#>runner gunner

[theglassmeadow]

Hi hi hi hello hi hi hi hi i havent been on tumblr in years but I return purely to show you my robot art ok thx bye check out my twitter for more

[odd-critter]

i dont know why i stayed up to draw this it was on impulse. But its here now

[wildthings04]

[posthumanwanderings]

Trap Gunner (Racjin / Atlus - PS1 - 1998)

[wordsforyourwip]

Imbibe

Runner

Smuggler

Gunner

Fighter

.

[ca-dmv-bot]

Customer: LORNA/ARIEL'S 4 RUNNER DMV: PULLED FOR GUNNER Verdict: DENIED

[dr-futbol-blog]

Runner, Pt. 2

They gate to the planet with the high UV radiation index in a puddle jumper, and where Sheppard is obviously steering, McKay has taken the second seat. Previously, McKay usually sat behind Sheppard and Ford had the second seat, probably because it's the gunner's position and Ford was the most useful person to sit there and look at targets for him. Regardless, McKay has changed seats and taken what would be his rightful place by his side. Riding shotgun is the privilege of a significant other, and while they may not be together-together anymore, they are still significant to each other.

However, we don't know how McKay wound up sitting there--whether he claimed the seat, ended up there by chance, or whether Sheppard had wanted him to take the seat. Given that Lorne, his new second in command is on board, a case could be made for him to have taken the seat. But then, McKay and Teyla are on his own team, so the privilege should probably have gone to one of them. And a case could also be made for Teyla, as a lady, to have been given the privileged seat. But alas, it is McKay that we find next to Sheppard. And this is their usual seating arrangement from hereon out.

They land the jumper, and we find Sheppard and McKay bickering with that old married couple energy:

Sheppard: Life signs detector's useless. McKay: I told you so. Sheppard: Just preserving your streak of being right? Officially.

McKay's "told you so" is given with such gusto that it's pretty telling. It also informs us that we are once more missing a part of this scene because we did not, in fact, hear McKay "tell him so." But Sheppard's response to him here is strange. What does he mean, officially? Why does he say it with a playful smirk and raising his eyebrows in a way that indicates there's some backstory to this? When we look at the previous episode, McKay wasn't right the whole time and in fact Sheppard got more things right than McKay did. His streak of being right, whether official or unofficial, cannot be a reference to the events of the previous episode. And the way McKay says "told you so" makes it seem as though it's not the first time he's said it in recent times.

It's possible McKay has been pointing out more errors for Sheppard and in Sheppard's behaviour than he had done previously. It's not that he was previously giving Sheppard "best behaviour Rodney" but when someone is in love, they tend to see the other person through rose-coloured glasses, being blind to their flaws. When you're in love, letting their flaws slide is natural. But it seems as though by this time, they are both severely chafing on each other, intentionally or unintentionally getting under the other's skin, and so they are both bringing out the worst in each other in a vicious circle. McKay is behaving like a haughty know-it-all and Sheppard is being a snooty asshole, going back and forth, back and forth. Truly they are a match made in heaven. And while neither of them wants to be like this, they seem helpless to break the cycle.

But, even though it might not seem like it, they are both trying to make this work. They are putting in the effort to stay professional:

McKay: Doctor Parrish believes that the indigenous plant life retains enough residual radioactivity absorbed during the daylight to, well, to screw up our sensors. Sheppard: Making it the perfect place to hide. McKay: Yes, or the perfect place to be exposed to dangerously high levels of solar radiation!

McKay is being Sheppard's science officer. He is giving him factual information to make his decisions by. And he's not wrong, either. Especially for the two of them with their recent radiation exposure, this planet presents a clear risk. And while it's not even that Sheppard doesn't believe McKay, it's that he's being entirely too stubborn to actually hear what the other man is saying, and this stubbornness has very little to do with Ford. But Sheppard, too, is trying to remain professional, giving them orders based on his strategic evaluation of the situation.

He also gives a manly grunt as he adjusts his... weapon, which just may confirm Lorne's belief that Sheppard motivation for treating McKay the way he does here has to do with masculine performance, or McKay's lack of the same.

Sheppard: Start a sweep, teams of two. Radio contact every twenty minutes... How come it smells like I'm on vacation? McKay: Mmm, could it be the simulated tropical aroma of cocoa butter? Sheppard: Strong enough for anyone within five miles to smell you. McKay: Like they haven't been tipped off by the Aqua Velva? Sheppard: It's dark.

This exchange is fascinating.

For one, Sheppard loves the beach. We later learn that he likes surfing (in fact, he tells McKay in The Last Man (S04E20) that "surfing a thirty foot wave in Waimei is cool!", implying it's the best thing he knows). Also, when he has an actual vacation in Brain Storm (S05E15), he describes the destination as "a beach that's never been surfed or even touched" and in Travelers (S04E5), he's returning from "a tropical paradise" from a supply mission he had volunteered for. So, he loves the beach and ergo something that smells of vacation to him must be a really good smell. It's a smell that takes him right to his happy place (and also, while we're on his happy place, he turns to face McKay just as soon as he's out of the jumper; even now his body just cannot seem to bear to have his back turned to McKay). Interesting in this regard is the meaning of the name Rodney, often derived from "Rhoda's island" which is meant to evoke "images of breathtaking beaches, gold sand, and crystal clear water". And if this wasn't obvious enough, they later emphasize it by giving him the name Meredith, ruler or protector of the sea. John Sheppard loves the sea, is the thing. He loves the beach. And apparently when Sheppard is on vacation, cocoa butter is involved.

Now, did McKay know that it's one of Sheppard's favourite smells when he concocted the sunscreen? This, we can't tell. However, McKay himself seems to know what Sheppard smells like. Real up close and personal. He knows the aftershave Sheppard uses. He knows Sheppard's personal grooming habits. There is no earthly reason for a guy to know, and even less to have made a mental note of, another man's aftershave if they're just co-workers. And here, he's making a dig at Sheppard using this very personal information.

Interestingly, Aqua Velva is also a cocktail that one might have on a beach vacation, and McKay might be implying that he can tell Sheppard has been hitting the gin a little too much recently, which would admittedly put a pretty dark spin on this. Probably he didn't mean to imply this, as McKay is pretty straightforward with what he says, there's barely ever hidden meaning to his words. That's not how he operates, he's an open book. That, of course, doesn't mean Sheppard could have taken it that way, as he has a penchant for double entendre, especially in the case he actually had been drinking (and it's entirely within possibility that he has; the nights suddenly seem longer when you're not watching someone sleep like you used to).

Sheppard's response to McKay's dig is "It's dark," and the assumption is that this is an argument against wearing sunscreen. It's dark, hence the sun isn't up, hence there is no need for sunscreen. Only, he says "It's dark" as a response to McKay's line about the Aqua Velva. He makes it sound like his argument is that the enemies won't be able to smell his aftershave because it's dark, like that makes any sense. What Sheppard actually seems to have done is to ignore McKay's comment entirely, just skipping right over it, either because he didn't deem it worth answering or because he simply didn't have an answer to it. If he has been sleeping in his fatigues (and it seems as though he has), it's likely he has been skimping on other forms of grooming also, and splashing on some aftershave might have been an attempt at covering up the fact that he hadn't showered that morning. The fact that he was still wearing his fatigues from the previous day also suggests that this was the case; if one showered, they wouldn't put back on the rumpled clothes they slept in on. So, because McKay was still preserving his streak of being right, unofficially this time, he chose to ignore his comment instead.

But this whole exchange is again the two of them having a conversation inside a bubble of their own where the others are not invited. And given that most of the men are new recruits that don't really know either of them, it must be confusing for them to witness this interaction between their commander and his science officer. Sheppard is not behaving like a team leader and McKay is not behaving like someone who takes orders from this man. And the thing is, they don't need to be having this argument. They know where each other stands perfectly well without this exchange, and at the end of the day, they both want the same thing. They want to bring Ford back to Atlantis and fix him without getting skin cancer or losing the ability to procreate children, so they're not really at loggerheads. They don't have a disagreement.

What they have, at the present moment, is an inability to connect with the other man outside of this unending bickering, because even this is better than not having any connection to the other at all. So, they both say a lot of unnecessary things:

McKay: Yeah, and the sun will be up in two hours, forty three minutes and... ten seconds. Sheppard: It's raining! McKay: So we'll be cold and miserable. Look, the cloud cover will depreciate a small percentage of UV rays, but ninety-five percent of deadly is still deadly.

Again, the audience is made to think that McKay is being unreasonably cowardly when it probably hasn't been more than a week since they both got a nearly lethal dose of ionizing radiation. But we can't really point to either of them as the instigator of the this bickering, of making these digs at each other. They are both behaving this way, they are clearly acting and re-acting. Other people also seem to get caught in the cross-fire (and it's interesting with regards to the next episode that McKay seems to hold nothing but contempt toward the science of Botany). As soon as McKay turns his attention on Lorne, Sheppard tries to be the grown-up and actually splits himself and McKay up:

Sheppard: Teyla, you're with me; Coughlin, take Billick; Reed: you and Sherman cover the Gate; and Major, you've got McKay. Lorne: Oh, lucky me...

Now, Lorne clearly thinks that he got put on baby-sitting duty because McKay is the weakest link, he's the science officer with no field experience that needs looking after and as the second highest official, second most capable person militarily, he's the best person to look after him. And this is partially true. McKay is not a soldier, he has no combat experience. His field experience is limited. He does need someone to watch over him, to keep him safe. And it's logical for Lorne to come to this conclusion, as the tone Sheppard uses, he makes it sound like he's tired of McKay's bellyaching and hence wants someone else to take him on. Actually, Sheppard's internal conflict comes through in how he first says "And Major" with the tone of listen well, this is the most important thing in the world, but then the "You've got McKay" comes out in a tone that's more neener, neener, as he quickly takes off so as to avoid any backlash from McKay for his decision. Clearly, while he needs Lorne to look after McKay, he doesn't want either of them to know just how vulnerable this makes him.

Now, Sheppard could have either taken this task on himself or put anyone else on it. But Sheppard knows that since he himself is going after Ford, it would pose the most danger for McKay to be with him right now. He chose Lorne because he does think that he's the most capable fighter after himself. He chose Lorne to be McKay's personal bodyguard because he trusts him enough to be able to perform this task. He had chosen Lorne for his second in command, and he believed that Lorne would be able to take on Ford if it came down to that. Sheppard paired McKay with Lorne because he still cares about McKay, and he is damned if he's going t let anything happen to him. What ever Lorne might think, he didn't pair Lorne up with McKay but McKay with Lorne, and there's a world of difference in that.

Bitchy though he might (currently) be, McKay is the most important person in Sheppard's life, and he's not going to let anything happen to him. He's not taking any chances with his life. And the thing is--he chose not to take McKay with himself for that exact reason. He doesn't think that he's the best person to look over McKay and keep him safe, especially not now. He is distracted by McKay at the best of times but currently, the way they are bickering, if they had paired up together anyone would have heard them coming a mile away. There is no way they could have kept quiet. Even though neither of them wanted to talk about the important stuff, the stuff they should have talked about, neither of them could shut up around each other either. They both need each other's attention, and they'll clearly take it any way they can.

And given that Sheppard can't keep himself from making snide digs at McKay or from responding to the other man's subtle barbs, there is not a way in hell they can form a team of two on this mission. He needs to be able to concentrate, especially because a slip in his concentration might lead to McKay getting hurt. So, he chose the second best thing for McKay, his second in command. He trusts Lorne to keep him safe. But Lorne doesn't get this, doesn't get how much Sheppard is trusting him with, doesn't understand the importance of what he has been trusted with. He thinks he got shafted, for some reason. He got the short straw, the short end of the stick. Like maybe his commanding officer doesn't quite trust him yet, like Sheppard might be testing him or something. Lorne doesn't know what Sheppard and McKay are to each other and the way they're behaving, there's really no way for him to even begin to guess.

McKay himself, he seems fine with this. But we've got to remember that for McKay, not being wanted is his core issue. It was the fact that Sheppard seemed to choose death rather than him that had hurt him the most. While Sheppard does get in 'the last word' here with this, because he doesn't understand how McKay thinks about this, he also doesn't get how far below the belt this last jab is for him. Yes, they're trading barbs, but it's not their intention to really hurt the other. And yet, that's what Sheppard manages to do here, and he doesn't even realize it because his thinking is so very different from McKay's in this.

For him, McKay is the single most important person in his life. There is no one else in two galaxies that matters more to him, and that's a fact. Put next to anyone from either galaxy, he would choose McKay ten times out of ten any time of day. And because this is so obvious to him, he can't even begin to understand why what he did hurt McKay so much. As far as he's concerned, he's doing what he thinks is best for McKay, he wants to keep him alive and safe. That's what you do for someone you love. Even when that means protecting them from yourself, which is what he does here, pairing McKay up with Lorne. But for McKay, it's high school athletics class all over again. He's chosen last because no one wants him. He's pawned off to someone who makes it clear they don't want to be paired up with him. For him, what Sheppard does is cruel.

But at the same time, this is familiar to him. McKay knows how to deal with Majors. He can break in another one. He at least tries to make friends with Lorne:

McKay: Here, try some. SPF 100. Lorne: A hundred? McKay: Yeah, can't buy this kind of protection. Make it myself. Waterproof too.

This is pretty interesting, too. First of all, McKay makes it himself. Fair enough. But Sheppard knew that he does this. Earlier, back in Weir's office, Sheppard said "Bring your sunscreen". Not "bring sunscreen," not "bring the sunscreen," not "put on some sunscreen," not any number of things he could have said if he was referring to general sunscreen, or just making a snide comment. He told McKay to bring his sunscreen, knowing that McKay has made his own sunscreen. Knowing that McKay had sunscreen that he had made for himself. Sheppard knew about McKay's sunscreen. Which is interesting in and of itself.

But then he tells Lorne that it's waterproof. Sunscreens generally aren't water resistant, although obviously there are waterproof ones out there and, if one had aspirations of swimming while wearing it, it would make sense to make it waterproof. So, it's possible he had made it with swimming in mind, whether for himself or for someone else that might canonically enjoy the ocean. OK. But what on Earth made him try his hand at mixing up body lotions in the first place? What, he's suddenly Alfred Garnier of Atlantis? From what we can tell, this man barely knows how to cook and probably survived mostly on instant noodles outside of institutional cafeterias his whole life.

The thing is, they probably didn't have a whole hell of a lot in the way of lubrication the first time they came from Earth. We don't know what the expedition's policy was on sex and sexual hygiene, whether bringing condoms and other assorted paraphernalia was a priority, but how ever much of this stuff they did bring with them, at some point during the year, it would have run out, just like the coffee. If there was any lube intended for sexual purposes to begin with, it would eventually have run out. And after that, just like the beans they attempted to substitute coffee with, it would have been up to them to come up with alternatives. And here, McKay is suddenly an expert in mixing up waterproof lotions. And let's not glide over the fact that he's using this to bond with Major Lorne, very possibly a closeted gay man in the military. He's letting Lorne know that if he's ever in the need of waterproof lotion, he's the man to see about that on Atlantis.

Granted, this sunscreen that smells of cocoa butter is not something Sheppard has smelled before--at least outside of the context of a vacation. Sheppard is not familiar with this lotion. But this does seem to be a new mixture, the fact that it has the simulated aroma of cocoa butter is a new thing. But it is interesting that McKay specifies that the sunscreen is waterproof here when sunscreens most often are not, whereas personal lubricants used for sexual purposes which are particularly useful in all manner of sex acts between two men due to a distinct lack of natural lubrication, well. What we know now is that McKay had, at some point in his life, learned how to make waterproof lotions that made the skin slippery with its base of vegetable butter. And we, as the audience, apparently really really needed to know this. Safe sex is important, after all. And I'm not saying he had made this particular lotion as lube, although it probably would work as such. I'm saying, he clearly has acquired the know-how to make sunscreen and other lotions through personal necessity.

And now we know this about him. Now we know this about them. They might not currently have any use for it beyond staving off radiation but they have used it in the past and they will use it in the future. And Sheppard won't mind if McKay's new stuff smells like a beach vacation. He won't mind at all.

Continued in Pt. 3

[timoswerner]

anyway! arsenal once postponed a nld for one covid case so don’t forget, every gunner is a runner and they’re not from north london anyway

[matrim-cauthons-hat]

i said i was gonna build my escher wyld runners and i done did it! they call themselves The Squatters, guarding the Eescher's claim to the salvage rich region of Bunningsium. Their leader is armed with a power sword and multimelta, and her lieutenant a flamer. the rest of their cadre comprises a pair of swordswomen, one armed with a hand flamer; a pair of swift footed shotgunners who stick around cover just long enough to blast chunks out of anyone foolish enough to be in the same spot; a pair of pistoleers, one who prefers precise work with a hand stubber and chainsword, and the other trying to put as many autopistol rounds down range as possible; and finally a machine gunner and needler rifle to provide medium range fire support to the rest of the team. im putting some thought into getting another escher squad to give them some autoguns and lasguns, maybe even kitbashing other weapons like a grenade launcher or missile launcher or something

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the Comics: Elias Spector's Death

Okay. Okay. I'm going to try to be....a little comprehensible.... I'm going to fail. Just a warning. 

I want to talk about the first run of Moon Knight. Specifically the last issues of the first run. There were 38 issues in the very first run of their own comic. After that, they reached out to a larger audience and started to print differently and started over with #1 because comics suck at a comprehensible numbering system. 

In the start, we meet Marc Spector, see him have a conflict of heart, die, come back, and become Moon Knight. He starts to add in identities of Jake and Steven as a way to be anyone else but Marc Spector and claims they are just him starting over and trying to use their lives as a way to do things better. (a system that has not yet realized that it is a system. Denial is not just a river). 

We see him fight some of his villains that start to play bigger parts later in the series. We see him make friends as Jake and money and love as Steven. We see bits of his past and some stories of Marc Spector’s adventures. We meet Randall and even get to see Marc fail to save people (Crowly’s son, Randall, Gena’s friend). We see him struggle with Khonshu and his identity a bit. We even see him break down a couple times. 

But the way that fist run ends is to me the real defining moment for Moon Knight. Let’s take you to: 

Issue #37, The Ghost.

It opens with Elias dying of cancer in a hospital in Chicago. On his deathbed, he calls for Marc. 

The comic notes that they have been estranged for 18 years. 

In this comic, Steven has finished organizing the files on Marc and is still grappling with the fact that he and Marc are in fact two different people. He thinks once he has organized Marc’s life, he can lock it up and they can become Steven Grant forever and never have to deal with that unpleasantness again. 

Up to this point, we have been seeing them struggle with their identities. Still under the illusion that they are one man putting on different identities who can't decide what life to live. 

Understandable, considering that Marc does not want to be Marc anymore. Steven detests the life that was lived as Marc and Jake pushes back on both lives, wanting to be with friends and a simple man of the people. 

In many ways, Marc only surfaces when things of the past come up. He refuses to acknowledge that he's still around and when he is faced with that fact, he is stressed and full of rage. 

We've seen clips of Marc's past. We see him working as a guide for not always good people through tough parts of the world. We see him working for hire with the Feds in capturing a runner. We see the CIA and world organizations hiring him. Is it any wonder that he's so skilled? That his past is often overlooked when it comes to SHIELD and other entities, because he probably not only worked for them, but probably also carried out shady business for them. But that's a different story. 

In this issue, we see Steven watching a recording of one of the missions Marc was on. "Spector led a scout team. We took a terrorist camp in a cross border operation. The only problem was that our  .50 caliber gunners couldn't be bothered with fine distinctions between terrorists, women, and children." 

As much as we'd like to see Marc as a man of misfortune and circumstance, he wasn't always a good guy. He often tried his best to be good in his missions, often feeling conflicted and trying to save people or turning on those that he found to be of bad character, but sometimes he was a bad guy. 

It's important to see these bits so we can better understand Marc and his intense trauma, his guilt, and his self hatred. 

This issue uses this to show how far away from his father's teachings Marc fell. How he pushed so hard against his father that he ended up on the other side. 

In my books, this is the most important Moon Knight story. The story of where he came from. Of his father and his faith. 

His parents fled to America when Germany took over Czechoslovakia. In Europe, his father had been a great man that was "ordained a Rabbi at eighteen, and went on to become a brilliant scholar in the Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism." 

They moved to the poor side of Chicago where his father tried to teach him that "God loves a poor man. [...] Poor in goods, rich in spirit." (Something Jake Lockley adheres to). 

Here, they suffered antisemitism. They were beaten and used as scapegoats for everything wrong. 

Interestingly enough, he sites that his mother died when he was just a child. with the frequent beatings, fear, and death of his mother, it's any wonder Marc suffered some trauma?He became angry at his father for not standing up for himself or them. 

His father wanted him to study to become a Rabbi and Marc turned to boxing and self defense. 

When his father tries to stop him during a fight, he punches him. His father disowns him and kicks him out. 

The next day Marc joined the Marines. He focused "for eight years" to become the best. When he was the best, he became a mercenary. 

If you jump forward several writers, you find out that he was dishonorably discharged from the Marines for bouts of dissociation and mental health. But let's stay focused on the original story. 

Steven has found out that their father is dying and he is refusing to go back. "He said he never wanted to see me again, he meant it. I won't go back." 

An important aspect of this comic is that Marlene notes herself to be Steven's lover, confidant, and guru. 

She acts as their guide in matters of the mind and heart. She's always the one that calms them and helps them to reconcile when the three of them start to fight one another and don't know who they are. 

Despite her not understanding his DID, and they themselves not understanding it, she is a huge help for them. 

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts and opinions on Marlene, but it's good to note that she was originally written as a very important part of his story. 

"Marc Spector was always an escapist. When your relationship with your brother Randall soured you just forgot him for ten long years until it was too late and he died hating you. I can feel what kind of spin you're in, Steven, but you have to accept the responsibility, make amends now. Steven Grant and Moon Knight have no fathers. Only Marc Spector does." 

That's a very interesting view into all their relationships and how they keep one another at arms length. Jake, Steven, and Marc refuse to believe they have the same past, responsibilities, or life. 

Yet, when Marc is struggling with dealing with the approaching death of his father, and facing him, Steven takes the floor and tries to help Marc get out of it. (Just like Jake jumping out the window later in Lemier's version of the story. Always running...Maybe I'll do something on that later...) 

While out being Moon Knight, he comes across a Synagogue on fire. He sees a man run into the burning building and finds a Rabbi struggling to save the Torah from the fire. 

"The five books of Moses. He put his life on the line for this. My father would have done the same, I'll bet. Though he wouldn't lift a finger against the thugs who bullied him. I guess every man's got his own reason for being a hero." 

He finds out that the fire was set on purpose by NeoNazis. It reminds him of when he was a child and he flies into a rage. 

"I'm not about to let these Nazi goons get off with 'Malicious mischief' and a slap on the wrists." 

He's been through this before. There is weight to the thought that a lot of Marc's childhood trauma stems from dealing with religious trauma and antisemitism. 

I think as time moves on, we forget the time period that Moon Knight is set in. He isn't just a child of a jewish immigrant. 

His father fled the Holocaust. There is a high likelihood that friends and family did not make it out. Marc grew up hearing about relatives he lost. Knowing that his blood line probably didn't make it out of Europe. That there are no pictures of his ancestors. That he can't go back and see the old houses and towns. 

His father was a Rabbi, which means he was in a big part of a Jewish community that also probably fled or flat out came from the camps. He grew up seeing the tattoos, the poor health, the people with PTSD, and hearing the stories. 

We're talking severe Generational Trauma. 

When Marc finds the Nazi scum that burned the synagogue he has some of my favorite lines that define him: 

"You know where I belong, punk? I belong with the decent and innocent folk who can't find a moment's peace. Not in the streets, not in their own homes, so long as punks like you terrorize them. I belong with the persecuted." 

Detective Flint shows up and stops him before he kills them. (I honestly forgot Flint went back to the beginning. That poor man has dealt with so much Moon shit.) 

Marc realizes he needs to face things and heads to Chicago. 

But he is too late. He arrives in time for the funeral. He's handed a kippah and he puts it on for the first time in years. 

Now, we get to learn a bit about Elias. 

We come to find him as a man in desperate search of Self and Spirit. A man who was so stern and severe but also a man that sought truth and a just way to live. 

His line of research focused on the "knowledge to see beyond the physical. To know the universe as a reflection of the divine image and to see mankind redeemed..." 

It discusses how the body cannot meet G-d, but only the spirit and only in death can the spirit travel. 

We find out later that he was seeking a way to bring back the departed who have met with G-D and the other side. 

A man that refused to fight back against those that had done him wrong, who believed that given enough time that G-D would punish those that had brought them harm. 

A man that sought for a way to face G-D after watching a world try to wipe his people off the very earth. An interesting thought. 

During the eulogy, Marlene reflects that "It's almost as though he were speaking of you as Steven Grant. A man in search of self and spirit who rejected Marc Spector's materialism to become Moon Knight - A social conscience and moral force, just, severe, unknowable." 

Steven later goes to visit their father's grave at night and comes across some thugs spray painting a swastika on some of the grave stones and vandalizing them. He’s emotional and outraged that even here there is no peace to be found. It turns out this was all a distraction as someone has stolen his father's corpse! 

Issue #38, And the dead shall rise: (I love that cover). 

We see Moon Knight struggling with his identity. Elias was not a father to them all. Marc is emotional and pissed, but still refusing to take responsibility for his part in all this. 

"Moon Knight will find his...Marc Spector's father and return him to the dignity of a final resting place..." Steven refuses to say ‘my father’. Any mention of Elias is always in relation to Marc and even Marc can’t make himself be present when talking about his father. 

Marlene is tasked with helping to clear out Elias' study and donate his papers and books to the university when she's attacked by someone who runs off with some of the papers. 

Steven returns and has a small break down. "I'll find him, Marlene, and I'll kill him for desecrating my father's grave and memory!" "That's Marc Spector the cold - hearted mercenary talking, not you stev--" "How long can I deny it, Marlene. I AM Marc Spector!" 

And Marc is finally taking charge. The first time he has taken ownership of his father and how he feels. 

He sees his father in a new light. 

"I may have misjudged my father's saintliness for cowardice and his genius and moral zeal for fanaticism. [...] And isn't moon knight in his own way a moral zealot fighting perhaps for the very same values Marc Spector once rejected?" 

Now that is an interesting way to look at it. Moon Knight is about doing the right thing. About protecting those that need it. About believing in something unkillable and powerful. Moon Knight is about an idea of man being more than he is. Is this not what his father believed in? 

We learn that Elias had uncovered a way to bring a soul back to the dead body with necromancy where it could then "utter its knowledge of God to a living Kabbalist." 

Turns out one of Elias' students decided to test this out on Elias' freshly dead body. 

He does manage to resurrect the dead body of Elias, who zombie walks towards Moon Knight. 

Marc immediately starts having flashbacks and intense guilt. Even with his dead father trying to strangle him, he refuses to fight back: "No! I'll die before I ever lay my hands on him again, I swear it! Father, forgive me-" 

Marlene shows up and manages to break the spell, sending Elias back to death. 

Marlene tends to save him a lot in the earlier runs. Just something to note. 

Marc once more is not present. Curled up on the floor after melting down, he is beyond emotional and most likely dissociating out the wazoo. "I found him, Marlene... I found...Spector's father." 

Once more, Marc is being protected. Marc, who hated how his father sheltered him and wanted to feel the real world in violence and brutality is often in need of being sheltered. Steven, who wants to rid himself of Marc and the past is often doing the sheltering. 

When it comes to emotions, Marc is often the one being overcome. Either in fits of anger and rage, guilt and regret, or just overwhelmed in sadness or traumatic responses. Steven Grant is usually the one that is shown to be calm and collected. 

In fact, at the start of the issues, when Steven is watching Marc’s tapes and going through his things, he’s detached and unemotional. Steven has the ability to see things from a different perspective of ‘useful’ and ‘Not useful’. It’s rare that Steven responds to things with emotion unless Marc is involved and they are arguing or Marc has put them or someone he cares about in danger. 

Frankly, it’s possible that Steven is the caretaker in the early comics. Mackay has shown that Steven not only manages their finances, but their hygiene and body care. He’s the rational and logical one. The one that can face down a villain without reacting. He’s also the one that does all the exercises and rehab when Marc puts them in a wheelchair. 

The story ends with them returning home to New York. Steven notes that they almost died because of Marc's emotions. He also notes that Marc seems to have resolved some of the bitterness that was held with his father's memory. He comments that he feels a peace of mind and like a whole new person. 

Steven and Marc featured heavily in this with Steven shielding Marc without even realizing he was doing it. And as a system that has not come to full realization yet, it is possible that Steven is starting to understand here, which is why he feels like a whole new person at peace with himself. 

This is also how the first run of Moon Knight as a stand alone comic ended. 1980-1984. 

Before this issue, Jake was featured heavily. Steven was the mansion party pretty boy that lounged around with Marlene. Jake was the one out doing his reconnaissance and hanging with Gena and Crowley. 

It was a good connection to link Steven and Marc’s past with the father and Jewish faith. Jake would have been easier to connect. Jake is the son that Marc wishes he had been. 

But Jake is emotional. Jake wants nothing to do with Marc’s bloody past. Calls him a killer and would be happy to spend all day in his cab. If anything, when Steven and Marc talk about Jake, it often feels like two older brothers talking about a goofy but kind younger brother. 

A few issues earlier, when they ended up in a wheelchair for a time, Steven lamented that he didn’t think he could give up driving Jake’s cab, as it brought him too much joy. 

So I can see why this issue needed Steven to be involved. Steven doesn’t know who he is at this point. He hasn’t been defined and given the chance to figure out what makes him happy and tick. Jake has already broken off and figured out who he is. He knows he’s Jake Lockley. But who is Steven Grant aside from Marlene’s eye candy and the rich boy? 

Settling Marc’s past, seeing who he was and where he was coming from, protecting him, and facing down the Nazi threat was eye opening for him. Much like in the show, Steven needed to see where they came from to see where he belonged. 

Does it get easier for Steven and Marc to interact after this? Not really. Marc is still self destructive and a danger to them. But I think when Marc falls down that path, it’s easier for Steven to know where Marc is coming from. To help him get out of the spiral and let them function. 

An interesting aspect is how much Marc’s past has been re-written over and over again by different writers. His mother’s role, his relationship with his brother, his religious handlings, his trauma, and his violent past are redesigned each time a new writer gets their hands on him. 

No one really knows how to handle Marc’s relationship with G-D or his specific type of trauma. Marc’s guilt is’t because he betrayed his culture or religion. He didn’t turn his back on that. His fate with heaven and hell are constructed by Christian writers that don’t understand or research things well enough. 

Marc’s pain is that he can’t let go of the choices he made. The regrets of relationships that he turned his back on weigh heavily on him. His inability to save people and the times he didn’t try when he should have are agony to him. 

“You can’t save everyone, but you have to try.” Marc’s problem is that he will break himself trying. He can’t handle the thought that he can’t save everyone. Each one he loses is a scar on him that eats away at him as another example of him destroying everything good in his life. 

Marc has gotten to the point where a flower would wilt and he’d take it as a personal hit that he didn’t try hard enough. 

He lost his brother. He was too late for his father. He couldn’t help Marlen’s father. Marc needs the reminders that sometimes he has to lay down and rest. Steven tends to be that reminder. 

When Marc forgets that he’s more than just a killer, Steven steps in and tells Marc to sit down and shut up. He is balance and control that both Marc and Jake lack and I really wish we got to see more of this, especially in current writings. 

I want to see that Marc is the emotional hot head. That Jake is the heart and soul. That Steven is the cool and collected protector. I want to see them wrestle with G-D in a way that makes sense to them. I want to see how Marc has healed and how they are processing their trauma. I want them to show that they can work together and know what one another needs. I want them to show that healing is possible without losing any part of themselves. 

Sometimes healing looks like three guys sharing time and doing their own thing. Not one guy being in control of the body full time. Sometimes healing is one guy celebrating Purim while the other two take a back seat because it isn’t their thing. 

I’m prepared for disappointment, but I hope I’m pleasantly surprised. 

[theglassmeadow]

meow meow meow hes a cowboy!! and a robot!!! why were assless chaps invented if not for butt sex? idk bye

[fereise]

The latest tribute for my awesome friend @skykain and their Skaven gals (modern versions) with their ‘Music Bands’ once again, this time featuring the main crews and additional details for their alt-rock and metal (mostly) band called the “Morrslieb.”

Brief story of the band:

It's start when 'Waffle', who had a part-time job in a modern world as DJ decided to team up with 'Martha' and 'Globi' who cover pop & rock songs as their hobby (being a music enthusiast like Waffle, Martha was the one who do this stuff first, Globi like it and join later) and 'Ratly' who is interested in Rock & Metal music in general for making a music band together and play a various kind of "cover songs" and their own songs in nightclubs. The result was great, and the band could be able to made it into bigger stages from times to times. 'Jezza' later join the band, although it takes quite a lot of persuasion for her to join since she's a lonesome type of girl and mostly cooperated and/or tagged along with Martha for personal reasons.

However, Ratly later asked her friends to separate from the band and join the Hard-core gals (Silvia, Packie, Gutty, and later Hilda) creating another band that mainly cover Heavy Metal songs called "The Rodents". The rest of Skryre gals understand her and have no problem with it and she can still return to help her former band for playing drum again for sometimes. As for the empty position, it was replaced by Grinda who unexpectedly offer her help and show her drum skills to everyone.

Positions of the 'core' band members:

1. Warpfire Thrower aka 'Waffle': Turntable, Samples & Programming, Vocals/BGD Vocals, Kbds

2. Poisoned Wind Mortar aka 'Martha': Vocals/BGD Vocals, Gtr (both Rhythm & Lead), Samples

3. Poisoned Wind Globadier aka 'Globi': Keyboard/Keytar, Vocals & Background Vocals, Bass, Guitar (Rhythm), Samples, Occasionally Turntable.

4. Warplock Jezzail aka 'Jezza': Bass, Double Bass/Cello, Addnl string instruments, BGD Vocals

5. Warp-Grinder aka 'Grinda': Drums & Percussion, BGD Vocals, OCC Gtr (Rhythm), Samples & Programming (supports Waffle)

For the most frequent guests:

6. Ratling Gunner aka 'Ratly': Drums & Percussion, BGD Vocals, OCC Gtr

7. Eshin Triads aka 'Tang': Violin/Viola, Addnl string instruments, Vocals/BGD Vocals

8. & 9. Rictus Clan's Stormvermin (Sword & Shield) and Stormvermin (Halberds), aka 'Rebecca & Regina': Gtr (Rhythm) & Bass, BGD Vocals, Troublemakers (screw around on the stage XD), On-Stage guards

10. Gutter Runner aka 'Gutty': Lead Gtr, Vocals/BGD Vocals

11. Pack Master aka 'Packie': Bass, Vocals/BGD Vocals

Other guests:

12. Plague Monk aka 'Plagie': Drums & Percussion, Vocals/BGD Vocals

13. Plague Monk Censer Bearers aka 'Censi': 2nd Drums & Percussion, Vocals/BGD Vocals

14. Mors Clan's Storm Vermin (Halberds) aka 'Hilda': Vocals/BGD Vocals, OCC Gtr (mostly Rhythm) and Bass

15. Mors Clan's Storm Vermin (Sword & Shield) aka 'Silvia': Vocals/BGD Vocals, Gtr (mostly Rhythm), OCC Bass

16. Ikit Claw: Vocals

The rest are future characters and even outsiders (non-Skaven characters) who want to jam or support/assist the band.

Notes:

1. After a discussion with SkyKain, a suitable Warlord as a guest for Morrslieb would be Ikit Claw since she likes some of the more elegant or classy music and there are a lot of Skrye apprentices here.

2. The message on Martha's guitar refers to the Red Hot Chili Peppers/RHCP' amazing performance at La CIGALE in Paris, 2006. Particularly John Frusciante's (a guitarist, one of Martha fav idols)'s performance during “Don't forget me.”

3. Grinda developed her interest in music after seeing her friends playing the cover songs during their rehearsals. She decided to choose drum as her main instrument by seeing Ratly and some of the famous drummers as her inspirations. For the latter, the examples are; Karen Carpenter - a vocalist (mainly) and drummer from the Carpenters, and Chad Smith from RHCP.

However, with her personal reasons, she decides to learn how to be a professional drummer in her own way by secretly taking jazz classes alone (Ikit approve this, btw). She later shows the skills she learned so far to her friends and was immediately accepted into 'the Morrslieb' band not long after Ratly informs everyone that she wants to join 'the Rodents' and the band plan to recruit a new drummer.

4. Also note if the band wanna cover RHCP, the suitable bassist for this is gonna be Packie (as a main guest), I believe she's the one who is skillful enough and being so energetic like 'FLEA' (the band's bassist and usually regarded as one of the best bassist players in the world, also one of her fav idols for several reasons, lol XD). While the (main) vocalist I think it's gonna be Waffle.

5. Of course, the icons for Skaven belong to SkyKain.

[aioleis]

Hariton Pushwagner's visual novel ‘Soft City’ (1969–1975)

The narrative of Soft City is deeply connected to traditional dystopian science fiction. "Astounding depictions of dystopian, alienating reiteration." While it evokes Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and the social division of Blade Runner, as well as the imagery of Hilberseimer’s Großstadt, the primary inspiration for Terje Brofos.

Silkscreen prints from the series 'One Day in the Life of the Mann Family', which arose from a lengthy visual/literary collaboration between Pushwagner and the author Axel Jensen. The series was printed by the screen printer Gunner Fredriksen in 1980.

[miasma-my-asthma]

There is a point in the gunner experience in monster hunter games when you just get so absolutely anoyed and jaded by the one shots (and two shots from the same monster combo) that happens so much bc of your defense debuff that you either take a break from the game or do a 180° and desperatly pick up any melee weapon just to play the game without having that fucking headache.

The few gunner only players that dont get bothered by it are either extremeley skilled speed runner levels of techinical prowess players that are virtually untouchable so always being at risk of one shots doesnt really makes a difference to them; or its one of *those* players who are constantly looking for enviromental traps and stuff and constantly spamming status effects stuff, traps and other consummables to hold the monster down to the point they are basically only attacking a static opponent that dont fight back and might as well be playing a turn based rpg at this point.

[xenodidelphis]

Minutemen vs. Nuka-Raiders

So, I have to get this out before the edible kicks in so lets go.

I'm going to break this down into a couple of sections. Tactics, Equipment, and Allies.

For any of this to make sense, I will be operating on the premise that the SoSu went with the MM or the Railroad, and is no longer in the picture. Instead, there is a General that took over after. Additionally, the premise for the Raiders will be that there is a new Overboss that is good at keeping the factions together.

We will also have to work on either the premise that the Raiders or the MM are invading. Seeing as I do not have the attention span for both, I'm going with the Raiders expanding into the CW.

Let's go.

Tactics

With the Raiders working together and a strong leader, I think that they could really work to the strengths of each gang. If you sent in the Operators first with their low profiles and "tame" personalities, then they could go after the artillery and at least slow down the heavy shelling. They would do this before the MM even knew an invasion was happening. Once the MM DO realize that they are being invaded, it would be much harder to keep ahead of shelling, so most of the time they would want to keep fighting very close to settlements to keep that from being an issue. Wave 2 would be mostly the Disciples and a mix of Pack/Operators. This would satiate the Disciples blood lust and give the most aggressive pack members something to do while the rest of the Pack hunts down any runners. If everything goes well, this will be the final wave.

However, the MM are not pushovers. I think that the MM would just have an inadequate amount of members per settlement to fight back effectively if they tried to brute force it. They have the home terrain advantage, though, and so would be much better at falling back to regroup than the Raiders would be at realizing how many of them had slipped out to get reinforcements the moment the first Disciple came over the horizon.

Once the MM in full knew what was up, they could start to turn their artillery on the road leading into the CW. By this time, they would almost certainly have a way of fast cross-CW communication. I would bet it would be a Pony-Express style relay from wherever the nearest MM radio is to wherever the information needed to be.

This alone would mean that they could be so much better about out-maneuvering the gangs. That is until the gangs figure this out, and start targeting the radio towers.

Once the MM marches enmasse, however, the tide almost certainly could turn in their favor because they are so much more organized than the Raiders, and less prone to majorly breaking from plan or backstabbing each other on the field.

Now,

Equipment

This one is going to be short, I think. The MM have fucking artillery. They have access to more advanced technology that isn't scavenged, and they have the bonus of (most likely) dedicated people putting together and repairing their gear. With a MM ending, there may be quite a few sets of Brotherhood PA that are painted over with a MM flag. Big advantage there. The Raiders have chemical warfare and are not afraid to use it. [Ooap, it's kicking in.] Plus, their weapons are very module and low tech, meaning they can improvise on a dime with someone eles's gun if a piece of their's breaks. All together less armor, but they have the advantage of being almost to a member hopped up on something that makes you feel no pain, and so can outlast if nothing else.

Allies

The biggest advantage the gangs would have is caps-flow and not having scruples with using Gunners and Slaves to fill their ranks. They may also get some other smaller gangs to run with them easily enough- even if that does add in another potential power grab and a plethora of backstabbing.

The MM wouldn't use slaves of Gunners- but they would have the advantage of WAY MORE allies within the CW. The Raiders wouldn't have a place they could rest without fighting hard to take it, and there is a MM waiting on just about every damn corner. If there isn't a MM, there is a settler or a trader that will run and tell the next MM they see. (Again- this is a stable MM ending with the intention of bringing everyone under the protection of them). Plus, if they need expert subterfuge and sneaky-sneaks, the Railroad could most likely be tapped, or individual members of it if it basically mostly dissolved after the Institute went kaput.

The long short of it in my mind is that they would be a match for each other and it would come down to the brass-tack details of each side to determine if the MM can run the raiders off/wipe them, or in the Raiders decimate the MM and win the CW for themselves.

Hope the last couple of sentences made sense, because they rook me over a half hour to write.

@chempack @failedphlebotomist