#Dark Zone

[annie-manga]

I need more people on here(Tumblr) to read this webcomic cause I cannot be the only one posting stuff about it in the tags

Plot summary taken from Webtoon:

"Where the hell are people going? To Mackenzie, after years of unexplained disappearances, the question itself seems redundant. High school is hard enough without getting involved with that S.A.F. crap! But when missing-kid Aiden reappears in front of Mack--out of thin air, no less, it becomes all too clear that the supernatural doesn't want to stay away. Mimics, aliens, or maybe it's just carbon monoxide poisoning? Will the two boys find answers in each other or be left in the dark?"

If that summary didn't convince you, here are some more reasons to check this out:

Vibes are similar to Spiderverse

The setting(so far) is Detroit

LGBT+ protagonists & side characters

99.9% of the cast is Black, the 0.1% is Grey.

The writing is really good; plot is very intriguing and the character dialogue is very realistic. When the funny moments happen, it's funny, and when it's time for drama....whew. You'll be at the edge of your seat, like I was.

The art is amazing & it's very cool to see the creator's style evolve over time from the first chapter to the current one.

The story being told here is a glimpse into the creator's much larger project; this is a side st

It's currently on hiatus, so that'll give you plenty of time to catch up!

Go forth & enjoy!!!

[pedroam-bang]

Tom Clancy’s The Division (2016)

[icequeenabby]

Y'all I need someone to appreciate this short with me because it's AMAZING.

(cheers to @elmuvahva for finding this, seriously it's great)

[malleableplatypus]

hi guys im doing great im not about to snap a pencil in half i am ay okay (NO IM NOT THIS COMIC YOU GUYS I AM NOT NORMAL ABOUT IT OUGHHHHHH)

[gebo4482]

4AM

[malleableplatypus]

@avree0is0dead tags……

i am so so normal about media and have exactly zero mental illnesses

[anoddrock]

Animation based on my favorite Grey Moment in Ep 72 of Dark Zone! Both with the arcade lighting and regular lighting

Reblogs appreciated!!

refs under the cut

[madlovenovelist]

Book Review – ‘Into Deep Space’ (#3-4 The Galahad Archives) by Dom Testa

Spaceship manoeuvres and boy drama. Genre: YA, Science Fiction No. of pages: 560 When the tail of the comet Bhaktul flicks through the Earth’s atmosphere, deadly particles are left in its wake. Suddenly, mankind is confronted with a virus that devastates the adult population. Only those under the age of eighteen seem to be immune. A renowned scientist proposes a bold plan: to create a ship…

[elelandia]

Tra cyberspazio ed elfi: Technoflowers

Ho finalmente letto Technoflower e sono molto felice di averlo fatto! Il libro è edito da Dark Zone, scritto da Davide Ciavattella, e mescola un sacco di generi esattamente come piace a me: tra fantasy, thriller, cyberpunk e fantascienza c’è ne davvero per tutti i gusti. Seguiamo le vicende di Ares, giovane hacker che lavora su commissione, mentre cerca di guadagnarsi da vivere e allo stesso…

[titanicfreija]

On a Walk

"Any particular reason you wanted to come out this far?" Sunny asked her Guardian as they sparrowed along a ruined asphalt road, river on the left and forest on the right. 

"Honestly... No. Having a good time on the sparrow, figured Earth would be nice this time," Freija told her Ghost, mindfully sweeping into the water for a stretch to avoid debris.

"Okay. In that case, can you head back a little? We're getting close to a Dark Zone."

"Yup-yup."

Freija hit her destabilizers and let go of her accelerator for an about-face, then let go of destabilizers and hit the accelerator to zoom eastward. "Point me parallel? On the river?"

"Can we move further from the edge?" she asked. "If anything knocks us too far, you'll land out of my reach."

Once she satisfied Sunny, a small white triangle appeared at the top of Freija's visual. She lined her nose to it and accelerated. "Anything lurking? I think I feel you fucking with my radar, you do that when you're anxious."

~

Sunny didn't know how she could tell, but she didn't want to correct, because then Freija would know exactly what she was doing to the radar. "I'm most worried about Red Legion loyalists. They're the strongest hangers on of our enemies out here. The Eliksni will be scattered, I'm not sure what houses are out here anymore. This close to the EDZ, it's possible they'll attack or avoid intentionally, but you might even find a defector or new House that's violently against House Light."

"We're ages from the EDZ."

"Not if you're flying a ketch," Sunny replied. She wanted to say something else, but a signal from above and eastward- the direction they were going. "Speaking of, take cover. Ketch incoming."

"You think I can't handle 'em?" Freija asked with a pout.

"I think sometimes you get in over your head or overconfident and then you get into trouble, and we're a long way from backup," Sunny huffed from her Guardian's pocket. "Earth-to-Earth comm systems get weak out here, no warp jump points, it's just better to be careful."

Freija sighed and steered into the trees, impatiently hopping off to let Sunny demat it. "For fuck's sake." She picked up Sunshot and breathed deep, preparing to prepare for a fight. "So what kind of forces are we looking at? What kind of ketch?"

"Resource grab. Big one. Few littler ones, but we're looking at a small army."

Freija fixed her jaw and steadied her breath. "I've fought worse."

"Don't. Vandals win when you're the only target. You need Rise to face an army."

The Titan once again steadied her breath. "Fine." Silence fell between them, but something unspoken rang loud, and the Titan could taste it. Glancing at the top of her visual, she saw Sunny's indicator blinking. "What's wrong."

Sunny's speech indicator continued flashing, but she could only manage to turn the comms on and off, and not even in Morse Code.

"I'm about to get real angry, ain't I," Freija observed with a sigh, voice high with exasperation.

The poor Ghost could hardly whisper, "Yeah."

The Guardian nodded, pursing her lips and sucking her teeth. "Okay. It's not your fault. I'm not angry at you. We both decided the ship would be okay, so that's on us both. It's my fault we're out here."

"You're doing great," Sunny cheered at a whisper, already impressed with her composure.

"I'm okay, we're okay," she continued, but her body temperature spiked.

"It's about to get worse," Sunny said, bracing herself and Freija both.

"Okay," Freija breathed again, but she did, finally, stop walking. She knelt and put her head on her knee to count breaths.

"I'm so proud of you, you're doing great," Sunny said again.

"Shut up," replied Freija through gritted teeth. "I'm. I'm. We're okay," she repeated at a growl, and she stood up, spinning in place to whirl around. "What's the worse news?"

"I can take the ship with us--"

"That's not worse news."

"--but if they've taken parts, we're going to have a hell of a time replacing them, and all the good places to look are in the Dark Zone."

Contrary to Sunny's expectation, Freija didn't get angry and start screaming or throwing things. Instead, her eyes grew wide and her breath froze. Sunny matted close to Freija's chest and eased into her view, keeping low. "Hey. I know you're scared. But it's okay."

Freija nodded without a sound, moving her hand to Sunny's bubble where she held her up. "So. Tell me exactly what this means."

Sunny couldn't be prouder of her. "We're okay," she said first.

"I know, I said that, now what's going to happen when I go into the Darkness zone. I'll still have my Light, right?"

"You'll have your light. Your Sunspots will heal you, but I won't be able to. I won't be able to resurrect you, either. I'll be more fragile in general-- my shields will be weaker, and so will yours." She hesitated, then finally said, "Any damage you take between sunspots will stay. Dying to get a sunspot isn't going to help. So no charging in with a hammer. You'll have to get them through grenades or not at all."

Freija sucked a breath, then blew through pursed lips. "Yeah, okay. That's. Gonna be the hardest part," she grumbled, and she closed her hand, giving Sunny the cue to demat.

"So if I do die, what will happen to you?"

"As a direct result, nothing. Indirectly, I will need to escape your killer, then go get someone to help me retrieve your body to carry it back to the Light so I can resurrect you. Rise will probably help, but as a rule, Guardians who wandered into the Dark Zone and died aren't worth spending more Guardians to get."

Freija snickered and rose to her feet. "Bet you could get help from Caiatl."

Sunny paused for a few moments, then said, "Yeah, I probably could. Do you really want me to do that?"

"Oh, fuck, no," laughed Freija. "How embarrassing! Ketch incoming," she said, looking through the trees and failing to spot it, but hearing it soar overhead and beyond.

And stop.

Freija clutched Sunshot again. "We're not in the dark, yet," she reminded herself.

"Army! Alone!" Sunny reminded her sharply, yanking from the inside of her pocket. "No! You'll only bring more! They know no one is out here! Please!"

Freija looked over her shoulder, then growled and stormed eastward, back to her ship. "Lucky bastards."

~

On a Walk <-

First Step

Into the Dark

Detour

New Experience

Traveling

The Spaceport

Sneaking

Nobility

Rescue Operations

Caught

Gratitude

Pride

[zoneofsmites]

Im of the full (possibly delusional) belief that Durge is not the species that they physically appear to be.

You’re telling me this being crafted from nothing but bhaal’s flesh and his blood - this demigod - is actually a dragonborn/tiefling/human/elf/etc.

No. This thing is bhaal’s flesh and it just happens to look like that. They’re an imitation of a species, they’re not truly a (full)mortal being, they have no heritage aside from bhaal.

As a result I’m sure there’s some…oddities.

For example, a demigod child, not fully mortal. I doubt they adhere to the lifespan of whatever species they look like. Looking younger than they should. (less so perhaps with long lived races like elfs and half-elves where that is par for the course).

A dragonborn durge that by all accounts looks like a blue dragonborn but their breathweapon is acid. A tiefling durge that seems to be a Mephistopheles tiefling but they cannot cast mage hand, instead smiting like a zariel bloodline tiefling.

An elf or tiefling durge that doesn’t read as fey or infernal trough identification spells. Because they aren’t either of those things. Perhaps they could read as divine but not quite.

Members of a race that durge is supposed to be looking at them and sometimes when making eye contact they read as wrong. And some kind of uncanny effect triggers in their brain.

Give me more freaky durge who isn’t really what they appear to be at all. Just a little murder demigod crafted from dead god flesh to be the shape of something else.

[annie-manga]

Week 4 of 30 Days of Autistic Art: Aiden Tuesday from “Dark Zone”(by micah_ers)

[kettlefire]

Prepare for the unexpected. (DPxDC)

Everyone knew about the reign of Pariah Dark. Even those who did not dabble in those realms have heard the tale of the tyrant. A power-hungry man who ruled over the dead with an iron fist.

Following the rise of Pariah Dark, his realm had been effectively cut off from communication. Many mystics and magic users knew better than to open the door of nightmares that could arise if Pariah Dark's reach went further than his own realm.

Except, the universe had plans to bring the realm of the dead back into the cards.

A new opponent, one that had all of Earth's heroes scrambling for options. A being with powers of a god over weather, destruction was on the horizon. A world ending threat.

It's the only reason the Justice League was doing this. In a deep bunker, far from close civilization as a precaution, the heroes looked on with grim expressions.

The world was already being threatened. It would be destroyed regardless of what the league did. So it only made sense to make the last ditch effort. To summon someone strong enough to defeat the threat.

No one wanted to do it. No one wanted to be the one to pull the realm of the dead back to the living. The consequences were untold if this succeeded. If Pariah Dark was freed and defeated the threat, whose to say he won't want control?

That was a problem for later. For the aftermath. For now, the league could only watch on with bated breath as Constantine completely the summon ritual.

They watched on as the shadows in the room seemed to darken and grow. As the sigil sputtered to life with a glow that was growing increasingly brighter. A sudden gust of wind rushed through the room, the temperature began to drop with eaching ticking second.

And then it was all gone.

The room stood perfectly still. Just as it had been moments before. Nothing changed. No giant king standing before them, no sign that the ritual worked.

The room stood deadly still for another beat before the murmurs started. The team trying to make sense of the situation, figure out what went wrong.

Constantine swore up and down that this was the correct ritual, taking offense that they would even think the problem was on his end. It only made it better when it finally happened.

A loud sound ripped through the room, pulling everyone's attention back to the summoning circle. Just in time to see a tear appear in the space above the circle.

A thin tear that ran the length of eight feet. The fabric of the dimension seems to curl at the edges, pulling back to reveal a deep glowing swirl of greens. A dark gloved hand reached through, fingers curling around the edge of the tear, stretching it even further.

A portal. The ritual had worked, but there had been a delay. A delay that had every hero nerves on edge. Each team member tensed, weapons at the ready as they watched the being stretch the portal to the right size.

Then, a foot stepped out with a heavy thud. A dark boot that looked otherworldly despite its similarity to mortal clothing. A deep black that seemed never-ending. A second foot quickly followed before a full body emerged from the portal.

Not many people in the room have ever seen Pariah Dark, let alone know what to expect. Based on what Constantine and Zatara had said, this wasn't Pariah Dark.

A man had stepped out of the portal, standing at almost seven feet tall, and built like a brick house. One glance at the glowing white hair, deadly red eyes, and shard teeth was enough to know this being was not to be messed with.

But there was no giant show of armor or royal garbs. There is no large crown at the top of his head or jewelry from the infinite realms laced around his neck.

Instead, the man stood before them in combat boots, worn-in ripped jeans, a graphic t-shirt, and a spiked leather jacket. Despite his almost normal clothing choice, the man's jacket seemed to be a never-ending depth of the dark night sky. If one was to look closely enough, the cosmos could almost be made out in the sea of darkness.

None of that would have prepared them for when the man spoke. His tone sounded more bored than anything as he took a step forward.

"Oh, so now you need the help of the dead." The man had spoken, running a hand through his hair. When Batman took a step forward to speak, the man raised a hand. Immediately commanding silence in the single gesture. "I'm on babysitting duty and have yet to have a cup of coffee. I'll be right back."

Just like that, both the man and portal vanished into thin air. Leaving behind a group of stunned heroes. Not only was the man not Pariah Dark, but he was also supposedly babysitting.

"Did that just-"

The Flash had been the first voice to speak up, his eyes trained on where the man had once stood. Except he had barely made it through the first few words before the man was suddenly back.

The man that now had a child hanging off his shoulders and another teen being held up by his scruff. Unlike the man, these kids looked human.

Too human for Bruce's liking. The dark black hair and bright blue eyes had every heroes eyes flickering to Batman for just the briefest moment.

"This isn't fair! I'm not even the king. Why do I have to be here!" The teenager had been complaining the moment the man had reappeared. Arms crossed tight over his chest and seemingly used to being held dangling. "Besides, who brings kids to a show down! Wait til I tell mom about this."

"Aw, come on, Danny. This is gonna be fun!!" The younger girl seemed in much better spirits than the teen, Danny. She had climbed up the large man, sitting on his shoulders and resting her arms on the mess of glowing hair. "It's like take your kids to work day! Ooo, Dan! Can we fight too!?"

Unlike the two kids, the man looked purely exhausted and annoyed. The man, Dan, dropped Danny like a sack of potatoes as he took a long drink from the travel cup in his hand.

It didn't take a genius to recognize the look of an exhausted parent in Dan's expression. A look many of the league members were well acquainted to. A look that even had Batman grimacing with sympathy.

"Can it, little shits. You two were grounded, remember." Dan had growled at the kids before shifting his focus back on the team of heroes before them. His glowing eyes set in a deadly glare. "Pariah Dark isn't coming, and he never will. He's been dethroned and banished. We're the best you've got."

A summoning that started with a group of on edge and scared heroes looking for the ghost king, ended in a way no one expected.

No one was even sure if it made any sense. They weren't sure if they should feel hopeful or in despair.

Because truly, what was a ghostly man with two seemingly human children against a godlike foe with the control over the weather?

The unspoken question of power and ability seemed to vanish following Dan downing the metal travel cup of coffee, and crushing it in his fist.

He tossed it to the side, straighting up his posture as he looked over the heroes. Dan might not be a hero, but he's been playing family for too long.

An almost feral, bloodhungry grin spread across the man's face, sharp fangs on full display. The look made the man suddenly look even less human. He looked closer to a demon from the pits of hell rather than the exhausted parent he looked just a few seconds ago.

"Point me in the direction of this bastard. It's been too long since I let loose and had some fun."

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 345

Let it be known that none of them actually expected the idiots’ of the week’s ritual to work. The summoning hadn’t worked for literal centuries- everyone knew it had been sealed away, presumably forever!

(Of course they had no way to know that in the Infinite Realms actually used the term forever as a measurement of time, what with how time itself wasn’t particularly linear within. And to beings that could hypothetically live for eternity? Forever was a nice vacation time really) 

So maybe they hadn’t been exactly focused on stopping the ritual as much as they could of been, and by the time they realized it was working, well, it’d been a bit too late then. So yes, mistakes had perhaps in fact, been made. 

First had come the chill, the cold of the ground as your body was lowered down, the cold of your blood dripping from your living corpse. Then came the shadows, the darkness creeping along their vision as their soul slipped from their body. Followed by boiling heat, flames scorching through their flesh and tearing from their chests like a blade piercing their hearts. 

The form that emerged was massive, a cloak dripping crimson fluttering in the wind of an unseen battlefield, verdant flames licking at the air and causing the surrounding shadows to writhe. A dark growl echoed through the building, the stone below them shaking while deathly green eyes glowered down at the living with utter contempt. 

“Do any of you imbeciles know how long it takes to get ghostlings to sleep-” 

[bet-on-me-13]

The First Supervillain

So! A Typical "Early Start" AU where the events of The Show happen early in the Timeline. Like, in the 70's or 80's.

Danny never quite managed to fix his Public Perception, and even years into his career people still saw him as the Villain.

Coincidentally Valerie was seen as a Hero because of how often they were seen fighting. Even after they revealed their Identities and got together, they still had the occasional Battle. It was their love language.

His role as the Villain was Cemented when Pariah launched his Second Invasion of Earth after some dumbass accidentally freed him, and Danny took the Blame for it. Instead of being seen as the Hero who battled Pariah and stopped the Invasion, he was seen as the Tyrant to launched the Invasion in the first place, with Red Huntess being the one to defeat him in one final Ultimate Battle.

And honestly? He was fine with that. Now that he was the King of the Ghost Zone, he had the Authority to Regulate the Portal so villains stopped getting through. And that meant that he wasn't needed to stop random Ghost Attacks anymore. He could finally focus on College and his own Life, instead of sacrificing everything to act as the Protector of the Human Realm.

Val continued to be a Hero for a few more years, eventually retiring when it became Clear that the new generation of Heroes could pick up the Slack.

He went to College, got a Job as an Aerospace Engineer, and eventually proposed to Valerie.

About 20 years since his initial Accident, and he was doing great! He had moved into a humble home on the edge of town with his loving wife Val, his beautiful daughter Ellie, and his cute dog Cujo.

Yeah, life was good.

Until the day Danny accidently caused a Mass Crisis.

...

Superman was having some extreme trouble in dealing with his current Opponent. He had just been flying around the City, patrolling as Usual, when all of a sudden he had been attacked by a Flying Mech Suit.

At first he had assumed that Lex was giving it another Go, but he quickly realized that was not the case when the Armor seemed to Phase though solid matter in the middle of the battle. Lex had never made Tech advanced enough to do that on the fly.

This opponent was tough too. Strong enough and Durable enough to go blow for blow with him, and seemingly able to pull Advanced Weaponry from out of nowhere whenever he wanted. As tough as it was to admit, Superman as losing the Battle.

Then, without warning, the battle stopped. His opponent was staring at the space just behind him, with a look of pure dread. He turned around, and his heart stopped.

Floating behind him, staring right past him and directly at the Mech Suit, was the First Villain Phantom.

He looked much the same as when he had last been seen, although he was definitely Older. He had snow white hair, and glowing green eyes that seemed to stare right past him and into his very soul. He was wearing what seemed to be a costume of sorts, with an all black suit, white gloves, and white boots. Over his Shoulders sat a Cloak made of Stars, and above his head sat a Crown made of an Icy Blue Fire.

The Mech tried for a greeting, "Er- Hello t-Lord Phantom. How do you d-"

"Skulker."

"Y-yes?"

"What are you doing here? I thought I gave you explicit orders to stay in the Ghost Zone until further notice. You disobeyed me."

"Okay look. I got excited, that's my fault. It's just, I got anxious waiting. Can you really blame me? I've been waiting 20 years to take another Crack at the Human World, what's it matter if I left a few weeks Early?"

"I told you. You were supposed to wait exactly 20 Years, and you left Early. This calls for punishment."

"No wait!"

"Let's see how you feel after a few days as Soup."

The Villain pulled out a Thermos, and in a flash of green light, Skulker was gone, and the King was capping the Thermos. He then turned to Superman.

"I apologize for him, he decided to leave ahead of schedule." The King addressed him. "Now, Kryptonian. Rest and tend to your wounds, you will need to be in your best health if you want to continue saving the lives of those people below us."

With a dramatic flare, the King reached up and Tore a hole in Space. Through the Hole, Superman could only see an infinite Green Void, with the sound of screams cheering being heard through the rift.

The King departed through the Tear in Spacetime, and it closed behind him.

Superman tried to collect himself, and activated his League Emergency Comms.

"Attention All Founding Members, and Justice League Dark Members. This is Superman calling for an immediate Emergency Meeting."

He took a deep breath.

"Phantom is Back."

[gael-garcia]

Robert Redford as Mr. Death in The Twilight Zone 3.16 Nothing in the Dark