#I’m not proficient in comics but making them and experimenting with them is really fun!

[hatchetmode]

Silly Hotel Pod oc time

[thunderpetal]

Legend’s Role in the Group

I made this post about how Legend hasn’t really used any of his most OP items in combat yet. The reason I gave for it in the post was that Jojo is saving his more powerful abilities for bigger battles yet. But there’s a second reason, too.

Legend has been on six adventures by himself before LU. Sure, he had friends to help him, but for the most part, he was fighting powerful foes totally alone. Save for Triforce Heroes, I guess, but I haven’t played that game so I don’t exactly know its deal.

My point is - with how proficient a solo adventurer he is, and combined with his general snark, you might assume that Legend is shit at teamwork, and operating in a group. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, Legend is pretty much the braincell of this group of heroes, and is playing a vital role of support. I will prove it to you in this post. So let’s go.

Here are Legend’s OG character notes. I highlighted in bold the ones I wanna talk about.

chooses not to be a leader type the most experienced adventurer he’s got a tool for that very mature for his age, however, still young at heart the most reliable, you want him on your team seems emotionally unaffected by his travels however he keeps Koholint his dark secret  

Chooses Not To Be A Leader Type

Legend could be the leader of this group, quite easily. After all, he is the most experienced one! But I reckon that as the early group dynamics emerged, he saw Time, the tallest and oldest, Warriors, the guy who commanded others in a war, and Twilight, able to emotionally understand the team better than he could, and thought ‘Right, I’m not touching all that’. When a group has 3 guys older than you who all seem to be competent leaders, why would you step up to be one?

That being said, Legend’s qualities as a leader don’t go to waste. He just applies them in different, less obvious, ways. One of my favourite examples is when he chooses to through the portal first.

His subtle leadership manifests in other ways, too. Often in battles he’s the one telling the group to stay focused, or directing their attention to where he wants it. He’s the first one to warn everyone to keep away from the Iron Knuckle.

I really respect that Legend chooses not to be a leader, ultimately. Again, with his experience, he could, but it shows his maturity that he leaves the role to those who are better suited for it instead. And yet, he doesn’t just sit back and let others boss him around - he finds his own ways to apply his knowledge and help the group. He’s his own kind of leader.

Speaking of his maturity, that brings me neatly to:

Very mature for his age, however, still young at heart

Legend is snarky. We all know this. At a glance, he might come off as immature compared to some of the... nicer members of the group, but I believe it’s quite the opposite. His snark and banter display the depths of his maturity, more than anything.

Legend’s snark is purposeful. If you look at any point in the comic where he’s made a comment, it’s normally at a point of tension. One of the Links has said something accidentally hurtful, or a serious topic is being disucssed. In those times, you can rely on Legend to swoop in with some form of banter. Here are a few of my favourite examples:

As we later find out, Time’s comment isn’t intended to supposed to be harmful, but it clearly hurts Twilight a little. Legend steps in and playfully jabs at Time, while making fun of himself too, to point out how Time’s comment came off wrong. Not only does this show Legend’s self awareness of his prickliness, it allows Time to go on to clarify that he meant the monster was infected, and he wasn’t trying to downplay anyone’s efforts.

Again, Time says something that hurts another member of the chain, Legend notices, and teases him to diffuse tension. (Side note, Time does seem to have a habit of coming off as harsh, doesn’t he? But that’s a can of worms for another day). It’s almost like Legend is practically using his reputation as slightly mean for the opposite effect - to subtly mediate between the members of the group.

One more example:

Wind’s thrown off and fumbling around Time’s question, which is fair enough given Wind Waker’s lore. It’s unclear if anyone else picks up on Wind’s discomfort, but Legend is right there again to lighten the mood a little.

Of course, a few banterous comments here and there aren’t enough to tackle all the tension and secret keeping the Links have between them, but it keeps things from boiling over. Legend is lowkey doing 90% of the peacekeeping in the group, and the others hardly seem to realise!

The most reliable, you want him on your team

To loop back around to what made me start this post in the first place, let’s look at how Legend behaves in combat.

In The Shadow, Legend doesn’t even fight once, instead holding back to let Warriors do the work. He also refocuses the group’s attention, making sure they’re all taking out an equal amount of monsters. But when he really comes into his own as the team’s rock is in the most recent arc, Sunset.

Legend is one of the four people who knew exactly who got hurt when Wolfie did. Everyone else in that group - Time, Wild and Four - react aggressively and emotionally in response to Twilight getting hit. But Legend doesn’t. In fact, he’s the first person to warn the others to stay away from the Iron Knuckle, even before Twilight’s wound didn’t heal - which led Wars and Sky to work out its blade was cursed, and warn everyone too.

I think part of this is because he still isn’t as close to Twilight as the others who know Wolfie’s true identity - they’ve bonded, sure, but this is all happening barely a couple of days after Divine Dark Reflections. So, him and Twilight aren’t quite besties yet, and thus Legend is more easily able to keep a cool head.

But I think it’s just also who he is. He sees a situation get 10x more stressful, and immediately starts working harder to ensure things are under control. In a way, his role is keeping the group in equibrilium. Twilight is hurt, and he’s worried. But he knows Warriors and Sky are already at his side, so instead, he focuses on what he can do to help the group as a whole, which is telling them to clear out the monsters so Wars and Sky have breathing space. He stops the others from throwing themselves into danger and taking on the Iron Knuckle, or at least he tries to, in the case of Wild.

To go back to what prompted me to make this post in the first place, I think this behaviour is also why we haven’t seen him use any of his powerful abilities yet. I mean, we haven’t seen Legend use a lick of magic on the battlefield yet! The others have been to his house and seen how many crazy items he has, yet in the comic, all he relies on is his sword, his pegasus boots, and a dream. Plus, we know he does have his magical abilities with him since he’s wearing his rings + Ravio’s bracelet, and we’ve seen his fire and ice rods respectively, so him simply not having access to his more powerful tools is a disproven possibility.

Instead, he’s purposefully holding back, for the same reasons he told the others not to throw themselves at the Iron Knuckle. He’s forfeiting showing off his skills in favour of being a reliable member of the team. I’m not saying the others are unreliable, and I do believe Legend will have his moment to shine in the future, but for now, he’s choosing to play the role of support. It’s worth noting that the boys don’t really know jack shit about what they’re up against. All of them have had dangerous adventures and near death experiences, but with the most experience under his belt, I think Legend’s exercising the most caution against Dink. He fears disrupting the battlefield with one of his more OP abilities, especially not without telling the others.

The way Legend fights reflects how he behaves in the group generally. He’s adjusting himself to be as stable as possible. He’s holding back on the wild magic he used on his solo adventures, just like how he’s choosing not to be a leader, and trying to mediate the group tension. In short, he definitely is the guy you want on your team.

But why is he like this?

One of the most important aspects of LU is one that’s easy to forget - the Links really haven’t known each other that long. Since the main comic begins after they have all met, we don’t know how much time has passed since they all banded together, but it’s reasonable to assume it’s only been a short while. There are tentative dynamics forming, but the group still don’t know a whole lot about each other, especially the more personal details of their lives. They’re still walking on eggshells around each other.

Legend’s behaviour is in response to all of this. For all of his teasing comments, at the end of the day, he’s actively making sure no big fights explode among the others, and that everyone stays safe, calm and alive. From assuming his own type of leadership, to keeping the group mood light, he’s navigating his first ever adventure working with such a large group of people - and imo, doing a fantastic job at it. He’s making sure he doesn’t disrupt such a fragile group dynamic. Though looks at Sunset despite Legend’s best efforts, it seems like some serious interpersonal drama is brewing anyway.

In the future, I do hope we get to see Legend absolutely going off in battle, because it will be epic. But until that day comes, I really appreciate the role he has in the group.

TL;DR Legend is the braincell. Here is a pic of him disappearing into the void. thank you for reading

[drabbles-of-writing]

Reverse Au! Dump

Don’t mind my idea dumping here. Brain decided to have fun while I was at work and I have too many wips as it is, so… Thought I’d ask before I dumped, experience. Used morningmark’s comics as a base, so if you want reference. Now this isn’t all that well compiled, but here it goes.

~

Magic in the Other World is varied as it is crazy. So many styles over the generations and not a lot of organization. There are some that try to categorize it all, but that works as well as you’d expect. Some were lost, some erased, some weren’t passed down/recorded because “the power is all mine! Ahahaha!” It took a lot of time and collaboration, but eventually a sort of system was installed to help out. Still a lot of work to do, but its a step forward. Nowadays the term Wild Magic is generally reserved for those that aren’t all that well documented and understood.

Some Magics are very powerful and desirable, but also tend to be very high risk/high reward, kinda pass/fail, pretty literally Do or Die most times. So not a lot of people can use those or are even willing to. Story says this one guy named Odin hung himself on a massive tree by his own spear for nine days, no food water or rest in constant pain before he could unlock the secret of Runes. But it’s also said he gouged out his own eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom so… 

There are lots of different ways to channel magic too: wands, staves, jewelry, certain gems, familiars, potions, enchanted armaments, chants, scripts, etc. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages and play into a Witches’ style. Every Witch has at least two methods of spellcasting. Only children have one. Haven’t thought of how Luz gets her Palisman though. Maybe its one of those magic Artifacts like Dr. Strange’s cloak, Elder Wand, Thor’s hammer, or a Green Lantern’s Ring. Something that can’t be recreated because the secret is lost, materials no longer exist, too hard/dangerous to make, accident that can’t be recreated, etc. Happens more often than people like.

Camilla is sometimes called the Blue Witch. She’s a healer by heart and trade, but push her and she will become a one Witch Battleship. Bismark who? Aaaaand she just deleted a whole battalion. And the fortress behind them. Hide me. There are the very rare occasions, like count on one hand rare, when someone near and dear to her heart is in trouble that she takes up her other job. She’s especially terrifying when she decides to torture, those who know how to heal the body know best how to break it. Many shades of Blue, some are very close to Black. She doesn’t necessarily hate Humans exactly, but doesn’t have the highest of regard from past experiences.

Luz has training and is a proficient Witch for her age. Camilla and her father were adamant about having a general knowledge/skillset alongside her specialized skill. Jack of all trades and a master of none, still better than a master of one. She has gone through the system for her magic with varying success. Oracle magic? Zero talent. Bard classes? She can play an instrument, but can’t sing at the same time. When she does sing she tires too hard and messes up. It’s only when she doesn’t try, like absently singing along with a song or playing by her heart, that she’s good at it. Beasts? Can use them, but would rather play with them. Bleeding heart and all that. She does have a good handle on healing magic partly due to Camilla drilling necessary skills into her and partly osmosis. Her father arranged for some CQC lessons from an old friend of his which the girl loved. You get the idea. It wasn’t until she discovered Glyphs that she found her niche and her skills took off. Glyphs are one of those ‘eccentric’ or 'archaic’ styles since they haven’t been used in so long after being lost and are barely understood. She still has a long way to go, but she is on her way.

Luz never really had much in the way of friends, partly cuz of high profile parents which leads to certain pressures and a target on her head, partly because of her magic style and personality, and partly because of the trouble been going on. Luz grew up her whole life with this tension of a group of anarchists trying to burn society that’s just trying to do the right thing. The anarchists started small, but have been a growing problem the past few decades with talk how to 'reshape the world’ in not a good way. Anyone with critical thinking skills can tell this is a bad idea, but they are too brainwashed to notice. They harass anyone who doesn’t follow their rhetoric and attack anyone who even questions them. Luz’s parents put a real kink in a lot of their plans for years, which makes Luz guilty by association. 

Luz got caught in one of those sudden larger scuffles and was accidentally chucked/blown through a portal created by an attempted tactical retreat that went off course. Hence why she can’t go home because she hasn’t learned how to do portals yet. Those are high level anyway so how did these guys pull it off so easily? Luz has a hard time blending in obviously. Learning how to use a phone was a fun endeavor. Internet was a trip. Luz is amazed how these people can do all this cool stuff without magic. Keep a low profile sure, she can pass off as a weird out of town kid. Keep the beanie on, underperform in gym and stuff because some things don’t change, like genetics. Someone sharp eyed will see discrepancies. The Beanie has a small Glamor spell built in that covers her witchy traits but she forgot the ears which is why it sits like it does. Luz can erase memories in case she has an accident, but it’s less of a 'remove my face from this picture with a scalpel’, and more of a 'lemme just hack off the past hour or three from your brain with an axe.’ If she tries to take any more then she starts burning into some more dangerous territory and those Wiped are groggy and disoriented for a while after already. Then the magic attacks start happening and her heroic instinct/anti-bystander complex kicks in and there goes that. It runs in the family so Camilla isn’t surprised in the slightest when she finds out.

“Oh titan, why did you curse me with another me?” “I’m right here Mami!”

Eda has a shack very akin to Grunkle Stan. Lots of junk that Lilith can’t believe that people are dumb enough to buy. She’s also involved in some not so legal dealings on the side. Well, Eda isn’t actually hurting anybody and the tax dollars she should be paying would only go towards some politicians’ next yacht or another pointless overseas 'investment’ instead of where it’s supposed to go so. Eda does give some good intel on occasion and a place to vent so Lillith overlooks her. Lil’s more of the secret police for witches and a petty crook isn’t part of her job anyway. Eda understands Luz’s predicament and is willing to help. The cover story is that Camilla work in hospitals and has to work crazy hours while her dad passed away so is living with Eda for a while. King is that kind of critter that grew up weird and acts like ten different animals all the time.

Gus is the nerdy kid who infodumps on everybody, even if they’re not listening. Loves anything fantasy/sci-fi related and plays Minecraft too. A good kid at heart, but needs some social skills. Keep him away from anything more sugary than tea. Luz learned a lot listening to him. Not all of it is entirely useful, but still. Some of his ramblings give her some good ideas for magic and stuff, like putting Glyphs on cards.

The Blights are the cool rich kids obviously, and have some discipline and social issues. Big family name makes them intimidating for normies and a meal ticket for the unsavory. These kids need real friends. They decided to act out to get some attention from the parents who then decided to ignore them. “If you’re going to act like a child tantrum, get treated like one.” Ed is perfect for Drama classes, if he were allowed to partake. Can’t decide what Em is great at, hacking perhaps? Amity’s car is an inheritance from the only family to treat her as such Twins aside, even if she’s too young to remember it. She only remembers that she has feelings surrounding the car. All three of them were pretty impressed with Luz for standing up to them, calling them out on their shit, and not giving a crap about their family name. Being treated like a normal person is pretty weird. Can we get her to do that again?

Amity tried dating Boscha once, didn’t work out very well. Boscha is still hurting over Amity’s comment of “I’d rather go date the new weird kid (Luz) than go back to you.” It’s one of the reasons she goes after Luz. She has that kind of Bud personality from Spider Man, feels lesser and so acts out so much. 

“Wow, this new Witch is amazing. Not as cool as the original Witch.”

“What is it with the Witch with you?”

“Oh, she’s a hero. Looks out for the city and the little guy. She inspires me. Makes me want to be a bigger person. *sees Luz* What’s up Luz-er?”

~

And that’s what I got right now. I know there was more, but it’s lost to the void right now. Might come back later, maybe not. Lemme know what you think.

............

DAMN you weren’t lying when you said you had an info-dump this is *chefs kiss* you got me intrigued now

[laurenhufflepuff2]

A list of fandoms I'm in (in no particular order, will probably be updated regularly. Some fandoms are more intense and some are more casual. Depending on the fandom, I could go on and on about fandom topics for HOURS. Let's get into it!)

Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel, DC comics, Miraculous Ladybug, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, Star Wars, Literature, Winx Club, Nintendo, Minecraft, Little Witch Academia, Voltron, Coraline

Details:

Harry Potter- I got into Harry Potter in 7th grade and now I am the resident expert in my family and in my friend group. I read all the books, watched all the movies (notably the British version), and I've seen the Fantastic Beasts films as well. I've also read Tales of Beedle the Bard (the Warlock's Hairy Heart was traumatizing) along with the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook (plus an updated edition). I also read The Cursed Child script and while I mean no hate to anyone that liked it, I hated what it did to the canon. I am in Hufflepuff with some Ravenclaw tendencies (I took the Pottermore quiz 3 times, 2 out of 3 I got Hufflepuff, the other time was Ravenclaw). I had a pottermore account and I was so upset when it got converted to the Wizarding World page. I cosplayed Hermione in 7th grade complete with British accent and even monologued as her for a talent show (classmates and teachers would recognize me as the Hermione girl all the way through high school). I was obsessed and I still love it even if J.K. Rowling has gone off the deep end on Twitter... yeah... my favorite character is Hermione but I also relate to Luna

Disney- there's so much that goes into the Disney part of my fandom list. I'm excluding Marvel and Star Wars from this part as they were originally separate entities before Disney got the rights to them. I have seen almost every animated Disney film ever and often use random movie quotes in conversation. My favorite villain is Maleficent, my favorite princess is Ariel (followed by Belle, Rapunzel, and Anna). I relate to so many of the characters. I'm not sure who my favorite Pixar character is though (I love Violet, Sadness, Dory, and Piper (from the short)). My favorite Disney fairy is Fawn. My favorite characters overall are Ariel and Stitch. Disney is definitely on the list as one of my biggest obsessions. My favorite movies are Lilo and Stitch, the Little Mermaid, Inside Out, Alice in Wonderland (original), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Marvel- I mostly get my Marvel exposure through the MCU, other movies, and animated TV shows. I have difficulty reading graphic novels so most of my comic book knowledge comes from friends, posts, or wikis. My favorite characters are Spider-Man, Captain America, Peggy Carter, and Scarlet Witch. I also like Gwenpool, Deadpool, Spider-Gwen/ Ghost-Spider, Venom, Squirrel Girl, Daredevil, Mantis, Gamora, Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, Loki, Bucky, Black Panther, and most MCU characters. Out of the X-men I really like Professor X, Wolverine, Mystique, Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Quicksilver (either version- MCU or Fox).

DC- this was the franchise I was more familiar with growing up but again, graphic novels aren't easy for me to read so most of my knowledge comes from information pages about the comics or from tv/movies. My earliest experience with DC came from the 60s Batman series, with Catwoman and Robin being my favorites. I also watched the Wonder Woman series from the 70s and a handful of CW shows, my favorite of which being the Flash and Arrow. I also managed to watch all 5 seasons of the Teen Titans Cartoon Network series from 2003. With that being said, my favorite characters are Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Flash, Batman, Nightwing/Robin (Dick Grayson), Green Arrow, Starfire, Raven, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Alfred. I also like most of the bat family, and when it comes to CW I LOVE Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost and Cisco.

Miraculous- this is one of my guilty fandoms but since this is Tumblr I'm not too worried about it. I love Marinette and I relate to her on an astoundingly deep level (minus the stalking and obsession with potential lovers, that's creepy). If I had a miraculous, I'd probably want the Ladybug one, but the Cat miraculous, fox miraculous, and snake miraculous are good too. My favorite character is Marinette/Ladybug.

Atla/Tlok- I jumped on the avatar bandwagon just when it was starting to get popular, so I managed to get through the series before the memes took over everything. Same with Tlok, although i couldn't completely avoid the spoilers for that when i started it. I've been wanting to get into the comics because of the short story comics I've read, they seem easier to read than superhero comics. My favorite characters are Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Iroh, Korra, Jinora, Asami, Suki, Appa, Momo, Naga, and Pabu. I also like Sokka, Mai, Zuko, Lin, Kuvira, Varrick, Zhu Lee, and Azula. I feel really sorry for her and while I understand that a redemption arc would undermine the importance of her corruption arc, I still wish she could have one. I would love to be a waterbender or an airbender... maybe a waterbender raised in the air nation? Obviously, being the avatar itself would be awesome. The show has taught me a lot of great lessons and put a lot of stuff into perspective for me.

Star Wars- oh boy, talking about this one is dangerous. I've seen firsthand the horrors of the Star Wars fandom but then again no one will probably see this anyway so... I've seen all the movies and I remember watching the clone wars series with my brother when I was younger but we fell wayyy behind and it's taking us forever to get back into it. I've also seen the Mandalorian and quite enjoyed it. I like the prequels unironically, in fact, the prequels are some of my favorite movies. I especially like how they switched from lightsabers being heavy weapons to light weapons that can be used for all kinds of tricks that make for epic battles like the ones we see in Revenge of the Sith. The sequels were fun to watch but when I would analyze them along side their predecessors, I came to the conclusion that, for me, they were good to watch but did not do anything good for the rest of the franchise. My favorite characters are prequels/clone wars Obi Wan and Anakin, Padme, Ashoka, Leia, R2D2, BB-8, R4-P17, the Mandalorian (Din Djarin), and Grogu. If I had a lightsaber I'd want it to be blue, but when I was little I got a purple one like Mace Windu because it was closer to pink and I was into pink at the time. I still have that lightsaber and none of my friends have a purple one so it's one of my flexes. I feel like I wouldn't make a good jedi because of attachments being forbidden, so I'd probably become a grey jedi.

Literature- this is a broad term I use to cover all the random books and stories I liked reading and have studied. So we have Shakespeare (Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet), The Great Gatsby (bored while reading, loved to analyze), Grendel (HATED reading, loved to analyze, Grendel really needed a hug and a friend), The Crucible, Fahrenheit 451, Dark Life (+ the sequel Riptide, both are by Kat Falls good reads, sci-fi and kind of dystopian), The Once and Future King

Winx Club- I think the show is trashy but I still love watching it. I haven't been able to get through season 6 though and I hated what they did with season 8 and Fate: the Winx Saga. My favorite character is Bloom along with Stella and Flora. I prefer rai to nick. My favorite transformations are magic winx, enchantix, and harmonix. My favorite member of the Trix is Icy followed by Darcy. My favorite Pixies are Chatta and Lockette.

Nintendo- mainly Pokémon above all else, followed by Animal Crossing. I have also played (mostly as player 2 or just never beat or watched my brother play) mario games, legend of zelda, pikmin, and kirby. Games I haven't played but I just liked the characters/the lore and probably learned about through Super Smash Bros. are Fire Emblem (Lucina mostly), Metroid (Samus and baby metroid), and Kid Icarus. Pokémon is where I'm most knowledgeable but you'll most likely beat me in battle. I am however great at MarioKart and I always destroy my friends at it. Terrible at fighting games though.

Minecraft- I like playing this casually. Sure, I'll play for hours and hours on end for months, but I prefer to stay exclusively in peaceful when playing Survival mode and I don't make anything too ambitious in Creative mode. I like to write, so sometimes I'll make a rough layout of the settings of my stories in different worlds. I prefer interior design and decorating when building, and when in survival mode I focus more on mining and gathering while my brother works on ambitious building projects. I just bring him the raw materials and furnish the interior when he finishes the outside.

Little Witch Academia- this takes up a smaller portion of my fandom list because there were only 2 seasons and a couple movies and I watched the whole series years ago, but I still enjoy it. At one point I wanted to cosplay Akko, and I loved the nod at Twilight through the Nightfall series. And I especially liked the twist that Shiny Chariot was Ursula, which I suspected for some time. The blend between magic and technology was fun to see, but I was so sad that the series ended RIGHT when Akko finally showed signs of magic proficiency. Also, Shiny Chariot being the reason Akko couldn't do magic was heartbreaking.

Voltron- this takes up a much smaller portion of my fandom list mainly because I haven't even finished it. I know hardly anything about Transformers aside from the Bumblebee movie so to me I just watch it for fun. It reminds me of power rangers, star wars, and star trek, and then there's just a transformer insert. But I don't know anything about Transformers so maybe the show is more rooted in canon than I think.

Coraline- I am in a love-hate relationship with Coraline. I have watched the movie several times, I've read the book, I've watched hours of theories and analyses on youtube, I've watched behind the scenes videos by Laika, and I even wrote a script for a fan film parody. I am amazed at how original the story is and how impressive the stop motion animation is but I also have recurring nightmares from it and it scares me/creeps me out to the max. If anyone asks what my scariness limit is, it's definitely Coraline.

[red-i-mean-blue]

A:TLA romantic ships part 1

yes, no one asked for my opinions, yes I will give them anyway, yes because I have decided making a bunch of meaningless decisions and arguing for them will improve my mental state, yes I watched the show all in one very sleep deprived go and i’m not interested in rewatching it so yes I have absolutely no sources, yes this is a really long grammatical nightmare because I don’ t know how to be succinct and i use way more words than necessary at any opportunity because if my point doesn’ t come across exactly like i intend it will greatly upset me, no I have not yet watched Korra or read the comics because i’m tired now let’s do this.

includes Kataang, Zutara, Jetkara, Jinko, Maiko, Sukka, Taang, Tokka, Toko Ty Lokka, Tyzula, Yukka bc these were on the Avatar wiki ship list, part two will go into gay ships more

from 0 I despise people who ship this immediately to 10 I will read absolutely anything with this, I love it and could draw it for hours on how much I think the relationship would be good and how happy it makes me

Kataang (looks like a comic book sound effect so plus points)

very clearly built up over the series

cute kid crushes also ngl did not know katara was 14 and not older 12 or 13 so didn’t care about age when watching

now I know she’s 14 and he’s 12 it’s a little weird but still

haters say katara was just the avatar’s trophy girl, as if aang didnt kiss the ground she walked on and wouldnt stop telling anyone how amazing she is. Katara was the first face he saw from the new world and they immediately became friends. she was so excited to meet another bender, he clearly is trying to impress her and it is working, he listens to her about bending and offers to take her to the other side of the world to master water, TELL ME at this moment she is not ride or die and she doesn’t even know he’s the avatar, he lets her feel like a kid again, which is a feeling she’s forgotten after years of being a mother to sokka and the children. he literally sweeps her off her feet to save her from the fire nations ship i-. rewatched boy in the iceberg and hoo boy had canon not messed it up, this ship could have been legendary

hard to imagine older them working out what with the whole last airbender, preserve air nomad culture, let’s travel the world bc nomadic lifestyle, what’s marriage i’m a monk without biological family values vs last southern waterbender, preserve southern water tribe culture, I believe in the power of family and am ridiculously dedicated to my tribe,  let me go home to my father and tribe shtick, but I don’t care for after the show finishes much except for following the gang fix the world so I don’t really care about the marriage issue

canon was good until that Mess in season 3, WHY did he kiss her after that speech, wish they talked that out properly, wish he learned letting go of her to open the 7th chakra was the only right decision, wish the ending was a little more vague in ships and just left things open but yk whatever

that finale kiss was sweet, they hugged foremost as friends, no blushing, and then got the fuzzies, that moment standing alone? a+ but without any talking about what happened on ember island, a little unsatisfying

overall, fine ship, not my favourite nor do I actively ship it, but I see a kataang moment, i’m like, sweet so I give it a 6

Zutara (apparently fans are zutarians which looks like an alien race, plus points)

latter half of the show had quite a lot of Zutara potential, but idk about Zutara actual

katara was so ready to drop his ass, no way at the start

there is only one dynamic between them in which I can see Zutara working and that is as in the Stalking Zuko by emletish series where katara is so distrusting over zuko she takes to stalking him to make sure he isn’t doing anything to hurt Aang or about to betray them (her) again but he is just such a sweet dork who keeps trying to apologise to her even while she’s apologising to him for being a bitch that she can’t help but start to trust him, i’m a third into the third book in the series not stalking firelord zuko and I am thriving and tbh this is the only situation where I accept zutara, read the series I love it

age gap is weird, I know it’s the same difference between kataang but they made a point of zuko being older in the show also he’s so much taller and I don’t like 16 year old boys with 14 year old girlfriends in real life and so would katara because jet

katara has a bad experience with bad boy sword weilders (jet) but I guess you could see it as the start of her type idk

they are both the moms of the Gaang. sokka is the fun dad.

there is a parallel between their families, with the leader of their people dad, mom who left the picture when they were young, an older brother who is not a prodigy at/can’ t bend their respective element so they become proficient at swords instead, prodigy at bending younger sister with a violent streak. this is why I see zutara as potentially a really close friendship, almost siblings, but not a romance because to me katara is a little too like azula for comfort...

tbh I think a lot of folk shipped it because ooh fire boy and water girl (not the game) that’ s perfect, and bam army of zutarians

overall, kind of weird but ok and good grounds for humour so I give it a 4

Jetkara (bad ship name, why would you like this, minus points)

Jet is bad. yes Katara really liked him, yes he was definitely her first kiss and she would definitely consider him her first boyfriend but they would not define it because it’s easier to manipulate someone when it’s unclear what your relationship is and Jet is bad, with his weird fricking eyebrows and not even real swords those hook swords

Not wasting my time, 2

Jinko (cool name, reminds me of Hong Jinkyung, plus points) 

short but so sweet. not the first thing people remember from watching the tales of ba sing se (brb going to rewatch and cry) but really cute, so here’s a running commentary

his first thought was she knew they were fire nation rather than a pretty girl sat in a teashop giving him looks because she had a crush omg

that honest surprise when his uncle suggested she liked her and then she walked up and asked him on a date, adorable

anyone who looked at that god-awful hairstyle and still thought he looked cute has it bad also aww that hair ruffle and the little grab onto his arm

he’s pushing his food around and she’s trying out ice breaker questions and recieving one word responses he has no idea what he’s doing

“she is not my GIRLFRIEND” he’s not over Mai, clearly but he still is trying his best to be a good date even if he’s terrible at making conversation

anyone who sat through that date and the bad lying and the stilted conversation and still thought he was cute has it bad 

he is So Bad At Lying he just told the truth very vaguely and then bam travelling circus

jin so knows the two are fire nation, the whole date she just politely ignores the clear lies and doesn’t react to the obvious firebending, what an icon we love jin

honestly I was really expecting the show to reveal that jin knew he was a firebender if not from the start then from the lights but eh I guess she can keep a secret, good for her

HE KISSED HER BACK BEFORE REALISING A RELATIONSHIP COULD NEVER GO WELL AND HE MAY HAVE ANGSTILY STORMED OFF BUT HE ADMITTED IT WAS A NICE TIME TO HIS UNCLE

that being said I can’t see anything more happening but this date but omg imagine fire lord zuko coming back to visit and they become friends I-

overwhelming support for pre-date jin flirting to an oblivious zuko and the date Jinko, 8

Maiko (name would be a good name for a cat idk why)

childhood sweethearts before the banishment i think

she crushed because he saved her hair from getting burnt by tackling her into a fountain? adorable

I love mai she’s so funny but I think not the best match for zuko? he has a lot of trauma to get over and she doesn’t seem like the let all your feelings out and let’s talk about it until you feel better kind of person.  it was deeply ingrained in her to keep all of her feelings and emotions strongly hidden because she got what she wanted from her politician parents so long as she was quiet, well-mannered, and perfectly behaved according to avatar wiki so I get why she’s that way, until I was 11 I was that way too all the time, I understand freezing your face so you don’t look afraid or upset or angry and risk annoying adults, but I don’t think that that would fit zuko with his social ineptness

they literally broke up twice but are just assumed back together? she just surprised him and said they were back together and I think he forgot she existed

the deadpan firelady and the fire lord would be hilarious together tho she got the ruthlessness he lacks

post coronation I can see it happening, 6 but under Kataang

Sukka (terrible name lmao)

the cutest, sokka very excitedly says “Suki!! :DDD” every time he sees her

she didn’t give him the time of day until HE changed, incredible

just the best canon ship, the two nonbenders in the Gaang but very clearly shown to be important key members.

suki is sneaky and badass, rivalling zuko for position on the team as the sneaky badass one (they tie and bond over being sneaky and badass)

sokka is a great dad, he is the dad of the Gaang and he clearly loves suki and suki loves him back

sokka ships are ELITE, 9

Taang (a delicious orange drink mix that reminds me of home, nostalgia)

foreshadowing from the swamp where someone aang loved in the future really made me think taang was endgame yk

opposite elements ideology that I guess is what zutarians like also leaves everyone in the gang dating a Gaang member if zutara happens

actually the same age but not much else going for it

best friends, 4 but under Zutara

Tokka (great name of a small pet fight me)

sokka ships are elite, childhood crush turned adult strong friendship

I really like seeing the rough, tough, greatest earthbender in  the world have a crush, adorable

sokka is a great friend and his and toph’s canon relationship is so sweet, I wouldn’t change it

toph was fully going to give sokka a kiss on the cheek for saving her life i’m melting

age difference is too weird for a romance he’s like 16 or 17 by the end I think and she’s 12

best friends, 10 as a relationship in the show, 2, but in their 20s after the show... 4 but under Taang

Toko (very forgettable name but both characters have 4 letters so I guess it’s hard to come up with something memorable but every time I read it as Toph because same shape ish so minus points for being annoying)

even weirder age gap than Tokka 

not many moments that could be considered romantic? 

toph first accepted zuko despite him burning her feet, how she sees, which was big and they resolved problems between them quickly

toph clinging to his arm and asking for a life changing field trip caused him to blush, but I see that as him being like oh someone wants to spend time with me?? she’s hugging me??? what is this 

convenient ship for kataangers because the Gaang could be paired off as Kataang, Sukka, Toko

her crush on sokka seemed to go away or calm down when he showed up and she punched him and teased him a lot, her way of bonding

similar strict teaching styles and bonding over secret identities as Blue Spirit and Blind Bandit and parental issues and being the children of important families who made them run away to enjoy not having anything to do with politics and being nobility with impaired vision who have never stepped into a kitchen in their lives and being used to servants and then being on the run

I really see them as siblings with her helping him relax from his duties as fire lord because you already know this boy’s sense of honour is going to make him work tirelessly to fix the world and him helping her relax from the whole i’m not a fragile, weak little blind girl, i’m the greatest earthbender in the world shtick and reminding her she can be both a blind 12 year old girl and the most powerful earthbender in the world, she can accept help without being weak or lesser than anyone, people want to help because they care not that they pity you

best friends 10, relationship in show 1, after show 3

Ty Lokka (I don’t like this name looks like a place but can think of nothing better)

yeah I guess ty lee’s obvious flirting is grounds for a ship but in every interaction he’s involved with someone else and doesn’t seem to like her as a person

do they even interact while on the same side?

friendly aquaintances at best, don’ t understand, 2 but above Jetkara

Tyzula (don’t like this name, like a mineral water?)

canon I don’t care it is canonically a possessive relationship

azula’s only genuine apology goes to ty lee after hurting her feelings

Azula clearly loves ty lee, her betrayal sends her mad

after a lot of therapy for azula and apologies, maybe a healthy relationship could form after the show, 8 above Jinko

Yukka (looks like a childish insult, surely someone could have thought of a better name)

Sokka’s love for Yue stays with him for the rest of his life, she was the first person to die in front of him and he sees the moon as her facing the earth

love this forbidden lovers content, sokka ships stay elite

Sokka and Yue spend as much time together as possible with secret midnight dates flirting (“you wanna do an...activity together?”)  Sokka’s reaction to Yue’s engagement shows that he wants to have a serious relationship with her, and also he thinks Hahn is a bad person for Yue, which he is. 

Yue dying devastated him and he never falls out of love with Yue. her last words “[she] will always be with him” are true. swamp visions show Yue as one of the most important people in his life like a season or so after he last saw her. he wouldn’t kiss suki in front of the moon, and cries when Yue appears on stage, ignoring Suki. he talks about the moon as if it is directly Princess Yue in that cactus juice scene.

she died in his arms oh my god don’t look i crying, he feels personally responsible and guilty

yue was great even though she was the indigenous or black girl with light hair and eyes character and I wish she could have helped aang in the spirit world 

despite her arranged engagement she clearly really likes sokka even though she knows nothing can happen, 9

Kataang, Zutara, Jetkara, Jinko, Maiko, Sukka, Taang, Tokka, Toko, Ty Lokka, Tyzula, Yukka

[jasontoddiefor]

Title: Mouse Droids and How To Fix Them – A Quick And Easy Guide [Livestream] Summary: Luke has a Space Youtube Channel and Leia watches his videos to de-stress from a terrible day. Mouse droids are named and the Empire and its terrible quality are dragged through the sarlacc pit. AN: Anyway, did somebody said TIE-Fighter story prequel? No? Too bad.

Leia was a well-composed and well-behaved serene princess right up until the doors of her rooms closed behind her. The moment she was out of sight, she kicked off her shoes with such a force that they soared half across the room and crashed against her wardrobe with a loud crack. She took the pins keeping her braids in place out of her hair and threw them onto the dresser. Then as graceless as a regular fifteen-year-old girl, Leia dropped onto her bed and screamed into her pillow.

Today had been terrible.

Leia hated all the pointless festivities that only ever served to make everyone there feel important and powerful but did absolutely nothing for the people they were supposed to govern. She couldn’t understand how her parents managed it. They were good and selfless people, always calm and serene even when the newest governor was basically spitting one insult after the other at them. Leia always wanted to shout back, it was her first instinct. Idiots who couldn’t be bothered to contribute anything productive or kind, should shut up and stop hindering others from doing their job. Leia had kept her mouth shut of course. She had smiled pleasantly as her mother had taught her and acted as expected from her.

But that didn’t mean that she hadn’t wanted to strip the gloves off her hands and show him how much of a bloodthirsty royal she really was. She shouldn’t have desired it, but it annoyed her so much when others purposefully misunderstood her. It had been a year since she picked her coronation color. When would people finally stop commenting on it?

Yes! Princess Leia Organa had chosen white! She’d forgone five-hundred-years of tradition and picked the color of the snow on Alderaan’s mountains, of ice so cold it burned, of the sheets upon which they wrote the names of their dead.

Leia wore the color of war, mourning and remembrance and she wore it well.

How could she not when the Empire was murdering innocents, subjugating whole worlds and waging an unjust war? Picking green or blue would be an insult upon the suffering she had been forced to witness. She didn’t want to be remembered as another impassive royal, bowing to the whims of the Empire. Leia hadn’t been meant to live in a tyrannizing Empire in which she had to watch her every word and step. She wanted to speak her mind and missed the Republic she never got to experience.

Her parents, while displeased she out herself in such danger, had understood it. Most Alderaanians understood it and supported her, but not that stupid new governor. Instead, he went on and on about her image and character flaws – and worse! Talked about marriage.

Leia was already dead set on staying unmarried. Her parents had been lucky. Despite their marriage being arranged, they’d loved each other. Or maybe they had been in love first and the political advantage of the marriage was just a bonus. Leia didn’t entirely know, but she knew to one hundred percent that all her potential Alderaani suitors sucked. They were arrogant and petty or worse, both of that but way older than her as well. She could marry somebody from a different planet, but the Old Houses would frown upon that and then she’d have to deal with more in-fighting and risk losing control of Alderaan’s society and give the Empire even more access to her planet. It was bad enough as it was.

Groaning, Leia rolled onto her back and got up from her bed again. She’d hate herself in the morning if she didn’t dress out of the fine robes completely. She fetched herself her sleeping clothes and washed the make-up off her face. It felt like taking off uncomfortable armor and she was more than glad to get rid of it. Leia didn’t mind dressing up. As a child, she had loved trying on her parents’ much too large clothes and she still loved picking out dresses together with her mother, but sometimes she wished it all wouldn’t take so much energy.

Redressed, Leia returned to her bed, ready to pretend to fall asleep when she knew that she wouldn’t be able to close her eyes now. Her mind was too unfocused, her thoughts all jumbled up. She laid still and waited until another moment had passed before reaching for her bed stand and pulling out her secret private comm.

Leia had three of them. One for official business, one was the officially private secret comm – the one every important person in the galaxy was supposed to have and hide – and then there was her own, which she used to stay up-to-date with activities unbefitting on an Imperial princess.

She checked the holonet, skimming through articles that made her blood boil and delightfully bright art that called for resistance. She was pleased to notice that more and more Alderaani artists were choosing lighter colors in their barely legal paintings and downright joyful when she saw an account post images of white flags. Those posts would probably be taken down once the meaning behind them spread a little more, but Leia was proud nonetheless. She had caused this, this was her contribution to the Rebellion.

In a better mood already, Leia went through her notifications. She had a few replies to articles she had written and- oh.

 [Notification: Scrap Hunting has started a livestream – 1 Min ago]

Smiling widely, Leia clicked on the link connecting her to the video. The livestream had indeed only started recently, and not even properly. Leia had missed the last one sadly because she’d been in the Core, too far away for Scrap Hunting’s terrible holonet connection to reach. Alderaan was just close enough to Tatooine for Leia to watch them.

She couldn’t quite recall how she had stumbled upon the channel. She had just been clicking through some random videos one day and there it had been. Leia wasn’t all that knowledgeable about ships – her parents had kept a keen eye on her since the Speeder accident she’d had when she was ten – and didn’t really have much access to the hangers either. Droids, on the other hand, Leia knew plenty about. They were everywhere and nobody wanted to live without them, which made them the perfect spies with the right adjustments. Leia knew how to wipe a droid’s memory so clean, it was shinier than any crystal and how to hide protocols upon protocols in their storage. Her favorite droids were C-3PO and the R2D2 unite serving on the Tantive IV. Artoo especially had a lot of personality. Leia needed to sort out her Binary so she could catch all the colorful curses the astromech liked to inflict on people.

The two boys running Scrap Hunting – well, only really Luke actually – were sympathetic. They didn’t talk about droids like they were simple tools and they were proficient in fixing them up. Therefore Leia was very pleased to see that the title of the livestream was Mouse Droids and How To Fix Them – A Quick And Easy Guide. This would be fun, the right kind of distracting noise she needed after such a long day.

X

“Alright, we’re all set up now,” Luke said. “Hello everybody! I’m Luke and welcome to another episode of Scrap Hunting!”

He waved at the recorder and then picked up a small back droid from his table. “This is what today’s livestream will be about! An MSE-series droid! A lot of you guys said you’d like more livestreams and the weather’s been pretty good recently and I fixed the signals so I hope this works out just fine.”

Luke smiled and reached for the first tool lying in front of him. “I decided that fixing up this little guy here should be fine for a shorter video. I don’t have to think so much about what I’m doing and can talk at the same time.”

He began taking off the outer casing of the droid and carefully set it aside. “I know, I know, I’m always talking, but nobody complains about it.” Luke stopped spinning his wrench for a moment to think. “Okay, alright, maybe my uncle complains about it sometimes but that’s what he gets for making me check all the vaporators on my own. Anyway, I talk a lot and so does this chat. Lots of people joining in here! Hi!”

Luke looked through the chat, returned greetings and explained how he had gotten the droid as payment for helping out in a repair shop.

“And I know the owner thought he was just giving me so boring little plaything, but do you know how versatile these MSE droids are?”

X

Leia definitely knew how useful they could be. She grinned when Luke comically shook his head when people began sending in question marks and began belittling the tiny Mouse droids. They made excellent spies, infiltrators and guides. Underestimating them just because they were cute was fatal. Leia was happy when Luke reacted as outraged as she was and began elaborating on what the droids could be used for.

X

“And like, I get sending the droids back when they trigger your instincts, I wouldn’t keep around a droid that reminds me of a womp rat or a krayt dragon.” Luke paused, the half-open mouse droid lying on his lap, and apparently considered his suggestions.

“Okay, maybe I would actually want them. Could you imagine a droid krayt dragon? So cool.”

Luke reached for the nearest datapad and took a few notes, then put it next to him on the table and returned to working on the MSE.

“But yeah, point being: Why did the Aar’aa sell them to the Empire so cheaply? Add some extra software and boom, you can sell them for twice the price. Then you’d even make a bonus. Oh, well, I suppose the Empire at least made a good deal there.”

The MSE droid laid bare now and Luke could easily access its memory. He took his datapad once more and connected it to the droid. After a few seconds, he had access to its memory and immediately frowned.

“Or it did not. What is this programming? I researched what I could find before, downloaded some protocols-“ Luke looked away from his datapad to point down, “-links in the description as always. But just- honestly. Who wrote this protocol?”

He gently knocked his head against the droid’s frame. “I’m so sorry, don’t worry, I’ll speed up your processors.”

X

The next hour, Leia spent listening to Luke ramble on about what changes he made and why. Once or twice she even threw her own suggestions in the chat and watched contently as Luke picked up on them and began to work with them. She wished she didn’t have so many duties and could spend her days doing things she actually wanted, take a more active role in the rebellion. But she supposed that as long as she could escape annoying politicians for a while, she’d be fine.

Leia glanced at her chrono. While it appeared to be midday still on Tatooine, it was already early morning for her. She should head to sleep soon.

Thankfully, the livestream was also wrapping up. Luke had reassembled the droid and screwed the last bolt down.

 “And done!” Luke said and helped up the repaired Mouse droid. “A Quick And Easy Guide to Mouse Droids. Now, the only thing left is repainting and naming it. Same rules as always, highest donator gets to choose the color and the name.”

Leia watched as a lot of people began donating. Some just threw in five credits, just to support the channel. She’d done so before as well. It was only right to help somebody else and give him a thanks after cheering her up. Leia typed the first one, then stopped.

She was tired, had been for at least thirty minutes now, but her mind was finally calm as well. She was still and upset, but not so that she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Leia shouldn’t waste her allowance on this, but Leia had also had a terrible horrible no-good day and wanted to name that Mouse Droid.

X

“And that was it!” Luke announced. “Many thanks for all your donations. I’ll keep you posted on what my next project will be. Hopefully something a little more interesting than this little buddy here. Now let’s see… The highest donation is one- one thousand credits from @rebelroyal!?”

Luke’s voice was awfully high-pitched, shock visible all over his face. “Is this real- oh gosh. Thank you so, so much! I’m not sure- Many thanks for supporting this channel! You may name any future Mouse Droids I come across, oh Force. Right. Uhm. What is your suggestion?”

Leia eyes her discarded white dress on the floor and chose.

X

History’s eyes on you @ rebelroyal

Paint it white and name it Emmy! Many thanks for all the lovely content you provide.

Little Emmy, it turned out, look much better in white than it did in the awful black so representative for the Empire.

X

[Notification: Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot has mentioned you in a new post]

Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot

I have adopted 4 more mouse droids to keep our ship clean!

Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot

[Foto: Five Mouse Droids standing in front of Luke, who was sitting on the ground, smiling cheerfully. The droid in the middle was Emmy. It was a little banged up and had a couple more scratches. On its right were an orange and a blue droid, freshly painted from the looks of it. On Emmy’s left were two black ones]

@ rebelroyal The orange and blue ones have been painted and named already, care to do the honors for the other two?

X

Leia smiled fondly at the picture and began to type.

History’s eyes on you @ rebelroyal

How about yellow and green? Benny and Penny so it rhymes?

Twin Suns @skyseekerpilot

Done :D

[Foto: The two previously black mouse droids have been painted as well and are furiously cleaning the floor of a ship]

[camomills]

Title: Old Souls Relationships: Sinon/Lisbeth; Sinon & Agil Fandom: Sword Art Online Word Count: 1767 Summary: Sinon realizes she is allowing others to become closer to her, and that scares her. A conversation with an older friend might help assuage her fears. Notes: Made for SAO Pride Week 2020 - Day 1: Small Steps. This is a reworked draft from last year's SAO Pride Week that I turned into some Sinon/Lisbeth, mostly Sinon-centric. I also just really wanted to do something with Agil because I think he's a fun character, and I personally think his wise demeanor makes him a nice character to bounce off the younger cast.Thanks to redbluezero for beta reading!

AO3 Link

-

The smell of coffee has always been one of Shino’s favorites. It reminds her of rainy days spent in the company of a book in her favorite bookshop, staring mindlessly at the steam as she waited until her drink cooled. It’s no wonder Dicey Café became one of her dearest places.

“Here’s your order!”

The company might have something to do with it, too.

“This one’s on the house,” Rika declares as she sets the cup on the counter, then winks.

From behind her, she hears someone clear their throat.

She slowly turns to meet Agil’s gaze, and sure enough, he’s scowling at her. The grip on the glass he’s drying has turned vice-like.

“That one’s on your salary.”

“Agil, c’mon! Let me be cool!”

They bicker for a short minute, Rika being cheeky whereas Agil is composed. The tone of the discussion is more akin to foolish banter between friends than a squabble between a boss and his employee, so Shino allows herself to laugh at it. 

Rika’s shift soon ends and she heads to the ladies’ room to change. As per usual these days, Shino waits for her so they can keep company to one another on the train ride back home. 

*

Yesterday’s commute was much like any other.

The train car shook and rattled against the steel and gravel tracks as the whirls of metal and the passengers’ chatter filled the compartment. The two girls partook in idle chatter, holding onto the same metal pole to keep their balance inside the box car. Shino’s proximity to Rika allowed the girl to filter the blacksmith’s words through the fog of sound.

Shino’s hands scraped against Rika’s on each stop. 

“So, so,” Rika continued telling excitedly, “he destroyed the best sword in my shop! My masterpiece, turned to smithereens.”

Shino let out a horrified gasp in jest.

“Oh, my. I lost my dear Hecate’s scope trying to help him out in BoB. I wonder if we’re liable for some sort of compensation?”

The two nodded in tandem over their two-person class-action lawsuit plans. They broke the comical act when the train stopped at the next station a bit too roughly, bumping them into each other. They couldn’t contain their chuckles at their own silliness.

“Ah, next one’s my stop,” Rika announced.

Shino knew. They’d been sharing this commute for a while. 

“I’ll be seeing you then. Until next time, Rika.”

Shino expected Rika to leave as the train doors opened, but she approached Shino instead. Rika’s arms bundled around Shino’s frame.

It’s a moment that allowed Shino to take note of a small list of Rika Things. Rika is only taller than her by a few inches, but it’s enough that it allowed her chin to rest on Rika’s shoulder slightly. The fake fur on Rika’s coat bristled against Shino’s nose, gentle and irritating— much like Rika herself, she thought. The pressure at the shorter girl’s back where Rika’s slender fingers intertwined was rough, yet fond.

A wave of warmth radiated through Shino’s body. She weakly squeezed Rika back.

“Until next time!” Rika said as she uncoiled her arms from around the other girl. 

She beamed at Shino before hopping through the train doors, waving as she exited at the station. 

That was the first time Rika had ever hugged her. 

Shino’s body wanted to feel elated, but her brain didn’t allow it; the affection in Rika’s gesture got muddled in her spiral of guilty thoughts. Since when did she allow people to get so close? 

Since when did I let myself want that?

The rest of her commute was spent staring out the cart’s window, hoping that the train’s AC would manage to cool down her emotions before long.

**

As the bathroom door slams shut, Agil rests his arms on the counter and leans against it, a hand sitting upon his bald head.

“Can you believe her? I offered her this part-time job because I knew it’d help her with college, but...” He throws his hands out, his fondness for Lis peeking through a smile fighting his scowl. “You know?”

Mm-hmm, Shino nods empathically, as she’s wont to do with Agil. The company that lures her in here, of course, includes both of the bartenders.

She had grown to care for all of her new friends, but she was caught by surprise at how much she related to Agil, of all people. He is the oldest in their merry band of players, by far, and despite that– no, because of that, they got along.

People her age, throughout most of her experience, were uncaring at best and cruel at worst. The adults around her, dry as they could be, served as the closest to good company she had growing up. There’s a bitter taste in her mouth as Shino realizes she’s grown more proficient in talking to adults due to the past cruelty of all the people her age in her life up until very recently. Thankfully, it’s easy enough to wash it down with the sweetness of the cappuccino Rika had mischievously handed her.

Agil, on the other hand, appreciates having a regular other than Asuna with whom he could default to intellectual conversation and wouldn’t call his establishment, ‘a dump’. How did Kirito manage to rope even Silica into it?

As their conversation strays away from Lisbeth’s demeanor, they fall to their more usual topics: Shino asks about how he manages to do latte art so perfectly every time and he asks if she finally reached the fourth chapter of the book he lent to her a couple of days ago. One “final” plea for him to try out Gun Gale, and his unacceptable excuse that he doesn’t have the time.

Mundane topics like that are their speed, but for once,  Shino has something less mundane in her mind. There’s something in that space, with the gentle ambiance music and the calming presence of a wiser friend, that brings her to feel that Agil is the right person, at that time, for those thoughts.

“I think I like Lis,” she professes like a secret she wished wasn’t true. It doesn’t seem to be the meat of what she has to say, judging from the way her jaw clenches.

Agil simply hums. He’d rather talk about latte art.

“Yeah, I figured. I mean, you really started coming here more often once she started working here.” 

He laughs, a wry, good-natured sound, hard to define between his fondness for the girls and his apathy for the topic.

“I mean… yes. But that’s not the point. How do I…”

 Shino gulps. Her gaze turns to the counter in front of her, where her hands lie. She fiddles with her fingers, watching as her thumbs graze each other through their rotations; staring at them without thinking about the words she’s about to say, are the only way she manages to go through it.

“I guess…  I don’t know if I remember how to be around people. Or if it’s... right, for me to be around people?”

She remembers what those hands did; the cold of steel and the heat of gunfire, the maroon of splattered blood and the gray of post office tiles.

Is it okay for a broken person like me…?

Agil would be lying if he said he’s particularly interested in involving himself in the romantic squabbles of teenagers. The other aspect of her plea, though, is something he’s unfortunately familiar with. He ponders, his face a mix of sagely and worried, as the soft thudding of her trembling hands are barely drowned out by the bar’s blues music.

“I was worried, too, back when I had to come back to my life after SAO.”

Shino raises her gaze to Agil’s eyes. 

“I mean, it's not the same thing, but… it’s hard being around people who judge you for what you went through, and trying to make connections when everyone thinks you’re screwed in the head is a pain in the ass. ‘The game where those freaks killed each other.’ ‘The murderer girl’.”

Agil knows what Shino did. Shino told all of them, eventually. 

“But everyone who spent those two years in the flying castle went through a lot of things they shouldn't have had to, and probably did some things they regret. To others. To themselves. I did, Kirito and Asuna did, and so did Rika. We talk about it…” 

His eyes turn to the ladies’ room’s door, where Rika is changing. He decides her past is not his to divulge.

“Uh. I guess all I’m trying to say is that you’re friends with people who get it, because none of us are sure it’ll ever be okay with people. So, we just stick together. I doubt Rika minds… whatever it is you're worried about? I think people like us have little besides each other.”

The last bit sticks with Shino. As she chews on the words once more, she stares at her hands. The weight they carry is impossibly heavy, but if what Agil says is true, then that means others, too, carry the same burden. 

Her trembling ceases.

He pauses. “Or something?” 

He’s not sure how much sense he is making. 

“I’m not sure how much sense I’m making.”

That gets a chuckle out of her, and that’s good enough for him.

*

Rika exits the bathroom, her former bartender-y, formal-ish ponytail from a few minutes ago undone into a mess of brown hair. Her lack of an apron reveals the cute hammer patterns on her graphic shirt.

"Are you two nerds done talking about nerd stuff?" She says, as if not just as much of one.

Agil and Shino roll their eyes.

"Yeah, we’re done with our nerd stuff."

Rika starts sliding her arm into her jacket, then turns to Shino. “Sweet. Are you ready to go then?”

Shino looks at Agil, who simply offers her a friendly wave and a knowing smile.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready.”

*

The two girls walk off together to the train station. The empty night streets give them quiet, with little to focus on other than the sound of boots hitting pavement, the cold breeze, and each other. It’s then when, bashful yet confident, Shino tries to interlock her fingers with Rika’s.

Rika squeezes her hand in return, rough yet fond. 

As Rika wordlessly taps her fingers on Shino’s knuckles, Shino realizes that Agil was right. There’s no way that those hands, fitting so perfectly together, were meant to be apart. Perhaps such heavy hands have no other pairs but each other, and that is fine.

[marsupials-of-mars]

Logan's Diary

(Second in my sides' diaries series, eight excerpts from Logan's Emotion Journal experiment picked and curated for your viewing pleasure)

Age 12:

Event: Patton suggested I begin journaling

Emotion: Thoughtful

Context: Patton has brought to my attention that I may be having trouble understanding my own emotions, and suggested i write my feelings in a diary. I assured him that he was being ridiculous, but it prompted in me the idea that as logic, I should have a full understanding of all topics, including emotion, in it's most technical sense. I will not be referring to this as a "diary", and I will not be speaking to it as if it were an individual, as it is a book and can not read or respond. Therefore, I will refer to it as my "Emotion Journal", as that is what it is.

Age 14:

Event: Puberty

Emotion: Overwhelmed(?)

Context: I'm so incredibly fed up with this. Nothing is as it should be, and nobody is willing to listen to reason. Each side has become unruly and chaotic in their own way. Most noticable is Anxiety, who has taken up a position of leadership in the mind. He has no place there. He makes extremely unhealthy decisions due to social pressures or personal worries which have begun to isolate Thomas or cause him to lose his sense of self. He doesn't seem to like the position, but it seems he's been forced into it anyway as his influence has built due to the dreaded neural changes of adolescence. Thomas has begun to wear very dark clothing. However bad all of that is for Thomas, the most unbearable change effecting me personally as a resident of this mind has been Remus. He is absolutely unbearable. Every word or movement he makes causes immense discomfort not only to me but to anyone nearby. Patton has been overly emotional, either crying or unable to sit still, occurring minutes apart from each other in violent mood swings. Roman has been working overtime, attempting to help Thomas through escapism. He creates stories and drawings which distract Thomas from his troubles, but these are momentary fixes, and will become unhealthy if continuous.

Overall, it has been, for lack of a better or more accurate synonym, a clusterfuck, and I'm counting the days until it's over.

Age 15:

Event: Thomas has been questioning his sexuality

Emotion: Annoyed

Context: I don't understand Patton and Roman's persistence in making everything so needlessly complicated. There are many physically attractive girls and yet they decide that they would rather be difficult about it. I don't understand them sometimes. They seem apologetic, but when one is sorry the appropriate action to follow would be to cease one's poor behavior. I've decided to cut contact with both of them for the time being as my feelings toward them at the moment make me prone to irrationalities. I'm always partial to curiosity but high school is already giving me a lot to think about and I don't appreciate having to factor in such a development. I will make the decision to ignore it for now. Perhaps it will eventually cease to be an issue.

Age 18:

Event: Thomas is a legal adult

Emotion: Elated

Context: Thomas turned 18 today, which means as of now he is legally allowed control of his own person in nearly every sense. I've been preparing for this my whole life, and I have a clear view of the many paths we could take from this point onward. Thomas has always been proficient in chemistry, therefore I believe a major in the scientific field would be appropriate. I can hardly contain my excitement. However, Anxiety has been making this transition quite difficult. He keeps insisting that we have no idea what comes next and are entirely unprepared, and somehow this sentiment is drowning out my attempts to guide Thomas. He can be incredibly frustrating to manage, and he's been more and more active as of late. But no matter how much he tries, he will not succede in putting a damper on my good mood.

Age: 25

Event: Thomas insists on continuing to make "Vines"

Emotion: Confused

Context: I will never cease to be entirely bewildered by Thomas's desire to "act", particularly in such small, insignificant, and comical portions. I can somewhat understand his drive for theater, as it is professionally directed and offers a feeling of purpose as well as a decent amount of enrichment both socially and cognitively.

However, these six second looping goofs are of no gain whatsoever. They don't promote social interaction, they don't fill any free time, and there is no true talent involved. Somehow, Roman is enjoying them nearly as much as he appears to enjoy acting onstage. Patton is also quite active lately. I will never truly grasp the appeal of this thespian characteristic of Thomas. Most of his Vines make no logical sense, and are unabashedly ridiculous. He is making a fool of himself. But I do like to see him happy, so I've decided to let this slide, as a benefit to his mental health. However insufferable his Vines, he is always smiling as he makes them, and that is always paramount.

Age 28:

Event: Virgil revealed his name to us

Emotion: Proud

Context: As of late, Anxiety has grown more and more tolerable, and seems to be settling in as one of the light sides. He has been making some real rational arguments, and even when he doesn't succeed, one can tell he is putting effort in, rather than reverting to his usual feigned apathy. It was made clear to me when he changed his jacket. In accepting his color more openly, which he had previously seemed to feel ashamed of, he showed trust and a feeling of belonging. This trust was made even more clear just today, when he revealed his name, Virgil. I feel as if this reveal marks a success in his social progress. There will always be a probability of relapse, but at this moment in time, I pride myself on having put my trust and belief in him. He is quite intelligent when not panicking, and provides a comforting relief from the exuberance of the other two.

Age 30:

Event: I'm nothing but a joke to them

Emotion: Furious

Context: This is why I don't often let my guard down. I trusted them to understand who I am and how I want to be treated, so I presented some of my guilty pleasures: Crofters, singing, poetry, onesies, and the occasional dad joke. I of course took precautions to not overindulge in such nonsense, but I assumed I could allow myself some comfort around who I assumed were my friends. However. They continuously pick at my flaws, they tease me relentlessly for every mistake. To them it's all in good fun, it's some awful game. To me it's not. I feel even more trapped in my outward presentation than before, and they don't seem to notice. It's not my job to tell them how I feel. I manage objective intelligence, they are emotional intelligence. It's their job to understand what I feel for me, they should know what would upset their friend. They know I'm vulnerable, they have to, and they continue to drag me into their silly hijinks and refuse me my objective purpose if I do not conform entirely to it. We have become a joke, we are getting nowhere with this career, we are only plummeting further into the role of some commercialized funnyman, a one dimensional character, and this is what Roman desires that we become. I won't allow it. I need to become who I should be, I cannot allow any further divergence.

Age 30:

Event: Thomas called me "cool"

Emotion: Validated

Context: After helping Thomas manage his introduction to Remus, we had a moment that I can only describe as heartfelt. He called me "cool", something i never really strived to be, but feels wonderful to be described as. Whether or not I am "cool" in an objective sense, what I truly gained from this interaction was appreciation, admiration, respect, and I believe that that is what resonated with me. I always aim to help Thomas, as a side should, and the purest way the favor can be returned is with simple validation. I feel I have an opportunity to employ an expression I've come to enjoy: "on cloud nine". I feel as if I am on cloud nine. That is the best way to describe this feeling. As much as Remus proves himself a nuisance, I have him to thank for providing the grounds for this event to take place. I have reached a balance of who I am and who I want to be, both comfortable and respected. Of course, Thomas doesn't need to be gushed to, and I'm not one for gushing. Therefore, I will now resume my duties as his cool teacher.

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Epi: Meat p12 reaction

Back to Earth C presumably.

I gotta say, I'm curious to find out the final page count of Meat. The way we liveblog, the experience is stretched out, so with theories surfacing and such, we might be caught off guard when things are really over. There's only so far that things will be taken, though I guess we're still in for those "original Male/Female characters", I guess. :P That shouldn't refer to the new Reload timeline John created, I think, with copies of all the people mentioned in the rest of the character list. So, uh, yeah, guess the reason Arquiusprite wasn't mentioned in there was because he remained unseen, voided out if you will. And I guess we shouldn't expect an alternate Equius to have a talking role, either?

---

==>

Well! Talk about jumping straight into the action, this page opens with a dialoguelog! Back to Dave, Karkat and if my eyes didn't deceive me, we'll get some lines for Jade, too! Supportive Jade will be supportive.

"hit jane right in her neoliberal austerity measures" ... Hah. Well, I didn't think that would get referenced again at all, but it seems after all these years since John's 18th birthday Dave still has issues with the ol' N.A.M. So, Jane's a neoliberal AND a fascist now, Dave? Is that... even feasible?

"DAVE: now shes gonna spin some shit about supply side economics but we cant let her control the narrative on that one cause the first thing thats gonna happen once she begins deregulating the baking industry is that some sweet dumb crocodile down in consort land is gonna start putting sparkle glue in the cupcake mix which isnt even the real issue thats just surface issues KARKAT: RIGHT. JADE: definitely" ... Like, Dave I admire you're getting so into this, but you realize they aren't following, right? Also, why would Jane want to deregulate the baking industry if she's the leader of the foremost power in said industry, as well as running for president? Plus, Jane can't control the narrative because Caliborn is already controlling it! :mspa:

"DAVE: i mean earth c has just been play acting capitalism the last five thousand years while we timeskipped ahead to live rad lives as gods without bothering with any of the boring shit that goes into making a civilization DAVE: which is fine i mean you cant really expect a bunch of teens who didnt finish middle school to set up a sustainable form of social democracy that isnt just blatantly ripped off whatever we incorrectly thought obama god rest his soul was doing back in the day" ... Gee, Dave's given this a real lot of thought. Props to him, but I hope that aside from becoming 'an activist' he's also got some legitimite action points to improve Earth C's situation.

Guess Sburb really does a number on players, huh? "Congrats, you won, you're all gods now, and also, here's this whole civilization on the brink of collapse, have fun with that. Don't mess this up, I need those people to start the apocalypse in say, 2000 years, k thx bye." (The fact that this civilization, being outside of the Green Sun's influence, may never implement Sburb, is a bit besides the point since I think the trolls would have had the same issue tossed onto them had they actually gone through the victory door.)

Right, but the trolls had their home planet already effectively run by children, I wonder if that will come again? Even though they had carpenter droids at their disposal to run some things for them, they might actually be a bit more self-reliant than the humans!

"DAVE: but janes got this old school mentality you just know she wants to restrict grist alchemy for the sake of “growth” and when that goes down itll take three seconds flat for some nobody in new dersetown to drop the earth c communist manifesto" ... New Dersetown, I like the ring of that. Would call it New Dersey for short, though. :P Again, valid points there, Dave! If any revolt started, it doesn't have to be in the troll community, it could just as much be an angry carapace uprising! They're only docile if there's no one to rally behind.

Blaperile has this idea that the new society in a universe is not supposed to be seeded with the remains of the session nor the universe that came before it. That's actually a valid point; the only reason this society got kickstarted was through the cloning apparatus that was on the meteor! The consorts and carapaces seem like they would be able to reproduce biologically though, so I'm not sure how Sburb normally ensures the planet is a clean slate for a new species to emerge. ... Okay, so the planet itself doesn't really need to be the place where a new Sburb-playing species rises, true. There's a whole new universe out there.

Maybe through "importing" old Sburb technology, the "alpha" planet designation went to Earth C automatically, though.

Or maybe First Guardians are expected to 'cleanse' the planet from outside influence normally, but since this society's outside of the Green Sun's influence, that ain't happening. And Jade won't be going Thanos on Earth C.

"KARKAT: OH YEAH. JADE: of course DAVE: are you two even listening or are you just making noises with your mouths" Dave realizing he's monologuing? What character development is this. :O

"KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M BEING ACCUSED BY DAVE STRIDER, REIGNING EMPEROR OF SPEWING ENDLESS VERBAL DIARRHEA DIRECTLY INTO MY INNOCENT HEAR DUCTS EVERY DAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE, OF MAKING THOUGHTLESS MOUTH NOISES. KARKAT: JADE, ARE YOU HEARING THIS? JADE: im scandalized JADE: especially when JADE: there are much better things we could all be doing with our mouths....." ... Jade, your animes are showing again. ... I think that maybe Jade doesn't want this relation to be going where Dave and Karkat want it to go.

"It’s been a really nice day they’ve been having, and then Jade had to go say something like that. The air in the hive changes in a way that is palpable, in a way that she can’t seem to accurately gauge despite having both superhuman and superdog senses." ... Ah. So I guess maybe Jade just can't get a lid on some of her more... canine inclinations, at time. Welp!

"Elements of her outfit resemble her god tier jammies: peasant skirt, sparkly flats, and a bold choice in striped tights." Nice! That's only the third person who created an outfit based on her god tier outfit that we know, aside from Meenah and Rose.

"the couch where she crashed last night, and the night before that, and the better part of the seven years before that." It would seem Jade has the wanderlust then, she's more like the vagrant dog that comes visiting from time to time? More GCAT in demeanor than Becquerel, in practice. Heheh. Good for her, after being isolated on an island and then a battleship for so long, she's finally going out & seeing things!

"There are other personal effects of hers in the living room too: plants on the windowstill, her bass guitar sitting in a corner" Cool, so when she comes over, she typically lounges here then. Guess the flute never made it over, though. :p

"a horrific-looking periodic table that Dave made her for her seventeenth birthday pinned above the stairwell. He typed it in Comic Sans, and then deep-fried it to oblivion with JPEG artifacts." ... Next up, on For Fans By Fans...

"And Dave, with his preternaturally perfect timing, sweeps a hand over his tablet to bring up a new PowerPoint slide on the TV. He returns to his Comic Sans-written political presentation, gruesome artifacts and all" Dave, Dave that isn't professional at all!

", with the grace and proficiency of a man who has diffused an awkward situation in his own household many times per day, every day, for many years." Well, okay, that is really mature. But when Dave is the adult in a situation, the situation is very awkward per definition.

"DAVE: alternia: brutal eugenics based space dictatorship KARKAT: NOT UNTRUE." Succinct, brutal, but not dishonest.

"DAVE: troll homeworld: lord of the flies nightmare scenario where kids murder each other just to get the chance to get to grow up and murder other aliens instead KARKAT: IT WASN’T THAT BAD." Karkat. Karkat that isn't a valid rebuke.

"KARKAT: YOU MADE THAT LAST ONE UP. KARKAT: ALSO, IT WAS DISGUSTING?? KARKAT: GROW THE FUCK UP, YOU UTTERLY CONTEMPTIBLE, POTTY MOUTHED *CUNT*." ... The irony is stark.

"JADE: also you know trolls dont actually have two dicks dave thats an offensive stereotype" Are we really doing troll anatomy? Well, I guess it's good to know that the fan theory about Sollux at least isn't applicable to the entire species.

"DAVE: trolls: literally ate babies KARKAT: ONLY THE DEFECTIVE ONES. DAVE: like you my dude KARKAT: ...YEAH. DAVE: so thats why our campaign can work" Yeah, Karkat ate grubs, though they weren't troll babies. Also, yeah, Karkat was a mutant, but I wonder if that would really help his case here.

"DAVE: btw im gonna be giving a long form exam at the end of this to make sure youre retaining info because this is only like the most important thing weve ever done collectively" Well he ain't wrong.

"KARKAT: ARE YOU ASKING ME WHETHER I’VE HEARD THIS EXACT SPEECH ALMOST WORD FOR WORD, INCLUDING REHEARSED VERSIONS OF BOTH THE COLORFUL METAPHORS AND “JOKES,” TEN OR TWENTY TIMES ALREADY? KARKAT: BECAUSE THE ANSWER WOULD BE KARKAT: YES, OF COURSE I FUCKING HAVE." Poor, poor Karkat.

"Karkat elbows Dave in the thigh, a move that is obviously meant to be an action of pure, brotherly jest. But instead it comes off as affectionate and overly intimate. Jade’s clever eyes don’t miss this. Her pupils follow the motion of Karkat’s arm, and then they follow the movement of Dave’s mouth as he smiles in what he probably thinks is a totally neutral expression that reveals exactly 0% of his true feelings toward Karkat Vantas. In reality, his veneer is as thin and transparent as cellophane. He is the only person who can’t see through it.

Jade does some calculations in her head. Two kinds of calculations, in fact: mathematical ones and personal ones." So, is Jade reading too much into their relationship, or are the dudes just... Both too shy?

"JADE: soooooo JADE: do you want a projection of her first years hit on the economy down to the decimal with a 0.3% margin of error JADE: because thats a thing i can do if itll make you stop talking about this stupid election for ten minutes" I didn't know that were First Guardian powers! :p I suppose it might be her natural intellect though, but we've only known her as the hands-on science type until now.

"She proceeds to dazzle the two boys with explications on complex math utilizing taxation rates, GDP figures, and some damned thing called the “Laffer curve,”" Dang, Jade is as much committed to this as Dave! (Or maybe she learned all this because it means so much to him, that could be it too!)

"The thing about Jade Harley is that she’s not as good at personal things as she is at other things. Like science, or mastering fraymotifs, or kissing, the last of which she has definitely put a lot of levels into over the past few years because, well, what else are you supposed to do with immortal godhood once you hit the age where the dog hormones start kicking into overdrive?" Guess for dogs, kissing isn't that personal. :p And well, I guess Jade's only now learning the real consequences of turning into a real-life furry. At least she won't have had lack of candidates to practice kissing with. She might even have become the Witch of Spacing Out Young Adults.

"Her high-prescription lenses make her eyes look anime-huge. They might literally be glittering, she’s so completely serious about the issue she is trying to stress." And the fan artists rejoiced for all the new descriptions they have to work with!

" JADE: im about to lay out some cold hard evidence so pay attention! KARKAT: OH, HANG ON, LET ME GET A PEN." You can't live together with Dave for years without learning when it's time to start taking notes and grab a fucking pen.

"JADE: evidence about..... JADE: our relationship! KARKAT: FUCK" Pfff, okay, never mind. I think Jade might have hit a wall several times over before, trying to either define their relationship or take it to the next level. These dudes are really sensitive about their feelings, after all.

But it would be interesting, learning Jade wants to know where they stand just as much as the outside world does.

"JADE: you let me live in your hive when im in town KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE... JADE: im preeeetty intimately entwined in both your lives KARKAT: THAT YOU’RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS? JADE: AND you dont disengage from about 86.234% of my flirtations KARKAT: WAIT, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU KEEP TRACK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT? JADE: so....... are we doing this or not?" So, just like with taking on Lord English and acknowledging the lit fuse that is Earth C society, I guess the coming around of April 13th 2019 is when Jade had enough of all this silly business and wants to know what's what. (Also, I suppose the level of intimacy they shared on beforehand will be left to speculation.)

"KARKAT: DOING WHAT?! JADE: dating dummy!!!!!!!! KARKAT: OH. KARKAT: THAT IS KARKAT: THAT IS... A COMPLICATED TOPIC IN MY CULTURE THAT I’M NOT SURE HUMANS ARE EQUIPPED TO TALK ABOUT." Smooth, Karkat, real smooth. Maybe Karkat fears commitment will lead to some of their relationships shifting into other quadrants. And he wouldn't like to be moirails or auspistices with either of them.

"DAVE: also totally unrelated to the economy" ... Nice try Dave, but I think this can't be steered back into that track.

"DAVE: which not gonna lie is the only thing i want to talk about for uh DAVE: for however long it takes for this other conversation to stop happening JADE: so say no!!! DAVE: well KARKAT: UHHHHH JADE: im not just forcing this conversation for my sake! its for you two as well JADE: i mean after all this time have you two even kissed yet?????? DAVE: wha" I think Dave and Karkat might actually have been both content to stay uncommitted and fearful to put a label on it. Also Jade's question will presumably remain unanswered, it's already surprising it's confirmed she hasn't seen them kissing. And that is ignoring the matter of whether either Dave or Karkat kissed Jade before. I guess it's only fortunate for this situation that this instance of Jade never dated Davesprite, it would only complicate things further.

"DAVE: wha KARKAT: WH-WHY WOULD DAVE: uhh KARKAT: WHY WOULD WE KISS?? DAVE: thats KARKAT: THAT’S... YOU... I MEAN, HE’S... HE’S DAVE. DAVE: we KARKAT: AND I’M KARKAT." PFffffffff, hilarious! I can just see them blushing like tomatoes right now. Can't keep staying in denial bros!

"JADE: yes hes dave and youre karkat and everyone we know always calls you that JADE: “dave and karkat”" Hah! Yeah, but they also think you're part of the item, Jade. Care to shed some thoughts on the subject?

"JADE: i cant remember the last time i heard anyone mention one of you without the other JADE: the two of you have basically been together since your days on the meteor its SO obvious" Jade has turned this from a personal matter into a fandom matter. "Everyone and their dog knows you're dating, guys! Stop pretending otherwise!" It's interesting to note the different ways Dave has been seen handling relationships. When he dated Terezi in the GO timeline, it went south due her troubles in the black quadrant. When Davesprite dated Jade, it went south due to unresolved Dave issues, presumably having to do with his bros. With Karkat, Dave's been in a stable-ish thing for the longest time, though.

" KARKAT: VERY CLOSE FRIENDS WHO UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER ON A DEEP AND EMPATHETIC LEVEL THAT GOES BEYOND HATE OR PITY. YOU COULD EVEN SAY THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP... KARKAT: ...TRANSCENDS QUADRANTS." ... PFfffffff, so this could have been what it was like for the Sufferer and the Disciple, then! They were just never ready to commit? That would actually be funnier than it being this deep and fulfilling relationship. It would also make Doc Scratch' misgivings on the relationship even more hilarious.

"JADE: yeaaaaaah not gonna lie karkat but that sounds totally kinda gay KARKAT: UGH YOU HUMANS AND YOUR UNFATHOMABLE GENDER BASED QUADRANTS." ... Heh. Actually. Too trolls, the whole gender-based romance thing we have going must indeed be as unfathomable as leprechaun romance.

"Jade faceplams." Well that's a new verb. ;) What part of the body is the 'plam', exactly?

" KARKAT: ANYWAY WEREN’T YOU... DATING THAT CARAPACIAN COUPLE? LAST TIME WE CHECKED?" Lolwut. Jade. Jade are you... are you being a Ms. Casanova, a paramour or two in every city you frequent? If WV and PM turn out to be alive for the sole purpose of dating Jade, I'll choke on my drink.

" DAVE: wait you saying we arent fun JADE: whens the last time either of you left the house??????" I know Jade means it as in, she'd like to date them for keeps. But I also fulheartedly believe Dave and Karkat can sustain themselves on delivery pizza and chinese chow.

"In her other hand, she tries to grab Dave’s wrist, but he flash-steps to the other side of the couch." Well that's a new use of the power, guess Dave must really have felt alarmed. :p

"JADE: i wanna try dating for real KARKAT: HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED KARKAT: SORRY IF WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY TOTALLY BLOWS YOUR MIND KARKAT: DATING A SINGLE PERSON, FOR MORE THAN HALF A SWEEP, FOR REASONS OTHER THAN INITIATING THE CONCUPISCENT EXCHANGE OF FLUIDS?" Karkat is trying to throw the issue back into Jade's face by saying she should try dating for a longer period of time. But that's exactly what she's trying to do here! She knows who she wants that with! That poor little troll, he's not getting out from under this.

"JADE: third of all karkat arent you from a culture where people are expected to engage in romantic relationships with up to like five people at a time?? KARKAT: THAT’S NOT KARKAT: THAT’S NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL." If he's trying to avoid getting dragged into quadrants with people, he should stop upholding the validity of the quadrants to hold people off. :p

"DAVE: ok jade i think theres a flaw in your approach here cause you seem to think winning an argument on super clever logical grounds is gonna get a couple dudes to break down and fling themselves at you in like, a sexual way JADE: wellll it usually does ;B DAVE: oh my fucking god" So she swoons people by way of her big brain. Jade's got CLASS.

"This earns Dave a look. A long, sad one that has Jade messing with her glasses again so that she can peer right at him and apply some more of that faulty personal math to his facial expression." Just confirmation here that Jade isn't necessarily correct in all her assessments due to not being objective.

"JADE: dave are you in love with obama? DAVE: jade jesus where do you get this shit from JADE: is it about jesus then??????" Aaaaaand this has been derailed again.

"DAVE: no! DAVE: jesus wasnt even real JADE: i know he wasnt real! JADE: wait... JADE: are you saying JADE: obama was real? DAVE: ... DAVE: yes" Wut. Wai- I- Jade. Honey. Please. Guess for all her involvement in politics since, those isolated years on the island sheltered her WAY too much.

"DAVE: obama was real DAVE: he was the president KARKAT: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA JADE: all this time i thought obama was like JADE: an aspirational fictional character that you modeled your life after KARKAT: AHAHAHAHA I CAN’T AHAHA BREATHE... JADE: like snoop dog or nicolas cage" ... Jade. Jade no. You're just making this worse on yourself. For Jade, there would have been almost nothing in Homestuck she'd have seen as a reference to 'real life', would there?

"senary numeral systems that allow me to do complex equations in my head" ... Why is Base 6 good for complex equations? I'm probably not good enough at math to know.

"KARKAT: WHY IS IT LIKE SOME SORT OF *TRAGEDY* HOW SHE WAS RAISED? KARKAT: BECAUSE SHE WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL?? KARKAT: *I* WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL!" There! It's getting acknowledged again, how Jade's upbringing more resembles a troll than a human's! Becquerel the lusus.

"There’s a ripple in the room that makes it clear their god tier powers have just clashed against each other. He shifts his arm through time and Jade warps the space around them so that she’s the one holding the tablet. This is not the first time that they have rearranged the fabric of reality for a petty reason like this. Karkat has permanently sworn off playing board games with them." ... Lol. First real use of the god tier powers in Earth C, and it goes like this! Wait, couldn't Jade have snapped... Right, no, she actually wouldn't have First Guardian powers anymore now, I forgot. Still, what did Dave try to do, move the tablet to another point in the timeline?

"The moment Jade brings the paint program up on the television, Karkat stops laughing. KARKAT: NO!" Oh boy. Time for the Penis Quadrant scene, this time with three people. ... This would actually fall under both definitions of a "sketch", actually.

"He tries to grab the tablet from her, but she’s hovering well above the ground and he simply is not tall enough to reach. With a shit-eating grin and deliberate care, Jade begins to draw a grid." He's going to jump up to grab her leg, to disturb the drawing, isn't he?

"She gives Karkat a pair of fuzzy, angry eyebrows" Now I'm starting to think of the Karkat expressions in that one Paradox Space.

"all he accomplishes is turning the redrom trajectory between her and Dave into a redrom loop-de-loop." This is all I could want from a reprise of this scene.

"JADE: see me and karkat have great black chemistry! KARKAT: IT IS NOT BLACK CHEMISTRY YOU HORRID NON-CHITINOUS WINDBAG!" A+ denial there, Karkat, props on the response.

"JADE: and now that daves all chill hed make a great auspistice" Jade just wants all Karkat's quadrants filled by the three of them, somehow.

"JADE: because you and karkat are kind of like moirails DAVE: no JADE: and you and i JADE: well yknow its always been pretty flirty DAVE: jade JADE: EXCEPT!

Jade finishes drawing a shaky heart directly into the paint program. It’s so big and bright on the TV that it fills the entire room with red light." She's putting all these names and symbols to the relationship, it might just be too much for these poor boys to handle. :p

"JADE: i call this political arrangement: JADE: fully automated luxury polyamorous space-time communism!!!!!!!" That is not the shipping name I would've chosen, but it's the shipping name we deserve. And hey, communism! Get it? Cause Karkat had a sickle.

I wonder what Karkat's take on polyamory outside of the ashen quadrant is, actually.

"Jade rolls her eyes and tosses both the tablet and pen over her shoulder. Dave flashes across the living room to catch his very expensive computing device in both arms. The pen bounces off his forehead." This. Entire. Scene.

"JADE: i have to go talk to roxy and callie about the election anyway" Well, she's going to let them stew on this for a while. But I'm eager to find out who Roxy & Calliope would back. You might think Jane's a given, but if she's been busy maybe they have grown closer to Jade & Dave!

"Jade clicks her heels together to propel herself back into the air and actually winks at them before absconding through an open window." Think happy thoughts! Also, I just realized becoming a god sadly never gave Karkat the powers of flight.

"Dave and Karkat both stare after her, silently caught in their own private rationalization spirals.

Karkat needs to verbalize part of his out loud." Ah, but can they stay in that spiral or will they have no choice but to break out of it?

"KARKAT: WANNA PLAY SOME TROLL TONY HAWK? DAVE: hell DAVE: yeah" Yyyyyeaah, they are not going to have changed when Jade comes back, will they?

So even Karkat calls it "Troll Tony Hawk", not whatever absurdly wrong name it'd have on Alternia, and not whatever Tony Hawk's duodecimal name in Alternian would be. :P

[stonedandstudying]

Solo: A Movie Review

Ya know, Solo ended up being a little more of an interesting experience than I thought it would.  There were highs, and lows, and hidden Easter Eggs for fans; John Powell's score was pretty solid, and the action sequences were fun.  When it comes down to it for me, I am never going to see Harrison Ford in Alden Ehrenreich's, and you may call that nit-picking, but whatever.  Aside from that you can tell Ehrenreich spent the time trying to bring Han's mannerisms, wit, smirks, and self-confidence into the role, and I can appreciate that effort.

The way Han and Chewy meet should be pleasing to fans as the premise didn't change from what has long been known about these characters' histories.  Han, a member of the Imperial Navy, deserts with an enslaved Wookie, and up until now we only had comics and Extended Universe novels to see that play out.  It was great seeing Chewy get so physical, but it should be no surprise either.  If we're going to get chronological with this, the last time we have seen Chewy prior to Solo: A Star Wars Story was on the shoreline on Kashyyyk, at the end of Episode III.  So not only do we know that he has no love for the Empire, but he's a proficient warrior as well. 

I'll go into these two a little more if we talk about it on the show, but overall, I think the relationship between Han and Chewy developed in a believable and genuine way.

The other thing about Star Wars has always been the ability to personify inanimate objects, making them essential characters in the process.  Anakin's Lightsaber, for example, which was tossed around, and anticlimactically destroyed in The Last Jedi —many Star Wars themes were destroyed in The Last Jedi— had been an important relic of in the franchise, since 1977.  The Millennium Falcon is no different. 

It is always great to see the Falcon because it never disappoints. It's always going to be that same nocked-coin shape; it's propulsion systems are always going to rev up with a familiar high squeal, resulting in a blast of bright blue plasma; and, like our favorite droids, will always be back at the end of the film, in good working order, no matter how beat up it gets along the way.

Which brings me to some of my lows:

L3, Lando's droid that won't shut up about Equal Rights for Robots.   

Whoever programmed this droid to be such a stick in the mud was a sadistic son of a bitch.  It's one thing to listen to an alien creature complain about being low man on the social totem pole; it's another thing to listen to a droid, whose personality was programmed into them, complain about droids being made to fight each other in cage combat.  I was GIDDY when this thing got blown to bits, but nothing compared to watching Lando struggle to drag the torso of L3 across the battlefront as if it were a scene from Platoon —it read more like Tropic Thunder.  And this is why C-3P0 and R2 were always kept firmly within the realm of comic relief—they're droids! 

How many times as 3PO been torn limb from limb, only to return at the end of every episode, reassembled and shined up like new?  As L3 and Lando had their Forrest Gump/Bubba  Vietnam moment, was anyone else thinking to themselves...uh, just keep L3's head and you'll be able to get her all fixed up.  I'm sitting there saying to myself, "What the fuck am I watching right now?"  The kids sitting next to us were laughing, too.  

Which brings me to my last point, for now—and it's not even really a "low":

Lando.  Donald Glover did a fine job. I had always envisioned what those games of Sabacc between Lando and Han were like— the card games that lead to the Han and Chewy winning the Falcon.  Lando's still the same style-obsession, self-assured swindler, and I loved it.  But you now what?  Aside from coming on to the gorgeous Emilia Clarke, Glover's character never showed more sexual interest in anything or anyone in the way he was interested in money and status.

Which leaves me to a new recurring Star Wars/Disney point:

Why on earth did Jonathan Kasdan say what he said about Lando's "pan-sexuality"?  Why can't these people help themselves? 

Before the release of Rogue One, writer, Chris Weitz, felt the need to get onto Twitter and draw lines of comparison between the Empire and White Supremacy and our newly election President, Donald Trump.  He wanted people to go into the theaters paying special attention to how the Rebellion was a multicultural force, lead by strong womynz.  So, naturally, people get pissed off and wary of the release, which is unfortunate because Solo wasn't anywhere near the cinematic disaster that was The Last Jedi.  So, why are any of these Social Justice public service announcements necessary, or allowed?  Why do they do this?  It's a huge part of the reason why the franchise is going to continue to drop off and wither on the vine—the numbers on Solo and the mum reviews should be a telling sign in itself. 

The reviews aren't even that bad, but there's just no juice for it... Perhaps if Disney had more than half of the people who gave life to Star Wars in the first place still on board, this would be a much different outcome?

To me, It's one thing to accept that Star Wars is controlled by Disney, which is controlled by a gaggle of progressives who can't allow themselves to create something for all people to enjoy.  It comes through in their plot-lines, their characters arcs, their casting, and the promotion therein.  It brings the conversation to a whole other level when they actually do a decent job (Solo & Rogue One) for fans and these freak-show writers still can't control themselves enough as to refrain from giving people viewing instructions when they watch the film.  

Alright. Rant over. There's more to say but maybe we'll talk about this to close out a broadcast this week.

[ghostmartyr]

(SPOILERS for Justice League)

The nice thing about most of my problems with this movie is that I can still point back at Batman v Superman and blame it, because without the dangled plot threads of that, at least one awkward as hell scene wouldn’t have happened.

The other nice thing is that I just love Justice League to death, so regardless of quality I spent a good portion of the movie bouncing up and down.

Which led to me nearly accidentally choking, but not the point.

Less nice things include Bruce being an asshole for no other reason than that the script wanted to pretend it was giving Wonder Woman some kind of arc.

(It wasn’t, she was fine, how dare you bring shades of my ship into that mess, and now I get to whine about Fate Zero, too.)

Okay, so.

Brief background.

The only reason I ever ended up here, or in fandom at all, is thanks to fervently shipping Batman and Wonder Woman from the Justice League cartoon. I was in love with the show, and them, and there was Starcrossed, and I wanted fic. I’ve kept my moniker from that fandom experience in use for thirteen years.

That means I get twitchier than usual about how certain interactions are handled, and I kind of spent the entire scene Bruce was berating Diana wishing that Superman wasn’t dead just so no one would dream up that this was a thing that needed to happen.

I’m glad it was universally agreed that everyone would cover for Diana if she went with murdering him, but... writers, please. I want so badly to love your work, and you spend a lot of this movie not sucking at it, so why must you do these things.

Pure surface cringe, there’s enough shippy gaze that the framing utilizes that Bruce bringing up Steve at all just makes me want to hold my head in my hands and die, because as bad as talking about dead ex-boyfriends to get a rise out of your teammate is, it is a million times worse if you have to wonder if part of the reason the boyfriend is worth mentioning is that you want to draw attention to the romantic links of certain characters.

I don’t know if that’s something that would bother someone if they weren’t hyperly aware of anything that could possibly be taken in a shippy manner, but hi, me, so it was bothersome.

Less subjectively, Steve’s impact on Diana’s life is used to make a really stupid point about how Diana’s conducted herself.

The entire movie, Batman’s been awkwardly trying to make his dream team work.

Meanwhile, Diana has a natural chemistry that, as we see, makes the entire team totally chill with her murdering Batman. It isn’t forced, it’s just Diana being better with them, and performing admirably in every task she takes up.

Blindsiding all of that clear proficiency with the accusation that she’s been limiting herself because of dead boyfriend angst is. Well, it violates its own canon, for starters.

Diana comes into contact with all of the mess of the last movie because of things that happened in her personal life, but she rejoins the fight because there’s a fight to be had, and she can help. That is what she does.

Yeah, Bruce is being a complete asshole on purpose about all of it, but the problem with stories like this is that when people start throwing that kind of incendiary language, the implication is that it’s a hard truth that manners have been holding back.

Later the movie tries to do something a little more real with that base, letting Steve behave more as a representative than the actual issue, but.

Okay, let’s talk Fate Zero. I’m up too late to draw good lines explaining things, so let’s just get to an example I can summarize.

In Fate Zero, there is an episode where the three servants who claim the title king discuss what it means to be a king. They each have different views. Saber, whose perspective the series as a whole argues is no less worthy, is the one who gets a call-out speech about how her beliefs are childish, and not something a true king should believe in.

She is denied the last word on it.

Fate Zero ends with Saber feeling as if she’s failed her people because of everything she tried to be for them. The knight that exacerbates this feeling disagrees, echoing a lot of what the story shows, but she doesn’t get to hear that.

The viewpoint that is given the spotlight, even though showing disagrees with the telling, is the one that puts hers in a broken light.

That’s what Bruce baiting Diana feels like. It’s a lot of words that get more credit than they deserve, because the script doesn’t allow Diana to come back with her say from a point of strength.

Like I said, later they try to do something interesting with it. The idea that Diana fears the burden of leadership after watching so many die could have some real depth, especially because she is such a natural leader. The pain that your own calling brings you is what makes tragedies.

But it’s introduced with a heavily vitriolic tone halfway through the movie, and the Diana before that exchange would have made the same decisions that the Diana afterwards does. She has her hesitance about all of this, but she is willing, and she is engaged. Pretending like she isn’t for the sake of having a fake deep conversation about her conduct is patronizing.

And back on petty, I liked Bruce and Diana’s dynamic without all this stupidity.

I don’t need my least favorite (least favorite is actually all things involving Sakura, but never mind that for the moment) part of Fate Zero anywhere outside of Fate Zero.

I also did not need it in Fate Zero.

To be perfectly honest, a lot of the handling of Wonder Woman in this movie is... less than ideal. She does some amazing things, her smile might actually beam sunshine, and she’s wonderful, but certain choices for her are not, including some camera angles and outfits.

I’m guessing the rest of the internet will cover that.

Uh... yeah, I still don’t like this Superman.

I also get the vibe that they’ve left some of the cast severely underpowered to lift him up.

He can fly. You don’t need to do that.

(I’m just gonna leave this link here....)

Barry is wonderful, Barry and Bruce together are wonderful, Barry and Victor going grave robbing manages to be sweet, Victor and Diana are great, Aquaman’s a bit of a douche but he gets the best music cue in the whole movie so who cares, Batman keeps getting guns for some reason but he isn’t murdering humans...

Some of the shot composition is really weird. Poses that work in comic books don’t always... yeah. Also DC’s in love with slowmo and I am tired of it, and I don’t think my eyes could follow most of the action sequences that didn’t use it.

On the whole, this movie made me happy in a lot of ways. I really love Justice League. More of it is going to make me happy. The script was also willing to have some fun with things, and there were moments that were simply delightful.

It was way better than I feared.

Still not as good as this cast is capable of (well. Supes, I’m willing to let my faith in everyone else stand in for you), and I don’t like looking around for things to bash my head in with in a movie theater, so for the love of all things good try harder, but I feel like this verse is getting closer to the things that make the world and characters appealing.

I also feel my eyes shutting without my permission, so my contemplation of clicking ‘Post’ feels way riskier than usual, but oh well, this isn’t a real review, it’s babble because I GOT TO SEE JUSTICE LEAGUE MY LIFE IS AUTOMATICALLY MORE COMPLETE.

Yeah I’m going to bed.

[barbecuedphoenix]

400 Followers: Tag Meme

I got double-tagged by both @camec and @dragongirl98765​, so there’s nowhere left to run.  

But this is a fun meme, no lie. ^_^ A lot less writing for me; phew!  

Rules: tag nine people (approximately) and bold the statements that apply.

APPEARANCE: i am 5′7′ or taller (Ha ha) |  i wear glasses/contacts (contacts in the day, glasses at home/night) | i have at least one tattoo | i have at least one piercing (just in the ears; low maintenance scarring, please. ^_^) | i have blonde hair | i have brown eyes | i have short hair (always; it’s naturally coarse and impossible to maintain past shoulder-length) | my abs are at least somewhat defined (Ha ha ha) | i currently have/have had braces (plus tooth extraction, because my mouth is far too small to hold 32 full adult teeth. My skull is going to make a forensic anthropologist turn their head one day.)

PERSONALITY: i love meeting new people (eh… depends on the day. -_- ) | people tell me that i’m funny (though I’m not stand-up comic material, I almost-always toss in a joke when I talk) | helping others with their problems is a big priority for me (it’s an obsessive compulsion; one time, I nearly got myself physically hurt defending a stranger in a parking lot) | i enjoy physical challenges | i enjoy mental challenges | i’m playfully rude with people I know well (the ‘playful’ part is debatable, according to some family members… >_>) | i started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it (I have a high baseline potential for irony, so this doesn’t count) | there is something I would change about my personality (*looks at my list of new year’s resolutions* Er… <_<)

ABILITY: i can sing well (alto range only, so this doesn’t exactly count either. :/) | i can play an instrument | i can do over 30 pushups without stopping | i’m a fast runner (my friends tell me I’m a *creative* runner: I zigzag, leave obstacles, and search for hiding places when I have to outrace someone) | i can draw well (Ha ha) | i have a good memory (Biology nerds have to have a decent memory to survive exams. All that technical vocab…) | i’m good at doing math in my head (Not instant trig, but as a kid, I trained myself to do some fast arithmetic & rounding) | i can hold my breath underwater for over a minute (fun fact: I once spooked my classmates by staying underwater in a pool for 3 minutes, twice in a row. To conserve energy, you have to slow *everything* down, especially thought and heartrate.) | i have beaten at least two people in arm wrestling (I got beaten *by* at least 2 people in arm wrestling, but I don’t think that counts) | i know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch (*college survival mode*) | i know how to throw a proper punch (a ‘proper punch’ has its limits when you’re not even 100 lb. >_>)

HOBBIES: i enjoy playing sports (nope; you’re talking to someone who regularly gets knocked in the head by projectiles she can’t catch.) | i’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else (see the previous) | i’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else | i have learned a new song the past week | i work out at least once a week (biking counts?) | i’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months | i have drawn something in the past month | i enjoy writing (oh yes!) | fandoms are my #1 passion (surprisingly, no...) | i do or have done martial arts (aikido back in grade school. I really need to pick it up again…)

EXPERIENCES: i have had my first kiss (lots of other ‘firsts’ came with that incident, actually. >_>) | i have had alcohol. (not often; I’m a pure lightweight who gets a hangover while she’s drinking) | i have scored the winning goal in a sports game | i have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting (it was one of those days…) | i have been at an overnight event (I’m a practiced insomniac) | i have been in a taxi (which crashed into another car too. What a night that was. >_>) | i have been in the hospital or ER in the past year | i have beaten a video game in one day (it was another of those days) | i have visited another country (quite a few; my yearly homecoming route alone crosses a lot of countries) | i have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

MY LIFE: i have at least one person i consider a best friend (it’s more like I rotate between different friends for different types of company) | i live/lived close to my school | my parents are still together (they had to really fight for it, but that’s the standard story of 30 years of marriage) | i have at least one sibling (two, actually) | i live in the united states (my Yankee English and Trump jokes must have given me away. ;) ) | there is snow right now where i live (actually, there’s almost never any snow where I live, even in December. This city freaks out and shuts down operations if we get more than an inch of snowfall.) | i have hung out with a friend in the past month (my friends are all *very* scattered, so it’s mostly phone calls & Skype) | i have a smartphone (which I still use like a dumb ‘cellphone’ most days. Don’t judge me. >_> ) | i have at least 15 cd’s | i share my room with someone (My brother shares an apartment with me… but my room is very much off-limits to him. -_-)

RELATIONSHIPS: i’m in a relationship (nah, and I’m not looking for one either this year) | i have a crush on a celebrity (*cough* still Michael Fassbender *cough*) | i have a crush on someone i know (no eye candy this year. *sigh* :( ) | i have been in at least 3 relationships | i have never been in a relationship | i have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them (funny story: the first guy I passed my phone-number to never replied, or told me he had a fiancée. Until she called me several weeks later after trying to stalk me on Facebook, and told me she broke up with said fellow after finding my phone-number among his things. Since then, I don’t ask people out; I wait. >_>) | i get crushes easily (it really depends the guy; I’m drawn to very specific types, like a magnet to a hadron collider) | i had a crush on someone for over a year (ever since the movies Fish Tank and Jane Eyre. Gosh... I feel like a creep. -///-) | i have been in a relationship for at least a year | i have had feelings for a friend (only once back in secondary school; these days... it’s more like the other way around. >_>)

RANDOM SHIT: i have break-danced | i know a person named jae (a lot of Korean kids, actually, in both grade school and college) | i have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce (nothing a little practice with an online tutorial couldn’t fix) | i have dyed my hair | i’m listening to one song on repeat right now | i have punched someone in the past week (yes, that will do wonders for my social life. >_>) | i know someone who has gone to jail (someone I once worked with in college; I still don’t know where the poor guy is now. :( ) | i have broken a bone | i have eaten a waffle today (Actually... I had part of a blackberry pie I baked, from berries I personally collected this summer. ^_^) | i know what i want to do with my life (more or less) | i speak at least 2 languages (not at the same proficiency level, but it’s there) | i have made a new friend in the past year (I’ve made one or two minor friends in classes, but nothing lasting past the quarter) 

I hereby tag @kacychase, @muchelegantlio, and @eldaryastuffs. Though if you’ve done this already, feel free to ignore this shout-out. ^_^ 

[deebormzone]

Klingdom Harps 3: Who’s the (Secret) Boss?

Sorry I haven’t written much lately. I recently got the standard English major’s retail job, which sucks away most of my energy. I gotta toughen up so I can produce more insightful content, like this:

I like Kingdom Hearts a lot because it lets me jump and fight and also my friend Jafar is there.

The big KH news, which is a couple months old by now, is that Kingdom Hearts 3 finally has a vaguely estimated release window: 2018. Now I can worry less about whether it will really come out, and more about how much of it will be DLC.

Besides DLC, series creator Nomura has also spoken about the now-traditional secret boss battle. In other Kingdom Hearts titles, there are one or more optional fights, designed to be the most difficult encounters in the game. They’re usually Sephiroth.

In terms of the secret boss, we can’t say anything at this time, but in terms of Sephiroth specifically, my development team are worried that we’ve had him come back so many times so they’re maybe worried it might be redundant at this point. We’re still deliberating on it.

I'm with the development team here. There’s room for more than just Sephy. But assuming they do put a secret boss in KH3 (and since the other big KH games have had secret bosses, excluding one from the biggest Hearts yet would be pretty shameful), who could compete with everyone’s favorite silver-haired genetic abomination?

There are actually a few good options. Here are some dudes I’d like to face in Kingdom Hearts 3 as an uberboss, loosely arranged from least cool to most cool. The only real requirement is that they be either Square Enix or Disney characters.

Crystal Enthusiast: Culex

Culex is a secret boss already! He’s from Super Mario RPG, but designed to look and act like a Final Fantasy boss. It’s implied that he crossed over from the Final Fantasy series to look for strong opponents. I don’t know why he would go looking in the Mushroom Kingdom, but I guess it worked out for him.

With his dimension-hopping and challenge-seeking, Culex would be a good fit for Kingdom Hearts secret boss. This is basically a pipe dream, though. Since he’s actually from a Mario game, it’s pretty unlikely he’d be allowed in. It may be his fate to languish in Mario Land for all eternity...

Principal Samurai: Master Eraqus

Eraqus was a major character in the Kingdom Hearts prequel, Birth by Sleep. He used to teach the protagonists how to use their Keyblades properly. Most of his lessons seem to involve hitting things, but that does tend to build experience in every game in the whole series. Go with what works, I guess.

Of course, he had an unfortunate accident, but that doesn’t prevent him from being a boss. Just call him “Lingering Spirit” or whatever. He’s probably the most likely person on this list to actually appear as a superboss, if he doesn’t show up in Kingdom Hearts 3 in some other form.

But despite being fairly important, his fighting style is sort of basic. He’s got a couple of big moves, but not much else. And even though I usually struggle against him in Birth by Sleep, he’s not that tough canonically. There may be better options.

Evillest Clown: Kefka

Ah, Kefka. He’s the boss of Final Fantasy 6, the clown who usually takes second place on the Final Fantasy villain lists... and sometimes first. This makes him a natural choice for Square Enix superboss if Sephiroth isn’t around.

I’m always down to clown. Kefka’s a manic, psychotic sociopath, which is often more fun to play with than your usual uptight or brooding villain. His fighting style in Dissidia, the Final Fantasy fighting game, is to annoy his enemy to death. Notable achievements of his include blowing up the world and becoming God, making him significantly more successful than your average antagonist. No worries about an underpowered foe here, though I’d rather fight his clown form than his purple angel form.

Somehow, though, I don’t see him getting in. Final Fantasy 6 has had almost no representation in Kingdom Hearts thus far. Is that game even still popular?

That, and the wacky clown personality doesn’t go over well with everyone. It might not fit the “epic boss battle” they’re planning. Shame.

Fallen Mascot: Oswald

I always love the Disney-based antagonists, but it’s hard to pick a definitive one. Maleficent usually takes the lead in villain meetups, but she’s not secret enough to be a secret boss. Is there anyone good left from the House of Mouse, besides maybe Walt himself?

There are plenty of great Disney villains who haven’t shown up yet. Dr. Facilier would fit right in with his control of dark magic. Yzma’s alchemy and sorcery could make for an excellent boss battle. Madam Mim’s shapeshifting could be an intense multi-stage fight. Turbo would jump at the chance to dominate another video game. Hell, they should put Cruella de Vil in the game just because.

The trouble with all of these is that they’re all single-world threats. They don’t hit hard enough to match up to, you know, Sephiroth.

There’s another option, though. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was Walt Disney’s first animated character, but he took a backseat to now-international-icon Mickey Mouse. Sometimes, though, he reemerges - most recently as a dark version of Mickey in the Epic Mickey series.

In Kingdom Hearts, Mickey is (hilariously) a messiah-like hero of light, so Oswald could conceivably be a reverse version. A cartoony Keyblade wielder with dark versions of Mickey’s god-powers. He’s got the prestige and the lore. Why not take him on?

Of course, the same issue that applies to Kefka affects Oswald: he’s innately goofy, which might damage the brooding, trenchcoat image of a secret ultimate boss. Of course, what with Gruff Mickey as he appears in Kingdom Hearts, maybe they’d make Oswald edgy enough to fit. Somehow.

Numberwang: Sho Minamimoto

Here’s one of Nomura’s creations who could use some more time in the spotlight. Minamimoto is a villain in The World Ends With You, a Reaper who hounds the characters. He’s known for making big piles of garbage and shouting mathematical functions at people (“Sine, cosine, tangent!”). Basically, a flawless character.

The protagonists from his game appeared in the most recent Kingdom Hearts as major players, so there’s some small precedent. Also, he turns into a demigod or something by the end of the game, so he’s probably strong enough.

There are a couple of other characters from The World Ends With You who could work here. First is Joshua, but he’s been in Kingdom Hearts already. Next is the actual TWEWY antagonist, but he’s kind of forgettable. There’s also a secret boss in TWEWY who could show up, but he’s only intimidating because you spent the whole game talking to him and assuming his unimportance.

No, the reason I went straight for Sho is because he’s a certified memer. Don’t underestimate that meme magic. I don’t remember much about the main bosses of TWEWY, but I absolutely remember Shouting Math Guy, and being memorable is what counts in a super-secret ultimate boss fight.

Sadly, this is just grasping at straws. In the end, Minamimoto is a little guy from a little game - on a Nintendo console, even. But you know what they say: a dream is a wish your heart makes.

Burn Victim: Darth Vader

Yeah, I went there. Star Wars is Disney now, and all bets are off. Up is down, black is white, the Jedi are evil.

I’ve seen a lot of comments online about how terrible it would be if Star Wars or Marvel got into Kingdom Hearts, but I just can’t understand them. The whole point of this franchise, besides making big buckets of money, is to rampage across a huge range of wacky environments. Adding Star Wars would be super wacky AND good for more money buckets, so they should do it the moment they get the chance. It’s as simple as that.

Let me address Marvel Comics for a moment. There are a number of villains from that universe who could appear in Kingdom Hearts as superbosses, but they don’t appeal to me very much. A comics expert probably has better opinions than I do, but the bad dudes powerful enough to show up seem kind of dull to me, and the interesting ones are too weak.

Planet-eating Galactus would be a good fit for Kingdom Hearts, but what does the big guy even do? Generic lasers and large hand slap? Doctor Doom is a classic, but when he fights mano a mano it ends up being tiny guns and foot dive. M.O.D.O.K.? A true role model and friend to all, but too weak. Magneto is the best cross between power and panache I can think of from Marvel, but beating up a Holocaust survivor probably crosses a few too many lines, even for Kingdom Hearts.

Despite my complaints, I’d be okay with just about anything from Marvel or Star Wars in the Kingdom of Heart. The wackier, the better, I always say. Still, my dreams of wackiness will likely go unfulfilled. The odds of getting any of that stuff in is pretty low at the moment. But what if there’s just enough influence to take just one piece of Star Wars into Kingdom Hearts? One character, for one fight, harder than any other?

Right off the bat, Vader commands more respect than Sephiroth. A lot more. Here’s a character everyone knows, one of the most infamous villains of all time. He fits the role of ultimate boss extremely well. He’s proficient in one-on-one combat, he’s filled with mystic powers, his saber fighting could lead to great Keyblade clashes, and he generally fits the light vs. darkness themes of Kingdom Hearts.

Beyond the Lucasfilm fees, though, there’s one other issue. His live-action-movie fighting style might not translate well to Kingdom Hearts’ hopping-around-and-exploding-into-beams-of-light fighting style. The game might actually be too goofy for Lord Vader. Maybe not, seeing as how Keyblade Dude Sora has faced off against live-action people before (Pirates of the Carribean and Tron), but the incongruity might be too much for the lawyers, if not the players.

There’s just one name left on my wishlist.

No, Darth Vader isn’t final enough to take the top spot. He’s a lousy dad.

My most wanted superboss candidate can only be THE #1 dad of all time.

The Best: Jecht

Jecht is like if sports became a human being. All he does is play ball, go on adventures, and insult his son. He’s perfect.

He stands alongside Sephiroth and Kefka as the more-or-less final boss of Final Fantasy X. There’s already a lot of X representation in Kingdom Hearts - Tidas is in, Wakka is in, Auron is in, YuRiPa is in. Adding the big man himself wouldn’t be much of a stretch. Plus, Jecht’s natural habitat is the stadium, which is where secret optional bosses are often fought.

This is the guy I want to fight as the secret boss. He’s a being of near-godlike power, and is also a dumb asshole who throws a ball at your head while calling you a wimp. He’s got the strength, and the pedigree as the boss of one of the most beloved Final Fantasies. No licencing issues, no nothing. His favorite prey is lame kids, and that’s basically main character Sora in a nutshell.

Best of all, though, is his fight song “Otherworld”, which (if you for some reason prefer not to hear its glory) is just a guy screaming over guitars. It tries so hard, it’s unbearably stupid. But then it tries even harder and loops back around to being really funny, and then loops some more until it’s actually a nice jam.

That closes out my list of potential secret bosses for Kingdom Hearts 3, but there are plenty of options I didn’t cover. In the end, I’ll be happy with any fight that’s fun and has a lot of exploding light particles. With luck, we might even get multiple secret bosses! It’s happened before.

Deeborm signing off for now. Here’s hoping Kingdom Hearts 3 will be worth the wait.

... but it will probably just be Sephiroth again.

[drink-n-watch]

  Genre : Comedy, action, slapstick, drama, neon

Episodes: 25+1

Studio: Satelight

  Jyugo is a man of many skills. He can break out of any prison, open any lock, mimic any key. He can also…ummm. Ok so Jyugo manly has the one skill but he’s working on it. Kida. It’s just not that easy to broaden your horizons when you spend all your time in a jail cell. Well, not that Jyugo spends all that much time there, what with all the breakin out and all. And it’s not that bad, his cell mates are pretty fun guys and the guards are decent too, as long as you don’t make *too much* trouble. All in all Jyugo can’t complain. Except that someone’s been using him for human experiments and he can’t quite remember what happened. Oh and the prison has just been taken over by a monstrous convicted ex guard who might murder them all. But otherwise, things are pretty good!

If you were to ask me right now why I decided to watch Nanbaka, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I had never heard of it at all and the only clue I had about the story, were the prison jumpsuits the characters seem to be wearing. Sometimes, you just got to go for it and hope for the best!

great start….

I wish I could recommend Nanbaka, I really do. I just don’t know who to recommend it to! It’s a technically proficient anime but it’s also a hodgepodge of so many clashing elements and styles.

For instance, the visuals are great. But they’re too stylish and zany to appeal to traditionalists and too unpolished and easygoing to be one of the cool kids. I would describe them as a more childish looking Danganronpa. The colours are fantastically loud and just everywhere. This show is an explosion of color and the thematic use is so heavy handed it’s comical. If you are the least bit annoyed by particularly loud colours though Nanbaka may kill you.

The animation is surprisingly good and fights look impressive but the pretty boy aesthetic may scare some people away. Even though the boys are very pretty, they’re also not the characteristic androgenous shoujo style. For instance I thought Hajime was one of the more attractively drawn ones and he’s a very tall, very muscled bald man. Which I realize is just another way of saying attractive. What was I doing? Oh yeah – reviewing a show.

I have unique tastes in anime boys

The acting is deadpan and fast paced, which makes sense considering that Nanaka is a comedy show (this is a running gag in the show). Here’s the biggest problem when it comes to recommending Nanbaka, it’s a collection of intense tonal shifts.

The first few episodes had me thinking that this was i fact strewn together super short episodes. It was extremely silly and seemed more disjointed than most. It really made me think of Saiki in many ways but not quite as, for lack of a better word, smart. But then, out of the blue, it became a genuine action anime complete with great fighting sequences and impressive super powers held together by a clear continuous storyline and I really started to get into it. Then it got dark… Serious themes of addiction and uncomfortably topical discussions of police brutality were addressed head on. The moral dilemma and implications of drawing a line between discipline and reform, and punishment and vengeance were brought up but never answered.

And we go right back to slapstick humour, fourth wall breaks and casual innuendo. Shift again, the background puzzle of Jungo’s existence is brought up again just in time for a new conflict to emerge. The latter half of the second season was a fantastic mix of tension, mystery and action that had me blowing through the episodes at breakneck speed to see what happens next. It felt like the first arc of what could become one of my favourite long running shonen and then, it just ended. I mean the show ended way before the story ever did… ARG!!!! WHY!!! NO!!!

waiiiitttt

I read up a bit on it after finishing the series and it seems Nanbaka was adapted from a web comic. I believe this is the first time I’ve seen a webtoon adaptation and this may have something to do with the unusual tonal structure and slightly frantic mix of elements. It’s very difficult to compare Nanbaka to anything else. At best, you can compare it to a mix of 3 or 4 very different shows. An that makes it so difficult to recommend.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it. Because of its nature, I don’t know if you’ll like Nanbaka. And even if you do, I can’t guarantee that you won’t be annoyed by certain aspects of it. But as a clash of styles and ideas it’s interesting in concept if nothing else. You have not seen a show quite like this and you probably won’t again for some time. Or I am once again showing my limited anime knowledge and this is a super popular subgenre with hundreds of popular titles available. But I hadn’t seen anything quite like it before.

no, that’s a good thing!

Also hair goals. I want to have every single one of those hairstyles, except Hajime’s (although that’s probably what I’ll end up with if I dye my hair that much). Oh and the Warden. The warden is amazing. She is more than worth your time and the only thing I really reproach that second season for, is the fact that she’s mostly absent.

If any of you have seen this (I know Mel has), please let me know what you thought of it. I’m really curious!

Favorite character: The Warden!!!!

What this anime taught me: adorableness can be mistaken for intimidation which explains so much about my life…

When life gives you lemons, add gin and tonic

Suggested drink: The Lock Pick

Every time something gets bleeped out – take a tiny sip

Every time anyone speaks in English – take a sip (water if it’s the dub)

Every time anyone escapes prison – stretch

Every time Hajime gets mad – hide

Every time anyone sparkles – take a breath

Every time the warden is adorable – squee

Every time Seitarou-kun cries – take a sip

Every time there’s a 4th wall break – take a sip

Every time Uno goes girl crazy – take a sip

Every time Rock obsesses over food – get a snack

Every time Nico reminds you of yourself – take a sip

 Every time the warden gets mistaken for angry or ruthless – giggle

Every time Hajime smokes – take a sip

Every time Jyugo is bad at something – raise your glass

good note…..

So…I figured out how to viably take screenshots or entire series…. YAY?

Nanbaka; Hair Goal and Frustration Genre : Comedy, action, slapstick, drama, neon Episodes: 25+1 Studio: Satelight   Jyugo is a man of many skills.

[bellc8804905-blog]

Contentment Drivers

Efforts to resolve the concern neglect as being one or even each companions laid out to fix the scenario by offering to the companion what s/he really wants from communication or time together. LOVING/having ENTHUSIASM for your project, companion, area you reside in, your loved ones, individuals around you - ALL create a HUGE variation with ones level in happiness!!!! You possess an excellent awesome brain, and also glob in between your ears will definitely formulate something that is going to make you wealthy as well as abundant. The scenic tour is actually led through expert quick guides which are actually proficient and efficient in their foreign languages (English, Spanish). This will clearly create you quite strange and the reader senses this really swiftly. By carrying out regular physical exercise you modify your anatomy, you transform your body chemicals, which will certainly create you experience various, so you begin focusing on other points. If you have any kind of questions concerning where and just how to make use of yellow pages online uk [mouse click the up coming document], you can contact us at our own webpage. Maybe you are actually to cook mouth watering meals at my beloved restaurant (makings me satisfied) and also while you are creating awesome food items, your withins are squirming with delight! While there are clearly traits that occur in your lifestyle that create you believe either troubled or even satisfied, the truth is that these experiences happen and they go. The better equipped you come to be at managing the celebrations that trigger you underline the less influence this will carry your health and joy and happiness. When he acquired right into one from his sulky state of minds, Andrew was actually always thus pleased that this experienced especially jarring. And if you want to make your male satisfied in the real sense, after that you will certainly must guarantee improvements in you. Caution must be had, having said that, when attempting to combat a curse, as novice wheels might really intensify that as well as create it much worse. Folks toss colours on one another and want Pleased Holi." Folks also help make unique meals at their home and eat with their friends. I'm depressing or even not delighted/ Just up or even down/ And also constantly poor," she performs on the hazy ballad Happy." As well as the album discovers just that, the rooms and also seems between sad and also satisfied. But to be happy our team must unlearn every thing our team have actually ever dealt with or maybe lived concerning contentment. Yet just before you leap ship, specifically in stressed opportunities, be actually certain you possess really good, sound explanations for desiring to create a change. When you think about living a delighted life with every little thing that can easily create you happy - meals is actually the first thing that involves your mind. Below are actually 18 from my beloved comical relationship prices estimate to show to those you like. You can easily urge others, adore others, also inspire others, but when it is actually all mentioned as well as performed, they will always create their personal choice whether you accept of this or otherwise. Another tip to make the location as well as the occasion more classy is making a show of photos from the celebrant through the years in white and also silver frames. Whether this's being able to convey yourself creatively or even managing to making a decision yourself, private independence is crucial. Consequently, try different methods to control your life once again and succeed in being actually delighted and also healthy. When my aficionado left me i never instructed that i will have the ability to acquire her back besides she has put me by means of, But i am thus pleased that after the obstruction of Dr.Zabaza i was able to receive my fan back after 48hours and also i can happily that which ever before need to have help in getting there fanatic back needs to get in touch with Dr.Zabaza on these call information here +2348182620374 or zabazalogan @ for correct understanding of just what i possess merely witness. It's not consistently as quick and easy as recognizing just what you love, then determining methods to make amount of money performing this. You could create a decent living through starting a car washing business if you like to wash autos. When you will certainly obtain that something you will really be happy, how several opportunities performed you wish for something as well as you only knew that. You create me happy whether you know this or otherwise I am actually therefore happy understanding you are the one that ill adore for the remainder of my days. Select a stylish food selection coming from the appetisers by means of the deserts that may create the celebrant, and also the guests, believe unique throughout the meal. However there are things you may do making factors run even more properly and to prevent shooting yourself in the shoe. The income regard for the tons of sacrifices that mamas make for their household, present is noticed in the whole entire United Kingdom and also the globe. To begin with our experts need to prepare our goals, then our team need to plan them, our experts have to make our To accomplish listings and also our team should prioritize them. In the beginning this was hard as well as I physically couldn't make myself do this (it is actually certainly not as very easy as some people assume). However considering that I determined to become happy as an individual I am responsible for my personal joy. Remaining in contact along with loved ones is one of the leading five remorses from the perishing 7. If you desire much more proof that it's useful for you, I've found some study that shows that can make you better today. As you could find, hilarious relationship quotes are actually a fantastic way to remember just what makes our relationships so unique and also our friends so dear. Take that an action even further and really consider goals you possessed when you were actually much younger or even currently possess regarding what are going to make you absolutely pleased. My boyfriend left me and told me ends I was ravaged as I liked him so much I decided to consult with a spelI wheel and also I complied with a buddy which told me of a great physician and I chose to call him and he told me in 3 times my man will definitely call me and also beg me to acept him I presumed he was actually poking fun in three days everything occurred as he said I am therefore happy could also contact him at; efespelltemple @ for any type of kind of aid, or even phone +2348106985072. By having the capacity to approve all prices from something you wish, by enjoying during the course of the quest to your target, you will more than happy. None of these reasons warrant disloyalty or even make this ok, but by knowing and comprehending men what males prefer, you'll possess a much better possibility of scam proofing your relationship. When you take a look around at your lifestyle, you make a decision regarding that. You decide to be pleased along with it or even you don't.

[leapteen-blog]

How to encourage kids to read

According to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, enjoying reading plays a bigger role in kids’ educational success than their family’s socio-economic status. Other research shows that reading for pleasure is linked to the development of several lifelong literacy-related skills, including comprehension, vocabulary, writing ability and grammar. But getting kids to pick up a book isn’t just tricky for parents of reluctant readers—even keen young bookworms risk losing their reading skills during the summer when they aren’t in school. A 2010 study out of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville found that kids who don’t read over the summer tend to lose two to three months of reading proficiency—and the effects add up over the years. This is all in addition to the fierce competition from screen-based gaming and YouTube videos for kids’ attention. Luckily, cultivating a love of reading can help stop the summer “brain drain,” so while it may be tough to get kids motivated, it’s important to keep trying.

 Start by role modeling the behavior you want to see, and making reading fun and pressure-free, never a punishment (it helps if it’s a consistent part of your daily schedule). And, of course, how you motivate kids has a lot to do with how old they are. Here’s what the experts say works at each stage of development.

 Ages 0 to 2: Exploration Station

“Literacy begins at birth,” says Mack Rogers, executive director of ABC Life Literacy Canada, a charitable organization devoted to improving literacy skills. “Children connect reading and writing with their first words, their first experiences and their first role models. You can’t start too early.”

 At this stage, exploration is key, says Ruth Rumack, a literacy expert and the owner of academic support centre Ruth Rumack’s Learning Space in Toronto. “If they want to look at the book upside down, let them look at the book upside down. If they want to chew on it, let them chew on it. If your 15-month-old reaches out to turn the page before you’re finished, that’s OK,” she says. “It can be frustrating for parents who have their minds set on the idea that reading is sitting down and listening, but reading time should be flexible.” To encourage interest, look for high-contrast, black-and-white board books (especially great for younger babies up to six months old) or bright colours and simple illustrations, and tactile elements like fuzzy sections, built-in squeakers or lift-the-flap books for toddlers. “The element of surprise is particularly exciting for this age group,” Rumack says.

  Ages 3 to 5: Child’s Play

For preschoolers, it’s all about phonological awareness—the pre-reading skills involving sounds. This is when kids learn about rhyming, blending (joining letter sounds to make a word), alliteration, segmenting (breaking words down into their composite sounds) and manipulating sounds within words—like understanding that swapping m for c turns “mat” into “cat.” These fundamental skills can be hard to grasp, so introducing them through stories and play can keep kids from getting discouraged. Choose books that engage kids with repetition and drama, Rumack says, like Robert Munsch’s Mortimer. Rogers agrees: “We’re naturally musical, so kids really engage with rhythm and song and rhyme. That’s why nursery rhymes and Dr. Seuss work so well.” Making play a part of reading time will also help. Have kids act out parts of the story themselves or with a puppet, or let your kid decide what a character should sound like and then have him do that voice when it’s that character’s turn to speak.

 Ages 6 to 10: The Power of Choice

This is when a child’s interests really begin to play a role in their developing literacy skills. Some kids are obsessed with princesses, while others respond to comics and graphic novels. Find reading material—books, apps and kid-friendly websites—that reflect your child’s passions. If she loves baseball, get her reading with websites devoted to player stats or books about the history of the game. You can even check out her favourite team’s social posts together—it’s important not to get stuck on the idea of reading only being words on a page. “Reading recipes is reading. Playing board games is reading,” says Rumack. “I’m all for reading in whatever form it comes.”