#but when i get back it'll be more comics!! i already have like 5 more planned

[amphibimations]

I watched The Boy and The Heron the other day and I really liked it!

[shepscapades]

GOD DAYUM

So the part 5 thing huh? Welp IT'S GOOD I LOVE IT

Because X is my blorbo I just wanted to point out some things here

MMMMMMMM HE HAS LONG HAIR??? I mean *looks at my posts* long hair fits him absolutely [Still not sure if he has long hair or not but looks like he has his hair tied in a ponytail or in a bun, I don't know it just looks like it on the second image]

[oh and also he called him "Doc" again, instead of Docm which I don't know what could mean in this situation yet, but one day it'll probably make sense as we get more parts]

This Etho right here looks either terrified or confused, and I think it's because

X is going to go absolutely crazy and he's scared that X is now in control [based on the "you dropped your crown king'' caption that might refer to Etho who isn't the attacker anymore but could also refer to Xisuma which I'll explain later]

or

2. He finally snapped back into his senses

or

3. he sees X without his helmet for the first time and his good 'ol computer brain is like '??????? Who tf is that"

"you dropped your crown king" could also refer to X as his helmet got destroyed in process [being the crown] and from what I know, we don't know the reason for why X wears helmet in this AU. The most popular headcannon for his armour and helmet is that he's a voidwalker and can't breathe in the overworld, we don't know if it's a thing in this AU but if it is that could mean that now he's powerless, he "dropped his crown" - he became weaker, powerless against his enemy. Also Doc looks kinda scared, or maybe just surprised after seeing X's face for probably first time. [if he's scared, then he's probably aware of Xisuma's condition when it comes to air]

NESTLE CRUNCH

But also poor Doc he looks horrified

ALSO

*looking for lore through old posts* huh these seem familiar... WAIT

AND THE DATE THOSE WERE POSTED

[it's in Polish sorry, but it says 13th October]

SO THE COMIC HAS BEEN SKETCHED OUT SO EARLY?? Damn those really take long to do, I mean I was aware of that fact but It's been like 3 months since those sneak peeks have been posted and WOW THAT'S A WHOLE LOT OF MOTIVATION YOU HAVE HERE SHEP

[also only now noticed how in this panel Etho's body sketch is red as a sign that he's the danger in Doc's eyes and Xisuma's is green/blue. Oh and in the first sketch X didn't have his hair visible in the visor hee hee ]

So yes, loved it, even if there were only 3 images I still think it's amazing ! We got to see your Xisuma a bit [he- he handsome -makes big eyes]

Sorry for the long ask again!! just!! excited!!

Now I'm going into my drawing cave as I'm full of inspiration already bye bye <333

(also also to reiterate, I have no idea how long part 6 will take since I just kinda have rough storyboarding for the rest of the comic, and classes just started up again— this is my exhibition semester so most of my drawing energy will be prioritized for my grad gallery… we will wait to see how much energy I have left by the day for destruction :3)

ALSO ALSO ALSO! “You dropped your crown king” was absolutely me trying to find a silly caption for what’s supposed to be a serious/dramatic part of the story while also referencing the fact that Xisuma’s helmet shattered/fell off— there are many conspiracies and clues to be had here but I just wanted to clarify that that line is not one of them SFKDFGHJ

I will therefore also not directly respond to anything else being discussed here BUT thank you as always for sharing your theories and analysis!! It always makes my day >:D

[thankskenpenders]

MORE behind the scenes Sonic info and other tidbits from the BumbleKast as I continue to get caught up. These range from September 2022 to early December. (This means there are spoilers for Frontiers in here.)

They're doing episodes even more often now, so I've got a lot to catch up on and I'm sure most of y'all do too!

1. The IDW comics are, in fact, canon to the games now. Ian was a little coy when first asked about it, saying he "would not argue against it" if people said the IDW comics were canon to the games now. "I have made it clear that the comics follow the lead of the games, so… as long as there's no contradictions anywhere, we're good." So, yeah, come on. The comics are canon.

2. Ian apparently pitched another idea for incorporating Sticks into the IDW series last year that was once again shot down, although he says this only makes him want to dig his heels in and try harder. (I'm assuming most of you are already aware of her shout out in Frontiers, confirming she's out there, somewhere...)

3. If Surge was a streamer, Ian thinks she would just grief people on Fortnite

4. On the October 7th, 2022 show, Ian says there is a behind-the-scenes answer for how the depiction of Silver's future in '06 can fit together with Rivals and Rush... but he can't talk about it right now.

It's hard to convey his tone through text, so just imagine he's saying all this with a big, defeated shrug:

"Here's the thing. Working on something else, I actually did get a straight answer, and it was... frustratingly simple. And, it's like, 'That works. [sigh] Okay!' No, I can't get into it - that's all private work stuff - but maybe it'll come to light eventually. But... there is an answer. And it works. And I kinda feel dumb for not thinking of it."

I honestly have no idea what this could be if it's something Ian hadn't considered, because he has talked about popular theories and readings before, such as the reading that Blaze was transported to the Sol Dimension at the end of '06. Maybe we'll hear about it in the comics, since Silver and Blaze are both back right now, or maybe they'll be the subject of a TailsTube episode.

5. Froggy is not sentient in any way he really is just a frog

6. Unrelated to Sonic, Ian was asked "who is best pony" and he said Fluttershy. My longest yeah boy ever dot jpeg

7. With Surge and Kit originally being pitched as purely synthetic beings before Sega suggested they be cyborgs instead, Ian says they would've struggled with whether or not they're even real, as opposed to the end product where they struggle with not knowing who they were before Starline modified them

8. When the female cast of Archie Sonic stopped getting drawn so busty all the time that was, in fact, a very specific editorial mandate from someone at Archie. Sega, on the other hand, has never cared.

9. Now that we're back to Classic and Modern being part of one nebulous timeline and the divide being more of a branding thing, Ian explicitly confirmed that the Classic-themed IDW Sonic comics are set in the past of the mainline IDW Sonic comics. They're set sometime after the events of Mania, and before all the Modern stuff. Just don't think too hard about it

But hey! If it's any consolation, this now means all the Classic characters like Mighty, Nack, and Honey are out there off-screen in the world of the regular comics, even if the casts are remaining separate for branding reasons for now. It also means Shadow is out there being held in a pod in a maximum security off-shore military prison during the events of all the lighthearted Classic comics lmao

10. Ian reiterates yet again that he's still pushing to try and get the Freedom Fighters back in some capacity where he can (as are others). He also says that he's pushing for them to return as a group rather than requesting individual members because he believes that's the best shot at getting any of them through Sega's approval process.

(I can't remember when the last time this came up was, but Ian has also implied that he thinks their best shot is to return as Classic characters since their one game appearance is Spinball.)

11. Ian outright confirms that the forward-looking character arcs in Frontiers are reflective of what he would like to see out of the main cast moving forward in the games. Not surprising since that's, like... the whole point of those arcs! But nice that he wants it to only be the beginning.

Ian does also say, however, that he's not guaranteed to return as the writer for future games since he's still a freelancer, but to editorialize here, I don't see why they wouldn't want him back for the next project.

12. On the subject of Amy's characterization in Frontiers, Ian personally pins her general seriousness mostly on the fact that she's the companion for the first island, where the mysterious and somber tone Sega wanted for the story is being established and Sonic is still trying to figure out what to do. He says that she'd probably have been more bubbly if she was interacting with Sonic on the second or third island, after he starts to get his bearings. I hoped this was the reason why she felt a little dry compared to Knuckles and Tails, so it's nice to hear this isn't the new direction for Amy or anything.

13. While "officially" Sage's name is just an anagram of Sega and a reference to her wisdom, Ian seems to be cheekily implying that it's also a nod to the annual Sonic Amateur Games Expo. Hell yeah.

14. When asked to clear up some Frontiers lore from the Egg Memos, Ian explicitly confirmed that some of the Ancients left the Starfall Islands and went on to devolve into the Chao as we know them today over the course of tens of thousands of years. He says, however, that this doesn't mean that Ancients and Chao are literally the same species, comparing it to the difference between humans and australopithecus. But yes, they're related.

[30somethingautisticteacher]

Wedding Binder Evan

Buck and Tommy do some wedding planning ❤️

***

"Thomas Kinard, you did not just suggest that we have a backyard barbecue wedding!?" Buck exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Tommy shrugged, a sheepish smile playing on his lips. "I'm just saying, do we really need something elaborate and fancy?"

Buck took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. He reached out, taking Tommy's hands in his own. "I love you, and I totally understand what you're saying, but I need a wedding that feels like a wedding. We're committing ourselves to one another for life. We're promising forever, and I just think that warrants more than hot dogs in the backyard and music from someone's phone."

Tommy's expression softened as he listened to Buck. He could see the earnestness in his fiancé's eyes, the depth of emotion behind his words.

"Hey," Tommy said gently, squeezing Buck's hands. "I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I just never thought much about weddings before. But this is important to you, and that makes it important to me."

Buck's eyes welled up slightly, touched by Tommy's words. "It never was important to me until you," he admitted softly. "I thought if I ever got married, I would just nod along with whatever my bride wanted and show up when and where I was told. But this is a bride-free wedding, and I want it to be about our partnership and what we are building. I am more than willing to compromise, but I just need it to feel special."

Tommy pulled Buck closer, wrapping his arms around him. "I get it now, Ev. And you're right. This isn't just any wedding - it's ours. Can we start brainstorming together?"

Buck bit his lip, looking slightly sheepish. "Sure, I'd like that, but... you should probably know that I've already started a wedding binder with ideas."

Tommy's eyebrows shot up, a mix of amusement and mild alarm crossing his face. "Oh no, is Wedding Binder Buck going to be anything like Clipboard Buck?"

"That's Wedding Binder Evan to you," Buck retorted with a playful pout. Then, his expression softened. "And I already said I was willing to compromise. How about the first thing we each do is make a list of 5-10 non-negotiables?"

Tommy chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to Buck's nose. "Alright, Wedding Binder Evan it is. And I like that idea about the non-negotiables. It'll give us both a chance to think about what's really important to us for the day."

Buck beamed, clearly excited about the prospect. "Great! Let's take about 15 minutes to write our lists separately, then we can come back and share. That way we're not influencing each other's choices."

"Sounds like a plan," Tommy agreed. "But before we do that..." He pulled Buck in for a deep, loving kiss. When they parted, both slightly breathless, Tommy smiled. "Just wanted to remind you that no matter what we decide, the most important thing is that I get to marry you."

Buck's eyes shimmered with emotion. "I love you, Tommy Kinard."

"I love you too, Evan Buckley... soon to be Kinard," Tommy replied softly.

With one last quick peck, they separated to start their lists. As Buck retrieved his wedding binder (which was, indeed, comically thick) and Tommy settled at the kitchen table with a notepad, both men felt a surge of excitement. This was the beginning of planning their perfect day - one that would be uniquely theirs, celebrating their past, looking toward their future, and creating memories to cherish always.

[afvall]

whumptober day 2! Trust issues

truthful Timmy the blowjob queen of Saskatoon (Wade) and Nathan have a marital spat. Who knew whumptober could be so Fluffy? Don't worry, it'll get worse.

--

God Believes in Me

--

Wade regarded his mind as a very sacred place, despite the fact half of its inane machinations would make their way out of his mouth anyways. Yet despite that, his mind was still his own, one of the few places he could exist not in a state of constant, neurotic apprehension of being perceived. He knew he appeared so unfiltered and obscene in comparison to everybody around him, he knew that his marred flesh and even more vulgar personality both weren’t things he went at length to hide, but when it came to his teammates, his friends, his f word, he could get a bit deranged about his shortcomings, and how he showed them. That's where being able to wallow in his own thoughts came in clutch. He wanted to be able to go into his own hysterics all by his lonesome about fucking up a mission, compulsively wipe down his katanas and clean his guns far longer than necessary as his cancer-ridden obsessive little mind ran itself into disorientating circles. It was one of his few comforts in this world, drugs and self pity, Vanessa used to be on the list, but Wade had let her die, so she wasn’t there anymore.

There was one problem to his perfect routines however, one interruption in the face of his fetish for his own shame, that nosey, telepathic bitch, Nathan Summers, Nathan ‘you remind me of my wife’ (while applying chapstick!) Summers. Unlike the author of this fic, Deadpool has read the comics, he knew that comic Nate was telepathic, but not this one. He’d thought that in his second movie’s two hour run, Cable’s telepathy might be brought up once, but as it wasn’t, he simply assumed that this Cable wasn’t telepathic. And wow, what a shit draw huh, 5 '8 and telepathy-less? It would be depressing if it wasn’t a little funny, as most things were in and around Wade’s life. However, of course that couldn’t be the case, because poor Wade couldn’t be afforded even a second of mercy in this hellish world, couldn’t be afforded the sanctity of his own mind, and now having escaped the constrictions that telling a 3 act story over 2 hours put upon Nate’s powers, he didn’t seem to mind using them as much as he did before.

“I'm still pissed off about how you decided to be a little shit rather than listen to the orders i gave you during our job yesterday, i don’t wanna hear the memory of it and all your shame prattling around in your mind all day, it’ll just make me angry again.” Nathan sipped boredly on a cappuccino sitting in a takeaway cup he’d brought back from a café, alongside a mocha for Wade which had already been scoffed down while burning hot and its cardboard carcass chucked into the bin. Wade didn’t get how he could slip in little kind gestures between all that dickishness and not expect Wade to have an aneurysm about it.

“If you can read my mind, how come you’re still such an asshole to me? Surely empathy is a bit easier when you can literally see inside someone’s head” Wade desperately wanted to be left alone right now, to cry about his own shortcomings to the barrels of all his handguns, instead of having every thought of his heard by Nate. The coffee was nice but he’d had enough people-time today.

“Well technically i can only read your surface thoughts and emotions, or shit that you push to the front, the cancerous wad in your cranium is harder to read than most people’s” Wade wasn’t sure what constituted as ‘surface’ or ‘pushed to the front’ as he wished he could get back to being neurotic and sad all by his lonesome. Could nate tell that he really was properly freaked out about fucking up so many missions? Would he care?

“Get out of my head if you don’t wanna see what’s in there, Nate.” Wade stated, pretty matter-of-factly. His head was his space, not Nates, and Nate didn’t even like being there.

“Its not like im trying to get in there, theres just this constant nervous aura coming off of you whenever you fuck up after a mission. Its really fucking difficult to ignore.” Nate stared smugly, telepathic bitch.

“I reckon you’re fucking lying about not being able to not read my mind.” Wade nips back, “and I think you think you can see more of what’s in my mind than what’s actually in there. Im not trying to make your day shittier Nathan, im not trying to get out of paying the penance for my fuck ups with all my guilt.” Wade thought about this pinterest poetry post he saw once while channelling his inner fourteen year old girl–’The dog that weeps after it kills is no better than the dog that doesn't. My guilt will not purify me.’–but decided that it was a bit too pretentious to verbally reference in a cablepool angst fic, even in whumptober. X-men angst always seemed a bit more gritty than melancholy, a bit more blood than tears.

Nathan looked at him with an expression that was undeniably just a tad bit softer. Whether it was from Wade’s inane fourth-wall related thoughts mulling over this situation or the point he’d just made, Wade was unsure.

“I'm not lying about being unable to not read your mind Wade, your thoughts are pretty difficult to block out.” Nate didn’t comment upon the second half of Wade’s little outburst. Wade wondered if Nate trusted what he said, but Wade believed Nate when he said Wade’s thoughts were difficult to block out. Honestly he’d simply used that weaker opinion as a way to segway to the truth of his paranoia. But would Nate trust Wade’s truth? Wade tried to push all his genuine nature and remorse to the forefront of his mind, but didn’t know if it worked that way.

Nate suddenly looked a bit awkward as he went quiet, looking at Wade with furrowed brows and a face more scrunched up than not.

“I'm sorry, it's been a pretty long week.” Wade was fine with receiving a half-excuse-half-apology hybrid, he just wanted to know Nate believed him. Wade paused for a moment, letting the cogs in his brain churn sluggishly as he continued peering at Nate.

“Im sorry im such a little shit sometimes, and fuck stuff up for the team.” for my f word. Nate smiled, chuckling softly, just a tad, in the way that made Wade’s heart jump in his chest.

“We’ll work on it?” Wade knew Nate was referring to both of them, working on their trust of one another, and the way they treated each other, on the battlefield and at home.

“We’ll work on it.”

[minerwarfare-suzuya]

A Scam and A Spiteful Client?

Mobox87 is a scam. Why do I say this? Well if we go back to previous posts talking about Mobox87's prices on her OCs and her Patreon subscription. We can recap some stuff that has been nearly lost when this blog almost got taken down from false reports made.

Now before further discussion. I do wanna state that these are old posts I'm linking. Some of these are likely dated and might not hold up well since Mobox87 likely changed her prices as time went by, which I'll be going over those changes.

Anyways let's bring up-

OC adoption price scam:

I have to say during the time that has passed. Mobox87 has made a better approach in selling off her OCs with prices now and I think this was something she took a good understanding out of the criticism thrown at her.

But of course, I still think the biggest gripe is the characters being sold in designs that look alike... Though that's not my only issue about these OC adoption sales.

My biggest issue has to be OCs being sold twice and I've been catching on to that with Miles buying OCs. I think it should be stated that once you buy that OC you should get the character completely and not have to be sold just one variant. Every version of that character design should be sold to you.

Except one thing I want to clarify is that Mobox87 didn't charge Miles $200. Miles offered her that amount and begged for the OC to be sold to him.

Honestly, Mobox87 should've already given him the character design prior to the first purchase of Oliv but no she took the cash because "She really loves money" (Who doesn't? Lol).

Other than that I think the biggest elephant in the room is still Mi-

Her Patreon subscription overpriced:

Okay, this obviously remains unchanged and I think it'll remain like that. Her Patreon is basically dead and it is currently left with an unfinished comic. Plus, you can just subscribe or donate to her Kofi for $5 and that's a far more affordable option that offers more considering Mobox87's activity on Kofi.

Either way, making only 1 subscription tier $70 for access to a patreon that has very little posts and an unfinished comic isn't worth it. You would totally need a lot more locked posts or content shared to want to pay that amount.

So-

We've talked about the issues with Mobox87 being a scam and we kinda do see that there's been some changes regardless of how Miles spends his money carelessly. Despite one thing-

The Spiteful Client

Yeah, I shadow dropped a post on Miles and made it private for awhile for a certain reason until now. I just think it's time to be full on more open to the fact that no one really accepts Miles'apology at all. I don't need to fake the funk with anyone and it's better to be honest about it.

Miles has not changed at all and has gone out of his way to bully people in private through direct messages.

To put matters even worse. Apparently he has resorted to now buying Mobox87's OCs to spite others from buying them. He has not done this one person but with two people which ironically Mobox87 knows about this and has taken Miles side.

It's no darn secret that Mobox87 would keep supporting Miles'bad behavior because his money is what gets her to hustle online.

So, there's NO POINT in announcing on the Affinity blog that you're selling OCs when it's basically being treated as a bid and that you let Miles still get the upper hand in buying your whole stocks.

There's no fucken sale going on at all! It's clear that your only buyer is going to be Miles and I think it's better off that you're honest about it.

Anyways, I think until then. This will be the second to last time I'll mention Mobox87 in drama since I do wanna talk about her in a more important post because there are some things that thegoldfiles (Moboxcritique) blog doesn't really talk about.

Until then I'll catch y'all later on talking about Arion since there're far more important things to talk about.

[tea-earl-grey]

there's something so dismal about how so much of tv fandom's energy nowadays seems to go towards trying to prove to big corporations that their show is good enough to save. like whenever a new episode or series comes out it's "remember to watch it all in 24 hours or it won't get renewed!" "play it on repeat for a month or else it'll become another piece of lost media!" "don't stop talking and posting about it during the hiatus or else this season that's already in production might not air!" "if this tag trends on twitter for long enough we might get eight episodes instead of six!!!" it feels less like we're enjoying a show that so many people worked hard on and more like we're trying to create rituals to please the gods (which replace gods with The Algorithm and you're not far off).

like i haven't even been involved in fandom for that long but even just seven or so years ago if a show did well enough that it was nominated for awards and trending on twitter and having well attended comic con panels then it would be renewed for at least a season or two. and back then being renewed for another season meant "we're for sure going to get a new season next year!" with almost no possibility of cancelation. and even shows that did just okay ratings wise would easily get 5+ seasons.

and it was more fun. when i was watching Doctor Who or Arrowverse or whatever in 2014 i could enjoy and critique the media itself instead of constantly being nervous about whether the next season will be cashed in for nostalgia bait or have its episode count cut or be postponed for three years or just outright canceled because it was slightly less popular than last year. like the fandom would still stress out over potential bad narrative choices or whatever but we would also get excited about the future.

maybe it's just my own perceptions but i just tend to find myself favoring fandoms for shows (or at least eras, i'm looking at you Doctor Who) that have been completed. i like Good Omens and Our Flag Means Death and Strange New Worlds and Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the latest Doctor Who era but i just find it hard to get invested when there's so much anxiety around if there will be a future to those shows and so much of the fandom activity revolves around that anxiety. and then as a result when the show does end for good (whether through cancelation or design) the fandom starts to fade away too because so much of it was based on the temptation of The Future.

and i'm also quick to admit that production in pre-streaming era shows had their own problems (once popular shows running for 15 seasons and jumping the shark just because it's a cash cow, tampered down diversity in the interest of "popular appeal", the whole quantity over quality issue, etc) but at least the fandoms were more optimistic and focused on the story itself instead of just being angry about the eternal potential of cancelation or outright deletion.

(also there are obviously much larger issues to the streaming model re: residuals and everything else brought up during the wga and sag strikes but that's all been said much more coherently so i'm just speaking from my own perspective as a fan. and even then there's still definite overlap between the fandom anxiety over renewal and the real world economic anxiety for people involved with production over "will we have a job/be paid". it's far too early to tell but i really hope the strikes will help to solve this problem.)

[somuchcoffeeandwine]

All right, fellow MCU fans

So, after seeing the Marvels today, it got me thinking. Now, you probably don't know who I am. But I do happen to be a writer. Not a very good one mind you (several people would say otherwise, but shush, give me my self-loathing) Phase 4 (and the current parts of 5) is not that great. So I want to rewrite the Multiverse Saga. Yes. The entire thing. Even though it's not finished.

Very long blocks of text below. It's really the only thing that keeps me organized. Please read it though if you are interested. It'll be split up into sections, for somewhat easy perusal.

Now, I know this is an ambitious project, and one not done. I am no stranger to things like this, see my own game/show I'm making. (This is the only time I'm going to mention it. But I am pretty proud of it) So, for my very small amount of sanity, I'm stopping it at The Marvels, and Loki season 2 (Oops, still not finished with it yet). And I wanted to ask people what they thought was lackluster, or mediocre. Not the Marvel I and many other people grew up on. I do understand that it was flawed before, but when I recently rewatched most of them, I found that my childhood love for them had blossomed into something new. I was 6 when the first Avengers came out. I learned how to shoot a bow because of Hawkeye in that movie. And I think it deserves better, especially after watching the Marvels.

Now, this means everything after Endgame. So from Black Widow to The Marvels in terms of the movies, and the Disney+ series from Wandavision to Loki Season 2. I have a feeling it's going to take me a second to get through the remaining 5 episodes of Loki S2. My family wants to watch it with me, and they're all decently busy... Anyways, that's 10 movies, and 9 series. Although I don't accept Secret Invasion. Like at all. Anyways.

I have yet to decide what I'm going to publish this on. Probably A03, just because that's easiest for me. And I can organize much easier. Do let me know what you think.

So, before I get into the problems I've identified, feel free to stop here, and reblog or ask me your problems with the aforementioned shows and movies. I'm talking writing or character problems, as we've seen in the series. I am a fan of the comics, but you can divert from that, or stick to them.

Oh, and if you say something like "Make it more queer", I am a raging bisexual enby. I will already be making it queer as fuck, and can be convinced to ship pretty much anyone, if I can get a good reasoning behind it. Minors should be shipped with only minors. That's one of my few rules, if you send anything to me. So yeah, I'm doing genderfluid Loki.

Thoughts on everything:

This is just here so that I don't get a ton of repeats. I'll go movies first, then the TV shows.

Black Widow (2021) - Honestly, this is too late of a movie. Natasha deserved this before Endgame or Infinity War came out. But release dates aside, Taskmaster needs more screentime, and a chance to show how menacing they are. Natasha also needs more time with her family, and the parents need to be fleshed out a bit more. Belova is far too smart to be tricked by the lady in the post-credit scene.

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) - I don't have any major problems with this movie. The Great Protector, or the dragon, and the supernatural creature, I think he's called Dweller In Darkness, kinda felt a little blank, and the Dweller shouldn't have died, only been pushed back. And I don't like Katy that much. Trevor is much better comedic relief in my opinion.

Eternals (2021) - Oh boy, where do we start with this one? You know it's bad if I can't remember any of the main characters names besides Ikarus. And that's because I was laughing my ass off at him throwing himself into the sun. There was also the Celestial I think it was? Anyways that thing broke islands up, and then just became a massive statue, and like no one mentions it? I don't remember much else about this movie, even after having watched it like 3 times. Oh, and the Ebony Blade was shown off. I like that if they can do something fun with that.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - Dr. Strange feels a little shoe-horned in. The whole sanctum being overtaken by snow was pretty clever, but Strange being a father figure to Peter is not super well established. Could be fixed with a couple of rewrites. Or Strange and Stark being together. Peter is a dumbass, and the reason for him starting the whole plot... is so dumb. I understand, teenagers can be stupid, hell, I go to public high school, but Peter's shown he's a lot smarter than this. But I do like the crossover (Dafoe as Green Goblin my beloved) and the fact that the other Spidermen get to say goodbye in one last movie. Anyways, Ned's wizard connections need to be elaborated on as well.

Doctor Strange: Multiverse Of Madness (2022) - Alright, getting my biggest problem out of the way first. Wanda's corruption arc should have been shown. It should have been developed through the movie, and Wanda should have been with Strange and America. She can still be evil, and die after she realizes her actions, but this basically destroys the point of Wandavision. She was willing to say goodbye. Wanda has been a favorite of mine for years, and I read her comics religiously as a child. We need to see the power of the Scarlet Witch. What it did without Wanda. Her "No More Mutants" line sent chills down my spine the first time I read it. Sam Raimi directed this movie. Strange and Wanda should have had more horrific shit. And that one Strange with 3 eyes should have been the one from What If. We need horror in this. America also needs to be more fleshed out. I do love her, but we get like one scene of her being traumatized of basically growing up nowhere. Her moms get to stay though. I'm just going to ignore the last post-credit scene, because... that's setting something up I'm not sure of.

Thor: Love & Thunder (2022) - First up, Gorr has a great setup. He needed more screentime though. We need to see more of his god killing. They should rightfully be shitting their pants over this man. Thor leaving to save Sif was a good move, but that joke ruined the tension. She should have died there, proof of the god killer. Jane Foster is perfectly fine, and her arc is a lovely send-off. I would have loved some more stuff about the kids, especially Heimdall's. I don't even remember his name. He should have been shown doing something in Jane's return to Asgard, something that showed off his parentage. The meeting of the gods is a great scene, but there should have been people who spoke up, and then promptly getting thrown out, or even getting killed. Even more of a reason for Thor and crew to convince him. I think everything else is pretty good. Also Valkyrie is perfect in this movie. Bi queen. And her Loki knives are lovely.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - I actually think this one just needs a couple of little tweaks. I understand why they couldn't have T'Challa show up in the spirit world, and Killmonger was great, but I still think something between the siblings would be good. Fuck, I love the funeral scene. It was a lovely sendoff to both T'Challa, and Chadwick. Namor seems a little rash though. Might just be the comics leaking through on that matter but I do like the Mayan inspirations in the movie!

Antman: Quantumania (2023) - I'm not really sure on this movie. I don't like Janet in this movie. She feels too secretive. She could have told them plenty, even lied that Kang had gone home. He'd gotten out somehow. Kang didn't seem scared enough of the others, but that might just be me thinking of that. Oh, and MODOK sucked. He shouldn't be a joke. But Darren could have done something else, because he is in there.

Guardians of The Galaxy V.3 (2023) - Perfection in every way. I'm not changing anything unless it involves getting everything I'm incorporating in. And the Christmas Special is also great.

The Marvels (2023) - Spoilers! Kamala needed more screentime, she just generally felt disconnected from the plot besides her bangle. And I also wanted a more menacing villain. That's been the problem with them recently. They don't make me think that they could actually beat them. I like everything else though. Flerkins were great as usual. I love these stupid creatures so much. That one scene was beautiful.

Now to the shows! These are going to be so much shorter.

Wandavision (2021) - I think this is good. No notes.

Loki S1 (2021) - Good, besides the Sylvie/Loki romance. They are siblings. I'm not sure if there's anything else that I really had a problem with. It's been a moment. Which is a shame. I love Loki (Also bi confirmation! I love it!)

The Falcon & Winter Soldier (2021) - I also think this is good, besides maybe having some problems with the villain. Bromance all the way.

What If...? (2021) - Also pretty good. Little self-contained story. I like the zombies.

Hawkeye (2021) - I also think this one's pretty well written. Macaroni is constantly referenced in my house. Lucky is also a pretty boy.

Moonknight (2022) - Honestly, god tier. Anyways, no one mentioned the stars literally turning in Egypt. But maybe it was just the people thinking that they were drunk as shit and seeing something.

Ms. Marvel (2022) - Second favorite being Moonknight. I also don't remember anything glaringly wrong.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (2022) - Besides the tone of the show being inconsistent as shit, I think this show should have dove into some of the topics it brought up more. It just seemed a little surface level. Maybe a WWDITS style mockumentary would work better.

Secret Invasion (2023) - THIS ENTIRE SHOW SUCKS ASS. THIS WHOLE THING WAS DONE SO BADLY. I am not taking anything from this show

Loki S2 (2023) - Too distracted by another season 2 coming out, so I have yet to finish. I have heard it's good though. I've seen the first episode, and it's going pretty good so far.

Well, you made it to the bottom! Yay!

...This took me an hour to write. I did get the doc set up. And got a bit of an outline set up.

[idontknownothin]

13 books tag game - tagged by @anyboli (thanks!)

1) Last book I read:

I've recently abandoned a couple books without finishing them, so the last book I actually read was Wool by Hugh Howey. It was good! I've heard not everyone loves the sequels so I'm in no hurry to continue the series, but I might someday.

2) A book I recommend:

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Such an amazing book, absolutely killer period-piece historical fantasy, it's got a masterless golem finding purpose, it's got immigrant metaphors and literal immigrants, it's got romance, it's got mysteries, it's got baking, it's everything and you should read it.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

In recent memory, what comes to mind is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Did you like The Martian? Would you like more of The Martian? Great news, friend. Scratches the same "how do I fix this problem with these limited resources" itch without feeling like a lazy retread of his first book.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more)

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. Loosely connected sequel to Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, this book narrows its cast to focus in on two characters. I've heard some people say Small, Angry Planet was a little too cozy for them, in which case I would recommend they give A Closed and Common Orbit a shot.

5) A book on my TBR

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher. I picked it up on a whim at a bookstore and I'm excited to get to it - I really enjoyed What Moves the Dead.

6) A book I’ve put down

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehiman. Not a bad book, I enjoyed what I read of it, I just kind of lost interest in the back half.

7) A book on my wish list

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I don't think it's out in the U.S. yet, but I'll give anything by this guy a shot.

8) A favourite book from childhood

The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones. Obsessed with this book as a kid, and it still holds up on more recent rereads. Check it out if you haven't already!

9) A book you would give a friend

Sabriel by Garth Nix. This book and its sequels are possibly the most underappreciated fantasy books I can think of. I cannot praise Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen enough. The fandoms for these books should be massive, there should've been a bad movie in the 2000's and a critically acclaimed big-budget streaming show in the 2020's, ComicCons should be brimming with bell bandoliers and glow-in-the-dark charter marks, I don't know why none of this is true but here we are.

10) The most books you own by a single author

That would be my boy Brando Sando. I don't own all his books by a longshot, but I think I have almost 20 of them which makes him the clear winner. Robert Jordan, Garth Nix and Becky Chambers are probably all tied for second place.

11) A nonfiction book you own

I will never, ever pass up an opportunity to talk about How to Invent Everything by Ryan North (the Dinosaur Comics / Squirrel Girl / Got Stuck in a Hole with his Dog guy). Ostensibly a book written in the future for time travelers to use in the event they are stranded in the past, this book walks you through the steps you need to rebuild civilization from the ground up, from farming to animal domestication to basic medicine to smelting, power generation, math, navigation, engineering, chemistry and literally even computer science.

The wildest part? This book is a riot. It is as entertaining as it is interesting. If you only read one non-fiction book for pleasure, make it this one.

12) what are you currently reading

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. A near-future climate science geopolitical novel, it's not an easy read and I'm not sure I'll finish it. It is quite good though.

13) what are you planning on reading next?

As mentioned above, probably going to jump into What Feasts at Night when I'm done with Ministry for the Future. It'll be nice to have something short and spooky instead of long, dense and existential!

No pressure tags: @sherpawhale, @melavixen, @analysethisinkblot, @shadowsofselfdoubt and also just anyone who sees this, I would honestly be tickled pink if you did this and let me know!

[kitkatt0430]

Congrats for managing to finish The Flash! You're braver than any U.S marine, tbh. I left it when I could, lmao. It's been. . . wild seeing how it played out. Okay, here's a fun question: top 10 missed opportunities they failed to take. And which of those you wish to explore in fic? I'm sorry if this is a lot but yeah.

P.S: Eddie is genuinely back and alive??? No B.S?? I am shookth.

Thank you. I get most of my courage from my dog, who lets me rant to her about poor plotting when I watch Flash episodes as long as I give her scritches and encourage her vendetta with the squirrels. :D

Hmmm, Top Ten Missed Opportunities...

In no particular order

1.) Not bringing Harry back in S5. He still had a lot more story to tell and exploring how he learns to live with his new disabilities would have been better than what we got with Sherloque. I mean, the new Wells always winds up growing on me because Tom always had a lot of fun bringing the Wells variants to life, but Harry leaving the Team was very abrupt and his story wasn't done. And now it'll always be this big question mark hanging over the character.

This is definitely something I'd be interested in exploring in fic. I've done so already to very small degrees, but it's definitely something I want to take a deeper look at eventually.

2.) Leonard Snart leading the Rogues. There was the build up and no payoff, thanks to the Legends stealing Len and then killing him off. Leonard Snart and his Rogues are a big deal in the comics, so not having that group come together as a legitimate threat to Barry in the show is always going to be a big disappointment. It meant no more Lisa Snart too, which was really unfortunate.

Guess I'm just gonna have to keep writing my 'Rogues as a dysfunctional found family' fics and imagining what could have been.

3.) Failing to give Cisco a proper send off. After promising an interesting plot for Cisco before S7 began, the build up for him leaving was basically a series of background events in other people's stories. His final episode, though very fun, felt very much like they'd forgotten Carlos was leaving the show until the last minute and had to scramble to send off Cisco.

I've kind of written around the issue, but for me the fix fic is Cisco not leaving at all. So I don't think a proper send off story is in the works for me to write.

4.) Making Frost a lesbian. After failing to keep Hartley in the pilot and having a queer character on the main cast from the start, they should have had an openly queer character on the show at some point. Frost would have been a great choice for this and it would have avoided the relationship with Mark Blaine who was a character that never should have joined the main cast. Allegra being queer would have been lovely too. Or Chester. Just... someone ought to have been out.

Of course they're all queer characters when I write them, so... :D

5.) Never fixing the STAR Labs building. It's a little thing, but restoring the building would have been a great metaphor for the team pulling back together after a time of upheaval. Or perhaps showing the differences in the timeline after Flashpoint.

I did address this point. With squirrels. :D

6.) Taking away Cisco's powers instead of developing them further. Cisco's powers in the comics are truly phenomenal and watching Cisco grow from fearing them to enjoying them on screen was lovely. The abrupt one-eighty on his feelings towards his powers in S5 looks far too much like a bad reaction to breaking up with Cynthia and reeks of the show runners not knowing how to handle writing Vibe. After all that build up for Cisco as Vibe, throwing it down the drain was a massively wasted opportunity.

Giving Cisco back his powers or having him never ditch them at all is definitely something I feature in my fanfics with Cisco that take place in S5 or afterwards.

7.) Not making Hartley more like his comics self. They had every opportunity to grow his character, especially when they reintroduced him post Crisis. And they never did despite clearly being aware the comics character is a much beloved one.

Hartley fix-its are definitely a favorite flavor of my fanfic writing, however. And my fanfic reading. :D

8.) Wally 'graduating' from Kid Flash to Flash. Wally is one of the more popular Flashes in the comics and he deserved to have that acknowledged on the show.

This is something I'll get around to writing fix-its for eventually. I still can't believe the show ended and Wally is still just Kid Flash with the yellow and red suit.

9.) Not having children as metas. We got Frankie, but that's basically it. (Jax was a high school student in 2013, but had graduated by the time he showed up in S2.) The accelerator had to have affected children. Teens sneaking out at night, late night school events like band concerts, younger siblings at football games, etc...

I'm not great at writing kids, but addressing the lack of children as metas is something I want to write. Such as my much younger Joss Jackam that I want to return to at some point. (Also because that version of Mark Mardon is adorable too.)

10.) Only having Flashpoint as a single episode. Flashpoint was a big deal in the comics and would have been a lot more impactful if it had been a longer arc.

Personally, I think the resolution to Flashpoint should have been tied into Nora's death coming full circle for Barry. Though I did think the episode where that night did come full circle was well done. But eventually I will wind up writing my own version of both Flashpoint and how Barry came to tell his S1 self not to stop Eobard from murdering Nora.

And, yup, Eddie's alive again in canon. He's been thoroughly mind screwed by the Negative Speed Force and is still it's Avatar, but destroying the N!SF's crystal and actively choosing not to hate Barry - to set aside his resentment over the life he didn't get to have - seems to have had a profound affect on the interior of the N!SF. Hopefully Eddie's innate good nature will have prove to cause a permanent change to the N!SF itself, making them allies for Team Flash in the future. Though, as Eddie noted, he's not always going to agree with Barry or want to do things Barry's way, so... it's an interesting place to leave him even if I disagree with how he got there.

[avengersnewb]

for ao3 wrapped: #3, 5 & 18?

#3 what work are you most proud of? I'd say my comics epistolary fic I wrote for 'you gave me a stocking' event for 616 stony discord server. I honestly love how it turned out, their voices coming out in their letters, and the way Steve's letters sound like someone from 40s, or how Tony's sound like he's writing in the 80s. I don't know, I always pat myself on the back when I get a comment on it and end up re-reading it :)))

Seeking Companionship

The story of someone putting a personal ad in the newspaper, hoping to find a kind companion, who finds much more; everything he always wanted but never knew he could have - told all in letters.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45410065

#5 What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? I guess the omega Tony fic I posted in Jan. I did expect to get more feedback than I get these days but didn't think it'll get this much. Guess omega Tony and protective alpha Steve is always a winner :D

Must Be True

When the stakes are too high, Tiberius Stone offers his omega, Tony, as a little side incentive to close important business deals. Tonight’s business is an arms deal with the Avengers, and the alpha they’re meeting is Captain America.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44308360

#18 The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? hmmm does it count if I never wrote and posted that fic?!!! I have this fic idea, Steve and Bucky are two alphas already married in an omega oppressive, queerphobic government, and one day omega Tony is deposited at their door, because the government has decided that all a/a couples should have babies in a year time. I basically couldn't write Bucky at all. couldn't wrap my head around how his relationship with Steve would be like and I was like ehhh two hard, let's not even try :))))

The Missing Piece (unposted WIP)

It's a perfect Sunday. Steve drags Bucky to the farmers market early in the morning. They buy all the fresh, healthy vegetables that Steve loves. Bucky convinces Steve to sit down for a long lunch after, and orders too much meaty, oily food, the exact things Steve’s trying to make them eat less of.  They go to the art supply store and buy new brushes and some paper. They go to the book shop, and Steve sits down to sketch the flowers outside the window, while Bucky pages through all the new comics, and then they go to that little french pastry place they both really love and grab dessert, with coffee and everything, stretching their feet in the sunlit sitting area in the comfy chairs.  They walk back home hand in hand. Maybe it's all Steve's fault, after all. Maybe he jinxes it all, as he puts down all the shopping bags he's been carrying on their front porch to fish out his keys from his pants pocket, his other hand still held tight in Bucky's hand. Bucky doesn’t even see the yellow sturdy envelope on the entryway floor. No, Steve thinks going down on one knee to read the name of the sender typed in bold. No, no, no, he repeats to himself as he picks up the envelope and stands back up holding it away like whatever’s inside could come out and bite Steve like a poisonous snake.  “What?” Bucky puts down the shopping bags, reaching for the letter. “The Family Ministry? No! What?!" he asks shakily, turning to face Steve. "God, why, no, no—holy fuck!”  They stay there like that, in the middle of their small entryway, each holding one side of a yellow envelope, staring at it.  They haven’t even opened the thing and they’re losing it already. 

Thank you so so much for the ask <33

and here's the link if anyone wants to reblog or send me more asks :)

[bugheadchemistry]

People keep saying that BA ia endgame bc of stuff Lilly or Ras or whoever hinted but ..... If they implied anything else Barchies would throw the biggest tantrum we've ever seen lmao

They don't want to risk their current viewer base ditching them so early in the final season. They want to squeeze every Barchie tweet out of this that they can for promo. I have no idea who will be endgame but I DO know that if it's not Barchie, the last thing anyone working on the show is going to do is imply that this early lmao

I know they feel rly confident right now, but they need to remember Ras wants views, and the Barchies are easy views and promo atm. But I think they also know if they bring back older, more popular ships that could also make them BANK later lol so at the end of the day, it'll be what they think will get the most views/money I think.

I also just think with all the universe hopping and time line changing, and then choosing to do BA during that, is a BAD sign for them lol it feels like they're going to switch things up at the end and if Barchie was going to be endgame for sure, I don't think they would get this much content this soon. I could always be wrong, but I just think Ras is 100% using Barchies atm bc they're ravenous and LOUD so its good to get tweets about them going and stuff. Long story short, they probably should consider the fact that if anyone implied anything BESIDES Barchie endgame, they'd all mass exodus out of the viewer base lol they're gunna keep them on the hook but that doesn't mean they'll get what they want at the end. I don't think Ras is loyal to them in any way, and if he IS a fan of the comics at all - he knows Archie literally never chooses Betty EVER lol

Also the whole Tabitha guardian angel thing feels like an easy cop out for that relationship - she's not of this world or has a bigger purpose or whatever and won't end up with anyone from the show lol they've done a poor job incorporating her organically into the cast people had already been watching for years so I'm thinking she won't be there when things wrap up. Her being a literal angel feels far too convenient lol

Only time will tell, but they're much more confident then I think they should be. If I was them, I'd be skeptical and anxious. I think they'll likely slowly hint at other ships in hoping of luring back more of the old fan base over the season before the Barchies foam at the mouth and jump ship - so that they wont lose out on viewer numbers. Will that work? Probably not lmao but I still don't think BAs are going to get the perfect happily ever after they've invisioned

Whew! There’s a lot to unpack here. I will do my best to respond and try to make sense. 😂 I’m just going to go paragraph by paragraph.

1. It’s been said multiple times, by myself and others, that RAS never confirms anything. He’s always vague and misleading so as not to give anything away (which I’m of the opinion now that he actually doesn’t know where they are going with anything which is why the show became such a dumpster fire 🤷🏼‍♀️). It’s already been established that Lili never confirmed anything either. I’m convinced that BAs just don’t know the definition of that word.

2. I’m curious to know who the viewer base is now. They lost the BHs and VAs for sure. Casual viewers ditched because the storylines were so far out there that “jumping the shark” is too kind of a phrase to use at this point. Is it just BAs? If so, that would explain why the ratings are so low. Turns out, there are not as many BA fans as they BAs would want us to believe.

3. I am honestly baffled by how sure BAs are that they are going to get everything they have ever wanted when these writers have proven that they will screw anyone over just for drama. That overconfidence is really going to bite them in the ass one of these days (and hopefully soon!).

4. Yeah, the BA storylines in seasons 5 & 6 were nothing to write home about. I mean, yeah BA hooked up a lot but where was the romance? There wasn’t any. Didn’t they also go for a long stretch of episodes without interacting at all? And didn’t Betty kill Archie twice in the multi-verse? I just don’t get what there was to like about any of it, and if I were a BA I would be pissed.

5. Yeah, I don’t know what to say about Tabitha. By the time she joined the show, I had already stopped watching.

6. I would be absolutely shocked if they gained back any of the viewership they lost. It’s too late and too many bridges have been burned.

[tickldpnk8]

Season of Mists Reread Ch. 6

So I'm currently rereading Season of Mists and blogging about the clues I'm seeing. You can see the previous posts here:

Prologue/Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 Bonus: At Death's Door

But on with this latest analysis! At this point, the story is starting to wrap up, and we get the showdown between Morpheus and Azazel. I saw an excellent post on the showdown itself, so I won't go into all that here. But as I read through things looking for clues to the nature of Dream and also foreshadowing, I did spot a few.

On Dream

For one, it's confirmed that Morpheus/Dream doesn't sleep:

He's a bit of a hoarder who likes to store things in his personal pirate chest. The contents of this were also discussed on that Azazel-battle thread, so I won't go into it just yet.

And we see a bit more of how different folks' perceptions of his aspect works as he rescues Nada. In the panels right before this mouth opens, we see the Morpheus we're all familiar with. As soon as Nada can see him, he changes into Kai'kul. And then he's back to his "usual" appearance once she's safe and he's out of her line of sight. I think this is mostly for our benefit as we can only see one drawing of him at a time. But I would now hazard a guess that to all the dignitaries gathered in his throne room, they would each see him as they might have seen him when they are alone. (But who would Bast see?) I think we default to the Reader's perspective of his aspect unless only one other character is viewing him who might have a different perspective. (since we are a character in the story)

On Dream's relationship to his realm

We learn that aside from controlling the weather of the Dreaming, he has complete control over whether it's day or night. If you were wondering how he possibly met with everyone in such a short time, it's because he didn't let the sun rise.

This fancy ceiling room that has been discussed at length is apparently also his throne room?? Or did he move it here from where it was the night before for convenience? In any case, things shifted. The throne now seems simpler than the last we saw it with the Egyptian motifs, but the green drapes remain. His dais is still close to the ground as it was the night before, but much lower than in previous story arcs/issues.

And his castle sits at the Heart of the Dreaming. It is not only his home, but his place of power. He has complete control over reality: "It is what I wish it to be – no more, no less."

On the Plot

Now let's look at the clues to the over-arching plot of the whole Sandman run. I found a few of interest that I didn't notice before.

Aside from Loki seemingly distraught to be leaving at the end and trying to get away from Thor, we get this one small detail within the title page spread that I totally missed the first time:

Meanwhile, Nuala overhears Merlin commenting on the Greek gods not coming. I think this works as a story point on 2 levels: I suspect it ties into larger DC continuity knowing that Wonder Woman's comics regularly show them. But it also works in isolation since it seems they don't tend to get on well with Morpheus from what we've seen of the Calliope story. Or it might just be setting the stage for that relationship if I'm misremembering when we learn things from my first read-through.

And then finally we have that pirate trunk panel mentioned above. I'll add it here again for reference:

In it, we've got the Corinthian's skull, Ornament-Azazel, a ring, another ornament-like bulb (or is it a grenade?? hard to tell), a leather book that is buckled shut, a city in a glass bottle, a penny, and 2 canisters in the background. It'll be interesting to see which of these comes up again. Corinthian we know about. I already know now what the bottle represents, but am wondering if/when I've seen the others.

And that's that! I'd like to do another wrap-up post on the ceiling and once I get to the end of Season of Mists, I'm tempted to do a master post on all the changes Morpheus' castle goes through in just these issues alone. Lots to dissect here. :D

[druckkugelschreiber]

Okay, so, I have always been a bit confused how Noriko drowned for centuries in the ocean because you float on salt water, but like, I did some googling and thanks now I'm horrified.

And of course I'm sharing the horrors with you!

Horrors of drowning discussed below. Proceed at your own risk

So, once the air in the lungs is replaced by a water a body begins to sink. It only floats back up when it starts to decompose and the gases make it go buoyant.

From the comics we know it takes about 60 secs for the immortals to drown over and over with a full lung of air. Which is technically not how drowning works. While an average person can hold their breath with a full lung of air for about 30 seconds, we already have oxygen in our bloodstream at that point. That means even when that timespan of holding your breath conciously is up, your brain will make you hold your breath until you pass out and inhale water. (And then a feeling of peace can/ will set in).

Conciousness is usually lost in between 2-3min.

The actual death by drowning is after 5-8 mins depending on individual factors (which is less important for the immortals who don't get resucitated).

Back to Noriko. She goes overboard in a storm. If she gets pulled under by a wave and can't get back up and drowns, she'll sink. And with every struggle of life and death, the storm raging on, it'll make her sink more and more. She comes back to and the light is further away and away and while she is concious she can never get back up high enough to stay above the waves even when the storms stop.

Alternatively she was pulled down with broken parts of the ship, which tugged her instantly so far down she couldn't get back up even when she had freed herself.

Basically, what I'm saying. Noriko is so far under the waves, she can't get back up in 3 minutes of conciousness. But she has those three minutes of conciousness to think. To exist. To see the fish and other underwater things want to eat her when she struggles and she can feel their teeth on her body.

And the pain.

And now I have no idea how she eventually escaped. Maybe she was lucky and got carried up by a dolphin or a strange sea event.

Either way. I know even more about drowning than I previously already did, feel even worse for Noriko and just generally have a really bad time.

Of course we can also play this through for Quynh, in this post I discuss how the iron of her cage will break after 25 years. That means she's free to swim and free to drown all over again, because if she's deep down enough not to get back up like Noriko... can you imagine?

Fighting for 25 years to be free of the iron maiden and then the iron breaks and you realise you're still trapped. You still can't get out. You can see the light and everytime you swim up it comes closer and closer but your body gives out before you can reach it. No matter how hard you fight, you can't win.

You thought you were free but you actually traded one cage for another. The illusion of freedom.

[infin-8-morphosis]

So hmmm, 3 weeks of relative freedom and lets see, what did I do with it.

Probably most importantly I now have a standing desk (It's great. Now I can walk away every 5 minutes and not have to sit back down n remember what I was doing before I get distracted again) and most most importantly I have a functioning tablet that does not make my eyes bleed and brain cry from the colour inaccuracy. I hadn't seen purple in so long. You have no idea how much this speeds things up. In theory.. I'm still slow. It's just how I function, and that's okay.

Well I'm redoing the map again, to no-ones surprise.

Decided on it being a tidally-locked moon, with pretty extreme temperatures either side but a moderate middle. Its orbit is skewed so the moon has earth-like seasons, but less extreme. It has a lot of land, and 2 separated oceans, plus lots of craters, the ecological impacts (pun unintended but appreciated) of so many massive collisions it looks cool okay.

For reference the edges of the map, and the centre line horizontally, are the equator...s. If you cut it in half along the central horizontal line, the centres of the resulting squares would be the poles.

Bit outdated but, like this. That lower right corner is actually like 50% of the globe, probably too big but... it's okay, it's mostly frozen wasteland on account of being near perpetually dark.

Only the top of the main continent is done but I'm feeling good about it. Also bought a plugin to make it interactible so eventually it'll have many layers including the heights, climate, biomes, political stuff, roads, towns, etc. Don't you miss when old web games had interactible maps. Like Neopets. I am now living beyond my wildest dreams making them. Awesome.

Perhaps the biggest thing is this. Sort of... I decided to make a big worldbuilding decision, one I really have wanted to make for a long time but never knew how to go about it in a way that was better than just 'theyre aliens but happen to look like humans' (booo)

so the Valkyries are now 100% home-grown aliens, or I guess more accurately natives, since they used to be aliens to this planet.

This has some fun opportunities to explore non-magical possibly also sapient offshoots and relatives, better flow to the biology aspect now they don't feel so separate to the rest of the world.

Importantly they maintain a pleasantly human-like look and I guess function, while being visually and functionally different. They breathe through their necks (Realising Avatar already did this but they didnt give their humanoid the cool necks so boohoo i beat you to it. Also I forgot about the neck thing in that so I guess we're both cool. Theyre derived gills.) Also their neck is. on the back of their head. Its really cool. Their eyes are really that huge, but are oval shaped and dont actually rotate... only the layer of skin over it does, which contracts to from a pupil of differing sizes. So they have 3 eyelids, 1 skin, 1 membrane, 1 sphincter thing. Lovely.

You've maybe guessed already (Well probably not I hardly post them) But uhhh. This has a lot of implications for my characters, and more direly the uhhhh. giant comic I'm halfway through making.

Honestly I've kind of given up on 'finishing' it. I dunno, I feel content to move on with the story and just work on it whenever I want to do a bit more with it. It was always intended to be my 'practice' for the 'real' comic, which I feel fully capable of. Doesn't mean I'll do it tho.

And you can maybe also guess why I'm modelling them therefore. Uhhhh.... 3d comic anyone? maybe? probably not but ooooh. the ease of doing complicated poses, you have any idea how much of a wall a wierd pose is. using the 3d model as the background. I dunno, I've never seen it done before, I'd like to be the first at something, even if it doesn't work. I feel a lot more secure in my work than I used to be., to be free to fail.

If I can get the model to be as expressive as my 2d art (Which. Wuargh. Hard task.) and set it up so I don't need to unsymmetrise it (daunting but doable I hope with a few tricks) then there's nothing to stop me. Oh also clothes I guess and people touching and What To Do with Water and How To Rig Hair but like. I love 3d. And it'd be so much less destructive than 2d. I redo so many panels over and over from scratch because the pain of adjusting dozens of layers is greater than just redrawing. Imagine destroying that problem by being able to redo whatever I like and rerender it. Honestly the comfort something is changeable would maybe stop me from endlessly changing things.

So this model is ideally going to be a template for me to model my characters. I'm unsure if I'll be able to make them share a rig to the point that poses and such will be reusable... but I'll try. I think as long as the bones have the same names it'll work.

Here's an example of a redesign. Also little teen teri... cursed and skinny... Still a mild victim of funky tablet colours so if it's wierd, yeah.

(It's hilarious putting her proportions into 3d. She is so dense. She is easily 4x the body mass of the template, its ridiculous. And that was only the muscles, I didnt even add the fat yet. I probably won't model everyones skeleton and muscles but she needs it okay)

3d is really just, the closest you can get to those flash dressup games, you know the ones, but with complete creative freedom. And cloth physics.

[jasper-rolls]

Media Roundup (March 2024)

i forgot to do this for like the first third of the month oops! life is hard. quite a little list of stuff i consumed

AD:TRANCE 10 - Diverse System

TRANCE MUSIC IS FUCKING BACK, BABY. man this was a real solid compliation, just some excellent stuff throughout. it never quite got beyond the heights of 2, but still a very strong showing.

best tracks: "Warrior", "Visiophanum", "Stella Walker"

X-Men: Days of Future Past

this is that good comic book shit. some really fantastic sequences although it left some stuff on the table - i kept expecting quicksilver to show back up and attach himself to the team and he just...didn't, i guess, despite what seemed like obvious interest. presumably a set up for the sequel

i feel a little disappointed the future stuff was just not at all prominent and the story focused almost entirely on the 70s. not that i'm opposed to the 70s but it felt like something interesting could be done with the future, and i was expecting some weird timeline flashing shit with new future realities being created and wolverine having to jump back again and that...doesn't really happen, he just starts thrashing the table and making hurting kitty for really no reason - they already had the sentinel ticking clock, they didn't need to attack elliot page too. also they keep fucking stiffing beast, he doesn't...really do anything here and his design kinda sucks. please write him good just once, i'm begging you

otherwise it was pretty great. love young erik and charles's dynamic. they really need to kiss about it that would probably fix the timeline for real

The American Dream - Tedrich Lendum

i wasn't expecting much from this, and it starts off feeling a little trite, so perhaps there's only so much to expect when you're chopping and screwing country, but then it ballooned into this nigh on apocalyptic feeling. weird yet cool.

best track: "Down"

Ahsoka

laughable that everyone involved was like "oh, i guess you can see this as rebels season 5, but it's really just its own standalone thing that you can enjoy on its own terms without needing to do homework" and then it was just rebels season 5. just name it rebels season 5, man.

is this what the people want? is this really what we're satisfied by? sabine can do force stuff now even though that was like, never the point of her character. we get no idea of what ezra's life has been like since the end of rebels S4 and his character has changed not one bit from spending literal years in exile on a mudball so, whatever, he gets to go home i guess. did ahsoka change, like at all? she had some clone wars fanservice in the middle there but like. she didn't have an arc, she never stopped doing what she was going to do and she ends the show the same as she started it but she's just in a different part of the galaxy. is this all set up for the mando movie? what is the point of doing any of this when no-one's going to go through any kind of journey? filoni, what happened? you used to be pretty good at this, sometimes even great!

when is andor season 2. good god

Guardians of the Galaxy

heartbreaking: chris pratt is the star of the best MCU movie thus far

i laughed AND i cried. much more enjoyable for feeling largely unshackled from the binding narrative that's starting to wrap around the MCU at this point, where the film can focus on its characters and their journeys. especially immediately after watching something so arc-less as the mandoverse, this feels like a bright star. wonderful stuff. looking forward to more

GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: GOLDEN HEART/GOLDEN RING

not much to say about it - despite the title it takes place in the middle of vento aureo. still, some cool fights to enjoy. joy division is a fun stand imo.

Skizz - Alan Moore, Jim Baikie

E.T. by way of alan moore seems like it'll be interesting, and the original run is decent, but it doesn't do anything truly groundbreaking, and once baikie takes over writing it becomes pretty dull. still, a neat curiosity

The Bob's Burgers Movie

Crime Hole

just a good fun hour and a half, and also a tear came to my eye when they talked about louise's hat. the villain is kind of obvious but i like how they make his earlier actions make sense. my only real complaints are that gene and tina's subplots just kinda get left by the wayside, only remarked upon occasionally, and the dovetailing of bob and linda's plot with the kids just felt a little too forced to really work. regardless, great music. some genuinely wonderful animation, not just on the dancing, but there's these delightful little actions that are done so fluidly. teddy crying in the alley, felix trying to get the toothpick out of his drink with his tongue. its a joy to watch

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures

I Love Yoda's Indoctrination Camp For Kids

(it's fine)

American Gangster - Jay-Z

i've always kind of struggled to connect to hip-hop, and this took some close listening, but i think this is where i finally get it. learning that jay does it all off the top of his dome completely changed how i viewed it.

best tracks: "I Know" "Party Life" & "Fallin'"

Fullmetal Alchemist

i think what i liked about this i presumably attribute to the original story. the original story that takes up the back half i think has some genuinely fantastic moments, but it fumbles a lot. this did properly get me into FMA, though

From Hell - Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell

perhaps the deepest, most well researched dive into not only the whitechapel murders, but the entire society that surrounds them, and tying it in beatuifully with a genre transcending exploration of time and evil. moore does it again.

American Idiot - Green Day

the fucking album ever. more lefty than i gave it credit for: this isn't just stupid "ooh bush bad" stuff, this was a mediation on what it means to grow up being told your country stands for freedom, while it does something completely different. salient, even now.

best tracks: "Jesus of Suburbia", "Holiday", "St. Jimmy"