#[-my only defense is that the final form of any story hero/heroine-]

[amidst-the-storm]

[State of Mind]

[Controlled Iblis State Theme (WARNING: LOUD/BASS-HEAVY)

Warnings: Blood, Mention of Bone, Heavy-Duty ‘Final Battle’ stuff.

Fair Warning: Controlled Iblis State (all Chaos Emeralds Present/revealing Tempest’s ultimate ability set). This is meant to be near the end of Tempest’s canonical storyline (still a WIP on Quotev), and currently non-canon to her character on the blog. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it canon since this final form of hers is meant to be INCREDIBLY powerful. Also I was listening to the Theme the whole time so the whole thing is me being in a battle-mindset.

Word Count: 1,490

Takes place near the end of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.]

“You can’t hope to defeat me, Sonic.” Ix’s words were measured, evened out. The entire team was battered, beaten within an inch of their lives. But she was a livewire. Tempest’s mind was echoing with wrath and rage, the month she had spent in this place... Seeing this world...

The destruction to her own....

“You never deserved the power of the Master Emerald.” Knuckles grit his teeth, his gloves torn and dirtied. Tempest’s eyes narrowed. “.... Now then....” His voice deepened. The tone shifted, from level-headed and calm to murderous in moments. Something was going wrong. The echidna stood atop the pedestal...

Began to glow.

His super form shed away. Left in its place was all his life. All versions of him, from the smallest child to the most elderly adult. It all burned, yet it fit. It was him. The entire timeline of his existence, on display.

Tempest couldn’t do this any longer.

She reached her hand up, bloodied fingers slipping on her necklace.

“.... We were at your death, if memory served... How rude of me to leave you waiting...” The echidna took a step down, all his forms repeating the action like fluid. Tempest’s fingers latched.

The necklace snapped.

“Another device broken?... How pitiful.... You see, this is one of the reasons why-!” Ix was silenced by a light smashing into him.

He was slammed back to the pedestal.

She was so done.

The Chaos Emeralds glowed, lifting into the air around the two like jewel spectators.

There wasn’t time. There never was. Their hand stretched out. A million flames flickered to life. Two eyes glared, the color gone beneath a burning white. This man- this frail old maniac- was trying to destroy her home.

“You want to see power, Ix?” Her voice was many. The uncountable, the impossible, an untold number of lives destroyed once by her own blood. By her own soul.

By her own hand.

It echoed and twisted, words contorted into the infinite.

Purple wires stretched around them. Ix rushed forward. He was young and old, all at once. Stinging gray hairs intertwined with the beige-green of his youth. Tempest leaped to the left, just narrowly dodging a smack to the face. His staff cracked against the ground.

More wires sliced through reality. Ix growled. He turned, pure-white orbs full of ungodly wrath.

“I am power!” His voice was echoed, multiplied. Every form of him throughout his life, echoing the same phrase. More wires encapsulated the two, burning into time itself. He rushed forth. Another swing was made. This one caught. It slammed into Tempest’s ribcage.

She knew bones had broken.

She was slammed to the wires.

They glowed, the outside world beginning to blur and distort. Time ripped off its hinges. For a moment, she heard her friends.

Tails.

Amy.

Shade.

Knuckles.

E-123 Omega.

Shadow.

Blaze.

Cream.

Cheese.

Rouge.

Big.

Sonic.

They were screaming.

Voices raw.

Bodies bleeding.

“You want to see POWER?”

They had come so far. They had fought so hard.- They had defeated his armies, his alliances left to collect. They had severed his tie to every colony, refusing him any lenience.

He was trying to destroy their world, and he wanted to talk about power?

The wires all roared. A million voices, every word ever said or to come. All echoed into one chamber. Time itself collapsed into nothing. The land outside the wires cracked. It was not real. It was not their reality, not right now.

Ix smashed his staff into her leg. Tempest screeched. Another bone was gone. The rage in her mind was just barely under a leash, collected by the very Emeralds she could never use. She couldn’t move. She could barely think.

Flames ruptured from her back.

Her skin crackled and snapped.

Light green slashed to ribbons.

Replaced by the dark, grim shades she had known two lifetimes ago.

“I’ll show you POWER, all right.”

And in that moment.

That one moment...

They were one.

There was no more fighting, no more controlling one over the other... The three collected, their fates tying into a single entity... But now, there was a new element.

The life of a human considered.

Ix dashed forth.

His staff snapped.

They turned their eyes. White still flowed from them. Flames flashed. Wires and heat collected, turning on all within and preparing to consume. They would not be distracted by the outside, not now, not ever.

“I WILL- KILL YOU!” Ix slammed forward. Tempest rushed to meet him.

The two met in the middle.

Energy arced out from their hands as they connected. Wings flared as Tempest swung her body. Ix went to do the same. The two connected yet again, shoe and sandal meeting with an almighty-

“SMASH!”

“Power isn’t about being able to control the universe, Ix.” Ix spat in her face. Tempest didn’t even flinch. He shoved her away. Twin wings of bone flapped behind Tempest, coated in the flames she had long shunned and hid. Ix was glowing, coated in an aura of pure white malice.

“THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER!” He slashed back again. A new staff appeared in his hands. Tempest’s hand slammed into it. The staff was white, ornate. Her hand gripped it tightly. Ix’s eyebrows narrowed. His attention was on her.

The staff went from normal to white-hot in a millisecond.

“Sadly, Lord Ix, it is far from over.”

Ix screeched. His staff was dropped. Tempest kicked it away. The purple wires narrowed in, closing the bubble until it was barely big enough to move. Tempest kept her vision on Ix the whole time.

He was shaking. Really, truly shaking. The leader of the Echidna tribe- a tribe led astray by madness and wrath- was quivering.

“... Power is more than just holding fate in your hand- you should know that.” Ix turned, ready to run. He stared in horror at the wires, ensnaring him. The bubble moved. Wires wrapped and warped around him, just barely digging into his skin. They rendered him immobile, tying up his legs and arms. He could only flail, attempting to summon one of his void strikes.

A single slash of Tempest’s wing collapsed it.

“Power is knowledge.... The knowledge that we cannot control fate, nor its lines.” Ix made a desperate move to punch her. It connected with her jaw. There was a crack. Tempest didn’t even flinch. The pain was nothing compared to this.- Nothing compared to everything she could feel, everything she could see.

She touched her cheek, right where she had been hit. Ix smirked. He went for another attack.

His fist was intercepted. Several wires held it back, mere centimeters from breaking her neck. Tempest scarcely blinked.

“I once wished I could control fate. I wanted to so badly, that I became something evil...” Tempest pulled back, her wires forcing Ix to the ground. “... And you know what?... I’m not going to be that anymore... But I accept that I was part of it.”

“What would you know of p-MMPH!” Wires covered Ix’s mouth. There were many, an entire cosmos of lines that refused his speech. Tempest glanced back to him.

“... You know what else I’ve accepted?....”

She took a step towards him. The cage of wires grew smaller, her wings snapping from reality. The glow in her eyes only got stronger, white burning all else. The purple coalesced, solidifying back into pale peach skin. Tempest stepped ever closer as Ix attempted to move back.

The aura around him cracked.

White drained from his eyes, revealing a light red-hued pupil. Tempest got down to her knees. Both white-eyes were focused on her opponent.

The one who caused so much grief these past few months.

The one who tried to kill her and her friends.

The one that claimed he could be more than Solaris.

More than Iblis.

More than Mephiles.

More than anything she had ever been.

More evil than she could ever dream.

“.... That I can’t change it....”

She glared at Ix as the wires all snapped, revealing the glowing purple bubble of time around them. Ten seconds. That was all she ever needed, wasn’t it?

“.. But I can be better than those days.... Maybe, one day, you’ll be better than today.” Ix was freed. He slammed into Tempest.

Nine.

She slashed up, hand colliding with his chest.

Eight.

Ix’s fist crashed into her temple. She saw stars.

Seven.

The flames around her roared to life.

Six.

Ix threw another punch.

Five.

Tempest caught it, the fire traveling up her arm.

Four.

The hand over Ix’s chest was now coated in flames.

Three.

Tempest threw Ix off as he screamed from the burns, the fire clinging to his fur.

Two.

She rushed forward.

One.

Reality returned, just as Tempest’s fist collided with Ix’s face. He crumpled, aura snapping into nothing. Tempest collapsed seconds after. The flames on them both flickered and faded.

“... Maybe....”

[50shadesofmittens]

Eqippable Ally AU

SO during my recent conversation with coaxionunlimited I got a lot of my vague AU’s fleshed out. As in, I finally put down to words some of the insane ideas I’ve had bouncing around my head for ages now.

Here’s the Equippable Ally AU, the first one we talked about and one of the longest

More under the cut, ‘cause this gonna be LONG

So to start, ideas of each Primarch in this AU

Like Corvus winding up Equippable Ally with Sly Marbo bc why not and also Marbo equipped with a Primarch-powered weapon is SCARY

ALSO Ferrus Manus still alive kinda equipping Kitten during a moment of High Tension when Magnus for whatever reason can’t be the equippable ally- cue Magnus jealousy even given full understanding of the intense circumstances

And possibly the first thing Fulgrim does once somebody gets his soul free of the paining and his body back from the daemon inhabiting it is become an Equippable Ally to one of the Space Marines in the area- proving that he’s on the good guys side for real but also that’s he’s willing to let someone else take control of it means getting better results, and maybe also that he’s traumatized to the point where he can’t make very good decisions for himself but he recognizes this flaw and is willing to take measures to work around/through it

Also Mittens makes a powerful pair because the two can work together directly in combat- Kitten taking over the physical aspects while Magnus handles all the magical ones working in the battle- and as the two learn to work together they combine their strengths into more powerful combos

Btw I like to imagine all the Primarchs have In Love With Your Carnage literally hardwired into their DNA to some degree, which affects the crack pairings I had for the Equippable Ally AU

Like apart from Mittens, you have:

Corvus and Sly Marbo (which the Void Dragon approves heavily of as an example of Rescue Romance)

Russ and Ygrainne (ie the badass Eldar who cannon thinks is Guilliman’s girlfriend- in this AU they met in Commoragh’s fighting pits and now have UST from both considering the other inferior while also being able to hold their own against each other)

Dorn has Karstodes (and that one is explicitly They Won’t because it’s based on Dorn being unable to deny that Karstodes is a very good fighter and he finds his technique and strength in battle arousing while hating his personality, and Karstodes being an Abhorrent Admirer)

Then comes the mechanics behind the Equippable Ally bit, ie How It Works

The Primarch literally turns into a sword of some kind

Like all swords are based on the Emperors flaming sword, but some minor details causing differences between them

As for the power, there’s three ways this could work

One; swords have energy blasts, a la Zelda or Bleach. The power behind these blasts is roughly 3-12 times the amount of power a Primarch would put into the same kind of swing if it was used by his own hands

Two: if the sword can be incorporated into any other battle style, the sword will glow, possibly cause the person wielding it to glow, and then the attack will have the same power as though the Primarch performed it but with 1.5-8 times the power the Primarch would’ve had

Three- Primarch can use his Psyker powers within the sword by using the weirder as a conduit. This has a bonus of 2-10 times its usual power, but the caveat is that the weirder cannot be mind-controlled and has the ability to drop the sword at any time, meaning that the Primarch can’t force someone to be a conduit for a spell they don’t want to be part of

A Primarch-as-weapon weapon is FAR more powerful than the Primarchs-as-people are

IE the weapon they turn into can do more damage than a Primarchs alone can

That’s why any Primarchs would agree to it- the end result is more powerful than what they could create alone

Biggest downside is that using that power is hard- using it effectively is double hard

See, the power modifier the wielder gets is tied to the Primarchs ability to do that any specific move. Throw a knife while holding Konrad-sword is much more powerful than throwing a knife while holding say Sanguinius sword, because the former can throw knives much better than the latter. Of course being Primarchs they’re pretty good at anything- this is more of a way to note that some Primarchs will supply bigger bonuses than others

The other thing- and this is the big one- is that the Primarch cannot guide or directly control the movements of the weirder, and the overall strength of an attack is reflected by if the WIELDER’s exact actions were taken by a Primarch- so if someone swings a Primarch sword with horrific form, it’ll have a lot of force but if they would’ve dropped a normal sword with a move like that, they’ll drop the Primarch sword. What’s more the power output increase adds even more destabilization because people really arent naturally good at handling more power than they’re used to- kickback is still a thing, and even with the defenses of a Primarch being added, Primarchs also have enhanced pain tolerance, so what a Primarch might consider mild soreness will be shocking and difficult to handle for a normal person experiencing the same thing

TLDR; it takes a lot of skill to handle Primarch Weapons well. Hence why it’s pretty useless unless the Primarch has someone he trusts who understands him very well and can fight on or close to his level

It’s like handing a civilian an automatic gun- they theoretically have the ability to use it just fine, they know how to press the trigger and point away from themselves, but they still aren’t fully qualified to use it

Then there’s a really stupid scene with Magnus and Russ throwing a limitless supply of soft silk shoes at each other at 400km/hr, Thanks to magic arbitrary rules and/or the bs of a powerful Mars dragon or a god

So I figure this might be a good time to explain where my own Equippable Ally AU was going- it was largely based on fairy-tales and the parody and exploitation thereof

Like the basic idea was that the Void Dragon A) is alive B) has a grudge against Emps and C) is still/also very much into medieval fairytales like the one of Saint George, largely because Emps was obsessed with them when he fought it

Only the dragon doesn’t really ‘get’ gender so it decides that the traditional fairytale setting where a prince or a princess is trapped and must be freed/rescued by their One True Love is a good narratively-sound way to seek Revenge- it casts the Primarchs as the “princesses” of the tale

Mainly Ferrus Manus, who has been trapped with the dragon for 10,000 years while they both waited for someone to try to rescue him, not knowing that almost all of the Galaxy thinks he’s dead. This has given the dragon much time to play dress up with Ferrus

So when the dragon learns of the Equippable Ally thing, it decides “Ah HA! This is how I identify the One True Love who is to try to rescue the children of my enemy! My greatest threat (according to all the tropes I know)!”

Only there’s more than one Equippable Ally bond, so the dragon doesn’t know which one is, narratively speaking, the Hero/Heroine.

So it decides to make all the people bonded to a Primarch in this manner fight to the death, and the winner will obviously be the Protagonist that the dragon seeks

(I realize I failed to mention this, but the dragon has cast Emps in the role of Good King whose Kingdom is threatened and who must rely on the Hero/Heroine to save the day. This is in fact the way the Dragon seeks revenge- it believes the narrative will not LET the Emperor face it, so when it defeats the new protagonist it will have won)

(The void dragon is kinda insane and believes fairy tale logic is an actual force of nature)

Anyways, the dragon decides the best way to force the Potential Protagonists to fight is to hold their True Loves hostage- good thing it’s got millennia of practice keeping Ferrus from running away

And both Russ and Magnus wind up kidnapped for this tournament.

And the dragon doesn’t just believe in fairy tales, no it wants these battles to LOOK heroic and fairy tale like.

So it dresses all the Primarchs in medieval dresses (it’s other reason for doing this is that it enjoyed playing dress up with Ferrus and would like to try with his brothers now)

When the “tournament” goes down all the Primarchs are put on display so their “true loves” can be reminded what’s at stake

Which just means Magnus and Russ see each other and try to kill each other. The Void Dragon has them separated and magic blocked to avoid this.

The Void Dragon doesn’t want Magnus and Russ killing each other in the Equippable Ally AU bc it’s all like “No no no, you two are Princesses, your heroic knights are the ones meant to be proving themselves and fighting to the death, your role is to be the pretty trophy they win, this is not how the story goes. The HERO is the one who proves their strength, the love interest can’t die in a fratricidal duel while the Hero is fighting for his life- that would be an awful story! Here just- just stay separate, you two, at least until the tournament is over”

Thing is, at least one of the kidnapped Primarchs wanted to get out of the dress he’s in, and discovered that the dresses are self-repairing, and any pieces of the outfit lost or thrown away will be replaced instantly

Magnus and Russ take this to mean “we have infinite ammo to throw at each other”

They start with jewelry bc it’s hard and might theoretically do a tiny scratch of damage if thrown fast enough, but that gets taken away. Then they find that the shoes, which are fabric and soft, cannot do damage and do not get taken away when thrown

So Magnus and Russ ignore the entire death match going on around them to throw shoes at each other at 500 km/hr, in the futile hope that it will do some damage to the other

The entire thing has been me getting the idea for like a 30-sec scene animation, but as you can see it has WAY too much backstory behind it

I can’t remember if I started with Fairy Tale parodies combining with Equippable Ally trope, or if I just wanted Magnus and Russ to throw shoes at each other and the rest built itself around that

(Also Also, Russ and Magnus eventually do get tired of not getting anywhere, and Corvus celebrates their seeing reason and stopping their pointless (albeit commendable on Russ’ part) attempts at homicide with weapons that clearly cannot kill the other

Then Dorn points out the shoes could theoretically be used to kill a Primarch if you literally smothered a Primarch in shoes so that he had no access to air and then kept him there for the full three standard years it would take for him to suffocate.

Russ and Magnus immediately begin throwing shoes again)

(Corvus Facepalms)

[katsukiboom]

hey love, you’re writing is truly amazing and i wanted to request a lil story from you, if you don’t mind? Bakugou and his s/o go against each other in their second year summer festival and it’s the second to final round. His s/o has an aura quirk (their own surrounding energy) that allows them to create almost impenetrable shields and throw waves of electrifying energy at their opponent. He loves his s/o with all his heart, but he still promises not to take it easy on them in the arena. thx! 💖

Thank you so much for the kind words my dude! Here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

Katsuki panted heavily as he ran across the field, sweat drops falling down his face and onto his uniform and on the ground, the crowd all around them screaming while cheering for one side or the other. He had already lost track of time by then but he couldn’t care less about that. Looking up for a second, he could see his class staring at the centre of the arena attentively, either waiting for him to lose or just expecting what he would do next.

Opposite to him were you, his significant other, throwing him an enraged look while hidden behind a shield of fiery-blue energy that kept you safe from his various attacks - he breathed in before charging at you again, this time running at full speed propelling himself with his Quirk before jumping off the ground, sending a blast your way which you quickly diverted with the shield, causing you to slide a little bit back, and even with the smoke raised by the explosion you could tell what he was doing, recognizing the stunt from last year’s first battle trial that Katsuki had told you about, going off about how he almost had Izuku on the palm of his hands. Turning around in just a second you sent one of your waves towards where you could calculate he was flying through, not really expecting to hit anything until you felt the thud, light against your physical body.

You held your breath until your sight was clear again and kept your defenses up in case he had deceived you, but once the crowd burst in shouts and whistles you opened your eyes wide, instantly looking back as Thirteen, the 2nd-Year’s Chief Referee announced your victory and Katsuki lay on the ground, bruises already forming on his upper left arm, where you had hit him with the last wave. “Katsuki!” you exclaimed nervously as you ran and kneeled next to him, but when you tried to reach out to him he swatted you away with his hand, shocking you although it was something you expected from a sore loser like him.

Even if he didn’t want you to, you wrapped your arms around his torso and helped him up, his breath uneven and his gaze avoiding yours. You saw him to Recovery Girl’s stadium office where she healed his injuries in the blink of an eye with a soft kiss on the top of his head, the small bruises quickly disappearing as the Youthful Heroine praised both your abilities and congratulated your win, Katsuki’s frown deepening with each word the old woman spoke. “You held yourself just great out there, young Katsuki,” she told him while patting his back, “and you’ve come a long way since last year. I’m proud.”

“It still wasn’t enough, it was the fucking semifinals,” he retorted, his voice almost as low as a hiss as he looked at you, his eyes full of all the unspoken anger he felt. For a moment you thought you could see tears starting to form but decided it’d be best to leave it at that, not wanting to make him feel even more uncomfortable. The guy you loved was now burying himself under layers and layers of self-doubt again, something you thought had been long forgotten. “I don’t know what I did wrong, goddamnit.”

“Language,” you scolded him lightly as you watched Recovery Girl finish bandaging his arms, his skin red from the usage of his Quirk - during the last year he had gained even better control of it if it was possible, and you were sure he was soon going to be the best student when it came to his abilities. As your eyes gave him a kind stare and your lips curved into a smile he scoffed and looked down as if finally feeling defeated.

It wasn’t long until he was back on his feet and you both walked side by side back to your respective seats, but as you paced calmly through the halls he grabbed you by the shoulders and pushed you against a wall, both his hands keeping you in place while he stared at you with what you could only guess was disappointment.

Not towards you, but himself.

Reaching up, you cupped his cheek on your hand and smiled at him once more, and this time he didn’t back off, instead leaning a bit more into your touch and closing his eyes. “I… I’m so fucking happy for you (y/n),” he started to explain, and the way he spoke with his voice threatening to break at any moment broke your heart just a little; you hated to see him being way too hard on himself, pushing his own boundaries always expecting to come out on top, and even though you were aware of the big steps he had taken along the way and how much he had changed his sense of pride remained untouched, unwavering. “I could’ve done better. I could’ve changed my strategy just enough to be victorious. I’m happy you’re there but for fucks’ sake I could’ve tried harder.”

You sighed and made him look back at you, his frown replaced by a sad expression, one that was rare to see on him. “Babe, you did your best and you know it.” You caressed his cheek with your thumb a little bit while placing a kiss on the tip of his nose before you added, “There will be a million more scenarios in which you’ll fall, and it’ll be up to you to turn them into a million and one opportunities for you to rise. Mistakes are meant to be learnt from - but you already know that, don’t you? You’re an amazing learner my love, and no one doubts that someday you’ll become one of the greatest heroes in the world. I’ll make sure to be around to witness that, too.”

That was the first time he let go of his feelings, on that hallway while burying his face on your neck and hugging you close by the waist as he breathed you in, the feeling of his heartbeat loud against your chest as you ran one of your hands through his messy hair, the other rubbing circles on his firm back. You stood like that for what seemed like forever and he was the first one to pull away, his face still showing some signs of hurt but the hint of a smile appeared on his lips.

“You just don’t know how much I fucking love you (y/n),” he said, his hands still lingering on your sides and holding onto you as if you were going to shatter like glass. You just loved how soft he could be, even when his rougher side showed more often - you knew the boy behind that facade, and it only made your feelings grow stronger and stronger. “I have no idea how I got to make you stay but you can be damn sure I’m the luckiest guy ever.”

“I love you so much too Katsuki,” you replied with a bright blush tinting your cheeks and the tip of your ears. “Now let’s go, I want to see if I get to kick Todoroki’s or Midoriya’s ass in the finals.”

You were about to move away from his grasp when he tightened it, keeping you in place and surprising you greatly. There was something else in his gaze now, something deeper as he looked at you with a smug smile before he leaned down and whispered in your ear with a nearly-seductive voice, flustering you, “We’ll go, but don’t think this is over - next time, I won’t go so easy on you, I can promise you that, babe.”

[fantastic-nonsense]

@colpfiction replied to your post “me: *sees a post on r/AskHistorians about comics history*me: ”

Always. I've learned more about comics and comics history and stuff from your blog than I think I did in college.

Lol, thanks! I feel honored!

Anyway, the original question asked was “Comic books featuring superheroes in the 60s-70s are typically more lighthearted and laden with sci-fi themes than earlier examples. In the 80s there was a sharp u-turn towards more grounded and dark subject matter. What trends caused this shift towards (relatively) grittier realism? What social trends led to this shift? Was it just a matter of sales or was something bigger happening in entertainment/media/society?

Me being me, I busted out pretty much the entirety of the bare bones of the history of the Comics Code and the switch from the Silver Age to the Bronze Age to the Modern/Dark Age of Comics. Also, I’m not sure if it’s good or just sad that I basically wrote the majority of it off the top of my head and really only needed to Google things to source dates, specific title and author names, and a couple of quotes. Now granted, r/AskHistorians specifically asks for and curates in-depth, sourced responses, but still:

“In terms of actual comics that contributed to the sharp turn towards "more grounded and dark subject matter," there are four or five comic events people usually credit as marking the general "turning point" between the Silver Age and Bronze Age of comics where comics began to get progressively darker and less silly: Gwen Stacy's death in "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" (which had a huge impact on the readership of Spider-man comics and comics readers in general), the 1971 "Snowbirds Don't Fly" drug abuse storyline in Green Arrow comics, Green Lantern being turned over to Denny O'Neil and Neil Adams, Jack Kirby's New Gods, and the revival of the Teen Titans with The New Teen Titans. However, unlike the progression from the Bronze Age to the Modern Age, there is no true clearly defined group of comics you can point to as being the definitive marker.

However, you can point specifically to the four comics usually credited with ending the Bronze Age and kicking off the "Dark Age/Modern Age" of comics: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Watchmen (1987), The Killing Joke (1988), and DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline (1986) that saw a universe-wide reboot and restructuring. While Crisis completely revitalized the DC Universe's sales, The Killing Joke, DKR, and Watchmen were so enormously popular that they literally redefined the superhero genre and inspired years of "grim and gritty" comic books. In fact, DKR was so popular and so influential that in a lot of ways, the entire modern conception of Batman is loosely, in one form or another, based on Miller's work (despite DKR being a dark alternate future and completely out-of-continuity even to this day).

In terms of societal trends and influences, you had quite a few things going on: in comics specifically, you had writers and artists beginning to stretch the bounds of what was considered "acceptable" by the Comics Code Authority guidelines, which was implemented in 1954 after the moral panic surrounding comics, juvenile delinquency, and "bad influences" that culminated in Senate Subcommitee Hearings into comic books and their influence on children and teenagers (the moral panic itself was kicked off due to the infamous book Seduction of the Innocent by psychologist Fredric Wertham). Incidentally, this is why the Silver Age is so well-known for its light-hearted subject matter: comics companies were trying desperately to stick to their self-imposed censorship code, which you can find here.

Stan Lee has talked multiple times about the story of how Marvel Comics famously defied the CCA in 1970 by publishing a Spider-man story dealing with drug abuse (at the request of the US government). His deliberate refusal to adhere to the Comics Code with "Green Goblin Reborn!" in 1970 led to DC publishing the influential and seminal Speedy/Red Arrow storyline "Snowbirds Don't Fly" in 1971, depicting Roy Harper becoming addicted to heroin. Together, these two storylines would form a big part of the basis for depicting darker storylines. "Snowbirds Don't Fly" is considered one of the big watershed moments for the depiction of mature themes in comics, and particularly at DC, as the arc was the start of an era of socially relevant Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics.

Michael McAvennie and Hannah Dolan actually mention this in their book DC Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle:

"It was taboo to depict drugs in comics, even in ways that openly condemned their use. However, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams collaborated on an unforgettable two-part arc that brought the issue directly into Green Arrow's home, and demonstrated the power comics had to affect change and perception."

These two stories triggered a re-examination and revision of the Code in 1971 with standards that were slightly looser (though not by much) and helped contribute to a culture where writers/artists were interested in stretching the boundaries of what they were allowed to depict. As the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's History page states:

The 1971 code relaxed the restrictions on crime comics and lifted the ban on horror comics (while still prohibiting the use of “horror” and “terror” in titles). In addition, the liberalized standards on sex reflected changes in society. After the Spider-Man controversy, the CMAA added a section on how to handle depiction of drug use. The code, although it was less restrictive, represented a lost opportunity in its reaffirmation of comic books as a medium for children.

So you can generally point to "Green Goblin Reborn!" and "Snowbirds Don't Fly" in 1970/1971 for the re-introduction of socially relevant topics such as drug abuse, the revision of the Comics Code in 1971 for allowing the growth of supernatural and horror-related titles (as well as an explosion of non-superhero genre titles throughout the 70s), Gwen Stacy's death in 1973 as marking a trend towards dealing with death and darker subject matter, Jack Kirby's move from Marvel to DC and his "New Gods" storyline as marking a fundamental change in the storytelling priorities of both companies, the revival of Teen Titans under Marv Wolfman and George Perez as marking a change towards character-based storytelling, and the introduction of several minority heroes (particularly John Stewart as Green Lantern, Luke Cage, Storm, Black Lightning, Vixen, and Cyborg) as marking a trend towards the attempt at inclusion and greater diversity (and thus socially relevant storylines regarding prejudice and racism). All of these things combined led to a "perfect storm" where comics began to deal with darker and more gritty/realistic subject matter throughout the 70s and into the 80s, culminating in the publication of stories like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, A Death in the Family, and Crisis on Infinite Earths in the mid-80s (and later on in 1992, The Death of Superman) which led to the start of the Modern Age/Dark Age of comics.

There are probably three other big societal trends that helped contribute to the depiction of 'darker' subject matter in comics throughout the 70s and early 80s: the change of marketing trends where young children and girls stopped being specifically targeted as comic readers; the end of the careers of many of the veteran writers and artists of the time (or their promotion to management positions and retirement from regular writing or drawing) and their replacement with a younger generation of editors and creators; and the rise of direct market distribution, where specialized comic book distributors could directly solicit orders and distribute directly to retail outlets rather than the old system where wholesalers delivered the comic books to retailers along with other magazines. I suspect that the beginning of the "War on Drugs" and the rise of the Women's Liberation movement in the 70s also played a huge role (you can read a little bit about the revitalization of Wonder Woman and her impact on the Women's Movement/second-wave feminism here), but I only know about how social trends affected specific comics like the Batman, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman comics rather than the industry as a whole.

As a sidenote, there are a couple of really good books on Wonder Woman, her history, and her impact on the feminist movement: The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore and Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine by Tim Hanley.

For further research on this matter, I would suggest you look up books relating to the Comics Code and the Seduction of the Innocent scandal (David Hadju's The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America is particularly good) as well as any articles and academic papers on a) the rise of minority superheroes throughout the 70s, b) the impact of "Snowbirds Don't Fly", and c) anything relating to the impact Gwen Stacy's death had on comics.

If you're more interested in the switch from the Bronze Age to the Modern Age, I would focus on the rise of independent publishers such as Milestone Comics and Marvel/DC's non-superhero publishing lines Vertigo and Image, the near complete dissolution of the Comics Code in 1989 (with the final hit being Marvel completely withdrawing from the Comics Code in 2001), authors like Frank Miller (who wrote extensively on Daredevil and then went off and wrote DKR and Batman: Year One) and Alan Moore (especially Alan Moore, considering he wrote Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and The Killing Joke), Crisis on Infinite Earths and the lasting impact it had on both DC Comics and the comics industry as a whole, the death of Barry Allen in Crisis on Infinite Earths and the installation of Wally West as the Second Flash, and the development of the X-Men franchise.”

[kraut-und-ruam-4-diversity]

On (physical) disabilities and their portrayal in Videogames.

This post includes significant Spoilers for Final Fantasy XV (everything post-Altissia // Chapter 9))  – spoilers are under a Read More, but mobile-users, beware!

A few days ago, I had an interesting discussion with a friend, about the portrayal of disabled people in popular media, such as movies, anime, games and fanwork, such as fanart or fanfiction. We both found, that while there is some cool representation out there already, it could be done better in quite some cases of  physical impairment portrayal in Anime and Videogames (which don’t aim to revolve around these topics, mainly.)

 Especially in Anime and Game-design, there are tons of characters who have giant scars all over their body – or some might be missing a limb – or an eye. However, in most of these cases, these impairments have no real consequences for said characters – they have no relevance to the plot. While fans might be delivered an explanation in form of a flashback as to how said impairment came to be, the impairment itself Is most often used to make said character look ‘bad-ass’ – or to justify flashy gadgets and body-modifications. Many end up not being impaired at all - in a round-about way, because their body-modifications give them even greater power than they usually had. Or the impairment becomes the only, defining trait of said characer.

 Let me throw the first stone – I am both fanfiction author and original-story writer. I have tons of OCs (original Characters) or Fan-Characters and I too have added scars or some impairments, only to show that “this character has been through a lot, but despite it all, he is still bad-ass and can easily kick enemy-butt.”

Scars and impairments can add a lot to a character – but as of lately I too have started believing that they only do, if they are taken into consideration throughout the entire story. They offer many chances and open doors, which can enrichen your character. What negative consequences do they suffer? Are there things they cannot do anymore? How do they cope? Can they find ways to still get the tasks done, or do they have to change their lifestyles and find complete work arounds? How does the public react? Do they have any benefits from their impairment? How do they emotionally deal with what happened to them? Does the character lose one or more important fights, because they miss a leg? An arm? Couldn’t see the enemy coming because they only have one eye? Are they deaf or maybe completely blind? Did they have to give up an artistic, creative hobby because their prothesis is not finely-tuned enough and won’t allow small, sensitive movements?

Et cetera.

 (Kayori from ‘Your Lie in April’ - due to a terminal disease, she has to give up playing violine because her body soon becomes too weak.)

Basically, what many people demand, are characters who have to suffer the negative consequences of their impairments as well, instead of only the positive aspects.

Don’t get me wrong – it can be very empowering and uplifting to see people who are physically impaired, in positions of powers – to see them do things which able-bodied people can also do! And possibly, even more – and even better! It is a positive portrayal of physically impaired people and many come to appreciate this.

 …but life’s not always fun and sometimes people also want to tell the world how their condition can make things rough for them – so other people might understand.

Sometimes, we want our favourite characters to struggle the way we do – because if they do, it can be so much more uplifting and inspiring to watch them learn to overcome it.

..and some things, you just can’t overcome – some things just won’t work and won’t be possible anymore – and that is also okay.

  This is where Media can come into play, for representation.

I have played tons of Videogames throughout my life, thus I have seen a great number of diverse characters. As of lately however, there was one game which particularly impressed me, in regard to it’s portrayal of physical impairment – and especially, how it affected the gameplay.

 The cool thing about videogames is, that they do something no other medium can do to the consumer to this degree – they directly involve you. While during the game you might be following a sometimes strict, sometimes not so strict path and pattern, it is still the player who makes the characters move – and who makes the decisions.

The immersion is much greater since you are actively taking part, instead of just passively watching, or reading. This of course offers a wide range of possibilities for interesting approaches, if used wisely.

The game I was speaking about earlier, which has left me so very impressed, was Final Fantasy XV – the latest entry to the Final Fantasy Franchise.

Final Fantasy has had a great history of many popular games and thus, the series has seen many heroes and heroines – of course many of them had their fair share of scars –be it mental, or physical.

Final Fantasy VII has one of the most popular examples – namely it’s hero and Protagonist  “Cloud Strife”.

In regard to Cloud alone, I could write an entire post of analyzing him and his mental state, but many others have done so, which is why I will just leave a link to a very informative and great post, for those who are interested.

 Ahem, back to topic – AND HERE IS THE SPOILER WARNING. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILERED FOR EVERYTHING POST-ALTISSIA ARRIVAL // POST CHAPTER 9.

This is Ignis Sciencia – he is one of the four main characters and he is the Royal Advisor to Prince Noctis.

During their Journey, Ignis is more than essential – not only for the team within the story, but also, to the player. Ignis, next to being a great Strategist, is also an amazing cook. He takes care of his friends and provides them with delicious meals, after a long, hard day of fighting for their lives. For the player, this means – next to entertaining and heart-warming cutscenes of dinner-conversations over a campfire -  Status Boosts. The gameplay makes great use of Ignis’ hobby: depending on what ingredients the Player has collected and how many Recipes Ignis has learned, the Player can pick what will be for dinner.

Depending on the choice, this can make the following day much easier. Some meals will greatly boost the attack, or defense power. Some will allow endless sprinting, double your experience gain, make the boys immune to elemental damage – or it might help them find more items along the way.

If the right dish is picked, a battle which would take you 1h 30 to 2 hours, can be completed in only 45 minutes, which is an amazing deal. (Adamantoise fight, anyone? Unthinkable without the 100% Critical Hit Chance dish.)

Everyone who has played this game is aware of just how essential and useful Ignis’ cooking on it’s own already is. BUT – he is not only a cook – he is also an excellent fighter, using quick, deadly daggers – or lances to attack from above. Also, he can heal his party members and aid them with spells, or items. There really is a notable difference between having all 4 boys fighting – or one of them being unavailable, or momentarily not able to fight.

 Ignis is great for many reasons - …. But with Final Fantasy XV being a dark game, taking place in a world where a war is just about to start, things of course take a turn for the worst.

Plot happens – and after Chapter 9, when Noctis awakes from a coma which had lasted a few days, he finds his dear friend Ignis blind.

…and this is, where many things change - for the four friends, and also for the player.

 The four heroes are escaping from Altissia, making their way to Niflheim where the enemy awaits and where they hope to find their stolen crystal, which could end the war & stop the longer-and-longer growing nights, which threaten to cloak the entire world in everlasting darkness.

However, Ignis being blind greatly affects the gameplay – and the chemistry between the main-cast, which gives our heroes troubles.

Noctis and Gladiolus, who have been like brothers, are constantly fighting.

Prompto, the sunshine of the group, is trying to ease the mood and keep them from getting in each other’s hair, but he fails, as everyone is on edge.

And Ignis? Well, he is blind. He remains composed, trying to still be as useful as possible. He is not holding any grudges, but  behind this mask of him trying to remain collected, it shines through that he too is of course bothered by it.

 From this point of the game on, the player is faced with what this disability means – and in quite a realistic way.

Ignis can no longer cook – there is no way to obtain all these great status boosts which had been so useful before. Ignis now has to use a walking-cane and thus, he is much slower. If the Player goes too fast, a very angry Gladiolus will leave a sarcastic remark, telling you to slow down – whereas Prompto will always stay at Ignis’ side – helping him along the way. Ignis also trips a lot – and man, MAN, does it hurt seeing him like this.

 Additionally, to the group being slower and the boys having to live off pizza and cup-noodles from now on, the player also now lacks manpower during combat.

While Ignis does try his best to fight along, he is still very slow – and does almost no damage. While Gladiolus and Prompto easily deal 1200 damage per hit, Ignis deals 10. He can no longer use his daggers or lances – he will use his cane.

 To make things even worse, he cannot use his Limit Breaks (special commandos and attacks, which can give the player a strategic advantage if used wisely) anymore.

One of his attacks featured him, marking the enemies with daggers which he would throw at them, so Noctis could warp-strike attack them at the speed of light, since he would just have to warp from Dagger, to dagger, instead of having to manually aim.

However, a blind man cannot mark enemies, can he? (instead, he learns to infuse  his friends’ weapons with elemental magic, so they might be more efficient when fighting.)

  Chapter 10 to 13 do an amazing job of making the player understand just how devastating Ignis losing his eyesight affects the entire group.

The poor man trips, slows his friends down considerably, cannot do great damage during battle – and of course, it has taken a mental toll on everyone involved.

FF XV was praised for being immersive and for making the player feel like he belonged to this group of friends. Everyone who has played this game, will probably agree on this. Thus, seeing Ignis like this hurts on a very, very personal level.

  For story-reasons, there is a time-skip of 10 years and after this time has passed, Ignis is almost back to normal. While he is still blind, he can walk without a cane and fight very well on his own. Since Ignis insists on carrying out his duty as Royal Advisor to Prince Noctis, and since these four are best friends, it is only natural, that Ignis will stay with the group for the rest of the game. Thus, gameplay wise, it was a good decision to have Ignis return to almost his old glory after said time-skip. While some might argue that this completely nullifies the tragedy of him having lost his eye-sight, I would disagree and rather see it as him coping with his disability in a believable way. Final Fantasy XV takes place in a world where magic and great technology exist – it is believable that after 10 years, he would have learned to cope in such ways.

Also, it would have negatively affected the experience, as it would have been frustrating to keep Ignis around in this helpless state during all final chapters. (Sorry Ignis, I love you, but I would much rather have you had stay at home where all is safe, if you still had been completely blind and unable to help yourself ; ____ ;) Thus, in order to not completely frustrate the players, it was a good call to make Ignis regain most of his abilities, while still keeping him impaired. (Because hey – some things just cant be cured – not even in a world where magic exists, which is a realistic and grim reminder of just how brutal war can be – and how it can affect your life forever. ) To me, there was a great balance - a realistic portrayel of how a sudden impairment can affect not only an individual, but also his friends - and the already threatening situations the boys are in, during the game, only adds to it - and, seeing how a person can cope.

Final Fantasy XV – in my opinion – tackled Ignis’ disability in a great way. The player really came to understand and witness first-hand, through clever use of gameplay,  just how off-throwing and life changing losing one’s eye-sight can be. Not only did it affect Ignis and his mental state – but it also affected his friends and their dynamic in a great and yet terrible way.

I remember – when Trailers of the game teased that Ignis might become blind – many people said “But he will be fine again, won’t he?” or “he won’t be permanently blind! It’s probably just for now!” – since Square Enix has never gone so far as to disable one of their main-characters over the course of the game. We have had characters die – but this? This was…new. It was interesting. ..and it was tragic.

 I really hope to see more Game Developers be brave enough in the future, to include more disabled characters – and to dare showing their struggles in a realistic and hopefully equally gripping and dark way, as real life itself often does.

- Mod Magical Mario