#dunno if i should link the playlist... lemme know

[jesterferret]

cover i made for my roxy playlist! 🩷

[tetrameryxx]

@1ore Hope you don’t mind that I take this from ya pfft. I’m a sucker for ask memes

name: Korin...

nickname: I dunno, some of you probably know me as Quaddi or something from Colors so, like, whatever

zodiac: Scales

height: Short... 5′4″

languages: English and enough Spanish to get me through common scenarios. Still learning...

nationality: Like, yeah, US-ian, but can Oregonian be a good answer too?

favourite season: Fall or spring... Temperate, and that’s when the most change happens 

flower: Impossible. But I have a fondness for western skunk cabbage because it’s one of my dad’s favorites to photograph. Manzanita also has such tiny, delicate flowers that bloom super early, and those early colonizers of fire like paintbrush or fireweed peeking between charred stumps? Awesome. Here’s a skunk cabbage: 

favourite scent: Hey this is cheesy, but Addison

favourite fictional character: Uh... Yasha from critical roll?

coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: Coffee, black if hot, vanilla if iced

average sleep: I try my darndest to sleep before 12 and wake before 9 and usually it works, but sometimes back pain or OCD or whatnot makes it hard to do that. If I could, I’d sleep perfect, 8 hour nights and wake early. 

dogs or cats: I have two cats, but dogs are nice too. Also thinking about gettin’ isopods

number of blankets: Two, usually during winter, but it got to 12 degrees last night so I had to get a third

dream trip: I’m very, very grateful to live in such a beautiful place, and to have nature not even 20 minutes from me, but! I would like to see somewhere drastically different someday. I ain’t picky

blog established: I’m not gonna go through the effort of looking...

random fact: Uh, wolverines were rediscovered in Oregon in 2011, in the northeastern part of the state, and around four have been found since then. Previously, they were thought to be extirpated in the 1930s

current time: 8:30 AM

favourite musical artists: A lot? Dark Dark Dark, Beirut, Warsaw Village Band, Johnny Flynn, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Elfin Saddle, Lisa LeBlanc, and uh.. Arany Zoltán

stuck in my head: Ibitlan by Mdou Modoc

last movie i saw: You know.... that was probably in December when Addison was here. It’d be Like Water for Chocolate, then

last thing i googled: Pfft, “like water-”. If that doesn’t count, then I think it was me trying to figure out what D&D adventure I should play with my group...

lucky number: 16 seems to be going well... usually it’s around then every six months that I can see my partner again

currently wearing: pjs 

dream job: Something fulfilling that makes a positive change in my local ecosystem

favourite foods: Eggs

instruments: I played the cello and that’s it. I really like the dulcimer though

favourite song: Cannot. Lemme link you my favorites playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4C0fQpcyrtjpUbPTaBtLIE

Lemme think about mutuals... @gastropodaboda obviously @starbowdream hi we never talk but being tagged is fun right

@bluebrine​ hello mutual

And if you guys do not want to because we only talk sometimes (barring my literal partner) then that’s a-okay

[comicteaparty]

December 18th-December 24th, 2019 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from December 18th, 2019 to December 24th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

What tropes and/or clichés are you perfectly fine with seeing in the webcomics you read?

Deo101

Like all of the cutesy cheesy relationship tropes. I love them all and I always will! Plenty more, but I find myself getting caught up in the relationship tropes the most. Specifically friends to lovers, but I also really like the found family trope. I know there are more tropes that I love but I can't think of them off the top of my head, so I'll probably just agree with others as the week goes on

indogswetrust

pass me the slow burn romance please thaaaanks

Deo101

that one too. Also hurt/comfort. Pump those into my VEINS they are my lifeblood... I shamelessly put every trope I want into my work so I can't judge other people for doing the same

indogswetrust

i’m trash

I’ve become more sssssophisticated as I’ve gotten older but I know what I like in a webcomic.

And it’s Adorable Behavior (tm)

Deo101

I've gotten less sophosticated. I thought I got more sophisticated but turns out I just got less shameful about the things i like

indogswetrust

Haha

I mean I used to really be fixated on comedy and now I’m more okay with things being ambiguous and complex? Ingress is a good example. I might have put it down two years ago but now I wanna see where Spicer and Toivo’s journey takes them

Fixated isn’t the exact word. whatever

Deo101

No I get you! Realizing you like more than just one thing and expanding your horizons is really important!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I love the enemies-to-lovers trope. Any time a pair of characters goes from ‘I hate your guts’ to ‘take me now’ I’m loving it. That is, so long as one of them wasn’t being outright abusive during their ‘hate’ phase.

indogswetrust

Man that’s a delicate balance but also

Deo101

^ Fully agree. I just get a little too anxious about the "enemies" side of thing and worry they wont fully grow into lovers I guess! But if it's done well, Its an especially good one

carcarchu

i second the enemies-to-lovers thing i will never get enough of that trope

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

thirded

if I even smell a hint of it in a story, provided it's not overtly violent or abusive or otherwise horrible... I am hooked

kayotics

Fourthed... it’s a good trope

keii4ii

Now I feel like the odd one out for being neutral toward that trope. I definitely enjoy good examples of it, but otherwise completely neutral?

Evolving relationships is a good thing in general though, and enemies to lovers does fall in that category.

keii4ii

I have a soft spot for long lost superadvanced civilizations being unearthed. While it doesn't guarantee I'll fall in love with the story, it WILL grab my attention and at least get me to check it out.

renieplayerone

I dont really have any strong opinions on any tropes, but theres a really good channel on youtube that goes through and critiques tropes. I find it really useful for writing. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDb22nlVXGgcljcdyDk80bBDXGyeZjZ5e

keii4ii

(Please don't let my weirdness ruin anyone's enjoyment of the trope though, lol. I'm all for celebrating what you like! was just genuinely wondering if I'm the only one who's neutral about it!)

keii4ii

Also not an overarching story trope, but more like a type of a scene... I really like this thing (if this is a trope please tell me what it's called XD) A, B, C are friends. A and B are bffs. C is not as close. B talks to C about this while A is away. This is an honest conversation, not a malicious one. B learns to see A in a way they hadn't before, and it strengthens the B-A friendship. I'm not likely to start reading a story just because I know it contains this scene. But if a story I already like has this scene, it is likely to be my favorite scene!(edited)

I guess part of the reason why I like it so much is, it shows that the relationship (the B-A one in this case) is not insular. It's a real relationship between real people, who also have relationships outside of it, and the relationships have an influence on each other.

(And that's a lot of "relationship"s in a paragraph...)

eli [a winged tale]

Positive relationships and healthy navigations between relationship and life problems are my jam The enemies to lovers trope can be gripping because you get an additional conflict on top of tension. I thought the novel Red White & Royal Blue did a good job at that. Grant Snyder did a trope bingo for murakami and I thought it was fun to do the same for my works in progress. For reference: the murakami one https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.avclub.com/here-s-how-to-play-haruki-murakami-bingo-as-you-read-hi-1798271345/amp

keii4ii

omg

I NEED TO MAKE THIS for me/ comics I read

I mean I don't have a whole lot of stories, but it would be interesting to see what kind of common items get checked off across mine + my favorite comics combined

Capitania do Azar

wow I've been thinking about it a lot and I'm having a very hard time selecting the tropes I like best... I'm more of a "I know what I don't like and taking that aside I like being surprised"

Cronaj

All I can say is... Red Oni, Blue Oni (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedOniBlueOni). This trope is seriously so good. My favorite thing about this trope is that the "Red Oni," or the hot-headed one, and the "Blue Oni," the cold or level-headed one, can be either friends or enemies. So it makes for a beautiful dynamic no matter what type of story it is. Buddy cops, competitors in the workplace, brothers, enemies, the straight man and the fool, you name it. Typically these characters are foils of each other, and their differencesbalways make for exceedingly fun interactions. Another favorite trope of mine, which I don't really know the name of, is where the seemingly hot/handsome guy is actually a dork who has no idea what he's doing. Everyone in the story thinks he's done everything, but really he's just a dopey, niave possibly shy and definitely clumsy virgin. But the social awkwardness only makes him inexplicably more appealing to the other lead. Cute

Ah! Another trope I have to add because it's basically my crack: Androids Are People, Too (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AndroidsArePeopleToo). I have loved this trope since before Detroit: Become Human, but the game certainly rekindled my love for it. Very genre-specific, but AI fascinate me to no end, whether it's in the real world, or in Sci-Fi.

eli [a winged tale]

Haha Cronaj are you me? Contrasting characters and robots who have feelings can get me hooked straight away

indogswetrust

lemme tell y’all about a trope I’ve noticed: the crazy lesbian. Like, The Favorite and Killing Eve and that Netflix movie about the violinists. Whoof. I am so tired of that

Cronaj

Hahahaha! I dunno maybe. I also have a protagonist in one of my novels named Eli.

eli [a winged tale]

The cute nerd who is fumbling but appeared to have it all together may lean towards the Mary Sue for me but if there is a true flaw (Tm) then I’m down

indogswetrust

I feel like gay men characters have been getting humanized and happy endings and that’s awesome! But lesbians have not been getting the same treatment.

bumbling and romantically inept nerds fuel me

eli [a winged tale]

What do you mean about the lesbian part, indogswetrust? I’m curious to know of the differences as I’m currently writing both

Cronaj

@eli [a winged tale] YES. I'm not gonna lie, I have definitely used more than one of these tropes XD And one of them may or may not be the fumbling hottie...

eli [a winged tale]

I wanted to link my trope bingo but thought it went against the pinned rules I can DM it to you if you’re interested and I’d love to play everyone else’s bingos

Cronaj

Oh hell yes. Lesgooooooo!

I have never made a trope bingo, but I really should

indogswetrust

Like, Love, Simon or Call Me By Your Name show gay men as people slowly falling in love and it’s tender and kind. But The Favorite literally has animal abuse in it and women sleeping with each other for power. I walked out of the theater. Same for Killing Eve, it’s about a spy and a murderer. High intrigue and drama but it’s obviously a toxic relationship from the premise

eli [a winged tale]

Oh no! You should check out Their Story by Tan Jiu)

It’s formatted like a webcomic as well though formally called manhua. It does the slow burn romance, humanizing aspect very well. I’m not well versed in the mainstream portrayal but certainly on the indie side, people are stepping up and writing very positive and healthy lesbian stories

indogswetrust

The indie side is great. Even “The Sea In You” (a webcomic) is frickin adorable

It just grinds my beans about mainstream portrayal

eli [a winged tale]

Loving the sea in you!

RebelVampire

A trope I will never get sick of is https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses , especially if https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReallyRoyaltyReveal this is what happens in the story. I just...I really love royalty. I can't help it. I love the pointless traditions, the fancy dresses, the palaces, etc.. And even if that's not part of it, I still like it when some rando girl realizes that she's a princess and now has to deal with that idea that she has subjects she has to protect or something. Bonus points if she's a magical girl. I even like it when it's a reverse situation where it's an evil princess. I will never tire of princesses ever because the concept is always fascinating to me no matter which way its spun.

eli [a winged tale]

I love the fanciness of it all. All those lovely eye candy designs

Cronaj

Same... I have also used the Really Royalty Reveal, like..... Several times

eli [a winged tale]

The royal reveal when done well can be so powerful and validating

Kelsey (Kurio)

I have a queen ant character but no princesses yet

Eightfish

ooh are we talking about tropes we like? I really like mind reading/ mind control. But consensual. It's feels like the theme of trust taken to the extreme, where a character has such belief in someone they'd trust their mind / body to them. But I've only really seen it in some kid's books I liked (Young Wizards, Animorphs), and the only webcomic I've seen with this idea is my own, and I haven't even gotten to that part yet. Anyone have any recommendations? Ooh or a tvtropes link?

Erin Ptah (BICP 🎄 Leif & Thorn)

It comes up in the Murderbot Diaries -- the main character is a construct, basically a really-advanced android, and there are times when it lets a more-powerful AI pilot its body to handle an emergency that's unfolding too fast for it to keep up with on its own.

Eightfish

I looked it up and I do like the themes of androids' humanity. And it's a series of novellae, which, wow, that's very rare. Not sure I've ever seen that before. Do you recommend the book as a whole?(edited)

Erin Ptah (BICP 🎄 Leif & Thorn)

I recommend the whole series, yes!

[iwasnthere622]

Zack Taylor Designated Driver Squad

AO3 Link: Chapter 4

AO3 Link: Chapter 3

AO3 Link: Chapter 2

AO3 Link: Chapter 1

Tumblr Link: Chapter 3

Tumblr Link: Chapter 2

Tumblr Link: Chapter 1

CHAPTER 4: THURSDAY

Zack climbed up the rocky slope, moving slow, thoughts still back in the trailer with his mom, fingers curled loosely around his notebook -- Billy's mom always made sure he had all his stuff when she took him home, and Trini would just make him walk back home and get it if he forgot it.

"Hey."

Zack jumped a bit, looking up only to realize he'd made it to the abandoned train car and Trini was waiting for him.

Trini raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Fine, Crazy Girl, still half asleep, that's all," Zack lied, grinning and dropping his notebook next to her bag on the ground. "Dunno why you insist on doing this before school, what time do you even get up to beat me here?"

Trini studied his face carefully, mostly ignoring what he was saying -- Zack could talk his way out of a paper bag, so if you wanted any kind of real answer, you had to know how to read his body language instead -- watching him tense the longer she studied him, deciding to leave it for now. If she pushed too hard, he'd react just the same as he did to Jason, and the point of this was to get him more involved with them, not push him away.

"Dawn," Trini answered eventually, crouching to turn on her music, the rock jarring compared to the peaceful and quiet setting.

"That's my bedtime," Zack teased, relaxing when Trini didn't push, bumping into her slightly as she stood.

"You're ridiculous," Trini said, standing and putting some space between them so she could start stretching and moving through her poses.

"Says the girl doing death metal yoga at 6am," Zack teased.

"Muscle memory is totally a thing, homeboy. So's being flexible."

"Ooh, right, gotta twist into a pretzel for the ladies."

Trini kicked a rock into his leg.

"Ow!" Zack hopped around on one foot, hands clutching his no-doubt bruised appendage. "Sheesh, someone woke up on the cranky side of the bed today!"

"Shut up and start moving," Trini ordered, giving him a look.

Zack rolled his eyes, but he did start mimicking her movements, because as much as he hated to admit it to her face, this stuff was helping him during their practices in the pit.

The playlist that Trini had set up ended a half hour later, signaling that they needed to start the walk to school to make it on time. Zack stretched out slowly, feeling a bit more relaxed and a bit more capable of shoving his worry down for now.

Trini packed up her things, waiting for Zack to pick up his notebook before taking off down the path, letting him reach out and tangle their fingers. She squeezed once but otherwise held his hand loosely, letting him know she was here without putting pressure on him to talk and joke around.

Zack loved hanging out with his friends, he did, but Trini was the best, because she got him. Maybe it was because she was a loner before all of this Ranger stuff, too, but she understood the pressure he felt sometimes when they were with the whole group, the outsider feeling that made him feel like a phony and clogged his throat.

They walked the whole way in silence, only letting go of each other when they were a block from the school.

"You good?" Trini asked, once they'd dropped each other's hands.

"Yeah," Zack said, bumping into her. "I'm good. Don't worry, I won't mess up your streak as the best DD."

Trini smiled a little. "I do like winning."

Zack laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Then win you shall," he declared. Sometimes, even with them bringing him to school and checking with him throughout the day, it got to be too much and he skipped out. But so far, he'd never skipped out on a Thursday, a fact Trini liked to occasional rub into everyone else's face. And if something as dumb as him staying in school for the day made Trini happy, then he'd do it.

"Us outcasts have to stick together," he murmured, letting go of her so they could walk into the school, meeting any stares coolly.

Trini ignored everyone and kept to the edges of the hall so she could go where she needed to go, heading to hers and Kim's locker, Zack trailing her.

The Pink Ranger wasn't there, and Trini couldn't help but notice the way Zack shifted, body betraying the fact he was not in the mood for people today, not even Kim.

"Go to homeroom. Your homeroom," Trini ordered.

"Spoilsport," Zack said, but his heart wasn't in it, all these kids laughing and flashing their care-free lifestyles all while staring and judging him making his skin crawl and the ball of worry, guilt, anxiety in his gut tighten.

"Go," Trini said, softer, nudging him. He could hide in a desk, doodle in his notebook, escape.

"...go Power Rangers," Zack whispered back, kissing Trini on the cheek before leaving her at her locker, heading to his real homeroom and ignoring everything, sinking into the back desk by the door and taking a slow breath.

--

He made it to second period before he couldn't anymore, the teachers, the kids, these fucking walls, he just couldn't. But it was Thursday so he had to stay, for Trini, so instead of going to math he went to art.

He saw a patch of yellow and felt like he could breathe again, bee lining for it and taking the empty seat next to her.

"What're we drawing today?" Zack asked Trini as he sat down.

"You have math now," Trini said, but in a resigned tone, knowing there was only so much even she could get Zack to do.

"Are you still on still-life, or have you moved on?" Zack continued.

Trini sighed, opening her sketchbook. "Still-life," she answered, nodding at the cart in the corner, covered with a variety of paint cans and paint brushes and pallets.

"Snoozer," Zack muttered, drumming his fingertips on the table.

The teacher stood at the bell, wheeling the cart to the center of the room. "All right, everyone, resume your drawings -- you should be about halfway done!" She looked around and only paused slightly at seeing Zack, humming to herself and moving to the clay shelves for her ceramics class.

"Don't watch," Trini mumbled, trying to use her arms to block her sketch from Zack's view while also working on the piece.

"Aw, c'mon, lemme see!" Zack teased, nudging her, pulling back and blinking when a brick of clay landed on the table right in front of him, looking up. "Ah, hey, Ms. Bucala..."

"Zack," Ms. Bucala said, amused smile at her lips. "I think you can entertain yourself with this, hm? I'll even fire whatever you decide to make."

"Cool!" Zack grinned, that constricting feeling loosening, fingers grabbing the clay and squishing it curiously.

"Don't overwork it," Ms. Bucala advised, offering Trini a smile before moving on to guide the other students in their work.

Trini made a mental note to have Billy hack the school systems and give Ms. Bucala a raise, drawing and watching Zack play around with the clay, the cloud that had been over his head slowly fading.

Zack played around with the clay, realizing the art teacher was right that he couldn't overwork it, because the small ball he'd been mashing was starting to dry out and crack. He frowned, setting it down and staring at the rest of the brick in front of him, thinking... He glanced around the room for some inspiration, spotting some racks near the front of the room and getting up to take a look, realizing this must be the ceramics class's work, looking at vases and mugs, some with designs scratched in or clay designs lumped on.

There were even some smaller pieces, what appeared to be key chains, and then he knew what he was going to do.

He went back to his seat and got to work, slipping out of his jack and breaking off a chunk of clay. He was nowhere near done molding when the ball rang, but he didn't stop.

"Zack," Trini said, uncertain, glancing at Ms. Bucala. "You have science and then lab..."

"'m busy, I'll see you at lunch," Zack answered, pausing only long enough to offer her a smile.

Trini hesitated, but when Ms. Bucala nodded her head at them and then told Trini to get to class, she gave in, ruffling Zack's hair and grinning at his squawk of protest, heading to class.

Zack huffed, shaking his head to try to settle his hair, the next class entering and taking their seats, eying him warily and whispering to themselves, but Zack ignored them all. Two down, three to go...

It took him the whole period to finish molding, sitting back with a grin when he was done, carefully taking his pieces to show Ms. Bucala.

"All done?" she smiled, looking them over. "Did you want them to be ornaments like this, or key chains?"

"Key chains," Zack answered immediately, letting her show him how to make a hole that'd be stable enough to support the weight. "All right, did you want to paint them?"

"Yeah," Zack said, nodding.

"Hmm... they need to dry out a bit first," Ms. Bucala said, watching his face fall. "I know, here," she said, standing and leading him to the counter along the wall, setting his pieces down and opening a cupboard, taking out a hairdryer and plugging it in. "One minute on each side," she told him, leaving him to it and checking on her class, dismissing them with the bell.

By the time the next class had settled, Zack was done drying out his pieces enough to paint, settled back in his seat with the colors he needed and brushes and some water.

The lunch bell rang just as he was finishing the last one, forcing himself not to rush, and then they were done.

"I'll fire them and you can pick them up tomorrow," Ms. Bucala said, sharing a smile with Zack, waving a hand when the boy thanked her and urging him to go to lunch before Trini came looking for him.

Zack laughed, washing up and grabbing his notebook and jacket, heading for lunch, where sure enough Trini was standing by their table and it seemed like the others were arguing with her to give him a few more minutes to show up.

"Miss me?" Zack grinned, punching her shoulder lightly and taking a seat with her.

"You missed lab," Trini said flatly.

Zack shrugged. "Was working on a project."

"What project?" Kim asked.

Zack grinned. "You'll see tomorrow. Now, c'mon, someone feed me!"

Trini watched him eat and joke around, and she relaxed a bit. Whatever had been eating at him, it was gone. For now.