#I guess I'm glad the comics exist at least

[bulletbilltime]

The fact that Amberpricefield is relegated to being a non-canon ship is forever going to hurt me. I don't care that the canon literally makes it impossible! I want the lesbian throuple in my media NOW!

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I just realized that Buffy's conversation with Angel about Connor in "Heat" is probably the closest we probably got to them ever having one in canon.

[wishingstarinajar]

I know, I know I'm a scratched record

But I'm dying to hear your thoughts on the Wakfu finale when you get to it!

I just finished watching it and it's uuh... hmm. I read people saying the finale was "satisfactory" but I am not fully on board with that sentiment.

Too much left unanswered, not enough wrapped up, too rushed to get to the end.

I know the Waven game is a continuation of sorts, it takes place decades after Wakfu's conclusion so that game might hold some answers or closure, buuuuttt... I'm not interested enough in the game to play and find out. I guess I've grown a bit tired of the whole cross-media info/lore some franchises love to do (like Blizzard and covering important info across the Warcraft games, books and short stories).

Wakfu season 4 obviously has an open ending, no matter that it is the final season, so who knows what might follow. I'm just a little saddened that the story picked up a little too late this season but the animation, particularly during action scenes, was pretty great... when not using the same static images of characters xDD They loved that a little too much but I understand the budget wasn't that big so I can't really fault Ankama for it.

Did I like this season? Mmmyyeeaaah, it's a mixed bag. Better than season 3 but not better than the first two seasons or even the OVA episodes. Glad it exists but I don't feel super satisfied with its conclusion.

HEAVY SPOILERS ahead, so be mindful but gonna share some thoughts:

Seeing Joris play a bigger part in the second half of the 4th season, and him vibing with Adamaï made me very giddy and happy. Love that for them, hope they become good friends. And thank fek neither of them died. RIP, Qilby, Armand and Brakmar (maybe?). The guys who needed to redeem themselves got their chance, at least.

Goddess Eliatrope was a big disappointment and an unlikeable character but I guess that was kind of the point...? Angry that she totally ignored Chibi and Grougal, like what the fuck even? Didn't even show a hint of acknowledgment towards them. What if they wanted to meet mom, huh?? And what even happened to Baltazar and Glip, who were in Emrub with the same kids that were asleep in Goddess Eliatrope's belly? What did she do with them?

But hey, at least my headcanon that the Sadida and Eliatropes will combine into a single kingdom/people (which I also wrote about in my Rebirth fic) actually happening was pretty satisfying x'D It even has Wakfu-infused trees, om nom nom.

A little frustrated with Necroworld (not the same Necroworld from the Transformers: Lost Light comics) because it's supposed to be a different planet in some other universe but it had dofus (dragon eggs) and races of the Twelve like Sadida, Sram and Sacrier. It was pretty confusing... Imo, it should have been something similar to The Upside Down (Stranger Things), or an alternate version of the world of Twelve rather than a completely separate place. But eh...

Why did nobody care about the state Inglorium was in, or that the Gods have disappeared? That bothered me so so so soooo much during the first two episodes; nobody non-Eliatrope or non-demigod cared that their God/Goddess was... well... gone. Aside from God Iop, where are they?? Hated the disinterest, hated the silence around it. Guess that's a mystery that will be unraveled in some other media.

Yugo grew tall and handsome and I'm not afraid to say it. Happy for him, though him suddenly growing so quickly was a bit silly. I figured there would be a time skip to justify his 'growth' that we saw in promotional images and teasers. Won't complain though, he deserved to finally be in a body that reflects his actual age, it took him long enough!

"Bootleg Alys" from the Dofus movie made a cameo in episode 11 which made me snerk. (I noticed a few more background characters from the movie that were re-used in episode 11.)

And that's all I have to say, at least here on Tumblr. It was quite a ride.

A big thanks Ankama and all the Kickbackers that made it possible; this show had its ups and downs over the past decade but it was enjoyable and loved. It still holds a special place in my heart and I will keep a tiny eye out for more Krozmos stuff in the future (like Welsh & Shedar, gimme!!).

[bloggingboutburgers]

Hello again from the crunchy fishstick! Based on your latest tapas comic update, guess you had a fun Halloween ^^ "sexually anorexic" sounds both confusing and funny lols

I dressed up for the day myself...went out as "a maid from the 23rd century" and got a few compliments--but it wasn't until after I already got home and changed out of it that I realized maids are apparently not just a fun cosplay choice but also something sexualish?? :') oh, the woes of accidentally doing something that might be seen that way to others without realizing it.....I sincerely hope nobody who saw me thought anything sexual (I just liked wearing a skirt and being cute for onceeee)

I've been "out" as aroflux/arospec to some (online) friends already and thankfully I didn't find out any of them were aphobes. (yay!) A few didn't really get it even after my short explanation but oh well--kinda tough with non-queers sometimes but they're cool otherwise. Got the "so like a plant?" reply as a joke lol. One friend, one of my closest, had a hard time understanding how I could be an arospec and dating my bf so that was...something. Didn't get it when I was like "I just fluxxed into a demi phase" but eh. At least no one's an aphobe and no one laughed at me (with intent to make fun of me) for it!

The "you just haven't met the right person yet" hits hard though ngl...recently I tried to lightly hint and bring up that I'm arospec to my mom cause...yeah, I'm kinda tired of "be careful about dating" "don't start liking boys too early" and stuff like that. So to simplify it, I was like "I feel like I'm probably on the aro spectrum, a spectrum of people who just don't do romance like how lesbians don't like guys or gay guys don't like girls" (disclaimer: some things have to be REALLY simplified to boomer-minded people, sorry if that offends anyone or seems to exclude them or anything, it was just the best way I could think of to shorten it) and she thought for a moment before telling me "you just haven't met the right person yet".

I mean fair, I am still young and full of vinegar but still...I mean I did see it coming from her but I still said it (didn't really reply on that topic after though). Oh, to be pulled through a laundry machine of thoughts and having to wonder if you're really a legit aro or if you jinxed yourself again (there's a history...fun stories). Maybe eventually I'll reach the stage where I'll confidently think "yep, I'm arospec" on a regular basis like I did about my bisexuality...maybe it just takes time... Rough being a wishy-washy and indecisive sort of person who doesn't have the lines fully clear :sob:

If I want to be arospec and I feel like I identify with it (even if I get a little dysphoria of sorts sometimes), then that's enough to call myself one, right? Maybe that applies to more queer identities too...

Idk I'm just prattling on again sry, in between a few bad days and there's a sort of comfort in typing it all out anonymously like this... Thanks for existing mate, and uhhh the crunchy fish stick is signing off for now!

fjigkdf Sorry I'm replying sooooo late after Halloween TwT To be fair, the comic I shared on Webtoon/Tapas that day was from a previous Halloween, but watching horror movies around that time of the year with my partner is something we do every year, just from a distance, it's par for the course

I sympathize tho TwT I'm still puzzled to this day as to why a professional uniform was turned into something so sexualizable, I can try to reason it in my head as playing with taboos or power and maybe that's sexually exciting for people somehow but I have no idea how that reasoning works since I'm very much clueless about anything sex-related so... Yeah. It's an odd one to me for sure. Always will be I guess.

I'm really glad coming out to people has been a good experience for you overall!! That's honestly so fortunate when that happens TwT And I'm glad any potentially hurtful comment that some of us typically get was only shared as a joke, from a place of not understanding but willingness to understand, or with the exception of your mom, from what I get.

To be honest, it's a sad thing to accept, but I think sadly it's possible some people may expect you to eventually be "fixed" forever, even if you yourself know for a fact you'll never change and will repeat it endlessly. I'm out to all of my close family, living grandparents and parents' relatives, and I'm pretty sure at least one of them expect it to be that way still. I don't do much about it, since as hurtful as it can be, it's just some hopes they're projecting on me without seeing the real me, and yeah, it's kinda painful, but they can't control me with those hopes. Heck, I was mentally prepared for my parents to be like that with me. I'm incredibly fortunate that they're not and they accept me for what I am now (although somehow I think getting a queerplatonic partner really helped in the matter, the idea is probably much less scary to them than me not having a partner in any way, shape or form for some reason). But... Yeah. In my younger years it wasn't really shaping up like my parents would accept my orientation, and they are now, so there can still be hope. Whatever happens to you, I wish you the best either way.

And... YES, if you feel an orientation defines you well, then it IS enough to call yourself one. I only have my experience to go by but I feel it's extra hard for orientations like ours where they're so often stigmatised, invisibilised, perceived as a "phase" etc etc. What we may not get in demonization and hate, we get in being treated like something that doesn't exist at all. And that's tough for the confidence to affirm yourself in that orientation. But yes. If you feel it defines you, if you feel it describes who you are, then it IS enough to be right. Nobody has the right to make that ultimate call for you, but yourself.

...Welp, at least that's how I feel about it. As always I wish you the best moving forward, thank you for checking in, and sorry again for the late reply! TwT

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Latest X-Factor:

The group takes a journey to the center of the earth to save some scientists. A new member of the team is a teleporter with the apparently cool code name Wintergeist (Pyro is very jealous) turns out to be Cecilia's ex who ghosted her. And it turns out he ghosted her because he was involved with X-Term, and X-Term killed his parents when he tried to quit, so he has distanced himself from everyone he cares about. This is another new character that I don't give a shit about, but he and Cecilia make up, so I'm glad she's happy.

Pyro was apparently forced to get his face tattoo removed so his face is comically bandaged the whole issue. Pyro seemed to have lost the tattoo at the end of Marauders (both in the final issue and an issue of New Mutants where he had a background cameo helping with a creative writing class), so I'm not sure I get the point of putting the tattoo back just to remove it again, but whatever. Pyro does mention his romance novels, so I know that Russell, like Duggan, has at least read Pyro's Wiki page.

Darkstar is basically evil now. She's running a ruthless mercenary group that will murder the loved ones of anyone who tries to leave. Sorry, Darkstar fans.

Pyro and Frenzy have some fun bantering in this issue, and that's probably the best part. Pyro at least understands that fire needs oxygen in this issue. He is once again nerfed because the underground monsters that attack the group are lava dwellers and therefore immune to fire. But he does essentially save the day by creating welding flame to patch a hole in the group's ship.

So far, this series is satire and running jokes that mostly don't work all that well, partially because some of the jokes don't make sense or work for the characters. Like Frenzy is all "I could have been a dog breeder!" during a fight last issue, which might work for a random D-lister that we know little about. It doesn't work for Frenzy, who was basically an intergalactic diplomat in SWORD/X-Men Red. Why is she even with the group? You and Cecilia are both too good for this, Joanna.

The whole "Fire is useless/useful" thing that Russell is doing with Pyro is similarly nonsensical. Like fire is one of the most common super-hero/villain powers, no one ever talks about it being "useless." Pyro's only weakness is needing an outside source of fire, but arguably his ability to manipulate flame is even more useful than people who can just blast fire out of their hands, since he can move around and extinguish existing flame. Russell has to go out of his way to keep putting Pyro into situations where fire doesn't work to keep making the joke. "LOL, isn't it funny how fire guy is useless because I keep deliberately creating scenarios where his fire is ineffective." I'm guessing next mission will be underwater just to keep the joke going.

On the most positive side, Pyro managed to contribute to both missions despite being effectively nerfed, so he's got that going for him. I just wanna know what the point is, or where Russell is actually going with this.

I think I would like this series more if these were completely new characters with no established history (that is being ignored).

Also, it is an absolute crime that Sebastian and Shinobi Shaw are not involved in this book that is about soulless corporations treating people like objects. Shinobi should be the group's PR manager, it would be hilarious and arguably in-character.

[nyhti]

any thoughts and feelings on jeremiah in shadow of the bat #80-82?

furthermore, any thoughts and feelings on his pookie david in that comic?

Thank you for the ask <3333 :33 So I went back and read Wax Man and the Clown again to refresh my mind on it and I'm glad I did. While it's not my favorite Jeremiah story, mainly because of the art, I still found it enjoyable and even got myself a new headcanon!!! Yay!!

Now, I think I've talked about my dislike of Jeremiah being written too soft before. He had bite in The Last Arkham, bite he desperately needed, because this character becomes very boring very fast without it. I had this memory of him being a total push over in this story, but now that I've read it again, I don't think so. Yes, he is softer than he was in The Last Arkham, but he also threatened to shoot Joker in the head and considered letting the patients starve to death. Soft uwu bean <333 And, yeah, even in the parts that he seemed more of a push over, you just have to keep in mind that he's quite literally half asleep, starving and under an incredible amount of stress in every panel and actively hallucinating by the end of the story. I'll cut him some slack, but I still think the Jeremiah we were introduced to in The Last Arkham wouldn't have been quite as mellow even in these circumstances.

I also do not like the art in this issue. I simply wouldn't have recognized Jeremiah had I not been told that this character drawn here is supposed to be Jeremiah. I think if this story had been illustrated my Norm Breyfogle, it could've been one of my favorite Jerry stories. Here's a quick sketch of how I wish he had looked like in this story:

Oh, and David? David is the reason I headcanon Jeremiah as bi in the first place.

Jeremiah: What about you, David? Are you going too?

David: No, sir. My place is with you.

Now, I do not know what Grant had in mind when he wrote their relationship, but it came across as very loving. Whether or not that love was romantic, I guess that's up to everyone's own headcanons. I feel like at least on David's side it leaned towards romantic, but Jeremiah seemed more reserved. You could say he didn't feel quite the same way, but also we know Grant wrote him shy towards things of that nature as seen in his reaction to Poison Ivy in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #56. I like to believe it was shyness that stopped him from going any further.

Also.

Jeremiah confirmed kitty boy catmom kittycat enthusiast!!!!!!!!! He definitely gave off that catperson aura all the way in The Last Arkham, but I was really happy it was confirmed here with the kitten he had in childhood <3 I love how he's still haunted by this cat he failed to save 40 years later. True catmom behavior.

This cat also exists in my verse and her name is Lumi (=snow, but I'm calling her Snowy in English.) She's called Lumi, because I misremembered the cat being white. The cat's actually gray lol, but I'm not changing the name anymore. The cat is all white in my verse. Also in my verse she lives a long, happy life and dies somewhere between ages of 15-20, when Jeremiah is in his 20s and in med school.

His parents get a new cat – actually I headcanon that over the years his parents end up raising a lot of cats. Jeremiah, who is living on his own at this point, also thinks about getting his own cat, but fears he would not have enough time for one as med school is keeping him busy. He decides he's going to get one later and in the mean time just go see the cats at his parents house. I imagine Jerry's mom uses the cats to get him to visit.

It's still a little up in the air in my verse does he get his own cat now, at age 44, or does he get it later, but one day he does finally visit a shelter and brings home a beautiful tabby cat he names Viiru or Tabby in English (it is my headcanon he is not creative with names).

Another thing I liked about this comic was the shotgun. The shotgun Jeremiah used. The shotgun he threatened to kill Joker with. This is so fascinating to me, because he himself almost died by a shotgun at 16. I just wonder how he feels holding that thing. How he feels being on the opposite end of it now. How he feels being the one to point it at someone else's head. None of this is answered of course ^_^ Grant never even brought up Jeremiah's backstory in later stories ^_^ But, I'm still having fun imagining it myself. This is that new headcanon I was talking about. He definitely now owns a shotgun in my verse.

[sineala]

It was quite the week for us comic Tony fans!

How would you rank the Tony issues from the haul? We had Iron Man #8, Avengers #3, I Am Iron Man #5, Avengers Beyond #5, Ults reboot (tho Tony didn’t seem to show there?), dunno if I missed any haha

Oh, man, it absolutely was a great comics week!

I'm going to list what I liked less first because I have a lot of feelings about Iron Man #8.

Ultimate Invasion #2

Technically Tony was in this, at the bottom of the first page of Howard's introduction, the one that was a straight-up redraw of Tony's introduction in Ultimates #2. Here he is:

I suppose that we don't actually know for a fact that this is Tony; Howard refers to him as his son but he isn't named. Like, for all we know, this is Greg with a dye job, or maybe Arno exists here. But I have to say that I'm pretty meh about the idea of an Ults reboot that doesn't include Steve or Tony (and, even more upsettingly, seems to have Howard instead of Tony); I suspect (at least, I hope) there will be some personnel reshuffling going on, but the amount that I have ever cared about The Maker is minuscule at best. Hickman just has his things he likes to write about and too bad if you wanted to hear about anyone else, I guess. (His original Ults run was not my favorite.)

Back when Time Runs Out was coming out, the solicits announced that the cover for Avengers #41 was going to reuse the cover of Ultimates #1, so everyone was excited that there was going to be an Ults crossover. At the time, I hadn't read any Ults at all, so I decided I was going to read Ults to prepare for this issue. The thing was, I didn't quite finish reading Ults, and I hadn't gotten to Hickman's run. "That won't be a problem!" I thought, naively. "I have in fact read Ultimates #1 and surely these characters are what this issue is about, since they are on the cover."

Then Avengers #41 turned out to be entirely about The Maker and Miles Morales and I was extremely confused. This was not what I thought I was getting. Why is it about these people? Where are the Ultimates? Why is a psycho version of Reed here?

Reading Ultimate Invasion is making me feel like I am having the exact same experience again, eight years later. I don't like it any better a second time.

I Am Iron Man #5

This is the last issue of this miniseries, and I really wanted to like it. For one thing, some of the variant covers have been absolutely gorgeous:

The creative team are clearly big fans of Tony and love him so much as a character and love his history and you can see that basically on every page of this entire miniseries and I'm glad Marvel gave us something that was so positive… but I haven't really been able to make any sense of any of it. They have some really interesting high-concept ideas -- like, #5 here was a look at the ethics of cloning -- but they seem to have a massive, massive disconnect at some point in the process between Having The Idea and Making A Comic About The Idea and I literally do not understand most of what has happened in this entire miniseries. I feel like if I asked them to summarize their comic I would probably understand the explanation, but reading the comic does not lead to understanding it, for me.

I was trying to explain this, and the best comparison I can come up with is all those issues of Doctor Strange that are mostly from the 70s where the creative team was clearly on All The Hallucinogens and you go to read a comic and it's absolutely gorgeous artwork but very little of the story makes any sense whatsoever and it's just like "okay, dude, you keep having fun doing your thing" and then you check back in a couple issues and Strange has defeated, like, the manifestation of his own ego and also possibly the concept of reality?

It's like that, but with Iron Man.

(Incidentally, the recent Doctor Strange miniseries Fall Sunrise was like that, if you feel like Doctor Strange comics have been making too much narrative sense lately.)

Avengers Beyond #5

Last issue of this Landy/Land series. Don't mind me; I really like crediting them. I really loved Derek Landy's work on the Cap-IM miniseries (I mean, who didn't?) and I think in both this miniseries and the preceding All-Out Avengers he demonstrated a really solid grasp of Avengers characterization, which is no mean feat in a series whose gimmick is that every issue starts in medias res. I think he's especially good at dialogue, and he really makes the characters feel like themselves without all that much space to work with, and a lot of the Avengers' solutions (like the Celestial blood thing here) seem like things they would come up with.

The downside, and this is not his fault, is that I really aggressively Do Not Care about the Beyonder. So I liked this despite that, which is a testament to how much I like his writing, I guess.

The other downside is every single page in which Greg Land has to draw a human face. I just. Sometimes he gets about 80% of the way but suddenly NOPE. The good news is that this series plays to his strengths in that there are a lot of characters with helmets and non-human faces and also there is a lot of punching which mostly doesn't show people's faces close-up. The bad news is that many of the action scenes still look like they're traced from porn, although at least not so much in this issue.

So I feel like if you can somehow ignore all of the art, like, all of it ever, you might like this.

Avengers #2

I really like Jed MacKay's writing, which is why this is getting ranked so highly for me even though really not all that much happened this issue. Plus, the art is good, and I felt that I could not in good conscience rank Greg Land's art above this.

Right now I don't think really enough has happened for me to be able to say whether this is a good run -- #1 was basically Assembling, and #2 here is Getting The Villains Together -- but I have a lot of faith in MacKay based on his other comics (I am excited to read his Black Cat run that I just got in book form) that this is probably going to be good. The dialogue seemed IC for everyone; I like how Tony is wearing his stealth armor here due to IM events. The villains remind me a lot of the villains in Death of Doctor Strange, which I liked a lot.

I do, however, empathize with the letter writer who says it doesn't feel like the Avengers without Steve. They could have two Caps. It would be okay.

Invincible Iron Man #8

Ohhh boy.

I have been looking forward to this issue since #7 came out, and I loved it (and the rest of the run so far) so much that I wrote 40,000 words of h/c set right after #7 because canon is whumping Tony so nicely that I thought he could maybe have some comfort. I don't remember the last time I liked a comic enough to write 40,000 words immediately after reading it. Maybe never. I wanted to get the fic posted before #8 came out and I did in fact manage this. Impressively, I don't think canon actually contradicts anything in my fic, provided you assume that there's at least a day before #8 starts. I also appear to have correctly identified several of the problems Tony is having in canon -- #8 establishes that Tony is not sleeping and not eating -- but it's just that Gerry Duggan has no interest in fixing these problems and I do.

I didn't think the whump could get any better than #7. The whump got even better.

Every interview I see with Gerry Duggan about IM, he seems to feel he has to apologize for all the pain he is putting Tony through. I don't know why he keeps apologizing. This is the good stuff.

So I had to do about a hundred pages of background reading to read this, because Hellfire Gala is something like 78 pages long and I had to read a FCBD issue too. It was totally worth it. I am very sorry to X-Men fans who are not Iron Man fans because I am sure they are cursing Gerry Duggan's name right now.

If you are going to read this Iron Man issue and want to have all the background reading, what you should actually read is the Avengers/X-Men FCBD issue from May, and then Hellfire Gala, and then Iron Man. There are several events that we get bits of from the X-side in Hellfire Gala and from Tony in IM, but the events themselves take place in the FCBD issue, which is definitely exactly where I'd put key events I wanted people to be able to find. Thanks, Marvel. And if you are a Steve fan, you are going to care, because one of them is an attempt on Steve's life. So if you don't read the FCBD issue first, halfway through Hellfire Gala you're going to be like "what do you mean, someone's trying to assassinate Captain America?" and, yeah, that's in the FCBD issue as well as a couple other attacks more relevant to the mutants.

I'm sure we were all expecting Krakoa to fall since the day it started -- look, we all know the mutants have a very, very bad record at creating mutant utopias -- but I have to say I wasn't expecting quite this much of a bloodbath and definitely not because Xavier decided to give into his captors' demands without checking if what they were actually asking him to do was happening like he thought it was. This seems to be a good argument for not negotiating with terrorists. I wasn't expecting basically the second Mutant Massacre, even masterminded by (an evil clone of) Mister Sinister. (I haven't read X-books in a long time but I have to admit that "Sinister is just not evil enough" was not a take I was expecting.)

Also I am STILL not over the fact that the evil mutant-hating organization is named Orchis, which means "testicle" in Greek. (I mean, yes, it also means "orchid." But if they wanted me to think of orchids they could have just named it Orchid in English and not Testicle.)

So, anyway, the result of the Hellfire Gala this year is that pretty much everyone who was at the Gala (as well as a bunch of other people) are extremely dead, except for Emma Frost and a small band of resisters (including, inexplicably, Wilson Fisk, and I'm sure we'll learn what his deal is eventually) who managed to teleport out to New York, which is where Tony gets involved.

(I am still not over the fact that Tony got an Avengers call for a DC terror attack, then got a call for Steve being attacked in Brooklyn and immediately zoomed to help Steve first. Priorities, he has them. Yes, I know, Steve was closer. Shhh.)

Anyway! You like Tony suffering? Then you will probably enjoy Tony fighting Sentinels, getting hit really, really hard, bleeding and getting concussed and begging for help and repeating that he's dying, as he wavers in and out of consciousness while lying on the street. If the issue had decided to make this the worst thing that happened to him, I would still have been perfectly satisfied because, look, I just wrote 40,000 words because I really liked how the last comic ended with Tony being upset that Rhodey had been arrested, punching his armor until there's blood dripping down his hands, kneeling on the floor. And now canon has made him suffer more!

But then! Then we get the very best terrible moment! Even better and/or worse than I could have hoped for!

Tony is at this point not entirely conscious, he thinks he's dying, and he's not very, uh, oriented as to reality, and that means that his poor suffering brain is making him think he's reexperiencing one of his past extremely traumatic events, and Emma, who is also now stuck fighting Sentinels, has decided to hop into his mind to help him out. So I was like, okay, maybe it's gonna be his origin story? That's probably pretty damaging. That's something anyone could come up with.

The thing is, Gerry Duggan has done the reading.

So the inside of Tony's mind is currently Iron Man #182. Yes. Tony is dying in the blizzard.

At this point, I had to stop and say AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. A lot. I think everyone else did too.

Like, I enjoy recreationally making fictional characters suffer and I don't think it would ever have occurred to me to do this. I am plotting the rest of an extremely angsty canon-divergent fic series ending in the blizzard, solely so that Steve can carry Tony out of the cold, and it would never have occurred to me that when Tony thinks he's dying his mind would take him right back to the middle of the blizzard and LEAVE HIM THERE, freezing to death, drunk and alone, with nothing. I could never have thought of this. It's perfect.

The comic doesn't actually tell you what it's referencing or that it is in fact referencing anything canonical, but if you are familiar with Iron Man #182's very distinctive cover art, this page is a very, very clear homage to it. (And I suppose there's a sense in which it's kind of a canon deep cut; the issue's a dollar-bin kind of issue and the arc itself has only been reprinted once, in pieces, and I think all of it is out of print now in paper. The people collecting and slabbing Doomquest et al aren't buying this one, as far as I know. We just love it.)

I think an argument can be made that the current one is more pathetic (in the sense of "creating pathos") than the #182 version, because for one thing the cover isn't itself canonical; that angle and alley aren't in the issue. Also, in Tony's dream version, he's surrounded by bottles. And he's barefoot. He's actually made it worse for himself than it was when it really happened to him.

And in case you thought this issue was done stabbing you in the heart, this is what happens when Tony wakes all the way up:

AAAAAAAAAA.

Anyway, then Tony surrenders -- because he has never met a self-sacrificing moment that he does not love; thank you, Gerry Duggan, for understanding this -- so that Emma can get away and he's now kneeling, unarmored, in the middle of the street, concussed and bleeding heavily, daring Feilong and his Sentinels to come on and kill him. Just your regular Iron Man cliffhanger.

I will take twelve more just like this one, please and thank you.

I'm still not over the blizzard.

I know it could all go wrong at any moment -- I have a lot of trust issues about Iron Man comics, clearly -- but we've had eight issues and as of right now I think this is definitely the best Iron Man ongoing run we've had in the past… fifteen years? Whenever Director of SHIELD ended.

(If any of you clicked on this and are not comics fans, you're probably wondering how fans of a character can dislike everything that has happened to them in the past fifteen years and still consider themselves fans of a character. This is just what comics fandom is like.)

[ducklooney]

Hello, I'm writing a story where Grandma Duck has everyone in the family at her home, and they asks her to tell them a story. She proceds to tell them a love story about a forbittten romance. At the end of the story she reveals the couple is their family's ancestor. Who out of the existing Ducks do you think I could choose to be the couple? (and what should be the current Ducks reactions when they find out they are their ancestors?)

Hi, sorry for the late reply, but I think I answered this question before which you can read here: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/753671286120644608/hi-im-creating-a-short-story-here-grandma-duck

However, when you mentioned the story of Grandma Duck, I would have mentioned her grandfather Cornelius Coot who was the originator of the Duck family we know today. Humperdink Duck is a descendant of his ancestors Don Dugo and Pintail Duck, while Grandma Duck has a special role, because her father Clinton Coot was the founder of Junior Woodchucks, while her grandfather Cornelius Coot was the founder of Duckburg. Yes, Elvira Coot (Grandma Duck) married Humperdink Duck. In the early 19th century, Cornelius went west to the Calisota area and founded the future town of Duckburg there and married a Native American duck. Although she was never named, some call her Pluckahontas. It can be said that their love has links to Romeo and Juliet and a mixed race love affair can be labeled as such. I guess that's what Grandma Duck meant when she told her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There are also pictures of Cornelius and his wife, unfortunately I am not sure who the author is.

And if someone asks me, this is not Don Rosa, but some anonymous artist (artist who signed "M. W.") who did it for Don Rosa.

Yes, it can be said that it was a forbidden love, because they come from different people and Pluckahontas herself was the daughter of a chief of a tribe who did not want her to marry a white duck. However, they eventually got married and created their new family. Again that's just my theory and my guess.

I imagine that Donald and his nephews would be more in favor of being Native Americans after learning about their family tree, which is not surprising, since in the comics Donald's nephews often play Native Americans. They would have more of a spirit for freedom and what Native Americans usually have, a gift for nature and an understanding of animals.

Again, it is not certain if Clinton Coot was actually their son, as it is not known if Pluckahontas married Cornelius officially. Certainly, even if they didn't, they certainly felt for each other. At least in my opinion, but I think that couple would be the answer to your question.

And I'm glad that you asked that and that you are satisfied with my answers, to help you with your story. But by all means, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. Again that's just my opinion.

[shinysamurott9]

I finished Xenoblade X again today and... wow.

OK so, I played Xenoblade X for the first time last year in a marathon of Xenoblade 1, X, and 2, and honestly, compared to 1 & 2, I didn't enjoy it as much. It was the only one I didn't really know much about going in. I felt like it had a lot of good parts, but I hadn't any idea what I was doing because the game has literally no tutorials and I ended up stumbling through the game when I wasn't able to use my Skell, so I just didn't have as much fun with it compared to the trilogy.

However, after finishing Xenogears and the Xenosaga Trilogy, I thought it would be a good idea to give X another shot as a nice way to bookend playing the Xeno series, specifically after watching some guides and learning how the combat actually works (Thanks Enel)

And, holy shit. Out of every game I've ever played, this and DMC 3 are the ones I'm most glad I gave a second chance. I genuinely could not stop thinking about this game after I started playing again. Before I stopped pretty much as soon as I beat the final boss, this time I went literally all the way and completed the entire Mira Survey. I'm just gonna take this chance to go in and incoherently go off about about all the stuff I have in my head about this beautiful mess of a game.

Ok so the combat. Overdrive, is a completely balanced mechanic that doesn't allow you to completely take the main game’s difficulty and snap it over your knee like a fucking twig. Except it is. Like, it is honestly comical just how trivial almost everything becomes with the right arts on your build. And if you throw really busted arts like Ghostwalker/Ghost Factory or Blossom Dance into the mix, literally nothing can stand up to you bar the literal endgame superbosses, and a big part of that is just because a lot of them, Telethia in particular, are in positions where you literally can't fight them on foot and realistically survive without a highly specialised build. But with that proper build, that probably takes a lot of grinding, you can still beat them fairly quickly, save for Levael The Terminus, because it's literally in the middle of the ocean. All because of this funny counter gear.

Going along with Overdrive, is the amount of customisation this game offers you. Almost every weapon type offers you at least a couple arts that work really well alongside Overdrive. The build I ended up with at the end was a Knife, Dual Gun combination, mainly because Smooth Recovery, is an amazing art for Overdrive, and Black Butterfly and Full Specs are great compliments for an Ether Build with Executioner as the main Damage Art. Yeah sure I ended up using Ghostwalker/Factory like most Endgame builds, but hey that shit is comically busted, and I absolutely love abusing stuff like that, intentional or otherwise. Plus I do enjoy the idea of my Cross, Coraline, using the arts of Irina and Elma, her immediate superior officers in BLADE. Which actually brings me to,

I was honestly surprised at how much thought I ended up putting into my Cross this time around, but it was fun. Not just deciding on a good look both when creating her and finding what gear she'd wear, but also thinking about how her character woukd respond to the situations and dialogue options presented throughout the game. It's to the point that Coraline's basically become my first OC, depending on how you count Milton the Mythrakid I guess, since he's an interpretation of a character we know exists but we haven't seen or heard about. Either way I definitelywant to do more with Coraline. Probably gonna draw her some more as time goes on to get a better feel for the design as well as drawing her skell too just because.

That actually brings me around to the story. I'll be the first to admit that overall X's story falls short compared to the trilogy andveven Gears and Saga but it still has a lot of solid stuff that really git me thinking, in addition to stuff I only picked up the second time around, something Xeno stories have been fantastic with since the beginning with Gears. Obviously spoilers ahead as I talk some notable stuff in the plot

This moment really stuck out for me after simmering on it for a while. Because this idea that memories and the continuation of a person's consciousness are what make them who they are would continue as a prominent thematic plot point in the following games. Xenoblade 2 emphasises it the most heavily with Blades losing their memories with each reawakening, thus they lose their "contuity of consciousness". It's quite literally the central source of conflict for Blades and is everywhere in the main story and side content with characters like Praxis, Theory and Vess. Xenoblade 3 has this too, albeit as a more subtle background element with the Agnian and Kevesi Soldiers effectively being reset upon death as they are reborn, however there are still cases where things slip through the cracks, most notably with Eunie and Ashera. Yet despite that, Monica asserts to Eunie that whatever her past life was, it wasn't her and she didn't make it, all because soldiers simply don't have that continuity of consciousness.

Thinking about it now X has plenty of thematic ideas that 2 & 3 would go on to pull from. Things like a cycle of death and rebirth, something that Blade and NLA are trying to achieve with finding the Lifehold Core. As Lao puts it, they're the lucky ones who can come back as many times as they want. Lao's arc is particularly well done all things considered. A moment early on that stuck out to me was when they were discussing how Lin got her spot on the Whale as a way to repay her parents who were crucial in getting the ship going in the first place. Lao, whether he shows it or not, would have some misgivings about that, and Elma seemingly picks up on that and is quick to point out Lin's own skill were crucial in her getting her spot and that it wasn't just pure nepotism. It's really interesting to see Elma pick up on Lao's misgivings so early. If we do ever get an X sequel, which I do think and hope we will sooner or later, I'll be very curious to see where Lao's character goes from here. Speaking of characters who I really want to learn more about,

Elma is a really interesting character honestly despite the many unanswered questions surrounding her, it just has me more intrigued to learn more about her. The question of what her species and planet are like is one i really want to see explored someday. Funnily enough, 2 actually gave us a breadcrumb of that. Elma has a line when receiving a Seafood pouch item, one of her favourite categories, where she expresses fascination with the concept. "Making meals out of marine lifeforms, fascinating" which I've always taken as her species just straight up not having a concept of seafood. Idk why, it's such a minor inconsequential detail that isn't even from X but I always found that super interesting. Her designs are also two of my favourites in the Xeno series, especially dince they double as subtle references to Kos-Mos and T-Elos. I think I lean a little more towards Alien Elma though, something about the crystal hair is really cool to me.

A few other Miscellaneous things I can think of:

The sidequests are fantastic. While many are a little tedious, they do a really good job of building the world and fleshing out the natures and cultures of the different alien species that come to inhabit NLA.

The Affinity Missions go hand in hand with this, they do a great job of fleshing out all the different party members all the while giving you an avenue to learn their unique abilities. Most of those party members are also really well developed abd mostly compelling characters. Even the most if the ones who seem like assholes at first, like Boze or HB, do get better as their affinity missions progress. They clearly knew it was a great concept as it came back in 2 & 3 with the Blade Quests and Hero + Ascension Quests.

The ost is fucking incredible, I've been adding X music to my personal playlist over the course of my playthrough because there's so much good stuff in it. It's honestly criminal how much you end up missing because the Overdrive and Flight themes override 90% of them.

Skells are incredibly cool and a brilliant way to bring in the concept of mech combat systems from the previous Xeno games.

Phew, I think that's everything I've had to say. I've called out many of this game's flaws in other places and most of that I do still stand by. The game is in desperate need of an actual tutorial and QoL improvements. The game's draw distance can be quite frustrating at times trying to find specific things or characters and getting certain materials can be a really annoying grind, (Neinail Materials), but if you can put up with that there is a hell of a game there. I don't know if I'd consider it better than the trilogy, just because it has more complete stories, but it's quite close.

Overall I'm so happy I gave X a second shot and now I'll definitely be there waiting for a port or sequel. It's easily the most underrated game I've ever played. I'm confident it'll happen at some point but either way I'l likely have more Xeno stuff to play in the meantime if whatever's next is Xenoblade 4.

My reaction to this game.

[koskela-knights]

Night Springs DLC ramblings

Spoilers under the cut. And since this is a Koskela/Huotari main blog, my focus will be mainly related to these boys in relation to the DLC content.

Alright, my friends already confirmed it and I just watched all NS DLC chapters on YouTube becos I didn't wanna miss out lol, but yeah there's just no mention or appearances from the Koskelas and who was I to think they'd touch upon the Huotaris if even Ilmari is already forgotten and left out in most media surrounding AW2 😔

But yanno, it just irks me how erased the Koskelas seem to be.

Like yes, Night Springs gives us a look into alternate realities/universes/versions and you're telling me we only looked into worlds where the Koskelas (and in extension the Huotaris) just never existed. At all????

So in this post I'll look at what I've seen and how I might've made the boys a bit more relevant/have them make a lil cameo.

Rose's Chapter

In Rose's chapter, Scratch is wearing a biker jacket but it lacks the Kalevala Knights text on the back so I guess the KK didn't exist here..

I love that Rose wasn't interested in Scratch's biker look or the werewolf thing at all lmao. She's more vanilla than I thought xD

Funny how they went with the 'they're twin brothers' but now it's for Scratch and Alan lol. Even the twin thing the Koskelas had going for them, now attributed to other characters instead.

There was also someone at the Diner in a biker jacket. But again, a different design.

How I'd add them back in:

The Koskelas could've been NPCs at the Diner at the beginning. Or the ones out on the street, just outside the Diner

The NPC in the biker jacket could've worn a Kalevala jacket

Additionally, I think it would've been fun to see the Valhalla residents as NPCs at the Diner.

If we had more named characters as NPCs, I think this chapter could've felt even more personal. Now I felt a bit of a disconnection/detachment from Rose vs the other characters outside of Scratch. Like, yes this was sort of her fanfic/dream world but wouldn't it feel more effective/real if the people cheering her on were like the Anderson brothers, the Valhalla residents. The people you've already met in the main game that had somewhat of a personality? Becos now you might as well have used the shadow people characters at the Diner.

Tim's Chapter

In Tim's chapter we don't see anything either. Don't get me wrong, I liked his chapter too. It was wild and I'm glad to see Door play a bigger role here. The comic section was well done, rly liked its aesthetics and I liked how they tried to mix up the game as a medium. I think this chapter didn't irk me as much, given the context of it.

How I'd add them back in:

There's a Seine poster in the Oceanview Hotel and the tiniest bit they could've done is add Ilmari Huotari again in the credits. you wouldn't even have to put his face on the poster T_T

Jesse's Chapter

My biggest hopes were for Jesse's chapter. It has literally Coffee World as its setting. But again... Literally nothing, no mention in text or as a 3D character.

@zephyrone01 pointed out to me that despite all the other changes, Coffee World remains mainly the same. Even the attractions still have the same names. BUT! The Huotari Well no longer exists as an attraction. There's a well. But well, it's just that lmao.

So what's the point of CW even existing here other than being a little call-back/connection to the main game's universe? Coffee World was clearly a project of the Koskelas but they're nowhere to be seen or mentioned. Instead, we have a vague, faceless shady government (perhaps the Board?) wanting to take over through coffee indoctrination.

Of all the DLC chapters, it would make the most sense to have the Koskelas be present or at least acknowledged/mentioned in Jesse's chapter. And like... if they couldn't get Peter back to voice/mocap them, it could've been a note, or they could've used a distorted voice to highlight how they got corrupted by the coffee or something. But instead, it's Tim who gets suddenly corrupted by the coffee? Was it mainly to tie Jesse's chapter into Tim's? Also, it seems Tim's animations when he tries to convince Jesse to drink the coffee, seem to be copy-pasted from Ilmo's Deer Fest animation that is bugged and not easily triggered at all in the vanilla game/average run 😭 Tim never has been that vivid or animated in the base game, but you know who was? Ilmo Koskela.

The 'Cult' stashes & the math puzzles no longer make narratively sense other than being mechanics/little obstacles to be solved. Again, Ilmo was the 'mastermind' behind those math puzzles and the stashes were there for Cult members. What purpose do they serve now other than functioning as conveniently placed ammo stock for the player?

I feel Jesse's chapter had some potential and maybe even 'easy' ways to keep the Koskelas related to, yanno their amusement park.

So how I'd add them back in and make this chapter feel more connected to the other universes and the main game:

The Koskelas could've been the ones to get corrupted first and through them, others would easily follow

As @zephyrone01 and @copiasmicalso discussed with me, it would've been more logical to meet a corrupted Ilmo instead of Tim. It was he and Jaakko who marketed that coffee brand and Coffee World to begin with. Why not tie them into this chapter?

The Koskelas could've done that orientation video as pawns of the shady government. Maybe even in a similar vein to the Book Review ad with a clearly influenced/partially corrupted Ilmo.

There could've been some kind of connection to Jesse looking for Dylan and Ilmo looking to bring Jaakko back or looking for his brother or something. It would given us more narrative parallels! A sibling looking for their other half that got corrupted/influenced by a shady government

Make a different amusement park (one tied to the fishery or lumber industry but I suppose that would've taken much more time to make ofc)

The utter lack of the Koskelas makes me revise/question what their purpose in the main game was for then? Were they really that insignificant and immemorable to serve no extra mention in the other universes to the point CW is seemingly owned by a government and the Huotari's also have no historical purpose or importance anymore.

Like, their Cult of the Tree killings are what led Saga to investigate BF & Watery in the first place.

I'd dare to argue that the erasure of the Koskela brothers' existence in the Jesse chapter made the stakes feel lower and possible connections and parallels to the main game less powerful and interesting than they could've been. Plus it would've make more sense to still have Coffee World exist at all becos imo without Koskelas, there would Not have been a Coffee World to begin with.

In general

I like the DLCs for what they are and that they tried to do things differently or highly different from the main game. Alternate realities/universes always give us the opportunity to go off the main path and come up with different interesting stories and theories.

I do think that using generic NPCs most of the time also made the stories blander than they could've been.

The way the Koskelas' existence was all ripped away and sorta re-assigned to other characters

the twin brother thing now being Alan & Scratch

We never got the Actual Bikers get an animation on/with their bikes, but Scratch now gets one 😔

the Kalevala Knights' existence erased too

Tim in Jesse's DLC having the same animations as Deer Fest Ilmo

Coffee World literally not being their thing anymore but somehow still existing (rly why would the shady government even make a Coffee-themed amusement park)

TLDR

Saddened and equally not surprised that the Koskelas (and Huotari's) are just erased from the narrative in the DLC. Like their characters aren't even an afterthought anymore or relevant enough. All these wild different universes and they're part of exactly zero somehow.

The CW thing somehow remains unaltered for a few parts but taking the Koskelas' og involvement in that park into account, it makes no real sense to the state it is in, in the DLC.

I think their erasure (and the non-usage of other more known characters from the main game) made some parts feel less vivid/real.

[jojo-schmo]

UHHHHH no anon but uh.....your art cool..i just wanted to say that lol- LIKE I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY LOVE YA ART it makes me happy and your style is like...so cute! your style is pretty sweet and i like the au your doing (i am currently looking through all the stuff ya doin' lol) your really cool and your art cool and i hope you know u inspire me alot/gen! i hope ya have a good day and stuff ^^

AHHHH!!! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to tell me this omg!! So much love in my ask box, I'm so grateful for it!!

It means a lot to hear that you like my art style too! I spent so much of my life being dissatisfied with my style and thinking it was nothing special- but boy have I changed my mind and embraced what I can do :) I'm eager to keep improving and developing it further!

Shucks, being called cool just makes me feel so warm inside heehee! I'm just out here doing my best to enjoy myself and share some of those feelings with others on here! It genuinely means the world to be able to inspire even just one person. Thank you again, truly. Keep creating what you love!! <3

Oh my goodness, that's incredible! Wow, THANK YOU! What an honor to even be able to help with a tiny part of your creative process. That character didn't exist before you brought them to life!! Isn't that just so cool? Feels like a superpower to me!

Don't feel bad about not wanting to share something! It's totally valid to have some creations to keep for yourself. I find that sometimes making things quietly to myself takes some of the pressure off and can still be very fun. And if you ever change your mind and decide to share, that's okay too! I bet there's someone out there who will love your drawings and ideas very very much. :)

UWAHH thank you for saying that!! AHH I feel so much love and kindness!!

Honestly, it's pretty wild to me how much better and more confident I've gotten in my art even in the past year or so of making this comic. I look back at some of those first pages every now and then and marvel at the different ways I've evolved since then, hahaha.

I never would've imagined myself being able to commit to a project this big before. I guess I just kind of reached the mindset of, it's okay if I don't know how to draw everything. If something looks wonky, at least I gave it a try instead of giving up before I attempt it like I've done before. This can be a learning experience for me too! And I'm so glad I'm committed to it :D Turns out getting out of your comfort zone is a very good way to improve!

Thank you! Life in general is just all right haha. But I am definitely very happy to have a little corner of the internet here with kind people to share stories and art with <3

[intuitive-revelations]

I'm not feeling super today, so am going to go ahead and watch some of Tales of the TARDIS to take my mind of it, since it's now available. Here's my thoughts in real time, though I'm just focusing on the new segments for now, since the rest is just an omnibus version of the original serial.

Earthshock:

Ah, we've got an MCU style 'Whoniverse' bumper now. Visuals are fine, though the music is a little disappointing IMO. I would have hoped for some variant on the theme music, maybe the middle 8?

I like the TARDIS flying across it forming a line though. Feels like a very deliberate similarity to Thirteen's logo.

I know it won't be in this series, but the fact they've included Eight's time vortex in the intro has me hopeful for the future, whether it would just involve Grace and/or Lee, or potentially something BF related. Given the omnibus nature of these episodes, probably the prior. The TV movie would be a pretty good length for it too.

Similarly, while the TARDIS set is obviously based on plenty other bits of the sets, I like that Eight's columns are included as a part too.

I'm curious about this whole setup. On one hand it feels a bit like the 'degeneration' stuff we're already seeing in the anniversary and Big Finish, but it also feels kinda Curator-related.

I quite like the 'theme baseline' soundtrack here with Five.

"I was fast asleep, in bed, I said goodnight to Nyssa..." Ah, I see the TeganNyssa agenda is still in play!

The subtitles say 'goodbye', but the line was definitely 'goodnight'... real time censorship... 😢

"We never really did this sort of thing did we"

"You didn't, not one line" ok, I see what you did there.

"This is the memory of a time machine, and it's reached out and remembered... us." Oh, 'tales of the TARDIS' indeed. So it's the TARDIS summoning the characters we see? Is it 'the' TARDIS, or some sort of echo? If the prior, then when is this taking place? I would say sometime in the future, but the TARDIS of course is non-linear.

"It's a remembered TARDIS", again still not sure as to the above. But kinda makes me think of a remembrance tank? Like someone tried to remember a TARDIS into existence, but it's incomplete.

"I'll do it for him"

Oh... the dynamic shift back to wide screen with Five holding Adric's badge crossfading over the episode?

Was the badge remembered into existence too?

"Maybe that's what a memory TARDIS is for?" "Therapy."

The Mind Robber:

Hm, the reused TARDIS cgi + stock background image makes me wonder a bit if this was the last-minute addition to the 60th line up RTD mentioned? Or maybe there just wasn't much budget, in which case fair enough, but it does feel like this series might have been done a bit quickly.

Aw, Jamie and Zoe!

So the memory TARDIS itself has unlocked their memories.

"I've missed him every day of my life, but I didn't realise it." 🥺

"What they did to use was unforgivable" phew. while I know this isn't meant to get too heavy, I was a bit worried for a second they were going to glance over the trauma of their memory wipes. Sure, it's been a lifetime since it happened, but I'm glad the pain of it is acknowledged.

"And I think we've been brought here to undo it?" So will this be permanent or not...?

"I'd still be with him now if I could." Jamie...

"Five daughters". Huh... I know this is a niche point, but that's a bit odd. He has multiple descendents who are McCrimmons (eg. Heather, from the DWA comics) so I'm a bit surprised a son wasn't mentioned.The Glorious Revolution also has at least eight children. I guess some sons could have died and Jamie just isn't mentioning them, or a daughter just passed their maiden name to their child, maybe out of wedllock. Plus he technically could still have more kids I suppose, even at an older age.

"Well, I have a son, a scientist. I named him James." "A-after me?" "I never realised it before, but... well, of course it was after you!"

President Romana is out. President Zoe is in!

"Where do we begin? And don't say Cybermen. I want to forget about the Cybermen." Ouch. Now I'm thinking about The World Shapers.

Again, I like these smooth format transitions.

"Well, whatever this place is, it's restored our memories, for good. I think all we need to do, if we want to come back here, is to close our eyes and remember it." Question answered I guess. Very hand-wavey to be coming out of Zoe, but I'll allow it I guess.

"Maybe we're in heaven." "I hope not, I'm a very busy woman."

"I wonder if [Victoria]'s still out there somewhere?" Ow...

"I hope she had a nice life." "I'm sure she did. I bet she thought of you every single day." Ow...again.

"Because there's one thing I know for sure, I will never, ever forget this again." I hope so, Zoe.

Vengeance on Varos:

Aw, this music introducing Six (if that is Six?) is so sweet!

"The Warrior Queen" so it's that version of Peri? Makes sense I suppose to avoid the extra confusion.

"You got old." "Mm, and bigger. And beardier. Oh time marches on Peri, even for a Time Lord." Hmm, this does imply the Six we see isn't aged due to temporal effects, as in Time Crash, but may have actually aged to this point. Combined with the lack of him wearing his coast, maybe it is the Curator after all? Of course, could be more of an 'imagined' Doctor given the memory TARDIS, but I'm leaning towards all the characters being real.

Ay, Medusa Cascade mention.

"Your story is far from over." "For both of us, Doctor." "Maybe? Maybe." Yep, definitely leaning towards the Curator. This definitely reads to me as the Doctor in some of their final incarnations.

"You've always been here. You never left. The TARDIS never forgets." Again, feels like it's the real TARDIS? Granted Six could be speaking more metaphorically, but still.

"Every night, I would look up at the stars and wonder, which one you were spinning round in the TARDIS and I'd ask myself... 'will I ever see him again?'" Oh no! I thought Peri seemed a bit sad, but was unsure if it was intentional - I thought it might have just been Nicola struggling a bit with doing the accent on screen again. But no, it very much is. She sounds heartbroken on this line. I'm sorry for doubting your acting Nicola!

Ooh, look at that transition again!

Oh, so "Warrior Queen" Peri did make it back to Earth? Cool they're set her up to be here, so she could have Earth-based appearances in the future, but does make me wonder how that overlaps with her other fates. It seems compatible with some of them, but not sure exactly where it sits.

Yrcanos is dead and Peri wants to revisit the memorial (on Krontep presumably) once a year. Apparently this aligns pretty directly with the Season 22 promo, which is great continuity. I guess this implies the Six she was travelling with there wasn't BF!Six, but this older incarnation?

Speaking of which, if he's willing to fly away in this memory TARDIS, once again that seems to suggest the Curator connection, potentially for the TARDIS as well.

The Three Doctors

Now Jo and Clyde!

Jo wrapped in Three's jacket!

I think the sonics, or at least some of them, are just the toys.

In their squabble, Jo mentions she's a great-grandmother now!

"I think they're all here. All of the Doctors. All of the companions."

"Sweet Sarah Jane." 🥺

"I heard, and I'm sorry." Oh... not long after Cliff died then.

"So tell me how you all are: you, Luke, Rani." Ah here's the important stuff!

Luke and Sanjay are in space with UNIT.

Clyde got his comic adaptation! I saw that the movie gets dropped at some point, but now he still gets it as a TV series. That's nice.

Rani's still a journalist. Particularly focused on climate, which Jo loves.

Clyde seems really sad about them all being apart. I guess the Clani will-they-won't-they continues...

No Sky mention... on one hand, makes sense given Jo never knew her, but still a little disappointing, if good for us from a Class: Ongoing writing level. It seems overall RTD is working under the idea that Series 5 was finished, and Sky's 'ascension' in Battle of Bannerman Road happened (hence the 'manifest in human form' thing in Farewell, Sarah Jane).

Obviously it's referencing Hartnell not being present for most of the events, but "2 and a half Doctors" kinda feels like a wink towards Devious.

Aw, Clyde mentioned meeting the Brig to Jo.

"And that's why I'm telling you now, you have got to tell her." "Tell who...what?" "Oh Clyde, don't play games with me."

If you love Rani, you just jolly well go and tell her." AHH!!!

"Oh, stories are important Clyde. We're made of stories, and you're missing the most important one of all."

The ending with Jo holding the Metabelis crystal and seeing Cliff...

The Time Meddler

Steven and Vicki!

They've both got grandkids now.

"And now look - I've got my little sister back!"

They both want to see the Doctor so much...

Pfft, Steven questioning if it's the Doctor's TARDIS because of Six's coat! It's quite a nice choice though, given the episode included featuring the Monk.

Once again, a nice transition with the clock.

The echo of the Monk screaming is a little creepy.

The Monk's dimensional controls! Of course they'd still be in the TARDIS.

"I was an orphan and he became my family. I became the granddaughter he'd lost." Man they're really emphasising the found family here.

"He talked of you for all the time I knew him."

Hmm. "He's probably watching us on some monitor somewhere." then showing the camera view of them, really does make me wonder if a Doctor is in another part of the TARDIS.

"He's as much a part of the TARDIS as this is."

"You know I think of him everyday. I always have. If I could have one wish in all the universe at this moment, it would be to see him again." "Yeah."

Again the ending, with them wishing to see the First Doctor... 🥺

You know the metaphysical emphasis on everything here, kind of makes me think of the metaphysical engine... The dimensions of the TARDIS set are quite similar too.

The Curse of Fenric

Oh I realise that space backgrounds different now. Possible they were changing throughout, but this is the time I've noticed. The animation on the TARDIS seems the same though.

Something very forboding about showing "The History of the Time War", even though it wasn't part of Seven's era. Makes sense though, between his own manipulations and Ace's role in Gallifrey: Time War.

Ace is in her business suit again. Outside of a loose continuity, and building on the leading ACE thing, I'm not sure why they keep going with this.

However, that rainbow badge. I see you Ace.

Ace instinctively putting on the Doctor's hat.

Seven and Ace are so cheerful to see eachother!

"Last time I saw you, you were a hologram. But you're here, you're real!" Nice direct reference to PoTD. So this is afterwards for Ace. Makes sense. The Doctor seemingly acknowledging this however... I would say more Curator proof but...

"You've got old." "Time streams are funny things. In some, I regenerate, in others I don't. It's all a matter of perspective." WAIT WHAT? I guess that seemingly debunks my theory, but this raises a number of questions. So we're in more of a Dark Dimension situation? That being said, the Doctor recognises that it's a "matter of perspective", so is it an older Doctor temporarily in Seven's form? Or an actual alternative timeline Seven? Or the Seven we know, just referring to having aged beyond what he was like during regeneration due to the temporal differential?

Hell, to combine my theory in with this. Is how the Curator's fluid regenerations work? He's shifting between time streams in which past incarnations lived beyond their regeneration?

All this being said. Weirdly fitting to include this here, given Ace's various possible lives.

"This is a memory TARDIS, a special place where old friends come together to share stories, to remember. And to comfront difficult truths..."

Ace doesn't want to talk about Fenric...

"So many lives were ruined." "Others were set in motion." Ah there's the Seven i remember.

"Dangerous undercurrents."

I remain unclear on the current version of Ace's timeline. Apparently when they last parted under bad circumstances (as implied in PotD) he intended to leave her in London, but left her in Ontario instead.

"To be fair, we did have a very busy day, as I remember. Yes. Oh, yes. The Rani was up to her old tricks." Ay, Rani mention. For a sec I thought it was a Dimensions in Time reference.

Ace's voice breaking, talking about her Nan...

"I loved you, you know. Like the Dad I never had. I've never said that before, but I did. I still do."

Seven's reaction as Ace calls him her Dad. You can see him visibly biting his lip 🥺

"And I love you."

Quoting Survival!

I love them both having to jump up to reach the higher controls.

Seven accidentally hurting himself playing the spoons is the perfect way to end.

Overall thoughts

Well this was lovely! I know I shouldn't take it too seriously, as it's just an in character intro to old stories, in the same way I wouldn't take eg. the intro to DotD that seriously, but I do appreciate some of the extra story we get. For a start, Jamie and Zoe gaining their memories back, if it is permanent, is huge! As is Jo encouraging Clyde to speak to Rani.

In general, the continuity difficulties you'll always encounter with these stories with the old companions seem to work out. Again, still not sure what to make of with Ace, at least as someone who very much likes her going to Gallifrey. That being said, they did kind of hint at her Time War history, so who knows?

Obviously the memory TARDIS and the returning classic Doctors are great, but I do remain curious on what they 'mean' in-universe. It definitely feels like something that could be spun out into a greater story.

Overall, very sweet, and very emotionally satisfying, sometimes more than I expected! The emphasis on everyone relationships, the found family of it all, was also brilliant.

The best way I can summarise it is by going back to the first episode and what Five and Tegan say there:

Everyone: Go to therapy. Doctors and Companions: No!!!1 The TARDIS:

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Action #1071 seems to have been delayed a week simply because Amazon didn’t feel like releasing it. USM #10 too but since that leaked elsewhere I was able to read it.

World’s Finest #32 - Maybe I’m less grumpy this time but I enjoyed this part more than the opening. Glad we didn’t drag out Batman and Superman being mind controlled for longer than an issue. Gutiérrez on art remains the star attraction.

Jenny Sparks #3 - Not only does Atom not blow up, he actually wins a fight! Wish he did that more often as a good guy though... I have to admit the whole bit with Superman and Jenny in Iraq went over my head. It sure seemed like a test for Superman despite what Jenny says. Felt like one he failed imo, he saved the Americans from the Iraqis but he won't save the Iraqis from the Americans. This cuts to the core of my qualms about King. I believe he could be one of the greatest Superman writers ever, he’s willing to put Superman in tough moral quandaries in a way that someone like Waid is too chickenshit to do. If he did a Superman run that tackled something like this, that kicked off with Superman as the cowardly hands-off liberal who doesn’t have the balls to get involved, and transformed him into someone willing to fight against America when it is the aggressor/“villain”, then he would go down as the second best Superman writer after Morrison for me. A Superman run that rebukes both Byrne’s super patriot jingoism and Waid’s comfort character nostalgia, a Superman run that actually has something to say? Folks, that is what Superman desperately needs. My fear however, based on what King has said in interviews, is that not only would he not do that, he would try to justify this pathetic hypocrisy that Superman demonstrates here as somehow admirable or heroic.

Wonder Woman #14 - I am happy that Lizzie will at least be a Diana/Steve clay baby, even if I'm not thrilled at Steve getting killed off like that. For those who asked, yes I do think Lizzie seemingly set to be Diana and Steve’s “biological” (for whatever that’s worth when it comes to magical clay babies brought to life) daughter will cement her existence as a permanent addition to the Wonders. King's stilted dialogue hurts my ability to empathize often, but I did love the scene at the end where Diana prays to her mother to bring her own child to life. For some reason that really connected with me. I'm going to guess that it won't be that easy however, and that Emelie's child will still play a role in Lizzie's creation. Perhaps the child is a stillborn and Hippolyta is able to recycle the child's soul into the clay body? Unless that was merely a red herring. I also think Steve won’t stay dead, I can see Lizzie going on a quest to the Underworld to bring him back.

Ultimate Spider-Man #10 - Are Ben and Jonah brain damaged? Do they really think Kingpin is going to be fooled by them going “Haha it wasn't us, it was Ben Reilly not Ben Parker! Why yes Reilly is my late wife's maiden name but that is merely a coincidence :^)”. For their sake I hope this just some legal maneuvering to avoid getting sued, not that suing is the worst thing Kingpin can do to them... Otherwise I love the Ben/Jonah team-up, I can see future adaptions of Spider-Man taking from this even if they don't take anything else from USM. They were so damn funny this issue, especially with how they kept trying Harry's patience. We badly need an MJ/Gwen focused issue, I want to see those two interact next. MJ doesn't consider Gwen a friend yet and I'd like to see those two grow closer the way Peter and Harry have. Speaking of Harry he continues to get dangerously close to crossing the moral line with how he openly states he was considering killing Ben and Jonah if he had to.

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (13/10/24)

It kinda goes unnoticed in the middle of all that stuff there but OPM is back, after 8 months, EIGHT, like time really does just fly Also there's a new serialization by Matsumoto that caught me completely by surprised but was really fun so I'm glad it got a real translation

Green - New series/New to me

Anime

Dragon Ball Daima Ep1

Well that wasn't as bad as I expected. I originally wasn't even gonna be watching this but since Toriyama died I changed my mind. I'll still be as critical of it as I'd be anything else tho. Even more cause I think it shouldn't exist and that they should've adapted the manga arcs that happened after DBS ended instead. Obviously they turned the cast into kids for the same reason they did in GT, so they can market it more easily to younger kids which is just annoying. Hell even the main villain looks one. Still, despite all that I think the show will be good. They always manage to make DB fun at the end of the day so I'll be looking forward to having this around (hopefully) for as long as it ends up being

Blue Box Ep2 - 3

Netflix releasing it like this is so annoying... The premiere was ep 1 for the world but jp got ep 2 too exclusively, so me and others thought the global release would just be 1 ep behind for a while. However the released ep 2 for the rest of the world just 2 days later so it's like, what's the point of doing all that? They're so annoying man. Oh well, anyway that's why there's 2 eps this week. At least we're synched up now so that's nice I guess

About the ep themselves, it's p funny to see this stuff and being like "Oh that happened now what the hell" cause I started it and caught up when it was only in chapter 34 so these early chaps blend together a lot in my brain. It's good to see that they kept up the quality from ep 1 tho, if they can do this for the whole run it'll be a good adaptation and I'm looking forward to see how they do the more intense sports stuff when it comes eventually

Manga

Monochrome Days Ch1

That was a great first chap. I already knew Matsumoto from their art on twitter, they're an incredible artist, but I wasn't sure how they'd do with an actual full release instead of the one shot comics they do on twitter but they nailed it. It did all it needed for a first chap which is introducing the characters, their motivations and the premise of the story. It's another series about making manga, which isn't anything remotely new, but the charas are really likeable (the girl is really cute) so it should be fun. Looking forward to when a romance, inevitably, starts blooming between them lol

Akane-banashi Ch130

I never saw this coming. Like I figured master was gonna be out of commission for a while, putting Akane learning The Story on hold for an underteminate time. But the school getting shut down (cause of his condition) and Akane getting picked up into the school of the man she's trying to "beat" is something I would've never thought of. Really looking forward to see how this develops next week. Akane has always been good but we've gotten used to how it structures the story and arcs so having such a huge and unexpected shake up is great, and the timing was perfect too. This is exactly why it's my favourite series in the magazine currently 🙏

[cadrenebula]

Prompt #27: Sole

It was just another day for this small portion of the Troupe. Just Ely, Fen, Aryn, and Ronove in Ely's apartment. Just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Well mostly relaxing.

"Well, it's o-fish-ial," Ely crows from where she's curled into the corner of her sofa, the fire crackling merrily in the hearth. The rain beats down on the window panes and the troupe group had gathered in Ely's apartment to exist quietly with one another. "Fangs, you're formally a fin-tastic fish father." She looks smug.

Fen, reading a book on the other sofa, sighs fondly.

Aryn is groaning from where he sits near Fen drinking a cup of tea. "Seems a bit fishy to me."

"You betta believe it." Ronove smirks as he messes with his fishing kit he'd bought recently. It was better then the basic one he had started with. An his new friend was planning to teach him to make food for his fishy friends. "I dislike anchovies though, they're a little fishy."

"Maybe think about tackling jellyfish next?" Ely hums thoughtfully, "We wouldn't want them to get jelly!" She pauses at beat and then adds, seriously, "And some of them are bioluminescent, which might be pretty at night. We do like sparkly things here."

"Perch-ance," Fen pipes up, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he stares, stubbornly, at his book, "would it have krill-ed you to not start a pun war Darling?"

"Excuse you! I have no ink-ling of what you mean Fen! My puns are ex-squid-ite." Ely pouts at him.

"It's de-beta-bowl how skilled her puns are tonight." Aryn smirked as he sipped at his tea. "She takes every oppor-tuna-ty she can get."

"Needs more e-fish-ency. I'm going to need a minute to mullet over." Ronove was doing his best not to crack up laughing as he closed the fishing kit.

"Wow! Re-puffed by my own family. I sea how it is…" Ely pouts theatrically. "It would be shell-fish of me not to share in my gill-orious puns." She sniffs, "It's not my fault you two are all crabby."

"I'm not crabby at all. I'm scaling back on my puns for your sake. Some of your puns can be rather a-trout-cious." Aryn giggles as he makes sure he doesn't spill his tea.

"Don’t try to gill-t trip me." Ronove snorts as he grins with fangs on display. "Maybe you just need some more vitamin sea, Ely."

Ely makes a deeply offended noise, "I can't believe you're trouting my talent! The of-fin-se! I've obviously got you hooked on fishy puns now."

"Now, now. You're just trying to take advantage of every oppor-tuna-ty." Aryn waves a hand in a comforting motion towards Ely. "We can't help that it's just very catchy."

"I think she's the jelly one that we're catching on just for the halibut." Ronove smirks as he thinks. He was definitely feeling like this was something he would have done in his mortal life. Just having fun with puns. "I'll just throw her some hooks so she can stop floundering."

Ely glares at them, "You two think you're so so-fish-ticated, huh? I'll make you feel my wrasse, wait and sea, just when you least expect it."

"These puns are kraken me up," Fen says, absolutely deadpan, "The conversation is a bit lost at sea but at least you're pretty con-fin-dent in your improvisation skrills. Very oar-ganized too."

"Oh dear… She might be the sole survivor at this rate. We're sunk." Aryn laughs merrily. "If we live, we're going to need a minute to mullet over."

"We're not royally scrod yet. This is not the last craw. No surrender!" Ronove thrusts a fist into the air comically. "We'll snapper out of it before long. Because we're not fin-ished yet!"

"How gill-ant of you." Ely sniffs, "You're krill-ly a dab hand at this." A impish smile steals over her lips, "I guess you're just full of carp, huh?"

Aryn was glad he'd set his cup down. He couldn't resist laughing hard now. Waving a white handkerchief in the air as he laid there laughing. Clearly he was calling it quits.

"Oh, for heavens hake! He's drowning now. He's such a Paci-fish-t he couldn't handle it anymore. Done in by the squidding around we're doing. Should we have mercy on him or make him walk the plankton?" Ronove reaches over to poke Aryn's side as the viera is too busy laughing.

"Hmmmm…" Ely taps her chin thoughtfully, "I think we should be ab-sole-lutely sure he's really schooled, you know? We're piranha roll now and we should make sure he's not just playing koi. Make sure he's not throwing us a red herring."

"I think we've reached the fin-ale." Ronove smirking at Aryn laying there holding his sides. "He definitely seems fin-ished. And I think I've clownfished enough that I'm running out of puns myself. I'm out of practice."

Ely pouts, "I see how it is! Now that I've mussel-ed up and you two can no longer bubble-team me you've decided to shrimp out…"

Ronove chuckles and shrugs. "You win this round? I'll prepare better for the next round and then we'll see what you're aboat."

Ely sighs and tips side ways, like a maiden in a Thorne Period novel, "I guesssssss."

"You three are ab-sole-lutely hilarious." Fen hums, lips quirking in amusement, "I had a whale of a time, though I thought I might have to coral you a few times, but you stayed octo-mistic about your abilities and powered through to the fin-ish. I'm very proud of you."

Ronove snorts before sticking his tongue out at Ely and Fen both. "Apparently Fen just had to fin-ish us off. Hook, line, and sinker. I think I need more tea now."

[fictionkinfessions]

[Fandom this post is about: «“Persona 5”» / «“Persona 5 ROYAL”»]

[CW: Swearing, Shido mention, Kamoshida mention, caps on some parts.. probably some more stuff but I have no idea as to what they are. Neglect and being an outcast, I guess??]

[WARNING: This post (probably) contains some light spoilers for «“Persona 5 ROYAL”», please read at your own risk!]

❂——✧——✧——✧——✧——✧——✧——✧——❂

Canon style : I guess the being somewhat blind and having the same thing on for like half of the day at minimum carried on to this life 😞 unfortunately for me, I still have to wear glasses, but at least I still have my ス(←su)タ(←ta)イ(←i)ル(←ru)！！(Translation: Style) (Apparently knowing japanese partially carried on to here, too..)

❂——✧——✧——✧——✧——✧——✧——✧——❂

Opinion differences: Honestly, back then I didn't really mind how my parents literally just sent me off somewhere where I didn't know anyone and with a guy I didn't even know either, how much people talked about me at school or how teachers seemed to irrationally hate me, I kinda thought I may have deserved it in a way, I guess? And I don't really blame anyone for being wary of me, cause all they knew was that I had assault charges, but come on.. "they say he carries a knife, gets into fights, and KRILLED someone!!1!11!" WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?? I swear, people made CRAZY rumors about anyone back then..

On a more serious note of what I think about it now, I'm really just realizing how utterly awful all of that was, and it's maddening, in a way. Was it really so bad to help someone who was gonna get harmed by some twisted asshole? Maybe said guy was asking for me to “““hit him””” by being a whiny bitch?? Sorry for my language, but like.. I DIDN'T EVEN PUSH HIM SO HARD?? Man must have been a theater kid or a football player in the past because he was SO SO dramatic.. and Kamoshida.. gosh, that guy was SOOOOO entitled, and he hated me just because I existed. God forbid someone comits the ATROCIOUS crime of being in the presence of the “““““allmighty Kamoshida””””” 😒 so glad Ann and Ryuji got to show that thing the meaning of karma, though!! Deserved, truly.

Although, all of this makes me wonder what would have happened had I not met Ryuji on my first day at Shujin.. best not to think about it too hard, but I really want him to know I appreciate him a LOT. Most of the stuff that happened in my canon and source canon were because of him (in a good way), so he better not just be generic comic relief #11037 to everyone else :( Most of the time I never understood what Morgana's beef with him was, though.. psst psst, if either of them is seeing this.. pls tell me, I need to know why you two were constantly getting on eachother's nerves in the span of 2 seconds 😕

— #❂🥞🐈‍⬛✮ (✧Ren Amamiya✧ | ❂Akira Kurusu❂ | ♧“Joker”♤ fictive + fictionkin)

(I love organizing and decorating stuff like texts with symbols or stuff like that even if it's not necessary so so much.. it's a need for me atp.. kinda wish I was this way with school too 😞💔)

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