TwiLyghtSansSparkles

Yeah, it was fine. I had two pugs sleeping in my bed instead of just one. Portland and Vancouver (WA, not BC). One of my friends is getting married.

As good as a weekend spent packing for a trip, comforting the pugs, and cleaning can be. Of course not. Just don't ask me why Ant-Man is getting a movie before she is, because I have no clue.

And the random flooding. Don't forget that.

I have heard of it. I have found the images submitted to be equal parts hilarious and disturbing. On a more serious note, I like what they're doing. My personal standard for strong female characters is "If a male character did what she just did, would he be a hero or a psychopath?" The Initiative asks, "If a man struck this pose, would he break any bones or just look silly?" As many artists have commented, the poses struck by characters like Rogue or Jean Grey would cause permanent injury IRL, and putting Hawkeye in those poses shows how ridulously sexist they are.

At a church I once attended, the youth group went on a missions trip to Swaziland. When they got back, they said that it was a major cultural taboo for women to expose their elbows (and knees, if I recall correctly). Just a different sort of mindset, that I highly doubt comics writers were referencing. Her portrayal was....good. I liked it, but there was nothing about it that made me sit up in my chair and go "Oh my gosh! That's perfect! Halle Berry IS Storm and no one can bring what she brought to the role!" It wasn't like David Tennant or Matt Smith's runs as the Doctor. Those two had 50 years of show history backing up their own theories about who the Doctor was and how he would act during their respective regenerations, and it showed. They WERE the Doctor. Ask them why they acted a certain way in a certain scene, and they'd probably have a well-thought out reason for why the Doctor would act that way instead of another way and how that particular regeneration informed his mannerisms and how a different Doctor would have acted in the same situation. Halle Berry, on the other hand....well, I could tell she liked Storm, and understood her motivations, but I didn't get the sense of history I get with Tennant and Smith. I could tell Berry didn't have her own theories about why Storm chose to fight against Magneto or why she chose to stay with Senator Kelly as he died besides "script said so and it makes sense for her character." It was a good performance, but there was nothing definitive about it.

I think the Tangerine Crusader is every person who shops around noon ever. They care not for your lunch.

If you want a truly unique and exciting experience, you can also stay in the Newcago understreets (or the overstreets, for a little extra). If you don't hide everything you bought from the gift shop (or won in Sadeas' game show) well enough, muggers, Epics, or Epic muggers will accost you. Win against the muggers, and you get to keep your stuff. Win against the Epics, and you get to spend the rest of your trip dodging Enforcement for assassinating a head of state! ...the average person might not find that appealing, but for those who like their vacations with a side of mortal danger, it'd be a dream come true.

No, but if you could provide a link to the thing, I'd be much obliged.

Wait. You know who I just realized I want as a companion? Alfie. Craig and Sophie's son. Would he continue to call others "peasants"? Would the Doctor call him Stormageddon, and would it confuse Alfie...or trigger a memory?

I regret to inform you that "reluctantly" is also an option, but to avoid ripping open an old wound... What is your fan theory about the creature in "Midnight"'s nature, identity, and why it was drawn to Sky and then the Doctor?

Oh, Kaymyth, I'm so sorry. We had a pug named Chloe who died about two years ago. At the end, she was completely blind, half-deaf, suffered from asthma and could only recognize her people by their scents, but she was also the sweetest dog I'd ever met. When she found your hand, she'd grin and wag her tail, then sit down and ask you to scratch her ears. It's almost unfair, how sweet senior dogs can be. And your grandparents….yikes. I can't imagine how hard it must be. Hugs?

Let me guess: You're expected not to complain about any of this, even if your parents never wanted to have these cousins over in the first place, because they're family. I'm sorry, Joe. I know how that is; I really do. (I've actually been texting my sister, who had to sacrifice all of the fun things she'd had planned for our family's trip to the Northwest because our parents wanted her to visit family instead of hanging out with her friends.) Have some pugs defying their irritated owner to sit in a mud puddle.

No….no pugs? WHAT KIND OF A HORRIBLE WORLD HATH MANKIND WROUGHT Okay, okay, I'll stop pondering the *shudder* reality of that world…. If I absolutely could not have a pug, I think I'd still go for a smaller dog breed. Call me strange, but I tend to like smaller dogs, and they usually like me. So I think I'd pick either a terrier or a Pomeranian. In my experience, those two have the second most personality of smaller dog breeds, and I like dogs with personality. I'll get on it, I promise. Good question. I don't read a lot of comics, and I've read even fewer lately, but of those I have read, I think Storm tends to get the best treatment. Now, this isn't to say that the artwork doesn't accentuate her *ahem* finer features. In the Ultimate X-Men series especially, she seems to have a deep-seated need to bare her midriff. (Which, to be perfectly honest, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. She can control the weather, including cold weather like snow and freezing rain. Why would a bare midriff be an advantage in a snowstorm I don't understand this somebody please help me) And, like her male comrades, she does usually show her prowess by kicking butt and taking names. However, many comics writers have a tendency to give kick-butt female protagonists kick-butt personalities. They equate "strong" with "assertive" and "female" with "flirty." Storm, however, in most of the incarnations I've read (we don't talk about the run in the 80s when she had a mohawk and kind of talked like Mister T) is somewhat shy, a little naive, but also confident. She was worshipped as a goddess by some in her home country, and anyone can see why. Storm doesn't have the Standard Comics Heroine Personality ™, and I think that makes her a stronger character. Drums. I don't know why. I really don't. Drummers rarely get the acknowledgement they deserve, and the drum line is rarely written in a song. But then again, maybe that's why I'd want to play drums. All of the drummers I've met (and, my brother formerly being in a band that gained some local acclaim before breaking up, I met quite a few) had a good deal of natural talent, which they channeled into their music. A good drummer can make or break a band, in my opinion, and I've always wondered what drumming was like from the inside.

We'll miss you! Hope RL gets a bit less hectic here soon, so it won't be as stressful for you.

Which, incidentally, would help Steelheart's cause more than it hurt, since seeing a fearsome dictator in whimsical sunglasses would make his subjects very nervous.

Most of my Sorting was done after I'd already been using my characters for a while. I'd advise reading some of the Chats and figuring out which traits Substance embodies the most, and accentuate and explore those in future posts.

Backtrack a Gryffindor. I never would've thought I'd agree with that, but you make a good case for it. Deathwish, oddly enough, is a bit less surprising in that regard; the Gryffindor adherence to morality is portrayed as an unquestionably positive thing in the books, but really, any kind of morality could be a candidate for a Gryffindor's moral code—even morally bankrupt morality. Funtimes is a Slytherin primary/Hufflepuff secondary. As Jade Delancey, she was fiercely loyal to Her People (Courtney, most notably, but there were a few others to be expanded upon in her flashbacks). Now her loyalty has definitely been corrupted, but it has still shifted to her vanillas. Her Hufflepuff secondary, however, keeps her from demonstrating the coldness and aloofness many Slytherins are famous for, and in the past it often allowed her to expand her community from her family to a few less-close friends. Nathan is a Hufflepuff primary/Slytherin secondary. He sees caring for others, however possible, as the highest responsibility. In Newcago, he made many friends simply by treating his fellow servers with kindness and helping them however he could. A Slytherin secondary is characterized by adaptability, often as a survival mechanism. I'd say he demonstrates this, as when Funtimes decided to pretend he was an Epic, or the way he'd learn quickly how to keep the Newcago Epics happy. Koschei, oddly enough, was a Gryffindor primary/Slytherin secondary. He had that adaptability, but he also adhered to his own inner morality ("I am a god and you can either agree or die"). It's not a good morality, but it's his, and convincing him he's wrong would take quite the effort. And, as with most Gryffindor primaries, being proven wrong about his moral code would destroy him. Remington is also a Gryffindor primary, though I'm torn between Gryffindor and Slytherin for his secondary. He's loyal to those he loves, but he also sees right and wrong as paramount. What the Epics are doing is wrong, and they must be stopped wherever possible. That is a very Gryffindor attitude, but he also has the aloofness of a Petrifed Slytherin—a Slytherin who has lost faith in Their People or who has had Their People taken from them and has decided to simply go it alone. Quota….I'm not sure on. I think he actually resembles a Hufflepuff primary/Gryffindor secondary. One trait of a Hufflepuff is that people deserve to be treated with respect….however, if a person is suddenly ​not a person….well, that's Quota for you. He doesn't really see others as people, unless they're just as depraved as he is. That is his moral code and he sticks to it.

I actually found a Tumblr page that defines the Houses better than Rowling ever did. Basically…. Gryffindor: Value right and wrong, believe morality is largely instinctive and that acting on that morality is essential Ravenclaw: Also value right and wrong, but believe the truth is something you find, often disturb Gryffindors by questioning beliefs Gryffindors believe to be beyond question Hufflepuff: Value community and treating all people with respect and kindness in an effort to build a bigger and better community Slytherin: Value smaller, more tight-knit communities than Hufflepuffs, and will do anything for the people they consider "theirs" The page also holds that many of Rowling's Sortings were wrong; Draco, for instance, they think is actually a Hufflepuff primary who models Slytherin values because that is his community, and Ginny is a Slytherin primary who fights for Gryffindor not because it is right, but because it's hers. By this model, I think Regalia and David would be Gryffindors, while Obliteration would be a Ravenclaw. Edit: Yes, that is a good point. I want a flying pug now. Double edit: Yes, Illuminati. Yes you are.

To prove that not every Slytherin is evil and that the House has been demonized by an author who thinks bravery is the only admirable trait a hero needs. And because pugs don't like stairs.

Here's another question: If your characters went to Hogwarts, what Houses would they be sorted into and why? (For reference purposes, I'd be a Slytherin for one simple reason. You know how the rules say "you may bring a cat OR a rat OR an owl"? I'd bring a pug. And when McGonagall quoted the rules at me, I'd say "Screw you. Neville has a toad. My pug can beat up his toad. Well, theoretically. Point is, the rules are stupid and my pug stays.")

Funtimes: Teleport away. She might try adding a little glitter to his coat, but she knows Obliteration is one Epic she wouldn't really stand a chance against. Nathan: Go with Funtimes. Remington: Make sure Obliteration found Lightwards, then go with Funtimes. Koschei: Try to strike an alliance with him, and when that failed, fight. Not a smart idea, but his pride wouldn't let him turn it down. Quota: Offer to serve him and, if his offer was refused, try and fail to reduce Obliteration to a sobbing mess and get roasted for his trouble. Autumn: Evacuate the city. Fast.

I think one of PETA's crucial failings is in failing to consider humans as anything but villains when they choose to tell a story. Yes, humans are responsible for some of the worst treatment of animals in factory farms and elsewhere--but they have also come up with some of the best solutions. Temple Grandin has been instrumental in changing things, and other humans have made changes in small but significant ways. Animal rescue sites take abused pets and give them to owners who will find ways to work with their various wounds and disabilities. One woman has even begun a retirement home for unwanted older dogs (though who could possibly not want a sweet-as-maple-syrup senior dog is beyond me). But no, according to PETA, those people may as well not exist.

By teleporting away. Very, very quickly.

I once wrote an article about PETA along those same lines. Sarcasm was my friend. It's a good coping mechanism.