#probably will save a really hi res version and print it out

[peppermintquartz]

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

Hey there Miyabi! How do you get such high-res, beautiful, and professional scan quality? What's your process?

Thank you! I certainly don't think I do anything that professional, so glad you have been decieved into thinking that about them! LOL I started doing this scan of the day stuff just to bring better quality to a lot of the older contributions of mine floating around the web. Looking at them on here, the Megaman wikia and other places, they just felt small and dirty. Especially as basic technology had gotten better over the decade or so since I first scanned them. I have 2 different scanners, one of which is a fancier Epson that I bought specifically to scan film slides a year or so ago. Still use it for basic scans from time to time. But honestly, for the settei, I'm still just using my general home HP Envy printer/scanner combo. I always scan at 600 DPI. After that part is done and the bitmap image is scanned to my computer, it's really just doing some heavy touchup. As I have alluded to in some recent posts, some of these sheets will take me an hour to an hour and a half just to clean up, because they have so many artifacts and dotty garbage on them. Settei at auction are mostly just scanned copies themselves after all, so there's a bit of residue to clean up. Ever wonder why sometimes I don't post these at a regular time of day? That's why, I'm still working on touchup before I post (and probably off from work, so I'm not prepping the night before, like when I post at a scheduled time).

Let's use this recent Gauss sheet as an example.

The original scan was pretty messy. Probably can't see it as well in tumblr resize scale, so here's the original scan. But it is dotted all over the place, there's like a smudge line which goes through the whole bottom of the sheet, where the "Final Draft" stamp, character/episode number marking is, and through some of Gauss' headshots as well. You can also probably see some black on the edges, where the sheet comes to an end within my scanner.

The first bit of touchup I usually do is within my image viewer. I use FastStone Image Viewer to help organize and view everything. In there, I will adjust the brightness, contrast, and sometimes the gamma, to get the sheet background a bit lighter and the lines darker.

I just like the number 14. Is it always 14? No. But that's usually my baseline starting point. After that's saved, into the photo editing program of choice we go. I match my brush color to the background white and just paint over all those ugly dots and wipe those black edges away.

Zoom in at 100% to try not to miss those artifacts you don't notice zoomed out. Look at Gauss' speckled fingers. Ugh, cleaning that stuff up is hell. But I do it, so you all can see clean-ish looking art. Do I get everything? No. But I try to at least get the major issues out of the way.

Some things I take liberties on. The shading on his jacket goes outside the lineart. Should I leave it as is for authenticity? Probably. But if I'm cleaning it, I'm gonna clean it all. So you'll see in the finished version I posted, those shading lines are all inside the lineart only.

Some people are jerks and could easily resell these settei just by printing scans and claiming them as original. Another way I try to have a way to differentiate my edits without slapping a watermark on is my editing of the text boxes. See the top left and bottom right of it above Netto? There's almost always some overhang on the originals. I have usually taken the liberty of editing that overlap line off, so that the text box is a clean rectangle where the line stops at each corner, as close as I can take it. It's a dumb, but simple way for me to tell if it's my edit.

Otherwise, that's really it. Just a lot of added effort in touchup, honestly.

Cel scans are a little different, because most of them are too big for either scanner. Especially cels with backgrounds. So many of those involve 2-4 scans and then stitching them all together. Much less touchup that I do to them, but otherwise it's mostly the same. 600 DPI, and some brightness/contrast or slight color saturation adjustments to them, if needed.

And now you know!

[elysian-phoenix-05]

WATTPAD FAN-FICTIONS THAT ARE ACTUALLY GREAT! [BTS edition]

Okay, so, today we will be discussing [or you can say that I will be recommending] some Wattpad fanfictions that I've come across that are shockingly great.

Usually, when we talk about fanfictions,, we generally associate them with cliched, almost devastatingly horrible plot lines, paired with cringy writing, but I'll show you some stories that managed to escape those stereotypes and did a wonderful job in convincing me of the need to own an actual printed version of the work.

I would not provide a self-written synopsis since I suck at that and am notorious for accidentally spoiling stuff, so, I'll provide the name of the book along with the cover page and the author's name, I would also list both the genre and ships that you can expect from the book. [The books would also be rated on a scale of 5 stars, 6 when it is reallllly great.] So, without further ado, let's get it!

Somewhat of a disclaimer:- expect an array of ships in the books I'm recommending, as I don't mind any ships as long as the story is great. And, of course, all the books are a work of fiction, and I hope you treat the story as such. Of course, some of these would handle mature topics, from occasional smut to depression, suicidal tendencies, etc.

1. THE SURVIVORS

The survivors, written by @kxmtae__

THE INTRODUCTION

It was a normal day at school. The long morning classes followed by lunch and eventually dismissal. But dismissal never arrived that fateful day. Instead, something else did entirely.

GENRE

Zombie apocalypse

SHIPS

Namjoon x female

Jin x female

Yoongi x Jimin

Hoseok x female

Jungkook x Taehyung

MY RATING

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [M U S T R E A D ! !]

2. THE SOLUTION [The sequel to The suriviours]

The solution, written by @kxmtae__

THE INTRODUCTION

After a series of unfortunate events, the squad finds themselves at a loss. Efforts seem to be for nothing, but what happens after Taehyung discovers a newly found piece of information he completely overlooked from the beginning? The journey begins, The journey to save humanity.

GENRE

Zombie apocalypse

SHIPS

Namjoon x female

Jin x female

Yoongi x Jimin

Hoseok x female

Jungkook x Taehyung

MY RATING

⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Kinda, felt that the last section of the book could be better, but, the story is still really good.]

3. BROKEN DOLLIES

Broken dollies, written by @Masquerade16

THE INTRODUCTION

Jimin was the ideal pure teen; innocent, study like his life depends on it, no social life, raised by overly religious parents. Oblivious of the world Jungkook is your ideal popular boy; vain, popular, handsome, has done everything lustful in his life. Both boys stuck in their world, with intense suicidal thoughts for their wasted years. That is until one night Jungkook finds Jimin attempting to take his own life by throwing himself off a bridge

GENRE

Romance, trauma, depression, etc

SHIPS

Jimin x Jungkook

[the rest is yours to figure out]

RATINGS

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [No amount of words can describe how beautiful this book is! Go and read it!!!]

4. KILLER IN THE MIRROR

Killer in the mirror, written by @IMSugaWonho

THE INTRODUCTION

A newly wedded couple buys a mirror from an antique shop for their new home unaware of the true horror hiding in the mirror. 10 years later, a group of students moves into the house after hearing about the cheap rent not caring for the rundown state the house is in. Slowly they start to realize that there is evil hidden in the house when things start going missing, people disappear, or are found dead. They agree to call a medium to cleanse the house but she reveals that the house isn't the problem. It's something else.

GENRE

Horror, mystery

SHIPS

Taehyung x female

RATINGS

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Read it, cowards!]

5. WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS?

Whose idea was this, written by @imhyungry

THE INTRODUCTION

In which Jimin starts a group chat, with a bunch of people he knows, hoping for them all to become good friends despite several of them being confused and unwilling. [aka Jimin becomes the reason for his friends finding the love of their lives, and himself, too.]

GENRE

Top-notch humor, romance

SHIPS

Jimin x Yoongi

Namjoon x Jin

Taehyung x Jungkook

Hoseok x Yugyeom

RATINGS

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐[I've re-read this book more than four times, and is my go-to read whenever I feel down] Okay, imma stop, for now, otherwise, the list will be looooonng.

Should I do a list 2 for this? [I will, probably, do a list two, but I would appreciate it if I did get feedback on doing it or not]

Okay, so that's it for today! Have a nice day, everyone! Go and read these books, and do give me your reviews/opinions regarding the book.

FIND ALL THE PARTS HERE!

PART 1/ PART 2/ PART 3/ PART 4/PART 5

Until then take care!

[sends lots of hugs, love, and support!]

💜💜💜

[adultswim2021]

Sealab 2021 #46: “Butchslap” | March 14, 2005 – 12:15AM | S05E02

Sealab has reached a saturation point where all of it now feels like it’s just rehashing/retreading old gags. Debbie goes through a Chickmate-esque transformation but this time she wants to stop being a slut and start being religious. There’s a subplot where Sparks finds out that Marco used to be in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, the band from the eponymous TV show from the 70s. It’s a show Sealab has already mined once before for the decent “Swimming in Oblivion” and the pathetically awful “Return to Oblivion”. So, the characters previously identified as Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, the creative duo behind Sealab 2021 are just playing their original 70s’s Hanna Barbera Show selves. To muddle things even more, they bring in the tentacled producer from those episodes to do some light meta humor involving the Cartoon Network. And, in yet another callback, this episode is credited to mcheshpants420 among other writers.

Neither story resolves in a satisfying way and just serve as a vessel for mostly pathetic jokes. They aren’t THE WORST jokes Sealab ever did, but literally nothing is good here. The only thing that I sorta liked was Tornado Shanks unceremoniously dropping his Southern accent, and it being referenced in the episode. It’s not that funny of a joke but I guess I prefer it to them just quietly changing the character. I don’t know WHY, though. I think my brain might be dying, and sometimes I suspect that we are all living in hell.

The Brak Show – Volume 1 DVD (February 1, 2005)

It is extremely weird to me how hard it is sometimes to find high-quality cover images for DVDs. Like Amazon just gets rid of the high-quality JPG when a DVD goes out of print now I guess and just waits for a customer image to get uploaded instead? You know what I’m talking about? We need to get the lost media wiki on this. We need a hi-res product imagery archive. Sell them as NFTs. I don’t fucking care.

Anyway, this is a really good release as far as adult swim DVDs go. Decent extras. A handful of Cartoon Planet and Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak, and Brak Does the News bits, and fun commentaries and stuff. I appreciate they put a little effort to make a fun thing Brak fans would like. Also, the DVD has an alternate version of one of the episodes presenting the American Mom in an episode that originally aired with the British Mom instead. That’s because they put the episodes in--what else? production. order. I would elaborate on this more but I did it somewhere else and... I’m so tired.

MAIL BAG

Good fuckin' news. On the 27th, Adult Swim will finally be able to air Futurama again!! With them losing Family Guy, it's awesome to see them regain another Fox toon they helped save to fill the gaps! King of the Hill came back last month, too.

I actually just learned this today and that IS great news. You see that weird clip where the McDonalds logo is in the corner instead of [adult swim]? What is going on with that? Has [adult swim] started just turning into every other network now with voice-overs on the credits and obnoxious bugs and whatnot? I should probably keep up with stuff like that.

KON writes:

Some Robot Chicken tidbits for you: The Armageddon sketch was indeed written for Harrison Ford but they couldn't get him, I know because of a bump from the time that SKEWERED Harrison Ford for his supposedly high standards. Why they didn't just change it to a celebrity they could get, or to Bruce Willis or someone that would actually make sense in an Armageddon parody, that I don't know. Chicken tidbit #2: The live-action nerd was played by Greg the Bunny himself, Dan Milano.

WOW! I remember at first thinking this was MC Chris, but the delivery drifts too far out of his orbit so I knew it wasn’t him. Who doesn’t Seth Green know? Also, the fact that it isn’t Harrison Ford doing the voice baffles me. It’s such a bad performance, I figured it must be him. According to the Robot Chicken wiki it’s Mark Hamill, so if he’s on purpose doing a bad performance AS Harrison Ford that’s actually pretty brilliant of him.

[phantomnostalgist]

Did Raoul fans exist in early Phantom fandom??

Oh, probably, they just sensibly hid under rocks or in the deep depths of caves, I mean...

Uh, yes. But not a lot of them. Phandom was definitely very much pro-Erik, or E/C inclined. I remember printing a pro-Raoul/anti-Erik letter in one issue of “Beneath the Mask���, from someone who used a pseudonym, and getting a lot of angry letters aimed at her in reply. I think that’s pretty natural - we tend to identify strongly with Erik as the outsider, the person rejected and subject to decades of hatred and discrimination, whereas Raoul is the privileged pretty boy, and how many of us drawn to Erik give a fuck about Raoul? I mean, he could forget about Christine and go on to live a perfectly happy life, really.

Someone told me there’s more R/C love these days than there was 20 years ago, and I wonder if that’s partly to do with the 2004 movie. Patrick Wilson’s Raoul is certainly the most sympathetic and attractive Raoul I recall seeing, not in the sense of physically attractive particularly, but in the portrayal, his acting (sure, he’s physically attractive too, but I don’t think that’s relevant to Erik partisans). Honestly, the 2004 movie enabled me to understand Raoul partisans in a way I hadn’t before, because Wilson is a) a wonderful actor, b) better than anyone else in the movie IMO, and c) contrasts with Butler’s Erik having stalked Christine since her early childhood in the movie, eeuuugh. If one sees the stage show having taken in the movie version, and projecting Gerik onto stage Erik, imagining he’s been living under the opera house most of his life and watching Christine from when she’s a young child (which does not happen in the novel or show!!), I can see how it’s easier to respond to Raoul as her true love, and see Gerik as a creepy child-grooming stalker. Yuck yuck yuck. Even though Raoul is clearly significantly older than her in the movie too, so how old was he when he ran into the sea to fetch her red scarf...? Yeah, no one thinks much about that... 

But uh, what was I saying? Oh yeah. I find it easier to understand why people who were introduced to Butler’s Gerik lean towards Christine/Raoul than those of us who were phans before the movie, which is one of the reasons I hate the movie. But certainly, there were people who argued in favour of Raoul, or who stressed the unhealthy and abusive aspects of Christine/Erik, back in the day too. They were just a very small minority, or people who expressed their views in a more careful or moderate manner (perhaps afraid of being yelled at, perhaps entirely reasonably as that definitely happened!) than over the last decade or so of phandom. 

I’ve also heard that some Christine/Raoul fans in recent internet years have become so militant they’ve tried to bully people off tumblr merely for pointing out that Leroux’s Raoul is kind of a whiny crybaby.

I don’t know how exactly people are bullied off tumblr, but Leroux’s Raoul is absolutely a whiny crybaby. 100%. COME FOR ME, RAOUL FANS. If that’s what you want to do. 

Actually I find it kinda refreshing that Leroux’s Raoul expresses his emotions; the fact he cries rather frequently in some ways mirrors Erik in the novel, who also expresses his emotions in a manner that doesn’t fit the “masculine ideal” of holding tears inside. In fact Raoul is quite often contrasted with his family’s patriarchal values, so we could see both Raoul and Erik as progressive in their dismissal of some of their society’s patriarchal values, yet as both still using their own emotional states and expressions to pressure and manipulate Christine - who could herself be seen as an early feminist heroine, in that she is the one who eventually makes the decisions and takes the actions to save/rescue both Erik and Raoul. But people who think Raoul is so much better than Erik should probably re-read Leroux. Raoul attempts to manipulate Christine plenty. 

So when I say Raoul is a whiny crybaby in Leroux, I don’t mean that to be quite as harsh a criticism as it may sound - I love that Leroux portrayed him that way. And we should remember he’s the same age as Christine, they’re both about 20 or 21, in an era where sexual awakening and ownership of our desires would have been pushed to happening later in life than it probably is for us now (where we start exploring more openly in our teens, at least openly in our own minds even if we keep it private or secret). 

So, uh, I forget what my point was. I think support or positive feelings or love of Raoul is a lot more “mainstream” now than it was in the 1990s, certainly. And that’s a good thing, really, as there are plenty of positive things to be said about Raoul and negative things to be said about Erik... but plenty of negative things to be said about Raoul too (and positive about Erik, obviously!). It’s good that the internet allows a wider range of opinion to be expressed. But if it’s true that Raoul fans have been bullying people off tumblr for saying Leroux’s Raoul is a crybaby, well, READ LEROUX AGAIN YOU NITWITS. And stop watching the goddamn 2004 movie.

[arcticdementor]

I have to begin this column by admitting that “Biden” (note: when in quotation marks, I refer to the “collective Biden”, not the clearly senile man) surprised me: it appears that my personal rule-of-thumb about US Presidents (each one is even worse than his predecessor) might not necessarily apply in “Biden’s” case. That is not to say that “Biden” won’t end up proving my rule of thumb as still applicable, just that what I am seeing right now is not what I feared or expected.

…

I think that both of these grossly oversimplify a probably much more complex and nuanced reality. In other words, “Biden” surprised many, if not most, Russians. That is very interesting by itself (neither Bush, nor Obama nor Trump ever surprised the Russians – who knew the score about all of them – in any meaningful way).

My strictly personal guess is that there is some very serious infighting currently taking place inside the US ruling class. Furthermore, that serious infighting is not about core principles or even strategy – it is a dispute over tactics only.

We have to keep in mind an old truism about outcomes: John F. Kennedy once said that “victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan” and he was right. When any group seizes power and effectively controls its interests, all is well, and everybody is busy consuming the proverbial milk and honey. But when this group suffers a series of humiliating defeats, a typical cascade of events begins:

Finger pointing: everybody blames everybody else (but never himself/herself)

Hindsight wisdom: “if I had been in charge, this would not have happened!”

Infighting over quickly shrinking spoils of war

A collapse of the centralized center of authority/decision-making centers

Generation of subgroups, fighting each other over their sub-interests

In other words, following many years of extremely weak presidential administrations (since Clinton, imho), it is hardly a surprise that infighting would take place (in both parties, by the way). In fact, an apparently chaotic set of uncoordinated, or even contradictory, policies is what one should expect. And that is exactly what we have been observing since 1993 and this dynamic has been getting worse and worse with each passing year).

…

That being said, there are some observations which might be helpful when trying to at least (indirectly) identify who are the main groups fighting each other.

The hardcore, really nutty, russophobes are still here, especially in the US media which seems to be serving not so much “Biden” as much as some “crazies in the basement” kind of cabal. Next to the legacy ziomedia, there is an increasing number of US/NATO/UK military officials who are foaming at the mouth with threats, warnings, complaints and insults, all against Putin and Russia. This is important because:

The “Zone A” media has comprehensively and very effectively concealed the very real risks of war with Russia, China and Iran. And if this was mentioned, the presstitutes always stressed that the US has the “best military in the history of the galaxy” and that Uncle Sam will “kickass” anybody he chooses to. If the people of the USA were informed of the truth of the matter, they would freak out and demand that this path to war be immediately abandoned and replaced with a meaningful dialog.

US/NATO/UK authorities have talked themselves into a corner where they have only two outcomes left: they can do what the US always does, that is to “declare victory and leave”, or they can force Russia to protect her borders on land, air and sea and, thereby, face a major military humiliation delivered by Russia.

Truth be told, during the recent naval exercises UK and US officials made a lot of threats and promises to ignore Russian warnings, but in the end, they quietly packed and left. Smart choice, but it must have been painfully humiliating for them, which is very dangerous by itself.

…

There will be many more NATO exercises in the Black Sea in the future. Ditto for USN operations off the Chinese, Iranian or DPRK coasts. This (always explosive) combo of ignorance, arrogance and incompetence could result in a major war.

LAnother option is the terminally delusional UK government (supported by those Brits who still have phantom pains about their lost empire and, of course, by the largely irrelevant 3B+PU gang) might do something really stupid (say, like this) and trigger a war with the DPRK, Russia, China or Iran and then the US would have to move to defend/save a British Navy which is mostly a joke (at least by Russian or Chinese standards). The main problem here being that the USN is also in a terrible shape and cannot compete against Russian and Chinese standoff weapons (I mean that literally, there are currently no defenses against maneuvering hypersonic missiles! The only exception would be the Russian S-500). The latter two nations, by the way, have joined into an informal and unofficial military alliance for many years already; check out this article and video or this one for a recent update).

But opposite, de-escalatory developments are also taking place. First and foremost, “Biden” seemed to have “farmed out” the “Ukrainian dossier” to the Germans and washed Uncle Shmuel’s hands from it. If so, that was a very slick and smart move (which is something we have not witnessed from any administration in decades!). I highly recommend this translation of a most interesting article by arguably the best Ukraine specialist out there, Rostislav Ishchenko.

Ishchenko goes into a lot of interesting details and explains what “Biden” apparently just did. Frankly, the Germans richly deserve this full-spectrum mess and they will be dealing with the consequences of this disaster for a long time, possibly decades. In fact, the Germans are stuck: they want to be the Big European Leader? Let them. After all, the EU politicians, led by Germany, did all they could to create what is now often called “country 404” – a black hole in the heart of the European continent. Germany is the biggest economic power of the EU? Good, then let the Germans (and the rest of the EU) pay for the eventual reconstruction of the Ukraine (or of the successor-states resulting from the breakup of the country)! Russia simply cannot foot that bill, China most definitely won’t (especially after being cheated several times by the Ukies) and the USA has absolutely no reasons whatsoever to do so. I would even argue that chaos (social, economic, political, cultural. etc.) in Europe is probably seen by the US ruling class as highly desirable since it 1) weakens the EU as a competitor 2) justifies, however hypocritically and mistakenly, a “strong US presence” in Europe and 3) gives NATO a reason (however mistaken, misguided and even immoral) to exist

The US is protected from the fallout (immigrants, violence, extremism, etc.) of the Ukrainian disaster by distance, the Atlantic, a much stronger military (at least compared to anybody else in NATO). The US can print money in any way it wants and has no interests whatsoever in the (dying) Ukraine. If Ishchenko is right, and I agree with him, then there is somebody (possibly a group of somebodies) who is a lot smarter than anybody in the Trump Admin and who figured out that the Nazi-occuppied Ukraine should be an German/EU problem, not one for the US.

There is, of course, also the pessimistic analysis: the US is on the retreat everywhere, but only for the following reasons:

Regroup, reorganize, buy time to develop some kind of coherent strategy

Focus on each adversary separately and prioritize (divide et impera at least!)

Re-analyze, re-plan, re-design, re-develop, re-train, re-equip and re-test pretty much everything in the US armed forces (which have not been shaped by any rational force planning in decades)

Those who believe the strategic retreat theory (I am not personally discounting this version, but I do not see enough evidence – yet – to endorse it either) typically add that “the US only left Afghanistan to hand it over to the Taliban/al-Qaeda and unleash them against “soft underbelly of Russia”. Now, that is utter nonsense, if only because Russia does not have a common border with Afghanistan.

…

Coming back to “Biden’s” great retreat: if “Biden” is smart enough to hang the Ukraine on Germany, “he” is probably too smart to predicate the US foreign policy towards Russia predicated around the “soft underbelly” thingie. As for all the “fire and brimstone” threats of war against Russia, they are not impressing anybody as the Russians, the Chinese and the Iranians know that a confident and powerful country does not need to threaten anybody, if only because the actual capabilities of these country are a very telling “threat” by themselves. But when a former superpower is weak, confused and frightened, it will make many roaring statements about how it can defeat the entire planet if needed (after all, the US military is “the best military in the history of the galaxy”! If you doubt that, just listen to Toby Keith!). In other words, while in the West threats are an instrument of foreign policy, in Russia, and in the rest of Asia, they are inevitably seen as a sign of weakness, doubts and even fear.

Then there seems to be a long list of weapons systems, procurement plans and “defense” monies which have been pulled back, including the (truly awful) LCS and F-35. While it is true that the US is gradually phasing out fantastically expensive weapons systems and platforms which were also more or less useless, this show the ability to at least admit that all that talk about super-dooper US superweapons was just that, talk, and that in reality the US MIC is incapable of producing the kind of superb high quality systems which it used to produce in large quantities in the past (Arleigh Burke, F-15, Jumbo 747, the Willys Jeep, F-16, A-10, Los Angeles SSN, KH satellites, etc.). This is why the F-15X is designed to “augment” the F-35 feet (by itself a very smart move!).

Such an admission, even if indirect and only logically implied, might show a level of maturity, or courage, by “Biden” which his predecessors did not have.

Could it be that the folks at the Pentagon, who do know the reality of the situation (see here for a very good Moon of Alabama article about this), figured out that Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump vastly over extended the Empire and now they need to regroup and “re-everything” to achieve a more sustainable “defense” posture?

Could it be that “Biden” will deliver what Trump promised, i.e. to end the useless (and unwinnable!) wars, stop caring too much about the agonizing EU, silently accept that Russia has no intentions (and no need!) whatsoever to attack anyone and focus on the biggest non-military threat out there: China. Maybe.

As far as I know, many (all?) simulations – by RAND and the US military – and command staff exercises have shown that the US would lose badly to both Russia or China. Could it be that “Biden” wants to put Russia and China on the backburner and “deal” with Iran first? The latest news on the US/Israel vs Iran front is not good, to say the least.

…

So what are we left with?

Frankly, I am not sure.

I think that there is very strong, even if only indirect, evidence which there is some very serious in-fighting taking place in the “Biden” administration and there is also strong, but also indirect, evidence that the military posture of the United States is undergoing what might end up being a major overhaul of the US armed forces.

If true, and that is a big “if”, this is neither good news nor bad news.

But this might be big news.

Why?

Because, objectively, the current US retreat on most fronts might be the “soft landing” (transition from Empire to “normal” country) many Trump voters were hoping for. Or it might not. If it is not, this might be a chaos-induced retreat, indicating that the US state is crumbling and has to urgently “simplify” things to try to survive, thereby generating a lot of factional infighting (at least one Russian observer specialized in “US studies”, Dmitrii Drobnitskii, believes to be the case: see the original article here, and its machine translation here). Finally, the state of decay of the US state might already be so advanced that we can consider it as profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed. The first option (soft landing) is unlikely, yet highly desirable. The second option (chaos-induced retreat) is more likely, but much less desirable as it is only a single step back to then make several steps forward again. The last option (profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed) is, alas, the most likely, and it is also, by far, the most perilous one.

For one thing, options #2 and #3 will make US actions very unpredictable and, therefore, potentially extremely dangerous. Unpredictable chaos can also quickly morph into a major war, or even several major ones, so the potential danger here is very real (even if totally unreported in Zone A). This, in turn, means that Russia, China, Iran, the DPRK, Venezuela or Cuba all have to keep their guard up and be ready for anything, even the unthinkable (which is often what total chaos generates).

Right now, the fact that the US has initiated a “great retreat” is undeniable. But the true reasons behind it, and its implications, remain quite obscure, at least to me.

I will conclude by asking you, the readers, for your opinion: do you think that the US is currently in a “contraction phase”? If yes, do you believe that this is a short-term only phenomenon, or will this retreat continue and, if yes, how far?

[mageicalwishes]

Read on AO3: here

Rating: Teen & Up

Summary: Simon and Baz have barely spent any time together recently with Baz bogged down at Uni, so a cosy night-in with Great British Bake-off and Dinner is long overdue.

Tags: Fluff, Flirting, Great British Bake Off, Innuendo, Simon Helps Baz Cope With Exam Stress, Domestic Fluff, Post-Book 2: Wayward Son, One Shot.

Words: 1,621

Simon

“Hey, Snow. I’m just going to head home and shower quickly, and then I’ll be on my way. Give me … Forty minutes?”

He sounds tired - So tired - but it’s nice to hear his voice.

We’ve barely spoken these last few weeks, with his Uni Assessment Period - Our conversations cut down to ‘Good morning’s, ‘Good luck’s and ‘Good night’s - But it’s alright. I understand.

He’s been completely swamped with Essays and Exams recently. And last time we were together when he was trying to study, he got awfully snappy. It’s not that I was trying to be annoying or anything, but I’ve never been the best at sitting still … or being quiet, so I know that I was (Even though he was too polite to say so, at the time).

So this time we kept our distance. Even though it hurt.

“Yeah, okay. Are you … are you sure that you want to come over today? We can rearrange or something, if you want to rest at home, instead. I haven’t cooked dinner or anything, yet. It’s no hassle.” I offer, doing my best to sound encouraging (Although even I can hear the disappointment in my voice).

“No I- It’s been far too long. I’ll be there as soon as possible, Love.”

“Alright then. If you're sure,” I smile. “I’ll see you soon."

————————————————————————————

I open the door to a disarrayed Baz - His under-eyes blackened, skin dulled, and hair hanging in a waved, damp sheet against his face. Compared to his usual impeccable self, he looks a mess (Well, the Baz version of a mess, anyway. He’d still be right at home on some fancy fashion billboard. The fit tosser), and if the droning tone he greets me with is anything to go by, he feels it too. 

I want to drag him into a kiss and snog him until he forgets all about Uni and Tests and shitty Economics, but I don’t know if I should. If I can. And … It’s been so long that I don't think that I’d even be able to do it right. Knowing me, It’d probably just end up being all stiff and awkward, which I doubt would help. So I refrain. 

“Hey,” I say. “How did your test go?”

“I’m going to torch the Examinations Office,” he deadpans, shoving the door closed. 

Fuck. Wincing, I reach up and help him shrug off his coat. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse. I’m being generous because they at least had the decency to include a few multiple choice questions. Otherwise the whole bloody building would be getting it.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, grabbing a hold of hands and tracing swirls against the cool of skin. “But I’m sure that you’ve done better than you think. You're clever, and you've definitely put enough work in, so I'm sure that if you found it difficult, everybody else did too. Grade boundaries will help you out.”

“Hmm. Maybe,” he hums, clearly unconvinced. 

“Definitely,” I assert, pulling him into the Living room. “But just … try and forget about all that, now. However it went, it’s over, so don’t stress. Let’s just watch some Bake Off, yeah? I’ve been saving them all so that we could watch them together.” 

That, finally, earns me a smile. And while it’s small, and painfully fleeting, it’s definitely there, which is a start. 

“Yeah alright,” he sighs, pressing a gentle kiss to my temple. “Let’s do that.”

Once we settle down onto the sofa, I tug him close to my side and rub the back of my hand against his stomach slowly, as we watch - The tension of his body loosening under my ministrations. 

“You alright?” I mumble, resting my jaw atop his head.  

“Yes. Why?” 

“You’re all quiet, that’s all. Normally you insult all of their bakes.” 

“Yeah, I’m just … I’m concerned that I haven’t done enough. I need to finish with a First. I know - What I’ve done wasn’t good enough. I’m sure of it.” 

Back at Watford, I'd always just assumed that Baz didn’t stress about Work, or Exams, or Grades. He'd always appeared so infallibly unbothered, and it seemed to me that he could get perfect grades in his sleep. But … I guess that I wasn’t paying close enough attention (Not to that, anyway). 

I’ve seen the ugly side of Baz’s academic achievement now. Drafting and re-drafting essays until his eyes are heavy and his wrists are pounding. Staying up all night to cram in more revision time, and forcing himself through the next day with obscene amounts of coffee. The stern, miserable day-long silences when he fails to get the grades he was hoping for. 

I’ve told him time and time again to ease up on himself - That A ‘B’ isn’t the end of the world, and that exhausting himself will do no good - but he never listens. And I don’t know how to make him see. All I can do is try and comfort him when it gets bad. 

“Baz. Come on. You’re some kind of freaky, vampire genius. I’m sure what you did is more than enough. Okay? You just need to … relax.” He doesn’t answer, so I tilt him off of my chest and twist his jaw around to face me. “Okay?” 

Pouting, he swats my hand away and spins himself back around (Stroppy git). “Alright. If you say so, Snow” 

Smiling, I pinch at his waist, earning myself a delightfully startled yelp. “Tell me what you think of that guy’s soggy bottom then.” 

“You’re a nightmare,” he scoffs. But behind his words, I know he’s smiling. I can hear it clear as day. 

We don’t talk much at all after that, and soon enough he falls asleep. 

We’re barely half way through the first episode, when his breaths even out into soft, sleepy puffs. And while I had intended to binge through at least the first half of the series, I’m glad for it - It’s obvious that he needs the sleep. 

So, leaning over as best I can with his weight still pressed against me, I pull Penny’s discarded blanket over him and switch channels, settling myself in for the night, contentedly. 

————————————————————————————

Baz

I awake disoriented and heavy, Snow’s far away voice calling out for me as he shakes my arm gently. The room coming back to me in pieces - A warm sofa, and dim lights. The curtains drawn and television murmuring on quietly. And Simon - Beaming up at me from where he’s crouched on the floor. 

“Hey, sleepyhead. I made you dinner.” 

Scrubbing the sleep from my eye, I speak, voice low and rough. “What time is it?” 

“Uh … I dunno like Nine or something? Why?” 

“Nine!” I repeat. “Crowley, Snow, why didn’t you wake me?” 

“You were sleepy,” he whines. “Come on, Bazzy, it doesn’t matter. Lets just eat dinner. I’m starved.” 

I glare at him as best I can with him looking at me like that, dimple popping sweetly and eyes aglow (Which, as it turns out, isn’t very well at all. Since I can’t help the enamoured smile from breaching it’s way across my face, which I imagine rather weakens the blow). “Don’t call me that.” 

Leaning forwards, he presses a kiss to my lips, murmuring out a muffled “Grump”, before pulling away and running off towards the kitchen. Imbecile. 

A moment later he’s back, carrying in a huge casserole dish, spoons, and what I assume is Blood, held in that ghastly Fang-print mug he insisted on buying for me off of Amazon. 

“Shepard's Pie alright?” he asks, flopping himself down besides me, and handing me the offensive mug. 

“More than,” I sigh, pressing a kiss to the mole in the centre of his palm. “Thank you, love.” 

“It’s alright. I made Brownies for pudding too, if you want them.” 

I feel my throat pinch, pathetically at his earnestness.

He’s been ridiculously sweet to me tonight, even though I’ve practically ghosted him for the better part of a month. Even though I don’t really deserve it. 

We’re still not the best at being affectionate with one another - What with all of our … ‘Issues’ these past few years, and the fact that we’ve had far more practise being enemies than boyfriends - but he’s clearly pulling out all the stops this evening. And I’m endlessly grateful. 

Simon Snow my stupid, selfless hero. I must’ve done something really spectacular in a past life to have earnt myself him in this one. 

“Snow. I’m sorry.” 

“Huh. What for?” He asks, frowning. “I - If you want something different I can make it for you. Or … we could have takeaway if you’d prefer.”

“No, no. It’s not that,” I assure, smoothing a hand down his thigh. “I’m sorry for being so absent recently. I didn’t mean to … isolate myself quite so much. It’s not that I didn’t want to spend time with you, you know that I … that I always do. I just got caught up in it all." 

And then he’s laughing at me, tongue poking between his teeth and shoulders shaking. “It’s fine, Baz. You don’t need to go all serious on me. Uni is important, I understand. And you’re here now. That’s all that matters.” 

“Yeah. I’m here now,” I echo. 

“And … I’m sure that you’ll make it up to me later,” he jokes, waggling his eyebrows in comical suggestiveness. A light flush filling his cheeks. 

With a splutter of laughter, I shove him away from me in faux disgrace. Although, knowing me, he’s probably right. I’m painfully weak for Simon Snow. 

I’d do anything he asked of me. I’d give him all that I am. I’d tie our hearts together chamber by chamber.

And I’ll definitely be ‘making it up to him later’ … if that's what he wants. 

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Pyro and writing (more headcanons that no one asked for, because Pyro the writer is one of my favorite character traits of his that Marvel constantly neglects)

-Overall, his writing is good, but not much more than that.  If he puts in a lot of effort, it can be great, if he’s rushing, it drops down to terrible.  All his books have a few moments of really good writing, showing the potential that he has, and also moments of really dreadful writing.  As long as he gets paid and people are entertained, he’s satisfied, although he does get frustrated when he knows a scene isn’t flowing well, and he doesn’t have the time or skill to fix it.  It’s difficult to make a living as a writer (and frankly, he wants money), so he tends to bang things out quickly and publish as much as possible.  His Marvel bio says that his books were widely read around the English-speaking world, so I’m guessing that he was at least somewhat popular.  Like, he wasn’t at a Stephen King or Danielle Steel level, but people at least knew his name.

-It’s never been clear to me whether his identity as Pyro was publicly known, but I’m thinking it must have been.  If it wasn’t revealed after the Brotherhood went to jail for the first time, surely it would have been revealed after he died saving Kelly, completely out of costume.  I’d imagine it was a mind-fuck for fans who read his books.  Apparently he was still writing and publishing during the Freedom Force era, so either the general public didn’t know, or being a mutant terrorist didn’t lose him any readers.

-He willed the rights for any future royalties to Avalanche when he died.  That didn’t amount to much at the time, but his work became popular again after he died, and publishers re-printed several titles to make a quick buck.  Avalanche wound up with a tidy sum that he used to buy his bar.          

- Pyro has a generally realistic and easy-going attitude about his own writing.  He thinks it’s at least decent writing, but he knows it’s not anything fantastic or ground-breaking.  He’s read the reviews tearing him apart, he knows he’s generally thought of as popcorn, fluff reading (and he’s okay with that), he’ll cheerfully refer to himself as a hack.  But he does get annoyed if someone keeps harping on him as a bad writer, especially if that same person is claiming that writing is easy, like “Any idiot can bang out a romance novel.”  At that point, he turns to, “Oh really?  How many books have you published?  How many books have you even written?  Oh, zero?  You’ve written no books at all?  Then kindly shut the fuck up.”

-He gets similarly annoyed when people disparage the romance genre as being trashy or shallow, especially since there are plenty of popular thriller/mystery/horror/spy novels that Pyro thinks are equally terrible, but those genres don’t have the same bad reputation that romance does.  He argues that romance is just like any other genre - a lot of it is terrible, some of it is complex and beautifully written.  And even if it is terrible, who cares?  Even the terrible stuff serves its purpose.  He usually doesn’t try to defend the genre with his own work (he knows he’s not winning any battles there), but he’s got a few favorite authors that he’ll bring up.  He does read romance on his down time, he genuinely enjoys it.

-There are a few authors he absolutely fan-boys over, but I don’t know enough about romance as a genre to name specific names.  Once, long ago, one of his favorite authors wrote a moderately favorable review of one of his books, and he literally jumped around his living room from sheer joy.  He cut the review out and framed it.

-He always writes straight romance, because that’s the largest market and biggest potential seller.  His heroines are always women, and he writes entirely from their perspective.  He’ll claim that it’s because most of his readers are women, but it also leaves an element of separation between him and the character, which makes it a lot easier to project all his issues into the story.  Which he does do, quite frequently.  Sometimes he tries to write gay male romance, just private stories for himself, but it always feels too personal.  He does start sticking same-sex relationships into his books, though, just in the background.  He couldn’t be too overt without losing some of his readers (at the time that he was writing), but he’d slip in little hints.

-He writes a lot about characters having to hide aspects of their identity, which is his way of dealing with both the mutant thing and the gay thing.  One of his heroines is a white-passing WOC, and her experiences listening to white characters say horribly racist things is very much based on Pyro listening to friends and co-workers say terrible things about mutants.  Of course, it’s rather problematic for him to use race in this way, but he’s definitely got some problematic tropes in his writing.  He doesn’t mean to use it as a metaphor, just an.....emotional outlet.        

-Speaking of problematic, given the time period that Pyro was writing, I think some of his travel articles definitely lean a bit Orientalist.  There’s nothing overtly or consciously racist, he has a great deal of respect and appreciation for the countries and the cultures that he’s visiting.  But he plays up the image of “exotic” and “mysterious” Asia, especially in his earliest articles, because he’s desperate to catch readers’ attention and keep them interested.  If someone brought it up to him now, he’d probably angrily deny it....but he’d also wince re-reading some of his early stuff.  “Yeah, okay, that’s a bit over the top there.”  He gets much better about it later.

-He puts a lot of self-deprecating humor into his travel articles.  He tends to naturally be something of a braggart and exaggerate when he tells stories, but if he writes about himself as a sophisticated world traveler having wild adventures, he’d sound like Gilderoy Lockheart a complete prat.  And Australia’s tendency towards Tall Poppy Syndrome would probably make his work unpopular.  So he puts in a lot of his own stupid mistakes, and presents himself as an adventurer who’s also a bit of a silly ass, bumbling his way through a culture that he doesn’t fully understand.  The events he depicts are mostly true, if exaggerated, but he tends to omit any mysterious occurrences involving fire. Can’t have that, can we?

- He loves the idea of fan fiction.  He was writing fan fiction as a child without knowing the term for it.  And fan fiction of his own work?  He is flattered and delighted.  Of course, he does get rather frustrated when fan fiction depicts his horrible Sebastian-insert as a sympathetic character, but he’ll grit his teeth and put up with it.  Because he’s just so happy that someone liked his work enough to want to write their own version.                   

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews 20: Transformers: Studio Series 32 Optimus Prime

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a decade since the original Michael Bay Transformers movie came out. As much as I’ve grown to dislike the film series, I really enjoyed them as a kid, and even still I have a lot of nostalgia for the first movie. Not to mention, they have had quite a large impact on the Transformers franchise in general, so it makes sense that Hasbro and Takara would launch a toyline dedicated to revisiting these films... if for no other reason than the original toys didn’t really age well. And while my focus as of late has been on the G1 style toys, I have accumulated my fair share of Studio Series toys, so I should probably take a look at them as well. And what better place to start than with the big bot himself, Optimus Prime? Specifically, this is the second release of Optimus Prime, based on his appearance in the 2007 movie.

Truck Mode

Like in the film, Optimus transforms into a Peterbilt 379 semi-truck. Unfortunately, however, I find this to be a rather weak mode. Just looking at him, you can plainly see the robot mode feet sitting on the truck bed, which do nothing to hide the massive gap between the two halves. There is a trailer hitch molded in, but it barely resembles anything in real life. Then there’s the sides. Looking at the figure from the side, you can see the sides of the robot thighs, the transformation hinges, and hints of the robot shoulders. Furthermore, the steps leading up to the door are comically undersized and recessed, and the toolboxes by the gas tanks are completely absent. Best I can tell, these are all artifacts of the remolding process. The original release of this mold, Prime’s Revenge of the Fallen body, hides most of the robot parts behind panels, and retains the proper steps and toolboxes. But the toy had to be remolded for reasons we’ll get into later on, so those parts had to be replaced, leaving us with a weaker truck mode. Though that doesn’t explain why they removed some of the flood lights from the roof.

It’s not just aesthetics that suffer for the remolding. Due to the way the wheels transform, it’s difficult to get all six of them on the ground at once. Plus there seems to be something keeping the front of the truck from holding together correctly. Again, neither of these problems were present on the ROTF version, so I can only assume this is the result of the re-engineered transformation creating clearance issues.

There are some positives, though. For one, there is storage in this mode for his gun accessory. It can either tab into the slots on either side of his sleeper cab, it can attach to a pair of tabs on either side of the nose, or it can store on the “truck bed”. Also, the colors are nicer here than on the ROTF version. The red is much brighter and there’s a lot more silver. It’s still missing the gold gradient on the nose, and the blue flames on the rear fenders, but it’s still much better looking color-wise than the first release. I just wish the mold was as good as the first one.

Conversion

Transforming this figure is very different from the Siege figures I’ve covered. While figures like Siege Prime or Starscream do have difficult transformations, they’re still fairly clean all things considered. Here, there are a lot of parts that clash together, and a lot of steps that need to be done at the same time. For example, the nose of the truck needs to be split apart and unfurled before the rear can be brought down, and the rear needs to be brought down before the sleeper can transform, and the sleeper needs to be fully transformed before the nose can be brought up to form the arms. Once you get some practice in it becomes easy enough, but it’s definitely not as clean as the Siege line. Just a consequence of the movie aesthetic.

Robot Mode

The robot mode is where most of the retooling comes together. While the Revenge of the Fallen release had a much cleaner truck mode, this version has a much better looking robot mode. Compared to that toy, the chest is slimmed down and lacks the center hinge, the backpack is far cleaner, and the tires on his thighs are far more visible. Though I will say that the armpit fenders still make him look a bit... overweight. Still, he is far more screen accurate than the initial release.

The movie Transformers are infamous for their intricate designs, so naturally this figure has a lot of molded detail. You can see all kinds of mechanical elements and panels molded into his shins and biceps, all the overlapping armor plates on his thighs and arms, and of course all the interconnected truck parts that make up his torso. They even molded in the ab detailing he had in the movie, even though most of it is barely visible. He’s a really nice looking figure, though the deco leaves some to be desired.

He’s also decently articulated. Ball-jointed neck, universal shoulders with adjustable guards, bicep swivels, 90 degree elbows, and wrist rotation. Below the belt, he has a waist swivel universal hips, thigh swivels, almost 135 degree knees, and universal ankles. However, the truck tires on his thighs do impede some of the motion, especially when it comes to turning the waist or thighs. Still, you can get some decent poses out of him, and he’s pretty easy to balance thanks to his large feet.

While the Revenge of the Fallen version came with his battle blades, this version includes the ion blaster he used throughout the original trilogy. While it doesn’t form out of his fuel tanks, it is sculpted to match the gun used in the films, and it even has a burn mark on the muzzle. It fits snugly into his hands, though it does look a bit small in proportion. Maybe that’s just my imagination, though. If you don’t want him holding it, you can store it on his back like in truck mode, but it looks a bit odd in this mode. I prefer to just pose him with it, though it can also be mounted on the bottom of his forearm. While I don’t own the first release of the mold, I’m told he can also hold that figure’s blade weapons, though it’s an awkward fit with his remolded forearms.

Of course, his final feature, and the other reason for all the remolds, is that he can combine with Studio Series Leader Jetfire... a figure I do not own, so I cannot comment on that feature right now. If I ever get him, I do plan to do a review of him where I follow up on the combination.

Backdrop

Just real quick, I would like to comment on the included backdrop that comes standard with all Studio Series figures. They’re all constructed the same way: corrugated cardboard, with the bottom folded into a box, and a flap on either side. In addition to extending the backdrop, the right flap has the Studio Series logo, with the figure’s ID number at the top, and the left flap bears the Transformers logo and an Autobot sigil. Then in the middle of the stand piece is the logo of whatever film the toy is based on. The only difference between the backdrops, aside from the printing, is that larger figures have larger backdrops, so I’m not going to go over this again for the other toys.

This figure’s backdrop is based on the “Highway Showdown” scene from the first movie. Specifically, it depicts the highway overpass off of which Bonecrusher tackles Optimus. It’s a decent enough match to the movie; not frame perfect, but very familiar. Though I question why they chose this specific shot to recreate: I would’ve personally gone for either the beginning of the fight at the top of the overpass, or the end of the fight below the overpass, since it feels like an unnatural angle for a standing backdrop.

While standing up straight, Optimus fits very nicely onto the stand in robot mode, though his backpack does butt up against the backdrop when he’s fully on the base. Also, some poses don’t quite work, due to things like his backpack or his arms knocking the backdrop down. On the plus side, the side flaps do fold out if you want to get some wider poses in. I take issue with the fact that there’s only enough room on the base for one figure when this is supposed to depict a fight scene, but that’s probably more of a nitpick than anything. He also fits surprisingly well in truck mode. There’s a bit of overhang on the ends, and he only really fits at one angle, but all six wheels are within the edges of the base, so I’d say it counts.

Final Thoughts

Studio Series 32 Optimus Prime is a mixed bag of a figure. On the one hand, he has great articulation, an impressive amount of sculpted detail, a better color scheme, and looks much better in robot mode than the first release. On the other hand, the vehicle mode suffers quite a bit for those upgrades, with visible robot parts and issues holding together. Not to mention, there are much better Voyager Primes out there, like the 2010 Battle Blades figure. Really, this toy’s main saving grace is its ability to combine with Jetfire, something that no Voyager Prime toy has done before. If that feature doesn’t appeal to you, I’d honestly recommend trying to hunt down the Battle Blades Prime over this. That said, however, the Studio Series figure is still decent enough, and if you can’t find the Battle Blades for a decent price, this is a pretty good alternative.

[cloudoclock]

1 Year Later : My Sixth Form Masterpost 😊🧐

Last Summer, I decided to make a Masterpost of all the tips I gathered for people moving from year 11 to college of sixth form, as well as those who need any academic aids.

Today I decided to make a review of the  masterpost I made for sixth formers last year. I’m now going into year 13, so I’ve had time to think about what’s best for me and as a very determined student, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at what I thought I needed.

Websites and Resources

Revision world - I did not use this at all this year. The only useful thing that came out of this website was the ability to make mind maps because I always get lost when I do them by hand - although there’s many other sites for that. 2/10

Specs - Going to your exam board website and printing out your specifications are a big help because you can outline your own self study throughout the year. Keeping track is essential. This was very essential for my Media class and English Literature because they are essay based and the spec is perfect for planning. 8/10

Specimen Papers and Walkthroughs - we all know how useful practice is and finding up-to-date papers are essential for calming yourself into the exam mindset. Walkthoughs on Youtube are also great because it gives a condensed version of the exam thought process. As someone who struggled with improving my essay writing to A Level standards, specimen papers are essential to my own planning  and actually understanding how arguments are executed. 8.5/10

Powerpoints  or Prezi- this one is a bit of an odd one and does require a bit of digging. Search up “a level (subject) powepoint/presentation” and there may be a presentation from teachers on a unit from your subject. On Prezi there are loads of presentations that are easy to follow and vary in content. This was unintentionally the most useful resource for Media Studies. In my class, our teachers would set us up in groups bi-weekly and just give us an element of media to make presentations on. Luckily when you do a search along with “slideshare” there’ll be an array of student-made presentations. I don’t encourage copying but it cuts down on time spent searching for main facts. 10/10

Youtube - of course everyone’s favourite site is a useful resource. However, it is very easy to get distracted so look at specific channels and playlists. I actually didn’t use youtube too much this year, but I think it’s great for advice videos. 5/10

Emma studies - this is truly my prinatable queen annd planner life saver. She has all these free printables and layouts that you can just put in your binder and in your books to keep up with your work. However, I haven’t been journaling since COVID properly started in February, so I need to figure that out haha. *Note she hasn’t really been active in a while

Study Methods

Cornell Method - Not useful for someone like me. I did not practice this method enough because of its inefficiency and have now realised its totally useless for my style of work. I advise that you get a Skillshare and watch the entirety of Ali Abdaal’s study class or go look on his Youtube channel. The summary section is counter is a waste of space as I would probably rush it to just do it. Although the questions section is the most useful part, its more efficient to write the questions as a title and make additions after.

Colour schemes- Once again, another very very pretty add-on to notes but I stand by the rule of a MAX 3 colour scheme. I must reiterate that this is an add-on and it is best to stick to one colour pen, rather than switching between pens. 

Rewriting Notes after class - now I know the idea seems long winded and a waste of your time, but ... I now realised it is actually A WASTE OF TIME. I earnestly entreat you to watch the skillshare class I mentioned. The act of re-writing extensive notes from class is not active recall, even though the act of writing is partially benefitial. I would advise writing down key points and specific points for the exam, but not much more. Repeated exposure to these facts or ideas is much better because you do all the summarising in your head. Obviously, this is the time you can make reformed notes, but doing it for every lesson is strenuous in the long run.  The learning doesn’t take place on paper so save the environment. 

Music

My light playlist - this playlist is pretty chill and a bit of a autumn night vibe.

Reading playlist - there’s pretty good scores on here for reading sessions for a bit of a switch from the usual (I really loved this during the autumn term, especially for English)

White noise- I loved this and some exam hall sounds on youtube.

Supplies

Home Binder/ expanding file - Unfortunately, I am yet to have a system that works with binders. It really does help to have a small file to hold all your papers, but I would use online files and not print unless necessary.

Binder for lessons- For STEM, language and perhaps essay classes, I think you definitely need a place to store all that content. Make sure you declutter often!

Refill pad/ notebook- I hated my perforated books and I’m starting to grow hatred for wirebound books (maybe its the way I store them), but I like having an easy notebook on the go.

Post its/ page tabs- I personally think these are a little wasteful if you are not using them consistently. Page tabs are very good for books if you need to focus on themes, characters or as points for essays.

Planner- please, please, please get a planner. You need a planner regardless of how you do it - online, bujo or on daily memo sheets.

USB - not many people talk about having a usb, maybe because we are in the digital age of sharing. When you need to quickly open docs or powerpoints in school, or in the library or at home, no one has time to wait for google drive. I learned how important it was to have a usb in gcses and it is worth the extra effort.

Tips and advice

The jump in self discipline, workload and effort at a level is different for everyone, but it is helpful for you prepare in whatever way you can, so that the hit isn’t so scary. I got hit so hard and was giving up by November; those videos about being tired are no joke.

Your friends are not always the best people to organise study groups with. Unless you are sure, that work is going to get done, its best that you find people that you can get serious with. I still stand by this because I know not everyone has a nice study space at school and the sooner you get used to focusing alone or better yet with a teacher, the better.

If you feel yourself losing focus and even after taking a break, you’re uninterested,stop and refresh at another time or the next day. You’re brain is doing so because it cannot fit anything else in there and forcing yourself isn’t helping anyone. If you continuously burn yourself out, you will find it difficult to come back to the work because you’re constantly reminding yourself of how much of a chore it is. - I got burned out twice and never recovered. Please take care.

Ask your teachers and your head of year questions. The magic word “ucas” is going to be popping up and soon enough you’re going to be worrying about your personal statement.(Its popping up right now for me </3) If you have a query, find a time to talk with them because it is invaluable support. If you’re like me, write on a piece of paper the questions you have and meet your teacher in a free or at lunch so you can be comfortable and get down what you can. They’re a lot more understanding than I thought.

You can buy all the supplies and ask all the questions but implementing these keys are all on YOU. If you feel yourself slipping, be honest and accept it because if you keep running from it, you could seriously damage your physical and mental health. Keep a diary so you can notice patterns in your energy.

Your best is your best. Succcess is subjective blah blah blah and no one can take that from you. When you get your results, you know what you put into those exams/coursework , so you are entitled to disappointment or joy.

This took me a while to make so I appreciate any comments or reblogs. I love you random person.  If you got to this point I would appreciate it if you could follow my general account on Instgram @fairy_lierre, as I’m going to rest my studygram. Stay tuned for lots more on a level advice and life update <3

[murasaki-murasame]

After all this waiting, we finally know what the new gala is gonna be like, and it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting in a whole bunch of ways, lmao. But I’m still extremely excited for it.

Since i’ve been saving for this ever since the Gala Alex banner ended, I’m currently sitting on a grand total of 600 summons, so let’s just hope I can get what I want with that.

So firstly we now officially know about Gala Leif being a thing, and man was that a roller-coaster of emotions for me. Mostly I’m just happy he’s finally coming out, but I’m still feeling extremely iffy about him being a wind sword, both because Gala Ranzal already exists, and also because I don’t even do eCiella in co-op anymore. But on the other hand, I’m also feeling kinda smug about correctly guessing that he’s be a support unit with two stances, though that probably wasn’t the hardest thing to guess, lol. But even then, his kit just looks . . . kinda strange. I really think I’ll need to hold back on making any judgments about it one way or another until we get his SP costs and damage mods, since that might really make or break him. His abilities also don’t say anything about his stance mechanic, so there might be additional things it does beyond just changing what his skills do.

On paper I think he just looks odd because the strength and defense debuffs don’t really seem that potent, and his S1 defense buff is self-only, which seems like it wouldn’t really be that great in eCiella anyway, and it wouldn’t be able to trigger doublebuff on everyone. Which is weird since he also has a strength doublebuff chain co-ab, with no apparent way to trigger it for the entire team by himself.

And since he doesn’t seem to give team-wide defense buffs, I’m honestly not sure if he’d actually be able to replace T-Hope’s role in eCiella, but for manual play that might not be a huge deal. He also doesn’t seem to have any heals or buff dispel, so he probably won’t also be replacing Lowen or OG Ranzal. And Sylas provides more potent buffs and debuffs. So I’m worried that Gala Leif might just not be able to find a place in the meta, but we’ll see how it goes. Since he has two attacking skills depending on what stance he’s in, he might be a good DPS unit, if nothing else. Which might also go with his Flurry Strength passive, which seems like a really weird ability to give to what seems like a support unit.

His unique debuff punisher co-ab and his debuff skill time ability are also really interesting, but I’m not sure how that’ll work out.

I just think there’s a big possibility that there’s additional mechanics to his kit that aren’t clear just from reading his skills and abilities, so we’ll have towait and see how he goes in practice. It’s entirely possible that he’s like Tobias, and being in his shielding stance lets him attack from range.

I’m still gonna immediately summon for him anyway and if I end up regretting that then that’ll by my problem, lmao. I’ve waited too long for this dude not to chase him.

They’re also putting the upcoming banner units on the gala, which is . . . extremely weird but also really cool. Considering that stuff like this doesn’t lead to anyone having lower than normal appearance rates, this just means that when I chase after Gala Leif I’ll have a good chance at getting some of these units too. Which would be nice, since I was already thinking that they might really tempt me.

It’s also just kinda funny that after finding out about the Xuan Zang alt I got worried that she’d be the new gala unit, which I knew wasn’t gonna happen, but then she ended up actually being on the gala banner anyway even if she’s not the gala unit, lol.

I hope this becomes a trend going forward, since it’d be a great way to give me a shot at non-limited banner units even if I just save for galas exclusively.

Anyway, these new units are the new batch of non-limited light units we’ve been desperately needing, and they look really nice. They still suffer from the fact that there’s no important fights to actually use them in until the shadow Agito boss comes out in like three months, but at least we can use them in this event.

I honestly couldn’t tell what weapon type the Xuan Zang alt was meant to be since she uses a unique weapon model in her boss battle, and she also dies way too fast for me to see her animations, so it’s nice to get confirmation that she’s a wand unit.

In general, Radiant Xuan Zang basically looks like a more tanky version of Peony, which is really interesting. I wonder if anyone will feel bad for summoning for Peony, lol. I think they’re different enough that it doesn’t matter, but they’re still really similar in a lot of ways.

Even though her DPS might not be as high as Peony’s, I do really like how Xuan Zang’s new kit looks. Her S1 strength debuff reminds me a lot of Sylas’, and she also has a shadow resistance buff on her S2. So if that sort of damage mitigation is good in the shadow Agito fight, that’d be really nice. She can also inspire the entire team with her enhanced S2, which seems to effect the entire team and not just people she’s near, so that might have a surprisingly big impact on her team DPS contribution. I think this also makes her the first light unit with inspiration, which is cool.

She also gets the new debuff skill time ability like Gala Leif does, which is cool. I guess that’ll probably be given to new units every once in a while now. The fact that it also covers bleed is really interesting, especially since there’s currently no way to have it apply to anyone who actually inflicts bleed, so maybe they’re laying the foundation for that to happen later. And since we have buff time prints, maybe we’ll get debuff time prints, which could be really useful on certain characters.

One thing that I think is really interesting is that when she maxes her charge gauge, she can lower an enemy’s paralysis resistance level. It sounds like a one-time, permanent effect, but it might have a real impact on team DPS if you rely on paralysis punishing, since this should effectively prolong the amount of uptime you can have on paralysis. It also opens up the possibility of other characters in other elements getting this sort of ability for other status effects, which could really increase the viability of certain units, especially if we get someone who can do this sort of thing for something like bog or blind resistance.

Other than how much she seems to be competing with Peony, my main worry with her is probably that her charge gauge mechanic might hold her back, and lead to her having low uptime on stuff like the strength buff it lets her give the team. Not to mention the fact that it’s an AoE buff effect, not a universal team one, so you might not be able to give it to everyone. It sounds like the amount her charge gauge gets boosted depends on how many teammates are within her AoE field when she uses her S2, so her potential seems to really depend on whether or not everyone’s grouped close to each other.

I honestly wasn’t super interested in her when we first saw her, but the fact that she’ll be on the same banner as Gala Leif makes me a lot more interested in picking her up, and I do really like how her kit looks. I already have Chitose, but I didn’t get Peony, so Xuan Zang might be worth getting. I also just appreciate that she’s effectively a non-limited light strength buff unit, which the element’s really needed for a long time now. It’s not quite as straight-forward as how Chitose’s buffs work, but it’s something.

I also just honestly really like her as a character, and like with Wu Kong I have a lot of nostalgia toward her because her event was the first one I actually got into when I started playing the game. I never really use her welfare version, so it’d be great to be able to use her alt.

Though even more than her, as soon as I saw Zhu Bajie and it became obvious he was gonna be a banner unit, I got really tempted to chase him, lol. Which is another reason why i’m glad that these units are getting bundled into the same banner as Leif. I don’t really need any light units any time soon in general, but I still really want him, and it’d be nice to not have to dream summon him.

In terms of his kit, I don’t really like enmity units in general, but he does look really strong on paper. We’ll have to see his exact damage mods, but the fact that he can manually lower his health while also having Resilient Offense seems like a really good combo. Sadly the shield he gets is just a regular shield like Natalie’s, but it does it’s job. It’s interesting that his S2 also makes it so that he can’t be healed for ten seconds. I’m not sure if that actually works well with his kit or not, since on the one hand he wants to stay at low health as much as possible, but he also needs to dip in and out of low HP to trigger Resilient Offense. He also has a unique force-strike via his ability that has a multi-step charge like the MH units, which gives him knockback res and has paralysis punisher mods. 

Light doesn’t really have the sort of support for enmity kits that shadow does via Grace’s shield utility, but I think he has a lot of potential to be a really good DPS unit, and honestly light really needs more of that, in terms of non-limited units. It’s also nice that he’s an axe, since I didn’t get DY-Malora, and I don’t use S-Luca anymore now that I have G-Luca.

It’s probably worth noting that even though there’s not currently someone like Grace for light, Xuan Zang has her strength debuffs and her team shadow res buffs that should help make Zhu Bajie a lot more tanky if you use them together.

And then there’s the wildcard in the form of Sha Wujing, who isn’t actually described in the blog post they put out because he’s a 4-star. Which is kinda lame, but considering that they’re bundling this with Gala Leif AND also including a new 5-star dragon, I get why they relegated him to being a 4-star.

But either way, he might be a really interesting unit. There’s nothing to go on, but him being a 4-star isn’t an automatic strike against the idea of him being really good. There’s just lots of different things they could do with him.

Basically my main two options I’m thinking about at the moment are in effectively being a light version of Emma, or a light version of Heinwald. It’d be great to get a dedicated, non-limited light strength buffer, but Xuan Zang can kinda do that too, and I’m not really sure if him being a lance unit or something with strength buffs really ‘fits’ his whole vibe. But on the other hand, I really like the idea of him being sort of like Heinwald but for light. It’s been over a year since our last light healer came out, so it’d be really nice to get another one. And tbh as a character he really reminds me of Heinwald, so it’d make sense if they end up being similar units. But who knows.

And finally we’re also getting a new light dragon for this banner, who seems to basically just be light Freyja, except her dragon skill only energizes the team instead of also healing them. Which is a bit lame, but light already has Cupid who can heal everyone, so it’s not a big deal. Either way I’d really like to get a copy of her to use on my light support/healer units.

Interestingly it seems like they’re all still gonna appear on the next banner once the gala ends, but I think this is by far going to be the best time to get them, unless they intentionally increase their appearance rates for their banner or something. Being able to get all of them AND Gala Leif from the same banner is way too good of a deal to pass up.

Also this means that we’re not getting a split banner for this event [at least not in the same way we’ve had with recent events], so that’s great. We’re still probably gonna get more split banners in the future, but it’s nice to have all these units on one banner.

I should probably hold off on my summoning spree until we know how good the new units are [especially since Gala Leif looks like he might be underwhelming in practice], but I’ve been saving for two months for this, so I don’t think I’m gonna be able to restrain myself, lol. Depending on how long I summon for, I might have to actually keep notes of what I get so I can remember it all.

Realistically it might be best for me to just stop if/when I get Gala Leif and then save for the next gala, but with the event units being on the gala banner as well, they might tempt me to keep pulling. We’ll just see how it goes, I guess.

[eliaspsuedo]

Making Pokemon Adventures an Anime

“Pokemon Adventures needs an anime” is definitely a phrase you’ve heard before if you’ve been to any discussion on PokeSpe. It definitely deserves more attention, that’s for sure, and an anime definitely brings so many eyes to it. Just look at all the manga series that exploded in popularity once an anime got made of it!

On the other hand, I can see why The Pokemon Company wouldn’t really make one for a number of reasons.

The Pokemon Anime is still very popular and profitable, so another Pokemon anime on TV would just be cannibalizing their returns and skew the audience. Not to mention eat up resources like animators or budgets.

Upcoming products like Pokemon Masters are much higher priority to make a promotional anime out of, rather than something that’s promoting out-of-date things, like how cool Steel-types, Zorua, etc. was.

A number of prominent Pokemon and even moves are embargoed from appearing in other media besides the games. Notably Kadabra, Earthquake-like moves, and especially Porygon. Maybe you can get around Sabrina’s Kadabra by just making it an Alakazam, but how about Blue and Gladion’s Porygon?

This a bit more speculative, but I imagine there has to be some form of royalties for the writer and artists for using their versions of the characters, not just the OC’s, but the specific versions of the dexholders found in the manga.

And many more reasons why it probably won’t get a full length TV anime any time soon.

But what if it did get an anime? What would be the format? How would they condense a 50+ volume series, with multiple main characters and interconnecting plot points, and all to boost sales and show what makes Pokemon Adventures a great piece of the Pokemon franchise, into an anime?

The most realistic option: A 2-3 minute PV promoting an upcoming arc like SwSh, or better, the whole series for an omnibus rerelease. A basic sizzle reel of various scenes, with a narrator for minimal voice work, is what’ll mostly be.

The ideal option: A promotional anthology web series in the vein of Pokemon Generations.

Now this definitely has been suggested before, but I want to get into the specifics. Here’s how I imagine it:

One 10-12 minute episode will be devoted to a specific character or, for the remakes, one arc (Episode Red, Episode Diamond, Episode HGSS, etc.), covering roughly 2-3 rounds or chapters. This is so that there will be enough material to see who this character is, the basic plot of their arc, and the basic plot of this particular generation. It’s short, straight-to the point, and can easily sell Pokemon Adventures. Let’s not forget, it has to be an inviting and exciting episode for newcomers!

Now there has to be a lot of changes to fit the runtime, so certain scenes and dialogue has to be cut or skimmed. Some original parts has to be put in to for the episode to flow better. Plus, I imagine getting into the exciting Pokemon battles will be more appealing than earlier chapters, which are very exposition heavy. So cold opens or going from the introduction scene in the opening chapter to an “In Medias Res” battle is some later chapter, is one of the many tricks to keep the flow going.

The reason why I say 10-12 minutes is because of the amount of episodes it will take to cover all the Dexholders and the remakes alone! At least 21 Dex Holders + 3 remake arcs. The amount of resources it’ll take would be pretty large, even with a reduced runtime, and I don’t think TPC would shell that much cash. Even then, most promotional anime series clock in at around 6-8 mins, not enough time to properly show off a character or a cool battle. So if it can go above the usual time, 10-12 minutes is what I think it could be stretched too, while keeping the costs to make it low. I also want to see an episode devoted to the evil teams or villains, as that too is one of PokeSpe strengths. It’ll bump up the episode count for sure, unless the series is broken up into chunks by generation and released months apart.

But which chapters? Well here’s a few examples on how I see it being adapted:

A basic adaptation with bits and pieces of later chapters.

Episode Red: Round 1 & 2 and maybe a bit of Round 3 or 4.

The introduction chapter starts things off, of course! The basic structure of the two chapters can remain the same. A few bits of dialogue can be trimmed, most notably Red explaining what Pokemon are, and some scenes can be altered, like Blue being seen with a Pokedex when fighting Mew, to streamline the story. For the ending bit, Prof. Oak’s narration at the end of round 3 while Red and Blue argue, establishing their rivalry, is a good way to cap it off. Alternatively, the part in Round 4 where Red is trying to befriend Pikachu and Blue challenging him that he’ll get the boulder badge first, is also a good cap to the episode.

A two-parter with original material.

Episode Gold: Round 91-95

We can better start out with Gold playing billiards, and listening to the radio, and getting Elm’s bag. The Hoothoot part can be offscreen, with a quick shot of Team Rocket stealing his bag. During the end of his and Silver’s battle, where he gets knocked out by Elekid, we save Silvers part for his episode. Gold wakes up, gives his account to the Police, and goes after Silver. Ending Prof. Oak appearing and giving him the “What are Pokemon to you?” Question.

Episode Silver: Round 94, 95, a bit of original material.

Starting off when Gold was knocked out, we get Silvers battle with Team Rocket. A bit more original scenes may be needed after Silver makes his escape and maybe talks to Green. Actually seeing Prof. Oaks account of how he stole the Pokedex can also be included. Ending with Gold getting the Pokedex after giving Prof. Oak a good answer, cutting out the part where he saves Ratata for time.

Opening scene then cut to an “In Medias Res” Battle

Episode Emerald: Round 303-304, 306-307 Emerald calming down Sudowood will open things up. After his declaration of conquering the Battle Frontier, the title card appears, and we move to Emerald moving up the Battle Tower, showing off his skills and strategy. A “How did we get here?” Narration from Todd can quickly explain the time skip. The episode ends with the discussion over Sceptile, brief flashes of Wally, optional.

And that’s just a few examples I can show! I actually did write a list of what rounds are suitable for this sort of adaptation, but I think a few will do.

If there’s one thing PokeSpe definitely needs, it’s more promotion. As part of the marketing machine that is the Pokemon franchise, it’s actually surprising how much less love this branch gets is in comparison. I think it has to do with a lot of factors, Viz not printing the series past Vol 7 for the longest time, Not wanting to overshadow any of the other manga series, Being over 50+ volumes long, etc. Recently, it’s been getting a bigger push both in Japan and the US, so things are looking up. 

At the end of the day, it’s all about seeing the world you love and thought you knew, come to life in new and different ways. Pokemon Adventures has the love and spirit through and through, and it’s better shared with familiar and newer faces.

It’s like when Red got his Pokedex, he thought he knew all there is about the Pokemon world, and revealing that maybe he didn’t quite knew everything, showed him there’s a whole world out there to explore. One filled with mystery, danger, and friendship.

Plus, showing that the Arbok lived might finally shut most people up.

[theorangedeath]

Some webcomic recs

Webcomics are as underrated as they are varied. I mostly read printed comics now, but there’s no way I’d have gotten there had I not found webcomics before - believe me, I tried, but this damn hobby is super inaccessible to a beginner, not to mention expensive. Webcomics are like fanfics in that regard - hell, some of them are fan comics - in that there’s something for everyone, all within your reach, but in order to find something you like you have to either 1. Get very, VERY lucky, 2. Be prepared to read a lot of bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff, or 3. Hear about them from people you trust. 

I was a 2 - i would read anything, back in the day - and while i’m not as unconditionally enthusiastic as i was, there are still some gems I wish got the same appreciation as some talents in the industry. I’ll spare you the rest of the article (dm me for comic rants though), let’s get to it! 

note: all the comics are numbered as “1″ because tumblr messed up the google docs formatting 

Comics i still follow as they update because either tumblr starts posting about them right away or they’re on tapas

Check Please! 

https://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/

I’m probably not the one introducing you to Check Please, as it’s one of the most popular webcomics out there, thank god. The parts of the fandom i’m familiar with are cool and wholesome, just like the work itself. It’s about a southern gay kid, Eric Bittle, who joins the hockey team in his college. It’s impossible not to love every single character there, the sports drama elements are great, and the format is like solidarity put into panels. The Samwell Men’s Hockey team’s motto is “we’ve got each other’s backs”, and there isn’t a single part of the comic that doesn’t 100% incorporate that. 

Heartstopper

https://tapas.io/series/Heartstopper

The 2000s so far have been a rough contest for the title of “sweetest ya romance” but guys, we found it, we can stop now. Nick and Charlie are in highschool, Charlie is gay and out (not by will), Nick plays rugby because apparently that’s what british jocks do. Can i make it any more obvious? It took me a while to fall in love with the artstyle but when i did i fell HARD - the creator is re-drawing some of the older chapters, though, so your experience might be different. The story’s captivating right away, and you want everyone there to be happy from pretty much page 1. The creator also writes ya prose, and some of her books are about other characters from the same school. I love all of them, but Radio Silence is my personal favorite. She also has two novellas about Nick and Charlie themselves, available as e-books. 

Charity Case 

https://tapas.io/series/Charity-Case

I rarely start new webcomics anymore, but boy, this one got me FAST. and that was even before I realized it’s a polyam love story, which i love but is surprisingly rare in webcomics - at least the ones i know. Julien, an irresponsible young musician, resorts to sharing an apartment with two roomates who are a couple. I fell for the unique, gorgeous artstyle first, and by the time i realized i’m also super invested in the story and characters, it’s already become one of my favorites. Plus, Julien’s hair looks so soft! 

The Property of Hate 

http://thepropertyofhate.com/TPoH/

THIS is what comics should be. There’s so much passion here, not just for the story but for the storytelling as well - and the two aren’t as separated as you might think. A young girl is recruited by a TV man to be a hero. The world they enter seems nonsensical and arbitrary at first, but as they travel she discovers its logic, stories and secrets. She will also, as her title suggests, need to save it. There’s so much i love about this comic that i don’t know where to start, so i’ll just say this: it’s absolutely inspiring, in every sense of the word. Also, read the creator’s duck comics, they’ll make you feel things. 

Webcomics i occasionally remember to catch up on, get blown away all over again by how good they are, vow to check them regularly for updates then forget. And repeat 

Wilde Life

https://wildelifecomic.com/

I think this is the first ever webcomic i read that had a plot? I got on the wagon at around chapter 1 or 2 and it’s hard to believe it but it only gets better with time, even though it already starts at 100%. Oscar moves to a new town and immediately makes friends with a ghost and a grumpy teen werewolf. It has both monster-of-the-week type problems and overarching plots, and reading it feels nostalgic and brand new at the same time. The fantasy world has this special feel to it, that makes me miss growing up in the american wilderness even though i, well, didn’t. Plus, the creator is cool as hell. I knit her a hat in high school in exchange for a commission. 

Sfeer Theory

https://sfeertheory.com/

This comic got me through a hard time and i’ll forever be grateful for that. Also, it’s really, really good. This is another case of a comic where you fall in love with the art right away and before long you find yourself caring very much about the characters and the story. You might also find yourself growing out your hair to style it like Luca’s. If you’re me it’ll be a lost cause, so, uh, keep that in mind. Luca works as a technician at the prestigious Uitspan university. A mysterious, powerful man is looking to change that. While the comic’s biggest strength is probably the gorgeous, fascinating worldbuilding - and Luca’s hair - the characters are also ridiculously easy to relate to, even if we don’t know anything about them. Even the most meaningless extras are somehow compelling thanks to the dynamic, rich art style. And did i mention the hair? If you like it, you won’t be disappointed by everything else Little Foolery makes. 

How To Be a Werewolf

http://www.howtobeawerewolf.com/

I almost didn’t read this one! My brain has decided i don’t like werewolves and i don’t know how to reverse that. But then i saw Elias’ body language and it was extremely fun and friendly, and so was the rest of the comic, and the rest is history. Malaya knows she’s a werewolf, but seeing as she doesn’t know any other werewolves, dealing with that is hard. That is until Elias discovers her and decides to help, along with the rest of his pack. It’s filled with family and solidarity feelings, some dark mysteries and themes, and the art is beautiful and expressive. 

Monsterkind 

http://monsterkind.enenkay.com/

Another case of read-everything-this-creator-makes-it’s-all-amazing! Wallace, a social worker, moves - or rather, is moved - to District C, which is mostly populated by monsters. His heart’s in the right place, and apparently so is his apartment, because his neighbors are cool as heck and agree, some of them reluctantly, to help him get his bearings. There’s a mystery to uncover, some monsters to help and a dashing tea octopus to woo - for Kip to woo, anyway - and it’s all a delight to read. Every single character brings their own lovable-ness to the table, and even with the darker parts, reading this comic kinda feels like being hugged. 

Comics that no longer update

The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal - finished 

http://tjandamal.com/

Guys. guys! I’m pretty sure this is my all time favorite comic, web OR printed. I have the printed version, i still read it online occasionally, a lot of the songs mentioned in it are now saved on my spotify, i had it as my phone background for a good couple of years, the whole package. Amal comes out to his family and it ends with him having to drive to his sister’s graduation in Providence. There’s a guy in his kitchen who just so happens to need a lift there, and he’s willing to pay, and Amal’s too hungover to argue. What follows is the best roadtrip story ever. I’m seriously considering getting my license just to recreate that route. I just really love this story, okay? Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, the creator’s music taste is GOOD. 

Prague Race - to be continued in text 

https://www.praguerace.com/

The fantasy aesthetic to end all fantasy aesthetics. And the characters are good and interesting. And the world is well built and leaves you wanting more. AND there’s a cat. And it looks so good! Leona is irresponsible and spontaneous and gets her friends in some weird shit that leaves them trapped in a strange world, dealing with several curses, trying to survive and make sense of it all. I could spend a lifetime looking at the art and die happy. 

Shoot around - finished 

https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/shoot-around/list?title_no=399&page=1

A girl’s basketball team and its coach, Jeff, deal with a zombie apocalypse. They make the most of the post apocalyptic world. There’s drama, friendship, found family, love and hope - it’s basically everything a zombie apocalypse narrative should be. And i love how the creator plays with the colors from chapter to chapter! 

Rock and Riot - finished 

https://tapas.io/series/Rock-and-Riot 

It’s cute! It’s fun! It’s a 1950’s queer ensamble cast high school drama! It’s what Grease would’ve been like in a better timeline, except we still got it in this timeline. The artstyle fits perfectly with the story and characters, but if you want to see what’s the creator capable of now, read their newest comic, Project Nought. It’s a cool sci fi story and just like in Rock and Riot, it’s super easy to connect to every character there. 

Alright there’s a lot more but i somehow wrote 4 google docs pages of webcomic recs in one sitting (this is what i’m able to focus on? Really, brain?) and i think that’s enough for now. Like i said, please dm me if you want to talk about anything here, rec some of your own, listen to my rants or tell me i’m a nerd. Or all of the above. I might make a similar post with print comic, but right now i have some dogs to pet. Keep being cool! 

[flopgoblins]

Ocelot Emperor

We emerge from the mists of Ireland - where we’re on retreat with next to no internet - to lay this offering at the feet of one of our favorite people and wish her a very happy birthday! @brazenbells we love you, thank you for two consecutive years of helping us write our boys, and for letting us throw them at your own.

Without further ado, the crossover smash the fans (us, mostly) have been clamoring for! Thanks, Ted. 

-

King Abran's throne was as vast and glorious as his kingdom. Made of teak, varnished until the wood seemed to glow with an inner fire, inlaid with gold and etched with scenes from myth and legend and the founding of his dynasty. 

And upon it, his wrists heavy with bangles, his fingers dripping rings, his eyes dark with kohl, lounged the crown prince, golden and glorious as a lion at rest. His eyes were lion-tawny too, and his neck was straight and proud, easily bearing the weight of the shining crown that rested upon his brow. 

“See,” said Matt, angling his phone so Nico could get a better look at himself. “You look way better in all this sparkly shit than I do.”

Nico slid off the throne with a gentle chinking and untangled the gold-ish polymer crown from his hair. Beneath the gilt, it was dark brown, but for the stark white streak Makeup had sprayed there two hours ago. “Yeah, the casting choices feel a little strange. I can see why everyone on Twitter was pulling up those fanart comps to complain about it. Still not as bad as the, uh - ”

“I know,” Matt said morosely, taking the crown back and putting it on wonky. “I don’t even tan.” They’d dyed his hair again but thankfully drawn the line at trying to make him any less pasty. Manufacturing sexual tension with someone who looks like a stretched out Oompa Loompa might be beyond even Nico’s prodigious talents. 

“I’m billed above you though. That’s progress.” Nico tried to get the crown to sit right but succeeded in tilting it drunkenly to the other side. “And, hey, it’s not every day you get a big-budget fantasy epic with a queer romance.”

“They cut out the incest. And most of the sex.” Around them, the studio walls yawned tall and green; the only solid things onset were them and the throne, and the throne was mostly resin. 

“There wasn’t that much sex in the book,” said Nico, who’d picked up the novel as soon as the casting call went out and gone through making characterization notes on every page. 

Matt, who’d read the first draft as it was posted on AO3, complete with thirteen chapters of kink that hadn’t made it into the published version, sniffed and forbore from commenting. Some hauteur was probably in keeping with playing Gael anyway. More in keeping with Tigris, though, which was further evidence Ted Nord couldn’t cast to save his life. 

“I mean, I love it, it’s a really interesting role, but I’m finding it hard to get to grips with,” Nico had said, on the first day of shooting. “Spending your whole life pretending to be being vain and shallow, because it’s not safe to be anything else. Wearing a mask so long you must start to wonder whether you’ve become it. What does that do to a person?”

“Dunno,” Matt had said. “Did you see Ray Lelacheur’s Vogue cover yet? Terrible shoes.”

Now that Nico had abandoned the regal warmth that had settled on him as if it was second nature while draped over the throne, he was stirring the pages of the script again, frowning at his lines. Tigris had been the most he’d had to stretch for a character to date, he’d told Matt, though he’d earnestly added he liked the character’s ‘chewiness.’ 

Matt, who’d struggled equally hard to locate the generosity of spirit and ease of power that was Gael, continued to think that Ted was just as bad at casting to type as he was to aesthetic. 

Nico tossed his white-streaked hair back from his forehead and dragged on his black velvet cloak. “Will you run this scene again with me? I keep not getting the timbre of his ambition right.” He mouthed a few lines, twisted a green gemstone on his finger, and cast an agonized, kohl-rimmed look at Matt. “How do I channel the appropriate volume of petulance, the feeling of a man deprived what by all rights should be his?”

Matt draped himself over his rightful throne, trying to arrange his limbs with the same boneless grace Nico had achieved so easily. “Remember when we were at that falafel truck last week and it took twenty minutes for your order to come and you started cursing god?”

“Suck my dick, Rose,” said Nico reflexively, but looked thoughtful.  

“Later,” murmured Matt, and closed his eyes to wait.

-

“Spy,” snarled the prince, rounding on his cousin. Tigris stood his ground, jaw set against the taller man’s fury, lip curling with defiant derision. “You intrude here, in my father’s house, not content to be left to your life of indulgent luxury, so desperate for attention -”

Tigris’s eyes flashed, enraged despite himself. “Attention? You think that is what I crave? Heavens forbid I seek a world beyond the gilded cage my uncle keeps me in, indulging me like a spoilt puppy and giving me just as much freedom. Attention? I would give my eyeteeth for less! If one could trade condescending oversight for actual knowledge of how our kingdom is run-”

“Our kingdom,” repeated Gael. He cocked his head to the side, curiosity warring with the outrage in his noble features. “You truly think it so, do you? But our father-”

“Uncle,” said Tigris, under his breath.

“Our uncle -”

“My uncle,” said Tigris helpfully. “Your father.”

“My - okay, your -” Matt stopped. “Gawd. This doesn’t work at all.”

“See? It doesn’t work half as well without the incest.” Nico flicked a gem-encrusted finger at Matt’s nose.

Matt wrinkled it and adjusted the hang of gold chains over his collarbones. “You say this like I’m the one who made the script changes. And for the record, Cindy was as cut up about it as you are.” Cindy, script doctor extraordinaire, had also lurked the story on AO3 as it sailed up the ‘Original Fiction’ rankings, and was as distressed as he was about the loss of the throne sex scene. “It’s not my fault transgressive familial kink hasn’t crossed over from the hets yet.”

“Kink shmink, it totally shifts the dynamic.” Nico flapped his cloak emphatically. “Adopted cousins isn’t close to the same sort of layers of resentment and entitlement being a bastard half-brother would be.”

“Right,” said Matt, who’d definitely only re-read chapter 12 seven times for the entitlement, and not the way Tigris hissed ‘brother’ while bound to a bedpost. “The morality groups would lose their shit, though. Probably it was the right call.” It was impressive enough his agency had let him sign the role at all; he’d already rocked the boat enough asking if his casting was whitewashing.

“The morality groups are gonna lose their shit over the gay factor anyway,” said Nico stubbornly. “In for a penny...”

“What about the negative associations of homosexuality with sexual taboos?” 

“What about double standards?”

“Sure, it’s a double standard and it sucks, but you gotta start somewhere. It’s a story about being an outcast and fighting for scraps of dignity, fighting to be seen as human by people who want you to be less than that, and that’s gonna resonate with a lot of kids. You gotta lay the groundwork then fuck your brother.”

Nico raised an eyebrow and Matt shut up quickly; he, or rather his agency, had made a point of never letting him be drawn into these kinds of debates. “And I think compromise robs art of its power. What does the author think?” They both glanced across the set to where a woman in a peacock-print dress watched as Ted struggled to coral the child actors for the carnival scene. Her expression, behind her glasses, was unreadable. 

“Dunno.” Matt ran his hand through his hair. The dye had dried it out and he winced at the brittle, dead-grass feel of it. “Only time we spoke, we both tried to get each other’s autographs and it was really awkward. Bet she’d have some notes for you, though.”

“D’you know, Rose, that’s not a bad idea.” Once resolved, Nico was all action and he stood, script pages fluttering to the floor, velvet cloak swirling around his ankles. The jut of his jaw said that nothing short of poor falafel truck service would defeat him. 

“Ask her to show you the predicament bondage scene,” Matt told him helpfully. “There were some really important character beats in that, I thought.”

-

“You think you’re too good for me, don’t you?”

“What?” Matt looked up, taken completely off guard. He was stretched out in Nico’s window seat, deeply absorbed in a thinkpiece on why Kai Bourke would have been a better casting choice for Gael, and thoroughly agreeing with it. Seeing his boyfriend prowling towards him with a look of cold fury and a bare chest was enough to stop him mid-anonymous comment.

Nico stalked across the room towards him, the taut anger etched in every muscle creating a frayed grace that was almost violence. “That’s the worst of you, your highness. It’s not that you hate me. It’s not that you think less of me. It’s that you think nothing of me at all!”

Finally cottoning on, Matt swung his legs around and tried to remember his lines; it was hard, he truly couldn’t remember what part of the script this was. That in itself was unusual. Matt would hardly claim himself a natural thespian or even a diligent professional, but memorizing lines had been a skill drilled into him since he was eight years old and it was a tough habit to shake. Still, while Nico’s words - Tigris’s words - sounded vaguely familiar, he couldn’t for the life of him place them in Ted and Cindy’s script. 

“But I’m going to make certain you don’t forget me, brother,” whispered Nico, and that was just it, Matt realized. It wasn’t the script at all. It wasn’t even the book. It was the original.

“You read it?” he mouthed, as Nico’s hand wrapped around his wrist. 

“Shocked to learn I’m literate?” spat Nico, but favored him with the shadow of a wink. No shadow around his eyes this time, no gold woven into his hair, but he was more Tigris than he’d been on the soundstage. 

It was, simultaneously, extremely Nico. 

Matt tried, experimentally, to free his wrist and found he couldn’t. He shivered, feeling his pulse jump, knowing Nico could feel it too. “Was that an attempt to dig deeper into the artistic truth of the work, or to mine it for weird, kinky shit?” 

“Yes,” said Nico, bearing him down onto the cushions, beautiful and vengeful and careful not to knock Matt’s laptop off the seat.

-

One of the advantages of shooting a gay film with your boyfriend - one Arose had certainly never intended - was that when Nico turned, grabbed Matt by the lapels, and kissed him on the red carpet, everyone laughed and smiled and Matt knew the gossip mag headlines would be jokes about dedication to the craft and not shock sexuality scandals. His father probably wouldn’t- okay he’d definitely mind but it’d probably be a side note in a meeting about how to capitalize on the film’s success. 

And it was a success; some desperately hot sex aside, reading the story - the real story - had apparently been what Nico had needed to pull it together. All the pride and fear and desperate clawing longing of a tiger caged that had risen like a heat haze from Tigris’s story, and Nico had captured it, had reveled in it, and put it on the screen for all to see. 

Matt straightened his tie and winked to the paps - just a joke between bros, nothing queer here - and resolved to fuck Nico senseless in the restrooms after the premier. Nico laughed and stuck his tongue out. He’d left the white streak in his hair for the red carpet, as stark as the collar of his suit, and Matt had to say, it was growing on him. 

[amandajoyce118]

Agents of SHIELD S6E06 “Inescapable” Easter Eggs And References

In this week’s episode, Fitz and Simmons find themselves reunited, but sharing a mindspace while the Chronocoms want them to work out time travel. It leads to some unexpectedly therapeutic tracking through old memories.

As usual, there are spoilers. Again, SPOILERS if you haven’t yet watched the episode. You’ve been warned.

Spoilers.

Seriously.

Last warning.

The White Room

This is probably unintentional, and the white room they end up in is likely just meant to look like the blank slate it is, but… it made me think of another white room from Marvel Comics. Specifically, the White Hot Room. That’s the name of the Purgatory like space that the Phoenix Force inhabits pretty often. It’s also where Jean Grey recharges and accesses all of her memories when she and the Phoenix re-merge. It’s just a very striking similarity since Dark Phoenix was just in theaters (and the movie doesn’t use that comic book aspect at all).

Fitz’s Proposal

If Fitz’s proposal sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve heard it before. Last season, when he found Jemma, she couldn’t hear him, but he gave her nearly the exact same speech. (Edited to add: She also answered him the same way he answered her when she proposed last season. Nice. And she knew exactly how his speech would end, which means she must have asked him at some point last season how he proposed when she couldn’t hear him. Also, right before Fitz proposes, you’ll spot his bad hand twitching a bit, a nervous tick Iain has kept using since his season two injury. Love the character consistency.)

Alice In Wonderland

A hole appearing in the white room that Jemma escapes through and Fitz following her into her own childhood bedroom feels like a very intentional nod to going “down the rabbit holt” and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Jemma’s Room

I know I’m going to miss some things in Jemma’s room, but there is so much going on in here. Obviously, the book about her and Fitz, but there’s more. We see she’s a Jane Goodall fan because that photograph features prominently. There are stars on her ceiling, likely a nod to the times she spent studying the stars while recovering from surgery as a kid. She has so many samples on her shelves that I wish I could actually see what they all are. There’s a Winnie the Pooh which doubles as a nod to the Disney parent company and it being one of those very English animated properties (edited to add it is technically Canadian) for kids. Not to mention fellow MCU alum Hayley Atwell starred in Christopher Robin. Right next to Winnie is a Paddington Bear, which is a nice touch. Also, the butterfly painting on her wall that looks like it’s a little mixed media with butterfly pieces on the bottom? That was in Jemma’s Hydra apartment in season two. (I remember that odd detail because I used it in a fic.)

Edited to add that Jemma has a serious thing for butterflies that makes me curious. In addition to the butterfly print from season two, there are framed butterflies on shelves, and sample vials of other butterflies in her collection, and even butterflies on the tea set that she and Fitz have in the white room. I wonder if it’s because they were easy for her to study as a kid, or if she was fascinated by their transformation, or something else. Is that something else, perchance, something to do with Sarge’s Snowflake? She does like to go on about how people become beautiful butterflies after she stabs them. Is this just a weird bit of foreshadowing? Showing a connection between them? Is Snowflake another’s world’s version of Jemma? Oh, that would be weird. But food for thought.

Also edited to add: the book doesn’t just feature Fitz as the prince in the stars and Simmons as the princess looking for him. It also features Mack as a strong bear and Daisy as a quick rabbit, which are interesting choices. I’m assuming it’s them only because they’re the friends they call later in the episode. I mean, it could be that the animals are Daisy and Piper since they went to space together, but that would make Davis the monkey? lol

Cuttlefish

Okay, I’m editing this one in because it struck me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to include it until I looked up the sea creature. So, I initially thought this was a nod to Jemma talking about fish in the pod at the bottom of the ocean in season one. And maybe it is. But, the cuttlefish is actually from the same taxonomic class as squids... like the symbol for Hydra. Nice nod either way.

Fitz’s Academy Dorm

Hey, Bonus mention of Anne Weaver! I enjoy her. The show should try to get her back for a cameo or two.

Okay, I’ll admit I was too focused on them processing the memory to focus on everything in Fitz’s room, but I did spot that massive Manchester banner. Just a reminder that’s Fitz’s team and Hunter is not a fan, as we learned last season. I might catch more on a rewatch, but feel free to tell me what I missed in both of their rooms.

Edited to add: Fitz is wearing the “same” dark blue hoodie that Jemma wears around the base in season three when she returns from Maveth. It’s not actually the same, but we’re clearly meant to think it’s the same one that fits her because it is far too small for Iain to be wearing it over two more layers of clothing. Also, even before Jemma mentions Fitz being manic, you can actually seen hand drawn monkeys on the wall like what Fitz did in the prison cell. Only a few before they start discussing his state of mind and then show Jemma looking at them on the wall. Also, the tie that Fitz wears when they meet Coulson is hanging on his coat rack.

Side note: I found it interesting, though I loathe the term, that Jemma says she friendzoned Fitz in that scene. That means that Jemma at the Academy must have had some inkling that Fitz had a crush on her. Or, this is just Jemma looking back on it with the benefit of over a decade of experience with Fitz and realizing it. Either way, it confirms that Fitz always thought she was the coolest, even while he was busy arguing with her.

Jemma Needs Therapy

I love that Jemma’s problems locked in a box are an amalgam of all her traumas. (Also, it’s funny to me that she has a little pink safe on her dresser that she could have locked her troubles away in, but instead, it’s the easy to open jewelry box.) This version of Jemma looks like a monster, but she’s wearing her shirt from Maveth and shreds of her Kree-slave attire, carrying the shiv from Maveth, has gold paint on her forehead from her time in the future. (Edited to add: she’s also covered in dirt with a hoarse voice, and I’ve noticed some people think that’s a nod to her emerging from a grave in the Framework, which is a good catch. I thought it was simply to make her look more like a monster, but it makes sense that it’s a nod to what she discovered in the Framework now that I’ve watched the episode again, and this “monster” only emerges after they’re faced with the Doctor.) She’s the embodiment of all the bad things Jemma has gone through, and Fitz is right that she’d be better off with therapy instead of keeping the English stiff upper lip.

Meeting Coulson

The scene where the two of them meet and get recruited by Coulson makes me wonder if it happened immediately before we meet them in the pilot episode. Why? Because they’re wearing their pilot episode clothes, though the hair, of course, is not exactly accurate. (Edited to add: Simmons telling Fitz, “yes, I’ve heard the stories, don’t be weird” is a nod to Coulson’s death being on record. They weren’t at a high enough clearance level to actual know he was alive.)

Edited to add: can we talk about how significant it is that Fitz “fights” the demon version of Jemma on the part of the quinjet where he first thought he was going to lose Jemma? It’s where he couldn’t get his parachute on in “FZZT” and Ward went to save her instead. I just found that location choice interesting. It’s not the bus from season one. It’s definitely an updated quinjet, probably because they don’t have the same exact set pieces anymore, but it looks strikingly similar. Demon-demon asking Fitz if his lungs or bones will go first? That’s a nod to the scene of she and Daisy torturing an alien this season when they were looking for Fitz. Clearly, though she saw the intimidation and torture as necessary, it left it’s mark on her.

Also, I didn’t mention in when I initially posted this, but I think them choosing Daisy and Mack to save them speaks more to how they view them than just what cast was available. We’ve seen Hunter literally pull Fitz out of prison, yet he chooses Mack to save him from Jemma. Why? I feel like he might trust Mack with Jemma’s trauma more than he trusts Hunter. Because Mack was there for most of it, and because Mack was there for his own recovery in season two before he became closer to Hunter. Likewise, Jemma calling Daisy and not May, or Elena? That’s because Daisy has had her back for a year in space. She’s seen Daisy literally take out an entire room of badguys while drugged up on puffies, so of course, Daisy is her first choice. Daisy has also already had the Doctor in her own head when Fitz had his psychotic break last season, so it’s a bit of symmetry there too.

Trapped In A Pod

Okay, so it’s sweet that they realize they don’t just have to rely on one another and call Daisy and Mack for backup against the dark parts of their minds. I enjoy that, as well as the symmetry of them both getting to see each other’s worst parts. What I really love here though is that this is the angrier version of the season one pod scene. The two of them run away from their troubles only to be trapped together in an enclosed space, yet again, to yell at one another about all the things they haven’t had the chance to argue about before. Watching the scene, I literally said that the only thing that would make it better would be if it was actually at the bottom of the ocean. Of course, they realized that and it filled with water. Of course. The arguing in the middle of the water, just as it did in season one, leads to their confessing their feelings. It’s a lovely, symmetrical, story of their relationship, this episode.

That Makeout

Leopold and Demon Jemma going at it while Fitz and Simmons argue? This just further proves that all that bantering in the early seasons was really foreplay, right?

That’s all I’ve got, for now. I’m sure I missed some things just because of the nature of the episode. It’s taking us on a walk through memories, some we’ve seen, so there are likely more that are harder to spot. Let me know what I missed!

[27dragons]

Name of Piece: The Bliss of Ignorance Square Filled: R3 - didn’t know they were dating Rating: T Warnings: None Summary: Bucky and Tony are friends. It only makes sense they’d do nice things for each other. But there’s nothing between them. Really. Created For: @tonystarkbingo

Bucky was playing paper football with Clint when Tony pushed into the coffee shop, arms laden with thick books, as usual. Bucky felt a warm little spurt of fondness. Of all the friends Steve had made while Bucky was deployed overseas, Tony was his favorite. Bucky waved, then dragged over a chair from another table.

“That stack must weigh almost as much as you,” he said as Tony dropped the books on the table with a relieved sigh.

“Just about,” Tony agreed. “But they don’t have ebook versions, so...” He shrugged. “It’s okay, I only need them for a few days.”

“Mechanical Engineering and Robotics,” Steve read off the spines. “Fundamentals of Robotics Design. Tony, what the heck? You took Fundamentals three semesters ago.”

“Yeah, but I thought I should brush up.” He grinned and bounced in his seat with barely-suppressed excitement. “I got that internship with Fujikawa!”

“What! Tony, that’s fantastic!” Bucky said, amidst the others’ congratulations. “You’re gonna blow ‘em away.”

“I hope so,” Tony said. “I mean, it’s just an internship, I know I won’t be actually working on design or anything, but--”

“They’ll be lucky to have you,” Bucky promised.

“Thanks.” Tony opened one of the books and took out a small stack of pages held together with a paperclip. “Of course, now I’ve got to fill in all this new hire paperwork. Anyone got a pen I can borrow?”

Natasha had one, because she was prepared for everything, always.

Bucky and Clint went back to their game while Tony muttered over the forms he was filling out and Steve and Nat bickered good-naturedly about whose turn it was to decide where their next date would be.

“Oh, dammit,” Tony sighed. “They want an emergency contact number. There’s no way I’m putting my parents on here.”

Tony’s wealthy father had cut Tony off after they’d fought over what Tony should major in, among other things. In defiance, Tony had gotten loans and was finishing up his degree on his own terms. Bucky was ridiculously proud of him. “Put me down, doll,” Bucky suggested.

“Really?”

“Sure,” Bucky said. “I’m mostly on night shift anyway, so I’ll be around when you blow something up.”

Tony huffed, but wrote Bucky’s name and number on the form. “Robotics doesn’t really involve a lot of explosions,” he said. “More’s the pity.”

“Okay, so when you accidentally create an evil robot that’s bent on destroying the world,” Bucky amended. Tony laughed, and Bucky ruffled his hair.

[’ware the readmore!]

Tony pushed open the door to Bucky’s apartment. Bucky had given him a key when it had come up that Bucky’s apartment was closer to the Fujikawa office than the fourth-floor walkup that Tony split with Clint and Pietro. “That way you’ve got a place to stash your books an’ stuff so you don’t gotta lug ‘em all that way,” Bucky had said.

It was handy; Tony kept a couple of changes of clothes at Bucky’s, too, in case he had to work late and crash on Bucky’s couch. And Bucky had given him space in the fridge, too, so Tony could eat dinner there before taking the subway back to his own apartment. They often ate together, in fact -- Tony’s dinner was Bucky’s breakfast.

Bucky was in the kitchen already when Tony came in, humming tunelessly as he made a mess of the eggs in his frying pan. He looked up with a bright smile when Tony came in. “Heya, dollface! Good day?”

“Yeah, actually,” Tony said. “I found a little flaw in the design I was proofreading, and my boss said I probably saved the company a couple of months on the project and a shit-ton of money.”

“That’s great!” Bucky said. He threw his arm around Tony’s shoulders and squeezed him in a quick hug before going back to his eggs. “We should go out to celebrate.”

“Speaking of celebration,” Tony said, “your birthday is coming up. You going to let me plan a party?”

“What? You don’t gotta go to any trouble for me,” Bucky said.

Tony glared at him. “It’s not trouble if I want to do it. C’mon, it’s the first birthday you’ve had since you came back stateside. Let us take you out and have some fun!”

Bucky made a face like he was going to argue, and Tony turned on the pout. Bucky could never resist Tony’s pout.

“Fine, okay,” Bucky sighed. His mouth twitched like he was trying to suppress a smile. “Nothin’ too crazy, though, okay? It’s just a birthday, don’t really mean nothin’.”

“I promise,” Tony lied cheerfully, and whipped out his phone. “Cancelling the hunky male strippers now.”

Bucky laughed. “Nah, you might as well keep those,” he said. “Makin’ Stevie blush is the best present you could give me, anyway.”

(“Oh my god,” Bucky said, three weeks later. “I thought you were kidding about the strippers!”

“Buck, I never kid about strippers,” Tony said solemnly. He’d had to badger Clint and Bruce and Natasha into helping him pay for it, but it was totally worth it for the way Bucky’s eyes had bugged out and the blush that climbed up out of Bucky’s collar.

“Best birthday ever.”)

Steve and Natasha were completely disgusting together pretty much all the time, but for Valentine’s Day, they took it to new heights. “Ug, get a room,” Bucky complained.

“Or,” Clint suggested with a practiced leer, “put on a show.”

“You have a boyfriend,” Bucky reminded him.

“It’s okay, I’ll film it for him.” Clint thumbed on his phone and turned on the photo app.

“Gross. Stevie, what the hell happened to the evils of the industrial marketing complex, huh?”

Steve managed to tear his gaze away from Natasha. “I guess when you’re this much in love, you’ll take any excuse to show it.”

“Oh gag me,” Bucky whined.

“Kinky,” said Tony in his ear. “We haven’t even gotten to third base yet.”

“Jesus!” Bucky jumped. “Where’d you come from?”

“Just got here.” Tony dragged out a chair and dropped into it, then tossed a package into Bucky’s lap.

“What’s this?” Bucky picked the box up and turned it over.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Tony said. “The bodega on Seventh already has their chocolate on post-holiday markdown.”

“Nice!” If Bucky was going to have to watch his paired-off friends being all sappy and cute with each other all day while Bucky was single, it was nice to have consolation chocolate to go with it. “But don’t think this means I’m putting out.”

“What about this one?”

Bucky leaned over Tony’s shoulder to read the Craigslist ad. “I dunno, this guy sounds like a creeper.”

“They all sound like creepers,” Tony pointed out. “It’s a roommate-wanted ad.”

Bucky chewed on his lip. He could appreciate Tony wanting to move out of Clint and Pietro’s apartment to give the two their privacy, but he didn’t like the idea of Tony living with a stranger. Especially not with the creeps and drug dealers that seemed to be all Tony was finding on Craigslist.

Fuck it. “You could always move in with me,” he said. Bucky’s apartment was small, but he had it to himself.

Tony gave him a wide-eyed look. “I already impose on you enough.”

“Nah. Half your stuff is at my place anyway, you might as well just bring the rest.”

Tony rubbed at the spot on his chest that meant he was considering it. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said. “I don’t want to go back to night shift, but losing the pay differential kinda sucked. Little help with the rent and bills would be nice, honestly.”

“I’m graduating next semester,” Tony reminded him. “Once I get a real job, I can help out a lot more.”

“Bet Fujikawa’s gonna snap you right up,” Bucky said. “They keep re-upping your internship. They know you’re a keeper.”

“Okay,” Tony said. “Yeah, we can make that work. I bet Clint and Piet will be relieved to have the place to themselves, finally.”

“Everyone wins,” Bucky agreed.

Tony heard the door open, but didn’t look up from his homework. “Welcome home, snugglebug.”

“Hey there, shmoopsie,” Bucky shot back. The ridiculous pet names had started as mockery of Steve and Nat, and then turned into their own private joke. “Anything interesting happen today?”

“Rhodey nearly had a nervous breakdown in the computer lab when the printer ran out of paper and the IT guy said they wouldn’t be around to refill it until tomorrow,” Tony reported. “But I told him I’d print his paper here and drop it off when we meet up for drinks later. That okay?”

“As long as it’s not a hundred-pager,” Bucky agreed.

“Nah, just twelve.”

“No worries, then.”

“Oh, and we got our invitation to Steve and Nat’s wedding in the mail,” Tony said. He pointed at the table that was more of a dumping ground than a useful surface. “Singular invitation. One of them, for both of us.”

Bucky snorted as he picked it up and turned it over. “Fancy,” he commented. “What, no ‘and Guest’ for either of us?”

“Steve did say they were trying to keep it small and intimate,” Tony pointed out. “If either of us were dating anyone, they’d already know about it.”

“They didn’t have to send us an invitation at all,” Bucky said. “Seeing as we’re both in the wedding party.”

“I think that’s just so we can mark our dinner preference,” Tony said. He squinted at his homework, erased a line of math, and reworked it.

“Oh, yeah, here’s the card. Oh, you already filled it out for us. How’d you know I’d want the chicken?”

“Because you only like steak if it’s still bleeding, and there’s no way to get real rare steak from a catering venue.”

“You know me so well.” Bucky messed up Tony’s hair on his way past. “Guess you’ll be an okay date.”

“I hope I catch the bouquet,” Tony quipped. “Then you’ll have to marry me.”

Bucky snared Steve’s elbow and drew him aside. “Stevie. I hate to be a wet blanket at your own rehearsal dinner, but...”

“What’s wrong, Buck?”

“The room you got for me an’ Tony... Look, I’m super grateful to you guys for putting us up, but there was some kind of mix-up with the hotel, an’ they said they can’t change it without your say-so ‘cause it’s on your credit card.”

“Oh.” Steve looked relieved. “Is that all? We can swing by the front desk and do that. What’s wrong with the room?”

“It’s only got one bed.”

Steve hesitated. “That’s... that’s a problem?”

“What do you-- of course it’s a problem!”

“Sorry, Buck,” Steve said, his eyes wide. “I didn’t know. You guys have been together so long, I just assumed--”

“Wait,” Bucky said. “Wait wait wait. What do you mean, together? You mean Tony and me? Like, together, together?”

“Well... yeah?” Steve blinked. “Aren’t you?”

“Of course we’re not!”

“What do you mean, ‘of course’? You an’ Tony have been living in each other’s pockets for like... two years now. He moved in with you!”

“That’s no different than when he was livin’ with Clint and Pietro! It ain’t like we’re suckin’ face everywhere!”

“We just figured you weren’t all that demonstrative in public. Besides, you flirt with each other all the time,” added Steve.

“It’s a joke.”

Steve put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder and looked at him gravely. “Is it?”

Bucky’s mouth fell open, but no protest came out. Over Steve’s shoulder, Bucky could see Tony, laughing as he thumb-wrestled with Pietro over the last slice of bread. Bucky caught himself smiling fondly, and Steve patted his shoulder. “Maybe not as much of a joke as you think, pal,” Steve said. The jerk.

“I’ll... get back to you on that room thing,” Bucky said, unable to tear his eyes away from Tony.

“You do that, Buck.” And Steve was gone.

Shit. Shit. How had he never realized... All their friends thought they were dating? Had been, for... for years.

And sure, they lived together. They went everywhere together, but that was just convenience. It was nice, having company when you were out running errands. It was good sense not to wander the city alone, too, especially when you’d been out having a good time.

And okay, neither of them had gone on any dates in the last couple of years, either, but that was because Tony was focused on his studies and his internship and Bucky was...

Was...

Oh, fuck, was he in love with Tony?

How long had that been going on?

“No dice with the room?” Tony asked when Bucky came back to the table. It was fine, Tony had figured there was a possibility that the hotel’s double bed rooms had already been booked. They could share a bed for two nights; it wouldn’t be that much of an imposition.

“Uh. There’s sort of a... thing,” Bucky said. He looked a little pale.

“Hey, you okay?”

“What? Yeah. Yeah, I’m just...” Bucky looked up and down the table, then took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for something. “Come an’ take a little walk with me?”

“Sure,” Tony said, pushing his chair back. “You sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, leading Tony away from the noise and down a side hall. “I just... Um.” When the rehearsal party was out of sight and almost out of earshot, Bucky stopped and leaned against the wall. “So... the reason we got that room,” he said, eyes on the peeling wallpaper, “is ‘cause apparently everyone thinks we’re. Y’know. Together.”

Tony blinked. Then blinked again. “You mean together, together?”

Bucky huffed out a little laugh. “That’s ‘xactly what I said.”

“Oh my god,” Tony said. “Why the hell would they--” Except it made perfect sense, didn’t it, if you were on the outside, looking in. Bucky and Tony spent all their time together. They flirted. They gave each other gifts. They spent their holidays together. They gave each other Valentine’s gifts and planned each other’s birthday parties. They were each other’s emergency contacts, for fuck’s sake. “Huh.”

“Yeah,” Bucky said.

Tony was beginning to understand why Bucky looked so poleaxed. It wasn’t like he’d never thought about it -- Bucky was one damned fine looking man, after all. But he’d never taken it seriously. Bucky was not just gorgeous but smart and brave and funny and kind, and Tony was lucky enough just being Bucky’s friend. But apparently their friends thought there was more there. And he couldn’t help but understand why. “We’ve been dating all this time, and didn’t realize it,” Tony said.

“I guess so.”

Bucky glanced up, and Tony was arrested by the look in Bucky’s eyes. Longing and hungry. Bucky’s eyes dropped, but only to Tony’s mouth and neck, and Bucky licked his lips, let his teeth drag over his bottom lip.

Oh. Oh. Bucky... wanted that?

With Tony?

Tony’s breath hitched and Bucky’s eyes snapped back up to meet Tony’s gaze.

Tony swallowed. “It’s a nice bed,” he said cautiously.

Bucky nodded slowly. “Looked very nice. Big. Comfy. And it’d be a real hassle to make the hotel change our room now. It’s getting late, and all.”

“That’s true,” Tony agreed. “Maybe we should just keep it.”

“We are here together,” Bucky pointed out. “The invitation said.”

“Hang on, I want to try something,” Tony said. Bucky stared at him, and Tony leaned in, felt the soft rush of air as Bucky sucked in a breath. “Yeah?”

Bucky nodded, and Tony leaned in a little closer to brush his lips against Bucky’s once, twice, a third time.

Then Bucky’s hand curled around Tony’s neck, fingers pushing through Tony’s hair, and pulled him in for another, deeper kiss. Tony’s stomach filled with butterflies and a rush of heat flooded Tony’s body. “Oh god,” he croaked.

Bucky reached for Tony’s hand, lacing their fingers together, then glanced at Tony shyly. “Okay? If they see? If they know?”

Tony grinned. “Honey, apparently we’re the only idiots who didn’t know.” He squeezed Bucky’s hand tighter. “Come on, let’s go back to dinner and make everyone sick at how sappy we are.”

“Steve and Nat have it coming,” Bucky agreed. “And then after dinner...”

“After dinner,” Tony said, thrilling at the thought, “we’ll go back to our room and take advantage of that very nice bed.”

~fin.