#meh i'll figure it out eventually

[wrathevil]

Pebs and Arti,,,,, my favourites ever... i love them

Do you think Pebbles would call Arti "mom" at least ONCE on complete accident??

See, ok. I drew out a little doodle of this, but then actually thought about it too hard. Would he????

Because (as far as we know) Pebbles has never had a motherly figure in his life. So would he know to assign that title to Artificer? Or would he have complicated feelings he has no idea what to do with because he has no name for it. OR would he have another word to assign to those feelings?

The ancients would be the closest things to parents to him probably, but “creator” seems way too formal and also.. Just kinda weird.

The next title I can think of is “Senior”, like Moon’s senior status in the local group. WHICH brings up the absolutely hilarious scenario of Moon getting all emotional because “Oh… Pebbles sees me in such high regard that he would assign that title to someone he clearly trusts…”

ANYWAYS for the sake of funnies I think he would

[voltstone]

i hAVE FIGURED OUT HOW TO FIX MY BLOG.

anyway so longer written-form content's gonna be easier to read now. >:) so i will give the links to my stuff, both essays and the fics i've written in this post.

some of the stuff i wrote a while ago. others are pretty new, like a violet essay.

so enjoy if you want (the keep reading will have all the links).

[Fanfiction]

they adopt a cat named floof | Wednesday

wednesday, for her girlfriend, gets a cat. she finds a way to bypass the “no pet” policy in order to do so. :)

Wenclair

stagger | Wednesday

Enid is her one exception, so Wednesday tries. Again, and again, and again. She gets it right, asking Enid to…not a date. Eventually.

Wenclair

just a bear (or some other wild animal) | Wednesday

“I’ve hibernated with some grizzlies. I know the difference." the story of the time when wednesday slept in a bear cave for a week. she was seven and knew what felt just right.

Back Again | Fallout 4

In other words, Piper Wright walked out of Diamond City with the woman written as the “View from the Vault.” Though, well, the city folk were quick to suspect that there was something else going on between them… And they weren’t wrong. So when Piper walked back into Diamond City without the woman, there was something wrong. Especially the longer she waited on the Publick Occurrences rooftop. Alcohol in her breath. Less shouting and interrogating for interviews. It was all just…wrong.

F!SS x Piper Wright

Bottom Bunk | LWA

With another Samhain Festival celebrated and slept off, Atsuko Kagari finds her room empty of Sucy and Lotte. Yet, she feels the warmth of another girl in her bed. And so a conversation is to be had.

Diakko/Dianakko

toxin | LWA

[toxin] - an antigenic poison or venom of plant or animal origin, especially one produced by or derived from microorganisms and causing disease when present at low concentration in the body. A definition, which, Sucy knows well. It’s why she doesn’t have a heart, nor any sense for what compassion can bring. Although, one night changes things, and maybe—just maybe—Akko proves Sucy otherwise.

Suakko

Sphynx | LWA

Sucy didn’t care about an hour of transformative magic, nor that it was supposed to be “fun” and all about “finding your inner animal.” Well, companion animal, which really meant cats and dogs because…magic. Or something stupid.  And Sucy was left cold and huddled underneath a curtain because she was this ugly naked chicken gremlin? …okay, maybe she did care a little bit.

Suakko

Burning a Cauldron | LWA

Chariot is always one to sleep in—which, frankly, irritates Anne to no end (being the early, responsible bird, after all). However…the early, responsible bird notices that this morning is different.

Finnelariot

She's a Peach, an Apricot | LWA

Amanda didn’t expect this. Lotte didn’t either. One burned of passion, a slip of carnality, yet not the words to reach the other so well-spoken. And the other, all the words in the world, from her books, yet not the body that could easily decipher what she wanted.

Amalotte

[Fandom Essays]

…so about that clementine comic: a (very long, sorry) essay | TWDG

Discussion on TWDG & canonicity, pre-comic full release

…about the clementine comic (again): why is she illiterate? | TWDG

Discussion on how weird the comic is about Clementine's knowledge and understanding of her own world (medically/medicinally and linguistically).

ERICSON'S WALLFLOWER: or bpd as a twdg fandom essay, & violet's analysis | TWDG

Exploration and deconstruction of Violet's character in regards to BPD, BPD as a disorder (with experiences pulled from my own), and how stigma gets in the way of understanding both.

Or or I am feral and am still frothing at the mouth over this character plz people appreciate violet 🥺🥺

[khuzena]

Just a coworker

Dr ratio x g/n! reader (i tried)

Part 1, Part 2

cw. angst, super slow burn, they eventually get tgt, hurf/comfort, jealousy brr, reader is unhinged, mentions of drugs, kinda cringe but who cares I've written worse, not proofread, dr ratio is a pussy

a/n: i js wanna say fck SCHOOL FOR GIVING ME 6 PROJECTS DUE TOMORROW. THIS FIC IS MEH BUT TRUST IT GETS BETTER (hopefully…)

Veritas Ratio is a lonely man. Only having his books and his sculptures as friends— regarding the rest as no use for him.

Up till now, you've been nothing more than the pest who waves hi at him every morning, bringing him coffee every now and then. You must be scheming something, there's no way someone could ever be this nice without asking for a favour.

“Dr ratio!”

The alabaster headed man stared at you, even with that stone head of his, you can clearly feel his piercing gaze.

“What is it?”

Veritas groans in annoyance, what is it again?

Lately, you've been struggling to teach this subject. As well-versed you were in topics such as literature, history and the likes, it was true that you were above average with maths.

“I've been tutoring this kid after classes and well…”

He doesn't move, just listening intently.

“He's been asking about quantum mechanics and I don't know much about the topic so…”

“so?”

so?

“I was wondering if you can teach me it.”

God damn it, he has better things to do.

“Then read a book about it”

His eyes were trained on your figure as he saw you tense, just why him of all people?

“Dr ratio, just this once. I just need to learn the basics once and I won't bother you again!”

He closed his codex and turned the other way, ready to walk away from conversation.

“I have better things to do than humouring your foolish antics—”

“Please.”

Your hands fidget nervously as he paused before looking back at you, pondering whether to do you a favour.

“I'll think about it.”

By the time you blinked, he was gone.

The next day passed, you were at his door, clutching your teaching materials as you waited for veritas’ class to end.

He scrunched nose as annoyance rose in him like a tide, he could see you waiting at the window and checking the time every now and then.

“That ends our discussion for today.”

His voice echoing on the walls as the bell rang, his students already out the door.

After a good 10 minutes, most of the students were out the door as he was left alone with himself (+ those eyes of yours that never seem to leave him alone)

“It's rude to stare.”

His comment caught you off guard, the corners of your lips twitching nervously as you hid behind the wall again— shit, he caught you staring…

Veritas let out a sigh before cleaning his desk of the sparse test papers he's collected last week.

A moment of silence passed before you mustered up the courage to enter the spacious room, it was… quiet to say the least.

“Dr. Ratio—”

“I'll tutor you but with one condition.”

Sweat trickled down your forehead as you nervously anticipated what he's about to say. (Did I mention he paused to rile you up?)

“You,”

A click on his cabinet was heard before he turned at your direction to get a better look at you.

“That I won't have to tutor you again next time, just this once”

It was odd, a teacher asking for tutoring from a fellow teacher? It wasn't uncommon but it certainly irked him of the thought. You could just read a book about it but you'd rather take his precious hours in his day for something you could do yourself.

You let out a sigh of relief.

“whew… I thought you were going to refuse.”

“Do you want me to?”

You shook your head no, gripping your satchel tightly.

“Tomorrow at the faculty room after classes—”

When you blinked, he was already behind you. Was he a magician or something?!?

“—Don't be late.”

Then, the door closed abruptly, now it was only you in the room.

…

The next day, classes already ended and you cleaned up your desk to get to the faculty room.

As you slid the door open, he was already waiting for you.

“What're you doing?”

Veritas moved another chess piece on the board, eating the white team's queen.

“What does it look like I'm doing?”

Why can't he just be nice for once?

“Whatever, so… do we start reviewing?”

You pulled the chair opposite to his and sat down. He didn't reply, only tapping his feet.

“Your turn.”

“Do I just?—”

“Just move a piece.”

Fine then. There were barely any pieces left on the board, leaving you with no other choice as you hid your king at the corner of the board.

“Checkmate.”

There was a visible annoyance on your face, making veritas chuckle.

“Seriously? When are you going to start tutoring me? I came here to learn something— not some stupid chess game”

“First of all, chess isn't stupid”

Before you knew it, veritas flicked your forehead.

“Second of all, learn patience.”

“ow!”

Veritas hid away the board and grabbed all the books needed, pulling out some notes and highlighters for you.

“Read”

The man in front of you flipped the pages and pointed at the highlighted paragraph for you. Was he making you read out loud? Were you 10 or something?

“Do I really have to?”

His fingers tapped aggressively on the board, his patience was thinning and you weren't even past the first page yet.

“Just do it.”

…

Who could've guessed two hours later you would be in tears, notes sprawled all over the table and veritas shouting at you.

“Idiot.”

He commented on your work before rewriting the entire thing for you and repeating it again.

“God dammit we're not even past the 20th page yet you're here crying like a child.”

Sniffles echoed in the room, only his lamp illuminating the room. You checked your phone and it was already 8 pm.

“Now read.”

“Q-quantum mechanics…”

He clenched his jaw, raising his voice at you before you could continue.

“You imbecile, not that— can't you read?!? Its wave function!”

“Whatever!”

Before he could react, you stood up, bag already in hand and walking away.

“We're not done yet.”

“I don’t care.”

Just like that, you were gone.

…

Despite you running off yesterday… There you were sitting on that same chair with the alabaster head man right in front of you.

“Again?”

You bit your lip nervously before tightening the grip on your pen.

“Yeah.”

Veritas nodded as he placed down his codex and walked to the sprawled shelves at his desk, his fingers tracing over the books (those books were rotting on those shelves, too dusty he had to wipe them)

“here.”

He took the book off the shelf and thrusted it into your hands.

‘The nonlinear schrodinger equation’

“Let's start with the ‘weakly nonlinear dispersion relation’ topic.”

Time flies by as he explains each term to you, giving definition after definition about each equation in front of you.

“Here, page 24.”

He pointed at the first equation but your eyes couldn't leave his stone head.

For an intimidating man, he's getting quite patient with you.

“— and let's compute the coefficients, after that,”

You couldn't stop wondering what he looked like under that stone head. It's hot out here, he must be sweating a tsunami in there. Is he handsome? or maybe he's wearing that stone head because he looks that bad?

“—the quantum mechanical pressure becomes negligible in the ‘semiclassical’ where nabla and—”

He hit your head with a codex, with no hesitation at all.

“ow!”

Oh shit— he must've noticed you staring.

“What were we reviewing?”

uh…

You gulped nervously, looking down at the page, you guys were already at page 26?!?

“0 points.”

He smacked you but with less force, though enough to leave a bruise.

“that hurt…”

“Then listen, don't waste my time.”

Under that alabaster head of his, a small smile formed from the corner of his lips due to the amusing sight before him.

“You're annoying, let's go over the fluid-dynamical form again.”

You weren't that boring after all.

…

You both were already at page 31, which was slow progress (at least to him, he can finish the book in under 3 hours.), yet still progress nonetheless.

“Do you get it now?”

It was already 9:58 pm, shit. You both got carried away…

“Yeah.”

Veritas handed the book over to you and hid away his highlighters.

“Go review at home— you better finish page 40.”

You nod, shoving the book into your satchel and your water bottle.

Today was… fun.

As you walked outside, one foot already out the door, you looked back.

“What?”

“and…”

There was a moment of silence, none of you moving before your voice shook,

“Thank you.”

He didn't say anything back, only putting back his folders in his bag as he removed his attention from you. You shook your head and just walked home.

…

It was the third day of him tutoring you, you were getting quite good.

“And how do you do the hamilton equation?”

There was a weird habit you did, you would bite your pen or sometimes click it nonstop due to stress (which you did now, don't do it too much though, you'll piss off veritas.)

You let out a soft hum before confidently writing the equation, no error in sight.

“And these quantities are called?”

“They're uh… momentas, right?”

“20 points— you're getting good at this.”

Receiving praise from others came by often, but to get one from the Dr. Veritas Ratio himself? You could wish.

Your eyes were glued at the scratch paper, unable to contain your smile; the aeons definitely smiled down on you and blessed you with his attention for today.

He takes note of this, but doesn't comment on that any further, only flipping the pages.

…

The fourth day. It was 2 pm, 3 hours earlier than the usual tutor hours. A new coffee shop opened in the food court at the university, which turned into the new buzz (the old coffee shops were shit.)

The line was long, your legs were about to give up but your students would occasionally suggest this shop, saying it's definitely better than the instant coffee at the teacher's lounge.

After 5 more minutes, it was finally your turn to order.

“Good afternoon! What can I get ya?”

The menu was definitely diverse, candy corn flavoured coffee? That's new.

“I'll take your special cappuccino”

The cheerful cashier jotted down your order, asking for your name then running to the back.

You sat down at some table and took out your laptop, fixing your schedules for this weekend.

“For ___?”

Eh? That was fast. It only took them 3 minutes to make your order despite the heavy line? Impressive.

“Thank you.”

You smiled and snatched the cup from the counter and walked back to your seat.

It tasted funny. Coffee jelly in cappuccino with sprinkles on top? At Least it tasted good.

“And here I was wondering where you are.”

“ack!”

You looked up and saw veritas in front of you, looming over you with his codex behind him after he hit you.

“that hurt…”

He sighed and sat down next to you while you rubbed the bruised area.

“Stop hitting people with your codex damn it!”

“I find it far more interesting to use my codex to get your attention.”

“Weirdo.”

He chuckled at the way scoffed, sipping your coffee and typing some requirements on an excel sheet.

“Anyways, why were you looking for me?”

He leaned back on the couch, before responding,

“Nothing, I was just wondering where the idiot was.”

“You little—”

Only a soft sigh left your lips as you continued to type, veritas beside you reading his codex and none of you saying a word.

Though this peaceful moment was short lived as the bell rang, signalling that the two of you had to go back to your respective classes.

Veritas sat up, closing his book.

“It's time for me to go.”

“Oh yeah.”

Veritas was gone in a blink of an eye, what's up with him disappearing so suddenly 24/7?!?

…

5 pm.

You were patiently waiting in the faculty room, what was taking veritas so long?

“You're late”

Veritas rolled his eyes— wait.

His stone head was… was this really the veritas ratio? He had nice purple hair, his eyes, he looked so… beautiful.

No way.

“When are you going to stop staring?”

“Oh— uh.”

You chuckled nervously before forcing a smile as he sat down in front of you.

“Let's continue where we let off.”

The sound of flipping pages reverberated across the room, your eyes locked onto his face. He would occasionally click his tongue at some parts of the book, guiding you through each equation as his face was close to yours; enough to feel his breath on your skin.

“—because its transformation φ is a symmetry and thus preserves the Lagrangian L and the action ,S=∫L”

Veritas ratio leaned closer to you, your hands touching as he got closer,

“Do you get it now?”

You didn't. You were too focused on his face, with every wrinkle of his brows, the tiniest details of his jaw and hell, even his eyes. How could you even focus? With his face inches away from yours? No way. The man right next to you stares at you, tapping his fingers on the mahogany table; he repeated himself.

“I said, do you get it now?”

Like the air was sucked out of your lungs, your last card was to lie but he was smart enough to not fall for that.

“Y-yes”

“Then what were we reviewing just now?”

He rolled his eyes hearing your mind blank out and confused ‘uhhs’ escaped your lips. You flinch from his harsh tone, as the cold stare turned into a glare.

“We should be reviewing the noether theorem, not my face.”

He made you solve equation after equation, his gaze not leaving you once as he crumpled your papers even after one minor mistake, “Idiot”, “Do it again.”, and “Are you really paying attention?” Constantly rang in your ears, you were not sure whether you asked for a tutoring session or a three hour insulting session from the revered professor.

“I'm sorry.”, He sighed at your visible frustration as you apologised through gritted teeth. He started to pity you when you struggled with just the terms at the next lesson. Was this theorem that hard? He dropped his pen and closed the book.

“Let’s end today’s session.”

A look of relief appeared on your face as he said those words, clearly, he’ll give you a break—

“Just read this book instead. It gives a more in-depth explanation”

— or not. He thrusted the book in your hands and put on his alabaster head, making you raise an eyebrow,

“What? You can’t seem to focus without this on”

You laughed an awkward chuckle while sliding the book in your satchel, a small squeak was heard when he stood up and moved his chair at his desk.

“Tomorrow again?”

“Sure.”

…

Veritas tapped his feet aggressively as time past by, you were late by 20 minutes, by now he would've left but for some reason he's feeling nice today that he'll wait for you.

The faculty room door slid open as light footsteps entered the room.

“Sorry ‘m late.”

You smelled different today. That would sound creepy to the average person but despite the tight alabaster sculpture that covers his face, he could smell your perfume and that he's gotten used to your scent by now.

“Did you wear something new?”

“Come again?”

He took one glance at you and shook his head and shifted his attention to the complex arithmetics on his codex.

“Hey, what did you mean by that?”

It was hard to ignore you as he tried to mute your voice but he let out an inaudible sigh before taking a quick glance at you.

“I meant your perfume, idiot.”

“No need to be rude.” you scoffed and placed down your bag at your desk.

He finds himself eager for a response as your right hand shuffled in your bag looking for the perfume bottle,

“I just tried something new.”

“Oh?”

He leans over the table to take a closer look at the bottle, inspecting it with a skeptical look one he's glad you cannot see through his sculpted head.

“It was a gift from one of our coworkers here”

There was a loud slamming sound that rang in the room when you dropped the materials Veritas made you read, it was a pain highlighting everything.

“From who?”

Why was he suddenly interested? He's not one to ask about anyone's affairs so suddenly, not that he'd care about something so miniscule about you like perfume yet you humour him.

“From Amir, the history prof guy?”

“I see.” For some reason, he finds himself feeling annoyed after hearing who you got it from. Why would you accept a gift from that idiot? He's a far better history professor, definitely? definitely.

Hours passed yet he couldn't concentrate. Not with that foul stench of your new perfume of yours.

Dr. Ratio scrunched his nose in disgust as he continued to guide you through each and every lesson, harsher than usual— you didn't know why.

“Wrong answer, 2 points.”

Veritas smacked your arm with his heavy codex and snatched your answer sheet, crumpling it and tossing it in the bin.

“Do it again.”

This fucker. You were starting to lose your resolve but you do not falter under his scrutinising gaze.

Again and again. Another 30 minutes yet your answers didn't seem ‘perfect’ enough.

Veritas clicked his tongue in annoyance as you failed to answer another simple question again

“Are you even paying attention?”

“If you didn't yell at me every minute I would've”

You continued to write more equations as he rolled his eyes at your reply, his eyes scanned your work and it was okay (atleast to his standards).

His eyes squinted, looking for any mistake but there was none, he gave up.

“50 points”, he spoke in a defeated tone.

“Just 50?”

“0 points then”

“Oh come on.”

It was hell getting tutored by him.

A/N: ITS TWO PARTS COS FUCK TUMBLR AND TOLD ME THERES A WORD LIMIT LOL. THE FULL FIC WAS LIKE 6.4K WORDS OR SHIT DAMN. ITS SO CRINGE ONG IMMA POST PART TWO TMRW GOD. IM LAGG>NG SO NAD RN HELP

[gomzdrawfr]

Talofa! I don't know if your inbox are open. But I'm curious about your OC Raven and Jelly! (They are so CUTE by the way! LOVE THEM!) If you don't want to answer it then it's okay!

I know their relationships with their soulmates (Raven with Price and Jelly with Ghost) but I want to know of their relationships with the OTHER members.

Like their relationships with Laswell, Nikolai, Gaz, Soap, Rudy- EVERYONE!

And by the way, LOVE your art style! SO ADORABLE!

Greetings!! thank you for the ask :D I'll try my best to explain them because I...I have not considered most of the characters KAJSHDKAJ so I hope you don't mind some of the more meh ish responses, if I didn't list down the characters, that means they have not met them! (dividers by @/cafekitsune)

The characters are arranged in descending order of closeness :3

Let's start with Jelly

Fish [OC]

((this is still in progress and development but)) Fish is my medic OC. He's like a brother figure to Jelly, had babysat her during childhood until teenage years. Their bond deepened when they reunited at the base where Fish worked, often met up and hang out in his office yapping about her latest hyperfixations, ships and anime.

Simon Ghost Riley

Jelly first got to know Ghost by inspecting his weapons. She was impressed by how perfectly maintained they were so she didn't think too much of his reputations and rumours. But the moment she met him she thought he was here to take her out LOL xD she can’t believe they ended up together to this day.

Eira Raven Liu [OC]

Raven saved Jelly's life without Jelly's knowledge (for reasons yet to be discussed), pulled the right strings here and there, vouched for her skills and landed her a spot as a weapon specialist + tech unit for the team. Jelly sort of sees Raven like her senior (calling her "senpai") and elder sister kind of vibe.

Kate Laswell

is terrified but thankful for her because of the whole "don't fk with me" vibe Kate has, but eventually realized how supportive she could be and got along well. Kate’s even invited her over for dinner a few times with her wife, which still blows Jelly’s mind :3

John Price

Jelly admires Price for being, well—John motherflipping Price. But let’s be real what she really can’t get over is him and Raven as a couple LMAO she’s their #1 fangirl and is not subtle about it, wrote a few fanfictions inspired by their dynamic too HAHA

Kyle Gaz Garrick

Partner for field setups and troubleshooting, they're pretty chill cause of how Gaz is able to share jokes with her.

John Soap Mactavish

Wondered if Ghost and him are-was a thing, is not bothered by it if they were (it's not like she already have a few google doc opened writing about two characters inspired by Ghost and Soap-)

Soap calls her Jellybean sometimes, I think they're chill too.

Alejandro Vargas

Flustered around Alejandro because she thinks he's drop dead gorgeous, has a hard time forming complete sentences whenever he’s nearby (yes, Ghost is silently jealous about it)

Rodolfo Parra

Intimated by Rudy sometimes but likes his cooking, also fangirls over Alejandro and Rudy.

König

accidentally mistaken König for Ghost -> is embarrassed and mortified about it -> surprisingly bonded well over niche topics

and for Raven, she's knows almost all the COD characters given her background and access to information, though she chose not to meet some of them. Note, these aren't arrange based on closeness since it's hard to show it, just more like people she has been involved with some comments xD

John Price

I could go on and on and on about them but I'll keep it simple. Currently, Price is Raven's fiancé, they've build their relationship from shaky grounds with many many downs and mistakes, but she'll take a bullet for him anytime. They've reached a point of codependency at this point I guess.

Kate Laswell

As someone who has history with intelligence work, she's cautious with CIA agents. It rubbed her the wrong way when Kate managed to dig up fragments of Raven's past, things she'd rather buried it six feet underground. I guess she felt intrusive about it even though she expected something like to happen. Despite this though, Raven doesn't hate Kate, she respects her for what she does. She prefers to keep Kate at arm's length, their relationship is civil but Raven tends to keep it professional.

Kyle Gaz Garrick

Gaz was the first to know about Raven from Price, and was there during her treatment of her back injury, so they're sort of solid buddies then.

Jelly [OC]

Raven has always struggled to express her affection for Jelly, not out of lack of feeling, but because she’s never been one to show her emotions easily. There’s something about Jelly that pulls at Raven in a way no one else ever has. Raven sees a reflection of herself in Jelly—someone who had the brains and abilities that would've surpasses her if it wasn't for the mission that severely wounded Jelly's nerves. It’s a side of herself Raven doesn’t often recognize in others. As such, she is extremely protective of Jelly. Let's just say the conversation with Ghost was uhhh....intense? xD (knives were involved and a clear message was sent)

Raven: really? him? Jelly- Jelly: He's uh....he's nice!!! Raven: *long sigh*

Simon Ghost Riley

Rocky af start, neither of them trust each other. Ghost didn't like the fact that Price is tying himself to someone with blacked-out background (as if he isn't "mysterious and dangerous" himself). Ngl, they kinda chill off with Price as the bridge between them. Surprise surprise, they would take the bullet for each other """""for the sake of Price"""""" (they’d never admit it out loud, and they certainly wouldn’t acknowledge that they actually care for one another)

Farah Karim and Hadir Karim

Raven’s time in Urzikstan with her PMC meant she was aware of Farah’s retaliation efforts, was there to witness the Captive mission whilst on watch duty for Lieutenant Price. Raven respects Farah’s resilience but doesn’t align with her ideologies—especially the decisions Farah makes regarding missiles in MW3. As for Hadir, Raven sees him as a wildcard, someone driven by emotion rather than strategy (in her eyes anyways), so she's kinda meh about the siblings.

Vladimir Makarov

Raven’s had dealings with Makarov in the past, thanks to Viktor (Raven's step-dad who owns the PMC Cobra) assigning her to handle transactions involving him. She's...well she was intrigued with Makarov’s unpredictable nature and considers him dangerous—not just to others, but to anyone who gets caught up in his plans. Though she doesn't agree whatever the hell he was doing afterwards.

John Soap Mactavish

Raven and Soap are…fine(?) There’s no bad blood between them, but there’s also no real bond. They’re more colleagues than friends. Raven respects Soap for being part of Price’s world, but their connection is more about Price than anything else (basically witnessed the real effect of Soap's supposedly death in MW3 on Price)

Nikolai

Raven knows Nikolai through Chimera. They’ve crossed paths during missions, though she doesn't know if he recognizes her. Their relationship is more functional than personal. Still, she recognizes him as someone who’s good to have on your side (has seen the uh...has seen Nikolai's "working" mode)

bonus: Raven from the Metropolitan Police Service (I think he's SAS too - ah you know the dude who told off Gaz??)

Gaz told Raven Liu about this Raven, laughed about it, dug up his history and went "you did not just compared me with this guy"

[scaredexpert]

Oof... I have to say that every single storyline in that episode was unsatisfying imo

Bobby waking up 30 mins into the episode and everyone just lightheartedly moving on?

Buck and Christopher didn't hug goodbye and Buck and Eddie also didn't hug?? This episode's Buckley-Diaz scenes were just kinda meh aside from Eddie telling Christopher goodbye (pls Christopher come back next season wahhh) and I liked seeing Eddie's parents be more supportive

Bucktommy scene was cute but there continues to be no chemistry between them so what's the point???

Madney taking in Mara in a truly flabbergasting series of events???? There's no way they'd be approved as a kinship home for Mara, and there is no possible way on this earth they would be licensed as foster caregivers that quickly. Also, if Ortiz's interference removed Mara from Henren, why would she not continue to interfere with Mara being placed with Madney? (As if such a person would even have influence in this situation in the first place.) I mean, I like that the outlook is positive now, so yay? This one might just be me because I work in foster care and I just know how things work, but it is so grating. Oh, also, there is no way Hen would be able to just march into the group home and see Mara. No. Way. A fabricated tale that doesn't exist. I know, I know, I know, it's tv. But they could have done a modicum of research :')

I thought we were supposed to get some kind of cliffhanger????? I mean, I guess?? I'm not feeling a lot of suspense lmao. Gerrard will be captain while Bobby figures out how to take the 118 back, there will be drama until suddenly it'll all be better again.

And lastly, Family Feud theory is bones </3 But if it turns out eventually that Eddie is queer, we will all know that Family Feud was always on our side lmao

Okay, I guess the one satisfying part was that Amir's character and intentions were finally made clear... he was so clearly innocent, just hurt. I appreciated his role in this season and the actor KILLED it.

Dang I'm just frustrated with this season's writing overall. Bi Buck is wonderful, but I can't say I enjoyed a lot else, but it seems like I'm in the minority idk! I understand it was only 10 eps though and I'm still glad we got the season. I'm a Buddie shipper btw, but if it doesn't go canon, I'll live. However... it seems almost like the writers themselves haven't even decided, and um... they need to decide and then they need to commit to what they decide. I've been saying that for a loooong time. Keeping it THIS open-ended and hinting around is a disservice to everyone at this point, I think. I just think they're scared to make a choice, honestly.

I'm relieved to hopefully not be thinking about 9-1-1 anymore for a few months, but I have to find a new lil hyperfixation for a while. Suggestions? Lmao and does anyone wanna talk about our feelings? 🥲

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: July Wrap-Up.

This month, I picked my knitting back up with a vengeance, started a Three Sentences Writing Challenge, AND participated in several work-adjacent Social Events (who am I, even), On Top Of accidentally nerfing myself with several brick-like books, so! This little stack isn't half bad. Photos and/or reviews linked below:

ORDINARY MONSTERS - ★★ This was a miss for me, y'all, AND it was a brick, so it took a hot minute to read. I wanted it to be better than it was, but it rambled and wandered Too Much (which, coming from me, you KNOW is bad). Salty also-rambly 1.5k review linked.

IF FOUND, RETURN TO HELL - ★★★½ Way cuter than I was expecting!! I had a good time with the second person. Hugely relatable (which. wild. all things considered.).

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE - ★★★½ Funnier than anticipated, and very readable for something out of the '50s! I see why it's a cornerstone of the (sub)genre. Glad I have a copy on hand now.

THE ACTOR AND THE TARGET - ★★★★★ This Rewired My Brain. It took me three (3) weeks to get through. It was so good. If you're a writer, definitely check this out, 10/10 recommend.

WHEN AMONG CROWS - ★★★½ I checked this out from the library because hardback novellas are Expensive if you're not sure you vibe with the author's style, but I had a good time! Witcher fans should descend on this, I think.

ALWAYS COMING HOME - 76*/618 pages read; will report back later. I asked the People about this one, and the People have Spoken (read: this won my What Do I Read Next Poll), but I may or may not have miscalcuated how many brain cells I have available lately between work and writing, so I may or may not be cutting this with library books. I'll finish it. Eventually. (*asterisk because she keeps referencing Other Pages In Line, and every time she does I jump ahead to read those pages instead and then come back to where I was. I'm dual wielding bookmarks through this tome, it's an Experience™ so far!)

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of this month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[cer-rata]

A (long) review of the first 5 issues of Wonder Woman (2023) *Full Spoilers*

So I'm a bit of a lapsed comic fan. I grew up on my dad's collection of 90's comics and kept up on and off until the new 52 which did a lot that really put me off. And frankly Marvel wasn't doing much better so I kind of moved onto different fandoms and some smaller runs. Recently however I've decided to try to get back into the hobby more seriously, and while there have been some books that I've really enjoyed, there's been a lot of meh plots and inconsistent characterization pretty much everywhere across the major publishers.

But I was nonetheless excited to see a new Wonder Woman ongoing. Out of the trinity, Diana was always my favorite (a fact that I, as a little closeted boy, kept secret for years. More on that later) and I was aware of some of Tom King's works and was pretty impressed with his "Vision" run, so I was cautiously optimistic about the prospect of a popular modern writer giving Diana some love, and was hoping for a story with some modern nuance and uplifting fun.

The bag has been...mixed at best.

So I'm going to try to be fair about this, because writing genuinely good and transformative comics isn't easy, especially when your editorial is completely unhinged. That being said I do have some serious concerns that I think are really important to talk about.

I'm also lapsed so I haven't read everything religiously the past couple years, so if I get something about canon wrong please correct me in the notes.

I'm going to break this down into a couple of sections to help organize my thoughts. The art is gorgeous generally so I'm not going to spend too much time on that. Let's start with:

Plot

The name of this arc is Wonder Woman: Outlaw, and the first issue is devoted to setting up that premise. The action kicks off when an amazon gets into a bar fight with a group of sexist men, and ends up slaughtering every man in the establishment. The government reacts to this development poorly and ends up ordering the forced deportation of the Amazons that had settled in the states. We're given narration by a mysterious figure, detailing how Diana and her friends lobbied and fought against this obvious injustice but failed, laid over images of an Amazon resisting her deportation with violence, and being gunned down in front of her wife and daughter.

But how, you ask, was the government able to rush through this bizarre reactionary stunt?

Well you see, this is all a part of a scheme by the Sovereign, the CEO of sexism and an American "king" whose family has used the "Lasso of Lies" to control the country for it's entire existence. He showed up in WW #800 with Trinity seeking him out for information, which explains why he's narrating this story. A Wonder Woman book where she isn't the POV character? I'll get more into that later.

Anyway the Sovereign wants to run all of the amazons out of the country or kill them, whatever works, as he believes they're a threat to his rule and masculinity as a whole.

So he's in the background. The foreground antagonist is Sargent Steel, who's been tasked with leading the Amazon deportation and is actively hunting Diana, who he eventually corners as she's paying her respects to the men that the rogue amazon killed. He tries to assassinate her, obviously fails, and Diana extracts some information from him and begins her investigation. See it turns out that after running out of other options, she's trying to hunt down the rogue amazon and figure out what's going on in the hopes that she solve the tensions.

So that's the basic premise of the arc, Diana is trying to solve a murder mystery while being actively hunted by the government. It's not a bad premise on its own honestly, so I was intrigued. The first issue is pretty, well laid out and interesting. The problem is that the following issues don't really deliver on that premise.

Instead of detective!Diana, we spent issue #2 on a (gorgeous) fight with the actual US army, intercut with a flashback of Diana's trial by combat in order to leave Themyscira in the first place. It really is a beautiful issue that really drives home how much of a badass she is, especially since she ends up not killing anyone in the process. Somehow. She did throw tanks at people so...I'm not sure how she...anyway.

Issue #3 is Diana walking into Steel's base, bulldozing through all the security and then bullying him to get some more information about the case, where she finds out that the Amazon is pregnant. Intriguing right? Meanwhile we see the Sovereign showing a young soldier around his house, which is filled with old American historical artifacts. See he wants this kid to push the narrative that Wonder Woman emasculated him and took away his pride, but the soldier doesn't really care? He's actually excited to have fought a superhero and live, and he thinks she's cool. So that won't do, and we're shown the capabilities of the Lasso of Lies, as the Sovereign uses it to implant feelings of discontent and depression into the young soldier, while also ordering him to write a manifesto about Wonder Woman taking his manliness and then to...kill himself. The idea being to create some bad press and push public support away from Diana.

Issue #4 is my favorite in the run so far, devoting most of it's time to watching Diana give a terminally ill kid who idolizes her the best day of his life. I'll get into it when I talk about dialogue later but I think it's the truest depiction of Diana so far, you get to see her kindness, generosity and wisdom. There is a nice moment where she comforts the kid about destiny and soothes his feelings of otherness in the face of the expectation that he should be drawn to a male hero. It's really nice. But also kind of a strange decision in the scope of the plot. As much as I love this moment, I think her taking a day away from her mission of stopping this political disaster and being on the run to just hang out with a kid is...odd from a pacing standpoint. With the lack of effort she's shown so far in dealing with Steel and the machinations of the Sovereign, and the threat to the Amazons happening mostly off screen and with very limited access how Diana's feeling about it all because she's not the narrator, it all wraps up in not feeling very urgent. It's mentioned that she's trying to control her emotions and that makes sense in theory, but with the way she's drawn and written she just seems unbothered.

Meanwhile, Amanda Waller tells Steel that they're just going to throw all of Diana's villains at her and call it a day.

Issue #5 Deals with the Wonder Girls, Cassie, Donna and Yara trying to convince Diana to accept some help. She challenges them to trials where if they can beat her she'll allow them to assist. It's kind of a neat concept, but it highlights a strange piece of this characterization of Wonder Woman: her desire to work alone.

It's...very Batman of her in ways that don't make much sense in the narrative and in the broader scope of her characterization. And it would be more understandable if the conflict was more focused, Diana hunting down Cheetah to try to reform her, a more personal mission. But this literally involves all of her people and could lead to actual war between the states and Themysicra. It seems weirdly shortsighted for her to shun help from adult Women who she's trained and worked with in the past. The rationalization that she doesn't want to endanger them falls completely flat because they're already in danger.

Also what is Yara referring to here? She acts like there's history of them working together and it not working out. Why do they insist on trying to make her a Wonder Girl in the first place?

Anyway they all lose but then ignore the terms of the wager and show up in her apartment in their costumes, not taking no for an answer. And like that they ignored that foolishness, but then I'm bothered that we spent almost an entire issue on this pointless conflict that didn't really teach us anything useful.

But I did say almost, and the rest of the issue is devoted to Steel and the Sovereign convincing some of Diana's greatest foes to join up on a squad to take her down.

Which is...a choice. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool sequence, and It's not an unusual conceit in comics to collect a bunch of villains to take down their nemesis, but as far as I was aware, in this continuity:

Giganta and Silver Swan had buried the hatchet

Circe also helped Diana defeat the upside down man, and seemingly dropped her animosity (and...I...I thought she was trapped in a mirror. How did they get her out?) But regardless, why on earth would Circe agree to work for anyone, especially the US gov?

Grail was never that focused on Diana in the first place, but I could see her wanting to kill her for kicks, but again, why would she agree to work with lesser beings and take orders from mortals?

Angle man is nuts, so, sure

And Dr. Psycho does hate Wonder Woman with a passion so sure.

But this doesn't take into account that if they were to be written correctly, Circe or Grail on their own are justice league threats, and even with the Wonder Girls helping that would be an uphill battle. And then you add all the others, and factor in the dubious choices here in relation to established canon and it leaves me concerned that none of these villains are going to be used properly to their potential, or written in character. The idea that they were convinced to do this in the first place is hand-waved away, likely because there are no real persuasive arguments to get someone like Grail or Circe to job like this.

But enough of that tangent. This upcoming slug fest raises the question: What happened to the investigation into this rogue Amazon? 5 issues in and all we know is her name and that she's pregnant. Diana doesn't even know her name though, because if she did she'd realize that she actually knew the woman. So 5 issues in and the main plot has taken a backseat to watching Wonder Woman be a badass and including a bunch of villains. And don't get me wrong, I love a badass Wonder Woman. I was absolutely thrilled watching her go to work on people. But if you strip away those exciting set pieces and try to follow the plot and themes, there's not much substance there.

And you know, now that we've got an overview of what's happening, let's talk about the greater ideas here.

Themes

So King clearly wants to investigate misogyny in this book, with his villain Johnny Sexism. Uh. I mean, The Sovereign, an old white man who hates women and believes in the divine right of kings and wields the literal Lasso of Lies. And his unwitting sidekick, Military Industrial Complex Man, AKA Sargent Steel.

So it's not inherently bad to personify an social issue. Comics often work in shorthand like that. The issue I have here is that when you have a mastermind character who has manipulated everything behind the scenes, who is ALSO a caricature of a social problem, instead of providing interesting analysis of a systemic problem and its sources and methods, you instead attribute it all to One Evil Man. Which is painfully reductive and misguided. Sexism is complicated, much more complicated that one evil wizard deciding that women are the problem. It's like if you created a vampire slave owner who had been manipulating the country from the shadows and created the system of racism. It's bizarre and not really analysis to suggest that you can just solve social issues by stopping individual bad actors.

The bit with the soldier really crystalized this for me. We are given a kind man who has no misogynistic tendencies, and then the CEO of sexism forcibly implants it into his mind. He's shown personally bullying the president into submission, manipulating Steel, most overt examples of sexism can be tied directly to the Sovereign, which is a bizarre choice that really flattens the narrative weight. Couple that with the fact that the Sovereign is shown to be completely ill-equipped to actually stop Diana. She literally walks through all of his roadblocks, doesn't seem like she's out of control of the situation outside of the opening explanation that she wasn't able to save her sisters. The only real threat so far is the team of villains, and that's framed as Amanda Waller's plan. Why isn't she the villain of this book? And he's the narrator. In a book about sexism, immigration and tribalism, the voice we hear the most is that of the Sovereign. And he doesn't have anything particularity interesting to say. He's not scary, he doesn't seem particularly competent and he provides no interesting analysis so I'm left wondering, why are we centering his perspective over Diana's? In a book lead by a feminist icon, about the evils of sexism, we are completely locked out of her head. She barely gets a chance to speak, and when she does it's clipped and robotic. There's no personality, and certainly no continuity to her popular depictions. I'm all for writers reaching for topics, trying to make social commentary. Some of the best arcs we've ever gotten deal with real issues. But you have to A: Know what you're talking about and B: Actually talk about it. Sexism bad, men bad--it's not enough, it's not analysis, it's not revelatory and by creating such ridiculous caricatures of hyper masculinity, you make it very easy for the average male reader, who I assume you're trying to engage with, to separate themselves from the equation. It's thematic window dressing, and frustrating to see in a Wonder Woman book of all places. I don't think that only woman can write women, that's ridiculous and removes the responsibility to be better from male writers. But, if you're going to talk about social issues that apply to a group you're not a part of, you'd better know what you're talking about. Hell even if you're in that group you still have to know what you're talking about. This is feminism that starts and ends with "Sexism bad" and it's 2024, we have to be smarter about this.

That being said, I think issue #4 has bits of the right idea. Seeing Diana representing something greater than the sexist division that the world perpetuates is great. I felt incredibly seen as a little boy who loved Wonder Woman, and that moment of kindness meant a lot. We're given believable symptoms of sexism, from Jack's dad being uncomfortable with his son idolizing Diana. and Jack having internalized that judgement. It's handled gently and instead of just beating us over the head with obvious allegory, it shows us a taste of what Wonder Woman stands for: a better, more loving world. And it's mostly because it's the most insight that we get from her about how she thinks. The best part of the book about Wonder Woman is, shockingly, the part about Wonder Woman. Why can't we get more of that?

Dialogue

Man it's weird. King is clearly snappy, with a decent sense of humor. There's lots of fun exchanges in this book, particularly the backups, which I'll get to soon. He's pretty good at dialogue, which makes the way he writes Diana so bizarre. Awkward sentence structure, aloof characterization, the grating repeated use of "No thank you" as some sort of catch phrase. What? king has taken the warm beating heart of the trinity and made her distant and robotic. It's kind of impressive. And some of the rationale is that she's in emotional turmoil and trying to maintain appearances. But that's not reflected in the art at all, even when she's alone. We're told that she's conflicted and angry but almost never shown it. She feels like a side character in her own book most of the time. Speaking of side characters:

The Backups

So the running plot here is Damian Wayne and Jon Kent...babysitting? raising? Diana's daughter Lizzie Prince, who is eventually known as the hero Trinity in the future. And it's cute, particularly when they're all younger. King really gets Damian and Jon's characterization and writes some really fun exchanges.

Issue #4 and #5's backups are a little weaker but still really fun.

So my question is...why is the best characterization in this Wonder Woman book the backups starring the Supersons? I love the Supersons! Why are they here? Why would Diana choose them to watch her daughter? Why isn't she on Themyscira or being watched by any of her adult friends, especially those who have actual experience with children? It's fun but feels shoehorned and poorly reasoned. Honestly? I get the feeling that king wants to write this more than he does the main book, and it's mind boggling, because I wouldn't hate him writing supersons, and his version of Jon is the most Jon we've gotten in a while. So why is he writing Wonder Woman?

Conclusion

I think I'll keep reading, mostly to fuel my desire to see what they do with her actual villains, but it's not the smart book I was hoping for. It takes pretty big liberties with characterization and recent canon and there's not much actual commentary to find here. The art and the action are incredible, but the story that should be supporting it is pretty anemic and frustrating, with moments of genuine quality that makes the rest of the book even more disappointing.

Honestly? Just read Amazons Attack instead. Better dialogue, better pacing, better characterization, just more fun.

[goldenquillarchive]

More about 'where the boy gets the guy' and 'sakura notes' please!!

→ Wip Game Post

WHERE THE BOY GETS THE GUY

literally the only info i have written down on this is that it's an alternative universe, it's NorthSonic, it's set in college, North is a popular gay jock, and Sonic is the stereotype breaking Cheerleader wearing skirts and hating on jocks, the only stereotype he isn't breaking is being a cheerleader that's dating a jock, but who can blame him for falling for north?? have you SEEN his arms?? and he makes him laugh.

SAKURA NOTES

is actually two works that are basically the same story but one I've actually thought out and discussed with @ohanny , the other (the one I'll talk about here) is just Inspired by what we talked of together but mainly pieced together by me and major plots were my idea

it's a Canon Compliant to the end of Season One of Pitbabe, It starts where the last episode left off.

Both works are about Kenta visiting Japan after everything happened, to go on a journey of self finding and getting healthy and stuff like that.

In this work kenta obviously doesn't end up in Jail, With the Help of Pete he gets out of any legal issues, Kenta was taken under the wing by the X-Hunter team and was taken care of for a bit, he helped with some Accounting stuff for Alan. Kenta, Babe, Charlie and Jeff got to work and help out the Special kids that were still at the foundation and find Kids that were already adopted and help them back to safety and into an actual SAFE Adoption Centre and everything is Monitored by them closely.

Basically Kenta throws himself back into work, trying to make up for all his mistakes and everything that he was part of that he's not proud of. He wants to prove that he's a good person and that he doesn't want to disappoint the others again.

All the work obviously leads to a burnout, Kenta is still majorly Traumatised and needs time to actually recover

therefore the team (majorly kim and pete) decide that kenta needs to get back into the real world and figure out who he really is without Tony and the Chen foundation.

Kim suggests Kenta should go back to his roots for a little vacation to Japan, and quickly offers to go with him (because he's the one closest with kenta rn) so he doesn't have to go alone.

Kenta eventually agrees after being a little MEH about the idea, but after a good breakdown he decides he actually does need a break, and if the pretty boy he has a silly crush on wants to join, who's he to say no?

so they travel to japan, they stay in tokyo for a while before traveling to a slightly smaller city, but ultimately they settle down for a week or two in a small town that sounds familiar to kenta and itches a place in his brain.

they make a lot of memories together and get closer with every day and often share deep talks at night watching the sky, or just sitting there watching eachother, it's all very intimate for some reason.

a few days in town they stumble upon a very cute tea shop surrounded by cherry blossom trees, they decide to go in and grab something to drink and eat for a break from their exploring.

The owner of the shop is a cute little japanese lady, she's so nice and really happy about kim and kenta coming in, she calls them handsome and makes some small talk with them before letting them order.

while the old lady goes to prepare their food and tea, kenta walks around the shop and looks around, especially looking at the pictures that are hung on all the walls, some of the pictures are really old (atleast over 20 years, kenta would guess)

there's one picture his eyes keep coming back to, it scratches an itch in his brain, something so familiar about it that he can't quite explain.

the old lady notices when he brings them their order and asks kenta if he would like to know about the little boy and the man on the picture.

kenta says he doesn't want to intrude on anything, the picture seems private.

the lady tells kenta that he doesn't need to worry and tells him to sit down, before she proceeds to tell him and kim about the picture.

the picture is 24 years old, the little boy is her 3 year old son named Ken, and the man is the father and her husband. she looks sad as she talks but she's still smiling, happy she gets to talk about the two lovely men in his life.

she tells them it's the last picture that was taken of both of them, it was taken before they both left for Thailand, her husband was visiting some family and wanted to take Ken with him, because the lady didn't want to leave the shop alone she let her boys leave without her.

A few days later, a message reached her that they were in an accident that killed her husband, and her son went missing.

Kim tells her he's very sorry for her loss, and that's she's a strong woman and he's glad she's still smiling and living for them.

Kenta is at a loss for words, he can't shake that the picture looks familiar to him.

They get interrupted by another customer coming in and the old lady leaves to take care of them.

Kenta and Kim finish their things before leaving the shop and going back to their rented flat, kenta is still acting off....a little weird.

when they get home kenta calls pete, asking him to send him pictures of everything Tony kept in Kentas file, everything he had that belonged to him, everything he kept under lock that had kentas name on it.

Kim asks Kenta what this is all about, Kenta then explains that he thinks he's the boy in the picture, he explains how familiar it felt, how everything about this town felt familiar, how it has to be a sign that the name of the town scratched an itch in his brain before they decided to come and stay here.

the next morning, pete sent him everything he could find, and kentas suspicions were confirmed, hidden in his files and belongings was the same picture that was hung up in that shop, signed on the back with a message in cursive that read "be safe my boys, love ma <3"

Kenta takes a few days to recover and make sense of things, Kim and him get even closer, eventually getting so close that they kiss, confess and get together.

Together they go back to the shop but Kim stays outside while Kenta goes inside and tells the Old lady....his Mother, everything that happened.

and that's all i have on that ur so welcome for that, I hope it's gonna be as stuck in your brains as is it is in mine.

genuinely don't think I won't be getting to write this for a while, purely because I don't think i could make it justice like i wanted it to. i want to practice more writing before writing something as intimate as this, but if anyone wants to take it off my hands I'd be more than happy to give you all my thoughts so you can write it for the fandom!

[froot-batty]

So you have a lot of obscure rogues, but I haven't seen Bane. Is there a reason? Just don't like him or something else?

I don't dislike Bane, but he unfortunately falls into that "boring" category in my brain. I just honestly haven't seen a lot of portrayals of him that aren't just like. meh. Usually when characters get meh to me I change them up to be more silly for my AU (like I did with the Joker!), but to be honest I haven't dedicated a lot of time to thinking about what I want to do with Bane

He's here....somewhere. I'll figure him out eventually. Sorry Bane 😔

[dicenote]

4, 6, and 8 (specifically weekend at ryuzaki's for 8, please) for the ask game? :3

Ooh okay! Thanks for the ask :3

4. Is there a popular pairing you don't necessarily dislike but aren't too invested in?

Hm, probably MikaLight (that's popular, right?). While I love a little bit of religious imagery (*screams in ex-Catholic*), I haven't yet sat down and read a MikaLight fic that I've been totally invested in. If I sought out something from Mikami's perspective specifically, I could see myself liking it a little. But for now I'm kinda meh on the ship.

6. Show us a bit of a WIP!

I wrote this bit who knows how long ago, so idk if I'll keep it in the final draft, but I do like the vague direction it's going in.

“Maybe the world is better off without people like L.”

“What?!” 

Ide knows he's struck a nerve. “I don’t mean it like that,” he replies quickly. “It’s terrible that he died, but… no person should have the kind of power and influence that L had over his cases. If we say that Kira is evil because he is—he was— one person controlling the justice system, then we can’t allow people like L to do whatever they want to solve cases that interest them.

“We’re cops, after all. The world may be terrible, but we work within the system to try and change things. It may be slow, but it’s fair…” He pauses. He think he's talked for too long. “Does that make sense?”

Matsuda nods, and Ide’s phone rings.

“Hello?”

His eyes widen. He turns to Matsuda and mouths, “Aizawa”. "Are you okay? Did they-?"

8. How did you come up with the title to [Weekend At Ryuzaki's]?

Well, it's kinda funny that you mention it:

*waves hands wildly* All will be revealed... (once I finish writing this chapter, lol)

When I posted the first 2-ish chapters, I think the fic was called "Lingering On" or something like that. I was listening to a song called "Linger" while writing and thought that it would work as a good placeholder. Eventually, once I figured out what I wanted to do with the fic, I changed the name to something that I thought fit the tone a little better, vaguely referencing an old movie that I've never seen. Also, the confinement plot point literally involves spending a "weekend at Ryuzaki's", but I can't remember if I'd come up with that specific detail when I decided on the fic title.

[xpao-bearx]

Okay S O--

I promise I'm updating my Moon Knight fic (Like A Virgin), but this is an idea that's been nagging me like Khonshu for a while now and I've finally decided to share it! But please keep in mind that it's just what it is: an IDEA. So I'm sorry if this sounds a bit messy/incomplete/all over the place (and there's a possibility that some things could be changed), it's literally just me rambling and I think it's actually a pretty interesting idea! And this turned out a lot longer than expected ;-;

At the moment, I also have no clue what I wanna do with this idea (or if I'll ever even do anything with it at all). But I, obviously, take all credit for this so please don't steal (or at least tell me if you got inspired and plan on writing a similar fic to this cuz I would totally read the F U C K out of it) 🙃

Anywhore--

So my idea is, basically, this: The story begins in Season 1 of Moon Knight and it mainly revolves around a romance with our one and only sassy baby boy, Steven Grant (and of course with some 🔥spahcy🔥 smut thrown in) ❤️

For Steven's love interest, I dunno if it would be an original female character OR a Fem!Reader situation going on, so for now we'll just refer to the love interest as MC (main character)

Now MC and Steven live in the same apartment building and are next door neighbours. They've also been dating for quite some time, but strangely enough Steven doesn't remember ever asking out MC.

Steven and MC are pretty much what is considered to be the "perfect couple". You can really tell that they love and care about each other a lot, but recently a rift has been slowly but surely growing between them. It all started when Steven has been mysteriously disappearing, sometimes for days on end with MC not being able to contact him and not knowing his whereabouts. It doesn't help that Steven doesn't know anything either which, obviously, is very concerning but MC really likes Steven a lot and (maybe quite foolishly) chooses to let the matter go. MC thinks that whatever the hell is going on, there is a good explanation for it and can be resolved once Steven is ready to open up.

But things only become much worse from there when Steven started to miss dates and other important events in his and MC's relationship. There are also some days when Steven acts very odd, being cold towards MC and acting as if he didn't even know who she is which obviously hurts MC especially when she continuously tries to help him and just wanting to figure out what's happening.

It eventually comes to a point when MC couldn't take it anymore so she goes to confront Steven about his behaviour. She is rightfully mad and confused, but nothing changes the fact that she's still very much in love with him and wants to properly work things out.

Once MC goes to Steven's apartment using the spare key she has, she is shocked to find a woman there (this is shortly after Steven is fired from the museum and he discovers Marc's things + the scarab in the storage locker). A frazzled Steven is shocked when MC suddenly appears, too, especially when the woman--Layla--introduced herself as his wife.

MC couldn't even say--do--anything, only staring at Steven with such hurt, angry, disappointed eyes before running out the door and out of the building. Steven chased after MC to explain, but he wasn't fast enough and the damage was already done.

Fast forward into Season 2 (I know at this point in time there's no S2 but just indulge me LMAO xD), MC is revealed to be living with a friend of hers as she picks up the pieces of her broken heart and starts anew.

But here's a lil twist: After the events with Harrow and the gods' Avatars died, MC became Hathor's (the goddess of love and music) new Avatar. I still don't know how this came to be, but just roll with meh 👍

While MC does her missions for Hathor, she eventually crosses paths once more with a familiar face who she is surprised to find out is Khonshu's (another god Hathor has quite smittenly told MC a lot about) Avatar--Steven.

Only... This isn't actually Steven, but a man who claims to be Jake Lockley.

Jake then explains to MC that Steven has dissociative identity disorder and that he, along with another man named Marc Spector, were alters in a system with Steven. Obviously this is a fucking LOT to take in, but MC eventually believes Jake and it made sense as to why Steven acted different sometimes when they were still together.

It is also revealed that Jake was the one who asked MC out and before Steven even knew her, Jake was the one who liked her first. But in an attempt to keep MC all for himself, Jake doesn't say the truth about Layla, of how she is now Marc's ex-wife since things never worked out with them and Steven is still very much hung up and in love with MC. So MC is kept in the dark about everything, still believing that Steven lied and cheated on her.

It is definitely weird meeting Jake, especially when Jake is extremely open about his feelings for MC and continuously attempts to go out of his way to find her and woo her (to no avail). MC knows that despite sharing the same body, Jake is an entirely different person. But it hurts a lot to just look at him since all she sees is Steven.

Overtime, however, MC gets over her heartbreak and realizes that she also has feelings for Jake and decides to say "fuck it" and take a leap of faith. At this point in time, MC is still under the impression that Steven is married to Layla (even though she hasn't seen the woman again at all). Deep down, MC knows that it's wrong, but she really does like Jake and believes that they both deserve to live their own lives and have a relationship with each other, even if it may be challenging to keep it a secret.

Once MC confesses to Jake, he realizes that what he's doing is wrong and if he truly cared about her, he needed to be honest. So Jake takes MC out on a date and plans on telling her everything, but before he had the chance to Steven suddenly gained control of the body!

Steven and Marc have both had suspicions for a while that there's a third alter and now it's been confirmed, along with the two of them being surprised and infuriated that Khonshu isn't actually out of their lives. But the more pressing matter is that MC was here, right now, with Steven, even though it shattered his heart to see her looking at him with those same pained, spiteful eyes that haunted him when she completely disappeared from his life.

But in a panicked rush, Steven told MC everything. Of how he didn't know he had DID before, about coming to terms with Marc's existence and Steven's own purpose, of how Layla was actually Marc's wife and they were now divorced, etc.

All of this was much harder to take in than when Jake told MC about their situation. Although, meeting Steven again made MC realize that she did still love him as much as she loved Jake. But that didn't erase the pain in MC's heart and while she was glad that the truth was finally out and all the misunderstandings were cleared up, MC just needed time. Time to heal, time to just really wrap her head around everything and determine where she stands in Steven and Jake's lives and where they stand in hers.

So that's what MC did. As much as Steven missed her, as desperate as he was to hug her and kiss her and just say that everything will be okay, he respected her decision. And he understood because he, too, needed time to get his and Marc's and Jake's shit together.

As time passes, MC and Steven meet again. And this time, they were ready to be together once more and for forever. Jake is there, too, and they all work together to navigate through their unconventional romance, but they don't worry too much because they know they will be alright. Because, just like the constellations in the night sky, their hearts had a special connection.

But as MC's love blooms with Steven and Jake, Marc is there. He's always there, like a dark shadow. Unlike the other two, Marc actively avoided MC and/or openly expressed his distaste. He didn't love Layla anymore, but the divorce really affected him as well as his perception on relationships. He just didn't want to suffer through that same heartbreak again, but this time he had a lot more to be protective over because he not only had to watch over himself, but also Steven and Jake. He absolutely would never forgive you and himself if you broke the boys' hearts.

Though let's just say, long story short, that you work things out with Marc and wormed your way into this lovable grump's heart 🥰

There are also two potential endings for this story. Ideally, of course, I LOVE a happy ending and I want them all to simply be lovey dovey (which they DESERVE). The other ending, ROUGHLY, is that some bad shit goes down and MC ends up having to sacrifice herself to keep the Moon Boys safe and she dies. This obviously completely fucks the boys up, so much so that they never fully accept MC's death while also losing their will to live and blaming themselves. As a result, during a mission for Khonshu, the boys are so out of their element that they end up being killed by their enemy.

B U T even tho me likes some good ol' angst, I could never actually go through it without a proper conclusion!! SO when the boys die, they meet and be with MC again who's been eagerly waiting for them at the Field of Reeds, truly for all eternity now and just U G H MY HEART 😭💔

Now that I've written this out, I'm SO fooken excited!! Though, as I said, this is only an IDEA (at least for now)

Buuut what do y'all think??? :3

[thyandrawrites]

Dabi danced then changed clothes and burned himself to near death again and everyone just left the fandom hdjsjshdhjs like his chapters used to give us early leaks just saying 💅 (but srs the pacing of this last arc has been horrible, for understandable reasons but still, and even tho the volumes have been selling well in japan bnha is not important or relevant to SJ currently so i wonder if hori doesnt hurry with the ending it wont eventually get canceled)

I don't think a title like bnha is under risk of being cancelled, ever, what with it being in the top ten sellers of the year. The rushing is just pacing issues and possibly editorial interference imho. The former is something Hori admittedly always suffered from. Overhaul's needlessly long arc comes to mind as the first example, but then also the overarching Todofam plot went at a snail pace, so much so that fans predicted where it would eventually go years before it became the focus. Hori's not the best at figuring out how much space to give to big plot points, and with the story reaching its climax and many character arcs converging, he sort of... Let down a lot of expectations? He tried to give everyone space but sorta ended up with a big messy soup imo.

But tbh it wasn't even the pacing issues for me. My passion for the series dwindled when a lot of character arcs took weird directions or straight up stopped moving. Which is as much Hori's fault as it is mine I suppose. I expected bnha to act more on its premises than Hori really wanted to, and as a result felt pretty "meh" when entire plotlines were swept under the rug or forgotten about in favor of character stagnancy and protecting the status quo

It's just... Eh. I'll own up to the fact that I probably shouldn't have expected the story to go my way, but I also think Hori wasn't entirely honest, either. The quality of the writing took a nosedive when Hori got scared by his own premises and backtracked. Personally, I find it a dishonest way to tackle the plot. Either commit or don't hype it up as though you intend to

[bright-and-burning]

i'll be honest i have no idea how any of you are even getting to 2 orgasms let alone 15 😭 obviously i know it's possible but i feel like i'm doing something wrong or we're just having completely different types of orgasms bc i literally could never

sorry this took so long to answer anon <3 bodies r so wild and different tbf!!! more under the cut so im not getting insane directly on the dash lol

baaasically i think it’s possible i accidentally trained myself into it??? in that . well i was on a super high dose of anti depressants for a loooong time. and i like. could not get off. not that i was all that interested in trying; even making out w people at this point was meh. [as an aside i should NOT have been on those at that dose my god]. and then i hit college and i was like ok no you know what you r not gonna be 18 having never come before. (not that there’s anything wrong w that, necessarily. just that 18 year old me was somehow horny even under all that zoloft and was following a very 18 year old thought process.) so i did the logical thing here. and ordered a vibrator.

unfortunately i was still on the anti depressants and also did not know what i was going for. AND even now orgasms for me r like. minis. for others. i think. so i was basically like well that can’t have been it, i must’ve psyched myself out right on the edge. and thus… i was just going ham i guess. idk. eventually i went off the antidepressants (quit cold turkey which was a fucking nightmare my god) and figured out what i Was feeling physically. but at that point i maybe had already moved around some neurons or something. or maybe i was always built like this! who knows! either way like coming once for me is kind of like. having three cold shrimp from the appetizer platter. that’s not even a full appetizer, much less a meal. it’s kinda like going to one of those really expensive 10-course meal events where every plate has maybe six bites of food but you just have 10 of them and then you finally walk away satisfied. other people (you, maybe) have a big hearty bowl of pasta. others maybe have a bowl of soup and a salad and then r set. does this metaphor make any sense at all

i also still can’t hardly get off w just my (own) fingers lmfao it’s so much tetchier and takes WAY more time and effort (and mental effort ugh). so possibly uhhh methodology is doing you dirty. or you’re just satisfied w your big bowl of pasta!! if you’re not satisfied w your pasta i guess that’s a different story, which maybe involves some exploration to figure out if you like rice more. or whatever. but if it’s just that you’re comparing numbers and going i should be able to hit higher numbers… eh. not worth it. comparison is the thief of joy; why steal joy from getting off? sometimes i wish i could one and done it without just ratcheting myself higher or whatever. other times im like oh yeah baby 3hrs of dopamine lets get this bread. variety is the spice of life, we get what we got, etc

anyways. all this to say. you’re definitely not doing something wrong! people r just built different i think. not gonna name any names but in discussion ive heard ppl say all sorts of thing. they max out completely and utterly at 6, or they can hit like 10 but only if its hands not toys, or one is good and two and three are meh if they go for it but then they’re fully tapped out, etc etc. and equally in every convo i’ve had it has been reaffirmed that i am Absolutely the Extreme Outlier lmfao

[kaija-rayne-author]

Dragon Age Veilguard Review 5.2 in series

34.5 hours in. 32.5 hours playtime.

Obligatory disclaimer you can just drop to the cut if you've read it.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Spoilers for Dragon Age Veilguard

5.1 section here.

This is a long one.

So. I managed to play for a good portion of the day. I'm exceedingly grateful it held me.

Around about 27 hours? I felt immersed in the story, and this part of THEDAS. It shouldn't take 27 hours of playtime to suck me into a game. That in the writing world is what we call shitty pacing, poor editing,. and just... take it right back to the drawing board.

It could just be me. I'm notoriously hard to suck into stories because I was foolish enough to become an editor. But I've never had that problem with a DA game before.

I managed to finish the team. I like Davrin, Taash, and Emmrick. My favs so far in order are (yes, I'm cringing 🤣) Lucanis, Taash, Emmrick, and Davrin. With a close follow-up by Bellara.

I wonder if it's Lucanis's VA doing it? I am a bit of an accent slut and I have a definite voice kink. TBF they did change him a whole fucking lot from the Wigmaker version. Even if he does look like Dracula.

Getting misgendered in game sucks as much as it does in real life. So content warning on a person misgendering their kid and the person they're with (Rook).

But generally, the trans rep is handled in such a loving, beautiful manner, and I have to give AAA+ on that front. I feel seen in it. Seeing and helping Taash on their journey is healing, and just wonderful to see in a triple A game.

But lets talk about accents yes? WTAF? In every other DA game they stuck with regional accents for the different regions. Anyone from Antiva had anywhere from a light to a heavy Spanish accent. Anyone from Orlais was French. Tevinter in the personage of Dorian and even Neve had/have British accents. It wasn't ever really 100% but they at least tried. And I loved that.

This game doesn't feel like they tried at all.

In like... a lot of ways. How do you go from something so intricately and delicately intertwined as DAI to... this?

It's all just mid. Meh. I'm sorta into the story enough now that it doesn't feel like I'm slogging through blight to play it anymore. But if I couldn't finish the game? I don't think it would bother me for long. And that's something that would usually drive me bonkers.

I miss the collections. Everything from the mounts to the silly bottles of wine to collecting gifts for the right character. I miss that... I dunno... feeling of actual importance the Inquisition had?

Like. All the pieces line up in DAV. People dying. More people gonna die if someone doesn't step up. Intrigue. Betrayal. Nasty demons and darkspawn running around. But it's missing something. I'll figure out what it is eventually, but it's almost 3am so it probably won't be right now.

It's also a completely, horrendously, unbalanced game. On a normal level, (Adventurer in DAV), a regular gamer should be able to get through it without a whole lot of difficulty. A challenge, yes. I actually do like to be challenged a little in games. Maybe a death or two here and there but not in every damned fight. I wish they'd make the option to turn death off available for every level. I get stomped often enough that it's so annoying to sit through the reload. And reloading is where I've had the most problems.

At Keeper level (easy) it’s far too easy for me. At the next level up, (Adventurer) it's really pushing my skills in a very not fun way. There's like, no even scaling.

I miss the crafting! I miss going harvesting for stuff that I could build funny armour with. I had the Iron Bull in Dawnstone (pink) armour because I thought it was fun and his character probably wouldn't have cared. I always head canoned him saying in that don't fuck with me tone, "I like pink."

I miss being able to make special armour for my crew. It just... uuuugh. It's missing so much of the delicately intertwined details that made DAI such a good game. The bottles of wine and Warden notes in DAI gave you hints to Warden lives.

But at least I finally have armour that leaves elves feet bare. I really really wanted that.

Here's why.

I also have to admit that I do like how the wardrobe makes changing the way your gear looks does make it more streamlined, but I really really miss the crafting. I am trying to provide a fair review, after all.

I miss being able to make potions and bombs. And unless I've missed something, you just can't? You can't grow anything either. Growing stuff in Skyhold gardens was one of my favourite things about DAI. I was really looking forward to finding out which plants grew in the north of THEDAS and what stuff we could make with them. It never once occurred to me that they'd get rid of so much of the fun of DAI. It's like they've taken all the really intricate and interesting details that made DAI such an awesome game and... given us this. Milquetoast Veilguard. The mounts were gifts from different areas and peoples, so it tied that into the world.

The plants you grew had to be collected from various areas and used to make bombs and potions. I really miss that. Yes, you collect stuff to give to the Caretaker to upgrade or enchant your stuff, but 1. Why the fuck do I have to break so many barrels to get stuff? Who thought that was a good idea? Sure, a little, but there's barrels fucking everywhere. I'm a completionist player so tend to try to do everything. And 2. Collecting the different armour patterns, and the materials to make stuff like bombs, potions and explosives with was a large part of what I loved about DAI and DAO.

The Lighthouse has grown on me. But isn't it part of the Lore that living beings can't enter the fade? So uhhhhh... do we have a massive plothole there or did I miss something?

Manfred is fucking awesome 😂.

What in the world did they spend all that time doing if it wasn't going to be an intricate, detailed game?

They seem to have spent all that time on fucking with the looks of the characters and the graphics (to the game's detriment), messing around creating new demons because sure... we needed fortnite knockoff demons. Oh, and we mustn't forget the not-fucking-darkspawn. They've already contradicted themselves about them in game. They say at the beginning (I think it's Bellara?) That maybe these are old darkspawn rather than new. Then later in game they say Gilly has been making new darkspawn. Sure, Bellara could've just been wrong, but that wasn’t the feeling I got.

I do like the skill tree. That is much more streamlined.

I like the map. It doesn't feel like Dragon Age but it's a decently functional map. Reminds me more of DA2 than I'd like because that wasn't a good map.

I mostly like it at the Lighthouse. I like being able to see if companions have something to talk about so I don't spend time running around to each of them trying to see if they've got something new. That was an actual weakness in DAI I'm happy to see fixed.

The different ways you could decorate Skyhold were related to which areas and cultures visited a lot of the time. All those details they chose to not use for DAV were what made DAI such an epic game. To be fair, it might be similar for the Lighthouse. I haven't explored decoration options. I'll try to look at it soon.

And yes. Again. The best part of this game is the backgrounds, scenery, and environments. It's honestly the only thing holding this mess together. Rivain is fucking gorgeous. I love Treviso. Arlathan is amazing. Bit meh on Minrathous but despite living in one, I'm not really a big city sort of person. The puzzles aren't very challenging. And I miss the ocularium. That tied ancient elven and even Tevinter history into the world.

It very much feels like they've just decided to not care about the Lore and swept most of it under the carpet. A large reason I play DA games is the mental puzzles all that Lore gives me.

Also, foreshadowing should be subtle. Not the experience of being whacked over the head with a hammer.

And FWIW? Given standard medieval-esque health care? That wound Varric took would've absolutely been fatal. If not right away, then eventually. I'm really hoping they aren't going toward 'noble sacrifice' with him.

I'm not bothered by the different accents amongst the veil jumpers, or even the different races. Yes, it's letting shem hands touch ancient elven secrets, but it's also accurate to a lot of indigenous cultures. As long as you followed their ways, they welcomed new people (until things got really bad due to colonization and cruelty). The commonalities between First nations cultures and the Dalish are hard to miss, so that part works for me. (My ancestors were indigenous.)

I mean. Yeah. I'm Neurodivergent in a bunch of different ways. Change isn't always easy for me. But every single game I play has changes. I play a lot of games. I don't remember ever feeling so utterly betrayed by them as I do about DAV. If I had any expectations for this game, they were pretty low. And yet... even though the bar was on the ground, they've managed to disappoint me.

I'm still gonna keep playing. I don't hate it. But like... I'm not even sure if I can say I like it. Bits and pieces, yes, but as a whole? Nah. I love the Ziplines, those are fun. I like the ease of walking over logs and stuff now. That was a nightmare in DAI.

And I need the distraction right now, as long as I don't lose complete interest, I'll keep at it.

Oh. And the Owlbear in BG3 is absolutely cuter than Assan. Don't get me wrong. Assan IS cute. But... between the two? Owlbear wins.

Oh... and in all that time I played today? I didn't see Solas. Sooooo yeah. They completely sidelined his character. Makes me wonder if they made the decision to change the name from Dreadwolf to Veilguard and just nixed a lot of his content because of piss baby whiners who didn't like Solas. Which, if they did that? Is really shitty. Also, if he got sucked into the prison he'd had the gods in... where exactly are the other Evanuris! Stuck in there with their jailor?

And if the Caretaker is who I think it is? I'm gonna be pissed. (Felassan.) That is such a cop-out way of bringing him back. The Lore supported a bunch of different ways for him to return and if they went with that? UGH. I do like the boat between islands in the crossroads, that's fun.

I'm pretty sure I know who the Gloom Howler is. The bandages and the line 'they were never yours' gives it away if you've read the books. I figure she ran into the Architect. Did y'all notice how much her head looked like his?

I could be completely wrong. But enh. It doesn't really matter. I honestly can't see myself replaying this. If I even manage to finish it.

Section 6.1 here.

[the-blind-geisha]

Onward to 2024

I know I have a few days till the year ends but meh. I'll write it now!

This year was far more productive for me after the prior year tried to take me out several times. While my new found health issue which may or may not persist left me in a state to constantly produce stuff in worry I'd never get the chance, it was still nice to look at the WIPs I got done.

Having finished The Demon King of the Desert was my main goal. I was so happy to have it finished, and be it on AO3 or Wattpad, I am glad it was loved as it was. ♥ While I would love to go back, revise, and pimp it out to be something far more explored in some areas, I plan to wait a moment before doing so. The original ending was something a bit different and the beginning was so rushed because I only hoped it would be 10 chapters. But, well, things run away from me.

The characters are still very much alive in my heart, and who knows—maybe I'll do the in-between idea of what Demiurge and Gerdu were up to during their absences (as well as do a ref sheet of Gerdu).

I do want to work more on my Patreon. I wanted to work on one for years, and now I have reasons to work there behind the scenes.

While all my mature things will remain there, the rest will gradually become public. I do have some comics I want to work on, that'll begin there and slowly drift to public spaces in due time. ♥

The King of Boos as well as a few other scenes I'd love to turn into comics from my King Boo / Reader story will be there. Sadly, as it stands, the first one won't be released till I am done with You're the Inspiration. Just because of how the two coincide with one another a bit. But it will eventually!

Because of my desire to dive into my childhood once more, I will be working on a few things with Violetta, my new Mario OC, and maybe make a self-insert OC in general since I want to do something with Rosalina too. She's my queen, sorry. ;^;

In general, I want to get some comic-ing done. I love comics, even if they take me forever to do at times. I figure Patreon will be my go to!

I also have some monster stories (and ref sheets for some of my boys, gals, and in betweens) in the works. I just have a massive to-do list that's bigger than my backside, so stuff will come out as needed!

I will do my best to try and work on using my artist tablet more over my mouse. While I want to continue using my mouse just so a broken tablet can't stop me from ever doing digital art, I do want to try and feel comfortable using an artist tablet all the same. ♥

2023 really opened up a lot of ideas for me. I redid my reference sheets too, which I am glad I didn't get far in those, or I would have screamed at the many I'd have to redo. But I plan on redoing the old ones and moving to a better future with them.

Oreana and Ignatius' story will continue at some point as will another story I may put into comic format if I can draw creatures better again. ♥ It's an old idea inspired by a fanfic of epic craziness that I still have a fondness for that was done in my pre-net days when I was a kid.

Anywho! Hoping for a brighter, just as productive, new year! Stay safe, everyone, and thank you all for your support!

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01E02: The Corbomite Maneuver

Original Thoughts

"Boring. Is this gonna be like the Star Trek movie curse? Where every odd numbered episode is meh at best and stupid at worse, while all the even numbered episodes are at least interesting? All I remember after watching it is that they dealt with an alien force that originally looked like a Rubix Cube without the squares. Oh and the voice of Ted Cassidy, that was nice~ But yeah, otherwise it was boring. Not unwatchable, but forgettable, 2/5."

(Original Post)

Rewatch Thoughts

The only thing meh at best and stupid at worst is that opinion. Shame on you Callie from two years ago! Also, I kept calling it 'Corbonite Maneuver' for some reason. Whoops.

Okay really, I think the reason that I felt that way was because I was watching the show in the order they had it on streaming. In other words, the airing order, not the production order. Thus, when compared to episodes like The Naked Time and The Enemy Within which were pretty intense episodes, this one came off as slow and uneventful in comparison. Had I watched it in production order, this would have been first after the two pilot episodes and I likely wouldn't have had as much of an issue with it. I'd have probably still found it boring, but it wouldn't feel as big of a letdown as the first time.

But here we are two years later. I had watched the episode again in-between then and now and had come around to it. It's funny how different your perception can be after you go back after watching the whole series through. The Man Trap is a great example, but we'll get there later. I'd already done some meta analysis on the episode, so feel free to check that out. It's mainly a McKirk post analyzing how their professional relationship can conflict as well as their personal relationship that I feel is especially vital in this episode. I'm probably gonna give it a do-over on my main blog down the line. But I'll give the abridged version of it and my other thoughts here.

As far as the episode itself goes, it's still not my favorite by any means, but I wouldn't rank it as low as I did originally. Watching it as a series premiere, this one does the job perfectly. It establishes our captain, the main crew members we'll be seeing, and what we can expect from the show. It may seem a bit, for lack of a better word, cheap to a modern audience. But I can imagine had this aired properly, this would have wowed the audiences of the 60's. There's also some legitimate tension about how Kirk was going to pull them out of this mess and with how rather... harsh and stressed he was, it shows that for all his flaws, he is very much an effective captain.

Kirk having problems isn't a bad thing either. There's plenty of growth for him as a captain. Here we see him stressed, demanding, and pushing things way too hard. He demands simulations to be conducted while the ship is still being repaired AND while the officers are still getting their wits together. It's especially clear with navigator Bailey, who is barely holding himself together. He's tense, uncertain, eventually freezes up and later has a full-on breakdown from all the stress and fear. McCoy even tries to get Kirk to see this and quit pushing too hard, but Kirk is incapable of doing so at this moment. This may be the Enterprise's first major crisis since Kirk became captain, and thus everything is on his shoulders. He's stressed. His stress is causing everyone else stress as he's trying to figure out what to do. By the end, he manages to effectively get them out of danger with both his bluff about corbomite and then leading the crew to breaking from the tractor beam.

And in the end, it's clear that Kirk isn't a bad guy. He is very much devoted to the mission of discovering new worlds and new life. Even after everything, he chooses to help Balok when the distress signal goes out and tries to make things up to bailey by letting him be the first along with himself and McCoy to have the first encounter. Which leads to bailey essentially becoming their ambassador... which whether letting him stay maybe wasn't the best idea, but he saw that Bailey wanted to do it and allowed it. And at the end of the day, that is their mission. To exchange information and cultures with other worlds.

We do a lot of good character establishing. We have Kirk of course, but McCoy also gets it really well. He puts off a red alert to finish Kirk's physical while he has the chance, showing that he's a doctor before all else. He's frequently trying to guide Jim to take notice of the crew's mental state while also trying to ease Kirk's own state. He provokes an argument with Kirk regarding Bailey's breakdown despite the fact they're potentially minutes away from death, which is what gets Kirk to actually snap. He had no problem talking back to the captian, even threatening to report him to his face, but considering he chose to do so at the worst moment shows a level of short-sightedness when focused on a certain thing. For a guy who didn't get any top billing until Season 2, they clearly knew that DeForest Kelley as McCoy was gonna be a stand-out and indeed he was.

It also establishes Kirk and McCoy's relationship really well from the get-go. While them having an argument like this is rare, it shows how it can happen. You could even say that they both learn from it and try to be more understanding of each other's concerns and position later. It doesn't always work, but it's a step in the right direction. And they both know their fault and apologize. You can tell that even this early on, they have a close bond. Kirk noticeably eases up and opens up around McCoy moreso than anyone else, aside from a little with Spock. He's not even using Bones yet, but that could be because he's trying to be the professional captain, but after this eases up on that. Really, I could go on all day about these two, but again that's for my main blog. But with how major their relationship truly is and how it often gets overshadowed by Kirk/Spock and Spock/McCoy, it's nice to see it so early on and done so well.

Aside from that, there isn't much more to say. It's a good episode. Not great, but nowhere near as bad as I made it out in my original watchthrough. Spock doesn't have a lot for me to go over aside from being established as the logical second-in-command. The little scene where McCoy says he'd love to teach Spock poker is cute though, and outright hilarious considering how they interact later. But hey gotta start somewhere haha. Overall, it's a good episode. It isn't great, but as an introduction to ST, the cast, and the show's purpose? It nails it perfectly and was enjoyable. It certainly wasn't boring or forgettable this time around.

Oh and because I'm an animation nerd, hearing Ted Cassidy (most well known as Lurch in The Addams Family and various animation roles) as Balok was still an utter joy~!

Original Ranking: 2/5

Rewatch Ranking: 6/10

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