#we'll see how things go with the gi and i'll have to figure out which thing to pursue first

[whatisshelties]

I was supposed to be an artist vendor at the local farmers market this morning, but Mud started vomiting about 2am, basically every hour, so I told them I couldn't make it and we ended up at the e vet around 6:30 after he'd thrown up water and had bloody stools. Cerenia and fluids and we're doing better so far. He's got an appetite again (he's even hangry) and is keeping food down. (Stools are still gross, but I kinda expect nothing but liquid when he's expelled every bit of solid food from his body.)

His GI flare up(?) started I would say Wednesday PM, when he had the worst "reflux" episode I've see from him in awhile (it lasted hours and I finally gave some omeprazole and he settled down for the night). Thursday PM, he started to have the worst diarrhea he has had since 2023. I was already going into the vet on Friday for some cracked teeth I discovered on Thursday, to get an idea of how urgently I need to get those taken care of (didn't sound super pressing, but not something I should blow off for a long time). They were very interested in the diarrhea and offered me Diagel and the special vet Proviable and I'm like yeah, I'll pass for now, since this is something we've got experience with. I don't even think the Diagel helped last time lmao. He's already on probiotics, so I'm like meh. I started him on a bland diet that morning as that's probably the most helpful thing. (Oh, they also recommended Pepcid for the diarrhea which had me confused? I've never heard that before.)

I am not sure what triggered this. There's lots of hmm, maybe, but nothing glaringly obvious. I'm suspicious of our Wednesday afternoon therapy dog class downtown and that he consumed something he shouldn't have, but then I'm thrown off by it seriously kicking in over 24 hrs later? He played in some lake water 12 days prior to any major symptoms. Over the last month I've been slowly transitioning him fully over to a food that he only ate partially for the last year or so. We've been on fully new food for several days before this happened. Someone had soft stools earlier this month. I think even before he played in the water. Just don't know.

I just hope this doesn't escalate to an 8 month long fight with GI distress like 2023. He did SO WELL last year I had hoped we wouldn't be dealing with this again. If it does, we're probably just jumping to biopsies because that's the only diagnostic we haven't really done yet. (Other than maybe like...an elimination diet and idk if those are considered diagnostic?) I pulled him from an agility trial next weekend because I don't want to stress him out and trigger another GI upset, since that seemed to potentially be a factor last time. Fortunately he doesn't have any other shows scheduled. I was hoping to do another NADAC trial at the end of May, but that's not something I'm going to press for.

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite Books I Read in 2023

I read a ton of good novels last year- 36 in all (and uh, 78 manga/graphic novels, but we'll examine that in another post). Here's a link to my Goodreads year in books (the manga is at the beginning, the novels start with Siren Queen) and my storygraph wrap up.  

I reread a ton of Discworld this year, and it's as spectacular as ever. But what about new reads?

Well, here are my favorite books I read in 2023!

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

This is an autobiographical memoir about the abusive relationship the author went through with her ex-girlfriend. It's absolutely gut-wrenching, and at times, achingly beautiful. Machado uses the house she shared with her girlfriend, which she calls the "dream house", as a back drop. It's a place she always wanted and also a place she became trapped in, Machado's language is beautiful as she explores the relationship from different lenses-- The Dream House as Lesbian Cult Classic, the Dream House as Noir, the Dream House as Creature Feature, the Dream House as Stoner Comedy....All facets of the relationship are explored in a way that grips you by the throat and makes you remember everyone who ever tried to suffocate you-- but it also explores the hard work of moving on, of picking up the pieces, of living and embracing tenderness along with hardship.

I especially related to Machado's struggle to talk about abuse between queer lovers because of her fears of giving homophobes more ammunition...and when she says "we deserve to have our wrongdoing represented as much as our heroism, because when we refuse wrongdoing as a possibility for a group of people, we refuse their humanity", I felt that deeply.

This wasn't just one of my favorite books this year, it goes on the list of all-time favorite books. I wish I had this kind of writing style. I'll be returning to this again and again.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

A middle-grade novel about a Chinese-American teen who feels a bit alienated from his heritage, which becomes a bit of an issue once he finds out the First Emperor of China has possessed his A.R. Gaming Headset. Now he needs to close a portal to the underworld with the help of other kids possessed by emporers.

This was a whole lot of fun, and often quite poignant. I was unsure if I could really enjoy middle-grade books as an adult, and this absolutely proves I can. There's a lot of really interesting Chinese history blended with action-packed fantasy, and exploration of the complicated feelings a kid can have about their own heritage . The dynamic between Zachary and Qin Shi Huang was so entertaining with the Emperor being villainous, heroic, charismatic, detestable-- and Zachary realizing how his complicated feelings about him mirror his relationship with his culture at large. There was also a lot of fun with other historical figures, and Xiran's take on Wu Zetian is a joy. (Also, if you like Yu-Gi-Oh!, you'll probably like this, since Xiran says it was one of their influences).

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Rose is young woman who's raised in a fundamentalist Christian household, and she's a devout, obedient daughter. But some weird things are happening. She's seeing a terrifying demon everywhere, insects are coming out of her mouth....and she's possibly having feelings about other girls. What's going on?

Yes, this is by the Chuck Tingle who makes all those Tinglers. But THIS one... will make you tingle with fear! It's a great horror novel! It's skin-crawlingly creepy at times, but also does a great job digging into how fundamentalist dogma harms queer people, and the hypocrisy of such beliefs. The conversion camp aspect is handled tastefully, and overall it was a great spooky read that's also ultimately very affirming, cathartic, and hopeful.

Qualia the Purple by Hisamitsu Ueo

You might go into this thinking it's just a quirky yuri light novel about a schoolgirl and her crush who sees everyone around her as robots (like literally, when she looks at someone she sees a robot instead of a human). But it quickly becomes surreal queer psychological horror steeped in absolutely wild applications of quantum mechanics and thought-provoking time travel.  Some of the quantum mechanics  exposition dumps were a bit much but I deeply enjoyed having my mind cracked open by this book. 

It's one of the most interesting takes of time loop stories I've seen. But it definitely covers a lot of rough subject matter, including a relationship with a serious age gap and extremely messed up relationships, so be cautious if you have triggers.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

This book follows Miri, whose wife goes missing on a deep-sea submarine mission for six months. Miri thought her wife dead, but she miraculously returns one day...but her wife has changed. She's like a stranger. She may have bought the horrors of the sea home with her.

This is a gripping exploration of grief and loss combined with a delicious, slow horror that creeps under your skin. There's excellent Lovecraftian and body horror elements to the novel, but it works very effectively as a metaphor for a loved one going through trauma, and a relationship starting to crumble because everything seems different. A moment that really stuck out to me is when Miri copes with her wife's disappearance by frequenting an online community where women roleplay as wives with husbands missing in space. The way the online drama of the community interacted with her grief was  both funny and heartbreaking. 

This is another example of a book that makes me deeply jealous with its lyrical writing, and another one for the ever-lengthening all time favorites list.

Otherside Picnic Volume 8: Accomplices No More by Iori Miyazawa

The latest entry in a series about two girls exploring an alternate dimension full of creepypasta monsters, while also falling in love with each other. See my other reviews here and here.

This volume has the payoff to a lot of careful character work and relationship building, and it was completely satisfying. In fact, it was...show-stopping. Spectacular.  Incredible. I loved the exploration of how love, sex, and romance are so different for different people and it's impossible to put it in neat boxes. The frank and messy conversation our leads have about their relationship was perfect and so was that absolutely  bonkers, wonderful finale. This is another one for the all times favorite list, and I loved it so much I wrote a extremely long review/recap here. 

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

This was a well-researched, well-crafted, easy to read book that explores queerness (mainly homosexuality, bisexuality, trans and genderfluid expressions in animals, and even the question of if and how animals can related to gender) in the animal kingdom. Though it's definitely aimed at teens, I learned a lot from it (who knew female bonobos were such life goals) and it presented its information in a fun way. It included some interesting examinations of how proof of homosexuality and bisexuality in animals was historically suppressed and filtered through homophobic assumptions. If you want to learn a little animal science in an accessible format, definitely check this out.

Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin

The story follows Mia, a woman in her 20's living with her vampire mother. Her whole life revolves around not drawing suspicion towards her Mom. She also has to make sure to feed her Mom some of her blood every night--lest her mother fall back in with her abusive boyfriend and start hunting humans.  But when Mia meets a cute girl, she starts to dream of living her own life...

It was a really interesting use of vampirism as a metaphor for both living with a parent struggling with addiction and having an abusive parent. It's just a well-told, heartwrenching tale that got deep into the character's mindsets. I thought the ending was bit abrupt and rushed, but it did make more sense once I realized this was the first in a duology. It's a fascinating take on vampires, and I'm interested in seeing more.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

This novel follows a middle-aged Muslim female pirate living around the Arabian Peninsula. She's supposed to be in retirement, but wouldn't you know it, she's lured in for one last job! I she rescues a kidnapped girl,  she'll have all the riches she needs to set her family up for life. So Amina begins her adventure of fighting demons and monsters and ex-husbands. But the job might not be all it seems.

This novel is full of all the entertaining swashbuckling action and shenanigans that any pirate story should have. It's a rollicking good time, and feeds my craving for middle aged women going on quests and kicking ass. Amina's journey is a fun, wild ride full of dynamic characters and interesting mythology!

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Juniper is friends with a successful Chinese-American author, Athena Liu, and has always been deeply jealous of her. When Athena dies in front of her, Juniper decides to steal her manuscript rooted in Chinese history and claim it as her own. But plagiarism might catch up with her...

This is a strong example of a book I thought was really well-done, but one I'm probably never going to read again. The way it depicted Twitter drama is just too accurate and I got anxiety. It did such a good job putting you in Juniper's awful shoes so you can feel the pressure close in along with her. The book's commentary on the insidious racism of the publishing industry was effective, and it made a horrible character's journey fascinating to follow. I was so intrigued yet anxious I had to force myself to finish the last few pages.

Bonus read:

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldtree

A very cute novel about an orc named Viv who decides to retire from the violent life of a bounty hunter and run a coffee shop instead. She ends up getting a lot of assistance from a succubus named Tandri...and my, is that a slow-burn coffee shop romance brewing? This book reminds me a lot of various cozy slice-of-life anime, and it's nice to be getting more of that feeling in book form. I wish there was a little more specific to the fantasy world rather than making it a coffee shop that line up 1 to 1 to a modern day shop, but it was definitely a sweet read.

[fetching-sketching]

long-ass post ahead so i'll put it under a cut but basically this is a ninjago superhero au with drawings explaining stuff because i couldn't get it out of my head ok lets go

it's kind of a fusion between regular ninjago, movie ninjago and superhero elements. the ninja work as a protective force of ninjago city and are in some sort of superhero training program where the dr kids are the underclassmen and some of the other realms are basically rival training programs. the main six ninja are essentially on a work study (the costume designs are very first pass here, i just wanted to get ideas onto a page and i'll work on them from there).

we'll start with zane since he was the first one i drew. when he activates his power it slows time down for him and speeds up his cognition, so he's essentially moving at 2x speed and thinking at 4x speed compared to everyone else. he can't activate it for long, however, because it very rapidly drains his body heat. his costume is designed to keep him warm and there's heating pads in the coat he can turn on and off. he's the best guy for time-critical crisis situations, but he can hold his own in a fight, too.

next is nya! she can turn her body into water, fully or partially. when she's in full water mode, she can travel through regular water as well. one of her signature moves is turning a single arm into a water whip. she also uses her water form to evade attacks as well. her suit is pretty similar to that of a scuba suit for ease of transporting and getting back into her suit when she goes in and out of her water form. she can't control water that isn't 'her', but she can move it around if that makes sense? like how we can move water with are hands but if our hands were also water. anyways she mainly works around the shoreline but can help in a lot of other situations as well. her favorite trick is instead of taking the stairs, she'll jump from a roof and turn into water before she hits the ground so she doesn't get hurt. (i'm not the most pleased with her suit since it is basically just a scuba suit, so i'll revise it to something more interesting).

onto lloyd! he can draw energy from any living thing and turn it into an energy blast. it's really simple, almost a bit too simple so i'm more open to changing it in the future. idk, if it works it works i guess. he can draw energy from things other than himself but he's paranoid of hurting others so he strictly draws energy from himself. he can blast the energy like he does in the show or he pop it when he's still holding it to maneuver himself when he's in the air. with enough concentration he can even double jump. he's kind of a generalist, working wherever he's needed, acting as a sort of comfort figure for people whenever they see him. i felt that if any of the ninja could have a costume reminiscent of their show gi, it would be lloyd.

jay's turn! whenever he generates static electricity, he stores it in his body until he releases it as a single bolt. the amount of electricity he can store is theoretically infinite, but he can only release the electricity all at once, so if he stores up too much its no bueno. periodically throughout the day he has to release whatever he's built up, which is rather annoying. once he learns how to control his output it's over for everyone, he'll be unstoppable. he used to have his regular combover hair but when his powers came in it got all curly and wild. no amount of water, gel, or brushing can tame it. his powers come with a rather neat immunity to electricity. he's a generalist like lloyd, although he skews a little towards more fights than anything else. one time the local hospital lost power and he spent three hours powering the backup generators before they got the power up and running again. he hates it, but one of the fastest ways for him to build up a charge is to rub his hair with his gloves on. he thinks it makes him look stupid. he can have a stereotypical hero costume. as a treat.

kai's turn! his is pretty basic too, but i feel like it fits him. he can light himself on fire. that's pretty much it. once the fire catches on something that isn't him he can't control it anymore, so he has to be careful about it. he has a flamethrower he uses mainly for combat, so he doesn't always go out with it on. the most useful part of his power is his immunity to fire and heat, so he responds to a lot of fire calls. however, he's not immune to smoke, so he keeps a face mask in his pack with him to combat that. since breathing fire is more of a european dragon thing rather than an eastern dragon thing, he has some knight elements in his costuming as well. tbh i'm not sure if i'm gonna keep it, ninjago is obviously very eastern-inspired and there's probably other motifs i could explore rather than medieval knight, but it was the first idea that came to mind and my main goal, again, was just to put pen to paper and get stuff down.

last and most certainly not least is cole! he can cover himself in a rocky outer skin, where the strength and durability of whatever areas that are covered are boosted. currently, he can't cover much of his body, his maximum is just about enough to completely cover both of his arms, but he's working on upping the amount. he works a lot of disaster situations, such earhtquakes, building collapsses, and other similar situations. his costume is based a lot on early 20th century mining uniforms, and same as nya it doesn't offer a lot more, so i'll do more with it in further revisions. cole is the one i've thought the most about with the story. his mother was a very well-known hero who protected ninjago city as well, but she sustained and eventually succumbed to an injury she sustained on the field. cole wants to follow her footsteps, but lou is pretty opposed to him going into the same field that killed his mother. he's being allowed to do the work study, but just barely, and it's an unspoken rule that lou will pull him from the work study if he gets injured whatsoever.

obviously i'm still working out a lot of the kinks but the powers, which are the most interesting part to me, are pretty much done and dusted! i have so many characters thought out you wouldn't believe. pixal and morro should be next, but after that i'm not sure. lmk if there's any specific character you wanna see done next because chances are i've thought them through!

[styrmwb]

I "beat" Balatro

or "Why maybe I should think about my arbitrary goals before I settle on them"

Let me tell you a story; of a friend that kept watching an egg man. A story of seeing an indie game on the game awards, a contender for game of the year. A story of "oh man it's only like $11 and my chinese hell app is getting banned so it might be cool to have some other time filler" This would all lead to A Mistake. I have played so much Balatro, it absolutely absorbed me into its... jokery grasp. Unfortunately, while playing it, I was thinking "hm ok how am I gonna consider this beaten so I can do a write thing on it" "oh I'll just do what I did for WoW and set a goal: we'll beat a gold stake and finish the collection" aaaaaa that was a bit of a mistake; I'll get into that later though. FIRST.

Ante 1: Gameplay

A smaller game like this doesn't really have much possibility for sections, but sections I will do regardless. The concept of a poker roguelike, with the comedy of not playing cards is so simple, so appealing to my brain, and so... peak.

To start: it's just calculator with colors. Number times number. Number go up. Number on fire. Brain happy. Number good. It's such an appeal to the most basic part of the human brain.

The runs are so short that it feels so easy to hop into, it doesn't feel super awful when your run ends (most of the time), and it's generally pretty easy to figure out what you're gonna do at least by the first round (flush).

The jokers are so fun. The wide variety of options, how they interact with each other, it really appeals to my card-brained self; I love seeing a set interaction that leads to ridiculousness, and this game is just that in a nutshell. After a while, I got a really good feel of what jokers were good early, what were more useable later on, what ones to drop in favor of others; Misprint is my absolute goat in the first couple antes, and then of course everyone knows the legends of Hanging Chad, Blueprint, Baron. Man, nearly all of them have their own identity, which is great. Like yeah, some suck (The Foreboding Obelisk:) but for the most part, the entire cast is just real fun to play with. Jokers are what make this game something beyond what it could be.

After some time, I really got comfortable with the flow and I could take the game further beyond, where I got to start skipping blinds and using tags frequently. This really started when I was going for the 12 round speedrun; and I think for a game this simple to feel like it has layers and evolution to it makes it so much deeper than it could be.

I feel like I should have more to say but? It's really simple! Which is great! I love it! It's simple yet not, and that's why it's so good.

Ante 2: The Feel

Like I had mentioned before, I absolutely love the concept of card game with nonsense thrown in there. I've personally enjoyed it in private games with long term friends. What if yu-gi-oh card in MtG, and so on. It's hilarious. Here we have our normal 52 card deck. And tarot cards. And booster packs that have playing cards in them. And jokers that range from normal jokers to crumpled pieces of paper; actual food, photographs, gold, celestial objects, rocks, etc. It's amazing! I genuinely love how this game just feels like a bunch of shit thrown together, it's such a novelty that appeals to my brain directly.

Also, on top of that, I love the ethereal nature of the whole game. Of course, there's the spectral packs, but the spiraly background, the music track, it makes the whole game oddly spiritual and otherworldly.

Speaking of the music, I CANNOT believe that I have not gotten sick of the song yet. Just like the gameplay, there's some fucking magic thrown in there.

Ante 3: Collection (I fucked up)

So uh. I beat gold stake quite a few days ago. But I just couldn't let go of that collection. Had to fill it in. For the most part, it's awesome! Specially finding new things, having specific achievements that unlock new stuff, and of course filling out thing in video game feel good. I do not have an issue with it. I am glad it's there.

I'm more upset at myself for locking so much of myself into finishing it, because of a little thing called Legendary Jokers. Super rare buffoons, 5 of em in total. You can pull them from a very rare card that appears in some packs; and goddammit it's another Chicot. Oh my god I was going crazy these last few days trying to get these literal clowns. I can't hold this against the game at all. It's what the game is, it's what all games are. Hell, I play WoW. I'm familiar with insanity inducing grinds. But aagh.

Regardless, I think having an actual book of things to fill out in a roguelike is almost critical to the experience, and I'm glad Balatro doesn't skimp out on it. Especially how in depth it is with tracking actually everything. even if I was going crazy looking for Perkeo and Yorick

Ante 4: Gros Michel (1 in 6 chance this post ends at end of paragraph)

Balatro is amazing. This game is some magical, digital crack. Like, I set myself a goal so I could write this post and move on to other games, but I'm absolutely going to continue to play it. I still have gold stakes. I have other decks. I have Completionist++ if I really wanted to drive myself berserk.

I really feel like I should have more to say but? It's a small game? It's not one of the JRPGs I love to put myself through where I have 1,000,000 characters to talk about (I will continue to do this)

ok actually

jimbo: that clown fuck

alright there we go character section over

Anyways, Game of the Year nomination was 1,000% deserved. I'm sad I didn't get to it sooner, but I'm glad I got to it eventually.

10/10. A video game that will grasp you in its (poker) hands and Never let go.

[earthstellar]

Thank you for your input!

I'll be getting the Transformers #1 because I like having first issues if I can get them, but I'll wait and see how things play out beyond that, and I won't be buying any GI Joe tie-ins myself. Or any GI Joe anything, really.

I'm glad it's not just me who's opposed to the GI Joe thing in general; Seems like a lot of people are in the same boat.

I also hesitate when it comes to crossovers because of the whole financial aspect as well. I very much remember the impossible mess that was the original Marvel Civil War crossover clusterfuck; I didn't even attempt to follow that whole thing, and I think that it's honestly one of the "major crossover events" in comics that ended up putting a lot of people off of crossovers in general. Who can afford to keep up with that, let alone figure out the flowchart of whatever the hell is going on?

The theory that Hasbro might be trying to revamp GI Joe into a SHIELD type deal would make a lot of sense; That does indeed fit in with the ROTB stuff, and might be part of the direction they'd like to take these comics in. Personally I'm not really a SHIELD fan either, but we'll see how they play it as the comics gradually get released. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up going the SHIELD style route, though.

The rehashing of G1 also seems to be a common cause for pause or outright turn-off for a lot of people-- It's interesting to hear that most people seem to have the same or very similar concerns about it as a basis for a new run.

About the inclusion of human characters, I get why a lot of people don't like it in general.

I think that part of the reason why humans in IDW worked so well is that they were new human characters and had enough time to get in a lot of good interaction with the bots while also not overstaying their welcome in the plot and overarching story.

The focus in IDW never fully shifted to the humans unless it was well set up and integrated with what the bots were doing, which maintained interest. Verity was great. Hunter was fun. They were used sparingly and effectively, when they stuck around it was for good reason, and then they were rotated out as needed to progress things.

In IDW, overall time on Earth was limited, stuff that needed to be done was done, and then it was right back to post-war Cybertron and onward into space with the Lost Light. Instantly new and interesting settings!

Bringing back Spike has a lot of people rolling their eyes, I think mostly because if they're going Full G1 then he'll be around for a good while, and we've already seen so much done with this character. It's nostalgia for a few people, but fatigue for many others. We'll have to wait and see how they utilise the human characters for the Energon Universe, but I'm a little worried that with the GI Joe stuff, there's going to be a much larger human ensemble cast, potentially. And Transformers fans are, in general, here for the bots.

And even though I'm generally OK with some degree of Earth based shenanigans, I do hope they go beyond Earth; It may be some time in this crossover arc before that happens, since they seem to want to set up a lot from the get-go. It's called the Energon Universe, after all!

Image Comics has dropped their solicits for December 2023, and it looks like Duke #1 is where the Transformers/GI Joe crossover is gonna start really kicking off for the Energon Universe.

I know the general reception to the crossover at the end of ROTB was pretty rough, so it's interesting that they're getting the ball rolling in a GI Joe mini-series.

Personally, my dad was drafted into two wars against his will and suffered greatly for it, so I never had any interest in GI Joe because my dad vehemently hated that shit, as he felt it glorified war to children and that this is morally unacceptable. (He preferred the depiction of Army life of that era in MASH, which he said was at least more honest and aimed at adults.)

I also had classmates who ended up joining the military who had been big fans of GI Joe, two of whom were killed in Afghanistan. I know GI Joe wasn't the only factor involved in their decisions, but it certainly does not make me inclined to like the franchise.

My mother lost her first husband in Vietnam. He had also been drafted against his will. (I strongly dislike the GI Joe Vietnam era material in particular, for perhaps obvious reasons.)

So, I admit my general dislike of the concept of GI Joe as a franchise is at least partly based in my own trauma (and that of my family) relating to the US Army.

I've never been a GI Joe person and never will be (on moral and trauma based grounds), so I fully admit I am not well versed on the lore of that universe, and as such, it's hard for me to make any guesses at what Duke #1 might bring.

But what interests me is that on certain forums and other social media, I've seen very limited audience hype about this crossover in general, especially from the Transformers crowd.

After the extremely progressive writing and fresh visual style and designs of the IDW Transformers storylines which appealed to a lot of people across several age ranges and generations of fans, it feels weird (to me at least) to suddenly have a more old school style crossover with what is essentially a US military propaganda franchise-- At a time when the sociopolitical zeitgeist is that "going traditional" is often associated with "going backwards".

All art is political, and so on.

But I do wonder if what seems to be a lack of audience hype is partially due to the fact that not a lot of Transformers fans (at least, not many under the age of 40 based on what I'm seeing around the internet at the moment) seem to be all that into GI Joe.

A lot of young people are not exactly in love with US military fantasies, and the last Transformers comic series with IDW was a big hit with younger/teen readers-- A lot of that audience might be lost, here.

(And vice-versa from what I can tell, although I'm not in any GI Joe fan spaces so I'm not sure what the mood might be in that community in regards to the Transformers element of this crossover.)

All that having been said, the Energon Universe is only just getting started, and who knows what the comics will actually contain!

I do like G1, so I like the designs for the Transformers as drawn in this run this far.

And who knows, maybe they'll do something new with GI Joe for this. I'm aware that in at least one of the cartoons, they were essentially on the run from the military instead of working for it, which is an interesting twist. Perhaps something similar might happen here, with some Joes siding with the Autobots instead?

It's not fair to judge before a comic is even released, so I'm just thinking out loud here in regards to the crossover concept in general.

I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thinks:

Will you be checking out Duke #1 as a Transformers fan interested in the crossover?

Have any of you been interested in GI Joe previously?

If you're an IDW Transformers fan, are you interested in the Energon Universe?

Any other thoughts on the crossover, any conjecture or hopes for the direction of this run?

I want to give the Energon Universe a chance, but as I mentioned, I do have some difficulty attempting to get into GI Joe in general.

That having been said, I guess we'll have to wait and see what they do with this crossover.

[z-iridest]

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Renegade

Chapter 3- Dragon vs. Phoenix Part 2:

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh!: Renegade:

"I summon Amazoness Chain Master to the field, which increases my Amazoness Sage's attack points to 3800 due to the effect of United We Stand. Now, I attack you directly with Amazoness Sage! Amazoness Sage, time to end this!"

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Cylinder! This handy little trap takes your attack and directs it back at you, destroying all your monsters along the way and inflicting damage equal to the combined attack points! Say goodbye to 6800 of your Life Points, Yuko!" Yuko cried out as she was thrown backward by the force of the attack, hitting the ground hard with a groan.

"Yuko!" Her friends cried simultaneously.

"She's only got 1000 Life Points left!" Jacob yelled with wide eyes.

"I can't watch this!" Isaac added, covering his eyes.

"Have more faith in her. She may have lost a good chunk of her Life Points, but this isn't over." Pops told them. "All she has to do is believe in her deck."

Yuko Adonis: 1000            Cornelius Yang: 2600

“How does it feel, Yuko? How does it feel to be on the brink of losing?” Yang taunted.

“This duel isn’t over yet. You still have 1000 of my Life Points to knock out, and I don’t plan on letting you do it... You're just lucky I can't do anything more right now. I end my turn.” Yuko replied. With a smirk, Yang drew.

“Either way, it's my turn now! I summon Protector With Eyes of Blue. I may not have the Blue Eyes White Dragon in my deck, but with 800 attack points, that's not gonna stop me from bringing you to my mercy! Protector With Eyes of Blue, attack Yuko directly!" Yuko grunted in pain as she was attacked, taking 800 points of damage. Yang laughed.

"You have 200 Life Points left, Yuko! Use your next turn wisely! If you don't draw a monster now, this duel is over on my next turn! I end my turn for now." Yang smirked as he ended his turn.

Yuko Adonis: 200 Cornelius Yang: 2600

"Don't count me out just yet, Yang! My turn!" Yuko shouted, grabbing the top card of her deck with her eyes closed. 'It all comes down to this one last draw.... Heart of the Cards, don't fail me now!' Yuko thought. "I draw!" She drew the card and opened her eyes, flipping the card so it's face was toward her. She cracked a smile.

"Uh-oh, she smiled!" One of Yang's friends shouted.

"What's she plannin'?!" A second one asked, sounding a little panicked.

"You're about to find out... I summon Blazing Phoenix in attack mode!" Yuko summoned the card currently in her hand, hearing her friends cheer. It wasn't that strong of a monster, only having 1500 attack points, but it was still a good card. "And because I was able to summon it, I now get to special summon a level 4 monster from my deck, and the card I choose is my Phoenix Warrior!"

"Yang, this ain't looking too good!" The third one shouted.

"Shut up, I can see that!" Yang shouted back in reply.

"Yeah, well I bet you never saw this coming! My Phoenix Warrior has a special ability that allows me to Special Summon one more monster from my deck to the field as long as the monster I choose has 1500 defense points or less, so say hello to Flame Champion! But sadly, my Phoenix Warrior and Blazing Phoenix won't be around for long, because now I'm tuning my Phoenix Warrior with my Blazing Phoenix..."

"OH, NO!" Yang yelled in fear.

"Here it comes!" Jacob exclaimed in excitement.

"I Synchro Summon... Phoenix Mage!" Yuko shouted as her ace appeared on the field, spinning her staff and striking a battle pose, a smirk on her face. "But, I'm far from done... See, due to my Blazing Phoenix's special ability, my Phoenix Mage gets a 500 attack bonus this turn only. Not only that, but due to my Phoenix Mage's ability, all Fire Type monsters I have on my side of the field gain an additional 500 attack points. Which means my Flame Champion now has 2400 attack points while my Phoenix Mage has..."

"3500 attack points?!" Yang shrieked.

"That's right!" Yuko exclaimed. "Flame Champion, take out his Protector With Eyes of Blue first with Flame Strike!" Flame Champion obeyed Yuko's order, attacking Yang's only monster left. Yang's face went pale, realizing he had only 1000 Life Points left, and a 3500 attack point monster was staring right at him. "Let this be a lesson, Yang, next time you wanna push around little kids on my turf, you're gonna pay the price! Phoenix Mage, finish him off with Phoenix Scepter Blast!" Phoenix Mage smirked before attacking Yang directly, knocking him backwards with a strong blow, his Life Points hitting zero as he landed.

Yuko Adonis: 200 Cornelius Yang: 0

"Yuko won! She won!" Her friends cheered, whooping and hollering as Yuko walked toward Yang, who was in a state of shock.

"I lost.... How could I lose?" Yang trailed off.

"Good game. You had me on the ropes for a while there, but I hope you learned your lesson... Don't ever mess with anyone around here ever again." Yuko told him sternly. "Now get off my turf before I kick your butt again." The boys went running, all except Yang.

"Hang on a second, you may have won by the skin of your teeth, but a deal's a deal. You get to keep my rarest card." Yang told her, taking out a Synchro Monster from his deck, handing it to Yuko. Yuko's eyes widened a bit when she saw it before looking at Yang.

"How did you get this?" Yuko asked.

"My grandfather was one of the original Chasers... He was the one who got Akiza. Black Rose was passed down to my Dad and then it was passed down to me when I joined the Chasers..."

"So, hunting down duelists runs in the family?" Yuko asked, bitterness in the edge of her tone.

"Hey, it's not like that, Chasers have no choice but to listen to him now... Ever since one of the Chasers spared the sister of a duelist from the Underground around 11 years ago, he's been making death threats to any Chaser that shows mercy to a duelist... Especially their family." Yang told her. "See you next time, Yuko... I'll be waiting for our rematch." Yang told her before walking off, leaving the teenager standing still, in shock of what she had been informed of.

"You won, Yuko!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Congratulations, Yuko." Pops smiled.

"Yeah, but look what he had." Yuko showed them the card Yang had given her... Black Rose Dragon. Everyone's jaws dropped in shock except Pops, who's eyes widened in a shocked recognition.

"That's Akiza Izinski's ace!" Adom exclaimed, voicing Pops' thoughts.

"Holy crud..." Isaac trailed off.

"They got her too..." Jacob breathed, running a hand through his hair.

"Were you really expecting her to get away?" Adom asked.

"No, I wasn't, I just... I'd hoped that there was a possible way that she could have gotten away." Jacob answered, shifting a bit sheepishly as he spoke.

"That accounts for every Signer being caught... Except Leo and Luna." Yuko realized.

"No, Luna was caught... Wasn't she?" Jacob asked.

"No... It couldn't be... Luna had to have escaped..." Pops trailed off, though he didn't look too convinced of it himself.

"We'll figure that out later, right now, we have that little kid to worry about." Yuko answered before leading the way back into the shop and down the stairs, Adom being the one to help Pops down the stairs. "Holden, it's safe now, you guys can come out." Yuko called for the young boy. Holden peeked out from a well hidden area of the garage, the little girl waddling right behind him as he ran up to Yuko.

"Are they gone? Did you kick their butts?" Holden asked as Jacob leaned against the wall and Pops, Adom and Isaac all sat down in a chair. Yuko nodded.

"They're gone, kiddo. I beat their leader in a duel, and look what I won." Yuko showed him the Black Rose Dragon, the boy's eyes lighting up in wonder as Yuko noticed the little girl come out slightly to look at the dragon card, seeming just as amazed as Holden.

"Wow, it's so beautiful... I hope we can see her in action someday." Holden told her. Yuko smiled.

"One day, you will, I promise...." Yuko told the little boy before putting Black Rose Dragon in her deck and ruffling Holden's hair. "Now, how about this one? Do we know her name?" She asked, kneeling down to the little one's height, only for the little girl to hide behind Holden again. Holdeen shook his head, his hair swaying back and forth with the quick motion.

"I've tried asking her, and she hasn't answered me.... She just keeps making these weird hand motions and tapping her lips." Holden answered, his little shoulders going up and then back down again in a hopeless shrug, though Jacob straightened when he heard Holden's answer.

"Hand motions?" Jacob asked.

"JSL?" Adom guessed.

"That's possible." Yuko replied before looking at the little girl, who was busy trying to hide behind Holden. Yuko smiled. "Can you hear my voice?" Yuko asked as she signed her words in JSL, thankful of the times her foster mother had made her perfect the sign language. Everyone watched as the little girl peeked out from behind Holden, staying hidden while her big brown eyes stayed trained on Yuko. Yuko smiled a little. The little girl was coming out of her shell a little. "You don't have to be afraid of me, I won't hurt you, I promise." Yuko signed each word she said. "My name's Yuko. Is it okay if I know your name?" The little girl came out just enough to show her hands.

'"My name is Alita."' The little one signed. Yuko smiled.

"That's a very pretty name, Alita. Can you hear my voice at all?" Yuko signed as she asked, her compliment making the little girl blush. In response, the little one nodded.

' "My voice just doesn't work, so I can't talk." ' Alita signed in response.

"That explains why she was using sign language." Adom replied, having known enough JSL to know what Alita had just said. "Her vocal chords must have been damaged when she was a baby."

"Poor thing." Pops commented before everybody froze when Alita winced, grabbing her arm. Yuko gently touched the little one's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Yuko signed as she talked again. Alita's eyes were filled with tears of pain and she shook her head, pointing to her arm. Yuko noticed that it was a prosthetic arm... But it was extremely damaged to the point where it was giving off electric currents every few minutes and hurting the little girl. "Is it okay if I take a look at it?" Yuko asked, watching as Alita's eyes widened in fear as she hid behind Holden again, shaking. Holden looked up at Yuko worriedly, his little brow furrowed. He looked as worried about Alita as Yuko was currently feeling. Yuko placed a comforting hand on Holden's head before taking her glove off her left arm.

"Yuko, what're you doing?" Isaac asked, but found himself ignored by the young woman, watching as the little girl peeked out to look at Yuko. Her eyes stayed wide, however, the fear that had previously been in them was long gone. Amazement shone through as Alita reached her flesh hand toward Yuko's robotic one before she hesitated, looking at Yuko for permission as her little eyebrows furrowed. Yuko nodded.

"It's okay, Alita. You can touch it if you want." She told her. Alita's little hand soon touched Yuko's robotic one, following each gear and crevice as she seemed to be memorizing the pattern on Yuko's prosthetic hand. Yuko smiled, knowing that this had been what the little girl needed to be at ease... To know someone was just like her... "Alita." Yuko directed the little girl's attention to her after a moment. "Is it okay if I look at your prosthetic arm now? I can fix it if you want me to." She asked. The little girl froze for a second before shaking off her fear and nodding, a brave look on the little one's face. Yuko smiled before she looked at Holden. "Can you go get my tools for me?" Yuko asked. Holden nodded and raced upstairs with Isaac and Jacob following him to help him get the toolbox down. Meanwhile, Yuko got Alita comfortable, using her robotic arm to scan Alita's prosthetic to see what the problem was.

"What's going on with her arm?" Adom asked her, Pops keeping the little one entertained.

"Well, you remember that network Dracnus connected the DracTech prosthetics to in order to keep tabs on everyone in Cypher City? There's a part in each of them that allows an electric current to kick in everytime Dracnus wants to deal that person punishment." Yuko told him.

"I thought Dracnus couldn't do that to our prosthetics from down here, the signal can't reach Underground City." Adom replied.

"You're right, it can't... But for some reason, that part in Alita's is broken so that the electric current goes off every few minutes. It's not a strong enough charge to stop her heart, mind you, but it is strong enough to hurt her." Yuko responded as Holden came back with her tools. "I'm going to fix it so it stops hurting her altogether." Holden put her tools next to her.

"Here you go." Holden told her.

"Thanks, little man. You're the best." Yuko smiled, ruffling his hair again.

"Holden, where the heck are Isaac and Jacob?" Adom asked.

"After they helped me get Yuko's toolbox down, they went into the shop to "hold the fort down".... Whatever that means." Adom answered, using air quotes and causing Yuko to have to hold back her giggles. There was something about the look on the six-year-old's face as he used air quotes that struck Yuko as absolutely hilarious. After a deep breath to still her laughter, Yuko focused on fixing the part on Alita's arm that was bothering her, speaking to Alita to keep her distracted from what was going on.

"Alita, how old are you?" Yuko asked. The little girl held up her flesh hand, showing four fingers. "Four?" Alita nodded in confirmation. "That's super cool."

"Yeah, you're like... One year away from being old enough to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time. It's super scary at first, but I promise it's a ton of fun once you get the hang of it." Holden excitedly told Alita, a smile crossing the girl's face. Yuko chuckled a bit and let Holden tell Alita all the perks of being 5 years old while Yuko fixed Alita's robotic arm.

A few hours later, Yuko was looking over the blueprints of the Phoenix Whirlwind's original designs as she waited for the diagnostics to finish. 'How can I rebuild this so it's my own?' She thought, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot a couple times before glancing over at the pullout bed. Fast asleep, with her robotic arm fixed and her tummy full of good food, was Alita. A small smile crossed Yuko's face before a soft beeping indicated that the diagnostics were finished. Her brow furrowed and her smile dropped when she saw just how much damage had been done. 'I was afraid this was gonna happen, those stupid Chasers made sure Jack could never duel again on this thing.... Hell, would Yusei even know how to fix this?' She thought with an eyebrow raised before setting to work. After a while, her vision got blurry from looking at the blueprints too long, causing a frustrated sigh to leave Yuko's lips as she closed down the screen and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Pops was right, I really oughta get more sleep..." Yuko trailed off under her breath, though it pained her a bit to admit it. She slipped off her boots, sliding into bed as an exhausted sigh left her lips. Her emerald flecked sapphire eyes drooped, her hair falling in her face like a curtain as her eyes finally closed. 'I'll jump on repairs early tomorrow... For now, though, Pops is right. I need rest....'

While she slept, Yuko was unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold... Unaware of the growing threat on the surface...