#no reason for this i just wanted to draw her with garfield

[iwakuraz]

breaking news: popular idol, momo kisaragi, reveals shes actually pretty good friends with garfield. more news coming at 8!

[the-lighthouse-lit]

BBRae Week Day 4: “You’re burning up”

Length: 1,639 words

Rating: K

Excerpt:

But she was left wondering what if she’d hurried. Taken him up on that date, been a little warmer, trusted a little faster. If she’d made herself important to him a little quicker, maybe he wouldn’t have cared when his ex came calling again.

She’d just thought she had a little more time.

@bbraeweek24 📣

───

Raven’s hands laid idly over the keyboard. In front of her was the catalogue of new arrivals, but her eyes were on Garfield past her monitor. He looked at her stricken, like he hadn’t been the one to say the words.

The, “I’m probably moving away… at the end of the month, or something.”

It was nine twenty in a fucking Tuesday. Raven had been eying the growing pile of books on the reshelving pile and giving herself strength to load them up and file them back in their places, and generally prepping herself to get through a particularly miserable day of work, when he’d come in.

And usually his presence was enough to turn her morning for the better, not that she was admitting that yet. So when he’d come in, it hadn’t immediately registered with her how serious he’d looked—she wasn’t in her best frame of mind herself. She’d been waiting for him to notice she was off and ask what’s wrong. It didn’t click that today was different until he started talking.

“I’m… my ex, actually, contacted me, and… she wants to make things work. And I want that too. So…”

His hands opened and closed as he strived to explain—that he was moving for her, that she had a place in Bloomington and she was getting him a job there. The movement made her think how she’d never held his hand. It would’ve been unprofessional here, in front of the patrons of the library, and they’d never gotten out to that date he kept floating. And now they never would.

She nudged her keyboard to be centered on her desk, pulled up a random tab on her computer, like she did when she really got to work in front of him on any normal day, while talked about anything across for her. Today his worried stare burned her like it never did when that was the case.

“The ex you mentioned,” she said, for something to say.

His eyes widened a little. “I mentioned her,” he remarked, almost a question.

“The one who left to travel the world?”

It was funny how a story he’d told her to explain why he’d moved here, and consequentially come into her life, now became the reason he was leaving it.

She had to suppress a shiver. A gust of wind filtered through the cracks in the window, the kind of change in the atmosphere she wouldn’t normally notice. She’d been about to get her jacket when he’d come in.

“Yes. Her,” he admitted. Clearly, thought Raven, she’d been in his mind more than even he realized.

And then a stretch of silence.

She could’ve gone, ‘Why are you telling me this?’ She could’ve forced him to say it. But she didn’t feel like drawing it out. In fact, she felt like letting him right off the hook. “So I guess you won’t be coming around anymore.”

His explaining hand dropped, with hopelessness, but also possibly with some relief, she thought. “I’m sorry.”

The simple confirmation brought on a fresh wave of nausea she thought she’d curbed this morning when she’d skipped breakfast in favor of plain tea. She took a deep breath before she started loading the books to reshelf onto the cart.

She told herself she was being ridiculous. You couldn’t get your heart broken from a guy you’d only known a few months. She bet if she did the math she’d find she had known him for less than that.

He’d come into the library by accident the first time. He’d been looking for some store that sold rare video games memorabilia, that Google Maps swore should be next door.

She couldn’t get him out of the library fast enough that first day. She’d fought him on the fact that there had never been such a store next door, and it was pure bravado on her part: the truth was Raven didn’t know the neighborhood, just this library. She got on a bus in the morning and rode fifteen minutes to this part of town she hadn’t bothered to get to know yet.

When it turned out the store had recently changed locations, and Gar found out about it, he’d come back to the library to tell her about it. Then he’d kept finding reasons to come in. He had never hid that he kept coming back to talk to her. He was new in town, he said, and he could use a friend. She had always wondered if he could somehow tell she had no friends here either.

And now it was back to the real world for her. Back to her thoughts being hers and hers alone. Back to closing up what he’d been prying open slowly over the course of weeks. Why had she got so used to having him here?

Just like all the others, the thought snuck into her brain before she could check it. It was weakness of character to think on those terms—like her life was organized by some dire prophecy that dictated she should always wind up alone again, but it really did seem that way. Nothing good seem to last.

“I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try to make it work,” Gar was saying now. “...I didn’t know how it would feel to see her again.” At that point she made an effort to tune him out.

Her heart thumped against her chest as she fixed the books neatly on the cart. It was hard to breathe, but then, it had been all morning. It didn’t have to be about him.

He was just a guy who’d made a friend at a town he’d lived in for a while, and she was just a lonely librarian who was being notified she’d no longer have that hyper blond distraction in her day to day.

But she was left wondering what if she’d hurried. Taken him up on that date, been a little warmer, trusted a little faster. If she’d made herself important to him a little quicker, maybe he wouldn’t have cared when his ex came calling again.

She’d just thought she had a little more time.

She shivered. This proved too much and he could finally see what was in front of him. Suddenly she was feeling his touch on her forehead: a warm hand connecting with her hot forehead, erupting into her cold morning. She slapped his hand away, but not before he’d felt it.

“You’re burning up.”

She was so, so angry—the feeling had taken over her before her mind parsed the reason why: it was the first time he touched her, and it was just as he was leaving her life.

“It’s just a cold,” she spat. And she faced him defiantly. She hoped her eyes said it: ‘Why would you care? It’s not your problem anymore.’

She was red in the face from wrath, but ironically it supported the fever he’d discovered: it was like he’d made her sprung into color with his touch, brought out all the symptoms she was struggling to keep at bay. It enraged her because it exposed her: no carefree guy on a random visit to the library reached out to feel the forehead of an uncared-for librarian. With a move he’d uncovered everything she’d tried to bury.

She looked away from his useless contrite expression, which she assumed he kept on her as long as he stood in front of her—all the way until a patron coming up behind him forced him to step aside.

The teenage girl smiled at the librarian, oblivious, as she returned two books and checked another one out.

Out of the corner of her eyes Raven saw Gar had stepped aside, and now made as if he was looking at the books on the front desk. She was annoyed—maybe if the girl had only come a moment later, he could’ve taken his leave. Now they had to wait out the whole transaction, and for what? He was leaving anyway.

Inside her was some vindication, and she dug to find out why; she guessed it was because she’d made him say his piece before he noticed she was sick. If he’d noticed before, he might not have said it. She didn’t know why that made her feel better, but she’d take it.

She would get over him and the cold together, she told herself: when in a few days her lungs were clear and she felt strong again, she wouldn’t remember how he made the world feel. She willed it to be true.

When the girl left, Garfield still stood by. Raven put her hands on the cart. She knew if she left now, he’d be there when she came back, and the thought made anger mount inside her again.

Why was he here, and why was she here? He was going back to his ex, and now she knew that. Why were they lingering?

Now, as she began to push the cart, she faced him at the last second and said, “Well…” a sign of finality, a final snapping of the feeble cord that united them.

And when she said it she found out why neither of them were making the cut.

His eyes met hers, and she felt like she’d brought forth a catastrophe. She wished she could take it back.

But he obeyed. He left the book he’d picked up and left, sparing her the humiliation of another ‘Sorry.’ She followed his steps out of the library, as it may well be the last time she saw him.

She couldn’t wait for him to leave and she never wanted him to finish crossing that door. But in the end he did.

When she went to refile the books, she decided not to pick up her jacket, so that she may pretend a little longer that the feeling she was left with was just cold.

───

Notes:

NO idea if I I did what I envisioned in my mind with this one (probably not) but here it is! 😔 This one seems like a thing I would've left in my files for months and eventually rewritten completely but fuck it! Out it comes now!

I’m late but I have an excuse! A thunderstorm forced me to flee my computer after work yesterday and I didn't want to post without a last read-over!😁

[tartrat]

Visceral Reaction.

A Visceral reaction is described as "A Powerful Physical Response That Happens Automatically Without Any Conscious Control". Kapyy here is angry but he’s also laughing at himself because of it, losing the look of anger and adopting an unnerving smile.

I mentioned in my first actually decent looking fanart, That i headcanon Kapyy as being someone who just bottles everything up and is putting on an act. This is the result of him just breaking down entirely. And i know that its a bit of the jump from the last kapyy related thing I posted. But honestly if eating crayons keeps him happy then we should let him.

I got the idea when the words "Visceral Reaction" got stuck in my head, and started to think about how such a reaction could be shown. The first image that popped up on google was of a guy who showed a grotesque depiction of laughter.

I can't really describe the emotion that he's portraying, but its like when you are angry but you start just laughing and smiling uncontrollably. This happens to me when i'm mad at someone, i just slowly start laughing whilst still feeling fuzzy from being angry.

Whilst making this i thought it looked weird and the primary reason being because we don't get to see his full face in game, as his eyes are covered by the glasses, but as i finished it, he looked more normal.

I have ideas in my head that i can never put down on paper. One of which was of me developing my headcanon that Kapyy and Talia Sway are twins who were separated at birth. This idea was when they went to cyberfunk, kapyy broke after they finished what they were doing. This portrait (Well landscape but its more of a portrait to me) is a visualisation of this idea.

I didn' give him his other accessories (headphones, bracelets etc.) because he had discarded them before this drawing takes place. I also don't like drawing stuff like that, i find it awkward to make it look good.

The Background is just the background from I'm Good, but i saturated it and turned down the brightness, before i used the gaussian blur filter. I like playing around with those tools on procreate. I wanted to do something different but nothing i did looked good.

The main point of inspiration here was "The Desperate Man" (Though translated from French, le désespéré, its more close to “The Desperate one”. I remember on the back wall of my art classroom in school, there was a replica of it that someone had done. The reason i chose this painting was due to the expression. The expression became stuck in my mind recently and i thought that it would be a fun excercise, just to practice more expressions, and as mentioned above i chose a different expression that shows off a different emotion. I just liked the pose as well and thought it was interesting.

Theres a bonus short comic doodle that i will be posting separately. It shows basically what happened afterwards, after Kapyy has been put to bed and Talia speaks with the Levitating extreme coach, who helped her get Kapyy home.

Here was the original pose i was going for, i just didn’t like how it was looking. I took multiple reference photos for the pose but i eventually went with the pose in the final version above. I have more work in progress pics that are kinda funny, one being when i was blocking in the hair with the colourfill tool, it also went to his face and he looked like Garfield.

[a-rogue-god]

Dove (mostly Dove/John ship) lore master post GOOOO

Things are subject to change ofc when I learn more about Shoreside and we're given more information with new episodes.

General information ofc

She/they/he basically any! She's bigender so some days she leans toward a more masculine look or more feminine look. Gender at birth is ambiguous. I don't know where I lean. Both appeal to me and exist simultaneously. Shrodingers gender. Bisexual/pansexual :]

5 foot 5 inches tall (almost a foot shorter than John at 6'4")

She's 25 years old, birthday: 5/12/1998 (using the day I first ever talked about the concept of her, may 12th! 1998 since I asked when shoreside is set, and it's set in 2023, time just yknow catches up on you when you make things so in 2023 shes 25. John is 35 in 2023 so this makes him 10 years older than her)

She lives in Florida around the Daytona Beach area with her grandparents! I imagine she's originally from another state (coughs. Pennsylvania) but probably got sent down to Florida to be raised by her grandparents due to some shitty parent drama ofc.

She works in the local library with her grandmother. Does all the running around putting books away that the older librarians can't do. Outside of that she also helps her grandparents around the house. Very helpful woman. Does a lot of the yard work, puts up Christmas lights. She'd be unassumedly strong for how she looks imo.

Some of her hobbies include jogging, writing, drawing, reading, baking. Kind of asocial until you get to know her, then she's a silly fellow. Sarcastic by nature, but harmless. I named her after bleeding heart doves, and which bleeding heart can kind of be used to describe her. Very soft hearted and kind most of the time which can be detrimental lol. Lol. (Her working with John probably makes her morals more aligned with his overtime, changing her personality slightly to be more similar)

Uh. Random facts: She has really bad eyesight. Has an old fat orange cat actually named Garfield funnily enough. Shades of blue are her favorite colors. She smells sweet. Carries uh. A sketchbook, other miscellaneous note taking stuff. Always has candy on her hajfjsjdj favorite animals include ofc pigeons, cats, axolotls, snakes. Her music taste is very all over the place, she likes Frank Sinatra and other that era crooners thanks to her grandparents, while also enjoying hard rock music, metal, pop, some techno, punk. Her faaaavorite TV show is Twin Peaks. Good lord she can't shut up about it. Has a crush on Dale Cooper.

Rest under cut for length reasons. Some shoreside spoilers.

In 2011, when the massacre happened and pieces of people were washing up on beaches, Dove was ~13 at the time and remembers seeing that shit in person on the beaches of Daytona, and all over the news. Traumatizing! But puts a want to understand what's Going On till adulthood. Probably has a phobia about the ocean! Hahaha:)

I've been playing with the idea of maybe doves grandparents being involved in the house club? But I don't think they would be!

when she hits adulthood, and specifically in her 20s, she puts effort into researching this shit in her free time.

(A lot of this is speculation and not knowing shit after this)

The first time she meets John Gein (outside of seeing him on the TV back in 2011 when he used to work for CNN) in person, I'm sure it was because she was probably trespassing somewhere she shouldn't be while he was investigating the area simultaneously where he runs into her. First it's of course all suspicion and you can't be here, and he kicks her out.

She being the stubborn woman she is, she keeps showing up and keeps having run-ins with John who, out of some begrudging admiration for her dedication to discover things, reluctantly lets her begin helping him with the shit he's more interested in, and not the goals of the company he's working for.

(He's both relieved and annoyed that Dove doesn't want payment. Yaay he doesn't have to pay her and ugh. Unpaid labor. That's okay John the only thing she wants is you to pay for both of you when you go out to eat and discuss the things you've discovered)

They probably met and began this whole thing maybe a couple years before the events in 2023, maybe 2020 idk? She'd be just out of college. At first they're just uneasy acquaintances, but eventually as they continue working together, they become friends (as they grow closer you just KNOW dove is sending him silly memes. The more weird the better), the two warming up to each other. They both greatly appreciate each other and enjoy being in the other's company, at some point both crossing a "i have romantic feelings for you but neither of us have admitted this yet" threshold where their friendship holds a more tender feeling, where they begin sharing drinks ("one large strawberry milkshake please. No we don't need two, just one for the two of us please! :]") and what not.

Everyone assumes they're dating at this point. They're not yet, but ofc dove gets teased relentlessly by her grandparents. ("Ooohhh Doveee your boyfriend is here!!" "He's not- not my boyfriend." cue very amused John look. "Oh make sure you're being safe and protected!" Wink wink nudge. "MOM-MOM PLEASE.")

Do they love each other? Of course they do. I think it would inevitably be John to say he loves her first. He'd probably say it while she's panicking about something and being worried so he decides to like. Catch her off guard and get it off her mind via kissing her, which works! Works very well because sure enough she can only focus on him holding her, cupping her face and letting her know he loves her and not to worry about whatever she was freaking out about. Yaaaay entering the actually dating now era yippeeee

Cue them now actually doing couple things outside of their working together... John gifting her sweet things like flowers, candy. Gets her a little pigeon plushie because it reminded him of her. (That plush will now be cuddled to death when she sleeps alone bc of him jfjsjfjsj) Dove's grandparents would probably trust John so much they'd give him a key to their house to let himself in to see Dove whenever tbh. Sometimes he lets her know when he's coming, othertimes not so. Showing up while she's not expecting him and jumpscaring her a lot hahaha. I'm sure he finds it funny (he does). That's fine you keep jumpscaring her like that John, well fuck you get your hat STOLEN loser! Yoink! Ope girl now you're getting grabbed and hoisted into his arms and- ooohh they're cute together actually hehehe

Their relationship is very equal despite the 10 year age gap ("MYS THATS BAD" - they are two consenting adults. It's fine. 35 isn't old. Leave me alone), Dove, unfortunately, would probably be too dedicated to him even as he kind of becomes more uh. Crazy? Ig I can use that to describe it. Not seeing anything wrong with him harassing Noah Risse for answers, only kind of at least being mad at John's attitude toward Porter's and Bryan's deaths and John being fired for it, but being just as eager to get the information they want. Would definitely help him kill someone if she had to. Hah. (Idk why I enjoy the idea of him teaching her how to shoot his gun. Yknow. Just in case. No reason! :] )

Um. I don't know what else to add. If you read this and have questions about her feel free to reply/shoot me an ask.

[mydaylight]

I've just finished reading Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party, in which (spoilers) the main culprit is revealed to be a garden designer obsessed with the concept of beauty who almost murders his own daughter in order to gain the money he needs to fulfill his dream of building a monumental garden on a Grecian island. The story has a lot of Asriel/Lyra parallels; the daughter in question, Miranda, was the secret love child between the gardener and a secretary, was unaware that the man she felt a natural gravitation towards was actually her biological father, developed an unlikely relationship with him, trusting him even he was actually manipulating her etc. Both Asriel and Michael Garfield, the gardener in the novel, hold on to keepsakes to remind them of their daughters, Asriel Lyra's photographs and Michael his drawing of Miranda. Yet despite their connection with their daughters, they still disregard them because they prioritize their own grandiose goals. Also, Michael Garfield was having an affair with a well-respected widow in the local community, Mrs Drake, on whose money he was relaying for the purchase of the island he wanted, and who was responsible for the deaths of two children, among them Miranda's best friend Joyce, in order to cover up the fact she and Michael had murdered a young Herzegovinian woman who stood in the way of Mrs Drake inheriting her aunt's legacy. The ending is that Michael commits suicide when he gets caught red-handed trying to kill Miranda (we don't know what happens to Mrs Drake). The reason Miranda had to die was because she had witnessed Michael and Mrs Drake carrying the body while perched on a tree. Overall the story was probably not one of Agatha Christie's best, but I felt more intrigued by it because the characters reminded me of Asriel and Lyra so much.

[owenryder]

"That's probably why you only have one tattoo," he laughed as she explained her reasoning for not wanting to get something that might not be popular years and years down the road. Meanwhile, Ryder thought that it was something hat would make him laugh, getting a tattoo from a favorite cartoon or lyrics from a song, and then looking back on it in twenty years just to see how funny it was, how much it reminded him of being a bratty kid that had made a dumb tattoo decision that turned into a good story. "But the wood slice is a pretty good option. I've heard that, too, about the rings. I can't say that I've ever been enough of a nature guy to cut open a tree and see if it's true, though," unless someone counted cutting a branch off of a tree to roast marshmallows, but… not the same. "God, you need better taste in people," he scoffed as she said that she enjoyed spending time with him, although he didn't mind spending a little bit of money to go out with a friend and enjoy themselves, either. "I'm surprised that you can use such a big word like obstinate with how much of that wine you've had," he pointed at the bottle with a small smirk. It was a pretty big, important-sounding word to use, though. "Anything else in that field?" he asked when she insisted that firefighting was not in the cards for her, not needing to ask why -- it wasn't for everyone. He had already enumerated his own reasons, but there were dozens upon dozens of others; it truly was not a career hat just anyone could tackle and take on. "Oh," he laughed, bringing the wine glass to his lips and taking a long sip, "you tolerate so much, but you draw the line at Garfield slander?"

“There is nothing wrong with it in general, just the whole passing fade thing. I would horrified to grow out of love with something that is permanently on me but maybe that’s just my self-preservation kicking in and my own preferences,” she admitted. Everyone was entitled to do with their body precisely as they wished tattoos and otherwise. The only body she truly had a right to any opinion on was her own and she was definitely not looking to do anything that she might fall out of love with. That said, she did have a tattoo. The fact he would ask made her smirk, knowing there were still some secrets between them. “One,” she said coyly before touching a little patch of skin on her that easily could be hid away. “A wood slice. I read a book as a child that about how the rings of a tree tell the story of its whole life.” She felt like an old soul at times and the thought of how trees carried whole histories fascinated her. A lot of things did though. It was definitely amusing to think of herself as a babysitter. She didn’t remotely think Ryder needed babysitting. “Maybe it’s the other way around and that is just a bonus. I mean, they definitely aren’t paying me to spend time with you. If anything, you’re the one who buys me things and takes me out. I also happen to like spending time with you.” She offered a long gaze, shaking head. “Especially when you’re being fun and not obstinate.” There was little to no chance of her ever becoming a firefighter. She just couldn’t picture it for herself. “It’s a never going to happen sort of thing.” She wasn’t willing to say never on a lot of things but she’d seen too much in the reports she uploaded to ever be into it. There were some things that just made sense. “I am sure,” she said, laughing softly. How seriously could she take this conversation? Not much. “I mean, lots of things don’t make sense. He might not be a human man but he’s a cat man with manly feelings and appetites and I won’t stand for this slander. ”

[talenlee]

March Wrapup, 2023!

March Wrapup, 2023!

It’s funny to me that I know more things that reference the phrase march comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb than I have ever heard the phrase in its own sake. It’s a floating signifier. I think, if you forced me to explain it, it’s a phrase about the sudden shift in the weather at the start of March and then the way it very slowly settles down, which sounds like either a reference to a specific period of time or a reference to a weather pattern that’s very different to me here. Here in Australia, March comes in like Extra February and leaves like Soggy February.

You didn’t come here to listen to me talking about the wet ones, though, you came here to see a monthly roundup of interesting articles on interesting topics that I think you, yes, you, should consider going and reading and now I’m going to present them to you in a sort of ‘list’ form that makes it easier for you to break them down into your areas of interest!

First up, what about the standard features of Story Pile and Game Pile articles?

Well, Story Pile first:

The second and third seasons of My Hero Academia, a show that’s, okay? Getting okay?

Arrival, a modern movie about how governments would respond to a globally significant, collaborative problem.

Ultra, the Rachel Maddow historical podcast about the history of the fascist Right Wing in American politics, and the way that famous people were doing things because Nazis were paying them to do them.

Game Pile

Klotski, a game which made me think about speedrunning as a relationship to your conditions

Forms and Factions, discussing the enemy factions in City of Heroes

Necromolds, a game I played with Fox and talked about at length with her there

Balikbayan, a creative TTRPG where I wanted to listen more than to command

Infocom’s Infidel, which goes up tomorrow and talks about a thing that you might think is reasonably new, but really isn’t!

And now, outside of that, here are some other articles from this month that I’m pretty proud of:

A Game I Don’t Know How To Make; I got asked by a patreon subscriber about making a game of a particular type, and the idea I followed led me to a space where I don’t have skills.

Defending the Defended, where I talk about how we frame our own engagement with enormously popular things.

The Magic Circle (The Magic is Racism), where I considered the way that nonwhite games scholars have really different opinions about the sacrosanct isolation of games.

Paperclippers, a rare excursion from me into actual fiction writing based on listening to a lot of goofy conspiracy theory types trying to sell people on their nonsense fiction of secret Mars bases.

Us Beastfolk, and what it means to be a political class of ‘animal’ people, and how the title needed to be self-imposed or it’s a slur.

The Tiny God of Christianity, where I considered the way that God, as I understood him growing up, was kind of pathetically limited.

Veganism in Pokemon and how the topic is complicated by sentient plants and consensual farming.

Playing with Your Food, drawing games to a close conveniently.

The Fastest Woman In History, where I tried to answer a simple question and found a bunch of annoying, complex answers that featured a bunch of racism.

Bob Ross’ Basilisk, where I reflect on generative art, and how regardless of the tool, the surrounding experience calls on us to treat each other better.

Also, for this month��s shirt-or-sticker design I decided to follow my heart and make something based on my ongoing archive binge of Knowledge Fight to examine the depressing mediocrity of the media empire of Alex Emerich Jones. I think of Jones as very much the Garfield of his space – he’s got no actual ideology, no position of his own to hold to, he’s just doing everything he can to sustain his position in the media landscape he is, which means standing in the middle of the worst fucking people and yes-anding them. This meant yes-anding a few ideas that may have led to him getting slapped with a nearly two billion dollar bill, because speech is free, but lies can cost you.

You can have this sticker in a variety of sizes, available here.

This month marks the start of a new semester of teaching. I’m teaching two classes this semester; one on game making, one on emergent media devices. It’s interesting to work on these two spaces because one of them is very reliable and cares about universally applicable structures in people’s minds. You need to understand and empathise with people and recognise incentive systems to make good games, and that serves as the underpinning fundamentally of experience design. The other class is about looking at tools like generative art software and chatGPT and Augmented Reality tools while I try to very politely inform students that these tools are probably going to look real different in two years’ time. There, the skill is about trying to make sure the students are aware of the ethical needs of these toolkits, and to get them from the high school mindset of ‘do what the teacher wants’ to ‘explain to the teacher what I wanted to do.’

At one point during the month, I had a conversation which made me feel like I’m not good enough. Like the effort I put into doing what I should and being good and working hard are all just not really enough and I need to be doing more, better, and I need to think of things differently and better and in ways that are fundamentally alien to me, and that wasn’t great. I’m trying to change on this front but it’s kind of hard to escape the feeling that I’m not good enough, that the things I’m needed to do, I can’t do.

But there’s some hope. At this point I’m writing this, I’ve pretty much written a thousand words every day and made progress on the PhD every single day. There have definitely been some days when, personal news reasons why, one or the other suffered, and those aren’t great. But the biggest fear I had this year was going to be that getting back into the habit of working on the grand project was going to be stymied by the first and most convenient excuse.

I can do this.

I can do this.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Diary

[campbluelake]

The Garfaissance | Trial 2.3 | Eri | Re: Tommy, Jo, Alice, Saya | Attn: Tommy, sorta Jo

In Eri’s mind, Tommy being the main suspect makes sense. She’s undeniably smart, not to mention undeniably weird. Plus she said it herself— she thinks contacting that occult magazine to tell them about what’s been going on here as doing the world a favor.

Which makes Eri scoff audibly, but at least it’s telling towards the type of person Tommy is.

“Man, Tomo, you little freak. I get bein’ passionate about shit, but did you really have to go and pull this shit just to get a chance to prove your point? Fuckin’ hell.”

She heaves a sigh, temporarily letting go of Kyousuke’s hand so she can get to her feet. But instead of heading over to Tommy, she trots over to Saya to draw a Garfield. This is mostly because she knows she’ll have to go through Jo if she wants to beat the shit out of Tommy, and unfortunately she likes Jo too much to warrant that. So she'll behave for now, at least!

That said, she does take a moment to leer in Tommy’s direction as she grabs her drawing supplies. Finally, however, she turns her attention to the paper she's drawing on.

“Hey, good point, Al. Thanks! So now we know what the can is for, huh? Guess some know-it-all four eyes used it to make her voice sound weird over the radio so she could lure Alice to the music cabin. So she’d be crushed by the instruments, which the dweeby killer wouldn’t have had to lift herself, right? All she had to do was rig the shelf so it’d fall when Al entered. And then she could use being such a goddamn noodle as an excuse for why she couldn’t have done it, huh?”

She’s scribbling furiously with an orange crayon as she rants, gripping it so intensely it snaps in half. She clicks her tongue in annoyance, grabs another one to finish the job.

“You’re lucky you got a gal like Jo to back you up, Tommy. Otherwise I’d kick your ass into next week. But y’know… It’s kinda fucked up you’re willin’ to throw her feelings under the bus and kill someone all for the sake of proving your point. What’s Jo gonna do after you eat shit for your crimes, huh? You ever thought about how she might feel about bein’ abandoned?”

Finally her Garfield is complete. She tears out the page and holds it up triumphantly. She grins, eyes twinkling with pride over the masterpiece. Almost like she’s a child showing off her school art project, rather than a full-grown adult who threatened to beat the shit out of someone a few seconds ago.

“Anyway, here’s my Garf! Ain’t he cute? We already know it can't have been me for a bunch of reasons, but I figured I’d add one more to the list, yeah? Clearly I’m too good at at art for it to have been me!”

Chat she doesn’t know she sucks.

[jesslockwood]

I posted 563 times in 2022

141 posts created (25%)

422 posts reblogged (75%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tomhollandnet

@cutetomholland

@zendayamybabe

@omnidudes

I tagged 560 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#tom holland - 196 posts

#jess talks - 90 posts

#andrew garfield - 58 posts

#peter parker - 49 posts

#spider-man - 38 posts

#zuri the worry - 33 posts

#nwh - 33 posts

#uncharted movie - 30 posts

#nathan drake - 29 posts

#zuri the wealthy - 19 posts

Longest Tag: 108 characters

#i can barely handle anything atm and i need to be at a better mental state if i’m gonna nanny 2 kids under 3

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

When Percy Jackson trailer is more important than the queen dying

51 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

#4

Some one tell me why Adam Levine’s and Ned from Try guys statements sound almost exactly the same 🤔

51 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

#3

I choked on my water

69 notes - Posted November 25, 2022

#2

Valentines Pessimist

Main Masterlist

Word Count: 1.7k

Pairing(s): Tom Holland x Reader

Warnings: Fluff with a slightly suggestive sentence towards the end lol

A/n: Happy Valentines Day ik I'm super late lmao but enjoy! this is also loosely based on the song Pessimist by Julia Michaels also special thanks to @darling-im-moonstruck for believing I could finish this SGHDDJ. this is also not edited very much or well so oh well.

divider credit: @silkholland

“You’ve never celebrated Valentine's day?!” Tom almost bellowed.

You shrug kind of embarrassed, though technically you had nothing to celebrate- romantic-wise, until this year. Tom and you had only started dating almost a year after valentines day, February 21st to be exact.

“What did you even do? celebrate anti-valentines day or something?”

It was the beginning of February and you thought tom was acting weird, mainly because he said he wanted to plan your anniversary for you both. You suggested just staying home and he said you definitely couldn't, but the romantic in him was overpowered by your idea. You sometimes found it slightly annoying, yet that's what you loved about him.

He was antsy, but you just thought it was probably for his upcoming audition for a role he really wanted.

“I did make up on me for it once when I was in high school” You rolled your eyes, “besides I'm not technically anti-valentines I just never had a reason other than elementary school forcing you to draw hearts on everything, without understanding actual love, just the ideal.”

“So you're a pessimist is what you're saying?” you shove him lightly, pretending to be offended.

“Says the man who doesn't know what pessimist means.” you taunt back.

“You're the one who makes me listen to that song! Anyways it's not the point, the point is, is that you're celebrating your first official valentines day with me and,” he hugs you lovingly from behind softly talking in your ear, “It's going to be special. It'll be the best one you’ll ever have.”

You weren't so sure a holiday meant for romantic love could sway you, but tom surely could.

See the full post

175 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Okay but we’ve had Taylor swift dropping her new album title and date don’t worry darling has had the best drama I’ve seen in forever the queen died and we got little mermaid, disenchanted trailer drops what truly best chaotic weeks thus far-

491 notes - Posted September 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[heliads]

Mysteries of the Mob

Based on this request: “Daughter of the Mob Boss AU w Andrew Garfield Peter Parker?”

masterlist

Peter Parker is used to mysteries. Hell, he’s kind of one himself, what with the spider-senses and all that. However, he may have found a whole new kind of enigma, one he can’t quite seem to fully understand. No matter how hard he tries to figure out just what is going on with Y/N L/N, he draws blanks. It makes no sense.

On the surface, nothing appears to be strange about her at all. She’s just another student at Midtown, right? Just another student who showed up in the middle of the year despite the school’s stringent transfer policies, just another student who hesitates slightly every time she gives her last name, who keeps making Peter think she’s lying even over the simplest of subjects. Yes, there’s no question about it - Y/N L/N is a complete and utter mystery, but Peter is determined to figure her out.

Some days, he wonders why he’s so fixated by this, by her. In the end, Peter doesn’t really know any more about her than his other peers. He isn’t this obsessed with figuring out their backstories, so what is it about Y/N that makes him want to read every chapter in the book she keeps hidden away in her head? 

If he tries hard enough, Peter can even convince himself that he’s making a mountain out of a particularly insignificant molehill, that all of this is worth nothing for the apparent stress he’s causing himself. Peter will shake his head, persuading himself to let the whole thing go. Y/N isn’t a supervillain, she’s just another student in his classes. Then Peter sits down next to her, lab partners once again, and she gives him that smile and says something that’s just a little too practiced to be real.

It’s been like this for about a month, ever since Y/N showed up at Midtown in the first place. Today, however, Peter’s sworn that he’s going to do something about it. So, when he arrives in chemistry, slinging down his worn backpack beneath his chair, he turns to the girl next to him instead of saying a vague hello and leaving it at that.

“Hey, Y/N. How are you doing on the enzymes project?” Y/N smiles back at him. “Pretty good, I think. I’m trying to focus on the medicine part, about how doctors use certain drugs to bind to the reaction sites of viral infections and the like. How about you?” Peter nods, impressed. “See, now I’m feeling a little less sure about myself. I’m, uh, studying the use of natural polymers in adhesives.”

Y/N tilts her head slightly, curious. “Adhesives?” Peter fishes around for an explanation that doesn’t involve an opportunity to use class time to develop his spider webbing. “Nothing much, just a way to support the weight of a person while they’re, say, using it to climb or something like that.” Y/N nods. “Oh, like rock climbing stuff? That’s really cool, Peter.” For some reason, Peter thinks that she might actually mean it.

So, he presses his advantage. “The only problem is that I can’t seem to get any of the work done at my house. My aunt is always busy, and it’s never quiet. Seeing as we’re lab partners, do you want to work together on something like that? I know we have a report to write, and we could get together to do that and figure out graphs and stuff for the enzyme project.”

Y/N’s smile slips a little before she fixes it. “I’d love to do that, Peter. Where would you want to meet up?” Here’s what confuses Peter about this whole thing: thanks to his enhanced abilities, he can get a vague hold on when someone is lying and when they’re telling the truth. Take right now- Y/N wasn’t lying when she said she wanted to meet up, but the second it sounded like Peter wanted to meet up somewhere that wasn’t the school or his house, she panicked. What is she trying to hide?

Peter does his best to seem nonchalant. “I don’t know, maybe a cafe or shop if they don’t close soon. Unless your parents want you back at your house by a certain time?” If anything, Y/N seems even more worried about the thought of Peter interacting with her parents. “They’re, uh, really strict. I don’t think that would be a good idea.” A half-truth: they might be strict, but not like that. Strange.

Peter shrugs, doing his best to seem casual. “No problem. There’s a coffee shop down the block from the school. You know, the one where half the class goes to get drinks every morning? We could go there to work.” Y/N thinks this through, then nods. “Yeah, I think that’s allowable. See you then, I guess.” Peter smiles in earnest. “Yeah, see you then.” As the bell rings to begin class, Peter can’t help but think about that one strange phrase she used: That’s allowable. Judging by her tone, though, it wasn’t Y/N who would allow them to meet up, it would be someone else. But who would control where she went that much?

Peter spends the rest of the day silently pleading with the clocks to run just a little faster, for the classes to end just a little sooner. Finally, the day is over, and he hurries over to the coffee shop, keen on getting their first so Y/N won’t be kept waiting. However, just as Peter turns the corner to find the coffee shop, he notices a group of about three or four men in dark suits leaving the building. He’d been able to see them through the front window a little bit, and it didn’t look like they were ordering anything, just examining this one table in the back before nodding to the others and heading out once more.

Peter’s startled out of his confused reverie when someone taps his shoulder. Doing his best not to jump, he turns around to see Y/N standing behind him. “Hi, Peter! Sorry to startle you.” Peter forces a laugh. “No worries about that. It’s pretty hard to frighten me. I’m practically fearless.” He says this with such a sense of false bravado that Y/N laughs, and Peter finds himself hooked on the sound.

She nods her head towards the coffee shop. “Well? Ready to work?” Peter snorts. “Oh, always.” They walk side by side into the shop, but Y/N steps ahead of them once they walk through the door, leading him into the back to take a seat. With a pang of surprise, Peter realizes that she’s chosen the table that those four men from earlier were inspecting. There’s no way she could have seen them, but it couldn’t be a coincidence, right?

They work for about a few hours before not even the coffee can keep their attention centered on the homework projects anymore. Y/N glances at the time, grimacing as she stands up. “Well, it’s getting late. I think I’ll have to head back.” Peter gathers up his things, nodding in agreement. Judging by the sudden onrush of dusk, they’ll only have half an hour or so before darkness tucks itself in around the nooks and crannies of the city.

“Want me to walk you back? It can be dangerous after dark.” Y/N smiles at him, although it almost seems forced. “No, I’m good, thank you.” As Peter watches, she does this little check behind her, as if making sure that she’s not being watched. It seems fluid, as if she’s practiced it many, many times. Indeed, if Peter weren’t unable to tear his eyes from the way the sunset light played upon her face, he might not have noticed it at all.

Peter, curious, checks behind them as well. Something as cold as iron lodges itself in his stomach when he sees them: the four men from before, clad in the same dark suits. This time, they’re close enough that Peter can see the cold glares chiseled into their faces, and the way the crowds seem to unconsciously part around them as if unwilling to do so much as brush shoulders with the men. Peter can’t blame them.

When he turns back around, Y/N is glancing over at him in confusion. “Everything alright, Peter?” He shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the odd fear but failing slightly in it. “Yeah, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that there are a couple guys walking behind us, and I saw them checking out the coffee shop before we went in. Strange that they’d be near us now.” Peter’s watching Y/N now, and he sees something flash in her eyes before she manages to lock herself down again. She knows something, Peter is sure of it now.

���It’s probably nothing. Don’t worry about it.” It’s less of a suggestion, more of a thinly veiled command. All the same, it makes Peter’s head snap up slightly. Y/N sighs, as if she knows that he suspects her. As if she knows that there’s no going back now. She glances around one last time, then stops walking. Peter stops with her. “I think it’s time I go back now. Thanks for today, Peter. It was really good.”

Peter finds himself conjuring up smiles and goodbye waves, absentminded sentences about how yeah, he had a good time too, and he’ll see her tomorrow in class, right? They part ways. Peter walks a little ways down the block, then stops and turns around again. He’s hidden by the crowd, so the men in suits do not see him wait for them to cross. They flow through the crowd like oil against water, and keep following Y/N down the street. Their heads turn every now and then, as if surveying the street. They do not see Peter. He makes sure of it.

Peter finds himself in chemistry once again. Y/N is a little late to class, and Peter tells himself to think nothing of it. People are late all the time. He has nothing to do with it. By the time Y/N shows up in class, casually handing a pass to the teacher and slipping into her seat, Peter can’t seem to shake the deadened feeling in his chest, hardening up his heart and stopping his lungs from catching a full breath.

Y/N smiles at him as she takes out her notes. “Sorry I’m late. Thanks for yesterday, by the way. I had a great time.” For some reason, Peter can’t quite convince himself to play along. “Yeah, yeah. Me too.” Y/N’s happy expression falls away from her. “Don’t. Don’t look at me like that.” Peter turns to her, looking her dead in the eyes for the first time all day. “What? Like you’ve lied to me? Like you’ve been keeping something from me this whole time?”

Y/N sighs, propping her head up in her hands. “I wish I could tell you, Peter, but I can’t.” Peter shakes his head slightly. “Why not? How big of a secret is this?” Y/N glances back up at him, a determined light starting to fill her eyes. “You’re that determined to know? I’ll show you. Meet me by the front doors after school. Then you’ll know why I’ve been trying to keep you safe.”

Peter rears back slightly. “What do you mean, keep me safe? Y/N, what are you talking about?” But Y/N doesn’t answer him, burying her gaze instead in the chemistry packets before her. After a while, Peter is forced to give up his questioning and do the same, although he can’t focus for a second.

Peter’s almost worried that Y/N will back out, but at the end of the day, she’s there waiting for him nonetheless. The second she sees him approach, she takes off, walking at a furious pace. Peter has to increase his strides to keep up. “What’s this about, Y/N? Where are we going?” Her voice is bitter when she responds. “You’ll see.” Peter hurries in front of her, forcing her to a stop in the middle of the block. “Hey, if you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”

Y/N shakes her head. “I can’t have you looking at me like that, like I’m a traitor. I want you to know.” Peter looks at her, confused, and then he sees the men. They seem to appear out of the corners and alleys, practically swarming the area around them. All of a sudden, Peter realizes that Y/N’s led him off of the beaten path, away from the safeguarding eyes of the rest of the world. Whatever happens, no one will be here to see it.

Peter turns back to Y/N. “What’s going on?” She says nothing, but Peter watches as her back straightens, gaining a confidence he doesn’t usually see in class. The men in dark suits cluster by the exits, blocking off any opportunity for escape. Eventually, one man walks out from the rest, coming to a stop by Y/N’s side. He doesn’t look at Peter for a second, but Peter can tell that he’s been judged nonetheless for any errors or weaknesses.

The man’s voice is clinical when he speaks to Y/N. “What is this, child? Why bring this boy to my attention?” Two things stand out to Peter: one, the name he calls Y/N and the way she meets his gaze with a familiar steadiness that tells him she’s used to this, and two: the pattern on the man’s tie. It’s a dark green, almost black, except for the faint pattern on it. It looks almost like scales.

Peter’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly. “Ah.” That’s all he manages. Suddenly, he’s figured it out- why Y/N seems to hide everything about her past, just who this man is. Peter has lived in New York for his entire life. He’s had plenty of time for his mother, then his uncle, then his aunt to warn him about the mobs that run the streets. The worst of all, they say, is a man known as Curt Connors, the boss of the Emerald Scales mob. The man standing before him, the man who is Y/N’s father. It all makes sense now.

Finally, the man turns to face Peter, appraising him like a wolf before the kill. Peter vaguely wonders when the man’s jaws will snap around his neck, when he’ll be slaughtered for knowing too much. “Figured it out, have you? Y/N would never spend time with someone who couldn’t, of course.” Y/N’s eyes snap to her father. “That’s enough. I just wanted him to have proof.”

Curt Connors snorts. “All that for proof? Fascinating. I hope he’s worth it.” He snaps his fingers once and the men disappear from the streets, fading back into the crowds once more. Connors gives Peter one last stare, full of threats that must go unsaid in front of his daughter, then leaves as well. Peter is left alone with Y/N Connors, the heir to one of the most dangerous mobs in the entire city. How could this be true? How could he not have figured it out earlier?

Y/N’s looking at him like she’s ready for him to explode. “Do you see why I had to keep it a secret?” Something comes out of Peter’s mouth; after a second, he realizes that it’s a laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I get it now.” After a second, Y/N smiles too, but it’s hesitant, like a bird ready to take flight. “Are you sure? You look strangely fine with it. You know that this means you’ll-”

Peter cuts her off. “I’ll never be truly safe, I know. Your father will have me killed if I do so much as offer you the wrong flowers on a date. I’m glad I know the truth, though.” Y/N’s surprise is palpable. “You are? I mean, I didn’t really know how you’d react, but I didn’t think you’d be this okay with it. Why are you, by the way?” Maybe it’s a day for making mistakes, for taking the worst possible risks just to see what would happen. Regardless, Peter is in the mood for one last slipup.

“You’re not the only one who’s got a secret identity to protect.” With that, Peter reaches down, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt to reveal the suit underneath. Y/N’s eyes widen when she sees the now familiar spider logo, the one that’s been emblazoned on many a newspaper and periodical cover since Peter first started his Spider-Man patrols a few months back. “My God, you’re-”

Peter holds a finger to her lips, unable to hide a grin. “Very civic-minded? I’ll take it.” Y/N shakes her head slightly, then laughs. “That makes sense, actually. Also, you really had me believing some excuse about making a climbing adhesive for your enzyme project? That was for spiderweb, wasn’t it?” Peter winces. “It wasn’t the best explanation, was it?”

Y/N grins. “Not at all. I’m not saying I mind it, though.” Peter quirks an eyebrow. “No?” The look in Y/N’s eyes could light up this entire city after dark. “Not at all, as long as you don’t mind me being the daughter of a mob boss.” Peter chuckles. “Hey, at least you know I can defend myself if I have to. Besides,” he says with a smirk, “it just adds to the excitement of it all.” When he kisses her, Peter realizes that this could be a terrible mistake. Any wrong move, and he could have an entire mob after him. Then again, he’s fairly sure that Y/N is worth it, so he kisses her again, just to seal the deal.

requested by my beloved @underc0vercryptid

peter parker/marvel tag list: @namoreno, @mycosmicparadise​, @ellobruv-blog​

[stressed-chaos]

Memories - Part 15

The answers to the last part. A special appearance and reference, which was long overdue!

Hope you all enjoy this one! Comments are appreciated!

Warnings: Mentions of pain, migraines, pain meds, mentions of nightmares (it's more of an inside joke between them), burning injury, language, mentions of hitting (snowball fight), Andrew Garfield (he's a walking warning in himself).

I wasn't able to find a gif saying the exact words referenced, so I added the link if anyone wants to see the scene.

Ben’s foot hit the break. He looked around for any signs of danger. Maybe he was about to crash into something? When he saw nothing though, he turned to see Y/N with her head in her hands, a tear rolling down her cheek. She let out another sharp cry and slowly removed one of her hands to reach out towards Ben. Without wasting a moment, he grasped her hand and asked, his voice barely a whisper, “What’s wrong?” 

Y/N replied, drawing a shaky breath, her voice breaking, “It hurts.”

“What—what hurts?” She tightened her grip on his hand. “What hurts love?”

“My fucking head. I’m not holding my arm now, am I?” Her tone was bitter, but Ben knew she didn’t mean any of it in a bad way. 

He reached into a little cabinet in the car, shuffling around in it with his one good hand, and pulled out a pain med. He reached carefully towards the backseat and pulled out a water bottle kept there and handed it to her. “Here, this’ll help.”

Y/N lifted her head and accepted the pill, chugging it down with water. “Th—Thanks.”

He turned again when he heard Y/N let out a groan. “Stupid migraine.”

“That was pretty sudden.”

“And yet you seemed to have the right medicine just available.”

“I always kept it in the car, just in case.”

Y/N noticed that she was still holding his hand, but much to Ben’s relief, didn’t let go. She noticed he looked around and if he hadn’t been a really good actor, she would’ve noticed the little frown, though she did sense something was a little off. “Looks like we made it.”

Y/N blinked, ���Huh? Did you just—”

“I guess so. Well the point is, we have reached.”

Y/N turned and was about to open the door, but was halted by a hand on her arm. She turned back but didn’t see anyone there. Seconds later, the door opened and Ben stood as its side, with his hand extended. Y/N chuckled before accepting his hand and getting out. She looked around and took a deep breath, the smell of wet grass immediately hitting her. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” he agreed and invited her in, she stepped onto the grass and stayed there for a while. Ben informed her he would be going inside the house and checking stuff up. He stood by the window, taking in the sight of Y/N enjoying the grass before ultimately laying down in it. His eyes held fondness and pure love as he remembered all the evenings they had spent in that very place. He really was truly, madly, deeply in love with the person who owned his heart and hoped—no, he knew, it would continue until the end of time. 

Ben couldn’t really get the chance to dwell on his thoughts today. He saw her get up, holding her head, stumbling and trembling like a leaf, supporting her weight against the wall. Ben furrowed his eyebrows and rushed outside to notice her releasing groans of pain yet again. That medicine always works…what the fuck happened this time? He held her shoulders and took her in his arms, kissing her forehead again and again, assuring her that she would go through this. He contemplated giving her another dose of the medicine but it would be more risky, so he just became her rock.

“I—I don’t know what’s the fucking case today. I was just laid in the grass and I think I fell asleep. There was me and someone else, laughing and running across the snow covered lawn. Apparently we were having a snowball fight. When the man turned after I hit the snowball at his back, it turned out to be…(she paused for dramatic effect), you. And then I was hit by this sudden pain. The reason before was somewhat similar to this too. I don’t— don’t know what’s happening,” Y/N explained after recovering.

Ben’s face fell. Surely he was happy that she was remembering, but hearing the whole story caused a pit in his stomach. He reassured her that he’ll figure out everything and ushered her inside the house. He gave a quick tour but not before checking if Sebastian really did what he said he would. Ben let her settle in the spare room, which was also kind of Sebastian’s, for all the times he came over, and went to call the man he talked about.

“Hey. You two reached home safe?” Sebastian’s cheeky voice rang through the phone.

“Yeah, we did. I settled her down in your room. How’s our little fella?”

“Oh he’s good. Just sleeping. I think it’s about time Y/N meets him. What’s troubling you though?”

Ben sighed, the three of them always had a knack for knowing when the other was gloomy. Deciding he needs to voice his concerns to someone, he spoke up, “Yeah…you can bring him when you come over for dinner. And uh…Y/N was having migraines—“ he got cut off.

“—And you gave her the medicine. They’re fine now?”

Ben nodded, before realizing his friend couldn’t see him, so he let out a little hum, before continuing, “She—She said she’s been having migraines due to me?”

“WHAT!?” Sebastian’s voice nearly bit Ben’s ear off. He was sure if the phone was on speaker, the whole neighborhood would have heard him.

“Jeez, calm down mister. You’re going to make me lose my hearing.” Not waiting for a reply, he continued, “Well…she didn’t exactly say that. She was having those migraines when she tried to remember me, when she saw me in her dream. I’m the cause.”

“You’re not the cause. I mean, yeah that is trouble, and we’ll have to talk to the doctor about it. But maybe let her remember on her own?”

“What if she doesn’t?”

"Idiot, she will remember you. You’re supposed to be the optimistic one out of us. ‘Lover of life,’ remember? You can’t love life by being a pessimist. She loves you man, people don’t forget the ones they love just because they had an accident. Make new memories with her till then.”

Ben thanked Sebastian and they finalized plans for visiting the doctor, a little talk about their careers (Seb informing he will be leaving for sometime months in about 2 weeks) He did have plans to cancel that though, his friends needed him more, but Ben encouraged him to take the job and assured him they’ll be safe. Meanwhile, Y/N’s phone lit up with a text.

Seabass Stan

Y/N

Prankster

Fangirl

Answer me

I’m bringing donuts for you

Nightmare

Really!? Donuts?

Seabass Stan

Aha, got your attention.

Knew you were reading :)

And did you change the name again?

Nightmare

Congratulations 

What about my donuts?

Of course, Stan

I’m your personal nightmare after all.

Seabass Stan

Fine, I’ll get you those. 

But answer me something first. 

And it was one time!

Nightmare

I’m listening 

Bad for you then :)

Seabass Stan

*Reading.

Anyway, Ben told me about your migraines.

You’re alright?

Nightmare

Yeah, yeah I’m fine.

The med helped

Did he, uh, tell you everything?

Seabass Stan

Of course, draga 

Nightmare

Well to be fair it wasn't everything

Seabass Stan

What’re you hiding?

Nightmare

You can’t tell someone you…

Kissed them in your dream

Seabass Stan

Why the fuck not!? 

Nightmare

Language! There are children here

And he’s my best fucking friend

  Plus, it is what I remember

  before the migraine

It can very well be false

Seabass Stan

Do you want it to be? 

Nightmare

I don’t know

Anyway, what about my donuts?

Seabass Stan

*sigh* How many? 

Nightmare

Did you just sigh through text? *sigh*

You know how many

Oh and, if you tell Ben…

Seabass Stan

I know, I know. See you at dinner.

Nightmare

Bye. Be safe.

Seabass Stan

You too.

Y/N left that message on read and released an actual sigh. She was excited she was getting donuts, but that dream was really a conflict. Was there really something? But he’s married. It may be before? But they were looking pretty close to their current age. She decided not to dwell on it and went to find Ben looking through the kitchen.

“Tea?” He asked, holding up a tea bag.

“Purely British you are. Sure.”

Ben chuckled and started making it, occasionally humming some song Y/N couldn’t recognise. 

“Ben…I’ve been meaning to ask something.”

He let out a hum of acknowledgment and turned himself and his attention to her, still keeping a side eye on the heating water.

“I noticed there are no photos of your wife. There are yours, mine, Sebastian, our families, even my brother’s…but not hers.”

“Okay, she um, doesn’t…what? exist?…likes getting photos clicked, you know.”

“Not even a single one?” She cocked a brow. “Not even from your wedding day?”

There was no way out. Better come clean. “Okay…you got me. She—she doesn’t, uh…exist.”

Y/N gasped, “Did you kill her?” She asked in a hushed whisper.

“What? No…no. (Sigh) She doesn’t exist. I lied. This ring—it’s a prop from that one project I was working on. Looks like I accidentally kept it with myself.” It was hurting him to talk about one of the wonderful moments of his life like it was fake, but he tried to reason that he was doing it to keep the cause of those wonderful moments safe. Despite it, his heart did not agree, but he willed it to calm down. 

“Why did you lie though?”

“I panicked.”

Y/N rolled her eyes and facepalmed. Letting out a little chuckle, she looked over Ben’s shoulder to see little smoke coming out from the pot, “Did you— did we—did we just burn water?”

Ben’s eyes widened, remembering the tea and turned out abruptly. He noticed the burning water and in a haste, picked up the pot with his bare hands before dropping it in the sink, thankfully. His hiss rivals a cat’s and he clutched his fingers, before a hand grasped his’ and started blowing on it. A curtain of hair fell upon his eyes and the corner of his lips turned upwards.

Y/N led him to sink and forced him to keep his hands under running water while scolding him. “Should’ve been careful. It was already burnt…well if it can be burnt. You should be patient.”

Ben chuckled at the last statement. Y/N looked up at him, questionably. “It’s just—you’re even more impatient than I am, and you’re telling me to be patient and careful.”

“Yeah…I know. Easier said than done, isn’t it? Still, you could’ve died.”

Ben laughed and Y/N decided then and there that she could never get tired hearing that melodious sound. She made a silent promise to herself to let that laugh, or the smile, always be on his face. She’ll fight anyone or anything who will ever try to take that away.

“Relax sweetheart. I’m not leaving you that easily.”

Y/N rolled her eyes at his cheekiness but still felt her cheeks heating up. I don’t ever want you to, she thought which caused her eyebrows to furrow in confusion but she ignored it and smiled widely. “Well, I surely do hope so.”

Ben kissed her forehead and went back to making the tea, for which Y/N was about to protest but Ben was quicker. He picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back and despite her half hearted protests, settled her on the couch and without another word, went back to his task. She was too lazy to get up as her companion had put her on the couch rather comfortably and so, with a ‘whatever’ motion, she picked up the remote and began browsing through Netflix, eventually settling on The Social Network.

Ben peeked his head out from the kitchen, “What are we watching, love?” Y/N could hear him shuffling around looking for some snacks while muttering a low but loud enough for her to hear, “I seriously need to go grocery shopping.”

Ignoring that and the involuntary flutter inside her stomach when he called her ‘love’, she replied with the movie name. Ben came out soon after, carrying a tray with her favorite tea and some pretzels. He picked up the remote, rewinding it a little before realizing—or rather not realizing Y/N’s protests. 

“Shit, I forgot this movie has Spider-Man.”

“Really? That’s like your favorite movie.”

“Well turns out I haven’t just forgotten some memories.”

The tea and pretzels finished not even halfway during the movie, with Y/N teasing Ben’s cooking skills feverishly. Sounds of Ben’s protests faded as the movie progressed. Towards the almost end when Andrew Garfield’s character Saverin was saying the famous, You better lawyer up asshole, Y/N, obviously engrossed in the movie (she’s just a big fan of him), didn’t notice Ben fighting to keep his eyes open but eventually surrendering to sleep, keeping his head on the closet pillow he could find, which in this case, was her lap.

When the credits rolled, Y/N realized the weight on her lap, suddenly becoming aware of the world. She looked down to see a puppy, well not literally, but a person resembling a puppy nuzzling his face in her stomach. She chuckled, before checking the time. It was almost dinner and seeing the rather adorable puppy’s state, she thought she could get started on it herself.

She quietly picked up a pillow, eyes shutting tight when she thought she made a loud noise, only to notice his soft snores, she smiled, kissed his cheek and carefully replaced her lap with it, being sure to not be her clumsy self and knock something down. She remembered Ben mentioned going to the grocery store, but since she didn’t know where the closest one was, she decided to make something out of whatever was in that house. When she looked everywhere, she speculated that Ben indeed needed to go get some stuff.

Fortunately, she found enough materials to whip up some Indian food and began cooking. She was humming some song while completing her task and thought they forgot to put some sort of cream on Ben’s hand after the burn. Pausing her work, she did as thought and to her relief, the lost in dreamworld man didn’t wake up. He hummed in content, but didn’t open his eyes. Y/N went back to the task in hand, humming Rewrite the Stars that she didn’t notice the door opening. Her session was broken when she felt something nuzzle up her leg and with a quiet squeal, she looked down to find—

A puppy. 

It was a black German Shepherd. From what Y/N could guess, he looked about 4 months old. She knew a lot about them as she had wanted one of her own. She grinned wide and bent down to scratch behind his ear. The puppy closed his eyes and when Y/N pulled back, let out a low bark, as if knowing Ben was sleeping. She shushed him still, but it seemed like nothing could bring him back from dreamland today. She noticed a collar on him saying Padfoot, which made her let out a full belly laugh, which caused someone to rush towards the kitchen.

She saw a pair of shoes in vision and looked up expecting to see Ben, but saw Sebastian with a faint smile on his face. She furrowed her eyebrows, suddenly remembering about the food, and rushed to fix it, but Seb was quicker.

“Seriously, you got that much lost in Pads?”

Y/N gave him her own puppy dog eyes, “But just look at him.” She pointed at the dog in question, “He’s adorable. But…I don’t remember you getting a puppy.”

“He’s not mine. He’s yours. Well actually yours and Ben’s.”

“We had a dog?”

“He’s your son. Remember how you always wanted one? You and Ben were about to get one but then everything stuff happened. He still got one though.”

“And named him the same I wanted to.”

“Of course. So…what are we making?” Sebastian promoted, eyeing the food over Y/N’s shoulder. 

“Something.”

“Oh come on…please tell me,” it was turn for Sebastian to use his puppy dog eyes, which he knew Y/N couldn’t resist. How can someone ever resist those eyes anyway?

Much to his disappointment, Y/N and even Pads sensed his actions and played with each other, promptly ignoring the other man. She didn’t look up until Seb grew tired of pulling out his secret weapon and retreated back to the spare room, seeing it locked. “Hey, why is this door locked?”

“Huh? Oh that one. I don’t know.”

Sebastian would ask him when he would wake up. He noticed all the stuff kept on the table and was just about to tease her for being messy, but decided against it since it was a daily occurrence. He cleaned it all up and settled himself on the kitchen counter. “So…what all happened before I came?”

“We saw The Social Network, burned water, had some tea. Nothing more.”

“Burned water? How do you even burn water?”

“That’s what I asked. Turns out, it’s possible. Did you know he’s not married?” Seeing Seb’s obvious confused face, she told him about what happened at the hospital while Seb nodded along. 

“Yeah…I knew.”

“Why the fuck did you make me say all that?”

“No no…I knew he was not married. I did not know about the lie. But you see, his reason was pretty reasonable.”

“Reasons are to be reasonable Seb.”

They noticed Padfoot swiftly make his way towards Ben, seeing his state and making himself comfortable near his legs. Now they really were two puppies sleeping and for an exaggeration—or maybe not, Y/N couldn’t tell the difference. They were both curled up, almost in the same position (Padfoot of course being more flexible) like a father and son having a nap. 

She couldn’t resist and took a sneaky little picture on her phone, making it her Lock Screen. 

[bluboothalassophile]

So glad you hate bbrae as much as I do !! Please give us a breakdown on how toxic and tired that relationship is queen 👸

Hello,

First I'm stating this is my fucking opinion, and it's not a reflection on the BBRae ship or their shippers, it's merely my fucking opinion.

BBRae is one of the most toxic examples of a 'sunshine' character and a 'grumpy' character. It's a fun trope, don't get me wrong, it's a really fun trope, but it's also not a trope which fits every ship.

Garfield Logan, Beast Boy, is always the center of whatever relationship he has with Raven. Titles like 'Beast Boy Loves Raven' and the general dynamic of the ship is set up to be centered around Beast Boy possessing a girlfriend like she's a prize. Raven's not set up to be anything more than a toy for Beast Boy.

Raven is introverted, enjoys alone time, reading, meditation, and magic. Her aesthetic is on the darker end of the spectrum whether by artistic tastes or just conveying the fact she's a demon and not a normal witch/human, it's important they set her apart. In animated shows this is usually done with colors, in comics it's usually in how they draw the group scenes, Raven is on the edge or fringe of the group, she manages a lot alone, and she's set up as a generally alone character.

Garfield is an extroverted character, he's charismatic, childish, charming, and his interests are usually of a more outgoing nature. He likes being active, he's into video games, and music, it appears that he's also a bit of a performer. He's set up to pursue film, acting, or performing in a lot of multiverses. He always wants attention, and that's not a bad thing, but it also makes him pursue women. In the animated show he was always interested in other women, and he pursued Tera with gusto. He's an odd, goofy, sweet guy.

I'm in no way saying an extrovert and an introvert can't be in a successful relationship, but these two are not a successful relationship. There are numerous points where they both slam the other for their interests, and their natural styles, they both tear at the other with the 'I'm the only one who will love you' BS in comics. I think there's a panel where Beast Boy says as much to Raven. That kind of dynamic creates a trapped and toxic relationship, where he's torn at her self worth and self value, he's also setting it up that if she does leave she will never be able to be happy because no one else will love her. That's almost the exact same bullshit abusers pull to keep their victims trapped. In turn Raven turns around and slams a lot of Garfield's general personality and interests, she will nag and provoke him, not pointing out she's the only capable of loving him, but she does provoke him a lot. She mocks him generally, which if you're a relationship teasing mockery is one thing, but actual mocking is very damaging. And they keep this dynamic up a lot in their relationship.

I'm genuinely surprised they don't physically abuse one another, but they do a lot of emotional and mental abuse to one another, which is not good.

Together, romantically, Raven and Garfield bring out the absolute worst in one another; like Johnny Depp/Amber Heard level of worst in each other. And it is a horrible pairing, which has been a leading romance in Comics and DC for some reason, and it never should've even started; in the old comics it wasn't even a ship. They are horrible to each other, and horrible together.

As friends, yeah, they are okay but some of that toxicity comes about and is shown at times though never really as damaging because there's a bit of distance between them when they are friends. I'm not saying they're great friends, but as friends they are better suited for one another, romantically, they don't fit, and they just bring out the worst in one another.

[skyland2703]

20 and 63 from the mashup list!!

(...possibly bbrae if you want because thats what i'm dying to see in Titans Academy, but i give you freedom of whichever ship you choose <3)

Sooooo BBRae you say.... *wink* (two of my fave tropes EVER!)

20: Everybody Knows/Mistaken for Couple AND 63: Teacher AU TWO OF MY FAVORITE TROPES EVER!!

I hope you like it!!!

I take wayyy too fucking long to write sooo im sorry about the delay on the prompts my friendos!!!

AO3!

Everyone knew it. It was no secret. Even if it was, it wasn’t at all, a well kept one. And the best part was, everybody was talking about it.

And it was NOT a good thing for two particular professors at the Titans Academy. Every time they were together, be it standing together, or sitting together or even when they had a joint class together. Whispers, whispers, whispers. Someone had even drawn a heart with a marker on their photograph that had somehow appeared next to each other in every single Academy yearbook that had been distributed! Of course, Nightwing planned to “go to the bottom of the mystery” being the master detective he was, but for reals, everyone knew he was the one of the two people who might have done it. The other being Victor Stone a la Cyborg.

Raven didn’t find it hard to block out the whispers and the voices. She was an empath, and would hear people’s emotions and thoughts quite regularly, and blocking them out was a sort of regular thing for her. Whispers were also easy to drown, especially when they didn’t carry any weight as such.

Beast Boy on the other hand, Raven often noticed, got unnerved when faced with things like this. He was a nice, high spirited, cheerful goofball, who didn’t really fare well at hiding emotions. If he was frustrated, flustered, annoyed, angry, or rather anything except happy, it’d show quite easily on his face. It was one of the things Raven loved the most about him, he was perfectly transparent, not like other guys who liked to keep their emotions bottled up, and not in a way like Raven’s where her emotions overloading might end up in her demonic powers getting out of control, but rather, a case of being “Wayy too cool to have emotions or be nice”.

Raven had a strong dislike for boys like that, boys who faked how they felt, and were actually really manipulative and shrewd. Beast boy was definitely not one of them. And that was one of the many reasons why she didn’t mind the whispers. If people around the academy were shipping her with someone, she was glad it was Beast boy.

She had just started grading the term papers in the teacher’s lounge, when she suddenly realised there was a question in the paper about adaptibility to adverse conditions, a question that she, Raven Roth did not put in her section of the paper. And honestly didn’t know the answer of either. Starfire had wanted the questionnaires to be set by the entire staff together, or if that was not possible with a lot of bickering, then with all the professors sending their respective questions to her, the headmistress, who could compile it into a perfect question paper that would set a challenging questionnaire for the heroes in the making.

And the teachers were allotted a group of students whose papers they had to check, whether they knew the questions or not. “You can use the help of the friends and the other teachers of the school to help you with the questions that you do not the know” she had said sweetly, “it will only make the bonds of your accord and companionship grow the stronger”

Nobody had a heart to refuse.

The first six questions were easy, and two were not from Raven’s subject of Enchantment and Charms, but simple stuff, that Raven could mark with ease, but question no. 7 was something else entirely.

“Beast boy will know the answer to this” raven muttered and got up, taking a sample paper from her desk, and dashing out of the door, knowing she’ll be back in a few minutes with some in depth knowledge of the subject.

On the way, she scanned the paper for more questions to ask Beast boy, while she was at it, so she wouldn’t have to run again and again. In the paper of forty questions, she found 8 she couldn’t do without his help.

He was standing in a classroom drawing some stuff about some animal characteristics on the white board, when Raven arrived.

“Hey” She said, standing in the doorway, beckoning him.

“Hey!!” he replied back cheerfully, and the entire class, which had been listening attentively, suddenly burst into hushed whispers.

“Beast boy I need some help” she said, blushing a bit, feeling some of the whispers reach her...

“Oh!” He blushed just as she did, it was a reflex action that happened any time she said anything to him. He scratched the back of his neck, “um mama— I mean raven, I’m a bit busy, but what happened??” No matter how busy he was, he would always make time for her.

“Umm class, try seeing the patterns in the leopard, and how they take care of their young ones, and I’ll be back in ten” he said, in his most serious voice, but the entire class burst into excited whispers again.

“Hey Rae!” He said, still blushing, still flustered, as he came out into the corridor to face her.

“I wanted to ask you some stuff” she said, handing him the paper, “first off, question seve—” before she could complete her sentence, Gar interrupted her.

“Hey, umm Rae can I ask you something?” He said, a little hesitantly, and Raven stopped short, “Sure Gar, what happened?”

“Actually… I… uh. The way you, the way you pulled me out of the classroom… won’t help with the… the whispers…” he said, a little flushed.

Raven understood. Beast Boy was again having trouble with dealing with what people said behind his back, and students, in general, can be quite mean.

“Oh” was all she said, and Waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

“Gar?” She asked, gently, once again, placing a hand on his shoulder, “why do you worry so much about what people say about you and me?”

He gulped, “it’s not like… it bothers me…. It’s more like…” he struggled to find the right words.

Raven didn’t need to use her empathic powers to know what he wanted to say, because deep down, in a place where she rarely let her emotions wander, she felt the exact same way.

“It’s more like you *want* them to be true.”

Garfield Logan looked at her for a long, LONG minute, trying to understand what she had just told him, and it took him a hot second, but his blush went up about a thousand times, as he realised.

“Are you… saying… that… you also… want… those whispers to be… real?” He stuttered nervously, and Raven smirked. Just like she had imagined it in her head countless times.

What was that other thing she had imagined?

Oh yes.

“The whispers… I think it’s time enough that we give the smoke a flame to brag about” she said, pulling him by his collar, closer, and softly planting a kiss on his lips. Her lips softly brushed against his, preciously, delicately, like the tiny, fluttering wings of a butterfly, just long enough that he could inhale her breath, feel the warmth of her skin, let his heart skip a few beats, before it was over, way too soon, and left a taste of her lipstick lingering on his lips.

“I’ll ask you about the term papers later” she winked playfully, spun around on her heel, and left, leaving a stunned, more red than he was green, Beast Boy who was basically at this point stranded on cloud nine, with no bounds of his joy.

Of course, this would NOT help the situation with the rumours and the whispers, and the fact that everybody knew that this was bound to happen at some point in time or another.

Beast Boy was jerked back into the present by the sound of a window pane breaking as the the entire class practically attempted to stay inside, while at the same time get as much of a view at the professors, to gawk at their conversation in the hallway through the glass windows of the classroom.

[taiblogcomics]

I Can’t Pet Force You To Read This One, But...

Hey there, high school crushes. Well, it's finally here. Can you believe it? Yes, counting from the original Xanga site (which, yes, still counts. It's like our own Golden Age publication or apocryphia), this is our 10th anniversary of reviewing comics. That's fantastic. I'm excited, can't you tell? I can tell, since I'm writing this preamble a good two months before the actual anniverary~

So, last year we reviewed the absolute pile of dreck that is Heroes in Crisis. And while that was worth ripping into, I'd rather not spend the 10th anniversary hating on something. I'd like to do something actually meaningful to me. I've teased about this one for many years, probably for as long as I've been doing this blog, and I think it's time we stopped pussyfooting around and reviewed some Garfield. But not just any Garfield. It's finally time, my friends. This... is Garfield's Pet Force.

I dunno how many people will remember this one. Maybe you recall the direct-to-DVD movie adaptation from 2009, or at least advertising for it. I never saw it, but apparently it differs a bit. They also appeared a few times in those Garfield comics from back in the day. We even reviewed a couple (some were on the Xanga blog). But what we're looking at here are the original novellas published between 1997 and 1999. So yeah, these really are from my childhood. And since I've long espoused that Garfield was always funnier 20 years ago, this must be actual premium Garfield content, yeah? By golly, I hope so, because we got five whole books here today. So we should probably get into them~

Book 1: The Outrageous Origin

This is a classic sort of superhero cover. Standard team shot of poses, and that's fine for a first volume. In fact, that's great. Later editions of this would replace the lightning-filled gradient background with a pure white one, but I have this original version. We'll get to specifics about these characters in the meat of the story, but let's talk about the costumes for a bit. Very classic early-'90s sort of look, before the Dark Age kicked in. Reminds me a lot of Jim Lee's X-Men designs, actually. Making all your characters visually distinct is important in a team book. The heavy lean into secondary colours is unusual for heroic characters, but not unwelcome.

So we actually start with a cold open in the superhero universe. This is pretty much to introduce us to the characters as soon as possible, and thus I'll do the same for you here.

*Garzooka, team leader, super strong, has a razor-sharp claw, and can shoot radioactive hairballs from his mouth. That's... at least a unique power, I don't think anyone on the Justice League can do that~ *Odious, the dumb muscle with the accent on the "dumb". Possibly even stronger than Garzooka, and possessing a "super-stretchy stun tongue", an elastic tongue that can scramble the minds of whoever it adheres to. *Starlena, the team girl. She can fly, and she has a siren song that can put those who hear it into a hypnotic trance. Garzooka is the only one immune to its effects, for reasons that are never explained. *Abnermal, the kid-appeal character. He has ice powers, forcefields, and an ill-defined "pester power" that means he can annoy people on a greater scale than normal folks. It's pretty much only used for comic relief, but that could be a brilliant power in the right hands. *Compooky, the brains of the operation. Other than flight, his powers are limited to super intelligence, which means he's usually the exposition guy. There's probably a reason they left him out of the movie adaptation~

You got all that? Don't worry, we'll introduce you again later in the book. What actually happens in the intro chapter isn't really important, it's just setting up the universe. In fact, it's all taking place within Pet Force #99, a comic just enjoyed by Nermal. Yes, we quickly cut over to the main Garfield universe ("our universe", the narrator calls it), where Pet Force is just a comic book. The Garfield gang is all outside, enjoying a cookout prepared by Jon Arbuckle. Nermal is extremely enthused by his comic book, and brags about how he has all 98 previous issues sealed and polybagged, and this one will soon join them. Sorry, Nermal, this came out in 1997, the speculator boom already went bust~

Garfield dismisses comic books as stupid because you can't eat them or use them as a blanket, and declares that none of the stuff that happens in the comic could possibly happen in real life. Uh oh, irony! Because these things can happen, and do! It's a parallel universe, baby! This might be one of my earliest introductions to a "parallel worlds" concept. Much like Earths 1 and 2 in pre-Crisis DC, the events of the comic are essentially the real life adventures of their super-powered counterparts in another dimension. Most of the action in these stories will take place there~

So here's the setup: Vetvix (the parallel equivalent to Liz the veternarian) is an evil sorceress and scientist, who essentially wants to experiment on animals in peace, and possibly subjugate the universe while she's at it. You could argue that Liz is an odd choice for villain, since our universe's Liz isn't particularly evil. But then, our universe's Garfield isn't particularly heroic either. She operates out of a deadly space station called the Orbiting Clinic of Chaos, and at present she's waiting for the arrival of her henchman, Space Pie-Rat, who is a six-foot-tall anthropomorphic rat dressed in stereotypical pirate getup. Vetvix has just finished inventing a levitation ray, and she'd like Pie-Rat to go out and use it to steal all the food in the universe. Vetvix doesn't think small, is what I'm saying.

The counter to Vetvix is Emperor Jon, ruler of the planet Polyester. He's kind and benevolent, even if he's a little dippy and his fashion sense atrocious. Having gotten wind of Vetvix's latest plan, he contacts Pet Force in their ship, the Lightspeed Lasagna. Upon learning the problem, Pet Force gives chase to Pie-Rat. They eventually corner him on some desolate planet, landing and entering an abandoned factory. Unfortunately, they're not safe amongst the dangerous machinery, because this turns out to be a trap. Vetvix has been busy as hell, because she's also invented a metal that's impervious to their powers. And that's not all, because she's also basically invented the Phantom Zone, where she traps Pet Force forever. It specifically mentions it doesn’t kill them, because it wouldn't be kosher to murder the heroes in a Garfield book~

The Lightspeed Lasagna has both onboard cameras connected to the heroes' belts as well as automatic return protocols, so within two days, Emperor Jon knows exactly what's happened to Pet Force. He needs help, so he calls upon his most trusted and powerful advisor: Binky the Sorceror. Binky's just as loud and obnoxious as in the main universe, but he's also a powerful magician. He conjures up a spell for Emperor Jon that lets him pierce the veil between universes. It's basically Equestria Girls rules: parallel universes have similar characters between them. So to replace Pet Force, they need the nearest genetic equivalents from another universe. And that's the versions of Garfield, Odie, Arlene, Nermal, and Pooky that we know and love~

Back in the main universe, it's another day entirely. Another cookout is taking place, and Nermal has received his special anniversary issue of Pet Force #100. The cover's really special, dripping with '90s cover gimmicks like glow-in-the-dark and embossing. A rarely used one, though, was "portal to another universe". That was pretty expensive to print, so you won't find many comics like Nermal's. Maybe he had something there with the collecting after all. The cover glows, and while Jon is distracted by the grill, Garfield and Friends disappear~

They reappear in Emperor Jon's wood-paneled throne room, now transformed into Pet Force. Emperor Jon and Sorceror Binky try to explain the situation, but Garfield--now Garzooka--is disbelieving of the whole thing. In fact, even the idea that Jon can now hear him talk absolutely floors him. Since he's about to deliver the exposition for everyone, can we talk about Compooky for a minute? This spell has just granted sapience to Garfield's teddy bear. I don't expect deep philosophy from a children's novella, but the ramifications of this are really under-explored. Like, never mind the whole idea of a teddy bear having the same genetic makeup as an alternate universe equivalent. He goes from inanimate object to fully conscious being, and he just rolls with it.

Anyways, once everybody gets caught up on what's going on and accepts the new reality, a training montage ensues so the group can all learn to use their powers without killing each other. Once at least reasonably trained, the reborn Pet Force is sent out to stop Pie-Rat. He's gotten sloppy in the times with Pet Force dead, so they track him down easily. After a brief scuffle where Garzooka takes his eyepatch, Pie-Rat flees in his ship. They follow Pie-Rat back to the Orbital Clinic of Chaos, but they can't go in the front. That led the original Pet Force into a trap. Finding an unguarded maintenance hatch--standard on any big space station--they enter Vetvix's lair for a final confrontation!

After dealing with the Waiting Room of Doom, which slowly fills with outdated magazines, they enter Vetvix's inner sanctum. Frustrated with Pie-Rat's failure, she uses her magic to turn him into an ordinary mouse. Vetvix then attempts to use her same weapon on this new Pet Force, but thanks to story contrivance, it only works on beings born in this universe. As other dimensional visitors already, they can't be banished to another dimension. She then pulls a Dr. Claw and runs off cursing Pet Force's name while her base self-destructs. Vetvix is a very "discard and draw" sort of villain, it seems. Pet Force, of course, makes a harrowing escape just in the nick of time.

Returning to Emperor Jon, they vow to be ready to return whenever they're called on, since evil never stays dormant for long. Odious even gifts Emperor Jon with the mouse-ified Pie-Rat as proof of their victory. Well, I'm glad they remember that, so they didn't accidentally murder a major villain in their first superhero outing. They're returned to their own universe, and the time differential between them places them back with Jon having not had time to even look up from the grill. Garfield begins to doubt the adventure even happened--until that night, when he finds Pie-Rat's eyepatch still on his person. Ah, definitive proof of... eyepatches, I guess~

Book 2: Pie-Rat's Revenge!

You have to wonder where, in a space-faring superhero setting, Pie-Rat got the inspiration for his classic pirate motif. It's a little incongruous is all I'm saying. And hey, remember when I said earlier that Garzooka's purple-and-green colour scheme was odd for a hero? Well, here he is as a villain! That'll catch your eye. This would be a terrific comic cover, which is what you want in a series like this.

The book opens with a brief recap of the previous story's events, then moves into the new plot. See, Emperor Jon has opted to keep the polymorphed Pie-Rat as his pet. How very Ron Weasley of him. That's pretty apt, actually, because similarly Pie-Rat has maintained his intelligence in his new mousey form. Pie-Rat gets sick of being Emperor Jon's pet and plans a daring escape, exploiting the emperor's dimwitted and loving personality against him. Pie-Rat jams the lock with a food pellet and makes his escape that night.

Once free from his cage, he encounters Binky's cauldron, still left in the throne room from when the sorceror summoned Pet Force from Garfield's universe. Figuring he has nothing to lose, Pie-Rat jumps in the leftover brew. Suddenly he finds himself growing. He returns to his original anthropomorphic state--but with a twist. He's now twice his original height, a staggering twelve feet tall. He scoops up the rest of the remaining potion for later, and sneaks out of the palace as best as a 12-foot rat can sneak. Desiring revenge on both his former employer and his longtime foes, he steals Pet Force's ship and makes his escape from the planet, headed for Vetvix's newest base.

After his guards help Emperor Jon put the pieces of the problem together, they decide they must once again call upon the powers of Pet Force to recover their missing vehicle and stop the newly embiggened Pie-Rat. Fortunately, Garfield and friends have been watching movies all weekend, so Jon doesn't notice when his pets disappear from the living room in a bright flash. Of course, once returned to the alternate universe and the situation explained, they still have a problem: how do they give chase to Pie-Rat when he's got their ship?

And speaking of Pie-Rat in their ship, he's followed the trail of a mysterious energy output, and it's led him right to Vetvix's new base, the Menacing Moon of Mayhem. See, this is why you don't blow up your base: the backup base is never as good. if it was, it wouldn't be the backup. Given that it's such a shoddy base, Pie-Rat is easily able to get inside and get close to Vetvix. She's expecting a technological attack, so she's unprepared when he pulls out that vial of magic potion and sprinkles her with it. And naturally, the potion that made him grow 12 feet tall makes Vetvix shrink to 5 inches. It's magic, we don't have to explain it!

Pie-Rat takes the magic crystal that Vetvix uses to fuel her powers, which of course didn't shrink because magic is just bullshit. See previous paragraph's last sentence. And while Pie-Rat takes over the base and begins plotting a further revenge against Pet Force, we cut over to them. They're at Sorceror Binky's own castle, and it's clear he's a bit of a hoarder. This is to their advantage, though, as they eventually piece together a working spaceship out of old car parts and other things, all patched together between Compooky's know-how and Binky's magic. This seems like the sort of book where I could use that "it's magic" quote every other paragraph. But craft a new--if small--ship they do, and speed off in the newly christened Planetary Pizza.

The rickety little ship does eventually find its way to Pie-Rat's base, saving him the trouble of being proactive as a villain. The magic thing keeps happening, and Pie-Rat basically becomes Discord for a bit while he fights them, doing things like turning Starlena's siren song into actual living music notes. One by one, the members of Pet Force are taken out, with only Garzooka is left. He and Pie-Rat struggle, while Pie-Rat tries to aim the magic crystal at Garzooka. Garzooka uses his claw to rip the crystal from Pie-Rat and defeat him.

Unfortunately, here's where the cover comes in. It seems the moments Pie-Rat was focusing the crystal during the struggle affected Garzooka's mind. He puts the crystal around his own neck. which turns him evil. He helps Pie-Rat to his feet, and the pair escape in the Lightspeed Lasagna. While Pet Force pursues them in their ramshackle ship, the new criminal duo strikes the storage planet of Deli to steal their food. Pet Force manages to catch up as the villains celebrate their spoils, and use a magic blast from the systems Binky installed to short out the Lightspeed Lasagna. This enables them to dock with the ship and climb aboard for a contfrontation.

The group fights, and once again the bearer of a bullshit magic crystal subdues the heroes easily. Annoyed now, Garzooka takes hold of Starlena and prepares to kill her or something. She taps into the one thing she has left: she's not fighting just Garzooka, but Garfield in his body. She drops some heavy put-downs, which resonate with Garfield, and he hesitates long enough for her to cut the crystal off him. The crystal hits the floor and shatters, undoing its evil magics on Garzooka's mind as well as on all his teammates. With Pet Force reunited, Pie-Rat is easily subdued and locked up.

The group waits for the ship to power back up, then speed off to apologise to the planet Deli. Following that, they head back towards Vetvix's moonbase. That night, though, the magic that was making Pie-Rat 12 feet tall wears off, and he escapes from his cell. He steals the remaining shards of the crystal, climbs into the Planetary Pizza, and makes a getaway. As a bonus, he also repeats the power-down spell against the bigger ship, giving him ample time to escape. And he's not the only one. Over on the Menacing Moon of Mayhem, Vetvix also returns to her proper size, and abandons this base as well. And when Pet Force fails to find her, they simply return to their own universe, ready to be called on once again in the future~

Book 3: K-Niner: Dog of Doom!

Another very basic comic book-style cover. K-Niner is a much more typical villain in style. This one's actually a wrap-around, and features the rest of Pet Force reacting to K-Niner on the back cover. Which is good because, other than the first cover, the covers all have a heavy Garzooka focus. Which makes sense for a book series, I suppose, you wanna assure the kiddos that Garfield's gonna be in the book. But as a comic book series, this would be a bad look for a team book~

So after our standard introduction and recap, we start off with Vetvix in yet another new base, the Floating Fortress of Fear. I'm sure it's very intimidating, if she can keep hold of it for more than a single book. She's picking up from the epilogue and putting the last touches on K-Niner, mostly enhancing his intelligence. Now, you look at the cover and tell me what kind of voice you'd expect. Some sort of German or Austrian accent, like the doberman on Road Rovers? Does anyone remember Road Rovers~? Anyways, but no: he speaks with a posh British accent. You know, the "I say, good chaps, looks like we're in a bit of a sticky wicket, eh wot?" type. Trust me, you can tell. But just because he sounds refined doesn't mean he's not evil.

I also love that after the initial "trapped them in the Phantom Zone" bit, the villains just go whole ham. K-Niner here demonstrates that he is indeed evil by threatening to rip out Vetvix's throat. Let your villains be villainous is all I'm saying. She's pleased he's so vicious, but feels he needs to learn his place as well. She force-chokes him until he complies. She then gives him his assignment: she thinks dogs should be liberated. The Boy Mayor of Second Life would approve, and so does K-Niner. Turning pets on their masters is just his style.

K-Niner takes a portable evolution gun, and immediately sets off. He begins on the planet Kennel. Isn't it neat how every planet is named after an English word that describes its function? K-Niner quickly takes over the dog population and turns them against their masters, because boosting their intelligence also makes them evil, of course. They use enslavement collars on their former owners, and within a few days, the dogs now run the planet. We cut over to Emperor Jon on Polyester, where a man has crash-landed a ship. He's an escapee from Kennel, and he's here to report the events so we can get the plot moving and once more summon Pet Force!

And summoned once more they are, Garfield and Friends once more conveniently disappearing in a split second while Jon's back is turned (this time they're outside playing volleyball). And once back in the parallel universe, Emperor Jon fills them all in on K-Niner's dastardly doings. Garzooka, naturally, takes great offense to dogs being in charge, and takes his duties as a hero completely seriously for once. Pet Force takes off for a confrontation with K-Niner in the Lightspeed Lasagna. And speaking of Pet Force's ships...

The Planetary Pizza, piloted by Pie-Rat, plants its pads down on polar planet Glacia. Pie-Rat is here seeking a way to restore his magic crystal and regain his mighty magic powers. He's sought out the home of a legendary evil wizard, who's known by the name of... Barfo. I see why Barfo keeps his location a secret. But anyway, Barfo is the one who made the crystal, so naturally Pie-Rat reasons he can restore it as well. Suprisingly once on Glacia, Barfo's evil lair is pretty easy to find. His manservant, Hobart the Gnome, brings Pie-Rat before the wizard, and within moments the crystal is restored! Pie-Rat turns to thank Hobart, but Hobart suddenly turns into Vetvix!

Yes, Vetvix knew all along that Pie-Rat's quest would lead him here. And as she was once Barfo's student in the ways of evil magic, she knew she could get the old coot to go along with her plan. Barfo returns the crystal to Vetvix, restoring her powers. And so Pie-Rat, a recurring villain in three whole books, is unceremoniously done away with, as Vetvix teleports him inside an asteroid, trapping him in solid rock. Even if the asteroid were hollow or he displaced the interior when he teleported in, no doubt he'll suffocate within moments. That's pretty harsh.

With that over, we rejoin Pet Force as they approach Kennel. K-Niner's battle cruiser spots them incoming, and shoots the ship down, even in spite of Abnermal's forcefields. Pet Force bail out of the ship, and Abnermal uses his powers to make snow to cushion their fall. Upon landing, a contingent of mutant animals attack. The mooks aren't much, but K-Niner himself puts up an impressive fight. However, one of the mooks pulls a gun and points it at Compooky. This is why Compooky usually stays aboard the ship, but that wasn't an option. Rather than let their friend get hurt, Pet Force surrenders.

Pet Force is held prisoner separately from Compooky, with both the cell's technology making it freeze-proof and threats of "don't break out, or we'll shoot your compatriot". Their imprisonment is not long, though, as suddenly the power goes out. Pet Force takes advantage of the situation and make their escape, quickly running into Compooky. K-Niner didn't think the hyper-intelligent teddy bear needed a high security cell, and just locked him in the basement. It was easy for him to then break out and shut down the local power grid. This also has the side effect of turning off the control collars the humans were wearing. How convenient!

With control of the planet now tilted in their favour, Pet Force now has time to both fix their ship and reverse the polarity of the brain-boosting weapons, turning the dog population of Kennel back to their normal selves. Though the experience did change the pet owners of Kennel. Having experienced life in their pets' shoes (so to speak) for a bit, they've resolved to treat their canine companions a bit more equally. More being allowed on the furniture, less stupid tricks for treats. Still, Pet Force can't stay long, and they head off in pursuit of K-Niner's battle cruiser. This is why most superheroes don't have spaceships (Jedis don't count): if your enemy also has one, they can flee way more easily than on foot.

Not willing to let another place go to the dogs, as it were, Pet Force catches up with K-Niner. With his previous success, Vetvix has stepped up the timetable and sent him after Polyester right away. Emperor Jon is in danger! They enter the planet's atmosphere, and are attacked by fighter craft. They fend them off, but their weapons system is damaged in the fight, so they can't simply use the reverse brain-rays and solve it quickly. The team splits up instead: Garzooka and Abnermal will go after K-Niner, while the other three will find the planet's power source and knock out the collars, since that worked so well the last time.

The two heroes quickly make short work of K-Niner's guards, and then turn the battle to deal with the Dog of Doom himself. While the struggle goes on, the rest of Pet Force reach the planet's power grid. Using a clever tactic, Compooky overloads the power and causes and electrical storm that simultaneously undoes the brain-boosting effect and shorts out the enslavement collars. There's only a few pages left, after all, and we have to wrap this up.  K-Niner is reverted back into an ordinary dog, and the emperor is reverted to an ordinary non-enslaved person. The day is saved!

And now once again, Pet Force prepares to return to their own universe. However... when the spell clears, the five heroes are still standing there. Something is blocking the passage between dimensions, and Pet Force is trapped. And while Pet Force's adventures have taken place between mere moments in their own universe, they have always returned quickly enough that Jon didn't notice a thing. But this time, as Jon retrieves the volleyball and turns around to his pets, he's surprised to find they've all vanished into thin air...

Book 4: Menace of the Mutanator

This one's very striking because of its more painted look compared to the heavy black outlines the rest of the covers have. Does this one count as having the whole team on the cover? Because, spoilers, that's what the Mutanator is: the rest of Pet Force mashed up into a villain. Again, though, that's definitely a striking image that'd draw in readers to a comic cover. In fact, while Garzooka may be over-used as a cover focus, several of these also show him imperiled in some way, and that's nice for character stuff. That helps balace it a bit~

I wanna say, before we start, that I'm impressed by the continuity for the series as a whole. They could've just written each story as a standalone, but for a series of 100-page children's novellas starring Garfield characters as superheroes, things happen in these books. Like, maybe not sweeping status quo changes, but events affect the plot of each next book down the line. And that's where we pick up! Right where the last book left off, with Pet Force now stuck in the alternate universe, unable to return home to Jon. But if they can't go home to Jon, well, maybe then events will conspire to bring Jon to them~

Yep, because Jon happens to wander into the room where they keep the copy of Pet Force #100 that acts as a portal to their universe, he gets transported into the Pet Force universe. And since Emperor Jon is still an extant entity, there's just two Jons now. Jon, of course, is a bit freaked out, and it takes several pages to explain the whole deal to him, and also have a showcase of all their powers to pad out the book some more. Eventually, they decide to call in Sorceror Binky to examine the problem. When he has a go of it, a sudden tornado emerges from the cauldron and whisks away Pet Force--save for Garzooka, whose prodigious strength keeps him anchored.

Garzooka heads out in the Lightspeed Lasagna to track Pet Force's signature, glad to get away from a double trouble Jon. And while he's searching, the scene cuts to Vetvix's Floating Fortress of Fear. Hey, one of her bases actually lasted more than one book! This is where Pet Force has been transported to, once more in a power-proof cell. Vetvix monologues to the heroes, as she is wont to do, explaining that she's the one who cast the spell to keep them from returning home. And further, she's brought them here to mutate them into her servants.

While Emperor Jon exposits about his backstory (turns out he is not of royal blood, and has about as much legitimate claim to the throne as you or I do), the search continues. Sorceror Binky detects Pet Force, giving them all a view of what happens next. The trapped members of Pet Force are literally broken apart and reassembled: Odious' body, Compooky's brain inserted into the chest, Abnermal's hands, and Starlena's head. She christens this beast "Mutanator", and it is soullessly obedient. I also wanna say, Mutanator's kind of a non-binary icon, aren't they? (The comic uses "it", but it was 1998 and alternative pronouns weren't really a thing yet.) Muscular, masculine body, but confident enough to still wear lipstick. It's a look, is all I'm saying~

Mutanator continues to possess the combined powers of Pet Force as well. Vetvix sends them to attack the planet Armory to gear up before attempting to conquer Polyester. And meanwhile, thanks to the convenience of being able to scan all of Compooky's memories now that his brain is part of Mutanator, Vetvix has the perfect trap to spring on Garzooka--or should she say Garfield. Yes, she really knows the whole origin for Pet Force now, and now she knows all Garfield's weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and probably blood type and other dating profile stats~

Thus, when Garzooka receives the coordinates from Emperor Jon and arrives at the Floating Fortress, he finds himself menaced by giant spiders. Vetvix couldn't think of a way to get Mondays to attack him, so the Giant Spider Invasion will do. Spiders are apparently very formiddable foes, Garzooka's personal fears aside. They can swat gamma hairballs out of the air, they can construct webs as quickly as certain Marvel heroes, and their hairy exoskeletons are resistant to both claw and strength. But despite his fear and Abnermal's running commentary, Garzooka manages to trounce the spiders with a carefully applied flame--taking Vetvix's blueprints with them.

Garzooka heads out once again to track down the Mutanator, leaving his less-than-all-together friends in the safety of their forcefield prison. While he's off, we return to the perspective of his target. Using their combined powers, the Mutanator swiftly conquers the planet Armory and sets their sights on Polyester next. It's not a bad plan, honestly. With the stockpile from Armory, not only will the Mutanator be more powerful, Polyester won't be able to use the planet for backup. Fortunately for the two Jons, though, Garzooka intercepts the Mutanator before they can leave Armory.

The fight's actually pretty good. Very back and forth. But even despite Garzooka's great strength, the Mutanator wins in the end. Thankfully, Vetvix puts her conquest of Polyester on hold to take the time to retrieve Garzooka and add his power to the Mutanator. This, of course will be her undoing--in a completely ridiculous way, of course. For back in the palace, our universe's Jon is watching Pet Force's struggles with the scrying cauldron. And he leans in a bit too close. Sowhile Vetvix is prepping the machine to divide Garzooka's body like she did the rest of Pet Force, Jon suddenly tumbles through the dimensional warp caused by the cauldron and lands on Vetvix, which causes her to put the machine in reverse. A real Jonnus ex cauldrona there, eh?

The Mutanator disappears, their existance as a unique being wiped out as their pieces return to their proper Pet Force owners. With Pet Force reassembled, Garzooka takes out Vetvix with one of his gamma-radiated hairballs while she's distracted by Jon. Pet Force decides that the vile veternarian should have a taste of her own medicine, and stick her in the body-splicing machine with some of her guards. This divides them all up and mixes them into bizarre combinations. It also has the side effect of disabling Vetvix's magic, so they can return to their own universe now.

The book wraps up here. Pet Force first returns to Armory to both return the stolen weapons and also make repairs on the buildings that were damaged in Garzooka's fight with the Mutanator. That's the sort of thing I'd like to see in more superhero stories in general. The two Jons part ways, with the Emperor believing the other Jon's heroism to have been deliberate. And thus are Garfield and friends returned home. And just like the end of their first adventure, where Garfield couldn't be sure if it really happened, so too is Jon's memory fading. Had he really witnessed all that? Only his pets know for sure--and in this universe, they can't talk~

Book 5: Attack of the Lethal Lizards

This one's another wrap-around, showing the rest of Pet Force engaging the remaining Lethal Lizards on the back cover. This is one advantage books have over comics: a front and back cover you can use for your story-telling. The Lizard designs are pretty good for a villain group too. Like Pet Force, they don't adhere to a particular theme, but they do look good individually. Garzooka roasting a hot dog on a stick might be a bit too comedic for a superhero story, though. It sets the tone wrong. How "lethal" can they possibly be if Garzooka is out here roasting hot dogs in the middle of battle?

So here we go, last book. After the usual recap, we open with Jon explaining to Garfield and friends his latest plans: they're going to WackyWorld, a theme park dedicated to Jon's favourite cartoon, The Wackies. Both Garfield and Nermal think the show is lame, and if those two agree on something, you know it must be so. In less lame universes, however, trouble is once more a-brewing. So it turns out Vetvix's Floating Fortress of Fear has been orbiting the swamp planet Reptilius this whole time. And her various experiments in the last two books have been radiating the planet in magical energy...

From that magical power, three reptiles find themselves uplifted in intelligence and granted fantastic powers. Please say hello to our three main villains for this book: Snake, an enormous snake (the only one without an anthro design) with stretching powers; Chameleon, who can shapeshift; and Dragon, a komodo dragon with fire breath and the bad attitude to match. While Snake and Chameleon figure out their powers, Dragon declares himself the leader as he's clearly the smartest, strongest, and most powerful. They name themselves the Lethal Lizards and start plotting how to rule the planet.

After that exciting intro, though, the book kind of slows down. First we get a whole chapter of Emperor Jon also deciding to go on vacation, to planet Funlandia. With Vetvix out of commission for a while, there's no better time. In short, he's out of the castle and Sorceror Binky is in charge. This is followed by a chapter of Jon and his pets at WackyWorld. It's certainly an accommodating amusement park to allow pets on its grounds. Garfield at least gets along with the food, but if you know anything about amusement park food prices, the amount Garfield eats will make your wallet weep. Jon takes his mind off it by dragging the pets along to a ride. Surely they have to be under the height restriction~

Fortunately, we get back to the actual stars of this book, and we see a bit more of their dynamic. Snake is the sort who sucks up to whoever's calling themselves "Boss" at the moment. Dragon is power-hungry, and it's clear he'll sell out his allies at the drop of a hat. Chameleon is Starscream. Anyway, they trek through the jungles of Reptilius until they find a downed spaceship. Reviewing the logs reveals it was a scout ship from Vetvix, and they also learn of Vetvix and her mission. However, they don't know where Emperor Jon lives, so they crowd into the the newly christened Rapacious Reptile and set course for the stars.

The first planet they come across is a world called Klod. Quickly the Lethal Lizards beat up the populace and find the local government. Chameleon shapeshifts into a dignitary, pretending to be an advance entourage for Emperor Jon, schmoozing with the governor until he learns both what Jon looks like and the name of his planet. With this information secure, Chameleon nips out suddenly, and the trio sets forth towards Polyester. Governer Klutz calls up the palace as soon as the reptiles depart, and reports the incident to Sorceror Binky.

Binky wastes no time, and he dials up Pet Force. Since all five are in one place, he's able to pull them through even without them being near the gateway through issue #100's cover. Convenient! Pet Force, however, does waste time, as a lengthy comedy scene eats up several pages before we just get on with it. Eventually, the situation is conveyed, and they figure it's safer to keep Emperor Jon on Funlandia for the time being. Compooky stays behind to help plan some strategies, while the rest of Pet Force boards the Lightspeed Lasagna to intercept the Lethal Lizards before they even arrive.

Pet Force spends the next few minutes both scanning for incoming ships and bickering with each other, so I'm very glad when the Rapacious Reptile appears on their detectors before too long. Dragon threatens the ship, telling them to move or he'll knock them aside. It's a spaceship, dude, you can move in three dimensions. The ships trade shots, and while Chameleon's piloting is actually pretty good due to his independently-rotating eyeballs, eventually both ships crash land on whatever planet is nearby.

Both ships crash right next to each other, which is improbable but less ridiculous than some of the contrivances in these books, so I'm okay with it. Now you'd think what with the enemies being reptiles and Abnermal having freezing powers that this battle would be over really easily, but no. In fact, Garzooka and Dragon are pretty evenly matched. Snake turns out to be immune to Starlena's siren song because snakes don't have external ears. See, now there's a contrivance I find a bit weird. Snake swallows Abnermal whole, and Chameleon and Odious get literally tongue-tied. The Lethal Lizards actually live up to their name pretty well.

As the fight continues, half of both sides are laid out when Compooky comes rushing up, saying he has an urgent message from the emperor. And that's when he sucker-punches the team. It was actually Chameleon in disguise, having gotten knocked away when he and Odious separated. So yeah, round one goes to the Lizards, and they make their escape first. Pet Force regroups, and they give chase. The Lizards have enough head start to really lay siege to Polyester before Pet Force arrives, though. They even get access to the palace using Chameleon's shapeshifting, leading to Sorceror Binky letting slip the real location of the emperor just as Pet Force arrives.

Another fight ensues--see, now it's really a superhero story--and the Lizards leave again 2 and 0. This time Snake uses his venomous fangs to attack Starlena. This leads to the weirdest contrivance yet. Maybe not the worst, but definitely the weirdest. They have only minutes to save Starlena. So how do they do it? Well, they notice that Odious drools quite a lot. It's very "fluid output". So they have Binky magically reverse Odious' drooling, so that he has "fluid input" on his tongue instead. It becomes a big suction sponge and sucks the poison out of Starlena. They then restore the drooling, and he just harmlessly drools out the poison. What.

With their teammate saved, Pet Force pursues the Lethal Lizards to Funlandia. They get there just in time to rescue Emperor Jon from their clutches, with Garzooka and Odious combining their strength to literally rip a kiddie ride out of the ground. Starlena corners Chameleon in a hall of mirrors, turning his own trick against him. Snake is undone by Odious' strength. And Garzooka fights Dragon to a standstill, finally trapping all three on a roller coaster still operating. When the ride comes to an end, Abnermal freezes them all until the authorities can retrieve them.

Naturally, Emperor Jon thinks it's all part of the show (because Jon is dimwitted in any universe). The Lizards are sent to a lizard-proof prison (seriously, it specifies this), and Pet Force returns to their own universe. As usual, Jon didn't notice his pets go missing during the dark amusement park ride. The book concludes on an ominous note, however, as the ship carrying the Lethal Lizards makes its jump to lightspeed just as it passes the Floating Fortress of Fear. The shockwave knocks over some debris that reactivates the combining machine, restoring Vetvix to her full evil might once more!

The end!

No, really. Those five books are all there was. I hear it may have continued into the comics, but I don’t know how accurate that is. I didn’t really look into it.

But boy, what a ride, huh? Let’s dissect the books one at a time, since it only seems fair to take them as individual stories.

The Outrageous Origin: It’s a fairly basic origin story, I’d say. It kind of has to be. I guess my main gripe is that, like Rita Repulsa’s entire run on Power Rangers, the heroes never fight the main villain directly. In fact, there’s barely even an evil plot in this one. You have henchmen and some traps, and that’s about it for the menace.

Pie-Rat’s Revenge: A cautionary tale about why you treat your minions with respect. This one’s pretty good, but the events depicted on the cover make up such a small part of the book. Wouldn’t it have been more fun if Garzooka was turned at the beginning of the story? Book 4 would at least do the reverse of that, so it’s not a major complaint~

K-Niner, Dog of Doom: I think this one’s about as middle of the road as you can get. What a coincidence that it’s also the middle of the series! Like I said in the recap portion, it’s a shame that Pie-Rat’s story ended here. This one definitely feels more “villain of the week” than most.

Menace of the Mutanator: This one might be the best book in the series. Garzooka, alone, battling against the best parts of his team? That’s gripping stuff. I guess the main problem is that the Mutanator isn’t really a character in and of themselves. Like, K-Niner, he may have been a generic rent-a-villain type, but he had a personality. Mutanator is little more than an extention of Vetvix’s will.

Attack of the Lethal Lizards: I’m a bit split on this one. The bits with the titular Lizards are great. They steal the show! But the parts where it focuses on either Jon kind of drag, and Pet Force is a bit too jokey here. Like, I get the point is that they’ve relaxed into their roles now, and there’s not much point of doing it as a Garfield story if they don’t actually use the character personalities, but... I dunno. It’s good, but it could have been better~

And that’s it! Like, I dunno how to wrap this up. Pet Force was neither my first exposure to superheroes nor my first introduction to the Garfield brand (you can thank Saturday morning cartoons for both of those). But for some reason, maybe just the absurdly goofy premise, it always kinda stuck with me. And I think that’s a good enough reason to make it my 10th anniversary review, don’t you~?

[whereflowersbloom]

Changes.

It’s a rare Saturday afternoon off. Conner is sprawled across the sofa, his head resting on a fluffy cushion. Raven sitting next to him, wearing comfortable summer clothes, leaving her legs bare. Conner was watching the movie with half-closed eyes. He’s unusually exhausted. But everyone was out. They’ve been working around the clock, non-stop for weeks, busy with missions. It’s the first time they’ve managed to arrange their time off in a long time. He wanted to make the most of it, but Raven didn’t want to go out today. It’s a lazy day, spending it in the Tower’s living room. Watching old movies, Raven recommended and insisted he must watch them. Classics. ‘Gone with the wind, The wizard of Oz, Casablanca’ among other tittle.

Conner tried to focus on the screen. They were halfway Casablanca, but got distracted by Raven’s hair. It looked almost magical in this light. Her dark hair, shinning like the night sky. Her hair was slowly turning a dark purple shade, almost indigo with the sunlight hitting it. Conner was quite intrigued about her hairstyle as well. He’d seen braids before, but never this intricately. She did notice Raven had changed the way she styled her hair lately. He secretly wanted to ask what made her change it. He liked it nonetheless. Whether she let it cascade down her shoulders or in a ponytail, or this elaborated braid. She looked dazzlingly beautiful to him, all the time.

Raven felt Conner’s eyes on her. She was intrigued why he was so absorbed watching her? Was there something on her face? She’d only eaten popcorn like him, and he was clean, well groomed like always. Impeccable she’d rather admit. She couldn’t ignore his long, unblinking stare any longer. She was about to ask him if everything was okay when he unexpectedly broke the silence.

“How do you braid hair?”He asked all of a sudden, rubbing his neck, when he saw Raven’s baffled look. Tilting her head to one side, blinking several times, processing why he was so interested in her hair now.

That was not what she had expected. She consciously touched her French braid. It wasn’t her usual hairstyle, she felt heat burn her cheeks. Donna had been watching recently videos about hairstyles. She became seemingly so engrossed in trying new hairstyles, specially braids on her dark hair now that it was long enough, and growing even longer, down to her lower shoulders. The Amazonian had mentioned it would suit her. Donna being the persuasive person she was, Raven didn’t have the heart to say no. Also, she decided, perhaps it was time to try a different look. Instead of braiding just the three strands, you take hair with it as you go down. After hours and hours of practicing, Donna finally mastered it. It was different. The first time she felt strange. But she found some benefits, her hair didn’t get in the way while training or cooking. It was rather practical. Kori found it looking regal. Did Conner not like it? It was the first time he mentioned it.

She didn’t know how to explain. She had only done it a couple of times. “Uhmm, well.” she shrugged the twine from her hair and untangled the braid, slowly, with her small hands. Her midnight tresses were quite long, so it took some time. Maybe because she was so self-conscious of Conner’s curious, steady gaze. She felt her heart hammering in her chest, her breath coming in short. She was overly, awkwardly aware of his gaze on her face as the strands started to adorn her face. She gulped and wished he stopped staring, counting the heartbeats in her mind. But in the back of her mind she’d rather have him look at her with those beautiful baby blue eyes, sparkling with interest and mischief, as always, asking her to read him books, or having a long conversation about her hobbies, even video games he occasionally played with Beast Boy. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but thanks Azar it healed fairly quickly.

Conner felt heat creep in his neck, and not because of the sun, or the hot summer weather of Jump City. His stomach always did somersaults like the kids in the park, or Nightwing did while training, whenever he looked at her, his feelings flowing so freely like a river, his feelings for her deepened and strengthened with every passing day. He couldn’t decipher it, but it made him feel things he knew he shouldn’t feel for a friend. He knew he shouldn’t, wasn’t supposed to but he genuinely, wholeheartedly liked Raven. She appeared to be troubled by his question.

He cleared his throat, attempting to get back her attention. He pronounced her name quietly. “Raven.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She jumped slightly, snapping out of her trance. “You take three pieces of hair, like this” she demonstrated it and started showing Conner, imitating the way Donna did it, if she remembered correctly. “And as you are braiding, you add hair from both sides and continue. Follow my fingers.” Her breath choked as, abruptly took a strand of her hair and twirled in thoughtfully around his finger, observing it meticulously, seemingly not aware of his actions or his effect on her.

He looked up, smiled warmly at her, the way he did, resembling a child with new toy and nodded. He hesitated for a moment but muttered cheerfully. “Do you mind if I try it?”

Her violet-blue eyes widened. Conner wanted to braid her hair. The idea of his hands close to her face? Her stomach was in knots. No. That was an absolutely terrible idea or not? Calm down Raven. Nothing to worry about. It’s just hair. She has no idea why he’s so fascinated by it, but they are friends. If Donna can do it. What’s the difference? He wouldn’t just tangle up her hair as a prank. He wasn’t Garfield. No. Conner was innocent, honorable, respectful. He was different, like her she imagined sometimes. “Sure, go ahead.” His hand brushed her fingers lightly, with such softness. It sent a tingle of goosebumps up her arm. Their eyes locked, and the powerful connection, felt like being struck by lighting. Blue eyes meeting violet. Both were blushing furiously.

Raven shifted her body, so she was sitting cross legged in front of him, on the sofa, with her back towards him.

Conner took the log hair in for a moment. Admiring how soft and beautiful it was. He breathed in the essence, lavender, jasmine and peppermint. He has dreamt about how it would be to play with it, run it though his fingers. Her head in his lap, she was humming a song he never heard before. He’d absentmindedly started imitating her as well, while twirling the hair around his long fingers. He casually asked her about it. She told him it was an old song her mother used to sing to her. It brought some fond and happy memories.

“Don’t mess it up.” She teased him, giggling softly, but warning him at the same time. A boyish smile spread across his face. She confide him her precious memories. He felt special for a moment. Like he was needed, trusted with such things, he could guess not many knew about. His hands brush her hair gently, over her shoulders, unintentionally touching her delicate pale neck.

“No promises.” he said in a playful tone. He continued to play with her hair, trying to copy her fingers, when she had shown him. Braiding hair sure wasn’t easy.

His fingers caressed her cheekbone as he took a strand of hair. Raven held her breathe. What was he doing? Did he cast a spell on her or something, turning her completely speechless? She was the sorcerer here. Not him. She felt Conner edge closer.

“I’m almost done...I think.” he whispered anxiously. He didn’t need to, but it felt appropriate. The moment felt too intimate, for some reason. Something was changing between them. Perhaps because this was unusual in a way he couldn’t point. Sure, they were close friends, had normal interactions, but this felt intimate, private, almost romantic. They never touched or got close this way before. It was a new experience. Conner furrowed his eyebrows involuntarily, he started to hate that word. ‘Friends’. It didn’t cover entirely their bond. He didn’t want to be only Raven’s friend. Friends certainly, positively didn’t left you breathless and wanting more. He’d rather not talk to any of his other friends and simply kiss Raven senselessly. As he dreamed almost every night for months now.

He seriously had to stop daydreaming about her. But he found himself incapable of stopping. He did not want to, if he was honest.

Raven stretched her neck, yawning momentarily, then she looked over her shoulder. He’d suddenly stopped braiding, and instead of saying anything, she felt him staring at her again. Those blue eyes studying her again. She felt strange, the way he looked at her. That’s not the way friends do it. Not the others. Except a certain vigilante. But that was too complicated.

But when she gazed at him cautiously, she was surprised by their proximity, his lips merely inches from hers. And that look on his face. Conner flustered? No no no. She hastily created more space. And realized maybe he’d feel offended or hurt.

“Sorry, you surprised me.” she mumbled, avoiding his eyes, hand grabbing the end of the braid and tying it quickly. It was adequate, he did a fairly good job.

“No apologies.” he said blushing, shaking his head. He didn’t want her to worry or upset her. “I was distracted.” He confessed, ruffling his hair.

Raven raised her brow, wondering what caught his attention, placing her chin on her palm. “What’s on your mind?”

Conner paused for a moment, considering telling her the truth. He decided it wasn’t the right time. Sighing deeply, he didn’t have the courage yet to declare his feelings for her. There was no way he could reply saying I was daydreaming about kissing you, the way you deserve to be kissed. His heartbeat increased around 40 beats more than average. He had an idea. He smiled mischievously.

“It’s a secret.” He winked teasingly, praying his cheeks didn’t heat up and thanking she didn’t possess superhearing like him.

Raven’s eyes widened. She snorted softly, and she rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous, Superboy.” The dark haired girl threw some popcorn at him and he chuckled loudly, it was so natural. “I’ll find out eventually.” She said, faking indignation and folding her arms as she closed her eyes.

“You will.” He said optimistically, reassuring her, a confident smile on his face. A promise for the future. ‘One day Raven’ I’ll tell you all those things I’ve bottled up. Those things I want to have with you. He told himself in his mind.

Anither konrae oneshot 🙈🙈🙈🙈💙💙💙💜💜💜

@grassfour

[carmenxjulia]

Showrunner Duane Capizzi did an informal Q&A session with some fans in a CS chatroom. There are several question askers, all marked by name. Get some insider knowledge on the show, after the break!

Duane Capizzi:

Just checking things out! Feel like I'm poking my head through a door at a party I'm crashing haha.

Fun to see everyone hanging out and talking all good things Carmen

Can't stay long - I should have taken the code name "Crimson Phantom"

Crimson Phantom - I like the sound of that (if it's not already taken haha)

Carmen:

It's an awesome nickname! Personally I'm more of a Scarlet Santa Rosa person myself- I love that little interaction with Jules and Carmen in the special

Duane Capizzi:

Scarlet Santa Rosa! Yes, that was really cute between them. Too cute in fact.

Coach Brunt had some names for her too if i recollect

Arden:

Lambkins

Wren:

Didn't Brunt also call her Monica Santa Monica once?

Mage:

Yeah in the Boston episode

Also Josie San Jose

Arden:

I personally prefer Fedora the Explora

Duane Capizzi:

Josie yes hahaha

I can't believe we got away with Fedora the Explorer! I thought that would be noted but I'm glad we did. So funny!

Carmen is amazing! She "owns" whatever she wears, doesn't she?

Carmen:

She definitely owns Carmen Brand Outerwear

Duane Capizzi:

I'll share another tidbit though (along the lines of Carmen being a love story where everyone is in love with Carmen).

It was important for obvious reasons that the show be (among other things) about female empowerment. And we wanted to celebrate fashion of course. But it was super important to me to not fall into the "male gaze" trap. That was something I imparted to the storyboard crew and directors. It's a fine line, I know, but I think we succeeded.

Arden:

You sure did. What I adore about Carmen Sandiego is how unsexualized all the characters were while still being inclusive to different body types and races

Duane Capizzi:

Well artists love to sneak things in! So it was a little rule I had

They were mostly great about it - in all the 32 episodes, I think I asked to change only two shots for that reason. Where I had to go "ahem"

"Outerwear" sounds so peculiar but I think that's what made it work. I kept changing it back and forth and sometimes I'm surprised to see/hear it in the show. For the longest time it was "Carmen Clothiers." Did I make the right decision? Sometimes you can rework things too much and lose sight - it happens!

The one shot that leaps to mind was Shadowsan carrying her fireman style at top of 202, as they were escaping through the tunnels. Her, um, fundamentals were just a little too front and center to not fall into the "male gaze" trap. Nothing awful! It was borderline. We just adjusted the angle a bit

Julia:

My favorite most definitely has to be her formal wear from the "need for speed caper"

Duane Capizzi:

I'd have to think about my favorite outfit or top five. All her evening gowns of course!

Maybe "witch." We couldn't make it red because it would not have been a very good disguise (plus, you know: "Scarlet Witch" haha).

But let's not underestimate her signature hat/coat - I continue to be enamored with how we updated her look from the old trench coat thing.

Arden:

Not me suddenly motivated to draw Carmen in a scarlet witch outfit

Duane Capizzi:

Then you have to draw Zack as Pietro!

(or Player? Only his fingers are speedy)

Arden:

Idea: what if player (or Shadowsan) was Pietro

Duane Capizzi:

Shadowsan IS Pietro. He's so quick you never see him move.

Wren:

Shadowsan's fight with Brunt where it went slowmo and he moved fast was so cool!

Duane Capizzi:

Hey, Shadowsan is quite the fashion plate too - am I right?

I love the outfits on the show. So good! So perfect! But, I'm not being very modest am I

I really love SS in the dark trench coat. So. Bad. Ass.

Carmen:

Any thoughts on the Fashionista memory thing?

Duane Capizzi:

Fashionista, sure! What do you want to know?

Carmen:

Give me a second-

Duane Capizzi:

Thank you for noting the aesthetics on the show! Much effort, passion and vision from all involved - Chromosphere, our directors, animators, composers, sound mixers - everyone gave it all they had, it was so inspiring for all involved.

Carmen:

Was there any significance to that specific memory- Carmen defending Julia in the Fashionista Caper- being chosen as the first memory she remembered when she went outside? Like, why that scene specifically over any others for example?

(referring to the finale)

Duane Capizzi:

Oh, that! To be honest, not from me: we were just trying to do the "swirl of confused memories" like we did with Gray earlier in the season. We wanted to show that the ACME device had jostled some old memories loose and that "the girl agent with glasses" was now taking root in Carmen's rush of memories/emotions

But that specific memory, not necessarily from my POV - it could have been any number of Julia moments, like their first meeting on the train (for instance)

The director Jos Humphrey must have picked it. It worked for me!

Carmen:

We all loved that it was that specific memory that was chosen out of all Julia and Carmen moments, the fact that she remembered defending her was an added emotional experience to the already emotional finale

Duane Capizzi:

Well let's talk about the original scene in 204! On the surface just a light fun episode, but so many things came together there: Shadowsan connecting with Player; SS getting his new clothes; but the key thing was switching Julia back from doing Chief's bidding back to Carmen's side. The episode was built around the moment that Carmen pulls Julia on stage with her (I'm not kidding). That was THE moment

Carmen:

We have MANY questions... we should probably set a limit

Duane Capizzi:

Ask away - I don't mind. Honestly, Carmen is my favorite topic! I've been living, breathing, dreaming Carmen for the last 5 years! I don't think there's much to say, I think it's all there on screen. But happy to talk about it because I love to

Cam:

I have a question, what about the color theory in Carmen Sandiego? What do you think certain colors mean as in, blue, yellow, green, and red.

we have our own ideas about the colors but it would be interesting to hear from your perspective

Duane Capizzi:

Color theory! Well chromosphere color scripts every episode (!). If those haven't been shared publicly yet remind me, maybe I can get permission to do so or have them do it. They are lovely to behold.

But basically Carmen = red (duh); Vile = green; Acme = blue. That's the simple version. We started talking about that early on.

color scripts = they do thumbnail art of key scenes to share mood/emotion

we tried to NOT use red for non-Carmen scenes; and scenes where she was significant the color red would be dominant or sometimes symbolically precede her (for instance).

If you google color scripts I'm sure you will see some come up. Try Pixar color scripts for instance. There's a great Art of Pixar book with their color scripts.

Arden:

Do you think Julia is blue or purple?

Duane Capizzi:

Haha, Jules definitely purple! Cute.

Mage:

You've just confirmed the whole color theory these guys have been working on for a while.

Duane Capizzi:

I was actually being funny - is she actually color scripted purple in the series? Wow, my mind might be blown

Garfield:

Now I have a question!

Julia has great admiration and respect for Carmen. Do you think Carmen has as much respect and admiration for Julia as Julia does for her?

Duane Capizzi:

I think Julia might just be a little infatuated with Carmen (even if she hasn't fully articulated how to herself - remember, the show may be sophisticated but it's still a kids show). But mostly Julia just knows/intuits/deduces Carmen's a good guy, pretty much from the beginning. I think the two have a connection that defies space and time in some ways - look at how much they work in tandem without being in the same scenes together much of the time. I love that!

As for Carmen, of course she respects Julia: she knows Julia "gets" her, and respects Julia's smarts and mutual love of history/respect for cultures.

I love how Chase is the ultimate buzzkill for whatever might be stirring in Julia as she's watching Carmen fly away in the Pilot. She's like, "whooaa ..." Then Chase falls onto the windshield. Hilarious!

Nina:

I was actually wondering if Carmen and Julia were meant to have opposing color schemes? With Julia's original outfit I mean

Duane Capizzi:

Oh, good question about Julia's original outfit: I'd have to think about that or ask Jos or Chromosphere. J's colors ARE sort of a drabber distant cousin to Carmen's, aren't they? I think mostly we just wanted "drab workaday" colors for Interpol, knowing that both of them would eventually be slicked up as ACME Agents.

Nova:

Devineaux is immune to injuries it is the only reason why he has lasted so long in ACME and Interpol

Duane Capizzi:

Devineaux, one of my favorite lines: "I did not know you two kept in touch."

Am I right?

SelinIndigo:

I have one question:

Will we ever know Carmen's given name? Also, if you don't mind when is her birthday in this reboot?

Duane Capizzi:

Carmen's given name: never say never! But for where our series ended, I thought it would just interfere. That's not how I wanted you to remember her. It would have just been a label and spoiled her mystique IMO

Player, however: we totally messed with you! "Mr. Bouchard."

Carmen's birthday?

Hmmm.

Maybe month and day but not year: would hate to date the show

I also don't like naming ages in shows because it just gets weird with timelines and such. Or can be.

Carmen:

I made a post about this a while back— how did Carmen end up getting Julia's apartment address? did she just text her for it or straight up ask? did she find out on her own in the least stalker-y way possible? I just have so many theories- do you have any thoughts on it?

Duane Capizzi:

The apartment in the IA special? Oh that whole story was like one big dream sequence ;)

Arden:

What does the wink mean? Does Julia even live in an apartment?

Nina:

Does that mean Carmen dreamt she gave Julia roses or-

Duane Capizzi:

We played things faster and looser for fun there

Okay, I just saw what time it is. Yikes! Time flies when you're having fun. Well THANK YOU EVERYONE (for loving the show, for building this site, for being you.