#I'm watching 12 Monkeys

[wednesdaythesecond]

Surly middle aged man with issues my beloved

[olehoncho]

How I would fix Dr Who (revisited)

While I am sure there are folks that love the Doctor Who show and the direction it has taken under Chibnal, I know there are others who are not satisfied with certain developments. Ever since the end of Matt Smith's run there have been issues with the continuity of the series: - The expansion of The Doctor's regenerations was first explained via a "time lord energy infusion" in Town of Christmas, but was later revealed to be an aspect of the Timeless Child. - The swapping of sex/gender was first done with the Master and later explored with the Doctor. - Letting go of a Time Lord's power was explored in Human Nature and later in Uptopia, but revisited as being a "female presenting" quality later. - The Bi-Generation creating two time lords.

A lot of this new canon has been... not easy to absorb. And I'm not going to say there's any connection to ratings or audience scores, but as someone who is more interested in the science fiction aspect of the show, I think there is enough of the new canon to play with to fit in with the long-running series canon.

Make The Doctor a distinct being separate from The Timeless Child. - This is the main one, and could be done a couple of different ways. My previous theory was to make The Timeless Child the Time Vortex at the heart of the TARDIS (which explains why it is different from other TARDIS). This would explain the leeching of memories and power to other individuals as well. - Another way to do this would be to have The Doctor either be a bi-generation from The Timeless Child, or perhaps be the son of The Timeless Child who inherited some memories. There are options.

Restore the Regeneration Limit and explain how it was bypassed. - The previous explanation is that The Doctor is the first Time Lord and therefore has endless regenerations. This never felt right. The Doctor being a Time Lord whose uniqueness comes from their decisions, the promise to be "The Doctor" rather than their particular history is the key to the character. - You could do another bi-generation backstory into The Doctor's past, and that part of The Doctor has been dormant, sleeping aboard the TARDIS for near a thousand years (my personal choice would be the regeneration from 2nd to 3rd Doctor). - Then you would have to explain that The Doctor who has been adventuring has been part of The Doctor, but a being who got mixed up with The Timeless Child and is therefore confused. Then explain that the reason for the regeneration limit being bypassed is because of the TARDIS - so many Doctors regenerate in the TARDIS and this is shown to have led to many explosions of energy which were not present in earlier regenerations because this version of The Doctor is growing unstable. - Time Lords are not meant to live more than 12 regenerations, because the energy in their bodies becomes more than they can handle, like a dying star they either go supernova or become dwarf stars.

Kill off the current version of The Doctor and bring in "The Original" - This could be a series-long arc involving The Valeyard - with the "current Doctor" being the Valeyard and "The Original" questing to stop them, but would end up with The Doctor dying and creating their grave on Trenzalore that is eventually visited by 11 and Clara. - The "original" Doctor would then continue the adventures, absorbing all the memories of their alternate selves - and resume the regeneration limit from 3 (a new 3, not Pertwee) and then regenerating into 4.

Anyways, that's how I'd rework Doctor Who if it was up to me. But it's not, so whatever.

[frankensteined]

well well well, look who's come crawling back (says 12 monkeys the series, to me)

[queen-scribbles]

Devastating that both LOTRO and SWtOR are down for maintenance today :')

[syoish]

I'm sorry to everyone who knows me, I think I'm about to revert back to my 12 year old self and be really into one piece again

[ettadunham]

there's a scene in s1 of dark where elisabeth calls out her mom for stealing the wildlife camera's memory card, and it's absolutely insane with context

[winchestersheaven]

i love how i always get so delighted when asshole characters are funny while being assholes xD

[babaroqa]

i loved the devil’s hour, it has the same creepy vibes as dark and i really really loved isaac and lucy’s relationship and i hope we’ll see more of him in season 2 because he’s so precious

[amberautumnfaebrooke]

i think i could design a better death arena for children than those hunger games amateurs.

the whole premise of the games is all pageantry. every year you get a crop of 24 candidates around whom the entire state media apparatus dedicates an entire year to building celebrity narratives. this candidate is the younger sibling of last year's winner - these candidates are young lovers forced to compete - he's smart - she's fast - root for them, care about them, watch them, form opinions on them, bet on them. and then they stick them all in an arena to kill each other, which is a great entertainment premise, except that they make the arenas themselves really boring and generic. ooo, they're in...a forest.

it's not even an interestingly designed forest. imagine if the game designers treated their arena like an actual video game designer treats level design. discrete zones with multiple paths between each room, creative use of lighting to guide players to points of interest, points of interest scattered across the map, discoverable resources hidden to encourage exploration. instead they just have a generic outdoors location and if you get too close to the edge they throw a random fireball at you.

the 75th games are especially bad about this. the arena is laid out radially into 12 wedges, and each hour one wedge becomes especially dangerous in a 12-hour loop. as a mechanic, this is genius. it forces everyone to keep moving, making "survival by hiding" an engaging and tense viewing experience instead of someone sitting in a tree for three days. plus, it encourages players to return to the center of the arena, where travel time between wedges is short, which creates a high-value zone for players to regularly return to and conflict over. in other words, it's a mechanic which incentives players to adopt dramatic, dynamic, exciting behaviors which are entertaining to watch (not to mention it communicates geography to the audience well). but it only incentives those behaviors if the players understand what's happening, and they go out of their way not to tell the players anything! when they figure out what's going on, the showrunners spin the arena to disorient the players, like they're intentionally trying to get them to just. randomly wander the jungle instead.

this isn't even to mention how often they create undramatic, boring deaths. they plant poison berries around the arena. they supply no fresh water and no way to get it. they roll poison clouds over sleeping victims. these happen to work out in the books themselves but you have to imagine that extremely often these just result in players dying unexciting deaths.

the cardinal sin though, of course, is that nothing is done to personalize the arena for the crop of contestants that year. if i'm designing the 75th hunger games and two of my most beloved contestants famously had to cancel their wedding because of a return to the games, i would OBVIOUSLY give them a trail of, i don't know, wild game which conveniently leads directly past a well defended wedding chapel. will they hole up there for a while? hold a mock ceremony for themselves? do or receive ironic violence here? stare wistfully and move on? any of it is better television than getting attacked by generic attack monkeys. you should have a dozen of these things on the map for every single candidate. but the game makers are more interested in doing the same thing every other game has done than in telling a compelling story.

it makes me second guess enjoying the children's murder arenas at all.

[py-dreamer]

Macaque is big spoon

Lol the old men be snoozin and snugglin

(I was about to say sleeping but my mind is too dirty for that unfortunately-)

Y'wanna know why he big spoon?

The sun and moon thingy they have going on and...

Ehh, ehh? Y'see what I did there?

I hate fabric so god damn much.

WHY CAN'T YOU BEHAVE AND STAY STILL GODDAMN.

WHY MUST YOU CREASE AND HAVE LAYERS?!!? WHY CAN'T YOU BE SIMPLE AND FLAT

SAME WITH MACACA'S FUR.

WHY ARE YOU BLACK?!! HOW DO I RENDER YOU

TO QUOTE MY PAST SELF: "his true evil power is how hard he can be to draw"

LIKE MY DUDE. HOWWWWW.

Regardless, I'm still really happy with how the drawing came out like the lighting and stuff (just don't look at the fabric-)

Wukong couldn't give less than a flying f*ck if his pajamas matched. Like he's at home, let him be as much of a fashion disaster as he wants!

Heck, back in his day, he was prancing with a leaf skirt and that was acceptable, let the monkey be damnit.

But he would own something very funky like those peach shorts but specifically wear them on break days or in private

(Mac definitely made an inappropriate joke bout it; he has a mark you could read the king's fortune off of, on his right cheek-)

Mac loves his clouds cloudy king so sure, slap them on his pants I think he'd have those long fluffy or silky pajama pants and he like has a couple he switches out for every now and them.

Wukong struck me as a big shirt, short shorts guy

and Mac'doodles as a small shirt, big pants

On a more angsty note, after death I think he'd be a lot colder like its harder to generate body heat naturally so he'd be a lot more cuddly with his toasted marshmallow king cause he was literally toasty fried for 49 days in heaven (49 earth years if 1 year in heaven is a year belief is true)

I was really debating if they'd be in a tree like normal monkeys or in the stone palace cause like that's a whole thing.

Wukong is not only a king in name, he's got riches and a whole ass stone mansion, I want my boi to one day overcome his guilt and indesire for self care and move into the big boi house with his husbando...one day.

But until then, a girl can dream.

Cause come on, that'd be cool. I understand it'd feel real lonely without the stalwart generals and brotherhood but like he has new company and rekindling with his warrior might help with that.

I also think they'd rather sleep in a cozy lil alclove or like the beds in historical c-dramas that are kinda built in and they build a mini nest of sorts.

I was going to draw the monkeys but tbh, just wasn't feelin it...

Also wanted their tails to make a heart but the lil pointy bit always bugs me so I tried to make it into a more plausible scenario

And irl updates, I have been like formally rehearsing for a performance all week (as in a play) and practicing all day, just watched the 1st cast do it and its my turn tomorrow so wish me luck!

(btw I'm working with young kids, like 8-12 young and they all congregated around me when they saw me drawing like I was a glorified babysitter

And the amount of times I had to put the message on Mac's shirt on a different layer and hide it like bruh. The kids are lovely and all and I'd be happy to show my work but as you can see...not all of my works are...100% PG)

(pls reblog and feedback and stuff, I worked hard on this plss I beg...)

[terapsina]

Now that the writers and actors strike is about to begin being felt (and as we wait for those greedy billion dollar companies who are refusing to negotiate fair pay and conditions to give up) here's 10 of my favorite (all around best) fully finished older series you should definitely check out if you haven't watched.

I mean it, these are the shows with continuously great writing and a satisfying endings that manage to actually deliver on their promises.

-----

1. Leverage - (containing 5 seasons, or 77 episodes) - trailer here.

Hitter, Hacker, Grifter, Thief and Mastermind. Heists and cons. Stealing from the rich and giving to their victims. They provide... leverage.

Meant for anyone who enjoys bad guys being the best good guys, who will burn down the lives of evil CEOs and then gloat in the background. Very satisfying.

Hands down the best example of a found family trope I've ever seen on screen. Barring none.

2. Killjoys - (containing 5 seasons, or 50 episodes) - trailer here.

Space Bounty Hunters. Another case of found family trope. Bisexual space princess assassin. Quippy sentient ship. Green alien goo. Evil lesbians (but like... in a good way). The warrant is all.

More seriously though, it's a story about three killjoys and the bounties they go after. Initially. And then they have to save the entire Quad from some very terrifying... stuff.

Contains one of the best friendships I've ever seen on television.

3. Orphan Black - (containing 5 seasons, or 50 episodes) - trailer here.

Found family trope but with clones.

Low level grifter sees a woman who looks exactly like her kill herself and plans to take over her identity long enough to cash out. Except then there's two other women who also look exactly like her. And apparently they're all clones and someone's killing them.

Enter a global conspiracy. Human experimentation. Lots of clone shenanigans. Some serial killings. And a few murders 💖.

4. Person of Interest - (containing 5 seasons, or 103 episodes) - trailer here.

Okay I'm beginning to see how I might have a found family trope issue.

Former CIA agent gets recruited by a reclusive billionaire computer programmer who developed a... machine that can predict acts of terror before they happen. But it also predicts 'irrelevant' acts of violence that will result in someone's death.

Unless someone interferes.

I'd really like to spoil some stuff to get you all to watch this one. But I'm going to maintain self control and just mention that early on they get a dog named Bear. Bear is a very good boy. Watch it for Bear.

Also for excellent commentary on rights of privacy, government surveillance and what does 'greater good' even mean? But mostly Bear.

5. 12 Monkeys - (containing 4 seasons, or 47 episodes) - trailer here.

The very best time travel show out there. What starts out as a confusing mess of causality basically exploding, by the end of the series all makes complete and total sense.

(when that final timey-whimey loop slid into place and revealed the entire pattern it was like a choir of angels started singing in the back of my head. It was freaking glorious).

Anyway, a man from a post apocalyptic future travels into the past to stop a plague from decimating nearly the entire world population.

He has the name of the man who released the virus and it's supposed to be a single trip. One trip. One bullet. Simple. Done.

Except then things keep escalating, and escalating until time begins eating its own tail and it might start looking like the end of the world might be a better ending than erasing all of time and space from reality.

Because when our guys screw it up, they screw it up GOOD.

And oh yeah... found family.

6. The Good Place - (containing 4 seasons, or 53 episodes) - trailer here.

A self-proclaimed Arizona dirtbag opens her eyes and finds out that she's dead and got accepted in the Good Place. Except that as soon as she arrives the Good Place starts glitching, and she really, REALLY needs to become a better person before she can be found out and kicked out to the Bad Place.

Luckily her assigned soulmate was a professor of ethics and moral philosophy.

One of the funniest, most thoughtful and clever comedies I've ever watched. Ever. The characters are delightful and by the time the final minute rolled around I had sobbed my heart out multiple times (which, as we all know, is a sign of the very best comedies out there).

As for the question of whether or not this too contains Found Fami- Yes! Obviously, yes.

7. Avatar: the Last Airbender - (containing 3 seasons, or 61 episodes) - intro here (couldn't locate the trailer but it's basically the same thing in this case).

The four nations lived in harmony. Until the Fire Nation attacked.

It's been a hundred years since the beginning of the war when two kids from the Southern Water Tribe find a boy frozen in ice and wake him up. A boy who's able to bend all four elements... though not very well.

Enter multi-nation flying road trip (thank you Appa, we love you most of all) as they try to find teachers for the Avatar and save the world.

Includes found family (shut up), amazing fight scenes, the most heartfelt and vivid characters ever, and the best example of a redemption arc actually done well.

8. Love Between Fairy and Devil - (containing 1 season, or 36 episodes) - trailer here.

This one gutted me. I'm saying this as a compliment. But it had to be said. Completely destroyed me. I just haven't been the same.

A love story between an Orchid Fairy and the leader of the Moon Tribe that starts out with her accidentally releasing him from millennia long imprisonment and then takes you through the caleidoscope of all possible human emotions (it's a body-swap comedy through the first part, then a romcom, then a dramatic romantic tale, and finally a tragic love story).

But it's such a satisfying slow burn.

And it carries this... humanity through the whole thing that makes it so visceral.

If you're a romantic who's very tired of instalove and characters dropping all their morals because 'ooh, attractive person' then you've got to watch this. Because this story does NOT take the easy road there.

(my more extensive rec for this series can be found here)

9. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - (containing 7 seasons, or 133 episodes) - fanmade trailer here (it was better than any of the official ones).

This series did so much. Introduced Ahsoka Tano, and made us love her. Gave names and faces and souls to the Clone Troopers (okay, it's the same face but you know what I mean), to a point where their endings during Order 66 destroyed me just as much as the ending of the Jedi Order. And somehow made me both love Anakin AND be a million times more angry with him.

There are some arcs in this series that might be a bit weaker. But there were some... god, there's a reason I love Clone Wars more than any other series or trilogy in this universe. And I'm not even a little ashamed to say it.

Must watch for Disaster Lineage shenanigans; for the vod'e; AND for the Jedi (who did their best okay? They always did their best 😭💔).

(and on the subject of found family... do I even need to comment)

10. Nikita - (containing 4 seasons, or 73 episodes) - trailer here.

A rogue assassin that escaped Division - covert government agency that takes recruits out of prison, fakes their deaths and then forces them to become spies and assassins - has come back to take it down. Brick by brick if she has to. With guns and explosives too when that works better.

Contains soooo many cool fight scenes. Is full of incredible characters you'll fall in love with (and hate with) very quickly. And most of all has an incredibly complex relationship of mentorship and friendship between two women that holds both great admiration and betrayal, real care and love as well as rage and hatred, forgiveness, mutual respect and an unbreakable kind of bond that so very rarely involves even one female character on TV, let alone two.

(as usual, found family tropes up the wazzoo).

-----

In conclusion. We all know there's going to be a large space between seasons of our favorite shows now (and some shows that aren't going to survive it). Let's fill that space with some excellent TV we haven't had a chance to see yet.

And direct the blame for the wait towards the right place (i.e. the studios).

[iam-egg-hst]

Being fixated on a literal monkey and monster high at the same time is a fucking whiplash ____ This guy is canonically below 4 feet tall but everyone draws him like he's 6'2(Ignore that I also did), I'm only on chapter 12 or 13 of his story so idk if he just gets a height change or everyone just agrees that he'd make himself permanently taller with the whole transformation power he has. I couldn't decide on what color Sun Wukong's fur is supposed to be because whenever I look up ancient art of him or fanart it's always either ginger, yellow, brown, or even some rare cases white/gray, so I just kinda stuck with brown bc the 'Monkey King: Reborn' movie has him with brown fur and I've been watching it non-stop like a fucking idiot.

Then this second picture is where I got his outfit(fuck if I know what's going on with it but I love it) and for the life of me I couldn't draw the pointed shoes so I gave up. I found the image off of scarletexorcist.wordpress but it's in a different language and i don't trust google translate so I don't really know who made it. All I know is that the art is old as fuck ___________ Also PLEASE someone for the love of god draw 'Monkey King:Reborn' fanart there is NOTHING but a white haired Hatsune Miku(not joking) and someone's literal snapchat avatar(not joking either) kissing Sun Wukong AND I CAN'T TAKE IT! PLEA- 🍑🐒 _____

[batbabydamian]

Hey, I started reading Robin son of Batman because of your recommendation (I literally have a print of your post on my phone to not forget lol). Honestly? One of the best things I ever read!!!

Thank you for opening my eyes! Damian has been one of my favorite characters for over a year, but I didn't read/watch much of him because of school, life (and probably an executive dysfunction in the mix).

Maya is incredible. I loved her.

I haven't finished all the issues yet, but do you have any other recommendations?

WAH this makes me so happy, i'm glad you still gave it a shot even with how busy life is!! ;v;

i’d love to give reccs, and i’ll try to go a beginner friendly route! tbh you can pick up whatever here, but since you've read R:SOB i’d immediately follow up with Batman and Robin (2011) #1-8! this first arc is what’s referred to in Maya’s introduction, and it's just. so good.

Main Books

Batman and Robin (2009)

Dick as Batman with Damian as his Robin!

#20-22 Tree of Blood: Dark Knight vs White Knight arc is done by Tomasi and Gleason, the team for the next Batman and Robin series

*Batman and Robin (2011)

Bruce and Damian figuring out their relationship as both Batman & Robin and father & son

imo you can enjoy the ride and read straight through this but i’ll add context to avoid as much confusion as possible since there’s the occasional tie-in or offscreen events, like Damian’s death nbd

Batman Incorporated (2012) #1-10

events leading to Damian's death - affects Batman and Robin (2011) from issue #18

kind of a tough read especially with how Talia's written, but a lot of iconic bits like Batcow, Damian's vegetarian declaration, Alfred the cat, "We Were the Best, Richard."

Robin (2021)

another self-discovery adventure, particularly after Alfred’s death and a fallout with Bruce (and questionable writing choices from his last Teen Titans run)

Batman and Robin (2023)

currently ongoing! after a number of events, Bruce and Damian are back as a duo

Damian Dynamics!

Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009) #7, 10-12

arc where Damian meets one of his first Gotham friends, Colin Wilkes

Batgirl (2009) #5-7, #17

Steph and Damian dynamic! "the bad cop, worse cop" dysfunctional duo

Red Robin (2009) #13-14

early Tim and Damian dynamic that of course includes fighting haha. funny enough, accidentally my first intro to Damian LOL

Teen Titans (2003) #89-92

Dick!Batman has Damian join the Teen Titans. Start of Damian and Rose Wilson dynamic that’s extended in Robin (2021)

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011)

Damian meets Cass and has a brief team up

Gotham Academy (2015) #7

Damian meets Maps Mizoguchi! they have a few other meetings, but outside of that the series itself is a great read!

Robin War Event (2015)

Robin War (2015) #1, Grayson (2014) #15, Detective Comics (2011) #47, We Are Robin (2015) #7, Robin: Son of Batman (2015) #7, Robin War (2015) #2

Duke and Damian dynamic! not exactly beginner friendly but these are the main issues in order for the event! you can also read the TPB version for everything including Tie-Ins

Nightwing (2016) #16-20, #42, #43

#16-20 Nightwing and Robin arc!

#42 Dick on a mission to save Damian! the one appearance of "Wiggles" the dragon

#43 Dick, Roy, and Damian team-up

New Talent Showcase 2018 "Catwoman: Pedigree"

Selina, Damian, and Alfred the cat

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra's Al Ghul (2018)

Selina, Damian, and Cheese Viking - Damian's fav game shown in Nightwing: Rebirth (2016)

Monkey Prince (2022) #1-4

Marcus Sun Shugel-Shen's main comic, but Damian features as a fun dynamic here before they're in more serious circumstances in Batman VS Robin (2022)/Lazarus Planet event

Superman (2016) #10 - 11

the beginning of the Super Sons! featuring Maya!

Super Sons (2017)

solitary arcs but there’s a few event tie-in issues later

Adventures of the Super Sons (2018)

literally more Super Sons adventures lol galactic shenanigans yeehaw

Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) 

Super Sons time shenanigans feat. the Justice League

Robin 80th Anniversary (2020)

"Boy Wonders" - brief Damian feature as Tim considers his next step in life

"My Best Friend" - Jon's thoughts on Damian and their dynamic

"Bat and Mouse" - refers to Damian's unfortunate Teen Titans (2016) run at the time of release which follows up with Teen Titans Annual #2 where Damian briefly gives up Robin

Extra Comics!

Superman/Batman (2003) #77

Kara and Damian in a Halloween team-up! also the appearance of "Li'l Matches" lol

DCU Halloween Special '09 "Cavity Search"

Damian out on a solo mission for Halloween night. Immediately after is Tim's Red Robin story "Then and Now: Our Father's Sins" which is more somber in contrast but also a good read!

DCU Halloween Special 2010 "Robin the Vampire Slayer"

a Dick!Batman and Robin story featuring the vampire Andrew Bennett

Cursed Comics Cavalcade (2018) "The Devil You Know"

Halloween themed comic with a sweet short story of Damian alongside Solomon Grundy

DC's Terrors Through Time (2022)

"Trick or Treat" a Super Sons Halloween story

"The Haunting of Wayne Manor" Damian and Deadman story - in the end, Boston kinda refers to Nezha's possession of Damian in Batman VS Robin (2022) which was happening at the time of this release

Batman: Li'l Gotham (2013)

lighthearted series that instantly makes me smile with the silliness and Dustin Nguyen’s art i love this dearly

Secret Origins (2014) #4 "A Boy's Life"

a retelling of Damian's origin story

Detective Comics (2016) #1001-1005

Batman and Robin vs the Arkham Knight (unrelated to the game)

Truth & Justice (2021) #6/#16 - 18 Digital First version

cute story of Damian’s birthday! Juni Ba’s art is so fun!!

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021) “Special Delivery”

short story about Damian! and poisoned pizzas. completely forgot the artist Sami Basri drew Rebirth Damian here before catboy Damian lol Cass’s story “Sounds” is also cute! Marcus makes his first appearance in "The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes"

DC VS Vampires (2021)

Damian makes appearances throughout this elseworlds book, but the one-shot DC VS Vampires: Hunters (2022) is vampire Damian-centric!

Batman: Black and White (2021) #5

“Father & Son Outing” short story written and drawn by Jorge Jimenez!

Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #20-23

#20 “My Son” Talia and Bruce focus

#20 - 23 “The Murder Club” 4 Parts

Tiny Titans (2008) #33, #39, #45, #47

a few appearances but SO CUTE, LOOK AT HIM

*Batman and Robin (2011) reading guide

i'm mostly trying to avoid the "what did i just walk in on?" kinda feeling when i first started reading comics LOL i'll list the comics where events take place, but you don't necessarily have to read them to go through this book since things are usually explained as quickly as possible in the first page or so

#0 Someday Never Comes

Talia and baby Damian before he grows up to meet Bruce

#1-8 Born to Kill

just an incredibly solid arc for Bruce and Damian!

#9 Court of Owls Tie-In Issue

Damian VS a Court of Owls Talon. While Bruce is occupied with a home invasion of Talons, Alfred makes a call for allies to protect targeted Gotham public figures from Talons. During Batman (2011) #1-11

#10-12 Terminus

Damian challenges the previous Robins sans Steph

Batman Incorporated (2012) is occurring at this time where Talia has placed a bounty on Damian and there's small mentions of that

#13-14 Eclipsed/Devoured

mostly solitary arc! end of it leads into the Death of the Family event

#15-16 Death of the Family Tie-In Issues

Damian and Joker face-off... Alfred's been kidnapped by the Joker, and Damian goes looking for him. During Batman (2011) #13-17

#17 Life is but a Dream - Death of the Family Epilogue

a sort of subconscious check-in through the dreams of Damian, Alfred, and Bruce. Nightwing (2011) #17 features Damian encouraging Dick after Death of the Family events

#18 Undone "Requiem"

Bruce dealing with Damian's death from Batman Incorporated #8

other reactions to Damian's death: Dick in Nightwing (2011) #18, Tim in Teen Titans (2011) #18

#19-23 Denial, Rage, The Bargain, Despair, Acceptance

Bruce through the stages of grief with some batfam appearances in each. also introduces Carrie Kelley into continuity as Damian's acting tutor.

Batman (2011) #19-20 also addresses Bruce's loss

#23.1-23.4

these could be skipped - villain stories, also related to Forever Evil event.

#24-28 The Big Burn

optional Batman and Two-Face/Harvey Dent arc, #23.1 is part of this story!

Damian's resurrection and return

#29-32 The Hunt for Robin

Ras took Talia and Damian's bodies from their graves, and Bruce goes after him.

-> Robin Rises: Omega

continues events from #32. if you don't want to jump to this, basically, Glorious Godfrey and a bunch of parademons from Apokolips are here for a chaos shard which Ra's put in Damian's sarcophagus. at some point, Bruce gets a hold of the shard where he sees a vision that leads him to believe Damian can be resurrected. Godfrey ends up taking the shard, along with Damian's body since it was emitting the same energy.

#33-37 Robin Rises

Bruce hellbent on retrieving Damian from Apokolips and reviving him

-> Robin Rises: Alpha

necessary to read and continues events from #37! Damian's back with a bang lol

#38-40 Superpower

Damian adjusting to having superpowers and being alive again

Annual #1 2013 Batman Impossible

sweet (and funny) one-shot of Damian sending Bruce on a meaningful scavenger hunt around the world while Damian gets to be the cutest Batman for a bit

Annual #2 2014 Batman and Robin: Week One

one-shot takes place during Damian's absence. after Bruce and Alfred find a mystery gift left for Dick, Dick recounts a story he had told Damian from his Robin days.

Annual #3 2015 Moonshot

one-shot Batman and Robin adventure on the moon!

...and of course after Batman and Robin (2011), Damian's story continues in his first solo Robin: Son of Batman (2015)!

[iambicpentameterhamster]

Every umbrella academy character ranked (seasons 1-4)

After that shitshow of a fourth season, i felt it necessary to redo this.

#36 -The Sparrows (Jayme, Alphonso, Fae etc.)

The show had no clue what to do with these characters. They sit around being evil for a little while only to promptly die within four episodes. Also one of them is a fucking cube?!? Whats up with that?

#35 - Sloane

How come she disappears in season 4 but not sparrow Ben? So much of this makes no sense.

#34 -Sparrow Ben

I hate this character with my whole being. He goes around calling people emo as if HE DOESNT WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITH A SCOWL ON HIS STUPID FACE AND EMO HAIR ON HIS STUPID FOREHEAD. He's so rude and awful and i'm given no reason by the show to give a shit where he ends up.

#33 -Carl Cooper

This one speaks for itself.

#32 -Reggie's wife

The two of them annoyed me so much.

#31 -Viktor

Moochy emo sod. Elliott Page's acting got progressively worse throughout the series (and i like Elliott Page, but this wasnt his best work.)- season 1 Vanya was tolerable, beyond that i couldn't stand this character. All his jokes land flat and he has the charisma of a piece of cardboard.

#30 -Season 4 Five

For the sake of this ranking, i am treating seasons 1-3 Five and season 4 Five as seperate characters. Seems like the writers were doing the same. What the fuck, guys? How do you bulldoze a character this badly?

Season 4 Five was unfunny, selfish, cowardly, and most of all on a different plane of being from the Five we all knew and loved. Screw you, season 4 Five, you're not canon.

#29 -Season 4 Lila

I'm treating Lila the same way. Season 4 Lila was an injustice to seasons 2-3 Lila.

#28 -Harlan

Couldn't care less about him. He represents to me when the umbrella academy started going to shit in season 3.

#27 -Jennifer

Again, we are given no reason to care about her.

#26 -Pogo

He was just there for the exposition. They never explained why Reggie was doing experiments on monkeys??

#25 -Reggie

He was quite a good villain but i still hate him. Really goofy at times, too.

#24 -Jean and Gene

They were quite good actually. If season 4 wasn't a dumpster fire, i reckon they'd have been able to really shine.

#23 -Cha Cha

This is getting into better territory. I liked Cha Cha, she was badass, but not well developed.

#22 -Detective Patch

Again, i liked her, but she wasn't given much time to develop as a character.

#21 -The Swedes

They were funny, whimsical villains that were fun to watch on screen. Funny and whimsical are two adjectives that TUA used to embody.

#20 -Elliott

My guy just wanted to eat fish and be a conspiracy theorist 😔

#19 -Sissy

Welcome back, Sheldon's mum.

In all seriousness, she was well acted despite Viktor's actor giving her nothing to work with, so props to her.

#18 -Dave

WE GOT ZERO MENTIONS OF DAVE IN SEASONS 3-4?!? DESPITE HIM BEING A HUGE PART OF KLAUS'S CHARACTER?!?! WHEN I CATCH YOU WRITERS-

#17 -Destiny's children

I am in fact an active member

#16 -Luther

I have bumped Luther up my list because in seasons 3-4 he sort of embraces his goofiness, but in seasons 1-2 he is an insufferable, incestuous moron. He is up here for good character development and i wished he could have ended up with Sloane.

#15 -Agnes

She was really cute and sweet, i liked her a lot. RIP season 1, you were peak.

#14 -Herb and Dot

They were sweet and funny too, and i miss the whole idea of the time commission.

#13 -Kenny's mum

An honourable mention

#12 -Grace

Grace was super well performed and poignant. I have no issues with Grace.

#11 -Stan

Live, laugh, love Stan. I hate that the trauma of losing him was never mentioned in season 4 for Diego or Lila.

My top 10

#10 -Lenoard Peabody/ Harold Jenkins

I stand by him being one of the best-acted and most cleverly written villains of all time. He is not only a well-executed surprise villain, but a scarily accurate one, and the actor plays him to perfection. We even start to like him before the cracks show. Also he looks like a creepy version of Lin Manuel Miranda.

#9 -Ray

Season 4 did Ray DIRTY. It was completely out of character for him to just walk out. They could have at least have him die in a tragic accident or something. Season 2 Ray is the perfect, most charismatic, ideal man and i hold him in my heart forever and in my head Alison and Ray ended up together.

#8 -Hazel

He had one of the best arcs on the show, period. Continues to represent everything good about the first two seasons of TUA. He was flawed, he was human, he was loveable.

#7 -Umbrella Ben

He seemed like he could have been a brilliant character with more screen time. His sacrifice in season 2 was a genuinely moving moment. The backstreet boys moment is SO FUNNY and his and Klaus's dynamic is something i really miss.

#6 -The Handler

We don't appreciate The Handler enough. The show started rolling downhill as soon as The Handler was gone. She was the glue that held the show together, one of the best villains/antagonists in TV history.

#5 -Allison

Yes, season 3 Allison made some stupid choices and did some terrible things, but a lot of it came from grief and she redeemed herself in season 4 imo. Seasons 1-2 Allison was one of the most charismatic, endearing and empathetic characters on the show.

#4 -Seasons 1-2 Lila

I love you. I miss you. Come back to me.

#3 -Diego

Bumped up the list for being a CONSISTENTLY good character who is flawdd but still extremely loveable and hilarious.

#2 -Seasons 1-3 Five

Seasons 1-3 Five would shoot season 4 Five in the face. He is the daddy here, and season 4 Five is the creepy uncle.

Original Five is a masterfully crafted, hilarious, unique, intelligent character and i will not let season 4 ruin it for me.

#1 -Klaus

This needs no justification.

What do you think? How far do you agree?

[mikefrawley]

We Are Worthy

Greetings my friends, and yes that is the old poet in living color. I hope everyone is well today. I was thinking about my be good to yourself posts from two or three months ago, and decided I needed to remind myself how good life actually is and how blessed we all truly are. After making some growth producing changes, you could accurately state that I was indeed comfortably perched atop my own personal pink cloud, which is a 12 step phrase generally describing the emotional state of someone who just turned their lives around one way or another. Well I must admit that was quite a wonderful feeling, and I truly enjoyed sharing positive thoughts and words with my friends here and at work, but then life seemed to throw in a monkey wrench as life is ofttimes wont to do. May came along and after almost 42 years as a computer programmer it was obviously time to retire, even though I probably wouldn't have made the decision on my own, my company graciously assisted me by kicking my butt out the door. For the first couple of weeks I was pretty shook up. I mean, I've never been retired before. What was I supposed to do? Miracously it turned out to be a blessing in disguise by forcing me to keep both my mind and body busy. I've taken care of some admittedly confusing yet necessary financial updates, and with all the time on my hands, I've been taking several walks a day, meditating, and watching Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village Videos on my computer. That was a good start, but I still had too much time on my hands and needed to take action. I first started by checking my Medicare Provider and found out that they would pay for a gym membership. I went over the next mornning and got a full membership, and I have really enjoyed it for about three weeks now. I had been trying to find a place for Buddhist Meditation or a Temple with very little luck, and by coincidence (if you happen to believe in such things, which I do not), I found a martial arts school which teaches Tai Chi. After a little more digging I discovered the teacher was from the same Chinese Boxing Lineage that I had studied with over 30 years ago. It's a small world indeed, but wait, it gets even better. I found out that my insurance would pay for the Tai Chi Class as well, and yes I signed up immediately. I apologize if this post is selfish, but it felt good to write, and maybe there is a small moral to the story. Yes everything is going surprisingly well for me, and while I'm very grateful to God, Love, Grace or whatever you wish to call it, I'm partially in this very enjoyable position because I've done what I needed to do. Admittedly I haven't always done very well with that part of it, but maybe I am deserving of my best, aren't you deserving of your best? That's about all for now, but please remember, you are indeed worthy of good things. Love to all, Mike 🩷

[kookssin]

mile high | jeon jungkook

PLAY DO I WANNA KNOW? BY THE ARCTIC MONKEYS

genre: sugardaddy!jk au, flithy smut, sex on an airplane, they're doing it in a public place kinda? reader may be in love

wordcount: 1.8k

"i'm so excited" you spoke as you arrived at the airport, earning a chuckle from the man next to you "you're excited for a 12 hour flight?"

 "i don't mind it!" you shrugged with a smile  "i haven't been on a plane in a long time! aaaaand" you added "im excited for our vacation" , looking  up at him before your eyes fixated on the huge place around you as you entered the airport. 

he intertwined your fingers as you walked through the crowd, making sure you didn't loose each other. with a soft smile, you folllowed closely next to him, wrapping your other hand around his arm too to feel some more safety. as soon as you walked through the gate onto the plane, you let out a relieved sigh, happy to be in the plane and out of the big crowd of people. "do you want to sit at the window, baby?" you nodded desperately, appreciating the fact that he offered you the 'better' seat.  - a few hours had already passed and you were fast asleep against jungkooks shoulder, his hand placed on your thigh as he caressed it up and down, staring out of the window in boredom when an idead came into his mind. 

with a smirk, he gently shook you awake, not able to wait anymore. "what?" you sighed, rubbing your eyes as you looked at him, your eyebrows furrowing as you saw his lustful gaze on you. "i'm bored baby" he whined, squeezing your thigh "and what do you want me to do about it?" you asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly pissed that he woke you up from your sleep. 

he squeezed your thigh once again, smirking as he trailed his hand further up to your core "you know what i want, princess. don't act so oblivious" you bit your lip as you watched his hand cup your clothed pussy, rubbing against it right where your clit was. "jungkook" you breathed out, your hand wrapping around his thick wrist, trying to stop him "not here" 

"well then go on baby" his breath fanning against your ear as he spoke "go into the bathroom and wait for me" you widened your eyes at him, surprised by his boldness.  "okay" you let out a shaky breath as his hand left your slowly wetting pussy "good girl" he smiled, spanking your butt as you walked past him to bathroom. 

with nervous hands, you opened the door to the big bathroom, your jaw dropping as you looked around in the big room. you've never been in a first class bathroom before, this was your first flight with jungkook ever. while still looking at everything in the bathroom, you heard him entering the bathroom moments after you. 

"there's my pretty girl" he grinned, not wasting a moment before he backed you up against the counter, his hands wrapped around your waist as he smashed his lips agaisnt yours. he hummed into your mouth as you gripped his nape, playing with his soft locks as your tongues moved against each other. 

a soft moan escaped your mouth as he grinded his already hardening dick against your heated core. his cold hands trailed underneath your shirt, pulling it over your head before he started to kiss down your jaw, sucking on your jugular as his fingers pulled down your panties and panties, his fingers gliding through your wet folds after seconds. "already so wet for daddy? you're so cute baby" he cooed, skilled fingers circling your bud as you moaned against his lips once more. he chuckled, left hand reaching behind your back to unhook your bra, ripping it off you and throwing it somewhere in the room.

 gripping into his shirt at the back of his shoulders, you bit your lip, trying to prevent yourself from moaning too loud and attracting peoples attention. "please" you begged, already a hot mess under his touch. "what do you want baby?" he smirked "hm? tell daddy?" he slowed the movements of his fingers, purposely doing so to tease you. "want your fingers in me daddy" you whined, desperate to be filled. "oh really now?" he chuckled, pecking your temple as your head rested in his neck. you bit his collarbone as he pushed two fingers at once inside of you, curling them perfectly inside you. 

closing your eyes in pleasure, your hands drove underneath his shirt, pulling on it to signal him that you wanted it off. "use your words, love. you know daddy doesn't like it if you don't talk to him" whining once again, you pulled out of his neck, hardly biting down your lip as his fingertips brushed your gspot. 

"i want your shirt off, daddy. please" you quickly spoke out, shutting your mouth once again as you tried your best not to cry out loud. "since you asked so nice" he smirked as he quickly pulled his fingers out of you, loving the loud whine that escaped your mouth at that. "what, lovie?" he chuckled, humming as he sucked off his in your juices covered fingers before freeing himself from his shirt. "get on your knees for me, will you?" he hummed, gently caressing your head as you did what he said. 

ignoring the coldness of the floor you got on your knees, unbuttoning his pants as he held himself on the counter behind you, cornering you while staring down at you with his mouth agape. pulling down his pants and boxers, you were met with his hard dick, precum already glistening on the tip. looking up at him through your eyelashes, you let him slap your cheeks with his dick, smearing his precum on your lips "open" he commanded, pushing in way past your gag reflex in one move. 

you choked around him, gripping into his thighs as you tried to relax your throat around him. "thaaaaats right, choke on daddy's cock" he moaned, tightly gripping you at the roots of your hair as he kept your head pressed flush against him, his whole length balls deep down your throat. he wiped your tears away and patted your cheek to make you look up at him. "god" he hissed "you look so fucking pretty with your mouth stuffed" and with that, he started to thrust in and out of your throat in a fast, but still not too harsh, way. 

"get up baby" he breathed out, pulling out of your mouth in a swift move as he felt his orgasm risen. you coughed hardly as he pulled away, a big string of spit and his precum connecting you and his sex. "oh fuck" he moaned out at the sight, his right hand coming down to wipe away the spit and your tears beofore helping you stand up. 

"bent over the counter for me" he hummed into your ear, turning your around so you were looking into his eyes through the mirror as his tattooed hand wrapped itself around your jugular from behind, squeezing just so tight that it made you wince "pretty girl" he kissed your cheek, sending one last cheeky grin your way before taking matters in his own hands and bending you over the counter, your ass pressing right against his still hard dick.

 your shrieked as the cold of the countertop made contact with your bare body, a louder gasp leaving your mouth as he spanked your ass a few times, hard enough for it to leave red marks. "jungkook, please-" he interrupted your with an even harder spank, making you whimper loudly at not only the burn but also the loud sound it made "shut your pretty little mouth, we don't want anyone to interrupt us, do we?" you shook your head, blushing at the thought of someone hearing the sound you were making and catching you "good" 

he aligned himself with your entrance, teasing you by only pushing in the tip. you bit your lip, trying your best not to whine out for more, but instead you wiggled your ass into him. "little slut" he muttered under his chuckle, finally pushing into you completely so you were almost able to feel his balls against your skin.

 "shut up" he quickly leaned over and slapped his hand over your mouth as you were about to moan out loud in pleasure. he kept his hand tightly pressed against your mouth to quite down your muffled moans, he himself biting down his lip hard as he pushed in and out of you in a rapid tempo "be a good fucking girl and take it" he growled, a grunt leaving his mouth as you clenched around him, close to cumming once again. 

before you could cum, he pulled out of you, his strong arms turning you around in one second so you weren't even able to react in any way beofre he pushed into you from infront of you, arms tightly wrapped around your waist. you bit your lip as he added his finger to your clit, circling it between his fingers as he smashed his lips onto yours muffling both your and his moans. "i'm close" you breathed agaisnt his lips, not even able to kiss him properly as you were so lost in pleasure. "me too baby, me too" he grunted, holding you securely in your arms as you started to tremble, your orgasm finally hitting. 

"theeeere you go, that's my pretty little girl" he cooed, holding your head flush against his chest to try and silent down your moans, but as soon as his own orgasm hit, he lost it and let you both moan out loud, not caring if the whole plane heard it. 

you were still trembling in his arms and breathing heavily as he pulled his softened dick out of you, his hands finding your core once again as he collected every drop of his cum and pushed it back into you, holding you tightly with his one arm as you whimpered from overstimulation. "shhh" he cooed "you'll be a good girl and keep my cum in there for the rest of the flight, alright? and then when we'll arrive at the hotel i'm gonna fuck it out of you just to fill you once again" you shivered at his words, nodding your head agaisnt his chest as he cradled you in his arms, whispering sweet nothings into your ear. 

slowly, both of you calmed down completely . you helped each other putting your clothes back on, beofre you fell against his chest once again, sighing out as you did so. "you alright?" he gently caressed your head, his chin resting on your head as his arms wrapped around your body, keeping you close to him. "yes i am, thank you a lot for taking me on this vacation" "anywhere you want to go, we'll go" he smiled, cupping your cheek before pressing a chasteful kiss onto your lips, making your heart beat faster.

sometimes you really wanted it to be more than just a sugar daddy - sugar baby relationship.