#please vote my comic if you can! I do really appreciate it!

[budkalon]

"What’s inside a cross? Inside a cross lies legend."

Millions have tried reaching the galaxy’s core, charting their own constellations within its labyrinthine arms. None have succeeded. But Pathos, Sisil, and Gaston won’t quit, stealing constellations from other pirates to claim the legend inside a cross

Read the full comic here: https://en.mangadraft.com/manga/a-cross

This is my comic entry for Mangadraft's Global comic awards

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

My blog is generally pretty lighthearted and I stick to reblogging art and fic and fun stuff, but you know what. I feel like I need to say this.

I am a trans teen in the US. I'm seventeen, so too young to have voted. I'm terrified for my life right now. I usually post about college but I'm actually concurrently enrolled in high school still and the kid who sits behind me in first period government is a massive Trump fanboy. I'm going to have to go to high school Monday and talk about the election. I'm going to have to hear my deadname called and hear people in my super conservative high school talk about how happy they are Trump won. Everything is terrifying. I walk outside of my house and I'm scared I'll be shot. Several months ago I promised that I'd kill myself if that bastard won.

He did and I'm still here.

I'm not thriving. I'm not living my best life. I'm barely living. But I'm surviving. I'm coping. I'm trying my goddamned best. It's hard. I want so bad to just go and take as much medication as I can and slit my wrist for good measure and pass away in my sleep. But I'm still here. And I will be here.

I am in so much pain. But I'm living on spite and determination and everything I can scrape together. I know I need support and those around me need support. So consider this a support masterpost.

Support:

First thing you should see if you're a trans person in the US.

Here's a link to the Trevor Project and here's a link to their suicide hotline page. They've already saved my life once before. Please note - they recommend calling if you need immediate support. Donate if you can, please.

This post is both a suicide hotline masterlist and a post mentioning how something feels deeply wrong here with this election.

On the topic of something being wrong, sign this petition. I'm only seventeen but I did this and it might not feel like much but if we couldn't shoot that bastard (I am not pro-gun but I am when it comes to him) then we'll do the next best thing. Here's the link to the petition itself. Make sure to check the post every once in a while - the original petition got taken down and this is important.

I follow a lot of gimmick blogs, so I got to see this post encouraging us to be loud. Because we should be. Because if we die they've won and my mom didn't smoke weed on the steps of the state capital of Colorado to legalize it just so her son could roll over and die.

Here is the Tumblr Hot Beverage Masterpost, as I've taken to calling it. My personal favorites are the London Fog in the replies, earl grey with milk, honey, and vanilla (in the tags), and some additions from me are hot chocolate with peppermint melted into it, earl grey with lavender, caramel apple tea, and really anything else you can think of. Trust me. This post works better than you think.

Read this post if you haven't seen it already. It's half poem, half Tumblr being Tumblr, all wonderful to read.

Things I just like to see:

PM Seymour and Bettina Levy both have shown their support for everyone struggling right now. It might not be much, but I still really appreciate it and seeing support can really help.

The cat with the kind and reassuring face. No other context.

Four panel comic of hope. Because you're more than enough.

Can't find the post where I found this but this is a link to a virtual toy where you can make your own galaxy.

Please. Eat something. Drink a hot beverage. Draw, write, read, knit, sew, sculpt, bake, do something that helps. Reach out to friends, even if they're online friends. Talk to someone you trust. Make vent art. Write vent fics. It doesn't matter what you do as long as it helps.

Do not roll over and die. Live. Live on spite. Live on determination. Live on shitposts and live on heartfelt stories like this one. If you have anything to add to this post please do. Add more resources. Add more love to this post. I know I'm just a guy on the internet saying shit, but I still care about everyone who sees this post.

[writing-for-life]

March Mania: Sandman Edition

The lovely @tickldpnk8 and I are art aficionados and Sandman meta writers. And one fine Friday, she just slid into my inbox and went, “What if…”

And if you have Sandman brain-rot, a “What if” quickly turns into a “Let’s do it!”

After much plotting, planning and sourcing material, we proudly present “March Mania: Sandman Edition”—a bracket tournament/poll/event over roughly four weeks that involves all original Sandman artists until only three are standing in a final show-down.

Well, all artists is a lie. We had criteria for qualification, and they are as follows:

Only artists involved in Gaiman’s original run of The Sandman qualify. That also includes Overture, Endless Nights and Dream Hunters.

Only the main artist of an issue qualifies. This is usually the penciller or the “artist” (where no inking and/or colouring by a second or third person is involved). Inkers and colourists unfortunately do not qualify on this occasion (unless they were the main artist in another issue).

This year, we will make it all about, “Who drew your favourite Dream?” And as such, his face needed to be visible in at least one panel to qualify the artist. Both Morpheus and Daniel qualify—they’re both Dream after all.

Even after applying all criteria, we were left with an impressive count of 24 artists. And from tomorrow (March 25), they will go head-to-head in round one:

We will post one poll each day, and you can vote for your favourite artist for 24 hours. So please share the polls so as many people as possible can vote. You will find them via the tag #sandman march mania.

And if that’s all you want to/can do, we’re super happy, because we wanted to create an event that is low effort to participate in while still being fun and hopefully bringing those artists back into your memory that you might have forgotten about (that’s why it’s not really a competition, because all of these artists are amazing in their own way). Let’s all remember:

The Sandman would not exist without its amazing artists. They deserve every bit of praise.

But it doesn’t need to stop there. In the true spirit of any fandom-event, no matter how small, of course we’d love you to participate beyond just voting for your favourite.

Each poll will contain a quick reminder of the issues the artist has illustrated so you can refresh your memory.

Maybe you’d like to share your favourite panels in the reblogs, or write what you love about your favourite artist?

Maybe you are aware of other work they have done (comics, book illustrations, commissions) you’d like to share?

Help us turn the reblogs into a colourful appreciation of your favourite artist, in whatever way you see fit.

And if you have any questions, hit up @writing-for-life and @tickldpnk8 as the event organisers. We so look forward to sharing our love for these artists and hope you join in.

Spread the message far and wide, and we’ll see you all tomorrow for the first poll (we’ll post 6pm/London each day with a few time zone reblogs thrown in)!

[tangledinink]

Hello. I just wanted to say, even if you don’t get enough likes or reposts on any of your comics, you should still be posting them for those people who enjoy them and DO want to read them whenever they can.

Hey bro, I understand what you're saying, and I think maybe your point is supposed to be, like, that I shouldn't worry about notes and stuff? But this is one of quite a few anons/messages of this ilk I've received lately, so here's the thing.

I've literally posted about seventeen different comics on tumblr for you guys over the past three weeks. In addition to multiple illustrated pieces, three fic updates, and two oneshots (that's over 36k words my guy!) in that same timeframe. Quite frankly, that's a lot of content.

I'm really, really glad you guys are enjoying the things I'm making! But please let me publish things at my own pace. When I say that I usually wait for the previous part of a comic to hit a certain number of notes before I publish the next, I mean, like I previously stated, that I'm using it as a way to time things/space things out and give each part a chance to breathe and do the rounds before adding more-- not that me continuing the project is dependant on the amount of attention I receive. But even if it was... it's my right to operate that way if I want to!

And. Like. Yeah, okay, I guess I'll go ahead and delete that other ask about the SepAU thing? 'Cause it's really just resulted in me being informed by people, anonymous or otherwise, that I'm totally screwed, they'll be voting against me, etc etc. and I'm? Not having that fun of a time?,,, Actually?,,, I'm already aware that I will likely lose and that's okay, it's just a game. I'm not going to stop making content because of it, so please don't worry about that. But all these anons and such are really not,,, helping. Nor encouraging me to publish anything else.

So I'd really, really appreciate you guys' patience. I'm not gonna answer any more asks like this. Thank you.

[wonkyelk]

20 questions game

thanks very much for tagging me @massharp1971!

How many works do you have on AO3?

323

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,223,777. Which might be slipping into writing addiction territory.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stargate Atlantis, primarily, with a couple for The Magnus Archives, because I recently fell for it headlong.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Merging Stars

A Marriage of Least Resistance

Falling Upright

Breaking Bonds

Coming to an Understanding

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, always. I love comments, they show that people are engaging with the work and I understand and appreciate the effort that it takes to make them. They deserve a thank you. Also, sometimes comments have sparked off an interesting train of ideas, which I love.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably The nightingale with fethers new depending on which angle you look at it. Or A Short Space of Fair Weather, which is pretty sad.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Pretty impossible to tell as most of my fics end happily. But There and Back Again has positive outcomes, not just for the protagonists, but for two whole galaxies, so I’m voting that one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Fortunately not, so far at least.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Occasionally. It tends to be awkward and laced with humour.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have one sort of crossover comic, which is SGA meets Lord of the Rings: Of Rings and Ill-Advised Succumbing to Curiosity

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

It seems unlikely

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but would be very happy for anyone to do so.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes, wrote a couple with @trainofcommand from just having a little fun back and forth on Discord.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

McShep.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My WIPs tend to be either an aimless few sentences or paragraphs which trail off and lose my interest, or they get finished. I rarely have a plot in mind beforehand, so I don’t really have anything that’s itching to come out.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Humour, I think. I enjoy writing dialogue and having fun with language.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Too many to mention, but I’ll go with plotting. Unless it’s a very short and complete idea, I can’t plot until I’ve written half of something and kind of have to work out a possible direction and wriggle the words around to fit. Often this takes a few goes and lots of reversing and trying a different fork.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If it works for the fic and you have reasonable confidence in the accuracy, go for it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

SGA. My Rodney McKay addiction tipped me over the edge from reader to writer and that just kept going. And going.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This one is impossible and very much depends on mood, so I’m going to cheat and list three that come to mind:

A Ragdoll, Badly Stitched: death and grief is a recurring theme in my stuff and this is one of the first which helped me successfully articulate some things about it

How Death Came for Rodney McKay (and why it won’t be doing that again): Death again, but very much in humour mode. I’m pleased with the framing structure.

The Bakery in the Woods I love Fairy tale style stories, both just in themselves and how you can use them in relation to real world issues. This one came together in a way I’m happy with.

no pressure tagging: @trainofcommand, @sga-owns-my-soul, @dedkake,@hero-in-waiting, @sparrowsarus, @spurious and anyone else who wants to do this, please do. It was a lot of fun!

[sstvar]

!Art Requests/Art Trades Are CLOSED!

!!NOTE: i close requests when i hit 10 just to prevent ‘em from piling up too much. what my ask box says will indicate when requests are closed and open!!

edit: hit just over 10 so i’m gonna get those (or at least half of those) done before i open requests up again :)

everyone voted for yes on the poll :)

anyone can send a request! it can be anything from your oc to ship art to your favourite character from a franchise….the list goes on :)

i would rather do art trades with people i’m familiar with already but i’m always open to making new friends here ;) if you’re curious/interested just send me a dm

now i’m open to a lot of things, but there are a few boundaries:

WILL DO!

original characters

canon ships

canon/oc or self insert ships (as long as they’re legal)

canon characters

furry

techno stuff

monsters (includes Monster x Human stuff-)

slightly suggestive stuff

NO.

explicit NSFW

heavy gore (blood/injuries are ok)

hate art

comics/full storyboards (just don’t have the time sorryyy)

any request depicting discrimination of any kind

not related to the art itself but please don’t try and pressure me into getting your request done, i will get to it

when you send me a request, please try to be as specific as possible! feel free to send me references of the character you want drawn and a pose if you’d like! you can either send me a request in an ask or dm it to me privately if that makes you more comfortable :)

!!REBLOGS ON THIS POST AND YOUR REQUEST (and any of my art really) ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED AND ENCOURAGED!!

with that have fun and enjoy! i look forward to seeing what you guys have for me >:)

[arintheman]

Y’ALL VOTED SO HERE YOU GO. For the sake of time I’ll probably not fully color the pages as much as I would like to. Here is the first two pages of what I’m calling Skyfall. My plan is to have a page done every other week, every week if I’m lucky.

Next part (Coming soon!)

A bit of a ramble (and what this comic is about)

I really have no idea what I’m doing when making a comic, so some advice is appreciated. I don’t like how I’m currently doing things, but I want to be able to do all of it in Clip Studio, which I am still finding out how to do things in. So be patient with me as I learn! I’m sure the more I work on this the better it will get.

Also about this comic! It is following Nikolas mostly as he carries out a year-long assignment. I want to avoid as much spoilers as possible, but the turtles will come soon! This is about 10-ish years in the future, but there is no Shredder or Krang (as we know of rn.) There will be a lot of lore of Nikolas, but also some turtle shenanigans! I will avoid any kind of shipping, but there will be bonus content of course with that! I am dancing around a few things, but please send questions and I’ll try to answer as best as I can!

[vohtaro]

3, 8, 19, 21 for the ask game :-]

weirdly specific artist ask game !

(answers got long oops)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

in general, i don't know that i really use ideas from when i was little. but i do have one example that comes to mind: i remember when i was innnnnnn 3rd grade? i drew a tiger for some assignment. it was a tiger drinking from a lake, and i remember being so proud of myself for how i had drawn it. i mean, really, i'd basically stared at a reference and copied it. it wasn't divine ingenuity or anything KDJGHSK. but, it really made me love tigers. for some reason, drawing that tiger made me so appreciative of the animal and i became rather obsessed w them for a while. i genuinely wish i still had that drawing somewhere. i'd love to just how wonk that tiger i drew really was LMAO

the reason i bring that up is that this past year was the year of the tiger, and to celebrate tigers, i drew this . the idea was very fun for me and reminded me of a long-ago dream of mine which was to become some kind of animal caretaker.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

-glances nervously at my wip graveyard-

there are a couple stand-out ones in my head. there's a comic idea i've had since february (oh almost a year ago 🚶‍♂️) about the specific moments in which madara changed from the moment of izuna's death to the point he decides to investigate the tablet. it's born from the "you've changed" dialogue from VotE bc madara says it towards hashirama but i was thinking about how madara had changed too and particular/episodic moments that caused a shift in him. the idea exploded from maybe 3-4 pages to like 17 and i have never made a long-form comic before, so i got overwhelmed the more time went by. there are so many pieces i like but my utter inexperience has essentially killed the project for now. i'd like to come back to it one day, but it may be a long time from now. to say i've lost interest in it isn't quite true, but i haven't been pursuing it because i often open what i have and get frustrated and stop LMAO

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

c-can i say none KDSJHGJKS

i think it's obv that i'm very comfortable drawing figures… perhaps a little too comfortable. this is a feeling i've honestly been wrestling with the past few weeks. i do genuinely wish i liked drawing nature especially. i feel like i could really enjoy that, but i haven't given myself the opportunity to explore that, and every time i think about doing it, my discomfort becomes painfully clear to me to the point i scrub any evidence of it from things i do finish.

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

yoshitaka amano is an artist i really enjoy. i found him through a friend on twt and have enjoyed exploring what to me is such a vastly different approach artistic expression. his devaloka series is particularly fascinating to me and has inspired some personal work.

example from devaloka series (more can be found here)

yayoi kusama is a traditional artist who really just has an insanely diverse portfolio. there is a great documentary called "yayoi kusama: infinity" which not only explores her life but also the concept of infinity through her artistic vision. (the documentary has some heavy subject matter, so please be advised)

i am personally fond of her infinity nets (image from this article)

[reynaruina]

For those wondering where I have been....

Videogames are one hell of a drug, kids.

Fr tho, I know the uploads here have slowed down considerably. I apologize for that, and I wanted to let you know there is a reason behind it. No, the reason is not that I am stopping to draw, or even stopping the IZ art.

Truth is, for the past couple of months I've been branching out a bit with my art, doing a lot of stuff that I feel like wouldn't be of particular interest to my current Tumblr/Twitter audience (is videogame fanart of non-humans, basically) and I'm not looking to pivot away from IZ art just yet so I rather leave this blog barren of art for most of the month rather than posting the new/different stuff and attracting a whole new audience. I am still posting it all on my Patreon and Discord tho, and also recently started posting it online on a new(ish) account. You can check it here if you think you'd still be interested, but these pics are not coming over to my main T/T accounts. Here is a preview of what's in there, just this once.

About my IZ stuff, it will still be coming, altho I do have to divide my attention between commissions/patreon like the usual (and a good bunch of the new commissions I'm getting recently are of the new type that I can't post here) so it takes a backseat most of the time, but I do make sure to leave those as a Patreon option to vote on every month so we can at least have one IZ thing assured to be coming.

The PT AU is still not something I'm willing to drop, but it is very much still stuck for me. I would need a lot more free time (and willpower not to fill that free time with fekin videogames again) that I currently have to properly sit down and work on the problem, so I'd have to plan on doing it in a month where I'm not constantly panicking about if I made enough money to get thru the next month or not - which is what happens most months. If you're all still okay with getting non-canon offshoots of pics and comics from the AU please let me know and I'd be more than happy to provide, but my brain just screams at me that nothing but Official Story Continuation will be worth it for any of y'all so I've been kinda feeling bad about drawing any of it at all, tbh.

Other than that I'm p much always on Discord, I frequent the Patreon one and the side one daily and the Weekly Streams on Picarto are always still a thing (Friday and Saturday at 9 pm Central, always at that time even if I often forget to announce them here), plus the other events like the extra Patreon stream and the movie nights/series nights on the fan site. My Twitter is also still there, and I wanna try uploading more stuff to Insta once I figure out how to get the darn desktop uploader to work as it should.

Some projects coming down the pipeline:

-Irken Picrew Maker, with an absolute ton of options for customization! (well along the way done, just on hold for now while I figure out how in the hell Picrew works)

-More CZ content!

-Finish uploading all the PT AU parts to AO3

-Side IZ comics/pics

-Some new sticker designs for my Redbubble page!

-More open request streams!

-And of course, new PT writing (be patient w me pls :c)

Thank you so much for sticking around this long, if you have, and for bearing with my impossible to predict upload schedule. I really, trully appreciate you all <3

[rachelillustrates]

Comic review time!

Some thoughts on the Harlivy section of “Love is a Battlefield.”

(Featuring crappy cell phone photos taken as I was reading it on a computer that is not my own, so proper screencaps were not an option.)

🍃💞 Spoilers follow. 💞🍃

Okay, so even though I had read some reviews that accurately called out the toeing-the-line style queerphobia that we so often get with these two Wives, I still went and bought this. I can’t help but hope that voting with our dollars for all Harlivy content that acknowledges them as together, even if they don’t explicitly show it, will lead to more content about them that is open about their love (”Kisses, please.”) ❤

On that note - I haven’t read the rest of the book yet, having jumped right to the section on my girls. But I have been informed that the hetero-presenting couples do get explicit smooches, and that is extremely irritating, in the face of what we got here. We do get a forehead kiss, some decent hand-holding and a very interesting ending (more on that below), but it’s all written in a way that the homophobes/queerphobes could write them off as Gal Pals, again, if they really want to.

To be fair, though, if I clearly spent my whole  adult life with someone in a more-than-friends kind of way, after “accidentally” getting into bed with them after they “accidentally” propositioned me as a joke, and then ended my elderly years with them the way this ended....... that’s gay, folks. Hands down. 

That said, I did actually enjoy this story. It reads romantic to me from an asexual/demisexual perspective, which feels very Ivy to me, so that was kind of nice in and of itself (which doesn’t make the lack of obvious, undeniably physical-romantic evidence fair, per se, but we do live in a world that hypersexualizes everything, and this reads a bit like a Regency/Victorian romance in a sense, to me - with the tamer-than-usual standards of physical affection in public and the undeniable loyalty to each other, regardless. So yeah,  I couldn’t help but like the vibe). 

Here’s some specific moments I have some thoughts on, for the good:

So this one, and this dialogue, just struck me on a personal level because of how my Wife and I are together. She’s not very fond of people either, and my emotional breakdowns are a lot to handle, so I could see us here, and I appreciate that a lot. As always, the fact that Harley is ivy’s exception in her hatred of humanity never ever ever reads as anything other than romantic to me. There is an inherent queerness in that and I am Here For It. 

Again. “Accidentally” misunderstanding. “Accidentally” propositioning. You lived to touch *Ivy* again, Harls. That is specific language. Not to mention the fact that Harley touched Ivy enough to get a rash everywhere means that Ivy didn’t just shove her out of bed. Ahem. 

And as always, the fact that Ivy made a point to immunize Harley against her toxins is also inherently queer, even without the language choices noted above. If she didn’t intend to follow through with physical romantic affection, she wouldn’t have needed to do that, in that moment or in the future - she could have just warned Harley off and been more careful around her, herself. So obviously, if you put any thought into this fact at all, it’s clear what the intention was. 

(The problem is that many people don’t put any thought into it, so unfortunately we need more blatant evidence of their romance, over and over again, to shut the homophobes and denialists down. Which is SO FRUSTRATING, since no one ever questions if Bruce is with Selina, or if Clark is with Lois, whether they ship it or not - they admit that its there, regardless.)

Including this brief moment because even though it’s subtle, Ivy reaching for Harley in a situation where they’re both in danger is a nice touch. 

And same thing, here. They’ve obviously been through a lot in the situation they’re referencing, and Harley’s instinct as her Pam-a-Lamb makes an uneasy alliance is to hold on to her. Solidarity, support. Protective, too, with the guarded look on Harley’s face. I like it. 

Aaaaaaand now we get to the bittersweet ending - I’m including this shot because, even though deathbed-side hand holding can be done platonically too, it’s obviously not platonic here if you weigh it against what we’ve already seen. This is the love of Ivy’s life, dying in front of her, and it’s intense. You can see in in everything - her posture, her expression, the fact that she’s folded Harley’s hand into both of hers. 

But then:

Instead of getting very emotional about it, Ivy has already (and of COURSE she did!) come up with a solution. I’ve seen this referenced as them choosing to die together - but that’s not how it reads to me, at all. I see this as them choosing to live again, taking the chance at a brand new start.

Ivy doesn’t want to die here, but she doesn’t want to live, as she is, without Harley in her life. If they hadn’t done this? Ivy would have passed away too, eventually - the fact that she’s aged right alongside Harls is evidence of that. And then they’d be at the mercy of whatever afterlife may or may not be there - maybe not even reunited in death, if there’s an afterlife at all. 

So of course she leans on science, she leans on the Green, to give them both another chance.

They’re choosing life. And they’re choosing it in the face of the uncertainty of memory loss - what if they don’t feel the same, in their new forms?

But then Harley says this:

How can I not love that?  💞🍃🌱

(Also, fanart will be coming of their new forms - since we didn’t get that, what the hell DC - if/when I’m able to get to it. I’m very busy, but the idea of this new life for them is captivating.)

(In the meantime, more of my existing Harlivy work is available here, among other meta and inspiration posts.)

(And my original comic work is available here.)

Thanks for reading!

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #29 - The One Where Everyone Gets Super Shiny

Our issue opens up with Swerve laying down the Story So Far in the Exposition Dimension.

Fantastic, you funky little man.

If Swerve looks like he’s been tossed through the car wash a few dozen times, it’s because this is where our new colorist comes in! Everyone, please say hello to Joana Lafuente- known for her love of gradients and attention to light sources, this actually isn’t the first time we’ve run into her. Lafuente worked on colors for several issues of The Transformers (2009), Last Stand of the Wreckers #3, and a few issues of MTMTE Season 1. However, she was matching the styles of her co-colorists on a majority of these, so we haven’t seen her style properly until now.

Getting into the story proper, Cyclonus is busying himself with staring out the window at a PNG of space, as he is wont to do, when he hears the tell-tale sound of tires squealing down the hall towards his room. Oh, goodness, whoever could that be?

Nearly forgot about him, didn’t you? Yeah, it’s a little difficult to follow up on things like a character’s recovery from a horrific disease when you’ve got comic event contract obligations to deal with.

After getting tackled by Tailgate, who reminds us all about the time he stuck his dirty little fingers into a dude’s brain meat, Cyclonus takes the little nerd on a walk through the ship.

You’re not going to convince me to reread “Dark Cybertron”. I don’t care how much of a marshmallow you are, it’s not happening.

They’re passed by Megatron and a bunch of crew members carrying that coffin we saw at the end of last issue down the corridor, Tailgate has a moment, and we get a taste of Cyclonus’ distaste for the Autobots as a whole. Tailgate is mildly offended by this, as he gropes his chest in distain, showing off his shiny new Autobot badge- a gift for not dying a terrible, gruesome death.

Good job, Tailgate. Proud of you.

They’re also passed by an absolutely blitzed Jackpot and Mainframe, the former singing Tailgate’s Tyrest-stopping praises as the latter carts him over to the Medibay to deal with the almost alcohol poisoning he’s got going on. Cyclonus remarks that Tailgate was missed, though Tailgate can’t help but wonder if that’s really true.

Y’all like slowburn romance, right? Because these two dumbasses have been roommates for two years, and we’ve just gotten to the point where physical contact can happen without one of them needing to be dying.

Anyway, it’s been a good day for Tailgate so far. Let’s hope it stays that way for the little dude.

...And that’s a series wrap on Tailgate! Let’s give him a hand, folks!

Hopping back in time to Megatron’s trial, things get underway, as Optimus Prime takes a nap in the judge’s bench as Gripper- whose name you don’t need to remember, as he’s not actually important- tells everyone about how brutal the Decepticon Justice Division is, even to Autobots. Which isn’t really supposed to be their deal, given their, y’know, name, but I suppose nobody’s perfect.

Up in the stands, in an… opera box, I guess? Rodimus is watching the proceedings, when Atomizer walks in. Which I guess you can just do in a Cybertronian court case. Sure.

Atomizer, in case you forgot, is the dude who has a bow and arrow, and used to be an interior designer.

Say, didn’t Whirl has a bow and arrow in the last issue when he attacked Megatron? Mighty curious, that.

Rodimus and Atomizer briefly reflect on the DJD, recalling the horror that was Vos- not that Vos, the other one. Rodimus would really just rather this all be over with so the Lost Light can get back to finding the Knights of Cybertron, and it’s at this point that Atomizer breaks out a thing he really ought not have- the count for the vote on whether or not Rodimus should stay on as captain. Rodimus doesn’t want to look at it, because it was supposed to be anonymous for a reason, and tells Atomizer to destroy the list entirely.

Hm, that’s not a terribly determined face there, Rodimus.

Back in the present, specifically in Swerve’s, Groove is threatening to break Streetwise’s arm, as we get the downlow on just what exactly our Legislator buddy’s deal is. Turn’s out, Swerve got one of the things reprogrammed, so that he follows not the Autobot Code, but something else entirely.

Hey, Swerve?

I don’t expect you to know this, because I don’t think you were present when they revealed this information to the readers, but… your new bouncer is made of people. He’s a dude made of other dudes, namely the Circle of Light. There’s a chance that you reprogrammed a sentient being, my good bitch.

Anyway, Swerve’s in a fucking mood because his shoulder hurts, someone’s stealing his shit, and Megatron has joined the narrative. Over at a nearby table, Skids, Nautica, and Riptide take a gander at the tabloids. Trailcutter, who is positively smashed, to the point where he’s just leaking booze out of his face like it’s his job, isn’t terribly interested in that, however.

What an astute observation, Riptide. And people say you’re stupid!

Trailcutter wants to drink some more, because it’s very likely he’s got a problem, but the mention of “Megatron’s super fuel” makes him feel like it’s time to stop hounding Swerve and start performing crimes.

Back during the trial, we get to Starscream’s testimony. He’s wearing his crown. He’s acting like a self-righteous asshole, as he defends Megatron.

Well, “defend” in the technical, legal sense, I suppose.

But really it’s more about him insulting Megatron’s intelligence, strength, and courage, in front of a LOT of people, while also trying to make himself look better in the war crime department. Megatron doesn’t appreciate this very much, if his murder-face is anything to go by.

Megatron lets Ultra Magnus (his defender, if you’ll recall) know that he wants a private word, and court goes into a brief recess.

Back in the present, Nightbeat’s busy looking at a pin-up of Rung’s alt-mode, when someone knocks on his door. That someone is Chromedome, who’s trying to solve the mystery of The Missing Declaration of Love. Not that he says that specifically out loud.

You two were married, why- okay. No point in yelling at this digital copy of a comic book.

Anyway.

So, the whole screaming thing only happened the one time, and everything was back to normal on subsequent plays of Rewind’s message. Nightbeat seems to be leaning towards the depressive isolating getting to Chromedome, which Chromedome responds to by telling him to get the fuck out. Alas, someone’s blocking the door!

YO WHAT THE FUCK-

Back with Trailcutter’s subplot, our drunken friend is in the middle of breaking into the Medibay. Our trio of cool-colored pals watch him from back at the bar, by way of a laptop that looks like it was built the same year I was born.

As Trailcutter attempts to commit a crime, Megatron, Ultra Magnus, and Ratchet pass by, trying to figure out how to handle the whole coffin situation. Trailcutter’s about to punch the locks off a door, and Nautica decides that this is where she’s going to draw the line today, leaving the gaggle of fools to their shenanigans. Then Tailgate glomps Skids, throwing the computer to the ground and breaking it, as Trailcutter finds the door to the Medibay magically open.

If you don’t know what glomping is, there’s a 60% chance that you’re not old enough to vote in the US.

Trailcutter sneaks into the Medibay, we get a reminder that Ambulon is super dead, and Trailcutter commits theft from a food bank. What a guy.

This is the point where security shows up, armed with a great deal of guns, one of which is Megatron himself. Trailcutter, instead of feeling super powerful, actually feels positively awful after consuming Megatron’s rations of “super fuel”. Because he, as an Autobot, doesn’t want to be within 50 yards of Megatron, Trailcutter breaks out the forcefields the moment the guy approaches him. And oh, what a doozy this one is.

Trailcutter’s gotten himself a fancy new trick- this forcefield he’s broken out lasts for a solid half-hour, and he can’t turn it off. I’m sure that won’t bite him in the ass at any point in the near future, no-siree!

Back in the past, Rattrap is commending Starscream on playing the field and getting the public slightly more on his side, but Starscream’s too busy patting himself on the back to really pay attention. He knew damn well that Megatron wouldn’t like what he had to say on the stand, and now things are finally looking up for ol’ Screamer.

Over with Optimus Prime, Slamdance is showing off how the general public is really into this whole “folks being held accountable for their actions” thing.

In the present, Chromedome and Nightbeat seem to have remembered they have alt-modes and are driving down the hall back to Nightbeat’s room- wonder what the speed limit for the Lost Light is?- and discuss just what the hell happened. The current theory is that the Rewind they saw was a Data Ghost- a collection of information so dense, it had a not-quite-physical presence that wasn’t 100% removed when he died.

Which is a little fucked up, but let’s see where this goes.

Nightbeat undoes the 40,000 locks on his door while Chromedome bleeds guilt all over the shag carpet over the fact that he hasn’t been looking for Dominus Ambus like he said he would.

C’mon James, gimme that Chromedominus endgame.

Nightbeat finally opens the door to find a small problem.

Hm. That’s… not normal.

Over in the Medibay, Trailcutter’s bubble has burst, allowing Megatron to slap him in the back of the head. This head-slapping induces his FIM chip permanently, making it so that he can never get drunk again.

Weird party trick, Megatron. Kinda shitty, really.

Megatron then gives Trailcutter the job of director of security, because he needs direction in his life. Trailcutter just sort of takes what he’s given, because I suppose you can’t really argue with a guy who can literally slap you sober, and also threatens to destroy you if you fuck up even once. Nice, Megs. Nice.

MEGATRON THAT’S BEEN SITTING LIKE THAT FOR OVER HALF AN HOUR YOU FUCKING WET NOODLE

So, since there’s mystery juice all over the floor and no one’s died, Megatron assumes that the coffin ought to be fine to crack open.

Please note that Megatron is not a medical professional, and his views are now peer reviewed by medical professionals. Megatron is in no way endorsed by the WHO.

Anyway, Rodimus is in there.

Pretty fucked up.

Back in the past, recess is over, and Ultra Magnus comes bearing bad news- Megatron wants to change his plea to “innocent.” This gets about the reaction one would expect from just about anyone.

Well, except Rodimus, who’s too busy reading that list that he wanted destroyed. He’s very sad about it.

I know, what a bummer!

[aggravatedanarchy]

It's come to my attention that ONE OF my poor girls here hasn't received any votes yet so. Propaganda! (Couldn't do it in the tags; tags Full.)

KIM PINE:

First off. Just look at her.

(I love her.)

Kim may seem like just some background or side character if you're not paying attention, I guess, but especially as you get further into the series, she's pretty important! No spoilers in case someone reading this hasn't read the comics, but I'd say there's definitely a reason Bryan's been noted to have called her the heart of the series.

I don't think she gets the appreciation she deserves in any adaptation really, although SPTO gave us more than I could have thought to ask for, honestly- but genuinely, for the place she holds in the source material? Under. Appreciated. I'm guilty of indulging in it, so no shade really, but a lot of the appreciation she DOES get... isn't really for the right reasons, imo. Like, yeah, Kim's hot. We have eyes. I Understand. But there's a lot more to her character- choke back the horniness and bare witness, please? I'm begging you? We can still be degenerates just- I need to know you Understand Her-

CHLOE PRICE:

Does she even need propaganda? How are you on this website if you don't know who she is?

First off-

Do You Understand?

Seriously, she's just. Vibes. I love her a lot. She goes through so much shit, continually, so yeah she's got a bit of an attitude- so what? At her core Chloe is a good and caring person, you just have to deserve that care to receive it. She's not afraid to stand up for herself, and to do what she feels is necessary.

Plus- canonically bi! Pretty certain! If not confirmed then if you have eyes and are literate, you will Know.

VERONICA SAWYER:

I do specify that I mean both versions, so- left side musical, right side movie (PLEASE go listen to even a single like 10 second clip of the actress who plays her in the musical production. Her voice is INSANE. If you're into musicals, you may recognize her from the STAGE production of Mean Girls, where she played Janis!)

One- Winona Ryder. Like this character got the Actor Boost for me, something that not many characters receive.

Two- Girl is just. Unhinged. Unwell. But trying so hard to be the opposite! If you haven't watched or listened to either version, please do go give it a shot. I don't know if it still is, but the movie was free with ads on yt not so long ago-

But, seriously. Once again this is a girl who goes fucking Through It. A Very Different kind of Through It, but Oh Boy does she go through it.

Plus, she has so many iconic lines. Here's a small taste (from memory, don't @ me)- "LICK IT UP, BABY! Lick. It. Up." "Dear Diary, My teenage angst bullshit now has a body count." "I've got to go home- my mom's making my favorite. Spaghetti! With... lots of oregano..."

HEATHER MASON:

Heather Mason is a 17 year old girl stuck in a horror game (and one movie! But we're not talking about that right now- also I don't mean literally stuck in a game. If you're. Unfamiliar with Silent Hill and following me...) and she acts very much how you would expect a 17 year old to reacts to The Horrors, all things considered.

Like our last two- She Fucking Goes Through It. Like, more than those two combined, tbh, not that they should be comparing their specific traumas...

I love Heather. She's, imo, the BEST Silent Hill protagonist (sorry Murphy) and has some of the best bits of dialogue or text when interacting with items. The line in the image I used here is her shortly after refusing to stick her hand in a very nasty toliet- something the protagonist before her DID do.

If you're unfamiliar with Silent Hill generally, and don't want spoilers, then skip over this next bit, because there's a line that's said to her that lingers on MANY people's minds, especially given her reaction- "They look like monsters to you?"

JEANETTE VOERMAN:

WHERE are my VTMB people? VOTE FOR HER.

Jeanette is one of the characters you get to meet and interact with very early on in the game (tragically early, almost; I wish there was more to her after you wrap up her and her sister's quests.) She and her sister run The Asylum, which is this little night club in Santa Monica- her and her sister are at odds, and navigating their rocky relationship is crucial to getting OUT of Santa Monica and into Downtown, where you meet up with some more key players for the rest of your game.

I love her sister too, just so we're clear, but Jeanette is my favorite, sorry. She's just nicer to you- admittedly because she wants things from you, but hey! In their world? I'll take it. That's leagues better than how some of these vamps treat you. (Plus, depending on your playthrough, you can match eachother's freak...)

make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone's favorite

tagged by @voltfruits

And I tag No One. Use me as your excuse,,, I'll do your poll, promise. I Fucking Love Polls-

[moonlit-manifesto]

[6/15/21 - ALIVE Twitter]

Earlier in the year, the Tsukipro Twitter accounts had polls for all groups' songs to choose which description you think matches each song the best. The descriptions for SOARA's songs are: ENJOY (fun/comical), HOT (lively/child-like), SERIOUS (dramatic), and COOL (mature). They're shown on each axis of the chart, and based on how many votes for each descpription a song gets, it gets plotted as a point somewhere on the chart.

☆ Song Chart Discussion ~Soara Ver.~ ☆

Sora: "This time! In happy to announce our song analysis chart is complete~~~!!!"

Morihito: "To everyone who voted in the polls to help make this chart- "

Everyone: "Thank you very much!"

Morihito: "With all the effort put into this, I'd like to discuss the chart I little more!"

Morihito: "Well then, someone start us off!"

Soushi: "Why don't you go first, Mori? What do you think? Everyone already knows you're SOARA's biggest fan."

Ren: "Yeah! Mori-senpai, please tell us your thoughts first!"

Morihito: "No, it's okay, I'd be talking forever about the chart then (chuckles). As for me, I think all our songs are godly."

Sora: "Thanks Mori, your love is strong."

Nozomu: "Lololol."

Morihito: "That's why I'll continue to shower our songs with praise!"

Everyone (thinking): Mori(-senpai) sure is lively now...

Ren: "I'd like to go next!" *raises hand*

Nozomu: "Go ahead, Ren!"

Ren: "Personally, I like how our song, 'Rival,' is on the HOT side. It's a really passionate song. It's nice."

---

Sora: "At first glance, Ren may look like a young literary enthusiast, but in actuality he's got some of that boys athleticism in him to appreciate the song!"

Soushi: "So does that mean SOARA's rival... is Growth?"

Morihito: "Not necessarily?"

Nozomu: "The Growth forest is hot... Like they're having a bonfire..."

Ren: "For some reason, I picture Mamoru doing some mysterious ritual around the fire."

Sora: "Stop it, I thought that too lol."

Nozomu: "Ok, me next!" *raises hand*

Morihito: "Alright, Nozomu-kun."

Nozomu: "So for me, I thought the balance of COOL/Matureand HOT/Childlike songs was interesting. We had 15 COOL and 18 HOT! Aren't you guys glad we had more youthful songs?"

Soushi: "Damn...you're right."

Ren: "Why do you sound so dejected (haha)."

Sora: "We don't want to become adults too quickly."

---

Soushi: "I guess I'll go next..." *raises hand*

Morihito: "Soushi-kun, I won't allow you to proceed unless you show some more motivation. Show us that you really love SOARA."

Soushi: "Huh!?"

Sora: "You made Soushi angry (lolol)."

Soushi: "Fine then, dammit. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING!!!!" *shouts*

Morihito: "Yes, Soushi-kun?"

Nozomu: "Mori-senpai looks like he's having fun."

Soushi: "Our most fun and comical song according to the chart is 'WonWan.'"

Morihito: "You mean 'Wonder Wand,' yeah."

Soushi: "The drum beat in that song is really fun."

Everyone: "We're glad for you."

Soushi: "Well, there's more to it than that."

---

Morihito: "Sora, what do you think about the chart analysis?"

Sora: "Eh~ Well... I'm just filled with that feeling of 'I can't believe I've sang this many songs~!' But when I talk about my own impressions of the songs, I feel like it might influence other people's feelings so my thoughts are always just like 'Thanks for singing! Thanks for listening!'"

---

Sora: "When it comes to music, I think everyone has different tastes and preferences, and depending on their circumstances and the timing when they hear the songs, they might receive it a little differently than from what I had in mind when I composed it. But that's completely fine. A song can be multifaceted as a rainbow because of different listeners! The world is full of all kinds of music because no one perceives things exactly the same!"

---

Morihito: (chuckles) "So you can absorb whatever outside influences and take on whatever challenges you want without worrying. That's the kind of answer SOARA's rainbow-talented composer would give. 100 percent, a perfect score."

Sora: "Yay!"

Soushi: "He's not impartial at all is he????"

Ren: "It's about his music, so I can't be helped."

Nozomu: "Yup."

Sora: "Ah, but I do have one thing to say... Our ballads tend to be on the more SERIOUS side right? That's what I noticed!"

Morihito: "Yeah that makes sense."

Soushi: "The song titles around that side of the chart all sound like wills or a person's last words."

Sora: "They're not about about dying though??!!!!?!?"

Ren: "Don't be so dramatic, Sou-nii!!"

#some of them are graduation songs

---

Morihito: "Anyways, that was our quick discussion on the song analysis chart. Thank you so much, everyone. We hope you'll continue to enjoy SOARA's music. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be staring at this chart and studying it for the rest of the night!"

Everyone: "His love is strong."

Sora: "Thanks, Mori (lol)."

(@aliveinfo1)

[jadethest0ne]

35! Go for it! ✨

Oh right, for this ask game! I had nearly forgotten about it XD

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want! 

If there was one fic-related thing I’d want to ramble about it’d be specifically being a comic artist, and the different things I experienced going from the Pokemon fandom to the RotTMNT fandom as a comic artist.

I spent 5 years creating a Pokemon comic called “Liberty”, based on a nuzlocke playthrough of Pokemon Soul Silver (basically pokemon on hard-mode with permadeath involved for those of you who don’t know what a nuzlocke is). Meanwhile, it’s been just over a year since my first foray into creating comics for the Rise fandom.

The Similarities

The Disparity between Fanart and Fanfiction

Being a comic artist is odd sometimes because I basically do both fanart and fanficiton at the same time. I can understand and vibe with what a lot of both fanartists and fanfiction writers go through and deal with. This is why I feel like I can answer a lot of these fanfiction questions despite a good chunk of my story-telling being visual.

I am also aware of the disparity between fanart often getting a lot more eyes and attention than fanfiction. Deciding to write a piece of fanfiction instead of draw it out in comic format is often a calculated choice on my part, because writing prose takes more energy from me and often gets less rewards via views and interaction from readers. But despite it taking more energy, it takes less overall time for me to write something out than draw the same story, so I often factor that in when deciding which medium to create a story in.

I feel bad that a lot of fanfiction writers don’t get the attention that they deserve because of this disparity, so may I remind readers to please please PLEASE support your fanfiction creators and interact with their work! It seriously means a lot to them! Even a little message or a reblog will do! The main similarity between these two fandoms is this disparity, and I think it’d be awesome if we could get the number of interactions between fanart/fancomics and fanfiction to be more equal.

The Differences

I’m more popular as a Rise artist?

So, as I said, I spent 5 years making a Pokemon comic and 1 year creating a bunch of Rise comics. And yet I think I got more (or at least the same number of) viewers on my Rise comics in that one year than on my Pokemon comics in 5 years. I certainly got a similar number of followers, despite the differences in time. One of the main reasons for this is likely due to the social media platforms I posted on. I posted “Liberty” on deviantart and on the Pokemon Nuzlocke forums, the latter being particularly niche. As for my Rise comics and artwork, I branched out to other sites including here on Tumblr, Instagram, AO3, and Twitter (though insta got fewer comics due to the image size restrictions). The number and popularity of the sites I posted Rise artwork to are more than deviantart and that is likely a big reason. The other reasons for my increase in popularity may be for some of the other differences...

There aren’t that many comic artists in the TMNT fandom

I could probably name only a handful of consistent comic creators in, not only the Rise fandom, but in the TMNT fandom. And I mean the long-running, over-arching story type of comic creators. There aren’t that many of us. There are tons of artists and fanfic writers out there, yes, but very few that combine the two.

Meanwhile the Pokemon community has TONS. Especially the nuzlocke community. Heck, the Pokemon nuzlocke community started and was named because of a popular comic detailing the events of the creator’s nuzlocke challenge playthrough of Pokemon Emerald. You get a little bit more lost in the crowd amongst so many other comic artists in the Pokemon community, but at the same time have more people to learn from and relate to in that way.

My involvement with the Fandoms has been different

There’s been a lot of collaboration and working together among creators within each respective fandom. I feel like personally, a lot of my collabs with Rise creators has been a lot more direct and more personal than the kind of things I did in the Pokemon fandom.

For example, in the Pokemon comic fandom, it was really common to cameo each others’ characters in your comic, or include each others’ comics or characters in memes. This wasn’t always a planned thing, though we would ask each other for permission. I joined a Pokemon comic discord, but most of my interactions there and on other platforms involved brainstorming help. Not only that, but sometimes the community was a bit more competitive as well. For instance the Nuzlocke Forums would hold an “extravaganza” every year where folks voted on various categories to vote for the best nuzlocke (I won “Best Pokemon” and “Most improved” in 2018 :3 ).

Meanwhile with the Rise fandom, I did more things like art trades, collaborative art pieces, and zine work. These were a lot more direct and planned out and involved a bit more trust and interaction with other artists. I also became close friends with the folks in the discords that I joined as part of a Rise server, beyond just “fellow creator”.

As a result, I found myself doing a lot more serious artwork and even created other fics for the Rise fandom beyond just my comics, while when it came to Pokemon I stuck mainly to my “Liberty” art/comics.

More eyes, less interaction and visa versa

Again, this could be mainly a differences in what social media I’m using, but a big difference I found between readers of my work is that I got A LOT more people commenting on my Pokemon comic than on my Rise comics. I may be getting more views on my TMNT comics, but boy did I get more interaction with my Pokemon comics. I would get at least 5 people leaving these in-depth analysis or guesses of what would happen on each page for my Pokemon comic, not to mention the dozens of other reactions I would get in the comments. And despite that comic being on hiatus for a year, I still get some comments on it!

So, unless I know the commenter personally, I feel a little less involved with my readership with my Rise comics than my Pokemon one. Which is a little sad. I do appreciate you all who appreciate my work, but I feel like I appreciate you from afar and can only go “awww” at the things y’all leave in the notes or on the anonymous asks I get, instead of being able to thank you more directly.

Rise readers are a bit less patient

I get lots more people asking me “when the next page is coming” on my Rise comics and fics much more often than on my Pokemon comic. This virtually never happened with my Pokemon comic. Granted, I was way more consistent with “Liberty” and it had a set schedule, whereas my Rise comics/fanfics never have. But still.

I really DO NOT like those kinds of asks/comments. Please do not ask me when the next one is coming out. It makes me feel stressed and ashamed and pressured, which can create negative feelings around my work and make me less likely to finish them. I get that you’re excited, and that’s cool. But literally no one likes those kinds of comments.

For perspective, “Liberty”, my Pokemon comic, has been on hiatus for nearly a year and I’ve gotten maybe two comments to that effect, and they were newer readers who weren’t around at the time that I announced my hiatus and the reasons thereof. My “Liberty” readers have been so patient with me (bless them), and I feel a real loyalty to that kind of readership. I don’t know when, yet, but I really want to get back to “Liberty” someday, not just for myself or that story that I lovingly crafted, but also for them.

Pokemon was a hobby, Rise is a passion

Likely due to the fact that I have made a lot of close friends within the Rise community, and the fact that it has helped me immensely through this really tough year, I feel so much closer with the Rise creator community. Pokemon was a thing that I did for fun as a side hobby. My TMNT related comics and art have pushed me so much further in my art, gotten me involved in various projects, gotten me into creating animations, holy heck was I sucked into this fandom in such a short amount of time, and I love it so much.

I have been a fan of Pokemon since I was a kid, and I never thought I’d find a piece of media that would capture my attention and adoration as much. I think at a point when I was shifting from the Pokemon to the Rise fandom I said something along the lines of “I feel like I’m cheating on Pokemon with Rise”/j but it’s kinda true, haha!

In the end, both fandoms and the people in them mean a lot to me, and I’ve grown a lot from them as an artist and a person. I will be forever grateful to the other creators, readers, artists, writers, friends, collaborators, etc in both.

Thank you all very much!

[adultswim2021]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #87: “Dreams” | January 11, 2004 - 11:30 PM | S08E06

There is no doubt in my mind that Space Ghost is one of the most underappreciated comedy series of all time. For a show that is so screamingly hilarious, it sure is ignored. Hell, the creators of Space Ghost don’t even appreciate the goddamn thing. It makes it all the more special for those of us who love it. This episode of television, which I regard as a comedy masterpiece, sits on IMDB with 35 votes total. Not only is this an exceptional episode of Space Ghost, it also happens to *sorta* be the series finale, and it’s also the single-most profane episode of Space Ghost in existence. It deserves your respect, goddamn it.

In this one, Space Ghost cobbles together a charity organization for the sole purpose of one-upping Zorak and Moltar. He demands an animal be booked as his guest in order to elect it as the org’s cute mascot. Space Ghost winds up with Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.

For those of you who require context: Triumph is an intentionally cheesy dog puppet with a vaguely ethnic accent who makes old-school but also very profane roast-style jokes at his various targets. He was an intentionally one-note character featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Triumph developed enough of a cult following that he wound up recurring pretty regularly. Most notably on Conan he got kicked out of the Westminster Dog Show for humping some of the dogs and generally being a nuisance. My favorite remote he did was where he made fun of nerds waiting in line to see Star Wars Episode II.

In 2003 Triumph released an album which came with a DVD which featured a cameo from Conan O’Brien saying the c-word (cunt) and the recently disgraced Horatio Sanz deep-throating a dildo. That, presumably, is why Triumph is on this show: to promote this album. He keeps trying to steer the conversation to “get to the plug”, and referring to his “beautiful singing voice” There’s a small number of Space Ghost guests who show up genuinely believing that they’ll be allowed to plug their project and that the episode will air in a timely manner. Like Adam West or Fred Willard, this is in fact one of those.

What makes this episode so goddamn funny is that there’s an undercurrent of the Space Ghost staff aggressively trying to undercut Triumph’s shtick. Triumph is almost always the most outrageous character in any given room, and people almost always have a hard time contending with the barrage of fast-paced/profane insults that Triumph supplies. The editing may have had a hand in this, but here we see Triumph doing roughly what he does, but Space Ghost is too boneheaded to really let it effect him. Space Ghost, true to form, misunderstands almost everything Triumph says, taking it at face value. When it finally dawns on him that Triumph is breaking taboos he is briefly shocked. But when Zorak lies and tells him that “money came in” from Triumph’s transgressions he is suddenly motivated to childishly repeat Triumph’s vulgarity.

When Moltar tries to put his foot down he casually breaks an actual network taboo: he says “they will shut us down for that shit. I mean stuff.” completely unbleeped. Not sure what the status of “shit” is on adult swim these days, but in 2004 I don’t think Adult Swim was technically considered it’s own network yet (I’m hazy on the details here, but there was a turning point where Adult Swim ceased to be programming that simply aired on Cartoon Network and was actually registered legally as a network unto itself that shared space with Cartoon Network). So, allowing shit to play on what was still legally considered a children’s network was a pretty big deal. I don’t even think Turner allowed swears that harsh to appear on Adult Swim’s website.

The show escalates beautifully and ends with a song about “retardos”, while Space Ghost inexplicably holds up a Dexter’s Laboratory branded foam finger, a detail I’ve never noticed until this viewing. It is breathtakingly dumb. I love this episode so much.

There are a lot of great lines in this that I’m intentionally leaving out. The length of this write-up might lead you to believe I’ve revealed the entire episode. I haven’t! There’s so many great jokes in this. This begins what I like to think of as the finale trilogy. There are two more quasi-episodes of Space Ghost coming up (not counting the GameTap episodes because they suck or The Room interstitials because that’s so far out from the series true end that it’s practically a reunion special). One is an abandoned episode they aired in an unfinished state. Then comes the tenth anniversary bumpers the Sunday after Space Ghost’s big birthday. But I’ll talk more about that when the time comes. Okay? Alright? Damn!

I forgot to say this earlier so I’m just tacking it on here: my wife and I literally quoted this episode in our wedding vows. It was the “You will lick my shiny boots, for you are now my dog on a leash.” line. This isn’t a joke.

MAIL BAG

Here’s more FUCKING FUCKS writing me dumb shit and wasting my valuable time. Damn. Dang it!

I'm in a minority here but while I loved Home Movies I think it diminished by the time Season 4 rolled around that I think it's straight up overall bad. So much so that I feel you can tack on the camera drop ending to any of the other season finales and have a better show. I don't know why exactly. Is it because H. Jon Benjamin has a writing credit for this one and McGurk is wackier than ever? Did Brendon Small just run out of childhood experiences to mine from? I dislike it.

Huh I wouldn’t go that far OBVIOUSLY. So far I’ve liked a hundo percento of Season 4 even though it’s just two episodes. haha “Aw, who’m I tryinta fool? it’s just two episodes.”

I like the Sonic Guys. Their keen sense to pinpoint the exact craveability of every new Sonic item as well as their overall familiarity and comradery leave the viewer ready for fun and ready for fun: the Sonic way. And if you don't like that, buddy, then you are an Adbusters Stooge.

More like “ready for run” because I would use my feet to get away from their tires, because they’re tired!!!

Do you think the Sonic Guy ever dry over to Popeyes when the cameras aren't rolling. What do you think they would get. If I were them I would get the chicken: it's tender, it's juicy, it has cajun seasonings.

I think they would go there and say stupid cutesy shit like “extra chicken please :D :p” and a teenager would call them n*88*s and they’d commit suicide that night. But what a way to go

Don't give up on ephemera week!, The blog was super fun last week. And it's just a nice way to end the blog after a year of spankworthy stuff. It will be less special if you just pepper them in now and then. How many venmo bucks would I have to pay for you to keep it that way?

What a swanky message to get. I do think Ephemera week will be pretty hard from here on out because 2004 is about where I ended my initial research for this blog and the prospect of doing more of that to give a fairly complete overview of each year would just be too much. I’d much rather just slide it in. You’ll love seeing me slide.

What are your big wishes for 2004?

what the fuck am I supposed to do here? Wish for something to happen in a year that already happened? Do I get to transport myself back there and do this wish all the way back then? Or do I simply feel the butterfly effect of it having had happen in 2004. What the fuck kinda fucked up shit is this anyway.

[embeanwrites]

Finding Home Gavin Reed x Reader

Ch 27

Masterlist

I was sitting at the front of the lecture hall with my laptop grading the end of the semester presentations. Part of me regretted not doing a one and done scantron to make my life easier, but the students brought a lot of interesting topics that made it all feel worth it. One student went into detail about the Jericho raid and talked about the legality of it, which I had been toying with mentioning in my book. It was interesting to see another side of the conversation. 

Most of the students had decided on doing a presentation rather than a paper and a few students even went with ideas that are way outside of the box. One student had made a short comic book depicting different events that had happened in Detroit with the sociological theory and explanation of the theory. It was easily one of the coolest projects in the bunch and luckily the student is letting me keep it. I plan to scan it and use it next semester, giving the student credit of course. It was clear some students half-assed their projects, but way less did than I expected which I consider a plus since this was my first real course and I knew from experience students tended to take advantage of first-year teachers’ inexperience.  

After the final presentation was done I noticed we still had ten minutes left, perfect to say goodbye to my class. It was hard to believe how fast time had gone by, but with one semester done I couldn’t wait to teach this class again with what I’ve learned this first time. Hopefully, with time the school would assign me some different courses. 

“Well, everyone, it's been amazing being your professor. This class was so fun to teach and I enjoy everyone’s questions and participation. I truly hope you’ve learned something about android and human relationships and the complexity that goes with it, even moving forward. This class has a lot of information I hope you can apply to your everyday life.

“I appreciate all the feedback I got and I’m sorry that we didn’t have a guest speaker this semester, things just got too crazy in the middle, but hopefully that will be different next semester and I will see what I can do about giving you all the opportunity to sit in on the class that day. 

“All of your projects were truly amazing. I was blown away by not only the creativity but the quality of them. I wish you all the best of luck on the remainder of your finals and I hope to see you all around campus. Please feel free to stop by my office anytime you need someone to talk to or have a question.” 

I smiled and waved to the students as they left. Some stopped to say goodbye, but many just went ahead and left. Which was fine, I remember finals week in undergrad. What a nightmare of a time. It felt good being done and now I had four weeks to prepare and relax for next semester. Four weeks to also settle into Gavin’s house. I was also almost fully done packing and Gavin, Connor, and Tina were helping me move my stuff over in three days. I was excited to say goodbye to that sad apartment. I just assumed I would live there until my contract expired and move on with my life. Now I was happy I had barely unpacked, less to pack now. 

As everyone filed out I gathered my stuff and put on my coat. I was meeting Gavin at the precinct, he was taking the afternoon off so we could go shopping for some new furniture and decor for the house. 

I decided to walk to the precinct since it wasn’t that long of a walk and for early December it wasn’t too bad out. I knew if I got sick I would never hear the end of it from Gavin and Nines about the importance of staying out of the cold. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, but it was sunny out, and not a lot of wind. It was relaxing to see the city so peaceful. It was almost the first anniversary of the android revolution, I needed to talk to dad and Gavin to see if we could do something special for Connor and Nines. To think one year ago many people were fleeing Detroit and the streets were on complete lockdown due to peaceful protesting. I looked over to see an abandoned Cyberlife store, I thought about asking Elijah about their plans for the remaining stores. With no clear laws, Cyberlife was in a major gray area, currently, they were only allowed to give spare parts directly to androids for free. 

Sighing, I walked into the precinct and gave a small wave to the receptionist. At this point, they all knew who I was and I didn’t have to check-in. Walking into the bullpen the first thing I noticed was that Gavin was in Fowler’s office, so I walked over to dad’s and Connor’s desks. I gave my dad a pat on the shoulder as I moved to jump up on Connor’s desk since my dad’s was too messy to sit on. 

“How was your last day of class?” Connor asked, leaning back in his chair. His LED was a calm blue. I smiled at him and noted the calm feeling around the two of them. Desk duty was clearly doing dad some good, even though both of them were eager to get back in the field. Connor had made that very apparent when he took Sumo out for a walk, that turned more into a run.

“It was really good. I’ll have to show you some of the projects I got. I think you’ll find them interesting. Maybe you could even pass them on to Markus, there’s one in particular that I think he’ll like. The student included a lot of artwork.” I hummed and looked up at Fowler’s office. From where I was sitting I could tell Gavin was frustrated, his fist were clenched and his body language was stiff. 

“Markus would definitely enjoy that. I’ll contact him to see when he’s free. I know he’s been busy with negotiations still.” 

“It’s been almost a year. I wish the government would work with them instead of stalling. Warren is just trying to stay neutral to keep her approval ratings decent.” Connor nodded in agreement. Androids were still not allowed to vote, so Warren didn’t have to worry about their votes. Hopefully, Markus would be able to change that soon. Androids should be able to vote in their own representatives. Snapping out of my thoughts that were meant more for a paper and less for small talk I shook my head and looked over to Fowler’s office. “What’s Gavin doing in Fowler’s office?” 

“End of the year evaluations.” My dad answered. I nodded and glanced over to where Nines was sitting. He was facing Fowler’s office and watching the two men talk, from his expression and Gavin’s it didn’t seem to be going well. I wondered for a moment if Nines was able to hear them and if he could, could Connor? “Are you two going furniture shopping?” 

“Furniture and just house stuff.” I pulled my legs up and moved to face my dad, sitting criss-cross applesauce. 

“You two are pretty serious, huh?” He asked, I couldn’t help but smile and nod. “It’s nice seeing you both happy.” 

“Thank you. I know it’s been hard to get used to us being together, but I appreciate it.” I looked back towards the office and saw Gavin shaking Fowler’s hand and heading out. We made eye contact and he grimaced. “Alright, I’ll see you two later!” I said my goodbyes to dad and Connor and walked over to Gavin’s desk. He was quickly packing up his stuff and avoiding eye contact with me and Nines. “Hey, you okay?” I whispered. He shook his head as he swung a backpack over his shoulder. 

“Let’s just get out of here.” I nodded and grabbed his hand. Gavin led me out of the precinct and towards his car in silence. Occasionally I squeezed his hand, hoping to offer some reassurance. 

We both got into the car, but Gavin made no move to start his car, instead he leaned forward and laid his head on the steering wheel. I watched him take a few deep breaths and I moved to rub his back. 

“Do you-”

“I didn’t get the promotion.” Gavin interrupted me, keeping his head down. I could feel him tense up under my hand. 

“Gav, it’s ok-”

“It’s not okay!” He shouted, his head shot up as he smacked the steering wheel with both hands, the loudness stunning me for a moment. I moved my hand from his back to his shoulder, attempting to keep him grounded in the moment. “I worked so fucking hard for this. I work my ass off. I’m constantly working on cases even outside of work and the thanks I get is ‘be better!’ What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” Gavin was seething but keeping his eyes forward. He hit the steering wheel again, hitting the horn on accident. “Fuck.” He whispered hoarsely, looking over to me. He looked exhausted and his eyes were glassy. 

“Hey,” I whispered, cupping his face with both of my hands. I gently pulled him closer and kissed his forehead. “I don’t care what Fowler says. You are a kick-ass detective, you’re smart, you’re dedicated to your job, and I love you. Just because you didn't get the promotion today doesn’t mean you won’t ever get it. Go in tomorrow and prove him wrong every day until he understands that you are the right man for the job.” Gavin sighed and closed his eyes, leaning into my touch. 

“I-I know we’re supposed to go shopping-” He stuttered. 

“Let’s head home, we can shop another day. Nothing we had planned today is urgent.” I kissed him gently and I felt him release a sigh of relief. He gently pulled back to start the car. I buckled my seat belt as we headed back to the house. 

The drive was quiet, neither of us made a move to turn on the radio. I closed my eyes and laid my head against the window, listening to Gavin drum his fingers to a beat inside his head on the dashboard. Gavin really deserved that promotion. There were more times I could count where I would wake up around 3 am and find Gavin still working on a case. He was dedicated to his job and he dedicated himself to every case he had. 

Pulling into the driveway, we both made our way into the house and immediately plopped down on the couch. Gavin put his head in my lap and closed his eyes. I started running my hands gently through his hair, feeling the tension leave his body. He made no attempt to move or talk, so I started humming softly. 

“Thank you.” He murmured. 

“Of course, Gav.” I gently moved one of my hands to sit on top of one of his which was on his chest. He intertwined our fingers almost immediately. 

“You’re so good for me.” He said, his eyes were still closed so he didn’t see my smile. 

“You deserve good, Gav,” I whispered, quickly resuming my humming and attempting to comfort him. “Hey, have you thought about asking my dad for a letter of recommendation or for him to talk to Fowler?” Gavin let out a sigh. 

“I feel like that’s wrong.” He whispered.

“Why?” 

“Because we’re dating, he’d feel like he’d have to.” He opened his eyes and looked up at me. He looked so exhausted, the bags under his eyes were purple. I gently ran my thumb across his eyebrow. 

“My dad would say no if he didn’t think you were right for the job, Gavin. Maybe just ask him what more you could do? He’s not putting in a good word for you, he’s just giving you advice. You shouldn’t feel bad about that.” I said softly, he closed his eyes and sighed. 

“Maybe.” He mumbled. “I’m sorry we didn’t go to the store.” 

“Don’t be. We can go some other time. There’s nothing on our list that’s urgent and even if there was you are more important than anything on that list.” I leaned down and kissed his forehead. 

“Thank you.” 

“Of course.” 

After about half an hour of Gavin laying in my lap, he left to take a shower while I made something low effort for us to eat. We spent the rest of the day just lounging about and cuddling. Even the cats ended up snuggling into both of us. Nines would be very disappointed in our food choices and lack of doing anything productive, but it really seemed to help Gavin. Which at the end of the day, was all that mattered to me.