#read the comic a few months ago i loved it it made me so happy

[loverboybrightsideghost]

happy pride to midnighter and apollo from DC comics :]

this is midnighter's response when the devil tells him basically "i am the embodiment of every evil on earth, all the nastiest most abhorrent things. what could you possibly have to fight me with?"

and

[miviaceleste]

A Blackrock Story: A Boy with Turquoise Eyes

Happy 12th Anniversary to Blackrock Chronicle!

This comic ended up being 47 pages long (when I first sketched it, it was only 20 pages long). Since I can only upload 30 images in a post, I had to combine 2 pages into 1 image so hopefully it's still visually fine and not annoying to scroll through!

I wrote this mini-story more than 10 years ago, so I figured it was time to finally make it into a comic (after editing the writing a lot because I became a much better writer since lol).

Be aware of the TWs, and I hope you enjoy this comic!

TW: Violence || Blood || Injuries/Scars/Burn Marks || Kidnapping || (Temporary) Death || Loss of Limb / Amputation

Thank you all for reading one of my most insane projects ever!

Now, here’s another long story:

About 8 years ago, my life became so busy that to stay on top of my studies and activities, I stopped watching a lot of YouTubers, including the Yogscast.

I’ve grown up throughout the years. I had to stop acting like a kid to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I’m still an artist today, but I haven’t drawn in this way for about 3 years to pursue my real passion. I love to draw, but I didn’t have the time or inspiration to make something grand.

About 3 months ago, I suddenly got curious about how all those YouTubers I stopped watching were doing, so I checked out their channels and watched a video or two before moving on. When I got to the Yogscast channel, on the other hand, I quickly fell in love with the new content and with everyone again.

It was insane to see how immediately my love for them came back. In 3 months, I’ve watched so many videos and streams/VODs. It’s all so comforting, funny, and uplifting. Clearly, I missed so much content in the past 8 years, but at least I don’t have to worry about running out of things to watch for a while.

What made me most happy was that despite changing a lot, I never stopped being that kid who laughed at the Yogscast’s shenanigans. It just goes to show that no matter how much the world tries to push you around, you never lose that sense of joy you had as a child.

Now, about Rythian:

Since I started watching the Yogscast in 2011, Rythian has always been my favorite. I loved his series so much, especially with how he got into character to give us an immersive experience. It was an escape for me as a kid. When difficult moments were thrown at me, I watched Rythian’s series to find a sense of comfort.

So when I started watching his and Zoey’s Blackrock series, my mind was blown. The storytelling, acting, humor, and drama of the series were so immersive and touching that my creativity exploded.

I mainly use art to express myself and my interests because I struggle to talk about it. But funny enough, Blackrock was the only interest of mine that got me to not draw, but to write. I wrote a lot of short stories about the series—even how I envisioned the series would end. I was so inspired to create all the time from this series.

And what’s crazy is that at the beginning of this summer, I found all of those written drafts and notes from when I was a kid. I kept them all for 10+ years and found a very loose (and not that good) draft of this comic and I felt really inspired to finish it.

It was roughly when I was first watching Blackrock too when I realized that I can be creative in the future. The Yogscast helped me understand that I can do whatever I want for the rest of my life. If they could do it, then why can’t I?

What’s also wonderful is that even after so many years, Rythian never stopped being my favorite. When I started watching the main channel again a few months ago, I immediately found myself rooting for him whenever he was in the group videos. I just remembered how much happiness he brought me when I was younger and it makes me so happy that I still get so much joy whenever I hear his voice.

While working on this comic, I watched all of Kirbycraft and caught up on Kirby Farm. I can’t help but smile the whole time Rythian, Briony, and Kirsty interact with one another. The dynamic of these three brings me so much laughter and comfort. A part of me is upset that I didn’t get back to watching everyone when Kirbycraft was still live, but better late than never, right?

I also originally started this comic without the intention of posting it. But then I figured, Hey, it’d be great to share it with everyone who’s also been impacted by this series and the Yogscast in general, so I made this blog to post it here. Honestly, I’m not sure when the next time I’ll be able to draw is (who knew building a career takes away a lot of your energy and time?). But I think that’s what’s so wonderful about my love for Yogscast and particularly Blackrock: I didn’t make this comic for the likes or views. It was just because I wanted to, and I’m so happy to see there are so many people on here who feel the same love for them as I do.

This series and the people who made it, along with the people who supported it and loved it and continued to love it, impacted me for the better. I learned so many years ago that I can be creative for a living, and have been working hard towards doing that since.

Happy 12th Anniversary to the Blackrock Chronicle. To Rythian and Zoey who put a smile on this kid’s face even during the toughest of times.

And to the Yogscast, thank you for being there for me when I needed you all the most and for still being here when I came back. Your ability to inspire me and make me laugh never disappeared throughout the years I was gone, and I’m ready to laugh some more.

[cottoncandysprite]

No but I'm extremely emotional about Nimona. 7ish years ago, my friend got the graphic novel at a book fair and lent it to me. I read it in one sitting during homeroom. I was barely out, had no idea I would even have a gender journey a few years later, just a baby queer just starting out with a newly made art account and a crush on the friend who lent me the book. It changed my life. Made me feel seen and inspired in a way nothing had before. It sparked my love of comics and made me want to make something as beautiful and queer and powerful as it one day. Every chance I got for the rest of middle and high school I would borrow the library copy to reread and study it.

Back then, I had no idea anyone else even knew it existed. It was near and dear to my heart, but I never talked about it because it was so obscure. Always called it my favorite book of all time, but no one knew what it was. And it didn't help that I live in the midwest and no one wanted to read a comic about gay knights and a murderous shapeshifter.

Cut to 7 years later. The movie comes out, message of queer joy stronger than ever, right as I'm embracing my nonbinary identity. It's trending at #1 on tumblr. My fanart for it is one of my most popular posts in months. I can't go 5 seconds without seeing an outpouring of love for this obscure little graphic novel that changed my life in middle school.

And I finally own my own copy.

Sorry for getting all sappy on main, idek where I was going with this, I'm just so happy that Nimona is doing as well as it is after everything. I love it so much.

[popculturebuffet]

Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Finale: The Richest Duck in the World "And As Usual, He Was!"

Hello all you happy people and welcome to the finale of my life and times of scrooge mcduck retrospective! It's been a duck blur, from starting this years ago, to a years long hiatus to Kev paying for me to finish it, btu we're finally here. The final chapter of Don Rosa's masterpiece. Coming out the other side of this LIfe and Times is still one of my faviorite comics of all time and I'm glad to finish it. Kinda. There are a ton of bonus chapters Rosa did throughout the rest of his career, as well as an upcoming new chapter from another author entirely, all of which i'm up for covering at some point. There's a few I definitely want to get to in paticuarl: The three goldie stories (one pre life and times two with the label) that help flesh out here and Scrooge's past, the wonderful "Letter From Home" that gives ups Matilda's return and ties up that loose end, and my personal faviorite "Dream of a Lifetime", a one shot tale that goes through just about every chapter of life and times via Scrooge's dreams for one hell of an epilouge. None of these are necssary but they all feel like good companion pieces to the story and i'm glad Rosa did these interquels among others. I also have an itch to cover more duck material in general as while it has the cynical boost of having more viewers than normal for my content, it's also something I forgot HOW much I loved in the content lull after Ducktales end. And as a wise man once said.. there's always another rainbow. What it'll be i'm not sure yet, but you can expect at least one duck adventure next month.

For now though we're finishing the main story and it's while a lot of plans changed or shifted over this 12 issue saga, one thing was always in the cards: he wanted to end the story where Scrooge's story began all those years ago, with the finale taking place the day after the bulk Night on Bear Mountain. For those less familiar, and I wasn't when I started this though i've since covered the story, Night on Bear Mountain is the very FIRST Scrooge story, with Scrooge inviting his nephews for Christmas to scare them but being impressed by the end and thus inviting them for CHristmas Diner. This story shows what happens in between while also explaning the discrepency between the Scrooge we see in that story and who he'd be in the rest of his meaty cagalogue. In night on bear mountain Scrooge is diffrent, wearing a long robe, living in an isolated mansion (Keep in mind comics scrooge just lived at the bin), with him being more myth than actual person Donald just.. visits every day.

This story bridges that gap, explaning how Scrooge got his groove back, shows his first proper adventure with his nephews, and how he went from only a poor old man to the greatest adventuerer who ever lived once again. If this sounds familiar Ducktales 2017 did something similar, having Scrooge having mostly retired after loosing Della and years of searching for her, with the boys and webby reignting that spirit in much the same way, with Donald busy with a job offer that turned out to be an elaborate scheme. I still love they did that and it's a testiment ot how much impact this story had on the reboot: while a lot of Scrooge's past was changed, including his parents still being alive, the comic was, as I belivie I mentioned in the first entry, required reading for staff and stands as an important inspiration for one of the greatest cartoons ever made and quite possibly my faviorite.

So let's dive into the bin one last time as Scrooge rediscovers himself, Huey , Dewey and Louie discover a legend and Donald won't shut the fuck up.

We open with a Citizen Kane Homage as Scrooge whispers goldie while holding a snowglobe. He isn't dead, won't be till the 60's in rosa's eyes. For now though he's become a recluse as a newsreeel overs over his life and how his last public apperance was 17 years ago, when he threw out his family seemingly for good. We get some neat cameos as we see Grandma Duck again, this time in her glory days, who hasn't seen Scrooge since she sold him most of her land bar the farm.. and Gus when he corrects her that the old coot also came by to forclose on the chicken coop. Gus is Donald's cousin. He eats a lot, sleeps more and is somehow lazier than our boy. Which is possible. We also see Gladstone, the bastard and donald who shoves a hand in the camera.

At this point the Bin is just a legend, with no one really knowing if it's actually full of cash, something four familiar fowl talk about as they watch the newscast: Donald and his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie. After 12 chapters we're to the present day of duckberg and where it all began as they prepare for that christmas dinner I mentioned. The boys wonder if it could be true while Donald dismisses it: no rich person could've EARNED IT and he assumes Scrooge inherited it.. somehow. Which baffles me a bit as while I'm sure Hortense, like 2017 Donald, tried not to bring Scrooge up, she wouldn't of.. not brought up her childhood in scotland or the rest of her family. They didn't throw her out. Granted Donald does have a talent for self delusion and we don't know how young the kids were when she died, so there's wiggle room it just annoys me a little

What Annoys mea lot is Donald who throughout this whole story constantly says everything about Scrooge is fake. That he probably bought it on crusies. It annoys be a bit less this readthrough as having become fed up with most present day billionares.. yeah most do. This just happens to be the one whose a bastard AND worked hard to earn it. But it's still a very one note gag: Donald is up his own ass and dosen't know what we know or has seen what we've seen and thinks his uncle's only a poor old man.

It's not story breaking, but it is repetitive.

Thankfully we move on to the mansion proper as Scrooge's butler Jeeves, and no that's not me goofing up Duckworth was created for the show, ushers them in.. and as Scrooge slowly stirs.. we see him, in a truly awesome panel

I love all the detail here: the bits of stubble, the tired eyes, how sunken he looks in genearl. This is a Scrooge who has given up: he's retired from work to rot in a mansion, having nothing left and is a shell of what he once was and will be again. I also give Rosa credit for using Scrooge's first apperance design still: he had the time for Scrooge to change.. but him not having done so is a symbol of just how deep in the depression hole he is: as someone whose been in them I relate to clearly not having taken care of yourself in some time, just sitting there letting time pass as you feel you have nothing left.

The boys being their usual charming hive minded selves are delighted to meet their great uncle. Though we get a really sad bit as he notes most family he has has.. disappeared. He dosen't know matilda is alive, and he certainly heard what happened to Hortense. The boys do genuinely welcome him in but he balks, figuring their all after inheretiance. Donald claps back that you spent it all on this place ya jackass.

Scrooge insscensed decides the time has come to do something he rarely does but is sacred to the rich: flashing his cash. Specicially he has his butler.. dress him. Okay Scrooge you need either boundries with your butler or a more equal relationship if you want to keep fucking him. Trust me i've hit on the help too. The help was a gorgon's head but I didn't make her dress me.. hades didn't give me that option because their sane.

He takes them to the Bin, which is decayed.. though Scrooge has been keeping the booby traps fresh and keeps the weeds simply because it's good security: if a place LOOKS abandoned and unloved, people will think that. And it mostly has been, Scrooge having retired isn't using it. Still he kept the most important part of it, the cash ocean itself, but our heroes pass the second most important part first

This little tirade, while very in character.. is also very Rosa speaking his piece, as he hated stories (even barks own) where the Dime was implied to be magic. Whlie his old man yells at cloud behavior often has me shaking my head.. I agree on this one. The dime is better as a symbol that motivated scrooge than as a plot device and it cheapens the man's skill to say the Dime is responsible. I don't mind Magica trying to use it for a power source as THAT makes sense: it has a lot of emotional energy from being around scrooge as he got his fortune, the weight of having traveled the world with him for most of his life and being what started a great man on his path. I like the idea that kind of object with that kind of emotoinal baggage has power, kinda like what adventure time did with Hambo and PB's Shirt she got from marcy. It's magical yes but it fits the world better and makes it clear the dime is impressive because of SCROOGE not the other way around. Somehow Lorcana didn't get the memo

The description and image are perfect, as is the fact it's SHOCKINGLY powerful I just don't get why Number One Dime wasn't considered.

One he unveils the bin though it DOES shock his nephew and even DONALD can't say anything for a change

I do like that explination.. it dosen't scan with every Scrooge story as there are countless that say his bin really is the McDuck version of one piece, from the aformentioned Christmas for Shacktown to the very first Scrooge lead story "Only a Poor Old Man". I'm not against this: Rosa had a tendency to pick and choose which parts of Bark's stories to make canon to his stories, wanting a more cohesive universe and while clearly respecting the man to a sometimes stifling degree, recognized not everything from stories not really built to have a continuity was going to stick together. As reverent as he is to barks, to an annoying degree at times like his feeling put out at having to include Fethry despite being an entirely valid character with loads of potetial simply because one man didn't create him (Not saying barks isn't fucking amazing, he is, but it's a petty reason not to use good characters).. I can respect Rosa for knowing what he wanted in his own canon and what to keep as well as having said multiple times his stories dont' stack up to his idols. I disagree on that statment as while Barks IS better in some ways, for all I gripe about the guy sometimes... Rosa is a truly talented writer, one of the best duck writers there ever was and while Time's made me see the cracks in the guy.. ti dosen't make him any less special or any less vital to duck canon. Ther'es a reason most writers either honor his stories or consider them canon alongside barkses. The man has a degree of talent, care and love that's hard to come by and while I may disagree with some of his choices at times... I can't help but love the guy still.

So anyway that suspcious santa might have set you off.. turns out the santas near the bin were beagle boys, scoping out a hesit and lead by Scrooge's old enemy blackheart, whose descendants indeed got to fucking as he hoped.

As is duck story standard they easily capture our heroes despite scrooge being way more badass than all of them combined... Donald too honestly... the boys also. Honestly a paper bag could probably beat the beagle boys and they somehow win when the plot says so, though this time at least theirs a valid excuse; Donald and the boys are new at adventuering, having gone on a few solo adventures pre scrooge while Scrooge has given up on the world and thus surrenders to being thrown.. though he is pissed they once again bring up the lucky dime thing. So before he can snap out of it let's talk about this dperession and self loathing: honestly while he'd never say it, even Ducktales 2017 scrooge both hides what happened with Della from the kids and refuses to apologize to Donald for a decade despite being almost entirely in the wrong, it's clear loosing his sisters did hurt him: he had his money but nothing else and with nothing to really fight for and his lifelong goal achieved he just.. gave up. It dosen't feel like scrooge ... but that's the point: just as his horrible actions in africa weren't really him, not striving, not searching not trying to build his empire simply because he's seemingly won.. isn't him. Without anyone to share it with... his bin is just a pile of coins, memetos of better days.

So the thing that busts him out of his stupor... are his nephews. The boys search furiously for some way out, unlike Donald and Scrooge not ready to give up and find his old mining gear... while Donald.. well Donald inspires him in his own way

I love this and it's something I really hadn't thought about before but think of now, especially since again Woo-Hoo! takes some steps from this, having Louie take Donald's place as the doubting asshole, and have the boys as a whole, like Donald question if Scrooge really was this big or is just some old man, leading him to ragefully prove them wrong.. granted Scrooge's attempts in Woo-Hoo are more laughable as he plans to go diving to prove children wrong, something Beakley lampshades, but he still gets the step of showing them what he cna do by dealing with everything they unleash in his garage, similar to how here the combined menaces of Donald's jerkassery and the Beagle Boys scheme finally awakens the beast. I also love the subtle note of Scrooge taking off his coat, revealing his usual coat underneath. It's something I again hadn' tnoticed before this re-read, but ti's a very ncie touch... Scrooge the doddering old man given up on everything is gone. Scrooge McDuck, Last of the Clan McDuck, Master of the Missippi, Buckaroo of the Badlands, Raider of the Copper Hill, Laird of Castle McDuck, Terror of the Transyval, Dreamtime Duck of Never Never, King of The Klondike, Billionare of Dismal Downs, Invader of Fort Duckburg, Empire Builder from Callisota... THE Richest Duck in the world is back.

And since he's back he decides to go after the beagles, having the boys haul his trunk. I also really like this joke.

Look donald is my boy, and even in a story where he's not on his a game.. he's still Donald. He's bound to have at least one good moment or two.

The two notice scrooge a coming and take off.. but they left an other Sleigh which Scrooge quickly takes, and begins using a cavlcade of his skills. We've seen his mining, now we see his ablility to tame any animal. It's not as impressive as a lion but he dosen't have time to get to the zoo so a horse'll do.

We also get ANOTHER choice gag. While not all of rosa's comedy lands for me.. the guy really nails it a lot of the time and it's a part of his writing talent that dosen't get praised enough.

Honestly this chapter is easily the funniest next to the invader of fort duckberg, likely because with the dramatic part of Scrooge's life mostly worn down, we have more room for some comedy.

Blackheart has them step on it as he realizes he's no longer dealing with a hollowed out shell of a man but the guy whose beat him twice and is ready to abide by rule of three. We get some fun callbacks as scrooge uses his gold pan as a discus to knock out the driver of the beagle boys then takes out the rest, minus blackheart who grabs the dime for leverage, with his boomerang from his time in australia. This also leads to another fucking phenominal gag

Scrooge then ties up the rest of the non blackheart beagles using his roping tricks, with the officers that poor woman called rounding the boys up. All that's left is blackheart who naturally, as our big bad for the chapter, final antagonist of the story and the foe Scrooge has fought the most on this journey, gets the best takedown of all

Such an awesome moment: The same thing that finally brought Scrooge's dream to reality... is what helps cement his return to his truest self: he may be a mean old man.. but he's tougher than the toughies, sharper than the sharpies, smarter than the smarties and he made his money square.

That said the adrenline does wear off slightly.. until...

I had to share the scene in full.. because it's so damn good. After a whole journey, after seeing Scrooge at his lowest.. we see his core. Something that speaks against ageism: your body may age, but your never too old to start over, to have a second chance.. to chase another rainbow. The quality of your lives are what you make of them also really gets me.

IT's also a nice return to form as the bin being public.. dosen't bother them. Let them come: he's fought off worse and he'll fight them again. I also love him kicking donald's butt. He's just enough of a jerk in this story to well deserve it.

So Scrooge is now fully back: he decides to reopen the office, sell the mansion and get back to work.. and take the boys with them. While he dosen't say it being the stubborn old bastard we know and love... he needs these boys. Adventure is nothing if you don't have anyone to share it with.. .and once again he has someone to share it with. Once again he has family.

So he celebrates with a swim, with the boys astounded at his ability btu Donald unable to understand his uncle: all he seems to have is cold metal... but he could be wrong...

This ending gets me... a reminder it's both never too late (Something I need at only 32, which in tumblr years is 90), and that a life well lived is one not lived alone, that the things that make us who we are good and bad.. are the greatest adventure of all.

The Richest Duck in the World is a well done capper, feeling like a lost modern scrooge adventure, that missing piece in the story that Rosa happily filled in for us. Donald again can be a bit much, even in the stories final page he still hasn't quite got the hint, it's not one of his better stories.. but it dosen't take away from this as an ending.. and a beginning. Of a man who lost everything that mattered finding it again. Of an epic story of one man's life, what made him who he was, and what he gained, lost and ultimately found again.

Life and Times.. is one of the best comics of all time,the best duck comics story ever, and only not currently the best duck story PERIOD because ducktales 2017 is so freaking good. And even then while that series beats it over all as an individual story this 12 part epic still trumps it's worthy successor. It's a labor of love that's massive in scope, character work and gorgeous art work. It's a true masterpice that needs to be read again and again and one i was very happy to cover. I found stuff I disliked sure, a chapter or two had pacing issues, some things didn't land.. but ti's hard to deny what a fucking triumph this book is. Only one other comic I can think of comes this close to distilling a characters essence down into 12 issues, and even then All Star Superman, while excellent didn't also have the task of trying to be in continuity. Life and Times is a masterpiece and it was a joy coverinmg it and the dream of a life time finishing this journey> Thank you all for reading.. and see you next rainbow.

[flockofcrowsinaturtleshell]

Why I like Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

(my part of the letter from my last reblog)

Up until about three months ago, I disliked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I saw the trailer for the Bayverse live-action TMNT and quickly decided I hated it. The live-action designs and the turtles’ attitude towards April felt gross, and I suppose that I, a young teenage girl at the time, felt like I didn’t fit in the target audience.

Flash forward to four months ago. I’m scrolling through my Tumblr feed – looking for Ninjago fanart and completely disregarding the target audience for lego ninja – when I see something under the “For you” tab.

It’s a Rise comic, but I don’ recognize it as TMNT yet. It’s a drawing of a scruffy-looking teenage boy, with long black hair and a hockey stick. He appears to be underground, looking a little lost. He turns, and before him sits a giant robot, deactivated and covered in moss. It’s a turtle, I realize, but I still haven’t realized that it’s a TMNT comic.

Then the boy calls his Uncle Donnie, who’s a turtle in purple. It’s then that I realize; I’ve been tricked. I’m reading a TMNT comic and genuinely enjoying it. I begrudgingly give the comic a like and go on with my day.

Over the next few weeks, I keep seeing more of the comic. To my horror, I’m actually enjoying reading it. One month after discovering the comic, I give in. I go to the first page of the comic and read from the beginning. 

It’s the story of a family trying to survive in a world overrun by invaders. Their family is made up of four color-coded turtles who make up the nebulous concept of uncle-dad, their entirely human older sister, and the scruffy-looking teenager they-re all trying to keep alive. This family dynamic is one I quickly grow to love, and the comix earns itself a place in my heart.

And then I watch the Rise movie.

Skip ahead to the present. I just watched the Rise movie two days ago (it had me in tears). As I write this, I’m also trying to figure out a plothole in the seventh chapter of the fanfiction I’m writing. Just yesterday, I finished designing the skeleton of my yokai character (because why not. I love speculative anatomy). I’m still reading the comic, which just updated yesterday. I’m happy with my new interest.

I love Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the family dynamic. I’ve always been a fan of unconventional families, and I’ve grown a liking for color-coded squads. I enjoy how April is more like a sister than a crush for the boys to fight over. I feel a certain kinship with Donnie, as an autistic-coded middle child who loves to learn. I absolutely adore Raph, the person who’s had to step up to care for their siblings and yet hasn’t quite grown out of the stage of life where he’s just a kid. Mikey is so silly and adorable, and he reminds me of my younger sister; the youngest and somehow the wisest at times. Leo feels just like a character from the first show I ever had such an interest in (Lance from Voltron: Legendary Defender) and I think he’s pretty awesome. 

I also enjoy the show’s unique takes on some things. I find it cool how the turtles are all different species. I love how this iteration’s version of Casey Jones is an energetic young woman from a rival clan. I find it interesting how Karai is a loving ancestor instead of an enemy. I love the artstyle of the show, where each turtle’s design is unique (compared to other shows where the only way I can tell them apart is by the color of their mask). I think it’s cool how the backstory is different from some of the other iterations, how the turtles were mutated on purpose and how Splinter used to be a famous actor. I think the yokai are awesome, how they’re like mutants but were there long before. I enjoy finding the little references, like the pictures of other TMNT shows on Donnie’s conspiracy board, or the fact that the source of yokai power is a Kraang. 

I have so many questions left unanswered about the show, and I’m sure others do as well. I would love to see the return of Rise. I have no doubt that it would be awesome.

#unpause rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles

– Crow

P.S. The comic I am referring to is by @somerandomdudelmao on Tumblr. I have no words to describe how much the comic means to me. Cass, if you’re reading this, thank you. 

[your-not-invisible-to-me]

Pages Toward Your Future (Matt Murdock x Reader)

A/N: *whispers* Guess who isn't dead? Long story short: this fic was supposed to be written for @pastafossa's birthday so many months ago. Since then, my laptop broke, and my apartment flooded twice. Alas, it is now here.

Happy late birthday pasta I adore you<3

Ship: Matt Murdock x F!Reader

Summary:

When you wake up one morning sick, Matt makes sure you still get to celebrate your birthday. or The time you can't go to the bookstore, so Matt brings the bookstore to you.

Word Count: 1,684

Warnings for Chapter: None! :) just some birthday fluff

Read me on Ao3 as Aaron gets his shit together.

Matt knew something was wrong the moment he woke up that morning. On a normal day, you were always up before him, rushing around your shared apartment getting your things ready for your day as an elementary school teacher. Even on weekends you would be up early – spending your mornings grading and catching up on lesson plans so that you could spend the rest of the day with him. You always made your plans around the both of you to make sure you had time together, and he loved you even more for it every time.  

So, color him surprised when his alarm started going off at ten on a Saturday, and you were still asleep next to him.  

“Sweetheart?” he called out, softly. He ran his hand through the knots in your hair. Immediately he could feel the tenseness in your shoulders. You were stiff as a board. “Are you alright?”  

You let out a groan as you attempted to bury your head deeper into the pillows.  

“Head.” you said so softly that no one else would have been able to hear it if it had not been for his senses. He caught on immediately. Sometimes you would get massive migraines, so bad it would leave you incapable of anything.  

Usually, you would pop some Tylenol and force your way through them. Luckily, you would not have to do that today.  

Matt slowly slipped out of bed, making his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a glass of water as well as his “comically large bottle of pain meds” – your words, not his – and made his way back to the bedroom. He placed them on your nightstand.  

“I have some medicine for you, sweetheart. Can you take some for me?” asked Matt. He kept his words soft. If anyone knew the need for quiet on days of pain, it would be him.  

He felt you nod before feeling you sit up, grabbing the glass and swallowing the pills. He couldn’t help but chuckle as you fell right back into his chest.  

“I have to get some work done, but it should only take me a few hours. Try to get some sleep, alright?” He tucked you right back into bed and headed back towards the kitchen, ready to make his own breakfast and get some work done.  

As Matt opened the fridge, a slip of paper that had been stuck to it fell off, sliding across the floor. Confused, he went to go pick it up, wondering what it could have been.  

Of course .  

Your birthday was next weekend, and while he had his own plan for a celebration with you, he had forgotten your own tradition that you did for yourself every year.  

Your bookstore trip.  

Every year you would spend weeks compiling a list of books from your TBR list that you wanted. You rated them, scored them, and made a list of books you would buy yourself for your birthday. It was something your parents had started for you when you were a kid, a way to keep their wallets safe when all their kid wanted for their birthday was more books to read.  

It was important to you. He clearly hadn’t seen them before, but there were spreadsheets involved.  

It was the one day of the year that he knew you allowed yourself to splurge on you.  

It was also what you had planned to do for the day – hence the list on the fridge.  

He also knew that with how busy you were, you weren’t going to get another free day for a while.  

Suddenly, he knew his plans were changing for the day. He dug his phone out of his pocket.  

“Foggy? Yeah, change of plans. I need your help today.”  

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

“You know, when you said we needed to make a quick shopping trip, this isn’t exactly what I thought you meant.”  

Matt and Foggy stood inside Barnes and Noble, having taken the train down to Union Square so they could shop at the biggest one. Currently Foggy’s hands were full as he balanced a stack of books under his chin. Matt, on the other hand, was making his way down the list as best he could.  

“We’re almost done, Fogs, I promise.”  

“You said that an hour ago.”  

“Well, that was before I found out they had a lot of the books in brail.” When Matt had originally given one of the workers your detailed list of books, they had assumed it was for him, leading him over to the small brail section that the store had. While he had since corrected them, he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to be able to read some of your books along with you, or even be able to read to you.  

Since the image came to his mind, he had never wanted anything more. Reading was your thing, you devoured books so quickly, always excited about getting into the storylines and into the characters. While he was always happy to listen as you went on and on, the idea that he could read along with you and be able to know more about what exactly was going through your mind just brought him pure joy.  

Then there was the idea that he could be the one to read to you. It wasn’t something you had ever voiced before – hell it wasn’t something he had ever thought of before, usually it was other people reading to him – he knew he wanted to be able to give you this too. On days just like today when your head hurt too much to open your eyes, on days where your work was too stressful, where life was too stressful – he wanted to have a chance to give you something like peace.  

It was in conveying all this to Foggy, however, that his friend’s silence suddenly had him second guessing himself.  

“What is it, Fogs?”  

“Nothing.”  

“Not nothing, your being weird.”  

“I’m not being weird. You’re being weird.”  

“Foggy-.”  

“Really, Matt. It’s nothing bad. It’s just, I’ve never seen you like this before is all.”  

“Like what?”  

“Hopeful.”  

Matt paused, stunned a bit by his best friends' words. Maybe he was putting too much weight on a couple dozen books, but a bigger part of him knew Foggy was right.  

The scenes he was seeing in his head of times together with you reading were scenes of a future, your future together. With him.  

Maybe he had more thinking to do about what lied ahead. More planning. Books were okay for now, but he wanted more, and he wanted that badly.  

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

It wasn’t until a week later that you learned what exactly Matt had done. He had decided to save the actual surprise for your real birthday, wanting to add it to your list of presents.  

He had everything prepared when you woke up, excited for your reaction as you slid open the bedroom door.  

“Matt?” you asked, the clunk of the door echoing behind you. You looked around the living room, your mind filled with confusion.  

In front of you, scattered across the living room, were stacks of books in different places. There was a stack on the coffee table, a few across the kitchen counter, and more filled across the room.  

Right in the center of the apartment, there was Matt, a nervous smile spread across his beautiful face. 

“What’s going on, Matty?” you asked.  

“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” said Matt, softly. He took steps toward you, bringing you to a spot in front of one of the books. It was then you realized that the stacks of books were arranged in a sort of line, clumped together waiting for someone to follow the path.  

“What’s all this?”  

“Well, I know you weren’t feeling well last week.” You nodded. “Well, I also know that because of that, you missed your day out to the bookstore.”  

You thought back to the previous week, remembering the details. You had almost forgotten your original plans for the day, yourself, too distracted by the pounding in your brain. When you woke up hours later, all you could be was annoyed at the idea of having to reschedule.  

Matt must have noticed your contemplation, as he continued.  

“I know you were upset at missing it, so I thought I would just bring the bookstore to you.”  

You let out a gasp, looking around the room at the specific books that were laid out. It was only then that you noticed the titles of the books, recognizing them off the list that you had spent just a detailed amount of time creating.  

All the books you had chosen, and all of them Matt had bought for you to read.  

“Oh, Matt...”  

Matt wrung his hands nervously. A myriad of thoughts went through his head. What if he had made a mistake? What if this was something you had wanted to save for yourself? What if he had picked the wrong books, made the wrong choices? 

“Is this, is it alright?”  

Even with his senses, he couldn’t predict the speed at which you threw yourself against his body, engrossing him in a hug. He felt the breath you took. He felt the drop of tears against his shoulder.  

“It’s absolutely perfect, Matt.”  

He felt you telling the truth.  

Later, after Matt had led you around the apartment on your own little book spree, after the birthday breakfast he made was eaten and wishes were given, Matt couldn’t express how happy he felt as you curled up against him with one of the new books he had gotten you. You had wanted to read some passages to him, and he was more than happy to listen.  

He couldn’t help, however, thinking about the new plan he was forming. The stack of his copies of the books, hidden in his trunk. Soon, he thought. Soon the night would come when he’d make you dinner, where he would spend time getting to read to you, and he’d ask you the question about your future and hope you would want forever.  

[askfallenroyalty]

my thoughts on finishing AFR (tumblr version)

Firstly, thank you all so, so so much for reading.

5 years ago, on February 19th, 2018, 2:24 PM I posted the first AFR comic. I drew it thinking it'd be a nice little project for a few months, and then I'd move on. Little did I know it'd become a huge passion project and something that's brought me many, many tears and laughter. It's been a journey making this thing, I can easily say I am hardly the person I am when I first made this. I've learned so much about myself, the world, and what I wanted to say in comics.

AFR didn't become a serious project until I realized Asriel and Chara's story hit home to me and I realized I had something more profound to say than just "heehee silly ut comic where siblings squabble." Now it's become a story about growing up, and the life after the "happy ever after." What does it mean for "everybody to live?" well, you live. You suffer. You cry and laugh and it's everything you want and you fear. You wake up another day.

It's no secret that Chara and Asriel are heavily based on myself. Every OC and every character I can put my grubby little hands on have been influenced by me. Yun's excitement for monsters, Mew Mew's loud declarations of frenzied thought, Hol's quiet, head-in-the-clouds nature... the list goes on. Knowing the characters now, I'm excited for the redraw as I can paint their stories from start-to-finish properly. It pains me more than anything I can't just say "here's a finished product, fully and forever." But one step to getting there was finally finishing the tumblr version. So even if I were to die, or lose my ability to draw, I can say: I told my story. I made it real. It's messy, incomplete, and not at all what I aspire it to be, but it's here. And that means, so, so much to me.

Never again will I be accepting story asks. Never again will we see what crazy thing Asriel and Chara are up to in their journey into adulthood. While the story will continue to develop, it has it's ending.

I've grown, a lot. I started this when I was 21 years old. I've had a on/off relationship, I've learned I'm neurodivergent, I've moved out of my abusive dad's home. I've had so many jobs in that time. I lived through the pandemic (not that it's over) and I've made and lost (out of touch) friends along the way. I am Sam. I drew AFR. I still have so much left to do to make it fully realized but I did it.

And in that time people have offered me grammar and spelling corrections. Advice, suggestions, fanart. You've sent like, I can only imagine to be at least a thousand asks in this amount of time. You guys have been a huge part in this comic being made. Even as the story moves more and more away from the "Ask" part of the title, you guys made it so much more fun, thought provoking, and exciting.

So while my minds a bit scattered and I'm kinda jumbled up, I just want to say with every bit of myself: THANK YOU!!!!!

I understand if many of you don't choose to stick around for the redraw, I'm more than thankful to anyone who's read this far (or heck, just one tumblr post is enough. I feel seen.) and if you so choose to stay, I look forward to sharing a million more little moments with you. ^_^

Thank you and I wish you the very best, have a good life. Peace and love on the planet earth <3

[meowthefluffy]

An update on my unfinished au’s!

I have over the last few months fallen deeply out of love with the Sanders Sides series and as a result I have not updated any of my projects in some time. At the current point I am at I am only planning to do the final two installments in the cupid au (because I pretty much lost my affection for the ts series right before the big finale of the project!!) and the lust Roman au (as it is my longest running work to date and I want to comple the project as a show of dedication to my younger self) although it will most likely be on a much quicker time scale than I was intending originally! (Instead of the 11 more parts I was hoping to produce it will probably be closer to 5 and I will most likely skip a few parts of the story that weren’t as important)

I feel a lot of affection for the work I have created but not a lot for the actual series so I’m trying to find a way to rework the stories I’ve created for the au’s to become independent creations that I will enjoy continuing to make! (Aside from the Lust au which I feel is mostly a story I don’t feel the need to come back to/rework since it relies so heavily on the source material) Most of my au’s function as stories mostly separate from canon material except for the characters archetypes present in each, so I’ll be working on retooling/reskinning said work to be more original and workable as long term projects! (Since u guys were really invest in my plots which had almost nothing to do with the canon characterization)

I’m currently working on retooling the Zombie au (Which I used as heavy inspiration for my oc Sophia I sometimes post about and her girlfriend) the Cupid au (I’m putting together more creative designs for the characters so that I can hopefully redo the comic- since I’m super in love with the concept) The sleeping beauty au (since it functions entirely the same as a stand alone story- and I could use the designs of my princess characters from that comic I made a long time ago for Valentine’s Day ) and the Super hero au! (Which I never properly defined and thus have a lot of incomplete ideas for, and my only struggle is coming up with better super hero names for them)

The only one of my main au’s I probably won’t rework is the Evil king au- just because I’m not sure how I could retool it to not just be a story about abuse(I feel more comfortable creating a story where everything is horrible and bad and the people involved are just bad for eachother when it’s an au- because there is other work of those characters where they aren’t that way to balance it out- but if it were my own new characters I feel as though it wouldn’t be nearly as fun to read or write)

This is a series of decisions I’ve been trying to wait on for a long time because I have been hoping something sanders Sides related would come out soon that would re spark my interest but nothing so far has happened- and with the way the story is going I don’t think it’s something that is going to happen. I still love all the work I have created for this fandom and I am so proud of all the collaborative projects I have been able to create with you all! I will happily re-read your asks and comments on my comics and I am still really proud of the community I’ve been able to create!

I’m sad to let this part of my life go (it’s taken up a solid 4th of my lifetime) and I understand that a lot of you all won’t follow me to my new projects- because I understand you guys didn’t come here for random oc projects- or original comics. And Altho it breaks my heart to see some of you move on and leave my notifications I am happy I the time with you all that I did!

Thank you all for everything- and I’ll see you soon 💖

[hellfireswhore]

Shots of Love

Carl Grimes X FTM! Reader

Requested by: anonymous

Summary: Carl assists you with your monthly testosterone shot

Warning: needles, dysphoria, injections

Pronouns: he/him/they/them

When the apocalypse broke out, the first thing you did was rummage through the closest pharmacy for testosterone. Eager for release and freedom to be you…and to not pay for it.

Testosterone shots.

The best form of testosterone to decrease your dysphoria and instant results in over a month. But, shots and needles were the devil for you. You didn’t mind when a doctor would do it if you looked away from the liquid injected into you, but you now have to take these shots yourself.

You got scared and decided to wait to take these shots for a later time when you were ready.

Years pass, and you find yourself in Alexandria. Even better, you had a boyfriend who loved you for who you were, Carl Grimes.

He didn’t care if you were trans or not. He fell for you, and that’s all that mattered to him as he himself didn’t label his sexuality.

You guys were happy, and he would ensure you didn’t overbind while out on runs, scavenging, and just sitting at home doing nothing. He cared about your health and overall you. As you grew to love and trust Carl every day that passed, you decided it was time.

“Hey, Carl?” You knocked on the door to his room, which was already open. He was on his bed reading comic books with his hat on the bedside table. “Hey! You okay? You know you don’t gotta knock on my door, Y/N. You’re always invited.” He winked, which always made you laugh as he only had one eye, but you could tell he was by the little smirk and head tilt he did.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just…I need a favor.” You put your hands in your jeans pockets, looking anywhere but at Carl. He could sense your anxious body language. He got up from his bed, walked towards you, took your hands out of your pocket, and held them. “Anything, Y/N. I’m always here.” He kissed your hand and smiled, making your anxiety decrease. God, that smile always did the trick.

“So, years ago, I found some testosterone injections, but I never got to it because I wasn’t quite ready, and I also…don’t know how to do it.” You bite your inner cheek as you look at him, but his demeanor doesn’t change. Still the same smile.

“So, you need my help with the shots?” He replied. You look at him and nod. “Yeah, if that’s okay-“

He cuts you off “It’s more than okay! I’d love to. Luckily, Denise taught me to take injections when my shot eye pain was too much. I got this, Y/N” He smiled warmly as he pecked your cheek. “C,mon, let’s go to the bathroom and get you prepped.”

Carl took your hand and walked you to the bathroom in his home. He patted the countertop near the sink. “Hop on!” You chuckled and rolled your eyes as you sat on the counter, and your feet dangled. You watched as he took the needed medication out of your backpack, taking the petite vile and putting the syringe in it. Your body shakes as you see the liquid get sucked into the syringe. You were excited but also nervous.

“Hey, don’t worry. I got this, and I’ll be here every step of the way, okay? Every voice crack, hair you grow, and even the random aggression of a 12-year-old boy.” Carl chuckles, which makes you laugh along with him. “Even the acne?”

Carl laughs and nods. “Especially the acne. You ready?” He says he has the syringe ready and taps to avoid air bubbles. He held your thigh as he cleaned it with rubbing alcohol. You nodded and took a deep breath. “Ready.”

With that, Carl took a good pinch of your thigh and slowly put the needle into your thigh, making you wince a bit, but the pain quickly subsided. He slowly injected the medication at a slow pace. “You’re doing great, hun. Almost done..” he praised as he continued.

“And…done!” A few seconds later, he slowly pulled the needle out. You took a breath out as you looked down where he injected it. I smiled as I painted out in relief.

“You’re officially one day on testosterone. I’m so proud of you, Y/N!” Carl smiled, which made you smile. Carl hugged you tightly as you hugged him back, still sitting on the counter. “Thanks, Carl! I really appreciated that. Who knew you’d be the best person to give shots?”

Carl chuckled as he pulled back from the hug and held your face. “Then I guess that’ll make me your monthly testosterone boyfriend?” You chuckle, blushing. “You don’t gotta-“

“Oh, but I want to! As I said, I wanna be there for my boyfriend as he faces these changes. Also, I understand the changes of boy puberty. So, I gotcha.” He kisses you gently as you kiss back.

You break the kiss to look at him, and then Carl pulls you closer. “Nuh-uh, I’m not done,” he starts to pepper kiss your face from your forehead to your cheek to your jaw. Your laughter fills the bathroom as you enjoy Carls's small but beautiful affection.

-

-

A/N: thank you for 100 follows! I’m glad everyone is enjoying my small scenarios of Carl X ftm! Reader! I’m always open for more requests <3

[ofliterarynature]

MARCH 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf (reread) bookclub*]

Supernova • The Last Unicorn • Cahokia Jazz • (Heartstopper Vol 1)* • The Hero of Ages • Godkiller • Humanly Possible • Traveller’s Joy • The Well of Ascension • Babel-17 • The Final Empire • Loot • The Death I Gave Him

Finished: 11 books (9 audio, 1 print, 1 ebook)

Not many books this month but by god I read THREE Brandson Sandersons, so -

I guess I may as well start with Sanderson while we're here. I promised a mutual years ago (who's sadly left tumblr) that I would read Mistborn and it's probably been at least half a decade but I did it Lourdes! I've read a few one-off Sandersons before, but nothing I fell in love with. The Final Empire definitely had some issues, some things felt a little off, but overall I think I liked it! Except those things did not then improve in the next two books, and by book 3 I was dragging and solidly decided that I wouldn't continue past the original trilogy. I was so mad at that ending y'all, and if the mixed vibes from the copy for the next books wasn't enough that definitely sealed the deal lmao. Happy for the people who like him but it's not really my vibe. (but god, did it remind me how much I love big, grand, epic fantasies. I really need to find a good one). 3 stars

Babel-17 (3 stars) - idk, I think I found this on a rec list for sci-fi about linguistics? Which it sort of was, maybe, ostensibly. It was weird in that old sci-fi way and I kind of wish I'd DNF'd it when I originally considered it.

Traveller's Joy (5 stars)- look I will never say no to more in the Greenwing & Dart series, especially if it's my good good boy Hal. Not to mention more info about the immediate post-college times, and an outside POV on Jemis (Jemis my dude I love you so much but you are not a reliable narrator). Victoria picked a great piece of canon to explore!

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope (4 stars) - I've been wanting to read this since I first heard about it (and Humanist thought in general), and while it was interesting and I'm glad I read it, I found my attention drifting a lot. It spent a lot of time in the early/distant periods of humanist thought, which ended up not really being what I wanted - I think I'm more interested in the modern Humanist movent, but at least I know I'm on the right track!

Godkiller (4.5 stars) - It was great! It was kind of idk, epic fantasy with fairy tale and D&D vibes sort of? My brain is throwing out T Kingfisher and Robin McKinley for comps, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. A great one for fans of less-than-benevolent voices in the back of your head that are nonetheless very concerned for your well being! A solid 4/4.5 stars from me, it switched pov a little to often and didn't stick well in my head as well afterward as I'd have liked. Can't wait to get the next book!

Heartstopper (5 stars) - so cute! at least half the people who have ever come to book club at some point have said they loved this, so since we're in our graphic novel era it just made sense! I read a good chunk of the comic online ages ago and it's still great (and much easier when not fighting my wifi to load pages lol)

Cahokia Jazz (5 stars) - y'all I lost my fucking MIND OVER THIS ONE. Absolutely going to be one of my top books of the year. I'm such such a sucker for books about an outsider trying to find themself, their place, and reconnect with their culture, and hnnnnnng it was so good! Not always easy, but I loved it. I sobbed over that ending so much, I had to get up at work and go hide in the restroom for a bit and couldn't stop tearing up for the next week. Warning that the opening is pretty gory/crime novel/these-cops-are-corrupt vibes that *did* almost make me dnf (GASP), but it gets so much better I promise. Give Joe a chance, he's got hidden depths.

The Last Unicorn (3.5 stars) - It was ok? I didn't really get into it and was glad it was short, but I'm sure if I'd gotten my hands on this as a kid I'd have read it 10x times. I've also never seen the movie. I'm debating if I want to keep my copy for future niblings, but probably not.

Supernova (3 stars) - finally, I am DONE with this series. I admit, the second book almost got me and had me reconsidering if I should keep my copies after all, but this one yanked me back to reality. The undercurrents of ethics/morals/philosophy? to this series are fascinating, but uh, I'm not sure the author is aware of them as much as I was? Because the ending was fine, but all of these questions it felt like the series was raising were just ignored or pushed past. Not a bad series, just don't think about anything too hard.

DNF's

Loot - I was here for the automaton tiger and clockmaking, but that wasn't really the focus? I'm not quite sure what was, actually, I dropped this pretty quick between that, not liking the writing style, or the narrator's voice.

The Death I Gave Him - I was SO sad to give this one up. It's told through excerpts and transcripts and all sorts of things pieced together that hint at events in the future, which is one of my favorite things!!!! Except I don't know shit about Hamlet, and it was giving more psychological-thriller vibes and less murder-mystery, and I wasn't really having fun. It made me want to reread Sarah Gailey's The Echo Wife.

[foxynovacoda]

I'm just going to drop something quick (and long) to tell y'all about my dad and how much I love him (no one cares but ssh).

He's a shy man. He'd rather read a book or watch the TV than hang out with his friends or colleagues. He doesn't talk much, but when we have small chats, we always have fun or learn something.

I have more things in common with him than with anyone else. We share interest for art, we like things such as biology and astronomy, we love old stuff and comics, etc.

When I was younger, I was a bit afraid of him. He was stressed because of the divorce with my mother, and my grandparents (dad's parents) weren't helping much.

After the death of my grandparents, he changed completely. He started taking care of his health by doing yoga to fix his back issues a bit (I joined him. I adore yoga).

Since he has a broken nerve that makes him struggle a lot to move his left foot, he has to wear an adapter to help him. Unfortunately, he got mocked because of it, and for a period, he felt uncomfortable with it.

For 6 years (or more), I've been living with my mother, but because of her job, she had to move away in a small city not too far from the one I live in. Because of this, I moved to my father's place, and these months were the most relaxing I've ever had. Without my mother stressing me over stuff and without my sister stealing my space, acting as if she's the housekeeper.

Recently, I changed my doctor, and she gave me some advice to lose weight (I'm not severely obese, I'm overweight). My mother started doing some research to tell me what to and to not eat during the day, and this gave me a bit of anxiety. I told this to my dad at the restaurant during my birthday dinner. He ordered a plate of French fries, and when he saw that I struggled to pick one, he said "Don't get paranoid. Eat!"

Tonight, during dinner, he said that he got tempted and he bought me some donuts to eat for breakfast. I'm a bit angry about this, but he thought that it'd make me happy.

A few days ago, he noticed that I always wear the same binder (he thinks it's a sportive top), and so he asked me to open the site where I bought it, and he made me buy two more (which are not arrived yet).

I really love my dad, and I'd do anything for him.

[bunnygirl678]

20 questions for fic writers

i felt like doing one of these lmao

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

30! Which most of them are for Nameless lmao

2. What's your total A03 word count?

304.751, about to go up again lol, probably another 80k in this month, 268,863 have been in 2023, lol. I spent a large portion of time not writing, but after my breakup this year I've started writing frequently again.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now really just pokemon, if something else comes to me I'll write it, I'm working on a dragon ball z fic, but I don't touch it a ton.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

This is sad for me cause they all suck. I wrote them late high school early college, and they're all based on the Avengers movies (although one i think may have been the comics) it's a huge fandom, and I've had them up for 10 years so (god it's been that long already???) All of my good marvel 616 fics are missing, buried in a discord that I don't have access to anymore and word docs from a computer long since recycled

But in order, I feel Salem, Astronaut, Almost Honest, Wicked Games, The Whole World Was Moving But I was Standing Still (God what was with my names then lol)

Please don't read them haha

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

I try to! Sometimes I miss them, but I try to respond when I see them, even a few weeks/months later. I really appreciate comments, and I feel like I've made some friends through them, or at least they comment on stuff I write, and I can reference my other fics to them lol, though they can totally make friends on here or discord, happy to talk to anyone. I've had people tell me I inspired them to write which is seriously the highest honor.

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

ummmm prolly the one where Tony dies after Steve cheats on him, I think that one is 616 based, but don't quote me, or go read it, the writing is...undeveloped, I think at that point I just started writing them, my characterizations weren't great, they got better but none of that is available lol

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

Ummmmm maybe Ode to my Soulmate? I can't do sad endings for the most part, my philosophy is real life sucks so I always try to make happy endings, Frank Left has a nice ending, that one gets almost no love, but I adore it.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I'm not good enough/big enough to get hate, lmao. Smaller fandom now, i think there might be some negative comments on the marvel ones but I haven't read those in yearsss.

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

I'm trying, Oral Fixation is my most recent published, but I'm working on one where Green gives Red a blowie in his Neo Champ uniform from masters, i've been writing that since the neochampion uniforms came out months ago ahha. I'm not great at smut, but I'm practicing, fun fact I learned how to give a bj through fanfics, and used to get compliments all the time in my younger sluttier years lol (Pre-kid haha)

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

Not anymore, I used to do 101 dalmatian crossovers lol, i doubt any are published, maybe on fanfic.net but i don't even remember my username haven't touched that since like 2011, i used to do x-men crossovers where various characters would have mutant powers, but i doubt those are published either.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so? I'm probably too small to get that kind of notice. I always welcome people to steal my aus and write their own fic with it (not copy paste my stuff, but write out the au the way they come up with with their own words)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I doubt it, but anyone can, I might end up translating one or two when I finally start learning a new language, or maybe improve my output on spanish (i can read it but not write/speak/listen well lmao)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah but this was high school and I don't think we ever posted them, again might be on fanfic.net, but like I don't even remember my username

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

I don't have a favorite, maybe reguri, or 616!stony which i don't read much anymore but will always hold a place in my heart, my oldest ship is probably rougexgambit

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

Blood Bank- but only because there is no ending, I'm going to continue that thing for the rest of my life, (at least quarterly updates lol although working on a new chapter now), there's also a reguri one that i wrote like 10k words on after i first started writing again, but it sucks ass, I don't love the plot to rewrite, I've written a lot more better stuff for them

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel like I do pretty well with hints/twists. Certain characters I'm really good at writing, feel like I've gotten really good at world building, and coming up with off the wall aus. IDK i'm not good at pointing out my strengths.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Everything not listed above? Lol. No, probably missing edits and not noticing them until I'm reading the fic months later, I'm getting better at pacing and general flow, sometimes I overdo it on dialog, and leave out movement. Smut too, but i'm working on everything, the key is to just keep writing, also too many fics going at once,

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

I typically don't do it unless I know the language, I'll just put it in english and say they said it in whatever lang. So like for Kalos I just say they're speaking Kalosian lol

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I used to tell stories with 101 dalmatians, but the first I ever actually wrote was from Stargate SG-1, I was like 10ish, I didn't post it, it's long since been trashed, but I was obsessed with Carter/O'neil and wanted them to adopt Cassie (i think that was her name, it's been years since I watched that show), first published is probably x-men i remember writing phoenix's force fics and posting on fanfic, might have done a ginnyxdraco for harry potter. These would be on my old fanfic.net or possibly livejournal, i don't remember,

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I write all my fics for myself, so i really love them all, and go back and reread them often lol

Unfinished, Under the Alolan Sun and Blood Bank, those are my passion projects, I have fun writing them,

finished, either The Most Expansive Collection of Champion Red Merch in All of Kanto (probably one of my least angsty lol) or How to Beat Champion Red at Something (my silly little ficlet about Red being a picky eater, i just giggle when i reread it)

Ode to My Soulmate is also up there.

[rpgworldcomic]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (2023)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!! It's October 31st, and you know what that means!!!.. Well, it's-- it's Halloween. I already blew my load on that one too early.

I decided to dress up the gang in stuff I'm looking forward to or already enjoying this fall season.

We've got… HERO! As INVINCIBLE! Invincible Season 2 is dropping, uhhh. This Friday! In fact. The show prompted me to read the comics, and!… Uh, the show is much better, in my opinion. Much better written and much better paced. But hey! Invincible came out in like, the early 2000's. They did pretty good for themselves back yonder.

CHERRY! As RAMONA FLOWERS! The Scott Pilgrim anime is taking off (pun intended) on Nov. 17th and I am HYYYYPPPEEEE

HOWARD! As MALLOW! From the Super Mario RPG remake, which is ALSO dropping Nov. 17th! This is gonna be a packed month. SMRPG was one of my favorite games back in the day and I still bust it out every couple of years. I've hit a point where I've practically mastered it and know all the secrets though, so it'll be nice to have a refreshing new take on it. I even fostered a "Lowest Coins" challenge on the game.

DIANE! As SHADOWHEART! From Baldur's Gate 3. I haven't touched that game in like 2 months now. I'm sure I'll pick it up again. PLEASE notice how much more detailed and different scale she is. I take this to mean Atari really enjoyed drawing her.

EIKRE & RABBLE! As RICK & MORTY! The newest season kicked off a few weeks ago and I'm enjoying it. I've never been a R&M elitist so the episodes and new voices are fine, but none of them have blown me away so far like some other episodes have.

Mysteriously missing from this list!? Star Ocean: The Second Story remake. It's a JRPG with a tan elf main character, and I didn't make Cherry dress as her? Low hanging fruit, man. Star Ocean 2 is one of my absolute favorite JRPGs from way back in the day and I'm excited to give it a shot with the remake. It's one of those ones I never finished because there was just SO much to do. I also really loved how every little thing had an interaction, or little moments between the characters that genuinely made you feel like they'd formed a friendship. Good stuff. That drops… Thursday!? Oof, I'm never going to have time for all of these. I'm ALREADY playing a 100+ hour game on top of ANOTHER 100+ hour game and I've already got a few other games lined up. Ugh.

Oh, also? I pre-ordered Star Ocean months ago and its delivery date is listed as 2 weeks from now. I'm sorry, what was the point of pre-ordering??? Anyway, it's fine. Like I said, I have so much to play already that those 2 weeks won't even make a difference.

SO! Go enjoy your Halloweens, but no matter what you do tonight, remember the absolute most important thing about today---- it's my birthday tomorrow. 😎

Boom! Happy treating! (Or tricking.)

[ninja-muse]

January took forever and February took days. February also saw robins and single-jacket weather and geese migrations, and now it is also seeing December-grade snowfall? The 21st century is weird.

Anyway, I feel like this was another good reading month, even though I had some decidedly all right books in my list and a few moments of "I have hundreds of unread books, why is there nothing to read?!" I managed to offload five (5!) reading copies and only take two in, though I already know I've got two more coming towards me soon because I just can't say no, apparently.

As for book hauls and the TBR shelf situation: I only bought one book, the latest installment of the Rivers of London comics, which I hadn't realized was out so obviously I had to get it. And then read it a couple days later. Also read off my shelves were Dreadnought by Cherie Priest (which had only been on my shelf for 13 years), The Compleat Discworld Atlas, and Jackalope Wives and Other Stories by T. Kingfisher, which isn't pictured because I have the ebook and I couldn't get a good pic of my phone. (People who do this, please send tips!)

And following on from my Digger update from last month: the books are one step closing to shipping internationally! Hooray!

Oh, and a friend with a book box subscription passed a map from the Daevabad Trilogy on to me, so I have yet another decoration for my shelves. Still finding the optimal place for it, and feeling blessed to have such friends.

No idea what March is going to bring, except I feel like there'll be more dithering about reading material.

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

Perilous Times - Thomas D. Lee

Rising sea levels. Mass extinctions. Racists. In-fighting. Dragons. If ever there was a time for the Knights of the Round Table to save the day, this would be it. But can they? Out in May.

8/10

Black main character, 🏳️‍🌈 main character (gay), British-Indian/Muslim main character; Black, amputee, and 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (trans woman, sapphic, gay)

warning: existential despair, violence

The Compleat Discworld Atlas - Terry Pratchett with the Discworld Emporium

A guide to the Disc, with maps in.

8/10

The 2000s Made Me Gay - Grace Perry

Essays on pop culture and queerness.

7.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: discussions of homophobia

The Porcelain Moon - Janie Chang

Faced with an arranged marriage, Pauline decides to travel to the Western Front to find her cousin. Meanwhile, Camille is caught between an abusive marriage and her secret love for a Chinese translator.

7/10

Chinese main and secondary characters, secondary character with discalculia, Chinese-Canadian author, 🇨🇦

warning: rape, domestic violence, racism, miscarriage

Jackalope Wives and Other Stories - T. Kingfisher

Short stories and other writings.

7.5/10

Dreadnought - Cherie Priest

Mercy travels from Tennessee to Washington Territory to visit her estranged father, two decades into the American Civil War. It won’t be easy.

7/10

Black and Mexican secondary characters

warning: war, gore, occasional racial slurs, including the N-word

The Fairy Tellers - Nicholas Jubber

Explorations into the history of fairy tales and the people who told them.

7/10

contains discussion of and biographies for Syrian and Indian tale tellers

Rivers of London, Vol. 10 - Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Celeste Bronfman with José María Beroy (illustrator)

Chelsea and Olympia Thames accidentally free an angry artist from a tree near their campsite—but don’t worry, they’ve got a plan.

6.5/10

Black-British main and secondary characters, Korean and Indian secondary characters

Happy Place - Emily Henry

Harriet and Wyn are back in Vermont for their annual friend reunion. This could be the last time, so it’s got to count. Which means nobody can know they broke up months ago. Out in May.

6.5/10

protagonist with depression, Black, Indo-American, and 🏳️‍🌈 (sapphic) secondary characters

This Winter - Alice Oseman

The Spring siblings would really like a normal Christmas. Shame about this one.

6/10

🏳️‍🌈 characters (gay, bisexual), 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: discussion of eating disorders and mental illness, some of which is distinctly negative

Nocturne - Alyssa Wees

A ballerina in 1930s Chicago acquires a mysterious patron and finds herself in a fairy tale. One of the dark ones.

7/10

warning: abuse, grief, coercion

Full of Briars - Seanan McGuire

Quentin’s parents want to take him away from his found family.

6/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (bisexual), 🏳️‍🌈 author

Under Lock & Skeleton Key - Gigi Pandian

Tempest is home after her magic show ended in disaster. Then her former assistant is found dead inside an old wall, and it might have something to do with the family curse.

4.5/10

Indo-American protagonist, Black and Indo-American secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 side characters, Indo-American author

Currently reading:

The Magician’s Daughter - H.G. Parry

Biddy’s magical guardian is under attack and she must leave her island home to protect him.

Stats

Monthly total: 13 Yearly total: 25/140 Queer books: 4 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 9 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1 Off the TBR shelves: 4 Books hauled: 1 ARCs acquired: 2 ARCs unhauled: 5 DNFs: 0

January

[ashes-writing-corner]

In the Heart of Winter

Chapter 2

The Lorcains only had to wait a matter of minutes before another royal house arrived holding banners of a white eagle holding a rose in one claw and a trout in the other on a blue field. House Nevrakis were the rulers of Thilux, the summer kingdom. Strong allies to the Lorcains, the Nevrakis were like a second family to the Lorcain children, and it served the other way with the Nevrakis children.

Siobhan held them in high regard, as they had never been anything but kind to her and her family. She was closer to Iris Nevrakis, the oldest of the summer brood, than she was to Aislinn. Countless letters had been sent between the pair, usually via one of the Nevrakis raptors.

Siobhan put an arm around Seoras' shoulders. "It's House Nevrakis. I think you'll like them" she told him.

"Think so?" Seoras looked up at her.

His older sister smiled. "I'm sure of it. Demetrius and papa were best friends. They grew up together. He may as well be our uncle".

"Think they'll like me? Like Ronan?"

"I believe so. They're really easy going".

Overhead flew the pride of House Nevrakis: Their trained raptors, birds of prey that had helped turned the tide in the War of Man and Magic. They were a signature in Iorera, and House Nevrakis adored these feathered, fierce creatures. Among them was a golden eagle named Nike, who was trained by Demetrius Nevrakis, king of Thilux and Lord of Summer. Close to her was a kestrel named Ioanna. If memory served Siobhan right, she was trained by Maia Nevrakis, Demetrius' wife and the lady of Summer. Behind them was a bird the autumn princess knew well: A barn owl named Vassilios, who was trained by Iris Nevrakis. He had delivered their messages back and forth for a while now, but Siobhan hadn't heard from Iris in a few months. He was followed by a female osprey named Klymene, a male sparrowhawk named Alekos, and a male peregrine falcon named Lambros. Siobhan wasn't too certain on the trainer of these birds. The other kids of House Nevrakis sure but she wasn't sure of specifics. She watched as the birds landed in the trees close by, watching their family roll in.

The Nevrakis were an eccectric lot, laid back and fun loving. It was said they were descended from the ancient merfolk rather than the earliest elves that served the Fae millenias ago. They loved the sea and the wind alike, and it was even said that summer elves even grew scales on their bodies as they aged. Siobhan had even read about a rare bunch actually being born with finned tails and webbing between fingers and toes.

They rolled up in beautiful carriages made from what appeared to be giant pearls. The windows and doors were lined in gold shaped to look like ocean waves. The driver and footman were dressed in the sky blue on the house's banners. The horses that pulled the carriages were silver furred, and their harnesses were made from gold and decorated with large sapphires. The Nevrakis were the wealthiest family in Iorera, and they weren't afraid to show it.

The carriage stopped and the footman stepped to the door to open it, but let out a rather comical yell of surprise when one of the riders opened it first, nearly knocking the poor man to the ground. Out of the carriage first was a short, pudgy man with a bald round head. His eyebrows were black and bushy, his dark green eyes bright with happiness. His beard was thick but nice and cleanly kept. His face was freckled and with a slightly hooked nose. His thin lips were curled into a delighted and joyous smile. This was Demetrius Nevrakis, the wealthiest man in Iorera.

"He's gotten rounder" Aislinn noted aloud.

Siobhan glanced at her from Seoras' side. "Hey, Aislinn, can you go five minutes without being a total bi-"

"Siobhan Aithnea Lorcain! Mind your words!" Neassa glared at her sharply.

"She's the one calling the lord of summer fat!"

"It was simply an observation Siobhan. Contain the calamity of your mammaries".

"Yeah a bitchy one" Ronan replied not looking at the eldest Lorcain.

Aislinn gasped as if Ronan had offended her. "Seoras, I swear if you don't muzzle that thing-"

"Not a thing!" Seoras told her through gritted teeth, his tone icy.

"Guys!" Seoc rolled his eyes, "It's like I'm getting babysitting except I'm not getting paid..."

The siblings fell into a heated quiet as Demetrius helped his beloved wife, Maia, out of the carriage. Maia Nevrakis was a beautiful elf, every inch of her radiated nobility. Like her husband, she was short, but carried herself remarkably well. Maia had long chocolate brown hair that cascaded down her back elegantly. Her eyes were a deep emerald, a signature of summer elves. Across her neck was a tattoo of a budding tree branch, the buds lavender across her pale throat. She wore a long silk gown of lilac, which matched the flowery headdress she wore. The headdress was decorated with ebony dyed antlers, giving Maia the appearance of having stag horned crown. Maia happily took a look at the Lorcains, her lovely lips a soft shade of magenta.

"Oh look at you all, it's been so long!" Maia came over to them excitedly and hugged the Lorcians until she got to Seoras, "I haven't seen you since you were a tiny thing. Are hugs okay?" she asked the autumn prince.

Seoras shook his head. "No, sorry".

"Oh no need to apologize dear. I understand perfectly. Not everyone likes hugs and close contact. My younger daughter's the same way. It's why I asked". Maia smiled kindly.

"I like hugs!" Ronan spoke out.

Maia chuckled. "Awww who's this little fellow?"

"Ronan. I made him" Seoras told her.

"Well he's a delightful little construct. It's nice to meet you, Ronan".

"Same to you, gorgeous".

Maia blinked and then laughed a bit. "A little flirt I see".

"And don't ya forget it!"

The summer lady bowed her head and turned to Neassa. Her face went from warm and welcome to somber and sympathetic. She took the queen's hands gently.

"And how are you, your grace?"

"None of that now, sister. I've been well, attempting to keep my family and the continent together as best I can".

"You're doing remarkably. I promise you, Alasdair would be proud of the work you've done".

"I certainly hope so, Maia".

One by one the four Nevrakis children came out of the carriage in order of their birth, lining in front of the Lorcains. Siobhan smiled, stealing a glance at Iris.

Iris smiled back, bowing her head. The eldest of the four, Iris was tall and slender with a slight build. her clothing was lolita styled, complete with an interesting mix of black, light blushing pink, and lilac purple. The lighter colors clashed with the deep black of her wild hair, which was highlighted with ash brown streaks and kept in high pigtails. Her bangs were straight and a tad choppy. In front of each pigtail was a small bow of light blue with soft lavender stripes. Iris had her mother's emerald eyes, though they were encompassed and contained by thick rimmed circular black glasses. On her left shoulder was a tiny frilled lizard named Xene. His black and silver scales shined in the sunlight as his claws dug into the fabric of Iris' shirt. Like Ronan was for Seoras, Xene was Iris' crowning achievement. The result of many years of studying reptilian genetics. It showed the summer princess' remarkable intelligence despite her eccentric appearance and demeanor.

Iris bowed to Neassa. "Your grace" she smiled warmly.

Neassa nodded. "Princess Iris, an interesting color combination and style. I take it you made this?"

"I did, thank you".

"You look wonderful. I take it then that your business is going well?"

"Oh very much so, your grace. In fact if you andd his grace Daimon would permit me, I would like to design and put together everyone's wedding attire" Iris proposed.

Behind her veil, Neassa smiled kindly. "We in House Lorcain would be honored if you did so".

Iris smiled to herself as the queen moved to her younger brother, Leonidas. Known to his family as Leo, Lenoidas Nevrakis was his mother's son through and through. He had her eyes and chocolate brown hair. He also wore an antlered headdress, though his were silver coated, shining in the sunlight. On either side of his neck, he had red roses tattooed. His beard was getting a bit long, his eyebrows bushy like his father's. On his right cheek, most notably, were a pair of slash scars he received from a fight with the youngest member of House Seiya, the spring rulers in Xisha. As for his clothing, he wore dull earth tones of mostly green and brown. Like Seoc, Leo was an archer of the finest calibur. He bowed before the queen of Autumn.

"Your highness" he greeted her with a respectful tone, "May the day bring great fortune to you and yours".

Neassa nodded in kind. "Same with you, Leonidas. Formal as always".

"Respectful your grace, and you're worthy of every ounce of it" Leonidas replied.

The queen moved on to the next sibling, another girl named Reah. Like Neassa, Maia had her children in a similar order: Daughter, son, daughter, and another son. Soft spoken and mousey, Reah Nevrakis reminded the queen of her own son, Seoras. She had long, light brown hair that trailed down to her waist. Two braids were made at the fronts of her shoulders. Her bright green eyes were polished peridots. Her thin lips were painted a soft pink-gray color, and on her head she wore a bronze and red jeweled circlet that was decorated with dyed red ram horns on either side of her head. Around her neck was a pink and green jeweled spider web like necklace. As for her attire, she wore a simple but lovely red colored toga style gown.

Neassa looked at the girl intrigued. "You wear my colors, princess".

"The colors of my house, majesty".

"If the day goes well".

The two bowed respectfully before Neassa moved on to the next aqnd last sibling. The boyishly charming Prince Zoilos.

Zoilos bowed. "Your majesty"

Neassa nodded as she looked him over. "Prince Zoilos. I see you've grown well".

If one didn't know any better, they'd think Zoilos and Reah were twins. Their eyes were similar, as was their hair color. The prince's was more wild and rebellious. His face was boyish and kind. He was younger than Reah, but he was taller than her. He also wore red and gold, perhaps also wanting to join House Lorcain. Zoilos was a trained speaqrmaster, even impressing House Seiya with his skills.

"You too wear my family's colors" the veiled queen noted with a slight smile.

"A show of respect, your highness, and support. I...I hope the day is good" he seemed shy but sweet.

Siobhan smiled a bit at that, thinking he would make a great partner for anyone.

"So...anyone heard anything from the other two?" Demetrius asked.

"No one's heard from House Eronen in months. No news out of Zaigary either" Neassa answered with a slightly concerned tone.

Reah fidgeted with her necklace, mumbling something Siobhan couldn't quite pick up. Something about "ice on fire, blood on the snow" or other. The autumn princess was suspicious.

"I'm sure they're fine" Maia said, "Kalervo and Marianna have always been the private sort. I'd swear it's a winter elf thing".

It wasn't a dishonest statement. House Eronen ruled the winter kingdom of Zaigary for the last four thousand years, since the rebellion against the fae. It was, in fact, originally decided that House Eronen would rule Iorera first. However, Alrik Eronen, their ancestor, believed that Iorera wasn't ready for a one thousand year winter. With that decided, it was only natural that a much more pleasant Reign would take control first.

Well...supposedly pleasant.

Siobhan turned her head as another entourage started to roll in. House Seiya were the rulers of the Spring Court in Xisha. A tightly knit family, House Seiya bore banners in the colors of purple, red, and green. It featured a red poppy on a green field with purple sideways raindrops between the poppy's petals.

Siobhan squinted in disgust. Last she had seen the Seiya banners, it was a red rose, not a poppy. The rulers of House Nevrakis looked utterly offended. Maia let out a soft quiet gasp, and Demetrius, a normally calm and collected elf, looked ready to kill. Neassa took Maia's hand and looked at Demetrius.

"Le'ts not make a scene, please" she pleaded.

The spring entourage stopped, one of the carriages a a well polished cherrywood color with red frames. The second one appeared to be an older one, a little more run down and faded. If one didn't know any better they'd think the older looking carriage was for servants.

But they all knew that wasn't the case. House Seiya's inner familial politics were interesting to say the least...

The two carriages stopped behind the Nevrakis and the nobles started making their way out. Daimon Seiya was the lord of spring and King of Xisha. Although short in stature, Daimon held himself high, and commanded a great deal of respect. Everything about him was tight and in control. He wore his family's colors of purple and green with pride on his ceremonial kimono, a red silk poppy pin on his shoulder, a further jab at House Nevrakis. His long black and gray hair was pulled into a high ponytail. His exceptional beard was braided down the middle, giving it the appearance of silver and black stripes. His face was hard and cold, reminiscent of flint. His one amethyst eye seemed to peer through anyone who dared to cross his path. His left eye had been taken out years ago, but not in some great battle like his people believed. Word had it that instead it was taken out by a scorned concubine's curse.

Daimon only looked briefly at the already large gathering of royals and nobles. He paid them little heed, as no matter what family or blood one was from, Daimon believed his superior. Yes, he even believed House Lorcain to be beneath him, viewing their honorable disposition as more a burden than a strength. Neassa was just a sad, pathetic widow with power in his eyes. Alasdair had been a fool. He knew too little about their children to form a solid opinion of them, but if they were anything like their honorable, foolish parents, well...the king of Spring was predisposed to dislike them. However, Daimon was smart enough to hold his tongue around the queen and her children, especially after the king's sacrifice for them all. Daimon knew it wasn't his place to speak on such matters, unless of course he was asked away from them.

The Nevrakis were a whole other matter altogether to him. Their families had disliked one another for years. Daimon believed them all to be little more than bumbling fools who wasted their lives on the most meaningless of things. He believed them to be wasteful, as they seemed to have a damn feast every other week since the War of Man and Magic ended. A part of him had hoped that after the Sinking of Nuxvar, Demetrius would finally take things seriously.

His hopes had apparently been too high.

Daimon shook his head in a disappointed manner as he held his hand out for his lady wife, Mika. A long nailed, delicate looking hand took his in kind as he gently guided the lady out.

The poison queen, as some called her, was a gorgeous elf. She was taller than her husband, her back ramrod straight. There awas an air of confidence and pride about this woman. One would find it hard not to look directly at her whenever she appeared, as her presence alone was so potent. No matter where she was, Queen Mika Seiya was always the center of attention. Her hair was long and silky, raven in color with silver streaks. Her eyes were beautiful violets on a pale field. Her own ceremonial kimono was also in the colors of her house, the obi decorated with red poppies. Her headdress was also decorated with the much hated flowers.

Mika turned to the other gathered houses, her lips painted a deep shade of green, a call back to her house of origin, as well as an embrace of her title as Queen of Poisons. She grinned like a cat who had just caught elusive but defenseless prey.

"Well...look who all's here. And yet, our future king or queen are nowheree to be found. What a shame".

"House Eronen will come" Neassa told her, not at all afraid of her, "If they don't we have to begin the ceremony without them".

"They're our future-"

"Their blood is still in the cauldron, your grace" Neassa cut her off.

The mood that settled over them was tense, even as the Seiya children began to emerge. Neassa addressed her children and the Nevrakis.

"Go inside. Your destinies await us all...and may fortune smile on all who are here. And all of Iorera".

Please like, reblog and comment :D

And consider becoming a patron on my Patreon if you wanna see Lore surrounding this story!

[popculturebuffet]

Breaking Cat News Retrospective: Year One: On The Air! (Comissioned by Emma Fici)

In Loving Memory of Stewie Magilcutty Mattingly 2006-2023 "A Legend that Will Live Forever"

So a few months ago I had some great fortune: I was getting back into comic strips, one of the great loves of my life and one I haven't indulged in on this blog nearly as much as I should. I never stopped reading them all together mind you, but I wasn't reading them daily and now I have it's through enjoyment. I found newer strips to adore like the nostalgic best friendship of crabgrass, the sibling chaos of Rosebuds and the charming reboot of heart of the city, found long running strips i'm now a huge fan of like Safe Havens, ON the FastTrack, and Kevin and Kell, all by one Bill Holbrook as well as Jumpstart which isn't but is fun, and reconnected with strips I hadn't really read daily like wallace the brave and phoebe and her unicorn. But while all of these are great and many will be talked about on here at some point (I'm saving K and K for 2021) out of all of them it was the one of the last ones I binged.. that ended up being my clear favorite and despite it only having been a few months, has worked it's way into being one of my favorite comic strips of all time.

Now i'd been planning to start covering it next year for it's 10 year anniversary.. but then something terrible happened last sunday that sped up plans: My cat Stewie, with me 17 years, had passed away. See reading the strip i'd related a lot of the antics to stewie, especially since my faviorite of the cast happened to also be an honry 17 year old cat. So I felt one of the best ways to honor my fur buddy.. would be to move this up and thankfully my friend Emma, who i'd gotten into the strip agreed to sponsor it. So with the time finally here those few of you who are either loyal readers of mine or just found this might need an intro

Breaking Cat News is a comic strip by Georgia Dunn, and this all started one day nearly 9 years ago when her cat Lupin knocked over a lamp and broke it. Her other two cats, Elvis, the older cat I mentioned and Puck, the gentler middle child, came to investigate and soon Georgia was improvising reporter voices for them… and it made her and her husband Ryan laugh so much she quickly made it into this comic.

She did what most would do and shared it with friends and what not and it spread around so much she decided to make some more… and they proved so popular she made a website, and the rest was history. THe strip was intially a self published webcomic, done in long form sunday like strips, before being picked up by Andrews McMeel aka Uversal Uclick, one of the two major comics syndicates who replayed the strip on their website , and it got popular to the point they published a collection, published more and eventually picked the strip up for dalies.

The strip has not only been a highlight of my day.. but something I love for it's wonderful fan community, who not only flooded my mentions with their condolences over my death, but have been one of the nicest comments sections iv'e found, as my talking on and on about these characters is not only apricated but encouraged and Georgia herself is a throughly kind person who not only comments occasionally but genuinely engages with and apricates her fans. So as such i've been chomping at the bit to do this longform and i'm happy to finally do so. So join me under the cut for a look at BCN's first year on the air as you meet Lupin, Elvis and gentle Puck as they hit the air.

BCN has a very simple, yet brilliant setup the above strip nicely highlights: three cats living in a big pink house report on the various goings on in said house as professional news reporters.. while still, having the logic and actions of a cat. For instance the endless struggle of a cat getting on the counter, table or what have you and having to scoop them off becomes our heroes trying to figure out why the humans guard the counter so jealously.. and also leads to one of my faviorite lines in the entire strip

Some day I will be able to use that panel, as i've used many of this strips for reaction images. Another reason why I wanted to do this really, to show where those panels are from and hopefully get more eyes on the strip.

Anyways like most comic strips the first yearcan feel a tad off in hindsight. Bloom County lacked focus and took a while to assemble it's early cast, with Opus finally bringing it all together. Snoopy was a very regular dog for several years who just happened to like eating candy instead of the imaginative weirdo we all know. Calvin caught Hobbes in a tiger trap, something never brought up again, as was his time in scouts. For Better Or Worse was more a bunch of domestic punchilnes instead of the generational family dramedy it became and all the better for. Every strip, and most works in general, take a bit to become their best self.

For BCN it's the fact the characters start out far less defined. Over time the cats would gain really fleshed out, dynamic, utterly wonderful personalities but for the first few months, their basically all the same person with their quirks only really hinted at. Again this is fair: Georgia was just playing off the very concept at first and likely didn't have much of an idea at first where to go with this beyond the cats just playing off The Woman and The Man (her and ryan's avatars). IT's not bad at all, but it feels weird to go back to after getting so used to what the strip becomes; a multilayered world with it's own history seperate from it's real world inspirations, a colorful and expansive side cast, and each of our main cat cast and our two human adults feel like well thought out fully formed characters. At this point it's just three interchangable cats, a fourth outside we'll get to, and two humans. It's not bad, but it is worth noting just how weird it feels while also reading the daily strip, which still has plenty of reality based antics but also has as much chaarcter humor as it does cat humor.

As Year One goes on though the cats slowly came into focus. So let's meet them shall we?

First up we have our man on the desk, 50's style reporter Lupin. Lupin was in real life adopted last out of the original trio as a kitten having been found with his various brothers and sisters in an abandoned apartment, carelessly abndoned. Lupin contracted a fever which as his intial fosters found, left him deaf, though nicely his disablity is just a part of him and only comes up once or twice in storyline, while still being compesnated for and given resonable acomindation when needed, as he relies on the teleprompter as seen in one strip where he dosen't realize a cricket's chirping is harming his friends ears for obvious reasons. He's a curious troublemaker, with a love of knocking thigns over, exploration, and teasing eldest cat Elvis

Next up is Puck, a black kitty with only three paws. In real life, puck was rescued from a concerned neighbor who noticed he had an infection and whose owners didn't care if he lived or died. He lost a limb, but eventually gained a forever home with the Dunns. Puck is gentle, sometimes shy, but always kind and upfront.

Elvis is a cranky siamise and older burnt out hardhitting journalist. He is the oldest of the cats and the only one in real life (it's unknown if this carries to the strip) who wasn't a shelter baby, with Georgia instaead adopting him from a farm while she was still single. Elvis is quick to anger, distrustful as heck to strangers, and clingy as heck to the woman. There's a good cat underneath it, and he loves his brothers and mom dearly.

IF your wondering who that strange cat in the rad hawiaan shirt is , we'll get to him later.

Story wise in contrast to the later years having frequent arcs mixed with one offs or one weeks dealing with various cat issues, the first year of strips is mostly just varoius shenanigans though a few running gags are set up that run into present day. Besides Elvis' on and off rivalry with the man and the leaves we have The bi monthly 2am running of the cats…

Our boys love of bacon

Their off hours wrestling league BCW, B C DUB, B C DUB!

Georgia is a wrestling fan herself, and it shows as most of the bcw gimmicks are in some way based on actual wrestlers, with Elvis wearing a singlet similar to Jerry the King Lawler, and Puck wearing an outfit similar to jesse ventura with the cadance of the macho man randy savage.

Story wise there's only three major beats and all are fairly loose, with the final one being the centerpiece of a story arc more like the ones we get later: a full on story followed to the end either over a few months or over about a month. The first is Georgia recapping her own real life pregnancy and eventual birth of her son, known her as the baby, the toddler and later the boy. The cats do their best ot help even fi they dont' quite understand

The actual arival slightly baffles Lupin and Puck but they come to accept their new roomate. Elvis… is a bit of a harder sell

It takes a while but eventually he softens on the boy too… if through shared trauma

It's fairly loose in contract to how later arcs go, but it makes sense as this was closer to the real life events presumibly, versus say the adoption of later cats, which has more of an arc to it.

The second dosen't payoff till the next year when they meet, but we do get the introductions of Sir Figaro Newton (Fig for short) and Tabitha, the cats living above our heroes (In real life it was reversed. )

They have their own running of the cats but we'll get to meet them in full next time.

For now though there's just one major arc and it start with a simple running gag. We're now circling back to that outdoor cat, as you simply must meet Thomas, Thomas, aka Admiral Thomas Whistchester, better known as Tommy! Tommy is based on a friends cat who had his own facebook, shared with his roomate sophie (who we'll also meet next time) before his sad passing, though you can still find it today to see plenty of the delicate artiste herself. He's a fluffy boy who just wants to be friends with our cats who all regard him with suspcion but Elvis in paticuarlly gets extra puffy and extra paranoid about their new pal

I also like his fun hawiaan shirt, which fits his party animal lifestyle well. I love the costuming for the cats, with each's outfit perfectly fitting their personality: Lupin has a full suit jacket which both nicely contrasts his chaotic nature as the strip goes and fits his usual roll as desk anchor, Puck has a simple but stylish white dress shirt and tie and Elvis has a more 70's suspenders and dress shirt combo. It's simple stuff but it shows off who they are and it's a key part of any comic strip, especially, even with the strip having alternate outfits for sleep and such, when they'll likely wear said outfit for the whole run of the strip. He's a nice kind guy. He even has a friend in louie, a skunk who sprays lupin who we've only seen all of twice in two decades despite being the coolest dude on the planet.

This also shows Lupin slowly growing closer to Tommy, a friendship that will presist throughout the strip. For his brothers though, it'd take quite the ordeal.. which starts as many tales do.. with Elvis's overestimation of what he can handle getting out of hand

Three hours later snows coming down, the rest of our heroes are panicked and Elvis himself is lost, cold and hungry.. when he runs into our boy Tommy… at first he's as receptive to his help as someone of his station and dignity would be..

To me this is where the strip grows the beard: in just three strips we've gone from the usual shenanigans.. to Elvis fighting to surivive. Not that the stakes are always high nor do they need to be: the slice of life feel of the strip is one of it's draws. But by raising them realisticly just a touch it forces Elvis to let his guard down and shows tommy as more than just comic relief, but a cat whose lost.. and willing to help others not loose what he had simply because he's that kind. It's the kind of depth that carries comedically and dramatically for the rest of the strip that up to this point had only barely been touched. This is where they cease being maybe one trait that's ignored if needed and ebcome the fully fleshe dout fur babies I know and love.

We then get the full story of how Tommy ended up like this, with Lupin finally truly warming up to him, realizing he's not so diffrent.. and fully being touched by Tommy offering up his bed.. while badly missing his family

The next morning tommy gets our hero home, greatful and with a new friend

But… Elvis realizes he can't leave things and having seen the sign we saw earlier takes a giant risk

The people recognize tommy, and call his woman, who will be both one of The Woman's closest friends and easily the biggest recurring human character outside the big pink house going forward. We get the tearful reunion you'd expect and badly hoped for

Turns out he was only a few blocks away, which is also nice setup as it means he can visit again after this. But for now he gets properly aquanited with our cast

And leaves to go to his happy home.. but with a reminder that wherever he goes.. he's one of them. A great way to end a great arc.

This christmas arc is one of my favorites of the series even now: Emotional, touching and perfectly in line with the season and it nicely sets the tone for everything to come. While things won't be this harrowing, our cats world is about to grow exponentially from here on out. So join me in march as the world gets wider, our heroes make some new friends, deal with some new babies, and things only get better from here. Thanks for reading.