#I've tried once (maybe more?) to just make a comic version

[space-cat-in-a-teacup]

The thing stopping from making animatics isn’t actually technical know-how or anything (I mean. I don’t have the technical know-how. I could learn) but rather it’s the fact I seem to Not have the patience to draw all the frames for an animatic.

[bogleech]

NO idea if this has been asked before, but do you think you'd ever sell physical copies of awful hospital once the series ends?

I would like to but I tried to be "efficient" about how I made it and put it up, back when I was also planning for it to be a much shorter series, and I created a problem for myself, and I've talked about it before to the horror of everyone but I will horror them again:

whenever there's a room laid out for the interactive "point and click style" scenes, I keep just keep drawing new things into the same file, so for instance this room has one file with dozens and dozens of layers containing every individual character, object or scenery alteration I ever gave it, then after arranging those things I just export the file. This is all normal and standard, but, to save computer space I never kept the full-size high resolution versions of the exported scenes. So if I made a book for print I'd have to go through these files, dig through hundreds of layers and arrange those characters/objects again for every incarnation. It'd be actually easier to abridge the series into an illustrated novel or more traditional comic with entirely new art!

Whoops!! The alternative is to wait until AI-driven upscaling is good enough that I can make my own images larger again without any noticeable flaws. We're not there yet but maybe soon?!

[artbyblastweave]

🔥 Textually "political" superheroes, ala Green Arrow being a leftist and Flash being a conservative, Bastion being cancelled, etc.

Rapid-firing your specific examples- half the fun of Green Arrow is the tension between his leftism and his absurdly privileged status as a billionaire superhero. I wasn't actually aware Flash is a quote-unquote conservative- I'm assuming this came up in that godawful comic that tried to map out how the League would vote in the 08 election- but honestly this is kind of a "he's a white midwestern cop" moment, I feel like the politics associated with his job are always a little bit of an elephant in the room for the Flash Fandom. Bastion is his own post I've been meaning to make for a while, but the short version is that Bastion is a really, really funny dark comedy beat, if you choose to apply that lens.

Circling back to the Flash specifically, though- I get the sense these days that big-two superheroes are rarely characterized as meaningfully politically conservative, in the quotidian manner in which many, many real life people are. I certainly get why they shy away from that, I'm not saying that I want them to pick a couple leaguers who seem like The Type and have them start flying Gadsden flags, I'm just saying it has a certain impact on the verisimilitude of the setting when nobody on these teams has the generically shitty politics of that coworker you roll your eyes at or the Uncle you dread seeing at Thanksgiving. I think it was Memecucker that had a post a couple years ago about how you probably couldn't get away with anything analogous to that thing they once did where Hal Jordan was expressly racist as a character flaw that he had to overcome- you probably aren't gonna get an A-lister who's transphobic and has to be taught the error of their ways, for example. I'm not entirely certain how true that is- pretty true in my reading experience, but then again, there are a lot of comics, so maybe someone took a swing at that hornets nest and I just missed it and I've been talking out my ass for about 800 words.

(I did hear rumblings that they tried to do like, a coming-out-to-tepidly-accepting-parents metaphor with Franklin being a mutant during the Krakoa thing? I don't recall people talking about that beat in a positve light, which makes sense. "Have you tried not being a mutant" has always been a fraught analogy no matter which group is being referenced.)

Anyway my final takeaway is that indie cape things, by virtue of not having to keep everyone in their casts sympathetic and marketable in perpetuity, generally have way more leeway to depict superhero communities with a much wider spread of (potentially horrific) personal politics. Bastion being an example of that- if he showed up in Marvel or DC, he'd be, like, a bit character who shows up in a two-shot issue to get demolished or shown-up by Actual Superheroes (tm) but in Worm? Nope. There's no decades-long protagonist like Spider-Man or Batman through whose lens we view this setting by default. Bastion's as much a superhero as anyone else we've met, he's exactly as real, weighted exactly as much as the rest of them. And he sucks.

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

🆃🅷🅴 🆆🅸⨢.🅲🅷🅸🅽🅶 🅷△🆄🆁.

>>> the grim adventures of jon n' jack. feat batman n' spiderman. <<<

...

it was only a matter of time, before i would have made another crossover with those two. i can't deny, that they are very 1:1 for me, when it comes to comics supervillains. so why not to mix one awesome n' beloved thing with another? esp since funny enough, they do have quite a few similar plot-points. well, the halloween themed costume aside. i mean it goes as far as jack once having the bat-themed boyfriend pal, which reminds me of someone else, i know.

anyho'...

i've tried to make my notes more or less readable here, but they still might be a bit scattered. i attempted to keep them as short as possible, but i just cannot talk 'small'.

1. the first art is low-key based on underdeveloped AU, that i have about the early comic scarecrow n' modern jack meeting n' hitting it off serial killiar style. considering, that both of them possess killing methods, which have a noticable tradmark to it, i imagine that they will leave one hell of a mess behind, while traveling across the country. in that timeline, batman is dead. n' jack's shitty foster dad was killed off earlier on. neither of them knows what to do with themselves, since the people who they had *twisted* emotional conection with are gone. without any direction, they meet in the middle, n' decide that they can as well team-up n' try to make being a villain fun again. jon might experiment on their victims *or torture them if its his ex bullies* n' then give them to jack, who would scoop their brains out and put candle inside their skull. n' uh yeah, he literally did it in the comic. i was honestly surpised that marvel come up with smth that creepy. it really sounds more alined with dc, if anything. but either way, here they are. two *grieving* psychos going downtown. they will make one another so much worse, i imagine. n' they will totally kill that npc dude btw.

2. dark magic n' the drip. or jon n' jack at their corniest. like, jonathan looks like he watched too much the nightmare before christmas n' jack dress up like count dracula for no reason. it's so random-ish n' cheesy. but with this being said, i love both of those designs, n' think, that they really suit the vibe of comic issues in which they were featured. jack always came off as a he-witch to me, but it was nice to see it being played on in a different way. n' then, crane really rocks his own outfit as well. i totally need to draw him in it more often, haha. they dress up for a halloween party for real this time. n' well, i added batman n' spiderman into the mix here, bc i kinda wish that they got to fight / interact with those versions of jon n' jack. it would have been fun for a few reasons. also this can be technically counted as shipping art, but can be viewed as your typical gloating bad guy n' helpless hero thing too. n' to clear any possible questions, i only create stuff with adult peter parker. like cartoon era/late early comics, 20 smth one. i love my spiderman being of age, where he can legally mingle with his villains, not be detained at school lol.

3. the classic four from the timeline, when the comic plots were a bit more ligthearted. aka during the times, when the deadly mercenary n' crazy scientist were robbing banks, instead of harming *torturing* people. i love dark stuff, but there is charm to how 'simple' the scarecrow's and jack's goals once were. n' i love how the scarecrow used to do the lil, dorky dances. it really suits him. n' since at least 2 or maybe, most of jack o' lanterns are southernish in their roots like jon, i had an idea of them having a country dance *in the middle of graveyard* kinda just makes sense to me, haha. batman and spiderman merely happen to find them like that. n' well, it's kinda awkward. esp bc they technically don't do anything bad. i also imagine spiderman being like 'oh, so you have one of those too'. which is mostly a ref to how both the scarecrow n' jack were called 'the reject from land of oz' by other characters. they can rejoice here.

4. the develish & undead duo!! my friend once told me to try n' watch older superhero cartoons, and at first i was like 'welp, they prob be hella boring'. but then i caved in, n' watched a couple of superfriends episodes. as result, i fell in love with their scarecrow's desingh! it was unexpected tbh. usually, i prefer jon's older, classic scarecrow look. so no straw hair, less features exposed, just a hat n' a sack on his head, but their version of him actually did it for me. i find their crane both creepy n' cute. n' i also read on wiki, that he might be undead. so that bit interested me as well. non-human jonathan crane, what a concept! him returning from the grave just to be a menace to batman. n' to accompany him, there is an undead jack o' lantern from the ghost rider comic. his corpse literally got possessed by satan. anyways, both of them raised army of zombies. both of them undead n' prob won't ever get out of their spooky suits, since i don't think that they can. n' funny enough, jack's hometown was called sleepy hollows, if i remember correctly. so they can haunt people there, make it into a truly cursed land.

5. the last one was kinda spontaneous on my part. the other day, i was looking at what kind of action figures the scarecrow n' jack have. saw one, where jon was looking kinda strange, all black n' yellow. which is how i find out that he *apparently* got yellow lantern powers in newer comics, even if it was like for 10 seconds or smth. i didn't read the issue itself, but i found the idea kinda fun, n' his design was decent enough for me to get interested n' wonder what i can do with it. then, a bit later, i saw that jack had a venom-funko figure. i don't think, that he was ever canonically venomized in any of the actual comic issues, but once again, the mere idea of it happening was enough for me to consider doing smth with it. i mean, a venom-like tongue, but its made out of fire? dang. that's kinda cool. so yeah. the yellow lantern scarecrow n' symbiote jack o' lantern being the double trouble. if they weren't enough of a mean goblin-man before, now they surely will be.

[tothefiniteyou]

looking at the time: oh yeah, it's dissection analysis o'clock.

i've talked about how i think leo's view on what it means to be a leader is very misconstrued, but i didn't really go into specifics like i wanted. so here i am, doing just that.

firstly, i'm going to make this generalized enough so that it's not about any particular iteration, though i might put in details that aren't a universal part to leo's character.

i once said that "leo believes the leader is always the one to make the right choices" and by that i mean, the leader has to. he tries to think over his words carefully (there was a post for 2003 pointing out that leo stumbles on his words quite a bit and i love this detail) because he's trying to mimic his idea of a hero. not only is he the one meant to make the decisive calls, but in an imprudent, childish way, i think his ego has also convinced him that the title of leader makes his opinion more valuable djsaklg. he's kind of a funny, bossy older sibling like that.

he's full to the brim with anxiety and worst-case scenarios because he knows real life is dangerous and he is the one in-charge. rise fics have done a lovely job of showcasing the fact that leo struggles to really seem them as a team unless it's convenient for him, but i'd argue all leos (save for a few) are like this. people need to listen to him, because of course the leader knows best! leaders and heroes are synonymous, always saving the day... (...it's why rise leo doesn't think he should be leader-)

i have a little headcanon about his perfectionism that isn't completely relevant to this conversation, but i want to include it regardless. i think some of his perfectionism comes from a place of guilt and just general worries. he doesn't mind training extra or things like that, but i'm not too sure he likes it either. overdoing it can make him feel more reassured, and training better means he can make sure missions go smoother. leaders are the captains, and a captain always goes down with his ship.

anyways, if leadership to him is like being in-charge and having to be a shield, who would he be his ideal image of that to mirror? barring his cartoon heroes, it would be his father. leo has always tried to be like the person he admires most. i don't fully know why, but that makes me Sad. most kids think of their fathers as their heroes, and for all of the turtles, well. he really is one.

being the older child (in most iterations), leo unconsciously places himself on a similar pedestal as his father, copying what he does because he wants to be just like him.

.... for 2003 and 2012, yes. mirage? idw? less so. i just wrote a whole fic on the city at war arc (love me, love my dog) for the original comics that helped inspire this post. constantly leo mentions "growing up" in that arc, following it up by thinking they shouldn't stick within everything their father has taught him. he's leaving his father's shadow - that's what it means to grow up to him.

his brothers will always come before his father, no matter how much he admires him. in 2012, i truly do think leo would try too hard to become a father to his brothers. not only for their sakes, but because he's always been there, copying his father. he's trying to make his father stay by becoming more like him. he won't have to search for him in the walls of their home if he feels like he's right beside him.

^ i love this train of thought for mirage as well because in city at war he's gradually realizing that he doesn't know what he would do without splinter to back up his choices. he's having to think for himself and it's making him think that maybe he isn't as much like his father as he had always tried to be.

no matter the iteration, leo growing up is always becoming his own version of a leader (staring so badly at idw leo). it's a bittersweet thing, but it was a thought that occurred to me after leo returned from training with the ancient one in 2003. splinter already taught him everything, so why wasn't it enough? when will he teach him how to properly protect everyone like he wants to.

splinter is a VERY flawed character in every single iteration, and i think one of the most innocently child-like characteristics of leo is the way he idolizes him.

THATS HIS PAPA (bawling)

there's definitely more i could add to this, but i like leaving some parts unexplored so that people are free to put in their own thoughts :)

[kineticallyanywhere]

So this might be a super weird and bizarre question, but do you have any clear references/designs for Henry’s hooded poncho in Monkey’s Paw, even just a rough sketch? I’m a big fan of all the character designs in Monkey’s Paw, but that hooded poncho really caught my eye for some reason. I’m a bored knitter and it looks super cozy (I know it’s a drawing but still lol) and once I started thinking about how to make one I couldn’t get it out of my head. Since your art was the inspiration I thought I’d ask :-)  No worries if not! 

thank you so much for reading/enjoying!! im so proud of all that work

I am not a knitter, so I must admit I haven't thought much about what it would actually take to make this thing. but I am such a sucker for a good poncho so I just had to throw one on the first fantasy man I saw. and I didn't have these references before today but I'm glad to have them now, so if I hecking change the length again because I'm too lazy to look at older pages when I'm sketching I can hold myself by the face and point at this lol. Here's how I've been drawing in in the dream:

BUT the dream is also my contextual excuse to draw simpler than things in their world actually are. (to spend more time Making Comic and less time falling prey to my own perfectionism) One day maybe I'll get to drawing the epilogue for this thing and I'll be drawing the fully tricked-out version for every panel Henry's on. ...buuuuuut in case that's a million years from now here's a reference set with more details! again, not a knitter, so idk how difficult it would actually be to make this thing, but the main differences are just a wider collar pinched together by two bead-loop-things and some braid and oak leaf patterns down the shoulders and arms

(headcanon lore: his momma made it for him while wondering if he'd ever make it back from where the portal took him. when she tried to throw it away an Oakvalian found it and kept it safe until he really did come home and they put in on his body while he was in the homunculus in the dungeon. so he woke up wearing it and recognized the knitting immediately)

[yanderes-galore]

Hello!! I'd like to request for homestuck please! Do you have any headcanons for the type of yandere Dirk Strider would be? And how he may treat or act around his darling?

(If you need a time frame at all in the comic timeline, I can suggest post-game (before the epilogues so no worry to know those or hs^2) - it might work out easier to write for!! Otherwise if you don't, disregard this paragraph hehe)

Sure! Sorry it took so long (It's been MONTHS 😥😭), I needed to shove the entirety of Homestuck in my brain and have coherent thoughts about it. I'm actually not entirely done with Act 6 yet (I wanna say halfway through-ish?) so if he's very OOC my bad.... I can make an updated version at a later date maybe? Take this as an AU of Act 6 just in case, I just wanted to explore his yandere type.

Here's what I got! Now that I think about it I want to write more for Homestuck... it's really good and I'm happy I finally experienced it. Thanks Tumblr 💜 I tried to keep this general as the first concept for a character I write typically is :)

Writers who gave me motivation and inspiration to start this work; @yandere--stuck and @bunnyjam-imagines . Your work is incredible and keep doing what you're doing ^^ 💜Your Dirk fics really helped me with this so I dedicate this to you, too. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE TAGGED LET ME KNOW, THANKS.

Possible Spoilers For Homestuck Act 6

Yandere! Dirk Strider Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Hidden cameras, Secret recording, Dirk struggles expressing feelings, Invasion of privacy, Brief violence mention, Swearing, Kidnapping, Dubious relationship, Isolation, Controlling behavior, Implied jealousy, Angst, I like this version of yandere Dirk where he just feels conflicted.

Dirk is a very interesting character and I've noticed there has been a pattern in the way people write him as a yandere.

Dirk seems like a yandere whose lucid in his behavior.

He has tendencies to know what he's doing is wrong, or at least this is a pattern I've seen in the way others write him.

I can agree with this as Dirk seems like he takes on the role as guardian for the other people in his group at times (Jake, Jane, Roxy).

Dirk would be very caring towards his darling despite the emotional baggage he has behind the scenes.

He most likely met you through a chat client like the rest.

Since he was young he's always had an interest in puppets, robots, and horses...

He could've met you through one of these interests or by one of his other friends introducing you.

Either way, Dirk finds himself talking to you more and more when he adds your handle.

Dirk's yandere behavior isn't overly romantic even when his feelings are that way.

He doesn't really like expressing it all that much.

Dirk's behavior comes off as just him looking out for you.

He's like a guardian who's willing to do anything for those he cares about.

Based on the fact Dirk has made robots for Jake and Jane in the past, usually for special occasions or requests, he probably would make one for you eventually.

Dirk is very skilled with robotics and wouldn't mind creating some sort of bot for you no matter the size or purpose.

Dirk does try to keep one goal constant when making you a robot gift...

It has to protect you.

He's responsible and wants nothing more than those he cares about out of harm's way.

If they reciprocate his feelings or not doesn't matter....

When he does make that robot gift he puts a lot of his time into it.

AR has to spend a lot of time responding to his friends as all of his time is spent multi-tasking on a ton of tasks.

Building your gift... talking to you... watching his dreamself...

He's kind of worn thin.

Once it's finished he sends it to you with a brief message.

It's his way of showing his care even if he seems very closed off with feelings.

This robot is the first camera he manages to sneak in your home.

Dirk even has secret folders on his PC of just footage.

Part of him feels guilty for recording you... but he tries to reassure himself this is what a robotic guardian needs.

The robot is the biggest part leading into his obsession.

It can act on its own to protect you or like a drone he can control and see through.

He feels guilty that he's using it to interact with you like he's actually there....

Dirk's feelings could swap over the more he sneaks electronics into your house and the more he cyberstalks you.

There's a certain threshold he passes when he eventually has to admit he's got feelings for you if he has them.

Clearly he doesn't just want to protect you like a friend, right?

Why else would he watch you sleep with that robot you thought of as a cute gift from him?

He can't help but search through files upon files containing pictures and video feed of you being... you.

He feels he could never admit it fully but he does like you.

One way or another....

Dirk's obsession is very... what's the word... quiet?

He seems like the yandere who would just hover in your shadow... just to keep you out of harm.

He isn't a very violent yandere and is more just like a guardian to you due to his fear of revealing his feelings, which makes him work well as a platonic or romantic yandere.

Dirk probably could use violence to protect you but doesn't always tend to.

His robot guardian he made for you is indeed armed, though.

The robot he gave you isn't as merciful and may even get bloody if it has to for you.

He doesn't mind if you feel the same for him or not... he would like you to but you don't have to....

He seems like the yandere who'd sigh and regret saying anything if you rejected his feelings... but respect the decision somewhat.

That doesn't stop his overbearing behavior.

The comic does say when he puts his heart to something he won't give up until he accomplishes it.

Friend or lover, Dirk tends to act controlling.

Be it him talking to you through your robot, in the chat client, or in person if he ever meets you... Dirk seems to act like he knows more than you.

He has a bit of an ego and can come off as obnoxious in conversation at times.

He always acts like he knows what's best for you.

He looks back on the times he has acted like this with regret later... as I said, lucid yandere.

In fact a lot of his obsession makes Dirk regret it at times.

This could be because he harbors self-hatred for himself already and his obsession over you doesn't help.

He doesn't really want to give you up, though.

Dirk would manipulate you like a puppet at times.

For some reason when others are close to you, he hates it.

They could just be close friends, or potential partners...

He just can't handle it... he feels he has to prevent it or he may just lose the chance to have you.

Sometimes the darkness of his obsession kicks in and he... gives in to acts he shouldn't.

Such as using your robot to invade your privacy...

Maybe even manipulating your friends Jane, Roxy, and even Jake away from you...

That and the countless times he's considered kidnapping you to keep you alone with him just to soothe his aching thoughts.

Dirk seems like he'd struggle a lot with his obsession.

He hates the idea of hurting you.

He knows there's a good chance his obsession will hurt you, which hurts him...

All of this just causes him hurt.

Yet the more he speaks to you about interests and learns more and more about you...

He knows he can't let you go.

There's no doubt Dirk vents the frustrations his feelings cause him to Lil Cal his puppet pal.

Who else is he supposed to tell?

It's not like these feelings, regardless of the intention, are normal?

'Yeah, I stalk my friend through a robot and manipulate their life like some sort of puppet stage. What do I do to make them reciprocate?'

It's batshit and he knows it....

Roxy will just use it as gossip later... she may even tell you with some subtle hint or something.

Jane's a very sweet woman but he just feels... uncomfortable admitting he has such dark feelings about you?

You'd think Jake would be a good fit to talk to, being bros and all, but Dirk decides he'd rather just vent his feelings to himself and keep it like that.

Until he eventually acts....

Soon Dirk is going to just wing it.

It seems like a very Strider thing to do.

Your robotic companion he gifted is going to act against you in the end.

While he once used it to make you feel like je was always there with you... soon he's going to use it to abduct you.

Somehow.

Dirk's obsession feels like a constant battle with himself.

Even more so than his fights with AR.

He begins to wonder what is truly right.

Is isolating you beside him the right thing to do?

What will his friends say?

That shouldn't matter, should it?

You can all talk together when you're safely with him... if he hasn't scared them off by then-

Yet, how would YOU feel towards what he's doing?

You'll hate him... and he can't blame you.

He'd hate him too. He probably already does.

But... what he doesn't hate is you.

Surely he can make you understand once he has you.

Dirk has always tried to be caring for you.

Even when your robot companion drags you into his home, you clinging to it with fear, Dirk greets you warmly.

Oh he feels so sick when he locks you in his home.

He feels he doesn't deserve you when you cower... no longer willing to converse with him like you used to.

You don't deserve him, he deserves only to suffer under the weight of his obsession.

He's always beating himself up about it the whole time, yet won't change any of it.

Even if you do somehow forgive him.

Even if you try to say you do care for him?

He isn't sure if he can believe you after he's kidnapped you.

Don't bother lying, he sees through it.

You can hate him... you're allowed to as any other sensible human would.

There's truly nothing he can do to salvage what he once had for you after he goes off the deep end.

He's made you all alone... now there's only him.

He knows he should let you go...

But wouldn't it be cruel to abandon you after he made your life hell?

He continues his behavior with this new form of reassurance.

He'll continue to look after you, he'll prove to you he can give you so much better.

He tries to show affection.

He gives you hugs, he tries to express his obsession in a loving way.

Perhaps even kisses, some on your cheeks or lips depending on his feelings?

Lucid yanderes tend to be self-destructive.

They know this isn't how they should feel.

Dirk knows he should do what's best for you.

His mind has been clouded in darkness, however...

Far as he knows now, HE'S what's best for you.

He promises to care for you like he's always done since you mean so much to him... ironically to help heal the pain he's caused... and is probably still causing.

Dirk still helps you when you cry and comforts you when you act out.

He emphasizes with your pain and feels sick that he knows why you feel this way.

Every touch he feels from you his heaven, while you may think he's hell.

Every apology from his lips doesn't feel truthful... they're empty.

He could always let you go...

He could always try to make things right...

Those options require giving you up.

Deep down... he knows he can't.

He feels he can finally say it,

He loves you too much to let you go.

He may be his own worst enemy but he wants to be selfish when it comes to you.

He's always at a constant war with himself, resulting in him seeming distant with affection.

You quickly become his everything... thoughts of you destroy his psyche...

Soon... he gives up... he surrenders... he begins to accept it.

He loves you...

and this is how he's going to show it.

[gwydionsart]

I feel like I've barely drawn at all the past few years. My sketchbook reflects this, having started drawing in it Jan 2018 with about a third of it still blank as of last summer. So I have been making genuine attempts to sit down and draw more. Feeling out of practice, a lot of the time I would copy images instead of freehanding (collages 1 and 3), but I tried not to rely solely on that (collage 2), and lately I've been feeling more confident. So I'm just gonna post my progress here. Because that's kinda what this sideblog is for, lol.

I used to be able to say "if you wanna know what I'm into at the moment, just open my sketchbook". For the past year, that's been true for the first time in quite a long time. It feels nice.

Thorfinn showed up first, working on him while on vacation last year. Meant to draw him more, but it took me quite a while just to finish the one (gosh I'd drawn, like, one, small picture in the two years prior?).

But then my One Piece phase hit, and I realized that I had only ever attempted to draw Sanji maaaaaybe once about 15 years ago? lol So I practiced until I felt comfortable enough to try it without copying. Not all the final results made it into this post, and I'm still not super satisfied, but all the random headshots really helped get me back into the groove.

The random guy in the middle of the second one is an old OC named Xander that I was never fully happy with his design (the drawing was an attempt to update it, though I'm not sure I was successful, lol). And we've got a couple very boring Zukos - I hadn't drawn him in like a decade so I went as simple as possible.

Characters I haven't had a lot of practice with, though, are superheroes in general - I drew Spider-Man a fair amount, like, 30 years ago, and I'd attempted some version or other of Robin a couple times, but I tend to find all the details a bit intimidating. So I finally sat down and practiced drawing some of my favorite comic heroes. X-Men '97 got me to finally draw Gambit for the first time and that lead to me rereading some of my Batman/Robin/Nightwing comics and drawing Dick and Damian as well. Pretty far outside my comfort zone, but I quite enjoyed it.

Lately I've been filling the pages with some King's Quest, but I'll save that for a future post (maybe lol). I've got maybe only a fifth of my sketchbook left, which is especially great seeing as how it is completely falling apart and being held together by duct tape and a prayer. XD It'll be nice to finally be able to move on to the new one I've had sitting around for a couple years now, waiting to finally be opened. If you for some reason decided to read all my ramblings, kudos to you! lol It's just nice having somewhere I can get this kind of stuff out on occasion.

(References taken from the Vinland Saga anime, One Piece anime/manga, X-Men: The Animated Series, Batman and Robin comics, and Nightwing comics.)

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

Kitten

First posted: March 22, 2019

Focuses on: Bruce Wayne and the Fam (plus a new addition)

Favorite bookmark: "GIVE BRUCE A BABY GIRL!!!! HE IS A DESTINED GIRL DAD AND DESERVES MORE DAUGHTERS!!!! AND HE NEEDS A BABY!!!!!!"

Tier: This is #11 in terms of hits and bookmarks?? How?? #9 in terms of kudos? #19 in comments?????? #14 in subscriptions. I am baffled by this.

This is my “behind the scenes” series where I indulge myself horribly by annotating my fics. Link to the fic itself above. Thoughts below the cut.

Apparently by this point I had secured a friendship with @audreycritter because she was the one who told me about the existence of Helena Kyle, Selina's daughter, and some comic book nonsense about her maybe or maybe not being Bruce's daughter also and how in some universes Bruce helps her get adopted out and no??? J'refuse????? This is the kind of canon nonsense fic was made to fix.

The decision was a spontaneous one. Rare, for Bruce, but not as rare as some might think. Nor were his decisions—including this one—as free from consideration as the label “spontaneous” might imply. While it was true that Bruce liked to put more deliberate, conscious thought into his life choices, the pieces had already been there, facts lurking in his subconscious like mayfly larva. When the moment had arisen, those facts had sprouted wings and coalesced into a swarm. 

As anyone following along has clocked, the majority of my fics start with the author going "Now let me explain something I need you to understand."

Besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t have a history of making this kind of choice before.

We stan a self-aware man.

He wouldn’t make the same mistakes as before, even if it had taken him multiple times to learn his lesson.

I do want to write that fic someday. I had a specific framework mentally charted out that would partly involve Dick learning about Jason Todd's arrival. Someday.

“Bruce!” Dick’s voice was bright and warm, flooding through the interior like sunshine.

Bruce Wayne loves Dick Grayson so. freaking. much.

He could hear Dick shifting, probably settling against a wall or filing cabinet, before prodding, “No offense, but you’re not one for mid-day, no-reason calls. What’s up?”

Ah, that familiar "okay, who died" anxiety provoked by the unexpected call of someone who doesn't do unexpected calls.

“Bruce, tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard.” Dick’s voice was flat and preternaturally calm, a detective arriving at the scene of a crime, analyzing and struggling to withhold judgement.

Dick: oh no who died

Dick, two seconds later: oh my god not again

“You were my first call.” Bruce offered the fact quickly, an olive branch to shelter under. He kept one hand on the wheel, one hand on the fussing baby in the backseat, and his focus on getting through this call. “I know I… haven’t handled this sort of thing well before. With you.”

Whatever else he may be, Bruce Wayne is a Dad Who Tries!!!!!

He was fumbling, words turning to sludge on his lips, gumming up with guilt and regret. It was always like that, for him. It was one of the reasons Bruce preferred the cowl. No one expected heartfelt speeches from a wraith out of Gotham’s darkest nightmares. Kids, though. Kids expected those sorts of things from their parents.

Always my favorite version of Bruce, this uneloquent and painfully aware version. Also, ironically, as best I remember this entire scene was one of the easier things I've written. I just watched it happen and took dictation.

He still had days with each of his children when seeing them at the breakfast counter or curled up in the den surprised him. That’s a living thing, he would think, and it’s mine, and he would be overwhelmed once more.

Literally me with my cats. The bit right before this about the choice crashing over him like a wave and taking him by surprise even years after the fact is a thing that happens to me. I adapt really quickly in the moment to various changes and then get hit with delayed, extended surprise. (But Bruce's literal surprised thoughts are me re: my cats.)

“As sure as I’ve ever been,” Bruce replied, and even he wasn’t sure which meaning he was reaching for.

Ah, duality. It's fun to think about which he might mean and which Dick might assume.

Still, it was a relief to have Alfred greet him at the door as if this were just another ordinary day and Bruce was not standing with his neck bent as a small child tugged on fistfuls of his hair.

What an an adorable art piece this would make. Not that I'm hinting. I just see it so clearly.

She was looking around with sedate interest, calm but alert, a monarch overlooking her domain. Or, Bruce realized with wry amusement, a cat eyeing a new box.

Please also know she's doing that little unbalanced head wiggle babies do when they're old enough to hold their head upright on their own but young enough to not do it well.

Bruce had planned on gathering all his children in the den, explaining as briefly as he could the circumstances of the baby’s arrival, and letting them make each other’s acquaintance. But his day had yet to go to plan, so why start now.

Drily wry Bruce is always so fun to write. He doesn't get to be as overtly funny as his kids, but I enjoy the humor.

It was an uncomfortable maneuver, since he had to bend further, almost double, to ease the tugging on his scalp until he could loose those little hands.

big man little baby BIG MAN LITTLE BABY

“I already have a sister,” he pointed out. Bruce was inclined to describe it as petulantly, but Damian managed to keep his bottom lip sucked in, if only just.

Damian: I claim none of you

Damian, confronted by a girl baby: HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MY BELOVED SISTER

also he's jus' a babyyyy

Damian recoiled further, and Bruce let Batman fall from his shoulders like a loosened cape.

can't get enough of this crap

Bruce wrapped his arm around Damian’s middle and pulled the boy into his side. Damian turned away so he couldn’t look at the baby, who was gabbling to herself as she gummed on Bruce’s thumb. Bruce rested his jaw against Damian’s temple, both to keep the boy still and to keep his voice low. The Manor was the securest place in Gotham, other than the Cave, but he would not risk this.

Sometimes writing the logistics of physicality is so difficult, but when it works for me, boy does it work.

Bruce let the question settle against his skin like mist before answering the same way he would again and again for years to come. “She is now.” He didn’t know. He suspected Selina truly didn’t either. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter, in the same way it didn’t matter that his blood didn’t course through Dick’s veins, that he wasn’t responsible for Jason’s broad shoulders or Tim’s blue eyes or Cassie’s dark hair or Duke’s dimples. They were his. And now this child was, too.

I think, in canon, she's supposed to be his, maybe. Don't know for sure, don't really care, and I don't think Bruce would either, as stated above.

“You will be her big brother,” Bruce continued softly. “That is a solemn charge that you cannot take lightly. As closest to her in age, she’ll look up to you. As she grows, she’ll mimic you—your words, your actions, your behaviors. Which means you’ll be in a unique position, perhaps more than any of us, to influence the person she becomes. Do you understand?”

10000% shamelessly used this exact tactic on a nibling when they acquired a younger sibling.

That was something new, the idea of being able to name a child himself.

Isn't that fun! I love names and naming things. I'm delighted he gets this opportunity. (More on this in a minute.)

Somehow, choosing a name felt like a larger responsibility than all of his former child-rearing experience put together. My car is called the Batmobile, Bruce thought despairingly as he watched his children watch each other.

Did I mention that I love drily deadpan Bruce? That line still makes me laugh.

“So does she do anything?” Tim asked. He was eyeing the baby in the same way he might a particularly florid insect—with interest, scientific remove, and no small amount of wariness. Cass wrinkled her nose but didn’t comment. “She’s a baby,” Duke pointed out with the typical fond exasperation he had picked up once the shine of the Manor had worn off. “What do you expect her to do?”

I loved trying to figure out how each kid would react and if there were ways they might respond to the new baby that would be surprising but still sensible. I'm not sure if I managed that, but I'm still pleased with how they all ended up, this weird little family of only children.

Bruce’s brain made a sparking noise, like a fork left in the microwave.

BZZT DING DING A DING A BZZT DING

“Uh, yeah? Got back on Monday. Why?” Why, why, why. Why were his children so distrustful, that’s what Bruce wanted to know. 

*taps the exhausted dry humor Bruce sign*

Bruce opened his eyes and stared at the baby shrieking inches from his face. Duke stood behind her, his hands clamped under her arms, and stared back impassively as she squealed into the phone.

Bruce has horrible children.

“B, what the—“ Bruce fought the urge to cover the baby’s ears, even though he was the only one who could hear the voice on the other end.

I love this stupid family.

There was an ominous gurgle from the baby. Duke looked at her, then at Bruce, then quickly handed her over. “Not it.”

I have literally watched hundreds of children in my life, related and unrelated. I have changed one (1) diaper, under duress, and immediately and deliberately forgot everything I was taught. J'refuse.

Helena, meaning bright, shining light, Bruce had explained almost bashfully to Selina. Selina, who had left town the same night Helena went home to the Manor but who saw each of Bruce’s texts and left the read receipt on so he would know. Selina, whose name meant moon. So she’ll always know where she came from.

Remember I said later? Later is now. As we were already spitting on canon, I was more than willing to change the kiddo's name if needed, but it turns out DC (I will be charitable and assume purposefully) chose a lovely, symbolic name that matched beautifully in a way that felt like Bruce. So I kept it. So Bruce did get to name a kid, but also not really because comics did it for him.

The legislation that he’d helped champion regarding the treatment of minors in the media hadn’t hurt either.

I think this was around the time there was a flurry of papparazzi nonsense and talk about this IRL with... Jolie kids or Cruise kids or something, I don't remember. Some grown adults being awful and pushy around famously related minors.

With each adoption, the celebrations had gotten smaller but more precious, the attendees a guard set in place, their names like a chant against hardship and a hymn of thankfulness.

I love this line, but I also think it's wrong now. I think the older Bruce gets, the more firmly he cements the relationships he trusts the most, but also the more he meets people deserving of that trust. Loner, low-key terrified Bruce wouldn't have held a gala to celebrate Dick's appearance. He would have gone full feral shields up. Maybe with Jason he would have given half a thought to expectations and appearances, but with a street kid like Jason, he would've wanted that child shielded from the horrible people in his social circle. And so on and so forth. By now he has his friends, but also his kids' friends, their allies both in domino and out.

Bruce vowed it, down in the deepest part of his heart, the core of him that let him lead a team of aliens and demigods, that made a double life possible and dressing as an armored animal a feasible life choice. A life choice he would not let the baby in his arms emulate.

I too sometimes have a deadpan sense of humor. Shocking, I know.

I take that final line not so much as full self-criticism but an acknowledgement that Bruce's children are all driven to the caped life in the same way he was—by trauma and loss and the need to fix Gotham—and all came to him with that drive already installed. With Helena, being separated from Selina is a trauma, even for an infant, but as is stated throughout the fic, Selina will remain fully present and involved as much as she wishes to be. And Bruce will brave hell and high water and even worse to keep this child from experiencing the kinds of trauma that brought his other children to him and into their other life.

She was already a wonder to him, his little moonbeam, a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a taffeta-heavy party dress with a matching headband.

The bookmark was right. Let this man be a girldad!!!! (I'd briefly considered writing a followup to this, where Cass had to sort complicated emotions about not being the only girl in the house. Never got enough reaction in the early days, though. Something about it or the tags or something attracted a larger than usual contingent of "okay but Bruce is a bad dad" crowd. Bleh.)

He realized he looked like his father, but with airbrushed grey hairs and crow’s feet lines that Thomas Wayne had never had the time to gather. He realized he looked happy.

me @ me: ow????

As stated in the before-cut stats, this ranks decently high in terms of all my fics????? Somehow????????? I can usually get a decent bead on reception just based on how option a fic shows up in my inbox or people reference it on Tumblr or whatever, but this one apparently was a sleeper to only me. Stunned. Bewildered.

[elzifelzi]

Like Ik i posted my initial reaction and such to a glitch in time

But

I haven't actually sat down and given my full thoughts on it

So yeah

First off without going into Spoilers..

In my head I had alot of..not necessarily expectations but theories on what it would be like..and while I love Danny Phantom I've always been Iffy on the story continuing after Phantom Planet so I'll admit i was optimistic bur skeptical.

This wasn't at all how I expected it to come back and thats the thing i think i love the most about it.

If someone told me that Gabriella Epstein was in charge of working on the 1st 2 seasons of the original cartoon I would've completely believed them because her writing felt EXACTLY like how the show was back then. Even with modern slang added in at no point did the dialog feel cringe or anything like that it just flowed naturally.

Which i appreciate.

What I really love about it tho is the fact that it allowed ghosts to BE ghosts, not Monsters from another dimension or whatever they're actual manifestations of human emotion and spirits which makes Danny's decision at the end feel even more powerful because he really is connected to both worlds even more than he initially realized.

I love that they gave the ghost zone lore made it feel like an actual ethereal place.

NOW onto the spoiler parts

The character arcs specifically Danny,Dan,Vlad and Valerie.

It's very easy to have a character like Vlad in particular be like "The Disasteroid event made me realize how much of a fool I've been" and just end his arc there. But they didn't go that route throughout the comic we actually see that Vlad is still an asshole despite regretting some of his actions he's still NOT a good guy but we gradually see that through spending time with Danny and seeing how his anger and rage fueled Dan,that he really has been a fool he really isn't a bad guy he was just hurt, alone and damaged he lost control.Vlads whole thing is that because he feels he lost everything he tries to rule as a way to feel in control..not a very healthy method but what can u do.

Dan despite being a grown man physically is just a scared kid. Here we have a version of Danny who lost everything and corrupted by Vlad's ghost half decided that through Domination and control he wouldn't lose anything anymore now this Danny meets his younger self who is not only desperately trying to prevent himself from ever becominf like him but he succeeds! Now This younger Danny has pretty much the perfect life a family who accepts him,friends who love him and is accepted fully by the world while Dan lost his timeline and now doesn't belong anywhere. He lost everything and now taking from others is the only way he can feel in control sounds Very similar to another half/ghost we know.He and Vlad are truly Kindred Spirits and they are the only people who can truly help each other.

Danny going from hunting ghosts to accepting that ghosts are just as much people as humans are and that maybe he shouldn't only defend one side of the spectrum that humans are just as evil as ghosts and ghosts can be just a human as humans and him deciding to be the bridge between both in what i like to call (Avatar Wan Moment) perfectly ties his character together. And it's even reflected in his relationship with Dan and Vlad throughout the book, even after all that Danny still doesn't trust Vlad he doesn't even like Vlad BUT he acknowledges that not only could he not do it without Vlad but Vlad is actively trying to change possibly for the better and him acknowledging that Dan is just a scared kid at his very core just like he once was is *chefs kiss.

Valerie might come as a shock because alot of people felt that she wasn't that much utilized in this story but i feel like that's for a reason. Since Phantom Planet first happened I've always wondered what Valerie's feelings on Danny being phantom was and we kinda got a glimpse into that here ..we see that when she thought Dan was Danny she fulling believed that he had turned on them..like despite her previous relationship with Danny she still views him as a possible threat and that by itself looks like something she'll for sure have to deal with in the future.

Aside from that

The art was beautiful like i cannot keep talking about how pretty it looked. Like my only gripe with it is that the character designs/outfits weren't updated but i can live with that

The story was very well written and felt straight out of Season 2

And even excluding all of the other things i mentioned, it was just a fun read..like at no point did i feel bored or drained while reading it

11/10 for sure

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s4 ep8: Year of Hell pt 1

I really don't think I've rewatched this since it first aired- I usually ignored it when casually rewatching because I knew it was the one where Voyager nearly falls apart, and everyone's dirty and stressed, and generally having a bad time. But there's entire scenes I didn't remember at all, and they're all very good.

This was the first appearance of the astrometrics lab, which Seven and Harry had been building for the past few eps, which will be a primary set throughout the rest of the show. (Is it me, or did they change the ceiling of it later?? It feels different to me somehow in this ep, maybe just an unusual camera angle? I'll have to look more closely in future eps.) They have a little unveiling ceremony, where the Doctor tries to make a speech, and ends up being so annoying that everyone is glad to be called back to the bridge. (And he's still dunking on Tom- what did he ever do to you, dude?? Y'know, except be a supportive friend to you even though you treat him like crap??)

(RIP to Janeway's magnificent Gibson girl up-do hair once and for all- they cut it very short for this ep, and she wore some version of a bob cut for the rest of the series, which I have never stopped lamenting. She's always gorgeous, but the up-do was perfection. No, I will not be accepting criticism on my very correct opinion.)

The events of this episode were foreshadowed by Kes in 'Before and After' last season, but apparently, everything that Kes told them about it got erased from their memories when she got sent back to the current timeline, because none of them know who the Krenim are here, or that they should avoid them. So they waltz on through Zahl space as the Krenim start erasing the Zahl from the timeline with their time weapon, and they get caught in the crossfire, because of course the Krenim don't want anyone flying through what is now their space. (Literally everybody in the Delta Quadrant is so territorial! How they heck do they have interstellar trade when every alien species they meet is like 'no one is allowed to enter our space!!' Srsly dudes, why do you even have space travel when you're so damn xenophobic?? Why even would their societies actually put in the effort to develop warp capability when they don't want to go anywhere or meet anyone?? It doesn't make sense, but I guess it's necessary for The Plot, so ok, here we go with Xenophobic Delta Quadrant Aliens volume 15! lol)

The lead Krenim baddie is played by Kurtwood Smith, who gives a perfectly fine performance here, but this was right before That 70's Show started, and now, after having watched him in that show for so many years, I cannot unsee Red Foreman whenever he's onscreen. Like, I just keep expecting him to throw off the civil facade and have him angrily tell Janeway to leave Krenim space before he puts his foot in her ass. I'm usually pretty good about separating actors from roles, but Red is so iconic, I just can't, no matter how hard I try, and it's kinda distracting, tbh. But at least that isn't anyone's fault- the guy playing the second Krenim guy, however, is giving such a bad, over the top performance that I really question both the casting director and the episode director on their choices here. He straight up reminds me of the guy from those Liberty Mutual commercials, where it's supposed to be a caricature of a comically bad, good looking actor who can't even get through the simplest lines. Like, that's literally this guy. How could they have cast him, and let him act like that?? Idk, but that particular distraction is absolutely the production team's fault.

So Voyager has to go through Krenim space while under constant attack, and the ship gets beat up more and more each time, with power failing, the hull breaching, debris falling everywhere, things are on fire, everybody's getting injured and dying, nobody is doing okay. Everbody basically becomes the embodiment of the 'This is Fine' meme in this ep, especially Janeway, who's powering through it all by repressing her emotions as much as possible, knowing that she has to singlehandedly hold the crew together through it all. Chakotay has another one of his 'I'm going to disagree with you in the dumbest way possible' moments when he suggests to Janeway that they can't make it with Voyager, so maybe they should all abandon ship and try to get home in escape pods. Janeway's obviously like 'WTF NO CHAKOTAY' because she's not abandoning ship, ever, and she's not breaking up the family (she straight up just calls the crew 'the family' now, it's not even subtext anymore) and they'd be way less likely to get home scattered in tiny escape pods. To which Chakotay's like 'lol, that's fine, I didn't think it was that good of an idea, I just wanted to give you shit for no reason suggest it haha', as if that wasn't a mean and deranged thing to say to the most stressed out captain in Starfleet. (She must love that man so damn much to put up with that bs, good lord.) He decides to be nicer later, and gives her a pocket watch for her birthday, which she tells him to recycle because they need the replicator rations. He tells her he replicated it months ago before the Krenim attacked and he's been saving it for her, but she still won't take it, even though she's obviously moved by the thought he put into it. Maybe if you stop questioning her judgement she'd accept your gifts, you dumbass. It's a rather heartbreaking scene, since Janeway is clearly stifling her emotions just get by after months of attacks, when she no longer knows what the date even is to remember it was her birthday in the first place.

There's lots of heartbreaking little scenes in this one- the Doctor having to let two crewman die as he evacuates his patients from sickbay, knowing the hull is about to breach and they won't reach the hatch in time; Harry and B'Elanna playing a trivia game to pass the time and distract her from her injury while they're trapped in a turbolift waiting to be rescued; Tom triaging wounded and lingering with B'Elanna even once she's stabilized, clearly worried about her; Seven acting as a guide for Tuvok after he's blinded in an explosion while retrieving her from a jeffries tube, where she'd stayed back to find the phase variance of an unexploded chronoton torpedo. (The same one Kes did in 'Before and After', though the radiation doesn't seem to be a problem in this timeline, for some reason.) So many excellent slices of the crew soldiering on, and pulling eachother along through sheer force of will, with their dedication to each other and their mission to get home all they have to keep them going.

Seven's discovery of the phase variance on the Krenim torpedo allows them to create a defense against it. When the main Krenim baddie uses his temporal weapon to try to erase another enemy planet from the timeline, and ends up erasing half the Krenim empire instead, Voyager sustains no damage from the shockwave, which draws the main Krenim baddie's attention. He realizes Voyager's presence somehow messed up his calculations, and he kidnaps two of Voyager's crew to interrogate, and threatens to destroy the nearly crippled Voyager if they get in his way.

Captain Janeway finally, reluctantly decides to let the majority of the crew take escape pods to evade the Krenim as long as they can while she stays on Voyager with the senior officers as a skeleton crew to try to get Chakotay and Paris back from their Krenim kidnappers, and to find a way to get Voyager through Krenim space in one piece to rendevous with the rest of the crew on the other side. The last shot is the escape pods leaving Voyager, which I think was maybe the first time we'd seen escape pods launched en masse from a Starfleet ship, which was a pretty heartbreaking cliffhanger to end the episode on. I'm honestly surprised this was a mid-season two parter and not a season closer/opener, but at the time, I'm sure I was glad to only have to wait a week to find out what happened next instead of a whole summer.

Tl;dr: A sad but well done disaster-type story where the crew is pushed to the brink, with a devastating cliffhanger.

[danielfeketewrites]

Not Normal About Doctor Who

Back in June, I went to a fae-themed picnic with my girlfriend and my girlfriend's girlfriend (not an official title, they're not dating (or are they?)) and my girlfriend's girlfriend confessed that next month she's not going to be normal about Good Omens. She just knew it. I guess a large portion of tumblr can relate.

I replied that I am definitely going to be less and less normal about Doctor Who when we get closer to November.

Well, I was right. It's like a full moon is for a werewolf. For the past month, there hasn't been a single hour when I haven't thought about Doctor Who for at least a little bit. Maybe when I'm asleep. Maybe. Sometimes, I'm just lying in my bed, thinking about Doctor Who for hours and hours.

I've started reading two Doctor Who books. The first is an eighth Doctor book called Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles. The second is an anthology - The Target Storybook.

I've also been writing my own short story for a small Czech fanfic competition. I picked a more recent Doctor rather than a classic one, which is quite unusual for me. (It's a Thasmin story set in the Land of Fiction. Yeah.)

I've been scrollig through the eyespider website (check it out if you haven't already), spotting stories that I would place elsewhere. Thinking about making my own version. Again. I once tried to make my own version as a Czech translation of the original website, but now I actually want to do it as a way to track which Doctor Who stories from the EU I've experienced. Also, fixing the placements that I disagree with. That's a big reason as well.

Also scrolling through Altered Vistas again. And TARDIS Wiki, but that one's obvious. Although I do recommend checking out the old classics like Fire, Grass, and, of course, the best one.

I've obviously rewatched some stuff. Outside of The Mind Robber and Shada, I'm watching series four with my mum and my girlfriend in preparation for the 60th anniversary trilogy, because they haven't seen the episodes with Donna before.

I've also been listening to some Big Finish. Mainly Once and Future, but I'm also thinking about listening to 10th Doctor and Donna boxsets, as well as the Companion Chronicles stuff featuring Sara Kingdom.

Probably gonna read more comics very soon, it seems inevitable. Maybe that digital scan of Abslom Daak - The Dalek Killer that somehow appeared on my external harddrive? Some 13th Doctor comics too. I desperately need to find more stories with her that I actually like.

I can name every Doctor Who TV story in order. But the other day, I caught myself trying to also remember every writer to all of the stories in the 60s Who. I'm gonna have to memorise that one properly, I still have some gaps. The Space Museum was written by Glyn Jones.

I've been thinking about sharing my top 10 favourite stories for each Doctor here, on tumblr. And yes, those top 10s are gonna include EU stories. Some of them will have more EU stories than TV stories. I will obviously have to update them next year. Could be my new November tradition!

Oh, and I'm also writing a Doctor Who fanzine for a Czech Doctor Who by-fans-for-fans convention. I am also one of the organisers of said convention.

So yeah. I'm not normal about Doctor Who right now. And The Star Beast hasn't even aired yet! Meep meep!

art by Dave Gibbons

[erandiblack]

An idea I got last year while watching Nowhere Productions on YouTube around Halloween that I'm finally sharing.

Phasmopunk!

What is Phasmopunk?

Phasmopunk revolves around the existence of a ghost world and the relations between the living and dead. Ghosts could range from cute little guys who poses no harm to great evils that need to be stopped. Mortals in phasmopunk stories tend to fear ghosts.

Technology

Technology in phasmopunk stories tend to be whatever we have in the "now" with the exception of a few where some people made their own ghost hunting gear. Often phasmology, the study of ghosts, is a thing and there are phasmologists with proof of the ghost world.

Ascetic

There's not an established ascetic, but the exemples I've found are all set in the "now". Some stories may refer to ideas such as ley line, the ethereal plane, and ectoplasm. Spirit mediums and exorcists are also common place.

Exemples of Phasmopunk

Ghostbusters

I haven't watched Ghostbusters besides "Answer the Call" in years so that's the example I'll be referring to. In the story, academia won't help them study ghosts and when they went indie the government told them to lie about the existence of ghosts.

Danny Phantom

The story focus on Danny Fenton, a high-schooler and son of two phasmologists, who became half-ghosts after an accident with his parents portal to the ghost world. He then went and act vigilante with his two friends, fighting ghosts who want to wreak havoc while he avoid being captured or having his secret identity discovered.

Casper the Friendly Ghost

In Casper's stories, he always want to befriend the living despite it being the norm for ghosts to strike fear in mortals. No matter what, he tries his best to fight against conventions to make friends.

(maybe) Beetlejuice

This is a maybe because I'm not too sure. Barbara and Adam Maitland died and found that their home was bought by the Deetz family, who they try to get rid of within the rules of the ghost world. When that doesn't work they get the help of the bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse, who's malevolent methods lead the Deetz to preform an exorcism of their own.

The Haunted Mansion (2023)

I'm referring to the 2023 version because the 2003 version feels more like a standard ghost story. In the 2023 version we follows Ben Matthias, a former astrophysicist who was developing a camera to detect dark matter, who's running a ghost tour his late wife Alyssa once ran. One day, an exorcist priest name Father Kent hires him to use his dark matter camera to photograph the Gracey Manor's ghosts for doctor Gabbie and her son Travis. This tying him to the manor until he and the others can break the curse.

Where did Phasmopunk start?

Paranormal research dates back to the nineteenth century, with organizations such as the Society for Psychical Research investigating spiritual matters, but people had tried to understand the paranormal long before that. Latter in the twentith century, psychic researcher Harry Price published his "Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter" in 1936. Just sixteen years after that in 1952, Alfred Harvey, founder and publisher of Harvey Comics began producing Casper comic books. In terms of ghost hunting, the practice existed in the 1900s but was popularized in the 2000s by television series such as "Most Haunted" and "Ghost Hunters", combined with the increasing availability of high-tech equipment. The Atlantic Paranormal Society reported a doubling in their membership in the late 2000s, attributing this to the television programs. To this day, ghost hunting content remains highly popular even when some amit to acting and editing stuff into their videos.

Real Life Phasmopunks

Any paranormal investigators or researchers who are actually looking for evidence to the existence of ghosts.

I guess also anyone who tries to live harmoniously with ghosts.

How do I feel about Phasmopunk?

I love it and want more of it. There's an idea that some believe, that ghosts feed off of electricity. I think someone could do something with that and Nikola Tesla's wireless electricity. He was interested in the paranormal and created gear people are still using to hunt ghosts such as spirit boxes and infrared sensors. Also, Beetlejuice's whole bio-exorcist thing is an interesting idea. I can invision a group of ghosts keeping other ghosts' properties safe from the living. If someone try to make phasmopunk music a thing, I want a lot of theremins. The theremin sprang up around the same time as research into the paranormal, are often associated with ghosts, and have been used before in rock music.

Questions

Do you guys think there's something here or am I just seeing things? I believe there is but one can easily blind themselves in their beliefs and need the help of others to see clearly.

Also, I was considering listing "The Ghost and Molly McGee", "ParaNorman", and "R.I.P.D" as exemples of Phasmopunk but couldn't decided if they should count. So tell me what you think should count.

[project-wildcard]

My inspirations!

My biggest inspiration, by far, is Just Roll With It. It's a TTRPG podcast that is just so good at every aspect of story telling! Every single campaign they've done I've cried out of some kind of emotion that they make me feel. The characters are all incredible! Gillion Tidestrider is probably my favourite and everyone after that is just a close second and they're all tied with each other because they're all so amazing in their own ways.

Wildcard specifically was actually inspired most The Trickster from Prime Defenders. The story of exactly how that came to happen is a little silly and for another time. You'd think with the multiple forms and changing personality gimmick that I'd have been most inspired by Vyncent and yes there's a lot of similarities but I want to make the distinction here and now that every form Wildcard takes is still Charlie at heart. They do not become a completely different person, it just changes the way their emotions work. At their core it's still the same person.

Thank you Mutants and Masterminds for being the system I used to create Wildcard's character sheet back when I was in denial and thought I'd just play them as a character in a campaign despite having no friends available at the time to DM such a campaign. I also use those character sheets to get a good idea of building and balancing all the heroes and villains in the world (although there will be plenty of leniency based on what I think is cool and fits the story).

I've also, definitely taken a lot of inspiration from the Spiderverse films, which might come across more once the first part of the story is released. Those movies are perfection the characters are incredible the story they're telling is innovative and fresh while still falling into the feeling of a Spiderman story. I love Gwen I love Miles I love Pav I love Mayday I love Peter I love the Spot I love Miguel and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hobie! One of the characters in my story that I'm yet to speak about yet is very similar to Hobie and I'm so excited and I love the parallels and as I write them I'm definitely gonna be pulling so much from Spiderverse Hobie's personality. Spiderman in general (most versions of them) is my favourite superhero so there will probably be a lot in my head that I don't recognise I'm taking from Spider people stories but I'm just gonna make the sweeping statement now that there will likely be similarities. I will not, however, be going into multiverse or time travel stories, at least not in the main canon story, maybe I'll do a weird little "what if" after I finish telling my story where a "balanced" and fused Wildcard meets a "corrupted" and vibrant Wildcard.

Shout-out to Marvel in general, comics and movies, I've seen a lot of that stuff so again, it'll probably just leak in without me realising.

This helps me when I'm struggling to let myself write

Finally, a big thank you to all my friends who encourage/enable (in the bad way) me. I am on my shit and my shit is telling an intricate story that I am very passionate about with characters who I love and care for. Namely, all 3 of my friends on that one discord server where I first infodumped about Wildcard, Hazel, for helping me build the character sheet and helping me come up with names and also letting me info dump to you, and Mimi, for basically the same reasons as Hazel, as well as being the first person I made a superhero story for (we did an introductory session of DnD in a superhero setting. Her character will be making a cameo at some point most likely). Also everyone who's tried to help me learn how to draw because I'm not gonna lie, my only motivation there was drawing characters for this story.

[trinkerichi]

TEKVENTURES! I wanna ramble about Tekventures.

if you remember them you qualify for a veterans discount

So they were Sgt.Frog ocs that my best friend SARAZA and I made on flipnote for edgy amvs and comics. I wanna say I wassss 13? give or take. But these little guys were my EVERYTHING. We thought of a billion stories about them. Then I got sick of drawing frogs eventually and wanted to make them more of an original thing. Our first sketches were of anthro goats, but over time with my style changes, an the fact that I hate spending more than 2 seconds drawing anything, they no longer resemble any specific animal and turned into fuzzy nondescript species of alien thing. ANYWAY I wanted to make them into a "real comic series" when i was 17. That's when I started the chapters that are still up on tumblr n webtoons! and a few other sites probably that I forgot about.

I've been harsh on it in the past but honestly I still love it to bits. What's there is a solid little comic and i still think it's adorable!

The only thing is, that's judging it based on what's there. It's a basis for a cute episodic thing with low stakes! Like the early mlp fim episodes or the new care bears cartoon. But that's NOT what it was planned for in the long term. Oh no, I was so ambitious. I had at LEAST 50 episodes planned which would weave together into this massive arc that would introduce other space teams, wayward space travelers with secret pasts connecting to the main cast, sad backstories for everyone, ALL of the family members of the main cast, a villian team with like... 'anti-versions' of the main cast, and a dramatically foreshadowed final confrontation with robot clones that want to destroy their planet. OH AND ROBIN too! Besides all that, they ALSO have multiple side story episodes about crashing to earth and befriending a human girl named Robin who has to keep them secret.

That might have been um. a lot.

But when you start writing a story with your best friend when you're 13 you most likely have NO CONCEPT of "too much". Who am I kidding I STILL have trouble pacing myself. But when you come up with a story it's hard not to think it's just GOLD! And that you've gotta keep it no matter what! Because that stuff is fun!

I went full force into the comic in my senior year of highschool and eventually I finished the first chapter! It took me a year. And then I looked at my plans for the other 49 episodes and thought "maybe I need to rework some things.."

I rebooted the comic once, tried making smaller stories, all that, but I wasn't quite feeling the same drive anymore. I realized I was comparing my work to high budget tv shows with like. a full team of writers and artists. and studio funding. and greenlit seasons and all that. And it was making me feel TERRIBLE about my art!

So I quit comics! I started hating comics! I hated how long they took and how restricted I felt (with my own expectations) and I lost my confidence in finishing projects because I was so sad about giving up on my big magnum opus. and I just kinda gave up and started only doing fandom art for a couple years. I did a jyushimatsu ask blog and kept it up for ages! And then a new season of Osomatsu came out and I realized when comparing it that I was basically writing an oc at this point. And that I CAN commit to long term projects if i dont get self conscious about it!

I still didnt wanna jump into comics again. But I thought of some new characters that I was becoming attached to. the very very beginnings of what could turn into a new idea.

I thought "well i still love cartoons about space! even if im not making tekventures anymore maybe i could do another space story. a really tiny one."

so i started making an rpgmaker game! and it started taking forever. so in the meantime i made a really rough doodle comic about how the characters first met. as a little side story thing.

and THAT was the key. I had to stop thinking about it like i was making a big cool tv show and starting my career and all that. its just a fun thing, off the cuff, not overthinking it, just for fun and personal expression.

so im still going with it! and its GREAT! Rocket chip has 12 planned chapters, and I'll be halfway done by the end of the year.

But BOY did it take me forever to learn that.

[townofcadence]

Some variable ideas I would love to play with, probably an ever updating list (it started as a horror thread list so the beginning is mostly that lol):

(cw medical abuse, hospitals, probably things like blood, injury, neglect, surgical equipment, etc.) Abandoned Hospital setting, because I think an environment like that could be fun to play in and very atmospheric, and I have some Ideas :3 . I would want the idea to focus more on medical malpractice and doctor neglect, not the patients as 'vengeful ghosts'. Maybe some are angry and frustrated, but they don't mean any harm, they're just unheard and in need of help they never were given when living. I think it'd be fun if some tried to help, too, but might be scared of consequences. Some of the medical staff could be kind, and try to help, but I think a fair few were also the perpetrators of a lot of pain that'd be trapped in the specific setting, and they would be the main catalysts for potential horror in the thread. They also wouldn't take kindly to intruders--- or conversely, some might be very overjoyed to have new patients. The overall goal would be to find a way to get rid of the malicious spirits so they can't cause further harm, but also to free the patients and allow them to move forward.

Similar vein to the last, finding essentially a dossier of patient records in the old effects of a passed away psychiatrist, as well as a box of things that has a spiritual aura. Inside are a collection of tapes; the owner of said tapes had used them to record patient visits, but lost all of their patients in some manner. They blame themselves for the loss, to such a degree they can't let go of them, or their own guilt. So when they pass themselves, they attach to the tapes and to the player itself, and in a way accidentally trap their patients by fixating on them so much, that they manifest a version of each patient, tied to their individual tape. The case would involve playing the tape and dealing with the spirit inside in their own ghostly manifestation world in a sense, trying to help them- they are trapped and a lot of negative emotions, but really they're also just vulnerable people who are scared or hurt. The point would be to help each one, just a little, so they can move on, with the psychiatrist themself tackled last, because they clearly needed help they didn't know how to ask for too. The end result would likely be cleansing the objects by helping the spirits release them, and some horror could come from inside the tapes themselves, where there is a manifestation of the issues and trials the patients faced in a more real form that could be dangerous or do harm. An artistic and visceral interpretation of fears or struggles in a sense. This one is heavily inspired by a game that I've been thinking about a lot, and if you know it, I'm emotionally doing a little dance at you ^x^

cw for injury and blood, but another one I've been thinking about a lot is kind of a revamp of an older one that wasn't finished. It involved a being that is more primeval, who has an interest in Artair specifically due to the kind of magic in his veins. It wants to make him into a snack essentially, because blood can be a great source of nutrition for plants. Bigger than they seem, and able to be at multiple places at once. It could be really fun, especially if someone has a muse with powers they want to play against something stronger. It kind of tried to distract one muse while rounding up artair, so it's a bit split for some of the thread, but it could be fun to recycle the idea. Also, i'm a sucker for both muses coming together in the end to defeat the entity together :D

Anything in a haunted/magic forest really, those are so atmospheric and fun :3

An case involving being trapped in a town and dealing with doppelgangers. I have a LOT of thoughts on this, but essentially something inspired by a comic i read :3

I think it'd be fun to have Artair run into more villainous muses, though that will probably end poorly for him lol. But it could be interesting also because of his immortal nature. It could also end interestingly, especially if you want your villain to meet Something Else that is pretty dangerous and might be able to hurt them back :D

Something where Artair gets possessed. Those ones are always fun :3

Haunted house thread!! this was a plot i had for a long time where there's so many little spirits being trapped by one very large malevolent one, which has consumed enough energy from the little ones to have a large and powerful domain. It has complete control of the house and manipulate it however it wants, and reassemble it. Artair's bleeding energy makes it go aggressive because it's always hungry for more, and the muses have to make it out. Could be fun for both muses to have a part to play in taking down the entity

A plot where as part of the story artair Dies (cw death but temporary), or he is supposed to, but then he just wakes up again, and does something to help that throws off whatever hurt him enough for both muses to overcome it. i think it could be an interesting concept

Something involving being held prisoner and escaping can be fun. It can be a great way to see characters plot together and collaborate for escape, and we can adjust just how successful or difficult that can be. Like an escape room for muses lol

Abyss stuff could be fun, but that area is still in the works and is like. almost au but not? like you become an alternative version of yourself. but sometimes messing with a thread can be a great way to learn more about a setting and come up with more ideas

Moments where artair gets to protect someone else! He takes the blow or jumps in the way or gets between people to keep them safe! it's one of the things that's most important to him, i want to showcase it some more ! Even things where he goes to extremes to protect someone from something dark and there are consequences can be really fun :3

I really love the idea of playing some of my other OCs. I want to do all the things with Artair too of course, but it'd be cool to explore some of the other characters in a mix of genres ! A fair few are built for slice of life, and a few are shenanigan heavy, and some would be great for plots, or learning to cope with past traumas. Some are just because I like food and writing about it lol. and some are very inhuman and it would be cool to see them interact with others. There's a lot of potential and i'd love to flesh out things i haven't had the chance to as well, or get to reveal some tidbits or cool concepts i have in play ^^

Someone teaches artair more magic. He has a lot of potential but no knowledge. A few people have helped him learn a little, but i would love to play with him learning from others and how they perform their own spellwork, so he learns new methods or can improve organically! Similarly, sparring with weapons so he can learn more about fighting-- he's pretty good at fighting unarmed, but he wants to know more

Friendly sparring action threads! sometimes those can be a lot of fun and really great practice for fight scenes :D

Artair cooking for someone!! It brings my love of describing food and a way to be kind and also a way to share something special together. Also anything going to his garden or letting him (or someone like Saffron) talk about their plants and why they have them-- little moments to learn more about each other in a space that's playful or relaxed while doing something fun or kind for one another :3

Honestly i want to know more about other muses of other people! I want Artair (and others!) to build friendships and bonds and have connections and inside jokes and like--- little moments where they bond and learn more of the stories of each other ^^ I'm really excited for that prospect!!!

More to come as they pop into my brain and nestle enough xD