#I don’t like to get attached to shows that originated from the comics

[kiingbiing]

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[lintwriting]

I'm making this post to compile the Weibo allegations against Jullian Champenois, the voice actor for Kim Kitsuragi, since I found navigating the screenshots to be a bit confusing. I've translated some of them to the best of my ability and would definitely be open to others reviewing these translations for errors, as I am Chinese American and therefore could be missing some cultural context. I've linked to Chinese definition websites to explain some of the translation choices that are more inferences.

The rest of the translations are from 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter, who has been in contact with the original Weibo poster to ask for permission for their translated reposts, as well as permission for my repost here.

Outline of the Weibo Post

The allegations originated from a post on Weibo by a Chinese artist. The body of the post contains a summary of their experience, and attached are:

Screenshots of their personal Instagram DMs with Jullian

A screenshot of an older post where they express feeling weary about Jullian's DMs

Screenshot of vent messages demonstrating how this experience has affected their work.

After posting, other commenters chimed in with similar experiences, and this caused the original poster to update the original post.

They first updated it with a screenshot showing them blocking Jullian Champenois

Next, a testimony from a commenter

A second testimony from another commenter

Screenshots of DMs from that second commenter

*Update: Additional testimony from the original poster

The Body of the Original Weibo Post

Below will be screenshots of the body of the original Weibo post, with translations from @woon__ton on twitter.

(via 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter)

This text was later edited to update about the additional testimonies and to add greater context. The added context explains how the Weibo poster could tell that Jullian Champenois's DMs were targeted, unprofessional, and sexual in nature, as the poster had gone through a similar situation before with another creator. The updated context is translated below.

* I realized something was wrong so quickly because I had a similar experience at the end of 2019. Scott lobdell, a DC comic writer and screenwriter of Happy Death Day, came back to like my drawings and privately messaged me after I followed him on Instagram. His account at that time was nuked (chinese internet slang for when accounts get banned or suddenly have all their content taken down) [so I can't access the logs anymore], so I don’t remember the content of the chat, but for specific news discussions, you can google the keyword “Scott Lobdell sex harrasment”. This situation is very common in the industry. They deliberately prey on people from their fan lists.

For context, Scott Lobdell, from what I can tell, would hit on young female artists working at the same cons as him, both in person and in text messages, with implications of him holding his position in the industry over them.

Although the Weibo poster can no longer access the log of Scott's harassment of them because his account got banned/deleted (at least, I think that's what the usage of 'nuke' is saying, they could also be saying that their own account got nuked), they note how their chat with Jullian Champenois was reminiscent of the same conversation they had with Scott Lobdell—a man known and 'retired' for his harassment of young female artists.

Lobdell's harassment is a good example for context due to how he demonstrates the inappropriateness of 'flirting' and hitting on young female artists in professional contexts.

1. Screenshots of their personal DMs with Jullian Champenois

Below are the screenshots of the Instagram DMs the Weibo Poster had with Julllian Champenois. Note the profile picture, as his profile picture will look the same across other screenshots with him in it.

Also note the way the conversation starts out polite, focused on both of their respective arts. Then he shifts the conversation to sexual topics, first by mentioning his explicit song, then by suddenly bringing up an explicit art account, @ken_chk, they were both following. The Weibo poster steers the conversation away from these topics.

They also mention this in the comments, but they find the fact that he asked their age, ethnicity, and sexuality afterwards to also be suspicious/sexual in nature. The sentiment being "Why would the artist's age matter?" or "Why would you fixate on me potentially being 17 years old when I've mentioned college graduation finals?" or "Why would you ask that if not for sexual reasons?"

@woon__ton on twitter notes that he is seemingly consistently looking for college aged girls, and other commenters/victims got the sense that the strange insistent questions about nationality were related to "yellow fever."

2. Weibo Screenshot of an older post where they express feeling weary about Jullian's Dms

The next attached photo was a screenshot of a Weibo post the Weibo poster had made in 2023. I'm assuming that in this screenshot that they're talking about Jullian Champenois, since this whole post is about him.

First I'll be transcribing the translation. Then I'll be clarifying the idioms/translation choices with asterisks, before giving an overall summary of the screenshot.

Feel free to skip to the 2. Summary section, as the translation clarification section is a little long.

“It reminds me a bit of my PTSD, the last time I was praised in private [instagram] DMs it was the Scott Lobdell [situation] where [he] later disappeared from the internet for some reason[.] I don't remember the reasoning, but at the time I had suddenly felt that he was kind of creepy so I indirectly lost my interest on Jason Todd(桶 is the Chinese nickname of Todd/Red Hood, Lobdell was the writer of n52 Redhood comic). It was not a good experience haha..." * "I feel that there is a cultural difference where Chinese people may take getting sent private messages out of nowhere a bit harder. It may also be a me problem. Maybe I am a Sakura girl at heart (internet slang, sakura is the culture symbol of Japan so it’s the nickname of Japanese girl, they tend to be a little bit more shy and social in a more careful and polite way to avoid offending anyone, no negative meaning behind this). uneasy desu ('I am anxious' but using the word desu to stand in for "I am")" "I don't remember the timeline, but it seemed like someone in the industry accused him of sexually harassing young female artists." “As a result, even when I am excited, I am still very wary of people because I have become disillusioned."

*UPDATE: I have updated this post''s translation with clarification from the Weibo poster.

I translated a phrase as "pulled up carrot," but it was actually the transliteration of Scott Lobdell's name into Chinese. I translated a phrase as "climbing the wall" "bucket," but it was actually the Chinese fandom term for 'no longer liking' and the Chinese name for Jason Todd.

In addition, I translated Sakura Girl as (slang based on Japanese animation, meaning a delicately stupid young girl) but the poster has clarified that Sakura girl is not supposed to have a deprecating connotation. The focus is on shyness or politeness, not stupidity!

I will keep my first translations in the next few paragraphs in to maintain transparency and to keep some necessary information, but they are no longer accurate. The paragraphs in brackets can be skipped over.

[[[[[The full idiom goes "the pulled up carrot also pulls up mud," or the idea that investigating a criminal who was arrested first can lead to the exposure of other criminals. The same way pulling a carrot out will pull loose some dirt, exposing one person may also dig up dirt on their associates.

With the mention of "later disappeared from the internet," I think the Weibo poster was referencing Scott Lobdell, whose account was nuked and who also had privately DM'd them with praise/sexual advances. The implication could be that the last time they got DM'd like this, it was in a creepy way and they were too afraid to speak out for fear of getting attacked/exposed themselves. Or that he disappeared to avoid getting exposed. This paragraph is a little unclear.

The 'pulled up carrot' situation might also have something to do with the explicit artist, ken_chk, mentioned in the DMs with Jullian. The weibo poster clarifies in a later edit that they didn't censor @ken_chk's handle in the screenshots because ken_chk was also embroiled in a sexual scandal involving targeting his fans.

"*About why I didn't delete the artist Ken mention in the chat history—because he was the reason why I raised the alarm. One of the reasons is that I read something about his character on Weibo about a few months ago. I just forgot to unfollow him on Instagram. I can’t find any evidence about what he did, but the Internet has testimonies, so I won't write it off." "* Regarding the artist Ken, the matter has been issued with the consent of the person involved. According to the person involved, Ken will also select fans to target. Please see the person’s experience for details"

So another implication could be that Jullian bringing up such a shady person in the DMs unprompted demonstrates his shady associations. Jullian is the 'carrot pulling up the mud' by doing so.

For context, the poster had felt the need to disavow ken_chk by clarifying that they had only been still following ken_chk by accident. Jullian still following him and even bringing him up unprompted could be a bad look in light of the similar allegations of misconduct surrounding both him and ken_chk.

I am unsure though, as I am not very familiar with this idiom, nor am I familiar with the allegations against ken_chk listed here. I could be totally misinterpreting this line of the post and the ken_chk edit, as I've had to infer some pronouns and commas that weren't originally there due to the nature of Chinese grammar.

'Climbing the wall,' in addition to cheating, can seem to mean getting over obstacles in various contexts, like getting over the firewall to pirate stuff. However, I've translated it as 'cheating' as there's the word "bucket" that follows it. Bucket is also a word for 'trash,' so it'd make sense to translate it as 'cheating trash.'

Later another victim who responded in the comments accounted that by sexually harassing them, Jullian Champenois was also potentially cheating on his girlfriend that they knew he had at the time, lending more credence to the idea that wall climbing comment is about Jullian, though I am still unsure.]]]]]

2. Summary Section

I think this post was first made right after Jullian first messaged the Weibo poster with the innocent messages about their art back in October 2023, months before the more recent sexual DMs from him on March 30th, 2024.

Despite the polite nature of these October DMs, the Weibo poster was weary of Jullian's DMs in this first 2023 post, mentioning how in the past they had gotten similar DMs from Scott Lobdell, only for those complimentary DMs to later be revealed as openings for sexual advances. Their 'PTSD,' as they put it.

In addition, they note a potential cultural difference between Chinese netizens and Western/English-speaking ones. It might be a bigger deal in China to get send someone DMs. Maybe it's more intimate/intimidating/professional, in contrast to it potentially being more casual in the West.

With the summary out of the way, I do want to say that some Western netizens have responded to the later DMs with the sentiment of "these are not examples of harassment, just flirting in bad taste," but this could be related to the cultural mismatch the poster mentioned here.

Getting flirted with in the DMs is very normal to a lot of people in the West, as 'sliding into their DMs' is synonymous with flirting, but perhaps in China, either this is not the norm or Jullian's type of flirting is not the norm, especially within the context of a professional art account.

If you find yourself thinking the same way as those western netizens, I'd ask you to reframe Jullian's DMs less as a casual instagram DM, and more like a work slack or LinkedIn message from a colleague/client, as the DMs we have been/will be talking about are in the context of their own work or hiring him for work. This should help you get a better sense of why the victims felt uncomfortable.

3. Screenshot of Weibo poster's vent messages demonstrating how this has affected their work

The next attached photo was a screenshot of vent texts. I'm not sure the context of the texts, but the content is definitely about their regrets with Jullian Champenois.

Why shouldn't I just be frank and rant a little? I want to be so woke (as in another way to say clear-headed, not related to American progressive slang) that you'll see me awake, anaesthesia-free on the operating table when they cut me open[.] Do you get me[?] Well Any way you look at it, I'm miserable On top of all this, I've got a big graduation project that's in comic form. That comic was adapting the poem that is currently acting as my temporary nicotine replacement for my disco elysium withdrawals*** So I would listen to [Jullian Champenois's] songs at the time God, it hurts so much Luckily, my nicotine replacement was for another character (they're probably saying that the poem reminded them of another disco elysium character, not Kim Kitsuragi, hence their relief) For a moment there, I was thinking of to talking to him about my graduation project and about disco elysium.

*** So I'm making the assumption that the original poster is talking about a graduation project that they're working on. Since they're an artist, it's a comic that they're making. They then say something about an original poem. They use the word that means "original" in the context of adaptation, like the original book a movie is based off of. So the full phrase is 'the comic's original poem,' which I'm taking to mean that they're adapting a poem into comic form.

This is relevant because I think they're trying to say that the poem is currently the thing they're obsessing over while waiting for more Disco Elysium content. They use the term "meal replacement," which seems to be a Chinese fandom term referring to the content people look at during a fandom drought—like people hitting the end of all the Disco Elysium content out there and deciding to check out Pathologic, since they've heard that game scratches the same itch.

So I think this screenshot is supposed to be them venting their feelings about how this situation with Jullian made them feel. They want to be clear-headed about his actions, even if it makes them feel miserable. And they note how his actions have tainted their experience working on a Disco Elysium-inspired comic.

1. Screenshot of the Weibo Poster Blocking Jullian Champenois

After talking with other commenters, the Weibo poster posted their closing remarks with Jullian Champenois, especially noting how he used their work and their interest in his work as a pretense for flirting with them instead of genuine artistic interest.

2. Next, testimony from a commenter

(translation via 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter)

阿阮 @woon__ton also notes that "If anyone questions why I didn't release the screenshots, it's because this fan suffered severe trauma and was unable to provide the original chat log."

3. A second testimony from another commenter

Hello blogger, I also suffered sexual harassment from Jullian at the end of last year. Because my friends know that I like Disco Elysium very much, [they] said [they] could give me an autograph. I was very excited and happy at the time. A few days later, Jullian himself said that he could add me on WeChat, so I could directly tell him what I wanted him to sign. I was so happy and felt very lucky. After that, he was always very polite and took the initiative to chat with me, but within a few days he started to sexually harass me. I can't find the chat records from that time, only one or two that were sent to friends. I was very disillusioned at the time…so I blocked him, but he added me on New Year's Day. After I saw your Weibo, I remembered this incident again. He was really disgusting… I loved Disco Elysium so much, but he ruined it all. Okay, I hope you can share this. He is a habitual criminal and has yellow fever, and likes to chat up Chinese girls. At the same time last year, I searched for his name on Weibo and found that many people who followed him on Instagram were greeted by him. Everyone thought he was very nice, but that‘s not the case. When I first added him, I didn't expect him to talk to me a lot. Because it was such a surprise, I expressed a lot of my love for Disco Elysium and Kim. He asked me if I knew about Kim's sexuality. When I told him that I knew, he emphasized that he was a straight man, and then asked a lot about exchanging private information. After he sexually harassed me, I couldn't even tell him off for it because my friend was_____, I was waiting until he left _____ before I could block him. After I rejected him, he was still interested in striking up another conversation. I said that I knew he had a girlfriend, and it was very strange to do this. He said that his girlfriend didn't care and knew that he was doing it, which 'was its own kind of fun.' Made me feel very sick.

4. DM Screenshots from the Second Commenter

This commenter then submitted DMs that Jullian had sent them. The original poster has shared them, noting that the profile pic is clearly Jullian's.

This commenter also commented that the friends they had mentioned also had similar experiences with Jullian Champenois, which could push the number of victims to 4+.

I'd also like to share a comment on the original Weibo post from this same commenter:

"This incident did not affect my playing of Disco Elysium (the voice will be turned off hhh), but I really felt a huge spiritual pain, like my faith was completely shattered, like the statue of the Innocence in the church turned into a smelly rotten rag."

Additions

In addition, there is a testimony from a third person not attached on the post, which @woon__ton posted on twitter. It can be found here, and it outlines how an anonymous user paid Jullian in a professional context to voice for a product for her, only for him to make an unprofessional advance on her. Although the harassment is not directly shown in the WeChat screenshot, his apology for his inappropriate behavior is shown.

This testifier would like to remain anonymous.

*5 Update: Additional Testimony from the original poster on Weibo

The original poster is emphasizing the predatory nature of Jullian's DMs, differentiating them from the "just awkward flirting" narrative that some Western/English speaking people have had in response to these allegations.

First of all, his "yellow fever" aspect of specifically asking about Chinese girls, who are often fetishized to be more shy/submissive/less likely to talk. But in this case, it's also him specifically being inappropriate with people for whom there is a language/cultural barrier, making it harder for them to speak out—either due to a literal language barrier between them and his Western audience, or the plausible deniability of all this being a 'cultural misunderstanding' (which is very unlikely, since Jullian has apparently lived in China and therefore is very aware of the norms there).

Second of all, his usage of a professional/work account to make sexual advances. Again, comparisons to the Scott Lobdell situation should be made, as they highlight why it's sleazy to use their work as an excuse/opening to make sexual advances on someone. Not only does it cross boundaries, but it's also not treating the artist with the respect they deserve as someone just trying to work.

Closing

The Weibo poster would prefer if people not follow them on Weibo over this situation, as they posted the situation on their work/professional art account, and it is painful for them to see too many notifications about this.

They also note that they still love Disco Elysium and Kim Kitsuragi and that the allegations against Jullian Champenois should not reflect on the dev team of Disco Elysium, as there were also women working on the team, etc.

With this post, I've tried my best to accurately convey the sentiments of the original poster of the Weibo without commenting on the proof or the legality or what the ramifications should be or how we should interpret this, etc (beyond a quick mention of a potential cultural clash). I'll update the post with better translations if something comes up or if anybody mentions any suggestions/clarifications.

[lemonwisp]

Okay folks here is my honest review of season 4 of the umbrella academy (not that it matters but this is from a person who’s obsession runs so deep I started a meme page for this show, I started making edits because of this show, I found out how to label my sexuality because of this show, after season 1 I bought all the comics and then I also bought the you look like death comics when they came out, I have nearly every funko pop (rip hazel and cha cha when I get you and when I get young Ben my collection will be complete) I love this show more than words can describe)

I was expecting it to be bad, in the way that season 3 was bad, and it wasn’t bad in that way, however there was still some awful cgi (tua really shows me that shows can have wonderful and awful cgi at the same time)

I enjoyed the first episode and became hopeful when Klaus got the dog tags but then he doesn’t even put them on despite keeping them. I loved Klaus’s friendship with Claire, I liked Luther acting like a golden retriever. Blah blah blah. I liked Diego and the piñata and the fact they called their firstborn Grace was really sweet

However the continuity errors in this season really bothered me. At the end of season 3 Klaus still has the dog tags and temple tattoo, in the promotional picture Klaus has the temple tattoo, yet in the show it wasn’t there.

The plot hole of Sloane not being there (I know realistically when Allison told Reggie the timeline she wanted she was being selfish but still)

Also the thing about Lila and hating bracelets totally goes back on the fact that Diego got her one in season 2 and she wore it all the time.

THE FACT IT TOOK THEM SO LONG TO GET TO MAINE BUT WHEN PEOPLE JUST WALKED OFF THEY GOT BACK TO THEIR HOUSES AND STUFF SO FAST

The fact Ray leaving was mentioned only twice and we never got more information on that.

The fact that Klaus pulled the lovers card and Dave didn’t come back! The fact Klaus had time to try to summon Dave and just didn’t. Klaus writing STOP on their hand and then that just disappearing. Also Klaus’s PTSD just not being shown anymore.

I’m not even going to talk about the Lila and Five situation because I’m so unbelievably angry about it. I’m obviously angry about Dave not being mentioned at all.

Also I thought Klaus being a medium was clever but also then it just turned into them being used and idk I just want Klaus to be happy

Also Ben this season was funny, but I just miss brelly Ben so much.

And while they were in the subway station I was waiting for Brelly ben to show up because the scene in season 3 of Ben BEING ON A TRAIN! I was like oh that must be brelly ben, like that’s where he went after turning into swiss cheese and then they’d get him and have him face sparrow Ben or something.

And after all of the lead up to how Ben originally died and it just being that Reggie killed him. I feel like that wasn’t that big of a shock value because Reginald seems like the type to do that. I also feel like it was kind of boring. But I did appreciate the fact the young cast were in season 4

Also I’m not saying Jennifer should have died but they said only one of them needed to die and I know it’s selfish to want Ben to live and I felt bad for Jennifer it’s just I didn’t really grow attached to her

I understand why it ended the way it did but also am upset with the ending. I admit the marigolds at the end were cute, but even though I know it’s self indulgent to wish for this I just wanted them to be happy. Or even if the ending was just like a time loop and it restarted back to season 1 would have made me feel a bit more satisfied.

I don’t know, it’s just that I’ve grown up watching tua, I’ve spent five years of my life hyperfixating on this show, and it feels like the actors care about their characters and the writers do not.

However I’m so glad I got to be part of this journey with all the other TUA fans, I thank everyone who supported my meme page I have on Instagram, who makes fan art, fan fiction, and edits about the show and comics, everyone who cares about TUA, and I’m sorry that it ended the way that it did because frankly seeing the fans care more about the characters than the writers hurts. Knowing the injustices done to the characters hurts, but I’m glad I’m not alone when I say season four kinda fucking sucked.

EDIT: NOT TO EVEN MENTION IN SEASON 3 BEN KEPT DRAWING JENNIFER THEN THAT WAS NEVER MENTIONED IN SEASON 4 and CLAIRE KNEW KLAUS WAS IMMORTAL LIKE WHEN DID SHE FIND THAT OUT

[do-you-ship-this-comic-ship]

propaganda:

THE canon comic book couple OF ALL TIME. They are SUPERVILLAINS. they are FRENCH. They are QUEER. They are a SUPER INTELLIGENT GORILLA and A LIVING BRAIN IN A JAR. They have both died multiple times, yet have inexplicably come back with zero explanation, thereby making them canonically immune to the burry your gays trope. They have historic beef with a group of ACTUAL TEENAGERS. Oh yeah, and did I mention they are A GORILLA AND A BRAIN. They are the embodiment of how batshit insane superhero comic book lore can get in the best way possible. 

Basically, their backstory is Brain was once a human scientist who took a wild silverback gorilla and raised his IQ to 178 with the power of mad science experiments, originally planning on implanting his own brain into Mallah’s body. But seeing how intelligent Mallah became and becoming attached to him, the scientist couldn’t bring himself to go through with the experiment, instead making Mallah his lab assistant. Then the scientist gets his body burnt to a crisp in a lab “accident”, which may or may not have been orchestrated by his rival, Niles Caulder (and tbh thats probably the case considering the other shady shit The Chief’s done but that’s another can of worms entirely), and Mallah saved him by transferring his brain to a jar-like life support vessel. Thus starting the scientist now known simply as The Brain’s mission to get revenge on Caulder and take over the world, becoming an arch villain to the Chief’s team the Doom Patrol and later the Teen Titans. Mallah and Brain would pretty much be your basic henchman and villain duo for most of thier existence… UNTIL Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol run in the early 90s, where after stealing one of Doom Patrol member’s Robotman’s spare robot bodies, Brain and Mallah confesss thier love for eachother, sharing a kiss… before the robot body housing Brain explodes and kills them both.  

Don’t worry though, they got better.  

What I find most insane about Mallah and Brain, you know, apart from the fact one of them is a whole ass gorilla and the other is just a brain in a jar. And the fact Grant Morrison and other writers not only had the sheer audacity to make such a bonkers and strangely disturbing couple canon, but stick with it being so, is that fact that their relationship is… genuinely compelling??  

Like, there are so many stories where their motivation is just getting brain necessities like a new body. Because he longs to feel simple sensations again like being able to smell flowers or drink tea (and also fuck nasty with Mallah, as he deserves). And Mallah is 100% ride or die for Brain and does everything in his power to help him. From trying to break him out of a prison ship while fighting superheroes Apollo and Midnighter, to the aforementioned finding him a new body, to kidnapping an orchestra to play for Brain because the tickets to thier show were sold out and felt bad about not getting brain tickets. More often than not, especially with the body stuff, its foiled or tragically backfires, but Mallah never stops trying to give his partner a better life and make him happy. Even if it means them both being doomed in some way. It’s both bizarre yet compellingly tragic and oddly beautiful.  

Plus there are a ton of smaller moments between them, like their old married couple energy bickering, Brain venting to Mallah about how no-one in the hero or villain community takes them seriously, to them chillin’ in bed together having a philosophical debate over what kind of dancer god would be. 

 In spite of how bat shit insane their relationship is, and all the evil things they’ve done as villains, you can’t help but be endeared by them and low key kinda root for them. 

Even though in the main line comics, brain and Mallah are broken up as of the latest Unstoppable Doom Patrol run, with brain dead (thanks to Mallah betraying and murdering him) and Mallah going off to do his own thing by taking over a city with the other villainous DC apes in the Ape-ril Special one shot (which I mean tbh good for him), someone at DC seems to have as much of a soft spot for these two as much as I do. Since they’ve appeared as a couple in other recent DC continuities/adaptations, such as the Peacemaker Tires Hard miniseries and, of course, My Adventures With Superman. Which I am more than happy about.  

Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why most people wouldn’t be a fan of Brain and Mallah and their ship for… several reasons. But come on man! It’s a French Gorilla and a Brain in a jar who are supervillains and madly in love! How can you stay mad at a canon queer ship that delightfully bonkers!? 

[artbyblastweave]

Just finished watching the new Blorbo-generating Superman show everyone is talking about. Some preliminary notes:

This isn’t a knock on the show’s quality, but this rendition of Clark, Lois and Jimmy very much feel like they’re being written as close to children or teenagers as possible without actually retooling the show to be My Adventures With Superboy. I think we’re still living under the shadow of the hammer which fell upon Infinity Train for having “no child entry point.” This is in contrast S:TAS, which I described once as being a show about Adults With Jobs in a way very few contemporary shows are; they were in a cartoon but they themselves weren’t cartoons. 

Downstream of this, the dialogue/spoken humor, from the power trio in particular, constantly skirts the line between grating and endearing; it’s very much in what I think of as the She-Ra Register (indeed, the two shows share a producer) and the She-Ra-Register was hit or miss for me in the titular show.  (I like it a lot more here, though- In MAWS’s favor, the 23-year-old characters aren’t bouncing-off-the-walls whilst in a literal war zone.) This is less true of the villains, Livewire and Slade in particular- they don’t speak more realistically, necessarily, but they feel more grounded, like refugees from a grittier cartoon. I like this rendition of Livewire a lot. 

Unpacking Livewire a little more. Livewire’s implementation here is interesting. Livewire’s original character concept- a radio shock-jock who picked fights with Superman to drive ratings before getting powers and fighting him for real- was topical and novel upon its release, but I’ve never felt a great deal of attachment to it because it felt like the shock-jock component ran out of stuff to do in the story after her first appearance. Therefore I don’t mourn its absence here.  Livewire as originally envisioned is one of a handful of supervillains (along with Mysterio) whose schtick would actually be even more plausible in today’s society than at the time of their creation; the internet being what it is, she could plausibly remain a content creator of some stripe without getting deplatformed even after turning into a supervillain. But I like the Livewire we got- a woman who just wants to get paid but instead is going to have to live in a superhero setting for the rest of her life.

Deathstroke is interesting as well. Deathstroke’s personal timeline is something I don’t think about a ton due to the omnifluid chronological soup where every comic hero has been their current age forever, but in a timeline that’s being written from scratch to make sense, then yeah, he would have to be a young gun concurrently with the rise of the first wave of superheroes, in order to be a seasoned, renowned freelancer when the Titans are active as an independent team. His showing in the pilot strikes a great balance between Genuinely Cool (the fight sequences) Pointedly Unlikable (any time he opens his mouth) and Skeevy Sadist (the interrogation sequence with Livewire at the end of the pilot.) I really hope they don’t try to do an anti-hero thing with him.

One thing I appreciated about S:TAS is that it took its sweet time getting Clark into costume; the entire first episode was just about the fall of Krypton, it was the Jor-El Show, and in my opinion this did a ton of legwork towards grounding the destruction of Krypton as a meaningful tragedy. MAWS’s pacing felt a little pinched in comparison, particularly because it’s basically a loose remake of the SATS pilot that’s 22 minutes shorter. But one thing I think it knocked out of the park was the scene where Clark investigates his spaceship. in SATS it was basically one additional point on his upward trajectory towards superheroism; it gives him some needed context and he gets over the shock very quickly in no small part because Jor-El’s message is legible. By contrast, the scene in MAWS where young Clark discovers the ship is much more of a character beat. You find this gigantic alien construct lurking just below the surface of your beloved childhood home. Interfacing with it produces an image of a strangely dressed man speaking in an unintelligible language, and then the ground nearly swallows your adopted parents (it’s not NOT a metaphor!) No shit he didn’t want to revisit this until he was an adult and his hand was forced! And, to loop this back around to the start of the paragraph, I’m really, really on board with an inscrutable Jor-El and a deeply visually alien Krypton instead of having all of episode one be The Jor-El show. Not totally sure I want this to turn out to be a Light Hope/Viltrum take on Krypton That Was, but there’s some compelling ambiguity here! I’m very tempted to read something into the fact that he’s missing an eye, and that Krypton seems to have been destroyed by some sort of weapon being deployed against the sun.

Also it’s interesting that they seem to be going with Kryptonian Tech Diaspora as a Unified Origin For Superhuman Weirdness, if Livewire’s Kryptonian-powered harness is anything to go by. I’m a sucker for assembling disparate elements of comic-book mythology into a unified whole! And I’m intrigued by the implications that there’s been some form of R-and-D on recovered Kryptonian materials- Superman coming in at the tail of Krypton’s impact on the planet. I wonder if they’re going to do a Transformers: The Animated Series move, where the generally higher level of tech at play in Metropolis is downstream of salvaged Krypto-tech.

To circle back to the power trio- one thing about Lois that I’m realizing is that the secret sauce is that every version of her has to be, on some level, in some way, a little bit of a jerk. In versions where she’s an accomplished reporter (S:TAS and even the original comics) that translates as her being dismissive (sometimes justifiably so) or really competitive.  MAWS Lois is an interesting spin on this- arguably she’s using people to get what she wants, but it’s not calculated, there’s no component of needing to defend her position against a challenger- it’s just rooted in the myopia of thinking her plan is the best plan and wanting her new friends along for the ride/to share in the spoils, before running headlong into the reality of Clark’s anger at being deceived. It’s a self-centeredness that’s much more conducive to a considered character arc- as much as I liked S:ATS, it wasn’t really a character-arcy kind of show for the supporting cast. It was a show about Superman. Much more of a triumvirate effect going on with Clark, Lois, and Jimmy, by contrast.

On this note- also interesting is the distinction between the origin of the name “Superman” in S:TAS and MAWS. Lois comes up with it in both versions, but in S:TAS she’s being cynical about it- she namedrops Nietzsche, and she has to be brought around. In MAWS she’s much more openly enthusiastic about it, but she’s also at a point in her career where she has much more to gain by hitching her wagon to the Superman narrative. Interesting distinction.

Jimmy is compelling! I’m curious what they’re going to do with him- they’ve gone a step beyond “cub reporter” to “cub reporter who’s also a conspiracy buff.” Moreover he’s a conspiracy buff in a setting where that’s a completely appropriate way to engage with the world, which can be a hard needle to thread. It’ll be interesting to see how much of a punching bag they make that element of his character. He’s also got a very good claim to the title of “Superman’s Pal-” they start the series knowing each other before the costume is a twinkle in Clark’s eye. That’s a compelling angle to work, one I like more than him being noticeably younger/less experienced than Clark and Lois.

I actually forgot about the Newsboy legion! Just like in general. Deep cut. They’re cute.

[lazaruspiss]

recently realized that dick had a relationships with all three of his rapists beyond one incident, like he lived with liu and eddie for a while, mirage posed as kori for an extended period of time and we really have no way of knowing how long he was with catalina, this creates a pattern of people that he knows betraying him and using him for their own gratification

which makes me think of his relationships with his family and friends rn, if one of them started crossing boundaries would he accept it? would he even have expected it? if babs didn’t hear him say wait one night would he know that it’s a mistake or would he think “ah, you too?”

like he loves his family and trusts them with his life but I don’t think he can trust them not to hurt him and that includes sexually, part of it is the constant paranoia that comes with being a vigilante for almost two decades and part of it is unprocessed trama but thinking anyone could start to abuse him probably isn’t good for his health or for his relationships lmao

oh for sure for sure!! im also fairly convinced dick would struggle seeing any of those incidents as rape. the liu incident doesn't meet the proper legal qualifications, he was at times blamed by his own team for what happened with mirage, and so much plays into the situation with catalina that im not sure he'd even be able to process it at all. the murder takes priority, and he'd see it more through a lense of him failing to save cat than him being assaulted.

dick wouldn't /want/ to have been assaulted, so i don't think he'd categorize any of that as rape. if others cross boundaries, he might justify/minimize it out of habit. less that he thinks anyone could/would abuse him, and more that he would never recognize harm done to him as abuse.

(some notes for those without context on some of the stuff being referred to!)

liu and eddie: there's a storyline in which dick runs away at 16 (or as he puts it, one month short of 17) and lives on his own. by which i mean, most likely homeless. he works as a dishwasher iirc. one day, his coworker recommends these people who take in teenaged runaways and offers them a place to stay. it's functionally a gang that uses cult recruitment tactics to manipulate teenagers into doing their bidding. the /they/ being liu and eddie. dick is just another kid, and doesnt realize what they're doing until he's already pretty deep in it. there's a fair amount of bonding and attachment, with liu and eddie showing him favoritism and singling him out in a way that makes them his primary support network. eventually this all leads to a sexual encounter between dick and liu. something worth noting: the age of consent in new jersey (where gotham is and where this story is set) is 16, and as it was a technically consensual encounter it is incredibly unlikely for it to be legally classified as rape/sexual assault.

mirage: ok imma be real u gotta ask someone else for this one. or maybe read the actual comics bc tumblr is a mess when looking for actually useful info.

catalina: ok!! ok... from my understanding there was originally going to be a full plotline about dick being in an abusive relationship with catalina, but it was rushed/cut short so that DC could put nightwing in a batman crossover event. classic. but dick had already been trying to mentor catalina for a decent while before she started abusing him. tried to /mentor/ her. her hurting him? to dick, it would likely feel like a reflection on him. that /he/ must have fucked up for her to end up doing something like that. it's left somewhat vague, but we don't have any reason to not believe cat continued to sexually abuse dick off page. we see her get him drunk and try to get him to sign marriage documents, she wants to /possess/ him. dick is incredibly dissociative throughout the aftermath, up until DC needed to force him out of his own story arc to hold daddy bat's hand. sorry lol

[gummy22]

If you don’t mind I’m just gonna spill my guts about Fionna and Cake and how much it means to me, you’ve been warned lol.

To say I’ve been wanting this show for years would be an understatement. I remember watching adventure time as a kid and seeing these guys on trailers for the brand new episode. I remember watching it when it aired on tv. I remember so desperately wanting to see more.

And then the episode with marshal came out. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and loved these interpretations of the characters. Also in general adventure time has inspired me creatively, and I know many artists share the same sentiment. I remember going to a book fair in middle school and immediately begging my mom for a comic with them. (I still have that comic and read it from time to time.) A couple years go by and it’s still my favorite part of adventure time, every time I rewatched a few episodes I found myself going back to these episodes specifically.

I thought it would always just be a wish I would never see get fulfilled. They were just gender-bends of the original characters, they already made adventure time what would be the point of just slapping a new coat of paint on it? Despite accepting my reality it is always something I hope for.

You could not imagine my excitement when I saw the promo for it on Twitter. A series of Fionna and Cake. A series of them. Characters I had loved since I was a kid.

The series had been out for at least a week before me and my partner had time to watch it, and it was as if all the problems I had been dealing with as a young adult were being displayed on screen. I knew I was already attached to these characters, but the beautiful story they had made out of everything got me even more attached. I cried so much, it was like seeing old childhood friends all grown up. It was an answer to problems I thought were hopeless. Without getting too personal my life would have been a whole lot worse if it wasn’t for this series.

I know it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and with media nobody truly gets the same message or idea. But if I could cram together all the beautiful answers and lessons this show gave me in, it’s that life isn’t perfect and it’s what you make of it. And I know that seems simply or corny, but many people seem to forget that life is not just about your successes or good moments, and if you constantly try to think otherwise you will just be more miserable.

You have every right to be miserable…but you also have every right to get better and try your best at a good life. It’s going to take work, but you will find people there for you, you just have to put your trust into it too. We are all in this together and we are constantly fighting, so why not make this battle a bit easier?

You’re doing great, whoever and where ever you are, just please…don’t give up, there’s a whole life you deserve to live.

[altruistic-meme]

Okay i was originally going to try to make a nice and neat little post about heartstopper and some of my thoughts, as well as a separate post about what i like about the comics vs. the tv show. 

Uh. So. I can’t actually corral my thoughts to be coherent enough for that, so here are some various assorted thoughts about it all instead <3 put under a cut bc it is long and rambley and a mess

[spoiler warning for the comics if you haven't read them]

Idk what it is, but I love comic Charlie a LOT. Like. A LOT a lot. There is just something about his character in the comics, his banter, the way he behaves that I love so much more in the comics than the show. I feel almost like the characters aren’t quite the same person, though I do love them both. I just connected so much more with comic Charlie.

Semi-related but I also feel like we get a much more clear picture of his OCD and the attached anxieties in the comics. 

HMMM okay or maybe not. Idk. I think maybe we can see more of Charlie’s OCD in the show through his desire to make everything easy and perfect for Nick, even when it hurts him too. 

He’s popular in the comics!!! It’s mentioned multiple times by other characters that Charlie is popular at school!!! And I think that’s actually a really interesting look at his character. He was bullied for most of y9 and yet the rugby lads think he’s a popular kid in y10. Despite this, we don’t actually see Charlie interacting with basically anyone but the other main characters, and I think that kind of reflects how Charlie views himself. On the way back from Paris, he asks Nick “does this mean I’m a cool kid now?” he doesn’t think people see him as cool but like I said, other characters have said he’s popular. They must have gotten that idea from SOMEWHERE right? But Charlie’s own poor self-esteem means he still doesn’t actually believe he’s cool or that people like him. I don’t know if there was a point to this rant but. Charlie is a popular boy.

I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE KIDS WHO STOPPED THE BULLYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, in the comics Charlie really is a nerd in a way he isn’t in the show. He helps Nick with his math and yells at him for distracting him from his homework. I get why this change happened in the show–it gives us a better idea of the strained relationship that Charlie has with his mom while also showing us that his dad tries to support him but often fails–but I really like it in the comics because Nick calls him a nerd but it’s less obvious in the show how nerdy he really is. 

That said obviously I also ADORE getting to explore the other characters and their lives and everything in the show. I love getting to see more of them. (But I also love how we DON’T always get all the information in the comics, but that’s just because I love when there are background stories happening that we don’t see through the main storyline. This event/love is not unique to Heartstopper) 

I love Imogen!!! I really like that it’s showing her as someone who is sort trying to become friends with the group and that isn’t always a fast or easy process. She goes to the sleepover with them and she hangs out with them in Paris, but she’s doesn’t leave Prom with them or anything. Also, I love the possibility that she is discovering that she’s queer too!! And that her halfway joining of their friend group leads to her discovering herself bc i feel like that’s so true to real life.

I am so curious about the Isaac vs. Aled thing and I wonder if Aled will appear in one of the later seasons, or if he is just not in the show at all. And Isaac! I assume he’s in some extra content I haven’t seen? Don’t get me wrong ofc, I love Isaac and his storyline is SO SO IMPORTANT as someone who is asexual myself. I am so glad that there is the representation of someone discovering that they’re aroace. I do assume that’s part of the reason for him being the 4th friend as opposed to Aled? Idk. 

I’M SO SAD ABOUT OLIVER BEING COMPLETELY OMITTED FROM THE SHOW!!! I assume there is an interview or something where Alice Oseman explains why Oliver wasn’t in the show, but I haven’t seen it and rn I will simply cry about it. I love him and I wish he had been included. 

I am also SO CURIOUS how the rest of the show will look!! I know that I read somewhere that s3 should be the contents of book 4, and that s4/s5 if they get them would be books 5/6 respectively. And I’m so intrigued. Because book 4 is the heaviest of them all so far, and I wonder how it will be translated to the screen. Especially the Sept-Dec timeskip! Will we see that time, especially considering the other character’s storylines??? This wasn’t an issue in the comics since they focus solely on Nick/Charlie, but with all of the other characters it would be more difficult to just skip that whole time. Will it just be a summary of events like in the comics, with flashes to what has happened? Or will we get a more explicit idea of everything?? (probably not including Charlie’s sh relapses or the night in October, but maybe the This Winter content???) i am SO excited for October though so all my questions can be answered :’)

OH something that was super interesting to me was a very small change in dialogue during the scene where Charlie first tells Nick about his sh. In the show, when Nick asks if he still does it Charlie just says “No.” but in the comics he says “No! I mean- hardly ever” and it’s such a small change but it speaks volumes too in the difference between the comic and the show. I’m not really sure what it’s saying though. Was show Charlie just more consistently in a better place where he feels like it’s stopped and won’t happen again? Was comic Charlie just more honest in this moment in acknowledging that it has still happened since? I’m not sure!!! But i’ve spent WAYYY too much time thinking about this one tiny change in dialogue!!!

Another thing is like, I really liked how the comics handled Nick’s dad. Them not meeting in Paris and then him missing Nick’s birthday. It really hits hard exactly how negligent he is, and it gives space for Charlie to be there for Nick when he’s upset. I do like how it went in the show as well, because it does still get everything across beautifully, but idk. I think mostly I’m just remembering the shot of Nick opening the door to greet Charlie on his birthday looking heartbroken and upset about his dad canceling and how hard that hit when i first read it. (keep in mind that i watched the show before reading the comics, so i was surprised at first to learn that they didn’t meet up in Paris! Let alone that he missed Nick’s birthday TOO!!)

Okay I think that’s it for right now. I have largely been spinning comic Charlie in the microwave in my mind bc OUGH i relate to him too much. I will probably come back at some point with more thoughts, but until then. Hope you enjoyed my brief insanity.

[natlacentral]

IAN OUSLEY | YOU WANT FRESH KICKS, HUH? PUT THESE FRESH KICKS IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT

Ian Ousley is an American actor hailing from College Station, Texas. This year he reprised the role of Sokka in the much anticipated live-action adaptation of the Netflix fantasy series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Here we sit down with the actor to discuss his latest project, his process and his style influences.

When you start a creative project like Avatar does it consume you or do you strike a balance? Does your acting and your personal life feel separate or very much attached?

Doing a creative project is a very intimate thing for me. I feel like the relationship between my life and these creative endeavors is that they just end up merging together. When I’m filming a project, it becomes my life. It might just be because I haven’t learned how to do both at the same time but my biggest concern when I sign onto something, especially something like Avatar that means so much to so many people, is to give my everything to the work that I can. It took about 13 months in Canada to film Avatar, and it really became my life.

The people that started out as co-workers like my co-stars Dallas, Kiawentiio, and Gordon have become like siblings to me. I had the opportunity for the last year and a half to live some life away from the project while we were waiting for the release and that felt very separate from the show but I didn’t feel separated from the people I met on set. We all still stayed in touch, especially me and Dallas because he lives in LA as well.

How are you approaching taking on a role in a series that has such a passionate fan base? How is this fan base influencing your work and preparation? Is there a new or familiar angle from the cartoon series of Avatar you want to bring to the role?

I was a part of that passionate fanbase before I was cast and that definitely influenced my prep. I rewatched the first season of the original show and tried to embody the soul of who Sokka is but I did a lot of journaling and asked myself a lot of questions about how to show the humanness of Sokka and match the tone of the show we were making while honoring the original animated series. It was fun to dive into the vulnerability of Sokka while maintaining the comedic elements of who he is. It’s rare to find that balance with a character so it was really exciting for me to get to wrestle with.

What is unique about your acting process for this particular role in Avatar? How did you prepare for the physical aspect of the role? 

Well this was my first time preparing for a role that came with pre-existing IP, which is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because you have so much to pull from with the show and knowing what the character’s arc is going to be and the comics and getting to really dive into the world that you will be bringing to life. The curse is that everyone who is familiar with the IP has a visual representation of the character in their head and loves it, so the balance really becomes how do I stay truthful to who this character is while getting to add the components of what isn’t there already, which is him being a real human going through real human emotions. The way I prepared physically was really just unlearning some of my martial arts techniques that I have and acting like I’m untrained.

What do you want people to take away from the series?

I want our show to inspire people to embrace family whether that be blood-related or chosen family like the Aang gang.

What emotions are most tied to creativity in your acting process in this show? Which emotions trigger ideas and inspiration and which do not?

For me, intellectualizing emotions while acting doesn’t always mix very well. For Sokka, who is 16 and has a lot riding on his shoulders, I don’t think he always knows why he’s feeling what he’s feeling. He often pushes down his true emotions or covers them up to protect his sister and his tribe. So, I think that is where I pulled my inspiration for a lot of my creative choices for him.

Which of the four elemental powers are you really and why?

I think that I would be a water bender because it correlates the closest to being an artist in my opinion. Being a creative in general is often becoming formless and shapeless in the words of Bruce Lee.

How does fashion influence your life and how does life influence your fashion? Do the two work in conjunction? How has your style changed as your career has progressed? Do you have a staple piece that feels most personal?

Fashion is awesome because people infer a lot about you just from what you’re wearing on the daily. So, my life definitely influences my fashion because I’m often dressing based on what I’m feeling when I wake up that morning. My style has changed drastically in the last 2 years and I’ve gravitated towards a lot of black and white clothing and experimenting with layers.

My style has also evolved into a lot of highs and lows. I love zip-up hoodies and dress shirts and really exaggerated silhouettes right now. The most personal part of my wardrobe is my jewelry and most of the time I have on a cross necklace from Tiffany and Co. that my great aunt gave me, which has been a staple for me since I was 16.

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Author Notes

Page 25

Oh no, I made the whole Bradbury family adorable. (I guess it’s hereditary.)

I’m not sure exactly how old they’re supposed to be; by the time she’s 20 they’re both described as looking “older” but that was after 5 years of Bad Times Whitestone under the Briarwoods. So I’d guess early-mid 30’s? Kinda late (for the setting) to have a toddler. I like the implied fairy-tale motif of a couple who wanted a child for a long time finally ending up with a really weird one.

Imogen and Matilda both had unusually lonely childhoods because, despite both growing up on a farm, they don’t have any siblings. With Imogen it’s explained by Liliana leaving when she’s still a baby and Relvin never remarrying (and since he’s described as in his mid-late 40’s with a 28-year-old daughter, they got married pretty early) but with Matilda I suppose either her parents either couldn’t have more children, or, after all the difficulty they had with her, didn’t want to risk any more. :/

Sooo . . . okay okay okay. If you’re familiar with the show you’ve probably figured out what’s going on here. (If you’re not, don’t worry, Imogen doesn’t know either so it still has to be explained to her as well as the audience. You’re not totally out of the loop here.) There have been a few hints along the way, and a few clever readers picked up on it in advance. (Gold star!)

After Episode 37 I got really excited about the possibility that Imogen coming into contact with Laudna’s soul in the little memory vignettes we see in the shadow realm might have changed, if not the actual past, the memories themselves. (Idk how many people remember this short comic I drew on the subject in between 37 and 38.) Episode 38 did confirm that they managed to influence at least one; she remembers feeling their presence when she was building Pâté, so that a little bit of all of them ended up in him. (Which, given this table, explains a lot about his personality.) But I think, though, that by “it rewrote that memory a little bit” she probably means her experience reliving it in the Domain of Dread and not the actual memory, because she says with them there “it didn’t feel so lonely that time,” so she still has the original memory.

I got really attached to the idea though, and as with my last comic I had kind of wanted to include a slight road-not-taken AU element, something just to the left of canon but within the bounds of possibility presented by it, so it’s not just a straightforward retelling. (Incidentally both twists involved the characters being bonded on a soul-deep level.) Here it’s that Laudna can remember Imogen, in what is still the future for her, meeting her in her past.

That throughout all the loneliest parts of her life she had the memory of this loving presence and a voice that had spoken to her with kindness and told her it was going to be okay. That when she awoke, terrified and alone, from death the first time it was with the memory of having been told, “when it starts to get scary, you just come find us. We’re gonna get you home.” That even in her 30+ years of wandering the earth being chased from hovel to hovel she knew that there was a home somewhere out there in someone who needed and loved her.

I just . . . have a lot of feelings about Episode 37.

It ended up fitting really well with another recurring theme I have planned/written for Laudna in this that will become more apparent as she continues to share her story with Imogen, in that she isn’t a totally reliable narrator, even when she’s letting her into her mind, and she has contrasting memories of why things are the way they are. (Did she, for example, name herself “Laudna” after gothic literature drug of choice laudanum, or because of what she used to sing to Pâté, or, a secret, third thing . . . because it’s what Imogen called her in the past?)

It also, narratively, gives her a reason to come to Marquet in the first place, and gives some direction to her three decades of wandering around. What she said a few pages ago about having been searching for Imogen her entire life wasn’t just romance novel-inspired sappiness. She has actually been searching for her for that long!! (That whole page is probably worth a reread now that you know the thing.)

There have been a few other dropped bread crumbs along the way, which a couple people noticed right from her first appearance when Imogen overhears her thinking that “it probably isn’t even the right town,” implying that she’s looking for one in particular. On the next page there’s also this panel, which, when unblurred by a concussion, looks like this:

Not that significant-looking but it’s also from Episode 37 (and which I only deploy for purposes of inflicting suffering, haha, it is uttered by a 1 hp Matilda in Remember Us too) when Imogen reaches out to Matilda’s mind for the last time and she reaches back in recognition to lay her hand up against hers on the other side of the window.

I think this particular Past Matilda encounter, chronologically the earliest, actually makes the best case for Imogen and the other Hells having reached through the veil somehow. All the other memories they see involve some notable event in her life — she’s creating Pâté, she’s being betrayed and having her heart broken by her first crush, she’s getting ready for the dinner party that’s about to change (and end) her life. But when they meet Matilda at age 3 (an age it’s rare to have many coherent memories of to begin with) she’s not doing anything but playing by herself in the barn. The most memorable thing about it is that it’s the first time she met Imogen.

Now, here’s the conversation from the show with Baby Tillie taking place in panel 1 of this page:

Imogen: Laudna? . . . Matilda? Are you there? Matilda: Yeah? Imogen: I want to find you and help. Can you show me the path? Matilda: I’m just playing by myself. Imogen: Where are you? Matilda: I’m playing in the barn. Imogen. The barn. Is that outside of town? Matilda: Usually. But not today. Imogen: Can you see the tree, honey? Matilda: No, the tree scares me. Imogen: What does the barn look like? Matilda: Well, it’s kind of red, and it’s tall. It’s got big doors on it. I’m up at the top of it. There’s a ladder you take, and I made some dolls. (Pause) Imogen: We’re coming up, honey. Orym: Hey, Matilda. Hey. Are you by yourself here? Imogen: Who are the dolls, honey? Matilda: They’re . . . I made a nice woman, and I made a bird that can take me away from here. Imogen: We can be that bird for you. We can take you away. Matilda: Where will we go? Imogen: Home. Somewhere safe. Is there . . . is there a mean woman around here? Matilda: Yeah. She won’t let me leave. Imogen: Have you seen her lately? Matilda: She’s sort of out that way. (points towards the tree) Ashton: Matilda? Can you tell me about this drawing? It’s interesting. What were you thinking? Matilda: That’s what’s beyond the city. That’s what everything is now. Imogen: Have you tried to leave? Matilda: The tree won’t let me. Orym: You’re going to come with us, Matilda. We’re gonna go. Would you like that? Matilda: The tree won’t let me. (discussion about escaping the barn) Imogen: Matilda, do you have a secret way out of here? (She disappears)

For when we see it again here (which we will eventually) I rewrote it a bit to fit onto a single comic page (and also so it seems less like Bells Hells is attempting to abduct a toddler haha D: ) but the emphasis is the same. She’s alone and scared in a nightmare place and a benevolent presence tells her, “Come home.”

The title of the comic probably makes more sense now. :)

(Kinda mad because I had “Imogen is Laudna’s home” as an overarching theme long before FRIDA slid into Imogen’s DMs with “home can be a person” and now it’s going to be in everything, ever but oh well! It’s been here since the title page.)

[hermanunworthy]

writer anon from a couple months ago here… fuck man. it’s the day the music died.

(idk what this is and it’s not very good)

but when you go to meet god, you know, you wanna look nice

hermie’s had those dreams before, the kind where he can feel that his eyes are closed and he tries to open them while he’s asleep but he can’t. this is like that- except there’s no body attached to it. he feels out for… nothing. not even an ache over his heart, where the blood was just staining a moment ago. a year ago? he feels heavy. he’s not sure where he feels it. there’s no body anymore. there’s no him.

“well hello there, darling.” his father. he looks up. there’s no one here. scam’s voice is all around. “did you have fun?”

did you have fun? two years of high school theatre, that’s what it added up to, more or less, and then a few insane months with the teens. was it fun? he can’t remember now.

in this space, he sees it. it really was only two years. there was nothing before that. his memories of growing up are so two-dimensional, it feels like he could print them right out of his head and fold them up into a little paper person and be looking at his twin.

“it was just a joke, you know, all in good fun. oh, they’re wrapping it up now, story’s almost over. ‘that’s all, folks!’ and all that, you know. shame, we’ve only got so much time left.” scam didn’t sound sad. “I kept thinking your father would come after me at some point. it was good fun, messing with the king-of-hell demon-cop. pretty shitty guy, I gotta say.”

a scene materializes in front of hermie. a wooden stage, classic red curtains to frame it, and a styrofoam grave marker in the center. two actors bearing a comically-grotesque resemblance to his adoptive parents were badly stage-crying over it.

at the top, à-la-phantom of the opera, jodie peered down at the actors. he watched for a moment, then turned away to fix his attention on someone else.

did you have fun?

“I was wondering though. were you lying?”

hermie paused. “what?” his voice sounded strange.

“your last words to normal. he wasn’t conscious to hear them, you know. but were they genuine?” he could hear the rubber stretch of scam’s smile splitting far wider than a mouth should go. “did you mean it?”

“I can’t die,” hermie said slowly. “can I.”

“well, you weren’t exactly alive, so it’s hard for you to be dead.” scam sounded more distant now. “no place in heaven or hell for a puppet, just ask jigsaw.”

hermie’s jaw clenched. “I wasn’t a puppet. I wasn’t… anything.”

“right, so you get the point. I’m asking what you were teeing up for with that last line, hermie. obviously you won’t be around to deliver the payoff. were you just planning on ditching them without a punchline?”

“it’s what you did.”

“the ditch was the punchline, worthless, that’s the crux of the whole thing.” scam’s voice had taken on an edge. “I died once too. got shot off a dragon, actually. it was a lot like this.”

“was it?”

a pause. “I don’t remember.”

the curtains closed. somewhere, the sound of a gigantic clock started up, or maybe a metronome. “well, this has been fun, if ultimately unsatisfying, but I’m afraid this is where I must leave you. show’s over.”

“are you sure?”

“you’re the one who stopped dancing. oh.” scam was smiling again; he could hear it. “oh. I see it now, the prestige. you were the set-up for something truly… oh. wow. now this is a show.”

normal. hermie tried to take a deep breath. “what’s he doing?”

“making your whole life part of his own villain origin story. so sorry you aren’t around to see this, I know how you always liked the villains, but, well.”

“you can’t bring me back?” hermie clenched his fists. “you can’t do one thing for me, after…?”

scam scoffed. “oh, now he wants to live.”

crack! hermie was a five-year-old watching the big kids win the speedrun. crack! hermie was a cat in a garbage can being jumped by the pussywagon. crack! hermie was sitting in a car in hell, and normal was kissing his cheek. crack! hermie was a voice on the phone, hermie was saying “this is john.” crack! hermie was the dying papa john, hot cheese coursing through his veins. crack! hermie was dying, hermie was lying on the ground with blood spilling from his…

“your father and I were similar in one regard, actually. when our lives were threatened, when there was only one way to be free, we took it. we split, you could say, we…” scam hesitated. hermie thought about a demon and a highway patrol officer, a mustache and a fedora. “sometimes you get a card. sometimes you get a court order. but you always get a choice. you don’t get to be yourself. that’s what the world taught both of us. no matter your power, your influence, if the world doesn’t want you to be yourself, and you still want to live, well…”

he saw the joker, keira knightley, risky click, a whole parade of shifting faces flickering between his reflection and his performances. he heard his words to normal in goof’s realm- you don’t like me, you idiot.

“do you want to live? you never get to go back, you know, not to what you were. even if you’re able to reconcile the memories, once you’ve been something you never fully stop being it. and that saves you a little, the first you, but it’ll damn you just as surely.

“unless.” one giant eye in front of hermie. “was there anyone, hermie? anyone who wanted you to be yourself?”

what did he honestly believe, about what normal wanted?

he didn’t know if his last words were a lie. he didn’t know if his next ones would be either.

do you want to live?

IM SO SORRY FOR LEAVING U HANGING FOR A WHILE WRITER ANON IVE BEEN AT WORK BUT IM BACK. I WOULD SAY WE ARE SO BACK BUT NO ITS SO OAKWOVER. HERMAN UNWOVER.

I AM INSANE ABOUT THIS DO U UNDERSTAND HOW CRAZY THIS IS TO DROP IN MY INBOX. THIS IS SO WELL DONE IM GONNA EXPLODE THE FUCKING. AAUAUAUAGAHHHH

[looney-mooney-studio]

I love your Sam & Max Miraculous AU, I hope to see more in the future. Can you add Flint Paper in it? If so, what would you do with him? He's an ally/friend of Sam & Max.

I imagine that, for the most part, Flint Paper in this au is basically the same as he is in the original Sam and Max media, with the caveat of him being a college kid like the majority of the rest of the cast. He’s either their roommate or their neighbor, but either way they probably share a communal kitchen. He’s COOL. He’s in college, but not like, INVESTED in it, and he’s been doing a lot of like, vigilante stuff on the side despite not having any powers. His family probably comes from money, so it’s not like he has to worry about scholarships like Sam does or employment like Max does, and he tends to blow off his classes a lot to go fight monsters with his bare hands. This results in a sort of mutual idolization between Flint Paper and Sam&Max, in a pattern that almost mimics the Love Square?

Image ID and rest of words under the cut:

Image ID: Flint Paper from Sam and Max as a college kid. He has a mullet and is wearing flannel and ripped pants. Comic book style captions read: Flint Paper (Sam & Max Miraculous AU), shaved eyebrow or cool scar?, shaved sides with dyed streaks (changes colors every once in a while), Mullet, wears Miraculous as queer signifier earring, buttoned-down flannel shirt (cover them up, slut!), sleeves rolled up to show off forearms, got pride bracelets for free at various raves; wears them cuz they look cool, changes it out for a different one every day, torn dress pants (he tore them himself in various scuffles), fancy leather jazz shoes, and *is he gay or European voice* is he gay or a Butch Lesbian? /end id

He’s probably a film student, if only because he reminds me of some film students I knew back in college? He’s got the dramatics for it, and I assume he could use knowledge of practical effects and stunt man techniques for vigilante purposes. Who knows, maybe he even films his encounters and turns in the resulting footage for homework, Peter Parker style.

Eventually, he does get to use the Miraculous, but it’s very mid-late-game, and even then he doesn’t really have a single one that’s HIS (at least, not at first). Sam and Max might trust Flint Paper, but the Commissioner thinks he’s just a violent wild card, so he doesn’t get a permanent one like the rest of the cast. But Sam and Max both like him enough that they’re both thinking of him whenever they need a helping hand, so he ends up using a lot of different powers. He usually ends up with a sort of, like, Tom of Finland/DCAU Superhero aesthetic to his outfits whenever he gets a miraculous, and he’s gonna try fighting the monsters wether he has powers or not, soooo.

(If this was a show that sold toys like Miraculous does, Flint Paper would be the mold that the company reuses for EVERYTHING, and his designs in the show would reflect that. All his superhero designs are pretty much unimaginative reskins of each other, which is both cost effective and ENTIRELY in-character.) (He eventually - EVENTUALLY - ends up with the Ox Miraculous as his default, just cuz that’s the one he’s best at using.) (I’ll draw a buncha his superhero outfits later don’t worry lol)

Oh yeah and he’s also Not Straight. Like. You will see him unironically hitting up the gay bar, and leaving for an evening of no-strings-attached fun with a twink on one arm and a drop-dead Gorgeous drag queen on the other. He’s not gonna SAY he isn’t straight - he’s in college! He’s having fun, he’s experimenting! He’s also the kinda guy who assumes that’s what college is FOR. He’s probably aromantic tbh. He flunked his Art History midterm

[lynx-polls]

Here’s something I’ve been wondering about lately…

Clarification:

Local animal applies to any place you live, you’ve lived in, or spent a significant amount of time in. I’m also extending this option to include animals from your country of origin even if you’ve never been there, and also local animals that you haven’t seen in person.

This applies to any pet you, a family member, or a close friend have owned. This option also applies to any pet you’ve worked with, wether you worked with this animal for your main job, or just babysat it as an odd job.

This one can mean either traits the animal actually has (for example, capybaras being mainly peaceful or antelopes being fast) or traits the animal has been given in popular media or by people (for example, bats being evil or owls being smart)

This one’s basically just an animal you thought just seemed cool, wether you liked it’s looks or think there’s something it can do that’s really cool. This option also applies to animals you think look cute, pretty, or creepy. It just generally is meant to mean you found it appealing looking.

This one’s pretty self explanatory, if you have fun drawing an animal and chose your fursona to be that animal because of it then that’s what this option is.

This one’s a little vague, but what I meant is this is an animal you’re super interested in, not for any of the other reasons. It could be a special internet or hyperfixation, or it could be your longtime favorite animal.

It’s if you’ve ever been compared to another animal by people (could be based on physical appearance, personality, inside jokes, or anything else) and decided to make that your fursona. For example, being called a golden retriever because you have a cheery and excited personality, or being compared to an owl because you have big eyes.

This one is for if you don’t really have any special reason for picking it, but just connect with it regardless, or if you just can’t figure out the reason why you feel a connection to that animal in particular.

This one is for if you made a random character, not for the intent of being a fursona or anything, but you ended up liking it enough or being attached enough to it, to the point where you decided to make it your fursona. This could be any character, from the edgy warrior cats oc you made when you were twelve, or the werewolf chars get your made for a DnD campaign last year, to just a little animal character you consistently doodle everywhere. This option also applies if the character was originally human, but you made it into an animal.

This one is for an animal you wish you were or feel like you should have been. Though this option mainly applies to therians or otherkin/animalkin, anyone else could feel the same thing and choose that option. If you made a fursona because you found yourself wishing you could live in the woods or have fur or something along those lines, this one’s for you.

This one’s for if you just made your fursona a random thing without thinking it out. Like if you just randomly thought “hm I wonder what my fursona should be, I guess I’ll go with this”, or if you spent a lot of time thinking about it, but ultimately ended up picking something random for the hell of it, or something similar to that.

This one’s for if your fursona is inspired by a book, game, movie, comic, show, song, etc. This could mean that you were inspired by a character (for example, making a cat fursona based off of Salem the cat). It could also mean that your fursona started off as a self insert for one of these things (like making an animal character to fit into Avatar). Additionally, it could also mean you made a fursona based off of the vibe of your favorite media (like making a machinelike fursona based off of the song cabinet man). This definition is pretty loose, if your fursona was in some way inspired by any kind of media this one’s for you.

If two or more of these options apply to you, pick the strongest or most prominent reason!

If two or more of these options apply and have equal prominence, or your fursona was inspired by something else, add it in the reblogs or comments!

As always, if you want, please reblog with the option you picked and any other fun details, it’s nice to see everyone’s reasonings and it gives me a larger sample size!

[dynared]

To start off, thanks for answering my overlong asks.

You almost make it sound like it’s if the Star Wars franchise got handed over to the bozos who hate the Jedi and consider them the cause of all evil for some batshit reason. Even as someone who doesn’t care about Star Wars those people annoy the heck out of me and there seem to be versions in every fandom. Or maybe just people who think nuanced characterization is making everyone an asshole.

I would like more Twitch and Hashtag, I’ve grown quite fond of them. I hope Nightshade doesn’t disappear, they may not be a favourite but their dreamy and slightly loopy demeanour reminds me a lot of me as a kid and I’ve grown attached for that. I’m also happy in general that kid’s shows are becoming more inclusive and I really like their design. Think they could slot into a kooky hermit role well.

That’s an interesting point about humans in Transformers stuff, something to think about. And I don’t want to sound like I hate the very concept of humans in these stories, I don’t.

The Skybound comics are really fun so far, and the art and action scenes are gorgeous. Pleasantly surprised I’m enjoying the human drama and very pleased with how rock solid Optimus Prime and Starscream’s characterizations have been. If it keeps up they may wind up my favourite renditions. Mostly I’m worried it will turn into a series where someone dies every couple issues and I stop being able to care about anyone altogether. I’m fine with it for a first arc but that kind of thing tends to kill my interest fast. Also hope they don’t try and make the Decepticon cause more sympathetic later on. I appreciate the odd twist but I’d like it to not become the standard. Still, that’s partly personal taste and we’ll have to wait and see.

The late 2000s/early 2010s were getting away from “everyone is gritty and grim” to another equally disliked archetype - “everyone wants to be the snarky one”, or as I’ve called it in the past - “Whedonesque” since it was mostly people trying to imitate the tone of professional creep Josh Whedon and how his characters COULD. NOT. STOP. QUIPPING. This resulted in a lot of asshole characters and character assassinations, a Prime who went beyond stoic to outright cold, Star Saber being reduced to that fanfic villain because teenage edgelord James Roberts didn’t like the idea of a Gundam being cooler than his Decepticons, etc. There are always versions of that archetype in fandom, the problem was in IDW they were writing the books, and as a result hardly anyone was reading the damned things.

Twitch I happen to like a lot, but she really is in pursuit of a better show. The reason I often compare her to Suletta Mercury (besides the red in their designs) is that same sort of naive exuberance and energy, as well as the ability to actually make connections with the rest of the cast. Hashtag I think would be more likable if she stopped trying so hard, but I think that actually makes her better for a rewrite, where she’s around characters who will be able to interact off of her desire to be cool in a different way than her siblings. Nightshade, if they are used again, probably will lean into the science aspect of their personality, a contrast with either the older Wheeljack or the more stoic Perceptor. It would be interesting to see if they went back to the original show bible’s pitch, that Nightshade identified as a machine, rather than an organic, and didn’t find gender a part of that dynamic, before I presume Mae Catt made them about gender almost exclusively. Either way they’re still non-binary, but the focus is different.

The Skybound comics, as much as I adore them, are still early on in their production. While I’ve often said that a dream production would be giving all of them (Void Rivals, Transformers, and the various Codename: GI Joe books like Duke and Cobra Commander) to Studio Trigger to make a full on anime, we are realistically years from having enough comics to have that be feasible. I understand what you mean about killing off too many of the cast, but I could also argue that if you focus on certain cast members by killing off more popular characters, you create openings for other characters to get the spotlight. Cliffjumper hasn’t had this level of characterization in decades, since he’s often seen as the sacrificial hero and the bot in Bumblebee’s shadow. No Bumblebee meant Cliffjumper could be in a role that he normally doesn’t get.

My optimism continues to be cautious, both that the Skybound comics will continue to be good, and that the Terrans will stick around this franchise, hopefully with some better material to work with. Whether that involves Twitch learning swordsmanship from Star Saber or Drift, or Hashtag interacting with Blaster, we’ll just have to see.

[azol-otl]

So I was rewatching season two of Young Justice (because I only kept up with the show while it was on television and it not existing for years meant I didn’t bother going back to it) and it seems like I still share my opinion from way back then.

Why did they use Tim and Cassie?

Like, don’t get me wrong it makes sense that a show called Young Justice would have them, but the show was already nothing like the comic. YJ!Superboy is nothing like comics!Superboy and he’s the only core member of the actual Young Justice comics to have been in season one. The show’s core cast has two gen one sidekicks, a gen three sidekick, a gen four (??? things get muddled as hell in the 2000s), a gen five sidekick, and a bit villainess. They are literally an elseworld.

Not only that, but Tim and Cassie were...pretty much non-characters during the season. Despite the time given to them, they weren’t very important to the overall arc and were wasted potential.

But you know who wouldn’t have been? Jason and Donna.

We already know the characters exist in universe. We see Jason’s memorial.

This is an unnecessary aside, but I am so sick of Jason’s death being the only thing we see of him in elseworlds. Even the ones where he’s alive they’re always like “And he’s evil because he was poor!” Like bitch do you not understand how to create a tragedy? You don’t just give us sad events you have to get us attached to the character first. This is a cartoon! It has a much wider audience than a comic! They won’t know major comic references because they are not informed! Why would the grotto scene work if we never met these people! Get us attached and then kill them off!

 But there is no point in knowing these characters exist if you don’t use them (or at least cameo them if they’re really niche), but with these two specifically they could have done something really interesting.

 They could have been Red Herrings.

Jason and Donna have both died in the comics. Their deaths were majorly important events to their respective IP’s (Batman and Titans). Not only that, but we already have Bart coming back in time to save a third person who had famously died, Barry Allen.

We know that Bart came back in time to stop the apocalypse. We know something happens to Jaime that turns him evil. We’re led to believe that Artemis dies (something that rocks Bart to the core because she didn’t die in his timeline). So we would suspect that Jason and Donna would be the first in line to die.

The Young Justice writers could even play into their reputations with what’s already present. They could have made Jason and Jaime (who are the same age in this universe) close friends. This could be used to give Bart anxiety because Jason, again, famously gets murdered as Robin and Jaime is supposed to become evil.

Hell if they made Jason take Tim’s place during the infiltration there would have been some serious investment when original Roy purposefully explodes shit and they fight Black Beetle because one of these characters has a history of being murdered. 

I would also like to push my YJ crackship of BlueJay (Jaime/Jason) because I am trash and will forever push Jason being queer.

Or with Mongul (who Jason has a major story with) you can push Jason almost dying again. And it would be through betrayal from someone who’s supposed to love you, just like in DitF. (Imagine the scene where Nightwing finds the batarang when you know that there’s a real possibility that this is how Jason dies in this universe).

On Donna’s end you can have her take more and more responsibilities after Artemis dies and she starts becoming more of Dick’s second in command with a penchant of shoving herself in front of attacks because she can survive things that others cannot (because Artemis “died” via stabbing and if you had Donna there, whoo boy that’s some guilt). So when the Bialya mission occurs and it’s the all-girls team (the all-girls team with two very squishy humans Barbara and Karen), they could just bring in a larger threat than the henchmen that are there then hey there’s more conflict and fear for comic fans. And again in Warworld where she can be fighting against Mongul and guess what there’s another squishy human there, Roy. Instead of being immediately knocked out she could have taken a blow for Roy.

Side Note: When Nightwing explains why it’s an all girl’s team being sent to Bialya (way to assume everyone’s straight Dick), Donna can have a snarky line like, “And Robin isn’t here why?”

For extra extra angst you can have both Jason and Donna reacting negatively to Artemis’ “death” and reaching out to Wally because of it. Jason because both he and Artemis are from the same place and have a similar prickliness that comes from how they were raised (we could have had an Artemis-Jason sibling bond and it would have been great), and his fury that someone who “got out” still died a violent death. Donna because of the guilt of Artemis dying but also because she’d be closer in age to Wally and Artemis so making them be friends just makes sense. And by putting more of the focus on their grief and Wally’s guilt the writers could expertly tie Wally into the “could possibly die” camp without making the audience worry about it.

And with everything that happens. With the two obvious targets somehow alive throughout the season, they still “kill” Wally West. All of the foreshadowing about sacrifice. All of the remarks about not being reckless (because this is still DC and they love blaming Jason’s death on himself). All of the near-deaths, it ends up being the person you don’t expect and it hits harder because of it (except for all the people who watched JLU who had pinged Wally dying pretty early on in the season) .

But yeah. If they were going through the trouble of confirming these characters exist, why not use them for the narrative?

[krueger4eva]

Random Darkwing Duck Headcanon

First off, this headcanon is kind of a two-parter, so let me start with part one.

I do not think Drake and Morgana were a healthy couple on the original show.

Even though they love each other and have put their lives on the line for the other countless times, they also constantly argue over their interests and priorities.

While Morgana would get easily offended by Drake being creeped out by her macabre activities, he would usually be doubtful of her skills as a sorceress. I think it would be best for them if, after one too many fights, they decided to break up on good terms. It would be heavy on both of their hearts for a while, but it would be the right decision for them.

Now, onto part two.

There is another character on the show that I believe would be a better match for Drake.

And her name is…Talaya! You probably don’t remember her, do you?

Ok, recap.

In the episode, “Battle of the Brainteasers”, a group of hat-like aliens from the planet Fez invade Earth to conquer the planet.

Flarg

Barada

and Nikto

This species has the power to attach themselves to the head of a host to control their bodies, which they use to possess several of the main characters. Fortunately, their plans are thwarted by Honker Muddlefoot, who has become a hero on planet Fez and a mortal enemy to the diabolical trio.

This was followed by a sequel episode titled “The Revenge of the Return of the Brainteasers, Too”, where Flarg and his henchmen break out of prison to take revenge on Honker. Although, this time, they have a new member: Talaya. She is Flarg’s “Harley Quinn” to his “Joker” and the one who assists in their escape. Once again, they possess the heroes in order to frame Honker for crimes of destruction across the universe. Naturally, the Brainteasers’ plans were foiled, and they get arrested again.

This episode was the first and only appearance of Talaya in any Darkwing Duck media, including the comics. Now, I wish this character would show up again because I believe she and Drake could become good friends.

They both have a lot in common: they’re both egotistical, theatrical, and have a tendency of being unintentionally silly when trying to act intimidating.

For most of the episode, Talaya uses Drake, in his Darkwing Duck costume, as her host, and she adores the way he looks. She even loves his outfit, which she demonstrates by posing and waving his cape around in front of Flarg. Even Flarg thinks Darkwing Duck looks like a knockout! Plus, for someone who has been accused of having terrible fashion sense, this would be a huge boost for Drake’s ego. (Or it could be because some of the aliens on Fez see their hosts, no matter what gender or species they are, as a fashion accessory to show off).

Plus, it would be hilarious to see Talaya explain this memory to Drake about the day they first met!...

Thus, brings me to another point on Talaya’s redemption. She needs to acknowledge that she has done horrible things and hurt people, especially Honker. No one, including Drake, is going to justify her past actions for the sake of the narrative. In fact, Drake never tries to pressure any of his family or friends to immediately warm up to her just because they're friends now. Yet, for this to be a genuine atonement, Talaya’s choice to make amends must not rely solely on her relationship with Drake. Somewhere down the line, she needs to have a moment of self-reflection on the choices she made and what she might’ve done if no one had stopped her in time.

Understandably, Honker will not forgive Talaya so easily, but Talaya will accept that.

Most importantly, Talaya must fall in love with Drake Mallard first, not Darkwing Duck.

When Morgana and Drake first met, she first fell in love with him as his superhero alter ego, which sort of rubs me the wrong way.

For their relationship to have a healthy start, Talaya needs to be friends with Drake’s civilian side before eventually falling in love with him. Then, when she has truly gained his trust, Drake will reveal his secret identity to her.

Whether she and Drake become friends, lovers, or just allies, I would be fine if Talaya came back, redeemed and develops from a one-dimensional villain's mistress to something more.