#why did i edit the original post instead of making a new one? the world will never know

[magnus-rhymes-with-swagness]

What do I say when contacting the United States government about Palestine?

What do I say when calling for a ceasefire?

What do I say when calling for the government to restore funding to UNRWA?

How do I contact politicians?

[silly-circus]

★SillyString’s story/background★

(Way long overdue lmao and long I’m so sorry guys, also made some edits because I wanted to word some things better)

I want to start off by saying she is me, me is she(Im not sure if I made it clear or not so apologies I’m kinda dumb🫰). I say “her” in my posts instead of “me” because idk it feels right since I make her look differently than I actually do. Even so, we share the same name and I do the clown look all the time when I go out to places that I get an excuse to🧍‍♂️so really it is just me but anyway,,, time to begin! This is my first time actually writing this out so I’m sorry if it’s formatted and explained terribly

First off, Silly String is my persona’s clown name. She came up with it herself, everything else was Pennywise’s idea. She was originally a human, and still looks like one and has the appetite of one(when she changed Pennywise assumed she would want to eat people. He was wrong.) She lived in texas(yee-honk) before moving to Maine literally because she thought “why not?” and ended up in good old Derry. Her life growing up wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t the best. She was always into odd and strange things, or things that most would find creepy(clowns. Love clowns. They’re so cool) so she was kinda outcasted from others at a young age but soon people learned to just let her live in peace which of course she was happy about. She did manage to make some friends, solidarity. After moving, she continued pursuing freelance photography and painting, but her full time job is as a barista in a local coffee shop(wow, how interesting💀).

The way that she met Pennywise was kinda stupid. All she was doing was taking photos of the local wildlife and next thing you know a kid is running by before she notices a fucking weird ass clown creature from hell charging straight towards her(she still snapped a photo before running). He does catch up to her and jumps her. How she managed to not get away, but the kid did, don’t ask me. She survived, her camera unfortunately did not(he gets her a new one eventually guys trust).

since then, they kept bumping into each other. He does try to kill her again but she kept managing to escape him(pissed him off more and more each time) but soon enough he starts to chill out and basically decides to learn more about her. The more she realized he was going to not continuously try eat her every time he visited she would start asking him questions about who he was as an entity and where he came from. It does start out as a weird friendship where he would mess with her at work or appear out of literally no where to hang around. He does start to enjoy her company and watching her do normal, human things since her doing it made it seem entertaining. After a while of slowly getting closer and closer they become loving parters yay(she was still human at this time).

Fast forward and they get “married” which they really call their “eternal binding.” Basically what it means is that she became a part of him. As in if he dies, she dies. She unfortunately didn’t gain any cool shape shifting and such, she just gets to live and thrive as long as he does. When it first happened she was having a hard time with it simply because she’s going to outlive everyone she knows and will continue to, but over time she made her peace with it and saw it as a privilege to watch the world change around her and of course stay with her beloved.

Also the year they met was set in the 1980s, or honestly it could be any time after that or something I don’t know yall get creative I’m just going with the flow.

That is it :) sorry again this is long, and I hope every one has a good day/night(it’s 3 am why do I do this to myself). I also hope you guys continue to follow along with me on their lover clown journey :D

AND- little sneak peek of an upcoming piece I’m working on for Mermay 😙

[sleeplesssmoll]

Reverse 1999 Analysis: Why did Jessica go with Vertin in the Green Lake event?

Note: This was originally an Ask but I feel like posts are easier to find in my messy blog. Also I can fix typos and make edits when new information comes out!

The answer to this lies in Blonney and Vertin’s proposals to Jessica. Blonney offered her a life as a human where she’d be forced to hide and Vertin offered a life as an arcanist where she can embrace her true self. The Green Lake event builds up to this conclusion in subtle ways more noticeable in hindsight. The main theme of the event is embracing your true self. This applies to Jessica as much as it applies to Blonney.

From the beginning of the event, we see how the humans treat Blonney. With limited access to the outside world, this gives Jessica her first impression of humans beyond Green Lake. They belittle and tease Blonney. In Jessica's eyes, Blonney is the most amazing person she knows (not that she knows many) and she still gets treated this way. Not only that but Blonney resented her arcanist blood because of this mistreatment.

If someone as amazing as Blonney is being rejected by humans, what hope could a Changeling like Jessica have fitting in? Instead, Jessica would rather make Green Lake a place they can be happy together. She expresses no desire to see the outside world.

Later, she meets Vertin and the others. She notes they are different from the people she normally deals with. They are arcanists who embrace their roots and the weirdness that comes with it. As the story goes on, the team falls into “roles”. Tooth Fairy is the mediator. Sonetto is the one who gets stuff done. Horrorpedia is an information bank. Vertin is the problem solver who puts all the information together with Horrorpedia's help.

While Jessica was acting the entire time, the team's reactions are genuine. Vertin being the emotional support after she kills the butcher and asking her what her wishes are later are genuine acts of kindness. Jessica even mentions she's grown to like Vertin when they are talking about wishes. This is important because while Blonney is lying to herself throughout the event (hating horror movies, denying her heritage, etc) everyone else has been straightforward and honest (too much in Horrorpedia’s case).

Then we have the ending. What makes Blonney and Vertin's proposals different?

It starts here:

Blonney tries to bargain with her without truly understanding the problem. Jessica explains that in the time Blonney was away she grew up and changed. She doesn't want to wait anymore.

Here Blonney tries again, making an offer she may not be able to uphold (parents). She lists a bunch of things she likes to do to try and convince Jessica but Jessica had a taste of the outside through Blonney's colleagues. Jessica brings up the fact one day her true form will be revealed and she'll be treated like a freak. She also doesn't understand a lot of the things Blonney is bringing up. Overall the proposal feels flimsy. Blonney is not only saying these things to try and escape. She truly wants Jessica to be happy too but she doesn't know how to accomplish this. Also, while Jessica loves Blonney a lot, it doesn’t negate the fact that up to this point Blonney has been in denial about a lot of things (though she shows a lot of growth). If Blonney doesn’t believe in her own words, how can Jessica?

Vertin tries another route with similar intentions. She walks Jessica through why it wouldn't work because even if she stayed, things would get stale for Jessica. Keeping people here is not the key to her happiness, it only numbs her loneliness.

Vertin the problem solver addresses her fears of rejection, loneliness, and boredom. After this, she brings up the crazy things she's seen around the world to entice her interest. She is not using discos or malls to convince Jessica, but instead the dreams she has of music, meadows, and arcanist tomfoolery. She is offering her the life of an arcanist not the life of a human like Blonney did. Blonney is beginning to embrace her heritage, but she still has that human lifestyle etched into her persona. The things she offered are more associated with humanity than arcanum.

Then Vertin says this:

She promised to give what she can offer. There are no grandiose claims like Jessica who thinks she can be everything someone needs or Blonney who wants to offer things but she doesn't have the means to realize them. Vertin is offering to do what she can. That is also why she is the only one able to make a promise. I don't even think Jessica used the word "promise" when she was making her offers meaning there is extra weight behind the word in her eyes. In Vertin’s department, she can truly be herself without fear of rejection or feeling like a monster.

Note: Jen and Jess are gay af for each other. I don't think Jess choosing to go with Vertin invalidates her love for Jen. Jennifer needs to come to the Suitcase once she graduates! Jess couldn't go to her, but she can come to Jess. It all works out!

[web-novel-polls]

Hidden Web Novel Character Submissions

Last Checked: September 20th, 2024 - Please check the original post for updates

Death to popularity bias! Submit any character you'd like, and they'll compete completely anonymously.

Rules

Must be a character from a web novel or similar

Propaganda must be sufficient to judge without giving away the character (just do your best, no stress)

Write the propaganda with the character's name, and I'll edit it out for the tournament itself

No limits or rules for the length of the propaganda. Either people read it or they don't

Please do not reveal a character’s identity if you guess it. If you want to guess anonymously and/or submit additional propaganda, you can do so here:

Based on:

@guess-that-ship

@mysterycharacterflowers

& others I can't find

Tag: #hidden wn character tournament

Alcoholic

Submission:

[Alcoholic] woke up in the body of a guy on Earth some years in the past and decided(read got forced) to go into the entertainment industry.  This guy egosurfs a lot, was an alcoholic and got an intervention for it. Plus he goes to therapy!! Also got kidnapped once and escaped by beating up the kidnapper . There was also the one time he went into a parallel universe.

Mod Propaganda: [Alcoholic] (seemingly) starts the novel with a “I’ll do anything to survive” mindset but grows to genuinely care about and for his friends while dealing with a LOT. He’s smart and calculating, which also manifests itself in supporting his friends and the people around him AS WELL AS himself.

Boccia

Submission (Edited to remove identifying info): 

He’s a demon. He wanders the human realm to find little human trinkets, possibly to sell them. He is a good boy who wants to make a living, and deserves to be acknowledged.

Farmer Guy

Submission: [Farmer Guy] was reborn in a xianxia world after living a boring life as a civic engineer in Canada. He spent about 24 hours in a cultivation sect before quitting due to bullying and corruption in the sect, and decided to move to bumfuck nowhere to take up farming instead. After all, superstrenght & endurance makes it way easier to pull a plow, put up buildings & so on. So why is his chicken starting to do martial arts?

Moonlight

Submission: 

[Moonlight] is the boy of all time. From his perspective, he successfully scouted out a talented new coworker, got blatantly propositioned while the ink was still wet on the contract, thought "wow, this guy is forward, but we really need his skills so... okay," within a month had fully progressed to, "it's fine to get married first and fall in love later," and then just. fell SO HARD. for a guy who, in his own POV sections, HAD NO IDEA his behavior even could be interpreted as flirty. For his actual character, the gap moe between "doting thinks-he's-a-boyfriend" and "super serious taskmaster" is adorable. 

Sunshine

Submission: 

My sunshine son!! Got isekai'd into another world pretty similar to his original one, and basically just went "welp, time to restart my career from the bottom! I did it once, I can do it again!"  Re: the differences from his original world, he straight-up just asks people questions and takes notes in front of them? And when they're like "how do you not know this, this is preschool level knowledge," he just laughs and goes, "yeah, I'm really forgetful and didn't pay attention in school." Iconic, honestly. Still doesn't stop him from mistaking social cues so thoroughly that he  accidentally gets into a romantic relationship without realizing it, due to having multiple chicken-and-duck conversations with his would-be boyfriend. (He got into the situation by basically propositioning the guy without noticing, having not paid attention to the social differences between worlds.)

Poor Single Dog

Submission: 

[Poor Single Dog]! My brilliant dumbass son! He's so book smart, yet can't see what's right in front of his face. He's really concerned about losing his Best Friend Status when the protags start spending time together (read: going out, because they're in love). There is no level of PDA he can't misunderstand as mere friendship. When he FINALLY gets hit by a clue-by-four (read: walks in on the main couple cuddling while doing the dishes, and one of them says, quote, "This is EXACTLY what it looks like!") his reaction is: [Poor Single Dog] remained silent for what seemed like a century. Finally, amidst his chaotic thoughts, he said: “You….so….then, am I still your best friend?”

[lyssak09]

Hey could i request a casifer fic with a trans male reader (He/They prns) pls?

Yandere Casifer with Trans!reader

Edit: I read the request wrong but it was too late for me to change it 😭. So instead of a fic you get headcannons, sorry. I hope you still enjoy it though

Castiel probably knew you because of the Winchesters and fell for you hard

He didn't understand these feelings for you but he was happy to learn about them.

Cas didn't really understand what you being trans meant. But after a looooot of scoldings and lessons from the boys, he finally understands and uses the correct pronouns.

Now, Lucifer probably met you because of the insufferable 'Team Free Will', but he was intrigued by you.

As we know, Castiel asks Lucifer for help to save you guys. Especially you.

After Lucifer said yes and took over he got to watch you more. And as he played the role of Castiel they both started to become obsessed with you. And eventually Lucifer convinced Cas that they should take you somewhere far away.

Also, Lucifer definitely used to deadname you and use your wrong pronouns because he didn't understand you being trans at all. He did this even when he was in Cas, he almost blew his cover because of it but Cas explained it to him and corrected him.

Eventually Castiel and Lucifer lured you to your new permanent home by having you go on a falsified hunt.

You didn't understand what was happening. Then Lucifer let his act go.

You were angry and scared. This terrifying archangel was in your bestfriend's body. And Cas didn't seem as freaked out as you!

But, then Lucifer pulled a classic villain monologue and explained that Cas originally just asked for his help but as time went Lucifer became as obsessed with you as Cas is. So why not save the world and get a reward out of it?

And you're a damn good reward.

Once they have you Lucifer starts trying to find a separate vessel. In the meantime though, the two make a schedule for when they can control Cas's body to be with you.

Castiel is a naive, obsessive, delusional, and slightly posessive yandere. He is also very touchy and is obvious about.

On the other hand, Lucifer is a possessive, obsessive, needy yandere. Not that he would admit he's needy.

He is also very touchy but doesn't admit it, he always trys to make it like you're the one desperate for his touch and the other way around.

He is very very very desperate for your touch and attention.

They both make an effort to help you with your transition, whatever it may be.

Castiel doesn't really understand that what he's doing is wrong, especially with Lucifer manipulating him.

No matter how hard you try to convince them to let you go, it won't happen.

If you do escape somehow, you better hope Cas is in control when they find you. He'll be a bit more gentle with bringing you home and punishing you.

But if Lucifer is in control, you're screwed.

I'm sorry this is so short but I desperately needed to get something posted. I will hopefully be making a part 2 to this though!

[quibbs126]

This is the other kid I wanted to do today, her name is Wild Pepper Cookie

So originally, her name was Dark Pepper, in reference to black pepper, which is what’s used in pepper shakers, and that’s what Werewolf has in his dough (this was before Peppercorn came out), and of course, the Dark part is there because Dark Choco. But at some point I changed it to Wild Pepper, though I don’t remember why, and I guess it just stuck or sounded better (though now that I think about it, Dark Pepper could still work fine)

I’ll just show black pepper:

Anyways, so I had always planned on making her hair short and black but putting the little pepper bits in, and that’s what I did. I also wanted to give her a big fluffy cape, like Werewolf and Dark Cacao, but I don’t think I made it fluffy enough

As for the purple eyes, to be honest I just didn’t want to make her eyes red, since I feel like I do that too often with my Dark Choco fankids. But giving her blue eyes would make her look too much like Werewolf, so I made them purple, though not the same dark purple as Dark Cacao

I’ll be honest, other than the dark parts of the colors, I just sort of slapped something together with her outfit. I asked my friend for advice on the colors, but she’s halfway around the world right now and it’ll be a while before she responds, and I thought the colors looked fine enough, so I just decided to post as is. Though if she gives me better ideas I’ll edit this with new colors

And honestly, same goes for the outfit outside of the cape, I just sort of threw something together

I swear, that’s my biggest problem with these guys, I never know what to make them wear, and I usually come up with something I don’t find that great

Anyways, so why don’t we just talk about Wild Pepper?

So she’s a little girl living with her dads. I imagine they’re living around the woods or something, as they just want a quiet life. She loves to explore the woods and find bugs, as shown in the sketch, often watching them and playing with little animals she finds. She usually comes home a mess from her explorations, but it’s all good. She’s a very friendly and energetic child, and she’d probably ask a lot of questions to random strangers she meets. She’ll also help out around the house if need be. Her parents love her very much

Anyways, so I’m sure you can see in one of the sketches, she has a wolf form as well, however it’s more of a shadow than a normal wolf. I basically was trying to mix together Werewolf’s wolf form and Berserk Dark Cacao. When she first did this, it definitely scared her parents, as they weren’t sure what would happen. Though fortunately, she’s relatively harmless like this, just a big shadow pupper. I think she turns like this when she sneezes, but I might change that. I was also considering the idea she can teleport short distances in the form, but I’m not sure why or if I’ll keep that. But I want her to have shadow-y powers

Also as you can see, I don’t know how to design werewolves. Her design will probably change

But also, speaking of her wolf form, I had the idea that while it’s harmless now, as she grows older, the form only grows stronger, gaining lightning powers as well over time (also, her shadow eyes eventually shift to red instead of white). Not only that, but the form grows huge, much bigger than Werewolf’s ever got. And over time, as it grows stronger, she has less control over it until one day she loses control and basically goes berserk. Though if I’m being honest, I’m not sure I want to keep it. I like the idea in principle, but also I feel like the culmination is just too similar to Werewolf’s whole backstory, and she’ll just be another him

But yeah, I think that’s all I got for her, I hope you like her!

[destinygoldenstar]

(I DO NOT OWN THIS SCREENSHOT)

So, Digital Circus’s second episode is coming tomorrow.

You know, in the Pilot’s case, I waited a month or two before I watched it myself. That’s just because I’m not someone who dives head first into trends and just does my own thing.

My introduction to Digital Circus was a random YouTube video essay about how this show was a prime example of how indie animation was now becoming more successful than Disney’s Wish.

I was shocked by that. Anyone would. (They meant by audience reception of course) So I got curious by that idea and what the show did to earn that. Then I saw there was only one episode of it and I was CONFUSED.

And originally, I was going to not watch the show because fanbase. But this news did get be at least interested to watch the Pilot once.

So I did…

OOPS. I’m hooked.

I just fell in love with what the pilot episode had to offer that appealed to me at the time, and maybe now more than back then now that I am an adult in the real world.

There was no trying to replicate realism. They were embracing COLOR, and out there character designs all animated differently yet beautifully. There were mysteries regarding the world they created just begging for theories and speculation. There was such great editing that does NOT get talked about more. It wasn’t like the other physical horror mascot horrors, as instead it was existential, toying with peoples minds, which to me was SO much more compelling. This had one of the most relatable protagonists I’ve seen in quite some time. A ringmaster I love to see on screen. Other characters begging to be explored. While not every joke landed for me, I definitely vibed with its style of humor.

So, meaningless to say, I understood why this show resonates with so many people, including myself.

So the show staying indie and not letting any major cooperations dictate how they run their show and their story, is inspiring.

So while I do see the signs so far being that the show will turn out good, by the way the creators want it to turn out (it’s their show after all). I’m just always naturally skeptical. But I am still excited for tomorrow when the fandom blows up.

But I will probably also try to ignore the fanbase reception and just do my own review post on it. Unfortunately I have work so I can’t watch it right away. But you know I’m going to.

Tbh, I think I figured out now what my relationship is with this show. I’m not watching it because it’s popular and trending.

I’m watching this because I want to watch it.

It’s genuinely grasped me as an audience member and spoke to me. And I genuinely want to see where the shows story heads.

That and I want to support indie animation and the people who have the creative freedom to make this, and prove that executives don’t have to dictate said creative freedom.

So whether or not this show lives up to the hype till the end or ends up a massive disappointment. Going into my college years, I have a gut feeling this is going to become my comfort show alongside Ninjago and Total Drama to get me through these tough times in my life. That’s something I’ll always be grateful for no matter what.

Anyway, yeah, I’m excited for this.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I saw an article about how one of the things Final Fantasy XVI had in common with some other FFs--to make it a FF (which is still a silly argument that we even need to have to me, but whatev)--is flower importance in the story. And that's certainly true. So I decided to make a post about that... And prepare for the longest post in the history of the world, because I may have gone overboard in screenshotting some of these. I also decided to include Kingdom Hearts here, since it's a Disney and Final Fantasy crossover (with its own story, of course).

We'll never know how similar or not Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XV's stories are or were to each other (after Tetsuya Nomura, director of Versus XIII, got kicked off the project and the game got a new director and became FFXV, and the story did at least slightly change)--even with Nomura now putting some of his Versus XIII ideas into Kingdom Hearts. It seems here, though, that even when it was Versus and Noctis and Stella, instead of Noctis and Luna, there was at least one flower scene with them. Perhaps this is the aforementioned Noctis and Luna flower crown scene (maybe originally it happened with Noctis and Stella, and that was then repurposed for Noctis and Luna). Like, for whatever reason, something upset Noctis' childhood friend here (the responsibilities her mother had to endure, perhaps, if this part of the story was still very much like XV's. Mayhap that hurt Stella to think about), and Noctis comforted her with the sylleblossom, and then we got the flower crown scene Luna alluded to in XV... or maybe it was something totally different from that with Noctis and Stella. Maybe sylleblossoms didn't even exist in Versus. Like I said, we might never know. But here, at least, was another couple (again: how similar they were to the later Noctis and Luna: who knows?) where flowers were at least important to them for a hot second.

Kairi likes to pick flowers, as we see here and in a scene in the BbS credits (that I'd show, but picture limit is keeping from doing it [I'd show a lot more pictures for a lot of these girls, if it weren't for picture limit)].

She also has a flowery Keyblade, of course, surely because of her love for flowers:

And I guess part of her Keyblade's design is that a king chess piece--which Sora's chess piece was the king one in KHIII, of course--is attached to a red string. And we all know about the red string of fate (I bring that up, because another common theme in all of this, is that all these gals with the flowers are part of a star-crossed lover pairing).

Kairi's heart is also in the shape of a flower in Re:Mind and Melody of Memory?

Yep.

Edit: Oops. I forgot Squall and Rinoa: Squall's promise to Rinoa that if she comes to Edea's orphanage--that is full of flowers outside, giving us our flower connection--that he'll be waiting for her, so she'll find him.

Also, I think Yeul gave Noel a flower in Lightning Returns for some reason? Though I don't remember why. I've only played Lightning Returns once--and only watched the cutscnenes once, in said playthrough--many years ago at this point. I really need to replay Lightning Returns again, as I actually love the Lightning Trilogy and found the gameplay in Lightning Returns very enjoyable. I also know that one of the Yeuls in FFXIII-2 loved flowers.

[coffee-at-annies]

@paintingtheice so I totally meant to post this yesterday and then fell asleep editing/adding on to this. This is not the essay on gendering Sidney Crosby we’ve talked about in dms it’s instead a different fandom essay that I started writing in my head half as a convo and then said fuck it essay time. @podcasts-8-my-heart this is also dedicated to you saying you’re proud of me for writing 2.5k+. I’m proud of you.

So I was thinking on my bus ride into work this morning (yesterday - yes it’s been a day this got long don’t look at me like that) about hrpf and SidGeno and some of the shifts I’ve seen fandom go through in my time following hockey. There are a million and one little reasons why things have changed and many of them can simply be chalked up to the passing of time; new information gets revealed, new events happen, roster turnover, and fandom/writer turnover. One thing that I think about a lot is when fic is set in relation to “canon.” The relationship with canon in hrpf is both deeper and more divorced than other fandom, but stay with me I’m gonna pull a bunch of words out my ass and hope it makes a lick of sense.

The first talking point/part of this thesis is recency bias. People are way more inclined to favor recent events over the past. You see this in the actual fandom with people reacting to losses or saying “we never win against [team]” when we have in fact won against that team as recent as last year. It’s this sort of bias that causes us as readers/writers to read something current and assume it’s always been this way and then experience cognitive dissonance with other depictions of the characters that are older or simply different. “He would not fucking say that.” Well once upon a time maybe he did. Maybe it’s out of character now, but back then it was the defining character study for how fandom understood him and you need to sit down and actually look at what people were saying. Maybe it was never in character but the author committed to being ooc and you can see how our understanding has drifted closer or farther away in the years since.

The second talking point is that when fandom isn’t reacting to current canon it has a tendency to latch on to specific parts of canon and not let go. I’m quantifying that as “events”. Fandom hates filler but it loves a plot point. In hprf in general and sidgeno specifically you see this in a lot of different ways. How many stories have been written about [insert team]’s cup run? The Olympics? I’ve read so many fics about 2015 Worlds despite never reading hrpf before 2016. We love an event. Do we actually care about every game of the season or tournament tho? Not really unless something specific to progress the plot or characterization happens. Geno visiting Sid at Sochi when they’re supposed to be enemies is more important than whoever Canada beat in the round robin.

Anyway this is all introductory backtracking because the original thrust of this essay was defining to myself the “when” that people write about. My brainstorming had it separated into the nebulous now, right fucking now when I (the author) wrote this, events events events, the vague future, the past aka when they were Youths™️, the generalized timeline (y’know, canon?) - usually characterized in hrpf by events, milestones, and team personnel, and timeline what timeline.

Are you saying to yourself, gee she just listed a bunch of stuff I hope she defines it. Well good for you, that’s literally the rest of this monster. Buckle up I’m about to say way more words. I do not think I’m 100% accurate perfect no notes. I’m sure parts of it are bullshit. But hey I’m gonna close my eyes and post it anyway.

1. [Nebulous Now] - Hey remember that paragraph on recency bias? Welcome to recency bias the fic setting. In my head, the nebulous now is +/- the last two or three years. It’s set around present day* or going back only as far as the author was engaged in fandom. You’ll probably know when it’s set based on team makeup, season highlights, major events, but it’s basically meant to be set now. It may care about schedules and specific details but reserves the right to throw it out the window if it feels like it. The problem with being set now is when you run across a fic that is 5, 10, 15 years old and is supposed to still be set in whatever the current year is.

*when the fic first started being written

2. [Right Fucking Now] There is nothing nebulous about when this fic was written or what it was written about. These are usually smaller fics** where inspiring event happened anywhere from the day the writer started writing to at most a month or two ago. Usually precipitated by X did Y in Z game against team A and got celebratory gangbanged in the locker room about it. (Y being goals, hat tricks, fights, ect.). You can’t get more specific than this baby. Fics set before/during/after a specific game fit here. All Star Game fics written around the All Star Break are here. Milestone events are here, for example Tanger and Geno’s 1K games. Fics written immediately in reaction to stuff like Contract-gate go here. Most playoff fic that references specific events or was written during the playoffs falls under here. The main clarifying point is it wasn’t written very long after the fact. Anything written now about last years All Star Game, Contract-Gate, Sid slutting it up at worlds and the Olympics, all fall under a different category. Which is a great segue to my next one.

** I said usually smaller but sometimes an author decides to write a big fic about the narrative arc of the season and we love them for it.

3. [Events Events Events] - This is probably the one that is the biggest broadest category and the one I have the hardest time narrowing down despite having more examples than I can shake a stick at. Simply put, this category is for fics that are concerned with a specific event, usually big, but sometimes small. This can be any event that stands out in a reader/author’s head. Generally the fic was written after the event happened from a place of knowing how everything shakes out in canon. These fics can feel different because the we walk in already knowing the start and stop and major events of the fic. From the reader’s perspective the event is over but the characters experiencing the event don’t know it.

SidGeno/Pens Examples include: World Juniors. The Olympics/the golden goal/Sochi. The cup runs are a subcategory unto themselves but the playoffs/finals are a big event. Major injuries like Geno’s knee surgery and Sid’s concussion. Duper’s retirement tends to be a foot note in cup run stories but it’s a small event. Trades def count since there are absolutely stories about the before/after of a trade. Vegas & Seattle Expansion Drafts. The lockouts (05 & 2012). I’m ignoring that the pandemic-stoppage is also under this cause I don’t like reading about it. Contract-gate is a recent example. Basically if you’re asking “hey does this event count as an event” the answer is probably yes because you’ve remembered it. If you can point to something specific on the timeline and zoom in on it then it counts.

***this one I keep tweaking it’s definition and I’m still not 100% happy. I just keep thinking about all the fic I’ve read in other fandoms that feel beholden to canon in ways that I end up bemoaning the lack of creativity. Nobody says it has to happen this exact way every time but authors who claim to hate that installment still faithfully recreate it every time.

So we’ve had now, and we’ve had the events that everyone (or just you) remember, what’s next is literally what’s next.

4. [Vague Future] - Quite literally 1, 5, 10, 20 years in the future. Next season fics. Retirement and post-retirement fics. Their kids getting drafted fic is this. Anything that makes you think further ahead than the end of the current season is probably in this category. It’s vague because who the heck knows if it ends up true or not. There is of course overlap with the Nebulous Now because its nebulous. Since everything is set vaguely now-ish, it’s hard to tell when now starts becoming the future. The season just started and all through the preseason I saw people talking about who they think is going win the cup this year. There’s so much hockey to be played still. The future is vague but it will eventually become now.

Also remember it’s all about perspective. There’s tons of movies set in the far distant future of the late 2010s and they don’t match up to our lived reality. Going back to the comment about cognitive dissonance, sometimes you aren’t writing about an event from a place of knowing; sometimes it’s just your best guess or heartfelt wish. It’s so easy to say “oh that’s an au” when maybe it wasn’t an au when it was written, maybe it was intended to be accurate to the author’s best guess. Sometimes fics from the past were set in the future but that time has been passed by life and going back to read them is weird but cool. It’s interesting to see where people thought the boys were going vs where they are. Who could have guessed the core would have careers this long or decorated but they have.

Speaking of writing from a place of knowing; this next one is sort of a subcategory of events, but was a specific enough setting of fic I wanted to call it out.

5. [Youth™️] - This is anything where they are children. It may be well research but for the most part it’s probably non-accurate outside of the broad stokes. It’s the prologue and chapter 1. Pre-canon and the first 20 minutes. Kid!fic. It’s all about the kids in this one. This is the start of the story and the time before that.

Hrpf examples include anything about juniors, Sid’s time at shattuck, and World Juniors. For SidGeno I’d probably include the 03 to 05 drafts. Can include Sid’s first year in the NHL and Geno’s flight from Russia and his first full year in the NHL (that’s the hard cutoff for me personally). You could potentially argue up to and including the 08 & 09 cup runs as like the climax of them being young NHL stars, and yeah sure I’m not a cop write whatever you want if it makes sense to you then it makes sense. I don’t think Sid getting drafted is a bad place to start a fic, especially if you’re doing an AU. There’s always a good argument to start at the beginning of the canon story.

I’m highlighting this because holy crud the number of fics I’ve seen from other fandoms that don’t even like the early material but start at movie 1 scene 1/book 1 chapter 1 anyway. It’s fanfic we don’t have to start at the beginning. You can, but its not necessary. I personally struggle with fics that don’t change anything in early canon but require you to read their version of it anyway, but I’m just one person. You do you.

This next one doesn’t have a snazzy name because look sometimes there’s a timeline and you wanna write something that encompasses it. If it’s granular I’d say you’re talking about Eventsx3 or Right Fucking Now. Overlaps with Youth™️ because you have to start somewhere and Nebulous Now because now is on the timeline. If there are expected events on the timeline like retirement from professional sports, that’s the vague future.

6. [Timeline] Sometimes authors want to care about the timeline or the fic is set over weeks, months, years. Most canons have a specific set timeline and hrpf is no different. However ours is actual literal years rather than something someone created and is thus easy to navigate. For my examples I’m generalizing over the span of months and years and then grouping by big events rather than calling out any one specific event.

[the early years] Anything from Sid’s first year to the 09 cup. Let’s be real here, most authors either write incredibly detailed fic about the whole timeline, or they’ll only write about Sid or Geno’s first full NHL years or the 08-09 cup runs. Everything else is usually glossed over. The babies era. Youth™️

Events include: Sid and Geno’s drafts. The 05 lockout. Geno fleeing Russia. Losing streaks. Mario’s return and retirement. Flower and Tanger getting called up. Sid living at Mario’s. Geno living with Gonch and learning English. Sid being named Captain. Hard cutoff is after the 07-08 and 08-09 cup runs.****

****You can argue that the 08 & 09 cup runs are their own subcategory but this is already long enough imo.

[post cup - international success and dead years] - the middle years. You’re probably only going to read event fic set during this time unless it was written in the nebulous now of those years.

Events include: the golden goal/2010 olympics. Sid’s concussion. Geno’s knee surgery. The 2012 lockout. Geno playing at home in Russia during the lockout. I think Geno & Ovi had a memorable All Star Game in here. Socchi Olympics. Worlds 2015.***** Tanger’s stroke. Olli’s cancer. Geno getting married. Trades include I wanna say Jordy, Talbo, Lazy. Gonch is in Dallas but I don’t remember if he was traded. This is also the spacetoaster era. Sid spending several years building a house only to move back in with Mario due to post-concussion syndrome.

*****Sid winning at worlds is I think the end of this era cause Worlds kicked off Sid’s “winning everything that he could possibly win” era.

[the sully era] The 15-16 & 16-17 cup wins against San Jose and Nashville. The threepeat attempt in 2018 with its second round loss to the capitals. The vegas draft followed several years later by the seattle draft. Geno had a kid. Once you get past the cup runs this really blends into the nebulous now. Maybe it’s cause I stopped reading fic religiously sometime between 2019 and 2021 but aside from the covid pandemic which I very much do not like reading about, there’s not much here to highlight other than player milestones and trades, but don’t worry Sid and Geno have had a bunch of milestones.

[modern pensblr] - The covid stoppage, pandemic-hockey, and now. Anything from 2020 to the current 2023-24 season. Very much the nebulous now but there’s tons of milestones for our two headed monster/core trio to celebrate.

Okay I know I just spent a while being very “general with specific” but this next category is for the people who just don’t care about anything I’ve talked about.

7. [Timeline what timeline] - This is the one where authors simply don’t care about the “when” of their setting. It’s an outgrowth of the nebulous now but it’s less tied to canon. It may reference a season but it doesn’t have to and will often ignore actual team makeup because “this is my fanfic and if I want to ignore that trade I can.” Non-hockey aus (one or both s/g) will often fall under this since you need to answer who is playing center for the Penguins if Sid drives the zamboni. Straight up aus are kinda here but I don’t think fics that are fully an au setting like a college frat or space au really counts for this conversation since the au comes with its own time period that is wholly divorced from canon outside of the cast of characters. This is also where fics that go “I’m going to write my own canon” belong (ie Geno is a flyer, what if Pens drafted Ovi instead of Geno, what if X player got traded to Y team and hooked up with Z player). Timeline can matter for some of those fics, but most of them only care as much as it makes sense to make the fic make sense. The important timeline information is that hockey is happening (or it’s the off season and hockey isn’t happening). These are the fics where the Pens are always conveniently playing Washington when Geno needs advice from Ovi or Vegas when Sid needs similar from Flower. As long as the fic is internally consistent what does it matter if you’ve forgotten this or that timeline detail such as setting a timeline in the first place. Hockey itself is so intertwined with the specific routines of a season that you can divorce that routine from reality and just have hockey. Fall becomes winter becomes spring becomes the playoffs, what more can an author ask for?

Done? Idk I’m out of words. Okay I love you for reading this far. Bye bye. Feel free to chime in in the notes if you’ve got your own ideas. I certainly don’t have a monopoly on thoughts and I’m not convinced I’m right either, just doing a deep think.

[mahoushoujotechsupport]

episode 1, start! ok trying this again because my original post was community flagged for reasons i don't understand

so, this little goober decided to ride inside aerial on her trip from mercury to asticassia instead of like wherever normal passengers ride??? lmao

she really is a little cinnamon roll huh? and i love the added light novel details that she just automatically thought miorine was beautiful the first time she saw her here lol

and that she did, miomio

wow is this that suit that one person had during that big ass match in episode 13?

leave suletta alone, you jerks

oh, miorine-san, if only you knew what that girl would become

gotta wonder how in the world miorine dealt with pretty much being bullied by all these rich fucks. like how many failed attempts to try to go to earth had she had at this point that felsi and petra use it to make fun of her

see, if guel had realized secelia wasn't sitting on the couch, then maybe he wouldnt have asked suletta to duel against him later on

yeah, yeah, i know he mostly redeemed himself and didnt even end up being a weapons manufacturer in the end like his daddy (assuming the new asticassia isnt basically the elite's military training grounds like it was at the beginning), but god guel was such a fucking asshole

in this moment, suletta's like "this is nothing like my fair use expired copyright mangas"

there's no such thing as an ethical capitalist, but sarius definitely didn't like the way delling was running things

prospera was at least a tragic figure, but we never really got to know what the hell made delling the way he is. like is he just some stupid war veteran with ptsd who lost his wife? either way, don't care. he was an asshole for everything he did to miorine and just irredeemable in my eyes lol

funny how suletta talking about her mom is what gets miorine to be a little bit kinder to her in this scene just because of her own mother. yeah prospera was manipulative with suletta and it was her idea for suletta to go to asticassia, so that makes it a little funny that talking about prospera here is really what in the end allows miorine to open up her heart to suletta. sorry, miorine, guess suletta was kind of right huh?

sorry, lauda's just another character that will never be likeable to me either. he's just an asshole on top of being a total moron

so glad guel got his comeuppance

yeah, i wasn't gonna skip the slapping (editing my word-use here because i think saying sp**k got my original post for this episode community labeled... which i know now is not why because it got labeled AGAIN!!! and i still don't get why) but dang look at miorine's reaction to that. i still haven't decided if this is the moment miorine takes romantic interest in suletta for standing up for miorine or at the end of the duel later on this episode when she actually makes good on her promise

get him, suletta lmao

*wild tanuki noises*

bob, you're so fucking stupid. glad he's just stuck listening to secelia and el0n now

really wish we could know more about these two lol like rouji's an anxious little mess around everyone else, but perfectly comfortable with secelia

i was really hoping for another scene of these two in the cockpit together, but miorine would've just died inside calibarn

aerial really is such a cool mobile suit

and there it is. the final scene to shock literally everyone ever on their first watch. it really makes me wish i had started watching live instead of just before the first cours was almost over, i can just imagine ~the discourse~

i started right around when the grassley fight episode had finally been subbed by gjm so around episode 10 real air time i believe? and like yeah, i had kept hearing it be referred to as gundam utena, but i wasn't prepared for this lmao

we didn't get a kiss and we didn't get the wedding on-screen, but i am so so happy these two ended up married in the end and that they're both so obviously in love with each other

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #8

NEW VERSION OF THIS POST HERE, PLEASE READ THIS ONE INSTEAD (OR BOTH):

The Sideburns Scheme Post #8 v2

Original:

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 1, The Arrival, finding out Gabriel is in the bookshop

Sunglasses off! Snake eyes time!

The images are brightened and saturated again.

Are the sideburns even? How long are the sideburns?

Yes, they are even and they are both long. The left one might become thicker, as in more hair, between moving away from the window and in a more centered area of the bookshop first floor.

Good luck finding that out or anything regarding the top hair with how the scene is structured due to the lighting, blurring, and angles. I can't confirm it.

Is the brighter red streak visible?

Oh yes. This scene wants you to know it's there despite the dim lighting of the scene itself. We get close enough views multiple times.

Is the hairstyle different from the present day Crowley scene before it?

Yes, it is quite different actually though we don't see it as much from the top as from the front. The sideburns are longer for a start, but it's also become more collected and tidy. The top front swoops further upward, like it did in earlier scenes, with a little tilt to Crowley's right.

Additional Notes:

There is so much going on with this scene, but I guess I should focus on hair first.

The sideburns are long, and they will always be long when Crowley is with Gabriel or Gabriel and Aziraphale. It's one of the most consistent patterns.

Now, I didn't go over the "Before the Beginning" scene at the start because I'm more interested in the "present day"scenes and not interested enough for the others, well, to make posts about them anyway. However, that scene exists and showed us an angel who eventually becomes Crowley. That character had long sideburns.

So, why does Gabriel's presence make Crowley's sideburns long for the audience to see? None of the other characters react to his sporadic hair changes, sideburn length changes or not, and Crowley himself never shows an awareness it's happening either. But we get to see it. If the Metatron is editing the Book of Life, why is he telling us about Crowley's constant hairstyle changes and care so much given the utter contempt in a single glare at Crowley we see in episode 6? Is he that obsessed? If he's not editing it to that extent, who/what wrote it initially to that extent? If the characters are trapped in a time loop that keeps resetting to create the story we're given, why are the sideburns reacting based on character presence and space but with little acknowledgment of chronology? If memories are being stitched together to create a new story, why don't those memories care about such an obvious inconsistency? Is it a key to direct the memories on what to do? He's not in every scene! Sure, Crowley can change how he looks whenever he wants for whatever reason he wants, but like...is this subconscious? Who, in this fictional world, is trying to tell us what they mean? And you know, what do they mean?

I still don't know, but when I ask seriously in my head "Why Crowley? What's so special about him, besides my own current obsession, but within the context of this story?" The first thing that leaps to mind is the continual hints about his past angel status and most specifically the hint that Crowley was a "first order" archangel. Gabriel is almost always referred to as the "Supreme Archangel," not a "first order" archangel. However, in episode 6, "first order" are the words Gabriel uses when the camera pans to Crowley's face. I don't think "first order" is used any other scene.

So, maybe Crowley was a past first order archangel before his fall and maybe that's going to matter at some point.

Plus, you know, that past angel had long sideburns.

All the "why" rambling aside, I think it also relates to the space Crowley shares with Aziraphale in the given context of this scene. The bookshop is "technically" Aziraphale's bookshop, but Crowley is always welcome in it. However, Gabriel's presence changes the meaning of that space, not for the entirety they are in it throughout the story but enough that the longer sideburns are always on if there is going to be a scene of just Crowley and Gabriel or just Crowley, Aziraphale, and Gabriel. All such scenes take place in the bookshop from start to finish of the season.

Once humans get involved later with the ball, the medium or long sideburns will actually alternate depending on what is happening in the presented story.

I am going to point out as well, the sideburns can and do slightly foreshadow what I've ended up calling qualifying encounters. They are long before Crowley knows Gabriel is there. And they are there, in my assumption, because this is a scene that has Crowley, Gabriel, Aziraphale, and no one else, in the bookshop.

Non-hair things:

This scene is fascinating. Crowley is terrified instantly. We've seen him terrified before but that included trying to stay composed nonetheless when it came to Hastur and Ligur and not being able to really run when Satan was coming. This context is different, and Crowley is caught completely off-guard, also unusual. Aziraphale had been confused and only took a step back when Gabriel asked to come in. Crowley doesn't have that chance, so he has to just instantly back away.

There is zero doubt in Crowley's head that this being is Gabriel with something having happened to him whereas earlier Aziraphale told Gabriel who knew someone who looked a lot like him. I mean, I'm sure Aziraphale was relatively sure himself, but he gave and acknowledged that inkling of doubt, that there could be something else.

Not Crowley though.

And even though Beelzebub later refers to the fly holding all of Gabriel's memories as "all your you", we know bare minimum there are some things in this being that Crowley, and only Crowley, was able to tap into. That "institutional problem" part sounded like a little bit of Gabriel's actual memory to me, no purple eyes needed for it either.

This scene is also doing that weird blocking and blurring thing I'm starting to notice. The characters interact but are blurred at times when supposedly on screen together. A lot of times only one of the characters is on screen, the audience left to assume it's because of distance and focus of who's talking or reacting. This entire scene is Aziraphale, Crowley, and Gabriel yet all three are never on screen at the same time. When Gabriel shows up, the blur switches between him and Crowley, ensuring both are not clear when we see them briefly in the same part of the scene together.

Tag: crowley s2 hair project

Post #1 (meeting with Shax in St. James' Park)

Post #2 (meeting with Shax in the street)

Post #3 (phone call with Aziraphale in the Bentley)

Post #4 (entering the coffee shop)

Post #5 (revisiting park scene for zoom and blur weirdness)

Post #6 (being in the coffee shop)

Post #7 (crossing the street from the coffee shop to the bookshop)

[alderwoodbooks]

alrighty y’all.

I’ve been a bit afraid to write up my final thoughts on Red Rising by Pierce Brown because this book series has a cult following, and I’d love to sit here and tell you I understand why, but I truly can’t. A reminder before I get torn to threads that taste is subjective and I’m not telling you that you can’t enjoy these books! I’m just saying, I very much did not. <3

This book felt like a dumpster fire from start to finish. I posted earlier, when I was less than a quarter through the book with some of my issues with the book (the lack of originality, the insufferable main character, the clunky dialogue and overall just poor writing in general, and the way that all women are portrayed in the book as less than) and unfortunately for me, it did not get better. I read a review from someone else that said this book felt like if an angry 12 year old boy rewrote the hunger games and it made me laugh because I couldn’t agree more. There are so many elements of the story that remind me of other stories and it just makes the whole story fall very flat and feel very unoriginal, and very try hard. Despite the brutality in the story, it very much reads like a bad young adult dystopian novel, and good lord have I read my fair share of those.

One of the biggest issues I had with this book was the extreme misogyny. All of the female characters are constantly treated as less than, they are never seen as strong leaders, and if they are, they are quickly defeated by you guessed it, the strong macho men. The women are seen as prizes to be won in the games of war, the amount of extreme violence against them was astonishing. To me- it didn’t fit within the world of the book. These women are literally genetically modified to be the best humans in the world/universe, and so why are they seen as weaker and smaller and frailer than the men, and then dealing with all of this violence against them? Maybe it was supposed to be a “lord of the flies” type of moment, but if so, it was not written clearly enough, and instead just reads as misogyny coming from pierce brown himself? I’m not sure, but it didn’t feel right, and it was also painful to read. I was told that there was a reason behind it and that it gets explained at the end of the book, and maybe I’m just missing something, but I didn’t catch it, and also, I don’t want to have to sit through an entire book of misogynistic and at times, extremely homophobic (the pixies comments throughout the book feel a little ick to me personally, I dont love it.) bullshit for no real reason.

I’ve read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy this year, in fact, I’ve read almost exclusively sci-fi and fantasy, and Red Rising was probably one of the worst books I’ve read this year, but, it’s so loved by many, and I was encouraged to finish it because “it gets better!” I am still debating on reading the second book because again, I’ve heard it gets better, but I’ve also got three other sci-fi books on my tbr list that I know for a fact are going to be good (the second murderbot diary’s book, the new edition of the bone season which I’m so excited to dive into as soon as I finish my current read, which is the traitor of baru cormorant, which is such a nice pallet cleanser, and then I’ve got two neil shusterman books I want to dive into) and so I’m not so sure I want to devote the time or energy into it.

All in all, I went into this book not expecting much, just knowing that I heard many mixed reviews. I wanted to like the story, I really did, but it felt like a poor rendition of a bunch of other, better written, better executed, dystopian stories, mixed with some white boy misogyny, homophobia and rage. I ended up giving it a 1.5 stars out of 5 and I still feel like that’s being generous.

[decks-and-duelists]

So I’ve been planning for April Fools since December. I made that page back in January, and now I can finally talk about it. So here's a blog post talking about random behind the scenes stuff.

I figured the holiday would be a fun excuse to do a yearly "what if I was adapting a different show", allowing me to play around with making campaign comics for series that I love but don't have any actual plans to fully adapt. This year was Sonic X, mainly because I am currently absolutely obsessed with the Sonic franchise and will gladly take any excuse to talk about it.

I decided to base the page on episode 36, The Threat From Outer Space (Shadow World in the English dub), for three reasons. One, using a scene from the Adventure 2 adaptation would mean even people who haven't watched Sonic X would hopefully have the necessary context. Two, reversing the "attack the moon" scene so that an NPC was threatening to blow up the moon and Yugi was panicking about the tides was like the first thing I thought of when I decided to make a page based on Sonic X. And three, it was the arc I was currently watching at the time.

The page itself was the easiest thing, since it was a single out of context thing whose joke hinged on referencing a scene from the actual comic. But then I had to write the character bios. And because the whole point of this thing was to imagine a hypothetical campaign comic, I couldn't just not come up with descriptions of characters that don't even appear in the comic, referencing past events from episodes I'll never make.

I was originally going to include the NPCs as well, but quickly realized there were too many to write bios for all of them. Even if I just included NPCs that actually feature in the Adventure 2 arc it still would be way too much. Only two NPC bios were actually written before they were abandoned. Mr. Stewart's was "Chris's former homeroom teacher who definitely isn't a government spy" and Cream the Rabbit's was "A child who was originally created just to be rescued in the first session, only for the party to get attached to her".

So that just left the PCs, most of which were yoinked from their regular bios with details swapped out. Tristan is the only one whose class didn't change, because the entire reason he plays a warrior in the first place is that he picked the most generic class. That's actually also why I decided he'd be Chris, because I figured he's the only one who would choose to be a generic human when everyone else is playing furries.

Tozokou and Yugi are the only ones with brand new bios, for completely different reasons. Tozokou just doesn't have a bio to yoink, because I don't want to add him to the character page until Episode 6 is finished. So when creating Knuckles' bio I tried to write it as if it was an edited version of Mokuba's so it'd match the others. Besides the class and character which are swapped for everyone, the main change is replacing avenging his brother with protecting the Master Emerald. Also Knuckles did actually appear as an NPC prior to Tozokou taking him over, as unlike with Mokuba he did have notable appearances before the first episode revolving around him.

Yugi on the other hand does have a bio, but it’s completely useless for Sonic. Both him playing two characters and being bad with names just do not apply to Sonic X. Though I was tempted to try and work in a joke about Nicky from the manga, I ended up instead giving him one based on my sibling/proofreader’s justification for why I should make Sonic a ranger.

Finally there’s the chapter cover. When making the covers, both for this and the actual comic I like to try and test my editing skills by doing more complicated stuff than what I usually do for the pages themselves, usually involving editing together completely unrelated screenshots.

With the NPC bios being cut and him not having any dialogue, I knew I had to feature Shadow the Hedgehog on the cover. He is my precious blorbo and so I was contractually obligated to include him somewhere. And since the moon being blown up is both the main thing that happens in the original episode and the focus of the page, I decided to combine it with a shot of Shadow’s reflection as he looks out of the ARK.

The transition between the two isn’t quite as smooth as previous edits I’ve done, but since this one was made just to appear as a thumbnail in the archive and not a proper update, it works for what I needed.

I don’t really have a conclusion for this, but I guess I’ll see you next year with another extremely normal update™ based on whatever anime I end up watching in December. 

[faneposting-my-beloved]

My issue with Godwoken graphic novel and its execution

I think it's time to make it into a coherent post instead of just letting bits and pieces known in asks or random replies so let's go. Godwoken Graphic Novel was my first contact with the medium. Not great, but it is what it is. Now with several Witcher ones under my belt, it's definitely easier to pinpoint all things done wrongly, misguided, or in a simply disrespectful fashion.

The premise:

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Godwoken - Collector's Edition Dive into this brand new hardback filled with six brand new adventures; telling the origin stories of Rivellon’s godwoken; Ifan, Lohse, Red Prince, Sebille, Fane and Beast.

Rivellon is coming to the world of graphic novels! Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Godwoken is the accumulated history of the six godwoken of Divinity: Original Sin 2. Who were they before their trails with the Divine Order, or before travelling to the Hall of Echoes? Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone has an origin story.

Explore the events leading up to the start of Divinity: Original Sin 2, from the perspective of all 6 Godwoken heroes of our tale.

This 300+ page full-colour graphic novel will take you on a journey through never-before seen areas of Rivellon. Ever wondered what Fane looked like in the flesh? Curious about Red Prince’s life as the crown jewel of the Forgotten City? Journey with Ifan as the Divine’s right-hand man, and explore the lives of Sebille, Beast, and Lohse up to the moment of the ill-fated Kraken attack that starts the epic tale that is Divinity:Original Sin 2.

Let's tackle down the hydra starting with the heads. #1 Inconsistencies Ever wondered what Fane looked like in the flesh? This is what personally prompted me to buy the book in a spirit of hype-fueled urgency, in collector's edition no less, and free my wallet of more or less 300 PLN (or 6 Witcher Ronin novels - 128 pages each). I read the entire thing as a zealous inquisitor would the Bible - rapidly losing steam with each flip of the page. Why? Well... Ifan, a Magister before the existence of Magisters

The Lorebook of D:OS2 states plainly: 1235 AD The Divine Order after Lucian

Under Lucian, the Divine Order grew large, and after his death it grew fractious. Its core function remained – to serve the Divine – but Lucian was no more. Without a leader, the Order began to fracture. Without a Divine, the Order struggled to protect the people of the world from the Voidwoken. The hope brought by Lucian’s hard-won peace was soon replaced with despair amongst the people and tension within the Order. Resolving this conflict is one of the most pressing issues for the Order’s new leader – Alexandar, Lucian’s only surviving son.

That Magisters as a fraction of the Order existed only after Lucian's death. What's more, we know that before this schism happened - Lucian's Order consisted mostly of Paladins - we play as one during the events of Beyond Divinity (1238 AD). So if Ifan served under Lucian well before that time (Chaos War 1233 AD) he'd have to join the Divine as a Paladin - most of which were of noble descent but did not overlook gifted and dedicated recruits of other walks of life. Recruits, as opposed to Magisters, Paladins are said to go through meticulous military training before joining the ranks proper. This notion may or may not be inspired by an older organization - Source Hunters who are known to train in Academies as far as 4 AD. Meanwhile, we see Ifan wear a Magisterial Red-Gold-Silver combo as opposed to Paladin gold and white

Old Paladin design:

(the picture limit might kick my ass in this post but I want to include as many sources as possible) Naturally, this inconsistency extends over every Magister we see in Ifan's chapter. A notable technical inconsistency on pages 5-9 | 13-14 is that Lucian's eyes randomly flicker between normal, human ones and Divine all-white sclera, and his cloak disappears in the panels on page 5 A bard and a....who?

Now, this is not my own complaint, but my boyfriend frequently pointed out that Nick's appearance is quite random and was not mentioned in the game at all. While I can excuse it with Lohse's memory going more or less blank during her 'episodes' and the indication that Nick might not be real at all - I see it could be jarring to introduce a character this important with no covering in the base material. While Loshe's chapter is among the few that get their job done quite well storytelling-wise I will discuss a few instances from here in another segment regarding worldbuilding and pop-culture references. An assassin in the pale moonlight

Not much to add here either, my biggest irk is visual and regards Sebille's hair color that is portrayed as black while the concept arts and key arts show her with brown hair. And maybe that the Needle is, in fact, a dagger and not some intricate lizard war needle was a bit disappointing, and that her tattoos are mixed together on her arm while they should be separate, but in comparison to other inconsistencies, they really are minor. Kudos for getting the D:OS1 goblin designs spot-on. It was a breeze of fresh air to see accurate portrayals. Again, just as with Lohse's chapter, the biggest sin is not in writing per se, but in the graphical portrayal of certain things that I will discuss at length later.

Beast o' the seas

Honestly, besides Isbeil not looking like herself, there's not much negative I can say on Beast's part. And I am RELIEVED to say that. The old sailor deserved that much. His story suffers only from constraints (like all of them, this SHOULD have been a series) Gods bless Beast's chapter.

The Spouse of the Sun

Once more, his part works. Minus the horrorscape/dream snippet - Sadha looks nothing like her in-game model or concept art, plus on page 254 the color of her scales looks green-ish? Sometimes you just can't have everything. Still, a positive overall.

The scholar of a bygone....oh God

I bitched, I bemoaned, I wailed and I cried over the mishandling (mutilation?) of Fane's chapter and the vitriol in me threatens to overflow still, so let's get straight to it.

If Elves in Ifan's chapter could speak in their own language, so should Eternals - Including the differences in Fane's name (Fane is a 'placeholder' he picked in place of his own, and Xantezza is referred to Xantessa in old sources)

Architecture......just.......no. Just for formalities' sake.

The appearance of the Eternals......Gods please, anything but 80s fantasy standards (especially when the concept arts are so detailed)

The King audience should be played off differently (maybe not in front of the WHOLE court (full of randos?? Where's Aetera??) I also expected Harina to be there with him.

CRIMINAL LACK OF AETERA IN FLESH I REPEAT - A CRIMINAL LACK! It's even a more slap-to-the-face that she's included in one of the additional arts at the end of the Collector's Edition

Eternal Guards should not probably wield swords and look like background characters from The Red Prince's chapter.

Dallis should have been playing with her mask - a good opportunity to explain HOW IN THE HELLS DID HE DO IT WITHOUT ETERNALS DYING OFTEN TO GIVE HIM A CORPSE/FACE TO MAIM

Fane's wife is ugly - the only win in this chapter (I know I know, I'm joking no I am not)

Fane's laboratory......point 2 and let's move on.

Eternals had paper (or a substitute) - in the form of scrolls, yes. But not BOOKS to permanently record knowledge - that is what tablets and memory banks were for! PLEASE.

The Seven...Point 3. I beg of you.

The concept of food as shown in the secret meeting panels is quite questionable. We know Eternals feed on Source (Source Vampirism is their racial skill) and that their digestive systems seem to be 100% efficient (hence why Fane is appalled by the concept of advanced digestion later on) so ????

Why are the Guards tying him with a linen rope like it's a bondage session?

The tombs that look...nothing like the tombs we see in the game! Neato!

Oh, so now Fane can distinctly speak Eternal and not be understood...? Okay...Okay?

Fane in-game > abhors violence, feels bad about purging that other guy dead. Fane in the novel> Hello, would you like to talk to the handaxe I pulled out of nowhere? Also being the brilliant wizard that I am?

If a knife and a face were all that Fane needed to make his mask, his bitching in Fort Joy would never have happened.

His elven face looks nothing like the one in the game (it does in my copy of the book, I sharpied it)

And now, the absolute cherry on top... Let's point something out. In Ifan's chapter - Ifan's wolf is shown. In Lohse's chapter - Lohse's Maddening Song is shown. In Sebille's- break the shackles. In Beast's and TRP - both demonic stare and tempest are used. So please do tell me, why in cold hell is Fane's MOST unique ability of them all NOT SHOWN AT ALL. We still don't know HOW he mastered time manipulation! Why! Nothing!

#2 Worldbuilding and pop-culture references

A graphic novel is a finely controllable medium - unlike a videogame, the consumer has generally only one way of interacting with it - reading. Now, every panel should move the story further but while this is the core function of a comic what happens in the background has an equally important role - building a wider picture. The buildings, peoples, and things happening in the background can be just as informative as the foreground. The question is: do we want to fill a section with informative details or cram in as much junk as possible? Godwoken novel's approach is very lax in regard to worldbuilding, up to a point where relatively important information gets replaced by a joke. By no means should there be no humor in graphic novel layouts, but there are more or less apt places to do it.

Let's look at this particular scene from Sebille's chapter - it's quite a powerful moment in the whole scope of her character. I'd like to note that Mindaran is the elf she was made to kill within the pages of the novel - a list of her victims was kept on her right arm and the names on the left - were the ones killed for revenge. But, well, maybe it was an issue with running out of pages and was done for brevity's sake. Let's let it rest. What, in my opinion truly detracts value from this scene is all the funky 'reference' names written on her arm. Rubus is the nickname of the artist - less known and quite within reason (and within bonds of the history of artists' signatures). Boromir and Drizzt however share none of those excuses. It feels somehow disrespectful, especially in the context of Sebille's tattoos to put random pop-culture names in there. Was she the one to kill Boromir? Really? On a more serious note, this wouldn't be too bad if we had other, unbiased source about Sebille's victims - but it just so happens that we do not and somewhat important information (to us - lore enthusiasts, and to Sebille herself) gets buried for the sake of a quip. There were definitely better places to make these references than Sebille's skin. Same with Lohse's chapter and the reference to the Hobbit. I love Hobbit as the next child raised on Tolkien's stories (it's even a school lecture where I come from - the only fantasy book on our reading list) But I'd much rather see a reference to older Divinity, rather than a completely foreign universe. Zandalor's character is a walking reference to Gandalf! Why not use him here with Arhu as Bilbo.

I haven't seen anything similarly tactless in Witcher novels, and they were filled with references to the brim! (Several ones made me pause and re-evaluate the context to get them, but it was amazing to have that 'eureka!' moment)

And this pretty much wraps up my feelings about the novel. A lot of goodwill executed terribly poorly and with, well, I'd like to say profit in mind, but that would warrant a series and not one-shot book, so maybe with a riding-the-wave tendency instead? The book did come out whole 3 years after the game too, so there was more than enough time to reconsider the direction, but seemingly not enough time for quality control. (As a side note, my book was bought in 2021 and it's already falling apart - the hardcover really wants to go its own way after sporadic, careful use). I think by then Larian already was in the BG3 deal, and if they really wanted (just like Witcher devs) they could find a studio to handle comic distribution for them and get the Divinity fans something to latch on to during Baldur's development. Not to mention it would be a great solution to filling or straightening up the plot holes and bridging the gap between old and new lore. Alas, it is what it is. Pity.

[teecupangel]

Hytham! I meant Hytham! Hytham the Alamut assassin. Dear god's, not Haytham the Kenway Templar *facepalms*

The other ask that has the Haytham/Hytham mistake (I edited the Haythams XD):

I am only 18% in and already I bemoan shortage of Hytham scenes. I did not realize he was a flirt. So basically: Hytham gets to share Basim's fate in sharing his head with someone. That someone is Desmond. Hytham gets his own live - in instructor to bemoan shared parent-issues with. Desmond gets another messed up parental figure and a sibling to boot. It's a catastrophe all around

It's alright, I've seen official Assassin's Creed account posting promotion for the new book using 'Haytham' instead of 'Hytham'. XD

Yeah, only one 'set' of memories for Hytham. That's never gonna be enough for us.

Really? I felt like he sounded kinda flirty during his scene about the leap of fate. If I remember, he winks at Eivor before he takes a leap of faith.

Anyywwaayyy...

So we're going for the idea that Desmond's consciousness is placed inside Hytham.

For this to work, I think our best bet is for Hytham to touch a POE of unknown origin during one of his missions with Basim (before they join Sigurd when he returns home).

=========== Accidental Short Fic ===========

The POE crumbled to dust after Hytham touched it and Basim was worried, of course, because his memories of Loki don't remember what POE that was. It definitely looked like the Eye that Minerva created though but that's not possible, as far as Loki's memories were concerned, this wasn't where Minerva's Eye had been.

So we'll have a sweet mentor-acolyte/father-son moment between them of Basim worrying for Hytham's health and Hytham saying that nothing is wrong.

Hytham wasn't lying. There was a brief moment of intense heat on his right hand that made him feel like he was going to burst into flames from the inside but it was gone before he could even scream.

He just felt... tired.

That night, Hytham dreamed of a man telling him to get up.

Get up.

Do it again.

And this time.

Do it correctly.

Get up.

Des-

"Hytham."

Hytham wakes up to Basim shaking his shoulder, telling him he sounded like he was having a nightmare.

"Hytham... you're crying..."

And Hytham touches his cheek only to find it wet with tear tracks.

He doesn't remember crying at all.

The dreams continue.

Every night, he would dream of being told to be better, to be faster, quieter, smarter...

And Hytham tries.

He tries every night.

And, every morning, he would see Basim and feel comforted by the fact that his mentor was kinder than the man in his dreams.

It wasn't long before they join Sigurd to return home. Hytham didn't understand why Basim would be so willing to part one of their hidden blades to those who didn't even understand their Creed but he does not raise his voice.

That will only make him scold Hytham.

No.

That's not right.

Basim wasn't that kind of mentor.

It was... becoming too much.

Those nightly dreams have become too much.

Places he cannot fathom. Words he cannot understand.

He had found relief when he left that man's prison but the world he saw was... too foreign.

And now he had been captured, forced into this-

No.

That wasn't Hytham. That was his dream.

It wasn't him.

So when he jumped to assassinate their target, his body had moved on its own.

Before he understood what was happening, he already in midair, ready to strike.

For a brief moment, his target changed into one wearing the armor similar to those who worship the cross. That brief moment froze him.

And he was thrown away and his back hit a box. That flash of pain forced him to gasp. He felt his ribs break.

Then that intense burning pain once more.

For a moment, Hytham blacks out.

That was when he heard it...

"Holy shit... where am I?"

=========== Ending Rambling ===========

I feel like for us to get some sweet Basim-Hytham father-son bonding going on, Desmond needs to appear after Hytham and Basim's father-son/mentor-acolyte relationship has stabilized for maximum angst.

In this situation, Desmond would be less like Basim/Loki which, as far as we know, is more of an Aita/John situation where Basim has fully assimilated with Loki's memories and feelings.

So either we use that same premise with Hytham and Desmond or...

We go for Eivor/Odin kind of setup with a twist.

Since Hytham isn't truly a Sage, the POE connected Desmond's consciousness to him but it was an incomplete 'assimilation' (we can say that Minerva's Eye copied Desmond's data and tried to save it but it didn't have a body so it stayed dormant in the Eye until Hytham touches it). They can't fully assimilate and that leaves Desmond in a more 'ghost'-like state where he appears to Hytham and Hytham alone as some kind of slightly glowing wispy being.

Hytham thinks he's a ghost or a djinn that had been trapped in the POE.

Desmond tries to explain that he isn't and that's how they noticed that Hytham understands words he shouldn't.

He knew what an Animus was.

He knew what Isus were.

Hytham has Desmond's memories inside him.

And his mind created Desmond's personality as a separate ghost-like entity to keep his own personality from being overridden.

And this is where things get more complicated.

Because Hytham thinks of Basim as a father.

And Desmond thinks of him as a father as well thanks to Hytham's feelings and memories.

But...

At the same time...

They both remember that uneasy feeling Desmond always gets whenever he was in Juno or Minerva's presence.

And they can both feel that whenever they were with Basim.

Not only that...

They could feel it starting up with Sigurd, growing and growing more unsettling the more he becomes 'unhinged'.

And even Eivor...

There's a hint of that uneasiness with them.

On happier notes:

Hytham doesn't just get Desmond, he also gets sudden visits from Desmond's ancestors because Desmond's bleed is still doing its thing (he's most comfortable with Altaïr, Connor makes him a bit uncomfortable because he's always a bit too quiet)

Desmond refuses to call him Hytham (because, reasons) and he's trying to find another name to call him other than 'akhi'. The most used one is 'Hyhy' (hey-hey) and Hytham doesn't appreciate that

Desmond is a bad influence in the sense that Hytham starts recruiting early on and they did it from Basim (Basim notices but finds it amusing so he says nothing)

Desmond likes to blame his bleed of Ezio for that one but Hytham blames Desmond

Kids love Hytham because he teaches them how to make paper animals (Desmond is actually instructing Hytham the entire time and Hytham doesn't say anything because he has memories of Desmond making them as a way to entertain himself whenever he was alone)

[superblycaffeinated]

For more Nebraska, Ace, Bombshell and Wise Guy stories (and other Gallagher Girl fics), see my GG Masterlist

summary: The one where Matthew Morgan and Rachel Cameron share a turning point moment in their relationship (aka, Rachel makes really bad coffee and steals Matt's shirt)

2.5k words

A/N: This is still one of my most favorite things I've ever written - was originally posted on my old account // it has been edited slightly since my original writing - I appreciate any new notes left for it! 💙

Is That My Shirt?

Rachel Cameron / Matthew Morgan

The thing is, they’re all tired. 

Maybe that’s why he’s met his end with the virtue of patience. Maybe that’s why if Rachel blows a bubble of her gum one more time, snapping it loudly, he’ll shove his head in between the couch cushions. Maybe that’s why he flicked Joe in the temple when he ate the can of baked beans without asking if he wanted any. Maybe that’s why he accused Abby of cheating at cards or why he said what he said about Rachel’s coffee. Maybe it’s because the four of them haven’t been alone together, in this small of a space in a long time. 

They just don't do missions like this together anymore. Sure, he goes on almost all of them with Joe. Him and Abby still pair up occasionally. Him and the girls together - less frequently, but still. Hell, even him, Abby, and Joe have been on a few together. 

But rarely all four of them anymore, and on top of that, it did not end the way it was supposed to. It did not go the way these sorts of things are supposed to go. Joe’s got a cut to his temple, Abby a dislocated shoulder, Matt’s got bruised ribs, and Rachel has a cut down her side that could have been a lot worse if he hadn’t been there ( even though his being there resulted in the aforementioned bruised ribs). The point is though, that they’re tired - broken in the physical and emotional sense and he notices the hatred they’re all starting to feel for one another. 

Matt can’t handle being in the same room as Abby and Rachel at the same time anymore. Between Abby’s lips that are either constantly sucking on a tootsie pop, talking a mile a minute and Rachel’s eyes that seem to pierce straight through his heart. Then suddenly they’re fighting about something, turning to him and asking him to choose a side. He’s left to flounder like a fish that’s been out of water for too long. They look at him with those eyes and say his name with those lips and he’s desperate for air and to leave the situation he somehow keeps finding himself in. He’s just always sitting between the two of them, both exits blocked - a metaphorical dock that the only way out is to flop around hope for the best. 

And if it’s not them, it’s Joe and Abby looking at each other over their mugs or their books or whatever it is they’re pretending to be interested in instead of each other. 

But if Joe isn’t preoccupied with making eyes at Abby, his mouth is working at Rachel. The two can’t last five minutes, nope, at this point, five seconds without a snide remark meant to sting directed at each other. It’s eye rolls and glares that could freeze hell over. It’s deep sighs that say a whole lot when nothing is actually being spoken between the pair. And like clockwork, Matt’s just left in the middle, both of them turning to him in search of validation, and he’s left gasping for air, falling for the bait yet again. 

They may be the three people he cares most about in this world, but my god, he’s really tired of looking at their faces and hearing their voices. He’d gladly take the 4am wake up calls and milk cows for the rest of his life if it meant he could get out of that shack finally. 

It has to be how tired he is, that’s making him so heartless, that’s making his straws disappear until he’s left with his last one to lose. But maybe he wouldn’t be so damn tired if Rachel would just let Joe make the coffee. 

Which is exactly what started the argument. She insists on making it when Joe is sitting right there and could make it ten times better. He doesn’t know how it happened, but somehow they all agreed to let her keep making it and it has been days of it and today was it, he’d had it - the last straw. Joe had the beautiful can of coffee in his hands and she took it, declaring she’d make it instead. 

Which is when the comment slipped out. Something along the lines of “...so stubborn. Lord forbid we all have a decent cup of coffee for the first time in two weeks.”

Rachel had clutched the coffee pot in her hand with a grip that made his palms sweat. Abby had run for cover into the bedroom and Joe had muttered something about showering. 

She set the pot down and crossed her arms and Matt can only think about how he wished he’d had a chance to taste his mama’s potatoes one last time before Rachel Cameron kills him. 

“You don’t like my coffee Morgan?”

He absolutely does not.

“I don’t not like your coffee…Joe just makes-”

“Well, if my coffee is so bad, why have you been drinking it for two weeks?”

He asks himself this every day, but she doesn’t think she’d actually like an answer as she keeps drilling into him.

“Why haven’t you asked your precious Joe to make your coffee for you, huh? What? Afraid to hurt my feelings? I’m a girl, right, so you can’t-”

“Now, hold on a minute,” he interrupts her, leaning over the counter. Face and voice heated as he continues, “I was afraid to hurt your feelings, but not because you’re a girl, because you’re my friend.”

Her mouth shuts, their faces close together and he takes advantage of her silence to keep going, “Have I asked Joe to make coffee? Yes, yes I have. He has refused because he also cares about your feelings, but more likely he likes being alive. But Rachel, and I say this with all the love in my heart, you have to let him make it because you make the most awful coffee I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”

As the words tumble out of him, he instantly regrets them. Matt realizes then that there’s this uncanny resemblance in the look Rachel’s giving him with a bull that’s charged him on the farm, but he really doesn’t think now’s a good time to mention that. 

Other than those eyes, nothing gives away what she’s thinking or what she’s feeling. Rachel just clears her throat and takes a step away from the counter and yells, much too loud, “Joe! Get out here!”

The tiny one bedroom safe house shakes and moans. Matt knows that logically, it’s from the wind and not her voice, but he can’t help but think that Rachel Cameron could move mountains and crack the earth open with her bare hands if she wanted to. 

Joe stands in the kitchen entrance, face devoid of an expression but Matt knows he’s equally annoyed and terrified as he cocks his head and says, “You hollered?”

Rachel levels him with a stare that would make even Han Solo cower, he’s sure of it, but Joe stands tall and folds his arms, matching her equally. 

“Can you show me how you make your coffee?”

Matt wants to warn him - tell him it has to be a trap, but he’s far more desperate for even a chance at his coffee and at this point he’s willing to let Joe risk his life for it. Especially when Joe hesitates briefly, but steps into the kitchen and grabs the can. He is practically drooling as he listens and watches Joe go through his steps. He barely registers that Rachel is watching carefully, studying, like it’s just another test she has to pass, another thing for her to become the best at. She watches the way Joe scoops the coffee, pressing a curl behind her ear, but never removing her eyes from his hands like it’s something she will need to study, practice, and remember for years to come like a skill for a mission. 

Matt doesn’t see the look on her face when Joe pours a mug, sliding it across the counter and he swallows it down in the three gulps, not caring in the slightest that it’s burning him. He slides the empty mug  back over for more instantly, he could cry it tastes so good. 

When Abby peeks around the corner and Joe hands her a mug, the three of them devouring it, Rachel stands there stunned. That’s when he notices the sadness flash across her eyes - like they’ve all been lying to her. 

Rachel turns and leaves the room quickly and Abby starts to follow. Matt shakes his head, setting the mug down regretfully, patting her shoulder. “I got his one. It’s my fault.”

Rachel Cameron is many things. She’s smart. She’s patient. She’s tenacious. She’s a leader - and a damn good one at that. She’s kind and loyal and one of the best friend’s a person could have. Sure she can be abrasive and blunt, but she’s always right even when you don’t want to admit it. But for the first time in two weeks, for the first time in perhaps all their years together, Matt notices a lot more about her than he has before. He feels like he’s failed Joe, his number one lesson, but if he’s being honest with himself, he’s failed Rachel. 

It’s only a few seconds, a knock of his knuckles on the door and her head turning to look over her shoulder before ducking back down, but that’s when he takes it all in. 

Rachel is tired. He can see it in the way her eyes don’t shine as much, creases underneath and the color just a little dim. Rachel is scared. He can see it in one of her fingers, where the skin is picked raw around her nail. Rachel is sad. He can see it in the damp skin in the corners of her eyes and the way her nostrils flare, like she’s trying not to sniffle. But more importantly, he notices Rachel completely. He notices the air that’s always around her, has shifted without him realizing. It’s thick with worry and sadness, so much of it that he can’t believe he didn’t feel it sooner. And then, there’s the most curious thing he failed to notice - the shirt Rachel is wearing, the shirt she has been wearing since yesterday morning, meaning either she slept in it or put it back, but either way , is not her own. It hangs loosely off of her shoulders, swallowing her - it’s a man’s shirt. It’s black and faded and he sees the tiny rip at the collar.

“Is that my shirt?”

Rachel doesn’t lift her head again, she just continues to unpack and repack her bag, double checking she has everything. 

“Don’t you have coffee to drink, Nebraska?”

She shifts, and he sees just enough of the light saber to know for sure. 

Rachel Cameron is wearing his shirt. Rachel Cameron is wearing his favorite and most lucky shirt. And Matthew Morgan’s head feels like it’s not quite attached to his shoulders anymore from the sight of her in it. Or maybe his head is swimming because he’s impressed she swiped it from his bag and has been wearing it for who knows how long without him noticing. 

She turns to face him fully, arms crossing over Luke’s face as she raises her eyebrows. “What? Most delicious cup of coffee got your tongue?”

Rachel Cameron looks good in his lucky t-shirt. Matt’s head feels fuzzy, his tongue feels too big for his mouth, his chest is tight and his heart starts pounding when his brain, against his will, starts to imagine her in just his shirt, those blue jeans she has on are long gone and-

Heat blooms underneath his cheeks and he looks down, clearing his throat. “He really does make delicious coffee, Rachel. It wasn’t anything against you, honest.”

Her bare feet cross over each other as she clears her throat too, gazing at the same spot on the floor. “Well, I’ll try to do better next time if coffee is that important to you Matthew.”

He looks up at the use of his name and those damn eyes don’t just pierce him, they rip at him, devouring every thought and feeling he’s ever had and he doesn’t even try to fight them off. Rachel’s lips twist up slightly as he gestures to the shirt, his cheeks definitely pink and growing darker. “It…it looks good on you. By the way.”

Her lips stop fighting the twist, revealing the rare and wonderful Rachel Cameron smile, if only for a second, before returning to her classic smirk. The one that tells you she knows more than you do. The one that pulls you in just to tease you. The one that makes you want to take those lips that are smirking and just press yours to them in a deep, and passionate-

“What, this old thing?” She fingers at the hem, looking down and then back up at him, blinking innocently. 

“You know that’s my lucky shirt, don’t knock it. Why’d you steal it, anyways?” He takes a step towards her. 

Rachel takes her own step towards him, the air around her, around them, changing again. It’s like that perfect moment between the sunset and dusk in the summer. The sun is just at the horizon line and everything is a little heavy and lazy, everything moves a little slower, basking in the last moments of golden and warm light. It’s perfect and fleeting and most people let it pass every day without truly noticing it, but that’s what makes it even better when you finally do. 

Matt watches her gaze bounce over his face, he listens and watches the deep breath she takes, he can feel the words leaving her lips, practically tasting them as they float through the air on a whispered breath. 

“Well maybe I was hoping to get lucky.”

Without realizing, they had taken another step closer, their bodies almost touching. His fingers gently pull at the hem, rubbing the fabric between his thumb and forefinger. She tilts her head up to look at him. He’s not sure what’s happening, but he’s not mad about it in the slightest. 

Matt swallows, stealing a breath when Abby shouts, “Hey! We got news from Langley!”

The sweet moment pops like the bubbles Rachel blows with her gum. It’s night now, the lazy summer sun dipped below the horizon, the moment over, the world a little cold again. They each blink at each other, his fingers drop and they both take a step away. 

He follows her out of the room, watching her walk away from him until she steals a glance over her shoulder as she rounds the corner.

Maybe he’s just tired, and that’s why he thinks Rachel Cameron looks damn good in his Star Wars shirt.

But, the thing is, he’s had three cups of Joe’s coffee now and he doesn't feel all that tired anymore.