#story commentary

[citylighten]

i tried jordan, i really tried smdh

[the-golden-comet]

So I saw the results of the character poll and I would like to voice my support of Noah as the all time GOAT of the Goldencomet-verse

Ik Peter won, and don't get me wrong, I love Peter, but maybe he's a bit too much of an asshole. Like, he doesn't catch enough retribution for his actions and Benji is kinda forced to deal with it and it's played off as a joke. Sure, Benji flings enough insults to make a French man laugh, but none of them are really taken seriously by anyone (especially that dress scene. That was wrong and no one ever apologized in the slightest, even Peter). I need some retribution and I need some W's for me to ride or die for a ship.

That all being said, that's one of the reasons why I LOVE Noah (and Ali). Noah, while being super introverted (from what I've seen), he's still not taking shit from anyone. AND ALI RESPECTS IT 👏👏. I like myself a relationship built off of genuine pure-bred respect. That's why I love enemies to lovers or rivals to lovers (even though idk if YWIMC counts as either. Could be wrong tho). Most of the time in those two tropes, the romance stems from genuine (although begrudging) RESPECT. And respect and pity are two different things. 'Aw poor *insert character here*' also isn't a good relationship foundation. If the relationship isn't built off of long-standing respect of the 'I see you as my equal' caliber, I don't want it.

I would also like to voice my love for Noah in a separate paragraph, cause I kinda just yapped about the relationship lol. Noah, as I mentioned, doesn't take shit from NOBODY. 'Introverted' sure as hell doesn't mean pushover when it comes to Noah. And, for every ounce of not taking shit, there's an equal amount of softness towards those he loves. You need an equal balance for a delicious romance and he does it perfectly 🤌🤌. I also like that, while he isn't the strongest physically, he's still not a pathetic mop of a character. He earns his wins through his own means and HE DESERVES IT. Even when he has help, he's not the ever constant damsel in distress waiting for his big strong boyfriend to save him. He does something, he tries his best, and I respect him for it.

And i would like to end this with saying I love Peter Hart, even though ik it sounded like I was hating lol. It was a really fun read and funny a lot of times. Ig getting away with assholery just strikes a sore spot 😂

One last side note: I will definitely be reading YWIMC when it comes out if you can't tell (and also sorry for the rant)

I am absolutely in love with this post!! Thank you so much for making it!! Don’t ever feel bad for voicing an opinion of my characters! In fact, I am so happy to see Noah get some genuine love!! This post gave me the goofiest smile and I appreciate you making it 💛✨

Noah has a soft spot in my own heart because of his jaded “front,” but he’s not afraid to let his vulnerability show….ESPECIALLY around Ali. Noah has trouble expressing his emotions due to his ASD, so seeing him make genuine wins and setting firm boundaries with people make us go, “YES! Don’t take shit from anyone! 👏 👏 👏”

One of the main themes of YWIMC is stepping outside of comfort zones and letting rigid barriers fall (in Noah’s case) whereas the lesson that Ali learns is that you can love someone regardless of your upbringing, and to eventually get over fears of attachment.

Seeing so much love for Noah is genuinely heartwarming, and I thank you so much for making this ask! 💫

(And Peter is such an asshole lmao. Entertaining, but an asshole nonetheless. This is a totally valid criticism of his character 😂✨)

[junikshanasar]

... whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

-t the heck YOU CANT DO THIS

i mean Star just came in with a BAM and then all of a sudden her and shiggy started fighting with a BOOM and then now all of a suddenthere’s a WHOOSH and she’s dead and afo’s quirks are having a civil war and-

awwwww dammit look I just noticed she’s saluting her brothers-in-arms I-

Ok, yeah, fair enough, she just did something massive that gives Deku an acc realistic and fighting chance of beating Shiggy, and I am ever so glad AFO didn’t just get buffed, but like...

I don’t know, this whole ‘mini-arc’ with Star felt so random and spontaneous???

I understand Horikoshi’s been hinting at international heroes for... a long time, acc, he’s been teasing us in the main series and spin-offs both, but Star’s character itself felt so out of nowhere??

He likes make Shiggy super op without any effort at all on his part, which I do know was grinding on a lotta ppl’s gears, so it’s a nice touch to weaken him and eliminate not only some of that excessive power, but also provide Midoriya a platform to do his ‘talk no jutsu’ should he so choose (it’s clear AFO within Shiggy has been thrown into chaos as well, loosening his grip on Shiggy’s mental state)

yea no, but the only way I can accept them throwing Star in and then killing her off is if her and the USA’s influence here is carried on in the story, like it continues to have a major role or at least lead to something other than just whatever resulted from this two second battle, becauase otherwise the USA just feels like a deus ex machina here meant to nerf Shiggy after making him too strong lmao

anyyyywayyyy I just wanted to get that off my chest, still crying that this week’s chap was so short இ௰இ

(but it that’s alright! I know it takes a lot of dedication and effort to make a chapter, especially with such gorgeous art, every week)

[project-rebirth]

“Such pitiful souls. The Utopia of Nonexistence awaits all of us, so there is no need for you to rush things. Well, this Academy City looks like an eyesore anyway, so perhaps it is a good thing that it will be lead to its own ruin.”

[sweaterkittensahoy]

DVD commentary meme! Sorority House; Chaos Demons, the passage starting at "FIGHT!" through "the incantation followed instantly". And/or Miracle in Finals Week, "Wow, that worked." through the end. (And wow was it hard to limit myself to 500-word passages. I WANT TO KNOW ALL THE THINGS! :D )

Sorority story:

“FIGHT!”

Hazel turned on her heel as the threads snapped, releasing the energy in a cloud. (When threads snap, they explode like spores from a mushroom. They get on EVERYTHING, and if you’re a Blue Stone and have breathing issues, they can get you pretty good.) There were three women in the center of the room, all of them in Alpha Chi T-shirts and white shorts (wardrobe based on a former college roommate headed out to sorority stuff; she was great). They were facing off, all of them with their hands up like they really knew how to fight. (As a scrapper with the soul of a brawler, I enjoy writing women about to fuck each other up with fists rather than hair-pulling; not that hair-pulling is a bad tactic. I just like to have them go fists first.)

"Fuck," (there’s a long-running joke that any time you swear, Auntie Tessa flinches at The House) Hazel breathed and pushed her way through the tightening crowd. She squeezed between a gaggle of screaming women cheering incoherently. One of them dumped half of cup of Sunshine (Sunshine is orange Kool-aid and any liquor that is cheap. It tastes like death, and Alpha Chis drink it like water.) down Hazel's back.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry!" The woman said, trying with the overcoordination of the drunk to wipe the drink off Hazel. (You have not experience dunbridled kindness until a drunk woman has tried to clean you up from the drink she spilled.)

"I'm fine," Hazel said. She batted as the woman kept trying to help and kept apologizing. "It's fine!" Hazel yelled (she didn’t want to, but crisis) as the volume in the room went up. The fight was starting, no doubt. She had to get to the front of crowd, get a line of sight on whoever was controlling this.

"It's such a nice shirt!" the woman wailed.

"It's so cute!" One of her friends added, clearly oblivious to why the conversation was even happening. (Drunk ladies will always tell you you are fabulous. Always.)

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry Hazel thought as she touched them both on the wrists and froze them in place for two seconds so she could get away. (This spell is not to be used lightly as it violates a person’s right to free movement. Three-way punch outs are an acceptable reason to put it into play.) She hated doing that to people. It left them disoriented and sometimes made them sick, (in this case, the ladies attributed the reaction to too much Sunshine) but the cheers were getting louder, and the energy in the room was building outward. Too much pressure, and something was going to come tumbling down. (You get enough power in a place that’s not used to it, you can collapse a house. Chaos demons aren’t usually that destructive, but this is a special case.)

The three women were on each other hard when Hazel broke to the front. They were punching and kicking, hair-pulling only as a way to control each other's movements. (like I said, I am not against hair-pulling.) There was already blood on the floor. Blood and energy were a bad mix. (Is this the moment I realized the end game of the chaos demon fuckery and realized I needed to write a novella? MAYBE.)

Hazel tracked the room. Screaming drunk. Screaming drunk. Laughing drunk. Filming drunk. Two guys backwards snap backs (ugh, I typoed. Should have been Two guys in...), pastel shorts, and open (should have been a comma at open) white button downs simply watching and grinning. (I would like to thank Ngozi of Check, Please for reminding me dudebros love pastels.)

"Goddamn chaos demons," Hazel hissed and cut across the room. One of them saw her coming, saw the stone around her neck, and yelped. The other followed his gaze and paled. (Chaos demons are a super standard issue for Blue Stones. Think of them as those people who will talk during a movie. Usually low-level annoying but fucking everywhere.)

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." The first one screamed. No one noticed.

"Um. Shit. Uh." The second one stammered, then he looked at the center of the room, and his pupils turned to slits. "Hey, ladies! This woman just grabbed my ass!" (Chaos demons are total dicks.)

Hazel was tackled before she could even turn fully around. She felt a punch to her kidneys, shook off someone trying to twist back her arm, and was grateful she'd kept her hair up in its lazy bun as one of them went to grab her hair. She managed to curl herself into a defensive ball and clasp her hands together. Before she could get out the incantation, someone kicked her in the back ribs. "Shit!" She screamed, and the incantation followed instantly. (Blue Stones get extensive self defense training, which is how Hazel manages to escape the worst of it before rolling into a ball. And, yeah, that asshole broke her rib. And as someone who has broken a rib, lemme tell you, it fucking hurts.)

Finals Week:

"Wow, that worked." (Hazel honestly wasn’t sure it would. She was guessing based on the idea of how Gretel can fade out in a mist, which means each particle of Gretel would carry a bit of magic, right? Right.)

Gretel smiled. "Excellent! Do you think it'll work for the other sections?" (Gretel LOVES helping with stuff like this. Being a ghost, she can’t learn full magic like the Blue Stones, but she wishes she could.)

"I can't imagine why not." Hazel lifted her wand to drop the hiding spell, paused, and sighed hugely. "Shit. I'm going to have to write that down for the Aunties. They never taught us you as a magical conduit, or ghosts at all." (There’s more than one ghost who works with the Blue Stones. You just haven’t seen them yet because storytelling is weird.)

"I'll tell them," Gretel replied. "I'll be going back tonight anyway. If they have any questions after I report, they can call you." (Gretel doesn’t always go back to The House after she’s done something. She is not required to check in. She also routinely reports on behalf of the Blue Stones she works with so they don’t have to write shit down. She has an excellent memory.)

"Oh, that would be awesome. I've still got to finish cramming for my Algebra final." (Hazel is lying about needing to cram. She’s a solid student who remembers things well. She’s using “cramming” in the “stressed about finals week” sense.)

"And cleaning out the other pests."

"That, too."

Even with Gretel as a sort of magic bomb, it took another two hours to clear the rest of the anxiety beetles. By the time they finished, Hazel felt like she had bricks in her shoes, and Gretel was starting to fade in and out. (This moment was supposed to give you an idea that working a lot of magic at once can drain you. I think it read that way.)

"Please note to the Aunties that no single Blue Stone or ghost should clear a whole space that size again," Hazel said as they stopped by the fountain, and she yawned hugely.

"I will," Gretel said. She was giving Hazel the same sweet smile from earlier. (I can’t even tell you how much they kill me. They’re so fucking cute.) "You're worn out. No more studying tonight, okay? Get some sleep."

"I don't think I have a choice," Hazel said. She scrubbed her hands over her eyes and blinked a few times. "Thanks for the help."

"Of course." Gretel reached out, as she always did, her hand brushing through--

Hazel stared down at their hands. Their hands that were touching. (I literally did not know this was happening until I wrote it. I screamed.) Her hand, which Gretel was holding. She looked up and found Gretel was staring in shock as well. "How…"

"I don't know," Gretel said. She turned Hazel's hand over with her own. She met Hazel's gaze and reached out her other hand. Her fingers stroked Hazel's cheek.

"Gretel," Hazel got out. "What the fuck."

"I have no idea. I've never--there's never--" (This is not because Hazel is The Special One (tm). This is because of something I will discuss in a different story.) Gretel shook her head, then dropped her hand from Hazel's face. She tightened her grip on Hazel's hand. "I'll...I'll tell the Aunties. They'll want to know this, too. I don't think any of the ghosts have ever made contact."

"Yeah," Hazel replied, her brain clicking back on at the mention of reporting...this. "Okay. Um. Tell them I'll be free by Thursday afternoon. (The Aunties are very big on education. They try not to get in the way if they can help it. Blue Stones choosing to pay attention to their surroundings is totally cool but not required.) I'm going to Grandma's (this should be Gran. It took me a bit to decide on the proper name for her.) for the break, but I won't leave until Friday morning."

"Okay," Gretel agreed. She squeezed Hazel's hand once more, then slowly let go. "Get some sleep," she said.

"Yeah," Hazel agreed, though she felt like maybe she would never sleep again. "I'll see you soon." (She conked the fuck out ten minutes later. Unbridled glee and confusion is no match for magic fatigue.)

Gretel smiled one last time and faded into the mist around the fountain.

(Wanna remind everyone I have a ko-fi for Blue Stones, and I am always up to answer questions.)

[alynnl]

I spent a lot of time side questing after Master of All Chapter 6.  I got spoilers about that chapter’s ending because I'm on the Internet and it was bound to happen. 

(RIP Elrica, you will always be famous)

But between not playing consistently (real life will do that) and still feeling like my gear was inadequate to advance the story, I did quite a lot of wandering.  In no particular order …

I finished Kindlers of the Flame.  I loved the conclusion of this story, along with Laurana’s whole arc.  It was so well-done, and the music for the Emerald Direwolf 2 fight really had me pumped!  It took me three tries, but I did it.

I cycled between towns and did path actions with my higher wealth, fame and power.  That went mostly well but there's still some NPCs I have a super low chance to succeed with.

I carved out a path to Victor’s Hollow.  I then proceeded to make a huge mistake and sour my reputation.  It takes 10k leaves to fix!  I guess I won't be going back there for a while.

I've been fighting and winning all the fights against Heidne.  I finally did her side quest and got her to join.  She's an absolute beast.  Between her and Therion, I will have a lot of debuffs in my arsenal!

I unlocked Thief for my Chosen One.  She has Level Slash, which is super useful! It's curious that the thief costume looks a lot like the Town Watch costume with a scarf on it.  It almost makes me think that should've been my starting class after coming out of Nomos’s hideout.

Speaking of Nomos, I wonder what his deal is?  He saw Wishvale restored and didn't even stop by to say hello?  I know he's hiding something.  I'm probably a little too influenced by Lord of the Rings, but Nomos feels like a slightly nicer Gandalf expy to me, and Gandalf was hiding a lot of things.  Gandalf also happened to be one of the Maia, godlike beings.  Maybe Nomos isn't exactly mortal.  

But surely he can come to The Shire Wishvale and share a pipe drink with us!

I'll see if he's important in the Bestower arcs.  For now though, I'll pick up where I left off.  I started Master of All 7 last night, and Charles is back!  Maybe he and Alaune will find some way to turn things around.

Pardis’s plot armor has to have a crack in it somewhere.  I just need to find it and hit it with everything I've got! If his boss form(s) have 99 shields again though, I might just cry a little.

[project-rebirth]

“This force.... you sense it too, do you not?”

“Yes... I have never felt anything as terrible as this. This could be a problem.”

[project-rebirth]

“Something’s definitely wrong here....”