#sort of stuff in the past and how it sowed a lot of the early seeds to their full blown fall out

[arolesbianism]

I just realised that unit swap Ena doesn't actually have any friends outside of 25ji. Quick someone throw a sekai character at me to arbitrarily make her become friends with /j

[lassieposting]

💘💘💘💘 + ghasdug

send me 💘 + A SHIP and i’ll tell you—

where they first met and how

So Skug says they stowed away on the same ship, but this is...not exactly true.

He stowed away on that ship, because he was running away from home and he was a snobby little lordling who'd never had to fend for himself a day in his life, so the furthest ahead he'd actually thought to plan was "they won't want to turn around and drop me off once they're underway".

Ghastly was not stowed away at any point during that trip. Ghastly was signed on for the journey as a deckhand, because Ghastly's mother told him he needed to, and it had to be that particular ship. Ghastly gets seasick, and did not want to go to sea in the slightest. But Ghastly's mother has visions and so Ghastly does as he is told. Apparently there was something important waiting for him on that ship.

Anyway Skug pops out once he thinks they're far enough away from shore that they'll leave him be rather than take him back to port, and he is incredibly mistaken. The captain is in favour of turning him around right there and then, because he's clearly some rich lord's brat, and whoever his father is will probably pay handsomely for his safe return. Ghastly manages to talk the ship's crew into letting him stay on, provided he pulls his weight like the rest of them.

Needless to say, even before they're attacked by pirates, that voyage is a rude awakening for poor Skug, and good lord does Ghastly hear all about it. He has blisters. His feet hurt. This shirt was expensive and now it's all sweaty. His hair is in his eyes all the time. He's tired. The guy in the next bunk snores. Some of these people look like they have lice. He didn't realise he'd be doing manual labour, this is servant stuff, how dare they.

Ghastly does. Not realise at that point what he has let himself in for.

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved

Poor Ghastly gets to pine for years. Baby Skug isn't a great boyfriend. He's less invested - he loves Ghastly, but they have two totally different outlooks.

Ghastly is ugly. He's always been ugly. He's got a face he believes only his mother could love. He's never believed he'd find someone who saw past that or loved him regardless. So as soon as he gets Skug into bed, he's over the moon and ready to commit. He's like 17, and would absolutely settle down there and then given half a chance.

Skug, on the other hand, was a weird-looking child who only recently grew into an attractive adolescent and he is loving it. For the first time in his life, girls are noticing him. He doesn't want to settle down, he wants to play the field and sow some wild oats and have fun. So there are periods of exclusivity with Ghastly, interspersed with periods where Skug basically drops him to chase after the latest pretty bit of skirt.

who fell for who first ( if applicable )

Ghastly's smitten by the time they make it back to Ireland - Skug is a bit soft and allergic to hard work and a pain in the arse, but he's flashy and charismatic and funny and pays attention to him without gawking at his face (past the initial "good god, what happened to you?") - but Skug is well and truly settled into living with Ghastly's family by the time he actually gives Ghas the come-on.

where their first date was and what it was like

They went to the local tavern and got drunk, and then rode home in the pouring rain once it kicked them out at closing time.

When they got home, Ghastly's parents had long since gone to bed, but that wasn't necessarily unusual - once Skug, who has a considerable allowance, is old enough to start drinking, Saoirse institutes a rule that if they're not home by the time she and her husband turn in for the night, she'll leave blankets in the barn and they can sleep there instead. She's not having them barging in, wasted, at all hours of the day and night, waking her up after a hard day's work.

So they put the horses away and give them a quick rub down, and Ghastly is trying to look anywhere but Skug because Skug's shirt has gone kind of see-through and poor Ghastly is an awkward, horny teenage boy, but he keeps shooting him these furtive glances over the horse's back and Skug notices because Skug notices everything and lowkey teases him about it. "Want me to sit for a portrait? It'll last longer," sort of teasing, and Ghastly tries to laugh along but he's also vibrant red because he's been caught staring, so obviously Skug realises something's up

And he's precisely as tactful about it as he ever is about anything, and jokes, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted me," and Ghastly's ears burn and he doesn't deny it quick enough and now Skug's eyebrows are inching towards his hairline and Ghastly panics because like, he's ugly, Skug is going to be disgusted or laugh at him and he can't cope with either, so he just? Freezes?

But like. Skug was a weird-looking, unfortunate child who very recently grew into an attractive adolescent, so he fucking thrives on attention. So his response to this awkward not-quite-a-confession is actually a moment of silence while he mulls this new information over (this feels like an eternity to poor Ghastly) followed by an early attempt at using The Hot Voice and, "If you want me, have me."

So, they end up having sex in the hayloft on the blankets Ghastly's mom left out for them. Ghastly has never even been kissed and doesn't admit that he has no idea what he's doing until he realises Skug is expecting him to take the lead. He also blurts that he loves Skug when he nuts, so like. It's your typical painfully embarrassing virginity loss.

It can't be all bad though, because Skug's up for doing it again.

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? )

So in my endgame-ghasdug AU, they get back together post-TDOTL. Ghastly survives being stabbed, but the blade nicked his spinal cord, so he's in a wheelchair for quite a while, and then has to do A Lot of physical therapy to relearn how to walk. Skug shows up at the hospital/facility where he's recovering every day unless there's an emergency, because Ghastly is very depressed and struggling with survivor's guilt over Anton and doesn't see the point in doing his physio because it hurts and he's exhausted and he shouldn't be alive anyway. And Skug annoys him into doing it, mostly by heckling him from the other side of the room, because he's not great at the whole emotional support thing. Ghastly will mutter, "Christ, I want to hit you," and Skug will tell him, "Well, if you come over here to do it I won't even duck." And if Ghastly gets his ass up and uses the walking frame support thing to cross the room, well, then Skug will take a punch like a man and be happy about it because Ghastly walked.

They also talk a lot during this period. Ghastly feels like shit, and he reminisces a lot about the good old days and how he never saw Ravel's betrayal coming and memories he has of Anton, and sometimes that veers into memories they share from when they were young men. And Skug, at this point, is old enough and has been through enough to admit that he wasn't great to Ghastly when they were boys. He was flighty and selfish and high-maintenance, and he would've hated to be treated the way he treated Ghastly. And he tells him that, at one point - that he's sorry, and if he could go back and do it differently, he would, assuming Ghastly was daft enough to be willing to put up with him a second time.

And Ghastly laughs and tells him, "I'd still have you now, you stupid bastard."

who proposes first

Ghastly. They're 19/20. Skug thinks he's joking.

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away

Neither - they don't announce it, but it's not exactly a secret either. Ghastly's parents notice pretty much straight away, but other than a few parental pointers on what is and isn't appropriate, it's not really a topic of conversation.

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? )

Skug's sister Confelicity accepts the first proposal she gets at the age of 16, because she's desperate to get out of their parents' house and away from their toxic relationship and controlling behaviour. Their father disapproves and refuses to attend the wedding (and, of course, their mother is not allowed her own opinion), and Carver is out of the country, so Skug stands in to a) pay and b) give away the bride. He takes Ghastly for moral support, because he doesn't like most of his relatives and also doesn't like the groom (Thurid Guild - their relationship doesn't improve when Confelicity divorces him a few years later to marry a baronet). While they're watching the couple say their vows, Ghastly murmurs, "We should get married."

Skug is right in the middle of his hoe phase and does not realise Ghastly's serious.

who’s more dominant

Generally, Skug. He is one hell of a force of personality and Ghastly does get steamrollered quite a bit, although he does eventually learn how to say no. Skug always gets things his way, always does whatever he likes and be damned to the consequences, and Ghastly is always there with a handful of the back of his shirt, pulling his ass out of whatever fire he started.

In bed, though, it's Ghastly.

how into pda they are

As teenagers, Ghastly's mother has to reprimand them occasionally for being too all over each other, but teenagers be rabidly horny. As grown men, they're just sort of casually affectionate. Comfortable with each other. When they're relaxing in camp after a day of travelling, Skug will lean against Ghastly to read a book or put his head on Ghastly's leg while they chat. They can have a silent conversation just by reading each other's faces. They'll nudge each other when something reminds them of an in-joke. They have that easy intimacy that comes with having known each other forever.

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable )

As boys, Ghastly has a particular flowery meadow he likes to take Skug to for picnics, because he's a romantic. Skug at that age is considerably less so, and more interested in whether they can screw there without getting caught.

In the modern day, they go to see old movies. Ghastly was very into the early films of the late 1910s and the 1920s, after the war finished. He associates them with a time where he finally got to just set up his shop and live the life he always wanted to live. Skug hasn't seen most of Ghastly's favourites, because he spent that period of history fighting the truce and then spiralling into a black hole of trauma and misery, but he got very into the noir detective era to the point that he's still clinging to the aesthetic like 80 years later, so they'll alternate who picks the movies and catch each other up on their favourites.

who’s more protective

They've both spent their fair share of time fretting in the chair beside a hospital bed. After Ravel's betrayal, though, it's Skug. Ghastly retires as soon as he's considered fit to make the decision, and decides he wants to go back to Dublin to reopen his shop and just sort of try and forget Roarhaven exists. And Skug is absolutely adamant that he gets to do it. There's a lot of interest in Ghastly for a while - groundbreaking healing magic was used to fix what should've been a permanent injury, people want to know if he suspected Ravel, they want his advice on how to rebuild after Devastation Day. He's more approachable than China, and a lot more popular. But he can't cope with it all, and anyone who tries to hassle him in Dublin will have Skug to deal with.

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ )

The first night Skug stays at Ghastly's family home. Ghastly is an only child, and his family isn't wealthy - their house doesn't have a guest room. It's sleep with Ghastly or sleep on the floor, and Little Lord Priss isn't going to be sleeping on the floor.

Honestly, he's relieved there isn't a spare room for him. He's never really slept alone before. Like most children of very wealthy families back then, he grew up in a nursery with his four oldest brothers and sisters, and when he was too old to live with The Children, he shared a room, first with Carver and then with Francis. The thought of being on his own in a strange house is pretty intimidating.

He moves to his own bed as soon as they get him one, but he stays in Ghastly's room, and he's perfectly happy with that.

(Ghastly is less happy. He's very much crushing on Skug and he's terrified he'll say something incriminating in his sleep.)

who steals whose clothes and how often

Skug gets to steal Ghastly's clothes for a year or two after he moves in with Ghastly's family. After that, they're built too differently. Ghastly is built like a brick shithouse of muscle. Skug is lean and toned and tall. When they're younger, he can more or less wear Ghastly's clothes as a nightshirt, but after Skug's final growth spurt, Ghastly's clothes don't sit right on him at all, and he's gotten too vain and fashion-conscious by that point to just wear them anyway.

what their usual coffee / tea orders are

Ghastly is fussy about his tea. Plenty of milk, two and a half sugars, leave the teabag in.

Skug just inhales it black, which Ghastly thinks is an abomination.

if they ever have any children together

Ghastly thanks his lucky stars every day that they have a 0% chance of accidentally spawning a skuglet. One of him is plenty.

He's very involved with Skugbab when he comes along, though. He's godfather and a very present uncle.

if they have any special pet names for each other

Skug doesn't do nicknames, and would rather not be given them, either. Ghastly gets away with "Skul", primarily because he's the only one who's known Skug since he was all of 16, but also because "Skulduggery" is a mouthful when all your blood is rushing to your downstairs brain and it's his own damn fault that he didn't think of that before he picked it.

if they ever split up and / or get back together

So many times. They're on and off again more frequently than Saracen's clothes. Every time Skug spots someone new, he ends it with Ghastly to pursue them, and then comes back when he loses interest or it doesn't work out.

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? )

Ghastly's family home is an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Dublin. It's simple, but cosy, and Ghastly's dad is incredibly houseproud, so it's very well-looked-after. Skug prefers it by miles to his own palacial, but cold and unwelcoming, family home, and he tries to replicate the vibe later on with Wifey. It's pretty small compared to what he's used to, so it sort of feels like they're all living on top of each other, and he has to get used to not having any servants and drawing his own water to heat his own bath etc, but he's loved there, and that makes all the difference.

what their names are in each other’s phones

They're both old-ass men about some things, and this is one of them. So no emojis or anything - they're "Ghastly Bespoke" and "Skul". How romantic.

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first

Ghastly wakes up first: he's used to rising early to get started on his chores. Skug is absolutely not a morning person at this point in his life and Ghastly frequently has to turf his ass out of bed by pulling his quilt off/dumping water on him/yelling in his ear.

Reversed with modern day ghasdug: Ghastly still wakes at a sensible time, but damn it he left the army a century ago and now he likes a lie in. Skug never really stopped being a soldier and still has most of his military habits, so he's up with the sun.

who’s the big spoon / little spoon

Ghastly is the big spoon. Skug likes to be Held.

who hogs the bathroom

Skug. The boy is vain as all fuck. There is a grand total of one cloudy looking-glass in Ghastly's family's home and Skug spends a good chunk of the morning hogging it to fuss with his hair and peacock at his reflection. Ghastly is under strict orders Never to mention this to Fletcher.

[svtskneecaps]

Darling, We’ve Got Time : Part 10

Vernon and Seungkwan’s little group of time state deserters has been leading Seungcheol’s team of time agents on a Tom-and-Jerry chase through the timestream for what may have been the entirety of their career–different setting, same result–but the tides are starting to shift. Things aren’t adding up to the time agents, and all the deserters can hope is to sow enough seeds for them to finally put the pieces together.

(Seventeen Time Travel AU; no reader)

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They told Seungcheol a small lie and met Public Enemies One and Two of the Time State at a quaint cafe in Los Angeles.

“Chan tells us you started to notice,” Vernon said seriously, fingers laced together like they were at a business meeting and he was wearing a suit instead of an oversized Hawaiian shirt.

“We keep forgetting things,” Mingyu said, a coffee going cold in his hands. “Why?”

“That’d be the time state,” Seungkwan said. “Any memories containing feelings going slightly deeper than casual comradery get wiped during regular checkups. Any memories containing amicable feelings towards a deserter also get wiped, which is why you don’t know us.”

“So you knew us?” Minghao asked.

“Sort of, yes.” Vernon took a sip of his drink. “Enough to know your fascination with the sixties, anyway. How’d you enjoy Woodstock, by the by? You never said.”

“It was amazing. The part I managed to catch, anyway.”

“And that’s how you know all this stuff about us?” Mingyu asked.

“Yeah. All of us worked with you guys’ team at some point, before we figured out the whole ‘wiping’ thing and dipped,” Vernon said.

“Obviously the time corp wasn’t super enthused with the idea,” Seungkwan said, snickering. “Who’d have guessed?”

“But anyway.” Vernon set his drink on the table and leaned forward. “Now that you know the truth, what comes next?”

The time agents looked at each other. Honestly, Mingyu didn’t think he knew. He hadn’t gotten past ‘getting answers’. He didn’t think he could stay and keep forgetting, but he didn’t know if he’d be able to desert if Minghao planned to stay behind.

Evidently, the others saw their indecision. “Come with us,” Seungkwan offered. “You can meet the rest of the gang for real. If you decide to go back, we’ll jump you to this exact moment with Captain Cheol none the wiser.”

And Mingyu looked at Minghao and recognized the decision in his eyes, the decision he felt deep in his own bones.

“Okay,” they said.

Seungkwan’s face split open into a grin and he rolled up his sleeve. “Man, they’re gonna be thrilled. Fair warning, nobody expected to get another newcomer this early. Reactions could be mixed.” He spun dials on his watch with a practiced ease that Mingyu watched curiously (he’d never seen anyone work a handheld up close). “Alright, everybody hold on.”

They formed a hand holding chain around the table, and Seungkwan pressed the button. With a roar like thunder, the table vanished.

As did the chairs, dumping them onto the ground.

“Ah,” Seungkwan said, picking himself up and brushing the dust off. “Guess I didn’t consider the possibility that the chairs would have moved.”

Vernon bumped his side. “This is why I usually choose the jump times.”

Seungkwan shoved him right back.

Seokmin came barrelling out of a nearby building, skidding to a stop in front of them. “Lee Seokmin,” he said, thrusting his hand out for them to shake.

“We know,” Minghao said, but shook anyway. “Xu Minghao.”

“We know,” Jeonghan echoed, coming out of the building at a more reasonable pace, Jun and Chan following behind him.

“Well, did you know I was almost crowned King Arthur in medieval England?” Seokmin said, crossing his arms.

Mingyu blinked. “No.”

“Didn’t think so!”

“So that’s the kind of stuff you guys get up to?” Minghao asked. “Screwing around with timelines everywhere?”

“Time fixes its own holes,” Jun said. “For example, nothing we’ve done has made the Titanic miss the iceberg, and we’ve tried pretty much everything. There’s no worry about mucking up the timeline.”

“So the time state was lying?” Mingyu asked. “I spent years of my life training for a lie?”

Jun shrugged. “We all did. It’s just profitable for them to control all of time travel. If they perpetuate the myth that reckless time travelling could destroy life as we know it, they’ve effectively got a stranglehold on tourism.”

Minghao scowled. “We have to tear their false system down.”

“We will,” Jeonghan said. “But it doesn’t seem like a very good idea to start a revolution when former friends of ours could be the ones pointing a gun at us. I wouldn’t be able to shoot them, would you?”

Mingyu tried to imagine Wonwoo standing against him, blaster aimed to kill. Could he?

“No,” he said.

Chan nodded. “We have to be patient,” he said. “It sucks a lot of the time, but it’s been working so far. You two figured it out, I’m sure the rest aren’t far behind.”

“How long?” Minghao asked, and Mingyu knew who he was thinking of.

“Could take a day, could take a year.” Vernon shrugged. “Time is relative. Your guess is as good as ours. Probably better; they have to have changed since we left.”

“A week, then,” Minghao said, and he sounded so convinced, Mingyu almost believed it.

Soonyoung saw them vanish. And he waited. And he waited. And they didn’t come back, and they didn’t come back, and they didn’t come back.

And he was conflicted.

Because he liked Minghao. He knew he was a good guy and Mingyu was a good guy and he didn’t know why they were out there talking with traitors. They had all looked very serious, and he hadn’t been able to hear what they were saying, and now, trudging back to the time ship, he worried that they’d been traitors the whole time.

And he’s struck with the realization that he was going to be hunting his teammates (his friends) through time.

And he had to break this to the team. Somehow.

Minghao worked in his department, under his jurisdiction, and Soonyoung allowed this to happen. Maybe even made this happen; he harbored his own rebellious sentiments that he tried and failed to quell time and time again.

He can’t help but feel like this is his fault.

When he told them, Seungcheol punched a wall. Joshua went very pale. Jihoon’s face turned to stone.

Wonwoo just looked stunned.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve burst in and stopped them before this went too far,” Soonyoung said, fighting to keep a lid on his emotions before the anguish broke out.

“Right,” Seungcheol said, and when he turned around his face was hard. “We’re down two men. Wonwoo, can you track?”

“Sure,” he said, even though tracking was always Mingyu’s thing even during training and it was obvious that everyone felt queasy at the thought of anyone else taking over his job, but Wonwoo had the skill set for it and that was what they needed.

“They’ve been brainwashed,” Seungcheol said, “but we can still bring them back. The time state can counteract it.”

A white light flashed in the distance. Soonyoung stood for his checkup. Seungcheol balled his fist like he was going to punch the wall again. Joshua touched his elbow and he released it, but he still seemed livid.

“We’ll get them back,” he said. “And these fugitives will pay for what they’ve done.”

When Soonyoung came back from his checkup, everything was wrong.

Wonwoo saw him come in while he was trying to figure out Mingyu’s setup, and despite everything he looked. . . cheerful.

“You know you don’t have to act happy,” Wonwoo said. “We’re all upset.”

“I’m not acting,” Soonyoung said, and it sounded so genuine Wonwoo tore himself away from the computer to raise an eyebrow at him.

“You were just torn up about it, how are you so chipper? Minghao was like your protege ever since he joined the team; he was your favorite.”

“Are you sure?” Soonyoung tilted his head, seeming bemused. “I always thought he was sort of flaky. It was really a matter of waiting before he ran off. A shame he had to take Mingyu with him, though.”

Wonwoo was officially lost. “Soonyoung you adored him. Everybody knew. You were devastated when you gave us the news he’d deserted.”

Soonyoung frowned. “Of course I wasn’t. Xu Minghao was never a top priority.”

And then he left like nothing was wrong. Like he hadn’t just rocked Wonwoo’s whole perspective. And Wonwoo just.

Didn’t know what to do.

[bigskydreaming]

Although just saying, if Bobby was a Horseman of Apocalypse he’d be Death, not Famine, even though it actually makes no sense for Bobby to ever be a Horseman because Apocalypse’s whole recruitment strategy is powering up his Horsemen and he can’t offer Bobby anything there because Bobby already has unlimited potential, you can’t like...power up unlimited potential (and yes I know technically he was a Horseman in House of M but that was a B/endis story and in the House of Kalen we don’t acknowledge B/endis stories unless we absolutely must, are you NEW here, have you not been paying ATTENTION, jee suss). 

ANYWAY, as I was randomly rhapsodizing before being so rudely interrupted by my own ADHD, ugh, that douche, the point of this little tangential post is that Marvel’s writers should really make use of the fact that they all write for the same company and occasionally TALK to each other about their stories, not just give each other shout outs on twitter while still clearly never reading each other’s stories.

Like I just mean, lots of writers (like B/endis) have no idea what to do with the fact that Bobby’s an omega mutant like Jean, and don’t get how his power translates into being so much more powerful than even mutants like Xavier, Apocalypse, etc, because like....he just makes ice right? Except if these writers would just TALK to the writers who worked on these characters before them, including ones who literally still work for Marvel and write books for them like Nicieza, then they could explain why they picked Bobby to be an omega mutant and their thought process and oh em gee this could have a verifiable effect on improving stories utilizing this character?

Anyway, fun factoid, the term omega mutant was thrown around since the 80s, when Claremont first used it to essentially describe mutants the Sentinels considered ‘ultimate threats’. But it was never canonized as meaning that, and in the late 90s, Nicieza and a couple other writers who escape me at the moment penned the stories that gave us our current and as yet un retconned definition of omega mutants.

History of omega mutants in the comics under the cut....

So in the Marvel U, for those that don’t know, there’s this ancient race of immortal space gods called Celestials who predated the Big Bang basically. And ever since then, they’ve been on this big experiment to sow the potential in every sentient race they come across for that race to evolve to the point where its members become on par with the abstract entities that created this current universe (Eternity, Death, etc)....so that they would ultimately end this current universe and create the next one, becoming the abstract entities that create and govern the next universe. It’s basically the life cycle of universes, in the Marvel U.

So in early human evolution, the Celestials got around to Earth and did their experiments, which planted the seeds for three future subspecies of humanity to ultimately emerge...the Eternals (Sersi, etc, the subjects of the MCU’s most recently announced movie), the Deviants, and mutants. Eternals and Deviants are both massively powerful, with the former practically being on a level with gods in the MU, Sersi being in Thor and Hercules’ league easily. But as powerful as the Eternals are, there’s a ceiling on that power. A point where even though they’re immortal, they’ve developed their powers as far as they’ll go. There’s no pushing them any further, they’re tapped out. And as the Eternals are all millennia old and basically don’t reproduce anymore or have much desire to, they’re about as evolved as that species is ever going to get, according to Marvel lore.

But then you have mutants, and more specifically, you have the few rare omega mutants like Jean and Bobby. Omega mutants, as canonized by these writers in the late 90s (as well as some stuff revealed in interviews as to where this was all building but they never got around to canonizing because of creative team shakeups, etc, so not technically canon but relevant for context of the thought process behind the stuff that is actually canon) - anyway, omega mutants, according to the official take, are supposed to be the ultimate culmination of the Celestial experiments. They’re it. The point of it all, the thing the Celestials were trying to bring about by messing with countless species....omega mutants are essentially baby space gods. Mutants with no ceiling on their powers, who have unlimited potential and some means of immortality and can keep growing and growing and growing, until at some point thousands or even millions of years in the future, they grow to be on par with the abstract entities, destroy the universe and bring about the next one.

What’s key here is the context that at the time they were writing these stories, there was a sort of unofficial headcanon that a lot of writers shared but nobody had actually written in story yet, and has since been retconned....but the thing was, at the time, a lot of these writers were riffing off the idea that Jean and the Phoenix were actually one and the same. That for all the talk of her being the ultimate Phoenix host, the reality was that she actually WAS the Phoenix, and always had been. Which doesn’t make sense at first glance, because the Shi’ar have tales of the Phoenix stretching back thousands of years, right, which is why they freaked out when Jean became Phoenix originally, back in the Dark Phoenix saga.

Except some writers liked the idea that Rachel Grey didn’t just inherit her mom’s telekinesis and telepathy....but that her other power came from her too. See, Rachel has another little known power the comics call chronoskimming. Essentially, she can project her mind throughout the timeline and interact psychically with people far in the past or far in the future. Cable and Nate Grey don’t have this power as fully developed as Rachel, but they’ve been shown or hinted to have it to some degree as well. So an idea being toyed with back in the nineties was that if all three kids of Jean Grey (or her clone, Maddie) inherited their TP/TK from her and all three of them have some form of this chronoskimming power....what if Jean had it too?

And so this is the part that was never officially canonized, just batted around, and part of the basis for coining Jean as an omega mutant, a mutant with unlimited potential, whose power could eventually evolve to the point of telekinetic and telepathic godhood, so vast she could essentially remake the universe. And that the Phoenix was the ultimate expression of her mutant potential, a cosmic force on track to eventually reach the level of the Abstracts and ultimately supplant them. So when they first made omega mutants as they exist in the comics now a thing, it was done so with the intent that becoming beings like the Phoenix was the end game for omega mutants. That evolving into the Phoenix over the course of thousands and even millions of years was Jean’s ultimate destiny as an omega mutant, with her able to survive past her initial mortal lifespan by becoming a psychic entity who could telekinetically create new bodies or vessels for herself from stray organic material any time she needed (a feat that different versions of her like teen Jean have done without the Phoenix).

And this is where Jean having Rachel’s chronoskimming power would’ve come into play, because if omega mutant potential with telekinesis and telepathy resulted in her being able to basically reshape the universe....omega mutant potential with chronoskimming could mean that Jean as the Phoenix could move throughout the timeline at will. So the idea was the Phoenix has always been what Jean would evolve naturally into over thousands of years, and then at some far distant point in the future, the Phoenix (being so old at that point that she’s forgotten she ever was Jean) for some reason sent herself back into the distant past. Which is how she came to be part of the Shi’ar’s ancient history and legends. So according to this take, Jean’s never actually been host to the Phoenix....its more that her millions of years old future self on some level recognized the seed she’d once started out as, and tried to reunite with her past baby self in order to reclaim parts of herself that she’d lost over the aeons, like her humanity.

And so even when other psychics have hosted the Phoenix force, the idea would have been actually what they were hosting was the far future evolution of Jean Grey, who didn’t NEED a host so much as she sought them out for that connection to her long forgotten humanity. Like a symbiotic relationship, she fuels their powers in exchange for them fueling her nostalgia. They get a taste of TK/TP godhood before she burns them out, they give her a taste of what she’s lost over her long immortal life as a cosmic level being. And that’s why Rachel was always the best Phoenix host and had the least problems with it, because Rachel’s her daughter, and on some level that resonated with the Phoenix. 

Anyway, how this all relates to Bobby is its literally why out of all possible mutants, writers picked him to be the other one alongside Jean, when they introduced this concept and said who the first two omega mutants are. It really does seem like the most random choice.....UNLESS you look at it in the context of the Phoenix being Jean’s ultimate evolution as an omega mutant.

Because what’s the Phoenix’s catch phrase? The thing she’s always saying? 

“I am fire and life incarnate. Now and forever - I am Phoenix.”

And that’s why Bobby is the other original omega mutant. He was picked to be her literal polar opposite, the end to her beginning just as she was to him. Where her ultimate omega evolution would be fire and life incarnate, his would be cold and death incarnate. The end of all things, just as the Phoenix is all about rebirth. That’s how you get the end of a universe and the start of a new one....which again, was the ultimate point of omega mutants.

And so the guy who makes ice isn’t actually as random as it seems when picking an all powerful mutant slash baby space god. Because makes ice isn’t really an accurate description of Bobby’s power. He has two, just like Jean has both telepathy and telekinesis, two separate and distinct, but still linked, powersets. Bobby is hydrokinetic and thermokinetic. He psychically manipulates both water molecules and temperature. That thing he does where he makes ice golems and animates them with his mind? You can’t do that just by controlling temperature...he’s only able to make his golems move because he’s literally controlling the water molecules they’re made of. It’s how he’s able to make ice constructs and create intricate statues and structures....he’s not just freezing the water molecules in the atmosphere, first he’s hydrokinetically moving those water molecules into the right positions so that once he freezes them, the ice that results is in the shape he’s imagined.

 Similarly, his ability to freeze things doesn’t actually require water molecules...he’s not limited to just freezing water, because its not hydrokinesis at play there. It’s thermokinesis, psychically dropping temperatures to any degree. Everything freezes if you get it cold enough, not just water. He’s made metal shatter by just freezing it until its so cold and brittle it can’t support its own weight.

He’s Iceman, known for making ice more than anything else, because this is the most obvious medium for these two powers, where they organically meet. But just like Jean, he’s also able to exist as a psychic entity independent of his body. Whenever his body’s destroyed, his mind sticks around until it can gather enough water molecules together to form a new ice form, and then he turns that ice form back into his human flesh and blood self, the same as he does any other time he transforms from human to ice and back again.

So Bobby’s powerset is and always has been a whole lot more than just making ice, and its this failure of imagination that always bugs. Because of course if you think that’s all he does, it sounds bizarre like oh he’s the most powerful any mutant can ever become, so.....he could make a lot of ice we guess? Maybe freeze the whole world? Well yeah. He could do that, and in fact he has (he also froze Hell once, so...). But put in the context of where the writers were going with this concept back when they first coined Bobby and Jean as omegas, Bobby’s ultimate evolution would be becoming a cosmic level entity that exists as the Phoenix’s opposite, able to basically make everything stop. All life, all creation, is just atoms in motion. Bobby’s power at its most stripped down is essentially taking that motion away. Freezing everything. Absolute zero. The end of all things. Forget freezing the whole planet, Bobby potentially could just turn off the sun, similar to how Jean as the Dark Phoenix once ‘devoured a sun’ by telekinetically dispersing its molecules throughout the universe.

But yeah, that’s what omega mutants were originally created to be, and to some degree still are because most of the framework of this concept still exists and has never actually been retconned. Future space gods, with the original conceit having been that millions upon millions of years in the future Bobby could some day end the universe by making it all just stop.....and then Jean as the Phoenix would telekinetically mash all those frozen, motionless molecules together and create a new Big Bang, with another universe being born of that, her telekinetic godhood being the ‘spark’ that ignites all molecular motion in a new universe.

And then other omega mutants theoretically would have their own roles. Josh Foley aka Elixir is an omega mutant who doesn’t just heal people, his power is actually omega level biokinesis, the ability to reshape the very building blocks of organic life in any way he wants. The perfect power to seed a new universe with organic life. Quentin Quire’s omega level telepathy, similar to Jean’s but not wholly the same, could create a new astral plane and spark sentient consciousnesses throughout a new universe. Storm’s never officially been canonized as an omega mutant, but its been teased, most significantly in an alternate future where she became a weather elemental after her body died, similar to how Bobby and Jean’s powers let them live on as psychic entities, and since Ororo’s been shown not just to manipulate Earth weather patterns but even cosmic storms, I think she damn well should be an omega mutant. (Same with Wanda whenever they eventually retcon their retcon of her being a mutant, which we all know they will. Wanda’s probability powers and the scale on which she’s used them to manipulate reality - stupid Life Force retcon aside - could easily make her a candidate for an omega mutant whose power turns the new universe into a multiverse full of infinite quantum possibilities).

Anyway, so that’s what omega mutants technically are (or are supposed to be, per the original direction of their concept) and why writers like Brubaker are dumb and don’t talk to anybody else before writing dumb things like how Gabriel Summers is ‘more than omega level’ like, no, Brubaker, that’s not a thing, I mean you do you but if you’re going to use existing terminology it behooves you to learn what it means, and per the still canon take on omega mutants, they are beings of infinite potential and you literally can not be a being of MORE than infinite potential, that’s not...no. Stop).

Although I do still accept Gabriel as an omega mutant who probably is still floating around the Fault way out in space existing as an angry, sulky energy ghost who will no doubt someday reconstitute himself into an angry, sulky Summers who comes back to Earth to yell at everyone for leaving him for dead in space AGAIN, how does this keep happening, technically he’s only like fifteen, god.

Because even the next universe needs a Summers hanging around to bring the drama, that’s why.

[elizabethrobertajones]

I know it sounds absolutely insane, and believe me, I know it does, but my heart would be absolutely shattered if Destiel isn’t canon. I first started watching SPN last year when I started having anxiety attacks and they’ve helped me so much, and I just feel so much love for them, almost like they’re real people. And I just feel so alone because most people on tumblr are like “Oh, I’m pretty sure they won’t be endgame, I’ll be fine we’ll always have fanfic” and it’s like I’m glad I have fanfic

(PT 2) I’m glad we have fanfic, but canon matters to me, as much as I try to deny it. I know it’s probably unhealthy to be so attached to them, but they’ve helped me so much and I’ve genuinely never fallen this hard for a ship before. Idk, I just don’t think I’d ever be able to move on if they aren’t endgame. I try to hold out hope and I get so happy when I read meta, but I’m really scared Danneel’s character will be Dean’s endgame. I know it sounds selfish but I’d rather he’d not end up with

(PT 3) anyone at all than end up with some random female character at the end of the show.

Hi there

There’s a ton of stuff out there already said about how they aren’t thinking about romance for these characters, about how they have no plans to do that, and also good posts from other people trying to calm things down and reassure everyone that we don’t know what’s going to happen yet but we shouldn’t assume immediately she’ll be a love interest JUST because she’s Jensen’s wife as well as being an actress in her own right. I don’t really want to get deep into it because I find it unlikely and talking about these things really just flames panic because people can so easily be like “what if anon is right and the person answering is just trying to mollify them!!” but it didn’t seem right to not answer you at all >.>

I feel the same about having very rarely ever felt a ship as GOOD as this one and how important it is to me. I get how you feel completely but I’m way less worried these days after being in fandom for ages and seeing how the story is going, not because I’m sure it’s heading towards a happy ending, but because by this point I’m 100% certain that what we’ve seen in canon so far is *justifiably real* in the sense that while it’s all interpretation and personal view on it all, it’s coming from a very real place within the text, beyond the teasing and jokes of the early seasons to something really real in the text for the last 4-5 years where the romantic element is at the very least a solid part of the subtext. I know that *whatever* they do they can’t make that go away and Dean and Cas will *always* have been in love with each other in the core narrative of the show. I think that’s what makes them so good and compelling - for a non-canon ship it’s not like they’re in the unrequited staring and teasing stage that a lot of them seem to stop at and they haven’t been for years, even if it’s been pretty tumultuous in that time.

That’s something that no one can take away from me because I don’t have a doubt that the show hasn’t made itself completely available for that reading and it’s a very strange sort of shipping perhaps where sometimes it feels like 99% of what I want from the ship is already there, and we’re just missing confessions and kisses but after that they’d basically just carry on as they are. 

Dabb’s comment makes me kinda feel like the low low weasley NEW worst case scenario ending now we’ve breezed past “You’re our brother Cas” in 11x23 and Cas dead at Dean’s feet in 12x23, has been upgraded 2 ranks to the previous 3rd worst ending (improvement! :P) the show ending where neither of them have a love interest, they’re hypothetically available and hanging out together, but no declaration has been made despite the blatant narrative evidence they’re married. I sort of don’t really factor in “with other love interests” as a plausible ending and I didn’t before Dabb’s comment but now I’ve taken it off the list, or locked it in a black box with a skull painted on it and chains around it for “god tier worst case scenario ending” but not really one I feel in my bones, just a nightmare that haunts the fandom. 

And it’s REALLY HARD shaking these fandom nightmares. The bitterness about characters and ships spreads and no one can say what WILL happen just what we feel will so the nightmares can’t be banished until the show gets rid of them (like the 2 worst case scenario endings we’ve already ticked off and got out the way to carry on from). And of course the only way to really get rid of them forever is to end the show and treat the ship right. So. Yeah. Fandom nightmares continue >.> I wish there was something I could say to make it all better especially when it means so much to you because my heart would be broken too and I think I’m trying to have reasonable hopes as in I’m positive for the emotional outcome but trying to keep a healthy scepticism about the canon thing so I don’t run wild with it and get accused of getting other people’s hopes up, and I know it would make it hurt more for me, so it makes me focus more on the immediate moment and what I’m enjoying now. Because as much as I’d like to tell you not to worry about endgame I think avoiding worrying about it is more how I’m going :P I focus on the positives and try and sort out the negatives into likely and unlikely and be really careful about weighing what everyone’s saying before *feeling* any of these things. 

There’s usually a few people talking objectively about anything on my dash, people like @ozonecologne, @mittensmorgul, @ibelieveinthelittletreetopper or @justanotheridijiton who can be relied to make a good picture of what you should be feeling about a thing when you collect up their takes on it and see a reasoned out middle ground on any topic. When I say I scrolled my dash to see if “anyone” was talking about something when an anon asks, it’s usually those guys in one combination or another I’m hoping to see making posts about it before I get back to my inbox as they usually get asks or comment on/snark about current events in fandom/spec. To me stuff like their takes on Danneel’s casting, as an example, is less “giving something to hold out hope for” and more evaluating the situation and giving as much info as possible about how to look at it rationally, by talking about what we know about the character, the casting and who she’ll be acting with (Lucifer apparently) and fandom history with these sort of panics.

But anyway to me the Danneel wank is an immediate thing I can be reassuring about, the endgame is another issue, and I still haven’t figured out if I’m having any effect with trying to impart my own coolness about it. Because of course it means the world to me, but I’ve seen enough of fandom to see how the fandom nightmares about endgame and canon and character treatment can destroy someone who doesn’t manage their expectations because week to week things can seem like they’re pronouncing a doom on the whole show, and in that atmosphere mass panic can spread and individual wanky people with a platform can cause a lot of damage and sow doubt and mistrust in the fandom. Especially about the people like me who love the show every much as deeply as them, but are enjoying it week to week for its positives and taking its negatives in a measured way. If you see a bunch of panic about Danneel eventually it’s going to set in that this is a thing to panic about and then it spirals to the whole endgame idea. If you can feel okay about the one small thing, hopefully the entire picture is easier to handle you know? 

And I’ve been surfing through these fandom panics since season 10 and almost ALL of the worst case scenarios other people model haven’t come to pass, like Cas x Hannah or Dean x Amara or all the smaller freak outs about characters who weren’t even teased romantically with them in the narrative but still got the freak out. I’ve just got really really used to my knee jerk to female character casting to not be “Oh no she’ll marry Dean and that’s the end” to “oh boy here comes the fandom panic” which isn’t necessarily less negative but at least it’s not putting negativity into my enjoyment of the show? Bleh :P 

I’m sorry this is so long - your comment about anxiety and investment really hit me because I know how it feels, I’m very anxious about a lot of stuff and my entire approach to fandom and the show is learned and a sort of self-care practice to stay invested and stay positive and happy about it and NOT to become one of the many cases of fandom burn out. Because back in season 10 before I managed that I was seeing so much random panic and it always gave me an anxiety spike, and it was only reading the sensible voices and learning to have a measured response instead of following the loudest voice in the room creating the most compelling narrative - and fear can be very compelling in the sort of horror movie way in these cases - that I ever learned to recognise what was panic, what was someone else’s fatigue with the show and what was valid criticism without burning the house down. 

I really hope this can help and I’m not just rambling into the void, because I feel so bad for people caught up in this painfully and feeling now like they’re in such a vulnerable place with it, and getting hurt even before anything they actually fear comes to pass just on the thought of it happening. I REALLY feel for everyone sending these kind of messages who aren’t doing it wankily. I hope you can get some sort of peace with the show and canon because the thing is I’m definitely not wanky like “IT WILL NEVER BE CANON” but people say that trying to be well meaning to stop people hoping and getting hurt because they’ve been hurt in turn. And being positive but having no idea what’s going to happen and only hoping it’s in my favour, I just know no one can tell you what you need to hear about canon and every answer sucks and yet somehow in that little space in between all the sucky answers, I’m at least not upset with what *I* see in canon, which is useless to everyone EXCEPT me. >.> 

[pageturnersblog]

We are excited to be one of today’s stops on The Summer Set by Aimee Agresti Blog Tour.  Thanks to  Graydon House Books for the review copy and including us on this tour.

The Summer Set is a fun “beach” read. It reminds me a lot of the rom-com movies of the recent past like Leap Year and When in Rome. Charlie, our dashing staring lady, has a storied past and as you read on, is just fun, someone you’d want to call your best friend. She’s obviously a little broken, and has some things to work on, but her journey is one I’m along for the ride on. 

The story follows her to a summer theatre festival where she performed at early in her career, and it’s now run by her ex, Nick, who directed her breakout theatre performance at this very festival and later, movie. She is part of the professional company doing three Shakespeare plays throughout the summer. The professional company is also joined by some younger apprentices, learning the different crafts of theatre.  I love that two of the apprentices also get POV moments in the story, mirroring Nick and Charlie. This what a little confusing to follow at first (probably because of the eARC formatting), but once I really got into the story, it was fun to see the big moments from the point of view of our younger, soon to be stars. 

Also, if you are wondering why Aimee’s name sounds so familiar to YA readers, her first book was ILLUMINATE, the first book in the Gilded Wings Trilogy.

Thank you Graydon House Books for the provide author Q&A with Aimee. 

Q: Please give your elevator pitch for The Summer Set.

A: Gladly! THE SUMMER SET is a romp about a former Hollywood It Girl—Charlie Savoy—who flamed out, left the film world and now is almost 40 and back at the summer Shakespeare theater where she got her start as a teen….and where her ex is the artistic director. Drama and hijinks ensue! But it’s really a universal story about old flames, old friends, old rivals and second acts: having the courage to shake up your life!

Q: Which came first: the characters or plot line?

A: They sort of arrived together! This idea has been with me for a long time: I always had Charlie, my main character, and this sense of wanting her to be embarking on a “second act.” I wanted to tell the story of a bold, wild child kind of star who flamed out early and had to start over and figure out what she truly wanted. I always knew this character would be the type who seemed confident to anyone watching but was actually much more vulnerable deep down. Someone who’s acting as much offstage as onstage!

Q: Why do you love Charlie and why should readers root for her?

A: I really loved writing this character: she’s impulsive and aggressive and tough and uncontrollable. But all of her bravado is covering up how out of place she feels, how nervous she is to be back in the theater world after feeling like she failed in her film career. Anyone who has ever tried to act like they had it all together while actually being unsure on the inside (which I think is all of us, right?!) will understand Charlie and feel she’s a kindred spirit.

Q: We can see from your bio that you have written extensively about entertainment topics. Have you ever been involved in theatre yourself? If so, in which capacities? If not, what fascinates you about the theatre world?

A: As anyone who saw me as Miss Jones in Sherwood High School’s 1994 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying would know: I am that drama geek who loves theater as much as humanly possible while having no actual talent. ;)  I was lucky enough to grow up in a small town with a fantastic theater—the Olney Theatre in Olney, MD—and I volunteered there (offstage!) all through high school. It was an amazing place because the actors were incredible, they were New York-based, and they would come and actually live together at a residence on the theater property. I’ve always had an overactive imagination so I remember wondering what went on there: which ones were friends, which ones weren’t, was anyone hooking up?! I was fascinated. That experience hanging around there definitely sowed the very early seeds of this novel!

Q: Obviously you've interacted with many celebrities. Who were the most fascinating to talk to? 

A: Oooh, there were so many fun ones: George Clooney is my all-time favorite (he’s EVERYONE’S favorite!) because he’s just a supernice guy and is that type who seems to always be having a great time. Some more of my favorites who also had that same warm spirit and were so much fun to chat with: Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Grant, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the list goes on!

 Q: If you could star in a movie or Broadway show, which one would you choose and why?

A: HA! OMG, I love this question! Since THE SUMMER SET is set at a summer theater, I’ll choose Broadway! Wow, there are just. So. Many! I would love to be Angelica in Hamilton and Mimi in Rent and Roxie in Chicago! I assure you I would be absolutely TERRIBLE in all of these roles but it would be tons of fun!

Q: What was your last 5 star read?

A: I just re-read a favorite--THE LOST VINTAGE by the wonderful Ann Mah! It’s an absolute gem of a novel about love, secrets and drama in French wine country. Beautiful writing, fantastic storytelling and it also satisfies the wanderlust we’re all feeling these days.

Q: What is one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?

A: Oh wow, I feel like even five books in, I’m still learning! But I think one thing I never would’ve expected before I published my first novel is that every time a book comes out you feel that HUGE excitement but also that little rush of nerves, like: “OMG this thing that, for years, only lived in my head and on my laptop is now out there!!! Aaaah!” Or maybe that’s just me? ;)

Q: What inspired you to become a writer?

A: A love of reading! My mom is a librarian so I grew up reading everything in sight and I’ve just always loved escaping into books. I went to journalism school and worked in magazines, which I absolutely adored, but I always dreamed of writing novels, so I feel incredibly lucky to get to do this!

Q: What was your journey to get your first book published?

A: Great question! My first novel was ILLUMINATE, the first of my YA Gilded Wings Trilogy. I tend to write the book I most want to read at any given time and I got lucky that when I was in the mood for YA, so were a lot of other people, so that worked out! But I actually wrote another book BEFORE that one—it was a totally different vibe and not YA--that just didn’t hit things right, for whatever reason. I always say that publishing--the fiction world especially--is like falling in love and you need the right person to read the right manuscript on the right day and have the right connection to it in order to get published. I feel very lucky every time a book gets published!

Q: Let’s talk about your writing, what is your writing process like? Do you follow an outline or do you just see where the story leads you? 

A: I’m a major outliner! I need to have everything mapped out. I need to know this journey has a destination. I admire writers who can let things unfold as they go—how freeing that must be!—but I’m a planner, it gives me comfort. Although, there are plenty of twists that only present themselves when you’re in the middle of writing so I do always let myself deviate from my outline too, great stuff comes out of that!

Q: Do you share your work along the way or wait until it is complete to have others read?

A: My sister is my beta reader and she is amazing! Sometimes I’ll give her the book as I’m writing it, as I did with THE SUMMER SET, and other times I’ll wait until it’s all finished (like with my previous novel, CAMPAIGN WIDOWS), it mostly depends on how tight the deadline is! She’s incredible and I’m so grateful for her close eye and the time she spends doing this for me. Since she enjoys the same books/films/stories/genres as I do, I know that if there’s something in my novel that isn’t working for her then it’s not going to work for any reader! She’s the best! If you’re reading this: Hi, sis!

Q: What inspired you to write The Summer Set? 

A: I’ve always loved the film/TV/theater/music universe. I started out writing for entertainment magazines—Us Weekly, Premiere—and those jobs were incredible and offered me this amazing glimpse into that celebrity world with all of its ups and downs and drama and excitement. I’m an arts girl so I think there’s something magical about the way a great show, whether on stage or screen, can transport you or connect with you or seem to understand you. And I think the people who are able to bring those stories to life are fascinating!

Q: What projects are you currently working on?

A: I’m (slooooowly) at work on the next novel! It’s in those early stages but it’s an idea I’ve had for a long time so I’m excited! Wish me luck!! 

Q: What’s your favorite genre? 

A: Oooh, that’s tough! I actually will read anything and everything! For me, it just depends on the story. I’m always on board for great writing and the kind of storytelling that keeps me hooked and turning pages!

Q: Who is your favorite author? 

A: I could never choose just one! I grew up on the classics (Austen, the Brontes, Hemingway, Salinger, on and on!) and I adore them so much and revisit them often like checking in on old friends! As for contemporary authors, I love Tom Perrotta, Nick Hornby, Emma Straub, Dave Eggers, Elizabeth Gilbert, to name a few! There are so many that I love and admire!

Q: What are your top 3 favorite books of all time

A: Oh man, this is REALLY tough because there are just soooo many. But I’ll go with these:  

--Pride and Prejudice: I could read this every day! I’m completely Jane Austen-obsessed so I actually feel that way about all of her books. Even now, I’m thinking: should I choose Emma?! Or Persuasion?! How do you choose?!

--The Catcher in the Rye: I love everything Salinger. But Holden Caulfield was my first literary crush!

--A Moveable Feast: I also love everything Hemingway but I’ll go with this one because I’m pretty sure I belong in Paris in the ‘20s. (Aside from my very bad French.)

Q: How do you decide what kind of journey you want your characters to go on?

A: That’s a fantastic, huge question! Those first flashes I always have of a novel are of the main character in some sort of inner turmoil. So I tend to know the reason I’m going to be telling their story in the first place, but figuring out how to show it all and get from point A to B to C, takes a lot of mapping out!

Q: Would you ever write YA fantasy novels again?

A: I love this question! Absolutely, if the right story sparked! I had so much fun writing the Gilded Wings Trilogy, I miss those characters and still think of them and what adventures they might still be having! And I do miss writing magic and superpowers, it was always exciting to get to dream up those elements. So, you never know, I might just have to get back to that! ;)

THE SUMMER SET

Author: Aimee Agresti

Publication Date: May 12, 2020

Publisher: Graydon House Books

Buy Links: 

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Social Links:

Author Website

Twitter: @AimeeAgresti

Instagram: @aimeeagresti

Facebook: @AimeeAgrestiAuthor

Goodreads

[zoesmcsmstuff]

What if Lukas' eyes slowly turned red as PAMA regained control?

(tbh with my headcanon PAMA is in Lukas’ head but she’s literally become a part of him at the back of his head and she doesn’t really have the desire to “take control” because she kind of already is in control but we can have PAMA taking control Intensely)Jesse was a little upset with Lukas. It was over a little thing, but he’d used up all the milk and he couldn’t have his tea earlier. He was just going to be passive aggressive until the shops opened and he could go get some more. Lukas was fast asleep in bed still, Jesse had gotten an early start. Lukas had been up late writing, as usual...“Ugh.” Jesse set his head down on the table before grabbed his wallet to start walking to Beacon Town. Better earlier than late.--Jesse went through the markets, hoping the local dairy farmer would be selling fresh milk today. It wasn’t going to be the freshest stuff, just the leftovers from the past few days. He huffed and rolled his eyes.While he was making his way through the markets, someone pushed their way through the crowds, wide eyed and panting. “Jesse--! Jesse! Hey!” It was a blonde girl, who keeled over as she reached him.“Hey, hey, what’s happening?” Jesse helped the poor girl up.“The-- the mine’s infested with zombies and lots and lots of monsters...” The girl panted, heaving for breath. “We can’t f-figure... out where they’re coming from...”“I’ll come help, don’t worry.” Jesse’s mind immediately snapped to what he needed to do, beginning to jog on the spot. “Lead the way...!”--What a DAY. It was night and Jesse had some milk, but he was quickly jogging home. He’d discovered one of the miners had opened up a dungeon and found multiple spawners by accident, causing the mine to be flooded with zombies. Destroying the spawners, closing up the tunnels to the dungeon rooms, and cleaning up everything had taken all day...He didn’t even leave a note for Lukas before he left, and he was a little worried. He wasn’t exactly mad anymore...He approached the house down the lit path, quickly rushing inside to drop the milk inside, calling out to Lukas.“I’m home!” He shouted, hoping to hear a rush of footsteps or something. But nothing but silence.Jesse felt a little worried. Did he go out somewhere looking for him? He put the milk and everything in the fridge before going outside, having heard some sounds.His eyes were drawn behind the house where there was a lot of light. He headed closer, seeing the large section of grass behind their house had been converted into farmland, surrounded by a fence, and lit by torches. Rows of wheat with water running between them. Did Lukas make all this in one day?Jesse saw movement on the field and spotted Lukas kneeling in the dirt by the edge of a fence on the other side of the field, just sowing some seeds.“Hey, Lukas!” Jesse ran over to the fence where he was with a big grin on his face. “I’m sorry I had to leave so early-”Lukas was just staring down at his work, doing it with a careful but swift precision. All the seeds were carefully aligned…Lukas remained silent as he planted each seed carefully, but with a surprising speed. Jesse blinked and tried calling his name."Lukas...?"Lukas didn't respond. He didn't even flinch for a moment."Look, I'm sorry I just had to leave, I..." He trailed off as Lukas just didn't respond.“Come on..." He reached down and placed a hand on his shoulder.Lukas didn't respond, acting as if his hand wasn't there."Are you okay...?"Yet again, no response. Jesse tried to grab his arm. "Listen to me."Lukas froze and quickly twisted his arm off. Something was seriously wrong.Jesse took a few steps back and anxiously bit his lip, wondering what he'd done. Did something happen...?When Lukas got to the end of the row, he stood up and immediately stepped over the fence, making a straight line, walking past Jesse. His face was expressionless, but Jesse caught the deep dark rings under his eyes.Jesse walked alongside him, mumbling his name again. He let his hand brush against Lukas', but if he took it, he wouldn't even notice.He followed him right up to their room, just staying behind the door. Lukas wordlessly pulled the covers back, lay down, and pulled them back over himself. He stared at the ceiling.Jesse crept closer, just laying beside him, on top of the covers. He tried to snuggle him as they usually did, but Lukas didn't budge. His eyes just shut.A part of him felt like he was still going to be like this when he woke up. He too was exhausted and felt hot ears in his eyes, although he got up and grabbed a chair and some rope. When Lukas woke up that morning, he could try putting him on the spot and talking to him.Jesse didn't have much experience in tying ropes, but he'd sat Lukas, fast asleep, on a chair at the side of the room, grabbed some ropes and tried to loop them around him a few times, binding his arms to his side and tying the ropes at the back.He took a few steps back, seeing the poor man was leaning to the left a lot, his head drooping slightly. Jesse decided that was the best he could do and went to curl up alone in the cold bed.--When Jesse awoke, the sun was just breaking over the horizon. He and Lukas had built a window in their room for the purpose of waking them up every sunrise. Jesse squinted as the sun entered the room, being woken up gently. Morning. Much better than an alarm clock, Lukas had said.Wait, Lukas.Jesse sat up immediately, his eyes going to the chair. He felt his heart jump a little once he saw Lukas staring at him expressionless, but wide awake from his chair."Lukas--!" Jesse called, immediately shooting up from bed, going over to him with a big grin. "How are you feeling?""Could you please untie me?" Lukas asked, his eyes still blank. His voice was still a relative monotone."Actually, I just want to know what happened last night." Jesse folded his arms. "I mean, not responding to me talking or anything.""I was busy." Lukas replied, a short and vague answer. "You... you aren't mad or anything, are you?" Jesse still felt a little guilty about that."Of course I'm not mad." Lukas squirmed against the ropes. "Please release me...""Just because you were busy doesn't mean you had to ignore me..." Jesse's voice went a bit quiet."You were disrupting what I was doing. I could not have my productivity interrupted.""Lukas..." Jesse tapped his foot."I had planned perfect efficiency, and conversation was not part of the plan." Lukas spoke, seemingly without a hint of emotion.Jesse had seen Lukas go pretty deep into his efficiency mode. Staying up late writing, doing work around the house at utmost productivity, making dinner quickly as possible… but he hadn't ever seen him this deep in it.“How are you feeling now, Lukas?” Jesse asked, folding his arms.“I need to tend to the plants immediately.” Lukas replied, staring up at him.“You don't have to right now…”“It's what's most efficient, Jesse.” Lukas sort of glared. The glare surprised Jesse a bit, an actual expression!Jesse went to the closet, pulling out a journal. “It's your old journal, remember this?” He sat down on the bed, opening the pages, before deciding to lay down as he read it out loud.“I'm trapped in this mansion with a sea of zombies outside, a killer on the loose among us, and death traps at every corner. I don't know if I'll make it out alive but I found this empty journal so I'm writing the events of what's currently happening to keep calm.” Jesse read, watching Lukas struggle against the ropes.“Let me… go.” Lukas hissed, squirming.Jesse read on through the book. He was going to draw Lukas back out with this somehow.After half an hour of reading, he noticed Lukas had stopped struggling against the ropes. He just listened, still mostly blank faced.Lukas eventually just listened politely as Jesse read their experiences they had out loud to him, although eventually the journal came to the place where it ended.Jesse closed it with a fond smile. Although this thing would never be published, he felt it was just as special as everything else he'd written. “Feeling any better?” He asked in a soft voice.Lukas seemed to perk up a bit, expression having returned slightly to his face. “A bit.” He cracked a tiny smile which faded after a second.Jesse swung his legs down to stand up, bending over a little by Lukas to kiss his forehead. Lukas didn't respond for a second before going quite pink and blinking twice.“How about I get the ropes off…?” Jesse felt a teensy bit bad about that, going behind him to untie the thick knot. Within a few seconds, the ropes fell down. “There.”Lukas got to his feet slowly, as if unsure. Where to now, exactly? He seemed a little confused.“I’ll get you something to eat…” Jesse took his hand and slowly pulled him out of the room. Lukas followed along, somewhat dazed.

[fluffy-angry-liberal]

If all nationalism is bad, was Ireland's separation from the UK bad? I'm genuinely not trying to pick a fight, just painting all separatism with the same brush you can end up being overly broad in your conclusions. The Irish Passport podcast on nationalism. It's legitimately a good discussion of nationalism

This’ll be a longun and I haven’t slept much and can’t access my academic resources since I’ve graduated so a lot of this is from memory.

I’ll try and explain my thoughts as best I can but I can’t promise it’ll make sense.

Nationalism today is very different from the world even 70 years ago. Especially European nationalism.

Ireland breaking from the UK was brought upon by what can only be described as awful treatment by the British Government at an institutional level. Much the same can be said for India - Bengal Famine, anyone? - at the time.

Modern day nationalism seems instictively regressive in the world we live in, especially in the West. My experiences of studying and dealing with nationalists at university and in direct politics has most of it be much akin to the politics of Brexiteers who rely on a sense of “other” to blame for all issues.

My first girlfriend was Irish, and I visited Ireland and studied the Easter Rising and the subsequent conflict(s) that saw independence and civil war. It was an entertaining moment when a red blooded Irish man at one of the locations I visited challenged me on my view as an “English lad”, and I stunned him by saying that the Irish had every right to fight for their freedom given what they went through. It’s an interesting point that the Easter Rising didn’t have *that* much popular support until the public saw how the British treated the captives afterwards.

As the executions went on, the Irish public grew increasingly hostile towards the British and sympathetic to the rebels. After the first three executions, John Redmond, leader of the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party, said in the British Parliament that the rising "happily, seems to be over. It has been dealt with with firmness, which was not only right, but it was the duty of the Government to so deal with it".[136] However, he urged the Government "not to show undue hardship or severity to the great masses of those who are implicated".[136] As the executions continued, Redmond pleaded with Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to stop them, warning that "if more executions take place in Ireland, the position will become impossible for any constitutional party".[137] Ulster Unionist Party leader Edward Carson expressed similar views.[136][138] Redmond's deputy, John Dillon, made an impassioned speech in parliament, saying "thousands of people […] who ten days ago were bitterly opposed to the whole of the Sinn Fein movement and to the rebellion, are now becoming infuriated against the Government on account of these executions". He said "it is not murderers who are being executed; it is insurgents who have fought a clean fight, a brave fight, however misguided". Dillon was heckled by English MPs.[139] The British Government itself had also become concerned at the reaction to the executions, and at the way the courts-martial were being carried out. Asquith had warned Maxwell that "a large number of executions would […] sow the seeds of lasting trouble in Ireland".[140] After Connolly's execution, Maxwell bowed to pressure and had the other death sentences commuted to penal servitude.[141] - Wikipedia, Easter Rising

In the modern day no member of the UK see’s such brutal crack downs. We have a democracy and what’s more we have devolution. I want a Federal United Kingdom where there’s even more power to the devolved nations and ESPECIALLY the Welsh, who have a worse deal than Scotland because the Scottish Govt has done a better job getting money off Westminster.

When I speak of Nationalism I refer to it in the modern 21st century Western pressence. Nationalism in regions and unrecognised states like Tibet you can argue is an entirely different ballgame.

Scottish Nationalism especially annoys me as there is a great trend of “blame gaming” where even things that are completely under Scottish control is blamed on Westminster, partly because it’s the Tories. It feels reactionary rather than based on any true principle. Also I fundementally believe in the modern united and global world we have, more borders are a bad idea. Northern Ireland is a tricky case because obviously the right to self-determination is a thing but the hardcore “unionists” of Northern Ireland are arguably fueled by nationalism to a degree I cannot stand. It’s a strange case of “seperatism” in a “unionist” sense, even though I know plenty of Northern Irish who have no love for the English but are aggressively against the Republicans - you can imagine how much fun I had studying war studies with some of THAT lot. I lean in favour of a unified Ireland partly because geographically it makes sense, and politically Northern Ireland is a tricky case within the United Kingdom. Westminster keeps being put in control of it due to it’s Parliament not being able to form a stable government and so it becomes tricky to see it as a true part of the UK in a stable sense.

From a historical standpoint Scotland HAS had some vile treatment but not in recent years. Sure the Conservatives don’t treat them well but the Tories frankly don’t treat anyone well. I know people who were aides to Lib Dems during coaltion and you would not believe the arguments that went on behind closed doors. The Tories are very southern centric but that’s no reason to make a politics of seperation based on one groups bad politics, the North of England (define that how you will) has many gripes it can pick up with that. When I studied in Hull it was easier and faster for me to get home just outside of London than my friends to go half the distance by rail across routes not focused towards London. That’s not a nationalist issue that’s an issue for any Scottish, Welsh, North East, North West, Borders, Cornish, Northern Irish politican to try and take on.

Seperatism is a blunt instrument and in a world with devolution I don’t believe it’s necessary and in an ideal Federal world it’s not at all necessary. Especially if we manage to sort out this fucking Brexit bollocks. Scotland and the rest of the UK share a common culture, mostly the same land mass and putting up a border in the modern world seems stupid. Indeed a lot of what the Aye side argued would be the case made it feel more like technicalities than any real difference. A case of “stuff the Tories” rather than anything.

Civic Nationalism is a game of “otherness” and blaming on others beyond all else. “We don’t want that and so we need rid of them” is exactly the same argument every stupid thrice damned Brexiteer argues for, it’s civic nationalism to the extreme. Sadly having graduated I can’t access the things I used to but there was a wonderful article I wish I’d saved on our Library system that noted just how much Scottish Nationalist arguments for Independence crossed over with Brexiteer arguments for Brexit (ignoring the left-wing Brexiteers who had other gripes to pick).

To blanket suggest that civic nationalism was “progressive” seems entirely based around “Well I like this thing but not that thing”. 

Nationalism made sense in a world where the modern ideals of being a State mattered, or when your identity was being so brutally oppressed or put down often with armed force (Ireland early 20th century, potentially Tibet today). When it comes to states that have been somewhat forcibly made there are many arguments around re-drawing borders or the like, as seen in the Balkans and the middle east post-first world war - “Nothing more dangerous than a white guy with a map and a pencil, and he’s practically deadly if he has a ruler”. However all too easily “nationalist” forces get out of hand due to the very nature of their reliance on “otherness”. In a Western Democracy we have the priviledge and liberty to discuss these things and try and resolve it more simply, and in Europe we have a culture of crossing borders now in the post-war enviroment. The UK has existed for something like 300 years as it is, and Scotland isn’t so very different from England in any way other than which political party is currently dominant. Nationalism isn’t what’s needed anymore, nor is it healthy. And what is especially required is not to let the ghosts of the past dictate the politics of the future. Crimes must be owned up to, apologised for and the people educated on them, efforts made to fix it if necessary/possible/feasible. But people of my generation in Ireland who actively hate the English for our crimes there are no better than the 40 year old twats on telly here who rant about the Germans as if they’re still goose-stepping around in jack boots because they watched too many war films when they were kids. It’s all just civic nationalism and breeds otherness, dislike and nothing healthy in the modern world we have.

And that’s just nationalism. Don’t let me even get started on the economics of Scottish Independence even before Brexit was a thing. Or the fact that the SNP are hardly my favourite people as a group, regardless what their supporters dismiss.

This has been long and probably not very coherant, I last wrote an essay on this little sleep in finals but at least then I had Hull University Library to throw figures and facts whilst I argued about the differences between East-West Germany in the modern world.

And boy was that a fun topic to be had.

[bountyofbeads]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/trump-two-years-in-the-dealmaker-who-cant-seem-to-make-a-deal/2019/01/20/ecdede96-1bf9-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?__twitter_impression=true

He’s carrying out #Putin’s orders to sow discord. Why isn’t this obvious to anyone else?

Also remember #Republicans love shutting down the government, they've never liked the big federal government. This is a dream come true for the #GOP

He is doing deals, but the real deals they’re making are selling off public lands and mineral and oil rights and gutting all the departments. The normal oversight people are furloughed. No telling the amount of harm they are doing.

Trump two years in: The dealmaker who can’t seem to make a deal

By Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey | Published January 20, 2019 at 6:24 PM | The Washington Post | Posted January 20, 2019 |

Donald Trump was elected president partly by assuring the American people that “I alone can fix it.”

But precisely two years into his presidency, the government is not simply broken — it is in crisis, and Trump is grappling with the reality that he cannot fix it alone.

Trump’s management of the partial government shutdown — his first foray in divided government — has exposed as never before his shortcomings as a dealmaker. The president has been adamant about securing $5.7 billion in public money to construct his long-promised border wall, but has not won over congressional Democrats, who consider the wall immoral and have refused to negotiate over border security until the government reopens.

The 30-day shutdown — the impacts of which have begun rippling beyond the federal workforce into everyday lives of millions of Americans — is defining the second half of Trump’s term and has set a foundation for the nascent 2020 presidential campaign.

The shutdown also has accentuated several fundamental traits of Trump’s presidency: His apparent shortage of empathy, in this case for furloughed workers; his difficulty accepting responsibility for a crisis he had said he would be proud to instigate; his tendency for revenge when it comes to one-upping political foes; and his seeming misunderstanding of Democrats’ motivations.

Trump on Saturday made a new offer to end the shutdown, proposing three years of deportation protections for some immigrants, including young people known as “Dreamers,” in exchange for border wall funding.

But before Trump even made it to the presidential lectern in the White House’s stately Diplomatic Reception Room to announce what he called a “straightforward, fair, reasonable, and common sense” proposal, Democrats rejected it as a non-starter.

“What the president presented yesterday really is an effort to bring together ideas from both political parties,” Vice President Pence said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think it is an act of statesmanship on the president’s part to say, ‘Here is what I’m for. It includes my priorities, it includes priorities that Democrats have advanced for some period of time,’ and we believe it provides a framework for ending this impasse.”

Such an accord has proven elusive, however, in part because Democrats believe they have the upper hand politically in opposing Trump’s wall and feel no imperative to give ground.

“What really drove him was ‘Art of the Deal,’ that he could get stuff done in D.C. and deal with the knuckleheads,” said Republican strategist Mike Murphy, a sharp Trump critic. “People saw him as some sort of business wizard. That’s all disintegrating. It’s like McDonald’s not being able to make a hamburger.”

Trump has approached the shutdown primarily as a public relations challenge. He has used nearly every tool of his office — including a prime-time Oval Office address as well as a high-profile visit to the U.S.-Mexico border — to convince voters that the situation at the souther border has reached crisis levels and can only be solved by constructing a physical barrier.

Trump’s advisers argue the president has been successful at educating and persuading Americans even though his efforts have not led to a bipartisan deal. “You can’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime,” said one White House official who, like some others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.

But the data tell a more troubling story for the president. One month into the shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, a preponderance of public polls show Trump is losing the political fight. For instance, a Jan. 13 Washington Post-ABC News survey found that many more Americans blame him than blame Democrats for the shutdown, 53 percent to 29 percent. And the president’s job approval ratings continue to be decidedly negative.

“Even though he thinks he’s doing a great job for his core, it’s ripping the nation apart,” said one Trump friend, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t think there is a plan. He’s not listening to anybody because he thinks that if he folds on this he loses whatever constituency he thinks he has.”

Behind the scenes at the White House, some aides acknowledge the difficulties.

“The president is very much aware he’s losing the public opinion war on this one,” one senior administration official said. “He looks at the numbers.”

Other Trump advisers insist that the president is not driven by political considerations and is focused entirely on protecting the American people and finding a solution to illegal immigration.

John McLaughlin, a pollster on Trump’s 2016 campaign, said Trump’s suggestion to temporarily extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants protections for some people brought to the United States illegally as children, is key to increasing his popularity.

“The White House needs to press that button and more often dangle that out there,” McLaughlin said. “We need to remind the voters every day that the president is willing to compromise and give legal status to DACA recipients in exchange for increased border security, but the Democrats are too intense about trying to defeat Trump right now.”

Some political professionals cautioned against rushing to judgment about the shutdown’s impact on Trump’s reelection, saying that November 2020 is a virtual eternity from now.

“This could all be forgotten in a week if and when we come to an agreement, the government opens and the wall is built,” Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said. “Nobody knows how this is going to turn out until we get a resolution. So it’s a national game of chicken.”

Trump has long seen his stewardship of the economy as his political calling card. Yet the instability in Washington is threatening to wreak havoc, with fresh gyrations in the stock market amid concerns about Trump’s trade war with China and fears of a prolonged shutdown.

Trump’s management of the impasse has also drawn criticism about his competence as an executive. The administration this past month has been playing a game of Whack-a-Mole, with West Wing aides saying they did no contingency planning for a shutdown this long and have been learning of problems from agencies and press reports in real time. Officials have scrambled to try to respond as best they can and keep key services operating, but they fear they may soon run out of so-called Band-Aid solutions and temporary pots of money may run dry in February, one official said.

Inside the West Wing, morale has been low in recent weeks. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, has not sought to impose the same level of discipline as his predecessor, John F. Kelly, so aides flow in and out of the Oval Office, reminiscent of the early months of Trump’s presidency.

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is an increasingly powerful figure who has asserted himself, along with Pence and Mulvaney, in negotiations with lawmakers and believes there is a “big deal” to be had.

Two senior Republican aides said senators are skeptical that Pence speaks for the president, after Trump undercut him early in the shutdown.

Trump has been preoccupied by the political messaging and stagecraft of the shutdown showdown. He has personally met with outside allies to ask them to go on cable television to defend his position, and he has spent time calling those who have praised him.

The president has also gone days without speaking to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), leaving negotiations effectively at a standstill despite Trump’s latest offer Saturday.

“The shutdown has turned into a test of strength between the president and Washington Democrats, particularly the speaker, and how it ends and when will tell us a lot about whether they can forge a relationship over the next two years,” said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist who has been a top aide to former Republican House speakers John A. Boehner and Paul D. Ryan.

In private conversations with advisers, Trump alternately complains that nobody has presented him a deal to end to shutdown, complains about Pelosi and Schumer and asks how the fight affects his reelection chances. Aides said they have shown him polling that he is losing the shutdown battle and that most Americans do not think the situation at the border is a crisis, as he and his administration have termed it.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) repeatedly has told Trump that he believes Pelosi is trying to embarrass him, two people familiar with the conversations said.

Trump has accused Democrats of being insensitive to the dangers of illegal immigration. “They don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020 — which they are not going to win,” he tweeted on Sunday. He went on to single out Pelosi for behaving “irrationally” and acting as “a Radical Democrat.”

Pelosi and other Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump is immune to the hardships of federal workers who are going without paychecks.

“I don’t think that he understands the real-life impacts,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D), whose home state of Montana has one of the highest concentrations of federal workers. “Look, the guy was born with a lot of money, and that’s great. I wish I was born with a lot of money, too. I was born with great parents, okay? And so I don’t think he really can relate with people who live paycheck to paycheck. That’s why I don’t think there’s urgency on his part.”

[bloodontheclocktower]

A Video, BGG, San Francisco, Canberra, and CanCon

Barring a short break over Christmas, the BOTC Team has been super busy moving production forward, getting more pre-release copies out there, going to conventions, hosting games nights, and making cool videos...

We Made a Video!

It was such a fun day! It shows highlights of rad people playing a real game of Blood on the Clocktower and tells you why we think it's awesome:

Everyone in this video is a friend who’s been playing in Sydney with us for at least the past year or so - some have even been with us since the very first game in 2014. We filmed it at Claire’s house in Newtown (Sydney, Australia) with the extensive setup of lights, vines, props, and whole light-up clock that Steven has for when he needs to make a session of BOTC extra fancy. It took about three or four hours to film because there were many breaks for technical reasons (and a lot of breaks for food), but other than that it was an honest-to-goodness game and we had no idea how it would play out or which team would win. For those after a few more details, the lineup going clockwise from the Imp was:

Imp (Lucy) Virgin (Misha) Baron (Julian) Ravenkeeper (Myeisha) Chef (Lewis) Drunk Undertaker (Kurt) Bone Collector - Evil (Marianna) Saint (Doug) Washerwoman (Fil) Empath (Claire) Spy (Abdallah)

Early on, Steven and I thought the Good team had it won - they executed a minion (the Baron) on the first day and then nearly got a majority vote on the Demon the next day. However her bluff as an outsider after that was strong, the Baron (assisted by the Drunk Undertaker’s bad info) convinced the Good players that he was the Recluse and not Evil, and the Spy helped sow a lot of confusion by bluffing as the Fortune Teller. It was enough confusion to turn suspicion against Doug, whose (genuine) claim of being the Saint was in contradiction of the bluffs of two evil players (Julian and Lucy). Eventually it was enough to convince the group to execute the Saint and bring victory for Evil.

Although the moment of Marianna’s arrival and entry into the game as the Traveller was staged for the video, we did indeed choose to make her the Traveller in this game because she missed the shooting call-time and was the last player to turn up. We are devotees to accuracy.

This video could not have been made without the videography, production, and all-round guidance of our friend John Hanna at Midnight Runners. He is super rad, so make sure to check his stuff out.

We’re on BoardGameGeek.com

It took us a little while to get there, but we finally have an entry for Blood on the Clocktower on Board Game Geek.

We campaigned with our regular players to get nominated for BGG’s Most Anticipated Game of 2018 and received nominations in two categories: Party and Horror. So, a horror party. Halloween, basically.

We didn’t manage to win in either category (we haven’t been out and about that long you guys), but a lot of people who’ve played it rated the game and wrote some really lovely things about it. It was fantastic to see so many of the nice things we‘ve heard about the game all coalesce together into one spot.

Check out the ratings and comments here, and if you’ve played the game please jump on and give it whatever rating you think it deserves. (We had a few friends who haven’t played it yet offer to give it a generous rating, and whilst that’s super nice of them we ask everyone that you please don’t rate the game if you haven’t played it - we want to make sure that the number accurately reflects how the players really feel about it.)

San Francisco is Live

We kicked of the new year in Sydney with a massive session of BOTC at my place on the 2nd of January. There were about fifty people with three different games running from six o’clock to midnight and it amounted to a definitive party atmosphere.

See more photos of that night here on Facebook.

Part of the reason for the celebratory mood (apart from BOTC being awesome) was that our friend Brianna was visiting from San Francisco. She’s taken a pre-release copy of the game back to San Francisco with her - our very first permanent copy in the U.S. She’s running a bunch of games already, so if you live in San Francisco (or know anyone there), you can join or add people to the group for Blood on the Clocktower - San Francisco.

Canberra and #CanCon2018

San Francisco isn’t the only city with a new grimoire - as of late January, Canberra now has one too. After a few fun trips to play BOTC at the social deception nights at Reload Bar late last year, we found a city full of cool people and great gamers who really dig BOTC. We figured they should have greater access to it than they previously possessed and made a pre-release copy for them.

Over the late January long weekend, myself, Steven, and our friend Alex travelled from Sydney to Canberra for CanCon 2018 - the Canberra Games Society’s 40th annual gaming convention. Through fourteen games of BOTC we witnessed mayhem, murder, countless lies, and sincere puzzlement - all along with some amazing displays of deduction and persuasion. Some highlights included a four-in-a-row evil streak from a totally new player (who won the first three of those four), a skeleton joining the game, and on Saturday night a pair of the most hilarious games I’ve ever seen - courtesy of a really great group of young, sharp players (who gave execution defenses like “In the world today, is anyone really good or evil?”, and whose name tags all became variations of “clemon” after I misread a player’s name tag as “not a clemon” instead of “not a demon”).

Yep, CanCon was pretty fantastic.

We met a whole heap of great and awesome people across the three days - if you’re reading this, we hope to see you at a game in Sydney or Canberra soon. Evil ‘won’ CanCon (taking 8 games to the Good Team’s 6) and we left a copy of BOTC behind in Canberra with some really excellent people who will be able to run regular games. Join the Blood on the Clocktower Canberra Facebook Group to see when games will be running (and you may also see it regularly at Reload Bar’s monthly social deception nights).

Site Updates - The Script and the Base Editions

For a while now, behind the scenes, we’ve had an online tool to easily create a custom character list from the 200+ characters that we’ve created. We call it The Script, and it was made by our amazing Technical Minion, Amy.

To give everyone a taste, we’ve put up a version of The Script with characters from the three first editions (Trouble Brewing, Sects & Violets, and Bad Moon Rising) - this means that anyone in a city with a pre-release grimoire can have a go at making a custom list with a unique character combination and try it out in a game. Go make a crazy script with a tonne of action or a tonne of death and see what happens! (Or you could just take a stickybeak to see the characters coming out with the main game.)

A lot of characters beyond the first three editions are still being played with in Sydney. They’re being sorted into their own official game lists and will be added to The Script as they come out with the game’s expansions.

Check out The Script here: http://bloodontheclocktower.com/script

We’ve also put up descriptions of the three editions of the game you’ll get in the box when Blood on the Clocktower is released. Check those out here: http://bloodontheclocktower.com/buy

The Ninth Salisbury Festival of Board Games

The Salisbury Festival of Board Games is on in Sydney from March 8-10! It’s a big three-day board games house party! Come join us! Free! Fun! Inside an actual house! Plenty of BOTC will be on as well as other games. Info is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/865328406956834/

Thanks to all of the excellent people who’ve played BOTC with us and run games and chatted with us and hung out with us and stuff. You’re all rad and I hope to see you at a game soon. Until next time,

Evin Donohoe Social Minion for Blood on the Clocktower

[murasaki-murasame]

Danganronpa V3 Liveblog Part 9 [Chapter 3 - Daily Life]

This time on DRV3, things get ~spooky~. Right in time for Halloween, funnily enough! Well, nearly.

Thoughts under the cut.

Well this chapter sure is weird. I wasn’t expecting such a big focus on occult stuff and religious stuff, but I guess it’s a natural turn of events. At least, the whole deal with Angie basically absorbing half of the remaining cast into her religion and then using her influence to impose strict order over everyone. I probably should have seen that coming. I’ve been creeped out for a while now, and this is the natural end result of her attitude. I really like it as a plot point. It’s kinda sad that since she died here it only really lasted for a single chapter, but still.

The heavy focus on her being more or less a cult leader who everyone outside of her group, and even at least one person in her group, wanted to take down one way or another made it fairly obvious after a while that she’d be the victim this time around. I was expecting at least one other member of her group to be dead as well, though. Mostly because the chapter three cases from the last two games both had two victims each. I guess it’s nice that they broke that pattern. I was really afraid that Tenko would get killed off, especially with how she’s gotten a good amount of focus and development recently. But she’s still alive, which I’m happy for.

And let’s be real here, it was obvious that Angie’s lab would be the crime scene as soon as the game pointed out that it has two doors with different locks on them, and that Angie likes to keep the door locked from inside while she works. That was just screaming ‘this is set-up for a locked room mystery’.

This chapter’s motive was the really bizarre thing, though. I did not see that one coming at all. The chapter title was worrying enough, but then we got to the stuff about resurrecting a dead person to bring them back into the game. That’s . . . something. I was confused for a while about how the process worked, since it was a motive for murder. Like, I guessed that maybe the ritual involved a sacrifice, but the game never really explained the actual mechanics of the ritual until near the end of this part, and it sounds like there’s no murder involved. So I guess it’s a ‘motive’ more in the sense that it’d sow disorder in the group and lead to murder that way. I think. I’m assuming that the ritual won’t work, obviously.

Seeing low-def 3D models of the dead characters was so goddamn weird and creepy. And now they’re ritualistically being hung upside down around a corpse. Yay.

Though before that, I should mention before I forget, there were also more weird hints at the overall story early in the chapter. As I kinda said last time, this chapter starts off with some sort of news story about a deadly metero shower. I’m not sure what to make of it. Was that the unprecedented crisis that Kirumi mentioned? I’m skeptical. But then again I’m kinda skeptical about every single hint at the overall story in this game because everything seems so fishy.

On that note, we also got the return of the funeral hinted at with the start of chapter two. So it seems like everyone was able to remember what seemed to be their own collective funeral. Not sure what to make of that. I can’t help but stick to my ‘this is literally purgatory’ theory, but I think that’s just what the game wants you to think. So then what’s the deal? Are the main characters in this game, like, clones or impostors or something? I have no idea. In general I can’t even begin to guess what this is leading to. I feel like the game’s just throwing out these absurdly weighty but vague ideas and making me think about these absurd ideas for where this might be going.

Like, we even had what seems to be the return of the New World Program machine from DR2, which was . . . weird as fuck. No idea what the deal with that is. And on the note of references to past games, we even had the return of the gold foil sword from DR1. That was probably closer to just being a reference though.

Oh, and on the topic of some of the more random things that happened, I still can’t work out what’s going on with the message on the tile in the garden. That’s still a mystery to me. And I don’t even know where to begin with that scene of Miu and Keebo in Miu’s lab. That sure was . . . something. I guess the game felt that it had been holding back too much on the fanservice-y CGs, lol. I wonder what the chances are that it might somehow be a pivotal scene to solving the case.

I’m also completely baffled by what’s going on with Monokuma just . . . shutting down, and Monodam taking over. The Monokubs confused me in general ever since they first showed up, but now I’m even more unsure what the heck the game is planning with them.

I did another small session of gambling and decided to get the skill that automatically reveals the first letter in the Hangman’s Gambit, and the skill that stops the reticle from moving, though I’m gonna have to wait to equip the latter one since it apparently takes up a lot of slots. I also must have forgotten to equip one of the Argument Armament skills last time since it was there for me to add to my list. I also managed to have enough friendship fragments by the end of this part to get the skill that automatically silences loud voices in Mass Panic Debates. I dunno if I’ll get the one about focusing on specific conversations.

Somehow I managed to get events in with Keebo, Maki, and Kokichi. I wanted to talk to Kaito, but in the later events he didn’t want to talk to me since he was sick. I don’t really have much to say about Keebo, other than that I’m still a bit baffled by how he’s basically just a comic relief character at this point. I mean, he looked so . . . badass and protagonist-y on the first promo poster we got. He’s even the single character shown on NIS America’s limited edition box set of the game. It’s weird. Anyway, moving on, I’m really liking Maki, but I think I’ll talk more about her in a minute. Kokichi is . . . slowly growing on me, honestly. The fact that he’s apparently a huge goddamn nerd who wanted to play Yu-Gi-Oh with Shuichi was pretty great. It’s still hard to get a read on him, though. He’s the sort of character who’s so two-faced that it’s hard to bother even trying to figure him out. But I still think there’s something worth discovering about him, so I’m prioritizing him a bit in free time events.

I almost forgot, but I wanna talk about the Shuichi-Kaito-Maki trio, and how much I love them right now. They’re so wonderful. I still have a huge soft spot for the Shuichi-Kaito dynamic. Especially after the part where Shuichi talked about how Kaito more or less completes him by balancing him out and making him feel happy and carefree in a way that he normally can’t. It’s just really heart-warming. But I also like that Kaito immediately stuck up for Maki and, like with Shuichi, forced her to get out of her shell. Shuichi and Maki really do both need someone reckless and impulsive like Kaito around to push them forward when they’d otherwise falter. Seeing Maki get bought into the training sessions was really nice. I like that she’s slowly warming up to them in her own way, and is actually taking Kaito’s words to heart.

I really like what this chapter’s been doing for Maki’s overall character development and depth. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her at first, but I really like her as a character now. The idea of her being an assassin who’s been forced to basically abandon her humanity and her personal relationships time and time again, but who also wants to live a better life and overcome the way she was raised, is really compelling to me. I also just really like her attitude, especially now that she’s not being secretive about stuff, and we know why she is the way she is. Her habit of saying ‘You wanna die?’ whenever Shuichi questions her about something is amazing and I love it. I’m also pretty glad I did her first free time event. Though, come to think of it, I’m pretty sure it was the part where she talked about the cult that had trained her, so . . . were you just unable to have free time events with her before this point? I guess that’d make sense, given her attitude before this chapter.

As for Kaito . . . I love this purple space boy with all my heart and soul, but god dammit I’m gonna get stuck in another loop of being suspicious of him. Argh. I’m just so suspicious of how he suddenly got all weird and sick a day or two before the murder, and how he spent a lot of time holed up in his room at night and thus feels like a prime suspect for the current case. It’s at least giving me horrible flashbacks to chapter three of DR2, with the despair disease or whatever they called it. Even though I know it’d be handled differently, it’d be lame if we got a repeat of the overall idea of an illness being related to the culprit deciding to murder someone. Especially with how aggressively telegraphed it was that something’s weird with him and he’s spending a lot of time alone. It almost feels like the chapter’s setting him up as being one of the immediate suspects, which I’d be glad for if it means he didn’t do it.

I think I’m at a bit of a loss as to who the other prime suspects would be, though. But that’ll presumably change once I get done with the rest of the chapter tomorrow. I just feel like there’s a lot of info I don’t have. I couldn’t even easily guess what the murder method was, based on the clip we got of her body. Probably because she kinda just showed up for a split second at the end of it. It looked like some kind of wound near her neck area. I think.

The main mystery here is obviously that it was a locked room scenario where the room was locked from the inside, but somehow the culprit got in and out while keeping the room locked from the inside after they left. Even though the last chapter literally had a character trying to tell everyone that they can use magic, this is shaping up to be way more Umineko-esque, especially with the creepy occult ritual going on. It honestly almost feels like a reference to Umineko, but locked room mysteries are a basic enough idea that it’s probably a coincidence.

I’m not entirely sure what my preliminary guess about the locked room trick is. This is a very different situation to something like Umineko, so I can’t really apply the same logic here. I guess my immediate thought would be that I’d like to check if the other door into the room is definitively locked from the inside. Just to be safe.

I also thought that Monodam stole the key away, so I’m not entirely sure how anyone locked the doors from the inside to begin with. If we at least assume that there’s only one valid key in play, and no, like, master keys floating about.

I easily lose track of the flow of time in this game, so it’s hard to remember, but I think the whole scene where Shuichi, Maki, and Tenko tried to convince Angie to stop the ritual happened after midnight, the night before they then walked in during the morning and found Angie’s dead body. So I think that’s the night that this case is revolving around. Which is part of why I’m suspecting Kaito, since I’m pretty sure that was one of the nights where he was holed up in his room, and Shuichi and Maki were doing training alone. I at least know that Kaito wasn’t with them during that whole scene, so . . . yeah.

I know that the clues mostly come during the investigation, but it really doesn’t feel like I have many clues at all to go by for this one at the moment. It at least feels like it’d be really hard to pin down anyone’s alibis since I don’t think we know about anyone having been running around during the night after the confrontation happened. I think Miu might have been working in the computer lab at that time, though, so since that’s kinda linked up to the same part of the building I guess she might play a part in verifying alibis and stuff. That’s about all I can think of, really. The only other person I can think of who might have been breaking curfew after the confrontation would have been, well, Kokichi, who I think they actually ran into shortly before the confrontation. I think everyone else was probably just in their dorms. Himiko got involved in the confrontation too, I guess, but I kinda doubt she killed Angie.

And, of course, a main issue is that aside from Kokichi knowing how to pick locks, I don’t know if anyone would have any unique ability to mess with the locks on Angie’s room. So in terms of each character’s individual ability to pull this crime off in the first place, everyone seems on almost even standing.

It’s probably pointless to predict things too much, but I guess my main three suspects would be Kaito, Tenko, and Kokichi, with Himiko and Miu at a more distant fourth and fifth place. I feel like I can trust Maki on this one, so the only other character who I have even the slightest evidence to suspect is probably Kiyo, purely because he’s gotten a fair bit of screen-time in this chapter.

I have a feeling Tenko didn’t do it, at least because I doubt she would have literally talked about wishing that Angie could die and attempting to basically arrange an assassination on her if she was going to end up killing her directly. But still, she obviously has the strongest motive to kill Angie, other than Maki I guess. And I’d really like to see where she as a character, and her dynamic with Himiko, will go in the long run now that Angie’s dead.

And on the note of motive, I would imagine that everyone on Angie’s side other than Tenko has no motive to kill her and are thus probably all innocent, while everyone on Shuichi’s side has a pretty clear motive to kill her. Which is why I’m only really suspecting people on his side, for the most part. 

Also on a metagame-y note, I definitely feel more inclined to suspect a male culprit this time, after two female culprits. Which limits my options even more, though I’m not 100% sure on it.

I certainly hope this chapter plans to throw a curveball at me, and isn’t just blatantly signalling Kaito as the killer. But, I mean, that’s exactly what I said during chapter two, and look where that mind-set got me, lol.