#forget about logic + lore for a bit and lets get crazy :-----)

[cvstaways]

                      𝐀𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐋𝐘, 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐘.   the feeling grows to be a familiar fiend the more you live without remembering your age by the decade  ,  but rather  ,  by the century.    the woman he sat in front of was a little more than a stranger but much lesser than an acquaintance  ,  the one commonality they had?  vampyrs.  a specific one , at that. the average   “ vampire ”   was of western descendant  ,  the famed draculas and nosferatus.  nothing like the   vampyrs   that amadeus had been trying to avoid for centuries now.  but no , life wouldn’t be that simple  —  life was unkind and unfair to those who lived for the green grass and the bright sides. 

                       he sat in an old diner with fred because she was a favorite of one of ever’s kin. anyone with his blood and lineage was bound for a pitfall , the most painful of deaths at the very hand of he who thought he was god.  chief executive officer of a pharmaceutical and wellness brand ,  before that he was head of an advertising firm , and before that he was a headmaster at a boarding school  . . .  it goes on.  his name never left the spotlight.  the pattern wasn’t difficult to pick out.  he was not the strongest vampyr in existence , but his mind played tricks like the nine-tailed spirits. 

                       but amadeus didn’t know much more than that.  well , now he knew that she was quite fond of classic american food.  he was never fond of meatloaf , the mere sound of it was revolting.  but she looked a little more comfortable than earlier  ,  a little more at peace  ( if she had any to begin with  ).    “  i have to admit ,  ”  he washed down mashed potatoes with a sip of ginger ale.   “  —  i’m still not sure what i can do for you.  ”   typical of sonni to hear of these things ,  new favorites  , strays to take in to the cabin in the forest.    “   in fact , i’ve been avoiding their kind for as long as i can remember.  ”

                       he looked up with a gentle glance  ,  the gentle laziness of the tiger never left him.  to those who knew him well , they knew he meant no harm.  but not many were comfortable with that kind of eye contact with a predator.   nevertheless ,  he looked at her with as much gentility as he could conjure.   “   how did you get mixed up with vampyres , fred?   ” 

                                                 〉             𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐃  ， @stfreds​​​ .

[rabble-dabble]

The Cancer King

Well, here’s an Evil Karkat to go with Evil John.

So, let’s set the stage. How does Karkat become the villain? That’s honestly a pretty tricky question. Contrary to John, most of Karkat’s arc comes from him growing to shed or suppress any potential flaws that would make him an outright villain, so it’s a lot harder to make him turn into a villain on his own. So, we’ll have to give him that push.

So, after The Condescension dies, she gets sent to the dreambubbles. She’s both frustrated to be defeated and relieved to no longer be under Lord English’s thumb, so she decides to start planning her rebound.

She traverses the dreambubbles searching for her most competent and loyal minions from her old empire, building an army with promises of a new eternal empire that will span the multiverse. Once she’s confident in the size of her armada, she travels to doomed timelines and begins sucking the life force out of thousands of still living players, using the energy to resurrect herself and return to full strength. Unfortunately for her, she’s a Thief of Life, not a Rogue of Life. So, to resurrect her army, she’s forced to mind control a Rogue of Life and have them steal the life force from enough people to resurrect her entire army. With her preparations complete, The Condescension launches her invasion on Earth C.

Still starts by ambushing Karkat during some diplomatic meeting, detecting that he was the weak link, seeing as he’s the weakest non-immortal out of all the God-Tiers and his death would likely demoralize and horrify his friends. But, as she prepares his execution, the Condescension notices his blood color. Her thoughts immediately flicker back to the Signless and a particularly evil idea settles into her mind. The Signless had been the single biggest pain in her ass before Lord English, as his influence managed to haunt her even after his death. So, now’s the chance to get some payback.

She decided she would try to corrupt Karkat into everything the Signless would’ve despised. Transform him into her ruthless right hand man. 

Initially, the torture doesn’t work, so The Condesce decides to switch gears. After her forces manage to capture Terezi, Condy gives an ultimatum. Serve or she dies. Karkat is forced to work for her. Still, Karkat actively works against her. He uses his position in her ranks to leak information to his friends. The Condescension full expected this and keeps giving him false information to leak. She then leverages the resulting casualties, complimenting him on his “victory” and wonders just how long they’ll continue to trust him. “It’s been a few months since they lost you, guppy. Maybe they think you broke.”

The Condescension continues to get inside his head. She reads his mind to see all of his little insecurities and she leans into each and every one of them. All of his past mistakes and failings. For example, she offers to mind control Terezi into loving him as a “reward”. When he gets disgusted, she brings up the time he tried to schedule how much time she could spend with him and Dave without her permission. “Doesn’t matter how you get her so long as you get her. Sounds like past you had his priorities in order." 

She gives him ideas in his sleep, plaguing his mind with nightmares where his friends horrifically die from following his advice or while trying to save him. It inspires him to make a public speech denouncing his friends so they’ll stop trying to save him. After that, she fills his sleep with dreams of him dutifully serving by her side, forcing him to question why exactly he denounced his friends. 

His friends, naturally, don’t buy it. They know Karkat and they’re going to bust their asses off to save him. It’s only a matter of time before John kicks down the door to his room and scoops him off his feet in a hug.

As the captured Condescension is being dragged away, she smugly thanks Karkat for being so helpful with her regime. Karkat hunches up, but John grabs his hand behind his back. It helps keep his glare from wavering. 

Karkat is still noticably distant, even after the Condescension is executed. Naturally, his friends try to comfort him. Terezi is there to reassure him, assuming he went through the same kind of torture she did, while Jane and Jade are able to relate to being forced to serve the Condesce. However, they’re not quite able to get through. Karkat is convinced that he was actually beginning to genuinely abandon his friends and he’s too stuborn to "pawn his problems off on someone else”, in his words. Still, they’re not stupid. Everyone is able to tell the Condesce did something to him and that it’s still bothering him.

Karkat is haunted, day in and out, by nightmares of him abandoning his friends. He keeps berating himself, chastising himself for trying to abandon them after everything they went through together. His self-hatred is creeping into his skull like a poison and because he refuses to talk about it, it keeps getting worse.

No matter how much Karkat tells himself that it’s not true, that he’d never abandon his friends or hurt them, the nightmares linger.

So, Karkat decides to prove to himself that he’s loyal to his friends and would never actually abandon them. Since she was able to come back from the dead before, she could logically do it again. After stewing the problem over a bit, he goes to John with an idea. John is going to use his Retcon powers to help Karkat become God-Tier. That way, he can destroy The Condescension’s ghost in the dream bubbles so she can’t come back. John figures that this is Karkat’s way of facing his trauma directly and agrees. Mostly because he’s been spitballing with his friends about what Karkat’s problem might be and Rose brought the idea up.

John and Karkat travel back in time so that Karkat can use his old quest bed. It’s not like Past Karkat was going to use it anyway, so nothing really changes. The same Knight of Blood rules as in the Lord Egbert timeline apply, meaning that Karkat has all the powers of everyone that he’s friends with. 

John and Karkat hunt down HIC and manage to destroy her, but not before she manages one last sickening taunt. With her final breath before she fades away, The Condesce claims that Karkat denounced his friends of his own free will. John tells her off, but Karkat confirms it. Before John can press on the issue, Karkat teleports away. John tries to chase after him, but he isn’t able to find him. Karkat has a close enough relation to Void (via his old friendship with Equius) that John can’t just will himself to Karkat’s location. Karkat could feasibly be anywhere in Paradox Space.

While John is out looking for him, Karkat is mulling over his past mistakes. The Condescension’s words ringing in his head. He believes that, somehow, he choose to betray his friends. And as he keeps teleporting throughout Paradox Space, witnessing every mistake he ever made, that rabbit hole goes deeper. He wonders if maybe he tried a little harder, Eridan wouldn’t have gone crazy. Maybe if he cared a little more, Nepeta and Equius wouldn’t have died. If he was less selfish, none of this would have happened. 

It’s an ugly thought. He knows that. He knows he did the best he could. His friends won’t let him forget that. But a dark part of his mind won’t let it rest.

Then, Karkat realizes that he can fix this. 

He has the power to do simply travel back and prevent their deaths. He can save them. He can save everyone.

It backfires spectacularly.

The resulting future ends up becoming a horrific destopia. Sense Eridan never died, he ended up joining up with The Condescension in this timeline, acting as her double agent and letting her win. From there, HIC is able to discover a means of absorbing Lord English’s power, allowing herself to become the supreme ruler of Paradox Space. 

John manages to avoid this timeline, as his Retcon Powers protect him from changes in the timeline, so he doesn’t notice as he’s still looking for Karkat. 

Karkat is naturally horrified by the future he’s created. All of his friends are eitger dead or enslaved and everyone, everywhere, lives under the boot of a bloodparched despot. With John nowhere to be found, he can only imagine tge worst. He teleports away to the Furthest Ring.

He just floats there in the empty void for awhile, mentally digesting everything. Everything that has led up to this point, all the mistakes that he made and all the things he could’ve done, play on a loop on his mind. No matter what he does, he somehow fucks it up. And when he tries to fix those mistakes, he ends up making everything worse. In his mind, he’s the problem. And, as such, it’s his job to fix everything. 

Wracked with guilt, Karkat has to not only fix this timeline, but he has to make sure he can never mess anything up again.

Then Karkat realizes something. If The Condescension was somehow able to absorb the powers of Lord English, then he logically should be able to as well. Hell, he could go one step beyond. He could become powerful enough to gain control over the story itself. He’d just have to figure out the method.

After doing some poking around Paradox Space, Karkat discovers how the Condescension became so powerful. The HIC consumed the lifeforce of trillions of people, draining entire timelines of life until she was in the same league as Lord English. Once she became powerful enough to affect him, she sucked the lifeforce out of him, absorbing his powers and becoming just as powerful as the Lord of Time. Since then, she’s been hunting down and sucking the life force out of Lords and Muses across Paradox Space. 

Even with how desperate he is, Karkat isn’t quite willing to go that far. So, he hatches a new plan.

He seeks out some Doomed God-Tier versions of Terezi, Aradia, and Rose, seeing as they’re really good at digging up lore. Through them, he’s able to discover a secret. Absorbing the lifeforce of God-Tiers grants more power then just absorbing the countless mortals the Condesce did. So, if Karkat stays focused on God-Tiers, he can avoid having to commit the same level of Genocide as the HIC. Of course, this means that he’d have to find a way to absorb powers to begin with. His first bet is too just befriend a version of Meenah but no dice. The Condescension went out of her way to completely annihilate any alternate versions of her to avoid this exact problem. So, Karkat has to resort to finding Life artifacts and weapons that grant the same effect.

Karkat quickly gathers up a team of Doomed God-Tier versions of his friends, promosing them something on exchange for their help. (IE. a version of Gamzee who killed all his friends on Lord English’s orders, but was then abandoned for it. Apparently, English was bored and wanted to test how loyal Gamzee was. Karkat offers him the chance to resurrect and apologize to all of his dead friends) The only person he can’t get to join him is John. He just can’t find a version of John willing to join him and most try to talk him down after seeing how far he’s starting to fall.

He then sends his friends to various ends of Paradox Space. They’re all tasked with finding Life artifacts, gathering up God-Tiers for Karkat to absorb, and distracting the HIC’s forces to keep them from finding him.

…They’re also there for him. On the rare times he can bring all of his friends together, he sees them interact. He sees them bond and forgive in eays they never could in his timeline. It reminds him of what he could have had. What he’ll never have. Because he failed.

It keeps him going. Everytime he sees everyone together, he becomes more convinced that this is the right thing to do.

Karkat gets his moniker from Gamzee. At one point, Gamzee comes across a group of former Lord English worshippers, who are forlorn at the loss of their master. To rally them together, Gamzee tells them of a new messiah.

“A WICKED, RAGING MESSIAH WHO DREAMS OF A UTOPIA OF MIRTH AND BEAUTY. a brother who captivates all who listen and guides gods from afar. THE CAPRICIOUS CANCER KING! leader of the lost lambs the Lord betrayed. AND DESTROYER OF THE WICKED FISH BITCH HERETIC WHO DESTROYED OUR WHIMSY!”

Gamzee leads them as a surrogate army against tge Condescension’s forces, all whilst they shout the praises of the Cancer King.

At one point, Karkat hears rumors about a version of John who has started a revolution against the Condescension on her home turf. Karkat goes to investigate and finds out that it’s John from the main timeline. At some point, he went back to the main timeline to get help, only to find the dystopia that replaced it. John managed to free some of his living friends from mind control. Sense Jane was among them, she could start reviving the rest. With them, he’s been leading a revolt against the Condescension.

Karkat explains his plan… much to John’s horror. Karkat’s plan is effectively mass murder, but Karkat brushes this off as necessary. Besides, he can undo them once he gets control of the narrative.

Karkat teleports away before John can talk sense into him, using his powers to keep John distracted long enough to escape.

Eventually, Karkat absorbs enough power to match The Condescension and he soundly defeats her, absorbing her lifeforce. But it’s nit enough to give him full control of the narrative. Hellbent on undoing his mistakes, Karkat doubles down on absorbing the life force of God-Tiers. He will become strong enough to undo all the damage he’s done, he has no choice now. And the only thing that can stop Karkat before he steps over the edge is John Egbert, with his ragtag group of friends.

There will be an epic showdown. But who wins? I’ll leave that up to you.

[residentlesbrarian]

The Fourth Book I Read In the Dark: Of Expectations and Other Relatabilities

Of Gryphons and Other Monsters by Shannon McGee

Hey, guys, sooooo...this is aaaawwwkward. I wrote 95% of this review when I wrote the other Books I Read in the Dark series for the blog, but the ADHD hit me and COVID was still you know...a thing! So I am gonna post this review, finished of course, OH, but also pay extra close attention to the conclusion alright! Hmm...this is a bit like a time capsule...here are my concentrated thoughts from 6 months ago while I was slightly delirious on books and darkness. So go forth and uh yeah this one is...you can just feel the feral “I haven’t had access to proper internet so I’ve been curled in the corner like Gollum with my books” energy coming off it so...enjoy?

Okay, so yeah, I really didn’t have a reason to end my last review that way I just wanted to, so sue me for injecting a little excitement into a series of posts about me literally sitting in my house reading nonstop for 2 ½ days, my reviews my rules. Back to manufacturing my own excitement shall we!

It’s Day 2! I’ve just finished my last library book, whatever will I do! I could always reread The Neverending Story for the 1,273rd time, but I have a need. A need for GAY! I rack my brain, there has to be a solution. My town is without power, my local library won’t be open, but then it hits me. It’s so simple! It’s meant to be really! Like the universe knew this was coming and it made sure I was prepared! Like a prepper stockpiling mental SPAM for my stimulus needing ADHD riddled brain! I have an entire shelf of books that I haven’t read yet! Way back in Clexacon 2019 my best friend (Lookin at you @justalifelongphase) gave me way too much money from missed birthdays and Christmases all at once before the con started because the world has deemed it impossible for us to live geographically close to one another. Anyway, I went a little book-buying-crazy and have not had the time or opportunity to read any of them since then. Their time has finally come!

I figured after going full whimsy with The Lost Coast and sci-fi superhero with Dreadnought and Sovereign why not take a dip into more traditional fantasy, also this one was first in line on the shelf, yay for not having to actually make a decision! No more dawdling, let's get right into the review!

Unicorn Rating:

Blurb: Taryn always loves and hates gryphon season. She finds the lesser gryphons more cute than anything but the ever present fear that a greater gryphon might be just out of sight is terrifying, and this gryphon season proves to be the one that will change her and her families lives forever! Just let a girl herd her sheep in peace!

Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil anything from the book, but my book loving rambles may give more away than a traditional review. Here we go! Ramble time!

Review:

I genuinely enjoyed this book. It took me a bit longer to get through it than the others, but I think that was a combination of three things: A. I was starting to feel the fatigue of reading so much in such a short amount of time. B. Our local Wal Mart had power restored on Day 3 and our entire household went on a trip to buy non-perishable food stuffs and I was like a solitary confinement prisoner being let out into the yard for the first time in months when my phone picked up a wifi signal and it was a bit hard to get back into the swing of reading after talking to other humans, even virtually, that weren’t imaginary or in my head. C. Our power was finally restored on the afternoon of Day 3 so yet again I was inundated with the draw of technology and all of my friend-os I hadn’t talked to, but the book had drawn me in enough I did the most unmillienial thing and left my phone in a different room to charge while I finished this book before going back to the land of technology and interwebs. That should tell you something.

McGee was able to write this story in a way that pulls you in so you care about what happens to these characters and this little mountain town. You learn just enough about the world to understand where they fit within the overall weave of it, but you aren’t given a Tolkein-esc dissertation on the world lore. I felt the worries and the fears. I was concerned when the routines had to change. I mean she made me care about the freaking sheep! Sheep, people! One of the reasons I think this works so well is we are so firmly rooted in the head of our protagonist, Taryn. Imma use that lovely bridge I just built to skip right on over the plot section of the review to get to the characters first, don’t worry we’ll circle back round to the plot. I always do, but I just wanna talk about my newest set of brain babies.

Taryn is a character that, if the title of this post is anything to go by, I found very very relatable. Now I know relatability can be pretty subjective, some people can latch onto something with the all consuming, “It me!” While others just stare on dead eyed not understanding the appeal. I feel like Taryn could be that kind of protagonist. You are either going to really relate to her or you won’t understand where she is coming from at all. I obviously fall in the former category. I was the quintessential middle child, still am really, though my relationship with my parents has shifted now that I’m an adult. More mutual respect and friendship than parent to child. I always did my best to pick up the slack, if ever there was any, and just tried my best to be as little of a burden as possible to my parents. I see so much of that aspect of myself in Taryn and how she sees her place at the farm and even in the town, she has her place and her role, but those expectations are heavy. One of those expectations being that she will inevitably get married and help take over the farm from her parents and have kids to continue the line. The fact she finds the lesser gryphons that flock near the farm far cuter than any of the local boys that she will eventually have to choose from to fulfill that inevitable expectation is just...sad at best and down right tragic at worst. And her family doesn’t help matters either. They won’t let her forget that she will have to settle down with one of these local boys, a boy who would make a good husband and take good care of her and the farm. She knows that, logically, but she also wants to be in love, like her parents, and she just doesn’t feel like that for any of the boys in town. She doesn’t know how to make those two things line up. It’s a struggle between her head, the obligation of what she has to do, and her heart, what she really wants for her future, to be happy in doing what she has to do. Wow, I went off a little bit there, but this was my long winded way of saying I have never read a protagonist that really captured the utter confusion of being raised in a heteronormative environment without it being drenched in internalized homophobia and fear. Protagonists like this seem to always know something is off but just don’t have the words for it so they just hide it because they know it’s “different” and out of the norm, but Taryn is just livin’ her sheep herding life and ain’t got no time for these boy crazy fools. She knows her mom wants her to find a good boy to court her so she can marry someday but she’s still young. She’ll think about that tomorrow, and she just repeats that ad infinitum. The thought that maybe she doesn’t fancy any of the boys because well...girls...never even occurred to her. It's not how things are done in this small mountain town, not because of homophobia reasons, but just stubborn tradition reasons. We are even told there is a gay couple living in town who are staples in the overall dynamics in town, instrumental even, but the idea of having a lineage, being able to pass your land down is so ingrained no wonder poor Taryn was so in the dark about her own probable gayness till it slapped her in the face. As someone who was raised in a medium sized Oklahoma town...girl I feel you. I was 22 and in the middle of Appalacia, way up in the mountains for college when my gay awakening popped up and said “Hello!” Everything that never quite made sense in my life came into perfect clarity. Not quite what happened with Taryn, but the arrival of Aella surely helped, as pretty girls are want to do. Oh look a segue, good, cause I could talk about Taryn for literal hours and I’ve already gabbed about her too much for this review.

Aella, you smooth motherfucker. Like I wish I could possess a quarter of the smoothness that you do. Like I’m lucky to string sentences together around a pretty girl, but here you are just strutting about being the smoothest of smooth. Honestly, I just...I can’t with you Aella. On a serious note though Aella is a character that served as showing Taryn a glimpse at the world beyond her small mountain town, as much as she had no desire to leave, unlike her brother. Nope, sit down, we’ll get to you, Michael! Oh, we’ll get to you. She’s traveled and has stories from all over and she is fairly open about the fact that she only likes girls, but she doesn’t have land, responsibilities, and a family line to continue. She just gets to live her life the way she choses. And y’all know I am a sap for the hard dark characters that are totally softies underneath that rough exterior. I think Aella was a great foil to Taryn and great at showing her what she could have if she was willing to leave, to stretch what she was allowed to wish for, but of course the biggest issue with her wishing for anything was...Michael.

Michael was such an interesting character. I loved him. I hated him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to punch him. Again as with the town and the people of the town I was so deep seated in Taryn’s head and feelings that her conflicted feelings about Michael and how he was acting became my feelings on the matter. Not enough to not separate a tad and see what was coming or at least try to predict it as I always do when reading, but emotionally I was right with Taryn the whole way. The one thing that really pushed Michael from just a character I was conflicted about to one I really wanna give a swift kick in the nads to, is that he knew. He knew all about Taryn’s absolute lack of romantic inclinations toward any of the boys in town and her doubts that she would ever find someone to love and marry to take over the farm. He was the only person she confided these fears in and he still selfishly followed his own pursuits with little regard to her or her worries. You sir, are a terrible brother and overall a shit human, so sit your ass down and shut your mouth.

The plot for this book was so embroiled with the characters and their journeys that I can’t talk on it much but the twists at the end and the final climax was very satisfying for me and left me excited to dig into the next book. Also something of note that I didn’t talk about in the character section cause I felt it was dragging on a touch, I really only talked in depth on our three biggest players but there is a very colorful cast of side characters ranging from Taryn’s nervous pony to the boy-who-cried-gryphon neighbor no one can stand to the troupe of hunters led by Aella’s mother to Taryn’s best friend Nia, all of whom play important parts in building that sense of caring about the people of this town and the town itself, which in turn made me deeply care about the outcome of the plot at the heart of the story. And the sheep! The god damn sheep!

One thing I do want to say before my final thoughts is that whoever designed the cover of this book in a genius because as I dug into the story I found myself constantly closing it to spout off about theories of what I thought was happening on the cover and what it all meant, I was kind of reader fatigue delirious for most of those theories but some of them I was right! I might have reenacted the Captain Holt “Vindication” gif IRL just because it felt too good not to. I just love when a “cool” cover turns out to be so much more than that once you’re “in the know”. So yeah, now y’all know to pay attention for that.

My final thoughts on this book are pretty positive. I can tell the author is building us toward so much more, hence the name of the series, Taryn’s Journey, and it feels like it. This is only the beginning and I honestly can’t wait to take the next steps with her.

Queer Wrap-up:

Hey it’s me from the future...present...whatever...so, this is when I stopped writing the review six months ago and there is a reason for that. I, kind of, agonized over what to rate this book on the scale. Multiple times having to call my brother and go back and forth just to then repeat the same arguments with myself as soon as I got off the phone. Now why was this such a hard terrible no good awful back and forth well...SPOILER WARNING...seriously anything past this point will be spoiling some character beats for the majority of the book...okay? We understand one another. DANGER ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE...or you know scroll on.

So, Taryn is never confirmed to be queer in the text of this book. Now you would have to be wearing the tightest hetero goggles in known history not to see the heavy HEAVY subtext saying THIS BITCH GAY! It’s basically a full grown elephant painted sparkly rainbow trying to hide behind a dead shrub aka not hiding at all. I so desperately wanted to give this book four of those darling unicorns but in this rare case I just don’t think I can justify it. We have a protagonist that is still figuring herself out, which is amazing that we get to see that and go on the journey with her. Some of the things Taryn does and thinks are queer coded as hell, especially if it involves Aella who is explicitly gay on the page, but Taryn herself never express whether she herself is queer. Which, fair, other really important and traumatizing things were going on and I love that about her as a character, she didn’t meet Aella and suddenly that was all she could think about. Aella, of course, is representation who I’m counting because even though she shows obvious interest (you smooth motherfucker) in Taryn she is so much more than just a love interest and her character isn’t just boiled down to her sexuality. Now in this wrap up I’m also including the doctor and his husband in the town. They are very minor characters but they give us interesting insights into the town and the people. They are accepted and treated well in town even if some do almost, pity isn’t the right word, but they seem sad that they won’t be able to have any kind of legacy or lineage. As I said in the review it’s not homophobia it’s being stuck in your ways and it’s an interesting take.

Links:

Shannon McGee Website

The Storygraph

Okay so this one is a bit of a mess. Pieces of it were written 6 months apart and most of it was written while I was kind of delirious but hey at least I can say it’s honest. I still stand by everything my past self wrote and I still really enjoy thinking and talking about this book and am excited for whenever I get around to reading the sequel to continue on Tayrn’s journey with her. This is a book I probably would never have known even existed without ClexaCon and trolling through artist alley for literally every table that had books on them. I guess, moral of the day is maybe you won’t just find great books on library shelves but on unassuming convention tables too and it never hurts to look. Trust me, I’m a lesbrarian.

Oh bet you thought this post was over. I did the sign off and everything but oh no no! I have some info and such to impart. I am WELL AWARE these reviews have been fairly inconsistent to down right sporadic. Well, this is just a little info dump letting you guys know I am gonna be putting up one more review after this one that I wrote ages ago and I mean AGES (think years, as in multiple) and just never got around to posting and then the old blog is probably gonna be going through a PLANNED dormancy while some pretty big stuff is coming down the pike. You may notice visual changes and other stuff before anything else is announced but just keep an eye out. To quote the Fates from Hercules, “It’s gonna be big!”

Okay now for the actual sign off, I got shit to do! No one look behind the curtain, it’s a surprise!

[spn-headcanons-daily]

Hello people of the crazy spn fandom, how are we doing? (not well)

Wanna read some headcanons?

Since the finale, which brought me a new flavour of disappointment, I started to create a list of made up facts/headcanons (don't know how to call it better) of what should in my opinion happen to characters instead. Points about Dean and Cas from this list are slowly turning into my first actual fanfic, but points about Sam and Eileen are more difficult to write into a short story, so for now they are just staying as facts in a list. And I decided to post them here.

Will anyone ever read it? - Probably not.

Will that logical fact stop me? - Definitely not.

I'm going to post these ideas in order, one in each post. They can't count as actual fanfics, but they are long

Side note: I do not accept 15×20 as canon. Nope. It doesn't exist. I chose to completely ignore it, and by now I successfully erased it from my memory. Except for the part that in a few years Sam has a son named Dean (actually not really, but I'm going to call him that for simpler understanding, if you read it you will later find out why). And also Miracle the dog stays, he is a good boy and deserves the best.

I also should mention that in my imaginary world they saved Cas. And I have an idea how, and I think it's a good idea, but that's for another time, 'cause for that part I'm actually writing a fic (and it's becoming longer and longer, I don't know how to stop, it's out of control, please send help)

So they all know now that Cas is alive and he is okay.

Also you should keep in mind that English is my second language which I didn't study properly like a normal person but instead learned purely by watching tv shows, so feel free to kick my ass for any mistakes, there's probably a lot here.

If you read this shit below and liked it at least a little bit, please live something in the notes to make me feel less lonely and useless. Thanks :з

So, too much words, huh? Here is the first headcanon idea:

SAM WRITES A BOOK

After their big victory brothers still hunt monsters, of course, but now, when they are finally not constantly forced to save the whole world, their days are far less busy. They even have free time. And Sam makes a decision to do something useful with it.

Sam pulls together all his previous research, goes through hundreds of books from the library, adds other sources, and he writes and publishes a book. A really long book. It takes him almost a year from the first idea to the completion of it. This book is sort of a database, a full encyclopedia of all supernatural things that the Winchesters and the other hunters they know encountered over the years, with an accurate description of how those things look, what they do, what they want, where you can find them. And, of course, how to stop them, kill them, or protect yourself from them. The content is quite impressive, Sam put all his time and soul into it, checking and double-checking all information, comparing sources and trying to grasp the essence of each part of the lore and put it on the pages as short and simple as possible.

The book is called "The hunter's manual". Eileen insisted on that title - both Sam and Dean (who didn't help that much but nevertheless felt invested) right until the publishing kept offering something different. Sam wanted a long and self-explanatory name for his beloved creation, Dean wished for something more "pretentious and catchy".

It was supposed to be just a wiki-style website at first, but halfway through work Sam got excited about creating an actual book, so through some acquaintances they found a publisher, who knew about monsters and other stuff after his encounter with some vampires and another hunter, and agreed to publish a book in exchange for a right to sell its copies.

Eileen fully supported the idea of the book, but after a few weeks she gets quite annoyed by the fact that sometimes she literally can't pull Sam away from the book writing process. Dean jokes that his brother got married to book before he married Eileen, which somehow leads to a long serious conversation about marriage and love and life in general. But actually Eileen understands the importance of Sam's book for him way more than Dean, who thinks about it only from the practical point of view.

Sometimes Eileen is also worried for Sam, because he spends too much personal resources on his project, and she is the one who reminds him when he forgets to eat in time or not sleeping enough, and makes him remember to take care of himself. Eventually she becomes quite invested in the process, and she helps Sam with a lot of research and gaining information from other hunters across the country. She gets an honourable mention in the book's authors' information page, under a fake name, of course, but it still counts for them.

In a few years Sam's book becomes a handbook for almost every hunter in the US, and it even gets translated into a few other languages, because turns out it considerably eases your life to have one source for all basic material for the hunts, instead of going through the whole libraries of controversial information.

A few people got their book signed by Sam and Dean: the Winchesters at this point became sort of legendary figures in hunters' world. Dean complains that this is not the way he planned to become famous. Sam objects that his brother has no right to sign the book and therefore shouldn't be complaining when he lets him be part of his fame.

The hunters now often give a link to a digital version of the book to all ordinary people who had to face something supernatural and now know that it's all real - because if they are already aware of the nightmares of this world, this book's instructions will help them to be safer in the future. This digital version is also heavily redacted, to contain only information for protection: no summoning rituals, for example, as well as no any other things and information that could potentially hurt anybody. This version was created after some dumb teenagers, who encountered a ghost before, got their hands on an unedited book and decided that summoning a demon could be a good idea for a party entertainment. It definitely wasn't.

Ironically, some time later this book accidentally becomes fairly popular among the general public, as a book in the fantasy genre, and now passionate fans of the "supernatural" books in the long internet discussions are accusing mysterious author of "The hunter's manual" of ripping off their favourite series. Sam finds it amusing and sometimes when he is bored anonymously goes into some forums to argue with fans.

[wolfandwild]

My Shadowlands Wish List

Now that we’re getting closer and closer to pre-patch and the inevitable launch of the expansion, I thought I’d rattle off a wish list of things I hope we get to see in Shadowlands, largely from a lore/story perspective. (Or rather, my stupid foot was hurting so badly I couldn’t concentrate on writing my fic properly, so I decided to ramble off some not-so-hot takes, honestly they’re pretty mild in the grand scheme of things). I was in the first alpha wave, so I’ve had a pretty good opportunity to play the game as it is thus far, and I did want to make it clear up front that I’m fully aboard the hype train. Shadowlands is looking like a great expansion for a number of different reasons, and while I do have a few areas of concern, on the whole I am currently feeling very positive. Please also note these are just my random, late-night personal musings - your mileage may vary, and that’s a-okay.  Mild Shadowlands spoilers below the cut.

You Get A Customisation! You Get A Customisation! Everybody Gets A Customisation! This one is pretty much a no-brainer. I don’t necessarily think Blizzard need to have absolutely every possible character customisation ready to go before launch, but I’d like them to continue adding further options over time. I move in a couple of different circles in Warcraft - I’m obviously involved in the writing/lore/character aspect of the game, but I’m also GM of a raiding guild and closely follow the gameplay/competitive side of things too - and customisation is one of those few things that gets everyone excited, regardless of their reason for playing the game. I’m looking forward to seeing a much more vibrant, unique and diverse Azeroth come Shadowlands pre-patch. (Mostly irrelevant side story - when Wrathion returned in the Patch 8.3 cinematics, my Twitter and lore Discords were basically going berserk with excitement, meanwhile there’s a hundred very confused dudes in my raiding guild who don’t read quest text being all, “What the hell is a ‘Wrathion’?”. I live in two different worlds, honestly). Another reason I’m excited about customisation (and I’m probably in a very small minority on this one) is because I actually really dislike allied races, and I think it gives Blizzard an option to add more flavour to character creation in the game without always having to cobble together a new race. I honestly think they should have simply gone for sub-race customisation from the beginning, to avoid having to ass-pull allied races out of nowhere. Using customisation over allied races also makes it far simpler to give something to both factions (e.g. high elves), or to add something for one faction without necessarily having to always add something to the other faction to keep things in balance. Giving an extra hairstyle to humans but not orcs generally isn’t going to cause that much of a fuss, but if one faction were given an allied race and the other wasn’t because there wasn’t a logical racial option, there would be a shitstorm of epic proportions. So you end up in a situation where one faction* gets saddled with a really random, sucky allied race just to be ‘fair’. *The Alliance. It’s the Alliance. Leave Britney Arthas Alone Arthas has never been a personal favourite of mine, but I respect that he has a fantastic story, and that he’s a cornerstone of Warcraft lore. His story is both satisfying and complete, and that’s exactly why they should leave him the hell alone. I don’t mind if he’s visited in flashbacks (like the Bastion cinematic), or if we explore how he affected still living characters (e.g. Jaina, Sylvanas, Bolvar), but I think it would be a mistake to try to make him a central character in the expansion. In contrast, someone like Kael’thas is an excellent choice for an additional arc, because his original story was a bit all over the place and there is still plenty of room for his character development. Arthas doesn’t need it, and I don’t think the minute potential gain is worth the risk of retroactively making the rest of his story worse. On a similar note... Warcraft III Was Released Nearly 20 Years Ago, It’s Time to Move On The Warcraft RTS was a landmark series of games, and was obviously without them we wouldn’t have the World of Warcraft. However, I think the future health of Warcraft’s lore depends on the ability of the writers to grow the story outwards and upwards, not to always default back to the same handful of characters for nostalgia’s sake. While characters like Jaina, and Thrall, and Sylvanas are great, they can’t carry the narrative forever. Shadowlands represents a unique opportunity to build up the next generation of characters and to blow the cosmology of the universe wide open. From what I’ve seen on the alpha/beta, Blizzard are definitely taking a step in this direction, and I’m hoping that’s what we get instead of Patch 9.2 - Oh Look, It’s Thrall Again. On an additionally similar note... Sylvanas Is Crazy, And She Needs To Go Down (I don’t actually think she’s crazy, but one should never miss the opportunity for an Avatar reference). One of my complaints about the recent lore developments in Warcraft its that it’s starting to feel a lot less like the World of Warcraft, and more like the Sylvanas of Warcraft. She’s playing 469D chess; she’s behind everything; she’s the sole driving force of the narrative. I don’t think that works in an MMO that’s meant to tell the story of an entire expanded universe. It makes things feel small. And before I get eaten alive, I want to be clear that I don’t dislike Sylvanas as a character - in fact, I think she’s very compelling and on a night when my foot wasn’t killing me so much I’d be happy to get into an argument as to why she’s actually one of the most consistent and well-written characters in the World of Warcraft. I don’t necessarily think she needs to die, either, but I think it’s time for her narrative to come to a close to make room for other characters in the story, and I don’t think Blizzard are going to get a much better opportunity to give her a satisfying ending than in a death-themed expansion. Justice for Tyrande (Or Vengeance, Whatever Uther Wants to Call It) Tyrande got done dirty in Battle for Azeroth, probably more than any other character. I’m not a massive night elf fangirl by any means, but their entire race was basically used as grist for the mill in Sad Orc Dad’s story, with no next to no narrative follow-up besides a cool cinematic that went absolutely nowhere in game. Outside the game, her character then got subjected to the cacophonous misogynistic crowing of the fanbase that occurs whenever a female character dares to be angry in the World of Warcraft. Much like Jaina, she’s decried for being ‘crazy’ or ‘irrational’ for, you know, being pissed that her people and her homeland were wiped out in an act of wildly disproportional aggression. I don’t know about you guys, but that would tend to make me a wee bit testy, but maybe I’m crazy and irrational too. In any case, I want to see her go off in Shadowlands. Fuck ‘em up, girlfriend. You Get One Villain. If You Drop It, I’m Not Buying You Another One I think most people will agree with me that the two weakest expansions (at least from a narrative perspective) were Warlords of Draenor and Battle for Azeroth. There are a few reasons for this, but for me one of the biggest issues was that they were chop-and-change expansions. Both were advertised and started off with narratives and themes that were wildly different from where they finished up. Warlords was part Iron Horde expansion, part Legion expansion; BFA was part faction war expansion, part Old God expansion... and that’s exactly the problem. Both times, I felt like we got two half-done expansions, instead of one single, cohesive narrative experience.  If you look at expansions like Wrath of the Lich King and Legion, both of which were very well received, a lot of their success hinges on their presentation of a consistent narrative with a clear goal for players within the story. The Lich King, for example, was a consistent and very present villain. He menaced you throughout your entire journey, and so his eventual defeat on top of Icecrown Citadel was meaningful and impactful. Defeating N’Zoth, by contrast, felt pretty hollow, as we hadn’t had enough narrative build up to really care about taking him down. Part of the reason I’m excited for Shadowlands is it looks like we’re getting a nice, focused story development that builds up to a logical and satisfying villain in the Jailer. Why Can’t We Be Friends? Look, I bleed blue. I love the Alliance... but the faction war should not continue to be a driving narrative element in the World of Warcraft. I don’t want the factions to be removed, I think they’re a core part of the Warcraft experience and I’d be pretty sad to have to let them go entirely, but the cycle of hating one another then teaming up in an uneasy alliance in order to defeat a bigger bad, only to go back to being at one another’s throats the next day is... tiresome.

Ideally, the war would have ended after Legion - it was the most logical place to do so, and I think it was a big missed opportunity that they ran with Battle for Azeroth immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, I think this means the Alliance is going to just have to forgive and forget, which doesn’t really make a lot sense at this point given everything that happened in BFA, but for the sake of the overall story, it might be a necessary sacrifice. That said... I Am Once Again Asking for Alliance Narrative Agency I know there are a lot of (valid) complaints to be had about the Horde storyline, but the one thing the Horde has always had over the Alliance is that they actually get to drive the narrative forward. The Alliance are pretty much exclusively reactionary, and in a lot of ways are side characters to the main Horde storyline. I’ve made this argument elsewhere, but it honestly wouldn’t be too hard to remove Anduin’s part in Saurfang’s storyline in Battle for Azeroth and have it turn out more or less exactly the same way... which says a lot about the importance of the Alliance in the overall storyline. In short, the Alliance are secondary players at best, and downright irrelevant at worst. One of my biggest hopes for Shadowlands is that we’ll actually get to see some Alliance narrative agency. To be clear, however, this does not mean a simple rehashing of Horde conflicts with a blue coat of paint. Alliance stories are not Horde stories, and nor should they be. Having an Alliance leader turn into a genocidal despot is not the only way to create conflict or agency in the story - there are plenty of opportunities for character growth, development and conflict on the Alliance side without having to have one of our leaders do a heel turn (e.g. Tyrande as the Night Warrior, Anduin dealing with his experience in the Maw, Jaina confronting the fates of people like Kael’thas and Arthas, Taelia meeting her father, etc.), and I really hope we get to see some of those narrative threads come to fruition. I Want to Mount Everything Add a hundred new mounts. Two hundred. A pot plant with googly eyes, the four hundredth Alliance horse, your mum. I’ll ride anything; I don’t even care. (Please note this is the most important opinion I have).

[bluerosesburnblue]

Hi blue! ❤️ I've been in a lot of discords where alot of the KH fandom confirms their belief in the SRT. I have a pretty decent understanding of lore so far. I got into some nice debates where fans defended the SRT soley off an existence of a different wordline. I'd ask "So if Sora was able to pull all the guardians into a different worldline... Xehanort could've just targeted the princesses of heart - why would he follow them.. if this theory was Canon??" And I'd just watch then hit silence.

To add context to my previous, I don’t understand how Riku being Sora’s light has any reason to even be included in this theory. To me, this theory should’ve had the focal point only on the idea of multiple world-lines, but having looked at all your blogging in that regard, the clear and excessive inconsistencies in their theory shows that the sleeping realm wasn’t the focal point. I follow some of the writers of the theory… And after sharing the doc they only celebrated Riku and nothing else             

Honestly, thank you for your effort in breaking it down. I knew I wasn’t crazy when I thought that something didn’t really seem right with the theory. I watch a lot of KH theory videos on YouTube from small creators with no shipping bias and they’re honestly very creative and genuine with their work. I understand how they feel about their ship, I love Kairi so much and would cry if she got her own game. I just think they should’ve left the Riku thing on its own and kept it away from this theory.             

Hey there! And thank you! I’m gonna talk a lot so to keep this from clogging up everyone’s dashboard, it’s going under the cut

I think I may have touched on it a little bit when I was explaining why even if the writers say this isn’t an “it’s all a dream” theory, I still feel like it has enough similarities to be considered one and… you’re absolutely correct. There is no reason for Xehanort to follow the Guardians into a new worldline. We don’t even know if he’s capable of it. We also don’t know if his planned universal reset just works in the worldline he’s in, or if it would erase all of them. We don’t know anything about worldlines other than that it’s a term Luxu used, like, twice

If Sora and Co. hopped worldlines, Xehanort would just grab the Princesses and win. If Sora and Co. hopped into the Sleeping Worlds… then Xehanort would also just grab the Princesses because the heroes still aren’t around to stop him if they’re in the Sleeping Worlds. It might take a little extra time, especially if we go on their assumption that Kairi is dead since now he’s gotta go find Princess #7 again. Because let’s not forget that this theory also claims that Kairi did not hop worldlines and that the Kairi we see is a Chirithy she’s piloting from the other world. That she died in

(Personally, I think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of Xehanort’s character throughout the whole theory. He’s not a master planner. If he was, none of his plans would have ever failed, and he makes very clear in DDD that the plan to use TAV was intended to succeed. He is a master opportunist who’s excellent at making sure he has just enough irons in the fire that if one plan fails, another’s already going. The issue is most prevalent in the part of the theory where they try to claim that he planned the paopu scene. And uhh… any part where they make it sound like Xehanort has big plans involving Sora. He doesn’t.

His plan in DDD was opportunistic. He never planned for Sora. Sora was this thorn in his side who was constantly messing up his plans. If you know that no matter what you do this boy is going to mess you up, then how do you remove that threat? Either kill him, which is unlikely as Sora also makes for a decent Light if need be, or bring that power onto your side. He also didn’t like�� give YMX time travel powers just to get Sora. That was another opportunistic iron to add to the fire. Like, if I knew that I was going to do something that would give me time travel powers and that I could pass that on to other versions of myself, why the hell wouldn’t I go back to the earliest version of me that could make use of that? That way I have the power… literally from a very young age and continue to have it my entire life. It’s a paradox, sure, but a damn effective one. He would’ve had Ansem go back to give YMX the power regardless. Knowing where Sora was at the time was just a byproduct, and one that he later found a use for

But after the plan to force Sora to join the Darknesses fails… Xehanort doesn’t really have to do anything. He knows that Sora’s a meddler who will fight for the light and is easy to goad into emotional actions. That’s one less Light that you have to worry about getting to the battlefield, because the kid will do it himself. There’s no need to have Kairi involved at all in terms of the paopu fruit thing? There’s no need to plan literally since flinging child Kairi into the abyss out of curiosity for her to make Sora fall in love with her. Like, again... he doesn’t really have a grand plan that he’s been implementing from the start so much as he has several plans that all require roughly the same or similar pieces. Xehanort only makes extra effort for himself if he feels like it could serve multiple purposes. He doesn’t see Sora as worthy, so he’s going to expend the most minimal effort on him. That’s one of the things that I think this theory fails to understand most; Xehanort doesn’t really care about or have grand plans for Sora. So long as the boy fights for one side or another, Xehanort’s already got what he wants

So with Xehanort being such an opportunist with so many contingencies... why would he pass up the chance to do things the easy, if more time-consuming, way by just... staying in the world without the heroes and succeeding with Plan B while knowing that there’s no one around to stop you?)

But, rambling about Xehanort’s characterization aside, you bring up something that I was planning to talk about once I finished going through the theory. My plan at the end was to go over what I felt that it did right or wrong writing-wise. And one of the things it does wrong is that it’s actually several mini-theories very loosely tied together that don’t prove each other

Making a theory about what you think a worldline is is its own thing. Making a theory on KH3′s connection to the Sleeping World lore is its own thing. Making a theory that Riku is really Sora’s light is its own thing. Making a theory that Kairi’s been controlled by Xehanort this whole time is its own thing. None of them correlate

The only reason to include all of them together, and this is going to sound really jaded, is if you intend to trick people into believing that your interpretation of Riku’s and Kairi’s contributions is canon. Because if they’re presented together, then it comes with the implication that if you accept that part of their theory is true (the definition of worldlines, the connection to Sleeping Worlds), then you have to accept that all of it is (Riku is the one whose act of true love saved Sora, Kairi’s contributions were all planned by someone else and therefore less legitimate than Riku’s, etc.).

And I don’t think I’m wrong to read that intent into it. From what I’ve read of the theory so far, they’ve made their shipping bias outright clear (calling the video files soriku_sleuthers as though they’re looking for evidence supporting their ship, spending an entire section on proving that Riku’s “most important person” is Sora and that the feelings are romantic...). Spending about .2 seconds on any of the creators’ Twitter accounts also makes the fact that really all they care about KH-wise is Riku’s part in the SoRiku ship (not even Riku as a character, because they get his character so totally wrong in the theory, but just what Riku contributes to the ship)

I don’t know if it was intentionally done by them or not. It’s possible that the natural ship bias clouded how they interpreted events in the game, too, to the point where they legitimately think that their interpretation is just obviously correct because the content that they interact with most and longest leads to that idea. I’ve already talked about how confirmation bias clouds the entire theory so thickly that they unintentionally discredited everything in it by that alone. But the point remains that the only reason that I can see for having an entire section on how perfect Riku is and how pure his love for Sora is, and another on how Kairi is Xehanort’s pawn trapped in another worldline, is because the easiest way to legitimize those as “canon” is to attach them to something that you think you can prove is canon

Except there’s so many holes, so much misinterpretation, and so much... I almost want to say forged evidence because that’s the only way I can describe what they did to Xigbar’s speech on Olympus, that there’s a mountain of things that can be logically and soundly proved to be incorrect and absolutely no decisive evidence so far proving that any part of what they’re saying is true

I’ll give them some credit, though. The SoRiku stuff doesn’t take up the bulk of the theory and is apparently subtle enough that even quite a few SoRiku shippers don’t think it’s even really a part of the theory. But that ignores the fact that while they have a ton of “evidence” unrelated to the ship, the inciting incident that the whole theory revolves around is the idea that Riku’s act of true love in sacrificing himself to save Sora (attributing Kairi’s sole salvation of Sora to both Riku and all of the other Princesses of Heart) allowed Sora to transfer everyone (except Kairi) over to a new worldline and also the Sleeping Worlds. It may not harp on it, but the theory absolutely pushes SoRiku as the canon ship if you want to believe that the theory is canon because they wrote it so that the events they’re describing cannot happen if it isn’t

It’s why they couldn’t keep the Riku stuff out of this theory even if they wanted to. Even if it would’ve made for a more believable theory. He’s the only part of this damn thing that they really care about

Again, I’m going to go into everything I think this theory does wrong at some point. And I’m sorry that this got so long and ranty! Seeing old followers go in and reblog the debunk stuff right now, which is attracting new followers like you is actually really fun and heartening to watch and I’m so glad that you liked the content enough to tell me! I wish the theory hadn’t become what it is. I wish this debunk wasn’t something that was even necessary. But I am grateful that it’s given me the opportunity to chat with a lot of people, yourself included, about this fandom! Up until I started this project I was relatively unknown in the KH fandom. I really hope that the upcoming debunk stuff meets everyone’s expectations!

[mischiefmakingmuses]

LD:AU {Ch1} - Spirits Awoken

Sherise watched the clock on the wall tick by slowly. One minute, thirty-five seconds. One minute, thirty-four seconds. Every time the second hand moved, she felt her excitement level rising. It was Halloween, and once school was out, she’d make preparations for that party she’d been waiting all month for.

“Sherrie, can you calm down a bit...? You look like you’ll bolt out the door the instant the bell rings...” Yenten, her best friend, sighed. “You’re making me a little anxious, not gonna lie.”

“I can’t help it, Ten, tonight’s gonna be absolutely stellar!” Sherise balled her fists. “I’m gonna get ready for the best night of the year, in forty-two seconds...forty-one seconds...”

“Cripes, don’t starting counting the seconds!” Yenten uttered.

The teacher continued to prattle on with her lesson as the countdown continued. And finally...three seconds...two seconds...one second...!

Brrrrriiiing!

“ALL RIGHT!” Sherise shot up from her chair like a rocket. Everyone just stared at her, even the teacher. After an awkward silence, she slowly picked up her bag and books. “...sorry.”

“Hmmph. Someone’s in a hurry,” local rich girl Gess huffed. Sherise just glared at her, which didn’t faze her in the slightest. In fact, she just got a shit-eating grin on her face. “Oh, by the way! Ms. Green! Didn’t you say there’s an assignment we have to do over the weekend?”

“Oh! Indeed there is! Thank you for reminding me, Gess!” Ms. Green clapped her hands together. The entire class groaned, especially Sherise who immediately sank back into her chair.

“You totally did that on purpose,” she hissed.

“Whatever do you mean?” Gess asked, trying to play dumb. “I just didn’t want Ms. Green to forget about our important assignment due on Monday!”

“Remember, class! Your assignment for this weekend is a five page essay on any myths or legends of Feridae of your choosing! That’ll be all! Dismissed!”

~*~★~♥~★~*~

“Y’know, I really hate Gess sometimes,” Sherise grumbled. “Who wants to write an essay on ghosts and myths? That stuff isn’t real!”

“Well...I mean...I guess you can’t really prove whether it’s real or not...” Yenten nervously quipped. “But...you don’t think it’s interesting at all? I think it’s pretty cool!”

“It just doesn’t feel logical to me! A lot of the legends don’t make se--oh, cripes, look who it is.”

Sherise and Yenten stopped walking as they were approached by Gess.

“What do you want, Gess?” Sherise asked bitterly. “You trying to ruin the rest of my day or something?”

“Oh, I just couldn’t help but overhear how someone like you, a total Halloween nut, can possibly not enjoy the rich lore of our world!” Gess did a noblewoman’s laugh. “Maybe instead of prepping for some dumb Halloween party...”

“Hey!!” Sherise interjected. Gess continued.

“...you should go check out that haunted mansion at the end of Drawn & Quarterly? Prove that the legends are such rubbish like you say they are...! Or are you too scared?!”

“I’m not scared!” Sherise cried out, throwing her hands up. “It’s just illogical to me!”

The two parties began to bicker, as a strange boy in a mask approached them.

“Oh...hello...sorry...did I hear...you talk about the mansion at Drawn & Quarterly...?” he interrupted.

“OK, two things. One, who the hell are you? Two, yeah, what of it?” Sherise placed her hands on her hips.

“Oh...hehehe...my name is Desley...and I’m just interested...you want to go to that mansion...? I hear...there’s a room with a singular burning candle...out of 100 total...it’s said that the previous visitors played a game of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai...but got too scared and didn’t finish...they say that if you put the candle out...a monster will appear...” Desley slowly brought his hand up to the mouth on his mask and giggled softly. “Maybe it’s real...but maybe not...”

“Even better!” Gess cried out. She pointed at Sherise and Yenten. “Alright! If you go and put that candle out...I’ll do your homework for a week!”

“Deal!” Sherise wasted no time accepting the bet. She grabbed Yenten’s hand. “C’mon, Ten! We’re going!”

“W-wait, why am I getting involved in this?!” the boy called out as his friend dragged him behind her.

“Ah...there they go. Hehehe...” Desley slowly started shuffling in the direction the duo went off in. He turned to look at Gess. “I hope you’re ready...to uphold your promise. Hehehe...maybe you shouldn’t be so much of a bully...I could’ve easily given this offer to you...”

“Excuse me?!” Gess snapped. “What did you call me?! Get back here, you little masked gremlin!”

“...oh...you should be happy my friends...weren’t around to hear that...but...I feel like you won’t be able to evade their detection forever...hehehe...”

“Hey! Are you threatening me?! Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

“Haaa... Auf Wiedersehen...” Desley continued on his route without looking at the girl screeching behind him.

~*~★~♥~★~*~

“I heard that the monster that shows up at the end of a game of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai is called ‘aoandon’,” Yenten explained as he kicked a rock along the sidewalk. “But usually, people don’t finish the game because the atmosphere grips them with fear and they give up before telling the hundredth story.”

“But...aoandon can’t be real. Can they? So that means that they get so close to their goal and they just, stop? What a load of bunk,” Sherise scoffed.

“Maybe you should keep a lid on your skepticism until we’re done...”

They stopped in front of the old mansion at Drawn & Quarterly. As expected, it was dilapidated and looked like no one had even so much as opened the door for decades. Yenten gulped.

“Sherrie...are we really doing this?” he whimpered. Sherise harrumphed.

“Yeah, of course we are! Don’t you wanna stick it to Gess for once? Look, all we gotta do is go inside, find the candle, put it out, and bam! We’ll be done, Gess’ll do my homework for a week, and we can get to the party in time!” Sherise saw no issues with this plan.

“OK, OK...let’s just get this over with...”

The duo stepped onto the pathway towards the decrepit and rotted front door. There was a lock on it...Sherise gently held it up to inspect it, only for the lock to detach from the door completely. Startled, she yelped and dropped the lock, which fell to the floor and shattered into pieces. She glanced over at Yenten, who merely shrugged.

Going inside, the entire mansion was covered in dust and cobwebs, and the air was musty and hard to breathe. Sherise found herself lifting the collar of her shirt over her nose just to stop herself from getting a lungful of rotten wood particles.

“Yuck. This really is the funk of forty thousand years, isn’t it?” she groaned. Taking a step forward, the floorboards made a creak so loud it could wake the dead. The girl facepalmed. “I feel like the mansion is going to disintegrate if we so much as breathe.”

“You wanna stick it to the people who didn’t finish their games of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai or not, Sherrie?” Yenten muttered passive aggressively. “Don’t get cold feet now.”

“Alright, alright...sheesh...”

The floorboards continued to creak unceremoniously as the two students made their way through the mansion, the cacophony enough to drive even the most holy of saints crazy. And, unfortunately, their search lasted for a good half hour or so, seeing as there were many, many rooms to check and not a candle in sight.

“I’m getting really tired of this,” Sherise wheezed. “Where’s this room at?”

“I can help you with that.”

Sherise cried out in shock and ended up falling into Yenten in her panic, sending both of them to the floor. After regaining their composure, they noticed that the voice belonged to Desley, the strange boy from earlier.

“Desley? Where did you come from?” Yenten asked, coughing out dust that flew into his mouth. “And how didn’t we hear you coming?!”

“The floorboards were too loud...” Desley murmured. Waving his hands in front of him, he giggled. “It looks like you two are kinda, lost, though...so I decided to help. By any chance, did you think to check the basement...?”

“B...basement?” Sherise uttered.

“Yup...if you’ll get up and follow me, I’ll take you there...hehe...”

“OK, then...” Sherise picked herself up and dusted off her pants before offering Yenten her hand. “Sorry about that, Ten...”

“I-it’s OK...” the boy responded, blushing. He took her hand and Sherise yanked him up. The duo looked over at Desley, who nodded and began to walk off. Admittedly, his steps were meticulous and light, making much less noise than they had been earlier.

In only a matter of minutes, the masked boy led the two to a staircase leading down. At the very bottom of the stairs, a very faint, blue light could be seen.

“Watch your step...”

The trio carefully made their way down the stairs, taking care not to slip and fall in the dark. Upon reaching the ground, Desley walked off towards a room with its door slightly ajar; from here, the light was more visible. Sherise gently opened the door a bit more, letting herself into the room, with Yenten following behind her.

The room was filled wall to wall with a hundred candles, some more melted than others, and all but one extinguished. The lone flame flickered in the middle of the dozens of candles, seeming a bit forlorn in a way.

“There really was a lit candle...” Sherise gasped. Slowly, carefully, she made her way to the candle. Nearby, there was a candle extinguisher. Sherise took it in her hand, and steadily moved forward to extinguish the candle. However, she felt her arm being grabbed from behind.

“Just a second, you two...” It was Desley. He looked at both Sherise and Yenten before digging around in his pocket and pulling something out. In his hand were two gemstones. They were clear and colorless. “Here. These are for you.”

“What are they?” Yenten asked. He gingerly took one of the gemstones, only to cry out a bit. He’d cut himself on it. “Oh, no, I’m bleeding!”

“I am, too!” Sherise whimpered. The two looked at their gemstones. Their blood was drawn into the middle of the stones, which then formed a heart inside. Upon further inspection, the edges had smoothed out, making another cut impossible. “What...just happened?”

“Those...are Reversal Shards. You’ll need to take care of them from now on...and they won’t work for anyone other than you...now...you can extinguish the candle...and end this game of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.” Desley gestured to the lit candle.

Sherise was still curious, but did as she was told. Taking a deep breath, she topped the candle with the extinguisher, the flame going out with a soft fizzling sound. The room became entirely dark, and all was silent.

“...that’s all?” Sherise asked, pouting. “All this build-up and nothing ha--”

Before she could finish, all the candles lit themselves with bright blue flames. The flames danced off their wicks and joined together in the middle, causing Sherise to back up hastily, nearly knocking down Desley in the process. The flames grew larger and larger, swirling in the middle of it all.

“W-what’s going on?!” Sherise shrieked.

“You just summoned the aoandon, that’s what!” Yenten yelled in response, voice shaking.

The flames began to contort in shape, forming a figure within. First, a moderately sized glass and metal lantern appeared, containing a small flame inside. The rest of the fire burned away, revealing a flat creature wearing blue clothes. It was mostly white, with many blue stripes running down its body. As the last of the flames went out, the creature’s tail tightly wrapped around the handle of the lantern. It floated in place, seemingly asleep.

“Is...is that...” Yenten stuttered.

“The aoandon?” Sherise questioned.

As if activated, the aoandon stretched itself out and yawned. It shook itself, small puffs of blue ash swirling around in the air in small clouds. Finally, it opened its eyes.

“Ahhh...that was such a nice nap!” The aoandon shook itself again and stretched itself out to full length, its tail never letting go of the lantern. “Hmm? Hiya! Who’re you guys?”

“U-uh...I-I’m Sherise...and this is Ten--I mean, Yenten.” Sherise said, gesturing to her friend. Yenten merely gave an awkward wave.

“I see, I see! A pleasure to meet you both! I’m Sunny!” The aoandon held out a hand for the kids to shake. Not wanting to leave him hanging, both Sherise and Yenten shook his hand once. “Sew, I’m guessin’ you’re the reason I got woken up?”

“I...I guess so...” Sherise nervously answered. She fiddled with her fingers before speaking up again. “Hey, Sunny...are you really an aoandon?”

“Yup! But only on my father’s side! My mother is an ittan-momen, don’chino? I think I really take after her!” Sunny did a little pose to accentuate the statement. Both Yenten and Sherise were sweating nervously.

“Yes, actually, about that, Sunny...” Desley spoke up. “Your parents were the ones who asked me to find you. They’d noticed you stopped writing letters for a while...and thought something happened to you.”

“Oh, is that sew? Thanks for updatin’ me on the stitch-uation!” Sunny flew up very close to Desley. So close, you’d expect the boy to flinch--but he remained completely unfazed. “Though, I don’t think I know ya. Who are you?”

“My name is Desley...and it’s true, you were gone long before I was even born...I guess you could say I’m a bit of an intermediary...between the Wayside and the Trueside.”

“Hey, Desley? This is great and all, but...why did you get us involved? A-and I thought...if aoandon were really real, wouldn’t they be a lot scarier? I mean, there has to be a reason why people don’t finish their games of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai! But look at Sunny! He’s positively adorable!” Sherise thrust her hand out, gesturing at Sunny.

“Aww, why thank ya!” Sunny chirped, blushing. “Buuuut, just the same as how not all humans are alike, not all monsters are alike, don’chino? Sure, there’s monsters and stuff who’re a real thread, but I’d like ta think a lot of us are lovely individuals.”

“In fact...it might be good for you to know that most of the figures in the myths and legends you find so illogical, Sherise...” Desley pushed up on his mask. “...are just trying to live their lives the same as humans are.

“But, they are quite often misunderstood...so most of them are invisible to humans as a means of defense...the only way to see them...is by forming a blood bond with a Reversal Shard...”

“Reversal Shard...like the ones you gave us?” Yenten asked. He’d already forgotten about the gemstones Desley had given them. He moved his fingers slightly to feel the Reversal Shard still in his hand.

“That’s right...” Desley leaned to the side and tapped his fingers. “As for why I got you involved...to tell you the truth...you just happened to be in the right place at the right time...I was already on my way to this mansion when I overheard your conversation. The thing is...aoandon are often spirited away from their homes in the Trueside when humans play Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai...but since they have a propensity to give up before telling the last story, the aoandon end up stuck between this world and the next...like Sunny here.”

“I see...but we put out the last candle, so he’s free now. So, job well done?” Sherise clapped her hands together. “Also...I guess we can just see ghosts now...?”

“Yup. Now then...it’s probably time I take Sunny home.” Desley gestured to Sunny to follow and he slowly began to walk off. However, he ended up turning around. “Although...since you two have formed blood bonds...and have Reversal Shards...you could help me escort Sunny home...and see the Trueside...what do you say?”

“Hmm...what do you think, Sherrie?” Yenten looked at his friend expectantly. She hummed and began to think, but was immediately interrupted by Sunny getting up in her face.

“Hey! Not ta influence yer decision, but I wooled really appreciate knit if ya came with us! Knit’s not often I make new friends...!” The ao-momen looked at her with pleading eyes, clasping his hands together. “Pleeeeease! Tonight’s also Halloween, wool all have a party! Knit’ll be a scrim!”

Sherise simply stared at the specter. Those big, sad eyes of his were absolutely adorable, but also, the cloth puns were getting a little out of hand. Part of her wanted to go solely to see how much longer Sunny could keep it up. She sighed and closed her eyes.

“There was a party I wanted to go to tonight...” Upon hearing that, Sunny’s expression fell. “But...I honestly think I’d have more fun seeing real monsters for once!”

“Yeeeeessss!” Sunny cheered. He flew about the room, zipping here and there with pure joy. He stopped in front of Sherise, positively beaming. “Then knit’s settled! We’re gonna have a party, all night long! With new friends! C’mon! I’ll race ya there!”

Sunny took off like a rocket out of the room, up the stairs, and outside of the mansion. Meanwhile, Gess had shown up with her posse, consisting of Emrit and Meryl.

“Hey, Gess...do you really think Sherise and Yenten went inside?” Meryl asked, looking exasperated. “It feels like we’ve been here forever, and I still don’t see them!”

“Oh, you know Sherise. She probably bit off more than she could chew, again,” Gess waved her hand dismissively. “Any second now, they’ll come out all wide-eyed because they saw a spider or something.”

Right at that second, Sunny came barreling out of the front door. However, since he was mostly invisible to Gess and the others, all that they could see was a ghostly blue flame charging out towards them.

“Wh-what is that?!” Emrit screamed. He jolted up from his spot and staggered backwards, nearly tripping and crashing back down to the ground.

“That’s it, I’m outta here!” Meryl squealed. Both she and Emrit dashed down out of the yard and into the street, leaving Gess all by herself.

“H-hey wait! Get back here, you cowards!” As the trio ran off screaming, Sherise and her friends just made it out the door.

“...was that Gess?” she asked.

“Looks like Sunny gave them a run for their money,” Yenten chuckled. Sherise grinned broadly and let out a triumphant laugh.

“Thanks, Sunny! Now I don’t gotta do my homework for a week!”

“Ehhh? What’s ‘homework’?” the ao-momen asked, flying over his new friends’ heads excitedly. “Aren’t we gonna party?”

“Yeah! Let’s get this show on the road!” Sherise cried out, pumping her fist in the air.

And so, Sherise and Yenten made their way to the Trueside. Of course, this was only the first adventure of many to come...

[itsclydebitches]

Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Super. Which is your favorite?

Oh, anon. You poor soul. You’ve activated my current obsession. Okay. I preface this by saying that DBZ, imo, is the CLASSIC. Frieza, Cell, and Buu? Iconic. DBZ is what I think of as the core of the DB franchise and I adore it accordingly. That being said… I’m really, really loving Dragon Ball Super. 

(And I’m totally gonna tell you why because you made the mistake of starting this conversation in the first place :D)

I’m just? A sucker for lore filled with fallible gods?? This is my long-lived love of Greek mythology rearing its head. Even back in DBZ the Supreme Kai was instantly a favorite of mine. Yeah, yeah, the whole fandom rags on him for supposedly being “useless,” but that’s precisely why I love him? He starts out as this mysterious, incredibly powerful figure–powerful enough to scare the crap out of Piccolo–and then very quickly falls off that pedestal, making him relatable and humanized. Shin clearly has a shit ton of trauma from, you know, watching Buu kill and/or absorb his entire family. He’s been forced to take on a job meant for five and he definitely hasn’t been trained (or at least fully trained) for this particular position. He comes to Earth expecting to use mortals as a tool, as one would expect from a high-ranking god, and is just totally blindsided by how powerful they are. It’s an instant double-edged sword. On the one hand hell yeah defeating Buu just got a whole lot more likely. On the other hand, existential crisis much? Who am I–who are all the gods–if we’re not intrinsically more powerful, knowledgeable, or spiritually sturdier than the mortals we watch over? Goku, Vegeta, and especially Gohan upset the presumed hierarchy. It’s why we get such a good dichotomy between Shin and Kibito. Shin rolls with this new information and embraces it fully. Okay. Mortals are stronger than us in so many ways, how wonderful! We can learn from them and rely on them, forming equal partnerships to achieve our goals. Kibito is stuck in his assumptions. How dare you set foot on this world? How dare you think you can pull out the Z Sword? How dare you think yourself equal to a god? 

It’s a familiar theme for DB: humanizing the latest, all-powerful entity. And each new introduction becomes more extreme.

Kami was our original god… who got some awkward moments. Then King Kai is the top guy…who loves lame jokes and lets Goku tear up his sacred planet in the name of training. Then Shin, Supreme Kai of the whole damn universe… who is also an anxious bean Just Trying His Best. It’s a theme I love because it upholds humanity (or in this case Saiyans adopted by humanity) as beings of endless potential. DB is all about pushing past your limits, but that doesn’t just apply to physical power. It also ties into upending the status quo; showing those who think themselves arrogantly better–in this case the gods–that no, we all have worth here. When the chips fall it’s mortals who consistently manage what the gods cannot, reaching a point where, ki-wise at least, they’re indistinguishable from gods, raising the question of why they were ever above them in the first place. They’re not. We’re all on equal footing once those assumptions are acknowledged and done away with. Ancient Kais can like dirty magazines. Supreme Kais can have panic attacks. Destroyers can love pizza as much as the next, average anime watcher.

Indeed, we see in the Tournament of Power that these rules now apply to Goku in his god state. He might have reached incredible power that everyone else thought impossible… but that doesn’t make the rest of the cast “below” him. It’s only because of his friends–presumably “useless” friends like Krillin and Tien–that allow him to enter the tournament and get as far as he did. It’s his old mentors who he has far outpaced that remind him he still has much to learn and who help Goku tap into Ultra Instinct in the first place. It’s a simple android we haven’t seen in years who manages to win the whole damn thing. The story consistently applies that same message of equality and worth to everyone, including our original paragon who has now reached the status of the very beings he’s worked to outpace. Rather than turning Goku into the hypocrite, DB keeps reminding him that no amount of power is going to change his or anyone else’s worth. He’s still BFFs with Krillin. Still married to Chi-Chi. Still needs other “weak” people like Bulma to help him when things get tough. No time machine, money, or strategic smarts? Sorry, no win.

In short, Dragon Ball Super takes that fantastic message and dials it up to 11. Now suddenly we’ve got a scary Destroyer God… who is easily swayed by tasty Earth food and a good nap spot. Angels who are equally humanized in their humor and love of mortal creations. An omnipotent ruler who is recognizably child-like. It both makes Zeno lovable and downright terrifying. He’s human enough to form friendships and use his power inappropriately. Zeno has the capacity to fall in love with a simple handshake as well as destroy an entire universe with the same detachment that we might, say, walk through an ant hill. Why did I do it? Because I could and no one has taught me yet that this might be something I shouldn’t do. Everyone has the capacity for growth.

And it’s so goddamn funny? Literally this scene is everything to me because it slams godly assumptions together with simplistic, mortal friendships, then lets that contrast play out. The most powerful being ever, creator of it all, the god that makes every other god shake in their boots wants… a friend? Okay! Our equally intimidating Grand Priest cracking up at this development? Whis losing his shit in the background? Shin straight up fainting? Goku pressing his shiny new god button because who DOESN’T press a button when you’re suddenly presented with one? All of it slays me. Forget stories where you endlessly bow before your supposed betters, knowing that you will never be able to even fathom their power. I want more stories like this, where the hero introduces enough kindness and brazen communication that it upends everyones’ expectations and fun, crazy new relationships form. Goku moved from utter shock at learning the Supreme Kai even existed to hoisting him over his shoulder like a drunk friend who is still refusing to head home. I love this weird-ass family.

All of which of course introduces the opposite as well. What if we’re given Zamasu, a fallible god whose imperfections don’t result in him becoming another quirky family member, but lead him down a path that endangers the entire multiverse? Though Super hasn’t commented on it explicitly yet, we’re also starting to toy with the idea of exactly how “human” the top gods are and how much growth they are capable of. For example, I’m fascinated by the Grand Priest. The anime makes him out to be far darker than he is in the manga, and I know there’s a disconnect between the two, so I’m not currently inclined to think that he’s the end Big Bad. Rather, he seems to actually have a stronger moral sense than Zeno–he comments on how awful it is that mortals riot and kill one another after learning about the Tournament–but as Zeno’s subordinate, and being well aware of how easy it can be to displease him, he’s not in a good position to sway him. We see him introducing tiny bits of logic to the Zenos (like stopping the fight between Goku and Toppo in the anime), but that’s a far safer thing to suggest then, say, “How about we don’t erase a ton of universes at once, hmm?”

Like his angel children, the Grand Priest ultimately exists to serve his Lord… but Goku and his friends are in no such position. Not as overtly, anyway. Created through evolution and developing their own ideals, they have the freedom to challenge and ultimately teach all those high-level gods, including Zeno. He says it himself in that clip: “No one will try. You can do what no one else can do!” Goku, both as a mortal and a very straight forward one, has the capacity to charge past those expectations and hit on something grand.

However, we see with Whis that, wow… maybe angels really are so far removed from us that they don’t care in any meaningful way. Whis seems like a friend, but when push came to shove he wasn’t very upset about his entire universe–and a Destroyer he’s known for who knows how many thousands of years–getting destroyed. We can attribute this apathy to him assuming it will all turn out alright (if anyone would realize that whoever wins can just use their wish to revert everything back to normal, it’s Whis), but even if he actually doesn’t care much right now… he’s learning too. Whis went from shrugging about Beerus destroying the Earth (at least he has his leftovers!) to telling Trunks and Mai how to break more time rules–rules Whis originally thought were more important than anything else–just so they could get a happy ending. We’ve seen him form a legitimate friendship with Bulma. He does little things like waving a Universe 7 flag and having them hold hands that demonstrate care, outside of practicalities (like delivering Bulla so Vegeta can fight). He seems more invested in challenging the status quo than his brother and even his brother, notably, slips up and uses “Father” instead of “Grand Priest,” demonstrating a certain level of familial love that can sometimes override pure duty.

Vados copies Whis and sits with the Universe 7 team, shrugging off the other gods’ disgust. Whis then shows legit pride in Goku managing Ultra Instinct. It’s GREAT watching these beings move from seeing mortals as inconsequential specs in the multiverse to individuals worthy of their time, attention, and respect. We’re seeing that development with Whis most of all, slowly but surely.

And it helps that our protagonist is really worthy of that respect this arc. Beyond his innate capacity for kindness, Goku is wonderfully smart in Super. I myself have mentioned that being naive and battle obsessed to the point of endangering others is kind of his thing, but Super hits a wonderful middle ground. Goku is the one who thinks to use the future Zeno to destroy Zamasu. He figures out a good portion of Zamasu’s plan. He thought up the idea of using dead warriors in the Tournament of Power and instantly has a way of negating the danger Frieza would pose: let’s use Baba so he can only come back for 24 hours. The anime (strangely…) emphasizes how the Tournament is supposedly Goku’s fault, but Vados reminds everyone that Zeno planned to erase the universes regardless. Though he didn’t intend the outcome, Goku’s suggestion of a tournament gave all universes a fighting chance. Much more importantly, it introduced the reward that would ultimately save them all. Goku’s got a good head on his shoulders this time around and the story emphasizes that it’s his capacity to care that saves far more than his brute power. Sparing enemies leads to them turning over a new leaf. Cultivating a diverse family results in a team with the strength and strategy to win. The ability to look at anyone–even Zeno–and smile as you shake their hand results in allies who can save the day when your own strength fails. IT’S ABOUT LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP AND I’M A WEAK GOODY-GOODY.

I just… fucking love DBS. It takes all of the best underdog themes of the DB franchise–Can a low-class warrior become the best? Can a normal human woman gain the love of a prince? Can mortals ever stand side-by-side with gods?–and homes in on those questions, emphasizing them to an almost meta extent. I could give you another hundred reasons of exactly how much I’ve enjoyed these new stories… but I should stop now lol

Last note though Ultra Instinct is AWESOME

[ramajmedia]

Supernatural: 10 Hysterical Sam Winchester Logic Memes That Only True Fans Will Understand

Within the world of supernatural TV shows as well as within the fictional world of Supernatural itself, Sam Winchester is a literal icon and legend. His exploits fighting the demons and monsters that would send an average, sane person running scared have earned Sam a lot of admiration within the world of hunters, while his character has secured him an insane amount of fans. While Sam typically likes to keep things very serious, his fan base is more than happy to get downright silly.

RELATED: 10 Things From Supernatural That Haven’t Aged Well

With 14 seasons under its belt, Supernatural has given its fans a whole lot of material to have fun with. What is the most thing that any hardcore fans can do with their favorite characters and TV show? Well, make them into memes, obviously! There is a never-ending list of Sam Winchester memes to keep fans and casual viewers entertained, but here are ten of Sam's best.

10 Well He Had To Get Those Muscles Somehow

Supernatural has evolved in directions that no one would have ever expected. Earlier on in the series, surrendering yourself to anything demonic for your own benefit was very strongly frowned upon. Therefore, the fact Sam Winchester essentially allowed himself, along with some help from Ruby, to become a blood addict as a way to enhance his abilities was a dark secret, one that caused Dean to lose his mind once he found out.

Of course, it all went wrong in the end, but at least Sam seemed to have a good time while he was doing it!

9 Sam The Murder Puppy

I mean, can anyone really argue with that? It's actually a borderline miracle that Sam, as well as Dean, are both still as good looking as they are.

RELATED: Supernatural: 10 Times Destiel Was Canon

Sam has a bit of an advantage because at least he eats healthy, but after spending literally his entire life getting his face and body bashed in by demons and monsters, you'd think there would be more readily apparent damage to his relatively fragile frame. They're both lucky though, as looking like sweet young dudes certainly has its advantages both in demon hunting and just living life.

8 Too Soon

That's not cool, man! Jess didn't deserve the awful end that she met at the hands of Yellow Eyes and Sam certainly didn't deserve to witness it either. Jessica may have only survived literally one episode, but Sam and the rest of the Supernatural fandom will never forget her.

Also, we all know that Gordon Ramsay's shtick is to be loud and angry, but if he ever let these fighting words fly then undoubtedly the entirety of the Supernatural fan base would be coming at him like a freight train. Even someone as tough as Ramsay doesn't want to make that mistake.

7 It's Hard Being The Normal One In The Family

Considering everything that Sam is, everywhere he's been, and everything he's done, it's a little crazy to realize that he's actually the relatively normal one in the family. However, if your family is made up of antisocial demon hunters and angels, "normal" is rather subjective.

RELATED: Supernatural: 10 Reasons Why God/Chuck Is The True Villain Of The Series

We can see why Cas might be confused by something as mundane as a voicemail and realistically, anyone who calls him is going to know that Cas is an unsocialized weirdo. Same goes for Dean, yes his voicemail message is weird, but will anyone who calls him be confused or surprised by it?

6 You Hear That Yellow Eyes?

Or you killed my girlfriend, prepare to die. Or you killed my mother, prepare to die. Or you killed that random person I hung out with a day and a half, prepare to die. Anyone noticing a theme here? Sam is definitely always on a mission for revenge like Inigo Montoya, however, the hunter's kill list and "people he knows who have been killed" list is about eight miles longer than Montoya's.

With this particular coif and facial hair, Sam really does look like the long lost brother, son, or cousin of the incomparable Inigo Montoya.

5 Is He Laughing Or Crying?

There are many memes made for many things, but this meme seems a little extra special because it's such a painfully, hilariously accurate representation of Sam and Dean's relationship. Yes, they have a million things worth crying over, but they try to deflect all of that pain with their dark senses of humor.

Then they cry anyway. If they were ever looking for a side gig then writing monster and supernaturally based jokes could be a very lucrative deal, that is, if they can get over their pedantry and don't feel the need to correct every piece of lore information out there in the world while they do it.

4 Anything But The Hair

Even if his hair was blue or he was completely bald, no one would ever say that Sam Winchester looks busted. With that said, clearly, Sam holds a deep interest in the appearance of his own hair. It's easy to understand considering what lustrous chestnut locks adorn his head, but he really doesn't need to be quite so worried about the upkeep of his tresses.

It's actually quite an impressive achievement though, you'd think his hair would be in incredibly rough shape after the constant torture Sam's entire body is under, and you'd think extra long hair would be a hindrance in the job.

3 Not The Brightest Lightning In The Sky

Look, after dedicating his entire life to heroic pursuits, no one should be surprised Sam Winchester is capable of lifting Thor's hammer. Yes, it's supposed to be one of the rarest gifts in all of Marvel Comics' history, but Sam is definitely one of those who may just be worthy.

RELATED: Supernatural: 10 Times The Show Broke Our Hearts

However, Sam really dropped the ball in leaving it behind. It is supposed to be one of the most powerful weapons of all time, and almost no one in the world can actually use it! Furthermore, a lore expert like Sam should have known that!

2 Planning Ahead Always Helps

Isn't it weird to think back to the very beginnings of Supernatural and remember that at one point in his life Sam Winchester was the kind of guy who might be brought to tears at the thought of his homework being late? While he probably wouldn't cry, Sam is also an obsessive school freak, so anything is possible.

Everyone on earth can relate to Sam in this instance, sometimes you just drop the ball and once you realize it's too late, all you have left to do is give the teacher a sad face and hope they show mercy on you.

1 Ancient Demons

Sam's experience with the supernatural world is so insane that even the lives of angels and gods can't compare to what he's seen and done. After what he's seen and done, undoubtedly nothing is too crazy to completely write off.

However, if Sam were to share his reality with the rest of the world, he would 100% be seen as someone even nuttier and weirder than the guy from Ancient Aliens. That said, if Sam and Dean ever had their own History channel show detailing the supernatural world, it would be a sure-fire success.

NEXT: Supernatural: All the Angels And Their Powers

source https://screenrant.com/supernatural-hysterical-sam-winchester-logic-memes-true-fans-understand/

[terryblount]

Control Review

What is Control? What makes Control different from other Remedy games? What does it mean to control? Is controlling enjoyable or just another meaningless task. Would you dare to control? Do you like power over others? Do you believe in destiny? Would you attempt to kill yourself for answers or power? Well… Remedy did and they’ve done it gloriously. So did I and so will you. It’s the only way through.

You are a worm though time. The thunder song distorts you. Happiness comes. White pearls, but yellow and red in the eye. Through a mirror, inverted is made right. Leave your insides by the door. Push the fingers through the surface into the wet. You’ve always been the new you. You want this to be true. We stand around while you dream. You can almost hear our words but you forget. This happens more and more now. You gave us the permission in your regulations. We wait in the stains. The word that describes this is redacted. Repeat the word. The name of the sound. It resonates in your house. After the song, time for applause. We build you till nothing remains. The egg cracks and the truth will emerge out of you. You are home. You remind us of home. You’ve taken your boss with your boss with you. All hair must be eaten. Under the conceptual reality behind this reality you must want these waves to drag you away. After the song, time for applause. This cliché is death out of time, breaking the first the second the third the fourth wall, fifth wall, floor; no floor: you fall! How do you say “insane”? Hurts to be happy. An ear worm is a tune you can’t stop humming in a dream: “baby baby baby yeah”. Just plastic. So, safe and nothing to worry about. Ha ha, funny. The last egg breaks now. The hole in your room is a hole in you. You came and we let you in through the hole in you. You have always been here, the only child. A copy of a copy of a copy. Orange peel. The picture is you holding the picture. When you hear this you will know you’re in new you. You want to listen. You want to dream. You want to smile. You want to hurt. You don’t want to be.

Welcome to the Federal Bureau of Control, hold on to your hats, this ride is gonna be nuts!

Story-telling for the Mentally Insane

Before I explain what the hell is going on with the psycho bumble above, let me throw some story over you. You play as Jesse Faden, who visits a building – named “The Oldest House” – of the Federal Bureau of Control (F.B.C.). Soon after your arrival, you find the Bureau director dead with the murder weapon right beside him. Instead of running out of the room in panic, Jesse picks the “service weapon” and attempts to blow her brains out. Instead of the weapon killing her, however, she becomes the director. Just like that Jesse Faden is the newly appointed director of the F.B.C. and all the hanging portraits of the director are swapped with her face.

“They call me the director, but that’s not me.”

Jess after everyone accepts her naturally as the new director.

If you guys played any of Remedy’s games before, you should know how it tends to create complex stories. This time, the story of its latest game even more complicated. Actually… it’s bat shit crazy. My favorite game is probably Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and, in my opinion, the Max Payne games changed the third-person shooter landscape. Alan Wake was also pretty damn good; I loved its combat mechanics and its story was engaging. As for Quantum Break, there is only one thing to say… “mediocre” (insert Immortal Joe’s voice from Mad Max).

Only in this building an astray can be deadlier than a cigarette. Unless of course Riddick holds that astray.

The SCP Foundation

None of these stories can even scratch the story and lore of Control, which are balls to the wall insane. Control’s story is heavily inspired by the SCP Foundation (Secure, Contain, Protect). If you got some time to spend you should read some of their stuff as they are quite good. Basically “The SCP Foundation is a fictional organization documented by the web-based collaborative-fiction project of the same name”. The amount of stories is crazy and many of these little stories are exceptionally good.

When you are lost in the darkness, look for the light. It will guide you back, probably.

Jesse Faden the New Director of the Nuthouse

Jesse Faden is the only playable character, unfortunately, and let me tell you she is not that interesting. The voice actress is perfectly fine but her performance did not convince me, at all. Jesse has a very basic backstory and nothing in that story is convincing enough to make me believe how cool she is, especially when faced with the unknown scary and insane world she is in. In my opinion, she should be losing her mind from the second she arrived at the Bureau.

“A carousel horse, why kids stuff always so creepy?”

Jess trying to make sense of what the hell she’s actually seeing.

As I said, everything in “The Oldest House” is completely bonkers and Jesse’s behavior seems completely out of place. No sane person would react so logically in a situation like this. Do you remember Alan Wake? That guy was losing his marbles, as he should, in an incident which – compared to Control – feels like a walk in the park. Still, there were some rare and specific occasions when Jesse expressed her feelings by simply saying a “what the fuck”. Unfortunately, these parts are late in the game and also completely optional, so my point still stands.

What?!

Visuals & Controls

In case you don’t already know, I care very little about a game’s visuals. Thankfully John has already posted his performance analysis so I don’t really have to go into more technical details. I’ll just say that the game performs great on my system and that it looks pretty. I do not own an RTX card so I cannot comment on the ray tracing effects. But anyway, I had stable 60fps with everything on high and a couple of options like reflections on medium. I lowered those settings only because the visual difference did not justify the performance hit. Many players have reported several issues with the game, however it appears that I was lucky. The only issues I encountered was a teleport (which is not an obtainable skill) bug and an infinite loading screen, and both of them occurred only once.

Thankfully, the game’s controls were great. Imagine if a game called Control controlled badly. With a bit of remapping it plays wonderfully but why on God’s green earth there is no key for walking? Why oh why Remedy? An area movement restriction in specific locations, where you can bypass it with the sprint key, would be enough. Lastly, it’s unbelievable that there are no settings for motion blur and depth of field. Seriously now?

Hello Kevin! Ha ha ha! Seriously the lighting is amazing.

Audio, Music & Facial Animation

The audio in Control is superb on every level, and all sound effects have been masterfully implemented. Hell, I did not even get the usual audio glitches which I usually get from games by using earphones. The in-game music is minimal as you can only listen to music through radios or in a very specific room. There is only one scripted sequence with music and all the rest is ambient sounds with some very basic music tracks during fights. The voice acting is pretty good; not great, but good enough. Most of the voice actors are pretty convincing with some exceptions. One of these exception is Jesse; I really don’t like Jesse as I explained before. I like the facial animations overall but there were some dialogues, especially at the beginning, that didn’t impress me. On the other hand, Remedy emphasized Jesse’s lip movement to stand out, which looked really nice.

The Heart of the Game

The gameplay in Control is so – god – damn – good. Seriously, these kind of games are very rare these days. The only ones that come to my mind are Second Sight and, of course, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Those games did psychic powers justice but they got nothing on Control. Control is all about the gameplay, as all games should.

Is that an 8inch floppy disk? God damn I’m old. In case you didn’t know all videos in game are live-action. That’s how you utilize live-action footage. Do you hear me Quantum Break?

Mental Abilities & Destruction

You start with some basic abilities and along the way you get more and more (obviously by completing missions). There are several psychic abilities and some of them have secondary functions. The game features five such abilities; telekinesis, mind control, barrier (shield), melee (force push) and levitation. For example you can unlock an ability that lets you control two minds at the same time or move larger object like forklifts. You can literally grab and throw almost everything you see in the environment and even if there is nothing around you can still rip a concrete junk from the environment and throw it to someone’s face. It is so much fun. Now if I had to choose one power, that would be levitation. I loved levitating above the battlefield and raining destruction upon my enemies; it felt so satisfying. There is also a dash/evade ability (no roll thank god) but, sadly, it is not upgradable.

“Quack if you understand my words.”

Random Bureau agent contacting an interview with a subject.

Now regarding destruction… holy crap, it’s phenomenal. These might be the best destruction mechanics I have ever seen in a single player game. You can literally destroy almost everything and most destroyed objects stay there until you leave the area (something you rarely see in other games). Unfortunately, the bodies do disappear, however they disappear in a cool way. They do not vanish in a lame way as in other games, like Mass Effect: Andromeda for example. The bodies, kind of, evaporate and there is a believable reason behind that phenomenon. To be honest, I’d prefer if they stayed because without them you lose the feeling of success. At least the destroyed environments are still there to remind you what just happened.

Almost everything you break, stays broken. Even when you rip pieces from the floor.

Something I really loved in Control was dashing and watching everything around Jess getting pushed or destroyed by the “movement force“. When you hold an object with telekinesis you can see little pieces of the environment getting pulled in by the telekinesis force, which is super cool. Same goes for when levitating close to objects or structures.

The “Service Weapon”

Regarding the game’s arsenal, there is only one weapon and it is kinda of overkill since Jesse is already a weapon of annihilation. The “Service Weapon”, as it is called, is an Item of Power. These Items can only be used by specific individuals, like the director of the Bureau. Any other person who attempts to interact with such an item will most probably seize to exist in an instant. In the beginning, the weapon acts as a revolver. As you progress, though, you can give it other weapon forms with different characteristics.

“Yes yes, easy peasy!”

Ahti the janitor before sending Jess to lift the lock-down.

Just like the upgradable powers, the Service Weapon has five different forms; revolver, shotgun, machine gun, rifle and grenade launcher. While I tried all of them, I eventually settled on the machine gun and shotgun. Like I said, all of these are upgradable through weapon modifications and by crafting better versions of them. As such, the grenade launcher – for example – can be modified to have larger blast radius for instance. All mods have rarity levels and can be found in the game world. You can also craft mods but they are very expensive in rare resources and the same resources are used for upgrading the weapons.

Shooting Mechanics, Movement & Cover

If there is shooting involved, I always prefer playing in FPP (first person perspective). I am not a great fan of third person shooters, unless of course they are actually good. Thankfully, Control excels on this area, especially when there is no cover and the game pushes you to move around. All guns feel great and unique in terms of handling. If there was something I did not like, it was the shoulder swap; it’s different than what other games do and, unfortunately, it’s not that good. Still, and since this is not a slow paced shooter, I rarely used. And while there isn’t any cover system, you can still take cover and crouch behind things (you cannot “hug” a wall like Gears of War though).

I’ll give this guy the silver medal for his death expression, the gold was given to the guy with the busted radio in Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Standing still is not advisable, something that is also hinted during the loading screen tips. Enemies will rush you and they will use explosives in order to make you leg it. Of course you can play the game as you please. Personally, I used every tool in my disposal and tried to mix different powers which sometimes left me astound. The flow of the combat is amazing as you can shoot an enemy, dash and melee him, levitate and power slam to another, throw a forklift to someone else and use the shield to get some distance while you regain energy. All of these feel natural and blend in amazingly. Hats off to the people responsible for this combat system.

Perfect Balance with No Restrictions

Control does not have any ammunition for your weapon. Instead, every type of weapon has a fixed number of shots. The weapon recharges while not in use and if you use all shots there a slight time penalty (reloading). Same goes for your powers; there is only an energy gauge and nothing more. Just like the weapons, the energy bar replenishes while not using them and there is also a time penalty for using all your energy. The game is forcing you (in a good way) to use both your powers and weapons, without making it impossible to do as you please.

This is how the area map looks like. It can be confusing at the beginning, but you can open it while on the move.

Location (s), Exploration & Collectibles

There is only one location, “The Oldest House”. From start to finish you will be confined in that building. Of course this building is gigantic and you will venture into many different areas, where in many of them the rules of physics make no sense whatsoever. This might make the game a bit monotonous for some people but I did not mind that at all.

“I never liked flamingos, too..pink.”

Jess before facing the..latest pink epidemic

Exploring the federal building is fun and rewarding, even if the game never forces you to do so. There are tons of stuff to find and many of these are cleverly hidden away. There are even hidden places filled with easter eggs. You can find many collectibles that will give you a better insight into the game’s lore and you should probably read these if you want to understand what is going on. After all, the story is not straight forward and can be very complicated at times. Quite frankly these might be some of the most interesting collectibles I have ever read. I usually don’t like reading stuff when playing a game as I prefer something like audio logs. However, all it takes in Control is to read a couple of the documents; after that you will probably be hooked.

Side Missions, Enemies & A.I.

There are three types of side missions: missions given by specific characters, missions found by picking collectibles and ­time based missions with a random objective. None of these missions are mandatory; most of these missions are pretty basic, however, they give you the chance to obtain valuable resources. I did them all just because I couldn’t get enough of the combat. Now if you don’t fancy that, you can simply rush forward and only do the main missions. If you choose not to complete some of the side missions you might lose some important stuff. Some of these missions even hide a boss battle and believe me you will want to meet these “bosses”.

This is probably the creepiest thing I ever seen in a video game lately. Seriously it gave me goosebumps again while I was typing this. By the way this video was meant for children.

Speaking of bosses there are not many; if I remember correctly you only face one true boss in the main story but I do not want to give more details as we’ll be entering a “spoilers” area. The regular enemy (HISS) variation is not bad, but it could definitely be better. There is even one enemy who I did not manage to destroy no matter how hard I tried.

“Do you feel it? Something is coming.”

Jess getting the “feeling” while she walk into a dark corridor.

Remember that paranoid second paragraph of the review? Well, there are people floating all over the place, chanting that incantation all the frigging time. And I loved it. If you shoot they will stop for a second. If you shoot them, they will disappear but they will eventually re-appear. Whoever thought of that has my respect, because it changes the perspective and feeling of each room.

It think I run into Criss Angel’s family.

Unfortunately, the A.I. is nothing special. You can lure enemies in a corridor or you can bait them through corners. The A.I. is designed to challenge you when you are on the move. When things work as intended, the combat feels great. Still, the A. I. could be way more advanced than what we got.

Control

I will be honest; I adored this game even though it is not perfect. Jesse is totally unlikeable… at least until the very end. The voice acting is not always great and the facial animations of Jesse lack emotion, especially you compare them to Emily’s (except the first time you meet her; she is a bit creepy and not the good kind of creepy).

This is Emily and we really like her. We wish we could play her instead of Jesse.

The map is very Metroidvania and may not be very accessible to people that are not familiar with these type of games. There is also backtracking and I know that some of you hate that. Still, the good news here is that there is a fast travel mechanic. Moreover, you cannot manually save as the game saves automatically and every time you die you have to start over from the last checkpoint, which might be troublesome for some players. Lastly there is no difficulty levels and the game can be a bit hard at some points, especially if you haven’t upgraded your powers and weapons. On a side note, I would really love if they added a new game+ mode with increased difficulty in a future patch.

“Finally! No more quacking.”

Jess after she’s done with..it.

There are several things I did not fully explain or even mentioned in this review in order to avoid spoilers. There are many parts of the game that will probably surprise you or even leave you speechless, so I don’t want to take that away from you.

I also don’t know if you guys watched the promotional videos of the game but most gameplay videos did not represent the actual quality of the final game. My initial thought before playing the game was “god damn it this is gonna suck”. However, I am glad I was wrong because Control might be the best Remedy game to date.

Awesome weapon designs

Hundreds of collectables

Fitting music and sounds

Memorable boss battles

Superb psychic powers

Fluent combat system

Destruction & physics

Hours of exploration

Great performance

Compelling story

Interesting lore

Level design

Unlikable Protagonist

No difficulty setting

Some backtracking

No manual save

Map design

Exclusivity

                Computer Specs: CPU: i5 4440, GPU: Palit 1660Ti OC 6GB, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 16GB HDD: Crucial 275GB MX300, OS: Win7, 1080p

Playtime: 20+ hours total. That’s a guess by the way, since Epic’s launcher has no timer.

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