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doctorstrangereview · 2 months ago

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0105: Avengers #116

Cover Date: October 1973 On-Sale Date: July 17, 1973

The Avengers/Defenders war continues here. We get chapters two and three of the story. Steve Englehart is writing the Defenders, the Avengers and Doc's solo stories so there's a degree of consistency here. It holds together better than the Shuma Gorath arc which had multiple writers and artists and fluctuations in quality and consistency. Bob Brown's art is definitely house style. Steve has a VERY large cast to manage here. Let's see how he does.

The Avengers are visiting Doc's Sanctum Sanctorum and being very insistent on being allowed an audience. It appears Doc isn't too keen on this. In the splash panel we see Earth's Mightiest Heroes being tossed away like dust bunnies in front of a jet engine. Bob Brown captures nearly all of the Avengers but we only see the Scarlet Witch's shapely legs. Hmmm...

Cap lets slip why they are there. Apparently they are peeved that Doc is holding the Black Knight away from his buddies and castle in secret. Thor goes to knock on the door again with a bit more fervor. This time Wong answers the door and informs the group in his polite yet forceful way that Doc doesn't wish to be disturbed. He shuts the door in their faces which doesn't engender good attitudes.

Thor is especially not taking this well and uses his hammer to break down the Sanctum's doors. Good man that Wong is, he actually starts to fight the Avengers.

It doesn't last long as Doc has other methods of expelling visitors up his billowing sleeves. Mystical ones. This may be the most delightful comics panel of all 1973!

This time the Avengers take the hint and haul off, but Thor vows to return.

Meanwhile, Dormammu is enjoying his tricking the Defenders into reassembling the evil eye for him. Loki asks when he's gonna fix his retinas. Dormie tells him in due time. Loki may be having regrets about this arrangement.

Doc and the Defenders are gathered around the Orb of Agamotto attempting to locate the little mini-eyes they need to slap into the big-eye. The Orb begins to reveal recent events the eye endured. First we see and early Fantastic Four story where the Human Torch and his big buddy Wyatt Wingfoot are fighting the eye's current custodian, Prester John for custody. Unstable, the pair attempt to destroy the eye. They appear succeed, but in reality it split into a bunch of little eyes. Conveniently, the Orb also gives the locations of the pieces.

The Defenders break up into smaller groups to handle each location more quickly. They even manage to convince to Hulk to join them by appealing to his sense of friendship with the Black Knight. The sub-teams go their merry way while Doc wishes them "BEGONE!" and hangs out at home with the Black Knight's stony presence.

Loki is fretting some more over the arrangement with Dormammu. Loki realizes that after he does the nasty to Midgard* (*Earth) he may do the same to Asgard. What's an evil, blind immortal god to do?

Why, he can pop in on the Avengers and grovel to his half-brother Thor for help! And to convince them to help, he lies like a rug to convince them that the Defenders are evil.

Loki can't tell them where each Defender went. Captain America uses this as an opportunity for a working vacation in Japan.

The other's motives for their destinations are a bit sus as well. Thor reminds everyone else he's way outta their league.

The Surfer goes to Polynesia. He scours the island but doesn't find the mini-eye so does the logical thing of asking the natives who promptly think the flying silver man is a god. "Nope," says the Surfer. "You sure you ain't the volcano god?" asks the native with the most impressive headdress. "The volcano! That's the one place it didn't dawn on me to look!" replies the chrome-dome.

The Vision and his main squeeze the Scarlet "Legs" Witch arrive just as the Surfer has dived into molten lava. The Vision is having his doubts and says he'll try to talk to the Surfer before attempting to kick his butt.

While the Scarlet Witch rationalizes pounding the Defenders into paste, the Surfer makes a boo-boo and the volcano erupts. OOPS!! The blast destroys the Avenger's jet and "Legs" is now falling to her death. The Vision rescues her and sees the Surfer on the volcano. He, of course, assumes he deliberately blasted his girlfriend. Logic flies out the metaphorical window. Fortunately, both are immune to the incredible hear of molten lava and both engage like Krystal and Alexis in that lily pond.

While the two fight, the island natives believe they need a sacrifice so they drag the Scarlet Witch into the path of the lava. Back in the caldera the Surfer manages to find the mini-eye. Both combatants grab the eye, manage to trigger it and are tossed away like salad. Recovering, the Vision is about to grab the eye when he sees Scarlet Witch about to go swimming the lava and rescues her instead. This allows the Surfer to recover the eye fragment. The Vision can't follow the Surfer because of the destroyed jet, but will radio the other Avengers if it still works. He thinks the Defenders are out for blood. The Surfer has a similar opinion of the Avengers.

For all the power being thrown around and the possible cosmic consequences of this story, the misunderstandings between the two teams because of a lack of communication make this feel like an episode of Three's Company. So much of this could have been avoided if the teams talked to each other. You can blame this on Doc. If he hadn't tossed the Avengers out on their tushies they could have worked together and maybe even discovered the deception that is playing both teams like violins.

I'm guessing Englehart is setting things up for multiple battles between the teams and exploiting the fact that Marvel heroes aren't at the pinnacle of maturity in this era. If that's what it takes I'll go with it. Like I mentioned at the start, Bob's art is very house style. These are how you would expect the heroes to look on merchandise. That last panel's Silver Surfer even looks very Kirby.

I'm not entirely sold on this set-up yet. It's the first team vs. team for Marvel and the first time an arc weaves through multiple titles. I do believe it will get better.

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teeth-and-tea · 4 years ago

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ANIME & MANGA I HAVE BINGED IN THE LAST MONTH: May 2021

I've Been Hunting Slimes for the Past 300 Years and Now Ive Maxed Out My Level: incredibly long name aside, cute af slice of life that suffers Same Face Syndrome. I'm still happy to watch it because of how feel good and fluffy it is though, Im probably gonna forget about it in two or three years tho. 8/10.

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro: I found out this was a webcomic first and suddenly all the HORNINESS made so much more sense. A Femdom, Degradation, Humiliation, Dacryphilia Bullies to Lovers story disguised as a high school rom-com which, I'm not going to lie, misses SKEEVY CITY by mere inches on a regular basis. However, I'm a Dom/Switch and this entire relationship sets off my dom brain center like New York City just shy of midnight. So if you're into that sort of scene, this anime is for you. If not, it's still fascinating but you're probably gonna be a little put off by how mean the Girl!Bully is to the guy MC. Unless you find out something about yourself, in which case, congrats! Stay safe, sane, consensual, and learn about the traffic light system on top of safe words, I promise you'll have a better life in general after that. Still Ongoing, currently 10/10.

Fruits Basket: IM GONNA CRY I LOVE THIS ANIME SO MUCH???? The original anime came out when I was in... I think middle school and my parents were really strict on what I watched so I never got to experience the first wave and I never bothered to watch the show ever after I moved out of the house years later. However, now that I'm much older I honestly can say this is one of my favorite anime to date, and all the characters are charming, lovable, with their own problems that I can connect to or sympathize with, and I love the MC which is always a treat tbh. Except Akito. Akito can suck a sandpaper dick. I'm only on S2 tho so no spoilers! Anime 11/10.

Monster Girl Doctor: went in thinking it was gonna be a monster girl who's a doctor with a homoerotic assistant (her name is SAPPHY okay sue me for thinking it) and ended up watching the entire dubbed harem series. Honestly, I've seen worse and this one has consistent follow-through on interesting characters and backstory enough for me to shove aside the blatant under-monstrousness of the female monsters and the harem-ness of everything else. Dubbing is honestly really good, which is a treat, and the monster designs are not the worst and the MC is tolerable. Honestly, I don't mind having watched it! The mix of cgi and the traditional animation together work pretty strangely though, and it often doesn't flow super well. 7.5/10

So I'm a Spider, So What: Dubbed version which honestly isn't that bad. Took me a bit to get into it, but after realizing that it's got a mismatched timeline a la The Witcher, it made so much more sense. Heavily done in cgi, and you can definitely tell between the 2D and 3D animations, but not the worst in the world. I went in not expecting much but it ended up being an Issekai I can stand and even enjoy. On god has a decent story... with the spider. I'd be a liar if I didnt say I skipped some of the human parts just to get back to the best part of the show. 8/10.

Somali and the Forest Spirit: I'm so fucking nostalgic for this thing it makes me want to go and hug my dad. About a human girl under threat of being eaten with a monster-dominated world. Very obvious "humans fear what they don't understand" message but instead of the humans learning tolerance it's what happens when they get annihilated first so like, kudos for the mangaka for having the guts to do that. I cried like a baby regularly. It's really good, I watched the dub and ID WATCH IT AGAIN!!! 9/10.

To Your Eternity: Oh my god. O h my g o d. Fell in love on the first episode, ngl. About if an immortal being learned how to be a person from scratch. I love it. HOWEVER. Keep a box of tissues on you at all times because you're gonna need them. I'm only on EP7 because that's all that's out right now but just know. I love it. Not for everyone but certainly for my "what do we define as human and the human condition" ass. 12/10.

Those Snow White Notes: A sports anime without any sports. About shamisen playing which is cool because I never realized how cool this instrument was??? Its neat af. OP1&2 are by Burnout Syndrom so know theyre fire. Gonna be real, its pretty alright, but not extraordinary. You can tell they were using the characters as archetypes rather than actually characters which kinda kills a lot of the emotional value you could've had, but I'm still gonna watch it. It doesn't make me cringe as hard as other sports anime tho so I consider it toptier in that regards but if you're a big sports anime fan you might be bummed out by it. Every single musical performance is INCREDIBLE tho. A solid 8/10.

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun: THE ART OMFG IT'S SO GORGEOUS. Listen, if you took coptic markers and gave them an animation budget with some manga panel direction thrown in there, that's this anime. It's beautiful. Gorgeous. I'm in love with the aesthetic every second. Story? Really good. Characters? I love the MC and his evil little twin brother asshat. Demons? Not super imaginative but I'm carrying on happy as can be anyways. Dubbing? A bit shaky at times but I found the voices charming if a little off for some of them. I'm already waiting for the second season with popcorn at the ready. 10/10.

Prison School: I watched this directly after Hanako-kun and it was like I got slapped in the face by sweaty unwashed titties and some fedora wearing schmuck's piss kink. No character is likable or redeemable. I finished it, but at what cost? 2/10 and only because a character shit his pants and I laughed.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle: watched this right after Prison School and it was NECESSARY tbh. Its so CUTE and honestly, im not even kidding you, the fucking funniest anime I've seen in months. I watched the dub and the VAs are having the time of their lives working on this anime not just giving it their all but literally just going ham. Its great. If I read this im sure id be bored outta my mind but the VAs giving it a joyous performance make it an insta fave for me tbh. 9/10.

Sk8 the Infinity: i watched the dub with my bro and I can confirm that its a spectacular show because we both loved it and we have vastly different tastes. Incredibly SUSPENSFUL AND STRESSFUL for an anime about skateboarding but we finished it in a single sitting tbh. The last episode is not dubbed for some reason but we still loved it. Like if Free! was less obnoxious but the only fan-service here is Joe ♡ a beefcake who owns my lesbian heart. I think there's exactly one named female character tho and I legit couldn't tell you what it was if there was a gun to my head. So, over all, 9.5/10.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: I'm going to be entirely honest, I went in thinking it was going to be a boring isekai of no value. I was right about the Isekai part. It was honestly pretty interesting and focused on nation building like you're playing civilization rather than the usual "Get Stronger" narrative or "Get Some Pussy" narrative most isekais take which is delightfully refreshing. Granted there are flavors of that in this which means it doesn't alienate the big isekai watchers out there, but it's not the whole dish and it doesn't make me want to cringe the same way others do. You've got a slime MC just vibing and building a nation of monsters nbd. Does lose points for making the female monsters more humanoid than their male counterparts but makes them back by only doing perfunctory fan-service and nothing that makes me want to cry... except the butt sumo episode but in fairness it was all a terrible dream. Literally, the MC refuses to dream anymore after that. solid animation, decent voice acting, decent story, made me realize how HUGE this is in the Light Novel community???? There's like 18 fucking novels and that's WILD. 8.5/10.

MANGA:

Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono: a one shot special by the mangaka of The Promised Neverland! Honestly a really delicate touch of both super creepy and really touching, and I'm not gonna lie I'm bummed that this isn't a bigger project but the single chapter makes it a good taste for their style. I've been wondering if I wanna read/watch The Promised Neverland and now I think I will. 10/10

Deranged Detective Ron Kamonohashi: from the mangaka of Hitman Reborn comes this Sherlock and Watson derivative! Not even 20 chapters out yet with a sort of spotty schedule, I honestly love it even thought it's exactly as you expect. HOWEVER. Kamonohashi the "Sherlock" character uses mental pressure to kill all confirmed murderers and it's up to Toto the "Watson" character to save all those people before Kamonohashi kills them! It's just recently introduced a "Moriarty" family of crime lords (not a big spoiler don't worry it was obvious) so the tension surrounding Ron's past is amping up rn. Personally, I think the art is GORGEOUS, the characters engaging, and the story quick enough to keep my interest. Most mysteries are solved within a chapter or two so you're not stuck 20 chapters into one locked room mystery which is just peachy tbh. RN, 10/10. If this gets an anime, I anticipate a legion of fangirls who ship the two main characters along with their many friends. I've been alive too long to believe otherwise.

Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro: Yeah I read the manga after I watched the show. A slower build than the anime, but it works for the format, if theyd done the same with the show then I don't think it wouldve done as well. Honestly? Cuter tbh but just as horny. You dont start really LEARNING about your character until like, chap 65 tho and no real "drama" happens until like 75. A good chunk of the chapters are like 8pgs so its a breeze to get through. I love these slow burn idiots of the century. 9.5/10 because you can DEFINITELY tell the mangaka does hentai too.

Yugen's All-Ghouls Homeroom: one-shot by the mangaka for Food Wars, it's no wonder there's this constant perviness from the MC, a guy who can see and exorcise spirits. Takes place at an all girl's finishing school with KICK ASS monsters tbh, kinda bummed its not longer. The MC? Blatant monsterfucker who is also a CONFRIMED monsterfucker???? Idk i vibe with that single emotion. Everything else is hit or miss. 7/10 for monsters and cool concept, lost points for the MC very pointedly being okay with admitting he'd wait for the teenagers to be adults tho. Creepy af. Could live without that.

Hell's Paradise: I finished the entire 127chps in 3 days and I was really enthusiastic about it 90% of the time thinking about how deep it was and then I actually thought about it and I ended up being very neutral about the whole thing tbh. The art is fantastic tho, but DEFINITELY deserving of the M rating. Tits. Tits everywhere. But not tits to be ecchi over, no, monster hermit tits on beautiful women-ish figures. Now generally I give that a pass but a huge theme in the story is that men and women are "no better than one or the other" but like, lady tits are what you see 99% of the time. Men tits are few and far between. I call bullshit on most of the "deep" themes is what I'm saying, so it's like the mangaka was trying for those deep thoughts but missed the margin a little too far for my preference. That being said, the MC is a married man who loves his wife which automatically makes him my favorite character so like... idk so many good things, so many misses, but overall really spectacular themes and imagery. Unique but classic all at once. It's getting an anime and I have NO IDEA how much censorship they're gonna be doing but they're going to be doing SO MUCH. Oh yeah, and one guy is a plant/human hybrid who fucks a 1000 year old plant-hermit which makes him a canon monster fucker. And one canon non-binary character who I, a nonbinary, actually like. So like... gosh I've got mixed feelings. 8.5/10.

Choujin X: From Sui Ishida, mangaka to the mega hit Tokyo Ghoul comes this brand new manga!... Of one chapter, lol. Not really binge-y because it's just the one chapter out right now but I'm already keeping my eye on it. The grasp on anatomy in the art is PHENOMENAL and you can see Ishida flexing his art skill which is great. Can't give a true rating but I'm giving it a tentative 9/10 because I'm excited to see more.

Shag&Scoob: technically not a manga, its an ongoing webcomic I binged an subscribed to in one day and I just think it deserves more attention. Starts off funny with "what if Scooby Doo had a gun" and has been led to "what if all cartoons are aliens that survive and receive their powers by the humans that love them in an epic war with Martians." On god, its good. I finished the current series in a couple hours so it's a breezy read, highly recommend it. 9/10.

To Your Eternity: Yeah I watched the anime and then finished all current 143 chapters in like 3 days. GOD IM WEAK. I don't buy physical manga unless I know I want to remember the story forever and I'm already budgeting for the current books out. Yeah, this is a good series. That being said, definitely not for the faint of heart or those who suffer under common triggers like suicide, molestation, death, etc. It's all framed as bad and necessary to the story don't get me wrong, but it's there and has lasting affects on the characters. Incredible story telling by the creator of A Silent Voice. Keep tissues nearby at all times. 12/10.

#i've been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level #don't toy with me miss nagatoro #spirit photographer saburo kono #fruits basket #deranged detective ron kamonohashi #yugen's all-ghoul's homeroom #monster girl doctor #so i'm a spider so what #somali and the forest spirit #to your eternity #jigokuraku #hell's paradise #choujin x #shag and scoob #toilet bound hanako kun #prison school #sk8 the infinity #that time i got reincarnated as a slime

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the-nysh · 5 years ago

Note

At what point in the story you started liking Garou as a character? What was his first impression on you and how did it changed later as the story progressed?

Oooh! What a GREAT question, I’m so glad you asked! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ (Cause yes, my perceptions of him certainly did change over time! And that’s one of the fun things I love to see happen with other opm fans too.) So let’s see…*pulls up a chair and shovel to dig thru nearly 5yrs of archives* where to begin~

It was definitely a gradual process (so buckle in, this is gonna be a looong chronological trip thru memory lane. About 3500~ words!)

First impressions

Early on (and cause I’m skeptical to most new characters who I don’t ‘know’ yet), I remember feeling kinda like ‘huh? Who the heck is this guy? This wannabe Hiruma-lookalike (recognizing some of Murata’s recycled Eyeshield 21 char design elements for him) with some silly double Vegeta hair? The hell does he think he’s doing??’ Beyond being kinda incredulous about him, I honestly didn’t really give him much passing thought or attention either, and definitely not anything on a deeper level yet. He was just kinda there (I suppose?), but also out there forcefully (cockily and somewhat annoyingly?) inserting himself as the ‘villain’ into the story at times (which wasn’t really my thing), seemingly WAY in over his head with reckless antics and overambitious about what he was claiming to be and challenging himself to do (which I thought seemed both ridiculous and ironic to set up like that when characters like Saitama exist to directly check/refute his aims).

So at the time I wasn’t fully ‘on board’ or invested much in his story/concept yet cause I hadn’t really seen him…define himself (beyond those first impressions) into his own fleshed-out character. Because he still kept reminding me too much of other characters (I even heard him with Hiruma’s voice) rather than breaking out on his own. Murata’s early art also had yet to really evolve and settle him into his own distinguishable ‘face’ for that matter too (he would though later, when he’d draw ‘Garou’ recognizable as himself and not like…‘Hiruma’s shadow’ anymore). So with all that coming in, it’s hard to ‘see’ or genuinely ‘like’ a char at first when they haven’t done much yet to distinguish themselves from others and grow into their own. (Oho, how time will tell~)

This impression of Garou hadn’t really changed much and continued all thru the Metal Bat fight, by the way. (I actually caught up to the manga around the time Murata introduced MB with the centipedes and was about to start his fight with Garou. Events which weren’t on my highest priority to see either, cause I still mostly preferred seeing Saitama + Genos interact instead.) But on a surface level, I at least knew Garou was fun/impressive to watch and his excitable/feral energy was infectious and entertaining (Murata really knew how to hype him up too), but other than that, I’d yet to really ‘like’ him on his own (enough to talk/blog about) still.

I first eased into reblogging stuff with him back in Oct 2016, which included the first reblog of his back muscles (lol) appreciating how Murata drew him facing Watchdog Man so ksjggh that part of the story (when Murata was teasing their fight) was also when Garou starting having a presence on my blog. :O

First turning point

However, I distinctly remember the first ‘aha I see now’ point in understanding him better was when I did a second reread of the webcomic. (I don’t exactly remember when that was, but probably sometime during the tournament arc when the pace was kinda dragging, so I prob reread the wc around then for fun.) It was around early-April 2017 when I later admitted that (in the tags):

I’ve come to really like Garou, a second read of the webcomic made me fond of him, of his background and ideas he wished to set out and change, his heart was in it and he had his set of morals, but he was young and brashly took the wrong path, I really want to see him return someday now that he's learned better

Cause following the big webcomic reveal at the end of his arc (when Saitama calls him out), going back thru his entire story again you could totally spot all the consistent hints and signs (from both his backstory and actions) ONE sprinkled the entire time, making everything revealed about him true, and not suddenly sprung up outta nowhere. It was finally like ‘aaah, I understand what’s up with him and can sympathize where he’s coming from. Yes that makes sense. :O’ However, this clarity/acknowledgment had yet to shift from simply ‘seeing’ or understanding a thing as knowledge, to actually feeling it (connecting on a deeper/personal level) later. That’ll remain a big distinction.

May 2017, I first started writing some early meta break downs about him, starting with his end-arc parallels in Suiryu’s despair moment and from this, there was acknowledgement how all ONE’s manga additions (up til then this was still all tournament arc stuff) were only building further context towards what’s to come much later on in the webcomic.

June 2017, I started posting stream coverage about him (vs Watchdog Man stuff when he intercepts King and Saitama.) Around this time I also admit this kinda stuff in tags ‘goodness how I love that this nerd has a soft spot for that kid (truthfully he's not monstrous at all)’ for appreciating the manga’s wholesome extra Tareo moments.

Second big turning point

Around Sept-Oct 2017 was when post content/stream coverage kinda started exploding during the whole vs A/B heroes + shed fight. This whole sequence, following the tournament arc, was the first big long-awaited return back to the wc’s script (with style!), but with significant expansions (esp to his character) never seen before. In particular, the bullet shielding moment was changed/revised from him simply standing there in the wc, to Garou protecting Tareo in the shed.

Truly awesome and moving because dang, he selflessly put his life on the line for that ‘Garou the determinator fending off the impossible while protecting a kid ;o;’ Firmly standing up to (injustices) and revealing his solid moral core, like wow, what a guy. <3

Murata’s stream output picked up significantly back then too (compared to his slower pace drawing the previous arcs), so I also admitted: ‘gosh been cheering for Murata's hard work just like Garou's in-chapter determination!’

But also cause this whole fight was like the first actual, legit demonstration (shown, not told) of Garou’s prodigious fighting skills, intelligence, tenacity, resourcefulness, perseverance, etc. Like this is what he’s actually capable of when pushed to the brink; testing the actual quality of his character (showing his true colors) and allowing those merits to shine while under unfavorable, difficult, and desperate conditions. And all impressively done in a way to make the audience both believe it and root for him (presented from his side much like a protagonist? Wild! 8D) It was extremely thrilling and badass (truly that whole shed part was brilliant, narratively and spectacle-wise. As I’ve repeatedly gone back to write about many times and again. :’D) My impressions of Garou around this time:

yoooo boi see I really like Garou, the wild prodigy determinator with a misguided goal, going all out and demonstrating his talent and prowess (even tho he gets in over his head), PROTECTING CHILDREN WHEN HE PRETENDS HE DOESN'T CARE, omfg what a softie (as Saitama would say) :'D, yaaa see he was never a 'real' monster at all, Saitama can see straight through him, and what he REALLY wants to achieve

Dec 2017, first started getting some sporadic Garou anons after the whole epic manga spectacle vs Genos + Bang + EC fight with everyone.

Jan 2018, back when Garou was captured in the MA base and then left to his own devices above ground…things started getting really interesting. Including noticing ONE’s more careful (or perhaps more transparent?) approach to writing Garou’s manga portrayal this time around. Different and more nuanced from the wc for instance, so there were many fascinating contradictions and complexities to uncover (break down meta-wise) about his convictions, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and how he applied those thru his actions and behavior (revealing decisive acts of character). This was when @gofancyninjaworld also started joining in to discuss and explore Garou’s ongoing dilemma with his goals and mindset. “His heart is in the right place, but his means are not, because at his core, he’s not a monster.” I admitted ‘Garou’s one of the most well-written characters in the story, I feel.’ And I was really looking forward to all the significant changes ONE was doing to make his manga story all the more defined and cohesive than it already was in the wc. That made things extra engaging (when there’s a desire to look deeper into things for fun and excitement for more).

Third turning point

Feb 2018 Oooh man. It was around here, (when Garou saves Tareo from the bullies and confronts RR and Bug God) that I was really starting to feel that shift happening (the impression of him turning into something more), so I had to comment on his ongoing characterization presented thus far (budding into a well-rounded, 3 dimensional character) and how ONE was (re)writing him in a more personal, sympathetic light that made him so easy to root for and genuinely likeable. I was fully AWARE of this happening and what both Murata and ONE were doing to increase his appeal. Admitting the more they revealed of him the more I was falling deeper for him, and fully welcoming it by narrative design. (Like alright let’s goooo! 8’D) Cause it was obvious how much differently and expansive he was getting portrayed vs the wc (with much less moral ambiguity). I said:

“Garou’s not simply a rogue, prodigious teen going on a spiteful rampage with an overconfident, slasher smile. Consistently, he’s been shown what really makes him tic: what gets him serious, passionate, sincere, and desperate – things that force his hand to either fight or defend against, with standards and ideals that he’d put his life on the line for. All of it is great: a variety of expressive emotions and definitive acts of character that all build towards the whole. Which we’re then left to ponder exactly what that is. Is he truly a villain or a hero? Is he really a troublemaking bad guy or actually a misguided ‘nice guy’? The answer isn’t so black and white; it’s more like a mix of ALL of the above. And I LIKE that. As ONE has presented him, Garou is Garou, and not really someone to align or classify as simply one or the other. He’s in that kind of delicious gray zone where he’s getting put to the brink to show his true colors. And it’s so GOOD and refreshing to see.”

That plus the manga showing his deeper bond with Tareo, his gruffly protective qualities (ok but that’s kinda hot?) and a more sincere showing of his morals (which he refused to budge on no matter what anyone else ordered him to do), brought on all the feels. :’)

Stream coverage + ch commentary devolved to like unintelligible screaming, with some ‘man he’s so fucking cool,’ or ‘damn protective Garou’s SOO good,’ or ‘I swear the more Murata draws of him the more I fall for him like wtf,’ or even the flat out ‘GODDAMMIT MURATA ;A;’ types of suffering reactions, ahaha.

At this point I was all ‘bring on the Garou appreciation; he deserves it; I have a mighty NEED’ but was kinda annoyed/frustrated with the fandom cause there was hardly any recent fan content of him (relevant to his current plot progression, it was all suspiciously dry or old ship-related content I wasn’t interested in cause the plot had moved on, so I was like omg where is everybody, hello?!) It was already a dry spell in between seasons so overall fan content was slow anyway, but it seemed like there were so few actual fans of him (to my confusion?!) So I started making my own content (beyond just the stream coverage and ch reactions/commentary + meta) with the expression posts appreciation.

March 2018. U-uhoh, things (and posting frequency especially) were starting to escalate. His reaction to literally getting backstabbed by the monsters and losing Tareo (his quiet but seething controlled feral rage) definitely had me feeling™ things.

Final nail in the coffin

April 2018 Oshit;; Garou forcefully storming and bulldozing his way thru the MA base, his awesome BIG DAMN HEROES moment rescuing Tareo from Royal Ripper, to his hilarious absolute tsundere™ moment denying it (before running into Rover and immediately protecting the kid again) pretty much destroyed me. This was also like the first time I’d seen ONE make a character go full tsundere mode and pull it off in a genuine comedic way (with the classic ‘it’s not like I came here to save you or anything baka’ line and all) so pfft, that was so much endearing icing on the cake. :’D

At this point someone even asked me who’s my favorite opm character, to which I was all, ‘Garou’s current manga content has been on fire so he’s been quickly skyrocketing into my favs (if he wasn’t there already)!’

But then Murata soon dropped THIS ‘protect the child’ page all with perfect timing, and I was…fucking doomed.

'sugoi ojisan' was pretty much the moment of instant death for me ;A; my constant reaction to the streams has been that gaijin 4koma meme with laser heart eyes for emphasis, and I'm pretty much losing my ability to articulate much beyond screaming at this rate

Garou’s behavior could then be summarized as ‘a very stubborn and in denial asshole tsundere little shit nerd. <3’ But there was classic ONE heartwarming irony in there too, cause Garou hadn’t fully ‘lost’ his battles either…during those critical times where he actually assumed the role of the ‘hero’ for Tareo instead. (Oho~)

basically Garou is a great character, the more you look into how ONE has built him the more meta af it gets

May 2018 (the long-awaited debut of the wc ‘scarf’ vs Rover towards Garou vs Orochi’s epic wtfshitstorm) lolwhoops~ I finally made the inevitable back muscles compilation while also writing longer, more in depth meta posts about him.

Murata delivered some of the best stream content we’ve seen of him. (Completely on FIRE, both literally and figuratively. And looking back, this was probably some of the most fun Murata’s stream sessions ever got. :’D Was awesome to be a fan tuning in during this time.)

even Murata was doodling chibis of himself freaking out in the margins XD

Delivering content from the pose of peak badassery…to dropping stream doodles of peak heartwarming/cuteness (Garou & Tareo in suits) on the fans for good measure.

bam Murata’s out to kill us with his art ...Murata can you like -maybe- chill? ABSOLUTELY NOT

Basically Murata knew exactly what he was doing, always delivering and servicing the fans (drawing the coke bottle was a fan suggestion too) yet also remaining a huge tease~

Towards S2 and beyond

June 2018, following the Orochi fight, Garou was put on a bus and absent from the manga for a while, so I went back revisiting older content again (rereading the manga for fun) and realizing/noticing/wondering stuff I hadn’t really caught about him before like…oh no why is he cute?? Was he always this way or had my eyes finally opened after everything??? (Cause aside from him being a little shit or a cool badass, he was also a complete dork and a nerd, and an oblivious dummy, and just…that was so…wtf endearing, a full package of fun to enjoy.)

But we soon got clips of Midorikawa’s voice reveal (from the opm drama cd) and all hell broke loose among the resident Garou fans. 8’D Especially cause his voice was ‘dark/smooth/mature/sexy’ as opposed to a higher-pitched, unhinged teen voice many had expected (remember that old Hiruma voice I first thought for him? So interestingly many fanboys were disappointed with this deeper voice casting). But also cause Midorikawa said “I’ll do my best to make Garou even more charming than before,” so we were excited to see Garou’s popularity spike even more cause of s2.

Aug 2018, the s2 key visual revealed with Garou prominently featured up and center and I WAS NOT PREPARED!!! I remember having like a full hyper-incoherent breakdown because of this so…yeaaaaah. 8’D I was all rationalizing,

If anything it’s all Murata and ONE’s fault that (the hype and appreciation for him) feeling’s grown even stronger. He was already a thoroughly fun walking meta source, but the manga made his softer/compassionate moments much more obvious (than in the wc). Just watch as this badass dorky nerd becomes even more hugely popular than he already is!

April 2019 was his anime debut…coincided with his post-arc WEBCOMIC DEBUT AFTER 5 FUCKING YEARS (before he even returned in the manga even) IMPECCABLE timing from ONE, holy shit people lost their minds. Including Murata, who had to draw him too! With all that and the anime airing (adding even more wholesome cute Tareo interactions not seen in the manga), fandom participation (+anons) really started to kick off.

I remember seeing the influx of new fans and how so many (who didn’t ‘know’ him yet either) would unironically label him as genuinely ‘evil’ or a ‘heinous villain’ at face value, which….uhhhhhh were the kinda takes that were hard to take seriously, but I appreciated how ONE’s writing allowed the readers to see and think for themselves as the narrative revealed more (rather than believing everything the characters said or claimed), so it’d only be a matter of time until they ‘saw’ the truth about him too. :’)

May-July 2019 the anime continued airing with fandom activity popping, until August when he finally reappeared and ‘awoke’ in the manga! ;A; After like an entire full year of him mia too. This was also the time frame when all the thirsty (and interestingly meta-hungry) Garou anons started (finding me???) regularly chiming in with fun participation. I was grateful though, cause they prompted certain takes I couldn’t have come up with on my own, and allowed me to think, examine, and explain things much more closely and thoroughly than I had ever posted before. (Yaaay~) Such as looking into just what IS it about him?!

“Garou wouldn’t be as compelling, engaging, and appealing as a character without (all) those other interesting layers and nuances to talk about too! :D It’s even better that way! Cause Murata can draw everyone looking drop-dead gorgeous and conventionally attractive, so just having a pretty face and impressive muscles isn’t enough to make him stand out in a special way from the rest of the cast. Already all those things (about him) are certainly impressive, so just what is it about him in particular? (That makes him unique.) The fact Garou has all that AND those other compassionate & interesting qualities to him just makes it the icing on the cake for a complete, well-rounded package. The fact we can know him, for all his feelings and attitude why he behaves and acts the way he does, such as when he’s contradictory, troubled and tsundere-like sometimes, to hardcore and badass other times, to softer and empathetic to fiercely righteous, protective and determined other times, and all portrayed in the way he’s capable of the range (and makes us feel) the entire spectrum of emotion too. …Like whoa (I could keep going but I’d be preaching to the choir at that point aha), all that only enhances what’s already there. In this way, I feel the Garou we’ve come to know by now is much more endearing and appealing than the one we were introduced to at the start. Because as he appeared then, he may have seemed like just another wannabe thug-of-the-week we might not have given much passing thought & attention to. But now…uhoh, you could arguably say he’s grown to the point he’s almost taken over the rest of the manga (within good reason!) by challenging our perception of who’s even the active protagonist. :O Who keeps us engaged and tuned in to see more. Buaha, just what the hell happened?! Now that’s quite the impressive feat from both ONE and Murata to create a character with a lasting impact like that!”

…So that’s what happened. :’D In my opinion, I feel Garou’s best moments where we (or really, I) got to know him better (shed scene, Elder Centipede aftermath, dine n dash, rescuing Tareo, all up towards his fights vs Rover & Orochi) mostly only happen until after s2 so… Since those were some of my absolute fav manga moments (which only enhanced my perceptions of him), those’ll be the moments I’m really looking forward to see animated in s3. But most of all, I’m hoping to witness some of that same ‘aha!’ gradual realization process happen to newer fans who come to appreciate him too. :’3

#Anonymous #replies #opm #garou #commentary #long post #(readmore pls actually work! ...i think it broke after editing it once)#anyway THIS took plenty of time to put together and relive/remember all those moments from years ago 8'D #how things certainly changed (and escalated!) but here's a breakdown of everything; enjoy~

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allaboardtheincubus · 5 years ago

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Headcanons for the incubi playing Yu-Gi-Oh and what kind of deck/strategy they would use as well as their favorite card(s)?

((For when it comes to their deck strategies/favorite cards. I’m honestly just going to compare the brothers to which Yugioh character I feel their playing style would most fit to. This is because while I, the muse Mary, know about Yugioh and even have a deck of cards myself and know how to play. I also am not all that good about different deck strategies or who the boys favorite cards would be.))James - (Yugi and Yami Yugi) James favorite card is the Dark Magician. His playing style would closely relate to Yugi/Yami Yugi, where he focuses more on using a lot of strategy to beat down his opponents. He has a balanced mixture of attack and defense, and his Dark Magician always gets him out of terrible binds!Erik - (Pegasus) Erik’s favorite card is Toon World. He would match the playing style of Pegasus, and those who know the Anime and who Pegasus is, I’m sure you can see why. The two of them are both flamboyant and flirty, and I can see Erik just wanting to have fun with the game and make it as ridiculous as he feels the game truly is.Sam - (Mixture of Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar) Winged Dragon of Ra is Sam’s favorite card. Naturally, it is one of the most powerful god cards and Sam would defiantly be all about the powerful stuff. Much like Seto Kaiba/Marik, Sam’s deck would focus on power and brute force that sucks away at the Life Points of his opponent as quickly as possible. I imagine Sam to also use the Blue Eyed White Dragon’s a shit ton too!Matthew - (Joey Wheeler) Matthew’s signature card would be the Red Eyes Black Dragon, cause lets be honest, Matthew would find Dragons in this world to be absolutely bad ass! He would follow the playing style of Joey Wheeler, where he relies a lot on both his witty mind, and the luck of the draw to help lead him to either victory or failure during a duel.Damien - (Tea Gardner) His favorite card would be the Dark Magician girl, cause...she’s adorable. Damien’s deck is a lot like Tea’s where it consists mostly of cutsey creatures/monsters that make people laugh and scoff at him whenever he summons them. Damien’s strategy focuses more on using Trap and Spell cards to help strengthen or protect his adorable creatures and to help lead him to victory, but..that doesn’t happen often.

HEADCANONS:

Matthew would be the one to discover Yugioh and show it to his brothers

Sam would try to act way too cool for it at first and insult it

Damien and James would gladly give it a try finding it interesting

Erik....is already out the door cause this isn’t up his alley at all

Matthew shows James and Damien how to play while Sam observes from afar

James would enjoy it a lot at first because strategy is right up his alley

Damien would find it fun as well, but..he’s not really good at it

Sam would eventually cave in and play some rounds with his brothers and become as big of a fan of it as Matthew

Sam would then promptly rage quit because James has already created a strategy that helps him win in three turns no matter what you do

The game would be ruined for everyone because James always wins

That is until Erik pops in outta nowhere challenging James, and somehow through dumb luck wins

James tries his hardest to quit Yugioh after the brutal loss

The Yugioh fad has been ruined inside the mansion for a period of time

But Matthew, Damien, And Sam will still play here and there

Matthew and Sam argue over who has the best deck of cards

James may challenge Erik again at one point needing to beat the brother before he can lay the game to rest

Looses the next three rounds to Erik

James finally beats Erik and is finally able to put the game to rest and never touches it again

Damien somehow has the best luck on getting the most powerful and rarest of cards

But Matthew and Sam always dupe Damien into trading those powerful cards out for ones with creatures that are weak and cute

Matthew and Sam are highly competitive

Damien just loves collecting cards that have cute/cool art on them

#allaboardtheincubus #allaboardtheincubus headcanons #sacredwarrior88 #yugioh #yu-gi-oh #all-aboard-the-incuBUS #seduce me otome #seduce me the otome #seduce me otome damien #seduce me incubus #seduce me otome Matthew #seduce me otome Sam #seduce me otome James #seduce me otome Erik

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lukes-writing · 5 years ago

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Chapter 13: Man Without Imagination

Project introduction | Previous chapter

Word count: 3200 Warnings: Profanity

September 29th, 10:22 AM, The Society headquarters, Trinity Gate

“Who… who could have done something like this?” Whisper’s voice rises to falsetto again. Her whole body is trembling, and it’s not only out of disgust since it’s already some time after the autopsy she witnessed. Her empathy allows her to feel what the murdered man felt seconds before his demise.

She can’t stop imagining how horrible it must have been. The paper flowing into his head through his mouth, nose, ears, eyes… Did it hurt, or was it finished quickly?

All the necessary business with the dead man has been done and Team Dreamcatcher can once again gather in the conference room to discuss the matter. However, instead of discussing, everyone is recovering from what they just witnessed. For all of them, it’s the closest encounter with death so far.

There’s no need to blame them for that, Wiccan thinks. They are yet to build resistance towards such sights. But I hope they’re gonna build it quickly. They will need it.

“What now?” Parker brings up a question. “Should we, like, find out who did this? I don’t particularly feel like a detective. I’m used to being on the opposite side of the law.”

“That’s pretty much our task,” Kirlian replies, vesseled into the Obi-Wan action figure once again. “Find the culprit and prevent them from doing this again.”

“I don’t know who did it, but I’m not sure if I want to encounter them,” Gary says.

Parker sneers. “But that’s a part of the job, man. If ya scared, you can get the fuck outta here.”

For this once, Wiccan has to agree with Parker. Whisper and Gary certainly need to harden. But not too much - Whisper’s sensitivity and empathy can be actually beneficial.

“No way, I’m staying,” Gary says. He finished moving into his new house sponsored by The Society just a few days ago and he can finally live like he always wanted. He has more than enough space both for himself and his little friends. If keeping such a house means meeting some deranged being which kills using paper, Gary is ready to take the risk.

Wiccan looks at Sienna. “I have a small test for you. Try to figure out what should we do next.”

The young woman thinks about it for a while, sipping from a cup of coffee. Everyone has already come to the conclusion her caffeine income would probably kill any other person. Then, she finally speaks: “Well, since we know close to nothing about the attacker, all we can do is to find out more about the victim. I would go and talk to his family to possibly find out something about the attacker’s motives.”

“I knew I made a good decision by appointing you as a leader,” Wiccan smiles at her. Sienna blushes, flattered by the compliment.

“Should I go with you again?” she offers. “I doubt it would be a good idea to come there all at once.”

Wiccan nods. “Sure, only two people will go. However. First, we will do it tomorrow, so his family can have some time to reconcile with their loss. Second, it will be Ophelia, not me. And third, I want Whisper to go with her. Sorry, Sienna.”

Whisper opens her eyes wide. “Me…?”

“Yes, you. Sienna is good at analytical thinking, but you are better with people and their emotions. You can read between the lines. Maybe you will be able to find out something the others can’t see.”

“I… I won’t disappoint! I think,” the girl squeals.

September 30th, 1:30 PM, Northeast District, Trinity Gate

Whisper had met Ophelia Salisbury a few times before, after she married her uncle. Whisper immediately decided she likes her, even if just for the fact Wiccan would not marry anyone who doesn’t meet his strict standards.

The woman’s upright stance radiates strength and experience, but her dark eyes are nothing but kindness. Whisper only hates the fact she has to tilt her neck back to look Ophelia in the face since their height difference is significant. Whisper is the only one in her family who measures less than 170 centimeters.

“Remember, be courteous and tactful, but keep in mind you came for the information,” Ophelia lectures her. Whisper came to a conclusion both her skin color and her voice can be compared to a delicious hot chocolate. She’s dressed in a long black dress and a short jacket of the same color. Her hair has been tied into an elegant top knot which exposes the woman’s swan neck.

Even Whisper chose a more conservative attire consisting of a black-and-white blouse and long, pleated skirt. She’s also wearing a pair of white moccasin shoes, which definitely isn’t common for her, and she also left a big part of her excessive jewelry at home.

They finally arrive at the neat family house standing on a wide boulevard close to the Trinity Gate’s university. The rays of sunshine glow through the tops of several trees which grow in its garden. An old fox terrier sleeps in front of a dog house.

Ophelia rings on the doorbell inserted in the gate which leads to the garden surrounded by a short hedge. A buzzing sound that soon follows tells them someone opened the gate. The two women enter and before they reach the end of the gravel walkway, the main door opens.

As they expected, they see an older, slightly chubby woman dressed in all black standing in the doorway. Her eyes are swollen, giving away all the tears the woman cried in the past hours.

“Are you Arthur’s students?” she asks. She’s probably already used to the man’s students coming over to offer their condolences. “Thank you for…”

Ophelia interrupts her. “Actually, we do want to express our condolences, but in the first place, we want to find out what exactly caused your husband’s death.”

“They didn't even let me know what happened to him!” the woman wails. “Can you…?”

The woman shakes her head. “Not until we close the case.”

“So he was… someone did it to him?”

“Yes, I’m afraid it was a murder,” Ophelia confirms and the woman bursts into tears. She gestures them to come in and both Ophelia and Whisper take a seat in a spacey living room. Its modern furniture heavily contrasts with a wooden bookshelf which takes up a whole wall.

Whisper takes a look at the books displayed. The murder victim’s collection mostly consists of essays by famous philosophers and heavy encyclopedias. Not a single piece of fiction. Definitely not Whisper’s style.

Then, Whisper notices another person in the room. He had just descended from the stairs leading upstairs. It’s an overweight teenage boy with short fair hair, round face and eyeglasses resting on his small nose. He has Captain America’s shield on his T-shirt and he’s holding a can of energy drink in his hand.

He seems surprised by the fact there’s a young female in their house. In fact, he stands there like petrified. Whisper wonders if it’s because of her presence or the guy is just not over his father’s death yet.

“Hi,” Whisper gives him a compassionate smile.

“H...hey,” the boy stutters and Whisper sees countless unsaid questions in his green eyes.

At that moment, his mother and Ophelia step into the room. Ophelia managed to console the woman to the point her uncontrollable wailing changed into sobbing. A while later, they’re sitting around a glass table with a cup of tea in front of them.

Ophelia starts to carefully interrogate the woman to find out as much about the victim as possible. All they find out is that he was a university professor of philosophy and he lived a normal life. The woman’s answers are vague and don’t get them anywhere close to the solution.

Whisper notices that the boy, Arthur junior, doesn’t say a word throughout the whole conversation. However, the girl has a feeling he would give much more interesting answers if he decided to speak.

“Arthur?” Whisper addresses the boy. “Would you mind if we went for a walk? Just you and me?”

Arthur Taylor junior apparently feels extremely insecure when Whisper is around and the girl tries hard to hide her amusement. If she started to giggle, she would ruin her already slim chances to pry something useful out of the young man.

Whisper isn’t a paragon of beauty, but it’s enough to completely disconcert a boy who apparently never came this close to a woman before. A bit of confidence would help him a lot.

“You and your dad - were you close?” the girl asks as the duo walks through the university campus. A black flag flies above the main entrance to honor the deceased professor.

“Uhm… not really,” Art replies, avoiding eye contact with Whisper. “We were… different. Almost every talk we had ended in an argument, so we rarely talked to each other. Almost every day, he stayed at school until the evening and then, when he came home, he locked himself in his workroom and worked on the computer until the late night hours.”

“What was he doing?”

Art shrugs. “Writing articles for an association of skeptics he was a member of. He loved debunking apparently paranormal occurrences just to prove there’s nothing supernatural in this world. He was so annoying with this,” he rolls his eyes. “I know it’s probably bad to say this now, but he was the dullest guy I know.”

If he only knew what I know, Whisper thinks.

“So that was the reason why didn’t you two get along well?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Art inserts his hands into his pockets, looking at the pavement under his feet. “It was one of the reasons. Y’know, I’m that kind of geek who’s into fantasy and sci-fi, which dad loathed. He was strictly against all forms of imagination and as far as I know, he crammed this philosophy even into his students’ heads. There’s a story that one student once brought one of The Witcher books into his lesson and dad tore it apart page by page. That’s why I had to hide my books from him.”

Whisper hears a slight trace of relief in his voice, as if the sentence should have ended with I’m glad I don’t have to do it anymore.

“Do you think it can have a connection to his… murder?”

“Probably not, but I don't know,” Art shrugs again. “Yeah, we used to make fun of him, but I doubt anyone would actually go as far as killing him. Maybe he had some enemies among his colleagues, he never spoke about his work much. Actually, I know almost nothing about his life.”

Whisper raises her eyebrows. “Make fun of him?”

“Yeah. Me and some other geeks I know created a webpage called ‘The Man Without Imagination’. There we shared memes about him and such, one guy even made remixes of his lectures… y’know, dad was really passionate about things he preached. He knew about the page and he was furious about it, but he could do nothing against it. If he knew I’m the main contributor… damn, it would have consequences.”

“Are you going to take the page down?”

“Probably. I guess it would be disrespectful if we kept it running.”

“In that case,” Whisper says, “could you keep the page up at least until we solve the case? It may actually help us. I don’t know how, but just in case.”

“Sure, I’ll tell the guys,” Art looks her in the eyes for the first time. “By the way, who is we?”

Whisper smiles. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Art smirks back. “I’m open-minded. So who are you working for? FBI? Men in Black? Or some secret organization I have no idea about?”

“You’re close,” Whisper gives him a mysterious smile.

“Did you find out something interesting?” Whisper asks Ophelia on their way back to the headquarters.

The woman shakes her head. “That woman is hopeless. She was either crying or telling me stuff she already told me three times. I know it sounds insensitive, but if we continue like this, we won’t find the killer. What about you, Wisp? How was your date with Art?”

Whisper ignores Ophelia’s mocking and tells her about everything Art told her. Ophelia gives her an appreciative nod. Bringing Whisper with her was a good idea after all - Ophelia doubts the boy would be so open if she asked him instead of Whisper. A person is usually more talkative when around peers.

“Good job,” Ophelia says. “Sienna should take a look at that webpage. Honestly, it’s not much, but we have to start somewhere. Maybe someone with special powers visited the page and decided to show that man everything he believed in is a lie.”

“Kinda improbable, but I’m not the one to judge,” Whisper says. When both women left the house of Taylors, Whisper took off her shoes and decided to continue the walk barefoot. It’s no surprise for Ophelia - she already knows how peculiar is the niece of her husband.

Back at the headquarters, both women explain the situation to the rest of the team. Sienna immediately turns on the computer in the corner of the room and finds the webpage Art was talking about. It’s just like the boy described it - full of jokes about the late professor and his hatred toward anything fantastical.

The latest post involves a picture of an old man with a long white beard - a stereotypical depiction of God - with a caption: Professor Arthur Taylor died yesterday and he already managed to prove I don’t exist after I took him here. Parker lets out a short laugh. No other member of the team finds it funny.

“The archive is pretty extensive,” Sienna states. “At least twenty people actively contributed to this page - I suppose his students. It has also many passive visitors and subscribers who just come to laugh at the memes.” She finds a video in the Most popular section.

“Professor Taylor about fantastical literature - Remix by BigBeast420,” Gary reads the name.

Sienna clicks the Play button. The video is recorded secretly and depicts professor Taylor speaking in front of his class. This time, it’s harder not to laugh since a repetitive musical background is playing over the video and Taylor’s voice is autotuned so it appears he’s rapping.

The group listens to what he says.

“You achieve nothing in life if you cling to nonsensical, unreal fantasies!” Taylor preaches, marching around the classroom and making theatrical hand gestures. “What’s the point of wasting time with something that’s not even real? I appeal to you, dear students, live for here and now, not for anything nonexistent! Only then you can lie on your deathbed in peace, knowing you spent your life in reality. Fiction is a drug and its authors are but dealers! And just like drugs, nonexistent… nonexistent can ruin your life!”

“Wow, that guy is really a lunatic,” Whisper comments. “Who else can say something like this about reading books? Now I understand why was he so ridiculed.”

Another video is titled Professor Taylor - These Two Eyes (BigBeast420 Remix). Out of curiosity, Sienna clicks on it. Taylor once again speaks in front of the students, this time apparently about skepticism. “Every sane person should only believe what they see with these two eyes!” Taylor points his index and middle finger at his eyes. Finally, electronic music starts playing and Taylor saying These two eyes is played in a loop, creating an impressive musical piece.

“One thing is to admit, that guy who did the remix had some talent,” Parker comments.

The video continues: “There is nothing supernatural or paranormal. That’s a domain of gullible people! Nobody with a working brain would believe in such things. Everything must have an explanation!” The word Explanation is once again looped and remixed.

“Is it bad that I’m starting to side with the killer?” Whisper asks.

Wiccan chuckles. “True, that guy is nuts, but we still have to find out who killed him and stop them. At least now we know he had controversial opinions which could have set certain people against him, especially those who are living proof his words aren’t true.”

“Or a bookworm who just went berserk,” Whisper adds. “If someone started to speak about books like this in front of me, I’d have no problem to cram all that paper into his skull.”

The team lets Sienna work her magic with the computer. Someone has to constantly refill the cup on Sienna’s table with something rich in caffeine.

“That seems to be useless,” Sienna says after about an hour. “I was able to retrieve the IP addresses of the people who are logged on this page, but there are too many entries and that renders it useless. Some even use anonymizers such as VPN networks or the TOR browser. It could be any of them, or neither.”

A moment later, Ophelia enters the room with a phone on her ear. She finishes the call she was having and inserts the device back into her pocket.

“I just finished talking with ELIPSA headquarters,” she announces. When she sees the confused faces of the four new recruits, she explains: “Entries and Locations of Individuals Possessing Special Abilities. That’s an agency serving under The Society. Their task is to keep an eye on all people who display special powers or talents that could be useful for us.”

“In short, the fuckers who followed me everywhere I went and whose files you used to blackmail me?” Parker looks at Wiccan.

The man doesn’t let himself get disconcerted. “Precisely,” he replies with a straight face. Then he turns to his wife. “What did they say?”

Ophelia answers the question with a telling shrug. “The only registered PSPs in the Trinity Gate area are Parker, Whisper and Gary,” she says. “They have no information about any other person of such kind.”

“Maybe they just did a good job at avoiding their attention,” Gary suggests.

Wiccan shakes his head. “It’s hella hard to avoid ELIPSA’s attention. Once you display any form of supernatural abilities, you have a target on your back and you can’t get rid of it. A PSP not registered within ELIPSA’s archives would have to live in complete seclusion, hidden from everyone and everything.”

“But then, this sounds like a description of someone who would commit a murder,” Parker notes.

“So, to sum it up,” Sienna says, “we’re looking for a person with supernatural powers who lives in complete loneliness, yet must have some kind of internet connection or another link to the outside world since they seem to have taken revenge on Professor Taylor.”

“Seems about right,” Wiccan nods. “Unfortunately, that also probably rules out the possibility that the murderer is one of Taylor’s students. A university student who would display any trace of a supernatural ability would be immediately tracked by ELIPSA.”

“That means we’re back at the beginning,” Parker sums it up.

“That’s right,” Wiccan sighs. “We have clues, but nothing that could help us piece them together. And we should work pretty damn fast before the killer claims another victim.”

At that time, they have no idea this resolution can’t be fulfilled.

Author’s Note

I wholeheartedly thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment, send me a message or share and let more people know about this story! You can also consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Have a great day and stay tuned for the next chapter!

#writeblr #my writing #writers #urban fantasy #original fiction #TeamDreamcatcher

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years ago

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Quick Thoughts on DD Book 1 Chapter 5

• Content Warning: There are references to slut shaming while speaking about opera singers, and I speak about executions in the Hamid scene (I've not added grisly details or anything, but to me what I have included does sound a little macabre). I don't know if those warrant a warning, but I'd like to err on the side of caution and ensure that anyone comfortable with that knows this before they make the decision to proceed.

• Okay on with the QT!

• Why hello there, fancy hot looking Ottoman prince dude.

• Looks like not one but both of my MCs will be living the thot life.

• Apologies for the huge delay guys. There was a LOT to unpack this chapter, and it took me a while to actually explore, confirm my research and get a clear idea overall of how I wanted to approach this one. I'm hoping once TRR ends I can get these babies out earlier.

• You know what I realised? The Lady Grandma LIKES a sassy bitch. There are several times this chapter she's actually been more approving of my headstrong Marianne than she has been of my more mild-mannered Florence. See all of this:

She's mostly approving of this, however, when Henrietta is the recipient of this behaviour, but there are also points where she appreciates the MC's candor (if she chooses to show it) such as if the MC refers to the art of the fan as "ridiculous". If there is one thing that consistently gets on Dominique's nerves, it is occasions where the MC might speak of herself and her former background negatively, mostly out of annoyance because it shows she hasn't comfortably settled into her role yet, and Dominique needs the MC to do so if Edgewater is to stay within in the family and bloodline.

• Also I love the subtle streak of independence we get to see in Annabelle. She is someone who is doing what is expected of her, someone who tries to make the best of her circumstances the only way she knows how, but she is also refreshingly open about how stressful it is for her to go down this path, even in her free scenes. She is also playful and mischievous and doesn't take herself too seriously, which makes a lot of her scenes a joy to do.

• I also really really liked the option where you tell her she's the one you want to marry, and her reaction is both a disbelief that such a dream could come true alongside a receptiveness to the idea. It's soft and sweet and beautiful.

• So we start out with a crash course on the nobility we'll meet in London (Alfred Halloway, whose daughter Felicity is debuting this season, and the Barrymore family, who are related to the Halloways by marriage). Only this time, Annabelle wants to be a snarky little boss and fill the MC in on all the juicy gossip that Lady Grandmother won't give her.

• Lady Grandmother: Alfred Holloway is the viscount of Lochdale. His daughter, Felicity, will be coming from her estate at Bellington Hall to make her debut this season.

Miss Parsons: Alfred Holloway is an arrogant prig who looks like an Easter ham studded with cloves.

(For the record, this is what a clove-studded Easter ham seems to look like:

Holy shit Annabelle you savage af)

Lady Grandmother: Miss Holloway's family is also tied by marriage to the Earl of Barrymore...

Miss Parsons: Oh, avoid the Earl of Barrymore. His bed has more traffic than Drury Lane!

Annabelle here must be referring to the crowd that tends to flock around the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which was popular as a source of entertainment for its plays and had a seating capacity of 3000 people.

• The free scene with Annabelle is important because it eases us gently into the main themes of her scene later on. The women get to speak about the whole concept of a "marriage market", and straight off the bat Annabelle lets us know how uncomfortable she is with having to go through a wedding to another man.

• She also speaks about what else - besides the fact that Harry was her closest friend - about his death affected her. Having been promised to Harry, Annabelle didn't have to go through the rigamarole of finding a husband. She had learned to settle with the idea of being married to someone who she knew and liked at least, if not loved. It's sad to us modern readers now that Annabelle would have to settle for less than passion or love, but back then I don't think she could have imagined a better deal. And now...and now she will have to settle for even less than what she had with Harry. This was a pretty neat way of easing us into the larger conversation she has with us in her diamond scene.

• A few days pass, and Briar is now helping us get ready for the trip to London. You have the option of encouraging her romance with Mr Woods, which...cmon. They cute 😊

•

Ooh so our House Colours are navy blue and gold! (considering that the Earl's default outfit itself is navy blue, I should have figured that would be a house colour). It's nice but MY NECK WHERE IS MY NECK.

Did You Know: that up until the middle of the 19th century, men's and women's riding habits were largely made by men in a distinctively masculine style. This is what Candice Hern's article "Regency Habits, Overview" on her website Regency World, says:

"Though the style and cut of riding habits changed with time and fashion, they continued to be tailored in a masculine style throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and into the early 19th century. In La Belle Assemblée in 1815, we read that: “Habits have, ever since they were first brought into fashion, been considered as decidedly calculated to give even the most delicate female a masculine appearance, and the wits of our grandmothers’ days were unmercifully severe on the waistcoat, cravat, and man’s hat which were then the indispensible appendages to a habit.”"

•

YOU'RE NOT COMING WTF DAD NO.

• WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'LL DO TO YOU WHILE I'M GONE.

• I'm having a sinking feeling about leaving my old dad around in this house while Henrietta is still there, Grandma had better be his bodyguard (or maybe not. Cordonians seem to have weird ideas of what constitutes a successful bodyguard *COUGHCOUGH Mara and Bastien COUGHCOUGH*).

• Like most of the fandom I have a feeling the Earl will die sooner than we think. @i-dream-so-i-write once mentioned that it could well be towards the end of the book, and I think that's a fitting dramatic turn this book would take into the next. I'm going to miss the hell outta this guy though 😟

• Henrietta sent Mr Marlcaster and Miss Sutton ahead of time so they can screw things up for us, so we will need to butter them up like no tomorrow when we reach there, apparently.

• Hello Luke! It's been exactly one chapter!

• Kinda like the bonding the MC and Luke have with regards to the horse. Their first real conversation began with Clover, so it is fitting that their bonding continues over her at least for their initial interactions.

• Aww man, Henrietta wants Clover the horse to be sold and they give you a diamond option to keep her, name her and get extra scenes with her. Florence calls her Moonstone, Marianne calls her Pepper. Moonstone suits Florence's particular sense of whimsy, and I figured Marianne would want something short and snappy and it helped that Luke gave the horse some salt before the diamond option came up 😂

It's a fairly nice scene I guess, but it drives me batty because this book is already taking astronomical sums of money early on in the book, and people are already beginning to get frustrated. Even TRR, which is a pretty expensive book, took more than half the book before they pushed forward the option to buy the Derby horse. It just is beginning to feel like too much too soon at this point.

• Of all the free scenes this chapter, my favourite has to be the exchange among the four in the picnic en route London.

I found this particularly interesting because all of these people, so far, have been outside the rigors of the Season in some way or other. Briar is the most outside of this system of doing things: she has grown up completely out of it and will probably always struggle to understand the way things work within the gentry. Luke has spent years in that environment (that of the gentry) so he knows some of it, but he still is and will always be an outsider. Annabelle has grown up in this environment and is perhaps the closest to it, but has never had to take active part due to her association with Harry and the Edgewater Estate. And the MC straddles both these worlds. She is an heiress, part of this high society, but she was born in and more familiar with Briar's worldview. And I love how this scene captures all this in just a few bits of dialogue.

• Also Luke's sensible response to Annabelle's question and Briar being a teasing little imp is super cute, I will fight anyone who disagrees with me on this 😂😂😂

• So many gems nestled in Annabelle's scene guys I can't even. There's so much going on in this one. So much.

•

The main thing this scene does is to - without a doubt - establish Annabelle as a closeted lesbian. She's still at the stage where she's aware and finds it odd that she doesn't hold any affection for any man, that the idea itself of marriage frustrates her, and her growing confusion that she's now feeling for a woman all that she "should" be feeling for a man. There are points where she almost welcomes it, like the scene I mentioned earlier, but she still is clearly struggling.

The MC has three ways of responding to this - one where she misses the point completely and says "you haven't found the right man yet" (Marianne, unfortunately), another where she states that she "understands" (which is left open - either it is a gesture of support from an ally, or it is from someone who understands her dilemma to...well...some extent. Florence is the second. She is bi, so her "I understand" was basically "I've fallen for some men sure but I also have a hard time figuring out what my sexuality is"). My favourite is the response where the MC speaks of facing a similar dilemma in her life and is an excellent choice if your MC is also a lesbian. I couldn't use this one for Florence or Marianne because it didn't ring true for either of them, but I did see the screenshots on tumblr and it's quite poignant.

Did You Know: Lesbian/sapphic relationships and sex were not as much seen as illegal as invisible...and this was an attitude that a later monarch, Queen Victoria, would uphold as well, refusing to sign a legislation to criminalize it by insisting that "women do not do such things". Obviously as we all know, she couldn't be any more wrong. Today we know of famous lesbian women of the Regency as Anne Lister, owner of Shibden Hall, and the Ladies of Llangollen - two women from Ireland named Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, who had a romantic relationship for over 50 years. Gail Eastwood, in an article titled "Queer in the Regency: a Slice of Once-Hidden LGBT History" says:

Defying their families, the two established an estate in Wales, called Plas Newydd, rather than enter into marriages with men they did not love. Though they incurred significant debt in order to have a staff, they survived on the generosity of friends until a fascinated Queen Charlotte convinced King George III to grant them a pension.

Plas Newydd became something of a haven for writers during the Regency era, especially since the couple living there could afford to keep it.

Part of me wonders if elements of this story may be found in the Annabelle x MC route. Or like Anne Lister, who was well-endowed enough financially that she could refrain from marriage and have relationships with women. Maybe, or - given the limitations of having to chart out a storyline that will suit every LI - maybe not. Whatever it is, I'd be very interested in finding out how they'll handle the MC's romance with Annabelle.

• The second most interesting thing is Annabelle speaking about her poetry, and the restrictions her father has kept on her talent. She mentions him looking down on women's poetry as being "all bad rhymes and flowery sentiment", and that - in keeping with the times - he prefers Romantic Age poets such as Wordsworth, and that famous influence on Romanticism, Shakespeare. If we choose to ask her about showing us her poetry, she tells us her writing is "of a...delicate nature" (get it, girl! 😀) and if we choose to encourage her instead, the MC makes references to Mary Wollstonecraft, whose ideas of gender equality were considered radical for the times, and who is seen as one of the earliest feminist icons.

Did You Know: that in a time when female education was mainly geared to prepare women for their domestic roles, Mary Wollstonecraft advocated for women to receive an education that would help them survive beyond the home and the marriage market, stating that the one real barrier in the way of gender equality was the disparity in the education women received compared to men. She says, "this homage to women’s attractions has distorted their understanding to such an extent that almost all the civilized women of the present century are anxious only to inspire love, when they ought to have the nobler aim of getting respect for their abilities and virtues".

Her daughter, Mary Shelley, would write the famous novel Frankenstein in 1818, two years following the events of Desire and Decorum.

• Within this scene also lies a little tidbit that will hold some importance in Chapter 7: the MC tells Annabelle that her mother used to sing in the opera:

So this could be the root of some of the snarky remarks Henrietta makes about the MC's mother. She has close pretty darn close to calling her a "prostitute" on more than one occasion, and her comment after the MC sang along with Annabelle in chapter 3 about how it was "no wonder" that the MC could sing, given her mother's profession.

Did You Know: Opera singers had a very different reputation in the Regency era, not all of it very positive. Shana Galen, who is described as a Regency adventure author, speaks about how opera singers were viewed at the time: Of course, it was perfectly acceptable for a young lady to show her talents on the pianoforte or to sing in front of a small group of family and friends, but performing on the stage at Drury Lane or Covent Garden were frowned upon.

Female performers, especially, were shunned by society. One example of this sort of attitude was seen in the ridicule faced by a singer named Dorothea Jordan, who had an long-running affair with a Duke, bore him ten children, and who was the subject of a "satirical cartoon that showed her in her bedroom, gazing adoringly at a duchess’ coronet, which she hopes someday to wear by marrying her lover. A map on the wall purports to show the route from “Strolling Lane” (i.e. prostitution) through “Old Drury Common” all the way to “Derbyshire Peak.” A genealogical chart of the nobility lies on her dressing table, and her bed-hangings are crowned by a Phrygian cap, symbol of the French Revolution. The latter is intended to ridicule her pretensions to nobility; as a common woman, let alone an actress, she should know her place" ("Glimpse at Opera during Jane Austen's Lifetime" by Maggi Andersen, for the blog Historical Hearts).

• Luke's scene on the other hand is lighter in content but is important if you look at it from the viewpoint of establishing his role in the MC's life before they reach London. As a neutral friend, he is happy to serve her and considers her a vast improvement over Countess Henrietta. He tells her that she possesses what Henrietta lacks, understands something that Henrietta would never understand in several lifetimes: that looking down on people she believes as her 'inferiors' will leave her at a disadvantage eventually.

But if you hint at having feelings for Luke, the entire mood of the scene changes, and you see him feeling torn between his growing affections for her and his recognition that any relationship beyond the professional will end badly for them all.

• The thing with both Luke and Annabelle is that to not fall for them is to maintain the status quo. So even if there is an element of attraction, the MC not reciprocating does not tip the delicate balance that governs their lives at Edgewater over. But when she does...it gives rise both to moments of joy...and moments of fear.

• Ooh I love the animation for the train!!

I mean...just...look at this!

• The MC and Briar get to react in awe to their first sight of London before they get down from the carriage. We find out that we're pretty much stranded on the streets of London and no one has come to pick us up. Gee thanks, stepbro.

• Not gonna lie, but seeing Prince Hamid's shocked!face on his full-body shot made me giggle a little.

• He introduces himself as Imperial Prince Hamid, cousin to "his Imperial Majesty Mahmoud the Second, Caliph of Islam, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Custodian of the Two Mosques (the last especially was used in royal titles for many Islamic rulers, and refers to the Al-Haram Mosque (al-Masjid al-Ḥarām) of Mecca, and the Prophet's Mosque (Al-Masjid An-Nabawī) of Medina).

• In a sense he kinda reminds me of Kamilah: he is a fictional character positioned as being related to an actual historical figure, so they will give us plenty of background about the countries they were from (Egypt and Turkey [Istanbul in this case], respectively) but keep the actual historical figure at a distance. Making the fictional character a cousin and a person of an important position in that court is a smart choice to make: they're important enough to represent the royals of the times but distanced enough that it doesn't seem unnatural if they aren't that close and ergo can't tell you personal details about said historical figure.

• Did You Know: Sultan Mahmud II (the cousin Hamid mentions) was seen as quite a progressive ruler of his times. 1829 onwards, he tried to bring many, many reforms into the Ottoman empire, including (according to the Encyclopedia Britannica article on him) "adopting the cabinet system of government, provided for a census and a land survey, and inaugurated a postal service (1834), introducing compulsory primary education, opening a medical school, and sending students to Europe. In addition, the sultan’s right to confiscate the property of deceased officials was abolished, and European dress was introduced". It looks like some elements of this way of thought could be reflected in Hamid, from his talk of diplomacy in his diamond scene.

• Hamid not only positions himself as a bit of an outsider to England but also as a man who travels: talk of travelling and seeing the world is his ice-breaker when they get into the carriage. This will allow him not only to help familiarize the MC with London, and his home Constantinople, but also give her (and us) a view of what the world looks like at this point. For instance, if the MC speaks of even London is unfamiliar territory to her, he mentions the Blue Mosque, the construction of which was completed exactly 200 years prior to the events of the story.

• The other very essential point of this scene is to provide a bit of a parallel to Luke, but also as a counterpoint. Luke is disadvantaged both by his class and his race - ergo he has a very layered perspective. Hamid has privileges, but he is also aware of and in some ways used to the reception he gets in England, and has figured out how he wants to respond. Both Luke and Hamid find their ways to cope with their situation, and the MC is allowed - according to the ethnicity chosen for her - to relate to both.

Florence, for instance, relates heavily to this as someone is visibly a foreigner even though England is the only home she has ever known. Marianne does not fully understand this, but she can tell him like any decent human being would that she thinks it's wrong of people to treat him that way.

• Just prior to this the two manage to see the Tower of London, notorious for the imprisonment and execution of many, many people including royals and nobles. There is a short but rather poignant conversation on the "many people tortured and murdered over who had the right to sit on the throne" (among the people executed, you will find names like Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, Lady Jane Grey, Guy Fawkes and Walter Raliegh).

• Did You Know: For a long long time in England, executions were seen as a bit of a spectator sport. The more unusual the criminal, the bigger the crowd. The Capital Punishment UK blog speaks of the kind of atmosphere usually present around the time:

In many counties, executions were held on market days to enable the largest number of people to see them and school parties would be made to attend as a moral lesson, something which is certainly recorded as happening at Lancaster Castle. Public houses and gin shops always did a very brisk trade on a hanging day.

However, attitudes towards executions experienced a shift around the late 18th-early 19th century, and by 1864 Parliament established a Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, with a declaration that executions would take place inside the prisons rather than in public.

I'm not sure if this was intentional, but possibly the MC's and Hamid's reactions to the tower may be reflective of their times.

• Interestingly, Annabelle is shown to look jealous if you've been romancing her, and giving you a sly grin if you're just friends. I quite liked that little touch. Luke meanwhile is a little less open about how he feels at this point: whether you're romancing him or not, he is described as "watching you carefully" during your exchange with Hamid.

• So Mr Marlcaster got the letter from the Duchess to send a groom for picking the MC, but didn't...as per his mother's demands, surely. But AT LEAST you should have been a little prepared to answer me in case I dropped by anyway, dude? Instead of just standing there and staring at me like a scandalized goldfish.

• Looks like Edmund is still going to try screwing things up for us, and we'll need to find a way to get him on our side. After all, we get relationship points with both him and Theresa Sutton, and Lady Grandmother did tell us we could find a way to get them to be with us rather than against us.

• I'm looking forward to Chapter 5...but it's Chapter 6 I REALLY want to see. We're going to learn a bit more about the MC's mother's background!

General Thoughts:

• OMG so much was there to unpack this chapter!! A lot of it to do with Annabelle and Hamid, and Luke has taken a bit of a backseat this chapter but I'm hoping that's a taster of what's to come in his case.

• Look I love this story but IT COSTS SO MUCH. WTF. Keeping Clover was a nice option but it really added nothing to this chapter and could have easily been shifted elsewhere. I want this book to do well. I'm happy with how they're writing it, the effort they're putting into their research and into their characters so far...and I would hate for it to not be appreciated because they made it so hard for people to get into the book by making it this expensive so early.

• Florence is going for Annabelle and Luke (leaning more towards Annabelle at this point), and Marianne for Hamid and Sinclaire (I'm not sure yet but Hamid is a very very strong contender!!). Who would have thought I'd have my first polyam MCs in a book on Regency Era England!! Who woulda thunk!

• Annabelle particularly intrigues me at this point. She is clearly established as both inside and outside of this system, and vocally critical of it at least to the MC. She writes about her desires against the chargin of her father, and states that she doesn't want to merely settle into a 'safe' relationship like her mother, not unless she can know and trust that person (which is mostly why she agreed to the match with Harry even if she didn't love him). She is confused, and open and honest about her confusion. I really think the foundation of this character is immensely strong, but they really need to keep working on her and not just drop their efforts on her halfway. And I've seen that happen enough times with female LIs to be afraid.

• At this point, we now have three male LIs (one Master of Horse who is African-American, one family-approved eligible bachelor and one prince of the Ottoman Empire) and one female love interest. Is there space for one more confirmed female LI? I sure hope so but at the same time I don't want keep my hopes up.

However...IF the plan is to keep just one female LI, then they'd better do a pretty darn phenomenal job of her. If you're not going to give wlw players other options it's only fair to make sure the only option is given really, really good writing - consistently. They're doing a good job so far...but there's a long long way to go before I can fully trust PB to do justice to her.

• That's it for now! On to Chapter 6!

• Tagged: @boneandfur @liamraines @thespiritpanda @alanakusumastan @ernestsinclairs @private-investigator-nazario @bcdollplace @thedepthsremember @mcbangle @queenodysseia @novaelaras

If you'd like to be tagged on these QTs, do let me know! 😀

#desire and decorum #long post #annabelle x mc #luke x mc #hamid x mc #annabelle parsons #luke harper #imperial prince hamid #dnd quick thoughts #quick thoughts

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wynndygoon · 7 years ago

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1st Anniversary!

This will be sort of a recap post encompassing all of what has happened over this first year. So get ready, this will be a long post!

I started this blog shortly after I got my drawing tablet as a means to try and get better at using the damn thing. Needless to say, I think that it has been more than a success and has also been an amazing opportunity to meet all of you amazing people who have gotten invested in Noma and what she is and who she is as a character. And, while this past year hasn’t been perfect, it has been a wondorous experience filled with laughs and new bonds that frankly, I never would have made otherwise. Same goes to me trying out new things such as streaming, downloading Discord, and just flat out putting my art out there in this world for people to see and hopefully fall in love with.

So this whole blog, and the lady we all know and love, Noma, wouldn’t have been here if it weren’t for chance. If you are new or never read the post explaining her past, the short version is: I had a Blaziken that hatched from an Egg in pokemon Black. It was a female, and I named her Noma, and it turned out that she had a bunch of good EV’s and IV’s, so I used her a lot through the game. Well when X and Y came out, I got the launch event Torchic that had better stats than Noma, so in a stupid move, I wonder Traded her away, hoping that someone else would like her just as much as I did. Fast forward a few months before I started this blog, and one of my friends traded me a bunch of pokemon since he didn’t really play much anymore. Long story short, he traded me back Noma. So while I had this idea about starting a pokemon ask blog, I never knew which pokemon i wanted to use, until Noma popped back into my life. As soon as that happened, I knew I had to make her my character.

So next came the design phase, and while I never was amazing at creating characters, I knew that I had to try and make her look unique to stand out from the crowd. And When I say unique, i think I went a bit too overboard with her, but at least we can still tell she is a blaziken, right? Anyways, I knew that I wanted to make her somewhat Tomboy-ish, while still having her be feminine as to not confuse people. I also knew that one easy way to accomplish this was to make her a little more fluffy and poofy, so believe it or not, I started with her hair design and went from there. I knew that if i could nail the hair, then everything would kinda fall into place. So that is why she has just SO MUCH HAIR, because form a design point, it was necessary. Also, making her wear clothes would help her stand out seeing as many poke-ask blogs leave their characters nude. Speaking of which, I am going to address something about Noma right here: SHE DOESN’T HAVE BOOBS ALRIGHT. I know it looks like she does, but since she has so many feathers and is very fluffy, wearing clothes would be difficult. So what she has to do is stuff her chest fluff into her tank tops, and purely because there is so much of it, it lumps up under the shirt. So all the people asking to see Noma’s “Chicken Breasts” ( those were some real asks BTW), sorry, no luck there.

________________________________________________________________

THIS SECTION IS ALL OF MY FAVORITE ASKS AND REDESIGNS OF NOMA

So, now that I have the character created, It’s time to draw her and make a post on here. Im not gonna lie, that first night was nerve wracking. I didn’t have the slightest clue as to what was going to happen, if anyone would see the post, or hell, if anyone would like it.

But here she is, the main attraction in her first appearance on the blog. Happy, inviting, and not nearly as fluffy as what she is now. For some of you newer followers, yes, this is how it all began. Notice that she isn’t as tall, or fluffy, or as vibrant as what you know her as, but yes, this is what everyone saw for a couple of months while I started out. This WAS her design.

So, with this outta the way, it’s time to answer some asks, but to do that, I had to think of her personality. So, I just made her personality be fun. someone who can be sassy, sarcastic, kind, loveable, and genuinely nice. It’s up to you to decide o how well that comes across though.

This ask was: “Why are you such a Boss Ass Blaziken?” and this is where I went into her story in a little more detail and made it feel more like a story rather than a simple explanation of events. It was the first question I got and I had a lot of fun working on it because at least one person took the time out of their day to send me something.

Here is Noma explaining her Favorite Region that she has been to. And this was kind of a first for the blog since we got to see what she looked like below the crop top. And yes, its just a crop top with her chest fluff stuffed into it. Take note how much shorter she was when I started this blog. Like, I never realized this before, but for a blaziken, she was a midget. Also, can we just ignore some of the glaring anatomy issues here? I was still kinda working on her design here.

And here we reach the first Big re-design of Noma. While not much besides her hair changed, this was the part of her life that she started dyeing her hair different colors to make her design more unique. She also has a bit more of a neck and her hands are also more suited to a blaziken’s with the gray part instead of all red like the first post. In this ask, she was answering what her favorite past times are. Out of all the asks that I have done so far back then, THIS was my favorite to work on, just changing up her hair style felt so refreshing and honestly makes her look so much different.

THIS. FREAKING. ASK. this was the one that started a bunch of people to harass me to essentially draw nsfw of Noma. At the time of answering this ask, I was midway through a show called Panty and Stocking, go check it out if you haven’t, it’s hilarious and really good. But the ask was: “What is your favorite hairstyle?” So I decided to have a little fun and I started out just drawing the hair to make the reference to Panty and Stocking, but I thought that nobody would actually catch the reference, so I decided to go big or go home and reference the entire character of Scanty. If only I knew what kind of hell I would have unleashed for the next few months. Despite all of the perverted asks and messages I received, this was an insanely fun ask to draw, and it was also a challenge to try and recreate Scanty, but in a Blaziken form. Also, notice how her hands reverted back to red. I never said I was consistent.

So that slightly NSFW ask was the last actual drawing i posted for quite a while because then, I started college and was so nervous and scared and focused on doing well that i just didn’t have time to draw or play video games because of all the stress. I would literally wake up, go to school, go to work, come home, and sleep. and that was it. My next few posts actually weren’t Noma related, so I won’t cover them.

This was the first ask I had for ASK MAGIC which had Noma’s type change to water for 3 asks. Each of these weren’t all that exciting, but I am including this here because it was a milestone for the blog that NO ONE HAS USED SINCE! HINT HINT.

This wasn’t an ask, just a drawing idea I had for Halloween. She is still rocking her crazy hair with 3 different colors now and frankly, I have no idea what I was thinking giving her a rooster comb AND and ponytail, but hey, it works. SO if you couldn’t tell she went as a rooster for Halloween and her hands also magically changed back to red. But she also dyed her chest fluff in the shape of a heart which was another small design change.

HERE SHE IS THE FIRST MAJOR REDESIGN THAT ACTUALLY CHANGED SOME STUFF ABOUT HER. First of all, she doesn’t have the weird red neck that she had that just made her chest fluff look glued on, her fluff is on the entirety of her neck, and her neck is now longer, giving here a taller appearance. I also changed the look of her chest fluff to look like it surrounds her from behind also, and I changed the fluff on her face here too. Sure they may not be the biggest changes, but they made her a hell of a lot easier to draw and i think made her look better overall too.

This is just a better look of her, and is also my icon. See how she looks less like a midget and more graceful? The re-design was for the greater good.

This ask was SUPER fun: “My last ask was mean, but if you could choose any other type, what would it be”. This was when i could encompass all of what made Noma, Noma. The new redesign looks flawless, and we actually got to see an almost full body drawing of Noma. Glaring anatomy issues aside, I still really think that this was one of my better works of Noma.

I had a Thanskgiving ask set aside to put here, but I am really not too proud of that one, and also because it was during the time when I lost my grandmother, so I’m just going to leave it out so I don’t get too emotional about it.

You think I would have learned my lesson about showing Noma in anything REMOTELY NSFW, but nope, here we have her in her underwear. The ask was: “I am liking this new look!” and yeah, I tried to go for a cheap visual gag, not only in the fact that she isn’t decent, but also in the name of her boxers. American Eagle in the pokemon world would more than likely be Unovan Braviary, like come on, that’s comedy silver at best.

Look at this Eye-sore. I tried to do a candy cane look wit her hair, but I think it fell flat and looks too busy. But the Ask was: “Do you have any jewelry?” While this doesn’t look as good as I hoped it would have, this was certainly a lot of fun to draw.

This was my absolute favorite non-ask post to draw because i used my actual ugly christmas sweater to design hers. I know the perspective is off here, but that is purely because of the angle I took the picture at.

THIS COMIC WAS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST TO DRAW, PLUS IT ALSO INTRODUCED NOMA’S LOVE INTEREST, EM, WHICH IS STILL A PART OF THIS BLOG SO SEND HIM SOME ASKS PLEASE. ALSO I DO NOT OWN EM, HE IS A CHARACTER OF BANANAMUTTBREAD, SO GO GIVE HIM A FOLLOW, HE IS AN AMAZING PERSON.

This was a difficult drawing to do, not because of the characters, but because of the shading and lighting, and yes, I know, its not the best, But I am still very proud of it nonetheless. But, yeah, this is a mash up of Lethal League which is an amazing game and Noma. The reason I chose Candyman to draw, was because he was simple, and because he is a pain in the ass to fight against.

By this point in the blog’s life, I had just bought my dog Bella, and started a new semester at college. With my toughest classes all piled on top of each other, i didn’t have much time to draw, so there wasn’t much to be posted then. However, I did introduce a new character, not a pokemon, but instead a bee character I came up with. Her name is Grain, and she is super cute, so go check out the art i made of her!

With me posting again halfway through last semester, the first ask I got was about Noma’s hairstyle. To be honest, I have no idea what kind of style that is, so let’s just move on.

Oh boy, my first piece i did on stream. This was another small redesign I did just to get back into the swing of redrawing Noma and making sure I could remember how to draw her. also, I tested out a new form of shading that I really like and will probably continue to use from here on out.

#asknoma

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comebeonetwothree · 4 years ago

Text

Blog #6: Coast to Coast

6/29/2021

The homeland of the rich, the famous, and the homeless junkies of Los Angeles, California will always have my heart.

With my first near death experience, I have come to see life in a new light… YOLO!

Remember that term? Yah, it was one of those fads that had meaning to it but no longer holds a place in fashion... thank god.

Everything on this coast is slow, even the way people talk is dragged out. No one J-walks here. They seriously wait for that little white man to pop up on the cross walks before walking, even if there is not a car in sight.

Yet everyone here has a serious addition to coffee.

Hangovers are even more dragged because everyone is so uber healthy here, they straight up do not have greasy food.

I made the mistake of ordering an egg and cheese, knowing it’ll only be a disappointment compared to a New York BEC. It was beyond disappointing, especially being hungover as fuck.

Everyone here is stoned all the time and have been for years. I truly believe the whole city moves so slow because everyone is high all the time.

No wonder they can survive with the shitty food- they are too high to realize.

They do have some fire weed here, so it makes sense, but damn… they are so slow and ditsy.

There is so much art here, from music, to painting, to theater, to creativity, everyone comes here with a dream. Some make their dreams come true, others end up addicted to crack, but everyone originally came here in hopes of making something of themselves.

That energy runs through the streets, it is so lively and so filled with hope. It is truly an inspiring place to live.

Who

Who have you become…

The people on the west coast are just genuinely nicer. We had a conversation that consisted of outrageous hand gestures with a random man in his car.

He had blocked an intersection accidently so I couldn’t make a left turn, where he then proceeded to see me raging about it and trying to mouth to us how sorry he was. We straight up had a conversation with this guy and were joking around while waiting for the light. We left mouthing, “We are from New Yorkk, move outta the way” as a joke, and he just understood and left us with a peace sign.

There is a surplus of homelessness here, and it is sad to see but also so interesting to watch them set up communities on the sides of highways and all along the beach.

There is never just one homeless dude posted up under a cardboard box. It’s always 15+ people posting up together in nice ass tents they probably stole or making cardboard houses with tarps for extra coverage.

They get super creative with their homelessness; it is fascinating to watch.

This one guy was zipping down the road in what looked like a decked-out bike, with high handlebars and a motor. He was moving with traffic and was looking cool while doing it.

As he got closer, we realized his get-up was made from an ironing board he bent into a seat, a plastic crate holding up the ironing board to a lime scooter he probably stole a month prior. Topping it off, he added tall handlebars for that 70s badass look. That man mastered one man’s trash, into another man’s treasure.

The saddest part is knowing majority of them came out here looking for their big break and got so hooked on drugs, they could never make it farther then that last $10 in their pocket for drugs.

On the other hand, some of these people have money to their names, but choose this lifestyle.

They really enjoy the life of nothing. This one woman was offered a job and a home, and she politely turned it down because this was her home. She loved the community around her and wouldn’t trade it for any material. What a way of life.

My family was so generous to let us three, stay with them here in Venice Beach. My Uncle Greg is my mom’s brother. He moved out here with his family to further his comedic career. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t see my cousins often.

My cousin Owen is a year younger than me and in the same grade as my brother. My other cousin Jojo is four years younger but grew up so fast. I always said the water in California was cracked out, because she always appeared older than my brother and I.

Since COVID I hadn’t been able to see them in two years, so I was so excited to hang out with them.

Jojo just graduated high school, so she is finally old enough to do drugs with!!

We also got to meet up with our friend Izzy from Oneonta. She is living out here for the summer with her sister. What a life.

Izzy is thriving here with her job at this night club and is living in her sister’s cute ass apartment in Echo Park. She has the total LA vibe and even knows all the local spots to hang. Shout out to you for sneaking us into a random hotel’s rooftop pool! Confidence never gets questioned.

We love meeting up with friends from school, it makes the trip feel more homie.

What

What’s hanging dude…

Joshua Tree National Park was something out of another planet. It seriously looked like Jurassic Park and a dinosaur should be appearing at any second.

It was very different from anything we had ever seen before, but it was still a desert and was hot as fuck.

We did some gorgeous hikes through all the massively large, rounded rocks that somehow were placed on top of each other ages ago.

The trees that are all around are Joshua Trees, also considered Trees of Life.

This means they produce a way of life for other creatures at all stages of its growing/dying process.

While in beginning stages of its life, Yucca moths use the trees pollen to lay their eggs in and produce pollen scatter, creating more trees. When the trees are gown, the caterpillars use the tree for habitats and provides food sourcing for a lot of other desert species. When the tree dies, the bark is used to create habitats for humans and used to wove baskets and other materials.

These trees look like a palm tree and a cactus went to TOWN together.

Los Angeles is the other city of dreams. It is not comparable to New York City besides the homelessness and the traffic.

The Ocean really makes the whole city’s surfer aesthetic. Everyone, even the rich and famous, dress like they are in last weeks outfit.

The style is so different from New York. People really don’t dress to impress but spend half their life savings on their wardrobe.

Visiting my family here has always been the ideal way to do this city, since they take us to all the local shops, and we do fun activities like surfing. It’s not just another tour bus showing us where Kurt Cobain shot up some heroin for the first time.

They also show us the best food joints. We got these sushi balls, and it was the greatest -post beach snack- imaginable. A little hit of the wax pen and a bite of this ball is comparable to an orgasm.

Where

Where are all the famous people…

Joshua Tree was so beautiful, it is a place I will be re-visiting, considering we were only there for one night.

Los Angeles is where I have always wanted to live, ever since a young girl. Whenever we would come out here to visit my uncle, he would take us to the coolest places, and we would meet the coolest people.

One year I was here on my birthday, and his buddy stopped over to say hi, when I came downstairs in was Zach Galifianakis chilling there with a $20 bill and my name on it as a birthday gift.

You could imagine my teenage self shitting a tiny bit in my pants as he handed me $20… However, in my head I was thinking, “I know you’re rich, give me more you cheap fuck.”

This year for graduation I only got a phone call from him… how rude.

My Uncle is a popular comedian, if you know him you know him, but if you don’t, he is very irrelevant to you.

When we arrived, he took us out to a show he was preforming at in West Hollywood, featuring other comedians you might know or might also be very irrelevant, including Bill Burr, Anthony Jeselnik, Pete Holmes and Beth Stelling.

It was a cool venue, and a fun time. My favorite part was being called out for attempted DUI’s in every state we have been in due to my funneling addiction, thanks Uncle Greg, that was supposed to be a secret.

After the show he dropped us off at this bar that his friends said was the “it” spot. When we walked in, the bar itself was perfect, expect it was populated by older rich men trying to find their next sugar baby.

We had some contenders, but they were asking for too much… No, I don’t want to go back to your house and sneak past your wife and kids as we dart to your hot tub.

When

When will we leave…

When we first got to LA we had full intensions of staying only four nights and getting out of my family’s hair, but then plans fell through.

Because I love it here so much, we decided to stay!!

Just kidding, I wish we could stay longer… One day I’ll move out here though.

COVID restrictions are back at it again, ruining our plans of going Yosemite. They are the only National Park that requires a whole ass separate pass just to enter the park, on top of the $30 day pass we already have.

The only reason our route was heading inland California was to see that park. So, we did a little digging and decided to just send it up all the way up the coast and do the legendary Pacific Coast Highway.

This is what we originally wanted to do before we found out about Yosemite. Guess we will have to come back to see the park, aw shucks!

Why

Why can’t I afford this…

California is fucking expensive; I can see why the population of homelessness is so high… Even gas is $1.00 more than it is back in New York.

And for Why? They are on a coast, it’s not like the desert where there is a gas station every 100 miles.

They know people here have the money, so they overprice literally everything. A fucking water bottle is $7.00. Sorry didn’t realize paying for survival would be this expensive.

The older man at the bar loved to throw the fact he had money around (as do most people with money around here). He kept saying he works on wall street, but wall street is literally a street in New York City.

He just wanted to flex he works in finances and has a hot tub, okay we get it you have a small dick.

How

How we almost died…

This is my favorite part of the last week, but also the most traumatizing.

So, have you ever heard of cowboy camping?

Well, neither had we until our friend that had just camped in Joshua Tree told us about it and how legendary it was in that specific spot.

Cowboy camping: you don’t pitch your tent, you just post up with your sleeping bags under the stars.

Since Joshua Tree is known for their stars, we thought fuck it, we are here for less than 12 hours, the weather is perfect let’s do it.

That night was a full moon, and it was a killer sunset (all pun intended). We cooked up a nice rice bowl for dinner and then laid in our sleeping bags watching the stars.

The moon was almost too bright, it was taking away from the illumination of the stars, but it was legendary because I’ve never seen such a big and bright moon before.

But you know what they say about the full moons, it brings out the crazies. And in our case, coyote crazies.

After drifting off to sleep under the peaceful star and moon lit sky, I was rudely woken up to really loud growling and whimpering.

It was not something that was off in the distance, it was right next to us… barebone in the wild.

I quickly and quietly turned over to grab my bear spray that I keep next to me when camping. I started thinking, “Alright this is the only thing keeping me from getting mauled by whatever the fuck is next to me.”

Not knowing what we were dealing with, I slowly popped my head up hoping the animal didn’t catch my movement… I saw about 5 feet in front of us was a pack of about 10 coyotes, running around chasing animals.

We happen to be the center of their circle and were surrounded by their pack. Thankfully their attention was diverted to our asshole neighbor’s whose food was left out. Thanks for that.

We just laid their paralyzed in fear of death. As we laid there, I saw two shooting stars and wished for life… Shoutout to those shooting stars.

We tried to stay as quiet as possible, so we didn’t become their next victim. Maya was not having it though and couldn’t stop shaking. There was a moment when her shaking was so loud, and I could see a coyote right next to us, so I had to hold her body so it would stop moving.

We laid there for about 20 minutes until the noises stopped… then we booked it for the car. We slept in the car until the sun rose.

As the sun was rising all the coyotes simultaneously howled for the rest of the pack to meet up and disappear before daylight. That was one of those, “holy shit that was the coolest most terrifying moments of my life”, moments.

We left the next morning as fast as possible, running on no sleep and fear… we headed for the city. I had never been more grateful to be in a city.

#blogging for beginnerstravel blogjoshua treelos angelescoast to coastroad trippost gradwe are brokesugarnear death experiencecoyote #blogging for beginners #joshua tree #los angeles #coast to coast road trip #post grad #broke #near death experience #coyote

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hesouttahere · 7 years ago

Photo

Soooo @inky-chimera and I have been talking about a Cuphead AU for our characters... And this is what we came up with!! I. Really like how this came out, so I’m probably going to at least color the main picture in, not sure about the spider one. I LOVE this style though, holey wow. Rubberhose art is so much fun.

But yeah! Wallace here is a debtor, and Benda is his pal. More stuff under the cut! Not 100% sure if that’s how the fight would go, but I wanted to record their quotes and jot down the ideas we had.

Wallace Wholenote and Benda Min in...

RHYTHM RUSH!

Wallace was finding a hard time making a name with his piano playing skills, so he made a deal with the devil to get instantaneous fame!

Phase 1 Death quote: "I've got your death on record to play back at your funeral! An elegy eulogy!" Wallace is on his own for this phase. He throws musical notes at the bros that they need to dodge, as well as some other musical items. He can use his flaring horn to collect the bullets that the Cups launch (it still does damage to him) and send them right back at them. Shorter phase.

Phase 2 Death quote: "Can't handle the music?" "Then get OUTTA here!" This phase starts with Benda Min drops a piano on Wallace's head! (No damage can be done until Wallace climbs out from under it.) Benda breaks out of an ink well on the piano, sending shards of glass everywhere. This phase mostly consists of Wally using the piano keys as weapons (by launching them at the bros) and Benda throwing droplets of ink at the bros. Now and again Wallace will reach into the piano and grab a hammer to use as a weapon. The phase ends with Wallace trying to turn the piano around to crush the cups, but he just gets knocked out. Benda falls inside of the piano, then grabs the bros and pulls them inside. Longer phase.

Phase 3 Death quote: "Need some ink to write your will?" Benda is on his own for this phase. He's super quick and pretty spastic, throwing ink droplets, ink pens and even sharp horns at the cups. After a few cycles Wallace gets back up and starts playing the piano, which makes the hammer launch the bros into the air if they're standing on them. (no damage) The phase ends when Benda pulls out a bomb, but flubs it and just makes the piano explode instead.

Phase 4 Death quote: "The inky little spider climbed up the water spout!" "Down came the pain and knocked those cups right out!" This phase starts when Wallace tosses his head into the air, squashing his body along with Benda's, which turns into a giant spider. They will launch musical notes at the bros, along with ink drops, every so often trying to either punch or kick the bros with their many arms. Similar to the first and third phases, but without Benda ruining all over the screen like a madman. Longer phase.

#sheep of the epic boat #cuphead #Verse: Pianist in Debt #Wallace Wholenote #Benda Min

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bluriginals · 7 years ago

Text

Quest for the Northwest Review

@gfdeepwoods @mysteryseeker

Sorry to keep you waiting!

It's been a long time coming, but it finally came! Not only since the last Blu Blogs (all the way back in March; yikes!) but since I made the promise to provide a review of Quest for the Northwest for a member of its crew (all the way back in June). Now I know what you're thinking and I will tackle these thoughts in order of importance:

1.) What's Quest of the Northwest?

It's the first installment of Gravity Falls: Deep Woods, a fanimatic based series chronicling some adventures in between the normal episodes of Gravity Falls

2.) jesus /march/

yes i know i'm awful

3.) Someone requested you to review their stuff?

i know it's so exciting!

ok maybe none of you were thinking that but i was and it was so flattering and cool and stuffs

4.) Does this have anything to do with the Mystery Hut review?

Only vaguely; MysterySeeker (who I'm assuming is running the project) saw it and thought I was apparently good at this so they asked me to throw some of my...'me' their way.

5.) You promised this review in mid July and it's almost October. What do you have to say about that, HydroPants?

Uuuuuuuuh...there's my ride?

Now in my defense, the first part was released January 16th and the second Hirsch Day and that's a 5 month wait so if anything I'm like, 3 months fashionably early!

Read and weep, boys.

Alright alright, in all seriousness deepest apologies for me taking SO long to get to this. Getting that feedback on time is likely important for whatever you guys are doing with Deep Woods moving forward and it's just plain unprofessional. Really sorry to you all! But enough apologizing, let's get to the review of...

If you haven't already watched it, you should check out part 1 here .

As I stated before, I might not have known about this or looked into without my Mystery Hut review and as I stated there, I was really hyping that project up. Since then I've learned to abolish hopes/dreams and reject happiness, but the thumbnail did give a good first impression. It had a well-crafted quality to it and had been made specifically TO be the thumbnail. This really contributed to my gut feeling that Quest for the Northwest would really be something special. And let me tell you it is DEFINITELY really good. However, rather than talking about it on its own, allow me to spend the entire review judging it not only by its own merits, but by comparing it to Mystery Hut. Naaah, just kidding I'll leave that ol' coot alone. Before I we go in on the story, let's talk about the presentation. Oh my.

Presentation

This presentation is just /amazing/. It's really like taking a step back into Gravity Falls as if nothing's changed (as much as you can in an animatic sense). Starting off with the sound direction, Quest for the Northwest has a distinct element that truly gives it the GF edge any project attempting to emulate the original series needs: the music and audio cues. Brad Breeck's music fills the scenes it needs to and adds to the atmosphere so much. However we aren't dealing with Johnny Test or a 4Kids dub here; the fanimatic knows when to stop talking and deliver some golden silence.

This example from early in the episode where Mrs. Northwest discourages Pacifica from playing with the commoners utilizes sound cues in a way that emphasizes what happens in it

I can't think of a true example of silence off of the top of my head, and it's likely that many scenes use a more lowkey part of the OST, but that works towards the same objective: quieter, more somber moments that appropriately juxtapose the louder ones. It never feels like these silences are too long, awkward, or the result of someone flubbing a line or not being able to think up some dialogue to put in the place of said silence. Speaking of flubbing lines, there's basically none of that: the casting and voice direction are extremely solid. I feel as though some of the people from Mystery Hut (THIS AND TWO THINGS LATER WILL BE ONLY COMPARISONS I SWEAR) may be 'reprising' their roles in Quest for the Northwest (which will hence forth be abbreviated as QftNW) and if they are I gotta give some shout outs to them and the voice director because the delivery and inflections of every line are just right and more. You really get a sense of the emotions and mindset of the characters with every word they say and on the whole the inflections feel very reminiscent of GF. Dipper, Pacifica, Jeff and Preston while not perfect matches are honestly good substitutes and deliver every one of their lines the way you'd imagine the real VAs to. Soos is honestly spot on aside from not being as deep but the real star of the show is Mabel. Though she isn't a near perfect match like Soos, whenever I hear her voice actress speak I can actually feel those Kristen Schaal-isms in her; not just through her dialogue but how she says certain words and just her voice in general. There's even special attention to detail in some places like when Jeff's voice breaks when he's pepper sprayed and in some instances, you can even tell what a character is saying based on their mouth in a single frame.

You can EASILY tell that Jeff's saying something with an 'L' sound, and while you don't have to mark little things like this in boards unless they're really important, I appreciate it a lot.

The only gripes I have with the sound (and they're admittedly minor) is that I feel like Part 1 is a bit quiet, even at max volume and Snadger's hiss audio in part 2 is loud. Like, if you have it at 100% prepare to get that faux jumpscare chord feel. But these really are nothing in comparison to the great sound in this fanimatic.

Upon my first viewing of the episode I was blown away at how well-crafted and consistent the art was. I could NOT believe that there were that many boarders; 4 at most. But I found myself shocked to see a plethora of different artists names flash on screen during the credits (16 to be exact; 4 times as many as appeared). On the second viewing, I was definitely able to distinguish more than 4 styles, but 16 is still WAY more than I'd ever guess. It's just so consistently good, on-model, and expressive, its many artists are able to carry it together with pride.

This shot in particular is really pretty, so I wanted to highlight it :)

Sure there'd be occasional hiccups like Dipper and Mabel's heads being squarshed in some frames or the first portion of Jeff's beast slaying plot but you still get a genuine sense of effort from each and every frame/artist and (Mystery Hut comparison incoming) not ONCE does it ever stoop the low, haphazard inconsistencies and disregard of the Gravity Falls artstyle as Mystery Hut did. In fact, it goes so much further beyond that. Just...take a look.

(Nearly) Every. Single. Face in this project oozes with the Falls. I absolutely loved it and it was a pure joy to look at. Not a second goes where something isn't moving and it's in the best way: each frame is logical and compliments the one preceding and succeeding it. I can honestly imagine so many of these frames transitioning smoothly from one to the other in animation and this level of attention to detail and desire to express a genuine Gravity Falls experience is commendable to say the least.

They remembered dramatic, shading using close-ups and in some shots they even bothered to put in unique towns people that fit the style! Cute!

But the biggest thing of all that propels this to new heights artistically has got to be the understanding of the characters.

QftNW has such a great understanding of Gravity Falls' characters not only in how they talk but equally as important: how their physical body works in relation to other objects as well as themselves.

Dipper's (audience) right hand has such a nice depth to it and the way Pacifica's hair bends on the bench looks like it jumped straight outta the show.

But there's on example that stood out to me above the rest. Just...look at this beautiful 8 frame scene where Dipper and Mabel take off their Pacifica costumes.

Forgot how tumblr shrinks wide images like this, so here: bask in the full glory of these frames!

Whoever drew this is my Super Star, the 1-Up Boy (or Girl). It's on model, it understands how the individual 'pieces' of Dipper and Mabel work (hair, arms, face etc.), it has touches like their changing facial expressions and Dipper turning his hat forward. I just can't do it justice this scene is so /good/. MysterySeeker when you get to this, please give that boarder special shout outs. I love this scene so much aaaaaaaaaah

Alright that's enough gushing about the glorious art and sound. There's one last remark I'd like to make about the presentation. The episode managed to get in a special monochromatic full version of theme which is great, but in the end the episode totaled out to /27/ minutes. Now, if that's what they want to go with that's absolutely fine. Nothing wrong with having your Gravity Falls fan series run a couple over the normal limit. But if they really want to go for that Gravity Falls feeling they should cut 5 of those minutes.

Story and Characters

Quest for the Northwest's basic premise is that Dipper and Mabel decide to go out to a parade being held to honor the election of the holder of the best running gag, Tyler Cutebiker. However upon seeing a miserable Pacifica in the parade Dipper and Mabel (mostly Mabel) callout to her and try to get her away from the parade and by extent her parents. All isn't right however as with Jeff's role as leader being questioned due to his inability to find a new queen, the town's precious princess may find herself in more trouble than she's bargained for. The basic story definitely shows lots of promise, particularly in the idea of having an episode where the Pines twins both interact with Pacifica. But before we really go in on that let me talk about the structural elements that hold up this story.

As stated in the presentation section, the visuals here are on point and they really propel the episode forward with great action based gags, both subtle and dynamic. Jeff rubbing his eyes after being pepper sprayed and Preston's reactions to all of the filthy commoners being near him (Soos especially) added to the scene SO much.

Don't touch me, PEON. And on a similar note...

Don't touch me phone, PEON.

The characters aren't just moving through each scene as lifeless dolls, occasionally making flanderized quips that are supposed to remind you "YUP THAT'S THEM". That wasn't uh, that wasn't supposed to be a Mystery Hut sneak diss either I just wanted to say that the characterization is great. Speaking of that third Mystery Hut diss, it's finally time to get to it as we talk about the characterization. Mabel's characterization is MILES better than it is in Mystery Hut. There she was a spouting faux-Mabel non-sequiturs and generally being a flanderized nuisance. But here? Her dialogue isn't substanceless; it's endearing, and smart, and feels SO Mabel. And being that this is QftNW, it's not just her dialogue. It's her actions. How she moves and the things she does: licking the beard hair twice (and ultimately eating some at the very end), her "balloon sense" in scene 2, picking the cotton candy off the bench when they hear people calling for Pacifica and then sliding next to them when they look behind the wall.

It culminates into making Mabel feel well represented and because she's one of our two protagonists, it's pretty important to have her on point. And that my friends is that LAST you'll hear of Mystery Hut for the rest of this review. Probably ;)

I think that Pacifica was handled really well too! Some fans would've had her be a complete 180 from her appearance in Northwest Mansion Mystery, having her be all nice, and kind, and forcing Padippica down our throats in a way that feels unnatural, Pacifica still retains a lot of her personality. She's clearly only JUST learning to be better person and it's the gradual type of character development that I love to see.

Pacifica says "It's ok, most people are terrible at what they do." and not only is this a funny line but it feels perfect for a kid who's only steadily learning to drop her rich girl tendencies.

Sort of reminds me of the Steven Universe episode "Beta" where Peridot is showing Amethyst and Steven the Beta Kindergarten and making remarks about the gems that emerged there that really bring out her more Homeworld-like habits.

Jeff's pretty well-handled as well. Due to him being more of a recurring character in the series he's got nothing that really stands out but he's still well represented, especially in relation to the show. Basically all of his dialogue feels right at home with him. Though there is one action he takes in the story that particularly stands out, and that's retrying the Norman scheme from Tourist Trapped. I know this seems like the type of thing that'd I normally whine about and call forced reference/fan-pandering, but the way it goes about is such a unique parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. The Gnomes are NOT the smartest creatures in Gravity Falls, so it makes perfect sense for them to double down on such a make-shift plot. It further expands on the parallel by having the plot fall apart very plainly. Him stumbling over his words, dropping the hand, and just coming on too strong coupled with Pacifica not buying it at any point and eventually fighting her way out is a serves as a smart subversion of Mabel's encounter with them, helps advance the plot in a unique direction. On the topic of throwbacks that brings us to Dipper and well...

For the most part I believe Dipper's also himself. At first I was thinking he was being a bit of a downer but honestly, it fits Dipper to be resistant against things like going to the parade. Him not thinking about Pacifica's huge milestone in Northwest Mansion Mystery (NMM) where she disobeys her parents is a little bit harsh but things really go over the edge when after the twins manage to get Pacifica off the float, Pacifica mentions that while appreciative, she doesn't want to be caught with them for fear of more punishment from her parents. Dipper replies to this by saying "See Mabel, she hasn't changed at all. And here I thought you were gonna start trying to break the world's worst chain".

Barring the fact that reprising the "world's worst chain" in the context of demeaning Pacifica comes off as absolutely brutal seeing as the line was such a landmark part of NMM (it was the thing that made Pacifica finally consider a change of heart), it feels very forced. Dipper didn't need to say something that cut so deep AGAIN especially after Pacifica saved ALL of their lives not out of obligation but out of wanting to do the right thing. And that's just the world's worst chain part; the fact that he says she hasn't changed at all? Way too much. And considering that she's just doing something as little as running away from a boring parade and not tricking Dipper into exorcising a ghost it was really unwarranted for him to go nuclear on her like that. Honestly this is the only instance of bad writing in this entire fanimatic. Like, Pacifica not wanting to consistently disobey her hella strict parents again makes sense. Has the Fear of God never been put into this boy by Mr. and Ms. Pines?

But don't let this minor blemish make you think it's NO good. The episode's writing is honestly SO good. And it's referential/injoke humor definitely isn't a hit or miss in most cases. You know, based on the fact that I gave 1 hit example and 1 miss example; I didn't want it to come off as QftNW being a crapshoot when it comes to reference jokes. It's very subtle but you can catch things like 'Dope Dog', an obvious reference to Cool Cat who we all probably know from YMS, Pizza Guy being jibbed YET again,

Shout outs to whoever boarded the first montage too btw

Alex Hirsch's face being on the TV and name somewhere else in the episode, the former Mayor's honorary statue and the fact that it has 2012 on it,

You guys KNOW they would've had to vague the date if this was a real episode.

And best of all Pacifica's response at the end when asked if she wants to visit the shack. If you don't get it, listen to how she responds to Dipper. You'll get it. QftNW is just plain good at balancing the worlds of emulation and fandom. I salute you fair fanimatic.

As you could guess from how much I've gushed about the characterization, the writing is a joy. The jokes are very much Gravity Falls and from start to finish this episode is doing its best to give you that feel when you have GF.

On first viewing this had me /ROLLING/, oh my god. What a great way to start off an episode.

And it keeps this kind of stuff up throughout its entire run. BTW shout outs to one of the guys who said "MS. NORTHWEST" while they were looking for her. This is so random but the way one of them said it honestly sounded like professional VA work. He knows who he is. Alright that's enough goofing around. How do I feel about the actual plot, the meat of the story separated from the writing/art framework? As stated before I truly believe this to be a great fanimatic. Its production efforts are high for a fanmade project and you can just tell lots of love and heart were put into every aspect of it. But if I'm being quite honest, I found the actual plot sort of weak. The writing itself was top notch so that did it a lot of favors but if you take a step back, you realize that not a lot really happens. Like, a lot HAPPENS but not a lot of substance happens. The episode deals with two primary conflicts: Pacifica trying to take a break from her daily routine and avoid her parents and Jeff trying to prove he's a worthy leader. Both are handled in a pretty straight forward manner: Pacifica avoids her parents all day and worries how they'll react, Dipper and Mabel come up with a valid excuse less than half way through the episode; Jeff tries to kidnap Pacifica, fails, the kids pity him and help him out by doing the classical costume farce and all is well. It's lacking the strong character plot (ex. Mabel questioning if she is a good person in Last Mabelcorn, Dipper confessing his crush in Into the Bunker, Dipper and Mabel wondering if Stan is really what he seems in well, Not What He Seems, Soos learning how to deal with girls/the fear of being alone in Soos and the Real Girl etc.) present in nearly every Gravity Falls episode. Even the segments within Bottomless Pit! and Little Gift Shop of Horrors managed to place some significant character plots that easily feel just as strong as the real episode's despite them not actually happening. Here minor conflicts arise, but they're never anything that hard to surmount or quite frankly, that interesting. After letting it sit with me for a while, I realized that

1.) The episode has two montages. Not that having two is some abominable sin they should've avoided at all costs, in fact montage 1 is great for giving an abridged showcase of the kids day together. Montage 2 on the other hand doesn't exist to parallel montage 1 (showing an advancement/decline), or show anything of interest in general. It's just your normal training montage. It has funny jokes but it seems sort of excessive. Montage 2's results are a total flop and result in them having to think up a b plan. The fact that montage 2 is ultimately not important isn't even lampshaded, in fact it's more played as unfortunate with how Jeff nearly cries. I'm not saying that montage 2's failure should've been played for laughs, especially since in episode the failure is punctuated by a gag, just that in the end montage 2 was a bit cliche and unnecessary.

2.) Pacifica's presence in the second half feels sort of extra and as if it's there primarily so we can get more Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica relationship-growing-time fanservice. Which is not to say that is at ALL a bad thing (the bit in the last scene before the credits scene is SO cute and not forced at all I love it), but when you're trying to write a good story, particularly a Gravity Falls one, having a strong central conflict to carry the episode is pretty imperative. One easy example I can think of off of the top of my head? There could've easily been parallels drawn between Jeff and Pacifica and the pressure from the obligations they have to their families. Jeff on his only simply isn't that compelling a character and making him into a compelling character that late into Gravity Falls isn't that beneficial. He isn't locked out of development due to being a recurring character, but having him have his own little arc that ultimately contributes to Pacifica's (a major character) would've been a better choice. There's obviously more than one way to do things, but that's something I thought would've worked out well.

3.) The title "Quest for the Northwest" doesn't reflect the episode's contents. Jeff's easily apprehended by Pacifica so there's no such quest to speak of and it isn't a clever bait-and-switch title like "The Ricklantis Mixup" because Pacifica defeating the gnomes on her own isn't the big bait of the episode, it's just a nice little parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. Had it actually been about Pacifica being kidnapped and Dipper and Mabel going on a quest to save her whilst say, Pacifica decides to help Jeff out of pity after she breaks free on her own, eventually coming into her own as someone who's taking the first steps to being a better person, THEN it could've been called Quest for the Northwest. It would have the double meaning of not only Dipper and Mabel being on a quest to save Pacifica (the Northwest), but Pacifica being dealt her own 'quest' in helping Jeff out. But that's just me spitting out a specific theoretical I liked, there's tons of ways the title "Quest for the Northwest" could've been justified. The episode's plot just isn't one of them.

4.) Last and certainly least, the black eyebrowed Gnome who's clearly trying to usurp Jeff really isn't relevant. He's shown as the leader of this growing insurgence, but all he really does is talk mad game in two scenes and get absolutely destroyed in an admittedly funny scene. He didn't need to be his own character and the gnomes dissatisfaction could've been more properly represented with a mob rather than a man...urr, gnome. But really, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger issues presented in #1 and #2. Had those been more refined this would just be an outlier rather than a cherry on top of a problem cake. A single layer problem cake mind you, but still a problem cake.

But enough of the negative: in the end Quest for the Northwest is a satisfying episode that captures the soul of Gravity Falls magnificently well despite its faults. An absolute must see for Gravity Falls fans, and if you for some reason read this review without watching it, check it out part 1 and part 2 here. There's plenty to see both writing, visual and gagwise that I didn't spoil, and honestly? Not seeing it is a disservice if you like Gravity Falls a lot. Definitely worth a watch. 8/10; MUCH better than Sonic Lost World.

th-that's my thing now guys. any time i give a number rating it's also quantitatively compared to sonic lost world u

Anyway enough of me babbling, if you enjoyed this fanimatic like I, you should check out their tumblr page for updates on whatever they have in the works . Pretty sure the next episode coming is being titled "Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding" so look out for that, cause I know I will! And while you're here, you might as well check out some of the rest of the this blog and see if you find anything you like. Stay tuned because next week, we're going to be talking about Sonic Forces and/or Mario Odysse-- on second thought let me not get back on my bullshit and promise next week, see you guys in june lmfao

#The Bluriginals Blogs #Gravity Falls #Gravity Falls Deep Woods

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everyonesomething · 7 years ago

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Session 21e

Edith Runekill: "So."

"Guess... guess we still got no idea where we are in this maze, huh." Grim: "Sure we do. We're in the corn." Edith Runekill laughs in delight; Grim told her a joke.

In this session, Grim and Edith get trapped in a metaphor.

The set-up: Still at the roadside farmer’s market, Grim and Edith find time to have a chat.

The Game: In the parking lot, Edith is juggling groceries, supplies, the keys to the camper, and a growing sense of unease she’s developing every time she looks at the nearby field of corn. She is somewhat distracted, which is why she ends up launching the keys into the cornfield with Mage Hand when Grim startles her.

Grim has been sitting in the shade of the camper for about an hour while everyone else perused the farmer's market, as uncannily still as a lizard on a rock and quite easily overlooked. She only moves when Edith gets close enough to talk, turning her head to take her in.

Grim: "Runekill."

Edith Runekill , intent on the complicated applied mathematics of loading the camper in the most efficient way possible, jumps and starts. The keys fly high up into the air, in violation of all the laws of Newtonian motion. Grim blinks and her eyes follow the keys, and then she looks back at Edith with a faintly puzzled expression, as if to say why did you do that? Edith Runekill watches the keys majestically arc through the air; in a perfect parabola they fall to earth and land somewhere among the corn. Edith Runekill: "Oh, dang." "Um." "Hi, Grim." Grim: "That's a hell of a wizard trick." Grim still isn't sure if Edith is going to wave her hands and bring them back. Edith Runekill casts a sidelong glance towards the corn field. "I... really messed up, didn't I?" Grim: "You?" Grim sounds mildly incredulous, still not really focused on the keys. Edith Runekill: "Well, um, the... the keys, I mean. You gotta concentrate on mage hand, but I was trying to do too much at once, and... well..." "I guess I oughta... go... get 'em back."

Grim offers to get the keys instead—she instinctively feels Edith would take all day tracking something down in a maze of corn whereas getting lost isn’t an issue for her. Of course, Edith doesn’t want someone else to fix her mistakes so after some back and forth, they decide to go in together.

But things are never so easy when corn’s involved.

Nora R. | A staff member steps out to block Grim's path. She's wearing a pointed wizard hat styled in after an ear of corn. Nora R.: "Halt, ye travellers! Dare you enter my devious CORN LABYRINTH? Dost thou possess the courage to find the TRUE PATH? Art though strong enough to best the TERRIFYING BEAST which lurks in the heart of the Labyrinth?" Edith Runekill cringes. Grim stares at the wizard, then moves to brush past her Grim: "Gettin' our keys." Nora R.: "Um... only the pure of heart may pass! Er, which you can prove by... um, please pay the fifty silver admission?" Grim: "Lady, we're goin' in, pickin' up our trailer keys, and comin' back out. Save it." Nora R.: "P-please! I'm in deep trouble if they find anyone in there without a hand stamp!" Grim makes a noise of animal level irritation and digs in her pocket, then shoves a gold piece at the wizard Grim: "Find yourself a better job." Nora R. | The corn wizard, in a low voice, says. "Lady, you think I'd be here if I could get literally anything better than this?" She irritably stamps Grim's hand. Grim: "Yes." Nora R. | All business again, she brandishes her stamp. "And now, your sweetheart?" She means Edith. Oh, God. A nightmare. Grim grunts and just keeps walking Edith Runekill meekly allows her hand to get stamped without making eye contact. There but for the grace of Auril goes she, etc. Edith Runekill slinks after Grim.

Grim is all business once they’re inside, letting Edith talk about corn density, hybrids, and maze layouts. The corn rustles around them. The pair finds a dead end and Edith stops Grim just before she can start cutting her way through the maze. As frustrating as it is, they can’t just start hacking apart someone’s source of income.

They turn around to retrace their steps, but find the previous path is now blocked with a new entrance off to the side. The maze has been changing as they go.

Magic!

They’re both confident they won’t get permanently lost in corn hell. Grim’s sense of direction is too good and Edith points out the amount of corn is a constant so there must be new open paths for every closed one.

Edith Runekill: "I guess the amount of corn in the field's a constant, so whenever a passage closes, another one's gotta open somewhere..."

Grim: "How th'hell d'you keep so many thoughts in your head all the time?" Edith Runekill: "Well, I specifically went to a school that specialized in agricultural magic. It wasn't what I ended up majoring in, but I picked up a bit anyway. It was kinda inescapable." Nora R. | The path behind them closes, and a new one opens up to their left, in addition to the path forward they'd been following. Grim shakes her head, eyeballing the new path and then turning along it Grim: "Nah, I know you got learnin'. I mean somethin' else. You always got a lot happening in your head, a lotta tracks, a lotta voices. Seems exhausting." Edith Runekill: "Oh, I... well, sometimes it is. Sometimes it's hard to concentrate on one thing when I got six others I'm worried about." Grim nods and glances back at her Grim: "S'what I'm thinkin'. Ain't nothin' ever clear that way, I'd imagine." Edith Runekill: "Sometimes trying to think of all the angles at once means you see something you woulda missed otherwise, though. See how one thing connects to the other. Realize that now's the time for something you had in your back pocket. That sorta thing." Grim: "You gotta hold it all in your head for that?" She regards her curiously. "Don't you never just ..feel it's the time?" Edith Runekill: "I... uh. Not... really? When I act impulsively like that it tends to not go so well for me." Grim falls silent and takes a drag on her cigarette, watching the way ahead

Grim hears some heavy footsteps in a nearby part of the maze and more cautiously follows Edith as the latter spots something shiny in the dirt. Rather than the keys, it’s a token for the maze: a coin with an ear of corn on one side and "CORN LABYRINTH FUNBUX" on the obverse. In smaller writing beneath it: "You've found some of King Corn's hoard! Redeem your coins at the exit for a fun prize!"

Things are going super.

Grim lets out a low steady exhalation It's fine. This is fine.

Grim: "Runekill, if you're enjoyin' this we're gonna wind up havin' words." Edith Runekill: "I'm absolutely not enjoying this." "I hate this." Edith Runekill flips the coin away Auril knows where. Edith Runekill | There's a muffled grunt. Grim: "Makes two of us. Alright, let's keep moving." Edith Runekill: "Yeah." Grim closes her eyes for a moment as they walk, struggling to keep her bearings in this ocean of corn. It's not a comfortable feeling.

Edith comments out loud that she thinks she’s had dreams where she was lost in a corn maze. Grim can’t relate, she hasn’t had dreams since she was a kid. She thinks maybe dreams are connected to magic, but Edith tells her no, hers are just anxiety. Grim relates even less to this concept, the only dreams she remembers from her childhood were about fire. Edith apologizes, but when Grim asks what the apology’s for, she stumbles over her words and says it’s sympathy for Grim’s past experiences.

Edith changes the subject back to the lost keys. Grim tries to get a sense of where they are relative to the entrance, but is eerily at a loss. All the while, a rustling sound is in the background of the maze. They focus their attention back to finding the keys and getting out.

Helia (GM): The stalks of corn part.

Corncob Head walks on to the path. Edith Runekill: "Oh no! It's Corncob Head!" "What's he doing this far east?" Grim has literally no idea what's going on or what Edith is saying suddenly Grim wonders if this is what dreaming is like Grim is so out of her depth Edith Runekill: "I... wait, Corncob Head... is real...?" Edith Runekill: "Is this... am I hallucinating...?" Grim is like the most twin peaks character in this group and this is too much even for her Grim: "Shit, if you are I hope you ain't seein' what I'm seein'." Edith Runekill sidesteps a little closer to Grim. "A nightmare man with corn for a head?" Edith Runekill: "'Cause that's what I'm seeing." Grim: "Well." "Hell." Grim raises her rifle and takes a step back Edith Runekill: "It's something we told stories about back home... but I figured it was just folklore, y'know. A cautionary tale about coming home again if you leave." Corncob Head talks a step forward. Grim: "Runekill, tell me 'bout this thing. Is it a ghast, undead? A construct?" Edith Runekill: "It's just something outta tall tales! Things they say about Corncob Head ain't exactly magizoologically consistent, y'know? He's... he's a representation of something primal to Plaguewrought Land. A punishment for anyone who leaves and tries to come back." "Could be something that goes back to the Spellplague, maybe?" "Hm." "Um I'll get back to you when I'm not COMPLETELY TERRIFIED." Corncob Head reaches for Edith. The groan continues. Edith Runekill: "It— it's me he wants, Grim." Grim narrows her eyes a little Grim: "Well he ain't gettin' you."

Grim uses her rifle to fire a few magic bullets into the ground in front of Corncob Head. They’re enchanted to shoot up at anything that gets within 30 feet of them.

Yeah!

Corncob Head isn’t sure what to make of this and backs off. Grim and Edith try to figure out what he even is and why a Plaguewrought spirit would be so far west. Does he know when a Plaguewrought Lander is going back home? Does he just manifest in corn fields? Edith tries to Dispel Magic on him, but nothing happens.

Having had enough of magic mystery solving for one afternoon, Grim and Edith back off from Corncob Head and head to an alternate path. Corncob Head, too, backs off and retreats into the corn wall behind him.

Rattled by the experience, the pair is even worse off looking for keys or an exit.

Edith Runekill: "Let's just keep moving. This was built for tourists, right? Obviously Corncob Head isn't typical but there's gotta be a way out..." "...I was always kinda afraid things would turn out like this for me. Like it's a dream I had..." "Like I got this sense of deja vu in here. Even though I been in lots of corn fields but only a corn maze once before." Grim: "Keep it together. Keep on movin', like you said." Grim eyes the corn walls suspiciously, watching for any sign of Corncob Head returning Grim: "Whatever dreams you had about this never had me in 'em." Edith Runekill: "Yeah... yeah! That's a good point. The worst thing about all the dreams I had like this is that feeling of being alone, of having nowhere to turn, noone to help you. But you're here!" Grim: "You got a lot of folks at your back. But you got grit, too. Between us, we'll figure this out."

Corncob Head is a mighty adversary, but he’s only strengthened their resolve.

Mercifully, they find the keys up ahead. It doesn’t help them find the exit, but one thing at a time. Grim picks a path at random, leading them to the east—though the magic at work is messing with the natural shadows, making it hard to tell which way true east is.

They relax some as they put distance between them and Corncob Head.

Grim: "Sorry I ain't much more'n a gun in the end."

Edith Runekill: "Y-you're a lot more'n that, Grim." Grim: "You know what I mean." Edith Runekill: "Not... not really? You're tough as nails, brave as hell, you got a lot of experience with things I never even thought about, and... and a friend." Grim gives Edith an odd look, then frowns back at the corn stalks Grim: "You got a lot of charity in you, Runekill. Can't help but be glad of that" Edith Runekill smiles slightly. "And I can't help but be glad you got our back through all this." Edith Runekill: "Even when occasionally I been a bit... inconsiderate...?" Grim gives her another odd look Grim: "Hell are you talkin' about? Reckon you're about the only one've us who considers." Edith Runekill: "Well... I Knocked." "Pretty rude of me, in retrospect." Grim snorts and looks ahead again Grim: "Retrospect my ass. You ought've known better all the while than to go listenin' to Pepper." Edith Runekill: "Sometimes I lose my head a bit and don't think things through. Sometimes."

Grim then apologizes for what she said to Edith the other night. Edith accepts it, it was upsetting to hear Grim talk that way but knows she wasn’t really herself that night. Grim corrects her to say it is a part of her, just one she didn’t want Edith to see. Edith is supportive of her regardless, and it’s only natural the group would have some friction from the close quarters.

Grim then stresses to Edith she’s not a good person, even if Edith disagrees. She feels like Edith is holding her to a higher standard than she should—it’s just going to get her hurt when Grim doesn’t live up to it.

Edith takes her words to heart and admits she was putting Grim on a pedestal at the start, but doesn’t agree that Grim isn’t a good person. She’s risking everything to stop Szass Tam, and for Edith that speaks for itself.

Grim: "Takin' down a predator ain't morals. It's survival." She eyeballs the cornstalks around them as she says this, like it's as much for corncob head's benefit if he's listening. Edith Runekill takes one last drag on her cigarette and extinguishes it with prestidigitation. "Protecting people vulnerable to predators who can't fight 'em off alone is morals, if you ask me. It's the basic stuff of decency, of civilization. Mutual aid and the like." Grim gives a low grunt, but it sounds more thoughtful than dismissive. She can't really argue. Edith Runekill: "It ain't easy, doing what we're doing. Or... it isn't for me, anyway." Grim huffs on her cigarette for a moment, then speaks bluntly Grim: "You an' Mal, you got a lot've other paths you could be taking. You got good things ahead, an' all around you the way you was livin' back home." "You got a lot on the line, an' I respect that. Respect you equally if you come down to packin' up and headin' home before this goes all the way to hell." Edith Runekill peers out across the swaying corn, silent for a while, framing her thoughts. Edith Runekill: "I know enough about Tam to say I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I packed it in before I saw this through." Grim: "Y'might not get to live with yourself or your man if you don't. You at peace with that?" Edith Runekill , without hesitation: "Yeah." Edith Runekill: "I mean. I'd prefer if it didn't come to that. I know I got things I'd like do ahead of me. But, if it's gotta be that way, well... that's how it is." Grim looks back at Edith and regards her levelly, then nods.

More at ease now, Grim and Edith can clearly focus on the maze—Grim comments she’s beginning to see why Edith would want to leave endless fields of corn. She asks if she’s been east of Plaguewrought, out towards Thay. Edith hasn’t, Thay doesn’t care for outsider archaeologists digging around in the area. Grim suggests maybe she and Edith can see the sights in Thay before they all have to face Szass Tam and Edith smiles at the invite.

Grim: "B'sides, you and I ain't had a chance to raise hell. Ain't gonna let Pep 'n Malkas have all the fun, are you?" Edith Runekill comes emerges a bit from her grave, solemn look, and flashes Grim a crooked smile. Edith Runekill: "Been a while since I did anything that could be called hell-raising." Grim: "I know you got it in you. Country girl, ain't a doubt." Edith Runekill: "I used to be the kinda girl who jumped outta moving cars on a dare, so... well. Probably." Grim: "Kinda girl who leaves everythin' she knows for the city, then does it again to hunt a lich. I reckon you got a real good impulse for livin', when you let it out." Edith Runekill nods. "Yeah. But I don't think a lotta people notice that. They see the way I look, the way I talk, and figure they got me pegged." Grim: "People are dumb." "Most folks're better at holdin' down assumptions than they are at gettin' the measure of a person, but don't nobody like to admit it." "Learn that real quick livin' a month from one washroom to the next." Edith Runekill nods. "Even my own folks looked at me and saw somebody I ain't really. Which... probably explains a lot about how things turned out with them." Grim: "Long as you know who you are, fuck the rest've 'em." Edith Runekill: "Yeah! You know what? Fuck 'em!" Edith Runekill looks chagrinned Edith Runekill: "Um... fudge... them...?" [infernal] fuck

Grim tells Edith that Mal’s more nervous to see her folks than he’s letting on. Edith is torn—she knows it’s unfair to drag him there, but she’s worried it might be the last time she ever sees her family. Grim says that neither Edith nor Mal is wrong for feeling about her folks the way they are, but it’s something to keep in mind. Mal’s sacrificing a lot to go with her and Edith knows it. Grim tells her they’re lucky to have each other and that she hope their relationship stays strong.

And with the last of the tension resolved, Grim and Edith manage to hatch a plan on how to leave the maze.

Edith Runekill: "It's getting late. The others are probably worried about us..." Grim grunts and rubs her eyes Grim: "You wanna try flyin' yourself on outta here, I won't be sore." Grim is not doing that though lmao Edith Runekill: "I'm not gonna leave you in here." Grim: "Hell you ain't, never stayed lost and ain't about to try it now." Grim blinks and then rounds on Edith Grim points at her own eyes and then at Edith's. There's another brief electric tinge to the air. Grim casts Hunter's Mark on Edith Grim: "Get yourself on back to the camper. I may not know corn, but I sure as hell know how to find a quarry." Edith Runekill: "Oh! 'Cause you'll be able to fix on my location and triangulate with that." "That's... that's really good thinkin'." Grim nods, giving a slight smile Grim: "Got my moments." "Go on, now. Gimme somethin' to head towards." Edith Runekill: "Maybe more often than you give yourself credit for." "See you soon." Edith Runekill casts Fly, and gently wafts away on the air current until she gains some altitude; she swoops out of sight, towards the camper. Grim watches her go, squinting from under her hat Edith Runekill gently lands on the roof of the camper. Grim gives Edith a minute to reach ground level again, then sets her hat, shoulders her rifle, and sets to navigating the fucking maze at last Edith Runekill tries to catch sight of Grim in the field from the height of the roof, but to no avail. Grim makes pretty short work of the maze once she's able to keep her bearings, maybe ten minutes behind Edith by the time she finds her way back to the entrance.

Once she’s out, Grim finds Edith taking her frustration out on the worker running the maze who maintains flying out of the maze is against the rules. If they had wanted to leave, they were supposed to flag down one of the workers in the watchtower—a worker Edith says disappeared, leaving them alone with Corncob Head.

Corncob Head exits the maze. Edith Runekill: "Sometimes I feel like my whole life is getting out of a corn maOH AURIL WHAT" Corncob Head 's Corn Face is pulled up and a normal human's face is visible under it, like a helmet. Corncob Head looks sweaty and uncomfortable and frankly terrified. Edith Runekill: "...i "...i'm going to die of embarrassment." Corncob Head stands and lights a cigarette under a wooden standee that says "Challenge our spooky corn maze! Dare you face the horror of Cornboy?" Corncob Head 's wooden standee version stands menacingly over the maze. Edith Runekill: "...maybe I shoulda done a bit more vetting in my haste to go get the keys back."

Malkas comes out of the restrooms, adjusting his pants. Malkas: "Oh hey, you made it." Grim eyeballs corncob head Grim doesn't give a fuck how natural or otherwise that thing was, she's still consumed by the desire to punch it Edith Runekill: "This really seems like an irresponsible use of potent folkloric images, if you ask me!" Malkas turns and looks at Corn Boy. Malkas has vague recollections of kids dressing up as "evil tiefling" for halloween and thinks Edith might be overreacting a little. Edith Runekill: "Do they think Corncob Head's a joke? Do they think the darkest stories they tell on the coldest nights in my homeland are just toys they can play around with??" Grim: "Gonna wait in the car." Grim leaves Malkas: "I left half a baked salami in it." Malkas calls after Grim. Grim values that information AND Mal's acquaintance

Resolution!

#summary #previously on #neverwinter 1933

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hyperfixationtimego · 4 years ago

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literally where did I specify new artists. please tell me where. please, by all means, go ahead - where did I say that

“Having preferences” lmfao fuck off you don’t get to have preferences on the existence of people with large bodies, you don’t get to have preferences on the existence of people with curly hair, you don’t get to have preferences on the existence of dark skin people - there are a whole bunch of other things you don’t get to have preferences on either (like body hair and character disabilities and birthmarks and more)

If you consistently lighten a character’s skin color and make them skinnier and draw their canonically curly or textured hair as straight or spiky, and you make no effort to change this aspect of your art, you’re a bad artist. It is as simple as that. New artists apply to this rule, too, and here’s my take on it - new artists that may not be getting the hang of it quite yet but are trying their best, those artists are GOOD! In fact, those artists are great! They’re wonderful and I’m so proud of them, I can’t wait to see how their art and style develops!

New artists that decide characters look better skinnier, or with straightened hair, or with lighter skin, though? New artists that decide trying to learn how to draw fat bodies or textured hair or color darker skin is too much work? Those artists suck and they should feel bad. Sorry :/

fuck on outta here “having preferences”

“Fat bodies/curly hair/dark skin don’t fit with my art style!!”

oh so you’re bad at art?? Your art is shit, then??

#look at this fucking clown #congratulations you missed the entire point of the original post!!!!!#discourse #negative

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joie-university-rp · 5 years ago

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Dear JAMESON-REECE CROSS,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

Congratulations, DANNY! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklist and send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias; pronouns: Danny, they/them

Age, Timezone: 20, est

Activity, short explanation: fairly active. Studying abroad soon tho so I mean it’ll probably be in spurts

Ships: anyone tbh

Anti-Ships:

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link): https://pin.it/h7tq7gpfm7qoxl

Anything else: love you guys

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Jameson-Reece ‘J.R.’ Covington Cross

FC: Harry Styles

Age/Year at University (Freshman [1st Year], Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or Graduate Student): Junior

Birth date (MONTH DAY, YEAR): October 19th, 1998

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Newark, NJ

Gender/Pronouns: cismale, he/him

Sexuality: Bisexual

Major(s): Culinary Arts

Minor(s) [optional]:

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Schuester, RA Suite 241

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): Baseball, glee club

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush): none

CHARACTER PROFILE: [At least] 3 Headcanons for your character:

* He is incredibly charismatic and always gets what he wants. He knows exactly how to manipulate people into doing anything he needs them to do, making it harder for him to create a genuine connection with anyone.

* J.R. Likes to pretend like his family is rich, when in fact, his father is rich but his mother is flat broke—and he lived with his mother most of his life. His dad popped in every now and then and spoiled the hell outta him but with his parents divorced he didn’t see a whole lot of him. He longs to life the extravagant lifestyle that his father does.

* He’s always going to go above and beyond to keep the facade that he is a good guy who does great things and is super friendly and hardworking which is exhausting.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY:

(Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? I really wanted to experience that college lifestyle and get a great education.

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? Consistent, friendly, great work ethic, pathological liar, vindictive, narcissistic

Which of your traits do you value most? My work ethic

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? As an RA and a team player I’ll make sure to work hard and encourage everyone to do their best!

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU?I just want to be true to myself.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? “In my dark times I’ve still got some problems I know / Driving too fast but just moving too slow” -Dark Time, The Weekend

#Accepted

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artofaboythatoncewas · 6 years ago

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Architectural Styles 3

Libra: Umayyad. I've made a mistake when ordering… something and I put the wrong number at the end of the address. That wouldn't be so much of a problem if I lived like a normal person within normal circumstances, but that's not me; I live in Helltown, Greater Syria [Hebrew: עיר גיהינום] (which is just the rural zone), and now my package has gone to a nearby bandit fortress. If we go off a stereotyped assumption, they probably don't take too kindly to visitors. [,,,] Of course, we shouldn't make assumptions about their way of life, but their outward appearance is telling me that I'm not welcome: what with the pillars adorned with the still-bleeding heads of their fallen enemies, the rabid guard dogs gnawing at the rotting flesh of their hind legs, the sheer number of artillery aligning the scouting posts, and the spooky flag with skulls on it. It's definitely scary, but it's still where they sent my work, which consists of King Tut's carcass that they send to us to decontaminate before they send it to European countries to exhibitionism… I wasn't supposed to tell you any of that, but you're welcome. […] Ugh, I'm gonna have to do this, otherwise the Egyptian government will never trust us with anything ever again. So, I need you to come along with me, Enoch, and we'll confront it together… Alright, <Yellen knocks on the giant steel door of the fortress.> ᴴᵉʸ, ᶜᵃⁿ ʷᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᶦⁿˀ [,,,] Whelp, that didn't work. Let's just abandon our current condition, travel east, and start a new life as telemarketers… Oh. «Hello, shit-lickers! Why have you come to my fortress, disrupt my routine, and demand for my space?» Uh… yeah, I'm here to tap your mom! «What? You are not allowed to tap my mother!» Well, I'm gonna do it anyways, and it's gonna be a threesome with Enoch right here! «W-wow, that makes me so angry; it makes me wanna… wanna throw something at you!» Yeah, throw your most expensive and heaviest object at me, why don't you? «Yeah, maybe I'll throw this sarcophagus at you!» Please do!

Cancer: Mar del Plata. I remember when they told me that they loved me, and I could recall everything in that moment: the texture of the bus seat, the feel of the air against my skin, exactly how itchy my hair was, & the view outside of the window. I could recall everything I saw gazing outside: everything so nice, cozy, & bucolic. Everything was so nice, and the common life was almost artistic to look at. Time almost ceased to expand (as to the false notion that it moves forward), and it felt like this was made for me <this is the point where Great God Plan by Sd Laika plays: a great art pop song that really captures this moment.> […] That moment seemed to've struck a deep nerve somewhere in my brain, and the only way I can describe it is that it's akin to a nostalgia for a place I've never lived in, and it wasn't even off the gulf of San Matias… the grassland outside of the bus strangely reminded me of the clear waters, the skeleton of the bus reminded me of my own home with a couple of loose nails and all, and the window reminded me of the limited view I had with my newborn eyes. […] It felt I was drowning, but it was a pleasurable version of it: I didn't mind the surrounding fluids overtaking my space, as I believed it benefited me at the time. I could be mistaken, but maybe it was some sort of reconciliation for when the Atlantic waters caved in and flooded the depressions that shaped the land bordering the gulf. As I'm saying this, I can vaguely remember it happening, but I don't know if that was me: I was born in extremely rural Cordoba (that's what my mom always told me at least), but yet this is so familiar to me as if I lived in Viedma. […] Still, I was so moved by it that… that, I was woken up by what sounded like a car alarm, and the smell of fumes. Time was still stopped and you could sense a look of extreme unease in my eyes. Tall, skinny, & dark as ash with claw-like fingers, and in its path were phallic-shaped footprints that warned of arcane lust: it arose out from behind her and edged closer towards the bus… fun memories.

Virgo: Brutalism. «Nicknames: Honey Badger, The Crow, The Sheriff. That zoology class was the treasure trove of nicknames. Some of the nicknames that came outta there were Black Widow, a girl who sat in front of us who was still into the emo scene. There was something going on with her where she was chill for a while, but she'd flip out at any minor inconvenience. We had another one called Foghorn Leghorn, and she was someone who was just insanely loud. She could be upstairs and we'd be downstairs with the door open and we'd just know instantly that she was talking. […] Now, we have Shorty Shorts: a dude who was incredibly short, and had that body type that those dudes in the 40s had where you couldn't tell whether they were fat or strong. Every time he went to the gym, he'd just have shorts right up to his waste, so that's why we called him that. […] Lastly, we have Dr. Ben, who was that person who seemed to've swapped identity every month or so. We got along well with him, but he got his nickname 'cause he was in organic chemistry with, my buddy, Alyosha. And this was the kind of stuff he'd do specifically: picture us in the cafeteria and I'm getting cereal. Alyosha would bump into me and act like he didn't know me and he'd become very aggressive for an act. Alyosha, for the first four years he taught science, he hated all of that paperwork. So a student came up to him with an exertion forum, and he took it and literally burned it with a lighter due to how much he hated signing those papers.» […] «"You know how many doctorates that guy has? And do you know how many you have? You have zero, and that dude had several, so I think I'm gonna trust that dude over you." And that's how the nickname Dr. Ben was born.» Wow, that was such a cool story, prof. Domovoi. It was so cool, in fact, that it made me wanna get up, leave the classroom unnoticed, contemplate my possession of reading comprehension, and return back also unnoticed. It's been two hours, please let me leave.

Sagittarius: Palladian. When I was eleven, I went to a summer camp for aspiring stage performers, and they said to keep away from red wine and stick to strong spirits. I guess it's just assumed that anyone who goes on stage is an alcoholic, but I had some fun times there. You know, I was forced to go through it because I told my parents, once, that I wanted to pursue acting, and they interpreted that as the leeway to send me to a camp where I learned only the first couple of lines to eleven of Mandela's… wow, he did a lot of speeches. […] Truth be told, I think they were excited in any semblance to see me finally express interest in something that isn't just body improvement or the listening to the same indie album over and over. When I was young, I thought I was gonna be a runner: I did half a decade of running and it all got me were wicked spider veins before my middle-aged years and incredibly strong nostrils. […] But for the miserable time I was at summer camp, I portrayed myself as an American mobster named something typical like Tony: I had a button-up with Hawaiian patterns and everything. I made sure to get everything I needed to be Tony Chemical (badass name, huh?): tinted shades, a comb that dispenses oil grease every time I use it, breath mints to cover the smell of alcohol, and arcade machines. Yeah, didn't all of those gangsters back in the day have arcade machines? That was the cool, illegal thing they all engaged in, right? They were like, sold on the black market for tons of bucks. […] But I'll tell you: the one thing I didn't have that left Tony's character incomplete was the tattoos — they were the key to sealing the pact and unleashing Tony Chemical onto this world as the criminal star she was born to be. […] I can see how it was a great distraction from the years of hard labor that I would inevitably be pushed into, but for the while, it was fun drinking all the red wine they explicitly told me not to drink, and then making the alcoholism part of Tony Chemical's character. She's called Chemical because of all the alcoholic chemicals in her body!

#Zodipunc #Zodiaccupuncture #Libra #Cancer #Virgo #Sagittarius

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