#here we are a bunch of animals and we build stories and we call one part of these stories queerness

[variousqueerthings]

sometimes you’ll think about queer existence as it pertains to storytelling and mythologies and you just have to sit down for a bit because it’s so cool and so endlessly deep and you’ll never hit an end to where queerness is embedded into the core of who we are

[fumifooms]

hey i have a lore discussion for ya. so. basilisk chapter: laios is like 'wow monsters that are a mix of multiple animals are so cool! i used to have this fake monster that had all these cool attributes. but i've realized now that i'm older that it's better if a chimera only has two or three animals, instead of a bunch.' however, the Ultimate Monster has about 12 animals in it. and because chilchuck says 'i thought he grew out of this', it's clearly not a continuity error. 1/2

So. Do you think this Ultimate Monster transformation was influenced by the Winged Lion, and it's evidence that the Winged Lion was specifically preying on the fantasies of laios when he was a kid dreaming about being a monster? i've never seen anyone talk about how odd it is that despite laios saying 'chimeras are better if it's just one or two monsters', he still likes his Ultimate Monster design, and even adds the third head to it during the story. 2/2

You’re right that this is a layered topic, but no I don’t think it’s a fantasy he only had as a kid that the WL had to dig for. Below we have a EverydayHeroes Scans glossary page plus the final chimera sketch. As you said, the third head is added during the story. "That scylla sure was cool, let’s add a wolf head in there." Something which he has to note down before going to fight the Winged Lion.

Notice the emphasis on "cool". I think the familiar chapter is the other major relevant bit for this plot thread. It shows us with no ambiguity that Laios does care about aesthetics. It shows us that he can build a monster through logic and be reasonable about it, but he’s also not immune from getting carried away.

Ultimately, it’s still Marcille who builds the perfect familiar that succeeds for the situation, and Laios undermines it for its looks before seeing it in action. Marcille here ALSO mentions how he ‘should have grown out of this phase’.

So yes I mean, I think it’s clear that Laios’ fantasy is a fantasy, it’s not rational or logical or even something good that would work out, and even he knows that. Kind of like how when the winged lion showed him visions of a golden kingdom he reigned over during the succubus-induced dream he ended up saying "yeah… Things wouldn’t be so simple". The winged lion draws from deep seated desires, wether or not the person knows it’s stupid or that they shouldn’t, morally or otherwise, doesn’t matter. The winged lion is brute forcing through enticement for them to cave in. I don’t think Laios thinks becoming a monster would be all that he’s hoped for rationally, especially after seeing the whole chimera Falin situation. It’s like people irl saying they’d like to be a housecat and lounge all day; it’s a fantasy but not something that would really work out, as most people can acknowledge while nevertheless still keeping that pleasant daydream. The winged lion calls it out too! "If you’d wanted to be another kind of monster instead of animal, you’d be invincible right now". His preference for chimeras itself is a matter of taste and not practicality. It’s not well thought out, it’s a craving. Laios wanting to be a chimera is a soup mix of comfort fantasy and childhood coping mechanism and special interest hobby and idealization, and more.

And!!! That’s the point! What saves the world, how Laios saves the world, isn’t a flawless plan! What saves the world is Laios’ most authentic most flawedly human desires, ones he couldn’t control or repress. It’s the weird interest that everyone shamed and denigrated, his uniqueness and feeling of disconnect towards humans, that ultimately saves humanity. Because he genuinely desired becoming a monster, genuinely had that hungry curious nature in the deepest corner of his soul.

The Winged Lion doesn’t work through thoughts and the brain but through wants that are more primal, in your guts, in your heart. It doesn’t seek to checkmate you through logic, it wants you to surrender yourself willingly through manipulating your wants, your weaknesses, your emotions.

It’s like Laios’ curse at the end too, and even the succubus. If Laios were to rationally go through these desires-based trials, it’d reflect his actual wants, instead of just desires and cravings: the curse would have been that Falin can’t be revived, and his most alluring form would have been Falin safe. Dunmeshi in this way is kind of about the struggle of rising above our animality and these deep seated desires that go against productivity and what we actually want, like say, always feeling physically hungry even if you’ve eaten more than enough and knowing you should stop there. Like, it’s why we’re talking about allure and enticement.

Like aughhhh!! Why Laios got to eat desires is because he genuinely wanted to see how it tasted so bad, it wouldn’t have been granted by the lion if it wasn’t something he truly desired, like <3 it’s not something he could have simply strategized he needed to genuinely want it. It wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t plan A or B or C.

Laios my favorite fucked up cinnamon roll who saves the world through his authentic selfish desires

But no I don’t think Winged Lion was preying on his kid fantasies as much as like. The remnants of it that are still there and repressed in him. Kinda like how Marcille’s desire is also about childhood trauma, but if it’d been processed better it might have been different. I do feel like irl we carry a lot of stuff with us that was shaped in our childhoods, often some level of unhealthy and irrational that we have to kinda work through and be like ok that’s enough of that let’s be serious now. And yeah! Yeah. You’re very right that his chimera is strongly associated with his childhood desires though. It’s just that these desires really do stick, and sometimes they can overtake logic, wether or not you’re an adult and wether or not you have a demon on your shoulder telling you to let yourself be tempted.

So yes! Laios knows that a chimera with fewer animals is logically better, but a True Heart’s Desire isn’t always rational or good and his heart yearns for the Rule of Cool.

It’s, again, like the succubi! Laios is interesting for this because the thing with succubi is that they freeze people: they make the prey freeze and not want to resist/run away, but they don’t make it reciprocate either. They don’t- they don’t usually have to reason with them and be like "no i swear we’re totally real <3". Like no one in the party thinks there’s any chance of hot naked blonde women, general Hareus or Izu’s mom actually walking out of the darkness in the dungeon, especially since they were already on guard and knew succubi were going to attack. But with Laios it was more complex than that. And I think it’s way less "oh haha yeah what you’re saying makes so much sense" and more "I want to believe this is real so for a lack of a better reaction I’m just going to not do anything, maybe just maybe it might be". Again it’s enticement, it appeals to your desires. Again it doesn’t operate on a rational level, and that makes sense because the succubi are monsters who seek to trigger your fight or flight or freeze instinct and make it land on freeze; it doesn’t operate on a rational level but a deep seated one that seeks to shortcircuit logic and better instincts. And part of that was Laios’ succubus going "oh your party members have 4 heads each!!!! Ain’t that cool!!!" like, his desire for chimeras and many headed monsters is so not rooted on a logical level.

It’s a silly fantasy. He thinks several heads are cool and he wants them, like the familiar he makes with Marcille. He chooses aesthetic over practicality becahse he wants to try and believe it’ll work out so bad, and truly I can’t blame him.

[cerastes]

How do you rate the gacha booty shooter?

NIKKE sure is a game! It's the funnest mixed bag I've played lately. As a side game, it's been pretty good, because it's good at what it does good, and not terrible at its weak points, leaving you with a pretty "Ok :)" feeling overall.

So what's up with Nikke? Yeah, let's have a talk about that so I can explain a bit by what I mean with "fun mixed bag".

Nikke's setting is the same old tired, you've seen it a million times: Once day, humanity was almost decimated by a mysterious enemy that came out of nowhere... We call it... The Enemy! They were simply too strong, so humanity had to deploy its strongest weapons: Anime Girls. And you are the lucky Authority Figure that commands the Anime Girls to defeat The Enemy! But... The Enemy and Anime Girls have more in common than it seems...!?

Replace "The Enemy" with "Rapture", "Anime Girl" with "Nikke", Authority Figure with... Technically "Commander" but more on this in a bit, and you've got Nikke. In other words, the game's setting and premise are just a few word swaps away from being Punishing Gray Raven, Snowbreak, and a bunch of other properties. But here's the thing: Whereas Punishing Gray Raven tells you its story with all the charm and pizzazz of a Wikipedia article, and Snowbreak... Uh, stands there staring at a wall Blair Witch style because nothing ever fucking happens in Snowbreak, Nikke actually has good moment to moment flow. Allow me to elaborate.

Read More break here because I wrote a lot more than I intended:

Nikke has probably the dumbest premise to open with: The Nikkes are basically superpowered cyborg girls (war machines with human brains) that look like supermodels on purpose because they were created, in the game's own words, "with the ideal form in mind". That's all a wordy way of saying they are super hot girls with very powerful guns and superhuman physical capabilities. The dumb part is that Nikkes are treated like absolute shit in-universe by humans. You're telling me humanity is making cyborgs -- not even full on robots or AI, these are straight up people getting turned into weapons -- that are hot as fuck and have tits bigger than my head and asses that could crush cars under their sheer heft and then decided to hate them and treat them like shit, and also these cyborgs are the ones actually keeping humanity alive? Well yeah we need a reason for the Main Character (you!) to be Special and bond with them, so your thing is that You Don't Treat Nikkes Like Shit. In fact, you care for them.

Now, this is all absolutely fucking stupid, but then, the game sort of... Realizes how stupid it is? And some may say "this was always the plan" but to me personally it feels like they kinda realized how god damn stupid this all was as a premise, and they started veering the car mid-trip because for a while this all feels REALLY sincere, not in a foreshadowing way, but then you have some developments such as "no yeah, Commanders are a dime a dozen, are brainwashed into seeing Nikkes as walking garbage and that they'll be heroes, risk their lives for pennies and are extremely expendable", and there's also what I consider a really good and consistent thing the game has done: Nikkes were always a desperate last minute rushed product as a concept, so the safety measures in place so that they don't rebel against humans were never perfect.

This is what I mean by the moment to moment being good: The plot is absolutely whatever, the setting is something you've seen a million times, but the actual scene by scene, beat by beat, is fun. On the micro level, the game knows how to be entertaining and interesting, and when they expand these micro nuggets of gold to a macro level of writing, it's when they end up with their best bits of narrative and world building. I want to use two examples about the whole safety measures thing: Crow and Rose.

Crow is a Nikke that hates humans and is part of a squad of known dangerous elements that Missilis, the most irresponsible of the Big Three companies, is responsible for. This squad is Exotic, and Exotic works with you (your squad is named Counters) on this one mid-game chapter. The thing is, they never really intended to work with you, and Crow wanted you dead because Crow wants to spark a Human Vs Nikke conflict in the Ark (humanity's last big home), because you might quell the hostility between both sides. But, Nikkes can't intentionally kill humans (accidents happen and a Nikke may be ordered to subdue a human, but they are hardwired to not be able to shoot at them or kill them). So, how does Crow go about it when she betrays you? She has her squadmate Jackal plant a steel plate on the ground, and then shoots the plate in a way that the bullet ricochets and hits you. NIMPH, what's used to, among many other things, make sure Nikkes can't turn on humans, was so, so easily circumvented, and this is consistent with what we've been told about the Ark and Nikke in universe development in general: It's sloppy, it's lazy, it's not good. Rose, the other example, is a Nikke from a flashback story around a hundred of years before the start of the game. Rose was a prototype Nikke that was geared for melee combat instead of ranged combat, as all Nikkes are, and she was one of ten such units. Basically, Rose realized that their human Commander was intentionally trying to get them killed until one remained, which would be deemed the success of the line in Darwinian fashion. Rose got so immensely, justifiably angry at this that she plotted to kill the Commander. How can she do this, though, with the NIMPH that prevents her from doing so? Well, Rose was an actual swordmaster, and what she did was wear a blindfold, convince herself that what she was slicing was not a human, but a Rapture, and then she easily killed the shit out of him, unimpeded by her system. The NIMPH, end of the day, is sloppily made, highly dependent on the mental state of the Nikke, and easily circumvented. This is a very important plot point throughout the story, and the way they show this in multiple ways is really good.

Another thing I like is how the game goes about the player's title. It's technically "Commander" but the truth is, most every single Nikke calls you a different way relative to your relationship with them or their impression of you. Rapi and Anis some of the few that call you Commander, because they are in fact your subordinates, but Rapi says "Shikikan" while Anis says "Shikikan-sama" in a sarcastic way initially and after a while in an affectionately playful way, Neon calls you "Master" (Shishou) because she likes the way you use firepower, Liter calls you "Greenhorn" because you are, well, that in her eyes, Moran calls you "Partner" (Ototou, "little brother" in Japanese) because she's the head of a crime syndicate and she considers you as a cool person under her protection, the sports inclined ones call you "Coach", the school themed ones "Teacher", Viper, the flirty one, "Honey" or "Darling" depending on the scene, and so on, the old timey Scarlet calls you "My Lord", the religious Rapunzel uses "Believer", and the coarse, rough around the edges Snow White just uses "You" (Omae). It's a great touch that I like when it's done.

So, basically, you have a charming combination of a setting that's been overdone infinite times with plot beats that vary between legitimately good (the NIMPH and its logistics) and legitimately bad (Whatever the fuck Chapter 18 was, to name one case), and moment to moment that's really charming and entertaining.

The gameplay is honestly extremely unbalanced, and the sheer disparity in strength between units of the same rarity makes you wonder if they have anyone in the team that actually cares about balance, but honestly, putting the issues of balance aside? It's fun to point at stuff and shoot a million bullets and rockets, and they even get pretty creative with the fights sometimes in terms of enemy types and how they use them against you, so gameplay balance is awful, gameplay itself is suprisingly good for how simple it is.

I know people are going to be like "Dreamer, You Didn't Even Rate The Asses" so okay here:

First of all, the ergonomically perfect ass of the VIXEN that lured me into the game in a moment of weakness, Scarlet:

And next up, the Clothed But Massive Ass of Snow White

In fact, I appreciate the variety, because if it was just bare cheeks and panty shots, it'd be kinda whatever to me, but bodysuit ass and clothed but noticeably huge ass? Fresh, to be honest.

Also notable is that progress in entirely gated by passive production of resources and daily stuff because there's no stamina system. Bold!

But yeah feel free to ask more specific questions, but this is pretty much how I've felt about it.

[arclundarchivist]

Reading through the Heroes Ascension Book, and here’s the stuff I found that seemed like set up for future, likely sidelined story content :/

But there are also hints for stuff that could show up in the main blame through interactions and some possible new characters.

Rebuilding Ruins: Symmetra/Lifeweaver Story

• ⁠Lifeweaver is living at the Atlantic Arcology, which comes under attack by Null Sector, which could have been a major problem due to their “guests”.

• ⁠Symmetra is working against negative influences inside Vishkar, but how far that will get her is up in the air and Lifeweaver invites her to join him at the Arcology as a member of the “Collective”, an altruistic group of scientists and intellectuals.

Unity: Orisa/Efi Story

• ⁠Numbani comes under assault by Null Sector, with Humans defending their Omnic neighbors much more openly than other places.

• ⁠Efi creates a bunch of small drones to help defend Numbani, so that Orisa and her can leave Numbani to help people.

• ⁠Story ends with the pair planning on setting out immediately, and takes place around the same time as the Rio Mission, Efi may be seeking out Overwatch.

Luck of the Draw: Ashe Story

• ⁠Ashe and the Deadlocks were attempting to break into the Las Vegas criminal underground.

• ⁠Ashe nearly died defending BOB, who in turn is almost taken captive by Null Sector.

• ⁠It confirmed damaging or removing the “helmets” on an Omnic causes them to have a “seizure” and die. (What the fuck Rammatra?)

A Friendly Rivalry: Junkers Story.

• ⁠Junker Queen almost had Roadhog and Junkrat executed.

• ⁠Junkrat reveals his secret treasure: A giant airship stored within the last remnants of the Omnium beneath Junkertown. Queen and Hammond begin making plans to get it airborne again.

Thoughtless Gods: Hammond Story (And boy these is a lot of worldbuilding in this one)

• ⁠Direct sequel to the previous story.

• ⁠Reveals that Omnics remaining in the Outback are oddly feral and corrupted in some fashion, cannibalizing each other for parts and actively “hunting” Junkers. Hammond has no idea what caused this.

• ⁠Hammond remembers his time being experimented on the Moon Colony, he is apparently “older” than Winston has he gained awareness before hand, and sort of became a “big brother” to Winston.

• ⁠The apes and Hammond were not the first experiments. There were failures, apparently some other kind of animals, that are still up on the Moonbase. Hammond calls them “wrong”.

• ⁠The apes have a whole society, are building weapons and armor and may be constructing a whole new building/device on the Colony.

• ⁠Possible hints at the Mars Colony.

• ⁠Two apes are named. Oscar, unknown, and Dyson, a large, cruel Orangutan - feels like a character set up.

Where Honor Lives: Hanzo/Kiriko Story

• ⁠Shimada weaponry have “special energy tech”, throws more confusion on the “is this magic” question surrounding the Japanese characters abilities. The Hashimoto are attempting to copy the designs but “they can’t manifest the proper power”. (This seems to be due to Kiriko’s father purposefully give them shoddy work but they don’t know that).

• ⁠The Hashimoto can work with impunity in Tokyo, and are causing trouble even with Null Sector literally on the horizon.

• ⁠Hanzo and Kiriko’s interactions again confuse the whole age gap, because he treats her as if she was a tween when he was a teen.

• ⁠Hanzo joins Kiriko in protecting Kanezaka from the invasion.

Lost Ghosts: Soldier/Ana Story

• ⁠Ana splits from Jack after learning he’s been sitting on the list of Overwatch agent names using it to track Talon movements and not warning the targets. She isn’t joining Overwatch but is going to be trying to protect remaining Agents who haven’t answered the Recall but are not yet dead to Talon.

• ⁠We meet another old Overwatch agent Mirembe, who is thinking about answering the Recall, I think she’s the woman that was standing in the group photo from Ana’s trailer.

• ⁠Another, Kimiko, is named.

Lucky Man: Soldier/Sombra Story

• ⁠Sombra has been leaking info to Soldier, because she believes the cabal she is after is also to blame for that happened in Zurich.

• ⁠Jack has been hunting Talon as a proxy because he never truly believed they took down the HQ. He also doesn’t believe Reyes knew what was going to happen.

• ⁠Sombra and Jack seem to be set up to continue working together, and Jack is headed to Oasis hunting for more clues on the Cabal.

[redgoldsparks]

March Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 4 by Ryoko Kui

I'm reading these books so fast I can barely remember which parts of the plot happened in which volume but know that I am still having a great time!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 5 by Ryoko Kui

Oh, this story has taken a darker turn, and also just introduced a whole bunch more characters. Will I be able to keep track of them all? I hope so!

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, read by Anne Flosnik 

Unfortunately, this is definitely the weakest Robin Hobb book I've read so far. I was expecting to like it less than the glorious, 5-star previous trilogy, but I actually think I'm going to skip the rest of the Rain Wild Chronicles and read summaries online to get to the next Fitz books. This book follows five main POV characters. This works fairly well for the first half, when the characters are all in different physical locations. However once all of the characters meet up, we start getting the same scene from multiple different POVs, which feels extremely repetitive. Also, almost EVERY SCENE includes a flashback, often a lengthy flashback, sometimes to something that happened only the previous day and could have been told as present-moment action. This writing choice baffled me. It's something I can't remember struggling with in any of Hobb's previous books, but by the end it was driving me up a wall. The book also moved very slowly; the stakes feel lower, and the character far less emotionally true than in the two Fitz trilogies. Disappointing, but I will keep moving forward towards the next part of the series I want to read.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 6 by Ryoko Kui

Damn, a lot of characters get murdered in this volume! Good thing almost everyone who dies in the dungeon can be revived. Also, very excited to finally meet the cat ninja I've been seeing fan art of since before I even started the series :3

Delicious in Dungeon vol 7 by Ryoko Kui

I am still completely caught up in this series. I love the glimpse of Senshi's past revealed in this volume, and the lore of the dungeon that is still being revealed. There was a line in here about how the dungeon leaves you alone if you don't ask much of it, but that if you have strong desires it throws even more obstacles into your way. Our heroes have such big goals right now, but they're marching ahead regardless!

School Trip by Jerry Craft 

A satisfying new installment in the New Kid series from funny, talented, charming Jerry Craft! I appreciated how this volume started to complicate some of the students who had been left a bit one-dimensional in previous books. Several people stood up to and called out a bully; new friendships were built; and Jordan Banks left Paris even more inspired than ever to follow his dreams of becoming an artist. This series has a lot of jokes, but also a lot of heart!

A Frog in Fall (and Later On) by Linnea Sterte 

Minor frog is less than a year old, and is dismayed when winter begins to steal all of the light and warmth from his world. Instead of bunking down safely with his mentor to wait for spring, he sets out on a journey with two vagabond toads passing by on a quest to make it all the way to the tropics. They tramp through the Japanese countryside, encountering tree spirits, new friends, dangers, and views the likes of which minor frog had never even imagined. This is a gorgeous book; every page worth pouring over, an economy of line and detail building a beautiful and mysterious world of talking animals and miniature packaged foods. Made me want to draw.

Dark Rise by CS Pacat read by Christian Coulson 

In 1820s London, orphaned Will tries to earn enough as a dockworker to survive- and evade the killers pursuing him. Violet dresses in her half-brother's clothes and sneaks onto a ship in the Thames to watch a man be branded with his master's mark. Katherine excitedly anticipates her engagement to one of London's richest and most mysterious lords; his gallantry nearly makes up for the fact that he's twice her age. And in the bowels of one of that lord's ships, James tortures a man for information. All of these characters are 16 or 17 years old, but all of them are tangled in an ancient conflict between the Light and the Dark which stretches back into an age of magic before history. This is CS Pacat's YA fantasy debut, and it contains a lot of tropes very familiar to both YA and high fantasy- there are shades of both Tolkien and Rowling in this. Its fast-paced and action-packed, but especially in the first third of the story, the characters all felt fairly thin. None of them have quirks, hobbies, career hopes, relationships outside of immediate family, school, or work; or much more than a brief sketch of past. It took until the mid-way point for what I consider Pacat's major strengths as a writer to emerge: intense, homoerotic interpersonal sparring between characters operating under major power imbalances. Every scene in which the seductive, manipulative, powerful evil gay faced off against the good boy chosen one crackled with energy. Unfortunately, there were only four of these scenes in the whole book. It ends on a cliff-hanger, because of course it does, with a tempting set up for book two; but that doesn't entirely excuse the fact that the first 50% felt like set up. I will definitely keep reading, but long-time Pacat fans should take note that this is toned down version of what I expected based on Captive Prince.

Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls (re-read before event)

What an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. The inking is gorgeous, the history is clear, digestible, and devastating. This book threads the line between honesty and compassion in a way that I appreciate so much in any memoir, but especially one dealing with family. Hulls lays out the story of three generations of women starting with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist who faced intense persecution during the rise of Communism in China, who penned a popular and scandalous memoir and then suffered a mental breakdown. This left her only daughter, Rose, a student at an elite boarding school with no parental figures and no other family to lean on. Eventually Rose earned a scholarship to an American university and in the end moved her mother into her California home. Sun Yi haunted that home during the author's own childhood. The unexamined trauma and codependency of Sun Yi and Rose drove the author to the extreme edges of the Earth, seeking freedom from their ghosts. But in the end, she stopped running from her family history and turned, instead, to face it. Shelve this book with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis and The Best We Could Do. Re-read it for a second time and got even more out of it on a second pass.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 8 by Ryoko Kui

Laios and company realize that their encounter with changling mushroom rings had more consequences than they'd realized- its the body swap episode! This visual humor is contrasted against increasing dangers from both above and below, as nastier monsters and political machinations begin to close in on our heroic adventuring party. I'm now over halfway through this series and almost feel like I should start reading it more slowly to savor it, but I'll probably just keep devouring it instead.

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham

High school senior Val grew up knowing her family was unlucky in love; for generations, relationships in her family have ended in heartbreak. Her childhood love of Valentines Day ends with a shocking family revelation and what feels like the beginning of a curse. Then her Vietnamese grandmother sweeps her off to a Lunar New Year celebration in downtown Oakland and a pair of cute lion dancer boys catch her eye. Could one of them break the spell on her heart? This story offers a classic and satisfying rom-com, with Val torn between an outgoing, rich, but flaky boy and a broody, shy, loyal one. The story takes several kdrama style twists and includes ghosts, saints, red envelopes, confessions, fights, reunions, tears, and kisses. For a comic, its wordy; the pages are dense with small panels and thick with dialogue, but also illustrated with such warm, humor, and realism. I really liked that the story included as much of Val's relationship with her family and best friend as romance. And the lion dancing scenes practically leap off the page with color and energy!

Witch Hat Atelier vol 10 by Kamome Shirahama

This series remains as visually stunning as ever but I'm struggling with how every single book expands the cast. There are so many characters now that I don't care about that much, and have trouble remembering from volume to volume. I wish the story line would stick more closely to Coco, her classmates, and their main mentors!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 9 by Ryoko Kui

Oh the stories are all converging! The savior at the bottom of the dungeon is probably a demon! Ituzumi saves the day! I am still having a great time reading this series.

A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson read by Abby Craden 

A short, very queer, very poly retelling of Dracula focusing on his coven of enthralled lovers. I liked the way the book breezed through history, as the dysfunctional little family moved from one major European city to the next, with snatched moments of glittering joy interwoven with violence and plague. The story is fairly simple, and has a happier ending than I expected, or honestly think the characters deserved.

City of Dragons by Robin Hobb

I DNFed the previous book in this series and just read a summary online before skipping ahead to this one. I think that was a very good choice for me. This third one was more engaging and a bit more action packed, with some cool discoveries about the city of Kelsingra and the nature of Elderlings. But the Rain Wild Chronicles as a whole do not stand up to the quality of the Farseer books. There are so many POV characters that a few of them get only two or three scenes in this whole book. I don't feel that I deeply know any of these characters; while at the same time watching Hobb pair them off at an extraordinary rate- in the last book five sets of characters got together and in this book an additional two couples are developing feelings for each other. Between this and a kidnapping, a birth, a murder, and a lot of blackmail, this series feels like a soap opera.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 10 by Ryoko Kui

Almost two TPKs in this volume, yikes!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 11 by Ryoko Kui

You know shit's getting serious when the character who has been the series main villain up until now is partially devoured by a different, worse villain. Exciting changes coming to this dungeon under it's new lord and master!

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle

When Becca gets invited to sit with the popular girl clique at her new high school, she's thrilled. But the friendship turns bloody and complicated when she learns that her new friends are actually werewolves who need to kill and feed on a human once a month. If she joins them, Becca will gain superhuman strength and a pack; she'll never have to fear a male predator again, because she will be a predator herself. I loved the queer rep and the twist on werewolf lore; I wish it had been a little longer and more developed. Give me multi-page transformations sequences!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 12 by Ryoko Kui

I love seeing all these plot lines come together! Building towards a wild climax.

Delicious in Dungeon vol 13 by Ryoko Kui

I went out and *bought* vol 13 of this series because my library didn't have it yet, that's how hooked I am. And now I have to wait until JULY for the final volume! (But also, thank goodness I didn't get into this series any sooner or I'd have a much longer wait).

[soaps-mohawk]

hi hi hi !!! i’ve already expressed to you in your inbox how much i love your writing and here i am expressing it again!! you’re an amazing writer and i love rereading your new series. but i do have a question. (a couple, sorry)

i’m new to the whole alpha/omega verse thing and i could just go on google but i’d rather get an answer from the author writing the story.

what’s a heat and how does it work?

i’ve kinda pieced some bits together but i’m still confused. is it like a monthly thing or is it like losing one’s virginity?

and does the menstrual cycle come into play at all or do female omegas not get it at all?

and are omegas only females? are there no male ones?

thank you in advance, cheers

Hello!! Thank you!! I'm so glad you're enjoying the fic!! Don't apologize for asking questions I love explaining things!! (Also I do have a running tag right now, if you search 'crcb lore' on my blog it'll bring up a bunch of asks and such with world building/lore/explanations and stuff if you're interested. I meant to put a note about it on the masterlist but I forgot)

To answer your questions:

A heat is sort of exactly like what some animals go through. It's basically an intense period of arousal where, the omega in this case, is fertile. The exact details vary depending on the version/author but in this one, omegas are only fertile during their heats and they happen about every three to four months. They don't have a menstrual cycle as we do irl, the heat cycle is their menstrual cycle basically.

To break it down, omegas experience something called a pre-heat, basically signs that a heat is coming. In the reader's case she gets more clingy, her appetite spikes, and usually omegas will start to nest more than usual to prepare for it. Once the heat hits, the body temperature spikes and basically they just get insanely horny to the point it can get painful. Their scent changes and becomes basically an aphrodisiac for alphas which is why they can be dangerous if you're not somewhere you can be safe from alphas. Alphas kind of lose their minds once they smell an omega in heat (like animals) and they slip into a rut and want to breed the omega. If there's multiple alphas in the vicinity, they will fight each other over the omega, even if one of them is bonded to that omega and the others aren't. Heats last about a week, and while alphas can take the caretaker role during that time, packs with betas will usually have a beta that helps keep the alpha and omega fed and hydrated during that time because, of course, they're not really going to be considering that.

I did touch on gender in a different ask, but status is not dependent on gender. So there can be male and female alphas, betas, and omegas. Identifying as non-binary or trans won't change how you're seen in your status since anybody can be anything, and transitioning will not affect ones status either.

Thank you for the questions!! I always love a discussion and some world building!!

[lorekeeper-backset]

Alright, so, nobody else has done this yet so I will. Presenting...

A Full Summary of Wynncraft: Rekindled World

Explaining the Upcoming Wynncraft Update through a handy bullet point list. Here's what we know is in the upcoming update so far.

Mobs and enemies are being completely revamped including not just bosses but standard enemies too, with the mob system being rebuilt from the ground up.

There will be 350+ unique mob AIs and Abilities which I'm assuming means some mobs will just use the same AI as other mobs.

There will be 300+ new models for entities, which I'm assuming means some entities will just share models with others. This includes not just hostile mobs but also passive mobs like sheep and pigs. I'll admit, I'll kinda miss the classic Minecraft mobs. I won't miss the mobs that are just a bunch of blocks jumbled together into the vague shape of a creature. All these models have their own unique animations. Especially the bosses.

The UI and interface are being completely reworked with a unique look that meshes Minecraft and modern rpg UIs. So, uh, if you use Wyntilis things'll probably break.

Brand new music that's even higher quality!

Teleport scrolls are no longer one use. Instead, they have multiple charges that recharge over time, no longer requiring you to go back and buy more constantly.

Soul points are gone and outside of Hardcore and Hunted mode you'll only drop materials and ingredients upon death.

Scrap is being, er, scrapped and items can instead be repaired with just emeralds.

Raids have been reworked to provide a more streamlined experience better suited for endgame players.

All challenges and bosses have been reworked! Raids now scale to each party member's own level.

If you buy a Silverbull subscription (for some reason) you can unlock new effects and rewards for raids. Also up the challenge with unique challenges or whatever.

If some or all of your raiders are from the same guild, they trigger a guild raid which makes the raid harder and the rewards better.

Aspects are rewards that you can get from raids and guilds that enhance your abilities. They're shared across all your characters and you can have five enabled at a time.

World Events are now a thing! Sometimes there'll be a world event and if you get there in time you can fight a huge crowd of enemies and a boss for lots of xp and rewards.

Once a week a Major World Event will trigger near the Corruption Portal and all players above lvl 30 (though I suspect you'd be better off at a much higher level than that) can fight a massive boss called Annihilation with the power to end the world. Defeating him gives you a corrupted cache which contains powerful items.

A lot of the level 30-39 quests have received some touch ups.

Improved fights.

Dungeons (sans Eldritch Outlook and Fallen Factory) no longer require quests to access. I assume the dungeon quests will simply be reworked and not removed entirely, seeing as most of them provide important story and lore information (Slykaar's in particular).

Also you get a free second chance if you die during an attempt.

Improved builds including Mt. Wynn! Finally! That Mountain always looked kinda sparse to me.

Random events, both beneficial and harmful, during Lootruns.

And more that hasn't been revealed yet!

Coming this summer. So very soon.

If none of that made sense, visit the official page.

[sydneyofalltrades]

Okay here is my post about my Ride the Cyclone ✨animation/animatic✨ ideas I’ve been formulating but never really posted bc I cannot draw for the life of me 🥲

@gay-little-axolotl read at your own risk (you’ll be here a while, trust me)

Karnak’s Dream of Life

Basically the exact same as in the show, headless body singing eerily, finding a little doll and popping off the head

there’s a shot of Karnak’s machine at the end of the song which snaps into Welcome…, which is just talk so we don’t need to animate that shit

Fall Faire Suite/Uranium Suite

Since I love them both, I’m writing their ideas both in the same category

When the kids start singing at the beginning of the song, all six of them are in the bandshell, Penny included

However, every time we think we actually get a good look at Penny, something coincidentally blocks her face, whether it be Mischa’s figure, Ocean’s arm, a quick shot of Ricky playing the tambourine, shit like that

The world is in full color while the kids are alive (I’ll explain why that’s important in a sec)

As Karnak explains how the kids got into the accident, we see them get into the coaster*, Ricky needing help from Mischa and Noel, and we see the ride function as normal

In Uranium Suite, you can hear Jane vocalizing ominously in the background, and that little warning sign is present in the way the kids are all a little tense

Once Karnak says “hurtling the children to their deaths,” the color is gone. The kids are drawn in white outlines and all there is is a black screen

During Fall Faire Suite, each kid goes back in color as they speak, only for it to disappear once they’re done

During the “sailing through space” bit, they’re back on the coaster, in slow motion as it falls, then quickly cuts to them in purgatory

“Empty streets of empty shops” has Ocean taking apart little buildings and Constance scooping up the pieces to make a mall

“Smart ones all packed up and went” has Noel dragging out a bunch of suitcases and Mischa labeling the abandoned houses for sale

Very few visuals of Penny are shown, like she disappeared without a trace

“Did we finally leave our town?” has them all in color for a second, then back to white.

Meet Jane Doe

Ocean whispers her line, Karnak says his, and BAM! Spotlight from nowhere

Foreshadowing TBOJD, Jane floats as she’s introduced, and touches ground once she speaks

As she speaks, flashes of the aftermath of the incident show up

“They found my body/not my head” has professionals finding the kids’ bodies, and flashlights looking for Penny’s head

“No parents came” actually has a little boy with a black cape running to the headless girl, screaming a name no one hears

“My life, an unsolved mystery” has pictures of Penny with the choir, her face always strategically covered

What the World Needs

Here we go with the solos!! Ocean’s in color in her song, along with everything she interacts with, the others are in black and white

Ocean wears a varsity jacket with her name in the back, along with a blue shirt that says “Vote for Ocean!” with her hair in a ponytail with a bandana

The others are dressed in “Vote Ocean” propaganda, but whenever Ocean herself insults them, they become newspaper clippings of the people she’s calling them (sandwich artist, security guard, Wal-Mart greeter)

“The move” has Ocean dancing in a club

“The shake” has an earthquake that is covered by a statue of her

“The headline maker” has a newspaper thrown on screen with a headline saying “World’s Greatest Woman!” and a snazzy picture of Ocean

During the second verse, as Ocean is berating Mischa, Constance, and Ricky, there’s a story book-esque animation of each of her interpretations of their lives, under smaller, less important articles

“And as we move through life” is a sliding shot of Ocean standing on top of the world, with the others tiny and insignificant

As the “zeros” bit happens, a big fat 0 is written over everyone’s newspaper picture, and Ocean rips up the paper as she just shoves the thought aside

For the climax, the world spins as Ocean stands on top of it, with the others just barely catching up to admire her and her glory

Final shot is EXACTLY like the 2016 promo shot, her on top of everyone in a human pyramid

Noel’s Lament (TW: drinking, smoking, mu*der, s//h)

Now Noel’s Lament was more fluid for me to think of. Noel himself and his reality is grey, but when he sings about Monique or from her perspective, the world is bright and alive

Noel doesn’t do the quick change, it’s a transition shot from his iconic pose to Monique in a similar stance

The “good girls call me the town bicycle” is Constance and Jane in their costumes (beauteous dresses of the time) whispering while Monique walks past

Claude is Ocean. I will not elaborate (psst she’s in a suit with the cutest low ponytail)

“Ten! Times! In! His! Back!” shows the stabbing, but cuts to Monique holding a cigarette innocently

“Never ending carnival” is a revolving shot of Monique’s hand holding booze, a cigarette, and another man’s hand

The accordion (piano if you’re a 2016 bootleg fan) solo has the little nischa dance, i literally cannot take that away

“I think I am in love with you” cuts to a close up of Monique’s eyes widening a little, whether in fear or in recollection, I’ll leave that up to you

“I give in to the fantasy” is like a little spicy cut, that’s all im saying

“for i sing sONGs” has people passing Monique by as she trips on the road scrounging up some loose change, and she moves into an empty alleyway

Time passes a little, and there are deep lines in Monique’s face and her eyes are heavy with lack of sleep

“In some rat infested Chinese dive” is just Monique smoking alone in an alleyway, pressing the hot cigarette to her arm to try and get a reaction

“Eight months later” is Noel telling the story, then the little gasp is a quick shot of Monique’s eyes filling with tears

We see her forced out of the house and she desperately drags herself through an alley

She’s slumped against a wall when Ricky as the priest approaches her

During the first “for I sing songs,” we see through Monique’s hazy eyes as she spots a bottle of booze and drags herself towards it

We see her drink it, and then her hand goes limp and the bottle shatters

In the real world, Noel’s now in costume, standing on that chair

During the climax, Noel’s singing face is projected over flashes of Monique’s life, her tragedy shown in clips and hastily sewn together

And finally, the song ends with Noel draped against the chair, the others surrounding him

Every Story’s Got a Lesson

Short and simple, but Ocean snaps about Noel’s song and Karnak deadpans

As Ocean says “No.. every story has a lesson!” she finds a grad cape and cap and throws it on

As she sings, a blackboard appears with the words of the song written in chalk

The others, also in capes and caps, whistle and sing along

Somehow Karnak gets a hat on his head too

This Song is Awesome

Unlike Ocean and Noel, since being a rapper isn’t Mischa’s dream or desire, he’s black and white while the others are in full color, along with the contents of his music video

You read that right. Music. Video.

Specifically a music video shot by a seven year old with a short attention span and edited by a bunch of preschoolers

Not that it’s bad, it’s just got focus on things that are irrelevant, the editing goes insane, there’s a brief moment where Jane is literally photoshopped into the sky (TBOJD ref hehe)

Mischa wears a black and gold tracksuit but since it’s black and white you wouldn’t really tell

The others are Mischa’s background dancers, wearing blue and white

Basically every single time Mischa says “awesome,” the word is like edited onto the screen like a history teacher’s presentation

There are really good shots tho, like Mischa driving a convertible to the Hard Rock Cafe with Noel and Ricky

Surprisingly there is a Learjet in the video, no one really knows how that got there

The girls are all fawning over him in the club and then he sees a girl wearing punkish clothes and a white flowy skirt and the music video falls apart

Talia

The second Mischa lays eyes on Talia, the color slightly blooms into the video and he walks over to her

Instead of a photo of her, he genuinely talks to her, and you can see the love and care he has for her

When the others come back, they’re not in a club anymore, they’re out in a garden in a traditional Ukrainian wedding

While the girls escort “Talia,” who’s now been replaced with Jane, the boys help Mischa get prepared

When Mischa and Jane finally do interact, instead of Jane’s doll face, it’s Talia’s big brown eyes and warm smile that greets Mischa

They dance together, happily in love, with the others singing cheerfully in the background

Then Talia is suddenly ripped away from Mischa as he falls, falls, falls from the rollercoaster

As he does, his phone, also falling, flashes a picture of Talia on the lock screen

Mischa’s now in normal clothes, staring at the picture, while the others just dance around him, it’s a whole vibe

Then it cuts to Mischa and Talia in a grainy video, Mischa picks Talia up, spins her around, and she kisses him

Space Age Bachelor Man

I have SO MANY ideas for this song so this is gonna be LONG!

Song starts with Ricky alone, a single spotlight illuminating him in black and white.

“Others from outer space” has a peculiar spacecraft arriving in front of Ricky

Once those claps start, you know it’s gonna be wild

The spacecraft opens and spills a light that makes Ricky come into color, and the boys, in Zolarian couture, alert Ricky of their duty

When Ricky arrives on Zolar, the girls, now space aliens with tails and cat ears, practically throw themselves into his arms

“The naughty/holy daughters of the realm” has a shot of Ricky being crowdsurfed (for lack of a better term) through a sea of cat ladies

Um before the guitar solo, Ricky kisses Cat!Ocean. I don’t make the rules

Now the.. that scene is kept covered for a reason, so naturally I’d also just use shadows to convey wtf is happening then

“Now there is a new challenge” has the boys worried in front of holographic screens showing K-9’s enemy fleet

“For they’re at war with K-9!” had Ricky bursting out with the wildest, sexiest, most glittery costume you could EVER expect and it is everything to me

Suddenly everyone’s holding a laser gun and that makes Ricky freak out

So instead of announcing war, he goes to a podium and explains his desire of peace, which is broadcast to K-9’s fleet (idk how, i just think it’s funny)

“And they listened/and they heard my message” is Ricky breaking the fourth wall, pausing the action Emperor’s New Groove style before going back to the scheduled programming

The rest of the song is basically then partying in the spacecraft as it sends Ricky back home to Earth

The Ballad of Jane Doe

Jane, in a plain white dress, is alone. And everything is black and white. Not a single sliver of color anywhere

Everyone else is in funeral wear, however they pay no attention to Jane, like she was never human to begin with

We see Jane play with the decapitated doll and a rollercoaster toy, watching as it went up, then fall out of the seat

Every so often a flash of color and the faintest hint of a life beyond Jane is shown, but it’s so brief there’s no way to actually see it

As Jane begs St. Peter to let her into heaven(?), Jane tries to look for a helping hand but no one assists

“Wont you tell me at last who I am?” has Jane reaching out, not just to the sky, but to the funeral goers who can’t seem to notice her

Then we cut to Ja/enny (flashes between perspectives) in the rollercoaster, and how she lost her head

As Jane starts flying, her pleads become angry, more scornful since no one is giving her answers, but she’s still getting only tiny flashes. Not even a face, just a feeling or an emotion

“Time eats all his children” is Jane standing ominously, slowly pointing out into the non-existent crowd

“A melody floats through the air” has her flying through the funeral, the others ignoring her as she desperately tries to find herself. Her name

She flies through the graves, her desperation becoming more and more apparent

There’s a flash of a baby, a little boy, a monkey puppet, a thermos

Then Jane stops in front of a freshly dug grave, and she knows it’s her own. But its headstone is unmarked

And she just cries as the funeral goers surround the tomb of the empty girl

The New Birthday Song

Also short and sweet

Everyone wears a birthday outfit and Jane has the cape and hat

As she stands in the middle of the circle, holding the cupcake, the others dance around her

Then Constance gently nudged her arm and gestures to the cupcake

(Jane tries to eat it but Constance blows it out first)

Jawbreaker & Sugar Cloud

Lumping them both bc of the themes

We see the accident through Constance’s eyes. See the way it rose, then suddenly fell

“My heart just welled up” is a shot of Constance’s eyes widening, her terrified face morphing gently into a smile

As this happens, the flashbacks of the mundane things Constance learned to love are shown over it. We see her going back to bed, hanging upside down, her brother, her friends

And she starts to laugh as the coaster falls. And tears spill from her eyes as she does

In the present, Constance, in white outlining, wipes away her tears and collects herself for Sugar Cloud

As the song begins, we see a little flashback of Constance as a little girl given her first jawbreaker. She’s excited, then starts slowly sucking away the layers and gets visibly disappointed

“At first it seems so sweet” shows some clips of Constance growing up, and then she just loses the sparkle in her eye and spring in her step

Then the song starts to pick up and color arrives, everywhere as Constance just siblings merrily

Constance and the others aren’t in the warehouse anymore, they’re in the skies of blue, pink, gold, and purple

Constance jumps through a gold, pink, and blue cloud and emerges with her outfit, a pink jacket over a gold top and blue flats. A pink top hat attached to a headband is on her head

Twirling a cane, Constance genuinely sings happily with the others as they dance and jump through the multicolored clouds

The recorder solo is as memorable as always, with the others hyping Connie on by dancing and cheering excitedly

With no guilt in her heart, Constance happily shouts from the top of the sugary puffs her love for everything in her life, and the others happily back her up

It’s Not a Game/It’s Just a Ride

At this point in time, everyone’s back in their normal uniforms, drawn in their white outlines

The portal’s light gives Jane color, as she’s the one the others picked

Before Jane goes through the portal, she hugs Constance and Ricky, then steps through

A slideshow of clips appear showing of Penny’s life, before and after LEGOLAND, and the others all cuddle together to watch

As the slideshow goes by, the others are overlayed above it, so we can see their expressions now that Penny was brought back

As Penny grows older, she’s closer to her brother, she gets married, has children, is happy

When the slideshow starts showing clips of Penny growing much older, a clip is shown of children pointing at a picture

Older Penny takes a look at it and smiles. “They were my friends,” she seems to say, gently holding the picture of her and the choir

As she dies, Karnak says his final line as Virgil cuts the power cable

As sparks fly and the kids huddle close, they learn they’re not five. They’re six

Penny had come back to the afterlife after her death and the six of them were alone, in their white outlines

“But it’s not a game, it’s not a game” has Ocean picking up pieces of their outfits. A “Vote Ocean” pin, a feather boa, and black and gold cap, a cat ear headband, a doll with no head, a headband with a hat

“It’s just a ride!” has the kids in their outfits actually riding the Cyclone in full color, passing the loop that ended their lives and finishing the ride

*Now that they finished the ride in the afterlife, they all get out of the rollercoaster and reminisce about life together

“We’re all just sailing through space” is the kids as they revolve through all their outfits of the show, while talking about their lives, and their death

“It’s just a ride” has them all holding hands and spinning around, wearing the outfits for their individual songs

Then they fall to the floor and smile as they’re all together again

“And the world will keep on spinning/With no ending or beginning” has flashes of their songs, Ocean’s victory pose, Noel’s dramatic end, Mischa stopping his video, the couple’s fateful kiss, Ricky and his cat warriors, Penny taking Jane’s place on her named grave, and Constance in sugary clouds

Now in their uniforms, the Saint Cassian Chamber Choir is just a group of friends, who are all together and happy in the afterlife forever

“I know this dream of life is never ending” cuts to a girl with French braids waking up on the ground. She stands up and sees the light of the sun

“It goes around and ‘round and ‘round again” shows six friends, bonded by fate and together through time

THIS IS PROBABLY MY LONGEST EVER POST BUT I LOVE IT SO HAHA

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 2

Link for Part 1

I find the existence of filler guides quite amusing, since for some shows it makes sense (like Naruto), but for others (like Pokemon) it absolutely doesn't and they still exist. So here is an attempt to do an absolutely unnecessary one just for fun. 😅

The classifications are CANON (an episode with major storylines present), LORE (in which we get significant backstory or world building, but could be skippable)  and FILLER (completely skippable episodic storytelling, not connected to overarching story arcs)

PLS my analysis will have spoilers, if you're a first time viewer, just scroll to the bottom and read the list and only read full text if you are familiar with the content of the show already!

S2E1 Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus is FILLER

This is the definition of filler, and not even a good filler, but the one that drags. The whole episode is a waste of time, and a horrible season opener if you ask me. I don't even care if Saddam Hussein dies in this one, skip it anyway, all you need to know for his next appearance is that he is already dead, which will be obvious and TBH since the movie gives a different story about his death, this one might as well take place in an alternate continuity. S2E2 Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut is CANON

We're back with the conclusion of the season 1 mystery. For now. S2E3 Ike's Wee Wee is CANON

Kyle learns the secret of his brother and he also gets a great deal of character development that makes this episode a must-watch. S2E4 Chickenlover is FILLER

A great character episode for Officer Barbrady, nontheless a filler half hour of the show. S2E5 Conjoined Fetus Lady is FILLER

One might enjoy this one for Pip. Or for Nurse Gollum. But not for its long-lasting consequences, that one is for sure. S2E6 The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka is LORE

This one is debatable, and the one that I would think most people would actually debate on, since most of it is a one off story, however there is a single scene at the end with Satan and Saddam, which acts as foreshadowing for the movie, so that one scene provides context, however the movie is enjoyable without this little introduction. S2E7 City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks) is FILLER

Again, you can't make more specific filler content than a whole episode that is just a dream. Stan dreams that Eric dreams that Ms. Crabtree falls in love. S2E8 Summer Sucks is FILLER

I was thinking about the Mr. Twig storyline. It does build up Herbert's identity as a gay man. However looking at it, this doesn't seem like manga original content, rather, this hits every usual beat of an anime-exclusive filler arc. Edit: I know South Park is not based on a manga, it's an elaborate joke. S2E9 Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls is FILLER

Anything that gets brought up later from this episode is counted as filler content, so in the long run it doesn't matter. S2E10 Chickenpox is FILLER

Stuart and Gerald get some backstory, but otherwise the whole story is a one-off. S2E11 Roger Ebert Should Lay off the Fatty Foods is FILLER

I believe this one was expected. Nothing in this episode matters by the next. S2E12 Clubhouses is FILLER

Randy and Sharon divorce. They get back together by the end. Bebe likes Kyle. She doesn't by the end of the episode. Typical filler stuff. S2E13 Cow Days is FILLER

The Terrance and Phillip dolls never appear again. Neither does Eric believing himself to be a Vietnamese prostitute called Ming Lee have any consequences. S2E14 Chef Aid is FILLER

Herbert Garrison's filler arc with Mr. Twig comes to an end. Chef sleeps with a lot of women. End of episode. S2E15 Spookyfish is FILLER

I love this episode, but Sharon being crazy and all the paralell universe stuff are solely for this one. S2E16 Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! is FILLER

Eric now has a bunch of family members, none of which we ever see again. S2E17 Gnomes is CANON

It may come as a surprise after such a long string of fillers, but since the gnomes return and Tweek becomes a major player later, it only makes sense for this episode to be seen as fairly plot-heavy. S2E18 Prehistoric Ice Man is FILLER

Stan and Kyle get into a fight and then make up. The iceman never returns.

… SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not.

S2E1 Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus is FILLER S2E2 Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut is CANON S2E3 Ike's Wee Wee is CANON S2E4 Chickenlover is FILLER S2E5 Conjoined Fetus Lady is FILLER S2E6 The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka is LORE* S2E7 City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks) is FILLER S2E8 Summer Sucks is FILLER S2E9 Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls is FILLER S2E10 Chickenpox is FILLER S2E11 Roger Ebert Should Lay off the Fatty Foods is FILLER S2E12 Clubhouses is FILLER S2E13 Cow Days is FILLER S2E14 Chef Aid is FILLER S2E15 Spookyfish is FILLER S2E16 Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! is FILLER S2E17 Gnomes is CANON S2E18 Prehistoric Ice Man is FILLER *Only for its last scene if you want a tease for the movie. Personal notes: You may notice that this season is a lot less plot-heavy than the previous one, with only 3 canon episodes out of 18 compared to the 9 out of 13 in the first.

[amenders93]

1 Week till Chicken Run 2!!!!!!

At the end of every good story, whenever there is a couple involved, their romantic relationship officially starts when the villain is defeated or a problem has been resolved. What happens is that the couple proclaims their love for each other by telling each other how they feel or sometimes by showing it without even talking. A good example would be like a big hug where one spins the other and then afterwards they share a passionate kiss. Last week's post showed that Rocky chose to return to the farm to help his friends and just in time to save Ginger's life once again. Like the good team they are and the future leaders they will be together, Rocky and Ginger worked together to save their flock. After a scary and risky encounter in the air, they also managed to defeat Mrs. Tweedy and destroy the pie machine at the same time. Now our young feathered lovers are safe and together, happy to have each other back in their lives forever. And better yet, not only are they safe but all their fine feathered friends are safe too. I know I stopped right at the good part but I wanted to save the best for last, and for a good reason too. So now this week, we're going to see the relationship between Rocky and Ginger go from just blooming to official.

Let's pick up to where the plane is soaring high above the farm. We see the farm is destroyed with the barn blown up and gravy is covering much of the land and the remaining buildings (the farmhouse and the huts in the chicken coop). Inside the plane, Ginger is happily looking down to see their old home destroyed, knowing that the chickens were never going back now. And now it's time to celebrate; the chickens all erupt into wild cheers! After being stuck on that miserable farm for so long, the chickens (and rats) are finally safe and free at last! For the chickens, no more morning egg counts, farmers, dogs, coops, keys and especially fences. For the rats, just being away from the farm should be plenty of reward.

Everywhere in the plane, there is much celebration going around. In the cockpit, Mac plants a kiss on Fowler's cheek, much to the old rooster's surprise. Down in the hold, Rocky spins Ginger around in a big hug. Babs and Bunty embrace each other and even Nick and Fetcher cry as they share a hug. But here comes the best part - Rocky pumps a fist in the air and Ginger suddenly shuts his beak. She turns him towards her and gives her handsome rooster the most passionate kiss ever. At first Rocky is a little surprised but then wraps his wings around his beautiful hen. True Love's First Kiss!!!! 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏼💋

All the hens go aww seeing their trusted leader and her true love share their first kiss. Unfortunately they're so distracted by this beautiful scene that they have stopped pedaling, and the plane starts to tilt to the left a bit. The chickens are brought back to reality and start to pedal again, causing the plane to rise again. Fowler calls down from the cockpit, telling the hens to keep pedaling since they're not at their destination yet. He also adds that they can't see paradise if they don't pedal. As this exchange is happening, the plane continues to flap its makeshift wings and flies towards distant hills as the sun rises. The golden rays warm up the countryside, but this sunrise is altogether different. This sunrise doesn't just symbolize the start of a new day but also the start of a new life for the chickens that have achieved freedom after being held prisoner for so long.

Some time later, we find our animal friends enjoying their freedom and living their lives as best they can on an island sanctuary. The chickens have built Each one of our favorite characters are off doing their own thing. Fowler is still telling his military stories, but this time to a bunch of chicks who are eager to listen to tales of action and bravery. The old rooster is telling them the story of the flock's escape from the Tweedy's farm. Some people say that these chicks are Ginger and Rocky's, but our young lovers just got together so they're not ready for kids yet. Personally I'd like to believe that these chicks belong to other hens on the island. The island was already a bird sanctuary so there must have been other hens who had children or were having children. Bunty is pushing Babs on a makeshift swing while the dense hen is still happily knitting away. Babs is oblivious that they're finally free; she thinks they're on holiday and will be going back to the farm soon. Bunty just lets her have this one. Oh, brother 😏. Mac is teaching another group of chicks about physics and engineering using her makeshift catapult as a demonstration. The chicks are fascinated with this lesson or at least wanting to try to be flung like one chick was during the demonstration for fun. Nick and Fetcher are enjoying their time, doing their own thing. Somewhere along their conversation about starting their own chicken farm, they bring up the whole chicken-and-egg situation.

But best of all, Ginger is on top of the hill overlooking their new home, a village meant just for the chickens far away from the dangers of humans. Rocky comes up beside her, charmingly asking if their new home and the feel of the soft, cool green grass is everything she ever imagined. Ginger replies that it is not, shocking Rocky a bit. He seems a little disappointed at this. However, our pretty hen was only teasing him because then she does something really sweet. She then hugs her handsome new boyfriend, telling him that it's better than she imagined. Rocky, in return, smiles and lovingly hugs his beautiful new girlfriend back. He gives out a little chuckle and she gently sighs, both thinking that life will never get better than this. Just wait until the sequel, then it will 😉. Rocky and Ginger look down upon their village full of their happy fine feathered friends during this sweet hug like the new leaders they are, much like a king and queen surveying their kingdom. Our beautiful couple then walk down the hill hand in hand so Ginger can teach Rocky how to play cricket. The official start of their new romantic relationship. Long live Rocky and Ginger! 💘

And there we have it, a happy ending for our fine feathered friends and the start of the romantic relationship between our handsome rooster Rocky and our beautiful hen Ginger. The Tweedys have been defeated, the farm and pie machine have both been destroyed, and the chickens have finally obtained their long-awaited freedom. They have even found a bird sanctuary on an island in the middle of a tranquil lake. There were no farmers, no dogs, no huts, no coops, no keys and best of all, no fences. The chickens could now live their best lives however they want, without any worries whatsoever.

But the best part of all this is that Rocky and Ginger are finally together. Their beautiful love story had started with them disliking each other to liking each other to becoming friends to falling in love. And now comes the happy ending - them becoming an official couple, starting with having their first kiss. At the beginning, Ginger was held prisoner on a chicken farm and Rocky was free from the circus. But after a crazy adventure with a touch of romance, Rocky and Ginger are now both free and have found a new home for not only their friends, but for themselves as well. Best of all, they both had someone special to share their home and lives together. True happiness comes from sharing your life with someone who will love you for who you are, no matter what. We may think their story will end right there, but next week we will see it continue in a whole new adventure - marriage and parenthood. Let's hope they can survive whatever life throws at them in the sequel. ❤️💖💓💞

Anyway this is my twelfth and final weekly Rocky/Ginger moment post commemorating the upcoming sequel to Chicken Run. I hope you have enjoyed all these posts. There will be another special post about the sequel to celebrate the big day. There also will be another post within the next few days as a special treat. Waiting for this long-awaited sequel hasn't been very easy but these posts have made it easier as the release date got closer. But now the wait is almost over!!!!

[ecargmura]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 28 Review + Final Thoughts - No More Frieren Fridays For Now

Milet is asking me if I’m alright. No, I am not alright. Frieren is done. This is the final episode. No more Frieren Fridays until a second season is fully announced. What will my Fridays be like without Frieren now?

The finale of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s end continues off from where the penultimate episode ended. Serve eventually passes Fern, Denken, Ubel, Land, Wirbel and Methode. They all impress Serie in different ways. For Fern, she’s naturally talented in magic. For Denken, he’s old, but still has youthful passion for magic. For Ubel, she passes her because she can sense her psychotic nature underneath; it’s more of a “here, have it and now go away” or some sort of equivalent. For Land, she passed him because he had the biggest titanium balls to show up to the exam as magic clones; the Land in the exam all have been clones as the real body happens to be at his hometown sipping tea. The fact that his clones can produce more clones is a crazy spell in itself; no wonder Ubel is so fascinated with him. I want his power; it’d be cool to make my clones go to work in my place while I just laze around at home; I’d still be multi-tasking at the end of the day. For Wirbel, she passes him because she finds him the most ideal of the first class mages she’s seen. He has no likes or dislikes when it comes to magic as he sees it as a tool for killing at the end of the day. For Methode, she calls Serie small and cute and that unexpectedly causes her to pass. Serie’s methods of passing is quite unusual, but it does make sense as the ones she passed were the most competent mages of the bunch.

After the exam, it’s nice to see the main party interacting with other characters. We have Stark and Fern interacting with Denken and Laufen. Denken tells Fern and Stark about how he spoils younger people because he never had children or grandchildren; his wife died young, and the grave he’s most likely going to visit is hers. Denken enjoys magic because he admires Frieren from the hero’s party. Wirbel and Frieren interact. This is an unusual pair, but Wirbel approaches her in order to ask why she didn’t help the old lady. He then talks about how Himmel was the reason he became who he is now because the stories of his adventures motivated him to be able to protect something. Their backstories seem to indicate that they’ll meet Frieren again.

It can’t be Frieren without an action scene, which is shown when Lernen tried to engage in a duel with Frieren. Although there wasn’t a big brawl between the two, the animation was rather crisp. He did this because he was worried that Serie would not remember him. Frieren tells him that she’s just a big tsundere and that she always remembers her disciples even if they didn’t make a mark in history. I think this was rather nice to let him know that Serie isn’t all that she seems.

The flashbacks with Himmel were rather soothing. They shape up why Frieren does what she does. She treasures every memory she has of him, which is sweet as she is learning to appreciate her time with him. I’m going to miss these flashbacks.

Also, it was hilarious that the magic Fern got from her promotion was laundry magic. Serie’s face as she gave her the grimoire was priceless. It was also hilarious knowing that Serie banned Frieren from any building associated with the Continental Magic Association for the next millennium out of petulance. These elves are at a civil war with each other.

It was also nice to see a glimpse of what Stark had been doing as the mages were taking the exam. He was playing with the city kids, befriending other city folk and merchants adore him to the point that they want to give him samples of their products. I do like how he’s like a people magnet. He attracts people of all kinds, from kids, to men, to elderly men.

The ending of Frieren is calm, soothing and very fitting for what the vibes of this show gives off. The good-byes are short because they’ll meet again. The reason why they say it’s embarrassing if they meet again is because a dramatic farewell would be awkward if you met the person who received the dramatic parting with. What are your thoughts about the finale?

Final Thoughts

Frieren is a very unique take on the fantasy anime. While there are classic fantasy tropes, Frieren’s story primarily focuses on how life is ephemeral and how each encounter should be treasured because you may not be around when they pass on.

It’s a unique fantasy story because the story begins after one big journey comes to an end. The premise itself is unique. On top of that, the main protagonist isn’t a human, but an elf, so she lives much longer than her peers. She sees people live and die all the time, but it’s because of Himmel and her travels with him for the past 10 years that she learns that there is a lot more she needs to know when it comes to life, hence why she starts a new journey to seek out Heaven.

Frieren is already an experienced protagonist. While she is OP, she still has flaws like having juvenile weaknesses and an obsession with treasure chests. The people traveling with Frieren, past and present, all have unique personalities that help them stand out. They aren’t exaggerated caricatures as they have various personalities that make them feel human—well, socially awkward humans. My only issue with the characters is that I sort of want to see more of the other races. We’ve seen elves, demons and dwarves. Are there more out there? When will we get dwarf lore? Mimic lore?

The people and experiences Frieren goes through in this story is her appreciating the memories of the past and the people around her. Whether it be helping people by eradicating demons that she still has yet to kill off or doing menial tasks because she knew their ancestors, it’s nice to see the stoic Frieren grow as a person too.

The animation was amazing. Madhouse really showed off why they’re powerhouses in action scenes. My personal favorite was Episode 9 where Fern and Stark were battling Lugner and Linie. The way they moved around was amazing. Not only that, Episode 15 was a spectacle in animation as they animated the Fern and Stark dance scene, which wasn’t shown in the manga.

The music was beautiful. I never heard of Evan Call until now, but I know that he’s definitely one to watch out for anime soundtracks now. I love the addition of flute when it comes to the battle scenes. It gives a rather unique flair to it.

The voice acting was great! The choices for each character is really good! Atsumi Tanezaki has always been versatile, so for her to voice the rather stoic Frieren and make her sound rather different from Chise Hatori from The Ancient Magus’s Bride was really something. I’ve never heard of Kana Ichinose until this anime and I really like how her voice sounds! Chiaki Kobayashi as Stark was nice too. Himmel, Heiter and Eisen’s voices fit them so well. Everyone else in the cast had very fitting voices too. The mages were voiced by rather new faces mixed with veterans, but they did a good job too! I think the stand out performance was Mariya Ise as Serie because I didn’t expect her to use her “boy” voice when voicing the female Serie. It was a nice twist. Nobuhiko Okamoto as Himmel stood out too because he voices him as a young adult and as a grandpa in the first episode.

Overall, I really enjoyed this unique take on a fantasy anime. I normally don’t watch fantasy anime despite being a huge lover of the genre, but this one is definitely a kickstarter that I should watch more. I know that the fantasy genre has been saturated with isekai, but I’m sure that some of them will be hidden gems. I totally recommend watching this show if you want to watch a chill fantasy anime. Let’s hope that a season 2 is in the making. What are your thoughts on the anime as a whole?

[elexnorislingtxn]

okay, hear me out. I have an idea for a fanfiction of sorts? like, I'm using songs as reference and stuff, idk tbh.

but like I have a storyline that connects most blur, arctic monkeys, franz ferdinand, and the killers songs. (yay writers block 😒)

so basically each of blur's albums are separate stories of people that live close together but never really know each other (they're unnamed for now) but we have some recurring characters (John, probably Tracy ) and like it's like their big moments in life (parklife is Tracy's breakdown fr) and then the ballad of darren is all of their goodbyes as they die, leaving traces of their magic to the next generations.

and like there's magic in them, but it's been diminishing quickly for years. there's still traces of what they used to be in them (fae, vamps, werewolves, wendigos, banshees, idk crickets or something)

and the next generation is explained in franz ferdinand (literally everything) , the killers' hot fuss (and more, but mostly hot fuss), arctic monkeys (everything except tranquility base hotel and casino bcs that's its own story)

franz ferdinand (mostly the debut album) tells the story of one guy who has more magic than usual (evil eye), falls in love with a jealous girl (bullet) who tries to extract his magic (ulysses) (the concept of extracting magic had been messed around with, but it wasn't super successful) and ends up killing him (diamante?) because her plan didn't work.

hot fuss is the same girl (psycho) trying again on someone with less magic but more smarts and the guy murders her to end his fear. (I'm still indecisive about the other albums because it's been a while since I listened to everything.)

arctic monkeys wpsiatwin is about another magical dude but he doesn't really know that he has traces of it, so basically it's about him going out a lot. (perhaps vampires is a bit strong, but... is about a normal (no magic) person having an encounter with a bunch these magic people and assuming that they're vampires.) also, normal people don't care for magic people because they say it's a bunch of nonsense.

fwn is where gets more interesting. I feel like my brianstorm animation idea would work here? like the two scientists are trying to find a reasonable way to explain the magic, one is magic and one isn't and the non magic one kills the magic one for his research. the other tracks are definitely part of other characters' lives, just like in blur's stuff.

humbug is about another love story with a human dude and a magic gal (definitely called Fiona) and their tragic relationship. sias is part of their shenanigans and probably a few other characters. (excluding brick by brick bcs no.) am and the car are just  additions to the other established characters, bcs I don't think there's a ton of world building (yk, I take that back, the car is definitely about two older people that maybe are still around from blur era?)

idk I had a really good dream that explained all of this wayyyy better than I could awake.

[clickerflight]

Esial: Part 9 - Glass Shatters

Masterlist

Part 8

I accidentally put this on the wrong account at first. I am so mad. Something something glass houses Me standing at the whump counter: Yeah I'd like uhhhhh extra crispy Esial?

Content: Vampire whumpee, descriptions of burns, blood lust and blood lust guilt, accidental self injury to the lips

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

Anastasia let Esial eat in silence as she drank her own cup of blood. Esial had been a bit worried that the blood wouldn't satisfy him. He felt like something changed in him when he nearly drained Joanna. 

He'd never had human blood before, but it was so much richer and it filled up parts of him he didn't even know he had. He'd felt stronger, almost. Warm and thrilling. 

As he lifted the cup to his mouth, he realized the blood was a mixture of animal blood and human blood. He drank it down quickly, licking at the blood that dripped down until he felt satisfied enough to leave the small remainder be. 

He put the cup down, licking his lips. The animal blood didn't taste familiar, but it had certainly been good. 

"How many days have you been here, Esial?" Anastasia asked, finishing her own cup. 

Esial frowned. "One, I think."

"Mm, I will give you tour."

Esial nodded and she stood up. He followed, putting his cup on the counter where she put hers. She picked up his cup and slotted it inside of her own cup. "The cooks like them stacked."

Esial nodded, mouthing the word 'stacked' to himself. 

Anastasia turned, waiting. Esial realized she was waiting for him to catch up so they could walk side by side, rather than following her, and he did so, a little distracted in doing so, especially when they got into the halls where there were other people.

Walking alongside someone when you hadn't done so since you were a child was more of a task than one would expect. It was difficult matching her pace and keeping from bumping into others.  

Anastasia seemed to notice and reached out, hooking his arm with hers to make it easier. Esial relaxed a little. 

"Who was the Anastasia that you are not?" he asked, tucking his crocodile farther up his side. 

"Mm, she was a princess born in the same year as me," she said, waving her hand dismissively. 

"Princess?"

"Yes. Like daughter of Pharaoh, though we called them Tsars, in my country."

"This is not your country?"

She gave him a faintly amused look. "It is now, droog, though it has not always been."

Esial nodded as they entered one of the glass hallways. He jumped when he felt warmth on his skin, but he was not burned by the sun. He relaxed and looked out at the people walking along pathways. 

"What is this place?"

"Dalton Rehab Center," Anastasia replied. "Before stasis, I never thought there should be such place. Or that vampires would not have to hide. Time washes away mountains eventually, it seems."

And that was a lot to unpack. Esial didn't even know which question to ask next, but Anastasia was already speaking again. 

"From the story I was told, there was vampire who had been in stasis for good long while. When he was found he was sold through the black market until he escaped, only to find there was nowhere for him to go. Apparently, he went mad and killed a bunch of people and they built this place to house vampires just out of stasis to get them on their feet again and keep them from murderous rampages."

Esial nodded along, though there were a lot of words he didn’t understand. Still, he got the gist of them and he was content with that. 

Silence fell between them again as they passed into a new building, this one full of doors marked with strange symbols like the ones on the door of the room he had slept in, though this wasn’t the same building. 

A phrase Anastasia had used came back to him. ‘Time washes away mountains.’ Did it? She’d said it with such certainty, like it was common knowledge. Was 5000 years really enough time to wash away a mountain? But where would the bits of mountain go? Would it just flatten, the land around it rising to meet it until it was a plain? 

And if time could do that to mountains, what would it do to forests? To rivers and lakes and buildings? Well, he already knew that just a decade was enough to bury a village.

He was so deep in thought, he didn’t notice the rambunctious vampires and humans playing together just outside the glass hallway he and Anastasia were passing through. He didn’t notice as they threw a ball back and forth between them, the humans using bats while the vampire used their bare hands. He didn’t notice the ball go flying, though he very much did notice when the glass above shattered, raining down on him, and making him look up before he was burning. 

He screamed, dropping his crocodile as his flesh burned and melted. He could feel the phantom sensation of chains digging into his flesh, creatures with sharp teeth biting into his legs. He screamed, searching his person for the amulet that his father had made him. The one his father enchanted to protect him from the sun when he was bitten and fed and turned, but it wasn’t there. All there was to find was burning, and melting, and pain so violent it tore at his soul and gouged at his eyes and his sanity. 

Then he wasn’t burning. Esial gasped, laying on the floor, shuddering and trying to flinch from the sun he could feel on his burned arms, though it wasn’t burning him anymore. Someone was on top of him, yelling in another language, rage clear in her voice. 

Esial twisted on badly burned and bubbled flesh, trying to see through the haze that had taken his vision. Anastasia wasn’t as badly burned as he was, but her skin was red and blistered. She was shouting at the people through the glass, who all looked horrified. 

Someone in the same clothing as Callum and Laura, one of the scrubs, came running, kneeling beside Esial. They were human and, through the lingering pain in his burns, Esial could feel the hunger just as powerfully when he smelled her blood, the itching in his mouth to sink his fangs into her arm and heal himself through her blood. 

He tried to open his mouth to bite as she put a hand on his shoulder, but they had been sealed together, melted and burned. He whimpered at the pain that lanced through his lips, down to his chin and up through his cheeks.“It’s okay. Try not to move,” she said, bending to look at his eyes. 

“It’s going to be alright,” she said seriously. “Anastasia. Could you help me carry him?”

Anasasia looked like she very much would rather go out and murder the people who broke the glass, but she nodded anyway. “Bring the crocodile. It is his.”

The woman nodded and went to pick Keta up from the patch of unfiltered sunlight as Anastasia picked Esial up. 

“You burned very badly, droog,” she said. “You really are old vampire.”

Esial closed his eyes against the haze, tears picking ways down his face as his burns were jostled. He wailed through closed lips as he was put down a little too roughly on a plush table.

“Prostite, Esial. I did not mean to hurt you,” Anastasia said quickly, cupping the top of his head gently with her hand. 

The human woman was back and she had something small and shiny in her hand. She quickly sank it into his arm and he flinched, though he couldn’t feel it through the pain of his burns. Anastasia put the crocodile toy against his side and he tried to grab at it with fingers that had sealed together when he put his arms up to protect his eyes. 

The pain started to fade, the effect radiating from where the woman had stabbed him with the small tool. 

“He’s just going to need to heal,” she said. “When did he last eat?”

“We were coming from the cafeteria,” Anastasia replied. 

“Okay. When his mouth is formed back up a bit, there’s some blood in the cupboard over there. Can you sit with him? I’m not technically supposed to be in the same room as an injured vampire for safety reasons.”

Anastasia nodded and stroked a hand through Esial’s hair as the human left. Esial twitched, unsure if he liked the sensation or not. 

There was a dark look in Anastasia’s eyes as she got a chair to sit down next to him, like she was still planning out the ways she was going to murder those people who broke the glass. 

Esial was honestly touched. She didn’t seem mad at all about her burns and they were mostly healed already, but her anger seemed to burn brighter in her eyes when she looked at him. 

Esial closed his eyes again, feeling relaxed and a little sleepy as the pain faded to a dull ache. 

He had wanted to bite the woman who had come to help him. If his lips hadn’t been melted shut he would have bitten her and he would have tried to drink her dry. He knew what it was like to bite a human now, to drink their blood, and it was a powerful urge now. The exhilaration of feeling someone’s life force ebb out onto his teeth was forefront in his mind, remembering how Joanna had struggled, how she screamed, how she shook and grew pale and collapsed. 

But on top of it was a feeling of revulsion. He would have bitten that woman and she was there to help him. It made him sick to his stomach. He’d never felt like that before. Before he’d had human blood. Was he cursed now? How was he supposed to control himself in the future?

Anastasia’s hand ran through his hair again and he leaned into it this time, letting it comfort him. Esial would figure this out. This was his body and he would learn to control himself. He had to. 

Esial startled as the door slammed open, lifting his head to see a shaggy haired man standing in the doorway. He was tall, and his shoulders were probably twice the width of Esial’s. 

“Anastasia!” the man said in an accent of his own, though it wasn’t as thick as Anastasia’s and it wasn’t the same. He was wearing a shirt, but instead of pants he was wearing something that looked like the child of a pair of pants and a robe with intricate lined patterns crossing each other. “There yeh are, lass! I heard yeh were burned.”

Anastasia shrugged him off. “I am fine, Ciaran. Esial took it much worse.”

Ciaran looked Esial over, wincing. “Ach, that’s not good. You alright there, lad?”

Esial shrugged and Anastasia chuckled. “Not lad. He is older than both of us combined.”

“Is he now?”

“Da. He was around for the first Pharohs.”

Ciaran whistled, impressed as Esial worked his lips loose, the corners pulling free first as he got his elbows under him to slide up. 

“It’s good to meet yeh,” Ciaran said, giving Esial a firm nod. 

Esial felt skin tear as he pulled his lips free, though it didn’t hurt. “And you,” he replied as Ciaran winced at the sight. 

Anastasia reached out and caught the drips of blood dribbling off his chin in her hand before they could land in his clothes. “Careful!”

Ciaran turned and pulled a white sheet of something off of a roll and handed it over to Esial. It felt like a mixture of forms and fabric, but didn’t seem to be either of them. He pressed it to his face, wiping up the blood. 

“What is this?” he asked, muffled a little as he pressed it to his lips. 

“Paper towel,” Anastasia replied. 

“I thought towels were made of cloth?”

“Hence the modifier ‘paper.’” Ciaran said, amused. 

Esial was getting annoyed with how people just used more new words to describe things he didn’t know. 

“What is modifier? And Paper?”

“Ah, modifier is somethin’ that changes the meanin’ or state of somethin’ else. In this case changin’ the meanin’ of ‘towel,’” Ciaran said rather slowly, as though making sure he was explaining it right. “And this is paper.”

He picked up a form from the counter and Esial frowned.

“No. That is a form.”

“Well, forms can be on paper, but this material is paper.”

Esial groaned, leaning his head back into the wall behind him. 

“It is okay, droog,” Anastasia said, standing up and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Learning new language is hard.”

She stepped over to a counter where she turned a knob and water gushed out to clean his blood from her hand. There were a lot of water summoners around. He wondered where all the water was coming from. 

“So, I suppose we’re keepin’ him then?” Ciaran asked. 

Anastasia nodded. “Da. He is friend now.”

“Right… what’s up with the alligator?”

“Alligator?” Esial asked.

“Your Crocodile.”

“Oh. I used to have crocodiles I looked after. I told Joseph and he got me this one and Jesep as a gift.”

“Yeh looked after crocodiles? In Pharoh times? What else did yeh do?” Ciaran asked, intrigued.

“Killed hippos.”

Ciaran looked over at Anastasia, excited and she nodded. “Impressive.”

Esial just shrugged. 

Anastasia finished with the water and opened the blood cabinet, pulling out a bag and poking some sort of long hollow thing in. It looked a bit like the hollow reeds Esial sometimes cut down around his edge of the river to help make crocodile nests. 

“There. Suck the blood through that.”

Esial frowned and wrapped his lips around it, but figured it out and drank the whole bag very quickly when he tasted it was human blood, even if it was a bit stale. 

“I plan to stay here till he is ready to leave,” Anastasia told Ciaran. 

Ciaran nodded. “Alright. I have te get back te class. I left in the middle when I heard somethin’ happened.”

“Then don’t waste time. Go!”

Ciaran laughed and turned, leaving just as quickly as he came to appease Anastasia.

Part 10

Esial: @whumpsday @honeycollectswhump @writereleaserepeat @tragedyinblue @hyrules-sleepiest-knight @why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

From Dust to Ashes: @whumpsday @writereleaserepeat @currentlyinthespiral @pigeonwhumps

[tmnt-tychou]

Four Against One, Chapter One

So I've had people ask me about writing something like this, since I don't mind writing poly. Originally, the concept was a bunch of comedy shorts about Mona trying to date all four turtles at once and it goes about as well as you expect it to.

But then more ideas piled up and I kept changing the concept and the feel of the story. And I finally settled on this. Please keep in mind this is just a fun side project for me to explore this ridiculous idea. Do not take it seriously. I assure you, I am not taking it seriously. I'm just feeling this out and seeing where it goes.

This happens in Bayverse, in the same world as "When Leo Met Mona" only in this version, Leo did NOT meet Mona. At least, not at that time. They don't meet her until after she is mutated.

So...enjoy if you're into this sort of thing. If not, feel free to skip. As I said, this is not a project I'm taking too seriously and I will not be hurt if this isn't for you.

Also, while this chapter is clean-ish, this will eventually be an M-rated fic.

*****

The four brothers walked carefully through the rubble. Police offers were everywhere, the blue and red lights from their cars lit up the night behind them. The turtles were escorted through the building—once an ordinary lobby, now completely in shambles. Equipment had been thrown to the side, doors ripped off their hinges. Blood was smeared on the floors and walls.

This was the second time ever the New York police department had called on the turtles for help. But this time, they had no idea what they were in for. And the further they walked into the building, the more they felt like they were in over their heads.

And officer escorted them through a door in the back that led down a flight of narrow, concrete stairs to reveal an entire sub basement below the office building. Down below, it was far worse. Everything was trashed, smashed, smeared in blood. Bodies lay strewn about. Pieces of human bodies and hulking forms of...something else. Something reptilian.

“Dude, that...are those...mutants?” Michelangelo whispered harshly. There were several. Lizard-like creatures, far bigger than the turtles, laying dead with throats and bellies slashed open. Some partially eaten. Human and mutant bodies alike were everywhere. The smell of death was already beginning to rise.

Police Chief Rebecca Vincent stood among it all, the only thing orderly in all the chaos. As the turtles approached, she gestured to the nightmare around her as if they would have answers for her. But all any of them had were questions.

“What happened here?” Leonardo asked in a low tone.

The chief huffed. “That's what we're trying to figure out. This was some sort of secret lab where they were mutating animals into giant creatures for God only knows how long. Tonight, something happened. Several of these animals got out. We're still trying to piece together what happened. But we're already getting calls about monsters loose in the city. A good portion of them, it turns out, fled into the sewers.” Raphael growled. “No, of course. Of course they went into the sewers. Where we live.”

“Your home turf,” Chief Vincent agreed. “We were hoping you would help us locate them before they hurt anyone.”

“Locate them and then what?” Donatello asked. “What do you want us to do with them?”

Vincent shook her head, obviously overwhelmed with it all. Everyone was still trying to wrap their heads around this absolute madhouse of a crime scene.

“Dr. Falco, the man responsible for all of this, managed to survive. He's insisting we take them all alive.” She held up a black duffel bag. “In here are supposed doses of mutagen. He said this will push them through to the second phase. It will make them smaller, more manageable. In theory, it will increase their intelligence. Even, he insisted, allow them to learn how to speak. It was like he was trying to make mutants just like the four of you.”

The brothers looked at each other.

“So you want us to mutate them and bring them back to you?” Leonardo asked carefully.

Vincent handed him the bag of mutagen. “At this point, I honestly don't know. Do what you can. If you can bring them back alive, then we'll figure out what to do with them. If you can't...maybe it would be better for everyone in this city if you killed them all.”

Four Against One

Chapter One: Animal Instincts

Mona tossed and turned in bed, finding she couldn't sleep. It was unusual to have this problem down in the sewer. It was so dark and quiet at night. It was like sleeping with the weight of the whole city like a thick, warm blanket on top of her. It never took long before she was out.

But tonight, she just couldn't do it. Something about her body was keeping her active, making her muscles restless and her mind spinning. It was maddening. After a good three hours of flopping from side to side, Mona pulled herself up with a huff. It felt like she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. Might as well get up.

It was dead silent. Dark and dormant with a few lights stationed here and there for anyone who needed to see where they were going in the otherwise pitch black lair. The idea was to wander in some of the main rooms for a bit until she got sleepy, but light from deeper in the lair caught her attention. Someone else was awake.

The light was coming from Donatello's workshop. Of course, if anyone else was awake, it would be him. He was a self-professed insomniac and liked to keep odd hours whenever he was pulled into another project.

Mona approached the open entrance way and leaned on the frame. A barely audible true crime podcast played from the phone on the table. Donatello fiddled with a piece of rusty machinery as he tried to take it apart. She watched him for a moment, enjoying the quiet zen of seeing him work. He always gave out such a calm energy. She hoped being in the wake of his aura for a while would lull her enough to go back to bed.

Yet, as he worked, she found herself more energized as she watched the muscles of his arms. The flex of his biceps as he tried to pry one stubborn piece from the other. It made her restless all over again and she could no longer hold still. Her legs moved, carrying her in further.

“Hey, Donatello,” she greeted.

He paused and looked at her curiously. “Uh, hey. Can I help you with something?”

She sat herself in the extra chair that floated around his workshop. “I can't sleep. I was hoping I could stay up with you for a while. Unless it's a bother. You can kick me out if you need to.”

He gave her a calculating look. Not the first one she had received from him in the nearly three months she had known him. It was like he was trying to learn her; figure her out.

She was trying to learn them all, too. These four mutant turtles with their mutant rat father that had been living down in the sewers undiscovered for over twenty years now. She, too, had no idea of their existence until they had saved her from a monstrous mutation that, in her opinion, was a fate worse than death.

Her current situation was better than being a hulking beast lurking in the sewers, but it still wasn't ideal. Born human, she was now mutant; still reptile in form with a broad snout, green skin, and a long tail that irritated her on nearly a daily basis.

Unable to be a part of the human world any longer, she lived in the sewers with these other mutants. Very sweet and intriguing mutants who opened their home to her when she had no place to go. She would be forever grateful for their hospitality, but this wasn't her home and these mutants weren't her family. Three months in, she still felt like a guest, like she should be moving on soon. She wished she could. She hated relying on others; taking without being able to give back. Eventually, she would take too much and they would be done with her. In the meantime, she tried not to be a bother.

“No, you can stay,” Donatello said. “I don't mind at all.”

“Thank you.” The words were weighted, as they always were. Thank you for tolerating me for another day, even though I am a stranger. Even though I am useless to all of you.

He went back to fiddling as she curled up in the chair, feet tucked beneath her. Trying to take up as little as possible in a room that wasn't hers. Trying to be invisible, soundless. She didn't want to disrupt. But only a few minutes in, she started rocking back and forth on the chair as she looked around. The rhythmic tick, tick, tick of the chair caused Donatello to look up at her.

“Sorry,” she said, when she realized what she was doing. “I'm really struggling. I don't know why I can't sleep. I feel very mmm...kinetic tonight.”

A smile pulled at the side of his mouth. She had a different vocabulary than his brothers. Her choice of words amused him at times.

But his lack of response made her nervous. She stood up. “You know what? Maybe I'll go watch TV or something. I don't think sitting here bothering you is the answer. I'm sorry to come in.”

When she moved to leave, he stood up. His height towered over her. His broad shoulders took up space. For some reason, Mona found herself hyper aware of those two things about him.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked. He seemed almost surprised himself to offer it. “I'll go with you.”

Gratitude flooded her. A feeling where a thank you didn't seem to be enough. But she said it anyway. “Thanks. I'd really like that.”

Donatello grabbed a flashlight and led the way to some of the catacombs at the back of the lair. They tended to be much dryer with less runoff. Not that there was much runoff anywhere. The summer had been usually dry this year.

Mona was getting more and more familiar with the different tunnels in the area. She even knew how to get to the surface if she needed to. But the surface scared her. She had been a few times, but she didn't like to go out too long. When she was exposed, it felt like she was showing the entire city what she had become, and she was still coming to terms with it herself.

“You're not a bother, by the way,” Donatello said suddenly, breaking her from her thoughts. “I've noticed you apologize a lot whenever you need something or you're taking up our time. None of us mind helping you.”

“Yes, all of you are amazing,” she agreed. “You guys have been so, so great. But I feel bad. I've been here a while. Even now, I'm taking up your time. Time you would have had if I wasn't here bothering you. I've always been one who's paid my own way. I wish there was at least more than I could contribute.”

“You contribute,” he insisted. “We all love that you cook for us, we appreciate when you clean. You've patched us up when we're hurt, you've stayed up with us when we're sick.”

“So I'm your mom,” said said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Donatello frowned. He didn't like the sound of that either. “No, it's not like that. You just...the lair just feels nicer with you in it. You also give us something pretty to look at, so there's that.”

“Me?” she asked stupidly.

He smiled and gave a shrug.

Her gaze turned to watch ahead of them by the light of the flashlight. She never thought of herself as that pretty as human. Good enough to get by. Maybe even cute on her best days. But as a mutant lizard...she tried not to look at herself in the mirror for too long. She had sometimes wanted to apologize to them for having to look at her.

But that comment...was he serious? He was a reptile, too. Maybe to him, there was a different beauty standard. She herself thought all four turtle brothers were cute as hell. It had taken a while to get used to them—to wrap her head around the fact that talking giant turtles existed—but after that, it was easy to enjoy being around them. To learn their quirks and personalities, to discover how sweet they all were. To learn all the turtlely things about them and find out each one just endeared them to her more.

If Mona was really honest with herself, she'd had to admit that she was crushing on them all a little. Though she assumed it mostly came from the fact that she had hardly had any interaction with anyone else aside from the brothers and their father. That and she had never been treated as kindly as this family had treated her. She was growing to love them, but at the same time pitied them for being stuck with her growing affection for them merely because they had been kind to her.

“You've gone quiet,” Donatello spoke after a few minutes of silence. “I'm sorry if I said something bad.”

“You've never done or said anything bad since I've known you, Donatello,” came the soft response.

He paused and shined his flashlight on her. She blinked in the strong light, unable to see him other than the reflection of his glasses.

“I keep trying to read you, Mona Lisa, but I always feel like I'm missing something.”

She shrugged. “I don't know what that is. I'm just your average girl who was kidnapped and mutated against her will, faced off against a bunch of scary monsters—both human and mutant. And then found this sweet family of adorable turtles and their rat dad. And now I live here in the sewers. Tale as old as time.”

The light was still on her, as if she was being interrogated. “You don't talk much about before your mutation. Who you were; if there's anyone out there who might be missing you.”

“There isn't. There's not much to talk about. Just another poor twenty-something trying to work and keep the bills paid and the lights on. I'm afraid I'm not an interesting person.”

“I find you plenty interesting, Mona Lisa.”

Mona held a hand up to her eyes to block out the light. Trying to see his face; to see if he was being serious. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Of course.” Donatello's answer was pragmatic as he lowered the light.

In truth, she often flirted with all the brothers. And they usually flirted back. Sometimes even Leonardo—on the rare occasions she could get more than two words out of him. They were growing on her, always endearing. She liked having their attention. It made her feel special. Having Donatello's attention right now, hearing the soft, playful tone of his voice, made the core of her gently tighten. That was new.

“You're quite good at it,” she flirted back and they settled back into walking. “Very charming.”

He didn't respond, but she could feel him smiling. All four brothers would get flustered whenever she complimented them. It was cute. They were all so big, strong. They could be dangerous if they wanted to be. But they all melted with flattery and affection. Mona was happy to be the source of both of those things. It was one of the very few things she had to offer.

The tunnel narrowed and they had to walk close. Mona's shoulder brushed his arm so many times it seemed like he was seeking out the contact on purpose. Likewise, his knuckles touched the back of her hand now and then, silently asking. They liked to be touched, she had noticed. But this was distracting. She settled it by taking his hand. Three-fingered with thick, scaled skin. She didn't mind touching him. She never minded touching any of them.

When she did, something in Donatello relaxed. He was quiet, but silently pleased with this. Mona wished she could be so relaxed and pleased. She still felt like energy was running through her. Even though his thumb rubbing the back of her hand soothed her a bit. Donatello's presence was always soothing; calm.

They walked in companionable silence as their route turned them around and they headed back into the lair.

“Better?” Donatello asked as they entered the comfortable, familiar tunnels.

“Yeah,” she lied. “I think I'm going to try to sleep now. Thank you for spending some time with me.”

He still had her hand; still ran his thumb over it like he wasn't done feeling the texture of her. “My pleasure.” His voice was a soft whisper. It stirred her body in a way she wasn't prepared for. “Hug?”

Michelangelo asked for hugs the most. Donatello was a close second. She never minded as she slipped her hand out of his and then raised her arms. The very tall turtle stooped down so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He slowly straightened, carrying her off her toes. She loved when he did this. A joyful noise squeaked out of her and she gave a few happy kicks before he set her back down.

She felt a little flush after being pressed to his firm body, but tried not to focus on it.

“Good night, Donatello.”

His voice remained soft and raspy. “Have a good night.”

*************

Early the next morning, Leonardo paused when he walked into the dojo and found that it was already in use. Usually, he was the first one up and enjoyed at least an hour of quiet time before the rest of the family began to stir. But today, the light was already on. Mona Lisa sat lotus style, eyes closed and back straight. She opened her eyes as Leonardo silently entered.

She must have noticed him pause. “Sorry, am I going to be interrupting your personal time?”

She was. Leonardo liked having his quiet mornings alone. But that morning, he didn't particularly mind her company. She was usually a quiet person and he appreciated that about her.

“You're fine. Do you mind me joining you?” he asked as he sat himself in a similar position.

“Please do. I'm not having much luck on my own.”

Leonardo didn't say anything. He had learned merely by waiting, he could always get more information out of her.

“I couldn't sleep last night. I'm feeling a little frayed. Like there's this energy in my body that won't stop churning. I thought maybe some meditation would help, but I don't know what I'm doing. Am I supposed to be thinking about something? Or am I supposed to empty my head and think about nothing?”

A slight smile pulled at the side of his mouth. “I guess it depends on what your goals are: to quiet the mind, or to contemplate something that's been on your mind.”

She furrowed her brows in consternation and he found it to be quite cute. “What do you think about when you meditate? Or is that too personal to ask?”

“I try to think about my goals. How I want my day to go. How I can be a better brother and a better leader to my team. How I can improve on my skills and myself. Admittedly, my brain likes to wander to my mistakes and dwell on them. I try to spin it to the positive. Learn from them. Do better the next time.”

“Damn,” was Mona's response. “That's a good answer. I'll try some of that.”

Leonardo smiled a little more. There was something about her that was gentle, but amusing. He enjoyed her energy. As he settled into his own meditation, he was reminded of that as she remained a quiet and calm presence beside him. But she was still a presence. Normally, he could tune out his sensei and even any of his brothers if they were meditating beside him.

But her. Something kept calling him to her. Meditation for him was like sitting in a comfortable darkness. With Mona, she was like a soft glow next to him. Not loud or distracting, but definitely there. He opened an eye to look at her. She wasn't moving or making any sound. She looked relaxed; she wasn't even breathing loud. So why did his head keep turning in her direction? Was it her smell? He could definitely smell her. She smelled very nice. She smelled...attractive? Was that the word he was looking for?

He didn't say anything and let her be. For Leonardo, that morning's meditation was spent trying to keep his focus. He did not have much success. Still, it felt like it wasn't too long before Splinter came in for his own morning meditation. And after twenty or so minutes, the other turtle brothers trundled in.

“Ooh, look who's up,” Michelangelo greeted. He crouched behind Mona and gave her a light one-armed hug around the neck. “Morning, Mo-Mo. Ooh, you smell really good today.”

“Hey, Mike,” she greeted back, still not moving.

“What are you doing up so early?”

“Having quality time with Leonardo.”

Leonardo glanced at her. She had one eye open in his direction, smiling as if she just told a joke. “Jealous,” Michelangelo replied and moved to find his own space on the floor where he began doing stretches. “When do I get my quality time?”

“With Leonardo? You'll have to ask him.”

“I wasn't talking about Leo. You know what I meant.”

Mona just grinned.

Raphael came in next and he too paused at the extra person before sitting in front of her and beginning his own stretches in preparation for training.

“Hey there, Big Eyes. You come to train with us this morning?”

She snorted. “Probably not. Not interested in getting my ass kicked today.”

“Nah. I'd go easy on ya. You using a new shampoo or something? You smell good.”

“Right?” Michelangelo piped up. “She smells super good this morning.”

Mona subtly sniffed her shoulder, then her hair. Then down the front of her shirt. “I'm not sure what that is. I don't smell anything.”

“Did you go to sleep at all?” Donatello's voice asked as he walked behind her.

“Not really,” she said guiltily. “Just wasn't my night.”

He crouched behind her and touched the side of her neck with the back of his fingers. “You're a little warm. Do you feel okay?”

“About the same as last night. Like I need to be awake for something. I just don't know what that something is. I think I'll make myself stay up all day and then hopefully I'll crash good tonight.”

Donatello paused and then overtly breathed her in.

“She smells good, huh?” Michelangelo grinned from where he stretched in a complicated pose.

“That's not how you usually smell,” Donatello mused. “Interesting.”

“What do I smell like? I don't smell anything.”

No response. Mona specifically looked to Leonardo, as if they were all keeping a secret from her and she knew he would be the one to speak the truth. But the blue-clad turtle shrugged. She did smell different, but he didn't know how to put it into words.

“Alright, time for training,” Splinter announced as he finished with his meditation and stood. With a sharp clap, the turtles immediately stopped their chatter and stood in a straight row before their sensei.

Mona stood as well to get out of their way.

“Can I stay and watch?”

Splinter eyed her while at least half of his sons were openly nodding. Before, she had always been politely told the dojo wasn't a safe place to be during training and the reasons were obvious. Very large mutants with very dangerous weapons would be whipping around at high speeds. Mona had no training to keep herself safe. But she couldn't learn if she wasn't allowed.

“Yes, you may,” Splinter agreed. “But you will adhere to every rule.”

She straightened. “Yes, sir.”

“You will sit where I put you. You will not move while there is any activity on the mats. You will pay attention to what is happening. If you break these rules, you will be asked to leave. This is completely for your safety.”

She nodded emphatically. “I can do that.”

“Very well.”

Splinter offered her a pillow to kneel upon close to the wall. Far away from any fighting. He stayed with her while the turtles warmed up. They pulled out their weapons and began performing complicated katas. To Splinter, it was obvious they were showing off for their audience of one. He let them. When they were sufficiently warmed up he called for them to stop and they obeyed.

“Weapons, here,” he pointed to a spot next to him and the brothers complied, setting their weapons down. “From the wall.” Splinter nodded to the collection of weapons adorning what was aptly named The Weapons Wall. “Donatello: daisho. Leonardo: tonfa. Michelangelo: kama. Raphael: naginata.”

Without their weapons of choice, it was obvious to the master that his students weren't as comfortable. But but they were also ninja and should be able to make a weapon out of anything. He allowed a few moments for the turtles to get used to the weight and swing of their new weapons. Raphael was enjoying the reach of his long, bladed staff and kept poking Michelangelo in the shell with it. The smaller turtle parried back with his kama; two short handles with curved blades. Like miniature scythes. Leonardo spun his double tonfa expertly, but it was clear he didn't like that they were more a defensive weapon and had barely any reach. Donatello looked the least comfortable with his allotment as he handled the sword set and awkwardly strapped them to his body in a way he could reach both swords. The shorter sword stayed in its sheath in the front while he swung the long sword around in a way that told he was used to handling a staff.

“Pair up,” Splinter then ordered. “Raphael and Donatello. Leonardo and Michelangelo.”

The designated pairs faced each other. When their sensei gave the order, the fighting began. It started a little slow at first with each brother getting into the feel of their weapon. Usually they were a lot more devil-may-care when playing with weapons. But they were aware of their audience and didn't want to look clumsy.

But Splinter didn't care who was watching. He was there to make sure his students were always on their toes. Once the sparing fell into a more comfortable rhythm, Splinter left his post at Mona's side. He noticed her posture was rigid, back straight. Her thick, heavy tail thumped on the mat. There was an energy from her that made him almost want to raise his hackles. Strange, but he was more focused on his sons. Though he felt almost a relief at moving away from the lizard mutant.

The turtles were a whirl of movement and blades. A dangerous place to be of anyone untrained. Splinter, however, walked among the battles effortlessly untouched as he dodged bodies at least twice his size. Every once in a while, he would hit one of them with the blade of his hand. Sometimes the attacks were dodged or blocked. Most of them hit their mark.

“Be aware of everything around you,” Splinter barked. “Not just your opponent.”

And yet, he too was only focused on his sons. Though something niggled at the back of his mind. Mona Lisa was at the periphery of his senses. Her tail still slapped against the solid floor. It swished back and forth in agitation. These were not normal behaviors for her. Somewhere in the primitive part in Splinter's rat brain and voice whispered Predator.

He glanced back at her and the primitive part of his instincts took over for just a second. A second was all it took. Splinter jerked into Donatello, who glanced back in time to nearly get sliced from Raphael. Leonardo became distracted by Donatello's stumbling as Michelangelo surged forward. And everything fell apart as turtles and rat all collapsed gracelessly on top of each other.

For a second, everything was silent, save for the swishing sound of an anxious tail.

“What happened?” Raphael demanded.

“Dudes, she's doing the predator eyes again,” Michelangelo hissed.

All eyes turned to Mona Lisa, who had obediently remained where she was. Her posture still stiff, tail swishing like an interested cat. Her normally human-like brown eyes had changed. The whites turned yellow, the pupils now long, reptilian slits.

Leonardo stood up, fists gripping his weapon as if to protect himself. They had seen her do this before, shortly after she had first changed. “Mona,” he said carefully.

She looked up at him. “Hm? You guys okay?”

There was a visible sense of relaxing from the group of prey animals.

“We're okay. Are you...okay?”

“Why wouldn't I be okay?”

Donatello took a few steps forward, but still kept his distance. “Your eyes...”

She blinked at him several times, then stood. Swiftly, she removed herself from the dojo.

************

Mona ran to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were slowly going back to normal, but the evidence of what they had looked like was there.

“No...no, no, no,” she whispered. “Why is this happening again?”

She saw Donatello appear in the reflection behind her. “Let me see,” he said softly.

She turned with a sigh. She didn't want to. She didn't want him to stare right into her soul with those intense golden eyes of his. Always calculating, always taking in so much of her with every look. His hand held her chin as he studied her. He didn't need to touch her to look at her eyes, but he always touched. And she wanted to lean into it.

“They're pretty normal now. Do you know what happened? Were you feeling scared or threatened in the dojo?” he then asked as he pulled back.

“No, I was just watching you guys.”

“You looked kind of intense, babe,” Michelangelo said from the doorway. The others were lurking in the hall. “What were you thinking about?”

A flush warmed her face. She had been watching alright. Watching the display of speed and strength. Watching how their muscles moved, how their bodies glistened with sweat. The silhouette of them, the masculine energy they brought with them. It excited her, though she hadn't felt any changes in her body.

“I don't remember thinking about much, I was just watching.”

She must have still looked a little wide-eyed because Donatello put his hands on her shoulders and spoke in a calm voice. “Let's take a blood sample just to be sure.”

Now all that was on Mona's mind was worry. The mutation had been rough, traumatic. It had left her a different person, both physically and mentally. Even after the second mutation, she still dealt with some changes. Ones she thought she had mastered, but if she was changing again...

She was hardly paying attention as Donatello stuck a needle in her arm. So far, there had been no possible way to change her back to her original human form. But if she was regressing back to what she was before...it was her nightmare.

“I don't see any further mutation,” Donatello announced as he looked at her blood through a microscope. “It's still the same as it was. The cells aren't changing.”

Mona let out a sigh of relief. She felt Michelangelo give her shoulder a soft squeeze. She hadn't even noticed his hand was there until then.

Paper from the oldest printer Mona had ever seen was spat out and Donatello looked at the readings. “Here we go. Your hormone levels have shifted. That's why you've been feeling off. Estrogen and pheromone levels are up. Which means you're uh...entering a mating cycle.”

Mona blinked at him, trying to make sense of the words. “A what?”

“You're in estrus. Or in layman's terms, you're in heat.”

She snorted. “Fuck off, Donatello. Humans don't go into heat.”

He snorted back, unused to being told to fuck off. Especially by a woman. “You're not all human. Not anymore. Some of the animal tendencies from your reptile DNA may take over from time to time. It's already happened before with you.”

“Yeah, but I have a human brain. So is it even a thing?”

“It's a thing. And it kinda sucks when it happens.” Raphael said with arms folded across his chest. This gesture wasn't aggressive. It was more of a self-soothing motion. Like he didn't enjoy the topic of discussion.

Mona looked even more confused. “It happens to you guys, too?”

Hesitant and disgruntled murmurs from all four turtles.

She suddenly looked unsure. “Is it happening right now?”

“Nah. Ours comes in the spring. This late summer shit is new to me.”

Donatello was typing on the computer. “It says on this article that Komodo dragons—your main source of reptile DNA—mate during the dry season, which is usually late summer. Uh, we have had a pretty dry summer lately.”

“Fuck me,” she groaned.

“Is that an invitation?” Michelangelo asked cheekily.

Mona shot out of her chair and quickly moved out of their reach. “No, that was not! Do not...” She gestured in warning at them. “Just...DO NOT.”

“We're not going to do anything to you,” Leonardo said calmly. “You're safe here. I promise you.”

None of the turtles made a move toward her, which she appreciated. Her mind was racing as she tried to get a handle on the situation. Suddenly, it all made sense. Her restlessness. The way she had been hyper aware of everything the turtles did lately. How her gaze would zero in on their strong necks when they swallowed, on their mouths when they licked their lips. How she kept staring at their bodies; the defined arms, the shape of their torsos. The delicious way their thick thighs filled out their pants.

“Now I see why you got excited,” Donatello continued as he looked at his computer screen. “In the wild, male Komodo dragons will fight each other to win females. Watching us spar made you—”

“It sure as hell did not!” she shot back, cutting him off. Her voice had gone higher than normal. “That is not what is happening here! Oh my God. I—I have to go.”

She immediately left with Raphael calling after her. “Where you gonna go? The lair's the only place you've got.”

Leonardo was the first to follow after her, mostly just to make sure she wasn't going to do anything drastic. As it turned out, Mona only went to her room and firmly shut the door behind her. She was quiet for the first few moments as the turtles gathered outside.

“Mo-Mo, baby, it's okay,” Michelangelo called to her door. “It's not that big of a deal. We've been dealing with it for years and we always get through it.”

Her door opened and she was suddenly in his face. “Really?” she asked, looking desperately hopeful.

God she smelled good. Intoxicatingly good. He tried to ignore it, even as his body warmed. “Yeah, you'll be okay. I mean, you're going to be cranky and so horny you'll want to bang anything with a pulse, and sometimes things without, but you'll get through it. It only lasts like two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Her pitch rose another octave. “That's longer than a period! What the hell?”

“Well, that's our cycle,” Donatello said. “Komodo dragons seem to have a really long mating season. Yours might be longer.”

Leonardo elbowed him to shut up.

“I'm just saying,” the tallest brother insisted. “It's good to have all the facts.”

“Another fact is, Mona, that we're here for you,” Raphael said, trying to smooth the conversation over. “We'll help you through it. Whatever you need.”

He hadn't meant it in a sexual way, but Mona's eyes suddenly went wide and he realized his poor word choices.

“Oh my God, no!” she cried and promptly slammed the door in their faces.

“She's going to be okay, right?” Michelangelo wondered.

A moment later, the turtles could hear the unique sound of her angrily screaming into a pillow.

*****

Tag List: @thelaundrybitch @turtle-babe83 @androidships007 @snackugaki @red-phoenixxx @leosgirl82 @dilucsflame33 @happymoonangel @fluffytriceratops

[rollercoasterwords]

what about that poem rae… does louise glück speaks something particular for u in there? why s chooses that specifically?

also he is so pathetic and so so me. leaving subliminal messages in the hope he’d see what he probably wont

oooh fun question!! well first of all here is a link 2 read the full poem second of all let me put my answer under a cut bc i have a feeling it’ll get ramble-y

so when i got 2 that point in the ch i was like hmmm i want a poem here. & my mind immediately went 2 glück bc she’s one of my faves & she was writing in the 70s & 80s & i’d just read a big anthology of her works so i had a bunch of favorites picked out. so i went back thru the poems of hers i liked best that were published before 1986 to see if any worked and ‘messengers’ felt like it fit really well! like. ok sorry im gonna go through each stanza lol

You have only to wait, they will find you.

The geese flying low over the marsh,

glittering in black water.

They find you.

so the poem starts w this simple but very evocative scene of someone standing by a marsh—not necessarily waiting for something, or not consciously waiting, but it doesn’t matter, bc “they find you.” it could be threatening or hopeful; to me it sounds hopeful, like a promise, probably bc the imagery paired w it is so beautiful & calm, and the poem assures u that u don’t “have” to do anything—which makes me think u might expect 2 “have” to do something for them to find u, meaning you’d want them 2 find u, whoever they are.

And the deer–

how beautiful they are,

as though their bodies did not impede them.

Slowly they drift into the open

through bronze panels of sunlight.

again just lovely language here but also the deer in particular echo the events of earlier in ch 20, when s was practicing obliviation on deer—which gives this stanza a sort of tragic, guilty twist. that line “as though their bodies did not impede them” implies so much as well—why mention it, unless the speaker (and you, the person the poem is speaking to) feel as though your body has impeded you? this sense that u are stuck in ur body, watching these beautiful animals move through bronze panels of sunlight, which resonates so well w exactly what was going on w s earlier in the ch

Why would they stand so still

if they were not waiting?

Almost motionless, until their cages rust,

the shrubs shiver in the wind,

squat and leafless.

so here we’re calling back to the first stanza—the poem tells you you just have to wait, and they’ll find you. now here, look, the deer are waiting too—the deer whose bodies do not impede them, like your body impedes you. you can learn from the deer how to wait; you can learn from the bushes, though the imagery becomes more bleak. the bushes will wait until they rot

You have only to let it happen:

that cry–release, release–like the moon

wrenched out of earth and rising

full in its circle of arrows

again, we get this promise/threat here—you don’t have to do anything, you can’t do anything to stop it; just wait, and let it happen. something to release—here i was thinking about what’s been happening in the story between r&s, this sort of slow, almost inevitable build of feelings that they’ve both fought against, that’s crying for release, that they only have to wait and let happen. and that next part, comparing release or desire for release to ‘the moon wrenched out of the earth’—wrenched, here, and again the imagery is darker, more violent, whatever you’re waiting to release will not come gently, it will wrench you out of the earth—‘and rising full in its circle of arrows,’ like something violent or hunted, full but stuck in this sharp cage. this stanza felt so perfect partially bc of the full moon imagery (how could s not think of r?) but also bc it’s framed within this context of waiting so long for something beautiful and scary and inevitable, and finally wanting to release it, and that release coming encircled by arrows.

until they come before you

like dead things, saddled with flesh,

and you above them, wounded and dominant.

and what a turn the poem takes at the end!! from that peaceful, glittering marsh and the beautiful deer, suddenly you realize that what has been coming to find you—they’re ‘like dead things, saddled with flesh.’ again, here, the body becomes something that impedes, a reminder of mortality, of life ending. and look where you’re left: above them, with some unnamed power—dominant, but wounded. honestly felt like perfect foreshadowing at this point in the story of the trajectory s is heading down, even if it’s a strange poem to pick to try to tell someone u love them

[faraway-sunshine]

The Band Kid Hangout, Part 1 (from the 11th)

Sorry for the delay. I've been feeling crappy from the new dietary tweaks the nutritionist suggested and from being stuck at Mom's office during the day so I've not had much energy.

Anyway, here's the post:

I turned up at Kit’s apartment around 3pm. It’s higher up in the building than mine, and although the floor plan is similar it’s pretty much a mirror image due to being on the other side. It is right next to the fire escape though.

Inside looked a lot more homey instantly compared to my own place, with photos and drawings pinned all over the walls and the wallpaper clearly faded in parts (unlike how my apartment is just painted white everywhere). A man sat on the couch folding laundry and flashed me a smile, though his eyes narrowed in a way that made me stiffen a little. It's likely he was sizing me up.

“Ah, you must be Sunny. The others are in the bedroom, over there.” He nodded to a door on the flip side with a couple stickers of the letter C stuck on. 

Kit’s bedroom had bunk beds on one wall, with a little girl sitting on the top bunk making plastic dinosaurs fight Beanie Babies silently. I also saw a poster for a movie that had a lot of photorealistic fire behind a bunch of oddly animated characters, plenty of SpongeBob merch, and a basketball hoop above the built-in closet.

Everyone else was already there aside from Eddie, sitting in a near circle on a Spider-Man circular rug. Grizz instinctively shuffled a bit and motioned for me to sit between her and Davey, opposite Kit. 

“Sunny! You made it!’

(Rest of the story under the cut)

I nodded shyly, still not quite the same as I was when I'd called them before, not feeling able to speak yet. And even then, on that phone call, I was mostly listening. Seeing them face to face added a lot more pressure fast.

Kit grumbled and checked his watch. “Goddamn, Eddie, surely it doesn't take that long to get the goods!”

My face must have looked confused, because Kit smirked. 

“You’ll see what I mean later. In the meantime, because we can't get to band business until Eddie arrives, we’re gonna warm up. Do you play something? Eddie said he saw you by the string instruments at that poky instrument store by the mall.”

Grizz objected. “It’s not poky! It has charm and character. Certainly more than all those pompous music stores that devote half the floor space to pianos you’re not allowed to test.”

“I’m not saying that it's a bad music store. Simply one that happens to have a small floor space.”

They moved on to some different topic, but I wasn't really listening. I thought back to that store, the wrong one, how I nearly snatched up that violin as if it were my own that I broke so long ago before running out so quickly that I was sure the sales clerks thought I stole something.

I didn't realise I was digging my nails into my arms until I felt another hand rest on my shoulder. It took a second to see it was Davey’s, which snatched away as soon as I looked at him.

“You okay?”

Without saying as such, I know he wasn't asking about my quietness. I pulled my hands away and noticed a very slight amount of something red under one of my nails, quickly rolling my sleeves down to cover it up.

Kit and Grizz caught on too, abandoning their conversation. Kit got up and rummaged through a drawer before tossing me a Slinky. 

“Here, if you’re restless, just play with this. I get it.” And with that, they returned back to their conversation, as if this were an ordinary moment rather than another thing weird and off-putting about me.

I was still pondering this when Eddie finally came bursting in. Everyone jumped at how the door slammed apart from Kit’s sister on the bunk, who didn’t even flinch, and Eddie himself. He carried a plastic bag from Walmart and a grin, before pulling - of all things - a chocolate cream pie in a foil tin under plastic wrap from it.

“Time for shitface, everyone!”