#⁎⋆ ꙳✧∘ gena talks !

[inklores]

the new story panels for miguel omfg he’s such a tired dad <3

best believe i’ll be writing similar scenes for pdtg 😌

( art creds to cteec on ig ! )

[essektheylyss]

As a Luxon stan, I am in fact increasingly obsessed with the Fold, which I'm sure is a surprise to no one. "Sophisticated probability predictions—" oh, did you mean my absolute favorite form of divination bullshit? "Pure potentiality—" OH, DID YOU MEAN MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FORM OF MAGIC BULLSHIT?

[xycuro-illuminati]

See with Zdarsky's run it was so unbearable and awful and sucked ass but there were other dd runs going on like Daredevil & Echo. Not only that, Ahmed is trying his best to work with this shit with the fault legit being having to continue off of zdarsky, boring, and the cane depiction. I was v close to just dropping dd but I'm willing to give the new run a chance. I have a stronger attachment to dd and it's characters other than matt so maybe that's why but I was close to going full dc and dmc. Plus Zdarsky's run (at least on tumblr) had a majority poor reception anyway. I'm down to ignore it and move on.

Mckay with Moon Knight?? Absolutely not. The mk system is DEAD (as far as we know) and now it's just continuing off while also grabbing niche hero characters and writing them in xenophobic and ableist ways. Reading a few panels alone has me so uninterested esp when I mostly enjoyed the original mk comics. MK was a second fav but now I'm just dropping it completely and not looking forward to read another run again nor engage in any mk media. It's just a headache to think about at this point.

[revvethasmythh]

like, I get why people don't like edgelord style characters and find them exhausting, i really do. but I was raised by a style of book that exclusively features edgelord protagonists that intentionally bars them from experiencing a single moment of dignity in their entire lives, and I think that explains why I love them, actually

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the Comics: Power Imbalance.

Moon Knight, Issue #6: White Angels

I'm be honest, I'm a sucker for the Marc Spector stories. In the original run, they were actually kinda rare. 

Marc hated being himself so much that he was hardly around. Most of the time you alternated between Steven and Jake trying to build their lives away from the Marc Spector days. 

You focused on Steven building up his connections, his love with Marlene, and his money. 

Then you focused on Jake and his friendship, his connections with the street and common people, and his outlook on life. 

When you did get Marc, you got a few panels of him being emotional or angry. 

Many of the comics in the first runs open with a description of who they are and it was always stressed how different they were. 

"Jake Lockley: Easygoing, streetwise cabbie. Marc Spector: Grim veteran of wars fought for money. Steven Grant: Refined millionaire financier." 

And it was easy to see that Lockley was a favorite because of how much care and time was spent following Lockley and his friends: Gena, Crawley, and the two boys. 

There was also a heavy push for Moon Knight, of course. They were trying to get a superhero comic off the ground, after all. 

But they treated Moon Knight like his own entity back in the original run. A force that was none of the three. Cold, emotionless, and powerful. 

But sometimes the emotions of one of the three pushed through to Moon Knight and complicated matters. Then it was unclear on just who Moon Knight was. 

In this opening comic, we see Grant's butler, Samuels, waiting for their return. 

"Good evening Master Grant... Ah, that is.... Master Moon Knight!" 

"Relax Samuels, I'm Grant now. What have you got there?" 

"A telegram, sir. But it's not actually for you... Ah, that is, it is for you, but it was addressed to Marc Spector." 

"I'll read it to him." 

An interesting exchange. The narration says it was a joke, but you have to remember that the system has yet to declare itself a system and still thinks it is one man trying to use disguises. 

Though with each opening, we get more a distinct introduction on Steven, Marc, and Jake, and even Moon Knight. It's as if Moench is pushing for them to be themselves and Marc is pushing back in denial. 

Steven reads the telegram, which is a coded message addressed to Marc. 

Instantly they blank and clearly dissociate. 

"The man of many names and many pasts does not answer, his eyes glassy, staring at one of those pasts." says the narrator. 

Marc tells Frenchie to prepare for a 'holiday' and heads down into the mansion. 

Here we find Marlene waiting for him. We also see where I have conflicting feelings on Marlene. 

She jokes that she was dreaming of four men while waiting for him. 

"But WHAT a four! First there was this goofy guy named Jake - He made me laugh. Then Marc was your typical darker, no-nonsense type of lover. My favorite, as usual, was dreamboat Steven. But the fourth one, I hae to admit, added a touch of forbidden spice... He was almost like a silver ghost." 

And it makes Marc smile. 

Marlene clearly has a favorite. She's deeply into Steven and wishes that he would just stick with Steven as an identity. She only ever calls him Steven and is always teasing them. 

But now and then she does acknowledge that she is aware of the differences in them. 

At this point, it's easy to defend her and brush it aside. She has never heard of DID, the Moon Knight system is in denial, and they are presenting as one man that is trying to claim a new identity. So of course she wishes he'd just stick with Steven, the normal dreamy guy that likes high class and loves her. 

But there are more and more instances where he will flat out tell her to use a different name and she refuses, only ever calling him Steven. These moments start to make themselves more clear and she still refuses to acknowledge them. 

Her blind love for Steven starts to edge into ableism and abuse. But that's something that comes along a lot later on. 

For now, Marlene is a strong supporter of them. She helps them with their other 'identities', She listens when they break down, and she acts as a grounding tool more than a few times. 

But I digress. That's an argument for another time. 

After Marlene brightens his mood, we see him changing out of the Moon Knight outfit and into Jake's clothes. 

He tells her that they need to head to St. Lucien on vacation. 

"Well, as long as we'll be together -- and alone, Steven..." 

"Not quite alone, Lady, an' call me Jake, now. And not that I don't like Nedda's cookin', but cabbies prefer the chow at the joints like Gena's diner. [...] And her kids, too. Not to mention, Crawley. Grant promised them a vacation for their help against the committee's five hitmen... And Steven Grant, I hear, is a man of his word." 

This is interesting because this is the first time Jake has outright corrected her like this and spoken of his preference for the life he's building on his own. 

It's also worthy to take note that Jake, Steven, and Marc are more and more starting to talk about the other's as separate people. 

They are aware of one another now, or at least becoming more aware of their own identities. 

Can I also take this opportunity to say that Jake's unique accent is most prominent in this issue too? 

"Guess you're lucky the Angel O' Moicy just arrived." - Jake Lockley, a new york cabbie. 

So they hop in a plane and Steven takes them all to St. Lucien. They're put up in a fancy hotel and one of Gena's boys notices something. 

"The Ghetto. They got invisible walls here too, Ray, just like at home. There's only one difference... The color's the same on both sides of the wall." 

in Steven Grant's hotel room, Marlene finds the telegram. 

Image supplied because holy crap: 

"I unpacked your bags, and something tells me you're not going 'sight seeing.'"

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean this wire sent to you, Steven!" 

"Not to me-- It was sent to Spector." 

"It's no longer funny, Steven, but I hope you are joking -- Because if you really think of yourself as two or three or four separate people--" 

"I just forget once in a while, Marlene -- It's a problem, yes, but I'm able to control it..." 

WHOA. WHOA WHOA WHOA. Steven Grant is aware there is a problem. We've just reached awareness. 

AND THE DENIAL. "I'm able to control it." A line put in the MCU said by Marc. 

HMMMMM. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM. 

Back to the story. 

So why are they in this country? Marc has a friend from his time in South America. They were up against a rebel coup and this man apparently saved his life. 

He's now director of police and has called in an owed favor. 

What's interesting is that he introduces Marlene as "My friend and aide." 

It further puts in the idea that Marlene acts more of a guide and grounding tool. 

It would seem Marc's friend has a voodoo problem linked with missing persons. 

There is belief in the poor side of town that someone is using Voodoo to turn people into zombie slaves (this is a legitimate thing that happens in certain cultural beliefs so color me impressed for 1980s writing). 

They discuss the power of belief and using it against people. 

Marc sets out to interview the families of the missing, but Marlene stays behind to ask his friend something. 

"I'd like to ask you something about ste- About Marc. Was he ever really ruthless? A heartless killer?" 

"Yes and no." 

"Marc Spector is a strange man. A man with many sides to him." 

We have to remember that Marlene met Marc as a mercinary that was raiding her father's dig site and aided in the eventual death of her father. 

While Marc did come back and save the other archeologists and fight against Bushman, Marlene has mostly been watching Steven and Jake try to clean up Marc's life. 

While out talking to people, Marc learns there is a leader called "The White Angel" that is kidnapping people. 

He interrupts an attempted kidnapping and saves the people, but the kidnappers get away. 

TIME OUT: Something important comes up here! 

MOON KNIGHT HISTORY: Moon Knight was originally introduced in "Werewolf by Night" where he was hired to kill Jack Russel (the funniest name in the world to give to a werewolf and even funnier when you learn that the person that named him had no idea there was a dog breed called jack russel terriers). 

In his dealings with Jack Russel, Moon Knight was bitten by the werewolf! But, he was somewhat resistant! Rather than turn into a wolfman every full moon, instead he becomes stronger and faster! 

At this point in the Moon Knight story, it's unclear what Khonshu is. As far as the story has said, it's just a statue that may or may not hold the mystical power of an Egyptian Moon God of vengeance. 

So during the full moon, as Moon Knight, he attributes his strength and power to the werewolf virus! 

Now, for a while now, the virus has started to fade and with it, his strength. 

This is really bumming out Moon Knight, making him feel weak and useless. 

During the fight with the kidnappers, he struggles against all the men and he feels the werewolf virus fading. 

So when Marc returns to the hotel, he's in a MOOD. He complains about the werewolf virus leaving him and how soon he'll just be a regular man in a cape. 

It's also making him think about Voodoo. How the poor people are at the mercy of something because they believe in it. 

He and Marlene have a discussion about how 

"Those are just the poor and uneducated, Steven. Others have adapted to modernization - Even prospered under it." 

"Yes, and those are the ones responsible, in part, for the plight of the ones I saw tonight...And the ones I saw tonight are precisely the kind of people Marc Spector never thought twice about. If a campaign meant stamping out a village, tough!" 

"What are you trying to say, Steven?" 

"I don't very much like Marc Spector." 

Uh oh. Now the question is, who is talking here? Is it Steven Grant becoming aware and viewing Marc as just a killer? Or is this Marc voicing how much he hates himself and wishes he was someone else? 

And in the very next page we have Marc, and it is Marc, up to shady business. 

He waits for Gena to go for a swim before he approaches her boys: 

"Listen- I've heard you two talking about people in shantytown. How'd you like to help them? How'd you like to risk your lives by walking in their shoes as targets for the zuvembies in hopes of slamming the lid on a certain voodoo houngan's kidnapping operation?" 

"Yeah, as long as Mama doesn't know." 

MARC. This is why you have no friends in the current runs. The things you do with Lockely's friends that puts them in danger! 

Meanwhile, Frenchie and Crawley are out doing their own thing and stumble on a poppy field being used to make Heroin. They also discover that the White Angel is a white man that owns the plantation. 

Frenchie and Crawley get captured and the two boys also get 'kidnapped' as planned. 

They watch as the White Angel uses drugs to turn the prisoners into zombies and manage to use a radio to contact Moon Knight. 

Moon Knight shows up and fights. Marlene also shows up with the police. Marc's friend gets pinned down by gunfire much the same way Marc was years before and Moon Knight manages to save him just as he was saved. 

They defeat the bad guy and free all the prisoners. 

Back at the hotel we see a pissed Gena telling the boys that they are not to work for Lockley anymore. 

Jake cuts in that the boys were heroes and saved everyone. 

Gena says that they are banned for working for Lockley for at least a whole week. It's hard to say no to Jake. 

Okay so, this was a really interesting issue. We are 6 in and we’re starting to see the system not only become aware, but also imbalanced. 

It also gets into a bit about the power of belief and power imbalance with the poor class. It doesn’t go too heavy on it this time, but you can see the unrest there. 

What’s interesting is that we are starting to see Steven also getting more power and opinions on Marc. Also a power imbalance? 

And because I’m me, I did my reviews backwards and started with the end of the run then jumped to the beginning. So we already know that at the end when Marc is at his most vulnerable with his father’s death, Steven steps up to help him and protect him. But at this point, we get disgruntled Steven and he’s about to go off. 

Raise a glass to classy Steven everyone. He’s a real pistol people and I’m excited to show you him! 

We’re leading up to a serious system meltdown and it is heartfelt. 

I'm be honest, I'm a sucker for the Marc Spector stories. In the original run, they were actually kinda rare. 

Marc hated being himself so much that he was hardly around. Most of the time you alternated between Steven and Jake trying to build their lives away from the Marc Spector days. 

You focused on Steven building up his connections, his love with Marlene, and his money. 

Then you focused on Jake and his friendship, his connections with the street and common people, and his outlook on life. 

When you did get Marc, you got a few panels of him being emotional or angry. 

Many of the comics in the first runs open with a description of who they are and it was always stressed how different they were. 

"Jake Lockley: Easygoing, streetwise cabbie. Marc Spector: Grim veteran of wars fought for money. Steven Grant: Refined millionaire financier." 

And it was easy to see that Lockley was a favorite because of how much care and time was spent following Lockley and his friends: Gena, Crawley, and the two boys. 

There was also a heavy push for Moon Knight, of course. They were trying to get a superhero comic off the ground, after all. 

But they treated Moon Knight like his own entity back in the original run. A force that was none of the three. Cold, emotionless, and powerful. 

But sometimes the emotions of one of the three pushed through to Moon Knight and complicated matters. Then it was unclear on just who Moon Knight was. 

In this opening comic, we see Grant's butler, Samuels, waiting for their return. 

"Good evening Master Grant... Ah, that is.... Master Moon Knight!" 

"Relax Samuels, I'm Grant now. What have you got there?" 

"A telegram, sir. But it's not actually for you... Ah, that is, it is for you, but it was addressed to Marc Spector." 

"I'll read it to him." 

An interesting exchange. The narration says it was a joke, but you have to remember that the system has yet to declare itself a system and still thinks it is one man trying to use disguises. 

Though with each opening, we get more a distinct introduction on Steven, Marc, and Jake, and even Moon Knight. It's as if Moench is pushing for them to be themselves and Marc is pushing back in denial. 

Steven reads the telegram, which is a coded message addressed to Marc. 

Instantly they blank and clearly dissociate. 

"The man of many names and many pasts does not answer, his eyes glassy, staring at one of those pasts." says the narrator. 

Marc tells Frenchie to prepare for a 'holiday' and heads down into the mansion. 

Here we find Marlene waiting for him. We also see where I have conflicting feelings on Marlene. 

She jokes that she was dreaming of four men while waiting for him. 

"But WHAT a four! First there was this goofy guy named Jake - He made me laugh. Then Marc was your typical darker, no-nonsense type of lover. My favorite, as usual, was dreamboat Steven. But the fourth one, I hae to admit, added a touch of forbidden spice... He was almost like a silver ghost." 

And it makes Marc smile. 

Marlene clearly has a favorite. She's deeply into Steven and wishes that he would just stick with Steven as an identity. She only ever calls him Steven and is always teasing them. 

But now and then she does acknowledge that she is aware of the differences in them. 

At this point, it's easy to defend her and brush it aside. She has never heard of DID, the Moon Knight system is in denial, and they are presenting as one man that is trying to claim a new identity. So of course she wishes he'd just stick with Steven, the normal dreamy guy that likes high class and loves her. 

But there are more and more instances where he will flat out tell her to use a different name and she refuses, only ever calling him Steven. These moments start to make themselves more clear and she still refuses to acknowledge them. 

Her blind love for Steven starts to edge into ableism and abuse. But that's something that comes along a lot later on. 

For now, Marlene is a strong supporter of them. She helps them with their other 'identities', She listens when they break down, and she acts as a grounding tool more than a few times. 

But I digress. That's an argument for another time. 

After Marlene brightens his mood, we see him changing out of the Moon Knight outfit and into Jake's clothes. 

He tells her that they need to head to St. Lucien on vacation. 

"Well, as long as we'll be together -- and alone, Steven..." 

"Not quite alone, Lady, an' call me Jake, now. And not that I don't like Nedda's cookin', but cabbies prefer the chow at the joints like Gena's diner. [...] And her kids, too. Not to mention, Crawley. Grant promised them a vacation for their help against the committee's five hitmen... And Steven Grant, I hear, is a man of his word." 

This is interesting because this is the first time Jake has outright corrected her like this and spoken of his preference for the life he's building on his own. 

It's also worthy to take note that Jake, Steven, and Marc are more and more starting to talk about the other's as separate people. 

They are aware of one another now, or at least becoming more aware of their own identities. 

Can I also take this opportunity to say that Jake's unique accent is most prominent in this issue too? 

"Guess you're lucky the Angel O' Moicy just arrived." - Jake Lockley, a new york cabbie. 

So they hop in a plane and Steven takes them all to St. Lucien. They're put up in a fancy hotel and one of Gena's boys notices something. 

"The Ghetto. They got invisible walls here too, Ray, just like at home. There's only one difference... The color's the same on both sides of the wall." 

in Steven Grant's hotel room, Marlene finds the telegram. 

Image supplied because holy crap: 

"I unpacked your bags, and something tells me you're not going 'sight seeing.'"

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean this wire sent to you, Steven!" 

"Not to me-- It was sent to Spector." 

"It's no longer funny, Steven, but I hope you are joking -- Because if you really think of yourself as two or three or four separate people--" 

"I just forget once in a while, Marlene -- It's a problem, yes, but I'm able to control it..." 

WHOA. WHOA WHOA WHOA. Steven Grant is aware there is a problem. We've just reached awareness. 

AND THE DENIAL. "I'm able to control it." A line put in the MCU said by Marc. 

HMMMMM. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM. 

Back to the story. 

So why are they in this country? Marc has a friend from his time in South America. They were up against a rebel coup and this man apparently saved his life. 

He's now director of police and has called in an owed favor. 

What's interesting is that he introduces Marlene as "My friend and aide." 

It further puts in the idea that Marlene acts more of a guide and grounding tool. 

It would seem Marc's friend has a voodoo problem linked with missing persons. 

There is belief in the poor side of town that someone is using Voodoo to turn people into zombie slaves (this is a legitimate thing that happens in certain cultural beliefs so color me impressed for 1980s writing). 

They discuss the power of belief and using it against people. 

Marc sets out to interview the families of the missing, but Marlene stays behind to ask his friend something. 

"I'd like to ask you something about ste- About Marc. Was he ever really ruthless? A heartless killer?" 

"Yes and no." 

"Marc Spector is a strange man. A man with many sides to him." 

We have to remember that Marlene met Marc as a mercinary that was raiding her father's dig site and aided in the eventual death of her father. 

While Marc did come back and save the other archeologists and fight against Bushman, Marlene has mostly been watching Steven and Jake try to clean up Marc's life. 

While out talking to people, Marc learns there is a leader called "The White Angel" that is kidnapping people. 

He interrupts an attempted kidnapping and saves the people, but the kidnappers get away. 

TIME OUT: Something important comes up here! 

MOON KNIGHT HISTORY: Moon Knight was originally introduced in "Werewolf by Night" where he was hired to kill Jack Russel (the funniest name in the world to give to a werewolf and even funnier when you learn that the person that named him had no idea there was a dog breed called jack russel terriers). 

In his dealings with Jack Russel, Moon Knight was bitten by the werewolf! But, he was somewhat resistant! Rather than turn into a wolfman every full moon, instead he becomes stronger and faster! 

At this point in the Moon Knight story, it's unclear what Khonshu is. As far as the story has said, it's just a statue that may or may not hold the mystical power of an Egyptian Moon God of vengeance. 

So during the full moon, as Moon Knight, he attributes his strength and power to the werewolf virus! 

Now, for a while now, the virus has started to fade and with it, his strength. 

This is really bumming out Moon Knight, making him feel weak and useless. 

During the fight with the kidnappers, he struggles against all the men and he feels the werewolf virus fading. 

So when Marc returns to the hotel, he's in a MOOD. He complains about the werewolf virus leaving him and how soon he'll just be a regular man in a cape. 

It's also making him think about Voodoo. How the poor people are at the mercy of something because they believe in it. 

He and Marlene have a discussion about how 

"Those are just the poor and uneducated, Steven. Others have adapted to modernization - Even prospered under it." 

"Yes, and those are the ones responsible, in part, for the plight of the ones I saw tonight...And the ones I saw tonight are precisely the kind of people Marc Spector never thought twice about. If a campaign meant stamping out a village, tough!" 

"What are you trying to say, Steven?" 

"I don't very much like Marc Spector." 

Uh oh. Now the question is, who is talking here? Is it Steven Grant becoming aware and viewing Marc as just a killer? Or is this Marc voicing how much he hates himself and wishes he was someone else? 

And in the very next page we have Marc, and it is Marc, up to shady business. 

He waits for Gena to go for a swim before he approaches her boys: 

"Listen- I've heard you two talking about people in shantytown. How'd you like to help them? How'd you like to risk your lives by walking in their shoes as targets for the zuvembies in hopes of slamming the lid on a certain voodoo houngan's kidnapping operation?" 

"Yeah, as long as Mama doesn't know." 

MARC. This is why you have no friends in the current runs. The things you do with Lockely's friends that puts them in danger! 

Meanwhile, Frenchie and Crawley are out doing their own thing and stumble on a poppy field being used to make Heroin. They also discover that the White Angel is a white man that owns the plantation. 

Frenchie and Crawley get captured and the two boys also get 'kidnapped' as planned. 

They watch as the White Angel uses drugs to turn the prisoners into zombies and manage to use a radio to contact Moon Knight. 

Moon Knight shows up and fights. Marlene also shows up with the police. Marc's friend gets pinned down by gunfire much the same way Marc was years before and Moon Knight manages to save him just as he was saved. 

They defeat the bad guy and free all the prisoners. 

Back at the hotel we see a pissed Gena telling the boys that they are not to work for Lockley anymore. 

Jake cuts in that the boys were heroes and saved everyone. 

Gena says that they are banned for working for Lockley for at least a whole week. It's hard to say no to Jake. 

Okay so, this was a really interesting issue. We are 6 in and we’re starting to see the system not only become aware, but also imbalanced. 

It also gets into a bit about the power of belief and power imbalance with the poor class. It doesn’t go too heavy on it this time, but you can see the unrest there. 

What’s interesting is that we are starting to see Steven also getting more power and opinions on Marc. Also a power imbalance? 

And because I’m me, I did my reviews backwards and started with the end of the run then jumped to the beginning. So we already know that at the end when Marc is at his most vulnerable with his father’s death, Steven steps up to help him and protect him. But at this point, we get disgruntled Steven and he’s about to go off. 

Raise a glass to classy Steven everyone. He’s a real pistol people and I’m excited to show you him! 

We’re leading up to a serious system meltdown and it is heartfelt. 

[whumpsday]

Whumpmas in July #7

Post a link to your favorite whump fic of all time!

so once again, i want to avoid saying the same thing i've said in previous years, and i've already talked about a lot of my favorite whump fics for WIJ before since this same prompt was used last year!

here is my post from last year, with a bunch of my favorite whump fics of all time. those fics include:

Dollhouse by @sowhumpshaped

Hazeshift by @whumpwillow

Magnanimous Moonrise & Savage Sunset by @not-a-space-alien

Of Vampires and Men by @whumpy-writings

Riot Kings by @befuddled-calico-whump

The Dark Side of the Sun by @quietly-by-myself

The Monster of Lindborough by @secretwhumplair

Things End | People Change by @whumpcloud

Tomas and Rowe by @whumpzone

you can find links to and summaries of those in the post linked above. here's 5 more of my favorite whump fics!

🔥 Bahkauv by @deluxewhump - Three friends traveling to the city stop off at a hunters camp to purchase a vampire for one of them to research at the university he will be attending. They purchase something a little different instead. (monster/vampire-adjacent whumpee, rescue/recovery, caretaker new master, burns, torture)

🧙‍♀️ Demon's Haven by @whumpwillow - Summoning demons for requests with a price far less expensive than one’s undying soul is common practice for witches, especially those who practice dark magic. Haven just wants to unlock a grimoire she found with the help of demonic magic, yet she ends up not in a battle of wits and wills but comforting a tortured and traumatized demon. (demon whumpee, rescue/recovery, desperate begging whumpee, accidental whump, caretaking)

💔 Shattered by @oddsconvert - Years of being held captive, under the vampires brutal persusasion has finally broken Declan, shattered his mind. Not living but not quite dead, paralysed in a comatose-like state. Vince decides his once delicious bloodbag has finally reached its end, selling it during it’s final few days. When August sees the advert for the dying human, he knows what he must do. Taking on the responsibility of nursing Declan back to health - though he is woefully unprepared for just how deep and severe the damage is and the hardships that will arise whilst tackling it. (vampire whumper, vampire caretaker, rescue/recovery, caretaker new master, recovery from mind control)

🧟‍♀️ Part of You by @sowhumpshaped - I’ve been thinking about it a lot. About whether I could do it. At the end of the day, there’s really no other alternative. Gena is my responsibility, and I’ll do everything to keep her safe and fed. (undead whumpee, cannibalism, lab whump, gore/dismemberment, tragedy)

⚰️ Another Path (BG3 fanfic) by @asidian - Astarion has spent two hundred years waiting for a hero to come. It isn't the foolish sort of idle dreaming that one reads about in adventure tales, no – he doesn't moon about in picturesque arched windows, pressing his hand to his chest and sighing. But he does hope sometimes, furtive and distantly yearning, in the same way he still prays to gods who never listen, every now and again. (vampire whumpee, rescue/recovery, starvation, caretaking, whumpee x caretaker)

@whumpmasinjuly

[shelbeetaylor]

Character Introductions (Part 2)

-> story masterpost

moodboard by @singingslayingsoprano

Genevieve Santira

Most of her life, people have only called her Genevieve, but Evie’s calling her Gena has begun to stick.

Genevieve uses she/her pronouns.

Genevieve is 20 years old at the beginning of the story, and her birthday is on May 16 which would make her a Taurus.

Genevieve is known as the Crown Princess’s maidservant to those outside the palace, but those inside know her as one of Cassandra’s best friends.

Likes: working with her hands like sewing and embroidery, helping her father in the smithy, and taking care of her friends

Dislikes: playing mother to the chaotic individuals she happens to be friends with, her inability to read or write, and Cassandra only when the princess doesn’t listen to her

Genevieve often frequents the taverns of Vale Serine not to drink but to listen to the songs played by the traveling bards. Since she cannot read or write, the lyrics of the nomadic musicians provide her with stories she wouldn’t be able to know of otherwise.

If Genevieve lived in our world, her playlists would probably be filled with songs by artists like Rihanna, Selena Gomez, and SZA.

Genevieve, though quite confident in her ability to perform her job adequately, she struggles a lot with her life at home. Her parents were forced into marriage and out of their village after having her brother--who she hates talking about-- out of wedlock. Genevieve was very young when her brother disappeared, and her home life took a turn for the worse. Now she relies on her time away at work and the adventures Cassandra drags her on to grant her reprieve.

Face Claim: Angel Coulby as Guinevere in BBC Merlin

moodboard by @singingslayingsoprano

Wesley Moonbourne

A lot of people often refer to him as Wesley, but Evie has deemed it more appropriate to call him Wes.

Wesley uses he/him pronouns.

Wesley is 20 years old at the beginning of the story, and his birthday is on October 14 which would make him a Libra.

Currently, Wesley holds no official title, but by training in Vale Serine under the instruction of Theo he hopes to earn himself a spot as one of the knights of Nevernia.

Likes: dogs, hunting, and playing chess

Dislikes: feeling like he doesn’t belong, Evie feeling bad, and being without his dog Ranger

Wesley grew up in the outskirts of Bellbury, a city surrounded by farmland, so one of his odd interests is agriculture. Most of his days in Bellbury were spent voluntarily helping around the nearby farms, much to his family’s chagrin. If Wesley wasn’t able to become a knight, his dream would be to move out into the countryside and live on a farm with his animals, his dog Ranger, and the love of his life.

If Wesley lived in our world, he would listen to a variety older music like songs by Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles.

Wesley, having just moved to Vale Serine, is really struggling with trying to fit in. He wants to be accepted by the knights and especially by his idol, his cousin Theo, and he’s trying his best to become friends with them whether it’s by acting cool or sneaking along on their adventures. Hopefully his newfound friendship with Princess Evie will lead him in the right direction.

Face Claim: Noah Beck

moodboard by @singingslayingsoprano

Terran Willows

People usually just call him Terran, but the knights are also partial to Terr-man or giving him briefly-used, more colorful monikers… Sir Enoch’s favorite at the moment is Bog Man.

Terran uses he/him pronouns.

Terran is 20 years old at the beginning of the story, and his birthday is on June 20 which would make him a Gemini.

Terran is currently studying as an apprentice to Galen, the Court Physician, and he has been working under Galen for about five years.

Likes: his mother’s yearly visits, reading, and practicing magic in his room

Dislikes: Galen’s intense exams, getting scared, and Galen’s overprotective rules about magic and going out

In the spirit of helping people, Terran dedicates as much of his time and energy into improving the lives of others. While he is working towards becoming a physician full-time, Terran volunteers around Vale Serine helping those who need it. Sometimes the knights will even tag along to help and protect him, especially if he’s making a trip into places like Serine’s Hope to hand out food, provide free medical care, or distribute clothes.

If Terran lived in our world, he would definitely be a big fan of Maude Latour, but he would listen to mostly folk music like Hozier, Lord Huron, and Noah Kahan.

While Terran is quite proud of who he is as a person, there is still a lot of turmoil inside his head about it. He grew up in the outlying villages of Nevernia where it isn’t uncommon to see friends string up friends for being queer or possessing magic. Terran managed to escape that environment with his secrets intact, but the inner demons spawned in that hell have followed him to the big city, though he’s lucky to have Galen there reminding Terran every so often that he is not a monster for the way he was born.

Face Claim: Colin Morgan as Merlin in BBC Merlin

[calamiteddeceiter]

Once Cheburashka and Gena were sitting on the roof of a tall skyscraper and talked. Cheburashka felt cramped and he said to Gena:

- Gena, move over. Gena, move over. Gena, move over... - Gena, where are you?

[wellntruly]

Oh I found a running collection of Columbo notes I had taken and forgotten on a couple evenings of low-dose edibles, which I think means we need to start a new post

Here is that:

This episode is titled 'Any Old Port In a Storm', which you might think, "okay," but how about: it's about a wine murderer

Los Angeles interiors in the 1970s were positively overrun with fiddle leaf figs.

Johnny Cash, who is here, has twice called Columbo "little buddy."

Favorite Columbo’s wife detail so far is when she woke up at 2am and wanted to watch a Bette Davis movie, and Columbo, by his own report, was just like, sure I guess we’re doing this now. “Wonderful actress.”

Proportion of cravat murderers is increasing.

Five Emmys for Peter Falk just for the bit where he talks about learning his high school sweetheart still has the bracelet he gave her, omg help

Columbo is on a cruise ship and also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, on Dramamine.

Gena Rowlands. Gena Rowlands. Well it’s the whole family.

Women on Columbo are always casually being like, then I took a sleeping pill. Girls were they just handing these out like mints fifty years ago?

I bought a fringed patio umbrella this summer to 70s my balcony, and let me tell you, are there so many fringed patio umbrellas on Columbo.

“I might have some other questions…. Eh I’ll just wander around.”

[inklores]

miguel o'hara── a study in security

it's really funny how most of my finals this quarter have me reading so many pieces that relate with the fics i'm writing and the characters i have brainrot over. i'm reading chapter 6 of eva illouz's book, "why love hurts," and the section about how love and security can't always co-exist hit me... because that is exactly how miguel o'hara regulates his life and shapes his influence within the spider-society.

"Security is often seen as incompatible with passion, or even as leading to its demise. But I would argue that this need for “security” and/or for “adventure” is not an invariant constituent of the psyche; or if it is, then security and adventure take on changing shapes in different cultural structures. They are also outcomes of the social organization of the psyche. Security derives from the capacity to control and to predict one’s environment; adventure, by contrast, derives from feeling challenged, either in one’s social identity or in the ways in which one knows how to do things." (Illouz, 219).

rewatching atsv and i notice just how locked and authoritative miguel runs his facility. micromanaged down to the knick-knacks hobie swipes. the differences in lighting and color theory with how miles & the gang associate with different spider-people, being lit in white and warm shades... then we meet miguel and he is in pitch dark with reddish and deep blue undertones. his character design is similar to the spot, where the sketch design is still visible amidst the rendering and coloring. this color palette carries with him and it sucks all his interactions in with it. from berating gwen after miles escapes to watching archival footage of his daughter, it's so deeply rooted that breaking out of that sphere will quite literally destroy what little he already has left and what he managed to preserve.

the man is STRESSED. we see that from his design to his dialogue. he believes he is single-handedly keeping the multiverse together and he expresses it multiple times. he thinks he can't have comfort and duty at the same time, believing that is what it means to be spider-man. it takes away his humor too, pointed out by peter b. when he says all spider-men are supposed to be funny. the only time he really shows any sort of wit is when he interacts with lyla and maybe jess, but even then, it's so dry and sarcastic. (save his interaction with baby mayday bc that man is also a father.)

but he's "okay" with this great responsibility. this is his security because it's what he's able to control when once, he wasn't able to control anything and it left him so badly wounded that it isolated any possibility of change or evolution for the order of things. when miles left, he shouted, "ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS LISTEN!" and then a softer, almost baffled and frustrated, "why didn't he listen...?"

illouz talks about how visual stimulations or even the presence of something we can hear or see can shape or crush the way we look at ourselves.

Research on the impact of media images on how individuals perceive their bodies suggests that images of perfect bodies have negative effects on self-esteem and self-concept because watching these images suggests to people both that others can achieve them more easily (competitiveness) and that others view them as important (normative legitimacy). Media images thus become a source of disappointment through the implicit mediation of what we think they say about others’ expectations of us and about their achievements compared to ours. Widespread images of love may instill ideas that others achieve love when we do not, and that achieving love is normatively important for successful life. (Illouz, 220).

hobie mentioned it before we officially meet miguel. he says miles seemingly has it alright with his parents and stable family life. and someone like miguel, who keeps a watchful eye over everything that goes on with spidermen, knows that. and he's jealous of it, i would argue. he believes as spider-man, there is a required sacrifice or weight of loss to carry.

while it is a very recurring trope with every iteration of spider-man that's been watched or read, miles has felt loss and loneliness. but he hasn't felt it in the way miguel has because what miguel went through is so singular and unique to him. the only ones who may understand what that would feel like would be gwen or even pav, seeing their dimension and/or livelihood beginning to crumble.

but miles has everything... and is also spider-man and i just know that burns miguel. it's not what he believes should be the order of the "spider-man journey," even though happiness and responsibility can and has worked together. example, peter b. and his daughter.

it's inconceivable for miguel to think something or someone can deny him or run the other way. because everyone is primed to understand that it's his way or quite literally, the destruction of everything. nobody can suggest another way. nobody can say no. aside from the doomsday vibes, miguel is also objectively scary when he’s genuinely angry. not even irritated or annoyed. irate. he’s also colossal. he’s mr. property damage. this need for control and this ability to maintain it under his thumb fuels his antagonistic relationship with anomalies or things he sees as a threat to his security. he doesn't like to be challenged, he likes to be listened to because he knows how the multiverse works and what can come out of it if even a single spider-person has a foot out of line.

and with all the hints left over at the end of the film of how miguel may be wrong, that there is a way to fix the multiverse while protecting the people they love, there will be some serious fractures to his security and everything will open up once again.

[strayheartless]

genesis is sick seph and angeal are taking care of him

There is a severe temptation to Rag on Genesis and make this crack, but I Im too much of a sucker for Angst and Hurt/comfort😅. I have accepted my role really, and I love it. Never come to me for Crack, I always just make it sad.

SO!!!

CW for: vague descriptions of vomiting, discussions of childhood sickness, discussions of experimental poisoning/ testing.

Angeal stares at the steam rising from the cettle as it boils. He's exhausted and if he's honest with himself he's terrified. This doesn't happen to them, they don't get sick! And even on the odd ocassions they do, it is never like this.

when Genesis had complained of a headache the afternoon before, Angeal had rolled his eyes at the man and sparingly suggested he rest his eyes from reading. when the complaints of it getting worse hadn't stopped he'd snapped at Gen to go lay down in a dark room if its so bad. Only to be shocked when Genesis had swayed like a stick of bamboo the wind unon standing up.

Gen had gone quiet after that, Lying on his own office couch with the lights off and not moving. By the end of the day, when Sephiroth had swung by both of their officed to collect them for dinner, Genesis had developed a cough... and then the cough got worse.

... and worse.

When Gena was little, Angeal remembered he was sick a lot. Flu, Scarlet fever, colds, migraines, it didn't really matter what it was Genesis seemed to get it. Usually he'd just complain and sneeze and be obnoxious. But other times ha remembered his mother being called for when Gen wouldn't get out of bed, wouldn't speak or move much except to cry or struggle to breath.

Now felt like one of those times.

They had been up all night with him, taking turns to whip his brow and sooth him through the endless coughing fits, vomiting and barly cognazent concious moments. Sephiroth had Tied up his own hair and then Gena's when the stress started getting too much, and angeal had winced when Genesis had whimpered at the preasure on his scalp... But it was better that then trying to sponge sick out of his hair.

After twelve hours of pure torture for everyone involved, Gena's fever broke and he gained a little bit more licidity. Now it was just making sure he made a full recovery.

Angeal made up a two cups of coffee and placed a clean rag over the bowl of Chicken noodle soup he'd warmed. He doubted Genesis would be able to keep all of it sown, but they at least needed to try. Placing it all on a tray he trecked back to the bedroom.

"How are we looking?" He asked upon entering. Sephiroth was sat in the squishy reading chair that usually sat in the Corner of Gena's room, looking only maginally less tired than Angeal felt. The man was used to insomnia.

"he woke up for only a minute or two. I managed to get him to drink some water," Seph whispered back, taking the cup that was handed to him.

Angeal sighed and sat on the end of the bed. "I never thought I'd say this but i think I need to hear him being dramatic,"

Sephiroth hummed and looked back at Genesis on the bed. He didn't look peaceful exactly, there was too much sweat and signs of distress about his person for that, but he he no longer seened to be in active discomfort and stress. angeal watched Seph scan his eyes over their lovers face and body, taking note of everything he could.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly, placing a hant on Sephiroths thigh and squeezing.

Sephiroth twitched his nose slightly, a little stress tell they'd long ago realised he was considering variables that he didn't like. It was upsetting how often those variables were the truth.

"I'm thinking, we may need to pay a visit to Hollander once he is not in danger any more" Angeal blinked at him.

"You think Hollander did this to him?" he asked, with a note of scepticism to his voice. "Seph, babe, I know you have reason to mistrust scientists, but this is Hollander we're talking about here. He's not Hojo, he doesn't do things like this!"

"No? Angeal, consider for a second. Genesis goes down to the lab for a pre mission check up" Sephiroth bracketted the words with air quotes, and Angeal would have snorted at how very Zack the gesture was had he not started to feel sick himself. Sephiroth continues.

"And when he comes back from the lab he complains that he has a headache; something he has not complained of since he was a third, I know because I checked -"

"you accessed his medical records? seph tha-"

"Hush. complains of a headache and then all of a sudden the mission is cancled due to prioritising and Genesis does not even have the time to feel angered at any kind of usually percieved slight against his skill before he's going down - in a single afternoon Angeal- with a severe fever, sickness, apparent chest infection and the worst migraine he has had since he wat fourteen."

Layed out as plainly as Sephiroth had put it, it did seem awfully convenient that Genesis had not been sent away as this was developing. in fact Angeal could track Sephiroths logic almost perfectly with little room to suggest conicidence. But this was Hollander .The man was a bastard, that Angeal would fully admit, but he had never purposfully poisoned them before, not in the ways Hojo had done to Sephiroth.

"Could you two discuss the conspiricy of my death a little quieter please?" came a rough voice from behind him, and when he turned to follow Sephs redirected gaze he saw Genesis attempting to pull himself up into a sitting position.

He got up to help, but was flapped at irately when he went to support Gena's back.

"How do you feel?" he asked softly, and Genesis sighed.

"Like I went round for round with the Midgar Zolom and then decided to train with Sephiroth as a masocistic treat to myself," Sephiroth snorted as he moved to Gens other side, sitting on the bed with him and pulling the red head to lean against his sweater clad side.

Gen leaned into it with a comfroted hum, reaching for Angeal who came easily. winding his ams around the both of them and placing his chin on Gen's head.

"If you wanted to fight me like this, i would have been bored by your sloppyness." Sephiroth pokes fun and Genesis squawks indignintly. Angeal chuckled.

"So mean!" Gena weakly punches Sephiroth in the thigh. "I could have very well died!"

Angeal sobered a bit, and from the shit in Sephiroths posture, so did he.

"yes, you could have," he murmered and Genesis' anger Deflated. He coughed into his fist as he relaxed against them, and when his breath caught, the two sat him up straighter so that he could breath better as he Coughed harder.

"S-sorry" he weezed.

"It's fine love," Ageal whispered handing him the glass of water. Gen Gulped it down and sat back again.

"I have not missed being this ill." he commented. "Reminds me of of the time I had scarlet fever, though I confess I don't actually remember a lot of the experience. mostly the pain,"

They sat there for a while in silence, Seph playing with the promise ring on Gena's left hand while Angeal combed out some of the knots out from his hair. after about half an hour, Genesis spoke; his breath rattling in his chest a little.

"Do you truely think Hollander did this to me?" he asked, not looking at either of them.

"I do," was all Sephiroth gave him, and Angeal sensed that Genesis din't know what to do with that information. what were you supposed to say when the man in charge of you medically was suspected of trying to kill you?

There was nothing anyone could say that could ever make that okay.

"I made you soup, if you're up for eating?" he offered instead and Genesis seemed to welcome the distraction, making grabby hands at him, like a child, as he reached for the still warm bowl.

As Angeal and Sephiroth watched him eat, they glanced at each other, a silent agreement being made. It this was Hollander -and Gods above did Angeal hope it wasn't - Then they would do everything in their power to hunt that man down and end him before he had the chance to make Genesis suffer further.

[firsttarotreader]

John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. / Vanessa posted them as well. I love how they are doing research and building this relationship, I have faith they’ll do justice to the special bond between Sue and Reed 🩵

That is not research, anon. A lot of actors and actresses from different nationalities posted their tributes to Gena Rowlands, who passed away yesterday. She was a widely known, legendary actress. I'm sorry, but that is all over the news and being talked about by artists everywhere, you need to catch up.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the Comics: Writing a legend, building a history.

Today we aren't reviewing an issue of Moon Knight. Today we are going to talk about something important.

So who wrote Moon Knight?

"Easy!", you might say. "Doug Moench!"

Sure. But you'd be surprised to find that it's not as much as you'd think.

Doug Moench wrote issues 1-15, 17-26, 28-33.

He returns in 1998 for a 4 issue mini seires Vol 3 "Resurrection Wars" which revives Marc Spector, who had been killed off in the previous volume.

He continues in 1999 with Vol 4, another 4 issue mini series "High Strangers/Strangeness" which won an award for favorite limited series.

He also wrote werewolf by Night, which gave us the first iteration of Moon Knight. An instantly popular character that made appearances in other comics like "The Hulk" before he was given his own comic.

He had time to work on the designs with Bill Sienkiewicz. They built up the weapons, the costume, the cab, and the copter.

He also built up the side characters of Gena, Gena's two boys, Crawley, Frenchie, Detective Flint, and Marlene.

He set the ground rules:

Moon Knight system is Jewish.

Marc, Jake, and Steven are a part of a system and are not one man pretending to be someone else

Jake is the one that is friendly and loves being with the people.

Steven is posh, collected, and takes care of things.

Marc is the one with experience, has the skills needed to get things done, and holds all the pain.

They are former Mercenaries who did terrible things and have deep guilt.

Khonshu resurrected them to act as Moon Knight

They strive to protect any who would come to them for help that perhaps might not get it elsewhere

I would even argue that he was building up to the fact that Moon Knight himself was his own form of alter but it has since been glossed over and replaced with the idea that Marc is most often the one under the mask.

Pretty simple rules to follow to make it a Moon Knight comics, but you'd be surprised what some writers have done with it.

These comics were written long before DID was acknowledged and the different forms of PTSD and Dissociation were defined.

And yet, here we stand with a traumazied man from Chicago slowly working through a freshly cognizant system and trying to figure out how three (four) people can work together towards not just a life, but life as a superhero who wants to help people.

Further more, an odd thing happened in this.

We had a comic that often focused more on mental health than on super powers, heroics, or villains.

More often than not, we watched Marc, Jake, and Steven struggle with themselves and one another. We watched stories unfold from the villain's point of view, often just being ordinary people pushed too far by a system that failed them.

More so, we watched Moon Knight sympathise with these villains.

How often he let them walk away or he let them kill their abusers, wondering if he was doing wrong himself.

How can he help when sometimes the help he offers is not what is needed?

We even watched him fail. We saw him lose his temper and cause damage. We saw him curl into a ball and break. We saw him get lost in his own nightmares and dissociative fuges.

Moench stepped forward and often handled current events with raw emotion. We saw his characters cry over the loss of public iconic figures. We watched people struggling as they returned from war. We saw child abuse and poverty. We watched economic struggles with classism and we watched people struggle to deal with grief.

We even watched them deal with antisemitism over and over again. How many times were the victims of his stories Jewish and trying to survive in America? What about the story that took place with the mass shooting in the Synagoug? We heard stories of Generational trauma as elders struggled with survival after the Holocaust.

Moon Knight was a unique comic unlike any other I've ever come across. For it's time and for it's topics at the time. What's more, this comic continued.

It was no 'special of the week' comic and spanned multiple years as they grew.

What do we know about Moench? Who did he write this comic for?

The Moon Knight in the Were Wolf by Night certainly didn't have all this depth. He was just a man dressed in silver, fighting a monster and ultimately choosing the side of the monster.

Moench himself was from Chicago. He knew what it was like to live in the city and see the fall of factories and hard times on the streets. We know he witnessed the times of Vietnam veterans being forgotten and abused. He witnessed a lot of changes happening in the world and the places he was writing about.

He wrote about what spoke to him and what he saw around him.

And in his stories, there often were no clear heroes, winners, or villains.

But there was one issue that he chose to add into this comic that was already filled with so many things that other comics avoided.

Moon Knight wasn't written as Jewish in that one shot cameo. He wasn't written with DID either, but I'll get to that.

There are interviews of Doug admitting that "I didn't say, 'I'm going to sit down and create a Jewish character.'"

In fact, he picked a name and later found out it was a Jewish name. This made him do research. Not just into Judaism, but into the areas that Marc Spector fought in and where his family came from.

Do you have any idea how many writers of that time and our current time simply slap the label of "Jewish" on a character and refuse to actually look into what makes them Jewish?

I can't say how much he researched and how much he got wrong or right, but I do know that when he did choose to dive into topics that touched on certain issues, he handled them with a grace that is often overlooked.

The writer that came after Moench? Alan Zelenetz, a former Jewish day school principal from Brooklyn.

Zelenetz had been acting as an editor for a bit before he took a look at Moench's early start.

And it was in Issue 37 and 38 where we get the real backstory of Marc Spector. A man running from his Rabbi father.

Marc now became the son of an Orthodox Rabbi who had been forced to flee Czechoslovakia after the Nazi invasion.

Here, we get the story of Marc running to the Marines. Running to the mercenaries, and running from home. Perhaps even, running from G-d.

Zelenetz wanted to lean into the Jewish past and Jewish story. He explored themes of using a holy book to create a villain while playing with Jewish myths. He also explored Antisemitism without toning it down or hiding it under comic bookish villainy. He portrayed Moon Knight facing white supremacist vandalizing a Jewish Cemetery. He showed Moon Knight saving the Torah from a Synagogue fire. He also showed a strained relationship and the question of Moon Knight finding his own relationship in what he does with his father's views.

Alan Zelenetz edited/wrote shorts for issues 18, 21–22, 27, 32, Then wrote the whole story for issues 36–38.

Zelenetz voiced that he was looking to add some Jewish representation into his workforce and perhaps into the comic industry at the time. Considering his background, perhaps he was the only one at the time that had the proper knowledge to play with things the way that he did in the story of Elias Spector's death and Marc Spector's pain.

He did not stick around with Moon Knight for long after. Though, he admits that he wanted to play with the fact that Khonshu was an Egyptian god and Marc was from such a Jewish background. I am sad we didn't get to see that story.

After that, Moon Knight's original 1980s run was finished. The question of what to do with Moon Knight, where to take him, and who would take up the mantle of writing him now lay in the hands of Marvel.

Many failed after this. They failed to keep the heart of what Moon Knight stood for and who Moon Knight was. His Jewishness was forgotten and his mental health became a joke.

Not to say all of them failed. There are a few shining stars that gleamed in the darkness and I like to think that it was these moments that kept Moon Knight going all these years.

Moench didn't set out to write a story about mental health, and yet his approach is the most real I've seen. Hardly a shining picture of perfect representation, there is still something there in watching the character almost seem to push back against the unintended desire to push him into a corner.

No matter how often Jake and Steven and Moon Knight were seen as Marc pretending to be someone else, there was always ALWAYS that correction. Always that push back.

Call it the writer's curse of characters misbehaving and taking on a life of their own, but perhaps there was something more there. Perhaps he felt the weight of time and cry of the suppressed and overlooked.

So many of his stories danced the line of "I can't say it because it will get edited out by the big wigs at Marvel, but if you would just look... Just look over here for just a moment..."

And years upon years later, a writer did see the whispers there and said "I see the story of pain. I see the cry of mental health." Lemire told the story that Moench couldn't and from that, we are still pushing forward with McKay.

And more, perhaps we will see the Jewish story that hides in all that also get a spotlight again.

In the era of big battles, cross-over events, explosions, and super villains cackling about domination... I still look back at Stained Glass Scarlet, The Druid, the Music Box, And Colloquy.

As I finish the original 1980s run, I brace myself to dive into what comes next.

I think I'm trying to find where and how the original run ventured so far into the dark and insulting territory it did and the journey back into a revival that now means so much to so many.

In a way, perhaps it mirrors a journey into our own mental health. How easy it is to become lost in what everyone around you tells you that you are and how you are supposed to be until your own doubt sets in to drown you. Perhaps it is the journey of Moon Knight's character emerging from this to find a path to healing that is what kept us here so long.

[aqua-the-smiter]

Here it is! Part 3, the last one. I wasn't planning on it initially, but it felt incomplete otherwise. I wanted to give it a nice ending at least.

Selkie!Ferrus x Argena Seeva Some interesting happenings over the winter months SFW Very much inspiring by this song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR7QTKe1D7Q Iron Hands dividers by the lovely @squishyowl

He was indeed there the next day. And the next. By the turn of autumn Argena’s visits to Ferrus had become something of a daily thing. Not always, but when weather and duties permitted, more often than not they were there together. The flagging system they had wasn’t perfect by any means, but it worked. If he was there, he would leave a shell on a flat rock up the cliff. That way she wouldn’t have to climb all the way down for nothing.

Ferrus had to admit, he liked having her around. He remembered telling his brothers how he was fine being completely alone. That he could probably go until the end of time without talking to anyone. Which had not necessarily been a lie, but if he was forced to be honest, at least to himself, this was far preferable. Gena was a lovely woman. Sweet and lively and skilled. Sharp as a blade too, and eager to learn from him. She liked hearing about his travels, and about his immensely strange family. He was a little smug that she would take his side most of the time when he told her about their arguments, although she was perfectly willing to call him out if she felt like it.

And she wasn’t wrong either. He had been much more cold and callous in his youth. Not anymore. He still had some of it in him, but he’d long since realized that kind of thing did not make him look “cool”. He just looked silly, acting like that. Although his temper remained. Maybe not as quick to flare to its hottest, but it didn’t take long. She was good at calming him down though, he noticed on the few times he’d lost it around her. A gentle pat on the arm and a few soft words. Like cool water tempering hot metal. Her company had quickly become something much looked forward to. And was rapidly blooming into something a little stronger.

Her selkie lived in a cave further down the beach, where the cliffs were higher and more sheer. She had to cling to his back as he clambered up the stone with surprising grace for a man of his height and weight. During high tide the beach was covered altogether, and he’d had to carry her over the rushing surf. 

It was clear he’d been working on it for sometime. The main cavern branched out into two separate rooms. In one he stored a good stock of food in barrels and crates he’d scrounged up from somewhere, fish and shellfish preserved in salt. He could easily catch his own, either in or out of seal form, but he’d long since learned the value of taking precautions. The middle chamber held his bed, a fire pit, a few chairs and a low table. That was covered in wood shavings and carving tools, so metal work was not his only skill. The last one contained his much prized anvil, forging tool and a supply of metal. 

“Nice place.” She’d said the first time he brought her in, looking around.

“It’s not much, but I’m happy with it. Some of my brothers prefer opulence, although I could never see the appeal.” He shook his head. “They live in it, you make it.” Gena told him, admiring a few of his finished pieces sitting out.

They spent hours together working around his home or talking. He talked a lot about his brothers. Which made sense, as he’d been close with them for most of his life until recently. Apparently they weren’t all selkies, like she had initially thought. Leman was a large blond wolf, Roboute was a pegasus (a winged horse), Sanguinius was a harpy (some hybrid between a human and a bird). He had a brother named Magnus who was a sphinx, and the best mage among them by far. The twins, named Alpharius and Omegon, were sea serpents. Vulkan was a dragon, and there was another metalworking brother named Perturabo who was a gryphon.

“What was Fulgrim?” She asked. The two were sitting in the mouth of the cave, sucking the meat out of some cooked scallops she’d collected.

“He was a naga. Lower half was a snake, the upper was human. All my brothers have that in some capacity, actually. But as it happens, he has been turned into something else by Father. He was none too pleased about him stealing my sealskin, apparently.”

“So he didn’t get off scot free? Good.” Gena nodded her approval. “Your father seems sensible.”

Ferrus cracked open another scallop with his back teeth and spat out the excess shell. “He is. Tends to be hands off for the most part, but he steps in when he needs to. It’s difficult to keep all 18 of us from tearing each other’s throats out sometimes.”

“If all your brothers are their own thing, what about you? Are you still a real selkie? Do other selkies dislike you?”

“Of course I’m still a real selkie.” He huffed. “And I get along with them just fine. They see no difference in me aside from my size in human form, and they don’t mind that. Truthfully, I consider them more ‘my kind’ than my brothers.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.”

“I am grateful for it, yes.” 

“Even if it is a bunch of seals for family. Still weirder than mine.”

Now it was his turn to grill her. “You said you had siblings too, if I recall.”

“I do, but by your standards they’re nothing to write home about. My older brother Brendan is perfectly fine.Not as talented as me though.” She said with a smirk. “And my little sister Lillian does nothing but get underfoot and drive me mad.”

“Just remember it could always be worse.” Ferrus replied.

They got into the habit of giving each other small gifts. Ferrus would send her back with small treasures he’d found while diving in seal form. Iridescent shells, small gold coins and jewels from shipwrecks. Once he’d even presented her with a huge chunk of mother-of-pearl, which was easily her favorite. In return she usually brought him more practical things, utensils, pieces of wood and metal, cloth, etc. Not always though. Once she presented him with a gold armband she’d worked on in secret for a couple of weeks. It was beautiful, engraved with knotwork, and the words that adorned the tattoos on his upper arms that cut them off from the rest of his skin.

 Needless to say he was quite pleased with it.

“Làmhan iarainn. Hands of iron.” He translated as he slipped the band on. “Thank you, Gena.”

He smiled at her then, and she felt very pleased with herself. “You’re welcome. Are they?”

“Are what?”

“Your hands. Are they actually…y’know. Iron? They feel normal, aside from being so big.”

“There’s your answer. But they may be less normal than you think.” He winked at her, but didn’t elaborate.

Summer however, turned to autumn and winter, thus cutting their visits down. Both due to the weather and the increase in workload. Autumn might have its rains and chill  but winter was even more unkind with heavy snows, biting winds, and cold claws. Even when she did have a moment to spare, she would find that more often than not, the rock was barren of his shell. She didn't know what selkies did through the winter, but she assumed even he needed food and warmth to last him through it, no matter how extraordinary he was otherwise. So as much as she missed his company, she understood his absence. Her family noticed her somewhat dour shift in demeanor, and her sister had taken to asking her if her sweetheart had deserted her.

It was an effort to not thump Lillian for that.

What her family knew about Ferrus was little and less, and she intended to keep it that way unless something out of pocket happened. But that was just fantasy on her part, she was sure. Her good reputation had kept anyone from asking too many questions. She didn’t outright lie, just gave slivers of the truth.

To keep herself distracted she set to work on weaving a tartan for the selkie. She had long accepted his lack of clothing and it made sense. But still, she thought he might appreciate one, just in case. She’d make sure to buy extra materials, because it would definitely need to be big, and found snatches of time to work on it between her other chores.

It would have been an uneventful winter otherwise. The snow was bad but not devastating, and in between bouts of it she even found a few spare moments to head down to the beach and see if Ferrus had left his shell. It was on one of these treks she discovered just what had become of his most loathed brother.

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That blasted horse wasn’t there, thankfully.

On the trail from her home to the moors and the shore there was either a very large pond or a very small loch, depending on who you asked. In the middle of it was a small island with a huge old oak tree growing in the center. And in that large pond or small loch there lived a peculiar white horse. 

Argena hated that horse.

He was beautiful, of course. His coat as white as the snow and his hooves black like polished onyx. His mane and tail were long and silky, and flowed like the foam of a rushing torrent. Everyone assumed he was a runoff of some farmer or warrior or what have you, and nobody understood her wariness around him. Many people had tried to capture him, only to be met with empty hands when he either disappeared or flung himself into the water and swam beyond her reach. He gave her the creeps.

Especially when he would stare at her from the far shore. Fox would always snort and lay her ears back when he was around. Argena would’ve swore on her life that the bastard was a kelpie. The only thing that didn’t make sense was why he never seemed to eat anyone. He’d certainly had the opportunity. 

Bastard.

But today, he wasn’t there. At least, not in the form she recognized him as. The snow was falling gently, and the sky was a flat, dove gray. 

No, wait, there. Not in his usual spot, instead sitting on a fallen tree near the path. And not a horse at all, not this time at least. He was a remarkably handsome, pale young man. A little too flawless, actually. It was uncanny. His long white mane and tail had become long, crystal white hair tangled with green strands of water plants. A few waterlilies stuck out here and there. His eyes were the purple of amethysts.

Her hands gripped the reins tighter and she tried to ignore him. She recognized him for what he was, of course. If the water plants in his hair hadn’t tipped her off, it was the fact that it was still dripping wet despite the cold that surely would’ve frozen it. But more than that, he was a one to one with Ferrus’s description of Fulgrim. She wanted no part of that.

But he studies her with those glittering eyes of his. His eyelashes were white too, she noticed.

Don’t look at him.

“Are you going to your selkie again?”

Her blood ran cold, and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She refused to be afraid of such a petty jackass. Even if he wasn’t actually Fulgrim, which she doubted.

“Oh don’t play coy with me.” He unfolded himself and stood up. “You smell of forge smoke and sea spray whenever you come back.”

“And since when was I ever of interest to you? You know I’m too smart to let you just lure me in and eat me.”

With that, he exploded with a very indignant and horse-like snort. “I have never eaten anyone.”

Aha. Gotcha. “So you’re just here spying on your brother despite his wishes? I believe he made it quite clear that he never wanted to see you again?”

That made him shut down for a moment. “I am not spying on him.” He started, deciding it would be better to make at least a somewhat favorable impression on her, rather than continue to dig himself a hole. “Father turned me into this abominable horse monster, and I decided to come here until he decides I’ve been chastened enough.”

If nothing else his brother had certainly found a pretty thing as a playmate. Sharp too.

“And yet you decided to bed down in your brother’s home territory where he would most certainly return one day.” Gena said with a curl of her lip. “You really are as shameless as he’d told me. Seems you’ll be stuck like that for a while yet, since you clearly haven’t learned your lesson yet, Fulgrim!”

Before the kelpie could respond she’d spurred Fox on into a gallop. Not the safest in this snow, but she wanted to be away from him.

“And put some bloody pants on!”

Fulgrim sat there sulking for some time. A raven landed on a branch next to him. The crawling sounded suspiciously like laughter.

“She has a point you know.” Corvus said, shaking snow off his tail feathers.

“Shut up!”

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Ferrus hadn’t been there, so in the end she’d settled for leaving him a note on the rock, setting it in the small box of things she’d brought for him. Her little supply runs, and while she usually missed him taking it, the next time she came back the box was always empty. It wasn’t anything much, just some small dried foodstuffs she could spare, a needle and thread, and soap. 

But it seemed she was fated to spend the rest of the winter without her selkie. And she felt his absence sorely. It seemed the old saying of “distance makes the heart grow fonder” was well and truly accurate. Her heart had grown very fond of him over the months.

Actually, it was a little concerning.

It wasn’t just fondness. It had taken her much time to come to this conclusion, but now she was sure of it. She loved Ferrus, loved him and wanted him to know that she did. There was no way to know if he felt the same, but holding her blossoming feelings all winter was really starting to prickle. She’d only made one more trip down to the shore after her run in with Fulgrim. Sure enough, the box was empty, but Ferrus had once again been absent. It was starting to drive her nuts.

But it was spring now. The snow had long since melted into patches. The air was full of birdsong again, and the scent of freshly blooming flowers. People were beginning to gather outside again going about their work as the retreating cold allowed. It was nice.

Moreover, it meant she could see Ferrus again and give him the completed tartan. 

Riding past the very large pond/very small loch still made her shiver. Although she didn’t see any sign of Fulgrim, she doubted he was gone. And just because she couldn’t see him, doesn’t mean he couldn’t see her. The thought made her shiver.

Her mood rapidly approved upon reaching the rock. His shell was sitting there. The snow and ice encrusting the shore had long since melted away. And when she looked out over the water…

Yes! There he was! Swimming in seal form. He leapt out, more graceful than any dolphin despite his side, a huge fish clamped in his strong jaws and sharp teeth. Then disappeared back under the azure water. Quickly, she made her way down to the stretch of sand waving to him with her free hand the next time he surfaced.

He just about flung himself onto the beach, slithering upwards in that goofy caterpillar-esq way that seals had to on land. Even a seal as regal and majestic as him, because despite obviously having the looks of a predator, his seal form was undoubtedly a noble creature. Then the sealskin came off, draped in its usual place around his shoulders. The golden armband she’d made for him was still there. His silver eyes shone as he swept her into a tight embrace.

“Gena!” He held her as tight as he dared. “Father’s teeth! You’re alright!”

She hugged him back with the arm that wasn’t wrapped around the huge tartan. “Of course I’m alright. I was more concerned about you. Where were you all winter, you big lug?”

“Me? Swimming mostly. Traveling around, getting a lay of things. I’m not the one to be worried about. You met Fulgrim. And he’s a kelpie now no less! It could have been so much worse. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“What? You were worried about little old me?” She teased. “It was nothing, honest. He gives me the creeps for sure, but he seemed so petulant. He didn’t come off as threatening either. Just…weird.”

Gena felt his strong arms tighten around her. “All the same. I’m happy you’re safe.”

Her note had just about stopped his heart for a few moments. Especially after what he’d been pondering all winter. That being, the future of their association. But this, seeing her now, seeing her safe, and the warmth of relief and joy he felt at seeing her was all the confirmation he needed.

She really did look beautiful today. Her long, wavy black hair rippled down her back and over her shoulders, her golden eyes and sweet face bright with happiness at seeing him again, her fair skin given a rosy tint by the warming spring sun. He was happy to see her too.

His home hadn’t changed much since she’d left. The two sat near the mouth of the cavern again, eating chunks of slightly charred fish and shellfish off a wooden board. Ferrus, contrary to her worries, had been overjoyed with the tartan, and now wore the kilt as any proper Scotsman would. It looked good on him too. The black contrasted nicely with his pale skin, while the interweaving lines of gray, gold, and blue helped offset the otherwise gloomy coloring.

“It’s good to see you again. I confess I was wondering if you would be back.” The selkie admitted.

“Of course I would come back. You’re my friend.” Gena assured him, patting his knee.

“Yes, well…good to hear. I’m glad you did.” 

He seemed a little off

“I hope Fulgrim was the only strange encounter you had.” He said, almost prompting.

“He was, yes. Aside from my family being their usual selves. Why do you ask?”

“Aside from being concerned for your wellbeing? Well…there is something I’d like to ask you.” He said slowly. Hesitantly, even.

“Oh? Go ahead, ask.” She reached up and patted his cheek in reassurance.

His face colored slightly. “Well...alright. This might be sudden, but I…I would like your permission to court you, if I may.”

That made her freeze for a moment. Slowly, she brought her eyes up to meet his. “Court me? As in…”

“Yes. Like that. I love you, Argena.” Ferrus admitted. “I have been pining after you all winter and have only recently come to understand why, exactly. But it’s not something I can lie to myself about. I’ve been wondering if I should ask you. If it would ruin things between us. In the end I decided I would, and leave it up to you what you wanted to do next.”

“You’re very sweet, Ferrus.”  Gena smiled up at him, and placed her hand on his. “I never thought I’d see a man as big and strong as you so nervous.”

“This is an important thing I’m asking you. We could be married.”

“I’d like that. Being your little mortal wife.”

He snorted. “Don’t put it like that! You’re more than that to me. Although I suppose that does bring up an unfortunate aspect.”

“You’d probably outlive me by several centuries at the very least. Yes, I know. I don’t mind. I’ve been doing some thinking over the winter too, you know?”

“Of course. But I mind. I don’t want to outlive you. Have you for some decades and then not. You’re precious to me beyond words Gena.”

Now it was her turn to blush, and she rested her head against his side. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. That was as much of a yes as anything else she’d said. “You know, it reminds me of a story my grandmother told me once. Her mother-my great grandmother-buried a sealskin underneath an old oak. She said whoever dug it up and put it on would have a new life as a selkie.”

“Do you believe it’s true?” Ferrus asked, suddenly hopeful. 

“Is it possible for a selkie’s skin to pass on that kind of power?”

“It is. But only if the selkie dies in human form or otherwise abandons the coat. Which is possible, and doesn’t even require something terrible happening. Not every selkie who weds a human does so because he or she is forced. Burying the sealskin somewhere very safe and secure is a way to also bury the call of the sea if someone feels they’re not strong enough to resist it. Not always, and it’s not something I would do. But it’s not out of the question. Do you know where this oak is?”

“It’s on a little island in that small loch where I met Fulgrim.”

“He won’t be a problem.” The selkie swore. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

It felt like flowers were blooming in her heart. “It’s all just like that song you were singing when we first met.”

He smiled at the memory. “It does, doesn’t it? I still have to sing you the rest of it sometime. After we find that sealskin. If that’s what you want.”

“Trust me Ferrus, I don’t think there’s anything I’ve wanted more. I love you, my fair selkie.”

She reached up and placed her hands on his cheeks. He leaned down, and she pressed a kiss to his lips.

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Fulgrim, indeed, turned out to be no problem at all. Ferrus surprised her the next day with the sealskin. Just where the story had said it would be.

“It looks just like yours.” Gena told him. Dark gray on top, light gray on the sides, dark speckles. “And what about your brother?”

“We exchanged a few words. He will leave you alone. In fact, he’s going to leave this land entirely. And he’s fully aware that I still despise him.”

“Thank you, Ferrus.” She hugged him tightly around the hips. 

“When you feel you’ve spent enough decades here, tell me. We’ll go back to the sea, you and I. That sealskin is the real thing, I can feel it. Until then, and after, I am yours.”

“And I am yours.”

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Epilogue

In the end there wasn’t much fuss made about Gena’s strange new betrothed when she finally brought him home. Ferrus was impressed with how clever she’d been, spinning a tale about a shipwrecked sailor she’d nursed back to health and fallen in love with. There was a grain of truth in it, as in all the best lies. He’d had to use a bit of his own magic as well, mostly to lower his height so he was not so freakishly tall compared to the humans. He was still a respectable seven feet, but that could easily be written off as just rare luck with his ancestry. Moreover, he had proven himself a dab hand in the forge, so clearly she was not marrying a good-for-nothing.

The hoops to jump through had been numerous but worth it. Especially now.

“He’s beautiful.” Ferrus said, his silver eyes full of fatherly love as he looked down at the little boy in his wife’s arms.

Little Melor looked just like him. It was uncanny. Except for his eyes. Those were beautiful and golden, just like his mothers. He kissed Gena on the cheek as she rested against him.

“He’ll be as handsome as his father when he grows up.” Argena agreed, tapping their little son on the nose. The babe giggled.

Underneath his swaddling was a tiny sealskin. He’d come out wrapped in it. Ferrus had assured her it would grow with him. A selkie’s skin would always fit. It was a very rare occurrence for the union of a human and a selkie to produce another selkie, but it was possible. Evidently, Gena already had good luck with selkies.

“You want to hold your pup?” She asked. “You haven’t gotten to as much as you’d like, I think.”

In short order Melor was handed off to his father. The baby was still absolutely tiny in his father’s arms. Despite being so big Ferrus held him tenderly. He wriggled a bit.

“A little restless.” Gena noted. 

“A little.” He agreed. Then he began to sing.

Once a fair and handsome seal-lord lay his foot upon the sand For to woo the fisher's daughter and to claim her marriage hand. "I have come in from the ocean, I have come in from the sea, And I'll not go to the waves, love, lest ye come along with me."

"Lord, long have I loved you as a selkie on the foam. "I would gladly go and wed ye and be Lady of your home But I cannot go into the ocean, I cannot go into the sea. I would drown beneath your waves, love, if I went along with ye."

"Lady, long have I loved you: I would have you for my wife. I shall stay upon your shoreland though it robs me of my life. I will stay one night beside you, never go back to the sea, I will stay and be thy husband though it be the death of me."

"Lord, I cannot go and wed thee all to watch my lover die! Since I'll not be left a widow I have a plan for us to try: Let us speak with my grandmother who's ever dwelt beside the sea. She may know some trick or treasure that I may wed my fair selkie."

So they've gone to her grandmother's little cottage by the sea To inquire how a maiden can be wed to her selkie. For the selkie's watery kingdom would surely rob her of her breath But to stay on land past midnight, it would surely be his death.

"Lord, I know not how to aid you – you may never live on shore. For your kind to live 'til dawning has ne'er been seen before. But my mother had a seal-coat that she buried 'neath a tree For she told me that its wearer would become a fair selkie."

So they've journeyed farther inland though the seal-lord's getting weak And she's shouldering the shovel to unearth the thing they seek. At the rising of the full moon underneath the elfin oak She's unearthed that very treasure of which her grandmother spoke.

And just before the stroke of midnight they have made it back to sea And she's donned that magic seal-coat and become a maid selkie. Now they've gone into the ocean, hand in hand into the sea, She has gone along -- a fair seal-bride for her selkie.

Melor cooed softly before finally falling asleep, peaceful and content to be held by his father. Ferrus held him gently, and held him close. His other arm was around Gena. She smiled, listening to him sing. He did it often for her, and she never tired of hearing it.

“You know, I think I’m going to be just fine not going back to the sea for a while.”

“And your family?”

“They can lump it. I’ll see them eventually. It’s not like another several decades will kill them. It’s been centuries. And I have more important things to think about. Thank you, Gena. For coming to see me that day instead of just running away. I expected you to.”

“How could I run when I had you in front of me? I’m glad I went down too. I have you, and you’ve given me something infinitely precious. Thank you, Ferrus.”

“Only for you, mo ghaol.”

[animehouse-moe]

Undead Unluck Episode 5: United We Negate

Ah man, this episode was so interesting. Yes, the quality of it is solid, though of course it can't match the animation of the previous episode. That said, it doesn't need to animate to any sort of incredible degree because there's just so. much. worldbuilding. So so much to talk about here that I'm just itching to wander through!

Okay, so Apocalypses book, what an interesting little piece that presents a much great world. Thanks to the comment from Juiz, we understand that there exist a god on the other side of the book providing these rules.

More interesting to me though is the consistency of the Apocalypse book. "This time", it says, there is six quests with varying requirements. You would have thought that the number of quests would remain consistent, but Apocalypse's own words betray that. Also, the time limit?

They mention they have until the 31st of August, with the current date being the 6th. Twenty-six days as a time frame seems unlikely, so I believe the odds are that Gena's death specifically triggered a new set of quests.

If I were to guess at the framework for the quests, it'd be like this:

You do not have to immediately accept any quests, or do them in any particular order. Not all members have to consent to participation in the quest so nominations and strongarming are possible. Failure to complete all quests results in the addition of a new "Rule" to the world, that part we know. However, Gena's death presents something interesting.

You might be able to argue that Apocalypse would halt all quests because the number of negators was fewer than required with the death of unavoidable, but Juiz says that Apocalypse only opens when there is 11 negators, not that it works when there's only 11 negators. So, to get to the point. Gena's death has a high probability of being a catalyst for this new set of quests that exist in front of the Union. This means that Apocalypse would most likely count the previous round of quests as "failed" and as such would have added a new "Rule".

So lets talk about Rules next!

This is very very interesting, because of what Juiz says. There has been 98 "new" Rules added to the Earth.

So, what can it mean? Well, it could mean the number of times that quests have been failed, but that's not possible for two reasons. Apocalypse tells Union that the penalty for failure will be the addition of UMA Galaxy, which is not a Rule. Secondly, Juiz mentions the fact that penalties are added every 3 months.

So where does this leave things in terms of a timeline? Well, there's a few options. The simplest is that Apocalypse is able to provide Union members with previous penalties. But then that begs the question, how has there only been 98 rules added, in all of history? Juiz herself states that penalties are added every three months without any intervention, so the probability of this system existing since the beginning of time within the story is highly unlikely. But at the same time, Apocalypse can't have been created at an arbitrary point in time. However, we have the counterpoint of other artifacts being mentioned (and even used). Though it's important to note that the only awareness that we have of them as artifacts is through Apocalypse. I think the most likely answer here is something like time compression, which would in turn further feed into the idea of a loop.

That is, these objects have existed since time immemorial on Earth, but were dormant until a specific condition was met. Since that condition, they've been trapped in a loop.

This would justify the contradictory nature of existence and interaction, as well as provide freedom for Apocalypse to implement rules without any set schedule or purpose and not make a mess of history. Similarly, it would satisfy the argument of an excessive amount of UMAs existing on Earth due to penalties.

Though let's take a closer look at the idea of UMAs, since Apocalypse spills the beans, well, sort of spills the beans. He mentions UMA Burn and Negator Unburn, so you'd think that the existence of a UMA means the existence of its negator, but that's not necessarily true. Largely speaking, that depends on how you view UMAs such as the aforementioned Galaxy, though I personally don't believe that's the case. What I find interesting about the UMAs is their proximity to "Rules". That you might even say that UMAs are either born from rules or create rules.

Then there's the UMA that has been subjugated by the Union to facilitate point to point travel, though we don't have a name for them. If it weren't for Galaxy being mentioned I would have chosen "Space" as the name for the UMA, but the naming sense is more absolute than that. It has to be the most atomic form of the concept for it to really take root, so I think I might end up on "Move" as that UMA's name.

Speaking of providing names, I really want to take a stab at the negations of the other union members!

I'd already given my guess on Shen's, so I'll skip him and start at the top:

Starting with Juiz, they definitely have the most powerful ability. Being able to reflect malice and violence based on the person is very interesting, and immediately brings up the idea of unfair, but I don't think that's it. It's not it. I think their ability was employed because of the rules that exist for Union in regards to harming another member. Because of that, I think it would be something like unequality, unjustice, or

So, onto number 3, the gunslinger guy. I think his interaction in stopping Andy's fingers is the answer to his ability. The lax styling, the overconfidence, it screams of a lack of effort but yet undeniable success. My first feeling is gambling/betting, but that's not raw enough as a concept. Unchance is the first thing that springs to mind with them able to manipulate their own probability, but with the idea of gambling, and my interpretation of their negation as a way of "cheating" in regards to probability, Unfair could be the better fit (and better sounding haha).

Now, number 4, the little robot arms kid. My first inclination was unalive, but that's impossible given Andy's negation. But there has to be something to explain the boy's android appearance. They have to be a human to be a negator, so it can't be unhuman. But then what could it be? I'm not really sure because we don't get much from them as they don't block Andy's finger and they don't really say anything further into the episode.

Skipping ahead a bit we're going for numbers six and seven together because their approaches are very similar. Unavoidable has given me the hints to tackle at least one of these two, and the finger bullet sequence gives me the rest that I need. Mr. Samurai armor is definitely unbreaking or unmoving, though I'm leaning to the former, just because unmoving doesn't necessarily mean they're unable to be damaged. So that means the younger boy that takes action with his hand has to be something that would allow him to stop Andy's finger without damage or anything. Really, he's the only one that's shown to be actively moving (aside from Shen, of course). I really want to say unstoppable, but I don't know if that could negate any and all damage so I don't think it's likely. I'm really drawing a blank on a negation that could incorporate movement, be an internal negator, and avoid taking damage.

Mr. Know it all with the purple hair is easy though, unknowning. Or I suppose unforgettable. Actually no, definitely unforgettable. Their ability to negate the act of forgetting is certainly what it is.

So yeah, an incredible amount of information from a single episode. A very unique cast of negators with interesting ticks such as Juiz hiding her eyes unless she's negating, and all the rules and information imposed by Apocalypse is just wonderful. An absolute treasure trove of theories for me to sift through and ponder about, so I'll definitely be happily occupied until next week's episode!

[funnyfoxsimp]

Is nobody going to talk about what happened between Gena and Andy ◉⁠‿⁠◉

.

Like, Gena calls him Deady dearest. That a nickname ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ.

.

As well as the fact that She loved Andy, that she fell in love with him. The goofiest goof ball.

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Like is NOBODY going to talk about that she got kissed by him! Addlist Andy capped his promise to her, witch was a joke for him at first, but for Gena... It was a gift to end all her misery (⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠)

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Like as well as how Andy wrote her a happy birthday with his blood at the beginning of the episode.

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Ik that Andy doesn't really have feelings for her or meaby he does, but doesn't care as much about it.

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What ever it is Gena would have won fare and square, but Andy has Fuuko by his side so ofc he or should I said THEY won.

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Gena and Andy as a ship or even as of Idea of that is underrated. You know what the worst part... That when Fuuko met her in the other loop, Gena didn't know anything about Andy.... It broke my HEART 💔 ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠`⁠;⁠)ﾟ⁠:⁠｡

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Anyways I'm getting a bit sidetracked so let's make it quick. I'll do a ship name it could be [angina] or [andy x gina] .

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Ok doki that's it I think 🤔. Till then if there is a person who likes them as a ship, cool then.

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I love anfuu it's my first favourite, now angina is my second. If you don't like this ship that's fain by me idc tbh, I just wanted to clarify some things ◉⁠‿⁠◉

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Who ever read this, sick ig.... No! WICKED SICK! Have a good day/night 😄.