#like I gotta admit it probably wasn't as original as I thought

[guaca-and-her-sonder]

ok guys I think I might have actually liked TMC a little bit

[rosietrace]

This is a personal rant about my thoughts on Greek mythology retellings, and just the way Fantasy books and the publishing industry is at this point 🧍‍♀️

I have nothing against Greek mythology retellings, or just anything Greek mythology related in fantasy in general!

However, I have certain gripes about the way Greek mythology is portrayed in media, specifically in the way its interpreted in Fantasy.

[ More under the cut! ]

I love Percy Jackson, and I think that Uncle Rick did a wonderful job at expanding the world and making Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology entertaining and easily digestible for young audiences. Genuinely, he does a better job at writing children's books than R*wling could ever be capable of.

However, as much as I can love PJO as much as I do, I still find certain bits of the world building and character writing as... Very hit and miss.

To start, I don't like the way Ares was written in the series. I can understand that it would make sense for his personality to be that way, because he's the God of War and it helps with Clarisse's character development; but I find fault in it because Ares in the myths is nothing like PJO Ares. (He literally killed one of Poseidon's sons because he raped his daughter, Alcippe, and he's one of the only gods who doesn't hump anything that can breathe in air. At least Ares has the courtesy of asking for consent 💀)

The Gods being the reason behind WWII and Hitler being a child of Hades. All I must say.

The portrayal of the Aphrodite cabin

The fact that Athena can have children. Annabeth, pjo fandom at large, I love you are, but you gotta admit it must've felt weird when you first read the books and you find out Athena — the maiden Goddess of Wisdom — can have offspring. Regardless of the reasoning, I still find it weird 😭 (EDIT: I've now just remembered that it was a reference to how Athena herself was created 🤡 I'm a clown)

I get that the Hermes cabin is also the cabin for the unclaimed, but couldn't have Hestia's cabin worked too? She doesn't have offspring, sure, but it probably would've made more sense for the unclaimed to go to Hestia's cabin so that the Hermes cabin wouldn't be so crowded

This isn't really a world building issue, but I think I should bring it up: I'm not saying this against the Kane Chronicles fandom, but... Sadie and Anubis. Why. Like you can't convince me that no one WASN'T weirded out by that.

Less of a complaint and more of a question because I can't remember if the question was answered in HoO or not, but when Percy told the Gods to start claiming their unclaimed children and be more decent parents (as he should, go off king), did that request apply to the Romans at Camp Jupiter too? Because that's gotta have been confusing when the unclaimed kids at CP suddenly started getting claimed 😭😭

I could go on a whole ass tangent about PJO, but that would make this post longer than it needs to be 😭😭 and any of the points might not make much sense, since I haven't read the books in a LONG time

Off to the YA Fantasy segment... Hoo boy.

The oversaturation of Hades/Persephone retellings makes me SEETHE. Why is it always Hades and Persephone why can't it be something else 😭

I just don't like the “modern feminist” retellings of Greek myths in the YA Fantasy genre, in general. They tend to completely miss the point of the original myth, and it's the case with a lot of Hades and Persephone retellings where they try to paint Hades as the good guy taking Persephone away from her control freak mother, Demeter.

Because that wasn't what the myth was about. The myth isn't a love story, at least, not a romantic one. It was about Demeter's love for Persephone and how much she wanted her daughter back after Hades stole her away. Keep in mind, in the historical context of the myth, the daughters of women in ancient Greece never really get to see their mothers after their engagements are solidified.

If they wanted to make a “feminist” retelling of the myth, they'd have it centered around the love Demeter had for Persephone to almost doom the mortal realm to an eternal winter to get her back.

I love the myth of Hades and Persephone, truly, I do. I understand the appeal it has on people, the appeal it has one me. I can see why people adore the myth in the way they do because Hades is one of the better husbands in Greek mythology (a low bar, but my point still stands).

Personally, I blame Lore Olympus and especially the video of the myth by Overly Sarcastic Productions for the way the myth is portrayed in mass media. And I say this as a former LO fan and a fan of Overly Sarcastic Productions 😭

I'd also want to go into my many, MANY gripes about “Crown of Starlight” by Cait Corrain, but in all honesty? I don't think I can properly convey how much I DESPISE Cait and their book. So I'd highly recommend y'all to check out the videos about Cait Corrain by Reads With Rachel, WithCindy, and Xiran Jay Zhao on YouTube if you're interested in going into more detail about the controversies, especially for those who weren't made aware of it.

I feel like the publishing industry just... Isn't good anymore, after Booktok went viral. Reading has been “hot girlified”, and all Booktok seems to ask when they get recommended a book is: “Is it spicy??”

Reading is like fast fashion, now. It's all based around certain popular tropes that that's how books are promoted now. Not for the plot — or sometimes lack thereof — but for the tropes the book has.

The only thing I can thank Booktok for is that they helped me discover The Cruel Prince. And even then, it's marketed as romance on there, when it's a political fantasy with a romance subplot.

‼️ Woah! A secret bonus section! ‼️

I, personally, don't read — nor do I like — Sarah J Maas. (Especially considering the problematic aspects of her storytelling, character portrayals, and is (apparently, correct me if I'm wrong) a Zionist)

However, that isn't to say that I don't like some of the characters she makes. A lot of them have potential, actually! From what I've seen, I think Nesta, Gwyn, Azriel, Eris, Tamlin and Lucien from ACOTAR are the only characters I actually like, based on what I've heard — and seen — on anything in the SJM critical tag on this hellsite.

And while we're at it, let's discuss the elephant in the room with ACOTAR, right? Rhysand.

By all that is good and holy, I hate Rhysand so much and I think I'd hate him even more if I actually READ the books. I don't get why Booktok is so invested in him when Maas retconned Tamlin's character to make him look better as Feyre's love interest.

Also, from what I recall, didn't Rhysand sexually assault Feyre? And he didn't bother to apologize for it, and justified it with his sad tragic backstory??

I can't with y'all, istg 😭 the fact that “Feysand” is apparently a Hades and Persephone retelling too makes me even more mad about it because it isn't even a GOOD retelling. It just takes away what ACOTAR originally was— a Beauty and the Beast retelling, with Feyre and Tamlin as the leads.

Didn't Maas dedicate ACOTAR to her husband because “He would go under the mountain” for her??? BECAUSE IT CERTAINLY WASN'T RHYSAND WHO SAVED FEYRE FROM UTM, I'LL TELL YOU THAT

I think, out of all the series Maas has made thus far, Throne of Glass is the only one I ACTUALLY kind of like, based on what I've heard. Crescent City seems to be too complicated to understand, and even though I've never read it myself, I miss what ACOTAR could've been. (My hope lies with Nesta, Elucien and Gwynriel, at this point)

[allwormdiet]

Parasite 10.1

Welcome back Taylor, missed you, glad we come back to immediately find you waist-deep in moral sketchiness.

Never let it be said that Wildbow doesn't know how to establish a scene. You can feel the desperation and despair in the mounting heat and filth of the city streets, and of course Taylor's power means she can clock that better than a lot of other parahumans.

There's something very sad about the fact that Angelica is the last dog standing from the original three, and that even then she's still fucked up from the damage Fog did.

And of course Rachel probably puts a lot of blame for that on having saved Taylor's scrawny ass at the cost of Brutus and Judas, plus the other six dogs. Even if she would've made that attack on Leviathan without Taylor there, I'd be shocked if that association wasn't there.

I swear to god the official word for this liveblog is "bleak," but I'll stop calling things bleak when they stop being bleak, how about that.

Siblings!

Yeah, what I said earlier.

The fact that Shadow Stalker actually seems to respect the Undersiders more for being hardcore as fuck is. A little funny. Like okay, I guess her worldview has some consistency.

Also yeah, gotta be weird to realize you were going to school with a murderous vigilante. Can only imagine how Winslow students would feel about realizing Taylor was goddamn Skitter.

I'll admit it, this feels bad. Sophia deserves comeuppance for being a violent murderer but what she's about to be put through is beyond the pale. Genuinely one of the most fucked up things that has happened in this story so far.

But we'll get to that later.

Siblings!

Tattletale managing to be the peacemaker for once, which is a little funny.

Grue being exasperated by Imp is funny, but then it gets sad again when he looks over at Skitter because. Yeah. They'd actually gotten along okay for the most part, until the kiss and the Nazi attack, and then Armsmaster tried to ruin the relationship further and mostly succeeded.

The fascinating thing with Taylor is that she's also pretty uncomfortable with the moral lines she's crossing and how fast she's crossing them, it's just that she's really good at not letting that discomfort slow her down.

Quick overview of the Undersiders' current states, courtesy of Taylor's goddamn panopticon abilities. Also: puppies!

This was scary as fuck on the first read-through, and this time it's more... I think Alec has a bad sense of humor. Again, raised in a cult, so it's hard to know what's appropriate for comedy and what's, uhh, using your bodyjacking victim to falsely threaten the life of a teammate, but still.

Freaky as hell.

Current Thoughts

Regent's "secret weapon" turns out to be the scariest goddamn power of any Undersider, so that's. Something.

The group's tension with Taylor is palpable, even if it's just Brian and Rachel who seem to be feeling it with any heat. I dunno if Alec is one to forgive things easily (doubtful) or if he's enough of a pragmatist to let Taylor back in with relatively little complaint. Maybe it's a mild thing compared to the trust and loyalty he's used to with Heartbreaker's kids. I'll be curious to see whether Brian or Rachel relent first, because I think it could go either way.

Hoo boy. This arc. Thiiiis arc. I can't believe I'm feeling bad for Sophia goddamn Hess, but we've found a way to do it.

[roxtron]

Anyone ever think about the idea that the mimic is mimicking what it did to gregory before being trapped?

probably, I'm sure I'm not the only person to think about this. but am I going to talk about it anyway? absolutely. Okay so basically.. a couple of the mimic's voicelines are copy-pasted from Security Breach, right? While this is the first time we've seen the mimic copy anyone before, I believe most of his voicelines do come from somewhere. Sorry, that sounds vague. What I mean by that is I don't believe everything the mimic says is 100% a lie it created. For example a lot of people joke about the mimic being more whiny when pretending to be Gregory. Joking about how it's the biggest red flag because Gregory was never really that scared in Security Breach. But did it really just come up with that on its own? What if it's mimicking Gregory in the state he was in when he left? What if Gregory was that scared when dealing with the mimic? And it's not just that, I think some voicelines actually give a bit of hint to this too.

"Help! Something grabbed me! It won't let me go!" I feel like this line and others like it may actually describe what the mimic did. The way Gregory refers to the mimic as "that thing," and the only other 'thing' it could be pretending to be afraid of is the blob, which already tunneled out by the time Cassie gets here. And while the mimic isn't the best at keeping its story straight.. (Claiming to be running/hiding from Roxy while it's trapped under the sinkhole, though I believe that could be him trying to cover up the real Gregory attempting to speak to her, regaining control of the situation. After all if that voice line was the mimic why would Roxy run in the opposite direction of the walkie talkie to go chase him?) I feel like if the mimic was pretending it was the blob that grabbed him, he wouldn't also admit that it tunneled out later on. (I'll get to that don't worry.) Sure, this is a fabricated lie to lure Cassie, but my point is, what story is the mimic trying to create here? What is the mimic trying to claim happened to it/Gregory? I was going to bring these screenshots up later, but..

(Original screenshot + edited version to see the handprint better.) The handprint on the vent outside where the mimic is trapped, with Gregory's backpack underneath it, if you haven't seen theories about it already it seems to clearly imply Gregory lured the mimic in through the vent, that's his handprint. Why I'm bringing this up here though, that handprint looks bloody, doesn't it? Maybe it's just me, maybe it's just the lighting, but I feel like that looks more like a bloody/liquid stain smear than a smear of dust or something. So what if what happened was what the mimic described? It grabbed Gregory, and didn't let him go, causing his arms to get stabbed through and bleed after he escaped through the vent. (If you can't picture what I'm saying or just want a cool visual of this happening, go see this post it's cool and basically shows what I'm talking about, I only thought of this detail because of their post, also the art is cool.)

Anyway, moving on..

"That thing is here again. I gotta hide. Save me."

What if getting the mimic to that specific room wasn't all of the luring Gregory had to do? What if he periodically had to deal with being chased/hunted by the mimic while trying to get it to follow him to that area of the pizzaplex? (This is probably the most speculation, there's not a lot you can get from this line, but it's still a cool idea I think.) OR, an alternate take.. The mimic is being interrupted by the real Gregory's attempts to reach Cassie, and the mimic is using this opportunity as an excuse while it attempts to block his signal. (I've theorized about the differences between each speaking a bit before, but basically, I find it notable that the only times the real Gregory seems to get through to Cassie is when the mimic is busy/distracted/unavailable. So the mimic likely has to make an active effort to block his attempts, hence why he ends up using other signals to try to reach her, like the hacked staff bot. Again this is heavy speculation, but I find it interesting if he's basically telling the story in real-time and sort of swapping him and Gregory.)

Overall there's not a lot you can gather out of this line that I haven't already mentioned in the previous one, so let's move on.

"Something tunneled out.. broke everything. Now I'm stuck here!"

Before I go over this, take it with a grain of salt. Yes I think this is him referring to the blob tunneling out, causing the 'earthquake' that broke the pizzaplex to the state it's in when Cassie arrives. Considering the tunnel in the sinkhole and seeing the blob in a tunnel early in the game, this adds up. However.. I think there might be a double meaning here. It's a bit of a reach, but what if it's also referring to Gregory a bit here? "Something tunneled out," it's implied Gregory used the vent (sort of a tunnel) to escape the room the mimic is trapped in. "Broke everything," ruined the mimic's plans. "Now I'm stuck here," well, that's self explanitory. Gregory used the vent to escape, ruined the mimic's plans, and trapped it there. I also find it interesting this seems to be the final time the mimic mentions something else down there with it. (Even during its final pleas in Roxy Raceway, it only says "Save me, it's so dark down here." Nothing about that "thing" putting him in danger.) Do I think this line is specifically the mimic talking about Gregory? No, I think its main purpose is to explain where the blob went. But I do think it's possible there's a double meaning to it, intentional or not..

Like I said that's the last line of dialogue where the mimic mentions something else down there with it, so there's not a lot more to talk about. My biggest points and evidence were in the beginning tbh, it probably would've been best to cover it at the end of this post but I wanted to go over the voice lines in chronological order to when they appear in-game. I know some of the stuff I said is reaching a bit, I'm not 100% confident that'd be the correct interpretation.. but it's something to think about, that's my point. Whether I'm right or wrong I think the theory is worth considering. If you read this far, that's cool, I hope this was entertaining or had some kind of value to you. I like writing analysis stuff like this so it's always nice when other people enjoy it too. :)

[therottenkingsreckoning]

Part 2 of Chapter 9! I told y'all I'd get this done quick. This also means that we're halfway through this beast, and I'm so glad you've been sticking with me through this journey so far. Enjoy!

~~Little Flame, Ch. 9, part 2~~

Eddie's eyes widened, and despite himself a smile crept onto his face. "Wha- really? Oh, well that great news darlin'! She'll say yes, I just know it!"

"I really hope so," Sally murmured. Then, seeming to regain her normal bombast, she waved both hands above her head in a gesture towards the imagined spectacle. "But that's all the more reason it needs to be bold! Fantastic! I'll put on the greatest play you've ever seen, with her and I as the leading stars, and that moment will be the most beautiful 3rd act of any story ever written!"

"Oh I'm sure it will!" Eddie said excitedly. It was hard not to get excited when the girl got on moments like this. "And I'll help ya as soon as I've gotten Frank's food!"

She turned to look at him, crestfallen. "Y...you can't help me now?"

Eddie shook his head. "Nope. I've got my own sweetheart waitin' back at home with a cravin' for hot dogs, and by god I'm gonna get 'em." He'd not forgotten the original plan, nor was he going to be pulled away from it.

"Oh well, I'm going there too!" she insisted. "I need to get supplies after all. You could just...help me pick them out real quick, discuss a basic plan, and then I promise I'll let you continue your journey in peace!"

"No good," he told her. "Howdy's fresh out of the stuff I need, which is why I'm here at all." He wouldn't compromise on this.

Sally looked at him with sad, pathetic eyes. "Please?"

He'd maybe compromise on this.

"Alright, fine," he sighed, admitting defeat at last. "But only 'cus it's you, and I do wanna see it go well for ya."

"Oh excellent!" She squealed delightedly, pulling him into a hug. "I knew I could trust you!"

A few moments later, and with his groceries stored in her fridge for momentary safekeeping, the pair had set off. He could've brought it all back to his own house, but the thought of returning without those crucial items was...less than appealing. Probably why I'm choosing to do this at all, he thought. Rather here than there.

Unfortunately for him though, the pinball machine of entropy had not yet lost its momentum, as not even a full minute into their walk, an all-too-familiar pink figure appeared.

"Shit, it's her!" Sally hissed. "I can't let her know what I'm doing, it'd ruin everything!"

"Well whaddya expect me t-" Eddie began.

All that met him was the rustling wind, and a suspiciously star-shaped void to his right.

"Hi Eddie!" Julie said cheerfully, skipping up to him. "Who are you talking to?"

"...no one, apparently," he grumbled.

"Oh...well, have you seen Sally anywhere? I just thought of a great new game for us to play, but I can't seem to find her."

"N-nope!" he lied quickly, glancing around for any sign of his friend. "Can't...can't say I have, all day."

Julie squinted at him suspiciously, and Eddie felt the hair on his neck stand up. He wasn't a very good liar, especially when he was already stressed out as is.

"You sure?"

"Sure am!" He pretended to think for a moment. "Let's see... I went and dropped off all the mail earlier, but uhh...she was outta the house right then." That part wasn't a lie- she'd been gone, as she often was. "Then I came home and started workin' on sorting letters, but I remembered I needed to drop by the store and get and some food for Frank-"

"Oh!" Julie exclaimed. "Is that why you're here? Well, we could go to Howdy's together, and I can say hi to Frank when we bring it all back."

"Wait!" the man blurted out, realizing his mistake too late. She looked at him confused, already turning to head in the direction of the bodega.

"H-he doesn't have the ingredients I need," Eddie continued. "Ran out of the milk and cherries for those signature hot dogs, so I gotta go ask Barbie about it."

Julie huffed and turned to him, crossing her arms. "Ok well, now I know you're lying. Frank wouldn't want a hot dog, especially those ones, he hates them! So what's the truth?"

"That is the truth!" Eddie huffed back, hands on hips. "Ain't ya heard of a craving before?"

"I can tell you're hiding something, and sending me in circles!" Then, seeming to think of something, she smiled smugly and pointed a finger at him. "I'll believe you if you spin around 5 times and point back at me."

"What does that have t-" Eddie began, but it was no use. He was trapped and he knew it, however silly these games might be. Spinning once, twice, three times around and round, his vision blurred and wobbled until his outstretched finger nearly collided with hers.

"Is that good now? Can I leave?"

"Hmm... not quite," the monster said. "What am I thinking of right now?"

"Uhh...flowers?" He said.

"Nope."

"Games."

"Nuh uh."

"Look, lemme go!" Eddie shouted, stamping his foot in anger. "I'm runnin' late, and I just know Frank already hates me right now cus I couldn't just get 'em what he wants, and I'm tired and stressed and a terrible husband and I really don't need this right now!"

Silence. Julie looked at him in shock, and he could sense that wherever Sally had hidden herself she was stunned too. "Oh.." the rainbow monster said gently. "You weren't lying about that, were you?"

"What reason would I have to lie?" He growled, wiping away the tears that had begun to form.

"I...I don't know. I'm sorry," she said, stepping out of his way. "I'll let you get back to it."

"It's fine," the man grumbled. It really wasn't, but he was too tired to keep arguing. Glancing back at her for just a moment though, he said, "Maybe you should drop by later. Help explain what took me so long. He might get less mad at you."

And now, after all the nonsense he'd been through, he'd made his way over to Poppy's barn. Those big red doors might as well have been the gates of heaven, and his angel was visible still in the window, laughing away at some unknown joke. Finally, he could get this done.

Knocking on the door, he was greeted with a cheery "come in!" from the resident bird. She looked up from where she'd been adding pumpkin seeds to a recipe, and her eyes widened at his disheveled & miserable appearance. "Oh dear... are you alright?"

"Yeah," Barbie added. "No offense, but you look like you've been put through the wringer."

"It's been...a day," Eddie sighed. "Been looking for ya cus I needed to ask a favor."

"Oh?" The dog stepped a bit closer, scratching awkwardly at the space between her tied-up ears. It was rare that Eddie Dear asked anything of his friends- the man was self-reliant to a fault, and would much rather be the one giving than getting. So whatever this was must be important.

Eddie clasped his hands in front of him, looking up at her with pleading eyes. "Please tell me you have some cherries and condensed milk I can borrow. Frank really wants a hot dog and Howdy was fresh outta both of those."

An awkward silence, then the hound burst out laughing, relieved. "Didya really come all this way just to ask for that? You could've just asked Jonesy, I left him back at home."

The realization crumpled Eddie, and he hung his head in shame. Yes, he probably could've just asked earlier and saved so much of this hassle. But, fool that he was, he'd gone and overthought. Like a fool he'd made it 10 times harder on himself.

Barbie's laughter faded as she took in his reaction. She put a hand on his shoulder and sighed, "Well I'm sorry to tell ya, but I'm out too. I had my treat for today, but I'm prepared to go hungry for a bit."

And just like that, all his dreams had been shattered. He was so close to Paradise, but it had all been a mirage. Looking desperately over to Poppy, he was met with a shake of her head. "Dear, you know I don't eat things like that." Trying her best to reassure, she added "I-I'm sure Frank will understand. I mean... it's not your fault you couldn't find any."

Mhmm," Barbie hummed in agreement. "She's right. No, hey, look at me. She's right. You got nothin' to beat yourself up for. You tried, and that's what matters."

Eddie wasn't sure he believed them, but what else could he say or do by now? He'd exhausted his options, and would simply have to bear the anger, the crushing disappointment, that his lover would have for him. As he made his way home slowly, footsteps like lead, he was briefly considering swandiving into the nearest lake when the shaking of tall grass nearby caught his ear.

"Hey."

"Hey Mosely," Eddie said dejectedly. "Can't talk right now, sorry. Boutta go get my head bitten off."

"Ah, t-that's the thing actually," the grass continued. "I uhh...overheard what you were talking about just now, and I actually have some."

"Wha- really?!" Eddie instinctively whipped around to peer into the brush, then quickly apologized and turned away from his scopophobic friend. But was it true?

"Wait here. I'll go get them."

And wait he did. If it had been anyone else, Eddie wouldn't have trusted they'd come back. Even now he had his doubts, his nervous impatience as each minute ticked by. But he knew Mosely, and as soon as he'd fully begun to worry he heard movement again. He turned to see a can and jar stacked neatly on the dirt road, still cold when he went to pick them up.

"Thank you." Eddie's voice quivered, damn near sobbing with relief. "I could hug you right now."

"Haha... please don't," said Mosely.

The trip back went quickly. He snatched his groceries from Sally's fridge, checking first that no Julies were around (what an awkward explanation that would be!). Then he was off to the little yellow house with speed.

"Where have you been?!" Frank snapped when he answered the door to their mate. "And what's with the bags? I asked to get one thing for me, not all of this!"

"This is your hot dog," Eddie tried to explain weakly, already visibly wilting as the anger he'd been fearing bore down on him.

"How? Couldn't he m... huh?"

Words trailed off as the man before them seemed to crumple, sinking down to his knees as bags fell an uneven thud-and-rustle on to the floor.

"I'm sorry," Eddie began, hands again clasped in desperate prayer. "I am so sorry Frankie, I tried to go quickly. But then Howdy ran out of milk and cherries so I tried to get some from Barb-"

"Eddie..."

"-but then she was over at Poppy's, so I tried to go there but Sally stopped me to ask about a play and Julie forced me to answer riddles 'cus she didn't believe me when I told her ya wanted hot dogs-"

"Ed- wait Julie?"

"-And when I finally got over to Poppy's she was out which broke my heart 'cus I knew ya really wanted it and-"

"EDDIE!!!"

Frank had heard enough. Grabbing hold of his husband's shoulders, they pulled him forwards...

and into a kiss.

Eddie flinched in shock, then his arms wrapped around his love as he leaned in, finally breaking to rest his head on Frank's chest.

"It's ok honey," the grey chuckled. "I understand now. And you still got me what I wanted."

"I uhh...yea!" Eddie looked up at his mate with doe eyes. "You're not mad at me anymore?"

"Oh I'm still angry," Frank said as he helped their husband up. "But not at you."

Eddie was going to ask about that, but he didn't. Far better to not risk spoiling the moment when he'd seemingly gotten so lucky. "You still want your food now?"

"Mhmm!"

"Well alrighty then!" He practically skipped to the kitchen, feeling sunshine and rainbows right now as his previous worries melted in the loving presence of his partner. "I am sorry it took so long," he called through the doorway. "For what it's worth."

Frank laughed at this as he walked in and sat at the table. "Love, I was actually overreacting a bit. It's only been 15 minutes."

[cats-mayhem]

Cow Shaped Cloud

Ok! So I read the entirety of @shepscapades DBHC AU and I am immediately obsessed. So I thought i'd try writing something for it! Haven't written anything in a while so I'm a bit rusty but we'll see what happens! I tried to make it as cannon compliant as I can. So uh timeline wise this takes place in s8 after Etho deviates but before the Moon stuff so I hope it fits in fine! I just like Pearl and wanted to write a fic centered mostly around her. So enjoy!

Story under cut Word count: 2,663

When Pearl heard from X that she'd get a android specifically designed to help her build, she was beyond ecstatic. As much as she liked building, she'll be the first to admit that it is taxing job to do, so having a little building buddy would be a great help. She'd heard about the other androids on the server, and has Met a few of them like Doc and Etho (Although Etho nowadays seems a bit... Weird), so she knew what she was in for.

At least she thought she did.

When X first introduced Pearl's Android to her, an Android named Impulse, she was shocked by how he looked. He wore nothing but shorts and a black T-shirt with a capital yellow I logo on it. His hair was neatly combed back like it had been prepped with gel (wait, was that real hair?? Could gel work on it?). Overall he looked so... Plain. Which is a bad first thought to have, Pearl admitted. She wasn't expecting X to give her Android the Gucci, but the plain look made the android look so... Off. She couldn't describe it but it wasn't going to deter her from continuing the path of having a building buddy.

"Hello PearlecentMoon, I'm Impulse. An Android designed to help you with anything you might need. My specialty is in building and strength. I am designed to have a long term efficiency, I can go long periods of time without resting. Perfect for your building needs." Impulse said, all in a very robotic and uncanny way. His voice sounded so human... It was weird to Pearl.

"See! Look at that, I didn't need to explain him at all, he did it all himself! (Well, I told him to say that before you came here but..)" X said, mumbling that last part and scratching the back of his neck.

Pearl glanced over and gave a small laugh towards X for setting up her androids introduction. Her gaze fixed back to the android in question though. She extended a hand.

"Well hi Impulse, it's great to meet you! Although, you can just call me Pearl."

"Preferred to be called Pearl. Noted." Impulse said before just staring at the extended hand, the thing that was originally blue over his left eye suddenly turned yellow. Pearl's smile didn't fade but she was a bit confused.

"Ah, right, he doesn't know what a handshake is so he's trying to figure it out on his own." X chimed in.

Pearl looked over at X, "You seriously didn't program them to know basic stuff like this?"

"Nope! They only know what they're built for. So for Impulses' case, he only knows building." X seemed as chipper as ever.

Pearl let out an annoyed sigh but couldn't stay mad at X for long, "Well, looks like I just gotta teach him." She looked back over at Impulse who was still staring at her extended hand.

"This is called a handshake. Uhm, give me your hand."

"Affirmative."

Impulse obeyed Pearls' word, extending his right hand out to her. She grabbed it and shook it with a gentle yet friendly force. Impulse gave no reaction. She let go of his hand (it was weirdly cold yet soft?).

"That's what a handshake is. It's a typical greeting for most people. If someone extends a hand towards you when introducing themselves, you shake their hand like that!" Pearl said, still smiling. She'll admit, it's weird having to explain what a handshake is to something so closely resembling a grown adult, but she's been through weirder. Probably.

"information noted. Storing in memory for future use cases."

"See! You two are already getting along! Now, like Impulse said he'll do anything you say and his main specialty is building." X chimed back in.

"Like... Anything, anything I say?"

"Well, yeah!"

"Can he do what others say?"

"Unless you tell him to do so, nope! OH! But there is one exception. That being me. I created him and all and needed to test him and stuff. So other than you, he can listen to me. But I won't order him around or anything! He's not mine after all."

Pearl nodded. That does make sense. Looking over at Impulse, he really is an impressive work of machinery. X may not look like it, but he's an absolute genius. Doesn't stop her from bullying him sometimes for being a derp though.

"Well thank you very much Xisuma! He'll help me so much with my base and other projects, I'm sure of it."

"No problem! If you have an issues with him, just contact me or Doc and we'll fix it."

"Will do. Wouldn't even know where to start if he started to break down on me." She laughed. (Issues? Like what issues? He seems so high-tech that it looks like he could NEVER have issues. Guess sci-fi really does have flaws).

She looked back over to her new android, Impulse, who has just been watching the two of them talk. Not budging an inch from where he was initially introduced. She gave him her widest smile, "Alright Impulse, follow me! I'm gonna show you to your new home!"

Impulse nodded very stiffly. "Following initiated."

On the way back to Pearls' base, she asked Impulse few questions. If he would really do anything she said, to which he fully confirmed. If his hair was real, which he explained it wasn't and was instead some tech stuff (Pearl didn't really understand the words). And most importantly...

"So like, are you emotionless?"

"Emotionless? I do not recognize that word." Impulse said, his circle above his left eye turned yellow again (to which Pearl now knew was an LED. Xisuma gave her a text shortly after she left to explain it because he forgot to explain it to her in person. Derp).

"Like can you not feel emotions? Like being happy, or sad, or embarrassed?"

Impulse shook his head. "No, that's not within my programming."

"Not within your programming."

"I can find nothing relating to 'emotions' such as 'happy' or 'sad' or 'embarrassed' in my code."

"Oh..." Pearl looked away. So he really was just a robot, huh? Just designed to help her. Did he need to look so human though? And miss the one thing that makes human, well, human?

The rest of the trip back to Pearls' base was rather uneventful. She didn't know how to feel about owning something that looked so human, but he was designed for her, and she knows the others use their own androids for stuff, so surely it mustn't be wrong for her to use her own android right? Yeah, let's roll with that.

There's a lot of positives to be had with Impulse. He didn't need to eat, and from what she heard, he can go long period without even needing a rest. PLUS he really will do whatever she says, which would lead to great cooperation for pranks later down the line.

But the longer Impulse stayed at her place and helped her out, the more out of place he felt in her life. Sure, it would take some time getting used to a humanized roomba (haha get it? because room. Robot roommate. Hilarious), she was starting to think it was because he was not only extremely robotic acting, but also extremely robotic looking.

It was the clothes that did it for her, she thought. The clothes Impulse had were way to plain. She didn't want to disrespect Xisuma's original design... But he did say that Impulse was fully for her, and Impulse said that he would do everything she asked...

...And he would look good with her expert and totally professional design skills...

...

When Pearl finished up the finishing touches of adjusting his big purple bow and his big yellow top hat just right, she's never been more proud of her handy work before in her life. She had a devious little smile on her face as she made Impulse be put into a ridiculous suit.

Impulse closed his eyes, probably processing his new look. "Would you like this to be my new default uniform?"

"YES!" Pearl excitedly says.

Impulse nodded. "Default uniform updated."

Pearl couldn't help but giggle at her fine work, and honestly? He looked kinda cute with the top hat and bow. Way less plain now, and she defiantly wouldn't mind seeing him around in this all day. Despite how goofy it is, she could get used to it. Get more used to it than the plain look anyways.

...

It had been a few weeks since Pearl first got Impulse. She's still getting used to him just being there, but his presence is comforting nonetheless. She'd try and make small talk with him all the time, but of course, without emotions, he fails miserably at it.

It was a shame, but that's how he was made, nothing she could do about it.

...Or could she?

She texted X.

'Hey so this isn't meant to be rude at all, but I got a question about Impulse.'

'What's up? :D'

'So like. He's a robot right? Can't you program him to feel emotions?'

'Oh! umm... No D: I don't think I can anyways. So far with my programming I can't forcibly create emotions. BUUTTT there is a way for him to maybe feel them some way down the line!! :D'

'Really? How? :O'

And that's when Pearl learned about 'deviancy'. Apparently, the androids can realize they're androids and become self aware to the point they can register feelings? Pearl didn't understand the technicalities of it. It sounded really complicated when Xisuma texted it all to her (didn't help that sentences were always interrupted with emojis or improper punctuation). All Pearl really got out of it is: Impulse can feel emotions, he just needs to disobey his code.

At least she's pretty sure that's what it is. Sounds easy in theory, but then X told her how Etho deviated.

It wasn't so easy in theory anymore after hearing that story.

...

Pearl looked over at Impulse, still in that goofy suit and top hat. He was placing down blocks inhumanly fast, as she had asked him to. He really was a big help around her base. Things were getting done left and right. She really did appreciate her building buddy, but she wishes he could appreciate her appreciation.

Impulse caught Pearl staring at him. "Pearl? Do you require something?" He asked.

Pearl shook her head, snapping out of whatever daydream she was in. "Nah, I'm fine, just taking a break is all."

Impulse nodded. "I shall get back to work then."

Pearl just hummed, sitting down staring up at the blue sky of the midday life on Hermitcraft. Beautiful white puffy clouds filled the sky and a nice gentle breeze carried the smell of spring in it. She took a deep inhale and sighed.

She then got an idea.

"Actually, hey Impulse, c'mover here."

Impulsed stopped working and walked over to Pearl once more. "Yes?"

Pearl patted empty space of the slightly slanted roof next to her. "Come sit."

Impulse obey. As he sat down, he only looked at Pearl, who was just mindlessly staring at the sky. Impulses' LED turned orange again.

"What is the purpose of this?"

Pearl shrugged, "Eh, felt like you could use a break."

"I'm not even through an eighth of my stamina for today. Resting now wouldn't benefit me much."

"Ah, I ain't asking you to rest, just asking you to take a break with me." She looked down from staring at the sky and smiled at Impulse, "It's important to take breaks with friends after all." She then looked back up at the sky.

Silence befell the two for a bit as Impulse still tried to process all of that. He didn't really understand a word she said. The silence didn't last long though as Pearl spoke up again.

"Hey, don't you think that cloud looks like a cow?" Pearl pointed upwards at said cow-shaped cloud. Impulse finally looked up at the sky with Pearl and observed the cloud.

"While it isn't the exact shape of a cow, the outline vaguely resembled one." Impulse said, looking at the clouds with Pearl.

Pearl just chuckled, "Yeah, well you can't expect details with clouds y'know? Find any other clouds that look like real life things?"

Impulse started to observe the clouds, calculating their shapes and sizes. "Well, that one looks like a chicken at a forty-five degree angle." Impulse pointed at said chicken-cloud, just as Pearl pointed at the cow-cloud.

Pearl tilted her head, "Oh right, it does. Wouldn't have seen that one!"

And that's what they did for the next twenty minutes. Just pointing out shapes in clouds. Impulse typically nailed the more organic looked clouds, such as trees and farm animals, whilst Pearl saw the more intricate clouds, such as thunderstorms or typhoons. Impulse has never seen any of those, so he didn't know. His LED flickered from the normal blue state, to the yellow state, back and forth. Pearl noticed, but Impulse didn't seem to be too bothered, so she didn't mention it.

During the end of their little cloud exposition, Pearl started rambling about how one day she wanted to harness the power of nature to fully make her builds. Impulse recommended a few designs they could try. Pearl asked Impulse to put a pin in that for later. He did.

She got up from her sitting spot and gave a nice big long stretch. "Well, that was nice. Thanks for doing that with me Impulse, it was fun."

"I only did as you requested."

"Still, it was fun wasn't it?"

Impluses' LED flicked yellow again as he tried (and failed) to analyze if what just happened constituted as 'fun' or not. Pearl rolled her eyes, but in a friendly nice way and offered her hand to the still sitting Impulse.

"Eh, you can answer that later. Anyway, let's get back to working!"

Impulses' attention went to the hand, "Why are you initiating a handshake without introducing yourself?"

Pearl sighed, a sigh mixed with friendliness and annoyance. "Ok, when people extend a hand to you when you're sitting down on the ground, it's a friendly gesture to help them up. You just take my hand, and use it to help yourself up! Try it."

Impulse didn't have time to say 'i don't need help getting up I'm strong enough to do that on my own' because Pearl gave him the order to try it, and he did. He roughly gripped Pearl's hand and used it as a way to hoist himself up from the ground. Pearl put effort into Impulses' hoist, but he doubts it was necessary. He lets go of Pearls' hand as soon as he's on his feet.

"Oh man you're heavy."

"Storing this in memory for future use cases. Also, androids typically weigh a lot more than organics such as yourself do."

"Yeah probably should've predicted that one. Anyway, let's get back to working. I want to see if we can get this roof done by the end of the day."

Impulse nodded. "Affirmative." as he goes back to the task he was given before the cloud intermission.

Pearl just softly smiles at Impulse as she herself gets back to work. She wasn't going to force Impulse to deviate. She certainly wasn't going to purposefully traumatize him into deviating like how Etho deviated (although Etho's deviation wasn't Bdubs purposefully trying... You get the picture). Impluses deviation should be something Impulse discovers for himself, not something Pearl should force upon him. While it would be easier to be friends with him if he was emotionally aware, for now? She's fine with her building buddy as he was. If he's like this forever, she won't mind.

...What she doesn't know though, is that Impulse is now downloading information about clouds and storing it in his memory for 'future use cases'.

[neospokenworld]

SPRING ANIME 2024 FINAL THOUGHTS

So just like I did months ago with my first impressions post, here are my final thoughts on every anime I started watching that was ongoing this season. I'm gonna list them as they end to be more organized and not have it jump around, so before we start, here's a quick section about the anime I dropped:

Astro Note: I forgot it existed past the first episode not gonna lie lol, I'll probably resume it in the future since it was a fun first episode but other than that nothing else to say

High Speed Etoilé: I wanted to like this so badly, the story could've been interesting but from what I saw it never hooked me at all, plus the 3d was very rigid so overall it wasn't as good to continue

Spice & Wolf: This is one I'll surely resume in the future, I was liking what I was seeing but one day I just lost track of it and never returned. What I saw left me with a very good taste so this is one that I have to resume someday

Okay, now we can begin:

DUNGEON MESHI

Started watching this one when it was at episode 18 and caught up to it really quickly. I honestly wasn't expecting to like it for some reason but as soon as I started it I knew it was gonna be a fun ride altogether. Nice characters, a good story, excellent animation (I mean it's Trigger but this is like my 2nd anime from them) and food that I would 100% eat if it was real lol. I'm glad it's getting a 2nd season because I really wanna see how it continues

BARTENDER: KAMI NO GLASS

This was beautiful, what else can I say? I mean I knew that this anime would be different after watching the first episode, even joking to myself while watching it ''This is premium anime'' lol. Everything from start to finish had this soothing vibe to it that I absolutely enjoyed and not gonna lie I think from episode 6 onward it knew how to push the right buttons on me to make me more and more emotional, by the time I finished the final episode I was on tears of happiness hearing the credits. I don't know how the original was but I think this is a gem of an anime that surely deserves to be talked about more

YORU NO KURAGE WA OYOGENAI

It never stopped delivering peak, back when the first episode aired I knew it would be something special, and while it felt just a little aimless past the episode of their first concert, I think in the end it wrapped up the main points kinda nicely. This is a show that got me feeling emotional on a near weekly basis and always knew how to share banger episodes. Even if it wasn't yuri in the end it was still a beauty of an anime in my opinion, it only needs to polish a few small things here and there to be basically a masterpiece imo and hopefully the manga that is coming along with it can do it

SHUUMATSU TRAIN DOKO E IKU?

This was such a fun ride overall, I gotta admit back on the first episodes I had a feeling this would be something that would break me when they were close to Ikebukuro, but even if in the end it didn't it was still a really good ride from beginning to end. One thing I liked was how the conversations between the girls were a bit faster than in most anime out there, I don't know but that made them feel more natural to me, it was cool to see all of them interact with the weirdness of the world and ngl this finale actually moved me a little lol. Not the best but still a pretty good one all in all

PS: Both the Opening and Ending here are severely underrated, Ga-Ton Go-Ton is on my top 3 for OPs this season and Eureka is easily my favorite ED for the season, both of them are just so good both visually and musically it's surprising to say the least

Part 2 will come when the other 4 end, so probably early next week

[not-rude-ginger]

Listening to Jurassic Park on Audiobook. Here are thoughts as I go through the story:

Spoilers galore on a 33 year old book with one of the biggest films ever, I guess. Also some gore mentions.

Jesus wept Crichton, that's certainly one way to open a story. They ate the baby's face!!

When I tell you the fear that settled in my soul when Tina picked up the tiny dino - I know this series!!! I was expecting so much worse, but it was still bad. Merci for the gore discretion scene POV change there Crichton.

What's the craic with the dino spit? What have you done Wu??

I kinda like that the secrecy of 'dinos be back baby!' is more by human apathy and shrugging off things than Hammond's magical will which is the only explanation we get in the film.

Yes Crichton, we can see you like science stuff and explaining how things work, we see it.

The film did the moment they see the dinos better. I almost missed it while making lunch in the book. Spielberg Win there - but tbf that's hard to beat on paper compared to a film with scale and swelling music.

I swear the narrator is picking up the film actors inflections when he does dialogue. Especially Nedry, I can hear Wayne Knight in his voice even though he isn't really doing distinct voices. Same with Sam Neil in Alan.

I am so glad they made Lex the older kid in the film - she's a classic annoying little sibling in the worst way in the book. She is bored of dinosaurs after a couple of hours! I can't decide if that's the most unrealistic or the most accurate thing in the book -- kids get used to wild things very quick.

I gotta be honest, I'd probably work in a Dino Nursery too.

I adore Richard Attenborough's Hammond, but the book version helps explain far better why things go so wrong. He's just a Bezos or Musk.

The debate with Wu about Version 4.4 is very interesting. Hammond thinks having the original wolf is what people want but Wu is probably right that what people really want is closer to a dog, even if they say they want the wolf. Anyone who actually wants the wolf is looking for a Darwin award.

When Crichton made sure to include an explanation of what a CD player was I cracked up laughing, because it may have been new enough in 1990 to need a quick explanation, but it will most definitely need it for the future given how CDs are being made obsolete. 😕

Interesting how Arnold (Sam Jackson) describes the dinos as 'precious and delicate'. It makes sense, but it wasn't carried over to the film where it's more ... wonder and awe and 'how could something so magical go wrong?' But the book does talk about how many dinos have died in the project from all sorts of things, so they must seem so fragile when you're buried into it.

Also interesting that even though they made sure all the dinos were girls (great work there Wu, no notes!) they admit they still call the 2 T-Rex (yes there are 2!! A juvenile and an adult!) 'him'.

To be continued when I listen to more - we're about to reach Rexy's Enclosure for the first time.

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Disney Channel's live action originals, favorite character from the 2011-14 era shows: Jessie, ANT Farm, Austin & Ally, So Random, Dog with a Blog, Liv and Maddie, I Didn't Do It, and Girl Meets World?

Luckily this time I saw most of these at least once. It was an era where i'd randomly pop on disney channel if I needed to watch something anything. I didn't do it as often as other networks, or Disney XD with Kickin It, but it happened enough.

ANT Farm: it.. certainly exists. I think I watched maybe a minute of this and decided it wasn't for me? not a horrible concept, but I prefer the current version I .e. with the mad scientest's private island, mutants and a fish asking you to give him money.

Austin and Ally: Now this one I do know... I reviewed an episode a long time ago because @feistyfreckleface (Aka Emma), thought it'd be fun to put me through it after I had a moan about it.

Austin and Ally is garbage. The cast has all proved their way better than this show. Ross Lynch is apparently great in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Callum Worthy was the highlight of the baffingly short lived masterpiece that was Hulu's Reboot, a sitcom about.. well you can guess. Fantastic cast, great premise, lasted only one season because god is cruel. Callum played a former child star who'd done tons of embarssing dtv movies as a teen and wanted to break away from that. It's also clear as the Bojack Quote goes (Thank Behind the Bastards for remindng me of this) that your frozen at the age you get famous as he's still a bit arrested in his development.

You coudln't tell from the show where everyone present acts like an annoying anamatronic, every character is a standard trope (the ditzy nice guy who just wants to hang bro, the shy protaganist self insert girl, the wacky best friend and the wackier best friend. ). The only thing I liked about it was Trish's running gag of having a new job each episode.. mostly because they stole it directly from 6Teen and I miss that show. It's bad. It's admitely enjoyably bad in places as it feels so artifical and half assed that it comes off as a parody of a disney channel sitcom that somehow is an actual 4 season show. I don't hate it as much as I used to, again in part thanks to Reboot, and partly ebcause while the actors once annoyed me I now get they were struggling minors who needed a gig and when it comes to child performers have the blame is on the direction. You can get true once in a generation talents, you can see that from the mountain of former stars that went on to other things, but you still gotta give them actual material. I know it's a kids show.. but kids deserve better and have gotten it from disney.

So Random: I saw this maybe once? It felt like diet all that, probably a good sign I was too old for this. This was just.. weird. I'm sympathetic to this happening: while you could say "Well why the fuck go on without Demi?" , I say to that "... the crew and writers still need to eat bud". It was a shallow and weird attempt to keep the show going, but I fully understand it wasn't JUST disney after money. That was defeintly part of it as they still had a bunch of actors under contract, but I get the writers behind the scenes wanting to keep their jobs. It failed, as maybe making the show within a show wasn't the best idea and they shoudl've just retooled it. It wouldn't of been much better but they might've got a third season with someone taking Demi's spot or recentering it around another character. Instead it just kinda.. happened.

Dog with a Blog: Now THIS is weird I can get behind. Your kind of 60's or 70's high concept sitcom about a talking dog but for the disney channel audience. Was it good?

It's a pretty standard sitcom that just happens to have a talking dog in it.. but the fact it has a talking dog with a snarky voice in it whose genuinely entertaining keeps it from the dustbin of memory. I'm also shocked to find out he's voiced by Ash from "I'm in the Band" the series standout, but the pivot to "Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch if he wer ethe main character" works. The show is corny and forgetable.. but it has a talking dog and dosen't entirely ignore that or downplay it as it goes, having several episodes about it. It gets why people are here and how gimmicky it is and just rolls with it.

Liv and Maddie: Haven't seen it, but I am curious about it as it's apparently fairly good. it has a high concept, talented actress (and future Cobra Kai star) Dove Cameron as two distinct characters, one of whom was just on a disney sitcom the other is a sporty bookworm.. but from what clips i've seen it works. Cameron plays both roles convincingly enough it's not a distraction. The gimmick is simply to get the most out of a talented performer and seems to be more like Good Luck Charlie, a grounded look at characters. Did it need the two dove camerons gimmick? no. Dosen't seem to. But said gimmick does work.

I Didn't Do It: Was fine> I checked it out as I liked one of the cast from kickin it, and it was a decent enough sitcom. Nothing special outside of the gimmick which tellingly was dropped as unlike the last two gimmicks it wasn't that important to the show nor added much. It's understandable it was dropped for season 2. I also notice a trend of Disney going way more grounded in this batch. Only ANT Farm and Austin N Ally are focused on overt escapism. I mean everyone wants a talking dog best friend, but otherwise Dog with A Blog is just regular shit, just with a magical dog best friend while Liv and Maddie is just two identical beckys as far as anything weird about it. There was a shit for a bit, if one that didn't stick to more normal sitcoms and it seemed to work. While I Didn't Do It only lasted two seasons Liv and Maddie I belivie got 4 and DWAB lasted 3. Speaking of down to earth

Girl Meets World: This one i've heard a lot of stank about from after I stopped watching, as Netflix lost it after season 1 and I lost disney channel. That said I did like the first season as the leads are super talented. Wouldn't of ever predicted the direction Sabrina Carpenter's gone, but hey. It was a good show in the first seasons with solid dynamics that treated the kids like kids, while still having them grow into the world. Season 2 onwards.. seem to get a bit choppy, ramping up the legacy cameos as it went. At first it seems fine: Shawn is a valid addition, making mr turner not in a coma is nice, Feeeehhhheeennny was REQUIRED and I will never say no to Will Fridle in anything. Please come back to voice acting if it's good for you buddy we miss you. But there were hickups like an uncessary love triangle, and after portraying it as a once sided crush... making Maya's once sided crush on the much older josh an I'll wait for you situation..

The later seasons sound a lot messier and less focused compared to season 1 and whil eI might try them some day i'm not exactly psyched. At least Blanchard and Carpenter have come out of the series with careers they more than earned. If you haven't checked out carpenter's music, do. It's fucking fire. And as a sample, here's her video for taste.. which is also an homage to death becomes her because Sabrina is that fucking next level.

[the-crow-caws-witch]

Even Rats: Part 2 to Snow (Hey Oh)

The sequel/ follow up/ part 2 to Snow (Hey Oh).

For those of you who may not know, Snow (Hey Oh) is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and it inspired part 1. The song that inspired part 2 is Even Rats by The Slip, since it has a different energy.

Link to the original:

But yeah, without further ado, please enjoy the fic :)

Rate T for innuendos and romance, and swearing.

Even Rats

Plumeria might have loved the serene beauty of what winter's first snow looked like, but it became quite evident to Piers that's about where the liking for it stopped- she detested the cold.  It made sense though, he thought to himself, with her having known only the warm tropical weather of Alola.  The coldest temperature she probably ever experienced was low 70s.  But he couldn’t deny how adorable she looked all bundled up, with a large knit scarf and matching hat, and the puffer jacket layered over the hoodie she tended to steal from him.  She, however, grumbled about the amount of layers needed to just walk to the cafe.

“I have zero idea how Melony works with this shit.” Plumeria huffed, taking careful steps.  By the time they had reawakened it was late morning, and all in all a good four inches of snow had piled upon the Spikemuth pavements and buildings.  Piers shook his head with a grin.

“Honesty, luv, this aint even that bad.”  And unfortunately for her, he was right.  The temperature had warmed up from the initial snowfall to about 35 degrees. Maybe it wasn't much, but it wasn't technically freezing anymore.  “Gonna be in the high 20s tomorrow.” He reminded her, almost laughing at her paled expression. 

“Fuck that!” She exclaimed, muffled somewhat by the scarf. “I'm staying inside tomorrow.”

“Don’ worry luv, I'll keep ya nice an’ warm.” Piers winked.  

“Perv.” She replied, though he knew damn well she thought the opposite, smacking his ass playfully as she walked past him.  His face flushed with the impact, but he still grinned.

“Ya best watch how ya act in these streets, darlin’.” He purred out, trying to sound intimidating.  

Even in all her layers Plumeria’s sass and attitude shone through as she halted, looking at him with one brow raised.  “Pfft! What're you gonna do about it?”

It took all of five seconds at best for his reply to hit her.  

As in literally. 

She stood frozen in place, eyes wide, absolutely shocked at what just happened, the snowball slowly, comically sliding off the side of her face.  Piers, on the other hand, was nearly pissing himself, doubled over in laughter.

That laughter was cut short when a very similar impact of cold smashed against the top of his head. He looked up at Plumeria, a smirk matching her own.  “Oh it's on.” He instigated, readying another snowball.  His girlfriend stared right back, eyes narrowed.

“Bring it.”

And thats how the Annual Spikemuth Snowfight started.  They got about four or five balls thrown at each other before the other grunts and city’s inhabitants chimed in, making quick work of the snow that had fallen earlier, damn near clearing the street and sidewalk in the city center.  It lasted over an hour, with Piers and Plumeria starting on opposite teams, then teaming together once Marnie and Bede entered the scene.  Only when both were absolutely pummeled into the ground with loud, boisterous laughter did they concede, deciding to finish their original outing, and get that damned caffeine. 

By the time the couple actually made it to the coffee shop it was more or less lunch time, and both were soaked and freezing.  They got their cups to go, noting to take the back alleys back to avoid whatever shenanigans were still going on the main road.  He kept her close to him, making sure best as he could that she wouldn’t catch a cold.  Luckily their flat was only about a block or so away now.

“I gotta admit,” Plumeria smiled, “this was more fun than I thought it would be.”  She pecked him on the lips, then flicked his nose.  “But do that again and you’re fuckin’ dead to me baby.”

Piers laughed, knowing that it was an empty threat.  “We’re almost home luv.  I’ll make us some chowder for lunch, and get nice an’ warm again.”  

“You better keep me warm baby.  You did promise after all.” She wiggled her brows, and smacked his ass again.  “Race ya!” she teased, then bolted up to the main entrance.  Piers blinked, before gathering himself and sprinting after her, a wide smile on his face.

[aita-blorbos]

(Oc stuff)

Am I the asshole for murdering my way to power?

So I (NB, 28) have finally consolidated the eastern lands under a single rule, a great achievement of historical importance and blah blah blah. However now that I'm not actively conquering everything around me, I have started to meditate regarding my ascension to power, and wondering some stuff. Namely, if the way I got to the throne makes me, um, what's the word? "the asshole"?

See, I had to organize the rebellion that started this whole thing, I'm not regretting that, this brute clan in power was starving all the villages in their territory, and like, sure, our revel group torched a couple of said towns down, but hey! We really needed the supplies we got from that! And we saved the rest! More would have starved than the ones we killed has we not done anything anyway.

And sure, I later betrayed and got my original gang killed, but that was necessary to consolidate my power over that territory, so that the mass starvation wouldn't happen again, and I did an amazing job thank you very much. They would have given their lives willingly had they known what I would achieve, probably. They only fought so hard not to die cause they were dumb and didn't know how good a ruler I would be.

And look, I wasn't planning on expanding my territory afterwards. 25 entire edge communities and an entire city under my power, that was more than enough for me. It was this other neighbour idiot that thought I would be an easy prey just because my territory was smaller and I was new to the position, now, that guy was the real asshole if you ask me. And he got defeated even though he had double the men, so really, ir was his own fault that I killed him and his entire family and everyone who supported him as I annexed his territory, he asked for it.

And like, fine, I admit, every conquest after that was unprovoked and my idea. But look, winning against that asshole just made me realize what a great administrator and tactician and leader I am and how I'm the only person qualified to rule over everything, you know? And I did consolidate everything under me so I was right about that! And I'm doing such a better job compared to those guys that were there before. Those stupid nobles born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they just don't get the common people like I do! I have made everyone's lives better, well, except for the ones I killed. But like, we all gotta make sacrifices, 'm I right?

But I do worry at times that the way I killed everyone who was vaguely rumored to oppose me was a bit much. I mean, at the time I felt like I had to given that my position was still unstable, but looking back, maybe I could have let go like 5%... 10%.... Em 25%.... Ok, look maybe I could have reduced the slaughtering to a half. But like, hindsight is 20/20 right? I did what I thought was necessary back then. And no use crying over spilled milk, right?

So like, no assholes here, correct guys?

[viofitz]

Review: Fujimi Super Tune Up F Series

Introduction:

Fujimi Mokei Co., Ltd. is a Japanese model manufacturer based in Shizuoka Prefecture. It produces plastic model kits of a variety of vehicles, including model aircraft, model cars, model ships and model armored vehicles along with historical structures and science fiction kits. Since "mokei" means "model" in Japanese, "Fujimi Mokei" is often called "Fujimi Model(s)" in English. Due to the popularity of Formula One cars, they also produced their own 1/32 scale F-1 cars. Judging from their respective boxarts, the cars were seemingly based on the 1989 Formula One season. Which probably also released that year, a year earlier before Tamiya or ARII released their own F-1 cars. It seems like there're 2 versions of this series, since I got 2 variant colored boxarts. The white boxarts version, they're included with large rear velgs, small front velgs and plastic tires. While the dark colored boxarts was included with gold plated wheelsets and sponge tires.

No. 01: Mclaren Honda:

Once again due to the popularity of Mclaren, many toy companies including Fujimi took the chance to make their own product for money making. The car was based on Mclaren MP4/5 judging on the artwork and the year they released this line. However, this conversion wasn't inspired from the Legendary Ayrton Senna version but, rather Alain Prost.

Design thoughts: Unlike Tamiya and ARII, this representation of Mclaren appeared to have blocky shape on it's side fairings and the nose is very thick. I like Fujimi's representation of Mclaren car as well.

No. 02: Benetton Ford:

The car was based on B189 and most likely based on either Nelson Piquet or Emanuele Pirro version and unlike Tamiya & ARII, B189 has bright green colored bodyshell. Although, the actual car has 5 color schemes.

Design thoughts: Also digging on this. Perhaps, out from all release, this is the most colorful livery coming from Benetton Ford since both Tamiya and ARII made B190B and B192 versions which only got less colorings on their livery.

No. 03: Leyton House March:

Well, pretty unique Fujimi actually released something different than both Tamiya or ARII. The car was based on March 881 driven by Mauricio Gugelmin and has turquoise colored bodyshell.

Design thoughts: I gotta admit, despite being underrated, this is one of the cool yet unique. Unfortunately, the side part of the rear nose was made to be quite narrow, thus hinders fitting into it's chassis since the battery locker will blocking the bodyshell's side rear nose. You'll have to remove the battery locker of you want to fit the bodyshell into the chassis

No. 04: Ferrari:

Well, other than McLaren, Ferrari is the 2nd that caught attention to even Fujimi to make their own. It was based on Ferrari 640 and like every Ferrari cars it has red colored bodyshell and it was inspired from Gerhard Berger's car instead of Prost, since Prost is still on McLaren team back in 1989.

Design thoughts: I like how this car appeared to be the slimmest of all but, it's nose is quite bold. This is pretty different representation since both Tamiya and ARII made the Ferrari cars looking very broad.

No. 05: Black Special

Unlike the others, Black Special is a fictional car made by Fujimi and after a close inspection from me, the black special is literally McLaren Honda bodyshell in black color. It seems like it was meant to be a special release from Fujimi.

Design thoughts: Well, despite being a recolor but, this car is looking pretty wicked and badass, I love how Fujimi also went wild on producing their own original design instead of referencing another F1 cars.

No. 06: Lamborghini:

To be frank... I couldn't find an actual car that has livery like this but, since it was called Lamborghini, it can be assumed the car was inspired from Lola LC89. However, the bodyshell wasn't even based on Lola but, it was a reused of Leyton House March bodyshell in navy blue color. I guess this is just another one of Fujimi's special release. Unlike the others, the car's livery doesn't even have any numbering.

Design thoughts: I personally like this one most, it's simple and I really like the color, eventhough it was loosely inspired from a certain F1 car. Like Leyton House March, it's bodyshell won't fit if the battery locker is attached on it's chassis.

Super Tune Up F Series Chassis:

The chassis was build similar like the old class tamiya mini 4WD chassis however, despite the looks it doesn't have any 4WD features. Even the kit only got 2 gears to attach, and each kit was included with 2 types of gear, red for standard run and black for speed run. The gear box appeared to have exposed view on the motor and gears. The terminals are silver color, I gotta say the chassis mechanism was designed to be way too simple. Each kit were included with 2 types of keylock; the standard one and the one with rear bumper. I know the photo contents are inconsistents, since one of them were already half assembled and the Ferrari one was already fully assembled while the rests were still in unassembled condition but, to tell you the truth it took me 3 years to complete this Fujimi kits. They're way harder to find than Tamiya or ARII, which I don't really care anymore getting them unassembled or fully assembled or even what versions that I got.

Thoughts:

I love the colorful bodyshell of these compared to ARII which mostly only got 4 colors although, it surprised me a little that some of the bodyshells are simply a reused from certain previous kits. But, the variable colorings helps to hide their similarities vaguely. And... I never expected that they're not designed for mini 4WD despite they looked like one. Gotta admit the driver cars they picked are nothing famous except Alain Prost. It's no wonder the line became so underrated and not many people know this but... Atleast, I'm happy enough to be able to complete them all. The main problem from this kits, several kit with white boxarts suffered breakable plastic tires, I guess it's pretty understandable since they've been aged so long thus making them brittle eventhough I bought them brand new unassembled. And the Leyton House March/Lamborghini bodyshell would be reused by Academy Model Kit (Korean plastic model company) to make their own Mini 4WD car called Hot Wings with slight alterations, mainly for fitting their own Super-1 chassis.

Paintapp and decals by Archyd

[kisskissgotohell]

thinking about the most recent chapter of yona of the dawn... this is sort of just Assorted Yona Thoughts ig lol

honestly i was 100% expecting soo-won to be the one to die first and they find out a way to save the dragons (the crimson king's avatar is in the world again and so there's magical fuckery?) but its interesting that there's like. not a lot of narrative buildup to jae-ha (specifically) dying. like obv there's the dream that implies the dragons will die soon but soo-won has had way more narrative tension piled around his illness so tbh i dont think this death is permanent. none of the prev dragons died by turning into big monsters and then also goop, too, so i feel like it's more likely that the chalice being removed from the mausoleum (or specifically the og dragon's coffin?) is what's affecting them so badly.

if anything, having zeno out of the four dragons be the one to actually die prematurely (assuming jae-ha isn't really dead) would be pretty impactful - if the dragons lose their powers but die after a normal lifespan, thus ensuring the powers don't continue to be reborn, it would probably wrap up nicely by the end, especially if with soo-won (and mei-nyan?)'s death the crimson illness dies out too.

despite thinking (hoping) the dragons arent dying, i do think soo-won needs to die. unless they spend like, 3 arcs figuring out a way to ~harness the power of the crimson dragon and reunite with his blood~ or something, any cure would be really anticlimactic. theyve gotta resolve soo-won and hak's whole arcs with wanting to hold on to/let each other go first though. i did wonder bc i can see a dramatic confrontation where hak is the one to kill soo-won, leading to a whole "hak being an enemy of the state who is shaken up by soo-won admitting he still held affection for him and yona -> yona, as the sovereign, pardons him -> her impartiality/right to the throne is questioned" arc, but thinking about it more that seems super unlikely bc of how much his illness has been set up... im excited to see yona as ruler of kouka, tho, and if she has opinions on the border exchanges soo-won is facilitating. as someone who was on the ground during a lot of those skirmishes it would make sense if she wanted to peacefully redistribute some of the land kouka claimed that wasn't one of the cities that were "originally" under kouka's rule, but that would maybe undermine her to the other advisors after soo-won?? idk. i can also see smth where soo-won deliberately passes the throne to yona and (whether cured or not) ends up living longer but as a sort of. advisor to the throne or something.

i do hope tho that when yona is in charge they don't make hak king through marriage - i think him being the sky army general or possibly still yona's bodyguard/queen's consort or whatever makes more sense for his character, and yona needs to be the accepted ruler, not seen as just the queen to hak. i guess a workaround is if yona becomes queen and hak becomes the prince, or if yona is given the title of king regardless, but idk what terminology they'll go for if that happens.

anyways. yona my beloved. thank u for reading my nonsense thoughts as i try to convince myself jae-ha is okay <3

[partlysmith]

Y'know, your recent fatphobia posts kind of pinpointed what bothered me about that IZ comic(chair Dib) I mentioned earlier. I'm a bit curious why not many thought of it that way. Sorry if this is awkward or I'm overthinking this, it's just something i feel isn't discussed.

I admit that it probably wasn't handled in the best of taste, but it also didn't bother me that much because the joke felt less that "Dib is fat now" and more about him becoming a parody of people obsessed with the show after it was cancelled, becoming a recluse who stops bathing to the point where he's literally toxic

on a similar note, Bloaty feels like kind of a tasteless fat joke back in the original series, but i gotta admit, the shot where a child sinks inside of him and slowly emerges from the other side is fucking hilarious, so idk

speaking as a fat person, i think the extreme levels of exaggeration just make it hit differently for me at least, but i also can't blame anyone for disliking it

[enviousennui]

Nobody asked me so im doing it on my own accord

1/2- My chum handle is my username, so yes my username is hs related. When coming up with a username, i thought hard about it and ended up leaning towards the hs format. as for the meaning, it doesn't particulary have one. Im not really an envious person but i guess ennui works sometimes? Idk it doesnt mean anything deep

3- I have referred to my partner as a matesprit in the past but i dont currently since it isnt something ive done for a while

4- I have with online friends but i dont irl. I probably would of in the past though

5- I used to say i kinned Jade but It was always more in the way of strongly relate to instead of traditional kin culture. I do not kin anybody in that sense

6- Sylph of Light

7-I do! It's mostly doodles and more relaxed art as opposed to more detailed pieces, but i post art here and my ask blog

8- I do not but i have been thinking about a potential fic. Im not sure if i will or not though

9-Im currently on a rp server which i play as WV. i havent been super active this week but i try to hop on every week. I used to rp on msprp all the time though

10- Ive been looking to pick up cosplay again. I have cosplayed hs before in the past, that being Terezi. I made her stick and the horns using felt sheets, but it definitely looks like a first cosplay. I gotta revamp it

11-Yep! It's very casual but I've got a wayward vagabond ask blog. I've been thinking of stuff to draw from it aside from asks, since i xo not recieve many asks, but i have not had time recently.

12- not particulary other than the disgrub rp group

13- fuckk thats a hard question. June, Jade and Roxy are very high up there...Terezi ofc, i wouldnt of cosplayed her otherwise. These characters all mean a lot to me but those are the top. Oh and i think it goes without saying but the exiles are definitely top too

14- Equius ane Damara. I like fanon interpretations but those two are just not my faves. I dont need to get into it

15- rosemary, cottoncandy, wvpmar and pepsicola. Guilty pleasures guys.

16- ugh really not a fan of pm/bec noir. Its not very popular and only mildly implied as a black rom thing but no. As for other ships? there's probably a few but none on the top of my head

17- Jane and Dirk. I love their friendship sm

18- I have a lot of mixed feelings. I like aspects of hs2 but yeah.

19- I played the first act of hiveswap when it released but i wasn't able to play act 2. I watched it on yt instead and i enjoy the game. I cant wait for whenever the next act releases....

20- Well i got into it when i was around 13 and im almost 20 now. It feels like a significant amount of my life has revolved around it. I used to reference it at school and even now i make subtle jokes when they pop up naturally

21- not particularly but i do know a few people online through fandom

22- yes but it wasn't an intentional leave, it was more of a slow interest decline where i got into something else at the time. But it came back, this comic is very relevant to me all the time. despite not being my number one interest at times, i always reblogged art.

23- i originally read it during the gigapause, then i read it again once it had ended. I read through it again after hiveswap was released and then again in 2019 before 413 (unaware of the upcoming epilogues that would be released that day) and finally at the beginning of January this year

24- i hate to admit it but when I first got interested in the comic, i couldnt read it. So i decided to watch the voxus dub but i got bored, so i started skipping through and upon seeing Karkat, i thought john had turned into him? When it came time to me actually sitting down with my old shitty pc to read it, i skipped the intermission. I went through the pages but i didnt read it. I didnt think it was important :/

25- once again, mixed opinions. Current fandom is fine, old fandom was all over the place. I was an avid tumblr blogger then and was in a lot of the popular fandoms at the time. Fandomstuck had so many fandoms i was in, for example. Seeing old posts makes me very nosta!gic though and i love to see how loved and active it once wasgic

26-Oof. Okay. The comic is rough but for all the circumstances, it still holds up well. Of course with the website being in shambles, flash being extinct and certain...writing choices...its hard to recommend to people. But if you can look past certain things, or even read the unofficial collection if it makes it more digestible, i still think you should read it cause it does a lot of things i love. And also things i dont. But thats not unheard of

27- carapacians

28-Oo i should of read through this question sheet before answering them all in one. Thats hard to say but cascade is still a huge moment to me. That or jade:enter (yes these are both flashes but those are what came to mind)

29- the retcon. Not the idea of it but the fact its so vriska central. Vriska is not the problem solver. Also hate hate the whole vriska (vriska) stuff. I like (vriska) and seeing her get shredded to shit by the "better" vriska is just. ugh. Theres definitely other things i dont like. Oh god trickster mode. I love the designs but i hate what it is in the comic.

30- *insert the cop upd8 story because im not coming up with something on the fly*

31- Pretty much 95%. In the paat it was more like 50% but now its pretty much blog wide.

“Homestuck Isn’t Dead” Tag

I wanted to make one, so send a number or reblog to get one!

1. Do you have a chum handle? What does it mean?

2. Is your username homestuck related/have you had one hs related?

3. Do you call your s/o a matesprit?

4. Do you call your best friend your moirail?

5. Are you “kin” with any characters or commonly called a character?

6. God Tier?

7. Do you make HS fanart?

8. Do you make hs fanfiction?

9. Do you roleplay homestuck? where and how often?

10. Do you cosplay homestuck characters? Who and where?

11. Are you apart of ask blogs?

12. Are you in any homestuck groups?

13. Favorite character?

14. Least favorite character?

15. OTP?

16. NOTP?

17. BROTP?

18. Do you want homestuck to just die already?

19. Are you following up with hiveswap? Do you play? Watch YT videos?

20. Tell us how homestuck has effected you in real life?

21. Have you met anyone through homestuck?

22. Have you left the fandom before?

23. How many times have you read through it?

24. Did you ever skip intermissions/dialog/animations?

25. Opinions on the fandom?

26. Opinions on the comic?

27. Do you favor the trolls, humans, or carapaces?

28. Favorite moment of all of homestuck?

29. Least favorite moment of all of homestuck?

30. Tell us a homestuck based story.

31. How homestuck related is your blog?

[4kurra]

Dirty laundries

Synopsis: Laundries on a Saturday was something you hated doing, especially since your "beloved" roommate didn't help out most of the time. Your hatred for that changed the moment you met a cute stranger.

Genre: GXG, non idol AU, fluff, strangers to lovers

Pairings: Im!Nayeon x Fem!Reader

Authors note: Fixed it so it doesn't look crappy LMFAO ☠️

"Momo! Your socks are so stinky I might just leave them here." I complained to my dear roommate who had looked comfy, currently sprawled out on the couch.

"That's nice Y/N, maybe they crave the lavender scent." She lazily replied.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her reply. 'At this point I'd best just pray she forgets her socks exist'

It didn't take too long for me to reach the laundry room that the school had built for the students who slept in their own dorms. Luckily, it was a Saturday meaning everyone had probably been gone to visit their families. Otherwise, it'd be a lot crowded.

"Shit! Jihyo is gonna be mad at me." An unfamiliar had basically yelled, mumbling curse words right after.

I could see that she was struggling but I had my own share of clothes to finish and ignored it. I realized that I would still have to help the moment we made eye contact and she smiled almost as if I was some kind of life saver.

"Hey you! Could you please help me here? This is my first time doing this.." The stranger in front of me whispered the last words in a guilty tone, refusing to make eye contact.

I took the opportunity to study her features and realized how pretty she actually was. It seems she caught what I was doing when she sent a teasing grin.

"Staring might have you catch feelings." I was taken aback at her sudden straightforwardness before trying to read her expression in hopes that she was just joking.

I crossed my arms and gave myself time to think about either leaving a pretty stranger to do work that she had never done or selfishly do my own and live my whole life in regrets.

I gave a reply, given she had been patiently waiting like one of those golden retrievers. "Sure, but you do not wanna be combining pink and white unless you like the color."

She couldn't help herself but chuckle, almost as if she thought I was joking. She stopped the moment she realized I wasn't.

"Oh you're not joking.. I'm Nayeon by the way, you?" She asked, taking her hand out in hopes of having mine shake hers.

"Y/N." I shortly replied, shaking her hand.

Nayeon nodded, repeating what I had just said to make sure she wouldn't get it wrong and I swear I could have seen the cutest pair of bunny teeth's.

"Well captain, how's this gonna work?" Nayeon had asked me, still showing her bunny teeth's, almost as if she was flexing them.

I gave her instructions and she followed along like an expert. It didn't take too long for the machine to wash her clothes and have her worries disappear.

"I'd better get to mines," I tried to head to the original spot that I had chosen for myself but failed the moment she grabbed onto my hands.

"Huh?" She ignored the confused look on my face and opened her mouth to say something. "Maybe I could help you? You did help me."

I nodded, feeling a bit lazy after explaining what goes where to her and I gotta admit it was kinda frustrating. She did an amazing work, almost as if I didn't help her at all and it didn't take too long before the machine to also spin.

"Thanks." I sighed, wiping the sweat that managed to slide down my forehead.

"Don't mention it." She calmly replied without trying to wipe the non-existent sweats off of her face.

I took my basket, getting ready to leave until she once again stopped me. "Hey by the way, I was wondering if you'd like to hang sometimes?"

I smiled for the first time at her question. "Are you saying there's better places than this?"

"Mm.. maybe." Nayeon laughed at her own reply and I couldn't help myself but laugh along.

Finally managing to calm ourselves down, we both gave each others phone number and as our hands brushed against one another. That was probably my cue to thank Momo and her lazy ass.