#tf even is a statistical question

[emiwuaidmslomc]

OMG IM BELOW THE FUCKING WORD COUNT WE FUCKING CHEERED

[eatyoursparkout]

hello! this ask is prompted by a recent reblog of yours about rubber preservation. I'd love to hear your thoughts relating to TFs and preservation and plastics. what should folks know? any best practices for storage? do you think there's another way manufacturers could produce them to make them more hardy? etc etc. thanks :)

Sure! I'm not a conservator by trade (and even within conservation plastics are still somewhat of a new and niche thing), but I can offer some general advice.

The tl;dr is that like 90% of other materials your best bet is to keep them clean, out of strong light, in an environment that isn't too hot or too cold, and to avoid temperature/relative humidity (RH) fluctuations as much as possible. And above all, make sure that they're well-ventilated.

The tl;dr tl;dr is that plastics just suck.

More detail under the cut! (...Lots of detail. Sorry.)

There's 2 main problems with plastics.

The first is that a lot of them are just kind of inherently unstable. Unlike a nice chemically stable material like glass, they want to deteriorate when exposed to things like....oxygen. Rip. And once damage has set in, it's basically impossible to reverse/treat.

The second is that there's really no regulations or standards when it comes to the manufacture of plastics. There's a bazillion different types, and even if you're able to identify the specific kind via chemical test (and this often damages the object in question) it's almost impossible to know what other kinds of additives went into the plastic soup that created the thing in front of you. This also makes it really hard to develop a standardized approach to caring for and treating plastics, because two things can react wildly differently even if they appear virtually the same.

That means that when it comes to plastics, preventative conservation is the name of the game. You want to mitigate the effects of the agents of deterioration on the object as much as possible. And in the meantime, make peace with the fact that nothing can be preserved indefinitely :')

TFwiki has an article talking about the common types of plastic used in TF figures, which is neat and useful. Gonna hazard a guess that most figures are predominantly ABS, which is great because it's a fairly sturdy hard plastic that probably won't show effects for a while. I'd be statistically more concerned about figures with squishy, rubbery bits (looking with apprehension at my Kingdom line BW figures).

So! While the ideal environment for plastics is cold, dark, dry and oxygen-free (lol), when it comes to personal collections you can obviously only take reasonable measures. They're in our homes, not a vault. The main things you want to keep in mind:

Light fades and discolours plastic over time, and can eventually cause certain kinds to become brittle. The more lux that your figures are exposed to, the faster that's going to happen. So while it's not reasonable for your house to maintain museum-level lighting or shell out for fancy UV filtered cases, I'd keep your displays out of direct sunlight at minimum.

High temperatures can increase the rate of oxidation, and low ones can encourage shrinkage and brittleness. Either one can do damage over time, but what's worse is fluctuations in temp that force the material to weather one extreme to the other. If you've got your figures in a storage unit or something, a climate controlled one would be ideal, or at least insulating the box so that they're kept at a more stable temp. In the home, I'd keep them away from any vents/heaters.

As far as humidity goes, it's less damaging to plastics than a lot of other materials, but you still want to avoid any large fluctuations that will cause the material to expand and shrink (and eventually crack). Wherever you're storing your figures, try to make sure it's somewhere <65% RH (this is a high cutoff compared to most materials, so your home is probably fine unless you live somewhere humid without A/C).

Pollutants are a big one for plastics. Dust can cause microabrasions and damage over time, so keeping your figures clean is a good idea. I'd use a soft brush to avoid scratching your figures, or a lightly moist swab of some kind. Don't risk any kind of chemical cleaners, bleach, vinegar, etc. and I'd even avoid compressed air to be safe. If you want to be really careful about it, wash your hands before handling your figures. Humans carry all kinds of oil and dirt on their fingers- that's why museum professionals are often wearing gloves.

And then there's the problem of off-gassing...

Plastics can unfortunately give off vapours that can negatively affect other plastics in their vicinity. The especially bad ones are called malignant plastics (evil, scary), but it's hard to ID them until they start falling apart or damaging the things around them. Best course of action is to reduce contact between different figures (pose them together, but maybe don't leave someone's hand on someone else's shoulder for five years), and make sure that there's good ventilation.

If you're going to box up figures, don't be like me and store them in your parents' basement for years in an airtight container :') Go for a more pourous material like archival grade corrugated board, and use something as a buffer between figures like polyethylene bags/sheeting so that they're not touching (there's pros and cons to sealing each individual figure in a polyethylene bag- it'll be trapped with its own gases which could speed up deterioration, but the microclimate will keep it from affecting other figures around it).

And if you have boxed figures.... either commit to leaving them boxed forever or crack those bad boys open. My partner opened up their Pacific Rim figures after several years of them stewing in their own vapours and sadly they ended up falling apart in their hands. Thanks NECA.

As for manufacturing, you'd have to ask a chemist! I'm not sure exactly what it is that turns certain plastics to gunk and causes others to shatter, but I'm sure standardizing the way we make them would go a long way. Unfortunately, the stuff that's going to better for the planet in the long run (biodegradable) is also going to deteriorate quicker by design, so that's a whole other issue.

Anyway! That's a lot of info, but I hope it was an interesting and/or helpful introduction to plastic care lol. If you're interested in more thorough reading, I'll direct you to the CCI's handy dandy free online resource. They're an invaluable resource for all kinds of materials care.

[altraviolet]

Hey Violet!

I'm curious; what do you think the queer allure of transformers is, purely from your experience? Be as surface level or in-depth as you want, I've had media and fandom worms in my research brain and I'd love your perspective!

Hey anon!

hmm! what an interesting question! I hope I can answer to your satisfaction :u I'm not sure how personal to get with my own experience, to be honest :u

I'll give you a little bit of background info on me so that your research brain can ground itself in my internal timeline, and then I'll do my best :)

I'm on the older side of fandom. I always liked Transformers (even wrote some fic 25+ years ago), but I didn't become a very serious fan until I was introduced to MTMTE in 2015.

I also, uh... hmm. I definitely fall under the definition of queer, but I'm not Out, for a couple of reasons, except to family and close friends. I am not part of a real life queer community (to my own detriment, I am quite sure).

So the intersection of Transformers and queer stuff, for me, has some limits. I don't know what the fandom, let alone the queer side of the fandom, was doing before 2015. All I can offer you is the following :)

I guess first I'll approach this from a wider perspective: I assume there's always been a queer component to the TF fandom. Even if you calculated what percentage of the fandom could be queer, just given what the queer percentage of the total population is, it is immutably a true statement (and I'd wager the % of queer-identifying fans is a much higher number than the % of the population identifying as queer). tl;dr- there always has been a queer audience for TFs because there are always queer people in an audience.

I would guess, though, that the percentage of queer fans measurably increased with the publication of MTMTE: the comic caused an influx to the fandom/franchise. Why? The comic had explicit and clearly defined representation. The world was presented as homonormative. So, that's a big thing, I think. People gravitate towards the things that represent them. If you happen to love robots and all the sudden holy shit trans lesbian robots and you're a trans lesbian, I'm guessing that, overall*, you would enjoy that.

(*yes I am aware that there was and continues to be criticism of all the queer elements of MTMTE, let's move forward acknowledging that but not dwelling on it. I hate that I feel like I have to make statements like this but, just so we're all clear, I'm not seeking to represent anyone in particular or deny criticism)

Other than the representation, MTMTE had a fantastic story. So like, you know. Everyone likes a fantastic story.

But what else? The franchise is absolutely enormous: surely there is more appeal than one comic.

Yes, I do think so :) and from here on out I'm going to be giving you some guesses and observations. Whereas you can math your way through population statistics, the following is more anecdotal. More feeling based than data based.

Transformers can be anything you want them to be. They can have any genitals, or none. They can be any sex/gender/sexuality, or none. They are perfect in this way because they are fictional. They can be seen as wish fulfillment ("I wish my body looked like XYZ and that would require a change, so what if I had my favorite character go through that change"), or as celebration ("HELL YEAH this character has the same sexual/emotional connections with others that I do!"). They can be as messy or as perfect as you want them to be. They can reflect you, or who you want to be, or who you wished you were but suspect you will never be, or who you hope to be, or who you have already become.

Ah, you say. Yes, all fine and dandy. But technically any fictional characters can fit these criteria: what makes Transformers special?

There are several themes explored in various parts of the franchise that could appeal to queer folks. As a targeted minority who have often only had themselves and scant allies on their own side, the themes of "body autonomy regardless of how you were born" and "freedom is the right of all sentient beings" may ring more true... consciously or subconsciously. There's the whole they literally transform, hey, that's in the name! They change into other things: that's who they are and that's who all their friends are. It's normal and correct for their world. There's the idea that the good guys are fighting for freedom and peace and protecting the more fragile squishy organics (common theme across the franchise- Optimus risking everything for a handful of humans). The "when you stick up for the little ones, you're sticking up for everyone," kind of idea.

On a wholly different note, there's the fact that many of the characters are drawn with "heroic proportions." Hello, Hot Motor Oil? These characters can be made very very sexy. And heck, I'd wager for some small percentage of the queer audience, the attraction to the franchise started with aesthetics, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Perhaps for a small part of the audience, the sexy drawings made them go, "This better not make me feel anything. ... uh oh..." and then they realized that their identity was different from what they first thought.

Heck I know two (queer) people who joined the fandom just because of OP's voice in the live action movies.

Another thing that probably helps is the fandom. Bullying and stupid drama aside, I've observed that most people tend to be friendly and appreciate the outpouring of fanwork. It's much easier to slide into a fandom if it's been around for a long time and already has queer people in it. And boy, has this fandom been around for a long time. Oh, and also, it's extremely excellent that a lot of the people who work on canon (artists, VAs, etc) are vocally supportive of queer folks. And some of the creators for the later shows have been open and out and have discussed their identities or specifically been picked for roles so that they could represent a character (I'm thinkin' Cyberverse and EarthSpark here: I'm not sure about anything that came earlier).

Now this is definitely anecdotal, but the TF fandom has a shitton of artists, and they are extremely fucking skilled and talented. And I've noticed that artists tend to be queer. Like, in my whole life meeting and talking to artists, the straight ones are in the minority. (again, anecdotal, lol) So there's that. There are so many people across all the spectra of attraction and expression and so forth creating so much stuff for everyone to enjoy in the TF fandom. There are a LOT of queer fanon (and some canon) pairings/groupings with tons of art and fic exploring those dynamics. And when you see that, when you feel welcome, you're more likely to join and stay.

Another side note: there is something of an overlap between TF fans and furries, and furries (to my understanding) have always been very welcoming of queer people. So I'm sure some people have wandered to and fro between those two arenas.

You've probably already thought of this, anon, but I wanted to note it: there are other intersections. I know several disabled and queer creators who love Transformers. I can't speak for that point of view, but I'm certain both those things factor into their relationships with the franchise. The intersections of race and religion and queerness will also shape how people are drawn to the franchise. And also, come to think of it, age. My younger coworkers are so confident and open about who they are. I admire them so much! I'm so proud of them. None of them are Transformers fans... yet >D

And... hmm. That's all I can think of at the moment! I considered putting some more personal info in, but decided against it... if I think of anything else, I'll add it in later =)

I hope this helped! Best of luck on your quest for knowledge 📚✨

[morgenlich]

THANK YOU for posting about that 100 companies thing. That has annoyed tf out of me for years tysm

lol yeah! it’s something i’ve never really seen refuted so i never really questioned it; all criticism surrounding it has had to do with people who saw that statistic and said “oh! none of what i do actually matters in fighting climate change so i can continue on as is” which!! would be the incorrect thing to do even if that stat were, at face value, true—but it’s not! those companies (AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES) don’t exist in a vacuum, they are not polluting for the sake of polluting—oil companies extract oil in no small part because people purchase gasoline in order to fuel their cars. you driving a car is in fact a part of the problem! this doesn’t mean don’t ever drive or anything, but this world is made up of connections—corporations are not on some other plane of existence! you are connected to them, both because they impact you, and because you impact them.

[gotta-pet-em-all]

"average galarian is always lost" factoid actualy just statistical error. average galarian has a sense of direction. Wanders Leon, who lives in Postwick & gets lost in his own town, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

i wasn't even going to question it honestly, galarians are just insane. seriously who tf uses celcius it's so bad for measurement of temp outside of science

[thomas-mvller]

So i was tagged by my buddy Ander aka @miasanmuller to make Bundesliga predictions for the upcoming season! let's see how optimistic i am 🤪

Bundesliga prediction time: answer the following questions about this bundesliga season

1. Top 5 Bundesliga Teams at the end of the season?: to be quite honest i'm not properly informed on other teams' signings like the bees could've signed usain bolt yet i'd have no idea so statistically speaking i wouldn't be able to answer, but my guess would be (in no particular order) bayern since everyone are betting all their coins on hurri kane despite we have more problems yet to solve, dortmund bc it still stings them how close they were last season, hopefully union won't lose momentum given the good season they had, bremen has fulle so i hope the team does good and i want one of the newbies to be this season's dark horse so either darmstadt or heidenheim!

That's such a long answer wtf 😭

2. How far will Bayern get in the DFB Pokal?: probably will get kicked out around november, hopefully that won't be the case but as i said, unless we solve our keeper problems then maaaaybe it could go farther

3. How far will Bayern get in the Champions League?: harold kane better win us the sextuple this season because i still can't conceive why tf bayern spent so much money on him 😭 realistically maybe quarterfinals if we get relatively easy teams, if we don't then damn, don't even want to think about it

4. Who will be Bayerns top goal scorer?: i am so digging this serge renaissance, hopefully it'll be his year. Him or pavard since he was our goalscorer last season 😂

5. Biggest surprise? (could be anything): xabi alonso definitely changed things at leverkusen so maybe their new signings will stir some shit up!

6. Biggest disappointment? (could be anything): i am still not entirely sold on guerreiro, i guess it's a matter of "wait and see" but idk, why would someone who adores a team join their opponent? know what i mean?

I think everyone got tagged in it so I'm tagging whoever wants to do this! just say i tagged you 😊

[exactlysizzlingdonut]

bro ok ik I was being all jokey-jokey in my last post for my statistics exam but guys I am seriously fucked for it. so I’ve basically secured 40% of my final grade, final exam is 50%. and yes stats is not my strength ok…

um anyways I need to get the remaining 10% from this final exam but I have a feeling that it will be quite difficult bc I think the exam is out of 50 and so I’ll need to rack up at least 5 marks (aiming for 10 just to be safe 😝) to pass. barely.

because um excuse me why tf would I want to repeat this course even though it’s my fault for falling behind and not studying until the very last minute?

im kinda already in gov debt bc of these courses and I DO NOT want to be paying just to repeat this course. even though it’s on me HAHNAHAS

I cannot wait for this shit to be over and done with FUCK.

also chem exam went pretty welll! last question abt nmr fucked me in the ass but otherwise it was chill. much better than last term’s chem exam that’s for sure 💀

[twunkzilla]

Bro honestly simple classes are rigged way more than complex "hard" classes cause they essentially demand complex abstract thought and your ability to obediently follow standardized expectations more than your own skill or critical, realistic thought. Like math is absolutely demonic cause they essentially just force you to learn things without you understanding wtf you are doing like Algebra you're not gonna join the military and have your commander go WHAT IS Y = 9x + 1 SOLDIER like hell noooo bro we are getting fucking invaded LMAO no more United States but like they don't bother to show you even for a minute how this skill translates to surveying and shit like that. It's like imagine somebody forces you to learn an extremely complex left vs right and gives you no idea why you are learning that. Especially in Statistics cause that is something you actually use but they don't have you use it in conjunction with anything else like explaining a study or translating it into real life so they will have you answer a question like "average family has 2.63 kids" like you don't sound like you're on coke. Especially those bullshit variable classifications like that is not a science this is an abstract description that's meant to be the most appropriate to the system you're using. But the textbook will just tell you there is a right or wrong answer to a vague ass question with no answer like their opinion is gospel and when you ask why you're met with jargon and you feel like a fucking idiot. Like I guess it makes job security for teachers but those motherfuckers don't even know what tf they are talking about half the time

[van-goghs-smoking-skull]

How could the Geneva Conventions ever apply to who is allowed to use bathrooms? Even if the bathroom in question is being used by Servicemembers during wartime, a bathroom with stalls is good enough as the individual stalls (as opposed to the entire room) provide 'sex segregated spaces'. Now considering the conversation isn't about wartime or Servicemembers, but is about average, ordinary civilian bathrooms, even those relatively strict rules over bathrooms do not apply (as noted by the link above).

Even if it did, how do you enforce something like that? Oh, right, bathroom bouncers that fondle your junk to make sure it's the 'right kind', which can be altered with surgery rendering that to be nothing more than violating everyone's bodies. Lovely fix you've got there, mandatory sexual abuse to use a toilet.

Just a thought, but look up the movie Hidden Figures and watch the scene where the issue of bathroom breaks turns into an angry rant. Then note how the problem was fixed. Now it's not a perfect re-creation of history, but this much is accurate: Bathrooms became more accessible to ALL women when they became more inclusive and less exclusive.

The real problem here is all the people lamenting because they can't be asked to see trans women as women and still see them as men. Well, funny thing, trans women didn't consent to you trying to assign them their gender, so who tf are you to demand doing so as your personal right? Who determines who everyone is? All 8 billion people in the world, one rando self-righteous TERF in particular, or, maybe, idk, can the individual needing to piss determine who they are for themselves?

'But what if I get raped in the bathroom?' Well, it's not likely, statistically speaking, and rape is already illegal. Weird how of the few rapes in bathrooms there, most of those are not committed by the trans community isn't it? It's like the fear of trans people in the bathroom is irrational. Maybe stop trying to create terrible laws and start seeking help for your phobia.

Two people are standing in front of you. One is male, and says “I want to share a space with her”. The other is female, and says “I don’t want to share a space with him”.

Think: Which person do you listen to? Which person’s desires do you care more about? Which person’s preferences do you think are more important? Which person’s boundaries do you think are less important? Which person do you think is more important, and which person do you think is less important? Why?

[lord-of-fun-fools-and-fuckery]

fics i want for the batfam

a fic where damian, duke and tim get lost in England together just as civilians. they're still vigilantes but they're forced on break. Cass is also there but no one but oracle knows. Cass just fucks around making things chaotic.

The Al Ghuls (+jason) hanging out

just a bunch of times where steph is recognised as apable/impressive to the batfam

more dick's batman era fics where they are just found family. all of them. Alfred, Babs, Steph, Dick and damian.

Helena being steph's big sister

dick jason and cass acting immature and childish together (they deserve it)

jay not telling the bats he's hood and just kinda does his killing thing but ends up like being a huge softie with the birds and batman doesn't go on his ass for the killing thing- cause ever since red hood appeared statistics have gotten better. and he becomes like- an ally??? he like goes into the cave but he keeps his hood on and doesn't show his face. and the bats are chill. even funnier if JL/YJ/Titans saw him once or twice and went "who tf is that one?" "hood?" "who is he?" "no fucking clue, but he's really gentle" "he has guns & explosives with kryptonite strapped to his thigh"

cass just having a break down.

Where oracle helps like CONSISTENTLY LIKE FAIL WITHOUT THEM on teams like JL, Titans, BoP, Bats&Birds and YJ and the non-bats/birds try to find out her identity but fail??? and then they're lowkey scared cause holy fuck why do they know so much. Then they meet babs. and are intimidated.

duke and kate eating fries on a rooftop sharing opinions and insights on the bats + duke being comfortable to ask her questions he wouldn't ask the others.

MORE HOGWARTS AUs specifically ones with tim in slytherin, dick&duke in Gryffindor, Jason in Ravenclaw, and Dami & Cass in Hufflepuff and they all thrive in their houses. other things needed are jay with weasely twins, damian sneaking in other towers because he hates hufflepuff at first by purely fucking scaling the walls. cass being a ginny chaos enabler, jason/duke/dick in tri-wizard tournament and helping harry out, duke explaining his meta powers by "haha guys i swear it 's the wiz-waz-wand lmao", them all ditching the yule ball to hangout and play tag in the forbidden woods.

#only in gotham

everytime the gotham sirens called batman a bitch

JL meeting bat's kids (+steph, kate, harper) and thinking holy fucks sake these guys are scarier than batman. Especially constantine and steph (lmao iconic depressed blondes in completely different directions)

damian, jon and billy batson causing mayhem

steph getting to secretly be a single mom (B doesn't know) but every bat +superman (y'know for funnsies let's throw him in to give steph a heart attack) thinks they are the only one who knows.

if steph never met the bats got herself crazy mentors (league even??) and was strong enough to be recruited to titans while being SIGNIFICANTLY younger so it's basically them fighting to adopt spoils. who, no, has not shown her face yet.

wayne memes where social media users talk about how much of a meme the waynes are also who tf is steph she is everywhere but she isn't even famous or a wayne and is she a in-law or step-sis?

benard being the batshit crazy one in him and tims relationship

Oliver queen just witnessing mental breakdowns from every bat (yes even the big man) without them knowing he's there and him just slowly walking away with chips or something trying not to crunch loudly so they won't notice him but he's hallway already crunching.

dick just crashing at different titans places when bruce kicks him out and him REFUSING to explain (no, no one in JL knows where robin is but when he's gone THEY ARE SCARED)

[azural83]

Idea 3: Pizzaplex is an engineering disaster waiting to happen.

An idea that I don't see brought up at all, is the idea that the Pizzaplex is not constructed well.

Remember in FNAF 6 when the tutorial unit said this?

"There may be times when you purchase something of questionable quality, and we don't blame you. Cutting corners is just good business."

Keep this statement in mind while I bring up my next point. As someone who's taken an engineering class, when you are constructing a building, there are a VERY large number of codes (rules) that you need to follow for every conceivable part of it.

Fazbear Entertainment would probably find it a lot cheaper just to pay off the people inspecting the plex than to actually put money into making sure everything is up to code.

They would also try to construct the building as cheaply as possible, trying to "cut corners" wherever they could. They use substandard materials and contractors that don't double-check their work. They built the mall itself over the subterranean remains of their old restaurant, despite this making the ground very unstable.

This all works in my mind because Fazbear Entertainment has been proven to follow the "be as cheap as possible" and "maximize profits by any means necessary" approaches many times in the past.

Here is just one example of a code being violated, according to Section 1006.2.1.1 of Utah Building Codes, "Three exits or exit access doorways shall be provided from any space with an occupant load of 501 to 1,000. Four exits or exit access doorways shall be provided from any space with an occupant load greater than 1,000." We only see 2 public exits in the game, and the Pizzaplex likely holds well over a thousand people at any one time. What's worse is that one of the exits, the only one designated for emergencies, requires a VIP pass in order to be used.

If Fazbear Entertainment is willing to do this to cut costs, who knows what else they have done?

It's why, in my mind, I don't have Gregory live at the pizzaplex after the 3-star ending. Freddy would calculate that it is statistically safer for Gregory to live in his box than at the plex. He instead lives with Vanessa, creating opportunities for them to grow closer.

BTW This has happened in real life, even down to the shoddy construction and profit maximization. It was the Sampoong Department store collapse. Link

This is really interesting! I never knew about these,I'm far from an expert but building codes are never for money,they're supposed to save lives which definitely is something the fazbear entertainment would ignore

I always saw the whole light and colorful theme they had in sb was not only to gather more audience but to cover their dark past (which somehow they manged to..not get in trouble for it?) Although I still don't understand how tf they never went bankrupt,so I just viewed the whole pizzaplex built on the old diner in a metaphor way too

Anyway I really like how you include more of fazbear because the games sure as hell don't give us too much information, I personally love the whole entertainment being in on it or just...straight up ignoring everything because all they care about is money (then again we don't have any canon reason for them to not be like this in sb soo)

[yelenasdog]

the pillowtalk of a pessimist (spencer reid x fem reader)

genre: fluff with a millisecond of angst

summary: pillowtalk takes an interesting turn for spencer at the mention of the harsh realities of his work.

words: 1.3k, she’s a shorty.

warnings: nsfw themes (nothing smutty, it’s just implied and also directly stated that they slept together), typical criminal minds violence + death, and maybe cursing? idk. 

a/n: btw this isn’t the fic i was ranting on about that i’m writing, she’s still in the works. also! this could be an x oc or anybody bc i didn’t use y/n if you would prefer to read it as such.

🂦∙🂦∙🂦

A pale stream of moonlight shone through the open window of apartment 23, the home of Doctor Spencer Reid. It illuminated a small section of his bedroom, specifically on one of his many floor to ceiling bookshelves, a beacon of knowledge that was there 24/7 for the taking.

The gold engravings on the spines of his many reads shimmered, a beautiful contrast to the dark mahogany the shelf was made out of.

The room smelled like a mixture of his cologne, her perfume (Chanel no. 5, specifically), and the results of their previous affairs that lingered in the crisp air of the night.

She took a deep breath, settling down further into the white duvet, pulling it over her bosom in response to the chilly temperature. The dark green walls of the room welcomed and calmed her, overwhelming the girl with a wave of serenity that could only be brought to her by him.

He quickly took note of her unsteady breathing and shift in position, immediately jumping to action. He pulled her closer by her shoulders with his strong arms, eliciting a squeal from her and a chuckle from him, more so at her reaction than the move itself.

Her head laid on his bare chest, her hair splayed out with half of it residing on his pillow, the other half on his bicep. She could have appeared to be an angel, although in his eyes, she truly was.

She rested her hand on the left side of his chest over his heart, her fingernail ghosting shapes on his tanned skin. Circles, squiggly lines, even abstract faces.

“How do you do it?”

Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. If his hearing wasn’t so acute, he was sure he would have missed it. This would have saddened the genius greatly, as he valued everything she had to say with a burning ferocity, and even one word lost would be a shame.

“What?”

He was confused by the nature of the question, attempting to search every corner of his brilliant brain for what she might have been referencing. Was it an equation? No, she hated math. Perhaps the way he so effortlessly could play any instrument because yet again, math. He decided that couldn’t be the subject at question either, she played better than he did, glorious melodies flowed from her fingertips. So the doctor was truly stumped.

The answer was simpler than he had imagined.

“Your job.”

With those doe eyes he was so fond of, she looked up, meeting his own glance.

If the term “heart eyes” was able to be personified, Spencer would be the guy to personify it whenever his eyes landed on the one in front of him.

“What do you mean? I get up in the morning, drink some coffee, and get to it.”

She giggled, but the sound he loved so much ceased with her pout.

“That’s not what I mean, Spence. How do you go on everyday, seeing body after body,” she trailed off, obviously distraught. Spencer wrapped his large hand tighter around her, placing his chin on her hairline.

“How do you consistently manage to look at these victims, these people, with lives that they never got to finish living-“ A tear slipped down her cheek, she bit her bottom lip, tasting her own salty droplets on her tongue. She sniffled, burying her head further in his neck with what he presumed was shame.

“And not break down when you do.” Her voice was muffled, but the emotions she felt were evident nonetheless.

He took a moment to carefully articulate an appropriate response. The gears in his mind turned ever so diligently, finding a solution to dry her tears.

“It’s not much different than what I initially said. I get up in the morning, drink some coffee.”

He pushed a hair away from her face, admiring her distinct features as he often did. She looked up, moving her left hand to trace his sharp jaw as he sat in thought.

“And I realize that these people that are now dead, are a part of the hundreds, of throusands, of millions of people that die every year. It’s a part of life, what gives it meaning.”

She gave a dry, humourless laugh.

“What, you don’t have a specific statistic for that?”

“Oh, I do, but I don’t think you want to hear it.” He tilted his head, weighing the option of disclosing the information but deciding against it.

“But the bottom line is, they have families. Families that are grieving, and hurting, and needing answers and justice. I cannot do my job and give them the closure they deserve if I’m staying focused on my own emotions and delving deep into who the victims were, rather than how to catch those responsible for hurting them.”

She moved on to her back, stilling managing to keep her eye contact with Spencer.

“But you’re a profiler! That’s what you do! You’re supposed to, what did you call it, ‘delve deep’ into who they are.”

“Pretty girl, are you trying to tell the one with 3 doctorates how to do his job?”

She rolled her eyes, lazily throwing a hand on his neck, right behind his ear. She ran it back and forth, savoring the intimate moment.

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Agent.” She taunted, poorly trying (and failing) to agitate Spencer. She had a hunch (that was more true than either of them would let on) that it wasn’t possible for her to do so, and he found himself proving it to be correct.

“I just had to learn to let the family do what they had to do so that I could do the same.”

The girl’s tone softened as she spoke, staring at the popcorn ceiling.

“I guess so. I’m just too empathetic, my heart is too pure.” She joked, a feathery laugh falling past both of their lips.

“Of course. I would expect nothing less.” He teased back, enjoying the dynamic they both held in the tender moment.

“You amaze me.” She muttered, leaning in, analyzing him and his ruffled post-sex hair, his gorgeously long lashes, and his light 5 o’clock shadow that donned his chin.

He huffed quietly, doing the exact same thing, minus the scruff of course.

“I could say the same to you, pretty girl.”

Their lips connected once again, in a different manner than the feverish and needy kiss from before.

This time, it was a union of two individuals, allowing themselves to mould together in a way only the two of them could. It was slower and sweeter, with more feeling poured into their lips while they moved in sync.

“M’ tired.”

“Yeah? You wanna go to sleep, bubs?”

She grinned as she snuggled into his arms, her exhausted eyes fluttering to a close.

“Bubs, huh? That’s new.”

A worried frown made its way onto his face as he rushed to cover up his previous words.

“D-do you not like it? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable-“

“Spence.”

He stopped, looking over her for any microexpressions, only seeing positive signs. That wasn’t technically profiling, right? He hoped he would be in the clear if she ever was to find out.

“I love it, baby. Say it again.”

“Bubs?”

“Mhm. Say it again.” She sounded with content. He smirked, a proud feeling infiltrating his body, causing him to puff up his chest in the slightest way.

“Goodnight, bubs.”

He reached up, his paranoia forcing him to close the window above him, despite being a more than qualified FBI agent with a revolver safely tucked away in the top drawer of his night stand that never quite was shut all the way.

It was just the pessimist in him.

She wrapped around his figure, intertwining his form with her own.

“Sleep well, Spence.”

He felt happy with her, happier than he had been in a long time. He relished in that, allowing it to lull him to a well needed rest.

But what could he say, she just brought out the optimist in him.

🂦∙🂦∙🂦

hj posting at a time that isn’t 3 am?????? unheard of. also i may or may not have pulled an all nighter to write whatever tf this is bc my ex posted something with his new gf and i felt pathetic LMAO. anyway, i hope your day is fabulous, go drink some water and remember things are what you make of them and it’s all about intent! love you, xx hj.

[transsexualhamlet]

the more i rewatch tpn season two the less sense it makes

why did norman go to lambda instead of immediately getting killed without the reason of the queen wanting personally to eat him

why did yuugo say in the note he left for anyone who read it to have hope, that’s out of character lol

the amount of plot convenience they had to throw in that still didn’t even cover everything that happened

what was emma’s necklace even good for tbh????

how were the kids just safe in the human world without the promise yet wouldn’t they be hunted down outside there’s other ratris than peter i promise and cause no yuugo they didnt die

when did the fucking timeskip happen???? because by the dates on Anna’s diary it should be in the bunker. but they talk about it like they were only in the bunker for like. a week

how did norman not grow like two feet in a year but he still is dying from experiments like. what is he dying from then, chronic gifted kid syndrome?

also how did they manage this without norman being william minerva like statistically how tf did they do that they don’t even have any other kids they say they liberated farms but how do you do that with Five Children are you trying to tell me he just like ammassed this power and thinks hes gonna be able to take out the major fucking cities with 5 kids and a drug they made in their basement

literally anything that happened in the goddamn slideshow ending. what even. chronologically that doesn’t even make sense how did they even do the capital battle

HOW DID THE KIDS EVEN GET THROUGH THE GODDAMN GATES BEFORE MAKING A NEW GODDAMN PROMISE THAT WAS THE POINT YOU PHYSICALLY COULD NOT GET THROUGH 

GOD MADE THE FUCKING RULE I DONT THINK THEY CAN JUST WALTZ RIGHT IN CAUSE PETER RATRI FUCKING SLIT HIS OWN THROAT

in other words i have questions :)

[empty-masks]

Geissler’s Journal, Day 9

CW: Sexual References.

Geissler’s Internship Log, Day 9 “Core Strength”   

Much has happened today, mainly pertaining to what I did after I had finished my shift. So, in order to get you, dear reader, to those details with a swiftness, I shall thus summarize what I did during my workday less thoroughly than I usually might.   

Dr. Toth had assigned me the True Fox Body Type of the Anthropomorphic Umbrella (serial HA[Tf]). There was nothing out of the ordinary to sift through from the Loading Bay— new reports concerning their naturally stealthy capabilities when in the Eternal Autumn and other such tree-filled environs, variations on their fur coatings and how statistically they are more likely to appear similarly to their animal counterparts (orange, grey, black, dull brown, etcetera), but how statistics have not stopped from certain individuals from appearing as colours such as bright crimson, dark blue, or even, and I quote, “radioactive green”, as one member of the Body Type referred to themselves.

There was new census data concerning their average height, weight, and eye colour, with the first aspect’s range having shrunk an astounding 3 inches from 5’7” to 5’10” (surprisingly similar to that of Basic Humans) to that of 5’4” to 5’7”. The True Fox Body Type Entry makes note of this difference when compared to that of the Wolfhound Body Type Entry, and how their ranges are, as of last census’ results, almost an entire ten inches apart in average height.   

If I am being frank, quite a lot of work today felt as though Dr. Toth was attempting to keep me from musing more about anything relating to his side-gig, and while I for one understand the merits of putting one’s nose to the metaphorical grindstone, I did not quite understand why he thought it would deter me.   

He did not answer many of the questions I asked him today (at least at work), and he tried very hard to hide his secret research from me once again (his sense of secrecy seems to wax and wane when he is feeling insecure).   

On the bus back home, I asked Dr. Washing whether Dr. Toth was going to perform today. She said that he was, but advised me against going. She warned me that I would distract him from his performance, or that I could potentially get him in trouble. When I countered that people from the office seem to see him perform every week just fine without any sort of issue, she seemed to silently admit how flimsy her argument was of an excuse. I then asked her whether she would accompany me to the club, and she flat out refused, which I was thoroughly disappointed to hear. It meant that tonight, I was to go to a club I was entirely unfamiliar with to see what the deal was with a coworker’s side performance.   

And that is exactly what I did. Recalling the details of the club, it was small but tall. The byways for foot traffic were quite narrow (only allowing for one person travel at any given moment, unless you were prepared to throw yourself onto one of the couches alongside a group of drunk strangers), the seating was low to the ground (and I witnessed many people simply laying on them instead of slumping to the degree that was needed to properly have a seat), and the performances were done on a series of elevated stages illuminated by lights (but were inaccessible through any means of backstage area, as the performers I witnessed had to walk out from a side door, wade through the crowd, and hop up onto the platform to begin working).   

The music was a little perplexing, but I eventually decided that I would call it “Soft Electro-Sex” until I am told the actual name of the genre. I grabbed myself a seat at the bar, ordered myself a tall glass of ice-cold water, and I asked the bartender whether Dr. Toth was performing today. I could tell that she was amused by the way she answered me, commenting that I was “another one of his groupies”, and saying that it won’t be long now, considering the timeframe. I did not have long to consider her comment (and in hindsight it was a little offensive), as it was as she said, Dr. Toth had clambered up onto the platform.   

You know, it is odd to see someone whose mental image you’ve built of is that of a lab coat, thick dress pants, and a wool sweater vest on top of a plain white dress shirt, appear as Dr. Toth did. To summarize, he wore a choice few items of form-fitting black leather with straps that seemed to have no functional purpose, he had inserted a colourful mane of false feathers alongside his usual blue head feathers, and I believe that he was wearing contacts (I have never seen him without a pair of thick glasses, and I was under the impression that he was blind as a bat without them).

In truth, I was impressed. I was unsure if he was the same Dr. Toth I knew from the WCSC at first, but when I saw him linger on my position after a particularly acrobatic spinning move, I knew for certain that it was him. I simply never knew that he had such core strength underneath all those feathers. I waved, and he waved back, before shaking his head and continuing his performance. Which, I might add, was quite popular with everyone surrounding his podium. By the end, there was hardly a place he could put a foot without trodding on a bank note.

I wish I could’ve spoken to him after, but after he had finished his performance with a bow, he gathered up his take for the day and immediately exited the club’s floor without fanfare. I decided to leave as well, having hardly touched my water.Now, as I sit here in my room during these unholy hours of the morning, I am sure you’re wondering, dear reader— is he attractive?

Yes, he is attractive. In a, “this person is like a puzzle I am addicted to solving”, sort of sense. And he is physically attractive. But I consider that aspect less important than the mystery.

And I am simply asking into the wind here, but how in the world is someone able to hang upside down for so long without vomiting all over themselves and the crowd, falling over onto their head and snapping their neck, or pulling something so severely that you have to take weeks to recover and undoubtedly lose your regular crowd? Goodness me.

Thank you for reading,

Dr. P.W. Geissler

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

[[ Table of Contents ]]

[bereft-of-frogs]

2020 Fic Year in Review

I was tagged by @aurorawest ! I’d been planning on doing something similar eventually and I like the directed questions here, so it worked out well.

Total number of completed stories: 27

Total word count: (I’m terrible about keeping track of word counts so this is total posted word count, thank you ao3 statistics) 189,970

Fandoms written in: MCU, the very tiny fandom of the Netflix series Into the Night, and I got one very, very short Les Misérables fic done

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? I guess about what I expected? Maybe a bit more, actually, I only ended up being about 40k short of my word count from last year, I didn’t think I’d actually get anywhere close. So that’s good!

What’s your own favorite story of the year? For the tiny airplane fandom, I really liked ‘we are the sleepers, we bite our tongues’. And I’m just going to keep saying ‘where is your sting��� for the MCU lol.

Even though also, I mean, ‘alone amidst the ruins’ is definitely the one I’m most proud of. I worked so hard on it. I just don’t revisit it as much because I spent so much time working on it, whereas I do occasionally reread ‘where is your sting’. XD

Did you take any writing risks this year? Hm. Striking out in a new, very different fandom was a bit of a risk. One that resulted in multiple nights looking up things like ‘how to fly a plane’. :) And also it was really the first time I started writing for a fandom that I had 0 other input other than canon. Before I start writing for a new fandom, I’ve usually read a whole lot of fic and gotten a sense of the audience and what else is out there. But...there was nothing else out there when I started writing. This was all me and it was a little intimidating, especially with some of the technical stuff.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? Several! 2021 New Year’s Writing Resolutions:

- Not have such a damned complex about writing. Look. I had a whole time this year, I think we all did, and I just want myself to chill tf out about this one thing. Just chill out a little bit, self. Chill.

- Write about more space ghosts. And by that I mean more episodic space adventure plus magic and/or ghosts (bonus points for ghosts) style fics. Sort of along the lines of some of my older whumptober prompts (like ‘1. stabbed’ ‘5. poisoned’ and ‘7. kidnapped’ from ‘pain and other human sensations’ or ‘hurts like ghosts’). I didn’t really do any this year, had a lot more short, angsty fics. The closest I think I got was the whumptober prompt ‘enemy to caretaker’ or maybe ‘withdrawal’. But I have some ideas and even though those fics are a lot of work because of worldbuilding stuff, I want to do that work because they’re really my favorite type of fics.

- Make progress on series. I’d really like to get my next fic in ‘the nine in the tree’ finished before the next Doctor Strange movie is released, and make some progress on the third fic in ‘the dead reign there alone’ considering it’s been like...a long time and I think if I make any progress on it, I’ll feel better.

- Write more second drafts. Oof. Like, this is the most obvious advice that I should have absorbed a lot time ago, but like...writing a second draft makes the writing better. I get that now. I probably won’t do full second drafts for everything, but yeah. More focus on editing/rewriting in the new year.

Most popular story of the year? ‘like a tear on a cheek’ got the most kudos, by quite a bit. I’m happy for it, it was really sappy and indulgent, and kind of a mouthpiece for my own thoughts about forgiveness and redemption. I think that probably struck a chord XD

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I logically know why this is the case, but tbh my two more extreme AUs I think were slightly underappreciated, if I do say so myself. I did my first actual all-human AU with ‘panic room’ in January, and then my ‘medieval-ish’ fantasy AU ‘a keen scourge through the wintry air’. Like, I get why these didn’t get as much attention as others I wrote this year, I still think they’re a little underappreciated. XD

Most fun story to write: Obviously, I found ‘where is your sting’ to be the most fun. ghosts in space!. It was pure Sakaar Trash Party with ghosts and overwrought dialogue, I had a lot of fun.

Most unintentionally telling story: in a chapter of ‘alone amidst the ruins’, I included a line about the WHO advising on the wearing of masks.

a line that I swear to God, I wrote last year. got to it during the rewrite and had to go lie down for a bit.

Biggest disappointment: Even if I knew I probably wasn’t going to get all the way through the whumptober prompts this year (2018 was a - somewhat scary in hindsight - lightning strike of dedication and inspiration. I don’t know how I did Fall 2018 and I’m not sure it will ever happen again), but I would have liked to finish the ones I had started. Coming up on the end of the year and I’ve left one multichapter fic hanging, and still haven’t finished the ‘possession’ one which should be easy to finish.

This is also more a regret than a disappointment but I do sort of now regret my choice to publish all the whumptober prompts separately. Urgh, I think I would just be happier if they were organized into collections by fandom, they just bury everything else and some of them are so short and I really, really wish I had stuck with my method of organizing them in one document. Errrrr, regret. Like there are definitely benefits to doing it this way, but...still. Wish I had done it the other way.

Biggest surprise: Honestly, getting any comments and kudos from the tiny airplane fandom was an absolutely delightful surprise. Thank you, anyone who kudosed any of those works <3

- - -

So, 2020. What the fuck was that, am I right? It honestly feels like another world already. Like I’ll remember doing something and be like...hm not sure that actually happened to me, sort of feels like that happened to someone else and I just watched. I know I’m supposed to tag people, but also #SocialAnxiety (even in fandom). but please please please if you are a fic writer and want to take a moment to reflect on your writing experience this year, consider this an open tag!!!

[blackasmidnightcats]

Book 1 Nostalgia

WARNING: This post will have spoilers to the SGE series

The first book in any series will always hold a special place in anyone's heart I think. There is just something beautiful, whether the writing was phenomenal or lacking, about the introduction to a new world and the characters that you're going to know. After reading further into the series, sometimes you just wanna go back to the start, where everything was a lot simpler.

SGE kinda falls into this feeling for me.

I don't think I'm ever going to get over the interactions between the characters (and we haven't even explored most of them) because, personally, Soman is incredibly good with how he does character intercations but the story and plot have a lot to improve on.

And now comparing TSY with TCY it's very glaring.

Soman really has a problem with his plot so much so than with his storyline. It's very repetitive and the storyline suffers from it.

After Book 1, every plot seemed to be the same case; Sophie is an important piece to the main villain, Agatha tries to fix everything, Tedros is getting more crap than needed, annoyingly unhealthy romantic relationships are explored, and the other characters do things.

The last of these examples are really the only things that varies. Everything else is almost always the same in one way or another.

The first book doesn't really follow that pattern. It's a introductory book and I wish Soman did the same vibe as it in QfG.

Though Book 1 wasn't perfect. My biggest main problem with it was how Soman handled Agatha's development from thinking herself a freak and realizing that she was just a beautiful as anyone else (and Tagatha, of course. They had a very unconvincing start) compared to the detailed and precise handling of Sophie's decent and eventual acceptance her wickedness.

I said it once and I'll say it again: I miss vengeful, spited Sophie. Who made the School for Good suffer because Tedros didn't keep his promise and her very impressive Talent to summon Evil creatures at will to do her bidding.

This was the Sophie that I expected more from in the later books but might never get again. With the way that the OTK cover portrays her as the Lion, whether that would be a thing or not, it's clear that Soman wants the readers to look at Sophie in a better light and not as the anti-hero that she is but I could be wrong.

In Book 1, Sophie was incredibly selfish to the point that she wouldn't do anything for others even those that she should care about (i.e. Tedros in the Trial) and in the end, she had to pay for the selfishness by seeing just how Evil she could become and be seen as the witch that she was. Her development from Pink Princess to Witch of Woods Beyond was believable; her ambitiousness combined with her selfishness was what made her gain everything through manipulation and wickedness but it couldn't be hidden for long. Once everyone, including herself, saw what lied underneath her exterior, she lost everything and because of the things that she chooses to do, she naturally hurt and attacked the people that wronged her just as Evil does.

It was caused by a failed romantic pursuit, yes, but unlike the other later romantic relations that she had, the one in Book 1 focused more on the outcome for her character development than in the relationship itself. Honestly her relationships with Rafal, and Rhian, and maybe now Japeth, idk, make absolutely no sense with the importance that the story puts on it because these relationships didn't help further Sophie's character development. It stunted her really.

Now compare this to Agatha.

I think everyone and their cats agree that we all miss witchy Agatha in book 1 and I hope we write more of her in our fanfics like that since Soman won't do it. The thing is, with Agatha, unlike Sophie, whether she is written as a straight-up hero or as a sort of anti-villain with her portrayal as the Snake in the OTK cover, it won't be that far fetched. I don't know if Soman intended this or not but it's pretty frickin impressive with how he managed to make Agatha a pretty versatile character.

Book 1 did not to good with how she went from Graveyard Girl to Fairy Tale Princess. At most, we saw her heroic characteristics but Soman didn't put much effort with making it believable and we were left to our own imaginations with how she could have believably developed and grown into herself. It should have taken more than one chapter to make us believe that Agatha suddenly grew confident with herself and her own brand of beauty and how her relationship with Tedros should have started.

But because of the fact that she's now comfortable as both being a little different and unique in her own way but is still guided by the values of Good and holds it dear to her soul as well as her loyalty to those she loves, she can do great with the best of both worlds.

Agatha hasn't stopped growing since book 1 and I think that reason for that is because Soman knows that he has to square up whenever he writes her. Whether she's developing on her own or with others, she's always learning new values and finding ways to express them in the way that she's comfortable with.

Soman does express that he loves writing in Sophie's POV the most, but it can be a double edged sword if not careful. And I think Soman hasn't been careful.

Now back to the glory of Book 1.

Book one had the most simplest plot and most fluent storyline than in any other book. Even TLEA.

I think I could recall a lot more events in Book 1 than in the more recent ones because there was a lot more events and chapters that were actually necessary to the plot.

So, to go by statistics;

TLEA has the most recorded chapters in the series as of current before the release of OTK with 35 chapters and 3 parts to divide it.

It's followed by Book 1 with 30 chapters.

Then QfG is next with 28 chapters divided into 2 parts.

And aCoT follows with 27 chapters and 2 parts as well.

Last is AWWP with 24 chapters divided into 2 parts as well.

If going by this then OTK should either have a chapter or two more or less than TLEA but not less so than Book 1 because it's going to now be the official last book of the the series.

But that is besides the point. My main problem with the books' storytelling after Book 1 is how disoriented it has become.

Let me make an example with QfG and aCoT. These books are more or less very similar with each other in the number of chapters with only one being the difference while the start of the the "Part 2" portion was a bit different with QfG's starting at chapter 21 while aCoT's started with chapter 17.

But the reception and the fluency of these two books could not be more different from each other.

To say that QfG completely destroyed the fandom is an understatement. I can't tell of aCoT managed to regain the series's former glory for long enough to not let OTK flop but let's be hopeful.

Anyways, the fluency of the storytelling with TCY was wack and QfG and aCoT completely show that.

WARNING: Spoilers about QfG and aCoT will be discussed in this section.

I could not remember almost 70% of QfG because of how much I hated the plot and looking back at the chapters, I honestly could not believe that the asshat Rhian was only introduced on Chapter 21. Everything after Chaddick's POV chapter seemed to be a blur and Rhian's b*tch ass seemed to have corrupted the whole experience.

8 chapters. He was only in QfG for 8 chapters and yet it feels almost like he's been in it for more than half. Frick. He is traumatizing.

Basically, the middle part of the book, namely chapters 7 to 20, was all about the main cast trying to frickin understand wtf was happening. Agatha and Sophie were trying to figure out the Lion and the Snake thing while Tedros was back in Camelot doing (or failing or being sabotaged with) politics and also trying to understand why tf was Excalibur having a tantrum.

Then Rhian entered and I don't know why or how Nottingham and Robin Hood got involved but he did.

And then more figuring out stuff and sabotaging Tedros and then Rhian and Excalibur and then cliffhanger.

It was all very abrupt and confusing. More confusion was added all because there were more questions asked than actual answers and a sense of depression was felt in the end because nothing was really achieved.

Imma compare this with Book 1 later but first Book 5 comparison.

Now aCoT. It was just the storyline that we needed to get back to the hype that the series had. Was it a satisfying read? Yes but was it able to heal the pain that QfG inflicted? No.

The fandom did not come back the same again.

But anyways, aCoT, personally, had a lot more scenes and events that I remembered than in any other book besides book 1 but that there was the problem with this book.

Too many things happened with this book. So much so that the fluency of the story was sacrificed to tell it.

Look at it this way, several shifts in the book happened.

This all happened in Part 1 only;

Rhian became King and his regime was sort of explained.

Agatha was introduced to the First Years and got her Army.

Sophie was in some sort of GOT-esque knock off experience as Rhian's Captive Queen.

Agatha manages to save some of her friends.

The concept of OTK was explained.

Tedros's execution was on way.

Nevermind, Agatha and her army just straight-up hijacked it.

Prof. Dovey died as a sacrifice.

Okay, now to Part 2;

Reaper is a Gnome King.

The Crystal of Time was finally explained.

They finally find out about Rhian and Japeth's origins.

The Gnomes were ambushed and I feel sorry for them.

Sophie tipped Rhian off with the location because she believed that she would end it all.

We kinda get background with why Rhian wants to be OTK????

Rhian DIES?!?!?! and now Japeth's King ☠

They sort of manage to know about wtf happened with the Lady and Japeth

Tedros and Arthur have a heart to heart and he gets the Ring of Power.

Cliffhanger

It's a lot to take in and I don't really think that Soman should have cramped it all in one book.

Some of the plot points should have been in QfG so that it wouldn't be as depressing.

The whole of Part one was a book in itself and Part 2 was one as well.

At some points of the book, I sometimes got the feeling that it was gonna be the end but it just kept going and going and now I don't really know what's left with OTK. It can be both a good thing or a horrible thing.

Let's see wtf happens. I expect more action than drama Soman.

So again with Book 1.

Book 1 was a classic and the ideas easily hooked anyone interested.

It had the same unaswered questions with QfG but why did it suceed when QfG didn't.

First, is that Book 1 had its atmosphere clear from the start of the book. It was clear that the main thing that needed to happen was that Sophie and Agatha needed to realize the actual nature of their souls. There were more technical questions that needed to be answered but the main point that needed to be addressed was addressed by the end of the book.

And also the ending was also a cliffhanger but it a much lighter note.

Sophie and Agatha realized their capabilities and understood themselves but they still chose each other in the end and that sort of gave way to a much hopeful future for the two of them. (At that time, at least)

All the while, QfG was one depressing ball of events that led to one horrible moment to the other.

It was just sad.

And so I kinda go back to Book 1 from time to time to refresh myself with why I started this series to begin with and I'm always reminded with the possibilities and the explorations about good and evil and the complex duality of differences and parallels that so many things that Sophie and Agatha sort of beautifully personify.

I love reading the very first chapter of Book 1 because it so beautifully captured Sophie and Agatha and their complex relationship that I've always wanted to read in other books.

I always loved reading Sophie's amusing thought process and the reason why she does everything that she does; she does it because she believes that she deserves more and she'll everything to get it.

I also loved how Agatha was such a character that I've always wanted to read about. She's spunky and shy and lonely and reflective and despite everyone shunning her, she could still see the good and find it in herself to help them. She was simply wonderful.

I'm thankful that I found this series and I hope that a lot more books can talk about the philosophies and concepts that this book has managed to introduce. And despite all of its set-backs and nonsense, I would still recommend this as a read but to that they should also think about what they've read and maybe talk about what they've found interesting with it.