#not a dinosaur but it’s for the sake of organizing

[albino-parakeet]

Drawn around the time of Days of Nature (2021)

[the-dragon-girl-27]

Since im in a dino mood:

today on old art i never posted here's some conepts I made like a year or two ago

so like the 2 most fun things to draw are dinosaurs and anime girls so I had a galaxy brain moment and decided to design some dinosaur magical girls (plus evil T-rex villian lady)

so like hear me out so the girls would do magical girl transformations to fight evil dino girls and then it would be like power rangers where after they are defeated once they come back in their dinosaur form and then the girls have a second magical girl transformation where they would turn into their dinosaur forms (and like power rangers there's no reason they don't do this from the start other than just because)

I didn't actually do anything with this concept but like it is a banger concept still

bonus: concept art and more rambling

each girl was designed with a color in mind and i tried to get a variety of dinos (originally the Yi Qi girl was a microraptor hence the 4 wings in her hair but it felt to similar to velociraptor so i went for a different flying dino) velociraptor girl would be protag kun. The last 4 would be like characters who join the group later with the the pachycephalosaurs girl being an anti hero and the Gallimimus and Yutyrannus girl straight up starting as a villians

i wrote like 2 scenes in my head one where Yutyrannus girl betrays and fights evil T rex lady and its a cool tyrannosaur vs tyrannosaur fight and one where velociraptor girl and gallimimus girl talk about something and i ship them for it (so like gallimimus girl is self concious that gallimimus isnt a traditionally like cool dino but raptor girl cheers her up and then gallimimus girl joins the good guys)

also side note that Yutyrannus girl might be one of my best character designs ever lol (I also gave her the most clever name for an OC I've done so like her name would be Yukiko because it starts with a "yu" like Yutyrannus but also yuki = snow and Yutyrannus is accociated with snow)

for the record i forgot what i named the rest

anyway yeah i never did anything with this concept depite how galaxy brain it is lmfao

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Dog Days of BL but July is Incoming

June 2023 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - I’m finding the time frames confusing. Still, a lovely crying kiss + a very high drama-lllama gay confession. Kitchen counter make out, my fav! The actor who plays Jeng kisses at MaxTul levels, which is to say = like a man who has actually done it before with genuine desire and is capable of portraying that on screen. (What makes MaxTul kings is that they BOTH do this.) Pat caught up, thank goodness. Also P’Jeng!!!! P’JENG!!! I love how intimate phi is when it’s been all khun prior. This is the Thai version of hyung slinging. Errotic linguistics, my fav. And ALL the work drama and homophobia fall out when you sleep with the boss. I really enjoy that the angst concerning their relationship has to do with the fact that this is an office romance. Lastly? I love Chot so much. Everyone needs a gay auntie. Also Bruce is SO DAMN GOOD. (I mean we knew he would be from Lovely Writer, but this... chef’s kiss.) 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 10 of 12 - There are enough meta-analysis on this one for me not to have to weigh in. Suffice it to say that I like what it’s trying to do, and I certainly appreciate the levels of consent and so forth but I’m not sure I actually like it as much now that we are swimming in high concept. Too much lying. I’m not sure I want my BL to make me think this hard. Also poly, boys = final answer. (Anyone else getting Color Rush flashbacks?) 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 6 of 12 - I love Max now and forever, and I made some very bad puns in the Trash watch here. Otherwise I’m not super invested. 

Dinosaur Love (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 eps - from Ultimate Troop (The Yearbook people) so I shouldn’t watch this as it airs, after Remember Me? I swore never again. But there’s so little on right now, I’m falling on the pulp sword...  My initial thoughts? It’s an En of Love installment? What is going on? Why all this opening with the sides in a bar? Are we framing? Just move on to the 2 boys kissing! Don’t try to be clever, for fucks sake. Okay, good, the pulp has begun. I like soft wet-blanket Rak and his sad love life. I’m not wild about how aggressive Dino is plus insta-SINGING but I DO LIKE THAT HE’S OUT and knows what he wants which is refreshing. It’s trope filled nonsense (crash into me, instalove, sing feelings, floppy drunk, he’s in engineering, fast and bi-curious) also Dino used ter at first (how forward!) then he went to gu/mueng after rejection, while Rak uses khun & phi/pom. Love this for them. Despite my justified reservations with this production team imma stay watching. I need something on Sundays. * 

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 6fin - That’s it? Bullsheiit. No seriously. That’s my review. 3/10 I DON'T KNOW WHAT I JUST WATCHED AND NEITHER DOES IT AND I’M MAD ABOUT IT.

* I got to say, you have only yourselves to blame for Dinosaur Love’s ranking. Once upon a time, I lived happily in ignorance of the Thai film industry. And then you all kept asking me extremely intelligent questions about it. And because I am a nosy little shit, I had to figure out what was going on. And now a BL like this, which ordinarily I would just love unconditionally, is a really scary place for me, because I know too much about the production house. The evils of too much information are all true. Remain happily in ignorance, I advise you, especially where BL is concerned. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 7-8fin - Yechan is such a frank character it confuses all who meet him, also a truly terrible flirt. This is such a puppy/cat relationship. It was cute but it went too far into cringe for a KBL (for me). I don’t think Kdramas are good at farce (sorry), better if they stick with more subtle humor. It was a sweet ending tho, not too cheesy. Nice kiss for KBL but pretty rather than sexy. Full review below.

Tokyo in April is... AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - Oh, it’s GREAT. Damn it. There is a lot of subtext and things not being said. This is going to be one of those shows where it’s endlessly frustrating that they don’t just talk to each other. The crying first time was gut-wrenching. Ren is complicated & scarred & closed off. Kazuma is earnest & empathetic & thinks he’s unworthy - so will take whatever crumbs are handed to him. They are both giving parts of themselves away in a desperate attempt to shape themselves to the expectations they have of each other. These 2 are gonna fuck each other up while they fuck and fuck with our hearts. Japan is giving us the Bed Friends that Thailand can never even imagine. There is absolutely no guarantee this will end happily (it’s from the Eternal Yesterday people) but it is guaranteed to be painful and beautiful along the way. Oh Japan, must you? I guess you must. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 4 of 6 - I’m mostly confused by the catfishing & tarot side plots. But the mains sure act like bfs. To the point of our tiny jock idiot getting gay panicked by how much bfs they are. Surprise kiss! For everyone, it turns out. Yes I laughed. What? It was pat but also… FUNNY.

Tie The Knot (Pinoy YouTube) ep 3 of 8 - The main couple is adorable, but I’m not wild about the gay bashing blackmail side story. Still, it’s the best we’ve had from the Philippines in a while so I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 9 of 12 - Seriously? Bah Vinh = chemistry with EVERYONE. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 12fin - So Souta just disappears off to Singapore and doesn’t say anything to his boyfriend about it? And then comes back with the perfect plan and life for both of them? Oh Japan, must you? Review below. 

It’s airing but ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly English & set in LA (shudder) so I’m not bothering.

Ever After (Pinoy YouTube) 12 eps - Spies reported that it's a real mess and not a hot one.

Stay With Me ... NO I WILL NOT! And you can’t make me. 

In case you missed it

BL Express reviewed The Egoest. Oh boy am I never going to watch that. 

One in a Hundred - Gaga dropped all 12 episodes (c.10 min ea) at once. This is a 2020 Chinese show. It’s not BL. And it has a laugh track. I watched the first & final eps and won’t bother with the rest. DNF

I finally watched the 2022 thing I should have. 

To Sir, With Love - REVIEW

This is a true lakorn with scenery chewing performances from an ensemble cast focused on family obligation and past sins, especially from the mother characters. It is a Thai tellenovella + Gone With the Wind but gay. That said? I loved it: A glorious central brother relationship (the best, made me cry), het romances, class divide + gay *gasp* main romance, the camp of it all! It’s like it was invented by drag queens. Arranged marriage, rebellion, cut sleeves, dramatic death with curses and regrets, beautiful if inaccurate costumes, secrets unraveling, cover ups, sparkle murder, sex herbs, coils within coils including snakes and death by glitter (is anything gayer on this earth?). It’s a WILD ride. It’s not BL. It’s not a romance, it’s a family drama Thorn Birds style but it does end happy for our gay boys. Like Manner of Death I’m struggling to rate something on a BL scale when it patently isn’t a BL. I think I have to give it exactly what I gave that show, 7/10 

I loved it, but not as a BL. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS (over its BLness) 

Zenra Meshi - REVIEW

AKA Naked Dinner 

I have to be honest, I didn’t really like much about this show. The central premise was too odd and the main character too clumsy & slow on the uptake. I like the food, but there have been food-set BLs before that failed to meet expectations. Too many of them. This one joined that throng. Good ending tho. 7/10 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Love Tractor - REVIEW

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed, all my favorite tropes. This show was basically a light-weight Restart After Come Back Home and I’m not even slightly mad about that. 

But (and you knew there was a “but” coming) something about the cringe of the final 2 eps and the impermanence of the ending (both of which highlight the fact that ultimately these 2 are I’ll-suited: too different & too far apart) left me with the feeling that they probably won’t last as a couple. However, in this case, rare for me, I forgive it this finale for my love of the rest. 

I did dither a lot though, it’s not an 8 but not a 9 either. Better than Love Mate (8/10) not as good as The New Employee (9/10) but in the end I’m value adding up for the premise and the cast, giving it a 9/10. 

RECOMMENDED 

(Gotta say, because this is rare for me, that this had a great OST. Not the credit music but the refrain, Rainbow.) 

Next Week Looks Like This:

July 2023 Supposedly... 

7/3 Be Mine SuperStar (Thai Mon Viki) 12 eps - JaFirst whipping boy/spoiled prince, obsession, celebrity/mundane. Third-year film student Punn (Ja) gets an internship on the set of a drama. He’s come to learn, but "what lights his passion even more than the work" is leading man Achi, Thailand's sweetheart. Adapted from the novel “The Superstar and the Puppy on Set” (พี่พระเอกกับเด็กหมาในกอง) by Orpheus, cast includes Benjamin Brasier (2moons2), Bosston Suphadach (UWMA), Jo Kavinpat (War of Y), Kokliang (TharnType). Directed by David Bigander (Bite Me) which makes me nervous. Maybe he'll do better with an adaptation?

7/6 Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu ????) 12 eps - The story is a continuation of Minato & Shin's love story, and it picks up 10 years after the events of season 1 but the characters don't seemed to have grown at all. Very Japan of you, Japan.

7/7 Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) 10 eps -  Gu Bu-Xia has the ability to hear ghosts, except when he is around his new roommate Jiang Chi. So he starts to find ways to approach Jiang Chi. But is it  the ghosts or Jiang Chi’s charm?

7/8 Low Frequency (Thai Sat YouTube?) 8 eps - ghost boyfriend, celebrity/mundane - Mon's life as a spirit-seeing interior decorator is full of headaches. On good days, he helps settle problems for his relative, who is a star manager. But then he gets involved with the spirit of Thames, a famous young actor who is in a coma.

7/9 Hidden Agenda (Thai Sun GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - JoonDunk are back. Zo, a college freshman whose never been in love, decides to change it by making the college’s star Nita as his gf. He approaches Joke, Nita’s ex, for dating advice. What he fails to realize is that Joke has had his eyes on him for a long time and uses this opportunity to approach Zo. TMS 2.0.

7/15 Laws of Attraction (Thai Sat ????)  Stars the pair from To Sir With Love and with the same production team, cryptic description, but it seems to be Manner of Death esk.

7/19 Wedding Plan (Thai Wed YouTube & iQIYI)  - It's Mame and she's coming for our GL. She's such a misogynist IMAGINE what we will get with a GL? It's going to be absolute carnage. To crane your neck as you drive by the car wreck or not... that is the question. Me? I'm wallowing in the guts.

7/20 Jun & Jun (Korea Thu Viki) - From 2022 (TutorYim rumored to cameo) this office romance features 2, yes 2! Bls. Seme looks aggressive, we in classic yaoi territory. There is an idol involved. Past failed flirts. I am very excited about this one.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

To Sir With Love

Best execution of the piggyback trope ever? I think so. 

Fucking GENIUS piece of acting. Bruce we LOVE you! 

All Step By Step 

It was stupid funny, okay? (Stupid Genius) 

Ridiculous man, you don’t have to eye fuck THAT hard. But we all appreciate it. (Vian) 

Dangerous thing to say in a show about identity in relationships. 

Brave boy.

I said this show was deep, not that I was. Although Patts seems to be going there. 

I’ll stop now.

All La Pluie. 

(Last week.)

[popculturebuffet]

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye Retrospective: Rememberance Day (Issues 12-16) (Patreon review for Brotoman.Exe)

Hello all you happy autobots! And welcome back to my long retrospective of Transformers More than Meets The Eye: The greatest comic about robuts in the known universe.

After a long road, a beetle themed detour and tons of tie ins, one shots and other needed stuff, we're FINALLY almost at the end of Season 1 and to help speed things along, Brotoman gave me some extra money to get through Dark Cybertron. That also means we have a pretty baked in schedule through april so here it is: After this review i'll be covering Remain in Light, the season 1 finale, next week. January is a recap of MTMTE's sister series Robot's in disguise. I volunteered for this one as I felt with Dark Cybertron relying heavily on RiD's history, I should reaquaint myself with it.

We'll then take another break for a Fizzarolli retrospective in Feburary, and then begin dark cybertron in may, with the plan to have it in two or three parts. After that barring any other side trips or what not, it's SEASON 2 BABY, the series best. It also means easing up a bit on the sidetrips: there's still two whole minis to go into and a christmas special but both are shorter and with our two issue schedule the pacing won't be as nettled.

As for the present these two arcs represent MTMTE hitting it's stride: The books always been good and these reviews have been almost two years of gushing. I have ocasional gripes but overal the series is just pure excellence. This is simply the best of the best: all the character and plot setup for the season paying off in the most awesome, heartbreaking and horrifying ways possible. These arcs are great, but I dreaded getting to them as they will rip your heart out of your chest guaranteed.

See while John Roberts built up an impressive cast of characters, almost all from characters' whose history before this could best be described "That one guy over there in the background" or "That transfomer you got at a yard sale that was a bitch to identify", he wasn't afraid to say goodbye to his creations, even the main characters, and got that this story.. needed life and death stakes.

It's how death SHOULD be handled in comic books: not a publicity stunt done half assed and undone in months, not a massacre to "raise stakes", simply when the story calls for someone to die.

So the question to those of you who haven't read it is simple: who dies tonight? Well i'll tell ya'll under the cut.

Before and After

Admitely these first two issues are less an arc and more two more standalones. As usual for MTMTE these are ripe for setup and Before and After feels like an out and out prelude to Reemergence Day, so the bundling fits.

Before and After has a unique structure, flashing both to the Autobots preparing for a strike on a Decepticon fortress on Sensenica. It's the first real Autbots Vs Decepticon battle we've seen: while there was one in Ratchet's arc, it was more a smokescreen for Pharma and Fort Max took them down quickly and messily.

Here it's an actual battle: a bunch of decepticons who shall remain nameless and largely unimportant to the overall scheme of things have been bleeding organic's dry for energy, so our heroes go down to stop it. For the sake of clarity i'm not going ot be covering the issue as structured as it's a lot.

The good news: our heroes are able to take the fortress, free the organics, save the day. The bad.. is there is a lot of injuries in the process, and that's the real intresting part of this issue: while the battle is neat, I often forget it and it really just kinda comes and goes: what's important.. is the after effect: Swerve, Rewind and Cyclonus were all horribly injured and we don't find out why till the tailend of the issue for the latter two.

For swerve.. he shot himself in the face while trying to figure out his gun while Chromedone and SKids fought a giant dinosaur. This guy is snapdragon and yes I looked him up on the grounds he fought two characters while transformed and apparently bathes in the blood of his enemies when he can't find sludge as he has a senstive butt.

So while this goes on it's down to Rewind and Tailgate. Tailgate is, allegedlys, a bomb disposal expert, and thus has to take out a bomb hooked to the organics with Rewind's help. Also of note is that Rewind and Chromedome are fighting.

Rewind is PISSSEEED Chromedome keeps hacking heads, while Chromedome is mad Rewind won't stay out of action. So naturally it's the perfect time for Rewind to go boom as the two little guys simply can't stop it. Rewind stays to mitigate the blast... and Cyclonus tosses Tailgate out taking the blast himself.

The prognosis for both.. isn't good. Rewind is a tiny bot.. and that means it's harder for him to bounce back from this, with Red Alert floating his Spark Jumping idea from his intro arc, a nice call back I honestly forgot about. Of course it'd crop up again and naturally, Chromedome is a spark type match for Rewind.

While Chromedome recovers from it as the process.. isn't exactly plesant. So while he recovers he talks to Tailgate. Chromedome admits when he's told Cyclonus still survivied that it's a shame... though what I like is when Tailgate asks him fi he really meant that.. he admits it.. but also admits he shouldn't of said it to Tailgate and apologizes, admitting thigns are just stressful. Tailgate calls rewind Chromedome's best friend

That flub aside, Chromedome admits that he's not #1 in his boyfriend's heart.. there's someone else, just above him.

So we get Rewind's backstory which as usual is important for later: Rewind was a member of what was called at the time "The disposable class". There aren't many left and it's easy to see why as the disposables were basically slaves, with Chromedome flat out admitting that's what they'd call them now. It makes him one of the oldest and is why he has a memory stick of all alt modes: he was made for just one purpose and that purpose was being a comically large usb drive.

This changed when Rewind met Dominus Ambus, Scientest, Doctor, Author Explorer and that one ex of your partners you can never live up to. Tailgate for his part says he hates the guy. That's a good friend tailgate.

Anyways Ambus used Rewind as a memory drive but treated him kindly, giving him premium energon instead of the cheap stuff and realizing in the process that the disposables were just autbots and just as sentient as any other, and started campaiging for their rights. He seemed to succeed but trying to find a cure for Cybercocis he and Rewind left to find Luna 1, Cybertron's missing moon because like any missing thing of legend, you just gotta assume it has the cure for anything.

They failed, and what's worse they came back to a planet at war. All hell had broken loose and the two underwent the right of the autobrand.

So cut to years later in the war and Chromedome, already not having the best mental health for his years in psi ops and other traumas, has decided to unalive himself. Which is harder than it sounds for a transformer: their bodies are built to be nigh on indestructable and Chromedome can't really try sucicide by comabat as it'd put others in whatever unit he was in at risk. So instead he went to a relinquishment clinic, with what clinics left offering assisted suicide.

This ends up saving Chromedomes life as he hears a scream.. and it turns out to be Rewind who was checking the bodies. And that, dear readers is the main reason Rewind's on the lost light, the reason for the snuff film footage he got earlier: he's been looking for Dominus anywhere there's bodies in hopes of getting closure with Chromedome along for the ride. Dome assumes that's why he goes into battle.. but Tailgate has a more optimstic take: Rewind loves him and simply wants to be there to support him.

Either way things aren't looking good as it turns out chromedome's spark has a low yield. As he stated earlier he was born dry and thus dosen't hae a lot of ennermost energon. Ennermost energon is a brilliant concept: it's the energon closest to a bot's casing, their essence. Being robots, Cybertronians naturally run into a ship of thesus paradox oftne with most of their original parts long gone. The innermost energon is the part of them that's always there, the one part that, along with the spark itself, will always be then

So as a gesture of love when someone is dying, possibly may survivie may likely not, a bot puts a portion by them. Tailgate hearing this.. decides to do the same for Cyclonus. This being Cyclonus he's not only not quite dead, but an asshole about it, saying he dosen't care about tailgate they don't have a bond, etc... but in a touching moment instead of keeping up his abuse of the poor guy after smashing the jar.. he goes to help him pick it up. Despite trying to distance himself, despite trying to push Tailgate away.. they have a bond. And he can't deny that.. I mean he will, it's Cyclonus, he has the emotoinal maturity of a very angry stump, but he's at least TRYING to not be as closed off.

As for Chromedome he's not doin so hot and in his lowest moment a mysterious voice says something VERY prowl like: the decpitcons are still a threat and this proves it and there's something Chromedome can do to help. He wants to show him something in the basement.

Thankfully Rewind's alive, and of all people it was whirl who donated.. and whose uncharcatristically nice. It's almost as if he's hiding something and.. yup as we find out in the final pages turns out he locked the door to attempted murder cyclonus and Rewind got caught in it.

Cybertronian Homesick Blues

CHB is a fun issue, what SEEMS to just be some fun shenanigans and an excuse to make human forms for the cast.

So Mags is wound tighter than usual, having thrown several people, Swereve included in the brig for general nonsense.. which as Rodimus notes is all kinds of fucked up. I mean it'd usually just be two or three kinds, but they have dangerous criminals down there now along with Fort Max, who is dangerous but isn't out to hurt anybody anymore, so he's not exactly going to prison shank anyone.

Rodimus can see a problem coming and decides to help: the Lost Light's approaching Hedonia, a vacation planet ala Risa from Star Trek, but saying the quiet part loud. He asks Swerve to take him to relax, threatning the bar if he dosen't, and Swerve to his credit genuinely tries to bond with Ultra Magnus, bringing most of his close friends to help with the task: Rewind, Rung, Skids, Tailgate and Whirl. Whirl isn't exactly a close friend but you try telling Whirl he can't come and see how many limbs you have left.

Due to anti robot prejudice , our heroes can't enter EVERY section so they set up Holomatter Avatars to go into those sections and drink it up, having disabled Mags DiD chip. Said chip keeps fuel from hitting transformers at full impact, i.e. keeping them from getting plastered unless they WANT to get plastered.

Naturally as you can imagine Mags is going through something and is thus a pretty depressed/angry drunk and has a full on breakdown

It's very obvious that Ultra Magnus.. is having a crisis of faith. His whole point is to be unflinching unchanging and as seen in the Annual the idea of NOT being that is propsterous to him.. and now we see that even with his acceptance in that story.. ti's not easy. Change.. often involves a lot of backsliding first. Personal growth is not easy, take it from me, so naturally the idea of being more than the tight ass he's SUPPOSED to be is tearing the poor bot apart. He also takes it out on swerve saying people like him because he's funny and that he's shirking his responsibliteis iwth the bar plan, not beliving Swerve's half hearted defense of it... causing the little guy to open up.

It's a deeply painful sentence.. and one that's all too damn relatable. I often feel this way wondering if people like me for anlysizing shit and being mildly amusing or for me.

MOst of the rest of the issue is holomatter hyjinks, as our heroes are forced to cary Magnus, who accidently drank something REALLY strong across a human section in their disguises. The disguises.. are really neat, with special note to Tailgate as a baby, Rung's neat hat, Whirl as a murder child and my faviorite, Magnus.. using Verity's likeness. A nice little nod, make sme hope the two do actually meet again.

At any rate our heroes succeed, but we have some important story stuff before we move on to the main event: first I forgot how the story really started.. with Drift busting in to stop Cyclonus from.. singing. Turns out no one was in danger, it was just ancient cybertronian and beautiful, with Rewind recording it.. only to be hastily shouted to get out.

While this seems lke Standard cyclonus.. he was covering. Turns out Tailgate's stories about being in the primal vanguard, being important, all his big puffed up stories are a lie. He wasn't even bomb disposal, he's WASTE disposal, he was just able to bluff himself through the bomb just enough. It's all a lie. Yet it wasn't to feel special or anything.. it's for much more tragic, entirely understandable reasons.

It's a painful moment.. and an understandable one. He should've been found easily.. but got lost for CENTURIES.. and no one cared. No one noticed. It's not hard to see why the little guy didn't want to admit that. While cyclonus is right Tailgate can't keep lying forever.. he sees why he started it and sees that Tailgate might be the ONLY person who understands his pain, the only person who knows what it's like to wake up in a world that just left you behind and dosen't seem to have a place for you. So he teaches Tailgate how to sing cybertronian.

And from that heartwearming moment.. more depression as this issue was Swerve trying to commuincate with Blur.. only it turns out like Tailgate that was a lie. The two never knew each other, swerve only met him once with a plan and the bar is sipmly.. trying to fill the space with something. He also offers Ultra Mags to be roomy.. but Mags coldly shoots him down, saying their not friends. It's a pretty solemn ending to what SEEMED to be a wacky one off... and it's only going to get worse from here.

Rememberance Day:

We begin wtih the story of Overlord's birth. Two hapless minors find his, call it in and their superior calls for someone to come down. That someone is Three of Twelve, one of the functionist council, a loose council that preached functionism, aka alt mode dictates class, the kind of prick Dominus Ambus was rallying against. These guys will be important next season but for now he's just here to point out how important that is, give the guy who called it in an award and tell the miners they have 6 hours to live from the radation.

Overlord is a point one percenter. A point one percenter is a green spark found in the tiniest fraction of the cybertronian population. Said sparks are treasured and their wielders are often the toughest, most nigh unstoppable bots out there. It's why Overlord is such a juggernaught and why it took so much to bring him down on Garrus 9, as well as a retroactive reason why the deceiptcons he had under his boot didn't just revolt. Other phase sixers for scale include Fortress Maximus, Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Scorponok, Shockwave, Tarn, Roller and of course, He, Grimlock, with Megatron weaponziing this fact, hence why so much of this list is purple.

We then cut to the finale of Last Stand of the Wreckers, just before overlord went boom.. and find an univitied guest; Chromedome. Turns out he's been going into Overlord's mind looking for something, and makes the fatal mistake of telling him about it, mostly becaues he needs to rummage. Overlord is a Phase Sixer, what Megatron would call in to finish off a planet along with most of those guys mentioned. As a result the only person whose really easlily pummled overlord.. is Megatron himself.

After a few more cups of punch to the face we find what Chromedome's after: the memory of Overlord's true birth. He was put in Megatron's fucked up super solider program, using a very unstable very rare Ununtrium, the same stuff used to make Sixshot. While Rossum, the tech and likely the person responsible for naming Rossum's trinity, pumps him full of goo. Megatron isn't AS suicidal as he sounds doing this sort of supervillian origin story, having had SHockwave throw in a killswitch. Overlord awakens.. and takes after his new dad, smashing Rossum's head as his first act of new life.

This seems to be the end: Rossum warned during the procedure the heat could kill him and the substance itself could kill Megatron: While he's currently assumed dead by the crew, Chromedome is sure he'll come back.. and is right as he returned towards the end of RiD season 1 and plays a key part in both Dark Cybertron and this series from Season 2 onward.

Then.. things take a turn. Overlord remembers where he met Chromedome before: the New Institute. Turns out Chromedome was a brainwasher, with Zeta Prime redubbing the insittute.. but not really changing it and using it for the same brainwashing. Overlord broke in in the early days of the decepticons and stole Trepan, who we met in Shadowplay.

And that theft is WHY Overlord now has taken control of the situation and is going into Chromedome's memories instead: turns out Overlord tried to dabble in mnemosurgery, thinking he could use it against shockwave and undue the killswitches. Megatron isn't stupid though and the second he got wind of what was going on killed Trepan. So while Overlord can't hack int oa mind, he learned enough to take it over, not helped by the fact that Chromedome is scared shitless of the guy , as anyone would be and despite his attempts to hide it, overlord easily picked it up.

So we instead go back to the day of loading.. and a conversation we hadn't seen. In a twist i'd honestly forgot but is entirley brilliant.. Prowl had already MET with Chromedome... and it was about Overlord. As for why he's in tact, Bumblebee has mercy and didn't want to abuse POW's, so he rebuilt the body.

Prowl's intrest is in making their OWN phase sixers: while most Autobots, Chromedome included, assumed they were just freak accidents of nature, Prowl is right about something for once: there's so many that are decipticon, WHY is that. So he wants to find out why, and wnats Chromedome to do it despite being a MASSIVE risk.

Chromedome, as you'd expect tells Prowl to go fuck himself in the poltest manner possible: the war's over, this really isn't necessary, and Rewind really woudlnt' want him doing this. Prowl then enters peak dickhead.. and for once actually suffers for it.

It's a horrible act that has legit consequences over in RID, leaving Prowl free to be brainwashed. Yet.. it's hard to feel too bad as Prowl was trying to blackmail his ex to do something highly shady and ENTIRELY not approved by the rest of Autobot High Command, something that would've likely destroyed Cromedome's relationship anyway. So it's a bad act.. but it's on a deserving victim and seeing Prowl crying no as he's abotu to be brainjacked is just.. so satisfying.

We then finally get the face behind this conspiracy: Drift. The last person you'd expect as he takes Chromedome to talk to Brainstorm. Brainstorm made the cell and is in on it.. but unlike Drift knows what a stupid idea this was, calling it project: total insanity and project :end in tears. Both accurate. The only people who know about this , as far as Drift says, are in this room as Shock and Ore did the loading but as we know both died horribly. Drift is the one who suggested the idea nd brings up the slow cell, Overlord's prison that slows down time for the user.. and that despite his best efforts to stop it, Chromedome's memory shows Overlord how to unlock.

Overlord locks Chromedome in and since, as Overlord figures out, Chromedome did this without anyone else knowing, Overlord now has a lead to go kill people. As he chillingly puts it "Run as fast as you can Chromedome, your already too late".

Under Cold Blue Stars:

Before we get to the tragedy above.. we have to get to the tragedy bellow: Chromedome escapes.. but thanks to the slow field it's been half an hour... and what he finds...

Yeah our heroes.. aren't doing so good. It's something that, despite reading this comic twice before this... had never registered; Overlord.. is strong enough to take on the ENTIRE lost light and WIN. It's taking EVERYONE they have just to hold him BACK. It does make perfect sense: not only is overlord a literal monster, able to tank hits he's spent his career wiping out planets and autobots and his last experince before this was months as the horrifiying dark god of his own planet, most of which was a game of "how many ways can I have my minons creatively murder and torture autobots?". Our heroes, despite their ragtag nature on paper, are GOOD, but their in tight quarters trying not to hit each other while overlord would gladly use one of them to smash through the others omniman style if he had a way to. He wants to kill EVERY , LAST, BOT simply as a warmup. He COULD leave to go find megatron, maybe by killing everyone on cybertron and using the bodies to spell out "HI DAD". But he just can't resisit the torture it'd put chromedome through. He's a sadist... while his main motive may be

He has hobbies.

So you may say to yourself: well, how did we get here, so we go back 30 minutes to the start of this rampage. We see Pipes again, who I honestly forgot existed and whose asking blaster if commuincations are back with Cybertron yet, and since Pipes intended recipient is a friend of Blasters, Blaster goes ahead and forwards it while Whirl, whose naturally there to blow shit up, mocks him.

I didn't think much of this... till Pipes runs into someone.. overlord, who gladly squishes him under his boots with Pipes getting a fairly effective and horrifying death: bleeding out, scrunched to hell.. he uses what little spark he has left for one last push to do the one thing he CAN do to warn everyone else

It makes me tear up.. and again, I FORGOT THIS GUY EXISTED. Roberts is just that good a writer, taking a character whose last major part in things was back in issues 3 and 4 and then NOTHING, and making you feel gutted the poor guy is dead... using what he had left to warn everybody.

So we then rewind again to where everyone was when the emergency alarm went off:

We start naturally with Rewind, whose worried about Chromedome and came to Brainstorm's lab to talk to him. Swerve's just here to accidently activate a meta bomb that gives him forth wall powers. Or make him thinks he has them, like with Deadpool it's left vauge. Rewind is wondering where his boyfriend is and is suspcious of Brainstorm since CHromey keeps saying Brainstorm's name.. though not in a sexy way but in a screaming it as he wakes up way. Brainstorm for his part, while very good at subterfuge to a point. .blabs about a secret project, wtih Swerve distracting them before the alarm goes off.

Rodimus is having Perciptor, the less fun genius aboard look at the map to the knights of cybertron and after having him dumb it down a few shades we get to the point: the thing can't be copied. This setup with the finale is interupted and we go to Rung, whose gone to Visit Fort Max. Max invited him down.. to apologize, planning to give a speech but realizing that was more for him and admitting the shock, waking up after garrus 9, he was in bad shape and genuinely asks if Rung can forgive him. And Rung.. instantly does. Not only has Rung been around for eons.. but he's a therapist. He spent the whole hostage situation trying to talk max down best he could. He can forgive.

Finally we have Skids wondering why Cyclonus is on the warpath.. thankfully JUST a metaphor, otherwise there'd be more than two corpses today, but he's mad Tailgate is hosting movie night at their place.

We end this catchup with Ratchet, whose pissed off Rodimus is being caviler about this, both because these don't go off for some reason.. and he made a joke about Ratchet's hands. Come on rodders.. that's way too easy. You can do better.

Drift is out and about to investigate.. and happens to benearbye as both bots see Overlord. We also get a really nice moment of bonding with the two, showing tha tbeneath their constant bickering.. they care about each other. More over time but we'll get to that. When Drift tries to get Ratchet to barricade himself in.. he refuses. He'll lock down the clinic.. but they fight and if needed die together. Ratchet calls Rodimus to get EVERYONE down there and tells him if he dosen't make it.. tell first aid he's ready and tell all his patients they'll have to make new apointments.

Thankfully one of the best characters in this comic dosen't go down swinging as everyone arrives to throw down. They do their best, but naturally their best bet is the only other .1%er they have... Magnus. And while he SEEMS to do well, pounding Overlord's face in as he heavily regrets not being there on G9 when everything went to shit.. only for that classic reveal that always means your fucked.

IT's a shocking, horrific moment as one of the main cast, one of their leaders and seemingly their best hope.. is down. Magnus hoped to make up for Garrus 9.

It's also why I feel last stand is necessary to read these books after this read througH: while you CAN without it, Overlord's appearnce just dosen't have the same impact till AFTER this.. and just how badly Magnus falls here dosen't. After feeling he was slipping more and more.. he once again fails.. this time in a way he simply can't cope with. And the consequences.. will not be great.

And not suprisingly "Sword through the chest" seems incuriable: his spark is detaached and while First Aid can slow it down.. he can't stop it, and while everyone else is trying their best.. they can't do much. So drift has Swerve give him the com to call for backup.. the one person whose NOT here.

So just as Overlord has Rodimus by the throat he makes the mistake of asking for last words.. as the natural "Till All Are One" you'd expect... sends him panicking .. and leaves him wide open for..

God that felt good. It's not remotely over though as we find out why Fort Max had this opening: turns out Domey , while recklessly charging into a known mass murderer's brain, was still JUST smart enough to leave a trigger in there in case Overlord got out, something that would make him feel he was loosing which , since Overlord is deathly afraid of defeat, would send him spiraling. And in one of the best uses of a gag as a chekov's gun i've seen, only topped by something in next season's finale, he made it till all are one because Rodimus won't stop saying it.

As Rewind lays in shock,w ondering what the helld omey's been up to, Chromedome inacts plan b, asking Fort Max to drag overlord over yonder back to his cell. While Prowl is many things, most of them varations of rat bastard motherfucker, he IS prepared and made Overlord's cell detachable for if, or if your smart like Brainstorm WHEN this stupid plan backfired. Problem is there's a sword jammed in the way of the hatch... someone has to go pull it out.. and rewind is small enoguh, brave enough, and sad enough to pull it off, saying a tearful goodbye to cromedome as the pod detaches. To make matters even worse... Cromedome then has to blow the fucker up as he'd rather not leave the love of his life who was just about to leave him anyway with a sadistic murderer. And all that's left.. is

IT's one of the saddest moment sin the whole comic, and trust me there will be more and one of the best character death's i've seen. A big as screwup as bringing overlord aboard, a bigger one of him getting out.. it needed weight. LIke I said, Roberts knows it's best to kill a character when it's NECESSARy.. and Rewind going out lik ea hero sacrifcing himself so his friends and lover can escape, sadly bidding farewell knowing he's about to go through hell? It's a lot. It's a perfect sendoff to a great character, and a truly painful moment. Also if your wondering about the blood, Rewind took Chromedome's arm along with his heart.

The Gloaming

The gloaming starts with foreshadowing for the next arc: we see a bunch of ops with Ultra Magnus from the war.. but two things are off. The first is that he looks slightly diffrent each time.. and the second is he looks very dead at the end of each one.

This will make sense later but for now we're in the aftermath of overlord's attack: Drift is being repaired, and Ratchet is TRYING to repair mags.. but it dosen't look good. Using a death clock, a device that predicts how long a bot has left, he only has ten days at best and poor Tailgate breaks down over how unfair it all is: one friend is dead, another close to it...

And there aren't easy answers for everyone else either: Chromedome responds a little to Skids but it's very clear he's not remotely okay, while Rodimus has torn up his office. Rung tries to help.. but he's held back by the fact he dosen't know why Rodimus is REALLY upset: Rodimus thinks it's magnus, Rung thinks it's because he lost.. which is a good guess.. but it's not the right one. We'll find out why next time but for now with Rodimus launching an investigation into the incident.. he and Drift need to have a talk.

After that we get the funeral: Rodimus gives a wonderful speech as he's returned to the stars spock style pointing out how EVERYONE he met was better for having known him. Except Prowl, nothing can make that guy better> it's a sweet earnest speech.. which makes it odd that Rewind's actual partner.. can barely say a sentence.

Brainstorm notices.. and goes to confront dome. Not about the speech, most bots would likely chuck that up to bottling up his grief. But it turns out these two go back a ways.. and as a result we find out just WHY Chromedome has so little innermost energon and I really wish I could share the full scene as it's powerful and shows a more emotional side of the usually flippant Brainstorm we haven't seen till now: He knows what Chromedome's abotu to do and to prove it rattles off a bunch of names. All ones Chromedome dosen't recognize.. because they were all former Conjux Endura's. And after they died he wiped his memory of them to not deal with the pain. It's a hard reveal, and a well done one and throughly proves Rewind right about mnemosurgery being an addiction for him: After all grief is hard, loosing someone even harder.. if you had the option to just make that pain temporary it'd be incredibly tempting, near impossible to turn down. You loose the person.. but you also loose the knife in your gut every time you think of them and realize their gone. Sure you could say "Well i'd want to rmemeber them i'd want the pain" and the strongest among us probably could turn that down.. but it's harder when you have that option. It's why i'ts such a comeplling hook here and why the next part hurts so damn much

It fleshes out their friendship and Brainstorm a lot: he's had to watch his friend erase those he loved again, and again and again, tried and failed to talk him out of it time and again. All because he KNOWS what it's like to loose someone.. and that while the pain never goes away, it's better to have them with you. We'll get into how he knows that pain next time. For now the slug is the only reason history may not repeat itself.

So we get two scenes intercut: One is Rodimus before the rest of the crew.. as Drift takes full responsiblity for what happened and is stripped of his autobrand, banished and boo. It's a loss that hit harder this time as i'd gotten more attached to the guy, seen him nearly sacrifice himself, his deep faith, his argument flirting with ratchet.. it's hard to see him go even if he damn well deserves it after all this cost. There's no.. joy in this.. no catharsis. he screwed up, sure.. but it dosen't bring Rewind or Pipes back. It dosen't undue the pain and grief everyone has or fix anything. It's simply assining blame. I'm not saying Drift or a certain someone else we'll get to next time shoudln't be held acountable, but it dosen't make it easy to see him go.. or see Ratchet be the only one to comfort him showing that despite arguging constantly.. they ultimately were close as anyone could be. With this... Rodimus is alone, his command staff gone and it's not going to be easier to wear the crown going into the finale.

The other is a touching moment I can't really share in full here, two page spread and all, btu Rewind pieced together a message for Chromedome, knowing what he'd do if he was gone. He begs his partner to go on without him, that injecting will kill him.. and that he deserves to be happy. The New Institute isn't him anymore. And as one last note because he dosen't say it enough

It's a scene that's now become one of my faviorite: while it's hard to follow because of the various footage, when you put it all together.. it's a message of courage. Despite the guilt, despite the pain, despite al lthey went through.. rewind loved chromedome, as he was, for who he was.. and wants him to stay that way. To keep him with him. And so .. Chromedome , for the first time, sheethes his claws.. and chooses to live with the pain.

We then end on a cliffhanger: Ultra Magnus.. is missing. Someone stole him, he's just gone.. and if that wasn't enough.. Tailgate goes under the death clock light.. and dosen't have much time left.

If it wasn't obvious by now I love these issues: their heartbreaking, well done and read even better this time around: It's a tragic loss that's expertly crafted, and used entirely to push the characters forward, to really push them with one forced to leave, one seemingly kidnapped and one facing his own crippling issues.. .and finding the courage to live

Next Time: We finish season 1! If you thoguht things coudln't get worse for the lost light.. your wrong as they face an attempted genocide , a character we've seen named a lot but not actually met till now, an old foe and a cool as hell new one. Until then thanks for reading

[troythecatfish]

[VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE TO ALL THIS AT THE BOTTOM]

Sometimes I just think about how petty the conversation around theropods can get in a way that no other group of dinosaurs seems to spark. And this toxic obsession with size is starting to bleed over into actual scientific conversation, which I believe is more important than any of my ramblings. Skip past all of this and go to the end if you must, I want more people to read at least the excerpt of the paper and be aware of this growing issue in paleontology.

Sauropods? Stegosaurs? Hadrosaurs? Pachycephalosaurs? No other dinosaur group seems to spark as much vitriol and internet slap fighting as the theropods do. Specifically the “mega”theropods as they’ve been dubbed more recently in the online paleo-sphere. T. rex, Spinosaurus, Giganotosaurus, you know the type. Big bodies with big heads with big jaws that certain sects of paleo fans get a bit too excited arguing over.

Of course most of these arguments center around the tyrant lizard king itself. A beast that I don’t need to bother doing this introduction for because you all know it’s coming: Tyrannosaurus rex. I know there��s a good too many people who treat T. rex as this unstoppable monster, God’s chosen creature among the other lowly fleshbags of the Mesozoic. Every new paper that comes out about Tyrannosaurus seems to just embolden them even more, especially now with that paper a few months back suggesting T. rex even larger than those preserved in the fossil record likely existed.

I’ve always found the rat race surrounding the size of T. rex and other “mega”theropods to be inherently a bit comical. If they want insanely large dinosaurs so badly I would point them towards sauropods, but those didn’t actively kill other dinosaurs so who cares amirite? Every other group of dinosaur, every other animal ever to evolve, only exists for the sake of power scaling their beloved giant theropod of choice.

But my question is doesn’t all this get a bit boring after a while? Acting like “mega”theropods were these untouchable gods and every other animal in the history of evolution is just a joke by comparison, it’s a frankly juvenile way of seeing things.

Triceratops? Only exists to have its head ripped off by and be a cool opponent for T. rex. Diplodocus? Only there so a gang of Saurophaganax can rip it apart. Rebbachisaurus? Tf even is that? The Kem Kem Beds were just the thunder dome for all those huge African theropods and crocodiles to beat each other up.

Point is I find the constant discussion and resulting arguments over theropod size and strength to be repetitive and boring. These “mega”theropods were no doubt powerful and fascinating animals, but they weren’t kaiju. They don’t need to be unkillable gods to still be worth appreciation and respect. Imagining them as the animals they were is much more stimulating for me than the simple who was the biggest back-and-forths.

———————————————————————————

(edit) this is a massive update in this particular subject, please, if not the rest of my ramblings at least read this:

I’d like to end with an excerpt from a scientific paper published just today by Joel H. Gayford et al. concerning size estimations of extinct animals

“Furthermore, one must be aware of backlash from the ever-growing fan communities of prehistoric organisms (such as Dunkleosteus, O. megalodon and theropod dinosaurs) on the internet, who may feel strongly about the perceived appearance of their favourite organisms. None of these concerns are hypotheticals, and all have happened at one point or another to many palaeobiologists who study well-known, iconic fossil taxa, including some of those mentioned in the present study. All studies should be judged on their scientific merit through debate and discourse, through which progressive improvements to our understanding of extinct animals can be gained.”

You can read the paper for yourself, as it’s publicly available for free: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...

This is more than simple online slap fighting. It’s affecting real paleontology. If actual scientists are now wanting to avoid certain species because of these types of paleo fans I don’t even know what to say. The paper goes in-depth about the problems, both scientifically and socially, that arise when determining the mass of an extinct animal. And I couldn’t agree more. I hate to beg for shares but if you can, and want to help push back against the awesomebros choking out real paleontologists then please consider it!

[hudson-whorenet]

How do you think evolution exists in the Cars universe. Axelrod in 2 says they are using fossil fuels, so does that mean at one point there were single cell cars???

This is interesting! Fossil fuels like oil and coal are usually formed from plant matter and smaller organisms mostly, but for the sake of this ask I’ll focus on oil formation. We know that organic matter like plant life is commonplace in the cars world, and we also know that there where pre-historic dinosaur cars that later evolved into the cars we have now. These dinosaurs were made mostly of metal and rock so it isn’t crazy to imagine that their joints and other organs were organic matter than could be broken down into these fossil fuels over millions of years.

Seen here:

We can see they have tongues and that’s enough proof for me that they have other organic parts (also I love how their snouts are shaped like the main body of the car so you can see how they evolved and stuff that’s fun)

Anyway! Back to the main point of your question, what was the starting point in the evolutionary process? Did cars evolve from single celled organisms? Maybe! It would make sense, and this leads to my personal belief that in the first few eons on earth during the Precambrian era single celled organisms evolved to use things like metal and rock as an exoskeleton of sorts, and once they got further down the evolutionary line it just sort of became part of them.

This is all very loosely based lol because if you think about it for too long it starts to become increasingly difficult to explain lmao. But yeah this is the jist of what I think!

[greekbros]

"greek-Bros": Spared no Expense

*Ares has invited Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus to Themiscyra*

Ares: Well I hope you guys like it, dad's been complaining about me not being "productive" enough for a god so I've decided to show you what I have been working on for a few weeks now. Spared no Expense.

Apollo: Well that is fine and all but I must ask why us?

Ares: Well why ask Athena to do the work of three already competent and much more trustworthy gods am I right?

Artemis: This place is huge seriously what have you been doing this whole time? Also the fuck do you mean "spared no expense" we're gods, money is completely beneath us.

Dionysus: Duuuuuude hope you set up some farms around here this place has got some nice greens.

Apollo: Um Dionysus, I'm wondering mostly because that outfit of yours suits you but why are you wearing a black button up? And where did you get those sunglasses?

Dionysus: *dressed up like Ian Malcolm* No reason why?

Ares: *literally dressed up like John Hammond* Yeah Apollo seriously I thought you were about that whole "clothes can mean whatever you want them to mean" stuff.

Apollo: *a little huffed at that remark* well then.

Ares: Ah we're here. *Stops his chariot*

Apollo: *turns and looks in awe at the distance with the over dramatic yet relatable disbelief of someone who has seen a fucking dinosaur*

Artemis: *had picked up a huge pinecone earlier* Ares, this species of pinecone shouldn't be here, this hasn't been around since th-*Apollo gently turns her head and is in equal disbelief*

*literally sees an entire civilization of purely just women*

Apollo: ....that's....that's all women ....this is literally more women I could have ever imagined seeing in one place

Artemis: Holy shit this looks actually cool

Dionysus: *who's been in on this fucking project the whole* He did it, that crazy son of a bitch did it. *Thunder rolling in the distance because he accidentally called Hera a bitch*...oh boi.

Ares: hehehe, welcome to Themiscyra.

*Jurassic Park theme*

Apollo:..Ares how did you even achieve this also why are there no men around?

Artemis: and why is that something you want to know?

Apollo: because to sustain such a population even you had officially kidnapped thousands of women or that has to be some sort of source of procreation.

Ares: Heheh, I did it all by myself, I told I spared no expense.

Apollo: oh my chaos you asexually reproduced these women?

Ares: What the fuck NO you glittery nerd. Remember I had that falling out with Aph a few months back?

Apollo: yes.

Ares: Well, I sat on the beach, trying to make myself feel better and after I was done I was really chafed so I took a nap. After like 2 weeks I woke up and I saw a bunch a little mounds all over the beach and I heard a baby crying, I dug were the sound was coming from and someone had buried alive infant on the beach. However I put two and two together and well....I'm dad of like roughly 39768 Amazonians. *Gives that smile one would give when they don't know they have done something impossible*

Apollo:...you...masterbated on the beach....than....this?

Ares:...yeah kind of. Oh by the way be careful with some of them because I haven't taught every single one of them to be social enough to not immediate kill anyone who isn't me in this place so stick with me ok?

Artemis: well sounds like my kind of people.

Apollo:.....you.... ejaculated....all over a beach...and..

Ares: Look I spared no expense that's all I can tell you. The advanced and "organized society" thing they did that all by themselves and I'm very proud.

Apollo:...for gods sake man

Dionysus: fuck yeeeaaaah bruh. *Hi fives Ares*.

Apollo: well....at least things can't get any worse*

*everything went worse after the Amazonians saw Apollo and Dionysus and everything went to slightly shit*

Bouns Scene:

Dionysus: *after some how breaking his leg, he lays down with his bare chest out seductively* We need to call for dad maybe he can help.

Ares: No I can't let him know about this he's gonna lose his shit.

Apollo: OH YOU THINK?!?

Ares: Look NO ONE told your sociopathic twin to hostility takeover after the girls accepted her into the city as a leader. I am going to give a serious talking to.

[enigmaincrimson-personal]

Being constantly reminded that there are people that have this exaggerated and distorted image of me as some sort of foul menace hasn't helped much with my mental health.

Imagine sneezing and everyone acting like you have a history of making bioweapons... Or worse still, someone else is making bioweapons, but everyone else decides it's you are the one that's doing it because you sneezed... Including the person making the bioweapons.

You can't provide proof that you aren't the one doing those things... And anything you could say in your defense is treated as the contrary. Doesn't matter if the proof they provide is none existent or made-up either, everyone else would rather take their word over yours.

And it really doesn't help that there's people that loves starting messes like these on purpose just for their own amusement.

I know that I do make legitimate mistakes here and there, but it just seems disproportionately vicious to start an entire harassment campaign just because I can't buy pretty pictures, format my blog a certain way, and anything else like that.

Even more so, blaming me for things I cannot control... Like how Tumblr tends to be buggy and crashes at inopportune times, someone owning a cheap phone that can't handle something as simple as a picture, or just plain people making up shit about me and pretending to be me because I can't fight back.

I'm sorry if I had gotten excited over a small glimmer of hope that things just might get better and jumping on it... It gets really lonely sitting here and waiting all the time and having to watch everyone else because I can't approach most times.

I'm sorry if I'm a bit clumsy lug that keeps hurting people just by being in the room... It wouldn't be the first time someone wanted me going be just for the crime of asking how someone is feeling... Wanting to discuss something I was working on.

I've been told that I talk too much... Among other things that I'd rather not say openly... I'm a waste of time and space, it would be to everyone's liking if I was gone for good.

I'm afraid to speak up and say how I feel... Because every word I speak seems to be some kind of taboo. I can't say that I am tired, lonely and in pain without someone saying that I am guilty tripping them.

Maybe you should feel guilty... I know for sure that I am not the only one here that feels this way, is being treated this way... But at the same time, if you came here solely by guilt... I am rather disappointed.

After all, roleplay should be fun... Not a competition... It's not about follow counts or anything like that... And if you feel like you have to be here because of being here's sake... Why are you even here?

Not that I mean to come off as well... Mean, but this isn't supposed to be a job... Or a career... It's a hobby, one built in partnerships... A tennis volley of a story that evolved over time. Expecting things to remain the same tends to be static and stale... And I've seen many fall down over the years for that reason alone.

Canon should be treated as less of an end in of itself and more of a foundation to create and build... For I hate to say... For many of you, nothing you write is going to be truly canon.

We all bring our own seasonings and sauces, fresh dishes and more to the table... Our own interpretations and edits of a recipe that we cannot truly see or touch.

So ironically, those fandomless OCs that so many people on here seems to hate... They might get not always be the most complex or defined, are actually the most canon at all to themselves.

Writing "canon" muses or for "canon" settings has more in common with archaeology than engineering... Since you are trying to reconstruct some from the past using your own ideas an interpretations.

Like sure... You could put things like muscles, skin, organs, and other things on dinosaur bones, but it is still just your interpretation of what once existed.

Meanwhile, someone who was actually there and involved in making the thing might have a completely different idea of the thing... But the difference here is that it is the real thing.

So to put it another way... No matter what the Jurassic Park team could do, even if they had complete DNA, could build a real dinosaur. It's all down to interpretation and interpolation.

I'm drifting here. Haven't slept at all. It's just tiring, dealing with all these sacred cows.

[albino-parakeet]

A prehistoric visitor in Treasure Reef.

This was originally drawn when the Season of Abyss first came out.

Uncolored version, cause that one also looks nice:

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Honestly I always thought the LN character choices were really random LMAO except for maybe the first two but I mean those just have all the main characters in there so…I could definitely see them sneaking kurona in there too because of all the promo they’ve kinda been doing for him?? Apparently they also choose based off popularity/who people vote for via like a hashtag on twitter/X too (apparently Barou’s addition was advocated for by the novelist/the person who writes out the LN story via main authors instruction or something)

But FR!! Even hair up Barou generally looks pretty good soooo

Hehe chatters unite!! o7

Omg horse show!!! How’d it go? And honestly for the sake of yourself and your writing I think that method is honestly sm more productive!! Like if you force yourself to write when you aren’t feeling it, it might come out worse because you’re writing in a kinda meh mindset as opposed to when you’re actually invested/interested!! So take it easy the real ones know you’re cooking up something good!! I’m also gonna take a wild guess and say you were being rushed on w***p*d LMAOO

Oooh very true…humidity makes it sm worse….manifesting South France dries up a bit ig?? LOL not sure how humid it is over there but I’d like to assume it’s not….awful….

LMAOOOO I’m excited honestly as long as he doesn’t end up 6 feet under anything’s fair game HAHA masterpieces take time don’t push yourself too hard!!

I literally lost it like WDYM??? Tbf it was one of my close friends who I was essentially “outed to” in terms of like like anime and games and manga and whatnot so I didn’t die BUT what gets me is that they themselves like using discord to communicate and organize sometimes and they touch less grass than me so I was like you did not just say that to me LMAOOO but BFB OTOYA KINNIE LMAOOOO so real I also generally keep it under covers like um I will not be exposing myself to the entire world!!!

HSHSHSSH OK IM GLAD HAHA I think for the sake of my own sanity I have the need to make sure I’m not writing down random shit too so that helps keep me in check LMAO

Also unrelated slightly but have you seen any of the latest chapter for the main manga?? I assume maybe not since you were touching grass LOL unfortunately our man is MIA but it was interesting

Longest Karasu work in existence…music to my ears LMAO balancing the scales and making up for like the billions of fics overcrowding the it*shi tags HAHAHA

Anyways going back to continue Barou’s LN!! Ok I’m glad I translated because I remember seeing those screenshots or clips floating around where it talked about Barou’s dad not being home because he was working and from that perspective I was a bit more sympathetic to his father but after reading I’m like hm he doesn’t really have any interest in being a dad at all…so I’m glad that was cleared up because I originally thought that to be the case then saw a snippet and I was like oh maybe his dad is a really good dad but just has to be really busy to help provide but now I’m like oh er nvm I was right ig….but Barou liking dinosaurs and predators is so on brand HAHAHAAH I almost lost it after reading how he fell with his teacher off the playset and bro really said “you asked for it” and walked away while his teacher broke like five bones

-Karasu anon

they definitely are so random HAHAH but if it’s based on popularity then tabieita + kurona would def make sense!! although i’m surprised that aryu made it before karasu if it really is based on that…like i didn’t even know aryu had fans LMAO 😭 the more you know ig

BONA FIDE CHATTERS UNION OVER HERE 😏🔥 the show went rlly well!! we got two firsts and we were the highest scoring pair in the entire show…we also finally got scores above 70 which was super exciting as that’s pretty hard to do especially given that the pony i’ve been riding as of late is on the older side and used to be wild so he’s not quite as fancy (although he is SOOO cute)!! overall v productive day i was very happy with how it went

i agree i think if my heart isn’t in a story it’s just not going to go well because i won’t be connected to the characters and to be honest if i’m not connected w the characters i can’t tell how they’d react in any given situation which is so integral to how i write that i literally can’t do it if i’m not into what i’m writing for 😭 surprisingly the one i’ve been most bothered abt is one that i only posted on here and ao3!! it was insane though because like i had a lot of free time so sometimes i’d update every day or every other day but then people got SO demanding?? like after three or four days i’d get asks like “when are you going to update??” HELLO IT’S NOT EVEN BEEN A WEEK YET i truly think that part of the reason why i lost motivation for that story is just how annoyed i got by that kinda thing…i feel bad sometimes because i got to be very short in my responses but i like to think i’m pretty nice for the most part and atp i was so over it 😫 at one point someone sent me an ask abt that story LITERALLY the day after someone else asked about it and i told them idk when i’ll update and please stop asking me abt it so i just said “do you want me to kill myself be honest” which looking back was a little unnecessary but i was so pressed 😔 at least people got the hint after that though HAHAHA the amt of asks i get abt it is much less now thankfully

PLSSS i decided not to make him drown after all but there is a swimming scene so you have that to look forward to 🤩 also as promised the update is here: we are officially over 12k words and karasu just graduated elementary school so he’s roughly 12 years old based on the japanese system LMAOO…truly this one will be a bit of a doozy but you’re so right it’s what the world needs to cancel out the sheer amount of works certain other characters the itoshi brothers get…we’re finally getting past the childhood part a bit which i’m excited abt because there’s only so much you can write abt kids being dumb before it begins to feel repetitive 😭 they truly don’t have much going on in their lives atp but now that karasu is entering middle school there will finally be a bit more drama

bfb otoya is me i am him 😰 i don’t even mind when people find out i don’t touch grass as much as they think i do but for sure i tend to not tell them right off the bat…and the fact that i write fanfiction is reserved for the elite circle ONLY and even then i just don’t mention it because like that’s just not smth the world needs to know abt me

i think i have!! it’s just more baby rin and then it cuts to him entering destroyer mode in the game right or is there more because that’s all i’ve seen…heartbroken that there were no karasu crumbs but the next epinagi chapter will be out soon i think so we will see him (and otoya) in full glory there at least 🤭 ironically rin’s backstory made me feel more empathetic for sae than it did elicit any emotions in me for rin…like bro was the father that stepped up at age 10 or smth tf 😭 also the way their dad led him away when he said he broke the toys was lowkey mad ominous…also the way rin has just been like this from the start 😰 before you could be like “okay he’s traumatized from sae that’s why he goes crazy on the field/during u20” but NO he genuinely was born that way LMAOAOA omg (jokes aside i’m sure there’s analysis to be made abt rin’s character w these few chapters but i don’t care enough abt him to be the one analyzing him like that…i’m sure there’s plenty of other accounts who’ll do it for me HAHA i have random side characters to obsess over in the meantime)

BAROU LN IS SO FUNNY BUT ALSO SO SAD pls the thing abt the teacher killed me he was such a sassy kid and for WHAT 😭 no i agree i saw snippets that said his dad had just had a heart attack and that was why he was so absent?? but no he actually just had no interest in being a parent 😓 BAROU WOULD NEVER THOUGH i just know he would be the number one dad in bllk especially because he knows exactly what not to do thanks to his own father

[salemminagrey]

The Holy Book.

Written by:

Spiritual Leader

Salem Mina Grey

Introduction:

Hello dear reader,

I am Salem.

I am 30 years and 130 days old,

on this day, January 6th, in the year 2024.

I write these words

after a lifetime of meditation and study

of all religions, philosophies, and sciences.

I have found that none of them are perfect.

All religions and philosophies are fallible.

All religious groups are corrupted by lies.

I have decided

to write this

holy book

in an attempt

to create an infallible and holy religion.

I do not claim to know everything.

I am human and thus I am capable of being wrong or making a mistake.

I simply wish to share with you all my view of this world and everything I have learned.

This is my first attempt at writing a book.

I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts.

I have spent many years

writing small statements,

sharing my thoughts

on social media,

writing down notes,

and making drawings,

but never before have I written a book.

I will do my best to keep it organized,

and to express my thoughts

in a clear and understandable way.

With this book it is my desire to teach you all as much truth as possible about Earth, Humanity, and our purpose here.

I am sure you will at least find this interesting and perhaps even accept it as an accurate philosophy about existence.

I will now attempt to explain,

everything.

Chapter One:

Reality.

In the begining of all existence

there was nothing,

an endless expanse of nothingness.

Then

at the beginning of all time

The Deity,

The One Above All, was born.

The first universe to ever exist

was

Nothing

the Deity was born and Made

Everything

It was Chaotic.

First the particles joined together

Then stars were born

Then they died

The cosmos became full

of the deities creations

until one day

they made life

it started as microscopic life

then they sent it to earth

on a meteorite

and in the primordial soup

all manner of creatures formed

a meteor struck again

most of the dinosaurs died

evolution took its path again

on Pangaia

the land known as Nibiru

another meteor struck

the continents separated

the air and the water

went away from the impact

and came back

as a monsoon and tidal waves

flooding the entire world

the surviving creatures clung to debris and landed on all of the various continents

the ancestors of humans

landed in Africa

then the spread of humanity

and human history

until now

the modern age

where

in the past 20 years

humanity became overpopulated

growing from 1+m to 10+b

in less than two decades

causing global warming

and failing to even try to fix it

suffering a deadly plague

heading directly into famine

foolishly causing world war 3

and causing the unstoppable

total extinction of humanity.

If every continent were covered in plants and every country worked hard to clean the air and sea then humanity might have a chance.

But they refuse to do anything.

While continuing to pollute the air and sea on a daily basis killing everyone in the world for the sake of making more money so they can pay slave wages charge the maximum legal rent and live in 5 star gated community apartments.

There is no benevolence.

Every church and temple is a scam that demands you give them your hard earned wages for false redemption.

The law and the government are designed to force you to comform while taking as much money away from you as possible without upsetting the ethics and human rights lawyers.

You are born a slave, you are forced to conform to the rules or you are punished, you are forced to learn about many things that you just forget because you don’t care about the information, it is not helpful to you at all, so you learn and forget everything they force you to study, they give you electives, directing you towards a career while creating the illusion of free will.

You are only educated so you can meet the bare minimum criteria for employment.

By the time you graduate you are in debt because they force you to pay for lunch.

More debt to go to college.

More debt to start a business.

More debt to get a studio apartment.

Debt for a McDonald’s Uniform because you got a degree in a field nobody is hiring anyone for anymore because of machine and AI automation.

You struggle for years to pay it all off.

Life is not worth the cost of living.

The struggle continues.

Sunrise and then sunset.

You age and then you die.

So how do you get to heaven?

Chapter 2:

The unseen.

You died.

Now you are a ghost.

The Deity Has created a Hierarchy to manage this aspect of existence:

Deity

Deities

Gods & Goddesses

Angels

Cherubs

Paladins

Clerics

Holy Spirits

Good Spirits

Nice Spirits

Neutral Spirits

Naughty Spirits

Bad Spirits

Evil Spirits

Anti Clerics

Anti Paladins

Imps

Demons

Gods & Goddesses

Deities

Deity

As a ghost you may enjoy

doing such things as:

watching humans do stuff

thinking about all you did wrong

wondering when you can go to heaven

watching evil spirits get dragged down to the underworld

watching holy spirits fly up into the heavens

wandering around to many places

being trapped in a building

repeating traumatic past mistakes

shapeshiting

posessing dead bodies

knocking over glasses

opening and closing cabinets

messing with radios, TVs, and lights.

Valhalla

Tea parties

STD free ghost sex

And reincarnation.

The after life, the spirit world, the unseen, whatever name you call it,

Is a dimension inhabited by the souls of all animals, plants, and living things.

Many souls are dragged down into the core of the planet.

Some enlightened souls rise up into the sky.

Most reincarnate.

Some wander in the here after forever.

It is not that bad.

For those who are hateful

They are treated hatefully

For those who are violent

They are treated violently

For those who are murderers

They are treated murderously

For those that are Violators

They are treated Violatingly

Your sins in life

are punished in the spirit world

until you repent and atone.

Those that do not repent and atone for their sins are dragged down and thrown into the fire in the core of the earth.

By the way,

You are allowed to wear

whatever clothes you want to wear

you are allowed to identify as

whatever you want to identify as

you are allowed to love

whoever you want to love

and

as an adult you may have sex

with any adult who willingly consents.

The only sins in life are:

Hatred, Violence, Murder, Rape, & Theft.

Do none of these things

and you shall have no enemies

for you have caused no harm.

Then, with no enemies, your eternal journey in the here after may begin, and you will find the path to enlightenment easy to walk upon on your way to The Holy City of the Divine.

The path to heaven

can only be found

by those who

regret,

repent,

and

atone,

for their

hatred,

violence,

killing,

raping,

and

stealing.

Most people are lost.

There are many who shall burn.

Now you know.

Chapter 3:

A code of conduct.

Birth.

You should:

Survive, by any means necessary.

Experience all that you can.

Learn as much as you can.

Pray to the Deity at least once per day.

Make as many friends as you can.

Be as helpful as you can,

without letting people

take advantage of you.

Give everything you do

all of your best effort

without causing yourself

any anger or pain.

Be respectful to everyone.

Speak the truth when needed.

Treat all with kindness.

Do not worry about anything you can’t control.

Walk away from conflicts.

Defend the weak when you can.

Protect women and children in distress.

Do good work without accepting more work than you can handle on your own.

Ask for help when you need it.

Theres no shame in holding a sign and a begging bowl if you have no other options, churches pass one around every sunday and waste all the money on whatever they want.

Seek out the truth always.

Never sign any contracts,

all contracts are tools of evil.

Live your life to the fullest.

Wear comfortable and functional clothes that keep you warm and dry in the cold and cool in the heat.

Clothes are only clothes,

wear whatever you like.

You may let your hair grow or cut it

it is your choice either way.

Be yourself and enjoy life.

Wake up every day thinking:

“I’m grateful to be alive today.”

Go to sleep every night thinking:

“I’m grateful I survived today.”

Drink water every day.

Eat food every day.

Clean your teeth, face, & hands often.

Clean your hair and body as needed.

Clean your clothes as needed.

Clean your butt every time you poop.

Clean your genitals often.

(I wrote this rough draft a while ago and abandoned it... free to use)

[juice-agerepngs]

List of tags

Note: these don't actually link to the tag, I'm just putting them here for organizations sake. list may be added to over time!

-Fandom Related -Transparent -Non Transparent -Misc -Gifs -Images -Places -Agere Ask Games -Agere Prompts

-Plushies -Blankets -Pacis -Toys (generally will be for non-baby toys) -Baby toys -Food -Candy -Holiday -Clothes -Supplies

-Fandom Related -Transparent -Non Transparent -Misc -Gifs -Images -Places

-Dogs -Cats -Wolves -Other Animals -Sea Creatures -Dinosaurs -Water -Nature -Dice

-Red -Blue -Green -Brown -Yellow -Orange -Purple -Black -White -Multi -Gray

[lady-strange0]

i know you know but i’ll tell you anyway

By: Lady_Strange0

Words: 1898

Rating: General Audiences

Published on AO3: 15/05/2023

Relationships: America Chavez & Stephen Strange, Stephen Strange/Wong, Stephen Strange & Wong, America Chavez & Wong

Summary:

She watched as the two cups floated to the table, his said for fox’s sake on it with a little image of a fox on it, while hers depicted a blue dinosaur holding an American flag with the words America is Rawrsome along the top and bottom.

-or-

America comes out to Stephen even though they both know he knows, but she wants to tell him anyway, and feelings are felt and feelings are shared.

After America had successfully made her first safe portals with her slingie, Wong and Stephen had agreed that she could portal to her classes in the morning and back to New York in the afternoon. This was a few months ago meaning America has now been lives in New York with Stephen, and sometimes Wong when he had time to visit. Usually after her classes she’d be portalling straight home to the sanctum, and isn’t it weird that after only a few months she considers the sanctum home? But today she’s procrastinating it, instead choosing to stay with Rintrah after her last class of the day.

“I don’t know what you are so worried about? Master Strange and Master Wong have seen your pride pin, and even if they didn’t they would be okay with it anyway,” Rintrah said as they slowly walked around the courtyard.

“It’s not that I’m worried they’ll kick me out or anything, it’s just different when it’s not implied anymore and instead said out loud,” replied America. “And anyway, I also don’t want it to become weird or something, you know?”

America had her hands stuffed down the pockets of her signature jacket, having already changed out of her training uniform. The Minotaur just signed in response. Soon after he excused himself to the dinner hall, America realized there was nothing keeping her now, so she portaled straight to her bedroom, before making her way to the kitchen where she knew Stephen would be.

“Wondered when you’d show up, got held back for being a disruption in class?” America just rolled her eyes at Stephen, and replied, “nah, was just wandering around with Rintrah chatting.”

Stephen was busy making some tea, steeping the bags in the hot water and then pouring the tea with a flick of his wrist. He added some honey to his own and a teaspoon of sugar to Americas before sitting down at the large old wooden table.

She watched as the two cups floated to the table, his said ‘for fox’s sake ‘on it with a little image of a fox on it, while hers depicted a blue dinosaur holding an American flag with the words ‘America is Rawrsome’ along the top and bottom.

She held the cup warming her hands and whilst bitting her lips tried to figure out how to start the conversation, she debated just blurting it out and getting it over with like ‘hey Stephen I know you know, but I like girls, but I wanna tell you anyway,’ or simply ‘hey I am a lesbian’, but before she could pick one, Stephen pulled her out of her thoughts, “you okay? You look a little lost in your head, as if you are looking for the answers to life. Or where the closet pizzeria is, actually they could be the same question for you.”

America just looked at Stephen and took a deep breath, and she could she him watching her out of the corner of her eye. “So, I wanted to tell you something, and I need you to not say anything so I can get it all out, okay?”

“Okay, sure, lay it on me.” Came the expected response.

She spent another few moments trying to pick her words before eventually muttering, “I like girls.” In her peripheral vision she could just see Stephens forehead wrinkling as if trying to understand what was happening, he started blinking quickly, but he thankfully stayed quiet, as America continued, “and I know that’s not exactly a secret and the pride pin is quite visible most of the time and you are not like a homophone in hiding who will kick me out of your house after this, but I wanted to tell you because you are important and while studying some of the culture of this universe, it became clear to me that this is something you tell people you care about, and this is also a round about way of telling you that I care about you, and Wong, but I haven’t gotten there yet, I wanted to tell you first… and yeah… okay, the blinking is getting a bit creepy now…”

It took the man another few moments to come back to himself, before he got up and pulled America into his arms. She curled her arms around his waist holding onto the plain shirt he’s wearing.

“Thank you for telling me, and I care for you very much too.” Stephen said after pulling back a few minutes later to look into her eyes. His eyes looked a bit glassy from emotions and his lips were pulled into a smile that crinkled the edges of his eyes. America let out a wet giggle before pulling him back into the hug and closing her eyes to take in his strong arms around her and the smell of old books, and tea, and something woody that usually surrounded him.

They took a few more moments to gather themselves, Stephen moving his trembling hands to wipe the tears from Americas cheeks and under her eyes, before nudging her to take a seat at the table again, the teapot floated over to them refilling his cup and with a wave of his hand he could see both cups steaming again as they heat up.

Stephen took a sip of tea from the cup before starting, “America I want you to know that you are so important to me and Wong and I’m so happy you feel comfortable telling us this, even if we already knew. I’m just happy I don’t have to deal with you bringing home boys,” he chuckled, as America pulled a face. “I also want you to know that there will never be anything you could say, or do, or be, that would make me kick you out of my house and this is your home as much as it is mine or Wongs or Cloaks or Bats or the cats on the roof or the magic that whirls around in here. This is a place for anyone who comes wondering here who is looking for help and who is willing to open their eyes to the mystic arts, and you are the most magical and beautiful person in Wong and I’s life. No matter how many universes you will visit in your life, there will never be a time were you won’t be welcome and at home here or at Kamertaj-Taj. No matter what.”

America was back to tearing up at the speech, while she had realized over time that she wasn’t a burden on Stephen or the Sorcerer Supreme it was still something else to hear to spelt out like this. Another hiccuped sob left her, before a tissue was magically hovering before her. She smiled and cleaned herself up before Stephen continued.

“The fact that you like girls is perfectly fine, it is as much part of you as your love for pizza and as your multiversal traveling schtick and your frankly horrible taste in ice cream”, America scoffed and interrupted “hey, your the one with bad taste,” but Stephen continued as if he hadn’t heard, “so whether or not you someday bring home a girl is totally okay and you will never be treated any different for it, because you shouldn’t be and the fact that some people do it really doesn’t reflect well on our universe. It has gotten better though since I was young, growing up in the countryside of a tiny town in Nebraska and figuring out that maybe you don’t just like girls is about as confusing and scary as can be.”

“Wait… you like girls and guys?” America asked surprised, and Stephen simply smiled at her, laughing at the shocked face. “Yeah, I thought I was gay for a while when I was young and confused and then in uni they threw around the word bisexual but it was never really right, and I stopped dating once I was in medical school and then it was just Christine on and off for a while, but after the blip and stuff I kinda realized some things, and went digging and I think pansexual is what I am, I’ve never really cared about the gender or appearance of my partners, I needed someone who would be my equal intellectually and who could put up with my ego and…” Stephen trailed off at the end of the sentence, as if thinking about something.

America made a sound of understanding, smiled and got up to give him a squeeze that pulled him back to the conversation, “thank you for telling me. I’m glad you trust me with this information.”

Behind Stephens head, she could see the sparks of a closing portal through the door way into the living room, and Wong walking quietly into the kitchen. When he wanted to Wong could move like a cat, quiet and unnoticeable.

“Of course”, came Stephens reply with a small smile, not noticing anything around him, but before he could continue America said, “and I think Wong would totally be down if you asked him out for lunch in between alien invasions.”

The man in question simply raised an eyebrow in silent question, but otherwise made to no move to let Stephen know he was here. Said man was currently speechless, before he stuttered out, “that’s not what I… I meant… Wong is much to busy… and I would-,” America just raised her eyebrow at the ineloquent way he was speaking, “what I mean, America, is that he and I are much too busy for a relationship and even if we weren’t, then Wong wouldn’t be interested, I don’t even know if he’s interested in men or even anyone at all.”

“Wong is very interested in knowing what this conversation is about,” Wong said with a dry tone that caused Stephen to jump and almost spill his tea from turning around so fast. What was previously a soft blush covering his nose and cheek bones from the conversation, now turned his entire face bright red, “Wong, what are… what are you doing here? How long have you been standing there?”

Stephen clearly looked panicked, and Wong was clearly loving every moment that the taller man stuttered and sputtered. America felt like a spectator at a tennis match trying to watch both of their reactions to the situation, but as the eye contact between them became more serious and tensions rising, she realized that this was a conversation best left to the privacy of them alone. So, she got up quickly, surprising them both with her movement, lend over and gave Stephen a quick kiss on the cheek and muttered, “good luck,” into his ear, because giving Wong one too, and practically running out of the kitchen to her room.

She fell onto her bed, feeling lighter and happier than she had in a long while, she had told Stephen everything and he accepted her as she was, and it seemed that Stephen and Wong were on the way to making them a complete yet mismatched family, of misfits and lost boys and girls held together by their love and care for each other. She couldn’t wait until morning to tell Wong she cared for him as much as Stephen and to see the two men be there for her and each other.

[thedrag0nking]

Koishi begins to take control of the entire operation and she already come up with a name for Gensokyo's powerful factions have partaken.

" Listen everybody, I'm in charge of this operation and you're all going to follow my lead at my EVERY command or else we die a horrible death. I call this very operation, operation final war. Half of gensokyo defence force will evacuate civilians through my doors, while the rest of My child and her soldier friends shall be accompanied by other factions in each specific location. In South germany I want the white stars to assist the nevermore, the north shall be accompanied by my other children. The ones you call MAGA type - Organisms... "

" About Fucking time some god damn action! "

" Rodger that Ma'am... "

" And lastly Everywhere across the world infested with horrors? All of you know what to do, you are a swarm, you are the apex predator you have decimated the horrors before sure, there was casualties but this is the price of going to war. I will do what it takes to not only save our home but also to save my boys, and doing the very unthinkable. I am going to reason with Shinki with diplomacy. "

Everyone in the entire room is shocked to hear this, of all the things she's going to do is the unthinkable that being to reason with the goddess of makai herself.

" YOU FUCKING WHAT?! MOM YOU CAN'T JUST..- "

" I'm amazed how all of you have underestimated me, my greatest weapon is my voice. I'm not going to convince her to be friends if you're worried. I will convince her that her war was lost from the beginning. The moment she destroy not only our home but taking over the outside world, she will feel my wrath. "

" What if she doesn't see reason? What if your ways of diplomacy end in disaster? We' re dealing with a threat far more powerful than any of the inhabitants of gensokyo as well when she has the goddess of death herself on her side. "

" It WILL work for I...do have a feeling, she's not doing this all in the sake for conquering for her own gain. It's vengeance, but for what I wish to know. For now gear up everybody in this cold winter hell this is going to be rough. "

" Alright Everyone you heard mom, Gates everyone geared up, Bhutan and Khruto Round up your dinosaurs and your army, same with you queen Shimura, me? I'm piloting the god damn gotengo. "

Everyone from the meeting room gather up from their chairs and began gathering every allied faction together. The war for the entire world, especially gensokyo hangs on a mere thread begins.

[tim-official]

just for the record: let today’s spotify outage be a teachable moment if you use only spotify to listen to music. you are only renting it and it can and will be taken away at random based on record label politics. playlists already slowly degrade over time as things get pulled or rereleased under different names. and while we’re at it: remember how netflix felt like it had everything and then, gradually, didn’t? yeah. spotify already finds exclusivity deals very important in podcasts (joe rogan etc). as more ways to listen to music pop up, they are definitely going in the same direction to try to maintain the absolutely unsustainable business model of music-streaming. i saw people here and there being like “i want to listen to music but spotify is down” and then just... not listening to music. this is fucking bananas. it makes me feel like an absolute dinosaur. and i’m sure this is exactly what spotify wants, because when they do start going for music exclusivity deals this kind of person is going to pay for them. i’m not saying you have to meticulously organize an mp3 collection like i do but, god, for the sake of your own experience, please don’t use exclusively a single online service to listen to music.

[swan2swan]

Also, my guess is that Mantah Corp isn’t interested in cloning or breeding dinosaurs with this facility, but motion-capturing them.

“Drones can’t search tunnels and caves”, Hoskins said in the first Jurassic World, back in 2015.

This robo-panther begs to differ!

And what serves as the template for this creature?

The flesh-and-blood origin.

You can’t capture a lion and use it to build your drones, forcing it to fight other creatures so you can study its combat techniques and program them into your robots. You can’t have a lion maul someone For The Sake of Science--too many troublesome ethical clauses and pesky organizations.

But with an extinct animal that you created? That’s Perfectly Legal. 

Hence, they have drones guiding T. Rexes and Spinosaurs and tanky herbivores into battle with one another:  capturing the images from every angle, you can study how to recreate these massive death engines for your own automated use.

Why waste time feeding, breeding, and nurturing troublesome beasts when you can just go fully autoerotic?

Mantah Corp perfects the tech in this hidden facility, sells it to the military, and in just a feww years you’re making billions selling robotic creatures. Picture those killer dogs from Boston Institute, but more agile and deadly.