#I always wonder how many are directly from July

[revenantghost]

I do love how Trigun shows us Vash's scars, and they're always absolutely horrific and unthinkable--and then they make it worse but hardly giving us a direct explanation for any of them. Like most stories out there will take time to lament the tales of the worst wounds in excruciating detail, but no, the writers here have got it right. Letting my imagination whip up everything Vash has possibly suffered through and let himself suffer through is way worse

[chronicbeans]

Wally and a Puppeteer Reader (part 7)

Puppet boi gets to meet the family oh boy-

TW: Derealization, Stalking, Idol Worship, Obsessive Behaviors

🍎 It is such an out of body experience for Wally. He's not only in your home, with his benevolent puppeteer, but he gets to watch himself on the television. He gets to sit next to the tiny version of whatever creature you are; the one he saw so many times from his world. The small one of your kind that, no matter how much he approached, never seemed to get closer. He gets to sit on the couch the tiny creature sat on all those times, to hear what you always did in the room behind it, and to experience a day in this little household of yours.

🍎 He's sitting between you and the tiny one, looking ahead at the screen. The words "Welcome Home" flashes on the screen, before he sees himself. Words that he remembers speaking, things that he remembers doing... It is like watching a memory of an entire day from a different perspective. Looking at the screen, there are times where he thinks to himself "Oh, I remember that!" "Oh, Poppy was so wonderful in that play! I remember when she sang that song!" "Julie always did like that paddle ball of hers!" It was a rush of emotions. This whole experience is the ultimate proof that none of his world was ever real. It was, and still is, all just a show. Like the ones Wally himself watched as a kid.

🍎 If only they were here now. If only they could see the truth. Julie was so close to giving in the last time he talked to her. Barnaby was starting to think about it all, too. Oh well... he'll have to talk to them when he gets back. He is surprised that he hasn't been dragged back into his world, yet. This is the longest he has stayed here, in your world.

🍎"(N/N), how is Wally both here and on the screen?" The small creature asks, looking up to Wally's beloved puppeteer. A nickname? You have a nickname? Do you want him to call you (Y/N) or (N/N)? He'll call you anything you want, as long as you don't leave him, again. Do you just want to be called "Puppeteer"? He'll do it. Anything to make you stay. Just stay close. Stay with him. Hold him again. Look at him.

🍎"Well, Henry, you see... umm... Wally films these shows for you to see! The first time you see it, Wally is talking to you directly. Then, afterward, whenever you see it on the TV, it's a recording. He does it so that you always know that he cares about you, even when he can't be there himself." Nice save, (Y/N)... Or (N/N)... Or Puppeteer... Whatever you wish to be called. He loves that you are trying to preserve the little creature's wonder. That's the best thing a puppet can have, so it is probably the best thing one of your kind can have! Wonder keeps you happy and helps grow a healthy mind, filled with creativity! That's Wally's motto, at least.

🍎 Then, when you ask him "Right, Wally?" He almost wants to nod his head on his own accord, but he lets you do it for him. He feels you gently place your hand on his back, holding the fabric of his blue cardigan, subtly pushing him back and forth so it looks like he is nodding. He loves these moments. It makes him feel like he is actually doing something that has an impact on the real world. Everything he does in his own world doesn't have much of an impact, after all, due to not being real. At least, that's what he thinks. How could something that isn't real impact reality?

🍎"Wow! That's so cool! (N/N), can I go show Wally my room? If we're going to have a sleepover, I want him to know what my room looks like! I can show him all my toys and drawings, even that picture of dad!" He hears you chuckle in response to Henry's excitement, which almost causes him to shudder. Does he make you chuckle like that, sometimes? He hopes he does. That would mean that he is being a good puppet. Puppets are supposed to make their puppeteers happy, right? "Of course, Henry. Just know that Wally is probably going to be a little quiet. He has been very excited about coming over, so he wants you to teach him all about our home. That means that he is going to be very quiet as he listens."

🍎 With that, he is suddenly grabbed and swung over Henry's shoulder, an excited squeal leaving the small creature's mouth. He watches as you disappear around the corner as the small one takes him upstairs. He hears you mutter a soft "Oh, Henry... He is always excited to show people his art." So, this Henry goes by 'he'? He is then placed on a bed, leaned against the headboard, as Henry begins to ramble and point at things. He points to a picture of another odd creature, who he calls dad (whatever a dad is), saying that he passed away (whatever that means), which is why his mama (whatever a mama is) works all day. He seems to like his dad very much, as well as his mom and (N/N). Henry seems to also love the color blue very much, as his bedroom walls, bedsheets, and pillow all seem to be blue. His walls are also covered in spots, much like Barnaby's fur. He scurries around, before picking up a large stack of sketchbooks and placing them in front of Wally.

🍎"I like to draw, just like you! I am so happy to show you my drawings! Lookie! I even drew you! You are my... uhh... what was the word mama told me... Ah! You are my inspiration!" Flipping through, there are pictures of Wally, Barnaby, Poppy, Julie, Howdy, Frank, Sally, Eddie, and even Home. There are also some of Henry, and an unknown creature, like his beloved Puppeteer. Henry points to it, saying "That's my mama, Angela! She doesn't show up at home until late at night, but I know she loves me! She said she is out so late, working to help me and (N/N), because she loves us very much."

🍎 Henry then turns his eyes towards Wally, causing Wally to come up with an idea. He just needs to hear what the odd, little creature has to say, first. "Wally, do you have somebody you love very much? Someone who you work for because you love them? You don't have to answer. I know you want to learn more. I am just curious if you can explain why mama is out so often..." Perfect.

🍎 Wally, for the first time since entering his puppeteer's house... (Y/N)'s house... (N/N)'s house... lets himself speak. He tilts his head, sitting up straighter. "I love (Y/N) very much. I work for them all day. Well... We work for each other. I think it is similar to how your mama works all day." Henry seems to gasp, before asking in disbelief "You and (N/N) work together? How so? You love (N/N)?" Wally giggles, finding the opportunity to finally teach a willing learner to be exciting, instead of him being taught. He goes on, holding his arms out as he says "(Y/N)... Is a puppeteer! Without (Y/N), I can't move. Well, at least on set at the place where I film my days for you lovely... Viewers... To see! After all, I am talking to you right now, so it is clear that I can move and speak outside on my own. I am a proud puppet, with your lovely (Y/N) being the one who helps me."

🍎 Henry's eyes are practically glowing with wonder. It's just what Wally needs. A happy little creature, filled to the brim with wonder. If he is correct, he will be like Julie and go and tell everyone about the things he was told. All the things that fills him with wonder must be shared, one of which being that Wally cares about you.

🍎 Wally knows that he can't let you take the wheel forever. He needs to show you that he can move and talk on his own, soon. If he is to be a loyal puppet, he needs to be honest and tell you how he has, unfortunately, broken his role a little bit. Then, he needs to tell you how it isn't entirely a bad thing! You still have complete control, because he'll do anything you want, with the added bonus of you not having to tire yourself out by controlling his every single movement. Wally just wants to wait, after all, he needs to make sure he makes a good first impression with his movement. He still needs some more practice when it comes to walking. He can't trip on the first real meeting!

[savelockwoodandco]

It's been a year of campaigning and I can't help but feel despondent about the chances of the show even though I know these things take time. I know I'm not the only one as well. I think it's the fact we don't have any sort of sign from anyone official that any of what we're doing is helping. Any real sign of major progress. Just hints and after a while you begin to wonder if it's just our own confirmation bias. There's no clue if any progress is being made at all. A part of me wonders that they're too afraid to tell us any bad news. Another part of me is still hopeful that no news is good news. Idk. I just wish we had anything concrete, some sort of acknowledgement, that we're not screaming into the void and it's not hopeless still and that we're somewhat closer to getting the show saved now than we were last year. Right now its a struggle to hope and I fear its all the more frustrating that situations like last year's strikes probably ended up causing a lot of internal industry changes we may not even be able to account for or that may be affecting how long this process takes. It feels like we know less now than we did last year. Do you have anything to shed some light on this from a different perspective? And if you're feeling sad yourself, all the hugs from me to you and Twitter Mod 🫂. If you don't have any optimism you don't need to give hope to us too since that's an unfair responsibility to drop on you.

Hi Anon! Thanks for the message and for the hugs for both of us!

It's amazing to think it's been a year of campaigning -- us mods have had so many things happen to us since we started this blog, and we're sure it's the same for many of you.

We were pretty sure we'd start to see a sort of 'settling' effect on the enthusiasm for this campaign as the year mark came, and sure enough here it is! That's not a problem or unexpected -- it's hard to keep up efforts and enthusiasm over a longer stretch of time! Having been in many, many campaigns before (successful and otherwise), we're prepared for the long haul, but we totally understand the sort of despondent feelings that come from time to time, especially as the campaign goes on.

A year, in the scheme of things, is really not that long for a campaign all things considered. It feels incredibly long sometimes, sure, but with all the legalities, scheduling issues, rights issues, and everything else that comes with modern TV, it's a pretty short time frame. The hints, good things, and continued momentum from the fanbase and from those directly involved from the show are always heartening, and happen with regularity -- but can feel like very little sometimes. We always recommend taking breaks when burnout starts, and that holds even more true the longer the campaign stretches.

Ultimately, us mods are still as optimistic as we were when we started this blog almost exactly a year ago. There's no 'set' timeframe for renewal/saving efforts -- it can be two months, it can be two years, it can be even longer. Just look at Julie and the Phantoms, whose rights were just barely released by Netflix -- a long time coming (out of Netflix's own pettiness, to be sure), but that's 3 years after its cancellation. The wheels of TV grind slowly, but they do grind on.

As we stand, with having had multiple events with the cast/crew of Lockwood and Co, with Jonathan Stroud, and with more to come -- as well as the outward support of both Agents Stroud and the love CF has for the show, we see no reason to give up the fight. No news is definitely good news -- if there was no chance, they'd tell us flat-out -- and for the time being we're continuing on with the same fighting spirit and enthusiasm that we've had for a year.

Take breaks, take heart, and keep noticing the little things. We're here for encouragement and support whenever y'all need us!

[fractualized]

hi!! i hope you don’t mind me asking this but i recently read harleen (specifically issue 1) and wondered if you might know of any other comics that have an outsider perspective of batjokes? thanks !!

I don't mind at all, anon! I also enjoy in-universe outside perspectives on Batman and Joker's relationship (and I've included quite a bit of it in fic). Harleen #1 does have a pretty great one:

The most common commentary on Batman and Joker from other characters is the ol' "why haven't you killed him yet?!" but that reflects more frustration than any inkling of the connection between Gotham's most famous nemeses. So with the help of @distort-opia, I wrangled panels from a couple dozen comics that show characters having a better (even if incomplete) understanding of what the heck is going on there.

Many of these may already be familiar if you've been around batjokes fandom long enough. Regardless, spoilers abound!

I've ordered these (mostly) in cover date order.

June 1996 - The Batman Chronicles #5

This is a flashback that takes place shortly after The Killing Joke. Barbara is understandably bitter about being fridged, and it's clear that officers who saw Batman and Joker laughing together have spread the word, because heyyyyy wtf?

October 1996 - Catwoman (1993) #38

Selina knows releasing other rogues is a good distraction; Batman is always more concerned about Joker than her.

May 1997 - Batman: Batgirl

Before this, Joker was firing his gun willy-nilly, hitting his own men, and he hit Batman accidentally. Barbara doesn't seem to think he fully understands the consequences of killing Batman, especially given the surprise he shows when Batman goes down.

Five years later, this story gets retold (with a worse rendition of Joker's fantastic oufit):

July 2002 - DC First: Batgirl/Joker 

In this version, Barbara more actively realizes she needs to get at Joker by laughing at him, because he's caught up in a reality where Batman is the only other real person. (Not sure if this is the first comic to posit that idea, but it has shown up elsewhere.)

February 1999 - Catwoman (1993) #65

Joker has been terrorizing Catwoman for Batman-related reasons for a few issues, and she knows that saying she's killed Batman will devastate him. (You know, the more stories like this I see, the more I see Tom King actually didn't have too far a walk to jokerize Selina.)

August 2001 - Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #144

Alfred has noticed that Joker's presence affects Bruce's behavior. 

September 2003 - Batman: Gotham Knights #43

This take from Barbara is set before TKJ and meant to foreshadow (aftershadow?) it. Here she shows a better understanding of Batman and Joker's relationship than Bruce does.

October 2003 - Outsiders (2003) #3

Luthor knows just how to get under Joker's skin.

March 2011 - Streets of Gotham #19

Hush also knows how to get under Joker's skin.

March 2011 - Gotham City Sirens #19 

Selina and Harley are thinking more about themselves here, but it's not hard to connect the dots. Joker is part of the criminal morass that Bruce is focused on fighting, and Joker's focus is constantly on how to best the Batman.

November 2011 - Batman: Noël

Bruce has been told that Catwoman has information about the Joker's whereabouts. Note that Selina isn't saying she's aware that Joker is up to something right now; she implies that Batman is always thinking about Joker. It's a fact she can bank on.

May 2013 - Injustice: Gods Among Us #4 (digital release #11) 

Perhaps the most infamous example. This is related to the "why won't you kill him?" trope, but Clark's accusation takes it further by directly saying it's because Bruce loves fighting Joker more than he loves his friends and family.

Clark says something similar about Joker being Bruce's playmate in another comic:

August 2014 - Adventures of Superman (2013) #14 (digital release #41

Even outside of the Injustice universe, Clark knows Bruce's priorities are out of whack when it comes to Joker.

January 2013 - Catwoman (2011) #14

Selina just stating the obvious here, again after a now-faceless Joker has tormented her for Batman-related reasons for a couple issues.

April 2016 - Batman (2011) #49

Heartbreaking example from Alfred here. He watched Bruce's obsessiveness and understood that Bruce, consciously or subconsciously, saw dying with Joker as his destiny. He probably suspects that Joker didn't really die either and knows they're going to end up back on the same track.

April 2016 - Batman: Europa #4

These panels sum up Europa. Bane, always looking for fresh ways to break the Bat, saw Joker as a clear catalyst (even if he had to make up a convoluted plot to make Batman see it first).

January 2017 - All-Star Batman #4 (backer)

Duke is pretty much repeating Bruce's soliloquy from Death of the Family here, so he's not saying anything Bruce doesn't really know, but he doesn't know that Bruce knows. lol Interestingly, this happens before Dark Days: The Casting, in which Duke watches Joker demonstrate his love in a more positive way by trying to stop Bruce from blundering into everything that happens in Dark Nights: Metal and beyond.

January 2018 - Batman: White Knight #2

White Knight is problematic from a batjokes standpoint (and other standpoints!) but poor Harley presents another infamous outsider perspective here.

October 2018 - Harley/Gossamer Special

She's right and right to say it!

August 2020 - Birds of Prey (2020) 

This take is interesting in how it posits that Joker already felt unfulfilled by Batman by the time he met Harley and that she was kind of a rebound.

August 2020 - The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

This is from "The Last Smile," in which Harley reveals Joker's recurring nightmare about Batman mocking him as he's put to death. Joker didn't picture Harley appearing to save him, but perhaps he felt like Batman's respect was "saving" him all the long.

September 2020 - Batgirl (2016) #47

Nooooo! That's the thing he's sensitive about!

April 2021 - Batman/Catwoman #3

I have… a lot of thoughts about Batman/Catwoman, few positive, but if you can push past the muddling storytelling technique (and the batcat if that's not your thing), Selina has a lot to say about Bruce and Joker's relationship, like in this and the following example.

May 2021 - Batman/Catwoman #4

Catwoman describes how Batman treats all his rogues and then equates that with how he treats his lovers. How much do you know, Selina? Who is Joker's main competition?? It's Harvey, isn't it?!

May 2022 - Detective Comics (2016) #1058 (backer)

Even newbie F-level antagonists like The Forgotten know what's up!

Well, that was a lengthy but surely not exhaustive account of what other DC characters think about the vibes between the Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime. (May they be bewildered for years to come!) I hope you spotted some comics that caught your interest, anon.

[goodboylupin]

Better late than never! Welcome, one and all, to

The 4th Candy Hearts Challenge

A fun, stress-free Wolfstar mini-fest!

(If you remember how this goes , feel free to skip my introductory spiel and check for new rules!)

They’re sold by many companies and known by many names: Candy Hearts, Conversation Hearts, Sweethearts, and Love Hearts. Whatever the brand and whatever you call them, they’re the signature sweet of the season. Sure, you could buy your beloved a box of chocolates, but that’s an option any time of year! Good luck finding these bad boys in November!

Not that candy hearts are bad! Sure, they’re kinda chalky… and they taste stale no matter how fresh you bought them… but it’s not about the taste with candy hearts, it’s about the pastel, the experience, and above all else: the sayings! Who doesn’t remember going through a pack with friends, trying to find the kookiest message? Digging through a box to find one that was just the right level of romantic to give a certain special someone? (And maybe the heartbreak when you received one in turn where the message was just a big, pink smudge?)

Now, candy hearts have been around for a long time. And with a constant rotation of messages so we always got fun variety in a box, they’ve had a lot of sayings.

Through a great deal of internet sleuthing (and a little creativity on my part), I’ve collected over seven hundred of them.

Some are a little raunchy (TEASE ME), and some are downright rude (EW NO). They range from classic (BE MINE) to contemporary (SWIPE RIGHT) to were-at-one-point-contemporary (FAX ME). Some of them are, quite frankly so hyper specific it’s a wonder they made it into circulation at all (ME JULIE BEST MUM).

And they are all, even the weird ones, ripe with potential as fic prompts!

The way this mini-fest works is simple:

From 12:01am EST Feb 1 until 11:59pm EST March 1, drop me an ask containing these emojis: 🍬💕

If you don't want to send an ask from your main tumblr account (or don't have a tumblr account), you can do so anonymously. However, you must include the ao3 handle or tumblr sideblog from which you plan to complete the challenge.

I will shake my Great Big Box of Candy Hearts and pull out a unique candy heart for you and only you!

With your message in hand, create whatever that candy heart inspires and your own heart desires! Fanfic, art, graphics, playlists, head canons, shit posts, interpretive dances, cosplay, meta essays, it’s all great as long as its central focus is on Wolfstar, the relationship between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black!

You can either directly quote your candy heart message in your work or use it as a broader inspiration.

You are allowed to use the same candy heart as inspiration for multiple unrelated works and submit all of them to the fest.

You do not need a beta before submitting your work, but I do encourage you to get one. I want this to be as stress-free an event as it can possibly be, and in my personal experience, it reduces stress to have someone else look over your completed work for at least spelling and grammar so you don’t have to reread your own stuff and psych yourself out before posting. If you don’t have any fandom friends with whom you feel comfortable sharing your fanfiction, there are also online resources to find a friendly stranger (including, hopefully, our discord server — see rule 17). But if ultimately, you’d rather be your own editor, I certainly won’t reject your work!

Include the following caption at the beginning of the tumblr post or AO3 beginning notes: For @goodboylupin's Candy Hearts Challenge. My candy heart prompt was ____. I will not reblog your work or allow it in the collection until you have included the caption.

If posting on tumblr, please make sure the @-tag of your caption is working so I get a notification! It should show up on its own automatically as you type. Also tag the work with #RSCandyHearts, preferably within the first five tags.

If posting on AO3, post your work to the collection and tag it with goodboylupin's RS Candy Hearts Challenge (this tag will show up in the suggestions when you start typing it).

As long as the rules have been followed, I will reblog every work on Tumblr, and leave a kudos on every work on AO3. (If I haven't done so on your work and you see I've been active on this blog, then both the @-notification and #RSCandyHearts tag failed. Send me an ask with a link!)

If, after completing your first work, you want another helping of candy hearts, that’s more than welcome! Since I don’t want anyone to get a sugar crash, there is a two-day wait period between submitting a work and getting a second (or third or fourth or wherever you are) candy heart.

If you find you cannot come up with anything for your prompt, you can drop out and send a new ask to get a different candy heart. However, you need to give it an honest effort for at least one week before I give you a new one.

Works are expected by March 15, but this is a low-stakes, self-posting challenge! If you need more time, just message me or drop an ask. And if you want to drop out, that’s totally fine! I’ll even delete your first ask where you requested a candy heart if you prefer. I only need to know for the sake of my own record-keeping. Let’s all just be honest, considerate, and try to have a good time!

If you need a really long extension: Your candy heart is yours until January of next year, at which point, if I haven't heard back from you with an update or request for extension in the past few months, your prompt is going back in the Great Big Box of Candy Hearts so somebody else can have a go at it. The AO3 collection closes at the same time.

I will keep a masterlist of works pinned on my blog until at least March 22.

There's a discord! Feel free to join to discuss your prompts, your progress, your love of Wolfstar, or just to have another little circle in your sidebar.

Over the past two challenges, there have been a small handful of people who requested a candy heart, did not create anything and did not speak to me any further to tell me they were dropping out or having trouble. I work hard to make everyone a custom graphic and keep this fest running smoothly, therefore: Any creators with multiple instances of ghosting are suspended from getting another candy heart until next challenge.

Since this is not the usual timeframe for #RSCandyHearts, I'd love it if you could reblog this post to signal boost!

My ask box is open now to receive your candy heart requests 🍬💕

[chubsonthemoon]

Binderary 2023 Wrap-Up!

Binderary 2023 is over, and I come bearing some stats, thoughts, and a compiled list of my QOTD answers! :3

Stats:

Books planned: 7

Books completed: 7/7 (woohoo!)

Fandoms: 3 (Yuri on Ice, Harry Potter, and The Sandman)

Total word count: 340,654

List of books (from left to right):

Maybe sprout wings by @moorishflower

Flower King by @landwriter

The Politeness of Princes by @aboxthecolourofheartache

Uncertain Results (also by Box!)

I'm caught inside every open eye (also also by Box :3)

Not pictured (on account of them being given away as gifts!):

My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie (aka xxxbloodyrists666xxx) (community typeset by @renegadepublishing)

Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches by @kazliin (typesetting by @ziezie13 <3)

QOTD answers under the cut (and these are copied directly from our DW post, just with added tumblr @'s!)

1. What does Renegade mean to you?

Renegade has, in all honesty, probably changed the course of my life! That's not hyperbole--it's had such a huge influence on my hobbies, my friendships, my academic trajectory, even my career. I was still in undergrad when I found ASH's post on fanbinding, and I was very lost as to what the next steps would be. And like so many others experienced, the pandemic only made things even murkier and more isolating. Then I found ASH's manifesto in June 2020, worked up the courage to join the Discord in July 2020, and found a community of like-minded weirdos who were just as passionate (if not even more so!) about their favorite stories, and a craft that I fall a little bit more in love with every day (well, most days. fuckin printers man XD). I wrote my honors thesis thanks to Renegade; I've made lifelong friends thanks to Renegade; I have my current job, in a field I love, thanks to Renegade. (My first Rocky Horror Picture show at Havencon 2022? All thanks to Renegade :D) This really feels like my forever fandom home-- even when I jump around from fandom to fandom, there's always a wonderful and supportive community to fall back on. In short, I really love it here, I'm so pleased with what we've done so far, and I can't wait to see where we go! ❤️

2. Favorite Fic

As everyone else who answered this, this question is IMPOSSIBLE. However, if you put a gun to my head and told me to answer right now, I'd have to say Tell Me About the Big Bang (my binding of it here!) It's one of the fics that has touched me most deeply and which has probably had the greatest influence on my writing. It was one of the first fics I'd ever bound, and I really wanted to rebind it to see how far I've come!

3. One thing you'd like to learn more about

GOD SO MANY THINGS. Backing! Headband techniques. Chisel trimming. Edge gilding. Tiny books. More advanced Cricut techniques. More cohesive and professional-looking graphic design. This hobby is really a dozen hobbies in a trench coat, and there's so much to explore.

4. Paper!

For my textblocks, I use 20 lb. cream Hammermill paper! I order it in 11"x 17" and get it cut in half for short grain, like a lot of other folks at Renegade. Recently I've started experimenting with quarto-sized Legal (8.5"x 14")and fell in love. I also want to try a bunch of the other paper that folks have suggested (looking at @robins-egg-bindery Mohawk Via o.o). For my endpapers, I usually use scrapbook paper from those scrapbook paper packs you can get at Michaels and Joann's (and when they're on sale...WOOF)

5. Cloth!

DUO BOOKCLOTH MY BELOVED. God I wish I'd gotten in on the Renegade group order - but ah well. Big fan of making my own though! There are just so many options to choose from, so it really expands what you can do (again: a dozen hobbies and crafts in a trench coat)

6. The Glue War

LOVE me some PVA! I know that it gives you less time to do things, but I get impatient XD. Plus it's cheap and easy to find and ready to use right out of the bottle, which is great. I've tried my hand at making starch paste + PVA with very mixed (ha!) results, although I had a wonderful time with some methyl cell that @simply-sithel gifted me at Havencon last year <3 So mayhaps will have to buy more of that for a future project!

I also love my Cricut Explore 2, Charlotte! She holds up very well, although I think she's due for a blade refill soon. I've just been setting my pressure higher and higher LOL

7. Machines

Love my Epson ecotank! I recently bought it--for the first two years I was going to my local print shop because the quality was great and I had a discount card. Unfortunately the discount card eventually expired, so I decided to bite the bullet and get my own printer. I really love it! I didn't want to have to deal with laser and printing in color can get pricey--the cartridges are just so goddamn expensive, although I do think laser prints in higher quality. Mayhaps a future purchase, because I'd really like to experiment with foiling!

8. Favorite binding technique

Ooh this one is interesting! I know which part of the process I enjoy the most, which is sewing! Kettle stitch my beloved. ALTHOUGH I am a sucker for the French link too--it's just so pretty! And we just had a wonderful workshop put on last week by @queercore-curriculum on their...embroidered binding/long-stitch binding (??? I don't know if there's an official name for it yet), which I LOVE. Glueless bindings are SO cool and I would love to experiment more with them.

9. Your best tip/trick

Ooh! Hmmm...I'd say: never bind while you're super tired/hungry LOL. I've made many a preventable mistake very late at night because I wanted to get something cased in or glued before bed when I probably should've waited till morning XD That being said, on the flip side I think you should never be afraid to experiment! Go hog wild!!! Use those glitter pens!! Try out that fancy silk for your endbands!! Try that new binding style! And if you fuck up, remember that's okay too! These are handmade objects and those mistakes are proud proof of that, and of your journey as a fanbinder. Stick 'em in the channel on the Discord, laugh and (maybe cry a little XD) about it, and then keep going. tldr; ya live and learn!

10. Favorite Detail

Ooh, this one's hard! I love leaving little Easter eggs in my designs. I'd say my favorite is putting my maker's mark on things! My imprint is Moonham Press (a fun mix of my usernames, chubsthehamster and chubsonthemoon), and the logo includes a little crescent moon. I'd actually been binding for about two years when I finally made the imprint--I used to think that it was...idk, kind of weird to put myself in the book? Like I was taking away from the story inside it. But then I got to thinking--well, hey, I'm the one who made this book, right? If nothing else, putting my mark on it tells someone who may pick it up one day that I was connected to this story. Some conversations with some folks at Renegade during Havencon 2022 also helped me embrace this. So these days I put my imprint logo in the typesetting, and I also put it on the cover somewhere! My favorite spots are either on the spine, between the title and author name, or on the back cover, in the bottom left corner :D

11. Spines

Spines are the bane of my existence. Haha, jk. They're mostly just tedious, since they're one of the only parts of the process that still require precise measurement (I've cut templates for everything else by now, and I use my guillotine to cut boards, so that goes super fast). For my thicker books I use Bristol board; I actually still use the same sheets I bought in 2020 when I first started binding--I didn't know how much I would really need so I think I ordered four massive sheets which will probably last me for ten years LOL. For my thinner books, I use Davy board, which is a pain to cut but gives the book a really nice board feel. And for my paperbacks, the spine is just the cover, which I make out of kraft paper for the backing + the decorative paper (usually scrapbook paper or something I've designed and printed)

12. Mistakes/Fails

Ooh BOY are there many. My most recent was my experiment with making a hardback quarto letter. I made the hinge waaaaay too small so when I tested the case the textblock was sticking out of it LOL. But I've been pretty lucky--this is only the second case I've had to remake in my time as fanbinder *KNOCKS ON WOOD*, but my printer fuck-ups when I was trying to figure out how to print on legal sized paper (since my printer doesn't duplex) probably make up for the luck I've had in the case department XD. Casing in, though--I think I've had maaaaaybe...two or three case-ins where I was completely happy with the results. A large part of this is because my guillotine doesn't cut completely straight, so my squares are never even LOL. But hey, I'm not getting paid for this, and I'm having fun, so eh.

13. Process

Ooh, interesting! My process has remained largely unchanged--I think the only thing that has really changed is now the frequency at which I print. I used to print at a print shop, so I'd make typesets in large batches--usually two to four books, sometimes more (I think the most I've done at a time is five?), and I'd make a day out of it. Now that I have my printer at home though, I can do things in smaller batches! I can also test print things, so I've been able to get a lot more experimental with my books sizes and my covers. Everything else has remained largely the same--the first book I did I typeset in MS Word, but everything after that I've all done in Affinity Publisher. I typeset > print > bind > take pictures! I really like how different each step is (like I said, twelve different hobbies in a trench coat), so there's always something different to do if I get bored. My favorite parts are probably designing covers and sewing the signatures!

14. Storage solutions

OUGH. I have one of those rollaway drawer thingies for all my tools, a dozen scrapbook paper containers, several large baskets for my vinyl and cloth, a hanging stand for my larger sheets of decorative paper, a standing desk which holds my Cricut and printer (a few of the aforementioned vinyl baskets are under this desk too), another rollaway basket thingy that holds my printing paper and my press (also under the standing desk), another desk which holds both my two guillotines and cutting mats (and under that desk are all my scrapbook paper containers and Cricut mats), and a final third desk where I keep all my sewing stuff and where I do my typesetting and other sitting-down parts of the process. And of course my shelves for all my books! This doesn't really give a sense of where everything is, but it's actually fairly organized, and for the most part I know where everything is (except for my FUCKING bone folder god that thing is always ending up in places I do not remember putting it XD)

15. Your Workspace

Ah, see my answer to 14! I'll probably upload a photo here later XD

16. Dust jackets and covers

Oooh, I've never made a dust jacket before--I don't think my printer could handle the wonky paper size that it requires, but they look really cool and I'd maybe be up for making one someday! And covers! Both my greatest love and my greatest enemy. They're super fun to design, but this is one part of the process that always feels like an uphill battle for me! There are so many skilled and talented folks in Renegade with GORGEOUS covers, and it's always a mix of being incredibly inspired and getting some design envy--but either way it's very motivating to keep me out of my comfort zone and to always keep trying new things. I use decorative paper and scrapbook paper mostly for the base material (although I've begun experimenting with designing things digitally and printing them out on Epson matte presentation paper), and then the rest is fuck it, we ball. I usually design the cover last, so I have an entire typeset and title page already when I begin, which makes things a little easier since I have an already established aesthetic to work with. My font selection is kind of determined by how small the text for the title/author name is, since my Cricut isn't great at cutting super small sizes (Times New Roman, funnily enough, is one of the only fonts that it can do at smaller sizes LOL so a lot of the text on my covers/spines are in TNR). I'm excited to keep improving and experimenting in this area!

17. Published inspiration

Ooh!! This one's fun--when I first began making my Master pages in Affinity publisher, I literally grabbed the first few books I saw on my shelf and said 'alright, this looks good' and haven't looked back since LOL. Those books were Vintage's editions of Toni Morrison's novels, Picador's Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, Vintage's edition of Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark, Fall River's omnibus editions of Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes's works, Penguin Classic's Deluxe edition of Jane Austen's novels, and a few others that I can't remember. I looked at all these books, found what they had in common (for example, a simple title page before the decorative title page, the use of a single graphic or design at the beginning of each chapter, etc.) and went with that! I don't usually take inspiration from specific books, EXCEPT for a project I'm currently working on which I'm super excited about :3 More TK here eheh (ADDITION 3/7: I was talking about Maybe sprout wings here LOL)

18. Illustrations

FANART MY BELOVED. I LOVE including fanart in my books, because it's such a lovely demonstration of the communal nature of these stories and it's so fun getting to collect all the pieces. For free use graphics my favorite sites are Adobe Stock images and Heritage Library. Heritage in particular has a beautiful selection of free vintage graphics packs that I've used for years now. And very occasionally, wingdings fonts will have something I really like XD

19. Favorite tool

Despite my gripes earlier about always misplacing it, I ADORE my bone folder. It's a funky lil dude and it makes all my edges nice and crisp! I can't wait for the retreat bone folder fufu :3 Also a very big fan of my guillotine, which despite its flaws makes my life a hell of a lot easier in the long run, as well as my presses, which were handmade by my dad and do their jobs very well (squiiiiiiish)

20. Favorite part of the binding process

Oooh, this one's fun! I really like the actual construction of the book--sewing sigs is always relaxing and has been one of my fave parts since the very beginning. Recently I've started to really enjoy designing covers, especially if there are a lot of physical elements (like layering scrapbook paper or playing around with Mod Podge).

I had the absolute privilege to hold @clovenhoofbindery's copy of Away Childish Things at Havencon last year. Literally every book Space makes I fall in love with, and her designs are a HUGE inspiration for me. Everything from the typesetting to cover design to physical construction--I lose my marbles every time.

21. Inspo: The binder that inspired you!

Ohhh this one's so hard! Literally every time I check the #show-off channel in the Discord I'm struck by so many beautiful books. I'm going to cheat and name a few people here, but this list is by no means comprehensive and doesn't even begin to cover everyone I could name.

Everything @pleasantboatpress binds is just so beautiful. Their color choices are always inspired and their headbands make me want to cry! Their bind of Unconditional in particular had me foaming at the mouth.

The quality of everything @zhalfirin-binds makes, likewise, always blows me away. Her books are so polished and professional, and her photos make me feel like I'm in a museum when I'm trawling her blog for inspo!

@simply-sithel's tiny books are literally the coolest things ever! I'm still working my way through the Binderary vids and I can't wait to get to hers. Six plays with form in mind-bending and truly innovative ways, and her blog is wonderland of tiny and fantastical book creatures.

@teleportbooks's binds are the definition of classy and refined. They're so good at designing their books according to the contents of the fic--their binding of Thirty-Three Lashes in particular is just the best design centered around fic content and title I've seen. Their designs always make me melt a little when I see them!

@no-name-publishing's endbands are to DIE for. Like fr I am in awe every time!!! And Kam's cover + title page designs are a huge source of inspo for me--forever in love with this bind of theirs, with the beautiful painted cover + matching endpapers T_T

And of course!!! I (and everyone else) wouldn't be here without our beloved leader, @armoredsuperheavy. He's the first binder that ever inspired me, and he continues to do so today!

22. Inspo: The fic that inspired you!

My original answer was also my answer for 27 ("First bind"), but I'm gonna say something a little different here! I usually know pretty quickly whether I'm interested in binding something, but very rarely has a fic gotten me hook, line, and sinker the way @that-banhus's King of Infinite Space did. Like, from the first line I was like "oh god I need to hold this one." And eventually I did! :3

23. Author spotlight: Someone you've bound

AHHHHHH this one is so hard too! I've bound a good number of authors over the years, many of whom are my dear friends, and to spotlight only a single one would be impossible. So I'm just going to poke @dodici12, whose killugon fic See You Upside Down is one of the best killugon reunion fics ever in my very humble hamster opinion. Hiiiii Tessa ilysm <333

24. Author spotlight: Someone you'd like to bind

OOOOOH. Many, many fics are in my queue. I'll keep them to myself for now, since I prefer to ask for author permission via DM, but atm I have my eye on a few Good Omens authors whose work I adore!

25. Favorite bind by you!

THIS ONE IS SO HARD AJLSKDJF. I love all my babies so much and I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish and what I learned from each of them. However, if you put a gun to my head and asked me to choose right now, I'd have to go with my most recent bind of Maybe sprout wings by @moorishflower. I'm really pleased with both its construction and particularly the curation of its contents, which includes the work of nearly a dozen people. It was my attempt at capturing the communal nature of fanfiction's creation and dispersal, and it was also my Big Project this Binderary. I'm ridiculously fond and proud of it!

26. Favorite bind by someone else!

THIS ONE IS SO HARD TOO HELP. Okay this is only one of my many many favorites, but dragging Space back out here again to say that her bind of Away Childish Things permanently altered my brain chemistry. Like, the cutout!!! The patronuses!!!! The title page cutout???? THE KEY??? Again, I held this book in my hands IN PERSON last year and I'm still not over it. The quality of the work is absolutely bonkers crazy incredible and I think about it Often.

27. First bind

The very first fic I ever bound was On Stranger Tides by @theroyalsavage. It's still one of my favorite fics ever today--it has the perfect blend of action/adventure, romance, humor, and fantasy. It gives me the good ol' "roaming the high seas with found family and magic and pirates" ache. It holds a very special place in my heart!

FINAL THOUGHTS

28. Latest bind

See 22! But for funsises, I'm also ridiculously fond of the binding before that, of @aboxthecolourofheartache's fic The Politeness of Princes, because I got to do lots of fun arts and crafty things with the cover!

This was my first year doing Binderary, and I had such a blast! It's so crazy seeing how far Renegade has come, from a little Discord for book shop chatting (ASH mentioned in one of the talks how it was just called, like, "Bookbinding Discord" at the beginning LOL) to now. We're well on our way to a proper organizational structure, with several yearly events, in-person meetups, and thousands of members all over the world. And we have so much more planned! It feels truly special, and I'm so grateful to everyone who makes this possible.

Okay!! That's all from me for today, folks. If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! <3

[rhapsodynew]

The Beatles

Great Essence (part 5)

#book "Balloon. Aeronauts and artifacts - Boris Grebenshchikov"

John Lennon

In fact, the Beatles began with John Lennon. His mother, whom he doted on, died when he was just a child, and this tragedy left its mark on his entire life. He found salvation in rock and roll. He said, "Rock and roll was real, and everything else was fake."

Lennon and McCartney met on July 6, 1957, at a school party at St. John's Church. Peter was in Liverpool, where sixteen–year-old John's band, The Quarrymen, performed.

John was impressed that Paul knew a lot of chords and could tune a guitar, and decided to take him into the band. It was a historic and magnificent decision. That's how the best duet in the history of music was born

This song was of great importance to John – he even planned to re-record it after leaving the Beatles (although, of course, he was not up to it). To me, the 1963 recording is as perfect as a piece of music can be.

At that time, Lennon and McCartney really wrote songs together, somewhere in a hotel room after a concert; they took guitars and played, spurring and helping each other - I must say, the ideal way to create songs. That's what groups are for, because when a person writes songs alone, he can get carried away, and when friends are around, they can always put their shoulder up, insert a chord or two, or laugh at an unsuccessful line; you see, another ship is ready for a big voyage.

And John and Paul's ships (with George's help) turned out to be extremely successful.

In April '66, John Lennon once again launched an epochal manifesto. The Beatles gave up concerts and went into the studio. And the very first song of this new period, "Tomorrow Never Knows", marked the beginning of a new revolution in music and brought the Beatles from the state of girlish idols to the position of prophets or gods.

The song is based on the text of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, revised by the guru of the "psychedelic revolution" Timothy Leary. Lennon even wanted the Dalai Lama to sing the second half of the song with a thousand Tibetan monks on a mountain peak – but the technical implementation of this idea was a bit problematic, so John had to sing himself.

As a sound event, this song was unprecedented. As a philosophical statement, clever critics said that this song challenged not only seven centuries of European musical culture, but also the basic tenets of Western civilization. And all this in three minutes.

For most people, a song like "Tomorrow Never Knows" would be enough to stay in history forever. But six months later, Lennon was again ahead of the entire planet, creating what was (and will be) considered for many decades to be "the best record in the history of rock and roll." Even George Martin, the Beatles producer, usually modest and laconic, called it "a tonal poem – something like a modern Debussy."

No one living on earth has ever managed to create something in which feeling and fantasy would be expressed so directly, spontaneously and originally as in "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Lennon said that he had always dreamed of writing his own Alice in Wonderland, but with the songs of 1966-1969 he did much more – he created a door to a new universe. This door is still open, and anyone who really wants to can enter there.

Another song that John himself considered one of his best is "Happiness Is A Warm Gun". Critics often discussed it, wondered about its meaning and delved into the intricacies of the recording… Let's leave it to the critics, let them indulge. John speaks the language of the heart, incomprehensible to rational consciousness.

And then the Beatles ended along with the era that gave them birth and gave them Divine wings. Lennon felt it most acutely and was eager to move on. Meeting Yoko Ono gave him the necessary determination to move on, no matter what. And then he said that the Beatles were a dream, that he no longer believed in them, but believed only in himself – in Yoko and in himself

 «…I don,t believe in Beatles / I just believe in me / Yoko and me – / and that,s reality» Lennon «God»).

And here's another story. Since childhood, Lennon has been a fan of the mad American producer Phil Spector, who in many ways created the sound of rock and roll in the form that John liked and loved. Already being one of the Beatles, John had the opportunity to get to know him directly and, when the Beatles were left behind, first instructed him to finish their final album "Let It Be" (which was probably still a mistake), and then began working with Phil himself - and Spector's approach, direct and uncompromising, He decorated several of John's outstanding solo songs, for example, "Instant Karma" ("Instant Karma") – the blood is boiling!

"I'm not a cynic. They are wrong to judge me by some things that I have written or said. But you can't do that. I hate labels. I'm a little cynical, but I'm not a cynic. Sometimes today you are teasing, tomorrow you are a cynic, and the day after tomorrow you treat everything with irony. I'm a cynic about most of what people take for granted. I am a cynic in everything that concerns society, politics, newspapers, government. But I am not cynical about life, love, kindness, and death. That's why I don't like being called a cynic."

In 1980, John died. The music he wrote remained beyond age, beyond time. And, no matter what gossipy journalists wrote, the former Beatles members were connected by something much more than just friendship. And maybe what was not said in life was translated into songs.

George dedicated the song "All Those Years Ago" to John, which united the three remaining members of the Beatles for the first time in ten years. In this song, George said something that he probably never said to John personally: "You were the one who said that all we needed was love, back then, many years ago."

And Paul wrote the song "Here Today" with these words: "If I said that I knew you well, what would you say if you were here today? You would probably laugh and say that we lived in different worlds… But as for me, I can't hold back my tears anymore. You always had a smile in store for me, and I loved you and am happy that you appeared in my life."

John and Sean

As I have already written, fourteen years after John Lennon's death, the three surviving members of the Beatles teamed up once again to finalize a recording made by John in 1977 at his home in New York. A virtual reunion in the digital world.

They approached the matter as if John had gone on vacation and left them half-finished songs with a request to finish them. And the recording is really strange, the voice sounds like a message from another world for us today. And you know, when it comes to the Beatles, standing in the sunlight of John's voice, I myself am almost ready to believe in any mysticism – it seems that "Free As A Bird" was originally intended for this... But on the other hand, there have been stranger stories in Tibet.

Beatles – «Free As A Bird».....

The continuation of the fairy tale follows.....

Part 1📌

Part 2📌

Part 3📌

Part 4📌

[cerealandchoccymilk]

Trigun Bookclub: Trigun Vol.1-2, Chapter #08

previous | all | next

CW: Some of my analysis in this post touches the topic of suicidal ideation (there will be a warning around that portion).

I’m doing a deep-read of the Japanese original print (reread) and Overhaul 1.0 (first read) side-by-side, and writing down everything I notice from small details, version differences, translation differences, etc.

The volume numbers will be mismatched for most of the remainder of Trigun, since the Japanese first edition is 3 volumes while all later versions are 2 volumes.

As always, here are the non-analysis panels aka just my homosexual mumbling:

And the rest is under the cut.

[link for if the images aren’t in horizontal rows]

This chapter is the beginning of the Japanese Volume 2, which is from #08 to #13 (plus the pilot as a bonus).

Starting off with the cool as balls shot of Vash being shot a billion bullets at! I did write "rule of cool" here since I thought he was just magically evading the firing squad. However, on second thought, I think Neon specifically ordered the gang to not actually shoot him, judging by how he says "not bad" immediately afterwards. It's his way to test Vash, to see if he flinches.

[cw sui] The "You ain't afraid of dyin', are ya?!" line stuck out to me a lot... Many rereaders (and I assume first-timers too, at this point in the bookclub) know that Vash is... casually suicidal? I'm not sure if that's the right way to put it, but he doesn't have much of a sense of self-preservation. He's not seeking death, of course, but he's not exactly avoiding it either.... This becomes much more apparent and relevant at the end of Trigun and in Maximum, so I'll leave it until I get to those parts. [/cw]

Dear god the crotch shot. okay (squeezing this into a row because I don't really want this guy's balls to take up the whole screen lmao)

I've always loved how Nightow draws these circles to show spinning motion in his artwork!! It's simple but it really pops... it's just so so (chef's kiss)

I wonder just what Vash's next move was going to be here? He's pretty much cornered... but I guess he can always get out of any situation, as he usually does.

Vash's expression of sheer confusion is golden. I love him lmao

Meryl!!!!!!!!! Milly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We missed you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love how immediately after he calls Meryl a little girl he gets spooked by the Big Girl instead.

This is not directly translatable, but I find Milly's line here very cute. In Japanese, she says「…私は――　ミリィ…トンプソンとゆいます　えとえとイチオー スタンガンミリィとは私のコトをゆいます」 The correct word for "I'm called [smth]" here would be 言います(iimasu), but the pronunciation ゆいます(yuimasu) is a bit childish in this context. If I recall correctly, isn't Milly the youngest of many siblings? Maybe it's a little quirk showing that youngest-sibling aspect of hers.

Meryl asking Vash to be a "responsible adult" for once.... lol

This is the first time his name has been called since his encounter with Kaito and the beginning of the BL gang' hijack. I completely forgot that Kaito has no idea who he is!! Vash didn't give him a name; he's just been calling him あんた("you") the whole time!!

Excuse the messier handwriting from here on… I was working on this during a car ride.

A detail in the Japanese version - this line was originally written「おまえが消したって話んなってるJULY(あのまち)だが…」with "JULY" having a ruby pronunciation note of あのまち("that city").

This part was initially written to be a translation suggestion but I decided to just keep it a JP phrasing note:

「あのガレキが俺の見た最初の風景だ」 "That mountain of debris was the first thing I saw."

Translation suggestion - Here, Neon says「サシの勝負だ」, where サシ means "face-to-face" or "one-on-one." I would say it's more like "This fight is between just the two of us," to show more of the respect Neon has for Vash.

More of this respect is shown in the next page, where they make a promise that Neon will step back if Vash wins the duel. Neon recognizes Vash's skill and ideology, and treats him as an equal.

And here's the action!

I found interesting that Neon's war-cry/exclamation "ha" was actually written in kanji as 派. The kanji by itself means group or faction, but considering Neon's character, maybe it's supposed to be a reference to the word 派手(hade), meaning "gaudy?"

This duel definitely isn't following regular duel rules... but no one said it was unfair or anything. Maybe this is just how they are in No Man's Land.

Neon shoots with his dynamo-gun (?) instead of his cool engraved pistol.... Anyways, his first strike is at Vash, and they all hit the rocks that are falling between them. Vash then shields himself with one of those rocks by jumping in the same direction as it.

And he's doing another frontflip!! In sync with the falling rock!! With a wound in his gut!! In midair and upside down, he precisely shoots five rounds into Neon. It hits his dynamo, but looking closely I can see that maybe he got his arm shot too.

damn....

A bit of a tangent - many of Neon's actions are reminiscent of old Japanese culture, which is very interesting. His pose during his first appearance in Chapter #05 (how did i remember that. i checked just in case and i was right), where he sort of squats and extends his open palm to the front, is a very stereotypical kabuki pose. Again, I don't know about the specifics of kabuki, but his pose on the the panel where Vash jumps also looks kabuki-esque to me. Neon's respect towards Vash as a fellow gunslinger and his beliefs on dignity reminds me of bushidō. It's not representative of all aspects, of course, but there are definitely elements incorporated in his character.

This line (including the speech bubble after it) is a bit weird when translated so it will have to be tweaked, but a direct translation would be:

「このままではブレーキングはおろか…　船体ごと爆発する可能性があります！！」 "If it continues like this, the ship itself may blow up, let alone brake!!"

I'm pretty sure "brake" (miswrote in the image, will fix later) here means that they won't be able to put on the brakes due to the boiler malfunction. But I don't know shit about machinery or how to phrase this. (shrug)

That’s it for Chapter #08! As always, the Japanese annotations are in the reblogs.

[jmrothwell]

Fluffy prompts! “you’ve been wanting to get into baking, right? i bought a box of brownies we could start off with after dinner…” for some Molina family shenanigans!

Rose stares down the many multi-colored boxes of the baking aisle. It shouldn’t be this hard to pick one of them. 

She could call Victoria and ask for her opinion but somehow she feels like that would just turn into her sister inviting herself over to teach a proper recipe for baking. Normally that wouldn’t bother her so much. Victoria had always been better in the kitchen. 

Normally, she didn’t have Julie ecstatically coming home from spending the afternoon with Carrie gushing over easy bake ovens and delicious pastries Rose had never even heard of before. What kind of person needed mille feuille and profiteroles in their day to day life?

Tonight Carrie and Flynn would be staying the night at their place and she is determined they were going to go home equally awestruck as Julie had been coming back from the Wilson’s.

Can she be blamed her competitiveness decided to flare up over something this stupid?

How the hell is she supposed to compete with a French pastry chef, though? Since when did Trevor of all people need a french pastry chef on retainer anyway?

She isn’t sure how she could top that but it sure as hell wasn’t going to stop her from trying. Ignoring the stares from the fellow customers, Rose tosses several boxes of brownie mix into the cart closely followed by every additional topping and mix-in she can find. Not even bothering to stop Carlos when he decides it will be fun to help out. Laughing with him as he gleefully grabs the nearest bag of marshmallows.

Later as Ray helps her unpack the groceries he doesn’t say anything directly about. Merely holds up several bags of various chopped nuts and chocolate chips with an eyebrow raise and a small laugh before putting them away.

He has to know what she’s up to. Even letting her go pick the girl’s up from school while he stayed and looked after Carlos. 

“Hey, little ladies.” Rose greets the three of them as they pile into the car, hoping to surprise them with the news on the drive home. Instead she is bombarded with tales of recess hijinks and samples of the songs they’d been working on in music class.

“You’ve been wanting to get into baking right?” Rose is finally able to cut into the conversation as she shepherds them through the front door. She bites back her pleased smile at their interested faces. “I bought a box of brownies we could start off with after dinner.”

“A box?” Ray asks from the kitchen over the excited squeals, already helping prep the ingredients for the recipe she’d left out for dinner.

“Shush you.” She says, emphasizing her point with a quick kiss. “Everything else is a surprise.”

“What else?” Flynn asks peeking her head from over the stair banister

“You will just have to wait until after dinner to find out.” Rose says with a smile, as she takes over the actual cooking from Ray. Just because Victoria was the better cook, didn’t mean she couldn’t cook at all. 

And hell, whether he intended to or not Ray gave her a wonderful idea. They certainly did have enough supplies now that each girl could get her own box of brownies. Maybe even an extra one for them to take home, too.

[fatalezr]

The Final Takeover - Part Nine

Ruth sat in the cafe, patiently waiting. It was a hot July day and she was glad that she was wearing a thin dress with her hair down. The cafe had a reasonable number of people in it already, helped no doubt by its proximity to the highway. The small town of Turning Creek was rural and quiet, and Ruth found it rather quaint compared to the hustle and bustle of the city of Cicero.

She had been in the town for a day, watching and waiting patiently, confident that at some point her targets would appear, hopeful and expectant that the group’s audacious plan would work as Helen had predicted. Her mind wandered for a few seconds to thoughts of Annie. Her partner and lover was to the south of Cicero in the town of Winchcombe where the highways that connected Cicero to New Bordeaux in Louisiana and St. Nicolas in Missouri converged. All around the borders of Cicero, women were watching and waiting, in cafes and by roadside stops, wherever they needed to be.

Cicero had been eerily quiet since what the papers had called the ‘Independence Day Massacre’. The city had almost been stunned into shock and was perhaps wondering what more was to come. There were no gang lieutenants on the streets and hardly any cops after the various massacres that Helen had masterminded. Most citizens quietly went about their days, albeit Ruth knew many would be gossiping and whispering about where the feared crime boss Al Capone was and how he would retaliate for the death of his son.

She pondered the thoughts herself, broken from her daydreaming by the sound of the cafe door opening. Four men walked in wearing full suits and hats despite the warm weather. They looked around, as if scouting for any potential danger before one opened the door again and in strode two older men, one smoking a cigarette, in expensive shirts and trousers.

Ruth discreetly looked in her purse and then in the mirror so she could watch the men without directly looking at them. She glanced at the picture in her purse and then the men and quietly celebrated. It was Rafael Cascarino himself and his brother Luigi. They were the head of New Amsterdam’s largest mafia family from the East Coast and the men with them must have been their bodyguards. Ruth smiled inwardly. Their suits were of such poor quality it was easy to see the shape of the pistols and revolvers they hid inside them, unlike the beautiful tailored quality of Helen’s gang.

She watched as one of the guards ordered coffee for the group and grabbed a paper, handing it to Rafael Cascarino whilst Luigi smoked. Rafael read it, mumbling to himself before showing a few stories to his brother. Ruth finished her coffee and went to the back of the cafe where there was a telephone. She dialled to central Cicero where Daisy was waiting to pick up.

“Looks like meat is on the menu for tomorrow after all” Ruth said quietly when they connected.

“Good” Daisy replied, “we’ve heard similar stories from the other gals”.

“Well let the chef know what ingredients I’ll need” Ruth said.

“I will” Daisy said, “stick with them and tail them, I’ll let our spies know”.

Ruth put the phone down and walked out of the cafe, passing by the men’s table. She heard Rafael grumbling about “that goddamn Capone…” but did not stay to hear more. She already knew why he would be grumbling. Bosses like the Cascarinos hated to leave the luxury life they had built but yet he would have felt obligated to go to the funeral of Sonny Capone in deference to his father who provided support, weapons and moonshine to mob families all around the country.

She sat in her car and took a breath. The sight of the family from New Amsterdam suddenly made it all feel so much more real for her. An end was coming not just to the battle for Cicero, but to the wider war to be the most dominant mob in America. She relaxed and waited patiently until she saw the Cascarino’s and their henchmen get into two cars after a while and drive off.

Ruth followed, always keeping a few cars behind but keeping them in sight. Within a couple of hours they had reached the outskirts of Cicero, its grand skyline of construction sites and tall buildings instantly recognisable. The family’s cars rumbled through the city streets, finally stopping near a hotel. Ruth parked a block away and watched as Rafael and Luigi were ushered inside, Luigi spitting on the pavement as he did so when he looked at the rundown building they were at.

‘They think they’re being smart’ Ruth mused. Staying away from the plush downtown to keep a low profile was a good idea, but little did the New Amsterdammers know, their trail had already been picked up. It was now evening and Ruth stayed in her car, waiting patiently and watching people on the street walk by until eventually there was a knock on her car window and she unlocked the passenger door to welcome in Bessie, who was also wearing a comfortable dress. They kissed on the cheek.

“You here to take over?” Ruth asked.

“For a few hours” Bessie said, nodding. “It’s all coming together though Ruthie, just like Helen said”.

Ruth never had doubts in Helen’s plans, and she knew Bessie did not either, but it was always pleasing to have their faith in her genius reconfirmed. “How many have we tracked in?” she asked.

“A couple dozen at least,” Bessie said. “All the major hitters from the East Coast, all the way down to South City in Florida! Families from Tennessee, Massachusetts, we even got some folks from old dusty Fort Thomas in Texas!”

“Woah” Ruth said out loud. It was an impressive number of crime families, especially as each would send at least two key members to pay respect. She thanked Bessie for the news and left her to her watch for the night, already anticipating the next day.

—---

“You’ve been looking in that mirror for ages!” Annie said, chuckling behind her.

Ruth chuckled back. “I was just straightening my tie. You have to look your best at a funeral, you know”. Annie laughed and the two women kissed. It was still early in the morning but both women were already awake and dressed in their pinstriped uniforms, eager to begin. “What do you think security will be like?” she asked.

Annie thought about it. “Probably pretty tight outside the church” she said, “but inside it’ll just be the inner circles, no machine guns”.

“Now all we need to know is where it is” Ruth said. It was the final piece of the puzzle and they would need to be ready to act when the call came in. Helen had spies all over the city and now they knew where the funeral attendees were staying, they could follow them to the place. It would give little time to prepare but Ruth knew the women were capable, ruthless and able to execute on any plan no matter what it took.

She cleaned her Thompson submachine gun, as did Annie, and then the two sat around, waiting for the call. It stood to reason the funeral would likely be in the morning, in order to give time for a wake in the afternoon and then for the guests to depart to their various cities.

They did not have to wait too long. The phone rang and Ruth snatched it off the receiver. It was Daisy.

“We’re going north” she said, “few roads closed off around St. Timothy’s. Meet at the barber place on 12th Avenue”. With that, she put the phone down and was gone, doubtless informing the other parts of Helen’s army.

“St. Timothy’s” Ruth said to Annie, picking up her Tommy gun and hurrying down the stairs. She knocked on the door of a couple of the apartments below their own where other members of the gang were staying and within a couple of minutes they had two cars outside full with women in pinstriped suits, white shirts and black ties, all of them wearing leather gloves and looking ready to strike with their Tommy guns.

Ruth drove carefully over towards the north of the city, wary to keep to quiet roads where they would not be spotted. St. Timothy’s had been one of the possible locations they had prepared for. It was one of the oldest churches in Cicero, built at the top of a hill. Whilst it had been surpassed by grander buildings in the years since the city’s inception, it would still hold a sentimental place for a man who considered Cicero to be his kingdom yet was looking for somewhere more discreet. It’s position on the hill with few roads leading to it would also make it easier to defend but Ruth knew Helen would be ready for this.

She parked on 12th Avenue and the women hurried into a barbers shop that had a ‘closed’ sign on its door. Helen was downstairs, and it was already crowded with dozens of pinstriped women. More were arriving every minute and the air was one of nervous excitement.

“Ladies” Helen said, and the room immediately fell silent at the sound of her voice. Helen Monroe surveyed the crowd, her red hair shimmering underneath her fedora. “Ladies, we find ourselves with a golden opportunity today” she said. “A difficult day ahead, as we face hardened killers but this is a moment we have prepared for over the past years and ever since our first hit in Pacific City”. Ruth saw women looking solemnly and nodding. She thought about those early moments and how far they had come since.

“But today” Helen continued, “after all our accomplishments to date, we take a new step. We won’t just shake this city, or this state, we shall shake the nation, no, we shall shake the world!” Her voice rose to a crescendo and the women cheered, Ruth stirred by her promise. “And so” Helen said, “we go forth, as one, together, and ladies…WASTE THEM ALL!”

Ruth cheered and looked around at the throng of pinstriped women. She was in charge of a section of them alongside Annie and Daisy and assembled her group together. “We move on the 11th strike of the hour clock” she told them. “We’ll head north from here, and go to the west entrance of the church. Daisy, you’ll command a car and drive by on the security, whilst we attack from behind a wall. Nobody moves before that 11th strike! We’ll use suppressors on the guards outside, then burst into the church through the western door and be as loud as we want. Any questions?”

The women around had listened intently and shook their heads. “OK” Ruth said, “let’s move”. They hurried outside to the streets and Ruth led eight of them up the road with Annie by her side. She saw one person open a door at one point along the street but immediately shut it again in terror at the sight of the women with their Tommy guns by their side. Daisy drove past briefly in a car, parking in a position closer to the west side of the church. Ruth could see the spire now of the church and looked at her pocketwatch. It was 10:50am and the funeral service would be under way.

As they approached the top of the hill, Ruth saw the wall she had been preparing for. It was low and made of old stone and she crouched behind it, moving close to the floor, not minding the small amount of dirt that would get on her suit. It was more important to stay hidden. She reached a small gate and chanced a glance through. Over the other road was the western entrance to St. Timothy’s church. Outside she counted twenty men in suits, all of them holding their own Thompson submachine guns and shifting nervously.

There was a bright flash from overhead and a peel of thunder from the skies before soft raindrops began to fall. They splashed on her fedora but Ruth ignored it. No storm would be greater than their own. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a thick sound suppressor, attaching it slowly to her gun while the other women did the same.

The church clock moved onward and Ruth began to get ready into a position she could spring up from. She signalled to each woman where their targets would be. All of them looked ready and hardened. Whilst the men watched nervously, her women had killer looks in their eyes. The clock moved to 10:59 and she exchanged a long kiss with Annie, both women not needing to say what the moment would mean or be for them. Ruth began to count silently in her head until…

BONG! The church bell on top of St. Timothy’s began to chime the hour. BONG! BONG! BONG! Ruth counted each one, tensing her muscles and ready to spring. BONG! BONG! BONG! Out of the corner of her eye she saw Daisy’s car moving slowly up the road, timing their run up to perfection. BONG! BONG! She took a deep breath in. BONG! Her finger moved to her trigger.

BONG! At the 11th chime of the hour, all the women rose in unison from their hiding position, Tommy guns levelling to fire. Pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap. Their guns fired as the rain fell and Ruth saw all of the men outside the church hosed down within two seconds. None of them even had chance to raise their guns Pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap. More shots came from Daisy’s car that quietly raced past the church.

Ruth kept her gun pointed towards the men she had downed as she raced across the road to the church with the other women, checking for signs of movement at any side. Pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap, pap-pap-pap-pap-pap. They fired a few short bursts towards the men on the ground, the women moving quietly. They reached the church and Ruth reloaded her Tommy gun with a fresh magazine of 100 bullets. She unthreaded the suppressor and moved towards the Western door.

She heard the sound of the priest conducting the service inside, his voice solemn but authoritative. The organ began to play. ‘Excellent’ thought Ruth, ‘if everyone stands for the song, it’ll make this even easier’. She looked towards Annie who nodded. It was time for action.

Ruth and Annie stepped forward in unison and kicked open the western door of the church. They were facing behind the congregation and she saw some members towards the back turning to look towards them, every one of them smartly dressed in a suit with black tie. Simultaneously, she heard two other doors to the churches being banged open. The trap was set. She pulled her trigger.

Around the church entrances, a hail of Tommy gun fire began to ring out. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. She fired into anyone and everyone that she saw in front of her, cutting down the mobsters, moving more into the church to allow more of Helen’s army to follow her. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. Her Tommy gun echoed around the cold stone building and it was filled with the sound of screaming.

“Haha” Ruth began to laugh as she fired. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. She noticed Luigi Cascarino and lit him up with an array of bullets. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. His suit was ripped and his body jerked from side to side as she shot. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM.

“Woo!” she shouted some more as she fired. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. Gone was any anxiety about this kill. It was now all about the women doing what they loved to do, and that was slaughter their enemies with an unflinching lack of mercy. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. She reloaded her gun and immediately fired again, sweeping around the bodies in the pews and providing nobody any let up. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM.

She saw the look of surprise on many of the mob boss’s faces as they realised a simple truth. No matter how much power and money they had, it was nothing when they came face to face with a Thompson submachine gun, a bullet and a deadly woman who knew how to use it. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. Ruth continued walking into the church, now hosing bodies on the floor of the mob families, leaving nothing to chance. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. Their shouts subsided as they succumbed to the death they were being dealt.

Her gun ran dry again and she reloaded. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. She gave another short burst but then started looking around amongst the bodies. She could not see their enemy number one. “Where’s Capone?” she asked Annie.

Annie looked puzzled too as they scanned the bodies. The room was now silent, except for the sound of some of the women laughing or enjoying their pleasure. Ruth caught sight of Helen. She was frowning, looking around to see where her enemy was and she realised that it was the first time that she had ever seen Helen look as if something had frustrated her.

A cough from by her side made Ruth look. One of the gangsters from Tennessee was moving slightly so she trained her Tommy gun on him. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. She felt good knowing that he was a mob boss and she could so easily execute him. All around her, the church was a mausoleum of America’s top mafia family heads with only the women standing tall, looking powerful. It was a powerful metaphor as they walked among the bodies.

But where was the missing one? Al Capone’s body was not there. Ruth walked to the front of the church where she expected he would have been sitting and then felt something wooden beneath her feet.

“Helen!” she called out, looking down to see a small trapdoor in the stone floor that had been painted to appear almost invisible to the naked eye. Helen Monroe came running to her, pointing her gun towards the door whilst Ruth opened it quickly. There was a ladder, and then a dimly lit tunnel.

“Suzy, Ruth, Annie, Nellie, come with me” Helen said. “The rest of you, clean up here and get ready to move again. I tell you ladies, WE WILL FINISH THIS TODAY!” she roared, her voice echoing off the church walls.

Helen descended the trapdoor stairs, Ruth following close behind her, their final pursuit of this, their greatest takeover, now ready to begin.

[loopy777]

Actually the shonen genre is infamous for the vast majority of it's series NOT killing off its hero character no matter how much sense it makes, and as such one of the big reasons why so many fans are pissed off about Bakugo surviving is that MHA, which is a series that has prided itself on not breaking away from exploring and deconstructing the various shonen tropes, is not able or willing to break away from "Almost none of the heroes ever dies no matter how much sense it makes storyvise" trope that has plagued Shonen manga for over 20 years now.

There are exceptions, but as a whole Shonen Manga are terrifying of ever allowing Heroes to die, no matter what.

It wasn't always this way, but ever since July 22, 1997, when One Piece was first published, the Shonen genre has been plagued with a very, very specific formula of "Heroes has something horrible happen to them and will most definitely die, no actually they survived, rinse repeat, over and over again, until any tension is dead."

The exception is flashbacks, where Oda realized he could get away with the absolute most horrific and terrible things happening to characters, without having to deal with the consequences of stuff like Genocide, mass death toll, maimings, etc, and not have to deal with it happening in the present, and thus directly affect the main cast and have them deal with it.

Meanwhile in the present oda has demolished the messages of entire, multi-arc storylines just so that none of the named good guys died.

He once devoted an entire arc to the rather simple but effective message "people die in war", and wrapped up that entire arc's emotional climax with one character making the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good, going out in a blaze with the force of a small nuke, only to have him survive afterwards with no explanation.

He once had a character with sensory power explicitly state that she could sense that lives all across her homeland was snuffed out one by one... only for everyone to be revealed to be fine once it was all over.

And im not even going to go into every single time characters make far, far more seemingly decisive character sacrifices than bakugo ever made, only to turn up fine in the end.

Because if i did, i would find literarily dozens of examples, though few are as INFURRIATING as the one i listed off first with the nuke. Oda really obliterated the emotional development he had built up for 4 consecutive arcs, just so that a character that never did anything of note, ever again didn't die.

In the most recent arc of one Piece, there was a guy who was shot through the head, and left to lie in a pool of his own blood and brian matter, and i shit you not, the fans reactions was not "holy shit he just died!" It was(mine included), "eh i wonder how he's gonna be revealed to still be alive."

The fact he actually did die in the end, was ultimately a way bigger shock than the sudden and brutal manner he died from. And that speaks volumes.

Oda has abused the same storytelling method that Hori used with bakugo(Which Oda himself popularized) so many times that those tiny, insanely rare moments good guy characters does die, you can literarily count a hundred named characters who SHOULD be dead as well.

So that is one reason so many manga fans have NO CHILL about Bakugo pulling through. My Hero Academia is a series that before it reached a certain point was generally very clear that actual damage was for keeps... So seeing Bakugo(A character a lot of fans DESPISE) survive not one, but two instances of this trope that everyone is sick to death from, from One Piece popularizing it far and wide(and OP STILL being around a continuing to use it every chance it gets), in a manga that was supposed to be better than this, is infuriating.

Addmitingly thats not my main reason for being annoyed(I just genuinely think Bakugo dying as "his body moved on its own" was the single most poetic and fitting way for his story to end) about it all, as i do still love one piece despite this giant, gaping flaw.

I do however, as a shonen reader who saw this trope development happen in real time, understand perfectly why so many people have just had enough of it.

So what I'm hearing is that I made the right choice in watching a shonen once a decade so that I can enjoy them or not on their own merits. Good to know.

I'd also make a quip about Once Piece, but you noted that you like it despite this nonsense, and it was for a completely different kind of nonsense that I happily gave up my own attempt to read it.

[lokiondisneyplus]

Whether it’s a galaxy far far away, the crime-riddled streets of some derelict city, or (in this case) the multiverse-guarding headquarters of the Time Variance Authority (TVA),  one can find no safer hands for a beloved franchise than those of Kate Herron. 

The British director has delivered Disney+ its most watched Marvel series to date with Loki.  Like WandaVision, the series takes place directly after the events of Avengers Infinity War and Endgame.

In the opening episode, this lesser-evolved Loki (who now escapes capture using the Tesseract in the year 2012) sees the evolution —and ultimately the demise — of his character across Thor The Dark World, Thor Ragnarok and Avengers Infinity War. 

That key scene, where actor Tom Hiddleston reacts to a 1970s-like film reel showing his would-be future, was a key part of Herron’s vision. The director came to the project with a clear plan for his character and the otherworldly hierarchy that Loki encounters at the TVA.  

Herron’s extensive pitch deck convinced Marvel producer Kevin Feige that she was the right person to direct all six episodes of Loki’s first season. Herron quickly gained that same trust with the cast and crew as they battled through COVID and lockdowns while filming in Atlanta, Georgia. 

A major highlight of the Disney+ series is the career-redefining performance by Owen Wilson. Wilson brilliantly morphs into the character of Mobius, a clever TVA agent who forms an unlikely bond with Loki. 

When Herron spoke to Awards Focus, she delved into the creation of Mobius’ look and what it took to land Wilson,  her collaboration with BAFTA nominated Loki composer Natalie Holt, and her upcoming comic book The Storkening (out July 20th via Skybound Entertainment). 

AWARDS FOCUS: First of all, congratulations on directing all six episodes of your first Marvel series. We all just learned that Loki is the most viewed Marvel series, thanks to the Kevin Feige announcement.

I wonder if you can reflect on the recent Los Angeles in-person Loki Emmy FYC panel that featured Tom Hiddleston, writer MIchael Waldron, composer Natalie Holt, and yourself? The standing ovation from the crowd at the Pacific Design Center isn’t something that’s common for these events.

Kate Herron: It was massively flattering to see so many people there. It was the first Loki event I’ve been able to do in-person, so it was so nice to meet fans of the show. I loved watching it with an audience too, it always feels more immersive on the big screen. 

AF:  You’ve often talked about your expansive pitch deck that landed you this series. It’s commonplace in the industry for directors to hire outside companies and graphic artists to secure the look that they want for a pitch deck.  How did you go about making your Loki deck?

Herron: I didn’t know directors did this and now I feel like I’ve been doing it all wrong (laughs). I didn’t have any kind of money to hire anyone, so it was me at my parents’ kitchen table toiling away for two weeks.

I had already chatted virtually with Marvel executives Kevin Wright and Stephen Broussard, bombarding them with images and ideas. Based off those chats, I put together a very lo-fi but very extensive power point presentation. 

Every time I talk about this presentation it seemingly gets longer, you can write that I did 300 slides to really add to the myth (laughs).

AF: Meeting Kevin Feige is a big moment in anyone’s career, but from what I understand, the most pressure-filled meeting was the one you had with Owen Wilson. Landing him for the role of TVA agent Mobius was solely on your shoulders, correct?

Herron: Yes, my Casting Director Sarah Finn was like Owen wants to speak to you and only you!, The pressure was on, but it quickly became a great conversation… I think we both realized how self-deprecating we both are, so it was just a nice chat about why he’d be great and why I was so excited to work with him. 

I fell in love with Owen’s work, both as actor and writer, through his collaborations with Wes Anderson. It was very surreal to chat with him about that while building this very different character together. 

AF:  The look for Mobius was quite a departure, it pushes blond Wedding Crashers Owen out of our consciousness.  Was that an obvious choice or a battle with Owen or the studio?  

Herron: I remember Marvel were like, “Okay let’s do a test,” when we pitched that look to them. From my first conversation with Owen, he wanted to do something outside himself and what people expected from him. 

AF:  Having wanted to helm all the episodes yourself, what did you find most appealing and consequently challenging about that undertaking? 

Herron: Well, for me it was a massive step-up as I had done episodes on other peoples shows, so this was an opportunity to show how I could lead and bring a vision to a very ambitious ask. 

Kevin Feige said that he wanted to run our show, not in your traditional showrunner system but how they run their movies. So it was setting out to make a six-hour Marvel movie on a tv-schedule which is a massive challenge but that was a big part of the appeal for me. 

AF:  You’ve submitted episode five for Emmy consideration, which to me, is the apex of the series (in no small part to Richard E. Grant’s performance).  Can you walk me through the process of filming that episode and the emotional climax?

Herron: I really love this episode as our audience has just learned the mid-season twist that the TVA’s motives are nefarious and it seems like Loki has just been killed. 

Tonally, I feel this episode really captures the balance across the whole show, that fine line of chaos, heart, and drama. We teased the idea of multiple Loki’s early in the show and this episode is where we made good on that. 

From a story perspective, I loved what this episode does for our Loki, who is surrounded by these other versions of himself and he couldn’t be more different. It shows how much he’s evolved across the season. And it has my absolute favorite scene, the conversation between B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).

The episode closes with our lead Loki having an existential crisis about who he is falling in love with and who he’s becoming, at the same time we’re witnessing this powerhouse performance from Richard E. Grant.

AF:  The episode really is VFX heavy, with Grant’s Loki erecting an entire city. Who in your team is responsible for that massive undertaking and what input are you giving in pre-vis?

Herron: Oh yes, the series in total had 2,524 VFX shots and a significant amount were just in this episode. I was lucky to have the best team that a person could want. I worked on this episode with my editor Calum Ross (Sex Education). As a team, we both have a strong handle on emotion and character, but this was easily the biggest outing we’ve had effects wise. 

We were surrounded by a brilliant team, VFX Supervisor Dan DeLeeuw, Jesse Lewis-Evans heading our pre-vis team at The Third Floor and the brilliant minds of ILM. This episode is the graft of hundreds of talented artists. Initially Dan, Jesse, Calum and I worked over Christmas putting this together for my first cut and it was a beast. 

On a movie, you’d have months to do a sequence like this, but with our schedule we were cramming this into a month to make our test screening and get a working version. 

Like anything, you keep working on it, working with your team and Marvel to get it across the finish-line. I was so excited to be working with the legendary Victoria Alonzo also on the show and I feel I learnt so much from her on every zoom call we had looking at shots and refining.

AF: I read that Tom was shooting pick ups for the first episode while filming episode five, for Tom and yourself, how did you balance the production demands amid early COVID protocols in Atlanta?

Herron: Credit to my first AD Richard Graves for not only orchestrating this chaos, but also doing it with a smile. I mean it was a challenge, I’m always incredibly grateful to the hundreds of people who gave their time making this with us because it was challenging to be making this project in normal circumstances.

Adding a pandemic on top of it, it was a just big ask to ask people to come work for us. I honestly felt grateful to be working when so many people weren’t, so I just felt that we can’t waste this opportunity. 

AF: One of the benefits of the pandemic shutting down production was that you were able to hire a composer to start working on themes. Can you tell me how you landed on Natalie Holt, who has since been BAFTA nominated for her Loki score? 

Herron: On Sex Education, I shot the second half of season one and remember how useful it was to have the music (by Oli Julian and Ezra Furman) available to use in the edit. 

I’m a musically driven filmmaker and I play music to help find the tone in what I’m doing. When we were no longer able to continue the shoot, I immediately started editing, trying to soak up that extra time for VFX, storyboards and going back into the scripts.

At the same time, I knew getting a composer would be key. We had a sort of cook-off with a few brilliant composers giving us their take on the show, but when it came to Natalie’s pitch… immediately we both were creatively in-line with each other. 

I loved how she talked about her score in relation to character and she just got the tone. Not to mention also being a big fan of theremin. 

AF: Having worked previously with actress Sophia Di Martino, what made her the right choice for Loki variant Sylvie? And when it came to casting He Who Remains, what involvement did you have in casting Jonathan Majors? 

Herron: So Sophia and I met through the comedy scene in the UK. We had done improv together and I’d persuaded her to do various lo-fi projects with me over the years. 

She always blew me away with how funny she could be, but also showcase this ability to play pain and regret. I wanted her to come in and read for us, and she of course nailed it. 

With Jonathan Majors, it was an honor to be part of a conversation with Kevin Feige and Marvel on a role that will have a defining presence in the MCU. Jonathan is of the best actors out there. As soon as we knew he was interested, I knew our finale would be safe because it’s a real challenge, coming in at the end of a show and owning it. That takes force and presence, and Jonathan has that in spades. 

AF:  From a directing standpoint, you’ve showcased a tremendous amount of talent from yours days on Sex Education to Loki. Given that you also contributed story ideas to Loki, I’d love to highlight some of story beats.

Herron: One thing that springs to mind for me, is that in our first episode for example, we were originally going to be cutting to clips and scenes but I wanted to avoid any kind of full flashbacks, I wanted to keep the audience in that room with Tom Hiddleston.

So, I pitched this idea when I first met everyone of Loki watching his memories play out on a stage. I was inspired by the moment in Miniority Report where Tom Cruise’s character sees his loved one who has passed away, it’s so emotionally effective. That felt emotionally right to me, and you know, always steal from the best. 

AF: With July just around the corner, I wanted to ask about your partnership with Skybound Entertainment for The Storkening comic book, which is part of a larger anthology series? Herron: My partner, Briony Redman, and I have written a comic together for the upcoming, horror series Afterschool based on the Afterschool special. Ours is about an urban legend where if you try and get rid of your baby, a monstrous stork tries to force you to keep it. The myth is, “Scratches to mark you, a feather to warn you, then it comes.” It releases on July 20th, so everyone can mark the calendars right after San Diego Comic Con.

[miracuofficial]

✦ .. 𝙝𝙮𝙚𝙢𝙞’𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 = ★

| warnings : mentions of death, an absent parent, alcoholism, depression, bpd, mentions of a car accident, let me know if I missed anything

— father

— name : kang han-jae (강한재)

— birthdate : may 11. 1975

— career : construction worker

— nicknames : pa ; mimi, blossom

— contact name : appa 💗 ; blossom 🌺

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. hyemi and her dad have been close since her birth. he’s always had her on his hip. hanjae was a bit young when hyemi was born so for some reason, he feels as though she saved his life. when he was young, he was a wild boy. everyone judged him for his silly personality when all he wanted to do was make people happy. he became depressed but never showed it to anyone until he met hyemi’s mother.

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. when hyemi’s younger sister passed away, her mother left her dad & their home. her dad went back into this depressive state but managed to take care of hyemi. she mainly took care of him because she didn’t want him to be anymore worried than what he already was. when she went off for training (even after she debuted), her dad called her everyday to check on her. they laugh and talk for hours. she always makes sure he’s eaten and slept after work.

— mother

— name : lee hye-yeon (이혜연)

— birthdate : feb 24. 1974

— career : unemployed

— nicknames : eommie ; little hye, rimmie

— contact name : eomma ; hyerim

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. hyemi’s mom always noticed that she was more of a daddy’s girl but she never minded it. she thought it was adorable how she would cling to his pant leg while he made a snack or walked around the house.

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. hyeyeon was diagnosed with bpd after her youngest daughter’s death so she couldn’t really be around hyemi anymore. she would lock herself away or hide before hyemi saw her. she began to drown herself in alcohol until she became unconscious. she did this until she came to her breaking point and just left. hyemi was heartbroken. even more since she had to go through losing her only sibling. she would look for her mom in different places when she got out of school but never told her dad. he always suspected that when she came home late, she was studying extra hard at school or at the library.

— sister

— name : kang hye-jin (강혜진)

— birthdate : jan 7. 2000 - jul 14. 2015

— career : unemployed

— nicknames : jinni ; rimmie, blossom

— contact name : jinni ��� ; blossom 💗

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. hyemi’s sister was and still is her everything. everyone always thought they were twins because of how close they were or thought hyejin was a mini version of hyemi because of how similar they looked. they always hung out with each other whether it’s be at home or anywhere else. they took care of their childhood dog together, always taking him outside. he eventually moved with their grandmother, though.

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. before hyejin went out with her friends on july 14, hyemi was in charge of her for the night. she told her to be back by 8 after her dad allowed her to go to the beach with her friends. she never made it back. hyemi began wondering around the city around 10 pm, looking for her little sister. after awhile, she recovers a call from hyejin’s phone only to find out it was one of her friends who drove. they told hyemi that hyejin was with them but they had been in a bad accident. hyejin was unconscious at the time but they weren’t sure if she was breathing

⠀( ˖˚ ͙ .. after the accident, hyemi could never forgive herself. seeing her sister in the hospital bed did something horrible to her. she had many sleepless nights, even as a trainee. her mother couldn’t even say anything to her. she never directly blamed her but she knew what her mom was thinking.

[samcybercat]

First Lines Tag

Thank you for tagging me @vcaudley Rules: share the first sentence of your last ten stories. If you haven’t written ten stories, share as many first sentences as you have. I'm just gonna go with stories that have already been finished and posted for this one. Also, not tagging anyone directly, but if you want to do this feel free

When Thanatos finds Zagreus, he’s lying in the grass looking up at the sky. close your eyes, carcass Over the great many eons that they have known one another, the two psychopomps have reached an understanding that others cannot comprehend. the treasure hold (though I begrudge including this one, since it was actually written in July 2021, but the zine it was for had so many issues that it was only posted recently) A while into Theseus’s lonely sparring session, he realises that he feels the lack of Asterius. when king minos stole away the bull The two of them stand in stunned silence, looking at the body lying on the floor in front of them. booty shorts and murderers caught(?) It is when the axe narrowly misses Zagreus’s shoulder, sending petals flying from the decorative flowers which cover said shoulder, that Zagreus notices his outfit may have been affected by his current battle with Theseus and Asterius. zagreus’s zany time travel antics (guest-starring long-haired theseus) The roar of the crowd spurs Theseus on, as it always has done and hopefully always will do. zagreus learns how to degrade hypnos (with help from theseus) Aphrodite knows that she is not the only one regarding these halls with a sense of wonder. love and verdure Persephone was beautiful and seemed to thrive on frivolous things. frivolous things They raided Rhianne’s house. They raided Rhianne's house That Lady Nyx herself might appear on the surface in this form is a rarity and an honour. in the presence of her glory

[goodboylupin]

It's that time of year again! Welcome, returning participants and newcomers alike to

The 3rd Candy Hearts Challenge

A fun, stress-free Wolfstar mini-fest!

(If you remember how this goes , feel free to skip my introductory spiel and check for new rules!)

They’re sold by many companies and known by many names: Candy Hearts, Conversation Hearts, Sweethearts, and Love Hearts. Whatever the brand and whatever you call them, they’re the signature sweet of the season. Sure, you could buy your beloved a box of chocolates, but that’s an option any time of year! Good luck finding these bad boys in November!

Not that candy hearts are bad! Sure, they’re kinda chalky… and they taste stale no matter how fresh you bought them… but it’s not about the taste with candy hearts, it’s about the pastel, the experience, and above all else: the sayings! Who doesn’t remember going through a pack with friends, trying to find the kookiest message? Digging through a box to find one that was just the right level of romantic to give a certain special someone? (And maybe the heartbreak when you received one in turn where the message was just a big, pink smudge?)

Now, candy hearts have been around for a long time. And with a constant rotation of messages so we always got fun variety in a box, they’ve had a lot of sayings.

Through a great deal of internet sleuthing (and a little creativity on my part), I’ve collected over five hundred of them.

Some are a little raunchy (TEASE ME), and some are outright rude (EW NO). They range from classic (BE MINE) to contemporary (SWIPE RIGHT) to were-at-one-point-contemporary (FAX ME). Some of them are, quite frankly so hyper specific it’s a wonder they made it into circulation at all (ME JULIE BEST MUM).

And they are all, even the weird ones, ripe with potential as fic prompts!

The way this mini-fest works is simple:

From now until 11:59pm EST February 14, drop me an ask containing these emojis: 🍬💕

If you don't want to send an ask from your main tumblr account (or don't have a tumblr account), you can do so anonymously. However, you must include the ao3 handle or tumblr sideblog from which you plan to complete the challenge.

I will shake my Great Big Box of Candy Hearts and pull out a unique candy heart for you and only you!

With your message in hand, create whatever that candy heart inspires and your own heart desires! Fanfic, art, graphics, playlists, head canons, shit posts, interpretive dances, cosplay, meta essays, it’s all great as long as its central focus is on Wolfstar, the relationship between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black!

You can either directly quote your candy heart message in your work or use it as a broader inspiration.

You are allowed to use the same candy heart as inspiration for multiple unrelated works and submit all of them to the fest.

You do not need a beta before submitting your work, but I do encourage you to get one. I want this to be as stress-free an event as it can possibly be, and in my personal experience, it reduces stress to have someone else look over your completed work for at least spelling and grammar so you don’t have to reread your own stuff and psych yourself out before posting. If you don’t have any fandom friends with whom you feel comfortable sharing your fanfiction, there are also online resources to find a friendly stranger (including, hopefully, our discord server — see rule 17). But if ultimately, you’d rather be your own editor, I certainly won’t reject your work!

Include the following caption at the beginning of the tumblr post or AO3 beginning notes: For @goodboylupin's Candy Hearts Challenge. My candy heart prompt was ____.

If posting on tumblr, please make sure the @-tag of your caption is working so I get a notification! It should show up on its own automatically as you type. Also tag the work with #RSCandyHearts, preferably within the first five tags.

If posting on AO3, post your work to the collection and tag it with #RSCandyHearts (it will probably not be common enough to be a drop-down option, just type the whole thing out and hit enter).

I will reblog every work on Tumblr, and leave a kudos on every work on AO3. (If I haven't done so on your work and you see I've been active on this blog, then both the @-notification and #RSCandyHearts tag failed. Send me an ask with a link!)

If, after completing your first work, you want another helping of candy hearts, that’s more than welcome! Since I don’t want anyone to get a sugar crash, there is a two-day wait period between submitting a work and getting a second (or third or fourth or wherever you are) candy heart. You can send the ask earlier, but I will wait two days before answering it.

If you find you cannot come up with anything for your prompt, you can drop out and send a new ask to get a different candy heart. However, you need to give it an honest effort for at least one week before I give you a new one.

Works are expected by March 1, but this is a low-stakes, self-posting challenge! If you need more time, just message me or drop an ask. And if you want to drop out, that’s totally fine! I’ll even delete your first ask where you requested a candy heart if you prefer. I only need to know for the sake of my own record-keeping. Let’s all just be honest, considerate, and try to have a good time!

If you need a really long extension: Your candy heart is yours until January of next year, at which point, if I haven't heard back from you with an update or request for extension in the past few months, your prompt is going back in the Great Big Box of Candy Hearts so somebody else can have a go at it. The AO3 collection closes at the same time.

I will keep a masterlist of works pinned on my blog until at least March 7.

There's a discord! Feel free to join to discuss your prompts, your progress, your love of Wolfstar, or just to have another little circle in your sidebar.

New rule: Over the past two challenges, there have been a small handful of people who requested a candy heart, did not create anything and did not speak to me any further to tell me they were dropping out or having trouble. I work hard to make everyone a custom graphic and keep this fest running smoothly, therefore: Any creators with multiple instances of ghosting are suspended from getting another candy heart until next challenge.

Attention: @goodboylupin​ has been shadowbanned. I have already sent a support ticket to tumblr but do not know how long this will last. My @ -tag is therefore broken (it will look like you @’ed me successfully but I will not receive a notification) and it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that you remember to tag your post with #rscandyhearts in the first five tags!!! If you need to speak to me about anything, your best bet is ask box or discord, because while it may look like a private message has sent, I won’t receive it. Unfortunately, people who send me asks will not get a notification when I answer them, you’ll just have to check my blog. Sorry for the inconveniences, I promise they suck worse for me. 💔

(And this announcement post won’t show up in tags, so please reblog to signal boost!)

My ask box is open now to receive your candy heart requests 🍬💕

[moimoirae]

Kim Taerae/Kum Junhyeon Drabble

Words: 598

On the bed of Taerae’s father’s truck he feels like his hands hold enough sweat to lube a small car battery. Due to his own pride he blames it on the mid July sun. It dips below the tops of lush trees to place delicate kisses on his collarbones. Ones that send heat traveling up his neck to rest on the balls of his cheeks. He tells himself it all has nothing to do with the way Junhyeon’s knee continues to brush against his own.

“No, I'm being serious. You should come.” Junhyeon says, leaning back on the palms of his hands. Taerae thinks about asking him something more straightforward in response. Just to see if he can get Junhyeon’s breath to catch in the back of his throat. The same way he gets Taerae’s to whenever he places a too warm hand on his waist in a crowded room, or soft lips against the shell of his ear in the back of an elevator. Because of that, “is it because you can’t wait to see me again?” Sits on the tip of his tongue like scalding tea. He swallows them down anyway and instead says,

“I don’t want to intrude.” It makes Junhyeon choke out something between a scoff and a laugh.

“You know everyone that’s going and it’s not like it’s some exclusive outing. Besides, I really want to see you again. Soon.” The words drift from Junhyeon’s mouth like leaves from a winter tree and fall into Taerae’s lap. Spoken so easily that Taerae wonders if they actually hold as much weight as he thought they did. He takes a glance at Junhyeon and is greeted by that familiar stutter he causes behind his rib cage. Junhyeon’s eyes glow mahogany beneath the summer rays and hold Taerae’s own hostage. A slow smirk spreads across Junhyeon’s lips as he leans toward Taerae. His entire thigh pressed flush against Taerae’s now, eyes darting over every inch of his face. It makes him want to hide. He can only imagine what he looks like. Face flushed from the summer heat and the fact that he can no longer deny how the slightest touch from Junhyeon lights a torch beneath his skin, he’s sure his hair is a mess from the sweat and how many times he ran his hands through it. But still, Junhyeon looks at him like he knows the weight his words hold.

“You do want to see me again right?” He asks, bumping his shoulder against Taerae’s. Taerae can feel those words from before attempting to climb their way back up his throat. But he uses what courage he’s managed to muster up to stare directly into Junhyeon’s eyes. Their shoulders knock where Taerae rests against the younger. The only response he offers Junhyeon is a slight nod of his head. But it’s enough for Junhyeon, it always is.

“Great! I’ll pick you up around 5. Make sure you're dressed for the heat. It’ll be hot.” Taerae decides that in a way he is being straightforward. Straightforward enough to hold his hand out to Junhyeon, to help him down from the bed of the truck.

“Let’s go. You have to get a good night's rest so you can be prepared to spend all day with me tomorrow.” Junhyeon says. It makes Taerae laugh out loud. The kind where he tosses his head back and places a hand over his stomach. As they climb into the truck Taerae decides that he likes it this way and makes a silent promise to always offer Junhyeon his hand.