#Urban Issues and Habitation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dysthanasia-series · 2 months

Text

Story (Re)Intro

Title: Apophenia

Genre(s): Urban fantasy, paranormal fantasy, vampires, near-future,

Summary:

Mermaids don't exist. Every agent of the Coven, the organization that researches and governs the supernatural community, knows that. Accepting a classified assignment to investigate sightings along the Broken Coast is just an easy paycheck as far as Isaac Soto is concerned (not to mention another way to avoid dealing with his trauma and relationship issues).

A chance meeting with a charming stranger in a roadside diner changes not only the course of Isaac's assignment but the trajectory of his life. A life now in danger of being cut short unless he figures out how to escape the bloodborn who takes him hostage, a necromancer out to kill both of them, and the corruption at the heart of the organization he thought he believed in.

Apophenia is the introduction to Dysthanasia, a series that follows a cast of human and supernatural characters as they navigate a post-climate apocalypse Earth, fight against (or with) various factions vying for control, and find peril, solidarity, love, redemption, and purpose along the way. Discover what the world became and meet those who will determine what it might yet be.

Taglist Sign-Up (or just ask to be +/-)

Dysthanasia Taglist: @thecyrulik @k--havok @thatndginger @space-writes

Full first chapter under the cut

Words: 3,553

Content Advisory: Swearing, flirting, mentions of past bad breakups

Taking an assignment along the Broken Coast always got a reaction. Everyone from the archivist gathering relevant case materials to people not even in Isaac’s department eagerly volunteered a list of their deepest fears as soon as they heard where he was headed. Storms out that way were ten times as crazy—tornadoes, hurricanes, flash floods that could sweep away anything or anyone in their path. Then all the earthquakes left over from the break to boot? It was a miracle humans survived out there at all. The drive from Chicago alone was brutal, at least twenty-six hours, assuming the highways were in decent repair and smugglers hadn’t set up roadblocks to ambush travelers. No civic guards in the territories made it a wonderland for criminals plying their dark trades, from thieves to murderers. Any decent people that far outside a reliable grid scratched out an existence through hunting and gathering, their tech and habits straight from the paleolithic. The coast was as far from civilization as anybody could get without joining half of California under the Pacific.

So, Isaac had let out a sigh of relief when Director Khang told him this job was strictly classified. Not a word breathed to his colleagues or even archives—all the info he needed would be accessible from his tab. As great as the other agents in his department could be, salt of the earth really, Isaac preferred breathing space to work. Nevermind if that work was the Coven equivalent of a wild goose chase. He got paid per diem anyway.

He did have to admit his coworkers’ unsolicited past comments had one thing right. The drive to Nevada territory, while scenic at times, wore him out even when broken up over two days. He might’ve dragged the trip out to twice that long under normal circumstances. Stopped to buy roasted corn or a pie at the farms strung all across the Midlands, whether indoor or outdoor. Maybe taken a morning hike when he’d hit the Rockies and allowed himself to think of his dad, tía, and cousins where no one could see him break down. Director Khang, however, had made it clear that getting to the coast had urgent priority. Still, when he spotted a roadside rest stop with a little place to eat a couple of hours east of Sin Strip Beach, Isaac decided he’d earned a leg stretch and some breakfast.

Parking under the last row of solar panels, he patted his car on its hood, leaving handprints in the layer of dust there, then plugged it into the charging station. Eight other vehicles shared the lot even at three a.m. Mostly pickup trucks that had the rusty scars and mismatched parts of salvages, but there were a couple of humble sedans just like his mixed in. A breeze tousled his already messy curls but didn’t have the teeth to bite through his jacket. Under the smell of sun-baked earth and creosote, Isaac caught a whiff of sea brine. He squinted toward the western horizon. The glitter of stars remained unbroken until they met the gentle swelling silhouette of hills in the distance. No incoming clouds to warn that storm season was on its way, not yet. Roads and weather permitting, he’d reach the shark settlement in Eureka by mid-morning.

The rest stop had all its windows intact, metal storm shudders rolled up. Though a big terra cotta pot beside the entrance brimmed with gravel and cigarette butts, the walkway itself was swept clean. A little bell over the door tinkled to announce Isaac’s entrance. About a dozen pairs of eyes spared him a glance, but his old jeans and faded green flannel jacket sparked zero interest. Just another traveler passing through. He made a beeline for the narrow order window. No kiosk interface waited there, only a board on the wall listing menu items and a magpad to jot down the ones he wanted. The chilaquiles plate was crossed out, which was a shame. Isaac settled on a waffle, huevos con nopales, and coffee. He pushed the magpad and a credit charge chit through the order slot, nodded at the kitchen staff behind the glass, then snagged the only remaining table, conveniently beside a window.

Isaac pulled his tab from his jacket pocket and checked the outer screen. Two message notifications greeted him. The same two he’d been putting off replying to for a month. Jonah, ever patient, hadn’t added anything since sending his initial one, of course. The number of unread replies on Elfy’s, however, had ticked up, making for a grand total of fourteen. A long string of attempts to reach out, starting at hey, how’ve you been, morphing into I’m worried about you, and winding up around don’t make me hunt you down, prick.

He'd answer soon. The moment he finished his assignment he’d get back to her, to both of them. A week, at max. Elfy would let him have it for keeping her in the dark for so long, but then they’d make plans to grab drinks and catch up once he returned home. Jonah would joke about Isaac training to become a hermit before telling him all about his weird adventures in the northwest territories, tracking down tales of dire wolves and Bigfoot. Maybe Isaac would even get an assignment out that way so they could see each other outside of the Coven’s winter solstice party for once. Nevermind how awkward the visit might be at first because of Isaac’s drunken decision making at the last one.

Promises made, Isaac flipped his tab open to use the full inner screen. He tapped the file application and scrolled through until he found the assignment info Director Khang had sent him. He’d skimmed the basic objectives between rushing to pack for the sudden trip, so he took his time looking them over again. Sightings off Broken Coast. Integrated wereshark community in Nevada territory headed by Hart, Lawrence M. Verify eyewitness testimony. Coordinate search efforts and data collection. Isaac continued down to the attached transcription of statements. He kept them on one side of the screen while making notes on the other.

Multiple unidentified creatures had been encountered along the shoreline as well as in open ocean, both near the surface and as deep as a thousand meters. Anthropoid from the midsection up—arms, hands, shoulders, rounded head. Below the belt, however…caudal fins or flukes. Tentacles. Even a spiny carapace equipped with four or maybe six segmented legs in one case. If the reports had come only from humans in the community, Isaac wouldn’t have bothered to accept the assignment, per diem or no. It wasn’t like drunk people seeing mermaids while they were out fishing was a first. The fact that the bulk of the details came from three weresharks, though…well.

We couldn’t smell any plastic or rubber o algo así, claimed Tecla Santana Machado, speaking for both herself and the spirit of the great white shark bound to her soul. Didn’t smell like any prey we knew either. Se nos cayeron los chones cuando lo vimos. Scared the hell out of us tambièn.

One second it was there, and the next it kind of, like, I dunno, flickered? And then it would show up somewhere else. From Anaru Shortland, a thresher. We could sense the little pins and needles coming off it when we saw it. The, you know, like, electricity. When it disappeared or, or teleported or whatever it was doing, it felt more like a current. Just water pressure swirling around.

Isaac had formed a couple of hypotheses by the time the order bell announced his food was waiting on the pickup counter. First, that someone had figured out how to bind new types of animal spirits. While the Coven only had records of success with big cats, wolves, seven species of sharks, alligators, crocodiles, and bears (though not since the sixteenth century) that didn’t mean people weren’t experimenting. Isaac scowled while drizzling salsa over his eggs. He refused to congratulate anyone for butchering wildlife just because they didn’t like the species of spirit being handed down from their elders, or they wanted to stand out. Turning the culprit(s) in wouldn’t necessarily fix the problem either. The Coven might prosecute them, but once word got out that another kind of transformation had been discovered it would inspire other careless people to replicate the results. Not such a simple assignment, after all. Then again, the werecreatures Isaac had become familiar with preferred to enforce their own codes of conduct. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d studiously buried his head in busywork while the community beat a greater sense of responsibility into a troublemaker. He added inquire about local customs to his list of notes.

The second, more optimistic explanation for the whole situation involved forms of sorcery or witchcraft above his paygrade. Illusion or summoning or other stuff that involved drawing intricate chalk diagrams under a certain phase of the moon. In which case, he’d gladly report what was happening and let the higher-ups bicker amongst themselves about whether the werecreature or magic department held higher jurisdiction.

Headlights pierced the night outside and slashed across Isaac’s vision. He shielded his face with one hand, peering through his fingers. A sleek black sedan with official-looking plates whipped around a corner of the parking lot, looking for a space. His heartbeat gave an arrhythmic jump and kicked into a faster pace. Corporate farm or railway reps never made a night more relaxing. Highway bandits and smugglers at least had the decency to let people go about their business after a modest bribe. Isaac slouched farther into his seat and noted all exits.

A lone, slim figure wove its way through the parked cars from the back of the lot. Isaac allowed himself to breathe a tad easier. Company shitheads were always at their most dangerous in packs. The light filtering out from the diner illuminated the newcomer as they approached. No suit, although there was a white button-down shirt beneath their close-fitting athletic jacket. Isaac’s hand clenched around his knee when he caught a nocturnal-green flash reflected from their eyes. Or…no. No, they were just a light color. Perfectly natural, if remarkable. He relaxed and stopped pressing against the window to stare. Straightening up, he tried his best to fake nonchalance.

Every gaze in the diner locked onto the owner of the fancy black car as soon as they were through the door. Rather than shrivel up and wither into dust, they offered a smile, complete with dimples, that could’ve been brought home to even the most skeptical parents. They gave a shallow yet sweeping bow to the room in general before strolling straight up to the order window. The click of dress shoes against the tile floor sounded loud enough to carry for miles into the surrounding hills.

The newcomer paid no further mind to their audience as they put in a quick order and received a steaming coffee mug in return. Turning from the little window, they scanned the room for a spot to sit. A collective shift of unease rolled through the crowd. Isaac’s blood pressure doubled when the stranger’s eyes—a startling shade of blue-green like a tropical sea—settled on him. He considered bolting as they made a beeline for his table. Which was both silly and stupid, given it would only draw more attention. So, instead, Isaac grit his teeth and resigned himself to a bit of unplanned social interaction.

“Olá, tudo bem?” The stranger motioned to the chair across from him. “Posso me sentar aqui?”

Portuguese, judging from the way some of the words formed through their nasal passages and others got half-swallowed in their throat, but Isaac understood enough. “No hay bronca,” he mumbled.

That did the trick. The stranger sat and gazed out the window, hands wrapped around the mug but not sipping from it. One by one, wary stares glazed over with indifference and disengaged. Isaac’s returned to his plate. Mostly. Between bites he snuck peeks at his uninvited guest. Smooth brown skin a couple shades lighter and warmer than Isaac’s own. No ink, no mods, no scars or lines on face, neck, or hands. Early to mid twenties, though one could never be sure. People tended to place Isaac a few years over his actual age of twenty-nine—his grumpy attitude and habit of dressing like somebody’s abue threw them off, according to Elfy. Like Isaac’s hair, the stranger’s was black. Unlike his, it was combed and stylish, shorn close at the sides but left longer and tamely wavy on top. Even their brows didn’t have a strand out of place, thick and arched and providing a perfect frame for the unusual eyes that darted over and caught him.

Isaac choked a little on the piece of waffle in his mouth. He coughed and swallowed, a hasty apology loaded on his tongue. Too late. A dimple appeared along with the stranger’s smile.

“Você é local?”

He had enough social grace not to sigh. At least the rest of the place had resumed their own conversations so one more wouldn’t stand out. “No.”

“De onde você é? Você percorreu um longo caminho?”

“Eh…”

“Oh, desculpe! Você fala espanhol, não? How about English?”

“Sure.”

“I was asking you where you’re from. Sorry—the coast is the only place I get to speak Portuguese anymore, so I use it whenever I can.”

Coming from anyone less well-dressed, Isaac would’ve flagged the question as a prelude to robbery. Not that he had much worth stealing besides his tab and the pistol he’d left in his bag in the trunk. Well, they could swipe the six silver-tipped bullets the Coven had issued him in the side zipper pocket too. He’d tossed the rifle the rounds had come with into Lake Michigan years ago, though, so unless they had their own he didn’t see much of a point. Interesting conversation pieces maybe.

“I’m from Chicago,” said Isaac.

“And I thought I had a long trip!” A second dimple appeared to match the first. Combined with lips and a set of cheekbones won in the genetic lottery, it really wasn’t fair. “Ah, looks like I have to apologize again, this time for my manners. I’m Renato, he and him. A pleasure to meet you.”

Stomach fluttering like a restless bird, Isaac shook himself and then Renato’s hand. Elfy would skin him alive if she found out an attractive stranger had crossed his path and he didn’t even attempt friendliness. “Isaac, also he, him, his. So, um. I take it you’re not from the coast either?”

“Oh, no, though I travel up and down it for work sometimes. I just finished a job down in the Floodlands and am on my way up to another in Denver. No rest for the wicked, as they say.”

“What do you do?” Something illegal probably, but the ritual of small talk demanded he ask.

Up close, Renato’s eyes didn’t catch the light so much as glow faintly from within. “Security for a research organization. I’ll be escorting someone to a new project for a few weeks. Something about taking stock of the marine life in the area.”

“Like seeing how the fish population is doing, or looking for new species?” The files hadn’t mentioned witnesses not affiliated with the Coven, but that didn’t mean some uninitiated humans hadn’t caught sight of the mystery creatures too. Isaac suppressed a grimace. Being roped into helping with a coverup was always a serious pain in the ass. He didn’t look forward to planting half-rotted seal carcasses on the beach or whatever the higher ups deemed necessary to maintain secrecy.

Renato’s shoulders rolled in an elegant shrug. “Oh, I don’t know the details. I’m only the muscle after all.”

Compact muscle. Isaac was willing to bet they’d come to the same five and a half-ish feet if they both stood—he might even beat Renato by an inch if he stopped slouching so much. He looked down at the tan hands wrapped around the plain white coffee mug. Long fingers with short and manicured nails, prominent sinew under the skin, no nicks or bruises on the knuckles. Maybe he wore gloves when he punched people. Maybe he just carried a gun under that sporty jacket of his. Or, like Isaac, maybe he relied on negotiation instead of the skills he’d acquired on a shooting range (six months as required by Coven regulations for all researchers, plus blasting empty bottles or cans in a field for the fun of it sometimes). A face like Renato’s had to be a free pass to charm his way past a lot of obstacles.

“What brings you out to the western wilds, Isaac?”

“Well…something similar actually. I study big predators. Wolves and cougars mostly. Alligators once in a blue moon. I keep track of their movements and population sizes, births, deaths, habits, that sort of thing.” It was true in a general sense, even if the predators in question spent most of their days on two legs and paying the bills just like him.

“Que coincidência. Do you enjoy your job?”

“Mostly, yeah.” Nevermind that if not for the Coven—and Elfy, for that matter—he didn’t know how he would’ve made it through the past ten years. “I get to travel a lot, see tons of interesting places, expand my horizons and all that.” Rather than huddle on his sofa until he degenerated into a mat of depressed lichen.

“Doesn’t your sweetheart…or hearts…get lonely with you away that much?”

Tension knotted between Isaac’s shoulderblades, but he managed to keep his face neutral. “I don’t have any to worry about. Turns out having a partner who isn’t home for weeks or maybe months at a time is a big turnoff for most people.” It’d definitely been a dealbreaker for Jeremy, who’d come to believe the long absences and great pay meant Isaac was secretly a smuggler kingpin. A couple of years after their breakup, the absurdity almost outweighed the pain.

“True. Except my ex-girlfriend and I actually work for the same employer and used to do many of our jobs together. So…I don’t know what my excuse is exactly there. Things are going much better in my current relationship, though, so perhaps there’s hope for me yet.” With a gleam in his eye, Renato dipped a hand into his jacket and pulled out a tab. “Do you want to see a picture of my darling Tes?”

Isaac shrugged as much to loosen his muscles as to respond. After a bit of scrolling, Renato proudly turned the screen toward him. Isaac stared, glanced up at the man smirking at him, then returned to the picture again to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

“She’s beautiful,” he said with a snort. “Did you buy her a castle or a cave?”

“Please. Meu amor deserves only the best—I got them a castle and a treasure chest that blows bubbles to decorate their tank. And I have no idea if Tes is a girl, now that you mention it. I’ve never bothered to look up if you can tell that sort of thing with goldfish.”

“Either way, I’m sure your ex is seething with jealousy.”

“She should be. I won Tes as a prize at a carnival game for her the night we had our final breakup fight.”

“I think I get why your best relationship doesn’t involve another human.” Yet Isaac said it through lips twitching with the urge to smile.

Renato clutched his free hand over his heart. “Such cruelty and harsh judgement. You and my ex would get along great, I think.”

“Do you have her contact info? And is she still single?”

“Sadism. Pure and simple. I can’t—” A notification ping interrupted. Whatever Renato saw on his screen put a dent between his brows.

“Do you have to go?” The sinking sensation in Isaac’s middle caught him off guard.

“No, no. It can wait for a while.” His tab protested with another ping. “I’ve been driving nonstop since sundown, so I’m ahead of schedule. Besides, an interesting distraction came up.” Eyes never straying from Isaac, Renato held down the tab’s power button until it went dark, and slipped it back into his pocket.

A sudden storm of butterflies buoyed Isaac’s stomach and spirits. They also stirred up the old excuses he used whenever a new acquaintance showed interest in him. One by one, though, he swatted them down. Two years since Jeremy, almost five months since he’d behaved like an idiot with Jonah. He could let that stretch into three years…ten…twenty-five…an entire lifetime measured in loneliness.

Or.

He could take the first step toward rebuilding his crumbling personal life. If he made a leap of faith here and he landed in a huge pile of disappointment, well, so what? It wouldn’t be the first time, and he’d be driving up the interstate come morning regardless. If it went smoothly, he’d have an exciting story to share with Elfy as an extra peace offering over those drinks.

Allowing his smile to break containment, Isaac rested his chin in his hand and looked out the window. “Is your car as nice on the inside as it is on the outside?”

#urban fantasy #vampires #writeblr #wip intro

23 notes · View notes

violets-in-her-arms-writes · 1 year

Text

Welcome ! Welcome ! I created this sideblog because I wanted to be able to find my writing content more easily and also because I thought it might motivate me to write more. We’ll see how it goes ✨

A few things about me:

■ Hi, I’m Cécile ! I’m 27 years old and I write mostly fantasy, science-fiction and, sometimes, urban-fantasy. I write in french but when I’m feeling ✨ bored ✨ (read: when I procrastinate), I can be convinced to try and translate excerpts from my novels.

■ I have too many WIPs to count, and they rotate like rotisserie chicken, which means it takes me years to finish one project. It’s a curse.

■ When I don’t want to write but still want to think about my stories, I can be found on pinterest and canva, making wayyy too many moodboards, aesthetics and fake covers.

■ I love ask games and OC questions and worldbuilding wednesday, so don’t hesitate to hit me up !

I can’t think of anything more to say about me, so I’ll stop here ! See you under the cut if you want to know more about my WIP !

(also... if you've seen this blog before, no you didn't ♥ I don't know what I did but the thing just disappeared so here I am again. technology and me, a love story for the ages)

Titre : La Fledgling

Genre : urban fantasy ; romance ; action

Status : first draft

Target wordcount : ~80k

Synopsis :

I don't have an official summary just yet, so for now, take this bunch of tags I typed once and have been laughing at ever since :

#me with “the fledgling” like babe i love you but i have no idea whats's going on anymore #it's all about the ✨vibes✨ #it's about a human and her vampire gf and about a threat to the matriarchal vampiric society #there's a really sexy powerful vampire coven and time travel and forbidden magic #and a witch slowly getting consumed by her own powers while she tries to keep the vampire alive #there's a lesbian werewolf who's allergic to dogs and resent the fact that she is now one #there's a mermaid with voice issues and a long lost mate #and a fae with hanahaki disease trying to avoid both her crushes #but other than that? No idea what the fuck is going on #who cares

(Bonus : #yes it was my nano project last november what's your point? #I wrote 50k and i still don't know what the fuck is going on in this story)

Settings : a big city filled with supernatural creatures ; a gloomy manor ; a cozy apartment crumbling under the secrets of its habitants ; a café/bar théâtre de tous les drames

Characters:

Johanne “Jo” Hautain || [27] || lesbian || human || perpetually exhausted ; Done™ ; doesn't have a moral code

Louise Venti || [27] || bisexual || vampire fledgling || losing herself to bloodlust ; passive ; doesn't know anything

Anaëlle Charles || [27] || lesbian || witch || breaks magical laws for breakfast ; hunted by the Virulentes ; would also like a nap

There are more characters but these three are the backbone of the story and my aaaaangels 🥰

Tag: #wip: la fledgling

#writerblr intro #writerblr #wip: la fledgling

93 notes · View notes

tenebraevesper · 11 months

Text

Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #60: Urban Warfare (Part 4)

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next Issue of Urban Warfare. Last time we had Team Sonic meet up with Team Dark and completely wreck Eggperial City while the Diamond Cutters learned how to destroy it. Today, we are gonna continue the excitement, but before we start, I just want to show off my favorite covers.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the limit of images I could put in every post, I probably would’ve put all of the covers in the posts because they all look amazing!

We kick off with the cliffhanger from last time, with Tangle falling off the tower and apologizing to Whisper as she believes she is going to crash into the ground.

Fortunately for her, due to her state, she just phases through the ground, rather shocked by what had happened. However, she’s quickly alerted to Metal Sonic, who follows her around with Eggman’s trap, forcing Tangle to quickly run away. All I can say here is that I just love both of their expressions - Metal’s intense look and Tangle’s ‘’Oh, crap!’’ reaction when she sees Metal.

Tangle propels herself forward, narrowly avoiding being caught by the trap and quickly runs off before Metal Sonic can crush her. She manages to get into an alley, with Metal following her, only to find out that she’s not there. Fortunately for Tangle, he leaves and she reveals that she just phased through the ground to trick him.

She gets out, looking around for Metal, who has seemingly left. She figures that she needs to tell Sonic and everyone else what happened, but notes how Lanolin would be better how to find them and Whisper would know how to get to them. She has some self-doubts, with a literal dark cloud of thoughts surrounding her, but she manages to bounce back, telling herself to keep moving forward. I really like this little bit of insecurity in Tangle, as it shows more of her depth as a character.

She finds a cloud of smoke in the distance, figuring that’s Sonic and co., and quickly leaves, but not without Metal Sonic spotting her. I’m 100% sure that, after he lost Tangle, he just stayed because he knew she was still around and would show herself eventually.

Back with Team Sonic, the group, sans Rouge, who is brooding in the background...

(Someone really picked up a habit or two from Shadow, huh?)

...is gathered around the Miles Electric, with Silver suggesting they go straight for Eggman. Amy protests, telling him how their last raid went (referencing The Test Run! Arc), but Silver is confident that things will work out. Blaze interrupts, telling him not to be rash, while Tails notes how it is important to increase their chances of success. Rouge then chimes in that the best way to do that is to rescue Shadow and Omega (awww, she really cares! :3), and I couldn’t agree more with her.

Silver figures that this makes sense, and Amy agrees... only for Tangle to pop out and... okay, this is just too hilarious not to show in detail!

Amy’s first instinct to being startled is to draw her hammer and smash whoever spooked her. Goddamn, Tangle should be happy things can phase through her or she will be just a splatter on the ground. Oh, yeah, and the Miles Electric is also now kaput.

Nice job, Amy! X3

Amy cries and apologizes for her reflexes kicking in, while Tails is more fascinated with Tangle being in a semi-solid state. Tangle informs them that the Diamond Cutters are in trouble and that they also found out some very important stuff, with Sonic then asking whether this is the result of the trap they ran into earlier. Tangle confirms, trying to tell them how Lanolin and Whisper are stuck, when suddenly, the trap appears around Sonic.

He dodges it and we see a wide shot of Metal Sonic flying above them.

Metal Sonic, predictably, charges right into Sonic, with Tangle realizing she led Metal to everyone else, but there is no time for showing regret, as the trap focuses on Silver. Fortunately, Blaze blasts it away, with Silver then crushing them and him and Sonic going after Metal.

However, before they can even start fighting, they’re interrupted by Amy, who crushes the building they’re standing on, causing Metal to fall through, and reminds everyone they got more pressing matters. Not to mention, she’s not in the mood for another scuffle. Rouge praises her for the direct diplomacy (really love that comment).

Tails then asks Tangle what she needed to tell them, with Tangle responding how the Diamond Cutters had figured out how to take down the city, but she needs an answer to a very important question.

Where is Shadow? And for that matter, where is Omega?

So, Team Sonic splits up, with Rouge, Blaze and Silver going to find Shadow and Omega (and for simplicity’s sake, I’ll just call the group Team Silver. Why Team Silver? Because I make the rules in this post.) and they find themselves at the street that has been buried by crystals.

Blaze uses her fire to illuminate the path, warning a snarky Rouge to be quiet since they don’t know what kind of enemies lurk here. Rouge figures if any of the Shadow Androids were still here, they would’ve seen them by now... and right on cue, one swipes for her. Honestly, Rouge, don’t tempt fate.

She flies up, finding Omega in the rubble, with the Shadow Androids lying on the ground, and quickly checks on him. Omega is okay, but now he’s pissed off at the terrain and promises to exact his revenge on it.

I’ll also pause on a moment here just to say how much I love how expressive Rouge is on this page. All of her expressions are just so fun too look at. Blaze and Silver as well.

Anyways, before Team Silver can get Omega out, the floor beneath them opens and Omega falls through along with the rubble, the Shadow Androids and Silver and Blaze. Man, this really is not their day.

At least one thing is sure, they’re not gonna leave Shadow and Omega out of the action like last time.

We see Team Silver fall down into what appears one of Eggman’s storages for his mechs with a huge Chaos Emerald crystal in the middle of it. Rouge realizes that using the fake Chaos Emeralds left some nasty side effects, as we see Shadow being trapped in the middle of it, being unconscious.

Rouge flies towards him to help him out, but is stopped in her tracks by the Shadow Androids.

Back with Team Sonic, they’re inside some kind of elevator shaft, with Tails managing to make it work. Amy then lists all the things they need to do, that being breaking into the control room, have Tails disable Eggman’s safeguards for the fake Emerald power grid and then saving Whisper and Lanolin. Tails confirms this, as otherwise, Eggperial City will keep on expanding forever... or at least, that’s the hypothesis, as he doesn’t have the Miles Electric to be for sure.

Amy wants to reply how it was an accident, only for the them to realize they’re stuck and look upwards, seeing Metal Sonic cutting the cable. Damn, how strong is he... and never mind, this is Metal Sonic we’re talking about. Of course he’d be able to cut the cable.

They lose footing, but fortunately, Tails grabs Sonic and Amy, with Tangle holding onto Sonic, and flies up. However, Sonic is tackled by Metal, with Tangle wrapping her tail around Metal, allowing for Sonic to pinball bounce around the walls to get up. That’s actually both a nice visual and a smart idea.

Back with Team Silver, we see them being overwhelmed by the Shadow Androids. Gotta say, despite the grim situation, I do like that the Shadow Androids are brought back into action. As she burns a Shadow Android, Blaze says how she can’t get an opening, so Omega gallantly provides one for her. However, Blaze is overpowered by the fake Emerald, with Rouge rushing straight for it only to get flung back and caught by Blaze, who notes how they can’t even get close to it.

Silver quickly steps in, replying how he can handle it.

He manages to get close enough to touch the fake Emerald, but gets fried by the Chaos Energy. Still, he managed to use his psychokinesis to protect himself and remove the fake Chaos Emerald shards to free Shadow.

Speaking of fake Chaos Emerald, considering how even Silver, who can be considered a powerhouse on his own, is overwhelmed by the energy the fake Emeralds release, it is no surprise that Shadow is unconscious since he was in the middle of it all.

Unfortunately for Silver, the fake Chaos Emerald crystals are growing around Shadow faster than he can rip them apart. However, one encouraging gaze and nod from Blaze and Silver is pumped up and ready to save Shadow!

“Get ready to be free, Shadow, ‘cause I’m not giving up that easily!”

So simple, yet so effective.

Back at Eggman’s tower, Eggman is actually excited about Shadow’s Chaos Control keeping the fake Emeralds unstable. Huh, didn’t expect that kind of reaction from him. He then further explains how, the more Shadow uses the fake Emeralds’ energy, the more power for his city.

Orbot reminds him that his might be dangerous as the city’s infrastructure can’t keep up with it, but Eggman responds that’s what his safeguards are for and if the energy overloads he’ll just reboot the system. I must say, that’s a solid plan.

It is also the cue for Team Sonic to barge in and ruin his plan. Eggman’s more pissed off to see Tangle having her tail wrapped around Metal Sonic though and he probably led them straight to the tower.

This leads into another fun panel...

...with Amy straight up tackling Eggman. I suppose she still wants that revenge for the whole Metal Virus fiasco. Meanwhile, Tails takes over the control panel, while Tangle gets off Metal Sonic, who looks surprised to see how he led them here.

We then get an epic shot of Sonic and Metal facing each other.

At first, it looks like the odds are in favor of Team Sonic, with Sonic easily blocking Metal’s attack, and I just love the look Sonic gives him. X3

Once again, the expressions are on point!

Meanwhile Amy points her hammer at Eggman, noting how he’s got no backup, with Orbot and Cubot trying to excuse themselves to not participate in this fight. Eggman’s response to the ambush?

He pulls a gun on Amy and fires at her! Hell, how many times have we seen it at this point? I remember him trying to vaporize Tails and Surge with this thing and now Amy! Sheesh.

I will say that I love how Eggman’s back-up response to being overwhelmed by his opponents is just to shoot at everyone. As for Sonic?

Well, he got distracted and then clocked in the face by Metal, now seeing stars.

Tails gets really nervous when he sees Sonic and Amy fall over (and Sonic face-plants, again!), with Eggman standing right behind him.

We then get another hilarious shot of Tails thwaping Eggman with his twin-tails as Eggman attempts to grab him, the former being desperate to mess with the city’s safeguards.

Fortunately, he succeeds, and Eggman grabs him like he’s a plush toy! X3

I mean, look at this panel! Look at the one below!

I absolutely love everything about this! Sometimes you really forget just how easily Eggman can grab the heroes and how small they are in comparison to him. (*≧ω≦*)

In any case, going by Eggman’s expression and Tails’ worried look, something went wrong.

The next thing we see is Shadow suddenly awakening, followed by an explosion of Chaos Energy and the fake Emeralds growing as Eggman explains to everyone how without the inhibitors, the fake Emeralds won’t stop growing. The tower tilts, with Eggman pressing a button on his coat, and something happens to the tower.

We pan out, and HOLY HELL, THE TOWER IS NOW A MECH! I REPEAT, THE TOWER IS A MECH!!

Hell, I didn’t expect that this was Plan B. I suppose Eggman had one more back-up just in case everything goes south and honestly, I totally approve of this plan. I can’t wait to see how Sonic and co. will take this one down! X3

Links:

#Previous Issue

#Next Issue

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer #idw sonic #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #dr eggman #amy rose #miles tails prower #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #rouge the bat #e-123 omega #tangle the lemur #metal sonic #orbot and cubot #shadow androids

54 notes · View notes

dailycass-cain · 1 year

Text

My Thoughts on Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 (aka the Cass portion)

An hour past noon. Enough time for some thoughts on one story, Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1. Some thoughts to keep us warm until Spirit World #1 arrives...

The thing that always interests me with Alyssa Wong when they tackle Cassandra Cain is they take the character and use stuff Cass has faced and then spin something new.

Cass has only encountered magic a handful of times. Only once in her entire series (ironically near the tail end with Lazara).

In truth, Cass has encountered magic outside her own comic more (Young Justice, the Zee arc in Tec Knights, and just recently the big battle in “Dark Crisis” where she literally was dodging attacks from Spectre) and--

JL: Elite with her and Coldcast being in the "world of shadows" and they encountered some Lovecraftian creatures.

Literally, outside the main universe, Cass encountering mystic stuff seems more common. We have Cass getting Shazam powers in DCeased, her fighting vampires (and teaming up with Frankenstein briefly) in DC vs. Vampires--

-- and another place in an animated adaptation of a comic she was never in originally (Batman: the Doom that Came to Gotham).

So all of this is a nice treat to see Wong take the character outside their "comfort" area and into something that's an open area for the character to explore, magic.

We get the perfect gateway character for that with Cass in the newly introduced character Xanthe.

Though I have to admit this brief little tease Wong gives introducing Cass maybe hints at what she's been up to during the Batman vs. Robin mini prior. Not jobbing, but making the city safe while everyone else was occupied.

Which kind of makes sense truthfully for someone of Cass's skillset. Nezha couldn't incapacitate or maybe twist her like everyone else. So the next best thing is to keep her so busy that she doesn't have any time to do anything else.

At least what I'm going with by reading this.

The thing that fascinates me early on in Cass and Xanthe's team-up is how Cass calls the vampires one thing and Xanthe calls them and I love the editor's note here because I'm utterly clueless with it comes to Chinese mythology (save a few things).

I also love that Wong showing their knowledge of Cass knowing what to do due to being such a movie junkie (and I liked that this was brought up. The nod made me smirk cause it's been A WHILE since someone referenced Cass's old habits).

I also just love that this isn't the end of the story and that Xanthe, Cass, and John Constantine (a character Cass has barely any meetings of in canon, but had one out of it in DCeased).

There was SOOOO much of this story and the art by Haining gives us a nice expressive Cass. Again, I don't mind the white eyes when an artist makes them so expressive and Haining gives Cass some nice reactions throughout this tale.

Not to mention some nice fluidity in her move set too. Literally, the only negative I can say is how quickly the story ended and make me hunger for more. Thankfully we only have two more months before we get just that in Spirit World #1.

The premise in that, Xanthe/John in a quest to save Cass. I'm game for. Though I do hope we just see a character like Cass see the Spirt World thru her eyes. Cause body language and also for new readers this be a nice treat.

Plus the chance to see Cass actually struggle not have it be ooc? To learn something new? Yeah, I'm game for that.

The side bonus to all of this is we get a full-on tale by Alyssa Wong. No one part (ala Batman: Urban Legends #8) and a short (but amazing story in DC: Doomed & the Damned #1). Just a full-on story Wong has with Cass and I'm all for that.

Though I am hopeful that maybe Batgirls can deal with this issue's fallout? I'm game for Babs/Steph to have an issue or more with them wondering where Cass is at? Or maybe Cass show up and have an editor's note (read Spirit World #1).

Just to give that nice bridge to both comics that Cass is in. Besides it gives us that moment with Steph to see her own thoughts when Cass is out of the picture (will she read Cass's letter?).

Not to mention see Babs' thoughts on handling what occurred with Steph in #15 and now Cass going on a crazy Spirit Adventure with others.

If you can't tell I really REALLY dug this story and can't wait for May for more of this. It truly is a nice surprise to not only get a bonus mini that has Cass in it but is written by Alyssa Wong?

#dc comics #cassandra cain #my thoughts

100 notes · View notes

ceph-the-ghost-writer · 2 months

Text

✨Words Into Potions✨

Project intro for Moon and Seraph's March writing event!

Title: Apophenia

Genre(s): Urban fantasy, paranormal fantasy

Summary:

WIP intro and first chapter here

WIP tag: #dysthanasia

Goal(s): One outline "chapter" a week, one faction post a week, one character intro a week

Snippet under the cut

“What brings you out to the western wilds, Isaac?”

“Que coincidência. Do you enjoy your job?”

#ms: wip intro #writeblr #writeblr event #writing challenge

14 notes · View notes

distort-opia · 2 years

Note

on the topic of batman and joker's -ahem- tension-filled fights, do you have any canon examples of their fights being explicitly (as explicit as canon batman media can get) being filled with physical tension?

Heh. I have many, many examples. Half my comic panel collection is Batman-on-Joker violence. I really enjoy their fights (hence my recent fic), even though some of them may barely qualify as that -- since Joker has a habit of putting up a little resistance and then letting Bruce beat the crap out of him.

There have been a lot of great ones over time, but I will limit myself to closest-to-explicit canon fights (moments that either textually or subtextually make romantic/sexual references). Putting the whole thing under the cut due to the numerous comic panels included.

♡ Batman: Endgame

Look. I still have no idea how they sneaked this past DC. Some of the panels are so... sexually suggestive it's unbelievable (I guess Mr. Capullo also thinks Batman tops and Joker is a power bottom, huh. Very valid of him.)

...I can't look at these for too long, they make me go crazy.

♡ Batman: Death of the Family

This whole thing is filled to the brim with sexual innuendo, both textually and visually, but I’ll include just a few faves.

Oh, Bruce. Pulling your nemesis into a dance pose... holding hands during the fight... whispering into your nemesis’ year something that could undo them... Yeah, we all do that!

♡ Batman: Hush

One of their most brutal fights, and one of the times Bruce came close to killing Joker. So. Obviously there's so much tension you can cut it with one of Joker's knives.

(Here you can also see Bruce’s choking kink, and more generally his thing for Joker’s neck popping up again, which... I swear to God, he’s obsessed. Even the alternate versions of him that kill Joker do it by snapping his neck (or tearing into it, for vampire!Batman). If you include that dream Clark had about it in Injustice, and then Bruce recently fantasizing about strangling Joker in Urban Legends... five times, just off the top of my head. Incredible. Wonder if a writer ever went ‘How about blunt force trauma for once??’ but then the spirit of Bruce Wayne reached from the fictional plane to go ‘Nah. Break that neck. Break it.’)

♡ Detective Comics (1937) #781

For this example, I'd have to copy-paste the whole freaking issue. It’s one big date for them, packed full of flirting. The story is basically Bruce knowing Joker wanted a fight and indulging him (even teasing him) to get him to talk about a case. I fully recommend reading the whole thing, but I will include some of my favorite moments -- like the hair-pulling, and casually discussing case details while sitting on top of Joker or strangling is occuring:

♡ Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #61

Features another one of my top ‘most unhinged Bruce moments’: beating up Joker while he’s helpless and in a straitjacket because Joker’s enjoying it -- Bruce doesn’t! He’s pleasuring Joker through pain for the case. All the other times he beats Joker up when Joker barely puts up a fight are... uh, well there might not always be a case, but Bruce doesn’t enjoy it, he swears!

(Gotta say though. “It’s a two-player game with Joker-- always has been. Always will be.” This thought of Bruce’s comes dangerously close to self-awareness. And really, do you need to focus so much on Joker’s mouth?)

♡ Detective Comics (2011) #1

This is just such a... quintessential Batman/Joker fight. There isn’t specifically a panel that I can point to because I just love the whole thing; might not be as suggestive as others, but on the whole it’s maddening. The fight happening after Batman chased Joker, the way he always does. Joker stabbing Bruce, but not lethally on purpose; it being too fast for Bruce to counteract. Bruce saying “You’re done”, snarling “Anyone else would kill you” as he holds Joker by the throat, and Joker mockingly replying “That’s your problem.” This is it.

♡ Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

This one’s a classic (though technically not canon). Because if the whole fight taking place in the Tunnel of Love doesn’t drive it home, Joker spelling it out that Batman killing him is the climax of the fight (which he didn’t deliver) sure does. So does the famous panel of Batman and Joker lying there as if post-orgasm.

♡ Batman: Europa

Also not canon, but I mean. How can I not. Someone infects Batman and Joker with a virus and puts the cure inside the other one’s blood... All of it leading to the most homoerotic panels imaginable and pretty much the out-of-sight implication they fought and then Joker kissed Batman:

+ As a little extra, may I just include some absolutely insane gestures Bruce has pulled during fights with Joker... because they deeply haunt me, and now they shall haunt you too. They indicate Bruce having such a deep entitlement to Joker’s person, like him just knocking Joker out and dragging him away or carrying him like he’s cargo, like he’s a possession Bruce is taking back to the box he puts all his favorite toys in (Arkham). It all makes me want to howl at the moon a little.

♡ Injustice: Ground Zero #6

Grabbing an alternate vesion of your nemesis by the tongue is a perfectly normal thing to do. So is dragging him by his tie, while he’s helpless and tied-up, somewhere private where you can beat him up!

♡ Batman: Cacophony

Shoving your fingers in the nose of your nemesis while teasing and flirting verbally, in the context of a fight, is also a perfectly reasonable thing to do! Just like saving his wretched life when he gets shot moments later, even though Jim Gordon is begging you to let him die...

I have other examples of fights between them that I like, but they’re not as suggestive as these ones so I tried to cut back (or they’re from Batman: White Knight which I sadly dislike). And yet, this still got long.

But I hope you enjoyed, anon! Thank you for the opportunity to rant a bit.

#violence as a love language: the post #would welcome any other examples!#asks #batman #batman meta #bruce wayne #joker #batjokes #batjokes meta #my meta

207 notes · View notes

ashweather · 5 months

Text

Daily RPG Readings

Eureka, Investigative Urban Fantasy, Part 3

If you want to read along with me, you can get the demo copy for free on A.N.I.M.'s official site or head over to their Patreon to get a copy of the latest playtest draft for $5. I'm reading the most recent playtest draft and there are significant differences from the demo copy, just as a heads up.

For day three, I'm reading pages 39-60, up to the "Composure" heading. This section outlines some philosophy of play that the game adopts, and strongly encourages its players to adopt. Eureka as a game is very opinionated about these topics. My understanding is that, to some, this is a controversial section, so lets go over the basics. Once again, I have a lot to say about it.

First, we go over the role of the GM, or Narrator. Essentially, the game wants the Narrator to set up a situation for investigators to interact with, then take a relatively hands off approach. Eureka expects the Narrator to act as an arbiter and referee rather than as a story-teller or the main driver of the narrative. There is also an expectation that Narrators not fudge rolls (yeah this one is going to start a flame war, chief) or bend the logic of the scenario to benefit or hinder investigators, stating the Narrator's role should be closer to simulating how the story logically would go based on the world that was presented at the outset of an adventure.

Personally, I generally agree with this philosophy - its how I try to run most of my games - but I can see where some people might chafe against this. Eureka wants to break certain bad habits that could carried over from other games and play cultures coughD&Dcough. On the other hand, its easy to read this as saying there's "one true way" to play or run Eureka (or any game, if you want to be uncharitable), or that a group who prefers to have lower stakes or a bit of plot armor is "doing it wrong." I could talk about that more in depth, I don't really agree with that interpretation, but ya know what? I'll let someone else open that can of worms.

Oh yeah also there's a note that disruptive or malicious behavior is something to be handled outside the game, on an interpersonal level, and I couldn't agree more.

The role of investigators is to portray everyday people with a strong reason to get involved in the mystery or adventure at hand. It's specifically noted that investigators should usually not be cops, for a few reasons. Having investigators be cops puts them into a position where they would logically have some degree of official support and a whole department to handle evidence, legal consequences, and so on. It also eliminates law enforcement as a source of complications and obstacles for investigators, which can be a potent source of drama. Finally, and most damningly, the players would have to portray cops (shudder).

Next, it is established that investigators should be the primary drivers of the investigation and therefore the story. I think that's great, because having PCs be the ones who have to drive the story forward serves two purposes. First, it gives a sense of agency and accomplishment to anything that does advance the narrative. Secondly, it takes pressure off the Narrator, who is already going to be putting in a ton of work.

It's also noted that investigators can have secrets or secret plans, and establishes that these things should be kept secret and shared with the Narrator privately. This is the first explicit note we've had that Eureka isn't necessarily a cooperative game - more on that later.

Okay, here's a big one. The next section is all about separation between players and investigators. First, we just have a note reminding readers that players and investigators are separate, and then some elaboration on that point. While I would hope that point would be obvious to anyone familiar with TTRPGs, I've been in this hobby long enough to know it can unfortunately be an issue.

Eureka enforces third-person verbiage from the Narrator and players.

I've put that point on its own because it is going to be a massive shift for some people, and likely very controversial. It's a massive shift for ME, in fact. I've been playing characters in first person and GMing in second person for nearly fifteen years. I understand the logic. Third-person verbiage makes it easier to linguistically separate players from their characters, and makes for interesting play that strongly diverges from what the player would themselves do if placed in the game world. I could say more, but once again I'm going to let others talk this one out.

Whew, we're past the biggest stuff. On page 49, we have a discussion of bad faith play and a directive for the Narrator to disallow submitted investigators that are going to become a huge problem in some way. As an extension of the points raised in the previous sections, the players and narrator are encouraged to work together to create a successful game, operating under the assumption of good faith. Malicious behavior isn't something to work out at the table.

Under the heading "Expect to Fail Rolls" we have a discussion that rolling means taking a risk, and risk should always be present in the mechanics where it's present in the narrative. What that means in practice is that careful play and acting within the narrative to mitigate risk means that, well, the investigators are taking less risks. There's also a crunchy breakdown of the probability curves involved in a 2d6 roll versus a 1d20 roll, to encourage players that the Failure result isn't the huge looming threat that it might seem like.

On page 53, we have a section about "bad ends" and not forcing an adventure or mystery to have a happy, clean ending. In Eureka, stories are legitimately risky, which makes achieving a happy ending against the odds feel legitimately triumphant. Furthermore, the game notes that a tragic or bleak ending is, in fact, a good thing and a "win" for the player group if not the characters. The goal of the players should be to create an interesting narrative - and Eureka encourages those narratives to have teeth.

Next, we have a section on PC vs PC interactions, and a further breakdown of the fact that Eureka isn't necessarily cooperative (though it still often is). There is a high potential in Eureka for investigators to have conflicting motives and conflicting goals, and this fact can very easily lead to those characters butting heads or actively attempting to stop or kill one another. I do think this is an exciting element of the game, though I also think keeping PC vs. PC conflict exciting and revealing things at appropriate times requires some amount of skill from both Narrator and players.

Lastly, we have a section on Truth. Truth is essentially a roleplay mechanic - it establishes some fact or characterization that 'is true' about the investigator, and actions in accordance with that truth grants a +1 benefit to up to three rolls once per scene. The mechanical bonus from acting within a character's truth is something that should only apply when relevant. It also gives a way to chart a character arc, as Truth can change in the midst of an adventure, so long as there is a strong justification. Roleplay mechanics (at least ones that grant tangible and immediate benefits) like Truth are somewhat uncommon, but I like to see them, and I think they are a welcome addition to most games.

#a.n.i.m.#book club #daily reading #eureka #eureka: investigative urban fantasy #rpg analysis #ttrpg

16 notes · View notes

dailymothanon · 2 years

Note

can

can i humbly request

some alaska hcs

maybewithasmidgeoffruitylittlemantexas

aLso

lowkey highkey feral for your art i want to eat it (very joyful) i love your style uddksgiehk it's so pretty omg

i hope you have a day as wonderful as your drawings, thank you op for your brain food

This might be long idk

Alaska:

-he has a monotone voice, and his facial expressions are very limited — sometimes his voice would magically switch in tones but he overall doesn’t try to control it cause he doesn’t care

-he has very calloused hands, mostly because he’s more of a hands-on person and that being put in the wilderness a lot caused that, I guess in a way the callousness of his hands are like permafrost? I dunno

-when he decides to actually hibernate for the winter no states wanna bother him— even Florida (like how Florida was concerned when Gov asked him to call Alaska because Alaska likes to be alone)

-like Alaska said himself, he doesn’t actually hate Texas, so I doubt he actually hates any of the states

-Alaska’s actually rather a mother bear towards the other states occasionally, despite his constant stoic personality

-yeah no he gotta be autistic. -he’s built like MOOSE respectively. And a bear, and imo he has the fierceness of a wolverine if he wants to

-out of all the states, I like to imagine he has the most notable or prominent canine teeth, mostly because in the wilderness of Alaska, most of the food you’d find there are meat, fish, and berries. -I’m sure he has back problems. If only he had a cowboy that could offer him a massage or something

-I gave him a slit eyebrow and a scar just above it because I saw someone hc him with it somewhere else but I can’t remember where, but I decided why not yknow

-I call his hair The Bush, which essentially is what we call the non urban or suburban areas, or the extra rural rural Alaska, which is like 2/3 of Alaska, that’s why it’s so wild and unkept

-Alaska is known for being a usually prepared person, mostly a habit he’s picked up from living in the wild

-listen…. I don’t think Russian is his second language. He has 20 official languages (excluding English) and they’re his native languages. He’d speak the native languages before Russian any day. Him as an individual does know Russian due to his history, but as a state he speaks indigenous languages rather than Russian. -again, he’d speak his indigenous people’s languages the most after English

-no, he’s not russian

-yes, i base him more off of his native culture

-he has black hair and dark eyes

-he hates bright lights with a passion, but natural lights are an exception (I like to think this is why his garage is dimly lit)

-some of the states call his garage his ‘den’ cause he’s like a bear in a cave

-he has some of the best eyesight mostly due to being THE hunting state and living in the middle of nowhere sometimes just because he can

-when he’s in a story telling mood, he can go on for hours, but this doesn’t happen often because all the other states tend to be busy or he’s not comfortable talking to them, also he’s been shot down from his rambling before and it hit him hard, his poor soul

-many states like to go to his garage when things get overwhelming or too hot out, I like to imagine that’s why in the scene where Texas entered his room, the door was already unlocked

-Alaska actually does have fire seasons, it’s just that he doesn’t talk about them cause he feels they’re not as important as anyone else’s issues, it’s a problem he’s developed over time

Texas:

-i don’t have as much hcs for him but

-his hair is probably brown, darkish I think

-his boots have spurs and he does bounce his leg without thinking

-probably has keen eyes, I wouldn’t know, but they’d probably not be as good as Alaska’s hunter eyesight (Alaska will make fun of him for that)

-loves cowboy stuff a hell of a lot

-he actually rather likes the bickering he and Alaska do, it’s a nice distraction and a good excuse to talk about his state and learn about the other’s

-he knows how to braid hair n other stuff. Because I said so

-he sometimes actually goes to California for advice, he hates to admit it if he ever will

-he probably has names for his guns, if we’re gonna be honest, but he tries not to talk about it in front of other states

-he has to admit to himself, Alaska is rather a good anchor for him to keep him grounded and not off his heels about himself

-Texas is easier to fluster than it is to shake the pollen off a flower

-he has dry as all hell hands. Get his ass some lotion or something

Both Texas and Alaska:

-as far as I’ve seen, in wttt Alaska and Texas are the only ones that I know have cleaned their things during meetings and such (Texas with his gun and Alaska with his ulu knife)

-so I want to imagine they’d both busy themselves with cleaning their stuff while having conversations with each other

-Texas often calls Alaska ‘Big Guy’ and Alaska often refers to him as ‘Cowboy’

-Texas actually went to Alaska for help when he froze over since Alaska is experienced with the cold — but Alaska decided to spare him and not talk about it during the Alaskan Recap and said he simply went ‘camping’ instead

-they often bicker that it’s basically a way to communicate together now

-Texas actually does listen to Alaska’s stories when he has the time, and Alaska in return would listen to him rant about whatever’s troubling him (even if it’s stupid)

-if you ask Alaska, he’d probably just straight up answer whatever you asked, but Texas depending on the question, wouldn’t directly answer especially if it’s about him and it isn’t about how holy he is

-yeah no the two have definitely camped together before

-Texas sometimes teaches Alaska about different southern terms and sayings

-also they have NO ass, they’re flat as all hell, Alaska probably has a little more ass, but it’s mostly to make sure Texas doesn’t get too ahead of himself yaknow

-Texas taught Alaska how to square dance actually, I would know cause I was there

that’s all the hcs I can think of at the moment, I might edit it a few times

#Wttt #Wttt alaska #alaska wttt #texas wttt #wttt texas #wttt shipping #wttt headcanons #welcome to the table #welcome to the statehouse #ben brainard #oh boy this is alot #Whoops

80 notes · View notes

noneedtofearorhope · 26 days

Text

i still think the hate against golf is just performative culture wars bs. while there are certainly many real problems with it, none of them are really inherit such that it necessitates it being abolished 'after the rev'.

'b-b-but it's a sport for the rich!' ok, so equalize it. make it available to everyone. each course could have its own equipment library. build apartments in the surrounding area with some well connected public transit. make it cheap and eliminate restrictions on who can join in on the fun.

'b-b-but the pesticides! the ecological damage!' there are already organic courses. additionally, early courses were built along sandy dunes or w/e with native grasses and 'mown' with sheep. they were minimally landscaped. i also doubt even half of the people who'd complain about the use of pesticides eat an exclusively organic diet.

'b-b-but it uses so much land! it should be a public sex forest garden!' i think this is a non-issue honestly. it's really such an incredibly small fraction of a fraction of land use. urban land use in general just pales in comparison to agriculture land use. and as state before, golf courses could be built on otherwise 'unhabitable' land such as dunes. meanwhile, agricultural use accounts for nearly half of all habitable land, around 80% of which goes to animal agriculture, despite farmed animals only accounting for about 17% of the world calories and 38% of its protein. also, no one ever seems to want apply the same critique of 'unproductive' land use to parks. because generally people recognize that parks are a social good.

it really, as far as im concerned, all just boils down to 'golf' being a fixed image of some 'snooty rich people' sport, a neat little prepackaged way to virtue signal in a way that, if it were to be abolished, wouldn't actually necessitate any change in lifestyle of those who advocate against it. curious.

#golf #abolish golf #aside from ruining my apartments grass as a kid with some dumpsterdived clubs #and disc golf #ive never even played golf #i just think people are so fucking stupid about this

6 notes · View notes

thenationaltreasuregazette · 6 months

Text

ND for NT? Neurodivergence in National Treasure

(Abigail Chase Edition)

Last time, we took a look at whether Ben fits the DMS criteria for autism. Now it’s Abigail’s turn on my proverbial couch, but I thought we’d do it a little differently this time.

To change it up a bit, instead of the DSM, I have Rudy Simone’s List of Female Aspergers Syndrome Traits. The title might be outdated, but it’s a list of questions pertaining to masked autism. I thought it might be fun to go through these questions and see whether Abigail fits the bill.

By the way, there's no set number of answers that "pass" this questionnaire, and no one person is expected to have all of them. It's more about identifying trends of behavior.

Special thanks to @emmi-kat for providing some of the evidence

The questions come in four sections: Appearance/personal habits, Intellectual/giftedness/education/vocation, Emotions/Physical, and Social Relationships

This article will cover the first two, with a follow up next week.

→ The questions are like this

My responses are like this

Let’s dig in.

Part 1: “Appearance/Personal Habits”

→ Dresses comfortably due to sensory issues and practicality

Abigail dresses professionally in a style I’d call ‘tasteful and subdued.’ Based on that article about her wardrobe, the clothes we see her in are all high quality and rather expensive for what she probably makes as a government employee. You could read this as 1. The Friends Apartment Phenomenon (implausibly expensive bc its gotta look good on film) 2. She’s supposed to look stodgy and uptight when she’s positioned as an opponent to Ben’s mission. Once she joins him, she gets to dress like the rest of Team Treasure

3. Abigail invests in high quality materials due to sensory issues. For our purpose, let’s go with #3.

→ Will not spend much time on grooming and hair. Hairstyles usually have to be ‘wash and wear’. Can be quite happy not grooming at all times.

Unlike a lot of leading ladies, Abigail’s hairstyles are very plain—outside of the gala of course. At work she wears a simple ponytail or half-ponytail, and on the treasure hunt she doesn’t even have an elastic. If I were her I’d be ripping up my expensive new Urban Outfitters getup looking for something to tie my hair up with, but she doesn’t seem bothered.

→ Eccentric personality; may be reflected in appearance

I don’t know that I’d call her ‘eccentric.’ Although, in the 2003 script, she’s a lot more openly dorky. For instance, she says: Looking stunning in her sparkly formal gown, Abigail stands with Dr. Herbert. ABIGAIL What do you think Thomas Jefferson would say if he were here?

→ Is youthful for her age, in looks, dress, behavior and tastes

For me, she’s the opposite. This is purely conjecture, but I’ve always assumed that Abigail has dressed, acted, and talked like a tenured professor since she was a kid.

→ Usually a little more expressive in face and gesture than male counterparts

I want to say a thing about masking in Book of Secrets but I do not have time right now. TBD

→ May not have a strong sense of identity, and can be very chameleon-like, especially before diagnosis

Someday I’m gonna write a whole article about Abigail’s arc of becoming a treasure hunter, but I choose to read her journey as one of unlocking an existing interest, not of taking on Ben’s identity because she’s hanging around him.

→ Enjoys reading and films as a retreat, often scifi, fantasy, children’s, can have favorites which are a refuge

No canon evidence, but send your headcanons my way.

→ Uses control as a stress management technique: rules, discipline, rigid in certain habits, which will contradict her seeming unconventionality

Yes yes yes. RILEY Ben, the… the mean Declaration lady's behind you.

→ Usually happiest at home or in other controlled environment

Her seemingly newfound interest in treasure hunting contradicts this, but outside of those very specific circumstances I get the impression that yes, she prefers controlled environments. For example, before Ben shows up at the gala she’s wandering around alone, looking like she’s uncomfortable and possibly plotting when she can leave.

Part 2: “Intellectual/giftedness/education/vocation”

→ May have been diagnosed as autistic or Asperger’s when young, or may have been thought of as gifted, shy, sensitive, etc. May also have had obvious or severe learning deficits

Gonna give a solid check mark to “gifted and fshy.” This is headcanon, but I don’t see young Abigail being any other way.

→ Often musical, artistic

In a deleted scene from Book of Secrets we learn that Abigail restores old furniture, or at least that she “painstakingly restored” an antique chair that Ben found.

→ May have a savant skill or strong talent(s)

Well she’s the Charters of Freedom Custodian at like 35 so…

→ May have a strong interest in computers, games, science, graphic design, inventing, things of a technological and visual nature. More visual thinkers may gravitate to writing, languages, cultural studies, psychology

Not exactly what’s listed here, but I headcanon Abigail to have more of an interest in cultural history than Ben does. If Ben’s specialty is the “big names and big idea” type of history, I imagine Abigail is more interested in how ordinary people experienced the periods she studies. I have no evidence for this other than I really like cultural history and would like to project.

→ May be a self-taught reader, been hyperlexic as a child, and will possess a wide variety of other self-taught skills as well

Also purely headcanon, my personal take on Abigail’s childhood is that her family moved to the US when she was in third or fourth grade—whenever the big American Revolution unit is in her state. On one of her first days she was humiliated in front of the class by not knowing a really easy American History answer. (Like, Who was George Washington? etc). So she went to the school library and took out every history book they had. Pretty soon she’d exhaused the supply and moved onto the middle grade and then adult history books at her local library. Again, I have no evidence for this, but the pre-established ideas I had about the character seem to be fitting pretty well within this list.

→ May be highly educated but will have had to struggle with social aspects of college.

If her behavior at the gala (wandering alone, wanting to leave, dealing with reluctant advances) is any indication, she may have struggled with social gatherings in college in a similar way.

→ May have one or many partial degrees

Dr. Abigail Chase has at least one completed Ph.d. Uncompleted degrees are unknown.

→ Can be very passionate about a course of study or job, and then change direction or go completely cold on it very quickly

Not enough evidence either way. The only thing we see her go hot or cold on is Ben lmao.

→ Will often have trouble holding onto a job and may find employment daunting. Highly intelligent, yet sometimes can be slow to comprehend due to sensory and cognitive processing issues

Does not appear to be the case.

→ Will not do well with verbal instruction - needs to write down or draw diagram

Does not appear to be the case. She seems to do fine working with Ben to decode the Ottendorf cypher and cooking up plans with Ian without notes or diagrams, at least that we see.

→ Will have obsessions but they are not as unusual as her male counterpart’s (less likely to be a ‘train-spotter’)

Gonna go back to: ABIGAIL What do you think Thomas Jefferson would say if he were here?

Conclusion

We still have two sections to go, but so far Abigail is lining up with the type of person described by these questions.

Actually, what I'm most interested in at the moment is how well the headcanons I already had formed about her fit this profile.

Onward!

#the national treasure gazette #abigail chase #national treasure

7 notes · View notes

scattered-irises · 10 months

Text

Bishounen Breed Spotlight: Michael Arclight

The CCF is a master of their word, even if the promise takes years to fulfill...In hell, time is distorted sometimes lol

@larmegliamori Remember this gift, for I shall call upon your payment in the future.

I spent many weeks researching this bishounen breed and trying to rid myself of my prejudice against the Michaels. It was only partially successful. On my journeys, I talked to various Michael breeders and tried to understand what made him such a popular bishounen. From what I gathered, he is a friendly, nigh fuss-free bishounen that is free of most bishounens’ frigid, haughty or difficult personalities.

To learn more about the world of card game bishounen breeding, please see this post

Without further delay, here is the fulfillment of my promise:

History

After witnessing the absolutely destructive breeding habits of various gen IV breeders, a small community of bishounen breeders believed that changes needed to be made.

You may have noticed that the Michael lacks the elaborate hair, elongated limbs and long faces of most bishounen. This is because instead of continuously inbreeding a singular line of bishounen for desirable traits, Michael breeders attempted to stabilize the breed by introducing a completely foreign lineage!

That’s right! They mixed a bishounen line with a pink magical girl line! The artifacts (my guess: magical girl bones) of the magical girls used to create the Michael are a secret known only to Michael breeders. I wasn’t privy to this knowledge.

On the bishounen side, the Michael is descended from the Siegfried and Kaiba lines.

Breed Information

Before I begin, I must say that the Michael is a slightly contentious breed in the bishounen breeding community. Due to his heavily mixed lineage, his status as a bishounen has been a subject of debate for years. There are rumors that bribery and dark crimes were involved in his certification as a bishounen.

ANYWAYS...

The Michael is perfect for beginners who wish to take care of a bishounen from generation IV. He possesses the characteristic trait of dual-colored hair that was started in this generation. Unlike most of the gIV breeds, he doesn’t have high maintenance needs or many health issues!

He’s at home in urban or rural environments and will happily explore his surroundings. His curious, highly intelligent and gentle demeanor makes him perfect for bishounen enthusiasts who enjoy card game bishounen but dislike their difficult personalities.

The standard Michael has coral-pink hair that covers about 40-55% of his head. The edges of his hair should be chocolate brown. To ensure that the Michael maintains his bishounen status, breeders are extremely careful (more careful than other bishounen breed breeders!) to keep their Michaels within acceptable breed margins. The Michael’s signature big eyes (which is one of the main contentions behind his certification) must take up between 15-25% of his face. If not, the Michael is culled (most humane method according to the Multi-Dimensional Bishounen Breeding Board is a special-made Bishounen Sledgehammer.)

Care

No need for a mess of hair products or a bishounen groomer nearby to maintain the Michael’s hair. No need to buy fancy WholeFood’s stuff to keep him full.

The Michael will eat mostly anything as long as it is given or made with love ^u^ You can thank his magical girl blood for that!

He loves reading, learning and hanging out with his loved ones! Michaels love presents and surprises. For less-spontaneous owners, small walks, chats and cooking together will do as well. All in all, a Michael is a lifelong friend that will always be there for you.

He does have a little bit of an abandonment issue though. Like most bishounen, you HAVE to be 100% certain that you’ll stay with him. Michaels abandoned at Walmart parking lots are one of the most difficult to rehabilitate. They almost never escape from secondhand bishounen stores because although most of them seem fine at first, they will display emotional instabilities a few hours in with their new owner. Only the most experienced, compassionate and patient of bishounen owners buy secondhand Michaels.

An owner who is needlessly stern or cruel will NOT be able to get along with a Michael. Michaels, as easygoing as they are, expect love and respect in return.

Wouldn’t you be the same?

HEALTH ISSUES

The only singular issue the Michael has is rage.

His fury is often well-deserved though. He is extremely patient, even with the most demanding of owners. If a Michael snaps at you, you’ve probably had it coming for weeks!

With a mix of magical girl and bishounen blood, the Michael is not to be trifled with when furious! He is adept with a variety of weapons (thanks magical girls) and is willing to fight to the death to either defend you or himself.

His rage completely reverses his personality into a bloodthirsty and sadistic avenger. The only thing that can stop him is compassion, love and understanding—the things he originally tried to give you.

Recommended Companions

He gets along with pretty much any bishounen! Of course, the Thomas breed gets along EXCEPTIONALLY well with the Michael. I know most Thomas owners have a Michael as well in order to keep their Thomases calm. Without a Michael, Thomases are notoriously difficult to live with.

Another recommended breed is the Christopher. The Christopher’s haughty personality is softened around a Michael. This will often make the Christopher kinder to his owner as well.

Another ‘chill’ bishounen breed is the Byron, who will be a mentor-figure to the Michael. They can spend a whole day at the library together and not get bored! Just set them free anywhere, honestly. They’ll be back for dinner, guaranteed.

Conclusion

The reason why I’m prejudiced against the Michaels? He’s just a bit too low maintenance and ‘chill’ for me. I like a bishounen that I can fight and struggle with haha. Also I was on the side that lost during the bishounen certification battle...I didn’t think he was one.

Anyways here’s this screenshot of Michael where he has very thick and plush eyelashes and I guess I understand where the other side was coming from 🙄