#i'll learn woodwork so you can get that thing you like

[as-rare-as-trees]

My fatal flaw is that if my friends jumped off a bridge I'd do it too

[esprei]

Please take this ask as a way to ramble about your dystopia au or post some art about it (really just wanna know more about it)

oh gosh thank you! 🥹💖

I can talk about Volo and his situation a bit! I don't think I've mentioned this stuff here yet (if I have I apologize!) So the way that Volo got to this world is that he got tossed through an Ultra Wormhole. (btw the Volo I'm talking about here is the Volo we know from PLA, the one who lost and disappeared after the battle at the Temple of Sinnoh - I usually refer to him as og Volo so as to not confuse him with Emperor Volo XD) But yeah! Those who know/remember lore from Sun and Moon about the Ultra Wormholes/Ultra Beasts/etc will remember things/traits that Volo will now have. Aka he's a Faller :0 Soooo, amnesia for one. Though he'll still have memories of his goal with Arceus and such, but other things for him will be fuzzy or just not able to be recalled at all 🥺 Not only that but, well... he's essentially Ultra Beast bait 😳 Because Fallers have that trait too.

So, when this happens, well... you can see why:

Blacephalon was able to detect him in an instant! 😭

So yeah! Hmmm... I have no idea what else to say about him specifically that won't be major spoilers for later on XD However, this really is partly a big redemption story for him! He gets thrown into this world, doesn't know how or why and finds that he has holes in his memory... though he still remembers things like his goal and wanting to achieve that. Just... unbeknownst to him, he's going to end up learning that maybe things didn't turn out so well when his other self got that wish... He'll still have all his Pokemon by the way! Pokemon like his Garchomp will definitely be pivotal in battles (battles are much more intense here and play out more like war... humans will utilize weapons too). Togekiss is very important as well, especially to the Resistance! I could go into that detail more as to why if anyone is interested! It's not really huge spoilers! I kinda feel like I've rambled quite a bit so... I'll leave you with a sneak peek of some dystopian!Emmet art I'm working on! Since I mentioned humans using weapons, he'll end up being an archer of sorts! Mainly uses a crossbow, but can use a standard bow and arrow as well! He many weapons for the Resistance, including his own, carved masterfully out of wood (Alder is the one who taught him how to do woodworking from the time he found him all alone 🥺). He also makes his own arrows! Initially he likely uses feathers from common birds like the Pidove line for them, but eventually might use feathers from Togekiss or, even later, the Archeops he manages to catch.

(Bow needs design, but I didn't want to leave you with just art I've already shown before ;; so here's something new and recent!)

Thank you so much for asking about the AU! 🥹💖

[annawayne]

Hi Anna! 👀 I'm here to request your headcanons for what wedding gift everyone would get Annie and Armin! (you can include as many characters you want) love you🥺🩷

Hello, hello, Stella🩷~

And OH, thank you a lot for asking this! It took me a while to think *properly* about it, and now, finally, I can share my thoughts on this!

I'll speak about it in a post-canon setting. Therefore, the whole wedding will take place, let's say, in 5 years after the series ends. Many people speculate about AruAni having two weddings, one for the public image as a Paradisian-Marleyan union and another one with their loved ones, and oh, I'm one of the believers of this idea, too! If the first one is a sheer disaster and more of a disappointment, both want to end as soon as possible and the second one - is just like a balm to their souls. The first, the public one, was more about keeping their breaths and smiles tight, trained and plastic, and they played these roles like the professional Ambassadors they are, almost not even feeling that it was their wedding since nothing about it was theirs, only names and familiar faces, that also looked like wearing masks for the perfect image. So the second one... This is where the whole avalanche of anxiety and worries comes. Despite it being in the closed circle of their most beloved people, this is exactly the reason Armin and Annie would be so extremely worried. This wedding will be imprinted only in the memory of their dear people; only they would see the true sides of themselves, and nobody else would share this sacred memory - only them and their family.

The first one would be Pieck and Jean: more like Pieck grabbing Jean's hand and pulling his anxious and worried mess with their presents closer to AruAni.

After some incoherent mumbling and blushing cheeks, Jean opens the box and Pieck's smile stretches on her face at the sight of Armin's and Annie's eyes widening: there, inside the box, is the photo camera, a small one, the luxurious thing, even for the Ambassadors, as all the factories that were working on photography industry were destroyed during the Rumbling and a lot of specialist disappeared in this tragedy, too, so the limited amount of photo cameras that is produced now, is only for the journalists of the big names, only for their professional role. The shock and awe haven't wavered as Armin and Annie notice another thing near - an album, but not the simple one, but the anniversary albums for each year, starting from the first and up to the 70th. When Armin, still stunned, asks Jean why he is so nervous about this gift, Jean grunts and says something like, "it's cheesy". But for Armin and Annie, for the ones who lived their lives knowing that their time was limited, and not even knowing if they would see each other again during the four years of Annie crystal imprisonment, now - seeing the testament that their lives really only begin. They're about to see this future together. Jean admitted later on, after seeing Armin and Annie taking photos, all smiley and so happy, and going through pages of the anniversary album, whispering something into each other's ears and stealing kisses afterward, that maybe it wasn't that cheesy, after all.

The next one is Reiner, and this man is so anxious that while he is going towards Annie and Armin, he almost falls on his shaky legs. The reason for it all was that he was the one who made something with his hands, and so his level of worry just skyrocketed. After the Rumbling, aside from the Ambassador's affairs, Reiner traveled a lot, not to see the destroyed world but to rebuild it; he often went away for renovation trips, helping people. There, he started learning the woodwork craft, and with time, Reiner became more engaged and fascinated in this process. So when his slightly trembled hands showed them Liberio and Shiganshina wooden puzzle pictures, all in wood, with tiny details, and just like Armin and Annie remember from their childhood, they burst into tears. These two home cities are different; they remember being destroyed and changed, but in this wooden form, they'll live again and be in Annie and Armin's new home.

The only person who isn't nervous is Connie. This man is absolutely confident in his present, so when he gives Armin and Annie the box with the smug face and knowing smirk, who would think to find there the erotic books of lovemaking of all kinds... Connie has his own understanding of the gifts :D

The next ones are Falco, Gabi, and Levi. It's not a surprise for anyone when Levi gives the massive box with the exclusive and rare tea, all neatly placed in the box with hand-sewed ornaments Gabi did (which left everyone in a huge surprise, knowing her energetic soul and imagining her sitting at one place for so long - is really something new). But when Falco, smiling softly, nodded at the box and asked to look underneath the tea bags, Armin and Annie didn't expect to see the two tickets to the country both of them were so eager to visit but always having a lot of excuses not to - work, work, work, endless work. Armin is the first to start sobbing and falling to his knees, hugging Levi and tugging Falco and Gabi along, between hiccups saying thank you's. Annie is hesitant, her eyes still kept on the tickets in her hands, but when she hears the tired sigh, her gaze lifts up to see Levi's grayish-blue eye on her.

"Tsh, how long will you stand there? Come here."

These are simple words, but when Annie takes a step and hugs him, Falco, Gabi, and Armin to her side, she thinks Levi's hand is warm on her back.

The gift exchange ends, and they enjoy the evening with the amber lights and soft music. An unexpected surprise happens when Armin and Annie are swaying lazily in the center of the room. Two people they didn't expect to see - but deep inside, hope to - suddenly appear in their living room, cheeks blushed and chest rising from the running, the dark raven and light blond hair plastered on their faces. When Armin and Annie's gazes meet the Mikasa and Historia's, they just run into each other's embrace. Nobody expected these two to arrive - with how things go on Paradis, it's almost impossible to leave the island without permission, even for the queen, as the Yegerists have more and more power over the government. But don't underestimate the clever queen, so Historia managed to find the ways, and Mikasa and she literally escaped at the very last minute.

"Sorry, we don't have any presents," Mikasa says almost in a whisper, her arms still around Armin and Annie.

"Silly," Armin whispers, his tone dancing with the joyful sparks. "You both are already here. This is the best present".

---

So, here it is! Thank you to everyone who reached this point and for reading, and thank you so much, Stella, for asking this incredible ask! I genuinely have a lot of fun thinking about all of it and then writing it all down, so thank you so much (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)🩷

[punkitt-is-here]

How can I cultivate the same, "just keeping making stuff all the time" kind of energy you have? It's very impressive and something I wish I could do!

well, theres a couple reasons i think! one is that i just found ways to be satisfied with small amounts of work. its in part because of my ADHD, but my parents were always trying new things (motorcycles, leatherwork, acrylic paint, collage art, photography, video editing) so that definitely rubbed off on me; i had a great example of people just wanting to try stuff. i keep making stuff all the time because i love trying out new things; you don't have to be an expert to try something new! you just have to have a desire for it! wanna make a zine? google it! wanna write a comic? give it a shot! wanna get into woodworking? buy a carving knife and find a stick or something! i think theres plenty of ways to find entry points into interesting stuff and you gotta let yourself be okay with making shit that sucks just because its fun. which leads me to my second point!!

im okay with being dogshit at stuff! i try new things, i kind of suck at them, and i think it's either 1. cool that i made it this far or 2. kinda funny that this is what its like at the moment. i know that sucking is never permanent, everything can be improved with time, and rarely does anyone ever magically get good at something first try. i think of myself as a talented artist, but its over the course of 2+ decades of drawing; im always improving, and no matter what im going to find things i want to get better at, so why fault myself now for not being perfect? a couple of months ago i really wanted to try woodcarving, so i made spoon with my dad. did it turn out great? not really! you cant even use it as a spoon! but im glad i tried it, it was fun, i had a great time with my dad, and now i know a little bit more going in next time. the idea that you have to be perfect or make tangible progress every single time you try something new is a recipe for burnout. i promise you, it doesnt matter if something doesn't come out like God's Gift to Humanity! Did you have fun? did you learn something? are you satisfied in some small part? good!

(pictured: tha spoon)

last, im just really easy to please myself! I'll make a doodle or implement an idle animation in my game or color a piece and go "wow! thats so cool i did that :)" and it really is just a matter of realizing that its fucking COOL to create stuff, no matter how small! whatever you made didn't exist before you, especially in your own unique way, and now it does! doesn't that rule?! i'm obsessed with it! even if its just a stick figure, its a stick figure you made, and it wasn't there before. thats fucking awesome!!! art is so cool!!!! i think that being happy with small goals and victories is a great way of trying out new things and showing off cool stuff u made, no matter what skill level. :) this turned into a whole big thing, but i hope this helps! tl;dr is try things if they seem fun, be okay with not being good at them, and find stuff about it that makes you happy or satisfied!

[levyfiles]

one thing thats startling to me about so many responses is people saying they dont care about x show or only want to see ryan and shane doing things, so why should watcher want a higher budget? surely they can just axe the shows 'noone' cares about and just upload low budget videos of ryan and shane messing around?

its breathtakingly entitled. god forbid they should want to do things that are more artistically fulfilling than a vlog. and its telling that the shows people are saying 'noone cares about' are all stevens. hes just as much a part of watcher as ryan and shane and deserves the same artistic freedom. people need to get that through their heads

That's also part of the problem. Not only is Ghost Files artistically fulfilling to them but it's also the thing they made that was getting the views. We wailed about WWW for years since we lost it but the refrain has always been "we know you love it but the views don't match and we have no sponsors for it" and that's the crux of it. We will be getting the low budget stuff because they'll have the budget for more employees (and hopefully they'll learn to delegate more) which frees them up to do the low stakes content.

Don't even get me started about the racists coming out of the woodwork to paint their precious granola eating communist by brand white man Shane as a pure innocent victim of evil capitalist Steven who makes shows that don't contain puppets and songs. I'll just get meaner. It pisses me of like nothing else.

[hollowtones]

ayy monhun fan! what are you thinkin of what we've seen of wilds so far?

The initial trailer they dropped months ago was pretty cool. "World" is my least favourite game that I've played (even thought I liked it a lot!!), and 90% of why I felt that way was "this is the first time they're making a game of this scale / scope / direction", so it's exciting to see them make a successor to it now that they're not also learning how to make a game like it from the bottom-up & not also building the tech side of it from scratch.

Big desert environments have me excited!!!! I love the way these games do deserts. I'm always dreaming of Val Habar. I love the colour palette they're using for this area. Big fan of Yoshi being a new mechanic. In general I'm noticing a lot of things in "Wilds" that feel like a really cool mix of ideas from "World" and "Rise" in a way that feels a little more grounded. It's cool that they're bringing back a buddy you can ride around on & control. I wonder if they'll let Yoshi fight with you. I don't remember if they showed that off already. Getting to hotswap between 2 weapons without having to run back to base camp feels like a big deal that I haven't really wrapped my head around yet.

The focus mode thing seems fine. More granular control over aiming sometimes seems neat, & the footage we've seen makes it feel like positioning & animation commitment are still a part of it, which I like. Expanding part-breaking into "opening wounds that take more damage & enable special attacks" seems cool! (There was a similar-ish tenderizing mechanic with the Clutch Claw in "Iceborne", and I fuckin hated using it. Loved the idea of it at first. Having to do this whole separate action that interrupted the flow of the fight in a weird way to enable more damage felt awful after a while!! And they designed all the fights around the fact that you have it & use it! So I'm glad they're seemingly taking what I liked about it & chucking out the rest, haha.) I remember there was some hubbub about focus existing at all when news was first dropping. Some people were mad about it? I feel like this happens every time they announce a new Monster Hunter. They reveal a new feature, and a couple guys crawl out of the woodwork to go "THEY HAVE MADE THE VIDEO GAME PITIFUL AND EASIER - THIS IS THE DEATH OF THE FRANCHISE!" The franchise has died every game since the first one, by my count. (They end up buying the game anyway, of course.) I hope they put out a demo soon, though. I wanna get my hands on it & see how it works in the middle of a fight to see how I actually feel about it.

Weapon & armour design so far has been great. Happy about that. The bits of NPC designs we've seen have been cool. I don't really like the smith's look very much. Which makes me sad because I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be Little Miss Forge. LOL

When they first showed the game off I remember thinking "yeah, that's cool, I'm looking forward to this, but it's coming out Next Year & we're not even halfway done with 2024." Well now we're almost two thirds of the way through the year. And they keep dropping gameplay trailers. And they look hype as fuck!! And now I'm feeling more impatient!!! I wanna try this shit out soon!!! I wonder if they'll drop a public demo after Gamescom or something. I wonder if my computer could even run it...

I liked the way Hunting Horn played in "Rise" but it's cool to see the more traditional recitals back. (But faster!! And with new combo paths!!) I think I've spent a cumulative hour or two watching that horn trailer over and over again for little details. The funny bubble reminds me of bead of resonance but it seems like it might also be some kind of AoE team buff? It could also just be extra damage like bead was. But I loved bead. So I'll take it. Being a Hunting Horn fan is accepting that you'll be playing an entirely different weapon in every subsequent game, so I suppose I fuss less about whether or not it plays like any one specific game. But mannnnnn it looks cool as hell this time around.

[maxwellhauskaffee]

I remember reading somewhere someone explaining how you can have a likable villain, such as Walter White, and the reason you like them is because they're horrible and the show makes no excuses for their state of being.

Walt's conflict with others and seeing how amoral he becomes makes him compelling. Same for Gus. Even Tuco's likable despite being insane because he's Daffy Duck with a Jericho 941.

I know it's been said ad-nauseum as to how Stolas is a shitty character, but the problem lies with the fact that the authors never commit in a direction that would make him compelling or likable as a morally good or bad character.

I want to note: just because someone's bad doesn't mean they have to suffer the consequences *coughpilotStolascough*. This isn't an Aesop - we're not five. It's hell. In this universe, bad people arguably should get away with bad things. So why doesn't this work with Stolas?

-- Woobie Syndrome -- For me, the problem is the show excuses Stolas being bad in an attempt to make him appear good.

SO - I'm going to dissect how to do this right with various characters without excusing what they did.

-- Excusing vs. Contextualizing --

The first hurdle in creating a compelling amoral or questionably moral character is understanding why they do what they do. Of course, I'll be using Breaking Bad as an example because, well, fuck you.

Gus, Jesse, and Walter - each of them has a woobie backstory that makes them more likable. Of course, this isn’t strictly necessary, but it's how Breaking Bad executes and layers everything that’s truly magical.

More importantly, their backstories don’t excuse what they do; they contextualize who they are as people.

Gus Fring's "woobie" backstory is that his lover was killed by the cartel, which ignites his desire for revenge. Through this murder, Gus learns that he must be meticulous and non-threatening to make his twenty-year plan a reality. He also realizes from this incident that he must understand what people want, rather than assuming he knows.

Gus is subtle by nature, which contrasts with his personality ( spiteful / wrathful ), and this is depicted in everything he does.

He uses nuanced psychological tactics. Perfect example is his surroundings. He works as a manager in person and donates funds to charity while living a moderate lifestyle. This makes him unassuring and relatable to the average person. When inviting Walt to his house, Gus leaves toys around to tap into Walter's sense of masculinity and responsibility as a family man, appealing to his desire to provide. With Jesse, Gus sees someone who is lost, easy to influence, and doesn't receive respect. Gus uses Mike to create a wedge between Jesse and Walter so he can kill Walter and use Jesse to manufacture, knowing Jesse likely won't cause conflict in production.

While Gus's facade is to be kind and unassuming to get what he wants, he has a limit.

If you disrespect his agreements or rules, he'll show his repressed nature. Better still, it's foreshadowed by prior statements he made and his story about the coati.

I won't get too deep into the other two, but based on the triptych I've made, you can deduce how they're similarly done. But in short for them:

Jesse's woobie backstory is that his parents abandoned him and he becomes a pawn in everyone else's story. Yet he's lazy and unmotivated despite having extreme talent in chemistry and woodworking.

Jesse's sloth, low self-esteem, and gullible nature cause him to commit atrocious crimes. He murders an innocent man ( Gale Boetticher ). He influences the relapse of his girlfriend ( Jane Margolis ) while breaking up her family ( Donald Margolis ) and also second-hand causes her OD. He steals, lies, and cheats his partner ( Walter White ) early on while spending Walt's money and "borrowing" an RV from Combo's aunt (?). He tries to sell meth to rehab patients.

-- POV Preference --

Because Jesse, Gus, and Walt are pivotal pov characters, we see things from their perspectives and accounts. We feel what they feel.

There were brief moments in watching BB that I momentarily forgot they're drug manufacturers murdering and ruining the lives of millions with their products. I felt bad for them!

But from Gale's perspective, a crazy man ( Jesse ) has come to murder him for no reason. From Walt's ( and later Jesse's ) perspective, Gus is a sociopath who uses and kills children. From Jesse's perspective, Walt's a narc who would kill a child ( Brock Cantillo ) and never cared for him.

Imagine Jesse's parents as pov characters. From Jesse's perspective, they're assholes who ignored his dying aunt ( who he was the sole caretaker of ) and who held him to an impossible standard and only cared about achievements, not who he is as a person.

From their perspective. Jesse's an ungrateful child born into privilege that he squandered. He's a repeat drug addict and dealer who would negatively influence their son who's on the right track.

They're both correct. Even more so since they're not omnipresent like we are.

-- Consistent Consequences --

In Breaking Bad, the tone of everything is consistent. The world is meant to be grounded like our own with funny moments here and there. The characters are thoroughly established and explored in isolated and social settings, thus establishing the rules of how they operate. This establishment of the rules means any deviation that's not been consistently established creates a tonal whiplash or plot/character inconsistency. Every character has a sin that begets their downfall.

When I saw this state of Walter, I didn't think, "omg poor babeee," I thought, "what the absolute fuck. You threw away a good life because you were too narcissistic to take the help from your friends and family. Your actions have literally killed hundreds."

Walt's not tragic and pitiful because he's an innocent woobie. Walt's tragic and pitiful because he's a guy who was down on his luck. A man who was shaped by the traumatic event of watching his father die. A man who made stupid ass decisions out of hubris thus turning his life and the lives of those around him a living hell. And the show establishes all of this from subtle to overt actions he takes starting in episode 1.

The show doesn’t excuse Walt’s actions. It contextualizes them so we understand him and empathize with him as a POV character. But at his core, we know who and what he is. By the end of the show, it further solidifies this, establishing that he’s the architect of his own demise.

So why does Stolas feel broken?

( God this screen shot. He could've been a cool villain wtf. )

-- Tonal Inconstency --

Everyone knows that pilot Stolas is best Stolas for me. The dynamic was simple: he pesters Blitzo for sex in exchange for his book and Blitzo tries to run his business. Good set up. Great.

But starting with LooLoo Land, they went with coffee shop au Stolas because someone suggested it on Viv's team and she just ran with it.

I don't like the latter BUT - this still could've worked.

The problem with this is, common with Viv's works, none of this was planned. There wasn't a blueprint as to who was who, the conflicts that could cause, and where to go.

Of course I write gay little fanfics so I know you won't know everything upfront. But Even then I still had a blueprint for the first five chapters to ensure tonal consistency and backstory. Any edits I've had to make at current have been extremely minor. Also, I'm one writer and editor whereas Viv has a team of four writers for HoaB.

The show takes place in hell, yet Breaking Bad feels and is more edgy, amoral, and demonic than HoaB ever is. Which is crazy because - it's hell.

I know a lot of HoaB critics hate that Stolas is a racist who extorts a lower-class individual for sex, but I like that. This is hell. I want to see evil things, even as a dark comedy, and how that plays out.

I like that the show establishes Stolas as a well-meaning but shitty dad who's priotizing sex over family obligations ( his daughter ).

I love that he's consistently condescending to socially lower classes without seeing that as a problem. Why would he? He's been raised in luxury and he's a Goetia.

Up until around s1e5 everything felt more like a dark comedy. What was promised and shown in the pilot. But - major cracks started to show around this point for me...

Octavia mentions that her parents used to love each other and get along. This is hinted at in paintings in their house. If they didn't get along before, Octavia would've mentioned that or not said how they used to get along. No person I've ever known who had a parent being abused didn't not notice that shit...

Because season 1 is primarily a comedy, the "abuse" scenes play out like one. I initially thought this further exploration between Stolas and Stella would be "Tom and Jerry antics" with Stella trying to kill her cheating husband as a kind of c-plot.

So the tone and plot consistency is breaking from Octavia's comments and what was established prior, but nothing super major... YET.

After this, we get the amazing scene in s1e6 where Blitzo trips balls and reveals more about him as a person.

Fizz's line, "You tried the solo act - didn’t work out so well!" builds on his introduction in s1e2. Because this is from Blitzo’s pov, I wonder "what and why" in a good way. So far this trip aligns with Blitzo's character highlighting his persistence in maintaining his business to mask his lack of self-worth - both in terms of class and interpersonal relationships.

Then we get Stolas...

The way I interpreted this scene is that Blitzo is stuck in the muck of his past mistakes with ex friends and lovers. The golden stairs appear, which seem to represent his idea of moving up in life through Stolas, even at the expense of his integrity ( insert chains motif ).

But then, Dream Stolas says, "Are you afraid to love people, Blitzy?" which I initially thought was him mocking Blitzo, as this is true in the context of his peers, NOT Stolas who he's shown to hate with NO inkling of lust or love. Only transaction for the book.

This makes more sense with what we've been shown, right? There's been no covert or overt hints that either Blitzo or Stolas love each other nor want to be with each other beyond the lustful transaction of sex. RIGHT???

Stolas saves the day and looks like an intimidating asshole. He's upset because Blitzo almost got caught, which would jeopardize Stolas' job, which is shown here to be his primary concern. The lighting and framing of this eludes to all of this.

So far so good. Everything about their dynamic is intact while heightening Stolas as a threat to Blitzo if he fucks up again.

This is a good escalation of conflict! It's been established that despite wanting to be a professional Blitzo is anything but, which is also good internal conflict for him.

THEN OZZIE'S HAPPENS.

Stolas is watching TV where some imp says, "why won't you love me Alejandro?" And Stolas replies, "that's a mood, Gabriela!"

In isolation, I like this little scene! Scary but affable demon has a soft spot for soap operas. Nice comedy. But unfortunately, this is foreshadowing to something that will be poorly executed s2 onwards...

The payoff is Blitzo lies to Stolas that he's asking him on a date so he can spy on Moxxie and Millie. First: Blitzo was in the wrong for this. He's being creepy and exploiting someone's lust for him. But this is consistent for him. He exploited Stolas for sex before, and he's shown in the prior episodes to have weird attachment issues with his coworkers. Solid. Good.

This works so long as the tone remains a dark comedy. But as seen in s1e6 THE SHIFT HAS BEGUN. So these kinds of exaggerated jokes start to not work when the show wants us to take the moral consequences of these characters seriously.

I'm going to do something controversial... I'm going to give Stolas a slight pass in this episode. From his pov he thinks Blitzo is being sincere. From his pov he doesn't see the power-dynamics of his past actions because - it's hell; there's a caste system. For all he knows: this is sincerely a fun date that an imp, being lower class, would enjoy as he's being offered privileges he normally doesn't have access to.

Stolas is making an effort to know and accommodate Blitzo. "What are you looking at? Do you prefer red or white wine? How was your day? How did you kill them? So what made you decide to ask me out after all this time?"

This is GOOD. This is showing that, while not malicious in his prior treatment, Stolas is at least highly privileged and ignorant but wants companionship. Gilded cage and all that. You can work with this. You can have great internal and external conflict here.

But the core thing that should be retained is Stolas' past and future actions are still deplorable. The inherent nature of these actions shouldn't be ignored by Blitzo because Blitzo's been calling them out since s1e1. Stolas offered sex for his book, knowing Blitzo needs it. He's constantly condescending to Blitzo primarily for his species ( imp ) and treats him like a plaything.

Since Blitzo historically dislikes Stolas' racism and being treated as a play thing because he's an imp and Stolas wants to care for and be with Blitzo: Stolas will have to endure the growth and setbacks of his past actions.

That's what Ozzie's is now setting up as their arc. So long as the show remembers this while becoming more serious in tone, it'll be good.

Right?

RIGHT?

SO THEN THIS SHIT HAPPENS.

To me this was the first scene that really let me know the prior character relations are dead as is the primary tone ( comedy ). It went from funny toxic yaoi ship to woobie toxic yaoi ship.

-- Rewrites and Retcons --

Remember that scene of Blizo being chained by Stolas? It wasn't an allegory for their toxic WORK relationship. No... It was ALSO because Stolas loved him and Blitzo loves Stolas but Blitzo didn't think Stolas could love him because insert garden scene from s2e9 reasons which contradicts Blitzo's reasons from s2e8. This extends to almost everything concerning who Stolas is and it travels to other characters to ensure both Blitzo and Stolas are woobies with Stolas being the worst offender.

Stolas didn't cheat because he's a spoiled lustful Goetia from privilege! He cheated because his wife is a domestic abuser ( insert Octavia's claims of otherwise ), he's a downtrodden closeted gay, and he was lonely! It wasn't bad that he cheated when he could've simply divorced his wife when Octavia came of age or beforehand! The gay human who cheated on his wife and prevented her family from seeing their kids proves Stolas is innocent and all of this is morally ok! Because the gay humans are happy! STOLAS DID NOTHING WRONG. That gay man's wife was mad that her husband cheated on her and prevented them from seeing her family, which makes her worse than Hitler!

Tracking back a bit - there's a lot of shit that happens from the dumbass "we knew each other as kids" shit and SO MUCH OTHER CRAP. But essentially, not only does the tone shift in a way that's a whiplash, it breaks the established character motivation and lore.

Blitzo first and foremost, since s1e1, wants to be his own man and not looked down upon. He has a contempt for higher classes due to his treatment as an imp. S1 Stolas was a perfect foil for Blitzo because he stood for everything Blitzo hated. Stolas is rich, classist, and racist. Even when Stolas was trying to be courteous, it's not until s2e8 that he KINDA' apologizes for the sexual exchange he had Blitzo under.

I know there's a lot of hate for this scene, but it still works in parts. Of course Blitzo wouldn't believe Stolas because their history has been largely transactional. Of course Stolas would be upset because he's too dense to realize this fact and how it could affect Blitzo's outlook of him. And of course Stolas would be a baby about it because of who he's established to be.

-- Excuses -- But the tone and execution feels very one-sided... Apology tour makes Blitzo out to be the big bad and frame Stolas as innocent in all of this which is INSANE.

I hate everything in the garden scene so much... "so you're used to being the one who crushes others' feelings?" This contradicts your "only if you want to" outlook and shows you DIDN'T care about Blitzo's autonomy but expected him to choose you. Stolas thinks he was being like Beast, but he wasn't until s2e11 and even THEN that's breaking his promise to Octavia.

Like - Stolas claims that Blitzo's brain dead and thinks all of his racism and classism is in his head BUT, NIGGA - THE FIRST SEASON. GO BACK TO THE FIRST SEASON??? Also you're a pretensious shit in Sinsmas and constantly belittle Blitzo for being poor while insulting imp customs ( which canon Blitzo would NOT tolerate )??? You ADMIT you were lustful and threw your privileged life away and that you care about that more like - LOL WHAT???

Stolas never apologized for being racist. In fact - he denies that he ever was! He admits throwing his life away for a fantasy. Shows various times in Sinsmas he still thinks imps are lower in customs and lifestyle. This all makes Blitzo correct in his prior assumptions. And Apology Tour makes Stolas out to be completely innocent?? Like - WHAT IS THE ARC. WHAT IS THE FOLLOW THROUGH.

I know that there's two povs here but like - even when switching back and forth it's not consistent anymore?

Am I supposed to think Stolas is a poor man who's suffering the insults of a bitter imp and an abusive wife? OR - Am I supposed to see Stolas as struggling to overcome his pride, prejudice, and lust but because he doesn't and refuses to see the truth and apologize he's enduring the results of his actions???

Is Stolas a Skyler where he's forced to do horrible things because of systems or other characters made him or is he a Walter?

Other videos have done a better analysis of how everything is broken in this show concerning Blitzo and Stolas. I know that Breaking Bad is like topology mathematics, whereas HoaB is at best multiplication tables... BUT - there should be character consistency. Cause and effect. Actions and consequences.

The show woobifies Stolas when he's done bad things that should logically play out bad.

I'd say Sinsmas is the start of Stolas reaping what he sows which would be great! His sin was lust and considering the rules his current life makes sense. But is the show going to show and imply, "this is what happens when you do _ in this world" or is the show going to pull an Apology Tour?

Gus, Jesse, Walter, Skyler, etc? They all suffer the actions of their consequences.

If Breaking Bad were written like HoaB the show would frame Gus as "poor woobie gay man who's lover got killed by the cartel! Sure he was going to poison millions with drugs and later uses and kills kids while exploiting those around him for his long-term revenge plot, but he had to! His gay lover was killed! He was upset! Everything was taken from him! It makes sense in context! Gus is just going through a lot!"

And this is why I don't like how they handled Stolas or Blitzo...

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

I know it's not Wednesday for this, but I have to share it before I lose it.

Unbreakable bond headcanon time:

Sonic has a little bit of a skill for woodworking, something he usually doesn't brag about, but is a cool skill to have.

Yeah, he was around 12-13 at the time, but he has the rad skills for days.

Well, he decides to make something for Tails, who was about 4 or 5 at the time, as a first birthday present to the kid.

The one thing he notices is that Tails is small, small enough to where he usually has to help him see over the counter in the kitchen or in the bathroom to reach the sink. He decides to make the kid something that will help him to reach high levels he can't reach, a footstool.

So, over the past couple of weeks, he starts to work on it, letting Tails help him with the safer stuff while he handles the more difficult parts.

"Sonic, is it ready yet?"

"Not even close to ready."

He saws and drills the attachments as Tails watches from the porch, drawing in a coloring book that he had got for him.

"How about now?" Tails called out from the window of the living room.

"Not yet!"

He files off the rough edges and places on the finishing touches. Taking a can of paint, he coats it with the with the brightest color of yellow he could find, that way the kit will be able to find it easily if he needed it when he wasn't around.

"Now?" He could hear Tails behind him, the sound of the makeshift stick sword whipping through the air as he swung it around.

"Hmm, we're getting there."

Sonic hammers in rubber stubs at the bottom, so it wouldn't slide around the wooden floors, which tended to be slippery.

"Well, now?" This kid really needed to learn the word "patience" on a daily basis.

"Let's see...."

Today was the day. He brought Tails outside, covering his eyes and bringing him over to where he had the stool.

"Ta-da! Happy birthday, keed."

The kit stayed silent as he gazed upon the footstool, his tails lowering to the ground as if he was... disappointed. Sonic felt a twinge of worry rise up on seeing his unreadable face.

He was looking forward to this for days, what's the sudden silence?

He was about to ask what was wrong before Tails beat him to it.

"It's missing a face."

"Huh?"

"It's face. It doesn't have one."

"Oh, Footstools don't usually have faces on them, bud."

"They don't?"

"No."

"Well.....can mine have one?"

After asking him in that manner without the usage of the dreadful puppy dog eyes, he couldn't say no to not at least trying to grant that wish.

He quickly rushed inside and grabbed his pocket knife, carefully carving two eyes against the surface, adding a smiling mouth to add to the detail.

He held the stool up to him, showing him the newly made face. "There you go, how does that look?"

Tails face instantly lit up as he lets out an excited gasp. "It looks so cool!"

He took it from Sonic and quickly climbed up onto it, holding his arms out as it wobbles under him.

"Look, I'm almost as tall as you now!"

Sonic compared Tails' height to his with his hand. "Oh man, you're right! You can definitely reach the ceiling with this, little guy."

Tails then flew around him, giggling excitedly. "You're the bestest, the greatest, awesomest brother ever!" He launched himself at Sonic’s torso, knocking them both down into the grass.

A painful wheeze escaped from Sonic, but he fought through it. "The bestest you say?"

"Mmm-hmm! These bestest of the best!" He exclaimed, nuzzling his cheek against his.

"I'm glad you like it."

"I love it! I'll take good care of it, forever and ever!"

"Oh, yeah? Guess I found the right kid to build it for, huh?"

===

(Basically, it looks like this, but with a painted yellow with a crudely craved smiley face on it)

[salty-an-disco]

Soooooooo, I mentioned in another post how I kinda wanted to start posting some writing advice, mainly 'cause writing is a special interest of mine and I rarely get to talk in-depth about its technical aspects, so here I am!!

To start off, let's go with something that's a bit of a pet peeve of mine: paragraphs breaks. When to do it, when not to do it, and how it can greatly affect the pacing and feel of a story. So lez go!!

How to Paragraph

The main purpose of paragraphs within a narrative is pacing and organization. Generalizing it very broadly: long paragraphs give the impression of a slower and calm moment, while short paragraphs one after the other will make for a more dynamic and fast-paced moment; a moment of introspection from a single character vs a back-and-forth between multiple characters, for example.

When I just started writing, I'd honestly just feel out when to break paragraphs. And that's not a bad way to go about it, to be honest. Paragraph breaks is as much about aesthetic as it is about technicality. Sometimes, just going for what looks right can be the right way to go about it.

But as time went on, I did develop some strategies and got to learn why certain paragraph structures feel 'right' while others don't. And that's what I'll be going into here.

When a subject ends, the paragraph ends

This is a common advice writers will spout on this, but what do they mean by this?

From my experience, a 'subject' in narrative writing, can be separated in these categories:

Thoughts (internal)

Actions (external)

I'm going with the assumption that you're writing in some sorta limited POV, as that's my main form of writing, tho these could be worked into other structures too. And so, in this form of writing, you can generally pretty easily separate characters thoughts by subject.

Separating thoughts from action is easy enough. Simply, when the narration goes from describing an internal monologue to describing an action being done, the paragraphs should be separated.

As heart-wrenching as Blue Belle’s expression had been, Sebastian needed the break to deal just with the usual adult-life headaches. And while he fully intended on giving her some tidbits if she wanted, he wasn’t about to throw everything out for the kid.

Something buzzed again, and an irked groan came before he could catch himself, but it was his normal cellphone that was buzzing.

[note how the phone buzzing is being described in a different paragraph from Sebastian's internal monologue. Not only does this give the scene some flow, but it also showcases the 'action' interrupting the 'thought']

A chapter of pure monologue though shouldn't be a single block of paragraph, of course. 'Thoughts' can also be separated into subjects within themselves (same for action, but we'll get there). For 'thoughts' this can be a bit more difficult, as if a character is musing on a single thing throughout several paragraphs, it can be hard to spot when the focus changes.

It's also hard to properly explain, so let's try to illustrate how this can look like instead, using an excerpt from one of my NITW AU fic:

This was probably the most Pamela had ever visited Hero and Carter’s apartment ever since those two moved in together. Not because of a lack of care for her bandmates, no, no. She just– didn’t feel all too comfortable invading those two’s privacy. The band practices and occasional hang out were more than enough for her. Ever since Cole came back from the woodworks, though—aka, college—it felt like she spent more time around these three than not. That was most likely inaccurate, but it was what it felt like. The atmosphere in these hangouts could go from relatively light, to ice cold in an instant depending on the subjects brought up. And Pamela almost felt bad for consistently being the one to bring up said subjects and bringing the mood down, but they weren’t kids anymore! They couldn’t just go around pretending everything was fine, they had jobs to do, and problems to address. That was how adults carried themselves.

This entire block is just Pamela (this AU's Paranoid) monologuing about Cole's (Cold) return to the town and how it affected the dynamics of her friend group. Leaving it all in a single paragraph isn't technically incorrect, but it can make things seem overwhelming for readers, and personally, it's just kinda ugly. So let's separate this paragraph every time Pamela changes her focus–

This was probably the most Pamela had ever visited Hero and Carter’s apartment ever since those two moved in together. Not because of a lack of care for her bandmates, no, no. She just– didn’t feel all too comfortable invading those two’s privacy. The band practices and occasional hang out were more than enough for her.

Focus here: Brief summary of how it was before Cole came back

Ever since Cole came back from the woodworks, though—aka, college—it felt like she spent more time around these three than not. That was most likely inaccurate, but it was what it felt like.

Focus here: How Cole's arrival changed things up

The atmosphere in these hangouts could go from relatively light, to ice cold in an instant depending on the subjects brought up. And Pamela almost felt bad for consistently being the one to bring up said subjects and bringing the mood down, but they weren’t kids anymore! They couldn’t just go around pretending everything was fine, they had jobs to do, and problems to address. That was how adults carried themselves.

Focus here: The atmosphere around these hangouts, what affects it, and why that is

This isn't a cut-and-dry thing tho. Even in this excerpt, there are other ways I could've cut things up. Just that last paragraph, I went back and forth a lot on whether to make the 'we're adults' section its own paragraph too, or not. In the end, I'd say trust your intuition. And I'd also suggest trying out different ways to cut your paragraphs so that you can see how it looks, and decide then what looks better.

As for how to separate action, this one is honestly pretty easy once you get the hang of it. A mistake I see a lot of writers make is having several different actions done by different characters in a single paragraph, and that's something I'd really advise to completely avoid. Differently from thoughts, which can still be forgiven for being in a long-ass paragraph, action will easily get confusing if it isn't separated properly, especially between multiple characters.

As a rule of thumb: if it's between different characters, it should be in different paragraphs (exception being: interactions between characters; hugging, high-fiving, etc)

This goes double-fold for dialogue. Do not put dialogue from different characters in the same paragraph, that'll easily get your reader confused on who's talking.

Here's an example from my fic '(Explore) This New Old World'

“And how would we pay for a ride?” Hero frowned, turning to Skeptic. “We don’t have any money, we don’t even know what’s the money in here.” Cheated threw an arm around Hero. “That’s–” And turned him so he was looking at the counter where Opportunist was still talking it up to a small group around him. “–what silver-tongue right there is going to figure out for us.” Hero’s brows furrowed even further, and he opened his mouth to voice his confusion, before realization hit him like a slap on the face. “Noooooooo,” Hero drew out the word, horrified, as he slowly turned his head to face the other two who seemed to be in agreement with this. “Yeeesss,” Cheated drew back, grip tightening on Hero’s arms as if to stop him from jumping onto Opportunist’s throat.

It just looks clunky and needlessly confusing. Which is why in the actual fic it's separated as such–

“And how would we pay for a ride?” Hero frowned, turning to Skeptic. “We don’t have any money, we don’t even know what’s the money in here.”

“That’s–” Cheated threw an arm around Hero, turning him so he was looking at the counter where Opportunist was still talking it up to a small group around him. “–what silver-tongue right there is going to figure out for us.”

Hero’s brows furrowed even further, and he opened his mouth to voice his confusion, before realization hit him like a slap on the face.

“Noooooooo,” Hero drew out the word, horrified, as he slowly turned his head to face the other two who seemed to be in agreement with this.

“Yeeesss,” Cheated drew back, grip tightening on Hero’s arms as if to stop him from jumping onto Opportunist’s throat.

Much easier to read, feels better paced, and most importantly: makes the punchline all the much stronger.

I could go more in-depth about dialogue structure and how descriptions around it helps with the sense of time and pacing, but that's getting into another whole other topic altogether. For now, this is all I had to say about paragraphs. Hope it was helpful in any way, or at least entertaining, and good luck on all writing endeavors :D

[freezerbnuuy]

Act 4:18 - The Man with his Heart on the Outside (Page 1)

LORE | CHARACTERS | ABOUT / WARNINGS | CHAPTERS

← PREVIOUS | BEGINNING | NEXT →

Daniel

a month later

Father has gone to bed after a long day of fishing. Tomorrow, we go to the markets at Finchwick again over the weekend in the hopes of selling what we don't plan to eat.

In a sense, it's good to be back to a normal life. I enjoyed what I learned of woodwork with Eli, but come to think of it, fishing's not so bad. Maybe if I save enough money, I can look at setting up something of a workshop here- Father and I will have a way to earn good money over the winter then.

I read the letter I received this afternoon- I can barely read the handwriting, though I recognise the surname in the signature - Annorin. It's written on fanciful paper, decorated with a sort of watermark of a gryphon in the background. This is definitely a physician's handwriting. I can't read a thing otherwise.

I've been meaning to apologise to Eli for the way I treated him, I've just been too busy with work. I figure I'll take the chance of going to see Owen, see what this is all about. He's a physician, so he's going to be logic over emotion, I imagine. Maybe he'll understand my side of the story, at least. 

The Annorin mansion is no less daunting than ever. I see a man leave with a crutch and a bandaged stump of a leg. I hope I never have to have anything amputated. I doubt Josiah will dip into surgery.

There's a young housemaid looking down at her hands who turns to me in fright, quickly grabbing her broom and seemingly pretending to brush away something on the floor. Hey, if she's taking a break on the job, I'm not going to judge. If Annorin wants her to work harder, he should pay accordingly. He's got enough money, hasn't he?

"Hello there, Miss. I got a letter from Owen Annorin-" 

"Yes, hello! You must be Mr. Reyes."

"I am, yes, but I'm not actually sure what he wanted. To be honest...I can't read his handwriting."

"Oh?" The young girl giggles. "You won't be the first or the last to say that! Pass it here, I'll take a crack at it."

"Let's see. Dear Mr. Daniel Reyes - Umm, err… Oh, goodness, this is bad, isn't it? Oh- there, look. There's 'Eli', that's his brother. Oh. Oh! You're Eli's - Ohhhh, this is interesting, such drama! I have to keep reading!"

"…'Your side'… and also - what letter is that? Is that even in the Henfordian Simlish alphabet?"

"Sorry, Mr. Reyes, that's all I could get from this! It's like ancient scripture! It's like a drunken spider managed to pick up a quill and pen this entire letter-"

"Miss Kinsey?"

The young girl turns to her employer, hiding the letter behind her back. I hope I haven't gotten her in trouble.

"Oh! Dr. Annorin-  I mean, Owen! How lovely to see you! And what wonderful writing you have! The flourishes, the elegance- it's like it's written by an old monarch!"

"Why don't you go and prepare some breakfast for our guest, Tilly?"

"Of course, Owen! Right away! And you as well! I'm making sure you eat this morning- Lydia's orders," she adds, right on time with her employer's growling stomach.

"Thank you, Tilly."

The girl rushes into the kitchen, but I don't hear any pots clanging, nor do I smell anything cooking. 

"My fault, Owen. I distracted her-"

Owen makes a small creepy chuckling sound in his throat. "Don't apologise, Daniel. She isn't in trouble. I'm glad you arrived. Though, I must ask...Is my handwriting really so awful?"

"Well..."

"No, don't answer that question," he interrupts, leading us into the kitchen. Tilly rushes back to the table to put out the cutlery; who needs this many different knives and forks?

"Breakfast is served! Bon appetit!"

There's an aroma of hot tea. The kitchen has been completely redone since last time. It's a lot more spacious, and somehow less gaudy. The small round table has been replaced with a huge long table, complete with a gryphon centrepiece- all the fanciness you'd expect from someone with far too much money. I feel like steak and vegetables is a bit heavy for breakfast, but I won't say no, and dive straight in.

"I understand you might be unnerved by me summoning you here- but I wanted to hear your side of the story where the...situation between you and my little brother is concerned. I imagine there were heated emotions on both sides."

There was,  and Eli deserved none of them. He could have listened to me, of course he could have- but it isn't like I listened to him, either.

"There was. I said some things to him I couldn't take it back. I was forced into witchfinding by Volpe. I didn't hurt anyone- Micah did all that for me. Oskar killed Micah, and in the heat of it all, I defended myself from Oskar and left a cut on his face."

Owen's expression changes frantically - something nearly like a charging bull when I mention Volpe, and something of genuine surprise when I mention Oskar.

[witchoflegends]

@ficklefables sent:

From what Logan had heard, coming up to the business office with something that's not business-related was probably... not the best idea. But he was out of options. At the very least, rather than make the problem worse by storming in, he waited through the line like everyone else. (And considered leaving several times. His dedication to this stupid invitation should be acknowledged.) "You really oughta have a TV or somethin' out in the hall to help deal with that wait." Pretty big office to only have... one person working it. No wonder the line was so bad—sheesh. "Or at least get a second person in here to do somethin' for ya. You the Snow White I've been hearin' so much about?"

Snow, of course, is up to her eyeballs with work . Long lists of things that need to change and people that need help. She had, idealistically, thought that things would calm down after a while. That as she started slowly working on things, the lists would get shorter. However, it seemed more and more fables were coming out of the woodwork when they learned that the Business Office was now somewhat capable. Which she supposed was a good thing in the end.

"I'll get right on that," she replied flatly. Eyes staying on her current focus. Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of people Snow trusted to not misuse working in the Business Office. She didn't recognize the voice, but there were a lot of fables she had never met. Though, the question made her furrow her brow. "Of course I-" Her words died in her throat as she looked up at the man that looked so much like Bigby Wolf. It obviously wasn't a glamour. Otherwise she'd be convinced it was Bigby. "Well, this is uncanny. How can I help?"

[buffyfan145]

Watched the first 2 episodes of "The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart" on Amazon and they did such a great job adapting this!!! :D I read it but it's another thing to see it on screen and with such a great cast. So many twists and how all these secrets get revealed. It is hard to watch at times but this is Alice's story and her learning the true history of her family and overcoming everything she goes through and learning the language of flowers and their meanings. The soundtrack is really good too. I'll watch 3 later tonight but then it's weekly for the other 4 episodes.

Then I have to add being a fan of LOTR/"Rings of Power" seeing Charlie Vickers in this role is such a prep for how we're going to see him fully as Sauron in season 2 and beyond. His character Clem in this is so similar and can go from terrifying to charming and loving and back in an instant. You get why Agnes fell in love with him, as did others, and we even have a child actor playing a younger version of him in flashbacks on the flower farm with his mom. He's also extremely gifted in woodworking just like Sauron with blacksmithing and jewelry, and uses that to charm over his wife, daughter, mother, and all the people in his life. Plus, it's mentioned he wasn't like that as a child by his sister Candy similar to how Mairon was "the admirable" and changed later and if I'm remembering right Melian (the fellow Maiar that a lot consider to be like his sister and also was associated with Yavanna like he was) said that she could still forgive him because of who he was before.

Then this little girl playing younger Alice looks and feels so much like Celebrían and how we've written her in our fics. She associates fire with her dad and water with her mom, also thinking of the selkie myth to describe her parents and that her mom needed to go back to her people in the water but her dad wouldn't let her go. Then her being named for "Alice in Wonderland" and then thinking of how Celebrían went to Valinor after her tragedy where Yavanna, Melian, and the rest were all there. There's so much already I can see us Haladriel shippers using for edits, gifs, fics, and fanvids. It's surreal sometimes for me how I pictured her and them and then now seeing this and there's likely to be more.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #46: FRANCHISE

July, 1989

Great Lakes Avengers Assemble?!

I have been waiting for this.

I've read this issue before, in a collected edition of Dan Slott's Great Lakes Avengers miniseries. But now I have all the context leading up to this and I'll get to see what else this wacky group did in their early appearances.

And, hell. Out of everything in the Byrne run so far, this is his first shake up that's not deeply annoying!

Byrne is the one who pulls the trigger on the idea of a third Avengers team teased when Vision was trying to expand the Avengers. But not quite as he enVisioned it.

Hah.

Last times on West Coast Avengers: Between issues, Tigra, Hank Pym, and the Wasp joined the West Coast Avengers. Then Vision got kidnapped by every government in the world and disassembled into a pile of parts. Hank Pym puts everyone's favorite synthezoid back together but he's all white now and he doesn't have emotions and only has Avengers case files for memories.

The American government also forced the West Coast Avengers to take on US Agent or else reprisals. Hawkeye quit in a huff after US Agent tosses him after Hawkeye tried to punch him.

We learned in the big Avengers meeting over in Avengers that Hawkeye has a new group so let's get into it.

Geez, Mr Immortal, you're a bit manic there.

A bank robbery is happening at the Milwaukee Farmers and Merchants Trust. And we know this is Milwaukee because one of the robbers very considerately wears a Milwaukee jacket.

A dude we'll later learn is called Mr Immortal drops down from the ceiling, quips a bit, dodges some gunfire, hits a couple dudes, and then... doesn't dodge some other gunfire.

That looks like it hurts.

The robbers gather around the dead, deceased hero to make sure he's really dead.

And he's gotta be, right? Half of his chest is bulleted to hell.

And then things go to hell. For the robbers.

Flatman swipes the hostages with his stretchy definitely not a spoof of Mr Fantastic body. Big Bertha OH YEAHs through the wall. Dinah Soar flies through a Doorman shaped portal in another wall.

The Great Lakes Avengers are usually treated comically. They're a ridiculous team, operating in a ridiculous area, with ridiculous powers and the big joke about them in the Dan Slott series was how they were constantly overshadowed by the official Avengers and how none of the other heroes wanted to interact with them.

Except Squirrel Girl, who they hired by sorta lying that they were the real Avengers.

Ridiculous group with ridiculous powers they may be but in this action sequence, they're coordinated. They had a good plan to distract the robbers so the hostages could be pulled out of harms way. And then their ridiculous powers took down the gunmen no problem.

Yeah, these guys aren't going to be fighting Doctor Doom without hefty authorial fiat (but isn't that the way all comics work anyway?) but they're not bumbling amateurs.

And I appreciate that.

Last robber standing backs away in shock horror... right into the arms of Mr Immortal.

Who is not, in fact, dead. Or at least, he didn't stay dead.

Immortal, y'know?

Robber: "They're poppin' outta th' woodwork! Who are these geeks? Milwaukee don't have no super heroes!" Mr Immortal: "Guess again! Y'all are gonna be seein' a lot of us from now on! Y'all are gonna be seein' us in your nightmares!" Robber: "Wha...? No!! You're dead!!!" Mr Immortal: "Wrong-o, creep! I'm just as right as rain! But you aren't gonna be! By the time I get done with you... You'll prob'ly never be anything like right. Not never again!!"

Mr Immortal apparently goes a bit berserk after resurrecting.

He punches the robber down and then starts stomping him.

Flatman has to pull him off the guy. And Mr Immortal won't settle down until Dinah Soar talks to him in an empty text bubble.

Dinah Soar is the only one who CAN get him to calm down.

Flatman guesses its some kind of hypersonic. In the later Dan Slott series, its revealed that its actually True Love what does it. Yes, for serious. It was sweet, actually.

Last member of the team comes into the bank and tells the rest that there's a bunch of police and reporters who want to know what the devil is going on.

Mr Immortal goes out to address the crowd and press. When reporter Peggy Allen asks him who this group of do-gooders is, he dubs the team...

THE GREAT LAKES AVENGERS!

Hawkeye hears the news report in the random motel he's staying in after rage-quitting the Avengers.

His first instinct is to call the team and let them know about randos infringing the brand but then decides 'fuck 'em' because he's still mad about the government meddling in the team.

There's a knok knok knoking on Clint's door and making his bad mood worse, its Mockingbird.

He is very sarcastic about his day being ruined but she says she's here to save their marriage.

News to him. He thought they were dead set on getting a divorce.

But time off-panel and with a different writer has cooled Mockingbird's head. And since they're both going through some trying times now, maybe they should rethink things.

Hawkeye: "You mean now that I've been kicked off the team I founded I'm all of a sudden a pitiful soul so you've gone all maternal and decided to come back to the roost and take care of me! Well, thanks but no thanks, Bobbi!" Mockingbird: "You're not being fair, Clint. Although I guess that's nothing new, is it?" Hawkeye: "And just what is that supposed to mean?" Mockingbird: "It means you have all the sensitivity of a brick. I got mixed up with the Phantom Rider because he drugged me, used me, and when you found out, did you react like a husband whose wife has been assaulted? NO!! You went off on some stupid macho kick! And I was hurt enough to pay you back with your own coin. When I needed you -- maybe more than I ever have before -- you were too busy stroking your wounded male ego to notice. Something that could have bound us even closer together drove us apart. Well... that damage is done. Now I'm here to see if it can be undone. Because, heaven help me, in spite of everything, I still love you!"

I can't believe Byrne of all people is cutting through the bullshit and having Mockingbird say 'hey all that stuff we were yelling about wasn't the crux of the issue and you were being a major asshole, Clint.'

He's re-litigating a lot of Englehart's stuff. Redoing the Tigra plot. Revising Englehart's origin for Vision. Shoving people that had quit back onto the team.

I didn't expect him to use this power for good.

Because the Hawkeye/Mockingbird falling out was bad. Maybe in character for the two stubborn jerks. But it needed another look and here we are, taking another look.

Mockingbird doesn't even entertain the notion that its really a philosophical disagreement about cowboy manslaughter.

I'll have to see where it goes. Because it could go poorly in its own unique way.

Back over at the West Coast Avengers Compound, US Agent has made a good impression on one person and only one person.

The new cook, Mrs. Heyges, who is pleased to see someone that actually enjoys a big breakfast.

Most of the West Coast Avengers only have a slice of toast and some orange juice.

US Agent: "A man has to keep his strength up, Mrs. Heyges. And, of course, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Besides... You're almost as good a cook as my mother!" Mrs. Heyges: "Well, gracias, sir! I know that must be quite a compliment."

Based on her comments that she doesn't get to really cook for the others, US Agent muses that he should introduce a proper meal schedule.

Then, Tigra happens.

Looking for a proper meal of her own.

A.k.a. chasing a mouse.

She's seemingly gone full feral, although she doesn't have that same alien cat look she did last time.

Either Byrne thought better of it or it comes and goes for some damn reason.

She chases a mouse in, hisses and growls when US Agent grabs her, and sullenly creeps away when he slaps her for trying to bite him.

The cat instincts have taken over.

(I don't love that we're doing this again but it is better than her trying to hump everyone? I mean. Slightly better. The main reason I'm annoyed is that we're just doing this plot again. In a vacuum it wouldn't be so bad.)

(Also also, last time she jumped through a window to chase a bird. I can only assume she's destroyed the local bird population. Folks, Tigras are inside Avengers. Keep them inside for their own health and for the good of the ecosystem.)

Mrs. Heyges says that Tigra has been hunting the mice that get into the pantry. And she's new here and didn't really want to tell an Avenger what to do so she just sorta figured. Hunting mice was part of Tigra's job??

US Agent declares this very gross and decides something has to be done!

I mean. Something does need to be done. It speaks ill of everyone that nobody has noticed Tigra's issues until now. And the only dude that sorta knew she was going through something was Hawkeye and he stormed off in a huff.

I guess Wanda is going through some stuff. And Wonder Man is being kind of a creep about Wanda's stuff. And Vision is very neutral on everything these days. But fucks sake, Wasp or Hank Pym. You two are the adults here!

Over in the A-plot, Mockingbird has convinced Hawkeye to go to Milwaukee to check out the group calling themselves Avengers. Because it beats him sitting around feeling sorry for himself for rage-quitting the West Coast Avengers.

Although, he's rewritten history so that he was unjustly fired.

But since he had the impulse to go check out the Great Lakes Avengers, why not ride that impulse into something productive?

So over in Milwaukee, the Great Lakes Avengers check out mysterious lights over the Germania Building.

Mr Immortal sends Dinah Soar to check out the roof of the building and has Doorman make a portal (with his BODY) so Flatman can get inside the building and look for a way to let everyone else in.

Flatman thinks to himself how weird it is that when he goes through Doorman, he feels like he's briefly in another place entirely. Like, not even on Earth anymore.

Apparently, a subtle nod to Doorman's powers working through the Darkforce Dimension.

Up on the roof, Dinah Soar gets ambushed and captured by some manner of bola arrow.

At the mercy of this mystery assailant, Dinah Soar takes out a little whistle and sadly tweets on it.

Mr Immortal and Big Bertha hear the sad tooting and realize Dinah Soar is in trouble!

So Big Bertha gets Mr Immortal to hang onto her back and high jumps to the roof to get him there in a hurry.

To the mystery assailant's bafflement.

Mr Immortal: "You get clear now while I take care of this clown." Mystery Assailant who is definitely not Hawkeye: "'Clown?' Takes spunk to wear a suit like that and call somebody else a clown, pal!"

Glass houses, mystery assailant.

Big Bertha falls back to ground level, laughing all the way.

I am not sure why she does this. In other stuff, she's usually one of the more serious members of the Great Lakes Avengers.

Anyway, some more Great Lakes Avengers thoughts. Presumably Big Bertha could have pulled herself up onto the roof. She's got super strength. But mystery assailant has already captured Dinah Soar so Mr Immortal is going in alone to feel the guy out.

He doesn't die when he's killed. He's the best for gauging threat level.

He's also a clown, whether or not you think his costume is sillier than anyone else's. Lets say Hawkeye, for the sake of an example.

He acrobats around mystery assailant and proclaims "Okay, wiseguy... I don't know what your game is... but you're way out of your league... now that the Avengers are here!"

Leading mystery assailant to reveal himself to be... AN IMPOSTER DRESSED LIKE HAWKEYE??

Hawkeye: "'Dressed as Hawkeye...??' I am Hawkeye, an' I'm here to find out what you so-called 'Avengers' think you're up to! In case you don't know it, buster, the Avengers' name isn't up for grabs by any ol' Tom, Dick, an' Harriet!"

So Mr Immortal kicks him in the face for impersonating an Avenger. That's rude, y'know. Probably not a felony BUT MAYBE IT SHOULD BE.

Mr Immortal: "You think you can defeat the Avengers by pretending to be Hawkeye? The real Hawkeye would have blocked my attack easily!"

Mockingbird shows up and repays the favor by kicking Mr Immortal in the face for kicking Hawkeye in the face.

She explains that Hawkeye sucks ass at close quarters combat. I don't think that's entirely true but I like to think Mockingbird isn't above being a little petty.

Mr Immortal is alarmed that there's a woman impersonating Mockingbird now!

It turns out that Mr Immortal is almost current with superhero gossip.

He knows that Mockingbird and Hawkeye have split up, he knows that Mockingbird quit the Avengers. He doesn't know that Hawkeye recently also quit the Avengers.

So you can see where the confusion comes from.

You might not see why Mr Immortal decides his next move is to backflip off the roof.

Maybe he wanted to see how the "imposters" would react to it.

Well, not personally. He'd have to rely on someone else telling him how they reacted to it. He's temporarily dead from hitting the ground really hard.

But Flatman saw the whole thing and realized that Mockingbird sounds sincerely distraught that a dude just died.

Hawkeye: "Flatman?? I don't believe it! You got a partner called 'Ribbon?'"

Its funny that DC comics is apparently fictional within Marvel because the Avengers have also met the Justice League.

Silly comics.

Mockingbird berates Hawkeye's joke for being inappropriate. A man just died!

Flatman awkwardly explains that Mr Immortal doesn't really die.

So at Mockingbird's request, they all convene at Great Lakes Avengers' HQ... er... Big Bertha's place.

It's a fancy place.

Hawkeye asks how she can afford such nice digs but it turns out that when Big Bertha isn't superheroing, she's supermodel Ashely Crawford, darling of many Vogue covers. One of the highest paid models in the biz.

So Hawkeye asks what a successful model is doing "playing super hero."

And again, at this point the West Coast Avengers are silly. They're comical. They're not a joke.

Big Bertha: "I don't think of it as... playing, Hawkeye. None of us do. We're all just as serious about this as you are."

Yeah, Hawkeye!

Mockingbird asks how the group got together... and why "Great Lakes Avengers"?

We don't get the whole story now but it's implied that Mr Immortal go them together and stated that the name was his idea. He wanted to maintain the coastal theme but there's no north coast so...

But the real question that Mockingbird is getting at is who do the Great Lakes Avengers think they are, using the Avengers brand without permission? The Avengers are pretty fussy about who gets called Avenger! Says the lady who is not currently an Avenger!

I don't think she actually cares. But she assumes Hawkeye cares and she's here to get his mind on anything but fuming about US Agent or her.

Annnnnd Hawkeye has changed his mind!

Hawkeye: "I'm startin' to think maybe this Midwest team isn't such a bad idea. Your powers are kinda funky, and your code names stink... But with the proper management... my management... This could be a heckuva team!"

Ah, dammit, Hawkeye! You ragequit one team so you're going to force your way onto this one, huh?

I don't know how it will be handled immediately in this book but after the fact, in the later Dan Slott series, the Great Lakes Avengers view the whole thing pretty cheerfully.

The big league came down to coach their team. It gives them credibility and helps them be better at superheroing, which they're all pretty serious about.

I'll have to see how it unfolds as it goes though.

Current team lead Mr Immortal is still regrowing his brains and hasn't expressed an opinion on Hawkeye's pending takeover.

It is so funny though! Hawkeye gets forced out of the West Coast Avengers slash quits so his rebound is to just take over someone else's team!

He does the same thing when he accidentally screws himself out of a spot on Busiek's Avengers! Tracks down the Thunderbolts and goes 'my team now.'

It may be his real superpower.

Anyway, the other B-plot.

Wanda seems to be doing better after the whole husband robot thing and dropping a cliff on Wonder Man. Maybe. Hard to say. She's had a good swim, at least.

And then Roberto Carlos of the Avengers Compound Support Staff brings Wanda a letter from the Absolon College of Robotics.

Remember Absolon College had that big list of mutants to do Something With and Wanda is the one they settled on?

The letter claims that their research into artificial intelligence may be able to restore Vision back to his good ol' self.

Is... is it public knowledge that Vision was taken apart by the government and had his brain FUBAR'd??

Because if not, that's a red flag!

The other red flag is that the letter is from Jeremiah Random, which sounds like a made-up name!

This is going to end badly! And I'm not just saying that because the next time box says THIS ANCIENT EVIL!

Follow @essential-avengers because woo! Great Lakes Avengers! Love those guys! Like, comment, reblog maybe?

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Would you give me some headcanons about Seth? And some about his “ kids? “ because l platonically love this man 🥰

Well. I mean. any headcanons I make are basically canon cause it's my au but yeah I'll share some small things about the guy and his found family-

(I rambled a bit whoops uh, read more)

-Seth is. a walking trash can, if you dare him and give him enough money he'll eat nearly anything. as long as it won't kill him-

-I've established he plays acoustic guitar, though he also likes woodworking, even though he never has time to pursue that hobby

-Knows a lot about guns. like. a lot.

-ALSO knows so much about cryptids and monsters, he'll ramble about them for hours if given the chance

-Doesn't draw much but he's pretty good at it.

-Stims by shaking his arm by his side or bouncing his leg. also just paces around. if especially stressed he'll hit his head though-

-He. sometimes forgets to take care of himself. like he needs to be reminded to take a shower or eat sometimes.

-Fucking. loves his friends. (platonically of course.) They're the family he never had and he'll kill for them.

-Speaking of which he's very good at fighting and is strong enough to knock someone out with a punch so. yeah-

-Has. like. no clue he's not straight nor completely cis (aroace, and He/They) cause he just doesn't know the terms. he's supportive definitely but man he has no idea. took him being told by either Gabriel or the rest of the BPS for him to realize that-

As for his "kids":

-Cesar's actually a decent cook. could be because he worked at a diner but he also learned some things from his mother.

-He's the closest to Seth. He never had a father figure in his life so Seth really took that role for him.

-Actually a bit of a goofball. loves joking around, though it also means he's a bit reckless at times. Sometimes not recognizing danger.

-Freezes when scared. he's had to have been saved by friends multiple times because of this.

-Struggles with frequent nightmares.

-Knows how to play piano! also is a pretty good singer too-

-Sarah has an interest in the supernatural and paranormal. which is why she joined Seth in the BPS to begin with.

-A great artist! She took on the hobby from Mark.

-A bit demanding at times, and once she has her sights on something, she'll want to get it done no matter what-

-Sometimes bosses Seth around. Mainly to get him to clean the apartment or even take care of himself. She scares him occasionally-

-Also pretty damn strong. won't hesitate to punch someone.

[smithysmith77]

Things I wish someone had told me about having a baby

*solely based on my own experience and not with the expectation that everyone's experience will be the same!*

Induction can take days

Induction can give you false contractions that really hurt

Epidural gave me uncontrollable shivering and pins and needles on my entire lower body but I'm glad I got it as it helped me stay calm and in a positive mood

If you get an epidural they will put in a bladder catheter and afterwards you can't feel your bladder and have to try really really hard to pee, because the urge to go isn't there. Very weird

Your butt region can hurt more than your vaginal region after giving birth/tearing

Bring soap/body wash. You will be covered in so many fluids after birth and I forgot to pack soap. Had to settle for a really good rinse.

Your milk won't be in right away and babies usually drink colostrum instead. HOWEVER sometimes colostrum isn't enough and if your baby is crying at the breast, turning bright red all over and hasn't peed, they are probably dehydrated and they need some formula! (Forever grateful to the nurse that told me this and fed him because I had no idea what was wrong)

Babies have the instinct to breastfeed but not necessarily the technique. My son was really bad at it for a while. We kept trying and it got better, but sometimes it doesn't and it is OK to do formula or pumping if it makes things easier for you!

People downplay the "baby blues" because they don't want to scare you but like. Wow. I wish I had done more to make things easier for myself beforehand, like clean the house, meal prep, etc. You don't believe it but you really won't have the time/ability for a while. Set up visits with your support people as soon as you can. I really needed them.

Everyone says, "It gets better! You got this! You're a great mom!" Which are true! BUT I feel like no one gave me actual concrete coping methods for when you're living minute by minute IN the anguish. So I'll share what helped me:

- the thoughts/mantras "I don't *have* to do this, I *get* to do this. This experience is a privilege. "

-And, "You can do hard things. Just do the next hard thing. "

Freaking podcasts. Ugh. Saved my sanity to hear sane, rational, interesting, funny adults talking in my ear when I was caught in the monotony and chaos of the newborn phase. You won't have two hands to read a book or even look at your phone a lot of the time. TV is fine for some but I found I liked something portable that kept my eyes free to watch my baby.

Walking with baby. There will be times when they will just cry, it's normal, safe and mundane. But it can be extremely triggering if you're not used to dealing with it. I used to get so panicked when I ran out of things to do to keep my son happy. That feeling of not knowing what to do was worse than the crying. After a couple months I learned to just start walking when we got to that point. Babies love it and it usually helped relive gas etc and put him to sleep eventually.

If you can, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. So many times it calmed my son down just to have a change of scenery, and helped me from going stir crazy and/or breaking down.

It affects your relationship, if you're in one. I couldn't sleep in the same bed as my husband for two months and when we did interact it was often rushed or interrupted. Try as hard as you can to carve out a few moments of meaningful connection time. Go on dates, even just for an hour, if you have someone who can babysit.

You will need help. Some moms just want someone to hold the baby for a bit so they can make a meal, meditate, whatever. Some moms want to hold their babies while someone else does the dishes or makes them a meal. I know not everyone has close friends and family but people do tend to come out of the woodwork when you have a baby and I encourage you, unless you think the person is unsafe to be around, take their offers of help. You have to put on your own life vest first, you know? A mom that's at her wits end is better than no mom but a mom that's feeling healthy is even better. Let people help you, if you can.

Good luck ♡

[razputin-vodello-au-archives]

Hmm.... hey, interns? Did you have any secret talents you never found out, other than your psychic abilities?

[Norma] That sentence ...doesn't make sense. How can we know if we have any secret talents if we never found out about them? It's just-

[Lizzie] Norma, stop being a pill about semantics and answer the question.

(Inters chuckle)

[Norma] Ugh ...secret talents ...do I have any? (Frazie leans over and whispers a suggestion in her ear) (Gives Frazie a playful push) (hushed voice) I am not telling them that.

[Frazie] Oh, c'mon, it's cute!

[Lizzie] Okay, now I'm curious.

[Norma] And you're gonna keep being curious.

[Lizzie] Compromise! How about we all start and you get the last word?

[Norma] (Pause) (Blushes as Frazie nudges her) Okay, fine. Hey, where's Raz, by the way? I just noticed he's not here.

[Frazie] He's helping Milla and Mom making dinner for tonight. By the way, you're invited too.

[Norma] Thanks.

[Lizzie] Are we done being wholesome? Let's get on with it! Oh, and Raz's hidden talent is hair styling and fashion, just gonna call that out.

[Adam] (Chuckles) I'll start. Turns out that playing around with my yo-yo's all the time made me realize that I'm actually ambidextrous.

[Sam] (Jokingly) I thought you were straight?

(Everyone chuckles)

[Adam] Har-har. No, seriously though, I didn't realize it was happening at first. I was writing something down, dropped something, switched over my pen to my other hand, grabbed the thing that had fallen on the ground and while I was checking if it wasn't broken or something; I just kept writing.

[Gisu] That's cool. When I was home for the summer, I helped out in a neighbours workshop, who is a professional woodworker. I got curious, he showed me some techniques and it seems I got a knack for woodworking. I'm thinking of making my own boards.

[Sam] I know how to do Mongolian throat singing. (Clears throat)

[Morris] Sam! Window accident? Remember?

[Sam] Oh yeah! I forgotten about that. Nevermind then.

[Morris] I know how to make mixtapes. I started making my own since last Summer, when we were in Brazil, after Espen showed me how.

[Adam] How are they, by the way?

[Morris] They're doing fine. They are thinking of coming over to America to learn business management, since they want to open a Music Label after they graduated.

[Lizzie] You guys know needle felting? That art thing where you stab at felt a million times until it becomes something? Me and Millie started doing that and I am apparently a natural at it.

[Norma] (Scoffs) Right...

[Lizzie] You don't believe me? Who do you think made that Cthulhu plushy that's menacingly looming in the corner of my room?

[Gisu] For real?

[Lizzie] For real! Okay, that leaves Frazie and Norma. Spill the beans, you two.

[Norma] (Groans)

[Frazie] (Giggling) You want me to tell them? (giggles as Norma just nods with an expression of defeat) Me and Norma have taken up a new hobby in secret a couple of months ago.

[Gisu] Hang on, is this about why you two disappear for hours sometimes?

[Adam] We just figured you two got somewhere private and ...well, got funky with each other.

[Norma] Don't ...ever use 'getting funky with each other' ever again, Adam. And it's not that!

[Gisu] Stop dancing around the issue and just tell us.

[Frazie] (Laughs) You guessed it!

[Gisu] What?

[Frazie] Dancing! Me and Norma have taken up Swing Dancing a couple of months ago and she's a natural pro at it.

[Morris] No!?

[Lizzie] For real!? Norma's got two left feet!

[Sam] Seeing is believing!

[Adam] Yeah, now you gotta show us!

[Norma] (Groans and tries to burry her face in her knees) Please stop...

[Frazie] Oh, don't be like that. You're amazing at it and we have so much fun during lessons. Our teacher says that Norma learned so quickly, she thought that Norma lied about being a total amateur.

[Norma] And she asked Frazie - pleaded, more accurately - to keep the extreme flexibility and contortionistic moves to a minimum, because she really freaked out some of the other people.

[Sam] Oh, now I gotta see this.

[Morris] I'm getting the music! (Hovers off to his room) I'm sure I got something in my collection.

[Gisu] Adam, Sam, help me clear the room. And get the camera, Raz will surely wanna see this. (Uses TK to clear the couch and table)

[Norma] Guys ...

[Frazie] (Gently takes hold of Norma's hand, looking pleadingly into her eyes) Norma, will you please dance with me? It would mean so much to me... I'll make it worth your while.

[Norma] (Blushing) Okay, fine. (Grins) But if we're gonna do this ...let's do it properly. You ...gotta wear the dress.

[Frazie] Yes! As long as you wear the suit. Let's get changed! (Grabs Norma and Drags her towards her room.)

[Norma] Be right back, guys! You better get the music ready.

[Lizzie] (Laughs) Oh, she's excited now. (Pause) Hmmm, swing dancing ...didn't Millie say she wanted to try that? (Shrugs) Oh well, you only live once. I'll text Mills about that later. (Grins) Right now, we've got a show to prepare for.