#haha i actually managed to find a panel all the characters which were mentioned are in for once

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

So I wanted to join the tr kin quiz train 👉👈🥺 I did a few different ones and got Hina twice then Draken lol

Those are great results to get!!! I feel like you must be a person others can rely on and go to with their problems. You're the advice friend because you give the best advice. Like just a kind person everyone feels safe with. Though anyone who upsets you or your loved ones better watch out because you're very protective of the people you care about.

[majorshiraharu]

Echoes In My Mind; Chapter 1 - Icy Alliance - EchoxReader Fic

Echo x (Female) Reader fic 

---------------------------------------------------- Content Rating: Mature/18+ Eventual NSFW Smut Warnings:  Swearing Violence Anxiety Mention of violent canon events

-Trigger Warnings for future chapters:  Torture Injuries Recovery Nightmares PTSD (rather warn you now before you become invested, after this warnings will only be labeled for individual chapters at the start of each) 

-This fic will be added to my ao3 account and to the masterlist, if you want to be added to a taglist please let me know. Y/N = Your name  Y/O/N = Your original name (since your character is going under an alias for most of the fic, before later on revealing her real name)

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Intro: After order 66 you escape the Empires grips and go on back to your bounty hunting ways, your ship was damaged in a mission gone wrong and you’ve been stranded on a cold icy planet doing whatever jobs you can to fix your ship and finally get out of here. Along the way, you run into some guys with familiar faces, one who reminds you of the man you loved that died years ago at the Citadel 

-You're collecting your reward for a bounty you just turned in - just then a male Gotarite comes up behind you grabbing your shoulder - you whip around pulling your blaster out of its holster as you use your elbow to push away the hand, now with your blaster pointed directly at his face - "Vegree?!" you shout, lowering your blaster. "I thought you were going to blast my head off, what the kriff were you thinking Y/N?" he spits out angrily both of his offset green beady eyes staring at you. "Man I'm sorry but that's what you get for grabbing me from behind like that, you're lucky I recognized your stench so quickly" you said as smugly as you could manage. 

"Whaaat didd youu jusst saayy?!" Oh great you thought, you know shits about to go down when he starts stuttering like that.   "I'm just teasing you old man, stop getting your teeth in a twist, you might bite your tongue off" you said trying to cool the tension rising. 

"Wellll listten heere Y/N, iff yoouuu ssso mucch aas pooinnt thhatt tthiingg att mme aggainn wwe'rre gonnnaa hhavve mooree prrobblemmms!" he shouts, clearly not taking your jokes well.  "More problems than we already have, haha, I find that hard to believe, well anyway what did you want?" hoping that changing the subject might make his mood better. 

He lets out a big snort as he swallows his anger with you to finally move on to his point for being there, "I got a mission for ya, pays well, might get ya out of this dump." 

"Well, what is it, who's asking, how much, who I gotta kill, or capture, anything to get out of here with my sanity."  "Can't tell ya who from, it'll pay ya enough to fix your ship, but no killing, it's purely a spy mission" he says looking around for anyone listening. 

"A spy mission, urgh, fine, who or what is my target and what do I need to get" you scoff out, you've always hated spy missions because they usually involved you getting found at some point, the last spy mission ended with you running to your ship under heavy fire, that mission was also the reason you were stuck on this godforsaken trash pile of a planet. 

"Stop complaining, ya want in or not?!" he asks pulling out a datapad  "Fine" you growl reaching out for the datapad.  He waits for a moment before handing it to you, "Ya will find all ya need on that, just make sure to deliver what they want by the deadline, I ain't the middle man on this one so ya better not get snippy with da wrong people" he says in an almost worried way as he gets up and walks off into the crowd of people in the cantina. 

What's that supposed to mean you think to yourself, he's never been so worried or secretive about a mission before. You turn on the datapad looking over the words and images on the screen, seems easy enough, you'll just have to steal another ship to get to the location, which was on a nearby planet, great, good luck finding a decent ship in this place. You would just take a ship and run, but being a bounty hunter that wouldn't help you get any jobs and would probably end with someone putting a bounty on your head, so best to just borrow one for a few hours so you can complete this mission and then fix your own ship.

You get up and walk outside, breaking the datapad in two and discarding it as it instructed, it's cold outside, your face feels like it's already starting to freeze, you head towards the landing pads and the shipyard - it's pretty empty today. Then you spot an all-black ship, it looks strange among the rest, almost like it could be an imperial transport shuttle, but you've never seen one like this, sadly imperial or not it would have to do, there was nothing else nearby and not to mention you wanted out of the cold so bad you'd gladly pick a fight with some imperials right now if it meant getting out of this cold. -You hack the control panel on the outside gaining you access to the inside of the ship, where you notice a skull painted on the side and a bunch of posters, eww this ship must belong to some lonely strange guys by the look of this messy place and the different things scattered about.   You walk to the front of the ship working on hacking the panel so you can fly out of here, this is harder than you thought, normally you were pretty good at this stuff, but someone has heavily modified this ship, no wonder it didn't look familiar, whoever these people were they knew how to modify a ship that's for sure.

-Suddenly you hear people talking, and it's getting closer, oh kriff you think, with your luck, it's probably the people who own this ship, and by the sound of it there are 5 men, you could probably take them as long as you got the jump on them. -You put the cover over the control panel trying to be as quiet as possible as you hear the door to the ship open "kriff" you let slip out as you try to duck into a hiding spot behind part of the wall near the door. "So boys now that we've delivered this bounty and finally gotten some grub where do you all want to go?" asks one of the men, he has a distinctive accent, they all start talking, making it hard to tell what they're saying, especially over the sound of the one guy shouting about wanting to beat up some clankers. You try to take advantage of their babbling to sneak a peak for how you might get out of this predicament. 

 Well, there's no way out, they're all standing right by the door, and there's no way to sneak by them or - your thoughts are cut off by the sudden realization that the cover you had hastily placed back on slid off the console and crashed hard onto the floor, stopping their bickering. 

"We really need to fix this thing, Tech, Echo, get over there and patch that back up will ya" the one with the accent says, causing you to shake with anxiety, knowing that in any second two of those guys would be walking right by you, should I attack them, or should I try to explain myself, you think quickly unsure of your choices as your anxiety swallows you up, hearing their footsteps coming closer, you close your eyes. -You try and dart out from your hiding spot to hopefully catch them off guard giving you enough time to get out and into the snowstorm outside, but instead, you just run right into the guy who was just around the corner crashing to the ground as you land right on top of him with a grunt. "What the heck" you hear the rest around you yell, as the one below you lets out a small grunt before looking up at you, right into your eyes, both of you just kinda stare at each other, unsure of what's going on. 

"Echo" the one to the left of you shouts, grabbing you and pulling you back locking your arms behind you. Did he say Echo? you think,  "Let me go" you shout cracking the back of your head into his helmet and kicking him back, freeing yourself, you try to run, but the one called Echo gets up quickly stepping in front of you and grabbing both your wrists as you try to push him away,  "I said let go" you yell kicking his leg, "OW!!" you scream out realizing you just kicked your shin into a leg that was metal. "Are you okay?" he asks instantly letting go of your wrists, as you bend down to hold your aching shin, you look up to see a worried look on his face,  "Why do you care?" you said coldly as you stood up, still in pain, making him frown.  "I care because you just kick my solid metal leg." he says in a joking way, making you look away, feeling guilty for being such a jerk.  "I'm sorry" you say while staring at the floor, "I'm just trying to finish this mission so I can fix my ship and get off this damn planet." "So you were going to steal our ship?" he says raising an eyebrow with a smirk crawling across his face.   "Just to get to the mission location, I was gonna bring it back" you basically shout, now getting flustered by the way he's looking at you. 

"Well, where are you headed maybe we can take you."  "Wait now hold on there" one with the gray hair and bad attitude says  "We aren't seriously going to let this little girl hitch a ride to some bounty on our ship, are we?" he spits out.

"HEY, I'm not a little girl, I'm a bounty hunter" you shout at him, causing him to roll his eyes and cross his arms.  "I think we are" says the one with the accent grinning at the displeasure these words brought to the face of his comrade.  "Sorry about that, Crosshair here doesn't trust easily, my name is Hunter, this is Wrecker, over there is Tech and well you've just met Echo" he says pointing out his comrades to you. 

As he does this you notice they all look kinda similar, the one called Echo looks a lot like the clones you use to fight alongside.  "You're clones?" you say hesitantly,  "Yes" said Echo,  "Well actually we've all been altered in some way to enhance specific skills" says Tech in a way that was almost too fast for you to understand. "It's good to meet you, umm..."  "Y/N" you blurt out nervously,  "Y/N" Hunter says finishing his sentence.  You notice Echo smiling at you after you just blurted out your name, causing you to slightly blush, trying to look away from him in a way that wasn't obvious. 

"Well Y/N, where are you headed?" asks Echo.   “I'm headed to Luminues, the planet not too far from here, it's just a simple mission to get some information from a warehouse for someone."

"Hmm, for a mission that sounds so simple I'm surprised they'd pay enough to fix your ship, who's asking for this information?" Hunter asks looking concerned,  "I know, they didn't give me much information on the job and I don't know who they are, but I promise it will just be a simple in and out and then I'll be out of your hair" you say trying to sound convincing.  "LET'S GO THEN" shouts Wrecker,   "All right" says Hunter sternly, "but we can't help you and if our ship gets damaged we'll need some of that bounty in return",   "No problem, I'd be happy to share whatever I have left after I repair my ship" you say thankful that they are willing to even take you in the first place. They all take their spots, standing or sitting around as Tech starts the ship and sets it on a course to Luminues, you awkwardly stand near the wall staring out into space until you notice Echo walking up to you. "Umm...so you know clones?" he says unsure of how to phrase his question, "Yeah, I use to...." you cut yourself off, remembering that despite not being a Jedi you were still labeled as an enemy of the Empire and you didn't want to give yourself away, "umm, I um I...I worked on ships for the Republic" you said pretty unconvincingly, Echo looks at you tilting his head and raising a brow, he seems to understand that you can't say exactly who you are and accepts your lame answer.  "Well then Y/N, I guess if you mostly worked on ships we probably never met, I was on the front lines a lot, fighting with the...” - suddenly he gets cut off by Crosshair who hits him in the shoulder,  "She doesn't care Echo and remember we're trying to stay low key" he says jabbing him with his elbow,    "Eh, sorry" Echo says with a sad look on his face as he turns away to walk towards Tech.  "We'll be landing shortly" Tech says while pressing a bunch of buttons,  "You might want to hold on to something" Crosshair teases, making you let out a snort as you walk closer to the front of the ship, at that moment the ship makes a hard turn before it jumps back to just barely make a landing on the small landing pad causing you to grab onto Echo to stay on your feet, he grabs your waist trying to steady you before looking up at you, both of you blush before letting go of each other. - Tech opens the door leading outside. "Okay, we got you here, Echo can give you our com channel so you can contact us when you need a pickup, otherwise we'll be here waiting." Hunter says walking toward the open door, Echo softly grabs your arm typing their com channel into your comlink  "Thank you" you say quietly smiling at Echo, causing him to let go of your arm and look away,  "Uh, no problem" he says quietly in return. -You walk out the door as they wish you good luck, let's get this over with you think to yourself finally setting off for your bounty.

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-Notes: Hope you all enjoyed this, I haven't written a fic like this in a while so it's nice to do this again, Chapter 2 will probably be out sometime next week, I will post updates. If you want to be added to a taglist just send me an ask or request so in a comment <3 uwu 

[deitiesofduat]

BASTET: “As it turns out, the project has been due for this type of update for some time -- which the artist @tenicola​ (aka @teninini, colacanvas, and "Teni") finally got around to, after having enough headspace to approach it. 

“And just to avoid worrying anyone seeing this -- nope, Teni is not dropping DEITIES project anytime soon. She's not going anywhere, and neither am I! Or the rest of my pantheon! 

“But Teni mentioned she was worried about projecting that outcome, due to how inactive she's been online, and how quiet she's been about progress. She's hoping this update can add some clarity on what's actually going on, and what to expect going forward.”

“The rest of this update is below the cut, as text mixed with panels. It's on the long-ish side, and while it's best to skim through everything for context, you can also skip to the section "SHIFT IN [PUBLIC] SCOPE" if you just want to get to the point.

“Without further ago, let's start with some history that Teni wanted to share for full context -- again, under the cut!”

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[ HISTORY OF DEITIES PROJECT ]

BASTET: “DEITIES Project -- and the main story for said project (Deities of Duat: The Chaos Seal), which is intended as a long form webcomic -- has been in development, privately and offline, since late 2014. Teni meant to keep it private for as long as possible, until she felt “ready” to share it.

“However, she was motivated to take the plunge and reveal the project's existence with these color tests and with this comic, as part of her coursework for her visual storytelling class. You know the one…”

“The surge of encouragement from both her classmates and her followers motivated Teni to create this blog -- the one you're visiting right now! It was Teni's full intention to use this blog to share progress on the main story, as a full-length webcomic, while building and engaging her audience.”

“However, along the way were a few... unforeseen obstacles that reared their head. Some obstacles were mitigated by making steady updates to the story and blog, but some were much more challenging, and she thinks it only fair to disclose some of them for context...”

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[ OBSTACLES OF LIFE ]

BASTET: “The first obstacle was the sudden onset of chronic lower back pain -- just before the launch of the DEITIES blog in 2016. She still has it to this day, and says this ache makes it unbearable to sit or stand in the same position for too long. Among several inconveniences this causes, it also means she can only draw in short bursts before her stamina taps out, or before needing pain relief -- like heat, ice, and pressure.”

“As you might imagine, it's not the most fun condition to have when you enjoy drawing! And it's taken a while for Teni to cope with this daily frustration. She's still planning to find answers and a treatment to help reduce it, but has also accepted that she's been dealt this hand -- not unlike other creatives that deal with some form of chronic pain.”

“The back pain was one obstacle, but having to deal with different interpersonal struggles and friction was another. Some spiked her usual feelings of anxiety, and in one relationship's case, made her question whether or not the project was worth continuing. (On that note -- Teni does not want to call out anyone or guilt them, she just wanted to bring it up as a factor for the larger point she's making — just bear with us!)

“The third big obstacle a few years back, was having a day job that had an... ‘unfriendly’ work environment, and was paying a lot less income than she fairly deserved. And near the beginning of 2018, she was laid off from said job, putting a halt to any income she was earning only a week after signing the lease to her first apartment!”

“Teni didn't go into detail about those months of job hunting and taking tech classes, though she explains bits of it in previous updates. But the lack of financial stability at the time hung over her head constantly. The way she put it was: ‘It was hard to motivate myself to indulge in something I loved, but that didn't provide income, while I was in the middle of an extended job hunt.’"

“She didn't expect all these obstacles in succession when she launched the project. And she admits that she felt a combination of frustration, impatience, and disappointment for not updating the project at the same pace she started.”

“This was not because of any pressure from followers -- she told me you all have been incredibly understanding and patient! It was because of the fact that the project had been publicly promoted for so long, and she set her own expectations and goals so high -- without factoring the likelihood of life getting in the way. There was also the lingering fear of disappointing a lot of people, if one day she had no choice but to stop the project for her own livelihood and health.”

“Ah, why am I adding to this creative angst -- Teni didn't want this to be a sob story! I'll move on haha.”

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[ IN A BETTER PLACE ]

BASTET: “Thankfully, in spite of all those obstacles, things are turning around for Teni in this new decade. A year ago she found a job with a feasible income to support herself, and an overall healthy work environment within her team. She's also fostered healthier relationships with her family and friends, and even made closer connections with the best friends she's had for ages!”

“And while her back pain is… still there, it's a manageable part of life that she's still determined to find answers for and improve.

“Not to mention that in the past year, she's been able to work on other projects, more quietly, and indulge in drawing other characters and fanart for fun. She's consumed more of her favorite media in the interim as well to support others, and to sate her own curiosity and interests.”

“Moving on to how this relates to this update, now that we have some backdrop for what's been happening...”

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[ AREAS OF INTEREST ]

BASTET: “Again, Teni is not dropping DEITIES Project -- she admits the fear of having to make that call had crossed her mind, but it's not something she thinks she'll need to reconsider right now. Her bigger concern has been how to approach this project publicly, moving forward. And after giving it some thought, she's made some observations that may shed light on this answer.

“Teni wanted me to emphasize the idea of her doing a ‘reset’ for the public presentation and development of DEITIES Project -- not to change or hide the development thus far, but to reframe the project's scope -- what it's focus and goals are, more or less.

“...Oh-- looks like she made some visuals to help with this -- you two mind lending me a hand?”

“You all might have figured it out by now, but Teni absolutely loves drawing character art and designs. She also likes panel-style comics, as well as the dialogue, expressions, and SFX that comes with it. She can work on them offline without prompting, but she also loves sharing what she comes up with!

“What she's less fond of sharing is some of the other... *ahem* unmentionables and time-consuming work that comes with traditional comics. Things that take hours to set up and hours to practice, let alone execute for the final product -- an unfortunate hurdle when you're a one-person production team, and you can only draw in small bursts at a time.”

“She initially tried to put off the more indulgent art that she liked, in order to focus the less-favored obligations... but she realized that this just made her feel demotivated to work on anything, and less got completed as a result.”

“Overall, Teni's coming to terms with both her own limitations and her personal drive, and wants to shift her priorities accordingly for the project -- even if it goes against the grain of what's considered ‘good’  or well-meaning advice for a personal project.”

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[ SHIFT IN [PUBLIC] SCOPE ]

BASTET: “Instead of treating the DEITIES main story/comic as the ‘end game’ goal of this project -- and pouring all her available energy in preparing for it and hyping it up -- Teni wants to shift the main story as a future, and more private ambition, until she's in a better place to execute it and share it publicly.

“No, she does not have any estimate or TBD date for when this will be, or when she'll make public updates on it’s progress or launch. It may even remain private indefinitely. And for now, she's okay with this.

“Because (1) The main story "The Chaos Seal" is not the only story that's worth telling from this project. Smaller side- and backstories, and even small character interactions, have their merit as well -- something Teni learned from drawing askbox responses, completing memes with the cast, and character exploration with friends. And with the main story not sucking up all the oxygen, she thinks it'll leave room to tackle the others more easily -- whether they're planned ahead of time or are spur-of-the-moment, and as comics or different formats.

“(2) Removing the DEITIES main story from its public pedestal will also allow her to work on other non-DEITIES things as they crop up -- and with less irrational guilt to indulge in things that aren't ‘priority’ for completing the comic. Meaning more art of her original characters, fanart, giftart, collabs, memes and bandwagons, and other smaller projects. Heck, she might even give herself permission to relax.

“And (3), perhaps most importantly -- Teni realized that DEITIES Project shouldn’t have to start and end with the so-called main story, and placing the story aside wouldn’t mean the project suddenly becomes a waste of time -- as she originally worried about projecting when her life took a twist.

“DEITIES Project just… is. It already exists, and the characters and world already exist -- with or without a completed webcomic to validate that existence.”

“But anyway, I side-tracked. The point is, Teni's planning to shift DEITIES project to just that -- a project, with room to continually grow, explore, and experiment with, and to engage with others as she feels comfortable, without the pressure of having a giant epic to tell.

“So while the main story and comic is going to shift to something more gradual and private -- the way it was originally meant to be -- this shift in scope will help adjust the project’s longevity, and also set the stage for some changes to be made around the blog, and for the public presentation for DEITIES.” 

“However, that content will be less scheduled and remain sporadic -- things will ‘happen when they happen,’ but what Teni has in mind will hopefully be enjoyable for those following the project.”

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[ WHAT'S NEXT-- ]

BASTET: “Here’s the thing: we actually had more to share, but Teni made the call to save it all for another day -- to avoid making this update longer than needed, and to also avoid announcing any plans prematurely. No need to risk building pressure all over again or burning out, right?

“She asks for everyone’s patience and to give her another few weeks to re-calibrate things, address pressing questions, and work on some overdue housekeeping on the blog -- and to just draw whatever pops to her mind, cuz hey, why not? After that, she'll wait until any project items are already in the works and on the road to completion, before she announces that they're coming -- an ‘under-promise but over-deliver’ approach.

“But one thing you can look forward to are more featured deities from the main cast and the supporting cast -- including those colors tests she's been working on since last year, and then some! There's no shortage of inspiration or fodder, so to speak.”

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[ IN CONCLUSION ]

BASTET: “So to recap! DEITIES Project will be shifting its scope and priorities, so that the main story and comic is developed more privately, and more characters and lore will be explored online at a more manageable pace. On the surface, that may not look like much is changing, but hopefully this update can make expectations more clear.

“Teni knows that there may be some in the audience who may feel down about this decision, or who were looking forward to the webcomic to be completed above all else. She says that's totally fair, and encourages anyone looking for stories to check out her recommendations. But she also hopes you'll understand, and be willing to stick around for other content in the meantime.”

"That brings Teni -- and me -- to one final point. Which is to sincerely thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and patience these past few years. In addition to things that are still in the works, there's a lot of content on this blog that had been inspired by everyone's engagement, which we can't thank you enough for!

“Teni and I, and everyone else from the pantheon, are excited about what’s next for Deities of Duat and DEITIES Project. And we’re looking forward to sharing more content, more freely, in the upcoming year for you all to enjoy.”

[athena-athena]

I Met Michael Rooker!

So I copied all of the Rooker bits from my blog to share here on tumblr.  If y’all just want to read about the rest of my weekend, just let me know and I’ll share my blog link.  :)

Fair warning, this is SUPER long because I typed it up for myself, and I didn’t want to forget ANYTHING.  Also, I fangirl a lot.  

Around 10:15 on Saturday, I decided to start trying to find the room for Rooker’s panel.  It took a few minutes, and I ended up having to ask someone at the info desk (which also came in handy all weekend), and the rooms were downstairs, which explained why I couldn’t find them.  So I walked downstairs and found the room, confirmed his panel time on the sign, and then found a seat next to the door, where I proceeded to try to calm down and cool off as I texted Beth.

Once Bonnie Wright’s panel ended and the room cleared out, I headed into the room and managed to snag a seat in the 4th row!  I could have gotten closer, but that would have required sitting on the end seat, and Rooker is notorious for going out into the audience with his microphone, and I was not prepared to be put on the spot by him, so I thought the middle of the 4th row was a safe place.  XD  Of course, it didn’t matter, because Rooker didn’t stay on the stage long at all before he hopped out into the audience.  I swear he never stands still.  

Anyway, after I got to my seat, I counted down the minutes with Beth, and by the time it got down to about three minutes, I was DYING, because I KNEW he was SOMEWHERE IN THE VICINITY.  I almost cried, y’all, and I hadn’t even seen him yet.  

A few minutes after 11:00, the moderator walked out, and I was internally screaming.  The little path from the backstage area was blocked by a sheer black curtain, but you could still see movement if you were actually looking, and I could see the moment Rooker ran from backstage to go up to the stage and I was already smiling like an IDIOT before he even got to the stage.  

Like, I can’t even describe it, y’all.  It was just INCREDIBLE and MIND-BLOWING to be in the same room as Michael Rooker, and I think I smiled the entire time. He is SO HILARIOUS and his panel had such a chaotic energy, but it was amazing and I laughed so much.  It flew by, and before I knew it, it was over. *cries*

I’m going to TRY to remember some highlights from the panel.  I saw several people filming throughout, so I hope someone recorded the whole thing and posts it online because I know I’ve forgotten a lot of it, even though I tried to remember it.  

He never even sat down at the table when he got to the stage.  The moderator had already gone over the “ground rules” of the panel and explained where to line up to ask questions, and then he introduced Rooker, who immediately ran to the table and began dismantling it so he could get the microphone out, as he yelled, “No ground rules!”  Once he finally got the microphone loose from the table, he realized he still needed a cordless one because the other was wired, and anyone who’s ever seen Rooker in action knows that won’t work.  XD

So someone from the back ran out and gave him a cordless microphone and he was happy.  He did a little back and forth banter with the moderator, and then he said “jiggly butt” about ten times, just so the interpreter would have to do the sign for “jiggly butt.” XD  He was so fascinated by it.  And then he talked about how different interpreters do the jiggly butt sign differently.  Lol  

He then made the moderator help him move the table out of the way.  XD

I’m trying to remember what all he talked about, but I’ll never remember everything. I know he mentioned Starbucks, because he had some with him, and he said, “Y’all know those Starbucks scones?  I don’t want to talk bad about Starbucks, but I almost choked to death on one of the scones this morning.  It was like eating sawdust.  Y’all know how a dog sounds when it’s choking?  That’s what I sounded like.” And then he gave a demonstration.  XD

He also took his jacket off, which I’m pretty sure is intentional now because he enjoys the ladies yelling at him, but after he took it off, he remembered his shirt, so then he had to tell the story of how he shrunk his t-shirt in the washing machine at the hotel the previous night.  LOL  And y’all, that white t-shirt was so short and so clingy, and I almost fainted. He flexed his arms at one point and it was glorious, and then he lifted his shirt to show how short it was, and we got a glimpse of Rooker tum, and THEN he lifted it even higher, and I melted out of my chair into a puddle on the floor.  

He said he didn’t even realize he’d shrunk his shirt until he got to the con that morning, and then it was too late to worry about it. And then he said, “Oh, that reminds me!  Is that nice family I met on the elevator this morning here?  They said they would come.  Did y’all make it to my panel?”

AND THEY WEREN’T THERE, and he muttered, “Assholes.”  XD

Oh, and after he talked about shrinking his shirt, he was like, “If I bend over, I’d probably...” and he bent over to demonstrate. “Yeah, I’d just show my...” and he hesitated like he didn’t want to be risque, so I think he ended up settling on “back.”  XD

The poor moderator tried his best at the beginning to keep Rooker in line, but it was pointless and he knew it, so he finally let him go. Rooker finally remembered there was a moderator, and he was like, “So what are we doing?”

And the moderator was like, “Whatever you want to do.”

And Rooker said, “A good moderator would be able to keep me in line. Sit down.”

And the moderator made a move to sit, then hesitated, and Rooker was like, “I said sit down.” So the guy did, and then Rooker was like, “That’s how you do it.”  XD

So the guy stayed in the chair until Rooker asked for help to get his jacket back on. XD  And the moderator thought he meant for the interpreter to help him, and then finally realized he meant him when Rooker was like, “Get over here!”  And the moderator was like, “I was just following your last order!”  

He was in over his head with Rooker, but he played off of him very well, so it worked.  After all of that, Rooker suddenly remembered he didn’t even know the mod’s name.  XD   I think the guy said it was Danny, so Rooker was like, “Nice to meet you, Danny.”  lol

Then he pretty much laid down on the stage floor so he could hop off the stage, and the mod was just baffled as he watched.  It was hilarious.  Once Rooker was off the stage, there was literally no stopping him, so the mod sat down and let him go.  XD

I couldn’t see him half the time because he spent a lot of time in the back of the room answering questions as he walked around, but listening to him talk was enough.  He is just so, so funny.  And people ask some of the dumbest questions, I swear, and he managed to avoid answering about half of the questions asked.  Lol

Someone asked if he was going to do the Area 51 thing, and he was like, “Are you crazy?  That’s a good way to get yourself killed.” And then he said, “What if the people there aren’t really people?  What if they’ve already been taken over by the aliens?  I can pitch that.”  So if Rooker ever does a movie about the people at Area 51 already being aliens, I’ll be able to say I was there when he came up with the idea.  Haha

Someone asked him about his most physically challenging role, and he said that the filming in Fiji recently was probably one of the hardest because it was so hot and there was no air conditioning.  He said he almost passed out three times the first day of filming.  And then he mentioned that it was for Fantasy Island and that it would be a horror version.  And even though I have a massive aversion to horror movies, I will have to see it.  

Another question was about Cliffhanger and if he was a good climber, and he was like, “Oh yeah, I was really good at it.  My very first day, I was climbing so well.  And then these eleven-year-old kids climbed up past me really fast.”  XD  

He went up to a LOT of people asking if they had questions, even if they didn’t have their hands raised, and I was SO GRATEFUL that I had chosen a seat in the middle of the row. XD  Although I did have a question prepared, thanks to my niece.  Lol  But I still didn’t want to have to worry about it.  

He took his jacket off again at some point and tossed it to the mod, who I realized later actually put it on.  I don’t blame him at all.  If Rooker had handed his jacket to me, I would have put it on, too.  

Someone asked him what his most emotionally challenging role was, and now I can’t remember if he actually answered it or not because he got distracted by someone mentioning Henry, and then he asked if anyone had actually watched it, and after a lot of people yelled ‘yes,’ he was like, “Bunch of sickos.”  XD And then he talked about the filming of that for a little bit, and how one woman was killed in the movie three times.  “And she was the director’s girlfriend!  You’d think she’d have been able to get a better role than being face down in a dirty river.”  lol  

He talked about Yondu a good bit.  Someone asked what it was like to watch his own funeral, and he was like, “I didn’t have to watch it, I was there.”  And it seems like he asked if the funeral scene made people cry when they “saw Yondu lying there snoring, I mean dead.” XD  

And someone else asked if he’d want to be in the MCU again as a different character, and he said something like, “Yeah, maybe.  You never know.  It could happen.”  

What else, what else… I really hope someone posts a video of the whole panel, because I am struggling to remember anything else.  *facepalm*

Eventually the mod got Rooker’s attention and told him there were only five minutes left, so he started running from person to person trying to answer questions.  I think he ended up answering a little longer than that, but then it ended way too soon.  :(

After it was over, I didn’t want to leave because he was still on stage just talking to the mod and the mod’s parents, but I didn’t want to block the other people in my row, so I got up.  Lol

But I had a mission, anyway.  I had to get back to the main floor and get in line TO MEET HIM.  

I headed back to the signing area to find his line, and as I passed the other signing lines, I was like, “Wow, not very many people up here.  This shouldn’t be so bad… oh.  Oh, geez.”  Because Rooker’s line was at the very end of the room, and it was ALREADY packed.  The queue snaked around about six times before it even reached the main line, and then there was an overflow area with like five queue lines, and that’s where I ended up.  His was definitely the most popular line.  Ron Perlman was close to Rooker’s, and he had a lot of people, too, but it still wasn’t even close to Rooker’s.  It was just bananas.  So I stood in line for what felt like a year, and I was equal parts ECSTATIC and TERRIFIED.  

This is the moment when I began to feel thankful for the bag from the artist, because it would have been such a hassle to carry those loose prints around all day.  I had my crossbody purse and a tote with me to carry things, but I wouldn’t have wanted to fold the prints.  I didn’t think a small purse and a tote would have been a big deal to carry around all day, but geez, by the end of the day, my back was so out of alignment.  Lol  I had to do some yoga later to try to help ease it.  

But anyway, standing in line for so long was a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because I was not prepared to stand in front of Rooker and try to form words, and a curse because it was uncomfortable and awkward.  The way the queue was set up, you were always surrounded on both sides by people facing your direction, and there was NOWHERE to look without staring at someone. So thank goodness I was able to text!  

The shirt I wore Saturday was such a big hit.  I’ve never gotten so many compliments about something in my life, and it was bananas.  People would randomly say, “I love your shirt!” as I passed by, and I was really weirded out at first, because I’m not a people person at all, but I eventually got over that.  Haha  But it was DEFINITELY an awesome icebreaker while I was in line.  Eventually the lady in front of me noticed my Wonder Woman print in the bag, and she asked where I’d gotten it, and then we started talking a little bit.  She had her husband and little girl with her, and she pointed at my shirt and then turned to her daughter, “Look at her shirt!”

And the little girl turned around and her eyes got all big.  XD  I was like, “Do you like Yondu?”  And she nodded, and the woman was like, “She loves him! We had to watch the movie last night.”  

I was very grateful to have someone to talk to while I waited in line. It kept me distracted from what was coming, and it helped pass the time, as well as kept me from feeling awkward from being in line alone.  Lol

Eventually, we moved from the overflow area to the queue, and then slowly made our way to the actual line.  When I crossed over to the real line, I almost ran away.  XD  I was SO NERVOUS.   OMG Y’all, I still don’t know how I made myself do it.  When the line moved up and the queue snaked around at one point, I was FOUR FEET AWAY FROM HIM, and it was all I could do to keep myself from staring.  

I pulled out my Yondu Funko Pop at that point, so I would be prepared when I got to the front of the line, and then the woman in front of me said, “Not to be nosy, but how much did you pay for yours?” And I told her, and she turned to her husband and said, “I told you we should have browsed longer!”  He then pulled his out of his bag. XD  They paid a lot more than I did, so I was grateful I was able to find mine “cheap” on eBay a few months ago.  Lol  

Anyway, before I knew it, I was ALMOST TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE, and I was having to repeat my mantra, courtesy of Beth.  XD   “Deep breaths.  You will be okay.  You won’t faint.  You will  be able to talk to him.”  I swear it’s the only thing that got me through the entire weekend.  Haha

When I got to the front table, I bought two tickets because I wanted him to sign my Yondu Pop and also a Yondu picture, and the lady taking money was so nice.  We talked for a minute, and then the line moved and I gave my tickets to Juliette, who was also very nice.  I was trying to pick out which picture to let him sign, and she said, “This is the hardest part because there are so many nice ones to choose from!”  And she was right!  I finally settled on a black and white Yondu one, even though it was hard to pick because I also wanted one where I could see his blue skin.  Haha  But anyway, as I was talking to Juliette, I made the mistake of glancing to my right and saw FREAKING MICHAEL ROOKER TALKING TO MY NEW FRIENDS IN FRONT OF ME.  And I was like, “Oh man, BREATHE, LINDSEY.”  I turned back to Juliette and tried really hard to be nonchalant, like I hadn’t just felt my soul leave my body.  “Is it okay if I give him a gift?”  “Oh yeah, that’s fine!”  

So then I had to just mentally prepare myself, so I stood there and observed the family in front of me while he talked to them.  He was SO SWEET with the little girl.  The mother said the little girl wanted to do the “I’m Mary Poppins, Y’all” quote with him, but she was too shy, so he was like, “Come on, let’s do it!”  So they did, and it was precious.  And then the mother also said something about the little girl liking the “I may be as pretty as an angel” quote, and so he did the “but I sure as hell ain’t one” part, and then he kinda covered his mouth like, “Maybe I shouldn’t have cursed in front of the kid.”  XD But I guess he realized if the kid liked the quote, she’d already heard the word anyway because he kinda shrugged.  Lol  I don’t remember what else he said to her, but I do remember that he asked her if she was wondering why he wasn’t blue, and she nodded.  He leaned across the table, and said, “This is just my human costume I wear when I have to come down to Earth.  My space ship is on the roof.” And the little girl was just in awe.

So I was still trying to get over the adorableness of that when they LEFT and IT WAS MY TURN, and I almost couldn’t make my feet move.  XD  But, somehow I managed it, and then I was STANDING IN FRONT OF MICHAEL ROOKER AND I COULDN’T DEAL WITH IT.  

I strangled out a “hi,” and he was like, “Hi!”  And then he leaned closer and WHISPERED, “I think that little girl believed me!”  And he was SO excited about it.  XD   He turned to Juliette, and told HER that the little girl believed him.  And then he turned back to me, and I was like, “I almost believed it, too, because you’re just that good.”

And he LAUGHED and I DIED for the first time.  And then I randomly blurted out, “I AM SO NERVOUS.”  And he laughed again and was like, “Don’t be nervous!”  BUT I WAS, OMG I COULD BARELY FORM WORDS, IT WAS SO HARD.

So I handed the Yondu Pop and the picture to him, and I swear I can’t remember what he said to me as he started signing the picture.  It was just all a haze.  It happened every time I was around him – everything was a blur, and no matter how hard I tried to remember everything, I just can’t. *facepalm*

OH, I remember what he said when he started to sign the picture!  He was so excited that I got the black and white one.  XD He said, “Oh, man, this is one of my favorites!  I love the black and white!  It really makes the marker stand out.”  And he used a gold sharpie and it’s so pretty!  

And then I told him I flew down from Alabama specifically to meet him, and he was like, “Wow, thank you!”  And then he said more that I’ve forgotten.  It seems like every time we made eye contact, those are the moments when I’ve forgotten what was said.  XD  

But then I pulled the gift I’d gotten him out of my tote, and was like, “I got something for you.”  And let me just state, I hate giving gifts because I really do suck at it, and I always feel anxious about it, because I always worry that the person won’t like it, etc.  So I was SUPER anxious about giving him ANYTHING, but I sucked it up and gave it to him.  I’d gotten him an Alabama football hat, ‘cause, you know, he likes hats and we’re both from Alabama, and I didn’t know what else to get him.  

So anyway, I handed it to him, and he seemed to genuinely like it, which made me feel better about it.  Haha  I was expecting him to set it aside or hand it to Juliette to keep up with it or something.  I was not expecting him to take the tags off of it, and PUT IT ON.  While he was taking the tag off, I was like, “I wasn’t sure what size to get.  I didn’t even realize hats had sizes.”  

And he put it on and said, “This is perfect because I’ve got a small head anyway, so it doesn’t even have to stretch.  I can’t afford any more head damage, so it’s good that it’s not too tight.” XD

And Juliette spoke up and said, “That’s a true story.”

And Rooker laughed and said, “Right?”

And THEN he said, “Thank you, baby.”  And y’all.  Y’ALL.  I literally almost fainted right there. I think I managed to say, “You’re welcome.”  I don’t even know at this point.  XD  

Oh, and also during that time, I said, “If I’d known you were going to shrink your shirt at the hotel last night, I would have brought you a shirt instead of a hat.”  

And he laughed again, and was like, “Right?? Can you believe that?  I don’t even know how it happened.”  XD

So then he signed my Yondu Pop, and he was like, “So whereabouts in Alabama are you from?”

(I probably shouldn’t even put this on the internet, but who cares? Y’all come find me if you want.  XD)  And I said, “Sumiton.” And he stopped signing the Pop, and leaned across the table, and stared right into my eyes, and said, “Oh, yeah.  I know Sumiton.”  Y’ALL. There is NO WAY I will ever be able to get that inflection across in a blog post, but I will NEVER forget the way he said that.  Like, it was not flirty at all, but y’all, that tone was border-line flirty tone, I can’t even explain it.  And he was SO CLOSE and LOOKING INTO MY EYES, and I managed to reply.  It was a miracle.  I said, “I thought you might.”  AND HE SMILED AT ME AND I DIED AGAIN.  And then we had a MOMENT and I want to cry just thinking about it.  

Then he finally went back to signing my Yondu Pop, and I can’t remember what he said then because I was still trying to recover from the previous thing. Lol  So when it was pretty much over, I said, “Thank you so much! You’ve made, like, my entire… year.”  I’d meant to say “day”, but halfway through my sentence realized it was more than that, and year just came out.  LOL  And he laughed again and was like, “You’re too sweet!”

And then as I was about to walk off, he said, “Waaaaait, what’s your name?  I forgot to ask!”  XD  So I told him, and HIS SMILE, y'all, he has THE BEST SMILE.  And then he said, “Thank you so much for coming to see me.”  And then when I finally tried walking away again, he said, “Roll Tide!”  so I had to turn around and say it back because you can’t just not return a “Roll Tide,” it’s just required as an Alabama fan.  

But I literally thought I was about to faint, and I was thinking,”Rooker, please, let me leave. I’m going to faint.” XD

BUT OMG IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  He is SO nice!!!!  And SO charming. And he’s just mesmerizing up close.  Like, all thoughts left my head as I was looking into his eyes, which are BEAUTIFUL.  

__

Once Rooker arrived for the photo-ops (I knew he was there because everyone at the front yelled his name when he got closer XD), that line moved SUPER fast and I was so close to panicking and absolutely losing it before I even got to the front.  When I got into the little enclosed area to drop off my bags, I could hear him, and I didn’t think I’d actually be able to walk inside.  XD But I managed it, and then I talked to the lady taking tickets while I waited for the people in front of me to get their picture taken.  

And she was like, “Are you having a good time today?!” (she was super peppy haha)  And I was like, “Yes!  I’m having the best time, it’s been so amazing!”  And she was like, “I’m so glad!” And I didn’t even REALIZE that Rooker had just said goodbye to the people in front of me and was WATCHING THIS EXCHANGE, and then he smiled SO BIG, and said, “Get over here, you sexy animal.”  And my mind short-circuited.  

I was prepared for the photo-ops to go super fast because everyone I’ve ever known to go to one has said the same thing, but it was just SO FAST.  I somehow managed to walk over to him after he called me a sexy animal (WHICH IS A BLATANT LIE, BUT I APPRECIATED HIM SAYING IT ALL THE SAME LOL), and then when I got to him, he PUT HIS ARM AROUND MY WAIST for the picture, so I DID THE SAME, and Y’ALL.  And I told him he made me blush, and he gave THE MOST MISCHIEVOUS laugh I have ever heard.  XD  And then the photographer took the picture so I now have the look on his face immediately following him calling me a sexy animal forever immortalized.  MY face looked AWFUL in the picture because I was SO FLUSTERED, and he knew EXACTLY what he was doing.  LOL

So anyway, after the picture, he was still SO smiley, and he GRABBED MY HAND, and said, “Thank you so much for coming to see me!”  And I was like, “No, thank YOU!”  And he laughed and said, “You are such a sweetheart!”  And I died again, and then I had to leave, but he was stilllllll holding my haaaaaaand, and if y’all think it was easy to let go so I could walk away, y’all are WRONG.  But then I floated around to get my bags, and then picked up my picture, and had to leave to go back to the hotel before I died, right there at the Tampa Bay Convention Center, because of Michael Rooker.  

__

On Sunday, I had time to do his first signing and the photo-op again before I had to go to the airport, so I decided to do both again.  I wanted to talk to him again, but I also wanted to try to get a better picture, and I was determined not to let him fluster me again.  (I failed.)  I wanted to get there before his signing session started so I wouldn’t have to stand in line quite so long, but I took so long to leave the hotel that by the time I reached his line, it was almost time for it to start.  Even though the line was kind of long, it wasn’t as bad as the day before, although it got pretty long behind me after we’d been there a while.  

Once it was time for the session to start, I realized the line hadn’t moved at all, and I wasn’t sure if people were just staying at the table longer or what.  And then, about ten minutes later, I heard someone yell his name, and I looked over, and sure enough, he was walking across the con floor doing an Instagram live video.  XD  And he walked RIGHT PAST ME, Y’ALL.  And thank goodness that he panned the camera really fast because I did not want to be on his Instagram.  XD  I am in the video, by the way, but because he panned so fast, I’m not visible for long, and only noticeable because I knew I was there LOL  But yay for being in a Rooker video!  

So then he finally sat down and the line slowly started moving, and for some reason, I was more nervous that time than I was the very first time.  I didn’t have anyone to talk to for most of that time, but then when I got closer to the front and the queue snaked around, the girl behind me said, “I am so nervous!” and then we started talking.  She was super sweet, and I think she was more nervous than I was, which was really saying something, so I tried to help her calm her nerves.  XD  

Before I knew it, I was back to the table again, and when I got to the cashier, she was like, “Hey!  Weren’t you here yesterday?” “Um, yes.”  XD  But she was really friendly and we talked again until the line moved, and then Juliette was like, “Hey, sweetie, it’s good to see you again!”  And I was thinking, “Is it super unusual to go through the line twice or something?”  XD  I didn’t think I was memorable, but it didn’t matter because then I was ALMOST TO ROOKER AGAIN.  

The man in front of me said to Rooker, “I didn’t know what to get you to write.”

And Rooker said, “I prefer not to write anything anyway, I think it kinda clutters it up.”  And he signed the man’s picture and said, “This looks cleaner.”  

And then he HELD IT UP TO ME AND SAID,  “Doesn’t this look neater?”

And after I picked myself up off the floor, I was like, “Yes, it does!” ROOKER ASKED FOR MY OPINION ABOUT SOMETHING, I CAN’T EVEN.

I had considered having him write my name on the Merle picutre I’d picked out for him to sign that day, but then after he said that, there was no way I was going to ask him to add anything to it.  XD

The man didn’t stay long at all, so before I was prepared, I was standing in front of Michael Rooker again, and y’all, it wasn’t any easier the second day.  Haha  But I was like, “Hey!”  

And then he said, “Hey, love, it’s so good to see you again!”  

And I died for about the fiftieth time because he remembered me. I honestly don’t remember that much about that time, because I was just in a haze of happiness.  I do remember him talking about the Rowdy picture that I had him sign for a friend, because he was like, “ROWDY!! Right on!”  And I was like, “Rowdy is awesome.”  

I really wish I could remember more of that meeting, but it’s literally all a blank.  I know I told him that I’d see him again later on for the photo-op, and he said, “Oh, good!” and I melted when he smiled at me.  *thinks* Ugh, I’m so mad at myself for not remembering more of it.  But he talked while he signed both pictures, and then when I was leaving, he said, “I’ll see you later!”  And I skipped away in happiness. Haha

After I left his table, I immediately walked to the other side of the exhibition hall to buy my photo-op tickets.  When I walked up to the table, one of the ladies was like, “Let me guess, you want to buy a ticket for Michael Rooker’s photo-op?”  And I was like, “Did my shirt give it away?”  (because I was wearing another Yondu shirt lol), and she laughed, and was like, “I didn’t even see your shirt!  But everyone is buying Rooker photo-ops.”

I said, “Everyone loves Rooker.”  and she was like, “Obviously!” I think he was the highlight of the con for a lot of people.  Lol

__

The photo-op was supposed to start at 1:00, but they’d changed it to 1:10 on the ticket, probably because Rooker was late to his signing.  XD  But around 12:45, I decided to go ahead and get in line.  I figured I’d be kinda close since I was getting there early and they’d said they wouldn’t start the line until close to the photo-op, but it was already packed.  

I really, really wanted a Rooker hug, and the entire time I was in line, I was trying to talk myself into asking for one, because I knew this was my last chance of the weekend to get one.  That was probably the worst queue of the entire weekend, though, because I had kids in front of me and kids behind me, and they annoyed me so much.  Don’t get me wrong, I like kids, and these were sweet kids, but I was not in a mindset to handle children.  XD  And everyone around me was sitting on the floor, and I felt so exposed, and it was not helping my anxiety at all. I did talk to the couple behind me for a few minutes, though, because their toddler kept running past my legs.  XD  

Once the line did start moving, it moved fast, and I was stilllll not prepared to see him again.  XD But I was DETERMINED not to let him get me so flustered that my picture turned out terribly again.  LOL  Of course, all that went out the window when I got to the front and handed my ticket to the lady, who also remembered me.  XD  She was like, “HEY! Are you still having a good time?”  LORD.  “YES, I AM, THANKS!!!”  And after the people in front of me finished their picture, she was like, “Okay, you can go ahead!”  So I walked closer, but the people had three little kids with them, and they were trying to wrestle them out, and Rooker was just watching their poor attempts at it.  XD

And then he finally turned to me, and I was like, “Hey, again!”  And he smiled and was like, “Come on, sexy!”  (AND I DIED AGAIN.)

For those of you keeping count at home, that makes the fifth term of endearment he used, and I think he was trying to kill me.  XD

So I walked over to him, and he wrapped his arm around my waist again (Y’ALLLLL), so I did the same again, and the photographer took the picture, and then was like, “Wait, I need to do one more!”

And bless that photographer forever, because when he said that, Rooker squeezed my side and PULLED ME CLOSER TO HIM!!!!!!  And then after the pic was over, HE DIDN’T LET GO OF ME, but he turned to face me, so we still had our arms around each other’s waists and were standing SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER, and I was DYING as he talked.  I don’t even KNOW what he said at first.  XD

But then he was like, “Thank you again for coming to see me!”  

And I was about to ask for a hug, but before I could, he wrapped his OTHER arm around me AND WAS HUGGING ME AND MY SOUL LEFT MY BODY AGAIN.  SO I HUGGED HIM BACK AND OMG HE’S SUCH A GOOD HUGGER!!!!!!!!!  ASDFJK;LKASDFKL;  

And when we let go, I said, “Thank you so much!” And LORD, Y’ALL, I think I flew out of there to pick up my bags and picture.  LOL  

[novarasalas]

Not to put any pressure on you but I'm really interested on your thoughts about how Krolia and Honerva compare as mothers to their sons.

Oooo…that’s agood one. I was just thinking about this, as I’m getting later intoreviewing season 7.

Even then, I have toadmit that my first reaction to your ask was “Uh…haha…theydon’t?”

Then I managed tohave an actual thought, and I rewatched a few episodes, learning abit along the way.

I’ll preface thiswhole thing by admitting that my idea of Honerva lines up with thefan theory that she and Zarkon had been trying to start a family, butfor whatever reason, it wasn’t working out for them. Her coldnesstowards Alfor when he mentions Allura could possible support thattheory. But it’s when they meet again later, when she screams that“quintessence is life” before collapsing that sealed it for me.Since we were told in an (interview? con panel?) that she was pregnant when they entered the rift,it really seems to me that she was about to lose the pregnancy, andmay have lost others before then.

Unless they actuallyconfirmed that at some point. I have a hard time keeping up with allthe new interviews.

…Ok, onward.

These two ascharacters don’t seem to truly have much in common, do they? Theyonly thing I could really think of is that they met their respectivelovers because of Voltron, and that they both lost contact with theirsons until said sons had grown into men.

So let’s start atthe beginning.

Before having Keith,Krolia was shown as being willing to sacrifice herself to keep theBlue Lion out of the Empire’s hands. Even though she said that hership being destroyed was the best thing that ever happened to her,she still made that her mission. And when the Empire came back, sheknew that she had to leave to fight them, risking her own life,knowing that she’d probably never see her lover and son again.

Specifically, shesaid: “I must go[…]I’m sorry. But this is the best way for meto keep you both safe.”

Honerva was ascientist pushing the boundaries of knowledge and scientificadvancement, eventually to her own detriment. Nothing wasgoing to stop her from opening that rift, no matter what her reasonswere for studying it. At first it was all about the science, andthen, if my idea about her is right, it became about the possibilitythat the quintessence would help her carry a child to term. Thequintessence corrupted her, drove her mad, and the encouragement fromZarkon only made it worse. And in the end, even he didn’t careabout his own people’s welfare. Even if it doomed the planet andeveryone on it, he was going to save them.

As she’s laying onwhat was possibly her deathbed, Honerva is babbling almostincoherently: “We must have it […] Quintessence […] into therift. It’s the only way.”

In the end, theyboth did what they felt they needed to for their sons.

Krolia was willingto sacrifice herself to keep her son safe.

Honerva was willingto sacrifice everyone else so that her son could live.

Later on, both womenreunite with their sons, and the way these meetings go down couldn’tbe much more different.

I doubt that Kroliawas thrilled to find that Keith had made his way into the middle ofthe space war. And I would think she was even less thrilled to findthat he was a member of the Blade, and now pretty much in a constantstate of danger. She could have, in the moment of realization, lether emotions get the better of her. She could have panicked, gottenangry, come to weeping. But she didn’t. She only gave Keith a sternlook.

“You’re late.”

There were biggerthings to worry about. They needed to first make it out alive, thenthey could deal with it all. She doesn’t launch into an expositionon the subject, but instead lets him ask the questions. This allowshim to set the pace of his own learning. After all, being reunitedwith your mother after 20 years is a very big deal. Just the act ofit can be overwhelming, so avoiding an information overload is amust.

In the end, they’reable to understand each other (with the aid ofdense-star-time-magic), and by the time they leave the space whale,they stand as equals. They’re still mother and son, and they loveeach other as such, but they are both capable adults that can rely oneach other. Their relationship is built on trust and understanding,which is a beautiful thing considering Keith’s own hang ups earlyon.

And I mean it about them being equals. As she apologizes about having to leave him in “The Ruins”, it’s him that puts her at ease about it. It’s a great and mature relationship they have.

Honerva andLotor on the other hand….oh boy. It wasn’t so much of a reunion, was it? It wasmore of a forced realization. For Honerva, she finally rememberedthat she had actually had the child she’d so desperately wanted.And for Lotor, he was forced with confronting the fact that the witchwho had helped his father torment him for 10,000 years was actuallythe woman he’d been damn near worshiping this entire time.

She has him broughtto her without his consent and stands over him, looking down on himas she claims him as her own. She offers the barest hint of anapology for her previous actions, but still, it doesn’t seem tooccur to her that the way she’s treated him in the past could evercloud his feelings for her. After all, she’s Honerva, the once he’sbeen striving after. He should be oh so happy to have found her.

Instead, he callsher an abomination.

She orders him to betaken away.

Even though he hasjust thoroughly rejected her, Honerva isn’t about to let him gonow.

She’s doing thisto protect him, you see? She knows how people have always felt abouthim. She knows the way his own father treated him. And now she knowthat his only real and true allies have just turned their back onhim.

It seems at thispoint that to her, nothing matters except Lotor. I couldeasily imagine her standing in front of her Kuron-a-vision™portal,muttering “my son, Lotor, mine” over and over for hours on end.

I’m not even surethat Zarkon getting dusted mattered to her. Though, to be fair, wedidn’t see her reaction. It may have, for whatever reason, made hereven more obsessed with Lotor, even thought he’s the one who killedhim.

In any case, insteadof trust and understanding for Honerva and Lotor, there’s onlyjealousy and obsession.

—

Ok. I sure did typea lot of words up there. To sum up, I’ll put it in abstract terms, because that always helps!

Krolia as a motheris a gentle hand that helps you back onto your feet so that you canstand beside her. She’s a soft nudge in the right direction. She’sthe firm, yet reassuring, word: Go. Do what you must. Wherever lifetakes you, I’m here for you, and I support you.

Honerva as a motheris a sharp, clawed hand on the back of your neck, making you bleed.She’s a harsh shove into the dirt below you. She’s a cruel word:I’ve sacrificed everything for you, and this is how you repay me?You’re nothing without me.

So after all this, Ifeel like they don’t really compare; they contrast, almostperfectly.

And I have a reallybad feeling that these two are on a collision course.

Honerva watchedKeith introduce Krolia as his mother. She watched as they snitched onLotor, causing  the team to turn on him. I have a bad, bad feelingthat given her own issues, Honerva is going to be out to hurt them.They hurt her son, and he’s all she ever wanted.

…I hope I’mwrong. I’m usually wrong. Please come through for me, guys…letKeith be happy, at least. Don’t make him lose her again.

[starbudspresents]

DGM225 - Translation Notes

It’s (finally) that time again! After six long months, we have a new chapter to chew on, and it’s more than half a dozen pages long. One could weep. :’P

I’d like to thank the StarBuds team for working so hard and so enthusiastically with me on this. You guys are my heroes. (@krorys​, @shinylyni, @togaochi, and our very welcome new friend @1000glaceons) Read the chapter HERE!

Now: if you’re so inclined, please venture below the cut for some notes on our translation choices and the inevitable untranslatable odds and ends.

☽ ☾

1.) As discussed in the last few chapters, the word I've been translating as "connection" here is 因縁 innen, which has a wide range of potential meanings: fate, destiny, tie, bond, connection, origin, pretext, justification, even the Buddhist concept of "hetu and prataya" (the direct causes and indirect conditions underlying each event). Some of those obviously don't work in context, but the rest were a tossup. I went with what I felt was the safest guess; if that connection turns out to be a destiny, I can clarify that later. :P

2.) I pondered Wisely's "voice" long and hard. He speaks in an old, humble sort of way, like everyone's mild-mannered grandpa. That serves as a reminder that his memories go back a much longer way than his apparent age would suggest. He is old in a way that very few characters in this are. (Road might be the only living match for him, if she is indeed still the first incarnation of the Dream memory, but that’s still no better than a guess.)

3.) So we have a glimpse of Bookman in captivity, presumably shortly before he made his escape, and the reveal that Bookman's escape was due to Wisely's actions in some way. Either Wisely did something that made the risks of an escape attempt worth it for Bookman, or he actually helped Bookman get free. Considering Wisely's nature, I've guessed that previous incarnations might have known the Bookmen, and possibly even this Bookman. If so, did he let a friend go out of sentimentality? Or did he just slip up and create an opportunity? Once again, every answer we get gives rise to five more questions.

4.) Then there's Wisely's annoyingly cryptic comment on Tyki's search for answers:   - ワタシから聞かずとも、ジョイド、おぬしはいずれ思い知るの。。。飲み込まれよう　そして引き摺られ - watashi kara kikazu tomo, Joido, onushi wa izure omoishiru no... nomikomare you, soshite hikizurare

More literally translated: Even if you don’t hear it from me, Joido, you’ll realize on your own... as if engulfed, then forcibly dragged.   So Tyki’s going to find out how he's connected to Nea whether he wants to or not, and knowing that is going to drag him off the course his life has taken so far, but to where? No idea. We only know that it will change things for him, somehow.

5.) The next couple of pages had me clutching my chest and wheezing hoarsely amid a tumult of complicated emotions. Mana's confused, desperate yearning! Nea's seemingly contradictory murderous love! All of... that. THAT. AUGH.

6.) Tyki accepts responsibility in part for the Earl getting away from him and Wisely and then finding his way to Nea. Since what's done is done, though, Tyki thinks maybe he can get some answers directly from the source, rather than from a tight-lipped (and now escaped) Bookman. So he extends the most fraught invitation to tea in the history of the world. I’m going to bet he didn’t ask anyone else’s opinion on that idea first because... uh.

7.) Wisely and the Earl head out, and meanwhile, Link hits Fiidora with half an arsenal of arcane techniques all at once. Fii-tan, understandably, cries uncle. He didn't attack Link out of malice, he just needed to get  the Earl free, and once that was done he had no beef remaining. He's... odd. Almost childlike, in an unsettling way. Very laid back, as Link noted. Naturally I love him.

8.) Speaking of Link, both of those spells were new!

"Needlebeak" is written 嘴針, an invented compound of the kanji for "beak" and "needle(s)", is read shibari, which is homophonous with the word for "binding," 縛り shibari. Good old Hoshino-sensei and her wordplay.

"Hundred-Feather Drill" is written 百羽錬成 (Hyappa Rensei), and is pretty literal. That's drill as in train, practice, rehearse, by the way; almost as if summoning a hundred feathers for a hundred different purposes was a practice technique he managed to weaponize. Wouldn't put it past him.

"The Hundredth: Deny" is a funny one. It's written 百式：禁 (Hyakushiki: Kin) but read Hakushiki: Kinji according to the furigana. The furigana reading is therefore very likely to be another play on words, but this one’s a bit beyond me, possibly.

 The kanji on their own mean "hundred," "formula/style/ceremony," and "ban/prohibition." I went with "Hundreth" instead of "Hundred Styles" because it's almost certainly part of the Hundred-Feather Drill, and shiki is an older adjective suffix. So, this is the hundredth feather of the drill, and its purpose is prohibition/rejection/denial. “Deny” sounded cooler than “prohibition” and was less easy to mistake for Japanese than “ban,” so.

As for the furigana reading of that final kanji (kinji rather than the correct kin): there are a number of possible meanings for kinji, including "approximation" (aka. "-ish"), "recent events" and "attendance (upon someone)."

With that in mind, it occurred to me that hakushiki, if heard aloud, would normally be assumed to mean "extensive/profound knowledge." Following that, the only meaning for kinji that makes sense is "recent events." Which leaves us with Extensive Knowledge: Recent Events no Jutsu. I can't guarantee this is definitely the joke she was making, but I chewed on it for easily two hours and this was the best I came up with. If any of you happen to know what reference she was making here, by all means let me know, haha.

9.) Aaaaaand there goes Nea, doing the most idiotically reckless thing he possibly could... unless he knows something about how Innocence works that the others don't. He doesn't seem all that worried that it's going to devour him and self-destruct by way of the Fall — I doubt he'd do this just because he's mildly annoyed about a nickname if he thought that was a likely consequence at all — but why not?

(Translating his lines in this scene were the most fun I've had in forever, incidentally, and I hope it shows. He’s like an apoplectic kitty, hissing and scratching without actually doing any damage whatsoever thus far. I love him.)

10.) Teeechnically Nea just says "eat food with you?" but Fiidora mentioned teatime earlier so I took a little creative liberty in order to get Nea's withering tone across properly. FUCK YO CRUMPETS

11.) "Back-from-the-dead guise" is awkward as fuck, I know, but bear with me. What he said in the raws was 天性したおまえのその姿, tenseishita omae no sono sugata. Tensei is straight-up reincarnation; the transmigration of souls, the cycle of rebirth, all that. The rest says "that form of yours." We don't really say "form" in English that way, and Nea's very glib, so I went with "back-from-the-dead guise" because Nea's implying that Tyki is wearing his own God-given face like it’s a costume of someone dead and gone. Which it is. Nea’s not too chuffed about seeing his old face prancing around on some oblivious baby Noah, clearly.

12.) Re: the next panel: holy cake-baking christ 

(@Noah: consider calming ur tit perhaps)

13.) Our very own Inspector Obvious, Howard Link, explains to Nea what a terrible goddamn idea this is, and Nea thanks him with -- wait for it -- MORE SARCASM. Link then announces that he will exhaust his strength attempting to stop Nea from doing this STUPID, STUPID thing. (The raws say 力尽く, which means "with all one's might" in the dictionary but the kanji literally say "strength + entirely exhaust," so. He intends a no-holds-barred takedown here. If there were any folding metal chairs around he’d be going for them.)

14.) haha oh god here we go, where's the kleenex, fuck

15.) So now we know what the time difference was like for Allen: he took Johnny's hand back there in the inn, but has only just now actually managed to emerge, and as far as he knows it's been no time at all. Wonder how long he'll manage to stay on the horse this time? (Hopefully, at least long enough to get to the Campbell mansion and find Katerina, as per Cross' suggestion.)

16.) I don't really have a lot to say about the next few pages except that I sobbed my way through translating what few lines there were. THEY HAVE SUCH A LOVE. Also Johnny is a reckless idiot, what was he planning to do?? Cushion Allen's landing with his own body?? Actually now that I think about it that's probably exactly what he intended. Fuck that, no, bye.

17.) That one page with the huge untranslated sound effect is noted in our translation gdoc as [Johnny screaming across entire page] and that was a general #mood for the whole job tbh.

18.) MORE EMOTIONS, SOBBING, WEEPING, ETC.

19.) Tiny note: the MS scanlation has Allen's little comment in response to Johnny's head-hug as "heavy" and I chose "can't breathe," but they both suit the purpose well enough. The raw just said くるしい kurushii, an expression of pain/discomfort which could have been due to either the weight or the smothering or both. :P

20.) Speaking of pain: ow @ Link’s face in that last panel. He got one thing he wanted (Allen's victory, snatched even from the teeth of defeat, a ray of hope for him re: his own probable future as Nea's next vessel) but lost something else he needed (Nea in control, so that Link might conspire with him and carry out Lvellie's commands). He's still torn, and not getting mended any. Wonder how long he'll manage to keep balancing on that knife's edge.

That's about it, I think! If anyone wants more kanji/kana transcriptions from the raws so they can double-check things for themselves, I'll be happy to provide them! I may also be open to answering meta questions here, though I'm currently on hiatus on my main. :)

Hope you've all enjoyed our release of this long-awaited and suitably glorious chapter! Please stick with us as we work to get the Re:Gray project (full rescanlation from the beginning, with the benefit of all we've learned so far!) off the ground. It's going to be fun, I promise. ♥

♦ panthaleia

[kittypatra-zosan]

If you like our work, please consider supporting @cyriusli on ko-fi and myself, @mossybrows-draws on patreon!

Character: Sora Vinsmoke (Sola Vinsmoke) Role: Bastet!Sora / Sekhmet!Sola Pet-Name: Sanji-Mama

Mossy: I was the one who wanted Sola in the fic, honestly. If we were going to have Sanji be the son of Bastet, it had to be Sora/Sola. Even if Cyriusli had said no, I would’ve insisted, I swear I wanted it to be Sola so badly. She seriously doesn’t get enough screen or panel-time. Most of our concept development happened because of the problem we encountered with Bastet/Sekhmet cat-god Sora. I like to headcanon that Sanji takes after his mama, so I used that idea in creating a little more of Sora’s design.

Cyriusli: I admit, I was a little skeptical at first, but she grew on me and I was able to find a way to incorporate her into the plot of the story. Both parent gods make appearances, but this is more about Sanji and Zoro so their roles are minor in the main story.

Mossy: Same reason I don’t really have a lot of development sketches for her. I got distracted and drew in a little baby Sanji just for interaction concept reasons...and then ended up making Zoro and Sanji baby chibis. But more on that later. XD

Cyriusli: The chibis are freaking adorable. You keep getting sidetracked and making new things and I am just sitting here like… you have 5 other things to finish first! What are you doing?!

Mossy: I’m sorry! But his wittle buttt butt wa so nyaa nyaa and I just HAD to! Besides, I’d already drawn the child!versions of them both anyway! So I was like ‘why not baby versions’!?? Ayway. I did have a little more trouble with Sola/Sora. I was like Bastet? Sekhmet? Bastet? Sekhmet? Like we mentioned before, we decided to make 2 different versions of Sola/Sora because of the differences between Egyptian North and South Kingdom cultures.

Cyriusli: Incorporating all the different points in the Egyptian lore is a little hard to juggle, but I think we are handling it fairly well at this point. And besides, we are completely inserting two beings that never even existed, combining Bastet and Sekhmet into one momma god probably isn’t the worst thing we could be doing.

Mossy: True, but I am having a little more trouble with her armor than I expected. Have one design up now ( could be another design up by the time I post this text on my character sheet for her.)

Cyriusli: Yeah and then I get to write her when we pretty much know nothing about how her character operated. I think our little twist of her “ignoring” Sanji a good portion of the time is good though because that plays into the part of Sanji missing her so much.

Mossy: I was thinking about the story Oda had about the Germa 66, where the hero, Sora, who has a telltale similar name to Sora/Sola, Sanji’s mom and how this hero defied the Germa 66 and saved North Blue. With Sekhmet being the goddess of war, I thought it was fitting she was Sanji’s mom. She could be waging war to fight for her babies back from Jaji of another culture or something, being an Egyptian god, maybe fight with the Roman or Greek god she had an affair with? LOL. Not that I’m being serious.

Cyriusli: Yeah, I don’t think that would really work and it would get too complicated. I do however see Sola fighting a lot of wars. Like maybe this is a time where Old Kingdom is crumbling and Unification is on the horizon. Sanji is located in the deep southern part of the Nile but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of fighting. There has to be… Zoro’s place at the scales tells us there is.

Mossy: Ahh, I love having Sola/Sora get to be here and be an active character! The possibilities are endless! I do love the lion look she ended up with being a fire-illusion instead of an actual lion face.

Cyriusli: Yeah! That’s pretty cool!

Mossy: It also helped with Nebit’s design, because...I mean, I’m not against anyone who’s into it, but I can’t exactly fall for anyone who has a lion for a face and a human body. Not into that. So I thought if Nebit was going to ‘take after Sola’ because of Sanji, then having her be a nekomimi would be ideal.

Cyriusli: I know that was my plan for Nebit all along. We cover her background a bit more in her sketch, but my plan for her was to look like Sanji and his mama, different than the rest of the attendants and guards that live in the palace and temple.

Mossy: As for Mama Sola/Sora (I still dunno which one to call her), I finally got my act together after moving houses and countries again and finished her design up. Though I did have a bit of trouble with the colors. Since Sanji’s got a lot of orange to his character (fire and all), I thought it was fitting to keep it in the golds and yellows. Though I did accidentally color part of her armor green at some point. The designs of her armor made me rethink the designs of her Bastet!form dress.

Cyriusli: I think her Bastet dress looks fine and I think her armor does as well. I really love the helm you made for her and her tail is pretty awesome as well, even if that isn’t exactly armor. I’m glad we got the color thing figured out though, you sent me those pics and my instant reaction was, gods, I know we are moss, but please not that. Slight color change made all the difference for badass warrior momma.

Mossy: Haha! I can’t wait to have her in the Chopper’s Comic Corner! I have a lot of Monster Hunter history under my belt (not that I was a good player, but I did manage to collect a lot of armor, so I did have to kill a lot of monsters). It’s mostly that stuff that helped me design her armor.

Cyriusli: This whole process is cool for me because I may think up armor, but I never get to see how it looks outside my head, so to see Mossy bring this stuff to life is just such a great thing to me. She makes it seem so simple, despite the hours we spend in skype screaming at one another over things lol

Mossy: Ahh yes, the screaming. There be plenty screaming. I was screaming about using turtle shells as armor for Sola’s/Sora’s skirt because well...shit  forgot my reasons. But yeah, I was screaming about that but then I realized Cyriusli was offline and I couldn’t call her about it and then I was sad.

Cyriusli: Oh no! I’m sorry. You didn’t tell me about that.

Mossy: LOL yeah I forgot. But I should ask now; did they have turtles in the nile? I mean...Sekhmet!Sola kinda has a turtle shell skirt.

Cyriusli: Yeah, they had turtles. The Nile used to be a huge ecosystem, not that it isn’t now, but it used to be bigger, I guess. So there were all sorts of animals that are typical of a water environment, including ibis, egret and the DEATH PELICANS.

Mossy: Oh thank god...they’re very orange though. Is that kinda weird? Ah. I’ll change it to the shell color. XDD I think this is about it for Sora/Sola-sama. Man I love her! I wish she showed up more in the manga, like many other women, we clearly don’t get enough of what kind of person she is other than the fact that she’s a good mother. 

Please look forward to her appearance in Chopper’s Comic Corner, coming soon!

[aterriblethought]

Trials and errors of translating Japanese

Happy new year! あけましておめでとうございます！ I’m working on a number of longer posts, but in the meantime, I thought I’d talk a little bit about some of the challenges of translating Japanese manga - in particular, how sometimes poor or liberal translations can have unintended consequences in how the story or a character is perceived.

There’s a number of different issues when it comes to translating Japanese to English. One of those is that Japanese is a highly contextual language; especially in the colloquial speech often used in manga, much is left unsaid or implied. It’s up to the reader to figure out who or what is being referred to, because Japanese sentences can leave out a subject altogether (it’s possible to make a sentence using only a verb; the word 食べる/taberu can mean anything from “I’m eating” to “She’s eating it” to “He’ll eat it”). 

Another issue particular to manga is translating dialects or colloquialisms. There’s a lot of variety to how Japanese is spoken by different people in different places, and most English students of Japanese tend to start with the most common one (polite Tokyo dialect, typically). Another issue unique to Acid Town is the liberal use of harsh sort of gangster language and terms that are specific to the yakuza. If you’re unfamiliar with what those terms mean and how they relate to the yakuza, they can be difficult to translate.

Finally, in translating Japanese, there’s a lot of editing necessary to keep the dialogue sounding natural. If the translations are left too literal they can sound kind of wooden or too polite. Sometimes this necessitates changing what was written in the original Japanese to something more familiar to English speakers, or retaining the meaning while changing the words used. 

One of the reasons I bring this up is Acid Town. The previous scanlation group did an awesome job, and for the most part, I’m just imitating their style and methods. However, when I had the chance to look at the original Japanese manga myself, and compare it to their translations, I sometimes found myself a bit taken aback at how liberal some of the translations were, and the subtle ways this alters the perception of the characters and their stories.

For example, in chapter 1, there’s a scene where Yuki and Tetsu are confronted by a gang of teens. Yuki manages to dodge Ken’s attack and knees him in the stomach, and fire off a little quip:

For the most part this is pretty close to what Yuki said in the Japanese. His original lines were: 「あ，ワリつい。。。足が勝手に」Which comes out to something like “Oh, sorry, my bad... my leg moved on its own”. The part about the leg is written as an aside and doesn’t even include a verb, the verb is just left implied. I can see how that might be translated to “Old habits die hard”, a common English idiom... but I guess what’s always bugged me is that this implies something about Yuki and his past that has never been mentioned in the story: that he’s been in fights before, and is used to responding with violence. Yuki is obviously taunting Ken here; it’s not like his leg really did move on its own. But I guess what I’m trying to say is there’s a difference between making a cute retort about something that happened once, and implying that this has happened often before. We do know that Ken and his gang are familiar with Yuki from before he met Tetsu, but it’s unclear if they ever had any violent run-ins. I think the ease with which Yuki and Tetsu defend themselves shows that they’re more than capable of handling a situation like this, which implies experience; but again, it’s a liberal interpretation of the line.

Edits like this are done to give characters more personality than a literal translation of the Japanese might, and the early scanlations for Acid Town especially take this to a bit of an extreme. This is the very next panel:

It maybe goes without saying, but the word “fuck” doesn’t exist in Japanese. The translation here is just meant to make Yuki sound more like a punk kid. The original Japanese comes out to something more benign like “Well, snakes or swine or whatever, we don’t care”. Japanese has curse words, but often it’s the way that a line is said that implies an insult more than the words used. The way Yuki is speaking is so flippant and insulting that it’s appropriate to go ahead and translate it this way, even if it’s kind of pushing things a bit. It retains the intention of the line better than a literal translation might.

Last one I want to bring up as an example is a panel from chapter 5, where Doumoto has announced his intentions to have his son take over the group, with Hyoudou as his right-hand man. Hyoudou kneels in front of Doumoto and says:

I’ve always been intrigued by the first line. What were his “wild ways” and what did Doumoto do particularly to save Hyoudou? In a later chapter we see Ryuu treating a young Hyoudou’s injuries, but it’s unclear exactly how Hyoudou got them. It wasn’t until I checked this line against the original Japanese that I started to get a sense that something fell out in translation. Here’s the original line: 「。。。使い捨ての鉄砲玉だった俺を拾って下さったご恩、今でも忘れたつもりはありません」which might translate literally as “Even now I’ve never intended to forget my debt to you for picking me up as a discarded bullet”. Haha, obviously this sounds incredibly awkward, but also this line has nothing to do with real bullets.  使い捨て means “disposable”, and  鉄砲玉 in yakuza terms actually refers to an assassin or hitman, particularly one who is meant to take out an executive of a hostile group. It’s a matter of course that this assassin is usually killed in the process. This actually says a lot now about who Hyoudou was and what happened and also, I think, why Hyoudou might be incredibly loyal to Doumoto. Possibly Hyoudou became a part of a rival group at a young age out of a sense of recklessness; being young and, probably, fairly useless, he was thrown at Doumoto (or possibly another Seidoukai executive) in an attempt on his life with the understanding he probably wouldn’t succeed. Who knows what really happened but Doumoto obviously took pity on Hyoudou and spared him, and now Hyoudou owes his life to Doumoto. I’m not entirely sure why the line was translated this way, if maybe the original translators were not familiar with the yakuza term, but it definitely omitted a very important detail about Hyoudou and his past and his relationship to Doumoto.

Anyway, thought some fans might find that interesting. :) Whenever I do translations I’m highly aware of all the ways things can go wrong with translating and editing, so if I’m unsure, I try to get help as best as I can. I’m painfully aware that once a mistake is out there, it’s kind of out there for good. 

[comicteaparty]

September 14th-September 20th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from September 14th, 2019 to September 20th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

What would you consider the most interesting aspect of your comic to be, and is it the same thing your audience finds interesting?

ErinPtah is doing a Kickstarter

Huh, I can't imagine there's any one aspect that most of the audience thinks is "the most interesting." Different people have responded to lots of different things!

Like, with Leif & Thorn (now on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erinptah/leif-and-thorn-volume-2-sparklier-magic-er-funnier-gayer?ref=4l78c3), some readers are always tracking the political or economic worldbuilding -- the things with real-world equivalents (and some real-world commentary). Others mostly ask questions about how the magic works.

ErinPtah is doing a Kickstarter

Some readers get invested in specific mysteries (like Where Did Leif's Debt Come From, or Who Is The Woman In Black). Some are more focused on the main romance, or other relationships or character arcs. In the last couple strips there's been a flurry of comments speculating about the weather! (To be fair, it's magic weather.) Just about any topic can be The Most Interesting to someone.

FeatherNotes

For Ghost Junk Sickness, it's most definitely the worldbuilding we do. There's always planned concepts for every background and how we go about and strive to include objects and characters that help define its individuality. Most of the times when readers point out their favourite aspects, it's always the world building and designs that go with it! http://www.ghostjunksickness.com/comic/12-6(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

For Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/), the main focus from readers is worldbuilding as well. And along with the worldbuilding, lots of questions are coming up about the moral greyness of the main 'good' and 'bad' factions of the story. And that's exactly what I wanted From my own perspective, I get a kick out of the secrets I'm weaving into the story - I wonder if people will pick up on them once the narrative kicks into high gear, and will notice them later on re-reads...(edited)

Nutty (Court of Roses)

So... for Court of Roses http://courtofroses.spiderforest.com/ , I actually asked my discord what they found interesting, and the number one thing brought up was the worldbuilding. It makes me happy that I'm here able to create a world that draws people in, and then populate that world with relatable characters. I do my best to make THEM interesting, because I want the story to feel character-driven, so you root for them and feel for them.(edited)

HiddenElephant

The most interesting thing for The Wide Ocean? (http://thewideocean.thecomicseries.com/) For me, it would be some of the small details, some of the things that only I know, but some of the things can be figured out with the tattoos of the sharkfolk, which I love creating; they each have a meaning to them, which I suppose is worldbuilding. But I'm not sure what my audience considers the most interesting; it might actually be the story.

JUNK

I think for Fairy Fighting League (http://fflcomic.com/), people are curious about the setting the most. Fairy lore and iconography to this day is very nature-based, so having a bunch of fairies interested in tech makes people interested in seeing to what extent.

deo101

I think the most interesting part of Millennium (https://millennium.spiderforest.com/) is the characters. At least, it seems to be what people are most interested in. I've had a lot of questions about my worldbuilding, and I really love my worldbuilding, but I don't think it's what drives my story or my reader's curiosity. I try to have many different kinds of characters, and seeing how they interact is what interests me the most.

seetherabbit

I had to think on this, but I think the most interesting part of Vulperra (https://vulperra.com/) is that it's pretty much a collection of relative short stories set in the same world, where you have one set of stories about a super hero and a set of just regular folks

FeatherNotes

I gotta say how much I love @LadyLazuli Phantomarines worldbuilding and chars, who all fit so gorgeously in with one another . its absolutely rich in its own lore, it reads as a story that's existed forever in a sense of how grounded it is!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

@FeatherNotes I feel like I've only gotten started, too! The world is very real in my head - it certainly helps with getting it on 'paper.' Thank you so very much

Steph (@grandpaseawitch)

Very much agree! @LadyLazuli 's worldbuilding is hella, I can't wait to see more.

I don't know which part is most interesting for me regarding http://oldmanandtheseawitch.tumblr.com/, it's like asking which child is my favorite. I guess I'm really excited to show more of the merm world, but that won't come for... a while. I love looking up the vintage marine stuff, that's always my bag and I'm always fascinated by everything I learn about old ships. I think the dichotomy between the merm world and human world is hella fun and I hope the audience eventually finds it as neat as I do.

kayotics

So I decided to take a note from Nutty and asked my discord readers what they thought about Ingress Adventuring Company (https://www.ingress-comic.com/) for this question. I always kind of figured the biggest pull for my comic was the characters, and it sounds like my readers think similarly. One thing that was mentioned a few times was that they really liked the pacing, which I really appreciate since I try to make the pages work on both on an individual, weekly level, and on a level that's not too fast when you read it in chunks.(edited)

Urbanjawdust

@LadyLazuli What's your favorite aspect of worldbuilding? :D

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I actually really like worldbuilding through dialogue and character interaction! My entire second chapter was meant to be my 'boring worldbuilding chapter,' but somehow it turned out less boring than expected I just follow some secondary characters around on a normal day in the world. They drop a few 'fantasy' terms here and there, mention some historical events and people in passing, and express some strong emotions regarding their individual situations in relation to the world's 'rules' - but it's mainly just them doing their normal thing as normal people. Conversations we'd have in our own world, but twisted to work for theirs. Basic everyday character behavior manages to do a better job at worldbuilding than any big 'Long long ago, in ancient times, there was a big blah blah blah' kind of opening ever could.

If you keep things natural, it's almost like the worldbuilding is silent - the reader feels 'at home' in the world and becomes fond of the characters, but also curious about how certain bits of info will be explained

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I agree, worldbuilding through character interaction is super duper important.

FeatherNotes

@LadyLazuli your lore is so grounded, the worldbuilding just completes itself each panel! I've seen a lot of your concepts too-- how old was the initial draft of Phantomarine?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Started writing in late 2014, started drawing in mid-2015. I had the basic plot down very quickly, but lots of details were very different from the get-go. The first chapter took two and half years to complete (because c r o w d s), but that meant I had LOTS of time to work out the rest of the world while two of my mains had a little underwater chat Still... no full complete draft exists even now. I just know the main beats and I fill in the details as I go along. It's... not very organized But it allows me to improve the story elements as I learn to improve my storytelling.

There's honestly a lot of lore that I still don't know the details of! I keep things vague because I don't want to lock myself in to anything specific yet. Hell, I haven't even drawn a proper map of the world... and that's, like, the first thing everyone does! I guess it's more like a picture that's getting less blurry with each chapter. For the readers, and for me. And maybe that makes it more natural?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Or my imagination is just extra chonky from years of zoning out at school, I dunno. Pretend your world is real, go have a picnic there. What's it like. What are your characters' favorite sandwiches. Who's sitting next to each other. Are there any threats to this picnic. I don't know. IMAGINE IT, DANGIT

I don't mean to be taking over this babble chat, haha. Please keep babbling, all!

deo101

what is babbling if not taking over a chat for a few minutes? we love to hear your thoughts

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

https://tenor.com/view/my-heart-goes-out-to-you-heartfelt-heart-love-touched-gif-9263701

Nutty (Court of Roses)

Yeah! We're answering a prompt, sure, but there's no reason we can't discuss it with each other, so long as we stay on topic, yeah? And man, worldbuilding is just FUN. Making the rules up as you go, making all the connectors and weaving it together... ugh. <3

keii4ii

The most interesting, and the most important, part of Heart of Keol (https://heartofkeol.com/) is the character relationships! In fact I describe my comic as a "relationship comic" -- like a 'romance comic' except the relationships in focus aren't necessarily romantic. As for what the readers think, there seems to be a fairly clear split between readers who focus on the relationships vs those who focus on the worldbuilding. I could be wrong, but I think those who stick around are more likely to be the former.

RebelVampire

Just want to mention as admin, it's 100% A-ok to semi take over the chat, especially if someone starts asking questions. As long as it's not too far off-topic, I'm happy to see discussions going on in this channel!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Roger that! I figured as much, just wanted to be polite just in case Thank you!

AntiBunny

In AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/ I think the cast are the most interesting aspect of the comic. The characters grow organically, and develop, and readers become attached to them. I think one of the most important things is that Pooky is a massive jerk, and it's important to establish that Pooky is wrong sometimes. Avoiding the pitfall of protagonist centric morality is crucial to making a more well rounded cast.

AntiBunny

It seems that over time Penelope has become the most popular character as well. Given the setting is a world of gray morality and violence is frequently resorted to, her insistence on not using violence, proves she's willing to change the world around her, and refuses to be changed by it.