has, hasn’t he?” I exclaimed and the two nodded in agreement, “I’ve been worried about him, maybe all that emoji-talk finally got to him.” I laughed slightly, but stopped when I found Morgan’s expression shift.

“What do you mean? I stopped trying to explain emojis to him like months ago, if the genius doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get it.” Morgan shrugged, unknowingly allowing the literal caving in of my chest to take place. JJ noticed the change in me immediately.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” She asked in her usual caring manner, but I could barely hear her over the rushing of my blood in my ears.

“Nothing, nothing. Um, if he comes in today, can you just give him this?” I dismissed the conversation and handed over the brown bag with the lunch I made, disguising the sharp exhale that left my lungs. Before JJ had the opportunity to utilize her profiling skills, I gave both of them a cordial nod and left the office.

My steps felt heavier with every collision against the tile, albeit the loud thumping of my heart drowned out reality around me. My mind warped itself around irrational thoughts as my loyalty to Spencer attempted to retaliate against the invaders. The concept of Spencer as dubious and sly fell foreign to me. However, that lack of knowledge only added fuel to the imminent blaze that engulfed my head and stomach.

I swarmed with alternate realities, trying to make sense of the unknown. If Spencer was aware of my method of defining a solution, I would’ve been scolded by my naivety and illogical thinking. Oh to be a scientist–to have a mind like his. It’s a gift yet a heavy burden to carry. Is that it? Was that it? Does he not believe I’m capable of understanding a mind like his? Was I stupid? No. He had shared intimate momentos of his life before, so what was it? What can I not offer…What can I not promise to make him drift away like this?

It must have been me, right? I must’ve hit a boundary the last time we spoke! Or was it his work? No. By the time my thoughts stopped buzzing, I realized my feet carried me to the park I intended to visit earlier with Spencer. An unfamiliar pang hit my chest, sending reverbing waves throughout the cavity. A sort of ache rested in the core of my heart–something I didn’t think I would feel when reflecting on my relationship with Spencer–my Spencer. I guess I was so used to the warm bubble he fabricated that I forgot how cold the real world was.

Was that it? Did I stop being that for him too?

The thought of the slow degradation of our relationship sent a chilling shock through my veins while I swallowed pins and needles. My hand rested on a park bench next to me, letting myself use the wooden beams as support. Looking out into the far pond in the center of the park, I pulled myself to take a seat. The wind began to whistle through the trees, and the lake of glitter–the nickname I gave whenever the sun casted its glow onto the surface–lost all of its beauty. Crickets didn’t even dare to sing their usual melody and birds flew south to their homes. The breaths I took kept going nowhere, dissolving into nothing even though my chest expanded and retracted.

I pulled at the ends of my sleeves, tucking my knees into my chest as the air grew crisp. Questions of infidelity and unfounded justifications collided creating a mass of insatiable curiosity. My head coincided with entropy–it enjoyed the chaos–until suddenly it went blank. Every tether that kept me grounded vanished, my consciousness going into autopilot. I didn’t even realize the burn that resided in my eyelids or the wet streaks coating my cheeks–maybe from the dryness or something more. It was only the small drop of water landed on the back of my palm that pushed me out of the addicting trance.

Another one had landed on my forehead. And another one. And another one. I cringed as I felt the water drip from my head to the crevice of my ear. The clouds began to rumble a somber tune as it began to rain. Plucking myself from the bench, I made no hurry to make it back to the house. In a way, the droplets cascading the skin distracted me–seemingly blissful compared to the former events.

Once again, my feet held a prominent consciousness as it was the only part of me that was stable, leading me to the doorstep of my apartment complex. With what felt like a last ditch effort, I checked my phone for any new messages from Spencer. My heart lurched seeing a new notification pop up. To my surprise, it was from him.

With a deep breath and newfound hope, I unlocked the device, taking a moment to gaze at the picture of I and Spencer on the screen, before proceeding. My shoulders dropped, the tight squirming in my stomach halting. A hopeful smile crept on the corners of my lips, the previous distrust dissipating from my unreliable mind as I read the words displayed in front of me.

“Date night tomorrow?”

-

Tomorrow night couldn’t come quick enough. It somehow felt like I was holding my breath the entire day until I finally saw him. He was apologetic and sweet enough that it quieted my anxieties for a while. If he held any guilt or shame, it wasn’t apparent, or maybe he hid it well. Or maybe I was being ridiculous and reading far too much into things that could be circumstantial. But this was Spencer…my Spencer, the tenderhearted, gentle soul who made way too many corny physics jokes.

Dinner went by much smoother than I expected, but I still felt like there were things unsaid. The words felt lodged in my throat, almost like an itch I couldn’t reach. Either by mindless habit or by sheer deliberacy, we ended up in our favorite park. The very park that I found myself running to in a fit of frustration yesterday. Our feet seemed to know the way of our usual path along the pavement. I wondered briefly if there was a place I stepped in twice without noticing it. There was a lull in conversation and before I realized it, the words escaped me stealthily.

“Hey, Spence?” I started, and he took his attention off his shoes to look at me, “I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something.” The way the words stumbled ungracefully from my lips had me cringing. He lifted a brow in intrigue and caught my eye, silently profiling me and my nervous behavior.

“Anything, love.” The use of the amorous term caught me off guard and I had to swallow under his intense gaze. I felt myself open my mouth, but the words died on my tongue as the blaring of his ringtone took the place of my voice between us. It was almost as if the scratchy melody startled him because the way he snatched himself away from me to look at his phone was worrisome.

His brows bunched together as he took a look at it, “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

Without waiting for my confirmation, he pressed the phone to his ear and took a few large steps away from me, as if the space would give him more privacy. I suddenly felt extremely exposed without him by my side.

The emptiness beside me lingered of his scent, almost mocking me, the words constricting my tongue. If I had a second longer, maybe the phone call would’ve been obsolete, maybe for the first time in a long time he would’ve been selfishly mine, even for another moment. I found myself suffocating in the same place I was yesterday like some poetic injustice. Perhaps I’m just a marionette, dangling from loose strings as the universe had their way with me. Frankly that would be less upsetting than watching Spencer slip through my fingers, knowing that it was possibly me who sealed that fate, and not some otherworldly being. It would’ve been my doing, and that’s something I’m not yet ready to realize.

Maybe it was my undying curiosity or growing twinge in my chest every second passed that led me to consult the moral figures weighing down my shoulders. At two opposing extremes, they debated the right course of action–or if doing the right thing was even the course of action to consider. Surprisingly in the end, it was my impulsivity that answered for me, wasting no time to stipulate consequences.

I shook off the twisting feeling in my stomach, pushing myself off in Spencer’s direction. I kept justifying my actions by telling myself that all I would be doing is checking on him, although the underlying motive was nothing under disguise. I whispered the same mantra to myself with every inch closer. I gritted my teeth as the antsy sensation traveled to my shoulders, slowing my steps to contemplate my reasoning.

What am I doing? A harsh exhale of detest left my lungs, leaving a light yet deserved burn in my esophagus. It seemed incredulous to me that I was willing to eavesdrop on my own boyfriend, although it didn’t seem like that minutes ago. I bit the inside of my cheek in shame, turning myself around.

Has this all been in my head? No, it can’t. Then why would he lie? He wouldn’t, but he did. Confusion set deep within me, however it was my guilt that left an everlasting mark. Maybe Spencer had his reasons, he would never deliberately fib–at least the Spencer I knew would never. But what if that’s it? Did I really know Spencer that well? The world around me closed in rapidly, my senses overwhelmed. Did I make him lie? It would make sense considering my recent possessiveness. Did he see that? Did I drive him away?

I bit down on my bottom lip, threatening to break the skin. I ran my hand through my hair several times, taking a few calming breaths to compose myself. No, I can’t think like that. This is Spencer, he’s my Spe–no, maybe he never was mine?

Unable to contain my contradicting thoughts any longer, I shifted around with a newfound determination. Pushing the bile building up at the bottom of my stomach, I prepared to march my way to him. My body set aflame with feigned confidence, hopefully enough to fuel the overpowering desire to know the truth.

To know whether the truth actually lied in the irrationality of my mind

To know whether the truth lied in the coarseness of my behavior.

To know whether the truth  lied in the prospects of Spencer’s job.  

To know whether the truth-

“I guess I’ll see you on Thursday!” Spencer smiled with endearment–a smile I thought was reserved for me. “It’s a date…”

To know whether the truth was that he was no longer mine.

part 2  feedback is always appreciated!

[imagine-lcorp]

Written In The Stars (One Shot)

Request

Hi! Can I request something like Lena falling in love with an alien reader?

A/N: Hey guys!!! First one shot of the year!!! Let’s hope we can keep the rhythm this time...also I broke my phone so I’ll probably be less active on the app...the writing is still going tho so yaaay! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one and as always, let me know what you think! Love ya beautiful people! 

Lena Luthor x Alien!R//Word Count: 2,204 -------------------------------------------------------

When she was younger, Lena Luthor used to look at the night sky with infinite awe. The map of stars that hung above the Earth had been the place where she could find solace and a sense of peace. The stars were never alone, always needing one another to form their constellations. They reminded her she was also not alone even if it seemed like it.

However, as she grew up most of that wonder translated into scientific interest, which started to diminish as she found herself enthralled by more practical sciences. The sky, as vast as it was, was a mystery she recognized she couldn't unravel in her lifetime. She needed to focus on more earthly things, but she was content to be another curious viewer of such canvas of light.

Being a curious viewer, however, was something that changed abruptly when the existence of extraterrestrial life was proven by no other than Superman. Even more when it was known the Earth had been a refuge for many more aliens than it was possible to believe. The stars had reached the Earth, and they came bearing their own cosmic forms of life.

The population had been divided between those that accepted and welcomed the space travelers and those that rejected the idea, defending their right to their land and planet, fearful of an unstoppable invasion, living with the enemy and whatnot. For a while, Lena found the latter to be a matter of great concern. She wanted people to feel safe and believed they had the right to know who among them was or not an alien.

It wasn't until Kara came to knock that idea off, presenting her with an alternative story and reminding her that those aliens too had a right to their own freedom. She opened her eyes to the reality most of them lived. They were mmigrants of desolated planets, seeking shelter from wars and just like Superman, seeking a new home after their planets had been shattered. There were a few bad seeds, yes, but most of them were only looking for a better life. Wasn't that enough to give them a vote of confidence?

Her alien detection device was then transformed into an image inducer, a new gadget that helped aliens conceal their true appearance if they wished to look physically human. It was great to blend with the crowd, and it was a great success in the alien market.

"Miss Luthor, Kara Danvers is waiting for you in the conference room." Jess told her one day as she arrived to the office.

"Kara?" She found herself surprised by the sudden visit of the journalist. "Does she want another interview?"

"No, she has come along with someone else. She said she only needed a few minutes with you."

"Alright." Lena said leaving her purse on her desk and taking a couple of files from Jess to revise them later. "Let's see what it is."

Lena Luthor entered her conference room to find two figures chatting amicably at the room table. One she could recognize immediately, with her golden locks and bright smile, the other she had no idea who it was but as soon as your eyes were on her she was curious to find out.

"Lena!" Kara said rising from her chair, with you following suit. "Thank you for meeting us in such short notice. We promise not to take too much of your time."

"Kara, of course. How can I help?"

"Well, actually, I would like to introduce you to (Y/N) (Y/L/N)." At the mention of your name, you stepped forward, extending your hand to Lena. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Luthor."  

"Lena, please." She said taking your hand.

"Then, please, call me (Y/N)." You said with a firm grip and a kind smile, something rare for Lena to see during those days.

"(Y/N) is the leader of an alien race residing in National City." Kara continued with a proud stance.

"Is that so?" Lena replied with a raised eyebrow and the hint of a smirk on her lips. "Is (Y/N) your real name?"

Lena's words prompted a chuckle from you, and you decided to clarify before there were any misunderstandings.

"It's my chosen Earth name. I don't think you have enough tongues to be able to pronounce the real one." You said with a playful smile. "Also, I wouldn't go that far. I am what you would call a representative, and it is of a small group only. Miss Danvers here is just too kind."

"She is, indeed." Her smile only grew bigger as she saw Kara fail to conceal a little pout.

"Well, you're still a great representative." Kara said.

"But to what do I own the honor of you visit?" Lena said gesturing to you to take your seats again. Kara smiled at you and moved along with you towards your seats.

"Right." You said pulling a small box from your jacket. "I'm here to deliver this."

Lena took the little box from your extended palm, her curiosity growing as she inspected its contents. Inside she found a little black matte icosahedron, nothing extraordinary by the looks of it.

"What is this?" She finally asked.

"The alien community wanted to thank you for creating the image inducer. It has helped a lot of people, especially those of us that don't exactly fit into the human shape." You started to explain as she inspected it.

After the launch of her device, Lena recalled, the company had received countless letters and e-mails, most of them in gratitude for helping the aliens in National City as they were still fighting for acceptance within the human population. It helped them find jobs, housing and places to be without having to worry about their looks or if other people reacted negatively to them. It helped them feel safe.

Only then Lena understood the impact it had on other's peoples lives and how her work had helped them accomplish that.

"So this is a thank you gift." You moved your hand and placed a finger on one side of the icosahedron.

Lena was startled as the other sides of the new device in her hand started to open. Suddenly the room was filled with a clear colorful light, but it was more than that. It was lines and spheres and points and spirals well defined. It took her a moment to realize what it was but Lena found herself looking around the conference room with a fascination she thought she had long lost. As the conversation followed, you explained Lena the device in her hand was a space chart. It contained information about several planetary systems, their galaxies and stars, and common routes to reach them, you said as if it was nothing but a travel guide.

Lena turned her eyes towards you a few seconds later, ready to declare her own gratitude when she noticed your expression. You were staring at a far corner of the room, not with the usual distant look of a daydreamer or that of someone who has lost interest in the present moment. You were looking with intention and, more than that, with longing in your eyes.

"It's wonderful. Thank you." Lena finally said, pulling you out of your thoughts. You blinked a few times before the smile returned to your face.

"If you ever wish to know a bit more about what's out there, you can always consult it and if you need help navigating it, I'll be more than happy to help."

Lena thought about it for a moment more. While she had long ago left her intentions of unraveling the skies, she saw a chance within those stars. This was the opportunity she had been hoping to find in National City. If she could gain the trust of the alien community, she would be able to expand her work and better help not only them but the whole city. To help put the world back together instead of tearing it apart. She was more grateful then to you, for giving her that chance.

Besides, she thought, it was also a chance to fulfill her curiosity about you.

It wasn't long after that meeting that you were back at her office, teaching her how to use the space chart. Her attention bouncing from the lines of stars and planets to understanding the technology behind the device. While her studies on science and astronomy made it easy for her to identify the structure and functioning of the chart, and the several celestial bodies it showed, she still had to learn how to translate that into terms she knew and relearn the names people used to refer to their own planets and stars. You did your best trying to explain how both things worked, which she highly appreciated.

As days passed, Lena took a new liking to your teachings which turned into more personal reunions. You didn't limit yourself to talking just about stars or planets but about the different cultures that inhabited them. Mentions of your home planet became more regular and you even used it to contrast the big differences between Earth and the rest of worlds you had known. Lena was delighted to indulge in such conversations, taking in as much as it was possible.

The way you talked about your home planet, your country, if such concept even applied, your family, your house, everything, was enough for her to look at you with the same awe she used to look at the stars when she was younger. She knew she wouldn't get to know all the stars in the universe but just knowing you, she thought, made up for it all.

"The sunsets there were hours of golden light washing over the citadel, and the nights were, oh, the night was too beautiful with its waves of light across the sky." You told her one day as you both had finished one of your reunions.

You were leaning against Lena's balcony, both of you observing the sun go down behind the city skyline.

"You know, I don't think you have ever showed me where you're from." Lena said, crossing her arms and taking a step towards you, seizing the opportunity. You had showed Lena at least dozens of planets, especially those closest to Earth's solar system but yours, for everything you talked about it, somehow still remained a mystery.

Lena felt a slight pang in her chest as she saw the smile in your face turn sad.

"No, I suppose I haven't." You said and after a moment, where you seemed to ponder a few options, you moved your head, signaling Lena to follow you back inside her office.

You took the space chart from her desk, activating it and moving your hands again until the hologram in the room moved, showing a single planet in the center of the room. You took a few steps back and gestured to Lena to take a closer to look at it.

"Here it is."

The planet, surrounded by seven moons, was a very Jupiter look-a-like. Lena was instantly enthralled by the colors and the stripes, swirls and waves that formed the planet's atmosphere. The hologram displayed a name in a language Lena certainly didn't know and that made her wonder just how many tongues she would need to pronounce it correctly.

"It's beautiful." Lena said, still looking at it.

"It was." You replied, and she turned to look at you with a confused frown and a question clear in her face.  

You moved the chart once more, reducing the image to show the whole system your planet used to be a part of.

Lena saw other nine planets but only one caught her attention as its name was being displayed in an alphabet she actually recognized.

"Krypton." She whispered, eyes widening in shock.

Everyone already knew the story. How the almighty Kryptonians had traveled to Earth when their own planet had been destroyed. But no one, including her, had thought too much about what it had meant for the rest of their own little universe. Lena imagined it then, an explosion setting a chain reaction. Not only one but several worlds shattered, with their people trying to escape the path of destruction.

Lena's eyes landed on you once more, finally understanding the longing she had once seen in your own eyes. She also knew, in some way, what it was to lose your home. So she approached you, slowly taking your hand and muttering an apology, for whatever little comfort it could give you.

"It's alright." You said looking intently at her with a reassuring smile. "I found a new home."

"And I'm glad you found it here."

You made her feel at home, Lena thought and, as she smiled back at you, she thanked the stars for giving you both the chance to find a home along each other, and hopefully, one day, a home for you both.

[justicecaballer]

game log day 2 (3)

things i already had set up:

third person shooter system

ui mockup

the third person shooting is pretty janky and the camera bothers me So Much so i am probably going to redo this but i do, technically, have this in place. right now it's just hitscan because i don't anticipate putting any projectile weapons in for this pass. could be wrong though, we'll see how things proceed

heres an image of the ui i mocked up in illustrator:

it is not in any great way different from the ui in re2 remake, because that is the template i'm going with. i'm glad i decided to do this because pulling the individual parts from the file is very easy and i love not having to create new assets as i go

things i set up yesterday:

script to generate thumbnails for the inventory within unity

it works... fine? i have exactly three items so far and i'm definitely not using it optimally but also i don't care because i have exactly three items so far. its ok

things i am in the process of setting up:

rudimentary item examination system

inventory system

the inventory system is currently pretty bare bones: collide with an item and it gets put into your inventory. working on updating the inventory screen in real time just to make sure that functions as it should -- right now for some reason the item icons get a bit scrambled, but # of items are displayed and i did make it so that if an item isn't stackable it won't show a number. functionally, this is useless. but im preparing for the little differences in how things will eventually display. also, setting up items as scriptable objects is pretty cool.

the item examination is also very bare bones. you can zoom. you can move the item up and down, left and right. i haven't got the rotation in yet, because that was giving me trouble. i still need to actually link the inventory screen With the item examination screen + controls. everything is still pretty independent of each other.

resources consulted:

inventory

inventory as well (mostly just the thumb generator script)

shooting

video tutorials are great but also frustrating because an issue i run into quite often is that the person demonstrating the concepts will say and show one thing, which winds up having issues, and then fix it offscreen without mentioning what they did. so i wind up sitting there looking at errors that, to my knowledge, shouldn't be there, except they are, because op didn't clarify The Final Result is not actually what was depicted. SUCKS. its ok tho. we continue to press on

i am Very rusty with unity but i do feel that as i keep at it i'm settling back into the swing of things. which is nice. hopefully after a few days of consistent work i won't feel like i'm fighting with basic concepts i Used to know anymore, and instead will feel like i'm actually problem solving. hoping i can get the basic mechanics down relatively quickly so i can end up with something simple but fairly polished.

i don't have any grand ideas of making "a game" more than just a level that will have essential gameplay. i DO have an outline for an opening scenario based on some stuff i've been working on off and on for a few weeks (which i'm excited to share once i feel i have enough content to do so) so depending on how things wind up going it could feel more gamey than i'm scoping for? which would be nice. but i'm not gonna press my luck

[tyrantisterror]

THE A.T.O.M. CREATE A KAIJU CONTEST 3-D!!!

YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SAFE!  YOU THOUGHT THAT THE TIME OF MONSTERS WAS AT AN END!  BUT YOU WERE WRONG, FOR NOW YOU MUST WITNESS…

THE A.T.O.M. CREATE A KAIJU CONTEST 3-D!!!

That’s right, it’s back!  Celebrating the publication of The Atomic Time of Monsters Volume 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth! (which in turn completes The Ballad of Tyrantis arc for this series), I’m holding another monster design jam.  The third of such jams, in fact!

Like the first A.T.O.M. Create a Kaiju Contest, the aim of this contest is to create kaiju that would fit within the setting of my big kaiju story series, The Atomic Time of Monsters.  Think of it as me letting you into my sandbox to play with my toys for a bit, or like you’re being put in the director’s chair of a new ATOM-verse kaiju movie.  That means your entry does have to fit into ATOM’s world, which in turn means that yes, there are limitations to your creativity here.  But limitations can be good sometimes - they can make us explore options we wouldn’t consider when given completely free rein to do what we want!

(also you don’t have to make a three dimensional image or anything, the title’s just a pun on how the third movie in a monster movie franchise will often be a 3-D film)

Read below the cut to learn the rules and whatnot:

THE RULES:

1.  You are limited to one entry per person.  Work hard and make your entry count!

2.  Your kaiju must have some sort of description of its physical appearance and its personality - you can submit a drawing or a written description (or both!) for the physical appearance depending on what you’re most comfortable with.  Using the same template/format as my official ATOM Kaiju Files (https://horrorflora.com/monster-menageries/atom-kaiju-files/) isn’t required, but it was cool when people did it in the last contest, so feel free to do so this time too!

3. The kaiju you create must specifically be created for this contest  - no repurposing characters you made for other, wildly different stories.  This is not “trick TT into drawing/canonizing my main OC” time.

4. The kaiju must fit the setting and aesthetics of ATOM.  I’ll explain this in more detail down below.

5. The kaiju should add something meaningful to the world of ATOM. The more unique and interesting your kaiju is, the more likely you will win the contest.

6. Don’t make your kaiju too dependent on pre-existing ATOM characters - no “Tyrantis’s long lost evil brother who’s the strongest kaiju in the world.” These should be to Tyrantis’s story what War of the Gargantuas is to Godzilla’s movies – heroes (well, monsters) of another story in the same world.

THE REWARDS:

I will make pencil sketches of the top 5 entries in the contest.

I will then make fully rendered illustrations (lineart, colors, & shading) of the top three entries.

The winning entry will be made into a model ala the ones I’ve been making for ATOM’s core 50 monsters, which can then be shipped to the person who created it (should they be able to cover the shipping costs).  That’s right, your kaiju could be brought to life in THREE GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOR DIMENSIONS!  (Hey, we worked the gag title in to the prizes!)

THE DEADLINE: All entries must be submitted by July 3rd, 2021.  You can submit it here on tumblr, via the horror flora e-mail, or any other channel you know how to reach me through.  I’m in a lot of places.

THE GUIDELINES (TO HELP YOUR ENTRY FIT THE RULES AND WIN):

The smartest thing you could do if you want to win this contest is familiarize yourself with the world of ATOM by, y’know, reading all the material I’ve published on the subject.  In addition to the many kaiju files that are free to read on horrorflora.com, there are now TWO, count ‘em, TWO novels in this series for you to peruse, both of which establish many of the rules of the setting as well as its general themes and tone!  You can get them in either paperback or e-book formatting (I’d recommend the former over the latter since I lack the technology to make a really nice ebook, but if money is an object, the kindle version is only $1).  Here’s the links again if you missed them:

Vol. 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us!

Vol. 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth!

However, since I know reading a bunch of stuff is, y’know, not something everyone is inclined to do, I’ll jot some good bullet points for you in an attempt to outline how ATOM works in a brief, easily digested way:

ATOM is an homage to the monster fiction of the 1950’s and 60’s (i.e. the Atomic Age), and is set in those two decades, albeit an alternate universe version of them where, y’know, monsters and space aliens exist.  If you aren’t familiar with the monster fiction I’m referring to, there will be some reference material provided at the end of this post along with some recommendations for further research.

Kaiju/giant monsters in ATOM work under very specific rules.  There’s a full description of those rules at this link, but here’s the jist:

ATOM Kaiju are created created by the radiation of a mineral called Yamaneon, which naturally converts harmful radiation into its own unique energy.  In natural circumstances, it takes hundreds of years of exposure to Yamaneon radiation for a creature to become fully transform into a kaiju (luckily, Yamaneon radiation slows the aging process while speeding up the healing process).  However, an explosive burst of energy - such as the geothermal and kinetic energy released by an earthquake, or the blast of a nuclear weapon - can speed up the process, turning a normal animal into a kaiju within a matter of seconds.  

All ATOM kaiju can heal grievous wounds within minutes or even seconds, are supernaturally strong and durable, and can convert harmful radiation to harmless energy that they then feed off of.  Kaiju do not have an equivalent of old age, and can theoretically live forever (though their violent lifestyle means that few do).

ATOM Kaiju generally don’t need to eat unless they are severely injured, getting most of the energy they need from solar or geothermal radiation - but many still have instincts that drive them to seek out food from time to time.

Most ATOM kaiju stand roughly 100 feet tall (depending on their body shape), i.e. smaller than the original 1954 Godzilla.  There are exceptions to this rule - younger kaiju can be smaller, while exceedingly old kaiju can be significantly larger, but these are rare.

In general, ATOM kaiju are significantly more intelligent and emotionally complex than people expect animals to be, though most are incapable of speech or complex tool use.  There’s a reason ATOM Kaiju Files have a “personality” section.

Most ATOM Kaiju are tooth and claw fighters - ranged weapons are a rarity in this setting.

While the terrestrial monsters in ATOM look strange, they are intended to fit within the taxonomy of animals in reality - reptiles, mammals, fish, arthropods, molluscs, etc.

ATOM’s mesozoic era was dominated by a fictional clade of crocodile-relatives called retrosaurs, which are based on the outdated paleoart that one would find in the 1950’s/60’s fiction - i.e. when dinosaurs were viewed as trail dragging lizards instead of strange birds.  You can learn more about retrosaurs here (https://horrorflora.com/2016/11/15/atom-kaiju-file-bonus-a-guide-to-retrosaurs/).

Kaiju appear on every continent in ATOM, but certain areas tend to be dominated by different types.

North America is mainly besieged by retrosaur kaiju and giant arthropods.

East Asia is technically also mainly plagued by retrosaurs and big arthropods, though they tend to look more fantastical and mythic - and, often, oddly well suited to being portrayed by a person wearing a monster suit.

Russia is beset by prehistoric monsters that seem to come from the Cenozoic, particularly the Ice Age.

Western Europe is plagued by creatures that vaguely resemble creatures from myth, if they were also prehistoric.  Dragon-y lizards, fiery birds, etc.

Towards the mid-way point of ATOM’s timeline, earth is invaded by a coalition of aliens from different solar systems called the Beyonder Alliance, and as a result a bunch of alien monsters can be found on earth.

Mars and Venus both host (or hosted in Mars’s case) animal life.  The surviving Martians colonized Venus, and sent some of their kaiju guardians to earth to help us fend off the Beyonders (who are responsible for the destruction of Mars’s ecosystem).  Martian and Venusian kaiju have specific anatomical quirks, which you can see by looking at these kaiju files:

Venusians:

https://horrorflora.com/2017/01/03/atom-kaiju-file-29-karamtor/

Martians:

https://horrorflora.com/2017/01/17/atom-kaiju-file-39-kemlasulla/

https://horrorflora.com/2017/01/17/atom-kaiju-file-40-podritak/

https://horrorflora.com/2017/01/17/atom-kaiju-file-41-sombarvot/

https://horrorflora.com/2017/01/17/atom-kaiju-file-38-ullawdra/

Giant robots exist in ATOM, but are big, bulky, and incredibly expensive.  Fancy beam weapons also exist, but are similarly clunky - there are no sleek, elegant machines in ATOM.

Since the fiction ATOM takes inspiration from was made at a time when interplanetary travel was only just beginning to be possible, its scope is significantly smaller than modern sci-fi.  Alternate universes/dimensions were pretty uncommon because the idea of alien planets still held a lot of wonder to it.  So, as a general rule, don’t try to go farther than the one galaxy.

ATOM is a setting for stories that are focused on humanity learning to coexist with monsters, rather than humanity destroying them.  A certain level of sympathy is put into almost every creature of its canon, even the ones that are meant to be villains.

REFERENCE MATERIAL

Here is a playlist of 1950′s monster movie trailers.  

Here is some reference material from various monster comics of the 50′s and 60′s. 

Good movies to track down to understand ATOM’s inspiration and tone include Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Them!, The Black Scorpion, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Gamera, The Giant Claw, and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

And here’s the intro cutscenes for all the different giant monsters in the PS2 videogame War of the Monsters.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Divide”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back! It feels good to be doing some normal RWBY-ing in this strange world of ours. First, some supplementary materials.

Number One: In response to any (valid) questions along the lines of, “Hey Clyde, it’s now been a full year since Volume 7 was airing and you still haven’t answered my ask about it. Or the ones about Volume 6… what’s up with that?” I’ve created what I hope is an informative video detailing the problem:

(I assure you, the Earth, Wind & Fire was a happy accident during the screen recording.)

Needless to say, there’s a lot and I’ve known for some time now that I will LITERALLY never get through all my asks. Which doesn’t mean I don’t want you to send future thoughts in! Just know that as we head into Volume 8 territory I’ll most likely prioritize those, as well as any Volume 7 asks that aren’t woefully out of date. But I do want everyone to know that I read all the asks I receive, appreciate them immensely, and think too much about hypothetical answers, even if I don’t have time to actually write them out 💜

Number Two: There’s a bingo board this year!

Jury’s out on whether I’ll remember to update it, but at the very least this serves as a decent glimpse into my — and others’ — expectations going into this volume.

Number Three: I’ve collected a list of things I’ve heard about Volume 8 from what seem to be reputable sources. I did this because RT is developing a tendency to talk up certain points and then fail to deliver, either because something was taken out of a volume/moved to another, or because RT apparently has radically different ideas about what including something means. So this might be handy to keep on file and ask ourselves two months from now, “Did RT actually deliver on what they promised?”

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

I was also going to include a list of all the threads that need to be continued/wrapped up, but honestly that would have taken too large a chunk off my life. Let’s just throw out the highlights:

Are we really going to have Qrow gunning for Ironwood?

Clover is dead regardless. Press ‘F’ to pay respects

Oscar bb you got shot please acknowledge this

Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this

Penny is a Maiden now. I feel like the fandom has been sleeping on this (myself included)

Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake.  

Ren spill your deep dark secret already and it had better be something more than just ‘Oh no Nora might someday die :( ’

Salem is here so how the actual fuck is the cast surviving this?

Will Ironwood likewise survive his descent into antagonism? Yes or please yes no?

I think that’s all the biggies. I strive to keep lists like this in mind while analyzing, but honestly RWBY has a hundred moving parts that are abandoned or changed or simply retconned at the drop of a hat. So an attempt will be made.

Number Four (last one I promise!): Normal disclaimers and reminders for Recaps apply:

Please don’t fill up the already full inbox with flames. It’s still 2020. No one has time for that nonsense.

There will absolutely be typos and wonky parts because I try to get these out the same day an episode premieres. I have now been working on this for ten hours, nearly straight, and have no more energy for edits. Apologies in advance and RIP to my Saturdays.

I reserve the right to use stupid GIFs and memes at my discretion.

I strive to keep my focus on recapping/analyzing but salt tends to worm its way in… If you’re a die-hard RWBY fan with little patience for criticism, let alone (at times) snarky criticism, please proceed with caution.

No wait I lied, this is the last thing:

Okay, got that out of my system LET’S DO THIS!

We start not with the episode itself but rather Rooster Teeth’s (RT’s) strange non-promotion of it. If you follow my blog you may have caught the post where I pointed out that there was nothing on RT’s website to suggest that one of their most popular shows—if not the most popular show—was premiering today. Nothing on the main page. Nothing on the RWBY page either, not unless you count the Volume 8 poster background (easily mistaken for the Volume 7 poster) and the trailer buried all the way down past Episodes, past Merch, in the Bonus Features section along with videos like Live From Remnant and the volume intros. RT… the promotion of your feature show is not a bonus. This should be front and center! Honest to god, five minutes before the episode dropped I was checking the website for a Volume 8 section, a countdown, anything that would tell me the episode was imminent without relying on fans on tumblr to keep me in the loop. We got nada, zilch. I’m not sure whether that speaks more to RT’s iffy management of the series or simply the website’s horrible design—RIP losing RWBY on Youtube—but I was surprised when I saw the episode a few minutes after 11:00am. At that point I honestly expected to hear about a dely.

So that’s the mood I entered the premiere in, but truly? We start off strong. Things take a pretty severe nosedive later on, we’ll get to that, but I was impressed with our beginning and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we start with our villains.

We open on a Cinderella character, Cinder, and thus I’m immediately pleased that we’re getting something about her backstory after all this time. Seven years! She appeared in episode one, folks! To say we’re overdue is an understatement. There isn’t a whole lot to go on, just a younger Cinder sadly scrubbing the floor, poised under a spotlight. What we learn, or potentially learn, is based far more in cultural knowledge than this scene. We know Cinderella’s story, which includes the abusive family, the longing for more, the eventual escape, and thus we’re able to read all of that in this image, despite the image itself not telling us any of this overtly. That means we could be wrong in our interpretation, but if we’re not it’s an easy shorthand in an already packed story.

What I’m really impressed with is the sound bridge between the scrubbing and her nails on the back of Neo’s chair. Fantastic way to confirm that this is Cinder as well as showcasing just how far she’s come. The sound of her labor has been replaced with the sound of her power and given that Cinder’s power is stolen, tied to a grimm arm, the property of a genocidal maniac… that’s messed up. It’s a Cinderella story gone wrong.

So yeah, Cinder tells Neo to head straight into the creepy, grimm infested blood cloud to see Salem and Neo is like, ‘Uh… no thank you?’ lol.

RT does a good job this episode with her expressions, ensuring we know exactly what she’s thinking despite an unwillingness/inability to speak.

Poor Neo might be in too deep, but I quite like the overall atmosphere of this opening. Say what we will about Salem’s awful characterization, at least she has style. This woman knows how to make an entrance and, piggybacking off of the Apathy, RT knows how to infuse horror elements into their fantasy. The red and purple coloring of the clouds, spiked whale teeth peeking through, bright orange in the background looking like explosions… that’s all 👌 Including the intro card.

The only thing I want to gripe about is this:

I’m sorry, why does the whale grimm have landing pads? Or something like it?? The whale otherwise works because it’s poised between the natural and the fantasy synthetic. It looks like a real grimm whale on the outside, but is sporting a throne room, a control panel, and other unnatural elements on the inside. It’s a visual indicator of Salem’s ability to control and change grimm. Now though, the additions are wrong, infringing on the line between organic and tech, the line between what helps the grimm individually (giving monkeys wings) and what just helps Salem. Every other aspect of the whale straddles that line wonderfully, adding to the creep factor, like a grimm version of the Uncanny Valley: it’s not quite a whale anymore… but landing pads? That looks ridiculous. Why does Salem even have that? How many ships are her people feasibly using? Why are there five?

Take it away, please.

Cinder waltzes in like this is a normal home visit, but Neo has an appropriate ‘What the actual fuck?’ face going on.

They approach Salem on her throne where Cinder immediately kneels, greeting her with, “My queen.” I mentioned during my trailer breakdown that I think Cinder is lying her ass off here, and I still think that based on a line we’ll get in a minute, but now at least we have a sense of how she can pull this off. A woman who started out as a (presumed) servant is going to know how to mimic subservience, even if her heart isn’t in it. Salem is very good at playing the girl who will still kneel and scrub the floor for you. She will scrub the floor, she’ll do everything you want, she’ll just be plotting her own rise to power while she does it.

There’s quite a bit of interesting cinematography in this episode, not all of it good, and I think one of the mistakes is here when we get a closeup on Salem’s mouth as she greets Cinder. A closeup like that should be reserved for more significant dialogue—“Rosebud”—and yet we get this shot again when Cinder tells Emerald to be quiet. It’s awkward and coupled with the numerous eye closeups we got in the trailer, I think RT is playing a little fast and loose with the camera. Each shot should add something to the scene, not distract from it. If you don’t have a reason for including a technique like that then leave it be.

Back to the actual dialogue though. We knew that Salem knew Cinder was alive and now it seems that she just expected her to come back? I’m slightly lost. It feels like we’re missing something here. Cinder goes off to secure the lamp, fails, nearly dies, wanders on her own for months, and then randomly shows back up on Salem’s whale doorstep, yet Salem isn’t angry at all? Did she have faith that Cinder would return when she has something to offer? Did she just not care about Cinder, considering her return an unnecessary but otherwise welcome surprise? That would make the least sense given that she holds the key to accessing Beacon’s relic… but that circles right back around to why Salem is seemingly indifferent to Cinder’s comings and goings. Surely she can’t actually believe that Cinder is loyal?

“So I trust you wouldn’t return to me empty handed,” she says. Yeah, trust means nothing in this show, Salem, didn’t you watch Volumes 6 and 7? Again, I simply don’t know. I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to confidence, that if Cinder did bail Salem knew she could track her down again. Deciphering her motivations and beliefs is a lost cause when the show continually gives us so little.

The important thing now is that Cinder does indeed have an offering and you can see that Salem is somewhat surprised at being handed the relic.

Cinder, of course, takes credit for the victory and we’re given another wonderful shot of Neo. ‘YOU took it?’

Oh, Neo. Best get out while you still can.

Tyrian appears having obviously made his way to Salem’s ship sometime between her arrival and now. The exchange is pretty standard for this group. He insults Cinder for failing and needing this victory to make amends, talks about how any win against Ironwood says more about his lack of intelligence than her skill, and Cinder… doesn’t have a whole lot of comebacks, actually. I’d say Tyrian won that verbal spar, enhanced by a better use of the camera when we get his tail looming menacingly towards Cinder and Neo.

He goes on to say that Watts was a “necessary sacrifice” so, uh… I’m just going to toss out the ask I answered yesterday. Based on our intro I’d say Watts is still significant to the volume—hacking Penny is my guess—but by the end? He could be in trouble.

(As a side note: I plan to analyze the intro next week. It’s just easier when it comes first.)

Tyrian also calls Neo “little one” which I just found absolutely hilarious. In an on brand creepy manner, that is. Not that Neo couldn’t kick his ass, but there’s something wonderfully chilling about having the serial killer use an endearment towards a potential victim, one that comments on her size while he’s looming.

In contrast, Cinder refers to Neo as a “valuable asset” and we get our third mood of the episode.

Who’s going to start a Neo reaction image collection?

It’s true enough on the surface—who wouldn’t want an ally who can turn into anyone else?—but we’re still bumping up against question of why Salem needs this. She’s immortal! She has an endless army! Magic! This scene works well with a villain who needs a skillset like Neo’s to succeed, but Salem doesn’t. RT is doing a great job writing a story thus far, just not the story we’ve previously been given. This isn’t the story they set up.

This will come back up when we reach the RWBYJNOR group. Just wait.

Before that though, the gang’s all here as Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel show up, all in new outfits.

I think I like everything except for the weird Xs on Emerald’s jacket—it’s way too distracting and frankly makes an otherwise good look ugly—and the fact that she’s showing her midriff in Atlas. Hazel doesn’t have any sleeves! Oh my god, why doesn’t anyone dress for the weather in this show?

Frankly, I found their reunion to be kind of lackluster. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Emerald does sound briefly excited, she does run, and it’s in character for Cinder to cut her off… it just didn’t resonate with me emotionally. I thought after two volumes of thinking she’s dead, then working through the knowledge that she’s alive, that I would feel Emerald’s shock and relief more, but I didn’t. And I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to level any accusations at the voice acting because frankly I know next to nothing about that skill (and from what I’ve seen it’s usually praised in the fandom), but I will say that throughout the premiere I was noticing it more than I ever have before. The lack of emotion here and some awkward deliveries later, like when Yang goes, “Ruby, there is no way Ironwood will cooperate with us” and I immediately thought, “Wow, that came out stilted.” These observations stick with me because, as said, voice acting usually isn’t on my radar. It’s not something I’ve studied or had practice analyzing. If you’d never told me that Ren or Qrow’s VA changed then after a year hiatus I literally wouldn’t notice… but there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit right. Anyone else get that sense, or was it just me?

Regardless, the arrival of our other three villains really doesn’t amount to much, though I’m happy for all the Emerald and Mercury fans who get to see them in new outfits. The focus is still on Cinder as she delivers a line indicative of her true motivations: “That power will be mine.” Yeah, she’s not loyal to Salem, she’s just power hungry. Of course, Salem immediately takes note of this and raises her hand, in another nice use of the foreground, reminding her that she hasn’t given that order.

Cinder is shocked, angry even, but quickly covers it up with her “Without you I am nothing” line. If I caught it right I think she also calls Salem “Ma’am”? Hilarious. Again, skilled at playing the servant.

Also, before I forget, it’s worth noting that almost everything from our trailer appeared in this episode. Yeah, there are a few details like Nora attacking some tech and the group on their bikes, but on the whole we’ve already seen the majority of our promo material and will likely get most of the rest next week. It makes me both interested and nervous for what another twelve episodes are going to hold.

Salem opens her whale, or opens a portal type view in it, something that gives us a long-distance look at Atlas. I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s pretty so I’ll take it.

She also delivers the frankly badass line, “Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn does not make you a player.”

She waves them all away with perfect ‘You mean nothing to me’ attitude and we sadly leave our villains.

Sad not because I don’t love my farm boy, but because things are about to get a whole lot messier.

Oscar has made his way to a camp of civilian survivors… all of whom are just hanging out in the supposedly deadly cold. Yeah, there’s a single fire, but at least four of them aren’t anywhere near it. Three of them also aren’t wearing gloves. What was that survival rate again?

A nice if gruff dude gives Oscar soup—water?—while showing off his… badger claws? I don’t know what kind of faunus he’s supposed to be, but he feels like the sort of two second, minor character who could easily become a meme lol.

Oscar thanks him (my polite son!) and hands the bowl back after a single sip. Which is impressive because I would have assumed the guy was giving me the whole bowl and just taken it. Hell, I’ve done that even when I didn’t assume it’s all for me. A Starbucks barista once approached me with a tray and a plate of samples, I knew I was supposed to take just one, yet for some reason my hand went to take the whole goddamn plate. He had to tell me off, then I was trying to explain that I didn’t actually want or think I should have eight shots of cappuccino all to myself, I don’t even like coffee, he clearly didn’t believe me… it was awkward. So good job, Oscar. You’re less awkward than me (though that’s not saying much).

Now a question, Oscar. Darling. Brilliant boy who has been through too much: why the fuck aren’t you talking to Ozpin? This will be A Thing later when he presents a lack of time to talk as justification for keeping more secrets (we’ll get to that too…) yet here is time! You’re just sitting there for who knows how long, with plenty of privacy to hide a supposedly one-sided conversation so the Mantle citizens don’t get weirded out or suspicious. Talk to Ozpin. Our headmaster gets two lines in this episode, utterly inconsequential lines like his airship scene, lines that feel like they exist to say, “See? He’s still included in the story!” even though he absolutely is not. Two volumes of mostly silence, a perfect setup to start the reconciliation process, but we’re going to put it off again?

Instead Ruby randomly and conveniently appears. I want to know how she found him. Oscar isn’t wearing a tracker. He clearly didn’t call them because he’s surprised when Ruby shows up. He fell alllllllll the way back down to Mantle and then wandered to a random part of the slums. You’re telling me they flew over the entire city—after beginning this search thinking he was in Atlas—and somehow managed to spot him from up in the air? C’mon. I would have rather had a beginning where Oscar makes his way back to the group himself, giving him and Ozpin time to hash things out.

“Need a lift?” Ruby says, eliminating that potential. Sigh.

Oscar immediately starts beating himself up when he gets onboard, saying that he “was stupid to think the General would listen.” Nah, you were stupid to buy into Ruby’s nonsensical confidence and for telling Ironwood he’s as bad as Salem. Sorry, Oscar, but everyone is written badly these days. I will, however, say that I am THRILLED at the group’s reaction to his return. Ruby says that she’s “just glad you’re alright.” Nora has a wonderfully tender moment where she hugs him gently rather than her usual glomp.

That? That added a year to my life. Everyone else seems relieved that he’s okay too, so kudos there. After four years of Oscar being an outsider in the group, this is one of the few moments that feel like he’s 100% accepted. Really glad to see it.

Now let’s see if it sticks after they learn Ozpin is back...

They fly to the Happy Huntresses’ base and I again feel like I’ve missed something crucial. When did they team up? I mean, RWBYJNOR was working directly under Ironwood up until the last hour and Robyn ran off to fight Tyrian/Clover in the last couple episodes. When did she have time to explain her (briefly) changed allegiance and why would the Happy Huntresses trust the group without that? Did Robyn share that Blake and Yang went behind Ironwood’s back for her? Do the Huntresses instinctively trust them because they’re now wanted by the military? How did they even run into each other?

Again, I think we would have been better served to have an episode before all this. Let Oscar make his way back and let the group struggle with the magnitude of their situation on the airship, before they find new allies. Transferring directly to, “They have help and a secret base and a plan in the works!” makes me feel like I missed the real premiere last week. You know, the one where Salem unexpectedly arrived and we left the group like this.

This is where we’ve ended up though. The group is cozy in this hideout, getting info from Joanna, and my only other thought is, “Why is she giving all this exposition?”  

Shouldn’t it be May? I mean, we were told that she was going to play more of a role this volume, a promise that’s pretty important imo given her status as a (so far off screen) trans character, so why not put her in the role of mediator between the Happy Huntresses and RWBYJNR? Giving her that setup as a leader among her people as well as lots of lines would be meaningful. A trans character just existing and being a part of this fight! May could obviously still fill that role—I’m well aware that we’re only one episode in—but it just seems like a missed opportunity to me. Out of all the undeveloped Happy Huntresses, our premiere focuses on the one who has the least importance to the fandom.

As said, Joanna talks a fair bit but what it basically boils down to is trying to get everyone to the crater below Atlas. It’s apparently not safe, but it’s warm, which is what matters right now.

So… let me get this straight. You want to gather everyone into a not safe crater, by leading them through an army of grimm, so that they can wait there in case someone moves the Staff, thus dropping an entire city on top of their heads? That’s the plan? Which admittedly isn’t Joanna’s fault. This is another instance of RWBYJNOR having information that a leader does not and they should really consider speaking up about it. But of course they don’t.

Also, how long does everyone have in regards to the cold? Shouldn’t there be dead civilians by now? The time it would take to find the Happy Huntresses, team up with them, get settled in the base, and find Oscar says that things should be pretty grim right now (pardon the pun), yet every non-aura user in this city seems content to just hang out in the snow. Either the cold is deadly enough to justify moving everyone to the crater, or it’s mild enough to let everyone survive this long, not both.

After hugs are given everyone obviously wants to know what happened to Oscar. His response?

“It’s a… long story. I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.”

That’s a check for the bingo card! We’re halfway through the first episode and we’ve already got another secret. Yes, this is a secret. Oscar actively chooses not to tell anyone that Ozpin is back—something Ozpin himself comments on—and then skillfully draws attention away from himself with “I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.” Indeed, all eyes go to Penny. Oscar’s plight is forgotten, which is what he wanted. His justification?

Ozpin: “You’re not going to tell them?”

Oscar: “You and I aren’t done talking yet.”

Along with this look.

Oscar no. There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s create a list.

As said, you had plenty of time to talk to Ozpin and chose not to. Miss me with this excuse.

You are now doing to your friends exactly what you and your friends did to Ironwood, which in turn is what Ozpin did to you! I can’t believe we’ve got Oscar critically side-eyeing him when they are still—still—repeating the behavior they drove Ozpin away for.

What is there to even talk about now? Oscar didn’t punch himself/Ozpin (lol) but he did steal Jinn’s name from Ozpin in the first place. You got what you wanted, drove him away, and have been lying and keeping secrets ever since. The only thing they should be talking about involves apologizing. Any further criticism—which is what Oscar’s expression and curt reply suggests—is beyond hypocritical.

Seriously, what needs to be discussed? There’s no reason not to tell the group unless Oscar wants to talk about whether they should tell them. There’s no good ending here...

Don’t you think it would be nice to know that Ozpin is back and you’ve got super magic powers while making plans to save the entire world?

This is all especially stupid given Oscar’s “Salem wants to divide us” reminder to Ruby in a moment. Oscar, you are doing the most to divide the group right now. By not forgiving Ozpin. By refusing to work with him. By keeping him secret from everyone else.

This is bad, friends, I worry for what the rest of the volume will bring…

The story is done with Ozpin for now so I guess I will be too. The group continues filling Oscar in and we get some shots of the base, including a rather prominent poster of what I assume are two Happy Huntresses. Did they die in battle perhaps?

It’s a little strange.

Oscar: “Where’s Qrow?”

Me: “Likely still making bad decisions.”

No one knows so they just drop it. Which I kind of get, only so much you can do to find him if he’s not out on the streets like Oscar, but it still reads as kind of iffy that two nieces look down at the ground for a hot second and then move on with their plans, content to leave Qrow to whatever fate befell him. In a minute we’ll see Yang firmly take Ren’s side regarding helping the people they can in Mantle, which frankly comes out of nowhere for her. I think an easy motivation would have been Qrow. Ruby wants to save the world, Yang wants to find and save their uncle, and that just happens to align with Ren’s desire to save the civilians who need immediate grimm and cold help. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there’s finally some division between the sisters, I just wish it hadn’t come about so abruptly. Ren had setup for standing up to Ruby. Yang did not.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Joanna lists the grimm horde and no heat as the major threats to everyone. The group agrees.

Me: What about Salem?

Joanna says that this is all doubly dangerous because there’s “no more military protection.”

Me: Oh, so now you want the military?

This is all so disjointed. Even more-so when Joanna mentions that Ironwood has stopped all evacuations to Atlas, likely due to the “hard light shields” that are the only thing standing between Salem and the city. Thing is, the show never makes this connection, I just did it myself based on this scene and the one that comes later. The show presents Joanna’s line as a pure condemnation. Ironwood won’t let more evacuees in because… he’s just evil, I guess. Yet there is a justification here, namely that continuing the evacuations even while he’s stuck without Penny leaves him wide open to a Salem attack, the death of everyone currently safe, but that argument is never presented to the viewer. I don’t need people to agree with Ironwood’s perspective, I just wish that perspective was offered as an option. The show is very good about acting like RWBYJNOR’s opinion is the only justified opinion, or simply the only opinion at all.

After everything is laid out Weiss goes, “We’re never going to sleep again, I just know it.”

I could make a crack about the lack of continuity and how the group should be collapsing right now… but that was a funny line. It can stay.

What is far more of a problem is the fact that no one is talking about Salem. Okay, that’s a lie. They do talk about her, but in a roundabout way like her presence isn’t impacting every decision they make. That’s the real issue. They’re acting as if Salem isn’t here right now, like she’s off far away, maybe approaching slowly, and they’re arguing over how best to prep the world for her eventual attack. There’s no emotion here—let alone action—to reflect that the series’ Big Bad has arrived and is poised to murder them all. Literally what is this? Ruby is yelling about warning the world and, ignoring the continued question of why that’s a good thing when the world can do nothing to stop Salem and knowledge of her continually drives people to horrible acts, she has yet to acknowledge that… she’s the world? Ruby is the world in this conflict. She, Mantle, and Atlas. Salem is here for you all. Right now. You are, this instant, in the situation you want to warn others about, so why don’t you try to do something about it? Or at least acknowledge it. Ruby wants to warn the neighborhood about a potential fire while her house is actively ablaze, and the fire could have totally killed her by now but decided not to for… reasons.

“Ruby’s right,” Nora says. They have to tell the world so “they can prepare.” How? How are they supposed to prepare for this? The story cannot continue ignoring Salem’s immortality.

“Ruby’s right,” is all Blake says and I’m starting to thinks that’s why her character exists now, to agree with Ruby. It’s great that she’s getting a little distance from Yang, but man.

As Ruby asks whether Pietro can get Amity up and running despite it not being finished (called it) we start an incredibly odd sequence of flashforwards to their individual missions. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this already and though I agree that, in theory, it’s a good way to save time, I found the actual execution to be jarring. Upon thinking back through our timeline, it became clear they were flashforwards, but while watching I thought they might be flashbacks (especially since that’s more common).

Some of the shots, like Nora’s, just look awkward when you’ve got the exact expression and pose transplanted from one scene to another, like she’s a cardboard cutout behind a green screen. To say nothing of how the flashforwards ruin any suspense (I use that word loosely) in the conversation itself. If the question is, “Will they decide to go to the military compound?” then that question is answered when we see Ruby scoping out the compound, not when the group actually decides on the course of action.

It just made an already muddled scene worse for me, so I hope this trend doesn’t continue.

And of course, Amity can be used despite all the info last volume claiming that it wasn’t finished. Pietro suddenly acts like it is finished and the only thing standing in their way is Ironwood providing access. If that were the case, he would have used Amity weeks or days ago like he wanted to! When was it finished? Not after Watts commented on how incomplete it was. When did they get back the resources they needed from Robyn? It’s as ridiculous and retcon-y as I thought it would be.

Yang points out that Ironwood will never listen to them and Ruby counters that “he doesn’t have to.” They’ll just take the access from him. Because why wouldn’t they in a series where they’ve already stolen two airships? Stealing from the super evil military that Joanna wishes were helping them right now is just the group’s go-to plan nowadays.

Pietro isn’t sold on this plan though. He lists at least three obstacles they’d need to get through “and then… oh boy, I might need to think about this some more.” “And just to clarify,” Oscar says, “This is the easy option?” Um...no it’s not? We also know there’s an access point in Ironwood’s office so… why not go there instead? They really think the Academy is less guarded than the military base? There’s a potential justification here along the lines of, “After Neo and Cinder broke into his office Ironwood will have the place on high alert,” but unless I missed it the group doesn’t assume anything like that. They just listen to Pietro point out all the ways they can’t get into the military base and jump straight to that being the best option. It feels like a transparent way to create conflict for the group. We’ll just have them taking the most dangerous route despite an easy route being offered alongside it. Why bother mentioning his office at all? Just have the access in the military base. Boom, done.

It’s that conflict and the fact that Ruby tends to hear “You can’t” and digs in her heels. You can’t go to Atlas. I’ll just steal a ship then. You can’t defeat Salem. Watch me. You can’t break into this base. Guess what I’m doing! She’s dangerous in her fairy tale, meta-driven insistence that everything will turn out her way because she wants it to.

Speaking of, we finally—FINALLY—get someone challenging Ruby. Sort of. Not actually but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten:

Yang: “Ruby, when we came here we said we’d follow your lead… but things haven’t exactly worked out.”

Now, there are two things to take away from this moment. The first is how utterly shocked Ruby and the others are. I mean, take a look at these expressions.

Ruby straight up can’t believe what she’s hearing. Weiss put her hand to her mouth like this is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. Oscar looks down in a ‘Yeah, I agree but please don’t look at me and make me admit that’ way. And Nora looks indifferent in the screenshot but animated she goes sort of stern, likely pissed that Yang would dare say that given her own agreement with Ruby. This not only reiterates that Yang’s challenge came out of nowhere—seriously, how did we move from following Ruby no matter what to this? Last volume she asked a single question along the lines of, ‘You sure?’ and when Ruby said ‘Yes’ Yang was entirely on board—but also demonstrates that no one has EVER said no to her before. Ruby is amazed that someone would challenge her. The act of challenging Ruby is, in and of itself, shocking. This group has gotten so used to following Ruby blindly that the teensiest little pushback is greeted with this.

Because it is teensy. This is the second takeaway: Yang barely challenges her and that challenge leads nowhere. She doesn’t accuse Ruby of anything, she doesn’t question her continued authority, she just broadly implies that things could be better. We followed you, now things are bad, take from that what you will. It’s incredibly mild as far as criticism goes, making the shock all the more, well, shocking, but it also amounts to—wait for it—nothing! Because Yang didn’t truly challenge Ruby’s leadership. She’s still in charge, she’s still calling the shots, and they’re still listening to her. We might have gotten some change if this division had been allowed to play out, but instead Jaune comes in with a, “Let’s go for both!” solution. It let’s both groups get what they want which, in turn, releases them from the need to grapple with whether they’ll listen to Ruby when she’s advocating for something they don’t agree with. We have now lost the chance to see whether, when push comes to shove, Ren and Yang will cave to Ruby’s will or stick by their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s more conflict than we’ve gotten in years, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly compelling conflict. It’s good by RWBY’s standards, which doesn’t necessarily make it good. The actual issues at hand—Ruby’s dangerous arrogance, the group’s loyalty, her choices up until now—are just swept under the rug. For all the visuals we get insisting that there’s this great divide in the group… there’s really not. Not in any way that matters.

Also, Ruby is an idiot. Okay, that was mean, but she really is in this scene. She’s actually not an idiot overall because she was written as wonderfully intelligent in the early volumes, but now? Lately? She makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

“But that’s how Salem got this far,” she cries. “By dividing us!”

Ruby… oh my god, Ruby. No one should have to explain to you that dividing people means turning them against each other, not literally dividing your team to complete separate tasks. This girl honestly thought that because there was this teensy disagreement and that half the team would complete Plan A while she and the other half completed Plan B, both of which notably work towards the goal of, “Protect people from Salem,” that this was somehow what Salem wanted. That is was dangerous. Honestly, it’s a scary look at her view of leadership too: If everyone doesn’t 100% agree with me and do what I say, that’s an objectively bad thing that the grimm queen wants, right? Does Ruby think that unification means following a single person (her) without question or variation? That would explain a lot...

The fact that Oscar needs to explain the difference to her is not good. It really doesn’t say great things about this version of Ruby. Though he was comparing Ironwood to Salem last volume, so really they should all be wearing dunce hats.

Penny offers to take the relic directly to Salem in exchange for her leaving the kingdom alone. I honestly didn’t expect that. If anyone took that risk I would have put my money on Ozpin (but of course, during all this talk of the women he knows best, he’s kept quiet). Oscar is again the voice of wisdom, pointing out that they have no reassurance that Salem will keep her word. At least Penny is thinking about Salem as a threat though, so kudos for that. When this plan is shot down she volunteers to get Ruby past the military security instead and, uh, she’s a little intense about it.

I’m not entirely sure what is going on with Penny. She disagreed with Winter but then seemed to come around to her point of view, enough to help anyway. They had another (stupid) disagreement about the value of individual lives, so that helps to explain why she’s teaming up with RWBYJNOR (if you ignore that Ironwood is also trying to save individual lives...). Did watching Fria die shake her up? Is it being the Winter Maiden that’s not sitting right? Does Penny have lingering feelings about the framing that haven’t shown up until now? Her status as a ‘real girl’? We’ve got a lot of reasons that could definitely explain this sudden need to fight, but we’re not told which—if any of these—is the driving force.  

We’re then given a lot of little details. Someone points out that if Salem gets the staff and “create[s] anything else” then Atlas will fall (so yeah, let’s move the people underneath it). We still don’t know what exactly the Staff does because “creation” is kind of broad and “powering a city to float” doesn’t seem to sit within that category at all. Pietro gives Yang the keys to his lab so they can get the bikes. We see the group dividing in the flashforwards, something I do like, especially since the show has gone out of its way to break up most of the usual duos. Nora in particular is pissed at Ren for his choice.

“Oh, I’m saving Mantle because I actually believe we can do this.”

#yikes. Well, I did say I wanted a conflict other than ‘Oh no, one of us might die’ and it looks like I got it. But Nora, the only reason you can do this is because the plot is in your corner: none of you are collapsing from two major fights, you didn’t lose your aura so the cold isn’t a danger, the military is barely a threat all of a sudden, Salem is helpfully hanging out in her whale instead of killing you, and the story decided that Amity can function so long as you all are the ones who get to use it. That’s why you can do this. Ren, who follows in-world logic and doesn’t want to risk a whole kingdom’s worth of lives on a pipe dream, thinks differently, oddly enough.

As they leave though Penny gets a call from Ironwood. I know precisely what the fandom is going to say here: “This evil man is just trying to use Penny to open the vault!” Of course he is. He needs it open to save everyone he can, Penny included. Plus the concept of “using” her is a double-edged sword. What do we think the group is doing right now? Using her to get past the security. Penny’s power is a tool any way you slice it. Granted, Penny volunteers to help the group, but notably here Ruby speaks for her. Penny seems torn and Ruby takes the scroll away with, “She’s not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.”

Sorry, Ruby, but coming from you that sounds less like a reassurance for Penny and more like just an order for Ironwood. Remember Harriet? We’ll stop attacking you provided you do what we want. Ruby has yet to learn about compromises, let alone acknowledge that she might be wrong. How about you let Penny decide where she goes, especially since by all logic she should have a lot of loyalty to Ironwood. She knew him before she ever met you. She’s worked with him since she was rebuild post-Volume 3. Despite what Penny has said, if the story would just let her think about his actions for a hot second—making her the protector of Mantle, sticking up for her after the framing, sending her to the party, teaming her up with Ruby, etc.—she might realize that the ‘He doesn’t want me to have friends’ and ‘He just treats me like a tool’ assumptions are just that, unfounded assumptions. But no, Ruby speaks for them both because Ironwood is evil now.

“If she makes it through our defenses,” Ironwood says, “everything that follows will be on your hands.”

That’s true! Kind of like how it’s own Qrow’s hands that Clover died. When you insist on making a bad situation worse you hold responsibility when the shit hits the fan. You know though that Salem won’t get through their defenses now, somehow, so that there’s no chance RWBYJNOR will be blamed for it. Or, by that point Ironwood will be so crazed that anything coming out of his mouth is dismissed, no matter how accurate it might be.

We then transfer to the Ace Ops who are, despite what the fandom theorized for many months, clearly upset about Clover. Also pissed. Which they have every right to be. Their friend and leader was killed. Imagine for a moment that Ruby had been murdered by Tyrian with an allies’ help. Exactly what do you think the group would do? Swallow it quietly and get over it? Ha.

I’ve already seen some speculation that Clover survived due to details like showing us the bandage and his room being listed as for a “Patient,” but he looks pretty dead to me.

He got gutted through the chest and left out in the snow for who knows how long. We saw him slip away. Qrow screamed over his dead body. He’s not breathing now. If RWBY suddenly claims he survived this, I’m calling BS.

Most of the other visuals we get here were already dropped in the trailer. Winter is pretty injured from her encounter with Cinder, likely permanently based on her new outfit. Ironwood had to replace his arm—and I am calling BS on that “Losing his arm is reflective of him losing his humanity” commentary from RT. Please go read up on a couple decades worth of ableism in media and then get back to me.

We get Ironwood’s line about the light shields and, notably, a whole lot of empathy. Regardless of what he might want Penny for, he still called her with compassion. He’s watching the Ace Ops mourn their friend. He’s talking about protecting his kingdom. The first thing he says to Winter is, “Thank you, Winter. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Ironwood has a heart! It’s always on display, which makes this scene utterly ridiculous.

I literally don’t know how to respond to this. The gunshot made me jump, both because it’s a gunshot and because, again, what the fuck? I know I said that next volume RT might just have Ironwood descend into full villainy, shooting whoever he pleases now that he’s shot Oscar, but I didn’t actually expect them to do it. Because he never should have shot Oscar in the first place! I wanted the story to let Oscar grapple with it a bit and then quietly backtrack, acknowledging it as the mistake it was. The concept that Ironwood, empathetic Ironwood, rational Ironwood, always thinks before he acts Ironwood, let’s kids yell at him Ironwood, tried to team up with Robyn Ironwood, did everything Ruby wanted Ironwood, won’t kill Watts after he destroyed his arm Ironwood would shoot this guy just to shut him up is absurd. It was absurd then, it’s absurd now.

That being said, there’s a possibility he didn’t actually shoot the council member, but rather just (“just”) gave a warning shot down the hallway. I say this because the reactions to this are pretty tame. Everyone looks startled, yeah, but after the initial shot there’s nothing that I would expect if there was now a guy bleeding out on the floor. The council woman doesn’t scream. Winter doesn’t seem overly shocked. No one is running to try and help him. Basically, if Ironwood had just killed a political figure in front of six witnesses, entirely unprovoked, I would expect a bit more of a reaction than this. This feels far more like a, “Damn he’s not joking around, letting off warning shots to get people to leave him alone” not “WOW, our general just killed someone in cold blood!”

What I really hate though—beyond just assassinating his character—is how many fans think my friends and I are delusional for calling it character assassination at all. I hopped onto the RWBY tag for five minutes this morning and was bombarded with posts about how Ironwood needs to be murdered horrifically, anyone who likes him is sick, the Ironwood stans are as bad as Adam stans, you’re an idiot if you want him redeemed… because apparently the concept of a story writing a character badly doesn’t compute. I’m not here to argue that Ironwood didn’t do these awful things (regardless of whether he actually killed the guy or not). I’m not here to argue that they’re not awful. I’m just here to say that we never should have gotten these scenes in the first place, or if we were going to get them, we deserved an actual descent into murder at the drop of a hat territory. I’ve already explained extensively on this blog how early Ironwood was not accurate foreshadowing for this, and Volume 7 certainly wasn’t setup, but it looks like the majority of fans aren’t interested in examining whether any of this adds up. Which makes my job, as someone trying to examine this series somewhat objectively—in as much as that’s possible for any single viewer—as well as simply enjoy it as a show, really hard. It’s bad enough when a story keeps taking the characters you love and villainizing them, and doing that badly, but then when you turn to the community and see them rallying around the idea that you’re awful for being dissatisfied—you’re the bootlicker, you’re the blind stan, you can’t see what’s ‘really’ going on here… that sucks. For those of you happy and satisfied with Ironwood’s arc, that’s great! I’ve also seen a lot of posts hyping up the complexity of his character now. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what we’ve been given and I’d never want to imply that just because it’s not what I wanted it’s somehow wrong. I’m honestly thrilled that after a year of worry so many people have adored our premiere, including this scene. I just wish that I could say RWBY had given me something I didn’t want in a persuasive manner and that the fandom as a whole was a bit more welcoming of differing criticisms.

Not that I didn’t already know the RWBY fandom had its flaws, but still lol.

That’s basically it for our premiere. Nice note to end on, huh? Our final scene is of Salem using the lamp to set her bloodhound grimm on the city. Why doesn’t she just go herself? What was she planning to do here in Atlas in the first place, considering that getting the relic was a surprise? Who knows. Little about this holds together. But we do end with another awesome shot, so small favors.

It’s always strange concluding a recap, but even more-so when it’s a premiere, during a historical moment in the U.S., amidst all the nonsense that is 2020. So for now I’ll just conclude with three quick things:

The updated bingo board will be listed at the end of each recap, provided I don’t forget about it lol. Today I’m checking off tone (not nearly enough freaking out about Salem), the team keeping secrets (Oscar), and major plot point dropped (Amity is suddenly finished). I could also probably check off the cold not killing civilians and getting Amity up and running, but we’ll see if any changes with those.

I’m including my Ko-Fi link at the end of recaps now. Not with any expectations. Not with anything resembling pressure. I thought long and hard over whether to include it at all—let alone mention it here—because I love doing these and never want anyone to feel like it comes with strings attached. But life is a little harder and weirder than it was last year, so I figure it can’t hurt. Feel free to pass on by and I won’t be bringing it up past this note.

Far more importantly: thank you for reading! :D

(Bonus 4. Editing this was an absolute nightmare — damn you, tumblr!  — so I apologize if anything is super wonky when I finally post.)

See you next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[melonsloth]

Tutorial - Decor crowds (and decor sims)

Hi everyone! Someone asked me if I could make a tutorial showing how I make decor crowds. Now my university stress is mostly gone so I finally have the time and energy to show the procress. 

I am not going to show how to make poses, so if you don’t already know how to make poses, I recommend this tutorial.

This tutorial works for both one sim and for crowds. You just need to skip some parts if you only want to make one sim.

Now, let’s get started.

You will need:

TS4 SimRipper

Sims 4 Studio and Blender (preferably 2.70 if you want to follow along with my tutorial in the same version)

Image editing tool of your choosing, I use Paint Tool Sai, but you can use any that supports files with transparent backgrounds (PNG-files).

I recommend that you create one folder which you work within to keep track on all files, but that it up to your own preference!

Edit: 3/8-2020 Hello everyone! I can recommend checking out this tutorial if you experience any problems with shadows! It’s extremely useful and made by the talented @theroyalthornoliachronicles​

Step 1 - Make one or a bunch of sims.

Make one or more sims that you want to have as your decor sims/crowd. Name them something easy like A A or 1 1. Each of these sims are names 1.1 1, 1.2 1, 1.3 1, etc. This makes them very easy to locate later.

When you’re finished, save your game and close/minimize it.

Step 2 - Launch TS4 SimRipper

TS4 SimRipper is super easy to use. Place it in a folder so you have every file at the same place, unzip it, install it and then launch the program. If you cannot find the file, it should be a program file, look below for a guide.

When it launches, press Select (1) and choose the file at the top of the list. Let it load (don’t click anything). 

When it’s finished, choose the sim you want to export (2). Again wait, it may take a while but that is normal. 

When the sim is loaded, press Save as .dae (3). This is going to also take a while, so you can do other stuff in the meantime. For example, you may proceed to the next step in this tutorial. Remember to name them something easy to find, like 1, 2, 3, etc.

Remember to check if the program is finished every now and then to export the other sims you made.

If you cannot find the program, it should look like this. My system language is Swedish, but it should be named something along the line of program under the type-category.

Step 3 - Export files and rigs from Sims4Studio.

Now it’s time to start making the decor sims. Either start with Objects (1) or Poses (2). If you want a tutorial on how to make poses, please follow the tutorial I linked above. 

When it comes to Object (2), choose create 3D Mesh and then the blue button.

Like my last tutorial, we are going to use these books are our base. Start by searching for them (1), click on them (2) and then press Next (3). Name it whatever, but I recommend a name that will make sense a mod folder. 

When it has loaded, click on Meshes and choose Export Mesh (1). Again, name the file whatever you want. I named my Grund - which means base in Swedish.

Step 4 - Working in Blender

Open the newly exported mesh in Blender by double-clicking on it. You should be met with something that looks like this.

Open the File-folder and press Append, or just click Shift + F1. 

Choose one of the poses you made in advance or just import the rig you exported earlier. I am using a pose from my Mourning pose pack. Click on the pose (1), then Object (2) and finally rig (3). You do not need any of the other pieces in this tutorial. 

If you are using another creator’s cc, like a pose, be sure to ask for permission before sharing the decor sim with the public.

When done correctly, it should look like this. This is the sim’s frame which we will base our decor sim on. This rig will be named rig.001, just leave it be.

Step 5 - Import the .dae file

Unlike my last tutorial, this step is super easy and takes almost no time.

Go to file, then down to Import. Choose Collada (Default) (.dae). This is your sim with its rig and body exported from the game. This means that you can make decor sims of any body size, skin colour or other feature. 

Click on any of the .dae files you exported eariler.

Now you will have a new rig named rig.002. Go right ahead and delete it.

Now the body will be named something like this instead, just keep an eye what it turns into.

Now press the modifier-button (1). Then click on the Object bar on the rig modifier (2). Choose the second rig (3) and press Apply (4). 

After pressing the Apply button, you cannot move the sim’s body, so if there is something that needs to be fixed, do that before.

When that is done, delete rig.001.

Step 6 - Preparing the meshes to be merged

Now we’re gonna delete any trace that this sim used to be a moving object. Start by removing every vertex group from the sim. Delete them by clicking on the - button a whole bunch of times (1). Then rename the first UV-map to uv_0 (2) and delete the second one (3). 

This is what it should look like when you’re done.

Now we’re gonna merge the two meshes. Start by clicking on the Sims4Studio-file’s thingy I marked (1). Then press A so it looks like it does on the image. When the mesh is orange, press X to delete it. You’ll need its values, so do not delete the whole thing, only it’s mesh.

Now, click on the sim in the list of things (1). Then hold shift and click on the S4S-mesh (2). 

When they’re both marked like in the picture, press Ctrl + J, or the join button to the left.

Now it should look like this, if it’s all black, you need to go back and rename the uv-maps to uv_0. You go back by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Z.

Step 7 - Save and finish up the project.

Now save your project before doing this step. 

When it’s saved, go back to modifiers and add the Decimate-modifier. 

Chance the Ratio to anywhere between 0.6 to 0.8. I usually go with 0.7. Click apply when you’re satisfied.

Save your project again. 

If you are only making one decor sim, you’re finished here for now!! You only need to add the other LODs, so you can skip the next step. 

Step 8 - Fixing the uv-map (Not necessary for only one sim).

The uv-map is already finished if you are making only one sim, but if you are going to make a crowd, this is a very important step. Don’t worry, it’s really easy.

Open the uv-map by opening a new window and then choosing the UV/imagine Editor. Remember to enter the edit-mode on the mesh.

Press A on both windows to highlight everything.

When it’s highlighted, scale it down so that it can fit more uv-maps on it. You make it smaller by pressing S on your keyboard and you can move it by pressing G.

Make sure that it’s big enough to still be able to show textures. but small enough to allow other sims’ uv-maps to be placed beside them.

Now you’re done. Now, redo all the steps you just did but place the uv-map on another spots. You do not want them to overlap or they’ll look ugly.

When you done all that, append the decor sims together so they form one mesh and uv-map. If done correctly, it should look like this.

After that, export the uv-map like this. Name it whatever you want.

Save your work again, and decimate the mesh. Try to make it to a 0.5 ratio. This make the crowd more manageable for the game.

Save it again and minimize Blender.

Step 9 - Making the object and fixing the texture.

Okay, here comes the annoying part. Now it’s time for a lot of waiting and to put a texture on your uv-map. 

Unless you’re only making one sim, which means that you only need to import both files you just created!

Start by importing your mesh into Sim4Studio. Now this is going to make a while, the more sims you added to your crowd, the longer the waiting. I made 6 sims, so that is a very big file.

When it’s loaded into S4S, save your file, so you don’t lose any progress.

While its loading, open your imagine editing tool and prepare yourself for a lot of fiddling.

Your uv-map should look like this. So now it’s time to open every diffuse map you exported earlier in your editing tool and start matching them up.

When you’ve managed to fix the uv-map, it looks like this. This took a lot of time, as one pixel makes a big difference. Have patience when you do this part.

When you take the time, the crowd looks something like this, or hopefully a little more dapper, as mine is quite... depressed.

Step 10 - LODS and Shadow-LODS

ANYWAY let’s fix the LODs. Go back to your blender-file and decimate it with a ratio between 0.6 - 0.8. Again, I use 0.7. Press save and import it into Sims4Studio. Repeat once more for the last LOD. Save between each LOD if you are worried about losing the progress.

Last step in Blender is to make a shadow LOD.

Start by deleting this mesh (1). This is the shadow when you have the “full” object, so now it is just in the way.

When its gone, change the Cut from 1 to 0. This makes it into a shadow mesh. Save and go back into Sims4Studio.

Now you can import that same shadow-mesh into every shadow LOD. Then it’s finished, you’re done! 

Now all that’s left is to fix the Catalog name, description and tags.

Thank you so much for following my tutorial! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me🌸

[sor-vette]

two, down!! (index/description)

☜ one, strike!!

☞ three, an all-out fight club!!

It was the middle of February. The month of perpetual grey and rain. It tapped against the small cubic window of your bedroom as you laid in bed reading the text.

Erik: "Meeting, you and me. Main building. Now! Wear something without any blood on it. 😘"

The phone falls out of your hands and smacks you in the middle of the nose.

"Ow."

***

You already see Erik in the distance. A bright red shirt flowing around him like a drape in the frequent bursts of wind. Across the river, he looks like a will-o'-the-wisp and you can't help but be increasingly apprehensive about what has he planned.

You get off the bus in the middle of the bridge, stop and glare at the circular high rise. Legally known as Bighit - an independent advisory firm for various claims, to the large variety of your clientele it was BH - vigilante made business. Briefly put a vast clockface with thousands of cogs spinning both on the own and tandem with others. It looked and sounded and you knew it to be an imposing organization. Nevertheless, you entertained the idea of how would this company would fall and could it be possible to burn down all the spider webs it has formed in the now 22 years of its existence.

"Good morning!" Erik beams widely, trembling in the wind. His pirate shirt not doing anything to help the situation. In his hands, there is a thick brown folder. The sight of it begins a gnawing motion in the stomach.

"What are you doing?" you ask suspiciously, studying his face for any giveaway. Which of course there were a lot. He was still young both in the field and age. The little runt was mostly brazen, often impolite and careless. But now, now, he was nervous. Maybe it wasn't even the weather that had him shaking like a leaf.

"Oh, I'm taking my enrollment review today. In 20 minutes to be precise."

What was gnawing had turned into a stone that travelled up, ignoring the gravity, and settled deep in your chest pressing down and creating a hole. A horrible numb feeling that you'd hoped you wouldn't feel again. And again. And again. And now once more.

"Oh."

You take a moment to force your voice to remain unfazed but even to your own ears, it sounds too hoarse and slow.

"Don't you need my referral?"

"I asked Olga." Yes. Olga. That's why you didn't know.

"So let's go up?" if Erik had a tail it would wag at lighting speed. He is not just nervous but positively jittery. You had seen him this happy...never. Yeah, this was the first time. When he would officially enrol in another department, at best giving you a clap on the back for all the trouble caused and moved on. In a week he would give you a distant wave, in a month maybe a nod if you passed by in a hallway, in half a year it'll be like you never even existed.

You nod quietly entering the glass doors. BH was a massive, subtly hidden maze, much like the overall organization. By the schematics and the layout, no one would give a second thought that it would be more than just an ordinary office firm. But of course, what they didn't know and what was a closely guarded secret were the literal hundreds of small alcoves and passes hidden within the walls. Meant for in case of a sudden police raid. Not to mention the literal escape tunnel that stretched underneath the river you just passed. No one knew exactly how it looked like or how it was even built. Some said it was an abandoned underground transit system from WW2, others said that it was built in the early years of the BH establishment having cost literal billions. But no one knew the truth. Even Namjoon had shrugged when you asked him, long ago already.

In silence, you both take the escalator upwards. To the 25th floor, a.k.a. the 7th department - the literal heads of the system. The building usually had hundreds of people running from one place to another but even so, this was a large commotion for an event this small.

In the doorways there stands a tall woman and you nearly bite your tongue off at the sight of her ramrod back.

"Petsch." You growl and Erik beside you throws a surprised glance.

She turns around almost immediately. As if hearing you or just sensing your presence like the ill-bred Cerberus that she was.

"Hello, .̴̭͙̪̻̈́.̸̮̟̳̐͆͘͠.̶͚̉͛.̸̺̞̉͐̈́̐͋.̶̽͛̚��̟̻̺.̷̗̱̃.̶̮͚̼̾͜͜.̷͉̋̈́̐̔͝.̵͖͛̓͆.̷̼̲̥̙͆̊̊͝͝.̸̢͕̔.̸̜̜̲͈̅͜͠.̵̱̤̆̑͘.̸͖̰̣͈̾̊̈́́́ " Her glee is almost maniacal as she power walks towards your little group.

"Deputy Petsch. How wonderful to grace our Earthly realm with your presence. I did wonder why it looked like the skies were weeping."

"It's Chief of Staff now," she corrects getting even closer, "to no one's surprise I've been promoted while you've been demoted."

"Yes, I can see the stress of the new position. Or is that just your face?"

In the corner of your eye, you can see Erik standing completely still, his head darting from one speaker to another bemused.

"As the Chief of Staff, I'm here to evaluate your...pet." Erik gives a silent wave and Rosaline narrows her eyes, most likely not knowing what to make of him.

"What happened to Michael?" Petsch scoffs at your question.

"He retired to live with his family so much so for living a dignified life." You straighten stubbornly at the newly given information. Erik's hands are still lightly trembling, along with the file in his hand.

"Interesting. I will attempt corporation." You push out through gritted teeth but immediately get one of Rosaline's bony vulture fingers thrust in your face.

"Don't even try to sweet talk me!"

In return, you snap your fingers near her outstretched hand. A gesture you would normally never do but it was Rosaline. Anything but an abnormal reaction could ward off this lietonis off your neck. (a/n)

"I tried to be peaceful. Well then. Let's. Begin." She huffs and puffs and then stalks over to the lecture hall, her tight blonde ponytail swinging like the world's most obnoxious metronome.

Erik stands silently for a few short moments before -

"The fuck was that about?" You hide your face in the palm of your hand. If Rosaline was here for the panel review then this little fucker had no idea what was coming.

"Rosaline and I have what you would call an uncivil work relationship."

"A rivalry?"

"No, a rivalry with another woman would be inherently attractive. Rosaline just...sucks the lifeforce out of me like a goddamn Dementor." Erik chuckles at the sight of your displeasure but a quiet bell coming from within the lecture hall stills him again.

"Please all attendees take your seat! We're about to start soon!" A faceless voice calls over the crowd and the unpleasant feeling that Petsch managed to eradicate away for a moment returns worse than ever. Your own hands begin to mutely tremble. Erik looks close to passing out.

"You're going to be fine." You say gently bumping into him, "you're my trainee after all."

***

Oh, he's going to be not fine at all.

For some reason, the hall is literally stuffed with attendees.

The enrollment panel reviews despite the name, yes, was actually an open doors event. Much like an undergrad presenting a thesis it had a panel of judges and a crowd of listeners. Usually, it was limited to other potential interviewees who wanted to get a sneak peek in the twisted action to come but the number of people was 5 if not 10 times more audience than what you've ever been in.

Truth be told you never knew how friendly Erik was with other departments but even if he was a magnet surely this crowd was too massive.

With a rapidly rising anxiety, you start to pick out familiar faces. Some of them your trainees and previous teammates, some who gave you a stink eye, and then some with whom you didn't want to interact.

On the third row there sits Jungkook and sweet Jesus what were they feeding him in the footsoldier department. He was now almost twice as large as he had been when you last saw him. One tap of those arms and you'd be in an automatic knockout. Behind him sits Jimin, also looking confused as to why he's here. Which is somehow even more offputting considering he's the one who decided to be here. In the back rows, there is Jin, face hidden in his hands, large sunglasses pushed atop of his head. The only reason why you recognize him at all is that those very sunglasses had "JIN" in large letters above the rim. Naturally.

At this point, your insides are just a gaping screaming void of pure social terror as you start to suspect they were all here. While scanning the crowd you notice an orange fleck that is surrounded by a gaggle of students who eagerly listen to every falling word. That would be Hope. And far closer to the seat that you wanted to take sits V. For reasons unknown he was perched in the first row, fiddling with the strap of the camera. The last thing you want is to meet that vitriolic, judgmental stare of his but it would be unfair to Eric to sit anywhere else. The supervisor, even the one who had no idea that the review was taking place and did not actually write the referral, always sat in the front. The little scamp should have at least that.

You sit down stiffly with your hands bunched up in fists and shoulders tightened to the point where it was almost painful. V pretends he doesn't recognize you. You turn around once again to look over the crowd, almost meeting Jungkook's gaze but he suddenly finds his shoes to be the most captivating image in the world. Jin nearly takes off his jaw while ducking below the chair line and Hope is still surrounded by his devoted students. Jimin is persistent in looking disoriented.

In the faraway upper back, behind the fifteen rows of cascading seats, there is a second door. Slightly ajar and leading to complete darkness but you can swear there is a hand holding the doors open. For a moment you wonder who would hide away in a dark side room only to silently observe everyone but then you know exactly who. Yoongi. You whip around so fast the chair makes a loud squeak. In the peripheral vision, you make out a movement from V but he turns back to the camera without a second thought.

No, Erik was in deep trouble. The panel of judges or should you say evaluators was much too high standing for the first time enrolment. Rosaline Petsch's choice of coming here could be attributed to her being a harpy. Sure. Namjoon, although a CEO was known to just arrive at small scale events, to fully support his staff and also fully give them untreatable heart conditions. But the following had no place being here: Rhys Bethany, the key speaker of yesterday's anniversary and the head of Internal Affairs. Rahul Singh, chief of Communications. Tamira Johnson, head of International Affairs. Shen Qiongzi, head of Large Operations management. And two others whom you didn't even recognize. These were some of the biggest names of the entire organization and also the most bewildering. Strictly speaking, none of them had any input on the hiring or the enrolment process. The matters far, far below their usual duties.

Why were they here? Had Namjoon invited them? Why would he? Because he was still angry at you and was punishing Erik for it? He wouldn't do that but would he? Were you being narcissistic for thinking it had anything to do with you??

Whatever the answer was, hearing the last bell ring and seeing Erik, suddenly look very small and scared climbing up on the stage without even the protection of his notes folder... You felt a lot like seeing a crowd of shrikes encircle one mouse. You squeeze the handles of your chair, rocking back and forth with anxiety.

"As part of your legal right, what would be Your prefered choice of name for the course of this review?" You hear Ms Johnson speak. Erik picks up the microphone to speak...

....not a sound comes out of his mouth. You cringe.

"My real one, ma'am," he finally manages to croak after a moment of silence that was perhaps too long to be unnoticeable.

"Thank you. We will begin the first part of the enrolment request review for Erik Genyer."

You blanch at her words. The first part... meaning that what is about to happen was an actual full, point by point review and not the shortened version that came into popularity in recent years. The review would last three hours and it was three hours of ruthless questioning.

You grip the handles even tighter.

***

Erik fares surprisingly well. After the initial shock, he starts to melt into well-rounded answers. After the five minute pause in between the two parts, he even starts to subtly lean into humouring the panel, offering sarcastic, unhelpful comments. Truly one you could call your own.

Your heart is in continuing thunder as it beats harder with each given situation and particularly hard question. At this point, you have tossed and turned and quietly whined at every to the degree that it is noticeable to everyone in the room. And that in itself pushes to a worrying realization that Erik had somehow managed to slither his unholy way into your heart and become not just a trainee under your care but a friend. Like a proper friend. A friend that would leave you in literally the span of 10 minutes.

Namjoon who was eerily silent for most of the hearing, providing only two softball questions, had noticed your flighty twitching and leaned back to glance at you. You look at the ground knowing that you were perhaps not in the right mindset to put on a facade of your somewhat trademarked blasé attitude.

For God's sakes, you were not even this nervous in your own review but then again you had resigned yourself to the bottom of the barrel. Erik was not.

Finally, he passes the third part of the review. He had taken a few hits, all of which delivered by Petsch, but overall came out with impressive results. Two things were left to unfold. The panel would ask him what was his preferred choice of the department and then either allow it or politely indicate his skills would be more useful in another department and refer him there.

"Mr Genyer do you have a specific department choice?" Mr Singh asks politely. He'd been a tough but fair reviewer nevertheless it was always Namjoon who asked this question. Why was he so quiet? What was the point of showing up if he was going to be silent?

"I have." Erik answers and you see a smile form in his mouth. It was his bastard smile. Eerily similar to the picture of the cat surrounded by knives. You've seen that expression many times, mostly when he was breaths away from pissing off a lot of people.

"And what would that be, sir?"

"The cleaner department."

....

....

....

Not a single person breathes. Not a sound is made. The panel has gone speechless. You think your heart has stopped entirely.

"I'm sorry, do you mind repeating that?"

Erik couldn't look smugger as everyone stared at him.

"I'd like to work in the cleaner department."

The second time he says it causes an uproar. People actually stand up in the back. You hear a crunch to your side. Tae dropped his camera on the ground. There's so much noise you can't even decipher what is being said. Vaguely you maybe hear Jin's loud ass "what?" but that also could be literally anyone else.

The panel has to turn around and repeatedly shush the crowd. It is not an easy task. You just stare at Erik, mouth dropped open, eyes bugging out and he gives a self-satisfied smirk.

"I promise tomorrow you’ll have reparations."

These were the reparations. As the crowd finally eases back you let out a breath, lungs screaming for oxygen. Hadn't even noticed the lack of breathing process.

"Why would you choose a cleaner department?" It is finally Namjoon's turn to speak but he too sounds astounded all the way to outer space.

"It is a lowly position." So low in fact, they were not in the count of departments. Hence the status of 0 out of 7. You're hit with another realization. "Aspiring 0". The one Erik had placed in his Instagram bio. It was not zero aspirations that you thought he meant, no he was aspiring to be 0. And suddenly it makes sense. Him being such a little pain in the ass, always sneaking off, taking cases well above his position, taking yesterday's case in fact. All to rank up and enter the review faster. You don't even know how to function with this information.

"Why would you choose the cleaner department?" There was only one person who had chosen the cleaner department. A year ago. You. But even back then the choice was between quitting altogether or becoming part of the 0.

"The cleaner department is as hard-working and as essential as any other position in the organization." He shrugs.

"Yes, but why choose it?" Ms Shen pursues. You can hear it in her voice that she simply cannot comprehend why would anyone choose to work there. Honestly neither can you.

"I like it there. The cleaner department has the friendliest, most genuine and accepting people I've met among all departments. Also, I've had the most supportive, protective mentor anyone could wish for. I've never been more inspired to both be myself and improve forward as I have under their tutelage and I hope that by working in the cleaner department I can repay them for the faith they had and hopefully continue to have in me."

His request is approved and after a quiet "review ended" Erik is officially given the position of the evidence removal department.

***

The crowd is restless. There's not a soul that's not debating outside the room. Everyone huddled up together. What Erik did today would go down in the history of the company. Right next to your name.

Briefly, you encounter Petsch who throws something snide in your direction but you brush past her without a second thought. Finally, you find that stupid red shirt, snuggled against the window. You break out in a sprint and smack him in the middle of the chest.

"OW!"

"Why would you do that?" You yell. Why are you yelling? You don't know. You're happy. Literally so happy. Erik begins to laugh, kinda nerdily as he is snorting a bit like a pig.

"You should have seen your face! Oh, man, I wish I had my camera with me! Oh, a picture truly is worth more than a thousand words."

"You idiot! I trained you," you deliver a smack "so you could," a smack, "have a better life!" Erik's smile doesn't falter for a second.

"What's better? It's a shithole here anyways. So they pay me more in other departments. The money I'd spend on therapy for working there would still decimate my pay into non-existence."

You stop hitting him as something dangerous bubbles up your throat. The hole in the chest filled. No, not that, he will never let me live if I do, you think to yourself.

"Are you actually crying?" Erik giggles his expression turning somewhat strange.

"No."

You do end up crying. After taking you to Omelas where surprise, surprise, your inner circle of other cleaners and Irina were waiting. Diego was already rolling on the floor with Liz trying to pull him up in a somewhat vertically inclined position. J.D. giving a quiet, appreciative nod and S - Jo along with Byun screaming their lungs out in some kind of celebratory song. You can't even tell which language they are screaming in.

Olga looks at the scene with mild amusement. If you'd had become a little bit like an unwilling older sister to this little horde of gremlins then Olga was like everyone's collective mom. How many of your messes and mood swings had she endured? You couldn't even count but you remember how badly you were afraid of disappointing her. And if Erik felt even the half of that...

It was then and after two bottles of vodka that you started sobbing. But just a little bit. After all, you hadn't cried in a while and if there was a better place to cry it was among this little makeshift family.

***

(a/n: lietonis, more commonly known as lietuvēns is a spirit from my country's folklore that is rumoured to strangle people and animals in their sleep. Basically something like a sleep paralysis demon.)

[starlightshore]

Is there any evidence that Chara is an abuse victim? It's a very popular headcanon and I want to understand why

hrm. ok let me preface this with a couple of things: one, i actually answered this same question a couple weeks ago (week ago? time means nothing to me) on AFR but i got triggered by continuous use of the topic and people wouldn’t stop talking after i asked multiple times for us to stop. (no bad blood to anyone involved) this is only relevant because its the same question, and I want to make it clear I am fine with talking about this topic, and I will say if or when it’s stressing me out. I am not against talking about dark themes, and at the moment I am calm and fine.

I want everyone to know that this is a triggering topic and i specifically am susceptible to this and it’s surrounding themes, so please try to read the room I’m creating on this topic and give me the proper space.

i say that all ahead of time because I do not want to get triggered or talk about child abuse/death/suicide at length. this ask is fine. maybe a couple more if it’s brief and not asking me to do further research.

secondly, I want to talk about UT canon real quick. UT, for the most part, relies on text to spell out it’s history and world. characters don’t walk on screen and say: I’m Chara Dreemurr. I was born on September 15th 2003. I’m nonbinary and use they/them.” like no, characters live in the moment and yes their past define them, but they got bigger things to worry about and talk about current things. maybe they’ll refer to past things, but never bluntly.

--putting under read more. discussion of child abuse, self harm, and other ingame dark topics. This is mainly a character analysis

So, either you infer from what’s available or you search the wiki/playthrough/text dumps. The very act of playing no mercy route has lore in itself, if you account for player theory and other factors I’m not getting into here. Anyway, Undertale is a very Deep and loaded game with lots of world building built into every nook and cranny. (just spend 5 minutes on semi-frequent undertale facts if you’re curious to this rabbit hole)

Anyway point being, Chara is the narrator. this is fact. “it’s me, Chara.” They outright say it. I hate when people call it theory when it’s more explicit than most things in game.

anyway, the main flavor text i want to point to is this:

* "Faded Ribbon" - Armor DF 3 * If you're cuter, monsters  won't hit you as hard. 

So here’s a couple things I want to talk about first. Yes, monsters fight and that is normal.

* But they will never know  the joy of expressing  themselves through magic.* They'll never get a bullet-   pattern birthday card... 

It’s 10000% likely that Chara dealt with monster fights when alive. And that most likely lead to culture shock and confusion, but with Toriel (lmao, she outright scares off a froggit from Frisk) by their side and being a royal, I highly doubt they were in any danger in that household.

point being, yes, monsters could of hurt them, I would think this mindset is more directed to humanity, rather than monsterkind. You can read it more bluntly that it’s about monsters after all, t does specify monsters here. My counter point is that is to foreshadow how monsters are weaker beings who are more in-tuned with their magic-based bodies and are susceptible to intent, and likewise their magic reflects their own intent.

So yeah, I think it reflects to Chara’s general history and mindset to wanting to appear more tolerable to avoid pain, be it physical abuse or fear of being human. Chara, who calls themself a demon and hated humanity passionately, would be fully aware they are human. When welcomed to a very loving monster family, they didn’t want to ruin the prophetic angelic image they placed on them. They knew with their own imperfect behavior, that they were doomed to fail them.

This can be inferred from how both Toriel and Asgore wear the deltarune (Toriel’s robes, Asgore’s armor makes the wings and their homes in both games have the symbol). Gerson talks about how either the Deltarune Angel (someone who has seen the surface and returned) would either free them or destroy them all. Chara, who the underground believed to be that Angel, was put on this huge pedestal that clearly both parent’s believed in.

We know Toriel represents Integrity,

* someone who sincerely  likes bad jokes...* has an integrity  you can't say  "no" to. 

(along with being refereed to in the blue color of text)

and by both (points in DR’s direction) and this line from her when allowing Frisk to go past the ruins:

My expectations... My loneliness... My fear...For you, my child... I will put them aside.

Toriel says expectations first. It’s clearly a huge part of her motivation. I absolutely see how this pressure not only was put on Chara, but Asriel as well. This isn’t a hate letter to Toriel btw, but rather an examination of her parenting that led to the main tragedy of the game. It’s a cautionary tale. Toriel was not prepared for adopting a suicidal preteen.

speaking of which! back to the whole point of this post.

* I know why (Chara) climbed the mountain.

*(Chara) hated humanity.* Why they did, they  never talked about  it.* But they felt very strongly about  that.

 Now I want to say that Chara hating humanity enough to run away to kill themself doesn’t strictly mean they were abused, but wow! Chara is seriously mentally ill (and frankly, yes, children can be are suicidal) and I don’t think that level of suffering happens for no reason.

* The ends of the tools have  been filed down to  make them safer.* Seems like gardening tools.

* Where are the knives.

The gardening tools in Toriel’s home are dulled and there are no knives in the kitchen. These are actions one takes when their child self harms, this isn’t precautions based in them being literal infants. Chara I imagine was closer to 10/12 age range than Baby. (what baby knows what a tsundere is?)

All these paint a picture of a child who self harms, who violently hates humanity and wanted to kill their (likely) abusers. I’ve also seen someone suggest the fact that FIGHT is your first option in the game in itself reflects how Chara’s first instinct is to Fight first. Both Frisk and Chara are heavily influenced by the player’s actions (both literal and in a parental/guardian like influence) and we see this thru Chara’s outlook changes depending on LV, as well how Frisk feels about violence. (dogfood bag being half full/empty, punching mad dummy in the dump)

Using the themes of the game and backstory/context, we can see how Chara has been taught violence as a viable option. I’d link that more to their pre-underground as Monsterkind as a society preaches mercy and uses bullets not as a murderous tool, but as self expression.

Again, I don’t want to say that just because a child is mentally ill and self harms, doesn’t mean they were abused but I don’t think it’s out of line as a reasoning for it. Yes, sometimes you’re just born with such mental illness, but I choose to interpret the faded ribbon dialogue + their own desire to fight/kill as something taught by example. It fits the themes. It’s more realistic to see Chara as someone who’s been hurt and has learned to hurt in return. (AND that does not mean abuse victims are therefore doomed to become abusers! chara is a child first and thru the pacifist route they’re just as merciful as Frisk! It’s a character arc)

and just to be absolutely clear because I KNOW how tumblr handles nuance sometimes, I am speaking as a former abused and suicidal child. Making that clear that when I say this is how I read the text, it’s not just me speculating on the game’s content but on a real life knowledge of how this shit works. Chara very, very much reads an abused and depressed child who just wanted to fulfill the prophecy for the sake of their family’s freedom.

With almost killing Asgore on accident, Chara realizes that they are an evil human and the only way to free their people is to die violently. (don’t look up buttercup poisoning side effects, it’s bad.) Chara didn’t need to die to escape. They could of killed any of the dreemurrs, but they chose to die horrifically. It’s common for those who are suicidal that they’ll want to die before people see them in a negative light.

also couldn’t really fit this earlier but hell, this is long anyway so I might as well say this here. I think we can also infer Chara’s hatred for humanity grew with learning the history of monsterkind. The books harshly say human souls are different and it’s possible they may not even naturally have compassion and love, or at least, are not required to have it. Humans sealed monsters underground and commited actual genocide against them. (and i don’t use that word lightly. the no mercy route isn’t a genocide, please don’t use that term for that. esp don’t lighten such a heavy and real-word term to a frickin video game route oh my god)

We have this repeating theme of society’s influence on children and how cycles of pain continue. What is “in this world, it’s kill-or-be-killed“ but a statement on society? I’ve discussed before that I think it’s very likely Chara said those words to Asriel as they were being murdered, and how the very system that put Chara into this path was human society that both failed Chara and monsterkind all those years ago. The game’s message is that you must not kill, and you must not be killed in return. That there is a third option, and that even in dire circumstances if you use 7 virtues and are determined enough, you can avoid war and make peace. This isn’t to say self defense is bad, Undyne the Undyning is framed as a hero, and cruel/corrupt rulers should be disposed of (king spade)

this got a little off topic but I thought it was fun to write about. The game’s main theme is built around that phrase, it’s Asriel’s character arc of him learning thru Frisk/Chara/Player that in this world, despite everything, you don’t have to kill or be killed.

TLDR; Chara is implied to hate humanity so strongly they were willing to die horrifically to free monsterkind and fulfill the angel’s prophecy. the game depicts them as a very mentally ill child and with the addition of the faded ribbon text + desire to FIGHT, Chara likely learned this mindset before falling underground. looking at the themes of the game and chara’s backstory, we can infer and take a guess at who they were and what the game is trying to say. Undertale is a good game and has a good moral. That’s my TedTalk

[eintsein]

After a few years of trial and error, I think I've finally found the perfect organization method.

In the early years of high school, I had a bullet journal. I was an artsy kid who found a way to combine art with organization in a way that benefited other parts of my life.

However, as I approached the end of high school, my schedule got busier, and I was involved in a lot more things, so owning a bullet journal was less practical. Because of that, I switched to an app called Edo Agenda.

I continued with digital planning in college since I knew I wasn't going to have as much time. But all the apps I tried out—Taskade, Actions by Moleskine, Any.do, Todoist, Wunderlist—weren't suited to my planning and organizational needs. They didn't have the specific functions I required and didn't incorporate an organization system I liked to use. The predefined apps were too restraining, but the more customizable apps weren't customizable enough.

So then I switched to a bare bones, uber minimalist bullet journal method. That worked pretty well my second semester. It was simple, portable, and most importantly, flexible—all the things one could wish for in a planning system. However, it wasn't always the most convenient to use since I couldn't effectively integrate all the different aspects of my life, which, to no surprise, is mostly recorded digitally.

There was just one huge problem with my digital organization system that made me hesitant to switch back in the first place: everything was fragmented. Notes were in Google Docs. Financial records were in Google Sheets. To-Do Lists were in my bullet journal. Team projects were in Trello. My poetry was on Bear. Things I wanted to try are carelessly pinned to random pinterest boards or added to my YouTube "watch later" playlist. It was a mess.

Over the summer, I found out about Notion from a friend, and I thought, this has so much potential, it could even be exactly what I need. It's essentially like an empty notebook on your computer with functions that make it 10x more powerful. Notion allows you to integrate all aspects of your life and work into one app. Some of the advantages that have made me partial to Notion are:

Even greater customization level. Notion is a blank canvas with tons of predefined blocks and different file types. You can make databases, spreadsheets, Kanban boards, to do lists, etc. Also, you can remain connected to other digital services. You can link websites, collaborate with other users, use different structures (e.g. documents, databases, tasks), embed images and videos, etc. There are also tons of formatting options, e.g. text color, highlight, heading v. body text.

Better organization. Notion allows you to have pages within pages within pages within pages—an infinite hierarchy that you can organize with tables of contents. These pages are made of blocks, e.g. tables, checklists, boards, databases.  Both pages and blocks can be rearranged by simply dragging and dropping them to where you want them to be. In other words, I guess it's kind of like building a website to organize your life. Plus, their database feature is especially powerful as it allows you to connect all your data and get into as much detail as you wish (each entry in a database is its own page).

Templates. There are tons of templates created by both Notion and the community that you can use. These are especially helpful in the beginning since Notion does have a rather steep learning curve. There are template for almost every category: personal, planning, finance, job applications, design roadmap, etc. Check out their template gallery, this medium article called "10 Notion templates to inspire your use", or read on for my own examples!

Shortcuts. This makes typing and documenting so much faster. Notion uses Markdown, which is a text-to-HTML conversion tool, e.g. # = Heading 1, *, - = bullet point, etc.

Notion has some pretty awesome features, but how does one actually use it? Personally, I have four top-level pages: my planner, my personal journal, songwriting, and blogging.

Planner

I've been using my planner to, well, plan and track my day to day activities as well as my week and month. The way I've structured it is a calendar or monthly overview with links to pages of weekly overviews, and if needed, daily overviews within the weekly overview. This links things up so nicely, i.e. I don't have to be constantly flipping pages in my physical bullet journal or planner to find what I need.

I also have entertainment lists, which is mainly a table with all the shows I want to watch, the books I want to read, etc. I keep track of whether or not I've watched them, as well as my personal ratings. What I love most about this is that each entry is its own page, so I can type my notes for each book, show, or film and easily find them in the future. (Also the reason why I have plural “lists” instead of just one entertainment list is because you can filter entries by type of entertainment, e.g. movies, tv shows, books, articles.)

Personal

For personal notes, goals, journal entries, etc. This is kind of like an extension of my daily journal and just where I dump all my thoughts and keep track of the different aspects of my life: mental, emotional, spiritual, social, physical, and travel.

Another page I have is called "Stray Thoughts" and, well, it's pretty self explanatory. It's a lot easier to dump all my thoughts as they come and reorganize them later. Of course, this requires sacrificing the rawness of journaling, i.e. when the thoughts come and how you process them, which is why I still keep a regular journal that I write in daily.

Songwriting

I've been writing a lot of music over the summer and it's often hard to keep track of all of my songs and how far I've gotten in the songwriting process. So I created a table of songs - each entry of a song is a page with its lyrics. These are then tagged with the status of the lyrics (i.e. completed, in progress) and the status of the music itself (i.e. melody only, instrumental, mixing, mastering, revised). Eventually, I'll include demos in the database by embedding audio files in the document.

I have a separate section for inspiration and ideas, which is a kind of brain dump, e.g. words I think would make a good song, a certain theme for a song, a melody that's been stuck in my head, a vibe I'd like to try out, etc.

I've also been watching a lot of tutorials for music production and there's a section where I write my notes for that.

Eintsein

The last section of my Notion app is for this blog. Which has pages for

New posts. These are ideas for future posts, asks that I think would need longer answers, as well as posts that are currently in the draft stage (like this one was before I posted it)

Design assets. This is where I put all the visual branding material for Eintsein.com to be used in posts and any visual material on the blog.

FAQ. Having an FAQ document just makes it so much easier to make changes to your existing FAQ. Plus, if you ever change your FAQ theme, you just have to copy and paste what you already have.

Post directory. I keep track of all my previous masterposts, infographics, and generally longer and more comprehensive posts. It's the exact same as what you see on my Navigation page. And yes, the document contains direct links to the post.

New theme. A project I've been working on the past couple days is trying to create my own theme for my blog. This is where I put all my outlines, brainstorming notes, design inspiration, code snippets, etc.There are some pretty awesome features I’ve made use of in this page:

As you can probably tell, I'm absolutely obsessed with Notion since it has such awesome features and endless possibilities for customization. So far I've been using Notion for personal projects, which, since they are quite big in scale and have no set deadline, are important to organize well. My summer courses were only 6 weeks and weren't difficult to organize.

The formats above are just how I personally use notion. You could make some of your own, or if you don't think you want to build your pages from scratch, there are tons of templates to choose from. Here are some I think I'll be using in the near future and may be helpful for others as well, especially students like myself:

One drawback, however, is that Notion has a rather steep learning curve, but there are tons of tutorials online (especially YouTube) and I guarantee you it's all worth it.

Notion is not just a productivity app. It's a way to concretize your entire life.

Notion is free to use, but there are higher tiers that allow for more blocks, greater file size, etc. I use a personal account, which is $4 per month with unlimited block storage and no file upload limit (although I got it for $33/year). Personally I think the free plan would suit most people's needs, especially if you're not uploading large files.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 15: The Warning (originally posted on April 26, 2021)

AN: Dread it, run from it, the end is near. Part 1 of the two-part Part 2 finale has arrived. And with this two-parter, we will officially be halfway through Alternate Future. What could Parts 3 and 4 possibly hold for us? Well, that's for later. Right now, we return to Homeworld which means we once again won't be fully focusing on Steven, and we will also see a certain Gem in action.

Synopsis: Lars and the Off-Colors return to Earth with an urgent message.

Cast:

Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Shelby Rabara as Squaridot, Demantoid's Peridots

Olivia Olson as Citrine

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Amy Sedaris as Yellow Zircon, Blue Zircon

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Jennifer Paz as Mean Lapis

Charlyne Yi as Navy, Eyeball

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Uzo Aduba as Demantoid's Bismuths

Miriam Hyman as Demantoid's Bismuths

Deedee Magno-Hall as Black Pearl

Dee Bradley Baker as George the Light Prism

Zach Callison as Steven

Kate Micucci as Sadie

Indya Moore as Shep

Nancy Linari as Martha

Featuring Hugh Laurie as Doctor Laurie

--

Hushed whispers filled the grand hall as many former Gem aristocrats filed in. Behind a holographic podium were posters of the prosecuting Zircon's smug face with the word "HOPE" underneath the picture in very big letters. When the last of the ex-nobles arrived and the doors shut behind them, out came Yellow Zircon with a prideful spring in her step as she took her place at the podium.

"Good day to you all." Yellow Zircon announced as she presented the speech prepared for her today. "As you all know, the Gem race has now entered a new golden age thanks to Steven Universe, the son of Pink Diamond, and the Crystal Gems." As she spoke, an image of Steven and the Gems appeared behind her. "But don't think they have good intentions."

Suddenly, the hall turned a bright red as a big red X was crossed over the Crystal Gems. "With the loss of our caste system, our weapons, armies, colonies, and the Diamonds' control over us, our kind has become weak. Perhaps weak enough to be conquered."

The former nobles began muttering to each other with concern while Yellow Zircon stared at the speech in confusion. "Wait, this is my speech?" she quietly asked herself before returning to the subject at hand. "Anyways, their pacifistic ways could soon be the end of us all. That is why as a potential democratic leader of the Gems, I promise to restore our old ways so that we may be better prepared for a possible invasion. Thank you everyone for your time."

The other Gems began clapping and cheering while Yellow Zircon walked backstage, continuing to examine her speech when she ran into her campaign manager, a seemingly docile Ruby with her gem on her stomach. "Oh, Navy was it?" she asked the Ruby. "I'm pretty sure my speech is all wrong. I could've sworn I had something different planned earlier!"

"Oh don't be such a worrywart Zircon!" Navy laughed, slapping the taller Gem on the leg. "I just made a few changes, that's all! Which reminds me, you got some special guests arranged for your next speech, so do make a good impression on them!"

"Okay, if you say so." Yellow Zircon reluctantly obliged and kept walking, leaving Navy alone to snicker maliciously as she pulled a black egg-shaped communicator from her gem. "This is Agent Navy, come in Black Rutile." She said to the egg as it produced a holographic image of her superior.

"Ah, Ruby, so glad of you to call." Black Rutile said delightedly. "How has your infiltration of the Zircon's campaign going?"

"All according to plan my Rutile." Navy saluted the hologram. "She doesn't suspect a thing."

"Excellent." Black Rutile grinned. "Once she's in power, we'll come in, reveal our goal to the galaxy and initiate our coup. I knew I chose the right Gem for the job."

"Oh, you're too kind my Rutile." Navy giggled. "My magnanimous, visionary, absolutely gorgeous Rutile!"

"Okay, now you're just brown-nosing." Black Rutile scowled. "Morganite should be meeting with you shortly, so keep an eye out for her while I go gather forces." She commanded. "Over and out."

--

Meanwhile, on a different part of the Gem Homeworld, the Sun Incinerator began to make its landing at a spaceport where many Gems were either departing from Homeworld by spaceship or returning home. But this crew in particular was only here for a quick pitstop.

"Well, here we are back on Homeworld Off-Colors." Lars declared as he and his motley crew of Off-Color Gems disembarked from their pilfered vessel to look around the spaceport. "Man, it's wonderful how much Steven has changed everything."

"Yeah, once these ships were out conquering worlds." The left Rutile replied.

"But now they're out spreading peace and fixing what they broke." The right Rutile remarked.

"We can sing Steven's praises later." Rhodonite said, getting her fellow Gems back on track. "We came back here to refuel."

"Yes, we know Rhodonite." Fluorite said slowly. "I'm just going to take a breather over there." She then pointed over to a little hangout spot where different Gems were striking up conversations. "How about you?"

"I'm just going to explore a bit." Lars answered. "Anyone coming with?"

"I'm gonna go over there to where those other fusions are." Rhodonite replied as she pointed to another hangout spot populated with cross-Gem fusions just like her.

"Guess that leaves me and Paddy to watch over the ship." The left Rutile said.

"Our crew shall go their separate ways for the time being." Padparadscha declared sweetly.

However, as the Off-Colors briefly split up to relax, a sinister plot was brewing without their knowledge. Emerald and a squad of Black Pearls were hiding inside one of the unoccupied ships, having been spying on the Gem team this whole time. "My Rutile, I have visual on the Sun Incinerator." Emerald said into a communicator. "At long last, it'll finally be mine!"

"Yes Emerald, the sole reason you joined my alliance." Black Rutile said sarcastically. "But remember that once you finally reacquire the Incinerator, you are to rendezvous with your teammates and provide our transport to Earth."

"But what about your dropship, my Rutile?" one of the Black Pearls inquired. "Can't you use that to come to Earth instead?"

"I'm currently using it to reach Blue 4." Black Rutile explained. "Lars will no doubt use another ship to reach Earth, but by then it'll be too late for him"

"Understood." Emerald nodded as the communicator shut off, and then she turned to the Pearls. "You heard her, move out!"

"Yes, your Emerald." The Black Pearls monotonously replied and marched towards the Sun Incinerator.

The Rutile twins noticed the squad of Pearls marching to them and decided to ask what was up. "Uh, hello there." The left Rutile nervously greeted. "Don't think we've ever seen you Pearls around before."

"Forgive our intrusion, we were only created not too long ago." The leading Black Pearl apologized with a bow. "My fellow Pearls and I are working for a higher power who believes she can bring peace to Homeworld."

"Ooh, look at those Pearls over there!" Padparadscha exclaimed. "I don't like the looks of them Rutiles, they look suspicious!"

"Yeah, that reminds me." The right Rutile said. "Who is this higher power you're working for?"

"She refuses to disclose her identity at the moment," another of the Pearls said. "but she doesn't like a certain friend of yours very much."

Before the Rutiles and Padparadscha could comprehend what the Pearl said, a pair of crystalline thigh-high boots clinked loudly as their owner snuck aboard the Sun Incinerator, and they turned around to discover that it was Emerald.

"We've been discovered!" Emerald yelled before she raced further into the ship. "Pearls, seize them!"

"Emerald?!" the Rutile twins exclaimed in shock.

"Emerald has stolen the ship!" Padparadscha added as Lars, Rhodonite, and Fluorite raced to discover what had happened.

"So we meet again Emerald!" Lars said angrily as Emerald began to take off in her reclaimed ship. "What do you have planned this time?!"

"I think the better question is, what do WE have planned!" Emerald corrected just as furiously. "You're so distracted by the destruction that Steven has caused, you're just as blind to his impending fall! Now Pearls!"

The Pearls summoned their spears and threateningly pointed them at Lars and the Off-Colors. But just then, three silhouettes that have been watching things play out made themselves known by emerging from the shadows to strike.

The first Gem had orange skin, a red-orange gemstone at the center of her chest, a red and white jumpsuit with black shoulder pads, a blue-purple cape, and a pale yellow afro that came together at a widow's peak. She was the first of the trio to attack, plunging her sword into a Black Pearl's chest and causing her to poof.

The second Gem was a Peridot with rectangular chartreuse-yellow hair, her triangular gem replacing her left eye, a medium green jumpsuit with dark green shoulder pads and a four-pointed star symbol on the torso, a light green cape, dark green leggings, and medium green boots with yellow triangles on her knees. She lifted a metal crate into the air with ferrokinesis and tossed it at another group of Black Pearls, poofing them as well.

Finally, there was a Gem Lars easily recognized. Citrine was also a member of this trio, whaling on Black Pearls as they tried to dogpile her, and she was wearing a cape as well. It was black, matching the mask she wore over her eyes.

"Citrine!" Lars cried excitedly as the three Gems fought off the seemingly growing mob of Pearls. "Hey, who are those other two Gems?"

"Lars, long time no see!" Citrine replied while backhanding a Black Pearl in the face. "I can introduce you to my new partners later, now help us out!"

"Finally time to put my new musti-yuddha skills to use." Lars declared while taking off his cape and gloves to fight the Black Pearls. "Come at me bros!" he challenged the Gems as he put up his fists, using his newfound Indian boxing skills to punch, kick, grab, knee, and elbow his way through the Pearls.

"Nice moves there my friend!" the yellow afroed Gem complimented Lars before they, along with Citrine and the Peridot, stood back to back against the Pearls while the Off-Colors watched. "What do you call that kind of fighting?"

"It's an Earth type of combat called musti-yuddha." Lars explained as yet another Black Pearl charged at him. "SHORYUKEN!" he yelled, uppercutting the Pearl into the air before it poofed, and her gem clattered on the ground.

"I've got to get me some of those lessons." Rhodonite said to herself.

"The human is stronger than we were led to believe!" one of the remaining Black Pearls gasped in shock. "Everybody retreat!"

With that, the Black Pearl squadron officially withdrew from combat, leaving Lars and his Gem allies to collect themselves.

"So, like I was gonna say, meet some new friends I made since you were last here." Citrine introduced her new partners.

"You may call me Hessonite." Hessonite greeted Lars with a handshake. "Former commander of Yellow Diamond's army turned ally of the Crystal Gems and Gem vigilante. Pleased to meet you."

"I'm her sidekick, Peridot Facet-4E3M Cut-7ZY." The Peridot introduced herself. "Though most call me Squaridot due to my hair. Much like my former commander turned partner, I have once antagonized the Crystal Gems before Steven showed me the light. Well, after quite a few setbacks, of course."

"I'm Lars." Lars replied as he pointed to himself, and then to the Off-Colors. "Meet my teammates, the-"

"We know full well about you and your exploits Lars." Hessonite cut Lars off. "Citrine told us about you when we first crossed paths, and she has proven useful to my cause."

"Excuse me, but what cause?" Fluorite asked Hessonite.

"The detainment of a Gem revolutionary known as Black Rutile!" Squaridot dramatically announced as she presented an image of the Gem in question. "For the past couple years ever since Steven began the process of reforming the Gem empire, this felon has been gathering up an army to rebel against him and the Crystal Gems, and now that the Spinel incident has come and gone, Black Rutile has finally decided now to initiate her plans to destroy him and conquer the Gem race!"

"Wait, why does Black Rutile have it out for Steven?" Lars asked when he came to a realization. "Wait, I remember her! She came to Earth once and interviewed me about my experiences with Steven! Is that all a part of her plan?"

"Indubitably," Citrine answered. "She's been gathering as much info as she can on Steven, the Crystal Gems, and almost everyone they've ever met in preparation for her forthcoming invasion. She knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and will use them against us with extreme prejudice."

"Black Rutile may seem like a genial reporter," Hessonite continued her sidekicks' explanation. "But it's all an act to disguise the cunning, devious, opportunistic, sociopathic monster she is underneath. Black Rutile was a former member of White Diamond's court and a fearsome warrior during the Rebellion with a burning vendetta against Pink Diamond because she believed Pink always got what she wanted by whining & crying all the time instead of doing any actual hard work to deserve things."

"So she hates Pink, big whoop." Rhodonite snarked.

"It's not just Pink, my dear fusion." Hessonite stated, putting a gloved hand on Rhodonite's shoulder. "By proxy, she has a hatred for Steven and the Crystal Gems because they continued her work by reforming our society, and some aren't very kind towards Steven's decisions."

"We were surrounded by those Black Pearls, but a trio of caped crusaders have come to save us!" Padparadscha cheered.

"Yes, thank you for adding to the conversation Sapphire." Hessonite muttered, glaring at Padparadscha before she turned back to Lars. "Recent intel we have gathered tells us that Black Rutile has inserted a Ruby spy into Yellow Zircon's democratic campaign, feeding her nothing but lies to inspire Gems to rebel against Era 3. I'm planning on infiltrating a speech she is giving, but I need help." She grabbed Lars by the hand and gazed at him with determined eyes. "Tell me Lars of the Stars, are you with us?"

"Well, with intel like that, I don't see why not." Lars declared, taking Hessonite's hand and giving it a firm shake. "I'm in!"

With that, the Off-Colors had some new allies by their side, and a new adventure to go on. One that might be their most dangerous yet.

--

Meanwhile, the remaining Black Pearls continued fleeing from Hessonite's squad and found somewhere safe to hide, where their leader turned on a communicator on her wrist.

"Black Pearl-6G9, report!" Black Rutile barked to her subordinates.

"It is the Hessonite, she has struck once again." The Pearl stated. "And it seems she has allied with the so-called "Lars of the Stars" to undermine your hard work."

"That traitor has been a thorn in my side for too long." Black Rutile snarled irritatedly. "A real shame too. She and I got along quite swimmingly before she went to retrieve that Prism." She then remarked nostalgically. "But enough about my backstory. The Zircon is preparing to make her speech soon. I need what's left of your force to protect her at the auditorium in Igneous Square no matter what. Affirmative?"

"Affirmative, my Rutile." Black Pearl-6G9 nodded and shut off her communicator before she turned to her fellow Pearls, nodding to them as well.

--

Later that day, Lars & Hessonite stood atop a building and gazed down upon the Gems gathered at Igneous Square where Yellow Zircon was set to make another speech. Also on stage with her were a group of Black Pearls, her mysterious campaign manager Navy and their special guest Morganite.

"Good day my fellow Gems." Yellow Zircon announced while Lars followed Hessonite down the building and blending in with the crowd. "As you can see, I brought a very special guest with me. I'd like you all to please give a warm welcome to the legendary designer, Morganite!"

"Wait, she's with them?" Lars whispered to Hessonite as Morganite stepped up to the podium. "But she seemed so chill when we first met her!"

"Looks can be very deceiving Lars." Hessonite advised her human ally. "Black Rutile has supporters all across Homeworld and their former colonies, but Morganite here is a part of her inner circle."

"Wait, inner circle?" Lars asked. "You mean she's got, like, a whole legion of doom by her side?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, but yes." Hessonite answered. "Now shush."

"Thank you Zircon for the marvelous introduction." Morganite said gratefully to the Zircon before she turned to the audience with a speech prepared. "Today shall be the end of Era 3. The end of the Crystal Gems, who have acquiesced to gaslighting and manipulation for thousands of years. At this very moment, hundreds of lightyears away, Steven Universe continues lying to the Gem race and brainwashing the mindless masses to his so-called "peace and love", while hypocritically abandoning all in actual need of his alleged assistance!" As Morganite went on, her speaking became more and more dictatorial until she began outright shrieking every word that came out of her mouth. "Once WE are in power, we shall return to our ways of conquering and terraforming, starting WITH PLANET EARTH! AND SOON STEVEN SHALL REALIZE THAT IF HE AND HIS MOTHER WEREN'T SUCH IRRITATING BRATS, HE WOULDN'T BE HIS OWN UNDOING!"

The Gems in the audience all began cheering and pumping their fists, chanting Morganite's name as she took a bow and began to leave the unnerved Yellow Zircon to take back her podium, until someone else took the microphone.

"Steven gaslighting and manipulating?" Lars hijacked the podium to make his own speech. "Frankly my friends, you're all dead wrong! Sure, he and I got off on the wrong foot more times than I can count, but I know that he is an actual good person. A fact that you are all just blind to for the sake of being mouthpieces for a complete maniac! You're no revolutionaries; you're just a bunch of proud clods! And another thing-"

"Hey pinky, get off the stage!" one Agate jeered while the Black Pearls began to surround Lars onstage.

"You shall come quietly human for questioning." The lead Pearl ordered, spear pointed directing across Lars's neck.

"Uh Hess, little help here!" Lars cried out nervously. Suddenly, a golden blur emerged from the crowd and easily dispatched the Pearls, along with any other Gems trying to get on the stage to attack Lars.

"Come on, let's head to my lair!" Hessonite stated before the screen behind the podium began to short-circuit before finally, Black Rutile appeared on it. "You."

"Ah Hessonite, so glad you could make it to the eve of my grand takeover." Black Rutile purred in greeting. "And look, you even brought a plus-one! Lars of the Stars, am I right?"

"Master, I sincerely apologize for my failure!" Morganite dropped on her knees and begged for Black Rutile's mercy. "It was the human who tried to expose me!"

"Save the apologies Morganite, I'll send in reinforcements later." Black Rutile replied before turning back to her pair of foes. "And as for you, go ahead and run around this planet all you like, 'cause you won't find me anywhere on it!"

"Well, where are you?!" Lars yelled.

"That is highly classified." Black Rutile responded with a sneer. "Not that you would care, you rose-colored hippie. Toodles!" With that, she disappeared from the screen, leaving the pair aghast at her sudden appearance before one of the Gems spoke up.

"Can't you see, Steven is forcing us to waste ourselves away being all caring and helping, when we should be returning to enslaving!" a particularly vigorous Pyrope yelled. "Who's with me?! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE!"

"YEAH, OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE!" a Jasper agreed, inspiring the other Gems to chant those same words.

"OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE! OUR HEARTS AND GEMS TO HER CAUSE!"

"It's worse than I thought." Hessonite muttered nervously while she and Lars made their escape. "She's manipulated them all."

"Do the Diamonds know about this?" Lars asked his new ally.

"I'm not sure, but that will definitely get their attention." Hessonite replied as they got further away from Igneous Square, where the chanting kept on going and Yellow Zircon stared in shock at what just happened.

"Was I just a tool for a fascist cause?" Yellow Zircon muttered in utter despondence while Navy stood behind her with an evil grin.

"Fascist cause? No." Navy grinned as she retreated into the shadows. "Tool? Oh so very much."

--

Not too far away from Homeworld was the former colony of Blue 4, a once pristine colony that has fallen on hard times due to its ruler's neglect of her subjects. And far from Blue 4 on its own little asteroid was the Palace of Light, formerly the capital of Blue 4 that was the current residence, or rather a prison, of the ex-elite Gems Pyrope and Demantoid.

"Day….I've lost count, of our imprisonment in the Palace of Light." Demantoid muttered robotically to herself as she sat across from Pyrope in their shared cell. "I have been making countless plans to break out of this cell and exact our revenge, but a certain someone just keeps debunking them all."

"Well, it's not my fault that most of your plans will fail!" Pyrope said haughtily. "Kind of like how it was your fault that we lost to Steven!"

"My fault?!" Demantoid yelled back as she hopped up and marched over to meet Pyrope's gaze. "If it weren't for your arrogance, we wouldn't be stuck in here with no status, no weapons, and no hope of escaping!"

Suddenly, the destabilizing forcefield that prevented the pair of Garnets from escaping shut off, allowing them to leave their cell with no trouble.

"Who could've possibly done this?" Pyrope wondered, looking around at how only their cell was deactivated while the others were still operational.

"I believe I can answer that for you." A voice answered pridefully as she marched towards the Garnets and revealed her identity. "Black Rutile, at your service. Long time no see you two."

"My stars, THE Black Rutile?!" Demantoid gasped in recognition of the Rutile. "Where have you been all this time?! Why are you only now helping us when you could've been useful during our clashes with the Crystal Gems?!"

"I've been plotting their downfall for quite some time Demantoid." Black Rutile answered. "I suppose you have been disenfranchised by Steven, much like my compatriots here, no?" she then asked as White Topaz, Aquamarine, Eyeball, Lapis 1J9G and Holly Blue emerged from behind her.

"So, you've been plotting your own rebellion, just like Rose Quartz?" Pyrope asked as she gazed at the Gems Black Rutile has gathered for her alliance.

"Indeed, and I believe you both deserve seats in it." Black Rutile replied as she took the pair's hands. "Now then, are you with me?"

"I am with you." Demantoid accepted the offer. "But only if she gets left here."

"No no no, she should be left to rot while I join you!" Pyrope demanded.

"Uh, something wrong you two?" White Topaz asked.

"It's all her fault we lost!" the Garnets blamed each other with fingers pointed, but they were quickly proven wrong.

"No, it's neither of your faults." Black Rutile stated as she brought up a projection of the pair's final battle with the Crystal Gems using the Light Prisms. "It's all because of Steven that you lost. That cunning, devious, opportunistic, sociopathic monster wanted you out of the way because you had no place in his dystopia, but there is room for you in the utopia I will soon build. Now let me repeat myself," She deactivated the hologram and looked back at Pyrope & Demantoid. "are you with me?"

"Okay, we're in!" Pyrope exclaimed, shaking the fearsome Rutile's hand. "Now tell us, what do you need us for?"

"I am planning on going down to Earth to strike at the Gems when they least expect it." Black Rutile explained, leading the group out into the main area of the Palace while pulling out another hologram from her visor detailing her plans. "Once we detain them once and for all, we shall indoctrinate the Gems they have brainwashed into their so-called Little Homeschool to our cause and overwhelm the Diamonds with our superior armies. After that, we'll have to discuss lat-"

Suddenly, the signaling of an urgent message cut off Black Rutile's plans. "One second everyone." She muttered before taking the message. "Ruby, report!"

"My Rutile, we need you!" Navy exclaimed fearfully. "The Zircon has already been seized since the speech, and now Morganite & I are on the run!"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Black Rutile said while pinching the gem on her face. "That Morganite, always such a self-important coward. I shall send in backup posthaste!"

"Oh thank you my glamorous Rutile!" Navy cheered. "I am so honored to be in your presence like always!"

"What did I say about the brownnosing?" Black Rutile shut Navy up before the message ended, then she turned to her minions. "Holly Blue, 1J9G, keep Lars of the Stars away from Earth no matter the cost."

"Understood my Rutile." Holly Blue obliged with her master's salute. "Come along terraformer."

"Really, we're going all this way just to get revenge on Steven?" Lapis 1J9G snarked. "You know, we don't have to make all these super complicated plans, we can just go down and kill everyone."

"Bite your tongue Lapis!" Holly barked at the Lapis Lazuli. "Is that the way you want to speak about someone who promised you your friend back?"

"No your clarity!" 1J9G squeaked in fear of the Agate's terror.

"Very good." Holly Blue replied pleasantly. "Now, let's return to Homeworld."

As the pair of blue Gems departed, 1J9G looked back at Black Rutile with a sneer while the alliance was being unknowingly watched.

The Light Prism George let out a gasp at what he just witnessed and began speaking in Gem Glyph to his fellow Prisms, who had now taken forms similar to his own. The three of them nodded, knowing just who to call.

--

Meanwhile, back on Homeworld, Lars and Hessonite had finally escaped the mob of furious Gems and found themselves standing before a pair of large doors at a tower.

"Welcome to my lair, Lars." Hessonite declared as she placed her palm on a scanner that allowed her entrance into the room. At the top of the steps was a large & elaborate computer system, along with the Off-Colors, Squaridot, and Citrine all waiting for the pair's return. "This was once Yellow Diamond's bubbling chamber before Era 3, and I've heavily repurposed it to suit my vigilante needs."

"Lars, you're back!" Rhodonite cried, and the Off-Colors all gave Lars a big hug as soon as he reached the top of the steps.

"Lars is coming back!" Padparadscha cheered.

"So, what's the situation like out there?" the right Rutile asked Lars as he took a seat at a workbench covered with gadgets either being built or fixed.

"It's worse than what Hessonite led us to believe." Lars muttered. "Black Rutile has brainwashed so many Gems into thinking Steven is the bad guy by using that Zircon's presidential campaign as a mouthpiece for her beliefs. And remember Morganite? She's one of her supporters."

"Are you serious?!" Rhodonite exclaimed in shock, since the last time she met her former superior, Morganite seemed so ambivalent towards Era 3. "I could never forgive her for how she treated us, but this is just going too far!"

"My thoughts exactly." Lars agreed. "Morganite gave a big speech about how the Crystal Gems are even more oppressive than the Diamonds were, but I took to the stage to argue against her claims. And then came a message from Black Rutile."

"What was she like?" Fluorite asked the undead human.

"She seemed so condescending, yet utterly monstrous at the same time." Lars answered. "When Black Rutile ended her message, all the Gems at the auditorium started chanting about their support for her. It's almost like those fascist regimes I read about."

"Holy revolution Lars!" Squaridot cried out. "We must warn someone, pronto!"

As Lars continued discussing the events at Igneous Square, Hessonite sat down at her massive computer and began putting down her findings on the screen before calling up Blue Zircon. "Zircon, this is Hessonite."

"Hessonite, glad to hear from you." Blue Zircon greeted the Garnet. "How's your investigation of my opponent going?"

"I had a little help exposing her." Hessonite stated, turning her screen to focus on Lars a bit. "This human and his Off-Color friends were at Spaceport Epsilon when their vessel, the Sun Incinerator, was hijacked by its former owner Emerald. Now I've enlisted them in helping me stop Black Rutile, and even had Lars accompany me to Igneous Square where Morganite made a speech at Yellow Zircon's conference."

"What were you two able to gather?" Blue Zircon asked.

"She turned out to be merely a puppet for Black Rutile's syndicate through the installation of a navel-Gem Ruby as her campaign manager." Hessonite continued with her findings before another message came through. "One second, have to take this." She tapped on the new message, which came out as a series of symbols that seemed unrecognizable to Lars when he took his place by Hessonite's side.

"What is that?" Lars asked, gazing at what he believed to be gibberish.

"It's Gem Glyph, the language of our people. Allow me to translate." Hessonite answered. "FROM GEORGE. SOS, PYROPE, AND DEMANTOID ESCAPED. BLACK RUTILE AND OTHER GEMS BROKE THEM OUT OF PALACE OF LIGHT. PLEASE SEND-, and then it just stops. Like the writer was captured before they could finish."

"Uh, one question." Lars said. "Who's George, and who are those Gems he's talking about?"

"George is what your friend Steven calls one of the Light Prisms that formerly belonged to yours truly." Hessonite answered as she stood up from her chair. "And Pyrope and Demantoid are a pair of high-ranking Garnets much like I who owned two other Light Prisms, before Steven confiscated them and we defeated the pair. It seems Black Rutile has recruited them into her alliance." Then she turned to Blue Zircon. "Zircon, send a warning to Steven!"

"I'm sorry Hessonite, but it seems my communication line to Earth has been compromised!" Blue Zircon exclaimed nervously. "How can we possibly warn the Crystal Gems now?!"

"Simple," Lars answered courageously. "we go back to Earth."

"You all can go ahead, I'll hunt down Ruby and Morganite." Citrine announced.

"Right, good luck out there big guy." Lars agreed before Citrine hugged him. "And thanks for the hug, but can you let me go?"

--

Later, Lars and the team returned to the spaceport where the Sun Incinerator was once in to search for another ship. "Where do we find a ship now?" Squaridot asked hurriedly.

"Simple, we take mine." Hessonite answered as she pointed to her warship, a large, orange inverted pyramid that stood tall and proud over all the others. At least, until it was destroyed by a saw blade made of water that instantly cut the ship in half.

"Oops, sorry about your ship!" Lapis 1J9G called from above with a laugh. "But seriously, I'm being forced to do this because my boss loves to make everything super-complex."

"Now what do we do?" Rhodonite asked nervously while the terraformer flew off.

"Easy, we take another ship." Hessonite instantly formed another plan and dashed to a different vessel parked nearby.

It was a green spaceship that was in the shape of a massive octahedron and had four long, claw-like prongs extending from all four sides. Lars instantly recognized this other ship as the Destiny Destroyer, the one that Emerald used to chase him and the Off-Colors after they stole the Sun Incinerator.

"So, taking another one of Emerald's ships, huh?" Lars wondered. "Ah, just like the old days when Emerald was after our heads, eh gang?"

"We are going to steal the Destiny Destroyer!" Padparadscha answered while everyone boarded Emerald's warship, all except Citrine, who had already volunteered to remain on Homeworld.

"Stay safe there Citrine." Lars promised Citrine before he went inside to pilot the ship out of Homeworld.

"Godspeed Lars of the Stars." Citrine replied as the Destiny Destroyer finally took off and left the planet. "There goes one of the bravest creatures I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"Where is he?!" Citrine heard Holly Blue scream as she, Morganite, Navy, and a squad of Gem guards stormed Spaceport Epsilon in search of Lars. "You, Citrine, where is Lars?!"

"Lars isn't here right now." Citrine answered sardonically as she summoned her weapon from the gem on her stomach, a massive war hammer. "But if you'd like, I'll tell them you said hi and you give up."

"Well, it seems you finally caught us." Morganite announced as she put up her hands. "Go ahead, cuff us all."

"Quit acting so defeatist, our old ways are on the line here!" Holly Blue yelled before summoning her whip. "Now, any last words before I execute you for defying our master?!"

With an uncomfortable twitch in her eye, Citrine dropped her hammer and spread out her arms. "Go ahead." She snarled. "Bring it on."

--

"You really believed you can try to stop us little Prism?" Pyrope cooed mockingly to the three captive Light Prisms on Black Rutile's dropship. "Once we get rid of Steven once and for all, we'll use you three to raze everything he loves to the ground, and you'll be utterly powerless to stop us."

While the other two Light Prisms hugged each other in fear, George bravely took a stand against the Garnet, and yelled some form of retort in Gem Glyph.

"Oh keep quiet you." Pyrope shut George down immediately before turning away from the Prisms to meet Demantoid, who had now received perfect replicas of her former limb enhancers. "And how are you doing Demantoid?"

"Splendidly!" Demantoid exclaimed. "I feel like we've never met Steven to begin with!"

"Yes, you can compliment me for recreating your limb enhancers later." Black Rutile said to Demantoid. "Right now, I've set a course for one of your old colonies because I require your Peridots and Bismuths for a special task."

"What kind of task?" Demantoid asked while the dropship settled down on a planet covered with green hi-tech structures.

"You shall see." Black Rutile said as she, Demantoid, Pyrope, White Topaz, Eyeball, and Aquamarine disembarked to greet some Peridots and Bismuths nearby. "Salutations worker Gems!" she energetically greeted them. "Have I got an offer you certainly can't refuse."

"Demantoid?" one of the Peridots gasped at the sight of her former superior. "But we were told the Crystal Gems stopped you!"

"Well, you were wrong." Demantoid stated. "Black Rutile here has broken me and Pyrope out, and now we've joined her for revenge!"

"We have come to this little planet because we want you." Aquamarine announced. "We need more soldiers for our army, and you have the perfect amount of brains & brawn for the job."

"Fat chance you uppercrusts!" One of the Bismuths yelled as she stepped forward. "Steven would never allow you to control anyone in this era!"

"That's because this era will soon be over!" Black Rutile argued with the Bismuth. "Once I am in power, I will be the sole ruler of all Gemkind! You really think this is any way to talk back to your future empress?!"

"Oh, they will find out about this." The Bismuth said, quietly angering Black Rutile. "And they will stop you no matter what."

Black Rutile was utterly enraged at this kind of rebellion, but she kept a cool head even as she pulled a bowie knife from her gem and held it at the Bismuth's gem. Then suddenly, as if a completely different Gem replaced her, Black Rutile abruptly stabbed that Bismuth in the gem on her chest, and slowly scraped it down her gem while the Bismuth screeched in pain. When Black Rutile removed her knife, the Bismuth's form split in half just like her gem before she was finally shattered.

"Get rid of her remains." Black Rutile ruthlessly commanded to the frightened masses. As another Bismuth picked up her coworker's remains, Black Rutile turned to the other worker Gems. "Now let me repeat myself. I have an offer you most certainly can't refuse!" she said to the Peridots and Bismuth with cheer like she didn't just sadistically shatter another Gem. "Are you with me?"

"We're with you." Demantoid's terrified subordinates muttered.

"I can't hear you." Black Rutile insisted.

"We're with you!" the scared Gems repeated much louder than before.

"Peridots?" Black Rutile then asked the Peridots.

"We're with you!"

"Bismuths?" Black Rutile asked the surviving Bismuths.

"We're with you."

"And what about you?" Black Rutile said to the Bismuth she just shattered with her knife. "Oh right, shattered!" Then she started giving out orders. "Topaz, I need you with me to find more recruits. Aquamarine, Ruby, keep watch over our new recruits." She once again turned back to the Peridots. "And I got a few questions for you."

"What do you mean Rutile?" one of the Peridots with her gem on her chest asked.

"First off, can you call me "my Rutile" from here on out?" Black Rutile commanded. "Second, what's a Gem gotta do to find some corrupted Gems in this era? And three," She reached for her gem and pulled out a massive bubble containing various chunks of Cactus Steven. "what can you do with these?"

--

At long last, Lars, the Off-Colors, Hessonite, and Squaridot had left Homeworld via the Destiny Destroyer, ready to jump to hyperspeed, return to Earth and warn Steven of Black Rutile's plans.

"Ugh, I'm pooped!" Lars groaned as he slumped back in the captain's chair. "Think when we get to Earth, I'll go back to my old house and take a nice long nap before we save the planet and then head back into space."

"It would be nice to see Earth again, without threatening its existence though." Hessonite smirked, gazing out at the infinite sea of stars, planets, comets, and all sorts of cosmic scenery. "How about any of you?"

"Uh captains, we have a problem!" Rhodonite yelped as she stared at the radar screen. "It's the Sun Incinerator, and it's shooting right at us!"

"Emerald!" Lars grumbled as he pounded his fist on the armrest. "Come out and fight like the so-called commander you call yourself!"

A viewing screen turned on, allowing the team to see Emerald, sadistically excited to finally get her revenge. "How are you Off-Colors, now that you're on your way to destruction?"

"You won't take us down Emerald!" Lars bravely declared.

"Famous last words human filth." Emerald responded hatefully. "I've been begging, no, pleading to get my vengeance only for Steven to heartlessly take it away from me with his dumb little Era 3! Well, once Black Rutile is in power, she will render all of this era's laws null and void in favor of returning the Gems to the terrifying conquerors they were born to be!"

"Fat chance One-Eyed Jerk!" Squaridot cried out before she suddenly realized the hypocrisy of her retort.

"Engines to hyperspeed, quick!" Lars commanded his crew.

"Already on it Lars." Fluorite announced as she retreated to the engine room.

"We are under attack by Emerald, but we shall win!" Padparadscha declared eagerly.

The Destiny Destroyer's thrusters burned brightly as the ship prepared to leave the space above Homeworld and make a break for Earth, leaving the Sun Incinerator in the dust.

"Oh no, you don't!" Emerald yelled, forcing her ship to go into hyperspeed as well in hot pursuit.

--

The chase soon began in hyperspace, with Emerald continuing to pursue her purloined Destiny Destroyer while Lars and his crew were set on their path to Earth.

"Keep firing!" Emerald yelled, commanding her subordinates to fire her ship's blasters.

"Do a barrel roll!" Lars yelled in response.

"I'm sorry, a what now?" the Rutiles wondered in unison.

"You know, like in the video games!" Lars added. The Rutiles quickly caught onto this and began spinning the ship in a perfect circle.

"Actually, I don't believe that qualified as a barrel roll." Hessonite snidely corrected. "It seemed to me more like a-"

"Can't let you do that Hessonite!" Lars interrupted the orange Gem in a thick accent.

"Do what?" Hessonite replied.

"Ruin the joke." Lars answered. "Turn this around and start firing!"

With that, the Destiny Destroyer was flipped around to face the Sun Incinerator and began firing from its prongs.

The Sun Incinerator began to sustain heavy damage, much to Emerald's fury, and she gave another command to her subordinates. "RAIN FIRE!"

"But my Emerald, your Destroyer!" one of the Citrines serving as a part of Emerald's crew replied fearfully.

"JUST DO IT!" Emerald roared. The Citrines did as they were told and fired the Incinerator's blasters at the Destroyer, now causing the enemy ship to start falling apart as well.

"She's falling apart!" Lars cried as alarms sounded, signaling that the Destiny Destroyer didn't have much time left. "How much longer till we leave hyperspace?!"

"We've just arrived at our destination!" Squaridot yelled when the Destiny Destroyer finally left hyperspace and now hovered close to the planet Earth. "And good timing too, this ship is gonna fall apart!"

With not much time left till the Destiny Destroyer's destiny is to be destroyed, Lars thought up a plan right on the spot. "Everyone in my hair!"

"Come again?" Hessonite asked, one half of her monobrow raised.

"My hair's like a portal, and on the other end there's a lion Steven owns who's been brought back to life with powers like mine!" Lars explained. "But I think we're all gonna have to get in one at a time, so fusions are out of the picture!"

"You got it." Fluorite replied as she de-fused into Titanite, Lavender Jade, Iolite, Rubellite, Indicolite, and Verdelite, who all dove into Lars's hair.

"Don't forget us!" Rhodonite said as she de-fused into her Ruby and Pearl, who got into Lars's hair next.

"I wonder how this even works." Squaridot wondered just as Hessonite grabbed her and shoved her into the hairy portal. "Hey, quit it!"

"Lars has made an unorthodox plan to escape Emerald!" Padparadscha yelled while Hessonite grabbed her under her arm and dove in after Squaridot.

"What about you Lars?" the left Rutile asked, sticking her hand in Lars's hair.

"I'll cover things from here, just find Steven on the other end if he's nearby!" Lars ordered.

"Okay, be safe." The right Rutile said before both twins fully dove into the portal, leaving Lars as the only one onboard the Destiny Destroyer as he slowly stepped forward. Just then, Emerald showed up on the viewscreen.

"Any last words before I finally destroy you, Lars?" Emerald grinned maliciously.

"Yes, yes I do." Lars declared, glancing at a big red button that really stuck out from the rest of the green ship, and then looking back at Emerald with a smirk. "Hope you don't mind losing another ship!"

And so, Lars punched the button, causing the alarms to sound. "WARNING, SELF DESTRUCT SYSTEM ACTIVATED!" an automated voice declared. "PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND PROCEED TO THE ESCAPE PODS!"

"No, what are you doing?!" Emerald shrieked in terror at what was in store for her beloved ship.

"Saving the universe, that's what!" Lars declared before he shut his eyes and dropped to his knees. "Sadie, Shep, Mom and Dad, Steven, everyone." He whispered to himself. "I'm sorry."

With that, the Destiny Destroyer finally detonated, and its remains began careening towards Earth's surface. As Emerald watched from her prized Incinerator, she went ballistic. "NOOOOOO! YOU MAY HAVE OUTSMARTED ME AGAIN LARS, BUT I STILL HAVE THE SUN INCINERATOR!" she screamed angrily while her Citrines stared awkwardly at her. "Mourn with me!"

"Emerald!" Black Rutile yelled as her hologram appeared behind her green subordinate, giving her a scare. "I've been watching the entire battle. You almost had Lars right there, but then he had to press the self-destruct button!"

"I apologize my Rutile, please forgive me!" Emerald bowed for her black-colored master.

"Eh, you win some, you lose some." Black Rutile rolled her eyes. "Head to my current location at once. It's finally time."

"Yes, master." Emerald nodded in compliance as the hologram disappeared. "At long last, vengeance will be mine."

--

After the Destiny Destroyer began falling to Earth, everything else was but a blur to Lars. All he could remember were all his friends from Beach City gathering around the wreckage before being taken away somewhere.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he could barely make out four people standing by him in a hospital bed.

"Astounding, his heart rate has slowed dramatically, but he is still alive!" the muffled voice of a doctor exclaimed in astonishment. "Also, is the pink skin something he had all his life?"

"No doctor, it's been a thing for almost three years now." Lars's mother Martha answered. "I think it all started when he was abducted by aliens."

"S-Steven. Steven." Lars groaned lethargically as he fruitlessly reached out his hands for Steven. "Steven!"

"Doc, I think he's coming to!" Sadie yelled.

"Lars!" Dante Barriga exclaimed as he and his wife raced to their son's side. "Please, give us a sign that you're all right!"

"Steven, need Steven!" Lars cried out as he tried to get up out of bed.

"Mr. Barriga, please remain in your bed!" the doctor advised Lars. "You thankfully suffered no serious injuries, but you've just woken up from a coma sustained from that crash!"

"No, I think he's trying to tell us something!" Shep stated as they kept Lars stuck in his hospital bed. "You want to see Steven, right?"

"I need Steven, he in big trouble!" Lars replied, slowly beginning to regain some grasp of his words just as a nurse came in.

"Doctor Laurie, our patient has one more visitor." The nurse told the doctor. "He said a bunch of "Off-Colors" told him everything."

"I'm here Lars!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed into the hospital room to be by Lars's side. "Hessonite and the Off-Colors told me what happened when they came flying out of Lion's mane!"

"Steven, finally!" Lars cried happily as he grabbed Steven's shoulders. "Listen, I need to warn you! You and the entire planet are doomed!"

--

Meanwhile, as men in black suits began cleaning up the Destiny Destroyer's remains and taking them away for further inspection, the Sun Incinerator zoomed past Beach City, now with Black Rutile, White Topaz, Aquamarine, Eyeball, Lapis 1J9G, Demantoid & Pyrope, some Peridots and an army of cybernetically-enhanced Cactus Stevens on board.

"My Rutile, I've got bad news!" Eyeball exclaimed as she got reports back from Homeworld. "It's about our forces back on Homeworld. Holly Blue and Morganite have successfully been detained by a Citrine in league with Hessonite."

"Is that so?" Black Rutile wondered while she sat in a meditative pose, examining all the data she had collected on Steven and the Crystal Gems. "Well, they weren't going to be useful to me until further notice anyway." She got back to looking at all her data and began deleting what she found to be useless. Most of them involved Ronaldo. "Seriously, why do they keep hanging out with this human if he's such an irritating rat?!"

"My Rutile, we are en route to the Alpha Kindergarten and Facet Five." One of the Peridots announced. "There, you will find the Cluster Gems you seek."

"Excellent." Black Rutile replied, steepling her fingers together before she stood up. "My friends, our finest hour will soon be upon us. Once we have enough fodder to terminate the Crystal Gems, our next stop will be returning to Homeworld, where we shall overthrow the Diamonds and take their empire for ourselves."

"Yeah!" Aquamarine, Eyeball, Emerald, Demantoid, and Pyrope cheered. White Topaz was very unsure of herself while 1J9G just rolled her eyes irritatedly.

"We're here." Black Rutile added as the Incinerator finally touched down in the Alpha Kindergarten, and she disembarked from the ship. "Ah, reminds me of the Zeta Kindergarten where I first emerged. So many memories of far happier times. Now tell me, where is the control room?"

"It should be nearby." A Peridot announced as she used a GPS on her screens to guide the rebellious Gems through the Kindergarten until they discovered a green elevator pad that led them straight down to a large, green hexagonal room. "We have arrived."

"Finally." Black Rutile muttered as she looked around at the tube-like structures littered about the control room. Poking one of them with her bowie knife, the tube began to shake a bit before it began growing into a strange Gem monster with multiple limbs that had a gemstone made from the shattered remains of other Gems. "It's alive! Alive!" she gasped excitedly. "Everyone, wake them all up!"

"Uh, are you sure boss?" White Topaz stuttered, insanely unnerved at the creepy atmosphere of the control room. "I think I'll just wait back at the ship with those cactus things."

"You are not leaving us, you coward." Aquamarine barked, holding White Topaz back with her newly reclaimed wand. "You will assist us in awakening these experiments so we can use them against Steven! Are we clear?!"

"Yes ma'am." White Topaz replied meekly and got to work on awakening the other Cluster Gems.

"Hey, I'm just as scared as you are Topaz." 1J9G said to White Topaz. "I'm only here so I can get back at Steven for taking my friends away, so I'm not that interested in the boss's psycho vendetta either."

Soon, more and more Cluster Gems began to awaken from their slumber, feebly grasping at their captors while their gems projected other Gems in pain. And Black Rutile was utterly excited to see them all.

"Yes, yes!" Black Rutile cheered, her cries of joy echoing throughout the control room. "THEY'RE ALL ALIVE!"

--

And so it begins. This was quite probably the longest chapter of Alternate Future I've written yet, and I'm definitely quite proud of it. Was Black Rutile to your liking folks? Was she evil enough yet still had some form of a point? Well, I hope you're excited to see more of her as she takes center stage in the final chapter of Part 2, Enemy of my Enemy! After that, I'll be going on another hiatus. But when we meet again for Part 3, I've got tons more where that came from!