#Not sure if any of my responses were actually violent or not... but yeah. XD

[calpalsworld]

Not "autistic anon," but also autistic, (being called maybe ableist made me want to put this out there before go to bed) i thought Zane was depicted that way purposefully by the writers. He has stereotypical traits like taking things literally, and has an actual humor switch. The writers have done things with Zane before like have him lose bodily autonomy (during that one Wu's teas short) and did something with his voice be it making him unable to be understood or talking too loud and the forced pirate voice by Jay. (what you're doing isn't too different from that, right?) I thought it was just a little iffy to distort his body and memory bc that could be interpreted as something not that I'm sure what exactly, it's some kind of disability. I dunno. I'm not good with putting this to words. I hope this makes sense.

Sorry I went to bed but now I’m awake 😭

Also I ended up totally spilling all my thoughts here rather than only specifically replying to you please forgive me context: my scary zane concept design, & my ninjago rewrite i refer to a lot 

Im a little confused but I think I get what you're saying? You're saying the Ninjago writers absolutely DON'T write Zane well (you listed examples of this) and you don't want me to fall into the same trap?

I had the opposite logic earlier. I thought: If Ninjago writers made Zane have stereotypical autisitic traits while also being a dehumanized robot, I may as well embrace it, say he is autistic blatantly, while also making him do funny/cool non-human robot things, so its clear as possible the two aspects of his character are literal and separate and not a metaphor for each other. But you're right! I do have a choice and I dont have to embrace things! :)

Like there were a couple ways I was gonna reject the original, for example, I never wanted Zane to have a funny switch, and I hated how other characters could fuck with Zane and he didn't even care 😬. I want to change that stuff. So youre right, if I am changing shit like that, it would be counterproductive for ME to GIVE him MORE traits along that theme. 😬😬😬 I should try to feel less obligated to portray Zane like he originally is. I still like the concept of "scary zane" (for reasons i explain below the cut) but I might tone it down a bit like with the claws and weird proportions and shit. I’d def make him look more skeletal and undead. That was my original intention, but i didnt execute it as good as I could have.... idk if anyone could tell thats what he was supposed to be like...my bad! But rn I dont wanna redesign him I wanna draw other stuff like normal alive Zane. Sorry LMAO 😳. Like I said in some earlier asks I think, I think Im gonna focus rn on how I should portray season 1 normal not dead Zane so thank you and feel free to share any other Zane thoughts ^_^ SOME OTHER THOUGHTS:

Also I Wanna Argue Some Stuff But I Understand its a Weak Argument Since All of This Context was Just In My Brain (so don't take this as an argument, just as me rambling): I don't want messed up things to happen to Zane and for it to just be ignored. I think if Zane is going to have fucked up things happen to him, as all characters must, its best for it to happen during a season where he actually addresses his feelings about being a robot (learning to accept that he will always be himself, regardless if hes "human" or the "original" or whatever. (thats how I always interpreted his emotions)). But I wouldn't have the other Ninja be very phased by Zane's looks because the whole point is they already love who he is (seasons 1-3 were about getting to know Zane) and now Zane himself just has to learn the physical, robot part of him is okay. Its about person-hood rather than humanity. Because the season focuses around Zane's soul, and because he lost his original body, I feel like I could mess around with his current, temporary body and have fun and make it scary. Because that body should be irrelevant. I understand it possibly being upsetting for an autistic character to be designed like this, but other people I talked to see it the opposite way. They find it comforting for him to look so different but still be himself and be so loved. SO IM ABSOLUTELY NOT saying its wrong to be bothered or to hate it or to feel any way. Just that I personally think it would be cool for Zane to be portrayed with a little spice lol, so thats why I like scary Zane for season 4.

Another Thing I Wannna Say But Is REALLY Hypocritical: (this isnt directed at anyone I just REALLY want to say this) I know I say "this is Zane but scary, he looks like fnaf" so he's obviously dehumanized, but I always felt like "scary" is more of an objective fact. Its an instinct. But what's "not human" is subjective. I think there is a problem with saying anything different from "average" human is dehumanized because that could extend to real people. Lol I know its bad for me to compare FNAF-ass Zane to real people, but I mean he could be real. People can have exposed teeth, and people can be shaped weird. And when someone first sees a person who looks like that they'll probably think "woah those features are scary" by instinct. And that surprise doesn't make someone ableist obviously. But bring that person’s humanity into question is NOT an instinct, and is fucked to shit. This is kinda a bad point for me to make since its about the fictional FNAF Zane I drew, and I am NOT implying ANYONE was thinking like this. [especially not the original asker anon who I am totally forgetting about at this point OOPS]. But I just thought it was an opinion of mine I couldn't go without mentioning when talking about dehumanization and disabilities.

^^^ I think you (anon) understand what I mean and might’ve said the exact same thing as me if you were writing a long ass response? I think this because you started to bring physical disabilities up and you said it was "a little iffy." ^_^ So we agree, but I don't see Zane's relation to real life disabilities as "a little iffy" I see it more like "complicated"? IF THAT DIFFERENCE EVEN MAKES ANY SENSE?????? I feel like a lot of things about Zane are really just complicated and need the right context, rather than the concepts necessarily being wrong -- NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT! THATS THE WHOLE REASON I DO THIS STUPID REWRITE! XD thats why a lot of my rewrite SO FAR has been the same concepts and plot beats, but different dialogue n specifics and such. I like a lot of concepts in Ninjago but I dont think they were presented correctly.....! :( So I guess all we can do is wait and see if I make Zane offensive or not....???

Also something about the memory part - yeah i agree i was surprised no one thought that was weird to make jokes out of his memory issues..... BUT I am like 100% firm on making his memory take longer to come back because I think its stupid how quick Zane was able to recover from literally dying. Like its just dumb to me. Hate it. (also bc memory & soul mechanics is ummm kinda important in my rewrite.... for reasons). Another memory thing btw, I was going to make his original amnesia come from hitting his head in an attack against the Skulkin when they stole his dads corpse, rather than his dad fucking choosing to make him forget. (its a sweet & iconic scene, but Um, WHY?!!!?!?!?!?) He has to follow data recovery instructions he finds in his dads diary. I think in that context it makes moments of memory loss somewhat different for Zane's character? Instead of loss of autonomy associated with disability, its a literal violent loss of autonomy associated with being traumatized by physical force. Idk how to phrase it exactly but I think that makes some vibes different?

Sorry, I think I got really distracted, and I don't know if I responded well to your points. Because uhhhh I think I agree with your stance actually? If I understand correctly? Fuck Ninjago writers for making the robot lose autonomy (a stereotypical robot theme) while also making him seem clearly autistic (NOT A HAPPY THEME FOR AUTISTIC PEOPLE) and not addressing it. And also auuugh Zane with a weird body is a difficult topic - kinda sussy pretty iffy.

Lol anyway idk if this made any sense and I REALLY rambled on you. but this was nice 👉👈 more Zane criticism pls love you and i love zane. i hope u dont feel mad at me because then it would be weird that im saying that lol. if you do feel mad at me tho you can send another ask (ILL TRY TO JUST LISTEN NOT RAMBLE NEXT TIME) but assuming ur chill rn, love you thnx

Take this page, don’t mind cole’s ass.

[b-rainlet]

📓📓📓📓

- the-scarecrxw

(Since you sent 4 of those emojis I'm gonna go off but I'll stick to one in this answer and make seperate posts for the others aksnsns)

I can't give you anything Jonathan centric (that isn't Tommy/Jonathan, one of my fave rarepairs) but Jerome features in lots of my AUs.

This one is one of my faves that's entirely self-indulgent and if it ever gets written it's probably gonna be the longest fic I ever published (Again: If it ever gets written):

I gotta apologize in advance, it's just a fun little AU I haven't put too much thoughts into in terms of plotting so this is gonna be A. Long, B. Messy and C. A little chaotic

- First off, you gotta understand that @nsfwitchy2 Me had some fun with a pretty nonsensical and definitely not canon-compliant AU where Jerome and Jeremiah have three Mums (Tabby, Lee and Barbara, who all date) and live with them and Barbara Lee as their little sister.

- Ecco also lives with them, she sees herself as both the twins' gf more than a genuine part of the family tho (for now)

- (Meanwhile at Wayne Manor Alfred and Jim date and are very tired parents of Bruce and his clone 514A, in this AU - and pretty much every AU - nicknamed Brook)

- (Selina kinda goes back and forth between living at Wayne Manor or at Lee's place)

- Also, everyone dates. The twins. The clones. Eccomiah, Jecco, Batcat, Valeyne, Wayleska, they're all fucking

- Which isn't THAT important for this particular AU but I figured I'd give a warning xD

- This is mostly my attempt to give Tabitha some more backstory? Just...how I personally see her character and how I could see her end up if things would've went differently after S2

- The google docs file is called 'How Tabitha started being a Mum while disregarding canon completely' lmao

- Like her current life involves having 4 kids (if you count Selina) and two wives and that's a hell of an AU and I just like to overthink things and play with the way things would have needed to have gone in canon to have her 'end up' like this

- Also I can see her struggling with having a family all if a sudden (that isn't a manipulative brother or a weird cult)

-Especially if that involves Motherhood

- So on one hand it's a 'S2 until now' fic, explaining what happened to her in my canon

- But also - mostly because I find that easier to organize in my brain - it's interwoven with a 5+1-esque fic of all her children calling her 'Mum' (and her getting emotional over that)

- So it switches back and forth between the past and the present but for rambling's sake, I'll start with the past

- She still leaves Theo behind and flees with Silver but she keeps Silver close instead of immediately sending her away

- And her and Silver get taken in by Fish after they leave Theo because they have nowhere to go and Fish loves taking care of strays

- (Fish, who probably didn't end up in Indian Hill but rather lives in hiding until she is ready to strike against Penguin)

- She refers to herself as Liza's Mother in canon, you can't tell me she wouldn't instantly adopt Tabby and call her 'Honey' and give her motherly advice while Tabby tries to be all bite but actually enjoys somebody taking care of her for once

- Selina🤝Tabby

'Trying so very hard all the time to not show how soft and insecure they are'

- Actually, I'd start diverting from Canon even sooner aksnsjd

- Well not full on changing canon, but I'd...pepper in some stuff

- Like some scenes of her back with Theo and the Maniax

- Mostly her talking to Theo about Jerome's planned murder, which, yeah, she knows it's been set in stone from the beginning but that doesn't mean that she isn't talking about alternatives where he doesn't get killed off

- And Theo's like "Don't tell me you're going soft. No one will miss him. He was just a boy. Not worthy enough to be remembered."

- And later on she betrays him and goes 'I remember him'

- Anyway, they stay with Fish for a while but Tabby doesn't wanna keep Silver in Gotham

- So she sends her back to the school she went to before coming to Gotham with Theo (but makes sure their weird cult can't get their hands on her there)

- And Silver wants her to come with but Tabby says she has some unfinished business

- Aka she just doesn't wanna leave Barbara (who is in a coma atm, if Memory serves right)

- And Tabby's reasoning is that it's not safe in Gotham but really, she thinks she can't be responsible for another person

- "She needs a mother. A Family. I can't give her that." - "You are her family."

- So Silver's out of the picture and Tabby hangs with Fish until Barbara wakes up and they get together again (and never ever seperate)

- Also there's no Butch/Tabby because that was unnecessary as fuck

- And I gotta be honest, I haven't thought more about canon because Butch/Tabby alone makes my head hurt already but somehow they start dating Lee

- Who brings Jerome into the relationship because I sure am fond of Lee being Jerome's Mother (like as in, I have several wips with that concept alone not counting this one)

- Jerome probably came back to life after S3 and Lee fought to have him not be treated like a violent criminal but rather a child who was taken advantage of and after his release from Arkham (where she visited him and made sure he got some proper treatment) it seemed natural to have him live with her

- (But also he's still a criminal aksnsjs, you can see how much I thought about this)

- (Sue me for sticking to the heartfelt scenes and avoiding the mess that is plotting)

- Tabby and Barbara already had Selina and through Jerome, Jeremiah and Ecco were added et voila! Their Family is complete

- (Why exactly Barbara Lee exists if Tabby and Barbara have been non-stop dating since S2 I can't tell you, I simply think she is neat and I like the idea of big brother Jerome)

- (This AU? Self-indulgent? Why would you ever think that?)

- In the present however she is dealing with what is mostly referred to as 'feelings'

- Mostly panic at realizing that the bunch of weird children she's been living with are seeing her as some kind of parental figure

- Because suddenly they all call her 'Mum'

- Unsurprisingly the first one to call her Mum is Jerome at breakfast

- She's reading the newspaper and there's an article about a hostage situation the twins planned and he goes 'Mum, are you done with that? Can we see?'

- And they snatch it from her and argue about how they didn't even make the front page while Tabby nearly chokes on her coffee

- And of course she breaks down talks to her wives about it later while they get ready for bed because no one ever called her 'Mum' before

- Barbara's braiding her hair, while Lee's off to the side, getting ready for bed and it's very domestic and I am very gay

- But neither see it as a big deal because both of them have been called Mum before (by Jerome at least. Like. Immediately upon meeting them)

- So she's trying to be nonchalant about it because it's only a big deal if she makes it one

- While also not being able to deny the warm feeling that spreads throughout her body when Jerome keeps calling her 'Mum'

- Miah and Selina on the other hand are both hesitant to call anyone Mum

- Miah cause of Pride, Selina cause of her Mummy Issues

- But they both do at some point

- I think I have more notes on this SOMEWHERE but I kinda wanna have Miah call her Mum while he's ill (because we all know he'd be super fussy and want attention 24/7)

- So she humours him and while he's close to falling asleep - and she's totally not carding her fingers through his hair because she isn't soft or anything - he mumbles: "Thank you Mum" and she melts

- Selina would be more angsty

- Like, maybe it's her birthday and she disappears for a while (as she tends to do) but Tabby (who's closest to her) knows how hard this day is for her (since again her Mum isn't there with here and looks for her and brings her back home but doesn't make a big fuss out of her birthday

- Just...lets her be, gives her space but also lets her curl up close to her and maybe Selina doesn't call her Mum on that exact day

- But it's the day she realizes she wouldn't mind calling Tabitha her Mother, so she hesitantly tries it out a while later (maybe days, maybe weeks, however long it takes for her to feel comfortable with it) and they share a smile

- Then there's Barbara Lee, but she barely counts because she's a toddler and calls everyone 'Mummy'

- Even her father ajsnsnsn

- The last one would be Ecco because I have a very soft spot for Tabby and Ecco being close

- Ecco's rather formal with them for the longest time (she calls Barbara, Lee and Tabby 'Ma'am' for the most part because she may like them, but she doesn't think they see her as family. She's just the token girlfriend).

- So there's a scene where they connect, possibly over Tabby's hand and Ecco's head since I hc that Ecco gets headaches and migraines a lot (considering that she still gets shot in the head by Miah, like I said, this AU isn't necessarily the most bullet proof in terms of linear timelines)

- But so is Gotham so-

- So there's possibly a scene where Ecco's headache is getting super bad and no one's around (especially not Miah to dote on her) and Tabby awkwardly tries to bond by telling her about her hand and how she can't feel much (is a little clumsy with it) and Ecco immediately imprints on her like a duckling

- Maybe it's even the first time anyone reached out to Ecco in a way that feels genuine, especially without the twins or any of her (various) other partners being present so now she's willing to die for Tabby

- Which ends in her also calling her 'Mum' (while she keeps calling Lee and Barbara 'Ma'am' and Lee's so mad ajsnsjdj she was trying so hard to bond with this kid but couldn't quite get it right and you're telling her her socially pretty clumsy - but still wonderful of course - wife managed with just one conversation?? Slander

- And of course because I can't stop myself, there would be even more tidbits here and there of Tabby overcoming her previous way of living (as in, thinking caring or showing emotions is weakness) by having her reminisce a LOT about Theo

- For example by having Jerome climb into bed with her while Barbara's sleeping and Tabby is waiting for Lee to come home

- Lee works as a doc in the narrows which may be a little illegal, but the people didn't just stop needing help after her Queen of the Narrows arc was over, so I vote she keeps at it (and is held in very high regard for it by pretty much everyone)

- Tabby always stays up until everyone is home because she likes knowing where everyone is and that they're safe while Jerome has frequent nightmares and wanders around the house, so this isn't a rare occurrence

- And sometimes, they talk Theo

- "You miss him?" - "Don't know."

- "I wish he was still alive so I could kill him." - "....Me too." - "Which one?" - "...Both."

- (ajajsbssj this is all just copy pasted and cleaned up a lil', leave me and my pretentious way of writing dialogue alone)

- Tabby also has a lot of interludes where she thinks about what growing up with Theo was like/her childhood in general

- How she always protected him from other children bullying him and how they swore to have each other's back but how in hindsight, she was the one doing all the dirty work for him, helping him fulfill his dream and enact his revenge

- Realizing that he probably never cared for her, not like she cared for him

- There's also allusions to them having sex because you cannot tell me they did NOT have sex

- And it ends with Tabby realizing that she is quite happy with how she ended up, even if it's neither how she thought she would ever live nor what her old self would've even wanted, possibly seeing too many attachments as 'weak' judging by the way she canonly used Butch for convenience sake at first

- And yeah, maybe now she can provide the family - the Mother - somebody else desperately needs

- So she brings Silver home

[paradife-loft]

wh.. when did wwx make his enemies eat their own flesh and fight the reanimated bodies of their loved ones ?? in the novel ?

Aaahhhh, anon, I hope you’ll forgive me for saying that, even knowing what this ask is in response to, seeing it pop up in my inbox did make me laugh XD Not in a bad way! It was simply very unexpected, and also very specific. So thank you for brightening my day! <3

(For context, for everyone else watching along at home - mentions of WWX doing those things came up in this thread, re: MDZS’s general moral greyness.)

But, okay, getting to the point, yes, those events are details taken from the novel! Specifically, I would say they’re things that were... pretty heavily implied, or are reasonable conclusions to draw based on the surrounding context, rather than being literally explicitly stated in the novel? But still.

The bit about making people fight the reanimated dead bodies of people they knew and cared about, I believe is a reference to the battle at the Pledge Conference at Nightless City, and perhaps also the Sunshot campaign in general. I looked to see if I could find an exact quote detailing this, but I was unsuccessful going through the most immediately relevant chapters I can think of, so I’m not sure if the topic is directly addressed ever in the book? (If anybody has a textual source for this part, lmk and I’ll edit to add it in!)

But in any case, even if it’s not stated directly in the text, I’d say it’s at least a reasonable-supposition-become-fanon due to a couple reasons. First, the fact that at the Pledge Conference battle, Wei Wuxian raises a bunch of corpses straight from the ground the other sects are all standing on - as this was the site of the last major Sunshot Campaign battle just a few years ago, presumably some portion of those dead would be members of the non-Wen sects who the present Pledge Conference attendees would have known. Second, I think people tend to figure that, since he’s fighting during both the Pledge Conference and the Sunshot campaign by raising and directing armies of reanimated corpses, it would make plenty of sense tactically for him to add the people immediately killed in any one battle into the ranks of his forces as well - leading to his enemies having to fight against members of their own sect who’d only just been cut down a few moments ago.

(Admittedly, until/unless someone points me to a specifically contradictory part of the text on this bit, I do think it’s fair if you don’t necessarily buy either of those explanations, for logistical reasons, emotional preferences, whatever, and don’t include that as a part of your interpretation of events &/or the character. YMMV! MXTX is certainly not very detailed when it comes to descriptions of what’s actually happening during battles, so I think there’s for sure room for different headcanons.)

That aside, the other piece, “making his enemies eat their own flesh,” does actually have much stronger specific textual support - it’s pretty heavily implied as part of how Wei Wuxian was torturing Wen Chao after he left the Burial Mounds for his bloody revenge rampage! (Relevant quotes from the book under the cut for length and gore.)

From chapter 61 (ExR translation):

After Wen ZhuLiu finished applying the ointment, he took out a few buns from his lapel and put one in his hand, “Eat. We’ll continue after you finish.”

With shaking hands, Wen Chao cupped it in his hands and took a bite out of it. Seeing this, Jiang Cheng remembered what a plight he and Wei WuXian were in the day when they fled. The didn’t even have any food. Such a situation was karma indeed!

Heart filled with joy, the corners of his curled lifted and he broke into mad but soundless laughter.

Suddenly, Wen Chao looked as if he had bitten something that caused him react with such a petrified expression. He threw the bun away and screamed, “I’m not eating meat! I’m not! I’m not! I’m not eating meat!”

Wen ZhuLiu passed him another one, “This one isn’t meat.”

Wen Chao, “I’m not eating it! Take it away! Get lost! I want to find my dad. When can we get back to my dad?!”

And then a bit later, in chapter 62:

He walked a few steps nearer and kicked into a white object by his foot. He looked down. It was the meat bun that Wen Chao had tossed away.

Wei WuXian raised a brow, “What, you’re a picky eater?”

Wen Chao fell from his stool, screeching, “I’m not eating it! I’m not eating it! I’m not eating it!”

As he bawled, he crawled on the ground with his finger-less hands. The long black cape slid down the lower half of his body, revealing his legs. The two legs dangled from his torso as if they were burdensome accessories. Even wrapped within bandages, they were still unusually thin. Due to his violent movements, the bandages stretched out to form gaps. Inside were ghastly white bones, crimson blood and strands of flesh still hanging from them.

All of the flesh on his legs had been sliced off, piece by piece. And, likely… all of the flesh had been eaten by himself!

Wen Chao’s sharp screams echoed within the empty courier station. Wei WuXian looked as though he didn’t hear anything. Lifting up the hem of his robe, he sat down at another table.

So yeah. If we’re quibbling, it’s also not stated directly that Wei Wuxian forced him to do this, but like.... the snark on WWX’s part, combined with the scant likelihood of Wen Chao eating his own flayed flesh for some reason that didn’t involve force/mind control/etc..... it seems fairly clear to me what conclusion we’re supposed to draw.

...Though also I think fairly clearly, this is not something that we’re supposed to take Wei Wuxian as doing on the regular, or even more than once, for that matter. It’s a pretty special Wen Chao Fuck You Specifically deal.

So yeah! A general theme of MDZS the novel, especially compared to The Untamed: Has A Lot More Visceral Body-Related Horror Going On, Especially Where Wei Wuxian Is Concerned. Thanks for the ask! :D

[seyaryminamoto]

I feel like i'm gonna regret asking this but what is hiby

Oh. Ohohoho, oh. I recently answered this to someone else (not on this blog), I suppose there are so many newcomers in this fandom lately that HIBY has become slightly less known than it used to be.

HIBY stands for How I Became Yours, the most polemic and catastrophic fancomic in the history of the Avatar franchise. If you thought any of the official comics were problematic in any sense, woah boy, they’re goddamn flawless masterpieces compared to this thing.

Every possible angle of HIBY is problematic. Spot-on accusations of tracing were the main reason why Deviantart took down Jackie Diaz’s profile and comic from their platform. I heard Nickelodeon also got involved legally, not 100% sure on that front, but if true, they cracked down on her because she attempted to profit off this clunky mess of an inconsistent story by claiming it was somehow an official sequel to ATLA. To clarify, this last thing is something I was told, I can’t find actual sources to confirm it… so maybe I heard an exaggerated account of the tale of HIBY and it never went that far. Nevertheless, this comic didn’t need to escalate into a legal problem to be absolutely abhorrent.

In regards of art, HIBY somehow keeps discarding the asian-inspired setting seen throughout ATLA and instead favors showing the characters in European castles and outfits that don’t fit anywhere within ATLA’s world at all:

Katara is basically wearing a red version of Belle’s dress from Beauty and the Beast, if I’m not mistaken. The architecture of the place they’re at is so European it’s baffling (if I’m not mistaken, this is supposed to be Toph’s family’s house :’D). Also, it’s blatantly obvious that the background is a photograph, so she could’ve just as easily looked for photos of asian locations instead, but she picked european architecture because yes. Yet more blows against the possible artistic merits someone could offer this comic (if there’s any).

Now, though, the BIGGEST problem in HIBY is, of course, the story:

To recap: ATLA ends with Aang and Katara kissing at Ba Sing Se. Whatever problems someone may have with their relationship, or Mai and Zuko’s, or Sokka and Suki’s, it’s unquestionable that those three ships were canon by the end of the show.

Jackie Diaz’s SEQUEL COMIC doesn’t acknowledge this finale: somehow, Aang is in love with Toph but they’re not together despite there’s literally NOTHING in their way, since Aang and Katara weren’t together at all, according to Diaz. And Katara? Oh, she’s pining endlessly over Zuko, who somehow married Mai…

… Despite wanting Katara too.

… Despite he literally knocked up Katara back when the war was ending, which resulted in a miscarriage because of Mai’s wicked schemes~~!!

Can someone please explain to me in what world does it make sense for Zuko, FIRE LORD ZUKO, to be in a relationship with someone he doesn’t want, when the person he does want is RIGHT THERE, AVAILABLE, when there’s no real political consequences to ANYTHING that happens in this comic? You could say “oh no the Fire Nation people wouldn’t accept a Water Tribe woman…” … but then Zuko ends up with Katara anyways and the only problem is that Mai wants to kill them for that :’) so… no excuse works.

Basically there’s no real plot, the whole thing boils down to “I want these ships to happen and I need them to face hardships even if they don’t make sense”. The main hardship is that Mai doesn’t want her HUSBAND to carry out an affair with Katara. Zuko’s response to Mai’s obvious and reasonable complaint about their illicit relationship is to TURN VIOLENT WITH HER. And he’s the good guy :’)

Mai has a non-existent older brother Sho, who looks like a BLEACH character with Ozai’s hairstyle, and together they will try to kill Katara because, welp, someone has to give them trouble, I guess. In all fairness, the only character with a relatively logical flow of thought in this damn trainwreck is Mai. I mean, “my piece of shit husband married me for political clout, got his mistress pregnant, I didn’t want the kid to be a problem for me so I induced a miscarriage in Katara by poisoning her, probs just wanted Katara dead altogether but whatever, I only got the kid. Then Zuko threw me away despite I’m his legal wife and I’m really pissed about it so I want Katara dead” is the smartest writing in this entire comic. And no, that’s not a compliment, it’s still stupid as fuck but that’s how much more stupid everything else is. 

So, the happy couples are, like I said, Zuko and Katara, who get together despite Zuko is married to Mai, Aang and Toph, who somehow weren’t together despite there’s nothing in the way, AAAND… 

… Sokka and fake!Azula. Because I refuse to acknowledge that thing as the Princess we all love and adore.

Frankly, I consider it a miracle that HIBY didn’t destroy our ship completely when it was posted online, seeing as it was amongst the most talked-about fanmade content in Avatar’s fandom at the time. If people no longer associate Sokkla with HIBY immediately, we’ve definitely done a good job saving our poor ship’s face and showing it’s got a fuckton of potential compared to the shitfest that comic portrayed.

Why is Sokkla so problematic in HIBY? Because of fake!Azula, of course. Why is she fake!Azula? Because she’s got plot-convenient amnesia! Turns out that, for some reason, Azula forgot all the events from ATLA (let’s be real, so did Jackie Diaz so it’s not just her) and she shows up in this comic as a completely different character, so much that, upon hearing about the TERRIBLE THINGS SHE DID AND WAS, her reaction is…:

Fascinating, am I right? :’D She’s nice, sweet, shy and as good as brain-dead. And as she’s so sweet and cute now, somehow that becomes absolutely appealing for Sokka. And he falls for her, she falls for him, they bang dramatically, and so on and so forth…

Eventually Azula sacrifices herself in the final battle when Mai and her brother try to kill everyone and oh no! Sokka’s love interest dies again! Such a shocker, however, that Sokka goes to the Spirit World to save her, and unlike Iroh he succeeds… but what does Azula look like post-Spirit World shenanigans?

… Yeah, okay, fake!Azula calling anyone her “little angels” is just proof of how IC she is, if you had any doubts still.

But isn’t it FUNNY. Isn’t it HILARIOUS. That Azula not only undergoes an atom-deep brainwipe that turns her into a flat non-character, but that after dying she’s revived with WHITE HAIR, dressed in blue clothes and whatnot…?

My interpretation, and honestly, I don’t know if there’s any other possible interpretation… Jackie Diaz wanted Sokka to be with Yue :’) She fucking wrecked Azula’s character to turn her into a fake!Azula, who would eventually turn into fake!Yue after being resurrected because oh that’s just perfect to close off Sokka’s storyline, isn’t it? Only, he’s not with Yue nor with Azula because it’s neither of them. Just as it isn’t really Sokka either, or Katara, or Zuko or Aang or Toph.

Now, revisiting this trainwreck, there is a throwaway line where Ty Lee, in her (I think) only appearance in the story tells Katara that Suki and Sokka broke up. So um, Suki does exist, officially, in this comic, and she did date Sokka but it ended, and she’s back in Kyoshi Island with her team. 

Which elicits the question… why the fuck is she Mai’s maid?

I assure you, if you decide to delve deeper into this mess, you’ll absolutely find a lot more things to laugh about, to be outraged about, and to facepalm about while you wonder how on earth would someone, ANYONE, create something like this and not die of cringe looking at the finished product. It’s baffling to me.

At any rate, if you’d like to torture your own eyeballs reading this comic for yourself, there’s a Tumblr blog that gathered HIBY perfectly neatly for all curious eyes eager to torture themselves with this OOC fest. If you want more details than I care to remember about this catastrophic mess of a story, there’s always the TV Tropes page, which I think illustrates everything rather well. 

So… that’s HIBY. While I don’t think it should be sentenced to oblivion (we had best never forget the lowest lows the fandom has reached, else someone might be tempted to outdo them), this particular fanwork is quite the trainwreck in just about every regard. I really don’t think there’s anything worth salvaging in it. So, if you wanna read the whole thing (I’d be surprised if you would xD), knock yourself out in the blog link I posted up there. Otherwise, have a nice day if you still can after reading my answer to your ask :’D

[tracybirds]

IRRelief for @tsarinatorment for your prompt “Teenage Scott getting a insignificant wound and any younger brother(s) jumping at the chance to play doctor” - you’ve written soooo many good responses for prompts, thank you!! I hope you enjoy this!!

@gumnut-logic as always thank you for organising these fun events :D

Scott has been given a slackline for his birthday :D Why? Silly question - why NOT? :D (ngl.... I’ve always wanted to try one that was my only motivation) They’re all small, but Alan is two and uh..... sorry to anyone who actually knows what is appropriate development for a two year old bc I do not and I have read so many child development articles that the google ads think I’m pregnant and for all that I’m still unsure of how I wrote him XD Toddlers man....

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“Should you have moved it up so high?” asked Virgil, as he checked over the ratchet holding the slackline in place one last time.

Scott scoffed as he climbed on a chair at the other end of the line.

“It’ll be fine, Virg, it’s barely four feet off the ground. You saw how easy it was, even Alan could do it.”

“Yeah, when it was six inches off the ground and you held him by the armpit the entire time.”

“Fine, Gordon then.”

Virgil shook his head and stepped back, remembering the guideline that Gordon had held tightly to as he’d walked the length of slackline between the two trees. Scott had taken it down as soon as their younger brothers had lost interest in the new birthday present and wandered inside in search for more cake. The two were now left alone, daring each other to move the line higher and higher with each successful balancing trick.

Scott took a deep breath and placed his foot firmly on the line. His leg wobbled violently, his body unable to stop the instinctive over corrections as it tried to find its centre of gravity. In a smooth, practiced motion, Scott shifted his weight to his shaking leg and stood as quickly as he could, flinging his arms out on either side. The chair was now far below him.

He didn’t dare look down at the ground.

One breath. Two. Tension mounted as the elastic bearing his weight skated beneath his hips.

Three breaths and he let it go, falling back to the safety of the chair.

“What was that?” scoffed Virgil, his arms folded across his chest. “That was barely a second.”

“It was at least five,” said Scott. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the slackline.

Another deep breath and he tried again.

The fabric was rough beneath his feet, drawing him down in a connection that linked him to every shift in the slackline’s position. He could feel his muscles working together correctly, knew that this time he would stabilise his balance.

His grin widened. He would stay mounted.

Below him, he could hear Virgil’s quiet encouragement.

Scott stared ahead at the tree trunk only fifteen feet in front of him, eyes gleaming. He’d done this before. Twenty steps. That’s all it would take.

He swung his left leg forward, carefully feeling for the right position before moving his weight forwards. He paid no mind to the jostling beneath his feet, allowing his knees and hips to absorb the motion and redirect it.

Feel. Steady. Shift. Let go. Repeat.

The movements were becoming more natural and Scott grinned as the bouncing line propelled him forwards, no longer an obstacle to overcome.

“Go Scott!”

Gordon was jumping up and down by the kitchen door, John and Alan watching with bright eyes and wide grins next to him.

Scott stumbled, just barely catching his balance as his front foot skidded from its mark. He tried to shift his weight back over the line, only for it to move in the opposite direction in a maddening game of chase.

 “You can do it!”

He breathed in deep, trying to lift his gaze from the shaking elastic that was now reverberating through his entire body as his joints locked up.

Four feet up was a lot higher when looking down from nearly six feet of extra height.

He was getting dizzy watching his feet swaying back and forth. He leaned forward, bringing his free leg back to the slickline and took another step.

The cheers of his younger brothers distracted him for the barest millisecond, his eyes flitting downwards as he lost sight of the anchor steadying him.

A millisecond was all it took.

His foot slipped. His stomach dropped. The line snapped up and Scott yelped at the sharp slap against his thigh, while pulling his arms up to protect his head as he fell.

A resounding thud and dull aching pain, pulsing from every inch of his right side.

Scott’s groans mixed with a cacophony of sound that erupted the moment the world had turned sideways.

A faint ringing in his ears wasn’t enough to drown out Gordon, putting his lungs to good use for a change, or the high, nervous chatter of his other brothers surrounding him.

“Scott, look at me!”

Virgil held his shoulders still, looking worriedly into his eyes. Scott could almost hear the first aid checklist they’d been taught in Scouts running through his brother’s mind.

“I’m fine,” he said, moving to sit up. Virgil held him down.

“Did you hit your head at all?”

“No.”

“Any sharp or shooting pains?”

“None.”

“What hurts the most?”

Automatically, he moved his hand to his right hip and leg which had taken the brunt of the fall. Above him, he could feel Virgil relax.

“Okay, you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks for the prognosis, doc.”

He accepted the proffered hand and stood slowly, gingerly extending the injured limb. Virgil waited patiently and they walked together, Scott leaning heavily on his brother’s shoulder as he hobbled up the steps that lead to the small deck.

“That was some fall,” said John, fumbling with the child-proof gate. “Alan, no.”

Alan had torn his little hand from John’s and toddled forwards and grabbed Scott, clinging to his injured leg.

“Ow, Alan, let go,” said Scott with a grunt, collapsing onto the nearest bench.

“Owie?”

“Yes Alan, owie.”

Gently, John pulled Alan away.

“Scott’s hurt, Allie,” said Virgil, crouching down next to their baby brother. “He got an owie, but he’ll be okay soon.”

Alan’s large eyes flitted between Virgil and Scott. He looked uncertain, his small face scrunched up as he looked closely at the exposed knee, a purplish colour growing steadily across it.

“I fix owies,” he said proudly.

John and Virgil exchanged amused looks.

“Are you a doctor, Allie?”

“Yes,” said Alan, nodding vigorously. “Doc fix owies.”

“How does the doctor fix an owie then?”

“Look!”

Alan leaned forward and gently kissed the bruise. He patted it carefully and looked up at Scott beaming.

“All better!”

Scott laughed and picked him up, bouncing him up and down with his uninjured leg.

“All better,” he agreed. “Doctor Alan fixed me up.”

“Scott?! Gordon said you fell? Are you alright? Do you need arnica?”

Scott looked sheepishly up at the worried eyes of their mother.

“I’m all good, Mom. Just a tumble.”

“I helped!”

Scott laughed again. “Sure did, squirt. You sure did.”

[selemina]

(Play with your npcs more! Tell me about your favorite npcS IN first casters and what makes you like them so much and what's most fun to play about them? :D)

... Oh my god you should not enable me so much, friend. XD There’s nothing I love more than to rent about universes and characters, be ready for an absolute WALL of text! XD

So first, let’s tackle Damien!

Damien is a street kid : he’s been growing up in the poor district. His parents are an unfortunate couple : abusing mother with a foul temper, spineless soft dad too afraid to defend himself, and a sister that eventually turned maniac and tried to kill their mom. As a result, for most of his life, Damien has been the only one keeping the house standing : standing up to his mother on the rare occasions that she came home, and trying to responsibilize his father despite the fact that he’s terrified of Damien. Because of his history of abuse victim, his father struggles to get close to him, flinching at the slightest raise in voice, and well... Damien is a passionate kid. He also has no problem beating up people he doesn’t like, like a young vigilante, to the point where people in the poor district know him by name... but more as a violent, rabid dog than as a noble crime-fighter. Damien’s fights are usually messy... His only friend is Alexia, that has befriended him one pastry at a time, until he would literally die for her. And then, after the magic started waking up, one day he just.... turned into a tiefling!

Since tieflings are new in this world (and look like devils), of course he couldn’t show himself, so instead they managed to make him a ring enchanted with an Alter Self spell that he can wear at work.

Why I like playing him : ever dreamed of charging a group of thugs from a dark alley and having them actually panick? :D No but more seriously, Damien is just learning to have more friends, and actually be wanted and included after having been alone most of his life. He’s also being teased without fear, and shown endless kindness, and he’s slowly opening up. Seeing him be begrudgingly positive and agressively supportive is a joy! :D He has yet to go absolutely feral but I’d love to see that! ;) Also it’s always fun to be able to play a character that can go from screaming to reluctant silence with just one donut being handed to him. XD

May I talk to you about Lord Peter of the Blackwoods? :3c

Originally from the other world, Mira, Peter is another unfortunate soul. Drafted for a war he had no stake in, he was left for dead on a battlefield. At the time, those bloodbaths were so prolific that vampires in the area were growing complacent and fat, so creating more was a luxury many afforded. He was turned and introduced to the delicately balanced and measured world of the children of the night along with a few others. But then, the war stopped... No more battlefield to scour for food. So his flight headed further inland, looking for more thralls and more food. Unfortunately, in the wake of the war, a terrible plague had found the nearby cities... and with horror, they discovered that it could jump to vampires. Around this time, he guided his weakening flight to a necromancer who promised to help... But soon enough, they realized said necromancer was actually experimenting on them during the day when they were out cold, looking for the secret to their immortality instead of finding a solution against the plague. Peter struck him down, and once again moved with his remaining brothers and sisters, further inland... After the vampire infestation from the war, hunters had multiplicated, and soon his entire flight was recorded and hunted down, vampires scattering in search of safety. Left alone, he holed up in an abandonned mansion deep in the Blackwoods, wanting for nothing more than to be left undisturbed. Taking the occasional suicidal people that came to find him in the hopes of ending their lives, and those looking for immortality, he gathered a small following of thralls to come visit him occasionaly for food, but that he insisted must have a normal life away from him most of the time. Eventually though, the thrall presence in the area alerted the hunters, and they rallied the nearby towns to go walk on the mansion, setting it ablaze, and killing Peter inside. While he should have gone back to his coffin to reform and recover, Peter... drifted, and woke up on Earth instead. Seeing this as an oportunity to start over and reclaim some of his lost humanity, he has made a very strict point to not harm anyone, not make any thralls or any other vampire. He kept Courtney from bleeding out after a robbery gone wrong, and has been found by the group and protected ever since, keeping a low profile.

Why I enjoy playing Peter : Suave motherfucker! A noble trying to stop his tendency to be extra, because he’s not in any vampiric court anymore. Very proper and crafty, he has repressed his power-play tendencies A LOT.. And recently got to stretch a bit and flexe on Dylan, and that was SO satisfying! XD He could demand attention and worship if he felt like it, and force people into serving him, but... First, he wants to change, truly wants to go back to being an equal to humans, and second... Ivan would backhand him and put him back in his place immediately. XD And he’s not ready for the emotional whiplash of being told to sit down by a man shorter than him. ;) Although I hope I can show soon how truly, deeply dangerous Peter can be...

Oh hey, speaking of people that got flexed on, it’s Special Agent Dylan Ross! :D

Dangerous organisations? Underground cults? Mafia? Organized crime? Those are Dylan’s usual scene. Get in, gather information, relay his finds with a precise plan of action, and let his general take care of taking the initiative and getting all of the glory for it. Dylan is the kind of man to light a cigarette while walking away from a building on fire. However... magic? ...Sure, why the fuck not, there are actual videos of a group of kids forcing a walking tree back into a forest, and others of a gigantic wolf and two pups in astreet, from multiple people. Reports of cult activity, too, that turns out to have been... actual animated scarecrows, that kidnapped people? Alright. Sure. ....And now people are growing horns. What the fuck is happening in this place? Put all of that shit on lockdown! Blame it... blame it on Covid-19, the medias won’t mind! (My players groaned at me when they heard about it being used as a plot point, it was great! XD contemporary world, after all!) And now, to investigate. Seems the local police, after a bit of pressure, admitted hiring... kids? Magic users, for things they couldn’t handle on their own. Following the trail, he went after a few of them, not fast enough as they skipped town... But not everybody went, so eventually he managed to get a hold of Alexia, and later Ivan. Expecting a LOT of bullshit and secrets, he found both to be fairly forthcoming with informations? Even helpful? Huh. that’s new in his line of work... A few tests and unethical trials later, he had to recognize he was unprepared for whatever THIS was... For fuck’s sake, the vampire he met put his entire backup team of highly trained soldiers to sleep before talking to him! And then read his entire health situation just from a drop of blood! And now his mind keeps coming back to him, again and again, it’s distracting. There’s also this Archeon guy, his best hope of finding a scientific way to measure magic, scolding him every time he’s a little abrasive. And now the well-behave Alexia revealed that she is linked to a “patron”, the founder of her school, trapped in the school’s statue? Yeah, sure! ....Until the statue animates and points it’s cane straight at his face! ....dylan might actually need help on this one.

Why I like to play Dylan : MY PLAYERS HATE HIM! XD He is a sassy, venomous, unpleasant man, with just enough humanity to keep people from truly doing anything about him. It’s really fun for me, who is usually a nice person, to be able to be unbashedly rude as a tired, sleep-deprived special agent in over his head! XD He is also a perceptive, crafty bastard : he threatened Alexia with an entire firing squad just to see what her immediate response would be, fight or flight! Everything he does is dangerous, and he can tell when people are bullshitting him from a mile away! And he fully knows that he’s a bastard, he owns up to it : someone has to be the bastard and get shit done. Might as well be an efficient bastard, and get on everybody’s nerves! And yet, he can listen to reason. He’s able to cooperate to get to his goal, listen to advices, and take good decisions. He is very fun to play! :D (Also I can hear the groans from my players when he shows up, voluntary or not, and I live for their visceral reactions. XD)

We’ve talked about Oni quite a bit already, but.. yeah, Oni. XD

Originaly from the north of France, his thunder demon ancestry came to him after the magic had started reappearing, showing that the event is not limited to the area around Paris... With his Ancestor pushing him to carve himself a place in the world, he went on to find ���the strongest caster” and duel her one on one. Let me tell you, this whole session was incredible... XD It was the first time I was introducing a villain MEANT to be a villain and not to be reasoned with. Buuut, well... He got beat fair and square. XD Then failed to escape. Then was executed, and his body was melted and burried. ...Then later that night, Ivan came around with a diamound and resurrected him, because nobody wanted to actually be murderers. And that’s how Oni realized he had been messing with the wrong crowd : he was here to hurt, when they were here to KILL. Needless to say, that put him in his place, and gave him time to think. With his life dept to Ivan, he can’t really run away and try to rebuild himself ; his family has thrown him out after his fugue, and now he lives at the Standon household as an unofficial adopted son. XD He tries to be useful around the house, but wishes he had more reasons to fight... Why I love to play Oni : A RESURRECTED VILLAIN IN DND IS JUST SO UNEXPECTED! XD How does one cope with that? Oni is still struggling to find his place, but at least now he’s open to the idea of helping to defend the town instead of just running in head first and crushing everything on his path! I enjoy his ancestor’s code of honor : Essentially, BE BIG. Either make this territory yours and be feared and respected, or recognize those that defeated you and serve them with all your might. Sometimes, being the biggest around doesn’t mean killing : if you keep an army from assaulting a town just because you are sitting at it’s gate, it is also a victory! Be a force to be reckoned with, either for yourself if you’re strongest, or for those above you if you are not. Be invaluable, be reliable, be fearsome. Sucess is when men throw down their arms the moment they see you. Oni is trying to reach this level of strength... but he is also the only man alive to have been resurrected, when nobody else has. People more worthy than him could have been brought back, but no, this miracle fell on him. And he’s uncertain how to feel, having had such an impossible gift offered to him, a humbled nobody, of all people. The weight on his shoulders is heavier than one might know.

Oh hey it’s Master Kavoleg! :D

(seen here with his assistant and Earth-discoverer, Salin! :D) High level mage, high level mage, high lev- XD I LOVE Master Kavoleg! He’s a bit of a hermit, but always ready to help, curious, clever, his has very nice maners, he’s prone to throwing spells in the air when he’s frustrated at a bunch of bickering diplomats... His tower/library, the White Tower, is built right over a place of power, and is a hub for a lot of free wizards, students and experts, coming to do quiet research. Although business has been slow lately, it gives him the opportunity to meet the Earthlings and both learn and teach once more. As an influent person of interest, he is well placed to influence Mira’s approach to Earth in a favorable way, and to give advice on how to handle the surge of magic energy in the other world. People talk about him with reverance, and he is an approachable if imposing figure... as long as you’re not wasting his time.

Why I love to play Kavoleg : *slaps tiefling* “This Wizard can fit so many secrets! :D” I am SO excited to have the team discover a few of them, but... in due time. In due time. XD He is a soft, elegant man, with a certain disregard for people’s misplaced pride. He has a note of mischief to him (giving literal translations of places’ names to the Earthlings, underlining how SIMPLE they sound when not in the different languages, like they’re usually presented) that I love playing, and his relationship to Salin and his new assistant Elias is wonderful to play out! He is a tranquil force, powerful and wise but comfortable. He is very... Well, very comfortable for me to play! XD

And there we have it! :D I hope this was complete enough. There’s so much in there! XD

[mychemicalficrecs]

hi ! whats some of yer fav fics rn ?

Oh, Nonnie, please don't make me choose :'D

I went through my bookmarks and picked the ones that spontaneously spoke to me xDAll of these should already be on this blog or at least in the AO3 collection, actually.

Current Faves (January '20)

boys, boys, it's a sweet thing by inlovewithnight, Gerard/Mikey, 3k, Mature. An excerpted month from Gerard's Internet life as a sex blogger.

Kiss it Better by Sena, Frank/Mikey, 8k, Explicit. Mikey's not a violent guy, but Frank makes him want to punch a fucking wall.

Heart Wrapped in Clover by Sena, Frank/Mikey, 19k, Explicit. Everbody's got their not-so-secret secrets on tour. When you live out of a van, you just can't help but notice things that you shouldn't talk about if you don't want to embarrass your friends or start a fight. Frank wishes sometimes they talked about things, though, because he's dying to ask if anybody else has noticed that sometimes, Mikey wears panties.

By Now I'm Sure You Know by jjtaylor, Frank/Gerard, 3k, Mature. While on the World Contamination Tour, Frank watches Gerard pop the balloons during Planetary. He never realized he had a knife kink until he saw the very competent way Gerard handles the knife.

What Are You Made Of? (What Do You Dress It Up In?) by stoplightglow, Frank/Gerard, 2k, Teens And Up Audiences. “How’d you learn this?” Frank hears himself saying, words spilling out just to distract himself. God, it’s so fucking itchy, and Gerard is taking forever. “What, makeup?” Gerard says, not really a question. “Do you mean, like, how I got the techniques, or how I started wearing it in the first place? Because technique-wise, I mostly just stole my mom’s magazines and did whatever they said was right.” “How you started wearing it in the first place, then.” The pencil freezes, and then Gerard takes half a step back so Frank can see his eyes. “I haven’t told a lot of people that story.”

Dem Dry Bones by desfinado, Gerard/Mikey, 2k, Explicit. A kiss on his right knee, then the left.

just think happy thoughts? by Trojie, Frank/Gerard/Mikey, 6k, Explicit. In which Frank Iero grows wings, because apparently that kind of shit just happens on Warped Tour.

Sharpest Lives by MistressKat, Gerard/Mikey, 1k, Explicit. It couldn’t be wrong if Mikey liked it too.

Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future by ragingrainbow, Frank/Mikey, 1k, Mature. “Zap.” Mikey leans in close, trapping Frank against the wall as he mouths the word against Frank’s ear.

Hero or a Grinder by rivers_bend, Gerard/Mikey, Frank/Gerard/Mikey, 13k, Explicit. Gerard and Mikey are his friends, and they’re good guys. Some of the best he’s known, ever, and it’s stressful as hell on the road sometimes. If they need a little comfort, Frank’s not gonna judge.

shut up and drive by Trojie, uglowian, Patrick/Mikey/Pete, 139k, Teens And Up Audiences. Pete Wentz is the grid girl, Andy Hurley loves him (not like that), and Jared Leto is the bad guy. A.K.A.: the bandom The Fast and the Furious AU that literally no one asked for.

L For Lucky (M for Mine) by orphan_account, Ray/Mikey, 42k, Explicit. “Yeah, look.” Mikey turns his head to peer at the crowd over his shoulder. “This is going to seem weird, but.” He stares behind him and seems, for a moment, at a loss for words. “Well, there’s no tasteful way to say it.” Mikey looks Ray in the eye and just shrugs. “This is a highly organized sexual gathering for very specifically kinky people.” Ray feels a bit of spittle lodge in his throat and tries his best not to sputter when he disagrees, “That’s actually a pretty tasteful description of an orgy.”

Unholyverse by Bexless, Frank/Gerard, 187k, Mature, Explicit and General Audiences. Religion! Horror! Exorcisms! Piercings! And Gerard is a priest.

Pleathermouth Vegan Cafe by jedusaur, Frank/Gerard, 6k, Mature and Teen And Up Audiences. Pleathermouth Vegan Cafe, says the sign in front of the next place on Gerard's job-seeking list, and he decides that it may be prudent to finish his cheeseburger before entering.

All That Shit Seems To Disappear When I'm With You by gala_apples, Frank/Patrick/Mikey/Pete, 26k, Explicit. Frank’s been attracted to Mikey for awhile, a feeling that he’s kept carefully to himself. Other people don’t have the same compulsion for secrecy. On the first day of school there’s a short angry boy standing at Frank’s locker, condemning him for making Pete’s life hard. September quickly turns into a month of bad decision making as Frank, Pete, and Patrick deal with Mikey not feeling the same way they do. Except, that’s not true. After all, none of them have actually asked Mikey his side of things.

the ghost of you by Trojie, Frank/Gerard/Mikey, 52k, Explicit. The Ghost of You video throws Mikey, but he was already off his game.

publicity stunts by Trojie, Frank/Gerard, 6k, Teen And Up Audiences. The record company thinks a few plausibly-deniable rumours about Gerard and Frank dating would be good PR, but of course, they're not contractually obligated to sleep together or anything. Ahahah.

Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency by jjtaylor, Pennyplainknits, Frank/Gerard (and more), 164k, Mature, General Audiences and Teen And Up Audiences. Pete, in Decaydance Mansion, with a yarrow stake. Frank and Gerard, in the greenhouse, with a plant of questionable origin. Bob, everywhere you look, with a gang of assassins for justice. Vampires, valets, pamphlets, haunted furniture, dub-thrall, disembodied voices, zombie couriers, and sinister rituals.

Blueprints For Building Better Boys by dear_monday, Frank/Gerard, Frank/Ray/Mikey, 7k, Explicit. "Eight years ago," Amanda begins, "Dr. Monae and myself began work on the ArchAndroid project. By the time they were ready, we'd designed and tested everything, right down to the cybernetics and the synthetic organs. Two months ago, we switched them on for the first time." Frank, Gerard, Ray, and Mikey are the ArchAndroids. Frank's got a faulty personality circuit, Gerard's primary memory chip is kind of temperamental, there's a bug somewhere in Mikey's speech protocol, and Ray's anger response lags like a motherfucker. They're also the world's most potty-mouthed robots, although with any luck there won't be any occasion for the world's press to find out about that.

I Could Feel You Floating In Me by Jiksa, Frank/Gerard, 5k, Explicit. Poppers (n.): a slang term for a group of chemicals (especially amyl nitrite) used recreationally by queer men since the 1970s for their relaxation effect on involuntary smooth muscles, such as those in the throat and anus, as well as the warmth and head rush they provide to users. "What do you want?" Gerard asks, like he does everytime Frank asks him for this. “Open-handed impact play. Poppers. Fuck me. Plug me. Fist me. Come all over me.”

[pinktatertots99]

Hello!It’s me again!Can I ask for a small Rokuriki x Hitoshi fic?I know I have a weird crack ship XD

huh, never heard of this ship before (closest was youriki x hitoshi haha) ah but yeah ok. (featuring a store I SO wanted to show off in an old fic series I wanted to do but lost steam for.) also uh…sorry for the length haha, my brain decided to take over.

“come on, come on! the sale’ll end soon.”

“we got three hours left y'know?”

hitoshi puffed out his cheeks. “see, this is why I’m a VERY important asset to the art of shopping.”

rokuriki rolled his eyes playfully at the blonde as he continued. “it may be three hours left TO YOU. but we could be losing valuable sales with each second that passes. now move your booty!” he exclaimed, pushing the other’s butt forward.

“okay okay just don’t do that!” he replied flustered.

honestly he expected this kind of behavior from mitsuba but he supposed anyone could be a well educated fashionista he supposed as they scurried to one shop that hitoshi went into frivolously while rokuriki stood for a second looking at it.

Fumatata shoW’s men’s department. one of the few he knew thanks to kokoriki and his constant online shopping for it but also knowing due to it’s popularity at nanba. it was one of the few departments, well maybe the only one since he didn’t really know any other, that sold more…feminine outfits for men. actual legitimate outfits to fit any guy, which explains certain outfits in and out of nanba.

walking in he felt so, out of place. despite the fact this place was supposed to be anything but. maybe he was just that out of the whole fashion interest is why. or that he wasn’t exactly…dressed for the place. wandering in he instantly found hitoshi rushing all over the place looking for outfits. it seemed he was rather friendly with the staff.

as he started to dwindle a bit at the racks a loud echo of yelling resounded catching his attention. towards the register hitoshi was at was some brute yelling at them, hitoshi seeming to be more firm towards him. oh this wasn’t good.

“ ‘scuse me.” he said, catching them both look to him. “what’s going on?”

“what'dya think?!” the stranger screamed at him. rokuriki had a feeling he knew what exactly was going on, but decided to play dumb just a bit. it was how he was trained to do to get answers after all. “quiet frankly I’m not so sure.”

the stranger pointed in hitoshi’s direction. “you SERIOUSLY don’t see the fucking problem here?!”

“I see the problem but your not pointing at it!” hitoshi exclaimed suddenly, pointing at him. without warning he grabbed the blonde’s wrist in response. “DON’T YOU POINT THAT MAMBI PAMBI THING AT ME YA FREAK!”

oh…oh now rokuriki’s patience was being tested as he put a hand over the guy’s hand. “don’t.” he stated coldly, trying to keep his cool in check. “lets keep this civil.”

without hesitation he let go of hitoshi’s wrist and pushed it back towards him. the blonde had nothing but rage on his face throughout it and the daisen knew he had to keep this from getting too violent. “anyways, looks like the only problem I’M seeing is you being jealous.”

an odd silence filled the room. “…huh?”

“I mean, either that or really there’s no other reason at all is there?” he interrogated. “because otherwise you don’t really have any other reason to be mad at this place right? unless you got cheated out of a discount or some poor service then I don’t see the problem. so? unless YOU wanna explain it.”

at this point the intruder was sweating up a storm, confused and uncertain as he looked between him and the others there. with a click of his tongue he left grumbling to himself.

watching him leave the premise hitoshi sighed. “man, I was so close to showing him my badge.”

“yeah but I’m pretty certain that would’ve been worse.” rokuriki replied as he watched the other checkout his outfits. “so, find what you needed?”

hitoshi nodded his head as the checkout women thanked them graciously.

once back home rokuriki sighed as he collapsed onto the couch. he then felt hitoshi tug him up. “c'mon! come with me for a second.”

“five minutes.”

“rikiiii! c'moooon. it’s super quick!”

he groaned as he got up and followed the other to the bedroom, eyeing some of the outfits he bought from earlier. “I thought you said I was bad at complimenting your outfits?”

“you are but that’s not why your here silly.” he stated bluntly, holding a shirt out for him. “put this on.”

“…why?”

“cause it’s your size.”

“why did you get something in my-” he trailed off as he realized what he did. even the baby blue shirt complimented his looks in some way. “…why did you buy me clothes?”

“cause I wanted to see you try em on.”

“why not just let me try them on in the changing rooms?”

hitoshi sighed loudly. “because, your too shy at clothing stores to do it. not to mention, it’s a gift of sorts.”

“gift?”

“for earlier and…uhm…” he trailed off as his face turned pinker then usual. “…just…be-because. just because. now put it on!” he replied flustered as he pushed the outfit on him. rokuriki complied, starting to take his clothes off only to feel somewhat embarrassed. “uhm…do you mind-” he started till he looked to see hitoshi covering his face with his hands cutely. “…thanks.”

the outfit he put on was an off the shoulder pastel blue sweater shirt and long cherry red skirt. despite his fit physique they fit so well, even the sweater looked loose on him like it did on any other customer. it really was some sort of miracle how that place could make fashionable outfits.

a bit flushed he looked to see hitoshi’s eyes sparkling and silently squealing at him. “it’s…peeerfeeeect.” he whispered hoarsely, trying not to raise it so high. it honestly felt like rokuriki’s face was close to exploding with how red it felt. “I-it’s…not bad…” he mumbled out embarrassingly.

he stumbled aback as hitoshi hugged him suddenly. “I’M SO HAPPY!” he exclaimed looking up at him sparkling. “hey hey, will you wear it next time we go out?! please?! pretty please?!”

he could feel his face get redder at the thought of wearing this outside. even though the idea of pissing some asshole off sounded fun, and it was kinda cute and god he couldn’t say no to that face, but this new shift was just so sudden he couldn’t reply properly.

it seemed the younger got the gist however as he let go and went back to his bag. “actually, I got something that maybe you’d be more comfortable wearing out?”

he raised a brow curiously.

“back.”

“welcome back.” both youriki and kokoriki replied lazily. kokoriki was on his phone on the couch when he felt something drop on him. before he could muster up a complaint he looked to see it was a new issue of fumatata shoW’s fashion line.

“oh hey thanks.” he replied before slowly realizing something. “…waaaaiiiit. mail comes in next week.” he looked over the couch glaring suspiciously at rokuriki. “big bro…”

“what?” he asked looking towards them. the two stared wide eyed in response. rokuriki had on his face mint eye shadow that complimented his red eye liner, dark red diamond duds in his ears and minor pastel hair accessories in his hair along with little brightly colored beaded bracelets on his wrists and a pearly white choke collar.

“…wow.”

“what?”

“…that’s…” kokoriki trailed off before jumping over the couch towards him. “THAT’S A FUMATATA SHOW’S ACCESSORIES!”

“h-h-how-”

“I may be a casual shopper but I know enough to know that THIS is from their accessory line up!”

“you shop there now?”

“THAT’S NOT FAIR! you go there and leave ME home?!”

“uh…well…uhm…” now the middle child was at a loss on how to respond.

“you BETTER not be stealing my stores now big bro!” kokoriki threatened pointing a finger to him. there was silence for a bit.

“…so…does it look good?”

“I mean…” youriki jumped in. “pastel’s not your color but otherwise it’s alright.”

“the pastel blues yellows and pinks make your hair look like an Easter basket and like you got the bracelets from an Easter party, but the more subtle stuff fits.” kokoriki continued. at this point rokuriki couldn’t bear to tell them they were personal gifts from hitoshi that made him think of him. he’d probably just wear them occasionally by now till he found an outfit that’d fit them. “and beaded bracelets don’t match you well. I got some gold ones that’ll fit em though. and I can’t BELIEVE you actually look good in a choke collar.” he huffed and puffed as he left for his room leaving the two eldest alone.

youriki seemed to be shuffling in place, making the other nervous. “…so…does this mean I should try going there sometime or…I mean, I’m the only one left so…”

“eheh…we’ll, we’ll see big brother.” he replied embarrassingly, swinging the bag with his new outfit in it. despite the craziness of today…it was a pretty good day and date he considered.

[sherlockmonkeesstartrek]

Hi there! Read your post, and GOD! After years of reading fanfiction about any fandom but The Hollies, you are like a dream come true! But sadly, I'm the least creative person, and I wouldn't know what to ask! Yep, my fav is Tony, and I love the second and third lineup (Tony, Allan and Bobby with Bern, Graham or Terry). If I imagine some smut, it would be some angry sex between Tony and Graham, even though they never clashed that much in RL. (1/2)

Hiii! I’ve seen your blog before and can I just say how much I love it <3 But thank you, I’m glad I can fulfill your wishes. I am here for all your fandom/fanfiction needs ;) And like, just because I’m going to use the fact that you said your fav as an excuse to say mine, I am totally in love with Allan for some (he’s hot...) reason that I can’t quite put my finger on. I love those lineups too. like I never can choose whether I prefer Graham era or Terry, but I guess I don’t have to.

Anyways, I am totally digging that Tony/Graham hate fuck, so I wrote a little (6000 word) fic about them. I kinda got carried away, sorry XD So yeah, I haven’t read over it and I’ve never really written all that much about Tony before, so I just keep that in mine. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy; 

“Did you just,” Graham laughed, turning to look at the other boys in the studio as though for back up despite being well aware before even regarding their disapproving expressions that he was looking to the wrong people for help. Really, these comments were only to make light of the situation for himself, “Did you just see that? My god.” He turned back to where he’d just watched one of his bandmates storm out and sighed. “Tony Hicks. Who knew?”

Well, it seemed they all knew. They knew from the moment Tony started raising his voice, a odd spectacle for such a quiet young man, that he was capable of as much of a dramatic and aggressive exit as any one of the boys had managed before. Just because he stayed out of fights, stayed away from drama, didn’t mean he was totally incapable of getting involved. And the thing was, this wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t got into a fight, he didn’t instigate it. If anything, he was being patient for a good time longer than the other boys could. And when he did eventually snap, everyone agreed that he was totally valid in doing so.

Even the guy who started it, the very man who marvelled at the reaction in its aftermath. Graham had to admit he kind of went over the top on that one. He didn’t mean to start an argument. He just seemed to spark them by accident, and he wasn’t the type to back down on anything, even if it was better off if he did for his own benefit.

Still, he’d fucked up, what could he do now?

He shrugged off the negativity in the atmosphere and turned his attentions to finding his guitar. Where had he put it down?

“Guys, have you seen my pick?”

Not a peep sounded from his remaining bandmates. Casually, the rhythm guitarist looked up. He’d practically forgotten the fight in about two seconds of distraction. Apparently, it wasn’t so easy for the others, mostly because they had no interest in forgetting.

“What was all that about?” Allan was first to speak. He’d clashed with Graham many a time throughout the years, so wasn’t afraid to do so now. In fact, he felt inclined to do so to defend his mate and let his discontent be known to the perpetrator.

“What? Oh, the thing… nothing.” Graham muttered. He was outnumbered. Even he wasn’t on his own side about this. That was why he was so quick to try and ignore it. He’d done wrong. Something pretty fucking wrong. There was no reason to go off of Tony like that, yet he’d done it and… well… the not backing down thing, the trait that would get him killed if he wasn’t careful. He could see the headlines ‘English musician mauled by bandmates.’ What a way to go.

“Sure sounded like nothing.”

“Well, it was. He overreacted.” Ok, he didn’t even believe what he was saying, never mind whether Allan did, or Bobby or Bern. Basically, he was losing a war he’d inadvertently started with that minor battle, and that was pissing him off.

“Yeah?” Allan stepped forward, challengingly.

Graham ground his teeth, standing up to the challenge, “Well what do you want me to do about it now? Hu? Go and kiss him and make up so we can play some shit on another record we didn’t write. Oh sure.”

Apparently, kissing was a bit too much, but making up was exactly what Allan wanted. Graham sighed, frustrated as he turned to the door. He felt like a kid being told off by his parents, made to go and apologise to an annoying brother for aggravating him. Since when had Allan been so damn uptight? Oh yeah, since forever. Since he’d settled down with Jen. Even before that, in fact. He was suddenly so worried about what kind of music the band should be making or how much work they were all putting in or bullshit like that. Making music often isn’t something you can plan. It should be fun and exciting and…

…this had nothing to do with the argument. It seemed like Tony wasn’t the only one with a lot of pent up frustration. Graham rationalised that perhaps the guitarist should be thanking him. After all, it's not good for people to keep things bottled up without letting it out once in a while. And Tony constantly seemed so cool and calm, either he was getting it all out with some great sex every night, or he wasn’t getting it out at all. If the former was true, at least he was saving Tony’s chick from having a right good fucking tonight.

Actually, that was regrettable, depending on how you look at it. And as Graham wandered down the corridors, trying to find his bandmate, he found himself considering it from every angle. If he was Tony’s girl, he’d be a bit put out if she wasn’t getting anything out of him. He was handsome guy. It was the eyes, the slightly hooded, striking blue eyes. That was the first thing Graham thought of when he thought of Tony, the first thing he could imagine girls noticed. It was the first thing he noticed when he met the boy way back when. Though he may’ve grown into his ever youthful looks, his ears now were the right size for the rest of his face- or at least covered by a thick mass of fair hair curling down his neck- and he’d ditched the overly skinny look for a little more filled out and muscular, his eyes remained very much the same, as stunning and bright as they always had been.

What was Graham doing thinking like this of his mate? He laughed at himself, shaking the thought from his mind. He only had to apologize to the guy to get him back in the studio so they could finish a recording, not flatter him with complements of his eyes. Not only would that be really weird, but it wouldn’t work. Either Tony would think Graham was taking the piss or he’d get all shy. It was strange that such a handsome, sought-after boy like Tony was not used to receiving compliments.

He was doing it again, thinking about him like that. It would make it damned hard for him to face the boy if his mind was in other places.

Well not too hard. As soon as he caught sight of Tony in the loos, a cheekiness came over him, the same one that had persuaded him to go over the top on the little disagreement not ten minutes ago. He sauntered into the room and leant up against the wall by the door, arms crossed over his chest, one foot balancing on its toes beside the other, an expectant smile gazing at the guitarist who was washing his hands quite quietly. There was a bit of aggression in his actions. Graham didn’t think he’d ever seen Tony quite like this, letting something bother him to the point that his actions were affected. He wrung his hands beneath the water hard enough to turn his slightly tanned skin red and pressed the soap dispenser violently, causing the clear liquid to shot out and spray half on his cupped palm, half on the sink beside him. He then, after rinsing, pulled way too much tissue from the dispenser and threw the scrunched up, soggy ball in the bin with such force it popped back out, settling on the floor.

“Didn’t your mum ever tell you you should pick up after yourself?” Graham laughed, gesturing to the bin as Tony pivoted on his heels. He did not seem at all startled by the rhythm guitarist’s presence. In fact, perhaps he did already know that he was in there, hence the aggression in his actions and the casual way he regarded Graham as he leant back against the sink, his lips pressed into a hard, white line. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge Graham’s little comment. He just stood there, glaring.

“Come on, are you really going to be mad at me over this?” Graham sighed, bored of this already. He was also really starting to get bored of the silence treatment. It grated on him. He waited for a reply. None came.

His voice took a more impatient tone when he opened his mouth again.  “Look, I’m meant to apologise to you, so let’s just forget about this shit so we can keep recording and you can hate me afterwards, ok?”

The expression on Tony’s face changed, which Graham saw as a positive. At the very least it might be an indication that he might start talking and he was right.. It just wasn’t the response Graham had been hoping for.

“No, fuck you. You always seem to just bypass apologising, like you’ve done nothing wrong.”

Graham swore he didn’t mean to, but habitually rolled his eyes, which Tony obviously didn’t take well. He didn’t get angrier as such. He, if anything, looked disappointed. He had that ‘why do I bother’ look in his eyes, while which, in turn, irritated Graham to the point that had he been considering a proper apology, it was now definitely off the table.

“Mate, are you serious? All I did was disagree with you.” He said, any friendly tone now dropped completely.

“You fucking disagree with everyone.” Tony retorted.

“So you shouldn’t be taking it so fucking personally.”

“I’m not. I’m mad for everyone. I don’t know what the hell has got into you, whether it's fame or something, but you’re bloody unbearable at the moment, and the other guys can sit back and take it, but I’m not going to.”

“No?” Graham was now laughing at the younger man, amused by the determination to stand up to him. He thought it cute, and knew that would annoy Tony.

That, coupled with patronising him, and Graham knew he was heading to a breaking point. He wanted to see how far he could push his mate, since he was already in so deep.

“What are you going to do?”

Tony glared at his so-called friend intensely. His blood boiled in his veins, mostly those in his clenched fists that longed to slug the rhythm guitarist in the jaw. Oh, but he couldn’t, could he? It would make for bad press, unease in the group, which was the last thing they needed. Then again, there was a chance the fight would be settled with that one swing. Graham would know not to mess with Tony, he might learn a lesson or two about irritating the rest of the band and Tony would get out all the anger on his bandmate. When he thought like that, it was just too damn tempting. Not to mention that Graham, as he looked down and saw Tony’s skilled fingers curled into fists, practically asked for it.

“Are you going to punch me? Oh that I have to see!”

Well, he didn’t want to disappoint. Allowing all the anger he usually let go of build up, he jolted violently up, stalked towards the older man standing by the door and let the knuckles of his powerful right hand make contact with Graham’s cheek. Immediately, the rhythm guitarist stumbled sideways, one hand reaching to stop himself from falling, the other grasping his bruised cheekbone. When he steadied, he shot a wild look up at Tony, planning his revenge.

While Tony did feel pretty sorry, he wasn’t going to say it. It wasn’t he who owed an apology. The only reason he was considering it in that moment was because he didn’t really want to get into a fist fight, which seemed the way this was going, judging by the look in Graham’s pale blue eyes. Still, he stood his ground, waiting for Graham’s move.

Which turned out to be an attack, heading straight for the boy’s wrists. He wasn’t interested in hurting Tony. No, he was going to pin him down, make him beg for an apology. Once he had hold of one of Tony’s wrists, he spun him around, bending the arm up his back, applying enough pressure to have him totally under his control, then guided him to the sink area where he bent the kid over. A short hiss escaped Tony’s mouth as he pushed against Graham, writhed under his control. Graham wasn’t that much stronger than him, he just had the upper hand at that moment, in a position that made it near enough impossible to fight against.

This was also quite a compromising position. Even Graham had to admit he didn’t really want to be caught by anyone like this. For all the strength he possessed in that moment, his crotch was pressed against Tony’s butt, he had the boy literally bent over under him. No wonder why Tony struggled. But Graham was not going to let him up, not for anything.

He laughed evilly, “What’s the matter down there?”

“Get off!!! Graham, get the fuck off me!!!”

God, this gave Graham such a rush of power. He ignored how weird the moment looked in favour of bending right over and hovering his lips over Tony’s ear.

He caught a quick glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sinks. The oddest feeling waved through him that he refused to address. He shook his mind clean for a moment to say, “Is there something you want?”

“Get the fuck off me!!!” Tony yelled. It echoed around the room, followed by a low chuckle from Graham’s throat that had the younger boy struggling once more in anger.

“I thought you wanted an apology.” Graham teased, “You can’t be greedy and have both.”

“FUCK OFF!”

Tony lifted his head slightly, enough to also see the mirror. He looked so stupidly helpless under the weight of his friend, now baring down on his back. He met Graham’s gaze, gave him a filthy look until he noticed something. He saw a flicker of something in his pale blue irises. He’d seen it a few times before, most notably the time they’d all gone to that club with that belly dancer, the one they all had a crush on. Well, a crush was putting it nicely. They all wanted to fuck her. Graham was looking at him with a glare that would’ve been quite threatening and annoying- due to the cheeky smile on his lips- had he not also got that sparkle, that wanting gaze.

Did Graham want to fuck him?

“Oh my god…” Tony chuckled, turning his head downwards towards the space between sinks that thankfully wasn’t wet or dirty. Graham had been kind in where he’d pinned him down.

“What?” Graham demanded. He didn’t much like the feeling of loss of power that Tony’s laughter provided him.

Still giggling, Tony peered up a little.

“Are you turned on right now?”

“The fuck? Of course not!”

“I think you are, you fucking creep.”

Graham felt his cheeks flush. No way he was turned on. No way. Not even if he’d already kind of seen the excitement when he’d glimpsed the mirror. Nope. He’d deny it. He’d keep on denying it.

And he certainly wasn’t going to let Tony see the sudden colour in his cheeks. When the guitarist attempted to look in the mirror again, Graham snaked his fingers around his neck and twisted his head back to one side, resting on the surface.

“Listen, you’re the creep for even thinking that. Now, you wanted something, didn’t you?” He tried to regain the atmosphere from before. Both the boys were mad, and Graham was in control. He had Tony right where he wanted him and… ok so it might’ve turned him on a little bit, but at least in that moment Tony didn’t know.

He heard Tony make a breathy gasp. The position for him was awkward, but he was in no way screaming for oxygen. He barely even fought anymore. The smile on his lips, though, had faded in favour of a more frustrated expression.

“Yeah,” The boy said through gritted teeth, “I wanted you to get the fuck up, because you’re enjoying yourself too much.”

Graham ignored the indication of his pleasure in the position.

“Why don’t you ask me nicely?” He suggested.

Tony hid a smirk.

“And here I was thinking you were going to make me beg for it.”

Something, the same thing that had lit Graham’s eyes and coloured his cheeks, stirred within him again. He stared down at Tony, wondering what his next move should be.

He decided not to give the boy the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Or at least, he wasn’t going to get defensive. He wasn’t going to deny anything anymore, not outright.

“Alright, that seems like a good idea. Beg for me to get off you.”

Oh yes. That had Tony hesitating. It was a moment before he piped up.

“Are you serious?” He laughed.

In a low voice, Graham replied, “Deadly.”

“Fuck off.”

“I don’t hear any begging. I guess you like this, you like being bent over, do you?”

Fuck! Tony struggled once more, annoyed that Graham had somehow flipped this situation on its head, yet again. Not only did he have full power over his body, keeping him firmly against the sink, but he also had power because there was no way Tony was going to beg. He wasn’t a dog or a child and he certainly did not take orders from someone like Graham.

But what choice did he have?

“You can’t be fucking serious!”

“I told you, I am.” Graham chuckled. He decided he was going to have all the fun he wanted in that moment, letting loose a lodged phrase he’d been wanting to say as he waited for Tony to retort. “And since I am actually enjoying this, I might as well take advantage of it.”

Tony... didn’t get it. He was totally confused, thrown off by Graham’s admission. He really didn’t know how to reply. He really didn’t know how he felt about the whole situation anymore. He just knew that his neck was starting to hurt like this.

He tried to arch it away from the sink, only to have Graham push him back down, smothering him further into the countertop.

“Plea-“ Tony gasped. For a moment, he was about to beg. And in that moment, after hearing a small chuckle escape Graham’s lips, the fingers around his neck loosened. He was given a little leeway to move. Humiliated, he shut his eyes. Could he really do this? Could he really beg his friend for anything, a guy who he was still mad at, who he would happily kick in the balls if his legs weren’t pressed up against the back of his thighs? No, no he couldn’t.

Graham was beginning to enjoy the power again. Perhaps a little too much. But he’d half admitted as much, so he didn’t really care. He ignored the distinct feeling of swelling down south- he didn’t press himself too hard into Tony in case he could feel it- and instead directed his energies to thinking of something to say next, something evil, something that would really piss Tony off. Because it got him off, for some reason. Just the idea of the kid so helpless under him, conflicted as to whether he should humiliate himself or not, allow the older man to manipulate him or not.

He leant down again, hovering his mouth over Tony’s ear, the soft, fair hairs whispering against the curve of cartilage tickling his lips. Tony could feel his hot breath hit his skin. He cringed as he felt Graham laugh.

“What was that?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Tony muttered.

“I think you did.” Graham laughed, “Go on, you can do it and I’ll let you up.”

Not a peep escaped Tony’s throat for a whole minute as they stood in that position, so Graham decided to make it worse for him.

Since he’d first bent down and whispered in the guitarist’s ear, he’d got the urge to do it. The back of his ear looked so enticing. It was stupid and weird, but it wasn’t the only thing in the situation that fitted that description. There was a small sensation of this being a step further, but Graham had lost the ability to really stop himself, just as he had in the argument. He succumbed to the temptation and stuck out his tongue.

Tony felt a more humid breath against his skin, following a wet slap that sounded almost like a kiss being broken. Having no idea what was going on, his mind drew blanks until he felt it; Graham’s tongue dragged against the back of his ear, right at the tip of it.

And Tony found himself sighing involuntarily. He caught himself, eyes shooting open, body tensing, but the damage was done, Graham had heard it. If he could not tell by the way the rhythm guitarist abruptly paused, then he could by the chuckle rumbling low in Graham’s chest.

The older man, after his hesitation, completed the lick before closing his mouth and reopening it again. Suddenly, he had plenty of things to say.

“Now, if I didn’t know any better, I would say you enjoyed that.”

Tony had no reply.

“And you called me the creep.”

The younger man let his jaw fall slack, ready to reply, but the older man beat him to it.

“You’re a very bad boy, Tony Hicks.”

“Don’t say things like that!” He snapped back. His vigour, however, was beaten by the chuckles vibrating through his bandmate’s body. Did he ever stop laughing? Boy did Graham know how to piss people off. Tony wouldn’t be surprised to learn if that was the first thing Graham looked for when he met people, a way to really get right on their nerves.

“Well, you shouldn’t have moaned.” Graham warned, letting his lips fall a little closer to Tony’s skin, rather than his tongue this time, “Would you like me to do it again?”

And this time, even though given an option, Tony could not think up an answer. He should’ve said a definitive ‘no.’

That is, if that was what he wanted.

Suddenly, the conflict in the boy’s mind was still fixated on whether he should submit to his bandmate, only in a very different way, and with a very different answer he found himself reaching.

Without a reply, which Graham found annoying- he really hated being ignored- he let his lips close around Tony’s ear, kissing him this time before running his tongue over the flesh. Tony tried really hard not to enjoy it, but it’s pretty hard when such an act coaxed feelings like the pleasurable shiver rushing directly to his spine. His body tensed, though this time not out of discomfort. It was due to the beginnings of a tight pleasure pooling below his stomach. It seemed that, inside him, his boiling blood and flashes of red behind his eyes were starting to convert into a different kind of frustration than he’d felt previously towards Graham. Instead of the desperate want to punch him in the face, he really wanted to pin him down on the floor and have his way with him.

He’d never thought such a thing about a guy before, but in that moment, gender wasn’t a concern of his, certainly not to the part of his body responsible for his thinking.

Graham seemed to be taken over by the same appendage, as he began kissing down Tony’s neck, moving his hand out the way, and Tony’s hair, to reach the hot, slender parts of his skin. His hands, now free, ran down the boy’s torso until they reached his hips, which they grabbed with considerable force. He dug his nails in tight to the thick layers of fabric Tony was clad in, in hope of feeling his skin, his flesh, his bones beneath.

“Are you sure you want me to get up?” He giggled lightly between kisses. He was not going to give up teasing his bandmate for anything, and that was a fact. He’d gotten off on irritating him, he’d relished his humiliation, why stop now when things were just getting interesting.

Of course, Tony saw it as an annoyance, but that was exactly what Graham wanted it to be.

“Will you just shut up for a minute?”

“Oh, of course not!” He breathed, “I want it known that you got off on me bending you over and…”

Tony realised that Graham had gotten complacent in his pleasure. Despite the grasp he had on Tony’s hips, he no longer had the good positioning that gave him all his strength. In one swift movement, Tony twisted around under him and pushed him towards the wall. As Graham attempted to recover, Tony lurched at him and pushed his whole body up against him. His hands sought out Graham’s, pinning them to the wall either side of his head. Now he could see the light in the older man’s eyes, the desire he’d only glimpsed, the damaged he’d actually done to the left side of his face. It was already bruising. Hmm, they’d have to explain that to the media, those that saw them as good, clean boys, not the types who got into fights.

Tony doubted they’d see them as the types who liked other boys either, so perhaps a black eye was the least of their worries. He suddenly thought of the unlocked bathroom door, the studio that lay beyond it, and the one room where three friends, no doubt concerned about them, were and may not remain. There was any number of people who could walk in at the worst moment and see what they really shouldn’t.

But… if he went to lock the door, he’d lose his power over Graham, and boy had he been waiting pretty much the whole day- if not since he’d met the guy- for a chance like this.

He looked Graham in the twinkling eyes. The rhythm guitarist was waiting, waiting for a next move, aching for it. His stare was challenging, encouraging Tony to do something, anything, so the boy decided to risk everything to keep his position. He glared at Graham, thinking ‘you’ve no idea what we’re risking for this.’

His move, he decided, was to slide both his hands up, with Graham’s in their grasp, and hold them over Graham’s head. He found a way to keep both wrists pinned to the wall in just one hand, so the other could travel down his bandmate’s aching torso, down experimentally towards the waistband of his trousers. He looked so unsure. Graham did too, but his mind was now set on this moment. He needed this, he needed a release for his frustration and believed Tony could benefit from it too.

“I want this.” He whispered encouragingly. Never before had he ever so explicitly given consent, never had he previously had to, but it felt right in this situation, one neither he nor his friend had been in before. It struck a little confidence into Tony, evidenced by the quickening of his movements. He spread his hand over Graham’s hardness and lightly applied pressure. Graham gasped, to which Tony wanted to administer a little of Graham’s own medicine to him. He chuckled.

“Enjoying this, are we?”

Graham’s eyes met his.

“Now you can’t deny that you’re not.”

The younger boy shrugged, slowly removing his hand, much to Graham’s displeasure.

“I’m going to enjoy it a lot more in a minute.”

Curious, the older man watched. He wasn’t sure what part of his friend he should keep his eyes on; his face, his wandering hands, his torso, his… trousers. Eventually, though, the most interesting part was his hands, the one that lingered between both their crotches before turning upwards towards it’s owner’s waistband and those skilled, guitar-playing fingers hooked around the zipper of his trousers. He watched as Tony pulled down his fly and palmed himself through his boxers, straining handsomely against a thick bulge within them. He watched as Tony got off, pleasured himself, leaving Graham practically totally untouched, straining himself under far too many layers of clothing. The older man whimpered.

“This isn’t fair.”

With half shut eyes and a blissful smile on his face, Tony asked, “What isn’t?”

“I was winning. You’re a fucking dick. I had you…”

“Oh, but you wanted me so bad, you just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Graham recognised his own tactics. Oh, they were cruel. He smirked to himself, almost as a pat on the back for being so goddamned smart. If only he could just work out a way to tip the tables again in his favour.

In fact, he didn’t care much about being in power, he just wanted not to be left out. He wanted to be touched. He’d happily beg, though he’d never say as much voluntarily.

“Fuck, look at you!” Tony continued. Graham could see more bliss, more pleasure building up tight within the guitarist. It was quite a sight, a view that cause want to simmer below his stomach. He recognised the pleasure that Tony was affording himself and wanted some for himself. “Quiet for the first time today. If it wasn’t so illegal, I’d do this everyday to shut you up.”

Graham’s voice came out as a half strangled moan when he tried to speak.

However, he did managed to say, “You’d do it because you fucking love me, admit it.”

“I love it when you’re not pissing everyone else off.”

“You love me when I’m not pissing everyone off.”

“I like the peace and quiet.”

“I…” He gasped loudly, “…really just want to come. Tony, come on!”

Tony grinned. He stared at Graham, making his own pleasure more obvious with rolls of his blue eyes and bites of his kissable lips. He even took it to the next step, pulling himself totally out of the boxers hanging loose on his hips and tugged hard, in full view of his friend. If a high level of adrenaline, caused by frustration and desire, had not been coursing through his veins, he probably would’ve felt more than a bit embarrassed and self-conscious under Graham’s watchful gaze, but his levels of confidence were soaring. He was coaxed on by Graham’s words too, as humiliating and embarrassing as getting your dick out in front of a mate was.

“Don’t… come on, I’m aching. Tony…”

“If you don’t beg,” Tony wickedly said, “You don’t get.”

To his surprise, it seemed a lot easier for Graham to stoop to that level of indignity than it had been for him.

“Ok, please Tony will you touch me. Or let me touch myself. I don’t fucking care anymore.”

“No?” Tony gasped, now unable to control his tone, “That’s disappointing, I thought you loved me. I though you wanted me.”

“Alright, alright, I want you, you fucker. Please, I want you to touch me.”

“If I move my hand, are you going to overpower me?”

Graham was not lying when he replied, “No.” And Tony could tell. It was probably the most genuine thing he’d said all day. So, if a little gingerly, the guitarist removed his hand from Graham’s wrists and feathered it down his body. Helpfully, Graham’s shot down to his fly and ripped it open. He groaned as Tony’s hand wrapped around him.

Oh, it was way better to have someone else do that rather than his own hand, Graham decided. Just the unfamiliar touch was enough to improve it, but there was so much more going on. Namely, the fact that Tony had an idea of what he was doing. Graham was sure he could make many a joke about that, like that Tony wasn’t really so much of a ladies’ man as he was a ‘right hand’ man, but he wouldn’t dare ruin the mood, by cracking some awful, distasteful and mocking joke unless, like the jokes about loving one another, both of them would know they were merely in good fun. There was also the forbidden aspect that made it all the more exciting. It had not slipped Graham’s mind that the bathroom door was open and he was well aware of all the shit they could get into, least of all the prison sentences they could receive should something like this get out. But, instead of scaring them shitless enough to do something about it or stop, it enticed at least Graham to continue.

And he knew it would not take long. He’d been aching at the most innocent of acts. By the time Tony had his hand pumping at his dick, he was further than half way close to climax.

So, it came of no surprise to him that he was first to come. He spilled over Tony’s hand, moaning with his head tossed back against the wall. He thrust up into Tony’s hand until the shockwaves of pleasure ceased. Then he looked down at the younger man, simpering.

Tony gave him a dirty look back.

“It’s not a fucking race.” He breathlessly snapped, “It’s not good that you were first.”

Graham nodded, “I know. I was actually glad, because now I can do this.”

He reached out and clasped his own, capable fingers around the base of Tony’s dick and followed the boy’s movements until he let him do it on his own. It seemed Tony had the same thought as Graham; it really was better done by someone else. A fact he well knew from all the chicks he’d had, but when directly compared to himself, and faced with someone who knew what they were doing, oh it was perfect. A few short minutes later and he’d dirtied Graham’s hands. Thankfully, as both the boys did check, they’d managed not to get anything on their clothes, save perhaps for some water from the counter and the sinks.

Breathlessly, the two boys regarded one another. They grinned stupidly, disbelievingly, not knowing what to say next. What was the protocol here? There wasn’t even one. All they could do was go back to how they always were. Nothing had changed.

“So…” Tony’s voice echoed around the room. After all that noise, the sudden lull in that bathroom was both too much for the boys, and not enough. They wanted to talk, to fill the empty space, but really didn’t, because it would mean addressing what had just happened.

Graham decided to go about that in an indirect manner by, once he’d tucked himself back into his trousers and zipped himself back up, nipping across the room to the tissue dispenser. He brought two bundles of tissues back with him, one for himself, the other for Tony. With that minor distraction, they found their voices.

“…friends?”

“We always were.” Graham replied, “I know I’m pretty overbearing and all…”

“You can say that again.”

“Fuck off. I’m trying to… apologise.”

“Does that mean we have to go back and record a song now?”

They both looked pretty helplessly towards the door, nodding as though to answer the question for themselves.

“So…” Tony repeated, “Do you want to go first… or… or I can…”

“Nah,” Graham waved that idea away, “We’re mates again. We go back together.”

“Ok…”

Neither made a start to the door for a moment. Tony pretended he was making sure there was no more evidence of their ‘time’ in the bathroom, while Graham chuckled to himself to get over the whole situation. Then, as though they’d agreed, they strode together out of the bathroom, into the corridor of the studio, which remained quiet. They silently made for their studio, keeping their eyes forward, their hands in their pockets, undistinguishable expressions on their slightly flushed faces.

They then walked into the room where their three friends were sitting almost in wait of them. Allan stood up immediately, waiting for a verdict as to whether they’d made up or not.

Tony opened his mouth, “He’s a fucking dick.” He announced, though that was not news to anyone. What was a slight surprise, though, was the smile on his face as he walked off to grab his guitar, and the one stretching Graham’s lips as his watched him.

“Yeah, but you all love me.” He insisted.

[musical-chick-13]

Ser Davos too XD

YAY ONION DAD I LOVE HIM (also, sorry these are so late, grad work is...how you say...a Bitch™)

Send me a character and I’ll tell you the following:

• Did they live up to their potential? / In what ways was their potential unachieved?

-Obviously I’m talking show here because. Again. The books aren’t finished. Lmao. I’m not completely sure how to answer this one. Because, as I mentioned in the Melisandre ask, there was never any kind of...actual wrap up to his conflict with her? She just...laid down and died. Mainly I’m kind of sad that he was kind of reduced to a Jon Snow hype man in the later seasons. There were some tiny threads of his continued fight for doing what he considered to be the right thing, through his outburst at Melisandre after finding out about Shireen and trying to prevent Grey Worm from executing the prisoners in season 8, but he really kind of stopped having his own arcs after Stannis died. And...Stannis was also involved in Shireen’s death? That was never addressed, and considering Davos’s actual, mostly consistently decent moral compass, the conflict between honoring the memory of a much-loved friend and holding that friend responsible for the death of, essentially Davos’s surrogate child, was something that we needed to see for a satisfying through-line of his characterization. The narrative ignoring that was a crime, honestly.

• How they negatively and positively affected the story.

-The thing about Davos is that he injects (most of the time) a sense of realistic good into the story. He’s not perfect, but he does earnestly try to do the right thing and stick to his morals and save people, even if he has to anger people he cares about or respects in the process. It’s a much-needed relief from all of the duplicitous power plays and extreme violence almost everyone else engages in. His goodness isn’t bound to honor like Ned (and Jon tbh), or to absolute justice like Stannis, or to gaining the respect of/lessening the ostricization from his peers (like Jaime sort of attempts to do sometimes), or to The Greater Good™ as a whole (like show Varys or like Melisandre tries to do). He simply does what he feels is right, and this provides a touchstone of hope and groundedness to the story.

-As I mentioned above, in-show he kind of...existed later on primarily to support Jon, and I never really understood why? I didn’t see anything that provided proof of some sort of unbreakable bond or deep friendship, and I felt like there was no real catalyst for him attaching himself to Jon in anything other than a mutually beneficial allyship? This in and of itself isn’t something I’m going to quibble over a great deal, but it didn’t help in regard to the at times overdramatic, heavy-handed painting of Jon as The Savior of the World Who Is Always Right Always. Which, in my opinion, any work is going to suffer from building up any character in that manner.

• What my favorite arc for them is.

OH no question about this one at all, it’s when he blames Melisandre for the failure at Blackwater, gets thrown in jail for trying to assassinate her, later gets released for giving sound advice to Stannis (while bonding with Shireen 😊), and then RISKS HIS NEWLY-FOUND FREEDOM AND POSITION AS HAND (THE MAN. JUST. GOT OUT OF JAIL. BY WAY OF “EVERY ACT MUST HAVE A JUST™ RETRIBUTION BECAUSE RULES” STANNIS) TO SMUGGLE OUT EDRIC STORM (Gendry in the show). In either case, he rescues a bastard child, a class of people most dismiss as worthless and embarrassing, because it’s the right thing to do. He gives into violence (granted, he is doing what he sees as eliminating a dangerous threat) with his attempt on Mel’s life, and then directly disobeys his best friend, king, and person he loves and respects to stop further violence from entering the world. Which is especially poignant after witnessing Mel’s shadow assassin baby and seeing the violence that wrought. After everything done to him and his giving into violent impulse, he could have completely lost himself and gone full Dark™, but he doesn’t. He pulls himself back and saves a young man’s life, even at great risk to himself, because that person’s death would be unfair. And, for once in this miserable setting, he isn’t killed off for it. He provides valuable information to Stannis about the White Walkers through his newfound literacy, (which, in the show-can’t remember if it was mentioned in the books or not, it’s been awhile-is further corroborated by Melisandre, gaining her support) and is allowed to live. GOD that line where Stannis asks what is the worth of a bastard’s life against a kingdom and Davos answers, “Everything”???!!!! IT GETS ME!!! EVERY TIME!!!!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• What I think of their ending.

-I would have loved more introspection: how does he deal with not being able to bring Melisandre to justice? How does he feel about all the things Stannis did in the name of claiming his so-called rightful title? How does he cope with losing another authority figure he can no longer serve now that Jon has been exiled? Ultimately, I’m happy for him. I think his general sense of morality (including disputing authority figures for the sake of saving lives) will serve Bran’s small council well, and considering his smuggling background and resultant expertise with ships, rebuilding the fleet is a fitting end for him.

• When I wish they had died. / If I think they should’ve died.

I think it’s good that he didn’t die. One, I would be sad. Two, there would not have been any narrative reason for him to do so. I remember getting to the Red Wedding, and I went, “Yeah, I can see why GRRM wrote this in order to move the story along.” No such plot furtherance would have resulted from killing off Davos. It would have just been for shock value (like Shireen, which you KNOW how I feel about that...). And third, it’s good that basic decency gets a win. Brienne is very morally good, but is left heartbroken by Jaime. Dany was made out to be good (though I myself will dispute that idea), but went off the deep end and ended up posing a bigger threat to Westeros than anyone else. Jon felt forced to do the unthinkable and got exiled for it, which has to dampen Sansa’s victory at least a little bit. And plenty of good characters have already been killed off. Many of season 8′s survivors emotionally ended up in a worse place than they started, but Davos had already been at an emotional low. His ending served to lift him up to a higher place than he had been before. And for a show as bleak as this, it needed that glimmer of hope, that doing the right thing can give you an untempered victory and keep you alive.

[verdigrisprowl]

Feb 8 Blurr’s Horror Stream - A Series of Unfortunate Events 7-8

Prowl was tired. But dammit, he wasn’t going to miss ASoUE. He also got to sit with Crosscut for the first time in a long while.

Welcome to the 'speedxstealer' room. The chat room has been cleared by the moderator. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Trudge trudge. Couch time. Be free and spread out, minions.* Shockbox changed their nickname to Shockwave. Shockwave: *He is present. * ItsyBitsySpyers: *So far, nobody else is. He could probably raid the snacks.* Frostbite: hallo all ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Greetings. Designation?]] Frostbite: I was going to name myself shockwave but i see someone beat me to it Dart: (( you can have more than one shockwave here )) Frostbite: i know xD i just figured it would be easier instead of everyone referring to multiple ones FakeProwl: *comes in. sits down. props his chin on his hands. immediately puts avatar into sleep mode.* Whirl: *trots on in* ItsyBitsySpyers: *...Wonders why Prowl isn't just sleeping. Well, he'll keep others from messing with it.* Dart: [ shoving NOS inside. Waves a servo ] Hi , mechs! ItsyBitsySpyers: //Uhhh... hi?// NOS: [ grumbling and stumbling inside. Carrying a tray of snacks ] FakeProwl: *because he likes A Series of Unfortunate Events* Whirl: *had paused mid-striide, taken aback by the unfamiliar music, and now swivels his helm around to regard Dart, narrow-eyed* You Whirl: . Dart: .. Yes? ItsyBitsySpyers: *It is tempting to dance to this, but there are too many people here now. Alas.* NOS: [ sets tray down and huffs ] There. Snacks made. [checks off a datapad] Whirl: You're one of THOSE guys. Not gonna cause any trouble, are you? Frostbite: *does a lil dance in their chair* :D Dart: ... THOSE guys? Whirl: ((wait. speddy which one of these guys is the KSI mech)) Whirl: ((or are dart and nos both lmao)) NOS: (( both )) Whirl: ((also........ would whirl have met these individuals before)) Dart: (( Idk if he's been on the ship, I guess )) Whirl: ((I don't....... actually know where I'm coming or going from here)) Whirl: ((all right y'know what NEVERMIND. JUST. SCRATC WHIRL'S REACTION TO DART. STARTING OVER)) Dart: (( shrugs ?? )) Airachnid: [peeks in the room before waking in] Frostbite: hello! Whirl: ((sorry dude we haven't even had those threads yet 8);; )) Whirl: *so, INSTEAD of eyeing Dart suspiciously he's gonna just glance at him, bob his helm at Airachnid and Soundwave, and trot on over to his hammock* Dart: [ well, this is so awkward. Reading a datapad ] Dart: [ the scenarios are like lesson plans. They're like substitutes. This should be simple ] Airachnid: [waves at Whirl before chirping at Whirl. Is he willing to share the hammock tonight?] Whirl: *but of course, ma'am; he sits up and shifts to make room for her--and the usual crowd, should they decide to come* Airachnid: [happy chirp before climbing into the hammock] Whirl: *nods, amused at her chirping* Evening. Frostbite: (i'm normally asleep by now, it's 3:30am for me so this is all new) NOS: Well, you guys can get snacks if you want, I guess. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[...Who are you?]] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Curious lean away from back of couch* NOS: [ points to self ] I'm NOS. [points to Dart] That's Dart. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Of?]] Airachnid: Good evening. [she's just happy to see Whirl, not a good night last night] NOS: The Skeleton Crew. NOS: Look, I wouldn't willingly visit this place. I have a job here. Shockwave: *Stealing snacks while everyone is distracted. Shhhhhhh.* Frostbite: LOL shockwave plz Frostbite: leave some for everyone else ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Hmm. And what job is that?]] Dart: [ smirks ] NOS's job is to swab each and every deck. Shockwave: *He stops for a moment to stare directly at Frostbite. Damnit, he was being so stealthy too.* NOS: It is NOT my only job! NOS: [ places servo on his chassis ] I'm the ship's explosives artist. Dart: Yes, he did a number on the kitchen. It was, hmmm, mind blowing. Frostbite: ((i run a shockwave blog too you rascal, i know the ways)) Whirl: *now turns his attention to these two strangers* Wait--so you're regulars? I've not seen you two around. Dart: Oh, we recently changed our frames. Shockwave: (( Oh do you now? What's your url?)) Frostbite: ((illogicalshockwave <3 )) ItsyBitsySpyers: //Heh. Mind blowing. How many minds?// ItsyBitsySpyers: //Hope somebody cleaned 'em off the walls after.// Shockwave: (( Ah, I've reblogged your art before.)) Dart: Not many minds. Dart: Just his own. Frostbite: how does one even blow up a kitchen?? ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Easily.]] Airachnid: Gernades can do that. Frostbite: i meant with cooking but that works too Dart: NOS was attempting to cook. Whirl: And what better way to clean a kitchen, than with a grenade? NOS: Hey, I succeeded. NOS: I cooked the snacks, Dart set up the thing. Airachnid: Bad energon or bad energon preperation. Dart: [[ lemme know when you guys are ready i guess ]] ItsyBitsySpyers: ((ready)) Whirl: So where did Teach scrape YOU two up? I wasn't aware e was doing recruitment. *snorts* Whirl: ((ye)) Shockwave: (( I'm good to go)) FakeProwl: ((ready)) Frostbite: ((ready!)) Dart: ... He's been recruiting. It's been kind of a big deal. Shockwave: *He finishes stockpiling and returns to his seat.* NOS: We're from Tyran. NOS: He picked us up a long time ago. Well... sort of. Frostbite: shockwave i'm sharing with you! dibs on the scientist! FakeProwl: *optics flicker on. who's the obnoxious fan?* Shockwave: ....Well, if you insist. Whirl: ...*pauses and zoops his neck out slowly, peering; NOW it's time for Whirl to stare suspiciously* Did he happen to pick yuo guys up from Earth? Frostbite: *sweats nervously* ((is the only human in the room)) Dart: ... Did he pick us up? NOS: He picked parts of us up, I guess. Shockwave: (( oh, didn't know you were human.)) ItsyBitsySpyers: *Soundwave makes himself quite comfortable on his couch and prepares to watch the Count human fail yet again* Shockwave: (( in that case i retract that original response in exchange for:)) Whirl: Wait. Are you--are you one of THOSE mecha? Kinetic Solutions? Dart: We're NOT KSI's mechs... Shockwave: You are in no place to lay claim me, fleshling. NOS: But, we WERE built from the same technology. Shockwave: ((*claim to)) Shockwave: (( goddamn lag. )) Frostbite: hey i'm part metal at this point FakeProwl: *there's the obnoxious fan. why is the obnoxious fan a member of a species that the person they're fanning over helped threaten.* Whirl: *snorts* Yeah, yeah. If humans didn't make you, who DID? Dart: Blurr did. Shockwave: That makes little difference. You are still of human origin. NOS: Stole the tech, he said. Dart: Created us for help, he said. Whirl: I'll be damned. He's a proud PAPA. *snickrs* FakeProwl: Another fire. Whirl: Well, if Blurr made you, then you're all right with me.. *looks around* Where IS Teach, anyway? ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Earth is particularly flammable.]] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Not knowing is definitely worse.* Frostbite: ((please do not set fire to the earth)) Dart: Don't call him that. NOS: Ugh disgusting... Whirl: Teach? NOS: .. .Teach you what? Whirl: Yeah. Blurr. Teach. Whirl: Your PAPA. NOS: .. Papa? ItsyBitsySpyers: *The eye.* Shockwave: *In any case, he begins casually refueling while paying attention to the show.* NOS: [ wrinkles nasal ] No. Shockwave: (( brb )) Whirl: Yes. *optic squints into an amused expression* NOS: Disgusting. Airachnid: Yes, the Earth is very flammable. It's annoying sometimes. Whirl: But, yeah. Where IS he, anyway? FakeProwl: They've made mention of a volunteer fire department. I suspect that in this series, fire is more significant than just something that occasionally happens on Earth. NOS: Who, Blurr? Dart: He's... out. Right now. Dart: [ technically not lying ] Frostbite: ((like a light apparently)) Whirl: Out? *sly look* Whirl: Mm-hmm. I'm sure. Dart: ... Yes. Whirl: *going to make the completely reasonable assumption that Blurr is on... (dramatic music) a DATE* NOS: [ glances at Dart ] ... [shrugs ] Frostbite: with roadbuster maybe Dart: [ shrugs as well ] Whirl: *snickers* Dart: [ the lie sold itself ] Whirl: *settles more comfortably and swivels his helm about; is any of the usual crew going to join him?* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Frenzy will come lounge.* NOS: [ moves to flop on Blurr's couch. Stretches legs out ] Dart: [ slaps his legs down and moves to sit next to him. Twitches doors. ] ItsyBitsySpyers: [[That was oddly specific.]] Frostbite: i'd be crushed, i'm staying where this human won't be accidentally squished Whirl: *will happily make room. Between Whirl, Airachnid, and Frenzy, this is the fiercest hammock that's ever been* Whirl: Hey mech, how're you liking working with Teach? *nudgs Frenzy* FakeProwl: Very oddly specific. Airachnid: [the terror hammock] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Frenzy tips a lazy salute at Airachnid.* \\HE FIGHTS REAL GOOD. DON'T MEDIC HIMSELF FOR NOTHIN'.\\ ItsyBitsySpyers: //...Ain't that a downgrade.// FakeProwl: *lights out at six o'clock, "more time for dreaming." Prowl likes this guy.* Airachnid: [chuckling at the salute, it was cute] Whirl: *Frenzy is a ball of violence and charm. Violent charm; Whirl is secretly a little delighted to see them making the first steps towards "maybe these two will get along"* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Frenzy slowly pushes his visor a little closer to his face, just in case any optomomotrees get near his optics.* Dart: [ hums  ] He really doesn't know how to medic. That's what Axis is for. Whirl: Yeah, tell me about it. I've never met a mech wh takes care of himself that shoddily. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Aha.]] Whirl: *snickers* ItsyBitsySpyers: //He's a damn liar.// Whirl: ((omg... it's kevin's mom)) NOS: (( it is )) Whirl: ((catherine 'hara!)) Whirl: I bet she's gonna eat it up, too. Whirl: ((omg. is that Getaway's pickup line....)) FakeProwl: ((i think so)) Shockwave: (( back. )) Frostbite: ((welcome back)) Airachnid: [Olaf is reminding me more and more of someone she doesn't want to think about] ItsyBitsySpyers: [[A good dream.]] Whirl: *Sonny continues to be the BEST CHARACTER* ItsyBitsySpyers: *That was supposed to be asterisks, but whatever, I'll roll with it* Frostbite: ((dang it it's 4am, gotta get up at 8. must peace out now, it was fun hanging out while it lasted)) Whirl: ((Gnight!)) Shockwave: (( Ah, goodnight. May we meet again sometime. )) NOS: (( night )) NOS: ... Logging? That's not that hard, is it? ItsyBitsySpyers: *Has often wondered how this works. Leans forward to watch.* FakeProwl: *leans on Soundwave. he's trying to keep up, but he's sleepily blinking.* Dart: Not really. It's in my programming. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Oh? Will sit back to be a better cushion.* ItsyBitsySpyers: @Prowl: (txt): Rest needed? Whirl: You were built to... *wat would he even call this?* Log? Dart: Every human machinery process is in my programming. Dart: It's in yours, too. NOS: ... yeah. Whirl: Haha! Whirl: Sonny is the best. Whirl: Look at her go. FakeProwl: @Soundwave «Yes. I didn't get enough last night.» Whirl: Huh. What kinda vehicle are you? ItsyBitsySpyers: @Prowl: (txt): Recharge. Can observe files together later. NOS: ...Huh? Whirl: For logging. What kind of vehicle logs? NOS: We can do anything a human-made machine can do. It's...sort of what they intended for us. I think. Whirl: Ohh. Right. Gotcha, FakeProwl: @Soundwave «I'd rather watch it now if I can.» Shockwave: ((My poor computer's going to explode if I stay for much longer, and the lag is getting sort of bad.)) NOS: (( aw. Sorry ;-; )) Shockwave: ((I'll see you all next week. )) ItsyBitsySpyers: ((give your computer a rest and have a good night)) FakeProwl: ((gnight)) Whirl: ((gnight!)) Shockwave: (( G'night to all you too. )) NOS: Glasses? Ew... Whirl: *oh yeah, it'[s that guy again* Whirl: *whirl noticed the hook hands, of course* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Tiny nod. Very well. He will pull the avatar close and occasionally ping something.* Whirl: Pfft. Whirl: *he's picked up enough French to get that joke* Whirl: *... the jke about it being called Spanish, not the one about it being a euphemism* ItsyBitsySpyers: [[It -does- sound like a fun book.]] ItsyBitsySpyers: \\WOO! LOOKIT HER GO.\\ Whirl: *see now, this is the kind of romance whirl can get behind* Whirl: *coordinated couples ***-kicking* NOS: Who has time to cross out all of that? That's too much work. Airachnid: Ah, I love a good conspiracy. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Sloppy.]] FakeProwl: Who would take all the time to cross all those out but leave one intact? NOS: They got tired? Whirl: I'd have destroyed 'em. Airachnid: Perhaps they forgot about that one. FakeProwl: There's the emphasis on fire again. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Perhaps he'll save the paper?]] FakeProwl: He made an effort. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Run, human child.]] Whirl: *shifts a little* Airachnid: Never trust a  chair with that many restraints. Whirl: ...good advice. Dart: I dunno. That's how they kept us for a while... Wasn't it? NOS: Parts. Remember, we were made in that weirdo's city. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[...Is this what happened to the optimist?]] Airachnid: ...most likely. Airachnid: Now that's just deplorable. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[...]] Whirl: Mine control is a hell of a thing. Whirl: *mind ItsyBitsySpyers: //Mus' be the fried egg thing.// Dart: Ugh, yeah... especially when it's a human. NOS: Using those annoying controls. Move your arm this way, move your arm that way! Whirl: Oh, the Vertigo shot. Nice. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Vertigo shot?]] Whirl: The shot of Klaus just now--with the weird zooming effect. Hitchcock invented it. Whirl: You zoom in while pulling the camera away. ItsyBitsySpyers: //What, the birds fragger?// Whirl: Yep. Whirl: He made some good movies. Whirl: You should come to the next Culture Club night--we're gonna watch North by Northwest. FakeProwl: ... *blinks* Well. ItsyBitsySpyers: //'Course I'm goin'. Boss swore he'd be.// Whirl: In other news--hell of a bait and switch the show just pulled. Airachnid: I had a feeling it was too good to be true. Airachnid: It is called "A Series of Unfortunate Events" after all. Whirl: Well, true. Dart: (( do you guys want a break or just go? )) ItsyBitsySpyers: *Nudges Prowl. He'd wondered why the citrus human was investigating, hadn't he?* ItsyBitsySpyers: ((i'm fine with going but idk others)) Whirl: ((A little break would be nice, I wanna grab a snack(( FakeProwl: *glances at?* Dart: ((k )) Dart: (( break )) Airachnid: I'm cool but I'm willing to wait)) Crosscut: -Comes in and glances around the room- NOS: You know, I made all those snacks. ItsyBitsySpyers: @Prowl: (txt): Prowl caught narrator investigation reason? NOS: And you guys aren't gonna eat 'em. NOS: That's rude. Crosscut: Am I late? ItsyBitsySpyers: *Soundwave lifts his hand and taps his visor. Sorry, NOS.* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Laserbeak will plow right into them though* NOS: ... [ stares at Soundwave ] ItsyBitsySpyers: //Yo, Crosscut.// FakeProwl: ... *slowblink* @Soundwave «I'm tired.» Whirl: How the hell do you expect me to eat them without a mouth? Crosscut: (Freaking weird music for CC t suddenly walk in to XD)) NOS: ... [ breaks his faceplate apart in pixelated pieces and reprograms them to lok like a visor ] Me too! Whirl: ((CC'S NEW THEME)) NOS: [ changes his face back and grins ] Cool... Dart: Stop doing that. They're gonna think we're weird... Airachnid: ... [just going to ignore that] FakeProwl: *in other words no. it must have happened somewhere in between "those were somebody else's parents?" and "I'd THOUGHT the hypnosis was broken too easily"* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Soundwave sits up a little straighter and stares at the visor for a second* ItsyBitsySpyers: *If there's a Galvatron here...* NOS: [ laughs and wiggles in his spot ] I love meeting new mechs! FakeProwl: *?? looks at what soundwave is looking at* Crosscut: -Finds a place to sit- NOS: [ breaks his frame apart and spirals around the couch to move to stand behind it ] NOS: You guys are pretty rad. You should be friends with /me/ instead! Airachnid: ... Crosscut: I apologize for not being around as much lately,  its been a while since I've been to any of these film nights. FakeProwl: *... unimpressed blink.* Sorry. Already saw that one yesterday. Dart: [ glances at his datapad ] Oh, hello. [waves at CC ] FakeProwl: Unless you can one-up creating earthquakes, I'm not impressed. Airachnid: [she's just going to stay in her lane, or in this case, in the hammock] NOS: Earthquakes...? Huh. Nope, we don't do that. FakeProwl: Hm. NOS: But Dart and I figured out how to com-mmfh. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Watches the spiral flit overhead and twitches slightly. As long as they don't lay a hand on him...* Whirl: *chimes in* These guys were made by folks on Earth--KSI. or, well, partially. Looks like Teach brought  them together. Dart: [ drags him back ] Shut up. Crosscut: -Waves back, not sure if he recognized who this is just yet- Whirl: Human tech with a Cybertronian twis. Adaptable... *swivels his helm around to star at both* But easily killd. FakeProwl: *is that Crosscut's voice? looks around for the source. ah.* It's been a while. Dart: Don't threaten us. This is our Captain's ship. Dart: We work for him. Dart: NOS just has a very big EGO that someone can't keep a lid on. NOS: [ helpless shrug ] I'm better than most people. ItsyBitsySpyers: @Prowl: (txt): ...Apologies. Narrator stated beloved Be-a-triss failed question before loss. Question: Count Olaf's present location. Crosscut: -Looks to Prowl and smiles under his mask- Yes it has, its good to see you..well, sort of see you I suppose. FakeProwl: @Soundwave «Thank you.» Airachnid: [optic roll before she filed her talons] Whirl: I'm sorry? Did that sound like a threat? FakeProwl: "Sort of," yes. Airachnid: It sounded like more like stating a fact. Whirl: Clearly you just need to work on your conversational skills. *flexes claws* Airachnid: Or, an opinion. Whirl: ((i must take out the garbage brb)) Dart: [ frowns ] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Glances over, then up at Crosscut. Should he make room?* Dart: We're not stupid... well, NOS is. Dart: I'm not. Airachnid: However you interpret it. ItsyBitsySpyers: \\THE BEST THREATS IS WHEN YA GOT 'EM IN YOUR CLAWS ANYWAY.\\ Crosscut: Do you know what it is we'll be watching tonight? Dart: We're not here to fight. Despite what NOS says. Dart: We're supposed to run the night like normal. FakeProwl: A show called "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Three human youths have lost their parents and are being stalked by someone who wants their money. Dart: [ looks at datapad ] The lesson plan doesn't call for a fight. Crosscut: -CC is fine to sit anywhere, if Prowl wants him to sit by him he'll gladly do so if room is made- Crosscut: Hmm, interesting. FakeProwl: *Prowl would like so, but isn't going to make the offer. he's technically a guest on Soundwave's couch.* Airachnid: Things do not always go according to plan. Dart: Okay, well, they have to here. Dart: If the Captain finds out it didn't, he's gonna blow another fuse. FakeProwl: The dialogue is very informative and straight-forward. *this is high praise from Prowl* NOS: [ nudges him ] Not that he did. We just mean he'll get himself in a knot. Whirl: And? I still don't see what this has to do with me. Dart: It means- nothing. Dart: Forget it. Dart: (( are you guys ready again? )) Whirl: *looks quietly satisfied* Of course. Already forgotten. Whirl: ((YES i am back)) FakeProwl: @Soundwave «Would you mind Crosscut joining?» FakeProwl: ((ready)) Dart: [ scoffs and throws the datapad on the couch . Looks at NOS. Starts talking in another dialect. They talkin' some mad shyte ] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Responds by clearing some room* NOS: [ waves servos and rants back. Motions to the group like WTF ] FakeProwl: *scoots with.* Would you like to sit with us, Crosscut? ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Another fuse?]] Dart: Pardon? [ahem. Twitches doors ] Dart: (( is it offline? )) ItsyBitsySpyers: [][][]If the Captain finds out it didn't, he's gonna blow another fuse.[][][] [[Another fuse. One after one already blown.]] Whirl: ((did it died--it's back!)) FakeProwl: ((its back)) Dart: ... Did I say that? Dart: I meant, you know, when he gets mad. Dart: It's a phrase. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Why was he mad before?]] Whirl: Did you guys torque him off? *now taking an interest* Dart: He wasn't mad... Dart: I mean, he didn't seem mad Whirl: ((that guy is me rn LOL)) NOS: He was mad when we attacked that cargo ship. Whirl: ((coughing myself Into the Sun)) ItsyBitsySpyers: *Hmm. Fine.* Dart: He seemed fine after we beat Thundertron. NOS: He was giddy about that upgrade. Whirl: We saw! Crosscut: ((Sorry! The dog had a peepee emergancy!)) Crosscut: ((I am back)) ItsyBitsySpyers: ((np np. slendy and prowl made room on couch, prowl offered seat)) Crosscut: Oh, yes of course. -He nods and takes a seat next to Prowl- ItsyBitsySpyers: \\THE SCHMUH THING!\\ Crosscut: ((Murry~!)) Airachnid: [she knows that feeling, do not be impolite to Airachnid, you'll get hit back] Whirl: Is that what being twitterpated DOES to you? Good lord.

Missed some.

NOS: (( EXACTLY )) NOS: ... Yes, see. This is why I hate humans. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Someone attempted to adopt you?]] NOS: No, humans liked using mechs like us for their own profit. Whirl: Yeah--Blurr. NOS: Blurr did not adopt us! Whirl: Here's a newflash for you, NOS--Cybertronians do that to each other, too Crosscut: -understands the acting is supposed to be kinda campy and cheesy on purpose but its still a bit bothersome.- FakeProwl: So. "Lucky" is the trigger word for a highly suggestible trance, "inordinate" deactivates it. ... Why "inordinate"? Airachnid: Of course they tried to ue you, they see machines as things to be used and don't see that we're living things. Dart: Because inordinate was the word she used to say she missed him. Whirl: Here's some life advice for you, from me: assume that everyone will screw you over, regardless of who they are or where they came from. Because as soon as you show a hint of weakness, they WILL. ItsyBitsySpyers: \\HOW OFTEN YA HEAR INORDERATE IN A FACTORY?\\ Dart: Right? Isn't that something that reaches further than the brain? FakeProwl: I doubt the fact that she used it CAUSED it to be the deactivating word. FakeProwl: It was most likely pre-programmed. Dart: Mm. Airachnid: [sage nod @ Whirl] Whirl: *at least someone appreciates his wisdom* Dart: [ glances at Whirl ] Well, that's why we work with Blurr. He... thinks that way, too. Crosscut: -rubs bridge of nose- Whirl: He's right. FakeProwl: That is an incredibly thorough rejection. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[...He cried on it.]] FakeProwl: Of course he did. It's a two hundred page rejection. Airachnid: [innocent whistling] Airachnid: [she doesn't have skeletons, more like various other body parts] Whirl: *looks to the door, and then back* So, what time'll Blurr be back, d'you guys think? Dart: [ glances at NOS ] Uh. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[She must have written it very late.]] NOS: We don't really know... ItsyBitsySpyers: *This is why he tells people so early.* Whirl: Well, where IS he? Dart: Not... here? ItsyBitsySpyers: \\HE FINALLY GETTIN' MEDICINED UP?\\ Whirl: *tilts his head doubtfullly* Why don't you know where your own Captain is? NOS: Axis fixed him, yeah. NOS: [ shrugs ] He doesn't tell us. Whirl: You two are useless. *snorts* NOS: We're not useless. Dart: He just didn't say anything before he took off. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Frenzy flicks Whirl.* \\YA GOT THAT SMELLER. SMELL 'IM OUT.\\ Whirl: Eh, I'll just comm him. Whirl: I can smell like nobody's business, but I can't smell through dimensions, if he is where I think he is. Dart: His comms aren't on. Whirl: ? *tests this to see if it's true* ... why are his comms down? NOS: [ shrugs ] NOS: He has a habit of turning them off when he doesn't want to be bothered. Whirl: I've never known him to do that... ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Another one?]] Whirl: *looks back to the door again; h seems doubtful but he doesn't have anything to go on* Dart: Really? He really does do it. Crosscut: Hmm, a lot of confusing visuals for mapping the point in time this is set in. ItsyBitsySpyers: //Ha!// Dart: (( season lmfao )) FakeProwl: Does the point in time matter? Whirl: ((pfft)) Whirl: I get the feeling it's meant to sort of feel... fairy-tale like, disconnected from the real world. FakeProwl: Fire? Airachnid: [she can relate to Olaf in that sense, she loves revenge] Crosscut: I suppose that's interesting in its own way, a bit distracting. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Why does he keep it?]] Crosscut: Its odd to see modern clothing and devices plopped into an older looking setting. Whirl: Aw, look! The best character! Whirl: Pfft! Crosscut: -steches out a bit, wiggling his pedes- FakeProwl: *leans forward* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Joins* FakeProwl: ... So what caused the fire. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[The laser, he assumes.]] Whirl: ((I wonder if the Prufrock is a reference to the poem)) FakeProwl: Mm, fair. Better question, WHO caused the fire. FakeProwl: ((Wouldn't be surprising, Snicket likes sneaking in references like that.)) Whirl: ((*KEEPS MY EARS PEELED*)) Crosscut: -fishes out a data pad from his subspace to mess with- ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Fascinating.]] FakeProwl: Hmm. Whirl: I missed some of this show, but it was pretty well put together. Dart: Apparently there will be another season. Dart: Which is pretty cool. FakeProwl: *is made very nervous by the way the banker keeps turning that wheel back and forth* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Visibly?* FakeProwl: *well. he might be staring a bit harder than usual. but otherwise no.* Dart: all right, uh. I guess that's it. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[When there is another season, he would like to see this.]] FakeProwl: As would I. Dart: [ looks at datapad ] The next season isn't announced yet. Whirl: *streetches* All right. Dart: But, Blurr has Stranger Things slated for his birthday... Whirl: Not too shabby, for your first time hosting. NOS: ... Heh. Airachnid: The show was alright, for being human made. ItsyBitsySpyers: {{Bird agrees}} with a mouthful of fuel NOS: [ punches Dart's back ] See? I told you we'd be fine! Dart: [ swats at him ] Uhm, please feel free to take the snacks... Dart: [ reading datapad ] It says he offers that. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Tell Blurr to contact him when he returns. He has something for the mech.]] Whirl: Again, I ask you--how the hell am I to do that without a mouth. NOS: Oh? Uh, maybe you should just leave it with us. NOS: We'll give it to him when he's better- back. Crosscut: What is it that will be playing next week? NOS: Both. Whirl: *carefully clambers out of the hammock so as not to overtun it* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Suspicious stare* Dart: Uhm... [ looks at a list ] there's a list of movies we can pick from. Whirl: ...better? Dart: I'll have to... pick one. NOS: You know, better... he got his aft kicked by Thundertron pretty hard. Airachnid: I cna just make my own snacks. [and for once, she isn't hungry] Crosscut: So a film instead of a series? Whirl: *narrows his optic and turns it on NOS* Better. You wouldn't happen to have gone fibbing on me, would you? Dart: Yes, a film. NOS: ... [ makes a noise ] Me? No. NOS: [ points at Dart ] he lied first. Crosscut: Ah, then I'll try to attend if I can. Dart: [ smiles and nods at CC ] ItsyBitsySpyers: //Yeah, ya gotta see more stuff. Gotta show up them humans.// ItsyBitsySpyers: *"He lied first"?* Crosscut: Afraid I was rather lost since, well, I haven't made it to any of the other nights you were watching this one. Dart: [ throws datapad at NOS ] /I / did not lie. Whirl: *there's no authority figure to keep Whirl from getting nasty; in three strides he crosses the room and draws himself up. He slouches, so it's easy to forget how huge he really is* FakeProwl: I recommend rewatching from the beginning. Dart: Don't worry, mech. [ to CC] A movie will be better. Whirl: *and all of that hugeness is looming over NOS* Where is Blurr. Crosscut: Hmm, perhaps but from what I saw it didn't seem my cup of tea. NOS: [ yIKES ] NOS: I told you, he's not here! Crosscut: I'm rather picky about small things. Dart: Well, maybe a movie will be better. Airachnid: [gonna watch from the hammock, this should be interesting] Whirl: What happened to him? Talk, or I send you the way of your BROTHERS. ItsyBitsySpyers: @Prowl: (txt): Prowl succeeded. *plays tiny, four-second fanfare over comm* Recharge cycle entered soon? NOS: [ yIKES MORE ] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Soundwave will let Whirl continue to do the interrogating. No need to waste energy he may need later.* NOS: [ stumbles back a little ] We don't know! NOS: We really don't. FakeProwl: *mouth twitch* @Soundwave «What's THAT tag for?» Whirl: I can't believe you sniveling little--are you telling me he just disappeared? NOS: Not physically! Whirl: *swivels his helm to regard Dart as well* Do YOU know? I'd better get some anwers from you guys. FakeProwl: @Soundwave «Yes, as soon as I leave.» Dart: [ BIG SIGH ] Look. Dart: Physically, Blurr is here. On the ship. Okay? Dart: He's just not... here. Whirl: Take me to where he is. Dart: What- no. We were told not to. Whirl: *SLAMS his claw against the nearest wall* NOW. NOS: He's not even gonna notice you're there- CRIPES! This is all YOU Dart. NOS: [ waves servos ] I'm out. I'm out. ItsyBitsySpyers: *He sees that twitch.* @Prowl: (txt): Congratulations humor. Good. Inform Constructicons needed noise level: far below this. Dart: You little coward. [ grumbles and glances at Whirl ] You gotta relax, mech. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Gestures to Whirl, who he's still listening to and watching* FakeProwl: @Soundwave «They sleep when I sleep.» FakeProwl: *roughly, at least.* Whirl: You're not in any position to be telling me to do ANYTHING. ItsyBitsySpyers: @Prowl: (txt): ...Fortunate. Share secret in future. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Do refrain from killing them. Then we will never find Blurr.]] Dart: ... [sighs ] Whirl: I don't need them alive to find Blurr. Whirl: *he responds to Soundwave, but he's still staring straight at Dart while he says it* Dart: If I let you in on the scrap, will you at least stop making noise? Whirl: We'll see. Dart: ... I don't know what happened last week. Dart: But, we noticed the Captain missing a few days after hismovie night. Whirl: He's been out fo a WEEK? Crosscut: -Its been a while since he's been to something like this, perhaps he's gotten rusty with these little social events? Not really sure who to talk to or what to say- Dart: We commed Roadbuster, but he didn't have him there. Whirl: And nobody thought t--well. Of course. *his antenna pins back* Yeah, of course no-one did. Dart: We went by the bridge's history. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Feel free to speak to your more familiar couch partner while he's still here. Soundwave won't monopolize.* Dart: His last travel was Roadbuster, so we commed him. Whirl: *shakes his head* No, you wouldn't get it. *this isn't the first time Whirl's been the last to find out about Blurr being hurt; nobody ever tells hima nything* Dart: [ omg whirl no one knows ] FakeProwl: *he's vaguely watching the fight* Dart: [ UR THE FIRST  CONGRATS ] Whirl: Okay, now you're stalling. We can talk on the way, mech. *steps away from NOS and towards Dart* Let' FakeProwl: ((u found out before drift)) Whirl: s go. Dart: ((  u did )) Dart: I'm not stalling- look. Whirl: ((HE DID. but lbr if Drift was here he would've found out first)) Dart: Axis said no one can know. Whirl: No, I'm done LISTENING to you. Dart: No one. So we didn't tell anyone. Whirl: Let's. Go. NOS: Dude, just take him. It's not like Blurr's gonna do anything. He doesn't do anything. Crosscut: Hmm..-Maybe he should go before this fight breaks out in the middle of the room- Dart: Look, we're not going anywhere until you listen. [ stands taller ] This isn't your ship and you aren't in charge. Dart: You're not OUR Captain! NOS: Oh man, he's gonna eat you alive. NOS: [ lingering in the back of the room. So helpful ] Whirl: *takes a swing with one massive claw, aiming to clobber Dart upside the head* Crosscut: You know -Shifts in his seat- Maybe I'll turn in for the night. ItsyBitsySpyers: [[If you wish. Goodnight, Crosscut.]] Dart: [ bursts into his FANCY DOODADDS and reforms on the other side of the room ] Airachnid: [good, fists are flying] Airachnid: [or claws in this case] Crosscut: Uhmm...Prowl, before I leave FakeProwl: Not a bad idea. FakeProwl: Hm? Whirl: *turns on his heel, lowerig his chest and clicking his guns ominously* Don't think I won't escalate this. Whirl: I might not be your captain, but I AM the mech who's going to send you to the scrapyard if you don't take me to Blurr, right now. *slow, stalking strides across the room* Crosscut: I've been doing a bit of translating of alien litature in my past time, mostly for Hoist and others to be able to read. Would you like a copy of some of them? Dart: [ levels himself and forms his lance. Paladin mode! Crouches ] I'm not scared of anyone... not even you. But, you're gonna need to relax. NOS: Geez. Thank the pit we didn't tell his OTHER friends. We'd all be blown up. FakeProwl: Oh—sure. What cultures? NOS: If this one doesn't blow us up first. ItsyBitsySpyers: ((ngl that's one of the best lines in a song)) Dart: (( it really is )) FakeProwl: ((it's magic)) Whirl: *snorts and pulls his plasma-thrower from his subspace, leaning on one hip and resting it vertically against his shoulder* I'm not asking you to be scared. Whirl: I'm asking you to be smart. Crosscut: Quite a few diffrent ones actually, I've just picked a handful of ones I've enjoyed reading in the past. Dart: ... [ heat doesn't do so well with them. Grumbles and swings his lance up. Stands down and huffs ] You can't tell anybody. Dart: If word gets out that he's gone, it'll go south. Dart: Especially with the fleet. Whirl: What kind of idiot do you think I am? I'm not gonna jeopardize Blurr's hold on the whole fragging fleet! Whirl: Idiot, I just want to SEE him. Dart: Well... relax. [ grumbles and waves an arm ] All right, but the sight isn't good. NOS: I think it's a tiny imrpovement. NOS: He doesn't talk anymore- that's a plus. Crosscut: Some or history books, novels, poetry, plays from multiple planets. Slume, Traquins, Cytonian, Symbosis, to name a few. Whirl: *waits a moment longer before returning the plasma-thrower to subspace; he figured it'd do the trick* Enough chichat. Let's move. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Rumble's head snaps up. So does Soundwave's.* FakeProwl: Hmm. Sure. Thank you. Dart: [ shrugs ] You mechs know your way out, right? Airachnid: [the fight's done, pity she thought it would last longer] ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Hm - yes. We do.]] ItsyBitsySpyers: @Whirl: [[Tell him what you find, if you will.]] Whirl: *it was all ridiculous posturing* Airachnid: [she's just going to climb out and wave @ Whirl before leaving] Whirl: @Soundwave: We'll see. Dart: [ looks at Whirl ] Well come on, mech. [ turns to lead the way out ] ItsyBitsySpyers: [[Farewell Airachnid.]] Whirl: *he'll look back and bob his head at her* See you guys. Crosscut: Wonderful, I'll send the files to you at some point tonight, sound good? Airachnid: [eh, might as well wave at Soundwave too] Whirl: *as well as Soundwave and the gang, and then he is gone* FakeProwl: Sure. I won't receive them until the morning. Crosscut: I see, that's fine. There's certainly no rush, I just thought you'd find them a rather interesting read. Crosscut: Perhaps we can discuss them some whenever it is you get around to them NOS: [ leans against the couch ] Well, we'll see you guys next week, I guess. NOS: We'll still be here [snort] ItsyBitsySpyers: \\HOPE NOT. NO 'FFENSE.\\ NOS: That's rude. I'm better looking than that bot. FakeProwl: Mm. Perhaps. It will likely be a while before I have time for recreational reading, though. Crosscut: Ah, I see Crosscut: Well whenever you do get around to them I hope you enjoy it. Crosscut: I'll be off then, goodnight, Prowl FakeProwl: Goodnight, Crosscut. NOS: anyway... [ waves servo ] Get used to us. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Idly imagines this with Starscream. Puffs in amusement and rises* ItsyBitsySpyers: [[We will see.]] NOS: Hmmm... [ shrugs ] You guys don't seem so bad. NOS: The only one I don't like is Drift. He hits me all the time. NOS: ... And Menace. [ makes a face ] they both hit me. FakeProwl: *a farewell ping to Soundwave* ItsyBitsySpyers: *Pings Prowl goodnight and calls his group to him* NOS: [ then again, he DOES usually deserve it. SHRUGS ] ItsyBitsySpyers: \\SO HIT BACK.\\ NOS: ... No, I don't wanna hit that guy. NOS: Drift's cool. NOS: And Menace is weird. He'd kill me. FakeProwl: *flickers and disappears* NOS: anyway, I gotta go make sure Dart isn't dead. So. See yah, space net. ItsyBitsySpyers: \\SO RUN FASTER. YER PRETENDIN' TO BE THE BOSS.\\ ItsyBitsySpyers: *Soundwave nods.* [[Farewell.]] ItsyBitsySpyers: *Off they go.*

[comicteaparty]

November 29th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on November 29th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Numb by Niina Eveliina Salmelin.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Numb by Niina Eveliina Salmelin~! (http://www.NiinaEveliina.com/numb/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

NiinaEveliina

Hi folks! I'm the author of Numb and actually managed to wake up and join in the chat. Looking forward for the discussion and trying to avoid spilling any spoilers (edited)

RebelVampire

glad to see you could make it~!

i think my favorite scene was perhaps the one in carl and the thief's...mind space for lack of a better phrase for it. i really enjoyed seeing the possession kind of presented as a physical dilemma of sorts and not something that just happened and carl was just gone. but i also liked the entire eeriness of it cause it really opened lots of question doors and set up that intense sense of yup, something definitely is wrong

mathtans

Hiyo, I'm here, though at a moment's notice I'll need to drop everything and help put the little one to bed. ^^ I also only managed to read to the end of Part 5 (so to the end of 2017).

Yeah, some good eerie scenes in general. Rebel, do you mean the bit where Carl was bricking up Carl behind the wall...?

Also, hello to author/artist.

RebelVampire

yes that scene

NiinaEveliina

Hello, glad you could make it!

Ohh the possession sequence was a real joy to do, with figuring out how to do the visuals for it.

mathtans

That was an interesting visual. As for me, three scenes kind of stand out, let's hope I remember these...

I liked the bit near the start when Carl was talking about Amy's imaginary friends. Partly because it made me think of my own daughter (still very wee, granted), and partly because something seemed to be happening in the background, some guy with a hood, and little things like that amuse me. Neat way to make possible exposition less boring.

Second scene that I thought was great, mostly for comedic value, was when Susan was leaving the hospital to have a smoke, and then her cigarette wasn't there - Levi had it. Because of Nikita. Nice sign of things being more than they seemed. Less violent than the vase too, subtle.

RebelVampire

in regards to the first scene i think the event that was going on in the bg was the woman getting possessed by the thief. or at least she looks very similar to the woman who later brings the thief to carl

mathtans

Rebel: Oh wow, good catch.

RebelVampire

i loved nikita's choice of trying to send susan a sign. cause that was hilarious and i wish wed seen what susan was thinking. did she think she was crazy? did she think levi was a weirdo? who knows

nikita is a great trickster though

i loved him freaking out those old ladies with their nasty gossip

NiinaEveliina

Yes, this is correct @RebelVampire. It's that kind of pretty vague hint that readers can spot on their second time. I love putting small things like that in stories

mathtans

I wonder if maybe Susan thought that she'd put the cigarette there, because who else could it have been, and then forgotten.

NiinaEveliina

That cigarette gave Susan hard time, for sure

mathtans

Oh YES, that scene with the ladies going off on that kid, and then just the image of them with their cups upended on them, that was great too.

I'd forgotten that one.

Here's the big one for me though. That scene with Susan at the bottom of the stairs, calling out to Carl. Where the blood underneath her kind of bled (literally?) into the shading of the stairs, and it was just red, and dialled the creepy factor up to 11 for me.

NiinaEveliina

I think it's safe for me to say my favourite part as well? Even though it's really hard to pick, it's gotta be the moment after Thief/Carls attack, where Levi and Nikita meet again. Nikita allows Levi to help him up. and there's a tiny bit of trust formed there, as they walk out the house together. (Also, a big part for me to love that moment was the fact that I was finally able to get Levi out of that hospital bed.)

mathtans

I'm not big on horror, but I'm not so bad with watching it, because usually I can mentally write off supernatural stuff as "not real". So I could appreciate the weird, eerie stuff up to that point, but it didn't make me flinch. But that bit with the stairs - and maybe it's because I kind of saw it coming during the confrontation - that was too real. Too much. Had to walk away from my binge for a few hours there. (I mean this in a good way.)

Niina: That was nice, yes. Levi was kind of at a crossroads there, and it's good that they were able to help each other out, even when Nikita brushed him off.

NiinaEveliina

Gossip grannies always manage to bring out a response out of people @mathtans This kind of stuff is really interesting to hear. I'm glad it was still a good kind of shock for you!

mathtans

Very effective use of colour, and maybe angles and such too.

NiinaEveliina

I'm big fan of horror, so I sometimes have to wonder when I do certain scenes: when it's too much. Hearing this kind of perspective is always good.

RebelVampire

yeah the color work whenever the basement became involved was really great. cause basements are creepy as is, so it was great to see them become as creepy as i expected. lthough i think what really dialed the creepiness up for me in that scene was susan calling out to carl that she thinks shes hurt. because at that point its such a no duh thing that susan's helplessnesss really sinks in. and nothing is more worrisome about the supernatural than the realization you cant do shit about it. Niina: I did enjoy that moment of bonding and understanding. Especially given that Nikita seems kind of stubborn and it was good to see him accept he needed help.

mathtans

One of those "okay, overloaded now" moments. Tough for me to say exactly why.

Rebel: Yeah, the calling out probably helped cement it too, now that you say that. In particular, that she thinks he might help. >.<

NiinaEveliina

I think what makes it horrific, is that Susan and Carl were so close, so there's no way she could have seen it coming. Just a 5 mins ago before thief arrived, Carl was just nagging and worrying about her.

mathtans

Since I don't read a lot of horror, I may not be your target audience either. It's tough for me to say what is or isn't too much there.

Funny thing too btw, I didn't really like Susan. Personal pet peeve about smoking, and she also seemed like something of a killjoy, or one who dishes things out but can't always take it when things turn back towards her novel.

But that death... damn, didn't deserve that. Felt bad.

RebelVampire

its okay math. im not the target audience either, though for the opposite reason. im so numb to it that things that should be scary im just like "seems like a normal tuesday to me." XD

mathtans

(Assuming it's a for sure death - I haven't gotten into the 2018 stuff yet. Maybe she's a ghost now.)

Oooh, title drop by Rebel.

RebelVampire

not even on purpose

missed opportunities

i will spoil it and say its a for sure death minus the ghost issue

which i wanna give props to that

so few stories actually kill someone off

to the point i lived in denial

and was like "nah susan is fine someone will get her help nobody ever dies"

NOPE

mathtans

There is that. Well, that's sad.

Should've died of cancer!

NiinaEveliina

I don't know (about the target audience thing), I find it really hard to put Numb in only horror category and see it more as a mixture of different genres. I'd like to think that all kind of readers will get something out of it. Of course, they have to be able to stomach those extreme scenes as well @mathtans hahaha!

mathtans

Yeah, it's not for sure horror. There's elements of fantasy too.

I'm bad for recognizing genres. Particularly with my own stuff.

RebelVampire

speaking of susan, though, i can see where shed be irritating. but man did carl's nagging about her book feel so relateable because writing is hard and somedays you just want to think nothing about book writing

QUESTION 2. Many of the supernatural events are driven by the appearance of the “thief.” Who or what do you think the thief is? Why is the thief continually transferring bodies? Additionally, what is the thief even running from so desperately? What does this have to do with all the voices, including Tim’s, that Carl hears when he becomes possessed? What do you think the thief’s end goal is? How do you think the thief was able to touch Nikita, and why did the thief seem so sure Nikita was going to hurt it? Also, how are Nikita and the thief connected, if at all? Lastly, do you think Carl will recover from the thief’s possession, or is he forever doomed?

chateaugrief

hello thursday book clubbers! Hi @NiinaEveliina I really enjoyed reading your comic! regarding 'extreme scenes' do you really think that the scenes from numb were extreme? what's everyones opinion on level of blood violence?

mathtans

Also, Levi's apartment and stuff for Susan issues. Though apparently she writes well, according to Nikita.

NiinaEveliina

@mathtans It's fun to see that perspective on Susan! To me her smoking was actually really important. In my childhood most of my family, friends and people around me were heavy smokers. Still they were the ones to tell me hardest "never you start ok" and I actually never have smoked a cig in my life, probably because of those smokey lungs were so much against it, ironically So there's something very nostalgic about her to me.

mathtans

I didn't have an issue with the blood. But it's not really a squick for me, and I wonder if watercolours mutes it a bit?

chateaugrief

I'd agree with mathtans that the abstraction of the art really created a bit of distance for me from the horror elements, muted it a bit perhaps?

mathtans

Niina: That's neat background info! Yeah, my family has some history of asthma and I have an allergy to smoke in particular. So I'm prejudiced against smokers. Nothing personal.

I'm not sure if it distanced me from the horror, just the violence.

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief I'd say the overall themes are pretty heavy and the obvious scenes like throwing Sue down the stairwell and Nikita getting knife'd. From the audience reactions, I'd say those would be the most 'gorey'. @mathtans yeah, all good :)

chateaugrief

good point, there was still major suspense

RebelVampire

id say the scenes in numb were still pretty extreme though, but thats in comparison to contemporary webcomics. and a good majority of "horror" webcomics are actually real mild in comparison. but thats just my opinion and based solely on my reading repitoire, and horror is hard to come by in webcomics in general unless you go looking for it.

mathtans

Regarding the latest question, not quite sure about thief's origins, assuming it's only one person - because I'm pretty sure Tim merged with the thief. Remember how Levi remembered that Tim had changed a bunch before he died? I think there's something to that.

RebelVampire

yeah, im 100% aboard the tim got possessed train

it is the most logical sense

NiinaEveliina

And I gotta say I'm happy that the visuals have been there to distance people from the violence. Because I never wanted Numb to be that kind of shock violence, in-your-face kind of mess. So it was my aim to find balance between the extreme nature of the violence but still keeping it, you know, tasteful.

chateaugrief

that's interesting, @RebelVampire because i've seen a lot of creators tag stuff with the tiniest bit of blood as mature, even in a non-violent context. I didn't think Numb was particularly gory, despite the scenes mentioned. The framing of the shots made them practically happen offscreen...which only heightened that suspense and atmosphere. Was very well done I thought

mathtans

Yeah, some of the framing was pretty well done. Like in the scenes where Carl has the knife.

chateaugrief

yes, those eyes staring out of the blacked out face!

mathtans

So Tim merged with the thief... is he a part of thief now then? Or did he kill himself to try and get away, and is now part of a band of ghosts trying to take thief down? I'm not clear whose side he's on.(edited)

NiinaEveliina

I better keep my mouth shut while the Thief talk, this is very interesting to follow

RebelVampire

nah i wouldnt say it was gory at all, but it was extreme in other ways which is why id still label it as extreme. becuase suspense can do a lot to make mild gore feel extreme. and more the issue with numb is it was realistic. because susan's death was something that could happen to anyone. so gory? definitely not. but extreme in the sense that it would unsettle ppl a lot and probably require a mature tag, yes probably. but again, specification this is compared to contemporary webcomics

if we start including other mediums its super duper mild

NiinaEveliina

@RebelVampire This is very true

mathtans

I mostly just read webcomics for this chat. I don't know what's mainstream.

chateaugrief

i'm such a newbie to webcomics that I probably take my expectations from other mediums. why I'm here, I want to learn.

RebelVampire

no time like the present to get started.

i feel like tim merged with the thief? like i kind of dont feel like you escape the thief once it possesses you

chateaugrief

so @NiinaEveliina how did you decide on the style of art that you chose?

RebelVampire

more likely i think levi mightve killed tim in self defense or something?

so tim is stuck forever

💩💩💩YY 💩💩💩

So I've only gotten to the point where Levi is in the hospital and he claims that there was someone there on the street. 9v9llll And I'm already quaking in mah boots. OH MAN... hides in non-existent sheets

mathtans

Maybe thief is a soul fleeing the grim reaper... except Nikita told Susan to move away from the voices after death, and she'd be fine. So maybe thief is the grim reaper, gone a bit off in the head?

RebelVampire

i kind of get the impression that the thief is an escapee, like the thief escaped a larger entity or escaped death itself. and now its on the run trying to avoid death

cause death sucks

who wants to be dead

nobody

thats who

💩💩💩YY 💩💩💩

This silly bean was not expecting this and now I'm not sure if I have the guts to continue. ; V ; slowly clicks next page

mathtans

Rebel: Oh, maybe. I hadn't considered that (the self defense). Fun fact, it occurred to me that Levi indirectly killed Susan. Because if he hadn't delayed her with his talk about Nikita, she would've left the house to look for Amy, rather than getting locked in by Carl.(edited)

chateaugrief

that was one of the funniest moments when Nikita says 'will you trust me if I tell you that dying is bad and you don't want to be dead'. (edited)

mathtans

Y'know who sucks? Thief. Death seems like the better alternative.

Cuz thief tries to be charming and stuff, then pushes your friends down a flight of stairs.

Going back to chateau's remark, yeah, watercolours is an interesting medium. I think we've only had one other webcomic here that uses them.

chateaugrief

i've seen a lot of webcomics that use digital media that's made to look like watercolor though. It's quite a beautiful look done well!

RebelVampire

man that moment with nikita telling susan about death really sticks to me now that i know susan be dead for real. cause the entire time i was like "this is strange advice for a character who isnt going to die."

and then the death was real

so now im like "great and depressing advice there nikita"

as another thief theory, i think the thief continually is transferring bodies to get rid of the voices of all the souls its kind of absorbed along its travels, but ironically the more it transfers the mroe souls it gathers

a tragic cycle

mathtans

That's a great theory. Snake eating it's own tail sort of thing.

chateaugrief

it did appear to absorb souls didn't it? I just realized that

incidentally, I found that listing the characters for every page was Super Useful for me as a new reader to keep everyone semi-straight in my head. Kudos

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief I decided the artstyle based on what I wanted to learn to do basically. I was terrible with watercolors/colors in general, and knew that if I used those in Numb, I'd HAD to learn them eventually Of course now they play such a big role in the comic, I cant even imagine numb without color anymore. Otherwise the cartoony/mangaish mishmash style was chosen because it allows me to really have fun with character expressions and go wild with them. I also take lot of inspiration from animation, and wanted to give a sense of movement to the characters with my best ability.

mathtans

Related to thief, I wonder what the deal is with the wheat field.

RebelVampire

the wheat field seems related to death in some way? cause it conveniently showed up when susan died

so maybe its the grim reaper?

chateaugrief

@NiinaEveliina thank you so much for choosing color. I have to thank every comic creator who goes the extra mile and uses color. It's hard, but it's so worth it! Really makes the story pop. How could those pages with the blood look half as good in black and white?

RebelVampire

or the bad grim reaper

chateaugrief

grain reaper

mathtans

You win the evening with that comment.

NiinaEveliina

hahaha

Superjustinbros

Hey there!

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief heck yea, color all the way!

Superjustinbros

Hope I'm not too late.

NiinaEveliina

Hi!

Superjustinbros

Hello!

chateaugrief

back on the character styles being a mix of manga and western, I thought that was a very interesting balance, I tend to prefer western style so that's what I saw...but now thinking about it I can see the influence of both. Interesting line to walk!

NiinaEveliina

tbh, all these thief, nikita's advice and the field theories are making my day

Superjustinbros

Manga/western mixes are perhaps one of my favorites so it's always good to see works that adapt to that style~

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief Theres a big blend probably because my childhood influences came from all directions, western, euro and japanese comic were all around from an really early age, so they have fused together in my style I think

chateaugrief

@NiinaEveliina any works that you consider to have particularly inspired you?

mathtans

Maybe when thief started out, they didn't possess people. Hence hanging around in forests as a disembodied voice. Maybe the people thing is more recent.

Maybe it's something Tim did.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Nikita is perhaps the most mysterious individual in the story. How do you think Nikita became a ghost (or whatever you think he is)? How long do you think he’s been that way? What might it have to do with what he told Susan after he found her injured? Why do you think Nikita has been avoiding Levi since the incident at Carl’s house? Is it fear or is Nikita just still mad about Levi’s dealings with everyone? In the comic, we also see some of Nikita’s life. What do you think happened to Nikita’s dad and mom given the medicine both seem to require? Who is Misha, and why did it cause Nikita’s mom to have a temporary meltdown? What do you think happened with Nikita’s relationship with Julia, whether in the past or in the current timeline?

thats an interesting thought that tim did something

maybe tim was the first

started the whole chain

chateaugrief

sounds plausible. I'm not to the part where we see nikita's backstory yet...at least I don't think I was

mathtans

Tim performed a ritual. Bad Tim.

chateaugrief

I was curious as to why Nikita just 'dropped Levi as a friend' after being friendly to him. I didn't understand why he did it. It felt like Nikita overreacted to whatever it was Levi said, and i couldnt' see why.

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief Donald Duck stories from the great Carl Barks and Don Rosa, Bone from Jeff Smith, Battle Angel Alita, Rumiko Takashi's work and Sandman are the first few comics that pop to my mind. The list is endless There's also huge influence from films on numb. Old italian horror films such as Suspiria and the beyond are great examples, especially for the trippy visuals.

mathtans

Here's one thing I wondered about Nikita and his interactions. When he threw the vase, it was like there wasn't a vase in the room. When he spilled the chess pieces, the guy thought he hadn't brought them. Can Nikita actually destroy our reality? Or are our brains that desperate to think of explanations for the stuff he does?

Levi has issues. Don't want them to rub off. ^^

chateaugrief

@NiinaEveliina ah .... some one's I've seen and some I haven't. I'll be sure to check them out

RebelVampire

i think its the latter, that our brains reject the supernatural so hard core we invent whatever seems the most logical to compensate.

cause susan especially seems that type

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief I swear the list changes every time I'm asked, there's just so many :D

RebelVampire

who will pick any reason that does not include the supernatural

mathtans

OH. Just thought of something. Carl could see Nikita. Tim could see things too, and possibly Amy. Maybe thief can only possess people who can see things like Nikita. Might be why he never tried for Susan.

The only way to protect yourself is not to believe.

RebelVampire

i suppose thats possible, although we have an immensely small sample size

and couldnt carl only see nikita after he was possessed?

mathtans

Carl gave Nikita an apple in an early scene.

But yeah, not necessarily enough people to draw conclusions.

RebelVampire

i dont remember this. i remember carl giving an apple to the lady that was possessed by the thief

mathtans

Oh, was it the lady? Maybe I got crossed up. It was the first time we saw Nikita, outside the hospital?

RebelVampire

http://www.NiinaEveliina.com/numb/comic/chapter-1-25-2/

mathtans

Ah, you're right, wires got crossed. We saw that apple later, and it was kind of rotten, so that makes sense too.

RebelVampire

on a side note, i enjoyed thief!carl punching nikita. cause the look on nikita's face was priceless. not that i cheer for his pain, but man was that a great expression because he didnt expect it at all

mathtans

True that.

I wonder if being in the proximity of death made him visible and corporeal to everyone. That's why Susan could see him.

RebelVampire

i think more likely the thief was special and susan was the one whose dyingness made her able to see him

since the topic of nikita and levi's relationship was brought up, i feel like nikita is just slow to trust and i feel like hes been a ghost long enough that hes not as used to having to tell ppl where hes going and such

chateaugrief

speaking of punching Nikita...he was a ghost right? do ghosts bleed? perhaps the punch made him non spectral?

punched straight out of the afterlife.

RebelVampire

i feel like it did make him non spectral

although im really curious about whether or not he couldve actually died again

mathtans

Maybe Nikita's having issues as a ghost, because he can't take his meds any more. Gets harder and harder to talk to people.

I feel like it might've been worse than death. Even after the wounds "healed", Nikita said it still hurt.

chateaugrief

only thing creepier than a ghost is a ghost obsessively swallowing adhd meds

NiinaEveliina

punched straight out of the afterlife... just to get stabbed. No wonder he's salty(edited)

mathtans

"One Punch Carl".

chateaugrief

Carl was the boss. I liked his character. Susan was a bit hard on him, seemed to see criticism from him at every turn, but I felt like it was genuine concern coming from him.

I could be confusing Susan with the other girl....

RebelVampire

i see both sides of the carl susan relationship. cause im sure his concern was genuine, but at the same time i also understand how concern eventually becomes nagging

ya know who really got the short end of the stick in all this story though?

amy

amy basically has little to no agency

and all this bad shit keeps happening

and everyone is lying to her

mathtans

I do shake my head at the one Carl scene. Where his daughter, who's already established as someone who maybe skips classes, talks about going into the woods. And Carl's like, "yeah, don't do that, okay go out to the bus now". Like, maybe watch her board the bus? What did you have to do that was so important?

RebelVampire

about whats going on

chateaugrief

yes that was the other girl! couldn't remember her name she had so little agency

mathtans

Yeah, Amy's imaginary friends even gave themselves up for her.

chateaugrief

poor girl, she was trying

mathtans

I'm really bad with names, usually. Not sure why I haven't tripped up yet. Maybe it's the reasonably sized cast?

Or the tags.

chateaugrief

I really liked the tags

but I only discovered they were there at about chapter 3

it really cleared up the characters a bit for me, but i'm kinda fuzzy on some of them

RebelVampire

math you havent even gotten to the sadder part with the imaginary friends XD

that broke my heart a bit for them

cause tbf they probably arent imaginary

mathtans

Oh noes. O.o

I wondered about that.

RebelVampire

but that is debateable tbf

i dont think theyre imaginary though

mathtans

Okay, we haven't had enough crazy theories yet. So, Nikita's dad is really also Tim's dad. They're half brothers. Boom!

RebelVampire

cuse if they are amy is super creative and has way better designed imaginary friends then i ever did

chateaugrief

......O.O.......

mathtans

tbf I think Amy is super creative. She was trying to do drawings and stuff. (Though she may be creative but not have art skill.)

chateaugrief

and she was very young, she was definitely trying. She's not dead yet is she? plenty of room for character development

mathtans

Also, she's adopted. Boom! shrugs

RebelVampire

amy definitely isnt dead

yet

QUESTION 4. Levi has his own mysteries and problems going on, past and present. What do you think happened between him, Susan, and Tim given certain flashbacks we’ve seen? What do you think Levi and Tim saw that day in the woods, and why were only Levi and Tim able to see it? Why did Levi lie to dream Susan about not seeing Tim sometimes in his dreams? In other words, what is Levi emotionally avoiding? Do you think that Levi will be able to get over what happened at Carl’s house? Also, do you believe that he will be able to help Amy? What about Kiwi who seems to have known Nikita and who is now Amy’s roommate? Finally, do you believe Levi is safe from the thief, or are the two destined to encounter each other again?

chateaugrief

Nyarlathotep

is the dad

mathtans

Levi and Tim seemed to see an opening, if memory serves?

Also, Levi seems to have trust issues. Like, he doesn't seem to think anyone will believe him. Including himself, maybe.

RebelVampire

i think levi is more afraid of being alone and ostracized

that is the impression i get from him

which is why he does what he must to fit in with the club

mathtans

Actually, Tim was always Levi's imaginary friend. Levi believed so hard that Susan could see Tim too.

Yeah, he doesn't want to be alone, I can see that.

RebelVampire

im still gonna go with the levi hurt tim in self defense when tim went psycho possessed. and that in turn tore the group apart cause nobody wanted to talk about what happened.

that would be an amazing twist for tim

mathtans

What if Levi actually was the first one possessed by thief. And it ended up going to Tim. And that's why Levi has abandonment issues.

I can't tell if I'm doing crazy theories or normal ones.

RebelVampire

i think that one still qualifies as crazy but i mean its not implausible

chateaugrief

I really don't have enough info to make theories.... these sound good. I could go with any of these

mathtans

Do we know much about Carl's wife?

RebelVampire

no but i assume dead

because youre not to the part but they send amy to an orphanage

because they cant get in contact with any other relatives

mathtans

Gotcha. Wondered if Levi knew her in some way. Not sure if it's connected.

RebelVampire

idk

tbh ive really been trying to figure out how carl knows them and what the nature of their relationship is

cause carl has like 10 to 20 years on them

mathtans

Yeah. School related? Carl's job?

RebelVampire

and im not sure if this is like one of those small town where everyone just knows everyone

mathtans

Anyway, you'll have to theorize without me. Time to put little one to bed.

chateaugrief

i wondered about that, Carl looks about 50, so were the levi/susan crowd about in their 20's or perhaps late teens?

RebelVampire

ok. thanks for coming, math~!

levi is apparently late 20s and susan early 30s

by their cast pages

NiinaEveliina

@mathtans thanks for joining the chat and giving numb a change despite not being such a horror fan!

chateaugrief

I may have been thrown off by the lack of visible employment by the levi/susans, though maybe I just missed that. I've got to learn to slow down when i read webcomics. There's such a temptation to go so fast!

NiinaEveliina

The ages are pretty vague, because I don't want to forget and then conflict myself later, but it wouldn't be much of a spoiler to give a little background on Carl and Susan (I think it's on their cast info pages as well so it's not a spoiler even) but Carl was a family friend to Susans parents, who were working a lot and going abroad, so Carl looked after Susan a lot, and is basically her father figure. Carl knows Levi and Tim through Susan, since those three were childhood pals.

chateaugrief

that makes sense, it makes sense of the character dynamics too.

RebelVampire

ok that does add more context and makes more sense. and also explains why carl keeps nagging susan like a dad

or kept

cause susans dead

and carl is close to dead

now im sad

chateaugrief

pretty unlucky family, perhaps a familial curse?

RebelVampire

i just hope amy is not next on this path of death and destruction

chateaugrief

now that susan's dead I'm going to have to adjust my feelings on who is the protagonist of the story. I would have said her over Levi, but I guess it's all up to Levi now.

NiinaEveliina

Being amy is suffering

chateaugrief

Speaking of protagonists and plots and stuff @NiinaEveliina do you have a completed plot/script for this comic or are you more freeform making it up in episodes as they come?

RebelVampire

i always felt levi was the protagonist, though susan was a main character for sure. but susan seemed to have a smidgen less agency than levi in terms of who the protagonist is.

NiinaEveliina

@chateaugrief Everything is on my head, as I'm dreadful at actually writing things down, but the whole story has a script/plot that I follow. But I'm open with it in a way that I know what will happen, but HOW it will happen is free to change if the story seems to drift more to other way. As I have done this comic further, I learn to know the characters more, so some actions I planned for them may not make sense anymore, or just that they would go about it differently. Those kind of things may change.

I have vague idea how many pages the story will need, but as I do chapters, I don't have set page number for them. (that's something I will start using on my next project after numb, but with Numb I'm gonna roll with the flow)

chateaugrief

I always wonder about the page numbering thing because of the strict expectations with print form comics on page counts and things, at least in American comics. It always sounded very hard to structure your story around pages that way

NiinaEveliina

Yeah, but I can see the perks in that too. Helps you to trim down the story and keep on track with things.

chateaugrief

that's something I really should ask, you use some very complicated page layouts, and I think they flow quite well. How do you plan your pages, do you begin with the panel structure and fit your story to the panels or what?

choosing panel structures has always been mysterious to me

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Niina Eveliina Salmelin, as well, for making Numb. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Niina Eveliina Salmelin’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://www.NiinaEveliina.com/numb/

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Niina’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/NSalmelin

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about Pin Porter Girl Detective by Robin Gee and Ethan Bartlett. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, December 6th, from 5PM to 7PM PST for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: http://pinporterdetective.com/

[tori-artemis]

Thank you, @iamanartichoke for the asks! Writing this all out kind of made my day. 💜💜💜

Alright, so here we go:

9. Worst part of canon:

The fact that nothing ever is fully explored, omg! Like we see Loki being shocked and repulsed when he learns about his heritage, right, we see him almost physically recoil at the sight of his arm turning blue, we see him hesitate right when he's about to reach for Odin, bc he's afraid his touch will hurt him. So we know he has issues with this fact about himself, he's bothered by the fact that he's Jotun, and then several films later and... nothing. This is never really touched on again. Which is a shame, bc there's so much angst and character potential here!

And it keeps happening, like we see Loki fall into the void, we see he's still alive but seemingly roughed up at the end Thor 1, we see him in Avengers looking near-feral and clearly not well, but then those experiences of his are never explored, never even fully acknowledged, and IDK, it just bugs me.

(Also this isn't even necessarily about Ragnarok solely, bc I kinda include The Dark World here too. As much as Tom Hiddleston acted the hell out of his scenes, and he certainly had these things in mind during his performance, and as decent as the writing was overall, the fact that this was never mentioned, or brought up, or Thor never bothered to ask or they never had an argument where this info just spilled out... it just frustrates me, y'know. Like I would've actually enjoyed Dark World a lot more if these things had been explored in a meaningful way, or even just at all, but yeah. I'm not hating on the film, it's not the worst but I'd be lying if I said that I loved, or even really liked it, bc... well yeah.)

10. Worst part of fanon:

That Loki is the liarist liar ever, who ever liared his way into lying? Or that he's Stabby McBackstabber, or Traitor McGee or whatever. Mr "Power Hungry for a Throne" wants his power fixation and is fucking shit up bc he can - and bc he's apparently turned into goddamn Littlefinger from Game of Thrones and he's just climbing that chaos ladder, I guess. Tbf this is more the MCU/marvel fanon/misinterpretation of him, verses Loki fandom fanon in general, but I still see it and it's annoying. I guess if I had to pick fanon from the fandom tho... maybe it's less the fanon and more the extremism of certain fanons? Like - Loki's a good person at heart, he's loyal, he deeply loves and cares for his family (and his people/realm), we all know this, but then when that's the only thing that ever gets applied to his decision making, when you take away his more "unsavory" qualities (particularly his envy and resentment of Thor - understandable as those feelings may be, they're still, well, pretty dark emotions y'know), then you just strip a character of all his nuance and turn him into a one note saint, and those are never fun. He's basically reduced to being just as shallow as Traitor McGee over there, just from an opposite viewpoint. I love him more when he's human and flawed, he doesn't have to be a perfect saint for me to love him as a character.

(Like yes - Loki is perfect, but in that he's perfectly imperfect, if that makes any sense.)

22. Part of canon that you love that everyone else ignores:

I'm not sure tbh? I'm like the last person to give these great meta-insightful answers bc I kinda just get all my information from other meta writers. Like I never actually analyzed any of the Thor films - or any MCU film for that matter, I kinda just watch and enjoy the ride, and it wasn't until I started reading all this great Loki meta on Tumblr that I started to actually think about any of this stuff at all. But I guess if I had to pick something... um something I really liked, in Ragnarok of all things, was how Loki seemed to joke about the more difficult/upsetting aspects of his past (ex: his suicide attempt, and to a lesser degree his Jotun heritage bc I do think he has a lot of unresolved issues when it comes to that). Which is strange bc a lot of fans actually have said they hated that, but for a character known for putting a front and wearing masks I honestly found it pretty in character for him. Like I do think Loki uses humor to downplay his own pain/angst/struggles in general. The comment he says about Frigga (after she was recently murdered mind you) when Thor says "She wouldn't want us to fight" (voice full of pain) and Loki just - tearfully, yet lightheartedly quips back "well she wouldn't exactly be shocked" - it's things like that. And granted, I know those two scenes were very different, and he was with Thor in the latter scene, which also changes everything on how he responds/presents himself etc., but I can't help but see it as another example of Loki using humor to lighten up a conversation/bad memory. (There are probably better examples out there, but I'm too tired to search for any).

Just basically: if anyone would make a sarcastic joke about their own suicide attempt and shrug it off as no big deal... it'd be Loki.