#LOI Phase One Part One

[agaypanic]

Making a Little Genius (Malcolm Wilkerson X Reader Smut)

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Summary: You and Malcolm have a big party with your friends and family to celebrate you getting engaged and graduating Harvard with doctorates. During said party, you and Malcolm go to the bathroom to have a different kind of celebration.

A/N: based on this ask and this ask, plus some others i probably forgot about. Idk anything about doctorates, graduating college, or tbh probably anything in this fic. Year isn’t specified, but malcolm + reader are like 25. Francis is about 29, Reese 26, Dewey 19, Jamie 10, and the new kid is like 6. I made the newest kid a girl bc i feel like lois deserves it. You don’t need to know any of this, I just thought I’d say just in case lol

C/W: unprotected p in v sex (wrap it before you tap it!), breeding kink, dumbification kink, degrading kink, semi-public sex (empty room at a party), mommy and daddy kink

***

Malcolm had been eyeing you the entire day. It started out innocently. In the morning, he watched you fondly as he helped you decorate the house for the party you were having today. Malcolm paid extra attention to how the engagement ring he had given you shone in the light. After all, it was part of the reason you were having a party in the first place.

At first, Malcolm was against a big celebration. The last thing he needed was his crazy family, mainly his brothers and their children, messing around and breaking everything valuable around his house.

He finally knew how his parents felt about him and his brothers.

But you were always able to convince your boyfriend, now fiance, to loosen up a little. Which was why your little backyard was now crowded with your families and friends. Malcolm tried to stay close to you, but eventually got distracted by Jamie trying to give their little sister Maggie a string of firecrackers. Usually, he wouldn’t be so concerned, despite every Wilkerson child’s destructive streak. But Maggie had grown out of her phase of putting everything in her mouth and had now become very interested in fire and “making things go boom!”

When Malcolm was finally able to wrestle the tiny explosives and lighter out of Maggie’s hands, you were on the porch cooing over your new soon-to-be niece. “I can’t believe you’re a dad now, Reese.” You said, letting baby Olivia grab at your fingers. “It’s like you’re a real grown up.”

“I still have my moments.” Reese smiled with a shrug. “Don’t tell Jen, but sometimes I let Livvie lick the spoon a little when I’m making cakes.”

You snorted, surprised that that was the best example of mischief Reese was able to come up with now. You weren’t going to complain though. It was definitely better than his days of fighting rabid packs of dogs and beating on his brothers. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“What secret?” Malcolm startled you, making you hold your future niece extra close to you. When you realized it was your fiance who had snuck up on you, you relaxed a bit and smirked at his brother.

“Nothing. Just that Reese isn’t the bad boy he used to be.” You chuckled before catching a glimpse of what Malcolm was holding. “Where did you get firecrackers?”

“Maggie.” He sighed, jerking his head towards the house. “Come on, help me find a place to hide these before we have to buy our neighbors new mailboxes.”

Carefully, you handed Olivia back to her dad before following Malcolm inside the house. While wandering around, looking for a place to hide the tiny explosives, you and Malcolm basked in the rare moment of solitude after hours of being surrounded by your family. 

“Olivia’s the cutest thing.” You said as you opened the medicine cabinet in your bathroom. Malcolm nodded, watching you sit on the counter. “Just think. One day, we’ll have some little geniuses of our own running around.”

“Oh yeah?” Malcolm smirked, closing the cabinet and moving to stand in front of you. “How soon do you think?”

The look in his eyes made you smile coyly. “I dunno.” You shrugged, wrapping your arms around Malcolm’s shoulders. “After we’re married with better health insurance would probably be the ideal scenario. But…” You trailed off, letting a hand play with the hair at the nape of Malcolm’s neck.

“But…?” Malcolm encouraged.

“But,” you repeated, lips inching closer to his. “There’s no harm in practicing.”

Malcolm pulled your body against his as he kissed you feverishly. His hands roamed your body, groping your boobs and hips before hiking the skirt of your dress up. You moaned into Malcolm’s mouth as he squeezed your thighs and rutted his growing erection against you. Overwhelmed by desire, you did your best to move your hips in time with his to relieve your aching need for friction. 

A whine escaped your lips as Malcolm pulled your top down, making your breasts victim to his licks and bites that were now trailing down from your neck. “Perfect tits.” He muttered against your skin. “Gonna be even more perfect when I make you a mommy.” 

While Malcolm pinched your nipples, your somewhat shaky hands traveled down to unbuckle his belt and pull down his zipper. You reached in and started palming him through his boxers, and you bit your lip from how hard he was against you. 

“You want Daddy’s cock?” You moaned in response. You never thought that Malcolm would have a daddy kink, or that it would make you this horny. Yet here you were, tugging at Malcolm’s clothes just enough to allow his cock to spring free and spreading your legs as wide as you were able. Malcolm pulled your panties to the side before fisting himself, staring at your pussy that was begging for him. “God, you’re so wet, baby. Gonna fill you up so good.”

When he was fully stiff, Malcolm slowly guided himself into you. It took all his strength to not immediately ram into you; you just felt so good. He started with slow thrusts, allowing you to get used to his size while also trying to release the mutual desperation. 

“Mal…” You sighed. “More.”

“Oh yeah? You want more? Want Daddy to fuck you harder?”

Too overwhelmed to speak, you instead nodded furiously and swung your arms around his shoulders to brace yourself for what was to come. 

Almost instantly, Malcolm started pistoning in and out of you. You’d never understand where he got the stamina for such a rapid pace. Maybe all the coffee he consumed during finals had made him permanently jittery and speedy. But you weren’t about to complain, not when the drag of his cock against you sent electricity up your spine.

Malcolm reached down to thumb at your clit, and he couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh when he felt you squeezing him in response. “You like that?” Although the question was genuine, his tone was entirely condescending. It only made you wetter. You tried to respond, but all that came out was a cockdrunk babble. “What was that?” Malcolm slowed his pace a bit, making you whine in protest.

“Fa-...” You could barely finish the word. The hand that wasn’t playing with your clit cupped your face, squeezing your cheeks and forcing you to look at Malcolm. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for you to continue, and all you did was grab his arm and try to move your hips to get him to keep fucking you.

Malcolm laughed, realizing what was happening. “I’m really fucking your brains out, aren’t I? Nothing but a cocksleeve for me.” His degrading just made you even wetter. Deciding to have some mercy on you, Malcolm started pounding into you again. “How much of a genius is this kid gonna be?” He panted, circling your clit vigorously. “Mommy’s a Harvard graduate, but gets too dumb to speak when I fuck her.”

“Gonna…” You took a deep breath, feeling yourself inching closer and closer to the edge. You had an iron grip on Malcolm’s shirt, no doubt wrinkling the fabric in your fist.

“Oh!” Malcolm looked at you with faux surprise. “Got something to say? Come on, tell Daddy what you’re thinking, if you’re even able to form a thought.”

His condescension spurred you on. “Gonna come.” You finally spat out.

Malcolm nodded. “Good girl.” His breathing got heavier with every thrust. “God, I’m so close.”

“In me.” You moaned. “Come in me. Please.”

“Yeah? Want me to fill you up?” Malcolm’s hips stuttered, trying to restrain himself from coming for just a little while longer. “Want me to make you a mommy?”

“Uh huh.” You whined. “Make you a daddy.”

The intensity of your orgasm made you shake, and Malcolm’s quickly followed from your cunt spasming around him. The foreign feeling of his hot seed filling you was intoxicating, and part of you hoped that you wouldn’t get pregnant right away so you could get more of this feeling. Malcolm seemed to like the rawness as well because instead of pulling out, he seemed to be pressing into you as much as he could. 

Even when you both came down from your climaxes, you didn’t want to pull away. But you both knew you had to eventually.

“I don’t wanna go back out there.” You mumbled tiredly into Malcolm’s shoulder. He laughed, seeming to share the sentiment as he rubbed your back.

“Yeah, I don’t know how we’re gonna explain us being gone for so long.”

“Or why I’m suddenly walking with a limp.”

Malcolm laughed again, lifting your head up so he could press a kiss to your lips. His gentleness starkly contrasted how he was a few minutes ago. 

He rubbed your hip, giving you a few more kisses before speaking again. “You really want a kid?”

You nodded, a grin slowly forming. “I wouldn’t mind a bit more practicing though.”

***

Malcolm in the Middle Taglist: @rattilol

[roominthecastle]

so....... RA 301, "Lone Wolf"

high points:

• the two Greys (a middle manager and a trainee acc. to the end credits lmao) tackling human abduction logistics - "Well, you got the 'leave him inside the house' part right." LOL I'm currently in my UFO/UAP phase again, so this little moment (along w/ that hangar full of retrieved alien spacecrafts) was a treat. This whole abduction storyline continues to simultaneously creep me out and delight me to no end. It's an odd but good feeling, and I'm excited to see how it plays out. FINALLY they made me interested in Ben & Kate again -- already one major improvement over last season.

• Alan Tudyk. In a suit. Thank you.

• the interactions btw Sheriff Mike & Deputy Liv retain their golden status. I just love them.

Mike: Look, there goes a damn government drone watching us right now. Liv: I think that's just some mustard on the window. Mike: That's what they want you to think. You gotta trust no one, Deputy. Head on a swivel. You ain't never really safe until you learn to look behind yourself. Go ahead, watch your back. Go ahead. Do it.

• Kevin and her lil' kitty towel awww

• "I had to stop because of you. I will always have to stop because of you." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the stuff I'm here for. It reminded me of Hannibal: Tell me, Clarice. Would you ever say to me, "Stop? If you love me, you'd stop"?

The feelings, guys... the feelings I have are MANY and STRONG

but:

In general, Harry's characterization continues to frustrate me. We get a reminder how "going it alone" is hard-wired into his DNA. Even the two Greys are a brief counterpoint to this, presented as a team, supporting each other. But Harry still has to keep re-learning -- or more like re-realizing -- the basic tenet that confiding in Asta is the way to go, and we're already in S3. It just feels needlessly repetitive at this point. And hand-waving his behavior w/ "oh he just has the amorality of a child" is so... thin, such a basic cop-out. I know that emotional maturation is built on a long series of missteps, many repeated ones, but please let some stuff stick already so it can be built upon and keep things fresh. We have seen just how much development Harry's capable of in the character of Goliath. He is the best (a future) version of Harry and I'd really like to see him start moving in that direction now instead of coloring over the same lines ad nauseam.

That being said, the glorious clusterfck that is his relationship with Asta remains to be so fascinating. His alien core keeps crashing against his feelings for her and amidst all my frustration these moments somehow keep hitting the right sweeeet twisted spot for me????? I mean, apparently, he violated the Galactic Federation Charter 3 times already - for her. He def betrayed his own species - for her. First he was willing to save Earth - for her, now he would let the whole planet burn - for her. He then contemplates killing her to stop the fracture of his very being only to screech to a halt by her bed -- all of which is just...... WOW. He is so torn and confused yet so viscerally attached to her. He first calls her his kryptonite, then his Lois Lane. His core instinct is to protect her now and then try to fumble his way back to his mission, which is a complete 180 to how he behaved originally. So we def have development, I just wish they stopped trying to drown this precious nuance in a caricature. We have gold here, writers, let it shine.

[greenjacketwhitehatdocmui]

DC: Absolute Power Rant

Warning: This is a rant about what happens to a certain character in the "Absolute Power" event. Feel free to skip it if you don't want spoilers.

I’ve heard a few things about the lead-up to the “Absolute Power” event that has (at the time of this writing) just started.  Once again, we have Amanda Waller doing what she thinks is right, no matter the cost in civilian casualties or other collateral damage.  I mean, it seems to be a given now that she’ll just learn to be cleverer about being so narrow-minded.

(I’m going to skip the part about the Failsafe robot.  Though, to be honest, Bruce should have really learned from the debacle that was Brother Eye and the OMACs.  But hey, we can’t skip out on potentially juicy event fodder, now, can we?  Ahem.)

In the lead-up to Absolute Power, Amanda Waller’s forces invade the island nation of Gamorra and apparently kill President Nakamura via violent defenestration.  Mrs. Nakamura’s final words were to have her son, Jay, try to get some help.

Jay is a metahuman, or post-human.  He can phase through objects at will, or as an unconscious defense.  In short, his body reacts to a threat by becoming intangible, often without him thinking about it.  Here’s an example from Son of Kal-El # 4, where the Kent farm has just been hit by an explosion.

Notice that Jay does not have time to think about turning intangible.  He’s probably in mid-word (Jon is currently trying to speed everyone out of the explosion) and doesn’t realize that anything is wrong.  Shrapnel is flying everywhere, but Jay is unaffected. 

A criticism of Jay’s powers is that they are ill-defined.  In fact, it feels like Tom Taylor created Jay this way in order to avoid any sense of peril, jeopardy, or even the slightest bit of harm.  It seems to boil down to “if it can hurt me, it goes through me automatically.”  In Jay’s words (when talking to Jon):

"I mean, with my powers.  I can't actually be hurt.  You feel like you have to protect the whole world, but you don't have to protect me.  I'm the one person in the world you don't have to worry about."

The only time we see Jay hurt is when he has to force himself to be solid, so that he can take his Mother’s blows.  It was either that, or Henry Bendix would kill her out of spite.  Other than that, Jay is effectively untouchable.  It’s as if Taylor didn’t want anyone to touch his precious pink-haired, perfect, cinnamon-roll of a partner for Jon.  He wanted to avoid the early Lois and Clark dynamic of Lois always being in jeopardy and having to be rescued.  Jay is the Lois of the relationship, only “better” by virtue of being unable to be harmed.

I don’t agree with the idea of the superpowered person with no weaknesses.  It’s a bad example of character creation.  It’s the creator’s pet of a character that you hate to see if, say, you’re running an RPG.

That said, in the Absolute Power:  Ground Zero prelude, Jay is shot in the ankle by a sniper.  Why?  Because his foot was tangible while he was running.

Um, no.  According to what Taylor has written, Jay’s power would have kicked in automatically, preventing any harm.  It’s more likely that he would have stumbled to the ground—and through it.  This is a better demonstration of how his powers work.

Now, if the comic had explained later that these were special bullets designed by Henry Bendix before his death, but never implemented, that would have worked.  After all, Bendix enjoyed making people suffer, rather than using a simple solution.  I.e., “why don’t you just shoot him already?”  It’s something that the co-writers could have worked out.  Instead, it feels like they’re trying to subvert expectations by rewriting Jay’s abilities into something more workable.

What am I trying to say?  If you’re going to create a character, make sure that they have weaknesses or limitations.  Doing a handwave of ill-defined invincibility makes the character that much harder to work with.

Comments? Questions?

--Doc

[godstaff]

Hey do you want to provide a in-depth analysis why you you prefer superwonder over clois, wondertrev, and wonderbat?

My analysis are always skin deep and, of course, biased according to my preferences.

First of all, I adamantly reject the couples of humans and supers. Not, as Lork fans suggested, because matters of eugenics (poor kids, they are grasping at straws trying to prove we, Superwonder fans, are evil). I'm not a nazi, looking for a superior race. It's only a matter of different physical characteristics. As a matter of fact, when a meta and a human share a bed, there's always the risk the meta could kill the human in their sleep. It is common the sleeping person turns, extends the limbs (sometimes violently), hugs the other...a lot of involuntary actions which could harm the human, even asphyxiate the partner by accident. Nobody can control the movements in their sleeping phase. I can imagine Scott Summers suddenly waking up in the middle of the night and opening his eyes without his protecting visor and blowing Jean's head by accident with the rays coming out of his eyes. Jean herself may be having nightmares of being attacked and projecting a repellent force field with her mind, causing Scott being thrown through a wall or being crushed. If the super has superstrength, the greater the risk. So, there's even peril with two metas sleeping together. Individual beds or even separated bedrooms are needed. Clark may have meteorism one night and kill Lois with one potent fart (one can only hope). Sorry to burst your romantic bubble, but each case must be considered individually.

Another instance in which there is a dangerous loss of control is when the meta indulges in their romantic urges. When the blood abandons your brain and goes to your nether parts, instinct becomes stronger than care for the other person. When you are two or three times stronger than your partner, like it may happen in human couples, it's not a big deal. However, when the difference is hundreds or even thousands of times, like "okay, dear, you can tumble a tractor tire at the gym. Quite impressive. But your partner can move the very planet where you and that tire are standing on." That's significant and very dangerous.

You can't expect, like Lork fans do, that Clark is always in control of his impulses and emotions in Lois behalf. Sex is one of the few instances in which you have to be able to let loose, to enjoy yourself, and Clark can't do it with a common human. Supes is always holding back in every other circumstance of his life 24/7 (world made of cardboard, remember?), let him have this one. It seems to me a selfish attitude from fans to relegate the main character to benefit a secondary one. The same goes to those willing to throw Diana/Wonder Woman under the bus to make Trevor or Batso look important.

A mortal human and a superbeing could never constitute a couple of equals. Nor soulmates, since their souls are focused on very different interests: a superhero needs to look at the World from a global perspective, not from the petty need for notoriety and what would be good for the front page of the paper the next day.

An elephant and an ant could never be more than friends.

Writers love saying "superheroes" are the modern gods and demigods. So, let's take a lesson from ancient Greeks, historical scolars and experts on everything regarding deities: Truth is their gods bedded mortal women and had children with them. The trick was they were forced to take a lesser form to be with the human. If the deity presented itself as a god, the mortal would burst in flames at the mere sight of the Olympian magnificence. Mortals couldn't be in the presence of the god in all its glory. Semele, the god Dyonisus human mother, made Zeus promise her he will appear before her like he really was. It ended badly for her.

Instead of posting idiocies like eugenics accusations to justify they have no real arguments to defend their position, this is what fans should focus on: The important thing in a comics book is the guy under whose name is the publication and the franchise, and this principal character can't and shouldn't be defined by the supporting one he goes to bed with. That's why James Bond is sorrounded by a constant carrousel of women. Ironically, the one time the importance of the female companion got promoted to principal, meant the demise of 007, as it should be, because his own survival wasn't his priority anymore.

SuperWonder is, IMHO, totally different. A true pairing of equals. Not only because of their matching powers, the easy argument other couples fans often use. They both are protectors, guardians, helpers, defenders. Their goals are similar. They won't hesitate to sacrifice in the name of justice, peace and truth or to give each other's life for their partner.

They don't have to hold back to be with the other, which is of great help when you want to share your life with your beau without restrictions. "Oh, yeah! because your only interest is for them to have sex...!" Some detractor might say. I say what's wrong with that? Don't you like to enjoy such liberties yourselves? Don't you want the same for your fictional favorites?

The whole planet is their oyster and they want to make it a safer place for all the people to share and enjoy. They communicate with monarchs and peasants all the same: they listen a lot more than they speak to understand our conflicted species.

They usually associate themselves and work with human heroes to give us the chance to admire someone of our own species as role models. Thanks to their upbringing they have strong family values and can't wait to form a nucleus of their own, when the planetary situation allows them.

Some humans, like Batso, think because they have more intelligence than the rest they have the right to tell the others what to do. Diana and Kal believe in sitting down at the side of the road to encourage and wait for those who take longer to walk the path. They know if we don't make it to the end together and convinced of what we do, it doesn't matter how fast we do the journey.

Because they began their relationship as friends with total honesty which later developed in love and care they concluded their relationship with humans should be based in those traits: honesty, love and care. Hence they ditched their secret identities and secret hideouts. This, in turn, made their loved ones be safer, because now the whole planet recognizes them as friends and is looking after their family and friends, warning the heroes when ill intentioned people is around those loved ones to hurt them. Around the Globe there's aproximately 1 billion smartphones and growing. All that people made possible to inform in real time of any event happening anywhere, covering the planet with a tight network of information.

Being romantically associated with humans significantly slowed them down. We humans are too prone to drama, mistrust and always want to have some kind of benefit ("what's in it for me?"), economical or otherwise, whenever we do something or engage in some project. Humans are a drag.

Regardless of our good intentions, a selfish strike is always there: a woman once told Clark that he being Superman and her won't ever work as a couple, because she isn't prepared to share him with the rest of the World.

Nobody could understand one another like Diana and Kal. They are each other's shelter from the storm. This is the main reason why I prefer them together above any other pairing DC may decree for them. Screw tradition.

The situations and characters here described are a projection of mine of how the infinite potential of Wonder Woman and Superman could be exploited if well written if the writers and DC Comics really cared for them.

Thank you.

Sorry for the wall of text.

[vampcubus]

Your fabolousness, ti's I poll nonnie back after taking a sabbatical due to some more tea I was unwittingly a part of.... if it pleases and sparkles to you and the court I'd like to share and update cause you can't make this shit up kids. So grab a cigarette or some popcorn and buckle up.

Remember that guy I was asking about ghosting? I dodged a train with that one. You see it's my personal hypothesis men have evolutionarily lost their brains to make room for something bigger: *the audacity*. This mother fucker. This man. He was using me to make his real goal jealous. See I was right, I was the side piece... and his main squeeze? A married woman. Well I make sound more treacherous than it was but they knew each other from college and were friends in that way a man and a woman are when they don't wanna say they fucking lest they scare off other potential mates. As observed in the wild aka a horny college campus. So anyways apparently they reconnected but she's happily married so he was talking to me to make her interested... how do I know all of this? I have another friend who is like a bloodhound when it comes to scandal. The girl is like fox news of gossip but she actually has credibility and reputable sources unlike them. So yeah I had to take some time to process that I was talking to homewrecker... and I mean the worst part is man told me to hit the gym. Him. Homewrecker. Told a fine bitch like me to hit the gym.... these men will wanna say they're Clark Kent's looking for a Lois Lane but fools aren't even impressive enough to be a Jimmy Olsen. Make wannaback hand some good old fashioned common sense into the idiots. Anyways, scandals from an old college friend group are something.... needless to say I delete Facebook, that den of sinners.... and I know we're not supposed to judge others but how can we not when they're that fucking stupid? Anyways poll nonnie out, keep slaying your fabolousness and gotta say love the theme wanted to say it when you first changed it, was a fan of the inuyasha phase but those are America's tits and I salute them. Nonnie out.

brother eughhh 😨 you fr dodged a bullet cus that is so crazy what. not him tryna make you insecure whilst he's using you to get with a married woman 💀 glad u got outta there babes.

also thank yewww, ngl i miss my inuyasha theme but YES THOSE ARE AMERICA'S TITS 🫡 and star and stripe has been running laps in my gay little brain.

[ultfreakme]

What are ur jon, hay, jonjay hcs

Hmmm....I think I answered before but I don't remember and it's lost in the sauce of tumblr hell and I think I may have new ones so here goes:

Jon

Anime stan, he especially likes shonen anime that everyone knows and talks about. He's the most mainstream fan ever so his favs are; Naruto, DBZ, Hunter x Hunter, One Piece, One Punch Man, etc.

He hoards. A lot. Like he has a candy stash in his room, he keeps buying and buying stuff, and Clois let him go wild. It's because he went YEARS without anything so he's very insecure about possibly going without nothing so now that he can, he buys and keeps a lot of things, his room is a mess.

He has a polaroid photo wall. Basic white boy things. But also because he wants to collect and make new memories. On that note:

He is a good photographer.

Wonderful baker, subpar at anything else.

Jay

I have a bunch of headcanons about his powers the biggest one being that he can phase things around himself, and with practice he can increase the radius. So at first, he can only phase stuff like his clothes and anything on him. Then, about a meter outwards. The more and more until he can phase out an entire concert stadium with a single touch to the ground.

He got better at English by watching Daily Planet and reading their newspapers. His mom had a dump of newspapers from across the world in her office and living room and once she got done reading them, Jay would pick those up and read. Hence, the Lois Lane idolization.

He did not like superheroes or care much for them. Still doesn't. His exception are Nia, Jon and Damian.

This is more JonJay discord server headcanon and I take no credit for it. But there's this thing where we think Jay and Luis(Red Sin) dated when Jay first got to Metropolis when he was in high school and they had a sweet relationship for the most part until grief put a large distance between them after Luis's parents died(and Jay was also dealing with Scale dying in The Revolutionaries).

Even more Jay headcanons

JonJay headcanons

They had a talk where they promised to put the world/the bigger picture over each other if it ever came down to picking between saving each other or the world. It was a horrible conversation which left Jon a MESS and Jay like silently falling apart in his head but they got better about it.

IMO they don't do nicknames. Jon tried once, but Jay "I cannot handle sincerity" Nakamura kept laughing so now it's just 'Jay'. Jon likes saying Jay's name anyways so he has no problems.

Their dates are like, fantastical but also not really. They're watching a waterfall thousands of miles away while sharing a lunch their moms made. They're going to a distant planet with a picnic basket.

Whenever Jon gets overwhelmed with the noises and the sensations, he goes to Jay's place and puts on his headphones. He could buy his own pair, Jay even recommended it, but what other excuse does he have to go to Jay's place(nevermind that Jon just crashes at Jay's place the second he starts missing him).

Jon impulse-bought a BUNCH of The Truth merch the first time Damian introduced him to him and he STILL has it but he shoved it into a hidden box(he does NOT want his bf to know he was like, a superfan for a while).

Jon does grand gestures but Jay does little things that Jon doesn't even notice until it gets pointed out. Like they'd got to a restaurant and Jay always gets room temp water because he knows Jon likes it better. He gifts and wears unscented shampoos and deodorants because the artificial scent gets to Jon sometimes. Whenever Jon sags under the weight of superman or is having a bad day with it, Jay conveniently needs help with making something for Sara, or moving some boxes around, or needs this photo for Truth article- stuff that makes him be Jon for a bit instead of Superman and Jon doesn't even realize.

They are HORRIBLE at double dates. Neither of them are the best at socializing and they both get sarcastic and lost in their own world. hhhh this is a Bernard hc too sorta- but the one time TimBer and JonJay go on a double date(idk bi solidarity Jon was trying to make connections), Bernard was super excited to meet Jay because he listened to The Truth before. But Jay was kinda stand offish and could not take a joke with the conspiracy theories so by the end of it, Bernard was like "okay Jay's a bit of an ass" and Jay came out of it thinking "wow Bernard sure is a character(side-eye)". Tim and Jon's buddy-buddy meeting ended with both of them gaining a rival and bitching with Kon and Damian respectively about how much of a loser their brother is (dw Bernard and Jay make up once Bernard starts being sarcastic back at Jay and Jay learns to push back on the 'actually, you're wrong--' instinct).

[greatdevourer1231954]

What's yet to come, part 1

All the Installments planned to appear in Phase 1

God of War: The Journey

Theme Song

Synopsis- Following his revenge against the Olympian gods, Kratos has settled into a harsh mortal life within the realm of Norse gods and monsters. As he adapts to this unforgiving world, he faces the challenge of raising his son, Atreus, teaching him to survive and learn from the painful mistakes of his past as the Ghost of Sparta.

As a mentor and father, Kratos must confront his own inner turmoil, striving to control the rage that has long defined him. Their journey is both a personal quest and a test of their evolving relationship.

But what if... They were not alone?

What if Atreus had a friend? And what if this friend had a also a journe of self-discovering?

This narrative weaves together the journeys of Kratos, Atreus, and Bendy—exploring themes of redemption, fatherhood, and the struggle against one’s own legacy in a world filled with danger and intrigue.

My Adventures with Venon

Theme Song

Synopsis-

Three years have passed since Superman first appeared in Metropolis, bringing hope and justice to the city. For Clark Kent, life couldn't be better.

His relationship with Lois has blossomed into a strong partnership, both personally and professionally. His cousin, Kara, has finally adapted to life on Earth, embracing her role as Supergirl and finding her place in the world and, Metropolis has become safer than ever under his vigilant protection.

However, this peace is disrupted by the sudden arrival of unique visitor from another universe who's on a quest to find his long-lost family.

With that, Clark, with the support of Lois, Jimmy, and Kara, takes on the challenge of helping the visitor.

Together, they embark on this mission, as they delve deeper into the visitor's past and along the way, they will discover that the visitor's quest is not just about finding his family, but also about understanding his own identity and purpose.

In the end, the bonds of friendship, love and the strength of their convictions will be their greatest weapons against the looming threats ahead.

God of War: The Hour of Joy

Theme Song

Synopsis- In this chilling installment within the expansive Triniverse saga, "God of War: The Hour of Joy" draws inspiration from the acclaimed horror game Poppy Playtime, combining elements of suspense, mythology, and psychological terror.

Centering on the All-Father Odin, alongside his brothers Vé and Vili, after they receive a cryptic letter from the enigmatic First Ones, provoking their curiosity and leading them to venture into an eerily deserted base that was once bustling with activity.

As the trio delves deeper into the labyrinthine hallways of the forsaken facility, they are confronted with the chilling remnants of a catastrophic and horrific event that transpired within.

Each corner harboring dark secrets and echoes of the past, revealing the fates of those who once inhabited the space—now fallen prey to sinister forces. Through harrowing trials and mind-bending puzzles, Odin, Vé, and Vili must confront not only the horrifying inhabitants of the base but also the consequences of Odin’s unyielding ambition to harness knowledge and power beyond comprehension.

As the brothers unravel the truth behind the base's downfall, they uncover a chilling revelation: Odin's insatiable desire for ultimate knowledge inadvertently will leed to the liberation of ancient, feared monsters that had been long imprisoned.

My Adventures with Venom 2: Maximum Carnage

Theme Song

Synopsis- A year has passed since Bendy and Venom made their fateful arrival in Metropolis, and life appears idyllic for Bendy: he has been joyfully reunited with his sister Beckett and his friends, and his powers have fully recovered, allowing him to enjoy his dual life as a hero. With newfound confidence, he finally decides to pursue his most crucial mission—confessing his feelings to both Widow and Forseti, each of whom holds a special place in his heart. However, just as Bendy gathers his courage to reveal his emotions, the tranquility of his lives is shattered by the return of a formidable adversary.

Cletus Kassady, once his best-friend, re-emerges in Metropolis under the menacing guise of Carnage. Consumed by a thirst for revenge against Bendy for banish him from the Nine Realms, Carnage quickly sets his sights on reclaiming the city through a rampage of terror.

But amidst Carnage's deadly resurgence and whirlwind of violence, Bendy is thrown into turmoil when he uncovers a shocking truth: his mother, long believed to be dead, is alive. 

As Carnage wreaks havoc across the city, Bendy finds himself torn between battling his former friend-turned-nemesis and uncovering the truth about his mother's mysterious survival and where she could be. To complicate matters, the delicate relationships with Widow and Forseti are further entangled as Bendy’s emotional turmoil puts both potential romances at risk.

In a race against time, Bendy, alongside Venom, must gather his allies and devise a strategy to thwart Carnage’s plans of destruction while navigating his own heart's conflicts. As the showdown with Carnage draws near, Bendy will discover that the power of friendship, love, and family can hold the key to overcoming even the darkest foes.

The Wild Symbiote

Theme Song

Synopsis- A compelling narrative inspired by The Wild Robot, exploring themes of motherhood, self-discovery, and identity through the journey of All-Black, the Mother and Father of all Symbiotes, who finds herself on an uninhabited island on Earth after defeating her creator, Knull.

Struggling to adjust to her new, harsh environment, All-Black confronts the remnants of her past while navigating relationships with the island's unique inhabitants. 

In a transformative twist, she ends up adopting two orphaned drekinian, Bahamut and Tiamat, whom she nurtures and protects, developing a deep maternal bond that challenges her identity. Together, they face various threats and challenges, helping each other uncover their true potential, as the two young cubs evolves into The Dragon Gods under All-Black's guidance.

Ultimately, the story reflects All-Black's journey toward embracing motherhood and redefining her identity as a nurturing spirit, illustrating the importance of love and resilience in an often unforgiving world. Together, she and her cub form a new family and embark on a path of self-fulfillment and acceptance, thus giving birth to the start of the great Shadow-Wing/Symbiote relationship.

Týr and Tytos

Theme Song

Synopsis- An epic adventure inspired by How to Train Your Dragon and Mufasa: The Lion King, set in the Nine Realms. The story follows Týr, the son of the All-Father, who struggles with feelings of inadequacy as he is often seen as the weakest of the Aesirs. Desperate to prove himself, Týr embarks on a quest to capture a legendary beast, a Shadow-Wing. 

Upon finding one, a young cub named, Tytos Prime, Týr realizes that the creature is just like him, an outcast of his kind and because of that, with both choosing to understand each other over violence, Týr and Tytos start to form a deep forbidden friendship.

Together, they embark on a journey filled with exciting adventures, learning valuable lessons about strength, empathy, and the importance of connection. As they face various challenges, Týr grows in self-acceptance, while Tytos learns the significance of unity among all sentient beings.

Ultimately, this story celebrates themes of friendship, courage, and personal growth, illustrating how the greatest battles are often internal, and how true heroism can arise from the most unexpected alliances.

War for Trinity

Theme Song

Synopsis- Set during the massacre, the death of Týr and exile of the Giants, a group of researchers, from the great race of the First Ones, threatens the survival of the last colony of The Trinity led by the great Tytos Prime and his allies.

However, the actions of his most powerful general, Joey Kaine and his Symbiote, Discord, can lead both sides to a war that could definitively determine the survival of their people.

Fall of the Trinity

Theme Song

Synopsis- With the Giants destroying the last bridge to their realm and with The Trinity Counsil gone, Tytos has no other choice but to declare an Exodus to the legendary and missing realm of Drekiheim, now Tytos must do whatever it cost to save his people, even if it means sacrificing his life for them. From this journey, the future of the Trinity could be at stake.

Romulus Protocol

Theme song

Synopsis- Inspired by the horror game The Callisto Protocol and the iconic film Alien: Romulus, we follow the harrowing journey of Mariner Davis, wife of Tytos Prime and the ex-captain of the Dragon-Seekers of the Trinity, who has now become a shell of her former self.

Following the devastating Great Exodus, Mariner is left grappling with unimaginable grief after the tragic death of her husband and the mysterious disappearance of her children. Troubled and haunted by loss, Mariner has succumbed to alcoholism and deep depression, her once-bright spirit now overshadowed by despair.

As fate would have it, Mariner's life takes a catastrophic turn when she survives a brutal crash landing on the inhospitable moon of Calpamos, LV-426. However, her hopes for survival quickly dissolve when she is captured and wrongfully imprisoned in a high-security facility run by nefarious captors who have their own dark agenda.

Mariner soon discovers that the prison is not merely a place of confinement; a sinister infestation is spreading throughout its depths, awakening terrifying creatures that have lain dormant for far too long. Faced with overwhelming odds, she must rely on her cunning and resilience, as well as the partnership of her Symbiote, Prowler. But as the monstrous outbreak escalates within the confines of the prison, Mariner’s journey becomes even more complicated when she reluctantly teams up with an unlikely cast of allies: Shockwave, an ex-Decepticon scientist with a wealth of knowledge about bioengineering and artificial life, and Albedo, an arrogant yet brilliant Galvan whose intellect and high ego often clashes with Mariner's instincts.

As the chaos unfolds, Mariner is forced to confront the deep-seated trauma and unresolved grief that have haunted her since the loss of her family. Each battle against the infestation and the prison's sadistic overseers pushes her closer to confronting the ghosts of her past—both external and internal.

As the clock ticks down and the infestation spirals out of control, Mariner, Prowler, Shockwave, and Albedo must band together to uncover the truth and escape the clutches of the moon—before it's too late.

Through moments of heart-pounding action interspersed with poignant introspection, Romulus Protocol explores themes of loss, guilt, and the indomitable will to survive, ultimately posing the question: can Mariner reclaim her strength and purpose amid the darkness that threatens to consume her?

[jaiwritez]

Let’s also not forget that Danny is prime Wayne adoption bait.

(I started writing and got possessed and it turned into Lois/Clark and sometimes Bruce)

The whole Super family. Clark, Ma and Pa Kent, Jon, Lois, Connor and Konnor (cause you can’t tell me swag/drippy Connor is the same as YJ Connor. So to me they’re twin clones.), Kara and Krypto (the dog). They all had gathered on the farm to talk to Danny.

Kara knowing more of the language than her cousin was talking to Danny and seeing if they could work on his grammar on the roof of the barn. As well as get more info about this mysterious prison warden.

All the super boys are listening in while they play fetch with Kyrpto. Clark, Lois and the Kent’s are in the house making extra food. Considering everyone was home to meet their newest member…., god…., Ancestor….we will figure it out later.

Everyone’s heads turn when the bat-plane lands in clear section of the field. Bruce stomps down out of the hatch and walks directly towards Clark with the rest of the bat kids in stride. He stops in front of Clark.

“Clark.” He grits.

“Bruce?” He questions raising an eyebrow.

Both families freezing their positions, whether on the ground or in the air. Bruce lifts a stack of papers in Clarks face giving him time to read. Clarks face drops in a frown snd he laughs.

“Bruce you can’t be serious. How did you even find out about the kid. He’s been here less than 12 hours. How did you even file the paper work.” Clark said putting one hand on his hip and punching the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t worry about it. Also two of your boys are dating two of mine. Word travels.” Bruce said smirking. Gesturing to a blushing Tim and Damian. “Acquire the package.”

Cass stuffs Danny in a sack and slings him over her shoulder like Santa carrying the Christmas gifts. No one had notice her scale the roof of the barn behind Kara and Danny. Kara was clearly startled at how she didn’t hear the other girl coming. Danny didn’t fight. Instead he phased his head out of part of the sack and looked at Clark.

“Ummmm Clark? Should I be worried?” Danny asked.

“Danny. Bruce Wayne aka Batman.” Clark said gesturing to Bruce who was grinning like the cat who ate the canary.

“Dad?! You’re not gonna fight back? We just got Dan-El.” Jon protested.

“Have you tried fighting Bruce in a legal battle?” Clark asked with a defeated sigh. Some of the older kids snickered at this. They began to make their way towards the bat-plane.

“Now wait just a minute.” Martha said coming out with Lois to her right and Pa Kent to her left. Everyone stopped in their tracks.

“Bruce Thomas Wayne.” She scolded making everyone even Bruce wince. “You flew all the way out here and didn’t say hello. Then kidnap one of my boys that I just got. On top of that none of the kids you flew out here have eaten. You’re all too skinny. So first. Apologize to Danny cause he just got here. It’s all new for him and you’re overwhelming him. Bring all the kids in so they can prep for dinner and maybe we can talk about partial custody. You should know I’ve been hiding aliens for over two decades. So I don’t give a flying cow turd what the government says.” She said crossing her arms.

Ma Kent’s word was final much like Alfred’s. So without Bruce telling her. Cass gently planted the bag containing Danny on the ground. She smiled at him and fluffed his hair as she made her way toward the house.

Lois giggled at how down Bruce looked after being told off by Ma Kent , whom had went back inside to check on her pie. Pa Kent walked over and patted Bruce’s shoulder.

“Don’t look too down. With all our grandsons dating yours boys. We’re practically family legally already or soon to be anyways. I’m honestly surprised it took another generation. Me and Martha were sure Clark was gonna marry you before we met Lois.” He said patting Bruce on the back leaving Bruce blushing and choking.

“PA?!?!” Clark said offendedly turning several shades of red.

“Oh cut the act Clark. Even I know I was competing with Bruce.” Lois said rolling her eyes. She kissed Clark’s slack jaw before going in the house.

All the teens made sounds of disgust. Danny looked around and pulled himself out of the fully. Walking up to meet Dick and Jason.

“I’m so confused. What just happened?” He asked looking up at the tan skinned man with curly hair.

“You’re our new brother some way somehow. They will work out the kinks later.” Dick said with a smile.

“Don’t I get a say in this?!?” Danny said shocked.

“Not at all kid. Welcome to the family.” Jason said with a smirk and ruffled Danny’s hair. As everyone but Clark and Bruce walked inside.

*****later****

Danny sat at the dinner table. He looked at Lois then back out the window to Clark and Bruce who were still staring at each other outside. Neither had said a word.

“Are they gonna be okay?” He asked.

“They’ll be fine. It’s about time they spoke about it. Honestly thank you because we all have been suffering for ages. My money was on Bruce.” Lois said with a small smile.

“Pa ruined our bets on who could confess first.” Connor complained.

“I would’ve died and they still wouldn’t have confessed.” Pa said not looking up from his plate.

“And you’re just okay with this?” Danny asked Lois.

“Yeah. We all have worked togeher before.” Lois said with a glint in her eye.

Everyone older than 16 hated that and started choking, gagging or trying to cover there ears.

Culture Shock

Look, Danny knows not all of the ghosts from the Zone are human, ok?

Skulker is an alien, Wulf is from another dimension, and Frostbite's ancestral world don't even have planets.

You can meet any ghost from any world and any time period, it's only one of the infinite weird things about the Realms.

So it wasn't a big deal when Danny asked Walker to teach him his mother tongue. Just an attempt to reduce the communication error with the guy, and maybe an effort to get to know his Zone neighbors better.

Generic ghost speak can only get them so far after all.

And ok, Danny wasn't expecting to get actual language books and fucking homeworks from the warden, but whatever. Walker is stuffy like that. It's actually pretty sweet of him to give Danny all of these materials, and Danny can appreciate that.

It might have, unfortunately, slipped Danny's mind to ask more about Walker's origins. Although to be fair, learning an alien language wouldn't be a problem normally, it shouldn't be.

If not for that cursed Fenton luck.

How in the realms is Danny supposed to know Walker is Kryptonian??? Walker acts nothing like Superman, how is Danny supposed to connect the two dots?!

Shit, how do he even start to explain this when Superman is knocking on his dorm window??

[musicverse11]

The Business of Indie Music: Loy’s Growth Strategies Revealed

In an age where music is no longer confined to major labels and corporate strategies, indie artists are rewriting the rules of success. Among these innovators is Loy, a rising star whose journey from a modest bedroom studio to achieving recognition on platforms like Spotify is nothing short of inspiring. Loy has mastered the art of blending genres such as Pop, Rock, and Soundtrack to create a distinctive sound that resonates with a global audience. This article delves into Loy’s humble beginnings, his challenges, milestones, and how he has carved out a niche in the competitive music landscape.

A Humble Beginning

Loy’s story begins in a setting familiar to many indie artists — a bedroom studio. Armed with passion, raw talent, and minimal equipment, he started experimenting with sounds and melodies. This phase of discovery was pivotal in shaping his identity as an artist. Unlike those who seek instant fame, Loy invested countless hours honing his craft, learning production techniques, and understanding the nuances of creating music that connects emotionally with listeners.

In interviews, Loy has often mentioned the early struggles of balancing his creative aspirations with limited resources. “There were days when I doubted if my music would ever reach an audience,” he shared. Yet, these moments of uncertainty only fueled his determination to push boundaries.

Challenges on the Path to Recognition

The road to success for independent artists is seldom smooth. For Loy, the challenges ranged from financial constraints to navigating a saturated market dominated by major-label artists. Without the backing of a professional team, Loy had to wear multiple hats — songwriter, producer, marketer, and even distributor.

One of the major hurdles he faced was building an audience from scratch. “I realized early on that creating good music is just one part of the equation. The real challenge is getting people to listen to it,” Loy remarked. Social media platforms became his primary tool for connecting with potential fans, but even here, standing out required strategy and persistence.

Another significant challenge was dealing with rejection. Early in his career, Loy sent his demos to numerous labels and industry professionals, only to face silence or polite refusals. Instead of letting this discourage him, he took it as an opportunity to refine his sound and find alternative ways to reach his audience.

Milestones and Breakthroughs

Loy’s persistence began to pay off when he released his first few singles independently. Tracks like Heyy Babyy and Roya showcased his ability to create music that was not only catchy but also emotionally evocative. These songs gained traction on streaming platforms, marking his entry into the indie music scene.

One of Loy’s biggest breakthroughs came when his tracks were added to curated Spotify playlists. This exposure introduced his music to thousands of listeners who might not have discovered him otherwise. His Chartmetric Score of 90.16 and a Chartmetric Rank of 2412 are testaments to his growing influence as an indie artist.

Collaborations also played a crucial role in his journey. Working with other artists and producers expanded his creative horizons and introduced his music to diverse audiences. Tracks like Tunnel (feat. somy) highlight Loy’s willingness to experiment and innovate, further solidifying his reputation as a versatile musician.

The Transition to Professionalism

As his fanbase grew, so did the demand for more professional production and distribution. Loy partnered with platforms like Deliver My Tune, which allowed him to distribute his music to a global audience. This shift was instrumental in transitioning from a bedroom producer to a recognized artist with a professional presence.

Deliver My Tune also provided Loy with analytics and insights that helped him understand his audience better. By identifying where his listeners were located and which tracks resonated the most, Loy was able to tailor his promotional efforts and maximize his reach.

Inspiration for Aspiring Indie Artists

Loy’s story serves as a blueprint for aspiring musicians who dream of making it big without compromising their artistic integrity. His journey underscores the importance of persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to learn. For Loy, success was not a stroke of luck but the result of years of hard work, strategic thinking, and an unrelenting passion for music.

What sets Loy apart is his ability to stay authentic while embracing modern tools and platforms. He has shown that it’s possible to navigate the complexities of the music industry without losing sight of one’s creative vision.

Conclusion

Loy’s transformation from a bedroom producer to a rising indie star on Spotify is a testament to the power of perseverance and innovation. His journey is not just about personal success but also about inspiring others to pursue their passions, no matter the obstacles. In a world where independent artists often face uphill battles, Loy stands out as a beacon of hope and proof that talent combined with strategy can lead to extraordinary achievements.

[skylarmoon71]

Lance Sweets (Bones) - Crossover AU - Chapter 15

Lois helped you get cleaned up, and you’re all once again in the living room. Lois is smiling at the way you look at Clark. 

Almost like he’s family. She understands.

“Well, since you’re already here, why not stay for dinner. Then maybe Smallville can share all his kryptonian knowledge.”

Her invitation brings a smile on Clark’s face.

He expects nothing less from Lois.

“Make yourself at home, we’ll get started on dinner.” Clark informs.

“Yeah, how about lasagna Clark.” Lois calls. Clark leaves a kiss on her cheek as he heads for the kitchen.

When he’s gone, Lois nudges your arm. Maybe she sees how eager you are to talk with him, be around him.

“Why don’t you offer him some help. I suck at cooking, he’ll appreciate it.”

Your eyes light up and you nod.

“Y-Yes I will.”

You head for the kitchen and Sweets smiles.

“They’re so cute.” Lois gushes.

He chuckles, shaking his head.

~~

The dinner that followed was fairly quiet. You’re a bit lost in your thoughts, and so is Clark. Maybe that’s why you both ended up in his barn after the meal. He was telling you about his childhood.

How he grew up. All of his experiences.

“I really never thought I’d meet anyone else.”

Clark turns, taking in the hopeless look you wear as you stare at the expanse of grass on his farm.

Sweets is below bailing hay. He sort of insisted that it was a task he always wanted to try.

“There were a lot of kryptonians in Smallville. Not all good. After what happened in the phantom zone I got a bit paranoid.”

“Is the phantom zone real?”

Your astonishment draws his attention.

“It is. You’ve heard of it before?”

“My dad used to tell me stories. It’s a prison for really bad people. To us they were sort of like bedtime stories. Mostly to keep my brother out of trouble. But I can’t believe it was true. Are you saying that you’ve been there and you escaped? Only members in the House of El had keys to access that or leave. Are you saying that you’re..”

Clark looks down.

“My biological father was Jor-El.”

At this point you shouldn’t even be surprised. Still, the more you learn, the crazier it all seems.

“I can’t believe it. Jor El, to us he was like an ultimate warrior. He protected us, kept the planet safe. You’re the son of one of the strongest and most honorable kryptonians to have lived. That’s incredible.”

“It sounds like you’re giving him a little too much credit. Sometimes the trials he put me through were selfish. I went through a lot because of him.”

You can’t hope to know what that was like.

“Regardless, he usually came through in the end. He played a part in turning me into the person I am today."

Despite all of that, there’s respect in his tone. One that’s similar to what your father always used when he talked about Jor-El, or when your brother would gush about his missions.

There’s a strange sense of nostalgia when you’re with Clark.

Like you’re home.

“This is tougher than it looks.”

Sweets call pulls both your attention. Apparently he’d removed his shirt at some point. When he turns to you, his exposed chest makes you take a much needed breath. He turns back to his task, and you’re fortunate. Your heart is slightly racing again, and the familiar burn in your eyes is all the indication you need. You close your eyes, not before Clark caught the red rings of your irises of course.

It takes a moment, but you feel the heat dissipate, and you open your eyes, massaging the bridge of your nose.

“Sorry..” You mumble.

You aren't sure why that happened. A lot of strange things have been occurring with your powers lately.

“I guess you’re going through it later than I did. You skipped the awkward high school phase.”

“What are you talking about?”

He suddenly looks uncomfortable.

“You just..How did you..when...”

He’s pointing between you and Sweets, struggling to put the words together and making hand gestures.

“How did you use it the first time?” He finally says.

“I was angry. It only ever came out when I was agitated. That was weird.”

He’s not sure if he’s the one that should inform you of the reason. But it’s not like there are many options. There’s a chance you might do it again, so it would be wrong of him not to say anything.

“It’s hormonal.” He blurts out.

You look over at him.

“Hormonal?”

He nods, still refusing to make eye contact.

“When we get..excited, our body reacts to it.”

There’s a pause, because you still look a bit puzzled. But it slowly clicks, he can see it on your face. Your cheeks burn red and Clark clears his throat.

“Anyway, just be careful in the future.”

“Y-Yeah.”

There’s no way to make the conversation any less uncomfortable. 

[phantom-le6]

Ramble of the month September 2023: Phase 3 of the Batman Begins-Led DCEU

As I said last month, my aim for my September ramble is to continue looking into my hypothetical alternate superhero film universes by moving on to phase 3 of a DCEU in which Batman Begins led the way.  Having outlined phase 1 in March of this year and phase 2 in June, I am glad to be retaining a consistent pacing with my rambles on this subject.  However, I’m also concerned about my lack of anything more varied to discuss, and hopefully by October that will have changed.

So, first things first, as with last month’s exploration of phase 3 of my 90’s based MCU, let’s start with a quick re-cap on the previous phases;

Phase 1:

2005: Batman Begins

2006: Man of Steel

2007: Wonder Woman

2008: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern

2009: The Flash, Man of Steel 2

2010: Aquaman, Justice League

Phase 2:

2011: Wonder Woman 2, Green Lantern 2, Green Arrow

2012: Hawkman, Batman/Superman, Aquaman 2

2013: John Constantine, The Flash 2, Suicide Squad

2014: Justice League 2, Green Arrow 2, Batman: The Long Crusade

There are several key difference between the two phases.  The first phase was very much about establishing the lead heroes that would then form the Justice League and doing that with those heroes.  It also featured a slow build-up to the production of superhero films on a very regular basis.  Phase 2 then expanded on this by adding in more heroes, while at the same time straining the relationships of lead characters with the public in their universe and with each other.  By the tail-end of phase 2, Batman has seemingly betrayed the Justice League in an adaptation of the Tower of Babel story arc, been slightly vindicated by a few leaguers being mind-controlled and having to be stopped by Green Arrow in that hero’s second film, and we’ve the Suicide Squad rolling around as well.

All that being said, we’ve also had Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Batman gain their first proteges in phase 2, setting up for another form of team-up ensemble film, which is part of the phase 3 overview outlined below;

Phase 3:

2015: Shazam, Man of Steel 3, The Atom

2016: Wonder Woman 3, Batgirl, Teen Titans

2017: Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Shazam vs Black Adam, Suicide Squad 2

2018: Justice League: Darkseid Rising, Aquaman 3, Doom Patrol

As you can see, phase 3 continues to introduce new heroes alongside those already established, and at the same time, we’re also getting a mix of new and existing team combinations.  However, how does this all work in detail.  Well, let’s dive into the films of the third round in this alternate DCEU;

Shazam (2015) Directed by David F Sandberg

Billy Batson/Shazam = Zachary Gordon/Zachary Levi

Dr Thaddeus Sivana = Stanley Tucci

Freddy Freeman/"Shazam" Freddy = Chandler Riggs/Adam Brody

The Wizard = Forest Whitaker

Darla Dudley/"Shazam" Darla = Quvenzhané Wallis/Meagan Good

Mary Bromfield/Mary Marvel = Halston Sage/Michelle Borth

Eugene Choi/"Shazam" Eugene = Hudson Yang/Ross Butler

Pedro Peña/"Shazam" Pedro = Rico Rodriguez/DJ Cotrona

Rosa Vásquez = Marta Milans

Víctor Vásquez = Cooper Andrews

Shazam is one of those films from the real DCEU I would avoid changing too much just because Shazam isn’t my strongest area of DC lore to conceive any alternate ideas around.  That’s not to say I haven’t done so later in my ideas for this hypothetical film run, but rather that I wouldn’t have much luck changing the original film substantially.  As such, the director would remain the same and so would most of the cast.  The few I’ve changed have been down to either casting the actors from the real film elsewhere in this hypothetical film universe, or the fact that this would now be a 2015 film instead of a 2019 one.  The story of the film would also be about the same, but some of the references to other DC heroes might different based on the events of earlier films.

Man of Steel 3 (2015) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Brainiac = Paul Bettany

General Harrison Hardcastle = Neal McDonough

Capt. Nathanial Adams/Captain Atom = Matt Bomer

John Corbin/Metallo = Orlando Bloom

Leslie Willis/Livewire = Danielle Panabaker

Claire Selton/Volcana = Kirsten Stewart

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Discounting the Batman-Superman joint film from phase 2, this is our third solo instalment for Superman, and while film 1 was very much like the 2013 Man of Steel made a bit brighter compared to what Snyder did, the second film was a more classic Superman versus Lex Luthor and Metallo with an assist from the Martian Manhunter.  Film 3, however, looks at Superman after his bout of mind-controlled criminality in Green Arrow 2.  His relationship with the public and the governments of the world is strained, and when his cousin Supergirl crash-lands on Earth and accidentally does damage due to her newly manifested powers, things become even rockier.

To this end, a small super-group is formed by the US armed forces under the orders of General Hardcastle, which brings in military superhero Captain Atom at the head of a small team of otherwise villains sent after Superman.  However, little does anyone know that Supergirl has been tracked to Earth by Brainiac, and when he arrives, the true heroes and villains are dictated by who is willing to refocus on this new threat and who isn’t.  Most of the cast is retained from past films, with the Supergirl-to Volcana portion of the cast being all new.  As for picking Mr del Toro to direct, those who have read my previous rambles will know I’ve gone through Roland Emerich, Ron Howard and Rob Marshall on the films where Superman is somehow in the title.  This is because I think Superman is someone who benefits from a regular change in director to add some variety to the character.  Also, the man did great work on Blade II and also has prior comic-film experience from the original Hellboy films, so it’d be interesting to see him deal with a less anti-heroic protagonist.

The Atom (2015) Directed by Michael Nankin

Dr Ray Palmer/Atom = Tom Ellis

Jean Loring = Morena Baccarin

Norman Brawler = Elden Henson

Paul Hoben = Dominic Cooper

Professor Hyatt = David Hyde Pearce

David Clinton/Chronos = Richard T. Jones

Prof. Martin Stein = Victor Garber

Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm = Nick Jonas

Because of the power-set and civilian occupation of the Atom, I figured the director should be someone with some experience of dealing with the microscopic and forensic.  In short, it needed to be someone who had dealt with an episode of CSI at least once.  As a result, I landed on the idea of Michael Nankin, who helmed the Star Trek-homage episode of CSI in its ninth season, making a cinematic directorial debut on this one.  The film is basically about Dr Ray Palmer becoming estranged from his wife as he cracks the means to shrink a human being, and then works to stop the time-travelling Chronos with the aid of Firestorm, a superhero composed of two beings in one.

As the film goes on, Palmer learns his wife is outright cheating on him, and when faced with Chronos has to ask the question; should he co-opt the villain’s time-travel tech to fix his marriage, or is that too close to Chronos’ abuses of the tech?  In that sense, I would really want to see this film look just at the disintegration of a romantic connection without trying to set up an alternate one.  Not all superhero romances have happy endings, and it would be good to showcase how life in super-tights can mess up a personal life well into the supposedly “happily ever after” stage.

Casting-wise, I kept the role of Stein the same as what Arrow-verse series the Flash gave us, but then picked a number of different actors for other roles based on who I thought might look right for the parts, be the right age, etc.  Several of the actors people will know from other superhero-related productions (Elden Henson was in the Netflix Daredevil series, Morena Baccarin is known for her roles in Gotham and the Deadpool films, and of course Dominic Cooper played the 1940’s/50’s version of Howard Stark in the MCU).

Wonder Woman 3 (2016) Directed by Patty Jenkins

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

Hippolyta = Connie Nielsen

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl = Ciara Bravo

Dr Alannah Troy = Demi Moore

Hades = David Tennant

Artemis = Rachael Taylor

Dr Julia Kapatelis = Rita Wilson

Vanessa Kapatelis = Elena Kampouris

"Sarge" Steel = Jeremy Renner

After having done two period-set Wonder Woman films under Trek alumni Gates McFadden, this third instalment of the Amazon’s solo adventures is handed over to Patty Jenkins and comes into the modern era.  In this film, Wonder Woman hasn’t made the same efforts as Superman and the Flash to rebuild her bridges following the mind-control incident in Green Arrow 2.  As a result, she is operating almost Batman-style within Washington DC, posing as an archaeological expert while secretly foiling crime.  However, this is interrupted when she discovers that one of her colleagues, Dr Alannah Troy, has sired a young girl with the Greek god Hades, and now Diana’s half-cousin is being sought by a cult bent on freeing Hades from Tartarus.

Except for Wonder Woman and her mother Hippolyta, this film is all-fresh casting, and the character of Alannah Troy and the new Wonder Girl origin are my own ideas, albeit slightly based on events from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated shows.  This is because Donna Troy’s origins get very confused in the comics, and I think having Diana and Donna be cousins via their godly fathers provides a decent simplification for cinematic audiences.

Batgirl (2016) Directed by Gates McFadden & Reese Witherspoon

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

Alysia Yeoh = Lana Condor

Reese Conroy = Ross Lynch

Dr Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn = Margot Robbie

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Keeping with the idea of female-led franchises on and off-screen, we come to a solo film for Batgirl.  This one is helmed by Gates McFadden and Reese Witherspoon, the latter being someone who I am aware started her own production company to try and put female-centric stories on the big screen.  As such, I’m thinking she might well jump at the chance to co-direct a Batgirl solo film with another female director.  The plot would differ a little from the comics; instead of trying to clear her father of a crime he didn’t commit, Barbara initially becomes the Batgirl in homage to Batman.  Only when her father is kidnapped by Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn does Batgirl take her role more seriously, stepping up to become a true superheroine and in the process shifting from hero worship of Batman to seeing him as a friend and ally.

Now while the Joker is included in the cast, this is just for a flashback montage that explains why Harley is coming in as Ivy’s partner-in-crime on her first DCEU film.  Rather than taking her through a relationship with the Joker over a film or two, we just treat it as something that’s happened between The Dark Knight film and this one.  Casting-wise, everyone from Jim Gordon on-down is from past films, leaving just Barbara, her friends and the female antagonists as new selections.  Bella Thorne takes the lead role due to her youth, resemblance to the comics character and good acting ability, while Margot Robbie is one of those bits of real-DCEU casting I agree with enough to retain.  As for taking on April Bowlby as Poison Ivy, I know she’s landed more serious roles since her time on Two-and-a-Half-Men, and I’d be curious to see her take on Poison Ivy as a role.

Teen Titans (2016) Directed by Steven Spielberg

Richard Grayson/Robin = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl = Ciara Bravo

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Roy Harper/Speedy = Cameron Monaghan

Aqualad/Garth = Luke Benward

Trigon = Viggo Mortensen

Psimon = Matthew Grey Gubler

Gizmo = Peter Dinklage

Jinx = Naomi Scott

Mammoth = Adam Joseph Copeland

Shimmer = Anna Faris

Grant Wilson/Ravager = Andrew Garfield

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke = Daniel Day-Lewis

Dr Silas Stone = Rocky Carroll

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

It’s a sad truth in cinema as we know it that the Teen Titans have never had a serious film of them released cinematically.  The only cinema versions to date have been “kiddy-fied” cartoon disasters, and the two serious animated features that have been done have been for direct-to-home-release only.  As such, there was no way I’d conceive a hypothetical live-action DC universe without seeking to address this foolish oversight on the part of DC and WB.  To show just how seriously I take this, I’ve even put the great Steven Spielberg at the helm, because frankly I think it would be good to have someone of that calibre lend their directorial weight to the project.

Plot-wise, you start out with the apprentices of the major heroes meeting each other and trying to team up, but something goes awry, and earns them some condemnation from Batman.  A few months later, the demon Trigon begins trying to invade Earth, and his daughter Raven comes to Earth ahead of him to recruit heroes against the threat.  With Batman taken out early on and the rest of the Justice League engaged, it falls to the Titans from the 1980’s comics run to assemble and meet the threat.  The Fearsome Five are incorporated as pawns of Trigon, while Ravager tries and fails to collect a bounty on the Titans.  His accidental death while pursuing this then leads to a credits scene in which his father Deathstroke takes up the contract, setting up for a somewhat inevitable sequel.

Batman and Alfred are brought in from past films, as are the apprentice heroes and Cyborg’s father.  The rest of the cast is all new to this film.  I won’t go on at length about their respective resumes; suffice it to say that past experience combined with looking like, or having the potential to look like, the relevant roles has led me to each name on this list.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow (2017) Directed by Matt Reeves

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow = Ethan Hawke

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Roy Harper/Speedy = Cameron Monaghan

Tobias Whale = Marvin "Krondon" Jones III

Brunno Mannheim = Joe Manganiello

Whisper A'Daire = Emilia Clarke

Kyle Abbot = Ed Skrein

China White = Kelly Hu

One of the major watershed moments in comics history that has yet to see a film adaptation is the arc in the Green Lantern-Green Arrow combined comic of the 1970’s where Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy turned out to have developed an addiction to drugs.  When considering films for this alternate DCEU, even though I’ve never read the story, I thought some version of it should be done in film.  To that end, we have this concept, which I would have directed by Matt Reeves (haven’t seen his Batman film, but I enjoyed his Planet of the Apes work).  In this film, Roy Harper is recovering from injuries sustained in the early scenes of the Teen Titans film.  When his doctor cuts off his pain killers prematurely, Roy turns to illegal drugs to compensate, then develops an addiction.  The film then showcases Green Arrow mishandling things, Green Lantern not doing a good job himself by taking Ollie off to fight the drug pushers, and Black Canary being the one to do right by Roy, leading to both of them becoming estranged from Green Arrow.

Our heroes and the drug-dealing China White are all brought back from past films, while the rest of the cast list is new.  Mannheim is incorporated to provide links to the world of Superman, while Whisper and Kyle are nods to Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows.  Tobias Whale, on the other hand, is borrowed from the rogues gallery of Black Lightning, largely in homage to a similar character appearing in a Justice League Unlimited episode that featured Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Shazam vs Black Adam (2017) Directed by David F Sandberg

Billy Batson/Shazam = Zachary Gordon/Zachary Levi

Black Adam/Teth-Adam = Dwayne Johnson

Isis/Adrianna Tomaz = Michelle Rodriguez

Osiris/Amon Tomaz = Miguel Gomez

Freddy Freeman/"Shazam" Freddy = Chandler Riggs/Adam Brody

The Wizard = Forest Whitaker

Darla Dudley/"Shazam" Darla = Quvenzhané Wallis/Meagan Good

Mary Bromfield/Mary Marvel = Halston Sage/Michelle Borth

Eugene Choi/"Shazam" Eugene = Hudson Yang/Ross Butler

Pedro Peña/"Shazam" Pedro = Rico Rodriguez/DJ Cotrona

Rosa Vásquez = Marta Milans

Víctor Vásquez = Cooper Andrews

For Shazam’s second solo outing, I felt like that needed to be something different, and after seeing the less-than-brilliant use of the JSA and the Tomaz family in the Black Adam film, I knew what the different thing had to be.  So, step one, keep Sandberg directing.  Step 2, have Black Adam appear in his fictional nation and free it in brief, then he lets himself be caught invading another country so he could be taken over to the United States, who he learns has been complicit in Kandaq’s problems prior to his liberation of his people.  When Black Adam breaks free, he clashes with the Shazam family and later recruits Kandaqi-American mother-and-son Adrianna and Amon Tomaz.  In this sense, the film is a kind of Shazam-centric variant on the Superman story “what’s so funny about truth, justice and the American way?”

In terms of cast, most of it remains the same as the real DCEU, with a few changes here and there.  Yes, my picks for the Tomaz family are of Latin extraction instead of middle Eastern, but considering Dwayne Johnson is of Black Canadian and Samoan descent, I think it’s hardly vital we get like-for-like in actor nationalities/heritage.  That said, I would be insisting on some dialect coaches so you can be convinced Black Adam is from an ancient middle east nation instead of the USA.

Suicide Squad 2 (2017) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Rick Flag Jr. = Joel Kinnaman

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Captain Boomerang/Digger Harkness = Hugh Jackman

Killer Frost/Louise Lincoln = Amanda Seyfried

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Sameer Park/Copperhead = Sendhil Ramamurthy

Siobhan Smythe/Silver Banshee = Katie McGrath

Dr Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn = Margot Robbie

Giganta = Hayley Atwell

Enchantress/Dr June Moone = Keira Knightley/Natalie Portman

Slipknot/Christopher Weisz = Adam Beach

Sportsmaster/Victor Gover = Xavier Samuel

Cheshire/Jade Nguyen = Rila Fukushima

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

General Harrison Hardcastle = Neal McDonough

Vandal Savage = Gerard Butler

This is our second DCEU film of the phase, and overall, with Guillermo del Toro at the helm.  This time, though, the focus is on villain-team the Suicide Squad.  For the squad’s second outing, they’re caught up in a manhunt, or rather woman-hunt, for Wonder Woman after the events of that hero’s third solo film.  General Hardcastle, having been disgraced in MoS 3 for his attempt to go after Superman, tries to dupe Amanda Waller into having the squad bring in Wonder Woman.  However, little does he or the squad know that immortal Vandal Savage is planning a major coup, and pursuing Wonder Woman could be the very thing that allows him to succeed.

For all intents and purposes, this film is meant to be a kind of warped superhero universe variant on ‘The Fugitive’ with a little James Bond/Raiders of the Lost Ark thrown in on the third act.  There are a few new names in the cast, but most are brought back from prior films.  Among the new names is Katie McGrath, the actress who played Lena Luthor in the Arrow-verse series of Supergirl.  As the actress is apparently Irish, I’ve shifted her into playing Silver Banshee in this film.

Justice League: Darkseid Rising (2018) Directed by Ron Howard

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow = Ethan Hawke

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Dr Ray Palmer/Atom = Tom Ellis

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Carter Hall/Hawkman = Sullivan Stapleton

Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl = Jessica Alba

John Stewart = Derek Luke

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

John Constantine = Matt Ryan

Zatanna = Katrina Law

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning = Jamie Foxx

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

DeSaad = David Wenham

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

This is our third Justice League film, and having thoroughly shaken up the League and the DC universe over a few years, this instalment creates a bit more chaos.  In this film, Steppenwolf launches an assault on Earth, and in the process the latest iteration of the Justice League ends up scattering.  One group seeks out Batman, and together with additional heroes of his choosing mount a counter-strike.  The other group ends up meeting heroes from New Genesis and learning that Steppenwolf is only the tip of the sword.  This sets up a major multi-film story arc that runs for most of the remaining phases of this DCEU.

In terms of direction, I’ve already used Ron Howard in this hypothetical film run on Man of Steel 2, and I think this would be an interesting project for him to helm.  Everyone from Steppenwolf on-down in the film casting is new to this film; Ciarán Hinds is retained from the real DCEU as I think he was let down by that Justice League film and not the film by him.  As for the selection of Lindsay Kay Hayward, that was based on a search for a truly tall actress to play Big Barda without necessarily having to revert to effects or trick camera shots.  As for Bernard Hill, who better than Theoden of Rohan from LOTR to be playing an alien monarch like Darkseid?

Aquaman 3 (2018) Directed by James Wan

Arthur Curry/Aquaman = Chris Pine

Mera = Felicity Jones

Vulko = Jonathan Frakes

Black Manta = Idris Elba

Tempest/Garth = Luke Benward

Jackson Hyde/Aqualad II = Caleb McLaughlin

Tula/Aquagirl = Lily-Rose Depp

Siren/Hila = Felicity Jones

Nanaue/King Shark = Sylvester Stalone

King Ryus = Dolph Lundgren

Capt. Leron = Matt Smith

Nereus = Domnhall Gleeson

Gamemnae = Laura Haddock

For our third Aquaman solo outing, the directorial reigns shift from Vulko actor and Trek alumni Jonathan Frakes to James Wan, director of the real DCEU’s Aquaman film.  The plot is a loose translation of the Obsidian Age arc from the Justice League comics, with the ancient Atlantean sorceress Gamemnae appearing as a present-day foe and opposed by the full aqua-family, including a second Aqualad and introducing Aquagirl.  Casting-wise, it’s mostly people I already chose for the past Aquaman instalments mixed with real DCEU casting and a few new ones.  Also, while I chose each cast member for good reasons that trump all else, I can’t deny the slight misfortune in selecting someone with the surname Haddock for a film whose characters are all somehow aquatic in nature.

Doom Patrol (2018) Directed by James Gunn

Dr Niles Caulder/The Chief = Pierce Brosnan

Clifford Steele/Robot Man = Johnny Whitworth

Larry Trainor/Negative Man = Alessandro Nivola

Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl = Alyssa Milano

Mento/Steve Dayton = Nathan Fillion

Bumblebee/Karen Beecher = Kyla Pratt

Vox/Malcom Duncan = Donald Glover

The Brain = Jean Reno

Monsieur Mallah = Omar Sy

Laura De Mille/Madame Rouge = Sophie Marceau

Emil LaSalle/Warp = Jean Dujardin

Otto Von Furth/Plasmus = Til Schweiger

When it comes to films about misfit adventurers in a world of super-beings, James Gunn pulls them off better than most at times, so I thought it’d be interesting to see him tackle the Doom Patrol in film format.  This film is very much a one-off and does a run-through on their origins while pitting them against their arch-nemeses the Brotherhood of Evil.  With the antagonists being mostly French with a single German member in the comics, this was an interesting one to cast outside of the hero team.  Mind you, casting for a brain in a robot body and a man wrapped in bandages is also fun because appearance is less crucial.  However, I think the end result is pretty good.

So, that’s the full run-through on phase 3 of my Batman Begins-led DCEU.  Hopefully, I won’t come back to this or my 90’s MCU until the new year, and I’ll have some more varied topics to discuss in the last few months of 2023.  As to whether those hopes are justified, we’ll have to wait until October to see.  Until then, ta-ta for now.

[iamnikoli]

AY22/23 Sem 2 Module Reviews

The overloading sem. I initially took 32MCs but I dropped to 24MC by week 5 because I couldn’t cope with the workload. It was difficult to simply adopt an S/U mindset and I found myself with very little free time. I also felt like I couldn’t enjoy the extra mods I took out of interest, so the overloading didn’t feel worth it. As a DSA major, I took HSH1000, HSI10000, DTK1234, MA2001 (which were pre-allocated to me because I was even-digit). I also bid for ST2131 (because a lot of DSA major mods have it as a prerequisite) and SP1541 (to S/U).

DTK1234

Module Coordinator: A/P Hans Tan

Tutor: Angela Tay

Lecture Topics:

Week 1-2: Intro Segment - Design Doing, not Thinking (Norman Door) Week 3-4: Segment 1 - Systematic Creativity (come up with problem statements, solution statements) Week 5-6: Segment 2 - Empathize (Empathize with user) Week 7-8: Segment 3 - Do, Undo, Redo (Prototyping) Week 9-10: Segment 4 - Evaluate with People (Evaluate prototype with user) Week 11-12: Wrap Up Segment - Thinking about Design Thinking

Deliverables:

Intro Segment + Segment 1-4 Individual Learning Activity (ILA) - 6% x5 Intro Segment + Segment 1-4 Team-Based Workshop (TBW) - 6% x5 Interim Design Thinking Journal (DTJ) - 15% Final Design Thinking Journal (DTJ) - 25%

Other Comments:

Most people dread this module, and for good reason. This mod is just a lot of fluff and you’ll need good smoking and bullshitting skills to do well, no cap. The ILAs are generally quite doable and you don’t need much time except Segment 1 ILA. The TBWs are either worksheets and class participation through activities and discussions during the fortnightly tutorials. You might find some other reviews saying that how well you do depends on how much your T/A likes you. While I don’t advocate sucking up to your T/A, I think it doesn’t hurt to talk and connect with your T/A, and just participate actively in tutorials :)) As for the module content itself, it really is a lot of fluff and talks about the different phases and steps in design thinking. Just use common sense to figure out how to smoke and “relate” the design thinking concepts to your user and your solutions/problem statements. The DTJ is an extension of this, so you’re expected to reflect and consolidate whatever you learnt or did. Just to be clear, the interim and final DTJ are the same document, just that you do like the first half of the DTJ in the interim, and you do the second half + revise the earlier parts from interim based on your T/As feedback. There’s also a 100 sec video that you have to submit in the final DTJ. 

Note that in my semester, unlike the previous semester we weren’t given any of our scores, I only got my overall banding (BE, ME, EE) for the first half ot the semester which included ILA x3, TBW x2 and Interim DTJ, along with some comments.

I actually have very little to say about DTK lol, just don’t do your ILAs last minute, participate actively in the tutorials and smoke smoke smoke and you should be fine HAHA

TLDR:

Module content is fluff, just smoke through your assignments Try to consolidate and flesh out the design thinking concepts in your DTJs (and maybe ILAs) Make your T/A like you

Grades:

Expected grade: B+ Actual grade: A

HSH1000

Module Coordinator: Prof Loy Hui Chieh

T/A: Nicholas Loo

Texts:

Week 1-2: The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Week 3-4: The Epic of Gilgamesh Week 5-6: Hind Swaraj (Gandhi) Week 7-8: Xunzi Week 9-10: No Exit Week 11: A Number Week 12: Sexual Politics of Meat

Deliverables:

Fortnightly quizzes (best 6 out of 7): 35% Peer Reviews and Surveys: 5% (note: these are just surveys about the mod and your peers, the peer review scores given by your peers don’t affect your 5%, as long as you complete your peer review of your peers you will get the full credit) Tutorial Preparation Tasks: 5% Tutorial Participation: 15% Meme Competition: 5% Group Discussions Summary x4: 20% (5% each) Final Project: 15%

Other Comments:

I’m honestly quite meh about this module. I think the texts covered are interesting but way too long (80-100 ish pages especially for Gandhi and Xunzi). Most people complain a lot about the quizzes whenever HSH is mentioned, and rightfully so. The quizzes are incredibly painful to do, if you actually try to do them well. You have to understand and analyse/scrutinise the texts and lecture recordings. Here’s a snippet of my work process for the quizzes:

Attempt the quiz myself, with justifications for each choice (whether a statement is right or wrong) written down

Discuss the quiz with my group, and note down the group’s consensus+justifications - this generates Attempt 1 of the quiz (note: you get 3 attempts for each quiz (best score of 3 taken), if Prof Loy is nice he might give an extra attempt)

Analyse Prof Loy’s written replies in the forum to all the hardworking students that asked questions about the quiz. Gather the quiz answers from two of my friends who’ve discussed with their own groups.

Psycho-analyse everything with one of the two friends while taking everything into consideration - justifications for a selection, what Prof Loy says, tele poll (take with a pinch of salt though), the answers generated between the 3 groups. This generates Attempt 2 and 3 (we used the two attempts for different permutations of the answers we weren’t confident about)

I initially put the tele poll answers for one of my attempts, but they were consistently lower than my Attempt 1 and 2. You can probably get a median score if you follow the tele poll, but to really do well I feel that you really need a good group of friends to discuss with. More importantly, you and your group should ideally justify/discuss the quiz answers factually or based on some grounded reasoning (eg. this was said during the lecture/shown on the lecture slides, or this appeared/did not appear in the text and in the context of the chapter/paragraphs, this deduction makes sense). Btw you don’t have to read the whole text before trying the quiz, just watch the lecture recording for a general understanding first, and ctrl-f and read the paragraphs around the paragraph discussed in the quiz sections. As for the rest of the mod, it’s pretty easy. There are tutorials every fortnight, and you have to submit 3 annotations on Perusall before every tutorial (this counts for your tutorial preparation marks). Tutorial participation was very chill, because we would all get full marks as long as we turned up and we all contributed during the group discussions. Tutorials with Nick Loo were quite fun and you can tell that he’s passionate about the mod. He would usually go through some interesting questions and responses by us from Perusall, and then go through some content and skills before making us discuss questions in our groups. Overall, tutorials in HSH are a lot more chill than HSA or HSS where tutorial participation is more harshly graded.

Group Discussion Summaries (GDS) were 400 word responses to one of the three or four questions given. It’s quite OTOT, your group just has to submit it by the week after the tutorial. Your experience with this portion will vary depending on your groupmates. I had very hardworking and smart groupmates so this was easy, while one of my friends had to tank the GDS because his group was lazy and uncooperative. GDS was usually a 2 hour affair every even-week weekend night. Most people should get full marks or close to full marks for GDS anyway. Chop chop finish to focus on your other stuff~

The final project has two versions, a generic one provided by Prof Loy, and a T/A specific one. Choose the T/A one (duh bc your T/A is gonna be the one marking). Mine was on exhibit curation, so I had to do a 700-word write up on two exhibit artefacts chosen for a theme related to what was discussed in any of the texts (you can choose your theme). I did mine on passive resistance which was discussed in Gandhi, then in the writeups I expounded on how each artefact showcased passive resistance in their own way, and linked it back to its relevance to society/me, ala HSA1000 style.

TLDR:

Quizzes and the final project make or break your grade Workload depends on how much effort you put on the quizzes. The tele poll answers usually suck lol Discuss quiz with friends (side note: i noticed those who didn’t tend to do a lot worse for the quizzes)

Grades:

Expected grade: A- Actual grade: A+

HSI1000

Lecturers: A/P Ryan Bettens, A/P Adrian Lee, Mr Siva N.

T/A: Sankar (for workshops), Dr Angeline Shu (Exploratorium 1), Dr Ng Yee Hong (Exploratorium 2)

Lecture Topics:

Week 1 – L1: The Founding of Modern Science Week 2 – L2: The Baloney Toolkit Applied to a Simple Investigation Week 3 – L3: Scientific Explanations and Models Week 4 – L4: Experimentation and Uncertainty Week 5 – L5: The Science of Climate Change Week 6 – L6: Modelling Climate Change Week 7 – L7: On the Mongering of Doubt Week 8 – L8: The Reliability of Climate Change Predictions Week 9 – L9: Our forests, fragmentation and connectivity Week 10 – L10: Restoring Green Spaces & Human-Wildlife Coexistence Week 11 – L11: Climate Change, the Hinterland and the Sustainable City Dweller Week 12 - L12: Fallacies in the Name of Science & Module Wrap Up

Deliverables:

Weekly Quizzes - 1% x10 Exploratoriums (Labs) - 5% x2 Workshops - 10% x3 Midterms - 15% Finals - 35%

Other Comments:

Prof Bettens did Block 1: The Scientific Method (L1-L4), Prof Adrian Block 2: Climate Change and Misinformation (L5-L8), Mr Siva Block 3: Climate Change and Biodiversity (L9-L11).

I think this module started out really promising, with very useful skills like the Baloney Toolkit, but it progressively got more boring and fluff. The workshops and labs were super annoying because they were in 3 hour blocks, so timetabling was difficult.

The weekly quizzes are very doable, just watch the lectures/read the notes and attempt. You get 10 attempts per quiz anyway, and you can see your results on Examsoft right after your submission, so you can tell if you’ve hit full marks or not. I used about 3-4 attempts every quiz. You should aim to get full marks for the quizzes because most people would be getting full marks anyway.

The labs and workshops are also quite chill. The labs are slightly easier because you just go there and play do the experiments, and fill up a vanguard sheet with explanations, drawing and other details about your thought process in the experiments. The workshops are also okay, you just need to participate actively and do whatever’s required. Workshop 3 had a field work component, so during recess week, my friend and I went to Labrador Nature Park and Labrador Nature Reserve to gather data and photos (they will have instructions on what to do). The field trip and report was (in my opinion) the most sian part of the module, because I was already so busy but I still have to go all the way to Labrador to measure tree heights??? Well anyway for the workshops, most people seemed to get about 7-8/10. And I have to say that my workshop T/A, Sankar, is a very chill guy who loves animals, he’s super funny too so the workshops are always fun.

Midterms and finals are the differentiating components. They are open-book, closed-internet exams, and you do it on Examplify (the same as the weekly quizzes). You only have 2 minutes per question for both exams, so ctrl-ing F everything isn’t going to work. You have to roughly know the course content, and know which lecture notes to ctrl-F from. Also, from Lecture 7 onwards, the lecture notes weren’t that helpful, and for Block 3 no lecture slides were given. For Block 3 especially, you have to watch the lectures and take down notes, and also save the information about certain policies (like SGP2030) from online because these are tested but only mentioned in passing in the lectures. I recommend collaborating with friends to split the workload in making the lecture notes. Try to get notes from seniors as well, because these can be useful. Overall, the tests weren’t super difficult for my semester.

TLDR:

Weekly quiz must get full marks Labs and workshops are chill, just participate actively in the latter Make your own lecture notes (recommended to split workload amongst your friends) for the second half of the lectures No time to Ctrl-F every question in exam, you need to know the course content roughly and which lecture notes to Ctrl-F

Grades:

Expected grade: A- Actual grade: A+

MA2001

Module Coordinator: (The one and only) Prof Wang Fei

T/A: Peng Fei (but I mainly attended the tutorials run by Zekun)

Lecture Topics:

Linear Systems and Gaussian Eliminations (Linear systems, elementary row operations, row-echelon forms, Gaussian elimination)

Matrices (Matrix operations, inverses of square matrices, elementary matrices, determinants)

Vector Spaces (Euclidean n-spaces, linear combinations and linear spans, subspaces, linear independence, bases, dimensions, transition matrices)

Vector Spaces Associated with Matrices (Row spaces, column spaces, nullspaces, ranks and nullities)

Orthogonality (The dot product, orthogonal bases, least squares solutions, orthogonal matrices)

Diagonalization (Eigenvalues, eigenvectors, diagonalization, orthogonal diagonalization)

Linear Transformation (Linear transformations from Rn to Rm, ranges and kernels)

Deliverables:

Homework - 6.25% x4 Midterms - 25% Finals - 50%

Other Comments:

I have a confession to make. Despite my grade for this mod, I still feel like I suck at linear algebra. I found vector spaces (chapter 3 and 4) to be the toughest because it was difficult to understand the rationale behind the various matrix operations as well as the mathematical terminologies. I feel that if you can understand vector spaces, the rest of the topics are quite manageable.

The workload is generally okay, you have two 2 hour lectures every week, as well as a 1 hour tutorial every week. You’re allowed to tutorial-hop and you can attend any tutorial slot you like, even if it’s not the one you registered for on ModReg. I took full advantage of this, and by a stroke of luck, the first tutorial I went to was Zekun’s. I found his teaching to be very effective, and he even offers consults to students. Guys please take full advantage of your T/As hahah make them work for their $40/hr pay but Zekun was very helpful and I feel that I learnt a lot from his tutorials. Of course, make sure you attempt the tutorial questions before tutorials (which are selected textbook questions) to maximise your learning.

The 4 homework assignments given often have a few difficult questions, and I highly recommend checking your answers with friends to make sure you didn’t make any mistakes. As with most math mods, the median for the homework is usually quite high, either full marks or a few marks from few marks so it is paramount that you try and secure close to full marks if possible.

Midterms and finals were generally quite tough. I didn’t do very well for midterms, I got 32/50 when the average was 29, upper quartile was 35. I think it was due to a lack of understanding of vector spaces, plus computational errors can really cause you to get penalised. I focused a lot on proving questions by practising the textbook questions, but the paper was mainly computational questions (like 34 marks out of 50), while only 6 marks were proving and 10 marks true-false questions. For finals, there were 70% computational, 20% proving and 10% true-false questions, so I changed my strategy and tried all the past-year papers and selected textbook questions to really make sure I get the computational questions right. These are quite standard so you just have to learn the different ways they ask the questions and you should be fine. Don’t worry too much about the proving questions, most people can’t do them anyway, but to really do well, you shouldn’t leave these questions blank. For the true-false questions, if you don’t know just guess and pray that luck is on your side lol.

I can only say that making full use of my T/A, working together with friends and a strategy of focusing on computational questions plus whacking and brute-forcing my way through the tough parts of the paper is probably how I could get the grade that I got.

TLDR:

Focus on computational questions, but try not to leave the proving questions blank in exams Work with friends on the homework assignments Attend tutorials and ask your T/A for help because clearing your doubts early on (especially the topic of vector spaces) is essential Brute-force and just whack if you don’t know the answer

Grades:

Expected grade: B+ Actual grade: A

SP1541

Module Coordinator: Ms Brenda Yuen

Tutor: Ms Isabel Poh

Deliverables:

Book Chapter Reflection - 5% Science News Article - 20% Revised Science News Article - 30% Oral Presentation - 25% Reflective Commentary - 10% Interaction and Engagement - 10%

Other Comments:

This module basically teaches you how to turn research articles (which are meant for specialist readers) into popular science news articles for common people like you and me. They introduce you to various science communication strategies like explanatory strategies and evaluative language.

I didn’t like this module and it had quite a heavy workload. Two 2 hour sectionals every week and you’re expected to do readings and prepare some answers for the discussion questions. This module is just very dry and not enjoyable :( As for my tutor, I don’t really have much comments, she was helpful and answered all of our questions. But yes this module is really boring and I don’t think her style of teaching helped.

I honestly put very little effort into the assignments because I was planning to SU, and especially after I got 66.3/100 for my first science news article submission. They do take some time to do, especially if you’re planning not to SU as you might have to go through a few drafts. You may consider consulting the NUS Libraries Writers’ Centre. I didn’t bother because I wanted to focus on my other modules. For my second science news article which I really didn’t change much and just added some stuff that was required, I got an even more tragic 65.6/100 lol. Ironically, my book chapter reflection and reflective commentary got really high marks at 94/100 and 90/100 respectively (not me spending only 30 minutes on the 300-word reflective commentary :’)

The 8-10 minute oral presentation (I got 71.3/100) which is based on your chosen science news article isn’t terribly hard, just do your best and try to be natural, don’t use any scripts. How natural you are depends on your knowledge about your chosen research article topic, so choose well.

TLDR:

Prepare an S/U for this mod

Grades:

Expected grade: B Actual grade: B+ (S)

ST2131

Module Coordinator: Prof Chan Yiu Man

T/A: (Unnamed for...reasons...)

Lecture Topics:

1. Combinatorial Analysis (Permutations and Combinations) 2. Axioms of Probability 3. Conditional Probability and Independence 4. Discrete Random Variables 5. Continuous Random Variables 6. Jointly Distributed Random Variables 7. Properties of Expectation 8. Limit Theorems

Deliverables:

Timed 30 minute online quizzes - 5% x4 Midterms - 20% Finals - 60%

Other Comments:

This mod is really just self-study lol. Prof was quite good at explaining stuff and he would elaborate on stuff with detail so you won’t get lost. However, be warned that the Prof is essentially a boomer the Prof speaks quite slowly and you’ll probably be better off watching his recorded lectures at x2 speed.

I have,,,no words for the tutorials. My T/A was so bad that I don’t know and don’t want to know her name. She was basically talking to her computer the whole tutorial and didn’t explain stuff clearly. I tried giving her a second chance and went up to ask her questions about some of the working after the lesson, but her explanations are very confusing and I left the tutorial room even more confused than when I entered the room .__. I ended up tutorial-hopping and going to the Prof’s tutorial slot instead, which was much better, though there was another T/A who I felt I liked best but unfortunately I was not always free for his timeslots. Anyway the tutorial questions are taken from the textbook and the tutorial answers are uploaded on Canvas so a lot of my friends ended up skipping the tutorials and self-studying.

Quizzes were generally okay except for the last quiz. I got 2/5 for the last quiz (oof) and it seemed like most people got around 2-3/5 also. It was tough because it covered chapter 6 and 7 which were difficult topics, and we probably didn’t have enough practice. Also another comment on the quizzes is that they are mainly in the second half of the semester (the quizzes were held online over the weekend of week 5, 8, 10, 12) which added a lot of unnecessary stress because the second half of the semester tends to have more assignments for other modules. It also didn’t make sense to leave the chapter 1 quiz to week 5, chapter 2 to week 8, chapter 3-4 to week 10. I would have liked a more even distribution of the quizzes over the semester. We were warned not to discuss quiz questions but tbh the quiz questions are mostly the same, usually with different values in the questions, so :)

The midterms were quite easy, and most people scored well for it. Contrary to some other sources, the median was about 22-24 according to the Prof (I heard it from the horse’s mouth). I got 27/30 which was decent but not amazing.

Finals is, as usual, the make or break. I did both the textbook questions (with solutions found online) and the past-year papers, but I think the past-year papers had very different topics and different focus areas and I couldn’t do most of the past-year papers. (Do note that this mod is run by the math department in the first semester, so avoid all sem 1 papers if you’re taking it in sem 2.) I went for a group zoom consult with the prof, armed with a few past-year papers I was unsure of and even he didn’t know the approach to answer the questions. That was the moment I realised that doing the past-year papers were probably not helpful and I should focus on the tutorial questions along with the textbook practice questions. In the finals, the first 3 questions were quite easy and standard, but the last 3 questions were apparently difficult for most people. As it turned out, 2 of the 3 questions appeared in the textbook practice questions in a similar fashion, and I was able to answer them pretty well I think. I only didn’t know how to do the last question which was a proving question. I essentially left it blank :/ But I thought most people would have found the paper easy because the ‘difficult’ questions weren’t really unseen, guess not hahah

TLDR:

Be prepared to self-study. If you get a bad tutor, don’t be paiseh to tutorial hop Make sure you score for the earlier quizzes Keep up with the content, and dedicate more time and effort for Chapter 6 and 7 Do the textbook practice questions to prepare for exams

Grades:

Expected grade: B Actual grade: A

[linkspooky]

Your top comic book characters?

So, this might be a surprise considering the usual content of my blog but I am an avid comic book fan. I have read a lot of comics (teen titans) and have a lot of opinions (Teen Titans related) and a pretty comprehensive knowledge (about the Teen Titans).

So, list of top five favorite comic book characters (My Favorite Teen Titans).

#5 Dick Grayson / NightWing

Ahem. I hate the bat family. Anyway *Takes a picture with me and the Bestie Dick Grayson*. One popular misconception about comic book characters is that they never change or develop and remain static because of either comic book continuity snarl, or the fact that characters tend to get handed off to multiple auhors. That’s actually false, because a lot of comic book characters, especially the younger ones, are allowed to grow up. Character development, thy name is Dick Grayson. 

The reason I joke about hating the bat family is all of Dick’s character development comes from when he steps outside the role of Robin, and struggles to be his own person especially in regards to his solos and the relationships he’s formed with the Teen Titans (you should read Teen Titans it’s a good comic). One thing I think good comic book writing nails is that these characters tend to develop a rich subtext, there is more going on then just the outer shell of the person you see. LIke, they’re comic book heroes, they wear masks, they project heroic outside personas and struggle to be humans underneath it. It’s a definite thing. 

Dick Grayson has a tendency to be seen not just by readers but also by the people around him in his life as the prodigy, the success, and this has led to kind of a conflict between his external (what Dick projects) and his internal (who he is inside). Basically, I read Dick as someone who is more comfortable functioning as a hero, then as a human being. 

Which results in Dick constantly overworking himself and taking too much on his plate in order to try to live up to the image he creates of himself. Hero. Team leader. Mentor. Supprotive friend. Family member. Boyfriend. THey’re all like roles for Dick, and I think deep down he thinks he has to earn those things rather than them being given to him which is what leads to his habit of both isolating himself and overworking himself in the first place. Dick Grayson is a circus child through and through, he’s a natural performer who wears the tights a little too well. As for adaptations of his character, I prefer the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon take on him to the BTAS because overworking himself and isolating himself from his loved ones is an important phase in his development that I feel like a lot of other adaptations skip over because they want to get to light hearted and jokey night wing. 

#4 Koriand’r  / Starfire 

Part of what I love about female comic book characters is the good ones are never boring, Lois Lane is just as interesting a character as Clark Kent and that’s a statement I’ll die defending. There’s a lot about Kory that is so unique especially in the original comic run that created her, she’s the “heart” of the team, the character that runs on pure emotions, but she’s not soft in any sense of the word, she’s belligerent and warlike. Starfire is one of those few alien characters who genuinely feels alien because the way she processes her emotions are just so different from the humans around her, she feels everything up to eleven, love, anger, hapiness, sorrow. 

Starfire is at times, irrational, and hard to reason with, you know just like emotions are. There are a few people who have a problem with her portrayal in the 2003 cartoon, though my personal theory is that she’s not so much out of character is that the adaptation kind of based her on both Donna and Kory to make up for Donna not being on the team. It’s not that starfire isn’t compassionate or a nice girl, she’s just, aggressively so. But Starfire doesn’t fall for the alien from a warlike culture thing where that becomes her entire personality too, because like well written female comic book characters you get a good look inside Starfire’s head and even though she runs on pure emotions, those emotoins are just as complex as any other characters. Starfire is very loving, but she also wants to be loved, beause she is effectively alone on an alien world and a lot of the conflict in her character comes from her internalized fear that the people around her don’t want  to make an effort to understand her when she’s making such an effort to blend in. 

Conflict is what makes characters, and Starfire can be an all loving heroine, a nurturing type personality, and also be a pretty conflict heavy character, because Starfire throws herself into conflict with people. It’s what makes her play off of Dick Grayson so well, because one of his biggest flaws is his conflict avoidance. Dick throws himself into his work as a way of avoiding people, Starfire is a hero because that’s where her new family is on this strange world and those are the people she needs to protect. 

#3  Garfield Logan / Beast Boy 

Beast Boy is the perfect name for Gar, because he is the most BOY to ever exist. What’s interesting about Gar is how much he has in common with Dick, he has been a costumed sidekick for about as long as Dick has, he lost his original fmaily in an accident, he was adopted by a rich step family who moonlights as a super hero and is known for being a particularly hardass mentor which gives them a strained relationship even in comparison to other superhero and sidekick mentors. However, while Dick forces himself to grow up early, Beast Boy lingers in childhood as long as possible. 

He’s also interesting in comparison to Starfire, because while they are both characters who are “The Heart” of the group, Beast Boy is a lot more vulnerable than Starfire will ever be, which explains a lot of his more selfish personality traits. Beast Boy is the nicest guy you will ever meet, and also just a little bit of a whiny asshole, that’s where the complexity comes from. I think what’s interesting about Gar especially in regards to his relationship with Terra is after the fact he tends to frame her as a tragic lost love, but if you read their interactions in the comics themselves, it’s Garfield being rude and aggressive towards her a lot of the time and coming on way too strong. Terra even nearly blows her cover once because he was flirting way too hard in a training session after he told her to back off. There’s like an element of toxic masculinity to Garfield’s character because he’s a fifteen year old boy who has at that point gone through the loss of two families, trying to desperately protray the way he thinks a grown up man is supposed to act, based mainly off of what he sees in popular culture. 

Beast Boy’s a meta-human with green skin and pointed ears who obviously stands out in a crowd as a hero, has no secret identity, has basically been a hero his whole life, but he’s also way more of a person then some of the other heroes in the group and that’s because he’s just full of heart. Beast Boy in spite of his many flaws, is also someone who put all of his effort into throwing a wedding for his best friends, and nearly had a breakdown because of it, because he was like I’m already a terrible hero, and an even worse friend, this is the one thing I can do I gotta do it perfect. Once Beast Boy grows up a little bit, and becomes able to stand on his own two feet, he’s also more of a well-rounded person than a few other heroes I could name because he went through this troubled development and came out on the other side stronger.

#2 Raven

Raven’s cartoon adaptation is probably the most different from her original comic book version, but when I went back and read the originals I loved that version even more. One big thing is just like Starfire, she’s one of the few alien characters (in this case raised in another dimmension) who genuinely feels alien and isolated in the way she processes her emotions and experiences the world is so different from others. 

Comic Raven has probably more in common with Jean Gray then she does with her cartoon counterpart, both overly selfless individuals, quiet, unasusming nice girls whose actual superpowers are the complete opposite of their personalities. Raven was raised in almost complete isolation and taught if she doesn’t keep complete control of her emotoins at all times, then she’s giving into her father’s infleunce and she’ll turn out evil just like her father. Which is why I mention the Jean Gray parallels, the massive power they’re born with, and the massive responsibility they threeofre have to control that power and the pressure they deal with eventually causes them to crumble. 

Of course I don’t think they’re the same there’s a lot that makes Raven unique, despite the fact that Raven has good intentions, and is almost always breaking herself trying to help others, due to the social isolation she experienced as a kid she’s unable to make her intentions understood and so most of the people in her friend group just leave Raven alone. She is offputting, and weird, and people don’t get her, despite all of the titans agreeing that Raven is nice, and their friend. It’s not just something other people do to her though, Raven also isolates herself, because she is afraid of that loss of perfect control that has been drilled into her since she was a kid. 

There’s also a lot of interesting development as Raven grows into more of a person, because she explores new emotions with the joy of a child discovering things for the first time. She makes relationships with people and makes major mistakes, like mistaking friendship with Dick Grayson for love, or getting taken advantage of by what she thinks is her first love. There’s also a lot of interesting contrasts with Raven’s character, like her demonic other persona, vs how innocent she is as a person who grew up in another dimmension experiencing the world for the first time. Also, in spite of the fact that Raven is so selfless she’s practically a pushover, she still experiences just as much as character conflict as all of the others, because of her tendency to withdraw, keep secrets from others, bush off other peopel’s concerns for her well being, and also other peopel’s general mistrust of her due to the nature of her powers. One of the things I like to say is Kory and Raven are almost complete opposites as characters, and yet despite that they’re both equally interesting and well developed because we are in their heads enough to understand their world view and how different it is from our own. They’re both aliens and outsiders trying to find somewhere to fit in and belong and that’s Teen Titans character writing at it’s strongest. 

#1 Tara Markov / Terra 

You would think my favorite would be Raven, but no, it’s Terra. Terra is also a character in the 2003 adaptation who is a pretty big change, though unlike Raven I believe the stuff they added to her character always existed in the subtext. Terra was always a runaway, she was the half blooded bastard royal child who was epxerimented on and given powers, and ran away from the throne. If you analyze the (GROSS THING THAT I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT HERE BUT IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW) in the original Judas Contract storyline, then a lot of Terra’s more unsavory behaviors make sense. Terra is someone who was always sympathetic, she just never showed those sympathetic qualities, because she was too busy trying to be the BADDEST BITCH EVER. 

THat’s what I like about Terra, she is the original OG Bad Victim. Terra has the same kind of sympathetic backstory as Starfire, or Beast Boy,  but her trauma doesn’t make her a better person, it makes her a worse and more unstable one. Sometimes victims don’t become heroes, sometimes trauma causes people to act in unsavory ways. The whole point in Terra’s character is that she would never have made it as a hero, and yes while the original Judas Contract does victim blame her a little bit in regards to Slade and paint her as a sociopath rather than a teenager being taken advantage of, the entire arc is also written around the fact that Terra was always going to fail at being a hero. THe Teen Titans did love and accept her, but their attemps to reach her failed. Terra shows a few times she’s actually capable of loving and caring for people in an unselfish way (she cares for Brion, and wishes him to stay far away from the Titans for Danger b/c she thinks he’s too soft), she even shows moments where she sees the things she has in common with Beast Boy and sympathizes with him a little because they are both kids who have been stepped on in life. 

Terra is capable of all of these things, and she’s a symptathetic victim, but that doesn’t change the ending, she still fails. Judas Contract is up there with Under the Red Hood in one of the few comic book arcs that’s a near perfect tragedy. I think a lot of Terra’s character gets lost in the discussion on whether she deserved her ending or not, or victim blaming, like the whole point about Terra is she’s a bad victim of trauma, who lashes out in bad ways, so those discussions kind of miss the oint. Romeo and Juliet is always going to end with them killing themselves, Judas Contract always ends with Terra bringing the tower right down on herself. People are like “Why does every Teen Titans adaptation do Judas Contract? Why do I have to watch Judas Contract for the third time?” it’s because it’s good! THe same reason every X-Men adaptation tries to do Dark Phoenix, there’s just something deeply cathartic about the whole arc where a character gives into their worst flaws. Terra is so interesting because she is so heaily flawed, and those flaws are all human flaws, and even flaws the heroes share with her, and rather than overcoming she crumbles. 

See, I love Terra, and I do think you could do a version of her where she does live past the Judas Contract, but most of the time when people do that they sand down the edges of her character. The Young Justice version of Terra is just awful, number one she barely talks and Terra is one of the mouthiest most ascerbic characters in comics, and two a little bit of empathy on the part of the heroes is all that it takes her to turn. Brion’s almost the more interesting character in that cartoon adaptation because he actually has flaws and gets worse and fails. The comics even tried to reboot Terra’s character a couple of times, first with the Terra clone, and then passing the mantle of Terra onto someone else and both versions are just boring. Terra is interesting because she has a standard hero tragic backstory TM, but she came out the other side so flawed. THe best versions of her preserve this warts and all. Terra isn’t a perfect innocent angel, but that also doesn’t mean she’s not a victim, or invalidate the genuine trauma she went through. Therein lies the rub, and also the complexity. 

Anyway, she’s my favorite comic book sociopath (this is a joke) accept no other substitutes. 

[sunmoonchanlix]

Superheroes That Look Like CHANLIX

This is something outside my usual posts. Since CHANLIX enjoys Marvel and the superhero world so much, here's some inspiration couples costumes they could pull from the Marvel and DC worlds.

It's so crazy to me that Marvel and DC have stepped up their game in LGBTQ+ representation on the comics side (the movies will follow though) especially in the past two years! This is not even counting folks like DC"s Jackson Hyde Aquaman, Tim Drake Robin, The Ray, Obsidian, etc., or Marvel's Shatterstar, Rictor, Daken, Somnus, etc. And that's not even counting the women!

Marvel's premiere gay couple: Hulkling and Wiccan

This half of Scarlet Witch's twin sons goes onto being foretold as the next Sorcerer Supreme surpassing his mother and Doctor Strange in power. He'll soon be seen possibly aged up in Doctor Strange 2: Multiverse of Madness.

Hulking is not affiliated in anyway with the Hulk family, but instead gets his green skin from alien royalty with lineage from the Kree and Skrull line (as seen in Captain Marvel). He and Wiccan founded the Young Avengers team together and had an instant connection. He is currently a literal space king.

Marvel's newer couple: Speed and Prodigy

Scarlet Witch must be a miracle worker because her other twin son, Speed, has discovered his bisexuality and has finally reciprocated his feelings with his Young Avengers teammate, the X-Men mutant and fellow bi-king, Prodigy.

Marvel's newest couple: Hercules and Marvel Boy

This pairing is not even a year old. Heck, Marvel did not finally confirm that their main version of Hercules is bisexual until this came out. Marvel Boy is another bi-king and fun fact: he was part of the popular Young Avengers roster that also included bi-king couple Speed and Prodigy, gay couple Hulkling and Wiccan, lesbian powerhouse America Chavez, and the lone, token straight character for a change, archer Kate Bishop.

Marvel's Iceman and Christian Frost

I always had a soft spot for Iceman, so I jumped for joy when this broke out that after decades of living the closet, Iceman got to come out! Iceman is one of the founding five members of the X-Men team (and one of the very first Marvel characters in general) and one of the most powerful mutants in general. Christian Frost (brother of Emma Frost) was newly re-introduced into more recent comics as someone Iceman helped as both suffered suppressing their homosexuality.

DC's Midnighter and Apollo

These two were once owned by a separate publishing house before being absorbed by DC and they were funnily enough, created to be gay counterparts to Batman and Superman.

And what a perfect CHANLIX analogue! Chan in all black as the Midnighter. Felix Sunshine as the man who literally absorbs and gets powered up by the sun, Apollo.

DC's newest couple: Jon Kent Superman and Jay Nakamura

DC made headlines (good and bad) when Superman was revealed to be bisexual. Irrational people were outraged over the clickbait headlines not realizing the Superman mantle has also transferred over to Clark and Lois' son, Jon Kent. This couple is less than 10 issues old, but they are expected to be a premiere DC couple mirroring the Lois and Clark dynamic as Jay Nakamura is revealed to be a fellow hacktivist reporter... but with his own phasing superpowers.

I mean damn, this is such a CHANLIX photo already.

[soulmate-game]

Someone on A03 asked how the Kent’s and Wayne’s in my Songs of a Kent series would react to Marinette knowing Jagged Stone.

I decided to just go ahead and give the headcannons I have for this, since I don’t think I’ll be able to cover it in the story. But as far as Lament of a Kent and any other installments in the series go, everything below is canon.

—*—*—*—*—*

I don’t think Jon or Clark would care. They’re both country boys at heart, and are more likely to swoon over a country singer than a rock artist. Lois, though? I think Lois had a crush on Jagged when she was a teenager (for the purposes of this story, Jagged and Lois are almost the same age) when he was just starting to get popular. So she would totally have an internal freak out if Jagged ever visited Mari, but she would try to play it off cool because she is a Suave and Professional Interviewer, she’s met tons of famous people, she can handle this. Totally.

Kon would go nuts. Jagged is one of his idols, both in fashion sense and music. He would play it off cool as possible in front of Jagged, but when he’s gone he’d unapologetically call Mari his favorite sibling and fanboy with her over meeting his idol.

Now, the Wayne’s? It is no secret, every last one of them had an angsty punk/emo phase— one that Jason clearly never grew out of. Every last one of them, except Damian, wandered upon Jagged’s music sometime during their teen years and it fueled their rebellious phase and seriously helped them gain more confidence in themselves. Dick suggested that Damian listen to Jagged’s music about a year or so before the story begins, so he’s still a baby fan. But he likes the music, not that he’ll ever admit it to anyone. He listens to Jagged when he paints, now. But if they were to find out that Mari knew Jagged personally, all of them except Damian would immediately bombard her with questions or beg her for stories. Tim would ask about the rockstar’s favorite foods and drinks and other weird trivia. Dick would want all the stories of the craziest things he and Mari did together. Jason would just want her to ramble to him about random memories of her and Jagged. Damian would pretend to be disinterested, but listens whenever the topic is brought up.

None of them know that Bruce and Jagged went to high-school together, so Bruce just hangs back and watches the chaos with a smirk as he plans to invite Jagged over behind all of their backs. He also, by virtue of being his friend when his music career first began, is Jagged’s Number One Fan. Secretly, of course. None of the kids know that Bruce has signed copies of every last one of Jagged’s albums, including the ones where Marinette had designed the covers. He even has one of Jagged’s old tour outfits that Jagged gave him as a joke— he keeps it in a glass container like the old robin costumes, but in a hidden part of the wall that only he and Alfred have access to/know is there. His secret Jagged Stone collection also contains tons of pictures of him and a young Jagged at various concerts and even just hanging out, and lots of other fan collectibles and limited edition Jagged Stone merch. It’s great.

[idreamofhamandcheese]

find the word tag (again)

tagged by @the-stray-storyteller <33

sorry this is so long i cant edit lmao

Wilder: ok i literally wrote a book 2 years ago with a mc with the last name Wilder. So. also this writing is traaashhhh but whatever we evolve

I cleared my throat and leant into the microphone. “This is Delta Foxtrot One, Wilder speaking. We’d like to bribe you to-”

“Woah! Okay.” Wren appeared beside me, pushing himself towards the mic. “Hey, Reggie, it’s Wren. We’re in a tough situation here, and we’re hoping you can help us out.”

“Wren! Man, the screens are blaring about you guys all day here. The hell you do?”

“It’s not important, dude. I don’t wanna get you any more involved than I have to. What’s it gonna take to make the questions not happen, Reg?”

“I don’t know, man,” the guy, Reggie, answered. A hearty sigh shook the speakers. “I could get in a lot of trouble for this. Y’all are criminals. How do I know you’re not gonna blow us all up?”

Wren took it upon himself to take a seat in my captain’s chair. Another strike against him in my book. “Listen, we’re the good guys here, I swear. You know there’s something up with Wright. You can believe it, can’t you, Reg? Just let us through. Nobody has to know. We’re prepared to pay.”

“Look, kid, I like you, but I don’t how how I feel about-”

I bumped Wren out of my seat and grabbed the mic. “Five grand.”

There was a heavy pause. “Deal,” Reggie said.

Empty/ Tight: from current project. very unedited

“Frances.”

From nowhere or possibly hell, Gwen had apparated in front of me. She was wearing the sort of scowl that could burn your skin off and a satiny black dress so tight I truly worried for her organs.

“Gwendoline.” I let Elodie take Lois off into the crowd. Gwen was my dragon to slay. “Can I help you?”

She grabbed me by the arm, suddenly and violently, her deadly acrylics bearing into my skin. I tried to wrench my way out of her death grip to no avail and found myself being marched through the crowd, which parted with the sheer force of her fury, and straight into the women’s bathroom.

It was still loud in there, but muffled, the singer’s pounding synonyms blurring into one. There were a few girls huddled around the mirror, and they all looked up on cue as we entered, mascara wands frozen midair. Gwen pulled me into the empty stall and released me with a force that sent me stumbling, yanking the door locked behind us.

She spun to face me dead on. “What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing?”

I rubbed my sore arm. “Partying?”

“You need to back off my boyfriend,” she said.

I stared at her. There were a lot of words springing to mind, approximately none of them appropriate. “You-- are you saying that you think I want your assface boyfriend?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not stupid, Frances--”

“Beg to differ!”

“--I know Cal is kind of the hottest guy in school.”

“Gwen, I’m a hotter guy than Callahan Huxley is.”

She pursed her lips. “Look, I don’t really give a shit if you like him, because at the end of the day, he’d never go for you.”

“God, I’m devastated.”

Gleam: from backburner project which is sitting in the abandoned complete first draft phase. maybe ill pick it up again one day idk.

Reza stepped closer. I tightened my grip on my gun, the leather of the holster bearing into my hip. He looked around, surveying the windows above us for prying eyes. He dropped his voice. “Is there somewhere more private we can speak? It’s a rather… sensitive matter.”

I cut my eyes towards his, sharp. “Absolutely not.” I stepped around him, forcing him to turn his back to the wall, entrapping him between myself and the dead end. “This isn’t Claw turf, Ansari. You come to my town, you play by my rules.” Not to mention that there were at least three heavily armed girls in my office at that very moment who would rip a Black Claw to shreds on sight.

He huffed out a staccato breath through gritted teeth, as though he had been struck suddenly. Reza Ansari wasn’t used to being told no. “Fine,” he spat. His countenance was slipping. “We’ll play your way. I want to get out of this shitthole as soon as possible, anyway.” I bristled at the words. Lower Persepolis had a fine membrane of ash that clung to every surface, the water here running a little cloudier and the alley cats more scarred. It was certainly a far cry from the gated Claw estate. But it was my home.

I nudged my coat aside to allow the gunmetal to gleam in the grim light. “Careful, Ansari.”

He laughed quietly, more to himself than anything, and drew his gaze from my hip to his foot. He pulled at the fabric of his trousers, exposing his ankle and the glistening silver blade strapped to it. He let the fabric drop and met my eyes, his lips tugged into a wry smile. “That’s one of five I have concealed on my person. Can we talk now?” 

Bruise: current project againnn

“Tell me about it.” I pulled myself up to standing to meet her eyes. “I--”

I froze.

Those eyes.

I’d seen them before.

Sharp. Darkly intelligent. Smudged with jet-black liner and eyelashes invented for batting. Teetering on the knife-edge spark of life you didn’t get from pictures.

I stumbled backwards blindly, the edge of the well hitting the small of my back hard enough to bruise.

She tilted her head at me, cropped, obsidian curls tumbling like a crawling nest of ratsnakes, the pitch-black ones you found in the canyons back home. The moonlight bounded off her smooth, marrless skin. 

My breath quickened because hers couldn’t.

I was face to face with a dead girl.

The words slithered out of me. “Margot Aoki.”

tags: @calloumii @minutiaewriter @avocado-frog @moondust-bard

Your words: spider, jaw, fang, detective