#like it felt like a little bookend you know what im saying

[liesmyth]

hi i wasnt following u when ted lasso s3 came out so im curious to know what your general thoughts on the season were, i thought there were some rly good moments but i dont think im ever gonna forgive them for half-assing and giving up on ted's depression storyline amongst Many other things

OH MAN, unfortunately my opinion overall is pretty negative. Which, don't get me wrong, can be very good for fandom because the "fix it" impulse to fix what went wrong always gets my fic brain going, but... it really felt half-assed in so many ways, which is a double let-down considering that the whole time it was airing, the production wouldn't commit to actually saying it was the last season, wasn't marketed as such, and it generally felt like the whole show fizzled out vs. having what should have been a well-deserved send-off.

My main gripe is that it felt like... the writers had Points they wanted to hit and didn't care what they wrote as long as they got there. Genuinely all of the characters were paid dust in different ways (nobody more than Roy IMO who got flanderized beyond belief). The pacing was very uneven, so much crammed into the series but at the same time very little that had actual emotional resonance happened; it feels like a sharp downhill from how well-crafted the earlier seasons were, especially season 1. Someone should have really told JSuds "No" at least once or twice or two hundred times.

Strangely enough, the actual final episode was really alright for me, because it was self-referential and #meta as hell but never pretended to serve an actual narrative purpose beyond being a bookend; I much prefer that to the whole middle-of-the-season arc where the show tried to juggle so many plotlines and fumbled everything. I also don't especially care about things I've seen other people get worked up about (Ted's arc / his ending, Dr Jacob, Jamie's dad etc) just because I never expected much from that front to begin with & I don't really want media to teach me stuff — like, I get why someone may be bummed by "bad mental health storyline rep!" but to me it's just another example of bad storytelling to go with all the others. I totally get having a visceral reaction to it, though! But I don't really think any screenwriter sits at a table saying "I'm going to make a show about mental health that handles it correctly." They sit at the table and think about how to fictionalise a story of a guy going through it, using his mental health as a hook, among others. I care way less about characters being therapised and stable and healthy than I do about a story being good, you know? The issue with TDS3 is that it was simply boring. To me.

I will say, I actually liked the season a lot more while it was airing that now that it's over; week-by-week I kept having hope they'd course correct things, I had fun speculating, and I decided what to pick and choose to enjoy from the new episodes. I think S3 is WAY better when consumed in a weekly format than looked at as a whole. Some of my favourite fandom moments were writing fic about an episode that just aired while waiting for the next

[plazmafields]

Dorian chatted aimlessly as he waited for Krem to grab his lunch, Dorian gripping his own loosely and swinging the bag gently at his side. Once Krem was ready, the two men crossed through the office on their way to the cafe. As they passed a large set of frosted glass doors, Dorian heard soft music coming from within. He slowed his pace as he listened, trying to recognize the song.

“What is it?” Krem asked, several feet ahead.

“Oh, nothing, I just…” Dorian drifted off as he read the name on the doors. “I’ve never seen Cullen outside his office. Not in the break room or the cafe.”

Krem scoffed, “Yeah, he doesn’t leave that room. I don’t know if he takes breaks at all. Maybe he just likes to be alone during his breaks? I don’t know, honestly.”

Dorian hummed in acknowledgement, still focused on putting a finger on the strangely familiar music he could faintly hear. After a moment of silence, Krem started walking again.

“You coming?” he called back.

“Yes, I’ll just be a moment. I’ll meet you there.”

Krem shrugged and went off to meet up with their other lunch buddies.

Dorian kept staring at the frosted doors, reading the lettering over and over. Cullen Rutherford, Director of Architecture. Not his boss, per se, but absolutely a few positions over him.

Is it even worth asking? Dorian wondered. I suppose it couldn’t hurt, despite the likelihood of him refusing.

So with a shrug and a confident smile, Dorian drummed a knuckle against the glass and waited for a response. He heard the music stop and Cullen clear his throat before uttering a quiet “enter”.

Dorian opened the door slowly and peaked his head in first. “Mr. Rutherford? Do you have a moment?”

Cullen reeled a little at the formality. “Oh, yes, please, have a seat. And just ‘Cullen’ is fine.”

“Right, Cullen…” Dorian murmured as he sat, taking in the decor. “You have a lovely office, very cosy.” he remarked, noting each side wall had floor to ceiling bookshelves, each nearly full.

Cullen nodded in agreement, shifting the things on his desk.

“Did you do something different with it since I was here last month?”

Cullen chuckled, “No, never.” he looked up from his organization for his eyes to lock with Dorian’s, immediately thrown off course. “Uh, I mean, I have it the way I like it. Maybe, um, it needs something new, I’m not a trinket person, but maybe something. Bookends?”

Dorian grinned, “Maybe.”

After a long quiet moment, Cullen cleared his throat again. “Anyway, sorry, what did you need to talk to me about?”

As he casually glanced around the room once more, Dorian said plainly, “A few of us have formed a… ‘lunch club’, I suppose, where we all go out together or sit in the cafe at lunch and just chat. I was wondering if you wanted to join us today. I know you usually eat in here by yourself.”

Cullen sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck, eyes on his desk, “I usually don’t eat. If I’m honest. There’s really no time, I have so much shi--”

Dorian looked at him with a slight smirk, brow quirked.

“...work. A lot of work to do. I’m sorry, maybe I can find time some other...time.”

Dorian could see that Cullen didn’t really want to refuse, but also felt too awkward. 

“Is it the group? I promise there’s only, like, five of us, myself included. You’re never intruding.”

The blond cringed a little, “Maybe? I-I don’t know, I’m not much of a people person, I really--”

“What if it was just you and me?” Dorian cut him off gently.

Cullen’s mouth remained open as his eyes got wider. He quickly took Dorian up and down, then gulped.

Dorian chuckled, “I’ll let you think about it, how about that?”

As he opened the door to leave and find Krem, Dorian turned back and said in a soft tone, “I would really enjoy your company.”

The last thing he saw before shutting the door behind him was a slight blush on Cullen’s cheeks.

---

After a couple of days with no answer, Dorian decided to take it upon himself to buy an extra burrito bowl for Cullen, taking notes from Josephine on what he might like.

“He only comes to the break room when I bring in my pastries.” She had said. “He waits until everyone in the office has had one, then he comes out and takes whatever’s left. He asks me about the sugar cookies sometimes. They’re just butter and sugar, a little vanilla. He seems to like simple flavors, but he’s eaten almost everything I’ve made.”

Playing it safe, Dorian got a very basic bowl without extras, hoping the flavors would be inoffensive.

Once he got back to the office, he went straight to Cullen’s office and knocked, not waiting for a response before barging in. He knew Cullen would be in there, and he wasn’t giving him an option, Cullen was going to eat.

Cullen looked up from his screen with surprise, shocked to see Dorian with two bowls.

“Time for lunch.” Dorian said, placing Cullen’s dish in front of him with a fork and napkin.

Cullen tried to say something, but Dorian cut him off.

“Nope, eat.”

Dorian sat in the adjacent chair and began digging in, only stopping to gesture for Cullen to do the same.

The blond took a tentative bite, humming as he pointed with his fork. “This is really good, but I feel bad. You didn’t have to--”

“I certainly didn’t, but I chose to. And I’d hate to see it go to waste, so don’t feel bad, just eat it.”

Cullen, thrown off guard by Dorian’s bluntness, simply shut up and ate, muttering a quiet “thank you” through bites.

“You’re very welcome. Having work to do is no reason to starve yourself.” Dorian watched with a smile as Cullen clearly enjoyed his meal.

"I'd hardly say I starve myself," Cullen said under his breath. When Dorian gave a skeptical look, he elaborated, "I just, you know, make sure I have a big breakfast, and I eat an apple or something throughout the day. I try to be healthy."

"Skipping meals isn't healthy, darling." Dorian purred to avoid sounding judgemental.

Cullen blushed at being worried over. "No, you're right."

After a long pause, Cullen sheepishly asked, "Mind if I switch on some music?"

"Feel free," Dorian waved dismissively.

Soothing, almost romantic jazz was the first thing to play, Cullen flailing at the keyboard to skip it. "Woah, okay, how about something else?" He laughed nervously.

"No no, I quite enjoy jazz, if you don't mind." Dorian reached over and softly grabbed Cullen's hand to stop him, Cullen looking to their hands and blushing.

"Oh, sure. T-That's fine…"

They simply ate as the song played, Dorian suddenly realizing Cullen was done with his meal.

"Oh, you eat fast, don't you?" Dorian remarked, finally taking in Cullen’s physique. He was muscular, but not ripped; defined, but not toned; sturdy, but not 100% muscle. He was...

"Oh I--" Cullen looked down at his bowl and scrapped every last bit of rice out, "yeah, I'm used to not having a ton of time, I guess."

"I love a man with appetite." He didn't mean to sigh that last word, but Dorian let it slip, immediately clearing his throat in embarrassment.

Cullen swallowed roughly, but just went back to the last statement, "I probably shouldn't eat so fast or I'll mess up my metabolism. And I am getting older…"

Dorian scoffed, "Older? What are you, twenty-six?"

Cullen laughed, "Yeah, I wish. Try thirty-six."

"Are you calling me 'older', Cullen?" Dorian crossed his arms.

Cullen blushed, "W-What, no! I...how old are you?"

"Thirty-seven."

Cullen rolled his eyes, "Oh, please, older than me, maybe, but not older."

Dorian glanced down at Cullen's left hand. "Thirty-six and no wife?"

"Hey, I could ask you the same." Cullen shrunk in his seat; clearly this was a point of contention.

Dorian smirked, "I'm gay, darling."

"Oh…" Cullen blushed a little, "Well, no husband, then?"

Dorian crossed his legs and sat back, "I needed a break after my last boyfriend. He was a bit much: prissy, self-absorbed, disagreeable; it didn't work. We just had too much in common."

Cullen gave a hardy laugh, "I don't think you're disagreeable in the slightest, I think you're very pleasant."

Dorian smiled and tutted with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"And quite handsome, plenty of reason to be self-absorbed."

Taken aback, Dorian looked up with hopeful eyes, looking onto a completely innocent face dawning a sweet smile. Dorian grinned back, "Good of you to notice."

---

As he worked diligently, Dorian's focus was broken by someone sitting on the corner of his desk, arms crossed. He looked up, expecting Krem ready to head to lunch, but instead saw his newest lunch companion, blond curls less contained than usual.

"Ah, Cullen, out of your cave. What can I do for you, my friend?" He turned his chair and crossed his legs.

Cullen smiled softly but avoided Dorian's eyes. "I was wondering--I know it's lunch and you probably have plans to go out already but," his eyes darted up occasionally to check he wasn't losing Dorian's attention, "I was wondering if later, after work, you'd like to go to dinner with me."

The entire room went silent. The click-clacking of keyboards stopped, the fax machine stopped buzzing, and the water cooler stopped bubbling. Out of nowhere, eyes started peering over cubical walls, and people casually migrated in Dorian's direction.

He watched them all from the corner of his eye as everyone in the room waited for his answer. Cullen didn't leave his office, he didn't talk to his coworkers, and he didn't respond to flirting, from anyone.

Until now.

Dorian tried to keep his gulp subtle and quiet. He chuckled awkwardly before responding, "That...that sounds really nice. I'd love to."

The room started moving again, noises continued and people went back to their places.

Cullen grinned, "Great! That's...I'm…" he breathed a calming breath, "I'm so glad."

Laughing im relief, Dorian shook his head before taking a long moment to simply look into Cullen’s eyes. Golden and kind.

Cullen stared back, soft smile still present. "Well," he cleared his throat before standing, "I should get back to work. I'll see you tonight?"

Before Dorian could respond, his hand was in Cullen's, knuckles up, and eyes locked with the blond as he placed a gentle kiss to each one.

"I'm buying this time," Cullen whispered.

[a-wanderin-whirlybird]

Flight if Destiny: Prologue

(An Ever After High fic, set in an au where the evil queen decides to be a good mom. Cowritten with @offwiththeirbuds )

It was over. Finally. Robin Queen leaned against the back alley wall. Her enemy, Snow White had decided to try and do more than banish her after awakening. She tried to have Robin arrested and tossed in prison. Thankfully Robin hadn't done anything outside the realm of their story, so there was no way to arrest her. But Robin was furious. 

How dare she? Robin only did what was expected and for what? An empty, temporary marriage and a lonely future. 

She could get revenge. Get power and fame on her own and a kingdom to show up that brat Snow White!

Robin sneered, that could work! She could strike Wonderland first, it was disconnected enough from the rest of the world, no one would notice until it was too late. Or maybe she could-

Robin heaved, emptying her stomach contents on the concrete. She had gotten too excited. 

"Crap. Crap. What am I thinking?" Robin hissed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand while the other gently held her baby bump.

It was a small bump, barely showing, but it was a grounding reminder for Robin. It was so easy to lose herself to the role of Evil Queen and far safer than facing the future after her story. She felt so alone without the story now. All of her friends were just starting their stories while Robin had to start hers immediately out of High school. She was only 27. 

Narrators beyond, she was 27 and expecting! And she had considered world domination? What was she thinking??? 

She hadn't been. In that moment Robin had been scared and alone so she turned to the safety of her role. But… what safety was there in evil? Embracing it would mean she could be truly imprisoned. 

"Funny, how you reminded me I wasn't alone, and you don't even have a heart beat yet." Robin muttered to her belly. She had to be better. Better than Snow who wanted her dead or tortured, better than her mother who left her alone too young. Too focused on the Evil part of the Evil Queen. 

Robin vowed to be better. A Better Mother and Better Person. Robin stamped her foot, eyes narrowing with determination. 

"For you my Baby bird. For you I will face the world. I will be the best Mother for you…" Robin said pulling out a small slip of paper and racing to a nearby pay phone. 

The small paper had a short list of numbers. Friends from school. The top of the list was Nana Breadhouse, she may be the Gingerbread House Witch, and specialized in candy houses, but Nana also had some connections. 

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Nana. Its… its Robin."

"Robin?! Are you ok? I heard Snow's speech. Did she?!"

"She tried to arrest me but it didn't work. Nana I need a house Im… Nana I have a kid on the way. I wanted to- I…" Robin felt tears fall. "I almost became my Mom…"

"Oh SweetPlum. Where are you? Ill come get you. We can talk after." Nana said. Robin couldn't help but smile, Nana was the kindest woman.

"I'm in Bookend outside the Library. Ill wait here." Robin said. Her hand never left her little bump, she had to fight the urge to conquer and the little lump was helping.

"I'll be there faster than you can say Taffy, hang on love." Then Robin waited. 

It only took ten minutes for Nana to arrive, her Bubblegum punk hair made her easy to see in the rainy gloom. Nana's Broomstick landed and the plump woman raced over embracing the soaked Robin tightly. Robin held her friend dearly. 

"Oh Honey Tea, come on. Let's get you home and dry. You can tell me what your plan is after we got some food in you." 

"You're the Fairest Nana." Robin hiccuped. Her tears hadn't stopped the entire time. 

"Tell me that after you're dry and warm. Come on." Nana said, pulling Robin onto her broom. Robin leaned into Nana's back as they flew a comfortable silence filling the night air as they escaped the rain clouds and finally reached Nana's home. 

Nana silently ushered Robin inside. Trapper the huntsman was seated by the fire, rocking Nana's 1 year old Ginger. The gruff man looked concerned as Robin was sat down by the fire. 

Trapper gently placed the sleeping Ginger back in her crib and began to sign as Nana raced around. 

"Are you ok? You look awful." He signed, Robin nodded weakly, shivering in her soaked clothes. 

"Im… shaken. But ok, thank you Trap." Robin said, Trapper gave a soft smile and nodded. Only to sign some rather vicious things about their classmate Snow White. Robin shook her head. "Trap its… im not fighting back. I cant. I have a child on the way. I- I refuse to be my mother. Or worse."

"You don't have to do anything. But I could get Arthur and-" Trapper started signing only for Nana to bustle between the two and give Trapper a glare. 

"No. You are not storming the castle Trapper. If you try You get no Daughter time for a month!" Nana scolded in a whisper. Trapper shook his head but signed in agreement. 

"You both adore Ginger so much. I hope I'm as good to my baby Bird…" Robin muttered. Nana Gently pat Robin's hand. 

"You will be darling. Trapper and I have our system. I'm not denying him his ability to be in his daughter's life. And you did the right thing walking away today." Nana said. "Now I have some clothes you can use, tomorrow we can get your stuff back- Robin? Sweet Plum whats-?"

"She burned my stuff." Robin muttered, tears falling anew as she hugged herself tightly. "Snow… She. She did more than try and arrest me. She destroyed all my things. I just did my part! I just did what they expected of me…"

Nana's eyes lit aflame, fury rolling off her like an oven. 

"That, that, That witch! Disgusting. I knew Snow was Twisted but this? And she calls herself a Royal." Nana turned back to Robin, eyes softening. "We will get you new clothes and goods tomorrow. I have an extra plot of land nearby you can live on. We can design it tomorrow as well."

"Doctors appointments." Trapper signed. "We can come with you too." 

"You guys are too good to me. How can I repay you?" Robin asked sniffling.

"How about you babysit some days for us? We can always use an extra hand with Ginger and it will be good practice." Nana offered. 

"Deal."

The next day was strange. Replacing her missing clothes had been easy. Robin knew she needed maternity clothes and she wanted to move away from her old doom and gloom vibe. She wanted to be comfortable and to distance herself from the role of the Evil Queen. 

Then she saw someone she never expected to see. 

"Robin?" 

"Arthur?!" Robin had turned to see her best friend. "Look at you! Your beard came in!"

Arthur laughed, rubbing his blonde hair.

"Yeah and I finally lost the tit scars too. What are you doing this close to Camalot?" He asked. The two walked down the various aisles grabbing what they needed. 

"Oh well. I finished my story and I wanted a fresh start for me and the Baby Bird." Robin explained, Arthur sputtered.

"You're a Mom?!"

"Not yet. I'm expecting. I'm only about a month along." Robin explained giggling as Arthur started blushing. He loved kids, but never really did well with the idea of pregnancy.

"Oh wow! Uh well congrats!" Arthur said. "Uhm… you live nearby? If you do I'm sure Merlin and Giles wouldn't mind if you dropped by. Giles was really worried when news broke that your story started so early."

"That's sweet. I would love to visit. How are your Boys doing?" Robin asked. 

"Oh well… they are doing well. Milkshake is still a jackass to Giles about our relationship. But well… I'm going to propose soon. " Robin gasped.

"Really?! Oh Arty that's wonderful!" 

"Actually I was going to see if Nana knew where you were. I need your help to make it memorable." Arthur said, Robin smiled.

"Of course! You're my Best Friend Forever After. What were you thinking?" Robin asked. Arthur smiled and the two discussed proposal plans.

The next few months were a flurry of building, Reconnecting with friends and doctors. Robin had no time to stop and consider the ever disapearing urge to conquer the world. Instead it was replaced with eagerness to meet her future daughter. 

Robin got to visit Arthur, Merlin and Giles again. Her life was filling up with friends again and she felt lighter than ever. 

Then the sonogram appointment. As she had set it up her doctor had warned her, they would not allow anyone other than the father in with her. Robin was terrified. 

"Birdy whatchya doing so down?" Merlin practically chirped as he picked her up to go for the Sonogram. Robin sighed sitting beside the mage and watching the countryside roll away. 

"My doc warned me they won't let anyone but the father in with me…" Robin muttered. Merlin clicked their tongue 

"Ain't old Good King in a Nursery Home, senile out of his mind? And-" Merlin paused. The Mage was an empath and didn't need any other powers to know why Robin sank into depression when the old king was mentioned. Merlin nodded silently. 

"Fine. I'm the Dad now." Robin jolted up, turning to Merlin.

"What?! Do you honestly think they'll believe that?" Robin asked. Merlin smirked, tossing his scarf to the side. 

"They don't have too. They aren't getting rid of me. Though I'm calling back up." Merlin cooed, casting a minor sending spell before Robin could stop him. 

"Who'd you call?" Robin asked.

"The rest of the fathers!" Merlin said happily. He didn't say anymore until they arrived at the office and the two enter the waiting room. Robin was stressed, clutching her bulging stomach as Merlin went to check her in. She stood near the door, when-

"They let any old rabble in here don't they?" Robin tensed as the sniveling tones of Snow white met her ears. Robin turned. The new Queen was with her Prince, Fabian Charming and obviously expecting as well. 

"Snow." Robin hissed. 

"Queen. What are you doing here? I told them, not to accept your ilk." Snow sneered. "Or did you break in? I can arrest you for trespassing. Better yet I should have the guards toss you out. Maybe you'll get the mess- AIYYYYYYYYYY!"

Snow shrieked as her dress suddenly burst into Merlin's iconic Pink flames. Merlin sauntered up and slung an arm around Robin. She didn't realize she had been hyperventilating until then. 

Fabian put out his wife and glared at the smirking Merlin. 

"Oops, sorry I still miss fire when I get stressed ya know? And our girl is expecting our little bird, of course Im stressed." Merlin purred.

"Our?" Fabian muttered.

"Yes. Ours. Move Fabian." The Charming swung around to find Giles, Arthur and Trapper in the doorway. Arthur looked slightly mortified and Trapper looked ready for a fight. But it made Robin feel safer. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Snow hissed, shaking off the ashes of the fire. "I know none of you are the father!"

"No we all are. Because we were asked to be." Giles said calmly as Arthur pushed over to Robin and held her close. 

"No you weren't. Merlin decided." Robin muttered to Arthur who snorted. 

"You didn't say no." Arthur retaliated earning a laugh from Robin as Snow tsked.

"What ever. Just Leave, I have an appointment here!" 

"So do we." Merlin said as a nurse came up, nervously fiddling with her clipboard.

"Uhm, Ms. Queen? We are ready for you and uh… your child's fathers?" She seemed to ask if the four men were with her despite knowing the anwser. Snow went slack Jared as Robin left, surrounded by her friends. 

The panic the run in caused vanished when she saw her daughter the first time. She cried so hard, her baby Bird was healthy and growing. And Robin forgot all about Snow White.

Then her new home had been built not 2 miles from Nana's own home. Robin could easily visit and watch Ginger, who was growing so fast. 

Robin helped Arthur propose to his boyfriends. Merlin may have been a powerful mage. But Robin was the trickiest witch alive. She was able to make the moment Magical without Merlin catching on. 

And of course they said yes. The three looked radiant at their wedding. Merlin opting for a ballgown as he preferred and Giles and Arthur for a suit and armor respectively. And Robin was Arthur's Best Witch. 

Then suddenly Robin was giving birth, post ceremony. Nine months had gone by so fast. And before she knew it, Robin was holding her daughter in her Best Witch suit. She was so small and pale with a little silky tuft of black and Purple hair.

Raven Queen entered the world in Summer. Greeted by her mother and her friends. 

[merrysithmas]

the museum explosion vs martin incident (parallels)

(another long post)

im still Shook at the fact that literally ALL shell-shocked Theo could say post-Martin until he was forced to leave Boris' side was "Your arm" over and over again (four times ;__;), god he was so terrified to lose him. and he made himself literally feverishly sick worrying about him afterwards.

" 'Boris give it to them!' I stammered, as I stood frozen in horror as the one named Fritz put his pistol to Boris' temple..."

there is a whole passage in that scene, which is struck through with imagery of fire, metallic burning, gunsmoke, and ash, which serves at the bookend for Theo's original fiery trauma at the terror attack in the museum from which Theo has, until that point, been utterly traumatized and stagnated by.

Theo tellingly describes this moment as a "skip in a DVD", a time-jump he isnt entirely cognizant of. he is lurched in that moment from the time period of his psychological fixation and stagnation into the present moment when Boris is in danger. Boris, someone he loves as fiercely as he does his mother and the only character in the book he with certainty would not have known had she lived (if there was no bombing we are led to believe in another parallel perfect life it can be assumed he would have spoken to Pippa and Welty in the gallery and likely would have made friends with them, thus meeting Hobie too. Xandra he likely would have met through Larry, eventually). this juxtaposition between Boris and Audrey is important, in a life or death situation, one Theo can finally control -- which was his lifelong regret and wish.

"It happened before it even happened, like a skip in a DVD throwing me forward in time, because I have no memory at all of picking the pistol up off the floor, only of a kick so hard it threw my arm in the air, I didn't really hear the bang until I felt the kick and the casing flew back and hit me in the face and I shot again eyes half-closed against the noise, my arm jolting with every shot, the trigger had a resistance to it, a stiffness, like pulling a too-heavy door latch, car windows popping and Martin with an arm coming up, exploding safety glass and chunks of concrete flying out a pillar and I got Martin in the shoulder, the soft gray cloth was drenched and dark, a spreading dark stain, cordite smell and deafening echo that drove so deep inside my skull that it was less like actual sound striking my eardrums than a wall slamming down hard in my mind and driving me back into some hard internal blackness from childhood."

in a few paragraphs Theo even compares the garage to Manhattan: "The smoke from the fired gun was oddly the same bracing ammonia smell of Manhattan thunderstorms and wet city pavements". he then goes on to talk about the pool of blood coming towards him, he fears it viscerally, not knowing what he will do if it touches him. unsure what to do now that his personal psychological wounds (symbolized by the blood) are finally exposed, black and tarry on the garage floor, inching towards him with each passing second-- he collapses and sits down.

and finally, Boris picks up Theo's glasses and wipes the blood off of them himself. helps him see clearly again. Boris tells Theo the very important and meaningful and plot heavy words: "All over now. You saved us." while in the very next sentence Theo references how "the gunshot set off my tinnitus like a swarm of locusts buzzing in my ears" -- an injury he obtained during the original explosion in his childhood screaming back, wailing like a wraith (locusts) sent back to hell.

in this scene which bookends Theo's trauma there is also important parallel drawn between Theo's horrifying and fated encounter with the dying Welty and his murder of Martin/Fritz, who we can say are the morbid specters of Theo's guilt and PTSD from Welty (in another analysis you could maybe say Fritz -- who grabs Boris by the hair-- might represent Boris' demons with Boris' own father or both those things, simultaneously for the both of them). Welty and Martin even have similar descriptions to their final injuries, with Theo himself decidedly and with finality causing the former, finally "killing" his demon.

on Welty: "the side of his face was stippled with an ugly spray of burns, and his head, above one ear, was a sickly black horror", "I had the dreamlike sense of having failed him, as if I'd botched some fairy-tale task through clumsiness and ignorance", "his eyes, in the ruined face, were intelligent and despairing", "one papery eyelid, half shut, twitched, a blue-veined tic... his hand in mine was limp." "he coughed a percussive gout of blood that spewed all over me"

on Martin: "and Martin's viper eyes met mine and he was slumped forward... when I shot again and hit him above the eye, red burst that made me flinch", "I was still hearing echos... retching and doubled over, with Fritz's blood crawling and curling on my tongue"

in the same scene we can also draw parallels between Theo's hazardous concussion at the museum, "In a cascade of grit, my hand on some not-quite vertical surface, I stood, wincing at the pain in my head" and his grateful knock back to LIFE (PULLED OUT OF THE PAST) from Boris, "Hard, but without anger, Boris cuffed me with his closed fist on the side of the head: an impersonal clout, no heat about it at all. It was as if he was performing CPR."

and lastly, naturally, we have to point out the fate of The Goldfinch itself in these two scenes to come to a conclusion about Theo's state of mind.

Welty begged of Theo to take the The Goldfinch (his innocence, his childhood, his happiness, his soul) intact from the museum. in his near-death state Welty spoke scatteredly of fond remembrances of the innocence of the children in his own family, intermixing them with the present. he warns Theo to TAKE THE PAINTING! mourns how the perpetrators of the attack (aka Death itself) already ruined so much in the gallery, do not let them take the little bird (Theo) too.

"Don't leave it. No." He was looking past me, trying to point at something. " Take it away from there." ... "I reached out and picked the board up by the edges, it felt surprisingly heavy for something so small.... Drawing my sleeve across the dusty surface. Tiny yellow bird, faint beneath a veil of white dust."

with the martin situation, the painting is lost. Boris even dives into Theo's idealized past (a fixed and escapist/stagnanted past that Boris cannot exist in, represented by the painting, explained in my other meta), risking his own place in Theo's life, trying to rescue it for him.

"I heard the sound of running feet on concrete-- the boy [!!], white coat [like Audrey at the museum] running to the exit [!!] ramp with the painting under his arm, his was running up the ramp to the street, echoes [from Theo's past!!] reverberating in the tiled space", "Boris, there was Boris, winded and breathless and bloody, running back in, his voice was coming from a million miles off [he dove into Theo's idealized past, self-sacrificing], Potter, are you alright? he's gone, I couldn't catch him, he got away"

long story short... the explosion and the Martin scene are narratively paralleled in a way that shows Theo can overcome (some) of his past fixation and Boris is pivotally present in the second scene as someone Theo rescues, his most-valued person next to his mother. Theo willingly gives up The Goldfinch for him, being solely concerned about Boris' safety thereafter, terrified he gave it up, exposed himself to himself, the truth, put it all on the line, and Boris might not make it--

--which he realizes without any real thought but instead pure spontaneous emotion, would crush him more than the loss of the painting (and all that it represents) ever could.

[smokeybrand]

This is Snyder

I don’t care for Zack Snyder. I don’t hate his craft as much as i hate Michael Bay, Snyder actually tries to make good movies, but i don’t find his schlock entertaining. He’s not a bad director, i guess, but his movies are always scatter-brained messes. I think Snyder is more a creative than a crafter. He’s the guy you want in your development stages, throwing out ideas and boarding those massive action scenes. If i were to equate him to a sports analogy, Snyder is the Offensive Coordinator on an American Football team. He’s the guy that builds the visual aspects of your scenes, the car who sets up the set pieces. He’s Mr. Battlemaster, the Attack Master, the guy you call in to adds little spice to your drama and conflict laden plot, not the guy you give the keys to an entire cinematic universe where you have to humanize godlike heroes. Emotional subtlety has never been Snyder’s strong point. Since the only DCEU film that was passable was Wonder Woman, the one flick that Snyder didn’t really have his hands on too much, i wanted to take some time and kind of dissect why i hate almost everything Snyder has ever made.

Dawn of the Dead

It’s been years since i’ve seen this movie but i recall enjoying it considerably. But it’s a zombie movie. And it wasn’t written by Snyder. That’s going to be a running theme in this; Other people’s stuff, Snyder is okay. His own stuff, not so much... Zack was only a Director on this flick which meas he just got to bring a script to life. He just got to pick the best scenes and build a cool looking movie. That’s Snyder at his best and it shows. For my money, DoD is his best film.

300

This was his breakthrough. 300 lends itself to Snyder’s style even more than DoD. The comic it’s based on is literally revisionist history written by 80s comic madman, Frank Miller. It is literally a series of splash pages with cool sh*t on them. In comic book speak, it’s literally a series of action set pieces. Splash pages are used to fill every inch of paper with dynamic, poignant, information. When every page of your book is a splash page, it conveys a sense of aggressive action. That is right up Snyder’s alley. There’s no room for plot or character development but that slow-mo buster kick to that persion dude was crazy dope, son! “THIS! IS! SPARTA!” It’s also a superficial, special FX laden, popcorn movie that is borderline sexist with all of the half naked dudes about but still, i had a good time.

Watchmen

Watchmen was the first Snyder movie i saw where i realized he was kind of out of his depth. Dude did his best to bring this unfimable story to the screen, and in some spots i think he did a really good job (Comedian’s arc was okay and that change toward the end made all of the sense to me) but overall, it lacked the emotional, philosophical, and political depth from the source material, you know, literally the reason why Watchmen is so goddamn brilliant. Snyder shot this movie like a mid 2000s cape flick. Think Raimi’s Spider-Man or X2 but infinitely more superficially, which is ridiculous because the Watchmen novel is infinitely more rich. WB kind of let up on Snyder’s leash a bit and he focused way too much on the sh*t that shouldn’t have been focused on. At it’s core, Watchmen is a character study of those old timey 80s archetypes and an indictment of the destructive materialism infecting society at that time. There’s a visceral moral question that my brother and i argue about all of the time and i believe Snyder stuck the landing, but he kept falling off the bar to get there.

Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch is one of the worst movies i have ever seen. The mechanics, the technical aspects of this movie, are just the worst. I can go into how this is basically a shittier version of Inception with the dream in a dram aspects or how that sh*t doesn’t make any sense in the movies established lore or timeline. I can go into how this thing technically takes place in between the five minutes that Babydoll is being moved from her cell to the lobotomy chair so none of it matter or how f*cking ridiculous it is that this woman’s name is f*cking “Babydoll”. Sucker Punch is wildly problematic and i’ve written at length about how i feel about it before, i think, but my point with this entry is to high light how messy this movie feels. This is Snyder wit h no brakes. This is Snyder unleashed, When left to his own design. THIS, Sucker Punch, is the type of movie Zack Syder wants to make. He wanted to explore the psychology behind being in such dire straights, the emotional and psychological rationale of those terrible circumstances but he also wanted naked chick, a dragon, and giant robot samurai in it. How does that work? You can’t put Nazi Zombies in Girl, Interrupted, man. that dog don’t hunt. i know because Sucker Punch tried it and IT was AWFUL!

The DCEU

I thought about doing these thing individually but considering he basically directed all of these f*cking movies (except Wondy) i can lump them all into one entry. WB mistook the success of the Grimdark Nolan Batman Trilogy as audiences wanted a bunch of edgelord superheroes. So they gave the Batman Begins treatment to f*cking Superman. And, to bring this car crash of an idea to the big screen, they give the reigns to Snyder. I don’t like Superman. I think he’s a terrible hero. How do you right him? What aspects do you focus on when the guy and turn back time by flying real fast? How do you make that asshole compelling? Snyder’s solution? Uncle Ben his ass! Guilt trip him into becoming the world’s savior! sh*t’s lazy son! Man of Steel was adequate though. it was good enough for the WB suits to hand the entire reigns of the DCEU over to this asshat and, oh boy, was that dumb! My chick is the biggest Superman fan and she hated this movie. For her, someone versed in the Kal-El mythos, this was an affront. From what little i know about Supes, i’d agree.

SO Snyder double-downs on his Batmanfication of Superman by literally introducing Batman into a Superman story. BvS is an abortion of a film. It destroys the archetype of what all of these heroes represent. Batman is a psychopath killer. Superman is a morose pussy. Lex Luthor is the goddamn Riddler from Batman Forever. It’s a goddamn mess. Which sucks because, at it’s core, there are a lot of good ideas here. I liked how Luthor was more Zuckerburg than Rockefeller. I liked the introduction of Wonder Woman, even if it felt a little forces at times. I liked at the whole “Punished Messiah” story line for Supes, even if it never got deeper than a puddle. I hated everything else. Everything was just too Snyder-y. Cool sh*t to look at as opposed to deep sh*t to identify with. But that’s what happens when you forgone character development for mech fights and a Doomsday story line that should have bookend a phase one of pictures. Seriously, Doomsday in the second goddamn movie of your fledgling franchise? No! no, im not going to get into that. We’ll address that later.

Suicide Squad was a goddamn mess. I know David Ayer directed that, and one day i hope we get to see that sh*t, but the studio brought Snyder in to fix what they felt was an unwatchable film. Seriously, Snyder is considered a “guest Director” on that film and it shows. Justice League is the same way but Joss Whedon kind of added a bunch of levity to this ridiculous film. While i think Justice League is trash, i also believe it’s the second best that the DCEU has produced, mostly because there was reprieve to ll of Snyder’s grimdark bullsh*t. Whedon was able to bring out the best of these characters. I eve liked Superman in this and i f*cking hate Superman. But that’s kind of my point. If you remove Snyder from the equation, you get solid sh*t! like Wonder Woman!

Everything about Wonder Woman screams dope. It reminds me of a Phase one MCU outing, which is a fitting tone for Diana’s adventures. It’s not a perfect movie, there area ton of issues with it, but overall, it is a delight. I think Gal Gadot gave her best performance and someone finally used Chris Pine in an advantageous manner. I think going full on Ares was a mistake but, in the context of the world, i get it. I thought this was a decent ride until the end. The climax was whack. Seeing as how Snyder is credited as a writer, i assume he wrote this part because it feels wildly Snyderish. Literally the worst pat of this film is the ending. Tonally, it’s ridiculous. It doesn’t fit. It’s poorly executed. But it’s fun to watch, i guess. That’s Snyder in a nutshell.

Ultimately, putting this guy in charge of the entire DCEU, which wanted to be a direct competitor to the MCU, was a mistake. His vision is ridiculous. He has too many ideas for any one film and with no one to reel that in, you get the mess that we have now. There are certain things that needed to happen in order for the DCEU to be relevant, to be good. Snyder doesn’t have the patience to execute like this though. He doesn’t want to put in the time to world build. He just wants to throw awesome looking sh*t on screen and move on. That, a good movie, does not make. If i had a say, i’d probably loosely follow the MCU Phases. That sh*t worked and gave ample time to develop a proper story. As an example, i’d have done something like this:

Phase One - Trinity

Movie 0: House of El. Prequel to the entire DCEU set in the final days of Krypton. You could establish all of the requisite Supermann necessities while also planting seeds for Brainiac, Doomsday, Apokolips, and Darkseid. This would be the backbone for the first three phases of your DCEU. Think Star Wars but with Krpytonians instead of Jedi.

Movie 1: The Batman or Gotham, dunno about that title yet, Definitely a Year one or Year Two Bat-story. I’d want to introduce The Long Halloween arc. Make it a noir, focus on the assumed Batman doing his detective thing, until the climax which would be an amalgamation of No Man’s Land and The Man Who Laughs. Like, Joker is holding the city hostage and all of the holiday murders were a distraction while he planted his trap. Batman would have to choose between his morals or vengeance in the end.

Movie 2: Superman Sequel. Calling this one Man of Steel as it would have both Superman and Metallo as the primary antagonist. I figure having Clark and Corbin duke it out makes for a clever title, you know? You can introduce Luthor as the mastermind, secretly collaborating with his miraculous AI that turns out to be Brainiac. Deathstroke could be hired muscle. Cadmus can be introduced. You get to see the introduction of Superman on a world wide scale as he and Metallo duke it out in the open. This would feel like that old Superman cartoon on the WB way back when. Light-hearted yet serious tone. Actual stakes. Sub plot of Lois figuring out Luthor is the reason all of the trauma occurs.

Movie 3: Wonder Woman. It will probably be a period peace set against WW1. It would pit her against Aries and the preconceptions of women during those bleaker times. The battle would be against disillusionment; trying to find a reason why Man should be defended or something of that nature. Wonder Woman would be more or less what we already got from Patty Jenkins, with a much better ending. Like, an actual pgysical fight with Aries seems dumb. If we have to go that course because of executive meddling, at least cast a better Ares. Make him more menacing and less inept. Motherboxes and a bit more of Apokolips will be introduced in this movie.

Movie 4: World’s Finest. Basically Batman against Superman while WW actually solves the real issues behind the scene. Like, she uncovers the underlying plot of the Motherboxes and actually tries to prepare for the coming of Steppenwolf. I really like the idea of Wonder Woman adapting her skill set to covert ops kind of like Motoko Kusanagi does. Also, you know, dudes is dumb and punchy. While Supes and Bats are having their tiff, Steppenwolf actually appears and engages the two of them. Ultimately, Wonder Woman arrives and the three of them, the Trinity, send ol boy packing back to Apokolips and the Motherboxes go dead. The Trinity is established, the seeds of Apokolips have been sown, and we can move into Phase Two - Justice League with the first movie of the lot; Death of Superman. Opening with the sidelining of the most powerful hero opens up a reason for Batman, having an established relationship with Winder Woman and Superman, realizing there are bigger things out there and a team might be necessary to combat them.

See, four movies, five if you count the Krypton prequel, and you’ve established the world, the main characters, the underlying conflict, and you have room to grow. You’ve developed characters, established the backbone to your entire universe, and given each of your principal heroes, Batman, Superman, ad Wonder Woman, their own outing, in the vein of their own themes. Grimdark works for Batman because he IS grimdark. Sh*t doesn’t fly with Superman or Wonder Woman. Diana is a warrior, set her story to the backdrop of a conflict to showcase her strengths. Superman wold spend his time trying to save Metallo, not murder him at the end of the goddamn movie because Supes is about believing in the good, not killing troubled assholes. Snyder didn’t have the patience to do this. He wasn’t building anything. He just wanted to put cool sh*t on the screen while trying to make everything dark and deep. He failed at both.

In closing, i don’t think Zack Snyder is a terrible director. I don’t. I think he has too may ideas and no one to reel him in when left to his own devices. When he is making someone else’s material, when he has a guidelines to follow and people keeping his rampant creative energy in check, he can be pretty good at his job, a la DOD or 300. Hell, i’d even give him Watchmen. But, left to his own devices, we get nonsense like Sucker Punch and BvS. Zack Snyder is everything that’s wrong with modern American cinema and it galls me to the core.

[leaughrilke]

i have a notion and it's lena teaching little stella how to play chess and it's entirely different from lena playing chess in her own house because there's so much laughter and casual teasing and stella uses her powers to cheat and then vehEMENTLY DENYING IT WHEN ASKED and maybe i'm just being extra

its so funny bc i’ve had a v similar notion sO LET ME YELL ABT IT SOME

stella is the only of the superbabies to show any interest in chess for more than a passing moment and is the only one to be able to sit still long enough for lena to teach her the game and lena’s like???  so excited when, one day when stella’s like four or five maybe, lena and kara are playing and stella nudges at lena’s arm until she moves it so she can crawl into her mom’s lap and she settles back against lena and studies the board with this v serious look and kara’s biting back a laugh until stella quietly requests show me mommy? and then kara’s softening and lena’s all but melting tbh like woah her kiddo want to play this game that lena loves a lot and she wants to learn??  she wants lena to teach her???

so lena goes out and gets this little children’s chess set the very next day, gets this set bc it has little labels on the board to indicate where each piece goes and it’s got this pretty mother of pearl inlay around the edge of the board, around the base of the pieces and lena knows stella will love it

they pick sunday afternoons for practice, lena lifting stella up to the big family calendar they keep in the kitchen so she can pick a day and put a little heart next to it.  so every sunday afternoon, right after stella’s napped for a bit, she bounces into lena’s study and watches v carefully as lena sets up the board, explaining what each piece is, what they do, where they go.  stella asks questions sometimes, but mostly she watches at first until she kind of gets an idea of what’s going on

but then when they get into the game??  hoo boy, stella is hilarious and pretty savage, like she’ll look at some move that lena’s made that she apparently doesnt approve of and will look up at her mother with this one raised eyebrow and sort of sigh really?  and it’s the cutest thing and lena cant help but laugh and stella’s rlly so sweet, she drops the look she’s giving her and starts laughing with lena and it will take them a fair few minutes to sort of reign it in

and omg as stella gets older??  she starts learning a few basic strategies, she does, but she’s still losing to lena basically every time (though every once in a while, lena throws it just because the look of elation on stella’s face is probably one of the brightest, purest things lena’s ever experienced) so she takes to poking holes in lena’s strategies, gently harassing her to try and get her off her game, but lena throws it right back at her, sort of narrowing her eyes and quirking an eyebrow when stella goes to move her knight when she has a pawn in perfect position and stella just sort of snorts, nods like yeah okay ya got me there

good god they laugh so so much during these games.  like they rlly do and lena is so so happy abt it like??  this is literally all she’s ever wanted, all she’s ever dreamed of for her kids.  they’re getting exactly what she never had, are able to feel safe enough that they poke fun at her like stella does when lena makes a careless mistake and leaves her king vulnerable (it’s not a mistake, it’s lena carefully working lessons into each of their games tbh, like she is nothing if not methodical)

an excerpt:

mom, oh my gosh, don’t you have, like, three advanced degrees?

don’t you have a move to make, stelly-bean?

and stella’ll groan at the nickname but she’s also grinning super wide, super bright and lena’s just??  basking in her happiness i guess

omg and when stella learns to read minds, it’s hilarious bc she’s not slick abt it.  like??  u can sort of feel her when she’s there, in ur head, like a little bump or nudge near the base of your skull, and lena thinks its hilarious that she’s trying that, that when she couldnt get a vibe for lena’s next move, she looked to lena’s mind and she sort of pokes a little fun at stella for it, asks we’re not cheating, are we? in such a gentle, teasing tone that has stella stammering, flushed, uh no of course not like why would you say that as i am perfect and have never done anything wrong in my entire life, ever

when stella gets older, she gets a lot better at reading ppl without them knowing, but kara and lena can always tell (mostly bc of that first psychic connection??  like they’re slightly more attuned to stella too) and so stella thinks she’s Rlly being Slick but lena sort of rolls her eyes and groans stella and its hilarious watching her daughter’s reaction, going from shock to worry to vague annoyance to out and out laughter as she tries to deny it, puts up a good fight before she’s reduced to giggles

like at some point its not even practice anymore, they just turn into weekly chess games, just for fun, just bc its calm and sweet and warm and when stella’s in college and Going Through Some Shit, it’s something to anchor her and lena loves that her daughter still likes the game, still likes spending time with her.  like??  they’ve only ever missed one sunday, bc stella had the flu, but that was made up for on tuesday when she felt better

and like??  chess sort of becomes this touchstone for them, like it always was for lena, but it also brought up some weird and painful things too, but now its just all good things, just stella and quiet sundays and laughing and messing up the board bc they needed to push the game to the side in order to set their ice cream bowls on the desk

like it sort of becomes a thing between them, like one mother’s day, stella gets lena this truly horrendous cat chess board bc she thought it was hilarious and lena laughs so hard she cries when she opens it (she still keeps it in her office though, next to one of her #1 Mom mugs and the pencil holder finn made in preschool

and then lena fires back with a fantasy inspired chess set for stella’s birthday, bc the dragon looks ridiculous and its just the thing stella loves to mock mercilessly

without fail, one of them always gets the other something chess related for any gift giving event.  one christmas, stella gets a purse shaped like a knight; on lena’s birthday one year, stella got her a set of bookends that looked like bishops, and so on and so forth

and then, to get ~emotional~, lena gifts stella her very own custom made chess set for her college graduation and stella treasures it for the rest of her life tbh, like it makes her feel warm and safe like she always did in her mom’s study, sunday afternoons, sipping tea between moves and laughing until her stomach hurts.  like ??  it’s just a tangible thing for all these good memories and honestly ???  im crying ????  

[jeshikawa]

We had our end of the year enkai a few days ago! I haven't been able to write about it because I've been running around wild preparing for my trip to the US (I'm waiting to board now!)

One of my JTEs did not survive the transfers. I knew one of them would have to leave because I heard a rumor that someone was coming in. I had an idea of who it would be too… two of my JTE only recently transferred in so I felt like they were safe. I have three other JTE and one of them was so excited to find out she wasn't transferring, she whispered it to me asap. The other two teachers had been there for almost 10 years. One is a third year teacher who is single and the other is a first year teacher who has a young child. While i didn't want any of them to leave, my money was on the third year teacher because all of her students had graduated, she didn't have any family holding her here, and I'd been watching her low key clean off her desk and the visiting ALT desk next to her for a week.

It ended up being the first year teacher.:(

The third year teacher told me and as soon as I heard I screamed, "BUT SHE HAS A CHILD!" And another JTE was surprised and laughed like, "OMG they're transferring her they aren't *killing* her." (trying to lighten the mood). It turns out she's tranfering to a school much closer to where she lives so it works out. :( I'm sad though because she is absolutely the teacher I work with the most and she was so incredibly kind and wonderful and I get all sad thinking about it again.

My mom had sent me some "GREAT TEACHER! YOU'RE WONDERFUL! THANKS, TEACHER!" things in a care package. Knowing they were things I'd leave behind in Japan anyway, I decided to regift one to her. It was a little mini chalkboard with messages like "You're an amazing teacher. A+ teacher. Thank you!" and other message painted on it. It's a generic thing you'd see on a teacher's desk in the US and I felt like she'd dig it because it's such a traditional thing to give a teacher as an American.

I explained it to her and gave it to her. About an hour later after she'd taken the time to process all of her gifts, she came to me ask me to re-explain. "All American teachers get these?!" And I was like, "Well, not all, but they're very common. They're easy to find in stores and very affordable so even students with little money can get them. They can be things like mugs or paperweights or bookends with grateful messages or school shapes."

She was really surprised because!!! This isn't very common at all in Japan. It isn't even a thing!!! So while she'd received things like flowers and cards and small gifts from students/coworkers, she'd never received an omiyage that was the equivalent of a WORLD'S GREATEST TEACHER mug. She started to tear up and hugged me in the middle of the office.Some teachers asked what that was about bc they were curious, she explained, and everyone came over to check out her little chalkboard desk prop. When she explained to them in Japanese, there were a lot of "Ehs?!" and the other English teachers explained how no one had ever heard of this being a thing before and even if it was a generic gift in the US, it was *incredibly touching* here.

Like, note to self, buy more mini goods like that when I go to the US,wtf.

Below the cut: Other teacher transfers that hit me, office gossip, and me making a new friend at enkai

My kocho and kyoto sensei also transferred. :( This also made me sad because while the two of them don't speak English well, they made genuine efforts to try and always always always ALWAYS made me feel welcome in the office. Like, if I was ever alone in the office, kyoto sensei would check on me. If I was looking at something on the board in the hallway, kocho sensei would try to explain. THEY WERE SO GOOD AND IM SO SAD.

IM JUST SO SAD. I know they're going to be great but I'm just kicking myself. I wish I could have talked to them more I wish I could have gotten to know them better.

Nothing really spectacular happened at enkai. It was just a normal enkai tbh… I got to thank the three of them for being so kind and good to me and wished them luck. Found out kyoto sensei is being promoted and he'll be the kocho sensei at a special education school. I knew his concentration was education but i didn't know his second one was special education! He was really excited to go to the school… it's a very unique school that I won't describe because it might be easy to figure out (not that anyone cares???). I think he'll be amazing there.

ANWYAY I'M GOING TO THE USA NOW and when I come back, we might also have a new office??? I told my supervisor that if they change the office on one of my nenkyuu days (when I'm back in Japan), I'm willing to come in and help move my things. He said it wouldn't be neccessary but I still wanted to put the offer out there.The JHS and SHS staff rooms might be combined! The SHS ALT thought out loud and said if the staff is combined, it might be nice if I pick up some SHS classes since out of the 3 permanent ALT, I'm the one that actually has teacher training and experience but I don't do lessons in the JHS which seems like a waste. Two SHS teaches and my supervisor were there and they were like, "Really?" and asked what I thought. I said I'd be willing to do SHS classes once a week at least if only because the SHS ALT do a JHS class once a week. They *know* I have experience and training and they're aware that I'm not really used at my full potential at the JHS because of the way it's set up. There was a lot of nodding and saying that might be a good idea.

Kind of related in the same vein, one of the SHS JTE has been talking to me a lot lately. He's a little awkward but very friendly. At enkai, he mentioned he used to be an ALT supervisor but he didn't get along with his ALT (apparently she didn't like him). He never understood why but he assumed it was something about him. He also mentioned he knows he frustrates the two SHS ALT sometimes because he sends back their lesson plans when they bring them to him. I was really surprised! He's honestly really nice and cool. I did tell him that the SHS ALT have told me they really appreciate his feedback.I also know some things about the person he supervised and I strongly suspect it wasnt' him but them. I didn' tell him this because it's none of my business to put their business out there but yeah. He looked really happy when I said that. We spent the rest of the enkai talking about Japanese and American education. He wanted to know about what American students are taught to become teachers and what different types of assessment and activities teachers did in American classes. I think I gave him some cool ideas to try out for his own classes (the ones without ALT). I offered to send him some of my favorite lesson plans— they're all social studies but he could see the lesson plan template I used and the things I'd look out for. I also offered to bring back my TESL notebook and assignments from the US and he looked like it was Christmas.I can tell he really likes teahching and wants to do more for the students here. I feel like he's one of those teachers that might make a huge difference on a bigger scale some day so I want to help where I can.

[comicteaparty]

May 24th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on May 24th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Nwain by Terrana Cliff.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Nwain by Terrana Cliff~! (http://nwain.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

not my favorite but i do want to say of all the animated scenes i really liked the opening few pages best. i forget what page it was but there is a shot of nwain on a cliff and the animation pans up to show the town. i thought between the lighting, the motion, and everything else, it was immensely beautiful and breathtaking.

snuffysam

the opening shots were beautiful, for sure

i forget the page number, but there was a page where you could click on the different locations and get a little interaction. that was super cool

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i remember that! i have to say that was definitely the most creative page. cause man, cannot imagine the work that went into that one

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I have two takes on this, which can be seen somewhat independent from the animation style... a favourite scene and a best scene.

My favourite scene was probably the one where she first did the teleporting and actually phased between the panels. Super cool. Sticks in my head.

snuffysam

the teleporting panels are all great

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

What I'd say was the best scene was when Nwain was put in the stockade near the start and offered up the line "what are you in for"... I felt like it captured the comic excellently. She does something heroic, but due to circumstances, ends up in trouble for it, and yet there's humour to be found in the situation too.

And yes, the animation style with the panning blows my mind. I know the one with the clicking on locations that you meant - just, whoa. You could even click on them again and they'd retract. Mind blowing.

snuffysam

putting aside the artistic talent and effort put into the comic - the technical skill is extremely impressive. getting all these different pages working is a huge feat. like, there's not a single bug to be found

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I can see why it takes a month to put together a couple pages. Even that feels fast.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Greetings!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I think there was one panel once where the dialogue ran off the edges. I couldn't tell if that was intentional.

I shouldn't be nitpicky.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i really liked the stockade scene cause i think it demonstrates nwain's imperfections as a person. like shes not this perfect, stoic, and regal knight. shes just this person who has some fighting skills, makes some boo-boos in life.

hey super~!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Nwain often seem to be messing up, honestly. But it's done in such a way that it's easy to relate to, like, I might've done the same thing in her place.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbf some of the messups arent really her fault. like a lot of stuff at the tournament makes sense cause shes not from the time period. how was she supposed to know some game rule was declared illegal O_O

my favorite scene is actually probably the one where she throws the favor and uses it to win the race. because it was the scene that i didnt know where it was going to go. i knew she was going to aim for the favor, but i didnt know for what purpose. was she going to go for it seriously? use it to take over the world? and then she used it as a distraction and laughs were had

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Well, yeah, true, it's rather situational/owing to circumstance. Still, she ends up needing to apologize.

Hm, I wasn't sure she was going for it until she did, and as soon as RoyalPerson (I suck at names) said it was the oldest trick, I was like, ahh clever.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

wait a second math how is your favorite scene not that one where they said a bunch of puns

snuffysam

OMG that scene!!!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Heh. I did like the cloud puns, but I don't call that a mist opportunity.

I think my favourite LINE would be "pun pals". Did not see that coming.

Also, Princess G, fave character.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i was surprised how many puns they could make for clouds XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Water you talking about?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Late, but hey Rebel!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

since you brought up fave character, i really like the magician.

snuffysam

i love mousebot. she's a friend.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The magician's really interesting! Is he (for lack of a better pronoun) an artificial life form?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah thats what im understanding about the far listeners. that theyre robots. or at least one character called them robots. either way i think theyre the most interesting people so far. and of course mousebot is adorable

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

(It's weird, using "it" feels impersonal, because of society. Fascinating use of gender in the comic, incidentally. Lots of backstory there.)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Also can I just say, I love that the comic has animated bits every now and then

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I like how the magician was going to bring in these life forms as champions and they have this big off button. "Why do they even have that?"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Nwain’s home, Sundial City, has been lost to the present world for almost 200 years. What do you think happened to the city that caused it to disappear in the present day? Was it something the city folk did, or was it some sort of natural disaster? Do you think Nwain will be able to reach Sundial City? If so, what do you think Nwain will find? Will there be people there, or will only ruins be left? Speaking of Sundial City, do you think the events hinted at in Nwain’s past have something to do with the city’s current state? If so, how do you believe they factor in?

snuffysam

well, they liked to experiment with time travel

i think the city just... left, somehow

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I feel like the City just kind of cut themselves off from the rest of civilization. (A bit like Tarn Vedra in the "Andromeda" universe, if anyone's seen that show.) Possibly accidentally (owing to the whole time silk problem) but yeah. Unless they're out of phase.

Meaning they're making some great phasers.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

when you say left, are you saying that maybe they time traveled the entire city and like, the city hasnt shown up yet cause it went a bit farther in the future than nwain? cause that was my pulled out of the hat theory.

snuffysam

yeah that's what i'm thinking. currently it's 200 years in the future. the city went to, like, 1000 years in the future

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Interesting. I hadn't considered that as a possibility.

snuffysam

or maybe the city went to one minute in the past, then ran into itself and exploded

whoops

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

There must be some residual effects left behind though, since that's what the Magician was able to read with his device.

I've done that with my time travel stories. Good times.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel like the time silk has to have something to do with the city's disappearance. since i mean, its not like nwain was purposely trying to travel with time. idk if it could time travel the whole city, though id believe it if it time traveled a lot of the people. if there were any left. cause i mean nwain left after that place pretty much burned down or something from the flashbacks. so maybe there was just so little left its inconsequential

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Seems like the "magic" they knew back then was pretty damn dangerous too though. Maybe in trying to rebuild the city after the fire they cut a few corners and whoops, we kinda sealed ourselves off like Sleeping Beauty or something.

snuffysam

the city going away for centuries is kind of sleeping beauty-esque, huh?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

There is that too, I suppose.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

does this mean nwain is the prince who has to roll on up and smack it awake?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, as for Nwain returning... I don't see that happening. Because I feel like that would end the story. She has no real desire to return, and we never saw her leave (except in flashback) so narratively speaking, it's in the past (literally). Bringing it forward feels like it would bookend the whole thing, somehow.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i do want to call shenanigans on sundial city's magic being more dangerous though. that seems like one of those stigmas that comes about because nobody knows what happened to the city. so thus they blame a scapegoat and it just becomes a common accepted fact with no basis.

snuffysam

i think she'll try to figure out what happened, but i don't think she cares to return yeah

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think shes gonna at least find the city in the present though. i think shell give up on time travel tho. unless she tries and whoops, winds up even further in the future

the subtitle of this comic is "the knight who wandered dream" and that makes me wonder if this is gonna be the comic that fully embraces the "it was all a dream cliche"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Except Nwain herself was pointing out that safety's a necessity with magic when doing the tutoring, and had a story of someone who befell bad things.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes but my point is i doubt its more dangerous

than current magic

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I don't see time travel being a major component. Unless it becomes a factor in those portals somehow too.

snuffysam

"dream" is something to do with the magic i think? like inside the worms was dreamstuff or whatever it was called?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ehhh, fair, might just be different dangerous, but I still think that could have played a hand in things.

snuffysam

so perhaps she gets trapped in the dream world at some point?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I feel like it's too random to be a dream. Like, why would Nwain dream that board game rules became illegal?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i doubt its a dream. but i feel like the title has gotta be something

oh

maybe

they tried to teleport the city

and it got stuck in the inbetween

snuffysam

i feel like the story has been foreshadowing someone or something getting stuck in the inbetween

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe she is the dream.

Everything is just a figment of Shade's imagination.

Oh, I like that theory, Rebel. Only lost people can find the City.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i mean its at least a specific detail to mention. thats theres an inbetween. and sundial city is the missing thing right now.

snuffysam

it's something that's been mentioned multiple times too

rule of writing. setup, reminder, payoff

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

regardless tho i think nwain is....not gonna find any people at the city.

and have to accept lonliness

snuffysam

yeah i think they're all dead

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

They were all turned into catgirls. Or catyith. Or catomith.

snuffysam

if they all teleported into the inbetween and didn't time travel, they've been cut off for centuries

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

But for them, maybe only a few months.

snuffysam

is that how the inbetween works?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

D'you think they were the ones keeping the Crimson Empire in check?

It seems to have flourished since that time.

I have no idea how anything works.

snuffysam

the crimson empire didn't exist at all back when sundial city was around

maybe they were preventing any one power from rising up? i dunno though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the crimson empire is sundial city. they just changed their name after that fire. were reborn like a phoenix and left their old life behind. but they dont want anyone to know so they erased their past and hid the city

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I was never great at politics.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

more seriously, if the inbetween is like a dream realm i could buy that time doesnt function like in the real world

snuffysam

they took the city and pushed it somewhere else

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

But did they build this city on rock and roll?

snuffysam

that would make sense, rebel. it's also possible that time passes faster in the inbetween, so it's been 10000 years for the citizens

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

We don't know the lifespan of people either.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. In order to earn star maps, Nwain’s current dilemma is participating in the Tournament at Lacefort. However, numerous ups and downs have occurred during the course of the story. Who do you believe will be the ultimate victor of the tournament, or do you think something will prevent the tournament from concluding? Will Nwain earn the favor of the Margravine, whether by accident or on purpose? If Nwain does earn the favor, what do you think may happen? Will things go as the Magician predicted or will the Margravine have a change of heart? Do you think the tournament will end with Nwain getting the star maps, or will something drastically alter that course of action?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Nwain having the favour is awkward. If she doesn't end up with it, all I can think is that she gave it back to Margravine in secret. Meaning... she has to marry herself? IDK.

snuffysam

now, that all depends on the difference between holding the napkin and actually having margravine's favor

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Owlgirl/Penny has a whole plot that needs to happen at some point though. So I feel star maps are inevitable.

snuffysam

like, margravine does seem to like nwain somewhat? though mostly as entertainment i think

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, right, I suppose the favour could be rejected. Well, Nwain's more than a novelty now, she can teleport people and all.

snuffysam

probably not on a mass scale, though she can do some teaching

and watch as they all make the same mistake that sundial city probably did

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i do feel the story has been building up the margravine's like for nwain a lot. so i could see the favour not being rejected somehow. and then ya know, the entire political system being uprooted and there being massive strife. and then the magician headdesking wondering what horrors they brought upon the world

snuffysam

yeah or worse, someone else gets the favor, and margravine rejects it because she prefers nwain

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The favour of the month.

Maybe they can spin it as a way to stop the drought.

snuffysam

well i guess that would work? since nwain having favor with margravine means the magician gets closer to making that water deal

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

now thats a path i could see happening more. someone else gets the favor and the margravine is like "nah nwain is way cooler did you see how she teleported me."

ah!

i could not actually remember why the magician was there tbh XD cause we havent gotten to see much of the dealing for that water deal

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also all the tears of joy shed over two ladies in love.

snuffysam

one lady and one laidth

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Truth, my bad.

I show my age at my difficulty coming to grips with the gender fluidity.

I love how it's just this matter of fact thing though.

snuffysam

that's just how her culture be. still not great because adult laidths don't have that great of a standing in sundial society

or, didn't, i suppose

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah whatever nwain's social standing, its a new day and a new life

as for who wins the tournament, i feel like nwain is too far behind in points. unless they give it to her cause she helped with the elemental giant situation thing

snuffysam

how many rounds are left?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Don't forget the person with the favour gets two additional points.

I believe this was the last round. Because they said they'd settle up the favour thing at the end of it.

Of course, I don't know how many points you get for coming in second and stuff, if any.

snuffysam

she won the race iirc, and i don't think anyone has more than three points. so that means she won

...assuming she counts as having the favor

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk. this is assuming all events are awarded equally. not to mention how do they deal with teams? like...a team event seems like a poor last event. XD cause youd have to know you were already going to lose by that point and that makes for poor team members

snuffysam

the rules really weren't explained. but that's fair because we're seeing this from nwain's point of view. and she was just pushed into the ring and told to do her best.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Which reminds me. She has a ring. So she was married once. That could throw a wrench into everything. (Did she even hear the Magician say 'marriage' that one time? Seemed like no.)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That can only go so well IMO

snuffysam

nwain was?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. nwain was married but i think her family died in the first?

fire

i can spell

snuffysam

well then, good news

marriage is done

so that problem's solved

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe not tho

at the very least

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

They're stuck "in between".

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

when shes asked "hey were you married?" she says "i was."

so she considers it past tense at least

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That has a familiar ring to it.

snuffysam

most marriages aren't designed to last past the 200 year mark

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I wonder if she was married to another yith.

snuffysam

it's possible

given the social standing thing especially

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. At current, Nwain is focused on helping two individuals: Owlgirl and Princess Joza. In regards to the former, do you think Nwain’s idea of taking Owlgirl to see the harpies will work out? If not, what exactly will go wrong? Assuming it goes wrong, what do you think the two will do then? Will Owlgirl stay in her current form, or will Nwain find a way to fix her? In regards to Princess Joza, do you think Joza will be able to learn the magic Nwain is teaching? Given how dangerous the magic is, though, do you think Joza learning it is a good idea? Lastly, do you think there will be political fallout for Nwain teaching Joza, or will everything be fine?

snuffysam

Joza is 100% going to mess something up

she's not an idiot, but she does seem moderately reckless

just a bit

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Everything will not be fine. But it will go pear shaped in unexpected ways.

Joza is eager.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im not sure if id say joza seems reckless, but i do think joza is overly bold and overconfident

snuffysam

yeah, that's what i meant. overconfident

anyway, as for what the fallout will be - been a while since nwain's been in the stockades

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

When they're in the city, they're over everything.

The Penny storyline has been very much in the background. I'm starting to feel like it's a side quest.

snuffysam

it does kind of have that aura about it. a villager mentioned penny offhandedly. nwain came across her by accident. and she'll get around to helping her once she's done with this tournament business.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i agree it feels like a side quest. but that almost makes me suspicious itll amount to more somehow. tho im not sure what

maybe the harpies know the truth about sundial city

and thats what this is an important questline

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe the harpies can teach them to play harps and they form a touring band?

Along with the cymbals on that one car.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think the harpies know how to plays harps O_O alas

im actually seriously assuming theyre dead XD and that owlgirl is gonna be stuck with nwain forever

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hope that'll be owl right with her.

snuffysam

that would suck if everyone was wrongly afraid of the giant owls, and then they all died before they could be redeemed

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe the giant owls are the people of sundial city

nwain journeyed for nothing

they were there all along

snuffysam

that would explain the shield symbol

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That'd be a hoot.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Owlet you keep making your owl puns.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

One of the things I like, btw, with the animation style is how sometimes random extra panels appear. Like a bonus. The one coming to mind is when Joza's learning magic and there's the worry about the random snakes.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Don't give a hoot

snuffysam

it's always cute when that happens

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I gotta go owl in.

snuffysam

besides looking cool, the animated panels make it so that you don't know any of the actions that happen ahead of time

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Could there be random ladders with the random snakes?

snuffysam

which can lead to some funny moments

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Powel Up

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

snuffy: That's true, interesting point I hadn't considered!

I sometimes just marvel at how people blink and stuff.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

on the downside tho the animations make referencing things hard cause you gotta remember which panels had which story bits. so can take a while to find things sometime. XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm pretty good at remembering stuff like that. ^.^

Actually, when I first saw it I thought 'oh, neat, some panels will animate'... but it's ALL of 'em.

The little circles help with knowing to click on too, not just the blue borders.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea thats understandable, Rebel

and good for ya Math

snuffysam

i do like the little circles that show the dialogue progression. the comic really excels with UI design along with everything else

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah, technically speaking its executed very well. i found the interface to be pretty intuitive for getting through the panels.

snuffysam

i can't even imagine how much time/effort it takes to do each page, but dang is it worth it

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It give it a creative edge over your usual comic

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah so since i didnt say it before, i actually think nwain might suffer some political fallout for teaching joza magic. at the very least i can see a plot line where joza goes to the crimson empire and joza's mom throws a fit XD

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Not saying every comic should have things like animations and interactive elements

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It's one of those things that really takes advantage of the digital medium. You can't exactly do that with a regular comic book.

snuffysam

i think nwain has the potential to cause political turmoil every time she takes a breath

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel, yeah, I agree. Though it could be that it gets Joza out of trouble, like if she'd been able to teleport away from the crazy snowball.

So perhaps all is forgiven.

Snuffy: Truth. It's a skill.

snuffysam

she has a tendency to drop the ball a bit. or at least, there's a tendency for the ball to be dropped in her vicinity.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yea

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. i doubt nwain will be in serious trouble or anything. just gonna get an afternoon in the stockades again O_O

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I also like the nickname Spoony.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Agreed with ya there(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It's soup-er.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Anyway, guessing the current arc will wrap soon, be interesting to see what happens. Impressed how long the comic's been going too, years!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Terrana Cliff, as well, for making Nwain and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Terrana Cliff’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Dawn of the Dad by AnitaComics. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on May 31st from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/Dawn-of-the-Dad