#but maybe they’ll make a resurgence

[echidnana]

sigh. need to visit the innerworld soon

[i-am-minty-fresh]

The resurgence of gravity falls and the re-evaluation of Ford and Stan’s relationship makes me feel entitled to give my two thoughts (as number 1 Ford since I originally watched the show).

Hating Ford doesn’t mean devaluing the experience that he went through as a kid and through adulthood, it just means he was an asshole the whole time. Ford was always self-centered, his world view was his alone…but Stan wasn’t the same. Stan couldn’t think about the world that way because he just loved his brother so much he couldn’t imagine not being a package deal. Stan knew that he couldn’t do everything alone, and he never wanted to. He wanted to go through the world with his other-half, solving mysteries, sailing the sea, because the world could hate them all they want but it won’t matter because they’ll always have each other….right?

Ford needed acceptance and Stan wasn’t enough. He needed to world to acknowledge his greatness, he needed his dad to acknowledge his greatness, he needed to be loved and respected and understood….and he wasn’t gonna get that with Stan.

Nothing great comes from Stan. Fords greatness has nothing to do with Stan. Ford could make it on his own, carve a path for himself, and reach new unheard of heights…

And he always has a fall-back plan in case it doesn’t work.

Stan didn’t have a fall back plan. Since Ford had a different plan, Stan would have to improvise one as well. Carve his own gankier path, one that doesn’t end in greatness or glory or acceptance…one that ends with food on the table. And he did just that. He lived, because that was always the bar for him. He made due. He was surviving but he still always loved his brother. Wishing him well, hoping he succeeds even if it’s without him….

Then he gets a post card. Then he gets instructions. Ford had thought their relationship was inherent, not something he had to properly foster and maintain but rather something to fall back on. Besides, what’s Stan doing anyway? Probably nothing important, he’s never done anything half as important as what I’m doing. For once in your life, Stanley do something useful!

No.

I will not be your fall-back. I will not sit on your stoop like a dog waiting for orders. No i don’t care that you made a world ending mistake because the last time I made a mistake you never let it go.

What the hell, let the world burn. Maybe it’ll finally teach you that no matter how smart you are, no matter how better than me you are, no matter your gizmos and gadgets…

Me and you are gonna die all the same.

I never stopped loving you, wishing you well. I wonder if all of this was worth it, because I’m not gonna clean up your mess.

[hellomynameisbisexual]

Compulsory Heterosexuality

You might’ve heard the term “comphet” on socials lately. It’s the cute, shortened term for Compulsory Heterosexuality. What is Compulsory Heterosexuality? Adrienne Rich wrote about the concept in her essay “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” published in 1980. In the essay, Rich argued that heterosexuality is not natural, but instead an institution imposed on women to keep them subordinate and subservient to men in society. Comphet basically assumes that heterosexuality is the default sexual orientation of all people. Rich wrote this essay as a way of challenging the erasure of lesbianism from scholarly and feminist literature, and it’s now making a major resurgence in LGBTQ+ discourse (THANK YOU!).

More and more Queer people are realizing that comphet is actually hella applicable to their sexuality and situation. Many of us didn’t grow up with queer representation in the media, and only straight relationships were encouraged and promoted around us. Dolls were for girls, and toy trucks were for boys. “That’s just the way it is,” still echoes in our brains. Nothing was telling us that it was ok to be queer and nothing gave us permission to act on what we felt inside of us.

A narrative has been constructed in pop culture about bisexuality where it has been looked at as a joke, a “stop on the way to gay-town,” or simply a fake term used for people who can’t make up their minds. All of this also plays into the idea of comphet. Bisexual people are told that their attractions aren’t real, so many of us default to identifying as straight, then end up eventually (hopefully) coming to terms with our sexuality a bit later in life.

Bi-Imposter Syndrome

A lot of bisexuals face an internal battle because of our attraction to different genders. It’s like we have Imposter Syndrome, but the bi kind. This is when we doubt ourselves, doubt our attractions, and feel influenced by the messages we hear about bisexuality that are out in the world. When we hear negative messaging about bisexuality, it can really impact how we view ourselves! Even if it’s just a joke or an innocent stereotype (like cuffing our jeans). We can still feel like if we don’t do certain things, or act a certain way, that we aren’t actually bi.

Having a lack of representation can also make us doubt ourselves and lose trust in what our gut is saying. The media we consume, and the narratives within that content, can impact how we come to accept our sexuality — particularly when the bisexual identity is a joke or “not real.” It’s like being gaslighted by the media. We’re told that we’re just at the pitstop before we “become gay,” or we’re just “acting bi” to be shocking. Ugh.

Coming Out

Bisexuals don’t always come out. Sometimes it feels like we’re living a life shrouded in mystery. Bisexuals (particularly bisexual men) don’t come out to their family or partners because they fear they’ll be ostracized by their loved ones. If this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone!

A lot of bisexuals in straight-passing relationships are hesitant to come out. (Hiiii!) There can be a sense that you’re not “bi-enough” that can harbour hesitation about coming out because you’ve never had a partner, or experience, with someone of your gender. Maybe you’ve been with your partner of the opposite gender for years and don’t want to come out to avoid questions or criticism. That’s totally fair! You do what’s best for YOU!

If you do decide to come out, there are so many ways that you can choose to do it. It can feel like a weight off of your shoulders, but it can also feel like you’re intruding into a space that’s not totally welcoming to your sexuality.

Biphobia

Biphobia is the belief that bisexuality is lesser than, or not-as-real as, other sexualities. People can view bisexuality as unnatural, a choice, and something to be ashamed of or looked down upon. It’s often not taken as seriously as other sexuality-based phobias, but biphobia can be just as impactful as homophobia, transphobia, or any other form of discrimination against someone in the LGBTQ+ community.

Studies have shown that bisexual people don’t come out to the people in their lives as much as lesbian and gay people do. We can hold a lot of confusion about our identity and sexuality, and there can be a lot of negative messaging around bisexuality that leads to the development of mental health struggles like anxiety, depression, and more.

Internalized Biphobia

Ok, so we talked about feeling bi-imposter syndrome. But now we’re going to talk about something that many of us don’t want to confront — internalized bi-phobia. Yes, you can be biased and phobic against yourself…and it feels awful. Like we said, as bisexuals we tend to question our sexuality more than our queer counterparts.

This is particularly prevalent in men. Men don’t have a lot of bi-representation, so many are left battling their sexuality from a perspective of legitimacy and acceptance. Are they bi? Are they gay? It seems to be more culturally acceptable for women to be bisexual, so men are sometimes left wondering if it’s even possible for them to be bi. We’re here to tell you — it is absolutely possible! It’s also possible for a trans person who defies the gender binary to be bisexual. It’s all about connecting with a label that feels right for you!

Often as bisexual people are discovering their sexuality, there’s a growing confusion about the emotions and attractions they feel. This can lead to self-esteem issues, self-hatred and other mental health issues. And these issues aren’t helped when the messaging from your family and friends isn’t supportive and loving.

From Friends and Family

Many bisexual people choose to keep their sexuality under wraps and never reallyyyy come out. You might tell some trusted people in your life, but many bisexuals aren’t known for making an announcement or a coming-out post on the ‘gram. This is because we don’t feel like facing any criticism, scepticism, or backlash from our closest friends and family.

Family and friends often overlook the attraction to people of the same gender and see bisexuality as a curiosity or a choice. Some people experience their family and friends avoiding the topic of their sexuality, or asking about relationships only with people of the opposite gender.

We just wish that our parents would support us and that our friends would accept us with no questions asked. When that doesn’t happen, it stings, it hurts — and holy crap does it suuuuck! But we see you and we’ll always be here for you! No coming out post needed!

In the LGBTQ Community

Bisexual people search for a welcome space in the queer community but are sometimes met with hostility. Bisexual men are assumed to not be ready to claim the title of being gay, and bi women are looked at as “just experimenting.” But both men and women are shamed for being in straight-passing relationships. Even though we’re part of the acronym, many bi people still feel like they’re the invisible “B” in the LGBTQ+ community.

A study in 2016 found that biphobia persists in all communities. Research has found that bisexual people are marginalized by both heterosexual people and those in the LGBTQ+ community. Oof! Some Queer people see a bi-person in a straight-passing relationship as less queer, and less legitimate, than if they were in a relationship with someone of the same sex.

The Need for BiCons (Bi-Icons) in Pop Culture

There are many stereotypes about bisexual people that are perpetuated by society. We can be seen as sexually promiscuous, rebels against lesbian and gay communities, and attention-seeking dramatics. And bisexuals are often criticized (and then fetishized) by straight men who see bisexual women as an opportunity for a threesome — as though a woman’s bisexuality is actually a way to play into the male gaze.

Bisexual men are judged by society because they are seen as only just beginning their journey to homosexuality. The male bi-identity is so overlooked, forgotten and looked down upon because of the toxic masculinity that is so prevalent in all aspects of our culture. Unfortunately, so many prominent male bisexuals have been categorized as gay — like Freddie Mercury. So, bisexual men don’t have many role models in pop culture to look up to for encouragement and direction.

The internal struggle of bisexual people could be made so much easierrrrr if pop culture and media would portray bisexuality in positive and complex ways.

Bisexuality Affirmation

If you’re struggling to accept your bisexuality, you’re not alone. Like we said, so many bisexual people struggle to accept their sexuality because of confusion, cultural messaging, internalized biphobia, and biphobia from other communities.

Accepting Your Bisexuality

If you’re still questioning then think about this…straight people don’t spend all of their time wondering if they’re straight. They don’t worry about how their relationships are perceived. So if you’re worrying about if you’re bi enough, let us be the first to tell you that YOU ARE. You’re 100% bi-enough. 100% queer enough. And you’re worthy of accepting yourself regardless of your dating history, or what anyone else might tell you.

You are worthy of owning the bisexual label if that’s what feels right to you. Bisexuality doesn’t have to mean that you’re only attracted to two genders either. You can be bi and still attracted to everyone within, and beyond, the gender spectrum. And, bisexuality is not limited to just men or women…you can be agender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, gender fluid, or any other gender expression! If the label of bisexual feels right, then that’s what matters most of all.

It can be hard to start owning and accepting your bisexuality. Saying it out loud for the first time can be a bit scary! (And if saying it out loud 10 more times is still a little scary, that’s ok too.) So take it slow at first. Only do what’s comfortable for you at this point in time.

Connecting With Others

If you want to go a step further, reach out and talk to other people in the queer community that might be open to acting as a guide as you start down the path of acceptance. And follow other bisexual people on social media! The more bisexuals you follow, the more you’ll realize that our stories are all very similar in nature. Reading their stories and seeing their journeys can help you come to accept your own.

If you want to start connecting with other queer people, check out Taimi! Taimi is the world’s largest online LGBTQ+ platform (with over 10 million users — and millions identifying as bisexual+ spectrum), featuring a social network, dating app and streaming all wrapped in one! It’s a safe and secure space to look for long-term romance, make friends, network, or just talk to someone for fun! The best part is that they’re open to everyone regardless of where they identify on the gender and sexuality spectrum. Plus, they post blog articles like this Drag Race review, this list of binge-worthy LGBTQ+ TV shows and this Dark Side of Valentine’s Day post. Taimi’s goal is to create an LGBTQ+ community where diversity, inclusion and love are the core values. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to be part of that?!

Learning More

There are also a number of books that you can begin reading to help you learn more about bisexuality and what it might look like for you! Here are some of our favourites:

– Bi America: Myths, Truths, And Struggles Of An Invisible Community by William Burleson

– The Bisexual’s Guide to the Universe: Quips, Tips, And Lists for Those Who Go Both Ways by Nicole Kristal and Mike Szymanski

– Bi Lives: Bisexual Women Tell Their Stories by Kata Orndorff

– Bi Men Coming Out Every Which Way edited by Pete Chvnay and Ron Jackson Suresha

– Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaahumanu

Representation

Bisexual representation is becoming more and more prevalent. Apps like TikTok have bisexual content that’s basically guaranteed to land on the fyp of a questioning bi. For years, the media and entertainment industry has gotten the portrayal of bisexual people reallyyyy wrong. But it seems to be changing for the better!

It’s important to see ourselves in the characters we see on TV, read about in novels, and hear about in songs. It reminds us (and everyone else) that we’re normal! We exist! It gives us hope and encouragement that one day, we won’t have to defend our sexuality to anyone and that we can work towards acceptance.

We hope that this article was helpful! We know how difficult it can be to fully accept and love your bi-identity.

Your sexuality is valid.

You are worthy.

You’re deserving of love.

[blueikeproductions]

The Transformers comics are coming back this fall in the newly christened “Energon Universe”… not to be confused with the Transformers Energon segment of the Unicron Trilogy. This new Energon Universe comes courtesy of Image Comic’s Skybound imprint, and shares the universe with GI Joe and new, surprisingly owned by Hasbro, IP called “Void Rivals”. Aside from Void Rivals, which so far features a factionless Jetfire cameo, the TFs and Joe comics are, so far at least, self contained stories, with no need to pick up the other if you don’t want to. I suspect this will eventually change though, with the upcoming Autobot, Maximal and GI Joe team up sequel movie underway.

As suspected before, the new Transformers comics are a back to basics approach where the Autobots and Decepticons awaken on Earth and resume their war. The use of the Decepticons as proper antagonists again is a great start, given their awkwardly implemented roles in IDW2, Cyberverse, their largely downplayed role in EarthSpark so far, and their semi curious absence in Rise of the Beasts in favor of the Terrorcons. Megatron is similarly poised to be in his more traditional role as the evil leader, whether or not he becomes the “Autobot” version later on remains to be seen, but I kinda hope not. It was an interesting take in IDW, but after Cyberverse botched it, and EarthSpark trying it again in a kid friendly way, I’m kinda ready to return to Megatron’s bombastic, revels in being bad personality we haven’t seen since the G1 cartoon based Devastation. Especially since Hasbro continues to be somewhat weird about making new villains or repurposing old villains to take over Megatron’s mantle anyway, might as well stick to the classics.

As for LGBT stuff, it’ll pry be in there, but maybe not in the same way IDW awkwardly implemented it. I can see something like Sunstreaker having a boyfriend or a Silverbolt/BlackArachnia dynamic with a same sex couple, and that’s the extent of it among the TFs at the moment, but I suspect for now it’ll be more like the G1 cartoon to bring in normies and then they ease in to LGBT stuff organically. I’ve heard one person offer the idea, and mind you they were somewhat unsure about Nightshade being NB when it was suggested, that rather than a Transformer be LGBT, that a human ally be that instead, and the Autobots get to learn about another unique facet of human cultures and lifestyles that, presumably in the case, differs from Cybertron. We do have this with the NB girl that’s friends with Nightshade, I forget their name, so we have a precedent for it.

And even if the Energon Universe doesn’t cover that as some would like, it’s been said Hasbro wants to make EarthSpark comics anyway, AND Skybound is apparently going to make other non Energon Universe Transformers comics! Presumably this could include new movie comics, as Beasts is doing really well as of typing, and movie tie in comics are missed. It’d be an excellent way to flesh out the RotB cast more, expand on Unicron, and tease more GI Joe stuff along future Decepticon/Predacon/Terrorcon encounters.

I’m hazarding a guess that the reason it’s called the Energon Universe is probably because, similar to the Energon cartoon, Energon itself is the defacto energy source of this universe. I semi wonder if that means the Joes’ and Cobras’ machines will also be powered by Energon also. Interestingly, rather than the pink and blue color the fuel has appeared as in the past, Void Rivals depicts it as a yellow color similar to the Energon anime. I sort of wonder if later on they’ll try to include the Micronauts and MASK, the two being created as a reaction to the Transformers in IDW. Micronauts and ROM meanwhile are having a sort of resurgence also, with the reprinted Marvel Comics omnibuses coming out later this year.

The other surprise is while Void Rivals is an original Image IP, it is apparently owned by Hasbro, making it part of the Hasbro Universe. Depending on how that goes, we could see seeing the aliens from there in future Transformers productions I wager. I assume VR being owned by Hasbro is to avoid some legal kerfluffles that prevented things like some older Marvel reprinting from happening.

Still it’ll be exciting to see what the future holds for the comics side of things going forward!

[groovesnjams]

gRººv333S,,,n,,,J▲M§ ▬|s|!|O|!| ❤︎|!|t|!|y|▬{{mmxxii}}  

..................number6 ....................of50

“Supergabber” by TORIENA

DV:

With trance resurgent and an EDM revival simmering, it seems inevitable that I’ll hear the new age x house bangers (I’m calling this ”Adiemus”-core) I really want. In the meantime, TORIENA has done better than I ever dreamed, taking some massed choirs and slamming a fucked up gabber beat into them like a mad scientist. “Supergabber” is chaos incarnate, a track that feels unpredictable and dangerous no matter how often you’ve heard it. It shouldn’t work, or rather seems like it shouldn’t work, but TORIENA melds these disparate parts into one of the year’s most propulsive and intense experiences. It’s structured vaguely like a pop song, while lacking the other key conventions of pop music (e.g. vocals, predictability.) It’s built from dance music tropes, while lacking key conventions of dance music (e.g. the ability to move to a beat without injuring yourself.) At one point there’s a sample that says “We do not seek to understand right from wrong anymore” and on one hand, who is we? But on the other it’s correct, ironically so: “Supergabber” is beyond right and wrong, beyond good and evil. TORIENA is making music for a far-flung future. When aliens need to kick back after conquering the planet, maybe they’ll be able to find sense in it. For now it just sounds intensely sensational.

MG:

On the other hand, I love “Supergabber” because it sounds like a fucked up jock jam, like TORIENA took the holy choir from Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” and the synths from 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready For This” and blended them. But not strictly in the sense of combination -- more importantly, they’re now at the speed of the blender. A siren, of course, appears early on to warn us all of assault, emergency, and to gently suggest that things will only get more intense after their already surreal beginnings. Importantly, “Supergabber” never goes anywhere. As propulsive and unleashed as it is, the song simply ricochets around in a cylinder. Maybe it’s a mosh pit, maybe it’s a rabid dog chasing its tail, but it’s never representative or indicative of progress. This is a song for being totally stuck and absorbing a brutal beating, a song that demands you take it, that extracts your submission. It’s beautiful, I cower with pleasure. 

[cardfight-casual]

Heavy Artillery of Dust Storm, Eugene post DBT-09

Budget friendly here we come. It’s my boy, Eugene. AKA maybe the worst boss card from DBT-01? But that was over two years ago. Eugene himself might not be the best by himself, but his rearguards more than make up for what he lacks. Why is this post DBT-09 instead of DBT-10? Because I haven’t decided if I’m going to add any of the newer cards yet. Needs more testing. The triggers here are a bit messy, but I’ll finally have all effect triggers eventually. They’ll be listed a bit differently from normal since I don’t want to list a bunch of one-of placeholders.

Deck Log Code: GEKN Ride Deck: -x1 Heavy Artillery of Dust Storm, Eugene -x1 Cataclysmic Bullet of Dust Storm, Randor -x1 Gunning of Dust Storm, Nigel -x1 Double Gun of Dust Storm, Bart Main Deck:     Grade 3 -x3 Heavy Artillery of Dust Storm, Eugene -x4 Hunting Gatling of Dust Storm, Firas -x3 Best Harvest (Order)     Grade 2 -x4 Twin Bullet of Dust Storm, Travis -x4 Strong Fortress Dragon, Gibrabrachio     Grade 1 -x4 Assault Bullet of Dust Storm, Oswald -x4 Strong Sharp Dragon, Geizfort -x4 Twin Buckler Dragon     Grade 0 -x3 Draw Trigger -x4 Critical Trigger -x4 Front Trigger -x4 Heal Trigger -x1 Dragon Deity King of Resurgence, Dragveda (Over Trigger) Eugene gets overlooked a lot. Since he wasn’t very good when he came out, most people tend to forget about him, and that’s probably only going to be even more true now that Gandeeva exists. But Gandeeva is expensive. And thankfully, Eugene mostly isn’t. There’s really only one card that breaks the 10USD threshhold, and that’s the over trigger. If you used base rarity for everything and stuck to vanilla triggers and Olbaria, you could put Eugene together for around 35USD as of writing this. That’s including the special perfect guards as well, so you could drop that about 12USD or so if you run one of the start deck ones. Heck, you could even get frame rares or holos for a lot of these units and it would barely change the cost at all. The main goal for Eugene is to retire rearguards. Somewhat expected for Dragon Empire. His second skill is mainly useless unless you’re in desperate need of units on the field. The main skill you’ll want to be using every turn, assuming the other player lets you, is his first skill. You rest two of your own units to retire an enemy rearguard, then he gains 10k power. That skill might have been a deal-breaker way back in DBT-01, but as early as DBT-02 he already had a card that could use that to its advantage. Gibrabrachio can stand itself and gain 5k power as long as your opponent only has one rearguard when battle starts. Even if you don’t rest it with Eugene’s skill, you can soulblast one and rest it to retire one, so it can get the re-stand and power anyway. Geizfort works similarly and is one of your preferred rest targets. Once per turn, when an enemy rearguard is retired, it can stand and gain 2k power. Since the skill that rested them in the first place retired a unit, they would stand right away and essentially be 10k boosters. The newest card I’ve added to the deck is Firas. He helps you search out Best Harvest when he’s placed, and he’s another preferred rest target. Despite being a grade 3, usually you actually want Firas in your back row. When an opponent’s rearguard is retired, as long as you soulblast one, he can stand and gain boost until end of turn.Since ideally you’re retiring something every turn, he’s consistently a 13k booster. Your final unit capable of retiring is Travis. He’s not the cheapest since he sees play in other decks as well, but he makes things so much more consistent. Once a turn when an enemy rearguard is retired, you can counterblast to soulcharge and retire another unit, then he gains 10k power. And your last grade 1 is Oswald. It’s not too often that I’ve actually gotten to a situation where I can use Oswald, but his skill is just too good not to have. Your opponent has to have no rearguards, but with all your other units working together, it’s 100% possible to clear them all out before the battle phase. As long as he’s boosting Eugene and the opponent is also on grade 3, he lets you counterblast one and discard a card to re-stand Eugene with one drive and one critical. In situations where this is possible, you want to attack with Eugene first to maximize how dangerous your front row rearguards can be. Oswald is also why you can get away with having Olbaria instead of Dragveda. Best Harvest is the only order this build runs for now. What is does is simple enough. When you play it, just choose a vanguard and give it a continuous skill that lets you draw a card whenever an opposing rearguard is retired. If their board is full and you retire everything while this is active, that’s five new cards in hand. The only excuse for not including this would be because it’s only gotten more expensive over time. As of writing this though, it’s only around 3USD, so still budget friendly. A few possible alternative choices for the deck would include: -Spiritual King of Determination, Olbaria     Technically any of the over triggers with the same skill would also work. Dragveda is not cheap, and until it gets reprinted as much as Gallmageheld has, it’s not going to be cheap. Thankfully, Eugene doesn’t care as much about which over trigger you use, they’re both effective. Sure Dragveda gives you the opportunity to re-stand the vanguard,but since Oswald is also here Olbaria giving 100mil power to two units instead of just one is also plenty effective. -Fierce Bullet of Dust Storm, Nawfal     I guess Randor needed a friend that also had a not normal name. This promo card is still a bit on the pricey side at over 3USD, but if you happen to have him and want to use him, then go for it. His main use would be recycling units you might want to call by putting them on top of deck as long as you’ve retired something that turn. Downside is he can only select cards that are normal units and not sentinels. -Howitzer of Dust Storm, Dustin     This card used to be played in this deck before the addition of Firas. You have to put a hand card into soul, but he lets you draw one and then retires a grade 2 rearguard. His second skill gives him 2k for every open rearguard circle on your opponent’s field for that battle for the cost of a soulblast. -Inscribing Bullet of Dust Storm, Baxter     This guy is weird, but the art is nice. I can’t imagine his continuous skill ever being of much use since it requires your opponent to attack it from a column other than the one he’s in. Especially since it just prevents him from being hit. His other skill is the interesting one. Baxter on his own can’t retire any units, but when a rearguard in the same column as him is retired, he gives 5k power to himself and the vanguard. If the column was previously full and you retired the whole thing, then Baxter gives himself and your vanguard 10k power just because he’s on the board.     I wouldn’t run more than two or three copies, but this is a DBT-10 card I’ve considered making space for. -Scarlet Flame Bow of Demolition     This would be in addition to Best Harvest, not a replacement. Remember how Baxter benefits from retired rearguards in the same column as him? Well this order, for the cost of a counterblast, chooses a column and retires the enemy units in it. Since this order chooses a column, instead of a unit like most of the other retire skills in the deck, this can get around units that say they can’t be chosen.    If I can find the space, this is another card from DBT-10 I’d like to test in this deck. Sadly Eugene often gets written off as a bad deck just because he wasn’t great at initial release. Thankfully for budget players, this means that most of his cards are extremely affordable, and the powerful rearguard skills more than make up for what the vanguard might lack. He might not be winning any major tournaments any time soon, but Eugene is still a really fun deck that manages to pull out a victory sometimes. Remember, these deck lists are for fun and not necessarily optimized. If you have another card that you think would make a better fit, then go for it and test it out. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send me a message!

[areallybadwriter]

11/2

ew it’s november! i feel like i should probably try to write once a month (maybe more if it’s other stuff like reviews or connection tings) but i obviously cannot stay on an organized track to save my life. 

school has been good and somewhat put on a back burner (don't blame me its my last semester!) but ive been trying to contribute more brain power to my classes and really work my ass off. we’ll see if that continues. i think in a way i am less inspired to jump into things and really saturate within my classes because im only in three and thus my brain is not busy enough for it to thrive. i really enjoy my classes, especially the one in which i watch & analyze horror films for the whole semester. which speaking of, when did ghostface become kinda hot? i realize there’s a resurgence of this attraction through tiktok (I feel embarrassed that these videos show up on my “fyp”) but we had to watch it for class the other day and i was like wait...holy shit i get it. i don't personally know why i understand, but im guessing its probably some deep seated issues from the past. get help people. grow up.

im also actually excited and passionate about my last couple of projects in relief printmaking because i think im leaning more into my style and what i like to create. maybe ill include a scan of one of my pieces at the end of this post. we get to do an experimental project for our last piece where we can literally choose anything we want if we propose it and explain why so i think that i’m picking up a ton of underwear (bras, sleepwear, panties, maybe a binder?) and printing images of weaponry on them. i like to explore a lot of gendered issues, especially women’s issues because i obviously relate to it more so i want to take the idea of weaponized genitalia literally and explore the politics and feelings behind that. i definitely want to touch on transness as well (you can't really talk about weaponized genitals and not talk about trans people) but i don't want to offend or talk about issues that i have no stake in. i might ask Ren for help and see what they think. 

Ren is my step-sibling (previously Lauren) who is exploring their gender identity and figuring out what they like, who they are. i try to offer support from where i am (about an hour and a half from home) because my parents are definitely less than understanding and don't respect what Ren is going through. last i heard, they want to start hormone therapy - they’re already using a binder and leaning towards male presentation - but my parents are unwilling. i have to admit that i was at first not fully with it too, but i think i knew myself pretty well (at least who i was) when i was their age. i don't think they’ll be able to try hormones until 18 at least, especially because their biological mother is even less behind it than my mom and step-dad. 

Wyoming and i have since jumped back into our friendship, which went on break in January after his girlfriend of the time expressed concerns about our relationship (which is fair). after they separated in august, we came into contact again and have since been very close. our relationship always puts me on edge a little because of its origins and its importance in my life but im trying to appreciate it for what it is. like it feels weird to even talk about it (out loud to people or online) because i feel as if i need to preserve it and not talking about it will do that. we’ve always known but recently we’ve admitted feelings we’ve had since we were sixteen and it feels good to make that concrete. there's a certain promise in the way we talk about things and how we feel about each other so im excited for that to happen eventually. we’re away from each other right now but after we relieve ourselves from all obligations (school, leases, work, etc.) we want to get together one way or another. i think ill go visit him next year when im graduated and make enough money to take a little trip by myself. nothing has ever been that certain with him but i feel like we owe it to ourselves to try it out before we get too old and involved in other things, other people. 

speaking of kind of, im thinking about getting a certificate in ESL (english as a second language) so that i could potentially teach English abroad for a stipend (and a work visa!). i think it would be a really great way to complete my travel wishes in a responsible manner and if i end up really loving it, i have a work visa that can better allow me to stay longer and experience everything! i would prefer a european or european adjacent city because i think it would be an easier adjustment for me (as ive only travelled to south america). my mom’s coworker also mentioned that her daughter attends grad school in germany for free and has sent me the information and it seems too good to be true but what an amazing experience that would be. i would be really terrified to go about it alone so i would welcome another person into that world easily (wyoming or ollo seem to be up for the challenge) but ultimately i will push myself and go at it alone if i have to. but either way im really, really excited. 

today after class i think im going to rid myself of a lot of old clothing and possessions to make way for a cleaner and less chaotic environment (although thats my essence in a way). recently ive been investing in more valuable and meaningful pieces of clothing (a nice way of saying ive been truly terrible with my money lately) that i think will stay in my wardrobe for a looooong time instead of the whole cycling thing. and i finally got mason soksi tights which im absolutely thrilled about. i know that i definitely need to work on my money and budgeting skills (especially with the upcoming loom of debt and student loans) but we will worry about that next time. 

the friends sector in my life is pretty swell right now surprisingly, which is very different from how it was going a couple months ago. my bestie who committed some atrocities over the summer that caused a break for a few months is still my roommate and no longer considered a threat. we have been hanging out and talking more frequently and we even got dinner together last night. we haven't brought the situation up to each other and i don't know if its needed. i have since forgotten (forgiven) most of it and don't hold any animosity towards him and there's a certain weight off my shoulders/cloud around my relationships gone after becoming besties again. i think the only thing that has truly changed is my desires for the future, as we were supposed to move to chicago together with our other roommate but i don't know what i want anymore with all of the other factors and my desires. 

until next time.

xoxo anonymous 

[jetonline]

How far does wo mic reach?

The seventh season of MasterChef Junior aired in early 2019, and it appears that the eighth season began filming shortly thereafter-photos from filming appear in several articles written in July and August of 2019. The lost Season 8 has simply never been released, and fans have to wonder if they’ll ever actually end up seeing it.Īs a fan of this series, I wanted to look a little deeper into the nature of this hold-up, and speculate on where this leaves MasterChef Junior today. And to my surprise, what I found was that not only had more MasterChef Junior been filmed, but it was filmed roughly 2.5 years ago at this point. Until recently, that is, when I began to wonder if we’d ever see any more MasterChef Junior, or if there was finally an eighth season on the way. The well depleted, I then turned my attentions elsewhere. Suffice to say, my wife and I steadily plowed through seven full seasons of MasterChef Junior before running out of new content. Oftentimes frustrating, but simultaneously joyful, any given MasterChef Junior season can take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride perfect for helping one ignore the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans for a few more minutes. MasterChef Junior maintains a particularly carefree and absurd disposition, balancing embarrassingly cheesy competitions and tomfoolery with shockingly talented 8 to 13-year-old cooks who routinely make you wonder how it’s possible for anyone to become so skilled, so fast. Watching became a nightly ritual a way to stave off the ennui of the world we were living in.Īnd then of course, there are the kids. But when forced to spend more time than ever at home, the ongoing nature and storylines of a bigger series like MasterChef became more attractive. Those are the kinds of shows you can throw on at any time, without context, and be mindlessly entertained, while maybe getting an idea for a Sunday dinner. In their place, I tended to prefer the one-and-done simplicity of the likes of Chopped, Iron Chef America, or the the sheer silliness/gimmickry of the likes of Beat Bobby Flay. Top Chef was of little interest to me ditto the original MasterChef from Gordon Ramsay. I have never really followed any of the top-of-the-line, season-long cooking competition series. But something clicked when we finally landed on FOX’s MasterChef Junior. And being a pair of food geeks, we watched a lot of random cooking competition shows. Trapped inside for long periods in a new and disturbing world, my wife and I searched for lighthearted, escapist programming like so many other Americans surely were at the same time. While I was never the biggest fan of the series while it was airing, I am looking forward to witnessing Red Forman calling an entirely new generation of kids dumbasses.Back in the early days of the pandemic, midway through 2020, in a time when it felt like surely this strange period of national despondency would be over in the space of a few months, I was on the hunt for a new TV series to binge. The original series aired for 8 seasons from 1998 to 2006 and enjoyed something of a resurgence while streaming on Netflix. Beyond the title, it had very little in common with That ’70s Show and was cancelled after just thirteen episodes. That ’90s Show isn’t the first spinoff of That ’70s Show as Fox attempted to launch That ’80s Show while the first series was still on the air. Other actors who played recurring roles in the series included Tommy Chong, Don Stark, Josh Meyers, and the late Tanya Roberts.

Those original cast members include Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, and Danny Masterson, but with Masterson set to stand trial for rape charges in Los Angeles, I can’t imagine that he’ll be asked back. “ Sex, drugs and rock ’n roll never dies, it just changes clothes.” At the moment, only Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp have signed on for That ’70s Show spinoff, but the producers are hopeful that other members of the original series will return as well. “ Hello, Wisconsin! It’s 1995 and Leia Forman, daughter of Eric and Donna, is visiting her grandparents for the summer where she bonds with a new generation of Point Place kids under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red,” reads the official description. Update: Bond Girl & That ’70s Show Tanya Roberts dies at 65 Titled That ’90s Show, the new series will see Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp reprising their roles of Red and Kitty Forman. Here’s something I didn’t see coming: Netflix has ordered ten episodes of a That ’70s Show spinoff series from original creators Bonnie and Terry Turner.

[scarslittlehat]

picture if you will a soulbound couple towards the end of the series. they’re on their red life, and battle lines have been drawn. maybe there’s a siege upon their home. maybe one of them was caught outside while the other is barricaded inside. whoever is outside is getting battered by the enemy while the other fruitlessly searches for an escape plan. they’ll both go out in a blaze of glory. their health bar ticks closer to zero. inside their base is a golden apple.

“eat it!” the one outside, who is under direct attack, says. they won’t make it out of this fight either way. this way at least one of them can go on, can avenge their home. “one of us should live!”

the one inside might hesitate. they were supposed to win together or not at all. but as pain lances through them and they grow weaker, survival instinct will take over. they bite the apple. their health resurges in gold. their soul-bond snaps. there’s yawning void in their chest, opening up as they hear their partner collapse outside.

the life they now cling to is untethered and colder than ever before.

[wanderingwomanwondering]

I keep on thinking about dialogue choices. There’s some Buddie relevant dialogue from season 4 that ties into what went down in 511. The first two lines below need no explanation. Fandom has laid out some epic analyses of those lines and I don’t have more to say about them really. But after 511 these s4 lines feel even more relevant:

“It's like the universe is screaming at you and you refuse to listen.” (Buck to Eddie 406) and “You ever think maybe you just need to be patient and let the universe come to you? I didn’t think so.” (T*ylor to Buck 408)

And then in 511 we get the following absolutely insane lines when combined with the ones above:

“If you drop below 55, it will explode.” and “What? Who is this? Cosmo?” (Erica & the Bombmaker talking in 511)

In the 511 rescue Erica thinks the bombmaker is someone named “Cosmo”. Probably a family friend. But the show could have chosen any name for that person, especially since they are only mentioned in passing. But no. They chose “Cosmo”. Well friends, “Cosmo-” (from Greek kosmos) is a prefix meaning “relating to the world or the universe”. Sound familiar? 

The bomber is demanding that the family from the call stay at the current speed or die. Buck and Eddie are on a similar breakneck path. This isn’t “Cosmo” though...it’s the bomber. Buck and Eddie’s current path - operating with the business as usual model aka the stow it and save the next one model - isn’t endorsed by the universe. The family from the rescue can’t slow down or they’ll die. Buck and Eddie are the exact opposite. They must slow down and take stock, deal with things or they will be in serious trouble. Think about Lucy’s line from 511 too - she likes “anything that moves too fast”. That daredevil, breeze past the dangers attitude that Buck had back in the day and that’s making a resurgence through Lucy is a no go. Both Buck and Eddie need to stop and look at the issues right in front of them.

The other lines that stood out from s4 are:

“You’re late.” and “There was construction on Sunset. Had to take a detour.” (Buck & Eddie 408) 

We talk about these lines a lot too. The writers were (hopefully) speaking to the viewers about slow burn Buddie in 408. It feels like they still are trying to tell us something because in 511, we get the following seemingly related lines:

“We’re headed west on the 210. We just passed Sunland.” (Sasha & Linda 511)  and “It’s called a pressure switch. Do not take your foot off the gas. Okay, everything's going to be fine. Just sit tight.” (Eddie to Sasha 511) and “Uh, yeah. problem with that plan. We don’t have a lot of freeway left.” (Buck to Eddie 511)

Ok. I’m reaching but stay with me. The sun sets in the west at the end of the day. Interestingly the big rescue takes place at night. Also, the bomber victims “just passed Sunland” and are literally running out of road. Eddie is the one who suggests that they sit tight and keep doing what they are doing, but Buck comes over the radio to say that the road is ending. They can’t keep going the way they are going. I really actually appreciate the symbolism. Both men feel they need to keep going the way they are going or everything will blow up and be out of control but they actually need to slow down and figure things out because if they don’t, that’s the real explosive threat. The sun is setting, folks! The detour road is leading back to the main travel artery. The destination has got to be in sight. *fingers crossed*

I feel like all of this means we are super effing close to some kind of initial canonization of Buddie. I have to believe that because this dialogue - spread out over three different episodes in 2 different seasons - is ridiculous if we’re not!

[sergeantsporks]

Saw a reaction video (idk why I still watch them honestly, they’re fun but kind of very annoying) in which the reactor was a bit genuinely pissed that Belos was still ”alive” and going to be hanging around. And just. You have every right to hate Belos as a person—hell, you SHOULD hate him as a person—but maybe it’s just the villain-lover in me that got annoyed in it because he’s such a fascinating character and villain, okay. And call me MatPat because I’m a sucker for his Lore—something that I would move the moon (just like the Collector get it) for more details on.

I must admit, though, I am worried as to what they’ll do with him; on the one hand, I’m glad he’s still here for the reasons stated above, and it’s nice to have this new Villain introduced whilst still making a point of holding onto the show’s rooted villain, but also. what’s Belos going to do in a way that doesn’t just make him into a joke more than he is already, and still preserves his standing AS the show’s established big bad?

I’m definitely rambling, but my point is that my worries don’t lie in the Collector being a villain—they’re VERY fun and I love him so much—I just find Belos too fascinating of a character for him to be thrown aside and ignored (not that I think they’ll do that) for this newer antagonist.

Yeah, I like that he's alive, he's survived so much, of course he wouldn't just Go Out for the Shock Factor! I think Hunter's arc with him pretty much came to his conclusion with the "No, you're lying" scene (apart from finding out more about his ortet, which he can do from Gus), BUT I think it would also be interesting if the Gang goes back to the demon realm and Hunter is about to step in after them only to get yanked back by whatever is left of Belos (maybe Jacob has teamed up with him, who knows), and the door closes, and he's left to deal with Belos in the human realm while the others stop the collector. I think it would be an interesting point, Phillip is back in the human realm, where he always wanted to be, but it's CHANGED. And his "brother" is here! After everything, even though this one betrayed him, they're still both here! But he's left with a choice: keep his brother here, with him, which is what he wanted, for the two of them to go back to the human realm, OR prove, at long last, that he IS a witch hunter, by killing this one last witch in the human realm. Hunter, obviously, just wants to help his friends, but is also dealing with a resurgence of all his worst fears coming true. He's isolated from his friends, it's him and his uncle again. No one is here to protect him, and he wasn't able to hurt his uncle back in the demon realm; will he be able to here?!

Idk, I'm not sure what that goopy little guy is up to, but it can't be good.

[soulmate-game]

Useful Part 2

fluff with a little hurt and comfort. If you want answers as to the lack of angst, look through my recent posts for an explanation. 

—* — * — * —* —* 

“Wait, you have a WHAT?” were the first words that the rest of the Gotham-based vigilantes heard when they finally were able to track down where Damian had gone. Dick looked over at Bruce, who was noticeably tense. No surprise there, the man had just found out that he had a second biological child. One who was apparently a superhero already, without his intervention, and also apparently had a tragic background in the League of fucking Assassin Assholes. Not to mention that Damian’s track record with meeting siblings wasn’t great, even if this one wasn’t actually new to him. Nobody had any real fear of Damian relapsing on his no-kill rule, they knew he had matured far too much to be at risk of killing for something as immature as sibling rivalry anymore. 

But there was still fear. Because this new Wayne was an Unknown Factor, and as a rule the Bats hated Unknown Factors. And they had no idea what the relationship between the two had been before they had been separated, or what it would become now. 

“That wasn’t Damian’s voice,” Dick helpfully pointed out the obvious. Bruce only frowned, doing his best (and failing) to hide his anxiety about what they would find. Silently, the group inched forward to the edge of the abandoned building they were on top of so that they could look over at what was happening. What they saw was a girl, presumably the same one who had been in a ladybug onesie and had fearlessly begun to ask them to leave Paris— until she had laid proper eyes on Robin and fled, that was. That girl was sitting down next to an unmasked Damian, who had his arm around her shoulders and let her lean into his side. He even smirked cheerfully at her question before continuing to speak to her. 

“A dragon-bat. I knew you’d love hearing about him, I’ll introduce you when you come visit the Batcave. His name is Goliath,” Damian admitted smugly. Despite the familiar attitude and pride behind his words though, his spying family couldn’t help but notice that he kept periodically rubbing the girl’s (they really needed to find out her name) shoulder in reassurance. None of them missed the tear tracks on both of their faces, or how red the girl’s eyes were. Clearly they had missed something big. 

But nobody wanted to try to figure that out yet. This scene was too precious, too breathtaking for them to interrupt just yet. They had never seen Damian this vulnerable around someone outside of their little circle before, someone from the Time Before Bruce, no less. Most of the time, only Nightwing was able to see this side to Damian. And usually the roles were reversed, with Damian being the one consoled. They had never seen him in the position of the comforter before. The pillar of support. 

It really cemented just how far he had come. 

So they watched silently as the girl flinched, pulling away a bit and hunching in on herself. The laugh she let out was small and overflowing with self-degradation. 

“You make it sound as if the rest of your family actually wants me to visit,” she replied sourly. Damian gently cuffed her over the head, frowning. 

“Two things,” he held up two fingers from his free hand. “One: They will. They accepted me, and I was— well, you remember how I used to be. Once they actually meet you, and process the fact that there’s another Wayne now, they will bombard you with more welcoming than you will know what to do with. Two: It’s Our family, Marinette. Not mine, ours.”

Well, at least they had a name now. But it seems like they had bigger issues now, like Marinette’s clearly damaged sense of self. Jason and Tim traded knowing glances; it wasn’t hard for them to guess where, or how, she might have been damaged enough to think so lowly of herself. 

They watched as Marinette shook her head. 

“I don’t know. It’s one thing to try to… to get to know you again. We used to be close before… everything,” she haltingly argued, voice small and frail and uncertain. But she never once looked away from Damian’s eyes, trying to convey as best as she could what she was feeling. “But they’re different. They don’t have any reason to trust or like me, Dami. And I’m bad at, well everything, but especially,” she waved her hands frantically as if indicating the whole situation they were in. “I mean, listen to me! I can barely articulate right now, and I’m talking to someone I’ve known my whole life! I’m a mess. Nobody wants a mess.” 

It was Damian’s turn to snort, and he pulled her right back into his side. “Please. If anything, that’s exactly the type of child Father goes looking for. We’re all a mess. Especially Father, trust me.” 

“You’re just trying to make me feel better,” she accused suspiciously, but sank into his sideways embrace anyway. Damian chuckled. 

“No, I’m being honest. He’s terrible at emotions, not that I really have much room to talk. We all are pretty bad with them. But he’s the most obvious when it comes to that issue,” Damian smirked over at his sister conspiratorially. “For example. He still tries to tell people that he works alone, and pushes people away because he has this intense desire to protect, but doesn’t know how to say “I don’t want you to get hurt, stop worrying me,” so instead he says “Go away, I don’t need you,” only for us to see through that nonsense and remind him that the amount of people in his team is in the double digits already. He doesn’t want to admit he cares about us and is vulnerable—”

“Sounds familiar,” Marinette teased with a watery grin, startling a short laugh from her twin. He nudged her a little roughly (but not to roughly) and playfully glared at her. Marinette just giggled.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he lied with a grin before waving his free hand in dismissal. “Anyway. Another example. He has no idea how to tell a stranger, “hey, I’m your father and I will not reject you. In fact, I’m completely willing to adopt you right this moment and whisk you away to Gotham and relative safety and hire an entire team of therapists to help you and buy you half the world if you asked for it,” so instead he and the rest of our emotionally constipated family just lurks on the edge of a building in broad daylight eavesdropping on us and expects us not to notice.” 

“Wait what,” Marinette’s gaze instantly whipped up towards the sky, taking only half a second to locate the aforementioned eavesdroppers. Everyone except Bruce at least had the courtesy to duck down and pretend not to be there when they noticed she had seen them, leaving Batman standing seemingly alone on the concrete roof. Marinette blinked once. Twice. Then turned to Damian. “I’m gonna blame the fact that I didn’t notice them on emotional turmoil, because there is no way I’ve gotten THAT rusty.” 

Damian smiled, but didn’t laugh. He knew that was a deflection to try and distract from Marinette’s quickly resurging self-consciousness. Her hands were already trembling again, and the fear from only minutes ago had resurfaced. The insecurity. He could practically see the words “I’m not good enough,” written in her irises. 

“You’ll be fine,” he whispered, standing up and pulling her with him. “If anyone has to worry here, it’s me.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Marinette whisper-hissed right back, eyes wide in disbelief and confusion. “You’re— You! Mister Perfect!” 

Damian rolled his eyes, and his self-deprecating smirk matched the laugh Marinette had given just a few minutes earlier. “For the League, maybe,” he shrugged. “Never the Wayne family. Which is why I know you’ll be fine. If they put up with everything I’ve done and still call me one of them, they’ll accept you with barely a second thought.” 

Marinette’s next argument was cut off by the sound of a dozen soft footfalls stirring up dirt not far ahead of them. The BatClan had landed from the rooftop. 

Marinette gulped. 

But if there was one thing— one thing she still remembered from her days as Marie Al-Ghul, it was how to fake pride and confidence. She straightened her shoulders automatically, lifted her chin, and pulled away from Damian’s supporting arm around her shoulder. Damian let her. 

A little bit of old resentment flared up in him as he saw Batman walk up close enough to comfortably talk with them. Resentment that he no longer held onto, but that had haunted him nearly every night of the first two years he spent with his dad. The realization that maybe his twin was the one that was meant to be a Wayne. Marie had the blue eyes, the compassion, the more specifically detective-oriented mind. The calm head. Sometimes. Marie was exactly who he imagined when he thought of a naturally born member of the BatClan. Stubborn, clever, morally just. She had risked immediate death just because she refused to fight him, for crying out loud. Because she didn’t want to hurt the boy who used to be her best friend. The only ally she had ever had, growing up. 

Meanwhile, he still had issues reigning in his anger sometimes. He had too much blood on his hands, he was more of a battlefield tactician than a long-term strategist. Still stubborn, but also completely unaware of the pain he brought others with his words or actions a lot of the time. He used to be such a rage fueled little demon, and thinking about how his sister fit the classic Wayne outline more thoroughly than he did had made him destroy more than a few practice dummies in frustration. 

But now, looking at Marinette trying so hard to appear strong and proud when he knew she was still so shattered inside, relief overpowered the old and dull resentment. This was what she needed, he could sense that easily. She, just like him all those years ago, needed Bruce and the others to start to heal her and reforge what the League had badly molded. 

“... Marinette, I suppose?” Damian nearly facepalmed at his father’s awkward attempt at a conversation starter. Marinette herself was clearly too keyed up and overthinking things to even register any amusement at the lame attempt, merely nodding with an overly serious expression on her face. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Monsieur Wayne. Or that’s my name nowadays, that is,” She stumbled a little in her response before clenching her fists and forcing herself to continue as calmly as she could muster up. “My birth name was Marie Al-Ghul.” 

Bruce’s eyebrows visibly furrowed underneath his cowl. “Was?” 

“I…” Marinette finally looked away, shame creeping back onto her face. “I was explicitly told that I was stripped of the Al-Ghul name and would be killed if I ever dared lay claim to it again. So I not-so-legally changed it. And I was later adopted.” 

Several sharp gasps or the hiss of breath through teeth bit through the quiet breeze. Nobody was necessarily surprised, Marinette could see it when she looked through her eyelashes and examined the winces and sympathy on the faces of the vigilantes before her. Batman’s shoulders were stiff, as if someone had paralyzed only his shoulder blades. 

“And the people who adopted you?” Batman pursued. Marinette couldn’t read his tone very well, but it sounded vaguely angry so she quickly raised her hands in a placating gesture and her eyes widened significantly. 

“They’ve been amazing! They don’t know anything about my past, or who raised me, but they are endlessly patient with me. I mean, honestly! Sabine caught me when I was trying to steal one of her gold bracelets in Hong Kong— and I know I’ve never been as good of a combatant as Dami, but I’ve always been better at sleight of hand and stealth so honestly that’s impressive— and she saw my dirty eight-year-old face and for some reason decided, ‘yeah I want this one as my daughter’ and roped Tom right into it and next thing I know they somehow tailed me to my hideout? I still don’t know how the hell they managed that, but Tom had a huge plate of steaming buns and I was so hungry and suddenly it’s two years later and I’m adopted and we’re on a plane to Paris—” Marinette threw up her hands. “I still don’t fully grasp what happened sometimes.” 

She belatedly seemed to realize that she had just gone on an entire breathless rant at the speed of sound, and slapped her hands over her mouth before lunging into a deep bow. “I apologize! I spoke horridly out of turn!” 

To her surprise though, she was met with a soft laugh instead of a scolding. She jerked in surprise, whipping her head up only to see Batman holding a hand over his chin to hide his large grin. It only took another second for the boys behind him to laugh a lot LESS softly. Nightwing strolled over casually and swung an arm around both her and Damian’s shoulders, playfully nudging her brother with his knee. 

“I think she fits right in, don’t you little D?” 

“Of course,” Damian scoffed, though his eyes were playful. “She is a Wayne by blood. She ‘fits in’ more than you strays.” 

“Dami!” Marinette whipped back to him and puffed out her cheeks. “That was uncalled for!” she barked. Damian held his hands up in surrender. 

“Relax,” he said as soothingly as he could manage. “They know I’m joking,” he dropped his hands and a knowing smirk took over his face. “And besides, now you’re relaxed so my plan worked,” Marinette could only blink at that. She… did feel more relaxed, actually. “Also. I told you you’d be accepted easily. They already consider you one of us.” 

“Wha— there’s no way—” she frantically looked at each of the older men around her, but each of them just shot her a smile or grin and a short nod. Her shoulders and jaw both fell, and it broke a little of everyone’s heart. 

Marinette looked so utterly shocked, bewildered to be accepted as if it was still something profoundly foreign to her. And there was that disbelief in her eyes, that distrust that screamed that she expected some sort of lie here. That told that she thought this would all crumble away at any second. If anyone had any reservations about bringing her into their inner circles, it vanished right that moment. She needed support, or she’d crumble away and they all knew it. 

“How about we start by talking about the situation with Hawkmoth?” Red Robin spoke up, walking forward to stand beside Batman. “I assume that’s a little more in your element?” 

Damian silently vowed to thank Tim later for that. In a silent, completely anonymous way of course. Couldn’t have Tim thinking they were friends or something now, could he? Marinette instantly straightened up and nodded, her confidence returning with a little more sincerity this time. 

“Yeah. Yeah, let me transform again. It’ll be easier to explain.” 

—*—*—*—*—*

It was three weeks later, on Marinette’s third now-weekly visit to the Batcave, when the question finally came up. Jason had asked to spar with Marinette for the first time, having seen her in action as Ladybug and wanting to test the girl when she didn’t have superpowers to rely on. Damian hadn’t been down in the cave to warn him, and the result was Jason’s gut sinking as Marinette scrambled as far away from him as she could, eyes wide and chest heaving in the beginnings of a panic attack. 

“Shit,” Jason muttered before he quickly knelt down and did his best to talk her down, to calm her until her breathing slowed and her pupils were back to normal. It wasn’t long afterwards that Marinette started hugging herself, refusing to look at him. But he wasn’t going to just back down, he wanted to solve this issue. If even the mere suggestion of a spar was enough to set her off, he needed to figure out why and fix it. 

So he carefully lowered himself so he was sitting only a foot away from her, resting his arms across his knees casually. 

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Didn’t think it would be a sore subject. That’s on me.” 

Marinette just shrugged, but didn’t answer him. She just buried her face in her arms and took a shaky breath. 

Jason let the silence linger for a while before trying again. “Does this have to do with certain Asshole Assassins?” 

That startled a slightly hysterical bark of laughter from her, and she had to wipe away a few tears when she raised her head and finally turned it in his direction slightly. Not enough for her to be looking at him,  but just a subtle turn to show that she was listening and speaking to him. “Yeah.” 

“You know, you never told us why you got disowned,” Jason tried to make his words as casual as possible, but wasn’t surprised when Marinette still stiffened and took a sharp breath. He didn’t push. The stage was set, and he’d wait until either she took the opportunity to open up or told him to leave well enough alone. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, and her foot tapped on the ground a bit. Clear signs of her anxiety around the subject, and Jason’s hopes vanished a little. He would probably have to wait longer for her to be ready to share.

But, to his pleasant surprise, he was wrong. She took another few minutes to gather her thoughts, but she did eventually open up to him. 

“I refused to fight Damian,” she admitted. “It was… We were seven. It wasn’t supposed to be a fight to the death, but it was a very important spar. We were using live weaponry, and we were told to fight until we couldn’t anymore. Whoever fell first would be relegated as a mere soldier, and have to fight for status like any other assassin in the League. The winner would officially be named as G— as Ra’s Heir. I didn’t want to fight, because I knew Damian would win but I also knew that it wouldn’t be as easy as Ra’s probably expected if I gave it my all like he wanted. I knew both Damian and I would be heavily injured if I did as he asked, and it wouldn’t be worth it. If I misjudged anything, any single hit, I could have accidentally injured Damian permanently and ruined his worth in Ra’s eyes, and that wasn’t an option. I didn’t care that throwing the fight was as good as giving up my life, because at least I could be sure that Damian kept his. I could make sure that he was treated well, or as well as anyone could hope for in the League anyway. I could, with only a few words, make sure he became indispensable. Ra’s and Talia never liked me as much as Damian anyway, I figured… I figured it was nobody’s loss,” She swallowed heavily, clenching her eyes shut. “I was always just the spare. The extra. Damian was their crown prince, the one with actual value. Even to me. I saw him, and I saw everything I wanted to be. I… I tossed down my weapons and let him stab me, because I figured I owed it to him for being such a failure in comparison to him. That I owed it to him to do everything I could to make things easier for him, since I was just an unnecessary obstacle—” strong arms wrapped around her, and she turned to sob into Jason’s chest as he just silently held her. 

“Idiot,” Damian whispered, making Marinette jump. Her twin sat only a few feet away, though only Jason would have known when exactly he had gotten there with them. He shook his head at her. “I never would have gotten as far as I did without you,” he whispered, looking up at the cave ceiling. “You were the only real rival I had. When you left, everything was either too easy or nearly impossible, nothing was the same as trying my best against someone who was just as good as me. And when I got here and met the others, I didn’t think any of them were worthy of taking your position, you know,” he scoffed a bit as he got lost in his memories. “That’s why I hated Tim for so long, I think. He reminded me of you so much that I wanted nothing more than to punch him for daring to replace you—”

“Heh, the Replacement twice over, huh?” Jason joked. Damian chuckled with a small eye roll. 

“Plus, he just has a really punchable face,” Damian added, trying to distract from the emotion behind everything he had just admitted. “Part of me thought you were dead. The other part refused to believe that. And seeing Tim and how some of his mannerisms were the same as yours,” Damian shrugged a little. “It stung. Especially that second year, when I started to regret that you never had the chance to come here and join them with me. Meet them with me.” 

Marinette sniffled. “... Who are you and what have you done with Dami? He’s never this sappy.” 

Damian flicked a pebble at her head with a good natured glare, successfully diffusing the serious air a little. Marinette wouldn’t ever be normal, and it would take a while before she was no longer fragile, but she could get there. Especially now that her bridges with her brother had been mended, and and a whole new family had cropped up to help support her. 

She was glad Damian had convinced her to try, again.  

[treenissanderssidesstuff]

🧩 A theory you have

I keep forgetting what is and isn't a theory. But I can prove "intrusive thoughts" is a terrible descriptor for Remus to go along with my hijacking @typically-untypical's post if you want.

So this is gonna piggyback off of that Catharsis Remus post, which you should read before this for some context. As I said there, all of the sides but Janus (sorta) cause c!Thomas to have intrusive thoughts. Remus' brand of intrusive thoughts however helps restore a sense of control.

Anyone who makes dark jokes can probably relate to this pretty quickly. If you've ever been stressed about an assignment and said something like "kill me" because of it? That's Remus' brand of things. Making a joke like that makes yourself recontextualize a situation. Did you think about something dark for a moment there? Sure. However, that assignment that was stressing you out? Maybe it suddenly isn't quite so bad in the face of death. Just reminding yourself that there are technically other options and that doing the assignment for the betterment of your life is the one you're choosing is empowering. If you've laughed the joke off and felt a resurgence of drive? It's because you've re-centered yourself into a position of feeling control again and reminded yourself that whatever impossible task your facing doesn't have to be the end. The world isn't hinged on you doing something perfectly. You've made your problem small, by reminding yourself you're actively conquering a much bigger one just by being.

Okay, so now that I've given some context for what Remus' brand of intrusive thoughts are and how they're useful, let me explain how all of the lightsides have their own brand of intrusive thoughts that are both useful, but dangerous in excess.

Virgil: This one should be obvious. Anxiety is riddled with intrusive thoughts. "What if I go to the party and I make a fool of myself?" "I can't talk to that person, they'll think I'm stupid." "Is that person judging me?" "What if I can't do it?" Virgil makes c!Thomas think before he acts, which he needs we know he needs, but it can be crippling because it can make him worry too much and cause a paralysis of action. Virgil's brand of intrusive thoughts is thoughts related to a fear of what "could be." Accepting anxiety already contextualized his brand quite a bit. (Thanks Logan!)

Patton: Patton's got a one/two punch because he's morality and emotions. "Am I a bad person when I do something for myself?" "Do I deserve what I have? To be here?" "What about all of those talented people who are getting overlooked?" "Do I really deserve my friends?" "They're all so amazing though, they don't need me..." Patton's brand of intrusive thoughts is related to what "is" related to perceived expectations of people's opinion is specifically valued. He's the feeling of having to "deserve" what a person have in some way or downgrade achievements. c!Thomas' need to prove over and over again that he's actually trying and that he cares. It's a wonderful thing to want to help others, to show love and appreciation, but there is no "being good enough" if a person lets this type of guilt take over.

Roman: Roman's got that fear of failure, but in a different way than Virgil. It's more like failure induced stress. Virgil's the surface level anxiety about making a mistake, Roman's the deeper worry about not being enough that is only "proven correct" with every failure. "You didn't get/win [blank] because you're not talented enough." "You didn't work hard enough." "You should have done more, put in more effort." "You'll never match up to those other people, they deserve it." "Taking breaks is just laziness." Roman's intrusive thoughts are related to what "was" and perceptions connected to the past. He focuses on flaws and failures and causes c!Thomas to do the same. Each time a short term goal isn't met, is just fuel for that kind of self-hatred of not "doing enough." He keeps the dream alive, keeps pushing c!Thomas forward, but too much? And everything will feel useless because that self-degradation will stop being motivating and will start making c!Thomas feel inherently like a failure.

Logan: Logan's a bit of a tricky one because he's usually made to be the problem solver, but he's also had his own fair share of problems. Logan's issues are usually related to making he perceives as the "wrong" decisions. "If you had chosen a different career, you would be more stable." "People are laughing at you." "You're not acting like a proper adult." "You'll never be respected like this." Logan's intrusive thoughts are related to what "could have been," specifically an idealized version of that. It's easy to pretend things could have been better if a person had made different decisions, but different doesn't mean better. Having a job in science might have made c!Thomas appear more like a "standard adult," but would have he been happier? Probably not. If he thought at the time it would have made him happier, he probably would have chosen that path then. In some ways it can be good, because these kinds of thoughts can remind a person that there are other options if things don't work out. However, these kinds of thoughts pushed too far can make a person feel as if they've already ruined their life to the point of being irreparable, especially when their decisions go against the grain of normal expectations of society.

Janus: Janus is a little funny because he's a rule breaker (what else is new?) compared to the others. His focus is c!Thomas bettering himself, not to what others want, but to what he wants. There's no real outside stimuli related to him to cause intrusive thoughts. What he does do though, is make c!Thomas face the ones he has. He tries to breakdown the guilt, the fear, the shame by bringing it to focus and showing why it's wrong. It's the kind of thing that's painful to do in the moment, but also prevents you from hurting yourself worse. Actively explaining that you think your friends will hate you? It's uncomfortable. It hurts so much worse than passively believing it... in that moment. However, facing that perception is wrong? Prevents a lot of pain in the future of just letting yourself believe it.

And then we cycle back to Remus who in some ways, really is the garbage man, not because of how he presents himself, but because he forces c!Thomas to see what he's doing right by making him face the potential of a darker timeline and clean up the other's messes when they go to far.

[bibliocratic]

muddle along or: the Pokemon / TMA crossover I’ve been promising @speakerunfolding for AGES jonmartin early S4

Jon considers the knapsack left for him.

Exhaustion is already feasting on any clarity he might have obtained in the near quiet. His body stiff, unused to the casual labour of his bones. The storage room, its shelves overburdened, the air vents popping like cracked knuckles, has gained nothing in his absence except a resurgence of dust and, in a dismal corner, a pile of boxes and a suitcase. A pathetic truncated shrine to his thirty odd years of living.

They moved his possessions here, when his rent went unpaid, when his water bills and council tax and internet payment reminders piled up like demanding snowdrift on his mucky welcome mat. Mutely, he glances over the hastily sellotaped boxes that now form his packaged-up life with all the distance that six months of bad dreams have afforded him.

He wonders who packed up his kitchenware, despairing at the mismatched cutlery harvested from student halls and charity-shop finds; clucked their teeth at the bread freckling mouldy in the barren landscape of his fridge; folded his clothes neatly into the suitcase he always kept stuffed under his unmade bed, even pairing up his socks; who took the books off his shelves in the belief he might thumb through them again one day.

He wonders if it was Martin.

Basira gave him the knapsack some hours ago. When he’d found some semblance of normalcy in the dull weight of a sandwich coating his stomach, dressed in clothes that now hang like rags off a coat hanger, sat at the table in the otherwise empty staff room with the heat of a cup of tea cactus-prickling his palms.

“He asked if you’d look after them,” she’d said. The strap of the bag held securely in the jaw of her Absol. “While he’s – well, you know…” She waves an exasperated done-with-it hand that manages to express a multitude of emotions that refract and merge like the morphing shades of a bruise. “Doing whatever the hell it is he’s doing. Or he thinks he’s doing.”

Jon wishes he knew.

He sits cross-legged in front of the storage room door, a sharp-boned barricade, thrumming like a struck tuning fork with the thought that even here, he will not be safe.

Gardevoir is a heavy weight against his shoulder. She’s quieter than he remembers, solemn and sombre in her new form. She used to demand being lifted up when she was Ralts, her flat red horns digging into his chest and leaving impressions, scrabbling down to shelter half-behind his legs when strangers approached. He left for the Unknowing and she’d been Kirlia, her face set and her cries insistent and infuriated, trying to push her Pokeball into his hand to make him bring her with them. Tim hadn’t asked where she was, when they all piled into the rental car, Houndoom taking up one of the seats in the back but snarling when Basira suggested putting her in her ball.

Jon doesn’t know when she evolved. It pains him, a dull-knife strike of thought, another wave against his tide-bashed flood barriers, to have slept through such a moment in her life when every other milestone they shared together.

“Now is a good a time as any, I suppose?” he asks her. His voice traces above a whisper. His Abra has calmed now, drained down from a difficult and teary reunion, and is now breathing deep and slow, curled into the port of his crossed legs. His three-fingered hands are still clenching the fabric of Jon’s shirt.

Gardevoir nods. Then gives him a nudge and a look when it seems as though he’s stalling, when he must be bleeding out apprehension like watercolours seeping through paper.

“Can’t get anything past you now, huh,” he says. She smiles, fond and he manages a short smile back, and it is almost, almost like it was before.

The bag is old, its original function probably for a laptop of some kind. The plasticky outer skin of it has rubbed away, flaking to mesh at the edges, the piping worn down to wires. Jon folds back the front of the bag, and inside there are four Pokeballs, the basic and cheapest red-and-white models. Jon had worked a thankless summer job at a beach-side amusement arcade to save up the money to get Ralts a customised ball, and had done similar when Abra came along a few years later.

To the side of the Pokeballs, ziplocked and labelled, there is a small forest of freezer bags bulging with berries and treats and care equipment. In a plastic pocket, there are precisely written instructions pertaining to each Pokemon and their requirements, and Jon’s throat tightens unexpectedly to see Martin’s looping joined-up handwriting, to see words that seem penned by someone who doesn’t expect to be coming back.

Gardevoir makes a low noise next to him. Her arm alighting on his, a solid weight, grounding. Jon clears his throat and takes out the Pokeball nearest the top, pushing the button on the front so the size balloons to fill his palm.

Most people have one Pokemon, maybe two, unless they’re involved in competitive breeding and training. When Abra came along, he remembers his gran remarking on the upkeep, how it would be his responsibility to feed and care for and train them, and it hadn’t been the cheapest venture but Jon had born the expense gladly.  It doesn’t surprise him that Martin has amassed so many in comparison to the norm.

At lunch one day years ago, the weather nipping frost-touched, they’d sat outside a cramped cafe because there’d been no seats indoors, and Martin had confessed that he was always taking them in. Thinking back, Jon knows that Martin was attempting to keep the conversation buoyant, coaxing him away from deeper, darker waters. Jon remembers being irritated, sore-eyed with sleeplessness, his spine strung with paranoia.

“My lost causes, Mum called them,” Martin had said, and his voice had tried for a levity that landed without cushioning. He’d torn off a bit from the end of his panini to feed a hopeful-looking Pidove pecking expectantly around their feet. The cause of the conversational turn, Martin’s newest acquisition, had sat grumpily mewling on the other man’s knee, wriggling and sniping as he tried to feed them some medication he’d got from the vet. Despite himself, Jon had been distracted from miring thoughts of Gertrude by watching Martin’s charade unfold, the man making a show of giving up with a theatrical sigh to scratch the Nidoran behind the ears in a show of defeat, being careful of their spikes. The Nidoran had headbutted his hand whenever his motions slowed to stopping, and Martin had used the distraction to fold a chorizo slice he’d pulled from his panini around the pill, which the Nidoran had happily snaffled from his fingers, gulping it down before returning to demand affection.

“They’ll be all healed up within the week,” Martin had continued, plastering over the continued lull with his chattering. “I’ve taken in a few Nidorans before, they tend to be pretty hardy.” He had scratched under the Nidoran’s chin as his words ebbed with the nudging of an undemanding tide.

Jon had picked at his sandwich as Martin had fold him about hiding Pidgeys and Swablus in an old shoebox under his bed, lined with the nesting material of some of his t-shirts donated to the cause. A chipped-edge bowl borrowed from the kitchen brimming with water and his own early team of Pokemon keeping them company while their wings healed in their splints before they were strong enough to leave again.

These four Pokeballs in the knapsack aren’t just random strays. They’re Martin’s Pokemon. The ones that never left him, the ones that he’s raised and doted upon and taken worriedly to the Pokecentre over every cough and sniffle and fever.

And for the meantime, they’re Jon’s.

Jon presses the release button on the first ball.

There is a chittering surprised coo as an Oddish materialises in a buzz of light and reforming matter.  They reform to stand a little higher than Jon’s ankle, only to fold their leaves half over their eyes at the unkindness of the halogen strip light. They totter when they take a step, tumbling to sitting with an affronted noise before, with a determined heft, they rock themselves up to standing again. Jon’s seen Martin’s Oddish before, approaching every walk around the assistant’s office space like a tightrope. Tim had bought them a little plant pot as a novelty Christmas gift once, and they’d unironically loved it, hopping into it cosily and getting specks of soil all over Martin’s desk.

Their leaves are poked through with ragged little holes, like they’ve been nibbled away, the green tinged in places to a sickly yellow. In the bag there is a vial of luminous blue medicine, complete with dropper and application instructions. It’s a stress thing, he dimly remembers Martin had once explained to him. It’s like an eczema, of a sort, that afflicts Grass-types, but it affects Oddish’s balance when it flares up.

The Oddish looks at Jon. They don’t have a neck as such, so they lean their whole bulb-like body backwards on their stumpy legs to study Gardevoir, who gives a reassuring blink. They glance around the storage room and its uninspired treasures of boxes and the unpromisingly weak-seeming metal frame of the cot, with a fretful shake of their leaves. They’re expecting to see someone else.

“Hello,” Jon says. He clears his throat, attempting to present a friendly face, to avoid the grimace he senses forming at his discomfort, his presentation to a critical audience that is already finding him wanting. “I’m… well, I’m Jon. You’ve probably seen me before, I’m um… I’m a f-friend of Martin’s. He’s, well, he’s not here at the moment. But he asked me to look after you. While he’s – he’s away.”

Oddish blinks their beady round red eyes. Their leaves wave uncertainly with the lazy swish of palm fronds. They coo again, a longer sound, plaintive and stretched out in melancholy. They take the opportunity to look around again, a full-body swivel that has them unbalanced, but Gardevoir leans down with a careful hand to steady them upright.

Jon watches them amble off to study their surroundings. Every so often crying out in a searching noise. Gardevoir keeps an eye on them as they rootle around in one of the boxes they can reach.

The next few releases are equally unsuccessful. Skitty reforms only to barrel under the cot as a pink-and-white blur, slinking further back with his tail swishing furiously whenever Jon addresses him. One undamaged ear twitches anxiously. The next Pokemon fails to materialise at all, refusing to leave their ball.

This was a mistake. Martin should have known better, known him enough to see that he would be no good at this, his skills in offering comfort atrophied. He can barely take care of himself, these days. Never mind additional charges who are scared, who need reassurance that is rendered rusty in his throat.

He reaches out to cradle the last ball in his cupped palms. He knows who is inside. The youngest of Martin’s acquisitions, and as far as Jon was aware, full-on adverse to getting inside a Pokeball. Their favoured mode of travel was Martin, using him as a climbing frame while he attempted to work, kicking their little feet against his forehead, clinging giggly to his mop of hair to get a better view, squealing shrill and disruptive and delighted when Martin would playfully shake his head to rock them. He thinks with the uncertainty that memory offers him, that Sasha had loved them, lifted them and pretending to throw them while they chattered and babbled, snuck them berries when Martin wasn’t looking. Jon has paid ear to more than one lecture from Martin on nutrition and proper feeding times and sugar levels. They might have played with Sasha’s own Pokemon, like they had tottered after Houndour’s short and wagging tail when she was out of her ball, like they had ran after Skitty to join in games, but that memory has been scratched from recollection like initials scored out of tree bark.

They were by nature vocal, rambunctious, unthinking and unheedful of danger, a child really, and Martin had been forever apologising when Jon would find them where they weren’t meant to be, carrying them back cautiously and carefully to Martin’s fretful hands. He thinks Martin had thought that they had irritated him. It hadn’t been that. They had been so small, smaller than they should have been for their species, the runt of some litter abandoned or lost by their parent or cracked and emerging blinking from their egg over-early. They had been so curious, and the world of the archives had grown increasingly unsafe around them. Jon had worried, in his own poorly expressed way.

He presses the button, and aims at the ground. Martin’s Togepi manifests in a fizz of red light and sound crackling like champagne.

They turn around with a confused noise.

Jon gets the chance to voice an awkward, low-pitched ‘hello’ before they take one look at him and their face clenches upset, breath starting to bubble with sobs.

“Oh, oh, nonono, hey,” Jon says, scooping them up into his hands. Abra is dislodged, wakes up startled and teleports a few feet away with a ‘pop’ of displaced air. “It’s… nonono, shush, it’s alright.”

Big messy tears fall out of screwed up eyes. Hitching sobs lengthen into wails. Jon looks frantically at Gardevoir as he rocks and shushes the bawling Pokemon against his chest in a way Martin was so much better at.

Martin would know what to do, what to say. How all this could work out for the best. But Martin isn’t here.

Jon’s own eyes dampen.

“Shshshsh,” he croaks thickly. “It’s – it’s going to be alright. I’ve got you.”

He uses the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the worst of the tears. He strokes the top of Togepi’s head.

“It’s going to be alright,” Jon repeats.

Many hours later, Jon wakes up, cotton-mouthed and his back vengeful for the position he’s slept in. His legs, still crossed, have degraded to numbness that he’ll pay for as soon as he wants to stand. In his lap, he sees the matryoshka doll set up that’s occurred, Togepi exhaling with little whistling breaths into Abra’s chest, Abra’s face planted against Jon’s shirt. Skitty has emerged from his defensive fort under the cot to coil into a ball of heat, curled up in the crook of Abra’s overhanging tail. Gardevoir is half-awake in that dozing but alert way she has, and she must have turned off the light in the room because it’s dark except for the emergency glow from the fire-exit sign that casts the walls and floor in an unsettling green. Jon sees the husk of an opened Pokeball, the shadow of something small and yellow crouched on Gardevoir’s shoulder, and something inside him eases, just a little bit.

Oddish is looking up at him from the floor. Jon moves the only hand he has that’s not squashed under Abra, and when he sets it down they alight with an unsteady gait and he transfers them to the higher terrain of his knee. He rubs a careful finger along their leaves until they sit, their head nodding as they struggle to stave off sleep, although they still glance around with uncertain eyes.

The room has dropped colder. Oddish shivers along with Jon.

“I know,” Jon says. “I miss him too.”

[blackkatmagic]

Agen is the type of person to follow rules to the point of ruthlessly exploiting every loophole while staring unblinking into the eyes of everyone who set those rules in the first place, and honestly I adore that about him. (Also, feel free to not answer, but do you have any Agen/Jango or Jaster/Agen wips? Or Agen/Myles, tho I’m not sure how straight Myles is).

Agen/Jango:

1. Jango's been hearing rumors about legendary bounty hunter Argent Kole for years, but he's never actually met the man. One of the main rumors is that Argent is Force-sensitive, so when Boba starts showing signs, Jango sets out to hunt Argent down to help Boba learn control. Agen, for his part, doesn't expect his undercover identity to be remarkable at all, so when he hears Jango Fett is on the warpath and coming to find him, it's wholly a surprise, but not one he's about to run from.

2. Finding an amnesiac Jedi wandering Tatooine seems like the perfect opening to start getting his revenge for Galidraan. Jango takes the Zabrak in, intending to betray him, but Agen's blunt honesty and unwavering trust affect him more than he expected.

3. Agen Kolar breaks the timeline! Yeeted back from the moment of his death to just before the invasion of Naboo, Agen has too much to fix and too little time to do it, so he hires out. Jango is neck-deep in Dooku's plots, but this weird swordsman who insists he's definitely not a Jedi, no way, is willing to pay big for help assassinating one shriveled old Naboo senator, so Jango agrees. He doesn't expect to promptly get dragged into madness.

4. While on a mission, Agen rescues a child from his abductors. Boba is totally happy to hang out with this big scary Zabrak who lets Boba sit on his shoulders and grab his horns. Sadly, Jango is not nearly as enthusiastic.

5. In an AU where the Jedi Order operates in secret and Jedi are all but a myth, Jango is the Mand'alor, fighting an increasingly vicious battle against Pre Vizsla and the Death Watch, when he finds a man and his ward locked away in a strange dungeon deep underground. Agen refuses to give any details of his past, but his care for Tan is clear, and Jango can't help but be drawn to him.

Jaster/Agen:

1. Jon tried to teach Agen to teleport, but it's not a skill that comes easily. When Agen uses it in a last-ditch attempt to save Kit in the Chancellor's office, he misses the mark, and ends up throwing himself backwards in time. Jaster, for his part, doesn't expect a Jedi to come crashing out of thin air and land right in his lap, but, well. It's certainly not the worst way to start a morning.

2. Rescued from carbonite after years locked away in a Death Watch base, Jaster has no idea what to make of all the changes the galaxy as a whole and his family in particular have gone through. Since the Jedi are the ones who found him, they assign him a guard and guide to help him get back on his feet, and maybe it's desperation that has Jaster latching onto Agen, but he's the one steady thing in a whole chaotic galaxy, and Jaster can't help himself.

3. Following rumors of the Darksaber's origin, Jaster comes across a Jedi Knight who's doing the same, and in possession of information unique to the Order. Obviously the only recourse is to team up and shake him down for all of his sources.

4. After one last desperate attempt to save Tan on Geonosis, Agen wakes up somewhere he definitely shouldn't be, and finds that he and Tan were rescued from a desert by the Mand'alor. By a Mand'alor who's entirely taken by Tan, and more than willing to help Agen - except he doesn't know they're Jedi, and Agen isn't sure he can trust Jaster enough to tell him.

5. Mandalorian Empire!AU where the Jedi are wandering monks more than a structured order, and with a new Sith Emperor threatening his borders Jaster is desperate to get his hands on old records of the last time the Sith Empire rose. The only ones who might have such information are the Jedi, though, and they've had a long history of being persecuted by past Mand'alors. Jaster knows that if they catch wind he wants something from them, they'll go underground again, so finding a lone Jedi in a desperate fight seems like a stroke of impossible luck. Agen is just trying to find his kidnapped padawan, and he's desperate enough to make a deal with his people's traditional enemy to get him back.

Agen/Myles:

1. Agen is a new Knight when the Force calls him to Galidraan, and he manages to deescalate tensions between the True Mandalorians and the Jedi. Unfortunately, he does this by taking Myles hostage. Myles is incredibly unimpressed, but at least being a Jedi's hostage isn't the worst thing imaginable, and Agen is pretty, for a Jedi.

2. The Nightsisters do a favor for Pre Vizsla, bringing back one of the most dangerous True Mandalorians as a mind-controlled assassin. When Pre sets Myles on a Jedi who's been investigating Death Watch activity, Agen recognizes what's happened and breaks the control, freeing Myles, but it's not so easy. With a whole galaxy that's vastly different from what he remembers, millions of men running around with Jango's face, and a sudden resurgence of True Mandalorian sympathies among Mandalore's people, Myles has no idea what to do, and an empty throne that isn't supposed to be his but might have to be regardless.

[kakyoinryoko]

the fact that the biggest most important plot point in pla happens in the post game is quite funny of them…. like i feel like there has to be someone out there, probably quite a number of little kids, who will either never reach the end at all or will see the credits roll and put the game down forever and have no exposure to online communities where they might hear about it so they’ll just … never learn…. they just won’t know… like i feel like in a decade when it’s long out of relevance but maybe gets a resurgence in popularity for the nostalgia value some 16 year old on here is gonna make a post like “VOLO WAS EVIL THE WHOLE TIME???? #WHATS A POSTGAME”