#peak mom behavior honestly

[ravens-two]

Not me asking Lady Fulla for help with managing my money and promptly getting my card cancelled 💀

Like alritghty now I can't spend it on stupid shit

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

First: I want to say that I LOVE your writing. Like when I requested something before and I saw you actually did it, I squealed. Reading your fics literally makes me some happy when I'm down.

Second: I was wondering if I could request another poly!Plastics fic with a Janis best friend reader. R was a bad home life (it can be abuse, neglect, detailed, or glossed over. Whatever you're comfortable with) and the girls, plastics and janis, start to notice it (Like R's behavior or clothe change or something). The girls team up and coast R into telling the truth. R ends up living with Janis (or regina if you want) and they all have a big sleepover at the end.

Now I did read your request rules and I know that you don't write abuse relationships and if family also falls under that category that's completely fine. You don't have to write this fic if it makes you uncomfy and if anything you can take the poly!Plastics fic with a Janis best friend reader idea and have a completely different plot.

Hope you have a good day.

Bruises and Cuddles

|| poly!plastics x fem!reader

(i myself am poly)

|| Warnings; swearing, hinted at abuse, injured reader

|| Summary; reader doesn't have the best home life in the world. As the girls and Janis begin to notice, they take matters into their own hands.

Requests open!

Started; August 31st

Finished; September 9th

slowly getting back into the posting grind 🫡

~~~

You had just walked into school, shoulders slumped and exhaustion etched in your features as you made your way to your locker. Which was right next to Janis', your best friend.

As you approached your locker Janis noticed your state right away with a grimace," you look like shit." Leave it to Janis to compliment you. Right?

Opening your locker, you sighed as you heard her words. It wasn't exactly the reminder you needed, you knew how you looked. You had pulled your hair into a messy bun, tried to cover the bags under your eyes with makeup but you weren't as skilled at that as your girlfriends so parts peaked out. Even your clothes looked sloppy.

"Gee, thanks, Jan." You responded, Janis had been noticing stuff like this from you for the last while now. Since the beginning of grade 10 you'd been coming to school looking like you had just escaped hell. She was starting to get suspicious, wondering about what your home life was really like behind whatever facade your parents put up whenever your friends were over.

"We hanging out later? Damian pirated some movies," Janis gave you a playful nudge as she smirked, pushing her worries to the side for now. Hoping that maybe at the least she could get you out of your house for a while.

You hadn't been listening until she nudged you, getting your attention. You blinked and looked at her," huh- what?"

"Movie night." Janis simplified, a frown on her face as she realized you really weren't doing well. Maybe this wasn't something she could just push aside for now.

"Oh, I can't tonight. Sorry." You replied, its not that you didn't want to. You really, really did. But your mom's been getting on your ass about being out late so often and grounded you over it. Honestly, a stupid reason for getting grounded. But you weren't about to argue with her. You knew better than to do that because of how she reacts whenever you do. Let's just say, she isn't winning the 'mother of the year' award anytime soon.

Janis watched you with studying eyes, a plan forming in the back of her mind. She had to get your girlfriends involved, as much as she wasn't the biggest fans of the plastics. She was sure that having them on her side for whatever this was would be better than going about it alone. "Right."

The bell rang.

"Well, see you when we see you." Janis gave a mock salute ad she walked off to class, you frowned as you watched her leave. Feeling bad for having turned down her offer. For the fourth time in a row that week. You haven't said why, you didn't want her to be concerned or take some reckless action. You knew Janis would try to sneak you out of your house or some shit and didn't need that.

Throughout the week, more instances like that would come up. It would either be one of your girlfriends who found you in an exhausted state, sometimes with a few bruises or Janis would be the one to see it.

One day, Regina had been the one to find you first and had enough of seeing you so beaten up and exhausted. Janis happened to be near by so she rounded her up first, then Gretchen and Karen.

Working together (shockingly) the plastics and Janis pulled you off to the bathroom after making sure no one was in there. They had briefly discussed a game plan beforehand, knowing this was a situation that needed a more gentler approach compared to how they (mostly Regina and Janis) normally handle things

"We gotta talk about.. this." Janis gestured to you with a frown, she didn't know how else to word it without being extremely blunt.

You looked beyond confused.

"But you just gestured to all of me?" Your arms folded across your chest as you glanced at Karen, who was watching you with a sad look. You tried having a silent conversation with her but she didn't pick up on any of your social cues. Maybe not the best one to get information from about whatever this was.

"We're worried you're not getting the right- parental care at home." Gretchen blurted out, Regina gave her a side eye and Gretchen looked at her apologetically. You sighed.

You should have guessed they would notice. It's not like you hid it that well either though. Should you lie? One look at Regina's gaze told you no. It's like she could read exactly what you were thinking. Swallowing thickly, you decided to go with the truth. Your eyes met Gretchen's, being too nervous to look at either Regina or Janis. They could get intense with things like this. And Karen just didn't understand.

"It's my mother." Simple. To the point. Confirmed everything the girls had suspected.

Gretchen's expression softened and she held her arms out to you, you easily went into her hold and relaxed as you felt her arms wrap around you. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Didn't want you guys to worry." Your words were muffled as your face buried into Gretchen's neck, holding her tight.

Regina and Janis shared a look. Almost as if having a silent conversation.

"That's it." Janis said, then both Regina and Janis said at the same time; "You're living with me."

They paused and narrowed their eyes at each other. You looked up at them in slight confusion as you saw them doing a very aggressive and intense game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who you would stay with. You were silently thankful they didn't make you pick.

"Ha! Suck it, bitch!" Janis threw her hands into the air. You assumed Janis won. Regina rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. You could just tell that she wasn't pleased in the slightest. Janis turned to look at you with a smile," You're gonna come live with me. No arguments."

You sighed but nodded, grateful for your friend.

And that's exactly what you did. You moved in with Janis' family, they welcomed you in much to your mom's distaste. She didn't approve of you leaving but your dad helped get you out. He didn't like how his wife treated you, so he gladly helped you leave.

The times after that were good. You were finally getting the proper rest you needed and your bruises healed. Whenever you weren't at Janis', you'd be with your girlfriends. Who always made sure to give you cuddles and comfort.

Despite your past, your future looked good. And you couldn't be happier with how things played out in the end.

~~~

Hoping to get back into my usual flow of writing. I think it sounds kind of close to it? I just haven't written in so long that it might be different and a little rushed. So apologies of it isn't as good as it could have been 🙏

[mer-acle]

Been thinking about how the relationship between Athena and Hera is probably a little different than the relationship between any of Zeus’ other children and Hera.

Athena isn’t one of Zeus’ affair babies. She’s his legitimate child from his first marriage. So imagine rather than hating her Hera is actually nice to her, at least in a general sense. She isn’t like a complete genuine mother figure or anything but she isn’t like a horrible step-monster. Hera’s just genuinely chill with Athena and honestly it definitely works in Epic with how the part between them in God Games went. Hera isn’t like a 10/10 mom to Athena but she’s a descent enough “parent”-esque figure in her life which would probably be an interesting thing to explore. Like, Athena not only being Zeus’ favorite daughter but the only step child Hera doesn’t want in a ditch for existing 😭

ahh yes, those two (I love them honestly)

I imagine the beginning was kinda difficult, especially with how honestly insane Athena's birth was (Imagine coming into a room, your husband has his head split open and there's a more or less fully grown girl in battle armor standing there like tf) and depending how much Zeus would disclose about Metis (I've read that Hephaestus in some versions was Hera's revenge baby bc she thought Zeus just randomly had a daughter on his own) Anyway. I agree Hera would probably be inherently nicer to Athena especially bc Athena I'd imagine has the sense not to push the "Mom" angle on her. She's just this young woman who lives on the same mountain as her, and Hera kinda gives her the chance to show her personality rather than immediately judging her.

I love that they work together in the Trojan War btw. Like that's just peak Wine Aunt- Stepkid behavior, scheming for a city's downfall on the weekend (and weekdays. there's a lot of scheming)

idk kinda like with Odysseus Athena gets her affection specifically by not asking for or expecting it lol

and what I'm also thinking from Hera's perspective, Zeus never gives her a choice in family planning. Like he just randomly springs stepkids on her that she's meant to love. So it makes sense to me that she likes the one best who gave her the choice that Zeus did not if that makes sense

sorry if I took that in a different direction than what you thought about I just kinda gave my two cents lol Shit now I want more Athena&Hera content. ahhh

[leastdatablebracket]

ROUND 1, MATCH 64

Propaganda under the cut!

Lucio Morgasson

He's the villain in everyone else's route, and even in his own he's STILL kind of a dick. Like, everything bad he did before the game begins happens exactly the same, and it's only when he begins that he gets better (as in he regrets his actions and tries to fix it (it being a plague. He caused a plague because he wanted more power. (Spoilers: the plague killed the MC))). All the other romanceable characters still hate him tho so that's good. The one thing he's got going for him is that in one ending, he stepped down from being the count (idk about the other)

He literally caused a plague that kills thousands of people including THE PLAYER 😭 LIKE HE LITERALLY KILLS YOU DAWG

He is simply the worst. I'm pretty sure he purposefully infected his kingdom with the plague. He made a deal with the devil maybe. Gonna be real with you I haven't finished his storyline.

imagine a guy who is both incredibly pathetic and willing to screw over absolutely everyone for fun. lots of fun as a character, absolute dogwater as a partner

He has directly tortured or somehow harmed all the other romancable characters and every other route tries to kill the mc to take over their body, is also responsible for a plague that killed a large portion of his kingdom and *spoiler* killed the MC

I'll admit I haven't played his route but that's cause he's such a pathetic icky man that I don't think I actually can. And I pride myself in completing every route. I know people like their pathetic meow meows but I want to hit him with a brick

He acts as a manchild who needs someone to guide him through life and show him the difference between right and wrong when I'm pretty sure he's in his forties or fifties. He also abuses his power to do horrible things to people he's not in a romantic relationship with, which should tell you a lot about him.

He’s a selfish asshole who is the villain in every other route and he’s a punk ass bitch I wanna kick his ass so hard his skeleton disintegrates as he fucking deserves 

Dude, he SUCKS. He's the villain in every other route. He's a horrible husband, he forced Muriel to fight for his entertainment, he makes deals that he can't pay for. He threatens and pouts and is obsessed with people loving him. I've been with the Arcana since the very beginning and he wasn't meant to be a romance option, but the writers basically went with it because there was such a demand. So embarrassing to see Lucio fans being like Lucio did nothing wrong ever. Falling all over themselves to blame his mom or Nadia or Asra or anyone else for Lucio's selfishness and shitty behavior. It was peak uwu he's A BABY fan dementia that excuses all his shitty actions because nothing was his fault. The only sane Lucio fans are the ones that are like "he sucks so much <3 I can make him worse."

He's literally described by the devs as flaming trash. He is literally only nice in his route and the main antagonist (or at the very least a jerk) in every other route. he was a very bad husband to ex-wife. he is literally - and with 0 exaggeration- a plague upon the country he ruled. he's also a grown man who calls his fuck ups "oopsies" and honestly, i love him but that gives me the ick.

Cullen Rutherford

stupid racist cop creep whose fans cry about how hes "changed" and "you can't judge him he was addicted to magic drugs" nah he still chose to be a racist cop and abuse his power over innocent people and i hate him. the writers making him romanceable in da:i after how blatantly horrible he was in da:o and da:2 is baffling but i guess they had to appeal to the part of their audience who watch those "mafia boyfriend" videos on tiktok or whatever

He's creepy in origins, though still 100% willing to kill the female mage pc he's crushing on, as well as all the other mages trapped in the circle with him. He's the second-in-command in an even worse circle in 2, listening to and defending the increasingly obviously insane meredith until literally the end. He's one of the people still pushing for the circle system by inquisition, and yes he's going through withdrawals and working through the traumas of previous games. And to be brutally honest his was the first romance i took and while i don't remember much from it, its not worth all the girls going absolutely nuts over knockoff terrible alistair.

He's basically a cop who thinks being born a certain way can revoke personhood and by Inquisition still thinks mages are monsters to be controlled, not people. He gets a fairy tale cutesy romance that focuses on his personal struggles with addiction while showing absolutely no regard to the atrocities he committed and still thinks were justified. He can be romanced BY A MAGE and his actions and beliefs are just glossed over. He believes mages are 'not people like you (Hawke) and me', but if the Warden was a female mage he canonically had a crush on her and would deliberately hang around her despite the fact that he was her *jailer*. If that Warden romanced Leliana, there is war table dialogue in which he pesters Leliana for news of his 'former' crush despite her repeated statement that she doesn't want to talk to him about her. All this shitty behavior and lack of introspection gets swept under the rug by the game, not even giving the PC the chance to really challenge his beliefs. Like damn even Fenris could apologize when he lashed out due to past trauma with mages, and if anyone has a reason to hate mages it's Fenris. If you want an ex Templar hottie Alistair is RIGHT THERE. Tbh I know Cullen is a popular romance and I'm not here to tell anyone what they can or can't do or like in a video game, I'm just saying I think he is deeply undateable

Spends the first two games as an antagonist, fervently devoted to the cause of subjugating mages, then a bunch of "character development" happens off screen and the games treat him like he's completely reformed. However he's actions make it clear he still sees mages as dangerous and lesser. Not to mention if you romance him with an elf he doesn't pay your culture more than lip service respect like most of the devout characters 

He was a total villain in the first two games who was violently prejudiced against mages and uses one single bad experience as an excuse for it (a bad experience that is pretty much exactly what he in his job subjected graduating apprentices to, mind you, but this is never brought up). Now he says he's changed, but his words and actions say otherwise. He still distrusts mages, sympathises with the rebel Templars trying to kill them, and he never owns up to the terrible stuff he did and helped others do in the past two games. He totally knew what Meredith was doing and says he doesn't, and he still tries to defend her intentions. And you have no option to call him out on it. If you romance him as a mage, he angsts about how he might have seen you as subhuman in the past but NOW you're one of the good ones, and when you ask him if he'll kill you if you get possessed, he dodges the question. And the PC is written as being almost sad that she's a mage? Like 'can you love me despite what I am??' Also if Leliana romanced a female mage PC in the first game who is still alive, he asks her creepy questions about their relationship. Fitting considering his original purpose was to be creepy to the female mage Warden. 

I hate him and want to cause chaos. Plus his VA is an asshole.

cop

[starmonsterrr]

shuffles in-

you’re like. The only otherkin I’m familiar with so uhm! Curious genuine questions time, how do you figure out??? All of that???? Do you know of any resources I could use to familiarize myself???

Thank you for your time/your help, don’t feel pressured to answer this!!

💫

[ * Alright, this is a complex one, but quite fun to answer! ]

[ * For this I will talk about my dragonkin identity since it is the one I am the most familiarized with and also what set off my journey into exploring my alterhumanity! ]

[ * It started one day, I don't know how, but I started investigating about otherkin and therians. I don't remember well how i found the term, pretty sure it was because one of my favourite animators made an animation meme subtly about therianthropy, one thing led to another, I found the therian term, then the otherkin term, and got curious. ]

[ * Across my whole life I've had the sensation of being something not human. I've always had some sort of attachment to non-human animals, more specifically by seeing myself as one of them, rather than a human. This should explain why I was intrigued by this term. ]

[ * So I started looking into my past and how I envision myself, with help of my mom because parents love documenting their children's lives. ]

[ * I realized I display quite a bunch of dragon-like behavior, though the peak of that was when I was a little pup... Hatchling... Protostar... Tiny young creature... You get the point ]

[ * I hoarded items, did dragon noises (sometimes to scare other kids at McDonald's and even did some weird pose for that too), really wanted to fly (I still do), I even had a dragon costume I would wear ENDLESSLY because I wanted to be a dragon that much. (Honestly present me would do that too) ]

[ * There was even one time i tried to make paws out of foam so I could walk on all fours without harming my hands. With the paw pads and all. ]

[ * I don't remember having any shifts, and it may be a good time to clarify that not every alterhuman ('kin or therian) has shifts, but it is quite a common experience in the community. ]

[ * What I do remember however is feeling like I could move my ears and trying to show other kids that I could move them, but they never saw them move. Turns out these are phantom ears I have pretty much all the time, though it is hard for me to make out the shape. ]

[ * Now, these are past experiences, and people change, so it is important to take a look at the present too. Think. How do you feel about being human? Does it suit you? Do you think of yourself as a human just like everyone around you is? Envision yourself. Are you human or something else? ]

[ * The vision I had of my true self was a prime puzzle piece discovering in realizing I am otherkin. Remember it is not just experiences, it is also affected by how you view yourself, and it changes over time too. Same goes for therianthropy. ]

[ * Whenever I used dragon-like (or fox-like) characters to represent myself, these weren't really just "representations". Turns out, it was my vision of what I was supposed to look like. And it changed as I learned about myself and grew. ]

[ * So, once again, think. Think for as long as you need: does being human describe you? Does it feel right, or wrong? Do you feel disconnected from humanity? (This doesn't necessarily have to tie to dysphoria, though that is the case for me.) ]

[ * Took me a bit to really figure it out, but I've always had a hunch I was a dragon. ]

[ * Sorry if this is confusing or badly formatted or idk, it's pretty late for me. A final tip I will give is to ask around on otherkin/therian Tumblr for help figuring out things! Also my go-to source for info on otherkin (well. Technically therianthropy, which is a separate community and I do not mean to use the words therian and otherkin interchangeably) is the channel Therian Territory on YouTube. ]

[ * I think what I would do is: take a look at videos explaining otherkinnity and therianthropy, people talking about their experiences etc. And then ask any questions you come up with on alterhuman tumblr. Tags such as #therian, #otherkin, #alterhuman, etc. #fictionkin if you feel like you may be a fictional character. If you're questioning something specific, let's say unicorn otherkin, tag it as #unicornkin, or kangaroo theriotype, then #kangaroo therian. I hope this seems clear enough. ]

[ * off I go to eep ]

[regaliasonata]

You Honest Opinion: Power Ranger Seasons that were AWESOME, were bland as oatmeal, and deserve to be run through the wood chipper from Fargo. Speak and be recognized.

Awesome Seasons

-Jungle Fury: Overall solid season, great characters and development, awesome choreography and villains. Only thing that could’ve been better was if the show was given more episodes. A side effect of ranger seasons as they probes on was the reduce in episode amounts, Jungle Fury could’ve definitely benefited from having at least 10 or 12 more episode…AND THE CROSSOVERS OF OO AND RPM.

-Dino Thunder: See this is how you do a season where you incorporate the core theme of the 90s classic trope with high schoolers/heroes, cast is likable, show flowed well along with the story and villain and Trent was adorable(actor still hot…don’t judge me). My gripes is Zeltrax not getting an actual ending, or PR not giving Ethan’s actor a chance to come back even though he definitely wants to.

-Lost Galaxy: Breath of fresh air into the new era after Zordon, cool concept and I love that cast as well. We all need a boyfriend like Leo, also the idea of what they did for Kendrix was both bold and entertaining when watching for the first time…only thing that could’ve gone better was them being able to do the lost galaxy arc a bit earlier to actually show off more ideas there.

Bland as Oatmeal(spicing this up, category for seasons I enjoy but their issues need to be addressed to gain peace for the better)

-SPD: Now this season honestly was ambitious with the ideas of having all these alien designs and being based in the future on earth. Cast is cool and so far I’m pretty much enjoying it…I do however don’t appreciate the focus being mainly on Jack, Sky and Cruger, they are nice characters but the others get thrown in the dark. Not to mention Sky in the beginning being an asshole about not getting red (also for you to be raised by a single mom yet get offended at the idea of a woman being a leader is clown behavior, glad he grew out of that shit fast). Syd and Z’s treatment was pretty poor, we should’ve had Taylor and Jen complaining to SPD and making shit right for them👌🏾🩷💛

-Time Force: This was an interesting season but I have some overall issues with the way half of the team was handled. For a season based on time travels they didn’t really utilize that much and outside of Wes, Jen and Eric the other three barely got anything, I would’ve loved to see perspectives of Katie, Xybrian lore on Trip(have a few posts of that I made if you wanna give it a look👀💚) and…Lucas I guess, but tbh Nadira should be the blue Ranger from now on after…certain things about his actor(if you know you know) but yea overall season could’ve had more of that stuff.

Wood Chipper

-Ninja Steel: Dogshit season, outside of the many things I don’t like about this season I will say some things to say with from the little grace it has. I love the idea of Madame Odios being the antagonist as one I love fox themed characters and also her design is peak, the suits for the rangers are pretty stylish and the effects or their attacks are rather stunning when used well….now onto where we dive into the deep end. Victor and Monty need to not exist, no no that’s rude, they needed better writing. For one the fart jokes were disgusting and whoever thought that was funny in the writing room is just ugh, you could’ve made them actually engaging characters, heck paired them together as boyfriends like ANYTHING INTERESTING. Now onto Hayley, the way Calvin handled their relationship was so terrible and Sarah is a bad friend for telling Hayley to just deal with it, and had HER apologizing for Calvin being terrible??? Also the idea they originally had for the black girl to lose her boyfriend so he can hook up with the other girl on the team…oh my god I’m glad the actresses said no to that, goddamit what was this writing.

YOU HAD A NINJA SEASON THAT SAID OTHER SCHOOLS EXISTED, LORE BUILT UP BUT NO REFERENCE THERE???? Oh my god, I’m just imagining how good of a season it could’ve been incorporating ninja Storm and samurai together cause like just picture how fire it would’ve been(luckily I’m going to make a Ninja Steel AU rewrite eventually in ao3 if anyone wants to read it👌🏾. Also allow me to use the green ranger we never got form the Sentai 👀)

Let’s leave it at the fact that fans can take the characters and show and make better backgrounds and settings for them, anytime canon fails we have everyone here to do the good work👍🏾

That seems about it, I wanted to list only a few specific ones but I hope this was nice 😅

[tojikai]

okay so i know i said i’d have a full review but it’s coming i promise lmao. but i had to say this due to some revelations in your answered ask.

- i still think gojo chose naomi bc its easier for one (bc to have that perspective of love like people don’t fight a lot and that arguing doesn’t exist is peak delusional behavior). the second one is bc she’s giving him more attention (and from my experience guys fold when it comes to attention especially from someone who encourages their bad behavior) and bc of reader’s monster-in-law gojo’s mom bc from personal experience if the mom is heavily involved in his life he will disregard your feelings for her even if she is wrong or just overall a bad person (i still think the timeline is sus i know you said he didn’t cheat but i’m still sideyeing it and have doubts bc of how permanent mark unfolded 😭) he is deliberately ignoring his responsibility to me over his ego. he couldn’t commit to trying to actually reconcile with his baby mom even after telling her to keep the baby only to leave for someone else, which is the number one issue for me bc she didn’t have to go through this if he wasn’t so selfish and a shit person. then is trying to propose to someone he left is baby mom for who hasn’t even been with him for a year and is actively thinking about more kids when he doesn’t even respect his baby’s mom and doesn’t know how to coparent. honestly just throw him away, just leave reader and yui alone fake love isn’t needed atp. for crying out loud you trying to have another kid after all of this too!!! i can’t with this slut 🙄 (bc guys can be sluts too)

- also him wanting to do better only due to the threat of his image to his daughter eyes is screaming narcissist like really big narc vibes. idk how he will be redeemed in my eyes since it just seems like he has overall issues with accountability and ego. i just feel like he’s trying to be better for the wrong reasons. like what about the reader she kept the baby bc of you and now you’re on demon time torturing her for something you wanted. i’m not as strong as reader, i would have already went no contact or just unalived and trusted her care to someone else that i trusted.

also have a question… if naomi knew what the reader dealt with that night would she still want him or would she break up with him bc she can’t be that dumb to realize that if he can do that to the reader then what are the chances of it happening to her? marriage isn’t permanent all the time that’s why divorce exists. and even if reader had money she would still have the issue she does now bc the education isn’t the biggest issue. it’s sluttoru

- paragraph/theory anon

wow, this is amazing, i enjoyed reading it. i like the part where u mentioned that perspective of love where people don't fight a lot is very delusional. i definitely agree w that. nothing worth having comes easy, so fight 😉 i love it. and the attention one too !! as for your question, i think it's gonna be answered in part 4 !! thank u so much for this, paragraph nonnie~ it's such an interesting read !!

[cherryfairytwist]

RickFic Ch8. AstriOid Belt

(Tags: minors dni/ substance use/ stalkerish behavior)

—- HELLO —-

—- INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE MEMORY CLUSTER #8 —-

—-PULLING UP EARLIEST ASSISTED MEMORY RECORDS —-

—- NARRATION SIMULATING NOW —-

The gang had just gotten back from an adventure, now chilling outside of the garage on the drive way next to Rick’s ship. Both Rick and Astrid stood leaning against the ship sipping on beers while Morty and Summer sat on the driveway munching on some hors d’oeuvres they had stolen from an alien party they had all crashed while adventuring. 

“Did you see the look on those bouncer’s faces when we crashed through their ship’s hull?” Summer laughed while continuing to stuff her face. 

“H-honestly I thought m-more people partying on deck would have noticed something was going on.. but I guess they w-were too drunk..?” Morty also chuckled thinking back on it. 

“T-That was some smart thinking back there Astrid. K-knocking out some those unsuspecting guests and changing into their outfits. Priceless! We got to party for free all nightttt!” Rick emphasized in amusement. 

“Well I mean.. you said we had to try and keep those bounty hunters off our tail for a while..we had already crashed so why not have some fun waiting it out?” She snickered and took another swig. 

Earth Beth poked her head out of the garage door and asked, “oh there you guys are, dinner will be ready soon do you kids want to eat? Dad….?” She looked at all of them before her eyes landed on Astrid. “Oh um.. hi! You’re their teacher’s….assistant? From school..?” She asked trying to remember Astrid’s face from in passing. 

“Hello Mrs. Smith. Yes I’m Morty and Summer’s teacher’s assistant… we’ve met before I’m pretty sure.” Astrid said politely but awkwardly. 

“I remember! I didn’t mean to make that come off weird sorry… I just didn’t want to mistake you for….” She glanced over at Rick implying she didn’t want to assume Astrid was one of Rick’s one night stands, “… anyways.. would you like to join us for dinner?” She said with an awkward smile. 

“I would love to…” she glanced at the kids and then quickly at Rick, “but it’s getting a little late. I might need to head home to start grading papers sadly.” She used an excuse feeling as if she might be over stepping her bounds. 

“Oh we understand! I hope the kids are paying attention in class for you.” Beth commented. 

“Oh Mrs. Smith you have wonderful kids. They are both extremely smart and hard working.” Astrid said positively. 

Rick started to scoff before Astrid shot him a glare. 

“Oh that’s such a relief to hear! I worry they aren’t doing so well in school.” Beth peaked over to see what commotion Rick had made. 

“See mom! We’re doing just fine. We take after you and grandpa!” Summer shouted over to her mother. 

“You’re right honey… could you come help with dinner? Oh you too Morty.” Beth asked. 

“We’ll say goodbye to Astrid real quick just in case she doesn’t come have dinner. Be inside in a second!” Summer replied before her mother turned to head back inside. 

“Thanks for covering for us like that Astrid.” Summer said with a smile. 

“I didn’t cover for anything. You and Morty are smart hard working kids. Just because you’re not making straight A’s doesn’t mean you two aren’t smart.” Astrid replied honestly. 

Summer looked down at the ground with a shy smile. 

“T-thanks Astrid.. you’re a great teacher..” Morty said awkwardly before standing up. 

“Thanks for coming on adventures with us, it’s always really fun having you around. We hope you have a good night if we don’t see ya in there.” Summer said playfully but with a hint of sentiment while turning to head inside.

“Y-yeah.. you’re awesome Astrid..! See you at school.” Morty choked out before quickly running after Summer inside. 

Astrid stood there for a few seconds just smiling and looking at the garage door. It made her really happy to know the kids liked having her around.. she also really enjoyed seeing them do so well. She then chugged the rest of her beer and looked up at the dark night sky. The thought that she was still standing alone next to Rick slapped her back to reality as she tried to sneak a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. Still leaning up against the ship next to her she could feel the weight shift as he also chugged the rest of his beer. He turned his head to look down at her and then tossed his empty beer can into the garage. 

“A-Alright.” He pushed off of the ship and grabbed Astrid by the arm. 

His grip was stern but held no malice in it as he guided her around him towards the passenger seat of the space ship. Astrid looked up at him with a calm yet confused look. He ignored her face while opening the ship door, he then lightly pushed her into the seat and shut the door behind her. He then turned to go grab a pack of beers and a liquor bottle from the garage. He returned and got into the drivers seat, setting the drinks down on the floor next to her feet. Astrid felt her nerves jolt a smidge so she rummaged around in her pocket for her communicator to start playing the next song in her cue. She pulled out one of her earbuds from her pocket and put it in the ear facing the ship window. 

“So are you giving me a ride home or….?” She asked trying to cut the agonizing silence. 

“Y-yeah I guess you could say that. But first I want us to have a little chat.” He said emotionlessly while starting up the ship and pulling it up into the sky. 

Astrid felt the awkward silence hang in the air between them. She sat quietly and looked out the passenger window. The Sun and Earth started to look like marbles the farther they flew out into the solar system. She felt the temperature drop in the cabin around them, small wisps from her breath hung in the air after every silent exhale. Did she ever notice how cold it felt when they were flying in the ship before? Or was it that she had gotten used to the body heat of all four of them being in the ship at the same time? It felt like there was so much empty space between her and Sanchez. Why did it still feel like he was much too close for comfort still? Calming herself she pressed the play button, “Space Junk” by Wang Chung started to play in her ear. 

“W-what you listening to…?” He asked pointing at the device in her hand. “You should play some of t-that out loud so it isn’t so awkward in here.” He stated while handing her his equivalent of an all adapting aux cord. 

Astrid compiled and plugged it in. As the music began to play out loud she pulled her ear bud back out and put it in her pocket. She gave a curious glance at Rick, looking for any signs to pick up on, but nothing of note showed. As he started to slow the ship he motioned for her to grab him one of the beers on the floor. She pulled it out of the plastic and cracked it open for him, handing it off. He took it and started to steadily sip from it, still keeping his eyes in front of him. 

“You can have some more too obviously… you got any more of that weed?” He asked. 

“Uh yeah…” Astrid pulled out her bowl and grinder from her pocket. 

“Nice.” He said plainly. 

The silence and random songs seemed to continue for what was about only 15 minutes, but it had felt like forever. Astrid had already downed her first  two beers and taken a few hits from her bowl. Rick had tossed back three beers already as well as having taken some hits from her bowl. Finally Rick eased up the ship to a stop. The ship now silently floated adrift right outside of what looked like an asteroid belt. They sat there for a few moments silently sipping.

“So is this the part where you take the dog out back to the shed and shoot it…? And to save the kid’s feelings you tell them it ran away.” She joked cutting through the silence. 

Rick looked at her surprised and then laughed saying, “HA! No.” He smiled and then gave her a side eye, “Jesus y-you still came with me thinking that m-might have been a possibility…?” He let out a chuckle. 

Astrid didn’t reply and side eyed him curiously waiting for him to keep up the conversation. Which he did, 

“I also figured this would be a perfect opportunity for y-you to shoot me in the back of the head if you had planned on trying to kill me.” He said less amused but with a smug face eyeing her. “We are alone.” He stated. 

“Oh and you still brought me out here thinking that could be a possibility?” Astrid copied him in a mocking tone. 

They both rolled their eyes at each other and looked out their corresponding side windows. The silence hung back over them as the music continued to play. Until Rick broke the silence once more, 

“I didn’t know you could move like that… I knew you were fast but I-I had no idea you knew how to dance.” he mentioned referring to their adventure earlier that day where they had crashed the party. 

He thought back on earlier that night, impressed having seen her ballroom dance and perfectly execute other types of alien dances unfamiliar to Earth. She had moved in such a way it was simply captivating to watch. 

“You just assumed I couldn’t dance…?” She chuckled looking back at him scrunching her eyebrows playfully. 

“You’re not Human. There isn’t any way you are!” He suddenly blurted out slightly raising his voice in frustration. 

“Is that a question or are you making a statement?” She replied annoyed back. 

“Come on!” He demands letting go of the anger but a hint of frustration remained. 

“I guess you could say im not exactly from around these parts.” She tried joking in a perfect southern accent. 

He laughed and relaxed a little while rolling his eyes again, leaning off to his window side. 

“Hold on Rick. I know  it’s not like you’re going to share things about yourself with me.” She laughed. 

“That’s fucking different.” He insists. “You’ve probably already heard plenty of things about me.” A slight sting came in his voice. 

Astrid let out a sigh, “Fine… let’s play a game. We’ll call it Pinocchio because it’s like a truth and lies thing. I will answer questions if I feel like it. I’ll only show one “tell” if it’s a lie… you’ll see what I mean once we start playing.” She stated.

He arched his eyebrows and grinned curiously still leaning on his window, “Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s play.” He said shifting to lean on his knee while pointed in her direction nonchalantly. 

“How long have y-you been living on Earth..?” He cut straight to it. 

“Over all or recently?” She asked to clarify.

“Both.” He stated. 

“Well.. I’ve probably lived on Earth for a handful years.. I left but I’ve only been back for about a year now.” She shifted in her seat slightly uncomfortable but finally feeling relaxed knowing she was getting it off her chest. 

“Why are you here now?” He asked still intently eyeing her.

She replies, “sight seeing” and suddenly her nose popped out elongated a slight bit, much like the Pinocchio cartoon. 

Rick let out an amused laugh realizing she had lied. While eyeing her nose curiously, he quickly chugged another beer in entertainment. 

“W-why were you on Earth in the past?” He asked more exited. 

“For work.” She answered shortly knowing she still had to tread lightly. 

“Are you on Earth for work now..? A-And I don’t mean that “teacher” bullshit.” He said trying to skate her around using that excuse. 

“Not really….it’s complicated. But I’m “stuck” here for now.”  She paused feeling a sadness creep up on her. 

“You’re stuck..? Like crash landed?” He asked confused. 

“No.. I’m just supposed to be here for a while.” She huffed, “ I’m supposed to be on “vacation” but that’s not what it feels like.” Noticing she said a bit too much she snapped back into it. 

Shifting gears she sassily stated, “You’re running out of time!” 

Internally her heart was racing, why did she want to tell him so badly? This had never been a problem for her before with keeping secrets. 

“Jeez I didn’t know we were on a timer!” He joked and motioned for her to pass him the bowl. 

He sparked up and took a few more hits and then handed it back to her. She too hit it some and then sat it down on the dash. She looked down at the floor to see they had both drank through all the beers so she grabbed the liquor bottle of jack that Rick had brought. Astrid opened it and took a few swigs and handed it over to Rick. He took it and then looked back at her face,

“Are you human?” He asked once again wanting to hear her say it, searching her eyes for a sign. 

“Yes.” She lied with a smug grin lowering her gaze as her nose grew again humorously. 

“So what do you do? What are you?” He asked back to back trying not to chuckle. 

“You’re waisting your time.” She said sharply not looking up from packing the next bowl. 

Rick huffed and moved on, “Okay then. So you have heard of me?” He asked, not being able to help himself. 

“Yes Rick. I heard of you before I met the kids. But I didn’t think much of it, until we officially met.” She rolled her eyes and smiled knowing he was looking for an ego boost.

This relieved her knowing this one fold of his would help later if things got risky.  

“So what’s the verdict?” He asked cockily. 

“That you’re a crazy old man causing trouble.” She twirled her hair, “Definitely never a dull moment around you.” She replied with attitude. 

He laughs at her mockingly slow and leans back in his seat seeming to drop all signs of humor, “I’ll go a head and get right to what I wanted to chat about.” 

He pauses and glares right into Astrid’s eyes, “Have you been planning to hurt the kids?” 

Astrid felt as if daggers had been sent through her chest, “I’m never going to hurt your kids Rick. As for you though, that depends on how well we get along.” She quickly joked at the end in an attempt to lighten the mood but still be honest. 

“Oh yeah?! You think you can hurt me Hu…?” Rick joked already riled up a bit but calming down feeling as if she was being truthful to his questions. 

“Yeah of course. How many good years do you have left on you anyway?!” She said flirting not being able to help herself, hoping to further distance Rick from his suspicions. 

“Oh don’t you worry about that. I can stay young forever. You just haven’t seen me use my reverse age inventions.” He said crossing his arms behind his head and setting his feet up on the dash pleased with himself.

“Wait so you choose to stay looking at this age…?” She suddenly asked seriously, she couldn’t help but feel like she felt the same way but for her own human passing form. 

“Uh yeah…? What about it?” He arched his eyebrow at her confused by the change in emotion. 

“Do you do it because it just feels familiar or do you like how it looks…?” She asked almost searching for her own reason as to why she liked her default human form. 

“I-I don’t know.. I guess because it feels familiar..? I guess because I don’t like how it looks.. because it’s a reminder.. it seems natural looking to the family..?” He said searching for an explanation himself. 

He then quickly snapped out of it and wanted to know why she would ask that, “W-why do you ask? Are you age shaming me right now..?” He said pretending to be offended to cover up his actual feeling of embarrassment. 

“I don’t know! Ha! Sorry I’m just a curious person…? I mean you said you made something that can reverse your age!! So you just don’t use it that much? I mean seemed like a pretty basic question.” She laughed as well trying to cover her discomfort for the shift in the atmosphere.

Rick starts chugging some of the liquor and then slams his fist down on the dash, “f-fuck it! You wanna blow up some asteroids…?!” He said now trying to help lighten the mood. 

They sat in the ship taking turns targeting the hurdling rocks. As they both got more intoxicated they started to amp up their shared appreciation for destruction. Astrid thought about how pretty the moment was watching the ship light up after each explosion went off.  After what felt like hazy minutes of belligerent arcade like fun, Rick checked his watch and seemed to sober up a little. 

“Damn I-it’s late. I totally lost track o-of time. Sorry about that, w-we’ll head back.” He said trying to make up for taking up her evening time after she said she needed to get home.

“Ha, it’s fine. I’m glad we got t-that sorted out.” She said with a goofy buzzed smile. 

“You sure you’re not trying to kill me? Now’s your chance.” He pauses and then said, “We are alone.” In a slightly more suggestive tone. 

“I told you already Sanchez…” Astrid looked away pretending to be annoyed but catched her own eye in the window reflection feeling her face flush. 

They headed back mostly riding in silence enjoying music or commenting on random things they saw while flying. They got closer and closer until they slowed down right in front of her apartment. Rick slowly started to lower the ship but then Astrid, in her oblivious state, popped the ship door open. She hopped out and turned to say goodbye with a smile. Rick awkwardly smiles back embarrassed she didn’t wait so he could  have gotten the door for her. 

“Uh.. night Astrid.. h-have a good evening.” He said not quite knowing what to say. 

“Night Sanchez!” She said with a grin, patted the side of the ship and then turned to head towards her door. 

“Also I-I told you already! D-Don’t call me Sanchez!” he playfully joked in hopes to get her to call him that again. 

“Whatever Sanchez.” She said back jokingly, just like he had hoped. 

Once Rick was sure Astrid had made it inside, he pulled the ship up at rapid speed. He hurdled the ship past the block between her apartment and the Smith house. The radio now playing some random alien channel after Astrid had taken her communicator off the aux when leaving. He allowed himself to smile only for a moment before landing the ship and sprinting out of the door and into the garage. He punched in his secret code to the hatch door in the floor and jumped down into the upper part of his basement lab. He went to his elevator and punched the floor number for his super computer room. Once there he ran to it quickly punching in all kinds of commands and running all types of searches. His mood went from pleasant to maddening as he tried to piece together any information he could find on Astrid. Cursing and mumbling to himself as he kept playing back loops of footage he had gotten of her fighting when they had gone to rob the bank. Over and over the loop of her snatching out the fire alien’s eyes played in one corner. In another was the footage of her kicking the bug cyborg into the bank counter with incredible force. In the last corner he played the footage of her dancing that night from the party they had crashed. He watched all of them intensely while waiting for other searches to come back.  

“Of course she’s not fucking human, I mean look at this shit… but who are you..?” He muttered to himself rubbing his face in frustration. 

He mulled it over for a second and muttered, “are you a shape shifter..? Someone with Elasticity powers…? But then how are you so fucking fast and strong too…?” 

A few hours had gone by at this point and he had almost entirely sobered up by now. In his frustration he had thrown randoms items around the room while still searching for an answer. He had all the data from the hunting adventure they had gone on up on screen. He had all her school file information up, and even random footage and notes of her from previous times she had visited the Smith house. No DNA matches, no other records of her on earth previously to her starting work as a teacher’s assistant. 

“Who the hell are you Ms. Du Pont ?” Rick read her supposed last name from the school’s file. 

He sat back in his chair and pulled out his flask,

“Let’s just go ahead and find out.” He said confidently while activating the tracker he had planted on her arm when taking her to the ship earlier. 

“It’s the size of a flea so I doubt you’ll notice for quite a while.” He grinned watching her location pop up on his computer’s map. 

Rick sat looking at the tracker dot still at her apartment’s location. He took a swig from his flask and spun around in his chair lazily. After a moment of double checking, nothing else in his search had popped up. He sighed and then headed upstairs to his room for once. He turned the lights off and flopped down onto his cot. For the first time in a long while he felt like actually getting some sleep. He rolled over onto his side and opened up his watch’s screen. He sighed again knowing his computer search would take a while since not having that much information o

to go off of. He pulled up an image of Astrid’s teacher photo to look at. Rick let out one last long breath before closing his watch and eyes to sleep. 

Back at Astrid’s apartment she sat on her den floor grading papers while listening to music. Her mood had taken a turn for the better after feeling like she had made progress with Rick that evening. Her communicator buzzed as a few incoming messages popped up. She glanced down still a little tipsy from earlier. Seeing the name Reagan pop up from the notifications, she held her breath in disbelief and scrambled to open up the messages. With her eyes glued to the screen she started to read the various messages, 

“Hey Astrid” 

“Been busy at work…..”

“Sorry for ghosting you” 

“Could you come by this weekend when there isn’t anyone at the office?”

“We could catch up” 

Astrid read the massages from Reagan silently to herself. 

“Holy shit… okay.” She exhaled nervously while grabbing for her own flask she left under her coffee table. 

She sent a reply back and then laid down on the floor. 

“Here we go.” She said looking up at the ceiling now feeling exhausted. 

—- PART EIGHT COMPLETED —- 

—- SHUTTING DOWN —-

—- GOODBYE —-

[rahleeyah]

i had so much fun with tonight’s svu. i know there was a ton of shitty stuff but also muncy stealing from the vending machine like her mom captain taught her 🥺 fin telling olivia “you got to keep a stray puppy so i can too!” peak sibling behavior ❤️❤️

Fin and Liv were on point tbh and some of the dialogue was so funny and snappy (though some of it was a little???) but honestly on the whole svu has been so much fun to watch this season, I've really been enjoying it. I was miffed we went back to the graphic cold opens bc I thought we were past that but the episode itself was really fun.

[despair-to-future-arcs]

I hope she is!

So you told no one about this at all?

No, I...I didn't... I never told anyone about this; not even my own parents or friends.

What about Miyo? That friend of yours...?

Well funny you say that but I did tell her first, Natsumi wouldn't be able to reach her but sadly I didn't...

This happen a few days before I attended Hope's Peak Academy, Miyo...she... she and I aren't friends anymore...

...

...

...

Date: March 26th, 2010

*walks over to her shoe cupboard* Finally, now to get home and-.

Huh...? *Mahiru saw something sharp in her shoes*

*She look inside and saw some razor blade and then some snickering and giggling could be heard*

*takes the shoes as she goes to a garbage can and throws out the razor blades which Natsumi walk over* ...

Aww, look at that - someone decided to hurt you with razor blades, huh? I wonder who that could be...

Yeah, I wonder who Natsumi... don't you have anything better to do?

And besides by the end of the month, I'll start to attend Hope's Peak Academy, meaning I won't have to see you anymore.

...Will see about that, freckle-faced bitch - I'll fucking make sure that you won't ever say what you saw on that day.

So you better tread carefully Mahiru Koizumi, or I'll make sure that your life is in fucking shambles...

Okay yeah yeah, sure thing - good luck with that, anyway I'm gonna go since the razor blades are remove.

*gives them to Natsumi* Anyway, I better be off - had a nice chat, I'm sure your sorry excuse of a behavior will surely get you nowhere; bye.

*Mahiru walks away, leaving the girl speechless...*

...

...

...

*returns home as going to her room* ugh, finally... now I won't have to see Natsumi anymore...

Hmm... I don't think I spoken with Miyo in a while - maybe, I've been so busy with everything going on; I never got to talk with her but maybe I should check...

*goes to her desktop and starts to get on skype* ...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo_Koi: Hey Miyo, you on right now?

Beauty-Standards-by-Yamada: Yeah I am, just got finish with middle school exams and getting read for high school - I'm looking forward to be honest, I got into the school of my dreams and their uniforms are really cute too!

Photo_Koi: Ah, geez... that does seem like you honestly...!

Beauty-Standards-by-Yamada: Yeah, anyway - how have things been with you? Did you get into a high school of your choosing?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Well... that's good to hear, at least Miyo is doing pretty well for herself it seems, I'm happy to hear that...

But seems she's asking about high school, maybe I should tell her I'm attending Hope's Peak...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo_Koi: Well... just a couple of months ago, I got an acceptance letter from Hope's Peak Academy and going to attend as the Ultimate Photographer!

Beauty-Standards-by-Yamada: ...You are?

Photo_Koi: I am, honestly I was surprise to attend, I'll be just like mom so maybe we can meet up and celebrate of our successes?

Beauty-Standards-by-Yamada: ...

Photo_Koi: Miyo...?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Miyo's... going quiet, did I say something wrong...?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Beauty-Standards-by-Yamada: ...Sorry but uh, Mahiru can we... can we not talk anymore or be friends? I... can't be friends with someone that is going to attend Hope's Peak Academy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

What...? Can't be friends anymore...?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo_Koi: Huh? What...? What do you mean, I...I thought were going to be friends!

Beauty-Standards-by-Yamada: Sorry but I can't, if your going to attend Hope's Peak; you'll change for the worse, I...I just can't be your friend, goodbye...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Wh-What the hell?! What happen, Hey Miyo! HEY!!!

She... she block me... what happen...?

*checks other sites* she... block me there too, Miyo... what happen to you?

'I'm not sure what happen, why she blocked me and after that; I was alone and had no friends... no one to talk to, no one...'

[clarktooncrossing]

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW! IT IS I, SANTA CLARK! Chestnuts are roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost is nipping at your nose. Mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again. All the dogs in the neighborhood somehow learned to bark Jingle Bells in sync. Yet retail workers are still more annoyed with Mariah Carey. Snow is getting shoveled, tossed, and formed into sentient beings leading parades without permits. It makes for an excellent distraction as the Krampus abducts children for bad behavior. Fruitcake is exchanged only to find its permanent home in the garbage. Terrorists have hijacked the Holiday office party right before your boss can give you a Jelly of the Month Club membership as your bonus. And of course, the Turducken has returned to wreak its fiery vengeance upon an unsuspecting world! If all this doesn’t put you in the Christmas spirit, perhaps this festive slice of cheer from the Clarktoons will!

Let's make like The Ghost of Christmas Past and rewind back to 2014. Folks were suffering from Frozen Fever, both as a result of the movie and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. That year also saw Jimmy Fallon take over The Tonight Show after Leno stepped away for real this time, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swung low while the Guardians of the Galaxy aimed high, people still cared about Kanye and Kim's relationship as if either people are worth your attention, Bill Cosby was outed as the horrible monster that he is, and most importantly of all, I initiated the 12 Days of Christmas event. Yes, clearly that's as major a moment as those other things I mentioned. Starting December 14th I would post a new pic or comic everyday leading up 'til Christmas. Our first year saw the Pizza Bites writing their oddball letters to Santa (with help from Mr-Herp-Derp), Crocie visualizing his perfect yuletide, and even a full length action comic starring me as a seasonal superhero. And in case anybody asks: no, the Holiday Knight isn't coming back. Sadly, neither will the 12 Days at this rate. Despite my continued best efforts, this festive event hasn't been able to return ever since 2020. Blame that on the last four months of every year becoming an increasingly busy time for. Should the choice arise, I will always pick spending the season with my family over drawing. Weird to hear, I know. Still, that's not to say I haven't been hard at work. You can tell I have considering this giant page of sketches I found lingering in Clarktoon Christmas limbo. Thus we have Dumpster DUDELZ: Regifted Edition! Let's take a peak to what's waiting under the tree?

[1] KARL THE KRAMPUS People credit that crummy 2015 horror movie for introducing Krampus into the popular culture. To that I say; you're all wrong! Clearly I did that a year earlier with my own character, Karl. Being a Clarktoon take on a German folk monster, naturally he became a big, bumbling goofball envisioned to have the voice of Richard Kind. It also meant he encountered Croc's Swamp Gang the most, Xena and Bumper especially. After years of the two (or at least Xena) tormenting the fluffy demon, it was time for a facelift. Honestly this design is a drastic upgrade over the original, making Karl more monstrous while not losing his approachability. Cuz only in the Clarktooniverse will you meet a cuddly monster who drags naughty children of to hell. XD

[2] NUTCRACKER: REB00TED CAST Nutcracker freak'n sucks! I have made my opinions regarding this boring ballet no secret over the years. For crying out loud, I compared going to see it to the Five Stages of Death. Nothing against anybody who does enjoy it, just don't count me among your masses. Getting me to like adaptations lacking Mickey and Minnie is a challenge. Then again, I enjoy a good challenge. While contemplating what I would do with the story one year, an ad for Matrix: Resurrections dropped onto YouTube. After seeing it I thought: what if the world of Nutcracker was set within the Matrix? Hence we have Nutracker: REB00TED! I plan to diverge more plot details later, but for now you can at least meet our cast. Starting from left to right we have Prince Leon, the Nutcracker Prince who's grasp on reality is slipping. Helping to guide him is the Count Drosselmyer, turned into Love-A-Lot Larry Beary. Don't let his cuddly facade fool you, he will whoop yo' @$$! Alongside his niece Clara, the badass ballerina determined to rescue her beloved and free the kingdom from the evil Rat King! What does the king look like? Good things come to those who wait...

[3] ROSIE MEETS THE HOGFATHER Any excuse to draw Rosie Stardust is an awesome one! Even if the sketch is last minute like this one. During the Holiday season last year this random little idea sprung into mind of Rosie exploring Christmas contemporaries across the multiverse. This would include Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Hearth's Warming Eve, Life Day, and of course Hogswatch. Anyone familiar to the works of Terry Pratchett will recognize the name. Just like those esteemed few will also recognize the mini-Claus counterpart the Cosmic Cutie's encountered. It's not the Hogfather she was expecting, but she will gladly take it!

[4] WILBUR'S PLASTIC TREE You'd think a collection of coupons would be the easiest to complete. Just like you'd think the monkeys would stop flying out of my butt at some point. Nope, that ain't happening. Blame it on my nitpicky attention to details, otherwise Wilbur's White Elephants coupons are already a third of the way done. In fact, the sketch here is already fully colored just waiting to be posted. Being the cheap sonuv'a bush he is, Wilbur naturally won't go for a natural Christmas tree, instead opting for plastic. No, the other kind of plastic. The kind that'll guarantee some poor tree manufacturer in Hoboken will get an angry phone call from an irate store manager. And in case you're wondering what he sounds like, my ideal voice actor is Daran Norris doing his Jameson voice from Spectacular Spider-Man!

[5-7] REDESIGNS FOR RANDOLF, CUPID, AND ZED My, here's a jolly trio that haven't been seen in a good while. Probably because I keep wanting to give them better designs! This is an itch I can't ever seem to scratch! Since I've listed all three of them together, let's go over each character:

RANDOLF: The cocky but caring step-brother of a certain red-nosed reindeer, Randolf hosts the famous North Pole 1 radio show alongside his bear buddy Zed whenever not hosting the even more famous Reindeer Games. Out of all the characters, Randolf is the one who's design if the toughest to crack. I want him to look young, but not super young. Think early to mid 30s if you will. It'd probably help if I could pin down a potential voice for him. Sam Rockwell is the top contender in my mind.

CUPID: Following some messy drama between princessofDisney27 of Disney and I, the original version of Cupid was thrown out and reworked from the top down. With an extreme hairstyle I 'borrowed' from MLP and an athlete's need for speed, Cupid lives up to her namesake who first pulled Santa's sleigh years ago. No idea on who would voice her if I could afford it.

ZED: Raised by gay penguins on a diet of Polar Cola and smooth jazz, Zed is a laid back bear with a beach comber's attitude.  So long as wherever he is has a heater and is populated by his buddies, Zed will go with wherever the flow will take him. His design is the easiest, being a polar bear in a Hawaiian shirt. One of these days I wanna draw him with his two penguin papas too, but for now we at least have the bear. Again, not sure who I'd have voice him.

[8] BUMPER'S A STAR! A sad truth about my Christmas tree is that I can never put a star on top of it. Everything we've tried is too top heavy. For the longest time I meant to make one featuring everybody's favorite floating marshmallow, finally following through on this desire this year. I made a shape template in Illustrator, drew the front and back of Bumper around it, colored it all in Illustrator, printed both sides out and glued them together. I would've just printed both sides on one sheet of paper, but printers are evil devices meant to torture mankind as a whole. I hate them! But I love this tree topper! ^^

[9] PANICKED TURKEY It's a shame Panicked Turkey didn't get to come out of hibernation this year. Especially when I had some good ideas for tips involving Canon Events, certain cartoon rodents, time traveling, dragons, and Rosie. Chances are I'll be able to use these ideas again in the future, but for now I just wanted to post something with the cowardly bird. So here's the sketch detailing his redesign from last year. Like Karl, this is another change I really like, PT feeling more expressive than he previously was. Hopefully we'll get to see this design in action again next year!

[10] I'll Have a BOO Christmas Without You ...I'm not even sorry! XD

[11] ALIENS OF THE ROCKAPOCALYPSE! Hey look, more characters you haven't seen in forever! This is Phil, the Clarktooniverse's resident one-eyed rockstar from outer space. Back in the day I used to do mock album covers for Christmas, Phil's girlfriend Yezzi standing in for Mariah Carey on one particularly great one that still holds up. Sadly there's only so many iconic Holiday CD covers you can do that aren't just the same generic 'things coming out of a box' design. Heck, it's why the last one of these I did was based on a Manowar album. That following year would've seen an all-new, totally original creation depicting Phil and Yezzi rocking around a dried out Christmas tree in a Nuclear Winter Wonderland. Sadly the full sketch was never realized, save for Phil's rocker gear here. Worse still, these characters have been retired until I can iron out the finer details of their story. Once I do, expect the ultimate comeback tour from the Aliens of the Rock! Just in time for the yuletide / end of the world!

[12] PANICKED WHO? What turkey? I don't see any turkey. All I see is this friendly induvial with a mustache! One who was just drawn randomly with no other intent behind it. Totally. XD

[13] KREEPY KRAMPUS Once upon a time I was able to complete entire comic storylines before Christmas. That couldn't be said for this one comic where Bumper and Xena both try to buy each other Christmas gifts, each of them going after different notable Christmas creatures to pay for them. Bumper would've gone after the wild Nog while Xena would've picked a more frightful foe: the Krampus! This image of the German monster is what she'd find while searching for information online, my intent to be truer to the original folklore than my usual interpretation. It would've made Karl's inevitable appearance that much funnier. Part of me still wants to see this comic fully realized someday. Until then; let this haunt your nightmares!

[14] ANGELICIA, THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON Remember earlier when I mentioned a comic centered around me as a Holiday hero? The one I will never bring back? Part of that idea involved a literal spirit of the season named Angelicia, an adopted sister of sorts to Finjix's own character Aklamos. Both of us have tweaked and upgraded her overall appearance over the years, this being her last for an intended Sketch BOOM that was scrapped. I really should use this character again, the question is for what?

[15] A TURKEY DINNER TO GO! Like I said, there was once a Holiday Sketch BOOM that was never completed. This Panicked Turkey sketch is one of the few things to survive from it. Ignoring how this design was pre-2022 makeover, I still think this silly little pic is hilarious! Next Thanksgiving I'll make sure to remake this in full color!

[16] THE NOG Along with Karl, the Nog has become a seasonal staple of the Clarktooniverse. For years mankind has wondered where the eggs for Eggnog have come from. Some silly saps think they come out of chickens, but we all know that's a lie! Obviously the eggs come courtesy of the wild, North American Nog! These rambunctious creatures hail in the colder climates, sticking primarily to the North States where they graze on wild berries, tree bark, and rare flowers. Whenever it's not foraging for food it's fending off wild predators, displaying its tusks for potential mates, running for Congress, or raising their young. That is, the young that actually get to hatch. Good luck drinking that next ice-cold cup knowing the Nog is 100% real and you're feasting on what could've been one of its young you sick monster!

[17-18] TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE DOVES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Doves! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Doves! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Doves! Heroes for the Holidays! BIRDY POWER! Back in 2019 I made a silly little parody of the Ninja Turtles based on the beloved Christmas carol "The 12 Days of Christmas". Was it an extremally obvious joke to make? Yes. Does my earlier pun prove I will stoop to such lows? Heck yes! Thus these two goofy characters were born and eventually given the names Currier and Ives by AnimatedTigerGirl. Currier is the one with the bo staff on the left. At home he's a easy-going party animal, but in the field he's a dedicated leader fighting to keep his family safe. Next to him is the nunchuck-wielding Ives, a hot-tempered brainiac with a big heart. Together the two must save their mother, face the 10 Evils of Christmas, and help out their new human friend Ash.

Standing in for their April O'Neal is Ash, one of their few human friends who helps her fine-feathered friends move about New York. Since this story is set during the 90s, she's naturally a skate-boarding tomboy ready to prove to her dad that she's more capable than given credit for. That chance comes suddenly when her father is abducted by the Partridge Crime Family and their ten specifically themed assassins. Now Ash must rescue her dad alongside these two magically enhanced bird-themed ninjas. Y'know, that old chestnut!

[19] SHORT-E AND SHER-I Dang, it's been a while since these two were seen either. I'm sensing a pattern here. At leas these designs have held up the best. Heck, they look especially good in their winter ensemble. SHORT-E wears basic gloves and a jamaica while SHER-I went shopping with EMIL-E to get fancier gloves and a beret! SLAY, QUEEN!

[20] SNOW CONIE MEETS THE NOG Yes, another refuge from the scrapped Sketch BOOM. This one featuring the unofficial mascot of the Sketch BOOMs, the Snow Conies! Or at least one, facing down the angry snout of a mother Nog. I envision these creatures having the temperament of wild hogs, much to the misfortune of this innocent sentient dessert!

[21] SIR PANICKED TURKEY, THE CANADIAN! Along with redesigning this cowardly bird, I also made a special bonus Panicked Turkey tip for Canadian Thanksgiving. It was very last second, going through a few iterations before settling on the final idea. Before then the plan was to either have PT surrounded by angry canucks with guns in a style similar to the John Wick posters or the giant chicken disguising himself as a Mounty, not yet realizing he'll find no peace in the Great White North. Ultimately both were dropped in favor or one menacing Mounty looming over the frightened fowl, which I thought wouldn't work until I saw the final product. Funny how that works, innit? Still, what about the entre in shining armor? That has to do with an idea I mentioned earlier, but I dare not spoil the surprise further than that. Like I mentioned, said idea can be reused for next year. So when Turkey Day rears its ugly head, Sir Turkey turned tail and fled!

[22] UGLY SWEATERS, TROPICAL WEATHER Yet again another idea I hope to bring back, though slightly modified. Originally the plan was to make Ugly Sweater pin-ups for the couples (or friends) of 3K with my friends Finjix and @burningthrucelluloid. This one was the only one sketched before Alec lost his Adobe art programs that would've allowed him to help in this project. Even then, my nitpicky attention to details got the better of me again and too much time was wasted attempting to draw the other pics. All we got out of this failed collaboration were Nerva and her buddy Weed Eater in their Hawaiian-style sweaters, the latter not happy about his situation. He was even depicted eating the sweater and partridge at one point. Who would've guessed the living Christmas tree would be a humbug?

[23-24] CROCZILLA VS TURDUCKEN When I released by Terror of the Turducken posters back in 2020, peeps said they would totally pay to see that movie. Hopefully the same can be said for its sequel, an epic clash between the titular Turducken and the colossal Croczilla! Why are they fighting? Who cares, it's two giant monsters beating the stuffing out'a each other! No doubt the posted to go with this creature feature would've been a legendary one! At least had it not been for my nitpicky attention to details. Plenty of poster designs were drawn up, including this one that was inspired by the then-current Godzillva vs Kong posters. Perhaps I can recycle this idea next year when the sequel comes out and the two fight another giant monkey. Until then, feel free to place your bets on which of these festive Kaijus come out on top!

And if you're rooting for the Turducken, enjoy this redesign of the character where each of its heads feel more distinct. Hey, if nothing else it's cooler to look at than another freak'n ape.

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[qiu-yan]

yeah, it's kind of crazy that people actually argue that jiang cheng is using wei wuxian's intrusion into the ancestral hall as an "excuse" to be nasty to wei wuxian, because jiang cheng literally had the entire book to be nasty to wei wuxian. he could've been nasty to wei wuxian at the second siege of the burial mounds! he could've been nasty to wei wuxian (or even just exposed him) at jinlintai! but jiang cheng is notably less furious with wei wuxian during the second siege than he is during the ancestral hall scene - even at the beginning, when everyone else is yelling about how wei wuxian kidnapped all their kids. it's almost as if, instead of being a one-note nastiness dispensing machine, jiang cheng's behavior and emotional responses instead change based on how others are treating him.....imagine.....

the argument that ancestral halls are just freely open to the public, and that anyone who wants to pay respects can go in as they please, is also ridiculous. i'm chinese, was born and raised chinese by two chinese parents (and my mom loves cdramas, though that's less relevant), and that just is not true. ancestor veneration, respecting traditions, and adhering to proper ceremony, are all incredibly important in traditional chinese culture, so the idea that you can just bypass the very real beef you have with a family's head to go playact your wedding bows with an actual outsider to all of this family head's ancestors, behind this family head's back and without this family head's permission, is ludicrous. you don't get to act like someone is not your family in one moment and then freely help yourself and your outsider bestie to all their ancestors and dead parents in the next. either commit fully to being this person's family, with all the duties and rights it entails, or fully commit to being a stranger.

on an interpersonal level, while i fully side with jiang cheng and think he has every right to be mad....i also don't fully blame wei wuxian? at the very least, i don't hate him for it. from wei wuxian's perspective, jiang fengmian and yu ziyuan were the people who raised him and lotus pier is where he grew up. after wei wuxian left, he did form a new family with the wen remnants for a while, but now he only has wen ning and lan wangji left (he doesn't know about a-yuan yet). wei wuxian helping himself to the ancestral hall, in the context of him constantly avoiding jiang cheng and indicating that he no longer thinks of jiang cheng as family, is peak "have your cake and eat it too" behavior, but him entering the ancestral hall also doesn't read to me as malicious. instead, it just seems like he wants to return home and hasn't yet realized that he can't freely return as he pleases anymore....or that successfully returning home would entail dropping the avoidance and instead holding himself to a level of emotional honesty he's really not ready for yet.

as for lan wangji, honestly i agree that all his common sense goes flying out the window when wei wuxian is involved. during wei wuxian's first life, lan wangji ended up losing wei wuxian because lan wangji wouldn't give up on his common sense (ie. give up on filial piety + his duty to his sect) to stand with wei wuxian, so now he feels guilty about that and overcompensates in the other direction to make up for his past failure. lan wangji probably saw that wei wuxian was sad about how much lotus pier had changed, and so wanted wei wuxian to be happy again.

that said, (obligatory "as a chinese person") i'm still fully on jiang cheng's side. i feel like the people who side against jiang cheng here are making their decision based less on the actual facts of the situation, and more because they already love wangxian and are thus determined to read wangxian as In The Right no matter what.

i used to read a lot of bl and gl manga/manhwa, both good and bad, and one common trend i've noticed in bl communities specifically is something i've termed the "cp-based moral framework." bl fans will become absolutely obsessed with the main ship (ie. the cp) of a bl work, to the point where the cp getting together and living happily ever after becomes a moral ends unto itself. in other words:

everything that helps the cp get together and be happy = Good.

everything that impedes the cp getting together and/or causes them to struggle = Bad.

there are no other rules to this cp-based moral framework, because the above is the cp-based moral framework in its entirety. this is why random side characters will get bashed to hell and back by bl audiences, even if their only sin is having a crush on one half of the cp before the cp even gets together. this is why people who were previously lan xichen fans jumped on him the moment he gave wei wuxian the smallest amount of shit for "playing with lan wangji's feelings," even though from lan xichen's point of view that was an entirely reasonable conclusion to come to.

(curiously, this is less of a problem in gl communities. wonder why.)

these people are not actually assessing the concrete events of the ancestral hall scene. they are not engaging with the cultural context (especially given that their response to other chinese people disagreeing with them is to accuse said chinese people of racefaking??). rather, they make their moral judgment based purely on the fact that they already like wangxian, so anyone who causes wangxian trouble is Bad. jiang cheng upset wei wuxian and lan wangji, so jiang cheng is Bad. QED.

gonna be real here boss when it comes to the ancestral hall scene i am 100% on jiang cheng's side

[learnyouabiology]

Fun Fact Friday: There are Species of Lesbian Lizards!

This is a New Mexico Whiptail Lizard (Aspidoscelis neomexicanus), and I am 100% sure that this lizard is a female! How can I know? 

Well, because every New Mexico Whiptail Lizard is a female!

There are about 45 species of whiptail lizards (which used to be one genus but then were sorted mostly into the genera Aspidoscelis and Cnemidophorus), at least 15 of which are “unisexual” species, i.e. all-female species. 

(some species are fun colours!)

These lizards reproduce exclusively via parthenogenesis, which basically means they clone themselves every time they reproduce, laying eggs that contain genetically-identical offspring. Now, normally I would call such a species asexual lizards, to get some of that good ace rep, but here’s the thing:

These all-female lizards still mate with each other.

(gal pals! 😉)

Every breeding season, these lizards go through same-sex mating behaviours, including lengthy courtship rituals, which culminates in one female lizard mounting the other. 

This process can last more than 10 minutes.

(I love this paper)

Without same-sex mating, a female might lay one or two eggs in a breeding season. Maybe. With same-sex mating, a female can lay up to 9 eggs in a season! That’s 2-3 clutches with 2-3 eggs in each, and a HUGE increase in reproductive success!

A BBC clip about these lizards from 2010 claims that the “male-like” behaviour of the females is caused by an increase of “the male hormone testosterone”, but that’s actually not true. At all. 

The BBC lied to me about Lesbian Lizards!!!

In reality, testosterone levels stay uniformly low throughout the breeding season, while the cycling of estrogen and progesterone are what triggers the different mating behaviours. Neither of these hormones are generally referred to as “male” hormones. 

(git gud, BBC. Honestly, this 2 minute clip has a bunch of mistakes, mostly to increase the Drama, but whatever, I guess). 

(one of my favourite graphs in anything, tbh)

Before the ovulation, the lizard’s levels of estrogen increases, leading to “female-like” mating behaviour. After mating, but before the eggs are laid, estrogen drops off a clip while progesterone peaks, and the female goes off to mate with other females, this time in the “male-like” role.

(This one is A. exsanguis, which is fun because it’s name means “lacking blood” although I am 99.999999% sure that they do have blood)

Once the eggs are laid, the female has a period of inactivity, probably because laying eggs is a lot of work and she doesn’t have the TIME or ENERGY to deal with the ups and downs of courtship. 

(Seriously, though, it probably is a way to recover after the metabolically-taxing work of reproduction. Let the new mom REST).

This has been Fun Fact Friday, telling you the story of the Lesbian Lizards because I love lesbian lizards so much you guys you don’t even know.

Also, my city celebrates Pride in August, so Happy Pride to All! (But especially to Lesbian Lizards, my beloved)

Oh, look. More Sources:

Crews, D., & Fitzgerald, K. T. (1980). “Sexual” behavior in parthenogenetic lizards (Cnemidophorus). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 77(1), 499-502. https://www.jstor.org/stable/8233

 Crews, D., & Young, L. J. (1991). Pseudocopulation in nature in a unisexual whiptail lizard. Animal behaviour, 42(3), 512-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80056-9

Cole, C. J. (1984). Unisexual lizards. Scientific American, 250(1), 94-101. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24969281

Crews, D., Grassman, M., & Lindzey, J. (1986). Behavioral facilitation of reproduction in sexual and unisexual whiptail lizards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 83(24), 9547-9550. https://www.jstor.org/stable/28660

Crews, D. (1987). Courtship in unisexual lizards. Scientific American, 257(6), 116-121. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24979584

[lollytea]

Sorry if this is hard to understand, english is not my first language

Ever since that first ask about the future hexquad Ive been thinking about what would Amity like to do in the future, and you know what Ive settled on?

I kinda feel like her passion would be being the best housewife she can be, like, it feels weird to say because girl is so strong and smart she can do anything, but what if what she wants is making sure her family is well fed and looked after?

Girl is so nurturing towards Luz and protective of Willow, she bakes Luz a pie as a welcome back gift, she reads books to kids in her free time, she is in her element when she can actively help someone (words of confort were not enough she got up and got a plan to get flowers for luz's dad in Reaching out) so if she gets a family you bet thats her top priority and joy

Like yes, i can see her working alonside Alador with inventions, and also a pro brawl fighter, and a book shop owner (all of them at the same time even) but if you ask her she goes all Izumi Curtis "im a housewife!"

And as a bonus, it also would be a very F you to Odalia who didnt value her family happiness at all to have her star daughter biggest ambition be precisely to have a happy family

Anyway thats all, cheers

The SECOND I read that this was an Amity ask and I saw the word "housewife" my immediate thought was an Izumi Curtis type. Like YEAH that's exactly it. She's one of the most powerful witches on the Isles but she is far likelier to describe herself as simply Luz's wife. It's a drastic leap from how she used to feel the need to establish herself as a talented witch, and top student, out of insecurity. But now she's matured significantly and made her journey with self esteem and self acceptance so she no longer needs to. Amity defines herself by those she loves and who love her in return.

This makes a lot of sense and I really love this take. Obviously young girls should be encouraged to be ambitious towards their future careers but there's also such a stigma around them choosing to be homemakers and mothers, especially if the girls in question are overachievers who have so many options laid out for them. Like this inherent belief that being a housewife is simply for girls who are unable to be anything else.

It's such a nice idea for a girl like Amity, who's been preened since birth for the most successful and esteemed future. She's always had such high expectations placed on her shoulders to climb the ladder and be the best of the best. So honestly, her choosing a life for herself that has nothing to do with financial success or monetizing the magical expertise that Odalia pressured her into developing is empowering as fuck. She just does what makes her happy.

Because yeah, this poor girl was starved of familial love all her life. It would totally be within her right to devote herself to building a warm, loving and stable home that she can call her own. With her wife and maybe kids too, if she chooses to have them. I feel like I can see her having them. Amity adores kids after all.

All the above examples mentioned of how Amity would be in her element with this role, but also. The beginning of Eclipse Lake where she's bustling around the Owl House with a clipboard, giving orders and making sure everyone is carrying out their tasks. Peak mom behavior. She's so organised and on top of things that I can imagine if she had kids, she'd be the fucking best at juggling their school schedules, clubs, extracurriculars, and distributing their chores equally and like. She'd run a really tight ship. Which would help a lot, since I figure Luz might struggle a bit as an adult with ADHD when it comes to keeping structure in her life and family. But this is where Amity excels! She even enjoys it! So it works out pretty well.

I do think about how Amity was raised in a mansion and probably never had to cook or clean before in her life, with the abomination servants doing everything. (I always wondered if the fairy pie is how they're SUPPOSED to look, what with the Boiling Isles being weird and all, or if its just like that because Amity can't bake.) But it's alright. She's only fourteen. She has plenty of time to learn. Luz, at the very least, has had a normal home life so Amity can definitely pick up homemaker skills from her.

And also absolutely. Really loving this idea of Amity's future revolving around caring for her loved ones but also being free to fully exercise her hobbies and passions without feeling guilty about it. She can draw and write and study abomination magic and help Alador out with his inventions when he's stumped and participate in the Bonesborough Brawl and basically just do whatever sparks joy for her.

I was initially so warped by the real world economy that I was thinking "Can she really support herself by being a homemaker?" But like?? You know what?? Amity and the other kids (who were 12-16 at the time) went to singlehandedly confront Belos while the rest of the Isle was perishing. If there's any justice in this new Boiling Isles they're gonna rebuild, then Amity will be receiving weekly financial compensation to guarantee that she will always live comfortably.

[booklove22]

Season 4 Musings...

While waiting for renewal news, I had created a wish-list of sorts for things I'd like to see come Season 4. I thought about posting it a few times but was scared I'd jinx the renewal.

Now that we know Season 4 is coming (hooray!!), I've finally had time to sit down and write out some of my thoughts - some that are very obvious wants (and probably will-gets) and others that are kind of random and I'm not even sure I want them so much as they crossed my mind at some point and I thought "ohhh, that would be interesting to watch"...

The things we'll definitely or probably get:

Ace figuring things out.

Nancy discovering that Ace is trying to figure things out and being scared/horrified that all her efforts might be undone (as an aside to this, I could unfortunately see Nancy trying to openly date someone else to throw him off the scent, which...ugh...but honestly it would be in character for her to do whatever it takes)

The curse being activated, which I already wrote about here

Things I just want to see but that might not necessarily happen:

Someone else having a crush on Ace. Maybe someone morgue-adjacent. Ace would have no interest, but Nancy would still be jealous.

Nancy openly proud of Ace during morgue scenes

The entire Drew Crew, but mainly Nancy and Ace, all dressed up for some event and having one of those silent "god he/she looks amazing" longing moments with their eyes.

A DANCE. THEY DESERVE A DANCE.

A "stuck somewhere together/in trouble together alone" episode to really ratchet up the tension to peak levels. Bonus points if they are tied or cuffed together. Jesus.

Someone on Twitter mentioned this so I can't take credit but... Ace going "absolutely feral" on someone who tries to hurt Nancy. Honestly, now that the image is in my head, I can't shake it.

A non-supernatural mystery episode. Like, I really want a straightforward serial killer episode. The X-files would throw one of these in every once in a while and it was honestly so refreshing to remember that sometimes psychopathic human behavior is scarier than any paranormal thing ever could be. Bonus points if this is the guy Ace goes feral on.

I already mentioned Ace stitching Nancy up in another post. Still need it.

This one is probably controversial, but....I want Ace's mom to die. WTF, I KNOW. Just hear me out. They've already alluded to her heart problem. Which, honestly, just feels like a weird thing to surface if its not going to pay off somehow. But think about how Nancy is really the only other person in Ace's life who could understand the pain of losing a mother so young and to something out of your control. It would be a very friendship based rebonding moment for them, particularly if the curse is still in place.

A "fun" episode - I'm angling for the flashback to high school and the high school versions of Nancy, Ace and George (Nick and Bess would have to be the B storyline since they didn't go there).

Thats it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more later!

[a-student-out-of-time]

Hey Mahiru and Chiaki, we uh... we found out that these artist ruin your parents career and honestly; you both have every single damn right to be mad and furious so Chiaki - I don't blame you for wanting to punch a dumpster and Mahiru... I'm sorry about your dad, seems Hope's Peak really did treat him as an afterthought...

We heard. We read the whole thing.

I...I still can’t believe this.

Why’d they have to get our parents involved?! My Dad, Chiaki-chan’s mom...

They stole this from my mom...they made her feel worthless for so long, and it turns out the school did accept her.

My Dad too...I always wrote him off as just lazy or depressed. And it turns out...they screwed around with him too?

You both have every right to feel angry. This is a serious case of bribery and rigging the student acceptance program, all balanced in favor of the Steering Committee.

Their goal was always money.

Correction: the money was a step toward their actual goal, the Kamukura Project.

Not to sound cold or anything, but you all shouldn’t be surprised. After everything that happened with me and Deguchi, I can confirm this is exactly how they operate.

All this really is is their behavior laid out in writing. I never got access to this kind of thing, but I imagine mine is similar.

No wonder you’re so calm about this.

Oh, I’m mad, don’t get me wrong. It’s just more and more of the same thing.

Yeah...I thought what they did to Hajime was bad, but...they did this to my Mom too...