#not really interested in participating on the same bullshit again

[loganremade]

He grew the moustache to match the beard... 🥲

[just-jordie-things]

kiss cam surprise - gojo satoru

word count: 2.8k warnings: none! :) summary: when (y/n) kisses shoko during a kiss cam at a baseball game, satoru gets a little ~jealous~ this is half fluff half crack tbh lol a/n: ok i don't take fic requests but someone dropped this in my ask box awhile ago and it resurfaced in my mind so... ur a lucky duck. also! if u like kiss cam fics y'all should check out kiss cam! by @naosaki <3 one of my fav megumi fics <3 ___

For being at an event that they couldn’t care less about, Shoko and (y/n) had been on their best behavior for the entirety of the baseball game.  Satoru and Suguru had been so excited to gift the tickets to the girls so they could join them in a fun outing, that they’d tried their best to accept the offer graciously.

Even though neither of them had any interest in going.  It was obvious when the tickets were presented to them, from the awkward smiles they’d worn to the way their eyes shifted towards one another as if to make sure the other was thinking the same thing- why wouldn’t they just go on their own? 

Shoko and (y/n) would’ve happily spent the day doing their own thing had Satoru and Suguru gone to the game just the two of them.  Maybe some light shopping, or maybe they’d hole up in one of their rooms and eat junk and watch romcoms all day.  Either way… any activity would have been more entertaining to them than this.

They barely even knew the rules of the game, only cheering when the guys did, and sharing knowing looks when they tried not to laugh at just how uninterested they were.

Still, they did their best to participate.  Both glad in the same colors of the cheap merch Satoru and Suguru had treated them to.  (y/n) was in a jersey too big for her that hung off her body awkwardly, and Shoko wore a hat with a bill that wouldn’t stop dipping over her eyes, but they didn’t complain.  They were very good sports for their friends, only sneaking off for a smoke break one time.  They even made a few trips for snacks and drinks so that Suguru and Satoru wouldn’t miss any of the games.  Sure, maybe they were trying to stretch their legs and ease the ache in their butts from the uncomfortable plastic seats, but they had the right intentions!

“This is fun, right?” 

When (y/n) turned to him, Satoru was beaming from ear to ear.  His sunglasses were slipping down his nose due to the way his ball cap bumped into them, and his bright eyes seemed to hold even more light from his obvious joy.

She couldn’t lie to him if she wanted to.  It was too cute to see him this excited just from sharing the experience with his friends.  He’d had his arm draped over the back of her seat for the majority of the game, and whenever his team got the upper hand, he’d eagerly tap or shake at her shoulder to involve her in the hype.  (y/n) was grateful for the que to pay closer attention to what was happening, but she did fluster and blush every time he’d touch her.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Shoko, who would knowingly knock her elbow from her other side, a small smirk on her face when (y/n) would peek at her from the corner of her eye.  She tried to ignore the silent teasing, but after a while it got hard with how much it was happening.

With a smile and a nod of her head, Satoru’s expression lit up even more.  “Yeah, I’m actually having a really great time,” She said.  It didn’t matter that she was more interested in all the attention he’d been giving her than the great seats they had for the game.  He didn’t need to know that part.  “We should do this more often” She adds before thinking.

Once again, Shoko’s elbow was bumping into hers, and this time a less-than-discreet snort could be heard.  (y/n) sent her elbow back into hers in retaliation, silently scolding her for eavesdropping.

“Yeah?” Satoru fixes his cap so that he can push his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose.  “Tickets weren’t that expensive, we could go to more games this season, if you want?” He suggests.

Bullshit, she thinks with a smile telling him that’s exactly what she was thinking.  Nothing was expensive to the Gojo Satoru.

“Yeah, maybe” She says without much commitment.

Going to baseball games just the two of them? The idea had her heart soaring.  Having to sit through a game that could take more than three hours was less than ideal.

Soon enough a break in the game came, the announcers hyping up the crowd with some silly chants and trivia on the big screen.  (y/n) found herself slumping down into her seat, aimlessly tapping around on her phone to pass the time.  She hadn’t been paying enough attention to notice the change in game on the big screen, that is until there was a hand smacking at her shoulder again.

Looking up, she’d almost expected to see the game in motion again.  Satoru had only been tapping at her like that when an exciting play was in action.  However this time, he’s pointing up at the screen.

She gapes when she sees that she’s displayed on the screen.  The camera has a wide angle that includes Shoko and Satoru on either side of her, the words Kiss Cam spelled out in pink cursive above them.  It’s complete with lipstick stains and sparkles for dramatic touch.

“Oh my god” She mumbles, hoping that her blush is undetectable by the camera, seeing as her face felt scorching hot from embarrassment.

The longer the camera is focused on her, the rowdier the crowd around her becomes.  Eagerly chanting ‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ like a bunch of teenagers at their first house party.

Satoru is grinning so hard his face hurts.  This was like a dream come true.  The easiest excuse in all of history to get a kiss from the girl he’s had a crush on since he was fifteen was just presented to him on a silver platter- and the crowd’s cheering only spurred him on further.

Even Suguru is giving him a smirk and a nod of approval.  He’d heard more earfuls than most about the ins and outs of Satoru’s feelings for (y/n).  Although on occasion, Shoko or Nanami were on the receiving end of his lovesick rambling.

His heart is about to burst out of his chest when he turns to (y/n).  His smile is starting to hurt and for a second he realizes he’s going to have to relax to actually kiss her.

“Are you okay with-?” 

The question barely comes out before he’s cut short.

(y/n) had already turned away from him, swiveled in her seat to face Shoko.  It’s like he’s watching it happen in slow motion.

They both giggle at their idea, and (y/n) takes off Shoko’s hat while she’s quickly tucking her hair behind her ears to clear her face.  And then time goes back to normal and all too quickly, Satoru watches as they lean towards each other to share a kiss.

It’s just a peck, so swift and chaste it’s over as soon as it happens.  The crowd hollers and then are just as quickly getting excited over the next unsuspecting pair on camera.

(y/n) and Shoko laugh a bit more before sitting back in their seats, going back to their phones and striking up conversation about some anime they’d been interested in.  Both, or at least (y/n), completely oblivious to the offended gape on Satoru’s face.

That was totally his kiss, after all! It was his perfect moment to finally take things to the next level with his long time friend that he’d harbored a crush on.

To make matters worse, Shoko wasn’t as innocent as she was pretending to be, sending a smirk his way when (y/n) was too focused on her phone.  He scowled back at her.  She knew about his crush! She knew he was going to go for that kiss!

With a huff, he stood up from his seat and made his way out of the stands.  He needed a bottle of water, or a snack, or just some damn space away from his so-called friend that was teasing him for snatching his kiss.

Satoru leaving so suddenly finally perked (y/n’s) attention.  He was gone too fast for her to call after him, but she worriedly watched him scale the steps with ease as he headed towards the hall of vendors.  She locked eyes with Satoru, raising a brow in silent question.

“He’s just being pouty,” Suguru replied casually, shrugging his shoulders before turning back towards the field.  “You wanna go after him? Be my guest” 

(y/n) sighed, turning the other direction towards Shoko.

“What’s he so pressed about?” She mutters.  “What even happened?” 

Shoko rolls her eyes, a lazy grin stretching on her lips.

“I dunno,” She says in a teasingly melodic tone of voice, suggesting she knew exactly what set their friend off.  “Maybe pluck up some courage and go ask him?” 

With another sigh of defeat, (y/n) slumped back into her seat, her thumbnail wedged between her teeth as she mulled over the idea.  A nervous flutter settled in her chest, a persistent buzz of confusion and anxiety distracting her even more so from the game starting up again.

When she suddenly shot out of her seat, muttering some excuse about needing to stretch her legs before she raced up the stairs in the direction she’d seen Satoru head off towards.

Two sets of eyes watched her as she hurried off.  Suguru and Shoko locked eyes once she was out of sight, both of them snickering between themselves.  It didn’t exactly take an active imagination to know exactly what was coming next. 

To her surprise, (y/n) found Satoru as soon as she left the stands.  Moping around the upper part of the arena with a half-empty bag of cotton candy.  She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, effectively getting herself caught by him.

“Why’re you up here eating your feelings?” (y/n) speaks first, eyes narrowed inquisitively.  Satoru scoffs as she approaches him, snatching a piece of the pink sweet right out of his hands.

“I’m not eating my feelings” He replies unconvincingly, digging the hole deeper as he shoves a rather large piece of cotton candy into his mouth.

(y/n) rolls her eyes, but the smile on her face is impossible to hide.

“Sure,” She remarks.  “You’re totally not pouting right now.  C’mon just fess up.  What’s wrong?”

“I’m not pouting.  My friend betrayed me, I think I’m right in being upset about that?” It’s a rhetorical question, followed by another shove of cotton candy into his mouth.

(y/n) frowns.

“Betrayed you?” She repeats.  “Did I miss something? Who betrayed you?” 

Satoru groaned, tossing the remainder of his cotton candy into the trash dramatically.  (y/n) had to resist the urge to laugh, not understanding where this whole little tantrum came from.

“Shoko! Obviously! I mean she knew that that kiss was-!” 

He stops mid sentence, realizing where this outburst was going to lead him if he didn’t relax and go back to his usual suave demeanor.  (y/n) shook her head in confusion, her brows pinching together.

“Was what?” She asked, a breathless laugh escaping her.  “Meaningless? A joke between friends?” She suggested.  “You’re mad about a kiss?” 

“Of course I’m mad-! Well, I- I guess not mad, I’m not mad at her,” He stammered over his words, not knowing how exactly to explain the complicated feelings.

(y/n) tried to be patient while he stammered and struggled to make himself clear.  Mostly because she was partially amused by the whole thing.  Satoru prided himself in being what he called a smooth-talker, and while normally she’d laugh at him for that, it was a shock to see him behave the total opposite right in front of her.

“But that wasn’t exactly fair, I mean, she was just trying to rile me up.  And- like- yeah, that’s what we usually do, we pick on each other but that just- that just wasn’t fair! That was my kiss and she knew it! And she just-” 

“What do you mean ‘your kiss’?” 

Finally Satoru had been rendered speechless, his mouth still hanging open mid rant, jaw slacking a bit as he realized he’d gotten carried away.  (y/n’s) expression almost mirrors his, her eyes wide and lips parted, even as she holds her breath and waits for him to clarify.

But he’s completely frozen in front of her.

“Satoru,” She waves her hand in front of his face, trying to bring him back to reality.  “What did you mean ‘your kiss’?” She repeats, shaking her head at him.

“I- I just… I meant that-” 

Words are spilling out of his mouth without direction, without knowing what the hell the right thing to say was.  He’d known (y/n) for two years now, and in all of that time he’d been pretty proud of the persona he’d built up to be sure that he was always the cool one, the guy she could rely on to be smooth and popular.  He felt pathetic now, letting his own secrets slip and stuttering over himself like an idiot.

The corners of (y/n’s) lips twitched into a smile the longer he flustered over who-knows-what.  It catches his attention when she unintentionally lets out a little laugh.

“Sorry,” She apologizes right away.  “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you.  I just… are you trying to say that you wanted me to kiss you? For the cam game?” 

She tries not to sound so hopeful that it comes across desperate, but the mere idea that Satoru had wanted a kiss from her had her chest thrumming with butterflies.

Satoru’s throat feels dry, and suddenly her gaze feels like a spotlight.  The intensity has the hair on the back of his neck standing up.  He pulls the hat off his head to run a hand through his hair to relieve the heat.

“Well… yeah,” He admits, sounding more bashful than she ever would have thought he was capable of.  Her small smile turned a little brighter, and he tried to get his voice back.  “Not that I need a silly game to kiss you, obviously-” 

“Obviously” She repeats the word fondly, giving him a small nod.

“But- s-still, the kiss cam, would’ve been… fun” He admits sheepishly.  She giggles, nodding her head again.

“Well, it was fun, for the record,” She teases, earning a roll of his eyes from behind his shades.  She steps closer to him then, a tilt in her head as she takes in the obvious nerves written on his face.  “But if you wanted to kiss me, you could’ve just asked” 

“I was going to,” He argued, his hands moving about erratically.  “It's not my fault Shoko beat me to it!” 

She giggled at his drama, reaching out and grabbing his hands as they flew around, still laughing as he froze up again from the sudden touch.

“You know, it didn’t exactly mean anything when Shoko did it,” She suggested.  “I know there’s not any cameras… but…” 

Satoru raised a brow.

“(y/l/n) (y/n),” He gasped dramatically, “Are you asking me to kiss you?” 

Her cheeks tint pink as she bites back her smile, giving him a small nod of her head.  He smiles back at her, pulling his hands out of hers and dropping his hat so he could lay them across her jaw, tilting her head upwards so he didn’t have to lean down as far to reach her.  

She doesn’t wait a second longer for him, closing her eyes and leaning up on the tips of her toes so she could press her lips against his.  Satoru’s quick to reciprocate, his fingers flexing against her skin, holding on as tight as he can without hurting her as he deepens the kiss right away.  She has to grab him by the shoulders to keep herself balanced.

His lips are soft, and taste sugary like the cotton candy he’d been eating.  She’d always thought he’d taste a little bit like sugar, what with how much of it he consumes.  It makes her smile to know first hand.

When they break the kiss, he steals one more quick peck from her, grinning with excitement before he pulls away so he can pick up his forgotten hat from the ground.

“Feel better now?” She teases as he slings his arm around her shoulder to head back towards their seats.

“Mhm,” He hums, pulling his cap over her head and smiling as it slips down her forehead.  He pokes it upwards with his index finger, then pokes the tip of her nose.  “But next game I bring you to, I get the kiss cam kiss, alright?” 

There’s a gleam in her eye and a blush on her face as she leans into him, matching his steps as they head down the stairs to their seats.  As shameless as ever, she can’t help but tease him.

“Then sit on my left next time” ___

xoxo ~ jordie

[thistlerock]

To me Riz and Adaine are both a-spec and it's a solidarity thing but it's also a thing that makes Adaine feel bad because they're not the same and Riz used the label first so clearly he's doing it "right" and yeah

I mean idek if Adaine is ace. I think she uses the label for a bit and then stuff like Oisin happens and it's oh. Maybe not ace maybe just started having interest in that stuff later than her friends. (Which is so fine. Just because you end up changing labels doesn't mean the time you spent thinking it fit is any less important and switching around while you're a teenager is so valid can we normalise that sometimes you're not sure and have to test the waters. And it's fine.) Aromantic allosexual rep to ME. I do genuinely think it feels like, bad to her? To change? Because she was "wrong" and the whole oh you're too young to know it was just a phase bullshit didn't directly get to her because her parents aren't in the picture anymore but it's still a general consensus in the air when it comes to queerness. And like, it feels bad to feel like those statements are "right". And she's the oracle isn't she supposed to know? Why can she never just know things about herself.

And honestly smaller part of her probably feels bad because she "claimed" (genuinely thought) she's just like Riz and there's a world where that feels disrespectful (he doesn't care at all. This kid did extensive queer research for two weeks after the nightmare king stuff had an entire clue board settled on a few labels for himself and then honestly didn't talk about it ever again.)

And being alloromantic but asexual is somewhat more acceptable than the other way around because those people still want relationships they're just "pure" (I'm saying this in a condescending way it's. Weird and a problem that asexuality gets infantilised or purity cultured sometimes like can we all chill) but like allosexual and aromantic? Gets a bad rep. She just. Feels bad for being. I think she doesn't really know what to do with herself. She can have a little crush and that's kind of an exciting feeling and she might be a little nervous or giddy but that's as far as it's gonna get. She doesn't want anything to happen about it.

She doesn't want to date, and she honestly doesn't really have interest in actually participating in physical intimacy it's just that she thinks about it and experiences attraction. Never wants to get married never wants to relationship and she's fine with that but it still feels like there's something she's doing wrong and she doesn't really know?? What to do about it? Cause, yeah. There's nothing to do about it.

And like a-spec is called that because it's a spectrum it's not like Riz is just both of the dials perfectly turned up to max. I'm sure aroace people like that exist but it's definitely not the majority. I think he's sex repulsed and the idea of romance is suffocating but he like, probably likes the idea of typically romantic intimacy outside of the restrictions and obligations and hierarchy that romantic relationships tend to bring? Like I look at Riz and go yeah man that guy would love to give you a little kiss on the cheek and tell you he loves you because he does he just doesn't wanna do all that crazy shit that would imply romantic commitment. The hierarchies are scary just let him love his friends. This does kinda place him in queerplatonic territory which yeah I do think that works but like also he doesn't have to be he just wants to exist in the same space as people. Adaine is not that at all she's averse to the stuff that in most contexts is romantic. Riz can ignore or outright refuse the usual context in his head Adaine has trouble separating it and also like, doesn't want to. And she doesn't have to. Neither of them is wrong in how they feel and they can still both be aro. Head in hands. Adaine still feels bad.

I don't think you can be "more" asexual than others but Riz is definitely "very" asexual in his aversion to. Well. Sexual stuff lmao. I think he experiences a flavour of tertiary attraction specifically towards men because something something Baron is masc and that's also okay. In some ways he absolutely does and in other ways he does not fit the simplified idea of what aroace ness is "supposed to" be to some people and that's like? Fine? He doesn't care. Again because he did such intense research that he knows that's normal. This kid is quietly a queer dictionary now and is super informed about a lot of issues relating to it and it just never comes up. He has things to say about monogamy and heteronormativity locked and loaded should it ever be a topic of conversation but like. Why would it be.

Riz is still fully "wow it's so cool to have a friend that's also aro" and happy to be here and Adaine has a small crisis about it every two weeks. This makes up for the very BIG and long winded crisis Riz had initially. Nervous besties with complicated feelings about romance and sex.

Full disclosure I wrote this at four am and it makes so much sense to me right at this moment but when I look at it again I'm probably gonna be like wow what the fuck were you saying. Posting it anyway because the voices. The voices. The aroace-spec demons in my brain.

[big-mean-trans-dyke]

I saw your “who’s smarter” poll and I felt a physical revulsion to the concept that either party could be considered smarter than the other.

Instead may I propose: trans woman pop science speaker who skullfucks her oppositional straw-TREF in between leading questions. The straw-TERF starts out certain in her ass-backwards beliefs but at the end of the show she’s singing praises to science in between swallows of thick womanly jizz. (Whether the straw-TERFs are method actresses or real volunteers, the audience never knows. All the same, they are compensated fairly for their performance, much to the average viewer’s surprise)

Debate and discussion are important in any polite and well-informed society, and so of course these kinds of things happen regularly! Applications are opened to transfems and cuntgirls with the understanding that one of each will be chosen to debate various different social issues on live TV.

About half of the cuntgirls chosen are prominent TERFs, well known and eager to spread their ideas. The other half are less known, and could be TERFs themselves, or cuntgirls just looking to serve their betters in a more public way. Regardless, the debates always play out the same way.

They begin with an introduction of the two participants. The transfem walks out on stage to cheers, followed by her opponent crawling out, predictably, to boos and jeers. A moderator introduces each of them, as well as the topic for the day, before continuing.

The debates continue in sets of three states. First, the moderator reads a question. During this time, the transfem grabs her opponent by the head and shoves her throat full of cock. This is to ensure respectful silence during the reading of the question so that both participants can properly focus. The transfem refrains from raping the TERF's face, knowing how loud it usually is. Knowing how much TERFs enjoy talking when nobody's interested in what they have to say, it also helps to keep her quiet when it's not her turn to talk.

Next, the transfem has her chance to answer. During her speaking, she's obviously free to grip the stupid bitch she's debating by the hair and fuck her skull. She's free to respond to the question in any way she chooses, taking as long as she likes. When she's finished, she'll signal so by pulling her cock out of her opponent's throat, leaving it free for its secondary purpose.

The TERF signals the beginning of her speech with a loud *GLURK* and a gasp for air. From then on, she's allowed to spend as much time as the transfem just had to argue her points. The transfem isn't allowed to quiet the TERF for this period, but she's obviously still allowed to make use of her in other ways. She'll often occupy herself by stroking herself off, fucking the TERF's tits and, if necessary, taking a piss break in her hair. Whenever the TERF is done spewing pointless bullshit, the transfem spears her throat with cock again and they move on to the next question.

Despite how much more dignity this process lends the average TERF argument, these debates consistently end with the TERF in eager agreement with the transfem above her on issues like "Are TERFs really as stupid as they seem, or are they just pretending, hoping to have their asses raped?", or "How many children should a transfem be allowed to pump into a cuntgirl's womb before she's expected to take ownership of the cuntgirl?".

They're paid generously for their time, and offered TERF certification that won't need to be renewed for the next 3 years, also incredibly generous. However, it's very, very rare that the 'TERFs' involved in these debates have any interest in certification by the end.

[antiendovents]

every time i open tumblr or think about endos i get this horrible feeling where my stomach is (like actually is, not my gut) and i think part of it is coming from a place of feeling threatened by them?? not threatened-threatened but just. ugh idk theyre just so annoying and its all so annoying

like whyyyy do you want this thing ive struggled with for my whole life. this shit is NOT fun and no amount of playing pretend can change that /nay

and why are you roleplaying being a system and then saying “noo its differenttt” /nay

and why are they dissing medical research constantly, why are they making up research, misinterpreting research, not looking at research that proves their point with a critical eye

but anyway i get sooo fucking angry and bothered and annoyed when they try explaining it to me over and over and over again and its always the same bullshit talking points that arent backed by anything except a tumblr post from fucking 2009 and a blog from 1986 or a research paper that has a very clear conflict of interest or a research paper that makes baseless claims that are either completely unrelated to the study or are related but dont have a source other than the researcher just. said it. or a research paper where the study participants were never interviewed IRL and everything was online and its limited to 13 people or like. research papers that are generally not valid or reliable!!!

and ive tried so hard to not be bothered by it but it is so. so difficult.

anyway thank you for making this account its a really great place for venting and i really appreciate its existence

i think we can sort of relate to that feeling, anon. It sucks, and it's terrible that we can't just be safe from this shit. It's so annoying that endos just constantly trying and shove their ways into our spaces, screaming about how oppressed they are and how we should all cater to them. We get like, this sinking feeling anytime we're in a spot where we have to interact with or even look at them. They're so,, anger-inducing. Like they're blatantly ableist but at least half of the community is too stupid to see it, that's what it feels like anyways. None of their research tends to be valid, and I'll be honest 90% of the time when they send "sources" I'm not gonna click on it because I already know it's gonna be bullshit or I'm paranoid it'll be some kind of virus or like a gore-site. I don't trust endos to give reliable information nor do I trust them to even be able to share safe links

Uh, anyways, sorry I kind of ranted there, I just meant to say I relate to you, and thank you anon, I'm very glad you appreciate this blog 🫂 it helps to know that this place helps people, If that makes sense

[caldella]

Another post-Mastermind crack headcanon

RE: Vassago

BTW for anyone who enjoys this headcanon, I'm currently making it a fanfiction on Ao3! I'm seeing some people think maybe Vassago is Andre's ex, but I have another crack theory.

Let's say that Vassago is about the same age as Stolas, as I get that vibe. We've been shown that he's energetic and interested in doing things 'the right way.' And he clearly loves 'fun' things like music, and dancing, and even floats around on a fucking star shape. His name on merchandise is stylized like a pirate treasure map. Let's take a small assumption that Vassago grew up less isolated than Stolas and was part of “Goetia society” earlier than him. Like Stolas, he doesn't really gel with the haughty, holier-than-thou attitude parts of their culture. I'm also guessing that, a little like Stolas, he can feel out of place in it.

We know that once Stolas got his grimoire, he was meant to learn his role and join Goetian society as well. Let's assume he was in his teens when he was really thrust into the thick of it. Vassago has been participating in the 'grown up Goetia' society for a while, learning his role but also finding it disappointing. Stifling, so boring. Then this young prince shows up, nervous and socially awkward but so eager. He wants to participate, he wants to be part of things. And he's interesting! He knows all these random facts. He has books about pirates! Vassago loves pirate stories! Apparently Stolas' very first friend did, too, so he knows all about them! Stolas likes song and music, and he has dramatic feelings, and stars:

🌟His whole thing is stars! 🌟

Vassago wants to know this guy. There is so much potential! Maybe Vassago has a little crush, or maybe Stolas is an estranged half-brother or cousin he wants to know better. But Stolas is also engaged to Stella, who's Andre's sister. Ugh, Andre. Vassago knew that Andre was a pompous bullshitter from day one. His social circles are definitely not Vassago's, so unfortunately Vassago doesn't get to know Stolas extremely well, but he tries. He does see Stolas' enthusiasm dull under the pressure of Goetian society, and he doesn't like that it makes the owl prince more withdrawn.

Then Stolas gets married.

He still shows up to events when required, but nothing more. Even when he's there, it's like he's not. He does his roles, then he stands in a corner, sipping wine until it's time to leave. He acts like all the interesting parts of him never existed. No emotions, no info dumps, no theatrics, no song. The only time he sparks back up is if someone asks about his kid – he could go on for hours about her. Vassago doesn't know completely why Stolas has become like this, but he has a feeling that Stella and Andre have had some hand in it. He's miffed about that, but he's not close enough to Stolas to inquire into it. Stella and Andre's social circles continue to grow ("ugh" again), and Prince Stolas becomes more of a stranger as his wife and brother-in-law's popularity grows.

A couple decades in, and you hear Stolas might actually be getting a divorce. A Goetia? Getting a divorce? Unheard of, a surprise since he's never said much to anyone, but Vassago doesn't like Stella or Andre, so fine. Good for him.

Then Andre calls up an insane trial out of the blue that is supposedly about Stolas, for Stolas' sake, yet Stolas isn't there. What?! Vassago's not dumb. Something's fucky. He can tell Andre's bullshitting to some amount. But as usual no one cares. Everyone's eager to get this imp beheading over with. Until Stolas himself portals in, with his star magic and the most dramatic theater-kid energy anyone's seen from him in almost twenty years, and then he declares that he is going to clarify this entire mess:

🎵🌟THROUGH SONG🌟🎵 🕺

"YES!"

(Edited to remove info that isn't correct as Vassago is likely also a prince. And really, this could also work if Stolas is older, and Vassago saw him as an interesting figure to look up to who suddenly became withdrawn.)

[hanzajesthanza]

Can someone explain to me the part where Dandelion told Geralt to have sex with essi so she would be happy and it would all be over?

Like what?! Thats toxic to have sex with her, knowing she has feelings for you. Why would geralt even consider that? I donr understand? I thought it was a very good short story but this ruined it for me but maybe i missed smth

“there are some things between the heavens and earth that even philosophers cannot dream of”

but, despite that, i’ll try to answer.

the short story is about making sacrifice for love, that love is sacrifice. geralt cannot sacrifice for essi because he doesn’t love her. and the greatest sacrifice in the end, for essi, is given not by geralt, but by dandelion, who loves her like a brother.

a note here is to not try to apply understandings of relationships to witcher characters because you will only end up confused and frustrated. our heroes (the good) participate in unhealthy dynamics at at least half the rate of the villains (the evil). a lot of everything is toxic or unhealthy at some point. for example, geralt and yennefer are endgame (and eventually they work through their problems) but sapkowski by time of contempt has no problem writing away how their relationship was once immature and volatile—and i feel like this is because they are characters and not people, if we are talking about real people, real people do not change. so labels like toxic, unhealthy, abusive, don’t really apply in the same way they do to real life relationships. i don’t mean that we shouldn’t use them, but i mean that it’s different describing a book character’s actions than a real person’s, because the characters’ “goodness” is not exactly determined by how fair they are in their relationships. if we talk about dandelion and toxicity, he is probably worse then the cesspit geralt fought the zeugl in. the point is to create interesting characters and stories, not good people.

tl;dr on that point, understand that every character relationship is created to serve the narrative and not the other way around, so sapkowski is very flexible with them. it boggles the mind because the characters can be so lifelike sometimes, and the urge is there to see them as people, but, they are story characters and were created to be such.

and as such you run into things that range from improbable to absolutely ridiculous bullshit in real life between real people, but in a story, are done to carry the right theme.

for example, geralt and istredd trying to kill themselves over yennefer, this is probably not the logical conclusion most men would come to, but it is dramatized because it is a story, and a story about, well, shards of ice which they’ve both caught in the eyes and heart, making only the snow queen beautiful and the rest of their world ugly.

dandelion here in a little sacrifice is asking geralt to sacrifice for essi by having sex with her even though he feels nothing for her, does not love her. he is asking geralt to find it within himself to sacririce despite not loving her. and indeed despite the one night of sacrifice, nothing comes of the witcher and essi, unlike with the witcher and the sorceress, because he does not reciprocate her love.

this is also where we get to call bullshit on sapkowski for understanding a one night stand for a girl you don’t love as sacrifice, appeasement. come on man

although i think there is a difference between what happens between geralt and essi and what happens between jacek and monika (from the short story “tandaradei!”). with geralt, essi, and geralt’s “sacrifice” for her, it’s not that geralt was leading her on and making her believe he loved her. unlike jacek. again, it’s more like appeasement, maybe consolation, that things would not work between them.

i don’t why it was geralt’s burden to sacrifice for her, though—perhaps because he intentionally tried to arouse her in the beginning of the story, so when she actually fell in love with him and he was like “whoops nevermind i was just self-depricating” to satisfy her desire for him became a sacrifice he was obligated to make.

(p.s. please don’t understand any of my answer as giving this a thumbs up, i’m just trying to explain it as it might have been conceived)

if it seems too pessimistic, ignore the details. the better part of this story imo comes from its conclusions:

love requires sacrifice. true love requires not just a little, but a lot.

essi obsessed with geralt is paralleled with geralt obsessed with yennefer. geralt realizes that yennefer has sacrificed for him, a little sacrifice, but that “a little sacrifice is a hell of a lot,” and he has been demanding even more than that little sacrifice (re: a shard of ice, he wants her full commitment, when he cannot say “i love you” first).

but unlike with yennefer to geralt, geralt cannot (initially) sacrifice for essi because he does not love her, “i feel nothing.” but essi still desires geralt, somewhat in part maybe because geralt made a pass at her in the beginning. so he feels guilty that she is in love with him, she frustrated that she is too, treats it like sickness.

this is treated by dandelion, who advises them that they’re all parting now, anyways, so they have to come to an end with this conundrum and either have a relation or not. in the end, geralt finds it within himself to sacrifice for essi, despite not loving her (how?).

then essi dies and it turns out in the end that the greatest sacrifice for essi was made by dandelion

[forestfiresandfics]

Foils and Mirrors

Another oft misconstrued literary technique is that of the foil. It may just be me misconstruing it though, considering I have to periodically look up the definition because I’ve gotten it confused again. Character foils are two characters who interact and by their interaction, their differences are highlighted. TV tropes describes it as ‘the foil behind a jewel to make it shine brighter’ but another way to look at it would be the way yellow shows up better on a black background compared to white. Foils are defined by their differences. Mirror characters are defined by their similarities. 

While I don’t think it’s wrong to call 3rd life Grian and Martyn foils per say, I think a more interesting reading is them as mirrors. And really, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Third life features a lot of parallels, both in plot and character arc, and the Desert Duo and Renchanting are often pointed to when it comes to discussions of this. I think it’s worth also including Flower Husbands in that list as well. And every day I consider adding Cleo and Bdubs to that list as well, but I haven’t quite decided how well they work, so for now I’ll focus on just the three groups. I will often in my writing and musing and comments and stuff refer to these three pairs as the ‘red-green’ pairs, because they spend a protracted amount of time where one of them is on their green life and the other is on their red. Scar and Grian are the most extreme example of this, spending 5 and a half episodes like that. But the timing of it aside, what’s maybe more important is that each of these teams entered into the battle of the red desert as one red and one green each. A pivotal moment in the story where we also see everyone mirroring each other. 

I think it’s fair to view Desert Duo and Renchanting as mirrors, with the flower husbands acting as foils to the others. Each share enough in common that it’s worth discussing all three groups, but while the desert faction and the kingdom share basically the exact same plot lines and traits, the hobbits serve as something of an alternative option—what they ‘could have been.’ Also fun, is that the Flower Husbands spend nearly, but not quite, equal time with both other groups: doing their job well as foils in the context of contrast-via-interaction. They discuss their statuses and their plans, and as far as the reading of ‘desert duo: protagonists’ and ‘renchanting: antagonists’ go, the flower husbands are ideologically neutral for most of the series. They make friends where they can, call out bullshit where they see it, and it wasn’t until they were thrown into the war that they actually participated in taking sides. 

So what are the similarities between each, and what are the differences? The similarities come first. All three groups are red-green pairs. All three pairs have some kind of strong partnership, all three pairs have a scene where the red of the relationship offers fealty with a trinket (flowers for the husbands, flowers for the desert, and depending how you see it either the rabbit’s foot or the axe for the kingdom). As I suggested before, Desert Duo and Renchanting have even more in common. Both partnerships began because of a debt, both leaders are businessmen, both leaders are red and indentures green, both of the indentures are the “brains of the operation,” both indentures grumble their way through the partnership at first before becoming devoted, and both sit on either side of the server wide war—not just as participants but as the ringleaders. There is also literally even a scene where Martyn tells Ren to put his clothes back on (“me lord? Fancy putting your armour on?”). Frankly this is just scratching the surface, it’s insane how perfect mirrors they are. 

This similarity between the two main groups on the server really highlight the tragedy (lowercase t) of the death game, how these two groups ended up mortal enemies simply because of the world they live in, despite having more in common than differences. And the flower husbands as foils in my opinion ALSO make it sadder. While renchanting and desert duo are messing around with complicated hierarchical relationships and testing loyalty and ordering their partners around, the husbands are working together out of trust and respect. Scott starts out with his fellow greens in rejecting the partnership at first, but he demonstrates what mutualistic relationship should look like, not to mention a relationship that doesn’t make itself the whole server’s problem.

This is already getting long so I won’t get into this next bit too far, but while the red-green pairs foil and mirror each other, each pair also serves as a foil for themselves. Scar is confident while Grian is timid, Ren is trying to do a lot all at once while Martyn is organized and keeps him in line. Jimmy is friendly while Scott is matter of fact. All the reds end up acting as cloudcuckoolanders with the greens to bring them back down to earth and on track. They are all somewhat odd couples, they are very different from one another, and the juxtaposition of these differences highlights each other’s traits as well as their strengths and weaknesses. These partnerships are all advantageous, and they can each fill in for the other’s weaknesses. All three partnerships wouldn’t have made it as far as they did without each other. Not that this makes them idillic partners, they each have their flaws as well, but that’s not really the point. They each help the other shine, like the backing of a jewel. 

Masterlist

[whatisamildopinion]

aasimar!riz makes me absolutely feral and i have two (2) questions

1) what exactly is riz able to see without his glasses in both day and night time? i know that the majority of blind ppl have some residual vision and am vv curious

2) is riz able to summon his wings without casting radiant soul/celestial revelation or is it bound strictly to spell slots?

anyway tysm for this au that haunts me. your body horror in the nightmare king’s forest was god-tier(pun not intended) and made me physically uncomfortable.

muah muah thank you for participating in my interrogation

hello hello!!!! ask and ye shall receive. I always love infodumping about Aasimar au

so, 1.)

Riz's vision is weird and complicated because it's running on fantasy bullshit rules, so it's not exactly equivalent to all of the experiences of a blind/low-vision person in real life, but the aspect of some residual vision is definitely one of the more realistic aspects of it, and he definitely has some!

to clarify the physical effects of what happened, after the sheer trauma of eyes-gouged-out in the Nightmare Forest (see the end notes of this chapter to read my unofficial essay on why I think, in a world of magical healing, some injuries stick around and some don't) Cassandra could restore the technical physical construction of his eyes, but for trauma-mental-block reasons, she can't restore the full functionality that they had before. Riz's eyes are, physically speaking at least, fine! and they look pretty much exactly the same as they did before the forest. but because he had a mental block around the idea of the injury, the magical healing falls short. it doesn't work fully. his brain is convinced that they will never be the same, and so they actually comply more closely with his expectations than the physical healing ability Cassandra has. so Cassandra has to circumvent the mental block by giving him something else: Eyes of the Night, which is technically a Twilight Domain Cleric feature (Kristen also has it!) so Riz shouldn't be able to have it, but Cassandra is essentially granting him a miracle here, because holy shit, they have traumatized this kid SO MUCH and also he's Kristen's bestie and also Cassandra and Kalina in Aasimar au have a weird complex about being partially the reason that Riz exists, but I digress. So, all that established, what does that actually mean for residual vision levels for our guy? it essentially breaks down into two categories.

Night/low light vision: Riz can see perfectly!!! Eyes of the Night, baby. he has Darkvision out to a range of 300 feet, and if you're not a meta enthusiast, the normal range of Darkvision is only 60 feet. post-Nightmare Forest, Riz can actually see better in the dark than most people, even in a world where Darkvision is pretty commonplace. if you need a rogue to do shit in the dark, you know who to call. this is the fantasy bullshit part, that his vision works perfectly in low-light conditions, but, as we will see in later chapters, it provides some interesting moments

Day/bright light vision: this is where the residual vision part kicks in. with glasses, Riz can see movement out to about 100 feet, although he can't really see who or what it is. within fifty feet, he can more or less identify individuals if he is already familiar with height and general fashion. for example, he could identify the Bad Kids easily, but recognizing someone he had class with once or twice but didn't really talk to? forget it. within twenty feet, he can kinda read facial expressions; again, easier if he already knows the person. full stop, glasses or no, he cannot read. general rule of thumb, if he's not using his glasses, halve all of those distances. the only reason he's not actively going to be using a cane is because he's effectively got his own magical form of assistive aid: paladin blindsight. also, rogue dex goes crazy. he will just straight up catch himself before he fully trips nine times out of ten. in coming chapters, there's gonna be a little sub-plot about magical assistive technologies, featuring everyone's favorite barbaficer, that's going to help Riz a lot, but even that solution is going to be used less often that not, because it will essentially boil down to maintaining concentration, which you simply cannot do all day without causing hella migraines, I fear. TLDR, Riz has a decent amount of residual vision, and combined with his paladin and rogue abilities, he doesn't have physical trouble so much as academic trouble. a lot of his rogue work is about to be A LOTTTTT harder. rest assured this will be a plot point in junior year.

and, 2.)

so, fun fact, radiant soul is not actually a spell!!! it's an Aasimar race feature. so, unlike using a fly spell, when he activates radiant soul, no one can counterspell it. but, while it doesn't use spell slots, it is a once-per-long-rest deal, and the wings are tied in with the rest of it. so, no, he can't summon his wings outside of using radiant soul. rip. if he could, there would be so many shenanigans. although, if he ever gets up to having third level spells, perhaps I will homebrew that he can burn a third level spell slot to summon his wings outside of radiant soul, since Fly is a third level spell. hmm. something to think about

anyway, this got away from me a little lol, but I am glad that I could torture you a little with some delightful body horror, and my au in general!!! if ever you decide to launch another interrogation, I will gladly participate!

[hellostarposts]

Episode 55 - Pest Control

Jordan Kennedy

That Jane Prentiss' paranoia will never go away for Tim and Jon.

They should’ve just let Jon watch the incineration.

I THOUGHT THAT WE WERE DONE WITH THE BUGS

I swear if this goes back to that nursing home decay pocket dimension. 

House of ants.

Next move is to burn the entire house down. Its already vacant, a little arson wouldn’t hurt.

Replace the spray with a flamethrower

Oh he’s going to open the fridge.

Stopping for a smoke break is well deserved.

GOD DAMMIT A very tall man in a brown suit showed up. That’s the same description from the nursing home ordeal.

How can the rot man be so strong?

BURN BABY BURN! DISCO INFERNO!

Told you that arson is the solution.

Also, that suit saved him from meeting the same fate as that funeral director’s hand.

Oh so this is the guy who dealt with the wasps after Jane stuck her hand into the nest.

Suspicious lack of wasps is very concerning.

At first I thought that the flesh mass in the attic was going to lead to the inset rebirth of Jane. but then remembered that this guy explicitly stated that he never met her. Only saw her dead body.

The landlord setting himself on fire is a choice. He definitely took my prior advice.

His name is Arthur Nolan, he’s got a weird flame shaped scar on his abdomen. When he presses a match to it his whole body ignites. This is obviously going to be important because he is way too chill about it and honestly seems kind of annoyed about having to deal with this kind of situation again.

Does this count as spontaneous combustion?

Man turned his traumatic experiences into a job interview.

I did not anticipate that the rot man and Prentiss would be somehow connected. How interesting.

“There’s no connection between insects and disease” yes there is. There are quite literally so many examples of that. In this instance it is parasites.

Supplemental

Increased volume of reports due to halloween shenanigans.

Awe Jon finally got a good night of sleep because he’s doing work of value.

Can’t stalk people when you are working hard for your paycheque.

First off, I deeply respect Jordan. Dude is much braver than I will ever be when it comes to insects. Second, I do not care for the reprise of the bug related bullshit. Why oh why do we need to make it clear that Jon Amhurst and Jane Prentiss are somehow a part of the same source of bullshit. And that connection is only discovered through them being burned and producing a disgusting smell. I. Hate. It. I don’t think that we have much of anything to create a theory on it. Unless the nursing home isn’t really a pocket dimension. It could be that the side effects of Jon Amhurst being in the building for too long caused the rapid decay of the building. We see a similar effect in the house that he was occupying too, the slimy walls. The ants are throwing me off though, why ants? Unless it's because they are a part of a colony, so a hive mind reference. Maybe they are just part of a decomposition analogy. Jon represents the actual decay of stuff, which is the slime (that ate that one girl's hand). Jane represents the decomposers (and I guess the infestation of insects) which precede the rot process. I am 100% overthinking this now but I don’t care. It’s managed to force me into participating in the bug crap plot. My only statement about the supplemental is that Jon needs a hobby that isn’t stalking.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/11/2024

sibling visit!!!!!!!!! but who cares about that my cats finally greeted each other calmly and politely!!!!!!!!

listening

WET DREAM by SNOW WIFE, off one of my sister's playlists. i have since added it to my playlist titled "SOMEBODY COME FUCK THIS (GAY)". sounds like early kesha?

-

reading

oh right i read a brace of temeraire books last week. we're in australia now. excited to see what sort of bullshit we get up to. i do really love these books and am astonished at home much they Feel like period-typical books, but i am too busy going :D :D :D while reading to have tuesdaypost thoughts about them

-

watching

thank you @rae-being-naughty for this rec bc i inhaled A Murder At The End Of The World in one evening. limited series on hulu that is set in Legally Not Elon Musk's Compound with Legally Not Elon Musk.

"A Murder at the End of the World" is a mystery series with a new kind of detective at the helm -- a Gen Z amateur sleuth and tech-savvy hacker named Darby Hart. In the new limited series, Darby and eight other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at a remote and dazzling location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must put to use all of her combined skills to prove it was in fact murder, all against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.

oh my godddddd do i love a horrible little woman. sopping wet cat pathetic fuckup of a woman. enormous friends at the table clementine kesh vibes here but slightly lesss malicious. now! normally i am a girl's girl. i love women. but my god did darby royally fuck up her former lover.

one of the better hetero-appearing romances ive ever seen-- we fall in love with bill just as much as darby did, and his death drives the show in a way a fridged wife would in a different show.

i like how it is not a show About hacking, and darby became a hacker somewhat incidentally bc she needed to hack to get what she wanted. super tense, beautifully shot, balances current-day and flashbacks well, the twist is honestly bonkers but it is a very fair mystery.

-

playing

got clorinde :) now i have to collect one billion starfish to level her up :(

her story quest was so cute! a really fun visual novel take on ttrpgs/larping! everyone got little character art! i like her more uniform-braid-style outfit in the character art more than her actual outfit but oh well. im sure they'll release that one as an alt outfit at some point

also pulled dehya! pyro claymore wielder! goodbye diluc u were a mainstay on my team for a year but there's a hot girl who fills your same niche now

-

making

my sister was here so a lot of sibling bonding (going to lesbian bars, moving furniture up my horrible stairs, art museums, weeping over impossibly well tended five hundred year old tapestries and carpets, etc). i had an Excellent slice of key lime pie cheesecake at House of Pies-- i do not typically enjoy cheesecake, i feel like it's often too rich and leaves a weird coating on my tongue. alarmingly green but the tartness offset the cheesecake in a very pleasing way.

look at my new desk's woodgrain again

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Hi! How do you think the skeletons would react to the Olympics?

Undertale Sans - He's clearly not a sportive guy but that's all there is on TV right now and since moving his butt to fetch the TV remote is near impossible right now, he's watching. He doesn't think much of it and kinda lost interest after a while. But it for sure helps to develop his sportive puns to annoy his S/O when they'll get home.

Undertale Papyrus - He actually traveled to Paris to watch some games with Undyne! It's very new to them, but it's the first time there's a small team of monster athletes and they want to support them! It turns out maybe Monster sports are a bit different and he was definitely outraged after the Soccer team got eliminated because you can't put the ball on fire or throw bullets at the enemies. Clearly the humans don't understand anything. And that fencing, you call that sparing? Papyrus had to hold back Undyne who was SCREAMING to "THROW SPEARS AT THE ENEMY STOP POKING IT WITH YOUR STUPID METAL STICK".

Underswap Sans - He got sent to help with the security and yeah, maybe he kinda forgot once or twice that he was working to watch the games. Blue is sure he can beat all of these guys in a race but the organizer won't let him try. He's just frustrated. What is the point of watching all these people run and jump if you can't do the same? Please someone rob the stadium so he can chase them, he's desperate for exercise.

Underswap Papyrus - He went to Paris with his brother but he really doesn't care about the games. All he cares about is Céline Dion and he swears he's going to see her before going back home. He actually managed to find her, but when she smiled at him, his brain crashed and he kinda passed out in her arms lol. At least he got a selfie. He woke up and discovered she signed his head because he didn't have a paper. He's never washing his skull ever again.

Underfell Sans - He's judging the athletes from his couch. He thinks none of this is really impressive and that he can definitely do better. His brother hears him, looks at him slouched on the couch from head to toe, smirks, and then leaves. Red gasps, offended. What the hell is that supposed to mean?! He throws bones behind his brother as revenge. Edge suddenly bounces on the couch with an enormous bone in hand as a "To be continued..." flashes on the screen.

Underfell Papyrus - Since it's a sportive competition, he assumed everyone could participate so he traveled to Paris with Undyne, had to bear her for 8 hours in a plane, and when he arrived, he got met with confused eyes from the organizers said they actually can't compete? What the hell? He even put his sports clothes under his regular clothes! That's bullshit! Undyne and Edge decide that they don't need their opinion to compete anyway and go to participate in that basketball game, confusing everyone because now there are three teams on the pitch??? Security actually tried to drag them off, but, uh... One death stare of Undyne actually convinced them it was best to not do that. They actually won the game because the other two teams gave up for some reason. Clearly that "the match is canceled" excuse is shit, they were just scared to lose against them. Shortly after that, both of them got arrested and thrown in the first plane going back to Ebott City lmao. At least they're very famous around the world now as they ended on every news broadcast around the planet.

Horrortale Sans - He doesn't understand half of what's going on and he's just going with the mood. They're all at Toriel's place to watch the games and he is kinda cheering when they're cheering so he doesn't feel left out. He has honestly no idea what's going on and why it's suddenly so important to see people enjoying a swimming pool. He's pretty sure he already asked for an explanation so he doesn't ask and stays completely confused.

Horrortale Papyrus - It's more entertaining than he thought! He was not too enthusiastic at first, but Toriel and Grillby managed to hype him a little because of the three monsters that were participating. Turns out Willow is way more competitive than he thought as well, and he keeps screaming at the refereeing because they're as skilled in analyzing as an oyster! He can't believe how bad they are! He's this close to smashing the TV!

Swapfell Sans - He was invited along with the Queen to see the Opening Ceremony. Let's say it was quite memorable. Beheaded people, child kidnapping, a weird naked man cosplaying Undyne. He didn't know France was that cool! He even decided to stay a few more days to rest and have fun for once, asking every Parisian he knows where he can go to see a public decapitation. He's confused why everyone is looking weirdly at him. Should he say it in French for these stupid people to understand? "Je voudrais voir personne faire couic couic the head s'il te plaît" Somehow it's still not working. Those Parisians, always so snob for no reason.

Swapfell Papyrus - He's mad. They canceled his favorite TV Shows just so random humans he has never seen in his life can run like weird ducks for hours??? When does this even end? Ok, maybe it was funny when one of them suddenly facepalmed into the cold hard concrete, but it was four hours ago. If only he had enough strength to grab the TV remote on the table in front of him to switch the channel. But that means he has to leave the fan and no way in hell he's doing that.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He got places to watch some games in Paris and he's judging all of the athletes so hard, to the point he got noticed by all the TV reporters around the planet who keeps interviewing him to ask what he thought of the game. Wine keeps saying they are running like babies and that even those brainless dogs he trained Underground are running faster than that. He added that if it's the best they can do, surely they won't get mad at him if he takes over the crown of this pathetic country to show them how things are done. Many many heads of state didn't like that and now he's kinda watched by all of their secret services because he's considered as dangerous. Wine later added on his social media that if they got offended by that, he has clearly nothing to fear about them. Maybe it's best to make Wine shut up now.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He couldn't care less about those games, but he found a funny thing. He's pausing athletes while they're in the middle of jumping into the water and he's creating memes based of that. They're actually quite popular after a day or two, to the point he gets overwhelmed and pressured to do more. So now he's sleeping in front of the TV, trying to get as many good pictures he can.

[subway-boss-jericho]

(threataning with art anon) yes! Rambles! Also you are so incredibly real for imagining all that stuff in different mediums (I have had similar experience) wish I could make a full animated film. That would be So Cool.

And! At one time or another I think I’ve read through the majority of the aus, but you are so right I freaking. Love the Mech AU. And coupled (uncoupled) looks like it would a verrry interesting character study (in like a “I wouldn’t do this but ingo would. Huh” kinda way)

help I’m reading them all again

also! I am here to encourage prattling I love prattling (it gives me more ideas for drawing-)

Hiii hii welcome back thank you for continuing to enable me :D

:D Yayy I'm so thrilled you like them. I never know if people actually think my wild bullshit is interesting or they just follow me for one thing (wheeze) ((Which, to be clear, is still totally fair and valid. No shame)) Of the AUs I've uploaded, I think the one that has gotten disproportionately ignored the worst is Coupled (Uncoupled). I am fucking obsessed with the coupled twins, and you're exactly right on the money there because holy Shit it's Such a character-study-rich situation to put them in. They were my in my top 3 indisputably Favorite AUs for a very long time (along with Steady Tracks and Spirit Keeper as the other two) and while I feel like I'm not super vocal about them they're still extremely high on that metaphorical list.

Realistically I could never actually list my Favorites, for the same reason why I can't really pick favorite pokemon. I like all my AUs for different reasons, so I may like one aspect of a given AU more than a different aspect of a different AU, but actually Ranking them As Favorites would be virtually impossible. Just know that I'm horribly fucking ill about coupled uncoupled more than most of the other smaller ones. Some day I'll vibe check you all so fucking hard with art or animation or writing out of left field that is about them, and then none of yall fucks will ever be normal again /lh /j

Actually. I've been struggling to write a caption for this thing so I can post it for months. Check this out:

I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM.

Slaps top of this guy. He can fit two people's worth of the worst existential socio-emotional crises in him. I love gel pens.

I've decided to keep rambling about whatever the fuck on this topic, but I'm putting a cut here for my sanity:

Anyway! I really did make this AU entirely because I saw a fandom trend and went Whoa! Did we consider The Implications! And then didn't wait for an answer. Considering the implications is actually the Thing I Do the Most as I am writing in general, as any friend of mine can easily confirm. It's how a decent number of my AUs happened. I also have a trend towards either 1. trying to make an AU that doesn't touch on anything I've seen other people doing or 2. is explicitly inspired by what I perceive as trends in the fandom. Coupled Uncoupled is one of the latter, being directly inspired by Diamond Crossing. God I was not normal about diamond crossing. I'm Still Not Normal about diamond crossing.

I'm a HUGE fan of fusion in media, just in general. I don't actually know a whole lot of examples off the top of my head other than steven universe, but fusion as a concept drives me totally crazy. What if you and your friend/best friend/closest ally/rival/enemy/lover/a stranger etc could be the same person through a process so crazy intimate and vulnerable that it forces you to expose your deepest weaknesses, insecurities, emotions and motivations fully and without restraint. Sure I can be normal about that 👍

But yeah coupled uncoupled isn't like, me looking at Diamond Crossing or any other fic for that matter and going "I could do it better/I don't like insert plot point A," it was actually me looking at diamond crossing and going holy FUCK this is the COOLEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN. I need to participate in this or I am going to die. Then I came up with a million different ideas of fusion stories I thought would be interesting to tell, identified aforementioned trope of using the b2/w2 DNA splicers as a plot device, and went. ohohohohohohhoohohohoo i could do something silly and fucked up me thinks.

What if fusion was great and cool and awesome and a coping mechanism for a trauma/grief and also not what you thought and also more than you bargained for and also didn't give you the closure you were expecting and ALSO you didn't know how to make it stop.

Fusion as a mistake. Fusion as a regret. Fusion as a character flaw. Fusion as a major conflict (that isn't inherently connoted about?? forms of abuse and toxic relationships?? can we use fusion as a metaphor for other nuanced things too?? pls let me have this /lh)

Anyway their story is extremely complex and just by listing off ^ that I am extremely underselling the level of interwoven conflict and complicated emotional states of all parties involved so please do not misunderstand and think that one of the twins is fucked up and evil. I swear i didn't mischaracterize them that badly 🤣 The main point of the story, just off the top of my head, is actually focused around the theme of vulnerability, conflict resolution, and the strength of relationships founded on communication.

Trying to avoid spoiling The Entire Plot because I really think Coupled (Uncoupled) is going to be my next major fic project but in essence it does get better and this new tool available to them only opens the door for them to be closer than ever before and express care and compassion in new ways unique to them. i might make myself cry if I keep yammering. i care them

God I totally just used your ask as an excuse to go off. I've been doing that every time you send an ask, actually. This is why I love asks. Tysm <3 And I hope you enjoyed reading or if you didn't and TL;DR then basically god i'm so ill about them.

Every day I think about how a friend of mine made an entire animatic for this AU and yet we can't put it anywhere because we both want to remake it digitally. thats going to be one hell of a day when that bombshell drops

Thank you for the ask, and as always thank you for listening!

Coupled (Uncoupled) Masterpost

[urproblematicfav-ao3]

Back on my pregnant Alastor bullshit thoughts: Husk edition

So obvi, if Charlie helps him defy god and change his body so he has a functional womb instead of a decorative/fuckable one that would mean he's the first and only Sinner to have babies.

Alastor already uses sex as an extremely unhealthy way to apologize/self harm, and I think he would definitely add pregnancy to that. Just, super casually offering to be peoples surrogate for no real reason. He just likes being pregnant, everyone dotes on him and he gets to be pathetic in a way that doesn't compromise his self worth because he's technically doing it for the baby.

Anyway, Alastor absolutely offers to let Husk knock him up. Same rules as Charlie and the twins, where he'll have the baby but he's not going to be a parent or be forced into any motherly role that he doesn't seek himself.

Husk was already angry and jealous that Charlie and Alastor got married/had babies, because he genuinely thinks he deserved that ending with Alastor instead. But it never worked out...with the slavery and torture and all. Also Husk is stupid but thats a separate thing.

Alastor gets pregnant, again. Easier this time because he's not having multiple, and because he knows what's happening this time. The twins were a HARD birth and Alastor was fucked up after they were born. Both with the physical problems, and the postpartum depression/psychosis he was going through. But this time he has medication and is better at accepting help from his support system.

I think Husk's baby was one of those really ridiculously fast births where you basically push once and a baby fucking shoots out and a nurse has to catch it like a football before it hits the floor.

Like, Alastor's in bed and his water breaks and he's like "ughghg time to go I guess" and the second he stands up its like shloop a baby!!! Husk barely catches him before he smacks onto the floor. And thus Alastor has his first son after being a girlmom for like 5 years.

The twins were bigger because Alastor and Charlie are both a lot more humanoid. Charlie is a sphinx but she's still half human/angel and is basically just a human with a tail and paws, and Alastor is a deer but he's just basically a guy. Husk is more just a bipedal cat, and his baby cames out identical to him basically. So he's very, very small at birth and just sorta sloops out instead of any of the stress of a human birth.

Yes, he's absolutely in an amniotic sac, and yes Husk licked it off of him. Alastor got real close to eating the placentae but Husk took it away(and ate it himself)

Here's the vibes. He's also a calico, but that has nothing to do with Charlie and is actually a mix of Alastor's red hair and Husk's black tuxedo cat pattern. His calico spots are more red-red then orange. He's very lil, and can't open his eyes for another few weeks.

When the twins meet him they think its fucked up that he can't see immediately. Deer girl in particular is incredibly disturbed by the lack of radio antenna.

A lot of people want Husk to name his kittens after alcohol(????), but I think that's dumb. Maybe as their fake Sinner name as a joke, but I dont think he would actually name his kid Baileys. I think he'd initially offer to let Alastor name him, but again, Al has no interest in that kind of thing. It's Husk's baby, so he gets to name it or do whatever with it.

(I was looking at a Russian baby name thing awhile ago trying to find one for human Husk, and one of them was just the fucking English word Vitality??? And honestly, Alastor having a kid named Vitality kinda fucks really hard) (update: rechecked it and I was wrong but my point stands)

Because the kitten is so...kitten, rather than human, it's a lot easier for Alastor to participate because he's not really a Baby to him, its just a lil kitten that he can pet and give kisses. So unlike the twins, where he fucking DIPPED for 6 months to cope with everything, he's just fine hanging out with him.

Charlie is a little upset by this. Not really anger directed at Alastor, just disappointment that it didn't work out for Al to have this quality time with the twins.

Angel is both jealous and does not want anything to do with the baby. On one hand, he and Husk have been dating for nearly a decade and having kids together is reasonable, on the other hand he's not in a place mentally to raise a kid himself.

Husk is very, very, very firm that the kitten isn't Angel's. Its Alastor's. It's Husk and Alastor's baby specifically. Angel gets to be apart of their lives but he's not his dad like Husk is. Even if Alastor isn't into being a parent, he's still the mother and that will never change.

Anyway. Thats all I got rn. I love my new kitten

[tied-ash]

DRDT ROLE SWAP: CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY - DAILY LIFE

Since me and the friend I've been watching DRDT with have finished Chapter 1 not too long ago, I've decided to think about the thoughts of that one DRDT AU I have (Not DRRT, but the Role Swap AU).

If you need a rundown of the AU, you can look at this post:

With that in mind, this obviously has spoilers for all of Chapter 1! If I get any of the events wrong, let me know!

Also... this is long :,) I've underlined & bolded the important parts.

After the killing game was announced, the students were left speechless. They eventually decide to investigate the facility in hopes of finding anything useful. Veronika, the ultimate horror fanatic, was used to this. She was content with being alone. However, Xander quickly perked up and offered to go with her. With other's encouragement, she decided to accept his offer.

The investigation was pretty standard... if not a wee bit swapped. Veronika was the one who made most of the informative comments, while Xander commented on other things. However, he was able to get a list of the other participants' weapons.

During their investigation, they ran into many of the others. This included J in the infirmary with Rose, patching up the latter's wounds (though J kept commenting on how she really was not fit for this, and Arturo should be the one to be doing this), as well as Ace and Min in the bathrooms - Ace seeming bored out of his mind as Min rambled about something that neither Veronika or Xander cared about.

Eventually, the investigation came to a close. Nobody was able to find an exit, unfortunately. That aside, everyone decided to split up and do their own thing. Before doing so, however, Levi had mentioned that the elevator was probably something to look at.

As such, Veronika chose to do just that. There, she met up with Arei and Rose. They get into a small scrabble about talents, with Veronika explaining that she has been destined to be, what she likes to call, a "typical horror movie final girl". Why else would she be so interested in horror? VERONIKA: "Ever since I can remember, I've been put through very interesting experiences. Many people who even dared to walk into my life are met with an unfortunate end. I just find it interesting to see people who are like me... you know?" Arei calls bullshit on that, but Veronika insists that it's true. Regardless, she talks about herself as well, claiming that she never really wanted to get into bowling. Well- she did, but she quickly lost interest after lots of "sleepless nights", though she does not elaborate. She comments about having to want to prove someone wrong, but once again, refuses to elaborate. Even though they were unable to open the elevator, at least they have something to bring to the rest of the class.

With that in mind, they do just that! And Ace has the perfect solution to see who's strongest; an arm wrestling competition. He was originally just gonna have a fist fight, but quickly realized he'd have to partake in that. And quickly changed his mind. The arm wrestling competition goes as the same in canon, with Xander winning it. Upon opening the elevator... the same thing happens. It's out of order.

Without much else to do, Veronika finds three people in the kitchen; Nico, Whit, and Levi. The three of them explain that they were planning to bake some stuff, which was admittedly Whit's idea. Veronika very excitedly joins in. While they bake the cake, Whit is quick to make a bunch of baking puns (I would specify, but staring at the 113 baking puns list is giving me a headache) while Nico and Veronika tend to the actual baking. Also ignore Levi, he's totally not just eating straight up sugar. That's not a thing he's doing. Totally. Anyway, after the baking is done, they decide to frost the cookies! They turn out... um... Nico's are certainly the best, being animals that they feel represent the others (Golden retriever - seeing as Whit is very... well... I don't think I have to explain, Siamese Cat - for their supposed chill nature, and Parrot - for their very talkative nature). Veronika's is of various horror characters. They're amazing works of art, but the cookies look inedible. Whit's are mainly just hearts. Nothing special, to be honest. And... Levi... Let's just say that it barely looks edible with the mass amount of sprinkles he put on it.

But, of course, the cake is ruined after they decorate it. It was certainly fun while it lasted. There's better things to worry about, anyway. The fact that Veronika seemed to sprain her knee! Due to that injury, Nico decides to take Veronika to the infirmary.

At the infirmary, they meet up with (or, rather, literally run into) Xander. He looks very out of it. However, before either of them could ask him what's going on, he stumbles away, leaning on the wall for support. Brushing off that strange interaction, they enter and see Charles in an almost similar stance. Upon closer inspection, Veronika realizes that he had removed his mask (In case I forgot to mention it, RoleSwap! Charles wears a mask to conceal his wound. It's like a mask that painters would use, but more... chemist...y. If that makes any sense.) The horror fanatic helps him calm down, and thanks to that, Charles orders Nico to leave. With them gone, the chemist shows Veronika his weapon: Some sort of chemical mixture. It's definitely not deadly, which he emphasizes greatly. VERONIKA: "Why are you showing this to me, Charles?" CHARLES: "..." VERONIKA: "Aww, do you trust me?" CHARLES: "...I'm not going to elaborate." VERONIKA: "You DO trust me~!" Alas, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Hearing some commotion in the dining hall, Veronika and Charles discover that Ace is causing a ruckus. He seems really petty about the whole baking situation. Like... really, REALLY damn petty. So petty that David has to shut him up. However, after a half-assed apology, MonoTV announces that a motive is to be held! And just before the class goes to sleep, Charles instructs Veronika to meet him in the computer lab. According to him, he found something on the computers that could be of use.

The next day is laundry day! Min and Xander are there! As the three of them discuss various things, Xander suddenly brings up parents. He mentions that his family was very nice- they're the reason why he's so motivated. Min is reluctant to engage, claiming that her family was... average. Veronika (I don't know anything about Canon! Veronika's family, so this is just an educated guess) explains how her family was... not exactly the healthiest. With all of the horrible incidents Veronika nearly caused by accident, her family is very weary of her. Xander promises Veronika that they'll try their best to make her comfortable and safe.

Surprisingly enough, Arturo had gotten Veronika to walk around with him. However, despite her excitement, Veronika quickly comes to realize that it's only so Arturo can complain about his special weapon. Levi hears the commotion and tags along, trying to see how a scalpel can be useful. However, Levi gets distracted, mentioning how they might be able to discern what kind of paint was used for the walls. He has slight knowledge about that kind of thing, as you have to take into account of the fabric dye when making a costume (ignore the fact I'm pulling this out of my ahh). However, without the right materials, it's close to impossible to figure it out.

Later, in the computer lab, Veronika runs into Teruko and J. They seem to be having a civil discussion... until Teruko starts talking about her misfortune again. After hearing so much about it, J gets fed up and leaves. And... That's all that happens there. Yup.

At lunch (dinner?), Charles and Veronika talk to Eden. It's a nice conversation, honestly. Even if nothing important happens, it's nice to hear about the hours of work Eden spends on clocks. However, they're interrupted by Arei, who mocks them. This causes Eden to quickly retreat, annoying Charles. However, nothing is really done about Arei. It's not like Charles or Veronika feel any extreme compulsion to confront the bowler.

They also talk to Hu! Now, I haven't mentioned it yet, but in this AU, Charles is actually very fond of the zither player. She's the person who he treats with the most respect. In fact, he's listened to her music whenever he needs a break, or is studying... or... well, he listens to her music a lot. So it's very nice to hear sweet nothings words of encouragement coming from his idol. In this AU, there's a good chance that Charles/Hu will be a ship. I love rarepairs. Feel free to put down ship names in the comments. Please.

Finally, they show the cookies! And... the cake... ...We don't talk about the cake.

BUT IT TASTES GOOD SO NO WORRIES.

After that mess, Veronika keeps her promise to Charles and meets him in the computer lab. He's acting horribly suspicious...

VERONIKA: "...Charles? What are you doing?" CHARLES: "...I'm... I'm sorry, Veronika."

She suddenly felt a rush of pain in her stomach. As the blood dripped from her mouth, she could only stare up at Charles and watch his reaction. The way he stumbled back, almost drunkenly. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was as if something possessed him to stab her.

VERONIKA: “Why… did you…?”

But Charles didn’t respond. He only stared at the blood, his breathing increasing. He couldn’t bring himself to articulate any words for a long time. There was only silence filled with Veronika’s sharp breaths. Finally, he spoke.

CHARLES: “I… I was told to… V-Veroni—ka—“

Then, there was silence again. The chemist was surprised that she hadn’t fallen yet. Then, suddenly…

She began to laugh.

VERONIKA: “Kagh… hah… This… you failed.”

CHARLES: “…??”

VERONIKA: “Y… You can’t kill me. Over and over… I’ve gone through this same thing… horrible events that left my friends dead… left me… in pain… haha…”

She gave him a terrifying smile.

VERONIKA: “…you’re nothing more than another antagonist in my story…”

Charles shut his eyes. Those were the last things Veronika remembers before passing out. As the world grew dark, she could still hear her distant laughter.

[jorrated]

Some super stray thoughts I had while reading STCO so far:

Knuckles would NOT prioritize his past over Tikal’s suffering are you crazy in the head!!!!

Zak Simond-Hurn’s art is really charming, if it wasn't for the digital onomatopoeias, I wouldn’t mind having this style by a base for an official sonic comic! The design for the red echidna villain however… HM. Not pleasing to the eye.

I like that Ebony are having a bigger role on the fist few issues! But also Ebony’s constantly referring to Super as his friend and doing things to bring him back. Like I get it but also is this going to be her only trait now? Girl…

And porker is going on adventures again. Actually I don’t think they ever explained why Porker went back to being more adventurous in the og comic, participating in Chaos defeat and all. Not against it, and I like to see he still has a bit of bite and wasn't reduced to only a coward, tho it would’ve been cool to see at least a comment on how hes back on “adventuring”.

It’s cool to see Amy dealing with grief over Jhonny (I’ve given up trying to write his name correctly, too weird for me), but IDK. Amy probably was the best grounded character in that situation, so it feels weird to see her distressed over it? I don’t know how to explain it but in my eyes, Amy’s grief for Jhonny would definitively be more melancholic than scary/guilty. I’m glad they are trying to flesh out Amy more, but it doesn’t feel very cohesive with the comic to me. And Jhonny-zombie the killer… a bit tacky but in a funny way.

WHO…. Designed Vichama. I just want to talk. Tell me why you made him look that way. What is that. What went through your head. Dude. I get that Ebony has considerably more anthro body features than the other animal characters, but I feel like Vichama crosses the line into the “gross valley”. If he were drawn closer to how Zachary is I probably wouldn’t care, he probs would’ve looked like an Archie character. But the bulging muscles are kinda upsetting to look at. Cover up man.

So Shadow was created by some enemies of the echidnas. Noted.

Big and the Drakon prosecutor are actually really cute. I like them. Knuckles trying to break Ebony’s spell on Tikal is making me fume. HE WOULDN'T TRY TO DO THAT!!!!! He maybe would be a little desperate trying to trigger some memories but he wouldn't knowingly hurt someone to get information!!!! There is a pannel tho in this part of the comic that makes Knux ask “Where is Porker” and then “Where is the emeralds”. THAT is Knuckles to me, checking in on people before anything else.

Knuckles not being able to carry Big is bullshit. KNUCKLES PUNCHES ROCKS IN HALF LMAO. It’s fine I assume they need to be separated for a reason.

ROUGE STICK LEGS. Somebody please give my girl a double cheeseburger with extra fries and a big gulp of soda.

Actually I love that Rouge is a cunt here. Girlboss!!!! Stole this dudes emeralds AND left them to die, queen shit. Didn’t work but she did have the intent to kill them.

Big wouldn’t eat his friends….. He’d never eat Froggy, and DP (Drakon Prosecutor) even tho looks like a fish, Big considers a friend. BIG WOULDNT THINK ABOUT EATING HIS FRIENDS!!! HE IS A KIND BIG GUY!!!!!!!!!!!! ← most egregious mistake until now. Fucking funny tho can you imagine dying by vore They kept Mighty funny, that’s good.

MMMMN. I like that Sonic is consistently arachnophobic. Really nice continuity. How he first met Shadow tho… It felt underwhelming? Like yeah we know they were going to meet some time but IDK. The framing/pacing is weird to me. Either have them meet quickly at the start of the issue and Sonic is like “IDK WHO that guy is but I don’t like him!!!” or have them meet at the end of the issue, but only show Shadow in shadow (lol) to hook to the next issue. Shadow’s bland ass “I am Shadow” has the same energy as two kindergartners introducing themselves first day of school.

Shadow’s personality is interesting tho. I like him being a bit cocky but not too much, it’s a good take on him, plus he bounces off Sonic pretty well. I do wonder what the hell they’re going to do with him tho.

Awn… acknowledgment of some of the chaotix families… Blockhead Bill my dude

Tikal being given more of a spotlight is neat. It doesn’t give her much, but it’s refreshing to see her thoughts and intentions. However, I can’t help but think that she was mainly inserted to aid Knuckles and be a well of angst. Like IDK, Knuckles has moments mourning his past, or wondering if he will ever understand his ancestors, and Tikal well… She sees things rather than feel? If that makes sense? Like in this comic she is able to see a bit of the past and think “wow this is horrible! Must be a nightmare!” but she doesn’t feel despair? Or anything much? The only moment so far she felt despair was to make Knux Angst, like “ooooh shes suffering so we need to wipe her memories, that means Knuckles wont have his backstories :(“. Smells fishy.

Oh wow, Shadow has an actually interesting backstory here. It gives a reason to follow Robotnik, hate Sonic, not give a shit, aaaand its ambiguous enough you can probably pull off whatever. Fucking congrats STCO writers.

Fave image. What the fuck are they even doing here. Freaks.

Hm. No thoughts on Shadows maybe death. Thematically it’s interesting and all, but we don’t get enough time with him to give a shit. Unless I’m reading it wrong it seems like Shadow is sacrificing himself to save Robotnik, but IDK.

Grimer develops a situatioship depression.

2007 ANTI-ASIAN RACISM. BAD.

Bro what’s with this Knuckles characterization. He would NOT be mean to Tikal. If anything he’d probably be a bit overbearing, trying to give attention to her even if she didn’t want it. I get trying to tie him living his whole life alone being overwhelmed and feeling frustrated that Tikal can’t give him answers, but he wouldn't treat her like crap what is this. I like Porker’s and Knux bro moment, but that doesn’t make up for treating Tikal badly for no reason. Where’s her catharsis? She’s probably just as confused and desperate as Knuckles but she doesn't get any of these moments. Sigh. This idea could’ve definitely worked if Tikal was pushier or more imposing, but like she doesn’t do much, so Knuckles just snaps and it feels off. Knuckles’s stories are probably the issues with the biggest potential, but the writers for sure squander him the most, whomp whomp.

“One of Sonic’s fears is seeing Amy settle down with someone else” no it isn’t shut the fuck up. And the fact they put this on the same level of fear as Jhonny death is deranged.

The tonal whiplash between character comics is p funny honestly. You’ll have one really serious comic followed by a comedic one, lil bit of a mood killer. I guess STC also did this, but to me it at least wasn't jarring like this. Like how am I supposed to process Big getting shot, after Knux and Tikal experiencing the worst nightmare of their lives, living the trauma of seeing million of dead echidnas, after Vector put angel island as a security fund for his ship LMAO.

SONIC CHARACTERS HELPINH OUT THE POLICE SFAJHBJHBWRKJBJB??????!!!!!!!!????????????????????!!!!!!!!!????????11111111!!!!!!!111!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate this actually.

These Shorty and Tekno comics…… I don’t know what it is about them but god. I just don’t like them! Firstly that now it seems they are a completely separated duo from the rest of the team. Like They don’t interact with Sonic or Amy or whatever. Secondly.. Shortfuse is TOO nice. It doesn’t feel like him where is his tantrums??? And this isn’t a diss on the artstyle itself, cause I think it looks pretty nice and cute, but I don’t think it’s really fitting for the characters? Tekno and Shorty look like they’re in a shoujo manga.

I really like how Sonic is now a loser LOL. He got canceled to hell and back.

Finally Rouge makes and appearance. Kinda only realized how little she showed up during the SA2 adaptation.

Grimer destroying Sonic’s reputation is actually kinda nice. I like that they acknowledge his Robotnik situationship depression, tho I think it’s a bit over the top have him be behind EVERYTHING. Still like it tho. Go gross boy go! (Also the art in this issue is REALLY solid, wow, Zak Simond-Hurn really is my favorite artist from the STCO group).

At some point I think I need to stop complaining about Knux’s characterization. But I Do Not Like How They Write My Boy. Doc Zach is still serving cunt so that’s great. Go grandpa go!

It’s kinda awesome to see how the issues expanded through STCO’s run, but I think having so many stories at the same time kinda makes stuff bloated. Like I’m sure I’ll forget some parts of this, even if they are short bits. Like do we really need to follow 2 sonic stories and 2 amy stories at the same time? I think it would’ve been better to pace this with a limit of 3-4 stories MAX per issue. And then once a character story is done, release the next story with the same character. Sonic and Knuckles are kinda always going to be there, having the biggest pull on the comic’s lore and story, so the other ones could cycle out between amy, tekno, shorty, tails, sonic’s world, chaotix, and so on. I haven’t read some of the other non-sonic stories like decap n attack, but those could be thrown in the cycle too!

Actually I love that DP is just hanging out in Big’s restaurant. It’s goofy I really love it.

I wonder how old Sonic’s gang is supposed to be here. Like in theory some years have passed in the comic, but how many. It’s not important at all but Amy is seen drinking wine with Chrysalis and it’s like?? Is she a kid?? Is she an adult?? Is she underage drinking? Again it’s not a big deal, and I don’t even think these characters need a specific age but IDK this was odd to me.

Oof the multiple stories at the same type problem came instantly. I like how Amy acknowledges the losses of the group, Sonic is “evil”, Jhonny is dead, Tekno is missing and stuff, Porker has PTSD and cant fight… But like. That feels so weird when you have a story right next to it with Amy and Tekno together!!! This is why the pacing and bloating feels whack, the comic has continuity with SOME of the stories but not all so its confusing. I know the OG comic had moments like these but because it had less stories per issue, it was way less noticeable, and usually were one-off stories I think.

And on the topic of Porker, I did mention before how he just kinda.. went back to being more adventurous? But know the comic insists that he can’t do it? Man this is kinda messy. I don’t mind Porker starting to become more adventurous again and then maybe regressing a bit in recovery, being too much for him, but it doesn’t feel like that is what it’s being intended here. It feels like someone read STC and maybe skimmed on STCO and then wrote this, so it feels out of place? Like you have porker in the first issue of STCO going on a mission no problems at all, but then on another issue he goes on a mission to blow up an eggman database or smth and hes freaking the fuck out being nervous all the time. Like which is it!!!!! I don’t mind him progressing and regressing on his trauma but at least acknowledge or be consistent with it! Is it because the underwater mission didn’t involve Robotnik? Is that it? Who knows.

I get that Knux and the crew planned to bait Zachary and shit, but like, then why did they act like that in the previous issue? Like the plan was to break the shield so why did Porker said to Knux be careful about it? Girl. This information is only given to bait and switch the audience and it doesn’t work. Porker and Knux have no reason to pretend to not have a plan when they are alone what.

Tails working with cops I’m going to kill myself.

Oh so like. The special zone is dead for real. Like for real FR. Jesus. Could’ve let the characters grieve a bit huh.

Really liked the #250 issue (Tho its funny that I complained about the number of stories per issue, and then #250 has ONE story LOL)! It’s awesome to see the different arts from the varied artists on the STCO team. And even with my complains and whining, it’s an impressive project full of love, good to see stuff like this!

TURBO TURBO TURBO MY BOY TURBO!!!!

The art on this issue is great but some of the flow of the dialogue is off, as in, sometimes I don’t know which speech bubble I’m supposed to read next, cause usually you go left to right, but it seems this story follows top to bottom for speech bubbles and left to right to panel. Not awful but it did throw me off, and it does fuck up the pacing.

um. hi shadow? ok.

(Only read until issue #250)