#i love this comic and all the love that’s been put into it

[punks-never-die205]

Happy Birthday Cap'n

cisfem!reader x Eustass Kid

No Summary, just lots of smut... about 4,838 words of it.

CW (deep breath): vaginal sex, anal sex, anal play, dildo, vibrator, wax, degradation, swearing, messy sex, impact play, orgasm denial, forced orgasms, overstimulation, squirting, Master, begging, oral, biting, reference to omegaverse but this is not.

@icy-spicy @standfucker @thecaptainsdeck @zoros-sheath here’s the story I mentioned the other day 💕😎

You look at the small toy, clearly unimpressed. The series of beads get a little bigger as it progresses, but for one of Kid’s toys it’s really small.

“Don’t let how it looks now fool you, Mouse.” He says with a wicked grin. “It’s coated in latex but the stuff inside expands with heat, and body heat is enough to trigger it.”

“Expands by how much?”

“Not enough to do damage. I’ve tested it a lot, and then we did trial runs before now. But I can put this in that sweet little tight ass of yours now, and by dinner you’ll be gaping and ready.” He promises.

“If you say so.” You mutter, bending over the bench and putting your ass in the air. “And today I’ll just stay in here the whole time?”

“Yeah,” you can feel him pressing lube into your ass even with the toy’s small size. “Me and the guys have been through it, but I want to be sure with you before you spend a day with one of these in while you’re out and about.”

“Ever the cautious one.” You muse, humming as his finger pushes into your ass. “I do love that about you when it comes to your inventions.”

“You love all of me, Mouse.” He asserts, smacking your ass cheek and getting you to squeak and squirm a little.

“Fuck yeah I do.” You moan the words arching your back, knowing his face is flushed at the declaration.

Kid lubes up the toy too, and then starts to push it in. It always feels weird at first, and he works it in slowly. By the 3rd bead you’re holding onto the bench and melting into the sensation. It’s not just the toy - Kid knows what the fuck he’s doing.

“This is the fourth one, three more to go.” He informs and teases you at the same time, the next slightly larger head pushing in easily.

“Fuuu-Hnnngh, ah. Shit. It’s not fair how good this feels.”

“Heh, you’re like one of those omegas in those comics you and Heat like. Thirsty little fuck no matter how or what hole is getting filled.”

“It’s just cause it’s you.” You pout.

“Oh?” Kid leans over you, pushing the toy to where you can feel the next bead stretching you a little more. “Want me to mark you when you cum then? Drive my teeth,” his words are hot against your back and you can feel him moving to the nape of your neck. “Nice and deep,” he pushes the next part in and you gasp. “Right here?”

“Fuck, fuck, Kid, dammit -.” You squirm but he has you well and pinned. “That spot, you’re, hitting!”

“Heh, man or woman, some people are just blessed to be sensitive in all the best places.” He huffs into your hair, toy seemingly laser targeted onto the spot that’s sending jolts through your body light electricity.

He reaches out with his free hand and grabs one of yours. You hold onto that hand with both of yours, legs and toes curling as he works the toy until you can feel the unavoidable rush of an orgasm building.

“Am I going to bite you, Mouse?” He questions, voice low and commanding.

“Yes, yes please!” You gasp the words, desperate to know how it feels.

“Gonna mark you as mine,” he growls. “Let you warm my cock while this toy expands in your ass. Keep you all to myself today, Mouse.”

“Yes! Yes! Fuck, Kid, I’m kuh-cumming!” You nearly scream the words, and as the pleasure tears through you the bright sting of Kid’s teeth piercing your skin rips pleasure and pain both to new heights. The pleasure wins out as he thrusts the last two beads into your ass.

Kid leans back as you melt into the afterglow. He smacks your ass and you moan, shifting sweetly beneath him.

“Nice work, if I do say so myself.” He muses, running his fingers over the bite mark on your neck. “Let’s get that cleaned and bandaged, then you can sit in my lap while I work.”

“Keepin’ yer cock warm?” You mumble, as Kid helps steady you on your feet.

“Heh, fuck yeah. If you’re good and patient I’ll reward you.” He promises, leaning down and giving you a greedy kiss. “Make you cum so much you’ll work that behemoth out of your ass all on your own.”

Kid gets the much deeper than he’d usually do bite mark cleaned and bandaged, and then gets settled at his work bench. You settle into his lap, facing him, and begin to work his thick cock into your wet cunt.

“Fuck,” you hiss as the girth makes you more aware of the slowly expanding toy in your ass. The shared intrusion has you shivering, panting into Kid’s chest and your legs trembling as you try to work yourself into a comfortable position.

“Sounds like you’re gonna cum.” Kid teases.

“C-Can I?” You gasp, looking up at him. Your face is flushed, and you’re desperate for relief, so full like this, you know how you must look. “Full, I’m so full, I just… need a little bit.” The words fall from your lips like sweet treats, and he swears he can taste them on his tongue.

“No.” He says finally, tearing his gaze away from your face and turning toward the work bench. “Stay still, Mouse.”

The commanding tone is enough to make you clench and you gasp as you hold onto him. Sometimes you would argue, sometimes you would play at being a brat and relish in him putting you in your place, but you were so full. The bite on your neck felt like fingers slipping gently down your back, cowing you and turning you on.

You wanted to melt at his command today.

“Yessir.” You mutter it softly because you barely trust your own voice.

“Listen to you,” he purrs the words, hands already busy with work on the bench. “Try a better word, slut.”

The way he says the word so evenly. There’s no love or disdain on the word, it’s just a statement of what you are. Something about it licks against your cunt like it was his tongue.

“Yes, Master.” You say the words clearly, hands on his sides, keeping yourself steady and still with his pulsing cock inside your pussy, and the expanding toy in your ass. You could feel the soft shift of it, the way the lube would move like cum inside you every time it shifted.

“That’s better little whore.” You can almost hear the grin in his tone, even with how he’s focused on the work between his palms. The degrading word presses against your skin like it was his tongue.

He works in silence for a few minutes, and you try not to feel every single thing.

You swear his heart beat is in his shaft, thumping against your shivering walls. You can feel each fiber of his pants against your thighs, and the coarse tickle of his pubes trying to caress your clit. He moves a little while he works, shifting the world around you only the smallest bit, but it feels like such a large movement.

He smacks your ass with his flesh hand without warning and the surprised sound that parts your lips turns into something truly whorish once it passes your teeth. The impact and your own surprise nearly lifts you off his girth.

“Get your fucking cunt back where it belongs,” he growls and you sink back down. Despite the growing size of the toy in your ass, you’re so wet you sink even lower onto him, your throbbing cunt nestling into his pubic hair.

You lean back a little to keep it from bothering you, and Kid puts a hand on your back, pressing you into his chest and pushing you down a little further.

“Haannngh!” You groan in pleasure, on the edge of an orgasm you’re about ready to start begging for, but it’s only been a few minutes and you know the answer.

“Don’t lean back,” there’s less dom in his voice and more regular Kid. “I don’t want to solder your hair on accident.”

“Kay, okay,” you gasp, shivering against him.

“Gonna cum so soon?” He teases, the edge back in his voice. It sits against your throat and you almost want to ask him to bite you again. “Gonna start calling you Dumpster instead of Mouse.”

“Fah-fuck you,” you gasp. Okay, maybe you couldn’t let go of that bratty streak entirely.

You hear him push back whatever he’s working on before he grabs your hair and leans you back. His cock is still buried inside you, and you swear you can feel your stomach stretch against the new angle.

“What was that, little pet?” He questions, a toothy grin on his face as he looms over you. He looks like a wolf, teeth bared and a glint in his eyes. If he had claws you imagine you’d feel one trailing down your stomach right now.

“I’m… I’m not a cum dumpster.” You try to assert.

“That’s not what you said, slut.” He growls, tugging your hair and making you gasp. He leans down enough to lick a heavy stripe against your clavicle, stopping before he comes around to the bite he left earlier.

“Say.” He licks up the side of your neck. “It.” His teeth tease the soft lobe of your ear. “Again.” He sucks the soft flesh into his mouth, biting on your earlobe and sucking hard enough to bruise it a little.

“Fuck you!” You cry out, the sting of the harsh hickey on your ear making you answer him more loudly than you meant.

“Mmm,” he breathes the sound into your neck. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

You feel him shift, and hear his belt being pulled loose. “K-Kid, wait, I mean, Master, I didn’t-.”

“Color, Mouse.”

“G-green, I think. Green.” You stammer hastily and Kid kisses you. The soft rush from the contact makes your heart skip and then helps settle your nerves.

He reaches past you with the belt, hooking it to something before having you raise your hands over your head. Looping the belt around them, he makes it snug, but you can free yourself if you need to, and has you hold onto the strap.

The position has you arched and exposed beneath him. Toy in your ass, his cock in your shivering pussy, your shoulder just barely making it to the edge of the bench, and your arms above your head. It leaves your breasts exposed, and keeps your clit from rubbing into his body.

“Hold onto that belt nice and tight,” he commands, roughly palming your breasts. “And I won’t use it on you, bratty little shit.”

You gasp from the pleasure of his hands, one hot and rough, the other smooth and ice cold, against your tits. The sensation causes you to squirm and Kid grabs your hips, holding you still.

“Cum without permission and I’ll use it on your cunt, got it whore?” He growls, and you nod your head. “Say it.”

“If I leggo, you’ll punish me, and if I kuh-cum without permission you’ll,” you whimper, enticed by the idea and afraid of it at the same time. “Use your belt on my cunt.”

“Good girl,” he hums, leering down at you and taking in everything with his sharp golden gaze. “Now, what to do. You couldn’t leave me alone to work, so I’ll have to pass the time a different way.”

You do your best to stay still with him looking at you like that. You can feel the heat rolling through you, on display like this, that darkness dripping from his tone. Kid was always a little rough, always moved you how he wanted, always satisfied you deeply no matter what he did, but sometimes he’d get a little extra mean.

Sometimes you knew before the session started, and sometimes he’d just push and push until you started to crack a little.

A metal candle holder, complete with candle, moves easily into Kid’s hand. A couple snaps of his metal fingers and the candle lights. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t promise anything. He just stays there, watching the flame slowly melt the wax.

You know what’s coming.

“Please,” you gasp, and Kid’s eyes slip from the small flame of the candle down to you.

“Oh right,” he says sarcastically. “I can’t punish you, if you don’t cum without permission.” He holds the candle in his metal hand and puts his right hand on your stomach. “Fuck, I really can feel it.” He hums, rubbing the taut part of your stomach. It wasn’t an obvious bulge from what you could see, but the lack of squish in your stomach was obvious.

“Not a bad angle.” He hums, shifting his hand just enough to press his thumb into your clit. “You’re not gonna get permission.” He warns, his thumb pressing and rolling against your clit.

“Oh gods, fuck no, no, no, Kid—AH!” You gasp and hiss in a breath as a hot splash of wax licks your stomach, biting roughly before it cools.

“It’s Master, you fucking slut, get it right.” He grumbles.

“Master, master, please…” You gasp, fingers gripping the belt so you don’t let go.

“Now, the faster you give in, the less wax there’s gonna be.” He explains, rolling the candle lazily in his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll start fucking you before there’s too much.”

“Please, please, please let me cum,” you sputter, the pleasure was already tight in your stomach and it wasn’t going to take much more.

“Oh you’re gonna cum, Mouse.” He promises you. “But you’re not gonna get permission.”

“Ki-Master! Master please!” You beg, squirming beneath him. You were too stretched out to move much, and what little movement you could do did nothing except expedite the growing need in your gut. “Fuck, fuck, please, Master, please, I’m gonna, I’m gonna,” You gasp the words.

“No,” Kid rolls his hips, thrusting into you lovingly.

“Fuuuu-Nnnnnnnngh!” Your entire body tenses, the orgasm pulling your stretched form even more taut as your pussy throbs against his cock. The toy in your ass expands as you clench against it, and it almost feels like you orgasm in the middle of your orgasm.

Just as you pass the peak, body still tense as the pleasure abates slightly, the hot splash of wax on your chest dribbles right over your nipple. Screaming you curl from the harsh sting that bites deeper so close on the heels to your orgasm. The action causes you to fuck Kid and the sweet pleasure of his cock burying into you and against the toy eases some of the pain of the wax.

“Holy… fuck!” You gasp the words, gulping in big lungfuls of air. The contradicting sensations have you a mess, sweat already dappling your skin, sliding coolly down your back.

Kid drips single drops onto your stomach randomly as you come down from your high. His eyes are glued to each little twitch and jerk as the single drops land.

“Shit, fuck,” you hiss and swear, squirming beneath him. You’re trapped, no movement you make will set you free and every jerk and wiggle just makes your stomach tighten, the pleasure skittering through your limbs on the heels of the hot sting from the small drops of wax.

Kid starts to roll his hips into you, and you whimper. The pleasure is going to boil over and if he’s helping it means there’s a good bit of wax still left.

“Please, please,” you nearly sob the words. You don’t know if you want to cum, or just want him to pour the wax at this point. “Fuck I can feel it expanding in my ass,” you whine, squirming and pushing back into him as he thrusts lazily into you.

“Cum,” the word claws out of your mouth in desperation. “Gonna cum!”

“Don’t you dare, whore.” He commands, even as he teases your clit and bullies your cunt. “There’s so much wax- oh, there you go.” He purrs the words as your body tenses in silence. Your legs go rigid against his sides, your toes flexing as you hold onto his belt white-knuckled.

He doesn’t wait for you to come down this time, cutting a line of wax against your lower hips and stomach. The harsh line seems to want to hit your clit but he doesn’t go that far down. You suck in a gasp of air, pussy grinding into him as the sting from the wax makes your hips shake to try and throw off the already cooling substance.

“Yuh-yellow,” your word is airy and tired, fingers shivering and flexing against the belt. Kid sets the candle aside and has you let go of the loops of belt.

Cradling you in his big metal hand, the cool metal feeling wonderful against your hot skin. You catch your breath for a moment and Kid gives you a little water.

“How’s your ass?”

“If this thing vibrated I’d be passed out by now.” You admit with a soft smile. “But it’s not uncomfortable. It’s expanding very slowly, despite all the heat and such.”

“Afraid of it coming out?”

You shake your head. “Nah, but, uh…” your face flushes hot despite the moment of reprieve. “I’d rather… you.”

“Me?” Kid prompts, squeezing your cheeks between his fingers and thumb and making you look at him. “Say it clearly, Mouse.”

“I-.”

“Look into my eyes you shameless little slut.” He commands and you feel the embarrassment rush you again. “You’re my whore, I know you want to beg me like the dirty fuck you are.”

You bring your gaze to his and your cunt throbs against his cock from the look on his face alone. The devilish grin on his lips lets you know he could feel it.

He leans down, keeping your gaze trapped. “Call me Captain when you beg, Mouse.”

The breath you breathe in shivers at the command.

“Please, uh…” you swallow thickly, bracing against him and slowly riding him as best you can in this position. “Fuh-fuck me in the ass, Captain, please. Take, take this toy out and fill me with your cum, please, Captain, please.”

“Need me that bad?” He muses and you nod.

“Fuck me up Kid, I’m begging like a good Mouse.” You nearly demand it, hands on his face. He lets you pull him into a kiss as his hand overs down to your breasts, the rough grip peeling cooled wax away carelessly. You whine and squirm into the kiss, but you don’t break it.

“Everything for you, Mouse.” He says, breaking the kiss and lifting you off his lap.

You moan at the feeling of his cock leaving you empty and wanting. Turning you over he puts you face down on the work bench. You grab onto the belt just to have something to hold onto, and Kid’s hands are on your cheeks, squeezing them until you kick and squirm from the sensation.

“Fuck… every squeak you make is perfect.” He husks before putting his metal hand against your back again. It’s not as cold as it had been earlier, warmed by the heat of your skin, but it’s still colder than you and it feels good.

He grabs the base of the toy in your ass and starts to pull it free. The first bead is the largest, and you gasp as it stretches the tight ring of muscles of your sphincter. You do what you can to help ease it out, having learned from Kid that you could push and your body would do what it could.

The sensation as it pops free as has you squirming beneath his hand. He pushes it back against your entrance, as though he means to push it back in, and you moan so deeply it’s almost a growl as the beads rub your insides.

He pulls the second one out and does push it back in and your back arches against his metal hand as you gasp in pleasure and surprise. He pulls it out and then keeps pulling, slowly but steadily freeing each bead as you moan and wriggle, trapped between his hand and the workbench.

“Fuck! I need to fill you up.” He growls, tossing the toy aside and standing up behind you. “You’re gaping and soaked in lube, I’m just gonna-.” The head of his cock is pressed into your ass and slips in so easily you nearly cum from the intrusion.

“Fuck!” You both swear, his hands on your ass cheeks again, spreading them apart as he sinks in deeper and deeper.

“Gods, fucking, seas, I’m gonna cum!” You cry out as his fingers knead the meat of your ass cheeks. Kid doesn’t sink any deeper, instead grinding the point he’s at. “Not, not there, shit shit I’m gonna-fuck!-hnnngh!”

You release your hold on the belt, beating your fists into the table as you cum hard against his cock. You can feel the slick drip down your thighs without him in your pussy, the sensitive walls fluttering against nothing as your ass spasmed against the rock hard beast buried in it.

“I love the way you cum,” Kid hums, pushing in deeper even as you’re still shivering from the orgasm. “The way your whole body feels it. The fucking sounds you make,” his voice is getting husky as he presses his hips flush into your ass cheeks. Hands by your shoulders, looming over you, watching you tremble beneath him.

The sweet mewl he pulls from your lips as he licks up your spine between your shoulder blades nearly makes him cum.

He shifts, using his legs to force yours wide. Gasping you grab back onto the belt as the new position has you braced against his legs more than the table. You aren’t surprised when the bulb of the wand vibrator nestles against your clit.

“Oh gods, oh gods, Kid, Kid - wait, wait - I…” you whine but your body betrays as your hips wiggle into the toy.

“Color,” he commands and you nearly sob.

“Yellow, green - fuck don’t stop! Please, please it’s gonna take me out.” You whine. “I’m gonna scream, I swear!”

“I’ll turn it on when I cum.” Kid says, thrusting into your ass until there’s loud wet smacks from the excess lube on your skin. It’s not even a minute and he throws the vibrator on, pushing in deep as the vibrations rock your clit and he empties his balls into your ass.

He fucks you through his orgasm and pushes you over the edge in the process. Kid growls a swear between his teeth as he overstimulates himself with your body, and you scream a mix of swears and his name as you squirt your orgasm onto the workshop floor. His metal hand is braced on the table in front of you and you hold onto it for dear life as your body shudders uncontrollably with euphoric pleasure.

“Fuck,” Kid growls again, dropping the wand and thrusting into you roughly until you can feel him twitching and unloading into your ass a second time. “Shit,” he huffs, sweat dripping from his brow onto your back. “Fuck I haven’t cum back to back like that, in a fucking hot minute.”

Leaning down, he kisses down your back as he slowly pulls out of your ass. You mewl and gasp softly, shivering against the pleasure and strange sensation of his exit.

“Good job, Mouse.” He hums as he pulls out completely.

Rolling you onto your back he leans down and kisses you. You’re both a sweaty mess, hair clinging to skin, sex and exhaustion heavy in the air, skin salty from everything. He’s kissing trail down your jaw to your neck, and he leans back enough to start peeling the errand bits of left over wax still on your skin.

His fingers carefully flake away the hard and cooled wax as he licks and suckles your nipples gently. The soft pleasures almost make you giggle as you sigh happily.

“I’m sweaty,” you hum and he makes a soft knowing sound, still kissing and licking your skin.

His eyes meet yours as his kisses descend lower. You bite your lower lip, and shift in anticipation. He brushes away the wax along your lower abs and hips with his hands as his tongue presses heavy against your throbbing clit.

“Fuck, Kid - Captain, if I cum again you’ll have to carry me.” You sigh, your hips pressing into his mouth greedily.

“It’s my birthday, Mouse.” He hums into your mound. “I’m going to carry you out of here, wash you, and fuck your pretty clean pussy all over again.”

You whimper, but you can feel the orgasm building again. Deciding not to fight it, or him, you put your hands in his hair and listen to him moan against your clit. He licks long heavy strips against your folds and clit, working you up slowly and inevitably. Lifting your legs with his hands, he spreads and bends them back enough to plunge his tongue into your vagina, his pointed nose pressing into your clit.

“Wait, Kid, I think, I think I’mma squah!” The word breaks from a rush of pleasure, and you need a second to try again. “Squirt again, if you do that I’ll -!” The focused look on his face makes you clench against his tongue and the heat rush through you. “I can’t, I can’t - it’s like peeing on you, and I can’t,” you gasp as Kid leans back.

“I’d drink that too,” he answers easily, lifting one of your legs up into the air and slapping your soaking clit. The slap sounds louder than the impact feels, but the strike still has enough force behind it to send a powerful jolt through you. You nearly came from it, gasping in a heavy breath and scrambling to know how he managed to ride the line like that.

“Mm, one day I’m going to spank your cunt until you cum from it.” He muses, hands on your ass cheeks again as he uses that grip to pin your pussy between his hands and mouth.

Your shoulders are still barely on the work bench, and from this angle you can’t see what he’s doing, you can only feel it. Your legs and arms flail for a few seconds until your body realizes it’s not going anywhere no matter how to squirm, and the relentless pleasure from his mouth between your thighs left you little recourse except to lay there and take it.

Breathy swears babbled from your lips like a soft and delirious prayer, your body slow growing more and more tense as the pleasure you couldn’t escape coiled tighter and tighter. Your toes curled as the inevitable began to crest, your chest rose as your back arched from the tension building in your muscles.

Your babbled prayer became a panting rush of almost fearful whimpers, the slow build reaching a height you had expected to already peak. The same grip that kept you from getting away, also held you steady even as your curled body began to tremble. The tears that pooled in your eyes spilled over as the tension snapped.

Gushing against Kid’s face you can barely hear the splatter against the floor this time. You can feel him swallowing even as his lips kept bullying your clit. Spots dance over your vision and your hands smack on the table as your heels drive bruises into his shoulders. You can’t control any of the movements, and when you heave in a breath the only sound that escapes you almost sound angry, more war cry than moan of pleasure, but it helps ease some of the tension in your muscles.

Stiff arms and a curled back collapse into the workbench reaching out for Kid with sobs on your lips as his continued licking is hurdling you into overstimulation. His tongue teases toward your ass before he stops short and licks one last heavy slurp all the way up your slit.

“Fuck, you’re delicious.” He says it like he’d just devoured a full course meal. Kid moves you so you’re laying out as comfortably as possible on the workbench for a moment while you catch your breath. Your hazy gaze is full of love and bliss and if he could stop any moment, it would always be this one.

“That’s my girl,” he hums softly, never really sure if you hear him or not, kissing your forehead, and caressing your face.

When you have your senses gathered enough you reach out for him, and he scoops you into his arms easily, cradling you against his chest and letting you rest your head on his shoulder.

“Happy birthday, cap’n.” You mutter lovingly, snuggling into the mountain of warmth that held you just a little bit closer.

[retellingthehobbit]

….I’m suddenly realizing that I posted chapter 17 of The Hobbit comic on January 13th of 2024, so it’s been almost exactly one year since I last posted a chapter XD.

Really though, Ive realized my new Webcomic Goal is to be more like my favorite YouTube video essayists — who post one excellent high-effort video a year, and then vanish to work on their next video privately for another year (only giving rough draft updates to their Patreon members.)

I think a lot about Hbomberguy’s video essay on the widespread problem of plagiarism on YouTube, where he talks about how the incentive to Post More Content All The Time leads to creators producing plagiarized poorly-researched insincere videos about topics they don’t know/care about, videos that are horribly constructed and riddled with severe mistakes— and how the rise of AI is only going to make that kind of insidious plagiarism much easier to get away with. I also think about how I’ve seen webcomics I used to like start using AI-generated imagery for backgrounds in order to keep up with their rigid update schedule, assuming their readers won’t care as long as they get New #Content.

But people actually do care about quality and sincerity, is the thing! People like having things that are created with love, that they can slow down and revisit multiple times and appreciate more each time. People like things that aren’t shallow, and that the creator put their heart into making. I know that I value that, and I think most people actually do! Social media algorithms want us to prioritize frequency and regularity, and shove that data-driven content in our faces all day, but people actually do value things that are made with love and care even if they take a long time!

I know that I would rather wait an entire year for each video from Defunctland or Folding Ideas or Lindsay Ellis, than follow a thousand YouTube channels that keep to a rigid update schedule via lazy shallow poorly constructed plagiarized content. XD

Similarly, I’m always surprised every time I update that people are still Around and check on this goofy little fanfic comic project regularly? ;_; It’s still ultimately just a small fan-project, but it’s cool that people are still following it after all these years.

And I hope people can sorta view this comic that way— something that takes a long time to update, but only because anything worth reading takes a long time to create.

Anyway, I need to prepare some stuff so I’ll probably post the next chapter in the next couple weeks— I’ve been considering February 1st?— but in the meantime the full 30-page draft of the next chapter is on my art patreon, and you can see the full archive of the entire comic on my website RetellingTheHobbit.com :3.

Thank you again for continuing to follow me even during the Long Hiatuses! I really do appreciate having a small group of readers still sticking around in this fandom!! <333

[doggojin]

GRISPING YOU WITH ENLARGED HAND-

I hope you know that I log onto tumblr every morning hoping to catch what you've posted next, and that several of the chapters had happenings that only came up at all because some of the ideas your artistic gold put in my head. (Ten points if you can figure out which ones >:)

Additionally, I cant say how much fun its been to get back into light sketching, and I am actively eating a lot of the way you draw smaller expressions and fit so much motion and happenings into such short comics. Your concise and effective story telling has been incredibly fun to see, and it's been quite the inspiration when it comes to timing and pacing.

FROM ONE CREATOR TO ANOTHER I PRAY YOU BLESS MY TL FOREVER

FUCK YOU (with lots of love) MEMEFYING YOUR CHILD WITH LOVE GET LOVED TALENTED ARTIST I am so honored and howling right now I'll read everything and take note like a detective imma find those lil hints

[woosh-floosh-art]

Bits and Pieces: 2024

Went through all my 2024 files and here's all the stuff I didn't post!

Dragon Quest slimes... The idea was to do a slime gacha of some sort but... there's so many slimes man I can't draw them all.

Teeny Sanguini variations. The idea was to make a keychain of each teeny sanguini variation but.. that would cost a lot of money and I don't even know how well does keychains would sell. Maybe people just want basic teeny sanguini and I'm wasting my money buying other keychains.. Oh well. The basic teeny sanguini keychain I ordered has sold well, we'll have to see if I decide to order one of the variations.

Various Ouioui's. I think the goal was to eventually draw them all? I just needed something simple but with some room for experimentation to draw everyday. Early 2024 was a rough time for me.

Fan Ouioui design. This one is good. I would imagine the body of the thing would be a scrunchie so you can put it in your hair or on your wrist.

CMY(K) and spring dango themed galumpin dops.

PEARL DRONE!! The goal was to make stickers, that didn't happen lol. Still cute though...

Various little doodles I thought were cute. Badniks, two headed minecraft calf sticker concept (I didn't think it was very clear in it's design..), kirby :D, alien cow, and a true fact about aphids.

SA2 animal sticker gacha. Like I said, in early 2024 I was really looking for something simple and repetitive to draw with just enough variation to keep things interesting. Like the slimes and the ouiouis this one fizzled out. There was just TOO much variation. I ended up doing all of those gyroids which was perfect for the time and also sold really well as stickers! I also did all those damn kirby stickers which did NOT sell as well.

Okay enough about the grief and depression, let's talk about SONIC OCS!! I really loved the periodical cicada emergence this year so I wanted to make a sonic oc based on them. Her wings are crumpled (like many cicadas I saw this year, unfortunately her and the other cicadas will never fly) but she was some wisp powered roller blades to let her zoom around! I used to do a lot of character design as a teen but now I struggle with it. But I don't think this is that bad of a design? It's fun, she's fun.

Every year for artfight people make new characters based on the theme, and this year I wanted to try as well! He's supposed to be an anthropomorphic ray, a prince that must set out on an adventure! The eyebrow design is cuter but I think the widows peak design better conveys that he is supposed to be a ray. Bottom right is my favorite but I would switch the cutlass for the rapier. It's just a bit more of a princely sword.

Blue eyed cicada sticker concept. During the cicada emergence this year someone found a blue eyed cicada!! This is the mock up if I made stickers of that. I didn't because I was soooo sick of handcutting those damn cicadas, they were not easy to cut. Also they did not sell very well. We need more cicada fans in this world...

Lastly... two pages to a comic I never finished. It was supposed to be the prologue to my oc story but... it's a little scary making comics about original characters! There's a lot more to think about and manage over doing fan comics. I would still like to return to my little world and characters but I just haven't been in the mood for it. Ironically there was only one page left in the prologue but it's been so long I don't think I'm going to finish it!

Also, to try and combat the anxiety that comes with making an original story I didn't plan the layouts at all?? I guess to make the process faster and not worry as much?? The thumbnails in my sketchbook are just loose unconnected panels next to the script. That is not how I typically plan comics... and for good reason! Looks at the paneling in page two! It's bad! It's really bad!! When I come back to my characters I going to have to swallow my fear and put some more time and care into the layouts.

Okay that's all for 2024! I have a couple more things to post from December and then that's a wrap on 2024! Thanks for reading! ^_^

[horse-girl-anthy]

this is gonna be an off the cuff ramble/vent so don't read if that doesn't interest you.

I am thinking I'm going to back away from Ikuhara fandom in the next six months (coinciding with when I finish the rewatches I'm doing in my server). I feel like I've exhausted what I have to say about his shows, and I've also developed a very specific way of understanding them which clashes with others. I'm torn between feeling like it's worth trying to delineate my own understanding and feeling that I'm just being territorial, pedantic, or close minded. at a certain point, even if I could be proved "right" on my interpretations, I'm losing the enjoyment I should have in the stories by caring what other people think about them. at the moment, I'm thinking I want to flesh a couple more ideas and then let it rest. I'll always be grateful to Ikuhara and happy I put time into this blog, but nothing lasts forever.

so all of that to say... I was on the fence about writing what I'm about to write. I recommend people who don't want to read someone objecting to common RGU fan interpretations to just check out now. I'm not trying to start anything. but after reflecting on it, I decided it to share my thoughts on this topic; I think it's worth saying, even if it makes me look contrarian or problematic.

---

I watched RGU in 2014, right as the western fandom was experiencing a shift in how it approached the show. I won't detail all that went on during that time--today I'm specifically interested in two characters: Nanami and Miki.

before, I'd say the fandom was overall less critical. things were taken more at face value. for instance, Nanami was not always taken seriously, while characters like Miki, just because they were "nice," were seen as "good guys." however as time's wore on, there's been a backlash to that way of approaching the show. the characters most likely to have received misogynistic hate in the past (Anthy, Shiori, Nanami, and Kozue, mainly) were reinterpreted, while "good guy" characters were increasingly scrutinized.

that was a good thing, as it was a counterbalance to the previous attitude. however, it's been more than a decade since I joined the fandom, and I still see people talking like it's 2014. the way that people have reinterpreted the anime has, often, not resulted in interesting readings. this is because people are still applying an ideological lens to the story, rather than engaging with how it presents itself.

I specifically want to highlight Nanami in this regard. I check the RGU tag almost every single day, and I have seen scores of posts which are nigh-identical to each other. it's always people talking about how she's a "calf to the slaughter," she's actually a victim, etc. and I just... don't get anything out of it.

I think a lot of this shift began with this essay series called Palace Perspective. it's been a long time since I read it--actually before my Utena renaissance--but I didn't like it at the time. it was written in this very self-serious style, and all I remember it arguing was "Nanami is a victim, Touga is a bad guy." I'd loved the Touga/Nanami relationship since I first watched RGU, and that was never how I felt about it. Touga certainly harms Nanami, but based on the series itself, it seemed to me that in large part, Touga was the victim, and Nanami was harmed by his victimization.

anyway, since around the time that essay series came out, people have had this attitude of "actually Nanami is a very deep character, you guys," as if it needs to be repeated over and over. and there's a denial that Nanami is a comic relief character--"actually her being funny is just a ruse because the show is camouflaging that she's a victim!" okay, yes, they do lure you in to Nanami's story slowly; she's initially silly, but all along hiding under that was some serious shit. I'm not denying that. but I'm also not buying that line entirely.

the Shadow Girls do an entire play about how Nanami's comedic suffering is the result of her own actions (they call it "divine justice"). take episode 16 specifically. yes, we have Nanami dreaming about being a calf for the slaughter. that is a great scene and indicative of the unhealthy relationship between her and Touga. but isn't the crux of the episode that Nanami is making a fool of herself??? she tries to one-up Juri at a party. her failure to realize what the cowbell is highlights her ignorance. the show is absolutely poking fun at her. you can go into why Nanami ended up this way, but I don't understand how we've gotten to the point where people are so over-serious about Nanami--and RGU in general--that they can't laugh at it.

I'll take a detour here to talk about Miki. it's become increasingly popular to frame him as a sexist--I've even seen him termed a "raging misogynist." he gets blamed for his strained relationship with his sister and written off as "just as bad as the other male characters." that's another case where I really don't see it. or at least, I feel like people have lost track of degrees in these things. Miki seems unsure of what he believes, sometimes expressing progressive views but other times regressive ones, and he does act within a patriarchal system. but does he comport himself that badly? or is he just a normal 13-year-old boy who falls into temptation?

I want to make a comparison between him and Nanami here. I think you could make a very real case that Nanami has far more sexist beliefs than Miki. she treats every female character as competition, as a hussy out to steal her brother. when she finds out the truth about Anthy and Akio, she immediately jumps to victim blaming Anthy. and another thing: Nanami plays princess.

the fact that so many people write about Nanami but this aspect of her character is rarely commented on is mind boggling. it's like, her whole thing. Nanami wants to be the center of the universe; Touga is her everything and she wants to possess Touga. she constantly acts the victim and tries to manipulate things so her enemies look like the villain.

I'm not saying this to shit on Nanami! I love Nanami, she's one of my favorite characters of all time! but I've found it alienating to be in a fandom where whitewashing is framed as appreciation. even her backstory: people make post after post about how it wasn't Nanami's fault she killed the cat, because she's a victim. here's the problem with that: why are we engaging with the story on the level of blame? I recently read an essay on methods of analysis that placed "vilification and heroization" as the lowest form of engagement with fiction. I understand why someone would want to defend a character from attack, but aside from like, youtube comments or old forum posts, who exactly is attacking Nanami? and also, how is saying "actually she's a victim so that explains everything" accomplishing anything?

I am being unfair here, because some people do engage with the work enough to say more than that. people will point to the neglect Nanami experienced as the cause of her behavior. that's there, it's certainly there. I'm not objecting to serious attempts to explain character motivation in reaction to vilifiction, but more to the impulse to try to paint characters as morally pure. isn't Nanami so great because she's so complicated? when people approach the story with the drive to whitewash, so much of the nuance and feeling of the work goes unnoticed. episode 31 and 32 do portray Nanami as a victim (of Touga and of her parents and of Akio). however, they also portray Nanami's motivations, and not all of them are pretty. over the course of the arc, you watch her entire worldview fall apart. it doesn't matter whether it's "her fault" she has that worldview--the process is painful and humiliating either way.

all of this carries through to how people react to both Nanami's final scene in the show and her comic relief section in the film. the comic relief scene is bad because it doesn't take Nanami seriously enough, while her final scene is bad because it shows her waiting on Touga and Saionji, which is sexist because she's partaking in traditional gender roles. the only way I can understand those reactions is that people didn't actually pay attention to how she was portrayed in the show, as a comic relief character or as a serious character. I'd understand the objection if Anthy's final scene involved her waiting on Akio, but Anthy and Nanami are different characters (I also don't get much out of the endless Anthy/Nanami posts because of how they are flattened in comparisons). unlike Anthy, Nanami spent the entire show demanding to be waited on, but when we see her for the last time, she's contentedly serving others. that is called character development.

I wanted to highlight Miki and Nanami because I feel they point to a major problem of the fandom: the maintenance of the prince and the princess, just with new definitions. the prince is bad, masculine, harmful, and needs to be rejected. the princess is good, feminine, eternally victimized, and above question. I find this sad because I thought we were supposed to be transcending the gender binary. I know saying this makes me sound anti-feminist, but I'm not. I'm not saying "oh we need to transcend the gender binary by never criticizing men or ignoring how women are victimized"; that would be stupid. but my vision of feminism is vigilantly critical of all things, evaluates each situation on an individual basis, and avoids self-flattery and self-deception.

[owl-house-facts-i-just-made-up]

Five years ago a show premiered on the Disney Channel that changed my life.

Of course there were steps to getting to this point, but I find experiencing the adventures of Luz and Eda and Amity and King and all the others has done nothing but enrich my life. Where would I be without them?

I was at a tough spot. I was 19 years old and had just gotten kicked out of state college in Connecticut. Mentally I was in a low state; I was still living with family, thankfully, but they were obviously upset that I flunked out and that I never came to them for help. I spent a lot of time online and my online friends (who I met back when Steven Universe was still airing, that’s another major life changing show) were talking about this new show Disney had put out. I caved and checked it out. I was enthralled.

Fast forward a few years and while my friends are still into the show I’ve become the most engrossed in the storyline. I theorized, I drew art, so on and so forth. Once the show ended I thought it would be funny to create this blog. I stewed on it for a bit before I bit the bullet.

In a sense, this fanbase reminds me a lot of the early fandom after the original Star Trek ended. Fan stories and fanart and fanzines flourished, lest we forget that fandom was overwhelmingly LGBT as well. It’s been nearly two years since Watching and Dreaming aired and we’re still going strong. I love seeing the fankids and the silly comics and all the new lore people add that the show never had time to. In a sense, even if the show is gone, it’s not dead. I certainly don’t plan on going anywhere.

I guess with this post I just wanted to say thank you to Dana and the team and the fanbase for the past five years, and hopefully many more down the road. I don’t know what they might bring, but as the saying goes: “never say never.”

[crimsonender]

I'm sorry to put more of this in your inbox, you're probably tired of hearing about, but every since seeing your comic about transmen & misogyny I've been thinking about it all day. I'm both sad that so many ppl in those replies/notes wasn't getting the point and happy that it came across my dash. I felt overwhelmed(?) bc, in my bubble of tumblr, I never see transmen and transmasc positive posts or their experiences and I've always found it so difficult to find that on this site at times that I just get sad and give up searching. I'm just really happy to have seen your comic, to have found this blog. I hope you are having/will have a lovely day. Thank you so much.

no need to apologize anon, and welcome! there are a lot of people that talk about this sort of thing in the transandrophobia and anti-transmasculinity tags, and if you look up transunity you can find lots of people talking about solidarity across the gender spectrum for trans aligned folks. I would also suggest checking out @st-dionysus @nothorses @genderkoolaid and @doberbutts they are some awesome folks that talk about this sort of thing all the time.

[brw]

Now, I often describe Wonder Man as a D-Tier, nobody Avenger exceedingly few people think or talk about, because his only real connections is to Wanda, who does not and never has needed him and has far more interesting and more fufilling dynamics with just about every other character in the whole world, and to Vision, who is very rarely thought of anymore outside of Wanda. This isn't to say nobody thinks about him (Steve Orlando remembered him), but I think Simon is going to be mostly a joke character from here on out, other than maybe getting a slightly bigger presence when/if his show ever comes out, but even that is a pretty big if because of the differences between MCU Simon and 616 Simon.

He's a D-Tier guy. You could read hundreds, or thousands of Marvel comics, and not know anything about this guy, because he doesn't really show up in any beloved, iconic comic runs, except for maybe Busiek Avengers. So it's weird to then remember that Simon has actually been in like... a lot of comics. And I mean a lot.

Mantis, right? Big part of Guardians of the Galaxy. So beloved by her creator he put her in three non-Marvel comic publications. Now synonymous with the GOTG, now one of the main characters of the team. She has 143 appearances. Simon has 679.

Obviously, Simon is a white man, so naturally he is more likely to be used, but this is still insane to me. Moon Knight, who has had multiple solo runs over the years, his own television show? A really obnoxious amount of X Reader fic? He only has 529 appearances. Simon has over a hundred more appearances than he does.

Apocalypse, massive X-Men villain turned anti-hero a lot of people love has 208. Alicia Masters, who is the biggest part of the civilian cast of Fantastic Four comics by a country mile is at 408. Simon has over 250 more appearances. He has more appearances than both Polaris and Havok. He has more appearances than the fucking Kingpin. HE HAS MORE APPEARANCES THAN EDDIE BROCK. EDDIE ONLY HAS 415!

It's just so odd. Like nobody talked about this guy when I started getting into comics, but on the numbers alone he has more of a presence than fucking Venom. Isn't that bizarre? Isn't that insane? He has more appearances than Mystique. Mystique! One of the most beloved X-Men antagonists of all time! He's appeared more than Black Bolt.

I dunno. It's just funny to me how little of an impact on culture and comics Simon has had despite being super prolific as a guy who shows up in shit.

[1driedpersimmon]

Do you have any advice for people who might want to get into making comics like yours? I'm always pleasantly surprised by how fast you pump them out and even have other little projects/doodles on the side. How do you keep the quality consistent?

(sorry if this sounds a lil cold (?) i rlly love your peppercakes they r so skrunkly)

First off - Thank you !! I'm honored you like my lil guys and comics hehe! (and no worries on the tone !! I didn't think it sounded cold at all!)

Alright secondly lets see...

Short answer: You really just gotta start and keep going!! Once you start you get the momentum and it gets much easier (like riding a bike, which people like to use as comparison often).

Long answer:

Alright I thought about how to answer for this for a bit and I think I'll break it down to the main aspects.

So timing ! Basically I'm drawing 24/7 (and I'm currently not working as it's an off time for me, but I shall in a week and you will see that my posting frequency will decrease substantially). Ok maybe not 24/7 but I essentially am drawing from the moment I wake up to when I sleep (minus eating, restroom, working out, some errands) and while I do not say this is the key to being better, I'm just realistically displaying how much time I'm spending on drawing. (... one of my new years resolution is to not in fact do that and go out more because I feel like I'm being cooped up in my room a lot haha). But minus the amount of time I spend itself a lot of it has to do with the importance I take in speed drawing. And when I say that I mean quite literally how fast I can draw. AND I think a large part of where that speed comes from is how I like to generalize designs and just my overall process of drawing. (Which, I will not go over now but if you'd like I could make a separate post on how I go about doing my usual sketch, lines, colors, etc) Like, I love ff and all of it's crazy designs but it's so complicated I simplify everything till it's juussstt recognizable, and that's something I feel like really adds to the speed of things.

Also that's sweet of you to say for the quality haha (I always am thinking stuff like ah man this aint it... not my finest work, and then just post anyways cuz who cares I already made it heh)! That being said my quality wasn't alwaysss consistent! Here's an example of my very first "comic" I made for my characters:

And here's the same 4 panels I redrew just about 2 years later:

So I've been basically drawing comics for this for just about 2 years now (will be 2 years officially in a few months) and I most certainly did not get here in one night. I think, as I've mentioned, it's really important to keep up with the comic making (or drawing in general) so that, yes, you can get better, but the way you get better is that it becomes familiar to you. So you can approach concepts and ideas with a more experience. And I think a large part of what holds alot of people back is the idea that "ah I can't do this idea I'm not good enough." So what !! Still do it, I most certainly did it a couple years ago when I barely scribbled my ideas. And then you can totally go back and redraw it ! no "Rule" saying you can't go back and revisit your ideas, like hell even professional artists go back and republish their works with their improved art styles ! (ex. Tokyo Ghoul... even though I don't care for the story, it's still pretty cool! I think he even added more scenes? Anyways..). I think there was that one post going around where it was something like do it scared and that's really REALLY what you gotta do.

And that leads to my final point. You gotta love doing it. I like to make comics because I LOVE my characters, their story, and actually the act of putting it all together into a story, drawn comic, visuals, etc. And, I found my method of loving them. For me, what held me back was the "structure" of comics. I mean you can p much see that the way I like to do things is def not the "traditional" manga/western comic book style right? I won't go as far to say that I "made up this way" of comic making where it's one panel at a time but it certainly worked for me. (I have no idea how many comic wips I have collecting dust in my folders from my earilier days of making this comic where I just gave up 20% of the way in because I really could not vibe with the formatting, but then I figured out I really like to "thumbnail" comics (a result of when I was studying storyboards alot imo) and I went on from there).

This is where I feel like alot of people get stuck too. Where they really do like their ideas, their character, their stories and such, but as soon as they try and go through the process of creating in a certain way... the wind is just instantly taken out of their sails. And while I do believe sometimes you just gotta push through and do it anyways, sometimes that's not the right method to go about it. So instead of brute forcing a method of creation and eventually forming a bad relationship with the process, find a method that works for you. And maybe it doesn't look all that great or good compared to others, but that comes in time and as long as you like doing it, that's what really matters at the end of the day.

Tl;dr: be a lil freak, and lil weird about what you do (this applies to everything, not only art :3)

Alright so I think that's all the points? idk if you still want to ask me stuff, feel free to anytime :) Always happy to share my thoughts!

[t4talibrations]

I am honestly obsessed with Garrus' romance in ME2, starting from the fact that he wasn't even supposed to be romanceable but everyone was so horny for this alien guy that they just gave it to us.

He's your best bro, your number one ally, he basically admires you so much that he tries to imitate you, he's so ride or die for you it's impossible to ignore. He clearly sees you as his superior because the military mindset is so ingrained in him but he's also just your best friend. Except he tries to keep it cool so bad, acting like he's just glad to be back on your team and ignoring that he basically failed at being like you, and it's clearly a mask.

From the second he pops up on screen he's acting all suave and smooth and confident for no fucking reason considering he's probably a wreck. He never flirts directly but you can always tell he's holding back some of his undying admiration for you just so he doesn't seem as desperate as he is.

In a fit of complete unprofessionalism you open up the possibility of a more physically intimate relationship that goes beyond camaraderie and sparring. You are both so stressed that fucking just seems the best option and a practical way to fix it. Let's ignore the fact that you've known each other for years and there's been a period in which Garrus just threw himself to the wolves out of frustration for possibly grieving you so bad. Let's just say it's a friends-with-benefits kind of situation, except it's everything but easy even just for the fact that you are two different species and there's lots of complications involved.

You insist that it has to be him, because you want him specifically, and you also want him to want it with you. Some types of Feelings are involved but let's not talk about them. So the guy just breaks, he keeps stuttering and fidgeting and making a fool of himself. He's crying screaming throwing up the moment you make a move on him and he keeps worrying about having to court you when he's actually the one being pursued - and not even subtly.

His awkward side finally comes out and he thinks it will disappoint you when in reality seeing him fall apart and be vulnerable is exactly what makes him so irresistible. It's just extremely entertaining how such a Cool Guy becomes a complete mess because he is so into you that he's even willing to literally study how to have sex with you.

So he shows up to your cabin after days of waiting it out because he wants to savour it (read: he's freaking the fuck out and needs to figure everything out). He shows up and it's the most goofy attempt at seducing you he could come up with. The music from Flux is just so comically ridiculous that you can't even hide how amusing it is. He flirts extremely badly, but you are just too pleased with seeing him all flustered, the fucking isn't even that important now.

Finally he realizes that too, and gets honest about his insecurity and the emotional burden he's been carrying. It's just tender. His mind was so set on anxiety mode that he just shifted the subject to putting his best effort into not fucking things up with you. Except he could never because you just want him to have a good time and you don't really care about the rest.

Man, I just Love Garrus...

[juno-box]

<3 my unpop twdg opinions

As I write my fanfiction, I tend to wonder. Here’s some opinions I leave you to ponder (aka don’t jump me in the streets of Gotham)

1. Instead of the 400 cast we got (Wyatt, Shel, Russell, etc.) we should’ve gotten the Cabin group instead.

A common consensus within the fandom is that the 400 days group was wasted, saved for mere background cameos that remind you that “Hey! Remember these guys from the DLC! They’re here! And… they’re set dressing with a few determinant dialogue lines, sorry.”

Another common thing I hear people say is that the 400 Days group should’ve been the Cabin crew we got in Season 2. Which, I’ll admit would’ve actually made sense. You gave us a lot of compelling mofos in 400 Days (Wyatt & Eddie, Russell & Nate are my favorites) but did really nothing at all with them other than have Becca not like Sarah.

But I never really hear people say that the Cabin crew should’ve been the 400 group we got in the DLC. Which I’ll probably be the 2nd or 3rd person to say it then: we should’ve got them in 400 Days instead.

2. Kenny should not have appeared in Season 2, there I said it.

From the minute Kenny reappeared, he stole the spotlight from the whole cast. Which is a bad thing.

It felt like the “What would appeal to Kenny” game from there on out. Characters became essentially irrelevant. Like Nick, prime example. There is NO difference if you save him in Episode or not—he is a warm body from Episode 3 to 4. And he’s doomed with the infamous off-camera death.

Luke is pretty much AWOL ½ of Episode 3. And when he comes back, he’s… not the same, in my honest opinion. It’s not so much as things are changing and change him in return so much as he doesn’t “act right”.

They disrespected the hell out of poor Sarah. Her second death is forgotten in picoseconds once AJ is born. And knowing that internally the team hated her puts how badly she’s treated in-canon into so much perspective.

But enough about how everyone’s development and attention got soaked up by Kenneth. Let’s talk about how in the same episode he’s reintroduced they nuke his character development from Season 1. I mean they NUKE (pun intended) it all the way back to S1E2 Kenny. He’s selfish, more hostile. Remember how in S1E5 when Kenny goes down to try and rescue Ben? Now jumped to S2E2 and how he remembers it. If you saved Ben in S1E4 then you know exactly what line I’m talking about. That should’ve set off alarm bells to any TWDG analyzer.

Kenny goes on throughout the second season repeating the exact same character arc beats he did the previous season, only worse. He loses a shelter, then a lover, he falls back into a depression, he’s back to being hostile to his group, and only at the end of the season does he do something truly selfless for the final benefit of the protagonist (not referring to him saving Clementine from a beating, I meant the final sacrifice).

What was point of reviving Kenny if you were just going to retell the same story he went through last season? And just factory reset his progress before you did? Now, don’t get me wrong—maybe Kenny could have worked in this season. But focusing so much around him was such a stuuuupid decision because he stole so much cruciality from the new cast and made so many of them irrelevant by accident. I really feel like if the focus was on these new people, in this new group, fleshed out and honed this season would’ve been a bit more better than the legacy it left.

3. The New Frontier is @#$%-ing stupid holy Mackerel-

Okay. So I talk about ANF a lot. It’s a season I have a love/hate relationship with solely because of how easily it could’ve been fixed in my personal opinion. It has so many interesting characters that were absolutely positively fumbled it’s unreal.

But The New Frontier, the big baddies of Season 3, the namesake of the season? Are the most un-fleshed out factions in TWD’s comic universe… holy shit are these people dysfunctional.

Firstly, let’s start with the leaders. Joan, the group mouth piece. She handles contact with surrounding settlements. Other than that it seems like she does… nothing else. That’s not me being hyperbolic—she does nothing else. Which isn’t a bad thing. The community has 4 leaders with 4 specific skillsets. Clinton is the agricultural lead, David’s the head of defense, and Lingard’s in charge of medical.

But why does everyone treat Joan like she’s the HBIC? Aren’t the four of you in charge of Richmond’s council? Why does she get the final say in everything no matter what?

When David takes Javi to meet the rest of the council, Joan and Clint out rule David. Even though the vote should be split because even though he’s not physically present; Lingard said his vote is with whatever David sides with. So that’s 2v2 not 2v1.

Lingard’s "head of" title doesn’t even make sense when you realize there’s only Lingard tending to people in Richmond. How is he head of medical if he’s the only man in medical (prior to meeting Eleanor). Unless there's other medics in Richmond who're just invisible and unseen. But I digress we love our crackhead doctor here.

When you confront Joan the second time in the church, it STILL makes no sense. Where do I even start? The fact that even if you have Max with you and he can PROVE that the raids were not from the guy in-charge of soldiers but from Joan, Clint and Lingard STILL fence sit. Even when Javi reveals TWICE that Joan’s actions got David’s daughter executed, she straight up writes Mariana off as collateral. How did neither Clint nor Lingard go “...Hold on a second, JOan that's uncool.”

Joan cannot be THAT manipulative when the proof in the black forest gateau is sitting you guys right in the face. I could see if I killed Max, meaning the only guy who would be willing to confess wasn’t even alive. Then sure yeah, the cards aren’t in my favor.

But I have proof, Joan ADMITS IT, and yet Lingard’s too whipped to say anything that’ll help out the guy who saved his life, and Clint’s a bonafied dunce for some reason. I don’t even understand why Clint was fence sitting in the first place, he has no motive other that the "plot demands he doesn’t intervene".

The hypocrisy is insane with them, too. The most notable case being The NF vs. Clementine.

So Clementine’s in the wrong for (determinantly) stealing meds for AJ. Alright, I’ve written before how I see where the New Frontier is coming from in my David woobifying post a while back. Okay, stealing is wrong. Yeah.

But then that all falls out the window when your ONLY doctor is getting white boy wasted presumably off the community’s supply of meds. The holier-than-thou committee cannot play the “no thieves” card when your head doctor is OD’ing on half of the goddamn Percocet supply in the medical tent. It just doesn’t work.

And it REALLY doesn’t work when you, David, already KNOW that he does that shit! Often! Insert obligatory David x Lingard quip here, but in all realness you cannot acknowledge Lingard is the biggest meds thief in the New Frontier and try to hide him and his dirty laundry before the other’s see him then turn around and pretend that Clementine’s the one bleeding your pockets dry and ruining your trust.

Feel absolutely free to add onto these opinions of mine bcause I refuse to be alone on this

[justanothershippingcan]

So, aside from Tumblr, if you are chronically online on Twitter as I am, you might have seen that one post about the little gingerbread man plushie being bought and then loved by the owner after being considered ugly. If, besides being chronically online on Tumblr and Twitter, you are specifically sailing aatwt waters you must have seen that post being reblogged with "Apollo Justice" being associated with the gingerbread man plushie. Now, hear me out. That plushie post is so real for Mr. Forehead. Because, as someone who has just finished 6-2, I can testify this is what can absolutely happen with Apollo Justice. Because we aren't all Klavier Gavin and so we might not be capable of speedrunning the Apollo Justice Love Parade faster than the smol gay man in Walking Mode on GoogleMaps, the first impression about Mr. Justice is usually "oooh, he is such a bug". Horned hair ― he chooses to have those ― that seem to have a life of their own, short, big forehead, loud suit and louder voice. A stag beetle, as he kins.

Then you start AA4 and you see him balancing being on the verge of a Breakdown Breakdown with competing for the Smuggest Lawyer Boy Ever award. So, average Ace Attorney experience, but you are intrigued and you are cheering. Gogo Bugus. This is the first stage and descent towards the "Apollo Scrimblo" phase.

You proceed through the Apollo Justice game and you get to see him more. You realize how unintentionally funny he can be. How his monologues are so sassy and mean they put Godot's bitterness of his coffee to shame. "I'm a lawyer, I live for needless procedures", "Try working on cases", "I am more concerned about the other criminal. The one who kills people." "Objection! That's… that's just dumb." "Well, hello Ms. Fancy Pants! Please forgive my lack of ladder discrimination." "Believe me, any comic relief I may provide is entirely unintentional". So, you inevitably start to love the guy, he is now your pookie. He is still Just A Guy but also a pookie and a short king. Then, there come the fanarts and fancontent. Now, feeling the Eyes Literally Open with fanarts (like @/u3pxx's Swapollo) was literally the phase I was at when that post of the plushie dropped. So much so that my comment on discord and twitter was "I get Game Apollo isn't exactly hot, but some fanarts are eye openers". And finally, after such fancontent phase, you continue playing and you start to notice more things. Small tangent, but I don't like the idea of most Ace Attorney men being called twinks (like, especially in the OG trilogy, y'all... Edgeworth is built like a fridge, and not a small hotel room one. No one would be able to measure his shoulders even with those Ikea Paper Measuring Tapes they gave out before either capitalism or a good choice for the environment took those away). There are some that can qualify (Simeon is one of them), but I digress.

And so you see: Apollo is no twink, he has damn good arms actually. Good built too, somehow. Red Suit is totally working. Those thoughts get enhanced once you see both his DLC costume and the Only Real Good Thing to come out of DD Apollo (aside from Clay actually, I would have loved him if there was more care in his writing, but I digress again-), aka the bandages and edgy look he, a bug that is going on an upgrade crusade, apparently pulls off. Also, let's remember Juniper. I love the Comp-het Lesbian Juniper HC, but I have an adoration for hitting the bi beam on my favs too, so think of Juniper and the fact you can gather she manifests a crush on Apollo in DD. Klavier, instead, has been down so bad he is bleeding on the floor. So, even in universe, the beetle is considered cute. From there... it's over. Once you reach 6-2 and see him grow more and more and inflict third-degree burns to Retinz and Nahyuta with each sentence, you have come to realize it. Apollo Justice is hot. Loving Ace Attorney Men is a disgrace.

[grubbin22]

fanart of ansy from @parasolladyansy’s work pokémon dxp rewrite 🌧️

[humming-fly]

He was feeling left out

and the higher rez stills, since gifs always export as if you're sending messages through a metal can~

[hinamie]

unconditionally

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Being someone who read Under The Red Hood and came out with the firm belief that, for Jason, it's not about killing Joker, it's about Jason wanting proof Batman would choose him over the Joker (bc shelia chose the joker). Makes seeing any other media where it's all about just wanting the Joker dead is a teeny bit frustrating. to be honest

Jason could've killed the Joker himself, really, really easily. Jason kidnaps the Joker before the confrontation. I can't open my comic for a reference right now, but it felt like he had the Joker for quite a bit before the confrontation. He had him. He beat him up with a crowbar. He had every single opportunity to kill the Joker himself, but he didn't because that wasn't his goal. Make no mistake, he did plan for the Joker to be dead by the end of it, but do you see what im trying to say here

Edit: If I knew this post was gonna get 1000+ notes I would've tried to word it better or something, this was a rant I made on the way to the grocery store 😭

It's not about making Batman kill either. When Batman says he won't kill, Jason adjusts and goes, 'Let ME kill the Joker or kill me to stop me' instead. The test is all about Batman choosing him. The whole final confrontation is Jason's first death again. The parent, The Joker, and the explosives. It even ends with Jason unable to move as a bomb goes off right next to him again because the parent didn't choose Jason. And instead tried finding an option that'd benefit them and (consequencely) letting the Joker walk, again, lol, lmao <-in agony