#Accelerant Series Learning Book

[draconic-desire]

your yan!neuvi series got me on a chokehold !! I feel so bad for darling but it got me thinking, would neuvillette ever allow them to i dont know, go visit mondt to look at their parents’ grave (?).

Neuvillette meets his (dead) in-laws edition 😂

Ok this idea is simultaneously kinda funny but also makes me cry a bit because I totally think Neuvillette would have ensured your family’s wellbeing in your absence. Despite his flaws, he still maintains his overwhelming sense of duty and justice.

Yandere Neuvillette x Reader

(A Dance with the Dragon Interlude)

Talking about your life four centuries ago has become a bit of a taboo in the household you share with Neuvillette.

Mostly, it only serves to incite an argument, one you are always predestined to lose. The other times, it only reminds you of painful memories. So, you’ve learned to bite your tongue, to keep your past held tightly to your heart. Neuvillette doesn’t seem to mind; in fact, you believe he might prefer if your history were to be wiped from your mind completely, leaving a blank slate for him to carve his essence into.

Which is why you’re so shocked when, on a particularly storming evening, the Chief Justice himself requests, “Tell me about what your parents were like.”

Jolting, you nearly drop the book in your hands. He’s not looking at you—usually, having his gaze on you translates to irritation, concern, or lust. When he’s looking away from you, as he is now, irises trained on the waves battering the cliffs below your home, you know that means he is instead thinking, pondering.

But thinking about what? Your eyes narrow, and your heart accelerates. What is he getting at?

A hand clenches around your heart when you try to picture your mother and father in your head—and fail. Four hundred years without a visit or simple image…of course their features have faded over time. But you’ll never forget the warmth, the knowledge that they loved you until the end and supported your lifelong wish of pursuing marine biology, even when it took you away from them.

You only shake your head. “I don’t want to talk about that, Neuvillette.”

He turns to you, now, eyes filled with calculation. A judge presiding over his court. “I had no parents. I simply…came to exist. Born of the water, the waves, the sea foam, and bestowed with this primordial power.” He glances down at his gloved hand, palm squeezing into a fist. “So the idea of parents is…foreign to me. Though I have a sense of the kind of ceaseless, unconditional love that defines a family.” You know he’s talking about his feelings for you, and your tattoo burns. “Experiencing a loss of that magnitude would be incomprehensible.”

For the life of you, you cannot figure out his endgame here. Why acknowledge your loss? Why equate his adoration and obsession with you for parental love? Your eyes burn, your breath quickens, you feel the tattoo pulse with energy as you—

“Do you ever wonder about how they lived the rest of their lives?”

Yes. No. Everyday. Somehow, you find your voice, a quiet thing filled with warning. Your skin feels so hot, like your veins are laced with lightning. “And how would you know anything about that?”

Neuvillette’s sharp eyes cut to your frame. “I…made sure that they were fully provided for. They lived happy lives, believing you to be living out your dreams in Fontaine. They are now buried together, in the cathedral cemetery overlooking the Brightcrown Mountains.”

Your breath hitches, and that power in your blood begins to settle. Their favorite place. The Brightcrown Mountains, where your father proposed to your mother. The Favonius Cathedral, where they were married. And the cemetery behind the church, where your grandparents had been entombed, too.

Something falls onto your lap. It’s only when you touch your hands to your face that you realize you’re crying. Neuvillette watches you with concern, one hand raised and poised to reach out to you, but he keeps his distance as he lets you process.

You release a shaky sigh. Was it true? Did they pass with no fear for your safety, in ignorant bliss of your extended life? The thought, although morbid in some ways, actually brings you a sense of peace. Your parents never had to endure the loss of you in the same way you had for them.

You swallow thickly, your voice hoarse with emotion. “Can we…visit them?”

That sets Neuvillette’s back ramrod straight as he blinks. You’ve only been out of the house a handful of times, and he was the one to bring this topic to light, but to venture out of Fontaine entirely? His protective and possessive instincts flare immediately, screaming at him to shut this idea down, to grab you and sink his teeth into your neck, dominant, claiming. But as his silver eyes flick across your face, taking in your tears, the tremble in your hands, the pit of mixed despair and relief in your eyes, he relents.

Slowly, he blinks, taking in a deep breath. You’re expecting an excuse, a verbal slap on this wrist disguised as concern for your safety. Which is why, for the second time tonight, you’re stunned when Neuvillette, rising to his feet, extends his hand. “I’ll take you there.”

~*~

The trip is easy, thanks to the Hydro Dragon’s teleportation abilities. The two of you arrive at the large square in front of the cathedral, the statue of Barbados towering above you. Briefly, you wonder what the Archon of Freedom thinks about your situation, or if he even deigns to care.

Not much has changed about Mondstadt in four hundred years. The streets still possess an older feel, cobblestone streets and stone walls surrounding the city. After seeing the drastic change in Fontaine, the fact envelopes you in a sense of comfort, knowing that at least one aspect of the world has aged alongside you, long-lived but unchanged.

It’s long grown dark, and the heavy downpour persists. Neither of you brought an umbrella as you ascend the stairs and wrap around to the cemetery behind the church. The rain, however, seems to dissolve into your skin rather than chilling you or soaking your clothes, no doubt another consequence of Neuvillette’s magic coursing through your veins.

The Hydro Dragon leads you to a small plot towards the back. Two tombstones are erected side by side, and you fall to your knees as you read: (Mother’s name) and (Father’s name) (L/n). Lives entwined to their last breath, they soar high above the clouds.

You hear a rustle of fabric, and soon Neuvillette has joined you, kneeling by your side. He raises his arm, and tendrils of blue light pool from his palm, forming the shape of beautiful flowers. They surround the graves, a sea of blues to celebrate your loved ones.

The two of you sit there for what could have been minutes or hours. All you know is that this is the most at peace you’ve felt in four hundred years.

[bullet-prooflove]

ATF!Series Part Two: Fucked - David Hale x Reader

Tagging: @kmc1989@hatersaremymotivators@bennykk@kelpies-shed

ATF Series:

Part One: A Rabbit You Don't Want To Chase - Stahl makes an unwelcome return to David's life.

You and David have plans for the summer. You think about them as you recline naked on a chaise lounge in Simone’s art studio, one arm above your head, your face tilted towards the painters.

You’ve been accepted into San Franisco Art Institute’s Accelerator Program over the summer, which means you’ll be spending eight weeks on campus learning from the best the country has to offer. At the end of the course there’s an event where the artists enrolled get to showcase their work to industry professionals. It’s a way of being discovered, of taking your art to the next level.

David’s going to drive you up there next month. The two of you are going to spend a couple of days sightseeing before the program starts. He’s booked off a few weekends throughout the duration, made reservations at a hotel so you can spend a little time together in the city before you come home.

San Franisco is a dream that you never envisioned for yourself. When your professor had given you the application you didn’t think she was serious. It was a competitive program, it was unlikely you’d get a place even if you did apply so what was the point? It was David that changed your mind.

“You’re so talented.” He had murmured, his lips ghosting across the line of your jaw as you straddled his lap, his fingers untying the knot on your silk robe. “I have every faith in you.”

You’ve never had a man say those words before, they’d been more of an aphrodisiac than you cared to admit.

When the letter had arrived announcing your placement, he had brought home a bottle of champagne and spent the entire night licking the bubbles from your body. You try to distract yourself from that thought because the last thing you want is to get wet in the middle of a session.

When you tune back into your surroundings you find yourself meeting the eyes of the woman across from you. She’s new to the class and the way she looks at you, it’s predatory.

It’s after session that she approaches you. You’re standing in your cotton kimono, sipping from a teacup while she leans against the counter alongside of you. You freeze when she reaches out, her fingertips tucking a loose strand of hair back behind your ear.

“You are very fuckable aren’t you?”

“Sorry honey, you aren’t my type.” You tell her as you pull away, she dogs your steps until you disappear behind the mango wood room divider so that you can dress.

“I know.” She says from the opposite side as you step into your panties and draw them up your thighs. “You have a thing for cop uniforms and leather kuttes.”

You pause for a second before pulling on your sports bra.

“Special Agent Stahl.” You presume.

“Ah David told you about me.” She says, sounding pleased as you tug your jeans up to your hips.

“Only that you like to be called Mommy when you’re sucking dick.” You respond and there’s silence for a moment before she pops her head around the screen.

“You know he was fucking me an hour ago.” She tells you, watching with appreciation as you raise your arms to pull on your shirt. “I’ve still got his come dripping out of me.”

You give her a bored look because you know there isn’t a chance in hell that David stuck his cock back in that beartrap.

“Careful.” You say as you lace up your ankle boots. “Your desperation is showing.”

“I get why he likes you, you know?” She says, leaning back against the desk Simone uses for her admin. “I bet you’re just a firecracker in the bedroom.”

“Is there a reason you’re here or are you just trying to figure out ways to piss off David?” You ask her as you sling your slouch bag over your shoulder.

She shrugs her shoulders.

“It’s an added bonus.” She tells you before crossing her arms over her chest. “I want to talk about someone else we have in common. Jax Teller.”

“Old news.” You say as you search through the contents of your bag for your phone. “If you’re looking information you’re in the wrong place. We fucked for a month almost a year ago.”

“Do you know if he was carrying  a gun during that time?” She asks you, picking up a fidget spinner Simone leaves on her desk for Juice to play with.

You see the path that this is taking. Jax is on parole for a weapons charge. If Stahl finds a witness that says he has a gun, they can get a warrant to search the clubhouse. Jax goes back to prison, the Sons do an investigation of their own. You’ll be the first place they look and what comes after that…

You don’t want David caught up in that crossfire.

“No.” You tell her and she sighs, setting the fidget spinner back in its rightful place before meeting your gaze.

“Fine.” She says reaching into her purse and removing a set of handcuffs. “I’m arresting you on conspiracy to commit vandalism.”

You couldn’t have been more surprised if she’d drew back her fist and punched you in the face. She snaps the bracelet on your wrist before turning you around to face the wall.

“A year ago you spraypainted a five foot dick on Jax Teller’s house, causing a crime spree that went on for weeks and cost the town thousands in property damage, anything over $400 dollars makes it federal. The charge comes with up to a year in jail, fines and restitution.” She tells you as she cinches the cuffs so tightly that they bite into your skin, already your fingertips are starting to tingle. “If that doesn’t stick I’m going to call your art school and that shitty little summer program in San Franisco and tell them your affiliated with a known, violent gang so that future you’ve been looking forward to you can kiss that goodbye.”

In that moment your entire world collapses. Everything you’ve worked so hard for, it’s gone in an instant.

“Tell me is Jax Teller really worth all this?” She asks you, her breath ghosting in your ear. There’s a purr in her voice as she presses up against you, she gets off on having all the power, you remember David telling you that when he described how fucked up their whole thing was.

For you this isn’t about Jax, it’s about him. It’s about what happens when the Sons come for you because David, he will fight to his last breath to protect you and you can’t stand the thought of that.

“Fuck you.” You snap and you can practically feel Stahl’s smile against your skin.

“I think you’re the one that’s about to get fucked.”

Love David? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[wordsinhaled]

howdy !! re: wip game, as a gomens fanatic, any angsty wip lines that might shred my soul? <3

hiii <3 <3

happy to provide some gomens angst! ft. aziraphale's pov of the kiss!

-

Aziraphale’s hands flutter uselessly around Crowley’s shoulders like birds afraid to alight.

For all these millennia, he’s only allowed himself surreptitious, if unsubtle forays in Crowley’s direction; little morsels of visual information, a whole series of fleeting touches. Far too many to count.

The electric, heady brush of their fingertips in the exchange of a briefcase full of miraculously-salvaged books. Aziraphale clasping Crowley’s hand with both of his, losing himself for a moment to the sort of recklessness Crowley inspires in him. Aziraphale’s palm flat against Crowley’s chest there in the pub, for no reason at all except that he simply wanted: to learn how Crowley’s warmth bleeds through layers of cloth, to discern the faint dear heartbeat accelerating under his touch.

The last time he’d felt Crowley’s fists curled in his lapels there had been a wall rough at his back and a snarl in his ears. He’d had eyes only for the red curve of Crowley’s mouth, then.

And now that mouth, Crowley’s mouth, is on his to seismic effect, hard enough to mark Aziraphale indelibly, hot as a conflagration. He never parts his lips, but he doesn’t need to for Aziraphale to be disarmed by the promise of teeth and tongue and taste. Aziraphale can’t possibly hold him like this, can’t settle on one place to touch him, the contours of Crowley sharp and shaking apart with tension against him. It isn’t perfect—in fact it’s artless and ungainly, but it’s Crowley—it’s Crowley—it’s Crowley, crashing into him with forward momentum like a wave breaking against the shore, kissing him with a single-minded stillness, and his point couldn't be clearer: that he would do just this, forever and a day, if it only meant Aziraphale would at last answer in kind.

If it only meant he would stay.

Aziraphale’s hands hover near the top of the coveted slope of that serpentine spine, narrowly evading the treacherous peaks of Crowley’s shoulder blades. Six thousand years of ruinous yearning and prevarication. Six thousand years of perfecting the ideal coy glance, and Crowley crumbles his resolve in an instant.

He had thought it might happen in the rain, perhaps, as Crowley had suggested once. Their arms wound about each other, umbrella forgotten as the sky overhead opened up to cleanse them of all their half-truths. He’d thought Crowley might taste like fine dark chocolate. Like raspberry coulis. But he kisses Aziraphale now with all the iron tang of a paper cut, the same sudden surprise of pain blooming under Aziraphale’s breastbone as he rocks toward Crowley finally, finally, finally—

Too late.

[miss-eli-starfleet]

Okay. This post is gonna be about Bart Allen, and all the Thawne-Allen stuff.

Tagged bc we both love Bart’s Thawne Allen problem: @themaybewoman

This is what I’ve gathered so far about his existence is hopefully comic accurate, but maybe not continuity accurate:

It starts with Iris West. Apparently, it’s recently revealed to me (today) that this girl is actually from the 31st century. Because of the semi-dystopian era of her birth, her real parents sent her back in time to the 21st century to keep her safe. She was adopted by the Wests, but she doesn’t know her future origins until later on.

She meets Barry as a news reporter, and they marry. When they were thinking about having kids, Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne comes along and murders her because his likes to make Barry’s life as miserable as possible. But because she’s from the future, her parents found some magic comic book science to “revive” her, thus placing her in the 31st century to live her life.

Barry finds out she’s alive in the future, and basically goes into retirement to live with her in the 31st century. He passes the mantle of The Flash to Wally West. Why he doesn’t just get her and bring her back to the 21st century, I’ll never know. Or he just wanted her to be with her real parents (which i would assume she barely knows lol).

I was trying so hard to find out why Barry decided to raise their children in the 31st century, but we have our answer there. Iris is future girl. Their children, Don and Dawn Allen, later operates as the Tornado Twins much like Barry did as the Flash. In Central City, I’m assuming. There was some clashing with the Legion of Superheroes, basically the 31st century’s version of the Justice League, but whatever. Not really important to Bart’s existence.

Dawn Allen marries Jeven Ognats. They have a daughter named Jenni Ognats, who later joins the Legion of Superheroes as XS. Jenni is Bart’s cousin.

Don Allen marries Meloni Thawne, and that’s where this gets more complicated.

Meloni Thawne is the daughter of Earthgov President Thaddeus Thawne, who irrc is a direct descendant of Eobard Thawne. When President Thawne learned of this marriage, the dude’s pissed because the Thawne-Allen feud is still on in his mind. He disowns his daughter, indirectly has the Tornado Twins killed via Dominators, and then kidnaps Bart.

Idk where Barry is in all this, maybe he went into the Speedforce and just chilled there through all this?

Now Bart had this hyper-accelerated aging thing going on as a side effect of being born a speedster (I think). Like nearly a teen by two yrs I think. Thawne grandfather stuck him in this VR so he can grow up “normally”, intending to make him a living weapon against the Flashfam. I’m pretty sure Meloni was locked up or something during that period of time too? Otherwise she would’ve done something about this.

Iris kidnaps Bart, and takes him to the 21st century via the Flash Museum’s Cosmic Treadmill (how they used that idk), hoping that Bart would have Wally West as a mentor. Instead, Wally ditches him to Max Mercury to be trained, and it plays on his low self esteem. Wally was pretty mean to him at some times, like when he gets recruited for the Teen Titans as Kid Flash.

But, hey, Wally did run him around the world fast enough to fix his accelerated aging problem.

Anyways, he gets some visits from his other cousin, Jenni, and his mom in the Impulse 1995 series, which was so fun to read. It was so cool to read them talking to each other in Interlac he Max being all confused.

This all makes me wonder: was Meloni ever Don’s lightning rod? As to Iris is Barry’s lightning rod?

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Entropy Effect" review

Novel from 1981, by Vonda N. McIntyre (same author of the novelizations for the Star Trek movies II, III and IV). This is also the first TOS novel of the Pocket Book line, not counting the novelization for TMP. Even though the Bantam books have some nice stories (in particular, those by the Haldeman brothers are pretty decent), they all seem more like episodes of the series. This is the first time I had the impression of reading a proper novel, and the leap in quality is evident. I really, really liked this novel. It's also veeeery sad; it even made me shed some tears. Of course the reader knows this is Star Trek, and everything will turn out fine in the end, but the sense of despair the author conveys is quite effective nonetheless.

The characters are given much depth, and even the bunch of new additions receive proper attention, and their own side-stories and aspirations. The relations between the triumvirate are pretty much flawless (with echoes from "The Tholian Web"; Spock and McCoy are the real protagonists here). And surprisingly, Sulu has his own subplot and a romance story.

I can't really think of many downsides. Maybe it's a bit slow at the beginning, specially since it needs to introduce the new cast. But as I found the original characters interesting and likeable, it wasn't a major issue for me. Also, the story involves time-travel, so expect the usual head-scratching moments. Though as far as I noticed, there were no plot holes.

Some spoilers below the cut:

Spock is investigating an unusual black hole, and his observations make him reach the disturbing conclusion that entropy is rapidly accelerating, and the universe may have little more than 100 years to disappear. He's about to confirm his suspicions, when the Enterprise is suddenly diverted to the Aleph Prime station by a maximum priority message, so Spock has to leave his work half-finished.

In the station, they're greeted by prosecutor Ian Braithewaite, who is confused at first, since he didn't send any urgent message. Nonetheless, he had asked for a ship to help him bring a prisoner to a rehabilitation colony, so Kirk accepts, once he learns the identity of such prisoner. He's an old physics professor of Spock: George Mordreaux, and Spock is sure he can prove his mentor's innocence, for the charges of murder and unethical experimentation. But when he tries to learn more about the case, he finds all info and details have been erased, so there's something definitely fishy about it all. In the station, Kirk also reunites with Captain Hunter, an old girlfriend, and has serious doubts about his decision to break up with her. He even considers the option of leaving the Enterprise and giving another chance at their relationship. For his part, Sulu has fallen in love with the new security chief: Mandala Flynn. But leaves her, and the Enterprise, to join Hunter's crew, in the hope that this will further his career.

Thus the Enterprise, minus Sulu, starts the trip to the rehab colony, with Modreaux and Braithewaite aboard. Spock insists the professor isn't dangerous, and places minimal security on him. Everything goes awry when the professor appears inexplicably on the bridge, and shoots Kirk and Mandala with a spiderweb gun. This spiderweb has really gruesome effects: it creates some sort of metallic web inside a body, which expands quickly through all organs, even covering the eyes. However, Mordreaux doesn't seem to have left his cell at all, and no intruder or imposter is found aboard. Soon thereafter, Mandala is dead. While McCoy completely breaks down, and insists on keeping Kirk artificially "alive" through machines (though deep down, he knows Kirk is dead for real). In the end, Spock convinces McCoy to disconnect the machines. And there's a gut-wrenching scene, in clinical detail, where McCoy starts turning off all the life systems on him.

After Kirk's death, Spock and McCoy are left in a similar situation as in "The Tholian Web". Though in the episode Kirk had simply disappeared, so there was still hope. Here things are far more depressing. McCoy can't accept Kirk's death, and pressures Spock to try time-travel to save him. Spock refuses to play like that with the space-time continuum. However, while interrogating the professor in his cell, Spock learns that the real reason he's convicted, is because he's been tampering with time travel through a new device. This disruption may be behind the entropy effects Spock had previously discovered. And it's also behind the murder of Kirk, at the hands of a future, insane version of Mordreaux. Since all these events are the results of time alterations, Spock needs, in fact, to travel back in time, and restore things to their original order.

With the help of the (still sane) professor, Spock initiates a series of failed attempts at fixing things in the past. While gradually deteriorating through each time travel. And McCoy has a hard time, being left in charge of the ship and covering up for Spock (they can't tell anyone else about the device, in fear of being arrested for it, just as Mordreaux). Meanwhile, Braithewaite is being a pain in the ass, and gets paranoid about Spock and McCoy having conspired to murder Kirk. He even manages to make Scotty suspicious of them, so things get even more complicated.

In summary, the stakes are pretty high, and the story gets really exciting (and sometimes frustrating for poor Spock and McCoy).

McSpirk Meter: 10/10. I usually only rate the Kirk/Spock material, since is far more common, and ranges wildly from one novel to another (with some of them being borderline slash). But in this occasion is impossible to separate the members of the triumvirate, as the love goes in all three directions.

For starters, there's Spock casting aside all his reservations about hand touching, when Kirk is shot with the spiderweb (maybe this is the first time it's explicitly stated that Vulcans avoid touching hands?). He tries to mind-meld with Kirk while he's dying, perhaps to die himself instead, but Kirk pushes him away to save him.

Then there's the absolutely devastating effect that Kirk's death has on McCoy. He gets totally drunk, breaks down among sobs, and finally passes out. Spock carries him in his arms and puts him to bed; then keeps watch while he sleeps. Later, McCoy starts crying again while viewing Kirk's last will. But once he learns it's possible to bring him back, he's all sunshine once more. Still, the mere reliving of his death is enough to bring him to tears, even while on the bridge. McCoy's pain for losing Kirk is also compared to that of Hunter (who was Kirk's lover), and Sulu's grief for Mandala (also a lover). When Hunter asks McCoy what he has to gain by helping Spock in his mysterious plans, he answers "everything".

Spock deals with the loss of his Captain in a far more subdued, Vulcan way, but it's evident he's falling apart too. He doesn't want to stay in the Enterprise anymore, and once he completes his duties aboard, he's probably going to leave Starfleet altogether.

McCoy has also some tender moments with Spock while treating his wounds, and choosing civilian clothes for him (which he says that enhance Spock's eyes).

Once everything's been solved, Spock lies in bed while recovering, and Kirk and McCoy take turns watching him. Only Spock remembers the events of the altered timeline (for everyone else it feels just like a nightmare). And Spock's reaction upon waking up and seeing Kirk alive has to be read to believe it. Let's say, a mixture of "this simple feeling", and his smile at the end of "Amok Time".

[hebrewbyinbal]

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[satoshi-mochida]

Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos launches in January 2025 in the west - Gematsu

Neptunia series spin-off motorcycle combat action game Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch in January 2025 in the west, publisher Idea Factory International announced. It will support English and Japanese voice-over options, as well as English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Idea Factory International also confirmed the game will be available in physical standard and Special editions, with details on the Special edition to be announced. A digital-only Deluxe Edition will also be available, which includes the game, a 35-page digital art book, 10-track digital soundtrack, and the “Swimsuit, Apocalyptic, and Race Queen” costume set for Uzume, Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert. The costume set will also be available as a standalone purchase.

Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos first launched on June 27 in Japan.

Here is an overview of the game, via Idea Factory International:

About

This dimension is different from Gamindustri… A vast number of distinct Dogoos are appearing and threatening to cover the land. To escape from this otherworldly realm, a lone rider surveys the mysterious world in search of an exit.

Key Features

Dogoo Day Care – Choose from six playable characters, scour the land on your trusty bike, and collect as many variants of Dogoos as possible to win! As players progress through 15 Dogoo-filled stages, Uzume must find a way to snap her friends out of their weird fascination with Dogoos!

The Dogoo Bounty Hunter – Collecting Dogoos can be a cinch, but stealing Dogoos is a whole ‘notha ball game! Certain characters shine more in close combat, while others excel in long-range attacks. Find the strengths (and weaknesses, of course!) to become a true Dogoo bounty hunter!

These Dogoos Do Bike Back – As squishy and adorable as these Dogoos are, some can be quite the menace. Each Dogoo has specific types of behaviors, as well as positive / negative effects when collecting them. By learning the positive and negative effects of the Dogoos, you can use them to your advantage and even throw the nasty ones to your opponent!

Stunt Your Bike – Want to show off your ride in the next bike meet? Impress (or scare?) Dogoos by altering the bike’s body, muffler, tires, and other accessories! These customizations can give the Goddesses increased defense, max speed, acceleration, and even maneuverability. These upgrades can ultimately give you the winning edge!

[dungeonofthedragon]

Your Favourite Book: the Game

Sometimes a good book leaves us with a hankering to spend more time in that world. Fanfiction only goes so far- here are ten titles that allow you to adventure with friends in the world of your favourite book!

Angel Mage by Garth Nix

This one doesn't have its own dedicated system, but the author himself ran a game in this world using the $6 rpg Flashing Blades! Given the book was inspired by The Three Musketeers, this makes perfect sense- although you'd need to modify the game a bit to include angel summoning.

Discworld Roleplaying Game by Phil Masters, Terry Pratchett and Steve Jackson Games

Cost: $20.00

I can imagine an entire campaign revolving around the Unseen University, or a one-shot about the antics of the Watch. This game runs on the popular GURPS system which, like many other games, uses only six-sided dice. You've probably got a bunch of those lying around at home already!

Dresden Files Accelerated by Evil Hat

Cost: $17.50

This game uses the lightweight Fate: Accelerated system, making it very easy to learn. Character creation is incredibly flexible- if you can think of a character or archetype within this setting, you can play it in this game.

Good Society: a Jane Austen rpg by Storybrewers Roleplaying

Cost: $23

Regency roleplaying at its finest. Long, longing glances, heartfelt letters and scandal! Also a good choice for fans of the Bridgerton series.

Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game by Chaosium

Cost: $29.99

This game is pricier than some on this list, but at 400 pages it's well worth the cost. With just the one rulebook, and several free adventures (including at least one solo adventure!), after that initial investment it's very easy to get in there and get sleuthing.

The game uses the Basic Role-Playing system. If you're familiar with Call of Cthulhu or RuneQuest, you're well on your way to learning the rules!

Stormlight Archive RPG by Brotherwise Games

This game hasn't been released yet, but you can sign up here for a chance to be involved in beta testing!

The Kyme Summit by Malcolm Harbrow

Cost: $5

Change the particulars and you have yourself a perfect little Dune LARP you can complete in a single evening.

The Warren by Bully Pulpit Games

Cost: $12

Suitable for a single session or a multiple session adventure, this game lets you play out the survival horror that is Watership Down (from which I have never fully recovered.)

The Witcher: Pen and Paper RPG by R. Talsorian Games

Cost: $24.99

Be a witcher, bard, mage, or even a doctor! This game does a pretty good job of evoking the feel of the books (and the Netflix series too), but I've only read a free demo myself.

Thirsty Space Necromancers by Grahame (Understory Games)

Cost: None!

This supplement for Thirsty Sword Lesbians allows for narrative-focused adventures in the universe of The Locked Tomb. There are playbooks for necromancers of each of the nine houses, as well as a cavalier playbook.

If you don't already own the base game, you can pick up Thirsty Sword Lesbians here for $15 or nab a community copy for free!

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

Can I hear about Adira? 👀 who is she?

SO since it's past midnight here, I'll give you the brief version, and you can ask for details if you want. xD

So there's a book I read in late 2016 that I looked at and went 'I love the concept but it seems unrealistic'. That book was 'In Search of Life', by Anna Tikvah. With the hubris of a teenager I decided I could do better. Anyway, to cut a very long story short, I wrote multiple drafts of this thing, and each draft it's got bigger...

It's a series, but the first book or so (it's shaping up to be Big unless I cut multiple side plots or figure out a way to make them their own stories... I've certainly thought about either excising them, or actually trying to split the first book, but that's a decision for later me) is about my girl Adira, who - being extremely bright and also a nepo baby* - is in an accelerated program for school that essentially gives her free rein to read lots and lots of books that are prohibited to the general public, but which also comes with a side of brainwashing (regular psychologist sessions that she doesn't realise until during the book are basically ways to indoctrinate the children).

During this time, she stumbles on a certain Book that is so suppressed as to be not recognised by the archivists until it gets higher up the chain. It's not supposed to be there. But she reads it, and is deeply confused. Things happen, she's introduced to a Bible believer who helps her to understand what she's reading, and there's a whole thing about psychology and learning truth and hard decisions and how to make trade offs that involve others. In the mean time she is also making various friends, there's a whole thing with her parents' relationship (which ends up essentially breaking down when her father chooses to keep his job rather than protect his daughter), and it's way more complicated than that all, really. And about hiding things and when hiding may be right actually and might not be and my girl just Goes Through It rather. Oh, and secret or mistaken identities, too. And what identity really is, and what you tie to your identity. It's all those things. And mental health. And when the obvious answer isn't the right one. And what you can depend on.

That's a super brief summary but feel free to ask more questions about it!

*had not made that connection until just then but it's so true

[starquartzzz]

Intro thingyyy

•My name is Cheetah

•She/he/it/that/any neopronouns

•Im a minor

•I speak english and romanian, im learning french

•Im neurodivergent (Autism, ADHD, Tourettes)

•LGBTQ and proud!

•Taoist ☯️

•im punk

•I love music, animation, cats, history, dice, cards, space, pretty much anything punk related

(Main) Fandoms

Puss In Boots, Tangled, Animaniacs, Lackadaisy, BFDI, Carmen Sandiego, Arcane, Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall, Steven Universe, Cuphead, Little Nightmares, FNAF, BATIM, DDLC, Glitch Techs, Inside Job, Kung Fu Panda, Megamind (We do not speak of the sequel), Monster High, Ice Age, Book of Life, Total drama (But that's gonna be on my other account), Spiderverse, Coraline, Kid Vampire, Acceleration, Over the Hedge, The Owl House, trollhunthers

Favorite characters

•Duncan (Total Drama)

•Gwen (Total Drama)

•Kitty (Total Drama)

•Kitty Softpaws (Puss In Boots)

•Puss In Boots (Shrek)

•Varian (Tangled the series)

•Yakko Warner (Animaniacs)

•Rocky Rickaby (Lackadaisy)

•Popee Paraphone (Popee the Performer)

•Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

•Four (Battle for Dream Island)

•X (Battle for Dream Island)

•Black Hole (Battle for Dream Island)

•Ekko (Arcane)

•Jinx (Arcane)

•Mangle (FNAF)

•Vanny (FNAF)

•King Dice (Cuphead)

•PaperStar (Carmen Sandiego)

•Spinel (Steven Universe)

•Peridot (Steven Universe)

•Natsuki (Doki Doki Literature Club)

•Duncan (Acceleration)

•Dunkin (Kid Vampire)

Favorite Ships

•Gwuncan (Gwen x Duncan)

•Kittyboots (Kitty x Puss)

•Devildice (Devil x King Dice)

•4x (Four x X)

•Papersheep (Carmen Sandiego x PaperStar)

•Timebomb (Ekko x Jinx)

•Polygems (Garent x Pearl x Amethyst)

•Brinky (Brain x Pinky)

•Ghostflower (Miles x Gwen)

•Poly Dokis (Sayori x Yuri x Natsuki x Monika)

Dni List

Basic DNI, people who don't support neopronouns, people who don't support xenogenders, Duncan antis, Gwen (TDI and Spiderverse) antis, Gwuncan antis, Courtney stans, Sierra stans, Chris Mclean stans, Cody stans, anyone who ships Courtney with someone, anyone who ships Sierra with someone, proshippers, Israel supporters, Taylor Swift supporters, Doja Cat supporters, Lana Del Ray supporters, MSI supporters, Drake supporters

Thats it 🫃

[priestessamy]

Hii Amy hope you are well!

I wanted to ask you, since you're a friend and a writer, how do I get back into Writing? It's been so long since I last wrote anything.

Also love your current series xoxo

Hello!

So I will say that I'm actually kinda in that position right now. Back in like November-ish I finally got hit by that really nasty Adderall shortage and for about seven months I was without the medication that gave me the extra push I needed to get two books published. I was also getting more hours at work that was leaving me exhausted and napping a lot. It was a mess.

And now I'm back to it and struggling to remember how I made it happen in the first place. So join me on my journey!

As always, I think my very first piece of advice has been "do it anyway," strong words that I no longer remember where I first learned them. Even if it's just a few words or a sentence, even if you don't do any "writing" that day but you get down some good planning, it all counts.

It can be so easy to get into that Nanowrimo mindset and feel like your worth is dictated by your daily wordcount. That's garbage.

Write whatever you can. If staring at a word processor document does nothing for you, grab a notebook and a pen. Or open up Paint and start drawing silly doodles maybe? It all adds up eventually to whatever idea you're working on!

And if it's just not happening that day, well then it's not happening. And pushing yourself isn't going to do anything but accelerate the burnout. But in the interim, maybe watch a movie or tv show you've never seen before, or fire up a video game you left in the dust ages ago. Anything to stimulate your creativity while you're in your downtime.

One of my biggest struggles right now is...well I won't call it perfectionism exactly, but I find myself terrified to write anything at all sometimes because what if it turns out to be bad and I have to go back and delete it eventually anyway, or at least change it so radically that it feels like wasted time. But that's the thing, it's not wasted! It was still time spent flexing my creativity and making something, and maybe someday in the future it's an idea or a scene I can use somewhere else.

It's all about small acts and being realistic and seeing everything you do as additive.

Hope this all helps!

[alchemiasart]

Do over

I think the most powerful thing I ever learned to do was to let go of pieces of story that didn't fit.

For so many years (drafts, volumes), I felt like I was betraying the spirit of my story - especially if they occurred to me spontaneously - by editing the crucial bits. I periodically produced brilliant snippets of prose and dialogue and exchange, and if they didn't fit the actual framework of the story, I would often abandon the story altogether for fear of having to "kill off my beloved."

(This phrase, "killing your beloved", has never been about characters exclusively, it's been about the pieces of the story or script or scene that you adore but just don't belong.)

As I work on my July book (my challenge now updated to trying to put out a book a month for a year), a story that I started several years ago as the first of a hard science fiction series, I am absolutely chuffed that I have not suffered any bouts of crippling anxiety or table-flipping rage at having to change fundamental pieces of the plot.

Not to give too much away, but "Lost Ground" is about a generational space ark with a human colony that ends up decelerating too soon and will ultimately miss its destination completely. This coupled with a rash of missing biomass creates a double-whammy of disaster. The story is about solving both mysteries and finding an alternative for the colony.

Now, here's the behind-the-scenes part: I use a lot of filler names and roles when I'm still in the process of flushing a story out, but sometimes my writer-anchor doesn't really want to let me update those bits when it's time to make them more interesting. I bullied it into submission this time (pun intended), and came up with these excellent modifications:

Changed the suite of directors from a total sausage-fest to a legally mandated distributed gender range, including intersexed and nonbinary people. (I'd like to think that future is cast in progressive thinking.)

Altered the descriptions of moving around the ship to reflect what would actually happen: a ship that uses rotary acceleration to create artificial gravity is not going to have windows that show the stars moving away behind them; the spin of the Drum will spin the stars so that the same constellations occur again and again, changing very slowly over time.

I decided that I also needed some cultural representation and decided that the Director of Reclamation who's job it is to handle expired bodies should absolutely be a total Goth. What other culture would maintain the appreciation of the macabre and the respect for the rites of death better than they?

Instead of relying on exposition at weird places, I invented a manual that provides excerpts of policy so that there's context for the decisions that seem obvious to the characters but might seem a little weird to the reader.

The fun part about this is that it's just the first story out of at least six that I've penned so far, following the colony aboard the Zarathustra through their trials and tribulations. The cast is massive, though, so I expect that there will be a number of short stories and spin-offs even before I get to the actual sequels.

But, I couldn't do it at all if it weren't for suddenly being okay with a little literary euthanasia.

[diary-of-a-recovering-party-girl]

how to reconnect with your culture& country

hey, this is a guide for people who, through americanization or other processes disconnected with their culture, especially in countries with a low national/ cultural pride.

From 16 to 21, I disconneced myself a lot from my own culture, because I thought it was "silly" and "unneccessary". This accelerated a lot after I moved out and lived alone in a big, gentrified, very USA- oriented city. I pretended to myself that I didn't need my language, my culture, my country, my fellow citizens. I consumed all media in English, spoke to most of friends in English, wrote diary in English, lived as if I was living in the USA, a country I have never been to. I understand now that it harmed me and that I need this contact to my own country and language.

1.reconnecting with your language

language and culture are inseperable from each other. The first step I found very helpful is to move most of my life into my mother tongue again. This can be to

set all languages in my phone, PC etc. to your language

forcing myself to write (my very personal!) diary in my language

listen to music in my language instead of English. There is such a diverse music out there, almost any genre can be found in your language.

consume other media (movies, series, books) that is in your language.

follow more people on social media in your language than in English

2.reconnecting with a country's lifestlye

speak with your friends and family at home. often, we were the ones most extremely disconnecting from our culture. Especially older relatives annd friends that stayed in the city often stick with our country's traditions and lifestyle more closesly. Pay attention to their lifestyle and way of life.

spend more time with your local friends and family. Make it a point to regularly do activities with people that are more connected to your country's culture and pay attention to how these activities are different from what you'd regularly do.

If you feel comfortable, reflect on your feeling of disconnect together with friends and family. I found out by chance that one friend for my hometown felt the same which was very comforting and provides a base to rebuild this connection together.

Visit low- effort events in your language such as concerts or clubs with a focus on local music. Other events might be sports events, fun museums, local restaurants and readings

3.next level: participate in your culture's tradition

find out about local holidays and traditions. Think about the traditions you used to celebrate as a child or heard about from your relatives. Many traditions are still intact.

Cook one recipe of your country a week and taste it. Think about what you used to eat as a child and what your parents used to eat as children. Read about local traditions in cooking.

Read about your country's history, geography or culture. A good way to start are biographies and books about something you already know a bit about.

I'm still learning all of these steps myself and it is difficult to regain a sense of cultural identity, especially in a country that regards it as something negative. I can already feel a part of myself healing, though.

[clay-cuttlefish]

Turns out it's difficult to read comics and type while a cat is rubbing her face on your hands.

Question #10

I'm so annoyed that Vic hating hallucinogens gets ignored later. Disliking not knowing what's real is an interesting aspect of his early characterization where he's very set about knowing right from wrong, and a more general distaste for not being himself makes a lot of sense for someone with anger and dissociation issues.

It's sort of a shame that we don't get a lot of Tot's perspective on the things we learn about him but it works. Tot knows exactly who he is and has moved on with his life, it's Vic who's chasing pasts.

Oh hey, Batman lore.

This fucking guy. I think he's probably my favourite villain in the run because of how weird his motives are.

#11

Particle accelerator alchemy rules. Of course you have to insert a prime number sequence to accelerate particles fast enough to purify the human soul.

Vic seems to have been taking care of Tot for a while in that end sequence, it's very sweet.

#12

Always funny to me when I'm reminded that Vic is canonically extremely hot. I don't disagree, but he spends a lot of this run as a grittily-inked brick with a mullet, so.

The letters about this issue include a) O'Neil getting annoyed at the implication that Myra and Vic are at risk of getting AIDS and telling the letter writer to go learn about safe sex and b) Vic hotness opinions. Comic book fandom has always been Like This.

I have so much respect for people who had the confidence to write to an author to get their full name and address included in a thirst post about design changes.

Much as I like particle accelerator alchemy, these mundane industrial evils are where the series is at its best.

#13

Drowning motif spotted 👁️👁️

I particularly love this use of it, highlighting Vic's impulse to save people against both his former self's harshness and the apathy of most of the city.

Myra's political career is one of the best parts of the run. Yes! Have opinions about engineering neglect!

Tot's stupid "PROF" mug <3

#14

I'm not totally sold on the soldier plot, but Myra stepping into politics and learning to take the pressure is excellent, and the back-and-forth is very well paced.

#15

This one is incredibly racist. Don't bother.

Some of the pages are swapped in my copy. It's the only issue I have with this problem.

#16

The cop-punching montage is such an opener.

Myra's iconic in this. She looks great, she's hitting her stride, great stuff.

COWBOY TIME.

#17

The only good Watchmen crossover and I will die on this hill.

He just like me fr (having a comic book induced meltdown)

There's a Lot this issue, huh. Cowboys, helicopter murder, Alan Moore is a person in the DC universe, Green Arrow is there.

It's going to be so hard not to just use the "Rorschach sucks" panel as commentary for some of the later comics on my list. Clearly the compare and contrast was necessary, and it should be required for anyone who's writing the Question to keep it in mind.

[kimberlyannharts]

So......a little while ago we had the big milestone of MMPR reaching 100 issues.  Which I’m not going to lie - is a really big deal, and something worth celebrating.  Even if it’s technically cheating a bit because we’ve been splitting MMPR into two for the past few years.  But still!  It’s a big deal, so we’re going to talk about it now that everything’s done and the books are moving on to other things.  It’s Charge to 100 - Power Rangers edition!  

As I said in the Mighty Morphin post, the Power Rangers’ side of Charge to 100 is actually more of an event storyline, as everything it does leads up to #100′s story.  And in all honesty, this is because Charge to 100 and MMPR #100 is, in essence, the finale of the Power Rangers side of the main series; and not just because after this, the series rolled back into one monthly MMPR release.  The Mighty Morphin side contributes to #100, and the storyline calls back to events in MMPR, but ultimately it’s a Power Rangers story more than a Mighty Morphin story.  So how does that work out?  Well, um.

Summary time.  Jason decides looking for the fascist murderer that they let escape at full power isn’t worth wasting time on anymore so he and the Omegas put it upon themselves to tell the entire universe they’re their personal cops now.  Andros sees their message and enlists their help to free the last survivors of KO-35 and then get his Astro Megaship (with bonus twinksicle inside) back from his enemies.  Meanwhile Trini and Zack save and adopt an alien baby they name Journey, whose gimmick is they age super fast.  Jason and Andros save the KO-35ians and Jason’s condescending white boy attitude towards the genocide victim is interrupted by his mom we’ve never met dying.  Andros commits some war crimes and steals a Gold Omega morpher from the Safe Haven vault.  Some people fight aliens to cope so after the funeral the Omegas go to take back the Astro Megaship and Andros Pet Semetarys Zhane with the Gold Morpher, unleashing the Death Ranger.  Surprisingly the Death Ranger is evil and “kills” all the Omega Rangers.  Zombies.  The MMPRs once again need to clean up the Omegas’ mess so they fight and fight and Jason learns to let go of his mom I guess and Death Ranger goes bye-bye and Jason loses his connection to the Omega powers somehow so he leaves.  Trini becomes Omega Red and Kevor, one of the Harturian refugees from Ultimate Power, becomes Omega Yellow.  Due to their accelerated aging, Journey dies of old age.  THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As usual, the positives.  Because despite my distaste for the Omegas, there were some things I liked here!  While I didn’t think much of Journey the first time I read due to the reliance on family sitcom cliches and just waiting to get to the point of their inclusion, I liked them a lot more on a reread.  They had a fun personality and I welcome any kind of alien physiology in Power Rangers that makes them more than just a funny-looking human.  Their relationship with Kevor was cute, even if it only got an issue before it turned weird with the whole aging thing.  And of course the inclusion of a regular non-binary character, even if.....well.

The most memorable part of the event is undoubtedly Death Ranger, who caused a stir the moment they were first revealed to the public.  And let’s be honest, it’s because they’re a super cool concept!  A lost Omega ranger, with the powers to manipulate death itself; and more non-binary representation, to boot.  Like!!!!!!  They raise zombies!!!  Who doesn’t love a good zombie story?

well.

Beyond the initial cool concept, they’re...........boring.  I’m sorry guys.  They dropped the ball hard with this character.  Their main source of intrigue comes from their origin book, something that is barely referenced in the main series at all.  Obviously they want you to read the Unlimited book alongside the main series, to the point where it’s being included in the volume collections, but with how little the main series references their backstory, it makes you wonder what the point of telling their origin was in the first place.  Which is a shame because their backstory promises an evil but ultimately nuanced and tragic character with their own identity and past life, but the main series just delivers generic evil conqueror.  (Hmm, sounds familiar.)  It feels like such a waste of potential, since there was a lot to talk about here - they’ve technically outlived their old team.  Xi worked with them, yet the two never acknowledge each other.  (On Xi’s part, it’s established they refused to upload their old memories, but this doesn’t amount to anything but a personality change and again, Spa’ark doesn’t acknowledge them.)  The core of their struggles coming from how they were separated from their species’ hivemind and thus didn’t have “death” the way most beings do.  How they are ultimately motivated by wanting to help others find justice.  Nothing from that ever comes to play to make them seem more than just Evil Death Spirit who is too mean about wanting to do the right thing.  Their biggest claim to fame in the main series comes from their powers, which even then is confusing (they kill the Omegas to take control of them, yet when they’re defeated and their influence over the dead is gone, the Omegas....are still alive?  Jason gets stabbed clean through the chest and Zack is implied to have gotten mauled alive by a zombie Yale, and there are no consequences there?)

I understand Boom wanting to keep Death Ranger an open concept they can return to, especially considering their immediate infamy, but their defeat in this book amounts to the basic “you bested me, but I’ll be back!!!!!!!!” - something we saw with Alpha-1, of all villains.  So it just adds to the feeling of wasted potential - this character could have been SO much more and told a way better story than what they gave them.  Especially when over on MM we had a very intriguing story about someone trying to beat death......though I’m biased.  And I know recent solicits have confirmed apparently the Omegas’ newest mission is to search for Spa’ark but.....with both of their ties to the Morphin Grid destroyed, how is there anything left of them to search for? 

On that note, let’s talk about The Themes.  Obviously this story is ultimately about loss and the importance of treasuring every moment you have with your loved ones, because you don’t know when they’ll be taken away.  It’s something told through Andros losing his planet, Zack and Trini losing Journey, and Jason losing his mother.  The best way I can describe its execution is...........you can see it, but you can’t feel it.  Especially with Jason’s plotline, which is arguably meant to be the heart of it all with him becoming Death Ranger’s new primary host.  

I’ve complained about this a million times ever since the reveal but having Jason’s mother die hurts this more than anything.  And it’s not from lack of trying to make this work thematically; a lot of emphasis is given to how lot of the tragedy comes from how unexpected it was.  That Jason had given himself time to prepare for his father’s death, but not his mother’s.  And that’s fine.  What hurts it is that this apparently huge loss does not translate properly to the reader.  Jason’s mom was never, and I meant NEVER, a character before this; just someone we knew existed because Jason and his dad would talk about her sometimes.  And even then it’s implied in early GGPR that his mom was just as distant with him as his dad was.  There is nothing for the audience to connect here with beyond just basic-level “sad my mom died” in any kids’ movie (and even then, there’s at least ONE scene that establishes how important the mom is to the kid before she dies.)  And it’s taken even further when what you would think is the ultimate consequence of Jason’s grief, that he would choose to go along with the Death Ranger’s promises of bringing her back.................he doesn’t.

He says “I would give ANYTHING to see my mother again” literally right after he refuses to go along with the Death Ranger.  To contrast this, Andros going to these huge extremes to save Zhane and his people actually does translate to the audience that this loss was impactful in a way that......means something to the story.  (Which it should be, because Andros is a victim of genocide in an interplanetary war.  It bothers me that the book tries to act like Jason understands this, when their tragedies are nothing alike?)  And it hurts it even further during Jason’s trip through the Morphin Grid/mindscape or whatever and sees the illusion of his mother being alive; we already know he refused the power of the Death Ranger to bring her back, so where’s the tension in him being given the chance to stay with her if he stays with Death Ranger, or the character development that comes with him refusing Death Ranger’s power?  He already said no to it!!!!!!!  

It just boggles my mind that something that seemed so clearly set up - Jason suffers a sudden and tragic loss, in which part of his grief comes from taking his mother’s presence for granted under the assumption he’d always have her, and is presented with a chance to make it right - but he immediately says no.  So Death Ranger’s takeover of him has to be done through a sneak attack and forced consumption.  (It doesn’t help that the possession in general is just......Spa’ark puppeting their bodies and not a mutual combination of wills a la Eddie Brock and the Symbiote.)  In general, Andros’s choices carrying the Death Ranger storyline this much works to its detriment, because it robs the Omegas of really having agency throughout it.  Zack, Trini, and Yale in particular are presented as mindless, generic minions once they’re possessed, with the only indication they had more going on with Zombie Trini apparently holding back....something that’s only told to us via Journey and not shown. (Which is weird considering Zombie Zhane was able to talk and outright mocks Andros for fighting back???)  I’m not sure if Andros’s inclusion was an editor mandate or not, but I feel if you took him out and gave the basic drama of his storyline to the Omegas, it would feel more earned and give their choices real weight.  

(And honestly, having Jason’s dad die could still work for the theme - such as Jason believing that living it up on Safe Haven and neglecting his Earth responsibilities left his dad without the extra care he needed.  There’s a lot of emphasis on the Omegas treating Safe Haven like this perfect utopia, including a scene where Jason is acting extra flippant about how great they have it, that I thought for sure that’s where this was going.)

On Zack and Trini’s side of it, well.......I’m honestly not sure what to ultimately think of it.  As I said before a lot of it mostly serves to tie to the themes of spending time with loved ones because you don’t know how long you have with them, which makes it feel very self-contained as a whole, especially how Journey - whom is arguably the main character of the arc, even more than Zack and Trini - dies at the end without really contributing anything to story beyond lending an extra hand in the final battle.  Outside of that it really just feels like a basic funny adoption story (complete with that stupid “Dad hates my boyfriend” trope that is honestly out of character for Zack) that I don’t really want to call filler, but it can feel like it was just something to give Zack and Trini something to do while Jason and Andros do all of the important stuff.  Zack and Trini don’t really develop as characters (Trini becoming Red happens offscreen and she's been teased as a new leader long before this), and their relationship doesn’t develop into anything more significant than it was before despite them being....you know.....PARENTS (and this was written way before we knew Minh existed so “oh well Zack/Trini isn’t endgame in the show” is no excuse.)  It was a bit of a wasted opportunity to not have their possession via Death Ranger tie into their own griefs about the possibility of losing Journey or how they miss their own families (because apparently “fear of losing their loved ones” doesn’t apply to the ones they left behind on Earth.) 

Yale is also there.  And like.  They do stuff with Jason and Andros?  But it really shows how they’re not so much a character than a mascot when after they become a ranger you immediately bring in three new characters for the Omegas to bounce off of.  And as for Kevor, the new Omega Yellow......well.......after a strong introduction where he rightfully points out the problems with the Omegas and Safe Haven, it’s never brought up again (a common scene in the Omega books) and he just becomes Journey’s friend/kind of love interest before they die and he gets the Yellow morpher offscreen.  It’s......extremely forced, and disappointing that his character development goes from “criticizing the Omegas to becoming one of them,” especially when we don’t even see that happen.  He and Zack don’t even resolve their arc-long tension.  It’s less “yeah, he deserved the powers over anyone” and more “well, Journey’s dead and Arkon’s old, so I guess he’s the last named Safe Haven character we have left to fill the suit.”

Meanwhile Kiya is still in that fucking jar.  

(Also in general it sucks that pretty much everyone in the fandom was assuming Journey would become a ranger, giving us the possibility of another non-binary character who’s an active ranger that isn’t an animal or robot.  Instead the book ends with both Journey AND Spa’ark gone.  Thanks, guys.)

I think the harshest criticism I can give #100 is it doesn’t feel like a huge milestone event of MMPR, despite claims from other readers that it celebrates ALL of the MMPR comics and not just Ryan’s run.  Like Eltarian War before it, it’s a finale that belongs solely to the Omegas; specifically for Jason.  Sure the MMPRs come in to help and land the final blow on Death Ranger, but it’s once again relegating them to just an extra pair of hands rather than characters with personal stakes.  The only time we really get a “celebration” of anything else is through Jason’s little trip through the Morphin Grid, and that involves.....a page where he’s with the originals on the Megazord, a page of the scene where all the rangers gathered back in Shattered Grid, and one last page of quick flashes of events mostly from Necessary Evil.  I know Ranger Slayer, Ari, and Remi’s inclusion back in Necessary Evil’s finale had its own problems, but at least there it gave a better impression of the previous eras of comics contributing to the big milestone’s victory.  And in general I just don’t understand why it only led to Jason’s departure when all three of them retiring their powers to members of Safe Haven would have felt like the story encompassed all three of them rather than Jason - because really, even his departure feels lackluster because it’s literally described as “just a break” that’s more or less forced onto Jason rather than an ending he chooses.  

Yes yes I know this is most likely referring to how he’ll eventually become Zeo Gold but you can still foreshadow that while making it clear Jason learned something from this whole experience.  And besides, this could be twisted into him possibly returning to the OMEGAS, which would be completely shit writing.  Not even going to be nice about that.  It would be shit. 

And the worst part of it is not having ALL the Omegas retire is it apparently leading to one book switching perspectives between two separate teams again......because THAT went over so well in Necessary Evil.........

[lemonsunset-bookshop]

The Lonely Hearts Club

by Miko

When Lewis Snart died in the line of duty, the city mourned a fallen hero - and his son Leonard said good riddance to bad rubbish. He's spent his life trying to show the world what a real hero looks like, and takes pride in being a better cop than his old man could ever have hoped to be. If being driven and ambitious means he's left alone and lonely off the job, at least he's making his mark on the world. Then the particle accelerator blows up, and the dark matter changes everything about life in Central City. As a cop, there's only so much Len can do to protect his city, but Captain Cold has a chance to make a true difference. Since the day his father was arrested, Barry Allen has struggled against the prejudice of being a killer's son. People whisper that apples don't fall far from the tree and nothing good can grow from a bad seed. Though he carries a debt that can never be repaid for the lives of his father's victims, he's also learned the hard way - the world will never give him anything that he doesn't take for himself. With his powers, the Flash is an unstoppable thief. Of course, an easy job is no fun, and the chance to play with Captain Cold makes it even more interesting.

This is actualy a two part series I turned into a single book. It seems crazy, but it works well. The cover was nerve wracking, but it's so great! I did a wrap around in red, printed out the title, and then covered it with faux leather cut on my Circut. Very strong Reverse Flash feels, which is appropriate. I'd had the Cricut maybe two weeks when I did this, but I knew I wanted to try this. It looks amazing, despite that annouying stain. And then I used broken hearts as details and a page break; but as a cute detail the end page has a whole heart.

This story put me through the wringer. It is a thriller, bloody and scary, but also acheingly sweet. Barry is just completely in love and Len is clueless, they're amazing. The tension build is fantastic, the mystery and struggle thrilling, and the finally amazing. It is a master piece, but don't expect to feel rested afterwards.