#using the term review loosely here

[tbookblurbs]

Classic Stories 1 - Ray Bradbury (Selected Short Stories from The Golden Apples of the Sun and R is for Rocket)

4.5/5 - favorites listed below

From The Golden Apples of the Sun:

The Flying Machine - Every border implies the violence of its maintenance

The Murderer - Y'all ever hate the ever-present pressure of modern life in the form of ads and the expectation to be available at all times

Powerhouse - I think we should go back to romanticizing the beauty of human invention (alt: is science a new religion?)

Sun and Shadow - People are not props

From R is for Rocket

The End of the Beginning - Things are always ending and it's very poignant to read the hopes of those who hadn't experienced the space race yet

The Rocket - Capitalism is a problem even in sci-fi space future, but love remains

A Sound of Thunder - Never underestimate the power of the smallest actions

[thenightfolknetwork]

so, i've got this friend - let's call her "casey". and she's a really sweet person, i love her to bits. the thing is, casey really wants to be a witch. and not just like, doing some spells for herself and her friends, kind of thing. she wants to be a professional witch. she's obsessed with this dream of hers, pouring so much time and energy into making social media posts about her spellwork and trying to mimic her favorite witchstagram influencers.

but the problem is… she kinda sucks??? none of her spells work and sometimes they can really backfire. she made me a housewarming charm for my new apartment, and within a day of putting it up, my neighbors were banging on my door accusing me of cursing the whole building! but instead of working on her craft, she's totally focused on building this social media persona. she honestly isn't getting the kind of traction she was hoping for - probably because, you know… she sucks!! is there any way i can convince her to at least take a bit more time in training before she tries to go pro?

I'm afraid there isn't much you can do here, dear reader. I understand your concerns – it's no easy thing to see a person you love embark on a path you consider foolish. But it Casey is her own person, and needs to be allowed to forge her own path.

As her friend, you need to decide how much you can be there for Casey in this endeavour. I certainly don't think you should lie to her – neither of you will be served by you pretending you think this career change is a wise decision. But you can find other things to praise – her commitment, her bravery and her enthusiasm, if nothing else.

Besides which, I'm not sure I actually see anything in her “business plan” (a term I use extremely loosely here) that actually involves any magical ability. You say she's pouring her energy into social media posts and developing her Instagram profile. None of that constitutes becoming a professional witch in any actual spell-crafting capacity.

If she does pivot to trying to make money from her actual craft, she may well run into some rather obvious obstacles – namely that her spells do more harm than good. I see no reason to discourage her in this. After all, perhaps a slew of negative reviews and refund demands will spur her into developing her craft a little more (hopefully under the guidance of a more experienced practitioner, and not a fellow 'witchstagram' enthusiast).

Confronting her about her lack of skill will only upset her. Concentrate instead on being her friend and supporting her as and how you can without undermining your own integrity. It simply isn't your place to try and guide Casey on this matter. She will do as she wishes, and needs to make her own choices – and her own mistakes.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #28 – The Dead Take The A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey

Oh I wanted to love this book so very much. On paper it’s basically made for me – incredibly messy fuckup of a heroine, cosmic horror through the idiom of wall street corporate sharks, grimy and gory urban fantasy full of knifing people in back alleys, the works! For the first fifty pages or so, I thought I was in love – which just made the disappointment as the wheels came off all the more bitter.

The book follows Julie, ‘barbed wire magician’ (it’s at least as unpleasant as it sounds), professional monster hunter, and all-around personal disaster. Her life takes a turn for the even messier when a) her best friend/comically oversized unresolved crush shows up at her door begging for help running from her abusive husband and b) unrelatededly but more or less simultaneously, her ex-partner-and-also-boyfriend, looking up to clean up embarrassing loose ends on his rise up the elldritch corporate ladder, baits her into trying to summon a guardian angel from a sabotaged tome and ends up releasing a metaphysical parasite that starts murdering its way through the city’s occult underground. From there things just get messier.

Drilling down as much as I can, my issues with this can be summed up as it feels like a first draft. There’s stuff there on the page – character arcs, relationships, bits of scenery and action setpieces, even themes! - but it’s all just..there. Exaggerated line sketches no one ever went back and turned into full illustrations. It’s most painful with the characters – every one of them is a caricature, precisely and exactly what they first appear to be with the same beats hit again and again every single time they appear on screen. Which more or less for the quirky supporting cast but like – we get multiple chapters from the perspective of the aforementioned abusive husband, and something like a fifth of the book is from the POV of the sleazy corporate striver ex. At no point does either one get the slightest bit of nuance or pathos – Tyler’s chapters in particular end up reading like bad SCP field reports, with so much self-destructive instituional backstabbing and betrayal it all ends up being slapstick.

Sarah the love interest gets a special anti-shout-out here. Like, I know I’m just picky about and have a low tolerance for romances, but I swear – the single most important dynamic in the book in terms of both wordcount and narrative signposting is her and Julie’s romance, and it is just So. Bad. Every single scene she’s in is dedicated to rubbing your face in how fragile and traumatized and selfless and adorable and good-hearted and damaged she is, and the entirety of the romance is essentially one of those jokes about how lesbians will spend six years living with each other awkwardly waiting for the other to ask them out but stretched across 400 pages. I spent half the book patiently waiting for any hint of hidden depths or surprising twists to her character, but nope! Just a perfect domestic angel.

The setting actually has something of a similar issue. It feels like an exaggerated pastiche of urban fantasy, assuming the reader is already familiar with all the tropes and conceits and making only the most perfunctory possible gestures towards exploring or justifying them. This can absolutely work, but if you’re doing it you kind of need to use the genre as the background or setup for something else that the book is actually about – deconstruction or satire or character study or Wacky Hijinks or something. When what’s gruesome action and drama is supposed to be the star attraction, the grounding and verisimilitude of the world is actually pretty key.

A really tight, tense plot could have absolutely redeemed the whole but, well, nope. The literal entire plot hinges on Tyler, in the course of one conversation several drinks in at a crowded bar, baiting Julie into looking for a particular type of tome from a particular store so she’ll try the ritual he had swapped out with one to curse her – but then also that he didn’t know what the ritual he swapped in actually did. The big evil wall street law firm has a corporate culture that should have collapsed about 48 hours after it was founded, and absolutely nothing about it makes sense for a place with lasting institutional power. Everyone’s morality and perceptiveness changes as the plot requires. The pacing feels like they had to pull a happy ending out of their asses at the 2/3 mark and shove the rest of the book into a sequel. It’s just, it’s bad!

Also the prose starts at fun and evocative and keeps pushing into Lovecraftian levels of adjective-addiction, and neither the A-Train nor the dead are actually at all important to the story.

Just, argh. This could have been good! The first 40 pages were a really fun schlocky monster-of-the-week story! The first ritual summoning the Proctor was basically perfect! I wanted to love this!

[dice-sociation]

Girls Who Don’t DnD

Quick Info

Audio Quality: High-Quality Audio, Effects, Music. (Occasional fan-submitted recordings)

Vibes: Throne of Glass, Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Princess and the Pauper

Extras: Patreon rewards, Discord Community with Book Club, and more!

System: 5e DnD

Campaign/ Show Length: Long Term Campaign

Average Episode time: 1.5 Hours (varies a bit)

Uploads 1 episode a month. 

Diversity: Majority Women

Platforms: Podcast, Audio Only. 

Number of Episodes This Review is based on: 30+ 

** If you want the TLDR, scroll to the bottom of the post **

Why Girls Who Don’t DnD?

How often have you said to yourself, “Man, I wish I could experience that for the first time again?” While we can’t reset your brain, you can live vicariously through the Girls Who Don’t D&D podcast. 

If you're looking for a podcast with relaxed gameplay, fantastic humor, great editing, and effects, you should read on to learn more. This wonderful adventure showcases the beautiful experience of watching three girls fall in love with Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). 

Starting the Pod

The podcast starts with Cory, the Dungeon Master (DM), explaining that he has invited three girls, Indy, Alana, and Stacey, who have never played D&D, into his world of Kalee with premade characters. If you, the listener, haven’t played before, you’ll learn a lot just from listening. Cory purposely doesn’t edit out explanations of how to play. I’m confident my experience was better because I was still learning to play the game myself as I started listening.

Right from the start you will hear how much work Cory puts into editing and pre-recording. He recruits people to voice-act for non-player characters (NPCs) or to play out memories or scenes. Some additions are just for the listeners, giving us a little extra information about the lore of the world. This includes the origin of magical artifacts, gods, and sometimes an NPC’s perspective that the players don’t get to hear.  It feels like listening to an audiobook and honestly, I think “booktok” would love Girls Who Don’t DnD. 

We learn that the three player characters, Freya, Kaa'Riin, and Morrigan, have lost their memories and need to recover them. The story and the discovery of who the player characters are and what happened to them work in tandem with the players themselves learning the game in a beautiful way. 

Power gamers and hardcore strategy? We don’t need that here. (Tosses book over shoulder). This group is made of story-tellers who usually choose to progress the narrative over strategy. At first, it's like watching Without A Recipe or the British Bake Off challenge where they have no clue what they are supposed to be making. This makes it all the more special when the players get more comfortable with the gameplay and more grounded in their characters. 

About the Team

Cory, "(who owns all the books but hasn't read them)"* completely absorbs the chaos the girls bring to the table and somehow also keeps them immersed in the story. He holds onto the rules of D&D loosely, letting his players use their abilities in different and unique ways. You still get full epic fights with no pulled punches, yet they feel more cinematic than the usual D&D grind. Outside of combat, Cory introduces challenging puzzles and encounters that present more opportunities for his players to think outside the mechanics of the game.

I adore Alana, Indy, and Stacy. I have some difficulty with telling their voices apart, but I never felt like that took away from my enjoyment of the show. Over time they develop their characters and have different play styles. They all have so much personality and bring their own flavor to the table. 

Indy, playing Freya the Rogue, has to be the most classic of first-time players, starting a little hack-and-slash happy, but eventually, she gets really into the strategy of the game. Freya is a cheeky scamp of a character and Indy leans naturally into the rogue class.  

Alana, playing Morrigan the Sorcerer, is usually the most sensible of the group. She is a leader in a way. There is so much more I want to say but I can't think of anything that isn't a big spoiler. Playing a sorcerer for your first time playing D&D is never easy, but Cory was able to ease her into the role and she runs with it.

Stacey, playing Kaa'Riin the Bearbarian (Druid with some Barbarian), has some epic combat moments. She can change from one animal to another without reverting to humanoid form, which deviates from traditional Druid rules. This decision, as well as other tweaks of the rules, help the pacing of the overall production. 

And sure, you're probably thinking their whole schtick is that they don't know D&D, so wouldn't it lose its charm after they get better? Absolutely not. Not even a little bit. This table is casual, silly, charming, and gripping. They make me feel like I am with my best friends playing our chaos gremlins together. 

A special shout to Mia Stegner (https://www.miastegner.com/) who composed and performed the opening and closing songs. It’s the cherry on top of this podcast sunday.

*Referenced from the Podcast Description. https://www.girlswhodontdnd.com/ 

About the world

“There is a saying among the good people of Kalee, when you know what is right, do what is right, and then deliver it all into the endless sea” From Episode 1: Throw it Into the Sea, Aug 16, 2021.

Cory presents a world both complex and informed by the player's choices and features some of the more bizarre parts of typical High Fantasy settings. 

There is just something so satisfying about learning the characters' backstories and how their stories are expertly baked in the many-layered cake that makes the world. Flavors include; wild magic, strange and whimsical characters, Evil Queens, “timey-wimey” stuff, super cute plans, snails, Gods, magic crystals, trapped souls, and Alan (the real star of the later episodes).

Extras

There are so many Patreon perks! You get behind-the-scenes talks, recipes from Indy, DMing tips, Lana's book reviews, and more! You can also join their Discord server where Cory is pretty active and they encourage community gaming and have a book club.

TL;DR: 

This podcast is about girls learning to play D&D using premade characters with amnesia. The girls learning to play parallels the story’s progression as they regain memories. 

Reliving the experience of learning to play for the first time all over again. 

Loosely follows the rules of 5e to keep the pacing up.

DM Cory recruits people to voice act for NPCs or to play out memories or scenes. Some additions are just for the listeners, giving us a little extra information about the lore of the world.

It's a little hard to tell the girls apart, but I don’t think it takes away from my enjoyment at all. 

Wild magic, strange and whimsical characters, Evil Queens, “timey-wimey” stuff, super cute plans, snails, Gods, magic crystals, trapped souls, and Alan. 

DM Cory presents a world both complex and informed by the player's choices and features some of the more bizarre parts of typical High Fantasy settings.

Special thanks to Artax of Who's Taking Watch for helping with editing!

No Context Gifs:

[adobe-outdesign]

Review Kyrri? My first neopet.

Kyrii are vaguely weasel-like, but that's probably not what you remember them for. If you're like me, you remember them for A) having extremely luxurious manes, and B) being smug and vaguely conniving. The design itself is fine albeit somewhat plain, but it's those additional traits that help them stand out a bit. (They're also allergic to apples—not the only species with an allergy to a certain food, but I feel like they get it played up the most.)

Visually, Kyrii have a standard bipedal pose with a complimentary lighter tint of the main color used for the underbelly, including the jaw, and the inside of their ears, which have a nice teardrop shape to them. The mane, arguably the driving concept behind the species, is also very pretty, having lots of curves and swishes to it that really give it that full, rich look. I also like how the tail and the mane are one unit, so the tail looks like the hair and vice versa.

In terms of customization, Kyrii got the short of the stick. They're not the worst by a long shot, but the big problem here is the face. It's too short, too wide, a little too round, and it doesn't taper the way it should. Technically speaking it's a subtle difference, but it really does majorly change the way the species looks, and not in a good way. They also lost that vaguely smug look, possibly due to having the head turned upwards more.

On top of the face, the body also got a bit screwed up, as both the stomach and forearms became too bulky, whereas originally the Kyrii was a pretty lanky species. Other odd decisions including running the underbelly up onto the jaw, which kind of affects the way the mouth reads even if it has a nice shape to it, and reducing the amount of shine in the mane. On the plus side, the mane itself at least looks better—it's much fuller than it was originally and the really janky shape of the fur on top of the head has been majorly improved.

Favorite Colours:

Royal: Royal Kyrii are a good example of how badly customization messed up the species, as they went from being quite beautiful to incredibly awkward, in part due to their faces being too wide and round and in part due to some weird decisions on the clothing (such as the Royal Boy loosing his cape and large sleeves and the Royal Girl loosing the entire back of her dress in addition to her hair braids no longer wrapping around the back of her head).

However, the original designs are fantastic! Both versions are good and have their own unique flavor (something royal pets sometimes struggle with). The Royal Girl has a lovely elegant look with a long muzzle, pretty dress, and a very nice turquoise and white color palette. The Royal Boy has a primarily maroon palette with an extra over-the-top mane and a vaguely swordsman-like outfit.

The poses are also full of personality, especially with the long-defunct battledome art bring us these gems:

10/10 no notes.

Pastel: Pastel pets are usually just taking a pet and applying pastel colors to the design as-is, so the pastel Kyrii really stands out by having the addition of stripes added to its mane. This gives it a very distinct look and adds a fun rainbow aspect to the design. The palette itself is also nice, juggling five colors at once without it feeling overwhelming or too busy. Just really nice!

Water: Water is a very hit-or-miss colour and it depends entirely on how good the art is, but thankfully they really nailed it with the water Kyrii. The white-foam mane draws attention to the most important part of the design and has a good amount of depth, especially int he darker areas at the base, while the body has a nice subtle gradient, highlights, bubbles, and ripples to give it that water-y feeling.

[kaythefloppa]

Wild Kratts - Fish Out of Water Review [Spoilers]

April is finally here, and with it, three new episodes have been released on the PBS Kids Video App ahead of their release. At the time I'm posting this, it is midnight and the one hour special "Our Blue and Green World" is yet to air on televison and streaming, so I will get to that when I get to that. Given that I have already reviewed No Name Dream and Backpack the Camel, I'll give a review to this episode as well. Spoiler warning and opinions ahead under the cut

First New York, then Hawaii, and now a goddamn University on the list of areas I would never expect these guys to film. Bros are everywhere.

As someone who is about to graduate high school, I feel IMMENSELY jealous of the college students who saw the motherfucking Kratt Brothers filming an episode on campus. I can already begin to see the floods of social media posts bragging about this on Tumblr and Twitter threads.

Ok I feel bad for being a bit salty earlier, I actually think it's really sweet how these people outside of the show can share their interests and expertise in biology and physics to help children educate. The entire live-action opening where they study the locomotion of mudskippers is honestly really sweet, and we haven't even gotten to our main animal yet!

God these are such cute animals. But beyond that, the term "fish out of water" could not be a more fitting title. They have joints like we do, can adapt to different environments, and can swim and climb like we can. This is probably my favorite live action segment because of how well structured the clips and movements are and just how fun it is seeing these little blorbs move around the place.

I should talk about how it took us half a decade to see a mudskipper on the show, and 13 years overall to get a focus episode, but so far, up to a great start and definitely worth waiting (for the most part).

Oh so is it like the Hermit Crab episode where in all of the official releases they leave out the determiner but in the actual episode it's there? This has no overall bearing on the episode but I just felt the need to point it out.

I should check off on my S7 bingo card about seeing the old inventions again because holy shit it's been almost a decade since we saw the Butterflier XT

Also can anyone identify those butterflies? I know for a FACT that those motherfuckers aren't monarchs because of their patterns (the only pattern variation in butterflies is sex-linked, and while I'm aware they live in Asia, this again, does not look like a match) but they also aren't viceroys because they lack the line around their wings. I only ask this to bring up my next point.

I thought the Butterfly Disc we saw in Season 1 was specifically programmed based off of Monarch Butterflies. But as established (until proven wrong), these are not monarch butterflies. So unless Aviva retrofitted or reprogrammed the disc to be multi-familial, as in they can touch any butterfly regardless of classification and activate accordingly (like with the Crocodile, Dragonfly, and Gecko Discs), the activation should not work. I only ask this because while it seems miniscule, Chris' decision to bring out the disc is what sets off the plot - It's what causes him to loose the discs in the butterfly swarm, so I feel like, while not a critique, it's a legitimate question as to the direct programming of the discs vs. the animals used to activate.

Man, Zach wasn't even in this episode and somehow they STILL lose their discs? (Actually, I am pleasantly surprised that they didn't take the opportunity to have this be a Zach-related episode).

You think they'd put a tracker on the collection or encode a chip the actual discs so that they wouldn't get lost this easily. This again, sounds like a nitpick, but earlier seasons set up a firewall for the Creature Power Discs and a tracking device/rocket-device on the Creature Power Suits and gloves because of how frequent these types of contingiences are, so there's really no excuse for this.

(Suck my ass PBS Kids Video App, I'm still able to get high quality snips even with your bullshit formatting!!!)

They really went all out with the "other-wordly" vibe that the mudskippers' territory gave off. Once again, we waited two years for this to be put to animation and to see come air.

I've made enough jokes around these situations in the show, so I think we'd all benefit if I just changed the subject: That front-facing mudskipper is fucking hilarious.

*Martin's voice* - Slimy Skin-breathers!

Okay, but I actually did not know that. At all. Even 10 years later, this show is still teaching me new things about animals in the most beautfully unexpected ways. This is one of the many reasons I will never give up on the show.

[Unexpected angst in bagging area - Also, with the inclusion of No Name Dream, which will air two days before this episode, that brings our Krangstt quota to #2]

Okay so I really like the set-up here, and it genuinely was a surprise seeing Jimmy angst in this episode as a subplot in a series that rarely operates on A-plots and B-plots (unless you count the villains' schemes which are usually just A^2 plots) like most shows. And as someone who legitimately was going through rough times (S7 was actually one of my few reasons to keep going), I heavily related to Jimmy. So yeah, a Jimmy angst episode? Can totally buy. What I'm not gonna buy is how they execute it with the ending, because that and the implications.... yikes...

C'mon! "Mudspitter" was right there! Right there!

Ok, here is where my main problem with this episode's subplot is. If I could boil it down to one word, it would be: Incomplete. Jimmy feeling inadequate based on an observation he made is one thing. Him immediately leaving afterwards on a whim moments after said observation is completely another and doesn't align that well.

Like, this would only work if Jimmy had attempted to be a fish "IN" water. If he tried to help Aviva and Koki with the data-research and inventing, but he failed, and they politely turned him down. Or if there was any basis as to why he suddenly disregards his piloting skills or teleporting, whether he doesn't care or doesn't think them to be enough for him to fit in. Like, he wants to be in on the action because some part of him doesn't feel like sitting around by the teleporter is enough. What I'm saying is, there is no pathos. I personally find it to be relatable, but on a narrative level, it doesn't work. I know the "character feeling left out so they leave" thing is cliche'd, but there's a reason it's a cliche, and that's because it follows a lot of writing beats that this particular episode doesn't, so on top of being cliche'd as fuck to begin with, it feels very awkward. And this is going to be apparent both here and in this episode's climax (which I also do not have many kind words for,) so I had to use my allotted time to talk about why this doesn't work.

Could... could they not call him on his Creaturepod? Could the brothers not call him on his Pod? Did he even have his Creaturepod?? Again, there are so many plot-holes in this B-story that could've easily been written around with a change of dialogue or scenery. Have Jimmy's Creaturepod be shown left lying around which makes them realize they have no way of getting him back to the teleporter in time. Jimmy would have no reason to even bring his Creaturepod on his adventure, so that just raises even more questions. Like, this isn't an active diss on the writers, but I think there should've been more proof-reading of the script since this is a massive oversight.

I think now is the time for me to bring up this question I've had for years now; How exactly does the teleporter work? In several episodes, we've seen that there is a coordinate code in the teleporter that allows it to be sent to the target. Koki's "the communication queen" as Aviva puts it, so she'd likely be able to triangulate the brothers' location. So I'm not sure why the show presents this as a struggle for Koki. This isn't the only example, so I won't hold it against the episode, (they have this be the case specifically to emphasize the point that they need Jimmy, which I can forgive) but it's another piece of lore that I should probably theorize about lmao.

Also

YOU HAVE LITERALLY TELPORTED THE CREATURE POWER DISCS FOUR TIMES.

TWO OF THOSE TIMES BEING IN A ROW.

AND ONE OF THEM WAS FOUR EPISODES AGO IN THIS EXACT SAME SEASON.

This whole episode spent the past five minutes making its main characters look incredibly idiotic for the sake of its B plot.

Once again, this episode's spitting facts that I didn't even know.

This is actually a neat seguay, having the brothers figure out the abilities of the mudskippers while exercising their own cool abilities. It feels really natural, and again, is an inventive way to show off the locomotive abilities of the mudskipper.

I feel like this falls very well between "accurate enough to be admirable" and "uncanny." I can (maybe on my deathbed) get used to this suit's design (though I'm partly glad Chris doesn't activate it because spoilers, he doesn't).

I've given this subplot a lot of flack, but credit where it's due, even with its misses, it does hit with the emotional beats.

Very conflicted on this:

On one hand, Jimmy actually taking the initiative to miniaturize is pretty ballsy. The show, despite not being serialized, does develop its characters in a way that you can sense a clear difference of them when you compare the modern seasons to the earlier ones. And this can be seen as a positive development for Jimmy, since it's his "Creature Adventure."

On the other hand.... back to what I was saying about consistency. Why did Jimmy bring the miniaturizer?? What was his prompting?? Was he planning on shrinking himself down the whole time? Like, he left his friends for god knows how much time and is now out of nowhere shrinking himself down to fish size because he feels inadequate? Uhm, Jimmy, ever heard the idea of therapy?

Also, again, very weird presentation of the episode. They don't at all put any attention to Jimmy's coms and whether or not he has them, (which would easily solve a bigger issue of why he's not contacted), yet they have him carry the Miniaturizer with him. Now, the latter is plot-relevant, but so could've been something about the Creaturepod.

This [from what I interpret] gets Jimmy out of his slump, making his "scientific discovery." Not realizing that his job of piloting and teleporting are equally important. Again, this is structured poorly. I like what they were going for, but it shouldn't have been the only thing that altered the trajectory of this subplot. Again, he can teleport discs to the brothers and pilot and while those are mentioned later on, it's not something he comes to himself in an "oh shit" moment. So this just feels unearned and weird. I really hate how harsh I am, since it's a Jimmy centric episode and it was the #1 requested thing on all the chat-boards during the hiatus, but this is one of those things where it has to be done right if at all. This isn't done right, and the fact that it takes up 50% of the episode just... ugh.

You can't tell it through screenshots but with the way Aviva says it and the scene cutting to her and Koki laughing at it, I'm 98% inclined that this was a specific innuendo, and ngl, I kinda laughed too.

Oh look, it's Kenge's cousin! [For you Lion Guard fans that also recognize Wild Kratts] - [I was inclined to make a reference to Jessie, but that felt in bad taste considering y'know]

Ok, but that has to be an Asian water monitor. Correct me if I'm wrong. What I'm definitely not wrong about is that their bites contain venom; To a human it's not lethal, however to small prey, including mudskippers, or anything around that size, it's lights out. So yeah, Chris and Martin are fucked.

Ok this line is absolutely badass.

Also, grey?? Grey?? I thought Jimmy's signature color was orange/yellow? Or red with the implication of the tail episode? Great, now there's another color that'll be in the debates for his future Creature Power Suit.

Once again, this arc feels weirdly put together. This notion comes up specifically at the climax when it should come up beforehand as Jimmy realizes his worth. Because otherwise, it gives the implication that he knew this all along and yet still felt like a fish out of water, which doesn't mesh together properly (it could, if the episode actually tried to do so which it didn't).

The episode, Sea Otter Swim, does this plot so much better. We see Jimmy's doubts, and we see how he overcomes said doubts in a way that is presented clear to the audience, and the climax where he actually realizes what he's capable of feels earned. This is not earned. So even though I am rooting for him to win, this whole thing just feels messy.

So is nobody gonna ask why Jimmy left his post? Is Jimmy not gonna tell everyone why he left, or at the very least ask why nobody bothered to call for him? Is nobody going to at least let Jimmy know that he can't just... abandon his post without warning because of the fact that they need him? Is Jimmy not going to come to that conclusion himself? Is anything in this episode gonna be earned??

This entire ending feels like an ass-pull: First off, Jimmy and the brothers had enough time to head back to the miniaturizer and then the Tortuga, and in none of that time, did Jimmy ever give them the Power Discs? Why? Yes, it was for the sake of the fake-out defeat/joke, but was there any reason why Jimmy just kept the thing hidden waiting to give it to the brothers?

The entire emotional climax to this episode is basically everyone putting Jimmy on a pedestal. It's unsatisfying because there wasn't any acknowledgement or follow up to Jimmy's conflict at the beginning, nor is the lesson learned in the right way, and the conclusion just overreacts by hyping up Jimmy instead of just having a reasonable "We're a team!" thing, or through any self-actualization of his good qualities that Koki pointed out. None of it, friggin' none of this is earned! Now it comes across as Jimmy being uncharacterstically boastful and cocky and the others just kissing his arse. That's probably not the intent but it was the result.

That is actually like, so fucking cool. I have massive respect for all of these people, like legitimately (also, considerning that's the exact opposite of what Zach does on an ethics scale, I find that really interesting). But beyond that, I think this episode has the best live action segments ever, they are so ingenuitive. I could easily see someone at my high school showing a clip of this episode in robotics' or biology class.

CONCLUSION:

PROS:

The live action segments.

The info dumps about the mudskippers.

The Kratt Brother's adventure with the mudskippers.

The animation

The background music (a lot of which is recycled from earlier seasons)

CONS:

Everything else (specifically the B plot). I feel like the writers wanted to give Jimmy his own storyline, either out of interest or seeing how popular the character was in chat-boards, but they didn't know how to do it so they just went through the motions without really connecting anything at all, so it's a lot harder relating to the exact conflicts in some cases, and you feel disatisfied by the cimax. It reminds me of what they did with Vitani in the Lion Guard finale, a case of giving this one character the spotlight, but hitting all of the wrong marks that does the character and the audience a disservice and leaves a bitter taste in the viewer's mouth by the end credits.

This is the first episode this season that has made me cringe, primarily off of its premise, not just a particular scene, a dated pop culture reference, or a weird-looking Power Suit. It is the first to make me cringe because of its story, which again, the B-plot takes up 50% of the episode, so it's constantly in your face. It's definitely not bad, not hateable bad, and it's far too early in the season to call it the worst, and there are definitely worse episodes out there, ones that have aired and ones that probably will inevitably air, but I can safely say, thus far, it's the one Wild Kratts episode that I enjoy, but only to an extent. The live action segments were by far the only thing that I got extremely engaged in, but other than that, and the other pros, it's not that good.

Final Ranking: 6/10: Above Average, but Needed Improvement.

[imanes]

good evening Imane, different anon but I wanted to ask if there is a specific brand of matcha/hojicha you like? I actually like hojicha more so any insight into what brand and how to best brew it would be very much appreciated. perhaps even your preferred way to make the cold foam/cream top? I know these things can be googled but I remember you would share recipes or cooking tips in passing a few years ago and I always found your approach to food and drink so helpful

good morning! i always love talking about food and drinks so thank u for not googling it hahaha. i placed my last order of matcha (and first of hojicha) at iro matcha, but I think it's a belgian brand, so I don't know how accessible it would be for you! the most important part is that the hojicha is powdered, because you can also find it in loose leaf form and it wouldn't give you the same taste/consistency. i always look at online reviews and i prefer to order from websites that also offer ceremonial matcha powder.

in terms of how to brew it, i only ever make lattes with it and i do it in the same way as my matcha: around 3g of hojicha powder (using the traditional bamboo spoon) in a bowl, a bit of hot water at 75 to 80°C, whisk it (with a bamboo whisk), pour it in a cup and add foamed oat milk to finish it off. sometimes I'll add a little bit of honey after I'm done whisking it with the hot water because it tastes really good when it's sweet <3 i don't know if it's the best way to do it but it gives me the same result as what i order at cafés!

for a cold foam, i use a french press (tutorial here). i know some people use heavy cream and a mini electric whisk but with the french press you can use any type of milk you want, the process will add enough air to foam it. you can also add a little bit of vanilla bean extract or pumpkin puree to make dupes of the special foams you find at cafés. and then for a hot foam i just use the spout on my coffee machine! i actually want to change my coffee machine because a barista told me that the best spouts have three little holes to make very fine foam whereas mine is just one big hot air spout so i can never make latte art :( anyway that was a tangent but i'd love to be a barista fr

finally omg thank you for putting up with me for so many years akjlfkgj it's true that it has been a while since i shared my cooking/baking/drinking. i had a little food trauma episode over a year ago but i got over it now. I'll go back to sharing more <3 might try video form as well for fun drinks

[fancoloredglasses]

The Superfriends Meet Frankenstein (Monstrously bad)

[All images owned by DC Comics and Hannah-Barbara. Please don’t sue me]

World’s Greatest Superfriends was pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of creativity. The majority of the plots ripped off classic literature and myths (such as Space Arabian Nights, Space Camelot, and Myxlplyx recreating The Wizard of Oz.

However, this review (just in time for Halloween) covers an episode that was ridiculous even by World’s Greatest standards. If you would like to watch it, it’s available on Max or behind your favorite paywall.

We open on a stormy night at a gloomy castle where a mad scientist and his deformed assistant appear to be trying to recreate an infamous experiment.

This is the great, great, grandson of Victor Frankenstein (The writers are using Mel Brooks’s pronunciation of the name)

(Thanks to Gorash)

Dr. Frankenstein (along with his malformed minion Gork (not Igor? I mean, come on! It’s tradition!)) prepares to give life to a monster he intends on turning loose on Transylvania for killing his ancestor 100 years ago. Talk about a slow burning revenge plot!

The experiment is a success, and the monster comes to life. Dr. Frankenstein orders it to destroy Transylvania!

Meanwhile at the Hall of Justice, it’s a quiet day. Batman and Robin are taking advantage of the calm to tune up the Batplane (shouldn’t they do that in the Batcave and not in the Hall of Justice? Especially since…

…some idiot will want to monkey around with the spare parts)

Why is Gleek rummaging around in the Bat-junk?

 To make his own Gleek-plane, of course.

It goes about as well as you’d expect.

[SIDE NOTE: it’s mentioned that the Wonder Twins went with Aquaman to Atlantis, leaving the rest of the Superfriends to Gleek-sit]

The comic relief segment ends as the Trouble Alert blares.

With that, the Batplane speeds to Eastern Europe.

Later, in a village in Transylvania (of course, I think the writers thought the village IS Transylvania), the monster continues its rampage, causing a ton of property damage but not hurting anyone (it IS kids’ TV, after all) as the Dynamic Duo arrive.

The monster isn’t impressed and throws Batman into a nearby bush and Robin into an awning. However, they bounce back and engage the monster, gaining the upper hand for the moment as Dr. Frankenstein looks on.

On Dr. Frankenstein’s orders, the monster retreats to the castle with the Caped Crusaders in hot pursuit. Batman and Robin enter the castle looking for the monster and find a platform covering a sheet. Robin pulls the sheet aside to discover…

Oh, come on! You HAD to know the monster was under there!

Batman pushes the monster into a Jacobs ladder…

…which powers down the monster. The day is saved, right?

Hmm, good point. Sure enough, Dr. Frankenstein shows up, vowing revenge. However, Batman tells Dr. Frankenstein that the Superfriends will stop him.

With that, Gork captures the Dynamic Duo.

(So Dr. Frankenstein just happened to have a giant claw handy?)

Dr. Frankenstein tells Batman he’s planning on using the Superfriends to create his newest monster, starting with Batman!

Dr. Frankenstein’s plan is to transfer Batman’s (and presumably the others’) strength and abilities into the monster.

[OK, hitting pause here. In Superfriends, the only ones with actual powers out of the main cast are Superman and Aquaman. What would Batman and Wonder Woman add? The ability to throw a lasso and use a bunch of monster-themed gadgets? At least the monster could talk to fish if Aquaman was in this episode!]

As Batman’s…bat-ness is undergoing the transfer, Robin is stewing in the dungeon. However…

Let that be a lesson, kids! Always spring the extra few bucks for steel cuffs!

With his ropes chewed off, Robin grabs his utility belt from the nearby table while Gork is sleeping (wait, wasn’t he just upstairs with Dr. Frankenstein?)

Robin rushes off to alert the rest of the Superfriends. Gork then suddenly rushes off to inform Dr. Frankenstein of Robin’s escape.

…all according to plan!

Meanwhile at the Hall of Justice…

Superman and Wonder Woman spring into action and head for Transylvania.

Unfortunately, so does the comic relief.

As the rest of the Superfriends arrive, Superman hears screams from the village, so he and Wonder Woman rush to help

(leaving Batman to rot in Castle Frankenstein, I guess)

(Thanks to Slime Golem's Slimepedia)

Looks like the Superfriends fell right into Dr. Frankenstein’s trap! The tar monster drags Superman and Wonder Woman to the castle and prepped for the procedure.

With that hollow threat, the Superfriends are raised for the transfer, producing…

…yeeeeeaaaah

Dr. Frankenstein then sends his new monster to conquer Europe! The monster leaves the castle, passing a hidden Robin along the way. As Robin tries to figure out what sort of deus ex Supershit he can pull out of his ass to Save The Day…

…the Comic Relief crashes into a nearby bog, then finds Robin. Robin has at least the beginnings of a plan, using Gleek to distract Gork long enough to…

Wow! For once Gleek did something useful! Robin frees the others and prepares to stop the monster, but…

The Superfriends limp to an energy research station and explain the situation to the scientists. They have a machine that can transfer the Superfriends’ remaining energy to Robin, but it’s untested on humans (or Kryptonians)

The scientists perform the procedure and we now have an 10 foot tall Super-Robin.

The scientists explain that the Superfriends could die in an hour if the energy isn’t returned (so no pressure or anything) With that, Robin flies off.

Meanwhile, the monster has grabbed a monorail and throws it into the distance when…

One would think catching it like that would make it split in half. Robin gently returns it to the ground (oblivious to any injuries to passengers and crew caused by the sudden stop when he caught it)

Dr. Frankenstein isn’t pleased upon realizing that his monster isn’t the only one with Superman’s abilities, ordering his monster to kill Robin.

The pair square off, but…

Robin then flies off, returning moments later with…

This weakens the monster (Robin is wearing a lead-lined suit) and flies him away.

Meanwhile, the Superfriends have staggered their way to Frankenstein’s castle (in their weakened state, it likely would’ve taken them a hell of a lot longer than an hour!)

The trio somehow overpower Dr. Frankenstein…

…while Gleek deals with Gork (Gleek useful twice in an episode? Are the writers feeling all right? I mean, even Batman looks shocked!)

Robin sets the controls as the others strap themselves on the tables, then straps the monster and himself in as the process is reversed and everyone is back to normal.

All that’s left is the wrap-up at the Hall of Justice, where Robin kinda misses being able to fly.

Speaking of flying…whatever happened to the comic relief and the Gleek-plane?

Don’t worry. He’ll find his way home by the next episode.

…maybe.

[pseudowho]

Hello Haitch! Hope you are doing well.

Last year during summer, I was diagnosed with PCOS (i had gotten it checked because i hadnt had my period in like 3 months) and since i was just 17, the doctor asked me to maintain a proper lifestyle and see till November and said that if it wasnt fixed by then, i had to do a checkup again. But i'd gotten my period by august so i never reached out again.

but this year (im 18 now), the last time id gotten my period was in april so it's been 6 months now. im gonna go to the doctor again later this month. but here's the thing— last year, i went to a gyno abroad because women's healthcare isnt the best in my country. but this year, its not possible for me to go abroad right now so im gonna have to work with a gyno from here.

now i have a feeling that theyll put me on pills and while i agree thats the easy way to fix this, im worried itll mess things up for the long run. the lifestyle the first gyno asked me to follow is a little difficult for me to get into since she'd asked me to exercise plenty and im a full time alevel student and it gets hard for me to maintain a proper routine like that. i also struggle with binge eating which i've heard comes with having pcos (im not sure if this is true tho).

so in one hand, i feel like it's easier to just start taking pills but then again it has so many side effects i don't know what to do right now.

Lots to unpack here.

CW/TW: PCOS, medical discussion, endocrine disorders, diabetes, hypothyroidism, weight management, medication management

Firstly, PCOS is often diagnosed based on vague criteria; lots of doctors flippantly diagnose it based on a volume of loose criteria. If you have an increasing number of these criteria, then yes, the chances are you have PCOS. However, it's often erroneously diagnosed without proper diagnostic procedures such as scans, bloods, and a full review of your longer term health history.

That being said, being on the pill doesn't 'cure' PCOS, it can simply manage the symptom of irregular periods. There's flimsy evidence on the pill's ability to manage/prevent weight gain and the development of other disorders that are associated with PCOS.

While weight loss is often harder for women with PCOS, especially if you have associated conditions such as an under active thyroid, it's not impossible.

Your lifetime chances of developing Diabetes are significantly higher with PCOS, and this chance goes up again if you struggle with increased body weight. PCOS and appetite changes like binge eating have been associated with each other, too.

So you'll only know if managing your weight and eating habits make a difference with your PCOS, when you've actually tried them to the absolute best of your ability. If you are at an increased ideal weight, losing weight can be very effective to manage and reduce the symptoms of PCOS.

Of the many, many thousands of women I've looked after, I'm sorry to say that those with PCOS who are very pro-active with managing their weight, perhaps taking medications as advised by their doctor (the pill and Metformin are the most common ones I see), and exercising regularly, are those who have the highest chance of being 'healthy' (though I do not use the term 'healthy' lightly).

Ultimately, PCOS is one of those things that just happens and isn't your fault. I also have an endocrine disorder that makes it very easy for me to gain weight and very difficult for me to lose it, so I absolutely understand the situation yours in right now.

But, what do you do with this information? Do you say, "I am X, Y and Z because of my PCOS" and leave it at that? Or do you say "I suffer with X, Y and Z because of my PCOS, so I make life choices to reduce the impact of my PCOS by 1, 2 and 3".

So my advice is this: PCOS may be the hand you've been dealt, but your lifestyle choices can massively improve the chances of you reducing its impact on your long-term health. I'm not blaming you, or acting like healthy eating, exercise and medication decisions are easy; they are not. Please recall I'm in a similar boat, and I'm not one to blame women for their complex health conditions.

I could talk all day about PCOS but this is my best attempt to summarise it for you.

It's really hard making tough life choices to manage the hand you've been dealt. I fully understand. I've gotten better at it as I've gotten older. @mrhaitch makes similar big decisions, because he has two diabetic parents and one diabetic siblings, so he takes care of his health to a brilliant degree, to try to give himself the best chance of not developing diabetes himself.

☝️ me being your hype man

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[bullet-prooflove]

Bobby Goren anon here, no prompt, no specifics, nothing crazy, just some kind of fluff fic. Whatever your heart desires. You are amazing as always.

So Nonny, thank you! I have adored writing for our wonderful Bobby and thank you for that opportunity.

You're beautiful, Bobby has always thought so. Usually it's understated, you don't wear make up, you dress practically, but somehow you still manage to shine. He doesn't understand it. He doesn't have to.

When he sees you tonight though, his heart stutters in this chest. He feels that familiar flush of arousal chasing through his synapses, igniting that drive, that primal desire to claim you. It hits him like a truck because that sensation...

It's something hes not felt in a very long time.

You're wearing a blue dress that hugs your shape and accentuates your assets. Your hair is loose, falling over your face as you use your thumb to chase away any stray lipstick along the line of your mouth.

You're radiant and he knows that tonight you're going to break someone's heart.

When Jonesy wolf whistles you give him the middle finger and Bobby ducks his head to hide the smile on his face.

"You look nice." He tells you.

It's a neutral term, one that's expected between colleagues. He can't tell you that you look resplendent, that he's imagining how good the silk would feel against his skin, bunched in his fists as he pulls you down into his lap.

"Brother's engagement party." You tell him as you open the top drawer of your desk searching for something.

"You don't sound too enthused." He remarks, toying with his pen.

"It's his third engagement." You tell him as you locate the gum you're looking for.

"Ah." Bobby says in understanding.

Your brother David, the hopeless romantic. Every girl he meets is always the one, that is until they aren't.

"I don't suppose you wanna come?" You ask him. "Open bar, decent entertainment and that includes both my family drama and the band."

He looks up because he thinks you can't be serious, but he sees the tilt of your head, the hopeful smile. He likes the idea of seeing where you come from, the dynamics of your family.

"I'm not really dressed for it." He says gesturing to his suit. And you step around the bank of desks to survey his attire.

"Let's see what we can do about that." You utter before reaching forward and loosening his tie.

He stays perfectly still as you undo the knot with practised fingers. Already there's a stirring in his trousers and he has to remind himself that you aren't actually undressing him.

The proximity feels intimate, he can smell the mint from your gum, feel the brush of your fingertips as you undo that top two buttons of his shirt.

He almost reaches out to capture your hand when you take a step back to review your handiwork.

"Ta da." You say. "Now we have causal Bobby, ready to gate crash my brother's engagement party with his style and wit."

He unbuttons the cuffs of his sleeves before rolling them up both of his forearms. He notices the way your gaze shifts, it always does.

"What's the other thing?" He asks you as he raises to his feet, scooping up his wallet and his keys from the desk. "The thing you're not telling me?"

You purse your lips together into a sensual pout, your arms crossing over your chest because you know you've been caught out.

"My ex husband's going to be there." You tell him. "Apparently David's asked him to be the best man."

Bobby pauses.

He's met Richard before, or as he likes to think of him Dick. Your ex is a prosecutor turned defense attorney, the two of you split not long after he defected to the other side. Bobby's been on the other side of the table from him multiple times.

"You want a buffer." He states frankly.

You sigh.

"I want to have a good time, with someone who actually gets me." You tell him. "Also my family really want to meet you, they want to get to know the guy who has my back in the field."

"You mean threaten my life so that I make sure no harm befalls you." He supplements as the two of you head towards the elevator.

"That too." You tell him as you press the button and wait for the doors to open.

When they do he looks up and sees your reflection in the mirrored panelling. The both of you are smiling, his palm is on your lower back guiding you inside.

You look like a couple and Bobby can't shake that image as he steps onto the elevator and pushes the button for the ground floor.

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Freikugel / フライクーゲル

Freikugel (JP: フライクーゲル; rōmaji: furaikūgeru) is the Hero's Relic tied to the Crest of Goneril. Rather than pulling from classic Norse and Germanic folklore, this axe references far more modern legends. The Freischütz, literally meaning "the free shooter" but often localized as "the marksman," refers to a man that made a deal with the devil. He is provided with a collection of magic bullets called Freikugeln (singular: Freikugel; lit. "free bullet") that will always strike their target. However, at least one of these bullets will be controlled by the devil, often causing the marksman's downfall. The earliest forms of this legend, traced to at least the late fifteenth century in Malleus Maleficarum in written form, had a man shoot a cross with an arrow in an attempt to gain three that he could guide when used. This would morph into the myth of forging bullets at night with the aid of witchcraft.

The most famous version of the story, written by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun, would be adapted into the opera Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber and Friedrich Kind. In the story, the forester Max needs to prove himself in marksmanship before the prince to take his beloved Agathe for a wife. His friend and senior forester Kaspar, who longs for Agathe but was rejected, shows Max in private the ability of his last Freikugel, swaying him to cast more bullets so he can guarantee his marriage. In truth, Kaspar sought revenge against Agathe and the dead of Max. When he convened with his forbidden connection of Samiel, he sold Max's soul for seven bullets and a promise that one of them would be dead the next day. Before they arrive at the ceremony, Max and Kaspar used six Freikugeln: only the devil's bullet remained. When that bullet was loosed, it struck Kaspar, leaving Max to reveal the sin they committed.

The reference to the Freischütz is likely meant to relate to the character of Hilda, the only character able to use it at full strength. After all, she's the type of girl to take the easy way out, and gets others to do things for her. By using Freikugeln, Max and Kaspar tried to take the easy way out, rather than actually proving themselves.

The combat art Apocalyptic Flame has a few layers to its name. Firstly, in invokes the concept of the apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it. Typically the word apocalypse invokes the Judeo-Christian interpretation of the world's conclusion. Most prominent of these is the Book of Revelation from the New Testament, an event often depicted with fire raining upon the earth (said to occur after the first of the seven trumpets is sounded). Interestingly, the events of Revelation are supposed to bring the end of the devil Satan and sin, despite the axe being named after what he has dominion over.

In Japanese, Apocalyptic Flame is called 劫火 (rōmaji: gōka). This is a term used in Buddhism and Hinduism to refer to the fire that destroys the world in those faiths' apocalypses. In both the Buddhist apocalypse and the Hindu Pralaya, after a kalpa or aeon (JP: 劫; rōmaji: kō)—a bit longer than four-billion years in Hinduism—feature the world engulfed in the heat of seven suns. For the Buddhists, those who survive the destruction of the earth are the faithful. According to Hinduism, all life on earth would die out in a hundred-year drought prior to the entire universe being set ablaze. After total destruction, the god Vishnu brings a century of rain to bring an end to the fires, and Brahma creates the universe anew. Additionally, the name 劫火 is pronounced similarly to the word 豪華 (rōmaji: gōka), which refers to a showy life of luxury, appropriate for Hilda's character.

This was a segment from a larger document reviewing the name of most every weapon and item in Three Houses and Three Hopes. Click Here to read it in full.

[riddle-me-ri]

Alright so this is less romantic and more shitposty but. If I can request the scarecrows' responses to a gotham university psychology student showing up at his doorstep like "hey uh could you look at my thesis?" Like fully prepared to be fear toxin-ed on the spot but absolutely worth the risk cause lord knows that's some shit I'd do 💀

A/N:  hnnggg this shouldn't have taken as long as it did but I kept taking it too seriously except for the absolute crack that it is lmao I have no doubt in reality it'd be a miracle if any of them opened the damn door.

Scarecrows Reacting To A Student Looking for Feedback (crack)

Arkhamverse Scarecrow:

First of all, how did you find him?

Secondly, how dare you disturb him?

Are you fearless or just foolishly stupid?

He genuinely can’t tell and he doesn’t want to waste time thinking about it.

However, since you’re here now…

And it doesn’t look like you’re going anywhere anytime soon.

Clearly, despite how many threats he’s shot your way.

He isn’t opposed to a willing test subject

Nolanverse/Murphy Scarecrow:

Well, this was odd. 

If not also incredibly annoying.

When he hears your reason for being on his front stoop.

He is shocked…

Surely your institution has much more qualified, not to mention more relevant assistance to look over your paper. 

He’s a man of science making headways, he has no time to–

Well, actually…he hasn’t seen very sufficient results in his recent Arkham patients…

BTAS Scarecrow:

Really? Him? 

Even when he was a professor, none of his students came to him for a review.

No doubt he’s itching to just shut the door on you. 

Then again, perhaps he can hold you ransom for some money to fund his toxin…

And on top of that he can also use you for testing the effects of his recent toxin…

How he could make it stronger, faster, last longer…

Besides, he’s never gotten a chance to properly review a term paper..

This should be fun. 

TNBA Scarecrow: 

He’s likely to ignore it, if not open it, yell at you and then slam the door.

This Scarecrow doesn’t have time for this nonsense.

Surely, you have other institutional superiors that you can go to?

Why would you willingly dive headfirst into danger? 

Unless…you just don’t care? 

If you’re so willing to get into danger, perhaps he should take advantage of it. 

He debates with himself for a minute…

Before finally just gassing you with his toxin. 

Taking sweet delight in your screams.

Fear State Scarecrow: 

You should consider yourself lucky that he even answered the door.

Like seriously, the only reason he answered was because of your incessant knocking. 

He had half a mind to slip on his mask and inject you with toxin and be done with it.

He’s far too busy planning his Fear State Theory into motion.

Jonathan can’t have any distractions or loose ends…

Everyone has their role to play, he was so sure that Gotham would enter it’s Fear State seamlessly. 

Patience running low, he does open the door, and one threat is all you get. 

When you don’t leave, it’s very much your fault that you’re screaming bloody murder down the street. 

Year One Scarecrow:

Jonathan groans at the prospect. 

His past sure has a strange way of following him somehow. 

Again, you should be surprised he even answers the door. 

But you kept pushing your paper underneath his front door. 

Quite, infuriating him. 

It takes a few more threats and slams of the door before he finally reaches his breaking point. 

He slaps on his mask, believing he’s done all he could to be rid of you. 

Perhaps, a reminder will help you.

He’s no professor, a scholar on fear. 

He’s The Scarecrow, the Master of Fear…and you’ve just experienced his wrath as you breathe in the toxic fumes. 

Masters of Fear Scarecrow:

Jonathan is confused, if not also agitated. 

Is this some kind of joke? 

His lived a long pathetic life of humiliation…

He doesn’t need it coming to him, knocking at his front door. 

You can’t just expect anyone with a PhD is willing to help you…

What kind of simpleton just walks up to a known high-class criminal, a criminally insane criminal? 

Honestly, when spoken like that, it was quite admirable. 

Took a lot of courage…bravery…or just a huge lack of common sense. 

Yes, yes, he’ll take a look, but first…indulge him in your fears

(it’ll help him in his own research later) 

HQ:TAS Scarecrow:

Jonathan thinks this must be some kind of joke.

Surely, this is the Legion pulling his leg, what else could it be?

Not only that, how else would you found out where he lived?

It has to be a joke. 

He tries to play along, but is quick to realize you’re actually being serious. 

Probably the only one that’s actually going to help you with your thesis paper. 

1000/10 would recommend 

And you may even get a member of the Legion of Doom as a friend. 

HHSD Scarecrow: 

I’m surprised Grandpa could hear you knocking.

Just kidding, only a little, I love to love and rag on this version when I can. 

But you really shouldn’t have picked a night when there were Elvira re-runs. 

Jonathan opens the door, reluctantly and is perplexed, but immediately annoyed. 

He didn’t have time for these things when he WAS a professor. 

He thought he left this type of harassment years ago, why do you choose to haunt him now with it? 

When you fail to leave on your own accord. He advises you to go away through a speaker by his door. 

When you still refuse, he decides enough is enough. 

Jonathan was inspired by that intriguing night at Crystal Cove, as he used a maniacal jack-al-lantern of his own to run you off.

[jigschosai]

The Dawntrail Review no one asked for

Lots of spoilers ahead, you've been warned.

Initially after I finished Dawntrail I had to write a short piece featuring Jigs and Nashmeira to help convey how hard it hit me, and at the time that's what I needed. Now with a bit of time and space behind me I'm in the mood to toss out my 2 cents about the expansion as a whole.

I liked it - a lot. And I feel it was really well done, and generally an improvement over everything previously.

I'm not going to rehash the entire plot, because if you're reading this then you likely know it already. But I did want to touch on a few key things that I think really set it apart.

The first was for the bulk of it, we weren't the main character. It wasn’t about the WoL, though we do see things from their perspective, it was about Wuk. It was about how she matured from a goofy sheltered kid with a skewed view of the world into a leader you could be kind of proud of. In some ways it mimicked Lyse and Stormblood, but I felt the execution was a lot better because when we got to the end we weren’t blindsided by someone being put in charge where it made little sense. Wuk earned it (as did Koana).

From a broader perspective it did something else that was really needed after Endwalker. It made the WoL’s power moot. Sure we could punt Bakool Ja Ja and Zarool Ja into next week – but really, it wasn’t our fight, or our place to do so. And while I’m never a fan of playing a different character such as when you play Wuk versus Bakool Ja Ja, I easily understood why I needed to. It wasn’t an irritation like some many times before. Ok, not as much of an irritation.

In a game like FFXIV, power creep is always going to be an issue over the long term. You want players to feel like they’re getting more powerful, but over time the threats get more and more absurd when you take a step back. For example, where was Meteion when everything else was going on up until Shadowbringers? By making the bulk of the story about Wuk, it avoided a lot of the power creep problem. We didn’t need to have a giant villain come out of the blue that didn’t make a lot of sense, which was one of my primary complaints about Endwalker. Yes it was great to see everybody again for the finale, but it never felt like a proper ending the way Shadowbringers did. It felt like an epilogue, a snippet of story to remind you of the characters that are not going to be back, along with a villain that really didn’t matter.

And a quick side note as I’m about to move on from Wuk. I’ve seen a bunch of complaints about her voice actress, and I don’t get it. The delivery always seemed fine to me, not that I have the most discerning ear. I can’t remember any point where I felt the voice was way off from how Wuk was acting or appearing. On top of that it was great to finally here some non-English accent voices, which helps with the diversity of the world.

Loosely that brings us to the trip with Erenville back to his home as we got what we wanted, a pass through that big door. This was probably the slowest the game was for me, but it still wasn’t bad by a long shot. In other expansions this lull hit hard because I kept feeling like “The world is ending! Get to the point already!” This, the “big stuff” so far as we knew was over. So doing a quick little adventure in a wild west type town wasn’t bad, it was something to do as we wandered around. This break was welcome, and it made sense. We weren’t waiting to get back to the main plot, we were waiting to see what it was, which is much easier to deal with.

Then we get to Solution Nine! Finally, a spot in FFXIV where the modern clothing we’ve had for ages looks like it fits in. The FF series has always been neat to me because of how it mixes magic and technology so well. There are variations, and a couple things that do it better (coughXenogearscough) but the way the cyberpunk theme was worked into the game went pretty well. Perfect, no, I feel time travel is always a bit sketchy, but good enough. I haven’t enjoyed running around a city this much since the Crystal Tower in Shadowbringers.

The only part I couldn’t figure out in this section was Galool Ja. I imagine there’s a side quest I haven’t done that explains it, but the fact he was around at all is a bit confusing to me. It almost felt like he was the time travel in Endwalker where “oops, we wrote ourselves into a corner.” But if I dig around a bit I may find it better thought out.

Finally – Living Memory. To say this part hit me like a train is understating it severely. Turning off each section and having it so final was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a game (different kind of hard than Elden Ring). Knowing that inevitably we’d turn off Cahciua’s section and she’d be gone too was rough for some very personal reasons. But I think anyone who had to deal with losing a loved one to a terminal illness probably has a good idea why. You always want one more adventure, one more meal, one more day. But inevitably, it all has to come to an end. My biggest complaint is there was not a proper hug between Erenville and Cahciua; but I know there’s some level of projection on my part going on there.

That brings me to our v-tuber-esque villainess Sphene. I mean the v-tuber-esque as a compliment, love many of the designs out there and Sphene, even though she is not a v-tuber, is no exception. As the big-bad, I feel like she’s a step behind Emet, but they got her right. You’re brought along with her to understand her, and just like with Emet, see you’re on two opposite sides of something and there is not middle ground to meet in. It’s the WoL’s way, or a way that stands against everything the WoL stands for. Just like with Emet, conflict is inevitable, despite how long it was put off and how much the WoL (and the player) has come to understand them.

Those kinds of villains make me think about the WoL, and their place in the grand scheme of things. Will there come a point where we’re the villain? Where like Emet and Sphene, we’re doing everything we can to protect our people, and doing so at the expense of others? So far we’ve largely been spared that (maybe don’t ask Garlemald). And at the end we get our special Azem inter-dimensional sippy-cup. And I think that is a good way to setup for the future where everything on our star is fairly well settled, and we can start exploring others. Maybe even properly revisit the first.

Lastly the upgrade to the difficulty is largely welcome. I’m a bit slow and have had a tough time figuring out some of the mechanics in a timely manner, but it’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed having to toss out clemency and cover far more routinely. The content is a lot more engaging and a bit harder to blindly memorize which makes doing roulettes routinely less of a mindless chore.

I know I’m in the minority, but this is my favorite expansion so far. It made up a lot of short comings some of the other expansions had, and I’m way more excited for future expansions than I was about Dawntrail. I feel like the more technical sides of the writing (e.g. avoiding power creep), and the pacing of the story (e.g. lulls when they’re a good fit) has improved a lot. It’s going to be interesting to see how things change in the future.

[thevondoom62]

Coming in from Jada Toys is Chun-Li, from their Street Fighter II line. This is a line I've been wanting to get into, but it's been kinda hard to find. Was very excited by what I saw from reviews and knowing Jada's quality from previous Universal Monster figures.

Chunners here doesn't disappoint. She feels great to pose, with only some slight looseness to the hips being my only gripe in that regard. I use the term loose very, uhhh, loosely here since they're still quite stable. The standard facesculpt is good, but I do wish there was a bit more emotion to it. That being said, there's plenty emotion in the yelling face and that turned out great! Super emotive heads like that can be hard to do, but they really knocked it out of the park there.

This is a damn good toy, especially for $25. Value for money here is so good, you get a solid lot of accessories and the figure itself feels really nice. Jada Toys is only getting better.

[redgoldsparks]

June Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

A First Time For Everything by Dan Santat 

A beautifully illustrated memoir of a shy, Asian American thirteen year old's first trip to Europe, in 1989. Dan is a painfully self-conscious kid, bullied at school despite his best efforts to slip invisibly through the school halls. But on a three week summer trips with a dozen other kids his age, some from his school and some from other states, he begins to find himself. This story is framed through a series of "firsts"- first time traveling without his parents, first time tasting Fanta, first cigarette, first alcoholic drink, first time navigating a city alone, first kiss, first time sharing his art with someone. The main narrative of the trip is woven through with flashbacks to particularly emotional past moments- asking a girl out, being romantically rejected, rejecting someone else, helping a girl out who had gotten her period unexpectedly. It captures the wretchedness of junior high, and the way traveling can teach people both about the world and themselves.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

An impactful series of essays that circles around the meaning of "Asian American" sometimes in very broad strokes, sometimes narrowing to the author's specific experience as a bilingual Korean American writer who grew up in the Los Angeles area in the 80s and 90s. I really appreciated the mix of memoir and history, research and cultural critique. Topics range from therapy, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, racism in academia, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, stand up comedy, the 1992 LA riots, the way childhood is not allowed equally to white and POC kids, the film Moonrise Kingdom and the 1965 Civil Rights movement, shame, deconstructing the English language in poetry, the 2012 documentary Wildness about a trans bar scene in LA, intense female friendships in art school, the poet Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's life and death, activist Yuri Kochiyama, and what debt, if any, an Asian American writer and thinker owes to America. This is a book I can see myself re-reading in a couple years, and getting more from it on a second read; it's rich with quotes and references to other writers, artists and thinkers who have informed Hong's thoughts. Definitely recommend.

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee 

I'm not going to give this book a star rating, because it deals with some extremely heavy topics I have no experience with (multiple suicide attempts, physical abuse of a child by a parent). This memoir covers four years of the main character's life, all of high school. Korean American Jung Jin, who goes by Deborah or Deb at school, made most of her friends in orchestra in junior high. But in high school she falls out of love with violin and quits music to focus more time and energy into drawing. She floats through school, feeling disconnected from peers and family, especially her mother, who swings from supportive to volatile. Another main theme is friendship- a solid, long-term friendship which Deb neglects, and a shorter, intense friendship that consumes Deb's emotional world until it falls apart. This is a story of quiet survival, of incremental steps towards healing, balance, and self actualization. Like life, it is somewhat loose in structure, but the illustrations are stunning.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings read by Angel Pean

Set in a world similar to but one step sideways from our current world, this story follows Jo, a creative, biracial, bisexual woman trapped by the restrictions of her society. In this US, women are under constant suspicion of witchcraft, a crime that can still be punish by public burnings. Women who aren't married by 30 are especially suspected, and have to check in with a counselor bi-weekly, and risk losing their jobs, freedom, and ability to have their own bank accounts or own property. Jo is 28, and while she is causally dating, she has no interest in marriage. She has a hard time believing that love can even exist under the pressures placed on women. It doesn't help that her mother disappeared when Jo was 14, and during the investigation, she was questioned by witch hunters. It's been 7 years and Jo's father decides it's finally time to declare Jo's mom officially dead. This ends up opening up a clause in her will that requests Jo travel to a island in the middle of one of the Great Lakes on a very specific day in autumn and collect a certain fruit that only grows there... This book is so skillfully written, for the first half I was left wondering if magic really did or did not exist; it could just be the excuse that men used to oppress women, queer people, and people of color. But then the book takes a really Kelly Link or Octavia Butler-like twist in the middle and gets weirder and wilder. Highly recommend, especially the audiobook.

How A Mountain Was Made: Stories by Greg Sarris 

A collection of short stories by long time Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Greg Sarris; a writer I've been hearing about for years and am finally sitting down to read! These stories are all set around the Sonoma Mountain and Cotati, very close to where I grew up, and I loved being able to picture the foggy mornings, the many oaks, the quail, poppies, lupine, hawks, coyotes, and creeks in these stories. The book has a frame narrative of two crow sisters, Question Woman and Answer Woman, who introduce each story and also appear as characters in one. The stories are interwoven, nearly all set in the village by Copeland Creek where Coyote lives as headman with his wife Frog, his cousin Chicken Hawk, and his many neighbors. The stories use a lot of the kind of repetitive language that lends itself to memorization; I honestly didn't feel like sitting down and reading the book cover to cover wasn't the best way to experience them. It might have been better to flip the book open to a random story and read whichever one caught my eye, especially to read it out loud, either to myself or to a young listener. Maybe I'll get an opportunity to read it that way sometime to a nibling.

The Two Doctors Gorski by Isaac Fellman read by Helen Laser

Annae is a PhD student, a brilliant researcher, and a survivor of academic abuse. She is forced to leave the US when her former mentor claims her research and ruins her name (after sleeping with her). They work in a small field, advanced magic so complex it feels almost more like science, so Annae transfers to a university in the UK to complete her degree. There she finds herself in a cohort of entirely male graduate students under a famous but cruel teacher. Her main defense mechanism and invasive habit is reading minds, a kind of compulsive act that lets her see how her peers view her, and themselves. Unsurprisingly, these insights bring her no peace; Annae tries to rebuild her research, but urge to fall into the same traps as her role models is strong. This is a novella, only about 4 hours as an audiobook, and fairly open ended but I'm still thinking about it.

The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara read by Erik Bloomquist 

In this contemporary murder mystery/romance novel, werewolves exist and have always lived in small numbers around the world. A few years before this story starts werewolves outed themselves to the US government in order to better liaison with law enforcement to address werewolf-human crimes, but the general public still does not know werewolves exist. Cooper Dayton survived a werewolf attack, and is subsequently transferred from his former job at the FBI into the BSI, the Bureau of Special Investigation. When two bodies turn up in the woods in rural Maine, Agent Dayton is chosen for a trial program, and he is paired up with an agent from The Trust, the werewolf government. Dayton is attracted to his new partner, Agent Park, immediately- but when it turns out Park's family is active in the area of the murder, Dayton realizes he can't rule out the possibility that his co-worker might be actively covering for the criminal. This book starts an enjoyable paranormal romance series complete with plenty of spice but also very solid procedural mysteries. I was glad to be able to guess some parts of, but not all of, the mystery as it unfolded and I also thought the romance novel beats hit well!

The Wolf at Bay by Charlie Adhara read by Erik Bloomquist 

At the start of this second installment in my new favorite paranormal romance/murder mystery series, Agent Cooper Dayton and Agent Oliver Park of the Bureau of Special Investigations have been sleeping together for 4 months but still have not defined their relationship. Some of their miscommunications stem from cultural misunderstandings, but more of it comes from them both being too gun shy to be the first one to say "I love you." Meanwhile, Cooper takes Oliver to meet his family in the small town of coastal Maryland where he grew up- introducing Oliver only as his partner at work, because Cooper's family don't know he is gay and also don't know werewolves exist. Then a 25 year old skeleton is uncovered on the Dayton family property, and Cooper and Oliver have to set aside their other issues to solve the cold case, which might implicate one or both of Cooper's parents. A very enjoyable second book which manages to avoid a lot of the things that often bug me in romance novels and develops the relationship in satisfying ways.

The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea by Megan Tokuda-Hall 

Evelyn, the closeted lesbian teen daughter of nobles in an oppressive and strict empire, sets to sea aboard the Dove on a six month voyage to meet the husband her parents have chosen for her. On the Dove she meets Florian, a sailor her own age she who she befriends despite his lack of education and rough manners. But what Evelyn doesn't know is that Florian is also Flora, an orphan who joined the crew out of desperation and killed a man in cold blood to earn her place. And also- the ship is crewed by pirates, who plan to take all of the passengers as slaves. They have also committed a crime against the very sea itself: the capture of a mermaid with intent to sell it's blood, which men drink to forget. This is a dangerous and violent world, but the connection between Evelyn, Florian/Flora and the mermaid might be enough to save them all, with the help of some cleverness, bravery, magic, and love. This book had some tonal shifts that I struggled with, but I deeply appreciated the multifaceted queer rep.

Thrown to The Wolves by Charlie Adhara read by Erik Bloomquist 

The third book in the werewolf/detective romance series I've been wolfing down on audiobook. In this installment, Cooper Dayton, human BSI agent, is still heaving from the wounds of his previous case when Oliver Park, werewolf BSI agent, learns that his grandfather and head of the pack he abandoned several years ago died. Oliver asks Cooper to come with him to the funeral, and Cooper agrees, having no idea what he's getting into. The couple narrowly avoids a deadly car-crash on the way up to the family mansion in Canada, where Cooper learns that even though Oliver's family is fine with him being gay they are not really fine with him dating a human. Several of Oliver's relatives very explicitly try to scare Cooper off, then he's shot with a tranquilizer in what may or may not be an accident, then it turns out that Oliver's grandfather might not have died of natural causes. Amongst all this chaos, will Cooper decide the wolf world is just too much and that he needs to back away from it? Or will be just dive in even deeper? Even though I could easily guess the answer, I am still very hooked and will definitely read more!

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman 

Seraphina is the assistant composer to the royal family of Goredd, which means she lives in the castle and spends her days auditioning new musicians, leading rehearsals, performing at state functions and giving the vivacious, whip smart, slightly spoiled princess her weekly harpsichord lessons. In two weeks, the most important dragon general will be visiting the capital city to celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the peace treaty between humans and dragons which he negotiated with the current human queen. But then one of the members of the royal family is killed, and some people start pointing the finger at dragons; tensions begin to rise in the city as anti-dragon mobs attack a young dragon traveling the city in his human form. Amidst this tension, Seraphina is even more desperate to keep her longest and darkest secret: that she is half dragon, and carries hidden scales, maternal dragon memories, and a mental link with other powerful beings. This was such an original take on a dragon fantasy, with a rich and complex world, characters that I immediately cared for and rooted for. I'm definitely going to keep reading this series!

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Charlie Adhara read by Erik Bloomquist 

Human boyfriend Cooper Dayton and his werewolf boyfriend Oliver Park are trying to buy a house together; but their aesthetic sense of what makes an inviting home is vastly different, and neither of them are communicating their needs well to the other. How convenient that their next case for The Trust, the werewolf government, involves them going undercover to a couple's retreat where they will investigate a missing person report while also doing bonding exercises and couple's therapy. Will Cooper finally acknowledge that he was PTSD? Will Park admit their massive family wealth disparity could be a source of tension between them? Will they manage to figure out the link between a threatening park ranger, a local lumber mill owner who wants to buy the land the wolf retreat is built on, not one but two missing employees, the mysterious research of a wolf scientist (who may have experimented on his own children), a wolf pack leader showing up at the retreat unexpectedly? This installment continues the development of the central relationship while also fleshing out the lore and intricacies of the wolf world.

[darklinaforever]

"For Sylki is obvious: toxic, toxic and they're basically the same person"

Is it crazy how people can be so off base ? I don't know in what aspect Sylki, who actually bring out the best in each other is supposed to be toxic… ?!

This word is used so much today without people seeming to understand the definition, that's when same crazy…

Oh and the delusion of Sylki being the same person, is, I already explained, completely false.

The series and the creators have been very clear on this subject, yet people persist in saying the opposite which annoys me deeply.

Here is my post where I dismantle this idea of ​​Sylki being the same person :

In it there is even passages which roughly explains how Sylki is a good relationship :

Then I forgot to specify it in this post, but as much as Sylvie helps Loki to accept and love himself, the opposite is also true with Sylvie who opens up much more to the fact than her basic identity is that of a Loki when they are both facing death in episode 4 (while wondering what it really means to be a Loki). Essentially, she no longer internally denies this part of herself, without ceasing to be the person that she chose to be : Sylvie.

I would like to understand how this relationship is toxic ?! Once again, I'm tired of seeing people use this term loosely, simply because they don't like a fictional relationship. Is the Sylki relationship complicated ? Yes. Undeniably. But complicated doesn’t mean toxic.

It's like people who insist on saying that the Sylki romance is not the center / driving force of the plot… :

"I just wanna talk about the show without seeing 16379490405 posts about how “uwu he loves him/her so much, he/she is his new glorious purpose 🥹”. Like. That is SO NOT the point of the show, guys."

When it is in fact the case, the series shows it the contrary, and the creators confirm it.

Loki is in love with Sylvie and their romantic relationship is the fucking center / driving force of the plot, confirmed again by the creators themselves. The Sylki romance is the heart of the story, whether you like it or not. (Most of the interviews from season 1 and 2 will confirm this. Even if I am of the opinion that in season 2 they actually put this relationship aside, with the character of Sylvie... Probably because negative reviews about it in recent years)

Also... Sylvie was literally compared to Loki's new glorious purpose in season 1, in a fucking dialogue from episode 5, and yet the antis or the neutrals still make fun of the pro-Sylki for daring to say, that indeed, Sylvie was in some way Loki's new glorious purpose. As if films were being made when it was literally in a dialogue from season 1 ?!

I mean, Loki absolutely wants to return to the TVA, and we spectators know that it is to find Sylvie. (The last thing he did before ending up there, was literally trying to confess his feelings to Sylvie...) Much more than bringing down the Time-Keepers... Like he said later, he would go where she goes.

Even though the other Lokis don't know why our Loki want to return to the TVA so badly, when one of them asks if Loki wants to return in it because he left his glorious purpose there... and Loki replies that is something like that... What do you think that means ?!

Loki's glorious purpose in season 1 was simply Sylvie, whether you like it or not. Damn, once again it’s literally in the dialogue ! What ?! You think Loki just wants to return to the TVA to bring down the Time-Keepers and have his own time stream to control ? When Loki says that in truth he has no idea what he will do and that he and Sylvie could figure it out together ?!

This dialogue on Loki's glorious purpose is even essentially paralleled with the suggestion that Sylvie's only good memory is Loki... Personal questions that they are asked in the same episode to which they respond vaguely and to which only the viewer can understand the answer...

But no, I imagine that all these people who think they are more intelligent think that the only good memory of Sylvie is something off-screen never mentioned, and that Loki's glorious purpose is only to play the hero and become king...

Also, I don't see why I should moderate my comments and clarify that all of this is my interpretation to avoid offending people.

They do not hesitate to assert their opinion as the right one in a condescending and or downright rude manner.

I understand that everyone is free to have their opinion on a fictional story, but after a while, that doesn't mean that every opinion is really valid in the canon story, especially when there is nothing to support it. I'm tired of seeing antis and neutrals shaming people who really understand the story being told and its messages.

Because yes, once again whether you like it or not, Sylki is not the same person, incest / autocest / selfcest. Sylki is a romance, which is the very heart of the story of the series, and yes, in season 1, Sylvie was associated with Loki's glorious purpose. All this, I maintain, are facts, and not fucking interpretation.

And probably the thing that annoys me the most is everyone who dares to put their clearly denigrating opinions in the tag dedicated to Sylki, instead of the anti one. Honestly, don't you have anything else to do ?! Do you think you are mature ? Clever ? You are just pathetic.