#something i can reveal without any potential spoilers

[explodingstarlight]

he's listening to Xor infodump about computers

for the uninitiated, Nova belongs to ✨ moi ✨ and Xor belongs to @snailsnaps

[rpstartersinc]

* 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝟑: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐.

feel free to change pronouns / wording! potential spoilers!

" it is said that surprise is one part secrecy and one part speed. "

" we are engaged. "

" what is your sour expression for? "

" for how long has this been going on? "

" until he knows the real you, he cannot possibly love you. "

" is that lady whistledown? "

" it is anything but common to be a lady who speaks her mind. "

" what the city lacks in natural beauty, it certainly makes up for in entertainment. "

" who needs fresh air when there is fresh gossip? "

" i hope you are thinking pure thoughts. "

" i think of you as the family pet. "

" that was not meant for your ears. "

" no one has ever stood up for me like that. "

" i will always stand up for you. "

" because [ pet name ] is watching. "

" would you be nauseated by the idea of marriage for yourself? "

" there is no better feeling than the truth. "

" do i look a mess? "

" the decorations are somewhat more drab than i remember, are they not? "

" it seems you host a hell of a party. "

" perhaps she would love to be unmasked, the power, the infamy, freedom to do whatever she wants. "

" i could not keep that secret for more than an hour. "

" there is nowhere else i would rather be. "

" i am always pleased when people take my advice. "

" know thine enemy. "

" ladies do not have dreams. "

" i have loved you since the moment we met. "

" i will spend a lifetime begging your forgiveness for not seeing you sooner. "

" were you ever punished as a child? "

" if you wish to repent, you must go inside the church. "

" you are clearly just envious that i have made something of myself. "

" of all bitches, dead or alive, a scribbling woman is the most canine. "

" i do not wish to ruin things for you. "

" not every attachment must be dramatic and hard-fought. "

" i do not spend much time in society. "

" i cannot imagine what anyone would judge you for. "

" well, this is one of the more amusing parties i have been to. "

" i want to be worthy of you. "

" if you thought revealing my true identity would stifle me, guess again. "

" gossip as i might, i always tell the truth, and i cannot tolerate a lie. "

" you do not sound like yourself. "

" i hope you know that my care for you is not contingent on your aid. "

" patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. "

" i am not uninterested in exploration. "

" in this world, it is every person for themselves. "

" in my defence, your mother does not like me. "

" if i am to be bold... i shall need some time to think about it. "

" there's no such thing as true love, without first embracing your true self. "

" you are putting yourself in danger being out here tonight. "

" the smell of fermented fruit emanating from your person would indicate otherwise. "

" it is not your footman's fault - i slipped in. "

" i suppose you got all the good joints in the family. "

" i love weddings. "

" would you like to say how you really feel now? "

" why do you look so vacant? "

" making peace is a relief. "

" simply tears at losing another friend to marriage. "

" love is not finite. "

" please do not make me love you more. "

" i have not had time to meddle. "

" i have spent so long clinging to walls like this i do not wish to do that any longer. "

" i do not think i have it in me to greet any more guests. "

" do you know what it is like, to have no where in the world you can truly be yourself? "

" whatever you think you know, you are incorrect. "

" clearly, my word is not one you choose to follow. "

" i cannot wait for the quiet. "

" i no longer trust anyone but myself. "

" that must feel terribly lonely. "

" perhaps we might aim a little higher with our positive thinking? "

" i am not so petty. "

" it is certainly not my place to give or withhold a blessing on the matter. "

" how do you stand society events? "

" i have not come on happy business. "

" some have told me they do find release from deception a comforting feeling. "

" what you and i have done is not different. "

" what you have done is a crime! "

" it is a great regret of mine, that i have overlooked you for so long. "

" we have done the best we can with the opportunities that society has afforded us. "

" perhaps we are more alike than i care to admit. "

" one day, you too will have a heart. "

" just being you is enough. "

" i do not need you to save me, i just need you to stand by me. "

" you would truly allow me to succumb to such a fate? "

" i am beginning to care for you, [ name ], as more than friends. "

" it felt good, for once, to want to commit to someone. "

" does your silence betray that you know something that i do not? "

" the more i learn, the more i realise how little i know. "

" i know it is no laughing matter, what i have done. "

" gossip is information. "

" what is life without a little gossip? "

" i have been envious of you. "

" how lucky i am to stand by your side and soak up even a little bit of your light. "

" i shall join you in your hiding place, then. "

" it has been quite a journey we have taken together. "

" are you old enough to read that? "

" i have my moments. "

[sylvieserene]

My thoughts on Primer: Clashing Colors #1 - "Color Me Impressed" (2024)

This was a comic I was waiting a long time for and was super excited about its story. Not because omg New character, Primer!! Nah, because of Teen Titans lol

That too the TEEN TITANS ANIMATED SERIES 2003

I seriously had high hopes for this comic but let's just say I'm disappointed.

Without getting into spoilers,

The writing is just meh at best. Primer is fleshed out decently but the writing for TT03 cast is horrendous at worst and ooc at best.

This comic also suffers from the "Telling but not showing" problem, similar to Nightwing (2016) comic by Taylor.

It's clear that the writers prefered Primer but it's almost like they didn't really do much research over the Titans' personality and that was of less priority. They act a lot like their TTG! (2013) Counterparts rather than TT03 characters. Even the humour is similar to TTG! (2013) and not the original show unlike what was being advertised.

As a Primer comic, it gets the job done and highlights her nicely but as a teen titans fan who was looking forward for the TT content rather than Primer, it's pretty disappointing and saddening.

⚠️ Now getting into spoilers ⚠️

(click off if you want to or scroll down to the end if you wanna skip and basically go to the summary)

The introduction to Primer is pretty decent and I think it does a decent job and blooming her personality.

I believe most of you here must have seen this particular panel in the teasers before the comic's release. It catches the TT03 essence nicely but this is where characterisation jumps in.

As I said Primer as a character isn't of concern to me but as a TT fan, TT is.

So here's where things went downhill in characterisation and character consistency.

You are saying Slade came out in the open, got unmasked and it's of NO big deal to Robin?

Lemme rephrase this to you; Slade, the evil mastermind, who never does anything without a reason and NEVER leaves his basement other than the reason for kidnapping children, touched grass and came out at day and Robin is unphased? It doesn't make ANY sense.

Even more so, when the story tries to pretend it's on purpose.

Slade was NEVER unmasked other than that skull reveal scene and that one Easter egg from TTG! 2003 spin off comics. So the fact, this scene was displayed as something comical is genuinely baffling. The Titans KNOW he doesn't get caught unless there's a catch. This part makes absolutely zero sense.

Then this part ...

The problem with this part is, characterisation. BB debatably acts like himself but Raven? No. It's ooc for her to go "Awww :D" like that. If anything, the best possibility is that she'll say the same line but she'll say it with full and utter sarcasm.

I think most BBRAE fans will agree with me on this one but they both had romantic POTENTIAL but they weren't anything other than good pals in the show. And we haven't gotten any hint at their relationship even in the spin off comics which were canon to show. Which in simpler terms means, this is ooc. Most of the development BBRae can have is after the show and after they get older. But the comic claims they are same Titans who haven't aged a day thus THIS IS OUT OF CHARACTER FOR RAVEN TO SAY!

Raven is a gloomy, sarcastic character who doesn't express what she feels instantly or openly, it would have made a lot more sense if she said the same line sarcastically (where she could blush implying a subtext incase they really wanted to insert BBRae but not making too obvious)

It really makes no sense for her character as depicted in TT03 to suddenly melt at the idea BB giving her tulips if it is the same Raven from TT03. Raven isn't that stereotypical girl character. She's a reserved and introverted person who was still learning to open up even to the series very end.

If this is the TT we know and love, this can't be her.

I'm not bashing the ship btw, I'm bashing the writing. Atleast be faithful to the character's personality while doing fan service!!

If you say, it's the same people who haven't aged a day since the last time you met. You can't have it be that oh yk they changed. Both the statements can't be true at the same time.

Then this scene:

This scene looks straight up from TTG. Back to making Robin dumb af and the team bashing him into normalcy. I'm tired of this trope like jeez, TT ROBIN WAS NOT LIKE THAT!!!

Infact if anything, "Can we just call it 'the battery'?" Line is something BB would say not Raven. Also Starfire getting mad at Robin for saying a long name and rolling eyes? She would never. Robin taught her earth customs and language patiently. If anything, she's that one person who would never eye roll on Robin even if he says something dumb. If it's the same Starfire from TT03 AS ADVERTISED.

Then there's this panel....

Two things, Robin never had a car in TT03. He had a bike named R-Cycle. Second, Starfire always carried Robin while Beast Boy carried Cyborg as a Pterodactyl. The Titan with a car was Cyborg. And when the car was out, everyone rode the car instead of taking the skies. Why the hell would Cyborg be carried out by Starfire when the car is right there??? It makes no sense.

It's incredibly strange how the writer is going long lengths to not make the two (Robin and Starfire) even merely interact with eachother.

How hard is it to just be canon accurate? These are stuff you catch on literally one rewatch. Did the writers not even do that or did they go with fanon or what they remembered from their childhood or like spent 5 mins trying to remember the characters through YT shorts and called it a day?

Like this is the only time they technically look at eachother to talk anything other than business:

Then coming back to Slade, I said the story tries to pretend it was all on purpose.

This further proves that this Slade isnt the same evil mastermind we knew of. This is some other guy.

Then this,

Yk what the awful part is? This . This isn't something you would see in TT03 or anything similar. This is simply something you can expect to see in a fan comic.

And wanna know what's worse? Ravager already existed in TT03 verse except she was Rose Wilson not this guy. This simply just means the writers didn't even BOTHER doing minimum research on the show beforing stamping in characters.

========================================

SPOILERS END!!!

Like I am genuinely lacking words as to describe this mess of a Teen Titans 2003 representation. This isn't them at all.

If anything, this isn't anything like they promoted and advertised. If anything, this is simply a TT03 AU which has nothing to do with the show.

It's neither faithful to the show nor the characters nor the established canon.

If anything, this feels like a shameless cash grab..ik some of y'all be mad at me for saying this but yeah. That is what this is.

If anything, it feels like a clickbait way to get people to Primer without actually bothering to respect that clickbait through which you are trying to pull people in.

It's shameful and disappointing and if I'm being honest, this got boring fast. I didn't enjoy it at all.

The writers prioritised cheap comedy and Primer over the Titans who are apparently a big part of her journey. They didn't even feel hesitant in making all the characters go ooc. The story itself is pretty bland and not interesting and genuinely nothing unique about it other than the Titans who apparently were TT03 as left on the final episode.

Anyway, this feels like an AU TT03 self insert OC fan comic at best or a version of TT based on TTG 2013. Frankly, it has the humor and characterization of TTG. Infact, I think this can totally work out as a 'tame' episode in TTG.

Introduction of Primer to TT and her demeanor to them to get along and on the team gave off Massive Terra vibes, it's almost like the writers got heavily inspired from it.

Tldr, the characterisation and characters of TT aren't like their TT03 counterpart but rather TTG one with a lot more grounded personalities. They often go ooc and say things which they won't say if we went with TT03 canonicity. Deathstroke is basically a joke now. The story itself is boring and uninteresting and doesn't make me like Primer any better. The comic falsely promotes this as the TT03 version even though this is, at best, a TT universe maybe inspired by the 2003 show but not the 2003 show. It's closer to 2013 one.

Personally, I'm severely disappointed and I'm gonna say it again, this is a total cashgrab and not worth reading.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Sat down and was like "What's the dumbest, most out of pocket crossover I can think of with Naruto." Then remembered that one guy who just went "Madoka magica" under my TMA crossover post and started giggling

So yeah, @thr33dogsinatrenchcoat this one goes out to you, I hope ur happy

So my first thought was just Homura in Naruto, but then my brain said no. Kyubey in Naruto. And then I really lost it

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you,

✨️ magical girl Kakashi ✨️

Major Spoilers for Madoka Magica below the cut

(Funilly enough, this has been in my drafts for a while now, well before I started getting really into my magical girl izuna AU)

A quick explanation for those of you here for Kakashi content who have no clue what Madoka Magica is;

Kyubey is a pink immortal rat thing from space who offers specifically pre-teen girls contracts to become magical girls. The girl will be granted a wish as their payment for the contract, then have to fight monsters known as Witches.

How big the wish that they can have granted (wishing for a cake vs wishing to revive the dead for example) depends on their potential as a magical girl. The girls magical girl theme and power will revolve around whatever wish they made— ask for someone to be healed and you may be able to heal faster, ask for happiness and maybe you get to be an empath, etc. As long as you can somehow connect the power to their wish, anything is fair game.

It's later revealed that a) the "soul gem" every magical girl is given when they become a magical girl is literally their soul in physical form. Kyubey just straight up removed their soul from their body and put it in a ROCK. Yes this does mean you can torture a magical girl via her soul gem, and yes if the soul gem gets too far from the girl she will collapse like a puppet who's strings were cut.

And b) witches are actually magical girls who fall victim to negative emotions and have their soul gems consumed by darkness either because they were swallowed by grief or from using too much magic without being able to clean their soul gem (which they can only do by killing witches)

Kyubey does all this because magical girls specifically within the age range of a middle schooler, give off a specific kind of energy when they transform into the witches that Kyubey's race farms for reasons I don't really remember anymore but I'm pretty sure has to do with it being mandatory for their race to live? Dunno it's been years since I watched madoka

Ok context over now for the fun part:

Something about the way humans are made in this world means Kyubey is not restricted to prepubescent girls in offering contracts. It's probably related to their chakra coils or something; Which also translates interestingly into how your amount of chakra and your chakra control affects your power as a magical girl.

Both of which Kakashi has in the bag.

I've read a few different takes about how Kakashi's chakra reserves are actually really big, he's just always running dangerously low bc of the constant drain of the sharingan. (I think this was actually confirmed in one of the novels? Which is neat) And since the overall 'potential' of his maximum chakra reserves is what wins out when it comes to the magical girl contract, he's our ideal customer.

Now, for this set up we aren't going to be using the "Kyubey and the magical girl system have just been around for a long while" but instead we're going with the "kyubey is new to this world and, seeing all of this potential energy, is looking to take a few of these bad boys on a test drive to see how well they work."

(Though there's a very interesting fic there with the angle of kyubey as maybe the equivalent of a 10th secret biiju, maybe locked away somewhere, and maybe released by forming a contract with someone— His junchuriki perhaps?)

This brings up an interesting question! A world where theyre havent been any magical girls yet made means that its a world without witches. And in a world without witches, what is Kyubey's explanation for why he needs magical girls when asked?

In the show we are shown that if pressed and asked the right questions, Kyubey will often tell the truth of the matter — that eventually a magical girl will self destruct and Kyubey farms the energy they release when they turn into a witch.

I can't see any shinobi worth their salt just accepting a suspicious contract for even more suspicious power from an impossibly MORE suspicious little magic rat thing. Kakashi especially. Questions WILL be asked and I do think it wouldn't actually be that hard to get Kyubey to give up the truth. Honestly, knowing the things personality and how it likes to take the logical approach, he might see that just telling the truth may actually help convince some people.

Because yeah, horrible fate aside, it's a lot easier to buy into promises of power when you know exactly what the catch will eventually be, and when it'll probably start kicking in.

There's a lot of people in Naruto who would can and have traded a LOT more than just their soul for power and a free wish. I can see people taking Kyubeys deal as is, Kakashi included under the right circumstances.

And besides that, there are plenty of times when the situation is last minute and intense to have the time to ask questions. Kyubey appearing in some life or death battle offering a miracle would probably be able to get a "fuck it what's the worst that can happen" from pretty much anyone

Anyways there are a few different paths we can take with the how's and why's Kakashi becomes a magical girl, and it largley depends on when exactly Kyubey approaches him about it.

1; Minato Route

Wishes for Minato and everyone to please just stay safe during "Madara's" attack, saving them and trading his soul for it in the process. He has no regrets tho, he refuses to.

This path I think would be fun if Kyubey shows up for the first time super last minute and Kakashi is pressed into a rushed contract and rushed wish. But I can also see if maybe he'd been approached by Kyubey beforehand, it's just that he was trying to sort out whether he trusted the rat enough to make a deal and sort out the exact wording of his wish. But oops no more time for that Kyubey please just keep his family safe!

It'd be fun if that was his exact wording actually. "I wish to keep my family safe"

Maybe it'd mean that even in the future, if he finds someone he considers to be his family, the wish will grow and apply to them? And then ""safe"" is such an abstract concept, especially to shinobi. What does it mean to be safe? Maybe it can end up backfiring in some way eventually, idk

2; Obito Route

^ Like he considers obito family, so maybe Obito is out there reaping the benefits of this wish as he tears shit up bc Kakashi never considered his wish could protect someone who might wish him harm.

This'd also mean Minato and Kushina are around!!! That'd impact a fuck ton of stuff for sure. I feel like without them dissapearing as his final push off the edge, Kakashi for sure wouldn't be the same guy we see in canon. He at least has some form of safety net to catch him, even if he's deep in depression and might not realize that net is there.

After either Kanabi bridge or Rin's death, Kakashi is approached by Kyubey, reads the terms and conditions of the contract, and then wishes for Obito and or Rin to come back to life. This, specifically with Obito, I see going one of two ways;

Kyubey, a bastard, who somehow magically knows Obito is alive: "Are you sure this is what you want to use your wish for?"

Kakashi: "fuck you yes I am"

Kyubey: "I mean if you say so lmao" (Less work for me)

Or,

Kyubey, somehow magically knowing Obito is alive and not wanting to have Kakashi waste this wish because say what you will, he's fair about this shit (to a degree anyways): "Unfortunatley I can't revive people who never died!"

Kakashi: "What."

*queue Kakashi going on a mission to find Obito and becoming a sparkly magical girl along the way wooo we love to see it*

3; The great dilemma, aka TIME TRAVEL !!!!!!!!!!!!

He failed Itachi, leading to the deaths of the entire Uchiha clan.

I'm so sorry you guys time travel is like 90% of what I do and I don't think it's gonna change any time soon

So, Kakashi is approached by Kyubey after the Uchiha massacre. At this point he has a whole fucking list of people he might want to try to revive or save, but he can only make a wish so big. He has enough power to wish one or two people back from the dead— an honestly incredibly feat in itself —but not everyone.

He failed his team, leading to their deaths and Naruto's sad orphan life.

He failed countless mission partners over the years, watching shinobi's fall dead left and right because of a wrong call or knife thrown a second too late

Now for his relationship with Kyubey—

He can't wish them all back. But he can wish for a second chance.

And yeah ok as I'm writing this I'm realizing we've turned right back around and started a fr Madoka magica AU I didn't mean to do that actually, oops.

But yeah time travel magical girl Kakashi !!! Given the time to really think about his wish and too many people to save, he wishes for a second chance.

Does he end up in his kid body or does he stay an 18 year old?

Is he alone or does Kyubey (having learned his mistake from Homura and Madoka) make sure to come along with?

Does his sharingan somehow pull Obito back with him or is he really alone?

Fuck ok actually as I write this one I think this might be The One, The AU, so we're gonna shelve this for another post on its own so we can keep just talking ab the set up.

So disclaimer, I haven't actually watched Madoka in forever, but I think it's safe to say that Kyubey is honestly pretty decent when it comes to guiding his magical girls? I mean, up until they fall off a cliff of despair and turn into monsters, but till then he holds up his end of the contract really well? He'll generally come when they call, answer their questions when asked, check in on them to make sure they're adapting to the lifestyle, sometimes even help keep them informed about local magical girls or witches or just give out free advice.

Don't get me wrong, Kyubey is a fucking rat and not to be trusted, he tricks little girls into literally selling their souls, but he has a clear work ethic and method. He's just also incapable of feeling human emotion and seems genuinely confused at why people would be alarmed or upset at, you know, everything.

But I think that's what would make him work so well in a shinobi world! Especially if he looks at the world and it's people and decides that upfront honesty would be the best play in recruiting someone as his magical girl test drive.

I think it could be interesting if Kakashi and Kyubey could have an actually somewhat positive relationship. Well, as positive as it can get for a traumatized ninja boy and a space rat with no real concept of human emotions outside of what it's read in a textbook about manipulating little girls.

They have an alarmingly functional workplace relationship. Kakashi signed a contract knowing what kind of death it'd probably lead him to (and it's not like it's that different from the end he already knows he'll face one day) and Kyubey is contractually bound to stick around and lend a helping hand and a bit of companionship when applicable.

Also, with Kakashi being his first magical girl test run in this world, he's just kind of monitoring the project? He wants to see it to the end before he gets started on widespread magical girl contracts, because again, logical emotionless little rat thing who knows better than to assume that since it's gone well so far it'll end well too. He wants to collect ALL the data before settling in for good.

Kyubey is giving Kakashi weirdly reaffirming (and much needed) positive reinforcement in all of this. He's impressed with how well the project is going! Kakashi is going through so much constant misery that despite somehow not turning into a witch out of despair, he's still giving a near constant output of that same energy Kyubey farms that usually only comes out when a magical girl witches out. Maybe that's also actually something related to the chakra coils— instead of giving one big explosion of energy when they turn into a witch, the people of this world are able to give a continuous stream of it just by existing and being miserable. Which also gives Kyubey even more of a reason to want to see Kakashi keep living! This guy is a one man army when it comes to energy! It's great!

Also it'd be kind of fucked up but in a funny way if Kyubey straight up told Kakashi this (Maybe Kakashi actually asks to be kept up to date on all of Kyubey's little project notes of studying him?) And it being somewhat of a comfort to him. Like. Yeah, he's a failure cursed to always have those he loves die in his arms or at his hands, but at least his suffering is helping the universe in some way! That's something, right? Right???

Anyways, power and appearence time

So like, obviously there's a VERY large chance that Kakashi would end up with some sort of healing power as a magical girl. Because yknow, there is basically no universe where Kakashi doesn't use his wish to either heal someone, protect someone, or bring someone back from the dead— which lines up pretty directly to a healing based power.

But just normal healing is too boring so lets get spicy with it! Let's lay out some power options!

1) Blood healing

So my favorite twist on a normal healing power is a simple one; He regenerates stupid fast, to the point that he can even reattach limbs, but it's all in his blood. As long as his blood is touching a wound, it's healed in seconds to minutes.

This is also means his blood can also be used to heal others! For good or for bad. Fights can get a lot more complicated when your enemy realizes that they can use your own healing methods on them— even if the blood does only work on what it can touch, so they gotta risk shoving that shit in there if the wound is too deep.

If you want an extra bit of spice on top of that also, you can say the blood doesn't just heal people. Maybe it can heal any living thing— plants included

(I'm ngl I typed all this out then kind of squinted at my screen and went wait isn't this what Karin does? I don't actually know the details of her powers no one tell me if I'm right, I don't actually care)

2) Wound substitution

Here's an incredibly in character ability; He can take on the wounds of his comrades. They get hurt but he takes the hit. It'd so fit his self sacrificing ass too.

Maybe he can have advanced healing from the wounds he steals from his companions, maybe he only inherits them by halves, maybe it's the full deal.

Maybe it's involuntary or maybe he can only do it on purpose. Involuntary could be interesting and offer serious consequences down the line.

I'd love to see a dog themed magical girl Kakashi I think it would cure all of my mental illnesses and give me like 30 more.

3) Sheilds but make them zappy

Thunder shields could be interesting. Maybe he can use the shields to encase his limbs to deliver an extra oomf or smthn, just for funzies.

4) Something to do with eyes

You know I gotta at least consider smthn with eyes, like cmon. Whether it's because his wish was phrased in a way that could catch on it, or it's just how the magic interacted with his sharingan, I wanna see some eye stuff!!!

Maybe whatever healing ability he has is all centered in the eye or smthn, or maybe if it's like a self healing ability he regenerates eyes first or smthn idk.

4) Time powers ✨️

You know I had to.

In the route where he wishes for a second chance he so gets time powers. It's very cool. It's also very very fucking OP so it'd be tricky to work around in giving him a fr obstacle. Maybe if Obito comes back with him, the sharingan somehow makes him immune? Like, whenever Kakashi stops time, Obito isn't stopped.

I'm ngl Im running low on power ideas rn so let's move on, but like leave that open ended

Would Kakashi's magical girl outfit be something that adapts to his style and is created by his subconscious desires, as I'm pretty sure is accurate according to Madoka Magica lore? Yes. But do I think it would be funny to put him in a fluffy magical girl skirt? Even bigger yes, put that man in a dress and heels immediatley.

For Kakashi's soul gem, I think it'd be really fun if instead of taking the form of a ring, it was instead either an earring or— hear me out guys, lip ring or tongue piercing

It's perfect! He already hides his face, no one would even know it was there! Also both lip rings and tongue piercings are so cute

His soul gem is red with a silver case and we all know why. When he transforms it doesn't glow red tho, it glows white because something something hatake white chakra or something, idk

Anyways this has been sitting in my drafts for like 2 weeks now, so I'm gonna go ahead and hit post even tho I'm not totally satisfied with what I have here. Better to put it out for the few who'd enjoy it than keep it in the trunk bc I'm unsatisfied, right? Maybe I'll come back to it later, idk.

[perpetualexistence]

Since you seem to be the expert, could you write a quick fic of Chris or Don putting tiny Topher in their wallet and then putting their wallet in their back pocket?

Topher would be so excited to be in the wallet in the back pocket of his favorite hosts.

It's been 500 years pocket Topher anon. And I'm so sorry I took this long. But I finally got around to it! Don't know if this is what you were expecting, but it's what came out of my brain.

Also it's like nearly 1000 words. I hope it makes up for the wait.

There are many advantages to being a tinyshifter. Others would argue that being able to shrink was more dangerous than it was worth. What with being stepped on, or being seen as prey by now much larger animals, or just how long it took to get from one place to another.

Those people didn't see the potential that Topher saw. Being small was perfect for a gossip like him. You could get into anywhere before any security detail noticed. He'd even snuck his way into the hottest party of the year once! Yeah he'd nearly gotten mauled to death by a fiesty purse dog. It had been worth it to actually spot the Chris Mcclean. For the 5 seconds it took for someone to see him unshrunken and kick him out.

So when his dad revealed that he was going to host a new show traveling the world, Topher was more than excited. He could sneak onto the most hyped up reality show AND get a free flight to wherever he wanted?! Sweet! Or, it would be if his dad had said yes to tagging along.

But he never listened to the word 'no', and he wasn't about to start now.

He waited until Don was about to leave. He always forgot something last minute. He always panicked, and it always made it easier to snatch his wallet.

Not that it was hard to steal his dad's wallet in the first place. Oh the things he'd charged on that credit card. And he WAS running low on hair products...

Wait, focus! eyes on the prize Topher!

He set the wallet down on the coffee table right by the front door. Perfect, now for the fun part.

He focused on making his body curl in on itself without actually moving. Just have to be as small as a mouse to slip into places and get the best gossip. Smaller, smaller...perfect! He was pocket sized now. Now to just slip himself inside of the wallet.

That was on the coffee table miles above him. Oh. Whoops. No problem, he just had to grow back to normal, sit on the table, and THEN shrink.

And he had to do it now because he could hear the thunderous creaks of his dad coming down the stair.

Crap crap crap! He thought of getting bigger as quick as he possibly could. The second he was able to reach the coffee table, he climbed onto it. The table creaked at his weight but that didn't matter now. He could hear Don's footsteps getting louder. It wasn't hard to shrink when he desperately wanted to hide. He dove into the folds of the wallet just as he heard Don stop in front of the table.

"Oh, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Topher could feel himself jostle as the wallet was being picked up. He couldn't see much of anything now that it was closed, but that didn't matter. He was so close to spoilers galore and worldwide shopping and why wasn't the wallet moving anymore?

He yelped when artificial light hit his face. He closed his eyes at the shock. When he opened them he could see Don's disappointed face staring at him.

"Topher, get out of my wallet." Don ordered.

"Aw, but the plan was so good and everything! How'd you know?" Topher whined. He crouched deeper so only his head was popping out of the wallet. If Don wanted Topher out, he'd have to grab him himself.

"You really thought I wouldn't notice my wallet being heavier?"

"Are you calling me fat? I can see the headlines now. 'Up and coming reality tv host Don Mallory gets cancelled for fatphobic comments. Public devastated!' Your career would be ruined. But if you were to, I don't know, make it up to me with a trip around the world-"

"Topher, you know I can't just bring you along! The network won't just let me bring a plus one."

"Then the network doesn't have to know! Let me hide in your wallet. We can call this father and son bonding!" Topher knew Don was always desperate for ways for them to connect, so maybe this would work?

"We've already done that in a way that won't get me in trouble with the network! Remember disco night?"

"Disco is dead and you killed it."

Topher knew he screwed up when he saw his father's face fall at that comment. Okay, maybe that one was a bit too far. Don had been really happy when he'd dragged Topher along. It wasn't his fault his dad was super embarrassing!

"Topher."

"Okay, fine, sorry! Just...please? Who knows when I'm going to get a chance like this again?" Don was still looking hurt so great, okay, fine, Topher would make it up to him. "...You can tell me all the history facts they make you cut for time?"

The smile began to return to Don's face and Topher knew he had him. Don still let out a light sigh. "Alright, BUT. You have to stay in my pocket the whole time we're airing. No trying to get on camera."

"Promise!" Topher lied. He wouldn't ever stop trying to do that, but he could stop himself from making it TOO obvious. "Now, don't you still have a flight to catch?"

"Right, right. Sorry, this is going to be a bit bumpy." Don moved his thumb and gently pushed Topher's head back all the way into his wallet. Topher immediately began trying to fix his hair from the safe confines of the wallet before being jostled as he was moved into complete darkness.

By the way he was now moving, he was in Don's pocket now, moving rapidly as Don moved to grab his luggage.

Luggage that Topher wouldn't have with sneaking himself on.

Oh well. He'd just figure something out later.

[zoeykallus]

How do you feel abt the finale? Will you be writing again?🤍

I will be writing again, in fact I'm working on it right now. I still have a lot of catching up to do in the request section, as well as continuing my fics. How do I feel about the TBB finale...? Oh gosh... Well, I can tell you, as much as I love them, as much as I would have loved to see more seasons, the ending of season three was such a disappointment to me. There was so much wasted/unused potential that it downright hurt/frustrated me. Some things felt more like fillers than plot relevant. And as much as I loved to see certain things going on, some just simply angered me.

SPOILER UNDER THE CUT!!!

The following is just my perception, my opinion. It's totally fine if anyone, reading this, thinks and feels different about it. To each their own... I'm usually not that critical about TBB, never have been. But this was the ending, the goodbye, the part where everything comes to a close.

There was such a build up and hints for Tech to be CX 2, partly. Maybe a lot of it was wishful thinking by the viewer, but still. They could have made them reveal, after he was killed, that it was Tech, for example, or reveal it first and still make them fight, leaving them no choice but to kill. There was so much missed potential right there, for real emotion and Drama, that wasn't used. But that's just one thing. Well, yeah the Zillo Beast was kinda cool I guess... But why was it there in the first place? What for, what use did it have? We don't get any kind of info about that... it's just there, for Omega to use it and wreak havoc. *shrugs* wasn't really impressed or happy with that part to be honest. As cool as the destruction was, it was just that, nothing more. It felt like a filler, just put there for Omega to use, without any further explanation before or after. Rampart suddenly wanting to steal the Data instead of getting out of there right away and saving his ass?! Did he really think he could blackmail his way back into the empire? Plain stupid, sorry. Even if the empire did agree, as soon as they had their hands on the data, Rampart would be executed or thrown back in his cell. At least that's what I would do as the empire. He worked for those people long enough to know that. That was just a facepalm Moment for me. Honestly, as much as I despised that guy, I'd rather would have seen a redemption arch about him than Nala Se sacrificing herself to destroy the data and kill Rampart in the process, in a forced scene to make her look badass and make us feel something. ....Oh my god we lost her, but she went out like a badass... gosh I couldn't care less, she died because Rampart is suddenly a total dimwit, if this scene made me feel anything, well, it's anger. He was a Vice Admiral before, can any airhead become that high ranking now? Anyway...

The way Hemlock died was, well, interesting. I did like the little call back with Crosshair steadying his Shot on Hunter's shoulder, like he used to do with Tech, but the rest of it felt... rushed. The intensity buildup was pretty good in parts, but the things mentioned above, ruined it for me. I did love to see all the other clones to get freed though, I was moved to hear/see them ready for one more fight, not leaving TBB on their own. One more time, fighting with and for their brothers, for their freedom and most of all, fighting for something they chose, not for something anyone else ordered them to fight and die for. That part I smiled at with a little tear in my eye.

And the very last scene, with Omega and Hunter. I loved to see them this way, him grown old, her grown up. But I felt miffed about Crosshair and Wrecker not being there. Would Omega really just sneak away and leave them? Maybe she didn't really want to say goodbye or arguing with them about leaving, but on the other hand, I feel like they owed it to each other to say goodbye, to wish Omega luck and have a more emotional moment. Besides, I might be just miffed about the fact that we didn't see old Wrecker and old Crosshair as well.

I guess, after all, it's a Disney show.

All in all, I'm not entirely happy with how things ended. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[nanabansama]

Spoilers for Chapter 109

The latest chapter was a ton of fun, but it ended on a disturbing twist:

Tsukasa, after cleverly freeing himself of his shackles, has incapacitated Kako.

This was shocking, but also very revealing! We were able to learn that Kako's insides are entirely clockwork, and deduce that the same probably goes for Mirai. I suppose this explains how she can be so small...

While it's unclear whether Kako is actually dead or not, I'm not sure if there's any real cause for concern. Tsukasa caused some serious damage, sure, but it isn't as though he pulverised him entirely. It's completely possible that all he needs is someone to put him back together and/or replace some of his damaged parts.

That said, it's convenient he went for Kako! Not only is he the most dangerous Clock Keeper, being able to revert time itself, but with Kako incapacitated there is little reason for Hanako or Nene to rely on the Clock Keepers powers anymore. If you remember, the only reason Hanako decided not to destroy the Clock Keepers' yorishiro was because Kako's powers could be useful in his quest to save Nene's life.

While I'm still uncertain whether Kako is outright dead or not, it does make some sense for the story to get rid of him or his powers. No one got to him in time to undo a catastrophy like the Severance, of course, but he's been like this safety net haunting the story this entire time, ensuring that if anything truly bad were to happen, the characters could just ask Kako to rewind time and fix it. Not guaranteed, of course, but still technically an option.

If Kako were to be gone, it would really up the stakes, is all I'm saying.

Buuuut Nene has other reasons for not wanting to destroy the yorishiro, that being she's aware that the destruction of the last yorishiro directly correlates to her death. She sort of hinted to Hanako that they should stop trying to destroy them, but he still doesn't outright know her reason why, just the vague comment about how Sakura told her they don't have to destroy them.

...which is funny, since Tsukasa just said this:

This was actually one of the most shocking parts of the chapter to me, by the way. Tsukasa could be omitting some key details, but he says he's destroying the yorishiro "for Sakura." Curious, right!? Like, this much is obvious if you've read Chapter 92, but you think he'd have a bigger reason for doing it, y'know...? Again, maybe he just didn't find it necessary to bring his potential other reasons up, but...

Anyway! All this to say that I really wish Nene would just outright tell Hanako that destroying the yorishiro correlates to her death already because I'm still extremely worried he's going to do something stupid and accidentally kill her. Like, what if he finds it weird that Nene said Sakura told her she doesn't need to destroy them, but then Tsukasa says he's destroying them for Sakura? And let's not forget he kind of already agreed to do it with Tsukasa...

I don't know, lots to think about. Probably nothing, though! It isn't like Hanako can destroy the Clock Keepers yorishiro without Nene's help, right? And if she was really backed into a corner, hopefully she could just confess to him the rest of what Sakura told her.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! As always I am very excited for the next release. And don't forget we have a new After School Hanako-kun chapter next week, too! It's a good time to be a Hanako fan. \(^o^)/

[wigglesdtuff]

I still can't believe people don't think she's vital to the endgame. She is SO important in finding the one piece and figuring out whats up with the void century. They seriously could not do it without her, or at least it would be a whole lot harder. And even then, she's a valued member of the crew regardless. They love her and she loves them and that's all that matters.

"Also ask me about how i'm convinced robin and luffy are half siblings" oh my god i'm so curious about this, please do give me the run down

I don't know how to answer two asks at once, forgive me but this is also for @tomorrowcomest0day

OKAY Thank you for waiting, I had to run an errand and then bought a coffee SO HERE WE GO!

I actually have so many thoughts about this you have no idea. I'm very normal about Nico Robin.

PREFACE: Okay so this is a very silly theory that is almost entirely opinion based/gut feeling related. I'm not an expert at anything and this is not at all in-depth. It does not change the core of the story in any way with regards to Luffy and Robin’s relationship. To me, it already reads as a sibling relationship, and I find it incredibly endearing and sweet - the found family aspect being super important. I just also think it would be very sweet if Robin had a little actual family left after the events of Ohara, especially someone who she already very much cares about. SPOILER WARNING. THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EGGHEAD, SO AS A PRECAUTION I SUGGEST BEING CAUGHT UP!

At a glance, Luffy and Robin are polar opposites. Luffy is loud, boisterous and impetuous. Robin is quiet, reserved and calculated. HOWEVER, these are two sides of the same coin. They are both very intelligent, but where Robin is incredibly book smart, Luffy has intuition that could rival the gods. There is an overlap where, inexplicably, they understand each other without really having to say anything - moreso than some of the other Straw Hats. The most common example being in Zou when Luffy was trying to recall the name of Marco from the Whitebeard pirates. 

They share a wavelength, and it’s not just this. Luffy has always been particularly blunt - so has Robin. Even as far back as Ohara.

I can dig up examples of Robin and Luffy both being blunt/grim, but I think if you’ve watched the series/read up until this point you’ve seen it. Luffy tells Coby in the first episode that he hates him. He tells Shirahoshi he doesn’t like her because she cries. Robin’s entire schtick is that she says something out of pocket. 

Coming back to the notion that they're polar opposites and yet two sides of the same coin: The potential Sun and Moon symbolism. This one I won't go too much into, because it's entirely conjecture, but we know Luffy is the Sun God, but what in the world is up with Robin's DF and why does it seem like it's in the moon carvings?

Nothing is really confirmed because I don't think they've really discussed Demonio, but if we get a reveal later that the Hana Hana no Mi is ALSO more than just a paramecia, I would just not be surprised. In any case, the potential for the Sun and Moon siblings is just fun to me, so take that with a grain of salt (like this entire post).

Monkey D Dragon - The deadbeat dad himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was two for two. So we know a fun little tidbit from one of the more recent chapters, and that's the fact that not only did he know of Ohara's existence (and subsequent nonexistence), he visited to pay his respects and promptly started the Revolutionary Army as a direct result of the Buster Call on Ohara. It's not evidence of any familial connection, but it's also not not evidence, you know? He is of age, and the only mention of Nico Olvia’s husband is vague and alludes to him possibly being dead, but we have no confirmation on that yet. Olvia has white hair, which Robin very clearly does not. She, Luffy and Dragon all have the same hair color. It’s a common hair color, so again. Not evidence. But also not not evidence. We know he was looking for her since she was the survivor of Ohara, but that could always be a cover. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he started the revolutionary army because of Ohara and sought the one survivor for 20 years, that’s all I’m saying here. It very well could be, but a girl can dream.

I HIT ENTER TOO SOON I CAN'T USE TUMBLR

IN SHORT: They are the Sun and the Moon to me, and I think that it's an entirely possible reveal, but it also means nothing to the overall story. She is already his sister tbh. Robin deserves all the family and love in the world, and Luffy also does. I WISH I was better at putting things together, but here are some thoughts LOL. Thank you for coming to my poorly written out Ted Talk, Tumblr really messed up my train of thought.

[tropicalflowers]

SPY X FAMILY

MANGA SPOILERS MANGA SPOILERS

okay can we appreciate how far twilight has come? In ch1 he would lock Anya in the apartment and now (without any a lot of persuasion), they go on a ski trip on Anya's whim?

And also as we can infer from ch3, twilight tries his best to not stand out at all times, not to raise suspensions, and that sometimes prevents him from doing something he wants to do(like helping someone).

Yor on the other hand, as we can see in ch3 (and when she takes down the bull during the Eden interviews and when she stands up for Millie carrying all those boxes), in ch3 she gives full chase to that purse snatcher. She tries to help people even if it could attract attention to her/ potentially reveal her secret

AND NOW TWILIGHT IS KINDA LIKE THAT TOO!

A doctor who can fix repair phone lines and who basically solved the case in a night? He was the center of attention. And people WERE suspicious. I don't know what pre-family twilight would have done here but I was kinda shocked to find him THAT involved.

Sure he had gotten a major clue from Anya, but the others don't know that. They think he alone solved this case. (And how he casually mentioned that he had inspected the property?)

I also love that his first response here is to make sure Anya and Yor are safe and away from danger.

I LOVE how he protected Yor here. She was the most suspicious person in the room as she wasn't in the lobby earlier and how he stands up for her is 10/10

Also Yor's strength (and gymnastic ability?) comes again in this chapter.

The fact that Anya didn't do any shenanigans and straight up told Twilight this somehow was... different from her usual approach we can say. SHE STRAIGHT UP TOLD HIM. And how in the last chapter Twilight had asked her about her past and she had lied that she didn't remember?

Twilight is about to know Anya's secret I think. And then Anya's backstory could come to us (she could be telling it to Twilight for all we know) And they'd have one more secret just for each other(i.e. Yor doesn't know)

Secret number 1: they aren't biologically related

Secret number 2: they know each other's identities

And the college students' names???!!! I love endo.

(end)

[now I don't know if all this even made sense I'm so sorry for the long ass post😭, I'm in transport right now and i wrote this from my phone so I'm sorry for any errors and stuff!]

[wetcatspellcaster]

I want to hug both Astarion and Rosalie. Unfortunately, my arms are too small for that, so the hug for each one of them separately.

I love Orin. I love how she is evil just for the sake of being evil, without pretense and some sad story. The moment ice heard her threaten Gortash I forgave all her sins.

But washing a vampire's wounds with holy water is so cruel. I mean I sussed that something was not right when "Rosalie" almost gutted Leon, because well. I mean, Astarion potentially could've taught Rose to use daggers, but I doubt it. Especially after the Nero thing.

But oh how well did Orin pretend. I'm very glad The Book part happened with real Rosalie, or I would have screamed. I don't want to imagine Orin there. Nope. Nuh-uh.

Astarion is traumatized, again, and I can imagine him asking the check questions like what did you drink at the first party. Or what you did the same way as your relative. Or how did you get the scar on your face. Oooh. I'm so sad we did not get the ability to check our companions. Or them to ask the player. It would be fun to fail the check.

Also, poor cultists of Bhaal. Rose will torture them with her sarcasm and fearless questions, and then Orin will sedate her. She probably should, seeing as Rose would gain all her magic back and try to escape alone.

And did I miss, or did they not visit Severok yet? Will we have a glorious vision of bloodied Astarion, christened as a Bhaal assassin? I had this happened the first playthrough, and I'm still not okay.

Also, I feel you with looking up the names of NPCs, there are too much of them to keep a track of.

Thank you for those chapters! They were stressful and wonderful, and you write fights so dynamic and engaging, just wow. And the cool down after is 🤌🤌🤌 even with reveal of Orin and holy water in open wounds.

Sending you zucchini bread slices in thanks, hope you like them!

thank you so much for your ask, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter <3

I won't give away any spoilers for the future chapters, but the next chapter is from Rose's POV, so we'll see how she's coping in the temple, and... the significance of the battle with Sarevok completely passed me by when I first did it. I killed him really quickly without understanding what was going on or the narrative importance. I guess that's what happens when you're not a dark urge and haven't played the previous games. So it's not a very memorable moment for me, and unlikely to feature heavily in my storyline! I actually find Astarion in the assassin rogue subclass is sexy enough as is :)

thank you for the cake! i'm sleepy and i need it !!

[frenchiefreyed]

(uhhh SPOILER WARNING for any chapters ever? Mostly just theorizing though)

What if Aoi is EVIL???

Hello my brain has been thinking about this for a while so I wanted to make a post about it. This probably won't be all-inclusive to all the theories I've had about it but I'll do my best.

From the beginning I had a bit of a weird feeling about Aoi but I kinda ignored it because I was generally too focused on how much of a freak Akane was about her and how uncomfortable that made me hfchfhycfh. But I think the feeling in the beginning was that maybe she knew supernaturals existed and only pretended not to. Point of interest #1 is that she's really interested in supernaturals — of course this doesn't mean anything on its own, but it's interesting if the reason for her interest is related to having seen them. POI #2 is that when Nene is doing some wild, crazy, bonkers shit because she can see supernaturals, Aoi isn't THAT surprised by it. She seems slightly concerned for Nene, but not as much as she really should be if her best friend of all time is acting so abnormal. One of the main instances of this is when Hanako made Nene's hair look absolutely crazy and Nene shouted or stood up or something? And interrupted the whole class. Aoi was just staring at her like "I hope she's ok :(" or "why she been acting so weird..." but I really feel like a friend who is actually concerned should be like "what the FUCK is going on?????? Why did she do that to her hair????? Should I call somebody??? What???" This could be explained maybe by her not actually caring about Nene, and not that she knows about supernaturals, but that still kinda gets into evil Aoi territory and I might explore the idea later.

POI #3 (related to "evil aoi", not "can see supernaturals" aoi) is how it's revealed later that she kinda wants to disappear, secretly kinda hates everything I think? But that Akane is kind of an exception to that dislike. She continues interacting with and hanging out with him despite seeming to want to avoid getting too close to people otherwise. Iirc when she faces the possibility of her demise she only mentions Nene in the context of Hanako liking her, not in the context of potentially missing her or wishing she could see her again (please correct me if I'm wrong).

POI, or note? Theory? #4 is that she might mostly keep Akane around for the protection and benefits he gives her. To be clear, I think Akane is creepy as hell and is WAY too obsessed with Aoi overall, but I can't deny that she's somewhat encouraged these behaviors to continue and that she benefits from the arrangement.

#5 - She thinks that if people get too close to her they will hate her or something. This might indicate that she knows she's done bad things, or thinks she has something in her that's bad enough to be hateable? Sometimes people feel this way for absolutely no reason and it's just the brain eels whispering to them, but if she IS evil, its interesting that she seems to be self aware of it enough to know that people wouldn't like who she really is?

#6 - related to points 4 and 5, Aoi might keep Akane strung along without dating him — despite being interested in him — because of her belief that anybody getting "too close" would learn too much about her and hate her as a result. Therefore she keeps him as close as she possibly can without dating him so that she can still keep the benefits of having him around but not have to commit to being her "true self" anymore than she does with anyone else who is "just a friend". Akane seems happy with this arrangement but he really shouldn't be - it's kind of a sucky place to be in and it would somewhat indicate that she's, you know, using him. I wonder if Akane would have moved on from Aoi by now if she hadn't sorta encouraged him to continue...

#7 uhhhh in very very recent chapters, AU aoi slapped and belittled teru in a way that is very much classic abuse. Teru and Akane knock each other around all the time but they both are kinda "silly" about it, for lack of a better word. It's something that never seems, iirc, to fully upset either Teru or Akane - they're just kind of like "come on man stopp!!!". I can see why both cases could be classified as abusive, but the total different in atmosphere, vibes, and tone is why I'm willing to refer to AU Aoi's slapping and belittling as abuse while still supporting the shipping of Teru and Akane. And OF COURSE — this is an alternate universe where things are very different, and have been for a very long time. Aoi was forced into a situation from a very young age and we haven't seen enough to know what ways this has fully changed her demeanor. But, nonetheless, it's Aoi, and it's abusive, and it feels really weird to see it happen. It probably biases me to thinking OUR aoi might have something awful in her heart, but I think it might be a fair thing to mention?

#8 We have it confirmed that aoi is very good at masking her emotions and acting. This point serves both the "Aoi can see supernaturals" idea and the "Aoi is EVILLL" idea.

#9 Why might she pretend to not see supernaturals, you ask? Especially if she knows Nene can see them, too. I have a few ideas for this. Either she's SUPER EVILLL!!! and she has intentions to do very bad things (through spreading rumors maybe?) and she doesn't want anybody to be able to suspect her, or perhaps she knew from the beginning (whenever she first saw supernaturals) what it meant — she was going to die soon. She wants to disappear and she doesn't seem to want anybody to know that she wants to disappear — this is already something she has kept secret for years, so why would it be different when she realizes she will die soon? Somehow, she might have some way of knowing what it means to see supernaturals and might have been happy or even excited for her ultimate demise. She might have not wanted to tell other people, like Nene, because she might not have wanted Nene to try and save her. She might have just wanted to die.

#10 - she is very very calm when she "first learns" about supernaturals I think. Like almost too calm?? That kinda gave me the vibe that this isn't really anything new for her.

#11 - it would be extremely interesting if either theory is true and it adds to why she might keep Akane around. She'd know he can protect her from supernaturals and that might be what she wants, especially if she plans to hurt or destroy them?

#12 - sometimes Aoi just has this energy, even when she's being super nice, that she is capable of crushing the world beneath her feet (and someday will).

#13 - Nene completely idolizes and kinda romanticizes her, even in a really toxic and gross way. This could be the manga setting up for the ultimate moment when this person who she idolizes and respects so much eventually turns out to be completely working against her. It would make for a really interesting but upsetting moment of Nene having to come to terms with that. Nene would still be a bit of a bad friend even if it was for the sake of setup though.

I think these are all my points for now... I might share more if I think of them. if u read this far... What the freak?????? ur soooo weird /silly

[miqolena]

My first-final thoughts on Dawntrail

My opinions and spoilers for the entirety of 7.0 under the cut.

Overall I enjoyed this expansion immensely. There was no point at which I thought to myself, "I can't wait for this part to be over," or "This is really dull," or "I want to move on to the next thing right now." There was no character I did not enjoy and feel at least something small for. Characters I kind of didn't like initially (Bakool Ja Ja mostly) ended up being some of the characters that I loved most. Wuk Lamat was a joy in her development. I wasn't annoyed by her initial faults and I liked that she retained some of them even at the end, after she had grown so immensely. Zoraal Ja's dimensions were revealed a little late into the game, but I had already sort of gotten a notion of them by the time that happened, so I didn't mind, and I find the idea of struggling with the legacy someone leaves you with the best of intentions to be really compelling. I adored Gulool Ja Ja to pieces. And Wuk Eva. And literally everyone else. I'm serious, there's no one I didn't like.

The area that affected me most was Living Memory, and if that was like kicking me in the shin, then Heritage Found was the winding back of the leg. I have dealt with my own losses in life and the whole thing with reusing souls and resurrecting people and preserving them based on their memories was grotesque to me. My loved ones are gone, and we had wonderful relationships and I loved them dearly, but I would never want to speak to them again. Because they are dead and should stay that way. But the scene with Wuk Lamat speaking her last words to Namikka was terribly upsetting because I couldn't help imagining the things I would say to my loved ones if I could see them again. It struck home with painful precision and there were tears.

The themes of love, legacy, war, redemption, death, and loss were poignant to me, and I think they were handled really well.

As for the encounter design, the dungeons were fairly difficult but I never died in a Trust run, so they must not have been too hard. Same with the trials. I can see myself doing these things over and over again without getting too tired of it for the next two or so years. The single player duties were great except for the one QTE in the duel with Gulool Ja Ja, which stressed my hands to the point of forcing me to take a break for a few hours.

For gathering, I appreciate the new action Revisit that the game added to the two gatherers, it's always exciting when it procs. Fisher seems to be sitting pretty too. I haven't done all of them yet but so far the Wachumeqimeqi quests have been great, and I haven't done any of the role quests yet, so no opinions there. For crafting, I haven't really delved into the potential of the new actions, but I know they're probably going to shake up the game a little.

Music was spot on as usual. The game's graphical update has done wonders for the visuals as well. I'm lucky in that I'm completely enamored with Lena's updated appearance; a lot of people aren't so happy. I hope that their concerns can be addressed over time.

This might be new expansion smell filling my head, but I think Dawntrail might be my favorite. I can't wait to see where they're going with this, the aftermath to the threads they made in the MSQ. I want more of these characters and places and I know I'm going to get it, and that's the most comforting feeling.

As for fic, though… I think it's going to be hard to put Gaius in there with Lena. The entire first half the WoL is providing a role of mentorship for Wuk Lamat and I'm going to have to think really hard about how I write the MSQ so that Gaius is there and not just nodding his head and going 🧍‍♂️. There are a few moments when I was playing where I thought to myself "Gaius could respond to this with something relevant to his character," like for example when Zoraal Ja remarks that the Empire was full of idiots, but those were just a few moments. It'll be hard to fit him in with the rest of it and depict the MSQ in a way that's both not boring/retreading what viewers have already seen to much while still getting the information of the plot AND my changes across. We'll see how it goes. I'm not super hankering to start, so we'll see when I get to that.

That's all. See you ingame!

[brightbeautifulthings]

Katzenjammer by Francesca Zappia

"They're all so dark, Dad said one day, watching over my shoulder as I worked at the kitchen table. Why don't you paint things like a blue sky, or a field of flowers, or a bird flying on a breeze? Something happy that your mom can put on the fridge. She can put these on the fridge, I said. Maybe just one flower? he asked. There are no flowers where I live, I said."

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 4/5

About: Cat has been stuck in School for as long as she can remember. The hallways slowly expand and contract with School's breathing, the showers run red with blood, and the students have divided themselves into changed and unchanged. While the unchanged hide in the fortress of administration, Cat and her friends haunt the courtyard and hallways. Her best friend is turning into cardboard, and Cat's face has become a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh. There are no doors or windows in or out of School, and something is hunting them down one by one in the hallways. To escape, Cat will have to understand why they're trapped in the first place. Trigger warnings: Some triggers are listed at the end of the review because they include spoilers. Character death, guns, violence, blood/gore, dismemberment, body/eye horror, bullying, slut-shaming, vandalism.

Thoughts: Thanks to @ninja-muse for recommending this book, since I'm not sure I would have found it on my own. This is probably my favorite Francesca Zappia novel to date, and one of the best novels on this subject I've ever read (more on that after the spoilers). However, I believe it's best to go into it not knowing much more than the description provides. This book works extremely well as a slow reveal. What starts out as a mindfuck becomes slow understanding as we realize more or less alongside Cat what is happening in School, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice to read the spoilers if you plan to read this. However, it covers a number of very heavy and potentially triggering topics (and it's difficult to gush about how I think it works without giving things away), so I'll include those thoughts at the end. I can't stress it enough though. If you're not easily triggered, stop here and go read this book!

This is also one of the best examples of uncanny horror that I've read in a long time. Zappia expertly manages to capture the quality of a nightmare without sacrificing the continuity. School is creepy and semi-sentient, and the changes it brings about in half the students are a study in body horror. Perhaps even more terrifying are the parallels it draws to some very real life horrors such as bullying and, indeed, I found the flashback chapters of Cat's surfacing memories of her former life of being targeted, bullied, and slut-shamed at school more difficult to get through than the surreal scenes of hacked up bodies or bloody showers in School. Real life horror always affects me a lot more than the supernatural, and Katzenjammer does an excellent job of balancing both. The ending is cathartic and effective, and there's less of a plot twist than a sort of inevitable, dawning horror-- which is honestly the best kind.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Remember how I said that real life horror is always worse than the supernatural or the uncanny? I stand by that statement. Zappia draws such excellent parallels to real life in her uncanny School that it's almost impossible not to realize before Cat does that the traumatic event that put them there was a school shooting. I've read a couple YA novels that handled the subject fine, but I don't think any of them capture it as well as this one. We need something like the supernatural School and the horror of bodies changing in ways we can't explain to fully grasp the senseless horror of gun violence. Killing children makes no more sense than hallways that breathe or girls who turn into their cat masks. It takes Cat the entire novel to understand the horror and absurdity of what's been done to her and to accept it-- that there are reasons but not excuses, and that we will never know all of them. I cried a little at the end, but I think the real life horror of it is too big for tears. Instead, it's a feeling that will sit with me long after I've turned the last page.

[addictedtostorytelling]

Still loving the newest addition to the Happy Accidents series & your last chapter got me thinking about a potential scene I would love to hear from your perspective (or maybe you’ve already written it & I’ve just got to be patient…)

In the last chapter you mentioned Sara’s PTSD & Grissom was so sweet. Particularly this part “She knows why he is worried: Over the years, he has learned to associate nerviness in her with periods when her mental health is poor. She isn’t usually quick to startle, but during the times when her PTSD is bad—around anniversaries—she can be. She gets so in her own head that anything happening outside has the potential to shock.”

It got me thinking about how in this alternate universe, Sara would be about 6-7 months pregnant when the anniversary of her abduction came & I would love to read her thoughts on that & how Grissom helps her deal with it. Does it cause her to reflect on how different her life looks now than a year ago? Does she think about all the reasons she didn’t give up in the desert? Does she feel the baby kick & is brought out of her thoughts, grateful for how her life looks?

And if you’ve already written a scene like this…I’ll sit over here (im)patiently waiting.

hi, @chelsshearman!

good to hear from you again! i'm so glad to know you're enjoying the story so far.

i've taken a while to come up with an answer to your (very thoughtful) question, and though i can't show any prose from that part of the story just yet without revealing some major accidentsverse spoilers, i can offer you a more pared down answer after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

note: in order to avoid major accidentsverse spoilers, i purposefully use ambiguous language surrounding sara's pregnancy in this answer.

__

sara knows from experience: trauma doesn't adhere to a strict calendar.

sometimes exact anniversaries are bad, but other times the days and weeks surrounding are when the cptsd symptoms really hit.

november has historically been a crapshoot for her, any day—not just the exact anniversary of her father's murder—liable to be a bad one, the whole month something of a slog.

though she is hopeful: now that her wedding anniversary falls mid-month, maybe she'll have better associations going forward.

she is well-aware of this temporal idiosyncrasy in her brain, and so is her therapist, which is why he starts counseling with her in mid-april about what to anticipate come may, for what will be the first anniversary of her abduction by natalie davis.

admittedly, she is, at this point, distracted. not only is there a lot going on in her life pregnancy-wise, but things are busier than ever at work. by now, she is no longer in the field and has instead become the de facto "point person" for her teammates at the lab, which, contrary to what she had expected, has somehow upped her caseload. still, she tries her best to complete her therapy assignments with what few spare hours she has. is diligent about going in for sessions. practices all of the self-care techniques her therapist recommends. stays on top of taking her meds. makes sure to look after herself as well as she can.

—and especially because grissom is so obviously worried about her.

not only does he admit as much outright, sans prompting, but he also is so careful with her. he had already been wonderfully attentive, but now she hardly even has to think she might want something before he appears to offer it. she swears to god: the man is telepathic. also, far too sweet.

thankfully, as the calendar turns over into may, there are some fun, new pregnancy developments to help to take her mind off the impending anniversary: grissom is finally able to feel kicking. (for a long time, she had felt fetal movements internally, but they hadn't been detectable in any external way.) also, a first instance of fetal hiccups, which is just about the weirdest, coolest sensation she has ever experienced.

that said, about two weeks before the big anniversary™, she does start experiencing some "trauma residuals" from her abduction. she's not having flashbacks or nightmares or full-on panic attacks, per se; she just feels off. spacey. emotionally unbalanced. like everything in her head has just been shifted two inches to the left of where it should be.

she keeps expecting to have some kind of big breakdown at some point, but the catharsis doesn't ever come.

and, honestly, the lack of punctuation is what bothers her more than anything.

she confides in grissom: she's scared. she tried to get out ahead of her trauma by "doing all the right things," but she is still being affected, not in any obvious, dramatic way but enough so that her trauma is inarguably impacting her behavior. coworkers keep asking her if she’s okay. looking like they don’t fully believe her when she says she is. she can’t help but be concerned: what if the same thing happens a few years on from now? the last thing in the world she would ever want to do to her child(ren) is make them feel like mommy's sad or upset for no reason.

so she and grissom talk the issue through: they both agree that trauma is a fickle thing—particularly as trauma reactions can't always be pinned down to one day or easily predicted in terms of how they'll manifest. show great variance in intensity, duration, form, etc. also can't be totally prevented, even if one tries to account for them as much as possible. chances are, she will be dealing with after effects—from her childhood, from her abduction—for the rest of her life.

sara explains: logically, she knows all of these things. but she still doesn't want their child(ren) to suffer for having a traumatized parent. she has experience that way with her own mother. remembers how helpless she felt when she was little, watching her mother struggle; how much she internalized her mother's sadness and anger. though as an adult, she (mostly) knows better now, back then, she wondered if she caused or exacerbated her mother’s misery and questioned why she wasn't enough to make her mother happier.

here, grissom digs in: "and did your mother ever answer those questions for you?"

her silence tells him no.

grissom offers his postulate: the truth might have helped—not by making sara’s mother “magically better” but by allowing sara, even as a child, to contextualize the situation and understand her mother's mental health conditions existed independent of anything having to do with her. just hearing, in no uncertain terms, that her mother wasn’t sad for any reason having to do with her may have alleviated some of her misplaced guilt.

sara agrees: they should be honest with their child(ren) and explain things at a level they can understand.

but she still worries: it will be a long time yet before they can have those kinds of honest conversations. what will happen in the meanwhile? babies pick up on their caretakers' cues and moods, after all. she doesn’t want to do damage by exuding sadness or fear in their child(ren)’s presence.

grissom reassures her: in all the time they've been together, even during periods when her mental health has been at its poorest ("even in november"), he has always felt loved by and safe with her. he has not been oblivious to her sadness and fear. but he also has never felt that those reactions in her negated her affections. he suspects their child(ren) will feel the same.

still, she makes him promise: if she ever gets to the point where she can't be a good caretaker of their child(ren), he'll intervene. "that was part of the problem," she explains, "with my parents. no matter how miserable things got, no one said anything or did anything about it. no one asked for help. we all just sat there with it."

grissom agrees: they'll ask for help if they need it. offer help when they see it's needed, even if it hasn't been asked for. and neither one of them will give up.

the promise does make sara feel somewhat better.

—though, of course, it doesn’t fully alleviate her cptsd symptoms.

may proves to be a hard month, not only because of the trauma but for other reasons, too.

[insert major accidentsverse spoilers here]

but it also is not without happy moments—sometimes impossibly happy, like the first time they see a footprint, clearly discernible for what it is, show through the skin of her belly—and, most importantly, never without love.

she reflects: one year ago, she was alone in a desert, sure she was going to die. now, she is never alone, and she has never been surer of what she has to live for. lying in bed with grissom, his hand over the footprint protruding slightly below her navel, she feels a kind of peace she could never have imagined she would feel, just one year on from that day. she knows: what happened to her will stay with her for the rest of her life—will sometimes rear up in unaccountable ways—but it won’t be what defines her. won’t be the main throughline in her story. she’s writing that one herself, here, now. and she loves where her story is headed.   

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[shadowmaat]

Good Omens s2: criticisms

Look, folks, I thoroughly enjoyed S2 and am not implying that the whole thing is bad or that it doesn't deserve a third season, I'm just an old-school nerd who believes it's possible to criticize and find fault with something you love. So, spoilers ahead.

My biggest problem remains the Gabriel/Beelzebub story. It doesn't make sense within the context of what we know of the characters. I just can't wrap my head around sanctimonious, rules-obsessed Gabriel falling so hard and so fast for Beelzebub. And that Beelzebub would feel the same way. It took millennia for Aziraphale and Crowley to reach a point where "love" was even a question, never mind deciding on an answer. I'm sorry, but you can't speed run a slow burn.

Sure, you can wave your hand and talk about how "sometimes it just happens like that" but that doesn't feel like it should apply to these two.

If we'd seen more evidence of it being something that has gone on for millennia as the two of them are forced into communication over and over again due to "bureaucratic reasons" it might work a little better. As it is, though, it just feels false. About the only way I can think of to resolve it is to have the two of them pop in again during a pivotal catastrophic moment in S3 and reveal that, surprise! They were never in love (ew) and it was all part of Someone's plan to get them out of the picture so they could work on creating something to stop Armageddon 2 without anyone being the wiser. But I don't think that's what's going to happen. I think we're meant to believe they really did fall in love.

It felt very cliché, and without any of the clever twists or lampshading I'd have expected. It does, however, do a good job of showing what could be possible if angels and demons set aside their differences to work together (and maybe even grow closer). And yes, as a sped-up reflection of Aziraphale and Crowley's own relationship, the parallels are pretty clear. Except for the bit where we actually saw how A&C worked together and influenced each other into becoming better entities, and with G&B we just have to take it, ha, on faith.

Where G&B's relationship was bizarre, the stuff between Maggie & Nina was... uncomfortable. They are, again, a watered-down reflection of Aziraphale & Crowley (more on that in a sec), but this time with the added interference of A&C trying to interfere to make them happen as a couple.

Nina herself called them out on that manipulative bullshit, and she was very right. You can't force people to be together, even if they would be a good match and like each other.

I'm also going to put a big red X next to Neil's name if he was, in fact, responsible for implementing one of my most-loathed clichés: giving a character an absolute dick of a partner in order to A) keep the preferred pair from getting together and B) showing how much better the potential partner is in comparison to the absolute dick. It's bad storytelling. More than that, it does a disservice to Maggie. If she is, as we're meant to believe, a genuinely good person and someone who would be a kind and caring match for Nina, then that should be enough. If you have to compare her to someone else to prove how much better she is then you're lacking confidence in the character.

To circle back to our human duo being a reflection of our ineffable ones, I find it a little weird to see Aziraphale & Crowley's relationship become a focus that's reflected in so many unsubtle ways. That isn't, to me, what Good Omens is supposed to be about. Their complicated (and yet simple) relationship is supposed to be background noise, in much the same way as they themselves are meant to be background characters who are simply bumbling around the main plot. I'm not sure I can properly express why it bothers me beyond that. It just does.

I'm also going to say the most wildly unpopular thing I could possibly say about the second season: I didn't like the kiss. I'm SORRY. I know how important and validating it was for 99% of the audience. I know how many people pumped their fists and cheered. And I 100% understand Crowley's utter desperation in doing it and Aziraphale's "I forgive you" auto-response. I'm not in any way trying to piss on anyone's enjoyment of it. I remember what a huge and hate-fueled debacle it was when the last season ended without any formal physical declarations of love. I just... was a tiny bit disappointed.

One of the things I loved most about Aziraphale & Crowley's relationship was that there was no physical intimacy. In a world where we're constantly inundated in every form of media (and advertising, and politics, and so on) that sex/physical romance is the ONLY way to prove you love someone, it was such a profound relief to see one example where that wasn't true. I know I'm in the extreme minority in my preferences, and I wouldn't expect the show to cater to my individual needs at the expense of a broader, more socially-acceptable message, I'm just sorry to have lost that.

Anyway, it was a bit of a thematically weird season, but there was still a lot to love and I hope we get to see how things turn out in season 3.

[revserrayyu]

2.1 Penacony thoughts [part2]

**Spoiler warning** Covering up until we switch to Acheron’s POV alongside Welt (not their first conversation but actually playing as her, hence the cover photo), so be kind to yourself and look away if you haven’t reached that point yet. Brace yourself once more; I’m going to ramble.

First things first, this whole shrinking down scene where we traverse through a model of Penacony was so odd. Poor Ratio had to be rolling his eyes so hard just watching a tiny Aventurine run around like that.

I feel like we didn’t learn much about Sunday last patch, but hearing him speak about how orderly and presentable we should be at all times really fits his personality. The pretty boy certainly knows how to look good and leads me like him even more..

But only for a moment as he then uses some Harmony trickery against Aventurine so he’s forced to answer his several questions truthfully, or at least that’s the feeling I got from watching this interrogation. Seeing this was quite interesting to me because there’s this anime call No Guns Life where a character by the name Tetsuro has an ability called “harmonie” which allows him to control other extends (robots basically) and they way the anime shows it looked very familiar with all the color.

Moving on, Sasuke Uchiha vibes are coming in strong with our gambler being a potential sole clan survivor, not to mention Aventurine admitting his love toward his family is something he values more than himself. Also, I don’t like this bird.. sitting there, keeping an eye on everything, even during Aventurine’s chat with Sparkle later on. I know the Family has a big Nightingale theme going on but still. Big Brother (or in this case the Family) always watching hm?

NOPE. Any small hope I had for Sunday being someone we could safely trust has flown straight out the window with this sinister smirk of his, no matter how handsomely good it makes him look here.

I love that no matter what is going on or who he’s talking to, Ratio always manages to mildly insult others without a care in the world.

So stuff about the Cornerstones gets revealed, how all Ten Stonehearts have one of their own and how very important said stones are to them, so what on earth was Aventurine doing with both his and Potaz Pazto Topaz’s? Also found it interesting how closely hers resembles Qlipoth’s body when she isn’t a Preservation unit like Aventurine is.

Sunday then gives Aventurine only 17 system hours to live and he has to spend it solving Robin’s case with little to no outside help or hints on where to begin. Talk about immense pressure. Let my man gamble in peace!

And if all that wasn’t enough to make me start feeling bad for our fancy man, we get a sad backstory featuring his sister and even learning how both their parents died! Because OF COURSE they’re setting me up to get upset about him for some reason later on in the story and now I’m so terrified because if I learned anything from anime it’s that these kinds of flashback are major red death flags.

The feeling of joy came back to me though upon seeing Topaz show up. Despite Aventurine being around and all the mentions of the IPC, I honestly wasn’t expecting her to visit Penacony at all, but I’m very pleased to see her again! She definitely grew on me after that one quest in Belobog and even though she doesn’t have access to most places on Penacony like her coworker currently does, it’s nice she’s willing to lend a helping hand to us.

It doesn’t settle well with me that none of the Bloodhounds know who Gallagher is. Ain’t he supposed to be top dog around here and in charge?

Oh red text, why must you haunt me so easily? Imagine how different all of Penacony would feel if we had the option to completely turn off subtitles. People would definitely have various opinions regarding Acheron if they knew of her ominous words or not.

I wanna chalk this up as a HI3 reference, but I can’t be sure as I’ve never played. If so, I love how they can toss in hints about Welt’s past like this.

And hers.. I imagine bits and pieces would line up with her past one way or another too.

A little while after that, we cut back to Black Swan and y’all, we FINALLY get some sort of Boothill interaction in the story! Only audio for now but I’ll take it!

Hearing about bullets, him getting annoyed about Acheron being a “galaxy ranger” and the Hunt path are wonderful ways to confirm who it is and I can’t wait to eventually see him in game.

Seems like he isn’t too thrilled with Acheron though and of course, he too knows of her Emenator status. There goes my brief hopes of them being in friendly terms and seeing them work together I suppose.

This item that Ratio gives Aventurine before he suddenly disappears (again) and how it features one of his voicelines.. hilarious. It’s like it was spoken specifically for Aventurine and no one else.

I may be a little stupid.. do we know who the other mute is? The one dead is clearly Robin, but surely the other can’t be Sunday right? He spoke perfectly fine. I’m thinking back to all the Penacony characters we’ve met and they all sound fine, aside from Sam but he’s robotic so naturally he would sound a bit different yea? Maybe we haven’t met this other mute yet, I dunno. The “again” part of Sparkle’s line makes me feel like we have met them at least once.

Sweetie, how the fuck did you manage to sneak such a dangerous device into Penacony?? Even Aventurine is concerned about how the Family doesn’t know of it.

Okay.. so the whole flashback with Aventurine being bought as a slave and used to gamble for his master is tough. I know many people speculated what the mark on his neck said, and majority did think “slave” was written, but man, the hint didin’t make this story any easier to hear. Being blessed with luck ain’t always a good thing hm? Hearing the guy say “all or nothing” and learning from Topaz about how that phrase is now Aventurine’s mantra.. oh boy.

Siobhan is gorgeous and if she was playable I’d definitely pull for her.

SERVAL MENTION HUZZAH! I’m aware they mentioned my girl during the livestream and how they’re both the rebellious ones in their respective families, but Siobhan actually wanting to meet her? Oohhh~

Okay but the fact we’re encountered so many deaths, during the many story and side quests, in a short amount of time shouldn’t be normal. The way he seems so indifferent about it too.. “so what?” like sir, people are dying.

Oh, we did indeed receive one as well. That was the invitation, wasn’t it? I thought the music box Acheron stole from Duke was something different and special for different reasons. Nevermind.

I seriously need to check back into the creepy dream we experienced last time after Sparkle knocked us out, where we encountered that memory zone meme and listen to all the shouting we heard of this Mikhail guy. I figured he had to be someone important, but the Watchmaker and betrayer of the Family? Oh dear.

I bet you anything it’s Misha. Working behind the scenes in the hotel this entire time would definitely be an effective strategy, and his technique outside battle literally stops time and that seems like the perfect kind of ability for someone named “Watchmaker.”

Gallagher wondering if this certain person is real or not is another reason I think it’s Misha because apparently no one notices his presence at all. During that one scene with us, Firefly, Acheron, Misha & Clockie last past, the girlies didn’t acknowledge Misha at all. Only us and Clockie spoke to the boy. In return, Clockie is only seen by us and Misha as well. So that’s just strange.

For a moment I wonder if Misha is actually like.. a ghost of sorts and we’re just going insane seeing visions of people and cartoon characters everywhere. But that’s all stuff I shall find out later. Hopefully. If the story decides to answer my many concerns.

(originally written on 3/28)