#Next will be Magic Teen Redesigns

[ahoppingmagician]

Cursed Harrison HC

Alright so I promised an explanation on how a view Harrison's magic. If you are interested keep reading down below

(Warning it's long and very much not canon by any means, yes this is what 6 years of nothing but thoughts have done)

Origins

Harrison's father who I have named Jonah was just like any teenager a know it all who knew nothing.

Jonah was your typical jock raised by heavily Christian parents in a small town. One day his rival Dallas (Nerris's Dad) was talking about an old temple out in the woods that supposedly was used to worship some kind of octopus deity. Jonah didn't believe him because the only thing that should be worship is God. Dallas had enough of his shit and challenged him to go to the temple and do the ritual, the teenage boy foolishly agreed. His first mistake.

The boy hoped on his yellow bike as the sun began to set, he headed into the woods. The temple stood tall, it loomed over him. He took the old book Dallas has gave him out of his bag and headed into the structure that was covered in moss. His second mistake.

He waited around till the moon was glaring down at him. It looked odd, was it always this blue?. Jonah shook it off it was just from being drowsy surely. He placed the book down on the alter as the moonlight hit this weird glowling rock and began to read the words. His Final Mistake.

Now he has cursed his entire bloodline till the end of time. He didn't realise it for years, but then his first born son was born, Harrison Samuel White.

How it effects Harrison

Let's start with the obvious. He has supernatural abilities that doesn't seem to have any true limit. Harrison can simply end the world with a click of his fingers if he desires.

Physically

He can't really feel his hands, from all the layers of burned skin and other magical injuries on his body. His body temperature depends on his mood, an example would be if he's scared, anxious, or worried his body will become cold and can form frost or ice. When he started puberty he started to grow these weird tattoo like symbols on his arms, chest and back.

Sleep Schedule

He doesn't really sleep during the night. Some 0f it is due to his curse in general, another factor is that the "demons" like to torment him at night with laughing, murmuring, humming, and whispering. Also nightmares about him starting Armageddon or relieving him and his twin brother's 9th birthday party, where everything went wrong.

Emotionally/Mentally

So he isn't exactly mentally well. He is coping with it but that's about it. When he was 13 to 15 he decided to lean into being a terrifying bringer of doom that wouldn't hesitate to threaten you with a flame being held to your face. 16 to 19 he began seeking validation by becoming a ladies man. General Anxiety and Depression because obviously..wouldn't you be if everyone told you that you're the rebirth of Satan and being haunted by creepy creatures everyday, while batteling the urge to burn the world to the ground. Also smokes weed with Nerris because Stoner Nerris owns my soul.

Family

His birth family threw him out the house at 16 because Jonah couldn't handle the guilt of the curse anymore, and Harrison was becoming more and more violent. Harrison wondered around till he found a familiar bus that took him to you guess it Camp Campbell. He hid in the attic till David came by for the summer. Long story short he moved with with David, Gwen, and Max. His twin brother (Tommy) wasn't his only biological sibling, Harrison has an older sister (Christina), younger sister(Eve), younger brother(Johnny) Harrison barely interacted with his younger siblings.

Alright that's it for now. Thanks you for reading this far if you did, and I hope you know that I think your amazing and tomorrow is hopefully an better day, I can't give you a hug but just know it's alright if today was hard, you'll pull through the storm.

[cthulhushibainu]

Oi, cthulhu has been meaning to post this

Redesigns- there are 4 designs for y/n in the brushogun au in which they give a bit of variety of look and a bit of personality that best suits your oc's and such

Old design- y/n is mostly the same in design I just have to redesign the hat b/c it ain't hitting chif

What the hat and body of y/n would mostly look like-

Now a bit of lore-

Wally meets y/n as a child when he was out looking for Poppy's decendencs and looking for the cure for the mysterious disease that starting to pleg the neighborhood. Wally have saved y/n from a giant beast, bring them to safety, and then gave of his old scarf as a gift when he left. Years latter y/n has grown and has become a shawman that was widely know as the faceless shawman since whenever they are called apon to get rid of dangerous spirit beasts they have never shown their face.

Throughout the years y/n have heard through the grapevine of rumors of have theirs a ink demon on the loos where wally's neighborhood used to be. And yada yada Yada soon have a fight with wally that was consumed by home, learn that is wally, sealed them away, recarnates into the future of a more modern world, and If you've seen teen titans trouble in Tokyo then ya get the gist on how it would end.

Ps- u can change a bit around of this to fit your character's back story in this au of mine, this is just a base to work off wit.

Next Cthulhu would work on redesigning wally and then create the rest of the characters and the magic system. Cthulhu is very tired (-^-)

[six-1mpossiblethings]

@stealingyourbones @alls-well-that-ends-weird you are both so right.

Jason joins the pink lantern corps/Star sapphires, but his suit is... Different. to the others.

Just as Sam redesigned her appallingly bright and tight suit to be more goth and loose, Jason redesigns his.

For one, he gives himself a shirt again - why was he missing a shirt in the first place? No one knows.

Next, he designs two different 'modes,' if you will. One with the shade of pink this obnoxiously pale colour that is somehow also neon, to piss Bruce off. The other is a lot darker and a lot more red, and more closely resembles his Red Hood gear.

His pale pink suit is ridiculous even without the colour taken into consideration, since Jason took all the cutesy, girly aspects of Sam's suit and ramped it up to 100. He's a magical girl now, and he is going to commit to the bit, okay? So he wears a magical girl dress.

He's not one bit ashamed, and even Dick - unflappable, proud, circus-raised Dick - is covering his eyes in shame and second-hand embarrasment.

Well.

Mission accomplished.

(The mission was to embarrass Dick, and he gets to hold it over everyone else's heads now. And he won a prize. The Fentons sent him a crap ton of fudge.)

(Danny won the ghostly betting pool on the batfam game, sweeping the board and winning everyone's bets. Jazz does the same with the Justice League, Sam with the Titans/Teen Titans/Young Justice/etc., Tucker with the gLs.)

(They pool their monetary winnings together for a vacation, and they only need to win one more bet before they can go. Oddly enough, Tucker and Sam contributed the most, adding in the many, many prizes they won in the Casper High Underground Betting Ring.)

Short DPXDC Prompts #884

Tucker is in his apartment on the outskirts of Central City just minding his own business when the ground absolutely shakes from a massive impact of something very heavy and very big crashing into the ground. Tucker investigates. Seeing a smoke trail roughly an hour out, he drives as close to the crash as he can before trekking through a forest to see… a crashed spaceship. Inside is a very damaged alien wearing a strange green uniform. They look at Tucker and smile, unable to move with very visibly broken legs and a massive gash pouring blood from their ribs. Tucker has so many things to say to this person, First of which is “How can I help you” and second one being “what the fuck what the fuck whatthefuck.”. All of those questions will never be answered as the aliens' eyes unfocused and their breathing halted. A glowing green ring slipped off their finger and floated in front of Tucker. “Tucker Foley of Earth. You have the ability to overcome great fear. You have been chosen.”

[andithiel]

Happy birthday @etalice !

Today is my dear friend Etalice’s birthday, and we usually have this wonderful tradition of trying to make each other cry through angsty fics (ah the fandom experience, so wholesome!). However, this past year has been a shit show and a half and I haven’t had the headspace for writing for some time, so I thought I’d take a leaf out of @sassy-sassy3 book (and I think I’ve seen this done by others previously as well) and rec a few of Etalice’s fics as a birthday gift. I haven’t been able to choose any favourites because all of Etalice’s fics are amazing, but I’ve tried to make a variety selection. I've also tried to be clever and illustrate it with this spider silk because, much like Etalice's writing, it's delicate and pretty but also extremely strong. It will rip your heart out but you will also find comfort and healing through it. Happiest of birthdays to you my dear friend, I hope we'll be able to break each other's hearts next year ❤️ (Also I’m really sorry I’m not including any real commentary for these, my brain has been replaced with porridge due to a nasty cold.)

The funny thing about grief and time (Snarry | Explicit | 43,6 k)

Later, Harry will start telling people he fell in love with Severus after the war.

It will not quite be a lie.

Ode to the number two (Pansmione | Teen | 2,4 k)

Redesigning the official Ministry Robes seems like the logical thing to do.

Hermione suggests it a month after she is elected Minister for Magic. There is something uncomfortable about wearing the same old robes that haunted those same old hallways during the war, back when the Ministry was a different place and the weight of cowardice broke everyone’s back. It is an appropriate way of signalling a new era, Hermione feels, dressing up everyone in different clothes and more vivid colours.

It really seems like a good idea.

And then Pansy shows up.

The one in which Hermione thinks in maths and graphs and equations and pines after Pansy while Pansy pines after her.

True Love, Found At Sea (Drarry | Gen | 1,7 k)

Harry Potter, a confirmed bachelor, is perfectly fine with his life. And then, for no comprehensible reason whatsoever, Hermione goes and signs him up for a singles' Christmas cruise.

This is a journey and we call it home (Drarry | Mature | 4,5 k)

The first time Harry storms out to sulk on the streets of London, you sit on the floor, and you count your breaths, and you try very hard not to cry. It’s the middle of your first fight, and you’re so afraid it means it won’t work out. You’re so afraid that you’re too broken, in the aftermath of the war, too anxious and too clingy for the relationship to ever work.

When Harry comes back, you sit him down, and you talk through all his issues with him. He apologises, and he opens up about how difficult it is for him, this post-war world in which he’s not needed so badly anymore. How he doesn’t know what to do with himself. You’re happy, that night. Satisfied it’s all going to work out. Proud that he made the first step out of his shell and into the world.

Harry does not stop storming out.

A timeless tale of love and emotional labour.

The wolf underneath your skin (Snupin | Gen | 2,6 k)

You want to punch him. You want to hear the sound of his teeth on the stone-hard floor. You want to smear your knuckles in blood, you want to scream your betrayal in iron-red paint across his face. You want pain and spit and bruises that bloom like watercolour peonies under the skin.

A scene of What's past is prologue, from another perspective.

More than poison and dark (Drarry | Gen | 995 words)

No one ever entirely recovers from a war. The loudness of it, and the way everyone’s eyes shone with recklessness and fear - it keeps on living underneath your skin, it makes your flesh poison and your bones brittle. It doesn’t manifest the same for everyone, of course, the stain of violence and death, but it’s always there, beneath the surface, an apple rotting from its core.

In which the fat lady forgets her name, Draco refuses to acknowledge his, and Harry Potter is desperately in love.

Long live the beautiful heart (who find love and tear it apart) (Hinny | Gen | 6,6 k)

If Harry were someone else, someone who loves and understand books, someone like Hermione or Draco, he might think of a classical tragedy. He might section the whole catastrophe neatly into five acts and make sense of it that way. But he’s not, and so he doesn’t, and, anyway it’s just the beginning of the story yet.

In the wake of the war, Harry collapses.

Lovely podfic by @thirdeye1234 can be found here

[lunar-insanity]

So! I’d like to introduce you all to some old characters!

These guys started out as Mario ship children: Luigi/Rosalina and Mario/Peach. They were inspired long ago by Nintendrawer on DA and their own kiddos. And I liked Rosalina far better.

So at first they were sketched as smol babies, and it was only the first two. Then I decided to redraw them as teens [ https://sta.sh/224m0lrisof8?edit=1 ]

I made them their stories, and absolutely inflicted trauma on them xD And I loved them. But over the years I... I didn’t really want them stuck in the Mario universe anymore. So I tried redesigning them.

It... didn’t really go well? I wasn’t happy with my work and I’d only worked on the first two and didn’t finish the second. Basically I tried too hard with them. So I dropped it.

And then years later, I was talking about them again with a friend and felt the urge to revisit them again. And this time?

I got it >:3

Instead of being in the Mario universe, it’s now... More Mario Adjacent? The main bits are a pair of heroes, and a vast land full of varied kingdoms. Just enough changed and kept so they were themselves, and I could keep their stories!

Been doing world building for said world too, came up with stuff for their powers (”Affinities”) and the basis of their world (Built upon the ruins of a past era, so the land is rich with history to be rediscovered)

Anyway, allow me to properly introduce you under the cut!

We’ll start with the older pair!

This is Twyla and Aaron! The Star Twins. Heirs to a semi-technologically advanced kingdom in the stars.

Twyla’s a mechanic and builder enthusiast, with a Magick and Gravity affinity! No she’s not missing an arm. In her and her twin’s major adventure, she damaged it badly and narrowly avoided needing it amputated. The arm isn’t as strong as it used to be, so she built an aid!

Twy is the speedy magic glass cannon of the 4. She’s in an out fast with magick spells, and is VEEERY floaty. Gravity is her bish.

Aaron is the defensive knight, with a Majora Lightning affinity, and a minora Gravity affinity, enabling some floating but not to the level of his older sis. He’s also an Aviator.

Aaron, in their major plot adventure, got Super Paper Mario’d, which was a fun time. Absolutely. Definitely didn’t force his reckless sister to get her act together. Nope.

They are roughly in their early 20s in this ref (not too sure yet of exact ages). At 16, Twyla was far more reckless, impulsive, and carefree (Sure in the knowledge her brother would always catch her) and Aaron far more anxious (terrified his sister will end up in serious danger) and entwined in a co-dependency that really wasn’t healthy for them. Their fire cousin did his best to mitigate but it took an explosive argument, a forced separation, and one hell of a dangerous reality check, for them to start doing better.

Now, Twyla’s reigned in the worst of her tendencies and sometimes her elder nature comes through in her making the serious decisions needed. Aaron’s gotten a grip on his anxiety and works on trusting others with their lives, and now sometimes makes the split second decisions to turn the tide.

Twyla also salvaged her father’s busted big robot (//points to Brobot) and has made it their main mode of transportation aaaaand something to fight with. She calls it Starbot. She drives (Really fast, imagine if you learned how to drive on Rainbow Road) and Aaron flies.

Next up!

Etzio and Cardinale! Royal brothers and heirs to a Nature kingdom that’s had some on and off beef with a growing turtle dragon kingdom. It’s fine though, Etzio is besties with said Kingdom’s heir.

Etzio is an Adventurer! Driven by a passion for history, wanderlust, and a drive to enjoy his youth before taking on the responsibilities as next in line, Etzio is a ball of firey sunshine. And I do mean firey, as his affinity is Majora Fire. Ironic for the son of a Nature affinity, but apparently he took after his father’s gained affinity.

Etzio is their big bruiser. Strong as hell and able to dish it out as much as he takes. And as if he wasn’t strong enough, his cloak is one of invulnerability! A test of character he passed as a wee one granted him this valuable piece of cloth. It didn’t gain the flames until an event when he was 16.

As for Cardinale, he could not be any more different to his family. A family full of heroes and adventurers, and here he is. He’s not an adventurer, he’s not even strong as one. But the residents of his kingdom expected that of him, and it caused for a lot of teenage angst that... Is mostly his fault. And he knows it now that’s he older.

Turns out, keeping quiet and hoping others would notice your inner turmoil and constantly shoving away your brother is an easy way to create a rift between you and your family. Whodda thunk it. (Card was a very stupid teenager)

But enough of that. When that all got cleared up at 15, he came into his own proper. Turns out, he’s just as much as a history buff as his brother (Which Etzio knew) and loves untangling a kingdom’s past and learning the languages they spoke.

And his affinity? Well they didn’t know it for years until an experiment in ice skating showed he was a natural on the ice may have given them a hint. It wasn’t until an adventure took the quartet into the frozen reaches where he was more at home in the cold than ever that they finally discovered it. Yep. An Ice Affinity!  (Even more ironic being born to a Nature affinity) And it also turns out that he has his family’s adventurer reflexes. Just... on the ice.

After years of being shown the door, angst, and a growing rift, a mutual adventure and a setting where Card couldn’t run away from Etzio anymore finally mended the bridges.

(Etz is also a year younger than the quartet and Card a couple years younger than him)

Etzio is a big lovable sweetheart who has learned to really stop trying to mitigate so much and actually confront issues (If pushed harder with Card earlier, they may have avoided a lot of hurt) and Card is his cool self but with a lot more confidence and smarts.

Aaaannyway Imma stop here before it gets too long xD I haven’t stopped creating their stories though, ever since I put them in their new world, I’ve come up with new ones.

Plz talk to me about them ;w;

[midnight-and-his-melodiverse]

THE MELODIVERSE CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS (Midnight's OCs): MIDNIGHT

CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS I: Midnight!

Art credit goes to @rosecat-uwu, for the redesign!

GENERAL INFO

Name: Mydrel Altera Starleaf (Midnight)

Nickname(s): ‘Night, Midi, Middy Gender: Male (He / Him)

Species: Night Demon / Wolf-Human Hybrid

Birthday / Age: June 19, 2006 (17 years old)

Fun fact(s:) He’s a talk show host, he swears by pacifism and he loves swimming! Also he’s an avid worldhopper, visiting different realms in his free time! He hates wasps, dark rooms, and his ghostly possessive spirit sibling, named Staticlight.

Description(s): “he doesn’t like ‘your mom’ jokes :o(“ - Dev, “A fucking dork.” - Staticlight, “With a bright and bubbly personality, Midnight really is the life of the party and also he’s cute!” - Ambrosia, “he's a chill dude, but he really needs more color on his clothes than blue.” - Flare, “he’s rlly cool!!!” - Rosecat“

Appearance: (N/A, as there is a picture already) Outfit(s): Talkshow Outfit: This outfit (described in the picture), is Midnight's primary outfit that he wears on set for his talk show, MMTS (Midnight's Misfortunate Talk Show), and sometimes he wears it at other formal events.

Starstruck Outfit: This outfit is Midnight's endgame-like look at the end of Book I of the Melody Blade Saga, when he equips the Melody Blade. It's said that this outfit is a magical-girl like transformation for him, with the stars adorning his ears, pants, and everywhere else on his clothing. The Melody Blade, which is Midnight's iconic weapon, is included with this transformation. Casual Outfit: This outfit is Midnight's everyday wear. With a soft jacket painted with stars it's really quite comfortable.

BACKSTORY

(tw: near death by drowning, car crash)

Midnight was born to biological human parents Aubri Cosmai and Julien Cosmai in a suburban household in western Penwood City. Being a wolf-human child, his mother (who later turned out was a night demon herself, she just somehow managed to hide that side of her from her husband Julien) didn't know how to properly take care of him, so he was neglected and left to starve most nights. Julien, who was Midnight's biological father, had seen the impact on his mental state and one night as he was heading to bed, Julien decided to confront his mother about this.

Throughout the night, a volley of verbal crossfire was thrown between them and as Midnight struggled to sleep, he could hear demonic yelling and bottles being broken against the outside of the bedroom wall. He hoped and prayed that someday he'd be in a better household, things weren't looking too good for him right now.

In that morning, to take his mind off things he decided to give himself a natural bath in the nearby river next to the house. As he got in the cool blue water and swam further into the middle, his mother who had been drunk the night before (which explains the broken bottles and demonic yelling) somehow thought he was in distress and ran in to save him but ended up pushing him under for a few seconds before he came back up.

Ever since that day, he has been traumatised by swimming in lakes but he's learning to slowly get over it.

He had unwillingly endured four more years of the same: near-daily arguments, broken bottles and loud stomping after those confrontations were over. Early one Tuesday afternoon, Julien had called up Midnight's uncle who lived in Songbourough and it seemed that finally he would be free from this household with a demonic mother who left the house in shambles after each "episode" she had.

That Wednesday morning while Midnight was still half-asleep, he was brought into the car as they began their journey to Songbourough. However, tragedy struck when they got into a car crash and his father was left dead in the wreckage.

RELATIONSHIPS

Legend: *Green = Friends to BFFs *Light Blue = BFs and or GFs *Red = Enemies

Friends

Dev (outside of the book series) - They both met eachother through both going to Penwood Middle in Midnight's early teen years, in which he was still getting used to being in school. He didn't discriminate against Midnight for being a Night-Demon and stood up for him, protecting him from bullies. He was also there so Midnight had someone to personally talk to whenever the negative thoughts got the better of him.

Celeste (OC created by @shooting-starlightxx!) - Midnight met Celeste through touring her around Penwood High on her first day of school. They've become quick friends who find time to chat to each other outside at the lunch tables.

BFs / GFs

Ambrosia - Midnight met his now-girlfriend, through an unfortunate encounter with Penwood Middle's main school bully, Vulcan after class one day on lunch period after getting into a petty argument.

Ambrosia was then shown the strange power of a Night Demon in action as he left the bully in pain on the ground.

Enemies

Vulcan (school bully) - They met eachother through a petty argument which quickly turned into discrimination.

Staticlight (sibling) - They met eachother through an exorcism gone wrong and even though Staticlight doesn't consider Midnight an enemy anymore, they still fight from time to time. Of course, Midnight has no true way to get rid of Staticlight, but they don't hate each other AS much as when Staticlight first possessed Midnight after that exorcism gone wrong.

Dev (from the book series) - They met eachother through them stalking Midnight at school when they tried to steal the Melody Blade.

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

CHARACTER INTRODUCTION TAGLIST (Ask / DM to be added / removed!): @elijahrichardwrites

[crystal-moon-101]

Charmcaster and Mike!💚

I present to you the chaotic magical duo! They were pretty fun to draw with their colours and different body shapes, and these two I've been really wanting to talk about since I've made a lot of rewrite changes for them. Before I get into that, I recommend you read my Dagon Arc Rewrite, to get a better idea of where I've taken these characters, as I involved them quite a bit in that story line. Albedo will be the next redesign eventually, and I'm glad people are liking what I'm doing with these characters so far.

-Mike Morningstar-

Soooo, Mike. He's always been an interesting concept to me, because there are two ways you could make his character go. One way is to just go full out with the creep and power hungry factor, making him a villain through and through, which can provide a very eerie character, which is the route canon mostly too. The other way, which I've taken, is you could make him a very complicated character, tragic even, with the idea of "If someone was born with dark magic, how would the world treat them", and since canon (Both the original series and reboot timeline) as taken the more evil villain approached, I'm taking a much different approach because I think his story can add a lot of interesting dynamics. In terms of his design, I went for the "rich winter" outfit aesthetic, since this lad does know his fashion and tastes.

Mike is an Apotrodite from his mother's side, the dark magic equivalent of Anodites. This means Mike primarily uses dark magic, but unlike other people, his Apotrodite sides means he is in full control of himself, and can't be tainted by dark magic. But that doesn't mean everything goes well...

His parents are Lilith Morningstar and Samael Morningstar, both Plumbers who work in the magical department of things, and since Lilith can use dark magic without it corrupting her, the two get a hefty amount of money working in a field only they can really handle. So they're a very rich family, owning two mansions on earth, and some holiday homes.

Mike was an...accident, not something planned, but his parents wanted to see what it was like, not realizing how raising a child takes a lot of work, especially one that was born half Apotrodite. You see, since Mike was only half, his dark magic didn't come naturally to him for a while, needing to adjust and train himself. There were worries Mike would end up hurting someone, which both Lilith and Samael were nervous about, since Apotrodites didn't have a good reputation anywhere for their use of dark magic. They feared that if Lilith or Mike made a mistake, they'll both be shipped back to their homeworld, which none of them wanted...

Sadly, a mistake did happen one day. Mike didn't mean too, it just happened suddenly, but he ended up hurting two other kids in Plumber Kindergarden, giving one magical burns, and nearly draining the life out of another. He felt horrible over what happened, and couldn't stop sobbing for the rest of the day as everyone debated what to do, and had a long discussion with Mike's parents. Lilith and Samael ended up pulling Mike out from school to homeschool him from now on...and didn't trust Mike to leave the house on his own ever, the fears getting the better of them. So...you could say Mike's childhood was rather lonely and depressing. Eventually as he grew older, he got into lots of arguments with his parents, until finally snapping and running away sometime after his encounter with Ben and his friends. If everyone was going to treat him like a monster, then he might as well be what they say he was and do it being free...

Mike does have an Apotrodite form, much like how Gwen has an Anodite form, but he hardly ever turns into it, even if it would save him energy and make his human form 'rot' less. He doesn't like being reminded of what he is, the reason behind all his problems...

He loves cats, and has always wanted one since he learnt about them.

Mike did end up helping Charmcaster when she was losing herself in omniverse, during the final fight with her. He was one of the few who managed to snap her out of her insanity, and later when she was recovering, she tracked him down with the help of Ben, and managed to convince him to come to Ledgerdomain with her, wanting to repay him for his help. Along with knowing that Mike was really just lonely and tired with the world...something she could relate too...

His hasn't been in contact with his parents since running away from home, and they haven't made an effort to reach out to him, not sure how to approach their son after what he became...

Mike and Hex have a very...awkward dynamic, since neither know how to talk to the other, especially regarding Charmcaster.

Loves scarfs, he just likes the way they look and feel.

-Hope Charmcaster-

Miss Charmcaster, a character who keeps spinning on that plot merry go round. She was defiantly someone who went insane due to how often the writing changed her up, which is a shame since she is a very interesting character, so that's what I'm here for. For her redesign, I've always loved the idea of her being short, plump and very curvy, and entirely confident with her body and looks. She knows she's hot, and owns it. I kept her outfit similar to her original and omniverse style, but played around with the look of it.

Her mother died at childbirth, so her father had to raise her own his own, with the help of Uncle Hex from time to time. Eventually after what happened in Ledgerdomain with Addwaitya, Hex has been looking after her since she was 8, but it wasn't easy, especially when he started tapping into dark magic to find ways to fight Addwaitya, and eventually going power hungry. Charmcaster knows Hex was trying his best, but there are things she can't forgive him for, even if they're getting better during her recovery.

She has black markings on her hands due to her use of the Alpha Rune and dark magic. The Alpha Rune also left a mark on her chest right above her heart. She is subconscious about these things, and tends to hide them from everyone and herself.

Ben 100% had a crush on her as a kid, and she knows it.

Charmcaster has a sweet tooth, and loves desserts. Her favorite is cake, strawberry cake to be precise.

She's still trying to be the Queen of Ledgerdomain, which isn't easy with what's left of it, but she's slowly getting them and creating a new age for the Kingdom, having opened it out to any magic user in the galaxy that needs a place to go.

Gwen and Charmcaster have been building up a nice friendship finally now that Charmcaster is getting help. It's been sweet, with Gwen doing normal teen and girl stuff that Charmcaster hasn't been able to do in years. The little things always remind her that she is human after all.

She is still on the hunt for Addwaitya with the help of Gwen, Hex, Mike and the Plumbers, after the turtle managed to run away during the fight against her.

Later on Mike and Charmcaster do meet other Apotrodites, and visit their homeworld, and does feel bad for their situation. They pair end up letting a good chunk of them move to Ledgerdomain, where it will be safe for them from the outside galaxy, and their contribution of dark magic knowledge really helps Ledgerdomain in the long run.

[nayswriting]

Jespar & Renu (backstory), The Promise within Shadows

Jespar and Renu have known each other since they were young. They grew up with parents who visited each other often, since Jespar is the descendent of the lord of Mounsabat, a city-state in Bhudaarat, and Renu is the daughter of a noble. They would see each other often at court gatherings and official meetings, though Renu's family lived a few days' ride outside the walls of Mounsabat. Later, when it became apparent that Renu would be most qualified to become the next magical specialist given her bloodline and aptitude for magic, her family moved to the city, around the time Jespar and Renu were tweens.

They began to spend even more time together, causing trouble for others as they grew closer. They shared secrets and played and schemed in the highly secretive environment that is Bhudaarat. They also helped each other explore their self-expression during their teen years. For example, Renu encouraged Jespar to experiment with different forms of gender expression; while various genders are accepted in Bhudaarat, there are still expectations around how one is to comport themself based on their gender. And Jespar helped Renu break out of the rigidity of her family.

Many nights, Jespar would sneak out of the castle to visit Renu's estate, egging her to join them in some scheme, probably to glimpse a precious artifact within the castle walls or to steal a prized good from an expensive vender. Even though Jespar could of course easily ask or pay for such items, given their royal fortune, they wanted to experience thrill of trying to steal or see something forbidden instead, knowing their parents would compensate whichever downtrodden soul later, after learning what had transpired.

This kind of behavior would anger Jespar's royal attendants, such as Alak, who often chastised Jespar for their behavior and recommended punishments to Jespar's father. Jespar's shenanigans would also anger Renu's parents, who were angry that the royal heir would drag their daughter into such dangerous and unbecoming activities.

As the years went on and Jespar and Renu grew ever-closer, around puberty, they confessed their feelings to each other. While Renu's parents were displeased by this development, the Savashriyas knew they couldn't stop their daughter from dating whom she wanted, as she was rarely hesitant to speak her mind or to follow her own vision of reality, especially as the future magical specialist. Jespar's parents, on the other hand, hardly engaged with Jespar's discipline, not wanting to seem too overbearing or disapproving.

I'm once again changing the title of the novel. It is now The Promise within Shadows! Hopefully this will be the last time, haha. I'll be making more of these backstory tidbit posts in the future as y'all wait for the redesigns of Jespar and Huì~

[thewebcomicsreview]

Seeing as I don’t have a job right now (one week furlough), I managed to get a lot of writing for Saffron and Sage done today. Now I feel good! Time to ruin that with a Homestuck 2 Liveblog! Last time: Jade kidnapped “Yiffy”, much to Jane’s distress! No time for that, though, as we’re back with the Candyland Kids. 

HARRY: vrissy, i know this is a stressful predicament but i think that's going too far. HARRY: my dad believes in us. HARRY: and if he thinks there's something we can do, then there has to be a way!

Kind of interesting that Harry holds his dad’s opinion in such high esteem, considering that his dad has been AWOL pretty much his whole life.

TAVROS: Uncle john isn't to blame for this,,, HARRY: yeah, no shit tav. HARRY: this whole situation is because of YOUR insane hitlermom.

How the hell does Harry Anderson know who Hitler is? When did that conversation come up? This is a completely different universe! 

TAVROS: Is less sincere,,, than it is,,, an attempt to weaponize something difficult for me, TAVROS: In order that you can win an argument,,, with harry anderson,,,,, VRISKA: GRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! VRISKA: WILL YOU ALL JUST VRISKA: SHUT!!!!!!!! VRISKA: UP!!!!!!!!

A good example of why characters like John, Jade, Vriska, and sometimes Karkat are important in Homestuck or in stories generally. They actually do shit. 

VRISKA: Neither you nor your friends have anything really important going on. VRISKA: Your lives and your planet are a total 8ore! VRISKA: 8ut somehow John loves you anyway. VRISKA: Try and be fucking gr8ful for that every once in a while. VRISKA: Not everyone is so lucky.

Vriska please do not be pining for middle-aged John Egbert. You have literally half a dozen semi-official love interests (John, Terezi, Eridan, Tavros, Meenah and Kanaya), please don’t pick the one old enough to be your dad. It was already weird enough when Adult John got hot and bothered by teen Roxy in the epilogues, to say nothing of you fucking a middle-aged homeless clown in a bush.  

thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG]

Oh, fuck you, Homestuck. It’s bad enough that Harry and Dave are both going to be referred to as “TG” in chatlogs, but now Vrissy and Vriska are both AG and have the same font color! 

TG: i've allocated the strife specibus with the scissorkind abstratus? TG: hm. TG: using this weird vocab and stuff feels... well, weird. TG: i'm not sure why, but it seems as though everything that's about to happen is that much more important now. TG: or maybe it already was, but i just didn't understand just how important until this moment.

One issue with wearing your metaphor on your sleeve as much as Homestuck 2 does is that thematically important lines become really obvious. 

I like how the triangle-shaped panel around Vriska escaping the crowd by simply walking into it is reminiscent of a magic 8-ball. That’s clever! 

VRISKA: Your society... no, your whole planet... it deserves to 8urn str8 to MEGAhell, and I'm gonna 8e the one to fly it there! VRISKA: I'm gonna shatter your paradise into pieces with my 8are hands and SHIT IN ITS GRAVE!!!!!!!! VRISKA: HOW'S THAT FOR A FUCKING ST8MENT! VRISKA: YOU GOT ALL THAT, JANE CROCKER? VRISKA: DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S COMING FOR YOU???????? VRISKA: YOU'VE MESSED WITH VRISKA: ********VRISKA******** VRISKA: ****FUUUUUUUUCKING**** VRISKA: ********SERK8T********

There’s some extreme Dungeons and Dragons energy here, where Vriska’s plan to escape a mob of reporters working for a totalitarian dictatorship run by literal gods is to simply walk outside and publicly declare her intent to destroy the world as punishment for its sins. 

And yeah, this is how that plan usually works in DnD, too.

Man, the next page is a wall of text, whereas in old Homestuck this’d be an animation. I get “fair wages” and “small budget”, but is still feels weird to see a big Strife scene merely get described with boring-ass words.

Fearing gunfire, the few paparazzi who aren't currently getting their asses handed to them by the world's angriest traffic cone start to trip over each other, diving for cover.

The world’s angriest traffic cone.

Far away, in her lair, Jane Crocker grabs the two sides of her computer monitor with enough strength to snap it in two. She can't believe what she's watching. Behind her, from a shadowy corner of the room, there is an agitated growling noise and the rattle of chains.

Is that Yiffy? Is Yiffy an animal? Please tell me Yiffy is not a person that Jade named Yiffy. 

....Actually, please tell me that Yiffy isn’t an animal Jade named Yiffy that is Jade’s child via sex with another animal that might be my breaking point.

Vriska alights on the ground, rakes her throat, quietly spits out a little wad of blue, and wipes her mouth unceremoniously. Tavros pats Harry Anderson tentatively on the arm. Vrissy tries to be badass and cough up something too but she doesn't really make it work.  

Vrissy::Vriska Vriska::Mindfang

It’s weird that John’s sprite is the same even though he’s middle aged now, but I like that his God Tier outfit doesn’t fit any more. Isn’t it magical? Ahh, who cares.

JOHN: this old thing is pretty uncomfortable in a lot of ways. JOHN: hm... JOHN: when we get a moment, maybe the two of us could brainstorm a redesign? JOHN: no pressure though. HARRY: !!!

Oh, that’s why! That’s cute. 

JADE: theres something i need to tell you

don’thavefuckedadogdon’thavefuckedadogdon’thavefuckedadog

JADE: john... i have a daughter JADE: shes almost harry andersons age JOHN: ... JOHN: ... JOHN: you have a daughter.

Named Yiffy?

ROSE: It was at this point that Jade came to me. ROSE: I could understand her pain quite acutely, and so... ROSE: I agreed to carry a child on her behalf. KANAYA: . ROSE: ... Without telling Kanaya.

Without-

Kanaya is your WIFE. You LIVE WITH HER. Even ignoring the question of why you’d keep 9 months of pregnancy from your wife, how? Kanaya would have been living with humans for years at that point and she’s literally in charge of reproduction don’t tell me she thought Rose just got fat for a while and then lost the weight really fast. 

ROSE: I'm... not sure why I made that decision. ROSE: I regret not telling Kanaya, of course. ROSE: But I can't say that I regret going through with it. ROSE: At the time, it didn't feel as though the deception was even all that prolonged. The whole affair was... short. ROSE: Purely physical, and nothing more.

ROSE: John, there isn't a father. ROSE: Jade and I are the sole parents of this child. JOHN: oh. JOHN: ... JOHN: OH. JOHN: oh i'm so sorry, i didn't th- ROSE: That's quite alright John, although you might like to direct that apology more towards your sister. ROSE: All I will say is that if you would like to take up the particulars with us, ROSE: Some *other* time, 

Actually, if John doesn’t know that Jade has a male dog’s genitals due to a fusion accident, I’d love to know what that all-caps OH means. What does he think happened, that Jade and Rose managed to have a baby? 

JOHN: so... how did you hide the pregnancy? ROSE: Oh, that was simple. ROSE: Jade's genes being, as they are, part canine, the gestation period was substantially reduced.

OH NO 

Yiffy is literally a furry, isn’t she? Moreso that Jade, she’s a full-on “Can be naked onscreen and it’s okay because she’s covered in fur” dog girl.

JOHN: i think i understand everything so f VRISSY: WAIT!!!!!!!! VRISSY: YOU MEAN TO TELL ME VRISSY: NOT ONLY DO I H8VE A SISTER VRISSY: 8UT YOU NAMED VRISSY: YOUR ****SECRET CHILD**** VRISSY: ********YIFFY********????????

Vrissy makes an excellent point. 

ROSE: We didn't call her Yiffy. ROSE: That would be a quite ridiculous thing with which to burden a child. ROSE: Her full name is Yiffany Longstocking Lalonde Harley.

Vrissy looks as though she is about to shit the belltower they are standing in, brick by brick.

ROSE: It was, in hindsight, a monumentally terrible decision acting as the final chapter in a long series of novels, each one full of progressively more terrible decisions than the last. ROSE: But that is the name that we decided upon.

Oh, wait a second. Vriska changed Vriska Maryam-Lalonde to Vrissy, and changed Harry Anderson to just Harry. So obviously she’s going to rename Yiffy to literally anything else, then rename Tavros, and then we’ve got a new set of four kids as Vriska leaves to do something else. That’s what going to happen, right? Right? Please? 

ROSE: You have to understand... this whole situation ended up playing out a bit like an ironic game of chicken between the two of us. ROSE: Something that far outstripped anything that the Strider fraternity could have produced in their wildest, most jpegged creative wet dreams. ROSE: But in the end that triumph of irony came back to bite us in the fucking ass, as irony is wont to do. ROSE: There was absolutely no possibility of us casually letting you all know that, by the way, we had had a secret daughter named Yiffany Longstocking. ROSE: At least, not right away. ROSE: But carapacian change-of-name paperwork is so complex and circuitous that, eventually, keeping quiet forever just seemed like the more reasonable option.

This is, even for Homestuck, monumentally stupid. You named your daughter Yiffany Longstocking as a joke and then kept the child secret because you were embarrassed. You two are awful fucking parents. You are the worst parents in the entire series, and that includes Bro Strider and the spider that made Vriska feed it children. 

And we’re literally at the point where the writing is bad and the joke is how bad the writing is. This isn’t enjoyable to read; you can’t make a bad B-movie My Immortal fanfic on purpose.  

Even now, Yiffy is likely being held at spoonpoint

I feel like “Jade and Rose have a secret daughter named Yiffany Longstocking” can be a joke or it can be drama but maybe not both at the same time. 

[kandoesfanfics-writes]

#32 daminette? Or #147 mari and tim bonding? Sorry, there are so many good prompts on this list I couldn't decide on just one

Of course! I’ll do both, but the Tim and Mari bonding will be under the cut. These got long.

Prompt #32 with Daminette

“Can someone please explain to me, in small words, why I’m being assigned to this mission?”

Marinette was severely confused and uncertain how she wound up in this situation. All she had come to the Hall of Justice to do was meet with Wonder Woman to discuss the possibility of sending letters to Hippolyta to ask her about her time with the ladybug miraculous. The last thing she expected was to be yanked into a Justice League mission by Wonder Woman herself.

The young woman was currently transformed into her new costume. The fabric around her throat, chest, and front were red with black spots like her old uniform. Her arms, and legs were completely black as was her mask. She now had wings as well, and her hair had been pulled up into a bun instead of pigtails. Marinette and Tikki had redesigned it once Marinette turned sixteen.

She was standing next to Robin, who also did not look so pleased with this series of events. The dark haired teen was glaring at Wonder Woman and Batman.

“Simple Ladybug, there is reason to believe that this anomaly is tied in with the miraculous that gives you your powers,” Wonder Woman explained. “And since you worked so well with Robin to take down Hawkmoth, we figured that the two of you would not mind pairing up for this mission.”

Robin gritted his teeth before responding, “Are you sure there is no one else who could do this mission?”

Batman went to respond, but Wonder Woman cut him off.

“Robin, I know how you feel about the League of Assassins. If there were anyone else who could do this, I’d suggest sending them,” the dark haired Amazon began. “However, after speaking with my mother, we know that only other miraculous holders can reliably sense the presence of this type of magic.”

The teen still had his arms crossed, and his posture was tense. Marinette looked at him for a moment before gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

“…I don’t like it any more than you do,” she said quietly. “But if they’re right…if the League of Assassins has somehow obtained the magic of the miraculous, it’s my duty to investigate.”

The dark haired teen knew that wasn’t what her— partner(?) — wanted to hear, but she watched him consider her words. His shoulders slumped minutely, letting her know that she’d officially won the argument.

“Fine, but we do this on my terms, Daesuqa,” he growled. “I don’t want you anywhere near Ra’s.”

Marinette smiled before replying, “Of course, mon oiseau. Introduce me to your friends?”

Robin nodded stiffly before holding out his arm to her. She looped one arm through, and he led her over to where Superboy was talking animatedly with Abuse. The young red-head looked uncomfortable and unsure how to deal with Superboy’s upbeat behavior, so Robin figured he was being merciful by introducing her to them. He knew she’d be able to deal with their ray of sunshine.

Both boys turned their attention when Robin cleared his throat. Superboy’s expression lit up before he gasped, “OHMYGOD! IT’S THE CUTIE ROBIN WAS TELLING US ABOUT!”

Robin’s expression turned particularly murderous.

“Shut. Up!” he hissed. “Don’t call her cute! We’re professionals!”

“Then why haven’t you let go of her arm yet?” Abuse asked with a smile. “Seem pretty fond of her.”

Marinette said nothing in response, giggling into her hands as Robin chased the other two boys. She already knew he liked her…or at least she really hoped he liked her.

Otherwise that dinner date next week was going to be really weird.

*Daesuqa- Arabic for Ladybug (If this is not correct, please let me know!!!!!)

*mon oiseau- French for my bird

——————————–

#147 Tim and Mari

“I don’t know how many coffees it takes to be happy, but so far, it’s not twelve.”

A dark haired man winced in sympathy before responding, “Rough time?”

“You have no idea,” she groused.

His grey-blue eyes focused on the young woman in front of him. She was around five foot tall and had a very petite stature. Her dark black hair was pulled up into a messy bun with many fly away hairs. Her bright grey eyes, with rather dark bags under them, was scanning a drawing tablet at mach speed. She was currently curled up in Damian’s chair, and Tim was rather surprised the other was letting her sit there.

Unless she was who Tim thought she was.

“You must be Marinette, right? Damian’s mentioned you,” Tim said carefully, waiting to gauge her reaction.

The little woman simply picked up her coffee cup before letting out a disappointed whine. She put the cup down and rubbed her temples. Her grey eyes then focused on him as she finally responded to his inquiry.

“Yes, I’m Marinette. Yes, I’m out of coffee. No, I have no idea where the kitchen is, and Damian’s cut me off. He said twelve cups is too much! But I need to get these commissions done!”

“I know right? They tell me that drinking six pots alone is unhealthy.”

“That’s not unhealthy, that’s just smart,” she said with a sigh. “I need coffee like a fish needs water. I’ll never stay awake long enough to finish these without it!”

Tim smiled at those words. Finally! A kindred spirit! Someone who understood that coffee was necessary to sustaining one’s life-force and productivity as he did. The young CEO looked around quickly, scanning for his brothers and Alfred.

Not seeing any of them in sight, he leaned over the side of her chair. He whispered quietly into her ear, and Marinette nearly bolted up from her seat. Her cute little face suddenly got a very serious expression on it as she made a zipping motion with her fingers against her lips.

Tim chuckled a little at how cute she was before gesturing for her to follow him. After all, they had a secret stash of coffee to get too.

[davidmann95]

Is that Solaris I see on the cover of Superman/WW Future State? He returns! I am suddenly interested in Future State.

Anonymous said: So, Future State? Not gonna lie, at the very least I'm liking the artist line up. Also, Idk about you, but the designs for Diana and Yara Flor (the Wonder Woman from the Amazon) are the only ones that I'm really liking so far.

Anonymous said: FUUUUUUTUUUUUUURRRRE. state

Anonymous said: Thoughts on DC Future State?

Anonymous said: Thoughts on Future State?

Anonymous said: You’ve probably been asked already but thoughts on Future State?

Anonymous said: So... Future State just kind of showed up and is very mixed.

Anonymous said: Future State Superman has a heroic cop battling a villainous anarchist. Topical.

Anonymous said: On Dc future state announcements???

Anonymous said:So. Future State's been officially revealed. Your thoughts?

‘Future State’ this, ‘Future State’ that! Look, what’re you gonna believe, Jim Lee or your lying eyes?

So this looks...pretty good? Infinitely better than their previous filler stuff like Zero Month/Villains Month/Future’s End/Convergence. And given Jo Mullein is part of this, Bendis isn’t doing these Superman issues, Steve Orlando mentioned on Twitter that he was told to set aspects of this up in Wonder Woman rather than it being allowed to appear apropos of nothing like most of these, and this isn’t built around a *single* all-encompassing tone or hook - along with getting Dan damn Mora to do your main promo images and a bunch of the character designs - I do believe the plan is that this is still going to lead into new ongoing series, just all the last couple of those crossovers I mentioned did. That’s probably where we’ll see Bendis doing Jon, the Zdarsky/Fraction thing, I expect more of Ridley Batman, and maybe one or two others. In any case, nice to see a bunch of fresh talent in the mix and a more diverse lineup both on and off the page, and a lot of these concepts are neat, even if there are as always some turds in the punch bowl. The anthology model being carried forward from the Walmart titles definitely heralds more of the same, whether in the main line or for a continuation of this. And as for the books themselves, I’m gonna take my reactions one by one.

The Next Batman: Obviously I’m down for this.

Dark Detective: Bruce having a specifically defined new role (as do most of the rest of the old guard) is a smart move for making this sustainable. Tamaki’s let me down recently, but Mora, and also if this follows up on Detective #1027 we might see the Black Casebook. Backups definitely look tepid though. I’m probably gonna hold off on making a call until there’s a preview.

Harley Quinn: Pass.

Robin Eternal: ehhhhhhhh

Catwoman: Oh hell yes, V/Schmidt doing a heist.

Nightwing: Nicola Scott doing Nightwing! Andrew Scott wrote a decent little Wonder Woman/Metal Men teamup story in one of the recent anthologies, so I’m up for this.

Batman/Superman: YES. This seems to be a bit of a prequel thing, but who cares, it’s Yang/Oliver doing World’s Finest.

Superman of Metropolis: I’ve only heard of Sean Lewis doing a few indie horror books, but of course I’m curious about the Jon-as-Superman book and the groundwork I expect it lays. His costume works for me, fitting that ‘sleek and futurey’ mandate without actually rocking the boat too much (and its differentiation is a lot more tolerable with Clark still rocking the cape and trunks), and the premise is really interesting - not surprising, as editor Jamie Rich says many of the ideas for the Superman books came from conversations with Grant Morrison. Which is probably why we’re seeing so much Seven Soldiers and DC One Million stuff in here, although bringing back Manhattan Guardian, given his background, and this premise, for this moment, is questionable at best.

Superman vs. Imperious Lex: This is probably going to be the best thing to come out of this whole shebang.

Superman: Worlds of War: Privately I called that Clark would be rocking the Kingdom Come getup in here (with the belt buckle from Man of Tomorrow for some reason?). I did NOT call that he would literally have the God of War sword. I’d be skeptical at best, but PKJ and Rich have both assured they’re not doing a Dark Superman thing with this, and hot damn, Midnighter backup by Becky Cloonan!

Superman/Wonder Woman: I think this is going to turn out to be one of the biggest gems of this entire enterprise. Dan Watters did an absolutely phenomenal short story for the last Batman: Secret Files, and it’s a big teamup against Solaris!

Kara Zor-El, Superwoman: The Bombshells team reunited! Here for it.

Justice League: God, this might be really good or it might be the biggest disappointment of the bunch. Just at the sight of that I want that to be the Justice League from now on, that is an all-timer iconic cover and set of designs to introduce a group of characters, the concept’s really good, and Flash being from another universe is so cool...and the actual book is Williamson/Rocha. Rocha’s a steady hand I trust well enough, but clearly this is where Mora should have been, and you’re really leaving this to Williamson? He has done good comics, but not many. I can only hope he’s basically a placeholder setting up the status quo for a Future State Justice League imprint book same as I think PKJ and Lewis are setting up whatever Bendis is going to do later. Still, I’m not writing this off entirely, Williamson has still done some good comics and this might well be as enjoyable a two-parter as it should be. And in any case, Ram V doing future stuff with the magic characters is a win.

Aquaman: I was going to say no thanks, but the premise is a little interesting, Daniel Sampere is a good hand, and I haven’t seen Brandon Thomas’s work before but at a glance he seems to have tried some ambitious sci-fi work at Image. I’ll call this a maybe.

The Flash: Hahaha, now we’re in the shit of it. Literally there is nothing about this that would indicate it was set in the future if not for the title, a flat regurgitation of the most tired old bullshit, and it’s by a Young Justice writer to boot. Glad to know even in the future the regular Flash book is going to suck.

Teen Titans: Speaking of books we can be assured will always suck

Shazam!: Who could possibly care

Green Lantern: This one I kinda don’t blame for being nothing, Far Sector is the big Green Lantern thing in this period and they’re not gonna fuck with that so they gotta work around the fringes. Hardly sympathetic enough to get me to buy it though.

Suicide Squad: Okay, alt-Earth Flash rules, but you come up with a disabled Flash with a heavily redesigned but still recognizable and extremely rad new look - looking every inch the “Far Sector but for Flash” premise I’ve been calling for - and you put her in this nonsense? And you waste Javier Fernandez here too? I guess Robbie Thompson is passable from what I’ve seen and maybe the whole Earth 3 thing will result in this turning out alright after all, but this feels like a waste, and that’s before you get to the one story here set in the 853rd century being about Black Adam.

Immortal Wonder Woman: Oh shit this one’s gonna rule though.

Legion of Superheroes: So’s this one!

Swamp Thing: This will be excellent too but I don’t care about Swamp Thing.

Wonder Woman: I’m seeing some immediate division on Wonder Woman - some like her new costume and some hate it (I think it’s really busy but like it a lot with the blues highlighted when Mora draws it), and I understand some have problems with a Brazilian Wonder Woman rooted entirely in Greek mythology rather than any sort of indigenous religion (which I am not remotely qualified to weigh in on). I’ll hope for the best, and obviously it’ll be very pretty, but I wasn’t blown away by Jones’ writing when I tried her Catwoman book, and I hope she won’t fall flat on her face regarding representation.

I’d divide this up into

* Basically no chance in hell: Harley Quinn, The Flash, Teen Titans, Shazam!, Green Lantern

* I’d need to hear good word of mouth: Dark Detective, Robins Eternal, Aquaman, Suicide Squad

* Fingers crossed, getting it but it could go either way: Superman of Metropolis, Justice League, Wonder Woman

* Yeah, I’ll grab this one, looks fun: Nightwing, Superman: Worlds of War, Kara Zor-El: Superwoman

* This is going to be really good: The Next Batman, Catwoman, Batman/Superman, Superman vs. Imperious Lex, Superman/Wonder Woman, Immortal Wonder Woman, Legion of Superheroes, and though I’m skipping it, Swamp Thing

A pretty incredible preliminary hit-miss ratio, and along with all I said before, big shoutout to Darran Robinson for across-the-board incredible logo design work. Like the Superman books mixing Morrison and Bendis, Batman is hyper-topical with a black Batman fighting super-cops who hate resistors in masks (whole Bruce can still be part of the fight but has to reckon with not being the guy in front throwing money around and setting terms anymore), Wonder Woman goes for the obvious pun, and JL feels appropriately iconic, while the rest is hit-or-miss as not central to further plans with this setting. I had zero expectations of this as anything other than Future’s End 2.0 with a couple leading into the not-5G imprint, but while I think that’s still the same basic endgame, for the most part it feels like they’re really trying with this one and I’ve got a good feeling about it.

[incorrect-mcu-quotes101]

Rant about Marvel New Warriors

(spoiler they are shit - Ps. I know I'm late to this)

This is about to be long-

Since evryone is roasting the shit out of Marvel's New Warriors. (I'm late I know shut up) why not hop on the train of anger and give out my opinion.

First on the list is Screentime.

Now I dont really have a problem with the design. It think that the green goes well with his backstory being all sciency and shit (which is the problem but I'll get onto that later) If we ignore the fact that they ripped off the ben10 colour palette I kinda like how he looks.

But oh boy the backstory.

"A Meme-Obsessed super teen whose brain became connected to the internet after becoming exposed to his grandfather’s “experimental internet gas.” Now he can see augmented reality and real-time maps, and can instantly Google any fact. Does this make him effectively a genius? He sure acts like it does."

Okay first of all. "Internet gas"? Wtf is that supposed to be. Also meme-obsessed just makes me think he would be a redditor making him very fucking annoying.

Now his powers I think are shit. He's always connected to the internet? Couldn't the others just get out their phones and do exactly the same. (Maybe like 10 seconds slower since it takes time to open your phone)

I think it would be cool to see him do more than look up "how to beat up bad guys" on wikihow. Maybe make him control other computers or phones. And he could possibly teleport using electronics.

Alright that's screentime on to the next mistake.

Second is Trailblazer

Her design is... Uhh. Acceptable. In my opinion the costumes are a bit too colourful. It reminds me of those girls who put on different socks and walk around saying how qUiRKy they are.

Now uh backstory/description (idk why i have been calling it backstory all this time tbh) it's definitely better than Screentime. But still. Bad.

"A regular kid scooped up into the world of teenage Super Heroing. Her “magic backpack” is actually a pocket dimension with seemingly infinite space, from which she can pull out useful or random objects—it’s not always under her control. She claims to get her power from god, but “not the god you’re thinking of.”"

So uh. Dora?

I like how they made it sound more interesting saying that she never knows what she'll get. But the thing I want to know is what if someone gets her backpack. It's not hard to take a backpack from someone tbh. Is it glued to her back? Or can she like leave it in school and forget about it? "A regular kid scooped up into the world of teenage Super Heroing." This makes me think that she didn't chose to have her powers. Which i can understand. But it's a fucking backpack.

If it's not connected to her and someone takes it SHE WILL BE FUCKING POWERLESS?!

Alright. That's that. On to the next one.

B-negative. Uh-

Alright the name is clever I'll give them that.

But the design. Ughhh. Again. The oversaturated colours they used. I personally dont like the use of bright pink. They could have used dark red instead. Red symbolizes blood, death, anger and the pink doesn't make me think about that sort of stuff. It clashes with his dark edgy design and face. Other than the fact he looks straight out of a Twilight edgy fanfic.

"A teen “living vampire” exposed to Michael Morbius’s blood as a child in a rogue, but life-saving medical procedure. He still ages like a regular kid, but has all the abilities of Morbius. He’s also obsessed with all the music and attitude of a “classic” long-past decades like the '90s, and the '00s. “The world is a vampire…and so am I.”"

I don't really have anything to say to this. It's just once again marvel trying to relate to the youth. Tbh his description. As crazy as it sounds. Is the one I have the least problems with.

Alright now to the one people hated the most.

This thing-

A lot. And i mean. A LOT of people have criticised and even took the time to redesign the characters. And yea. They are shit. I'm not going to take the time to redesign them myself because I don't have that kind of time at the moment. (Maybe I'll make another post where I remake them myself. But idk)

Now my biggest problem with the design is the fact they are twins. TWINS WHO ARE FROM THE OPPOSITE SEX SHOULDN'T BE IDENTICAL TWINS. That is literally impossible. Also they kinda remind me of the characters from that online game everyone was obsessed with called 'Fireboy and Watergirl'. Don't know if anyone remembers that.

Their costumes are hideous. Again the vibrant colours are giving me a goddamn seizure. The whole idea of those characters is for Snowflake to be the more self assured and most likely to beat you up for being a bit racist to Twitter. And for Safespace to be this big soft dude who looks though but is actually an angel when you get to know him.

But looking at them I do don't get those vibes. I think they should have made Snowflake look more sassy and wear like a coat to be more mysterious and shit. And for Safespace to have more fur and armour (he can create shields for other but not for himself so he should have atleast some other type of protection) I think having like fur on his jacket would give off a more 'soft uwu boi' vibe.

I'm not going to shit on their description because to be honest. Everyone already has. And this has become way too long for a normal post. I hope ya'll enjoyed it. If you took the time to read me ranting about some weird fictional characters I really appreciate that.

[taiblogcomics]

The Love Boat

Hey there, distractions from current events. Haven't had a restock yet, so we'll be beginning the year with more New 52 Teen Titans terribleness. It'll be fine, I'm sure~

Here's the cover:

I said we were going to save it, but now that she's on the cover, I guess we can rant about this Raven redesign now. Surprise, I hate it! I get that she's starting as a villain now (which is another thing I hate), but the original Raven managed villain while still keeping her cloak and leotard look. I think it's supposed to be feathers covering her face, but I never understood why that was ...anything. I never understood anything about that. It looks silly and I don't know how she sees out of it. Like, she doesn't have to look like the '80s version or the animated design. I've seen good modernised Raven costumes. But this ain't it, chief.

And that's only one bit of the cover! Like, this isn't part of "Death of the Family", but it is sort of an aftermath issue. Hey, know what wasn't part of "Death of the Family" in the end? The "Death" part. Yeah, none of the major characters actually died. I'm pretty sure I've got a trade around here, maybe we can cover that little piece of edgelord dreck for an anniversary someday. Anything else about this cover? Well, I didn't even notice this shining guy at first. That's pretty bad when you have a guy glowing like the sun and yet you completely overlook him when you pull the comic from the shelf~

Speaking of the light guy, think this'll be related? We open with a kid named Kwon Yi, who can manifest balls of light from his body. Unlike a lot of people, Kwon really hates having a superpower, so he's come to a really shady-looking doctor to have it removed. If that sounds like bunk to you, congratulations! You've read a story before. The doctor straps him down and a bunch of sharp instruments begin digging into Kwon's back. He dies as the powers are drained out of him, and fed into an emaciated man who's cackling to himself how he'll soon use all these powers to "lead them out of darkness". Anyway, all of this is foreshadowing and has nothing to do with the rest of the issue~

We join our heroes in a limo together, recovering from the events of "Death of the Family". They're pretty forgiving of Tim Drake for everything that happened, but Tim himself is pretty bummed that he let it happen at all, since he's supposed to be the leader. Cassie is pretty disgusted by the touchy-feely display, but luckily for her, Kid Flash interrupts at this point. He's running alongside the limo, and he's noticed that the limo isn't going to their usual penthouse tower. In fact, it's pulled up at the docks along the Hudson River. Tim mentions that he's gotten them a new place to live, and if you think this is leading up to a reveal of a new Titans Tower for this continuity, well...

...Sorry to disappoint you, but what Tim reveals is a big cruise ship. Yes, really. This is their new headquarters, and while most of them are speechless, Bunker is pretty thrilled. Since it's a cruise ship, it has individual quarters, a pool, a rec room, and so on. It even has a war room that attaches to Tim's own quarters. I really don't understand how a boat is more secure than a tower, but I'm not a former sidekick of Batman's, I guess. The group then breaks to go to sleep, since they're kind of exhausted after all the ordeals of never following a story for a single issue or series.

Kid Flash and Bunker, who have opted to bunk together for security, retire to their room. Kid Flash is, of course, the twitchy sort who can't settle down, especially in a new place. He confesses to Bunker that he doesn't remember any of his life pre-Titans, and Bunker tells him not to worry about it. He gives Kid Flash some actually good advice about how you have to live in the moment, since you can't change the past and the future will come regardless. He mentions that he misses his mom and boyfriend back in Mexico, but he's glad to be here, now, doing what he's doing. This is dramatically undercut by the next scene, showing his mom visiting his boyfriend in the hospital, where he is unconscious and glowing.

Tim Drake, however, did not go to bed. He's a Batman sidekick, being up all night is in his blood. So is monologuing, but it's quickly revealed he's actually talking outloud because he knows Solstice is there watching him. She's come back to apologise again for that bit during The Culling, where Tim was building a case against NOWHERE and didn't help a bunch of kids until he had evidence they needed help. And despite this issue coming out five years before the film, I swear, he does the Spiderverse "Hey" move, and swoops in to kiss Solstice. She protests "what about Kid Flash?", and Tim's all "I don't see him around, do you?" And so they keep making out. Oh good, instead of manufactured "pissy at each other" tension, we get love triangle tension instead.

We get a brief scene of a white-haired kid at a coffee shop getting pissy at how long the customer ahead of him is taking with their extremely specific order, which, like, don't go to a coffee shop, then. He gets pissed enough that suddenly his brain flares in a negative filter and kills all the people in the shop. A policeman comes rushing in to see what the commotion is, and they find nothing but bodies. The mysterious brain guy has already left, drinking the complicated order that the customer in front of him was ordering, deciding it was worth all the detail after all. Wah-wah.

And if you think the teen drama bullshit is going to stop there, Tim retires back to his room after making out with Solstice, only for Cassie to come looking in for him. She's wearing one of his shirts as sleepwear. He allows it, mentioning that he's loosened up since the ordeal of being in "Death of the Family". Cassie mentions that she came in here to "thank" him for helping to deal with Diesel, and the two of them start making out as well. Contrary to what you might expect, just coz I like reading comics about teen superheroes doesn't mean I like teen drama and romance plots~

And it might be a bit more than makeouts, since while it showed Solstice and Tim in full during their kiss, it cuts to silhouette and a shot from the doorway as Cassie and Tim kiss on the bed. Implied intercourse ahoy! And if you think that's creepy, it cuts over to Raven sitting on a throne, swirling a goblet of probably blood, while she uses magic to listen in on Cassie and Tim doing it. Um, ew.

Some old granny ghoul calls her over, saying her father Trigon wants to meet by the blood river, and Raven departs. The last page of the comic closes the story with Tim by himself in the war room, listening to the police reports of the coffee shop massacre, while his eyes glow red, implying he's probably under Raven's control or something.

Ugh, is it too late to go back to the edgelord crossover dreck~?

Seriously, this issue is bad. For one thing, it’s trying to set up, like, five different future plotlines all at once, and thus doesn’t have a consistant tone. And for two... Well, do I really need to say it? The main plot of the story is skeevy as all hell, and really makes Tim come off as a creepo. A lot of bad comics I review on here just make me angry, but this one makes me feel unclean. The sooner this storyline is over, the better. Ugh...

[earthnashes]

So I know I said the very first incarnation of Link, Zelda, Impa, and Ganon were gonna be next but like... I was reading about the Kokiri and it sparked some inspiration, so much so that I ended up redesigning them for my headcanon. I wanted them to be a little more unique in appearance than what they were so I went with making them pseudo fauns: Fauns are known for their playful and childish nature and, given the Kokiri are ageless children, I figured it’d work. So! Some quick headcanons about their race as a whole!

-Kokiri are a race of faun-like fairies who live in and protect forests. A majority of their body is made of a bark-like hide that can come in a large variety of texture and color, and the antlers they grow sprout flora of all kinds depending on their individual make. Though they appear child-like (with the oldest look being that of a young teen), they are ageless and many have lived several centuries, though Kokiri are still mortal despite their ageless quirk. Every Kokiri are linked to the Great Deku Tree.

-Legend has it that, if a child gets lost and dies in a forest, the Great Deku Tree will take the child’s lingering spirit and give them a new body through the means of merging their corpse with the bark from its roots. Their spirit will then be anchored back onto the newly formed body, effectively bringing them back to life and given a second chance.

This legend is true. Kokiri are childlike because they are children, or at least they were when they met their tragic demise hidden away in the forests. Given their supernatural “rebirth”, the Kokiri are granted many boons: 

They don’t age, won’t die from age, and are far more resilient to damage: they have an unnaturally fast healing rate, even to the point of being able to grow back limbs should they lose one. Given they retain their youthful stature, they aren’t very physically strong but they are lightning quick with even quicker reflexes, almost akin to that of the deer the Deku modeled them after. They are granted guardian Fairies and gain more magical power than what they once had as a normal child. All of these gifts from the Great Deku in their efforts to give them a better chance at life.

But all of these gifts still have limits, specifically their mortality. They can still be killed, their magic isn’t everlasting, and even with their agelessness, in the end they are children, and remain children physically and mentally.

-The Great Deku Tree may be located deep within the Korok Forest, but his roots spread far and wide all across Hyrule with extensions of himself in every known forest. He is known for his endless wisdom and benevolence, able to see much thanks to the extensions of his roots despite he himself being stuck in one place. The Korok and the Kokiri are results of his doing, ultimately his way of giving life to those who pass within his forests.  He often refers to the Korok and Kokiri, and just about every living creature that are under his protection, his “children”, and the Kokiri in turn refer to him as “Father” while the Korok call him “Guardian”.

-------------------------------

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand yhuh, there we go! I hope ya’ll like my take on the Kokiri! <:

[aion-rsa]

How Double Dragon’s Abobo Became a Beat em up Legend

https://ift.tt/2F8DPGk

In the late ’80s, video games started featuring over-the-top, meaty musclemen. Metro City had Mike Haggar, a shirtless former wrestler who became mayor and decided that being “tough on crime” meant ridding the streets of criminals with his bare hands, his girlfriend’s psycho boyfriend, and a ninja in Nikes. Circus strongman Karnov scoured the world for adventure and treasure, fighting all kinds of mythical monsters. Bald Bull was trying to dominate both the boxing ring and the arm-wrestling circuit. Gutsman was a jacked construction robot who was later rebuilt as a 40-foot-tall tank centaur.

And then there was Abobo, the gigantic antagonist from Double Dragon. He wasn’t THE antagonist. Hell, in the first game, you fight him within the first two minutes. Despite his low-level status, he’s still far more fondly remembered than the main Double Dragon bad guys like Willy and the Shadow Master. There’s just always been something about this random brute that’s made him special.

Abobo’s journey begins in the original Double Dragon, Technos’ 1987 arcade hit. The game’s story is very simple. A dystopian, lawless, post-nuclear war version of New York City has been overrun by a gang called the Black Warriors or Shadow Warriors or Black Shadow Warriors. (They kind of workshop that name from game to game.) Billy and Jimmy Lee are two martial arts brothers whose mutual friend Marian is captured by gang members. Off they go to lay out everyone in that gang with their bare fists and occasional barrel/whip/knife/baseball bat.

While the cannon fodder is mostly made up of normal-sized guys, out walks Abobo, who makes his entrance by punching his way through a brick wall. From the moment he appears on screen, it’s clear Abobo is meant to stand apart from the rest. He has longer reach, takes more hits, can’t be thrown, and is able to throw Billy and Jimmy like ragdolls. The only guy more dangerous than Abobo is Willy, the final boss, who brings a machine gun to a fist fight.

Weirdly, Abobo has various forms in the game. His initial form is as a bald, pale guy with a mustache. Soon after, we fight Jick, an Abobo clone who closely resembles Mr. T. Later, we face off against an Incredible Hulk version of Abobo. This is post-nuclear war, so I suppose this tracks.

But it was NES port that really delivered the ultimate form of Abobo, whose appearance was seriously altered for the 8-bit console. With orange-brown skin, Abobo is still bigger than everyone else, but also looks inhuman. He has a giant, bald head almost the size of his bulky torso, and a black arch on his face that is apparently a mustache merged with a frown! While the NES version had its own quasi-fighting game mode with everyone redrawn with a bigger and better sprite, Abobo looked exactly the same. You just can’t mess with perfection!

Abobo sort-of-but-not-really appeared in the sequel, 1988’s Double Dragon II: The Revenge. In a game filled with giant enemies, there was a guy named Bolo who looked exactly like Abobo, but with long, black hair. Actually, in retrospect, he looks a lot like Danny Trejo.

Huh.

Abobo sat out of the next few Double Dragon games, as the Lee brothers busied themselves fighting mummies and chubby clowns. But he returned in a very unexpected crossover: 1993’s Battletoads/Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team. The game featured a bizarre team-up between the Dark Queen from Battletoads and the Shadow Warriors. As Double Dragon didn’t have too many memorable boss characters that could stack up to the likes of a giant rat in a singlet, they went with what they could get.

As with the other bosses in the crossover gamer, Abobo was depicted as an absolute giant compared to the Lee Brothers and the Toads. He was also very generic-looking, appearing as a shirtless, bald guy with no ‘stache. Due to the sci-fi nature of the crossover, his storyline ended with him getting booted off a spaceship and sent spiraling through space itself.

1993 also gave us the Double Dragon animated series. Somehow, this thing ran for two seasons (26 episodes) and Abobo was there from the beginning. The first episode was a weird Saturday morning-style retelling of the NES game’s plot, down to Billy Lee having to fight his “evil” brother at the end. Abobo acted as a henchman, alongside a very colorful take on Willy.

In the cartoon, Abobo was a bald muscleman with blue skin, meaning he has the same mysterious complexion situation as Captain N’s King Hippo. Abobo was also strangely competent on the show, all things considered, although the only fighting he ever did was throw oil drums at Billy and miss every single time. He spent more of his time annoyed at Willy, who was depicted as a psychotic cowboy with a laser gun — one-half Yosemite Sam and one-half the Interrupter from Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

The second episode introduced the Shadow Master, who immediately showed disgust at his underlings’ failure by magically bonding Willy to a giant mural of punished souls. Abobo tried to run for it, but succumbed to the same fate. The two would remain in that mural for the rest of the series.

While there was a fighting game released based off of the Double Dragon cartoon, Abobo wasn’t part of the roster. It was just as well. Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls was a really bad game and Abobo had bigger things on the horizon.

Abobo was about to go Hollywood!

In 1994, Imperial Entertainment Group released the Double Dragon movie, a total cheesefest that couldn’t make back its $8 million budget. But Robert Patrick’s scenery-chewing main villain made the movie almost watchable. The story takes place in a version of Los Angeles that’s a cross between The Warriors and No Man’s Land from the Batman comics. Billy and Jimmy are teens who get roped into a plot that involves two dragon-shaped necklaces that form an all-power medallion when put together.

Initially, Nils Allen Stewart plays the gang leader Bo Abobo. As head of the Mohawk Gang, he’s there to act all intimidating in a goofy ’90s bully sort of way, but he really doesn’t actually do much. He takes part in a car chase and teases a fight scene, but nothing happens.

Then, the villain Koga Shuko transforms him into a literal steroid freak with some experimental machine. From there on out, Abobo is played by Henry Kingi in a bloated, rubber suit. Despite being a muscle golem at this point, Abobo STILL doesn’t actually fight anyone and is instead kidnapped by Power Corps.

Abobo eventually sees what he looks like in the mirror. Broken over what he’s been transformed into, he turns on Koga and…still doesn’t fight anyone. He just gives Power Corps some advice to help turn the tide against the bad guys. At the end of the movie, he asks the Lee Brothers if they could be buddies and recklessly drives their car.

Yeah, it’s…almost something. Not the awfulness of Super Mario Bros, but not the good-for-the-time quality of Mortal Kombat. It’s also not quite as fun-bad as the Street Fighter movie, but it does share one major similarity to it.

Much like Street Fighter, the Double Dragon movie had its own fighting game spinoff. Rather than a one-on-one fighter featuring digitized actors (which was the original idea until it wasn’t deemed viable for the deadline), Technos put together a Neo Geo animated fighter that isn’t so well-known these days due to how run-of-the-mill it was. It looked like your average SNK fighting game, with no real identity of its own. The game was released for arcade, Neo Geo CD, and PlayStation.

The 1995 fighting game was loosely based on the movie’s plot and featured some FMV clips. Showing up from the movie are Billy Lee, Jimmy Lee, Marian, Shuko, and Abobo. The rest of the roster is made up of original characters, though Technos did redesign Burnov, the Big Van Vader-looking boss character from Double Dragon II: The Revenge. Abobo more closely resembles his initial, more human-looking form from the movie, complete with mohawk, although he’s cartoonishly big in the game. Fortunately, he occasionally transforms into his blobby, tumor-like mutant form during certain moves and winposes.

His ending in the game features him eating a lot of meat at a restaurant, demanding to eat meat so rough that it’ll make his teeth bleed. Heh. And Roger Ebert said video games aren’t art.

Read more

Games

Double Dragon and Kunio-kun: Retro Bundle Coming Soon

By Rob Leane

Games

Double Dragon 4: Story & Multiplayer Modes Detailed

By Matthew Byrd

After the inexplicable crossover, animated series, failed movie, and fighting game tie-ins, Double Dragon as a franchise was finally spent. As the arcade scene died down in the late ’90s, the side-scrolling beat ‘em up disappeared for a time, and it would be a little while before nostalgia for it would kick in.

Fortunately, there was still some juice left in the fighting game genre, and in 2002 the Neo Geo had just enough time left before SNK’s hardware line was discontinued. The company Evoga developed what was, for a time, meant to be a Double Dragon fighting game, but ultimately the team wasn’t able to secure the rights and was forced to make the game with a knockoff cast of characters. The result was Rage of the Dragons, a tag-team fighting game featuring Billy Lewis, Jimmy Lewis, and Abubo…

Abubo does not have a tag partner and is instead a mid-boss so powerful that it takes two opponents to stop him. He’s depicted as a low-level mob boss with a ponytail, sunglasses, pink tank top, and overly-long, muscular arms. It’s a decent enough redesign of the original, but…Abubo? That’s the best they could come up with?

As for the official Double Dragon, it made its comeback a year later. Double Dragon Advance for the Game Boy Advance took the original arcade version, updated the graphics just enough, added more stages, enemies, and attacks, turning this installment into a souped-up take on the classic. This of course meant the return of the real Abobo!

2012 would be a banner year for the musclebound henchman. Since 2002, I-Mockery’s Roger Barr had been trying to develop an Abobo-based fangame, and in early 2012, the free-to-play masterpiece Abobo’s Big Adventure was released to the public and we were better for it.

Using 8-bit graphics, the game follows Abobo as he searches for his kidnapped son Aboboy. Each level is based on a different NES title and features a dizzying amount of Easter eggs. There’s a Double Dragon level, underwater Super Mario Bros. level, Urban Champ, Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight, Pro Wrestling, Mega Man, Contra, and finally Punch-Out. The game is an absolute blast, especially for anyone who grew up with the NES and features such whacked out moments as:

Abobo mating with the mermaid from Goonies 2, which gives him a forcefield powerup made up of Abobo/mermaid hybrid babies, one of which begs for death!

An Abobo vs. Amazon wrestling match that includes the summoning of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Roddy Piper, and Undertaker assists in the form of Pro Wrestling sprites.

Taking on Krang’s giant robot body with Kirby in the abdominal area.

An incredibly long and over-the-top ending that gets extremely and laughably violent. If you’ve ever wanted to see a muscular child drink blood from the Shredder’s dismembered arm, this game is for you!

In terms of OFFICIAL nostalgia, 2012 also saw the release of Double Dragon Neon for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (and later PC). Using 3D graphics, the game was a modern update of Double Dragon’s playstyle while playing up the 1980s aesthetic. It was a lot more ridiculous than the original series. In fact, it’s more in line with the Battletoads crossover since this game also lets you launch Abobo into the deep recesses of outer space to die.

This game also gave us the first – and, as of this writing, only – polygon Abobo. This time a towering, hunched over brute with lots of spiked armbands. All that AND the mustache!

But of those two 2012 releases, Abobo’s Big Adventure is surprisingly the better game in terms of its portrayal of the big man, as it solidified his status as nostalgic beat em up icon.

In 2017, Arc System Works put together Double Dragon IV for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Rather than emulate the arcade original’s aesthetic, the game took its art style from the NES games. That meant the return of the classic NES Abobo as not only a recurring enemy but an unlockable playable character. Double Dragon IV actually lets you play through the story mode as various enemy characters, but honestly, who else would you pick in that situation? Well, maybe Burnov.

Sadly, playing as Abobo in Double Dragon IV leads to a non-ending. I know you can’t improve on “Abobo punches Little Mac’s head off so hard it transcends time and space,” but at least TRY!

Around the same time, another game tried to play up Abobo’s ironic/iconic status. River City Ransom: Underground was released for the PC in early 2017. The River City Ransom series has always had ties to Double Dragon, but this high school brawler goes the extra mile by putting Abobo on a big pedestal. First off, he’s the school principal. If you attack any of your teachers, you’re sent to Principal Abobo’s office to suffer a serious slap on the wrist, shoulder, jaw, spine, etc. Sometimes he’ll even enter classrooms by punching holes through the brick walls, all while shirtless and talking like the Hulk.

Even better than that? Abobo’s not only the school principal but the Mayor of River City! No wonder everyone’s always kicking the shit out of each other! God bless Mayor Mike Haggar for being a true trendsetter.

The Double Dragon/River City connection only grew stronger when 2019 brought the absolutely must-play River City Girls. As the story goes, River City Ransom heroes Kunio and Riki have been kidnapped, so their badass girlfriends Misako and Kyoko go on a violent rampage to save them. Early in the game, while Misako and Kyoko fighting in a classroom, there’s a projector playing a short film about a boy learning about puberty.

It just so happens that the kid in the video is being taught by Abobo, who thanks puberty for his monstrous size and strength. This, my friends, is foreshadowing, as Abobo shows up later in the game as a boss.

Misako and Kyoko confront Abobo about their missing boyfriends, and Abobo admits that he isn’t sure whether or not he kidnapped them since he kidnaps a LOT of people. They throw down and we’re treated to the most powerful take on Abobo yet, considering the length of his life bar. Once defeated, Abobo admits that he has nothing to do with the missing boyfriends, but gives the heroes a lead by talking about his side job as security for an upcoming concert.

In 2020, Arc System Works released a collection for PS4 and Switch called Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle. It collects 18 8-bit games, including the three NES Double Dragon games, River City Ransom, and all the old spinoffs from the River City Ransom universe. And who’s on the cover?

Yes, despite technically being in one game out of 18, and not even being the final boss of any of them, Abobo gets a major spot on the cover of this huge collection among the games’ hero characters. Finally, the world understands that Abobo is a star. Now we just need Abobo to appear in Guilty Gear Strive and then we’ll really be cooking.

The post How Double Dragon’s Abobo Became a Beat em up Legend appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Gl5jJ9

[xb-squaredx]

The Unwritten “Rules” of Smash Bros. Speculation

Super Smash Bros. has become one of the most ambitious crossovers in all of gaming, featuring characters from seemingly endless franchises duking it out. With each new installment, fans eagerly make the cases for their preferred choices, and with the advent of DLC, even after the game launches fans still speculate as to who will join the battle. The most recent title, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, is no exception. As of this writing, we have six more DLC characters incoming for Ultimate, and speculation is in full swing. While it IS fun to speculate, attempting to narrow an almost infinite number of choices down to just six is quite the undertaking, so I thought it’d be more interesting to instead look at the arguments people often have for or against certain inclusions. I aim to compile the “rules” of who can and cannot get into Smash Bros. and see which rules hold water and which ones are on thin ice. Let’s begin!

NINTENDO ONLY

I’ll start with what was once one of the most binding rules for speculation. Smash Bros. was at one time, a celebration and collection of solely Nintendo-owned IPs, and despite fans pleas, various other characters from other companies surely couldn’t join in the fun. At least, until Brawl. Snake from the Metal Gear franchise and Sonic the Hedgehog himself made the leap from dream to reality as they were added to the roster and from that day onwards, nothing has ever been the same. In fact, we’re at a point now where most wish lists are populated almost entirely by third-party characters. It’s safe to say that this particular rule WAS broken and should be casted aside, however in its place another, similar rule has cropped up.

FRIENDLY RELATIONS

OK, so Nintendo doesn’t need to own the character in question…but they damn well better have been on a Nintendo console! The better the relationship between Nintendo and the game/franchise in question, the better chance they have of appearing in Smash, at least according to some people. Looking at our guests in general, this rule DOES seem to hold some water. Snake is a tad of a stretch, as the bulk of the Metal Gear Solid games aren’t on Nintendo platforms, though Twin Snakes exists, and the original Metal Gear was on the NES, so you could make an argument for him. Sonic, Mega Man, Simon and Pac-Man have made plenty of appearances on Nintendo consoles and while Microsoft owns Banjo now, he got his start with Nintendo. But then we have Cloud and Joker, who throw a wrench into the works. Both characters at the time of their playable debut had only appeared in spinoffs on Nintendo systems, with the games they made their ACTUAL debut in not appearing on any Nintendo console. Cloud famously made his debut in the first Final Fantasy game to NOT be on a Nintendo system. Over the years however, Cloud would appear in cameos in smaller spinoffs, as early as the Game Boy Advance as a summon in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and as per Sakurai’s own explanation, Cloud is meant to be a rep for the franchise on the whole, and there were indeed six other games Nintendo had on their consoles as “justification.” For Joker however, the Persona series stuck to Sony platforms, though the series they spun off from, Shin Megami Tensei, DID have tied to Nintendo, and the spinoff Persona Q was released as a 3DS title, so he gets in…BARELY.

I do find it interesting to note that, even if fans might not hold belief in this “rule,” other developers seem to respect it. When asked if Dante from the Devil May Cry series could see a playable appearance in Smash, Capcom instead stated that his own games would have to be on Switch first…and then a few months later, they put Devil May Cry 1 on Switch. Is this merely a coincidence? Maybe, but it’s pretty funny all the same. So far this rule has been bent, not broken, but I think it’s only a matter of time. This of course isn’t the only “rule” that’s open to some wiggle-room.

2 SEXY 2 VIOLENT

Nintendo is a family-friendly company and while they DO occasionally opt for more mature titles, they seem to put a lot of importance on casting a wide net and not going for too many ratings above T for Teen, or the rough equivalent in Europe and Japan. So when it comes to Smash, which is in part a celebration of all of Nintendo (plus guests), it pays to make sure THAT game keeps a similar rating. So any character addition that could jeopardize that rating is immediately suspect in the eyes of fans, and I’m inclined to agree. Throughout Smash’s life, we’ve seen how Nintendo and Sakurai have had to bow to the almighty ratings board. Items like the Ray Gun are designed to be as cartoonish as possible, and while this IS a game about smacking people around with punches, kicks, tail swipes and the like, it’s often presented in a very over-the-top manner to lower the impact. Now, there’s plenty of ways to play up the more cartoonish aspects of violence for new playable reps, but there seem to be limits. Bayonetta can’t use her gory Torture Attacks, for one, and when it comes to firearms, the series is a little gun-shy with depicting them. Snake famously only uses explosives, despite firearms being pretty common in his games. However in recent years we’ve seen some deviations from this. Bayonetta is allowed to use her guns, and Joker himself prominently uses his own gun. Granted, Bayonetta’s firing magic bullets and technically Joker’s using a model gun, but they’re still more realistic than the standard Smash shooter. So while it’s POSSIBLE to see the likes of the Mortal Kombat cast or the Doomslayer himself, I also wouldn’t hold my breath.

(Credit to @LetItMelo on Twitter)

God forbid you show any skin either! If a character is overtly sexual in their design, there’s a good chance they’ll be excluded from all the smashing going on, and we’ve seen this in various different forms throughout the series. Following the onslaught of horny players using the in-game camera to look under character’s skirts and the like in Melee and Brawl, female character models now have nothing but darkness underneath skirts and dresses. Or you can be like Rosalina and have the entire universe there. Even non-playable characters can’t escape alteration or even outright removal. Data suggests that the Fire Emblem character Tharja was supposed to be a trophy in the 3DS version of Smash 4, however the trophy does not exist in-game and the fact that her outfit is mostly a sheer bodysuit likely has something to do with it. In Ultimate in particular, the Xenoblade character Mythra had her Spirit altered; her boob window was removed and she gained tights on her otherwise bare legs. And this was just for some 2D art! Then there’s the case of Mai Shiranui, who was excluded from making a cameo on Terry Bogard’s stage, despite the multitude of other SNK character cameos and her status as one of the more recognizable SNK characters. In the Japanese version of Terry’s showcase video, Sakurai specifically states that the ratings board prevented them from including her.

But Bayonetta got in! And sure, she did, but with some concessions made. Her Wicked Weaves no longer leave her naked, only losing part of her outfit, and her more sexual traits are downplayed. There’s also Zero Suit Samus’ uh…let’s say alluring design, so there’s clearly wiggle room here, but at the same time both characters in question are still relatively covered up. I’m not saying it’s impossible for a Senran Kagura or Dead or Alive character to make the leap to playable status but I AM saying that they’d probably have to cover up or get some breast reduction surgery before they can make their debut. Still, ratings are not set in stone and over time, things change and gray areas emerge. With that in mind, I suppose we might as well take a look at one of the murkier, unclear “rules” fans have invented.

HE’S AN ASSIST, GET OVER IT

Being a playable character isn’t the ONLY way to be represented in Super Smash Bros. of course, and throughout the years we’ve seen various ways to get in on the fun. Stages, items, trophies, assists, Spirits, and Mii costumes all exist as ways to make a nod to virtually any franchise under the sun, but the question remains…if you’re already represented in such a way, do you have a shot at being made playable? Looking across the games, the answer would seem to be “Maybe in the next game.” Pit was a trophy in Melee before being brought back (and redesigned) for Brawl. The likes of Little Mac, Dark Samus and Isabelle have been Assist Trophies in one game, only to become playable in the next, and while Chrom and King K. Rool were Mii costumes in Smash 4 they’re playable in Ultimate. So far, we haven’t seen a single character make the playable jump in the same game, even with the option of DLC, but is it really such an impossibility?

Looking at items, like the Assist Trophies or even the Pokeball items, there are times when certain items won’t spawn, so it’s not too much of a stretch to say that, if Waluigi was chosen as a playable character, you couldn’t just find a way to keep his Assist Trophy from popping up in a match. This seems to happen in stages too; if a Link is playable in the Spirit Tracks stage, another character conducts the train. To run counter to that though, Ridley being made playable (and scaled down) is likely the biggest reason that the Pyrosphere stage didn’t make the return in Ultimate. That being said…Chrom is playable now, but he’s still part of both Robin’s Final Smash AND their win screens so…who can say what the actual edict is here?

Spirits are definitely a strange issue; if we take it as fact that if you have a Spirit in the game already, you can’t be made playable…that essentially means that 99% of Nintendo’s stable are ineligible and that just doesn’t seem right to me. Why limit yourself that much? Your only remaining options are brand new games that come out after Ultimate, though we’ve also had DLC spirits added in to promote a lot of these games. I’d like to assume that, at the very least, if you get in as a DLC Spirit, it’s unlikely that you’d be made playable later on. We have cases like the random Resident Evil Spirit event that casually gave us the most popular villain (Wesker) and the three most iconic protagonists of the series (Jill, Leon and Chris), which would make me question what a Resident Evil Spirit Board for a potential DLC character would look like. Why add that franchise in AHEAD of their playable appearance? Overall, I’d argue that a character with a Spirit in the base game has a chance of being made into playable DLC…but it’s a slight chance.

But then we have costumes…and this is where it can get interesting. Characters that are already playable can have costumes based off of them, as the likes of Link and Samus demonstrate, and even in the case of someone like Chrom who finally made the leap to playable, his costume still exists. But it’s the third-party costumes that garner the most attention. At launch, none of the third-party costumes from Smash 4 were in Ultimate, though as the Fighter’s Pass has doled out characters, these costumes have been slowly brought back, alongside new ones. At present, all of Namco’s costumes have yet to be seen, as well as the costume of one oft-requested puppet, Geno. Does this mean Namco will get a DLC rep, or that Geno will finally make the dreams of many fans come true? Anything’s possible, but there are no guarantees. As we can see with the likes of Sans and Cuphead, it’s also possible for characters to be added in as more elaborate costumes than your typical Mii flair. It certainly seems more likely to me that, say, Shantae could get a special Mii costume, even when she’s already a Spirit in the base game, and this might apply to other fan favorites too. On the whole though, there’s just a lot that’s up in the air regarding this particular rule. Nothing has contradicted it yet, but I can’t say I’d rule anything out in this case. If there’s ONE stipulation we have gotten confirmation on MULTIPLE times however, it’s this next “rule.”

NO GOKU ALLOWED

Smash Bros. celebrates video games, end of story, so all the cries to add in X character from some other form of media are ultimately fruitless. Sakurai won’t add Son Goku from Dragon Ball, and we won’t get Iron Man or Shrek. At present, the only characters that aren’t strictly FROM a video game, are at least intimately related TO video games. Both R.O.B. and Mr. Game&Watch are basically mascots for the NES and Game&Watch systems respectively, and they’re deeply tied to Nintendo’s own history as it is, so no one really bats an eye at their inclusion. Aside from kinda “tainting” the pureness of the series by introducing something that’s not a video game, there’s also licensing issues to consider…as well as the fact that it’d be a Pandora’s box the likes of which we’d never recover from. If Goku got in, then why not George Costanza or Spongebob or Walter White? It’d never end and the series would lose its identity.

There are still, however, a few characters that fans desperately want in the game, and they have this rule to contend with first. Geralt of the Witcher series is brought up as a possible inclusion, however the character originates from books. While the games have certainly gained notoriety and in some cases have surpassed the books in the public consciousness, that doesn’t change the fact that Geralt isn’t strictly a video game character. Oddly enough, however, he’s made the rounds in a lot of different video games over the past few years. He’s available as a character customization option in Daemon X Machina for one, a Switch-exclusive mecha game from 2019, and also in 2019 he was a guest character in Soulcalibur VI. Granted, that series has already seen guests from other mediums, like from the Spawn comics or characters from the Star Wars series. His appearance in Monster Hunter: World is also pretty unexpected, so it wouldn’t be completely out of nowhere to expect him to eventually make it to gaming’s biggest crossover, but I have my doubts. There’s also Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series, and while he DID originate in a video game, he is co-owned by Disney, and is closely tied to their properties as a result. Now, it’s not as if Nintendo hasn’t had a relationship with Disney; plenty of Disney games have appeared on Nintendo systems, but including Sora in Smash would either mean erasing any connections to the Disney characters in his games, or adapting them and subsequently breaking this massive rule and causing pandemonium! OK, it’s not as serious as all that, but it’d be a…delicate deal at any rate. Disney is pretty protective of their IPs, and Sora is also co-owned by Square Enix who is also pretty protective and hard to work with…Cloud barely got back into Smash Ultimate for one thing, and the rights for all that Dragon Quest music couldn’t have been cheap, so I feel like Nintendo wouldn’t be willing to go in on this a third time, especially with Disney’s involvement. But…miracles can happen, I suppose.

LITERALLY WHO?!

For our last “rule” here, I want to tackle one of the more subjective stipulations: relevancy. When it comes to shooting down character choices, you’ll often hear things like “that series hasn’t had a new entry in YEARS, so why would they promote that?!” or “that puppet’s been in one niche game that no one knows about!” It is true that characters in Smash do tend to promote newer games, as the likes of Roy, Corrin, Byleth, Joker and Hero show. I mean, why ELSE is the hero from Dragon Quest XI the default costume, other than that he’s the new hotness? But I think it’s clear at this point, especially when it comes to Ultimate, that being relevant isn’t everything. King K. Rool hasn’t been used in well over a decade, but he was added due to fan demand. A similar thing can be said for Banjo, as Microsoft hasn’t exactly used that IP in a while, and many would argue that Minecraft is a much more relevant rep from Microsoft if anything.

You’ll see people complain about certain inclusions with the argument that “no one knows who that character is!” but often that just demonstrates the complainer’s own bubble. Many in the West might not have gone CRAZY when Hero was announced, but Japan LOVES Dragon Quest and its inclusion is HUGE. Sakurai himself even notes this when going over Terry Bogard and SNK’s own history in the arcades. Relevancy only matters so much; if fans want them, and they bring something new and fun to the table, they have a chance. So this rule, as far as I’m concerned, isn’t one to take seriously. One man’s niche is another’s mainstream, really.

CONCLUSION

At the end of the day, Super Smash Bros. frequently makes dreams come true and breaks through any preconceived notions regarding who can and cannot smash, so I do find it somewhat of a fool’s errand to compile these “rules” and act like they’re the gospel. In truth, Nintendo and Sakurai can do whatever they want, and with enough time and money, anything is possible. There was once a time when we thought Sonic or Banjo fighting Mario and Link was a pipe dream, or hell…the entire concept of Nintendo all-stars all in one place was pretty farfetched over 20 years ago, but look at where we are now. As the old saying goes, rules are made to be broken…so clearly our next 6 characters are Doomslayer, Kasumi from DOA, Waluigi, Geno, Sora and Hank Hill. Yup. And I for one will be INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTED if that is not the case!

In all seriousness, speculate away, because at the end of the day, it’s pretty fun and harmless by itself! Just…hype responsibly, OK?

Happy Smashing

-B