#or bit of writing that we do or whatever your medium is. its delightful. it really is

[toonbly]

honestly i have a really have a hard time looking at my old vrai stuff. but going through old stuff for grtv fills me with absolute delight, its been so long but i still hold so much love for this story and the people who followed it

[fagmegumi]

ok this got a few likes so i guess there’s interest so here it is. This definitely reflects my interest and bias so do ur own research! get lost in anilist’s really thorough filters! Get weird with it!

in no particular order:

- Lensman (1984) is the second ever anime to use CGI in a bit at the end where the protagonist gets lost in some kind of demonic cyberspace. The entire movie is on youtube and the bit im talking about (which is all ive watched lol) starts at 1:25:45

- Pop Team Epic (2018) if you havent seen it already uses a variety of mediums including different types of stop motion (with paper, fabric dolls, clay etc) to animate its shitpost sketches and its truly a delight

- Heike Monogatari (2021) looks like a traditional Japanese painting come to life. No surprises that its amazing since it comes from science saru, the studio savant director yuasa masaki (who will appear again on this list) established to experiment with bleeding edge technology.

- FLCL (2001) Look, you knew this was coming, i knew this was coming, we all knew this was coming. But come ON. this shit was made with 2d digital animation in the YEAR TWO THOUSAND and it STILL looks better than most stuff from today. do you even remember what computers were like in the year two thousand??? this is an anime KNOWN for being insanely creative with animation, famously letting all its animators do whatever they wanted in their scenes. some of the scenes weren’t even story boarded by the director. They animated MANGA PANELS for chrissake. they did a SOUTH PARK bit. i will not rest until all of my followers have seen this anime idc. just pick any moment from this video and its guaranteed to blow your socks off.

- the tatami galaxy (2011) if you haven’t seen this show WHAT are you doing. im not even gonna say anything ill just drop the trailer here and let it speak for itself.

- Pingpong the animation (2014) i know, i KNOW. an anime about ping-pong? but seriously, just LOOK at it. after tatami galaxy this is our third and final yuasa joint of the night. The man is a genius.

- akira (1988) you know this had to be on the list. im not even gonna drop the trailer because if you follow me theres no way you havent seen at least a gif of this movie. You’re welcome.

- sonny boy (2021) hey so do you guys remember this little anime, it was sort of popular a while ago, kind of niche, it was called “one punch man”? yeah so the guy who directed that basically did such a banger job that studio madhouse handed him a bunch of money and resources to write and produce his own original anime (NOT adapted from anything) and he made one of the great philosphical treatises of our times, no lie

- Keep your hands off eizouken (2020) i was really trying to keep this list free of links to cr*nchyroll yt but there are no other uploads of this scene and I really need you all to see it. Not only is this anime GORGEOUS, its story is really good, the humor is funny and the characters are SO endearing. Very much an “anime for people who dont like anime”, the girls have realistic (and therefore unusual) designs, theres not a bit of fanservice in sight, just a feel good story about three friends making anime for passion and fun.

- angel’s egg (1985) okay so theres not a lot of cel animation in this list and you may be thinking, hey m.a., dont you always say cel animation is your favorite kind (you insufferable hipster)? but theres a reason for that. Because of how time consuming cel ani is, most cel anime that I would consider visually appealing (eva, rgu, kite, etc) do so by using their resources very smartly and creating evocative, striking, atmospheric imagery through a mixture if photography and direction. some of the most memorable images in evangelion are barely if at all animated (the holding cell shinji misato and ritsuko alternatively end up in, the escalators down into the bowels of NERV hq, the infamous elevator scene, and of course the still of shinji in unit 01 holding kaworu). Tldr cel animation is VERY pleasing to the eyes when its actually animated (see akira) and its unique limitations push directors to be especially creative and talented (the opposite of whats true for digital but that’s another rant) but most cel animated stuff is… well its pretty and its nostalgic but its not technically impressive from a pure animation perspective. but there are some exceptions. lo and behold: the entire angel’s egg movie by visionary director oshii mamoru, on youtube dot com.

- mononoke (2007) this is another one where i dont even need to say much. Just LOOK at it. the fact that this exists is a marvel.

- samurai champloo (2004) HA! you thought i was gonna put bebop on this list didnt you? well jokes on you. one day maybe i will write my “champloo is better than bebop, YES really, NO im not just being a hipster” rant but that day is not today. the trademark watanabe swagger and swashbuckling and the inventive and brilliantly animated fight choreography that characterizes his stuff are in their full glory here. this truly feels like looking at a real life fight between swordmasters - youre legit gonna have to watch at .5x or go back a bunch of times to catch everything they do. its glorious. also i want mugen and jin to sandwich me who said that.

ok im kind of tired of typing and i think I managed to cover at least my favorites so heres some honorable mentions: panty and stocking, kill la kill regrettably plus trigger needs at least a little shoutout, devilman crybaby yes its good yes i stand by it you can fight me on this but it wont go well for you, mars red, bocchi the rock but you’ve probably already seen it, mob psycho if you havent seen this yet what are you even doing, sayonara zetsubou sensei but im warning you its very anime, urotsukidoji if you’ve got the stomach for it lol.

Maybe I should make a list of anime with good and interesting animation so more ppl can get taste lol

[thanksjro]

Dark Cybertron Chapter 11: The Word “Logic” Doesn’t Even Mean Anything Anymore

Our issue opens up with a flashback to establish some things.


Because despite the six literal issues of prelude, and all the ham-fisted exposition we’ve gotten throughout the “Dark Cybertron” event, we still don’t have all the information we need to understand what the hell’s happening.

I have a feeling this won’t quite cut the mustard, either.

Anyway, back during the events of MTMTE #1, when Rodimus was making his call to action to his fellow Cybertronians (and by “Cybertronians” I, of course, mean “Autobots”, because prejudice is a hard habit to kick, even for the best of us) Brainstorm was doing science on Hardhead. He was doing this science to make sure that the Dead Universe hadn’t killed him without him realizing. This is a very common issue in the world of IDW2005 Transformers, considering that zombies are a part of canon, so it’s just best to be sure. Nova Prime’s lifeless body sits in the corner like the world’s worst coffee table book.

This will take some explaining, because this is Phase One related.

In Spotlight: Sideswipe, Nova Prime beefed it, except he didn’t, because his “essence” returned to the Dead Universe. This is because he was chosen by the Dead Universe to enact its will on the other, much cooler, Not-Dead Universe. In short, he’s a weird robot zombie-ghost with a save point in the Dead Universe.

Brainstorm has his corpse in his lab to make sure this bastard is true and proper dead, or that the body he left behind is at least. That, in combination with Hardhead proving to be very much alive, means that today can be counted as a win for everyone! The “Alive-People-Counter” machine proves it!

…This is why we can’t have nice things.

Brainstorm being undead does have some precedence within the narrative, given what happened in MTMTE #3.

Though I can’t help but wonder what the guy’s been doing for the last year and a half, that he didn’t notice being dead, when his soul is a large, glowing orb with physical presence. I dunno, he just seems like the sort of guy to keep up to date on that sort of thing, if only for scientific purposes.

In the present day, in the beautiful city of Iacon, everything’s gone to shit, and Whirl’s gotten hot for some reason, as billions of Ammonites fall out of the sky.

Who friggin’ drew this-

I should’ve known.

Up on the Lost Light, Ultra Magnus is breaking out the fancy swears, as a… tornado, I guess, of Ammonites hits the underside of the ship. Bumblebee wants to evacuate the friggin’ planet- which, I don’t know if you know this, would be a little difficult to do, even with a ship the size of NYC. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna fly, however, because all the stars in the sky are blue-shifting.

Wikipedia tells me that this is probably a bad thing, and Perceptor agrees, calling it “the end of everything.”

Over in Shockwave’s Lair of Villainy and Magical Bullshit, everyone’s favorite purple science gremlin has stabbed a “time drive” into his chest. Galvatron is laying dead on the floor in the foreground, but this isn’t about him. Shockwave orders Jhiaxus to activate the time drive, I guess because he doesn’t have long enough arms to do it himself. Jhiaxus warns Shockwave to be mindful, lest he lose himself in time, and then we get a return to a Roberts writing staple that we haven’t seen in quite a while.

Waxing poetic on the nature of time- this time, in a visual medium!

Awful lot of fixating on your ritualistic amputations there, Shocky-boy. I suppose this is ONE way to try to cope with a lack of control in your life.

Of course, to those on the outside of Shockwave’s brain, this doesn’t look nearly as impressive- it actually just looks like him screaming really loud at the ceiling. Bludgeon isn’t sure that this course of action is a healthy one to take, but Jhiaxus is too busy being sapiosexual to worry about that.

I-

Sure. I’m not even going to bother trying to understand this anymore.

Jhiaxus orders Monstructor to go keep the Autobots away from Shockwave.

Also, Galvatron isn’t dead. Good for him, I guess.

Over inside Metroplex, Windblade’s face seems to be stuck in the generic “I am a nice, nonthreatening female character who is also pretty” position, as Ultra Magnus tells her that the universe is ending. Chromia watches in the background as this happens, likely wondering if being relevant in modern media again is worth this bullshit.

Hearing that Bumblebee plans to take the fight to Shockwave is enough to get Metroplex back on his feet, which is good, because I don’t think we have a lot of time to convince the guy to do anything- this event ends next issue.

As Metroplex windmills his arms through swarms of Ammonites, the Lost Light lands, and Bumblebee, Megatron, and all their experts disembark. Bumblebee makes an unsolicited comment about Megatron’s body. They go to meet Soundwave, who isn’t terribly thrilled with Megatron having become all buddy-buddy with Bumblebee. Megatron mentions that the Decepticons are going to have to rethink their strategy once this is all over, with the implication being that they’re going to- gasp- work together with the Autobots.

Then Starscream shows up with Metalhawk, Skywarp, Rattrap, Waspinator, and Scoop for some fucking reason, in tow. Skywarp is going to teleport everyone into Shockwave’s Bastardization of the Concept of Science House, even though he pretty clearly isn’t feeling too well. What a guy.

Starscream and Megatron have a bit of banter that won’t set your hair on end with how awful they are to one another, Metalhawk tries to apologize for attempting to kill Bumblebee, and we really don’t have time for this shit right now. The narrative knows this, because it shifts to focus on Prowl and the Constructicons. Things are looking real rough just about everywhere, and it’s coming down to the wire, so they gotta do the thing.

The thing Prowl really doesn’t want to do.

The thing he said that he wouldn’t do again.

So anyway, they form Devastator.

As Monstructor gets ready to get punched in the face by a bunch of construction workers and a cop, everyone down below is firing off laser blasts and gearing up for a teleporting adventure. However, there’s a small problem- there are too many people to teleport! Oh no! The only solution is for Soundwave and his cassettes, Scoop, Getaway and-

Excuse me, Hook?

Hook, my dude? What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be a leg right now, motherfucker, why are you here? GO HOME, HOOK.

Anyway, I’m really glad we wasted the time establishing that Soundwave and his band of merry little men were coming along on this trip, only for them to not come along after all. Love that shit.

I don’t actually love that shit. I’m sorry for lying.

With the load lightened, Skywarp teleports the rest of the gang to where they need to be, and Waspinator is immediately stabbed with a massive raging poisoning sword of doom. Bludgeon’s here to greet everyone, and Metalhawk is gonna try his damnedest to get the guy to come around to their side.

You remember when Metalhawk did things like connive, and scheme, and actually had more depth than a sidewalk puddle? Because I remember. Now he’s just... Beast Wars Silverbolt, but he’s not even attempting to be charming. I bet he wouldn’t even call his evil girlfriend “my soul’s delight.” Lame.

Bumblebee, Megatron, and friends book it for Shockwave, while Magnus and Skids get ready to kick some ass. Brainstorm isn’t feeling so hot, but this isn’t about him.

Starscream is having a minor crisis over the fact that Scoop stayed behind in a literal war zone for Starscream’s sake. I dunno that he did it specifically for Starscream, but Starscream seems pretty convinced that he did, and who am I to argue with the leader of a whole friggin’ planet?

The gang makes it to Jhiaxus’ ship, where they find-

I swear to god, if there’s not a fucking explanation for what the shit is happening right here I’m going to scream.

…So anyway, Metalhawk and Jhiaxus start beating each other up, Starscream gets bent out of shape by Jhiaxus’ trash talk, and we get an explanation for his new look.

Which, y’know, thank fucking god.

Jhiaxus has new reactive armor, which takes anything thrown at him and adapts it to his own body for personal use, which feels like some Grade-A Kids Playing Pretend bullshit, but WHATEVER.

While this is going on, Megatron and Bumblebee have run into the center of Shockwave’s Laboratory of Morally-Abhorrent Mystical Buffoonery Masquerading as the Scientific Method. Dreadwing tries to make a case for self-defense of his property, but unfortunately he doesn’t understand how property rights work, and gets blasted for his troubles. Galvatron reveals himself to be alive to Megatron, who immediately grabs the dude by the throat.

Galvatron’s feeling pretty down about having inadvertently helped end the universe, and is throwing himself a little pity party. Megatron’s not having it, however, tossing the man into the ground and revving up to fusion-cannon him to death. Bumblebee stops him, for some reason, and then starts rambling, I guess STILL trying to be Optimus Prime 2.0.

Bumblebee, you put bombs in people’s heads to make them fall into line. You don’t get to talk to Captain Warlord about moral nuance. And weren’t you also berating Metalhawk for trying this same thing not five minutes ago?

Bumblebee’s words reach Megatron, and instead of annihilating Galvatron, he offers the dude a hand up.

Then Bumblebee gets shot and dies, while Shockwave just… stares menacingly, I guess.

Cool.

The death of his very best friend in the whole wide world sends Megatron into a rage, and he punches Shockwave in the face. This doesn’t really faze him much though, as he bats Megatron across the fucking room like he’s made of papier-mâché and dreams, going on about how the universe will save Cybertron by being its power source “in an endless forever.”

Shockwave, you’re a man of science. You ought to know that “forever” as a concept, doesn’t fucking WORK scientifically. It’s nonsense. You’re nonsense, and I hate you.

Back with the Bludgeon Ass-Kicking Squad, Brainstorm’s having a bad time, while everyone else sort of awkwardly poses. Skids gets stabbed. Skids falls down. Brainstorm falls down. Ultra Magnus is concerned, but he’s too busy not being stabbed to help anyone.

Brainstorm’s in a lot of pain, and then a hand bursts out of his chest and-

GODDAMMIT JAMES.

Fucking- Team -Imus burst out of the Dead Universe from Brainstorm, who I will remind you, is undead thanks to Dead Universe lightning bullshit, making him a link between it and the much cooler Not-Dead Universe. Everyone is posing, even Cyclonus, who absolutely should think that sort of thing is beneath him, but whatever.

That’s the end of the issue. Go home.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 6: Why so Blue? (originally published on January 11, 2021)

Author's Note: This is one chapter I've been excited to write. In my opinion, Lapis is my favorite character because aside from having cool powers and being pretty, I also relate to her a lot because I've been through a lot of suffering like her. Though thankfully, I wasn't caught up in warfare, trapped in a mirror for thousands of years, and finally released only to be trapped in a walking, talking abusive relationship under the sea; just some standard bullying by people who love pushing my buttons, being framed for something I obviously didn't do that forced me to drop out of my first high school following first semester of freshman year. But enough about my life story, onto my #1 Gem waifu!

Synopsis: Steven and Lapis try to confront a pair of Lapises that continue terraforming worlds.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli, Mean Lapis, Nice Lapis

Amy Sedaris as Blue Zircon

--

"Thanks for the help Lapis." Steven thanked Lapis Lazuli as they planted some new flowers in his conservatory. "These blue hyacinth flowers really tie the place together."

"You're welcome, Steven," Lapis replied with a smile. "Peridot helped me pick these out from the greenhouse. You know, it's funny. The two of us didn't get along at first, me more than Peridot to be honest, but thanks to you, we're basically inseparable."

"Aw shucks Lapis, was nothing." Steven blushed, just as the communication console nearby began to light up. "Hang on, I think this one's for me."

When Steven turned it on, a particular Gem who he barely got to know greeted him. "Oh hey, you're that Zircon from my trial! How are things?"

"Going pretty good." The defense Zircon answered. "Ever since the other Zircon and I were unbubbled at the start of Era 3, we've left our lawyer days behind in favor of politics. With the Diamonds essentially no longer in power, Homeworld had decided to turn to democracy when the caste system was dissolved."

"It's nice to hear some more good news," Lapis interjected. "but why did you call us?"

"Oh yes, that." Blue Zircon realized before she conjured up a hologram with her monocle. "Rumor has it that despite the caste system's end, there are at least two Gems who continue to terraform regardless of the end of colonization. Last we heard, they were busy remodeling the former Blue Diamond colony Aozul 2."

"Wait, terraform?" Lapis said with surprise at the mention of her old duties. "Are they other Lapis Lazulis by any chance?"

"Yes, that is why I contacted you today." Blue Zircon continued explaining. "Why do you ask?"

"I think I might remember them from when I was a terraformer." Lapis revealed, before she turned to the Warp Pad. "That's why I'm coming with you, Steven."

"Alright then." Steven agreed. "Who knows? Maybe we can get them to come to Little Homeschool."

"I'm not too sure about that, Steven." Lapis nervously replied before they stepped on the Warp Pad and activated it, taking off for Aozul 2.

--

On the other Warp Pad that dropped Steven and Lapis off was Aozul 2, a gorgeous-looking moon orbiting a yellow planet thriving with unique wildlife. Though the pair was amazed by the nature around them, they still had a mission to do.

"Let's not get distracted, this may not take long." Steven said as he stepped off the Pad. "Most Gems come around pretty quickly when I invite them to Little Homeworld in person."

"What a beautiful place." Lapis muttered in awe, distracting her from the strange little native creature they almost stepped on. "Wait!"

Looking down, Steven and Lapis found a cute flower bud-like alien with its petals opened up. "Whoa, thanks for the save Lapis." Steven thanked his blue buddy before kneeling to pet the creature. "Hey, little buddy."

The creature closed its petals in fright and raced into a nearby bush, making more of its kind nervously emerge in front of Steven. "It's okay Flower Buddies." He chuckled at his name for the creatures as they began to crawl all over him, now no longer seeing the boy as a danger. "Haha, whoa now!"

"Wow, Steven, it took you all of five seconds to make a new friend. You must be getting rusty." Lapis commented as she approached the Flower Buddy resting in Steven's arms and began to pet it gently. "You know, I used to never notice creatures like this. Before arriving on Earth, I used to not think twice about terraforming, never taking a moment to appreciate what I was destroying." The Buddy smiled at Lapis and began to open its petals for her as well. "Life is so precious. And these guys remind me of Pumpkin in particular."

The other Buddies began to blossom, only to just as quickly close up their petals as the silhouette of a figure similar to Lapis zoomed over them.

"Uh, Steven?" Lapis brought her friend's attention to the figures flying around and conjuring up water to cause untold chaos upon Aozul 2.

After putting the Flower Buddy down, Steven made his way to the edge of a cliff to get a better look at the pair. From what he could gather, one of the Lapides had her gemstone on her stomach, darker colored skin and hair than the one he knew, the hair was done up in a ponytail, and had gold-colored freckles on her cheeks. The other Lapis had her gem on her shoulder, light azure skin, and medium-blue curly hair.

"So, the rumors were true." Steven wondered as the pair of Lapises continued their path of destruction, laughing all the way.

"You think that Zircon called us because they didn't get your message?" Lapis asked Steven while gazing upon the terraformers' progress.

"I'm sure they did." Steven replied assuredly. "Everyone did, but I'll try and get them to stop."

"This may be harder than you think." Lapis added as her fellow Lazulis flew closer to the pair, using their powers to cut a massive rock in half and terrifying the Flower Buddies.

"Hey, stop!" Steven called to the blue Gems, who reacted to their work's sudden intrusion by preparing to launch a massive tidal wave at the pair. Steven was ready however, and defended himself and Lapis with his shield.

"Wait, that's Steven Universe!" the ponytailed Lapis cried as she grabbed her partner's arm. "And is that who I think it is with him?"

"He's smaller than I thought." The curly-haired Lapis replied when she came to the same realization as her fellow Lazuli. "No way!"

"You guys!" Lapis squealed in delight, causing the other two to cheer happily as well. "Oh my gosh, it's been ages!" she yelled as the two Lapises raced down to hug her. "I haven't seen you two since I was sent down to Earth!"

"Wait, you all know each other?" Steven asked the three terraformers.

"Yeah, we go way back with ol' 3E8C-4XF here." The stomach gem Lapis remarked. "That's her facet and cut, by the way. I'm 2F8D-9ZE, and Curls here is 1J9G-5KL."

"Yeah, the three of us were an unstoppable terraforming trio back in the day." 1J9G-5KL snidely explained with a flip of her hair. "Tearing planets apart, taking names, and looking cool while doing it!"

"But then I was given a solo mission to Earth, which was how I got caught up in the Rebellion, and here we are." Lapis continued for her old friends.

"We're just so glad you're okay!" 2F8D-9ZE exclaimed happily. "So anyway, what do you think? We're just about almost done with this world. Exemplary work, no?"

"And we don't need the extra help." 1J9G-5KL said meanly. "So it was nice catching up, but please, ta-ta."

"Look, we came here because you gotta stop." Steven explained to the Lapides. "The Diamonds don't control you anymore. Didn't you get my message?"

"Yeah, we did." Freckles nodded.

"So, you don't have to terraform for them anymore." Steven continued. "You're free to do whatever you want now! In fact, we want to offer you the chance to come learn at Little Homescho-"

"Oh, so this is all some big misunderstanding?" Freckles interrupted Steven.

"This has got to be a joke." Curls rolled her eyes. "Like, terraforming is what we like to do, and now you're saying we shouldn't do it anymore?!"

"Oh, here we go." Lapis groaned. "1J9G was always pretty passionate about her work."

"You're getting it wrong." Steven tried to ease the tension. "You can do whatever you like! As long as nothing gets destroyed and nobody gets hurt."

"That's not what you said a sec ago!" Curls pointed out. Freckles tried to speak, but Curls shushed her by forcing her mouth shut with a finger. "Are you listening to yourself right now?"

"Why should we stop?" Freckles lowered Curls' finger to ask.

"Because it's wrong!" Lapis answered, becoming irritated with her former partners' behavior.

"Wait, wait, wait." Freckles said, gesturing to the destruction she and Curls caused. "How can what we were made to do suddenly be soo-oo taboo now? At least let us get back to work, we're almost done with Aozul 2 here!"

"Team huddle?" Steven nervously muttered to Lapis.

"Team huddle." Lapis replied, slowly retreating into the cobalt-leafed forest away from the other Lapides. "We'll be back with you in a bit, girlfriends."

--

"You're right. This is harder than usual." Steven said to Lapis as they hid in the bushes.

"You've gotta force them to stop." Lapis suggested while spying on her old friends from the foliage. "This is definitely gonna be a fight. They're not nice like what I became. 1J9G was always the alpha of our little trio, ordering us around and treating lower-ranked Gems like trash. 2F8D, on the other hand was more of the follower, as loyal to 1J9G as a Pearl is to their Diamond. I, on the other hand, was essentially the third wheel, mostly existing to follow along with them."

"So you guys were basically high school mean girls?" Steven compared Lapis's former situation to fiction. "Did any of you play the Gem version of croquet in your spare time, or wear pink on Wednesdays?"

"This is nothing like those movies, Steven." Lapis stated.

"Well maybe like those girls in the movies, they just don't know what they're doing isn't nice." Steven tried to assure his azure friend. "You get it, what made things click for you?"

"A cycle of horrible torture that I came close to repeating myself." Lapis gravely answered, much to Steven's fright. "But also like, living in nature and making meep morps."

"Yeah, that's it!" Steven cheered quietly. "Come on, we can do that for them."

"C'mon, not even a little torture?" Lapis asked while squeezing her hands together.

"No torture, just the other stuff." Steven decided against any lethal force before he and Lapis returned to the water Gems.

--

"Geez, what's taking those two so long?" the Mean Lapis asked impatiently while waiting for Steven and her fellow Lapis to return.

"I'm starting to get wet here." The Nice Lapis added, prompting her curly-haired buddy to turn to her with a raised eyebrow of disbelief. "I'm trying to make it a catchphrase. It depends on the context, in this case, I'm getting bored."

"Well, I urge you not to make that happen." 1J9G commanded, just as Steven and Lapis finally reemerged from the bushes, waving to them while walking backwards. "Oh, look who finally decided to come back."

"Okay, we've come to a decision." Steven declared. "Why don't we show you fun things you can do on Earth other than causing mass destruction?"

"Should we listen to him?" 1J9G asked 2F8D.

"He's only half-Diamond, so maybe we should half-listen to him." 2F8D suggested.

"I'll take that as a yes." Steven answered, trying to hide his eye twitching at being called a mere half-Diamond, before taking the two terraformers into the forest. "Let's go."

--

Once within the extraterrestrial woods, Steven began to show the Lapides around, trying to get them to appreciate the beauty of nature. "It's a beautiful day here. Fresh air, pretty trees, peaceful wildlife. Any life-changing epiphanies yet?"

"It's so bright." 2F8D observed as she gazed directly into the sun.

"No duh, Too-Eff." 1J9G rudely replied while poking on a leaf with a stick. "I only prefer two colors, rocks and mud. Right?"

"Well, I have to admit," 2F8D said as she continued looking at the sun. "that sun is a real pretty shade of-"

"I said, right 2F8D?" 1J9G cut her friend off.

"Uh yeah, rocks and mud!" 2F8D laughed nervously, her pupils rapidly darting around while holding her hands behind her back.

"I understand you don't see the beauty with this, but I know you will with time, girls." Lapis said. "There was a time where I didn't appreciate organic life as well, much like you guys. But I learned of how beautiful it can be. Maybe you can try something like this."

Gazing at the small puddle of mud in front of her, Lapis began to conjure up a strange shape from the wet dirt.

"This is what we call art, or in Lapis's terms, a meep morp." Steven demonstrated. "And it can be made out whatever you want to be, whether it be nature or just random junk you find lying around."

"So you can do whatever you want with your powers," 1J9G asked. "but you choose to make junk."

"It doesn't have to be like that." Lapis answered, continuing to toy with the mud. "You can make anything with a little imagination."

As an example, Lapis shifted the mud to take the form of a lawnchair for Steven to sit on, along with a drink and sunglasses. When Steven drank out of the mud-made cup, he immediately spat it out.

"So lifelike, I almost forgot!" Steven exclaimed in realization as the mud fell apart.

"That's it?" 1J9G muttered with a tilt of her head.

"It's more satisfying than you think it is." Lapis claimed. "Go ahead, give it a shot."

"But what can we make?" 2F8D asked, scratching her chin as she examined the wilderness around them.

"Didn't you listen, dummy?" 1J9G responded while conjuring up some water. "They said we could make anything!"

"Right, anything!" 2F8D said as the two turned the water into the shape of a ball. "I totally knew that."

"That's it!" Lapis cheered for her former friends. "Try making some other shapes, it can be anything you want!"

The Lapides listened as they made the water ball grow spikes before flattening it into a sawblade that they tossed in-between Steven & Lapis, cutting down a mountain behind them in two.

"Wow, you just made our jobs easier!" 1J9G cackled and pointed at the fallen rock behind the two Crystal Gems.

"We'll have this planet cleaned up in no time!" 2F8D agreed with a laugh.

"Steven, this isn't working." Lapis muttered fearfully, prompting Steven to try something else.

"Looks like you two still have some energy to let out." Steven laughed. "Maybe you should try something more physical, like dancing!"

"Dance?" 1J9G wondered while Steven pulled out his phone. "And what is that thing in your hand?"

"Just watch us." Steven stated as he turned on some funky music for he and Lapis to dance to on his phone, as another demonstration to the Lapides. Although 1J9G was unimpressed, she noticed 2F8D starting to get into the groove as she swayed her arms from side to side.

Steven and Lapis took this as a breakthrough and continued dancing to the music, but then their gems started to glow by complete accident. "WHOA!" they exclaimed in unison, stopping their dance to keep the glowing down.

"Almost fused there, Lapis." Steven chuckled.

"Yeah, wouldn't want a repeat of Peridot." Lapis replied.

"Uh, who's Peridot?" 1J9G asked while ordering 2F8D to stop dancing with a mean look.

"Only Lapis's best friend!" Steven exclaimed with a hand on his Lapis's shoulder.

"Yeah, you can meet all types of people on Earth, humans and Gems." Lapis said. "Peridot and I got off on the wrong foot because when we first met, I was basically her hostage in an invasion of Earth." She continued explaining. "But over time, we grew closer thanks to Steven's influence and even had our own home in this little barn, but then due to circumstances I'd rather not get into at the moment, we just kinda drifted apart for a bit. We did eventually get back together, but when Little Homeschool first started, we unfortunately didn't have as much time to enjoy our shared inter-"

Before Lapis could finish, the other Lapises started laughing. "Really, you and a low-class Gem like a Peridot?!" 1J9G guffawed, forcing the primary Lapis to scowl at the pair.

"What's next, an Aquamarine fusing with a Ruby?!" 2F8D let out a loud wheeze.

"Funny story, actually." Steven began, but 1J9G cut him off.

"Look, we don't wanna hear anymore, kid." The Lapis snarked. "We know you want to do what's best for everyone or some stupid stuff like that, but we decided on what's best for us, and that's terraforming." She stated. "Now, please, run along back to your little school before you make me slap your face off."

"Geez, Jay-Nine, no need to threaten him like that." 2F8D tried to convince her pal otherwise.

"He's threatening our way of life, you clod!" 1J9G yelled at 2F8D, who reflexively knelt and cowered. "If you think a little kid like him is right, then why don't you come with them?"

"Gee, 2F8D has real bad taste in friends." Steven whispered to Lapis.

"It's like I said, One-Jay really liked to order us around." Lapis replied. "She also really doesn't like it whenever what she says gets questioned."

"Now, if you'll excuse us 3E8C," 1J9G finally said while turning away from her belligerent friend. "we're gonna go back to work, so no more interruptions."

"Y-yeah, let's get back to it!" 2F8D meekly added.

Ironically, the pair was stopped from flying away when Lapis finally spoke up. "I get it." She said to her old friends. "All this won't make you feel good right away, maybe not even at all. You guys are just afraid of change after thousands of years doing one thing, but they can help you navigates new ways of feeling. If you aren't into dancing, maybe singing would be more your speed."

Lapis prepared to demonstrate, but then she started hesitating for a bit. But thanks to some encouragement from Steven, she worked up the bravery and finally started to sing. "Oooo-ooo-oooh, why so bluuuu-uuuu-uuue? So many shades of sorrow got mixed into my hue." Lapis began. "And each new moment just astounds me, so much I wanna do. I finally feel my colors shining through."

The other Lapides began following their former friend as she gazed into her reflection in a puddle. "I'm tired of the fighting, I'm tired of the blame." Lapis continued as she reminisced on her struggles. "That mirror was a prison, and fusion was the same. What's with these new sensations that suddenly appear?! Deep as the roaring ocean, free as the atmosphere!"

Racing away from the puddle, Lapis excitedly pushed back some leaves to show her ex-partners more of Aozul 2's beauty as her song reached its high point. "Oooo-ooo-oooh, why so bluuuu-uuuu-uuue? So many different reasons, but are they really true?" Lapis began to finish as she knelt to watch the Flower Buddies surrounding her. "I wanna keep on going, wanna be right here with you. I'd love to see your colors shining throoooo-ooough." The Buddy that made its territory in Lapis's lap then blossomed for her. "I'd love to see your colors shining through."

Despite what Steven and Lapis believed the song would do, 1J9G laughed mockingly at her, and 2F8D was ordered to do the same with a poke to the elbow. "You really expect us to dance and sing like we're Pearls?!" 1J9G said derisively. "Look, Steven Universe, you already got 3E8C doing it for you! I mean, did you make her like this, or was she this much of a loser?!"

"You never bothered to ask what I liked back in the day!" Lapis angrily said before her curly-bobbed ex-friend grabbed her by the shirt collar.

"Listen 3E8C," 1J9G commanded Lapis just as angrily. "you and that so-called Diamond are going to leave this planet so we can get back to doing what we want to do, not be reconditioned into following everything you say with a dumb song! End, of, discussion."

"You don't have to be so cruel!" Steven yelled at 1J9G. "And you don't have to be such a horrible friend ei-"

"Did I stutter?" 1J9G continued as she glared daggers at Steven before turning away from him. "Come on 2F8D, let's get back to work."

"Yeah, see ya." 2F8D replied and said farewell to Steven before they flew off. "It was wet seeing you again 3E8C!"

"CONTEXT!" 1J9G yelled.

Steven was just about ready to give up, but Lapis just started angrily as her fellow Lapides got back to terraforming. "That's it!" she declared. "I've had enough of you two!"

"But, you promised we wouldn't fight!" a worried Steven reminded Lapis.

"If we had done this my way, we could've gotten this done way earlier!" Lapis replied before she flew up to her former friends. "Hey girls, that's enough!"

"Oh, look who it is." 1J9G grinned sneakily.

"You finally come to give us a hand?" 2F8D asked.

"You could say that." Lapis smiled before she spawned a pair of water hands from below, and used them to flick 1J9G and 2F8D away.

"Did she just do that?" 2F8D said, recoiling from the attack.

"Yeah, she did." 1J9G replied as she got an idea. "So, you can make hands, huh?" she said as she and her beleaguered partner formed a water hand of their own. "Okay if we try?"

The giant hand slapped Lapis away towards Steven, who summoned his shield to catch her and protect himself from the water. "Lapis," Steven cried. "are you okay?"

"I'm okay, just stay out of this!" Lapis demanded Steven before she flew back up and sprouted another pair of water wings that she turned into fists. "DORARARARARARARARARARARARA!" She yelled while unleashing her fury on 1J9G. "DORA!"

1J9G was thrust out of the sky and almost crashed onto the ground, until 2F8D caught her with a water hand.

"You alright?" 2F8D said sympathetically.

"I'm fine, you big baby." 1J9G growled and rubbed her head just as Lapis tried to restrain the two with chains made of water, but were nimbly dodged. "Water chains?"

"You really need to stop teaching us these wet new things!" 2F8D giggled, invoking another angry glare from 1J9G, before they created chains of their own to restrain Lapis and pin her to the cliff face.

"Lapis!" Steven cried for his Beach Summer Fun Buddy.

"We really gotta hand it to you." 2F8D said. "This new stuff you're showing us isn't actually useless."

Once again, the Lapides created a sawblade. But this time, instead of chopping a mountain in two, they had darker intentions for it. The blade was tossed straight at the seemingly powerless Lapis, and Steven couldn't help but watch.

"OH NO!" Steven yelled. But suddenly, the saw stopped right in front of Lapis's face and was reduced back into droplets as the earth shook around everyone. Water from all around began to surround her, washing over the other terraformers along the way as Lapis formed a massive watery figure wielding a harpoon around her.

"WHO'S DULL NOW?!" Lapis boomed, terrifying 2F8D into hugging 1J9G for protection while Lapis prepared to land the killing blow. "WHO'S PITIFUL NOW?!"

However, when Lapis turned to Steven with a sadistic grin, his disappointed expression made her realize what she's become. After the water figure fell apart, Lapis returned to the cliff's edge in exhaustion.

"You okay?" Steven asked while having one of the Flower Buddies in his arms.

"I'm fine." Lapis answered as the Buddy jumped into her embrace. "Sorry about losing control there."

As the water receded, the Lapides sat there stunned as Steven and Lapis flew down to face them.

"It's over now." Lapis declared to her ex-friends. "No more fighting. Okay?"

"Fine by me." 1J9G said with a smirk.

"Yeah, that was so wet back there!" 2F8D smiled earnestly, with Lapis giving her a confused stare this time.

"And no more terraforming too. Promise?" Lapis suggested.

"Oh, we'll do anything you say now!" 2F8D exclaimed cheerfully.

"After that ridiculous show of strength, we're at your command!" 1J9G added.

"No, that wasn't strength!" Lapis said hotly. "That was weakness! Patience takes strength; restraint takes strength!" Before Lapis could finish, she just decided to stop and walked away. "And I don't have the strength to deal with you anymore."

Before he could follow Lapis, Steven fished some brochures from his jacket pocket that he handed to the Lapides. "Here, have some Little Homeschool brochures. In case you change your mind." He offered before walking off after her.

--

After Steven and Lapis left Aozul 2, 1J9G and 2F8D sat on a rock reading through the brochures Steven gave them. While 2F8D was growing interested in the opportunities Little Homeschool had for her, 1J9G wasn't amused.

"So what, it's not just dancing and singing like Pearls?" 1J9G complained. "We have to do all this other junk too? This totally goes against what we were made for!"

"Yeah, but as Steven said, we can do whatever we want now!" 2F8D exclaimed as she pointed at some of the activities. "Like, gardening, for example! Isn't that wet?"

"Stop trying to make 'wet' happen!" 1J9G yelled. "It's never going to happen!"

After having her attempts at a catchphrase ruined, 2F8D clenched her fist and worked up some courage to tell her so-called friend the truth. "Hey, Little Homeschool also gives us opportunities to make new friends outside of our old castes. And I mean actual friends, not Gems who relentlessly pick on you for the stupidest of things."

"Is this about our bond?" 1J9G growled. "I'm totally your friend! I just have a different way of expressing it!"

"Yeah, well, Steven treats 3E8C with some level of respect and kindness!" 2F8D argued back. "You ever heard of either of those terms before?"

"This isn't funny Two-Eff." 1J9G growled. "We are not going to that stupid school. And you will stick with me, no matter what! End. Of. Discussion!"

However, 1J9G realized a bit too late that 2F8D had already left her, and was already racing to the Warp Pad with one of the Flower Buddies under her arm.

"Sorry One-Jay, but I'm going off to learn how to be nice to people!" 2F8D said rapidly before the Warp Pad took her away from Aozul 2. "OKAY, BYYYYYEEE!"

And so, 1J9G was left utterly alone on the blue-colored moon. Alone and positively furious. As she began angrily chopping down trees with her powers, a black dropship slowly dropped into Aozul's atmosphere.

--

Night fell by the time Steven and Lapis finally returned to Little Homeschool. Still guilty for giving in to her anger, Lapis sat forlornly on the Warp Pad, only for Steven to seat himself next to her.

"I wish I hadn't done that." Lapis moaned. "They just reminded me so much of myself, and how I acted in the past. All high and mighty with no regard for anyone but myself."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Steven gave his blue friend a comforting smile. "You've grown a lot since I first broke you out of that mirror, but everything takes time. It's not your fault those two are still stuck in their ways."

As Lapis smiled back, the Warp Pad activated once again. This time, 2F8D stood behind them, and a Flower Buddy peeked from behind her. "Hey, is this that school you were talking about?" 2F8D asked sheepishly. "One-Jay and I had a disagreement, so now I want to learn what real friends are like."

The Flower Buddy stepped up from behind 2F8D and nuzzled itself on Lapis's leg. "I also brought this little guy along as a way of saying sorry." 2F8D continued. "Hope you like him."

"I love him." Lapis said as she picked the Buddy up. "Thanks Zuli."

"Zuli?" the Lapis now known as Zuli asked.

"Yeah, 2F8D might be hard to remember." Lapis explained. "Just came up with that nickname off the top of my head. You like it?"

"I love it!" Zuli cheered. "So, when can I start school?"

"Doesn't matter." Steven answered.

"Yeah, welcome to Earth." Lapis responded.

--

Back on Aozul 2, 1J9G continued terraforming the little moon to vent her stress, leaving a trail of fallen trees and small dirt canyons in her wake.

"I can't believe that freckled clod just ditched me like that!" 1J9G shrieked furiously. "She just fell for that kid's games, and then ran off!" Amid her ranting, the curly-haired Lapis began to cry. "Is this how he gets his sick kicks, just tearing apart friendships like that?! I'm gonna make him pay for stealing my friends when I find him again!"

Just then, some of the trees 1J9G didn't chop down started rustling, frightening her. "Who's there?" she began panicking. "Did you realize you made a huge mistake and come crawling back to me?"

However, 1J9G realized she wasn't talking to 2F8D. Instead, a large, grey hand with a white topaz on the back emerged from the foliage, and reached out for her.

--

Ominous, isn't it?! This was real great to write, especially since as mentioned above, Why so Blue is my favorite episode of Future. Hope you liked how I expanded on the Lapises and their backstory, and are excited for what I got next. Because on the next chapter of Steven Universe: Alternate Future, we aren't moving onto Little Graduation, that's the start of Part 2. Instead, we get onto cut content territory with Rhodonite's backstory at last. In the meantime, I'd really like this series to get mentioned on TV Tropes like my other written works.

[spiritmoon23]

Throwing Shade: The Art of Using Color to Study

A bit of a throwback (last year haha) but for my cognitive psychology class we had to make a blog post about our topic of choice, and mine won best in show! (I got 100% on it and I deserved it in full)

For anyone interested, the link is here for the full effect (colors and images I picked out myself :) ), but the full text will be under the cut- without the lovely graphics that it

ABSTRACT: Do you take your notes in color? Maybe you should start. Note taking is the one thing that remains constant throughout the years in education. Students will often take notes in color or draw in their margins, which not only makes note taking more fun, but it can help keep you engaged in the material, and retain the information you’re taking notes on!

Throwing Shade: The Art of Using Color to Study

Do you take your notes in color? Maybe you should start.

Note taking is the one thing that remains constant throughout the years in education. Your parents took notes, their parents took notes, your professors took notes from their professors who took notes. But, your notes don't have to be the same notes they’ve been taking all these years. Back in the day, students were stuck with sad, boring ink and pencils in the same three colors for generations. Why don’t we try something new? Nowadays, along with the invention of sparkly gel pens for the people who still write theirs in notebooks, many students have started to take notes on computers, which makes it even easier than ever before to introduce colors and graphics into your delightful shorthand. Not only does this make it more fun to take notes, but it also helps to keep you engaged, and even helps you remember the information you’re taking notes on.

What is memory?

Obviously, memory is what you remember, right? Simply put, yes, but there’s more to it than that- there always is, isn’t there? It involves keeping, finding, and using information about things we have experienced in some way before that moment, but is something you’re not currently experiencing (1). For example, I could ask you to remember what a field of corn looks like, smells like, or sounds like, and you could tell me without having to be standing in one right now. That’s memory.

Memory is a process with a lot of steps and a lot of mechanisms that we don’t entirely understand just yet, but we do know what kinds of things make your memory better. Namely, things that either grab your attention, or emotionally invest you in them (2). That’s why you remember that embarrassing thing you did five years ago (while you’re trying to sleep, every time), and can’t remember what you had for lunch last week. 

Emotion can be engaged by many things, but so can your attention. When you’re driving down the highway and the giant red McDonald’s billboard catches your eye, or when the “Ooh, something shiny!” reflex kicks in, something is grabbing your attention and forcing you to think about it. There are a few ways to grab someone’s attention in this manner, but the best way? Nothing can grab someone like a striking color palette.

Coloring Your Attention

Color catches your (visual) attention better than any other visual stimuli, because it takes the least amount of effort to perceive (3). Then, the longer you look at that stimulus, the longer it has to imprint on your short term memory. That visual information worms its way quickly into the long term memory after the prolonged exposure. This is why marketing is often very colorful, with lots of moving shapes and textures, and loud, ranging sounds. They want your attention more than anything else, so you remember their name or product better than the competition.

But, I can definitely hear you asking me, what does this have to do with me as a student? Doesn’t that just mean the powerpoint I’m reading off of should be in kaleidoscope colors? Yes, it should. But more specifically to you as the student, color is a form of creative expression that you can use to enhance your memory.

Being Creative With Your Memory

Being creative during class, especially when taking notes, keeps you engaged and interested in the material, and this will make it stick in your memory longer than if you were just copying information down as you hear it (4). But not everyone can make masterpieces in the margins of their notebooks, now can they?

Well, adding color to your notes is a form of creative expression that anyone can participate in, no matter how creative or creatively skilled they are. You can’t even draw a stick figure? That’s okay, you don’t need to! Instead, try switching colors in between each topic, and if you want to go a step further, make color patterns with them outside of just the plain rainbow. As long as you are expressing yourself in a creative manner while you’re taking notes, your mood and motivation will be much higher (5).

So, What Colors Should I Be Using?

Use whatever colors make you happiest. I keep notes in blues, purples and greens, because my favorite colors are the cool ones. Use whatever colors, mediums, images, or annotations that speak best to you, like your favorite colors, cutesy patterns, doodles, or whatever strikes your fancy.

However, there is a correct answer to this question. There has been a few different studies that have been conducted about this, and the results vary (no matter how many colors I make it, the periodic table isn’t going to be memorable to an interior designer, after all), but most commonly the primary and secondary colors like red, green, and yellow, are the most memorable colors (3). Even more specifically, use warm colors like red and orange over cool colors like blue and purple, as these colors tend to catch your attention better and for longer (6).

Sources

1. Goldstein, E. B. (2019). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience. Cengage.

2. Gomes, C. F., Brainerd, C. J., & Stein, L. M. (2013). Effects of emotional valence and arousal on recollective and nonrecollective recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(3), 663-677. doi:10.1037/a0028578

3. Bae, G., Olkkonen, M., Allred, S. R., & Flombaum, J. I. (2015). Why some colors appear more memorable than others: A model combining categories and particulars in color working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(4), 744-763. doi:10.1037/xge0000076

4. Baack, D. W., Wilson, R. T., & Till, B. D. (2008). Creativity and Memory Effects: Recall, Recognition, and an Exploration of Nontraditional Media. Journal of Advertising, 37(4), 85-94. doi:10.2753/joa0091-3367370407

5. Ceci, M. W., & Kumar, V. K. (2015). A Correlational Study of Creativity, Happiness, Motivation, and Stress from Creative Pursuits. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(2), 609-626. doi:10.1007/s10902-015-9615-y

6. Jadhao A, Bagade A, Taware G, Bhonde M. Effect of background color perception on attention span and short-term memory in normal students. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 2020;10(11):981-984

[peteywillproceed]

“We Were On A Break!” - Part 2

Author’s Note: It’s here! I’ve been so excited to upload this! Thank you again for all the amazing support so far, I can’t believe we hit a hundred followers already! You’re all so so amazing! As usual, let me know if you wanna be added to my tag list, and I hope you enjoy x

Summary: Tom might’ve broken your heart, but the prospect of you moving to another country changes everything (kinda Friends TV show crossover!)

Word Count: 4,720

Read Part 1 First

Turns out, you wouldn’t.

Mostly because Tom couldn’t keep his hands off alcohol. But also because he couldn’t keep his promises either.

Your eyes fluttered open to face an empty bed. It was cold and the covers were gone, and you felt a little furrow of confusion work its way through your brow. You were used to waking up alone when you’d been together, but some how you’d thought this might change things – that he might finally do the half decent thing and bring you some coffee.

But the open door reminded you that to Tom, you’d never be someone he brought coffee to. You were the person that fixed him up when he was pissed, told him how great he was when he was sad. Yet when it came to you, he couldn’t even find it in his heart to stay a little while.

“Tom?” you called, frustration and sleep coating your voice. You groaned, feeling your muscles protest as you sat up, grimacing at the tight jeans and unforgiving fabric of last night’s clothes. You were still half hoping he might just be in the bathroom, but when loud voices drifted up the stairs, cheers from boys still a little drunk from the night before ringing in your ears, you wondered how you’d let him suck you into this in the first place.

In a huff, you threw yourself out of the bed and grabbed your jacket, double checking none of the sneaky bastards downstairs had helped themselves to your purse. A glance at your phone reminded you you’d never told Sarah where you’d ended up last night, and even Cameron had blown it up with calls. Regardless, you’d missed your first lecture, and you wanted to curse Tom for getting under your skin again.

Poking your head out of the door, you wondered if you could just make a dash for it down the stairs. Doing the walk of shame at 10am in the morning when the only thing you had to be ashamed of was how gullible you were wasn’t exactly an experience you were thrilled about, but here you were. You started sneaking away as fast as you could, making it to the door before a familiar voice stopped you in your tracks.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Harrison,” you sighed, dropping the handle in defeat. You glanced past his shoulder to make sure no one else had heard him and put a finger to your lips.

“Are you and Tom back together?” he whispered, eyes lighting up in excitement, and you hastily shook your head.

“No way. I made a mistake last night, probably not the one you think. Now would you save me the embarrassment of having to talk to him?”

Harrison raised an eyebrow, folding his arms as he poked his cheek with his tongue. “You want me to let my best friend make a stupid arse mistake and let you go?”

“Yes?” you said, voice filled with hope, internally screaming as he rolled his eyes.

“Hurry up then, I guess. He’s gonna go for his morning run in about thirty seconds.”

Throwing your head back in relief, you grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up, twisting the handle and darting from the house just in time. As the door clicked shut, you caught the remnants of Harrison brushing off a confused Tom, covering your back as he told him it was just the postman.

As you practically ran down the street, you tried to push Tom to the back of your mind. He was the last person you wanted to deal with right now, and whatever games he was playing could wait. You had bigger priorities right now, and you intended to not let Tom push you about anymore. That was the last time you let him write the rules; from now on, you were in charge.

You turned left at the end of the street, shoving your way into the familiar café on the high street. Your brain was all kinds of messed up, and before you could even start to think about processing last night you needed a huge mug of coffee and the internet.

“Hey, Gunther,” you smiled, ignoring the awe struck look he gave you. “Medium americano to sit in please.”

“Sure, Y/n. No Sarah today? I, uh, kept the sofa free for you.” You followed where he pointed, but there was basically no need for his reserved sign. The café was practically empty.

“Err thanks. But I just need a computer today.”

“Sure, sure. On the house, I’ll bring your drink over in a bit.” He winked at you as you started over towards the computer bar and nabbed the one closest to the radiator, relief washing over you as warmth covered your frozen body.

You tapped your leg impatiently as you waited for it to boot up, annoyed you’d forgotten your phone charger. You were waiting on what could have been the most important email you’d ever receive in your life, and the deadline was last night. You’d been meaning to keep an eye on it all night, but then things had gotten weird with Tom and you’d just forgotten about it.

Studying physics was the hardest but most rewarding thing you’d ever done, but you were graduating and you needed somewhere to keep pushing your mind. So when your professor had brought up that he needed an assistant to work on a PhD program with him in France, you’d jumped at the chance – travel the world, and get an awesome qualification at the same time. All you’d needed was the funding, and today was the day you would know if everything you’d worked for was coming true.

You were holding your breath as the gmail screen loaded, barely acknowledging Gunther’s comment as he set your coffee down beside you. All you could focus on was the string of black text crossing your screen as your eyes scanned the page and took in what it was saying.

“Dear Miss Y/l/n, congratulations, we are delighted to award you the grant to support your further studies in Paris – OH MY GOD!” You screamed in amazement, choking back sobs as all three of the people in the café turned to stare at you. Jesus, you’d done it. Actually done it. You were going to Paris! PARIS! To study the stars! For free!

Your heart was pounding and you could hear the blood racing in your ears. In a haze of blissful amazement, you snatched your phone of the table to call your mum, before remembering it was dead. You could hardly remember getting to your feet and rushing towards the café’s landline, punching in the only number you could remember.

“Y/n? Oh my god! Where’ve you been? We’ve been so worried, we even called your mum thinking you were back there!” Sarah’s panicked voice screamed through the phone, and you wondered how on earth she knew it was you calling.

“Shh, Sarah, shh just be quiet for a sec, okay? I did it! I got the grant! I’m going to Paris!”

There was stunned silence on the other end of the phone, before she too erupted into a set of screams so deafening you had to hold the phone away from your ear. “Y/n that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you! Have you told your mum?”

“No, my phone’s dead and yours was the only number I could remember!” You giggled, relieved to hear Sarah burst into laughter too.

“Oh God, maybe you should call her. She thinks you’ve been kidnapped!”

You rang off quickly, slumping against the wall, overwhelmed by the whole morning. In just the space of a few hours, you’d gone from utterly humiliated to high on happiness and amazement. You’d worked so hard for this, put in so many extra hours just to get half way to where you were today. And here were the results, your future, all laid out in front of you like a pretty picture.

You were going to Paris, to do something you’d always dreamed of doing, ex-boyfriend be damned.

***

A few days later, you were spread out on your bed, putting away the last of your revision notes when you heard the knock on your bedroom door. Figuring it was Sarah who’d forgot her keys, you turned down the music you had playing softly in the background, and called out to her.

“You’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on, numpty,” you laughed, snatching the keys off her desk and heading towards the door.

“Err, actually Y/n, it’s me.”

Your hand froze halfway to the door handle, your body rigid with a strange concoction of fear and excitement. You hadn’t heard his deep, velvety voice since last week, and you hated the way the sound sent shivers through your body. You could almost picture him, slumped against the door frame, his fist hovering over the ‘do not disturb’ sign in his usual deliberate ignoring of the rules.

“What, Tom?” you sighed, flinging the door open. God, you didn’t have time for this. You were leaving for Paris in just over a week and you still hadn’t packed half your stuff.

“Can I talk to you a minute?” he asked, his face unreadable. If he was anything, you would have said he looked scared, and the realisation made you start with the shock of seeing him anything other than cocky.

“If you make it quick, I’m busy,” you snapped, standing to one side to let him in.

“Thanks.”

You clicked your tongue and let the door slam shut, folding your arms as he started looking around your room. He trailed his hands over your bed, and you shuddered at the unwelcome memories that flooded your head, the feeling of his cool fingers against your skin and the familiar, lustful stare he’d always had drowning out any sense of resolve you thought you’d had.

Somehow, you pulled it together enough you jerk him out of his trance. “Well?”

“You’re going to Paris?” he spun around, his tone so accusatory you wanted to slap him. What right did he have to have feelings about your future? When he’d given all that up with just a few words months ago?

“If you must know, yes, I am. It’s for a PhD.”

He snorted and you grit your teeth, about to kick him out if he said anything stupid. “Good, that’s…good. I know you always wanted to do that.”

“Thanks.”  You let out the breath you hadn’t realised you’d been holding and pursed your lips.

He looked to the side, hunching his shoulders as if he had far more to say but didn’t know if it was smart to say it. You could see the indecision in his eyes, feeling quietly pleased your choice had unsettled him; finally, he was the one being wrong footed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I didn’t realise I had to run every decision I made by my ex-boyfriend,” you rolled your eyes, restraining yourself from snapping too much.

“It hurt a lot hearing it from Harrison.”

You nodded, but you couldn’t quite bring yourself to feel sympathetic. You didn’t know why he felt like he had such a right to your life, when he’d made it blatantly clear he didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. You fiddled with the rings on your fingers at his comments, trying to clear your head enough to form a coherent answer.

“I can’t say I’m sorry, Tom,” you sighed at last, and he nodded. “I don’t know what you want me to say if I’m honest. You ended things and I’m moving on. I’ve got things to be getting on with and they don’t involve you, so I don’t feel overly inclined to keep you updated on my schedule.”

As you spoke, you could feel the anger bubbling up inside you, and you fought to keep it down. You’d worked so hard to make things right, to make it seem like you couldn’t give a damn anymore, and you refused to crumble at the last hurdle.

“I get that,” he nodded. “When did you find out?”

“Last week.”

“And when did you tell Harrison?”

“Last week,” you shrugged, meeting his eye with a steely glare. You were beginning to get annoyed with all of his questions, because he hadn’t even told you what he was doing here. All he’d done so far was waltz in and throw questions at you left, right, and centre, like the entitled prick you’d never thought he was.

“Was he okay with it?” Tom touched his cheek, drawing your eyes to the brief contact, and you shook your head.

“Does it matter, Tom? If you’re so interested, ask him yourself.”

“I wanted to hear it from you.”

“I don’t know why,” you spread your arms wide “you’ve not exactly called since the last time we saw each other. I’m not someone you can just call when you need me and then dump me the next day. If you’re here to do that, then you can piss off now.”

“Of course I’m not here for that!” Tom’s mouth fell open and he sounded genuinely shocked at what you were saying.

“Then why are you here?” you threw your head back, exhausted already from this conversation and wanting nothing more than to run far away.

“I…don’t know,” Tom admitted, collapsing onto your bed. “After you disappeared the other night, I figured that was the end of us, that I’d really blown it that time. I wanted to call you, to set things straight, but you’d made it so clear in the past that you wanted nothing to do with me that I thought maybe it was for the best.”

“Well clearly you changed your mind,” you eyed him, but his words caught at your heart strings.

“I did. I honestly did. I can’t stop thinking about you, Y/n. You’re in my dreams, in my thoughts, hell I can’t go a minute without something reminding me of you, and when Harrison told me about you leaving...” he gulped, leaving his sentence unfinished and glanced up, red rimming his eyes. You stepped towards him and tentatively put your hand on his shoulder, not sure what to say.

“You’re telling me all of this a bit late. And to be honest, after the way you’ve behaved, I’m not sure I believe you.”

“And you have every right not to,” Tom was suddnely on his feet, inches from your face. Your breathing hitched and he swallowed audibly, his hand reaching up to cup your face. “But know that I’m not here to trick you or mislead you, I’m here as one hundred percent myself, and I’m trying to fix the biggest mistake I ever made.”

The contact made you shiver, drawing you further into Tom’s arms. A thousand thoughts swirled in your head as you stared into the deep chocolate pools you’d once known every inch of. Everything about him was intoxicating, from the slippery velvet words that came from his lips to the deep, woody pine smell that made you want to bury your head into every jumper he owned. You were drowning in Tom, and just for a minute you forgot everything that had happened.

All that you remembered was the here and now, the silence stretching for miles between you as you were locked in his embrace. He was inching closer, and your heart was pounding faster, threatening to burst from your chest in an all-consuming, blinding explosion. You weren’t breathing, hardly moving, as he tilted your chin towards him and brought his hand to tangle in your hair. His fingers threaded through the knots with ease, the familiarity a surprise to you as your eyes fluttered closed at his touch. You were moments away from kissing him, and God you wanted to.

But wanting was not the same as needing.

You stepped back abruptly, watching hurt cross Tom’s face as swiftly as though you’d plunged a knife into his chest. You tried to say something, anything, but the words got caught in your throat, and instead you were breathing hard and gasping for air, the sudden loss of contact a shock. How did you explain to him how you felt? Now you were the one that had ripped away something good, something beautiful, and being on the other side of it felt awful.

But you knew, you were certain, that kissing Tom would only bring you more hurt than you’d already had, and you weren’t sure your heart could take anymore.

“I’m…I’m sorr…sorry,” you stuttered, feeling hot tears start sliding down your face.

Tom shook his head slowly and looked down at the floor. You weren’t certain, but you were almost positive you’d seen the glassy covering of tears just about to fall. “It’s alright.”

“I, um, I think you should go,” you mumbled, twiddling with your fingers. Your heart had broken so many times over this guy that you just wanted to let yourself be alone for once, to feel and suffer and wallow in the overwhelming sadness and heart break that followed you and Tom wherever you went. Perhaps this time, it would finally teach you a lesson.

He met your eyes with a desperate look, but this time he didn’t close the space between you. The anticipation hung in the air as you both waited for the other to make a move, and suddenly the overwhelming urge to run towards him and kiss him until you couldn’t breathe took over your rational brain. You fought it down with a harsh wipe of your cheek, feeling the tackiness of the tears there drying on your palm.

At last, Tom nodded, and started towards the door, grabbing the jacket he’d tossed over the chair. “Y/n?” he glanced over his shoulder.

“Yeah?” you said at last, barely looking him in the eye.

“For what it’s worth, I really am sorry.”

And then he was gone, disappearing from your room as quickly as he’d come without so much as a goodbye. As soon as the door had slammed shut, you felt your heart shatter, and you fell to the floor as your knees gave way, all the strength you’d held suddenly ebbing away.

Tears poured down your reddened face, your hands thrust into your hair as you sobbed into your knees. You curled them into your chest, desperately pulling yourself close in an attempt to shut out the encroaching world that had crushed your fragile body so many times over. It seemed unfair, almost cruel, that this was happening again – you were reliving that horrible night all over again, and you just wanted it to stop.

This was supposed to be a good day. A positive day. Where you’d moved on and were planning for an exciting future. Except now you’d been stripped right back to core, your emotions exposed and everything torn to shreds. Your heart was laying naked somewhere in Tom’s palms, your tears running through the cracks in his skin. Because as much as you hated to admit it, there was still a part of you that longed to chase after him, beg him to stay.

And it was the very part of you that had destroyed you.

***

Departure day came quicker than you’d expected, and you were still reeling from Tom. Harrison and Sarah came with you to say goodbye, their hugs lingering as you stood in the departure lounge.

“I’m gonna miss you!” Sarah sobbed, scraping at her cheeks as fresh tears rolled down them.

“Not as much as I’m gonna miss you,” you laughed. “But you can come visit any time you like.”

“That better be the same for me too, Miss Y/l/n,” Harrison smirked, pulling you into his arms.

“What? You’re the British one here, Harrison, you can make a day trip whenever you fancy!”

“Consider that done,” he winked, and you swatted him on the arm. You exchanged a look with him as the laughter died, both knowing he wouldn’t have been the only British boy with you today if things had gone differently.

“For what it’s worth, Y/n, I’m sure he would have come,” Harrison sighed, stroking your arm.

“Yeah, right,” Sarah scoffed “he didn’t call, didn’t text, just left her there on the floor after ripping her heart out again.”

“Tom’s an idiot, we all know that, but he’s decent when he’s not being stupid.”

“Unfortunately, he’s being stupid most of the time,” you muttered, glancing down at your phone one last time in the hopes he might have changed his mind. But the screen was still blank, just your regular old Spiderman background staring you in the face.

Suddenly, a voice came over the tannoy, and dread filled your stomach. “This is the last call for flight 217 to Paris, France. Please proceed to Gate 48.”

“Well, that’s me,” you gulped, turning to your friends with wide eyes. “Is it normal to be this scared?”

“Moving to another country all by yourself? Of course it is,” Harrison smiled warmly, and you trusted him the most. After all, he’d done it four years ago. “But you’ll be back for graduation next month. By then you’ll have forgotten all of the nerves and you’ll be a proper Parisian.”

You laughed and gathered your bags, giving them one final hug before starting towards the gate. “I love you guys!” You called over your shoulder.

“We love you too!”

You disappeared into passport control, fear filling your stomach. That was it, the last sighting of any familiar faces for a very long time, and it was of Harrison answering the phone. As you handed your passport over to the stern looking lady at the booth, you couldn’t help but wonder if what Harrison said was true, if being a Parisian really was that simple. It didn’t seem it, but if Tom could make a new life in a completely different country, then you sure as hell could to.

Tom. Oh God. You hadn’t wanted to think about him. Not now, when any thought of him previously had left you a crippling mess and unable to talk. Numbly, you took your passport back and wandered into the concourse, looking for directions to Gate 48. Anything to distract you from what might have been.

When you finally found your gate, your head was still full of thoughts of Tom and everything you should’ve said, and the lady checking your boarding pass had to ask you three times before you registered she was talking to you.

“Is everything okay, love?” she asked, stamping the ticket.

“Oh, yeah,” you shrugged “just a lot going on right now I guess.”

“Yeah, I’d say so. You only just got here in time, take off is in fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks,” you smiled, but it didn’t reach your eyes, and she stuck her hand out as you tried to walk past.

“Guy trouble?” she narrowed her eyes and you jumped in shock.

“How did you-?”

“Oh please, I see enough young men and women walking through these gates every day looking a little lost. And Paris? Is there any please more obvious to go to for a broken heart?”

“I thought it was the city of love?” you raised an eyebrow, and the woman laughed.

“Of course darling, that’s why it’s perfect for heartbreak.”

Her words rattled around in your skull, ‘darling’ working its way through the layers of iron around your heart and embedding itself into the tissue. That was what he had called you. You hadn’t thought about the word in days, and here this woman was, so casually saying it, as if you hadn’t had your heart torn in two by the very man who practically invented the word.

Images of Tom swam before your eyes, the brown curls and dimpled smile nestling into your mind. You felt tears prick in your eyes as the memory of his voice swirled through his ears, so realistic you could’ve sworn he was right next to you.

“Wait!”

It was so random, it was like he was there. You could hear him yelling, a cruel trick your mind was determined to play, and yet it was so real.

“Y/n, please, wait!”

He sounded out of breath, but at the sound of your name you spun around in surprise, dropping your rucksack in shock as Tom came sprinting through the crowd. He was wearing his usual black t-shirt and jeans, but he was clutching a small strip of paper and racing towards you.

“Y/n!”

“Is that you?” the woman who’d stamped your ticket asked with a knowing smile.

“Tom?” your mouth fell open “what are you doing here?”

He skidded to a stop, the eyes of hundreds of passengers trained on him as he bent double and gasped for breath. “I…couldn’t…let…you…leave…without saying…goodbye.”

“What?” you balked, not sure what to say. Your flight was leaving in less than ten minutes – of course Tom would cock this up for you.

“Y/n, please, please don’t go,” he gripped your shoulders, pulling you against his chest. At first, you resisted, but at the sight of his pleading eyes and desperate voice, you collapsed against you, and his chin fell on your head. “Oh God, I thought I’d missed you.”

“How’d you even get in here?” you asked.

“Bought a ticket.”

“You did what?”

“Apparently I’m on the second flight out to Canada now,” he grinned, stepping away from you.

“You did all that to ask me to stay?” your mouth moved before you could think, but Tom was nodding vigorously, still panting.

“I got the wrong airport at first, then I rang Haz and he told me you’d just gone into passport control. I figured I had enough time to make it, but then I got here and your flight wasn’t on the departures board.” So that was the phone call Haz had taken as you’d left.

“You know, asking me to stay isn’t possible, Tom,” you sighed as reality hit you like a truck “I’ve got a job to do, and I want this so badly. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. Asking me to give all that up for you when you broke my heart is…a lot.”

“I know, I know. Okay, look, don’t stay then. But let me follow you.”

“Tom…” you started, shaking your head “this is all so complicated.”

“Well let me make it less complicated for you then,” he said, and suddenly you were kissing, and stars were exploding behind your closed eyes. His lips moved with yours, sending sparks of electricity racing through your veins. Your skin crawled as a thousand fires spread across your body, heat warming your chilled bones. It was everything you needed and didn’t want at the same time, but it felt right, it felt good, and suddenly you knew you should have kissed him the day he’d come to your dorm.

When you broke apart, the lady at the desk was clearing her throat as the final warning bell sounded. “Miss Y/l/n, are you boarding this plane or not?”

You glanced between her and Tom, the prospect of the future or the enticement of the past. You knew what would win out, you were too sensible to give into a guy who’d just run through an airport for you – but there was no reason you couldn’t have both.

“I am,” you nodded, picking up your rucksack and smiling at Tom, whose eyes had widened slightly. “There’s another flight out in two hours. Change your ticket and come with me.”

“Will you meet me there?” he called out as you started walking backwards.

“I’ll be waiting,” you replied, blowing him a kiss. Suddenly, everything felt right again. Maybe Tom would break your heart again, maybe he wouldn’t. But the prospect of forever didn’t mean much right now, you were too busy living your life. All that could come – for now, you just had to focus on your future and taking one step at a time. If Tom was really that serious about you, he’d show it soon enough.

And if he didn’t? Well then, you’d be okay with that too. Because something told you, as you walked away, that whatever was to come would be brilliant.

And you couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

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@zabdisamor @jinxfanfics @jillanaholland

[hows-it-holed-up]

Perfunctory Photo Recap: Alias 1x01

After starting off with Gossip Girl and swinging wildly in the other direction for my second post, I decided a happy medium for No. 3 would be that early-aughts ABC classic, Alias. The show premiered basically immediately after 9/11, and I started watching it in 2002 with its mid-season premiere – meaning I missed the first half of the first season and didn’t get to watch it until it RE-AIRED over the summer of 2002. (How did we ever live without streaming apps? Unfathomable.) Anyway, I was obsessed with this show when it was on, and I suspect it’ll hold up pretty well, even though we’re the better part of 20 years out from the pilot. Let’s get our spy on!

My Disclaimer: None of these posts will be in any way comprehensive, because I’m lazy. All of them are probably going to have spoilers of some sort for the entire series…or at least what I remember of it from when I last watched it an eon ago. Exactly what you want in a recap!

The Prophecy: Our heroine Sydney Bristow thinks she works for the CIA, but learns pretty quickly (after they murder her fiancé) that she’s been a bit of a dummy! She actually works for the bad guys – an organization called SD-6. Will she just sit back and accept it? That would make for a pretty short series! 

Fresh off his thrill-a-minute action masterpiece Felicity, J.J. Abrams stays brand consistent, opening his new series with some light waterboarding. 

We cut almost immediately to Sydney in a college classroom (there we go, J.J.), where she’s scribbling furiously in a blue book and giving me anxiety-induced flashbacks. She meets up with her BF...

Who proposes to her on “the quad” while singing “Build Me Up Buttercup” at the top of his lungs. I remember finding this adorably romantic in high school. If someone inflicted this on me now I would literally walk away and never speak to them again. 

Syd here seems to be contemplating the exact same thing. But she (somehow) gets over it and says yes.  

Wow, there it is! “The CIA.” Honestly, Sydney really should have figured out this wasn’t legit almost immediately. No way the vibe at ANY CIA office is industrial chic. There’s barely a fluorescent light to be found! 

LOOK AT BABY BRADLEY COOPER! (Yes, this screengrab was very strategic.)

He’s so crestfallen when she tells him she’s engaged to Doug or Dave or whatever his name is. Poor BB. Don’t worry Bradley! He’ll have shuffled this mortal coil by halfway through the episode.

Annnnd this is why:

Big no-no!

He freaks out and I guess runs off. When they meet up again it’s at some oil-pumping hoosit in Bakersfield or some such, and she gives him some cringeworthy line about having always hoped she’d find someone to give her life meaning and he’s the one etc. etc. GROAN. 

Then she jets off on her latest mission, where the best part is she gets to use her real accent for about 10 seconds. 

As a southern(ish) lady myself, I always get a little delight when I hear a good southern accent! Everyone seems to think they can do a flawless one, but it’s almost impossible to find someone who’s not from the region and can do it properly. The attempts are usually skin-crawlingly bad.

Anyway, after the mission, she returns home to a not-very-nice surprise. 

J. Garn is VERY good in this scene. 

After a wee confrontation with her boss about the small matter of murdering her fiancé, we cut back to the torture scene, where Sydney’s got some jokes! 

LOLLL!!!!1! But to be fair they did shoot her full of a big ol’ syringe of something we’ll assume is affecting her frontal lobe, or whatever. You try being funny in the middle of a drug-enhanced torture session. 

Anyway, we cut back to Dorian’s funeral, where we get eyes on Will’s (Bradley Cooper’s) sister, who happens to have fire-engine red hair and be dressed like a British goth-punk from the ‘70s. Super approps funereal attire. And also probably nothing to do with Syd’s lil future disguise – just a total coincidence. 

Then over to this image of me, every night of this COVID-19 quarantine. Note the bottle within arm’s reach. By tomorrow I’ll probably be foregoing the glass altogether. 

When we check back in with our girl, it’s been 3 months since she’s been into the office. Prob b/c of the whole “murdered her fiancé” thing but who can say really. Anyway folks aren’t super pleased!

Like really not super pleased. 

There’s a whole fighting thing, and as Syd’s struggling to escape her dad dadus ex machinas on up:

He tells her the people she’s working for are actually the bad guys. And she’s like NUH UH! And he’s like “So then how come you’ve never been to Langley? Also come on have you seen the offices?”

Not really being able to argue with his logic but also not really trusting him, Syd runs off and steals Will’s sister’s identity (SHOCKING TWIST!). Because as all great spies know, you want to stand out as much as possible – so best practice is to dye your hair the brightest color you can manage and dress like it’s Halloween so that everyone will notice you. 

Anywho, all of that somehow works, and we arrive at the part of the narrative where she gets captured and tortured. But because she’s the star of the show, it probably won’t come as too much of a surprise that she escapes! She runs off to find the thing she was supposed to find at the beginning of the show:

A highly coveted floating clown nose! (No but actually it’s much more sinister than that and is a big deal later in the series.)

She gives it to her boss so he knows she’s back onboard:

Then heads straight for CIA HQ, where she writes down her story for this handsome fellow and offers to be a double agent for them:

Sigh. I remember being very into these two as an IRL couple and finding out they broke up immediately before a French test. I also remember I did not do excellently on said French test. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I had no interest in studying. I would probably be fluent now if it weren’t for them. 

Anyway, the CIA verifies her statement and sends an asset to let her know that she’s in:

Yes that’s what I just said. 

It turns out that papa Bristow is ALSO a CIA double agent! What a good reveal to end on! Great job J.J.! 

Debriefing:

- After spending 20 minutes searching for a free, not-illegal way to watch this sucker online (because I’m a cheap bitch), I finally gave in, swam around in my massive hope chest and literally dusted off this DVD, which it turns out I still own. Did I buy a DVD player just so I could watch my Alias, OC and Friends DVDs? Who can say! 

- I didn’t realize they introduced the Rambaldi mythology in the first episode. It’s actually pretty impressive they could maintain that as a narrative thread throughout the show. Also we’ve got a “47″ alert at 12 minutes in. 

- They have Jennifer Garner speaking a ton of languages throughout this show, as I recall. I wonder if she’s any good at any of them? She sounds vaguely convincing in the pilot, to me, but what do I know?

- I think we can all agree that Merrin Dungey is a national treasure and deserves to be a bigger star than she is. I’m always so happy to see her when she pops up in other things. And she’s great in this show. 

- Overall, the Alias pilot holds up REALLY well. It does an amazing job of giving depth to all of the characters and really making the audience care about them – even the ones who only appear for a few minutes. The plotting is strong, and the groundwork for the rest of the series is laid without being even remotely heavy on eye-rolly exposition. Plus the actors’ performances are all *CHEF’S KISS*  

[aion-rsa]

Jacqueline Carey Guest Post: Women in Fantasy

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This is a guest post from Jacqueline Carey, author of the Kushiel’s Legacy series. Tor Books is releasing reissues of the epic fantasy series this summer. Kushiel’s Dart and Kushiel’s Chosen are already out, with the reissue or Kushiel’s Avatar set to drop on August 25th.

“Is this a kissing book?”

Everyone who’s seen The Princess Bride, which includes pretty much everyone I know, recognizes that line, uttered by a young Fred Savage to his grandpa, the ever-charming Peter Falk, who’s come to read a story to his grandson. Fred’s nameless character is confined to bed with a nameless childhood illness. Nothing terribly serious, we assume—perhaps a cough and a bit of a fever, not alarmingly high, just high enough that the doctor suggested he stay at home for a few days. 

What we don’t discuss is the—apparently—far more terrifying menace to which the young boy has been exposed: Girl cooties.

As a female writer of epic fantasy, this is a phenomenon with which I’m all too familiar, and the same holds true for many of my female colleagues in the genre. A significant portion of the audience consists of male readers, and a significant subset of that readership assumes that epic fantasy written by women must surely be tainted by girl cooties.

Based on personal experience, my take is that this is shorthand for “romance” and that there’s an underlying assumption, consciously or subconsciously, that fantasy written by women must perforce be romance. Of course, romance fantasy does exist, and it’s surely not my intention to denigrate it in any way. The Kushiel’s Legacy series does contain elements of romance—gloriously, unabashedly, sometimes brutally so. And defining genres can be tricky, because sometimes books—often, in my personal opinion, the best books—span a number of them. When I wrote Kushiel’s Avatar, the final volume of the original trilogy, I thought a lot about the dedication that John Steinbeck wrote for East of Eden. According to Steinbeck, his longtime friend and editor came upon him carving a wooden figure, and asked that he make him a box. 

“What for?”

“To put things in.”

“What kind of things?”

“Whatever you have.”

Instead of crafting an actual wooden box for his editor, Steinbeck wrote East of Eden, and in the foreword dedicating it to him, he stated, “Well, here’s your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad or evil thoughts and good thoughts—the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation. And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you. And still the box is not full.”

I find that to be profoundly romantic.

It’s a pity that the word “romance” has taken on such a negative connotation for a large swathe of the fantasy-reading audience. Even the young grandson in The Princess Bride relents by the end to admit, “I don’t mind so much, Grandpa.” All the epic fantasy trappings of farm boys and pirates and princesses, swordsmen and giants and feats of derring-do, magic and torture and quests for vengeance, are in that particular box, but above all, true love.

And yet it’s also a movie written, directed, filmed and produced by men, featuring a predominantly male cast and a heroine with zero agency. 

Over and over, when I see polls on forums listing the best epic fantasy writers, both historical and current, the same names appear, and they’re almost exclusively male—or to be more specific, cisgender heterosexual white male authors. Not to detract from these authors, many of whom I also enjoy and admire, and who have been influences on my own work, but there are always so many female authors missing from the list. It often seems as though the only two woman writers cited are a) Ursula K. LeGuin, because her influence is too significant to overlook, and b) Robin Hobb, because a lot of readers were misled by her gender-neutral pseudonym. 

As a teenager and a young adult, I grew up reading whatever fantasy I could get my hands on—which in the 1970s, 80s and 90s was limited to whatever my local bookstore and library had on its shelves. Many of them were women—Mary Stewart, Anne McCaffery, Patricia McKillip, Julian May, Katherine Kurtz, Katharine Kerr, Kate Elliott. Some of these authors we’ve lost since I discovered their work years ago; others continue to write and publish to this day. When I encounter this absence, it almost feels as though a part of my own formative history has been erased. 

And then there’s the issue of female characters, who are far too scarce on the ground in epic fantasy. Readers or viewers whose personal identity is well-represented in the pop culture medium of their choosing can’t fully understand the effect of its absence. It’s like looking in a mirror and having no reflection. 

It’s disconcerting.

It’s creepy.

Not so long ago, I made that observation to a male friend regarding a fantasy novel he recommended. It was some 500 pages long, and it had one female character in an otherwise fairly extensive cast. Despite being an intelligent and thoughtful guy, my friend had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief to inhabit a world in which my gender—which comprises at least half the world as we know it—barely existed. Now, if that omission is a deliberate choice on the part of the author, I can respect it. Some narratives operate within a set of constraints for a particular reason. 

But the truth is, more often than not in epic fantasy, it’s not deliberate. It’s just an oversight. 

In another recent instance, I volunteered to be interviewed by two young women from our local high school who were interested in careers in writing fantasy. They were delightful, and we lingered over coffee to chat after the interview. Both of them cited popular recent fantasy debuts by male authors as current favorites. These were books I happened to have read, and again, books which had essentially one female character with any measurable page time. One existed solely to serve as an unattainable object of desire; the other was killed and subjected to the pseudo-medieval equivalent of getting fridged.  In case you weren’t aware, “fridged” is slang for a common trope in which female characters are violently murdered and their bodies are left for the hero to discover in a gruesome manner, which then serves as a traumatic inciting event that drives the hero’s dramatic arc. It’s disturbing that there’s actually a specific term for this, right? 

Out of curiosity, I asked these delightful, smart, fantasy-loving young women what they thought about the fact that there were almost no female characters in these books—and they looked blankly at me.

They hadn’t noticed.

Of all the times and ways and angles from which I’ve pondered the lack representation of women in fantasy as both an author and a reader, that may have hit me the hardest. It pains me to know that the absence of women in this genre I love is so prevalent that well into the 21st century, it doesn’t even register.  Women in fantasy deserve better. As writers, we deserve the right to publish under female-sounding names without fearing the taint of girl cooties. We deserve to be listed amongst our male counterparts in the legacy of the genre. As readers, women deserve a seat at the table in the realm of the fantastic. We deserve female characters with agency, female characters whose actions affect the narrative. We’re not ghosts, we’re not vampires—we deserve to see our reflections in the mirror. We deserve, at the barest of minimums, a society in which that absence is noticeable. We deserve to be part of the warp and weft of the story’s tapestry, not just a single thread. 

The box is vast, and still it is not full. In a genre where there are no limits to the world except the writer’s imagination, women deserve more. 

Find out more about Jacqueline Carey’s work at her website. Find out more about Tor Books’s reissues of Kushiel’s Legacy here.

The post Jacqueline Carey Guest Post: Women in Fantasy appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[writteninsunshine]

Wonderful Vices - Xigbar/Xaldin, Larxene/Namine - NSFW

Title: Wonderful Vices Author: Donnie Fandom: Kingdom Hearts Setting: Xigbar and Xaldin’s apartment, The World That Never Was Pairing: Xigbar/Xaldin, Larxene/Namine Characters: Xigbar, Xaldin, Larxebe, Namine, Xemnas Genre: Humor/Romance Rating: M Chapters: 1/1 Word Count: 3616 Type of Work: One-Shot, for Xig/Xal Day 2020 Status: Complete Warnings: Gay, Slash, Yaoi, Xaldin is turned on by aggression, Everyone is sassy, Quick Sex, Rushed Sex, Anal Sex, Arguing, AU - Canon Divergent, Larxene isn’t dead yet Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Summary: Xigbar had planned for them to have a quiet night at home, but Xemnas had other plans. AN: Soooo, I wanted to write this for Xig/Xal day, and I ended up staring around 7pm on the second so that I could get it done in time. It’s finished at 9:50p on the third, but at least it’s finished. Also, they never really do get to enjoy anything they planned. This was really just an excuse to write so much sass and I really love this entire fic. It’s a gem, if I do say so myself. I hope you guys enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts Fic Masterlist Wonderful Vices ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “So, I was thinking,” Xigbar called into the dark intestines of their apartment, reaching underneath the baggy hoodie he wore to scratch at his stomach, “We’d get pizza, put on a movie, and pretend to watch it. What happens next is up to you.”

There came no response, naturally, which he’d almost been expecting. Xaldin had never been very good with holding conversations that weren’t one-sided on someone’s account, but it seemed to be a different kind of silence than usual. You could cut it with a lance, Xigbar mused with a quiet snicker, half expecting one to fly past his head for good measure. It didn’t come, but movement out of the scope of his vision had him glancing to the mouth of the hallway. What filled the doorway seconds later had him grinning like a madman and breathless in the same second. In all of his grumpy glory, Xaldin stood mostly bare save for a pair of painted-on boxers and a shirt demonstrably six sizes too small. It seemed he’d decided to go for broke this evening and try Xigbar’s usual shtick of stealing his hoodies; the biggest problem being that Xaldin was a wall of muscle and Xigbar was a bit puny stood beside him. It seemed that an extra-large really shouldn’t try to fit into a medium, because not only was the grey, non-descript t-shirt he’d stolen stretched across his chest in the last seconds of its life as a shirt, but it protested loudly with each movement of his arms. “You uh, misplace somethin’, big guy?” Xigbar asked, his voice finally found despite the crack in it. Xaldin shot him a glare that could have frozen Axel’s blood, but he was so used to it that it barely seemed to have an effect. In seconds, hands devoid of gloves graced Xaldin’s biceps with gentle caresses, petting the straining fabric of the shirt’s sleeve absently. “Looks like you uh, were going for ‘drop dead gorgeous’ instead of ‘finally off of work.’” Seemingly pleased with that answer, Xaldin offered him the sly smile of a pleased cat before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his lover’s lips. “You already took the jacket I was going to wear for our night of ignoring whatever movie you chose.” He practically purred, his voice rich and smooth in a way that sent chills bolting down Xigbar’s spine, “So I decided to pay you back the… Kindness.” “The kindness of losing a shirt to your rippling musculature? Oh, Xaldin, you shouldn’t have.” Xigbar chirped playfully, gently batting at his chest, “If you breathe too deeply, I’m gonna be out a shirt.” “Which is why I chose a plain one.” Xaldin replied shortly, rich purple eyes deflecting to the floor for a second, “You’re impossibly tiny for someone that can handle me.” “Well, I apologize for not being born like a brick shithouse, but I think you prefer me over Lexaeus for a reason.” Xigbar smirked, dragging his hand over the taut fabric of Xaldin’s chest, giving it a slight pluck before turning on his heels, “Just wait until you see the movie I picked. Go order pizza, it’s a surprise.” “I swear, if it’s Sharknado, again,” Xaldin trailed off, narrowing his eyes as he escaped to the kitchen for his phone, snatching it off the counter to put in their usual orders. Pineapple, pepperoni, mushroom and olive for Xigbar, and spinach, onion, and chicken barbecue for himself; they could never agree that pineapple just didn’t belong in savory settings. Xigbar, meanwhile, made himself comfortable on the couch as the opening credits played on the TV. Already, he wasn’t paying much attention, waiting with a grin on his lips for Xaldin to find that he had not only chosen Sharknado Two: The Second One, but also that he’d decided to peel off his pants. Boxers for boxer briefs, he figured, was the best way to go tonight. It wasn’t like Xaldin was going to keep his shirt on indefinitely; that thing was already ready to bust off of him should he so much as sneeze. Gracing the living room with his presence, Xaldin’s nose scrunched up as Sharknado Two appeared on the screen across from his grinning manchild. He crossed his arms, opening his mouth to speak, but Xigbar’s raised hand halted his words. “You said Sharknado, and this is clearly the second one, babe. No need to get pointlessly pedantic, right, Zexion?” He teased, giving an exaggerated wink. Xaldin was tempted to simply call it a blink if only to spite him. “These movies are pointless.” “True, but the point of it being on in the first place is to ignore it.” Xigbar replied nonchalantly, shrugging as he leaned back into the couch, “Come sit, take a load off and lay it on me, yeah?” Grumbling something under his breath, Xaldin skated around the coffee table Xigbar’s feet were already taking up residence on, crashing into the couch beside him on his side. Intense purple eyes watched him for a second, waited for him to hit ‘play’, before they fluttered closed too close to Xigbar’s face. Lips pressed to his, and for a split second, the world behind them melted away into nothing. Even the first few scenes of Sharknado were a pleasant, unheard hum in his ears as he shifted and found himself caging his lover into the couch with every ounce of power his body held; Xaldin found himself surprised at how easy it was to ignore. It was the knock on the door telling them their pizzas had arrived that had him breaking the kiss with a growl, eyes narrowed and a snarl on his lips. Rising, he grabbed Xigbar’s wallet off of the table by the front door and swiped a couple of bills, nearly punching the poor delivery guy’s face with his fistful of cash when he opened the door. Snatching up their dinner, he muttered a quick ‘keep the change’ before the door slammed shut. In a flurry of movement, the poor pizza guy stood in shocked silence as he stared at the closed white door in front of him. Thankfully, he took the hint and got the hell out of dodge before Xaldin had to open the door again. “Terrifying the poor guy, again, really?” Xigbar teased goodnaturedly, grinning from ear to ear as Xaldin deposited the pizzas on the table and crawled back into his chilling seat to warm it up again. “He interrupted us.” “We started too early.” “You hit ‘play’.” “Touche.” Instead of accepting all the blame, however, Xigbar leaned in to capture his lips at the same times his hands cupped firm asscheeks to pull him down tighter on top of him. He swore he heard a couple of stitches pop when Xaldin tensed in his arms, but he couldn’t even care. If he shredded the thing by flexing, it would honestly be the hottest thing he had seen all day, and he’d had to go to Atlantica with Demyx. Settling back in above the other, Xaldin rolled his hips down a few times in an expert move that left Xigbar’s mouth hanging open while he plundered it. His own hands remained fisted against Xigbar’s chest, but not for long as they trailed down to the hem of his hoodie, both of them diving under the fabric to push it up over his pecs. One thumb brushed over a nipple and Xigbar practically crooned, only earning another rock of Xaldin’s hips, leading him to gasp into his mouth. Somewhere behind them, Xaldin’s phone began to buzz, shocking itself off the table to skitter across the floor. When it finally stopped, Xaldin pulled back to pant above his lover, eyeing him up with pupils blown wide. It started up again and made him snarl, throwing it a pitiful glare over his shoulder. “He can’t be serious.” Xaldin snapped, only getting his cheek tugged by Xigbar’s hand, another kiss to his frowning lips as he tried to come up with a good excuse to ignore it. Instead of speaking, he simply jerked his hips up. “If it’s important, he’ll leave a voicemail.” “I can’t tell if that’s the best or worst idea I’ve heard today,” Xaldin replied, an anxious lilt to his voice. “Do you want to tell the Superior why we ignored his calls?” “It probably isn’t even him,” And Xigbar wasn’t necessarily wrong, “So we’re fine. Just… Ignore it.” Xigbar’s phone was the next to light up, blaring Thunderstruck at the top of its little mechanical lungs. Xaldin’s scowl turned to the table, watching Larxene’s photograph flash over the screen. “...Naturally.” Xigbar offered with a grin, “Tell me it’s not perfect for her. But that also means it’s not the Superior.” Wiggling his eyebrows with another grin, he playfully slapped Xaldin’s ass, delighting in the tense line his back made with the movement, “So we can ignore the little lightning bug and keep going.” “Does she usually call you if it doesn’t pertain to work?” Xigbar rolled his eyes, letting his head fall back against the couch, “Not really, I’m not her kind of dude. But do you really think Xemnas would send Larxene to do his job?” “I supposed I’d expect a call from Saix, first,” Xaldin replied, sitting down a little tighter against the bulge in Xigbar’s boxer briefs. The keening whine that left the other man didn’t seem to phase him as he sighed, “But if she’s calling, it must be important.” “Or,” Xigbar pointed at him, wagging his finger, “Or. Or, she’s just trying to bug us. She has a pretty good track record of ruining good things.” “But she’s also likely not to leave us alone, regardless of the importance of her message.” Xaldin huffed, crossing his arms as he watched the light fade from the screen. “It’s probably just some kid stuff, yanno? She’ll answer the phone and say ‘hi’ and then just hang up because she hates when other people are having fun.” Much like the man currently crushing his pelvis with the weight of a promise of sexual adventure, “So, we could always, you know, ignore her.” “But what if--” “As if. She’s probably just trying to bug us because I let it slip that we might get some time alone tonight. Come on, Xaldin, back to bed.” “But we aren’t in--” Taking hold of Xaldin’s hips once more, he rolled up into him hard enough to earn a soft moan from the taller man, he smirked. “Back to the right mindset, yeah?” “I… Suppose.” Xaldin spared one more glance at the phone before another jerk beneath him claimed his attention, and with deadly precision, he locked his teeth over Xigbar’s jugular and bit down. A wheeze left the smaller man, punctuated by another roll of his hips. Just about ready to sink into the routine of Sunday night sex with Sharknado in the background, Xaldin was ready to unwind when an impatient, droning knock sounded at the front door. “For Hearts’ sake.” Xaldin snapped, exasperated, as he raised his head, a tethering of saliva holding his lips to Xigbar’s neck, “If this is just because she wants to ruin our night--” “It’s probably unwise to leave her waiting, love,” Xigbar muttered, just as Larxene’s voice pierced the silence outside of their apartment. “Hey, losers!” Her voice was sharp, commanding instead of mocking for once, “I know you’re in there, open up! His Highness requires your immediate attention.” Xaldin was up lightning-fast, stalking to the door and adjusting himself in his boxers on the way. Nearly yanking it off the hinges, his look was feral when he narrowed his eyes at Larxene and Namine standing blithely in the doorway. The second she saw him, Namine turned shy, moving so that Larxene was the only thing standing between her and the certain doom written into Xaldin’s brow. Bristled, Larxene stood in the face of his deadpan ‘what’ with a smirk on her lips that told him there would be Hell to pay if he didn’t change his demeanor. Not that Xaldin would change for anyone, any way, at any time, and Xigbar was smart enough to know that, swooping in to save the world from ending. “What he means is, sunshine, which His Highness? If you’re here for Marluxia--” “I’m not, I assure you.” Larxene bit out, her eyes still locked with Xaldin’s as if waiting for him to back down from her challenge. Xigbar quickly placed a hand on his chest to try and avert disaster when she simply took a step closer. They were seconds away from a showdown that would level the block, and he had to work quickly. “The Superior himself asked me to tell you two lame-asses to get off the couch and head in to work. He has something fun lined up, I’m sure.” “I detest fun.” Xaldin quipped, barely hiding a snarl beneath a thinly veiled attempt at what could only have been a smile. “That being the case,” Xigbar cut in, placing himself between the pair in a last-ditch effort to push Xaldin a little back into the house, “We were kind of in the middle of something. Is it that urgent?” “Yeah, I think you need to change your gorilla out of his crop top and run off,” With your tails tucked went unsaid, “To get your orders.” Larxene crossed her arms, and Xaldin mirrored the motion behind Xigbar. What he hadn’t quite been expecting was the sudden, nearly echoing rip of the T-shirt trying so desperately to contain his muscles as it gave its death cry. Snickering behind her hand as a ruse to deflect just how perfect she found that moment, Larxene turned on her heels and ushered Namine along. “I’ve said my piece, it’s up to you two if you want to get turned into Dusks.” She cackled over her shoulder as she pushed Namine a little quicker ahead of her. It wasn’t like she was running, not from Xaldin, but Namine’s fear made her a priority. Plus, the idea of watching Xigbar have to rub off on Xaldin’s leg to get him back into the apartment wasn’t as interesting as the prospect of comforting the blonde in her arms. Xigbar had to use more of his body than he’d like to admit to crowd Xaldin back inside, all but putting his entire body behind the final push that shoved him into place. “Xal, please,” Xigbar muttered, placating in its weakest form, “Come on. We can at least get some of that rage out the good ol’ fashioned way.” He offered, trying on a wicked grin without its bite, “Whaddya say?” “No.” Xaldin snapped back, eyes narrowed and full of fight. Xigbar could see when he was dealing with an ‘immovable object’ situation, and right now he had to figure out how to get him to blow off some steam. If he was going to put his foot down, then sex really was out of the question, but Xigbar had an inkling that Xaldin just needed to be provided with a good reason to do it. “You already ripped my shirt, and you can’t go to work with a boner.” He pointed out, actively pointing to the throbbing problem trapped against Xaldin’s thigh. Nobody knew half as much about Xaldin’s rage issues as Xigbar did, and if he was already raring to go, a challenge would only make it worse. Xaldin seemed to consider this, staring down at his body with a scowl before grabbing Xigbar under the armpits and carrying him towards the bedroom. “Woah, woah, dude, no. Door’s still wide open.” With a heavy sigh, Xaldin set him down in the hallway, stomping back to the front door and slamming it hard enough that the whole apartment seemed to buckle under the force of it. Returning with that same air of pissed off purpose, he resumed carting Xigbar off by his armpits to the bedroom. Tossing him haphazardly onto the bed, Xaldin was on him in a second, caging him in and crushing their mouths together. He didn’t seem pleased until he heard the clack of their teeth, finally lowering his hips to meet Xigbar’s. The gasp that earned him was enough to put Xaldin at ease enough to raise his hips again to remove his boxers. Divesting Xigbar of his briefs went just as unceremonious as he tossed them somewhere behind him, leaning on one elbow to reach down and stroke him. Much to his surprise, and pleasure, Xigbar hadn’t seemed to have flagged, either. With a swift motion, he had the other positioned at his entrance, prepared to ride him into nonexistence, when Xigbar piped up again, breathless. “Xal-- Lube?” The look that earned him made his grin turn appropriately sheepish, “Please? You’ll hurt yourself.” With a frustrated grunt, he reached for the drawer in the bedside table where Xigbar kept them well-stocked for just such an occasion. Grabbing the first bottle he touched, he popped the cap and spread an ungodly amount of liquid onto his fingers. The first round went to Xigbar, who he slicked up rather roughly. Thankfully, the rough treatment didn’t earn him any flack, so he continued, a second squeeze to the bottle ending up being pushed up inside of Xaldin. The quick preparation wasn’t exactly what Xigbar had been hoping for, but he wasn’t exactly complaining when the sudden tightness around his throbbing cock dropped all the way to the base, effectively winding him. With both hands fisted in his own hoodie on Xigbar’s chest, Xaldin set a grueling pace with his hips that left his partner in painful bliss. If nothing else, Xigbar was lucky that he was a masochist, he supposed, or he couldn’t handle someone like Xaldin as a partner. His hips rolled and swirled, a shallow but quick rhythm that was sure to bring them both off quickly enough for Xemnas’ liking. As much as he didn’t like to think of him during sex, he kept their inevitable missions in the back of his mind to remind him why they had to do this quickly. Xigbar clutched the sheet beneath him like it was the only thing tethering him to this world, moans pouring from his lips to match the heated grunts of the man working him into a frenzy above him. He was already close, thankfully, because after a solid five minutes he was sure Xaldin would get up and deny them both release. As careful as Xaldin was with his rage, he had a tendency to be impatient when he knew he had things to be doing instead. The hitching of Xaldin’s breath told him that it wouldn’t be long, now, he was wildly chasing his orgasm down and it would be a quickly won battle at this rate. He was lucky that he was right behind him, to be honest, because he would have been left behind once Xaldin was done in most cases. The veritable roar that left the dreded man pulled a keening moan from Xigbar as they hit their orgasms, one after the other. A second or two was all they had to appreciate the afterglow before Xaldin was moving again, pulling off the ruined shirt and tossing it aside. Xigbar was left, cold and breathless on the bed, as Xaldin left him to wipe off with a towel he found on the floor. A cursory clean-up was all he afforded himself before he was shimmying into those skin-tight leather pants that Xigbar appreciated any other time and pulling on his coat. When he shot a lukewarm glare at Xigbar, he jerked his head to the side. “Come on, get dressed. It isn’t going to do us any good to keep him waiting any longer.” Xigbar could at least appreciate the breathlessness to his voice as he forced himself up and off the bed. With the same towel in hand, he wiped up and paused, looking at the sweat still dripping from Xaldin’s brow. He wasn’t about to use a cum-covered towel to wipe his face, though, his poor sideburns would catch too much illicit liquid for that. “I’ll be fine.” “Gotcha.” Xigbar nodded, sliding into his jeans and out of Xaldin’s hoodie, only to replace it with a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘R For Reload’ in bright purple letters. Xaldin rolled his eyes as he opened a portal, stepping through only when he was sure Xigbar, cloaked in black, would follow. Walking into the Superior’s favorite lookout in The World That Never Was, Xaldin kept his head down and his hands firmly clasped behind his back. Xigbar was the first to speak, “You wanted to see us?” “Yes.” Xemnas told him, “You both have urgent business. Xaldin, I believe you need to give the Beast an extra push.” The silver haired man turned to look at Xigbar, then, “And I think Shan Yu could use a little bit of a… Pep talk.” The pair of Nobodies glanced between each other before Xaldin nodded, portaling off for Beast’s castle. Xigbar could only imagine the smug look Larxene would have given them if she could have had the chance, waving slightly before disappearing. His last words were ‘you be a good boy, now’. Xemnas frowned, but didn’t say anymore, hoping that his evening could finally calm down. He had a monologue to prepare for Kingdom Hearts, after all. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ AN: Wow I didn’t exactly expect this to be so long. I’m kind of proud of myself, to be honest, even if I struggled with how to write their sex scene and keep it quick. I hope you guys enjoyed! I know I sure did. Prompt: Wearing Each Other’s Clothes

[strange-destinations]

Dear Yuletide Writer 2019

(As usual, please ignore this if you don’t know what this is about!)

Hello, and thank you so much for writing something for me!! I adore seeing what people come up with for Yuletide and I am super excited for what you end up producing. I want this to be a good and enjoyable experience for you as a writer, so don’t try to second-guess yourself too much - just have fun making whatever it is!

Squicks/DNWS - no sex, please! (And it also follows that I’d rather like to avoid any noncon, kinky stuff even if it’s nonsexual, any other sort of sexual content, etc - that’s just not my sort of thing, really.) Romance is all right, if that’s the way that you want to take things, but I much prefer close friendships and family dynamics. However!! I am pretty much completely fine with body horror/violence, hurt/comfort, etc. 

I love good dialogue, character interaction, twist endings, and imaginative plots - and worldbuilding! Happy endings are preferred but not necessary if it just isn’t working for you.

In general - if you’re thinking about making something gay/trans/queer/ace in any way, you should probably absolutely go for it, because I’m wild for that sort of thing.

AUs are… fine and good, as far as I can think of! (Obv no A/B/O or sex-related stuff please, but) canon divergence, fantasy, high school, etc seem all good to me! Especially if there’s a whole lot of clever nods to original canon in there. 

In addition, I'm always welcome to receiving stuff in interesting and unusual mediums/styles. This includes stuff like Interactive Fiction (additional info here) and multimedia stuff.

Anyway, fandom time. Let's do this, y'all!

->

Fandom: Ruby Redfort series - Lauren Child

Available:  I managed to acquire a copy of the full series online via my local library - and the physical copies were at my local library too. I don’t have a link to them, I’m afraid.

Tvtropes page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/RubyRedfort

Characters: *** Any from *** Ruby Redfort, Hitch, Blacker, Clancy Crew 

About the fandom: I just love it a lot.  I dragged its fandom out of the depths of Tumblr singlehandedly a few years ago and have been doggedly creating content for it ever since. There's just something really compelling about 'bright young kid gets accidentally adopted by spy agency' (yes i know that's not EXACLY what happens but I can dream, right?)

Prompts/suggestions:

Like I said above, I really like the idea of Ruby being essentially adopted by the whole Spectrum team.

I’d love to see some casefic! Blacker and Ruby working together to solve a puzzle or problem - either serious or mundane - or Hitch and Ruby on a stakeout of some sort. Or both!

Some general stuff I like - heists, murder mysteries, rescue missions, characters playing games (e.g. Travelling Lemon, word games, throwing increasingly ridiculous hypotheticals at each other) because they're bored or similar,

Spectrum office shenanigans - stuff that happens between books, when Ruby and everybody else aren’t in mortal danger and that LB will most likely glare disapprovingly at.

On the angstier side of things, if you want to stick Ruby in even more mortal danger than usual I am ALL RIGHT WITH THAT. Rescue missions hell yeah.

AUs??? AUs!!! Modern!AU with Ruby doing extreme sports vlogs and occasionally failing to hide the fact that she's part of a secret spy agency. Is Blacker a hacker? Or a fantasy/medieval AU? Or Ruby Redfort, in space!

I feel like I’ll be delighted with whatever you create, tbh. I can’t think of many ways you could go wrong with it.

->

Fandom: Bernice Summerfield (Big Finish Audio)

Available:  Via the Big Finish website, and all of the boxsets from Epoch to New Frontiers are available for free on Spotify! Just look up Bernice Summerfield there.

Tvtropes page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/BerniceSummerfield

Characters: *** Any from *** Bernice Summerfield, Third Doctor (Warner)

About the fandom: It’s like if Indiana Jones was shorter, actually did his job, and was a kickass woman who was also the Doctor’s companion at one point! Several points. And also she has a considerably larger family than Indiana Jones. Her spinoff kind of transcends a lot of forms of media - she’s in comics, print, animations, audio dramas, and one really hilariously terrible sort-of-fanfilm made by Lisa Bowerman and Sylvester McCoy when they were on some kind of cruise together. And it more or less transcends genre too. There’s been musical episodes right alongside the episode where someone very dear to her manipulates someone else very dear to her into killing (you guessed it) someone who is also very dear to her. It’s a wild ride. Anyway.

Prompts/suggestions:

The Warner!Doctor and Benny era of this series particularly delights me, because Benny and the Doctor just have such a lovely dynamic. There's a bit in the writer's guide for this era that mentions that the Warner!Doctor 'seems to be a grouch' but is actually 'a playful spirit who loves to have fun', and... I just love that? And there is literally no fic with them! Which is an absolute travesty.

I particularly like: heists, murder mysteries, rescue missions, adventures, playing around with genre and style.

It's Doctor Who/Bernice Summerfield!! Which means there's an infinite wealth of planets and times and worlds to explore, if you choose to set it in the regular universe. If, on the other hand, you choose to place it in the Unbound universe, slowly collapsing in on itself, there's probably a lot you can do with this too

The found family dynamic between them!! It's clear that, despite all the snarking and sniping, they really do adore each other quite a bit. If you'd lean into that, I'd be forever grateful.

Apologies for no real specific suggestions - mostly, I just would really like to see these two having fun together and being buds. But also? The angst is good too. Make me laugh/smile or make me hurt, I don't care which.

 ->

Fandom: Beanworld - Larry Marder

Available:  ...I have literally no idea where you can pick this up. I first read it at my local library. I think you can get copies at various book retailers?

Tvtropes page: Non-existent. I should rectify that.

Characters: *** Any from *** Professor Garbanzo, Mr Spook, Beanish, Heyoka (but honestly please throw in everybody in there. I love them all so much)

About the fandom: It's a weird, brilliant, complete unique experience of a comic book set in a world where the rules are very different to ours!

Prompts/suggestions:

I know that pretty much the entire point of Beanworld is that the characters are not human in the least, But I can't help but wonder what a human AU would be like!! Beanish as a struggling art student, the Hoi'Polloi as the local street gang with an unfortunate gambling habit, Heyoka as the weird chaotic neutral genderqueer acrobat who babysits occasionally and is always standing on their head. Or any other direction you want to take it in!! I adore seeing familiar characters in settings that they couldn't possibly find themselves in, in canon.

Bean shenanigans!! What sort of things do they get up to on their Goof-Off Days that we don't see on-screen?

Explore some of the friendships/relationships between the characters! I love some of those good good Bean interactions. For example (but not at all limited to):

Professor Garbanzo and Mr Spook - the ultimate BroTP. I particularly love how well they get along even when you wouldn’t expect them too - how Mr Spook isn’t really a scientific sort of guy but is really encouraging and helpful to her endeavors. It’s good and soft.

Mr Spook and the Chow Sol’jers! A dedicated fighting team that work together and protect each other every day. I’m now wondering what the Chow Sol’jer in-jokes are. They’ve gotta have some, right?

Beanish and Dreamishness - the greatest love story ever told! (If you do end up including this relationship in particular, I’d prefer it if it wasn’t the focus.) Additionally, I’d really love it if you could play around with the idea of love in the Big•Big•Picture being different to how we see it/perceive it in our world! I know it’s kind of vague, and it’s definitely not necessary, but I figured I might as well put it out there.

Heyoka and... everyone. Literally everyone. I love how she interacts with the Beans - how they’re kind of confused as to how she works, but accept her as one of them anyway - and how she interacts with people outside of the Beanworld. The sequence when she’s falling upwards and through the Inspiration Constellation, and how the Constellation is so pleasantly amused by and encouraging of her - it’s really nice. And her as the teacher to the Pod’ll’pool babies!! She’s such a cool character.

Other AUs or canon divergences! Can't think of anything specific off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's some stuff out there.

Literally anything that takes stuff from canon and extends upon it! Especially if you’re playing into the amazingly bizarre and extensive world of the Big•Big•Picture. Because the rules there are definitely not at all the same as they are for our world, and that delights me to no end. I have so many questions about it that I’m nearly certain aren’t going to be answered anytime soon. Like, where does the Thin Lake/Four Realities/Hoi-Polloi zone end?? There’s gotta be an end to it somewhere. Are there other islands like the Beanworld? 

->

Fandom: Rainbow Magic series - Daisy Meadows

Available: on your younger sister's bookshelf or at pretty much any library, bookstore or garage sale you'd care to visit.

Tvtropes page: 

Characters: *** Any from *** Rachel Walker, Kirsty Tate, Titania, Oberon (but feel free to throw in any of the million-plus other fairies that exist at your discretion)

About the fandom: Oh, jeez. What to say about this? It's such a bizarre interest of mine. The series has suffered from intense seasonal rot, with literally every book following the same formula. And there are hundreds of books. But it's such a large part of my childhood that it's hard to not feel some sort of affection for it. Plus, there's so many interesting things to explore!

Prompts/suggestions:

Feel free to throw some Kirsty/Rachel shipping in there, because we all know those two were lesbian as all hell. I'd prefer it not to be the focus, though!

Any exploration of the fact that the girls have been doing this for far longer than is strictly reasonable with no complaints, questions, or problems. They've been through like ten Christmas specials and don't appear to have aged a day since the beginning of the series. What's up with that, huh?

To that end - there's plenty of myths and legends about the rules that fae traditionally have. What about applying some of these to the RM fairies? Are Titania and Oberon the leaders of the Seelie Court, with Jack Frost as the Unseelie leader? Do they do the whole Changeling thing? Are Kirsty and Rachel Changelings?

(And bear with me for a second while I point you at a specific line from the very first book, because I think it's very good inspiration for the whole 'giving a fairy your name' thing:)

Kirsty wanted to ask the fairy so many things. But she didn't know where to start.

"Tell me your names, quickly," said the fairy. She fluttered up into the air again. "There's so much to be done, and we must get started right away."

Rachel wondered what the fairy meant. "I'm Rachel," she said.

"And I'm Kirsty," said Kirsty. "But who are you?"

"I'm the Red Rainbow Fairy - but you can call me Ruby," the fairy replied.

Very suspicious.

A Discord server I'm on has been throwing around the idea of the fairies (yes. All of them.) ending up as humans in the human world abruptly, and having to adjust to living life without magic - and dealing with the fact that somehow, their magical domains are functioning perfectly without them. Which is a very compelling idea. How do Rachel and Kirsty deal with their now-possibly-permanent, no-longer-magical neighbours? How are Titania and Oberon coping, now that they no longer have to rule a whole kingdom? What sort of the things do the fairies get up to? Where do they stay?

Aged-up Kirsty and Rachel get called upon to deal with new adult problems that are blooming in the fairy world. (Tiara The Tax Evasion Fairy, anyone?)

...or anything else.

->

Again, thank you for writing for me, and I hope you get something awesome in return from your own writer! Good luck!

[shidiand]

How do you imagine Tenco's Story ending in your head?

that is a GREAT but UNEXPECTED QUESTION freshlybaked "spider" bread and i'm really happy to have the opportunity to try and answer this ageless question that has burned within all of us in the tenco's story iv waiting room community since 2013. it is an incredible coincidence (or is it? 👀) that i was just talking to Risa about tenco's this (edit: yesterday) morning so i am extra double super in the mood to talk about Tenco's Story today. so excellent of a coincidence is this that i am tempted to refer you to them in case you wanted to hear their thoughts on the matter that would probably turn out super cool, but that is neither here nor there; let us talk Tenco's Story.

i of course must mention my unadvertised and modestly detailed commentary on tenco's i-iii at https://shidiand.tumblr.com/tencos, presenting slightly interesting facts in an unwieldy and difficult-to-use format, but as it dates back to june 2017, i want to take some time to understand my feelings about the series once more.

tenco's story is a series that has a lot of meaning to me.

i took on my current name of shidiand in november of 2013. i was still in 11th grade at the time, 4th year of high school, and a very socially isolated person. i should say i was introduced to touhou in 7th grade, 2010, so i was still working through a 3 years-strong phase of trying to simultaneously both find an outlet for and bottle up an endless wellspring of awkward weeaboo-gamer nerd energy at the time.

i had my first real foray onto the internet in 2010, tried out twitter, followed some RPers and other people who had Cool Touhou Usernames. didn't really go anywhere. i had maybe 50 followers, i dont really know the count but it was definitely a) double digits and b) pretty low. didn't know what to tweet about. didn't know how to hit it off with others. i think there was basically maybe only 3 other people i ever properly interacted with. oh shit i was playing league of legends at the time. oh my god. i really did play league of .. oh my god. let's move on.

aw shit im super digressing amn't i. well.

this is just how it goes when i write essays on tumblr.com.

i'm afraid you're just along for the ride at this point so please do your best to enjoy it.

i got kind of tired of twitter at the time because i didnt know what to do with it. didnt know how to interact with people and didnt find the people i was following interesting, so i ghosted on out of there by the end of 2012. didnt deactivate it until like 2015 but at that point that was just burning away my dark history. anyways. november 2013.

--im taking a lot of time here trawling through old files on my computer, my tumblr blog, notification emails still lying around in my gmail inbox from twitter, the dropbox i didn't actually use but it had several tenco's story pictures on it but i deleted them so this was useless, ... to trace the timeline of this story and im really seeing a lot of remnants of dark history here you know? did you know i wrote a letter to a girl i had a crush on valentine's day 2014, slipped it into her locker, and anxiously hung around nearby at lunchtime to see how she reacted at lunchtime? i certainly didn't, or at least i made darn ass sure to forget about this incredible virgin incident and not remember it, ever, until i came across the records of it that i thoughtfully preserved for the me of 5 years later today. ok well now i have to read the letter to see if it was as bad as it just sounded there brb

ok so the good news is that it was actually very focused on being positive and full of admiration for the cool things she did instead of being a confession letter so i am very glad i was able to be a respectful chad 5 years ago, but the bad news is that the jokes, the actual sentences i put together. oh my god. but i mean. well. at least i got the spirit. its certainly a step up from this other person in my grade, WEEABOO ANDREW, YOU MAY RECALL THIS STORY AND HIS NAME FROM PREVIOUS STORYTIMES, THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND who came to school on halloween once cosplaying kirito from sword art online and got very possessive about people asking if they could hold his black replica plastic sword, and probably worse, dropped a "will you be my girlfriend" letter into the locker of my homie and fellow trombonist samantha, who was a little bit nerdy, hung out with the anime-likers who were actually sociable and fun to be around so you can imagine why weeaboo andrew was into her, which had i) a direct quotation from SAO chapter 16.5 (origin of the famous "glopping noise" line), and ii) a condom. jesus christ. i dont want to talk about this any more. next topic.

i also put this drawing of iku nagae and her skarmory (actually an albinoss from 18 DRAGONS) on the other side of the letter because it was the coolest thing i could think of drawing at the time. and i completely agree with 2014 me because it IS super fucking cool. hell fuckin yeah

https://shidiand.tumblr.com/post/76301993387/iku-nagae-ft-that-thing-that-supposedly-is-a

alright that was a fun little trip down memory lane but lets get back on track. november 2013. i started anew as shidiand. still awkward, still learning how to express myself and looking for my place among others. i followed some touhou bloggers, hung around r/touhou a lot as well. in december i got my first tablet for christmas, a wacom bamboo splash. i still use this thing! the usb cable disconnects if you bump it so i have to find just the perfect position to sit in whenever i want to draw, but its served me well. anyways. i was just starting to play around with digital art but i remember, probably just before new years, for some reason i wanted to find out more about tenshi hinanawi (i don't remember why. tenshi wasn't even one of my favourite characters at the time) so i went googling and right there on zerochan i found this:

https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=23525572

this was during my dark souls phase so i just went BANANAS at the sight of this. this was literally the coolest image i had ever seen in my internet life. That image alone made me want to draw in hopes that I could make something as cool as that someday.

it wasn't immediately after but i soon discovered tenco's story, and it was love. kannnu was my very first artistic inspiration, and for a long time, my only one. i absolutely idolized them at the time. since then, ive found other artists to look up to, in a more healthy manner, but to this day i still look up to kannnu, still admire their work a lot.

i played around with drawing, followed the lives of people on tumblr, started reading touhou fanfiction, made a new twitter. i met a lot of new people along the way. some people i havent stuck with, some i cut ties with, and some people i still keep in contact with today. over those long 5 years of being shidiand, i found a name (i used to use shidian and then shid, but someone called me shidi once and i realized that was a lot better), how to reach out to others, how to express myself, places that i could feel included in. this is why i owe a blood debt to evelyn, who permitted me to kneel at her throne and was like "yea ok you can join my discord server u seem cool". evelyn, if you were confused by me ominously mentioning this blood debt/blood oath in a tumblr reply 1-2 years ago, this is the context. those 5 years were like a coming of age of sorts, that i never had when i was in high school.

and my love for tenco's story, that inspired me to draw that day, has been with me since almost the very beginning of my time as shidiand. from the beginning, i have always encouraged people to READ TENCO'S STORY, like the kin of those who cry PLAY MELTY or WATCH SYMPHOGEAR. i think my very first sidebar description was something akin to a prayer, written in very choral language, hoping for the day tenco's story iv was completed, ..., "meanwhile, furious shitposting". kannnu's work, finding delight in whatever they chose to draw, has been at my side, all along. my true mentor, my guiding moonlight...

so that's why i still to this day love tenco's story so much.

let's talk about tenco's story.

tenco's story is a story told through single pictures. the plot is vague, and details are sparse. dialogue is rare. we only know what has happened; we seldom know why. furthermore, there are many gaps between scenes that the reader is left to fill in for themselves; we see only snapshots that form an hazy outline of the events that occurred, and must imagine the rest. motivations and explanations fail me. but even with a barebones plot, tenco's story has themes, and if nothing else, those have to be carried through.

the main theme, of course, is journey and travel, but there are also other ideas, too. i actually think they start to change as the series goes on:

book i, where tenshi runs away from home, is about striking out on your own. it's a very fun and unpredictable journey, together with a friend.

book ii, where tenshi and iku are separated, forces tenshi to find and rely on companions of her own even more. but they do so, and they are able overcome hardships, and there is food and festival.

book iii marks a climax, reasserting tenshi's goal of finding the sword of hisou. i feel like the journey shifts from a travel (visiting) to a path forwards (making your way through). perhaps this is just something i get from knowing the locations from dark souls (Anor Londo, New Londo Ruins, the Great Hollow), but the locations start to give more of a sense of verticality, like they're emphasizing tenshi's climb to the summit. the hardships and enemies are the greatest they've been yet, and right when they near the top, tenshi and iku start to bleed. the book ends on an uncertain note.

if i had to describe the type of journey and travel that tenshi and iku undertake, there's this sense of wonder at discovering new places, wandering from vista to vista in delight, but also a sense of conquering, making it through a difficult patch. the sequence from pages 2-44 to 2-51, taken together, convey this sense of overcoming the best. it's one of my favourite parts. again, although the tone definitely starts to lean towards struggle in book iii, i think tenco's sense of wonder really is the heart of the series. there's no map of the world, no predicting where tenshi and iku will end up next. and through their travels, though they come across many enemies, they also find friends -- places of refuge, places full of life, people who will look after them for a few days, companions who will stay with them for the rest of the journey. at the end of book iii, we see a long haired tenshi with purple hair being impaled by the sword of hisou (3-33, see also this extra illustration that risa pointed out to me http://sinnnkai.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-195.html), and regular short haired tenshi continuing on her journey (3-42). if we ignore the out-of-story images where tenshi has the sword of hisou, tenshi has actually only ever used her sunlight blade (2-24, 3-26, etc), so i think that the long haired tenshi on 3-33 is a different person altogether. (if i had to guess, she might be the purple haired woman in the top left of https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=35443328 as we have never seen that woman appear anywhere.) she probably has something to do with the flashbacks at the end of book ii and she might somehow be short-haired tenshi at the same time, but this is just speculation.

however, in 3-43, tenshi's hair is rather blue, so i don't know if this is the purple haired woman or not. if it is, tenshi is probably still fine and closing in on the summit, but if it isn't, then it's very worrying to see a picture of tenshi without any of her companions. it's very ominous.

meanwhile, iku, while climbing the red carpeted corridor, is stabbed, and disappears for a few pages. there's a black page, a shot of a shrine that strongly resembles the hakurei shrine, and a picture of iku standing behind someone in a tux, with the line "In the past, I was saved by the lady I was serving, you see?". and then iku wakes up in a field of flowers.

i think what this scene makes clear is a theme that has continued to appear and reappear throughout every book of "being saved, being aided by someone's kindness".

i think another theme that is implied and has to be addressed by this story of running away from home is "return". something im imagining is that the reason tenshi makes finding the sword of hisou her goal is because she wants to have something to prove herself with, to vindicate her when she comes home. but i don't think she needs to prove anything, and i ultimately think that she would be happier spending the rest of her life exploring.

so i think this should be what happens in the ending.

open on iku's journey, and give her a long sequence of travel without seeing tenshi. underline her newfound resolve. she climbs to the summit with albinoss, and finds the rest of tenshi's companions fallen. and in the last room is sword of hisou tenshi, who has lost herself, and it comes down to iku to bring her back. after a difficult battle, when both of them are on their last legs, iku is unable to stand any longer. but at this moment tenshi sees her companions struggling to get back up and reach her, and that's what brings her to her senses. and iku gets to see how many friends tenshi's been able to make on her own, and they finally and properly reunite. together, tenshi and iku carry each other out of the last room.

i don't think it's necessary to return to heaven. as a conclusion, dedicate some time to tenshi and iku travelling together. they're on their way back, revisiting old friends who helped them along the way, enjoying the journey. their last stop is the house of the elderly nawis (1-42). tenshi shows off the sword of hisou; she decided to keep it not as a trophy to show her family but as proof of the bonds of her companions. surrounded by friends, tenshi and iku decide to part ways with each other, knowing that the other will be alright. iku drifts among the clouds once more, and tenshi sets off for the horizon.

that's the plot that i'd write/just wrote. i don't really expect tenco's story iv to ever come out, though. i mentioned my first sidebar description earlier in this essay, but of course, you can see that it's been changed. 2 years ago, i read my hopeful prayer once more and was struck with a terrible melancholy, so now it reads this: "having come to terms with the fact that tenco's story iv will never be released, i can still live, knowing that the spirit of the journey will live on through kannnu's original works [...] meanwhile, furious shitposting".

on one level, tenco's story is a story, but in the process of following it, i came to think of the work itself as a journey too. you can constantly see kannnu's improvement between and even within each book. they have always drawn whatever they liked; what plot matters in the face of "I wanted to draw a beautiful sky." "I wanted to draw a fantastic battle." "I wanted to draw Dark Souls and Monster Hunter and Pokemon and Brave Fencer Musashi and Bokura no Taiyou and Touhou."

its not really kannnu's style to go back and tie up old ends. they just draw whatever makes them happy. so as i watch them continue to draw beautiful places and fantastic creatures, new characters heading out on journeys of their own or just enjoying their everyday lives, it's as if tenco's story never ended. the limits and consistency of that world ignored, and a new one springs up; in a way, the world of tenco's, which had such thin boundaries, just gets bigger.

but even so, having said all that, i still see them draw that short-haired tenshi from time to time. it makes me happy to see them remember tenco's story with such fondness. often crossing over with orion or roar or elweiss, you can see tenshi on another journey.

[the-gay-in-the-way]

A Thread of Doubt

(Okay, so this is something that I felt kind of compelled to write while I was working on the third part of The Great Boop War of 2018. Reason being that it kind of adds on some extra context to some of the stuff that happens in there.)

(So I figured I’d just go ahead and make this beforehand while the iron was still hot and the ideas were fresh in my mind.)

(You can see this as a stand alone or a spin-off or whatever, but the basic thing you need to know is that it takes place in the same universe as the Boop War, the Utensil War, and Why be Sad When You Can be Even Sadder.)

(It all coincides together and you can read all of them to get some extra context and little references in each one that comes from a different one.)

(Also, there’s a particular line in here that I have Virgil use and it comes from this person right here and their really interesting idea that inspired another really cool person to create an awesome fanfic on Ao3 called Persona that I very much recommend.)

(Also, also, there are a couple of songs I reference in this that I recommend you just generally check out. They’re pretty cool, in my opinion.)

(Myth me-Chilly Gonzales, Roundtable Rival-Lindsey Stirling)

(Anyways, let’s get on with this. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy the story.)

Deceit had been helping Patton with the dishes one morning when the moral side had suddenly asked him if he’d like to watch Virgil work that day.

Deceit hadn’t been entirely sure why they were going to watch Virgil work, of all things, but he had been intrigued enough by the question and Patton’s enthusiasm that it hadn’t taken much convincing to make him come along.

And so, Deceit soon found himself standing beside a visibly excited Morality as they both stood inside of Virgil’s bedroom.

“So, do you know where the entrance is? Or are we waiting for Virgil now?”

(Technically, you don’t have to read this part. But I recommend that you do so that you can understand the universe as a whole a little better. It’s what I’m gonna be using in most of my stories so...)

(You know, just as a warning. Read or don’t, it’s your choice. There will be another line and a set of these parenthesized comments where the detailed exposition ends and the rest of the story continues.) 

All sides had a particular “Realm” within the Mindscape they were individually in charge of. Each Realm was attached to the main House/Hub by a specific entrance within each side’s bedroom. The entrance would then lead to a mirrored version of the bedroom and house within the other Realm. And, when you exited the house, you would enter the actual bulk of the Realm itself.

Logan’s Realm was the Memory Library(where all of the subjects, books, movies, music, roles, and lessons Thomas had ever learned/experienced before were kept) and the entrance was behind a secret bookcase door that could only be opened by solving a particular puzzle within the room that Logan changed once every week.

Roman’s Realm was the Imagination Plane(where all of Thomas’s ideas and dreams were kept and, for the most part, created) and the entrance tended to change depending on the day. Sometimes it would be through a wardrobe, other times it would be through a magic mirror, and every once and a while it would be through a painting or a book. Finding it was part of the fun, according to Roman.

Deceit’s Realm was the Memory Archives(where all of Thomas’s actual memories were kept and carefully sorted, organized, and maintained) and the entrance was through a fake wall right across from his bedroom’s door.

Patton’s Realm was the Heartscape(where everything Thomas held dear to his heart like his love for his friends, a collection of his most precious memories, his most deep seated beliefs, and almost all of his emotions as a whole were kept and maintained) and the entrance was through a simple door covered in pictures and stickers and little splashes of paint over in the corner of Patton’s bedroom.

Virgil’s Realm was the Nightmare Plane(where all of Thomas’s fears, doubts, concerns, nightmares, and troubling thoughts were all kept, created, and very carefully maintained) and Deceit didn’t actually know where the entrance was.

(Okay, that’s all the detailed exposition)

(Back to the main story)

Nobody had ever gone to Virgil’s Realm without him or Thomas just sinking them into it, so the other sides weren’t really sure where Virgil’s Realm entrance actually was.

And, whenever someone asked, Virgil would always just say that it was better they not be able to go in on their own anyways.

The Nightmare Plane was a dangerous place, even with Virgil being there to keep them safe.

If they went in without him, nobody was really sure how well that would turn out.

So it was simply one of those things that everyone quietly thought about but never did anything to figure out.

Except, apparently, it wasn’t.

Because Patton was smiling at him and walking towards Virgil’s bed with a confidence that spoke volumes about how much time he spent in the anxious side’s space.

“Virgil showed me where the entrance was a long time ago. And I know where he’s gonna be today, so you can just follow me and I’ll take you where we need to go.”

Deceit blinked in surprise and had to physically keep his jaw from dropping when Patton reached a hand under the overly long sheets of Virgil’s bed, pulled the blankets up and away from the floor, and revealed a very thin black wooden door where the underside of the bed was meant to be.

And then Deceit felt a little like smacking himself.

Of course, the entrance was under the bed.

It was the Nightmare Plane, were else would it be?

Patton grinned at him and waved a hand.

“C’mon, I wanna get there before he starts!”

And, with that said, Patton opened the secret door and slid easily through it.

Then it closed with a startlingly loud slam behind him and Deceit had to take a moment to remind himself that this was Virgil’s Realm Patton had just gone into and the anxious side would never let anything bad happen to them if he could help it.

So, after taking a single long and steadying breath, Deceit made his way to the side of the bed and opened the small door.

It didn’t creak or do anything particularly ominous which surprised him a little.

And it stayed open when he started to slide through it.

It only slammed shut again when he was safely past it.

“There you are! For a second there, I wasn’t sure if you followed me or not.”

Came the muffled voice of Patton from...

Somewhere.

Deceit couldn’t see anything.

Which said a lot considering how good his night-vision usually was.

But he was still on his stomach and, when he raised his head a little, he could still feel the low ceiling/bottom of the bed above him.

Then, suddenly, there was light and it took a moment for Deceit to adjust his eyes enough to clearly see Patton crouched on the floor and looking at him sideways through the thin open door.

“Don’t worry, this is just the bed in Virgil’s other room. So, you can come out now.”

“Oh. Alright then...”

And Deceit shuffled his way out from under the bed, looking around the room with some curiosity once he entered it.

Although Virgil had let them into his Realm a few times in the past, they had never really gone anywhere past the living room before.

The rest of the Realm was far too dangerous, according to Virgil.

“Okay!” Patton said with a firm clap of his hands that made Deceit jump half a foot. “Let’s get going before we miss anything!”

Deceit didn’t bother complaining as he allowed the other side to pull him along.

He simply remained silent and continued to look around the only Realm he’d never really had the chance to explore before.

The main house looked, for the most part, the same.

Just with the additional decorations that tended to vary between each side’s spaces.

The living room, once they reached it, looked as it always did.

Although, there was now the addition of a pile of random pillows and blankets strewn all across the floor.

It looked like a massive pillow fort had attempted to manifest only to somehow miss its mark and just end up collapsed all over the place.

Patton went straight past the mess with only a bit of a fond smile thrown over his shoulder as any sort of acknowledgment.

Deceit kind of wanted to ask about it but didn’t get the chance when Patton reached the front door and swiftly pulled it open.

And Deceit felt chills run down his spine as he and Morality entered the true Nightmare Plane and all that that would entail.

Patton didn’t hesitate when a strong gust of wind pushed at them threw the door and only laughed in delight as he stepped easily through, his hand still pulling Deceit along behind him.

For a moment, Deceit was too afraid of what he’d see to look away from the other side’s back.

But then he started to hear the sounds of something that surprised him.

Crickets chirping.

A breeze gently rushing through leaves.

Water flowing from somewhere nearby. 

So, hesitantly, Deceit looked up.

And was met with a sight that he would easily call one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Outside of the house was a large circular clearing, surrounded by trees.

Within the clearing was a medium-sized pond attached to a waterfall that came from a river leading into the shadows of the surrounding forest.

Next to it was an absolutely massive willow tree with little glowing purple lights gently floating around its swaying limbs.

Small, almost glowing, white flowers dotted the grass like little fallen stars.

And above it all, was a breathtaking view of the sky.

The moon was large and full, surrounded by too many stars to count in a swirling mass of color like Deceit had never seen in anything other than Logan’s pictures of far off galaxies.

Gentle golds and oranges mixed with vibrant blues and purples.

The stars made patterns like no real constellation ever could.

“It’s nice, right?”

Deceit looked quickly back down at the one standing beside him, and realized with a start that they had stopped walking at the edge of the pond.

He took a quick glance and saw that the water was so clear and still that he could see the sky reflected within it.

It was like standing beside a tiny galaxy.

“No.” He breathed. “It’s horrible.”

Then there was the sound of a familiar laugh and Deceit looked up to the willow tree nearby.

“So shocked you lied, huh? I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Virgil walked through an opening in the limbs created by, seemingly, the limbs simply moving themselves for him.

He looked as he always did, though he did seem slightly more relaxed than usual.

Even his eyeshadow seemed just a tad softer than normal.

 “You shouldn’t. I can think of something better to express my shock.”

The anxious side let out a small snort in return as he finally reached the two and came to a stop beside Patton.

He let out a rather long-suffering sigh and directed a baleful glance at the other.

“Hey, Pat. I didn’t realize you were gonna be bringing someone with you today. If I’d known I would’ve made this place a bit spookier or something.” Virgil said with a shrug before bringing a hand up to rub at his neck a little awkwardly. “I’ve got an image to maintain, y’know.”

And Deceit felt the smallest of twinges within his chest.

He understood Virgil’s mindset quite well.

“Nobody cares if you’re scared.” He’d once said to him after a rather heated debate between the sides had ended with Virgil using his voice and control over shadows to intimidate them all into listening to him. “They care if you’re scary.”

Virgil could easily be seen as one of the most caring of the sides.

Both for Thomas and the others.

But he always seemed so dark and mysterious and scary.

That it had been hard to notice before.

Though, that time was passed now.

And they were all famILY.

So Virgil didn’t need to be scary anymore.

This was something that Patton, and now Deceit, wanted to prove to him.

That was, after all, why Patton had brought Deceit with him in the first place.

He’d been trying to find good opportunities to bring the others in and show them around without Virgil being able to stop him beforehand.

And that opportunity was now, so he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Patton grinned widely at his best friend and released Deceit’s hand before leaping forward and giggling when Virgil instantly caught him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Virgil. You’re already beautiful in my book, so I don’t know how making this place look any different would make your image change.”

Deceit smiled behind his hand as Virgil’s face turned a very pale shade of pink.

“You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you. I swear you’re the worst, Pat.”

The anxious side’s grumbles were only met with more giggling and some quiet snickers from the peanut gallery.

Then he sighed in a way that sounded, incredibly, even more long-suffering than before.

“Alright, I get it. You’re making a point and trying to reveal my soft and squishy underbelly to the others. That’s fine and all but I actually do need to get some work done today. Thomas is having a good time with his friends so I’d rather take care of it now than worry about it later.”

With the reminder of Virgil’s work, Deceit straightened and Patton let go of the side he’d jumped at to instead face him head on with an excited grin on his face.

“Right! Sorry, yeah, let’s go!”

And Patton ran past Virgil and over to the willow tree, the other sides trailing slowly behind him.

The two stayed silent as they walked but Deceit did give the anxious side a gentle nudge to the arm that was returned with a soft smile.

The gesture spoke volumes, and needed no words to get the intended message across.

When they entered the small enclosed space created by the willow tree’s limbs, Patton was already settled within a little cushioned hollow in the tree’s roots and Deceit took a moment to look around at the floating lights as they idly made their way around the area.

“Alright, get comfortable you two. I’m gonna be at this for a while and I’d really prefer it if you didn’t interrupt anything.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll be good, right Deceit?”

And Deceit nodded as he took a seat in the hollow beside Patton.

“Of course not.”

He didn’t bother making himself tell the truth.

Virgil could tell when he was lying and when he wasn’t.

Indeed, he simply nodded in understanding and took his place standing in front of them.

For a moment, everything seemed to still and take a breath.

Then Virgil took his own breath and sat down on thin air.

Deceit blinked in surprise and watched with no small amount of curiosity as liquid shadows dripped from Virgil’s fingers.

The shadows moved around him and slowly solidified into a piano and a bench.

Then he started to play and Deceit felt something well up in his chest.

And when Virgil started to sing this song that he had never heard before, he felt a little like crying.

“Myth me.”

Patton’s quiet whisper startled him a little and he turned to look at the other side who looked just as affected by the music as he was.

“What?”

Deceit whispered back as quietly as he could.

“The song. It’s called Myth Me. It’s one of my favorites when he works on these threads.”

And that’s when Deceit finally noticed them.

Long, delicate, and glowing white threads filled the air around Virgil like some kind of intricate work of art.

The threads thrummed quietly alongside the music and some seemed to simply loosen and fall apart, disappearing into the air like mist.

“Oh.” 

Was all Deceit could think to say in response.

And that was fine.

The two remained silent for a long time after that.

Simply listening to Virgil as he played and sang.

Occasionally, more shadows would seep from his fingers and take on the forms of featureless humanoids that would play other instruments alongside him.

And the threads continued to loosen and fall apart.

Until all that was left were the tautest of strings.

That was when Virgil stood from the piano and took his place beside it.

A violin quickly formed in his hand and the piano, alongside almost all of the shadows around him dissipated into thin air.

Then Virgil started to play.

And the ethereal calm that had filled the clearing moments before was snapped alongside dozens of the threads as Virgil played a song that sent a thrill of excitement and fear through Deceit’s body.

He felt Patton press close to him and listened closely as the side whispered in his ear once again.

“Roundtable Rival. It’s one of the best at breaking lots of threads at once.”

Deceit wasn’t surprised to hear that.

He watched as the strings continued to snap, letting out impossibly loud cracking and booming sounds that matched the music perfectly each time.

Virgil danced around the threads, and the shadows that played beside him, like he was being carried by the music itself.

With each snap of a thread, blindingly bright light flashed across him and only seemed to intensify with his playing.

And Virgil continued to play that song and so many more until most of the threads were gone.

Finally, Virgil stopped, took a deep breath once more, and let all of the shadows and instruments he had summoned disappear into thin air.

Then Deceit jumped almost a full two feet into the air when Patton leaped up and started to clap with a cheer.

“That was amazing, Virgil!”

The anxious side smiled a little crookedly and rubbed his neck again.

“Thanks, Pat.”

And Deceit found himself quickly nodding along as he stood alongside the moral side.

“No, that was terrible. I hated every second of it.”

And Virgil seemed slightly surprised by the praise but smiled genuinely at the both of them.

“Thanks. I’m glad you guys enjoyed yourselves, I guess.”

And Patton rather suddenly squealed before launching himself at Virgil once again.

Virgil, bless his heart, leaped forward and caught the excitable side without hesitation.

“We have to go and get cookies now! You deserve so many cookies! All of the cookies! I love my dark strange son so much! He deserves all of the cookies in the world!”

Deceit chuckled into his hand as Patton continued to ramble while Virgil just silently carried him away from the tree with an expression of utter defeat and quiet embarrassment on his face.

With one final glance back at the beautiful clearing they were leaving behind, Deceit followed the two emotional sides back into the house with a peaceful smile on his face and a slightly altered view on his family’s resident worrywart.

(Here’s a link to the next part of the CAP Series.)

(A Bed of Links:)

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Cerillen

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerillen/pseuds/Cerillen

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPz4p5XdoRESDKZeMDnWXFQ

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/cerillen

Discord: https://discord.gg/FsUhc5f

[marketingbloq]

The Future of Voice Search in 2023

How Voice Search Will Change the Digital Marketing

Introduction

Advanced technology has uplifted society in many ways. The modernized world has changed the way people think and work. Search results have helped most startups, people in business, etc., get better results. Many content marketers strive to rank in the top search results for hundreds of keywords. Along with all these upliftment, Voice Search is one of the most current upgrades.

According to researchers, around 50 % of the searches are done through voice search. The advanced technology, voice search, is reshaping how we optimize our websites for SEO. The following article will help you learn more about the most popular topic, voice search. The read will help you in preparing your business to take advantage of the same.

Outline of the Article

What is Voice Search?

Benefits of voice search

Demerits of voice search

Develop your content according to the targeted market

Earning featured snippets

Facts on SEO and voice search

How important is voice search for your business

Conclusion

What is Voice Search?

Voice search makes it a bit more straightforward for us to get the information and answers we need to make buying decisions by allowing us to enter our inquiries verbally with “OK GOOGLE,” “HEY SIRI,” or “HEY ALEXA.”

In more simpler words, Voice search is the technology in which we can directly speak the question or statement on google, instead of typing the same. Voice search isn’t going away anytime soon because of the comfort layer. Businesses must consider this while optimizing websites and web pages for SEO.

Voice search is a new concept. A lot of marketers are still trying to figure out the many functions that voice search fans do, how it works, and its benefits and demerits. Optimizing your website for this new search medium will enhance your SEO and deliver a more delightful user experience. You can use voice search anywhere.

It is available in your car, at home if you have a smart home device, on a PC with a microphone, and of course, on your mobile device. Users may utilize voice search with a home device, i.e., Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc., to surf the internet without having to visit a website. This implies they will only receive answers from the top-ranked website.

However, you must remember that while using voice search on a mobile device. You will still be directed to the list of most popular websites. It’s essentially a typical search, except you use your voice instead of entering it into your phone.

Benefits of Voice Search

Voice search allows you to do multiple tasks at the same time.

Voice search allows people to do things in an easier way, and you only have to speak in the microphone of your device.

It makes the daily routine of prominent people in business very easy.

People can save their time as voice search allows them to do things faster.

You can quickly get answers to your many questions.

Demerits of Voice Search

Lack of accuracy.

Difficulty in recognizing accent and voice.

Background noise may lead to zero clarity.

Misinterpretation.

Develop Your Content According to the Targeted Market

We do not speak in the same manner we write. Therefore, we should accept the same from our audience. We should expect a difference in writing and talk from our targeted people. It is mirrored in the way our target audience uses voice search to find information.

Instead of typing “Goa restaurants” and narrowing their search. People might use voice search to ask, “What are some nice restaurants in the North Goa?” Individuals feel convenient by using voice search, as they speak whatever they are feeling. They do not want to waste time scrolling and narrowing down their search.

The following points will help you in developing your content SEO:

Use Questions:

Include words like “Who, What, Where, When, and Why,” all question phrases in your article. Consider what information your target audience is seeking for and how they would ask the inquiry if they were speaking rather than typing. This way, you will be able to increase your chances of getting a featured snippet.

Make Sure You Know the Purpose of the Search:

Remember, people have to conclude by referring to your blog, product or services. Therefore, make sure the purpose of your site is straightforward. Do not forget to add your phone number and address on your website, and they should be up to date. The column for the same should be prominently displayed on your website.

Don’t forget to check your directory entries. It’s easy to know where to focus your efforts to acquire voice search results if you can figure out what people use voice search for.

Location is Important:

When it comes to identifying your location, try to be as specific as possible. Make a point of mentioning your current location and surrounding attractions in your material. Make sure you add relevant information.

Your Website Should Load Quickly:

People generally use voice searches to save t when people are too preoccupied with something else to sit down and write in their search query. We need to make their experience better.

Therefore, our website shouldn’t take a lot of time to load. Not only for the user’s convenience, but even Google prefers websites that load quickly.

Therefore, by loading the results quickly, you can get to the top of the rankings. Here are a few pointers to help your website load quickly:

You should utilize website caching.

Ascertain that all files are compressed.

You should check and see if photographs in the site are optimized.

You should reduce the number of redirects.

Make sure to reduce the server response time.

Do Not Forget to Add Related Products or Services:

Do not hesitate to add any product or services that your targeted market is looking for. If there is a relevant product or service that people are on the lookout for, you should probably include them in your material. Because people can then discover your page more readily.

Build Your Site as User-Friendliness:

Mobile users account for the majority of searches. Thus your site must be mobile-friendly.In fact, 60% of smartphone users have used voice search at least once in the last 12 months.

Do Highlight Your Competitive Advantage:

The last but important thing you want is for your target consumer to ask, “What is the greatest (your product or service here)?” on their respective microphones. To make sure that your business does show up in the search results, be sure to highlight what sets you apart from the competitors. Also, provide several positive client testimonials across your website.

Earning Featured Snippets:

Featured snippets are highlighted postings which businesses may achieve by providing what Google considers a comprehensive solution, to frequently asked inquiries. Voice searches look for particular questions rather than broad phrases.

Therefore, you will have to organize your content to address commonly requested queries.

Securing a featured snippet might help you do more than just bring your material to the top of search results pages. Better search positioning translates to more site traffic and sales.

A featured snippet may also help you create trust and credibility with your audience early in the sales process. All this gives you an advantage over the competition.

Facts on SEO and Voice Search

The more your website is shared on social media platforms, the more it is in the top voice searches queries.

The faster your site loads, the more likely you will get into top search queries. A voice search query returns an average result that loads 52 percent faster than the typical page.

Your short, concise, and simple language. On an average, 29 words are used in a voice search.

Structured data does nothing to your rank for voice search queries.

Simple answers rank you higher for voice search queries.

How Important is Voice Search for You Business?

Voice search has become way too important for businesses nowadays. It is being integrated into the lives of common people. It creates an opportunity for many different organisations, businesses and brands. The voice search strategy improves the digital experience thus increasing brand awareness.

Voice search is a technical valuable insight which is very convenient to use. The updated tech of okay google, Siri and Alexa make utilise for more personalised messages, information, data and overall experience.

The more easy your site is the more audience you have on your site. You will be able to make an easy friendly interaction with your company. It enhances your SEO search results. Hence, it is important to adapt to the uplifted technology of voice search to get into top search results.

Conclusion

The popularity of voice search is only going to increase. In fact, voice search is used by 55% of youngsters. Voice-based commerce is anticipated to reach $40 billion by 2022. Therefore, it can be very effective in growing your business.

Voice search are very convenient to use. SEO changes will be continual as voice search becomes more popular.

For more such updates refer to Marketing Bloq — Learn Digital Marketing & Trends | Learn Anytime, Anywhere.

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Best Techniques for Making Backlinks in 2022

[dustedmagazine]

The Dusted Mid-Year Exchange: 2018 Edition, Part 1

In our fifth annual switcheroo, Dusted writers review each other’s favorite records, venturing out of the genres where they feel most comfortable to wrestle with excellence outside their frame of reference.  As always, assignments were made at random with the only rules being: a) you can’t review your own pick and b) you can’t review something you’ve already written about for Dusted.  

Unlike in past years, there was no clear favorite in 2018, although artists including Marisa Anderson, Olden Yolk, DJ Koze and Kacey Musgraves made multiple lists.  And perhaps most heartening, a number of writers amended their mid-year favorites after listening to other writers’ picks.  We hope you’ll also be able to find some new favorites among the artists we highlight.

Today, we’ll run the first half of the mid-year blurbs (alphabetically) from Marisa Anderson to Joelle Leandre & Elisabeth Harnik.  We’ll cover the second half of the alphabet tomorrow, then close our feature with individual writers’ best of lists through the first half.

Marisa Anderson — Cloud Corner (Thrill Jockey)

Cloud Corner by Marisa Anderson

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Who recommended it? Eric McDowell

Did we review it? Not yet, but it’s assigned.  

Ben Donnelly’s take:

"Slow Ascent" is one of the titles in Anderson's latest batch of profound electric guitar explorations. It's a good phrase to summarize her career and style, hiking higher with each release, wandering further from the trails. For the second time, she's tracking a few extra instruments into her miniatures without disrupting the solitude, keyboards and acoustic strings mostly matching the cracks and chime of her main axe. Her fingerpicking has a fractal aspect, where intricate and rapid patterns can create a cycle that's relaxed and gradual, as on the title track and other lilting numbers. "Lament," a slide blues with a dissipating tempo and skeletal keyboard notes is forceful in its minimalism. She's becoming a master of small contrasts. Nowhere better than the closer "Lift,” where folks sounds step aside for a plucky scale that spirals up, offset by sweeps that sound like brushing the harp of an open-lidded grand piano, but take focus as a harmonized electric. Her brilliance is ever more in focus.

 The Armed — Only Love (Throatruiner)

ONLY LOVE by The Armed

Who recommended it? Jonathan Shaw

Did we review it? Yes. Jonathan Shaw said, “The Armed will likely be delighted by the divisive responses Only Love generates.”

Ian Mathers’ take:

You almost wish for anyone who’s potentially up for the Armed’s pummelling, exuberant, often frantic, tremendously maximalist take on hardcore and assorted associated genres to come to the record totally blind, and not just because “Witness” comes leaping out of the gates so forcefully. It can be fun to start digging around and register all the distancing tactics, purposeful obfuscation, sense of play, and weird links (to everything from Converge to, err, Rubicam and Young), but the visceral impact of Only Love is powerful enough that all that context should be saved for later. It’s one thing to start filling in context, it’s another thing to hear something as ferocious and compelling as “Role Models” (“NO INS! NO OUTS!” yell-chanted in a way I’m pretty sure even little kids would find appealing, if you could sneak this synth-spiked bomb past their parents) in the context of trying to figure out the game, if there is indeed a game here. After the roiling chaos of the first few listens subsides the sheer number of hooks packed inside these songs really settle in your mind, anchored by Ben Koller’s incredible drumming (possibly commissioned on false pretences) and just as adept at etching out a multi-part climax like the seething “On Jupiter” as just full-on sprinting on the likes of “Heavily Lined.” And then there’s “Fortune’s Daughter,” maybe the strongest earworm I’ve encountered yet in 2018. Who are the Armed and what are they up to? It’s not that I’m not interested in the answer to that kind of question, it’s more that as long as they keep making records as good as Only Love I’m happy to believe whatever they tell us (or don’t).

 Bardo Pond — Volume 8 (Fire)

Volume 8 by Bardo Pond

Who recommended it? Jennifer Kelly

Did we review it? Yes, Jennifer said, “The sound, vast and muscularly monolithic as ever, seems more like a demon summoned periodically from a ring of fire than the product of any sort of linear development.”

Isaac Cooper’s take:

Like fellow travelers Yo La Tengo’s There’s A Riot Going On, Bardo Pond’s Volume 8 is stitched together from jam excerpts and spare parts, but unlike Riot, Volume 8 is remarkably cohesive and propulsive. Even at its droniest and spaciest, there is no shortage of momentum or sense that Volume 8 is a collection of barrel scrapings to tide over the diehards; it stands with any of Bardo Pond’s releases. The guitars on “Kailash” and “Flayed Wish” howl and wail like Lear on the heath, while the rhythm section pushes on, determined as Sisyphus. Two shorter pieces, “Power Children” and the gorgeous solo guitar piece “Cud,” act as a brief respite before the entropic and monstrously heavy closer, “And I Will”. Musical improvisation is one of the best means we have of tapping into the murky world of the unconscious, and Volume 8 demonstrates that while there’s plenty of chaos and darkness down there, it’s also the source of inspiration and transcendence.

 Cut Worms — Hollow Ground (Jagjaguwar)

Hollow Ground by Cut Worms

Who recommended it? Ben Donnelly

Did we review it? Not yet...

Patrick Masterson’s take:

“Amid all the noise nowadays, there’s precious little that still makes me feel the way those peoples’ songs do, and aspiring to reach that level is a big part of what makes me do this to begin with.” This is Cut Worms’ Max Clarke in a charmingly earnest Medium interview last fall on some of his biggest influences – John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed. Maybe you’ve heard of them; maybe you’ve heard of the level of cultural influence they have exerted on us all. And if you’ve heard the Alien Sunset EP that was released just after the interview ran, you’ll easily be able to see where Clarke was coming from in the time that he spent putting the homespun eight-track wonder together, splitting halves between Chicago and his current Brooklyn home. It’s a beautiful record that doesn’t overplay its hand, choosing instead to let the simplicity of his natural ear for a melody do the talking despite the humble recording quality. He was never going to reach the mythical heights of his influences plying away at that trade forever, of course, but his art was all the better for sounding so self-assured in its limitations.

Hollow Ground, however, is a Trojan Horse of the most exhausting variety. Those same reference points – the Beatles, Dylan, solo Reed – still apply, only here they spring forth in an aggressively augmented form with a backing band and a more fleshed-out sound that’s like saying, “Alexa, give me every pop music trend of the 60s at once” or, more accurately, like listening to someone too young to have experienced the decade but old enough to be familiar with its most basic cultural signifiers play an album’s worth of icons. How do we know? Check the new versions of Alien Sunset’s “Don’t Want to Say Good-Bye” and “Like Going Down Sideways”; they’re wholly different, coldly unlovable remakes of the intimate originals. Even his lyrics feel unconvincing; Clarke uses the pet name “baby” on 60% of the songs here, which, look: I don’t need to stare into a wordless void with Bill Basinski to feel something and there’s an evident surplus of genuinely touching heartache present, but that’s an affectation of the most irritatingly trite variety.

For a certain kind of person, Max Clarke is the perfect person; for that person, Hollow Ground will resonate simply, perfectly. I am not that person. I will never listen to this again – likely not individual songs, certainly not in full. Does that seem unduly harsh? Does it feel too personal? Does the cut worm forgive the plow? Guess we’ll see. Ask again when there’s a follow-up.

  Sarah Davachi— Let Night Come on Bells End the Day (Recital)

Who recommended it? Bryan Daly

Did we review it? No

Bill Meyer’s take:

Sarah Davachi puts out albums often enough that it’s hard to catch up, so please cut Dusted some slack for not getting to Let Night Come on Bells End the Day until now. The Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist has followed All My Circles Run, an all-acoustic minimalist chamber piece, with an overdubbed solo recording for electric organ, acoustic piano, Mellotron and synthesizers. Like some ecclesiastic initiate, she has followed a solitary path to arrive at a place that is one with the cosmos. Her slow-morphing tones, incremental melodies, and exquisitely voiced harmonies don’t just sound like they should be played in a chapel; they erect a virtual space around the listener that only lets the ineffable through.  If Andrei Tarkovsky was still around, he might be writing a movie to wrap around these sounds.

  DJ Koze — Knock Knock (Pampa Records)

Who recommended it? Patrick Masterson

Did we review it? Yes. Jennifer Kelly said it “has a humid, organic air, even its most rigorously electronic tracks seething with jungle-y vitality and caressing warmth.”  

Ian Mathers’ take:

Like a lot of his peers, DJ Koze has been active and prolific for years without ever putting out that much in the way of “proper” albums, which probably goes some way towards explaining why Knock Knock, only his third, sounds so relaxed, confident and casually accomplished. With stellar vocal turns by everyone from Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner to folkie José González to Róisín Murphy (who’s rarely put her imperious purr to better effect than on the two perfectly-matched tracks she’s on here), 16 tracks in total and a lengthy running time, Knock Knock feels like a bit of a Statement from the producer. Which makes it maybe even more impressive that some of the best stuff here (like the sad jam “Pick Up” with its perfectly deployed vocal sample, or the almost-Avalanches style “Baby (How Much I LFO You)”) is just Koze without a high-profile guest vocalist. The whole thing has a friendly warmth and subtle propulsiveness that makes for compulsive listening; if this isn’t Koze at the peak of his powers, it sure feels like it could be.

 Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon — Leave No Trace: Live in St. Louis (Family Vineyard)

Leave No Trace: Live In St. Louis by Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon

Who recommended it? Isaac Olson

Did we review it? Yes, Isaac said, "While these performances are undoubtedly chaotic, they never feel purposeless.”

Justin Cober-Lake's take:

That guitarist Tashi Dorji and percussionist Tyler Damon have a limitless supply of ideas isn't surprising, but it's remarkable how well they've organized them into sensible packages on Leave No Trace: Live in St. Louis. Neither of the quarter-hour tracks here are exactly linear, but they do progress both coherently and unhaltingly. “Leave No Trace” offers the most noise, with the first half of the piece continuously crescendoing. The disappearance of one artist or the other simply means the soloist has more volume to cover. The pair spend the last two minutes together, Damon crashing away while Dorji sounds like two guitarists fitting blips together.

“Calm the Shadows” works differently. While not a suite, the song comes in sections, with Dorji and Damon filling in an outline as they go. The pair respond to each other, and work mutually on an unpredictable but discernable path. The slow build to the noisy section lets the chaos function as a thesis statement with the back half of the track the understanding of what to do with it. Dorji's pointed playing through that section answers the early rumble without making anything easier. Damon's sounds complete the thought. When “Leave No Trace” works so hard to slowly heap sounds before smashing through it all, the effect is amplified but the control of its predecessor. Dorji and Damon are a few albums in now and, while there wasn't much doubt from the start, they seem to be working in a rare place right now.

 Holland/Parker/Taborn/Smith—Uncharted Territories (Dare2 Records) 

Who recommended it? Derek Taylor

Did we review it? Not yet.

Jennifer Kelly’s take:

It feels like a math puzzle. How many distinct ensembles including duos, trios and quartets can be formed out of four musicians?  But hearing it in practice as master bassist Dave Holland, free jazz titan Evan Parker, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer-vibe-ist Ches Smith assemble and disassemble into improvisatory groups is quite another thing. “Trio No Tenor” on disc one takes a luminous shimmer from jangling metallic percussion, abstract interpolations of piano and the shape-shifting tone of plucked, hanging bass tones. “Duo Bass Tenor” on disc two is far more fluid and contemplative, as long bowed bass notes underline the fluttering explorations of sax; its two old friends finding space in each other’s musings, darting in to challenge and interject and locating points of agreement even in occasional dissonance. The quartets, though, are the most astonishing, (I like #5 from Disc 2), as extraordinary, unruly energies careen off one another, extemporizing, reacting, reaching over and in between each other in a dense mesh of sound that seems, nonetheless, uncrowded and precisely choreographed. Only three cuts were composed ahead, the rest worked out in two days of live improvisation. Uncharted indeed.

 Quin Kirchner — The Other Side of Time (Astral Spirits)

The Other Side of Time by Quin Kirchner

Who recommended it? Bill Meyer

Did we review it? Yes, Eric McDowell said: “ Kirchner sidesteps novelty and navel-gazing by putting pyrotechnics second to, well, music.”  

Jennifer Kelly’s take:

Kirchner leads from behind on this sprawling two LP solo debut, his drumming feverishly hot but held in check so that others — saxophonist Nate Lepine, bass clarinet player Jason Stein, trombonist Nick Broste and Matt Ulery — can take the spotlight. Interplay between the two reed players is intricately, acrobatically fine. In opener “Ritual,” Lepine jets off with Stein in hot, asynchronous pursuit, Kirchner executing a furiously syncopated undertow, part samba shuffle, part continually exploding roll. “Brainville,” the Sun Ra cover, swings and swaggers, bass and drums in arch, stylized conversation. Kirchner is, maybe a drummer’s drummer, but this is not a drummer’s record, except on two lovely, timbrally varied “Drums & Tines” tracks, where layers of kit rhythms and kalimba intersect in fascinating geometric patterns. Kirchner clearly reveres another band leader whose instrument didn’t always occupy the top of the mix; Mingus’ “Self-Portrait Three Colors” cuts the drums to brush-on-snares, while giving Broste a chance to wail, the two reedists to evoke lush dance-hall sensualism, the bassist to pluck out dark blots of body-moving tone. Kirchner is not the façade, but the architect and also the guy who holds up the building.

 Joelle Leandre & Elisabeth Harnik — Tender Music (Trost Records)

Tender Music by Joelle Leandre / Elisabeth Harnik

Who recommended it? Eric McDowell

Did we review it?  No

Isaac Olson’s take:

The best part of listening to improvised music is hearing the moment when the musicians lock in and the music takes on a life of its own, when the thrill of discovery dissolves the boundaries between performer and audience. There are many such moments on Tender Music, an improvised set from bassist Joelle Leandre and pianist Elisabeth Harnik. A few examples: the swelling tension that emerges at the one and a half minute mark of “Ear Area I,” the rising anxiety and tentative conclusion of “Ear Area IV”’s final minute, and the march that closes out “Ear Area VI”. Between these peaks, Leandre and Harnik evoke Cecil Taylor, Morton Feldman, blues, bop, classical and more, sometimes all within the space of two or three minutes. Fortunately, Leandre and Harnik are attentive enough players that their restlessness never comes at the cost of coherence. Leandre and Harnik are formidable soloists whose use of extended techniques coax ear-tickling, unexpected timbres from their instruments, but it is when they’re playing together, and more or less “normally,” that Tender Music is at its best, that the melodic and rhythmic invention of both players shines brightest, and that they’re able to speak to each other, and to us, most clearly.

[wickedbananas]

Calculated Fields in Google Data Studio - Whiteboard Friday

Posted by DiTomaso

Google Data Studio is a powerful tool to have in your SEO kit. Knowing how to get the most out of its power begins with understanding how to use calculated fields to apply good old-fashioned math to your data. In this week's Whiteboard Friday, we're delighted to welcome guest host Dana DiTomaso as she takes us through how to use calculated fields in Google Data Studio to uncover more value in your data and improve your reports.

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

Video Transcription

Hi, Moz fans. I'm Dana DiTomaso, President and partner at Kick Point, and we love Google Data Studio at Kick Point. You may not love Google Data Studio yet, but after you watch this I think you probably will.

One of the first things that you think about Google Data Studio is: Why would I use this? It's just charts. It's the same thing I can get in Analytics or a billion other dashboarding tools out there. But one of the things that I really like about Google Data Studio is math. You can do lots of different stuff in Data Studio, and I'm going to go through four of the basic types in Data Studio and then how you can use that to improve your reports, just as you sort of dip your toes into the Google Data Studio pool. What I've done here is I have written out a lot of the formulas that you're going to be using.

The types

It's a lot of obviously written out formulas, but when you get into Data Studio, you should be able to type these in and they'll work. Let's start at the beginning with the types.

Basic math. This is pretty obvious. 1 + 1 = 2. Phone calls plus emails equals this, for example. You can add together different fields.

Transforms. Let's say people are really bad at writing some things upper case and some things lower case. You have a problem with URLs being written a couple of different ways. You can use a transform to transform upper case into lower case. That's pretty nice.

Formulas. Formulas is where you're saying only show this subset of the data. Or how often does this happen? That could be things like the Count function, so count how many times this occurs, for example, and present that as a totally separate metric, which can be really useful for things like when you want to count the number of times an event occurs and then compare that against something else. It can just pull out that kind of data.

Logic. This is the more complex one. If X, then Y. If this happens, then that's going to happen. There's a lot of really complex stuff in there. But if you're just getting started, start with this, and then look at the Google Data Studio documentation. You'll find some cooler stuff in there.

1. Basic math

Here are some examples of how we use this in our Google Data Studio dashboards. So basic math, one of the things that a lot of people care about is: Are people getting in touch with me?

This is the basics of the reason why we do marketing. Are people getting in touch? So, for example, you can do some basic math and say, "All right. So I know on our website in Google Tag Manager, we have a trigger that fires whenever somebody taps or clicks a MailTo link on the site." In addition to that, we're tracking how many people submit a form, as you should.

Instead of reporting these separately, really they're kind of the same thing. They're emailing one way or the other. Why don't we just submit them as one metric? So in that case, you can say grab all the mail to form completions and then grab all the form goal completions, and now you have a total email requests or total requests or whatever you might want to call it. You can do the same thing where it's like, well, phone calls and emails, does it really matter if they're in separate buckets?

Just put them all in one. The same thing with the basic math. Just add it all together and then you've got one total metric you can present to the client. Here's how much money we made for you. Boom. That's a nice one. The next thing — I'm just going to flip over here — is formulas.

2. Formulas

Okay, so formulas, one of the things that I really like doing is looking at your Google Search Console data. This is in Data Studio. You're going to use Search Console for this, which is a nice data source. We all know Search Console data is not necessarily 100% accurate, but there's always lots of keyword treasure in there to be found if it's easy to find, which the Search Console interface isn't super great.

So you can make a report in Data Studio and say regex match, and so don't be afraid of regex. I think everyone should learn it. But if you're not super familiar with it, this is a really easy way to do it. Say, okay, every time a keyword contains why, how, can, what, for example, then those are question searches. You may change it to whatever makes sense for you.

But this is just pulling out that subset of data. Then you can see, so if these are question searches, do we have content that answers that question? No. Maybe this is something we need to think about. Or we're getting impressions for this. You could filter it and say only show questions searches where our average rank is below 20. Maybe if we improve this content, this is a featured snippet opportunity for us, for example. That's a real gold mine of data you can play around with.

3. Transforms

The third one is transforms. As I mentioned earlier, this is a really nice way to take Facebook, for example. We had a client who had Facebook in all upper case and Facebook in title case and Facebook in lower case in their sources and mediums, because they were very casual with how they used their UTM codes. We just standardized them all to go to lower, and those are nice text transforms that you can do.

It just makes things look a little bit nicer. I do recommend doing some of this, especially if you have messy data.

4. Logic

Then the big one here. This is logic, and I'm just going to toss over here for a second. Now logic has a lot of different components. What I'm showing you right now is a case when else end transform or logic. We use this to tidy up bad channel data.

So that client that I mentioned, who was just super casual with their UTM tags and they would just put in any old stuff, I think they had retargeting ads as a medium. You can set up channels and whatnot in Google Analytics. But I mean, really, when it comes down to it, not everybody is great at following the rules for UTMs that you've set up. Stuff happens.

It's okay. You can fix it in Data Studio. Especially if you open up Google Analytics and you see that you have this other channel, which I'm sure when we've inherited an Analytics account, we take a look at it, and there's this channel, and it's just a big bag of crap.

You can go in there and turn that into real, useful, actual channel data that matches up with where it should go. What I've got here is a really simple example. This could go on for lines and line and lines. I've just included two lines because this whiteboard is only so big.

So you start off by saying case. It is the case when, is the idea when, and then the first line here is source equals direct and medium equals not set or medium none, then direct. So I'm saying, okay, so this is the basics of how direct traffic happens.

If the source is direct and the medium is not set or the medium is none, like if I have no data whatsoever, now it's direct traffic. Great, that's basically what Google Analytics does. Nothing fancy is going on here. Now here's the next thing. In this case, I'm saying now I'm combining a regex match, which we talked about up here, with the case, and so now what I'm saying is when regex match medium, and then I've got this here.

Don't be scared of this. I know it's regex and maybe you're not super comfortable with it, but this is pretty elementary stuff, and once you do this, you will feel like a data wizard, I guarantee. The first time I did this I stood up from my computer and said "Yes" the first time it worked. Just play with it. It's going to be awesome. So you've got a little ... what's the thing called? You've got a little up arrow thingy there, very bad mediums dollar sign.

What this is saying is that if you've got anything in there that's sort of a weird medium, just write out all the crud that people have put in there over the years, all the weird mediums that totally don't make any sense at all. Just put it all in there and then you can toss it in a bucket say called paid social. You can do the same thing with referral traffic. Or, for example, this is really useful if a client is saying, "Well, I want to know how this set of affiliate traffic compares to say this set of affiliate traffic," then you can separate these out into different buckets.

This isn't just for channel data. I've done this, for example, where we were looking at social data and we were comparing NFL teams as an example for another tool, Rival IQ. What I said was, okay, so these teams here are in the AFC East, and these teams are in the AFC West. If I've screwed up and I said AFC East and West, please don't get mad at me in the comments. I promise I play fantasy football. I just don't remember right now.

But you can combine different areas. This is great for things like sales regions, for example. So North America equals Canada plus the USA plus Mexico, if you're feeling generous. This is NAFTA politics. It really depends on what you want to do with those sales regions and how your data, what is meaningful for you. That's the most important thing about this is that you can change this data to be whatever you need it to be to make that reporting so much easier for you.

I mean, Else then, we don't know if this might actually output. I haven't tried this myself. If it does, please leave a comment and let me know.

Then you end up with an End. When you're in Data Studio, when you're making these calculated formulas, you'll see right away whether or not it works or not. Just keep trying until you see it happen.

One of the great things about Data Studio is that if it's right, you'll see these types of colors, and I've used different color whiteboard markers to indicate how it should look. If you see red where you should be seeing black or green where you should be seeing black, for example, then you know you've typed in something wrong in your formula. For me, typically I find it's a misplaced bracket. Just keep an eye on that.

Have fun with Data Studio. One of the great things too is that you can't mess up your original data when doing calculated fields, so you can go hog wild and it's not going to mess with the original data. I hope you have a great time in Data Studio. Tell me what you've done in the comments, please. Thank you.

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[letstalkaboutwebcomics]

Let’s Talk About Novae!

Before we continue, please be sure you’ve read Ye Olde Disclaimer so you know what exactly is going on here!

And beware… SPOILERS AHEAD!

Let me tell you, I had to shorten what I originally wrote by a lot because I couldn’t shut up about it.

I wanted to start off this series with a webcomic very dear to my heart, which is the wonderful Novae by @kaixju, a duo of artists with a solid comics resume behind them. KaiJu have collaborated in the past on The Ring of Saturn, Mahou Josei Chimaka, and Inhabitant of Another Planet, which is the prequel to Novae. All are hosted on Sparkler Monthly, and I highly recommend reading them all. Not just because Sulvain and Raziol cameo in The Ring of Saturn as well as Mahou Josei Chimaka, which I thought was so good.

Novae follows the tale of two men in 17th century France, at the height of the scientific revolution. One is Raziol Qamar, the apprentice of the esteemed scientist Christiaan Huygens. Raziol is the son of a translator, and has a boundless love of astronomy. The other is Sulvain. Yep, just Sulvain, no last name so far. He’s a mysterious traveler that we know very little about yet, other than the fact that he is curious, lonely, and loves the stars just as much as Raziol does. You can see where this is going.

We get a number of strong visual hints as to Sulvain’s past or the truth of his existence, and surely more info will be revealed very soon. Novae has just completed Chapter 4, which very neatly contains the blossoming of a relationship between Sulvain and Raziol. I won’t summarize the story thus far, because I would much rather you go read the comic for yourself! Instead, let’s start looking at some of the key themes Novae gives us:

Loneliness

Belonging

Grief 

The powerful multifaceted-ness of love

In Inhabitant from Another Planet, we are introduced to many of these key themes through a look into Raziol’s past- namely, his last intimate relationship. This, in addition to Sulvain’s flashbacks from Chapter Four, brings me to one of my favorite things about Novae: it is not afraid to be absolutely open with the character’s past loves. Novae is a story primarily about the love between Raziol and Sulvain, but it is just as much about the love that, inevitably, brings them together. Something I see often in the Romance genre is this idea that giving positive and meaningful context to a character’s past relationship(s) is somehow de-valuing their present one. Past relationships are sometimes treated as a stepping stone to get to the ‘one true love’, or a device to create hurt comfort. As if the current relationship needs to be the only good one the characters have ever had, and that’s what makes it meaningful. It’s not. And I’m not saying that stories where that happens are inherently bad, because that’s not true either. It needs to be handled delicately.

What Novae does is provide us with insight into the past relationships that built Raziol and Sulvain into the people they are now. That they have loved before, they love now, and they absolutely can love again. Romance is not devalued by the presence of other loves. And I love the insight into that. It tells us so much about them. Raziol’s relationship with Bevan provided a moment in time where he felt considerably understood and happy- temporarily, yes, but that temporalness led him to reconnect with his father. The feeling of otherness has not left Raziol in Novae, and it’s a pivotal part of why he connects with Sulvain. Raziol gravitates towards people that help relieve that. As for Sulvain, at this point we can only guess. I have my theories about his condition. There are many hints that he practices Necromancy, and even more hints that he’s either undead or immortal or something of that nature. Immortality and loneliness are inseparable from each other, classically. Raziol gives him something he can easily give back: familiarity and nostalgia, and the delight in learning new things.

But with immortality (or whatever it is that plagues him) comes the other classic issue: the fear of intimacy and, you know… getting attached. How many times can one obviously sensitive guy handle burying the people he loves? And yet, intimacy and comfort is all too enticing. Who can blame him? I’m interested in seeing where that goes once we know more.

Side note, I appreciate that this is the first time they see each other. Nothing is better than main couples having an embarrassing first interaction.

And Sulvain is just kinda like [nods] “Yes, understandable. I, too, have that reaction to myself.”

Another one of my favorite aspects of Novae is the attention to detail. So many tiny bits of the world are so carefully researched and considered, it makes my history-loving heart sing. Objects in a room can do so much in developing a character, and it’s so nice to see that so thought out for both Sulvain and Raziol’s father’s apartments. It is believable that a person lives there, and the word feels so tangibly like 17th century France. This makes is so easy to become immersed in the world these characters inhabit. We are not simply following their story on its surface, but becoming part of the environment that drives that story. Not only that, but the comic places such a loving emphasis on tiny, quiet moments.

Every small gesture, every silent look they give each other means something so visceral and signifies a huge step forward. Soft and so often silent, but that’s what forces you to pay attention. The limited color palette deftly assists in this, every single page dominated by either a rich blue or yellow or a mix of the two. Blue, the historical color of divinity, cosmos and magic, and yellow, the historical color of happiness and knowledge.

I want to bookend this with a look at my favorite scene so far, which is related to my earlier point about Sulvain’s past love: the final scene of Chapter Four, in which we see a flashback showing Sulvain burying the mystery woman from his memory (Ohhhoh whooo could she be??). The color palette transforms stunningly. It’s not easy to show flashbacks without being heavy-handed and direct (or alternately, not being clear enough), but this color palette change does it in such a nice way that sits well with the feeling of the rest of the story. The burial shown is a traditional burning-pyre one, and this is the first time we get to see Sulvain displaying extreme emotions. He weeps for her, wailing, but silently due to his inability to speak. And it’s beautiful, not only because of the stunning imagery but also because it handles quick, simply addressed death within a story pretty fantastically.

Sulvain’s relationship with this woman is powerful and meaningful. Her death is not the end of his story, but it does lastingly impact it. And he is allowed to mourn, and feel vivid emotions, and still grieve however many years into the future when these feelings affect the new connections he builds, and that is okay. Sulvain is not shamed for having complicated feelings, or not being completely ready to dive in headfirst into a new romance, but instead go slowly. Don’t forget, in the Novae timeline, Raziol and Sulvain have only known each other a few days (which is just my guess). It just makes me unbelievably happy that that understanding is there in the formative moments of their relationship, and it’s not used as a miscommunication drama fodder (a big pet peeve of mine). Each of them knows that they are both going into this with a lot of baggage, and part of a strong relationship is working through that together, and giving it time.

To briefly address another technical aspect, suffice to say dialogue is one of the most difficult parts of comic writing. There is a fine line between too much dialogue and just enough. Novae stays within this line wonderfully. As a reader, I never feel like the story is unnecessarily being explained to me. It takes advantage of the beauty of a visual medium and allows visuals to tell the story clearly and concisely, and all dialogue serves to enhance the story. It never feels too wordy, and everything is so astoundingly poetic that the dialogue itself works perfectly in tandem with the environment.

In conclusion, Novae deserves serious props for handling a slow, quiet narrative so well. It’s really difficult to manage that, especially in webcomic time when you generally update a page at a time. With longform webcomics, it’s easy to lose the reader’s attention from update to update if it feels like nothing is happening. But here, with every page, something huge is happening. It’s just a quieter, more contemplative something, and I look forward to it every time. I know whenever a Novae page goes up, it’s going to be gorgeous and I’m already completely invested in the complexities of these characters. Reading this comic, you can feel the love and care the creators have put into developing it. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

PLEASE go read Novae, leave many comments, and support KaiJu! You can do so by:

Following them on Twitter

Becoming a Patron

Sharing their Portfolio

Follow them on Tumblr

And tell your friends about Novae!