#AND THANK YOU FOR RAMBLING ABOUT BOOKS :)

[somnimagus]

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

[lightsauce9999]

There's a lot of valid reasons to like TMA but I'm kinda surprised at how little the horror aspect is brought up.

I started listening because someone told me it was sad and horrible and I jumped at that alone. I love horror, I love tragedy. I didn't even think about shipping until season 3 when Jmart first occurred to me. I love listening to those terrible statements because that's some good quality horror.

Just. Where's the love for the horror aspect? I have so much for it. Just. AAAAHHHHH

And Jonny Sims as a horror author doesn't uses the commonly used tropes that I can't stand and safe horror is such a wonder. I can get my grubby little hands on something he wrote with zero research and I know it will be good and won't cross any lines.

Anyway this is a Jonny Sims and his horror writing appreciation post.

[rotomicity]

TGCF art from 2021 which were very experimental and very much something out of my comfort zone but am still so satisfied with

(gonna ramble more under the cut 👉 )

My main inspiration for these were definitely classic storybook illustration styles and the watercolor-like illustrations included inside the tgcf books which depict hualian's daily slice of life routines as seen below

I wanted to capture that feeling of warmth i got from reading but i also went with the storybook look because their relationship (and by extension broad strokes of the entire plot) really did feel like something out of actual myth or legend; i'm chinese indonesian and was raised surrounded by chinese culture + values so tgcf felt VERY familiar to me, it threw me back to my childhood reading or listening to tales about chinese deities, i'd say the storybook image definitely came into my mind pretty quickly bc of this

I find this style somewhat hard to replicate now but if i could or have the time to, i really want to continue the 'companion pieces to chapter titles ' concept i did with the last 2 pieces (which are of the same chapter title but i was just indecisive 😭😭), i even had 3 more planned based on my favorite titles before burning out back then

[lazylittledragon]

I just have to say that I am in LOVE with the narrative voice in the excerpts you shared! It's so articulate but also so easy to read and so ENJOYABLE to read, I love the personal way of writing that the protagonist has and your flow and structure are SUPER pleasing.

I know you didn't share much but from what you did share, your writing reads to me like you've read a lot of books and a lot of GOOD books and have turned that inspo into a writing style that's completely your own. So you shouldn't feel ashamed to share more of it because it deserves to be read!

this is genuinely one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about anything i’ve made thank you so much

[turquoisemagpie]

Appreciate the little things.

Not to ignorantly deny all of the big bad things in the world, but to survive them.

[dan-whoell]

tell me more about love being more important than reality please

(this isn't going to be coherent at all and for that I am so sorry. let's blame it on it being 1 am almost 2 am and not on me generally being incoherent)

the thing is, right, they never technically 'hard launched'. even though they've confirmed and flaunted their relationship a thousand times in a thousand different ways, and every video feels more and more like we're intruding on a private moment, they've never outright said it without some semblance of plausible deniability/ a joke ("husbands, business partners, [...] soul mates, just mates, who the fuck knows") Like that is reality. It's why we have the joke about their ability to toe the line so closely but somehow never actually cross it.

But then you have "Six months of being an uncle" and "You must be be so proud" and it's like... sure the reality is they never confirmed their relationship (and one could argue those captions are the Hard Launch) but that's not as important as showing Dan the love they have for him, publicly supporting him and claiming him as part of their family. Like 'who cares what you have or haven't said about your attachment to him, what matters is WE love you and it's even more important that you KNOW we love you like a brother.'

and of course this is just approaching it from a familial kind of love coming from the Lesters, a romantic perspective from Phil himself is another ballpark entirely. But that boils down to 'logistically there are easier ways to live but the love we have is more important so we will stubbornly continue this way until it all works out the way we want it to' (and then it did. against all odds, it did.)

[burrythebusy]

Kagi is planning out a fancy all day long date with Hirano with multiple stops: where do they go and what do they do??? 🤔 (he's a rich and famous basketball player so unlimited budget here)

Holy cow i love you anon okay let's get going.

FIRSTLY, three words: Hot. Air. Balloon.

"Who tf uses hot air balloons anymore" they do. Because hot air balloons are fun and cool <- never been in one in my life.

But okay think about it. And by that I mean think about Dr. Stone. If you've seen it. If you haven't im gonna put it into perspective for you. Hot air balloons aren't actually that complicated (and with today's tech they are definitely safer than, say, the stone world) and people have FESTIVALS of these things. With some knowledge of weather patterns and physics and good attention hell yeah whats wrong with a hot air balloon ride. And we know Kagiura has the means to find one even if its not common. And I REALLY dont know how common they are in japan but again. Who cares.

Hirano is a pilot, so he can get a run down and know what to do plus it allows him a little more direct, simpler control. And yeah he sees the sky all the time... but being in the air with nothing between you and it, is different than flying at hundreds of kilometers an hour with you and a large hunk of steel and glass between you and the open air. A hot air balloon ride just before dawn would actually be like. Amazing. And they'd watch the sunrise together as they see it before the world below them (mostly). How cute would that be.

So let's say this is early spring ish? For the sake of sunrise/sunset times. So first on the itinerary

5h00: Hot Air Balloon ride

Not to mention their respective careers definitely make them get up early so yeah they'll live.

Anyway next. Its 100% breakfast time. Lets say the ride took about an hour so now its 6 AM and there's like no places open because dawg (there are places open but where's the fun in that) Kagiura takes them to a fairly (very) expensive hotel that he had booked from the night before (but hes gonna check out before they leave) anyway it has a kitchen and you BEST believe that Kagiura spent 10 years trying to perfect this ONE recipe for breakfast (you can decide what it is) and he makes it for hirano bc NO princess youre not lifting a finger today (he already has) (hirano would rather die than sit there and not help so it becomes them cooking together and will it end in disaster? 50/50 but it doesnt matter bc its FUN) they eat. Yay.

6h15: Breakfast

15 minutes just in case. But it takes them about an hour and a half to finish cooking and eating. So now its almost 8am what are we doing next. Kagiura has something specifically planned for the following times: 11am, 2pm, 7pm, and 10pm, in various locations, but he and Niibashi expertly made sure that each of these places were lined up so that they could make their way there throughout the day. So Hirano gets to choose what to do until 11. Hirano has some things he wants to buy and we all know he likes dressing kagiura up so suddenly hes like okay umm im gonna choose your outfit for the rest of the day. Okay hirano??

They do all this damn shopping and buy each other NUMEROUS outfits to wear and change into as the day goes on. They change and make their way to the 11am scheduled event which is a picnic that they spend doing a crosswords in a crossword book they got from a shop like nerds (its rlly hirano tho but trust he's enjoying it) picnic prepared by yours truly with the help of the one and only Niibashi Juuya and the most expertly crafted picnic basket you can find on the market. Where'd he get it from? ("I wouldnt worry about it," Kagi says. Hirano decides to listen).

11h00: Picnic. Thank god the weather is holding up amiright.

They dont rush when theyre done with eating at around noon, 12:30 perhaps. They kinda just lay around and talk. They could honestly do that until 2 but Kagiura 100% loses consciousness and wakes up in a sweat like where am I but dont worry kagiura Hirano is STILL here with about 1% less storage due to his camera roll. Its 13:30 where are we off to next sweetums. Let's go learn something.

They end up at a museum. Multiple museums. Not because kagiura planned for that but he did plan for one which was an aviation museum but Hirano went through that shit like that duck Adam in that one video and they have time until their 19h apppointment so they end up at an art museum not too far from it. Then theres another aviation museum with space stuff this time. And is that a mothherfucking planetarium. Someone's geeking out. Hirano buys Kagiura Hella garbage from the gift shops like key chains and bracelets and "they said its a space rock its not but we can pretend also its the color of your eyes" but kagiura takes it with a smile and promises to eat it later (hirano doesnt question it) (kagi loves getting gifts from Hirano sooo bad) and they have a lot of fun talking about things and watching informational videos and kagiura loves seeing hirano talk about some of what he already knows and learn some of what he doesnt. And he doesnt know how much he'll retain but the smile he's receiving he will for sure rememeber forever.

14h00: Aviation museum (and two others and planetarium)

They take a walk because the restaurant they have a reservation for is nearby and its only around 18h25 so why not. Sun set a while ago so its this beautiful dusky color. They walk across a bridge and admire the reflection of the water. They look up and see a couple of distrails and the light of planes. "Is that the ISS," Kagi asks. "No," Hirano laughs. "Have you ever wanted to go to space?" Kagi asks. "Not really," Hirano says. "I've got all I've ever wanted below the exosphere." SIGHHHHH

19h00: Dinner

It doesnt really NEED to be expensive but it kinda is because not expensive for them is kinda elevated at this point so its NICE. And they quickly change again in the car before they get into the restaurant and they just talk about the things they talk about. Schedules and plans and stuff that happened a few days ago that I forgot to tell you about and "when the hell did you plan all this" and Kagiura giggles and says not telling. The food is filling and delicious but they dont get desert because Kagiura says we will worry about that later.

A rational part of me is like... no way kagiura has a license. I think hirano does though and Kagiura is not above being Hirano's passenger princess so he blindly gives him directions and yeah they make SEVERAL wrong turns but this is why there's still an hour and a half to get there and honestly being on time isnt necessarily important dont worry about it. They're in the country now, its nice and quiet though there are still people walking about and doing whatever. Hirano is like how late can we be exactly and Kagiura is like however late we wanna be tbh. So they go to a small bar because Hirano likes his alcohol As We Know. They Talk as always except this is also hirano and kagiura so there's no limit on what they talk about. I think they sit there and talk for a long ass while really.

So its definitely well past ten PM at this point and they are no longer sober but they dont even have to drive to their last destination which is actually just a small inn on a small hill that Hirano did NOT have fun walking to but he'll live. And the reason for this very specific location and idea is because of its view once you get there. You look up and there's not a single thing obscuring the sky... except some clouds.

Holy shit.

Hirano laughs his ass off BTW.

22h00 (planned): inn and its view which, not much of a view rn

They end up staying up VERYYYY late until the clouds mostly clear up, its like 4AM at this point, but they can see everything. And since its cool out and dark they can REALLY see everything. So technically the date lasted almost 24 hours. So Kagiura is like, "Do we get a world record for the world's longest date?" Hirano pinches he cheek. "Pft. Not even close." But it was probably one of the busier days hes had even with flights, because hes only ever doing one thing on them. And yet it was also the most relaxing and the most fun and thrilling at the same time. It really is all hes ever wanted jam packed into one day (to be with him more than anyone in the world).

So considering the tired yet incredibly bright grin he gets from Hirano at about 5AM, when it looks like the sun is beginning to rise again, Kagiura can consider the date an astounding success.

And then they both pass out inside the end.

(Uhhh what nooo i didnt write a fic what are you talking about)

[kanerallels]

Man remember how I was supposed to post about how I was doing on my book series more often? Good times

Anyways I'm gonna be done with this draft of book 2 by the end of the month!

[loopyarts]

Batman #350 Nightmare In Crimson Bronze Age pre crisis released in August 10th 1982 writers Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz artists Gene Colan and Tony de Zuniga letterer Ben Oda Colourist Adrienne Roy editor Dick Giordano.

Aw this panel is so sweet, I love it when Bruce refers to Dick as his son. Also with context this panel is quite grim and Bruce has every right to be concerned by how Dick is acting.

Note: Yes, I am aware that the word son is also a more old fashioned American English slang a term used usually by older men or usually by older men with authority/wisdom/seniority. Which is either used to refer to a young boy or man who is a stranger.

Or used as a casual gesture of endearment to the young boy or man and can also be used to refer the younger boy/man as a usually affectionate way to say close/good friend by an older man depending on the context it could also be familial in tone as well.

However it can also be used by an older man to demean/belittle or act superior to the young boy or man. So yeah so many meanings to one singular word of slang.

But hey this is Gerry’s Batman run which he had established Dick seeing Bruce as like a second father to him check Batman #339 for that context.

So, I see it having a double meaning to it because well Dick isn’t a stranger Bruce so that context wouldn’t make sense. So it must be the endearment kind which is just so sweet of Bruce, it also has some familial vibes to it as well due to how he worries for Dick’s well-being. To an outsider Robin is the close young friend to Batman but between Bruce and Dick they’re both father/son and close friends.

Also, I can see in Dick’s mind being quite happy when Bruce calls him his son in a way not that he’ll say it out loud. Also, while we know Dick see Bruce as like another father to him. Bruce however is a bit more vague on it but let’s be honest he acts like such a dad to Dick especially in Gerry’s Batman run.

God, I want to bash these two heads in for that. They’re truly in a way father/son in all but blood when comes to being so trash at communicating their feelings to others. Either way it just means they’re just very close in their case practically family.

Anyway, the comic book story this panel is from is really fun read and the art is really great as well with beautiful moody lighting, shading and atmosphere to it. So if you like Batman with some classic movie horror vibes to it, then I say give it a read if you can. I mean it’s got vampires in it what’s not to love lol.

The story starts from detective comics #515 detective comics #516 Batman comics #349 Batman comics #350 detective comics #517 Batman comics #351 and lastly comes to it conclusion at detective comic #518. :3c

[beigetiger]

I would adore a post about how Skulduggery treated Valkyrie in phase 1, your stuff is so fun to read

HEHEHEHEH IVE BEEN ENABLED

There is so much stuff to unpack in phase 1 it’s kind of ridiculous, but I’m going to talk about literally whatever comes to mind because this would be SO fun to talk about.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of their super early dynamic is that Skulduggery really neglects Valkyrie’s physical needs as a living human. In book 2, Valkyrie mentions how she hardly ever gets the opportunity to eat or sleep because she spends so much time doing things, but brushes it off as just another sacrifice it takes to be with him. This was one of the first things I noticed while also reading this book. Skulduggery doesn’t need to eat or sleep, and Valkyrie doesn’t want him to leave her behind and so just…doesn’t tell him that she actually needs something, and he’s too caught up doing his own thing and viewing her as a fully responsible adult to note that she’s not getting the basic necessities for a teenager. He does eventually get better in this way of course, doing things like adjusting parts of his house so Valkyrie can eat and sleep without the back and forth of going home.

There is also, of course, the repeated endangerment. Phase 1 Valkyrie never holds it against him of course (even phase 2 Val barely mentions it), but he definitely has no problem bringing her into situations where she’s likely to be killed, including situations that are kind of unnecessary (like him telling her to drive a truck when she’s thirteen on account of the fact that it would be funny). I think a big moment of reflection for him was in The Faceless Ones where Valkyrie’s tooth gets broken and it’s a really traumatic experience for her, but she holds a brave face for Skulduggery and only breaks down crying when Kenspeckle expresses worry over her. The book kind of brushed over his reaction to it, but I really think he realized in that moment that he was actually hurting Valkyrie with the standards he was enforcing on her. This point is honestly pretty straightforward, but it’s also pretty relevant to their phase 1 dynamic and so I wanted to mention it. Pretty much all the trauma Valkyrie has can be arguably traced back to Skulduggery.

Because while Skulduggery definitely loves her and has his protective moments over her, he really does have an insistence on treating her as an adult, even at the points when she was barely a teenager. It gives Valkyrie a life where she has no safety bars on anything she does and is free to make her own mistakes and possibly get herself killed. And while he is willing to step in and help if she requests it, Valkyrie is also ridiculously independent (a trait that Skulduggery also encouraged) and clearly tried to avoid going to him with personal problems as best she could. While there are definitely issues to this approach to raising Valkyrie, I think Skulduggery was hoping to avoid becoming overly controlling of her and instead overcompensated by giving her full control of her own life, for better or for worse. Alternatively, it could be that Valkyrie’s extended freedom originally came from a branch of Skulduggery’s neglect of her, and later on in phase 1 just became a thing of habit.

Now, Valkyrie is a pretty independent person in phase 1. BUT. Since she has so much control over her own life, she refuses to socialize with other kids her age, which does lead to an emotional dependency on Skulduggery that is really apparent in the earlier half of phase 1. He’s effectively the god of her world, and even if she isn’t forced to do what he wants, she will do it with no hesitation or regard for her own well-being. Even when she’s an older teenager (16-18 range), it’s still pretty apparent that Skulduggery and whatever he wants or says is the first priority in her life, with everything else coming second. I also think this is a big reason as to why she dated Fletcher for a bit, because he was literally the only person she was hanging out with at the time who wasn’t literally hundred of years older than her.

Another thing I wanna point out that I always found really amusing is how physically comfortable they are with each other. Like, they’re detective partners who get into fights together, of course they’re gonna be pretty comfortable with each other, but it’s just so fucking funny. There is an entire scene in Death Bringer where Valkyrie is going about her morning routine (taking a shower, getting dressed, etc) and the whole time Skulduggery is following her around and chatting with her, and neither of them are weird about it or mention it at all. This is literally just normal for them (and also they’re conversation is kind of unhinged, I need to reread DB because there was SO much weird stuff in there). Valkyrie literally sleeps at his house on the regular, sometimes even more so than her own house. When Valkyrie finds out that the man is casually standing in her backyard, her reaction is to let him into her room through the window, which is so weird that even SOLOMON FUCKING WREATH commented on it. And while I do love having characters not being weird about other characters having bodies, having that dynamic between a teenager and an adult that her parents don’t know she hangs out with is absolutely wild.

And speaking of absolutely wild, having a “I’d fight loyally by your side until the end” scene with a fifteen-year-old is crazy, but so in-character for this series. I’m not complaining about it though, because the continual use of that phrase throughout this series sucker-punched my emotions every time and that’s exactly what I’m going for.

Something I also really liked throughout the series is them learning to place more trust in each other. In book 2, Valkyrie actually has a moment where she’s worried he’s going to kill her. In book 4, she’s worried his emotional breakdown will push him to physically harm her. In the first part of book 5, she’s subconsciously worried that he’ll kill her for being Darquesse. In the last part of book 5, she puts up no resistance and instead lies in his arms when he puts a gun to her head and threatens to shoot her. In book six, Skulduggery is brave enough to actually have a discussion with her about being Lord Vile. There are so many more examples of this, but I really adored their slowly growing relationship and how it was depicted throughout phase 1.

Don’t get me wrong though, the whole fiasco with Lord Vile in Death Bringer was really toxic. Specifically the fact that Skulduggery sort of emotionally blackmailed Valkyrie into forgiving him for being Lord Vile? I know that he didn’t mean for her to find out, but taking advantage of an emotionally vulnerable teenager who’s going through an especially rough part of her life right now is not a great thing to do.

I do understand why he did it though, because Skulduggery is really not normal whenever Valkyrie leaves, and he might have gone through another bout of mental instability if she actually left him because of Lord Vile. I think this part of him is best seen in the second half of LSoDM and the first half of DotL. He’s angry, lashes out, emotionally cold, and he threatens tries to shoot an eighteen-year-old for the crime of being Valkyrie’s reflection. He’s also so aggressive when they have to revive Valkyrie with the Sunstone, because he’s scared that he messed up and that he’s now going to lose her forever, which causes him to act really scary towards everyone around him. It’s definitely not a side of him that he likes and that’s why he’s so determined to stay with Valkyrie no matter what. Not phase 1 related, but I will always find Skulduggery’s explanation for what he was doing while Valkyrie was in Colorado hilarious because what do you mean you decided that a lapse in morals would be fine until Valkyrie gets back.

Skulduggery also seems to have a really hard time admitting with words that he loves someone (and given his history, I really do not blame him) but Valkyrie casually saying that she loves him in KotW and teasing him about it while Skulduggery will express that he loves her in literally any way other than actually saying the goddamn words (it takes him seven fucking years to actually say “I love you” yahoo) and it made for some really sweet but also heart-wrenching moments in the last three books of phase 1. Because Valkyrie doesn’t really need him to say that he loves her, because she knows it already. But still having him refuse to say it does kind of sting, and it’s fun to watch the two of them dance around their emotions like funny little acrobats.

What makes Skulduggery and Valkyrie’s dynamic in phase 1 so wild to me is the way that it kind of casually glazes over the raging abuse going on, but I actually really like that because it highlights just how much this series is written from Valkyrie’s perspective. She loves him so damn much, and you really can’t blame her for it. He gave her a life where she could express herself and do what she wanted and be with people that made her happy instead of being stuck in a school she hated, with people she hated, in a life she hated. She was traumatized and scarred by him but he gave her the opportunity to actually live, and no way in hell was she ever going to risk giving that life up and going to back to what she had before. Toxic as their phase 1 relationship was, he represented her freedom and autonomy and Valkyrie viewed any hardships she went through as a simple sacrifice necessary to keep what she had. It’s not healthy, but you kind of get it.

I love their phase 1 relationship so much, but there is so much to unpack between them and I definitely missed a lot, so everyone else feel free to add on your rambling.

[cacaocheri]

You should in fact infodump about poptropica, also have you considered doing a DCA Poptropica crossover to unite the interests together?

1) I love you so much dude I hope you're doing well 2) poptropica infodump would take AGES this thing has lore so I will spare you a ramble for now 3) I . HAVE NOT. BUT COULD YOU IMAGINE SUN AND MOON WITH THE BIG BOBBLE HEADS

no? because I can

oh my god they look so much more cursed than I expected I'm laughing my ass off

[againstcrayon]

I think I've made my displeasure on the silver card clear but honestly if they did what I think they're gonna do (just him breaking the stereotype of the dawn knight while looking like the dawn knight) I wouldn't be too mad. That's still a trope. I like. My issue comes more with the fact that I see this too often and I wanna see more characters who RIP themselves from the cycle. Disconnect themselves so hard that you may not even know they were part of the cycle to begin with. Like I think it would be metal as fuck to see silver in fae armor- just because it would defy all stereotypes, y'know? I don't want him associating with the dawn knight because I feel like cutting yourself out of the narrative completely to join another one is one of the best things you can do. Anyway this is my last thoughts before I go to bed I just wanted to get it out because I assume my friend is gonna stay up late to see the card and I will have no time to think tomorrow morning before I'm blasted with it on literally every messaging platform

[strohller27]

Yes Hello to all my fellow Miss Lemon fans out there:

If you love her as much as I do, then 6.2 Hickory Dickory Dock is the episode for you

Now let us all just take a moment out of our busy day to bask in her glory:

That coat with those hats?? ICONIC she has such a flawless style

and this little scene where she's like 'this is just a quirk of Mr. Poirot's, don't worry about it' fellas help she's so cute

also HELP lads she took Poirot's comment about Inspector Japp's 'healthy appetite' way too literally!! LEMON SOLE! she's so funny aagh

Also she looks really damn good in burgundy wow

Also you know I hate the trope where guys tell ladies to take their glasses off and let their hair flow in the wind because they'd somehow be 'sexier' or whatever. That is just simply not true. Case in point: Look at how cute Miss Lemon is in her glasses!!

Just. Everyone just. Look at my favourite girl. Look at her!!! Her filing system is perfect! Her filing system could kick your ass!!!

[lightbulb-warning]

so has anyone figured out WHY there is the Need To Share our Artworks™ or is it just the vibes and our Soul apparently

[foreststarflaime]

I did my part today in The Bad Class, it was me in the trenches with one other guy defending stories told in mediums other than books against the world (the entire rest of the class) 🫡 (things I used below the cut)

It saddens me that the academic community is so biased towards anything other than published books. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a writer myself and I adore books, but they’re missing out on so many good stories that hit so much harder in mediums other than words on a page!!! ✨Stories of all kinds are equally precious✨ pass it on

Defending movies: Inception!!! If you’ve not seen it, it deals a lot with dreams and layers of dreaming, and thinking about reality. In it, there’s a gimmick where you have a certain ‘totem’ (item) that you can use to determine if you’re in a dream or awake, and the main character’s is a top—if he’s in a dream, it will never stop spinning, but if it’s reality, the top will eventually be stopped by gravity. (Spoiler alert) At the end of the movie, the mc finally gets home to his kids like he’s been trying to the whole movie, and as he embraces them in the background a little out of focus, you see his top on the table, spinning—and right before you could expect it to start to wobble, the soundtrack peaks (thank you Hans Zimmer you master) and cuts off and the screen goes black, leaving you to your own conclusions. It’s such an effective moment and it really would not be the same in a book!

Defending video games: Crisis Core lmao. I love how it uses game mechanics to characterize Zack in such a unique and creative way!!! The DMW is the main thing that comes to mind here, in particular in the final battle, but over the whole game and how it gets you used to it as well. You get a new thing every time Zack gets a new friend, and that’s the source of your strongest attacks throughout the game, a thing you’re constantly thinking about and relying on—which is such a cool way to characterize Zack, because then you realize your thought process has basically been turned into his! He loves his friends, they’re everything to him, and they’re the source of his strength! Which makes the final battle so so devastating when they’re fading away and you get to see, nay experience, his last thoughts as they’re happening. It’s so devastating in a way I’ve rarely been devastated before, and it would not be the same in words. Also there’s the funny haha that this adhd puppy’s brain runs on gambling because he has to get extremely lucky to be able to focus on anything lmaooo

Defending comic books: Loki Agent of Asgard!!!! My beloved! So this is the comic book run where Loki becomes the god of stories, and everything about how it was done here is just. SO so genius. When I say these comic books were a formative experience for me I mean it. But I’ll focus on the things that were great specifically because of the medium here, otherwise I’d be gushing for hours. Yknow how comic books generally have little narrator text bubbles telling you what you need words to describe? And then maybe have a different one for the thoughts of the character? Well this had that, and the narrator bubbles were styled like little scrolls. When you get towards the end of the run, after Loki has realized his power as the god of stories, you get to a part where he’s facing the gods of the gods, telling them a story—and then the little narrator scrolls have the speech bubble thing drawn off from them, to Loki. It’s been him as the god of stories narrating his own story the entire time, writing his own destiny. Such a powerful moment, blew my mind—you could do something similar in a normal book I guess, but it was just so impactful here that I think it wouldn’t be exactly the same. And also, earlier (I think in the second volume), a different future version of Loki is time travelling using his story god powers to write the past to his own ends (you don’t know his connection to story yet, so this is an example of such good foreshadowing), and to do this he reaches out of the panel and jumps into the margins to travel around the story!!! Mind-blowing stunning 1000/10

The strength of books: I just realized why I like my specific imagery-laden style of writing so much in the middle of class while I was explaining this. So in On Fairy Stories (the book the discussion was about for the day), Tolkien talks about how the invention of the adjective was the most important thing for the invention of fantasy, because it helps you change things—for example you can say things like the red sky or the green sun, and people can imagine that. There’s a linguistic concept called mental models which explores how we think in metaphors to understand more abstract concepts—for example, a lot of people tend to view how electricity works in terms of the flow of water. In fantasy, we can take our words and especially our adjectives and metaphors, and we can craft new mental models that wouldn’t work in the real world, and create our own worlds doing that to great effect. I find myself doing this SO much now that I think about it! And that’s something you can do really really well with words that doesn’t lend itself as well to adaptations in other mediums.

And that’s the thing, really—you can do things to amazing effect if you write them using the strengths of the medium you choose! That’s why adaptations rarely work I think, people just don’t play to the strengths.

[serenpedac]

Beloved Seren!! I'm curious about if you have theories/predictions about MC's condition, like from an astronomy point of view? You mentioned that you view how the energy comes and goes kind of like solar flares! And I've been predicting that the powers being too much for the MC to survive would be sort of like they were turned into a dying star...but I know like 0.1 astronomy thing and only for fic purposes lol. So I'm curious if you have an opinion/perspective/prediction on what is happening to MC? (I'm not sure if my question even makes sense and zero pressure at all to answer this haha ❤️ I just figured you would have a cool perspective on it!!)

Lovely PD, thank you for the ask <3 This is a very good question and I have been thinking about Li-Sar and the MC's power, but my theories are somewhat fuzzy.

First, the theory that is related to my comment about solar flares. One of the things that caught my attention was how often the demo mentions electricity in regard to Li-Sar's powers, while also mentioning their power is "solar magic". This made me think about the Sun's magnetic field lines, because the Sun's electric currents and magnetic field are linked closely together. Because of turbulence of the Sun's plasma, those magnetic field lines get all tangled up. This can lead to them breaking and connecting with others, a process that releases a burst of energy (magnetic reconnection, see v cool video here, though the image below is clearer), accelerating particles, and causing bursts of electromagnetic radiation: solar flares.

The radiation sickness, together the mentions of Li-Sar---and now the MC---wields solar radiation, fit with the idea of solar flares. Only it seems Li-Sar can control this, while we see that the MC cannot. Looking at Li-Sar's comment on how a human body won't be able to handle the building magic, my theory would be that the "flares", like that burst of power in chapter 2, will get stronger and more frequent, eventually tearing the MC apart. It wouldn't be the radiation itself, as that doesn't seem to be an issue so far, but rather the energy involved in powering those bursts. Obviously, I assume a solution will be found.

My second theory fits with you say about a dying star, because it could be like a supernova event! A supernova type Ia is what comes to mind, with a white dwarf (the MC) and a companion star (Li-Sar). The MC siphoned mass (this power) from Li-Sar, causing them to cross a certain threshold, which then leads to the explosion/death.

And another theory that no one asked for, but Li-Sar reminds me of an O or B type star, as they are blueish-white, fitting with the blue and white colour scheme that keeps popping up in the demo. These stars have masses between ~3 - 200 times the mass of the sun, so like Ostin said, they have the power of "a dozen suns" or even more.

Such high mass stars can end in supernova explosion without the need for a companion star. Ignoring ethical considerations and the canon lore behind the Agency not killing supernaturals, this might be a reason the Agency didn't kill Li-Sar. Their death might cause so much destruction and make the planet uninhabitable. But that's just me being speculative.