#they’re really fun but def an adjustment I need to play around with

[elikha]

Got some acrylic markers!

[the-copycat-hero]

In my mind, Monoma knows how to pickpocket, do sleight of hand, roll a coin across his knuckles, all that good stuff :D I also hc him to have voluntary nystagmus. No particular reason, I just 100% think Monoma would use that skill to freak people out

Also I hc him to be friends with Hatsume Mei. Each time he visits he brings a whole packet of papers, diagrams, analytics of quirks and how they relate to their costumes, and Mei def eats it up EVERY TIME. She also has him try quirks she needs for the equipment whenever possible. They’re smart kids :>

What do you like seeing most in monoma fics/fan work and what do you want to see more of? Any relationships (romance or gen) you like? Also I’m very curious about the Monoma family 👀 Clearly they don’t seem to keep in touch. What does Monoma say when he’s asked about them? Is it something he keeps under wraps or are most of his friends aware

!!!!!!! Big Brain Takes! Massive!

sleight of hand (and other assorted part trick) Monoma is near and dear to my heart, and i could definitely see him being able to do Some Sorta Nonsense with his body like voluntarily vibrate his eyes. i could see him being double jointed, too. (he is a Bendy Boy.)

ALSO the fact that Monoma and Hatsume never interacted in any meaningful way will haunt me until i die. they are so smart, and they are such freaks (/pos). their aura would have been so powerful. maybe too powerful? i guess Hori had to nerf them somehow.

as far as fanworks go, i am a massive fan of any fic that has Monoma showcasing his quirk. (for example, Learning Curve has a fantastic scene with a training exercise/mock battle that i frequently go back to because it is So Peak to me.)

as far as things i'd like to see more of, i'd kill for more introspective pieces of Monoma learning how to adjust after the war. (let me see him talk to Bakugo, who he watched die! let me see him talk to Aizawa, who tried to protect him!!!) i'm hoping some more of that will come with time as the anime draws closer to the end, but i suppose we shall see.

romance-wise, i'm big on Monoshin and have been since season 2. the fact that it used to be a rarepair floors me. (really played the long game on that one). that being said, i could honestly read about Monoma with almost any other student, his personality is just that much fun to me. apart from Monoshin, i've been seeing quite a bit of Timebomb and Monoma/Pony on my timeline, and i find both so incredibly charming.

platonically: Kendo. Shinsou. Tokage. Mei. Honenuki. Bakugo (especially after the war). ERI. Vlad and/or Aizawa. slap Monoma in an interaction with any of them and i am Locked In.

FINALLY, the Monoma family. (man, the Monoma family.) @smallvictorianchildwhofoundwifi and i have constructed pages upon pages of lore for these human disasters, but i'll try to keep it brief:

Monoma's dad (still need a name) - only ever agreed to have a child in the first place because his side of the family was pressing for it. resents Neito for reasons that i'll probably dig into later - but as long as Neito isn't actively making a mockery of the family name, his dad really can't be bothered to think about him.

Monoma's mom (Hiromi) [PRE WAR] - had Neito when she was young (around 21 years old) because, again, her husband's side of the family was insistent. she adored him at first sight; however, she has had to make a lot of changes to appease her husband's side of the family over the years, and it has turned her into a harsher, colder person overall. every once and a while, she'll be struck with fondness for her son, but it never lasts for long before she goes back to being made of ice. maybe also unconsciously resents Neito some for marking the end of her old life.

Hiromi (cont) [Post-War] - determined to reconnect with her son after almost losing him in the final battle. has made so many mistakes that it seems impossible, but Neito got his tenacity from someone, and it certainly wasn't his father.

Monoma's class knows next to nothing about his family. even Kendo, who has known Monoma for a long while, has precious little information to go off of.

some of the girls in Monoma's class stumble across a picture of Monoma's mother from one of her last modeling shoots, but when they ask him about her, Monoma just tells them that he has his mother to thank for his dashing good looks and leaves it at that. Ittaka - Monoma's old caretaker (and pseudo-older sister) - comes to visit him once, and his classmates briefly think that his real mother must have died until Kendo corrects them (because she may not know much about the Monomas, but she knows that they are all still kicking). but that's about all they've got.

tldr; trying to wrangle a straight answer out of Monoma regarding his family is impossible.

[moonchildstyles]

well since you asked… :)

peach teaching h how to bake something fun :( they’re at her house and he says he wants to learn to make like a special chocolate croissant or a bread dish of some kind and she’s so excited to teach him all bright eyed :( and they go grocery shopping together and she’s oblivious to his coworkers who are like peeking behind the corner to see them together and he’s just scowling at them but his whole face softens when she says his name and has a small pout on her face asking if they have a certain ingredient somewhere else in the store because she needs it :( and when they’re in the kitchen he IS taking the recipe seriously he really is!! but he can’t help but get some flour on her cheek and on her nose and hes just so smiley because this is his dream :( just in her kitchen with music playing and her laughter and her pretty pink mixing bowls and he definitely sneaks some kisses in when she’s mixing something and only when everything is in the oven and the timer is set is she just wrapping her arms around him and looking up with her chin on his chest like ‘thank you’ and he’s just ?? but shes glad she got to show him a bit more of what she enjoys and she’s also just in a dream with him and they kiss a little before flopping onto the sofa in a lazy cuddle to wait for the timer :( just so soft so gentle and cozy with the fire going and they’re just having a quiet conversation and Harry makes a joke when the timer cuts her off making her laugh :( and they can barely wait to try his little creation and it’s so yummy and she’s just giving him kisses because she made him do most of the work and it’s just fluffy :( - 🍓

WAIT STOP:(((((( this is literalyl so cute I love the idea of them grocery shopping together and like ofc he knows where everything is but he lets her take the lead:( and the idea of his coworkers watching and peeking around and h is giving them dirty looks like hes def still a grumpy mush w them even if hes in a better place u know but ofcthe second that shes lookin at him and talking its totally different completely softening and like yeah, peach? and like them walking around being so cute like holding hands and hes carrying the basket for them so she can just pick things off the shelves:( like I just love that like everyone in town knows how closed off hes been and how she really is the only person in the world that seems to understand him:( and like now they see him like holding her hand and adjusting her bow in her hair when she asks and just being the sweetest most puppy ever for her :( but them actually baking in her kitchen STOP:( like shes trying to make him do everything you know so he actually learns it but hes just so easily distracted w her :( kissing and really basking in the whole like....feel of being in her life in a really real way and like getting to be w her :( and cuddling on the couch while the oven is going :( like he def almost falls asleep just bc hes still working on his sleeping hours and all you know so he almost falls asleep but shes the one making him come w her when the timer goes off:( and sharing the food together and her being too !!!!! harry its perfect perfect!!!!!! he also def picks something w raspberries in it bc he knows she loves :(

[matrixaffiliate]

Christmas in Quarantine

New Story! FFN and AO3

Quarantine has a way of making us want to have the best things in life, the things we can't have now. For Harry and Ginny, this involves hauling out the holy, playing carols, holiday treats, and a little of Christmas, right this very minute. Modern Muggle AU.

This little story was requested and prompted by several wonderful people on Tumblr. @gryffindormischief named the fic and wanted it written for Hinny. @petals-to-fish (who put up so many wonderful fics in one day for all of us and it really was Christmas) wanted to see a snowball fight, baking cookies, and mistletoe kissing. @inakindofdaydream (who adores Christmas after my own heart) wanted to see them almost getting caught by Santa Clause. And @shining-jul-of-hope who pointed out that it's nowhere near Christmas right now. :P I'm so grateful to these lovely people for sharing in the magic with me, and trusting me with their fabulous ideas!

For those of us not part of the UK, cornflour, apparently is what we call corn starch.

Christmas in Quarantine

It was strange, how little Harry Potter's life changed with the Pandemic, but as a blockbuster author who spent most of his time in his office writing the next installment of his fantasy novels, he was more or less socially distanced to begin with. What changed the most was that Ginny was home now. The football leagues were all canceled and that meant Ginny's professional career had been put on hold until further notice.

For the first week or so, it was fun. Harry put off the manuscript in exchange for keeping Ginny company in all the best ways. But then his publisher was emailing him about maybe getting more done since the world had shut down, and his editor started calling and so Harry reluctantly went back into work mode.

He figured Gin would be alright. She had the treadmill and other assorted workout equipment and her team did daily Zoom meetings now. When she wasn't goofing around with the team - he's walked into the kitchen when she's in those meetings, he knows what they're talking about - both their mothers liked to call and check-in, Marlene hosted a Kindle book club now, and Luna taught painting lessons through live videos, so Harry felt confident that Ginny didn't need him to be underfoot trying to "entertain" her.

But he started to wonder if he had underestimated what social distancing would do to his wife when Harry walked out of his office for a snack and heard the sound of... show tunes?

"Gin?" Harry poked his head into the sitting room.

"Alright, Potter?" Ginny was lounging on the sofa in front of the telly, watching something that looked horrendous on their high def screen.

"What's this?" Harry gestured to the telly.

"My mum always said I should watch the musicals she loved as a kid." Ginny shrugged. "And I've got time now, so I thought I'd give a few a go."

Harry chuckled, "You had me worried there. I've never heard you listen to show tunes and I wondered if you'd gone stir crazy."

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "Don't let that book keep you past dinner again."

Harry shoved his hand in his hair. "I've got an alarm today, I'll be all yours the moment it goes off."

Ginny's returning smile left him wondering if maybe he ought to move that alarm up an hour.

After a week of Ginny watching the musicals her mum grew up with, Harry became accustomed to the show tunes playing from the sitting room. Gin would put on whatever one he assumed her mum had recommended and Harry would come out to assorted big band songs playing. It reminded him of going to his dad's parents' home when he was little, which felt oddly comforting given the way the world was attempting to implode upon itself.

And that was probably why Harry didn't think to question Gin's newfound obsession.

And when she started watching the same one at the start of every day, well Harry just figured that she really liked the music or the story, after all, the bits that Harry had seen were set during the Great Slump and he was starting to wonder if the world wasn't heading for another 21st-century repeat.

Harry was a bit taken aback after a week of her starting the day with the musical Auntie Mame to walk into the kitchen to grab lunch and find Ginny baking mince pies.

"Alright, Gin?"

Ginny grinned up at him from the pie crust she was rolling out.

"Thought I'd make us a bit of a treat."

Harry brushed some of the flour from her cheek.

"Mince pies?"

"You love mince pies." She set the rolling pin down to smear a floured hand across his cheek.

Harry tried to pull back but wasn't quick enough and laughed as he reached for a towel.

"You're right, so I guess the proper response should have been more along the lines of 'thank you' or maybe enthusiastic snogging?"

"I'll take the thank you now and the enthusiastic snogging after these pies are baked and cooled." Ginny kissed him and Harry moved closer to her, letting his lips move slowly against her, loving the way she melted against him.

"Thank you for making mince pies in April. I'll make sure that you get far more than enthusiastic snogging once I'm done working on this blasted novel."

Ginny bit down on his lip. "I can't wait."

Harry was surprised by Ginny baking mince pies. But the next morning he was downright floored to find their Christmas decorations out and mostly up when he stepped out to refill his tea.

"Gin? What on Earth?"

"We need a little Christmas, Harry." Ginny adjusted where she hung an ornament on their tree.

"It's April…" Was all he managed to say as he realized how much she'd managed to get done in the roughly three hours he'd been writing.

"Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" Ginny laughed and smiled at the telly where Lucille Ball's character was talking about building a home for Jewish refugees.

"Right…"

Ginny moved back to the last couple of boxes of their Christmas decorations.

"I have a surprise at lunch. So don't work through it."

Harry blinked. "This isn't a surprise?"

"We need a little Christmas, Harry!" Ginny pulled the Santa hat or if the box and stuck it on her head.

And then it clicked.

"Are we in that musical?" He gestured to the telly.

Ginny huffed and dug into the box closest to her. "Well, I thought it looked like fun!"

"I can't sing," Harry grinned and moved to the boxes with Ginny. "But we could haul out the holy, maybe fill the stockings, turn on the carols."

Ginny's eyes filled back up with hope, "Bake Christmas cookies, have a snowball fight, watch for Santa?"

Harry slipped his hand into the box next to him as he smiled down at Ginny.

"I have no idea how we'll have a snowball fight, but yes, I'll go close out of my document for today and we'll have ourselves a little Christmas."

Then he lifted out what he'd been digging through the box for.

"But shouldn't we start our Christmas off right?" Harry held up the mistletoe over their heads.

Ginny chuckled, "Very smooth, Potter."

"I had to write a few romance pieces at university." Harry leant closer to her.

"Why have I never seen them?" Ginny smirked, leaning back away from him.

"They were rubbish. I tossed them the moment I had the grade." Harry finally pulled her close enough to capture her lips.

She laughed against him. "Go tell your boss you're out for the day while I go hang this above our bed."

Ginny snatched the mistletoe from his fingers and skipped to their bedroom.

By the time Harry had finished saving everything and putting a few ideas down in his notebook, Ginny was standing at his office door in her bikini with his swimming trunks in hand.

"What happened to Christmas?"

"I figured out how to have a snowball fight!" Ginny tossed him his trunks. "Come on!"

Then she headed for their balcony.

Harry couldn't change fast enough.

"Here," Ginny shoved a bowl at him as he stepped out the door to join her. "This is your ammunition, use it wisely because I'm not using any more of our cornflour for it."

"Cornflour?"

"Yes, and hair conditioner, which I've already told Amazon to send more of."

Harry laughed at how Ginny had moved their two patio chairs to make a battle line.

"I can't believe you managed to get us snow when it's 19 degrees out." Harry stuck his hand in his bowl of fake snow and grimaced at the texture.

"YouTube," Ginny shrugged and then jumped to one side of the chair battle line she'd created.

The moment Harry shut the door, she threw a ball of the 'snow' at this bareback and he grimaced at the way it felt sliding along his spine.

"This is an awful cross between that wretched Halloween slime we made in primary and store-bought decor snow."

"Wouldn't know," Ginny shrugged, "seeing as I haven't been hit by any of it."

Harry didn't move fast enough as she threw another 'snow ball' at him and it slid down his side. He groaned as the feeling of it crawling along his side sent shivers across his skin before reaching into his own bowl and tossing a large handful back at Ginny. She ducked and it splatted against the wall behind her.

There wasn't really much 'snow' between the two of them and when he missed Ginny by a hair for the third time, Harry decided to go all in. He jumped up on the patio chairs and pushed his foot on the back of the chair, tipping it over and taking his wife by surprise as he dumped his bowl over her head.

Ginny yelled and shoved him back onto the toppled chair as she threw the last of her snow at his face. Then she collapsed on top of him and laughed as they tried to keep the 'snow' from their eyes.

"I think a shower is in order." Harry pushed his caked glasses up into his hair. "And then what would you like to do next?"

"I have everything out for some Christmas cookies, icing and all." Ginny wiped some snow from her forehead before it could slide completely into her eyes.

"Baking and Christmas carols?"

"And maybe a bit of something else…" Ginny moved to kiss him but immediately backed away when more 'snow' tried to sneak into her eyes.

Harry laughed and pushed them to stand. "Lead a blind man to the shower, won't you?"

After a long shower, Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist as carols played through her phone and she measured out the flour.

"Aside from the tank top, this feels like Christmas."

"Maybe we should spend Christmas in a warmer climate from now on," Ginny brushed a bit of flour on his nose.

"Our mums would probably hunt us down for something like that."

"Ooo, adventure and a holiday, sounds like a book waiting to be a bestseller."

Harry laughed and helped with the cookies and icing. Slipping his phone out here and there to jot down a few notes.

"I thought you told the boss you were off for the day." Ginny pouted as Harry set his phone down to ice another cookie.

"Just writing a few ideas down," Harry leant over and kissed her cheek.

"Typing, not writing," she teased.

"You said you had a surprise for me and to not work through lunch." Harry redirected their conversation.

"Well, I was going to use it to convince you to go along with having a bit of Christmas in April. But since you decided to jump on board without it, I'm saving it for tonight." She bit her lip.

"Tonight, eh?" Harry stood and moved to the fridge.

"Alright, Potter?" Ginny frowned.

"I know that look," Harry started pulling out sandwich fixings. "I'm going to need more than sugar cookies and icing for lunch if you've got that look."

Her laughter felt more genuine in that moment than it had since the world hit pause, and Harry grinned.

They really did need a little Christmas.

They spent the rest of the day 'virtual caroling'. For which his parents not only thanked them but joined in, taking the phone along as they dug up all the Christmas boxes and argued if they could thaw the ham overnight or if they should just make whatever they had on hand for a family Christmas dinner the next day hosted via Zoom meeting.

Harry scrounged up everything for a shepherds pie dinner and they put on A Christmas Carol after as they ate the iced cookies and drank hot chocolate for dessert.

It felt like Christmas.

Harry felt light and he felt happy and he could see the happiness and lightness in Ginny as well. They definitely needed a little Christmas in all of this pandemic insanity.

"Thank you," he kissed her hairline.

Ginny smiled up at him, snuggling closer to his side. "Thank you for being on board. This has been so much fun. I forgot about how awful it is out there."

Harry kissed her, letting himself indulge in the softness of her lips, the taste of chocolate and sugar on her lips.

"Do I still get to see that surprise?" Harry kissed along her jawline to the spot behind her ear that made her breath catch.

Ginny laughed, "Wait here."

She pushed up and slid out of the room with a confidence that made it a strenuous exercise in self-control for Harry to not follow her out of the sitting room.

To distract himself he took out his phone and jotted down a few more notes.

"I might just throw your phone in your office and lock the door."

Harry quickly locked said phone and tossed it on the side table.

Then he looked up.

Ginny had on a Father Christmas cloak, white wig, and a set of glasses that had the white beard attached.

"Wow…"

Ginny laughed and undid the belt that held the robe shut.

Harry's initial confusion dropped instantly as his wife's body was revealed, no imagination needed.

"We're losing the beard," he smirked and moved to gently pull the glasses-beard combo off Ginny's face.

"What Father Christmas doesn't have a long white beard?" She teased as her fingers moved along his waistband.

Harry kissed her slowly as his hands moved slower against her freckled skin.

"The one who is actually my wife," he pulled back before sweeping Ginny into his arms and carrying her back to their bed, and the mistletoe hanging over it.

The sun long set and the moon high in their bedroom window, Harry waited patiently until Ginny's breathing became even and he was sure she was fast asleep. As quietly as he learned to move when he was a child spying on his Christmas gifts, Harry snuck out of their bed and down to his office.

It took the better part of an hour to get it how he wanted it. Then it took another half-hour to get the printer to print it the way he wanted. And another half-hour after that to find the freaking wrapping paper. But after roughly two hours of trying to be silent, Harry snuck into the sitting room to set the gift under the tree.

He went to grab this phone from the side table when a cloaked image came into his peripheral vision and he almost cried out as all the anxiety of a child being caught by Father Christmas came rushing up at him from years as a boy trying to spy on Christmas gifts.

"Why are you out here?" Ginny's groggy voice sounded and Harry felt relief rush through him like a tidal wave.

"Just grabbing my phone. I forgot to plug it in to charge while we slept."

"Come to bed, you're how I don't freeze to death at night."

Harry slipped his arms around Ginny and led them back to bed with a smile on his face.

He hadn't been caught by Father Christmas, but more importantly, his wife would still get her surprise on Christmas morning.

And just like childhood, Harry awoke far too early, and far too excited to go back to sleep. Though rather than for what he would receive, it was for what he was giving.

"Gin," he nuzzled her hairline and kissed her cheek.

Ginny made a sound that was a cross between a moan and a grunt.

"Don't you want to see what Father Christmas left for you?"

"I'm Father Christmas and I didn't leave anything out because it's not actually December the 25th." She mumbled into her pillow.

Harry chuckled. "Let's just go have a look."

Ginny blinked her eyes open and frowned. "Only if I get to come right back to bed."

Harry put his hand over his heart. "I promise, well go see if there are any surprises and then come right back to bed."

"Fine," Ginny pushed up from the bed, her Father Christmas robe slipping from her shoulders. "But if this is how you're going to be with children then we're rethinking our future plans."

Harry laughed and forced himself not to run full tilt down the hall and leave his adorably sleepy wife in the dust.

He held his breath as Ginny moved to the tree and his lone gift that sat wrapped below its branches.

She turned to look up at him, bewildered, "What's this?"

"Open it," he shrugged.

Ginny pulled the wrapping away and slid the booklet from the manilla envelope he'd used to hold it.

"A Holiday and an Adventure," She read aloud. "Harry, what is this?"

Harry stuck a hand in his hair. "Well since you're not on the team for the foreseeable future, and you've always got the best ideas when I'm stuck in a story, I thought maybe, maybe you'd like to write a book together, you and me. All those pages in the booklet are the notes I was jotting down all day yesterday. And I've organized them out the way I do with my novels. If you like the idea and we finish the story, we could send it over to my editor. See what she thinks."

Ginny looked up from the booklet, eyes wide. "You want to write a book with me?"

Harry smiled, "I kind of already do. You're my sounding board and you find more of my plot holes than my editor does. So I guess I'm really asking you to be an active participant so we can put your name on the cover too."

Ginny looked back down at the booklet before launching herself at him. Harry caught her and managed to spin them around so he fell on the sofa and not his back.

"So is this a yes?" Harry chuckled as he kissed her hairline.

Ginny kissed him enthusiastically before jumping up. "Come on! I want to start right now!"

Harry snagged her around the middle before she could go running off. "What happened to wanting to go right back to bed?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ginny laughed, "do you have any idea how badly I've wanted some real control in your novels?"

"Now you have a story to be in control of." Harry kissed her. "Happy Christmas, Gin."

Ginny's smile shone like the rising run out their sitting room window. "Happy Christmas, Harry."

[legacyofabsolutewalnuts]

@swtorpadawan tagged me in this meme, and I am hella into it. This is my favourite musing bc swtor in the canon of star wars is fucking hilarious. On a side note, for anyone who does this and chose only one oc, but has thoughts about the others oh my god do and let me know. Im a snoopy bish give them all to me. In this case I’m going to try to keep it brief while covering my main four, Viticalia, Thomsyn, Belville and Montym. Partly bc I’ve been thinking about their dynamics for a joint Alliance Commander AU lately

This got really long, bc I couldn’t choose one, and Im a wordy bish, so I’ve put the actual answers under the cut, so as not to kill everyones dashes

What would your OC do if they were thrown through time and into Star Wars the Clone Wars:

1. Who would they fight for?

I think most of them would either end up going independent or siding with the Republic. Montym and Belville would actually be the most likely to commit to the Republic, they’re both two people who value loyalty and understand that sometimes things need to be changed from the inside out. Thomsyn I think would stay with the Republic, but may end up with the Grey Jedi. She isn’t inclined to this whole “just peacekeepers” deal and would want to take the fight to the Sith directly. Viticalia would be an independent, committing to neither except for who would pay her most, or just destroy the CIS and take her place at the top of it. She would not be willing to submit to being ordered around by Dooku, or lord forbid Grevious or Ventress, and she definitely wouldn’t appreciate Sidious being unwilling to step up on the frontline with his troops.

2. If not a force user, would they keep their job (Would a trooper still work for this new Republic and would an Agent be loyal to the Separatists?)?

Bel would probably make a play to join the SIS. And then immediately question how the SIS went from agents like Theron to seemingly having the capabilities of two people and paperclip. I’m just saying how did no one put any of the diddly dang dots together. He’d be the type to pull off an op and then basically drop it at the Jedi’s feet like “here, give me a job.” I’ll get into why he would go to the republic in a bit.

3. Who would they hate?

Vits would despise Dooku and Sidious. She would like Ventress but find her training considerably lacking. She understand some cunning, undercover work, and what it can do, that’s why she and Bel get along, but the lack of commitment to stand beside your men and fight with them is something she despises.

Thomsyn would have some problems with the way the Jedi, but she and Montym would both have a much bigger problem with Senate oversight. They’re both used to working with politicians, but the inability to work without that oversight would bother them. Neither of them think the Jedi are infallible, but they both have a big problem with the idea of needing politicians to greenlight things like humanitarian missions. 

Bel would have a huge problem with the Jedi that he keeps under lock and key. Part of it would be due to Kothe. The other part is...well he’s seen what happens when Sith lead, he doesn’t really think the Jedi should be given military power for their ability with the Force either. 

4. Who would they get along well with?

Bel would actually get along really well with GAR Specforces. I think he’d adjust pretty easily to them, and people like Skirata and Vau would be comfortingly familiar as Bel actually got along really well with Shae and Torian. And he would very much enjoy the troopers, he understands their mindset, and especially with the Commandos, they understand the importance of intel people like Bel are meant to provide. He’d also be all in to spar with the ARC’s, and hone his skills against theirs.

Montym would have had a romantic crush on Obi-Wan within five seconds of the man dramatically dropping his cape and that’s really all there is to it. He would also get along well with Senator Organa.

Like I said earlier, I think Vits would have liked Ventress, and probably tried to poach her as an apprentice in a damn second. Thomsyn I’m not really sure who she’d get along with best.

5. What would they think of the Jedi Order?

Viticalia has, and always will be fascinated by the Jedi in that sort of detached, research-esque way. Otherwise she doesn’t care about them much, although she does find it a bit amusing to watch some of them tout the ideals of the Republic as things go down hill. She at least never had any misconceptions about the Empire. Thomsyn and Montym sort of understand how the Jedi could have come under such heavy control of the Senate. They both would have hoped for better, but aren’t that surprised, not after Saresh.

Bel could not care less about the Jedi. Likes them well enough individually for the most part, but that’s his approach to any and all force users really.

6. What would they think of the “rule of 2” Sith?

Viticalia thinks its the stupidest thing ever. Probably starts taking on as many slightly sensitive people as she can and calls them her Apprentices just to piss off these new “Sith”. Really she’s just adopting herself a bunch of children, but it counts and that’s all she cares about.

7. What would they think of having a clone and droid army fighting instead of typical soldiers?

Bel understands what its like to be treated as less than a person. As an asset only. It’s still something he does to himself, thinking about himself as only an asset or a liability, which is a mindset Theron’s working on having him get rid of. So he would sympathize pretty heavily, which is part of why he’d go to the Republic. He’s turned the tide of a war and saved countless of his coworkers in the military before, he would try it again.

Viticalia and Thomsyn would have more practical issues with the idea a droid army. They aren’t creative, they can’t interpret, and they aren’t built for every situation. Thomsyn however would have a lot of problems on the legality of clones, whereas Vits is used to slavery and is prone to forgetting about how that works.

Montym thinks the whole idea on either side is terrible, for various reasons, but cannot stand that clones are not legal citizens but the Republic uses them anyhow.

8. If Republic - if they became a general in the army what would their relationship with their clones be like?

I think Montym would accept a position as a General, Thomsyn...maybe for a while. Montym is a little better with handling the cost of war, whereas Thomsyn counts on herself to keep everyone around her alive. I think they’d both be on good terms with their troopers, Montym would take a bit longer, he’s quiet and a bit...odd, but when he likes people he makes it clear. Thomsyn would get close to them quickly, and each death would hit her pretty hard.

9. If Imperial - what would they think of the complete lack of sith and excess of droids in the Separatist army?

Viticalia has soooo many problems about tradition with the way the Sith operate, but in particular thinks the CIS is...stupid. The idea of a civil war is fine, sure, but their execution is lacking. Bel thinks they’re stupid but also finds it very funny. Terrible tactics, questionable leadership, not a good spy in sight... but he also thinks the way the Republic has alienated so many of their own...well he’s seen it before with Imperial worlds, and after Saresh it isn’t surprising. He’s largely disillusioned and just wishes someone would learn from their mistakes already. Part of what would push him to join the Republic in this case would be that he values peoples lives a lot more than droids, and he hasn’t valued the Sith as leaders in a long time, so he has no reason to go to the CIS and as far as he’s concerned, Republics got the better chance. 

10. Consider they were born in this era - where would they fit in Clone Wars canon?

This I’ve actually thought about this a bit. Thomsyn and Montym would be still pretty much the same, Jedi, although Thomsyn would not have joined the Grey Jedi in that AU as she would be more accustomed to what this Republic is like. Viticalia I would go with a Jedi who leaves the order eventually, simply because it would be really fun to explore a much more light-sided Vits. Bel’s a bit more difficult to place, in a society that doesn’t put as much importance on genetics and perfection, he would have the chance to do whatever he liked, which he didn’t in the Empire. In an au that follows his canon life a little better, he would probably join the SIS, but more likely as an anaylst or undercover agent, not as a sniper and agent. 

Honestly time travel and born in that era, they’re def aus I’ve thought about writing

[lansizhuis]

natsume yuujinchou au because this anime gives me so many feels

this took me forever im so sorry!!!!!! i just super love natsujuu sfm and i have no idea how to incorporate mdzs in it and didn’t want to just slam anything kfjnajksfnasjf so now i just had family feels

- anyhow, we can make JL the orphan (what’s new whelp) who gets passed around from one distant relative to another bc no one really wants to take him in and well he says weird stuff about seeing creatures that aren’t even there and instead of natsume’s melancholic acceptance, JL’s more on the prissy aggressive acceptance of these events- AND THEN one day, he gets taken in by JC who is apparently his mother’s brother (JL knows nothing about his parents - not what they look like, not his mother’s maiden name, etc) who lives in the outskirts where it’s a quiet town that is overrun by nature (JC picking him up only now would have a backstory haha)- so he goes to school and tries to adjust with his new life with this person he really wants to know as JC is his closest relation to his mother but they go into disagreements most often than not bc of their own issues and when this happens, JL usually runs to the forest near the house (while there were loads of those strange creatures there, he can easily circumnavigate them bc he can see them)- one time that he left the house with stomping feet, he hears a dizi playing and the music soothes his anger; he follows the sound and saw a wide field of just spider lilies (im sorry i gotta insert my aesthetic) and in the middle of it is a man dressed in predominantly black with a red ribbon; he slips or smth and alerts the man of his presence and their eyes meet- as ethereal as the man was originally in his eyes, the moment the older one started talking to him, all that initial impression cracked bc DANG HE’S ANNOYING AF AND HE LAUGHS AT EVERYTHING (“hey hey my name’s wei wuxian, what’s yours little boy?” “oohhh i’ve always wanted those dumplings from down street! buy me oooone!!! please please please”)- but JL returns to that place almost everyday as the man drags him off to the woods and enlists his help in his “adventures” (“so the spirit of that tree lost their favorite leaf so you have to help me find it and bring it back to the tree” “these birds wants to build the best nest so now we’re gonna bring them the best materials”) and he doesn’t admit it but he does have fun- JL also ends up being friends with 2 students aka LJY and LSZ due to maybe one adventure of WWX - okay now time for some plot >> LJY and LSZ are part of the Lan clan and JC is the head of the Jiang clan and these are just 2/5 biggest exorcist clans and yooo it’d be cute when JL finds out they can see what he can see as well and not be considered a freak like all his life all the while trying to hide this fact before bc he’s worried they’re not gonna like him- LJY and LSZ had always vaguely told JL about the most infamous story of their clan, about one of their best exorcists being half human and half spirit due to some event thirteen years prior (the first time JL meets LWJ is when the latter saves all three of them from a particularly nasty creature and when he sees his golden eyes, he just knows that this was the half human, half spirit bc of the otherworldly look on them and oh, his eyes remind him of the grey ones of WWX and could it be that WWX is also -)- WWX was assisting JL after one of their adventures back to his house bc JL needed the aid but when they got to the entrance of the house, WWX falters and had a horrified look on his face (“this is where you live?” “uh yeah? jiujiu just found me a month ago” “you’re...you’re uncle’s name...what is it?” “jiang wanyin - hey, are you okay?” “you said your name was jin ling” “yeah i did? what’s wrong?”) aaaaand we get a bit of the backstory of what happened 13 years ago and how WWX is connected with the deaths of JL’s parents

anyhow, i def can see JL+WWX bonding galore (god im weak for that), yunmengjiang duo feels, wangxian connection, junior trio content!!!

[bretthowden]

hi il your gifs! can you give a tutorial??

Wow thanks so much! 💖💖Under the read more, I managed to put together a gif tutorial that I (hope) makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions. I rambled a lot in this and wrote most of it at like 1:30 in the morning, so apologies in advance if it gets weird lmao.

Keep in mind, I have been using photoshop for years, but I really have only been making gifs for like, 8 months and I still think I can improve in soooo many ways. But, that being said we all gotta start somewhere!

Let’s make a gif!

Alright, y’all. Let’s make a fucking gif. You will need:

Photoshop. Kind of a given lol. I use Photoshop CC 2018 and I pay 9.99 a month for the photoshop/lightroom package that you can get online from Adobe. I used to use a downloaded version that I found on tumblr for the longest time as well. So if you don’t want to pay monthly, there are free versions out there that work. Just download at your own risk!

A basic knowledge of photoshop. In this tutorial, I’m just gonna assume you have used photoshop before and know how to use its basic features. If not, I’d recommend finding some beginner photoshop tutorials to help you out! Also you can totally feel free to shoot me any questions if you need me to clarify anything, and I’ll do my best to answer them!

Patience and practice. Making gifs can be frustrating and tedious sometimes. If you don’t love what you’re making or aren’t having fun with it, it can be really difficult. I literally love making gifs for some weird reason, which is really the number one reason why I make them. Also, remember that every gif isn’t gonna come out perfect. I make so many gifs and then look back and think ugh that coloring was awful wtf was I thinking?? But it’s important to keep practicing and keep at it because that’s how you’re gonna get better!

Alrightyyyyy let’s get started!

STEP ONE: Download your video. You’re gonna need the video of whatever you’re trying to gif saved to your computer. If you’re giffing a video from youtube/social media or something, there are a bunch of different websites out there that will download videos for you. However, I’m a fucking weirdo and usually just screen record whatever I want to gif because I just think it’s easier. I use Quicktime to screen record which is included on Macs!

We’re gonna be making a gif of my angel rookie Brett Howden for this tutorial. I just screen recorded his postgame video that I wanted to use and saved it in 1080p.

[PRO TIP: Keep in mind, if you want your gifs to look nice and HQ, it starts with a high quality video, and that means, using videos that are 1080p. I very rarely will gif anything in 720p, unless it’s something I really really want to gif, and I def won’t use anything below 720p because it just looks really low quality no matter how much you try to edit it, imo.]

STEP TWO: Open photoshop and go to file -> import -> video frames to layer and this window will pop up

These are the settings I use. I choose selected range only so that it will only select what I want it to, and not the whole video. I also limit to every 2 frames because for the most part, using every frame is unnecessary. See those little toggle icons at the bottom of the screen that I’ve circled in red? Drag those around to select what part of the video you want to gif. Then click ok.

Here’s what you’ll get once you hit ok.

As you can see, your timeline with all your frames are on the bottom. On the right are all the layers!

STEP THREE: Select all the frames, and set your frame delay. The frame delay basically just controls how fast or slow your gif is gonna move.

Select all the frames and click on the bottom of one of the frames (where i’ve awkwardly circled in red) and you should get the dropdown menu shown above. Click other. I almost always choose 0.07 for my delay because it’s not too fast and not too slow and that’s how we want our gifs to look, right? 0.07 is a good starting point and you can always adjust slightly if need be. I wouldn’t recommend going below 0.05 because it’ll look way too fast.  

STEP FOUR: Convert that shit. We’re gonna convert to a video timeline by clicking the button in the lefthand corner of your timeline window. I’ve circled it in red. Make sure all your frames are still selected!

Then we’re gonna convert the layers for smart filters. This makes it easy to edit and color the gif because it’ll basically condense all the layers into one. Select all your layers and go to filter -> convert for smart filters. Bam, converted.

STEP FIVE: Crop and resize your gif!

Tumblr has specific dimension sizes that are pretty important when cropping your gifs, so you’ll have to decide what kind of gifset you’re making. If you’re making a gifset with just one gif across (example), the width needs to be 540px. If you’re making a gifset with two gifs across (example), the width needs to be 268px. The height doesn’t matter and can be whatever ya want!

For this gif of Brett I’m going to be cropping it to 540x270 (my personal standard gif size that I use for gifsets with one gif across). After that, go to image -> image size and adjust the width and height to 540x270.  

After all that crap, we’ve now got a very basic, unedited gif!

This gif looks okaaay, but looks kinda flat and plain and dull. Which brings us to……

STEP FIVE: The most important step, sharpening and coloring.

To sharpen your gif, go to filter -> sharpen -> smart sharpen

I use the same settings as everyone on this website which is this:

This is what the gif looks like now. Brett is looking SHARP. 

Sharpening is so important and it’s literally the best like look at how much better this gif looks already!! But we still gotta color it.

Coloring is a different ballgame than sharpening. Everyone has their own preferences on how to color and what they want their gifs to look like. There’s no right or wrong way to do it imo, as long as you like the way they look! Some people like really bright, vibrant gifs with whites so bright they’ll blind ya, and some like gifs with more muted colors. My personal preference depends on what I’m giffing and the lighting. If you look through my gifs you’ll see that my coloring changes depending on if it’s an on-ice video, a locker room interview or something else.

When I first started making gifs, I downloaded different psds from tumblr, which are basically just colorings you can download and use on your gifs. They’re a really great starting point if you have no idea what you’re doing and also just super convenient. A quick google search “tumblr psds” “tumblr photoshop resources” or even just searching “psds” on tumblr, will give you tons of stuff to choose from.

Anyway, if you’re not gonna use a premade psd, the two biggest settings that I use to color (and as a beginner they’re really the only settings you need to use) are brightness/contrast and selective coloring.

First, we’ll add some contrast. Go to layer -> new adjustment layer -> brightness/contrast. For the most part, my brightness/contrast settings stay the same and look like this:

My contrast almost always is set to 60. I’m all about high contrast in my gifs. My brightness setting is set to 0 in this gif because it’s already bright enough (just look at the light reflecting off Brett’s forehead lmao) Oftentimes I’ll set the brightness to 10 or 11 if the gif seems too dull or dark, but I usually won’t go higher than that. Just play with the setting until it seems right to you!

This is what it looks like now:

Looks good! But it still looks pretty yellow and Brett’s face is still too bright. This is where selective coloring comes in. Selective coloring basically helps you enhance or change specific colors in your gifs. It comes in handy a lot with videos that have shitty or weird lighting (looking at you, Rangers video department). 

Go to layer -> new adjustment layer -> selective coloring. Like I said before, every gif is different so there’s no one specific way to set your selective coloring settings. My biggest thing with selective coloring is making sure the subject doesn’t look too yellow/red and enhancing the darker colors to create more depth/contrast. Play around with the colors until you like what you see!

And this gif is done! Brett looks beautiful and so does this gif. But we have one final step

STEP SIX: Save your gif.

To save your gif go to file -> export -> save for web (legacy) and this window will show up.

For your gif to work on tumblr the file needs to be under 3M otherwise when you post it, your gif will be frozen and won’t move and uh, that’s not ideal. The lower left hand corner will show you how large your gif is. Mine is 2.817M so we’re good.

Finally, please, please PLEASE make sure your looping options (found in the lower righthand corner) are set to forever.

If you don’t have your gif set to loop forever it literally will stop moving, so it’s real important you remember to check that it’s set to loop forever. One time I forgot to do that and now there’s a dumb gifset of Nolan Patrick that only loops once and then freezes and I didn’t notice it until it already got a bunch of notes and it’s just out there on fucking tumblr dot com and it drives me crazy and makes me so mad that I forgot to loop it. So don’t be like me and remember to loop your gifs! lol.

Anyway that’s the tutorial! I hope this helped! Again, sorry it’s so long and full of rambles. Remember you can ask me ANY questions you may have and I’ll do my best to help! 

[deadinsidedressage]

Emma’s Hot Tips on Leash-Training Your Fucking Cat

Hi, I’m emma... am I an animal expert? fucking no lol am I jackson galaxy???? lol fucking no do I have hot tips on leash-training your dumbass fucking cat. yes.  HERE ARE SOME HOT TIPS:

Don’t get a shit harness. This is number one because I think a lot of people lack success because they get a harness that isn’t going to work because they don’t want to spend money on a harness in case their cat “hates it”. Fuck that. I personally really like the Come with Me Kitty because it adjusts well to secure my fat piece of shit (actually he’s been on a diet and now he’s svelte) and I’ve never had either cat “wiggle out of it”. Also like make sure it’s adjustable or else you’re going to lose your cat and be really sad inside. Buy a good harness. Make sure it fits. STEP ONE COMPLETED. 

Is you harness Not Shit? Is it adjusted to you cat? Good. Now ACCLIMATIZE your cat to wearing the harness. Did you think you could just harness a cat and shove it outside and suddenly be a cat-walking madman? You FOOL. You absolute idiot. Put the harness on your cat and let your cat wear it in the house. I’d say it depends on your cat’s personality and ability to endure stupid things but start with 20 to 60 minutes of just harness wearing in the house so that they can get used to it. Most cats act like their back has been broken when the harness is on them for the first time, so let them figure out that a) it’s not and b) how to be a normal cat with a harness on ((because sometimes it’ll just throw off their whole game and they’ll forget how to jump and all sorts of stupid cat things)). 

Let your cat get used to wearing the harness with dangling leash in the house. Obviously don’t do this without monitoring your cat the whole time like a helicopter parent because you don’t want them getting stuck on something or some equally stupid cat shit.You want them to get used to there being some kind of “resistance” with the harness on and the easiest way is to just let them drag the leash around--- it will probably low key freak them out so again start with a brief period of supervised time in the house... like idk 10 minutes and work up. Basically do this until your cat does not care that they’re dragging a leash around in the house and are totally chill about the whole thing. 

Start going “on walks” in the house. Basically, yeah that sounds dumb but for real. Once your cat is used to the harness and the leash and doesn’t think they’re dying with either of them then you just gotta start doing indoor “walks”. What that means is, stick the harness and the leash on and... follow your fucking cat around the house. It’ll feel pretty stupid and your cat will probably lay down and think that’s fucking dumb, but you need to get them used to you following them closely NOT being a threatening thing because it IS kind of a threatening thing to them as a tiny predator being followed by Big Clumsy Fuck. Some extra tricks are a) use a chase type toy to get them moving in front of you and b) if you gently scratchy their back near the tall that’ll usually encourage walking. Do this until your cat is pretty cool about like leading you down the hallway.

“Teach” your cat directions. Walking a cat is not like walking a dog, you generally aren’t in charge at all but you CAN teach some very basic level directional shit. Basically, do the indoor walks on the harness but walk away from your cat until their is tension on the leash (I use a bungee type leash btw and suggest that or a “regular” leash and DEF NOT A RETRACTABLE) OR stop when your cat is walking somewhere and refuse to move. Two things are going to happen. Either a) your cat will flop down and give up on life or b) your cat will move nearer to you/the opposite direction of where they were going in order to relieve tension and keep walking. Just keep doing this inside until your cat is doing the second thing. Sometimes if the mood strikes them they will just lay down even if they know to go the other way because they are a cat and cats do what they freaking want.

Venture outside for the first time. Here’s how to do this, cat on leash (check) door to outside open (check) wait until cat goes outside while on leash (uhh... check?). Seriously, you need to let it be the cat’s decision. They need to be comfortable going out on the leash and you can’t just pick them up and plop them far away from their home (and far away from familiar smells). Open the door and prepare for potentially waiting forever for them to go out. Also, leave the door open so the cat can walk back in when they want. This might be tedious and mean going in and out in and out in and out and in until your cat is finally disinterested in walking and you are DONE FOR THE DAY. That’s still a success because kitty is getting chill about going outside! 

Once kitty has worked up to going out past the door and is ready to explore, learn to read kitty’s language and play Protective Parent. Cat is now outside. Cat scared? Pick up. Cat whine? Pick up. Cat sense a danger? Pick up. Cat do an impersonation of Halloween cat? Pick up. Basically anytime there’s any question of cat having a solid time exploring, pick up. You want to get your cat to associate you and being held outside as a safe space if there’s anything that’s scarey to them so that instead of trying to bolt they’ll go to you (or more accurately stop and meow sadly) until they’re picked up to be navigated away from the Uncool Situation. 

WALK THAT CAT. Okay cool you have done steps 1-7 so now you get to walk your cat. EXCEPT you are still 100% walking your cat on your cats terms and your walk might be 5 minutes so congrats your cat is now actively finally learning to walk. Be patient, protect the cat, and make sure you’re not in areas with dogs or kids or cars because that’ll freak your cat’s brain, okay? Okay. Cat is officially do the walks. 

BE A PRO CAT WALKER. Is your cat CAPABLE of DIRECTION? Is your cat GOOD AT WHINING SO YOU’LL PICK HIM/HER UP WHEN HE/SHE NOT HAVING A GOOD TIME? Congratulations you’re ready for the pros. You get to walk your cat near strange things, get cat used to children, get cat okayish around dogs, walk cat on a side walk, pick cat up and carry him/her far away from door before you start walking. You and your cat are communicating on a deep spiritual level, you are #bonded. You are so good at cats. 

LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS. It’s a cat dude. You go where cat wants to go (within reason, you have mild control). You walk when cat wants to walk. You stop when cat wants to stop. You’re going to have to do parkour through the woods to go where your cat wants. You’re going to be stand in one place while you cat decides laying down for five minutes is fun. You’re going to learn how actually good your cat is at walking when he/she decides it’s time to turn around and go home. I find it really rewarding and fun because my cat is very chill on the leash and walks on it pretty dang well, like very cat-like walking but you know not entirely undog-like, and it’s nice. Also he’s less of a fucking nightmare when he goes on walks. He also is more of a nightmare when walked regularly because then he DEMANDS TO GO ON WALKS. 

ANYWAY THAT’S HOW TO LEASH-TRAIN A FUCKING CAT LMAO. 

[spidersbane]

Hi! Could I possibly get a Harry Potter ship if they’re still open? ^_^

(Preferably a male ship please!)

I’m a 5’3” female Ravenclaw who is very shy. I have long brown hair, pale skin, hazel eyes, and wear glasses! I love to read, listen to and play music, and play video games. I’m a Sagittarius (although horoscopes aren’t really my thing, I just look at them for fun sometimes.) I have pretty bad social anxiety and aren’t very good at keeping conversations rolling. I’m also terrible at starting conversations, but if they’re about a topic I’m interested in I can talk for hours (if I know the person I’m talking with.) I’ve always liked guys with longer hair (dumb I know haha), but I don’t mind short hair. I’m also an INFP! Lastly, I love to travel and really want to visit Rome, Germany, and Spain. I’ve been to London before, but it would be so much fun to go back!

Thank you so much, I love your writing! I also hope school gets less stressful for you! <3

hi @lunarlovegoodx ! thank you for your kind words, it’s so nice to hear! also, thanks again for being so patient while i get back to you. also, great to see another ravenclaw AND infp in my inbox!

For Harry Potter (Marauders Era) - I ship you with James Potter!

this is totally based on fanon but bear w me - this came to me instantly 

so based on fanon (and a little canon), James is a little bit outgoing, but we also see such a soft side - he’s def the guy to listen to you talk about a topic you’re passionate about w absolute stars in his eyes 

so James is a tad immature, so he might be hesitant about being paired w a Ravenclaw, but fear not, bc that’s what character arcs are for - like once he realizes that you love to read, he would totally read to you, or let you read to him while y’all lay by the black lake 

while a partner can’t cure social anxiety, they can for sure be understanding about it. while James may take a while to adjust, since he’s usually w Sirius being the center of attention, he’ll adapt - he’ll learn when you get overwhelmed and when you feel okay to go out and all that and make you comfortable if you ever get uncomfortable 

post-Hogwarts (where the whole first War didn’t happen), you and James would be more serious here, and he would LOVE travelling to new places! he’d be so fascinated with other cultures and love learning about them and seeing them with you! and esp if you’re muggleborn, he’ll let you teach him everything about these new cultures and new places!

overall, James is just a big kid, and dating him may feel taxing at times, but the same way we see him grow in canon is how he grows with you :)

For Harry Potter (Golden Era) - I ship you with Neville Longbottom! 

this may seem strange but i love Neville so here we are 

Neville is such a nerd and loves his plants so much, and we see him figure out ways to bring them up in conversation, so he knows a thing or two about talking about what he’s passionate about - that said, he’d love to talk to you about things you’re passionate about too!

he gets brushed off a lot bc his interests are so niche, but since you can both talk on end about things you’re into, he would never brush you off and you wouldn’t do that to him either. and if there were subjects either of you didn’t know about, you may have cute dates to teach each other :)

both you and Neville seem super introverted, but for a relationship, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing! it just means that you all can appreciate you’re alone time together, and understand that when the other person needs time to recharge - it isn’t personal!

also Neville would be super into Animal Crossing and no one can convince me otherwise 

all around, y’all would be the world’s softest couple w endless quiet talks about whatever your hearts desired, and a nice understanding of each other’s boundaries. the relationship might seem timid to anyone on the outside, but y’all would have a unique way of making each other feel comfortable and that’s what matters :)

[texanredrose]

Hell Hath No Mercy

Reading @faunusrights update got me thinking, so here... Frapp gamers, y’all. Although this is directly inspired by and references the Frapp Logs, this is def just me being a huge nerd and not missing an opportunity to involve video games in my writing, lmao. This might be total shit but you might get a chuckle out of it.

Velvet sighed, getting settled onto her bean bag and leaning back until her back rested against that of her datemate’s, instantly filling her with considerable ease. Although it had taken a bit of cajoling to get Blake to play, the two had quickly become a very destructive powerhouse couple when they decided to play Overwatch, and the activity had risen to one of their favorites when it came to spending some quality couple time together.

However, a little bit of anxiety toyed with her nerves as they both booted up their respective system and screens, grabbing the specially designed headsets to work with their Faunus ears. She tried brushing it off, though; what was the worst that could happen? Their tentative new girlfriend ended up hating the game and decided that things wouldn’t work out, that perhaps they should stop seeing each other-

Way not to go on a downward spiral there, champ. Top notch.

Groaning, Velvet leaned back a little, mollified when her datemate began purring lowly. “This... whole thing is going to go okay, right? We’ll play a few matches, have some fun?”

“Of course,” Blake replied, reaching back to pat her hip. “Everything will be fine.” They chuckled twisting around to put a kiss just beneath her lower ear. “If worst comes to worst, we’ll talk Weiss into playing a different game.”

“But she already went and got all the stuff!” Her long rabbit ear drooped forward. “What if-”

“Hey.” Their amber eyes softened, twisting around a bit more to wrap her up in an embrace. “It’ll be okay. You know Weiss doesn’t care about money; she got top-of-the-line equipment on her own.” They paused, sighing. “I’m nervous too, ya know. But we’ll do some games against the bots, and then see where she’s at. We just need to, ya know, not play like us for a while.”

“What- oh, you mean no team kills.” Velvet groaned, though she nodded, wrapping her own arms around her datemate. “Right. Gotta let her really get the hang of it.”

“Exactly. We’ll sit back, try to keep her from getting killed, and let her do the rest.” They chuckled. “She’s really competitive, remember? This sort of thing is right up her alley.”

“You’re right.” She sighed, smiling and leaning back to look into her datemate’s eyes. “I know that, I do, but I’m just... nervous.” Velvet laughed, shaking her head. “This technically counts as a date, you know. Even though she’s not here here, with us.”

“My internet can only take so much, babe.” Blake lightly squeezed her hand before turning back around and slipping their headset on and getting their voice chat party set up. “Come on; we’ve got a girlfriend to woo. Let’s try not to be late.”

“Knowing Weiss, she’s already, like, level ten or something.” Chuckling, she turned back to her screen and slipped on her own headset, adjusting the mic piece so it set a bit further away from her mouth, on the off chance she began to get frustrated. Blake might be accustomed to her... colorful commentary when she wasn’t doing well, but she’d like to keep that part a secret from Weiss just a little longer. “Bet you a kiss she already queued for a game.”

“No matter who loses, we both win, but done,” her datemate replied as she joined the voice chat, waiting for a moment before the brief static appeared in her ears.

“Your mic’s too close again.”

“Oh, right.” Blake made a small adjustment. “There?”

“Better. Now we-” a small notification appeared at the bottom of her screen “-wait for, nevermind, she’s already here. Weiss? Can you hear us?”

“Hello? Yes, I can hear you.” Her voice sounded a bit soft coming through the chat. “What about me?”

“You’re coming in a little low,” Blake replied. “Try adjusting your settings.”

“Is that better?” Weiss’ voice now came across much clearer, bringing a smile to Velvet’s lips.

“Perfect. You already have the game started up?”

“Yes, and I started poking around the menu, to pass the time. Some of these character designs are... interesting.”

Velvet narrowed her eyes but Blake beat her to it. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if we’re going strictly by aesthetic, it makes me think Blake prefers either the ninja or the... deathmetal front man wanna be.”

She quickly clasped a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles while her datemate groaned.

“I play both of them, yes, but it’s just because of their mechanics! They’re good offense heroes.”

“So the fact one has the same name as the protagonist of Ninjas of Love and the other is deep in his emo phase have nothing to do with it?” She paused. “And I’m guessing both have dark, tragic pasts with-”

“Thank you for the character tarot card lesson, Weiss.” Blake laughed, and she could hear them rolling their eyes. “As always, a pleasure.”

“You love me for it,” she replied, and the words managed to surprise all three of them, Velvet’s smile pulling even wider as her datemate practically vibrated where they sat, trying to keep a content little purr from eeking out. “Was... was that okay?”

“Yes.”

“Definitely,” she said, reaching back to pat Blake’s hip. “You’re good, Weiss. You’re very good, actually.”

“Okay, that’s the sort of thing I’d expect from Yang, not you.”

“Oh, Velvet can flirt tease. That’s, like, her strongest form of flirting. Aside from being uselessly gay and flailing, anyway, which is what I got initially.”

“Hush, you.” Velvet ensured they were all slotted into a party together before navigating to the correct section of the menu and queueing them for a game. “Okay, so we’re going to start off with some matches against AI opponents. Just so you can get some of the mechanics down.”

“That sounds fine but... who should I pick?” There’s, like... twenty-five people to choose from-”

“Okay, well, like, it ultimately comes down to which mechanics you like best?” Velvet offered, shrugging despite only one other person being aware of it. 

“Or your opponent, kinda, but not everyone can flex play, so it’s good to start off with one dedicated hero and branch out from there.” Blake made a thoughtful noise. “There’s four basic categories- attack, defense, tank, and support. Depending on what you want to do within a team, you can start from there.”

“Yeah, that’s a good starting point.” She nodded to herself. “I kinda prefer to tank- I soak up damage and destroy whoever gets close to me. Blake is usually attack- they pour on the damage and out flank the enemy.”

“So neither of you play defense or support normally?”

Velvet cringed while her datemate chuckled and she quickly jabbed her elbow back into their side. “I don’t play support any more. I ‘get too fighty’ apparently.”

“Which means she completely stops healing and just focuses on killing enemies, which is much harder to do as a support character.”

“It was one time.”

“You chased the Genji the whole match. That’s literally all you did. The whole match.”

“He teabagged me!” Through her headset, she could hear Weiss’ giggling. “Look, the point is: most of the time, the support characters aren’t supposed to be chasing down enemies. If you want to try and hang back a little from the action, defense is a good start. Most are long range- snipers, artillery, or lots of bullets.” The screen changed as a little green checkmark appeared in the top center. “Oh! We’ve found a game!”

“Good. It might be easier for you to pick a character by scrolling through the portraits. Just find one that looks interesting-”

“Oh.” Blake and Velvet exchanged a look over their shoulders. “Oh, she’s pretty.”

Her datemate smirked, mouthing a name to her and tapping their lips twice.

She smirked, taking the double or nothing bet and mouthing a name back before speaking. “Who’s pretty?”

“The one the game put me on- Mercy? I think that’s her name.”

Velvet smiled, rather pleased that she was now the ‘winner’ of their little wager. “Yeah, that’s her name. She’s a healer- she has a powerful pistol, too, but she’s mainly for healing and boosting damage.”

“You know,” Blake said, a bit of mischief in their voice. “There’s a theory floating around that she’s a translady.”

“That’s it, this is my character, I love her already, I’m picking her.”

“And the fact that she looks a bit like a blonde version of you has nothing to do with it, right?” Velvet did her level best not to chuckle at the affronted scoff she heard.

“I’m not quite that vain.” A pause. “And she doesn’t have a scar.”

Wincing, she did her best to recover while her datemate tensed. “So she’s a less badass version of you. Still totally worthy of love.”

“Absolutely,” Blake said, not missing their opportunity to chime in. “Here, I’ll go Pharah; they’re a good combo and it’ll give you a chance to work out the flight controls.”

“She can fly?”

“Did you think the wings were for aesthetic?” 

They both waited for a moment, hardly catching the curse Weiss muttered under her breath. “Yes.”

“I would be surprised by that if you weren’t the one to show up to a Halloween party in one hundred percent authentic knight armor.” She laughed, relieved when she heard a few begrudging chuckles through her headset as well as snickering behind her. “Okay, select her and review her skills. You see the prompt on the screen?”

“Yes, I do- oh, shit, the match is about to start.”

“Don’t worry about that; even after the timer runs out, there’s a bit of a delay before the game actually starts. We’re attacking, so you’ll spawn into a little room where you can still look at the controls,” Blake said, doing just that and nudging Velvet to hurry up and pick someone.

She went with Roadhog; at least then she could heal herself if Weiss started getting overwhelmed.

Velvet and Blake screwed around in the spawn point for a minute, setting a spray or two down while allowing Weiss to study the controls, watching the timer tick down. At about ten seconds, they both heard something akin to a hum before Weiss’ character began moving around.

“Okay, I think I have the basics down. This button heals-” a stream of gold light appeared from the tip of Mercy’s staff “-and this one boosts damage.” At that, a blue stream replaced it. “And then I can... revive someone, I think?”

“Yeah, if someone dies, you can fly up to them and revive them; there’ll be a little glowing gold orb where they died.” Blake chuckled. “They changed the mechanics recently, so you have to hold it down for a few seconds before it actually works, and then you get a cooldown timer until you can use it again.”

“Alright. I think I understand.”

“We’ll find out!” The drop door on their spawn point dropped down and Velvet maneuvered her character towards it. “The match started!”

“Okay, this first point is pretty close, and there’s usually some sort of sniper waiting.” Blake moved their character forward, then took off into the air. “Let me go clear it out first. Stay with Velvet and keep her healed; I’ll come back to you if I need it.”

“Yeah, just follow me, Weiss.” Velvet set her character lumbering forward, turning around to ensure her directions were followed, and then started up the stairs towards the chokepoint. She could hear the booms of Blake lighting up the bots, popping a few at range shots to discourage the Soldier 76. “When we make this next turn, switch to the damage boost, okay?”

“Got it.”

Even though Blake and Velvet were doing their best to hold back a little, they managed to clear the first point rather easily, and Weiss quickly got the hang of switching between their teammates to ensure everyone was healed before pushing towards the second point.

And that’s when things got interesting.

“Aw, shit.” Blake growled. “I’m down.”

“Oh no, my revive is recharging; I just brought the ninja back.”

“It’s fine, I-” Velvet’s view suddenly whirled around, the enemy Roadhog hooking her character and doing a significant amount of damage right along side the enemy Soldier 76. “I... am dead. Are you fuckin- shit.”

“We just got murdered by bots, babe.”

“It doesn’t help that half our team is off doing who knows what!” Her eyes flicked up to the top right of her screen, widening as a few more names in blue were eliminated. “Oh no; Weiss, is anyone on the point with you?”

“Yes, I have the ninja.” Another name in blue. “Well, nevermind that. Now I’m alone.”

“I’m almost respawned.” Blake’s shoulders hunched. “Just- just run back and I’ll be there in a few seconds.”

“I- oh, no no no, go away, no!”

“Weiss, hold on, Blake’s almost... gonna...” All reassurances died in her throat as name after name appeared in red, with the Roadhog being the last to fall.

“That was almost a team kill,” Blake said, just as stunned even as they spawned, watching the meter in the top middle of the screen begin to fill.

And then, a sound came through both of their headsets, a sound that resonated deep within both of them and sent twin shivers down their spines. A low chuckle dripping with well earned satisfaction and a smile at the edges, and in her mind’s eye, Velvet could clearly imagine exactly the sort of face Weiss had to be making when she made that sound, and she did her level best to ignore the sudden erratic rhythm in her chest.

“Oh,” Weiss said, voice absolutely drenched in perverse delight. “I’m going to like this game.”

Blinking, Velvet hit the mute button for her mic and turned her head. “I love that woman.”

“Big. Fucking. Mood.” Her datemate shuddered, rolling their neck a little. “From now on, we’re calling whatever that was ‘the mating cry of the Schnee’.”

“Fucking appropriate.” She shook herself. “Wow.”

“I know.” They chuckled. “And I thought you were a fighty healer.”

“I am a fighty healer; I’m just not a very lethal one, which Weiss apparently is, at least against bots.” As she respawned, Velvet moved past Blake’s stock still character to go join Weiss on the point and unmuted her mic. “That was badass, Weiss.”

“Absolutely amazing.”

“While I thank you for the praise, I may actually be in need of some assistance, oh no.”

Blake snorted. “Did you just quote your character?”

“I’m asking for help; what are you talking about?”

“That’s literally one of her voice lines, babe,” Velvet said, hooking the enemy Roadhog and repaying the blasted bot in kind while Blake cleared the rest away, giving Weiss a perfect window to escape and heal up both them and herself. “You really are Mercy.”

“Battle Mercy.” They corrected from behind her and she nodded. “A beautiful Battle Mercy with the vengeance of the Gods.”

“Why did you bring up the Mistrali Goddess skin, Blake, why, we’re both too gay for that.” With an easy team wipe, they sat on the point, Blake and Velvet’s characters using the emotes they’d received from playing a bit too much during events.

“Mistrali Goddess skin?”

“Yeah, Blake, take us out of queue for a sec.” Velvet waited until they were all returned to the title screen. “Go down to the heroes gallery, then pick Mercy’s portrait. Go to ‘skins’, and go down. You’ll know which one we’re talking about.”

As Weiss investigated, Blake muted their mic and turned. “You’re giving her ideas, you know.”

She muted her mic. “Ideas?”

“Oh, I do like this... skin, you called it? How do I get it?”

“You’ll have to wait until the event comes up, and then get lootboxes for the event by either leveling up, winning games, or buying them,” they explained, chuckling. “But don’t go overboard with the spending. It’s a bit like gambling, honestly; you don’t know what you’ll get.”

“Ah, I see.” A thoughtful noise. “I wonder how difficult it would be to make those wings.”

“Why?” Velvet tilted her head to the side before it dawned on her. “Weiss, you can’t go to next year’s Halloween party dressed as Mistrali Goddess Mercy.”

“And why not?”

“Because you could go as Witch Mercy.”

“Witch Merc- oh.” A pause. “Oh.” A little giggle. “I do admire her sense of style.”

“Is this gonna be it for you, Weiss?” Blake chuckled. “Are you gonna be a Mercy main?”

“I think so. For now, anyway.” She made a small noise. “Oh, she laughs! And it’s cute!”

“Hey, Weiss, go down to Zarya.” Velvet clapped, excited. “Look at my beefy wife.”

“Rude.”

“You’re my beefy datemate; totally different.”

“Better.”

“Oh, those muscles.”

“Okay, okay, let’s stop drooling over the pretty ladies. I’m going to bump us up a difficulty level,” Blake said with a chuckle. “But be careful about switching between shooting and healing, Weiss. It’s going to get harder the higher we go.”

“Oh please; I can take care of myself.”

Twenty minutes and four games later, the three were laughing hard- or, rather, two were laughing while Weiss sputtered indignantly about dying three times in a row.

“I AM AN ANGEL OF HEALING AND DEATH, YOU CAN’T KILL ME!”

“Healers- hehe- heal- you are a priority target!” Velvet somehow managed, sucking down a few breaths. “That’s why you hide behind the tanks!”

“I AM NOT A POCKET MERCY! I AM A BATTLE MERCY!” Weiss made a sound that sounded half growl, half whine. “Put us into another game! I’m ready to wreck some goddamn lives!”

“Weiss, you- you need to calm down.” Blake- somehow- couldn’t keep a straight face, amusement at the edges of their voice while their entire torso shook with silent laughter. “It’s going to happen a lot. Especially if we ever play against real people.”

“Are you meaning to imply that I can’t play against real people?”

“That’s not what we’re saying, babe.”

“Not at all.”

“Blake, queue us for a game against people.” Weiss huffed. “I’m going to yank their souls out through their fucking teeth after I put a bullet between their eyes.”

“Okay, one, you’re really hot when you’re threatening bodily harm via video game,” they said with a snicker. “And two, that’s Moira.”

“Excuse you?”

“Moira- the character to the right of Mercy. Like, that’s what she does.” Velvet reached over, grabbing a soda she’d nearly forgotten about and taking a quick swig. “She sucks the health out of her enemies to replenish her own.”

“Oh, she does? That sounds- oh, hmmm, hmmm.” Both of them waited. “Okay, I have mixed feelings about this one.”

“Do tell.” Blake purred, opting for Reaper this round.

“On the one hand, lesbian.”

Almost immediately, they clued in to the woman’s train of thought. “The other’s the nails, isn’t it?”

“It’s the fucking nails, god.”

“Her nails too big for her got damn hand,” they said, laughing at the groan that answered.

Velvet opted to be a little lenient. “But seriously, she’s way fighty; they’re eventually going to nerf her damage output because it’s a bit too high.”

“I have a new fave.”

“Aw, so no Witch Mercy?” Blake pouted.

“I can have more than one fave,” she said, playfully defensive but quickly switching to a more serious tone once they’d spawned. “Okay, this is one with a payload, right?”

“Exactly. You can- oh, you stuck with Mercy.”

“I’ll suck souls later-” Velvet managed to inhale before she was cut off “- stop, stop right now, or I log off.”

“Aw.”

“You both spend far too much time with Yang and Ruby.”

“They’re your friends, too!”

“I am resistant to their bullshit.”

“I’m calling bullshit on that bullshit about bullshit,” Velvet said, clicking over the Zarya and glancing at their team composition again, a frown coming to her lips. “Also, heads up; we’re going against a six person group.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means either they’re really good and play together often or they’re drunk friends having fun. Or they’re just randos who didn’t want to keep waiting in queue.” Blake sighed. “Weiss, stick with Velvet. I might have to switch to Genji or Tracer to outflank them, depending.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll keep you bubbled up as best I can.”

“Very well, then, let’s make this game interesting, if we end up getting our asses handed to us.” Weiss paused. “Person with the fewest medals owes the other two kisses?”

“Deal.”

“Done.”

Velvet smiled, pushing back against Blake and feeling them purr softly in return before muting their mic. “I’m calling the internet company tomorrow. See how much it’ll cost to increase the speed.”

“You know Weiss will offer to pay-”

“We’re not telling her that part.”

“Fine.” She laughed a little as the game began, unmuting her mic. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

“I’m right behind you,” Weiss said, and she truly didn’t doubt it.

Velvet got the feeling that they’d be able to talk Weiss into joining their ‘couple’s time’ rather easily, especially about five minutes later when they were escorting the payload into the end stage while Weiss chased down a McCree, Blake tore up a Reinhardt, and Velvet provided clean up on the shattered remnants of the other team’s defenses.

“You know, the three of us are pretty good together,” she said, voting on Weiss’ card for assists.

“I don’t think a truer statement has ever been uttered,” the woman replied, though she could just pick up the tentativeness hiding beneath her voice. “I think we’re rather good together, too.”

“Yeah.” Blake chimed in, perking up slightly. “Oh, four medals, by the way.”

“Oh, darn, I almost forgot about our little wager.” Weiss laughed. “I didn’t seem to get any. Shame.”

“It’s okay; everyone has an off game.”

“Yeah, I mean, I only got three, and I- wait a minute.” Velvet narrowed her eyes. “Weiss, you were the only healer on our team; how did you not medal in healing?”

“... magic?”

Blake gave a full bellied laugh, leaning back against her. “Babe, if you wanted kisses, you could’ve just asked.”

“... I can?”

“Yeah,” they said, voice soft. “I mean, you’ll still have to pay up, because someone has to keep you honest, but in the future? Just ask.”

“Very well then. I look forward to paying off this particular debt. Perhaps over dinner?”

They both glanced over their shoulders, nodding before Velvet spoke. “Sounds good. When and where?”

“That nice Vacuon place down by the docks?”

“Sold,” Blake replied, preparing to get up. “We could be there in half an hour.”

“Well... could we play a few more games first?” A pause. “It’s just- I’ll admit to having limited experience playing multiplayer games, especially with company so lovely, and I’m a bit loathe to end it quite yet.”

“How about three more games?” Velvet offered with a smile. “Then, we all get ready for dinner?”

“Deal.”

“Absolutely.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She watched as the three of them were pulled into the next game. “Now, let’s- what did you say earlier, babe? Wreck some goddamn lives?”

“The inflection is very important.” Blake commented, shoulders jumping again with quiet laughter.

“Quite right.” Weiss chuckled.

Focusing on the game, Velvet let go of her last bits of nerves about including Weiss in her relationship with Blake. The three of them seemed to be on the same page and enjoying the pace they’d set, so even if it felt a little slow at times, it was probably for the best. And they could make up for lost time later.

[crystalelemental]

I have gone on record as disliking Gen 6 overall, with XY being my least favorite games until USUM showed up and ruined a perfectly good story.  While most complaints against XY are due to the story being meh, and the ally characters being obnoxious, some of that dislike is in the dex.  There were very few new Pokemon, and a ton of returning Pokemon, which skews things.  Prior to this, most regions had repetition of older Pokemon, but there were enough new Pokemon around that the region felt distinct and unique.  Here, it...kinda doesn't, to me.  It really feels like there need to be more new Pokemon for it to feel entirely distinct.  Which is a shame, because overall it's a really solid dex.

TOP 15: 15) Carbink - Before Diancie, this was a really interesting Pokemon to me. A Rock/Fairy type that had obscene defenses, and had a carbuncle-like appearance?  I'm on board.  Unfortunately, it really doesn't have many tools to help it stand out at all, especially when Diancie arrived and out-performed it in virtually every task.  But it's still a precious child that I adore.

14) Espurr - Espurr is a lot cooler than its evolutions.  While the female form looks pretty nice, the male form isn't my favorite.  The evolutions also have the problem of, once again, the male gets the tools to be good while the female form is not.  Espurr itself, though, is an oddball that I adore. It's an unusual design, but plenty cute in its own right.  I just wish its evolution offered a bit more.

13) Spritzee - This was a Pokemon whose first appearance had me excited.  I really wanted to run a Spritzee, and I couldn't wait to catch one.  A little plague-doctor bird?  That's the coolest!  Unfortunately, its evolution sort of changed the focus to being heavily about perfume and fashion-based.  Aromatisse doesn't stand out to me nearly as much as Spritzee does, and it's kind of a shame.

12) Gogoat line - A lot of this has to do with my Nuzlock run of Y, where Gogoat was a sort of MVP.  For a mono-Grass, having Ground coverage is divine, and it brings a lot of that.  In-game, its stats are also pretty well-rounded, allowing for a lot of damage and recovery via Horn Leech, but also allows it to tank hits really well and retain an acceptable speed tier.  Gogoat is a ton of fun, and I kinda wish it had more tools for competitive play.

11) Dragalge - What an interesting design choice.  A dragon that's made to look like seaweed, hidden within the ocean.  I really love the idea behind that.   Dragon/Poison is also very unique, allowing it to be one of the few Dragons that not only resists Fairy, but hits it back for super-effective damage.  It's a Pokemon that shines in concept of design, and I appreciate that kind of uniqueness.

10) Heliolisk line - Helioptile was a certainty to me when I first played these games.  I knew full well I'd be running one, there was no question.  While Heliolisk is a bit more fierce than its adorable pre-evolution, it still presents as a sleek design that got a surprisingly wide amount of coverage, including Surf of all things.   It's also the weather master, benefiting from Sun, Rain, or Sandstorm depending on what condition you want to abuse.  It's a great Pokemon that I love to run.

9) Aurorus line - Beautiful.  This evolution line is absolutely beautiful, and I adore the aesthetic they offer.  They're a surprisingly downplayed fossil Pokemon as well.  While most tend to be a bit more intimidating, Aurorus is fairly passive-looking.  Its typing leaves a lot to be desired, as do its stats, but its design and presence more than make up for its lack of competitive viability.

8) Trevenant line - Trevenant, while not nearly as cool as Gourgeist, is still a very interesting Pokemon.  Phantump are the spirits of children who were lost in the woods, and Trevenant are the evolved forms that try to snatch children away when they wander in.  It's an interesting cycle of spirits.  Grass/Ghost is also a fun typing we hadn't seen before, and the moves it has access to allow for a fantastic support combo of Will-o-Wisp and Leech Seed.  It even gets Horn Leech and Harvest for even further healing potential.  Trevenant is a fantastic Pokemon that's a ton of fun to use.

7) Sylveon - Another eevee evolution, this time as the new Fairy type.  Sylveon is fun not just because of the usual eevee evolution reasons, but because of its bizarre ribbon feelers.  It's adorable and lovely, but like many fairies we'd get to know, has a bit of a creepy factor to it as well.  If there's anything it did wrong, it's steal everything that Umbreon did, barring Foul Play.  Which...I dunno, is Foul Play even still useful anymore?

6) Vivillon - Much like Staraptor in Gen 4, Vivillon is the best of the regional early-game bugs.  Its design is gorgeous, including a mechanic where its wings will take on an appearance based on location, and its stats, while still terrible, aren't bad for what it is.  Quiver Dance with Compoundeyes and Hurricane allow it to actually deal some real damage, and in-game, having access to Draining Kiss is very valuable, especially early game.  It's a fun Pokemon, and it's nice to have one entry to the early-game bug brigade that's standing out.

5) Florges - What a wonderful creature.  Florges is literally only held back by its lack of any good ability at all.  If it had any decent ability, and mild utility beyond the awful abilities it currently has, it would be unstoppable.   Its speed tier is in a good place for a supportive wall, special defense is so massive you don't even need to really invest in it, and special attack is in a good place for a Fairy that has such good natural coverage with STAB alone.  Plus it's just an elegant and beautiful Pokemon.  Fused with the flower it carried, its body effectively is the stalk of the flower, with a gathering of flowers around its neck.  I love its design, and I love its battle role, and if only they would give it a good ability it would truly be unstoppable.

4) Goodra line - I've talked before about how a lot of Dragon evolution lines are intense and intimidating.  Well, Goodra was something more like Flygon.  A little goofy, sure, but a good friend who is still powerful and a Dragon.  This also kinda began a trend, where a lot of dragons now are designed to be goofy, or at least losing the huge imposing figure or regal look that most before it had.  I, for one, love this adjustment into goofy nonsense being called a dragon.  Please continue to do this forever.

3) Delphox line - I love them all, but Braixen is a clear-cut winner.  I know this probably means I'm a furry, but it's the cutest thing, and the sass it exudes in this form is legendary.  Fennekin itself is just an adorable little fox, and Delphox is what Ninetales should've been: a Fire/Psychic fox.   It even gets to effectively be a witch!  The only downside is that Delphox loses a lot of personality when it evolves from Braixen, going from a sassy fox creature to a more downplayed and serious one.  This change is the only thing holding it back from being at the top.  But on the whole, it's an excellent evolutionary line.

2) Diancie - When its base form was revealed, I already loved it.  A mutation of Carbink that's pink and adorable?  What's not to love?  Then we got wind of stats.  Effectively the same as Carbink, but with way higher offensive presence. Maybe it could have more of a use in Trick room now!  But then, against all odds, we get the unprecedented: a mega evolution.  It suddenly becomes ridiculously fast and strong, and more gorgeous than ever.  Diancie is beautiful and wonderful and I adore everything about this wonderful creature.  It's even got a unique physical rock move that has a real accuracy stat, and a secondary effect that's to die for.  I love how, at the outset, Diancie was set to be the worst of the three mythic legends of gen 6, only to end up with a mega that ranked it easily the best.

1) Gourgeist - What an awesome Pokemon, in every regard.  Beautiful shiny, fantastic design, and a chilling concept.  It wraps prey in its hair arms and sings to them as it drains their life force.  That's terrifying and incredible.  It's also got four forms, including a really small baby child and a giant form as tall as a person.  Each form also has different stat allocations, with bigger forms gaining defense and attack but losing speed.  If there is any singular flaw, it's that it would really love to be specially offensive and make use of Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, and Flamethrower instead of relying on Seed Bomb and Phantom Force as the only real options it has.

BOTTOM 10: 10) Volcanion - I disliked it because it was so optimized, and had bar-none the best unique attack of the three mythical legends.  "Steve, it's the only who who didn't get an extra form and is ranked UU by usage, hasn't it suffered enough?" No.  It has not.

9) Dedenne - I'm generally not that big a fan of the regional rodents, and Dedenne is unfortunately a low-ranked one.  I can't explain it, I just don't really care for it.  Nothing about it stands out all that much aside from its Fairy typing, but after a while, a generation has to do more than rely on adding its newly introduced typing to things already in a formula to feel unique.

8) Pyroar - Something about it just doesn't grab me.  I can't even explain what it is, I just don't really care for the look of it.  Fire/Normal, while interesting, is far from good.  And it's another cat-based Pokemon that just does terribly in competitive. 

7) Hoopa-Unbound - Hoopa is cute.  I like it a lot, and Ghost/Psychic, while odd, is a fun typing that's pretty solid offensively.   Hoopa-Unbound, though... Psychic/Dark, while also good, doesn't feel as great, considering it has no resistances at all.  The change in design does work for it, in that you definitely get the feeling that Hoopa's true form is a monster of a genie that's been sealed away, but the loss of cuteness in favor of what I'm pretty sure is a JoJo Stand isn't as interesting to me.

6) Pangoro line - It's not bad, but it's just...definitely not my aesthetic, you know? I don't care for the punk-type.

5) Doublade - You remember Golbat?  How I disliked it strongly because it made no sense as the middle stage between two interesting end-points?   Same thing here.  From one sword, to two swords, to a sword and shield. How?  How did you do this?  That doesn't make any sense at all.  Get back here and make your full evolution line make sense!

4) Malamar - You'd think Dark/Psychic would be cool.  You'd also think Contrary Superpower would be cool.  Instead, Malamar is basically just a disappointment, with no resistances to anything at all, and no real presence.  Its design is sufficiently interesting, as a borderline eldritch horror, but doesn't quite pass into the territory where it's really creepy.  It's just...middle-of-the-road, in everything it does. 

3) Barbaracle - Its design does nothing for me, and its concept even less.  I really don't understand why it looks like that, and as another Water/Rock type, it faces a lot of competition from things that are more effective than it, and stronger than it.

2) Diggersby - Listen.  I know I've relied on disliking aesthetics to rank things in the bottom 10 for several other lists.  But you need to understand.  This is, quite possibly, the worst design I can think of.   ...second worst.  It's so bad.  It looks so, so bad.  Everything about this is bad.  Why did they make it like this? Between Diggersby being a drunken construction worker or some kind, and Lopunny being a pin-up bunny, I'm starting to wonder if there will ever be just a normal bunny Pokemon.  Maybe that's why I was so excited for the fake fire-starter rabbit...

1) Greninja - I have never felt such unfettered anger about one of the starters getting preferential treatment before.  Let's be honest, every gen does it. Charizard is the favorite of Gen 1, Feraligatr the favorite of gen 2, etc.  But it never hit as hard as it did this time, and if you ask me.  Maybe because nothing has ever been so blatant, or occurred at a time in which a started I loved more than any other was shafted.  Delphox has gotten nothing in its entire life, Chesnaught got a few nice tools but had to work hard for the position it has in life, and Greninja was handed optimized stats, a busted hidden ability that could easily be nerfed in a way that does nothing to Kecleon but stops Greninja from being stupid, and a ridiculous special snowflake extra ability that lets it be even more super fast and strong, and also we changed its priority multi-hit move, a statement which is already obscene, into a special move so it gets to benefit from its main offensive stat instead of having to choose its tools like the rest of the working class.  Fuck this bougie frog asshole, you've never earned anything in your entire damned life. I'm glad Alan won.

[ritingsandwramblings]

Camp Headcanons (Evan Hansen x Reader)

Anon. requested: "This could be hc or a fic but reader and Evan go to a wilderness camp (trees!!) (they don't know that the other is going) they end up thinking Evans name is a girls name (like evana or something like that idk) and you get put in a cabin together (like each cabin has two people or something ) and it's too late to change so you spend the summer basically living together and find out you actually really like each other maybe smut idk" THIS IS REALLY LONG SORRY I liked this a lot!!! So here's my first headcanon feel free to request more!!! *fem!reader btw Warnings: smut smut smUT SMUT •••• -Heidi probably saw the camp on Facebook and signed Evan up bc "you need to get out of the house" and "you'll like it look at all the nature!! Trees!!!" -hes low key hype bc there's so many new trees!! he's only seen pictures of them!!! now he'll get to go and see them irl!! -but also high key anxious™ because he knows he'll have to interact with all new people -and he's not all excited about having to share cabins with people but hey at least it's boys with boys and girls with girls, right? (wrONG) -you're going bc you wanted a change of scenery -you're v outdoorsy and have unfortunately already seen everything to see in your town nature wise, and even been on hikes and walks outside your town. -you saw the camp and were like "why not, new people, new scenery" -you and Evan go to the same school btw you know each other but don't talk. You've seen him around and smile at him in hallways and class and such but it's just bc you're nice. -usually he tries to smile back but just averts his eyes and walks -you're just so nice to him?? and he doesn't understand but he definitely has a low key crush on you -like you know what I mean he isn't pining after you very much but he low key would date you and wants to ask you out but he's so anxious and you're so pretty? -you get to the camp first and go to information station and get ur cabin # and roomie name -it says Evana Hansen (eh-vawn-uh) -"wow what a cool name hehe that sounds a lot like that Evan kid at school wonder if they're related" -"wow that would suck if they are why would you name your kids so closely" ((side note fun fact my friends Mom almost named her and her twin Alexander and Alexandria yikes)) -so you go to the cabin and choose a bed and start putting some clothes in the dresser and closet on that side of the cabin -door opens, you turn around to greet evana -ur met with a very red, shocked, Evan -"oh, hey? I think you have the wrong cabin, sorry?" -"n-no so-orry they, uh, they had my n-name as E-evana? A-and though I-I-I was a girl I g-guess, sorry" -"oh, haha, that sucks. Well, hey roomie, I'm y/n" -hes just so shook bc you're not like freaking out?? He thought you'd say he was a creep and that he probably hoped they'd think he was a girl and put him in a cabin with a girl or something -but you're so nice to him and you introduce himself and then the whole "I know" scene happens" -"you know?" "Yeah well I've just seen you in science class and you know a lot about nature and trees and stuff and I just really like trees" or something along those lines -you ask him his favorite tree and he's so shocked bc!! That's like such a weird thing for someone to have and you actually thought he might have a fav tree!! And he does!! -you guys talk for a while about trees and nature in general until it's time for dinner and then he's all nervous about it -so he's definitely fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and you notice and recognize his tick and carefully take his hand in yours -he jumps a bit and at first you're like "ah shit sorry I should've asked you just looked nervous i was trying to help calm you" -and he just kinda stutters that is okay but he's blushing so much -so for the next couple weeks of camp you guys have this best friends relationship and talk and hang out even when you don't have to and stay up late talking together -and then there's a few movie events at camp where you can lay out a blanket on the lawn and watch horror movies (mostly cabin in the woods type bc teenagers are fucking masochists) on a big screen -you love horror movies and were hype to go and Evan is like meh not so much but he's still gonna go he's just gonna probably cry a lil bit -but he ends up getting the courage to ask you out to go -"do y-you maybe wanna, go to th-th-that, uh, that horror m-movie, uh, to-together? I mean I guess we're already going together but like together together like as a d-date" he speaks hella fast and ur just -"Evan, honey, calm down, yes I'd love to go on a date with you" and he's just a happy blushing mess -you kiss his cheek and go out to the dining hall and he blushes again -he doesn't know you heard him go "yES!" when you left but you did and giggle until he catches up to you. -low key holding hands under the table from now on -so Evans a nervous wreck during the movie bc it's scary and creepy -and it's Friday the 13th so he's all kinda of freaking out bc there's a big lake near the camp you're at -(you notice he tries to stay far from the lake there ever since y'all watched the movie) -you see this and stroke your thumb on his hand -jump scares definitely scare and make him jump and he squeezes your hand a bit each time so you just lay your head on his shoulder and kiss his cheek every once in a while -he's hella blushy at the nude scenes -but y'all survive the movie and hold hands walking back to the cabin -and you get there and he's still hella freaked out so when you come out of the bathroom after putting in pajamas you see him sitting on his bed fidgeting and sit next to him and just hug him -after a few minutes you get up to go to your own bed and he just holds on -"p-please don't l-leave" -so you cuddle all night and it's kinda awkward and clumsy but it's still so warming and comforting -you guys keep going to some of the movies but none of the really creepy cabin in the woods ones (no matter how much you want to) -you take the time that almost all of camp is at movies to go on cute little dates and walks together and you just talk and maybe make out a little (you guys had your first kiss the morning after that first movie and like two weeks later he got comfortable enough to do some light making out) -and then sometime a month and a half after y'all do the nastayyyy -okay but they're playing Nightmare On Elm Street and you both decided the last thing Evan needs is to be afraid to sleep so you guys definitely skip this one. -You chill out at the cabin instead and just talk and cuddle -you guys kiss and start to make out -you were both sitting on his bed (which is both of yours now lets be real yall fall asleep cuddling there like every night) at first but after like five minutes you're straddling him and sitting in his lap with your arms around his neck loosely. -you can definitely feel the tent in his pants get bigger after you've been sitting in his lap for a while and moved a bit to adjust your position and pull back -"o-oh go-od i-I'm sorry I-I get it I-if y-you wanna dump m-me and g-get a n-new cabin n-now" -"Evan it's fine... do you want me to, maybe, help you out?" ;)) -"oh, uh, y-yeah, I-if you want though" -so you go back to making out and slowly make your way to his jawline and neck and start with kissing lightly but after a moment you're giving him hickeys around the neckline of his t-shirt. -he just mOANS but he's so embarrassed by it and blushes -he's rolling and unrolling the hem of your shirt now and you pull back and put your hands on It like you're gonna take it off -you look at him like 'is this okay?' And he just nods (a little excitedly and it's just so cute' -so you slowly take your shirt off and fling it onto your bed and he just doesn't know what to do so you slowly take his hands, again checking to make sure it's okay, and direct them to your chest. -at first they just sit there but eventually he starts to slowly massage them -you bite your lip and ur slightly holding back a moan but also wishing he would pick up the pace a bit -you reach for his shirt and he tenses but give you the okay and you take it off and fling it to yours -your hands instantly rest on his chest and you're just shook because he seems like he'd be a baby and have like no hair but he's got a hella hairy chest -and it def turns you on a bit more -after some more making out he eventually lets his hands travel to your back and he fumbles with the clip but gets your bra off pretty fast -Youre hella impressed like that was good for his first time -he kisses your lips and slowly and hesitantly travels down to kiss your jaw and then collarbone and then the top of your breast -he leaves a hickey there and you just let out a moan and man that turns him on -this boy definitely could get off to your pleasure and moans -after a while you stand to take off your shorts and he slips his off too real quick -you push him to lay back on the bed and climb on top and straddle him again -you grind down a bit and he lets out a groan and it's so deep and turns you tf on -you lean down and kiss his Adam's apple and then down his neck and leave more hickeys on his his collarbone and he moans and rests his hands on your waist -he's rubbing the fabric of your panties between his thumb and finger and you can tell he's low key itching to get it off so you stand up to do so and he has this look of realization -"uh, do you have a condom?" -at first you're like shit and upset but remember you have a few still in your backpack - thank god ou never empty the small pockets and you brought this bag -hes so relieved and watches as you take your panties off and walk over and slowly pull his boxers down -hes leaning against his elbows (and looks hella hot with the amount of hickeys and his swollen lips and bare chest) and blushes when his member springs free -youre kinda rushing and rip the condom open and quickly put it on his cock and he's just biting his lip -"have you ever done this before?" "N-no, sorry, I-is that a problem?" "No, it's fine, babe, I'm just gonna take the lead" -climbing on top again you give him a gentle kiss and sit up, slowly lowering yourself onto him -he suppressed a moan and you bite your lip, making sure he's okay before you start riding him -hes a groaning mess and he slowly stars to thrust up every time you slam down onto him -your hands travel to his hair and you lace your fingers through it -he definitely finds this hot and has a kink like this, not necessarily hair pulling but just running fingers through his hair -your eyes are closed so you don't notice his hands move to rest on your waist until they're there and then his thumb is at your core -you shudder a bit at the contact and he slowly starts to rubs your clit a bit and you moan so loud -you both come within a minute after that and when your done you tie up and throw the condom away and cuddle -after putting on underwear at least because you both agree sheets and blankets on your dick/vagina is hella weird feeling -needless to say you both are very glad you came to camp :) ;) -youre both glad you came to camp because you both came at camp ((BRB DELETING MY BLOG IM SORRY FOR THAT))

[ts-hvv4]

EPISODE ELEVEN: “MAYBE IM PARANOID OR MAYBE IM ABOUT TO GET CLAPPED” - LUKAS

This game is genuinely getting to me. With all the world going mad and panic’d, my schedule and thoughts has been all over the place. I’ve come to realize that a lot of the people in the game require actual effort to talk to because in games, you kind of have to be ON all the time in order to get your point across, be nice, or to avoid slipping up. But it’s getting overrated for me. I’m an introvert and at the moment, talking to these people requires too much of my energy when all I really want to do is cuddle with my boyfriend or hang out with friends I may never see again because they might leave my college campus at any moment. Since my college is completely virtual for the rest of the semester, I may graduate before saying goodbye to some people I truly care about. It’s all very surreal and depressing. I no longer really care to hear about what Sharifa’s doing when I know she’s just plotting stuff with other people while I’m talking to her. Why waste my breath? I could just sit and do nothing and not worry about this considering I’m not getting anything real out of it. I’ve had fun for a bit but now it’s overwhelming. One of my biggest outlets just left the game because there’s some people who are too content with just allowing a CLEAR trio of people with 2 idols stay in the game unchallenged. Yet, I can’t even do anything about it myself. I don’t have the numbers and I already fucked up by trying to make amends with Jake in the first place. Which is what gave that trio another idol. Oops. The worst part about it is that I’ve genuinely tried to be a good ally to those who I’ve felt have been good allies to me. I was fully on board to take out Sharifa and fucked my own game to tell Lukas the truth. Now, any time I talk to him, I feel like I’m talking to someone completely different. Like talking to a person who could go crazy at any point. The week after, I tried SHEEPING an alliance that I knew had too much power but wasn’t going to do anything about because I figured I needed their safety. But while I was doing that, they decided to fuck me over last second and try to completely vote me out. Why? Cause they were paranoid because I was being loyal. This week, I considered taking out Kurt but realized it wouldn’t happen. Yet, since the damage has been done by everyone already, why wouldn’t they take out my closest ally? Why give a fuck about me when they can just do whatever they want anyways? No reason to. They can just do and say whatever and have fun doing it. Now, I get to decide if this challenge is worth me trying to win or not. If I win, they can target someone else. Someone they all just talked about votes with. If I lose, they can vote me and I don’t have to deal with their bs anymore. It’s kind of a win-win not gonna lie. But if I win the challenge and STILL nothing happens, I’m just gonna be straight up annoyed. I’ll be frustrated and care even less about what happens which is wild considering all that I just wrote. But realistically, the vote would probably just go to Sarah or Ned anyways. Take out an inac or someone who might have an idol/power. Compared to the wild card Lukas who is following them or the overly nice person they shit on all the time (in Malik). So meh. We’ll see how much time I want to waste tomorrow but rn I’m not feeling it that much. 

I won immunity holy FUCK. 940583 people tied, again, but I won the tie breaker, again. Lukas is going around calling me a comp threat sldkfjs SIS I WON A STAY UP ALL NIGHT CHALLENGE, A “HEY WHAT’S YOUR COLOR” CHALLENGE, A GUESS A NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 4 CHALLENGE, AND A FILM A VIDEO OF YOU EATING WHILE YOU TALK CHALLENGE LKAJDSFLKSJDLFKJ ITS NOT THAT DEEP!!! Stephanie voice: You want to call me a threat? I’ll show you how threatening I am. I’ve been cooking up a lil plan for tribal and the best part about it, no one knows I’m at the center of it. Operation backstab Jake is commencing in 5, 4, 3, 2…. Everyone is scared about Jake, Kurt and I being a trio and they want to split us up. Why is everyone scared you ask? Because Jake fucked us over by spilling our tea to Nicklas and not disclosing that relationship to us. It’s just funny because I remember how mad Jake got at me, when I let him know I was pissed. Jake spilling the alliance to Nicklas and telling him I was going after Sarah, is the whole ENTIRE reason why I almost went home at top 11. It’s the whole ass reason why Nicklas had enough information to expose me. It has been a wrench in my plans since the merge. What Nicklas wasn’t prepared for is the fact that I can adapt to whatever situation that is thrown at me, and I’ve been able to shift gears, adjust, and keep on driving down the highway. Part of that adjusting though is getting rid of the target on my back from this trio. Winning this immunity was high key crucial. By me being immune, and Kurt having the social game he has, the only member of the Gross Sisters that people can get the votes on is Jake. The smartest thing for the The Butterflies to do was to plant the seeds and reap the harvest. Just nudge nudge Malik/Lukas/Sarah to something they already want to do, just don’t realize they would have the votes for. Oh just in case if I haven’t updated, The Butterflies consists of Ned, Kurt and myself, named because when I told Ned to be smooth with his game play, he responded “I’ll be as smooth as a butterfly” FLSKDJ got to love the straights <3. Ned and Kurt have a tendency to overthink, they’re really nervous about the execution of the move, and I am to. Because Jake has an idol, and he has enough info to blow up all our games. Voting him out is like trying to deactivate a bomb. One cut of the wrong wire and BOOOOOOOM, we’re dead. Because of that we have to make sure that this doesn't get back to Nicklas. To help stall, I’m telling literally everyone I can get my hands on that I want to vote Nicklas out. That bridge is already burned so might as well keep lighting it on fire hehe. If the destraction vote is Nicklas, than that can hopefully justify my shady behavior to Nicklas and Jake. Hell, maybe Jake would play the idol on Nicklas, which would be beautiful. The thing I’m most worried about is Malik or Lukas approaching Nicklas with the plan to vote out Jake. If they do it’s imperative I organize a split vote. 4 votes on Jake, 2 votes on Nicklas, and 2 votes on Sarah. It will suck because Jake will be left in the game with ample time to expose Ned, Kurt and I, but at least Nicklas will be gone and Jake will have lost some power. Malik and Lukas are already plotting, thinking this is their idea, and Sarah approached me acting like she talked about it with Malik and not Lukas. IM TELLING YALL SARAH AND LUKAS ARE TIGHT AKLSDJF THEY CAN TRY TO HIDE IT FROM ME BUT IM THE QUEEN OF SECRET ALLIANCES. So Sarah brought up voting out Jake and I acted all morally conflicted, said I needed the night to think about it. Sarah can be really flighty so I need her to think she’s in the driver seat. I feel awful. I'm promising an end game and everything, I even made a final 3 with her and Ned, but I need to do what I need to do, to get The Butterflies to the end. Plus I think she’s high key playing me because her and Lukas are def something. I made a deal if we did Jake this time, she HAS to use her vote steal to get out Nicklas right after. I’m pretty sure this is going to be a double tribal, and that’s when I’ve been planning to take Jake and Nicklas out in one fell swoop. This plan is so fragile, and can literally blow up at any second, but if I don’t make this move, I know Jake will not let me touch final 3. My game has always been taking people out, before they could take me out, and that’s just what I have to try to do. If this move does work, final 7 is going to be tricky tricky, if Ned, Kurt and I can make it past it, we’re almost home free, but everyone is going to want to take a shot at me if I lose immunity. Kurt and I have talked about him being the one to pull the trigger. He’s going to go around saying it’s time to take a shot at me, and we’ll see who goes with it, and who won’t. The idea is forcing Sarah into using her steal a vote to help me get out Nicklas. If it is a double tribal, everything is going to happen fast, I just need to make sure I keep myself grounded and calm. I know this jury is bitter as fuck at me right now. And as my body count gets higher and higher, so does the salt level. But even though it seems impossible, I am WINNING this game I swear to God. I have fought tooth and nail, I’ve run this season, and I will take my rightful place on the throne, with my third crown. 

So this vote will go one of two ways: 1) Jake or Sarah go home, which are both fine by me. I would die for Jake to be taken out since he’s so distant towards me, but if Sarah goes due to some shifty shit I’m fine with it. Kurt and I have been working soooo hard on getting the votes on Jake, and we think we have Malik and Ned and maybe even Sarah. But Sharifa is still on her warpath towards Nicklas and Jake wants Sarah, so who knows. 2) Either Kurt or I go home. People have been eerily quiet around me and I know that in this season, that’s a bad omen (as Matt and Dennis have proven). So maybe I’m paranoid, or maybe I’m about to get clapped. All I know is that if I survive this round and a potential live round tonight, this game will be more in my hands than it ever has been.

[comicteaparty]

September 16th-September 22nd, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from September 16th, 2019 to September 22nd, 2019.  The chat focused on Ordinary Freaks by Urbanjawdust.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Ordinary Freaks by Urbanjawdust~! (https://tapas.io/series/OrdinaryFreaks)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until September 22nd to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think is the significance of the scenes with the child and headless person to the whole story? What do they have to do with Nell, and what do you think happened to the child to cause their wound at the beginning?

FeatherNotes

Q1: Most definitely pages 14-16. The composition is beautiful with the way the vines wrap around the space and Nell-- Also the use of green for the first time! Q2: I'm going to say that it probably has something to do with either a relative of Nells, or a different version of herself from before? She claims it an odd dream, so she's most certainly not fully aware of its significance--Her injury could be a power bestowed upon her as a kid perhaps?

Urbanjawdust

Love the speculation! And the panels with the vines were definitely really rewarding to draw so it's wonderful to hear you enjoyed them.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. How do you think medical assistants like Henry and Henrietta have shaped and changed the world of the comic? In other words, what sort of benefits do you think they bring to everyone? Also, how do you think Henry and Henrietta will help Nell in the future?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. Given what’s been shown so far, what do you think Nell’s home life is like? How do you think this ties into how she interacts with others? Further, what do you think is the cause of Nell’s episodes of passing out?

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene is the depressing one where Nell's mom says whoops, can't come home. It was just a really well executed scene emotionally speaking and really reminded me of times when I've had similar disappointing things happen. I really felt that ton of bricks that hit Nell, so just all around, it was super impactful for me. 2) I feel like the small child is Nell? I mean it'd make sense to me. Just Nell can't remember being that child because too traumatizing both physically and mentally. Like maybe it was some form of purgatory. Given Nell's anxiety, I would not doubt there was physical abuse at play at some point, hence the wound. But of course, this only works if the child is Nell.

3) My favorite characters are Henry and Henrietta. They are the best medical assistants. I also love the balance between them kind of having their own personalities while also still having clearly AI qualities. It makes them very interesting when they're interacting with Nell. 4) I feel like Nell's world must have a greater understand and tolerance for a lot of stigmatized medical issues. That being said, though, it might have some drawbacks in the realm of reliance on technology. Like imagine some old lady who can't remember to take her pills on time without the assistants reminding her. That could lead to some bad things. On the other hand, they definitely do seem to allow people like Nell cope with their world. As for helping in the future, Henry and Henrietta will definitely be emotional pillars for Nell as weird stuff happens. And I definitely think that's something Nell needs in order to deal with the situation at hand. And remind Nell that people do care even if Nell's mom is kind of garbage as shown so far.

5) https://tapas.io/episode/1286954 My fave illustration is definitely that page. I love the contrast of the colors and the desperate, emotional expression. Pulls at the heart strings while also being creepy af. 6) Nell's home life is probably shit. I doubt this is the first time Nell has been left alone, and neglect probably has a lot to do with how Nell socializes. In that I don't think Nell was nurtured and taught certain social conventions, thus making Nell awkward, thus further isolating Nell. The whole downward spiral. As for the episodes of passing out, I actually think that's more a supernatural cause that has a lot to do with why the weird monster things are after Nell.

spacerocketbunny

1. Favourite scene is probably this one https://tapas.io/episode/1142512, it's so creepy and unnerving with the naked headless body, it really gives me the willies LOL And with the kid touching where the head would be........ That's exactly what an unassuming kid would do and some how that makes it even CREEPIER ;;;;;;;;;

2. I'm going to guess that the kid is Nell (she could have died her hair later on, who's to say) and maybe the headless lady is actually a distorted vision of her mom? Maybe her mom's already gone and that's why she never comes home?? idk I'm terrible at speculating but that's my guess ahah

3. Favourite character is probably Vespa, I'm always weak for stoic cool ladies, her listlessness is definitely part of her charm!

4. Henry and Henrietta provide this kind of caring little bubble around Nell---As long as they're active that is-- They're so sweet and charming, like, two little snails on the sides of your head that remind you to go to social events and make sure you're hydrated? That's the cutest shit ever. But I do see them as a crutch for Nell, as soon as they're offline, disaster ensues, whether it be in social situations or actual danger. Their presence is kind of coddling and as useful as they are for someone like Nell who has loads of anxiety, I hope that later on she'll be able to depend on them less.

5. https://tapas.io/episode/1286954 This one! Super cool creepy figure with a nice use of texture

spacerocketbunny

6. Related to my previous speculation, I really think she lives on her own with the two snails. I don't think that she interacts with virtually anyone aside from her AI's so her outreach in social situations is extremely limited. She lives in isolation in this small bubble with the two that take care of her, that's definitely a recipe for tons of social anxiety and fear of going out. If I'm wrong about her mom being dead (or a walking corpse for that matter) I think that her mom is just mostly absent enough to make generally the same state of isolation.

FeatherNotes

Q3: Def Henri and Henrietta. I love the simple concept of cute AI robo snails that take care of Nell, and that lil boat they sailed on in the bath was too cute. Q4: it seems like these personal attendants are a thing in Nells world, so i assume other people use them, making their use versitile with search engines, besr route options for travel, and over all helpfulness for the users well being. Henry amd Henrietta are most likely the pair that will try to keep Nells health in check. She def seems to need them for stability, however, may need to break free from that dependence in the future...!

FeatherNotes

Q5: https://m.tapas.io/episode/1286954 this segment is my fave due to the drama and intensity. Always love those colour drops! Q6:Nell is clearly an isolated person, living with little interaction save for when she goes to run errands. She's naiive but not totally unaware of how and who to talk to, but comes off as such because of her situation she's in (she seems adjusted enough to be going to the library and getting groceries on her own). I think the mystery that surrounds her is what holds her back from being with more people-- I think her episodes have something to do with her past self trying to come back, and that maybe the two snails know more than they let on!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Why do you think the mysterious and dark creature said Nell’s name? Why was the creature so intent on getting Nell specifically? What other elements of the story might have significance to this situation?

spacerocketbunny

7. So far seeing E and Nell interact is my favourite, it's a sweet dynamic so far! 8. I'm guessing they're somehow drawn to her and if we're still on the assumption that the kid in the dream is Nell, then maybe it has something to do with the headless woman? The other creature that E and her group dealt with was also headless so maybe these beings are all connected, and there's something special about the one we see in Nell's dream.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Who exactly are the fighters who saved Nell? Why are they so secretive and fighting in the first place? In general, what do you think their backstories are? Also, do you think Nell will be able to find common ground with them?

RebelVampire

7) I like seeing Nell and Henry and Henrietta interact the most. I just love those little snails and they have such a warm relationship with Nell I enjoy every moment they're all talking together. My feel good moment of the month. 8) I assume the creatures are attracted to some magical voodoo that Nell possesses that causes her episodes. And that of course the creatures want this magical energy, cause it will give them infinite power. Or probably more like finite power that just makes them a lot tougher. Again, back to other theories, I really think this ties into the dream thing and that child. And that dream is not a dream but the root cause of everything.

9) A detail I really like in this comic is how the red contrast colors are used. This comic pulls it off super well to the point a lot of time you don't even notice it's there. But when you do notice it, holy crap is it really super impactful to the scene's mood and atmosphere. 10) The fighters are gather are some secret organization probably formed of outcasts who didn't quite fit into society. Maybe they all have some magical voodoo issues like Nell (and Nell just got voodoo with really bad downsides). I assume their secretive nature is just one of those can't let the normal humans find out sort of thing cause everyone will panic and freak. And like legit, nobody likes vigilantes going around killing mysterious, dangerous creatures in reality. I don't really have opinions on back stories yet, though I get the impression its all gonna be tragic and we're going to find out how each basically had crap families and thus had to become their own family.

spacerocketbunny

9. I think the character designs are pretty noteworthy! Cute shapes and clothing design choices with distinguishable silhouettes! My favourite design is probably E's, I love the shape of her boots and her cute puffy shorts. She's also ripped so it's a fun contrast with her cutesy demeanor 10. I'm guessing this lot are a bunch of outcasts, it's a pretty motley crew with obvious loss of focus and teamwork when it comes down to it. Their contrasting dynamic is interesting to see how they stick together (especially with Mads, what the heck girl you are a loose canon) but they must have a common understanding so that they don't split up. Probably a common ailment or condition, probably similar to what Nell's got going on that they all share? They seem pretty determined to protect people from those creatures so I'm wondering if other people can even see them?

Perhaps there's only certain people who can see and fight these monsters?

Attila Polyák

1, The end of the bath scene. The raw excitement of the new book is just nice and relatable. A book you want is always worth being excited about. 2, That's definitely Nell. Some alter version, forgotten past, magical parallel version or I donno, but the child is definitely her. 3, Nell. What could you not love about a book-loving young girl? She's relatable I think, at least for me. 4, Medical AI? It's probably what we're actually headed towards in real life. Personalized assistant AIs that help us not just in their specialized field, but generally in everyday life as well. I also find it really acceptable as a concept for these AIs to be mainly medical (even though they also do a lot of not medical stuff) as being healthy is kinda important and it's a point in our life where AI could actually support us in a great way. It's both important and a good start off point for AI so, to me at least, it makes sense that that's the place where AI took ground. Ultimately I feel like they generally make life easier. However... I also feel like the baseline concept of these AIs are linked into much larger systems... wink wink surveillance. Just like as it will most probably be in real life in the future (and it already kinda is in the present).

FeatherNotes

Q7: Nell and E for sure-! Some nice variants in characters to play with there Q8: Methinks mysterious dark creature has something to do with Nells supposed past. Perhaps it wants her to remember who she was? Nells name was mentioned previously from the other group, so there's definitely some past interactions we have yet to see revealed between the two parties

Q9: the drops of red in the black and white have significance and are a wonderful style choice. I'm always fond of any new ways to play with traditional black and white comics Q10: I notice this group doesn't have wee robot AI assistance, so maybe they're trying to fight for that independence in humanity from it? Though they do fight big monsters, it does raise the question of how normal those encounters are too, so perhaps they are self proclaimed local heroes? Nell will find her place, though I can see some altercations arise when they discover more about her

snuffysam

One possibility I thought of for (8) - what if the dark creatures aren't hunting Nell for mystical reasons/through mystical means? What if there's something strange/rare going on in Nell's biology, and someone hacked the snails to track her down?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Who exactly do you think Asha is, and what do you think she’ll have to say to Nell and E? How does this tie into the story’s description about Nell being used as live bait? Further, do you think Nell would even be able to go home at this point?

spacerocketbunny

11. Like I said for the previous question, I think the character design us it's biggest strength! 12. I think Asha is the leader of their group maybe? If not a leader maybe just a superior. I'm guessing they're going to show Nell that she's no longer safe now that she's made contact with one of the creatures. So I imagine she's now going to join their group and continue to be bait for the monsters, poor Nell ;___; I'm sure there'll be some kind of incentive for Nell, they don't seem to be bad guys so maybe there'll be a link to her past or her dreams that she has? That's my guess!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Overall, where do you see the story going from here? How do you think Nell’s experiences will change her, and how will Nell’s presence change the other characters, especially E? Lastly, how do you think the comic’s title ties into all this?

Attila Polyák

5, Page 14. The use of color, well... the general lack of it except for red, and on this page green, is an awesome feature. When color does show up it's really impactful. This page was really well done even without the sudden inclusion of colors but the sudden surge of red and green elevated it for me. 6, I'm a bit torn on this. On one hand she is alone, that's really bad, especialy for someone of her condition. Oh the other hand in terms of material things (and now I'm purely speaking of those) she seems to be very well off. All things considered I don't think her life is good, at all, it's bad, but there's a lots of ways it could go still worse, which, considering the events in the library, might just be what's going to happen in the future. 7, Nell and her snail AIs. It was clearly stated tat the AI basically have personality, but they are just, I donno. Feels genuinely friendly, something Nell really needs. 8, I'm really unsure, but for some reason I feel like the situation with the dark creature is some way connected to the kid and the headless person, but I seriously have no idea how (or why).

Attila Polyák

9, First of all as I already mentioned, color use is very strong in my opinion. I just cant praise that enough! Another very well crafted bit imo are the character expressions, they really convey emotion well. 10, Again a bit I'm not really sure what to think about. I do think that they are secretive, because whatever mystical thing is happening, is not a common occurrence and is definitely not something that's supposed to happen to everyday people, thus the secrecy. 11, Can I mention color again? Please? Pretty please? Never stop using those wonderful reds the way you do! 12, Although it was claimed that Asha is their supervisor I feel like some form of leader role fits more. Not sure why, maybe because we only saw a crew/team leader so far and not someone who could actually coordinate an entire operation of fighting shadow creatures? One way or another, I don't feel like Nell will be just simply released or if they just let her go they'll still keep an eye on her. She has seen a lot of things, probably too much.

RebelVampire

11) I'm going to second that I think the comic's strengths is its character design and use of color. The color component I feel I've mentioned enough but I also really like the designs. They're simple enough that there's not too many details, but have that right amount of uniqueness to them that makes each character stand out while also revealing bits about their personality. It's a hard balance to master, so it's great to see a comic like this where the mark is hit. 12) Asha is definitely, ,at the very least, E's boss. I get the impression that for the most part, Asha is in charge of the whole operation, except for maybe some mysterious benefactor who gives them money. As for what Asha will have to say, I def think it will be about how Nell can't go and they need Nell's help. And also probably that Nell is doomed if she goes it alone, so even if Asha could let her go, it's not in Nell's best interests to go

13) I am looking forward to seeing Nell being exposed to more social situations than it feels she has been in. Cause I'm interested to see her journey and how she reacts to these sorts of situations in general. It'll be an interesting experience, whether it turns out good or bad for Nell. 14) Besides Nell becoming bait as is implied, I feel like Nell is gonna start to explore her episodes more and realize that, perhaps, she doesn't know her own self as well as she thinks she does. And that there are pieces of herself missing and she'll have to go on a journey of self discovery in a manner of speaking. Overall, though, I think the experiences will probably make Nell at least a bit more socially adjusted and less dependent on medical ai assistants. As for Nell's affect on the others, I think Nell will sort of become the glue that binds them and enables them to overcome so interpersonal obstacles that made their teamwork perhaps a bit lackluster.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Ordinary Freaks this week! Please also give a special thank you to Urbanjawdust for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Ordinary Freaks, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

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[junker-town]

2017 Florida State is nearly a sure thing, but that schedule’s awfully tricky

The Seminoles might be one of the three best teams in college football. Will their final record convey that?

Each year, the top of the preseason polls contains teams we think we really like and a couple we just know will be good.

Last year, for instance, there were plenty of teams that were a couple of ifs away — Oklahoma, LSU, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Washington — and basically two sure things: Alabama and Clemson.

This year, there are either two or three sure things. I haven’t quite decided. We’re pretty sure teams like Washington, USC, Penn State, Clemson, Oklahoma, and maybe Auburn, Michigan, or LSU will be very good. We know Alabama and Ohio State will be.

Where does that leave Florida State?

The sure-thing case for the Noles

Only three teams ranked in both the Off. S&P+ and Def. S&P+ top 10 last season: the two title game participants (sure things Bama and Clemson) and Jimbo Fisher’s Noles.

In terms of single-game percentile performances, only four teams were at 90 percent or above at least seven times and below 70 percent no more than once: Bama, Clemson, Michigan, and FSU. Steadiness tends to carry over when you bring back a more experienced team the next year (and FSU does).

In terms of S&P+ projections, only four teams project in the top 10 in each of three primary factors (recruiting impact, returning production, recent history): Alabama, Ohio State, FSU, and LSU.

The Seminoles laid a significant egg early in 2016 (a 63-20 loss at Louisville). And on October 1, their defense, reeling a bit from the loss of star safety Derwin James, got ripped up in a last-second, 37-35 loss to UNC. The next week, they fell behind Miami, 13-0, at Hard Rock Stadium.

From that point forward, though, the Noles basically played like a national title contender. They came back to beat Miami and won seven of eight to finish the year. Their only loss was a statistical coin toss against eventual national champion Clemson. They beat an awesome Michigan in a fun-as-hell Orange Bowl.

Their single-game percentile performances over the last eight games: 86, 90, 89, 87, 96, 96, 98, 97. They were good, and after holding on to beat a good NC State in Raleigh, they became great.

In a way, Fisher has been building for 2017 since the 2013 national title campaign ended. The depth chart is balanced between veteran leaders and young difference-makers. The table is set.

So what could get in the way?

The case against the Noles

No Dalvin Cook. Cook was an amazing security blanket for a first-year starting quarterback. He not only rushed for 1,765 yards (and behind a line that started nine guys at least twice, no less) and powered an offense that ranked fifth in Rushing S&P+; he also caught 34 passes for 513 yards and a 53 percent success rate. Among other things, FSU doesn’t win the Orange Bowl without Cook. When you recruit like FSU, you can more capably replace stars, but the training wheels are off for both quarterback Deondre Francois and the line.

No receivers? FSU must replace last year’s top four receiving targets: Travis Rudolph, Jesus Wilson, Kermit Whitfield, and Cook. Rudolph, Wilson, and Whitfield combined for 120 catches, 1,616 yards, and nine touchdowns. On a per-target basis, they weren’t great, but continuity in the receiving corps is a big thing, and FSU doesn’t have much.

No DeMarcus Walker. When you only lose one player from your front seven, you usually end up okay, but Walker was a one-man pass rush, recording 16 sacks (second-most in FBS) and almost single-handedly powering a No. 2 ranking in Adj. Sack Rate. Ends Josh Sweat and Brian Burns combined for 16.5 sacks as well, but that came against offenses distracted by Walker. Never assume elite production will replace elite production.

A mystery at cornerback. FSU is loaded at safety with the return of not only James but also Trey Marshall, A.J. Westbrook, and Ermon Lane. But Marquez White and reserve Marcus Lewis are gone, leaving Tarvarus McFadden and relative unknowns. This is FSU, so the Noles will be choosing between Former Five-Star A and Former Four-Star B, but proven entities are minimal.

All-world freshman Cam Akers is among six former four- or five-star running backs vying to replace Cook, the top two returning wideouts (Nyqwan Murray and Auden Tate) were far more effective on a per-target basis (9.3 yards per target, 51 percent success rate) than those they are replacing (8.1 per target, 50 percent success rate), and ... go ahead and try to worry about a defense that includes James, Marshall, Burns, Sweat, tackles Derrick Nnadi and Demarcus Christmas, and every linebacker.

The schedule presents a major challenge. Because of the Week 1 battle with Alabama, the Noles have terrible odds of going 12-0 and could live up to their No. 3 projection while still finishing with two losses. This will require some careful skating, but they might have the pieces to pull it off.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Jimbo Fisher

2016 in review

2016 FSU statistical profile.

This is pretty much the exact definition of “young team rounding into form”:

First 5 games (3-2): Avg. percentile performance: 74% (76% offense, 53% defense) | Avg. yards per play: Opp 7.0, FSU 6.6 | Avg. performance vs. S&P+ projection: minus-5.5 PPG

Next 4 games (3-1): Avg. percentile performance: 88% (74% offense, 72% defense) | Avg. yards per play: FSU 6.1, Opp 5.2 | Avg. performance vs. S&P+ projection: minus-1.5 PPG

Last 4 games (4-0): Avg. percentile performance: 97% (80% offense, 87% defense) | Avg. yards per play: FSU 6.7, Opp 3.2 | Avg. performance vs. S&P+ projection: plus-12.5 PPG

The offense was relatively stable, which is an incredible thing to say about a team led by a redshirt freshman and a shuffled line. Such is the power of Cook and a receiving corps of seniors, I guess.

Francois was a little too much of a gamer and seemed a little too willing to take a hit in the name of making a big pass. He was sacked 34 times, and it seemed like another 100 times, he was getting hit as he threw. But he always picked himself up in time to make another big throw, and he somehow didn’t miss much action — he threw 235 of FSU’s 244 passes.

The defense took a little time to figure things out. The Noles had to replace three of 2015’s top four defensive backs, and then the fourth (James) went down. Plus, they had to face three tremendous quarterbacks — Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, UNC’s Mitch Trubisky — in the first five games.

The passer rating reflects what you would expect. FSU allowed a 154.1 over the first five games, a 121.5 over the next four, and a 90.1 over the last four.

Offense

Full advanced stats glossary.

FSU played against an incredible eight defenses that finished in the Def. S&P+ top 25 and averaged 28 points per game and 5.8 yards per play. Even more impressive: against three top-six defenses, they averaged 32 points and 6.3 yards per play.

Predictably, opponent adjustments were kind to the Noles. They finished third in Off. S&P+, second in Success Rate+, and fifth in IsoPPP+ (an explosiveness measure). They were eighth in Standard Downs S&P+ and, with a freshman quarterback getting hit too much, second in Passing Downs S&P+.

Again, you don’t get that without Cook. I cannot emphasize enough how incredible he was, and even with all the blue-chippers in the world, the running back position gets worse in 2017. There’s no way around it.

But that passing-downs success wasn’t driven by Cook. He helped, obviously, but FSU’s passing downs run rate was only 27 percent, 105th in FBS. Fisher and co-coordinators Randy Sanders and Lawrence Dawsey put the game in Francois’ hands on passing downs, and it paid off. On third-and-4 or more, Francois had a passer rating of 155.5, 10 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and five scrambles for first downs.

Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Deondre Francois

To be sure, he also took a lot of hits. But FSU’s passing-downs success rate of 39.9 percent was astoundingly good against this level of competition, and that was with a lot of throwaways and safe decisions. If he manages to avoid injury, he could be capable of incredible things.

The supporting cast is still a concern, though. FSU’s line ranked 72nd in stuff rate and 63rd in Adj. Sack Rate, and that was with All-American left tackle Roderick Johnson and all-conference guard Kareem Are. Of the nine guys who started games for the Noles up front, six are back, and if the same five are able to remain on the field for most of the year, the line should improve. It’ll need to.

Here’s who isn’t gone from the FSU skill corps:

Junior RB Jacques Patrick. The 231-pounder averaged 5.7 yards per carry backing up Cook and was only slightly behind Cook’s averages in efficiency (opportunity rate: Cook 42 percent, Patrick 39 percent) and explosiveness (highlight yards per opportunity: Cook 6.9, Patrick 5.7). He might not have Cook’s upside, but who does?

WRs Murray and Tate. Their per-target production topped that of FSU’s top receivers last year, and that’s something that tends to translate reasonably well as players move up the depth chart. Plus, they came on strong late: they had 13 catches for 164 yards in the first seven games and 39 for 686 in the final six. They’re ready.

RBs Ryan Green, Amir Rasul, and Johnathan Vickers. Green and Rasul were four-star recruits, and the trio combined to carry 22 times for 165 yards last year. At least one could become an interesting backup.

TEs Ryan Izzo and Mavin Saunders. FSU hasn’t had a Nick O’Leary-level tight end for the last couple of years, but as Francois searches for efficiency options in Cook’s absence, this duo (combined in 2016: 45 targets, 29 catches, 409 yards) could produce.

Yes, Cam Akers. He was the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2017 signing class. He will almost certainly become a star. But how long might it take?

Former Star WR Recruits A, B, and C. Sophomores George Campbell and Keith Gavin were four-star recruits, as was incoming freshman D.J. Matthews.

That should play.

Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

Cam Akers

Defense

Coordinator Charles Kelly deserves massive credit for adjusting on the fly. In the three games following James’ injury, FSU allowed 63 points and 8 yards per play to Louisville, 35 and 8.2 to USF, and 37 and 7.7 to UNC. That’s egregious, even against good offenses. This was a hapless unit for a bit, and it cost the Noles the game against the Heels.

From that point forward, though, FSU found itself. The only opponents to average more than 4.6 yards per play over the last eight games were Clemson and NC State, and FSU still held NC State to 20 points in Raleigh. That the defense rebounded to 10th in Def. S&P+ despite that September speaks volumes.

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Tarvarus McFadden

I like to say that injuries hurt in the present tense but help in the future tense, and 2017 FSU could be a pretty good illustration. The Noles found a new set of effective safeties with Marshall, Westbrook, and converted receiver Lane. And while White logged major minutes at corner with McFadden, freshmen Levonta Taylor and Kyle Meyers took on heavier loads as the season progressed. And the numbers kept improving.

Of that big batch, only White and is gone. James is healthy, too. To move the ball on FSU, you’ll probably have to be able to run.

Running on FSU wasn’t impossible last year, but it typically came in big chunks (and in the first half of the season). The Noles were 16th in rushing success rate but 99th rushing IsoPPP (which measures the magnitude of the successful plays). It wasn’t impossible to block smaller ends like Sweat (listed at 250 pounds last year) and Burns (218), and when a good back found the edge, there was room, especially before FSU’s safety situation was ironed out.

With the 280-pound Walker gone, Sweat and especially Burns might face more of the same issues. Maybe there’s an opportunity on rushing downs for a younger end like redshirt freshman Janarius Robinson or incoming freshman Joshua Kaindoh, but they aren’t exactly 280.

You can survive issues with your ends against the run, though, when the interior of your defense is dynamite ... and when those skinny ends can rush the passer. Tackles Derrick Nnadi and Demarcus Christmas somehow still have eligibility left (Christmas is only a junior), and juniors Walvenski Aime and Fredrick Jones were sturdy rotation pieces last year.

This foursome combined for 14 TFLs and eight sacks (mostly from Nnadi) and ate up blockers quite well for weakside linebacker Matthew Thomas (10 non-sack TFLs). Thomas and basically every other linebacker are back.

This really was a young-as-hell defense last year. It’s not any more.

Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Derrick Nnadi

Special Teams

Call it the revenge of Cason Beatty. After years of being maligned by Nole fans, FSU’s punter had a monstrous senior season in 2015, which, when paired with place-kicker Roberto Aguayo, gave FSU the No. 1 ranking in Special Teams S&P+.

Last year, the first year post-Beatty, freshman Logan Tyler struggled, and FSU’s punt efficiency fell to 107th. Young Ricky Aguayo took well to the place-kicking job, but punting and returns plummeted, and the Noles ranked just 58th. Special teams benefited FSU by about 1.3 fewer points per game. Think that could have helped in a season in which the Noles lost two conference games by a total of five points?

Aguayo’s back, which means a high-ish floor for special teams, but Tyler and the return team have plenty to figure out.

2017 outlook

2017 Schedule & Projection Factors

Date Opponent Proj. S&P+ Rk Proj. Margin Win Probability 2-Sep vs. Alabama 1 -8.3 32% 9-Sep UL-Monroe 121 43.6 99% 16-Sep Miami 18 14.7 80% 23-Sep N.C. State 27 18.8 86% 30-Sep at Wake Forest 64 20.8 89% 14-Oct at Duke 65 20.8 89% 21-Oct Louisville 14 10.2 72% 27-Oct at Boston College 76 25.7 93% 4-Nov Syracuse 60 25.2 93% 11-Nov at Clemson 6 0.9 52% 18-Nov Delaware State NR 71.5 100% 25-Nov at Florida 15 5.4 62%

Projected S&P+ Rk 3 Proj. Off. / Def. Rk 5 / 8 Projected wins 9.5 Five-Year S&P+ Rk 18.8 (3) 2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk 3 / 5 2016 TO Margin / Adj. TO Margin* 3 / -6.7 2016 TO Luck/Game +3.7 Returning Production (Off. / Def.) 70% (60%, 80%) 2016 Second-order wins (difference) 10.1 (-0.1)

I’ve got good news and bad news.

Good news: that season opener against Alabama is going to be spectacular for the public.

Bad news: that game will make it almost impossible for FSU to go 12-0. In fact, thanks to the 32 percent win probability there, S&P+ gives the Noles only a 3 percent chance of finishing 12-0. And if they lose to Bama, a road loss to Clemson or Florida or a home loss to a top-20 team like Miami or NC State would make FSU a really interesting case study. The Noles could be 11-2, top-three in S&P+ and most computer rankings ... and still be a two-loss conference champion that falls behind unbeatens or one-loss champs. We don’t yet know how the CFP committee will handle that.

We do know that the Seminoles are going to be pretty fantastic, though. That’s enough for now. S&P+ favors them, at least slightly, in 11 of 12 games, and they have more than a puncher’s chance against Bama. Plus, with so many key underclassmen, FSU has a chance to be even better in 2018, too.

After that? We’ll see. But outside of Tuscaloosa and Columbus, FSU is as close as there is to a sure thing in 2017.

Team preview stats

All power conference preview data to date.