#<- the title of the collection this comic was pulled from

[antique-ro-man]

happy tiny wednesday smile wednesday

[fanaticsnail]

Saw a post about how penguins "propose" with rocks. Meaning if you were dating penguin:

He would gift you cool rocks all through your relationship but especially when he's going to propose

OR

2. That engagement ring is about to be MASSIVE

-♡♡

I loved this concept. It needed to be in a fic, ♡♡ Anon. As soon as I saw my asks starting to work again, I began this little penguin fic for you. I hope you enjoy it!

Penguin's Rock Collection

Masterlist Here

Word Count: 1,450+

Synopsis: Penguin finally tells you about each piece in his extensive rock collection, and you are left in awe when he shows you his crowning piece.

Themes: Penguin x gn!reader, fluff, proposals, Penguin is a thief, he is a kleptomaniac, kisses, proposal, cute things, just let him talk about his rocks.

Mini Part 2, Mini Part 3

When you first began dating Penguin, you were in awe with the small cluster of miscellaneous rocks he kept in his private quarters. There were only three or four lining his bed frame, littering the surface and adding an element to his side of the room that was something distinctly his. While Shachi kept tri-fold posters of various wanted bounties of his friends throughout the Blues, Penguin had a few small rocks. 

Each time you visited him in his quarters as opposed to yours, you witnessed the collection grow in vast number and size. Not before long, the shelves and cabinets in his shared room with Shachi was overwhelmed with rocks of differing textures and sizes: all labeled and tagged with the appropriate title, size, weight, and color. You laughed at the disdain Shachi would pull over his face, the scowl permanently plastered on his mouth as he flicked the overlaying cabinet with his toes and pushed it further onto Penguin’s side of the room from his recline against his bed.

As you show interest in his hobby, asking before touching any that seemed to catch your interest, and he would tell you the story behind it. Reclining back on his bed and propped onto his elbows, he would watch you with a soft smile drawn up on his lips.

“That one was from Swallow Island, just outside Wolf’s house,” he gestured to the pebble in your hands, “Nicked it from his front garden. Wanted something to remember him by.” You offered him a soft smile before placing the rock back onto the side, just above its correlating slip of paper. 

“And this one?” you ask, cocking your head to the side and gently tracing the contours of the soft shell-like stone. 

“That one was from the first time I met you,” he uttered quietly to himself, slowly stepping over his blankets to draw himself at your side, “You were wearing that green shirt. Took that piece of jade from the wall near the beach.” You furrowed your brows in confusion, sneaking a look at Shachi as he attempted to remain nonchalant while reading a comic in the corner of the room. 

“You remember my shirt?” you asked Penguin, puzzled at the attentiveness he took at the encounter. He slowly stepped over to the collection, gently brushing his hands over them before turning back to you. 

“I remember a lot of things. The rocks-... they-...” he sucked his lips into his mouth, stifling what he wanted to truly say. Shaking his head, he returned his hat-shrouded eyes to you and offered you a smile, “...They tell stories. They help me remember. Wolf, Law, even this stupid asshole.” His thumb gestured to Shachi with his thumb, who crudely elevated his middle finger in return without removing his eyes from the pages. 

“Oh?” you ask in response, smiling and raising your hand up to the cabinet, placing your weight coyly on your forearm. Further puzzlement overtook you as you peered at the expanded array of rocks, gems, golds and pebbles. “Pen, there’s quite a few here, honey. Surely you don’t have a story behind each rock you’ve stolen, you kleptomaniac.” 

He chuckled at your accusation, turning away from the shelf and rummaging around in his draws. The soft rustle had you confused, attempting to peer over his shoulder while he blocked your sight with the curve of his ass and broad shoulders. 

“Our first date, the time we spent in Sabaody Archipelago together, the beach incident where you pushed me into the water-,” he listed off, prompting you to interject with your rebuttal. 

“-I did no such thing! You fell, I laughed, and you pulled me in!” you defended yourself, moving away from the cabinet and approaching him just as he stood, “You tried to drown me.” 

“I did not,” he gasped, feigning shock and clutching both hands to his heart, “You were flailing about and I was trying to hold you still.” He chuckled at you, watching as your lips fell into a cute pout. 

“You ruined my pants by drenching them in salt water-,” you spoke, falling short when he leaned down and pressed his nose against yours. Gently rubbing the pointed tip of his nose against yours, he cooed down in response.

“-Your blue pants,” he whispered, removing his nose from dancing with yours and nodding his head back towards the cabinet, “Aquamarine from the bottom of the sea where we were swimming. Had to go back later and dive for it, I’d hope you know. Hard to do that in the dark.” 

He removed himself from your embrace and cradled something small against his chest. 

“And what have you got there, Pen? Quartz from the first time we put on our Heart Pirate uniforms together?” you teased him, scrunching your nose and softly cradling his cheeks in both of your palms. He chuckled at you, reaching up to remove his hat and place it on your own head while cradling the object against his chest with his other hand. 

“Pirate uniforms, no. Heart, yes,” he whispered intimately, withdrawing his head from yours and gazing his crystalline blue eyes deeply into your own orbs. Withdrawing his hand from his chest, he presented you with a small rectangular box lined in painted gold. Atop a small cushion lying in the center, a band of woven gold with a small, unpolished stone lying on the top. 

“This was from the moment I knew my heart belonged to you,” the softness from his confession was depicted in the deep baritone, his stature slowly sinking onto his knees, “I collected all of these rocks in the hopes of finding the perfect moment to give you this one. It’s-.”

“-Is this amethyst, Pen?” you fawned over the rock, studying its shape with your lips parted and brows triangulating up to the center of your forehead. Tears swelled in your eyes as you watched his own glaze over with a soft mist of joy. 

“From when we got separated from the crew, you sprained your ankle, and then argued with me when I tried to look after you,” he nodded in confirmation, his smile drawing up his face the longer he reminded you, “We slept in the cave, the whole thing covered in amethyst stalactites, and you let me hold you against me.” 

“But Pen...” you bit back a sob, gently reaching down and cupping his cheek in your palm, “We weren’t even together at that point-.”

“-But that’s the moment I knew my heart would always belong to you,” he darted his eyes between yours while softly nuzzling against your palm, “What would you say? If I were to give this to you as an extension of myself? To promise to love and care for you always, to be by your side as your husband? Would you-...? Will you-...?” He choked on his words, attempting to gage your reaction by holding his eyes to your own. 

You nod your head at first slowly, before your enthusiasm took over. Bobbing your head, you slink to your knees in front of him and throw yourself into his arms. Lips colliding in a messy clatter of teeth and tongues, you whimper against him as tears begin to roll down your cheeks in heavy waves. 

“So, I take that’s a yes, then?” A lazy voice called from the other side of the room, prompting you and Penguin to laugh into the kiss before breaking away from it. You called over to Shachi, without tearing your eyes away from Penguin’s.

“It’s definitely a yes,” you nod. He hastily grabs for your left hand, removing the ring from the pillow and nodding at you to gain consent before dragging it over your unity finger to the knuckle. 

Several bangs drew you away from this moment of solitude, Shachi’s balled fist colliding against the metal wall of the submarine while shouting: “It’s a yes-!” at the top of his lungs. 

Cheers reverberated in the hallway, prompting you to shake your head at the reaction from the entirety of the members aboard the Polar Tang. You gaze down at your hand, admiring the way the metal shone over your skin and danced the lights from the crystal throughout the room. Penguin couldn’t take his eyes off you: noticing the way you beamed down at his ring and wore his most prized rock with pride. 

He’ll work up the courage to tell you how much trouble it was to learn how to cast gold, welt the settings, and how he had to humble himself in front of Eustass Kid and Massacre Soldier Killer to learn how to do it properly. But that story, and its correlating, stolen, bismuth paper weight, would be for another time. For now, all he wanted to do was scoop you up, hold you close, and gush to everyone he knew how much he was in love with his beautiful fiance. 

And you would do the same.

Tag list: @mfreedomstuff @daydreamer-in-training @since-im-already-here @gingernut1314 @writingmysanity @sordidmusings @i-am-vita @indydonuts @feral-artistry @the-light-of-star @empirenowmp3 @racfoam @sunflowersatori @carrotsunshine @skullfacedlady @jintaka-hane @thenotsofantasticlifestory

[theloneotaku158]

As of Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12, local precious-gremlin-who-I-would-die-for, Maps Mizoguchi, is now officially(?) the sixth Robin. Or at the very least, she's now "in" on The Secret™.

If this isn’t a set up for her taking up the Robin mantle officially then I genuinely don’t know what is.

As one of the twelve Gotham Academy enjoyers in existence, I am having the extremely normal reaction of "FUCKING FINALLY! LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO--!"

In all honesty, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't seen this coming from miles away. Like, Maps has appeared in a number of seemingly random cameo roles recently, including Batgirls (2021), and even technically as Robin in the backup issues of Batman (2016) #119-121, and in a short story in Batman Black & White. And most of those got collected in a standalone titled "Maps of Mystery", which specifically gathered all her appearances as Robin (and the Gotham Academy Belle Reve story).

And then, of course, her recent time-travelling Future-Trunks-esque appearance in Birds of Prey (2023), as the tech-based Meridian, from a potential future timeline where she apparently makes it as a superhero using gadgets she apparently designed, proving that she's hero material.

That's not something you do for a character for no reason. That's the sort of thing you do when you want to keep a character in the conscience of your readers for whatever reason, because you have bigger plans for them.

Also interesting to consider that, in the "Mother's Day" story where this took place, Alfred is standing right there and not lying down six feet under wood, dirt and a stone slab, and that Bruce is in the old Batcave under the manor so he still has Money™. So we must assume this was some nebulous time in the past (after GA: Second Semester(?), but before City of Bane)... which I won't bother to analyse the exact timeframe of because DC doesn't care about the post-Flashpoint / New 52 / Rebirth / Prime Earth / idfk / Dawn of DC timeline, so neither should I.

But I think it's really funny that this presumably means Maps has known The Secret™ for a long time relative to present-day comics, but always acted like she didn't.

But if all her appearances are in chronological order, that means Bruce is only the fourth Bat whose identity she discovered.

Like, she discovered Cass' identity almost by accident on a trip to the zoo, Damian showed off his grapple gun and gave her an actual Batarang during the three hours he was enrolled in the school (as if she wouldn't immediately put two-and-two together even back then), and she even found out Terry fucking McGuinness would become Batman in a future via a time-travelling grandfather clock.

No I did not make that last part up. Read Gotham Academy istg.

Did Cass know that Maps had been acting as a Robin when she met her, both at the zoo in Batgirls and her future version in Birds of Prey?

Does Damian know the one (1) friend(?) he made in Gotham Academy is potentially in the running for his job?

Is Bruce himself aware that she knows as much about their identities as she currently does?

How is DC going to retcon this so it all makes sense in the barely-functioning canon of the modern DC universe?

I'm digressing. Where was I going with this?

Point is, she's destined to become a Robin, and I'm glad DC finally pulled their fingers out their asses and capitalised on that destiny.

Let's just hope it doesn't take another year for them to follow up on this plotline again.

Bonus: Jason Todd, after learning of Bruce taking yet another happy kid under his wing as yet another Robin, giving her some advice:

[satuguro]

*ೃ࿐TO FAULT A NET

[ ACT I: KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE ]

spiderman! ethan landry x black cat! reader

#SYNOPSIS— you stumble across a murder, ethan has daddy issues, you think spider-man's an easy fight, and spider-man makes a deal with you.

#CONTAINS— enemies to lovers, slowburn, antihero&vigilante reader, familial issues, gore, blood, murder, death, sexual/suggestive content (in this part & some other parts), reader is overly flirtatious

#AUTHORSNOTE— is anyone really surprised that i started a new series? no, but i will warn you rn that this series won't be incredibly accurate to marvel and scream (obviously), so if that bothers you, don't read!

your feet moved quickly as you ran from rooftop to rooftop, the sound of distant sirens moving father and farther away from you was like music to your ears. it would've calmed you down— maybe even slowed your running —if it weren't for the fact that you had a shadow. a comically dressed shadow in red and blue.

the continuous sounds of webs being shot at you was the only thing keeping you running towards nothing. running away from the metropolitan museum (which you didn't even steal from, by the way) with some insect man close to your feet.

"hey, wait! lady, stop!"

and he wouldn't shut up. constantly calling at you, trying to catch your attention like some fanatic. it would've almost been cute if you weren't avoiding capture.

you didn't even turn back to look at him, forcing your body to move faster and faster until your momentum was stopped by a web hitting your ankle. you growled in annoyance, reaching down with your unsheathed claws to cut yourself free from the webbing, until you were harshly pulled onto a roof by the masked hero himself.

you laid on the rooftop, staring up at new york's very own spider-man (who was never a problem until a couple months ago, when he seemingly appeared out of nowehere). covering your obvious discontent, you smiled a malicious smile. "hi, spider," you said, before kicking his knee back and forcing him to fall. his groan of pain met your ears as you threw a punch at his face, one he quickly dodged.

"are you another hero?" he asked between kicks and punches, completely ignoring the fact that you were both in a fight. it didn't seem like much of a problem for him, as he was far too focused at multitasking between asking you personal questions and dodging your attacks. "i take that questions back— if you were, you wouldn't be attacking me right now," another dodge, "but you brought that painting back to the museum! but you also stole it so it's a bit of a question of morality, so i think i have to turn you in—"

you grabbed his arm and pinned it behind his back, your other hand coming up to wrap around his neck. your sharp claws dug into his neck, making him hiss in pain as you leant in close to his ear. "do you really think you can turn me in?" your hand let go of his neck but remained close to his face, your pointer finger coming to play with the edge of his mask. you pulled it up, only making it halfway up his face, before he broke free from your grasp.

but once he turned around, you were already gone.

some say that when your father died, the rich people of new york were finally able to breathe. finally, their endless valuables were finally safe, their priceless collections of stolen art, their rows of cars enough to pay any college kid's tuition, and their bank accounts were now all free from his iron grasp. gone was the man who had taken what he wanted and got it, gone was any trace of his legacy or his family; walter hardy was dead.

he always claimed that of all the valuables in his hands had taken, you were his most prized possession. the one person he would lay down his life for, and to have him gone.. it was all too unfair. all too wrong for him to die trying to get back to his daughter.

so that was why you had taken his place. black cat no longer became something policemen and journalists used to reference your father. that title was something you chose to share with him, because as policemen talked over their little radios about the burglary on west 81st street, you were already miles away, listening to their pathetic voices over the radio.

it was halloween in new york, and while many homeowners chose to stay home and tend to their candy duty, others were off partying at their friends' houses, oblivious to the fact that you had already deactivated the alarm to their home. three houses in the span of one night; you were sure that your greed would be your downfall one day.

but as you raised your hand up to the moon, watching how the rays of light danced along your wrist, you knew in your heart that your greed ran deeper than simple wants. you had your reasons.

a blood curdling scream met your ears, making you hurriedly shove the jewels into a pack and unsheathe your claws, ready to attack. walked near the edge of the building, the squelching sound of blood reached your ears, making you all the more on edge as you peered off the side just in time to watch a man shove a mask (the same mask from that one movie, stab) into his bag and turn a corner.

your eyes focused on the woman in yellow, dead and seated against the wall with blood pouring from her chest like a fountain. not a sound was made as you climbed down the wall and landed on your feet, cautious as you stepped closer to the unresponsive body.

"fuckin' asshole," you murmured as you observed the body, eyebrows furrowing. the woman, blonde and pretty, looked familiar to you. leaning down to take a closer look at her face (and careful not to step in the growing pool of blood around her), your eyes widened when you fully took in your features.

that was a film professor at your college.

wordlessly, you pulled out your phone and called a number you've never typed in your life.

"manhattan police department," the policeman stated.

"laura crane was just murdered in front of a manhattan bar." and with a click, you hung up.

the sound of that familiar thwip and landing feet made detective bailey roll his eyes in annoyance. just when they had gotten the reporters and journalists in control— a certain masked individual just had to make an appearance. "you aren't supposed to be here," he said in annoyance, turning to look at the masked hero.

"don't you know my m.o by now? like, isn't that your job?" spider-man asked with a cock of his head, obviously enjoying his teasing. "but you can't really.. not allow me to be here. i'm here to help, after all."

"i'm not letting some kid help," detective bailey practically growled, but the hero was already pushing past him to look at the body.

from beneath the mask, ethan hid his shock at the sight of one of his college's professors, dead and staring blankly into empty space. as if constantly being around his estranged his father wasn't enough; now a professor from his college was dead.

"what? bug man finally ran out of things to say?" detective bailey asked snarkily, making ethan snap out of his stupor.

"no, da— detective," ethan said in a faux matter-of-fact voice, squatting down to look closer at the dead body. he almost cringed at the slip up he just made; if only his father knew. "can't a man observe in silence?"

it wasn't like ethan had planned his superhero life out. he had moved to new york right after his brother's death for college, and being desperate to leave his brother's horrible crimes behind, he changed his last name. calls to his dad and his sister became texts. visits became nonexistent. even after he was bitten and took on the superhero roll he was desperate to move on, and right when he believed he finally was, his dad and sister moved to new york.

ethan didn't tell any of his friends that he was related to richie, nor did he tell them that he was the detective's kid. all they knew was that quinn was his sister, and while it hurt to pretend as though richie never existed, it was for the best. he left that life behind him, and quinn seemed to respect that at least.

"how'd you find her?" ethan asked a nearby cop.

"anonymous tip around the time she was murdered."

his eyes took in the gruesome scene in front of him. his eyes drifted to professor crane's blank face, before following the splashes of blood on the brick behind her. his eyes squinted as he continued to look up the wall, the dots connecting when he saw familiar claw marks above the body. they were faint, so faint, that if ethan hadn't seen them before, then he was sure that the police wouldn't have.

he raised his hand, and with another thwip of his webs, he was gone.

ethan was searching for any sign of you. a part of him hoped that you weren't within the confines of your home hiding behind your civilian name. there was a possibility that you helped kill the professor. maybe you were an accomplice. regardless of your role in it all, ethan was sure that you had seen something and chose to keep it to yourself. you had your own reasons for doing so; you believed you were far more clever than anyone. maybe you were.

the scratches on the walls were something you left behind. ethan knew that; he had literally been choked by those claws of yours when he first took up his job as a hero. he didn't want to believe that you you were quicker than him, but the fact that you had gotten away.. to say that he wasn't annoyed by it would be a lie.

he later learned who you were because of his father during one of their awkward dinners. the black cat.

he hadn't invited quinn this time. it was as though he was trying to strictly have some father-son time with ethan; some pathetic attempt at reconnecting, he assumed. if reconnecting meant taking him out to a thai restaurant and only talking about his job or richie and never asking ethan anything beyond the, "how's college?" question.

but something within his father's ramble about work had caught ethan's attention. home burglaries were a huge problem, that much ethan knew, but this had been the first time he ever heard his father talk about it; much less talk about who he suspects had done it.

"they call her black cat. witnesses have only ever seen enough of her to know she's a lady—"

"who do you think she is?" ethan asked, unable to stop himself as he leaned forward in his chair. so that was who he caught running along the roofs of new york. the one person who had gotten away from him.

"some fan of the original black cat, walter hardy. either that," his father put a forkful of pad thai in his mouth, chewing and swallowing, "or his daughter. there's no record of them, though."

"do you think they're the ones who stole from all those houses?"

"that's all i'm saying about the subject, ethan," his father said sternly, looking him up and down suspiciously. "just eat your food."

it didn't take much for you to catch yourself up on the stab murders. you had only heard a little bit about it; not because you lived under a rock, but because you didn't care. not until now, at least.

tara and sam carpenter. tara was in your psych class at blackmore university; you had talked to her enough times that she was probably the closest person you had to a 'friend,' as off as it sounded. you had a similar humor and she wasn't the type to pry over your past (which made sense now, after you scrolled mindlessly through your phone to catch up on the continuous murders).

that was why you were watching their apartment building from the building right in front of it. you had only seen them through their window, but at least you knew they were alive. on any other day you would've called anyone in your position creepy, but you considered this to be lawful stalking.

truthfully, you weren't sure why you were doing this. maybe you had gotten soft ever since you started college. maybe you were bored.

you toyed with a golden locket you had stolen that night, eyes set on their forms moving in and out of sight. you were so focused on them, something akin to worry thrumming through your veins until a web hit your back and dragged you away from the edge of the building. your back scratched across the roof floor, and as you looked up, you saw the familiar red and blue suit you had only ever seen from afar.

“hi, kitty,” spider-man said, almost smiling.

you practically hissed at the sight of him, your hands making quick work of unsheathing your claws as you narrowly dodged another web. you moved quickly and kicked him in the face, letting him hit the ground for just a second before you were straddling, legs tight around him as you grabbed his hands and held it above him. your claws came close to his wrists, the shining metal threatening to break and hurt his web makers.

"oh, spider. i didn't know you liked me enough to stalk me." you smiled wickedly, pressing the metal closer to his wrists. you could feel something bulky underneath his suit, and your malicious grin only grew as you pressed harder against it.

"i don't like you," the super hero said annoyedly, making you scoff in amusement.

"are you sure?" you leaned closer to him, practically touching your nose against his mask. "then why aren't you fighting back right now?" you sent him one last grin before your hand left his wrists. you stood up, not even bothering to offer him a hand as you let your claws come out fully, one of your hands reaching for your gun. "what do you want?"

"i needed to ask you questions about the murder of laura crane," spider-man grumbled, standing up and crossing his arms at you. he looked at the apartment building before glancing back at you, the eyes of his mask narrowing. "why're you watching tara and sam's apartment?"

"why do you know that tara and sam live there?" you fired back, raising a brow. it was moments like these where you were happy you had a mask that at least covered half your face; the more you heard the spider-boy speak, the more you noticed how young his voice sounded. what if he went to your college? what if he was friends with them?

"because based on their history, they're vulnerable to attacks. i know that— being the friendly neighborhood spiderman ‘n all," he said, and you swore he rolled his eyes. "but it doesn't make sense for a criminal like you—"

"that's unnecessarily rude."

"to be watching them.” he looked you up and down, eyes seemingly lingering on your grappling hook and pack of god knows what that were strapped to your sides. the hero’s head then snapped up to look at you. “did you kill her? laura crane?” even he seemed unsure by his own question, the uncertainty in his tone making you shrug nonchalantly.

"do you think i did?" you asked, "you seem unsure yourself."

a pause. "no, i don't. but you know something, and you need to tell me what it is."

you glanced at the apartment building before looking down at your nails, absentmindedly observing them. "what's in it for me?" you asked, not even looking up at new york's favorite hero.

"i don't bring you to the police."

"as if you could do that before," you scoffed, rolling your eyes. you heard him exhale slowly, a smirk appearing on your face at the sound. you were getting to him; with every snarky comment, you pissed him off more and more. and the sadistic part of you loved it. "don't you remember? you couldn't even catch me the first time. sad, isn't it?"

"i'm not gonna make that same mistake again," he said firmly, walking closer to you. stiffly, he brought his gloved hand out. "you tell me what you know and you help me—"

"well, don't word it like that," you muttered. "i'm only telling you information, spider. i'm not being your stupid sidekick."

"you aren't," he said, "but since you're such a well known felon, you could help me figure out who's the murderer. see if they're a criminal, if they were hired by anyone, anything." he sighed. "you help me, and i let you go. deal?"

warily, you looked at him up and down. you weren't one to make deals with anyone, much less a masked hero who was loved by practically everyone. but you found yourself wrapping your black gloved hand around his and shaking it once. "fine."

ACT II, ACT III, ACT IV, ACT V, EPILOGUE

#AUTHOR'S NOTE— feel free to ask to be on the taglist! i'm also sorry for all the typos lol

[regular-gnome]

Hi, I've see your art before and it looks goregous especially with your interpretation of the Archivists/collectors

I wonder if you did one art that showed the creation of the Collectors/who the "Eclipse Queen" might be (going off of the book and I know it's SVTFOE reference but still, the potential)?

Also, what does the home of the Archivists look like from inside and out

I hope I don't bother you though...

In my worldbuilding there isn't really much space for a monarchy. Unless a collector at some point decided to call themselves by this title either among mortals, part of play, or just losing their mind in void, but in beginning of january I did draw concept for a very similar question just never posted it

About creation of collectors I'm guessing you mean the forming of one? I made a short comic on the tiny horror forming a while back

Archive is bit more difficult to draw. Its a big complicated place of interlocking and moving collection hallways and halls. I made sketches around it but didn't finish them yet. Location drawings are bit more technical and I want it to make physical sense, even if the whole place is supplemented by magic. There are parts of archive that have air and more that don't, there is the question of places that do have a "gravitational" pull and places where its not necessary and how it affects whats inside. Its a enormous space but most of it is "dormant" collections and the new ones are constantly added and attached In any case, its something I'm working on:P

[jariten]

MAY-JUNE 2024 ROUNDUP!

No intro as I've got nothing to say aside from, well everything I want to say about these titles so lets get to it

Baby Blue Heaven by Nao Tsutsumitani is the story of Shouko who had to take the place of her late mother in the household, meaning she is day in and day out doing thankless jobs for thankless people. Like her shut-in father who takes her presence for granted, and her runaway sister who suddenly reappears highly pregnant. At the brink of her sanity Shouko must make a decision between the comfort of her family members who refuse to take care of themselves, and freedom and agency for herself. While a short read that imo could've worked and been even more engaging long form (and it's messaging could've been even harsher!) I found its conclusion to be very effective. Not to mention I also find it very satisfying to experience works like this that allow women to reject the familial structures that they involuntarily have to participate in.

Ball and Chain is Minami Qta's most recent work and currently serialized on the website Shuro. Ball and Chain follows two different people. One is a middle aged housewife contemplating divorce from her husband who acts like she doesn't even exist. But how can she pursue divorce when she is unable to work to support herself after a bout of severe illness? The second is Kei, a gender nonconforming woman engaged to a man who becomes even less and less supportive as their wedding approaches. Feeling more conflict with who she is, as opposed to how she's perceived Kei questions her sexuality as well as gender identity. While I'm still only on the first volume I am so looking forward to reading the rest of this story. Kei's storyline I am especially looking forward to as Minami Qta are tapping into their own gender journey as a nonbinary person which they've been very open about on social media. Not to mention it made me really want to go back and explore their whole manga catalogue, yet another project I can't wait to get to! (soon?🥲)

I also finally got to read the works of Fumiko Okada. One of the very young breakout stars of Osamu Tezuka's manga magazine COM, and is several of my favorite manga artists' favorite manga artist. ODESSEY 1966-2005 compiles most her works from the COM era as well as some of her doujinshi work from the late 1960's. The way she played with not just style but also form and technique is to this day still no other comic read from anywhere really. I don't know how else to describe it other than the stories are unquestionably dreamlike but with a tangible form to them. While her legacy from COM is talked about by some like that of legends today, the rest of her career is rather sad. She unfortunately retired from manga very early, had a brief comeback in the late 1970's on the encouragement of Moto Hagio and her editor, but soon after put away her pen again. She attempted one more comeback in the 1990's but was this time actively discouraged from returning to manga when she was told by Keiko Takemiya that she no longer understood the industry. She then passed away in 2005 only 55 years old. Some of her one-shots I know have been scanlated here and there but I hope a collection like this become licensed in english in the near future esp as this collection excluded her comeback works.

Last I just want to highlight Kefuzo Kataku wo: Kasuga no Tsubone by Riyoko Ikeda. A fictionalized account of the life of Lady Kasuga no Tsubone who was a key figure in the Tokugawa Shogunate when she became the wetnurse of Iemitsu. I really liked how it had the time to tell a story that highlighted the tensions of a country moving from a period of constant war and conflict to a peaceful one and how the internal politics had to be navigated to keep this new government from immediately collapsing on itself. And I loved seeing that Ikeda can totally pull off a Japanese historical setting as well. The art is lush and detailed, we aren't spared on the grisly details either and went down way easier than other works made explicitly on commission as "learn history/litterature from manga" that I've read. (though in most of those cases the fault lies in me not having the basic education on Japanese history that high schoolers in Japan have gone through.)

[avaantares]

Guardian Bonus Bingo: Answer

Okay, I'm going to have to cheat a little on this. I do have an absolutely IDEAL scene for the @guardianbingo "Answer" fill, one that contains the exchange

"Does that answer your question, [name redacted]?"

"If I say no, will you repeat the answer?"

...but I realized I can't post it as a fill because it's the penultimate scene in the (very long) story I'm (hopefully) about to start posting, and as such it would be a spoiler. And since there are a few dozen chapters ahead of it -- most of which I still need to finish editing, and definitely won't have ready before the end of the amnesty period -- I can't just post the rest of the story early to fill the prompt. >.<

So since that can't go live just yet, and I doubt that two lines of dialogue out of context constitutes a bingo fill, I'm going to tackle a question that probably has no definitive answer (see what I did there?). It's one that has mystified me every time I've rewatched this series, and which (conveniently) I was prompted to ask again while pulling gifs from episode 3 for my last bingo fill. The question is:

"Why Do We Even HAVE That Library?"

(If you read that in Izma's voice, you get it.)

The SID has a library. We see it several times throughout the series. But we aren't sure why it has a library, because Zhu Hong straight up states that it's not functional:

...And looking at the books, it's clear that the SID library really is the collection of all time. What's the theme? By what criteria are books selected for inclusion? How are the books catalogued? Why are half of them upside-down on the shelves? Why are there a dozen duplicate copies of several titles? WHO KNOWS?

(Well, probably Sang Zan, eventually. But he's not here yet.)

To probe this mystery, I decided to zoom in and see what I could make of the books. And lo and behold, some of the books have legible titles!

Bottom shelf, left to right:

BLOOD RITE Dominique (not sure if that's an author or a subtitle)

CLASSICAL NOVEL (very original title, that)

Arletta (the Comic Sans nightmare that appears all over the place in various cover colors)

(indecipherable; I think it's both in Chinese and upside-down on the shelf, but it's out of focus)

the statue of liberty (style preserved)

LUXURY HOTELS

Read It Yourself With (last word cut off)

CENTURY

BLOODY HARVEST: The Killing of Falun Gong for Their Organs (I am actually surprised by this one; I had assumed this book was banned by the CCP, but there are multiple copies here)

CENTURY (upside-down this time!)

THE CATCHER IN THE (presumably RYE)

Next shelf:

The People's Lawyer

Unicist Organizational Cybernetics

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE (volume numbers obscured by Zhu Hong's hand; it's the book she's taking down)

Something with an approximation of the American flag and a bunch of languages on the spine

untitled

untitled

BLOOD RITE Dominique (same book as lower shelf)

OUYE Sofa + Furniture (this one's repeated all over the shelves, along with CENTURY and Arletta)

Basics of Modern Economic Management (translated title)

Corporate Finance (translated title)

the 10Ks of Personal Branding

GLOWIENKA

GLOWIENKA (but upside-down)

In addition to many duplicates of these books on other shelves, other titles visible on the wide angle pans include:

Anne of Green Gables (good to know this classic also exists on Haixing)

The American Journal of Medicine (we already suspected America existed on Haixing, given the flag stool in ZYL's apartment)

Imperial Crown

Charles Darwin: The Descent of Man (parallel evolution on Haixing? *rimshot*)

The Hotel Book

None of these titles seem particularly relevant to the SID's function -- except, perhaps, for the Justice of the Peace regulations, which Zhu Hong was actually looking for -- which makes me think there must either be a secret code of some kind, or the SID once raided an IKEA OUYE and took all their prop display books into evidence, and then someone at the SID later saw all the books and assumed it was a reference library.

A lot of the titles in this scene aren't really clear, but when I have time to pull up later episodes that have scenes dealing with the library specifically (Zhao Xinci visiting, et al.), it might be fun to grab some frames, enhance with the magic of Photoshop, and put them on my 4K display to see if I can find other interesting titles.

Also, I don't have time to go looking just now, but I'd bet the books in the library are duplicates of the ones in Shen Wei's apartment, which I seem to remember being pretty random. They recycled so much of the set dressing, I can't imagine there would be more than one collection of weird shelf-fill.

Zhao Yunlan's tastes, on the other hand, are a bit narrower. The most prominently-displayed book in his apartment is just titled Furniture.

[genericpuff]

How am I supposed to find indie webcomics? I’m up-to-date on a handful of them and love them all but I’m just not sure how to find new ones. Most searches for webcomics lead you to the mainstream sites.

I mean mainstream sites are fine in and of themselves if you're following the series you like there (especially if the creators of those comics are trying to opt into things like Ad Rev), but if you're wanting to find stuff outside of Webtoons and Tapas, here are some other methods to do so:

Random Webcomic - About as unbiased as you can get, literally sends you to the website for a comic it pulls at random. All comics in the roulette are user-submitted so for the most part, they're all still active or at least have live sites. Sometimes you'll find the odd broken link tho ;0

Top Webcomics - A collective of webcomics competing for top spots. Offers plenty of ad space where people advertise their comics whether or not they make it to the top of the voting pool. And has genre listings you can browse if competitive listings aren't your thing.

The Webcomic List - A collection of webcomics submitted by users that are then crawled by the site's bots to check for new updates. It has a list for most recently updated, but also sorts by genre. Definitely one of the most "old school" listings to exist.

SpiderForest - A jury-picked collection of webcomics. Once every year or two they open submissions where people can pitch their new or ongoing comics - if they're picked, they get a special listing and features on the site, and can either have their existing website affiliated with SF branding or have a new site created for them by the staff. It's all non-profit and it mostly serves as a community of creators and readers, they are not a publisher, but they offer a wide variety of titles.

Hiveworks - Similar concept to SpiderForest except they're an actual publisher so they offer even more benefits to their selected creators including print deals and merchandising, but as such they're way harder to get into. Their submissions have been closed for a VERY long time but they offer a wide array of comics that typically appeal to general-audiences (i.e. there are no NSFW comics AFAIK).

GlobalComix - A platform that, while not new anymore, has been making strides in competing with platforms like Webtoons and Tapas. Has a lot of Western-style comics but their library variety has been growing and I'm pretty sure they're planning on releasing an app soon (if they haven't already).

ComicFury - The final frontier of old school early 2000's webcomic platforms. Run by one guy, this site allows for full HTML/CSS customization, domain hosting, and all those fun little things from an era long gone by. The front page sorting is set to "Recently updated" by default so there's no algorithm bullshit, no editors playing favorites, just classic 2000's era reading.

As a final note, the best part about browsing for comics that have their own sites is that they usually include listings of other comics that are similar to their own. Sites like Tamberlane will often have roulettes of other recommended comics that you can sift through.

There are plenty other comic aggregation sites out there too, of course, but these ones should help you get started if you're looking for other platforms and archives that aren't subject to corporate scrubbing or picky algorithms. It helps decentralize the Internet just a little bit more and rejuvenate what made webcomics so amazing in the first place - independent ownership, accessibility, and unapologetic existence.

Enjoy! <3

[batmannotes]

Super Friends: The Complete Series (DVD & Blu-ray) Box Set

Super Friends: The Complete Collection Box Set comes in two different formats; standard definition DVDs and for the very first time, High-Definition Blu-rays. 

Super Friends 1973 Blu-Ray Screenshot

The Super Friends is an animated television series which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup. Sadly, kids today will never know the excitement of waking up early on a Saturday morning and watching wall-to-wall cartoons. Back then there was no streaming your favorite animated series on your tv or mobile devices whenever you wanted, however you did get your fill of kids programming on the weekends. 

The All-New Super Friends Hour 1977 Blu-Ray Screenshot

The show was produced by Hanna-Barbera, who was behind tons of cartoons back in the day like the Flintstones and Jetsons. The Super Friends were obviously members of the Justice League from DC Comics that were rebranded in name. Throughout the show’s 12 year run it had slight name variations like The All-New Super Friends Hour, The Challenge of the Super Friends (which was my personal favorite year), and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, among others. Here is a list of the different name changes through the years. 

Super Friends (1973–1974) 

The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977) 

Challenge of the Super Friends (1978) 

The World's Greatest Super Friends (1979) 

Super Friends (1980–1983) 

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984) 

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985) 

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985) 

The great news here is that you will find all 9 seasons of the 12-year run in this box set including The Lost Episodes. This release has an amazing runtime of 3142 minutes. The Blu-ray version contains 16 discs and the dvd version has 21. Upon doing a side by side comparison of my old DVDs of the show and the newly released version of DVDs, I really can’t notice any difference, however since the old DVDs are out of print and hard to find nowadays this is a great way of collecting all the episodes in one place if you simply want to collect the show on DVD. 

Comparing the original DVD (left) with the 2024 release (right)

However, my excitement for this release is definitely for the Blu-ray version. This is the first time that fans can add the high-definition version to their home library. Looking at a side-by-side comparison of the original standard defintion DVD version next to the newly released Blu-ray version you immediately notice the beautiful upgrade in color. The animation gets a boast in chroma, unfortunately, that seems to be where the upgrade ends. Little attention was given to cleaning up the film cels that make up the picture here, as spots and other insincerities are still obvious. After so many complaints about how Warner Bros. remastered Max Fleischer's Superman cartoons, the studio is a bit more careful now on how they clean up these older animated titles. Here they were a little too careful … maybe even just lazy.

Comparing the original DVD (left) with the 2024 Blu-Ray (right)

You will also notice this is a very bare-bones release. There is no accompanying booklet or physical extras and NO DIGITAL COPY. On the discs themselves you will find the same extra featurettes that were on the original DVDs such as One-Dimensional Goodness: The Super Friends and the Good Old Days, The Super Powers Collection: The Effect of the Toy Industry on the Super Friends, among a host of others. These featurettes do not receive any upgrades in picture or sound. One of the most annoying things to me is the actual box the discs are in. The discs do not pull out easily from their holder and they certainly don’t pop back into to place without some serious frustration. The bracket on my box set also broke away from the box itself within the first couple times of opening it up. The discs themselves are also extremely basic. No artwork of the characters like most of the original DVDs had on them. That said, the titles are easy to read and presented in an assorted color for each season. 

Shot of open Blu-Ray Box Set/Discs

But let’s face it, the real reason fans are grabbing this release with such delight is for the show itself. For many of us this was an introduction to the superheroes such as Batman & Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Green Lantern. Long before I picked up my first comic book, I watched the Super Friends each and every Saturday morning, rain or shine. Not only was this how I discovered comic books, but it was also my entry way into superhero toys and collectibles. Last year I was really pushing to get this box set released for the Super Friends 50th anniversary, but I will say it puts a huge smile on my face to own every episode now in HD in this mega box set. The lack of extra aside, this is a must-have for Justice League fans. Check out the link here where you can grab a copy for yourself. 

Check out links below for purchase options

The greatest of the DC superheroes work together to uphold the good with the help of some young proteges. Produced by Hanna-Barbera, Super Friends is an animated TV series, featuring the Justice League of America, that ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part the Saturday morning cartoon lineup.

Blu-Ray Box Set available: https://amzn.to/4d8hfaR

DVD Box Set: https://amzn.to/3Bbi99l

Watch the video review below:

[jesncin]

Sons of Mars refs and nods pt1

I put a lot of references into Sons of Mars and I thought it'd be fun to have a post detailing all the nods and research from the comics there are!

The title is a spin on the Martian Manhunter solo (written by John Ostrander and drawn by Tom Mandrake) collection title.

We pulled the idea of J'onn and Ma'al going on a pilgrimage as a form of revisiting their origin story from the first issue of the "Son of Mars" collection, Pilgrimage. This line is lifted more or less from the comic (we even wanted J'onn to be talking to Clark like he does in the source material).

Double Stuff the cat is from Action Comics #1037 Martian Manhunter: A Face In The Crowd (written by Shawn Aldridge and art by Adrianna Melo)

This line about memories being passed down as a form of history is from In my Life (pt 1) (written by Ostrander, drawn by Eduardo Barreto). We pulled most of J'onn and Ma'al's relationship from this comic, since it goes into a lot of detail about their origin.

The general look of Mars (from the martians to the environments) largely pull from Martian Manhunter 2019: Identity (written by Steve Orlando with art by Riley Rossmo). I really like that they clearly took their time to develop a unique visual language for Mars, especially the organic look of the buildings and the fun shapes of the spaceships. Rossmo does not get enough credit for creating such a fresh take on not only the environments but the martians as well! All the martians look unique and have different outfits, which we wanted to do as well!

Our only rule for the environment was that we didn't want any pyramids. Because ancient astronaut theory is racist garbo and I don't want it in my Martian worldbuilding!

This page with Sha'sheen and M'yrnn is a direct homage to their page from In my Life. Idk how it happened but the parents look very t4t in our version lol

Another homage to In my Life. I wanted to imitate the color scheme and the martian outfits here too.

More In my Life homages! This time it's the manhunter training montage.

Telescope romance scene is from MM 2019: Identity! The color scheme and the vibes were already great, I didn't change much haha. M'yri'ah's characterization, J'onn geeking out about other planets, and J'onn's parents' disapproval of M'yri'ah as a partner are all from Identity. I really liked how that story fleshed her out as a character.

I also based M'yri'ah's design off of her Identity true and public forms. I went for less pixar-mom hourglass shape and more buff and built since she's a fighter in our version. We wanted her to be as much a renaissance man as J'onn is often depicted as.

M'yri'ah refers to Earth as Thu'ulc'andra and Mars is referred to as Ma'aleca'andra in our comic. This is a continuation of Ostrander referencing CS Lewis' Space Trilogy for how martians named other planets. However! In Ostrander's version he named earth Per'elandra, which is what Venus is referred to in the Space trilogy. This was later changed via community poll by Orlando for Identity.

Kind of a homage to In my Life (pt3): Earthfall, but really I found an opportunity to continue the tradition of showcasing martian boinking that always happens in J'onn's origin story for some reason.

Not a Martian Manhunter reference, but more a new spin on White Martians. Inspired off of the Draag from the French film, Fantastic Planet. I love colossal set pieces~

More In my Life parallels :>

That's all I can fit into one post for now! Pt 2 coming soon :)

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3

[darrylayo]

Good morning internet—it’s me, Ayo

Most of the time, I log onto this website when I want to get charged up with motivation to doodle on my iPad. The funny thing is that I don’t have my iPad with me at work so I’m just teasing myself until I get home, haha

This morning, I have been googling the artwork of Leonard Starr, who made a long-running soap opera comic strip from the ‘50s through the ‘70s. Title was Mary Perkins, On Stage. There’s some out of print book collections of the strip, so it’s probably better to search online and gaze lovingly at this artwork.

Lately, my friends in the indie comics community have been bemoaning the lack of institutional support for adult-focused comics. Please forgive me for pulling out my old topic but the answer to this lies in newspaper comic strips. In the thirties through the eighties, there were plenty of adult-focused comics. But they were in the papers, not in graphic novels. If it’s all the same to you, perhaps a shift in focus away from the book-shaped comics of the graphic novel format and toward the strip-shaped comics of the newspaper serial format can be a way to bring comics to regular adult readers’ attention.

I know what you’re thinking: people don’t read newspapers anymore!

Yes, of course. I don’t mean to focus on the literal paper papers. But I mean that we should think about getting our comics in front of adults where adults are. Newspapers are often read on websites. Why shouldn’t the comics be right there with the other sections? Other media websites, same question. Back in the Buzzfeed days, there were a couple of regular Buzzfeed comics on-staff and those comics were unsurprisingly among the more well-known comics of that era.

Comics people keep making this mistake of trying to convince people to go out of their way to engage with comics. Not the right instinct! We all need to go out of our way to place comics in front of where people already are reading things.

[geekcavepodcast]

"X-Men: Xavier's Secret" One-Shot Collects 6 Issues of "X-Men: From the Ashes" Infinity Comic

Marvel Comics has announced a print release of the first six issues of Alex Paknadel and Diógenes Neves' X-Men: From the Ashes Infinity Comic. The issues will be collected into a one-shot titled X-Men: Xavier's Secret #1.

"In the wake of the fall of Krakoa, the X-Men are forever changed. As Jean Grey prepares to take her place among the stars, she and Cyclops share a last night together, only to discover a hidden mystery that threatens to pull them apart.

Meanwhile, what was supposed to be a mundane article about Charles Xavier’s monstrous acts during the war turns into something far stranger for journalist Sally Floyd. Can the X-Men survive the shadows lurking in their pasts, or will their new era begin in tragedy?" (Marvel Comics)

X-Men: Xavier's Secret #1, featuring a cover by Martín Cóccolo, goes on sale on January 22, 2024.

(Image via Marvel Comics - Martín Cóccolo's Cover of X-Men: Xavier's Secret #1)

[gorogues]

Flash Rogues Advent Calendar, Day 23

Title: `Tis Better To Give Day: December 23rd Rating: PG Warnings: A reference to the Rogues being crass. Summary: Anything can be competitive if you try hard enough.

Hartley knocked at the door with some trepidation, which only increased when Len opened it.  Both narrowed their eyes at the other.

“I’m here at your request,” Hartley said curtly, and the other man nodded.  “So what’s up?”

“We need an impartial observer to judge something, and you don’t really like any of us.  I’d ask Dillon, but you know how that’d go,” Len replied as he ushered the musician inside.  Most of the Rogues were gathering in the foyer, and they seemed to be arguing heatedly.

“Of course.  What’s the competition?  Most creative cheating at poker?  Trashiest collection of playing cards?”

(Hartley well-remembered the time the other guys had compared their favourite adult poker sets, as he’d never seen so many nude women in his life.)

“You’ll see.”

A few minutes later, Mick opened the door to the Rogues’ ‘living room’ and grinned excitedly at everyone waiting.  “It’s ready, guys!  Come look!”

The gang trooped into the other room, which was set up with one of the most spectacular Christmas trees Hartley had ever seen…and he’d seen a lot.  It was huge and lit with hundreds of coloured bulbs, decorated with festive ornaments that had probably been stolen from a store’s truck, and it concealed a rich bounty underneath: many wrapped gifts.

“What is this..?” Hartley asked with confusion.  In moments, Mark carried Josh into the room as both beamed widely, and the toddler became even more excited when he saw the beautiful tree.

“There’s tha wean of the hour!” Evan exclaimed, and he took a photo of Josh’s smiling face. 

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Len said when he saw the camera, and pressed an even fancier one into Hartley’s hands.  “Could you get some pics of him opening the presents, please?”

Hartley was beginning to get very puzzled and even a little alarmed.  Cold never said please.  What was happening here?

“Open mine first!  Mine!” Axel insisted as he bounced around with tangible excitement.  Mark smiled and reached for the two boxes wrapped in bright comic book pages, handing them to his delighted son.

“Twee!” Josh burbled happily as he tore the wrapping off the gifts, throwing the paper wherever he could.  He squealed with joy when he saw the cute bath toys inside, and began to play with them when Mark took them out of the box.  Hartley and Evan took a few photos of his happy face and new toys.

“I got him that,” Axel declared smugly.  “I bought them at the store, didn’t even steal them.”

Josh pointed at a box wrapped with fiery-looking paper and Mick jumped to his feet with eager anticipation.  “That one’s from me!”

Mark handed it over and the toddler tore off the paper with determination, revealing a cute little outfit festooned with smiling cartoonish flames: pajamas, socks, and tiny mittens.  Josh loved this too, and Mick beamed with happiness at the child’s obvious delight.

Mark picked up a box with orange and green wrapping paper, and Evan didn’t need to say who it was from.  He looked tense and excited as Josh pulled off the paper, then grinned with relief as the baby reacted joyfully to the magnifying glass set (though Hartley wasn’t sure he even knew what it was).

“Every wean should have magnifying lenses an’ a wee microscope from a young age!” Evan told the assembled group proudly.  “It gives them a strong background in scientific principles before they stairt schule.”

“I mean I guess…” Axel said skeptically, still certain that his bath toys were the best gift.  But Josh was happy with everything he received, even if he didn’t really understand all of it.  And of course Evan and Hartley made sure to take photos of him curiously examining his new science set.

“I guess mine’s next,” Len said with uncharacteristic uncertainty, and Hartley realized he was anxious.  Josh began ripping the snowflake wrapping paper off the box, and opened it to reveal a slightly worn stuffed bear.  The toddler immediately screeched excitedly and hugged it to his chest, prompting Len to smile.

“It was Lisa’s, long ago.  I think she’d be glad the little guy’s getting some enjoyment out of it now,” Len said with a slight catch in his voice, and Mark looked up at him gratefully.

“Thank you, Cold.  That means a lot to me.”

“Sure, no problem.  Just glad he likes it and will appreciate it.”

Josh was still hugging the bear and babbling delightedly, so it was clear that he did.  The others let him play with it a bit before moving on to the last gift, from his father.

“It’s hard to know what they’ll like or will find meaningful a month or a year from now,” Mark admitted to the group as he handed the box to his son.  “So I tried to go with something classy, something he’ll always remember.”

Josh tore off the plain green wrapping paper and cheerily opened the box, discovering a sterling silver cup inside.  It was child-sized and beautiful in its simplicity, and was engraved with ‘Joshua’ in cursive script.

“I was selling some of my loot at the fence’s place when I saw this and knew it was perfect for the kiddo,” Mark explained.  “I paid the asking price and got one of his associates to etch it, and voila.”

Hartley refrained from a comment about the cup being seized as stolen goods if/when the Rogues got busted, because he didn’t want to bring down the group’s happy mood.  At least Mark hadn’t swiped it directly from some other unfortunate kid, and it really was a beautiful object.  Josh was now trying to give the stuffed bear a ‘drink’ from the cup, and it seemed like something he'd genuinely treasure as he grew older.

“So the reason you’re here is to judge the competition: which gift did he like best?” Len told Hartley, who immediately hemmed and hawed.

“Isn’t the important thing that he’s happy and had a nice time..?” Hartley said evasively, hoping to wriggle out of this.

“Of course it is, but we made a bet about who could make him happiest!” Axel insisted.  “And it was me!”

“He’s gonna love his jammies on chilly nights,” Mick said, sanguine.

“He’ll know more about lenses and science than any other wean in his class, which’ll make him feel sae braw aboot himself,” Evan countered.

“He sure as hell loves that bear,” was all Len said, and nobody could disagree.

Hartley thought quickly, a vital skill necessary for every Rogue.  “I can’t judge this because I’ve got a gift for him too and it wouldn’t be an impartial contest!”

“Oh come on!” Axel complained, as he knew a ruse when he saw one, but Hartley reached into his cloak and pulled out an emergency harmonica.  It was his weapon of last resort, as its metal casing was dented and the sound was somewhat tinny…which honestly made it the perfect gift for a toddler.  Especially when you weren’t on great terms with the kid's family.

Josh was thrilled to receive an instrument and immediately began making horrible noises with it, and soon everyone over the age of three was glaring at Hartley.  He grinned cheerfully.

“Sorry guys.  At least I got some great photos of him for you, and his happiness really is what’s important here.  You all made some great memories.”

“We did until that harmonica showed up,” Len glowered as Josh merrily tooted away, deeply off-key.

“You’ll thank me when he’s a great musician,” Hartley shrugged, and Mark sighed helplessly.

“It’s annoying, but he’s right.  Josh is happy and that’s all that matters.”

“I’m gonna teach him to play Despacito on that thing,” Axel announced, and Len pinched his nose in frustration.

“Okay, it’s time to eat.  There’ll be booze.  Lots and lots of booze.”

[frozenangelcosplay]

The Case for Jimmywing

You can skip to “Let’s start at the beginning” for the actual content of what I’m analyzing.

So about a year and a half ago, I happened upon a trade paperback of “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: who killed Jimmy Olsen” at a comic book store we regularly drive an hour just to go to. I found the coat tail riding title self deprecating and hilarious and it instantly became a favorite of mine. And it fucking ruined my life.

For a split second I mistook Jimmy Olsen for being part of Nightwing’s “Ginger Harem” as they call it. I thought “he had to be, right? Like statistically?” He’s part of the young adult demographic, or ‘gen 2’ as I call them, he and Dick are both huge parts of Clark’s life to the extent where they gotta at least be friends, and no one would be shocked if he was one of the redhead’s Dick’s “collected” as they say. So why the hell was there nothing on the internet falling for this obvious set up?

(For context the human geography of fandom behavior is of high interest to me)

This was quite a bit of an anomaly, so I set out for some research. I brushed over results from the silver age initially and saw there was just one panel coming up with both of them in present art style (a twenty years in the future thing). It was more of a Jimmy Olsen cameo than anything where all I learned is they’re not familiar these days. I still liked the idea though and if I left my digging there I probably would’ve let it go a while ago. But then I looked INTO the silver age stuff and OH BOY IS THERE A LOT TO UNPACK HERE.

Long story short, they were written as close friends for years and I feel like DC is trying to gaslight me personally into pretending it didn’t happen. There’s a lot of potential to pick up where they left off with everything that’s happened in their stories since but there’s little to no sign of taking advantage of that anytime soon.

Let’s start at the beginning…

In 1940 both Batman and Superman separately acquired child sidekicks. A pair of eyes in the story the same age of the target audience’s to see themselves in and relate to. Robin would make his debut in the comics as Batman’s sidekick, would be Bruce Wayne’s legal ward, and also dawn combat training, gadgets, and a costumed vigilante identity. Jimmy Olsen would be a cub reporter at the daily planet where Clark Kent worked (a position specified beyond it’s dictionary definition as a teen internship position in “Superman Smashes the Klan”, which is set in the radio show cannon) and help at Superman’s side as himself.

Later, particularly with the classic comic run “World’s Finest”, in a world much less saturated with superheroes, let alone sidekicks, than we have today, the sidekicks of the stars of these comics easily became close friends. Most notable adventure by today’s standard would be World’s finest # 195, probably due to it’s shock and meme value cover of Batman and Superman making their sidekicks dig their own graves.

A personal favorite of mine would be World’s Finest #141 where the sidekicks run away to an island and fake their deaths, making it the first of at least twice they do that together (another being near the end of #195). Here they establish a secret hideout in the mountains in an abandoned observatory to keep souvenirs from their respective mentor’s adventures, and some of their own. (Notably two dummies of themselves Batman and Superman had just used to get back at them for pulling this stunt).

In Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Jimmy has also filled in for Robin twice. First time was to get Jimmy into the Mystery analysts (#111), second was to settle a bet after Robin beat him in a “Young Man of the Year” pageant (#130). In #111 this is where Robin trained Jimmy in combat, and some gadget use so he’s got that under his belt now enough to do it all again at least.

Also quick fun fact before I move on, Jimmy knew Robin and Batman’s secret identities LONG before he knew Superman’s. In World’s Finest #144, due to the fact that Jimmy was radiating kryptonite, he and Robin switched mentors and Batman pretty much immediately told him that he was Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson was Robin (told with Robin’s approval). A bit of an anomaly, but it carried forth in continuity.

Anyway, if you try to look up any shared adventure’s in recent comics, you’ll unceremoniously get nothing. I mentioned earlier Jimmy’s cameo in “Nightwing the New Order”, and there’s also like two crossed paths in the current World’s Finest run (a flashback continuity) and it just seemed like their dynamic then was just that Robin was relatively annoyed with Jimmy for being the one to debunk Mr. Mxyzptlk and Batmite’s disguises. (Rude?!)

I can’t find ANYTHING that explains this drift. My estimate would be that their dynamic died out some time between Dick joining the Titans and becoming Nightwing. But still remains a glaring connection.

Nightwing and Flamebird

So the first time that the Nightwing mantle debuted it was Superman as Nightwing with Jimmy as Flamebird. They went as these heroes into the bottle city of Kandor on multiple occasions. At the time they modeled these personas off of two kinds of birds found in Kandor, taking inspiration from Batman and Robin. The people of Kandor were convinced that Superman was actively refusing to grow the city again, and deemed him an enemy, which justified the disguises.

You still see this referenced every now and then, usually in museums and stuff, in fact, remember that observatory hideout? Statues and/or costumes of Superman’s and Jimmy’s Nightwing and Flamebird are on prominent display. In fact, Robin and Jimmy landed on naming the place itself “The Eyrie”, because as Robin said:

“In a way, we’re both birds. You’ve been Flamebird, and I’m Robin. So let’s call it the Eyrie!”

They revisit it now and then, but it seems to have been forgotten at this point.

Now since then there have been multiple pairs of Nightwings and Flamebirds. Obviously we know Dick Grayson is THE Nightwing and has been for a long time. The most consistent Flamebird however would be Bette Kane, and here’s where this gets interesting.

So there’s a full Krytonian legend surrounding Nightwing and Flamebird, from what I can tell, different versions, from heroes to gods etc. The most complete version I can only find on the wiki, so if you know where it’s from please let me know!

Here’s the link: https://superman.fandom.com/wiki/Nightwing_and_Flamebird

Here’s the quote:

“The true Flamebird is a massive, flaming dragon-like creature from deep in Krypton's past. The bird's partner is Nightwing, who is also its mate and opposite.

Among the early Kryptonian Gods, Flamebird was charged by almighty Rao with constantly refreshing the world by burning down the new creations of her brother, Vohc-The-Builder. She did so, but there was no hostility between the two; Vohc was grateful that Flamebird constantly pushed him to reimagine his works.

However, to help his friend, Nightwing, Vohc made it possible for him to meet flamebird. As such those two fell in love. Vohc's next creation was a monument representing all of his love for Flamebird. While Flamebird truly admired and appreciated the work, she fulfilled her duty to Rao by burning it down. This time Vohc actually begged for this work to be saved, but Flamebird ignored him. This destroyed much of Vohc and changed him into Vohc-The-Breaker. (Comic Series: Action Comics)

In each cycle, the Nightwing and the Flamebird are reborn, and must find each other. Also in each cycle, they are betrayed by a friend and killed.”

It cites action comics but I can’t narrow it down. My guess is that it came up when Thara Ak-Var and Chris Kent held the mantles.

So Bette Kane initially took up the Flamebird mantle to get Dick’s attention (while he was still Robin). He rejected her and it didn’t really work out which in the grand scheme of all things considered, makes sense thematically in a “pushing fate” kind of way. She was Flamebird for a while after that, even seen fighting beside Dick Grayson’s Nightwing every now and then, but hasn’t been Flamebird since before rebirth so currently no one seems to hold the mantle at present (technically).

So where does that leave Flamebird now?

Well this year, two interesting things have come up. One, in the new cartoon “My Adventures with Superman”, Jimmy is Flamebird again in the form of a username for his conspiracy blog. As of now, he just seemed to come up with it cause it sounds cool, so unless they pull out a “what a coincidence” or back story of how he found the name, that’s probably the extent of Flamebird’s roll there.

The second is in Action Comics #1058 where Kara reveals that Nightwing and Flamebird is actually the fable of the House of El. Each Krytonian house had a fable and this one is spesific to Superman and his family.

Now from here on out this is all just my thinking. “Theory” would even be a strong word implying that I legitimately think this is what is going on. Call this “if I were in charge of this story this is how this would go”

So what now?

Dick as a fated Nightwing makes so much sense for him. Pretty much all of his best qualities as a person can be seen in Superman and in it’s been said time and time again that he got the title from him. There’s that connection. That has my thinking that Nightwing and Flamebird would have a strong connection to the House of El, i.e., Superman. We know Nightwing is Dick, we know Dick looks up to Superman like, frankly most of the time, a better dad than Bruce. Low bar, but still.

And with this connection in mind, and all the history stated earlier with not just Jimmy’s long history with not just Dick, but Superman as well, he seems like the obvious choice to me. They state over and over again how Jimmy proves his loyalty, he’ll charge into danger like it’s nothing (a trait I personally think he picked up from Lois) and he is always such a fun narrator when handed the mic. He’s earned it.

As far as the ship goes, aside from it potentially being a huge payoff for a sixty year old saga of legends of love, heroism, and fate, the dynamics of their modern personalities would be unparalleled.

Over all its fricken WEIRD that their dynamic was just randomly forgotten like that, especially with everything built around them that you’d think would have them at least cross paths. I don’t hold not having a romantic relationship between them against DC, nor do I ever expect them to ever take that route any times soon, but come on man why aren’t they at least friends anymore?

[nscafe-firehose]

Story time...

During the start of COVID-time, I decided to I wanted to re-collect some comics I had in the early 1990s. I didn't want reprints, I wanted originals.

I wanted to go through Todd McFarlane's Marvel work, starting with Daredevil #241 thru Spider-Man #16 (and then Image's Spawn #1-#25 plus the Violator 3-issue series)... and if you know about his run there, well... there were some pricy titles to collect. However, I wanted to do it, so I did it...

Also, due to COVID-time and my disability, I haven't left the apartment aside from medical appointments, voting and a few random times going out for food and eating outdoors [for the vast majority of the time]. We're both take it quite seriously because I really don't need to get any more sick than I am already. Yes, we're always masking when not in the apartment (and sometimes in the apartment when we have contractors coming in to do work). And we're diligent about as well. We haven't gotten sick yet.

(tldr; I basically haven't left the house unless I had to since Nov. 2020)

Fast forward to 2023 and after some life altering events, we decided to order VIP passes for Calgary Comics+Entertainment Expo, all 4 days. We figured with the early access our odds of not "getting sick" were okay. And also to save my leg from too much stress, we planned to rent a wheelchair.

Fast forward to 2024 and we have our VIP passes to the Calgary Comics+Entertainment Expo... and then McFarlane was announced as a late guest. I thought to myself, sure... I'll get an autograph. I can do that.

But as time ticked on, I felt like naaaah... there are bigger fans who could use waiting in line more than myself. An autograph would be nice but I didn't need one.

Then Fan Expo runs a VIP only context to win free autographs from him. Well then! That I could sign up for. My beloved partner, also a big comics book fan (more on the X-Men side of things [and she was able to get all of the X-Men '97 guests who were here, along with the original animated series Producer and Director autographs... and a selfie with Beast!]), also entered.

We both won (of course I'd get ticket 23... she got 24).

Now I needed to pull some "cool covers" so that we could make some choices (picture 1, above).

She chose Spider-Man #12 (and diligently read that 5-book series to get prepared for the day). I wanted to do Spider-Man #8 (for the very local tie-in) but we didn't exactly need two books signed from that series. So... what to choose, what to choose...

Amazing Spider-Man #311 (and it didn't even make the short list... not in the 1st pic) got the pick. It is a cool cover to be sure but I chose it for the nod to late 1980s Cowboy/Western fashion... and since I've grown up in Calgary, I was very aware of that reference (annual cowboy cosplay celebrations tend to do that... yay Calgary Stampede! [hey, if the comic+entertainment fandom has cosplay for CCEE, why not call the say the same sort of thing for the Stampede... this isn't a negative thing]).

When I told McFarlane why I chose the book I did, I got a chuckle and an "Oh wow!".

The only downside is that due to my disability I'm unable to attend day 4 but my beloved partner gets enjoy a day without pushing me around in a wheelchair (averaging over 9000 steps each of the 3 days)... give her arms and legs a big of a break.

But we did get quite lucky in our timings for things and we appreciated the experiences.

So long as we don't "get sick" and recovery time for this body o'mine doesn't take too long, then I think we can plan to attend again next year.

[tangled-affections]

Uno! Please! TMNT: Last Ronin Uno x Original Female Character Summary: Uno just wants to make Alice feeling the desire he has for her. Tags: Smut (Kinda), Aged-Up Characters, Original Character, Love Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Oral (F), Not beta read, cock blocked by family A/N: Yes, I know he is a teenager in the comics, but I aged him up to make this work since we do it for the original boys. Don't see why I can't do it for Uno. But this is like a fevered dream, so sorry!

“Fuck! Uno!” Alice screamed as her hands shot to his bald head, digging her nails into his white scales as she cums for the second time that evening. Grinding against the tongue that licked up and down her folds, collecting not only her juices but the white cream that now painted his large muscle. Dipping in and out of her cunt, as she continued to ride her high. “That’s it, cum for me, baby.” He mumbled against her clit as the words caused her head to snap back as another cry left her lips. Filling the apartment that smelled of popcorn, and freshly made pizza.

The pair were close, friends since they first met all those years ago. Bonded by video games, and all things ninja, and for a while the two left it at that. Alice ignored the thoughts that would sneak into her head late at night when she worried about him, while Uno yearned for her, and grew jealous when she dated anyone that wasn’t him. But in this moment on the couch, as the title screen for some movie that they were looking at before Uno had stolen a kiss from the girl that now laid before him as a woman. He gripped her thighs as she struggled against his tongue, well beyond overwhelmed by the feeling of his skilled tongue that he had used on previous partners. Partners that failed to taste as good as Alice does, she was both bitter and tasteless, a hint of her diet in her juices.

He pulled back only for a moment, admiring the cunt that pulsed around nothing, and the pretty pink color the had developed on her folds since he had started to eat her out. Uno’s eyes flickered up to Alice’s face, catching her wiping the tears away as she trembled from the pleasure he had sent through her body. Groaning as he squeezed her thighs that he still held onto, his knees growing sore but he wasn’t done yet. As he had been thinking about this moment for as long as he had first thought about her during his mating season when they were teens. Porn had helped him get an idea of what human women might like, and he implied it to Alice with amazing results.

She reached out, her fingers spreading as they touched his plastron that caused his head to fall back, a whimper escaped his lips as she carried on. “Uno, what would everyone think? We—we are friends, right?” She asked as her hand moved further down, the lower she got, the more he moaned. “No, I want more, I don’t care what they think!” He shouted as his head snapped back to in front of him. “Alice, I want you, do you want me too?” His leaned forward, leaning towards her lips as his hovered over hers. “God yes!” And without him pleasuring himself or her doing the work, he felt himself drop.

It was then that he sensed something that caused him to quickly cover each other up with a random blanket that Alice had carried out of her bedroom at the start of their hang out. And with only seconds to spare, Uno's siblings came through the unlocked window that was large enough for them to get through--including his tallest sibling. Moaning under his breath as Alice rubbed against his twitching erection. Where he grabbed her hand and shook his head no, as his sisters carried on about the odd smell that filled the living room, and how it almost ruins the smell of the pizza that was left on the counter to cool off. "Yeah, sorry guys, I might need to mop or something." She struggles to speak as one of Uno's fingers slipped under the blanket and rubbed small, and painfully slow circle before pulling away. "I will rock your world, but it's after they are gone." He whispered in Alice's ear, making her bite her lip as his young sister entered the living room with a slice or two for the pair.

Comment, Reblog, and Heart!