#the books are all easily piratable btw

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Have you read Percy Jackson? Of so could you do Straw Hats x 12 year old Daughter of PJO! Zeus? Thank you for your time BTW

I have only read the first book so far, so please forgive me if this isn’t written correctly.

-You had been having fun, wind surfing when a gust gave you a boost that you had easily underestimated, easily taking off with you, pulling you far from shore, farther than you were used to.

-Luckily a ship had seen you catching your big air and when they saw you panicking, they were quick to pull up beside you and you were stunned when Luffy shot his arm down, stretching it like rubber, and fished you and your board out.

-You were a lot younger than they first believed, being a young teenager as Chopper and Nami both scolded you, checking you out for any wounds as you looked a little sheepish, “Thanks for saving me- I wasn’t anticipating getting blown out to sea.”

-Franky just ruffled your hair affectionately, “IT’s okay- you caught some SUPER air out there!!” you beamed, feeling proud of yourself as you stood.

-Robin then spoke, “Do you always wind surf alone?” you shook your head, “No I’ve got others- I’m just the most advanced so I can go out farther. My friends are all on the beach doing their own activities for camp.”

-Luffy looked like a big kid, “Camp? What kind of camp?” you puffed out your chest a little bit, “Demi-god camp! We’re all here to enjoy the fresh sea air!”

-Robin lifted a hand to her lips, a soft hum leaving her, “I think I’ve heard about that. Camp Half Blood, right?” you beamed up at her, nodding, “Yup- we all came here as it’s safer compared to our world, and our parents can still contact us if the need us.”

-As the ship started towards the shore, to drop you off, Zoro spoke up, “Why is your old world more dangerous?” you scratched the back of your head, looking a bit embarrassed, “Not too many like us demi-gods, like other gods who don’t have any kids. Take me for example, Hera hates me because I’m the kid of Zeus, product of yet another affair. Hera’s tried to kill me I want to say… four times now.”

-Eyes were bulged, hearing this, Jinbei knew of the gods, who could travel between worlds, which made sense of why you were able to as well, and he knew of Zeus and his escapades.

-Once back on shore the other members of the camp were excited to meet some actual pirates of this world, ones that wouldn’t attack them, as they were all willing to spend time with you and the other kids.

-Chopper was quite popular with the girls who gushed on how cute he was, while Franky had gotten the attention of most of the boys for being a robot.

-You helped Sanji prepare the massive barbeque, to celebrate new friends between you, your friends, and the Straw Hats, and he taught you some techniques when grilling meat.

-The Straw Hats stayed for a few days, offering to teach the kids new things, like Zoro taught them how to use swords in a more effective way, Robin taught them about history and Nami with geography, and Usopp loved teaching the archery class, finding it fun and easy.

-You were sitting beside Luffy and Brook, swinging your legs back and forth, enjoying seeing all of your friends having so much fun as Brook spoke up, “I got to meet Athena earlier, she’s quite the woman yohoho- she almost attacked me when I asked to see her panties.”

-You winced lightly for him, “Yeah it’s lucky you survived- Athena can be intimidating.” Luffy grinned, wanting to meet your parent and you laughed awkwardly, “Yeah… Zeus has so many kids, he probably doesn’t know I exist. He doesn’t really care about us kids- just getting laid.”

-Luffy leaned his head on top of yours, surprising you as he grinned, “We can always come back when you’re older, you can join my crew!”

-Your eyes were like stars, glittering so brightly, “REALLY?!” you cheered loudly, making Luffy laugh as he promised to come back to get you and you promised to get even better at your wind surfing so you wouldn’t need to be rescued again, making the two of them laugh loudly as you all celebrated the future.

[dragonsinthedarkness]

Lately I went rewatching ep.I. It was the third time, but the first one being as obsessed with this show (and having the full picture of it) as I am now. And, wow, it really could be called an “introduction”. I mean, besides all the main characters' introduction, in those 60 minutes there are hints to all of the main themes treated in the show.

They give a sketch of the pirate figure they are going to deepen throughout the seasons (free men who keep what they want) and also of the way they are seen and conceived by the civilized world (as fearsome monsters).

They also start to give some hints about the nature of that “civilized world”.

They even introduce the concept of shame! I didn't remember that.

Captain Hume says: ”gossip is what holds civilization together. It reinforces shame. And without shame the world is a very dangerous place.”

Which, wow, is pretty ominous considering what we are going to discover in season two.

They also start to make it pretty clear how things work in Nassau, how important it is to have allies and at the same time how easily those alliances may change, with poor Gates trying to gain votes for Flint (and I'm going to say it once again: he didn't deserve to die. Like, I love Flint, but this I can't forgive him.)

And speaking about Flint, they already give very important informations about him.

Sure, we see him being the bossiest and the strongest of the bunch, all determined with his actions and plans and all, but what I'm really talking about are the hints to his personality.

Of course we don't know him yet at episode one (and I'm sure the first impressions of him must have been the most disparate. I can't even remember my very first impression of him, but considering my actual tastes in characters I think that if I had first known him now I would have loved him at once) but they drop things which are very important considering what we are going to discover about his character.

Like, we know at first that he doesn't trust his men at all (“I don't trust them with the truth”+ the various lies lol), and we see that he definitely is not “one of them”, because they find him too different from them to be considered such and probably this is where all those mistrust in him come from (“I know they've always found me aloof, too educated” which really, really, tells a lot about him).

And I just thought: how strong must he have been to gain and hold the power over those men in a world where there are no rules, no indisputable ranks, where trust and submission is granted (and only barely promised) to the stronger ones or to the ones who are considered the most fitted to receive it only basing on one's subjective judgment and advantage, without even being liked by those men?

And also, Dufresne says that “he loves his books” which is another one of the things that in my opinion are so beautiful about his character for the deep links those books have with his story and his development (I could write a whole essay about Flint's books lol).

Anyway, I just finished rewatching season 4 some weeks ago and since I can't stay for long without BS anymore I thought: why not starting it again? And so. Btw, I really needed to rewatch the first season since I feel like I still haven't appreciated it enough.

[chocomd]

ATLA rewatch: The Siege of the North

Or ATLA rewatch, Zukaang edition 😂

The Book 1 finale is the second time that Aang and Zuko meet after The Blue Spirit, and the Zukaang events in the finale mirror the events of The Blue Spirit - only this time, they're inverted.

We start out with Zuko almost being killed by the pirates, but then surviving and infiltrating Zhao's ship, complete with the Blue Spirit theme music. He uses stealth to sneak into a stronghold (the fortress-like NWT), winging it with no real plan except to get the Avatar out. Only this time, he's not saving Aang from anything. Instead, Aang is in a position that is critically important to helping the NWT fight off the Fire Nation attackers, and Aang himself is left vulnerable to attack while he enters the spirit world.

So Zuko fights Aang's allies (as opposed to Aang's captors in The Blue Spirit) and snatches him away for his own gain. This time, Aang is the one who is unconscious, and Zuko is the one carrying him away. But instead of carrying Aang away to safety (as Aang did with an unconscious Zuko), Zuko is carrying them both to increasing danger, as the ice shelf he walks on collapses under him and he's forced to find shelter in an ice cave to survive a raging blizzard.

And it's only while Aang is still unconscious that Zuko opens up about himself. Zuko is unmasked at this point, and he can only let himself be vulnerable with Aang when Aang can't hear him. This is the opposite of what happens in The Blue Spirit, where Aang waits for Zuko to wake up (also unmasked) before he opens up to him.

When Aang does wake up, he finds himself tied up and it's clear that he's waking up to an enemy in Zuko. He has no illusions about a potential friendship at this time, and he immediately airbends at Zuko and tries to escape.

But after Katara knocks out Zuko and the Gaang is about to leave him behind in the blizzard, Aang decides to bring him with them. Aang isn't saving Zuko's life just because he's a kind person (and he is kind) or because he has forgiven Zuko (he hasn't, yet). Aang chooses to save Zuko's life because Zuko once saved his life, and this feeling of being indebted to Zuko is rather profound and not easily dismissed. And, as we eventually see in Book 3, he still holds onto the hope that he and Zuko don't always have to be enemies, and that one day they could even be friends.

It's this display of mercy, of kindness extended to an enemy because even enemies have inherent worth, that allows Zuko to offer his hand to save Zhao from the Ocean Spirit. Zhao tried to have him killed and has antagonized Zuko throughout all of Book 1. But Zuko has been slowly (re)learning that all life has value, and it's in this way that Aang begins to change him, bit by bit.

(Btw I also love how Zhao says to Zuko: "You're the Blue Spirit, an enemy of the Fire Nation. You freed the Avatar." And Zuko responds by saying "I had no choice." The that way Zuko thinks he's devoting himself to capturing the Avatar to regain his nation, when this is really the beginning of him abandoning his nation to gain the Avatar!!! The foreshadowing!!!! The Zukaang of it all!!! I'M JUST ALSDKFDSSKDJFF)

[zenzeroruletheworld]

HI. Please elaborate about the Jack being a daddy's boy thing. I would actually genuinely love to hear more about that 🥺 reading that post genuinely made me squeal with delight btw

hello anon! i will try just because you asked nicely 😌

honestly, it's more of a feeling I get when I read and see their interactions: the fact that jack always seeks his father's approval; we don't know much about jack's early life (before yjs), other than when his father has saved him from almost being sold into slavery and when his hands were about to be cut off, so the imagination can travel far.

it is also true that from these two events we understand that Teague has always been careful to keep an eye on Jack, after all he is his kid. I've heard multiple times that these events happened because Teague dont pay attention to Jack, but I think it's the opposite:

I mean, if they were on land, Teague was most likely resupplying the ship. considering that Jack was a 6/8 year old child it is normal that he was curious about what was around him. and if Teague arrived just in time to save him, he surely must have been worried when he realized that his son was missing. he could have easily sent a member of his crew to look for him, but he went directly: he must have panicked when he realized that his son was no longer near him (like any parent)

Teague is described in several ways, most notably: distant (from Jack's perspective) and protective.

Teague is a highly sought-after pirate and his apparent distance was likely a way to keep Jack safe. after all it would have been the smartest move, if anyone knew of their close family relationship, Jack would always be in danger of being kidnapped, without the possibility of self-reliance. not even his crew is apparently aware that jack is his son (teague doesn't even trust his crew?)

Honestly, it's no secret that Teague cares about his son.

Jack is called Teague's welp and Teague's protégé several times by all the people who see him, so Teague definitely took pains to get the word to spread out so people knew not to get too close to him or there would be consequences (and It's well known that Teague isn't "nice" to anyone who annoys him if you know what I mean.)

he is not what is conventionally defined as a "good father" not externally, but considering the condition and the environment I don't even think he can be considered a bad father.

the fact that If possible, Jack asks for Teague's opinion on any topic shows that he blindly trusts his father's opinion.

We also know from the books that Jack began his pirate career as a cabin boy for teague, despite being much younger than the average cabin boy. this means that Teague wanted little Jack to stay with him, to do the job that allows you to be closer to the captain, much more than anyone else

he could easily have left him in Shipwreck cove, with his grandmother, and forget about it. but he decided not to; many pirates leave their children on land so as not to have to worry about taking care of them, teague is not one of them.

So I think as much as Jack is a daddy's boy, Teague is just as much a boy's daddy

[berrypass-de-murdler]

21. Oil Kill You For This

My favorite episode title lmaoo

Why are all the ones that end in 'for this' chalkers episodes pfff

oil kill you for this

i yacht to kill you for this

yule pay for this

always llamacoded

I love him

Btw my mini server features sneak peeks and "behind-the-scenes"(?) for cartoon murdleverse stuff... if you like my dumb project than you can ask to join!! :D

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico follows the map to some pirate island and finds Obsidian, who is supposed to be dead, standing there. Also Midnight and Chalk for some reason, staring stupidly at a body.

MIDNIGHT: Look. It’s Deductive Logico. CHALK: There’s a body. LOGICO: I can see, genius.

Logico explores. There's an Ancient Ruins there. He's confused why the ruins follow him everywhere, but doesn't assume much significance. DRAMATIC IRONY ALERT?! Meanwhile, Chalk and Midnight are being really not much of anything.

LOGICO: WELL?? Are you even going to PRETEND to look innocent? Or GUILTY?? You’re just STANDING there! MIDNIGHT: I’m not standing. I don’t got legs.

Logico 'finds' the murderer pretty easily.

OBSIDIAN: HUHUHUHUHUHU. CHALK: N… no! 

Chalkers calls the po-po and they get rid of Sid. 

OBSIDIAN: I’LL SEE YOU AT TRIAL!!

So… that happened. 

LOGICO: … …So what the fuck was that all about?? MIDNIGHT: … …Oh. You mean what just happened. LOGICO: WHAT ELSE COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY MEANT?!? MIDNIGHT: Yea so I got an email and followed the map and so did the beard man. And then she showed us the body. LOGICO: What was her point?? CHALK: It was a royalty negotiation strategy. She wanted more… and to be honest, it worked. I’m gonna pay her more. [panic sound] LOGICO: You’re safe now… [pats him] CHALK: Ghehehehe... ehhh...

Midnight stares into the ocean.

MIDNIGHT: I wish I was right there.

The end!

LOOKATDABAAABIII

A couple days ago I figured out that annoyed llamas make this weird high-pitched 'nyaaa! >:(' sound and it's so cute and I imagined chalk making the noise and HELLLPPPPP <3 <3

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[lostfirefly]

I saw this book at the bookstore today.

And good memories from my past captured me. Since 2003 till ~2015 I was a huuuge fan of anime. I'm 36 now and I still watch it, btw.

One Piece was on my list too. I stopped watching the anime at episode 700 (to note: i started to watch it again! haha).

I was seized by pleasant memories.

I remember when me and my friends were struggling with the new manga releases. And now it's all easily available at the store.

I remember getting together with friends and discussing new anime series. I remember how we were going to festivals.

I had a very severe depressive state in the last two years (I'm from Russia, no words needed here 😭). But the release of OPLA changed something in me and awakened me from my comatose sleep. For some unknown reason, this show makes me genuinely smile and laugh again.

I know, it sounds silly.

I never thought that in 2023 we'd be on a treasure hunt again. I'm glad it's happening now.

Thanks to all crew. Thanks to all cast (special thanks to Jeff, of course).

Thank you for making me feel alive again.

Thanks to all those who upload their drawings and fanfics. You rock, guys!

Can't wait for S2!

The pirates are coming!! To the Grand Line! Wooohooo!

PS. Sorry for mistakes. English is not my native language.

[mishkakagehishka]

sell me on ur time princess game. if you can sell me i will use whatever that code thing is if you give it to me

Alright boss hear me out.

Dress Up Time Princess is a game. But! It's a game with a story with choices, otome elements and, most importantly, the ability to dress your main bitch up in BOMB clothes. Your main girl as you play as is a so-called traveler I honestly forgot the lore because I originally installed this last year, but the short of it is that you have this magic lantern which can transport you into various worlds as some sort of main character, and there you🫵 have to make your choices.

We have a world where you are put in Marie Antoinette's shoes and have to AVOID THE ENTIRE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM HAPPENING. And you can romance The King Louis XVI, fucking Lafayette or some Swedish c(o)unt tbh I didn't care much for Fersen. He's okay.

What else do we have. I'm still finishing Marie so I can't give in-depth for other stories. We have the Magic Lamp, which is an Aladdin off-shoot. I think. We have Swan Lake where you are the princess being pressured to find a husband, and the Swan Princess is a Prince

I like the villain better tho love and peace.

We have Saga of Viera which slav-baited me bc I thought Viera was a slavic name (as Vjera... ) but it's some sick fantasy look at these fits oml

Madam has a TAIL. Also wait fits for Marie and Swan (2×) and Lamp

Shadows of London!! I know not what it's about but it has Priscilla and a vampire ig idk and the fits are actually v historically accurate?? (Unlike Marie. No panniers on that girl)

She has crinolines and bustles.!!!!! There's Tang Dynasty Hunters which is Chinese fantasy!! There's more than one but I can only show you fits from the stories I own

Look at this. Mwah. Chef's kiss. And I also have House of Horrors which I just bought so idk what it's about, but it has ouji and lolita and some vibey shit

Anyway. Enough of the fashion show. Let me tell you about the GAME.

There are flowcharts here. I actually play with a guide to get the ending i want :3 but you don't have to start over to get all endings at least. I can't even tell you what genres you have bc you have a Lot

There's wild west, wuxia, pirates, victorian, modern, horror, mystery, romance, there's So Much. These tickets are easy to get so you can collect em and shit don't worry. A lotta them have trigger warnings too so you can know what you're getting into!! But basically, you get a story, you get your companions (important side charas, Louis XVI, Lafayette, the Swan Prince and Owl Magician, all that fancy shit. Tang Dynasty has some dude with fish ears btw) (you can have romances with some of them🤙), you make choices through the stories, and multiple endings. I know Swan Lake has a few? With the main endings being the Prince, the Villain and "no husband for me, get fucked, men". You can get beheaded in Marie😃 (off-screen). You need the good clothes to pass stages, though, it's like Love Nikki. Craft and collect, use your drip to its max.

There's also gacha because of COURSE there is, but it's like? Surprisingly nice? You can get tickets easily with logins and events, and you can choose a fave book (even if you don't own it) to only get clothes from it (or you can leave it fave-less to get any clothes). It's neat🤙 there's a lotta shit but that's the main of it.

Anyway. If you do install it.

Use my invitation code (f6aa6vk37) in the royal invite section. Mwah.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Time for me to ramble about The Wingfeather Saga to try and distract myself from my depression and the fact that I’m sick and miserable!

~*Spoilers*~ for all the books

*

Okie so in the 3rd Wingfeather show episode Tink calls Peet old and I just. I just wanna address that for a second because it’s been poking around in my mind ever since. xD

So here’s what I think the ages of the adults in the Wingfeather Saga are as based on the kid’s ages, how long it’s been since Anniera fell and logic:

Let’s start with Esben and Nia. Since their kiddos were very little when Anniera fell (Janner was only three) it follows that they were also quite young, I’m gonna say mid-20′s, around 24-25. Nine years later that’d make them 33-34 years old, which seems logical.

I headcanon that Artham and Esben have the same age gap as Janner and Kal, so assuming Artham is only a year older than his brother that’d put him at about 25-26 (my age ;-;) when Anniera fell and 34-35 during the events of the series. That’s. That’s not old. Even if you headcanon him as several years older than Esben (say 3 or so) he’d still be in his 30′s.

(I’m not knocking Tink btw, he’s 11 and everyone’s old when you’re a little kid, especially weird guys with whitish gray hair that you don’t know are related to you.)

I don’t have any concrete idea of how old Podo is and it bothers me, Leeli in book 4 keeps saying he’s like, really old, but she’s also 9 so that’s probably not reliable. Assuming Nia’s in her 30′s during the books Podo is probably(?) in his mid-late 60′s. (Especially since we know he did a LOT when he was young, he ran with the Stranders, he was a pirate, and when he came to the Hollows he said he never sailed again until he traveled to Anniera for Nia’s wedding). I feel like Wendolyn was younger than him by maybe 5-6 years since she isn’t married when they meet, despite being an attractive and well-to-do young woman.

Mentioning grandparents, has anyone else ever wondered where the HECK Artham and Esben’s parents are? Like, they’re barely even mentioned in the books, I think we actually learn their names from a genealogy Janner gets from Oskar/the Great Library. And this is especially weird when you consider that Podo and Wendolyn are actively helping Nia and the kids escape when Anniera falls. That, and Esben is king already when Anniera falls and unless their parents had kids when they were older (which is possible) they won’t be that old and Idk why his dad wouldn’t still be ruling. Like, why pass the throne off to your 20-something son if you don’t have to? Why not train him more?

So here’s what I think happened to Jru and Nala Wingfeather: I think Bonifer killed them. Not Bonifer himself, of course, but I think he arranged their deaths in some way. It would be pretty easy, tbh, to have an “accident” where they died. All you’d need to do would be hire some pirates to attack a ship they’re sailing on, or sabotage the ship so that it sank once it set sail.

Bonifer would have several good motives for this, I think. First and foremost, it’s going to be much easier for him to trick Esben, a brand-new, very young, king into believing his lies than an older, more experienced, king and queen. Not that I think Esben (or Artham) was an idiot, but Bonifer has had a really long time to learn how to lie and be a terrible person, and the younger you are the more likely you are to fall for stuff like that (generally speaking, there are always exceptions. like, I don’t think Maraly would have been easily tricked by Bonifer’s shenanigans because she grew up with the Stranders who are a bunch of lying tricksters. Meanwhile, Janner was tricked because he grew up among trustworthy and loving adults. Same thing with Esben and Artham).

Second, it’s possible that Jru and/or Nala had learned something that made them suspicious of Bonifer or were close to finding something about Gnag/the Fangs that would have ruined their plans, so Bonifer had them killed. Again, it’s really easy to set up an “accident”, especially when sailing is involved.

And finally, Bonifer just. really hates the Wingfeathers. Because he’s got issues. So of course he’d try to cause them all the suffering he could.

So, yeah, that’s why I think Esben and Artham’s parents aren’t around/aren’t mentioned in the books. Also my headcanons about ages.

[yarechano075]

one piece x y/n [part-4]

as we all know how much fanboy luffy is for shanks , so as he heard you he instantly said " oh you drew shanks fighting against marine ! it's so cool y/n !! " .

you've heard from garp that how much red hair pirate's captain shanks effect his grandson since childhood , you were not amazed but still you have to act like you don't know anything .

" yes ? but luffy did you know him ? " you asked , of course if anyone was in place of you would've asked it as luffy call shanks so informally .

" yes ! " luffy answered . " oh my god ! it's so amazing luffy ! you know red hair pirates " you said .

" shishishishi " .

and like that they chitchat all the time and sometimes ask questions to you as well . you found it strange that whole crew was talking to you and asking questions to you but zoro and sanji they were silent , they were just eating their food and somewhat observing you . of course you know how to earn trust of them as well .

after dinner everyone stay a lil bit more in kitchen as usopp and sanji clean up the kitchen they were still talking about their day . Its when you tried to start a conversation with sanji .

" the food " you said while attracting the attention of usopp and sanji .

" when I taste it , it remind me the taste of food my mother used to make " you continued .

" well I am really not into cooking but I hope I can eat food like this for rest of my life " you said while smiling .

in the smile you were looking just like a angle who just fall on earth from the heaven .

" I am happy that you liked it y/n " sanji said while smiling back to you .

" oh btw where is the bath and where am I supposed to sleep ? " you asked .

" the bathroom is on the left from there and the room opposite to the bathroom is boys bedroom ." usopp said while giving you the direction with his finger .

it was when you realized that you are going to sleep with them , even though you are not a deep sleeper but you talk in your sleep is for sure which was making you afraid now . and the second thing is you have to sleep with your chest binder on which is going to be pain in the ass for sure and what if by any chance your chest binder get dislocalized from it's position and what if they will know about your gender . you were so scared that you froze on you spot .

" what happen y/n ?" usopp asked .

" ah nothing " you tried to change the topic when your eyes met sanji's eyes .

SUSPICIOUS . his eyes were telling you loud enough that you heard them clearly that he is now more suspicious of you . congratulations your efforts were all waste at this point .

you proceed towards the bathroom , you locked from inside as you were afraid that what if someone saw your naked body .

you took off you cloths when you bare skin starts to appear your skin was rough , there were so many buries and cuts were on your whole body from fingers to toe , even you had stiches on your forehead as well which was easily get covered with you long bangs .

you washed yourself , you felt alive once again . after wearing your cloths and tight you chest binder double time you get out of bathroom .

you enter the boys shared bedroom , you saw luffy and usopp were lying on the bed , sanji and chopper on the other , franky and jinbei was sleeping on there seprate beds . you noticed that zoro and brook were not here so you get out from the room thinking there must be another room .

you climb up to the deck where zoro train himself and you were right zoro was sleeping there while brook was looking in some papers with robin .

" ah y/n san " brook addressed you . you went to them and took a seat next to robin .

" what are you guys look at ? " you asked out of curiosity .

" nothing much y/n kun we were just reading some historical books " .

" oh " you said . historical things never interests you and more likely you never gave any thoughts to history in past .

you take one of the book and read its title " the void ? what type of title is that . "

[fireworkss-exe]

3, 8, 11, 12, 19, 22, 31, 40, 41, 48

These are a lot, and you are not required to answer them all, or answer promptly.

I am simply very curious about your obsession about this piece of media.

You are very normal about it, I promise *lying*

I am so abnormal about newsies. I start hyperventilating whenever I watch it.

3. Quote from newsies

"Either they gives us our rights or we gives them a war!" Just. Chills whenever I hear it.

8. Newsies fanwork that you’ve created

That one newsies lineup drawing I did back in October. I just think it's neat

11. Romantic ‘Ship (OTP)

Javid/Javy. I'm so mentally ill over them (or maybe I just like red and blue dynamics). I don't know why but I am shaking them like a snowglobe

12. Non-romantic relationship between two characters

Medda and Jack. Maybe it's because I have a rough relationship with my mother figures but it just makes me happy to see a mother-son relationship like that

19. Historical or modern AU

I like the modern au for funny purposes. Historical is my favorite though

22. Crutchie/Crutchy

I'm so glad you asked. He is The Silly ever. He definitely trips people with his crutch btw. Especially Kid Blink.

31. 3 background characters of your choice

Romeo. He tries to lift heavy things to impress girls but he always fumbles and ends up just making the girls laugh instead

Specs. He's really spaced out all the time and loses focus really easily. Because of this, Race started a rumor that he's an opium addict (it's not true, though. Specs is just. Like that)

Kid Blink. He HATES it when people call him a pirate

40. Why do you like newsies?

It's a story about the oppressed rising up to demand their rights. It's also a major source of gender envy. Also the music is good!! And it's a flop movie from the 90s. What's not to love?

41. How did you first discover newsies?

We watched 92sies when I was just a freshman in drama class and I thought it was just ok. Then I rediscovered it when I was older and fell in love with it for the first time

48. What other things (books, musicals, etc) would you recommend newsies fans check out?

Bandstand, Hadestown, and West Side Story are all pretty good musicals if you like Newsies. They're all pretty popular but I couldn't think of anything else

[ash-and-starlight]

Hi!! Your art is so beautiful and I love how detailed you design each character like they're all so unique and cute! I wanted to start getting into digital art and I've mostly only done portraits from the neck up. How did you learn to draw bodies and people in movement? (I have a new level of appreciation for comic and anime artists IT IS SO HARD) thank you!!

Heyyy thank you so so much omgg!! And yeaH I feel you so much comic & anime artists are just something else. For me the most useful things for learning to draw bodies etc (which,, I still have to learn so much about tbh) were 1. copy the work of artists I liked as an exercise/warmup and 2. learn old school textbook anatomy, like bones, tendons, muscle groups etc, and how they work (this was SO BORING but also very useful kfsfj)

there are also some very good books about figure drawing, I haven't read them all yet but I'm gonna give you a few titles

"Figure drawings for dummies" by Kensuke Okabayashi

"Drawing the living figure" by Joseph Sheppard

"Figure drawings without a model" by Ron Tiner

"Force - character design from life drawing" by Mike Mattesi (this one is very useful for movement and force lines in action poses)

"Art of drawing the human body" by Sterling I hope this helps <333

[jayykesley]

The multiples of four for the writer ask game!!

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Listen, after watching P&P2005 i cant deal with the word "ardently". I also used to loved the word "irrevocably" but now it makes me think of twilight every time

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

/easily/ could cut out action, one of my current wips is 90% dialogue right now because i find it much easier to write

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules.

I'd wish 1) that I would genuinely enjoy every writing session i have, regardless of how much or little I write, 2) that I would have as much time as i desire (without infringing on other responsibilities) to write, and 3) that I would always have the energy to write

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

my dog, maybe, ive just set a book open on top of her if i need to walk away for a second

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

probs the WIP, ngl - i'm happy not being in a romantic relationship and like, the idea of perfectly finishing a WIP? I'd ride that high for the rest of my life

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

Most of the time i need a LOT of prep work but my two currently-active WIPs could not be more different - one is mostly written as i come up with stuff and the other is 7 years in the making soooo

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

I /really/ enjoy writing Cad, my pirate android

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

hmmmmmmm i cant think off the top of my head but there's almost definitely something from HMC or Two Princesses of Bamarre that I love, let me check

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?

oh i truly know very little

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

i love that poem about the one-eye kitten

[snarktheater]

Hey, d'you have any French book recs? I'm trying to work on my French, and rn I have downloaded one of my favourite book series' French translations, but I figured maybe books already written in French might work better? Also have you read the Ranger's Apprentice series? 1/2

RA's def flawed - the books' narration does like to point bright arrows at the protagonists' intelligence, and the last few books def have the tone of 'old white man trying to write feminism', although at least he's trying? - and it's aimed more to the younger side of YA, but it is still a very fun series, and I can ignore the flaws fairly easily, at least partly due to nostalgia? This rather long lol but I'm wordy.

I'll start with the second question: no, although every time the series is brought up I have to check the French title and go "oh, right, I've seen these books in stores". But I've never purchased or read them. It sounds like something I probably would have enjoyed as a teen but I just missed the mark, and these days I'm trying to drown myself in queer books, so that probably isn't happening.

As for your first question, geez, I haven’t read a French book in years, so this is gonna skew middle grade/YA, though that may not be so bad if the point is to learn the language. I will also say that as a result, these may read a little outdated.

I'll put it under a cut, even if Tumblr has become really bad with correctly displaying read mores. Sorry, mobile crowd.

It's also likely that old readers of the blog will have seen me talk about most of these. I don't feel like going through old posts.

One last thing: while I was curating this list I took the time to make a Goodreads shelf to keep track of those.

The Ewilan books by Pierre Bottero

(It's a testament to how long ago I read these books that these are not the covers of the edition I own, and I can't even find those on Google. I'm settling for a more recent cover anyway since it'll make it easier to find them, presumably)

There are at least three trilogies (that I know of) set in the same world.

The first trilogy is essentially an isekai (so, French girl lands in parallel fantasy world by accident) with elements of chosen one trope, though I find the execution makes it worth the while anyway.

The second trilogy is a direct sequel, so same protagonist but new threat, and the world gets expanded.

The third one is centered around a supporting characters from the previous books, and the first couple of books in it are more her backstory than a continuation, though the third one concludes both that trilogy and advances the story of the other books as well.

Notably these books have a really fun magic system where the characters "draw" things into existence. It's just stuck with me for some reason.

A bunch of stuff by Erik L'Homme

I have read a lot of this man's books, starting with Le Livre des Etoiles.

They also skew towards the young end of YA, arguably middle grade, I never bothered to figure out where to draw the line. They're coincidentally also using the premise of a parallel world to our own (and yes, connected to France again, the French are just as susceptible of writing about their homeland), but interestingly are set from the point of view of characters native to the parallel world.

It also has a very unique magic system, this one based on a mix of a runic alphabet and sort-of poetry. I'll also say specifically for these books that the characters stuck with me way more than others on this list, which is worth mentioning.

This trilogy is my favorite by Erik L'Homme, but I'll also mention Les Maîtres des brisants, which is a fantasy space opera with a pirate steampunk(?) vibe. I think it's steampunk. I could be mistaken. But it's in that vein. It's also middle grade, in my opinion not as good, but it could just be that it came out when I was older.

Another one is Phaenomen, which was a deliberate attempt at skewing older (though still YA). This one is set in our (then-)modern world and centers a group of teens who happen to have supernatural powers. I guess the best way to describe it is a superhero thriller? If you take "superhero" in the sense of "people with individualized powers", since they don't really do a lot of heroing.

...I really need to brush up on genre terminology, don't I.

The Ji series by Pierre Grimbert

This one is actually adult fantasy, though it definitely falls under "probably outdated". It is very straight, for starters, and I'd have to give it another read to give a more critical reading of how it handles race (it attempts to do it, and is well meaning, but I'm not sure it survives the test of time & scrutiny, basically).

If I haven't lost you already, the premise is this: a few generations ago, a weird man named Nol gathered emissaries from each nation of the world and took them to a trip to the titular Ji island. Nobody knows what went down here, but now in the present day, someone is trying to kill off all descendants from those emissaries, who are as a result forced to team up and figure out what's going on.

I'm not going to spoil past that, though I will say it has (surprise) a really unique magic system! I guess you can start to piece together what my younger self was interested in. Which, admittedly, I still am.

Once again, this one also has a strong cast of characters, helped by rich world building and the premise forcing the characters to come from many different cultures (though, again, I can't vouch for the handling of race because it's been too long).

The first series is complete by itself, though it has two sequel series as well, each focusing on the next generation in these families. Because yes, of course they all pair up and have kids. Like I said: very straight.

A whole lot of books by Jean-Louis Fetjaine

OFetjaine is a historian, and I guess he's really interested in Arthurian mythos especially, because he loves it so much he's written two separate high fantasy retellings of them! I'm not criticizing, mind you, we all need a hobby.

The former, the Elves trilogy (pictures above) is very traditional high fantasy. Elves, dwarves, orcs, a world which is definitely fictionalized with a pan-Celtic vibe to it. The holy grail and excalibur are around, but they're relics possessed by the elves and dwarves with very different powers than usual. Et cetera.

Fetjaine also really loves his elves (as the titles might imply), and while they're not exactly Tolkien elves, there's a similar vibe to them. If you like Tolkien and his elf boner, you'll probably like this too. And conversely, if that turns you off, these books probably also won't work for you.

This series also has a prequel trilogy, centered around the backstory of one of the main characters. I...honestly don't remember too much about it, but I liked it, so, there you go, I guess.

I said Fetjaine did it twice. The other series is the Merlin duology, which, as the title implies, is a retelling of Merlin's story. Note that Merlin is also in the other trilogy, but it's a different Merlin; like I said, completely different continuities and stories.

This one is historical fantasy, so it's set in actual Great Britain, and Fetjaine attempts to connect Arthur to a "real" historical figure...but, you know, Merlin is also half-elf and elves totally exist in Brocéliande, so, you know. History.

Okay, that's probably enough fantasy, let me give some classics too.

L'Arbre des possibles et autres histoires - Bernard Werber

Bernard Werber is a pretty seminal author of French sci-fi and I should probably be embarrassed that the only book of his that I read was for school, but, it is a really good one, so I'll include it anyway.

It's a novella collection, and when I say "sci-fi" I want to make it clear that it's very old school science fiction. It's more Frankenstein or Black Mirror than Star Trek, what we in French call the anticipation genre of science fiction: you take one piece of technology or cultural norm and project it into the future.

It has a pretty wide range of topics and tones, so it's bound to have some better than others. My personal faves were Du pain et des jeux, where football (non-American) has evolved into basically a wargame, and Tel maître, tel lion, where any animal is considered acceptable as a pet, no matter how absurd it is to keep as a pet. They're both on a comedic end, but there's more heartfelt stuff too.

L'Ecume des Jours - Boris Vian

(no cover because I can't find the one I have, and the ones I find are ugly)

This book is surrealist. Like, literally a part of the surrealist movement. It features things such as a lilypad growing inside a woman's lungs (and, as you well know, lilypads double in size every day, wink wink), the protagonist's apartment becoming larger and smaller to go with his mood and current financial situation, and more that I can't even recall at the moment because remembering this book is like trying to remember having an aneurysm.

It is also really, really fun and touching. Oh, and it has a pretty solid movie adaptation, starring Audrey Tautou, who I think an international audience would probably recognize from Amelie or the Da Vinci Code movie.

I don't really know what else to say. It's a really cool read!

Le Roi se meurt - Eugène Ionesco

Ionesco is somewhat famous worldwide so I wasn't even sure to include him here. He's a playwright who wrote in the "Theater of the Absurd" movement, and this play is part of that.

The premise of this play is that the King (of an unnamed land) is dying, and the land is dying with him. I don't really know what else to say. It's theater of the absurd. It kind of has to be experienced (the published version works fine, btw, no need to track down an actual performance, in my humble opinion).

The Plague - Albert Camus

You've probably heard of this one, and if you haven't, let me tell you about a guy called Carlos Maza

I'm honestly more including this book out of a sense of duty. The other three are books I genuinely liked and happen to be classics. This book was an awful read. But, um. It's kind of relevant now in a way it wasn't (or didn't feel, anyway) back in 2008 or 2009, when I read it. And I don't just mean because of our own plague, since Camus's plague is pretty famously an allegory for fascism, which my teenage self sneered at, and my adult self really regrets every feeling that way.

Okay, finally, some more lighthearted stuff, we gotta talk about the Belgian and French art of bande dessinée. How is it different from comic books or manga? Functionally, it isn't. It really comes down more to what gets published in the Belgian-French industry compared to the American comics industry, which is dominated by superheroes, or the Japanese manga industry, which, while I'm less familiar with it, I know has some big genre trends as well that are completely separate.

The Lanfeust series - Arleston and Tarquin

This is a YA mega-series, and I can't recommend all of it because I've lost track of the franchise's growth. Also note that I say "YA", but in this case it means something very different from an American understanding of YA. These books are pretty full of sex.

No, when I say YA I mean it has that level of maturity, for better or worse. The original series (Lanfeust de Troy) is high fantasy in a world where everyone has an individual magical ability but two characters find out they're gifted with an absolute power to make anything happen, and while it gets dark at times, it's still very lighthearted throughout, and the humor is...well, I think it's best described as teen boy humor. And it has a tendency to objectify its female characters, as you'll quickly parse out from the one cover I used here or if you browse more covers.

But still, it holds a special place in my heart, I guess. And on my shelves.

The sequel series, Lanfeust des Etoiles, turns it into a space opera, and goes a little overboard with the pop culture reference at times, though overall still maintains that balance of serious/at times dark story and lighthearted comedy.

After that the franchise is utter chaos to me, and I've lost track. I know there was another sequel series, which I dropped partway through, and a spinoff that retold part of the original series from the PoV of the main love interest (in the period of time she spent away from the main group). There was a comedy spin-off about the troll species unique to this world, a prequel series, probably more I don't even know exist.

Les Démons d'Alexia

Something I can probably be a little less ashamed of including here.

Some backstory here. The Editions Dupuis are a giant of the Belgian bande dessinée industry, and for many, many years I was subscribed to their weekly magazine. That magazine was (mostly) made up of excerpts from the various books that the éditions were publishing at the time; those that were made of comic strips would usually get a couple pages of individual scripts, while the ongoing narratives got cut into episodes that were a few pages long (out of a typical 48 page count for a single BD album). Among those were this series.

For the first few volumes, I wasn't super into this series, probably because I was a little too young and smack dab in the middle of my "trying to be one of the boys" phase. But around book 3 I got really invested, to the point where I own the second half of the series because I had canceled by subscription by then but still wanted to know more.

Alexia is an exorcist with unusual talents, but little control, who's introduced to a group that specializes in researching paranormal phenomena, solving cases that involve the paranormal, that kinda stuff.

As a result of the premise, the series has a pretty slow start since it has to build up mystery around the source of Alexia's powers, but once it gets going and we get to what is essentially the series' main conflict, it gets really interesting.

Plus, witches. I'm a simple gay who likes strong protagonists and witches.

Murena

There was a point where my mtyhology nerdery led me to look for more stuff about the historical cultures that created them, and so I'd be super into stuff set in ancient Rome (I'd say "or Greece or Egypt" but let's face it, it was almost always Rome).

Murena is a series set just before the start of Emperor Nero's rule. You know, the one who was emperor when Rome burned, and according to urban legend either caused the fire or played the fiddle while it did (note: "fiddle" is a very English saying, it's usually the lyre in other languages). He probably didn't, it probably was propaganda, but he was a) a Roman Emperor, none of whom were particularly stellar guys and b) mean to Christians, who eventually got to rewrite history. So he's got a bad rep.

The series goes for a very historical take on events, albeit fictionalized (the protagonist and main PoV, the titular Lucius Murena, is himself fictional) and attempts to humanize the people involved in those events. Each book also includes some of the sources used to justify how events and characters are depicted, which is a nice touch.

It's also divided in subseries called "cycles" (books 1-4, 5-8 and the ongoing one starts at 9). I stopped after 9, though I think it's mostly a case of not going to bookstores often anymore. Plus it took four years between 9 and 10, and again between 10 and 11. But the first eight books made for a pretty solid story that honestly felt somewhat concluded as is, so it's a good place to start.

[vampire-the-askerade]

Have had this thing on my mind for a bit: A vampire walks into the Last Round and is just chilling and maybe being greeted by Skelter, when all of a sudden vampire screams "you! you owe me 6 shillings and a load of cannonballs!" while pointing accusingly at Jack. How would everyone react?

[Uh, I love this, btw! Thanks for sending it my way :)]

General opening: the rest of the anarchs know that 1) That Jack can and will want to take care of things himself, and 2) If this is someone who seemingly has a personal history with Jack, he's probably one of the only ones who could fight them.

Jeanette- She just happened to be able to leave Asylum for the night, and boy is she glad she did! She lives for this kind of drama and wants to watch the whole thing.

Damsel- Much like Jeanette, she loves all the action going on. Unlike Jeanette, however, she wants to get in on it and not just watch. Has to constantly remind herself that this isn't really her business, even if it would be cool to be able to claim you were in a fist fight with two pirates.

Skelter- Keeping an eye out for if things get too out of hand. He knows that if Jack says he's got it then it's covered. But, he still has a habit of being ready to break up a fight at the drop of a hat if needed. Mostly, though, he's a bit confused. That kindred was perfectly calm a few moments ago. Guess that goes to show what a grudge held for hundreds if years could do to someone.

Nines- Now, if there were someone else in this bar that could possibly take on someone that Jack could it would be Nines. That being said, he also has the ability to square up the people that cone into the last round pretty quickly. And, he knew that Jack could handle this fool easily. Mostly, he just hopes there's not too much of a commotion from this. The last thing they need is a bunch of people coming to the bar to check things out.

Jack- 𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩! ℑ𝔣 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔦𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨-𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔅𝔞𝔯𝔱! ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔑𝔢𝔴 ℨ𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡! 𝔄𝔫' 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔳𝔢 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔤𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔩𝔢𝔞-𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔫 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔞𝔰𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔞𝔶 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔥𝔞𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔡!

(Note: he will react this way whether or not they actually knew him from his pirate days. If you're ballsy enough to stand up to him on pirate terms, then you're cool in his book.)

General closing: After the two of them beat the shit out of each other in the back alley, they'll act like they have been best friends their whole lives and act like the aforementioned fight wasn't that big of a deal.

[black-streak]

Little Pistols - The Killing Type

Chapter 5

First Previous Next

So more from Tim here. A look into how dark he's gotten, if you will. I promise, this is showing more the extremes of how far he's willing to go. Not how he is on the day to day. But, I digress. Mari will be the next chapter.

Btw, to anyone I haven't replied to on comments, I see you! I appreciate you very much, I've just lost track (and time) please know I still am very grateful to for your thoughts and support!

LP Taglist

@zalladane @moonlightstar64 @amayakans @elmokingkong @queen-in-a-flower-crown @karategirl119 @dreamykitty25 @danielslilangel @melicmusicmagic @xahriia @sassakitty @yin-390 @zotinha456 @indecisive-mess-named-me @heldtogetherbysafetypins @theatreandcomicfreak @alexandriamw @messymessyml @bubblegumpinup

Permanent list

@naoryllis @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @my-name-is-michell @maribat-is-lifeblood @dast218 @novicevoice @shizukiryuu @princess-of-fangirls @bigpicklebananatree @pirats-pizzacanninibles @abrx2002 @breemeister @darkthunder1589 @thestressmademedoit @severelyenchantedwonderland @isabellemasen @multi-fandom-freak0221 @fantasyloversblog @bzz75 @cloudiedraws @jardimazul @orbitsvt @gingerdaile @sotheresthatthought @kadmeread @novaloptr @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @crazylittlemunchkin @18-fandoms-unite-08 @tiny-goddess-of-chaos @ladybug-182 @toodaloo-kangaroo @the-alice-of-hearts @vixen-uchiha

~---~

The first time Tim tried his newest method of fighting crime, he felt exhilarated. Freed. Able to breathe freely and know he made an actual difference. Felt justified and right. Coming home to someone who wouldn't condemn him for it only made it better.

"How're you holding up, babybird?" Jason idly inquired as the other slid through the front door and started to kick off his shoes and shrug off a jacket.

"Fine. Better than fine, really. I think I understand  now, what you meant before."

"Plan on elaborating, Timmers?" Jason quirked a brow, hands stilling on a book page, mid-turn.

"Sometimes, just scaring people isn't enough. Sometimes striking fear of repercussions or enforcing them won't stop bad people from doing bad things."

"Yeah?" He glanced up, watching Tim as he engaged the security system and picked his way over towards the armchair perpendicular to Jason where his laptop waited.

"Mm. Every now and then, some of these people need to be taken out of commision entirely. I understand that now."

"Tim, you trying to tell me you're killing now?"

He felt how Jason's look turned sceptical, but appraising.

"Yeah, total murder bunny now, wanna see my collection of decapitated heads? I got a new duffle bag to match yours" He drew out, gaze flat.

"Fuck off," Jay shook his head, mumbling to himself, "Should've known you'd never let that go," then raised his voice back again, "Okay, so if not taking them out of their rotten misery, how have you magically cured them, oh perfect one."

A vindictive little smirk lit the side of his mouth as he turned on his laptop, eyes cutting to his companion with a calculating look, "You of all people know how few of our asylum patients are actually mentally ill in a way that would justify their actions."

"Still say the insanity plea should only stand for recently mind controlled or Lazarus dipped, the poor bastards. Mental Disabilities don't equate violent people. It's such a fucking rude stigma to paint on people who actually have them. Add on that the regular patients are sharing space with actual criminals and of course no one willingly admits themselves, so the people who need the help aren't getting any. Also, if you are going to allow the plea for so many of them, then fund these damn places properly to help them, not just hold them captive until they get bored and escape," Jason went off, book forgone in preference for one of his more impassioned rants.

Tim indulged him for the moment, agreeing but having already heard twenty variations of the same speech, before cutting in towards the end, "Yes well, I figure if they're going to receive the charge anyways, I might as well help them make it more believable, right? So why not give them that little push."

That really caught the other's attention, drawing him in to properly lean over the space between them, elbows propped on knees and fingers laced in the space between as he watched Tim with a curious smile, "What'd you get up to, little bird?"

Clicking through the encrypted files he'd transferred over just tonight, he pulled up a video feed. Inside, bodies were attacking each other, another curled up in the corner, one banging its head against a wall away from the others. They weren't easily distinguishable from one another in their state. Tim felt Jason lean to the side to peak at the screen, brows rising as a whistle left his lips.

"They killed your friend, right?" He grimaced after the words but didn't apologize, for which Tim was grateful.

"Yeah. The flash rogues."

"Why are they..?"

"Psychological torture. They're afraid to leave the room, even though it's unlocked. They're afraid of each other. Of the world. What they do now is up to them. Leave the room and live on paralyzed by fear or stay there and tear themselves apart. I won't kill people. I don't have it in me. But their actions are their own. What do you think?"

Jason's eyes were kind of wide and off guard as he stared at him, "I think you might be the fucked up one here, Tim. Not to say I don't get it, but shit, that's just brutal."

"Eh, killing them seems to lack in proper punishment. It's just getting rid of the problem without making them face the consequences. No need to make a deal of it anyways, not like I put them through anything we haven't survived ourselves."

That got a bark of laughter as Jason relaxed back into the couch, reopening the book. Hm. Through the Looking Glass today. "Well in that case, if they can't handle it like we can, that's their problem," Tim grinned at his conclusion, "glad you found your own way of working. It's about damn time you decided your own morals."

Silence fell over the room, "Jay, did you forget it was your turn to make dinner?"

"... No?"

…

Okay, so it hadn't always been this way. They started off kilter and unsure and lost. Tim, an absolute mess in his grief and lack of direction, Jason freshly returned to Gotham again and wanting to help, but not knowing how with the distance between them.

He knew Jason had offered a position to him in the past, but that'd been within the violence and cruelty. With the pits still lingering and the desire to take him away from Bruce. He knew Jason saw him as an asset to his own agenda then, strictly professional. Now though, it came with personal attachments, shared space, a camaraderie that couldn't be forced. They were both replaced. Both seen as not good enough, outcasts of the family. Both broken in their own ways.

It was like chewing on shattered glass, trying to find footing around each other. 

Jay brought him back to a lesser safe house, had let him stay there. Help gather intel on his cases, play his own personal Oracle at times. The first time Tim watched the Red Hood kill from the helmet's camera, he nearly threw up.

He let him teach Tim how to shoot, the ins and outs of every gun the man had on hand. Learned exactly what each was capable of. Unfortunately for Hood, he wasn't capable of wielding them against anyone. Not really.

It took months before Red Hood tried to bring him out into the nightlife, partly due to his own hesitance to chance a run in with the new Batman and Robin. But he let himself be led out anyways. A small patrol of the Bowery and down into Crime Alley then back. When all went smoothly, Tim felt himself relax into the new routine. By the third outing, he officially took up his new title. Red Robin.

However, Tim still hadn't broke out of the moral code ingrained into him for so long.

It took really stopping, really taking the time to watch Hood as he interacted with the girls on the corner or the kids that hid in the night, just as he once had, to fully understand what motivated his partner. It took the reminder of his own loss to determine his need for a stronger method.

It was sheer dumb luck that he decided this before having tracked down the flash rogues. That it was perfectly timed for him to experiment on people he wouldn't regret ruining. That upon telling Jason that he needed to disappear for a little while, the other had agreed readily, with no argument nor lecture. Like true equals. 

…

It took longer to perfect his style. How much to hold back or not depending on who they were up against. If Jason chose to kill them, he didn't stand in the way unless it was uncalled for. But if Jason chose not to, Tim decided how far they went with each rogue they encountered. They had a system and it worked. They worked. When the two of them hit the darkened world before them, they painted it with Red and Red and the true scum of the city learned a new type of fear.

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 5

The One With Garthy O’ Brien

Welcome back you guys and a special shoutout to all of y’all who are fans of FH and CritRole. I don’t know about you but Matt and Brennan basically shaved a full year off of my life between Wednesday and Thursday with their DM machinations. Now we don’t have time to unpack all of that, but we can at least tackle the FH stuff so let’s jump right in.

Last we left off, the gang had just arrived at the floating pirate city of Leviathan. Pirates immediately start hauling them in and everyone turns to Fabian for a cue on how to react (at the exact same time, hilariously). Fabian tells them all to be mean and he makes a pirate cry immediately. Wild.  

They meet Jemina Joy who is a very cool Warforged (living automaton) pirate and also the boatswain of the city (pronounced “bosun”, they’re the boss of the crew and all the stuff on the boat, I was very into Monkey Island as a kid). One of her arms is a cannon and I need you to know that. Anyway, Fabian name drops his dad to try and get them some respect. It goes pretty OK but not as well as Adaine simply pointing out Cathilda’s presence. Jemina fully takes the knee and calls her, “Cathilda the Black, Terror of the Celestine Sea.”  Fig helps Cathilda disguise herself so she doesn’t draw any unnecessary attention. Despite the clout, Jemina still says she’s seizing the boat (it seems like they do this to get materials to keep the city afloat). Fig tries to move her with the power of rock because of course. She hits at 23 on a 20 DC check for that because of course. 

While she’s doing that nonsense, Adaine and Riz are--as always--trying to keep the party alive. Riz rolls a high perception check and noticed a pretty boy tiefling watching Fabian looking all hero worshippy. 

Thoroughly swayed between the name dropping and the rock and roll and the Cathilda of it all, Jemina offers to let them buy the Van-Boat back. Fabian, as always, is ready to throw any amount of cash at the problem and Adaine, as always, is trying to be responsible with their cash. After a hilariously long sidebar (which includes Fig, who introduced herself as a very famous rock star, saying they should “Act the part of the pauper,” which is a wild turn of phrase to just drop out of nowhere) the tiefling from before shows up and pays for the Van for them. He introduces himself as Alistair Ash and tells them that he paid with rocks magick’d to look like gold for ten minutes so they better book it. They have another long sidebar about whether they should pay or not with Adaine and wildly Fig on the side and of paying. They pay and Alistair agrees to take them to see Garthy O ’Brien (the pirate Bill had been dealing with).

On the way to see Garthy, the gang finds out that Allister is a warlock, his patron being none other than the damned madman himself--Bill Seacaster. Hilariously, Bill doesn’t take his charges souls. He makes them do microtransactions for their spells and recruit others like it’s a pyramid scheme. I don’t know what he’s gonna do will gold in HELL but it is on brand, I’ll give him that. 

A random dwarf calls Riz a slur so Fig and Kristen get him to jump to his death by turning into him and telling him he’s been dead for ten years, respectively.

Normal D&D stuff. 

Anyway, they make it to the Golden Gardens which is Garthy O’ Brien’s casino/brothel/resort (“Pirate Moulin Rogue” is how Brennan described it) and we learn that Brennan specifically made this character to F with the chat because they are this beefcake, non-binary,  aasimar/half-orc, tatted-up, succubus. My chat is usually on like a couple of seconds lag and I could have timed exactly how long the lag was by glancing over and counting off the seconds until the horned up comments started flooding in. You knew exactly what you were doing here Mr. Lee Mulligan. 

Garthy invites them in for drinks, drugs, and use of the facilities where Kristen accidentally takes the drink of a mindflayer (think, humanoid Cthulhu-monster). He’s James Whitlaw, Captain of the Crimson Claw and enemy of Bill Seacaster. The group tries to smooth things over but Fabian Sparta kicks him in the chest after he drags Bill. There’s a bit of a tousle but Garthy shuts that down before it can get out of hand. 

Post fight, the group questions Garthy and here are the highlights of that discussion:

They were supplying Bill with Palimpsests. Doing dead drops like the group assumed. 

The last time they were at the hotel, they got told by the new staff (ie: the demons in disguise) that Bill wasn’t coming and when Garthy wouldn’t play ball with them, the demons attacked them and took their pouch of gems. Garthy says the demons were probably there to ambush them for their gems. They especially wanted the Sapphire but was useless to them because it already had a Celestial inside of it.

The demons had been summoned and bound to the material plane by someone very powerful.  

Garthy doesn’t usually get gems from the Red Waste. 

Garthy has heard of the Shadowcat. They can’t see the Shadowcat in the pic (just Pok who they say is cute). Alistair also can’t see Kalina. 

Garthy tells Fig that, like they already knew, it would be super hard to break Gorthalax out. It would be hard for them to do, even considering curse breaking is one of their specialties. 

The crown of the Nightmare King passed through the Gold Gardens recently, brought by--surprise, surprise--Adaine’s mom. Adaine’s mom was coming in to get a curse broken--one placed on her by the crown. With it broken, she’d be able to handle it more easily. She tricked Garthy into doing it without revealing exactly what the curse was and was kicked out once it was revealed. Garthy’s not sure where she went but they know she was frustrated that she couldn’t just teleport there (because she hadn’t been there before and didn’t have a description of it). She left on a Falinel-bound ship. 

Garthy says Gorthalax is likely in a lot of pain in the gem he’s in.

The demons needed the gem for some kind of ritual sacrifice (namely, the one with Riz and Fig).

Also, Kristen is fully drunk for all of this. 

Post info-dump, Van-Boat (whose actual name is Zathriel btw, more info from Garthy) mindlinks with Gorgug to tell them that a fight has broken out. Gorgug has the Van drive towards them. The group pays for a suite and then Riz, Fig, and Adaine fly over to the Van (with Tracker following in her spectral wolf form). Riz jumps in the front seat, takes the wheel from Gilear, and commits a ton of vehicular manslaughter. During the fight, Sandra-Lynn gets shot and falls off of Baxter. She almost goes down but Tracker catches and heals her. 

They all make it back and proceed to reenact the house party scene from that one John Mulaney sketch (“a bunch of drunk toddlers”). People are getting wasted. People are getting tattoos. People are doing drugs. Kristen is riding Tracker like a horse (the G rated way, tyvm).  

Then, uh, something not super chill happens.

Sandra-Lynn gets totally wasted and decides she’s gonna teach Fig (who is a little cagey about if she likes anyone by the by) how to flirt without the use of disguise self and such. She decides she’s gonna demonstrate on Garthy which she does. Successfully. Sandra-Lynn who is in a relationship that is monogamous as her request. 

The drunk toddlers are herded into a room by Fig and Kristen. Kristen has Tracker cast the Moon Haven spell on the room and Fig and Adaine go to Garthy’s room to make sure Sandra-Lynn isn’t in trouble or anything. She’s not in trouble (yet) but, based on the way she’s clearly hastily redressed, she’s clearly about to run into some. Fig books it out of there, mortified. 

Fig and Adaine lie about where they’ve been to Gilear and then they report back to the group. Tracker--who is pretty out of it at this point--sleepily asks who Sandra-Lynn’s been kissing. Everyone realizes, Oh no, Jawbone is poly but the relationship is supposed to be monogamous. Big yikes. Kristen feeds Tracker a mumbly lie about how Sandra-Lynn is kissing Jawbone that I really hope doesn’t blow up in her face because then it will be the hat trick of main relationships imploding in as many episodes. Kristen and Riz go back to Garthy’s room because Kristen wants to cast something (Detect Good and Evil, the result of which we don’t see this ep--though I feel like it would have to ping Garthy since they have celestial blood, right?) and Kristen notices that someone cast Clairvoyance on her and Riz, meaning someone knows they were outside.   

Meanwhile, Fabian sneaks off to Crow’s Keep to be an emo pirate boy and talk to his dad while staring out into the sea. He’s suddenly surrounded by cloaked figures. Brennan rolls a bunch of dice, triggering Lou’s fight-or-flight, before revealing the cloaked dudes are just Alistair and the rest of his warlock friends who are all huge fans of their patron’s son. And we don’t get to find out what, if anything, they want from Fabian until next ep because that’s where Brennan ends the ep. 

Detention

Sandra-Lynn for Cheating on Jawbone

OK, there’s a lot to unpack here. 

I’ll start by saying we technically don’t know if she went through with it or not since Fig interrupted her before things could very far but we know she got naked which is more than far enough to be a betrayal imo. 

And it’s so wild because she for sure could have been in an open relationship. She’s the one who stipulated monogamy. 

On the one hand, I appreciate that Brennan is playing these NPCs as human (“human”) and failable and realistic but on the other hand, man I can’t stand cheating. And it’s not like she hasn’t cheated before. That’s, like, a major plot point. But it’s easier to gloss over something that happened a long time ago and we didn’t have to witness in real time.

Like, this isn’t good. It’s not gonna be good for the group. She forced Kristen into a position where she has to lie to/keep secrets from Tracker potentially. Also, Tracker is a wolf. There’s a non-zero chance she’s gonna be able to smell what happened. Do you really want one possibly both of the healers on the team mad at you? And they weren’t just dating They’re LIVING TOGETHER. And not just together. Together with like five--pending six--children (and pending one adult). That’s a lot of people that are gonna get forcible sucked into your drama. 

And poor Jawbone. I know he’s a trooper and he’s def been through worse but just because you can deal with something, doesn’t mean you should have to.

Anyway, Adaine said it best: Sandra-Lynn is both more and less cool than I thought she was. 

Honor Roll

Riz for His Driving Skills

I couldn’t tell you why but the phrase, “vehicular manslaughter” is so inherently funny to me.  Riz hitting a nat 20 to just mow down all the attackers in his path was hilarious. 

Note: I also could have given this spot to Garthy but I’m a little ambivalent on all the enabling of awful but hilarious life choices. 

Random Thoughts

Adaine trying to blend in by saying ahoy to everyone and getting a tricorner hat from her jacket was so good (big props to everyone who drew that, especially y’all who also gave Boggy a hat). Also, I’m glad she’s been using her jacket more in general so she’ll be more likely to remember it in an emergency.

@jamiebluewind made this really useful post with the descriptions of all the new characters and the tats the Bad Kids got which you can find here.

Also, @ttttttterrence shouted me out during the livestream so I’m returning the gesture. What’s up man!

I like that when the group is discussing how to split the cost of the suite, Fabian is just like, “I got it, don’t worry.” He clearly takes pride in being able to throw money around for his friends.

Fabian, who has for sure seen Cathilda in action during a fight: Maids can’t kill. 

Ally’s amused disbelief at the phrase, “Act the part of the pauper,” was sending me. 

Adaine: There’s no way you’re an only child. 

OK, this isn’t totally related to this ep, it’s more a point about FH in general that I don’t think I’ve brought up yet. How does a fantasy high school work in a world where races age at vastly different rates? Like goblins have a max age of about 60 and reach adulthood at 8. Meanwhile, elves reach physical maturity at the same age as humans but because they live to be like 700+ years old, they’re not considered adults until, like, the age of 100. At first I thought they were ignoring racial aging differences (like I do when I write fantasy I can’t be bothered with the implications usually) but in this and last ep, they were brought up. And I thought it might be that we were saying what everyones’ ages were in human years but, based on the info we’ve heard (like how far back Pok died for example) their ages have to be in normal years. Which brings me to theory 3: everyone ages physically and mentally at the same rate as humans to adulthood and then some races just decline more quickly than others afterwards. 

Fig: I sink into a deep depression. 

Alistair has an adorable cockney accent and he might be a little bit of a sociopath but let’s put a pin in that until next week. Oh, also, I was so sure he was gonna be Fabian’s brother too, just like half the table. 

Brennan so good at adding things in for flavor to make the world cooler. What prompted this comment is him saying that as Tracker travels in spectral wolf form, a forest path appears at her feet briefly. Very cool attention to detail.

Bill running a MLM warlock system where you pay by the spell is so, so funny. I actually am not sure if the MLM aspect of it was planned or if someone (one of the girls I think) said it as a joke and Brennan ran with it but that’s extremely funny. 

I know how leveling works in the above-game for balance but, in game, I feel like there’s no reason Bill and Gorthalax shouldn’t give everyone a level of Warlock. That would get them all 2 cantrips (eldritch blast, mage hand, and chill touch are options) and 2 level one spells (charm person, hellish rebuke, and charm person can be clutch).

Speaking of, I almost feel like this episode was setting up Fabian and Gorgug to multiclass. Fabian’s dad being a patron is a prime opportunity for him to get some warlock levels (and it would be very good for his aesthetic. I mean, magic pirate? Hell yeah). And Gorgug later in the episode says something like, “I could fix the van so fast if I had magic.” I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a level in a caster class soon. 

“Did you learn your magic in a book?”/”Yes!”/”Oh, lah-dih-dah. I can read.”

Fig: Adaine is the best at armies!

Forget if I mentioned this before but I’m very pleasantly surprised that Adaine’s mom is such a driving force this season. She’s one of the characters we explored the least last season which was a bummer for me because I really wanted to know what was going on in her head. Looks like we’re close to getting some insight soon. I’m guessing we might have another ep or half ep until we get there unless something else happens to sidetrack the group. 

I glossed over it in the actual recap but Fig casting disguise self on herself to look like the dwarf who was picking on Riz was just some peak Emily with an assist from chaos monster Ally. Here’s the scene. What’s funny is I thought I knew what Emily’s thought process was (If he sees himself, he’ll very likely be thrown off his rhythm) but then she was like, “I wanted to be someone from the area and he’s the only guy I’ve met.” Lol, bold of me to assume I have any idea what’s going on in her head. 

Adaine and, by extension, Siobhan just casually knows what a forecastle is (it’s “a raised deck at the bow of a ship”). Also, Brennan uses the word susurrous which means “full of whispering sounds”. That’s twice I had to reach for my dictionary (by which I mean Google). 

The whole concept of Garthy is extremely cool and I’m specifically talking about race. I’ve never heard of a half-orc aasimar because in fantasy books it’s usually the humans getting it on with everyone and making half-whatever babies but there’s no reason a half-orc couldn’t have celestial ancestry. The idea of a risen devil is also very dope and something I’ve only seen once (and as art, not in an RPG context--Edit: Actually, I’ve seen in twice. In one chapter of Ah My Goddess, Hell sticks a demon onto the main goddess to try and corrupt her and she ends up purifying the demon which was wild when I read it in high school but you’re not here for me to go off about my comfort manga so let’s keep moving). The idea that there are “bad” gods and so their opposition, their “demons” would be essentially angels is very clever and something I hadn’t really considered. Also the phrase  “The job is the fuck people into being decent basically,” is really A+. Well done Brennan. 

Also, my knowledge of CR Campaign 1 is very spotty so this may be very off but I feel like Brennan watched a bunch of Gilmore scenes and then snorted a line of coke before he created Garthy. 

Kristen: I’m proud of the choices I make. 

Emily: They eat brains but also drink beer?

Captain Whitlock has a peg leg tentacle on his face that he tries to face touch Kristen with and Tracker is not having ANY of that. “Under no circumstances.”

Poor Fabian, giving an awesome speech to Captain Whitlock and then rolling a 1 on his Sparta Kick. Luckily, Gorgug hit a 26 on a DC 25 challenge to give him the help action so Fabian didn’t eat it.

Sidenote, we learn there used to be a pirate king but Bill killed him. Sounds about right. 

I’m even more convinced that the rule is people who have seen Kalina before can see her in the picture after the conversation they had about it in this ep. Glad they decided to puzzle it out some more--even though I think it’s a little iffy to be spilling all your info to a pirate you literally just met (especially Fig--closed book my ass). 

Garthy mentions again that the NK defies categorization--something that came up in Adaine’s research. I’m wondering how that’s gonna come into play later. 

“I could tell you a very sweet lie, which is more my style.” I really like Garthy and I hope that continues to be the case.

Gorgug: That would be pretty disruptive...Yeah.

“Your name’s Van-Boat.”/”No!”

Riz, right before a nat 20 to commit Vehicular manslaughter: Get out of the way Gilear. I’ve killed people before, it’s fine.

I loved everyone being like, “Gilear you killed people! You’re officially an adventurer!”

Gilear, with the intensity of someone a firefighter has just pulled out of a burning building: I need the frog.

Tracker does like a crazy blood-brother type ritual for healing which is interesting because you’d think that would be bad what with the werewolf-ism but I guess it’s just through biting.

Fabian and Ragh peer pressuring Riz to do snuff, Ragh actually getting him to do it with a hippie speech about mind expansion, and Riz getting high as hell and getting Memento tats all over his body (NIGHT YORB--also, Sklonda is gonna LOVE this I bet) is such a wild series of events. 

Kristen casts a spell on Gilear so she’ll take all of his damage and he starts getting hurt the second he’s out of her eyeshot. Wild. 

“I cast friends on Gilear.”

I am going to murder Brennan for that cell tower gag. 

Sidebar: I don’t have a picture of the Leviathan map but if someone has it someone I’ll post the link here for anyone who could use it.

And while we’re side tracked, shoutout to the dude who made this song based on Gorgug’s last ep. The line, “My girlfriend's really mad and she's also a goat” is truly golden.

Oh! And someone randomly gifted me a twitch subscription to dropout! If you’re on here, thanks somePloops!

Kristen and Tracker getting neck tats of each others’ names is just so so much. 

Also, let’s pour one out for the fan-artists of FH that are also fans of CR and had to watch half the cast of both getting tatted up in back to back weeks, making any canon drawing that much more complicated. 

I don’t think I fully realized until this ep when Adaine was the only sober one of her friends in a bar reading a book how closely she’s tracking my high school/college experience. Her, “Everyone is drunk by which I mean everyone but me is drunk,” killed me because I have said that verbatim on so many occasions. Watching Siobhan play Adaine is like, therapy by proxy for me.

“I am a child.”

Adaine, lying badly: I have also taken drugs.

Kristen has a stealth of -3. Woof. 

Fig, Adaine and Riz each got nat 1 20 this ep. Fabian, Gorgug, and Adaine each rolled a nat 1 but Fabian’s was cancelled by Gorgug and Adaine’s was on initiative.